“Ouch! Cheap janitorial systems from hell!!!”
“Trains in Midgar don’t really have janitors, Wedge...”
“Biggs, what did he do now?!”
“Nothin, I did nothin!”
“He sat on a tack.”
“Again?!”
“Yup.”
Cloud almost smiled. The train carried them towards Sector Five, where another Mako Reactor was waiting to die. Jessie sat next to him, working on some kind of communicator. She did love her machines. But she appeared nervous.
“Something wrong?”
“Ah...I hope not...see, our fake IDs won’t work this time.”
“Wuzzat?” Barret was suddenly interested.
“The computers at Shinra HQ will be able to tell the IDs are fake. The radiation from the checkpoint breaks up the code on the IDs unless the Shinra issued them. So, in about five minutes...”
“In five minutes,” Barret declared, “We be jumpin’ off this train!”
It was quiet for a while. Cloud dared to express one of his doubts.
“Barret...”
“Hrmph.”
“We’re going into this one earlier than last time...will there be any cover?”
“Hah! Cloud, look up.” He did. “See? That big pizza up there is ‘THE PLATE’. This city don’t HAVE no day or night, cuz the plate blocks everything. You wanna see the sun or the stars or the moon? Move to the top!”
“So...why don’t people in the slums move up to the plate?”
“Dunno. Maybe they can’t afford it. Or maybe...maybe it’s cuz they love their land, and wanna keep it no matter what the cost. People are like that. They believe in keeping what they have, and steering their life towards making it better. One path.”
“I see...it’s like this train...it can’t go anyplace except where its rails take it.”
“Eh?”
“What?”
Barret sat back in his seat. “Nothin. I just didn’t expect that outta someone like you. You jes full of surprises.”
Another surprise hit them. Flashing red lights.
“Wha…what?!” Jessie was up instantly, followed by Tifa and Biggs. Wedge hopped over to the controls, shoving the conductor out of the way.
“Uh oh...we...were a bit off in our guess...”
“The hell you mean?!” Barret raced up there.
WARNING. WARNING. UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ABOARD.
“Shit! Jessie, why didn’t you know about this?!” Barret was already planning the escape.
“I didn’t know! My map must be...outdated...”
WARNING. INITIATING LOCKDOWN OF CAR FOUR.
“SHEE-IT!” Barret wasted no more time. He slammed the door open to the next car.
“LET’S GO, PEOPLE!!!”
AVALANCHE darted into the next car. Cloud pushed his way through the people, flooring an elderly. Damn, but it can’t be helped, he tried to reassure himself.
WARNING. INITIATING LOCKDOWN OF CAR THREE.
“Move!” Barret barked at the conductor of the car.
“I...I can’t let you pass!”
Biggs slammed his fist into the back of the man’s head, knocking him out. He ripped off the conductor’s coat and threw it on himself, before following AVALANCHE out just as the door slammed shut.
WARNING. INITIATING LOCKDOWN OF CAR TWO.
Cloud was halfway through when a punk collided with him purposely, snatching up some of his money.
“Forget it, Cloud!” Tifa called to him, “You don’t have time!”
“Like hell,” Cloud grumbled. He darted back to the punk and spun him like a top, right into one of the walls. He stole back his money plus some, then just as quickly was back with his team.
Dammit, Cloud! Tifa wanted to say, Grow up! She of course was forgetting that money was everything to a mercenary.
WARNING. INITIATING LOCKDOWN OF CAR ONE.
“Cloud!” Barret called from the final door, “Tifa! Let’s go!”
Tifa was there and out in a flash. Cloud glanced at Biggs, in a conductor’s uniform, Wedge, in a commoner’s outfit, and Jessie, disguised as a Shinra soldier. He grinned a bit.
“Let’s GO, Thornhead!”
“All right! What about you?”
“A leader always stays to the end! Now, go or I’ll push ya!!!”
Don’t act so damn big, he didn’t say, before he leaped out of the moving train. Barret followed suit.
A tense minute followed as everyone caught his or her breath.
“Well...” Tifa gasped.
“Yeah, well,” Barret got up and gazed down the path the train had taken. “It’s not a long walk. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie will have everything ready for us! So let’s get moving.”
Cloud, Tifa, and Barret started moving at that.
“How long do you think it’ll be?” Tifa asked Cloud.
“Dunno. I’ve never exactly led a parade alongside a subway before, and god knows what kind of freakish...things live here.”
Almost as if on cue, three odd looking creatures that looked like grasshoppers with claws leaped out, dragging their claws on Barret’s arm.
“#^@%!” Barret howled before letting a stream of un-aimed gunfire fly at the creatures.
“Goddamn, Barret!” Cloud barked, “A-I-M!!!”
Barret didn’t listen. He just kept shooting until all three were dead.
“....”
“....”
“...Heh...lil prick...he shoulda known…I didn’t have mah coffee this mornin...”
“Riiiiiight,” Cloud sighed, wondering if it was such a good idea giving Barret his Ice Materia. Popsicle a la Cloud, he thought drearily.
They pressed on, Barret with a mad grin on his face, Cloud keeping his distance. Four more beasties attacked.
“THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS, BARRET!” Cloud screamed instantly, keeping the big man from going into gunfire spasms. Cloud darted into one of the grasshoppers, slashing it in half, and then attacked another one. He missed. The buggy thing jumped at his face, but before it could eat his eyes, Tifa slammed it down with a downward swing of her fist, then kicked the thing clear across hell. Barret dispatched the last two with his gun arm...how else?
They continued without incident. They didn’t have to walk long, either. Soon, they came across green security lasers barring their path.
“Godammit!!” Barret growled, “This is one of Shinra’s most foolproof security systems! I didn’t expect to find one o’ these things in the frickin sub track.”
“It does guard entrance to the reactor…” Tifa pointed out.
“And,” Cloud observed as he knelt down to a small grate and lifted it up, “not entirely foolproof.”
“Huh?” Barret was appalled by the thought. “You tellin’ me to squeeze into that tiny little hole?!”
“You wanna save the planet?” Cloud said in a monotone.
“Bastard. But all right…” Barret watched Cloud climb into the vent system, followed by Tifa, but Barret was much larger a being than them. “Dammit!” he began the unpleasant task of fitting himself through the vent, “This just figures…”
Cloud climbed down the ladder first, finding himself on a large platform high above the slums. Tifa and Barret-cursing endlessly under his breath-came down soon after. They spotted Wedge nearby, standing near a ladder leading back up, to the reactor no doubt.
“Go on up!” he instructed them, “Jessie and Biggs are waiting.”
“Any sign of the Shinra?” Barret asked.
“Not yet,” Wedge replied, then hurried them up the stairs.
Jessie was standing up there, watching the entrance to a certain vent. She caught sight of them.
“Sorry guys,” she apologized, “the incident on the train was my fault. I screwed up making the ID cards…”
“No worries,” Tifa grinned, “We’ll win anyway!”
Jessie just nodded, but Cloud could tell she was quite angry with herself. At a loss for words, he passed her up and followed his team through the vent. Barret was first out, and glad for it. The vents were not exactly made to accommodate someone of his size.
“Damn, finally!” Barret gasped, staring at the entrance to Mako Reactor No. 5.
“Yep, about time!” Biggs greeted them. “We’re pulling out. We’ll see ya at the Headquarters.”
“Be careful,” Tifa cautioned, “Shinra will be at full alert after that train incident.”
“Yeah, you too!” Biggs darted off.
“Shall we?” Cloud prompted.
“Yes, let’s.” With that, AVALANCHE proceeded to enter its second reactor in two days.
Mako Reactor No. 5 was really no different in layout from No. 8, Cloud thought, looking around. They had appeared by a large, long staircase leading upward, identical to the one in the last reactor. And not an enemy in sight. That was troubling. Shinra should be ready for them.
“Well?” Barret piped up, “Let’s get this show on the road!”
The team continued through a door that would take them to the core of the reactor, the door being the same place where Cloud first demonstrated his Lightning Materia on some 1st Rays. The scenery was the same: Mako charged waters below them, metal catwalks leading deep into the reactor, and pipes to walk across. They’d gotten this far when hostility appeared.
Grunts. Three of them, just waiting to kill. One raised its arm canons and let a few dozen little bolts of energy loose at the team. Tifa wasn’t used to combat just yet, and failed to duck like her two comrades. She jumped back, stunned by the beams, then saw two similar waves flying at her. This time, she did duck, while Barret opened fire on the ground, hitting all three creatures with stray bullets. This provided an opening for Cloud to leap up and slice two of them in half. The third hopped backwards and tried to fire again, but Barret filled its skull with lead before it could pull off another attack.
“You OK?” Cloud asked Tifa, who was a bit humbled.
“Y…yeah, I’m fine.”
Cloud smirked. “Sorry you came?”
“Heck no! This is exciting.”
“And,” Barret pointed out, “too late to turn back.”
They crossed the pipes with more ease this time, and climbed down the ladder to the catwalk below. So identical, so easy. Barret and Cloud both had their worries, but none were about to question their good luck. Down the catwalk they went to the engine that powered the massive powerhouse. Cloud set the bomb without incident this time, and to his surprise, no timer went off.
“What’s the deal?”
“Oh!” Barret snickered a bit, “After our last episode, I had Jessie make the bomb remote activated. That means we can blow it after we escape.”
Cloud looked hopelessly at Barret. “WHY didn’t you think of it before?”
“Well!” Barret barked, “It just so HAPPENS that-why do you care?”
“Guys!” Tifa sounded worried, “We’ve got bigger problems.”
“Ohhh hell,” both men spun to look where Tifa had her eyes pasted, remembering what happened last time.
Rather than a giant scorpion, however, there was a Security Sweeper speeding down the catwalk. These things looked like little bulldozers with machine guns, specializing in firepower. Barret immediately met it with gunfire, keeping it back. Cloud stood there, gathering power for his Bolt spell. Tifa watched him, and thought about fire, putting to use the Materia Cloud had given her. Cloud’s lightning touched home, distracting Tifa from her thoughts. The Fire spell she was about to cast died on her fingertips, but that was fine. Barret handled the short-circuited machine with his gun-arm.
Cloud was getting antsy. “Let’s move! God knows how many more of these things are waiting around.
They made their way back to the ladder, climbed it up to the pipes, crossed back to the top of the area, and paused to catch their breath. Machine gun fire interrupted their break, startling all three. Another Sweeper had spotted them. Cloud blocked the oncoming bullets with his sword, while Barret returned fire. The Sweeper chose Barret as its target and directed fire towards him instead of Cloud. Lacking a shield, Barret threw himself to the floor, but not before a shell caught him in the shoulder. The Iron Bangle that he wore around his wrist made it possible to come out of the attack unharmed, but aching.
Tifa had been busy. This time, her Fire spell erupted around the Sweeper, toasting it a bit. Cloud’s Bolt finished it off.
“Congratulations on your first successful magic spell,” Cloud grinned.
“Heh, it felt good,” Tifa was suddenly battle hungry. Barret made a mental note to try his own Materia.
The team of terrorists made their way to the long staircase and started their ascent. Cloud expected the attacks to come heavily now, but there was nothing, save for a lone Grunt that Barret froze with an Ice spell. He’d created monsters, Cloud thought with a small smirk. Once at the top of the staircase, there was an elevator, as predicted.
“Victory again!” Barret laughed as soon as they were inside.
“Don’t be sure,” Cloud frowned. “I think it was too easy. Be on your guards.”
Barret shook him off. “Tifa? Wassup?”
“Nothing…” She sounded lost in thought. “I just…I’m starting to feel a little bad about…you know, the explosion, what it’ll do…”
Barret clenched his teeth. His excitement died down a bit as he realized that he’d kill more innocents as soon as he detonated that bomb. “I know…it’s hard. But it’s for the good of the planet, Tif’.”
“I know, I know…it just doesn’t seem to excuse murder, though…”
“No,” Barret said sternly, “Don’t think of it as murder.”
“What then?” Cloud couldn’t resist, “Casualties?”
Barret’s glare was poison. “You think I enjoy killin’?”
“No!” Tifa stopped them both. “Barret, I understand why.” A new thought stung her. “Man…if anyone knew who we were, we’d never stop being the enemy…”
“What?” Cloud was confused.
“Think, man!” Barret ordered, “Shinra, Inc.’s got everyone thinking they’re all righteous and good. We’re the bad guys! You heard Prez Shinra last night! We’re continuing our ‘reign of terror’. People want us dead.” He turned to Tifa. “Don’t worry, though. Only AVALANCHE and the stars know who we are and what we’re doin’, and that’s plenty as it is.”
Tifa nodded. The elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open. AVALANCHE found themselves in a room with three gates, again like the first reactor. To open all three gates, there was a control console with three buttons. The team gathered round.
“Whatzis?” Barret poked the button a few times.
“Oh!” Tifa piped up, “Jessie said we’d have to push some buttons at the same time. Think these are it?”
“Let’s give it a try,” Cloud took charge, “On the count of three! One, two…” At Cloud’s voice, all three buttons went down and all three gates opened.
“Shazam!” Barret whooped, “Now let’s blow this joint!” The trio moved through all the gates to find themselves on a triple catwalk over the slums, adjacent to the reactor. Wedge had stood guard at a place like this on the last mission. Immediately, Cloud knew something was wrong.
As the team moved towards freedom, Cloud’s doubts were confirmed. A detail of Shinra’s red-clad soldiers met them and forced them back.
“What the hell?!” Barret was furious.
“A trap…” Cloud breathed, “I knew it was too easy!” They all turned tail and ran back the way they had came from the soldiers, who did not follow. Cloud soon saw why. Another detail met them, armed and dangerous.
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…” Tifa didn’t like this at all. AVALANCHE was trapped in the middle of the catwalk, and the third path quickly became un-preferable.
Footsteps echoed through the silence created by the Shinra guards’ immobility and AVALANCHE’s petrified state. Barret looked towards the sound and nearly reeled in disbelief as he beheld a man he hated with all his strength and might, a man with universal power, a man Barret Wallace had pledged to destroy.
“P…President Shinra?!” Barret gasped loudly and none too angrily.
Tifa exhaled loudly and Cloud’s eyes widened with recognition as he stared at the small, middle- aged man that was hailed as the world’s king.
“Greetings, AVALANCHE!” Shinra greeted them cheerily, “I’ve been wanting to meet you. There is much I have to say.”
“Ditto for us, pal!” Barret would not be held back, “Soon, this place is gonna go BOOM and you with it!”
“And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you,” Shinra stated flatly.
“Vermin?! Who you callin’ vermin, you jackass!” he was inches away from opening fire on the President, Cloud saw, and judging from the way the two platoons of guards were looking at them, that would be a bad thing. So, he stepped in.
“Hello again, Mr. President.”
Shinra stared at Cloud a bit, then caught his eyes. “Ah! A SOLDIER.”
“Ex-SOLDIER,” Cloud stated proudly.
“Hmm,” Shinra acknowledged with a nod, “What was your name again?”
“It’s Cloud.”
“Ah, Cloud. I apologize, but I can’t be expected to remember everyone’s name. Unless you become another Sephiroth, of course.”
Cloud did not bother to point out what had happened with Sephiroth.
“Well, it was a pleasure,” the small, round man in the ruby suit coat with balding blonde hair concluded politely, “but now I must be leaving. I have a dinner I must attend.”
“Like HELL!” Barret took aim, “You ain’t goin’ no where! I got things I wanna say to you!”
“Tell them to my friend,” Shinra grinned evilly, taking out a small remote control. On the push of a button, a large, bulky machine that hovered off the ground sped down the catwalk as Shinra hopped up into a lowering helicopter, which promptly gained altitude. Cloud had to throw himself off the catwalk-holding on for dear life-to avoid being mowed down.
“His name is Airbuster!” Shinra called down, “He’s a ‘technosoldier’. Our Weapon’s Development team created him. I’m sure the data he’ll extract from your dead bodies will be most useful!” With that, President Shinra’s helicopter lifted off and the platoons withdrew from the area.
Cloud hoisted himself back onto the catwalk and ran back to the other path, right behind Airbuster, which was busying itself preparing to kill Barret and Tifa.
“Yo, Cloud!” Barret called out, “We gotta do somethin’ about him!”
Cloud responded by slamming his Buster Sword into Airbuster’s back. The side guns on the machine whirled around and opened fire on Cloud. Surprised, he was unable to avoid the attack. Once more, the Bangle which held a small defensive field around him saved his life. Cloud had missed the guns, he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Barret was firing at Airbuster’s front end while Tifa worked on casting Fire spells. Fire did little to the creature, but it was better than just pounding it. It was made of metal. Cloud worked on a Bolt spell. It contacted with Airbuster’s back, jolting the technosoldier good. It’s hover jets whirred and hummed, and it turned to face Cloud. Cloud immediately lambasted it with a good cut from his sword, but Airbuster countered with a spray of energy particles that made Cloud think twice about getting too close.
Tifa had punched Airbuster once, and that had been enough for her to realize it wasn’t worth it. But, noting that the armor on Shinra’s assassin was charred from Cloud’s bolts, she slammed her fists into it. This time, it was different. It felt like she was actually getting somewhere. Barret noted this and called to Cloud.
“Hey! Attack the back when ya get a chance! It’s weak!”
Airbuster, tired of the beating it was receiving, spun around again. Tifa dashed up to the side gun on Airbuster’s left and brought her leg up high, crashing it down on the joint that held it to Airbuster’s torso. She then punched it with all her force at point blank, damaging it even more. Suddenly, the gun went off, hitting Tifa’s Bangle at point blank, breaking it immediately. Tifa gasped and jumped back, narrowly avoiding another such attack. Barret finished the gun off for her, however, but took a few rounds in the gut for his efforts. His metal band saved him yet again.
Airbuster stiffened. Then it opened a hatch on its chest. A large missile flew out and crashed into the ground before a startled Tifa and Barret. The explosion floored them both, and hurt Tifa dearly. Both gasped audibly for breath.
Cloud was shocked, but not cowed. He worked quickly, ripping the Lightning Materia from the slot in his sword and likewise with the Restore, switching them so the Restore was paired with the All. Cloud then began concentrating on healing powers, on renewed strength. The Restore Materia glowed slightly, and its glow lit up the air around Cloud. The All’s powers that seeped out with the Cure spell worked very fast, expanding, forcing the magic to spread out, almost hungrily devouring area. Tifa and Barret let out a relieved sigh as they felt their wounds heal. They stood, feeling quite energized.
Airbuster had spent this time twisting around once more to face Cloud. He met the mercenary with ammunition from its working gun. Cloud flattened himself, playing dead, but didn’t have to wait long for Airbuster’s attention to be redirected.
Tifa felt great power surging through her, energy she simply had to get rid of. She stared at Airbuster’s exposed back, channeling all her fury to her fists. She rushed at the machine and beat the back soundly, creating clangs that echoed through the whole area. As the last punch fell, Tifa leaned back and let her feet leave the ground, bringing them up into the armor in a great blow, then spinning them over her head and down to solid ground. Her somersault finished the weakened armor and it clattered to the floor. Airbuster turned quickly to face the two attackers, ready for revenge.
Cloud poised his sword to strike, but Barret cut him off.
“Hold on, man!” Before Cloud to object, Barret let a blast of Ice into Airbuster that stiffened its joints. Cloud smiled and raced at the exposed internals of the Airbuster, slashing into its back over and over. Airbuster’s turning was slowed drastically, but it didn’t matter. Cloud hit a nerve somehow. Airbuster sparked gloriously, Cloud wisely jumping back. The curtain of electricity grew larger, until Airbuster violently exploded, tearing a massive hole in the catwalk.
Barret and Tifa flew back, landing safely near the exit of the reactor. Cloud, however, found himself singed and holding on to a few spare wires that were left of the battleground.
“Cloud!” Tifa cried, bending down, “Are you all right?”
“Yeah!” he called back.
Barret drew a sharp breath. This wasn’t good. He didn’t exactly have any rope on him. Somehow, Cloud was gonna have to climb up.
“Yo!” AVALANCHE’s commander called, “You gonna be all right by yourself?”
“I’ll get out of it, trust me!” Cloud sounded less confident than usual, Barret noted sadly.
“Wait,” Tifa started, “What if we…” Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a great explosion. Fire swirled around the outside of the reactor, a testimony to the explosion that had just occurred. This wasn’t right! Barret hadn’t detonated his bomb!
“The Shinra!” he spat, confusing Tifa. THEY had done this! They’d PLANNED it this way! Airbuster would self-destruct, and bombs would go off. No way to live.
A second blast, larger than the first, dropped Tifa and Barret, and, to their horror, jolted Cloud off his wire. The mercenary let out a startled cry as he began his involuntary decent.
“Cloud!” Tifa cried out, Barret pulling her away, escape the only thing on his mind,
“CLOUD!!!”
Her cries died in the wind, never reaching Cloud’s ears as he fell farther, farther, farther…until…
All Cloud would ever remember was a big thump.