The two of them proceed with care through the gate into what seems to be a deserted park. The first, a blonde man, clad in blue Soldier uniform, carried an gigantic Buster Sword with him. His years in Soldier were proved by his muscles on his arms. The second, a brunette in pink dress, was carrying a short staff. Despite her lack of physical strength, few had known she was used to danger since her childhood. There is no doubt that both of them were glad to be out of the monster infested Sector 6 highway.
"Cloud, the gate to Sector 7's in there," said the woman in pink dress
"Thanks." replied to blond man "I guess this is goodbye. Aerith, you gonna be all right going home?"
"Oh no!" said the brunette "What ever will I do!"
Startled by this, Cloud turned to look at her
"Isn't that what you want me to say?" asked Aerith "Take me to Sector 7? I could do that. But won't I be in your way?"
"What do you mean in my way?" countered Cloud.
"Nothing!" replied Aerith quickly "Can we take a break?"
Cloud replied with a nod. The park were seemingly intact despite the fact that there were metallic rubbish dumped around it. The swing, old with ages, had rust all over it. The metallic animal shaped slide, were not spared by the wrath of rust either. Other than the rust, the park seemed to be fine.
"I can't believe it's still here" said Aerith, as she ran towards the slide. She then disappeared behind it, only to reappear few seconds later on top of the slide.
"Cloud, over here!" called Aerith.
Cloud shrugged, as he walked toward the slide and scrambled to the top of it.
"What rank were you?" inquired Aerith.
"Rank?" asked Cloud, evidently, not understanding what was Aerith referring to.
"You know, in Soldier" replied Aerith.
"Oh I was... First Class" said Cloud
"Just the same as him" said Aerith, as she closed her eyes as if remembering something.
"The same as who?"
"My first boyfriend."
"You were... serious?"
"No. But I liked him for a while."
"I probably knew him. What was his name?"
"It doesn'y really matter."
At that moment, the gate to Sector 7 opened up and Cloud turned to see a cart being pulled by a bird with bright, golden feathers. Cloud recognized the bird at once, it was a Chocobo. Chocobo, were large birds with flat beaks gifted with near infinite stamina. Because of this, Chocoboes were tamed and used as horse. However, Cloud sensed something was wrong. Why is a Chocobo pulling a cart in the middle of the slum of Midgar when there were such things as cars and trucks?
As it drew nearer and turned, Cloud saw a figure in the cart. Cloud gasped at the recognization of the person in the cart. Cloud could have sworn that person turned around and said something to him.
"Huh?" exclaimed Cloud "Hey, back there…Tifa!"
Aerith turned around to look at the cart. She managed to catch a glimpse of the carts seconds before it drove into a place called the Wall Market.
"That girl in the cart was Tifa?" Aerith asked "Where was she going? She looked kind of
odd…"
Aerith jumped off the slide and begin running after the cart.
"Wait!" hollered "Cloud I'll go on alone! You go on home!"
But Aerith appears not to have heard him. She ran as far as she can into Wall Market. Cloud shrugged and jumped off the slide to met up with her. Cloud soon reunited with Aerith, who wore a stern expression at the entrance of Wall Market.
"I don't want to be pessimist but, if Tifa was brought here, only one thing is certain that would happen if we don't find her fast" said Aerith
Cloud swallowed. While working as a mercenary in Midgar he had heard stories about the crime lord Don Corneo, who ruled over the Wall Market. The residents of the Market had to pay rents to the Don, who threatened to kidnap their daughters and wives if they don't. Those who were kidnapped were never seen alive again. Though there were people claiming they found corpse of them, often naked outside Don's residence in north of the Market.
"Hurry, we don't have much time." said Aerith, as she ran towards the north part of the market.
Don's residence were referred by the inhabitants of the market as mansion, though it was merely a two storey building. The entrance were decorated in Edo-Japan style. Several plates with Kanji characters engraved on it were stuck up on various places.
The two of them approached the door of the 'mansion' only to be stopped by a man in green T-shirt.
"This is Don Corneo's mansion." said the man "He's a big shot here in Wall Market. Listen, the Don's not interested in men. So just get the hell outta here. Hey, any of you got another cute one with you!"
The two of them took a few steps back to get out of the earshot of the sentry.
"Hey, this looks like the Don's mansion." said Aerith "I'll go take a look. I'll tell Tifa about you."
"No! You can't!" replied Cloud quickly
"Why?"
"You DO know…what kind of…place this is, don't you?"
"Then what as I supposed to do? You want to go in with me?"
"Well being a man, that'll be pretty hard. Besides if I bust in there, it'll cause too much commotion. But, I just can't let you go in alone… Oh, man… First…we need to find out if Tifa's alright…"
Cloud straightened up immediately as he noticed she was giggling.
"What's so funny Aerith?" asked Cloud
"Cloud, why don't you dress up like a girl?" asked Aerith "It's the only way"
"WHAT!" screamed Cloud, which surprisingly attracted no attention from the sentry.
Cloud's mind worked fast. There is no way he will be clad in woman's clothing, wigs and make-up, even if it means sacrificing Tifa.
"Hey I got a better plan." said Cloud, who calmed down all of a sudden "Why don't I pretend to be a pimp offering to sell you over to Don?"
"WHAT!" It was Aerith's turn to scream and this time, the sentry gave them a weird look.
"Come on, haven't you read or hear enough stories about prostitutes?" asked Cloud.
"Fine." replied Aerith reluctantly. "But before that, you need to get some suit. You know, the kind which businessmen wore. And I need some umm... erotic outfits."
"Let's take a look at the Market" suggested Cloud. "We might find what we need there..."
Thier first stop is the tailor's place. There, Cloud chose a black suit and matched it with a fedora hat. Finally, he completed his outfit with a dark shade. Aerith chose a black dress which barely covered her knees. The owner of the shop then showed her some hairbands. Finally she chose a black hairband with two bunny ear sticking out of it. Cloud chuckled at the sight. It was really amusing to see Aerith having four ears. Cloud paid for these clothes which cost about 600 gils. They were about to leave when Cloud walked over to the corner of the place and picked up a golf set.
"Hey, how much is this thing, minus the clubs?" Cloud inquired.
"50 gils" the owner replied "200 with the clubs. It's cheap since this golf set is just imitation anyways."
"Why do you need that thing?" Aerith asked after leaving the store.
"Ohh" replied Cloud with a smile "So I can smuggle this into the mansion."
Cloud stuffed his Buster Sword into the bag which is supposed to be storing the clubs.
"I see" Aerith grinned "Don Corneo would least expect a blade in that thing."
They then returned to the mansion's entrance. Cloud walked up to approached the sentry.
"Who goes there?" said the sentry
"The name's Strife." said Cloud as he casted a sideway glance to Aerith "I have this... little pussycat which Corneo might be interested in."
When the sentry replied, he sound more on ease "Hey, open up" he called to whoever is inside. "A pimp seeking to negotiate with the Don."
The internal part of the mansion is even more Edo styled compared to the entrance. Scrolls were hanging on the walls where as the floors had been tiled with planks that have been painted red. Cloud can easily see the second floor from where he was standing.
"Over here" called the man behind a counter.
"Is the Don free now?" said Cloud as he approached the counter.
"He's in a short meeting that will end shortly" reply the man "Is she the whore you are offering to sell? If she is, heh, Don Corneo will be having lady by each arm tonight"
"Why, has there been another man here to do some 'trading' with Don?" inquired Cloud.
"Not exactly, rather, that girl turned herself in." said the man with a grin "When we questioned her the price, the said only for a few minute conversation with Don before they began their 'business'. If she is looking for information, I guess she is really naive, thinking that a night with Don will give her the information. Little did she know that even if he do tell her what he know, she won't escape the place alive."
Concealing his anger, Cloud then bargained for the price. When he was told that the man over the counter had no right to name the price, Cloud asked him to tell Don to hurry up.
"Oh, by the way, don't forget to tell Corneo to drug her meals for extra fun" laughed Cloud as the man walked off to see Don Corneo.
"What do you mean by 'drug her meals for extra fun'?" Aerith kicked Cloud in his knee.
"I was just trying to sound convincing." replied Cloud as he rubbed his knee. "Anyway now's our chance, let's look for Tifa. If Don was still on his meeting, Tifa will be still be somewhere around here.
The duo ran up the stair and opened a door at the side. What awaits on the other side of the door is a long staircase all the way down into the abyss. It seems to them the very Gate to the Underworld.
Cloud took the lead and walked down the staircase uneasily with Aerith behind. When they finished their descend which took them what seems like the eternity they saw someone inside what seems like a torturing chamber. Instruments were lied out on a table at the side whereas there is a 'table' at the center where the victims lies.
"Tifa?" asked Aerith and the person turned to face them.
"Nice to meet you." said Aerith "I'm Aerith. Cloud's told me a lot about you."
"…And you are?" began Tifa "Hey you're the one with Cloud in the park…"
"Right, with Cloud." said Aerith "But don't worry. We just met. It's nothing."
"What do you mean, 'Don't worry'…about what?"Tifa asked with a slight edge in her tone "No, don't misunderstand. Cloud and I grew up together. Nothing more."
"Poor, Cloud having to stand here and listen to both of us call him nothing." commented Aerith with a slight smile "Right, Cloud?"
"Cloud?" exclaimed Tifa, shocked
Tifa walked closer to check on the third person in the room, and soon realizes it was Cloud.
"Cloud!" Tifa stared at him straight into his eyes "For a split second, I thought you are just another pimp who was selling Aerith over to Don. You OK after the fall, any serious injury?"
"Hey, one at a time." replied Cloud "First, I am dressed like a pimp because, there's no way Don will let me in without this outfit. I am OK, Aerith helped me out."
"Oh, Aerith did..." replied Tifa coldly.
"Tifa, is that true you offered yourself to Don just to talk to him?" demanded Cloud. "Do you have any idea how reckless and dangerous it is?"
"I..." stammered Tifa
"Too late for regrets now." said Cloud "But how did you come all the way just to extract information?"
"When we got back from the Number 5 reactor, there was this weird man." replied Tifa "So Barret caught him and squeezed some information out of him."
"So that's when Don's name popped up." guessed Cloud.
"Right, Don Corneo." continued Tifa "Barret told me to leave the lech alone... But something's been bothering me."
"I see."said Cloud "So you wanted to get the story straight from Corneo's mouth."
Tifa said nothing but nodded
"OK, this is what's gonna happen. Aerith is my prostitute and I am going to offer her to Don. Two of you extract as much information as possible from him. I will try to loiter around for as long as possible. When Don's men realizes I am not leaving, I will take care of them with my sword which I have smuggled in. Then I will rushed into Don's room and confront him. There is no way he won't let you go if I confront him at sword-point. Understand?"
Two of them nodded. At that moment the man over at the counter appeared on top of the staircase.
"Hey Mr Strife, I thought you had already left." said the man "The Don's waiting for them. Hurry up will ya!"
Cloud ran up the stair, leaving the two women alone as they walked up the stair together.
"Tifa" began Aerith
"Yeah?"
"Is that Cloud guy really dependable?" asked Aerith "I mean, look at the way he gave instruction without consulting us. And he made dirty jokes about me with that guy few minutes ago. And now, he ran up without us. What if something goes wrong?"
"Don't worry." Tifa sighed. "He might be a jerk sometimes but he isn't really a bad person, or so I know. For some reason, I even got a bit angry at the way he called you a prostitute, even though it was just an act. But I do agree. Men and their pride of their 'superiority'."
Aerith nodded and both of them walked upstair where they reunited with Cloud in Don's office.
Cloud was sitting on a chair facing the Don's table, chatting away with an overweight, bald man dressed in red robes who was none other than Don Corneo. He even wore a golden crown.
"Alright, I have decided." said Don Corneo "12000 gil"
"That's a deal" said Cloud as he accepted a roll of gil notes handed by Don.
"So, that's her?" asked Don Corneo, eyeing Aerith in a weird way.
"Yeah, not bad for 12000 gil huh?" said Cloud with a grin. "That reminds me, I left something behind in the basement, I will leave your mansion as soon as I am done. Hope we have chances to trade again."
"Farewell, Mr Strife." said Corneo, then turning to the girls "I guess this is what they mean by stoning two birds with one stone. Alright, ladies, please come with me"
Corneo then lead then girls into a room in the back of the office. Before they entered, Tifa made an OK gesture to Cloud as he himself left the office. Then making his way to the basement, he carefully took out the Buster Sword out of the golf sack and grabbed it carefully. As he opened the door of basement, he peeped carefully to ensure Don's men were nowhere in there. Only the receptionist was in that room, still behind the desk.
Cloud took a deep breathe and carefully, he made his way down the stair quietly. Cloud waited until the receptionist had his eye away from the stair, then, without any war cries, Cloud rushed up and landed his sword onto the receptionist's neck. The receptionist only let out a gasp before the steel severed his head from his body.
"Dead man don't bite." laughed Cloud as he looked around to check if any of the Don's man is still around.
He then ented Don's office again. There, three of Don's men were idling in there.
"Hey Mr Strife, I thought you have already le... hey, what' that sword for?" called out one of them
"You idiot, I knew he was suspicious from start, get him!" called out another
Three of Don's lackey rushed at Cloud at different direction. Cloud waited until the one closer to him was only a few feet away. Then, he thrust out his sword forward, impaling the man in his chest. Without any further delay, Cloud then swung his sword, which sliced through the man and the sword cut into the neck of the second man.
Seeing the his two comrades dead, the third man ran for the door which Cloud entered from earlier. Cloud made no attempt to follow him. He knew that Don would have heard the noise now and would be investigating outside in a few second, and he realized he was right when he heard the door to Don's bedroom creaked open.
"What's the noise about?" grumbled Don angrily as he opened the door. He only have a quarter of a second before Cloud was pointed his sword vigorously toward his gigantic belly. It missed him by inches.
"Get inside." ordered Cloud.
Don was about to protest when Aerith and Tifa emerged from the room and dragged him in and forced him to sit on the bed inside.
The room was small, and the bed in the center was all it take to fill it up. On top of that room, a purple latern was hanging over it, giving off violet rays of light which illuminated the room purple.
"Don Corneo, I afraid I have some... complication on our deal" said Cloud calmly
"What complication!" yelled Don angrily "You weren't even a pimp"
"Let's just say we are making a second deal and the price for making it is some information in exchange for your life." continued Cloud "Now, what did your assistant who were spying in Tifa's bar found out?"
"Talk, if you don't tell us." said Tifa
"I will make you an eunuch" said Cloud grimly as he pointed his sword at Don's most private area "Without those two round object of yours, I am sure your desire of women will vanish."
"No!" pleaded Don "Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
"So... talk" ordred Tifa.
"… I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was." said Don Corneo "But that's what I was ordered to do."
"By who?" inquired Tifa sternly
"No-! If I told you that, I'd be killed" cried Don Corneo.
"Talk! If you don't tell us…" said TIfa
Aerith then took out her retractable rod and smashed at one of the wooden corner of the bed. Splinters of wood flied across the room.
"This is the demonstration of how we are going to remove your precious object at your groin." said Aerith with a slight giggle
"Waaaaaaaaaaah-!" wailed Don Corneo "It was Heidegger of Shinra! Heidegger, the head of Public Safety Maintenance!"
"Did you say the Shinra!"said Tifa, slightly shocked, then colours returning to her face he asked "What are they up to! Talk! If you don't tell us… I'll smash them to bits!"
"…You're serious, aren't you… …ohboy, ohboy, ohboy." said Don Corneo, temporarily regaining fighting off his fear "…I'm not fooling around here either, you know. Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE, and want to infiltrate their hideout. And they're really going to crush them…literally, by breaking the support holding up the plate above them."
"BREAK THE SUPPORT!" yelled Tifa at the top of her voice, even Cloud was faltered slightly at her outburst
"You know what's going to happen?" asked Corneo as if the group didn't realize it yet "The plate'll go PING and everything's gonna go BAMMM! I heard their hideout's in the Sector 7 Slums... I'm just glad it's not here in Sector 6."
"They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 Slums!"exclaimed Tifa "Cloud, will you come with me to Sector 7?"
"Of course, Tifa." nodded Cloud.
"Just a second" called Don Corneo as the group prepare to leave the room.
"Shut up, I am done asking already." said Cloud.
"No wait, it'll only take a second."said Don calmly "How do you think scum like me feels when they babble on about the truth?"
"They're sure they'll win?" answered Cloud
"That's right!" said Don Corneo as he pressed a button near the bed.
The trapdoor underneath the trio opened up and the abyss then stretched up to catch them before they could scream...