"Did you take my gun?" Walter asked with the force of a police officer interrogating his main suspect. He didn't bother mincing words or playing it strategically. He saw a shadow run from his tree house and he thought he could make out dark hair and a female shape. But he wasn't sure. It was too dark and his eyes were groggy from sleep.
This would be so much easier if I had my mask.... he thought as he looked down at the girl.
"No, but I do have something for you," Yuffie responded, rolling over and presenting him with the middle fingers of both hands. "Seriously, what the fuck? Can you not see I'm having a moment? And why would I even want a stupid gun anyway? They're lame, and people like Vinny only use them 'cos they got no other talents."
Walter stopped approaching. Such a reply wasn't expected from a young girl and he had to restrain himself from running up to her and reacting violently.
He exhaled, realizing this girl was the exact reason he normally avoided people. They made him nervous. Put him on edge. If he had his mask, it'd be easier. If he even just had his sign. No one would want conversation with the ugly red-haired bastard carrying a huge sign that said The End is Nigh.
"Don't normally have guns either..." he told her honestly. "But this one was borrowed. For hunting. And it was stolen."
"And what, you think lil' ole me took it?" Yuffie snorted, flopping back the other way on the sand. "Not my bag, baby. I did Materia, not weapons, you'd wanna check the Turks for that. Not that they're here."
He didn't know what she was saying. Materia. Turks. All words he hadn't heard before. Walter had been on the island long enough though to know the way things works. He chalked it up to one of those time/space dissonances. What he did know was that she was telling the truth. She didn't have his gun.
"It was one thief. Just one. A woman, I think. Dark-hair. I saw her leap from my hut. With my gun..." Walter looked away.
"Listen, buddy," Yuffie said instead. "Can I tell you all the reasons a gun is a really stupid idea out here? Where are you gonna get ammo when you run out?"
She kept all cracks about how he should be looking for a red-headed woman-- making fun of Reno never got old-- to herself.
Walter allowed a gruff laugh. She was right. And he knew that a gun wasn't the best weapon out there. "Not only that," he agreed about the ammo, "but it's the most effective with the least amount of fun, No aching knuckles. No tightened muscles. No cracking of bones after you kick the right spot...." he trailed off, missing the sting of the fight.
"I just needed it to shoot some game. Some dinos."
"Oh boy," Yuffie said, her eyebrows going up. "That's a treat." She tried, in vain, to recall whether or not Tifa ever got creepy happy about it like this. Nope, probably not. "Well, seeing as I'm the Greatest Ninja in the World, I'm trained in a variety of weapons and styles."
Walter looked away from the girl. He didn't know if she was telling the truth or simply musing about youth fantasies. Even he had dreams once. He turned back to her an surveyed her discreetly. He didn't want the girl thinking he was doing something he wasn't. After getting a good look at her, he decided she was telling the truth.
"That's a big title," he told her flatly. "How'd you earn it?"
"By being the best," Yuffie said, without a hint of slyness in her voice. This just wasn't a place where she lied. "Also, helped save the world. Couple of times, actually. I guess the second time's debatable."
Sometimes she pretended to not know what people saw in Cloud, but not today.
"You should meet Jon. You two can team up. Save the world together..." Walter told her. His eyes were still focused out. On the water. Or something in the distance.
"Debatable how? That you saved the world or that the world was saved?"
"He better not be some prettyboy McAngstPants," Yuffie said, deadly serious. "'cos I am not on board with that ANY. MORE." She let out a little sigh. "They'll only break your heart in the end. I'm gonna find someone dumb as a rock, and real cheerful."
Finally hearing the question, she paused in her way. "And some would argue that Cloud got to do all the fun stuff the second time."
Walter couldn't help but allow a small, gruff laugh to escape. The thought of Jon as a "prettyboy McAngstPants" really was an entertaining thought.
"Couldn't be farther from him," Walter told her honestly and without spite. "He's blue. Genetically altered due to an accident in the lab. Aside from looking like a big popsicle, he'd didn't get too shitty a deal. Super strength. Can alter his size, teleportation, atomic control..." Walter trailed off realizing that on some level, maybe a molecular level that Jon would be able to pick up on, he missed the Crimebusters. He glanced back sideways at the girl, surprised he was telling her so much.
"Yeah, you'd like him. You two could have all the fun. No debates about Cloud taking it all with Jon."
"I never met anyone who's blue," Yuffie said thoughtfully, her mind all too happy to stray from her current angst. "I know Red, but he's actually some kind of ancient Planet guardian or some shit. Looks like a lion."
She tipped her head. "What about you? Completely normal people don't hang out with the kind of people that get zapped by rays and shit."
"I'm not completely normal...I'm the last of my kind," Walter answered her through gritted teeth. He was still angry about The Keene Act. And about his colleagues betraying their costumes and the city.
"But you're right. I didn't hang around him anymore than I should have. He caused problems. Became involved with the government. Prostitution," he let out a gruff sign. Jon was absolutely that. A government sell-out. A tool.
This would be so much easier if I had my mask.... he thought as he looked down at the girl.
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He exhaled, realizing this girl was the exact reason he normally avoided people. They made him nervous. Put him on edge. If he had his mask, it'd be easier. If he even just had his sign. No one would want conversation with the ugly red-haired bastard carrying a huge sign that said The End is Nigh.
"Don't normally have guns either..." he told her honestly. "But this one was borrowed. For hunting. And it was stolen."
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"It was one thief. Just one. A woman, I think. Dark-hair. I saw her leap from my hut. With my gun..." Walter looked away.
"Any of your friends on the hunt for a gun?""
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She kept all cracks about how he should be looking for a red-headed woman-- making fun of Reno never got old-- to herself.
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"I just needed it to shoot some game. Some dinos."
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"That's a big title," he told her flatly. "How'd you earn it?"
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Sometimes she pretended to not know what people saw in Cloud, but not today.
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"Debatable how? That you saved the world or that the world was saved?"
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Finally hearing the question, she paused in her way. "And some would argue that Cloud got to do all the fun stuff the second time."
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"Couldn't be farther from him," Walter told her honestly and without spite. "He's blue. Genetically altered due to an accident in the lab. Aside from looking like a big popsicle, he'd didn't get too shitty a deal. Super strength. Can alter his size, teleportation, atomic control..." Walter trailed off realizing that on some level, maybe a molecular level that Jon would be able to pick up on, he missed the Crimebusters. He glanced back sideways at the girl, surprised he was telling her so much.
"Yeah, you'd like him. You two could have all the fun. No debates about Cloud taking it all with Jon."
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She tipped her head. "What about you? Completely normal people don't hang out with the kind of people that get zapped by rays and shit."
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"But you're right. I didn't hang around him anymore than I should have. He caused problems. Became involved with the government. Prostitution," he let out a gruff sign. Jon was absolutely that. A government sell-out. A tool.
Reply
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