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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 11, 2006 6:01:26 GMT
Ami let out a weird noise somewhere between a grunt and a shriek as she was propelled slightly backwards. She planted a foot behind her to regain her balance.
Ami's family yelled in fear as the window shattered, sending shards of glass flying at them. Reno shook some glass out of his hair and took a second to wave at them awkwardly before getting back into the action. "Yo, dude... don't you know hitting girls isn't NICE?!" He aimed an EMR blow right between his former teammate's shoulder blades.
Rude wavered up to his feet. "Son of a..."
He barreled towards Tseng, a largish piece of the shattered window in his hand...
Ami recovered and stepped backwards slightly, her swords in a block position, leaving room for Reno to follow through on his attack. "Hot, flaming d**n... so you're the one who killed the scientists." I can't even remember them anymore... I was only a baby. "So it's a Turk's job, is it, to slaughter children?"
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 11, 2006 6:07:43 GMT
"Its a Turk's job to do what the boss says to do... Slaughtering children isnt exactly my cup of tea... but its my job sometimes."
Tseng ducked forward with mere inches to spare between him and the EMR in Reno's grip, then front-flipped away from Reno, coming up to a standing position immediately when Rude reached him and slashed wildly with the shard of glass. Tseng felt the breeze of the shard in front of his face as he recoiled back from it. Then the shard sliced him across the arm, ripping through his jacket and cutting his skin slightly below.
"Oh now you did it Rude... You messed up the suit!"
Tseng spun around to fake-out Rude and then upper-cutted him square in the jaw before turning his attention back to Reno and Ami.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 11, 2006 6:13:14 GMT
Rude went down like a sack of bricks.
Reno and Ami looked at each other. "This is bad, right?" Ami asked.
Reno nodded. "Uh-huh."
Reno pulled back his EMR. "Let's go, Fearless Leader!" He rushed him, EMR cutting a path through the air for Tseng's head. Ami was on his heels, her swords held in preparation to strike.
"So you wanna throw down... with the girl who smoked the Nightmare?" Ami smirked. "GAME ON!"
Rude sat up, head spinning. Those crazy kids are gonna get themselves killed... He started to push himself up...
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 11, 2006 6:17:26 GMT
Tseng reacted quickly, drawing another EMR rod and swinging it hard into Reno's, deflecting the strike, then using the other to block Ami's first sword strike, then back-flipped away from them, his foot connecting with Reno's jaw as he went. Tseng landed on top of the car and kicked the side mirror off it's place on the car, sending it flying right at Ami's face.
"Whats wrong baldy?" Tseng taunted Rude as he slowly got to his feet. "Getting a bit too old for this?"
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 11, 2006 6:33:14 GMT
Ami's family shrieked as the roof dented slightly inward. Lana made a move to get out of the car, but her father pulled her back... the last thing he wanted was his other daughter in the middle of this battle.
Ami turned away from the mirror, just barely in time to avoid getting a black eye. The mirror bounced off the crown of her head, leaving a gash behind. She snagged the mirror as it fell and threw it illegal spitball style back at Tseng before springing towards him, gaining the hood of the car and swinging at his feet.
Reno, knocked off balance, turned as he fell to catch himself before he could slam face first into the pavement. "Owie, he give me a boo-boo," he whined sarcastically to his partner.
Rude got up, his younger partner not far behind. "Contrarily, I'm in my prime," Rude rumbled irritably. He moved in on Tseng, his fist balled up to strike, with Reno right behind...
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 11, 2006 6:40:24 GMT
Tseng chuckled and did some fancy footwork, avoiding the strikes at his feet from Ami, then flipped off the roof of the car, putting the vehicle in between him, Reno and Rude. Tseng tackled Ami's knees from behind, bringing her down onto the hood. He then quickly drew a small knife from his belt, slicing off a few strands of hair before leaping away from her and shooting them all a fake salute.
"Pleasure seeing you all again... Till next time!"
Suddenly, Tseng drew a device about the size of a clock radio from his jacket and pressed a red button on top.
"The finest in Shinra technology."
He tossed the bomb into the air and it detonated, sending acrid smoke and bombarding the others with sonic booms. The entire area was totally shrouded by smoke and the heroe's found themselves deaf for a few moments. As the smoke cleared, the group thought they could hear a car start up and screech away.... When all was clear, Tseng, the car and Elena were gone.
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Post by mistervillainman on Oct 11, 2006 6:54:50 GMT
Back at Shinra's new headquarters, a shadowy figure sat behind an ornate desk as a few straggling workers completed their duties. Tseng entered the office, his arm freshly bandaged.
"What did you find?" the figure at the desk inquired.
"Well I have a sample of her DNA so we can be sure of who she REALLY is... and I picked up that insurance policy you wanted as well."
The figure nodded, grinning. "Her family is secure then?"
"Yes sir, and Elena is recovering downstairs as well."
The figure barely even heard the last part, he nodded and waved Tseng away.
"There is one more thing sir... Reno and Rude were trying to inhibit our actions."
The figure turned his chair, passing into the light, revealing the face of Rufus Shinra. "Well... Then they'll need to be dealt with accordingly wont they?" He said, interlocking his fingers on the desktop.
Tseng nodded, then turned and headed out of the office. When he was gone, Rufus got out of his chair and looked out the large window behind the desk. Gazing down at the shadow of his new building. Shinra would soon be back to its days of glory... And if his former employees stood in the way... So be it. Rufus had known about the two agents' treasonous actions before today, but this incident just cemented his resolve... They would not escape this with their lives.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 11, 2006 6:56:35 GMT
Rude twisted a finger in his ear. "D**n..."
"WHAT?!" Reno asked at ten times his normal volume.
Rude blinked. "I said..."
"WHAT?!"
Rude gave up. "I coughed."
Reno nodded. "OK!!!"
Reno looked around-- nothing to even show Tseng had been there but some shattered glass. Ami, closest to Tseng when the sonic bomb went off, had been knocked off her feet and knocked out cold.
He went over to her and nudged her, still speaking too loudly. "Hey, kid?!"
She stirred uneasily.
Reno shrugged. "Got any smelling salts on ya, partner?!"
Ami's eyes shot open. "Oh, my G**!" she screamed, sitting bolt upright. "He's got my family!"
Reno turned back to her... she'd bawled that out loud enough for him to hear it clearly the first time. "Whoa, Ami..."
"Don't 'Whoa Ami' me! You know Shinra-- they'll do anything to them if they think..." She began shaking. "My G**... this is all my fault." Water started collecting in her eyes.
Reno knelt and took her by the shoulders, prepared to shake some sense into her if need be. "Calm down... we're gonna get them back."
Ami looked up at him, the first tears falling. "We... as in, you're going to help me?"
Reno shrugged again. "Sure, kid. Why not. Stick it to the Man, yo."
She hugged him.
He wasn't sure quite how to respond to that. "Easy, girl... I thought you were already spoken for."
A constricted laugh forced itself out of her chest. She took a deep, rattling breath as she stood. "Yeah, I am... but... thank you."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Anytime. If it gets up Rufus Shinra's a**... anytime, yo."
Rude sighed with relief. The old Reno is back.
Ami reassumed her take-charge attitude. "Let's regroup the others, and then we can talk strategy."
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 11, 2006 21:58:33 GMT
About twenty minutes later, Ami and the former Turks had retrieved the rest of the team and brought them up to Ami's house. Naturally, Tseng had been careful enough to lock the door behind him, but fortunately, Ami remembered where the spare key was hidden.
She turned over a largish rock in the back garden. "Right here we are." Ami unlocked the door and escorted her friends inside. "Make yourselves at home... this is my place."
Reno looked around as he followed her in. A pretty average country home-- couches in the living room arranged around the TV/video game area, a dining room/kitchen area with a computer desk against the wall, several paintings of innocuous objects hung on the walls.
Ami tossed a black garbage bag at him, one of the things she'd salvaged from the garage at Fort Condor. It seemed to be stuffed with clothes. "You and Rude can pick something to wear out of that... If you aren't working for Shinra anymore, you may as well dress the part. And speaking of which... I'm going to have a quick change before we decide on our next move. We probably shouldn't stay here too long... your old buddies might just come back." Ami headed down a hallway to what had presumably her room once.
Reno contemplated the bag. Huh... new threads. Maybe this Ami chick has a better head on her shoulders than I thought.
He dragged the bag over to Nikky and Rude. "Hey, guys, check out what our favorite remnant left us."
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 12, 2006 0:22:40 GMT
nikky looked at it and blinked. she had to snap back to reality after talking with kamen for so long.... she hesitated to say anything about it, for fear of getting yelled at. she tried to hide a worry and anxiousness as she nodded and smiled at reno.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 12, 2006 1:04:23 GMT
Ami walked into her old room, and memories flooded in on her. Everything was still just the way she'd left it, in spite of... or perhaps because of... her sister's joint occupation of the place.
It even still smelled the same. Here was where she'd kept her helmet, the one Raja broke... here was where she hung her jacket, now replaced by another after battling Jenova... And there was a picture of her first crush, a boy about as deep as a puddle compared to Squall...
Ami sighed. Your family needs you now. Just focus on the job at hand and worry about the rest later.
She got a black tank top out of her top dresser drawer, black capri pants, and a long black skirt to go over them. A slightly impractical outfit, but she was going for effect here... because the next phase in her plan would require all the effect she could muster...
She checked out her face, covered with dust, mud, and blood. Needs washing. And my hair could really use some work. She crossed into the bathroom at the end of the hall.
****
Reno grinned back as he dug into the bag. "Lemme see what we got to work with..." A pair of jeans. Okay. Wool blue jacket. Also okay. A T-shirt... got something written on the front... "Somebody went to Junon and all I got was this c***y T-shirt." Now that's more like it!
"I'm gonna try this stuff out, okay?" He tossed the bag over to Rude. "Your turn, yo."
Rude gave the contents of the bag a once over as Reno headed for the nearest empty room. Nothing in there really appealed to him, but he figured he might at least find something that fit. He tried to avoid remembering the garage Ami had found this stuff in, and tried equally hard to not think of what had happened to the previous owner of these clothes...
He dug out a few things and handed the bag over to Nikky. "Your go."
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 12, 2006 1:11:41 GMT
nikky took the bag slowly and blinked at it. ''um... okay.'' O.o she looked through. she tried to block out an odd pang in her mind.
reno and rude felt it too. just a small helpless pang... almost a weak plea.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 12, 2006 1:25:46 GMT
Reno stopped right before he could turn the doorknob of the utility room. He turned back to Nikky. "Did you..."
He stopped himself and tried to shrug it off. "Never mind, I think all this action lately is getting to me or something..."
"Then it must be getting to both of us," Rude suggested.
Reno faced his partner. "You felt it too?"
****
Ami emerged from the bathroom, har face cleaned up and her hair pulled back, two delicate braids forming a kind of circlet around her head. "A Tap," she announced. "One of us is being Tapped by someone."
Reno and Rude turned to her-- and both did a double take. They'd never seen her look so... well, effeminate. From the second they'd run into her, she'd had a "warrior princess" attitude about her, but now she looked more ready for a school dance than a battle with an evil corporate entity.
Rude shook his head as if to clear it. "Who?"
Ami looked at Nikky. "My psychic powers are all but gone, yet the signal coming from you was too strong to escape notice. Someone is calling you for help."
Reno approached Nikky, slightly unnerved. "Who is it?"
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Post by *~Nikkole~* on Oct 12, 2006 1:28:41 GMT
nikky stared at all of them before getting a shocked and almost horrified look. she gasped and bolted out of the house. she slid up her sleeve and touched her skin. ''kamen!!!'' she screamed. after a few deathly silent moments a limp and cloaked form flopped on the ground. she stared. ''oh no...''
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Oct 12, 2006 1:40:42 GMT
Ami charged out after her. "I have definite rules about telepaths flopping on my front lawn," she began, but she fell silent when she saw the shape Kamen was in. "Holy c**p..."
Reno was right on Ami's heels. "Oh, sheez..." He stepped out in front of the girls. "Stay back..."
"No, Reno, it's not a trick! He was the one calling for help!" Ami protested.
Reno turned back to her, looking puzzled and not a little tense. "You gotta be s***ing me, yo!"
Rude stepped out on the porch, ready to intervene if need be.
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