CHAPTER 30
Tseng's hair flowed behind him almost like a small cape as he strutted down the obnoxiously bright hallway of the fifty-eighth floor. His dress shoes tapped against the green tiles quietly, though still too loudly for his taste. He turned a corner to his left, went halfway down the hall, and nonchalantly opened the door to the men's bathroom.
The blood, vomit, and bits of excrement which covered and surrounded the unconscious form of Johnny was such a shock that it took a moment for all of it to register. The Wutainese Turk blinked, stared at his new underling for a moment longer, then quickly vacated the small washroom and bolted for the security control area.
He flashed out his key card and attempted to swipe it and then charge into the security room all in one motion, but only managed to slam himself into the unmoving doors. Falling hard onto his behind and putting a hand to his nose -which he almost broke- Tseng then observed what he hadn't before: that the card-swipe mechanism had been destroyed and lay in pieces on the floor.
"Clever bastards," Tseng muttered to himself. Not bothering to check if the metal portal could be forced open, the Turk leader made a mad dash for the tube elevators. He had to get to the President's office and warn him of an impending threat.. Hopefully it wouldn't be too late... Unfortunately for him, one elevator was currently being used and going up away from him, and the other one didn't seem to be working. Not bothering to wait, he charged towards the normal elevators to go up to the next floor, and from there could take the stairs...
***
The twin elevator doors opened before the seven companions, revealing the obscenely pristine office of President Shinra. The metal floors which were polished to the point where they were as reflective as a mirror, the twisting pillars made of pure gold, the centuries-old artwork on the walls... None of which mattered because the only thing Zack and company noticed were the roughly three dozen Military Policemen pointing their rifles at them from the other side of the room.
"Come on out," President Shinra's voice echoed from an unseen location. "Though I hope you will appreciate a simple request; that is, drop your weapons and Materia on the way in."
Everyone's minds raced for some kind of alternate solution. However, the hopelessness of the situation had been pretty much clenched as several guards activated laser-light aiming devices and pointed them at AVALANCHE, making it quite clear by the multitude of red dots on their bodies that if they were told to fire, there wouldn't be much left of the heroes after a few seconds.
Zack held his sword down in one hand and slowly, cautiously walked into the office. There were another dozen or so MPs to the left about twenty feet away, behind the stairwells, making about fifty of them all together. He glanced off to his right -as several troops warily approached him and grabbed his sword- which was where he saw the bloated old goat of a man known as President Shinra. Zack didn't resist as his armlet was taken from him as well, and peacefully put his hands up and marched to the other end of the room, not taking his glowing, dark-blue eyes off of the president's own sunken-in blue orbs for even a moment.
Dyne walked in next, causing the majority of the MPs to target him. He very slowly looked around, and was told by one MP to, "Put the gun down, now!"
"It's kind of attached," the AVALANCHE leader lamented.
"Well, lose the ammunition, then!"
Dyne lowered his eyes and slowly took out the clip from its place as a few guards came up behind him and forcibly removed the ammo-belts he had hanging over his shoulders. He then put his arms up and followed Zack without having to be prompted.
The others followed suit, dropping their possessions or handing them to guards as they entered. Nanaki had resumed his humanoid form and placed the jumpsuit back on. He was the last one in, following Jessie, Aeris, Cloud and Tifa. They all stood before a large, computerized desk, which was set as a semicircle in the back of the room, flanked by twenty-foot-tall windows overlooking half of Midgar. Sitting behind it was Shinra, who stood up to meet his enemies face-to-face.
The pudgy, wrinkled man slowly strutted over, his cane supporting most of his weight as he traversed the room over to where Dyne stood. "Well, well, Mister Jackman, we meet again."
Dyne remained silent as he stared down at that horrible, miserable little waste of space. Shinra glanced at the others, and a slightly bemused expression came across his face. "Well, the rumors were true... you DO have some of my precious SOLDIERs in your ranks..." He took a few steps closer to Zack and looked up at him. "Tell me, what was your name and rank?"
"Anderson, Zack; SOLDIER, First-Class," the raven haired AVALANCHE member answered obediently, giving the President a hateful glare.
"Aah, yes," the President replied, his memory coming to him. "I remember you now. Hello, Mister Anderson!"
"Hey, leave the witty movie references to me!"
"... I have no clue what you are talking about. Moving on..." Shinra said as he walked towards Cloud, eyeing Tifa briefly as he passed her. "Tell me, what was your name and rank?"
"uh... -ahem- Strife, Cloud; SOLDIER, uh... F..first-Class!" the blonde tried to say with as much confidence as possible.
Shinra blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Odd, I make it a point to remember everyone who makes First Class. Yet, I don't seem to recall having ever met you before."
Tifa and Dyne glanced over at Cloud, who gulped when he noticed them doing this. "W-well, i-i-it's not my fault you have Alzheimer's, now is it?!" he defended desperately.
A fireball of hate erupted inside of Shinra, but he kept his outward composure, simply staring at the young man who was just over equal height -or lack thereof.
"Let them all go!" Dyne suddenly insisted, breaking the momentary silence. "It's me you want, and..."
"And nothing," the President responded. "I have you all right where I want you. Besides, I'd be remiss if I let HER go," he finished, looking over to Aeris.
"What do you want with me?" Aeris asked, though somewhat rhetorically.
"Simple," the aging man began to explain, "As an Ancient, you can lead me to the legendary Promised Land."
"Ancient?!" Nanaki mused aloud, looking inquisitively at Aeris. "You mean, you're a..."
"'Cetra' is the word you're looking for," Shinra interrupted. "That's what they called themselves, anyway. They inhabited this planet long ago, though now they are all but a forgotten page in history."
"I knew that," the boy responded flatly. "But I also know that the Promised Land doesn't really exist; your efforts here are futile."
"Of course it exists. The proof is right here!"
"She's a person. Just because her lineage developed a legend doesn't make her existence evidence of it being true."
"Isn't 'The Promised Land' a whorehouse on Bakers street in Sector Four?" Jessie quipped.
Zack was visibly trying to resist laughing. "Good one, Jess!"
"Ah well, even if it IS just a legend," Shinra replied with a shrug, "it's far too appealing not to pursue."
"Why do you want it so bad?!" Dyne demanded to know.
"Simple. It is rumored that the Promised Land is highly fertile. And if the land is fertile..."
"You mean you're only after more Mako?!"
"Correct. If the legends are even half true, once we set up our money-making Mako reactors there, they'll provide so much raw power that we might as well be extracting money itself from the planet."
Suddenly, a series of rapid footsteps could be heard ascending the stairs. "SIR," came Tseng's panicked voice. "We have an emergency situation, there's been a break-in and..."
The AVALANCHE members turned around to see the Turk stop dead in his tracks at the sight of all of them having already been captured.
"You're a little slow on the uptake today, aintchya?" Zack zinged.
"Tseng," the President said dryly. "Everything's under control. Why don't you go back into your closet, hm?"
This drew a few mean-spirited chuckles from a number of the MPs and a few of the AVALANCHE members as well.
"Hey, I don't deserve to be treated like this!" Tseng defended, pointing at the most powerful man in the world as though he were anyone else, "I finally captured Aeris," and at that he quickly glanced at the woman in question, but then continued. "I exposed the mole in our midst, I..."
Hojo's voice then echoed from a shadowy corner, catching all present by surprise as he walked into the light. "You've done nothing whatsoever to warrant any sort of respect. Between taking nine years to get over your pedophilisitic crush to finally do your JOB, and exposing someone who everyone ELSE already knew was a traitor, I can't see why you're even still allowed to waste precious oxygen."
"As much as I detest him, I gotta agree that No-Mojo-Hojo's got ya there," Zack teased.
"You shut up!" Tseng retorted, taking a swing at the wise-cracking AVALANCHE member, who dodged the attack.
Tseng swung again, though this time Zack caught his fist and kept it. The MPs raised their weapons, but the president waved them off. The Turk tried to kick up into his adversary's groin, but the former SOLDIER buckled his knees together, blocking the incoming foot and holding onto it with his legs. Tseng blinked and tried attacking with his free arm, but it too was captured. By this time, the two rivals looked fairly awkward, one having both his arms and a leg restrained by the other.
"Let me go!" Tseng demanded.
"Or else what, you're gonna cry?"
"Both of you," Shinra spoke. "Stand down. Tseng, that's a order."
"Zack," Dyne confirmed.
"Awww," both participants whined, letting each other go.
"Tseng, you're dismissed," Shinra ordered, turning his attention to AVALANCHE as the Turk leader stormed down the stairwell, muttering to himself. "Now then, where were we? Ah yes, Hojo, would you like to take the Ancient back to your lab?"
"Unfortunately, the lab equipment inside was heavily damaged," Hojo explained, glaring at Zack. "In addition, the whole place itself seems to be a mess. We both saw the fight on your view screen and how much blood was spilled. I suppose I should have thought of that sooner, before releasing Howlette, but ah well. And speaking of which..."
Hojo stepped up in front of Cloud with an enraged look on his face. "You killed him... you have NO CLUE how long it took to... argh, forget it, you're not worth my anger, you... you... pathetic little thing!"
"Talk about the pot and the kettle," Cloud muttered. Hojo clenched his fist and stared at the former soldier eye-to-eye. Then something began to click in the back of his mind.
"Hmm... you look... familiar," Hojo mused.
"And you smell familiar. What, do you live in a dumpster or something?"
Hojo's beady, slightly slanted eyes went as wide as they could go as he arched backwards in shock. He balled-up his bony, shaking fist as his mind raced for an equally insulting retort. However, none came to him. "You... you're not worth my time!" the irate scientist snarled as he proceeded hastily towards the stairs. Upon reaching the carpeted steps, he spun back around and addressed Shinra. "You can put her in the jail with the others until the cleaning and repair of the lab is complete!" he half-ordered, answering the president's earlier query.
"And speaking of which," the rotund, older man started, "that concludes our meeting..."
"Oooh no, you don't!" Dyne challenged. "You've got a lot to answer for!"
"Oh, now what did I ever do to you?"
The AVALANCHE leader scowled, taking a step forward, prompting several MPs to train their guns on him, which, in turn, caused Dyne to take pause. Shinra glared up at the taller man in amusement, twirling his jewel-encrusted walking stick. He eyed the golden pendant around Dyne's neck, and in a surprisingly quick movement snatched the medallion with his cane and tore it from its owner, breaking the clasp and sending gold beads spilling all over the floor. Dyne instinctively went to make a grab for his sacred possession, but several sets of arms belonging to MPs held him back. President Shinra inspected the amulet in his hands, discovering a latch on the side. He opened it, revealing two photographs: On the left was a portrait of a beautiful, dark-haired woman whose complexion was on the lighter side. She had large, almond-shaped blue-green eyes which stared out of her portrait prison and at the viewer with an almost enticing gaze, which was accentuated by a warm smile. The other picture was of Dyne (who had two hands) and the woman, flashing smiles and holding a baby girl between them.
"What is this, now?" Shinra mused a bit rhetorically.
"That's what you took from me," the one-armed man scowled angrily. "And it's what you've taken from countless others. Do you hear me, Shinra?!"
The smaller man seemed unfazed by Dyne's emotional outburst. "Well, it looks like history is about to repeat itself, in a manner of speaking. I think I'll keep this," he calmly pointed out, pocketing the small treasure.
"HEY, GIVE THAT BACK!" Dyne yelled out, reaching for the President. The MPs held him back, but struggled against the AVALANCHE leader's adrenaline-and-hate-fueled strength. He thrashed around, and just as the others were about to follow his lead and start a fight, Dyne felt the butt of a gun smack into the back of his head. For the split second he was able to remain conscious, he locked a hateful gaze on Shinra, and then passed out. The MPs quickly turned towards the rest of AVALANCHE, guns ready.
"Show some decorum, ROCKSLIDE. You've already trashed Hojo's lab, would you wish to turn my office into a war-zone as well? Please remember that you're 'guests' here," Shinra commented.
"It's AVALANCHE," Tifa defended bitterly.
"Whatever," the older man replied with a nonchalant shrug. He turned around and started hobbling back towards his desk. "Get them out of here," he ordered his men. Two MPs picked Dyne up, while the others motioned to the remaining six intruders to start marching down the stairs. Before they were able to comply though, Shinra addressed them once more. "Oh, and if there's anything else, talk to my secretary."
"I would," Zack commented as he turned around, "but it's not polite to tell a lady to 'go fuck yourself up your fat, bloated ass'!"
Several MPs turned to Shinra, expecting him to give the order to fire. He maintained a neutral expression as he stated, "Like the last, defiant cry of an animal when it knows it's beaten. How charming and fitting. Now get out of my sight or I'll have you thrown out the window."
On the way down the scarlet-colored, carpeted steps and into the gargantuan -yet empty- reception area, the group passed by the aforementioned secretary's desk. Behind it was a young woman, no older than 20, with medium-length strawberry blonde hair and dark-tanned skin. Her clothes were one size too small, showing off a rather impressive body. The thought that she was less of a secretary and more just a piece of eye candy (and who knows what else) for Shinra was unanimous among AVALANCHE. Zack stopped marching and leaned on the large, polished, wooden counter. He eyed a large painting on the wall which seemed like nothing more than a series of shapes. Tapping his fingernails upon the desk, he diverted the girl's attention away from her 24-inch flat screen computer monitor...
"Hi, I'd like to file a complaint..."
Though before he could say much more, an MP smacked Zack between the shoulder-blades with the backside of his rifle, "Keep movin'!"
"But the President said..."
"He was being sarcastic. Now march!"
"I thought you guys didn't talk?"
The guard held the business end of his weapon up to Zack's face and loaded a fresh round by pulling back on a lever on the side of the gun, just for show. The former SOLDIER narrowed his eyes, and begrudgingly turned around to keep marching.
"This is SO going in my complaint!"
***
Confusion. Insecurity. Not life, but not death? Swirling and stretching and state of discomboblement. Faster and slower, stronger and weaker as lightness and dark both consume at once...
So.. they defeated Serval as predicted... Well, Cloud did. They were supposed to be stronger than this... perhaps we've made a miscalculation?
Bubble, boil, turmoil and trouble!
No, I see no reason to stop or intervene further. Though things have been going mostly to plan, I am not comfortable with these minor variances which we have been unable to predict or control. We shall continue to observe.
Without our crystal, our eyes are blind!
... Regardless, we've made these alterations, it is up to them to make the right choices with what they've been dealt. Well, "right" in the sense that they continue to ignorantly play into my hands....