Slouching towards Midgar

“Slouching towards Midgar”
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*Disclaimer: The world that this story is set in and all characters therein belong to Square-Enix. This fiction piece is strictly a non-profit exercise of creativity and entertainment for people (like me) who can’t get enough of this world and the characters.*
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“That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”-W.B. Yeats

~***************************************~

Reno panted heavily and moaned his partner’s name. His hands clutched at Rude’s sweating back, feeling the hard muscles tightening beneath their touch. The redhead’s passion rose to a peak and exploded, making him tilt his head back and scream raggedly.

“That’s my baby,” Rude grunted as his partner’s body clenched tightly around him and he came wetly against his stomach. He could no longer last against the surging pleasure and he thrust hard and deep into his trembling companion and filled him. Groaning heavily, he kissed Reno’s parted lips and gasped for breath as the climax took him.

When it was over, Rude held steady for a couple of moments, kissing his partner’s flushed face and pale throat. Reno sighed in contentment. “Damn, that was good,” the redhead murmured as the larger man pulled carefully out of him and scooted his body down to rest his cheek on his chest. He closed his sea-green eyes and stroked Rude’s back and shoulders, content for the first time in weeks. They’d been separated for the past two weeks due to Rude being sent on a separate assignment. As soon as he’d returned, he’d come to Reno’s apartment and they’d barely made it into the bedroom.

Reno’s cellphone rang and he reached out to the nightstand where he’d put it. “Yo,” he panted, “Reno, here.”

“Good afternoon, Reno,” Tseng’s voice responded. “I’m calling on the matter of the Company costume party tonight.”

Reno sighed. “Yeah, boss?”

“I seem to recall a debt that the two of you owe to me for destroying my car,” Tseng said.

Reno got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He and Rude had borrowed Tseng’s car a couple of months ago and unfortunately, they got into a wreck and totaled it. They’d tried to pay for repairs or even buy the Director a new one but he’d refused their offer and made them sign and I.O.U, saying that he needed a while to think about how they could make up for it.

“I saw a brand new Lex at the auto center the other day,” Reno said desperately, “Rude and I can get it for you by the time the party starts, yo.”

Rude lifted his head and looked at Reno curiously, understanding some of what was going on and curious as to what Tseng was saying. The redhead shushed him when he started to make a suggestion.

“No, I really don’t think buying a new car for me would teach the two of you proper respect for other people’s property,” Tseng refused, “That would be too easy a solution. I’ve ordered special costumes for you both and they’ll arrive at your door when the mail runs. If you wear them to the party tonight, I’ll consider your debt to me fulfilled and we can move on. Oh, and you’ll have to pay for the items when they arrive, of course.”

Reno’s mouth twisted and Rude grimaced, knowing his partner well enough to understand that his expression didn’t bode well. “Seems kind of cheap for what we did to your car, boss,” Reno argued, “I mean, costumes run between forty and a hundred gil, right? You sure you wouldn’t rather us get you a new ride?”

“No, I think this would be much more satisfying. Be prompt, Reno. If the two of you arrive late for the party I may decide that the costumes aren’t enough, after all.” Tseng’s tone left little doubt that he wouldn’t tolerate disobedience.

Reno sighed. “Yes, Sir. We’ll be there on the dot.”

~************************************~

Just as Tseng said, a box was delivered to Reno’s door when the mail came. He signed for it, paid the charge and brought it inside. After putting the box on the dining room table he opened it, finding two smaller boxes inside with his and Rude’s name on them. Rude opened his with a frown. It was an elaborate tuxedo and there were a pair of plastic fangs included in a small container.

“Guess I’m supposed to be a vampire or something,” Rude grumbled.

Reno opened his box, took one look and promptly closed it. “Hell no, I ain’t wearing that!”

Curious now, Rude opened the box and peered inside. A slow smile spread across the darker man’s lips. “Come on, man…it suites you.”

Reno’s expression was petulant. “Like hell it does!”

“This is your only option, man,” Rude said, “If you don’t wear it, Tseng’s only going to find some other way to get payback and it’ll probably be worse than this. Besides, I’ll bet you look good in it.”

Reno glared at his grinning partner, hating him for being right and hating him for teasing him. “I’m gonna get so fucking wasted at this party,” he griped.

~***********************************~

They arrived at ShinRa headquarters five minutes early and took the elevator up to the top floor ballroom. Reno was swearing with humiliation the entire time but Rude was stoic. It was really no wonder that the bald man was so calm—his costume was almost normal looking in comparison to his redheaded partner’s. Still he voiced one complaint as the elevator reached the top floor and the doors opened.

“I look like a butler.” His voice was slightly distorted from the plastic fangs.

Reno gave him a frustrated glare. “You look like a butler,” he repeated, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yo, trade with me, if you think you’ve got it so bad. I’m the one the hounds will be looking for at the end of the night.” Rude looked great, in fact. The sharp outfit he wore might have been an expensive tuxedo, but for the sequins lining the jacket and coat tails. If it weren’t for that and the fangs he could have passed as a guy going to any high class dinner party.

Reno’s fair features were scowling beneath the fluffy fox ears sitting on top of his head. His vivid hair was free of its usual ponytail, the long mass straggling over his shoulders and back. Strands of it framed his face and the red, crescent tattoos on each of his cheeks matched the color of his hair. The red-orange, skin-tight outfit he wore left little to the imagination, though it covered his lithe form completely except for the open V of the chest. The thick, bushy fox’s tail sprouting from the hind-end of the costume swished as Reno walked. He wore flat-soled, matching cloth boots that came up to his knees and they were white at the toes. He wore gloves that were fashioned into fluffy fox paws on his hand, and to add to his humiliation, completing the ensemble was a red, rhinestone-studded collar and a leash. He carried his EMR strapped to his wrist, because he literally had nowhere to conceal it and no Turk went anywhere without a weapon.

Rude didn’t dare say it aloud as he followed behind his irate partner, but personally he thought the fox costume was sinfully attractive on Reno. He knew their superior well enough to know that Tseng appreciated metaphors. Sooner or later, everyone compared Reno’s looks and personality to a fox. The redhead’s complaints and humiliation didn’t change the fact that he looked damn good in his costume. Maybe sometime during the night they could find a secluded corner for Rude to take advantage of. He was hard pressed not to reach out and squeeze his partner’s tight, round bottom—which the spandex molding to his form only served to accent.

They stopped outside the double doors of the ballroom and signed the guest book, showing their ID badges to the guards. Poor Reno had to have Rude sign his name for him because his paws made it impossible for him to do it on his own. He was flushed with humiliation when both the male and the female guard eyed him with more than a passing interest. Rude almost snickered; it was rare for Reno to blush. The temperamental redhead wasn’t normally possessed of a sense of modesty or restraint.

Rude caught hold of his partner’s leash as the doors were opened for them and they started to enter and join the lights, music and conversation in the massive ballroom. Reno glared at him again and the bigger man shrugged. “Tseng’s instructions said—“

“I know what his instructions said!” Reno snapped.

“Don’t take it out on me,” Rude frowned as he reached out to tweak a bright strand of the long hair hanging down his partner’s back. “You know I still respect you, baby.”

“Let’s just get this shit over with, yo,” Reno grumbled, allowing his taller companion to guide him like an unruly pup into the ballroom. He wished his costume came with its own genuine foxhole for him to hide in. Everyone was there, including high-ranking members of Soldier like Sephiroth and Zackary Fair. Zack was talking to his low-ranking friend Cloud when he spotted them.

“Hey, that’s a hot look for you,” Zack said as he came over and grinned. “So what’s Rude supposed to be, someone’s waiter?”

“Shaddup,” Reno snapped. Rude grumbled something impolite under his breath as well.

Zack shrugged. “I guess I’m lucky SOLDIER didn’t make costumes mandatory. It’s almost a shame, though. Cloud here would look great as a chocobo.” He nudged his young blonde companion and ruffled his hair affectionately as Cloud swore at him and protested.

“I need a drink,” Reno growled. Rude nodded and the two of them started toward the bar, making their way past werewolves, witches, sexy nurses, maids and mummies. Tseng and Rufus met them halfway and Reno again wished for that foxhole as the Vice President examined he and Rude with amused gray eyes.

“Tseng, I must apologize,” Rufus said to the Wutaian Turk standing beside him, “I’ll never doubt you again. The costumes really were appropriate compensation for the damage done to your car…especially our mischievous little fox’s.” He studied Reno with a combination of humor and admiration.

“Uh, yeah,” Reno said, “So we’re square, right boss?” ~Why am I getting the brunt of this shit? Just because I was the one that asked to borrow his car and I was driving it when…oh.~

Tseng lifted an elegant eyebrow. “When last I heard, foxes didn’t possess the power of speech.”

Reno pressed his lips together and sighed, shrugging with acquiescence. If part of Tseng’s little game was for him to keep his trap shut, he’d play along just to get the nightmare over with. All he wanted to do was get a drink and survive the night.

“Sirs,” Rude said politely to the Turk Director and the Vice President. “Enjoy your evening.”

“Oh, we most certainly will,” Rufus answered with a wicked grin.

Rude tugged gently on Reno’s leash and the couple walked to the bar. The smaller man’s face was charmingly pink with humiliation by the time they got there and ordered their drinks. Reno was forced to hold his cocktail glass between both hands because the thick paws encasing them made it impossible for him to grasp it. Rude chuckled softly when his partner tipped his glass too far while taking a drink and little rivulets spilled down his chin on either side of his mouth.

“Here, use a straw.” Rude plucked a long straw out of a container and put it in the redhead’s glass. “You only have to put up with this for a couple of hours.”

Reno relaxed a little until a tall, familiar figure with flowing silver hair stepped up to the bar on his other side and ordered a drink. The Turk ducked his head, hoping that the gorgeous First Class wouldn’t notice him. He had no such luck. When he risked a covert glance up, he saw Sephiroth’s emerald cat eyes settled on him.

“Interesting costume,” the General said coolly. If he was as amused by Reno’s appearance as others, his expression didn’t show it.

“Thanks. I’m thinking of having a few made and putting in a request to make it my new uniform,” replied Reno sarcastically.

If Sephiroth intended to respond to that, he never got the chance to. The music abruptly stopped and the lights flickered out. There was a ruckus as some people banged into objects and others swore aloud and asked what was going on. The emergency lights came on and Director Lazard’s voice spoke over the intercom.

“Attention, please. We are under a code green alert. All party guests are to remain securely in the ballroom. All members of SOLDIER and the Turks are now officially on duty to end the threat. The aggressor is to be neutralized. I repeat, take the aggressor alive.”

“Code green,” Reno pondered as he tore his paw-gloves off and clicked off the safety of his EMR, “That means one of Hojo’s specimens is loose, yo. It’ll be somewhere near the lab.”

“Good thing the President isn’t here,” Rude said.

“Yeah,” Agreed the redhead, looking around the dimly lit ballroom at the pale, frightened faces. “Where’s Rufus, though?”

“Heading out the doors with Tseng,” Rude answered, pointing at the retreating VP. “My guess is Tseng is taking him to the roof to get on a chopper out of here.” Rufus seemed reluctant but Tseng was practically dragging him along. Rude felt a moment of sympathy for the Vice President. Rufus was certainly no coward but in situations like this, the Turks never took chances with his safety. The bald man drew his gun and nodded to his partner, who was removing his collar and leash to prevent them from catching on anything.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna be hunting some spook down wearing a damned fox costume,” Reno complained as the two of them hurried toward the double doors. Sephiroth and Zack were already out the door, with Cloud and several other Third and Second class Soldiers close behind them.

Rude spit out his vampire fangs without ceremony and shrugged. “You’re not the only one. I might as well offer it tea and scones.”

Reno laughed for the first time that night.

~*******************************~

The Soldiers checked the elevator shafts, so the Turks searched the lab for signs of where the specimen went. They found a huge, broken stasis capsule and one of them pointed out the trail of moisture leading from the container to the fire escape.

“Looks like our creep is somewhere in the emergency staircase, yo,” Reno observed.

“If it hasn’t come out on one of the upper levels,” a dark-haired Turk responded.

“We’ll have to split up and check all the floors,” Reno instructed. “You three take the next floor up, you two make sure it didn’t go down somewhere and Rude and I can search the fire escape and make our way up.”

It must have been difficult for them to take orders from a guy in a skin-tight fox outfit, but Reno was still second in command of the organization and none of them were foolish enough to tease him or argue with his orders.

The group went to the fire escape and started to split up. It was dark and the emergency lights in the staircase were few and far between, so they had to use their small penlights to help them to see. Reno unfortunately didn’t have one because again, he had nowhere to put it. He had to rely on his partner’s flashlight to see in the dark. No sooner did they begin to split up than something large, black and ropy shot out of the dark from above them and wrapped around the lead Turk’s waist. The young man screamed as he was abruptly yanked off his feet toward the creature that was clinging to the wall above them.

His companions were so surprised that they didn’t react immediately, except to shout with alarm and point their lights up at the creature. Reno opened his mouth to shout an order when the captured Turk screamed in agony and something warm and wet splashed on the redhead’s upturned face. Suddenly the victim was released…in several pieces. Reno dodged aside and cursed as a dismembered arm nearly fell on him. Rude shouted with horror as the young man’s head landed at his feet with a sickening thud. Orders weren’t needed now. All of the Turks opened fire on the creature and it shrieked in an otherwordly voice and retreated from them, climbing the walls and disappearing over the side of the staircase above them.

“Fuck taking this thing alive,” Reno panted, “let’s take it out!” His weapon crackled as he activated the electric charge on it and he led the others up the stairs, where they could hear the creature moving. He slipped on black blood as his foot came down on the steps and he fell against Rude. The bald man steadied him and the chase was on.

The specimen was moving incredibly fast and the Turks couldn’t get to it before it exited the fire escape a couple of floors up. It was in the Company exercise gym now. “Yo Rude, have you got your cell?” Reno asked.

“Yeah.”

“Call the General and let him know where this nasty is, man. I hate to say it but we’re probably going to need SOLDIER to help bring this bitch down.” Reno wiped at his face in futility, trying to get the blood of the dead Turk off of it.

Rude complied, relaying the information to Sephiroth when the First answered his cellphone. When he was finished, he put his cell away and looked at his partner with a grim expression. “He said they’ve passed out tranquilizer guns to SOLDIER and we’re supposed to avoid hurting the specimen further.”

Reno shrugged. “If it attacks us again, we’re gonna do more than ‘hurt’ it. Sephiroth and his buddies can play around with it if they want but I’m not losing any more of our people, yo.”

Rude and the others nodded in agreement and they continued up to the floor where the monster had exited. The gym was dark and eerily quiet. Rude instinctively got in front of his partner as he looked up to make sure the thing wasn’t creeping up on them on the ceiling or walls again. There was no way he was going to let his lover suffer the same fate as that poor bastard earlier. He relaxed a little when he confirmed that the hostile wasn’t in immediate range and he wiped his sweating forehead.

“Where the hell did it go?” Reno whispered, searching the spacious gym with narrowed blue-green eyes. The double doors on the far right of the room opened and Sephiroth entered the gym, flanked by Zack and Cloud. Several low ranking Soldiers came in behind them, wielding tranquilizer guns. They crossed the room to join the Turks.

“Where is the…uh…thing at?” asked Zack in a low voice, his violet eyes scanning the gym cautiously.

“Beats us, yo,” Reno shrugged. “We know it came in here but it’s found a nice little hiding spot in the time it took us to follow it. I guess you didn’t spot it in the hallway, right?”

“The hall and elevator are clear,” Sephiroth responded, studying his surroundings keenly. “Logically, it must be somewhere in this room.”

“How the hell did it bust out of the lab in the first place?” Reno wanted to know.

“And what is it?” Rude added.

Sephiroth looked bored as he started walking further into the gym and motioned for the tranq snipers to follow him. “It seems security was too lax,” he said, “as for what it is, I doubt even Hojo could tell you that. Clearly these projects of his are getting out of hand.” Zack fell into step beside him, ready and alert for combat.

Reno sighed and motioned to his fellow Turks to follow the Soldiers. They moved through the gym cautiously and one of the Soldiers cried out in fear when a huge, dark mass skittered across the floor ahead with alarming speed.

“Hold your fire,” Sephiroth warned coldly, “wait for a clear shot.”

Reno nodded to his Turks, who looked ready to start firing at the creature as well. They reluctantly lowered their weapons and continued to follow the silver-haired fighter. The creature seemed to have gone into the separate Yoga room and Sephiroth didn’t hesitate to pass through the open arch to follow it. The others came behind and the General looked up and shouted a warning as he spotted the creature on the ceiling.

This time, it was one of the Soldiers who fell victim to the specimen’s attack. The brown haired man screamed and shouted for help as a dark appendage caught him by the leg and hoisted him. Reno leaped forward at the same moment that Sephiroth slashed with his masamune. The Soldier got lucky—Sephiroth hacked off the appendage that was holding him and he dropped back to the floor. Zack pulled the Soldier away from the creature while Reno swung his EMR at it, hitting another reaching appendage before it could snatch another victim. The electric charge did the trick, appearing to stun the creature at least briefly. It began to drop from the ceiling and Rude shouted and grabbed his partner around the waist to get him out of the way.

The specimen dropped in front of Sephiroth, only inches away from him. The General stood unmoving, staring at it with narrowed green eyes as it straightened to its full, monstrous height before him.

“Sephiroth, move!” Zack yelled in horror.

Sephiroth’s hand tightened around the hilt of his masamune but he didn’t budge. A slit opened in the shapeless mass of the creature’s flesh and something emerged from within the slit. After a moment, they could recognize it as a woman’s face. Glowing eyes stared out from the monstrously beautiful female face, regarding Sephiroth with something akin to need. Sephiroth stared back with a faint touch of awe on his stunning features.

“Fire,” Zack ordered the Soldiers behind him. The specimen was enthralled with Sephiroth for some reason and they’d never get a better opportunity for a clear shot. He reached out and did what nobody on Gaia ever had the balls to do before; he grabbed the collar of the General’s coat and yanked him away from the creature. The two Firsts tumbled to the floor as the tranquilizers were fired at the escaped creature.

Reno hissed and covered his ears to protect his hearing as the monster shrieked. Rude had one arm around him and he returned the half-embrace, confident that even if anyone noticed the action they wouldn’t care about it at a time like this. Most of the Turks knew that the two of them were together, despite the organizations policy of keeping it discreet. If a few Soldiers figured it out, tough shit.

The specimen lashed out and knocked one of the snipers off his feet, spoiling his aim and making him misfire. Reno yelped loudly as a dart pierced him in the right butt cheek.

“What the fuck?” He shouted angrily, “You just shot me, you dumb bastard!” Irate, he took a couple of steps toward the guilty party, intending to kick his ass. His vision blurred and his ass and legs went numb. “Aw, shit,” he mumbled. Cloud caught him before he hit the floor, for which Rude was exceedingly thankful.

The creature attempted to escape but by the time it moved, its preternatural flesh was already peppered with several darts. It dragged its seemingly ponderous bulk a few feet before collapsing. It thrashed for a few moments before going still and Sephiroth got to his feet and stood over it, staring down at it with an odd expression on his face.

“She spoke to me,” he murmured to Zack as the black-haired Soldier joined him.

“’She’?” Zack asked. “I didn’t hear ‘her’ say a damn thing!”

Sephiroth didn’t answer. He just stared down at the lifeform with a troubled look on his face. Rude knelt before his partner, who was unconscious and cradled in Cloud Strife’s arms. He pulled the dart out of Reno’s ass and shook his head, then looked to the fallen specimen as he pulled out his cell to call Tseng and let him know it was safe to bring Rufus back. He froze as the creature’s flesh seemed to shrink and reform into the shape of a woman.

“What the hell?” Rude exclaimed. The witnessing Soldiers and Turks also voiced surprise and confusion. “What exactly is this thing?”

Sephiroth kept his eyes on the “woman” and got on his cellphone to call Lazard. “The threat is neutralized and the specimen is ready for the science team to retrieve it and put it back. One wounded, no casualties.”

“He probably needs a doctor,” Cloud suggested as he helped Rude lift Reno into his arms. “Getting hit with a tranq meant for something that big is probably pretty dangerous.”

“Yeah,” Rude agreed nervously. “We’ll get him to a medic right away.”

~*********************************~

Reno groaned as he struggled out of his drug-induced sleep. He blinked as he opened his eyes, trying to focus on his surroundings. He was in a hospital bed in the medic wing of the Company and he was dressed in one of those open-backed gowns he hated so much. He spotted a nurse walking by and he cleared his throat.

“Hey, what happened to me?” He asked hoarsely.

She gave a little start and turned to regard him. “You were hit with a high dosage of tranquilizer when your team was trying to capture the Professor’s escaped experiment last night. One more might have killed you, but you just slept through the night and most of today. Is there someone you’d like me to call, Sir?”

“Oh, now I remember,” Reno sighed, “that stupid Soldier kid shot me. Yeah, call my partner Rude, yo. His number’s 539-1703. I want to go home as soon as I can.”

She nodded and hurried to comply. Reno closed his eyes and drifted off again. He didn’t realize how much time had passed while he dozed and the next thing he knew, Rude’s deep voice was calling his name. He opened his eyes and looked up at the bald man with a crooked grin. “Hey, partner. Sorry I crashed on you before you got here. Whatever was in that shit really hit me hard.”

“It sure did,” Rude answered. “The doctor says I can take you home as soon as you’re awake enough though. I brought you some clothes to change into.”

“Thank Gaia,” Reno grunted as he struggled into a sitting position on the bed. “I sure as hell didn’t want to leave here in that stupid fox costume Tseng made me wear. So what happened with that freak after I passed out?”

“They brought it down and the science team came and got it,” Rude answered as he handed the folded clothes he’d brought to Reno, “After that incident, Hojo decided to have it moved somewhere out of Headquarters. It’s too dangerous to keep in the city, I guess.”

“Where’d they move it to?” Reno asked as he shrugged out of his gown and pulled the t-shirt Rude had brought over his head.

Rude shrugged. “They’re being quiet about that. I’m just glad the thing’s not going to be in this building anymore. How are you feeling?”

“A little dizzy, yo. I’ll be fine after I get something to eat and get into my own bed.” Reno pulled his underwear on and Rude helped him into his jeans. The bald man unexpectedly groped his crotch as he was zipping his fly up and Reno smirked in delight and kissed him briefly. “I guess you’re not letting me sleep as soon as we get back to my apartment, yo.”

“Not a chance,” Rude answered readily. Now that he knew his partner was going to be all right, his desire for him was taking over and all he wanted to do was have sex with him and forget all about the crazy events of the night before.

“I’m not complaining,” Reno chuckled. “Let’s get the hell out of here, baby.”

~**********************************************~

It wouldn’t be until months later that Reno and Rude would discover that the creature they had helped recapture was Jenova herself, and that the way she and Sephiroth had reacted to each other was because she was, in a way, his mother—and he was her chance to be “reborn” to full strength.

~**************************************~

-The End