The Forgotten Hero

Chapter 10

                After a day or two of staying at the Golden Saucer, Verna received her fake ID, meaning she could leave the money eater place. However, she couldn’t say it was a complete waste of time. She finished one chapter –based on the attack of the ship- and she did some investigation for a potential story. Apparently a man with a gun on his hand murdered some people. Her initial thoughts were that it was Barrett, but after some more investigation it was someone else. Meaning she had no leads on AVALANCHE, Shin-Ra, or Sephiroth.

                Sighing as she walked in the grassy fields, Verna searched for a forest that was supposed to lead to a small place called Gongaga. There was an abandoned Mako reactor, and if Sephiroth kept on his path then he’d end up somewhere around here. Besides, Nibelheim was on the same continent. She could do a story on the town and what little remains of it.

                Verna glanced up as she heard some voices. She narrowed her eyes and approached cautiously. She managed to see a glimpse of red as she hid behind a bush.

                “Come on, Rude,” It was a male’s voice. “Who do you like?”

                There was a silent pause until the red head nudged Rude to talk, “Tifa…”

                “Oh, the girl in AVALANCHE?” The man laughed. “I though Tseng liked her.”

                “No, he likes the Ancient.”

                “But Elena likes Tseng, right?”

                “Those two are so annoying!” A blonde female nearly appeared out of nowhere next to Verna, but she was well concealed by the bush. “All they talk about is who they like, but Tseng doesn’t. He’s too mature for things like that!”

                Her eyes trailed over to a path far a bit away and she jumped from fright. The girl ran over to the red-head and Rude, “They’re here! They’re really here! Reno, Rude! Do something!”

                Reno and Rude glanced over to a trio approaching .Verna shifted to get a better view. It was Cloud, Tifa and Barrett. Verna had to grin to herself. It appeared she was at the right spot for this. However, her grin disappeared as Reno hit a weapon in his hand as he approached the three.

                “Well, well, well,” Reno spoke arrogantly. “It looks like he was right! You are here! You know, I’ve been itching to give you some payback after what happened at Sector 7. It took a long time for my wounds to actually heal. Luckily for me I have a new weapon that I developed!”

                “We’re not here to fight,” Cloud glared at the Turk. “Just get out of our way.”

                “Sorry, it’s the Turk’s way to finish a mission no matter what.”

                Reno ran towards Cloud with his dual rod, but ran past him as Cloud dodged with ease. Rude held up his fists and went for Barrett. Tifa moved in his way and threw a punch at him. Rude hesitated and his face met her fist. It seemed like he’d have to fight Tifa, much to his disliking.

                Barrett went after Elena who started shooting her gun at them. Barrett managed to be grazed by a couple of bullets. Had he not moved out of the way he would have been killed. She was a good shot, that’s for sure. Still, he had to fight back. Barrett shot a few bullets towards Elena. Elena grimaced as she dodged quickly. However, she took a bullet to her knee. Gasping in pain she clutched her leg. She was done for.

                Tifa kept throwing punches at Rude. All he seemed to do was dodge her attacks, he didn’t even fight back! Tifa grew annoyed as she round kicked him in the gut. Rude went flying back and hit the ground. His sunglasses fell off in the process. There was no way he was going to be able to fight her. Even if he did, he’d just end up missing.

                Cloud raised his sword as Reno tried to strike him with his dual rod. Reno smirked and clicked a button on it. Electric currents went through Reno’s weapon and onto the sword. Cloud growled as he dropped his sword from the sudden shock. He had no weapon, but he did have some Materia. He raised his fists up as his arm glowed. Flames shot out and hit Reno. He went flying back. The Turk rolled on the ground extinguishing his flames.

                The three Turks were on the ground. Reno sat up and rubbed some dirt off his face, “Just because we’re retreating doesn’t mean that we’ve lost!”

                Tifa, Barrett and somewhat Cloud grinned at their victory over Shin-Ra’s men. However, they quickly turned their weapons at a bush as a twig snapped. A girl stumbled out and they quickly relaxed, it was someone that they knew.

                “Uh…Hi,” Verna said awkwardly as she raised her hands to show she wasn’t a threat. “Nice work there.”

                “You could have helped,” Cloud glared over at her.

                “I can’t really fight,” Verna laughed nervously. “I just got a gun and I’m not even sure how to use it.” She sighed and shook her head. “I’d do more damage than good.”

                “What are you doing here, Verna?” Tifa questioned. She was slightly suspicious that Shin-Ra seemed to be waiting for them. There must have been a spy.

                “I’m still looking for Sephiroth and running away from Shin-Ra, I can’t be caught by them. Though, it seems like I’m just running into them. Besides, I thought I’d write a story on Nibelheim. What are you doing here?”

                “Looking for Sephiroth,” Cloud began to walk away. “I don’t think there’s a spy among us, so that leaves you Verna.” The self-claimed ex-soldier glared over at her, “Stay away from us.”

                Verna paused. Things were getting dangerous with her following them. They have lost trust in her. She wasn’t even sure what trust she had to begin with. Nodding, she walked away from them and to a random path. She wasn’t sure where she was going until she stopped. A broken Mako reactor was in front of her.

                She heard a helicopter flying nearby. Her eyes widened as she noticed the Shin-Ra logo on it. Verna ran to hide behind some rocks. For extra precautions, she took out her gun and held it closely to her chest. She didn’t want to have to shoot them, but she would if they threatened her in any way.

                She heard footsteps grow close to her and then they stopped as a woman spoke, “Let’s see…” There was some moving of metal, “Nothing. Well that’s what you get from a lousy reactor! Lousy Materia! Still, I have to make sure I beat Heidegger in this! I could get a promotion and be a rank higher than him!” The woman laughed, but then stopped. “I forgot that he was your boss, Tseng! You’ll keep this between you and me?”

                “Yes, ma’am.”

                “Good, now let’s go! We have some more Materia to look for! I want the biggest Materia I can get my hands on!”

                The foot stops faded away and the helicopter left. Verna came out of her hiding spot and looked at the Mako reactor. There was a red Materia in it. She tilted her head and picked it up. Upon examining it she smiled, she’d go ahead and keep it. The girl placed the Materia on her arm and it merged with her body. Sighing, she knew she did it correctly.

--A/N—

And what Materia did she get? Any guesses? If you guess it correctly by March 18th, 2013, I’ll let you have a small part in the story~! It really shouldn’t be that hard. First guess that’s correct will be in the story, even if it’s a minor role…Anyways, if you battle with Tifa against the battle with Rude and Reno, Rude will not attack Tifa at all! If Tifa is the last member there, Rude will attack her, but he’ll miss most of the time…I thought I’d throw that in…Since it’s kind of funny…I also added Elena in the fight, ‘cause three against two just isn’t fair~!

DID YOU GET THE JOKE ABOUT A BULLET TO THE KNEE!? X3