Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII does not belong to me in any way.

The next day

Cloud woke up with a backache from sleeping against a metal pipe in the hide out. He jumped up from his spot and stretched his arms up yawning loudly. He ran a gloved hand through his mess of spiky blond hair and made his way over to the pinball machine, pressing the button to ascend to the next floor. When he made it to the bar, Tifa, Barret, and Marlene were already there waiting for him.

"Our target's the Sector 5 Reactor. Head for the station first." Barret ordered Cloud while tapping his foot. "I'll fill you in on the train." The dark skinned man uncrossed his arms about ready to leave when he thought of something else. "Yo! Cloud! Before the next mission, I got somethin' I wanna ask you! I, uh, ……I don't really know how to use Materia! I'll give you that Materia you found. Just teach me how to use it!"

Cloud sighed and rested his hand on his hip. "Ok, I'll explain it." He picked up his Buster Sword and set it on the table pointing at the slots in the handle. "Each weapon and armor has slots in it. You put the Materia in one of the slots and now you can cast it in battle. The Materia we picked up before is a Cure Materia. See, it wasn't that tough!"

Barret huffed and crossed his arms. "Shi……! What's this 'It wasn't that tough! Crap! I'm clueless……Well, you handle the Materia then!"

"I'm going this time." Tifa said suddenly, turning to Cloud. "Oh, I got a message from the Weapon Shop man upstairs. He has something he wants to give you. Don't forget!" Tifa walked over to the bar and gave Marlene a quick hug. "Marlene, you watch the store while we're gone!"

"All right!! Good Luck." Yelled back to them as they walked out of the bar.

Cloud ran into the weapons store and was stopped buy the man behind the metal fence like shop. "He, HEY! Waitaminit you!! You can't just walk outta here without buyin' somethin'… Might be unhealthy fer ya, if ya know what I mean." Much to Cloud's disappointment the man practically forced him into buying a few iron bangles.

The three ran out of the town and followed the sandy paths over to the train station where Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were already waiting for them. All six members of AVALANCHE entered the train and took up all of the seats that were empty.

Barret stood up in the middle of the car and motioned to the others. "YO! Looks like this ain't no private car!! So split up!!" At that Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all ran up to the next car to find more seats there.

"…hoodlums again. God, don't I just have all the luck…," a man in a dark red suit at the front of the car said to himself. The man walked over and took a seat next to the window as Barret ran to the front of the car, taking his place.

"You say sumthin'?" Barret asked the man threateningly, but got no response. "I said, 'you say sumthin'!?" The leader of AVALANCHE walked up to the man, looming over him. "Yo, look at that!! It got empty alluva sudden. What's goin' on?"

The man tapped his foot nervously and shook in fear. "DAMN!!" he scratched his head. "I…it's empty because of…g, guys like you…"

Barret hit the seat next to the man making him jump up. "Y, Y, YIPES!! You… you've seen the news, right? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings. Only devoted employees like me would go to Midgar on a day like today."

Barret jumped back and pointed his gun-arm at the man. "You workin' for Shinra?"

The man cowered down in fear. "I won't give in to violence… and I'm not giving you my seat either!"

Tifa ran up to Barret and pushed his arm down. "Barret!!"

"&$#%!! You lucky ^$#^$!"

Tifa bowed politely to the man and ran to the back with Cloud, pulling Barret behind her.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Cloud asked quietly.

"Shit! The hell you so calm about? You bustin' up my rhythm…," Barret said still shaking in anger.

The train whistled and started to rumble.

"Seems like they just finished connecting the cars. We're finally leaving." Tifa said while sitting down on one of the dark green lumpy seats next to Cloud.

"So what's our next target?" Cloud asked Barret who was still fuming.

"Hah! Listen to Mr. Serious-about-his-work!" he replied with a sarcastic laugh. "Awright…I'll tell ya! Jessie's probably already told you, but there's a security check point at the top plate. It's an ID scan system checkin' all the trains."

"Which Shinra is very proud of," Tifa added.

"We can't use our fake ID's anymore…"

'Good Morning, and welcome to Midgar lines. Arrival time at Sector 4 station will be 11:45' an automated voice said over the speaker.

"That means we've got only three more minutes to the ID Check point."

"Alright, in three minutes, we're jumpin' off this train. Got it!?" Barret yelled across the car before plopping himself down on the seat.

"Cloud, come over here! Let's look at the Railway Map Monitor." Cloud ran up to the front of the car where Tifa was and looked up at the monitor. "Hmm, it looks like you've seen this already… It's all right. Come a little closer."

Just as the monitor was about ready to turn on, red lights started flashing throughout the train. Alarms started to sound throughout the train.

"That's odd. The ID Check Point was supposed to be further down." Tifa looked around confused.

'Type A Security Alert!!''Repeat!! Type A Security Alert!!''Unidentified passengers confirmed… A search of all cars will be conducted!'

"What's happening?"

"What's goin' on!!" Barret turned to Cloud.

Jessie ran to their car. "We're in trouble. I'll explain later. Hurry! Get to the next car!"

"^%#%! Someone blew it…"

'Unidentified passengers located in Car #1 Preparing for Lock Down.'

Barret ran to the next car. "Let's go! Keep it up!" Cloud and Tifa followed but the sirens still continued.

'Car #1: Locked Down. Upgrading to Level 2 Warning!'

"Hurry!" Biggs motioned for them to go to the next car.

"They're gonna lock the door, sir!" Wedge yelled worriedly to Barret.

'Unidentified passengers located in Car #2. Preparing for Lock Down!'

"Just run!" Jessie yelled speeding towards the next car. Cloud and Tifa followed close behind. "Changing to Plan 2!"

'Car #2: Locked down. Upgrading to Warning Level 3!'

The lights and sirens finally stopped for the time being.

"Awright! We clear!?" Barret asked the rest of the breathing heavily from all of the running.

"Not yet. They're starting another check. If we're caught, we're done for!" Jessie informed them. "But, don't worry. If we move up the train, car by car, we should get past it!"

Just then alarms resumed.

'Unidentified Passengers: Moving to front of Train. Currently tracking location.'

Cloud and the others quickly made their way to the next car.

'Car #3: Locked Down. Upgrading to Warning Level 4'

They got through to the next car just in time as the 4th one locked down.

'Car #4: Locked Down. Upgrading to maximum security alert!!'

Barret ran to the front of the last car. "All right!! We made it! Yo!! This way!!" He pried the door open, the wind blowing into the cabin forcefully. "Let's go!! We're gonna dive outta here!!"

A Shinra guard tapped Cloud on the shoulder and snickered. "It's me, Jessie. How do I look, Cloud? Do I look good in a Shinra uniform?"

"…you look great, just like a man." Cloud answered dully."

"Yay!! I'm so happy…I think?"

Cloud shrugged and turned to Tifa.

"…Scary…huh?" She said in a worried tone.

"Too late to be saying that now. Why'd you come along anyway?"

"Because…"

Barret waved his arms in the air for attention. "Hey you two! There ain't no time for that!"

Tifa cautiously walked over to the front of the door. "Yeah!! I've made up my mind! Watch closely. I'm gonna jump!!" She then blindly leapt out of the train, hoping she might land on something soft enough to break her fall.

"You don't care if I go first?" Cloud yelled over to Barret, preparing for the jump.

"A leader always stays till the end. Don't worry 'bout me, just go!" He yelled back, fighting to stand up, due to the wind that was pushing him down. "Yo! Don't go gettin' your spikey-ass hurt! It's only the beginnin' of the mission!"

Cloud shrugged and jumped out of the train.

Barret yelled over to the other three members who were all disguised. "Later! You take care of the rest!"