Tokyo, Japan. Midgar District. It was fifteen years ago that the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company took complete control of this oft-overlooked part of the city. Using their newly invented Mako Reactors, they separated the district and made it completely self-sufficent. Almost as if to gloat about their success, they renamed the district "The Promised Land", after old Cetra legends from hundreds of years ago.

-Today-

The bell had run, and all thirty students rushed into the classroom, except for one. His pace was very nonchalant, and his entire look very unkempt. His blonde hair was spiked up; his school uniform was unbuttoned, revealing the plain white tee-shirt he was wearing underneath; and he wore a silver lion's head on a necklace chain. He slung his book bag over one shoulder, and both hands were stuffed in his pockets. The look on his face was one of boredom. He slumped down into his seat in the back row after everyone else had already sat down.

A girl two seats away from him lowered her head in disappointment. She was almost the exact opposite of the boy. Her hair was tied neatly into a ponytail which hung down to her waist. Her uniform was very neat and tidy, her blouse stretched across a bosom which was the envy of almost every girl in the class, and the arouser of every boy. She sat at her desk, very ready for the day's studies. She pitied the boy, wishing he'd cheer up at least once in his life.

The boy looked at the rain striking the window and longed for something... something he couldn't name.

(Opening Sequence Music: Starlight Speedway by Rocket Ship Resort)

-Final Fantasy VII-

-The Anime Series-

-Episode 1-

-The Sector Eight Reactor-

The charges were ready. Barret Wallace and his three compatriots, Jessie Shinkawa, Biggs Ishimura and Wedge Kurosawa were all gearing up to get off the train as soon as it stopped in Sector Eight. Their plan was simple: blow up the Sector Eight Mako Reactor. Barret knew it was going to be anything but simple. The Reactor would be heavily guarded, and there was a good chance that robo-guards would be in place.

Barret picked his assault rifle from their weapons crate and checked the magazine. Twenty-eight rounds, two left out to avoid jamming. Jessie shouldered the bag with the charges, then slung her rifle over shoulder. Biggs and Wedge each grabbed their weapons and their respective equipment. Biggs was their tech officer and Wedge was back-up.

When all was said and done, at least AVALANCHE looked like a band of scrappy revolutionaries.

No words were spoken when the train came to a stop at the Sector Eight station. Barret used hand signals to communicate with his team. He held up his hand, fingers spread, then made a fist when the train stopped. Jessie and Biggs moved first, taking out the two Shin-Ra guards at the station exit. Dozens of people ran and more than a few hid underneath benches and inside kiosks. A different hand sign told Wedge it was time for them to exit the train.

Still, no words were spoken as the group of four made their way through the station, taking out the Shin-Ra guards that appeared in their way. No heavy reinforcements were called in, making Barret very uneasy. Still, he was grateful for the temporary ease of the situation. He had no doubts that the robo-guards were on their way.

Once the ragtag group were out of the station, Jessie and Wedge fired a group of rounds into the air, sending hundreds of civilians away in fear, and earning the AVALANCHE crew some Shin-Ra reinforcements. Bullets peppered the ground around them as a group of two dozen soldiers entered the small, courtyard-like area the station had led out into. No words, Barret looked at Biggs and pointed to his own mouth. Biggs knew exactly what to do: he took a grenade from his pouch and threw it at the group of soldiers, killing a few and knocking some lucky ones unconscious thanks to all the shrapnel.

This kept up as the group made their way through the Sector, toward the Reactor.

111

Cloud Strife dumped his book bag on the bench outside the school and practically fell down onto it himself. He hated school. It was probably because he'd never wanted to go in the first place. Midgar Central in Sector Eight was the best school in all of Japan, and he was only there because of his best friend's parents. Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart didn't have to pay his way in. He really wished they hadn't.

He yawned, so very bored. The bus was always late. Why he thought today would be any different, he didn't know, but, for some reason, he was hoping that it would show up on time for once. He wanted to get to a seat before Tifa got out to the bus. No doubt she was going to give him one of her famous talks.

Cloud heard an explosion, from somewhere. Lazily, he looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of four people in a tight grouping firing machine guns at a group of Shin-Ra troops. What the hell? he thought, grabbing his book bag and sprinting toward the action taking place.

111

Minutes later, Tifa Lockhart stormed out of the school, looking for Cloud in what would normally be a large mass of students waiting for their buses. Instead, she saw absolutely no one, and the automatic weapons fire she heard seconds later told her exactly why. She looked around and saw Cloud at the edge of the street, just standing there.

"What's going on?!" she nearly screamed when she got to him.

He didn't answer at first, and then he suddenly turned toward her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Tifa, get out of here!"

"What's going on?" she repeated the question.

"I don't know, but these four guys are getting shot at by a bunch of Shin-Ra soldiers. Get back inside, now!"

She wrestled herself from his grasp and shook her head. "No! Not without you!"

"Tifa, I mean it, get away!"

"Cloud Strife, I'm not leaving unless you come too!"

Cloud scowled at her, but nodded.

111

When the AVALANCHE group made it to the Reactor, Barret expected a dozen or more robo-guards to be waiting for them. Somehow, though, the area was completely empty. Almost like they want us to do this. He loaded another magazine into his assault rifle and steeled himself for what they were going to find on the inside.

Finally, he broke their silence and said to his team: "When we get in there, we don't stop running. We get to the core and set the charges, then we get the hell outta there, got that, you little bastards?" All of them nodded in acknowledgement.

With the silent equivalent of a rebel yell, the four of them started running toward the core. They kept each other out of their firing lines, Barret and Jessie focusing only on the soldiers in front while Biggs and Wedge focused only on the ones off to their sides.

Barret found it so hard to believe that they were finally about to destroy one of Shin-Ra's reactors. It was almost a ten year old dream come true. Dyne, you'd love to see this, I'm sure.

Then, it all came crashing down.

111

Cloud didn't know when in the sprint from the school to the Reactor that he'd dropped his book bag, but he didn't really care either. He'd rather ditch Tifa, keep her out of harm's way, but she was adamant that he not be out of her sight.

Once they reached the Reactor, Cloud saw dozens of bodies litering the entrance hall. He stopped Tifa just as she caught up to him and shielded her eyes. "I don't want you to see this. Lot'sa dead bodies."

"Cloud, we've been following a bunch of dead bodies to get here, what am I gonna see that I haven't—" She cut herself off when he removed his hand and the mass of dead bodies before them was revealed. "Oh," she said, quieter than a whisper.

Cloud spotted a sword next to one of the bodies. It was an odd sight, but not an unwelcome one. He was suddenly grateful that he'd decided on sword lessons instead of piano lessons. "C'mon, just stay behind me."

111

Barret had never felt pain as bad as this before in his life. He held the bloody stump that was his right wrist after one of the robo-guards had severed his hand. Jessie and Biggs kept the beast at bay, but it was clearly difficult for them to do so. Wedge was unconscious beside him. The writing was on the wall—they were dead.

The robo-guard was ten feet high, in the shape of a scorpion. Its tail fired a concentrated laser beam, which Jessie and Biggs just barely managed to dodge, a large chunk of the wall sizzled in its wake. No matter how many bullets Jessie and Biggs put into it, it didn't allow itself to be stopped. It powered through their attack, doing its best to kill them in the process.

Just as Barret closed his eyes and prepared for the death he was certain was about to happen, AVALANCHE's collective prayer was answered. Someone—no older than fifteen—jumped on the mechanical beast's back and sliced off the robot's tail with a Shin-Ra guard's sword. The boy then jammed his sword down into the robot's head. The beast came down, the boy pulled out his sword, and once he was a good five feet away from it, the robo-guard's head exploded.

111

Tifa peeked out around the doorway and saw that Cloud was, miraculously, still alive. The group of terrorists that they'd followed into the Reactor were all still alive, too. It was the strangest thing she'd ever seen.

Of course, neither she nor Cloud should have ever been there. She ran inside and surveyed the carnage all around them. It wasn't long before both she and Cloud had machine guns pointed directly at their faces. Cloud raised his sword, but he couldn't be stupid enough to think that he could deflect bullets with it.

Could he?

"Get out of here, kid," a tall man with solid black hair commanded.

"I just saved you guys, in case you forgot," Cloud said through gritted teeth.

"I said get out of here!"

The one Tifa assumed was the leader stood up, blood dripping from what had once been his right hand. "Biggs, Jessie! Lower your weapons!"

Tifa pushed past Clound and walked toward the team's leader. At first, the last terrorist raised his rifle at her, but his boss pushed it out of her face. "Your arm," she said, "we've got to stop the bleeding before you pass out."

"Just bandage it," the boss said, "I'll take care of the rest." He turned to the woman who was still keeping a close eye on Cloud. "Jessie, get those charges set." The woman nodded and kneeled down by the Reactor core. "We're leaving in twenty seconds. Kid, you got a name?" he asked Cloud.

"Cloud Strife."

"And you?" he asked Tifa.

"Tifa Lockhart."

"You two have just become honorary members of AVALANCHE."

111

Cloud cursed under his breath. He wanted more to life than boring school work that he didn't even deserve, but joining a terrorist organization who was about to blow up the Reactor? A terrorist organization that needed a fifteen year old kid to save their asses from a practically brain dead robo-guard? This didn't seem to be a good idea.

The leader introduced himself as Barret Wallace, and the three goons were Jessie (the only woman), Biggs (thin guy with black hair and a red bandanna) and Wedge (chubby guy with a surprising amount of muscle). They didn't seem to be the best terrorists in the world, as far as Cloud was concerned.

"I don't know if you noticed, but we're just high school kids," Cloud said to Wallace, who was leading them out of the Reactor. "We're way too young to be involved with... you guys."

"We don't pick our fights, spikey," Wallace commanded, "we just do what we have to, to save the planet."

Tifa elbowed Cloud lightly in the arm. "What are you doing?" she whispered to him.

"This isn't our fight, Tifa."

"I'd say it is now, wouldn't you? Do you really think we can just go back to school like this?"

"Well, no, but I—"

"Besides, I thought you hated school."

"Well, I do, but—"

"So, see? Doesn't this work out better for you?"

"No, actually, dying for a cause I accidentally bumped into sounds way worse."

Jessie tapped Cloud on the shoulder. "You know I can hear you, right?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, I just... well..."

She smiled. "I understand, Cloud. We didn't mean to drag you two into this, but we can't change what's happened." The group stopped at the entrance corridor that had been turned into a graveyard. There still weren't any guards besides the bodies. "Besides," she whispered in his ear, "I think you're kinda cute."

Cloud could feel himself blushing, but that went away when he turned toward Tifa, who was scowling at him. "Oh, so when I say that we're stuck here, you wanna run, but when she says it, you're suddenly a team player? Cloud Strife, you are a pig."

"I wa... I mean I..." Oh, screw it, he thought.

Barret turned to Wedge. "Got the detonator ready?" Wedge nodded silently. "Good, blow it."

(Ending Sequence Music: The Worst Day Since Yesterday by Flogging Molly)

-Final Fantasy VII-

-The Anime Series-

-Next Episode-

Great, so now Tifa and I are stuck in AVALANCHE, and the cops are after us. Luckily, they have a secret base in Sector Seven, but that's not all, turns out everything Tifa and I ever knew about the planet doesn't even come close to what's out there. What did I do to get stuck in this situation?

Next time on Final Fantasy VII,

-Episode 2: AVALANCHE-