Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Who's John ShinRa? ❯ Turks Always Stick Together ( Chapter 31 )

Chapter 31: Turks Always Stick Together

 

It could be said that there is only one event in a man's life that he will be remembered for, but that is not the case with two great men who have given their all time and time again. Through their tireless work and efforts, the daunting task of saving millions of people has been accomplished once again. In the dark depths of the earth, two men used their strength to help unite a town and dig a tunnel to the trapped civilians of Midgar. A job that would probably take years for most people has been accomplished in a week.

 

“I didn't think we had it in us, but these men are all hearty workers and we had to do what we had to do,” says chief engineer and savior of the planet, Cid Highwind. Mr. Highwind's recent marriage to his long time house mate Shera didn't deter him from continuing his work on the tunnel as his new wife was standing faithfully by his side the entire time. He along with Barret Wallace were the first to break through the hardened rock, opening the start of what will be the passage leading out of the trapped city of Midgar. Both men exhibited an aura of confidence and natural leadership abilities in the tunnel.

 

The monumental moment was nothing short of spectacular when Mr. Wallace used his great strength and with one arm dropped a pick-ax onto the rocky wall to breakthrough to the underground city. Shortly thereafter, only the cheers of miners could be heard throughout the tunnel as Mr. Highwind reached through the small hole and shook hands with one of the miners working on the tunnel from the underground city, Randy Lawson. “It's good to see y'all,” were the first words Mr. Lawson said to the two men who helped make this tunnel possible.

 

 

“I don't recall it happening exactly like that.”

 

“Thomas! How long have you been reading over my shoulder?” Autumn squealed, embarrassed she was caught typing up her article.

 

“Long enough to know that you left out the best part of the dig this morning.” Thomas handed Autumn a hot cup of coffee as he sat down next to her on the hard rock.

 

Autumn took a quick sip of coffee before grabbing her notebook and leafing through it. “I don't think it would sound as groundbreaking if I put in the words, and I quote, `Hell yeah, we broke the wall bitch,' unquote.”

 

“Hey, don't forget what happened afterwards. What was it that Cid said again? `I'll ream your ass if you don't get the fuck out of the way so we can widen this motherfucker,' or something along those lines.”

 

“Yeah, he did say something like that,” Autumn rolled her eyes. She had no inkling as to how a sweet demure woman such as Shera married a crude and obnoxious man. “But I can't put that sort of language in my story. Besides, I'm not making anything up in my story, just carefully leaving out the parts that are unnecessary.”

 

“Ah, so I see how you journalists work. You just write things and twist them in a way to give it more flourish and pizzazz. I should know better than to trust someone like you then,” Thomas said sarcastically.

 

“Hey, its not like we make things up you know. I just happen to write in a way that makes the story more interesting. You have to grab the readers somehow you know. And I am staying on this assignment out of the kindness of my own heart.” Autumn poked Thomas in the chest.

 

“I'm sure,” Thomas laughed. “But I have some information for you that you can add to the story. The tunnel will be complete within another week and then we can begin evacuating civilians. In the meantime, we're going to start evacuating able-bodied emergency personnel and ShinRa is going to send troops to Fort Condor to use the plains around the area to set up temporary shelters for those who have no where else to go. If we're lucky, we'll probably be able to get some personnel out of Old Midgar today. Once the shelters are set and the tunnel widened, we should be able to accommodate moving the civilians to a safer area.”

 

Autumn typed up the information at the bottom of the article and looked at the page with a satisfied smirk. “Looks like I owe you something for this juicy information. So what will it be today? A nice picnic lunch overlooking the plains? Dinner in Kalm? Or will you be so bold as to ask for something else?”

 

Thomas shook his head as he gazed into her clear blue eyes. He hesitantly reached his hand out and cupped her face, brushing his thumb along her soft cheek. Autumn couldn't breathe for a second as she felt his touch. She could feel her face reddening and her pulse quickening as she watched him carefully, trying to anticipate what he was going to do. His green eyes were soft with a tenderness she had never seen before and his hands were gentle as she felt him tuck a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear.

 

“Smile for me. That's the only thing I want from you right now.”

 

Autumn's eyes widened as she listened to his request. “Just a smile, that's it?”

 

“That's it.” Thomas nodded.

 

Autumn blushed as her lips creased up in a shy smile. “You could have asked for just about anything you know?”

 

“I know. But this is all that I need right now. I'll let you know if there is any more news to report. I probably shouldn't keep you from your work. I know how your editor likes his deadlines.”

 

Autumn nodded as she watched the young executive walk back into the tunnel sparing a small glance her way before he was out of her line of sight. Grabbing the coffee, she gulped the warm liquid to try and calm her nerves. She didn't notice the smile that seemed to be permanently planted on her lips as she finished typing up the article and proofed it quickly before sending it off to her editor.

 

It had been far too long since Autumn felt this way about a guy. She had been hesitant about getting into a serious relationship with another man since she had her heart broken back in college, but that was a long time ago and she was a much stronger woman now. Besides, Thomas was a very different man from all the other men who had shown an interest in her. He seemed to genuinely care. The soft ring of her computer pulled her out of her reverie as she noticed her email icon flashing on the screen.

 

Autumn sighed as she decided to leave her ruminations about love for another time. She had work to do and it wasn't going to get done if all she did was sit and daydream. Pulling up the email, she quickly read through the notes her editor gave her as well as snippets from other articles that he thought would interest her. Her eyes skimmed through the articles paying no particular interest to them. At least, until she read one that caused her to gasp.

 

“OVER THIRTY PEOPLE MASSACURED IN BLOODY FIELD WHERE HERO CLOUD STRIFE LAID TO REST. STRIFE'S SWORD STOLEN. MURDERER STILL AT LARGE.”

 

Her face paled as she read the details of the massacre in the article. Autumn felt a foreboding feeling when she read the article. There was something not right about hearing about all those people getting killed in cold-blood near Cloud Strife's gravesite. She had to tell Thomas about this. Something about this story screamed at her instincts that whatever happened on that field was something big and someone needed to be warned; namely AVALANCHE.

 

* * *

 

Reno walked back and forth between the four men and eyed them critically. It was a maneuver he had seen Tseng use countless times to intimidate new recruits and unfortunately, it wasn't working. Reno paused in front of the smallest man and glared at him before speaking. The recruit's spiky red hair fell haphazardly in front of his piercing green eyes.

 

“Name?”

 

The man glared back at Reno for a moment before stating his name, “Hearts, sir!”

 

Reno faltered in mid-step. He eyed Rude who was doing his best to suppress a laugh and Elena whose mouth was gapping wide in surprise. Reno shot the soldier named `Hearts' a cold stare as he walked up to him.

 

“Soldier, that has to be the gayest name I've ever heard.”

 

“It's my call-sign sir! It's not my real name,” the soldier replied coolly.

 

“Yeah, we've all got call-signs. I thought it would be neat if we had some call-signs ya know. Thought it would make us more like Turks and stuff.” The soldier who looked like a younger version of Cloud Strife belted out as he practically bounced up and down with excitement.

 

Reno stared blankly at the kid and swore to himself that if the mini-Cloud started wielding a sword, swearing vengeance against Sephiroth and emoting like a cold-block of ice he was going to beat his ass into next Sunday. Luckily for the Cloud look-a-like, so far he was the complete opposite of that. “Okay, so what are your call-signs then?”

 

“Oh! I'm called Clubs!” The mini-Cloud answered.

 

A tall man, who could have been mistaken for a young Tseng where it not for his grey eyes, saluted and answered his superiors, “My name is Diamonds.”

 

Reno nodded as he turned to the last man who was leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. The black-haired man gazed up impassively with dark eyes and uncrossed his arms long enough to pull out a cigarette. “Spades.”

 

“Spades, Diamonds, Clubs, and Hearts. How creative,” Reno sighed.

 

He stared at the four men selected by General Matthews. He had no doubts about their abilities if their records were accurate. These men were trained to fight and would have no qualms about killing. It was just that they were such a strange group Reno couldn't figure out how they lived in the same quarters without killing each other given their personalities. Clubs was busy talking to Spades who was leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette without a care in the world. Hearts and Diamonds were avoiding everyone fixing their glares at him as if they were sizing up the recently appointed Leader of the Turks. Reno glanced briefly at Rude and Elena who shared the same sentiments; these oddballs would fit in perfectly with the Turks.

 

“Well, usually we don't officially let new recruits become Turks until they pass a few `tests'. But since we're in an emergency situation here . . . I'm gonna let you guys slip by for the moment.”

 

“What kind of tests are you referring to?” Diamonds asked.

 

Rude let a huge grin grace his face as Elena paled as if recalling a horrid memory. Reno smirked like a cat before turning to the four men and asked with a hint of mirth. “When and if you survive this mission, you'll find out. In the meantime, let me introduce myself and my fellow teammates. You can call me Big-Dick, him Mega-Dick and her Dickless.”

 

Elena frowned and punched Reno in the arm. Reno winced and sighed as he shook his head. “Scratch that, her name's really Ball-crusher.”

 

Elena smiled when she heard her new name and ignored the apprehensive looks the four recruits were giving her.

 

“So, now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, it's time for you all to learn what a Turk really is . . . .”

 

* * *

 

“This is a little embarrassing you know?” Mike Lynn groaned as he tried to keep his crutches steady.

 

“I thought you always liked being pampered by your own personal nurse?” Tina teased her fiancé.

 

“Yeah, but not in front of the men! What kind of Captain am I if I'm being held by you as if I were a cripple?”

 

“Sweetie, you were shot in the stomach saving two ShinRa executives. I think they'll cut you some slack.” Tina ran her hands through his messy brown locks. “And if they don't then I'm going to refuse to treat any injuries they might get.”

 

Mike grumbled some inaudible words as he pouted. Here he was the well-decorated Captain of the ShinRa 5th infantry division being dragged through a dark narrow tunnel by his fiancée who was several inches shorter than he was. Not only that, but he was now being coddled by his own comrades as one of his men was carrying his back-pack and another his weapons. The Captain of a platoon should be leading his men out of the tunnel, not trailing in the back because of an injury.

 

Tina gently rubbed his back turning his attention back to her. “Once we get outside onto more stable ground, I'll let you go off on your own. But you're not allowed to do anything too strenuous to reopen those wounds.”

 

“Yes dear,” Mike sighed, but not after turning to face his fiancée with a sincere smile.

 

After several minutes, the pair finally made it out of the tunnel and felt the warm sun on their skin. The rest of his platoon had already made it outside and were stretching their legs or chatting with a few miners taking a break. Mike took a few tentative steps to make sure the ground wasn't too soft for his crutches to sink into the soil. Feeling safe, he nodded his head at Tina who smiled with encouragement. It never felt this good to be standing out in the wide expanse of nature. Mike glanced at Tina looking to see if she had any objections, but the smug look on her face told him that she was half expecting him to drop his crutches and run through the fields like a little boy. She always could read him like an open book.

 

“I'm not that predictable, am I?” Mike asked.

 

“Not entirely. But if it makes you feel better, if you do decide to make a fool out of yourself, I'd be happy to join you,” Tina smirked before kissing him. “Now go off and do your thing. I'll be nearby if you still need that shoulder to lean on.”

 

Mike kissed Tina again and hobbled on his crutches towards his men who were waiting and snickering at their Captain. He glared at them for a moment before addressing the soldiers. “Alright men, let's get a move on. It's a good ways until we make it to Fort Condor and these tents aren't going to get pitched by themselves!”

 

Tina watched her fiancé hobble off with his platoon toward Fort Condor. She was waiting for the group of doctors and nurses who were selected to head the temporary clinic in Fort Condor. She had the fortunate luck of having Doctor Graham recommend that she escort her injured fiancé through the tunnels to make sure he didn't aggravate his injury. Tina blushed remembering the looks she got from the other nurses as they winked at her. True, everyone in the hospital knew about her relationship with the young Captain, but that didn't mean they had to tease her about it.

 

Though standing out in the open air certainly made everything worth it. She let her eyes wander over the vast landscape seeing a few miners trying to catch her eye. Tina would mischievously wave back at them, making sure to point out the diamond ring glittering proudly on her left hand. Her eyes caught sight of a beautiful blonde-haired woman who was pacing back and forth in nervous agitation. Tina remembered the description Doctor Graham had given her of the grieving family member. It had to be her. Tina took the small black box out of her pocket and hesitantly walked over to the woman.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

Autumn paused and looked up as she heard someone nearby. She saw a nurse holding a simple black box staring at her with a mixture of uncertainty and concern. “Yes?”

 

“Are you the woman waiting for a package from Doctor Graham?”

 

Autumn gasped and the mixture of surprise and relief reassured Tina that she was speaking to the right person. “Y-yes, I am.”

 

“He asked me to give this to you. He would have delivered it personally, but he won't be able to get out to the surface in a while I'm afraid.” Tina handed the box over to Autumn who took it cautiously.

 

“Thank you.” Autumn whispered as she clutched the box closely to her chest. “Is . . . is Doctor Graham doing well?”

 

“Yes, he's as jolly as ever.” Tina laughed and then paused. “I'm sorry about your loss. So many people died when Meteor fell.”

 

Autumn closed her eyes solemnly. “Yes, they did. Thank you for your concern and helping me with this.”

 

“It's alright. I find that any little thing I can do is worth the effort. Please take care,” Tina bowed slightly before walking off to give Autumn her space.

 

Autumn fingered the box with apprehension. She thought that this moment would be one filled with excitement or satisfaction. But somehow it felt empty. Something must have been disrupting her usual string of reactions. It must have been stress and a mixture of the recent events that had occurred. Yes, it was probably stress that was muddling with her emotions.

 

She opened the box to see if maybe looking at the object would raise some sort of excitement. Her eyes settled on the charred bits of metal. The inscription on the metal could still be deciphered and unconsciously Autumn breathed a sigh of relief. It was such a small thing too, but she knew that with this the world was going to be shocked beyond all reason. It was the proof she had been waiting for but for some reason, Autumn didn't feel as excited as she thought she would. And for the first time since she set foot in the Mythril Mines, she was starting to have second thoughts.

 

* * *

 

The cluttered pier was crowded with numerous soldiers on a cool night in Junon. Several men were sitting on the crates or barrels scattered around the area. Bidge calculated that there were probably thirty people out there and this was only the first night of recruitment. If things were to go well tonight, then hopefully the numbers would increase exponentially. He knew that, Knarls knew that and even the self-appointed leader Mr. King knew that. But there was something that Bidge couldn't quite wrap his mind around and all of it involved their new leader, Nick King. Bidge trusted Knarls's judgment and even Hwang seemed to warm up to the man. However, none of that seemed to placate him.

 

Bidge was so far lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that most of the soldiers who were here to join a rebellion had already gone off with Knarls to get situated into their barracks. Weggs was loitering around waiting for him while Nick spoke animatedly with a new recruit. He was sure that Hwang was somewhere with the new recruits testing out their skills, Crass was sleeping in the barracks and Sol, hell he had no idea would Sol would be. Where ever the kid was, he hoped that he hadn't found the stash of naughty books he kept under his mattress. All thoughts of perversion aside, he waited nearby as Nick continued talking to the new recruit.

 

“Hey Bidge, are you heading on back now?” Weggs asked.

 

“Not yet. I've gotta talk to the new Boss and ask him a few things.”

 

Weggs eyed him with a bit of curiosity. “Want me to stick around?”

 

“Nah, you don't have to,” Bidge said with a look of appreciation. “Thanks for offering though.”

 

“No problem. I'll see you later.”

 

Bidge watched the rotund man walk back to the barracks in the dark. Looking back, Bidge probably could have had Weggs's company. But he didn't want to needlessly worry anyone and he was reasonably sure that whatever it was that was worrying him was nothing more than paranoia.

 

When Bidge turned, he found that Nick was finishing up his conversation with the lone recruit. They were the only ones left on the pier now. It was as good a time as any.

 

“Um, hey Nick can I speak to you for a minute?” Bidge asked, trying to hide his nervousness but failing.

 

Nick raised a brow looking at him with a questioning look. “Alright.”

 

“So I was wondering . . . Do you really think we can pull off this rebellion? Not that I doubt you or anything, but this is ShinRa we're talking about and Knarls seems to trust you and I trust Knarls so you know . . . frankly speaking I just wanted to know.”

 

“I'm putting my all into this and have sacrificed a lot to get to where I am now. I wouldn't be serious about starting a rebellion if I wasn't going to win. ShinRa is just another kingdom that's waiting to crumble and nothing is going to stand in my way.”

 

That was not really the answer Bidge wanted to hear. “How far would you go to reach your goal?”

 

Nick looked at Bidge with a calculating gaze. “What do you mean how far?”

 

“Well, I'm only looking out for my buddies ya know. And since they rely on me for information and such and . . .” Bidge only realized a little too late that he may have said too much as he was knocked down and felt two strong hands wrap themselves around his neck.

 

“How much do you know?” Nick asked, his voice teetering on the edge of malice and insanity.

 

In an instant, Bidge knew that his underlying fears were right. The MO was the same, the fact that the woman found murdered bore the same name as the woman on his birth certificate and also the fact that he was being choked to death because he knew too much about this man. Nick saw the realization dawn in Bidge's eyes and squeezed a bit harder. Somehow Bidge managed to flip the slightly larger man off of him as he gasped for air. It only took him a second later to realize that lying on his back with the man trying to kill him out of his line of sight was probably the worst decision he made tonight next to confirming his worst suspicions.

 

There were many absolutes in the world that people always accepted. The sun would always rise in the East and Weggs would always be a fat man; he'd be his fat man, but a fat man none-the-less. Those were the type of things that in the most desperate of situations, you realized that you'd taken them for granted and in your last fleeting hours of life you desperately clung to those thoughts like a lifeline. If Bidge knew that he was going to go through that sort of pain, he would have never gotten up this morning. But like everyone else, he wasn't thinking about the perpetual wrench thrown into the equation. Absolutes were supposed to be . . . well, absolutes. Of course, there was the one absolute that he always forgot or chose to forget: everyone dies. Getting his brains bashed in by a metal pipe was not the way he wanted to go, not that he had any say in the matter anyways.

 

* * *

 

Sol closed his eyes trying to block out the image in front of him. His hands were clamped tightly over his mouth to stifle his screams. Sinking further back in the crate he was hiding in, he hoped beyond all hope that the psychopath with the lead pipe wouldn't find him. He didn't want to end up dead like Bidge.

 

He opened his eyes when he heard the sound of a loud splash. Peering out through the tiny crack, he saw a trail of blood leading to the end of the pier where Nick had dumped Bidge's body and was throwing the bloody pipe out into the ocean. Sol didn't know why Nick just suddenly snapped and decided to kill Bidge. He only saw them talking about something then the next thing he knew Bidge was knocked down and getting bludgeoned to death by their newly appointed leader. He didn't think things like this happened when he joined the army. They weren't supposed to happen.

 

Sol held his breath as he saw Nick walk towards his hiding place. He prayed that he couldn't see him and the guy would walk past him. Fate obviously didn't give a flying fuck about what Sol thought as Nick sat down on one of the crates next to the one Sol was hiding in ever so carefully. The wooden boards creaked and bent under Nick's weight as Sol scooted further back in his crate tightening his lanky body in a ball.

 

The frightened teen watched in morbid fascination as the murderer wiped his hands clean of Bidge's blood with a handkerchief. Sol was so close to Nick he was certain that he could have reached out and scratched the man's ass for him, which was the last thing Sol wanted to do. Scratching a murderer's ass for them was the sort of thing that got you killed in the first place. Now kissing their ass, that might save your life. But Sol wasn't going to go and try that idea either. He was hoping that staying as quiet as a mouse would pay off and then he could leave this hell hole and give his sister one heck of a story. However, staying alive was top on his list of priorities right now.

 

The seconds ticked by and Sol still remained balled up in one of the crates trying his best to keep hidden. He couldn't figure out what Nick was doing just sitting on the crates. He had long finished cleaning his hands of all the blood and thrown the handkerchief in the ocean. Now all Nick was doing was staring at the trail of blood left on the pier as if the blood would suddenly jump up and do a little dance for him. Though chances were Nick was really thinking of a way to cover up his little deed so no one else would know what happened. It wouldn't do for the leader of an army to kill off one of his men and have everyone know about it. Morale wouldn't be the same.

 

Suddenly, an ear-splitting scream echoed through the night as Nick jumped up and looked behind him towards where the barracks were located. Sol nearly wet himself when he heard the sound and kept his eyes on Nick hoping that the man would not decide to hide in a crate like he did, especially his crate. By some stoke of luck, Nick ran down the pier out of his line of sight. The sounds of gunfire and more screams filled the night air and Sol found himself unable to move.

 

He sat rooted in his spot listening to the sounds of men dying. Sol kept his eyes forward, landing on the bloody trail of Bidge's blood. He could only imagine the sort of bloodshed that was occurring behind him. He didn't even know what sort of vicious battle was going on, whatever it was he hoped it stayed there and didn't stray towards the pier. Sol would never openly admit to anyone, especially his sisters, but deep down he was a coward. He joined the army hoping it would bring out some courage in him and it had helped. Of course, he was still afraid to die.

 

Behind him the sickening sounds of death grew louder. Sol's breath quickened as he realized that if he choose to flee now, he might get caught in the approaching fire-fight, but if he remained intact the fire-fight might catch him in the middle with nothing to protect him except some dilapidated crates. He decided to go with the lesser of the two evils and waited. The sounds of gunfire steadily drew near and Sol's heart beat rapidly, thundering in his chest. Was he making the right choice? Would it be better for him to run out into the open screaming like a raving lunatic and hope that no one decided to make him target practice?

 

The next thing he knew, he saw a man stumbling on the pier holding a hand to his bloody shoulder. He stumbled and slipped on the blood left behind by Bidge, coating the man's clothes until he was a bloody mess. The man was panting heavily looking wildly at anything and everything around him. Sol saw him fumble with a heavy plank of wood lying on the ground. The injured man held the plank to his body closely trying to seek some comfort or protection from it. His eyes widened, looking down at someone or something coming from the direction of the barracks.

 

“Hey man, why'd you runaway? We were only getting started.” A deep voice said with a tinge of amusement.

 

Sol's eyes widened as two men in familiar dark blue suits walked up towards the man. He had only heard of them, but no further than a few feet away were two members of the infamous group: the Turks.

The injured man pointed the wooden plank at the two men. “Stay back! I mean it!”

 

The blond-haired Turk frowned at the weapon and shook his head. Before Sol could even blink, the Turk had kicked the plank out of the man's hand and throttled him to the ground with a foot grinding into the shoulder-wound. “Dude you fuckin' retard! Did you really think you could hurt us with a stick?”

 

The dark-haired Turk casually walked up to the man on the ground and squatted down to blow some smoke into his face. The Turk flicked a bit of ash on the man's forehead then pulled out a shiny black gun from his jacket. The blond Turk dug his heel a little deeper into the poor man's shoulder eliciting a small yelp. Taking a drag out of his cigarette, the dark-haired Turk stood up as he pointed the gun straight at the man's face.

 

“Why? Why me?” The injured man gasped as he stared down the barrel of a gun.

 

“Because you decided to betray ShinRa.” The dark-haired man replied before pulling the trigger

 

The other Turk frowned as he kicked the dead body of the man. “Aw man! Now I've got bits of dead guy staining my pants. Gross!”

 

“That's your fault for standing so close to him when I blew his brains out, idiot.” The Turk replied holstering his gun.

 

“Well . . . well,” the taller Turk stuttered to think of a comeback. “You're a cold-hearted bastard!”

 

The other Turk quirked an eyebrow at him and scoffed. “Look who's talking. We're both in the same profession you dolt.”

 

“Yeah, I guess we are. Say, why do we have to kill everyone anyway? I mean, a few of these guys look like they were just chillin' ya know. We don't even know if this guy was even part of the rebellion.”

 

“Remember what Reno said? We're the exterminators and they're the cockroaches. If you don't stomp them all out then they'll only multiply and comeback stronger than ever. Turks are here to maintain the order and strength of ShinRa. Having a loose roach around will only make the company look bad.”

 

“Yeah, I guess so. Never thought that my first day as a Turk would be so . . . gross.” The blonde man said with disgust as he tried to wipe the blood off his pants. “Ugh, I hope these stains come out.”

 

The black haired man shook his head and sighed. “You're pathetic you know that. Come on. Let's go see how everyone else is doing.”

 

“Hey, what about the body?”

 

“Don't worry about it. There's going to be some made-up story about how a bunch of soldiers went bonkers and started killing each other over some shit or another.”

 

Sol watched as the two men walked off the pier laughing to themselves. The dead body of the man on the pier stared back with a haunting gaze as blood seeped out of the hole in his head. His ears burned with the words that the Turks had said. They were out to kill him and they didn't give a damn whether he was innocent or not. He needed to get out of here, he needed to find shelter, and most importantly, he needed to contact Autumn.

 

* * *

 

Diamonds punched his opponent in agitation as he looked over at his partner. She had just finished reloading her gun. With a swift kick, Diamonds knocked his opponent down and sent his heel crashing down on his windpipe in a deathblow. Most of the men he was fighting were amateurs and this task was so simple it caused him to sigh in boredom.

 

Elena looked over at her partner and pressed her lips together in agitation. The new Turk had been moody ever since he was assigned to work with her. Sure the guy looked a little like Tseng and was very attractive, but he was acting like a complete jerk.

 

“If you're done staring at my face, I'd like to proceed to the next room,” Diamonds said curtly.

 

Elena frowned. “What the hell is up with your attitude?”

 

“Nothing much, just disappointed that my skills as a Turk are being undermined by my female partner.”

 

In a quick flick of the wrist, Elena pulled her gun and pointed it straight at Diamonds' head. “I'll have you know that I earned by right as a Turk the long and hard way. Don't think for a minute that just because I'm a woman, I can't kill or be a Turk along with you boys.”

 

Diamonds glared at Elena unperturbed by the gun pointed at his head. “You wouldn't shoot me. I can tell from your body language. Your fingers are too relaxed around the trigger and your shoulders are shaking in anger as if what I've said is true. Also, the way you look at me tells me that you have some sort of fond attraction to the way I look and if I remember correctly, you were once involved with the former leader of the Turks who I seem to resemble. Your overly brave front is just a way to try and impress me so you can get into my pants sometime later down the road. Am I correct?”

 

Elena narrowed her eyes at the man. He returned her glare with equal force and watched in amusement as she suddenly tightened the grip on the trigger. With a fluid motion, he smacked her arm away hearing the gun discharge far away from his face. What happened next surprised him as he felt her push him to the ground.

 

“Idiot, get down!” Elena screamed while knocking Diamonds out of the way.

 

Diamonds turned in time to see Elena take a bullet in the chest and fall backwards in pain. Turning his gaze to the source of the gunfire Diamonds saw a large built man with brown hair and rough features. Diamonds immediately recognized the man as Captain Karl K. Knarls, skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well as firearms. And currently Knarls was pointing his gun straight at him. Diamonds didn't have time to check on Elena or even assess the situation as he jumped clear out of the range of fire.

 

Hiding behind an overturned table, Diamonds quickly thought over his options. Elena was down and possibly dead. He didn't have any guns on him to fire back at him and the main advantage that Knarls had over him was his gun. Diamonds took a deep breath and pulled a knife out from his vest and listened carefully. Counting to three, he flipped over the table tossing the knife at Knarls, knocking the gun out of the man's hand. They were now on even ground.

 

“Hm, not too bad for a Turk.” Knarls said right before lunging at Diamonds knocking him off his feet. “But not good enough.”

 

Diamonds turned in time to prevent Knarls's heel from dropping down on him. He flipped up and proceeded to assault Knarls with various punches and kicks that the larger man blocked with ease. Diamonds was getting tired and couldn't seem to get any of his hits to land on the man. He knew that Knarls was an excellent fighter from his profile, but didn't know that he was this good.

 

A well placed kick to the chest knocked the wind out of Diamonds as he hunched over in pain. In that moment of weakness, Knarls found his gun and pulled it off the ground grinning like a madman. Knarls watched the wide-eyed expression of the Turk as he slowly cocked his gun and aimed it at his head.

 

Knarls smiled wickedly holding the gun in his hand. “Game over.”

 

Two shots rang through the air. The first one hit Knarls's hand causing him to drop his gun and the other shattered Knarls's right knee. Both Knarls and Diamonds looked up in surprise to see Elena glaring down at the two of them.

 

“You're right, it is game over.” Elena said before pulling the trigger and placing a well aimed bullet through Knarls's head. After watching Knarls's body fall, Elena kicked the dead body a few times for good measure. She then turned her attention to her partner. “You okay?”

 

“How? I saw you get shot?” Diamonds asked.

 

Elena snorted as she pulled back a bit of her jacket revealing the white cottony fluff where the bullet shot her. “Bullet-proof vest. Rule 29 of the Turk code: Turks always come prepared.”

 

Diamonds smirked and shook his head. “I guess I misjudged you.”

 

“You certainly did. Oh, and by the way.” Elena said quickly before punching Diamonds roughly in the jaw. “Though you may look like Tseng, you act nothing like him. Don't think for a minute that I'd ever want to get into your pants. And also remember Rule 1 of the Turk code: Turks always stick together. Next time you leave me for dead I'm going to blow your balls off. Understood?”

 

“Clear,” Diamonds squeaked.

 

Elena eyed him carefully before retreating back. “Good.”

 

Diamonds held his jaw as he watched Elena walk with a new air of authority as she proceeded to the next room. He had misjudged her and now regretted some of the things he had said. She was nothing like he made her out to be. With a smirk, Diamonds stood up and followed Elena to the next room, much more enthusiastic about working with her and fulfilling their mission.

 

* * *

 

“Man, this is just like shooting fish in a barrel.” Clubs grinned as he squeezed the trigger on the machine gun one of his victims left. Countless men were falling through the hurricane of bullets raining their way in the cramped barracks. “Now I know why you like guns so much.”

 

Spades snorted as he balanced his gun in his right hand. “It's more than just the ease of killing. It's the efficiency.”

 

“Whatever you call it this is pretty cool, though nothing takes the thrill out of taking a man's life with your own hands.”

 

In their conversation, neither man noticed the large body of Weggs sneaking up from behind them with tears in his eyes.

 

“You're killing everyone,” Weggs whispered. “Stop it. You're killing everyone. Stop it! You're killing everyone!”

 

The loud shouting alerted the two Turks who turned their heads slightly never easing their gunfire in the barracks.

 

“You're killing everyone! Bidge might be in there and you're killing him!” Weggs shouted in hysterics as he ran toward the two Turks intent on stopping them.

 

Using his left hand to reach into his vest, Spades pulled out another gun and fired five rounds into Weggs body, watching in satisfaction as the large man fell down dead. Spades turned the gun towards the barracks and released the clip on any men who were still alive.

 

As Spades was reloading the clips on his two guns, Clubs broke the awkward silence. “What do you think that was about?”

 

“Don't know, don't care.” Spades replied before continuing his onslaught.

 

Clubs shrugged and kept his attention on killing any men in front of him ignoring the dead body of Weggs a few feet away.

 

* * *

 

Hwang was breathing deeply. Whoever it was who was chasing him, they were good. He had already seen the red-haired monster take out a few of the more promising recruits with simple and fluid motions. Finally, he found an opponent worthy of fighting. The blood in his veins pumped with excitement as he pulled out his last three knives and threw two of them at his approaching opponent.

 

Hearts quickly dodged to the side and reached his hand out to snatch one of the knives out from the air that was aimed at his head. He flung the weapon back at his target and watched as Hwang deflected the knife with another. Hwang was the last one alive, but Hearts would try to remedy that situation soon.

 

Pulling out a short stick a little under two feet long, Hearts held it up and blocked Hwang's knife attack to his head. Shifting his weight to one leg, Hearts tried to knee his opponent in the stomach, but Hwang twisted around and brought an elbow down to his head. Lurching forward from the impact of the blow, Hearts continued to move and dropped into a forward roll in time to miss the arc of Hwang's blade as he tried to slash him.

 

Taking the opportunity, Hwang threw his last knife at his opponent aiming straight for the man's heart as he was turning. Unfortunately for Hwang, Hearts had found one of Hwang's stray knives on the ground and threw it at the approaching knife, deflecting it as both knives clanged on the ground far away from the two fighters. Now Hearts had the advantage as Hwang had no weapons and he still had his short stick. The only thing was that Hwang was much better at martial arts than he was with his knives.

 

Hearts wasn't ready for the onslaught of punches and kicks thrown his way. He barely managed to block some while others made contact with his body. Hwang landed a vicious spin kick to his opponent's head that knocked him down on the floor. Hearts rolled on his back and winced from the pain in his head. His hands tightened the grip on the short stick he held as he saw Hwang lift his leg high to deliver a crushing blow to his ribs. But Hearts wasn't going to have any of that. Using every ounce of strength he had, Hearts pulled the short stick out in front of him and blocked the leg coming for his chest. The attack did successfully break the fingers in his left hand that were pinned between the short stick and Hwang's foot and Hwang smirked down at his opponent after feeling the bones crack under his attack.

 

The red-haired Turk narrowed his eyes at the opponent standing above him. It was time to end this fight. With his right hand, he pulled out the end of the short stick revealing the kodachi blade craftily built into the Turk's weapon. Swiftly moving his hand in quick succession, Hearts slashed the Achilles tendons on both of Hwang's legs. The soldier fell to the ground writhing in pain as he clutched his legs.

 

Hearts wiped the blood off his mouth and stood looming over the fallen soldier. Pulling his foot back, he proceeded to kick Hwang in the stomach repeatedly. Then holding the kodachi in front of him, Hearts planted his foot on one of Hwang's arms immobilizing the man.

 

“Are you enjoying the pain?” Hearts asked sadistically.

 

“This pain and torment is nothing.” Hwang screamed trying to suppress the wince on his face. “I've been through far worse than you can imagine.”

 

Hearts chuckled before opening his eyes wide. “You? Suffer pain and torment far worse than me? Fool, you know nothing about me and you know nothing about pain and torment. But don't worry, when I'm done with you, you will.”

 

The bright gleam of the kodachi shone in Hwang's eyes and his screams filled the night air. No one could fathom what torture the man was going through, but it was clear that he was going through hell and wasn't coming back.

 

* * *

 

This was not his day. First he had one of the men in his new army probing him with questions that dug deeper than he would have liked. He knew as he was killing the man that he suspected him of murdering his mother. Then after he had taken care of the body and finally made up an excuse as to the disappearance of the man, Turks he had never seen before were killing all the new recruits to his army. And if he thought things couldn't have gotten any worse, Reno and Rude were chasing him down a dark alley and they both looked like they were out for blood.

 

Ducking behind a trashcan, Nick peered down the alleyway and swallowed hard. At the entrance to the alley Reno and Rude were standing in a relaxed position staring in his direction.

 

“Here Nicky, Nicky, Nicky, Nicky! We've got a treat for you,” Reno cooed as he cocked his gun with a loud click.

 

Rude cracked his knuckles very audibly as the larger man pulled out a pair of brass knuckles.

 

“Hey Rude. I don't think our friend Nick wants to come out of the alley.”

 

Rude smirked before responding. “They say that the best way to get a cat out of the alley is to send in a dog.”

 

“Hey, that's a great idea! You've got a grenade on you?”

 

Listening to the Turks conversation, Nick panicked and stumbled out from behind the trashcans waving his hands in the air. “Wait! Don't shoot!”

 

“Nick! There you are! There's the bad kitty.”

 

Reno said as he inched closer to the man. Nick wasn't sure if the Turk intended to kill him or not so in a last ditch effort to save himself, he got down on his knees and begged for mercy.

 

“Don't kill me. Please don't kill me. If you keep me alive I can make things easier for you. I have a deal for you two. Do you want money and power?”

 

Reno and Rude stared at each other briefly before Reno answered carefully. “Money, yes. Power, depends. What kind of power are you talking about?”

 

“Power over all of the military, police and whatever organization you want if you join me. I can guarantee you many personal freedoms once I'm in control of ShinRa. You want it, you name it and I can give it to you.”

 

Reno turned to Rude and shrugged. “Say Rude, you want anything from this guy?”

 

“Not much, maybe his body on a hangman's noose.”

 

“That's too boring. I'd personally go for his head on a pike,” Reno laughed as he turned to Nick. “So what do ya say? Think you can deliver?”

 

Nick paled upon hearing the two Turks joke over his death. He backed away in fear and turned around hoping to find a way to escape. Nick slammed into another body and backed up in relief. It was the old harmonica player Crass.

 

“Crass, you've gotta help me. They're going to kill me. You've gotta do something to keep me alive. Please! I'll give you anything if you just take care of them.”

 

The old man said nothing in response as he jabbed Nick in the stomach and then reached his hands around and twisted Nick's head sharply until the neck snapped in a deadly pop. “I think I prefer Reno's option myself.”

 

Reno and Rude watched as Nick King's body slumped down to the ground in a lifeless heap. The short-term leader of the ShinRa resistance army was now dead and the public wouldn't be any wiser to even the fact that they even existed.

 

Reno scratched his cheek as he surveyed the scene before him. “Dude, Walt. Not that that wasn't cool and all. But I think General Matthews wanted him alive for questioning.”

 

Walter looked down at Nick's dead body and shrugged. “Oh well.”

 

“So, um . . . what are we going to do now? Lug his body back to headquarters?” Reno asked.

 

Walter started to lift Nick's body off the ground and shifted the body until he was lying face up with his arms outstretched above him. “Hey, sounds like a plan to me.”

 

“Well if that's the case I call left leg. Rude, you take the arms and Walt, you take the other leg.”

 

The three Turks lifted up the body by the arms and legs and started to haul it out of the alleyway. Reno and Rude felt a bit of pride in working next to the legendary

Walter Crass. Reno, being Reno, couldn't contain himself and decided to add a bit of lively conversation while they carried the body.

 

“So Walt, how does it feel to be the oldest active Turk in existence?” Reno teased.

 

“Just because I'm old doesn't mean I can't kick your ass you little punk.”

 

“Aw, don't say that. You know you still love me. `Sides, I ain't gonna be the punk in the group anymore. We've got fresh blood to join the ranks.”

 

“How many?”

 

“Four.”

 

“They any good?”

 

“Don't know, haven't seen them in action. They came highly recommended and their records looked sharp. Hey, I wonder how Hearts is doing all by his lonesome?” Reno asked mainly to himself.

 

“Reno, you let a new recruit work by himself?” Walter gasped.

 

“Hey, he said he wanted to work alone. Don't worry; the other guys are with a killing buddy so it's cool.”

 

“What if the lone recruit gets killed in action?”

 

“Um, then we have three new recruits then. Don't worry Walt. The kid looks tough. Just because he has a gay name doesn't mean he can't fight.”

 

“I'm not worried about whether or not the kid can fight; I'm worried whether or not you sent the poor guy to his death on his first mission.”

 

Rude's voice cut through the argument between the two. “Hey guys?”

 

When Reno and Walter looked over at Rude, he only nudged his head over his left shoulder. Both Reno and Walter looked towards their left to see what Rude found so interesting and gaped as they saw a very bloody and alive Hearts standing over the mutilated body of Hwang whose heart had been cut out and stuffed into the corpse's mouth.

 

“Ew, now I know why they call you Hearts.” Reno twisted his face in disgust.

 

Hearts looked at his fellow Turks coldly and replied with a shrug. “He wouldn't stop screaming so I had to shut him up.”

 

“Um, yeah. If you could just take care of disposing the body and then head on back to base.” Reno ordered. “Normally I'd like the ShinRa clean-up crew to take care of that, but well . . . I think it's a little to gross for them.”

 

Hearts nodded his head in acknowledgement and began to drag Hwang's body away. The three Turks remained silent for the rest of their walk back to headquarters. After seeing a display like that, Walter learned that he would never second guess the abilities of a new recruit ever again.

 

* * *

 

Mike Lynn expected that there would be some problems or obstacles around Fort Condor when they were sent to scout out the area and start pitching the first tents. He expected something more along the lines of monsters roaming the area or debris from Meteor that may have reached all the way over here. What he wasn't expecting were hundreds of Wutai soldiers with thousands of tents already pitched and waiting for refugees.

 

The small band of ShinRa soldiers looked on in a mixture of confusion and wonderment. When did this happen? Why did this happen? And more importantly, where the Wutai soldiers friends or foe?

 

An ornately dressed Wutai soldier walked towards the group holding his hands out in a pacifying gesture. “I come unarmed my friends.”

 

Mike limped toward the man and bowed as low as his injury would allow and the soldier responded in kind. “I'm Captain Mike Lynn of the ShinRa 5th Infantry Division.”

 

“My name is Staniv, one of the five warriors of the Great Pagoda and a General to the Wutai Army. It is an honor to meet you. I'm certain you have many questions.”

 

“You could say that General Staniv. My troops and I were ordered to come here to scout out the area and start pitching some tents for the large number of refugees who are about to come out of the Underground City, but then we come across something we weren't expecting. We were wondering what you all were doing here camping out at Fort Condor?”

 

Staniv smiled warmly and laughed. “I must admit, we may have overdone things a bit. But we've come here through Emperor Godo's orders as an offering of peace and goodwill towards ShinRa. We're here to help the refugees of Midgar rebuild and have already put together shelter for what we hope is everyone.”

 

“Well I'll be. I just . . . never expected this.” Mike said with astonishment. “I didn't think that Wutai would help us considering what happened in the past.”

 

“Though there are many of my people who are still bitter about the war between our nations, Princess Yuffie has taught us that it is better to move forward and leave the past in the past. I think Emperor Godo is heeding his daughter's advice and trying to improve relations between the two nations.”

 

Mike smiled and held his hand out in appreciation. “Well then, I look forward to working with you.”

 

Staniv took the hand and shook it as a few Wutai soldiers came over to help make the other ShinRa soldiers feel more welcome. It looked like there weren't going to be any problems working with the Wutai soldiers, but he couldn't help but feel the tension between some of the foreign soldiers. It seemed that there were those who couldn't forget the war between the two nations and Mike knew that they would have to tread carefully.

 

* * *

 

The trio of Turks lugged the body of Nick King towards headquarters not minding that they accidentally dropped him on the ground a few times or ran his body into a few walls. The guy got pretty heavy after having to carry him across Junon and hide him from civilians as they had to take the longer, more visible route back to headquarters due to their extra baggage. Once they made it back to base, they put a bit too much enthusiasm into tossing him into the morgue. Now Reno, Rude and Walter were all sitting in the lounge smoking.

 

“So how many traditions do you guys still keep from us old timers?” Walter asked in curiosity.

 

“Well, we still do the triathlon and tonight there are four new recruits who haven't run the race yet.” Reno snickered while Rude grinned like an idiot.

 

Walter chuckled. “It's good to see that some traditions never die. I'll handle taking care of the paperwork while you round up the new kids. Meet you back here in less than an hour.”

 

“Sounds good Walt!”

 

As Walter was leaving the Turks behind, Elena rounded the corner and waved at the two.

 

“Hey guys! You have no idea the trouble I had with my partner. What a sexist pig!”

 

“Dude, seriously?” Reno asked.

 

“Yes. You should have seen the way he acted when I was working with him.” Elena crossed her arms in displeasure.

 

“But you showed him up, didn't ya Elena?”

 

“Of course I did!”

 

Reno smiled. “That's my girl. So how are the new recruits holding up? They all come back alive?”

 

“Yep. All four. Diamonds sustained a few minor injuries and Hearts had some broken fingers. I thought he had more injuries with all the blood he had on him. But other than that they came back healthy and alive. I don't know where General Matthews found these guys, but they're good. Oh, what about you two? Did you capture Nick King?”

 

Rude shifted around nervously while Reno scratched the back of his head and looked at anything and anywhere except Elena. “Well, you see. We came across a little problem.”

 

“Problem? What problem?”

 

“Well, um, ah. Walter, the old Turk who was playing undercover in the group who's on our side and all. Well, he sort of snapped Nick King's neck like a twig and killed him. It was really cool seeing him do that though!”

 

Elena stared at the two for a moment before answering. “I think if I stop caring about my job, things will get easier. Yes, I'm just going to ignore what you two just said a second ago and carry on with my life.”

 

“Hey, don't worry Elena. Nick was a dick,” Reno said with a laugh. “Hey, that rhymed.”

 

“It's okay Reno. I think I'm used to the way things run in the Turks now. Something like this really shouldn't surprise me.” Elena said as she nursed the migraine threatening to form.

 

“Nick the dick. He was a prick. His mama's thighs were too thick. His face made me sick cause I beat him with my stick.” Reno said as if he were rapping.

 

“Reno, I think you ought to quit,” Elena said, annoyed with his antics.

 

“Oh Elena, your rhyme's really slick. It shows we really click.”

 

“Stop that! Just stop that now!” Elena screamed. Silence filled the air as the tension between the three Turks slowly eased.

 

Surprisingly, Rude was the one to break the silence. “Have you two seen that new flick?”

 

“Argh!” Elena seethed.

 

Reno held his hands up in mock defense. “Oh no! Elena wants to hit us with a brick!”

 

“I should drop kick you both in the head!”

 

“Elena, kick needs to go on the end for it to rhyme, that's the trick!” Reno smirked as he put his arms around her shoulders.

 

With a quick shrug, Elena pushed Reno off of her and glared at him. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly closed it as she pouted and then stormed off.

 

Reno watched bemused by the scene. “Now that's a woman I want to lick.”

 

“You know she'll beat you like a tick.” Rude sighed.

 

“Or like a red neck hick.”

 

Reno and Rude stood staring at each other for a moment before they scratched their heads in an awkward moment.

 

“Maybe we should end this shtick.” Rude suggested.

 

“Yeah, maybe.” Reno sighed. “I can't think of something clever with the word wick.”

 

* * *

 

It was a time of celebration for many differently things: the success of a mission, the start of a new era in the history of the Turks and a time to get completely drunk beyond all capable thought and reasoning. Down in a crowded bar in Junon, the Turks sat together with healed injuries and clean uniforms sharing funny anecdotes about themselves. But the most important reason why they were there was to initiate the four new Turks who recently joined their ranks.

 

“Okay, here's the deal kids, you have to drink one pitcher of beer, one strong mixed drink and take one shot of something hard. Upon completion of these tasks you will become a full fledged Turk.”

 

The Cloud look-a-like raised his hand up and asked, “Hey, I've got a question. Do we have to do it in that order?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“But doesn't beer before liquor make you sicker? I mean, I heard that if you drink liquor before beer, then you're in the clear.”

 

“No more rhymes! No more fucking rhymes!” Elena stood and glared at the blond Turk.

 

Clubs stared back at her in disbelief and gulped deeply. “Sorry, I won't ask anymore questions. Honest.”

 

Reno and Rude shifted uncomfortably in their chair for a moment. Elena gave everyone a deadly glare before sitting back down.

 

“Glad that there's at least one person in this group who can keep you guys in line,” Walter snickered.

 

Elena nodded her head in appreciation at the comment and glared at Reno.

 

Reno loosened the collar on his shirt for a moment before coughing to get everyone's attention. “So, you guys ready for your test?”

 

All four Turks nodded their heads obediently; afraid of what would happen if they invoked the blonde-woman's ire again. And with that the table was filled with many pitchers of beer that were being handed to everyone at the table.

 

“Hey Spades! Want to race?” Clubs held his pitcher of beer close to his lips.

 

Spades stared squarely in the blond-man's eyes. “No.”

 

“Aw, you're no fun.”

 

“Perhaps it's because he's afraid of losing?” Diamonds taunted as he grabbed his own pitcher of beer while Hearts had already started gulping down the amber liquid before anyone had suggested starting the drinking contest.

 

Everyone stared in mild amusement as they saw Spades visibly bristle. “Fine. But don't come whining over to me when I hand you your ass on a silver platter.” The dark haired man sneered before bringing his pitcher close to his lips.

 

Reno eyed the three with a mischievous smirk. “It wouldn't do to leave your superior officer out of the fun now, would it? Hey buddy? Want in?”

 

Rude shook his head and pulled out a camera with a smile.

 

“Ah Rude my man. Brilliant as ever!” Reno grinned. “How about you Elena?”

 

“I completed my test a while back and plan not to retake it. Besides, somebody's gotta make sure you all get home in one piece.” Elena smirked, her mood lightening slightly.

 

“Kids these days,” Walter muttered as he nursed his shot of whiskey.

 

Elena raised her hand up in the air and eyed the men. “Ready boys?” They all shot Elena a nod in affirmation, except for Hearts who was already half-way finished with his pitcher. The only sounds that anyone could hear were the steady gulping noises Hearts made as he drank. Elena paused and then brought her hand down on the table. “Go!”

 

 

A/N: Yes, I've finally completed this chapter. I know that it was long overdue. My real job had been very demanding these past few months. I even had to stay in NYC for three weeks working long hours. Not fun. Also, life in general has been a bit hectic. I found out recently that I'm 7-8 weeks pregnant! There has been much joy and celebration around the house.

 

The next chapter is going to be a tough one to write, but it will feature Tifa, Rufus and Yuffie. I'll try not to take as long to get this one out as I did this last one.

 

Next Chapter: The Candyman.

 

BTW, if there is anyone who thinks I need to up the rating on my story, let me know.