Man you are gonna love this place! The drinks are alright but just you wait till you get a glance at the bartender, she's got the biggest.." a man in grungy looking clothes would tell his friend as they made their way down the dirt like road that lead through towards the more lively part of the sector 7 slums, going past an alley without noticing an annoyed looking Rem who glared at the men with crossed arms as she leaned against the brick wall.
"Fucking pervs" she muttered before turning her head to look back into the alley to see the others observing Axels laptop that rested on top of a closed off garbage bin.
"It looks like a pretty solid plan, but are you sure you and Rem can handle things on your own?" Cloud asked, his face showing more concern than his tone. Axel nodded in response without looking away from the monitor.
"Of course, Rem and I can handle getting into the reactor and extracting what we need. I have the plans of the facility memorized and know how to avoid all of the security triggers, we just need you three to distract AVALANCHE long enough for us to get to the train station" Axels explanation, along with his tone of confidence as he spoke of his plan did make Cloud feel a bit more at ease but he still had a lingering feeling of concern. Cloud had gone through enough in life to know that not all plans go as well as they were thought to be and precaution was always a must.
"No need to worry about our part nerd-o" Jeanne would say with a big grin on her face before she placed her hands behind her head "We can handle ourselves against ol'scruffy gun" she would then turn her attention to Rem with a big smile "Just make sure our little Axel doesn't screw anything up, he's still just a kid you know" she would say with a laugh, not noticing the glare that was thrown at her from the younger boy.
"You know Jeanne, it's your big mouth that will one day.." Axel would start to say before being cut off by Clive.
"I think it's time that we got started rather than bickering don't you think?" he would say to halt the two from furthering their argument, both giving looks as if they were about to say something but instead each gave a 'humph' and left it at that.
Walking up to Rem, who was uninterested by the younger members squabbling, had her attention had gone back to the street. Cloud stood beside her as he too looked around before speaking.
"If anything happens in the reactor that requires you to fall back, do it. We can always make another attempt at a different reactor later" he would say, his words causing Rem to look over at him with a raised brow and a slight smirk.
"You're talking like you don't have much trust in me, you know I hate it when you do that" her head giving a slight shake as she spoke "Don't worry about me and Axel, we'll get the job done and be back before you know it" her lips forming a small reassuring smile, one that Cloud had seen many times in the past and had always been a good sign of a mission going well.
The others would then make their way to meet the two at the entrance of the alley, Axel fighting a quiet struggle as he was trying to get out of a headlock that Jeanne had put him in as she ruffled his hair, Clive watching them as he knew that if he said anything to the dark haired girl it would just go upon deaf ears.
Figuring there was no time like the present Cloud looked over at Clive and Jeanne, signalling them to follow as he would make his way out of the alley in the direction of the bar that resided about two blocks away. Jeanne and Clive caught up to him so they all walked side by side. Cloud hearing a faint "Good luck Cloud" that was recognizably Rems voice; he returned her words with a backwards wave to her.
Out of the three who ventured further into the slums, it was Jeanne who seemed to be catching the attention of those who were loitering around the area. Not because of the fact that she was a woman, not because of the small skirt that she wore, but because of the artillery that she carried with her. Two straps were slung over her shoulders as to hold the two assault rifles under her arms that dangled at chest height, a long barrelled sniper rifle rested on her back and two hand guns latched to a belt that went around her waist with a small pink, ruined looking fanny pack that rested against her right hip. The other two men seemed to stick out less as Clouds sword that clung to his back and Clives twin dagger hilts dangled from the sides of his belt.
"So…how are we going to get their attention anyway?" Clive would ask with a glance over at Cloud. A question that Cloud even realized he hadn't even thought up a plan for.
"Well we could…" he started off before Jeanne excitedly cut into the conversation.
"Oh! I have a great idea!" she would say with a big grin before hurrying ahead of the two.
"You think it's wise to let her do whatever it is she's about to do?" Clive would ask as the two halted on the spot as they watched her, a look of uncertainty on both of their faces.
"I guess...we'll find out soon" Cloud would respond back, knowing fully well that there was no stopping her once she got her mind wrapped around something.
Coming to a stop only 30 yards from the bar, Jeanne reached into her fanny pack and had her hand tightly formed into a fist around a dark green object.
"Alright Avalanche! Time to come on out!" she would say out loud before throwing the object, one that made both Cloud and Clives eyes open with surprise before they both yelled out 'Jeanne! You idiot!' in sync with one another as they watched the grenade sore through the air and crash through the window of the Seventh Heaven bar. It was only a few seconds where complete silence had taken over as they waited for the reaction that would soon come from Jeannes straight forward attack. Instantly, the silence was over taken by screams and yells that came from inside the bar, a flood of people came rushing from the small doorway as people pushed and shoved their way out of the opening, trying to get away from the explosive before it could detonate.
Cloud and Clive merely watched, hoping that everyone would make it out of the bar before the bomb could explode since their initial intention of the plan had no desire of wanting to harm anyone in the process.
But something made Cloud tilt his head in curiosity, Jeanne was laughing at the site that she had created. Was she actually nuts? Was she nothing more than a psychopath who wanted nothing more than to cause destruction? These questions roamed through his mind before he realized something that made him shift his attention over back to Rem and Axel.
Even from where he stood, he could see Rem placing a hand over her face, possibly in frustration over Jeannes actions. But Axel seemed to have the same idea as Cloud did, watching the young boy tug on Rems arm and pointed to the crowd that ran towards the exit of the slums, the very exit that lead out to the street that would take them out to the trainyard.
The panicking crowd would make a good cover for the two to go to the trainyard in case Avalanche was observing the chaos, making it easier for the plan to unfold. Cloud watched as the two ran out into the crowd, a small sigh escaping his lips before his attention was brought back to the bar. A loud sudden yell come from inside the now empty bar, one that sounded rather familiar.
"Who the hell is throwing fake grenades into my bar?!" a woman's voice erupted out from the broken window and doors of the bar before the doors swung open, once more to have one last person come out.
It was hard to tell who is was from where Cloud was standing, the figure was rather slim looking and had haired that went down to the woman's rear. But something was very familiar about this woman, her voice being one that he thought he had heard many times before in his past.
"It was me, what are you gonna do about it? Huh?" Jeanne would say with her usual cocky attitude as she held her ground. Her expression suddenly becoming less confident as she moved off to the side to avoid the fake grenade that was hurled at her head by the woman which landed with a plastic 'clack' near Clouds foot. The sound of cracking knuckles filled the air around them as the woman did so to both of her fists as she made her way over to them. Clouds eyes widened a bit as the woman got closer, close enough for him to know exactly who it was.
"I am going to make you pay me every little gil that you cost me today with your little childish prank. With the amount of money I was going to get from all of those customers we could have had enough to pay our rent for the next two months! What gave you the right to.." she would trail off as her eyes now looked at the others who stood behind Jeanne, wondering who it was that was involved in this girls antics. But her eyes were then fixated on the spikey haired blonde that stood beside Clive, her feet stopping where they were now planted.
Her eyes blinked twice, as if to make sure that they were working properly before she spoke again.
"C..Cloud? Is that you?" she asked in an almost quiet tone but loud enough for everyone to hear. The tension that was filled the air moments ago had suddenly been dispersed and was replaced with confusion that spread out between the four.
The sight of Tifa made even Cloud want to crack a smile. He had always wondered if Tifa was alright from the incident back in Nibelheim. The memory of rushing into the Mt. Nibel reactor came to mind as he remembered seeing Sephiroth go through the doorway with the sign 'JENOVA' above it, seeing Tifa laying at the foot of the stairs with a large wound on the front of her body. At that moment he felt that he had failed to keep the promise that he made to her all of those years back at the water tower, how he promised to be there for her whenever she needed him.
And now there she stood only a few yards away, looking healthier than even as she looked at him with those familiar eyes. For a moment he caught himself with his jaw slightly open which was thankfully hidden behind his red scarf, him trying to find the right words to say to her.
'Don't stand there like an idiot! Say something!' a voice yelled out to him in his mind as he tried to figure out what to say. He wanted to tell her that he was relieved to know that she was alive and well, to ask where she had been all of this time. But instead he was only able to blurt out a less sensitive response.
"Tifa, where's Avalanche?" he asked in a questioning/interrogating tone, one that appeared to catch Tifa off guard and look at him with eyes that just shouted out to him 'did you miss me at all cloud? Aren't you happy to know I am ok?'
Giving it a second to sink in that she wasn't going to get a more friendlier response, Tifa let out a small sigh as she moved a few strand of hair away from her face and shifted them to behind her right ear. Her eyes now tried to focus on somewhere else, anywhere other than the childhood friend that stood before him.
"I..don't know what you're talking about Cloud" her tone being the same one that he knew all too well.
Back in the days of Nibelheim, Tifa would always lie about being ok. Whether it was about the death of her mother or just things that bothered her but didn't want to trouble others with. This made Cloud frown a bit before he started making his way over to her, stopping only a few feet away. He noticed that she hadn't changed much since he last saw her, other than the fact that she looked more mature, taller and her clothes were rather…skimpier than they used to be. He then saw her eyes focus back onto him once again.
"Tifa…we know Avalanche has their base here in Seventh Heaven, we just want to talk to them, that's all" his words made Tifa bite down on her lip as he could tell that the cogs in her mind were working away.
"They…" she just started to say with her hands grabbing onto one another behind her back. He could tell her comfortable level was sinking, perhaps because she didn't want to betray the group that she had been helping out but at the same time wanted to help the one childhood friend she thought she would never see again.
"They aren't here" she finally let out as she looked up at him once again. From behind Cloud, a loud "Bullshit!" came out from Jeanne who appeared from behind Clouds back and pointed one of her hand guns right at Tifa.
"Of course she's going to say they aren't here, Miss Mcboobington here will say anything to throw us off track! She's one of them!" Jeanne's gun was suddenly tugged upward as a hand came around and pulled it away from Jeanne. Seeing Clive standing behind her with his hand holding her gun, he gave a slight head shake with his usual calm look still on his face as he continued to puff away on his cigarette.
"Let's hear her out first before you go pumping her full of holes kiddo" he would say in a monotone like voice.
Jeanne gave Tifa a glare as she let out a frustrated sigh and backed off, giving Clive a somewhat hard punch to his side "Spoilsport" she would say, his face not showing any form of pain from her fist.
Cloud never took his eyes off of Tifa, he could tell that when she told them that Avalanche wasn't there that she was telling the truth.
"If they aren't here, where are they?" he asked with his voice less demanding than it was in his previous question.
Tifa gave another bite of her lip, from her arm movement he could tell that her hands were fumbling with each other as she contemplated on what to say next.
"The..sector seven reactor, they are leaving on the train that just left a minute ago" her glance then went down, an obvious look of guilt on her face that Cloud guessed came from the fact that she was ratting out the group that she supported.
At her words, the three others suddenly realized what that meant, their expressions were a mix of surprise and fear.
Cloud quickly brought his hand up to his ear to tap a small communicator that rested inside his ear canal, waiting to hear a small beep to confirm that it had been turned on. "Axel? Axel! Are you there?" he would question as fear started to come over him, hoping to hear a response back.
"Yes..I am here" Axel's voice filled his ears from the communicator but sounded as though the boy was talking rather quietly.
"Axel, Avalanche is on the train with you, you have to.." his instructions were then interrupted by the voice coming from the other end of the communicator.
"We know Cloud" Rems voice would cut in, sounding just as quiet as Axels but also with a sense of uneasiness in her tone.
"They are in the cart with us"
Suddenly, a loud voice boomed into his ear over the communicator, one that was neither Axels nor Rems, a deeper toned voice that sounded more distant than the others.
"Don't start slacking now! Tonight's tha night we stick it to that Fuckin Shinra, once and fer all!" the recognizable, burly voice of the leader of Avalanche faintly roared over the communicator