Shifting uncomfortably in my new clothes I slowly walk back towards the mansion trying to contain my nervousness. I had extracted the dead body of all its belongings, as seemed to be my theme, and was now the owner of a slightly used Corneo's lackey uniform, a compact assault gun, and some loose gil. It was a bit unsettling wearing the clothes of someone I had just killed, but if it kept me anonymous so I could go through with this crazy scheme I wouldn't let it get to me. The combat boots and loose pants were surprisingly utilitarian, aesthetically pleasing, and had plenty of pockets. Everywhere hurt currently but I managed to portray confidence and nodded to the one very nervous looking guard keeping back a small crowd curious as to what happened. It seemed like they were running low on manpower for some reason, namely my through the doorway into the mansion had me back in the fight just like that and felt a grin crawl onto my face. Sure, I was out of potions and was a bit worse for wear, but I could feel my sore body starting to heal. I had to constantly fight back the urge to throw up, so many chemicals in my system was in no way good for me, but I was feeling much better than I did before.

"Mother fucker! FUCK FUCK FUCK!" Scotch is overlooking the movement of the bodies. Kicking one of the cadavers in his rage and causing it to shift, something inside it cracking. He then starts pacing and muttering to himself. Blood is layered thick on the floor and bullet holes decorate the walls in tight clusters. The grin left my face taking it all in, had the fight truly been this bad? It didn't seem like it at the time. I wasn't sure how I was going to go about taking them all out, or even if I could, but I stood around for a good bit acting like I was keeping an eye on things while thinking about the situation.

There were eight people in the lobby and they all looked unsure about being in the same room as their raging boss. I was suddenly uneasy about my decision to come back. Eight was suicidal to go up against in my current state, I could barely stand. I'm most likely running off of spite and chemicals at this point. I really should've prepared or planned and then make an attack as I'm pretty sure I was still leaking blood somewhere on my body. I blamed the mako aggression for my rash and stupid decision and I felt irritation and repulsion crawl over me for not noticing when I was being influenced. I was in the middle of the enemy HQ and I was out of potions and had few grenades left. I wasn't even sure how many men the Don had employed or just around the corner. What was I thinking? Maybe if I could group them up and then introduce them to explosives I could take them all out in one action, but getting them together would draw attention and scrutiny towards me. A half baked plan like that made sweat leak down my pilfered clothes just thinking about the things that could go wrong. Luckily nobody noticed my unease or was wondering what I was doing as I looked to be standing guard as the lackeys cleaned up the mess the fight made. I was now feeling if I bent over and fell it would take too much willpower to be able to get back up. I really don't understand why I didn't find a nice safe hole to crawl into and get some sweet, sweet sleep. I was debating the merits of just leaving and sneaking out when I heard scotch address everyone darkly in a quiet tone.

"Everyone do you fucking understand we are going to fucking find him and tear him to pieces. We are going to fucking destroy him. I want everyone out looking for him. Every store, alley, and shithole looked into. I want his head. Now get the fuck out of here, I need to speak with the Don." He turned and strode up the stairs scowling. Paused, then turned around. "Now! Get moving!" Several lackeys jumped in the air and gave sloppy salutes, most didn't have the grace and just stumbled out in the dash out. Everyone just seemed glad to get away from Scotch. For one brief moment I was empathetic towards them, they'd just lost friends and their boss was lashing out. I crushed that feeling. I was too tired to waste energy caring about something I was the cause of. I'd fix that soon enough.

I was thankful for the dismissal, even if it was to send everyone out to find me. I can now see why one of the super villain rules is to have henchmen that don't wear masks. I awkwardly shift the ski goggles fixed on my head, I guess these weren't masks. I wasn't going to complain though, I was the first one out the door and broke through the thinning crowd and into the bustle of Wall Market. I'm surprised that they didn't make the connection in between me and Rilo, but thinking back the only people I told were the two guards who he cut down, guess he was good for something and did help me out. I wasn't too worried about him, if he could handle himself in sector 6 he should be fine against a couple of thugs that weren't even looking for him. Hopefully he wasn't stupid enough to get himself killed.

Walking through the crowds was peaceful and different than before, the uniform making people decide to give me a wide berth. Or it might be the gun with a massive bayonet that I'm toting around. I didn't have to worry about pickpockets or people trying to sell me things as most just outright avoided me because of the fear associated with the Don. It gave me time to think and plan things out. How could I salvage this situation? Was Corneo's mansion really an integral part of the story? The only true plot that happened prior was that one of the lackeys were captured by Tifa and Barret in sector 7 after the next bombing mission and told about the Dons connection to Shinra. Tifa then went to go meet him to extract his plan under the guise of "marriage". I glanced down at my uniform, and I guess I could fill that roll and give the information away. The second bombing mission was set for tomorrow in the sector 5 reactor which gave me plenty of time to rest for a bit, finish things here, and head to sector 7. I hated how disorderly things got and how most of it was my fault, but I truly was not used to combat situations and the intense changes in environment had me on edge. Usually I was calm and collected and I would never lash out like I did but things played out poorly. I wasn't arrogant enough to think that there would be no changes to the plot, but my main goal of finding out how I got here still stands and knowing the timeline would help. My fist tightened on my gun. They would pay.

My stomach rumbled, but I didn't think that I could hold down food when a thought occurred to me. It was time to see how similar things were to the game. I went to the diner and ordered the special and managed to somehow choke it down, and when hearing my opinion on his food the owner gave me a coupon upon hearing that it was tasty. I'm not sure if he believed me seeing my green face, or if he just didn't want to question the person with a gun. Some things from the game remain the same thankfully and he had a coupon I could exchange at the pharmacy. Apparently he does this to promote his business to any first time visitors. I paid then carried the coupon down the street to the pharmacy and exchanged it for a digestive. I took it immediately under the odd looks from the owner, all in the hopes of making my stomach feel better while also stocking up on potions. No phoenix down, tent, or hi-potion as they were all too expensive for my meager savings and I was dubious of their use in combat having not used them before. I sold the gun from the corpse of the thug as I was planning on hitting up the weapon store next. Surprisingly the owner took it. I was suspicious of stores not taking things pertaining to them but apparently it depends on the owner unlike in the game where everyone bought anything and everything. I might of been cheated but finding that out was worth the gil. Every gil mattered currently. I was now the proud owner of hyper and tranquilizer at the very least. I also had a less exciting antidote just in case, but I don't think I would run into anything that could cause poison anytime soon, but it was better to be prepared. It took some doing but eventually the bottles and vials didn't make as much noise in my knapsack with some adjustments. There was virtually no clinking from them hitting each other thankfully, it would be rather hard to sneak with that. The order and digestive were making me feel much better now.

With my items now safely secured in my knapsack I set off for the weapon store. The store was depicted just like it was in the game, a cage separated the workshop from paying customers. Swords, guns, spears and other instruments of combat hung up on the walls and laid out on racks. Several people were hard at work hammering out metal slags. Also a tank was taking up over half of the small store being worked on. No garage door, did they manage to build that in here? It was a massive thing that ran on materia that is converted in the engine, the owners causal explanation would have to do...for now. How they go away with having a tank in a city or got it working I was itching to know. How did they build it in here though? I can't imagine the city letting someone build a tank at all. Then again a tank wouldn't pose much of a threat to Shinra when they employ massive war machines and beast that could go toe to toe with Godzilla. I browsed the weapons, but as I thought, there wasn't really anything I knew how to use. There were thin metal plated gloves that I could have for defense, but everyone seemed to use pauldrons and large armbands as the armor of choice. I reluctantly bought a titan bangle and a specific inspired order earning a threat to call the authorities until I started piling gil on the counter in a poorly executed bribe, depleting my gil collection to next to nothing. The store owner made sure nobody else was watching then piled everything under the counter and pocketed it. When I put on the armband it was surprisingly bulky and fit just below my elbow. It was made of some extremely dense metal and had 2 separate slots for materia which I inserted cover and sense into. While I could activate them from within my knapsack or pockets I felt much safer with them surrounded by metal, and the click of them locking in place was satisfying, I wouldn't be losing them or getting them stolen anytime soon.

Before I decided to check in at the inn and lay down, I took the opportunity to scout the outside of the mansion. I was worried that they would all be out looking during the night, but it seems sometime after several hours of fruitless searches they decided to turn in. I had spotted a few lackeys during my preparation but none of them paid me any mind other than a glance. The men were not dedicated soldiers, they were thugs plain and simple. They were not used to being up against much resistance or doing long arduous tasks. They would rather drink and spend money earned in the honeybee inn. They turned in for the night quite possibly thinking that nobody would be dumb enough to attack them again, even when they were in a weakened state. It was appalling and insulting that I struggled in a fight with them, but then again not everybody has as much paranoia as I do.

With all my preparations taken care of I head towards the inn at the start of the strip. It was a shitty rundown place, but it was the place used in the game so I trusted it more than the others. It also helped that it was dirt cheap. The owner thought it was strange how I was staying in one of the cheapest rooms for 10 gil, he had it written all over his face, but he made no comment about it. Even though the Don's men had a place to sleep in his mansion, who was he to question it? I had at most two hours to rest before I aimed to get back to work, that is if the anticipation didn't keep me up. When my head cleared up during the walk I came to the conclusion that it would be absolute suicide to attack the mansion during the day, at least again, so I would finish this in the dead of night. It was technically lights out, the day of the first mission had ended, but the amount of lights in Wall Market made it hard to tell that the lights from the plate above were off. It seems I had spent quite a while preparing and getting used to the layout of the area in case things went wrong. A quick check of the time showed I would be getting very little rest but I had worked with less. Thankfully the calming walk and getting used to the atmosphere has given time for my body to heal and calm me down. Mako still tickled at the top layers of my skin aggravated but that could be from any number of the myriad of problems affecting me. I was going to cut off the head of the snake and make the Don much less of a threat in the city, but more importantly less of a threat for me. I don't know if killing the Don now would be a good idea, I couldn't see why it wouldn't be, but I knew for sure that Scotch was going to die tonight. He was out for my head and I didn't see him giving up. It would be like putting a mad dog down, I saw the look in his eyes. I saw how deranged he was, how even his own men were scared of him. I wouldn't have to look hard to find horrible things that he did. I was going to end this problem that I created quickly.

It's funny how life can lead you to unfavorable situations if you don't pay attention to the signs. There are some things you just can't avoid no matter how much you try. Those must be mitigated with information and preparation. When even your preparation and foresight goes wrong you can ask for help or fight through and whether the ensuing storm. Each person deals with situations differently. I found myself in one of those situations now.

I stare across the room at the man I now had to reassess. Things went wrong, but not in a way I could easily foresee. But this was salvageable and understandable. Scotch had one of my daggers a couple inches embedded in his chest above his heart and he was standing looking wild eyed, panting, and frantically searching for me. What I had thought would be a simple task of getting in, getting rid of Scotch, and getting out just got so much more complicated. My work on improving my dexterity does not make me an assassin. It was laughably easy to get in, just walking up and getting rid of the guard, no visitation forms to fill out this way. It took me a second to drag the body to a shadowed corner and I was in. There was nobody manned inside at the desk in the lobby and I explored the mansion to my heart's content. The torture room was locked, which should've been obvious in hindsight, but I took a hyper I found in the Don's room, which wasn't locked at all. He wasn't in his room so even if I thought I could get rid of him and get away I was out of luck. Probably did the sensible thing and got out of dodge. I pulled a disguised lever beside the bed and looked at the foot of it, and sure enough I saw a hulking figure sitting atop a pile of bones beneath the trapdoor that opened. Damn I'm glad that I didn't have to fight that. I couldn't see the shadowed form clearly but it looked positively massive and reeked. Almost to the point where I wondered if it had a DOT poison aura, then rejected the thought. So far most things in this much less polygon filled world were depicted in a similar fashion to the game. It pleases me making the connections and how to bend things to my favor. It almost distracted me from the thought that something had ripped me from my world and messed with who I am, the most heinous of crimes. Almost.

Eventually I found the barracks adjacent to the lackey room. It was just an open spaced room with futons sporadically placed on the ground. There were about two dozen of them with screens separating them. It was an open room and snoring could be heard coming from several sleeping forms. Most were empty either because of the earlier fight, they were out doing things, or looking for me. I decided to leave my package from the weapon store in the room as it was weighing me down, setting it down with a dull, muted thunk. I paused and made sure none of them stirred then continued on. Because of my time in sector 6 I easily snuck past and into a separate room into the place Scotch slept in. It was a spartan room with only a dresser, bed, T.V, and mirror. I was lucky that he was there, it seemed obvious that he would sleep close to his men but luck seemed to be on my side. Seeing my target I made the decision to walk up and stab a dagger into his heart. Should've been simple but at the last second I felt the mako inside of his body flare up and his muscles surged and tensed, my knife suddenly halted and he shot up wrenching it out of my hand. I stepped back and calmly watch him frantically look around. Eventually the man's eyes settled on me, staring directly into my eyes. It was unnerving, he bristled when his brain caught up with what he saw, I prepared for a fight.

"Everyone get the fuck up." He said it calmly and quietly, almost as a growl, to the point where I wasn't sure if the others would hear him, but then stirring in the room behind me was apparent. He was dead serious, intent on bringing all of the lackeys and crushing me with them. I was having none of that. He tenses as he heard the very distinct clink of a grenade pin being pulled and changes his stance ready to leap away at a moment's notice.

"If you think you are going to save yourself by threatening to blow this place up i'll just let you know one grenade isn't enough to scare me-" I tune him out and toss the grenade into the room behind me, the room filled with the now waking thugs. And my surprise.

"WATCH OUT!" I'll give him credit, he caught onto the situation fast and dove for his weapon while calling out to warn his allies. I let him take hold of it, instead opting to dive to the other side of the room and flip over a dresser in the same motion. A beat later I encompass cover over my body. I may not of been able to cut the head off the snake, but a snake is a whole lot less dangerous when it's body is blown up.

BBTTOOOOOMMM

A fucking massive explosion rips through the mansion, instantly filling the room with smoke and debris. My head is ringing and rattling. Everything is spinning, the entire wall to the other room is now missing, and even with my precaution there is a sliver of wood that somehow penetrated cover which I promptly ripped out. Standing and shaking off the rattling in my head and deactivating cover, I look around for signs of whatever is alive. I don't think that there is much that could survive a primed tank shell almost as long as my leg, but thicker, that has been cooked off. I needed to be sure and get out of here before something unexpected happens or authorities, if there are any in the slums, show up.

"Mother FUCKER that hurt." There, standing in the same spot as I last saw him, was Scotch with a torn shirt and pants exposing a red and raw chests filled with holes. He was groaning but managed to keep his footing. There is a sheen entirely encompassing his skin and I realized that he has cover materia also. The sheen slowly fades away and blood starts oozing from several small cuts and pouring out from the stab wound over his heart. Too many stories of snakes being dangerous after death for it to not be true. Even without a body the snake can still bite and is aware. I didn't know if Scotch was going to be here coming in, and blowing up everyone at once is too good of an idea to pass up. Things suddenly just got a lot more dangerous with my failed attempt.

"You," he spat out a mouthful of blood and raised his gun. "are so fucking dead."

Fuck.

I dove to the side and activated cover. The bullets slammed into my legs and sent me spinning on the floor, rattling my head even more. I managed to scramble back behind his dresser and activated sense, trying to focus on the gun. Just like with when I was charged I could sense a vague direction of where the bullets would go from the gun, though I wasn't fast enough to dodge bullets so it didn't help much.

"What is that shit, a mastered cover? It won't help when I put a bullet through your eye." I took the opportunity of him questioning me to pop open a speed potion and down it. Instantly I felt nauseous but managed to chug the whole thing down and keep it there. I needed to lay off of these for upcoming fights, move onto a different drug while I get the buildup out of my system. Too dangerous to try something new in combat.

"No it's not. And I'd like to see you try, you suck at shooting." I say back. I inwardly groan at my lame attempts of smack talk. I'm too used to fighting monsters where mid battle banter isn't an option, at least not a sane one. He either isn't fazed or didn't hear me. Maybe I'm lucky and his confidence is crushed and he lost his will to fight. Yeah right.

He pauses, as if processing what I just said then laughs. Its an unhinged laugh that sets a chill to run down my back. "Lets see you dodge this then fucker." I internally paled and not liking the sound of that I rolled out of cover and in a single smooth motion turned my roll into a sprint towards the giant hole in the wall. Out of the corner of my eye I saw he had an underbarrel attachment underneath his gun and was aiming it where I was but tracking me with his head. I must of surprised him because a moment later he fired and with a deep thunk a grenade was fired out of it at my old position. Joy.

With the resounding explosion I was launched through the hole and directly into the destruction of the other room. It set the bruises on my back to burning with agony. I should of activated cover but reacted too slow. Looking around the room it resembled nothing like what it was when I snuck past. It looked like...well a bomb went off in it. There were severed limbs and splatters of blood scattered throughout the room. Don't focus on decor, focus on enemy. I took a deep breath.

Focus. Resolve. Attack.

"Are you-"

Opponent steps into room. Pick up arm and throw. Crouch on all fours for lower center of gravity and smaller target. "dead yet?" Empower quadriceps, hamstrings, lower back, abdominal muscles. Ignore burn from mako circulation. Arm batted out of air. Blood now in opponent's eyes. Launch.

I slam into Scotch, him activating cover and nearly dislocating my shoulder. I didn't activate my limit break even with mimicked motions of before. He slides back on the blood, back into the other room. Opponent still on feet. Wipes blood from his face. Off-balance and looking at what hit him. Attack.

I set upon him, muscles burning, pulling out a second knife in a blur. He seems used to the moment of numb after using cover. No opening easily seen. I'll have to make one.

Slash forearms. Duck retaliatory bash. Cut femoral artery. Cut closes and gains sheen. Opponent utilizing unseen aspect of cover to stop blood loss. Opponent well versed in enhanced combat. Not well versed in fighting fast opponents. Mitigate enhanced punch from opponent with one forearm. Stab kneecap with free hand. Opponent's legs buckle but brings gun to bear. Drop to ground as bullets go overhead. Push off and slide on bloody floor to plant second dagger into opponent's gut. Roll out of way from stab down. Pull last pair of daggers out. One left after this. Opponent took time to take out hi-potion. Throw dagger to disrupt. Container shatters but some manages to get on wounds. Not as an effective process, acceptable outcome. Suddenly opponent enveloped in aura of mako pooling off of him and flowing back in at a rate faster than the eye can easily track.

God damn it.

Scotch is now screaming, from panic or fury I can't tell, the mako is giving off a faint light and shadows dance across his face. His hands blur and suddenly the gun is reloaded and aimed and sense is screaming at me to move. The mako surrounding him latches onto the gun Scotch is holding and he screams, primal fury is the only way to describe it. Something deep inside of me seems to scream in response, and I bring up the armband and activate cover pumping as much mako into it as I can. For a moment i'm snapped out of my drug focus as it feels like burning oil is poured down my arm with the surge of mako. His glowing eyes are giving off the signature of massive mako exposure and I know I couldn't dodge. The scream goes on for a second longer, almost seeming to draw out all the emotion he is feeling and then the bullets that fire out are so bright they hurt to look at. Stars dance across my eyes and then the bullets slam into my bangle with the force of a car, a constant stream digging into it heating the metal and pushing me back. I can feel the moment they punch through the metal sending shards and mako into my skin, and then when they burrow through my arm to the other side to then slam into my shiny chest and send me flying back through a wall. I crash through it, time slowly playing out and becoming distorted. The ground slowly inching towards my face.

Everything is the wrong side up for a minute when I land. There is a roaring that sounds like a pissed off monster in the distance. My honed instincts kick in and I manage to roll onto my back and sit up groaning with the protest that my body is giving off with the sudden pressure. I need to move or else I am going to die, or worse, be captured. Worse than death. I weakly crawl up, looking at the man sized hole I came out of and now find myself behind the mansion in an alley. I wait a second, poised to throw my last dagger if he steps through, then when nothing happens decide to figure out if the fight is over. I hear a crowd gathering in the front of the mansion and quickly shift a trash can underneath the hole and with a jump, haul myself up. The grip is unsteady with the amount of blood leaking onto it. I peek my head up and oh- that's a lot of blood.

At least the fight is over now.

I'm greeted upon my re-entry of Scotch who looks like he just exploded with how much blood is sprayed out from him. Very much akin to a ripe tomato thrown against the ground. I don't remember hitting him with any attacks that could do that, so the only thing I can formulate from scrambled thoughts is that all of the damage added up and was staved off with cover, and then his blood pressure rocketed from his limit break, and when he didn't maintain it the result was explosive blood. I paled at that, I hadn't even considered bleeding out to be that big of a problem when potions can heal cuts absurdly fast and act as stimulants in place of blood loss, but apparently human limits can only be stretched so far.

I gather up supplies from both rooms, as much gil, medicine, and ammo as I could carry and grab the gun Scotch was using. I pop out my materia from the ruined armband. In the game you never had to worry about sharpening weapons or maintaining armor, something I was sorely jealous of. I would be getting more armor. Anything that saved my life was good in my book. My body seems to plead for sleep the entire time I rush around, trying to get looting done before someone walks in on the bloody scene. The age old tradition of looting the enemies you defeat is not only practiced in the world, it's encouraged. In the slums anything is fair game with very little moral boundaries. I thrived in it.

I was in pain and had to do everything with one arm. The hole in the injured arm wasn't hurting much, just debilitating, it was still bad enoug I had to hold some scraps of cloth to stop the blood flow and pour the only hi-potion Scotch had onto it. Sadly no materia other than the cover Scotch used and little gil. All the other materia and items, if there were any, were shattered by the bomb. I glance at the corpse of the man who gave me trouble in a fight and then plant a bullet in his head. I was not intending to take chances of gaining myself a recurring nemesis. The fight isn't over when your opponent "dies", it's over when you kill your opponent. The humans in this world vary an absurd amount. For all I know he might've actually been able to survive what looked like his heart exploding, so I wasn't going to take chances on that front. It takes just one moment of being careless and things go wrong.

I then slowly walk over to the hole in the wall intending on making my exit there since the front entrance was now too crowded, then drop out into the dark alley. The two story drop sends shocks running up my legs and pains my entire body. The fight is catching up to me and my body seems to almost be crying in complaint with how battered it is. I might just be too tired to fully enjoy the pain my body is experiencing. I quickly brush and wipe off as much blood as I can from the uniform, best not to freak people out, before leaving the alley and getting lost in the crowd, making my way towards the inn. Progress feels good, but damn can it be hard to get things in order before it happens.

I awake to the sound of the world shaking and people panicking and screaming. A moment later an enraged roar bellowed out from the other end of Wall Market. I sluggishly got up, my body still hasn't fully recovered from the ordeal of, after a quick look at the clock,...yesterday. I had slept for most of the day it seems. The hole in my arm is closing up nicely, the bones slowly mending back together and muscle crawling over it. It should be fixed in a day or two. It was fascinating watching wounds recover so quickly in a disgusting, hypnotizing way. The explosion that I heard must be the sector 5 bombing mission success, but I have no idea what the roar was. I seemed to have slept the entire afternoon. I needed to get ready to head to sector 7 and be there to give the information about Shinra's plans to collapse the support beam to AVALANCHE. That could wait awhile, it should take the group a good bit to get back to sector 7. I got up and lazily stretched, bones popping and muscles shifting causing a slight twinge in my back making me wince. From growing pains or the fight from yesterday it's hard to tell with how absurdly fast recovery is. Hearing the roar again and wanting to know what the hell it was, I decide to stick my head out the window, seeing that everyone else was doing the same thing. I heard the bellow once again and finally pinpointed it, and of course it came from the Don's mansion. A final explosion ripped the place apart, destroying the already damaged mansion, and bursting through the rubble was a troll because that's all it could be. Alps, the troll boss that Corneo housed underneath his bedroom for who knows what reason, somehow managed to break out. A mutant troll with hoofs and a two pronged tail with a long tongue trailing on the ground. With giant hands it sifted its way out and was met with fleeing crowds. There was a harness mounted on him, almost like someone intended to ride it into battle. What? I knew for a fact this didn't happen in the game, and the only thing I could connect it to were my fights in there and all the explosives used. Did that somehow weaken the structure and let him escape? Well shit.

Before I could contemplate on what to do, as it may of been my fault that there was now a hulking goblinoid rampaging, the people of Wall Market took action. The bodybuilders club was directing and policing people, each man was a pillar of muscle and easily seen in the crowd, and everyone seemed to be sprouting weapons from out of nowhere. Swords, axes, clubs, guns, spears were all readied and organization of the defense began.

Before Alps could adjust to the bright lights, a far contrast from his cell, he was hit with a hail of gunfire. Tracer rounds filled the air in between the monster and crowd. It was tall enough, almost 20 feet hunched over, that people could shoot over heads without worrying about friendly fire. The small arms didn't seem to be doing much besides fill the air with sharp cracks, not penetrating the hide at all. I paled when I came to the realization that my knives wouldn't be able to do much of anything against it, and I wasn't one to go charging into battle relying on limit breaks. Maybe I could nick an artery or go for the eyes. Grenade? I really needed materia, this would be so much easier if I had something destructive. I set about preparing to head out and kept an eye on the distant battle. This thing was going to take awhile to kill with just small arms fire. At this point Alps was tired of just standing there and taking hits, so it started to lumber away from the mansion towards Wall Market holding up his broken-shackle clad hands to cover his face. There were ace snipers among the multitude of people and managed to pick off the troll eyes and to my horror new ones pushed the old eyes out of the sockets. Troll regeneration. No way that I could kill it now in any realistic way. A group of mercenaries met the trolls charge with swords drawn and cut off its advance to the rest of the strip. Several died but they batted away strikes of Alps hands with mako enhanced swings and darting in and slashing his legs regardless of the small amount of damage. Several seemed to be concentrating on firing off spells. The monster took notice and made a strange, fuzzy motion with its hands and then water came rushing up from the streets underneath. Magic troll boss. Shaman troll? Luckily the water didn't do much besides knock a few people down and made footing precarious as there wasn't enough water that was summoned. It did disrupt the spellcasters as water bursting out from the sewer underneath was just a bit distracting. It was a far contrast to the game where it summoned a giant wave, I would think that it would summon the water out of nowhere like ice or fire but I guess monster magic works differently. Was there a way I could override its mako? No, it probably had more mako in it than I had blood in me.

A sharp crash was heard and I saw the fucking tank roll through the wall of the weapons store. The cavalry was here. Cheering people got out of the way fast. As it was moving it fired a shell shattering all of the windows around it. The resounding boom and the troll flailing, then falling to the ground, was satisfying to watch. A chunk of it's shoulder was missing and it struggled to get up. I felt a bit useless sitting up in my room so jumped out the window and started to make my way towards it. I would help out in any way that I could. Alps was ever so slowly getting up, but was met with a burst of several different types of magic going off in the gaping hole stopping its regeneration and setting it to trying to smother the flames that sprouted from the wound. It managed to by sticking it's tongue into the wound and smothering the fires with thick saliva. I really needed materia, I was jealous of those mercenaries. Maybe if a few of them died in the fight...no, I couldn't bring myself to do that to honest people trying to save their homes. The monster screamed, turned, and started running away, scaling up the wall separating the sectors and killing several people in its mad dash. I saw someone underneath the monster, too focused on readying a spell, and rushed to pull him out of the way. Sure enough another shell fired and the troll, who managed to scale the wall frighteningly fast, fell down screaming the entire way. When it landed there was a crack and I was standing off to the side with a jarred looking teenager in my grips. The monster seemed to have broken something important and moaned on the ground lashing out when it could. People realizing that the small arms weren't going to kill it and no clear shot waited for the tank to close in. It took a minute for it to get there and it aimed its tracks to the monster's head, aiming to run it over like a melon. A tank that was about the size of the monster. And I thought I was brutal. It seemed like a dog's death. Better than it being captured again. Who knew how long it sat there in the dark basement chained up.

When the tank rolled near, the mako in the air spiked and mako slowly started to bleed off from the crippled monster as it realized what was coming. Nothing as absurd as Scotch or me, but it started to shift and thrash more and more, apparently the regeneration kicking back in at overtime. I activated sense and managed to step back when the monster tried to scrabble up by gripping the wall, but somehow by sheer luck its hand got pulled underneath the tank. It really started to panic then. I saw with clarity only sense could bring that the monster was going to reach over and get its other hand on the tank. I didn't doubt for a second that it would somehow manage to throw it off even in its weakened state if it got the leverage. So I ran and grabbed onto its arm, the only thing I could think of on such short notice. It's hand was as big as me and it felt more like getting slammed by a couch falling down a flight of stairs. I enhanced my muscles to the point that they burned, the exertion was making wounds from past fights painfully come to the front of my attention, all just to slow the creeping advance of the hand. It wasn't enough, a finger managed to dig into the tank armor earning a screeching sound and frantic yelling, until several others came and helped out. Several large bodies slammed into it and managed to snap the wrist in the process. The moment was what the tank needed to bear all of its weight on the skull, popping it like a melon crushed by a sledgehammer. A pitiful sound was heard, even with its head crushed, but was drowned over the sound of cheering. The fight was over, in an almost pitiful conclusion too. Now my exhaustion was creeping back into my bones. Waking up to this was a too much and I felt myself slump down. Even with the small respite my body needs more.

Cheering sounded but I was tired enough to barely manage to sit up, dimly hearing everything around me. It was an intense 15 minute fight, but the strain was too much for me. Even with enhanced healing I took an absurd amount of damage recently. About a day's worth of rest wouldn't cut it for time to heal. I couldn't see myself fighting that thing alone and was glad that people weren't mindless NPC's who would run in terror. Sure not all of them were great fighters but they contributed. No idea how Cloud and company killed it with just three people, one a novice at that. People clapped me on the back and congratulated me for stepping in and I was offered free drinks and food. I look around and saw familiar looking graffiti and realized we were in the alley that you climb a wire that hangs down from the plate above again, with the wire hanging down from the plate sure enough. So that's how Alps was climbing so fast. I really must've been tired to not notice that. I allowed myself to be dragged to a place to eat by a particularly incessant attempt to get me to move from my prone position. Stumbling along I'm surprised that my uniform didn't seem to scare anybody off. Food is ordered and I set into it eager to eat and refuel my body. The smell dragging me out of my exhausted daze.

"Of course it was fucking you, I almost had a god damned heart attack when I saw it wasn't crippled from that fall. Only the mother fucker who buys tank shells is crazy enough to do that shit." A glance up shows the weapon store owner grinning down over a plate of food. He had brown sandy hair and chubby features, he looked friendly and approachable. He also had food stuck in his beard. "Are you the Vice they were looking for? I'm Mark, but everyone calls me Arsenal, if you ever want to buy some more explosives come to my store and I'll set you up." What? I was too tired to piece together how he knew, as I know I didn't give him my name when I went shopping. He then offers me an honest to god handshake. Now I'm really confused. I definitely did not choke on my food in surprise at the familiar gesture.

"How?" Was all I managed to say in between coughs. We are eating Korean BBQ and being bone weary really brings out the flavor even if it seems to be disappearing too fast. Usually I wouldn't notice and just get the cheapest thing on the menu, but this is a special occasion. It's being paid for. I would of picked up cooking if I had the time, I had a general idea of what to do, but eating improperly cooked monster parts can only end in disaster. The prospect of free food was only offset and ignored by the fact that they had glorious ramen here in this world. Dirt cheap ramen.

"Next time you want to fuck someone over don't fill out visitation forms." I stare blankly at him. Was he joking? That's how they knew my name? No finding Rilo and being interrogated? He just laughs seeing my stunned expression.

"Don't worry, you're alright in my book. Even if it was dumb as hell. Eat up because it's all on me. Someone who saved my baby deserves a treat." I was thankful for this. I guess I did save his tank from getting trashed, but really it could've been anybody. The only reason I got there first was because I was the fastest i'm pretty sure. I really needed to sit back and relax for a while now. I feel like I was slipping up and there is still so much ahead of me and it all suddenly seemed much more daunting. We finish the meal in silence. Unlike Jakayo this man can tell that I am in no mood for small talk. When we finish I feel the urge to just sit in this position and to let the moment of not worrying about things continue on forever. The moment passed when he spoke up.

"So what are your plans now? The Don had connections with Shinra and you don't want no Turks breathing down your neck." Little did he know. "I think I got an idea of a group that you can join..." he trailed off looking unsure. Now this I wanted to hear about. He couldn't possibly mean AVALANCHE right? That would be too easy and it just doesn't work like this.

"In sector 7 there's an anti-Shinra group that's gaining ground. Bunch of crazy fucks like you, I heard they were responsible for the attacks on the mako reactors. I'm sure if you found them, they would let you in since you fucked over the Don, better than living on the run anyways." He shrugs, then looks unsure about something. "How old are you anyways? You can't be more than what, 18? You sure this is what you want?" I just shrug, not willing to give a commitment. I was pretty sure I was older but pointing that out would make me look immature. What I want is to find out who did this to me and make them pay, I would think about what comes next after. Asking a question of my own in return.

"How do you know about them anyways?" I'm genuinely curious. My natural disposition to finding out how things connect flaring up and perking me up slightly. I really was way too tired to do any extraneous activities and needed to take it easy. This was easy and interesting grilling someone for answers. I have another day to recover before Cloud makes his way to sector 7 since today was almost ending, I just needed to relay the information to the group and then I would get that much needed rest.

"Big black motherfucker with a gun on his arm always screaming fuck Shinra, fuck this, fighting with customers at 7th heaven. Big, angry, loud, and scary dude. Wouldn't be surprised if he was in it at all. He'd Know for sure, but it's your own risk asking him. I don't want to hear about your corpse showing up, it wouldn't be good for my conscious." He points out. I lean back in the chair, getting lost in my thoughts.

That...actually made sense. Barret certainly wasn't inconspicuous at all. No wonder in the game the Don found out about their hideout so soon after the first bombing mission that happened yesterday. Has it really only been a day? They really must be great fighters to be able to assault the guarded reactors back to back. I was wondering if things would change somehow, if Shinra would still collapse the sector plate now that the Don's men are dead but it seems likely there are plenty of other sources to find out where they are. Barret really needed to learn to not stand out so much if he wants to lead a terrorist cell. First rule of leading a terrorist organization, you do not talk about the organization. I can sort of understand why they would collapse part of the city just to get rid of the small group now. The prospect that someone can blitz through the defenses and the security measures also being compromised is terrifying. It was the only way it'd make sense because Jessie, the group technician and hacker, somehow managed to keep basic alarms from going off during the attacks and gave them access passes for the trains to escape.

"Hmmm," I hum in thought. I really should leave soon as it's nearing the end of the day and the men were found by Tifa and Barret on the same day they got back, I think. I wasn't sure but it's better to not take the chance with this. Time seems to go by differently without the sky. The bombing mission being done at the end of the day again as in the game, so nothing thrown off yet, and they still needed time to get back to their hideout. It's only been about an hour since the bomb went off so I still have time. I was on schedule thankfully. "I think i'm going to head to sector 7 soon. I've been meaning to meet with the group for a while now actually...Say, do you happen to know how to get to 7th heaven?" Better to get a move on. With several other minor questions I leave Wall Market behind.

It was almost disappointingly easy getting into sector 7. Stepping in view of the metal gates that would lead to them, and were now open unlike in the game, I snuck past a formed line with mako enhanced movements in several quick strides when the small group of Shinra soldiers inside the gatehouse, operating the official looking gate, were distracted. The line was just for a routine search done on people going to and leaving the sector. There was a bit of an undertone of panic because of the bomb but the six soldiers kept things organized and calmed. It must of been a madhouse before but they now have got things sorted. The security troops were not heavily armed, the small squad just being outfitted with rifles. Strange how average rifles were no longer considered a true threat for me. I think I could probably take a few hits without cover since they were lower caliber than what the Don's men were using and I had took several shots from them. Mako is bullshit. The red clothed men had no body armor and were just checking for anything explicitly illegal. They didn't seem to particularly care for their jobs of checking each individual's bag and pockets for things. Things like drugs which were packed to the brim in my knapsack. I'm actually a bit upset I couldn't stock up on grenades, but Arsenal made it clear the Don bought up most of the truly dangerous things and got it out of the sector to keep his thugs best outfitted. He only barely managed to convince the Don to let him have his tank tinkering hobby by personally outfitting his underlings with weapons and armbands. With his mansion now being investigated for signs of AVALANCHE and where the hell the monster came from there was no way I was getting back in to see if there were more goodies hidden away. Shinra had that place locked down and was looking for what had scared off their pawn. They say don't return to the scene of the crime...a third time, and I was starting to run out of room to carry things. It was actually starting to get awkward carrying my knapsack around on my back with the weight shifting around every so often because of the multitude of items and medicine. I was also worried that I would draw attention carrying around Scotch's gun, but since everyone was armed I was never accosted by people walking by. Plenty of glares because of the uniform though.

I was now in sector 7. I finally reached the goal I had been aiming at and working towards for a month. Satisfaction flooded through me. I was making progress. The hard work, determination, and conviction paying off.

The sudden change of scenery was nice compared to the run down sectors of 5 and 6. There was a clear view of the plate above with no mountains of trash, rubble, or large buildings to block the sight. The underside was lined with pipes and walkways that must of been massive to see it from so far down. It was almost like staring up at a maze there were so many wires and pipes uniformly laid. I saw glimpses of it before, but never to this extent. There was also very little debris around, almost like it was swept. A dirt path looked to be maintained and led off somewhere. Unreadable signs pointed out directions. The sector pillar that supported the plate above could be seen in the distance with cables latched on, the site of the future attack at the very top of it. It was refreshing to have all this open space, and best of all, there were people walking around! Not like the packed Wall Market but enough to be assured that help would come if there was a monster attack. I could tell that this place didn't see much hardship as there were children running around in groups. Back in the camp kids weren't allowed outside the camp without supervision, monster threats were always a thing. Here, I couldn't see a place where monsters could be hiding. Very, very refreshing. I could get used to this. It was peaceful and seemed so out of place with what I've experienced so far in this world.

Of course, as soon as I thought that, rounding a bend I found myself facing down the barrel of a gun. Specifically a gun arm attached to a big black man, and three other people.

"Don't fucking move, ya asshole. We're going to be asking you some questions. Mainly about what the hell you think you're doing here! Try to move and I'll blow your damn head off!"

Ah, that's more what I was expecting.