The jump wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. He'd rolled onto the floor, using his arms and legs as protection. He'd come out of it without a scratch. So had Tifa, luckily.

They were in a tunnel-like structure that was that was composed entirely out of metal, and had massive poles supporting it in the centre. Lights, red, green and yellow, flashed in a non-unison fashion. They must have been really close to their destination by now.

Barret met up with them a few minutes later, holding his head and wearing a sheepish expression.

"Good, so far everything's going as planned," he told the group, trying to ignore the fact that his jump hadn't been as polished as he'd hoped. "Better not let your guard down till we get to the Sector 5 Reactor. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie got everything ready for us. So MOVE it."

He inspected his surroundings for a brief moment.

"Well, the reactor's just down this tunnel!" he told Cloud and Tifa as they began to traverse the tunnel. They didn't get very far; as they rounded a corner they found that they couldn't get any further.

"Those light beams are the Shinra's security sensors. We can't go any further," said Cloud, as they stood before five neon green beams.

He looked to his left and saw a small hole in the tunnel wall.

"That's one damn tiny hole," scoffed Barret. "You tellin' me to squeeze into that to get under the plate? No way! Yo, Cloud, what're we gonna do?"

"We'll look inside closely," replied Cloud.

They knelt down and inspected the hole scrupulously.

"…There seems to be nothing that'll get us stuck in this duct," said Tifa after a short while.

"Yeah. If we go down this duct, we won't be able to come back up here," Cloud warned.

Barret seemed unsure and started pacing, but finally admitted it was the best idea yet.

"Don't be wastin' time. Never know when the Shinra'll find us," he said. "Cloud, you jes' gotta go."

Cloud nodded.

"But, damn man, that thing gives me the chills," Barret admitted.

Cloud went through the duct first, followed closely by Tifa and finally, Barret. The thing was infested with pesky little bug-like creatures; mutated scorpions and the like. They were easy enough to deal with, his blade cutting through their flesh like butter. With Tifa's fists of iron and Barret's gun arm, any creatures they came face to face with didn't really stand a chance. Would they be able to fight off masses of soldiers as easily? He doubted it. They had to move fast, and stealthily.

They met Jessie as they descended further into the metal metropolis that housed the reactor. She appeared crestfallen. Cloud asked her why.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking down at her feet. "The ID scan problem on the train was all my fault. I made your ID card special… so that's why it happened… I put my heart into making it. But I failed."

Cloud patted her on the back and said that it didn't matter anymore. It had already happened. No point in dwelling.

As they went deeper in, they met up with Biggs, who informed them that they were going to pull out and that they would meet them back at the hideout.

"Cloud, we're countin' on you to blow the reactor!" he exclaimed before saluting them and running off back in the opposite direction.

Cloud, Tifa and Barret continued on and eventually made it to the reactor. A huge furnace puffing out plumes of Mako energy stood in the centre of the colossal metal building. Machines whirred noisily in the background and the ground shook. Cloud surveyed his surroundings. They needed to reach the bottom floor, but there were no stairs or ladders close by. Instead, they had to slide down a massive chute. As usual, the only person who objected was Barret. With a few words of advice from Cloud (more like a hard shove) he ended up being the first one down.

There was a bridge at the bottom, spanning the entire length of the building, wall to wall. Beneath the bridge swirled masses and masses of pure Mako energy, bright aqua in colour. Cloud and his team would place the bomb at the far right side of the bridge and then get themselves back to safety before it went off.

Without warning, Cloud felt a sharp pain in his temples and a searing sound roared through his ears. Collapsing to the ground, he merely closed his eyes for a second before he fell into unconsciousness.

"Papa…" Tifa cried as the body of a man lay before her. A long, thin sword lay next to him, slick with blood. "Sephiroth!? Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!?"

She knelt down next to him and held his lifeless body in her hands.

"Sephiroth… SOLDIER… Mako Reactors… Shinra… Everything!" She looked up and held her arms out despairingly. "I hate them all!"

Cloud could only watch helplessly as Tifa ran into the heart of the Mako Reactor.

"Damn man, get a hold of yourself!" Barret yelled, rousing Cloud from a deep sleep.

He was lying face down on the ground. The floor was freezing against his flesh. He looked up to see Tifa striding towards him.

"You all right?" she asked him.

"…Tifa," he muttered, vivid images from the dream flashing before his eyes.

"Mmm?"

"No… forget… come on, let's hurry!"

He quickly stood up, brushed himself off and planted the bomb at the far right side of the bridge. Cloud knew of a shortcut back to safety, but on the way they came across a heavily guarded door, complete with a three-man locking system.

"Jessie said we all have to push the button at once," said Tifa as they stood before a large metal panel with three large, square buttons set upon it.

Cloud and Tifa pushed theirs in unison, but Barret was just a little too late, and the door remained firmly shut. Their next attempt was a success. With little time to spare, the trio raced through the open door, into another bridged area. The slums stood hundreds of metres below them. Just looking down made Cloud feel physically sick.

"This way!" Barret yelled as he ran towards the left exit.

A horde of Shinra soldiers dived through the door.

"Shinra soldiers!?" he gasped. "SHIT! What the hell's goin' on?"

"…a trap…" muttered Cloud. Suddenly, he could hear footsteps…