Final Fantasy VII: Reflections - Book 1: Descent

FORTY

"Who the hell are you!?" Braddock snarled.

"Just a girl taking back what's rightfully hers," I quipped, hands on my hips. "And opening up a nice can of whoop ass while I'm at it. So... whatcha think, big guy? Eleven outta ten?"

He frowned. "I think you just signed your death warrant, bitch. Me an' Dorian are gonna tear you apart!"

I pointed toward the burning ruins of the shed. "Hate to break it to ya, but he's a little dead right now. Never cross a girl who loves blowing stuff up. You'll get burned every time!"

"I'll kill you myself, then!" Braddock growled.

"Oh, I'd love to stick around and see just how hard I can kick your ass, but I've got what I came for," I said. "Now it's time for the beautiful young heroine to exit stage left. Later, boys!"

I did a low, sweeping bow, then turned and ran amidst a chorus of angry shouts. As I'd expected, a lot of the thugs chased after me while a bunch of others moved ahead to try and cut me off. I let my eyes grow wide as I put on another act, pretending to be hit by sudden panic, and skidded to a halt halfway to the exit. Braddock and his thugs closed in, brandishing clubs, pipes, and knives. And in his case, a wicked-looking wooden bat studded with sharp nails.

He grinned darkly. "Nowhere to run, bitch."

"Shit..." I muttered, still acting.

"That chip's mine now," he went on. "Gotta be what you took. Ain't nothin' else here worth doin' all this for."

I nodded, reaching for my pockets. "Could be..."

"Then I'm takin' from your dead body!" Braddock swore. "Nobody sneaks in here and steals from me!"

"I did," I winked.

Then I took out the coins I'd swiped from the shed and threw them in all directions, where they rained down on him and his goons. Just as I'd thought, half the idiots forgot about me and tried to grab as many of the coins as they could, even fighting with each other over them. In the midst of the confusion, I just laughed.

"Looks like your boss has been holdin' out on ya, boys!" I taunted. "Better grab what you can! Have fun!"

"Get her, you assholes!" Braddock roared.

I gave him a jaunty little salute, then turned and got moving again, sprinting across the courtyard toward the exit as those thugs not trying to pick up the stolen money swarmed at me. Seeing my way out closing ahead of me as they moved across my path, I drew my gun and opened fire, taking down three of them instantly. Then I sprang atop one of the old rusted cars and pulled out another raspberry.

I yanked out the pin. "Catch!"

Then I threw it into the crowd behind me, and it exploded just as I jumped off the car. A deafening, searing blast of orange fire ripped into a bunch of those goons and threw them across the courtyard as I came down on the other side and rolled to my feet. There were more of them here, and I came up shooting, taking out thug after thug as I ran. I kept close to the wall to give myself some cover and limit the ways that they could reach me, and I greeted any of Braddock's men that did get close with a blinding flurry of punches and kicks.

After sending one thug sprawling to the ground with several quick jabs to his gut, I hit another with a high roundhouse kick to his face. A second later, I slammed aside the old lead pipe a third guy swung at me before throwing him over my shoulder. And then I shot a fourth who'd been lunging at me from behind. I just stood there, my eyes narrow as he fell, and his buddies backed away for a moment while smoke wafted up from the barrel and I stared them down.