Cloud tumbled through the air. Tifa and Aeris were by his side, screaming wildly. He had no idea where they would end up, or even if they would survive the fall. Besides, he'd already had one lucky escape. How many more times would he fall and come out unscathed?

His feet finally touched solid ground. He skidded through a sheet of inch-thick water, stuck his hands out to get some stability, and was able to keep himself up-right. He looked around and found Tifa and Aeris lying face down in the water.

"You alright?" Cloud asked, as he quickly helped Tifa to her feet.

"Man!" cried Tifa, flicking bits of sludge off her clothes and sniffing the air disgustedly. "This is terrible."

She was alright. She wouldn't be moaning about trivial things if she wasn't. He went over to Aeris and helped her to her feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Aeris replied, quietly.

She appeared a little dazed, but otherwise alright.

"Well, the worst is over," she said.

She was clearly overly optimistic. Taking a look at his surroundings, Cloud was able to establish that the worst wasn't over, not by a long shot. They were stood in a stinky sewer with dank, slimy walls and amidst piles and piles of rubbish, some of what appeared to have been discarded years ago. Alarmingly, there didn't appear to be an easy way out. There was no clear exit to the outside world, at least not that he could see. Perhaps there was one just around the corner.

Suddenly, there was a loud, monstrous roar.

Maybe not," Aeris added.

The creature looked just as fearsome as its roar sounded. It was electric blue in colour and its huge arms rippled with muscles as they flexed and relaxed. Cloud likened the beast to some sort of mutated wolf, judging by the way it stood on its haunches, and also by its snout, which was distinctly canine. Huge horns protruded from its head, each one tapering to a sharp, deadly point. Cloud could assume that this was not canine, but was in fact some kind of hideous hybrid, a mixture of who knows what.

Was it someone's pet, he wondered, as he looked at its forearms and saw chains dangling from them? Who in their right mind would want to try and tame something so hideously brutal? Perhaps their intention was not to tame it…

The beast went in for the kill almost instantly, slashing at Tifa with its enormous claws. She hit back with a succession of powerful punches, and concluded with her limit break, which was a combination of punches, kicks and graceful yet deadly manoeuvres. She flicked back her hair and stared the beast down, while Aeris unleashed a fire spell at it.

"Take that!" she hissed.

The beast roared and unleashed the power of water, an element it seemed able to command on instinct. A torrent of filthy sewer water came towards them, instantly knocking them off their feet. Cloud took a mouthful of the disgusting liquid and coughed and gagged. He looked behind him to see the girls scrambling to their feet. Whipping his head round, he was able to see, just in time, the brute's ripped arm coming towards him and dodged it accordingly. Then, he went in for the kill and unleashed a sword attack, cutting through the beast from left to right. It gave a final, pitiful roar and dropped to the floor, dead.

They quickly gathered their strength, because time was not on their side. Cloud could only hope that the beast was alone down here.

"It's too late…" cried Tifa, gesticulating with her hands. "Marlene… Barret… the people of the Slums."

"Don't give up," Aeris encouraged. "Never give up hope. It's not easy to destroy the pillar, right?"

"Yeah… you're right!" Tifa exclaimed, hope shining in her voice. "We still have time."

They traversed through the sewers; down winding paths and through long, narrow tunnels. There were a few creatures here, but nothing like the wolf-rhino hybrid they fought earlier. Cloud was able to cut through them easily.

They eventually came to a ladder that lead up to the surface. As he climbed out of the manhole and looked around to survey his surroundings, he found that he was at the Train Graveyard. He'd been here before, but it was a long time ago. Not much had changed, though. Long abandoned trains lay scattered atop the ground, infested with ghosts and other creatures of the paranormal, as well as those that were corporeal. Nothing but pests, really.

It was hard to navigate. It was a metropolis of broken metal, rotting carriages, twisting railroad tracks and mounds of debris, piled dangerously high.

"Aeris," Cloud said, turning towards her. "I got you mixed up in all of this…"

"Don't tell me to go home," said Aeris, putting her hands on her hips.

Tifa interrupted them, putting an end to the impending disagreement.

"Let's see…," she began, taking a swift glance at the location. "If we can just get past the trains that are lit up, we should be able to get out of here."

Following Tifa's advice, the trio were quickly able to navigate through the mass of metal. The tougher part was having to deal with hordes of monsters. They were easy to defeat, but the place was infested with them, and it was time consuming, and time was not on their side right now.

Rushed and out of breath, Cloud and the girls raced through the train station and towards the pillar. To his relief, the pillar was undamaged, but for how long?

Tifa couldn't contain herself, and who could blame her? This slum was a part of her livelihood.

"We made it!" she yelled. "The pillar's standing!"

"Wait!" Cloud shouted, putting a hand up to quieten her. "You hear something… above us?"

"Gun fire?" Aeris asked, alarmingly.

It most definitely was. There was no mistaking the sound of Barret's gun arm. Cloud looked up and could see flashes of bright light and a hulking black man shaking furiously as he unleashed each bullet. What the heck was he playing at? Did Cloud go up there and try to stop him, or did he wait down here and do nothing?

Suddenly, someone screamed. Cloud darted his eyes to his left just in time to see a person dressed in red fall through the sky. A second later there was a meaty thud behind him as the person slammed into the ground. It was Wedge!

Everyone came running, including passers by and those who were watching the peril above. Cloud leant over Wedge.

"Wedge! You all right!?" Cloud asked, unable to contain the panic in his voice.

"… Cloud…" murmured Wedge as he struggled to breathe. "You remembered… my name. Barret's up top… help him… An' Cloud… sorry, I wasn't any help."

Wedge fell into unconsciousness. Cloud stood up and faced the crowd.

"I'm going up!" declared Cloud. "Aeris! You look after Wedge."

She nodded.

"Aeris, do me a favour," said Tifa. "I have a bar called 7th Heaven in this neighbourhood. There's a little girl named Marlene there…"

"Don't worry. I'll put her somewhere safe."

Tifa turned to the crowd that had gathered.

"It's dangerous here!" she yelled. "Everyone get away from the pillar, quickly! Everyone get out of Sector 7!"

The crowd dispersed like flies once that Tifa had drummed it into their heads that this was real, and wasn't a spectator sport.

Leaving Aeris alone to look after Wedge, Cloud and Tifa entered the base of the pillar and started to ascend it, neither of them knowing what dangers might lie ahead.