Act Three
Round Two (Payback‘s a Bitch)
Just after 4:45 A.M., the whole Lambda Squad was awakened by a knock on the door. Well, ‘knock’ wasn’t the best word--it was more like an urgent banging.
“Huh..? Wha? Are we under attack?” asked a groggy Nick as he rolled out of bed.
The banging intensified, and was joined by a shout of, “For the love of Shiva, open the damn door!!!”
Robbie, whose bed was closest to the door, quickly stumbled forward and unlocked it as Hannah was sitting up.
Jethro, with hair down, burst into the barrack, pushing past Robbie and the others and coming to stand in front of Hannah’s cot. “You!” He said while pointing at her accusingly. “It was you, wasn’t it?!”
Kosuke groaned and buried his face in his hands. The others were confused.
“Sir, what’s going on?” asked Ash, but Hannah’s chuckle stopped Jethro from explaining.
Knowing full well what he was talking about, she said, “I take he doesn’t like the new look?”
“He’s furious! He’s ready to kill someone, anyone!! You’ve just put all of Junon in danger!!!”
Hannah shrugged. “That’s just too bad. He shouldn’t have insulted me.”
At this point, Aki appeared in the doorway, his hair not in its usual spikes.
“Everyone outside, now!” he ordered.
The twelve male members, still in pajamas, boxers, and other sleeping apparel, quickly filed out of the doorway as instructed, and Jethro followed them to get them lined up. Hannah stood up and stretched, thankful she had slept in the cadet’s uniform. She tried to follow her squad out, but Aki stopped her.
“Before you die, I want an explanation,” he said.
“Where I come from, you don’t get even with someone who crosses you. You do them one better--he insulted me, I humiliate him. That’s the way I do things.”
Aki just shook his head. “You keep telling yourself that if it helps ease the pain of death.”
Hannah shrugged again. “Whatever. You’re the one that asked for an explanation.”
She finally went to join her squad, who were standing at attention on the street outside. She had to suppress a laugh; they looked utterly ridiculous, standing at attention in their pajamas. 'At least no one sleeps in the nude.' She took the leader’s position, the far left. Jiro looked up at her with pleading eyes.
“Hannah-san, what have you done?”
“Nothing I regret doing,” she said confidently.
Aki soon joined Jethro, who was standing in front of the groggy Squad Lambda. Seeing them both, Jamie asked, “Can someone tell us what the hell is going on?”
He was answered by silence. He was getting ready to ask Hannah when Aki looked over to the left.
“Oh, Seph, you’re here…” he said.
The whole squad turned to see and had to cover their mouths so they wouldn’t laugh. Not Hannah, though. She was laughing so hard she was kneeling over.
Sephiroth, now with almost-neon pink hair, approached the squad, saw Hannah laughing, and drew his sword. “I knew it was you!” he hissed menacingly.
“Aw, but you look so adorable!” Hannah mocked. “Pink looks good on you, ‘Sephy’!”
Even Aki and Jethro had to bite back laughter at the nickname. The rest of the Lambda Squad was having difficulty holding it in.
Sephiroth, feeling both humiliated and enraged, growled, “I order you to shut up, Tenofski!”
“Why don’t you fly over here and make me, fairy-boy?” she challenged.
He couldn’t take it anymore. With a shout of anger, he lunged at her, but she sidestepped it.
“Child’s play!” she boasted.
He quickly turned and swung at her, causing the rest of the squad to scatter. She simply did a quick backwards leap and ‘tsked’.
“Pathetic. My grandma could do better blindfolded!” she jeered.
Aki and Jethro ushered Squad Lambda to safety while Sephiroth snarled and fired off a powered-up Firaga at her, which she easily dodged.
“Come now, Sephy, you wouldn’t hit a girl, would you?” Hannah laughed.
She expected the Blizzaga spell he sent next, so she also dodged it.
“…you couldn’t hit a girl…”
The fight continued, Sephiroth attacking in his blind rage and Hannah dodging.
“You can’t keep this up forever!” he shouted.
“Yeah?! Neither can you, pretty boy!”
Suddenly one of Hannah’s back-steps landed her with her back pinned against the brick wall of a building. She shook her head, turned, and dashed down the alley, only to find herself face to face with another brick wall. A dead end…she’d trapped herself. Fuck…
She turned to face him, back to the wall. 'Maybe I could jump over him…no, he’d expect me to try that. Damn! I need a weapon! She scanned the alley, but found nothing--not even trash. Leave it to Shin-Ra to have a perfectly clean town…She had no choice but to wait for a chance to get by him now.
Sephiroth, noticing her predicament, smirked. He began closing in slowly, watching her eyes all the while. He was waiting for the fear to show up in her eyes, waiting for her to begin begging for mercy.
But she never did. Her eyes were still bright with the light of defiance, and she only looked more determined than ever.
He glared at her and said, “Let’s see you dodge this.” He raised his sword and swung.
Before he could finish the swift motion, he heard the sound of metal on metal, and his vision flashed white as a powerful jolt of electricity coursed though his body. It took all he had not to cry out, and, realizing where the shock was coming from, he forced himself to drop his sword. He collapsed to his hands and knees, gasping for air as his vision slowly returned to normal.
A young man with longish spiky red hair that was tied back in a low ponytail now stood in front of Hannah. He was wearing a black suit, but the jacket was open, the shirt was untucked, and the first three buttons were undone. His eyes were the color of the Lifestream, and a pair of goggles rested on his forehead. He had a metal nightstick with a red button on the handle--the infamous Electro-Magnetic Rod (EMR, for short)--in his left hand.
Seeing this, Sephiroth knew what had happened--this man had blocked his sword with the rod and hit the button, which sent a powerful electric shock through his sword to him. And only one person knew how to handle that rod so well.
Reno, the newest member of the Turks.
Reno turned to Hannah. “You okay, Hannah?”
“I’m fine,” she said
“That’s good,” the redhead stated. “I was worried.”
Sephiroth, still too weak to stand, glared up at the Turk. “Reno, you son of a bitch…” he panted.
Reno returned his attention to Sephiroth, shrugging. “Gotta protect our investment,” he said.
“Investment?”
“Who do you think gave the recommendation? Santa Claus?”
Sephiroth knew she must have had help getting here, but he didn’t know it was anyone from the Company. “So, this THING is the Turk’s new pet project?”
The redhead tapped the rod on his shoulder a few times before saying, “Call her what you want. You may not think she’s gonna make it to the top, but Rude, Tseng and I do. That’s why we’re payin’ for her tuition out of our own pockets. It would break our hearts to hear something happened to her, and you know I get violent when I’m depressed…”
“Will you stop tap-dancing and get to the point, Turk?”
“Fine, I will. If you ever try to hurt her again, I’ll crank up the voltage, and I won’t stop after a second or two. I might even use a Water spell beforehand.”
A Turk? Threatening him?! Who did he think he was?! “You wouldn’t dare, Reno. You don’t have the authority.”
“Hmph. Is that so?” Reno walked over to the downed Sephiroth and kicked him hard in the stomach to knock him over. He pinned the First Class SOLDIER to the ground and aimed the EMR at his heart.
“One little jolt,” the Turk said in a low voice. “One small shock right here,” he poked Sephiroth in the heart with the tip of the rod, “Is all is would take. They would blame it on a heart attack caused by stress and pressure. Now tell me again…” Reno pressed the button, and sparks began to run up and down the rod, filling the air with a low, steady hum. “That I ‘don’t have the authority‘.”
Sephiroth, knowing the redhead was right, kept silent.
Reno smirked. “That’s what I thought.” He stood up and released Sephiroth, also letting go of the button. The humming died away, and Reno turned to Hannah again.
“Mind if I walk you back to your barracks?”
“It’s just a block or two. I can manage,” she said.
Reno gave her the ‘puppy dog eyes’. “Please, Hannah? Humor me?”
Hannah laughed at the face, then said, “Alright, if you insist.”
The Turk held out his hand. “Shall we, then?”
Hannah took his hand (albeit hesitantly) and they walked past Sephiroth (who was just now standing up) to the entrance of the alley. That’s when Reno seemed to remember something.
“Oh, Sephiroth, by the way…” He turned to face the SOLDIER. “I love the color job, yo. Pink really suits you.”
- - - - -
Reno settled down into the computer chair in his Junon apartment to begin typing up his report.
I’ll just make it short and sweet. Not much to say anyway.
‘Day three of “Mission: Guard”.’
He paused to find a simple way to say what he had to, then began to type again.
‘Morning hour, approximately 0600 hours. Subject attacked by SOLDIER id no. 000190. Forced to intervene. Reasons for the attack are currently unknown, but the possibility of revenge for a prank is strong, as 000190 now has an unnatural hair color. Didn’t have opportunity to question either the subject or SOLDIER 000190.’
Reno stopped, wondering if that was enough to satisfy Tseng. HOLY, I hope so… He stretched. I hate writing reports…
Tseng had been forcing him to type all of his reports recently, complaining about his ‘chocobo scratch’ handwriting. Wonder why it matters now. He’s never cared before…
But he already knew why. Tseng had to call in a lot of favors and make a few threats to get Hannah into the Academy. Now, because of that, the higher-ups in the Company were putting a huge amount of pressure on him to make sure putting her in was a wise choice. And when his boss was under pressure, Reno was under pressure.
Praying the paragraph was enough, he saved it, emailed it to Tseng (a.k.a. [email protected]/Administrative_Research) and went to flop onto the couch. If today was any indication, his job was gonna be a lot harder from now on.
MEANWHILE…
Ping!
“You’ve. Got. Mail,” the desktop computer’s voice droned.
“Hmm? An email this early? I wonder what this could be about…” a man with long black hair said to one of his superiors over the speaker phone.
“It probably concerns the girl. The word here in the remote headquarters is that she made quite a splash in Junon,” the gravelly, cold-sounding voice said monotonously.
“Is that a positive or negative thing?” the one with black hair asked as he opened his email program. He saw that it was from Reno (a.k.a. [email protected]/Administrative_Research), meaning it had to be about the maroon-haired Amazon, as he called her.
“For us? A positive thing. For the rest of the Company?…Time will tell. Well, Tseng, what has happened that warrants an email at approximately 0600 hours?”
Tseng was quiet as he read Reno’s report, then groaned, “Of all the worst possible enemies for her to make…She‘s gotten on SOLDIER I.D. Number 000190‘s bad side. He‘s already tried to kill her, and she hasn‘t even been there a full three days yet!.”
“So our predictions were correct. We figured she would rub Hojo’s greatest accomplishment the wrong way--they’re far too similar to be able to get along.”
“Similar? I was under the impression that Sephiroth was one of a kind.”
“He was supposed to be…That’s why she must become a part of the Company’s military force; she’s too dangerous to let roam the world. What would’ve happened if we had let her get away that day in the Gongaga Jungle? She would’ve resented us for what we had done to that little nameless village, and she would’ve found a resistance group to join. Could you imagine a resistance group with another Sephiroth in their midst? The Company would fall in a heartbeat, and you know it as well as I.”
“So…you weren’t exaggerating when you told me she could become Sephiroth’s equal with enough training and discipline.”
“Tseng, you’ve known me since the day you got off the boat from Wutai with dreams of making it big in Midgar. Have I ever exaggerated?”
Tseng gave a miniscule smile at the memories. “No, sir, you have not.”
“Good. Now, back to our previous conversation…Can your redhead handle things all by himself?”
“I believe him capable, sir. Otherwise, I would not have chosen him for the task.”
“That may be so, Tseng, but now that Hannah has crossed Sephiroth, it might be wise to allow me to send one of my comrades to assist him.”
“…Perhaps you’re right. Which comrade of yours do you have in mind?”
After a moment of silence, which Tseng assumed to be thought, his superior responded, “Ice. He knows what he’s doing, and he won’t stick out too much in a town like Junon.”
“As you wish…Reaper.”
- - - - -
Sephiroth punched the wall of his friends’ private quarters again, reopening the cuts on his knuckles for the umpteenth time. “That little punk…the nerve to threaten ME…” he hissed in anger.
“Please calm down, Seph,” Aki pleaded. “You have to remember that, even though you could kick his ass any day of the week, he’s higher up on the food chain than you are.”
“And because the Turks and Ifrit-knows-who-else is investing their time and money on her, Hannah may as well be considered higher-ranking too. If something did happen to her, they would have every right to kill you,” Jethro said.
Sephiroth rolled his eyes in frustration and punched the wall yet again.
“C’mon, it’ll wash out eventually…” Aki said soothingly, putting a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“That’s not what’s bothering me anymore, Aki…” Sephiroth said quietly, calming down a little.
After a few minutes of silence, Jethro got a look on his face that would have been perfect for a cartoonist to stick a light bulb over. “…Do her one better.”
“Come again?”
Aki caught on to what Jethro was saying.
“Get her back! I mean, more than one can play her game, right?!”
“Yeah! You may not be allowed to break her body…”
Comprehension dawned on Sephiroth’s face. “…But I CAN break her spirit! I’ve got to find a way to humiliate her more than she humiliated me!”
“That’s the idea. The only question is how.”
There was another silence, broken only by the occasional sounds of construction and repair to the street outside. Hearing these sounds gave Sephiroth an idea, and a wicked smile slowly spread across his face.
“Uh-oh. I know that look. What’re you plotting?”
His smile only widened. “Just wait and see.”
- - - - -
Hannah, after explaining the ‘miracle’ of her survival to the rest of her squad, flopped onto her cot, rubbing her growling stomach to silence it.
“Guys, can we go get some breakfast? I’m starving.”
“Hang on a sec. You expect us to believe that the Turks came and rescued you?” Kosuke said skeptically.
“Turks?” She sat up, looking confused. “Odd. Reno and his friends don’t strike me as being from Turkey…”
“No, that’s just their nickname…And where on Gaia is this ‘Turkey’?” Ivan asked.
“Never mind, Ivan. Why is it so hard to believe that Reno came and helped me?”
“Because he’s a Turk. Unless…” Mitch trailed off.
Robbie gasped, “Unless they scouted you as a hopeful?!”
“If saving their butts from a couple of Ghagigandhis counts as them scouting me, then yes, they scouted me. Can we pleeeeeaaaaase drop it and go get something to eat?”
“But that wouldn’t have been enough proof of her potential…” Ash pointed out.
“That’s very true…” Jamie agreed.
“Hey, don’t ignore me!” Hannah whined.
“Then what could’ve happened to make the Turks take such an interest in her?” Natori asked.
Hannah couldn’t take it anymore. “Fine! You all want to know what happened?! I rescued Reno and his buddy Rude, then went and saved a village from a bunch of weird people, those weird people said I was special or something like that, and their leader Reaper called the leader of the Turks and told him that I was worthy to be in the Academy! There!!! Now for Bahamut’s sake can we get something to eat?!?!”
Her squad went dead silent and stared at her.
“…What name did you just say?” Jiro whispered fearfully.
“Um…Reaper?”
All of the men drew back, as if in terror.
“What? What the hell is up with you guys?”
“You don’t know who he is, either? He’s the commander of this super-secret unit called PRIME. If you survived an encounter with PRIME, it’s no wonder the Turks took an interest in you.”
“PRIME? I don’t know anything about that. I just know that all that was left of their group was the officers by the time I was done with them.”
They gasped in shock. “YOU defeated PRIME’s troops AND survived an encounter with its officers?! What the hell ARE you?!?!” Ash asked in awe.
Hannah looked a little sad. “I wish I knew…I don’t know why everyone thinks I’m so damned special…the rest of my family is just like me. Sure, I’m a little more outgoing and a tad more aggressive than they are, but still…I don’t get why I’m considered a freak for being able to do the things I do…”
Instantly the others regretted bringing up the subject.
“Aww, Hannah…We didn’t mean to make you sad…” Nick said in a rare moment of coherence.
“The crazy dude’s right. We’re just surprised and happy that you lived, that’s all, “ Robbie said reassuringly.
“One…one of us…” D.J. slurred.
“……Thanks, you guys. So, what is so special about this PRIME thing?”
“All we know for sure is that they’re superhuman and uber-tough. The rest is a mystery,” Mitch explained.
Hannah was about to ask another question when her stomach growled loudly, reminding her and everyone else of her hunger.
‘Let’s get you some breakfast, Hannah,’ Seto wrote on his notepad.
“Yeah…Yeah, let’s do that,” she said, smiling.
- - - - -
The darkness of the night once again blanketed the port city of Junon. A figure crept towards the barracks of the Lambda Squad, making not a sound. The figure kept stopping to stir the substance in the bucket he carried under his arm. When the figure reached the door, he brushed his once-silver-and-now-pink hair out of his face, then he focused and cast Sleepel on the whole building. When he was certain that all the occupants were asleep, he opened the door and slipped inside.
His target wasn’t hard to find; Her shock of maroon hair contrasted well with her white pillows. He stirred the substance once more and walked over to her.
Payback time, bitch, he thought as he popped his knuckles. It was time to get to work.
- - - - -
The next morning, Hannah awoke feeling lightheaded, dizzy, and nauseous. Some sort of foul-smelling fume was making her sick.
“What the fuck…?”
Everyone else was stirring awake. Robbie, as usual, was the first one out of bed. He was in the middle of saying his daily “Good morning!” to Hannah when he saw that something was terribly wrong.
“Oh, Hannah, your hair…”
“What…about…my hair?” she said, still feeling ill.
Ash was the next one to see her.
“Is that…Is that tar?!”
Hannah reached up and felt where her hair was supposed to be. It was sticky and semi-solid. She collected some of the sticky stuff on her fingers and brought it to her face so she could examine it.
It was, indeed, black road tar.
She smiled.
“Well done, Sephy. I fully acknowledge you as a worthy opponent, now that you know my game. However…” Her eyes narrowed into the death glare that was becoming her signature action. “…This means war.”
