"I feel uptight when I walk in the city I feel so cold when I'm at home Feels like everything's starting to hit me I lost bed ten minutes ago Modern guilt I'm staring at nothing Modern guilt I'm under lock and key It's not what I have changed, Turning into convention Don't know what I've done but I feel ashamed Standing outside the glass room sidewalk These people talk about impossible things And I'm falling down the conversations Another palm beats into you Modern guilt is all in our hands Modern guilt won't get me to bed Say what you will Smoking my cigarette Don't know what I've done but I feel afraid" Modern Guilt by Beck Yuffie ducked as a shoe sailed over her head, her arms held up before her ready to block Yuffie ducked as a shoe sailed over her head, her arms held up before her ready to block. Lenna stepped quietly to the side as a gray rectangular box marked, "Endearing Human Qualities" burst open upon impact of the marbled fuzzy carpet, and like broken bits of glass, dusty gummy bears of all sorts of colors tumbled out around her feet. The azure-eyed woman picked up a green bear whose squished face was covered in a layer of filth and lint. Her eyebrow twitched as she gazed out the corner of her eye at the owner. Audrey searched wildly through her closet, her hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. Her cold hands dug through moldy shoes and lost socks, the dust and stench an assault on her nose as much as her nerves. "Ifrit! Where is the bloody thing!?" she shouted angrily. Yuffie stepped forward uncertainly, her hand over her nose and mouth in an attempt to protect herself from any malignant agent in the air. "Um...Audrey, what're you looking for?" she asked, barely able to contain the tone of disgust in her voice. The woman glared at her over her shoulder. "With all due respect Madame Materia, I'm looking for something vital to our mission. Ask me one more time what I'm looking for and you'll find yourself munching on the sweat soiled, mold-ridden shoe cushion of Otter's old school boy sneakers. All right?" The nineteen year-old ninja threw her hands up into the air defensively and stepped back. "This is getting ridiculous..." she muttered. She hated standing in the young pirate's bedroom. It was the second floor over the gift shop, as it had been decided when Audrey turned fifteen that she would be in charge of the shop during the day. The room looked like a tornado had gone through it...twice. And there were papers all over the walls of wild newspaper stories and messily scribbled mathematical calculations that Yuffie couldn't even contemplate the need for. When she stepped closer to examine one of the pinned papers, she was able to make out the words, "Jacket, stuffed dog, and bullet-proof vest" along with some absurd numbers that seemed to stretch into the billions. "YES!" Audrey jumped to her feet and punched the air in jubilation. Yuffie jumped away from the paper she was looking at with a small yelp and stared at Audrey wildly. "What is it? What did you find?" she spluttered, shaken. The redhead held up the object, and the ninja stared at her. "A Moogle voice-recording pen?" she deadpanned. The pen was thick and a metallic red, with a bobbing red ball at the tip, and flashing sides, which lit when the user gripped the sides to write. Two small buttons on the top end read "Play/Pause" and "Record." A printed image of a mog was on the wide clip, with pink glitter. Lenna stepped closer to get a better look at it. "Weren't those the pens that recorded a user's voice and supposedly translated it into moogle?" "Right you are. I snagged this little darling at half price down at a joke shop. It is such a riot, recording insults on this thing." Yuffie rolled her eyes, "Yeah right. What a rip off." She crossed her arms and gazed at Audrey critically. "What do we need this dumb thing for?" Audrey pocketed the pen into her bathrobe. "Bribery. Now to find the person to bribe." She stepped over the mess on her floor and proceeded to the door, which led to the staircase going down. "What do you need to bribe for?" Yuffie asked as she followed the young pirate. The emerald-gazed woman raised an eyebrow as she carefully sidled through the cramped aisles of her family's store. "Because I need information." she responded shortly. "Information for what?" An impatient sigh. "Information like where Mack is." Yuffie stopped just as she exited the gift shop. Audrey walked on across the street and glanced back when she sensed the girl didn't follow. She stopped with a roll of her eyes. "You don't know where Mack is!?" the ninja exclaimed incredulously. Lenna crossed her arms stoically behind her, her azure stare piercing across to where Audrey stood. Audrey's lip curled and she placed a hand on her hip. "Only his most trusted know where he is-unfortunately since the debacle with you, I've fallen out of that tight-knit group. Otter knows where he is, but he's not entirely inclined to speak with us, being the mindless bloodhound that he is. There's one man in this city who can help us and not pose any threat to us later. Thus the pen. Thus my haste." Audrey jerked her head in the direction she had originally been heading. "So if you'd please, princess." ---------- Tifa sat and stared at the haunting figure that stood vigil at the mouth of the alley. They had moved, seeking privacy in a dead end where they could deal with their captives and Henley could work quietly on his own. When Tifa and Baxter carried the two-stripped bodies of Otter and his henchmen, none of the civilians stopped to bother them. The general assumption, it seemed, was that the unconscious men were just victims of the chaos. Both she and Henley were already garbed in the stolen uniforms. Tifa cleared her throat and called to Vincent as he leaned against the cold wall. "Hey. Vincent." The man's gaze flickered in her direction. The brunette shivered involuntarily, noting how his eyes were so profound and sharp even from where he stood yards away. Beyond his tall, slim frame slipped sounds of simmering discontent. The commotion had died down. The citizens were in shock and were waiting helplessly for things to return back to normal. "Vincent," Tifa tried again, her gaze lowering to the ground. "It's nice seeing you. The last you visited me it was..." "Fourteen months ago." Vincent offered when the fighter's voice trailed away. "Yeah," she said with a slow nod. "Yeah, it's been that long. It's a bit lucky to see you here. Were you planning on taking these men on yourself?" The man didn't answer right away. Tifa cleared her throat. "I mean...did you mean to stop all this madness on your own?" "Reeve was concerned," The man paused, then added, "And I needed something to keep me busy." "Quite a pastime." Henley commented from his place across from Tifa. When he felt Vincent's gaze on him, he looked up, then paled. Hurriedly he looked back at his work. "Not that, there's...y'know...anything...wrong...with..." he licked his lips and cursed as the device he held sparked and burnt his finger. "Goddamn wire!" he yelped. Tifa looked back at Baxter who stood over the prone bodies of their captives, his hands on his hips, his head bowed. "We'll proceed with the plan we originally had," He said. "But these two are our bargaining chips should anything go down." He turned and looked at her, his pale eyes narrowed. "Are you and Vincent going to stay and watch these two then? Maybe interrogate them when they wake?" Tifa asked solemnly. 'Interrogation' hardly ever consisted of just asking a person nicely for information. Baxter's eyes flickered toward Vincent. The cloaked man in question gazed stonily back at him. ---------- Audrey had an over the shoulder look that seemed like a mile long. Yuffie didn't know how else to describe it. It was a small look that seemed so distant, but its scope was wide. It made you want to steer clear of its sight-as if afraid of that by entering her sniping gaze you'd meet your untimely end. The redheaded pirate just kept doing it. That damn glance backward, as if suspecting Yuffie to stab her in the back at any moment. The fact that this constant paranoid behavior was coming from a woman waltzing about in a bathrobe and short shorts drove the ninja up the wall. Honestly, how crazy did you have to be to walk around in such a slummy, tacky outfit? Grudgingly, however, the nineteen-year-old couldn't help but admire the blue and green high-top sneakers that Audrey had traded her flip-flops for back at the house. ...She had a thing for sneakers. "Hey, just who the hell is this guy anyway?" Yuffie asked interrogatively. She didn't know of anyone in Junon who could do the things Audrey had spoke of earlier. "He's special." Was the pirate-girl's terse response. Yuffie shook her head and shared a brief look of exasperation with Lenna next to her. "Special how?" the ninja went on to ask with a roll of her eyes back toward her wayward companion. Audrey stopped in her tracks and turned to smile disingenuously at the teenager who came to a startled halt before they ran into each other. "Our goal, my chary friend, is to find a gifted retard by the name of Flubs. Flubs likes moogles. And computers. I give him the moogle pen-he finds Mack for us using the system he developed when he lost his favorite Mog plushie." Yuffie scowled. "Why is he still alive? Mack would either want to recruit him or have him dead, right?" Audrey tapped the side of her head as she smirked at her. "Mother wants her baby boy all right. Mother keeps Flubs safe, and also tells Flubs quite ingeniously that in order to find the Mogs, he has to be stealthy about it. Don't want to scare off the fuzzy creatures now do we? So Flubs is careful whenever he searches for things now. I'm lucky I even know he exists. Ran into him one day when looking for a bargain on underwear. He got confused that day when he lost his mum and wound up in the lingerie section of Passionate Patty's. Luckiest day of my life-considering the relative quality of my life..." Yuffie looked skeptical. "It doesn't sound like a solid plan." she mused. "When it's the only plan, it's ALWAYS a solid plan," Audrey said, resuming her brisk walk. "You're working with me after all, right? But first..." The road they traveled on came to a t-shaped intersection. Their dubious leader turned the corner and went on a few yards before stopping before what looked to be a universal ATM. Audrey patted the machine and gave Yuffie a hard look. "Give me half of what you promised, or I won't take you to Flubs." Yuffie's lips grew thin and her cheeks turned a light pink. "Greedy stinkin' son'uva..." but the ninja, despite her heated grumbling, found herself in front of the machine and taking the money out for Audrey anyway. Before she punched in her code and prepared for a finger scan (cards weren't entirely popular yet, despite the scanners occasional inaccuracy) she glared pointedly at the taller woman to back off. The redhead did so with a crooked smile, her hands up as she pointed looked somewhere else. When the machine dispensed the gil, Yuffie turned to Audrey with a sour look and handed it to her. "So are you going to take me to Flubs now?" she snapped. The redhead tucked the wad of money into her short's pocket and offered a smile that rivaled her brother's. "Certainly, Yuffie. Wouldn't want to keep your love waiting, now would we?" She backpedaled toward the street and gave Lenna a critical look. "All right, Zombie. Please step lively. Keep your onions peeled for any possible dangers as your charge is a bit of a twat and couldn't recognize trouble if it were a fat zit bubbling on the tip of her prissy nose. We're all in a steaming vat of shit now, ladies." Yuffie and Lenna followed the chattering green-eyed girl to the other side of the street where she came to the narrow separation between two apartment buildings. A daunting fence that had spikes at the top sealed off the space. She climbed the fence easily and avoided the dangerous tips with great circumspect. As she did so, her bathrobe's sleeves fell back to reveal powerful arms-an observation that made Yuffie do a double take. When had the pirate gained so much upper body strength? When they were all over the fence, Audrey sidled carefully past the pipes and ducts that led into the ground. The ninja was wondering to herself what sort of nonsense she was going to find herself in over the next few hours whilst her supposed guardian was busy trying to keep an eye out for said nonsense. All the while, Audrey prattled on. "I am now just as liable to having my nut blown off as the two of you-and personally I have no interest in dying simply because of a girl's lovesick sense of duty. That being said, you'll just have to trust in what I tell you because as much as you two cross-eyed knucks think you understand the game, believe me, you understand nothing." Yuffie let out a yelp as she touched one of the pipes unthinkingly with her hand. They were blazing hot. "Mind your limbs. There's a reason there was a gate." Audrey warned belatedly, a shadow of a smile on her lips. She came to a stop at the end of the way, which was blocked off by a high wall. She looked at her two companions and pointed down at the manhole. Knicks in the metal showed that whatever had the lid bolted down had been removed, no doubt illegally. "This leads to the sewer system." She looked at Yuffie, her face blank. "From there, we can enter the old passageways. The ones I took you through when those riots happened all those years ago." Yuffie's brows pressed together at the memory. Audrey knelt down and with her strong arms, she lifted the heavy manhole cover easily. Lenna looked at Yuffie. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked, aware of the girl's claustrophobia. "I did it before. I can do it again." The ninja bit out-not out of anger but anxiety. She looked at the pirate expectantly. "I'll go first, just to assuage some of your unsaid concerns." Audrey said, giving Yuffie a critical look. Truthfully, Yuffie had been afraid that the redhead would ditch them if they both went first. Though she would've liked to say otherwise, her reasoning came from the fact that she knew... If she were in Audrey's shoes, that's exactly what she would've done. The object in Henley's hand, crafted together by the flashlight and radio he had acquired, looked weird. It was all on a caramel plastic board-little bigger than Henley's hand. A confusing array of wires snaked around what looked to be small glass bulbs. Henley, amid the tangle, had fixed in a switch in one of the lower corners. A larger wire protruded from the front end, its tip stripped naked to reveal the copper filaments inside. He kept the awkward device close to his chest, his back to the security camera fixed to their right just over the security panel and door. Tifa hovered nervously next to him as he gazed with an excogitative look on his face at the digital panel that opened the heavy metal door. The door was where they had seen other police personnel exit, and while the territory beyond that was unknown, it was all they had to go with. The brunette's body occasionally shifted from one foot to the other as he studied the panel. Tifa resisted the urge to look over her shoulder too much. Her mind was preoccupied with the possibility of the patrolling group of policeman finding them. "Tifa, do me a favor." Henley said, his round freckled countenance turning vaguely in her direction. His eyes remained fixed on the troublesome obstacle before them. "What?" Tifa asked, her eyes snapping onto him. "Punch this thing." The silence that followed his request was punctuated only by the occasional exclamation and cough from those around them. "You want me to what?" she returned flatly. He looked at her, his usually upbeat face soured in genuine irritation. "Punch it, I said." Tifa shook her head, her look disbelieving. "Henley, I'm not super woman! And how would my destroying the panel help at all?" "I'm not asking you to destroy it, I'm asking you to hit it. It's the only way I can feed this wire beyond the interface to jinx the door open. A gunshot would attract attention. I have no tools to get to the crap inside. BUT, an offhand outburst of emotion from a frustrated young cop would arouse less commotion and get the job done easily." Henley rationalized all this quickly. Tifa didn't realize how much he could sound like Baxter when under duress. He continued, his mouth set in a somber line, "Now c'mon and try. Are you near your Limit? Transfer that force into hitting this thing." "Y'know, I really don't understand why we couldn't just try and wait for someone to just show us the code..." But Tifa knew why even without her companion explaining it to her. It'd take too long. Everything just took too long. "All I want is to see Yuffie all right..." The woman thought agonizingly. She stepped closer toward the panel, her expression strained beneath the bill of the policeman's cap. Henley stepped aside to give her room, his expression letting up when he saw that she would give it a try. The brunette, feeling her frustrations build up in her, took several deep breaths. In truth, she was close to her Limit Break...but it didn't feel close enough. She tried to gather up her anger, her fears-her effort turned her face a deep shade of red, her shoulders tensed and shook-but it all fell short. The power curled in her gut in a tingling sensation, but it didn't flow through the rest of her body. The energy wasn't enough to unleash her power. She took a step back, and her eyes surreptitiously flitted up at the camera that was fixed over the panel. "Henley," she hissed. The man looked at her with a confused frown. "Hit me," she hissed again, her look fierce. Now it was he who balked at her. "You want me to what-??" "I'm close but not there yet, okay? Just hit me in the gut or something. It works out better this way, believe me. At least we can put on a show for the camera now. The thing doesn't even have a mic so it's all in how we act." Henley's face softened with understanding, but he still looked uncomfortable. He didn't offer any arguments however, and only straightened his stolen policeman's cap with a grim look. "When I told boss that I was destined to be a performer, I never imagined something like this..." he muttered to himself as he tucked his device into his pocket and began to pace back and forth. It seemed he was trying to muster up enough gumption to go through with it. Tifa crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently-an action she had seen Yuffie do when impatiently waiting for something. She didn't need to pretend to pull it off. Henley finally swiped furiously at his mouth, then stomped forward and gave Tifa a rough shove. "If we're going to do it, let's make it really look worthwhile, huh?" he smirked, out of sight of the camera, "Maybe I'll get an award for this or something?" His push sent the brunette reeling back several steps and nearly made her lose her cap. Flustered and, truthfully, a little miffed, she shoved Henley right back-making sure to point accusingly at his face as she spoke to him. "So long as this gets us in without trouble I don't care how we do it! Just get me angry and fast!" Henley blinked at her, than gave a shrug. "Okay..." That's when his open hand came around struck her hard across the cheek. Tifa's head snapped to the right, her chin knocking into her collarbone as her neck muscles sent an unpleasant jolt of pain through her. Her cheek stung, and a little bit of spit even flew from her lips and now globbed part of her face. The brunette's policeman's cap spun to the side, and sat on her head crooked and less secure as wisps of her hair fell out of her bun and into her face. The blood boiled upward, Tifa's eyes flashed-and with a stare that could make even make Hades cower in his lair-the woman advanced on Henley. Her teeth were bared as she touched a hand to her face. "What in Bahamut's name possessed you to do that!?" Henley took a quick step back, alarmed. He held up his hands, boyish face now ashen. "Hey...hey! You asked me to do it, toots!" he said in an attempt to make light of the situation. Being called 'toots' seemed to make the woman's anger worse. "I asked you to hit me, not insult me you dippy, prepubescent moron!" Tifa half-screamed, pointing ecstatically at her swelling cheek. Henley gestured gingerly at her face, sidling to the side so that he was in front of the panel. She was as livid as a bull seeing red, but at least he could steer this all in their favor. "All right, Tifa. Hey, really, I mean-a slap technically DOES count as a hit! Strong skin to skin contact that results in pain seems to fit the definition rather well for-YIKES!!" he backed up quickly, his speedy dodge managed only from his physical conditioning. The fighter's fist, sent in a wide left hook, sailed past his nose and rustled his limp hair into his eyes. His back pressed against the wall behind him, the panel between his shoulders. Henley's eyes were wide as he could see the ripples of energy that came off the woman before him in thick waves. Was this really such a good idea? "T-Tifa-" he stuttered, round face drawn as she pulled back again. No time. The woman seemed driven by her emotions now. The Limit Break was coming. With an alarming speed, the brunette sent her other fist sailing forward toward the young soldier, her mind and heart demanding retribution. Dimly she recognized that she had released her Limit Break in a way that quickened her actions and packed a searing wallop of spiritual energy behind her punch. It had garnered the nickname the Beat Rush from her Avalanche teammates, as it came so quickly and often left her enemies either completely decimated or practically unconscious from the beating they took. "You beat 'em so hard it's like their soul's getting battered too!" Barret had crowed proudly. It was sheer anticipation that allowed Henley to move quick enough to dodge Tifa's fist by a mere millimeter. Instead of him, her fist sunk into the metal panel that they had been puzzling over for the last five minutes. It seemed to crumple beneath her bare fist like paper, and it was the energy surrounding her that kept Tifa's skin protected from the splitting steel and fracturing plastic. The numerical pad fell apart like broken teeth, and there was a weak sputter of electricity as the fighter retracted her fist. Henley looked at her in nervous relief. He stepped a little to the side and looked at the panel with wide eyes. "Way to go, lady! You really did a number on that-" The backside of Tifa's fist slammed into Henley's face and knocked his head back with a snap that sent him stumbling. When he righted himself his eyes were a little crossed and his mouth was open. He shook his eyes straight and reached a hand up to his nose to find it was bleeding. He looked at Tifa, confounded. She had to fight from giving into the rest of her Limit Break, as the energy roared in her ears demanding to be set free. She hissed through bare teeth and held up a quaking finger as she fixed her companion with a deadly look, "Next time, HIT me." she licked her lips and pointed at her face, "It's bad enough when one woman slaps another, but when a guy does it, it's UNFORGIVEABLE. Got it?" Tifa leaned back. Then added as an afterthought when she turned toward the panel. "And you should think twice before calling a girl 'toots'. It's really misogynistic." Henley blinked dumbly at her, his nose still bleeding. Then he gave his head another shake and mumbled an apology as he went to the panel and peered inside. Tifa had really whomped it, but everything inside was still intact. He spied the circuit he needed and took out his device. Tifa scratched the back of her head and stepped closer to block the camera's view again. Did she get carried away? Was Yuffie's temper rubbing off on her? Henley managed to wrap the wire inside the panel, and when he finished, he flicked on the switch. There was a low buzz, a puff of smoke that alarmed them both-then the unexpected sound of the locks disengaging. The metal door was sliding back. Henley smiled in relief, and with a brief look at Tifa, disengaged his device went in through the door. Tifa followed him. She resisted the urge to look back as the door shut behind them. The soldier led the way and the fighter followed, her gaze ducked and her gait stiff. This place was so cold and sparse. The halls were narrow-Yuffie would hate them-and the rooms they passed deeper in were dark and locked. At the first available opportunity, Henley threw away the device he had created. Tifa stared at his back as he continued walking. "Don't we need that?" she asked, her gaze snapping back onto the trashcan where the device had been discarded. Henley shrugged. "Not here. We're in now. That thing won't do us much good, and'll probably just attract attention." "And if someone finds it?" "It looks like a broken computer part. No one'll suspect anything." Conveniently, next to what appeared to be a break room, was a map of the police routes. Henley stopped in front of it. A riot policeman exited the break room when he did so, and Tifa pulled the brim of her cap down as she turned away. Nervously she wondered if they had been made. The policeman glanced at them briefly, his black helmet raised just enough that his mouth was exposed, and when he passed Tifa, he smirked and slowed momentarily to take a sensuous bite of the banana he had just peeled. The twenty-three year old glared venomously at him, his standard issue leather boots scuffing along the polished floor as he strutted. She turned and said with no small amount of disgust to her companion, "Why do I seem to all ways run into such pigs?" Henley looked at her and grinned nervously, his nose swollen and still sporting dried blood around the rim of his left nostril. "Just your luck I s'pose," he said shakily. He didn't have any desire to rile her up again. His nose still hurt a lot. "We're lucky though that Junon is notorious for having such a quick turnout of its police force. I doubt we'll run into much trouble in here so long as we don't do anything absurd...well...anything else absurd...that last stunt we pulled gave me a headache."The man turned his attention back to the map and tapped where they were. "From what this is telling me, we're about two sectors away from HQ. It'll be easy getting there. The hard part'll be figuring out what to do once we're there." "D'you think that those thugs have people in here working for them?" Tifa said suddenly in a low voice. Her brows pressed together, creating a small wrinkle on her forehead. "Those two we caught were dressed in police uniforms, and we'd only seen them a little before that in civvies!" Henley snickered. "Civvies?" he echoed, looking at the woman with a humorous grin. He shook his head, his face returning to its solemn concentration. "I don't know, Tifa. There are too many what-ifs. I know this isn't an ideal situation, but we gotta make do with what we got, okay?" He patted her shoulder and gave her a wink. "This is cake compared to what you went through before, huh?" Tifa followed after him silently as he continued his quick pace. "But it wasn't fun then either." The fighter thought derisively. ---------- Audrey tugged at the heavy door, her face contorted with strain as it pulled back. When it was open enough for Lenna to squeeze in and push from the other side, the soldier did so and the door opened faster. Yuffie, meanwhile, watched them with a dull gaze. She didn't think she'd find herself in such a terrible setting again-in yet another sewer. At this rate, she figured dryly, I'll be the world's foremost expert on sewers. Her companions gazed at her when the task was done. The door they had opened was the door that led into the secret passageways the pirates used. They had been down there for ten minutes, moving briskly through the dark and taking many confusing turns through the labyrinth of tunnels. The door they found was tucked away behind a set of pipes that led upward. Audrey jerked her head impatiently at the ninja, her obnoxious voice now low and conspiratorial. "Get a move on, princess. The sooner we're through this bee hive the better for you and me." Yuffie grit her teeth and pushed off the pipe she had been leaning on, following as Audrey led the way into the dark passage. Lenna followed them, closing the door behind them with a low grunt. The tunnels were even more closed in than the sewers, the ceiling skimming the ninja's head and forcing Audrey and Lenna to duck a little. Width wise, there was no elbow room. "I couldn't do the chocobo dance if my life depended on it," the ninja thought with a bit of alarm. She worried about an earthquake so terrible that they would all be buried alive beneath the metal and concrete. She imagined a flood roaring towards them and drowning them like rodents. Yuffie imagined lots of things, and none of them made her feel better. "Breathe through the nose and out through the mouth." Lenna muttered in her ear. The nineteen-year-old jumped at how close the woman was to her, and stopped briefly to give her a wild look before continuing forward. "I thought I told you not to be creepy!?" Yuffie snapped in a weak voice. She felt like her heart was going to burst the way it beat against her chest. It was making her nauseous. "Through the nose, and out the mouth." Lenna repeated stubbornly. "Think about Tifa, safe. Think about being able to hold and kiss her again if you need to." Yuffie was about to turn and around and snap at the woman to mind her own business when the image came up in her mind of feeling Tifa's soft body against hers. Of kissing her, and smelling that delicious vanilla aroma-was it from her body wash or some sort of body spray? "Natural. It's natural." The ninja thought with a sudden goofy grin. She imagined what it would be like to be with Tifa again, just the two of them, away from all this commotion. They could relax, they could have fun, they could... Yuffie swallowed the saliva that had pooled in her mouth and breathed deep through her nose and mouth. With a determined glare she stomped forward and began to push at Audrey's back. The woman's back arched when she tried to dance away from the ninja's touch. "Idiot! What are you doing??" the redhead yelped in a panic. Yuffie snarled back at her. "Hurry the hell up you homophobe. You're moving way too slow!" "I am not a homophobe, I just dislike being molested!" "I'm not beyond pinching your ass to make you move faster, Audrey!" "You lay one soddin' finger on me and I'll jam the fucking thing in your flamin' eye." "For Ifrit's sake, move then!" Behind them, Lenna smiled. ---------- When Otter came to, it was with the feeling that knives were slicing into his nerves a thousand times per second. The base of his neck ached from the strain of his head having been fixed in such an uncomfortable position. When his eyes batted open and he saw the sky overhead, his initial thought was that he had fallen asleep on the roof of his apartment again. A shadowy figure came to stand over him with both boots at either side of his head, and it was then that he remembered just where he was and what he had been doing. The redhead moved to push himself up, but he finally realized why his arms had felt the way they had. He was tied up and his arms had fallen asleep. His back hurt from how he had been laying on his hands-and his hands hurt like hell for that matter. He looked down at himself groggily and noted the lack of clothes. With his wide grin, the man allowed his head to fall back against the concrete. "Got cheeky, eh? Did my Johnson scare you, mate?" he joked. Baxter resisted the urge to take his foot and smash it in the thug's face. Instead, he looked back at Vincent wordlessly. The cloaked man pushed off the wall he leaned on and came forward slowly-the smart clop of his shoes on the dirty ground sounded like distant shots in the dark. His face was partially concealed by his collar, and behind the dark inky strands of hair seared a pair of violent eyes-tainted by the demons inside him, the anger and pain he had suffered, the agony he himself had caused in his time on the Planet. This lidded gaze, barely visible beneath his abstruse facade, withered the chaotic grin on Otter's face. The redhead's skin blushed from the roots of his hair down his chest and arms a curious shade of pink-and his lips set in a long pale line when Vincent stopped next to his left arm. The gunslinger knelt down and behind the shadow of his collar allowed a sneer to appear on his face. "Cretin. Obstreperous blight on humanity's soul. Where is your leader?" Vincent asked, his deep unnerving voice managing a twitch even from Baxter. Speech seemed so unnatural for the man somehow-despite his eloquence and velvety tones. There was something underneath it. A threat not only to the criminal before them...but to the soldier as well. Instinctively, Baxter's hand hovered near his gun beneath his coat and he kept his pale gaze on Vincent. Otter smiled nervously at him, the bravado that kept him going somehow deflated in the face of such natural menace. He squirmed where he lay, vainly attempting to ease the discomfort on his back and hands by redistributing his weight. When that failed, he asked shakily, "Help a boy out, eh? Maybe after a proper bit of circulation through my body's branches, I can offer an accurate answer." Vincent let out a discreet sigh and stood to his feet. He walked back to the wall he had been leaning on without a word or backward glance. Otter craned his head to see if he could follow the man's actions, but Baxter blocked his view. Despite himself, the redheaded man began to shake. "S'cold..." he mumbled, seemingly trying to reassure himself that there was no other reason for his shivers. Then came the dragging sound. Otter scowled and once again tried to crane his head around to see where Vincent was. A second later, the cloaked man came back into view-dragging behind him the half-naked body of Otter's partner, Herald. There were bruises all along his pale body and the only thing he could see were the whites of his eyes. Vincent dropped his legs, a faint hint of disdain in his actions as he turned to gaze again at Otter. He lowered his collar to reveal his pale face, all the better to properly glare at the man. "Your friend didn't last too long. His answers weren't nearly as 'accurate' enough for someone of his position in your criminal hierarchy." He stepped closer to Otter, his gaze narrowing. His golden claw flexed and he tilted his head slightly to the side. "So I'm hoping you'll give me the ACCURATE answers that someone of your esteemed position is supposed to know..." Otter swallowed hard. ---------- The ladder that led up into the street was oily and grimy. Overhead, through the manhole lid, the faint sounds of human activity could be heard like an echoing song stuck in repeat. Audrey carefully peeked up through one of the holes to see if the coast were clear. Satisfied that it was all safe, the pirate lifted the heavy cover and shoved it aside. The area they were emerging in was similar to the last, a quartered off area of air ducts, water and sewer pipes from the apartment buildings on either side. Ahead was a new street-which meant a new sector. They had successfully managed to cross the tunnels without any problems. Secretly, the pirate had been concerned that they would run into one of Mack's goons-but in truth, focus was probably being held in the area they had recently escaped. None of the others would be able to guess that Yuffie and Audrey had made an uneasy alliance, and so none would know the ninja had left her respective sector. "But in order to get to Mack, we'll have to get creative. Using the tunnels again would be suicide. We'd run into one of the others for sure. No, no. We'll need either a stroke of luck or a bloody miracle to find a way onward from this point. ...But why tell Yuffie that? It'd break her lovesick heart..." Audrey concealed a smile as she hurriedly climbed out, her bathrobe trailing after her. Yuffie came immediately after, her face a pale-green. She pulled herself out of the sewer hole, her elbows planted firmly into the ground. "Ugh..." she groaned as she crawled away from the opening. "I feel like a hungover sewer rat..." she moaned. Lenna came up after her, and her blank face turned in her direction. "Maybe we should rest a bit." the soldier began, "Find you some water and-" Yuffie glared at her critically. "I appreciate the concern-or whatever you'd call it-but I can't stop." Lenna didn't press the issue, only shrugged and looked at Audrey who was all ready at the gate leading to the street. The pirate turned and gazed back at them with a smirk. "Let's get to it then, eh?" The red glow from the street lit her from behind. The ninja sighed and pulled herself up from the ground, her clothes sweat-soiled and streaked in dirt. She and the special operative met Audrey at the gate, where they climbed over it one by one. Once over, Yuffie got a good idea of where Audrey had taken them. Neon signs glared and shone in the narrow street, the clothesline banners and balconies doing a good job of blocking out the sun. Flyers for adult shows and escort services riddled the street like so much confetti, and tackily dressed women in high heels and loud hairstyles haunted certain parts of the long neighborhood. A barrel burned where a group of bums huddled around it, passing around a bottle of rum. Yuffie scratched the back of her head, a little nonplussed. In comparison to where she had just been, this area seemed relatively unaffected. Perhaps the people here were used to such commotion and didn't let it stop their illicit activities. It seemed so odd, the casual disregard for danger and strife. Of course, Yuffie had been in these sorts of environments before-it was practically where she had gotten her start as a real thief. But...was it a sign of how much she had changed that she could no longer relate to this self-involved way of living? Or was it just the discomfort of self-awareness that had her tongue shrinking in her mouth? "You walk the world with a mirror, and you show the wrong-doers what they're doing wrong. You scare the evil away with their own reflection. Evil hates seeing itself for what it is. " Audrey patted her back harshly, knocking the air out of the ninja's lungs. "So hero, how does it feel being back in your natural habitat?" Yuffie gazed at her sidelong and trailed along slowly when the pirate continued walking. ---------- He shook the glass of his rum and coke, the smooth jumble of ice cubes tinkling against the glass. His study had turned into a verifiable den of burden-the room dark and the dust that circulated like just so many thoughts that lingered in his head. The windows were blocked by the security barriers but thank the gods the electricity was still up. Without his conditioner his teardrop body would be just that-a big fat teardrop. Or a 'sweatdrop' more accurately. Mack liked to be comfortable. As comfortable as possible. It kept his blood pressure from rising and his heart from giving out. He chuckled to himself. Leaning back into the soft snow lion leather, he mulled over the delicate position he was in. A crime lord with a bad heart? Only his family knew of this. The others, the bloodthirsty bunch of thugs, would try to exploit him. It had all ready been attempted more than once-but his dear nephew Otter (quite the bloodhound) put a stop to any attempts at usurpation. At the thought of his nephew however, the small parchment smile that had passed Mack's scraggled face soured. He was sure this whole lock down business was his nephew's doing-and when he got a hold of the little bugger he was going to wring his neck of all those clever-minded quips he liked to use whenever he knew he had done wrong. There wasn't to be any commotion today...hadn't Mack made that clear? Otter was always the rambunctious sort, always jumping headfirst into problems without a clear idea of what he was doing. Usually, the thinking was left to his sister, Audrey. She was a wily one, but not even her quick mind was able to anticipate the betrayal suffered by her erstwhile friend-that little pain in the arse, Yuffie Kisaragi. It had been a sign of her weakness. It was why he kept her out of the important matters. Mack's expression darkened. Speaking of Yuffie...Was it that the youngster had returned to his city? Was she the cause of this lock down? It had only been half an hour since the barriers had gone up, and his bodyguards received nothing useful on their walkie-talkies. No one seemed to know where Otter was. This wasn't so out of the ordinary, but in this commotion he would've reported in by now. Then it occurred to Mack. With a grunt, he sat forward and set his glass on the stand next to his chair. He turned on the lamp and with squinted chartreuse eyes he looked back to the door behind him where a large guard stood. Pulling slightly at his silk collar with a gnarled finger, the old man ordered in a baritone voice, "Find Audrey. Now." ---------- "Here we go..." Henley breathed as he pressed into the wall and peeked around the corner. Ahead was the automated entrance into HQ. Two guards stood at either side of the bulletproof doors, rifles in hand. Next to the soldier on the right was another panel, this time with a retina scanner and mic. Pointed at the doors were two security cameras on opposite corners. The special operative looked back at Tifa, his round eyes lidded with thought. "The security is more sophisticated on this one-no surprise there. We're going to have to sit tight and wait around here till someone important goes by." "And then what'll we do?" Tifa breathed back, trying to seem casual as a group of armed men passed them by. "Threaten the person to let us in or we'll kill them?" "Pretty much." Tifa sighed and shrugged, repeating what the man had said earlier, "'Work with what you got.' And what've we got?" "Squat!" Henley cheered in a quiet whisper, his jovial smile managing even a grin from the tense fighter. Left with no choice, the two continued walking past the entrance to the police headquarters and followed the hallway the armed men a moment ago had taken. They came to yet another break room, this one messier than the others as it seemed someone had brought in orange juice and pastries for breakfast. There was only one other person in the room, and he stood in the corner with a cup of coffee, his unshaved face contorted in a frown as he pulled the lapel of his standard issue police jacket up to his ear. He seemed annoyed at the sight of Tifa and Henley, and turned his back on them as he continued to listen to the squeaky voice that seemed to come from the device attached to his coat. Tifa sat down eagerly, suddenly aware of how tired she felt after all that had gone on since her arrival at Junon. Henley sat down next to her, but rather than let his guard down his eyes seemed trained on the other man in the room. Baxter often told him to follow his instincts, to which he would jokingly reply that women wouldn't like him if he did. Now, however, the man willfully did as he had been advised, letting his sixth sense guide his focus. Something was off. The man in the corner looked like a cop and behaved like a cop...but a small detail Henley's unconscious had picked up nagged his mind that there was reason to stay alert. He glanced at his companion to see if she noticed anything. Tifa, oblivious, was eyeing a box of donuts on the other end of the table. Her hand was reaching beneath the cardboard lid when the cop's agitation led him to raise his voice just enough for her and the soldier to hear. "No I don't know where she is! Audrey is an adult! If she isn't at the gift shop then let her face the consequences later! I'm busy! ...What do you mean he wants to me quit? Mack told you? Well what in the bloody hell is he thinking? Doesn't he care where Otter's disappeared to?" Tifa's fingers scraped the flakes off of a glazed donut when her hand reflexively clenched and her body went rigid. Without moving her head, she looked at Henley. The round-faced soldier jerked his head toward the door and the fighter gave a slow nod before carefully rising to her feet. Carefully, Henley slid his chair back as well, trying to keep it from squeaking against the polished floor. When Tifa shut the door and returned to his side, she made a motion with her hands like two objects coming from different angles and meeting at a point. Pincer maneuver. Henley nodded stiffly. The jovial man liked physical confrontation about as much as he liked shooting-but above everything else he was a soldier, and all of his kind had a rudimentary knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. Tifa was no more eager than Henley was-sparring with Yuffie was one thing, but facing a cornered criminal in such a delicate setting was about as fun as wrestling a Bobomb. But if she had to beat this man in order to see the girl she loved, Tifa didn't care if she were 300 pounds overweight and armed only with a toothpick-she'd take down Alexander himself. Steeled by this sudden resolve, the fighter moved into position at the man's left while Henley crept over to his right. The undercover crook was still engrossed in his conversation, his eyes closed as he set down his coffee and listened to the person on the other line. It wasn't until Tifa and Henley were literally two feet away that the man breathed into his receiver, "Understood. I'll get it done then." He shifted his weight, about to turn around with a scowl on his flat face and a curse tickling his lips when Tifa reeled back a punch and slammed it into the back of the man's skull. His head snapped forward, whacking the wall like a rubber ball. Henley rammed into him then, taking hold of his right arm and twisting it up behind the criminal's back until it threatened to break. Tifa took out the gun they had taken from Otter and his men, and pointed it at their new hostage. She wasn't much of a shooter, and she hated the feeling of recoil when a gun fired-but Jessie had taught her how to use a gun back when the blond had still been alive, when Avalanche still sought to do good in the slums of Midgar by blowing up reactors. She loaded the bullet into the chamber, then turned the safety off. Tifa made certain the criminal, now clearing the stars from his eyes as his face was pressed into the wall and turned her way, could see this fact. Sweat stained the wall as the man struggled against Henley's hold. Despite his small stature, the soldier was able to keep his lock on the criminal's arm. The man gazed warily at Tifa as she spoke, her voice cold, "Who're you working for?" The thug didn't answer. Henley increased the pressure on his arm and Tifa pressed the gun into his cheek. She grit her teeth, adrenaline pounding in her ears as she saw the fear flash in the man's eyes. There was no telling how much time they had before someone outside noticed something going on. "I said who are you working for!?" "Who do you think!?" the man cried out, his voice strained beneath his panic. "I'm working for the only crime lord left in this city-MACK. Mack Camaron, you stupid tart!" "What does he want with us? With Yuffie?" "NOTHING!!" The man spat. His eyes rolled in its sockets to glare momentarily at Henley, who leaned in to properly glare at the man as if he were an idiot. "I mean it," he snapped. "Mack didn't want any trouble with any of you. It was all Otter's doing. He wasn't supposed to bother you. It's bad for business! Do you really think the big man wants to threaten his profits by bothering a media target right now?" Tifa's brows pushed together in confusion. And she looked at Henley. The soldier looked back at her and shrugged. "So you mean to tell me," The fighter began slowly with narrowed eyes. "That he isn't seeking our heads for some sad bit of recognition?" The criminal snorted, his eyes rolling. "Oh come off it, miss. The rubbish that goes on in movies doesn't happen in real life. Mack doesn't want any trouble with you. I don't want any trouble with you. My task is to find Otter and his idiot sister." Tifa frowned. "Sister? He has a sister? Is she somehow involved in all this?" "We don't know, miss. She ain't where she's s'posed ta be, so I need to find her. I haven't got any idea how this factors in so there's no point trying to scare the info outta me." Henley glared at the man suspiciously. "You're giving all this information up quite easily for a man in your position." "My position?" the criminal echoed with a harsh laugh. "Boy, if you knew how many of us were crawlin' here-abouts, you wouldn't be thinking my place was so important. As far as I'm concerned, we haven't any trouble with you and I'm not so keen on having my head blown off or my cover blown over something so banal." Tifa glanced at Henley, then back at the man. "What's your name?" She asked, still cautious. "Timber." the man returned simply. He seemed to relax when he saw the effect his words had on his captors. "And no jokes, if you'd please." Henley bit his lip as the corners of his mouth turned upward. Tifa resisted the urge to hit him. "What were you going to do then, Timber, if you're mission was only to find Otter and his sister...what was her name?" "Audrey." "Yeah, her." The criminal shrugged as best he could. "I was going to join the squads searching the buildings. It's possible that Otter and Audrey were locked inside a place that we couldn't readily get into." Tifa looked at Henley, who blinked back at her. "When are they lowering the barriers on the buildings?" The round-faced soldier asked. "15 minutes." Then the man scowled. "Speaking of which, you ninnies are making me late!" he said irritably. "When are they lowering the security walls that are separating the sectors?" "Dunno." "Why don't you just lower the security walls?" Tifa asked with a raised eyebrow. Timber looked at her critically. "Are you pants-on-head-retarded? I can't do that!" Tifa's finger flexed on the trigger, and the man's eyes bulged. "So get someone that can." The fighter hissed. The criminal could see his reflection in the brunette's stark eyes. He stammered nervously, "H-Hey now, m-m-miss. I-I can't d-d-do that. Otter and Audrey will be t-ten times harder to find if-if I do that. J-just lowering the building seals, sector by sector, makes it easier on ourselves!" "I don't care what is easier for you. Some of your men shot at someone I care about. Someone has to be held accountable!" "Is it so fair to make that person me!?" "So you'd rather run the risk of letting Otter find Yuffie first and killing her? Her only chance right now is getting out of the city and down to Junon Harbor below. Would you like to be the one to blame for letting something bad happen? Because every possible armed force will be raining down on your heads for killing a global hero should she die...and I'll be right there with them to make you pay." The man paled. He struggled once more against Henley, and through a strained throat snapped, "Would you kindly let go of me you daffy dingbat?? I've got to find someone to lower those barriers!!" ---------- "Damn! DAMN IT!! The barriers! Of course, these stupid barriers! We forgot about them completely! How are we going to see Flubs if these things won't let us get inside the building?" "Quit shouting, dimwit. This is just momentary. It's all ready been an hour since the barriers have gone up. The seals on the buildings should be gone in a second to allow for the police to do sweeps. They go by sectors. This one should be first." "But then that means..." "That we'll either wait till the sweeps are done, or we do it in a jiffy before they get to Flubs house-which is just three houses down from where the police will start." "How long will the sweeps take?" "Here? With all the contraband likely to be found?" Audrey smiled viciously. "I'd say about two hours. Junon is stretched pretty thin." "Great! So now we have to find Mack under a time limit!" "Oh that won't be the hard part. The hard part will be convincing his mother to even let us speak with him." Yuffie tapped her finger on her arm, her eyes gazing up at the geometrically perfect building with rounded corners and faded metallic blue paint. Some of the thick barriers blocking entry had suspicious red stains that trailed downward to their roots. A crude TV antenna could be seen at the top-rather tall and most likely in violation of some strict building code. "So what do we tell her to let us through then?" The ninja finally asked. "Nothing," Audrey said, picking dirt from underneath her short fingernails. "You're going to have to break in and steal something valuable of hers. Offering to trade her back her item in exchange for Flubs service is the only way she'll let us see him when this sector is so hot with cops." Yuffie's eyes rested on the young pirate's face, and the teenager could see that her guide was not kidding. "How old is she? She'll try to stop me. I mean gawd I've never even been in this place! It's not like I'm...I'm..." "What?" Audrey snapped, her fierce gaze alighting on the ninja's discomforted face. "You aren't what, princess? A criminal?" "I was going to say I'm not omnipotent! Every time I ever broke into a place it was always with a level of preparation-that's ninja basics airhead! To go into enemy territory without knowing what to expect is like pointing a gun to your head! You'd just be asking for trouble!" Audrey's hands fell to her sides and for the second time that day, she seemed shock. "You just admitted you aren't perfect..." the redhead breathed with narrowed eyes. Yuffie's cheeks flared and she crossed her arms huffily. "I was always a helluva-lot better than you ever were at stealing things, if I remember correctly you friggin' sea-rodent!" When the embarrassment didn't evaporate with this heated statement, the ninja stomped her foot and snorted. "Hmph! I'd bet I could still do better than you could when it comes down to it!!" Audrey tongued her cheek, then jerked her head toward the house. "So why don't you prove it you silly priss? Set your noble misgivings aside and let those nimble fingers do what your bless-ed sea god, Leviathan, granted them?" The ninja was advancing on her before the pirate could even make out the situation. Two hands gripped the front of Audrey's shirt, and though the redhead was taller than the Wutai-born princess, she still found herself stumbling to keep her balance. Yuffie was two inches away from her face when she hissed dangerously, "Never...EVER speak of Leviathan like he's some two-bit mischief-maker, got me? His name is worth more than you or me combined so if I ever catch you getting fresh again I'll re-arrange that poor excuse of a face you've got!" Audrey's hands came up and she spread them wide so that Yuffie could see the two cross scars on either palm. Briefly she wondered how she came to acquire them when the redhead's iron-like grip wrapped themselves around her wrists. For a brief moment, fear flashed in Yuffie's eyes when she realized the amount of strength behind the tight hold. It seemed that if the pirate squeezed any tighter, the ninja's slim wrists would snap like twigs. Beneath her momentary panic, Yuffie was reminded of the glimpse of muscle she had seen when Audrey had climbed the gates. Steroids? Or did the redhead really work that hard? Yuffie was shoved back five feet and her body collided with Lenna's, who easily caught her. The soldier was giving the pirate a warning stare, her lips set in a thin disapproving line. "Ease off." Yuffie said, the usually taut tone of voice that would accompany that phrase deflated and weak in the face of her new observations. Lenna's azure stare fell to catch the ninja's gaze for a moment before she took her hands off her shoulders and resumed her quiet surveillance of the nearby area. The nineteen-year-old's wrist throbbed in a way that was alarming, but she refused to give Audrey the satisfaction of seeing her rub them. She only hoped her jacket covered the bruises that would no doubt begin to show. "What have you been doing to yourself?" Was the only thing Yuffie could bring herself to say. "Preparing." Audrey said flatly. She pointed at the building. "Now are you going to do it or not? Or no...no, wait. Go ahead and 'talk' to the old bird. Realize for YOURSELF that the only viable thing you can do right now is what I just told you. Remember, you aren't doing this to 'make nice' with the bloody world! You're supposed to be doing this for Tifa." Yuffie's shoulders tensed when she heard her love's name came from such a brash mouth-but something prevented her from snapping. Was it guilt? If she refused to do this, then could she say she was doing all she could to keep Tifa safe? "What do I need to take?" Yuffie asked, her eyes on the ground. "Anything that looks important." "You really don't know?" "I've only been here three times. The first two times Flub's mother didn't even let me into the house. The third time she ushered me so quick to Flub's room that I didn't even get a chance to peek at anything. Didn't help that she had a goddamn shotgun jammed into my back." Yuffie raised her head to gaze scrutinizingly at Audrey. "What have you ever needed found that you came here three times?" she asked. The redhead glared at her. "None of your soddin' business!" "I think it's plenty of my business seeing as how I get the feeling there's something important you aren't telling me!" "And what would you like to hear, eh? That I'm using Flubs to search for my dead mummy and daddy?" Yuffie felt the need to be insulted on their behalf. "Show some respect!" She snapped. Audrey crossed her arms and smirked. "Says the girl who'd kill a baby Cokatoli's mother for a bundle of Phoenix Downs." "You've got no right to talk to me like that." "Why?" the taller woman barked, her stare glinting like the edge of a knife. "Why don't I have a right to speak to you like this Kisaragi? Why don't I have the right to speak to you like you're a maggot squirming through a corpse? Should I show you respect? Is that what you're telling me? Because you helped stopped Shinra Inc.? Because you defeated the mad General Sephiroth and prevented Meteor from obliterating our Planet? When did YOU ever care about the Lifestream, or nature, or the people that populate this planet in all your misbegotten days!? NEVER!!" Audrey half-screamed this last word, and her body trembled from pure rage as her fingers dug into her arms. Yuffie took a step back alarmed by this show of emotion. There was hardly ever a time that she came face-to-face with someone who could match her own fiery displays. "So you're a hero now," Audrey continued, somewhat calmer. "Imbued with the knowledge of righteousness, glory, and all that poppycock that fills books and films. ...It was by chance that you happened to run into the right group of people at the right time. Since then you've piggybacked your way to history and fame. But I know what you really are. You may think you're a little demi-god now, but that glint in your eye tells me the same runty thief that I used to know as a little girl is still there somewhere. Get your head out of the sand and realize that the things that have built you up as a savior are made of the blood and sweat of others you took advantage of." Yuffie stared at her, quips and insults and feisty retorts sailing through her head like a maelstrom. But her mouth didn't move. She could only breathe and hope the pain in her chest was from something other than guilt. A hand came to rest on her shoulder. The ninja turned slowly to gaze at Lenna. The soldier had taken to watching the exchange, and though she was not accustomed to stepping in during such times, her mind suggested it appropriate. "We all have our own paths, Yuffie. Yours was no less genuine than Cloud's..." At the mention of her former illustrious leader, the nineteen-year-old's expression soured. Moodily, she shrugged Lenna's hand off her shoulder. "Don't touch me." she muttered in a subdued voice. Audrey was still staring at her hard. Yuffie glared across at her, trying to will herself to say something when a familiar wail pierced through the air. The neighborhood residents paused in their activities to look up as if expecting some visible herald to be seen overhead. There was a loud rumble and the ground shook. The building barriers were coming down. ---------- A/N: This will be over by next chapter, after which Yuffie and Tifa will be reunited and the original nature of this story will promptly come back into place. (okay so maybe I shouldn't promise it that way, but for the most part you'll be seeing more of what you know you love) Also, to any new readers reading I'd just like to apologize for the plot bunnies and occasional errors in facts that I managed over the course of the story. You are all reading the chapter one after the other. Remember that there was usually a span of about a month or two between updates (save for this one) so sometimes details got muddled or lost. In this particular part of the story, I got the time of day wrong. I think at one point I say it is evening and later say it is morning, then day. I meant to go back and edit this error, but like many things I never got around to it. Heck, I'm STILL meaning to rewrite the first few chapters because I really feel that I can do them better now...but alas... The title of this chapter, as you may have guessed (you clever fiends) comes from the song 'Modern Guilt' by Beck. I couldn't come up with a name for the chapter on my own and didn't want to give it some generic title. I wanted it to have some level of meaning. I find it a little ironic that I'm using yet another Beck song as an opening for a new chapter, but something about it seemed to fit the events and sentiments of the recent chapters under one neat umbrella. Whether or not you agree with this is up to you, at any rate, the chapter is finally up. I think we can all agree that's a good thing. I would also like to say that military/police procedure, gun knowledge, and technology are completely beyond me. If I felt it would be interesting to the story to explain it in an accurate and realistic way I would--but as it stands I find that sort of thing to be bothersome and dull so I'm sorry if my depiction of these things seems unrealistic or sloppy. At this point I'd really just like to get Junon over with and get back to writing Tifa and Yuffie wuv.
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