Post by Reno on Feb 6, 2019 0:25:23 GMT
{BGM: "Duel Sign"}
The young red-haired boy dashed across the dusty street while twisting and firing off several shots from a dangerous-looking handgun in his left hand. A hail of bullets followed hot on his heels as he slid behind some crates that were piled up haphazardly next to a run-down old church. The crates were made of some fairly heavy-duty materials, so they provided some adequate cover for the lad, allowing him to take a short breather while he reloaded. After several seconds, the gunfire ceased, and all was eerily quiet for a brief moment. A dry wind blew through the town, tossing up sand and tumbleweeds as the sun blazed bright, hazy and hot in the clear blue skies above. And then, the silence was broken by the voice of a man, presumably one of those who was after the upstart kid.
"Nawh lissen here, boah! We don' wanna have this sitchee-ation excalatin' any further...so jus' c'mon outta there an' we'll discuss this like...like civilized gennelmen!"
After speaking his piece, a number of men clad in dusters, vests, chaps, cowboy hats and cowboy boots (complete with spurs) poked their heads out from behind various spots of cover on the side of the street opposite to where the kid had dug himself in. A few seconds passed and the men started to emerge, albeit tentatively, still grasping their guns, looking mighty antsy. The ringleader stepped out. He was a big, brown-haired, bearded man with an eye patch wielding two large-caliber revolvers. His eye narrowed as he glared out across the distance between himself and the pile of crates. He was certain he'd seen the kid dive behind there...did they hit the little bugger after all?
"Boah...!? Ah say boah!" Eye Patch Man called out as his cohorts appeared to become more at ease, some even lowering their weapons.
"Hey boss...I think maybe we got him," said a tall, thin, weaselly-looking blond man in a black derby hat, sporting a silver monocle and a fine grey pinstriped suit, holding a long-barreled sniper rifle.
"Y-y-y-yeah. W-w-we got him b-b-b-boss!" stuttered a short stocky black-haired man with a thick curly mustache, wearing a large ten-gallon hat full of holes and a dirty striped poncho.
Just then, a shot pierced the air and one of the men standing off to the right of the 'Boss' fell over as a projectile struck him dead center in his chest. The rest of the gang members scrambled either to ready their weapons of dive for cover. Meanwhile, the pile of crates on the other side of the street suddenly exploded outward in a furious surge of splinters and debris as a rather powerful shockwave surged forth from where the boy was presumably holed up. Bits and pieces of wood and metal slammed into the men one anfter another with tremendous speed and force, inflicting crippling injuries upon impact, which sent them all scattering in a panic - well, those who remained conscious, anyway.
Having barely managed to duck back into cover himself, the Eye Patch Man winced in pain as he gripped his right shoulder, which bled from a deep gash where a piece of metal had winged him pretty good. He looked over the area and saw that most of his men were down for the count, except for Weasel and Bronco, the two who had spoken up earlier.
"Ggghh! Dagnabbit!" Eye Patch Man cursed as he braced himself again the stone pillar that he hid behind.
Through the heat and dust that had been kicked up by all the commotion, a mirage-like figure could be seen. For a few seconds, it looked to be a tall, lanky man, brimming with power and menace, wielding a Katana in his right hand, and a Magnum in the other...but then he spoke, and the illusion dissipated, revealing a short kid with wild red hair wearing a dark blue suit, carrying a Wakizashi in his right hand and a pistol in his left.
"Who're you callin' boy, Viper?"
The previous day...
{BGM: "Dark Grey Buckeye"}
The late afternoon sun was beginning to dip low in the sky as a motley-looking crew of four people strolled into the small desert town of Dodgson. The few townsfolk who were up and about looked at the travelers with a mixture of bemusement and slight apprehension as they walked down the center of the main street. They certainly didn't seem like any ordinary group, that much was certain: A massive towering brown-haired man with a rough, stubbled face, clad in what looked to be a white labcoat, wearing a large, heavy battle gauntlet weapon on his left hand/forearm. A petite young girl with long lustrous green hair and eyes in a pretty sapphire and emerald dress, carrying an ornate jeweled staff. A tall, slender woman with dark shoulder-length hair and sharp violet eyes, dressed in the manner of a ninja from the lands of Wutai. And finally, a little boy with wild red hair done up in a loose ponytail with vibrant azure green eyes, wearing a dark blue, somewhat disheveled suit, with what looked to be a real Wakizashi sheathed at his left hip. The boy walked out in front, as if he was leading the group. He held his hands up behind his head as his strides resembled something akin to a march.
"Man, that coach ride took forever," said the boy in an annoyed, kind of bratty-sounding tone. "And why'd they drop us off so far from town, anyway? What a god damn ripoff!"
"Shush, Reno!" the green-haired girl admonished, her voice light and melodic. "I'm sure they had their reasons."
"Millicent is right, kid," the massive man spoke up, his voice deep and commanding, yet somehow possessing a gentle quality about it. "Besides, it's not like we had to walk that far."
"Hmph, ever the optimist, Alonzo. Well, I agree with Reno," said the dark-haired ninja woman, her voice sultry and seductive, though carrying something of a hint of shrillness to it. "I think they were just being lazy!"
"Haha, yeah, Rika has my back!" Reno laughed. "Anyway, where's the inn around here? I need a drink."
His eyes darted around for a few seconds before falling upon what appeared to be an inn/saloon.
"Aha! Jackpot!"
Without allowing the others to protest, Reno suddenly took off towards the inn, kicking up a small cloud of dust in his wake.
"Ugh, here we go again..." Alonzo pinched the bridge of his nose, as if attempting to fend off an incoming headache.
Reno approached the saloon-style doors and shoved them open. The few people inside briefly stopped what they were doing and looked at the doorway, only to see a little kid standing there with, to these people, must have seemed like a pretty strange expression on his face...like he genuinely believed that he belonged here or something. It was and odd sight, to be sure. After a brief moment of still silence, the patrons went back to their business while Reno strolled confidently forward, making a beeline for the bar. He hopped up onto one of the stools and leaned in on one of his arms.
"Gimme the strongest whiskey you've got, barkeep," he said without skipping a beat.
The barkeep just raised an eyebrow as he curiously regarded the kid while wiping down a glass.
"That's funny, kid. Real funny."
"What's funny? I ain't jokin'."
Reno leveled his gaze upon the barkeep and for a brief instant, there was a shimmer in his eye that really caught the barkeep off-guard. But it quickly passed, and the barkeep managed to shrug it off as a figment of his imagination or something.
"It's too damn early in the morning for this..." the barkeep muttered as he looked away and continued wiping down shot glasses.
"Hey, god dammit-!" Reno began, slamming his palms down on the bar. But before he could enter full tantrum mode, a busty woman in a low cut, rather whorish-looking dress sat in the stool next to him.
"Aww, aren't you just the cutest thing!" She exclaimed. "I love your little suit, its so adorable!"
"Heh..." Reno chuckled as he turned his attention to the woman, looking her right in the eye after taking a quick glance at her cleavage. "I'm more than just cute, sweet cheeks." He offered her a dashing smirk as he took one of her manicured hands in his.
"Reno!" Alonzo appeared seemingly from out of nowhere, picking Reno up by the collar of his jacket with one hand and lifting him up off the stool.
"Hey, dammit!" Reno started kicking and flailing his arms. "Lemme go ya big oaf, can't ya see I'm workin' here!?"
"Tee hee..." The woman giggled. "Oh, are you his father? What an energetic boy you have there."
Alonzo blushed a little and looked away.
"Ah...no, I'm not...I mean...he's not my..."
He dropped Reno, who immediately scampered up to start gnawing comically on Alonzo's head while Millicent and Rika walked up and sat at the bar.
"Say, mister barkeep," Millicent began, "Do you have any rooms to rent here?"
"Yeah, we got rooms. Yer in luck too, couple of vacancies. 120 gil a room. Interested?"
"Hmmm," Rika leaned in. "How about 100 gil?"
The barkeep eyed her for a moment.
"115."
"105."
The barkeep stood firm for a second before sighing.
"110."
"Deal." Rika grinned. "Pleasure doing business!"
"Yeah, yeah..." The man reached under the bar and pulled out a couple of keys. "Here's the keys. Try not to make a mess." He specifically looked at Reno as he said this. Everyone else looked at Reno as well.
He ceased accosting Alonzo and dropped back down to the floor.
"What're ya lookin' at me for!?" He yelled before making his way towards the stairs that led up to the rooms. "Well, c'mon!"
<->-<->|<->-<->
{BGM: "WANTED! DEAD OR ALIVE!"}
Reno smirked sardonically as the dust settled. For such a little kid, he sure seemed to have a lot of swagger and confidence. It was an odd cross between cute, precocious, and unsettling.
"Ya confounded lil' varmint!" Eye Patch Man, apparently named Viper, shouted back. "Jus' gimme what's mine an' we'll all be on our merry way!"
"Ha! Too bad, old man! You know the rules out here! Finders keepers!"
The kid aimed his pistol at the angry bandit, which for some reason sent a great chill down the hardened man's spine. Something about this rambunctious little rapscallion was just so damned...off. It was downright scary is what it was. A cold sweat formed upon his brow, but he somehow managed to at least keep himself composed in front of his underlings. Well, the ones who remained conscious, anyway.
"Look, kid..." Viper raised his arms, letting his revolver drop to the ground in an apparent show of peace and understanding. "Ah jus' want...what's mine. An' rightf'lly so. I'm sure ya can unnerstan' my sitchee-ation here..." He took a few cautious steps forward, slowly reaching his hands up behind his head, where he kept his hidden mini-revolver in a custom holster sewed directly into his clothing.
Reno aimed his gun at the ground at Viper's feet and opened fire, stopping the nefarious bastard in his tracks.
"Nice try, idiot. You think I don't know that trick? I invented that one!"
"Ggh!" Viper nearly choked as he stumbled backward.
"Or do you seriously think you're fast enough to draw on me? Heh..."
Reno resumed aiming his pistol, now training it right between Viper's eyes.
"N-no!" Viper panicked, then cleared his throat. "Ahem...! I mean...ya don't wanna go an' be all hasty nawh, do ya boah? Jus' relax an'...think about this all rational-like..."
"What's there to think about? I got what I want, you got...nothin'. Seems pretty rational to me."
"Hah...y'sure 'bout that though, boah?" Viper cocked his head towards Weasel, who nodded in response. "What if ah told ya that ah had somethin' ah yers too?"
"Horse shit!" Reno spat back.
"Well, ah guess yer not innerested in those...pretty lil' ladies you was with earlier..."
"Ha! Them? Hahahaha!" Reno started laughing. "Why would I care about those two dummies? All they ever do is bug me!"
This seemed to catch Viper off-guard, but he managed to continue, albeit noticeably less sure of himself.
"So yer...yer sayin' ya don't give a damn what happens to 'em then?"
"Nope! Throw 'em in the Sandsea for all I care."
"Damn...yer a cold little runt, ain'tcha..."
"Nah, not really," Reno offered a casual shrug. "I mean yeah, they're annoying as hell, but that's beside the point. I knew you were lying. Dumbass."
Uh...boss..." Weasel said wearily.
"B-b-b-b-boss!" Bronco stuttered nervously.
"What, goddammit!?" Viper spun around to face his men. "W-woah!!?"
{BGM: "Friends Who Watch Your Back"}
Suddenly, Viper and his cohorts were surrounded by a vicious whirlwind that kicked up a ton of dust and debris. Soon, they were swept up off their feet, tumbling head over heels into the air, getting tossed about and knocked into each other like dirty old rag dolls. Several meters off to the side, her body enveloped in the bright green aura that typically went along with the casting of a Materia spell, was Rika Kusanagi. Alongside her stood Millicent Faluna. It seemed that Viper's bluff had indeed been called. As the Tornado spell began to dissipate, the thugs dropped back to the ground one by one, falling fast and hard. Weasel and Bronco were down for the count, while Viper had managed to somehow maintain consciousness. Maybe he was a bit tougher than he seemed.
"Gah...! Son of a..."
Viper stood up, his footing shaky. He was somehow more filthy than before, and his face was all marked up with scratches and a ripe black eye. He took a couple of unsteady steps forward, his one eye glaring at Reno.
"Y...you...I'm gunna...lil' bastard...uuugh..."
His eye rolled back in his head and he fell face-first into the dirt with a loud thud. That was when Alonzo, AKA Dr. Brannox, stepped out from behind the nearest building with a look of dismay upon his rough, square-jawed face.
"Sheesh," he sighed. "Did you really have to cause so much destruction?"
"Hey, don't blame me for this!" Rika snapped. "This is all the twerp's fault!" She pointed a dismissive thumb in Reno's direction.
"What!? None of this woulda happened if you weren't so damn greedy all the time!" Reno fired back.
Sparks of anger flew between the two of them as they pressed their foreheads together, seemingly on the verge of coming to blows. It died down when Millicent popped up between them with an offering of a calm, cheerful mediation.
"Now now, you two, it's not either of your fault that these guys are criminals...they needed to be stopped either way, don't you think?"
"Hmph!" Both Reno and Rika turned away, crossing their arms and grunting at the same time.
"In any case..." Dr. Brannox said as he joined the group. "It seems that you weren't entirely wrong about this place after all."
"Ha! Yeah, see!? Just like I told ya!" Reno said triumphantly as he punched his fist into the air.
"Well, we don't have confirmation about the ruins," Dr. Brannox continued. "But that artifact you recovered certainly lends some credibility to your story..."
"Hehehe," Reno snickered as he reached into his jacket and pulled out an object. It looked pretty old and beat-up, but it was definitely some sort of old access keycard...bearing a well-worn logo that appeared to say Shin-Ra Electric Power Company.
"Tch...you don't even know what that's for, let alone if it even still works..." Rika said with a shrug. "But if there's a chance we'll be able to find some good treasure out there, I'm in, I guess."
"That's the spirit, Rika!" Millicent cheered, smiling brightly at the prospect of another adventure close at hand.
"Oh...there's more than a chance, all right..." Reno said as he narrowed his gaze off towards the horizon. "There's always a chance."
He put the 'artifact' back into his jacket and spun on his heel, motioning for the others to follow him. They wandered off in the direction of the western exit, which led out into the Great Goldesso Desert. Supposedly there was an ancient ruin hidden somewhere among the dunes. According to Reno, it was actually an old Shin-Ra facility from over 800 years ago. Something about 'special research and development' into alien beings. It didn't seem all that credible, but the keycard artifact had been recovered, that much was certain enough. It was a tangible piece of physical proof, at least...though proof of what, exactly, would remain to be seen.
The young red-haired boy dashed across the dusty street while twisting and firing off several shots from a dangerous-looking handgun in his left hand. A hail of bullets followed hot on his heels as he slid behind some crates that were piled up haphazardly next to a run-down old church. The crates were made of some fairly heavy-duty materials, so they provided some adequate cover for the lad, allowing him to take a short breather while he reloaded. After several seconds, the gunfire ceased, and all was eerily quiet for a brief moment. A dry wind blew through the town, tossing up sand and tumbleweeds as the sun blazed bright, hazy and hot in the clear blue skies above. And then, the silence was broken by the voice of a man, presumably one of those who was after the upstart kid.
"Nawh lissen here, boah! We don' wanna have this sitchee-ation excalatin' any further...so jus' c'mon outta there an' we'll discuss this like...like civilized gennelmen!"
After speaking his piece, a number of men clad in dusters, vests, chaps, cowboy hats and cowboy boots (complete with spurs) poked their heads out from behind various spots of cover on the side of the street opposite to where the kid had dug himself in. A few seconds passed and the men started to emerge, albeit tentatively, still grasping their guns, looking mighty antsy. The ringleader stepped out. He was a big, brown-haired, bearded man with an eye patch wielding two large-caliber revolvers. His eye narrowed as he glared out across the distance between himself and the pile of crates. He was certain he'd seen the kid dive behind there...did they hit the little bugger after all?
"Boah...!? Ah say boah!" Eye Patch Man called out as his cohorts appeared to become more at ease, some even lowering their weapons.
"Hey boss...I think maybe we got him," said a tall, thin, weaselly-looking blond man in a black derby hat, sporting a silver monocle and a fine grey pinstriped suit, holding a long-barreled sniper rifle.
"Y-y-y-yeah. W-w-we got him b-b-b-boss!" stuttered a short stocky black-haired man with a thick curly mustache, wearing a large ten-gallon hat full of holes and a dirty striped poncho.
Just then, a shot pierced the air and one of the men standing off to the right of the 'Boss' fell over as a projectile struck him dead center in his chest. The rest of the gang members scrambled either to ready their weapons of dive for cover. Meanwhile, the pile of crates on the other side of the street suddenly exploded outward in a furious surge of splinters and debris as a rather powerful shockwave surged forth from where the boy was presumably holed up. Bits and pieces of wood and metal slammed into the men one anfter another with tremendous speed and force, inflicting crippling injuries upon impact, which sent them all scattering in a panic - well, those who remained conscious, anyway.
Having barely managed to duck back into cover himself, the Eye Patch Man winced in pain as he gripped his right shoulder, which bled from a deep gash where a piece of metal had winged him pretty good. He looked over the area and saw that most of his men were down for the count, except for Weasel and Bronco, the two who had spoken up earlier.
"Ggghh! Dagnabbit!" Eye Patch Man cursed as he braced himself again the stone pillar that he hid behind.
Through the heat and dust that had been kicked up by all the commotion, a mirage-like figure could be seen. For a few seconds, it looked to be a tall, lanky man, brimming with power and menace, wielding a Katana in his right hand, and a Magnum in the other...but then he spoke, and the illusion dissipated, revealing a short kid with wild red hair wearing a dark blue suit, carrying a Wakizashi in his right hand and a pistol in his left.
"Who're you callin' boy, Viper?"
<->-<->|<->-<->
The previous day...
{BGM: "Dark Grey Buckeye"}
The late afternoon sun was beginning to dip low in the sky as a motley-looking crew of four people strolled into the small desert town of Dodgson. The few townsfolk who were up and about looked at the travelers with a mixture of bemusement and slight apprehension as they walked down the center of the main street. They certainly didn't seem like any ordinary group, that much was certain: A massive towering brown-haired man with a rough, stubbled face, clad in what looked to be a white labcoat, wearing a large, heavy battle gauntlet weapon on his left hand/forearm. A petite young girl with long lustrous green hair and eyes in a pretty sapphire and emerald dress, carrying an ornate jeweled staff. A tall, slender woman with dark shoulder-length hair and sharp violet eyes, dressed in the manner of a ninja from the lands of Wutai. And finally, a little boy with wild red hair done up in a loose ponytail with vibrant azure green eyes, wearing a dark blue, somewhat disheveled suit, with what looked to be a real Wakizashi sheathed at his left hip. The boy walked out in front, as if he was leading the group. He held his hands up behind his head as his strides resembled something akin to a march.
"Man, that coach ride took forever," said the boy in an annoyed, kind of bratty-sounding tone. "And why'd they drop us off so far from town, anyway? What a god damn ripoff!"
"Shush, Reno!" the green-haired girl admonished, her voice light and melodic. "I'm sure they had their reasons."
"Millicent is right, kid," the massive man spoke up, his voice deep and commanding, yet somehow possessing a gentle quality about it. "Besides, it's not like we had to walk that far."
"Hmph, ever the optimist, Alonzo. Well, I agree with Reno," said the dark-haired ninja woman, her voice sultry and seductive, though carrying something of a hint of shrillness to it. "I think they were just being lazy!"
"Haha, yeah, Rika has my back!" Reno laughed. "Anyway, where's the inn around here? I need a drink."
His eyes darted around for a few seconds before falling upon what appeared to be an inn/saloon.
"Aha! Jackpot!"
Without allowing the others to protest, Reno suddenly took off towards the inn, kicking up a small cloud of dust in his wake.
"Ugh, here we go again..." Alonzo pinched the bridge of his nose, as if attempting to fend off an incoming headache.
Reno approached the saloon-style doors and shoved them open. The few people inside briefly stopped what they were doing and looked at the doorway, only to see a little kid standing there with, to these people, must have seemed like a pretty strange expression on his face...like he genuinely believed that he belonged here or something. It was and odd sight, to be sure. After a brief moment of still silence, the patrons went back to their business while Reno strolled confidently forward, making a beeline for the bar. He hopped up onto one of the stools and leaned in on one of his arms.
"Gimme the strongest whiskey you've got, barkeep," he said without skipping a beat.
The barkeep just raised an eyebrow as he curiously regarded the kid while wiping down a glass.
"That's funny, kid. Real funny."
"What's funny? I ain't jokin'."
Reno leveled his gaze upon the barkeep and for a brief instant, there was a shimmer in his eye that really caught the barkeep off-guard. But it quickly passed, and the barkeep managed to shrug it off as a figment of his imagination or something.
"It's too damn early in the morning for this..." the barkeep muttered as he looked away and continued wiping down shot glasses.
"Hey, god dammit-!" Reno began, slamming his palms down on the bar. But before he could enter full tantrum mode, a busty woman in a low cut, rather whorish-looking dress sat in the stool next to him.
"Aww, aren't you just the cutest thing!" She exclaimed. "I love your little suit, its so adorable!"
"Heh..." Reno chuckled as he turned his attention to the woman, looking her right in the eye after taking a quick glance at her cleavage. "I'm more than just cute, sweet cheeks." He offered her a dashing smirk as he took one of her manicured hands in his.
"Reno!" Alonzo appeared seemingly from out of nowhere, picking Reno up by the collar of his jacket with one hand and lifting him up off the stool.
"Hey, dammit!" Reno started kicking and flailing his arms. "Lemme go ya big oaf, can't ya see I'm workin' here!?"
"Tee hee..." The woman giggled. "Oh, are you his father? What an energetic boy you have there."
Alonzo blushed a little and looked away.
"Ah...no, I'm not...I mean...he's not my..."
He dropped Reno, who immediately scampered up to start gnawing comically on Alonzo's head while Millicent and Rika walked up and sat at the bar.
"Say, mister barkeep," Millicent began, "Do you have any rooms to rent here?"
"Yeah, we got rooms. Yer in luck too, couple of vacancies. 120 gil a room. Interested?"
"Hmmm," Rika leaned in. "How about 100 gil?"
The barkeep eyed her for a moment.
"115."
"105."
The barkeep stood firm for a second before sighing.
"110."
"Deal." Rika grinned. "Pleasure doing business!"
"Yeah, yeah..." The man reached under the bar and pulled out a couple of keys. "Here's the keys. Try not to make a mess." He specifically looked at Reno as he said this. Everyone else looked at Reno as well.
He ceased accosting Alonzo and dropped back down to the floor.
"What're ya lookin' at me for!?" He yelled before making his way towards the stairs that led up to the rooms. "Well, c'mon!"
<->-<->|<->-<->
{BGM: "WANTED! DEAD OR ALIVE!"}
Reno smirked sardonically as the dust settled. For such a little kid, he sure seemed to have a lot of swagger and confidence. It was an odd cross between cute, precocious, and unsettling.
"Ya confounded lil' varmint!" Eye Patch Man, apparently named Viper, shouted back. "Jus' gimme what's mine an' we'll all be on our merry way!"
"Ha! Too bad, old man! You know the rules out here! Finders keepers!"
The kid aimed his pistol at the angry bandit, which for some reason sent a great chill down the hardened man's spine. Something about this rambunctious little rapscallion was just so damned...off. It was downright scary is what it was. A cold sweat formed upon his brow, but he somehow managed to at least keep himself composed in front of his underlings. Well, the ones who remained conscious, anyway.
"Look, kid..." Viper raised his arms, letting his revolver drop to the ground in an apparent show of peace and understanding. "Ah jus' want...what's mine. An' rightf'lly so. I'm sure ya can unnerstan' my sitchee-ation here..." He took a few cautious steps forward, slowly reaching his hands up behind his head, where he kept his hidden mini-revolver in a custom holster sewed directly into his clothing.
Reno aimed his gun at the ground at Viper's feet and opened fire, stopping the nefarious bastard in his tracks.
"Nice try, idiot. You think I don't know that trick? I invented that one!"
"Ggh!" Viper nearly choked as he stumbled backward.
"Or do you seriously think you're fast enough to draw on me? Heh..."
Reno resumed aiming his pistol, now training it right between Viper's eyes.
"N-no!" Viper panicked, then cleared his throat. "Ahem...! I mean...ya don't wanna go an' be all hasty nawh, do ya boah? Jus' relax an'...think about this all rational-like..."
"What's there to think about? I got what I want, you got...nothin'. Seems pretty rational to me."
"Hah...y'sure 'bout that though, boah?" Viper cocked his head towards Weasel, who nodded in response. "What if ah told ya that ah had somethin' ah yers too?"
"Horse shit!" Reno spat back.
"Well, ah guess yer not innerested in those...pretty lil' ladies you was with earlier..."
"Ha! Them? Hahahaha!" Reno started laughing. "Why would I care about those two dummies? All they ever do is bug me!"
This seemed to catch Viper off-guard, but he managed to continue, albeit noticeably less sure of himself.
"So yer...yer sayin' ya don't give a damn what happens to 'em then?"
"Nope! Throw 'em in the Sandsea for all I care."
"Damn...yer a cold little runt, ain'tcha..."
"Nah, not really," Reno offered a casual shrug. "I mean yeah, they're annoying as hell, but that's beside the point. I knew you were lying. Dumbass."
Uh...boss..." Weasel said wearily.
"B-b-b-b-boss!" Bronco stuttered nervously.
"What, goddammit!?" Viper spun around to face his men. "W-woah!!?"
{BGM: "Friends Who Watch Your Back"}
Suddenly, Viper and his cohorts were surrounded by a vicious whirlwind that kicked up a ton of dust and debris. Soon, they were swept up off their feet, tumbling head over heels into the air, getting tossed about and knocked into each other like dirty old rag dolls. Several meters off to the side, her body enveloped in the bright green aura that typically went along with the casting of a Materia spell, was Rika Kusanagi. Alongside her stood Millicent Faluna. It seemed that Viper's bluff had indeed been called. As the Tornado spell began to dissipate, the thugs dropped back to the ground one by one, falling fast and hard. Weasel and Bronco were down for the count, while Viper had managed to somehow maintain consciousness. Maybe he was a bit tougher than he seemed.
"Gah...! Son of a..."
Viper stood up, his footing shaky. He was somehow more filthy than before, and his face was all marked up with scratches and a ripe black eye. He took a couple of unsteady steps forward, his one eye glaring at Reno.
"Y...you...I'm gunna...lil' bastard...uuugh..."
His eye rolled back in his head and he fell face-first into the dirt with a loud thud. That was when Alonzo, AKA Dr. Brannox, stepped out from behind the nearest building with a look of dismay upon his rough, square-jawed face.
"Sheesh," he sighed. "Did you really have to cause so much destruction?"
"Hey, don't blame me for this!" Rika snapped. "This is all the twerp's fault!" She pointed a dismissive thumb in Reno's direction.
"What!? None of this woulda happened if you weren't so damn greedy all the time!" Reno fired back.
Sparks of anger flew between the two of them as they pressed their foreheads together, seemingly on the verge of coming to blows. It died down when Millicent popped up between them with an offering of a calm, cheerful mediation.
"Now now, you two, it's not either of your fault that these guys are criminals...they needed to be stopped either way, don't you think?"
"Hmph!" Both Reno and Rika turned away, crossing their arms and grunting at the same time.
"In any case..." Dr. Brannox said as he joined the group. "It seems that you weren't entirely wrong about this place after all."
"Ha! Yeah, see!? Just like I told ya!" Reno said triumphantly as he punched his fist into the air.
"Well, we don't have confirmation about the ruins," Dr. Brannox continued. "But that artifact you recovered certainly lends some credibility to your story..."
"Hehehe," Reno snickered as he reached into his jacket and pulled out an object. It looked pretty old and beat-up, but it was definitely some sort of old access keycard...bearing a well-worn logo that appeared to say Shin-Ra Electric Power Company.
"Tch...you don't even know what that's for, let alone if it even still works..." Rika said with a shrug. "But if there's a chance we'll be able to find some good treasure out there, I'm in, I guess."
"That's the spirit, Rika!" Millicent cheered, smiling brightly at the prospect of another adventure close at hand.
"Oh...there's more than a chance, all right..." Reno said as he narrowed his gaze off towards the horizon. "There's always a chance."
He put the 'artifact' back into his jacket and spun on his heel, motioning for the others to follow him. They wandered off in the direction of the western exit, which led out into the Great Goldesso Desert. Supposedly there was an ancient ruin hidden somewhere among the dunes. According to Reno, it was actually an old Shin-Ra facility from over 800 years ago. Something about 'special research and development' into alien beings. It didn't seem all that credible, but the keycard artifact had been recovered, that much was certain enough. It was a tangible piece of physical proof, at least...though proof of what, exactly, would remain to be seen.
