“Hurry up, will ya?”
“Hold on, I’ve almost got it...”
“They’re gonna be sweepin’ the area!”
“Settle down, Wedge, it’s set!” Jessie wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. “OK, everybody back!”
In the back alleys of the Sector Eight Slums, a wall exploded violently outward. AVALANCHE jumped out of the hole, scanning for possible threats.
“There,” Barret sighed, “Almost home free! OK, split up! Meet at the train station!” With that, members went their separate ways. Cloud decided following Biggs again couldn’t hurt. He walked through the main streets, wondering what repercussions the bombing would procure.
Shinra’s troops would be looking for the culprits now...he’d have to be extra careful.
“You! Halt!”
“DAMN!” he cursed, spinning around to face the two MPs, Shinra’s police force. Their machine guns were centered on Cloud’s head. He ducked around the corner before they could open fire.
“Catch him!” one barked. Cloud waited for the under trained MPs to race out into the open, and then mowed them down with a wide swing.
Cloud ducked down an alley, weaving his way through the streets. He collided forcefully with a flower girl, sending both of them sprawling.
“Oye...” Cloud pulled himself to his feet, then looked down at the young flower merchant. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay,” she replied quickly, gathering her flowers and taking his offered hand. He pulled her to her feet, blushing somewhat. “Thanks.”
“Yeah...” he felt like such an ass. “Nice flowers.”
“Oh..? Would you like one? They’re only a gil...”
“Sure,” Cloud payed for the rose, figuring it was the least he could do.
“Thank you.” She went off to wherever she was headed before Cloud had crashed into her. Torn between the problem of the Shirna Soldiers and the embarrassment of flooring the woman, he’d totally forgot to wonder how it was possible for flowers to grow in super-polluted Midgar.
“Over there!” a squad of three MPs spotted him. Their poorly aimed shots missed Cloud entirely, but they soon got too close for comfort. Cloud darted down an alley to a street overlooking the train tracks. How was he going to find the train station now? He didn’t know Sector 8 well enough. MPs began to pour out. Cloud raised the wide sword to deflect bullets
everywhere, but he was becoming grossly outnumbered.
The whistle of a train interrupted the shooting. It appeared right behind and below Cloud. All he had to do was jump...
“Grab him!”
That was that. Cloud leapt onto the speedy train and hoped it was the right one.
Biggs frowned. He thought he’d seen Cloud tagging along behind him earlier, but he hadn’t shown up at the station. Jessie and Wedge were also a bit worried. Everyone figured Cloud would stick around long enough to get his paycheck, like a somewhat intelligent mercenary. What if he’d been caught?
That was Barret’s worry. In his opinion, Cloud would sell them all out in exchange for his own safety. The kid couldn’t be trusted. After all, he had been a part of Shinra.
A resounding knock on the door snapped all of them out of their thoughts. They stared at the door of a moving train, unwilling to believe that someone was actually there. A louder knock prompted Jessie to swing it open. Cloud swung quickly inside, startling all. Jessie slammed the door shut.
“Good, you’re alive!”
“I try...” Cloud responded. Barret glared at him.
“Jes like you! Makin’ everybody worry like that, an’ you come in makin’ a big show!”
“Whatever...” Cloud was a little too tired to explain the ambush to Barret.
“Whatever? I’m takin it outta your paycheck, little man! Let’s go!”
Barret, Biggs, and Wedge moved up into the main cars of the trains. Cloud growled and started to follow, but Jessie stopped him with a snicker.
“Ach, your face is pitch black! You must’ve caught some soot.”
Yes, Cloud thought, he had, and his sneezes had been terrible. He prayed silently that he’d gotten all the snot off his armor...
“Lemme help...” she produced a rag and cleaned off Cloud’s face, much to his embarrassment.
“Thanks for helping me back at the reactor.”
“Eh...it was nothing,” Cloud replied. Jessie hopped over some crates and followed Barret and the others. Cloud did so as well.
Barret was relaxed in his seat while Biggs and Wedge had apparently taken over the controls. The conductor fumed in his own seat now. Jessie went straight to the controls. Cloud followed curiously.
“Here is a map of Midgar,” she explained. “It’s about a 1/100000 scale. This train passes through several security checks on its way to Sector 7. At these checkpoints, a scanning system checks the identity of everyone on board and compares with the Shinra’s computer data banks. If you’re on board without an ID, you’re screwed. The Shinra are very proud of the system.” Then, quietly... “Anyone can tell we look suspicious, so we’re using fake IDs.”
“Smart,” Cloud replied, though a bit worried. Soon after, the train cars flashed red a few times.
“That was it,” Jessie exhaled, “We’re home free.”
Cloud took a seat near Barret.
“Ya didn’t do half bad there,” Barret offered. Cloud kept quiet.
Conversation halted for the rest of the trip.
When the train stopped in Sector Seven, AVALANCHE were the first ones out. The station was known as the Train Graveyard, since hundreds of scrapped cars made up a disgustingly close junkyard.
“Gather ‘round!” Barret barked. His team congregated by a lamppost. “We did good this time, all of us! But don’t get scared of that explosion, cuz the next one’s gonna be bigger!” Smirks appeared on all faces except Cloud’s. “Lets head back to base, it’s been a long night.”
Cloud chose to be the last in the group again. He followed Wedge this time, though he knew the way back to AVALANCHE’s base. Sector Seven was no different than Sector Eight, a bunch of slums. Not long through the piles of trash, Barret raced into a bar and unceremoniously booted everyone out. Here it was, Tifa’s Seventh Heaven. The perfect place for a rebel group to hide in.
Tifa herself was already chatting with and serving drinks to the other AVALANCHE members, an active member herself. She was a young woman of about 20, 5’7, and gave new definition to the phrase “looks can be deceiving”. Her face was slightly angular, perfect to a point, and her smiles were glowing but her glares were poison. Her arms and legs were built like steel, though not bulky with muscle. Even so, she could decimate most opponents. She wore tight black shorts and a white tank top that exposed her tough belly. She smiled at Cloud, acknowledging his presence.
As Cloud entered the bar, a small girl ran towards him, mistaking him for her father. She halted and retreated back near Tifa.
“Aw, what’s the matter?” she coaxed the girl, “Don’t want to talk to Cloud?”
“Uh...” she didn’t need to reply. Barret burst in, giddy with the success of his first real mission, which doubled when his daughter leaped into his arms. “Daddy! You’re back!!!”
“Heh heh,” Barret gave his daughter Marlene a good hug and let her perch on his shoulder, “Of course! An’ Daddy showed them Shinra bastards a thing or two!”
“Bang!” Marlene aimed her finger like her father’s gun arm and giggled.
“I take it you had fun?” Tifa Lockhart asked Barret with a wry smile.
“Heh, as much as could be had.” And Tifa knew what he meant. It was on the news already, President Shinra announcing the bombing of the Sector 8 Reactor. It was her first indication of AVALANCHE success, and she was very happy when everyone returned home safely. However, explosions hurt. And big ones kill. This one had been huge, and had certainly taken many an innocent life. That had been the only thing holding Barret back. He’d convinced himself that this needed to be done, but Tifa doubted Barret would ever be able to put aside the casualties from his conscience.
Barret took the drink Tifa offered him and barked orders. “Get to the meetin’ room after ya wind down. We got another raid to plan!”
Cloud was a bit shocked at that. He’d known for a while that Barret planned to pull one bombing after the other, but he’d figured the strain of the first mission would change Barret’s mind. But the big man seemed determined and jumped onto the pinball machine in the corner of the room, Marlene gasping at the thrill of flight, throwing a hidden switch. The pinball machine and floor around it sunk into the ground, deep into a hidden basement. Barret sent it back up for the others when they were ready.
Figuring to score a few brownie points with his old friend, Cloud offered her the rose he’d bought earlier.
“Aw, for me?” she asked coyly.
“Yep. Try to keep it alive.
“Heh. So, Cloud,” Tifa examined him, “Break anything?”
“Nope. It wasn’t really that hard of a mission.”
Don’t say that to Barret...she didn’t say. “Did you fight with Barret?”
Cloud grimaced. “A little.”
“A little?”
“We got along well enough to blow the place up.” He hoped that would be enough.
“Ah...” Tifa left it at that. AVALANCHE had completely cleared the room, headed for the basement. “Can I get you a drink?” she offered Cloud.
“No, thanks,” he turned to the pinball machine, “I have a few decisions to make.” He took the hidden path down as well, leaving Tifa to her thoughts. Yes, he did have choices to make. Once he got the paycheck for this mission, he planned to leave. However, if Barret produced some hope for a similar mission to succeed, Cloud would gladly sign up.
Jessie was already working on the bomb for the next night. Biggs and Wedge were playing a card game and Barret was mutilating a punching bag with Marlene coaching him with her cheers.
Barret stopped punching long enough to utter a question to Cloud. “So...did we go up against any SOLDIERS back there? I figured you’d know.”
Cloud thought a bit. “No. Of course,” he added, “If you were going up against SOLDIERS, you wouldn’t be standing here now.”
Barret glowered. “Don’t act so damn big jes cuz you were one of Prez Shinra’s lapdogs!”
“Lapdogs?!” Cloud took offense instantly, “SOLDIER is a group of the most powerful warriors on the planet!”
“Yep, maybe,” Barret grinned, “But they still lapdogs for Hell’s Company.”
Cloud turned to the television, trying to shut Barret out.
“Speak of the Devil,” Biggs respectively flicked off President Shinra’s image on the screen.
“A few hours ago, the Mako Reactor in Sector 8 was destroyed. The entire area is lacking power, and thousands of innocent lives were taken in the blast.”
“Don’t believe it!” Wedge spoke at the visibly disturbed Barret, “There aren’t even half that many people in the vicinity, and the explosion wasn’t bad enough to reach more than a city block!”
“Yeah...” Barret let out a long breath. Shinra continued.
“The terrorist group AVALANCHE has taken responsibility for the bombing, and has publicly displayed their joys in killing via spray paintings on city walls.”
“Killin?! Hell no!” Barret growled, “But bet yer white ass we took joy in blowin yer reactor!” A chorus of satisfied snickers filled the room. Cloud rolled his eyes.
“What you rollin yer eyes at, boy?” Barret thundered, “Annoyed that God’s Company aint all that God-like? Of course, bein their lapdog.”
“Godammit, Barret!” Cloud was past angry. “For the last time, I-don’t-care about the damn Shinra! I don’t care about SOLDIER!” He turned for the ride back up to the bar. He stopped and turned back on them. “But don’t get me wrong! I don’t give a rat’s ass about AVALANCHE, or the planet for that matter!” He hit the switch and was whisked upstairs. Barret spun around and slammed the punching bag like a man possessed.
Tifa immediately knew something was wrong when Cloud appeared in the room.
“Whoa, where are you going?”
“Wherever,” he replied. “Mercenaries tend to do this sort of thing.”
“What happened?” she persisted, moving towards him.
“Nothing happened. I’m just moving on.”
“So, you’re just going to walk out? Ignoring your childhood friend?”
Cloud stopped dead in his tracks. “How can you say that?” he demanded.
“You don’t remember?” Tifa gave him a somewhat disappointed look. “No, you forgot.”
“About what?” Cloud softened up a bit. Tifa was indeed his childhood friend. They’d known each other since Cloud was 13. He could at least hear her out. This time.
“About the promise you made,” she said, lowering her voice. “All those years ago. Remember...? You asked me to come to the well that night.”
“Ah, I remember...” Cloud’s mind returned to the cold night in his hometown of Nibelheim.
“You were late, and I was getting chilly.”
Cloud sat quietly on the rocks near the old well, waiting for Tifa to arrive. He had something to talk to her about, a decision he’d made. She arrived unnoticed, startling Cloud a bit.
“Boo.”
“Heh...”
Tifa plopped down next to Cloud. The ten year-old was wearing a silk dress, having failed to change into her more casual attire after a town celebration. “So...you wanted to talk to me about something?”
Cloud was silent for a moment. He didn’t even know if Tifa would care. But they’d been friends for a long time now. He wanted to tell her first. “Come spring, I’ll be leaving this town for Midgar.”
A hint of disappointment came from Tifa’s eyes. “All the boys are leaving this town for the city...” she replied.
“But I’m different from all of them,” Cloud continued, “I’m not just going to get a job. I’m gonna join SOLDIER!”
Tifa smiled a bit. Such words from an eleven year-old kid were comical. But Cloud had always been a headstrong boy. Maybe he’d succeed. “SOLDIER, the most powerful army in history.”
“I’ll become famous, one of the best!” Cloud declared, “Just like Sephiroth!”
“Sephiroth...” Tifa repeated the name to herself, amazed at the way the wind died down at the sheer mention of the SOLDIER champion. “The Great Sephiroth...” Tifa hadn’t known Cloud to be a big fan of role models, but he had admired the work of that one warrior for quite some time. Sephiroth, though quite young for his rank and abilities, was known around the entire world as the most powerful SOLDIER to ever live. Sephiroth was always in the papers, and always had a new success to report. The Shinra were very pleased with him, and thus advanced him through the ranks at lightning speed. That was all Tifa knew about the man, but it was enough to convince her that Cloud had found a suitable role model.
“I...probably won’t be able to come back for a long time,” he said, more humble now.
“Will you...be in the papers if you do well?”
“Probably.”
“...Hey...”
“Hrm?”
“Let’s make a promise.”
Cloud gave her his full attention. “What kind of promise?”
“Oh...” she grinned a bit, “If you become famous, and I’m ever in a bind, promise me my hero will come and save me.”
“Huh?” Cloud looked right at her, “Are you planning something?”
“Naw!” she giggled, “But come on! I want to at least experience that once.”
“Okay,” Cloud obliged, “I promise.”
“Now do you remember?” Tifa stared at the twenty-one year old Cloud and wondered just how much he’d changed.
“I’m not a hero and I’m not famous,” he said flatly, “I can’t keep...the promise.”
“But you got your wish, didn’t you?” she persisted, “You joined SOLDIER.”
“So I did...” Cloud was beginning to wonder why Tifa was so keen on keeping her eye on him. Bringing up the “promise” had just been a method of making him stay put. He severely doubted she needed him to baby-sit her, though. Tifa had trained under a master martial arts man and packed devastating power in her fists.
Barret came up on the fancy pinball machine elevator, however, bringing the conversation to a halt. He had calmed down a good deal, Cloud saw. Barret walked right up to Cloud, fishing something out of his pocket.
“Hey, man, a promise is a promise. Here’s yer money.” Barret put the bag of 1500 gil in Cloud’s hand. He pocketed it without so much as a blink. Tifa cast one last hopeful look at him.
What the hell. “You got the next mission lined up?” he said abruptly, startling Barret. “I’ll do it for 3000.”
“What?! You crazy?” Tifa stopped Barret from going any further.
“Come on!” she hissed in his ear, “We are hurting for help, right?”
“That money’s for Marlene’s schoolin’!” he hissed back. Barret moved back towards the pinball machine and turned to Cloud. “2000!”
“Deal.” Cloud smiled to himself. Provided he survived this next mission, he’d be set for a while. He might even stick with AVALANCHE long enough to build a small fortune.
“Thanks, Cloud,” Tifa said quietly after Barret had gone. Cloud said nothing. He turned and walked out of the bar, headed towards the shops.
By the time Cloud arose the next morning, AVALANCHE was already wide-awake. The fact that it was past four in the evening probably had something to do with that. The entire team had slept late, hoping to be energized for the night.
Cloud took the pinball machine up from the basement and was greeted by a cheery Tifa.
“How’d ya sleep?”
“Barret’s snoring kept me up...” he replied with a wry smile.
“Erhem.” Barret walked slowly in from the outside of the bar. He had clearly heard Cloud, but was smiling as if he’d met an old friend. “Cloud! Nice to see yer awake. C’mere for a sec, wouldja?”
Cloud looked briefly at Tifa, who just shrugged. He went over to the table where Barret was sitting.
“Yes?”
“Well, this is...this is a lil embarrassin’ and all, but...I found this last night.” He held out a small green orb for Cloud to see.
“Materia...” the other breathed.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought...”
“So what’s so embarrassing?”
“I...don’t know how to use it...”
Cloud smirked. Barret at least knew that the powers of magic weren’t restricted to SOLDIERS, else he wouldn’t have asked. “Well, kind sir, this is a stone that contains a spell or two. You can always draw one spell from a Materia, but you need to use it often for the other spells to become available.”
“Nice. What does this one do?”
Cloud clutched the stone. It made him feel comfortable, soothing his stiff neck, the result of sleeping between 3 other bulky men and having no room to move. “This would be a Restore Materia,” he explained. “It’s very useful to a group like AVALANCHE. It’ll recover your health and heal your wounds.”
“Sweet!” Barret liked the sound of this. “But...how do I use the damn thing?”
“Most weapons nowadays are equipped with ‘slots’ for your Materia. You just snap your Materia in and you can draw it through the weapon itself.” He took out his Buster Sword and managed to fit it onto the table. “See?” he motioned to the twin holes filled with green stones. “Lightning and Ice Materia. Show me your weapon.” Barret laid a somewhat different gun-arm on the table. “Eh? What happened?”
Barret smiled proudly. “Jessie used the parts I stole from that big bug to modify my gun! She even showed me how to do it.”
“Really...” Cloud tapped the hole on one side of the gun and snapped the Materia stone into it. Immediately, Barret felt a bit more powerful. “There. Now you can cast spells that heal your allies.” Cloud read Barret’s face. “Okay, okay, I know, you don’t like that. Here.” He removed the Materia and gave Barret his Ice. Cloud instead took over the Restore. “Now, you can cast Ice spells?”
“Great, Cloudy, but how?”
“Cloudy...?” Cloud frowned. Barret grinned a bit. “Uh, ok. This is the hard part. You
gotta concentrate. I mean, really concentrate. Think of nothin’ but pure, immeasurable amounts of ice coursing through your target. With any luck, it’ll happen.”
“That’s...it?!”
“Oh yes. And DAMN, do you feel like a god when you pull it off. Just don’t get slaphappy with it. Overuse will leave your mind strained. You’ll be catching your breath for hours.” Cloud grinned. “Anyhow, I’m off for a bit.”
“Fine. Be at the front of the bar in a half hour. We’re catchin’ a train to Sector Five.”
“Right.”
Barret had reminded Cloud about his own status. He made his way to the nearby armor shop and looked over the selection. He got for himself an Iron Bangle to replace his crappy Bronze, and slapped it on immediately. Bangles were armor pieces that enhanced your garments, thus increasing your vitality. Then, thinking quickly, he bought two more, one for Barret and one for whoever else thought they’d like to fight. He had a feeling Barret would be with him again.
“Aye, dammit!” the shopkeeper cursed as a bluish stone cracked him upside the head. He scooped it up and screamed at his son. “Keep your damn marbles to yerself, sonny! Here,” he tossed it at Cloud, “Consider it a gift.”
Cloud smiled quickly, already feeling power coming from the “marble”. He walked out of the shop.
What he’d obtained was a Materia, but not a normal one. His sword had two slots, but they were linked to each other. That meant that when he called upon the power of one Materia, it would mingle with the power of the joined Materia. However, this seemed to only work with one type of Materia, the blue kind. This one was an “All” type, rightly named because it was filled with an energy that did no harm but existed to expand. Once released, it would flood an area, carrying with it the powers of a joined Materia. Once Cloud got into the second reactor, he’d link the All to his Lightning, since most of Shinra’s machines were susceptible to electricity. He’d be able to clear entire rooms of the beasts!
With that thought came another. Materia was not a rare item. The shop owner could have made a few bucks by selling the All to the local Materia store. In fact, it was only right down the road. People in the slums had people out in the world that came back and stocked them with certain Materia common to the area. Cloud went inside and found a few useful Materia, but he already had Ice and Lightning. Fire caught his eye. He still had money left from Barret’s paycheck, which the big man had paid none too grudgingly, so he bought one. He could not use the stone yet, since his slots were full. He did have one open slot in his armor, but he’d save some Materia for the rest of AVALANCHE. When he left the group, of course, he’d take all the Materia with him...
When Cloud met his team in the gateway to the open slums, he was surprised to see Tifa waiting for him with Barret.
“I’m going, too,” she announced. Cloud knew instantly why she was so happy this morning. It must have been a while since she had any real exercise. Nothing was wrong with her body, though, which was clear through her attire.
“Ah ha...” Cloud nodded, then handed her his Fire Materia, replacing it with the All. “You know how to use this?”
“I’ve done my homework,” she replied, snapping the stone into the slot at the top of her brass-knuckle equipped glove. Her kicks and punches wouldn’t be very good against the machines, Cloud thought, but she should be able to take care of herself with the Fire.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Biggs piped up with mock enthusiasm, “Let’s go have another party!”
“Fireworks are gonna be great tonight, I hear,” Barret grinned.