The sound of pounding footsteps echoed down an ornate hallway. A figure dashed along, long dark hair flying behind a lithe, muscular body and a faint string of curses. Tifa glanced around to make sure the coast was clear and slowed to a walk to briefly tie the wayward ends of her long hair before speeding up again. She quickly pulled her gloves over her bruised knuckles, wincing as she accidently jammed a thumb against the fabric in her nervous haste. She couldn't believe it. Could not believe it! That disgusting pig had chosen her childhood friend, a crossdressing MAN over her and her newly found female comrade. And then to leave the two of them to the lusty henchmen!
She fumed as she entered the main entryway, trying to remember the layout of the building. Her side ached from the superficial cut that oozed blood and stained her torn blue dress.
After the Don had picked Cloud to consummate a 'relationship' in the sleaze ball's bedroom, he had callously turned to his henchmen, Kotch and Scotch.
"You can have the others," he had wheezed, waving a hand toward the girls. Lecherous grins had crossed the faces of the two henchmen. They had proceeded to herd Aeris and Tifa out the door and then in opposite directions. Tifa had watched as the other woman was led by Kotch to the dank dungeon they had been waiting in only minutes before while she herself was shoved down a hall and into a room with several different men. They had managed to corner her, greasy calls of "Hey, baby!" thrown her way. An odd one had gotten too excited at the prospect of a beautiful woman for the taking and had shouted "Woo-hoo! I gots ants in my pants, wanna do a dance, gotta take a chance and mebbe find romance!" to which she had scoffed a silent "…the fuck?" under her breath before kicking off her high heels and getting to work.
They had not provided too much of a challenge, yet she still had silently thanked Master Zangan over and over as she crushed, smashed, and completely demolished the men who had grabbed at her. His training had given her an edge over the men who fumbled with their machetes after she had taken down two of their own with her bare hands. However, the ridiculously tight dress she had worn – really she should have known better – had restricted her movements, making dodging difficult and resulting in one of the machetes shallowly nicking her right under her ribcage. Fighting without her boots, elbow guards, and gloves had not helped either. Even though she had kept her gloves hidden on her person, things had happened too fast to equip them.
She looked around the main entryway for the couch and potted plant she had hid her clothes behind. Similar thinking or sheer luck had been on her and her comrades' sides when they had all happened to stash their regular clothes in spots very nearby to each other. Grabbing her gear, she quickly snuck into a hall closet and changed as fast as she could without stretching the cut. Despite her best efforts, a little bit of blood ended up staining her white tank top.
"Can't be helped," she mumbled after strapping down her elbow guard and darting back out the door. She quickly grabbed Aeris' and Cloud's clothes and folded them over her arm before hurrying to the dungeon Aeris had been carted back to. Tifa rushed down the dark steps, the lights of the torches on the wall theatrically lighting her way as she called out, "Aeris!"
"Tifa!" answered a musical voice strained in panic. As Tifa reached the midway point of the staircase, she saw Aeris frantically scrambling up the stairs, high heels missing and a section of her glittering red dress torn away. Kotch appeared from the gloom behind the other woman and grabbed her arm.
"Wait, you!" he snarled as he moved to yank her back down the stairs. His face was scratched and bruised, Tifa noted with a hint of pride. It looked like Aeris had fended him off long enough for Tifa to reach her. As Tifa took a step forward and prepared to beat another disgusting man into oblivion, she and Kotch both were surprised as Aeris viciously pulled her arm out of Kotch's grip. Yet in complete contrast, Aeris shut her eyes and squealed "I'm so sorry!" before shoving him square in the chest.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Kotch frantically wheeled his arms in an attempt to regain his balance, but as the two women watched, his foot slipped and he toppled down the stairs with dull thuds before hitting the dungeon floor and laying still.
Aeris let out a low sigh before briefly plopping down on the stairs to rub her ankle. Tifa noticed that the other woman had ditched her high heels in order to run as well.
"Aeris, you alright?" Tifa asked, crouching down next to her.
"Turned my ankle a bit in those darn heels," Aeris muttered. "Don't worry about me, I can walk."
"You sure?"
Aeris looked up and gave a sweet smile. "Absolutely." She made to stand up, but wobbled. Tifa quickly grabbed her elbow and gave her support until she was safely on her feet.
"Here." Tifa handed Aeris her clothes. "Put these on, I'll keep watch." Aeris quickly changed into her pink dress and bolero as Tifa switched between eyeing the unconscious Kotch and the doorway. After Aeris had pulled on her boots, Tifa said, "Let's go. We gotta save Cloud!"
"Yeah, that silly man doesn't know what to do with himself when he's wearing a dress," Aeris chuckled as the two of them made it back to the main entryway. The woman ran and grabbed her staff from different hiding place and joined back up with Tifa.
As they rushed towards the Don's quarters, Tifa asked "So how did you manage to fend off Kotch so well without your staff?"
"Oh… well," Aeris panted, "A man I used to know… h-he showed me some self-defense moves, claimed that I needed to know them to stay safe in the slums." The woman gave a nervous smirk. "I… also kind of kicked Kotch where it hurts. That kept him preoccupied long enough to get away from him."
Tifa laughed.
Finally they reached the office that preceded the Don's chambers. "Ready?" Tifa asked, pulling her gloves on tighter.
"Ready," answered Aeris, eyes hard and bright, her hands gripping her staff with a near white knuckled grip.
Even though the women thought they were ready for whatever awaited them behind that door, they truly did not expect what met their ears as Tifa went to open the door.
"You sure do know how to make a guy feel good!"
The women froze, glancing at each other.
"Then," the voice came again, "wh… what do you want to DO?" Tifa recognized the raspy voice of Don Corneo.
"Whatever YOU want, daddy," answered a hideously fake falsetto. Tifa's eyes bulged and she clapped a hand over her and Aeris' mouths as she held back a guffaw. Pain radiated from the cut in her said as she struggled to keep from laughing. Next to her, Aeris was failing miserably as well.
"Oh man! I can't stand it!" gurgled Corneo. "Alright then… Give me a kiss! A KISS!"
"Alright…" came the strained falsetto.
Tifa quietly pushed the door open enough to peer in, Aeris craning her neck in order to see into the room as well.
The room made the ornate interior of the rest of the building look dull. Rich red tapestries hung from the red walls around intricately painted pillars. Spotlights – Really, spotlights? Tifa thought disgustedly – as well as a glittering disco ball illuminated a bed sitting upon a plush oriental rug, the shimmering golden bed covers emblazoned with the symbol "heaven". Crinkling the fabric and elegant calligraphy was Don Corneo. The man was on all fours on the edge of the bed, his fat rump stuck out behind him and wiggling as he puckered up his lips waiting for… a kiss from Cloud. The blond man in drag was sweating nervously, having just straightened up from bending forward in a failed kiss attempt. His brows were deeply furrowed, his eye twitched again and again, and his lips were pulled up in a disgusted grimace. As the women watched, he painfully bent over again in what appeared to be a herculean effort, puckered his lips and started to lean towards Corneo.
Tifa bit back a grin, barely containing a snort. Did Cloud seriously not see them just peer in? Was he really going to…? Time to save the poor guy, she thought to herself. She threw her fist into the door and it blasted off its hinges. The loud bang echoed in the chamber. "Ju-st a minute!" she called as giggles erupted from Aeris next to her, the other woman's mouth now uncovered. Cloud's eyes flew open and he jerked his head away from the Don, stumbling backwards. Corneo opened his eyes and glared through squinting eyes at the doorway.
"… What the hell? Who's there?"
As the women strolled in, Tifa glanced at her childhood friend. "Cloud… Were you really…?"
Horror and panic crossed Cloud's face, and he frantically shook his head before hurrying over to join Tifa and Aeris at the foot of the bed.
"Here, go change," whispered Tifa as she thrust the man's normal clothes into his arms. Cloud left the room, his wig's twin braids flailing and his boots clunking under the limp purple dress. How the Don chose the poorly disguised ex-SOLDIER over two beautiful real women, Tifa would never know. Perhaps it was the cologne Cloud had used, she thought to herself as she stared down the angry Don, making sure their target did not escape as well as giving Cloud time to change and restore some of his dignity. After all, Cloud absolutely reeked of it.
After a short couple of minutes, Cloud reappeared back in his SOLDIER uniform, the Buster Sword slung over his back. The few minutes seemed to have been enough for him to regain his composure, as his face had settled back into the stern façade that had become so familiar to Tifa since finding him again.
Upon seeing Cloud enter in his military garb, Don Corneo fell onto his butt with a hand raised between him and the small trio of misfits. "A man?! What's goin' on?"
"Shut up, we're asking the questions now," said Tifa as the three of them made their way over to the side of the bed. It was time for the interrogation, her original mission. "What did your assistants find out? Talk! If you don't tell us…" She glanced at Cloud. The man took the cue, putting a foot on the mattress and leaning in towards the Don with an elbow resting on his knee.
"I'll chop it off," he growled, mako eyes glowing with aggression where there had been embarrassment only a few minutes before.
The Don flinched and shook his head. "No! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" he spluttered as he stared at the massive sword hanging from Cloud's harness. His terror appeared to have clammed him up, Tifa noticed.
"So… talk." She glared at the fat mongrel.
"… I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was. But that's what I was ordered to do."
Tifa chewed on that tidbit. They were after Barret… well he was hard to miss after all. But, ordered? Who would want to use this Don to spy?
"By whom?" she prompted.
"No-! If I told you that, I'd be killed!" he cried, his fat chin trembling.
"Talk!" shouted Tifa. The Don cowered away. "If you don't tell us…"
A look and Aeris propped herself in the same position as Cloud. Her sweet face darkened ominously. "… I'll rip it off."
"Waaaaah! It was Heidegger of Shinra!" squealed the unappealing man. "Heidegger, the head of Peace Preservation!"
"The head of Peace Preservation!?" repeated Cloud, clear alarm in his voice. While Aeris still seemed somewhat lost, Tifa had a similar reaction to Cloud.
"Did you say the Shinra!? What are they up to?! Talk!" shouted Tifa. Peace Preservation was after them with its head leading the charge on AVALANCHE? That particular wing of Shinra included the Turks. This was getting into very dangerous territory. "If you don't tell us…" This time she leaned forward herself, her ruby eyes glittering with anger as she stared down into the Don's corrupt soul.
"I'll smash it," she said simply with little inflection. This scared the Don even worse than her two comrades had.
"… You're serious, aren't you…" he was truly sweating now, pit stains apparent under the arms of his lavish coat. "… oh boy, oh boy, oh boy," he chanted. Suddenly his terrified shakes died down, and his lips gave a small quirk. "… I'm not fooling around here either, you know."
Tifa and Cloud's eyes narrowed. Aeris frowned.
"Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE, and want to infiltrate their hideout." The quirk turned into a smile. "And they're really going to crush them… literally. By breaking the supports holding the plate above them."
Aeris gasped in disbelief and Cloud sharply inhaled at the news. Adrenaline flooded their systems at the news.
"Break the supports?!" cried Tifa.
"You know what's going to happen? The plate'll go PING," the Don chuckled at the little sound, "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."
Still reeling, Tifa whispered, "They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 slums?!" She shook her head. They had to move out now to save the slum people. She turned to her childhood friend. "Cloud, will you come with me to Sector 7?" AVALANCHE would desperately need his abilities as an ex-SOLDIER to fight off Shinra from the support pillar.
Cloud's determined eyes met hers and he nodded. "Of course, Tifa."
The three made to hurry out of the room, Aeris looking like she was going to say something to Tifa when Corneo called out from behind them. "Just a second!"
Growling with impatience, Cloud turned and snarled, "Shut up!"
"No, it'll only take a second!" said Don Corneo. "Why do you think scum like me babbled on about the truth?"
"Because he's clueless?" Aeris muttered under her breath.
"Because you've given up on life," said Cloud carelessly, waving his hand towards the Don.
No… thought Tifa, alarm tightening her limbs. "It's because he's sure he'll win!"
"Woo-hoo! Right!" laughed Don Corneo, reaching behind the bed post to pull a lever.
As the trapdoor opened up under Tifa and her comrades, she briefly wondered what Aeris had been going to say before the martial artist, ex-SOLDIER, and flower girl disappeared down the dark hole.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I've always waited to see a fic telling what happened to the girls when Cloud is chosen by Corneo but it never popped up, so I decided to write it. Most of the dialogue is in fact taken from the game. I should probably say that the only dialogue that ISN'T from the game is the brief conversation Aeris and Tifa have. This is also meant to show how I think the majority of Tifa and Aeris' relationship went. It's really sad how their friendship gets shot down or misunderstood and diminished by Cleris and Cloti shippers alike. Both characters are so amazing and I've always thought that aside for some jealousy about Cloud, they were very dear friends to each other.
Thanks for reading!