Chapter 11: Getting information and battle against Aps

"Ahhh, we're finally alone…" said Don Corneo dreamily and happily as he lay on his huge bed while ogling at Angelina who had her back to him at the far end of the luxurious room. Angelina cringed from his tone of voice and refused to turn around and see his hungry gaze on her. "All right, sweetie-pie… Come to daddy!"

Angelina's face instantly turn pale white with dread/nausea and she refused to turn and look at him even more. Don Corneo, however, thought that Angelina's just shy and crawled over his bed to get closer to her. "There's no need for you to be shy or scared, sweetie-pie. We're all alone now…" Don Corneo cooed to her.

After hearing what Don Corneo said to her just makes her cringe even more in dread/nausea but she then remember that the reason Tifa came to this dreadful place was to get some information out of Don Corneo so she wipe the dread/nausea look and feelings away from her face and mind and forced herself to put on a sweet smile before finally turning around to faced him.

"Finally you turned around and showed your pretty face to me, sweetie-pie." said Don Corneo happily as he leaned a little closer to Angelina. "You have really pretty violet eyes, sweetie-pie, you know that? Do you… like me?"

Angelina was about to flat-out told him "No, I don't", but she reminded herself again about the information Tifa wanted from him so she held herself back from saying the words and decided to get the information out of him herself by flattering him.

"Why, of course!" said Angelina sweetly to him while she mentally gagged at herself, feeling like an idiot for doing/saying it but she had to do it if she wanted to get the information from him.

"Wow! You sure do know how to make a guy happy and feel good, sweetie-pie!" Don Corneo exclaimed and grinned happily, which make Angelina uncomfortable. Don Corneo moved forward to Angelina and leaned his face even closer to her, looking quite nervous now. "Then, wh… what do you want to do NOW?"

"I wanted to get away from you, run from this place with Cloud, Tifa and Aeris and find something which can erased this horrible memory/experience from my mind forever." thought Angelina sourly to herself but she swallowed hard and forced herself to say the dreaded words which would inflate Don's ego.

"Whatever YOU want, daddy." said Angelina, feeling sick, horrible and humiliated for saying it out to him.

"Oh man! I can't stand it!" said Don Corneo out loud joyfully and he jumped on the bed, unable to hold back his excitement/eagerness anymore. "All right, then… Give me a kiss! A KISS, SWEETIE-PIE!"

The feelings of dread/nausea came back full-force and skyrocket rapidly within her mind and she shook her head while edging away backward from him. "Nope, I can't do it! I've had enough of this!" said Angelina out loud to him in a disgusted tone of voice.

Don Corneo's face dropped in utter dismay/sadness as he fell onto from the bed while staring at Angelina. "WHAT? BUT WHY?" Don Corneo wailed out.

"Because… Because you're a lecherous, disgusting old man and all I want from you is the information you have!" Angelina told him harshly at the same time the door to his bedroom burst open inward and both Angelina and Don Corneo turned their heads to see Cloud, Tifa and Aeris run into the room, all three of them wearing their usual outfits instead of the pretty dresses.

"Finally you guys came!" Angelina said to them with a relieved look on her face. Cloud, Tifa and Aeris smiled at her before Cloud threw her usual clothes at her and she caught it gratefully before hurrying out of Don's bedroom to change and quickly came back in to joined them.

"W-What the hell?" shouted Don Corneo. "W-What's going on?"

"Shut up, you!" said Tifa harshly. "We're asking the questions now…" Tifa began saying.

"…From that foul mouth of yours." finished Angelina as the four of them all circled/gathered around Don Corneo's bed and cornering him on his bed, preventing him from escaping. Don Corneo whimpered a little and flinched back from them, terrified of them.

"Now, tell us. What did you ordered your assistants to find out?" Tifa asked Don Corneo, who shook his head to her. "Talk! If you don't tell us…" Tifa then glance over at Cloud, who nodded and raised his leg onto the bed, glaring at him.

"…I'll chop them off." Cloud said to him menacingly.

Don Corneo heard the threatening tone in his voice and jumped up in fear, shaking his head vigorously. "No! Not that! Please! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" said Don Corneo pleadingly to them.

"So…talk." said Tifa firmly.

"I-I made'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was. But that's what I was ordered to do." said Don Corneo nervously to them.

"By who?" asked Tifa.

"No!" Don Corneo yelled out, his face turned pale white. "If I told you all the name of the person who ordered me to do it, I'll be killed!"

"Talk!" said Tifa harshly. "If you don't tell us…" she looked over at Aeris, who nodded and did the same thing as Cloud did seconds ago and glaring at him.

"…I'll rip them off." said Aeris menacingly.

Again Don Corneo jumped back in fear of them. "Waaaaaaaaaaaah!" he wailed out. "It was Heidegger of Shinra company! Director Heidegger, head of Public Safety Maintenance!"

"The head of Public Safety Maintenance?" exclaimed Cloud in surprised confusion.

"Did you just say Shinra!?" snarled Tifa, in anger now. "What are they up to now!? Talk! If you don't tell us…" She looked over at Angelina, who nodded to her and followed what Cloud and Aeris did seconds ago, giving Don Corneo an evil grin.

"…I'll smash them to pieces." said Angelina menacingly.

"…You're all serious, aren't you… Ohboy, ohboy, ohboy." said Don Corneo as he looked at the determined looks on their faces and swallowing the lump in his throat. "…I'm not fooling around here either, just so you all know." Don Corneo added to them as he take a deep breath. "Shinra's trying to crush a small terrorist group called AVALANCHE and want to infiltrate their hideout. And they're going to crush them… literally. By breaking the support pillar holding up the Plate above them."

"Break the support pillar!?" Tifa cried out.

"You all know what's going to happen?" Don Corneo told them, relaxing and smirking a little. "The Plate above will go "PING!" and then everything and everyone below will go "BAMM!". I heard that their hideout is somewhere in Sector 7 slums… I'm just glad that it's not here in Sector 6."

"They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 slums!?" said Tifa in shocked and fear as she stepped back a few steps away from Don Corneo and the bed, covering her mouth with her hands, unable to believe at what she just heard.

"Goddammit! We've to leave now and quickly head back to Seventh Heaven to get Laina, Barret and the others out of there!" said Angelina as she turned and looked at Cloud, Tifa and Aeris.

Cloud nodded to her. "Right! Let's all go there now!"

Both Tifa and Angelina smiled in relieved and they glance at Aeris, who nodded to them. As the four of them began to turned and leave, Don Corneo's suddenly turned to faced them and began talking to them.

"Wait, just a second!" Don Corneo said to them.

They stopped in their tracks and Cloud turned to glared at him. "Shut up already!"

"No, really. It'll only take a second!" insisted Don Corneo. "How do you think scums like me feels when they babble on about the truth?"

"They're pretty much given up on living?" replied Angelina impatiently.

"Bzzzzz! Wrong answer, sweetie-pie!" shouted Don Corneo with a wicked grin on his face. His left hand reached out for the lever to his left and he pulled it down. Suddenly the floor which Cloud and the three girls stood on opened up under them and before they could react or say something, the four of them fell down into the hole. Once they've fell, Don Corneo began dancing a victory dance to himself.

XXXX

Meanwhile, within the large and topmost floor/office on Shinra company, Director Heidegger, head of Public Safety Maintenance, was busy making his way up the stairs toward the President's office. He was a bulky yet strong man with a rough, cold and cruel-looking face and a thick black beard, black eyes with black eyebrows and wearing an almost dark green business suit with matching pants. As Heidegger walked closer toward the large and grand desk of the president, he saw the president sitting on his chair behind his desk, waiting patiently for Heidegger to arrived. He also noticed two other people in dark blue and grey business suits standing in front of the president's desk, Director Reeve Tuesti, head of Midgar Urban Development and his assistant/niece, Nina Devereaux. Unlike the rough, cold and cruel-looking expression which Heidegger had on his face, both Reeve and Nina had less cruel-looking expressions and looking quite uncomfortable/nervous now, which Heidegger ignored completely.

"Good evening, president." Heidegger greeted him and then greeted Reeve and Nina hoarsely. "Director Reeve, Miss Devereaux."

"Director Heidegger, how are the preparations going?" the president asked him.

"Ha, ha, ha!" Heidegger laughed loudly. "Smoothly, very smoothly! I assigned the Turks to do this!"

"President!" Reeve protested with a look of worry/anxiety on his face. "Are we really going to do this? Simply destroy a small terrorist group with only a few members…"

"And what about those people living above the Sector 7 Plate and the people living below it, sir?" interjected Nina.

"Director Reeve, Miss Devereaux. You two should know by now on why we can't afford to allow those AVALANCHE terrorist to live." said the president coldly to them both. "What's the problem, you two? You two want out?"

"Of course not, president…" replied Reeve as he lowered his head (while Nina place a comforting hand on her uncle's shoulder) before looking up again to see the president getting off of his chair and began walking toward him. "But, as the Director and head of Midgar's Urban Development Department, I together with my niece, have been involved in the building and running of Midgar and it's starting to feel personal for us both. That's why…"

"Seriously, Reeve! You and your niece should flushed those annoying personal problems of yours away in the morning!" scoffed Heidegger sarcastically, cutting off Reeve's words.

Reeve turned to glared furiously at Heidegger. "The Mayor's against this anyway…" Reeve retorted to Heidegger.

"Mayor? You mean that pathetic Domino?" said Heidegger as he turned to looked away from Reeve and shrugged his shoulders. "All he do is just sits in his office in this building all day, feeding his face and doing nothing! You still called him a Mayor?"

"Why you…" said Reeve as he was about to reprimand Heidegger but got cut off by the president's voice.

"That's enough now." said the president.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me, sir!" said Heidegger as he turned and gave the president a salute before turning and walked away from the president's office while laughing. Both Reeve and Nina began to run after Heidegger in protest but halted in their tracks when they saw him went down the stairs. They then stared at each other blankly for a few seconds until the president slowly walked up to them.

"You two must be tired now." the president said to them. "Why don't you and your niece take a couple of days off and go rest somewhere?"

Both Reeve and Nina stared at the president in surprised and when they saw the stern and steady expression on his elderly face didn't change, Reeve looked at Nina and tilted his head to her, telling her to followed him and they walked forward down the stairs and out of the president's office, leaving the president alone.

"We'll destroy Sector 7 and report to the public that it was AVALANCHE who did it. Then we'll send in the rescue operation care of Shinra company… Heh heh heh… this'll be perfect." thought the president happily and maliciously to himself.

XXXX

A hatch opened up deep in the sewers beneath Sector 6 Wall Market and Cloud, Angelina, Tifa and Aeris fell out through the opened hatch and landed with heavy, dirty and wet thuds on the damp concrete ground. Cloud and Angelina groaned from the pain of their bodies falling onto the wet, concrete ground (and the added pain/weight of their weapons on their backs) and spitted out the foul water that got into their mouths before they slowly stood up from the ground.

"Ugh, gross!" said Angelina, grimacing as she take a look around the sewer (filled with garbages and other foul things which can't be mention) which they're now at.

Cloud ignored her words as he also take a look around the filthy place and he saw both Tifa and Aeris lying still and face-down on the ground near him and Angelina. Cloud and Angelina quickly went toward them and kneel down to them.

"Hey, you alright, Tifa?" Cloud asked her, worriedly.

"Aeris, wake up." said Angelina, trying to wake Aeris up.

Both Tifa and Aeris heard their voices and they groaned before they opened their eyes to glance up at Cloud and Angelina, who hold out their hands to them and they gladly took it before Cloud and Angelina pulled them both up to their feets. Once they're both up and standing, they began to wipe the damp, dirty water away from their clothes with their hands, to no avail.

"Man! This is terrible! That no good bastard!" exclaimed Tifa out loud in anger as she try frantically to wipe the dirt water off her hair.

"Well, at least the worst is over for us…" Aeris said to them as she try to wipe away the dirt water stain on her pink dress, only for them to hear the loud roar of a monster and felt the sewer ground shook under their feets soon after she say it.

"You just had to say it and jinx things up, Aeris." said Angelina as she gave Aeris an annoyed look on her face.

"I'm sorry." Aeris apologized to them.

"Get ready, everyone!" Cloud told them as he pulled his sword out from his back and Angelina, Tifa and Aeris quickly pulled their weapons (naginata, glove fists and metal staff) out, preparing themselves for a fight against whatever's approaching them. They heard another loud roar coming from it and the sounds of its footsteps, followed by the scraping sound of something (chains, maybe) dragging heavily across the ground. Soon something huge appeared around the corner toward them and they saw what it looks like.

It was a huge, ugly monster (named Aps) with sickly greenish-blue skin all over its bulky body, a huge pig-like face with yellow eyes and an open, gaping mouth with razor, sharp teeths and a long, purple tongue lolling out against the left side of its opened mouth. Both of its arms were as large and bulky as its body, with rusted yellow chains clamped shut on both of its wrists and a long, menacing-looking black tail with sharp spikes on it behind the monster.

Aps let out another beastly roar when it saw them and it raises both of its arms above its head before slamming it down on them, intending to crushed them flat like a pancake (or paper) but they quickly dodged out of the way of its arms before both Cloud and Angelina ran toward Aps with their sword and naginata in their hands and begun attacking/slashing its bulky arms. Aps roared, raised and swung both of its injured/bleeding arms at both Cloud and Angelina, both of whom quickly dodged and rolled on the ground until they're behind the monster. Aps arms slammed against the concrete wall of the sewer, causes cracks to appear on the sewer ceiling and a large chunk of concrete to break apart and falling on Tifa and Aeris, who looked up and quickly dodged out of the chunk of concrete way in front of Aps.

After Tifa is sure that both she and Aeris are all right, she glance up at the monster and charge toward it with her gloved hands raised and clench into fists and began punching Aps body hard (while Cloud and Angelina continue slashing it from behind). Aps roared and swung its left arm at Tifa, knocking her away from it at the same time it raises and swung its black tail at both Cloud and Angelina. It's tail collide against the left side body of Angelina and she, in turn, collide against Cloud before the both of them landed hard on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Cloud! Angelina! Tifa!" Aeris yelled out in fear/worry when she saw the monster knocked them away with its arms and tail and closes her eyes, concentrating. As Cloud, Angelina and Tifa try to get back up despite the bruises on their bodies, they suddenly felt a kind of warm, soothing energy entered their bodies and healed them from inside. They glance over at Aeris in surprised before giving her grateful looks (which she smiled in return), grabbed hold of their weapons and began charging/attacking Aps again.

Aps roared in anger and frustration when it saw them coming back to attacked/injured it some more and it grabbed hold of a large chunk of concrete ceiling near it with its injured, bulky arms before it threw the chunk of concrete ceiling right at them, causing them to dodged out of the way of the chunk of concrete ceiling, it flew past them, crashed against the wall of the sewer behind them and smashed to pieces.

Angelina glared at the monster, pulled out an ice materia from her pocket (which Laina gave to her), casted it on the monster and watched as a thin sheet of ice began to appear below the monster's feet and it rapidly crawled up the monster's body until it encased it completely, but not for long as cracks began to appear on the ice. Aps burst itself out of the ice, shaking off the small remnants of ice still clinging on its body before glaring at Angelina and swung its injured left arm at her, which she dodged aside before she slashes it some more with her naginata.

As the monster is now busy with Angelina, Cloud and Tifa casted Fire and Thunder thrice on it, burning and shocking it at the same time. Aps lifted its head and let out an angry yet pained roar before it raises its injured arms, swinging it back and forth above its head before slamming it down on the damp, concrete ground. Cloud, Angelina, Tifa and Aeris stared at it blankly for a few seconds until they heard the faint sound of water from behind them. They each turned their heads to look over their shoulders and their eyes widened when they saw the foul water in the sewer began to rise up into a large wall of tsunami behind them, looking ready to fall at any second.

"Hang on to something, Angie, Tifa, Aeris!" Cloud yelled out to them and all four of them quickly scrambled/climbed up the concrete platform at both side of the sewer wall and hold onto it tightly with their hands. The wall of tsunami fall with a loud splash onto the tunnel ground, gushing/flowing ferociously past the concrete platform where Cloud and the three women were on (sending sprays of water up in the air which soaked their heads, clothes and bodies) toward Aps until the water crashed against the monster, causing it to lost its footing on the ground and fell before the water swept Aps rapidly away from them.

Once they're sure the monster is gone and the sewer water subsided to normal level, Cloud, Angelina, Tifa and Aeris slowly stood up and jumped from the concrete platform down onto the sewer ground.

"It's too late…"said Tifa with a despair look on her face. "If only that monster didn't showed up then we don't have to waste our time battling it. Marlene… Barret… Laina… all the people living in the slums…"

"Don't give up hope so quickly, Tifa." said Aeris sternly as she went over to her and clasped both of her hands to reassured her. "Never give up hope."

"But…"

"It's not that easy to destroy the Pillar, isn't it?" said Aeris. "They need some time to do it."

"Yeah…" said Tifa with a thoughtful/positive look on her face now, which replaced her previous look of despair. "You're right, Aeris! We still have time to prevent it, somehow!"

Tifa and Aeris then looked over at Cloud and Angelina, who nodded to them before they turned and began to head deeper into the labyrinth of the sewer beneath Midgar, all of them praying in their minds and hearts that they'll make it to Sector 7 Seventh Heaven in time and get their friends and possibly other people out of Sector 7 before the Pillar fell down on them.