"Ugh," Ellie rolled over on the beer-stained sheets. She hadn't dared to sleep under the covers, and the only reason why she didn't sleep on the floor was because she was pretty sure some critter would crawl into her ear and eat her brains. Not to say that a critter couldn't climb into bed with her, but the bed was somehow more comfortable than the floor. I seriously need to get out of here. This was all fun and exciting and stuff, but what if they kill me? Is that it for me? She noticed that Theo was already up and rubbing his eyes.

"What time is it?" She asked him.

"Time to get up... I don't know." He noticed the glint of Maya's watch reflecting the stale yellow light onto the ceiling, and he leaned over and turned over her wrist. "About eight in the morning," he stated, shaking her arm to wake her up. "It'd be best to get out of here ASAP."

"I agree," Ellie replied, standing up and getting a good stretch.

Luckily, no one had stolen any of their possessions, most importantly their weapons. The three eventually wandered back outside.

"Alright Mr. Black Rose, where did you go," Ellie mumbled after they had spent ten long minutes roving the filthy streets. She spotted an older gentleman sitting at a porch whittling away at something. The other two were skeptical - he looked pretty rough - but she went up to him despite their apprehension.

"Excuse me," she said politely.

The old man looked up, a bluish white hue discoloring one eye.

Geez, does everyone here have some scar or another? "We've been looking around for quite a while now, but I was just wondering if you've seen a blond-haired fellow with orange eyes come walking through here recently...?"

Surprisingly enough, the old man didn't wince or even change the expression on his face. "You mean Black Rose? Nope, can't say that I have." He shook his head. "Sorry."

"Oh... well, do you know of any doctor around here? Or a priest or something?"

"Can't say there's one in particular, but I do know of a strange one who lives near these places here," he noted, a thoughtful look on his face. "Lessee here, I believe he lives..." He pondered for a moment, then pointed a crooked finger towards the main pillar. "Pass these gates yonder, go about two bends and you'll see a recess to your left. He lives in some sort of grotto. Not a very nice fellow, so be careful, ya hear?"

"Yes, why thank you so much!" Ellie was ecstatic. She wanted to hug the old man but instead thanked him again profusely and bounded back down the street to Theo and Maya. They looked hopeful. "Follow me!" She exclaimed, starting down the road.

It curved back upwards, and sure enough, there were about two bends and along the way, they passed out of No Filler. After the second bend, she looked to her left, and unless you weren't looking for it, she noticed a small crevice underneath the hood of a vehicle. The hole seemed to lead down. A small faint glow emanated from underneath.

"In here," she said quietly, crouching low and creeping in. It was awkwardly cramped and she wondered how Angel could have managed to squeeze Amos through in this downward spiraling crawlspace. Then they suddenly found themselves in a large open area. The cave walls were dug into the dirt, but for some reason it felt a little cleaner than the rest of the slums. That greenish-blue glow came from the far corner of this twenty by forty-foot area, and with nothing to hide them, they had no choice but to approach that glow.

"So you've finally come," a voice erupted out of thin air. They froze.

Three figures suddenly emerged from thin air around a campfire that Ellie swore wasn't there a second ago.

"Yeah..." Ellie saw Angel and Amos, and a third man, old and peculiar. Amos was actually semi-conscious. She sighed in relief when she saw him. "Whew, I thought he was a goner."

"He is strong."

Ellie looked at the old man.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I am Lon Peri. Welcome to my abode." He waved an arm and the three jumped in awe as with the wave of him arm, objects, walls, and furniture suddenly began materializing.

"Wow," Ellie breathed. She looked back at him and noticed Angel was still staring into the glowing lamp. "What is that?"

"A mako lamp. It doesn't give away like a flame," the old man chuckled, paused for a moment and looked up at her. "Your friend, Amos, he will be ill for some time."

"What did they do to him? What happened to him?"

"Rose can tell you, as they have done the same thing to him in the past. A very long time ago. Shinra can be very crude and unoriginal." Lon Peri looked at Angel as a grandfather looks at his grandson. "Amos is not... used to being under their devices. Any normal human being isn't." He leaned over and grasped a flask that sat nearby. He handed it up to her. "Give a drop of this to him every few hours. It is an anti-spell, not guaranteed to fully reverse the effects, but enough to make him feel like a normal person again."

As Ellie contemplated what the old man was saying, she knitted her eyebrows and looked peculiarly at Angel. Is he a person anymore? What the hell?

"We thank you tremendously," Theo said courteously. Ellie wasn't sure if Theo recognized the old man or not - and Maya just stood behind Theo speechless. Ellie shook her head and turned back to the old man.

"Here," Lon Peri got himself up and walked over to a shelf full of boxes and cases. He pulled out a couple colored boxes and limped back to the mako lamp, laying the boxes in a row in front of him. "Let me see your weapons," he asked. After a few seconds, Theo apprehensively laid his daggers in front of him. "Miss?" After a shove from Ellie, Maya dropped her rod in front of him and hastily retreated.

"Do you know how to use these?" Lon Peri opened the cases and Ellie spotted small spheres - they were just a tad bit larger than a standard marble, but smaller than a ping pong ball. Each box held different colors of blue, green, purple, and yellow.

"Materia?" Ellie blurted out.

"Yes... you will need these if you continue on this journey."

"Journey? We just want to go home."

The old man smiled and proceeded to transfer materia into the slots of the weapons. "I'm afraid you won't have a home to go to for a while."

"Hey, I don't have a weapon!" Ellie complained.

The old man looked up at her, then pointed to a shelf. "Second shelf. I can see that you're a close-combat fighter. You will find gloves and belts in there."

"Oo-oh, thank you!" She scampered to the shelf in delight and came back with what she felt to be the best fit.

"I see that you do not know how to use them," Lon Peri remarked.

"No..."

Angel suddenly looked up, his eyes alert. "They're coming."

Lon Peri sighed, patiently finished his task. "This will not last us long with those who are coming, but prepare yourselves." He closed his eyes and waved his hands for a moment, and then they all disappeared.

"Who's 'they?'" Ellie whispered. She couldn't see anyone... in fact, she couldn't even see herself! But she could feel her gloves and belt, and the materia held in them, and she felt her way around until she was wearing both.

"Hush yourself," Lon Peri whispered. His voice came from everywhere. Did hers, too?

They heard clanking and soft footsteps descending from the crawlspace above, and abruptly, three figures dropped down into the chamber.

The Turks! Ellie gulped. Damn, they are good, how did they find us so quick! And I can't see what kind of materia I have! But how do I use it? Shit!

The three Turks looked around complacently. Kirin actually seemed the least tense of them.

"I don't see them in here Nik," she said crossly.

"So you think. I know he's here," Nik replied, walking purposefully towards the mako lamp. He picked it up for a second and looked at it. "No one uses these anymore except for that old man. Who knows what tricky stuff he's up to now."

Helix remained at the entrance as Kirin walked over to Nik.

"Hello?" Kirin called out. "We saw you in here! Come out, wherever you are!"

Ellie didn't know where everyone else was, but she stayed put against the wall. She watched Nik pull something out of his pocket - yes, he definitely is one fine-looking fellow - and he absently stared at the wall facing him as he held out his fist. He opened his fist downward, and all of a sudden she felt a cold rush like ice fall around her. She held in her yelp, but Maya's "eek" wasn't so well concealed. Before Ellie could blink an eye, Kirin was flitting towards the direction Maya's voice came from.

Nik was still in some sort of trance; he raised his open palm skyward, then quickly dropped it again as if he were pulling down a curtain. This time, she felt an electric tingle sizzle down through her body, and as her toes still tingled, she realized that Lon Peri's cloaking wasn't doing such a good job anymore. That hurt!

She clenched her fists and rushed towards Kirin. These gloves felt good. Maybe Kirin would think so, too.

It was to be dagger rod and fist against the sharpshooting martial-trained Turks.

Helix stepped aside, reaching into his pocket.

At that point, Ellie learned to never again underestimate a "good fighter" on this Planet.

Theo had beat her to Kirin. Ellie would have opted to just stand and watch his sword-art if it weren't for the millisecond bursts of flame that sprouted around her. They came from Nik. Every time she tried to lunge at him, the earth would quiver and she'd fall ass-first.

"You magic-using sonofabitch!" She yelled, trying to regain her balance.

Nik laughed. "Oh, I know your face!" He grinned. "This is just fun and games, you know," and he took a step forward.

Ellie fell over again when electricity fizzled through her arm. Now some hot guy is trying to kill me! I hate this place! Nik was nearly in front of her now, but she couldn't get the nerve to just try and kick him. Flame kept licking at her, and he shrugged at her.

"Stop!" The voice came from Helix.

Nik and Kirin stopped mid-motion, but not before Nik had Ellie by the throat.

"Let - me - go -!" Ellie clutched at those wonderful hands helplessly.

"Sable... says don't terminate the specimens," Helix said in a normal tone.

"Thanks, but they're not even here!" Kirin protested.

Not here? Ellie knew who they were talking about, and they certainly weren't here. Angrier at the fact that they had conveniently ran away while they took the brunt than the fact that Nik was practically choking her to death, she planted her foot squarely on his chest and pushed him off.

"You big jerks!" She yelled out to the room. "Come out and help us!"

The fight resumed when Ellie was inexplicably blown ten feet away by Nik, and both Theo and Maya sparred with Kirin. Nik was nonchalantly brushing off his suit and Helix began to approach Ellie.

Without a warning, Angel suddenly appeared and swooped down onto Nik, battering him with blow after blow.

Ellie winced. Go easy on him, she thought sadly, keeping an eye on Helix. She dove for him when it seemed he wasn't looking, but he was ready. Then fire rained down on both of them and she jumped away, spying Lon Peri materialize across the room. From the corner of her eye, she saw Amos limping his way out of the cavern and ascend little by little out of sight.

Helix was heading for the old man, Nik was very occupied with Angel, and the other three were still at it.

I can't let him out of sight! Ellie made sure no one was looking, and she darted to the exit and crawled up the shaft as fast as she could. The moment she was out, she spied him stumbling over a mountain of busted vehicles. She dashed after him and caught him inching into a vacant vehicle that was still somewhat still in shape. She tentatively jumped in behind him, crouching low in the cockpit to prevent any passersby from noticing.

"Psst!" Ellie hissed, noticing that Amos wasn't noticing her. He turned his head slowly, his pupils dilated beyond recognition in his eyes. He looked at her, but it seemed as if he was looking right through her.

"Hey, are you hearin' me?" Ellie whispered, glancing behind her just in case he was looking at something specific.

Amos blinked.

Guess that's his way of saying yes? "Alright, listen to me. We need to stay together. I'm bringing you back to Shelby, okay?" She felt like she was talking to a toddler.

He blinked again.

She sighed. She peeked up then ducked back down quickly when she noticed the three Turks appearing around the bend. Shit!

"Well that wasn't too bad," Kirin exclaimed, blowing off some dust on her weapon.

"Shut up. We didn't get what we came here for," Nik replied, irritated.

"Well they couldn't have gone that far, we'll just wait them out."

"That's what you think."

"..."

"You don't know this area that well, do you," Nik said. "There's tunnels and ways around everything. You go back down there and find the back door. They had to escape somewhere. We'll look around up here for any clues."

"Why the hell do I have to-"

"Just shut up and go!"

Kirin huffed angrily and her heels stomped away.

Helix promptly turned around and disappeared behind a mound of cars. Nik stayed still, listening for any revealing noises. Ellie knew this because she saw him in the rear-view mirror in the vehicle. Crap! She ducked forward just as Nik turned his head and looked directly at the mirror.

She strained to hear some oncoming footsteps - and sure enough, Nik wasn't nearly as brainless as she had hoped for. She jumped when Amos bolted out of his hiding spot and flew out of the missing doorway.

She followed him awkwardly through the twisted piles of metal, glass, and rubber. She felt a fizzle of electricity as she leaped off a hood of a car. Great, hot stuff's throwing bolts of lightning at me again! She grumbled and persisted on trying to keep track of Amos' erratic movements. He really did move fast for an ailing patient!

After a number of scrapes, gashes, and open wounds, the pursuing Nik and his attempts to stop them faded and all was silent except for the clattering trail Amos was leaving behind. Ellie paid more attention to her footing, still unsure if Nik was still around. Then it suddenly occurred to her that there really wasn't a comprehensible way to get Amos back up into the upper sectors. At least nothing she knew about. Damn him!

"Hey, you!" Ellie called out as soon as she was positive no one was near. He had stopped under the cover of some alleyway. Civilization looked nearby. She caught up to him, breathless.

"What the crap, man!" She huffed. "You go way too damn fast for a sick person like yourself!"

He looked at her mutely.

"Listen, I want to take you back to Shelby because he's really worried for you."

He grunted.

"That's nice, but here's the thing," she swallowed despite her dry mouth from all the adrenaline. "I don't know how to get up there, and apparently everyone's looking for us. Probably more so for you."

After a few seconds of silence, Amos turned on his heel and began marching in a specific direction. All she could do was sigh and follow. This pace was doable. And he probably, no, definitely, knew the area better than her.

"This is great," Maya complained.

Theo shrugged. "At least they're looking for the other two, not us."

"But-but we lost Ellie and Amos!"

"Settle down," Lon Peri soothed. "They're alright."

"How do you know...?

Lon Peri smiled. When it seemed like the Turks were getting the upper hand back there, he'd quickly transported them into a windowless lodge somewhere. They still hadn't peeked out the door yet.

Theo and Maya finally caught their breath - Angel and Lon Peri were completely fine - and they looked expectantly at their temporary leader for the moment, Lon Peri.

"Out," he declared when he saw the two look to him, pointing to the door.

Theo was the first to move and he indifferently opened the door and stepped out. The three went after him, Angel being the last. He pulled his cowl over as soon as he stepped out.

"This... is the Physician's Complex!" Maya cried out, and she turned around in wonder. She noted that the little square room they'd come out of didn't exist at all.

"Ah ha! Right up my alley!" Theo exclaimed. "I have some friends around here," and he began walking towards the street. It was daytime, and the employees and patients milling around barely gave them a second look. They probably assumed they were on the way to an ER, or perhaps the mental institution a block over.

The three began following Theo, Maya muttering about being too conspicuous.

They crossed though the block without incident and entered a gated entry into another complex that covered another block. It was like a massive outdoor museum, colonnades and massive doorways dotting the grey brick surface. Monuments and statues littered the concrete center plaza and a mid-sized tree stood as the centerpiece of the square.

"Remarkable," Maya looked at the piece of nature in wonder. It was a rare sight in this concrete city. Lon Peri followed in Maya and Theo's wake, and Angel kept the rear, his face concealed under the shadows of his hood.

Theo turned into a doorway a short ways from the square. Once inside, he led them up two flights of stairs and went briskly down to the end of the hall where a broad door awaited them. He pulled a card from his back pocket and slid it through the checkpoint and they proceeded inside.

Desks and cubicles littered the room and everyone looked up in surprise at Theo and his three peculiar-looking guests. One of the employees scratched his head and another blatantly looked away from Angel. As soon as the four had proceeded into another room, they all returned to their work, shrugging it off as nothing more than Mr. Brighton's customary drama.

"We really shouldn't be seen!" Maya tugged on Theo's sleeve. "All these people work for Shinra, don't they? Someone's going to say something!"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Theo said confidently. They went through a few more similar office spaces and then stopped in front of a small narrow door.

"Ready?" He looked at the three.

"Most indeed!" Lon Peri was the first to pipe up.

Maya was steadily becoming more and more unsure of herself, and Angel just looked on passively. Theo shrugged and he unlocked the door, revealing a dimly lit circular stairwell that led up.

"Quick," he urged them inside and as they ascended the iron steps, Maya finally spoke.

"Just who were all those people, and where are we going?"

"They're just friends, colleagues of mine. They won't say anything about you guys."

Angel did notice Theo look uneasily glance back at him though.

Theo continued. "They won't snitch, trust me."

"The Underground Midgar Society," Angel stated flatly.

"Um..." Theo caught himself before he tripped. "Yeah, something like that..."

Lon Peri just smiled to himself.

"Huh?" Maya was genuinely confused.

No one replied and they continued up for what seemed like another ten floors. A door greeted them up top and it being unlocked, Theo opened it and let everyone pass through. They found themselves on the highest floor of the building; high enough to see over the museum and a few other buildings nearby. The entire floor was open and surrounded on all four sides by floor-to-ceiling tinted windows. There were desks and workstations partitioned off in sections of four. No one looked up when they entered and they continued clacking away on their keyboards or intently reading their screens and paperwork.

"...? What is this place?" Maya stood closest to the door.

"This is the center for all affairs having to do with Shinra... that Shinra doesn't know about," Theo said.

"What...?" Maya trailed off when a smart-looking middle-aged man approached them.

"Theo! It's good to see you!" The man in the ruffled collared shirt extended a hand and Theo took it with gusto. "I see you've brought some friends- oh wow," he stopped short when his eyes traveled to Lon Peri. He leaned over to Theo and said in a hoarse whisper, "Where'd you find this guy?" He welcomed Maya and she took his hand hesitantly.

"And Lon Peri, also known as the Soothsayer, it's a pleasure to have you here." He paused, as if pondering whether or not it was a good idea to touch this man, then abruptly stuck his hand out. Lon Peri took it with amusement. He lastly turned to Angel who still had his hood up.

The man tilted his head, holding out his hand to him. "It's not nice to -holy!"

Angel unexpectedly unhooded himself and the man jerked his hand back and smoothed his hair instead. "Ah, uhm, welcome," he said, nervously looking back at Theo. He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"This is Azule, a good friend of mine," Theo introduced.

"Well, Theo," Azule turned to him after giving a wary look to Angel. "Heard you had a little mishap up in HQ. But we didn't expect you back so soon! What have you gotten yourself into now?" Noticing Maya's uneasiness, he gestured to her. "We have food and you're welcome to catch up on some rest if need be."

"What is this place?" Maya recoiled.

"Hmm, Theo didn't tell you eh?" He put a finger to his mouth and raised an eyebrow at Theo. "Well," he tilted his head again. "Consider this place as... well, we keep track of everything Shinra does. For the people."

"Why?"

He chuckled, his face relaxed. "I can tell you're all very tired. We'll answer your questions later. For now, come this way. Renn!" He called out, and a prim blond-haired lady emerged from the quiet but busy section near them and she escorted all but Theo away from the entrance.

After bidding fare wells, Azule spun around and faced Theo.

"What are you thinking! Why did you bring him here? And what the hell Theo, here, really?!"

"He helped us out quite a few times," Theo shrugged. "And he hasn't been a threat to any of us."

"Yeah, yet! He's enjoying his freedom for now, but then what!"

"I'm not worried about it. I think there's more about him that Shinra's not saying. Or should I say less."

"Hum... yeah, I don't know about that," Azule eyed him. After some thought, he said, "You're crazy."

"I know," Theo smiled. "You mentioned food?"

"Yeah, you know where it is. I'm going to look into this Black Rose character."