Twilight Perfected Chapter 11: Say amen, there he goes again! Sweet and undefeated, and an awesome ten for ten! Folks lined up, just to watch him flex. And this perfect package packed a pair of pretty pecs.
Wall Market was everything wrong with Midgar packed into one small sector, chiefly the belief that if a place was brightly lit, clean, and advertised aggressively then nothing too untoward could be going on.
The search for information on Tifa lead them past a truly impressive array of vices: brothels, black markets, illicit theaters, gambling parlors, strip shows, dive bars, oxygen bars, strip bars, opium dens, leather shops, and a single incongruous pet store.
Unperturbed by the proffered proliferation of prurient pursuits, they followed the main thoroughfare to the ostentatiously gilded facade of Corneo's mansion.
The building itself was actually marginally more tasteful than most of Wall Market; it lacked a gigantic neon sign declaring it "Don Corneo's Mansion" or more likely, "D-O-N C-O-R-N-E-O-'-S M-A-N-S-I-O-N."
Surprisingly, there were only three guards outside. Given that Don Corneo had been running Wall Market for over a decade with minimal opposition, overconfidence had clearly set in.
Two of them seemed to be more or less run of the mill street toughs, but their leader had short cut silver hair and amber colored eyes.
Since he didn't instantly fall to his feet and start asking how he could help; Sephiroth doubted that he was another errant 'sibling'.
"Not so fast, buddy. Back it up. Got no need for pretty boys here." He insisted as Sephiroth approached.
"Specially not this one, Leslie, would make the girl's jealous." One of the goons snickered.
Yet more proof that his years as the unchallenged ruler of Wall Market had gone to Don Corneo's head, or at least those of his minions. That, or the reports of his demise had left them with the conclusion that he must be some manner of imposter.
That was the problem with being a big fish in a tiny pond, the larger world inevitably intruded.
It would be impossibly easy for him to deal with these three, literally kick down the doors, and storm in to find Tifa. He'd probably even be able to pull it off without having to kill anyone.
On the other hand, while he'd been wasting his time in the Lifestream, Tifa had spent the last five years preparing for a war against Shinra. If she'd wound up in Don Corneo's clutches it was probably because she wanted to be there.
Which in turn meant that it'd be better for him to aid her scheme rather than just resorting to the most brutal and straightforward solution possible.
"How 'bout me, then? Can I go inside?" Aerith eagerly pipped up.
Sephiroth found himself vaguely amused seeing her irrepressible nature aimed at someone else, especially since they had it coming.
"Maybe, but you're gonna wish you didn't." Leslie promised.
"You know, she's kinda cute, homely, but cute." One ruffian reflected.
"Excuse you?" Aerith hissed, putting Sephiroth in mind of an affronted cat.
"Seriously, she's not half bad! With a little work I bet she'd clean up real nice." The other agreed.
"Sephiroth... requesting permission to kill." Aerith snarled, a strangely predatory tone to her words.
"Denied." Sephiroth was fairly certain that the florist was teasing him in some fashion, but he wasn't about to risk someone's life to find out; even if said "someone" was one of Don Corneo's goons.
"If you're really that determined to present yourself to Don Corneo, then you're gonna need to get official approval. Before you ask, you can only get permission from a member of the 'Trio' who Don Corneo puts his personal trust in. First, there's Chocobo Sam, then the Honeybee Inn's Andrea Rhodea and last but not least, Madam M over at the massage parlor. Just know that getting their approval is gonna take more than bright eyes and a pleading smile."
"Hmm, duly noted. Thanks for the info. We'll be back soon." Aerith chirped, giving Leslie the best view possible of her bright eyes, and satisfied smile.
XXX XXX XXX
Unsurprisingly, Chocobo Sam proved to be of little help.
When Sephiroth had taken umbrage at him "flipping" them for the chance at Aerith getting his personal approval... and then using a two headed coin... Sam had agreed to clarify the matter still further.
Don Corneo only let each member of the Trio recommend one girl a night, and since Sam had already put forward Tifa there was nothing he could possibly do to help them.
After that failure they'd gone to try and meet with Andrea Rhodea, only to be stonewalled by the Honey Bee Inn's staff. In the process Sephiroth had seen and smelled things that he could never unsee or unsmell.
Which in turn meant that the two only had one chance left and headed to Madam M's Massages.
Despite his initial trepidation, Sephiroth found nothing immediately offensive or unsettling upon entering the establishment; a statement he would have considered damning with faint praise, perhaps, but after the Honey Bee Inn...
The establishment was decorated in a broadly Wutain aesthetic, but the mishmash of regional styles left Sephiroth with the impression that the design philosophy hadn't gotten much past 'exotic equals cultured.'
"Welcome, welcome, just the two of you?" The woman who greeted them from behind the counter spoke with impressive nonchalance, as if she'd frequently had visitors even stranger than Aerith and Sephiroth.
The kimono she wore hung low off one shoulder, showing that she'd foregone the majority of the traditional underlayers for the garment.
"Step right up. Now then, what manner of massage do you desire?" The woman crooned out to them.
Her tone was inviting, but Sephiroth wondered how genuine her enthusiasm was.
"You're Madam M, right?" Aerith eagerly approached the counter getting ready to plead her case yet again.
"That I am. Purveyor of the most marvelous massages in all of Midgar." She boasted while cooling herself with an elaborate Wutain fan.
"My name is Aerith Gainsborough and I was hoping that maybe you could get me an audition with Don Cor..." Was as far as she got.
The fan snapped shut and was instantly pointed at her throat like a dagger.
"Oh for the love of, say another word and I'll shove this fan right down your throat!"
It was truly impressive how quickly Madam M had abandoned her distinguished mannerisms and untraceable accent for traditional Lower Midgar brusqueness.
"You certainly will not." Sephiroth's tone was matter-of-fact, if chilly, and Madame M rounded on him with a venomous smile.
"Hmm, you look like a man of some years and refinement, so I'm surprised you didn't do a better job explaining to this girl what she can expect out of life. This is a massage parlor, a respectable establishment. People give me gil, and I provided them with a service. If they don't have the coin, I show, them, THE DOOR!"
It seemed the Trio's final member could have given Kadaj lessons on being mercurial.
Sephiroth was about to warn Aerith that this was hopeless when to his surprise she began to extract a great many gil coins from her dress pockets and place them on Madam M's desk.
It was hardly a small fortune, not even a minute fortune, but it was more hard currency than Sephiroth would have expected her to have on hand.
"Do you think this would be enough to buy a service from you?" She pleaded with the masseuse.
Madam M's eyes lit up with delight. "Before we can determine what manner of massage is required I'll need to do some preliminary investigations. Hand, give it to me!" Just like that, the ethereally untraceable accent returned, despite her blunt word choice.
To Sephiroth's amazement, even as the masseuse reached to out towards his right hand, Aerith abruptly interposed herself between the two of them, pushing Sephiroth back and out of the masseuse's reach.
"My bodyguard is very protective of his hands; he'd never be able to get any work done without them. Would you shout at a musician to just whip out their most prized instrument like that? If you want your customers to be able to relax and have a good time, you need to work harder on putting them at ease."
Sephiroth felt deep pang of appreciation for the mysterious florist; she wasn't just learning his habits to avoid his ire, she was also making sure other people had to respect his boundaries. The only other person who'd ever done that for him was Zack...
"Since this is very important to both of us, do you think…?" Aerith began to gently edge into the subject.
"I can do it." Sephiroth sighed, and presented his left hand to Madam M.
She ran her hands across his gloved digits in a way that he found unwelcomely intense.
"Ah yes, just as I expected, the strong firm hand of a fighter. More than just that though, your fingers possess an elegance and grace I have rarely felt the equal of. Most of all though, the tension! The sheer unresolved, unbearable tension! Frankly I couldn't imagine a man more in need of me or who I would have greater pleasure servicing." Madam M cooed.
Sephiroth said nothing, he was entirely focused on not yanking his hand away from her.
"Of course, before we can make any real progress we'll have to get these gloves out of the way."
Sephiroth could feel his eyes widening with the mixture of shock, surprise, and horror he far more frequently inspired in others.
This woman wanted him to take off his gloves and then do intimate things to his hands?
On top of that, she expected him to pay her for the experience?
"Wait, you're good with giving massages to women also, right? Because I've done a lot of gardening work over the last few years, I've probably built up horrible calluses that only someone of your skill could handle!" Aerith abruptly interjected.
She could have jumped on a live artillery shell and not left Sephiroth feeling as indebted to her.
Madam M reluctantly let go of Sephiroth's hand and began to inspect Aerith's.
"True, you aren't quite the delicate flower I first took you for. The money is good either way, I suppose. The only question is exactly what manner of massage are you interested in?"
XXX XXX XXX
In order to try and curry as much favor as possible Aerith had ordered the most expensive massage she'd been able to afford.
Sephiroth just sat quietly in the lobby while Madam M got to work.
Eventually they returned, the Madam looking quite pleased with herself, and Aerith's green eyes seeming strangely unfocused and glassy.
"Another satisfied customer." Madam M boasted proudly, and the florist raised no objections. "Are there any other ways I might be of service?"
Sephiroth turned his gaze once more in Aerith's direction, figuring that she would be best suited to explain this scheme. Alas, at the moment she seemed to be more interested in gazing dazedly at her hands, leaving the task to him.
"Like she tried to tell you before, my companion is interested in being among the women considered for Don Corneo's newest bride. We'd been told that as a member of his Trio you could make it happen."
Madam M took another long moment to size up Aerith before commenting.
"She has potential, though I don't know why she'd want to waste it on that scumbag. That said, I could never allow a candidate I put forward to present herself in such an unremarkable dress."
"Dress...ssss...sss..." Aerith might have been trying to raise an object but she seemed to promptly get distracted by the "amusing" prospect of slurring the word in question.
"How much money was left over after the massage?" Sephiroth suggested, hoping it would be able to cover the expense.
Madam M first response was a mirthlessly laugh.
"Not enough, not even close. The few thousand gil she has could barely buy a designer handkerchief let alone a dress.
Luckily, I know how you can cover the cost. Wall Market's famous 'Don Corneo Cup' tournament is starting in just under an hour, and the top prize is... considerable. It'd be a crime for it to take place without you showing what you're capable of. So, I'll handle your entry fee and the red tape, then when you win, the prize money will cover the costs of turning this Plain Jane into in a drop-dead gorgeous beauty."
"Are fights to the death?" The entire point of this circuitous scheme was to prevent Sephiroth from having to kill anyone after all.
"It's not unheard of for competitors to die, but most fight end in surrender." She reassured him.
The fact that Madam M hadn't bothered to name exactly how much Aerith's new dress would cost or how large a prize was awarded to the Don Corneo Cup's winner made Sephiroth suspect she was going to make quite a tidy profit off of the exchange. He didn't have time to haggle though, not when he needed to run an important errand before the tournament started.
"Aerith, where did you get that much gil from?" He couldn't help but ask as he gently took the still-suggestible florist by the hand.
"They're me and my mom's savings. I figured we'd need them more than her, since now she's got that 15,000 gil voucher from you scaring Reno's pants off..." Aerith answered with even less hesitation than normal.
"Would you mind I borrowed some of it?" Sephiroth felt like he was most certainly taking advantage of Aerith given her current condition, but it was for the greater good.
"How could I say no to my Silver Knight?" Aerith giggled as she all but collapsed against his chest.
Sephiroth hoped she recovered soon.
"XXX XXX XXX
"I'll take these." Sephiroth declared as he laid the plastic package down in front of the clerk.
The clerk, like most occupants of Wall Market, had long ago learned how to to do their job without even contemplating the possibility of asking questions; he simply took the package and scanned it.
"One pack of 1,000 zip ties. That'll be 120 gil."
"I've created a monster." A much recovered Aerith moaned.
Sephiroth dropped the requisite coins on the counter before turning back to his companion.
"This was your idea; why are you upset?" He pointed out, his tone equal parts aggrieved and confused.
Aerith sighed very heavily.
"I was making a joke. I'm actually glad for the amount of restraint you're showing." She clarified.
All signs of obvious distress slowly began to drain from her face, so Sephiroth decided she was indeed being serious this time.
"I hate to eavesdrop, but if restraint is what you're interested there's a place just down the street that..." The clerk began.
"Thank you, but we'll be going!" Sephiroth cut him off, grabbing his bag of zip ties, and dragging Aerith out of the store before she had a chance to gainsay him.
XXX XXX XXX
"Why are their video cameras in here? Does Don Corneo really think someone is going to try and sneak in through this long straight tunnel that has exactly zero places to hide?" Aerith scoffed pointing at one of the devices in question.
"Given how much this place loves to advertise, it is probably here to let the audience see who they can expect to be competing ahead of time." Sephiroth had picked up at least a passing knowledge of event planning from how many times Shinra had trotted him out in front of one crowd or another.
What he hadn't expected was that the tunnel would be lined with speakers so that they could hear exactly what the crowd milling about in the lobby had to say about his arrival.
"Is that?"
"It might just be a look-alike they hired to boost ticket sails."
"What is he doing here?"
"Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming."
"Oh my Planet, I can't believe we've already got tickets for this!"
"I heard Don Corneo was starting to get friendly with Shinra, but friendly enough that they'd do this?"
"I thought Sam's Champions had it in the bag but..."
"We're in for a hell of a show tonight..."
"Delete… delete… delete… got to make more room on my PHS so I can record every second… delete…."
Sephiroth really could have done without the voices of at least two dozen different people having three dozen different discussions bouncing around the tunnel with no place to go but into his ears; his only solace was being in an entirely different room they had to keep their distance.
At the end of the tunnel they found an official looking man in a white suit waiting for them.
"Madam M's champion for the night has arrived." Sephiroth introduced himself.
"Make that Madam M's champions for the night." Aerith abruptly cut in.
A part of Sephiroth wondered why he was even surprised.
"Don't worry about it, two member teams are the norm anyway. Since you're running late we won't waste time asking about minor details details like next of kin. Right now, just give me your names and occupations so I can pass them along to the announcer." The man gestured toward the elevator behind him whose doors had just opened.
"Everyone already knows who I am."
"Aerith Gainsborough, local florist."
XXX XXX XXX
The elevator's doors closed, and just like that they were alone together once again.
"Since you insist on doing this, I'll continue trying my best to keep you alive."
"You worry too much. I'm not some princess that needs to be coddled." Aerith huffed.
"What can you do to help me in a fight?" He raised the question in the most dispassionate tone possible to show that he wasn't trying to belittle or insult her.
"I can shoot blasts of magic from my staff." Aerith noted with a confident smile.
"What?" Sephiroth spluttered, he'd been expecting a lot of possible answers, but that wasn't one of them.
"Yeah. It's not about the staff being magic either. I can do it with any staff I hold." The "ordinary florist" insisted.
There were several things "wrong" about that statement, or at least "in direct conflict with how Sephiroth believed to the world to work", but now was not the time to bicker over them.
"I can work with that, does your staff or bangles have materia slots?"
"Three in my staff, two linked one solo, and a two linked slots in my bangles. Why do you ask? I don't think they're likely to give us time to go on another shopping trip before our matches start."
Sephiroth unsheathed Masamune and began to gently pry a few stones free from just above its grip, then started to do the same thing with his own gold armlet.
He gently passed her two glowing stones, one green, the other blue.
"Ice, and all."
Then he repeated the process with another pair of mismatched stones.
"Earth and all."
Finally a single green orb.
"Restore, this one is used for curative magic in case you do get hurt. You won't need to link an 'all' to it, because I can take care of healing myself." Sephiroth explained, leaving unsaid that he wasn't especially likely to get hurt badly enough to need magical healing.
"All five of them are mastered, so you don't need to worry about forging a proper bond with them to unlock their full potential; I've already got them well trained."
"So... you've got a collection of pet rocks?"
"Hm. Let me give you a crash course in materia usage. To start with, do you know what materia allow you to do?"
"They let you cast magical spells that summon various elements?"
Sephiroth gave a short shake of his head. "Not exactly, but that's a common misconception, especially in civilian circles. A lightning materia could stun or electrocute a person, or even induce a magnetic field, but if you tried to charge a capacitor with one, the charge would only last as long as your concentration.
What materia actually do is allow you to rewrite reality, imposing your will on it through things that might look like natural events, but ultimately aren't. A fire materia doesn't need fuel, and an earth materia can manifest stone out of a steel floor; don't allow your knowledge of the natural world to get in the way of what your willpower wants to achieve."
"Wait, is that's why if you just froze someone in a real block of ice they'd probably either suffocate or die from hypothermia, but when you use magic they survive?" Aerith realized after taking a moment to ponder his words.
"Correct. Since you're just starting, out consider verbalizing whatever spells you cast." He held up a hand to forestall the inevitable question. "It will warn your opponent what you're casting, yes, but language shapes thought; speaking it aloud makes it easier to ensure the spell actually goes off in the chaos of real combat conditions."
It was strangely gratifying to have his newest 'cadet' catching on so quickly.
Aerith looked down at the five glistening gems in the palm of her hand.
"Won't me having these limit what sort of magic you can do? Maybe you should keep the healing one..."
She'd passed Materia 101 with flying colors. Time for the advanced class.
"Materia are a crystalline form of mako, so each and every single materia represents a tiny fraction of the Lifestream. That means the knowledge and wisdom of those who came before us, the Ancients, is held within every materia. Anyone with this knowledge and sufficient willpower can use the power of the Planet. That interaction between the borrowed knowledge and the Planet, is the basis of... magic… for lack of a more technical term.
If that was a little confusing, don't worry. All that you really need to understand is that materia are only necessary for people who doesn't have the knowledge of the Ancients." As Sephiroth spoke, he made a few more quick gestures and, despite the fact that Aerith was holding his ice materia, summoned up a small flurry of snowflakes.
"And I do."
"Are you an Ancient?" Aerith gasped.
Sephiroth would have better luck spotting a dove in the middle of a blizzard than he would piercing through the sudden overflow of emotions on Aerith's face; there were too many for him even name them all, let alone parse their meaning.
"No! No. No, I'm very much not an Ancient. The Ancients gained their knowledge from true communion with the planet. All my knowledge is… stolen." Sephiroth admitted, desperately hoping that she wouldn't insist on discussing the mater further, or even worse continue to try convincing him that surely he must be an Ancient.
Luckily, any attempt she might have made at continuing the conversation was was interrupted by the elevator doors opening up.
Aerith quickly inserted Sephiroth's materias into her staff and bangles, then followed him out into a metal hallway.
"General Sephiroth, over here!" Another of the tournament's staff called out, gesturing towards a pair of huge doors that were already sliding open.
Aerith's staff was still extended from the process of adding materia, but Sephiroth had returned his blade to its sheath. He'd always found it... disrespectful to Masamune to keep it drawn without a clear purpose in mind.
The two of them walked into a large open area, and Sephiroth had to admit he was at least mildly impressed, this was no fly-by-night underground fight club; a lot of time and effort had been put into it.
There were already two men standing in the middle of the arena, but judging from their lack of weapons or armor they probably weren't Sephiroth and Aerith's opponents.
"Ladies, Gentlemen,"
"In the city that never sleeps!"
"In the paradise of debauchery and sin, of pain and pleasure!"
"Where your every desire can be indulged for the right price, Wall Market!"
"To you esteemed connoisseurs of chaos and bloodshed, we bid you the warmest of welcomes!"
"Are you sitting comfortably?"
"Well you shouldn't be!"
"That's right, you might have paid for your entire seat..."
"But for these fights YOU'LL ONLY NEED THE EDGE!"
"You all know that Don Corneo spares no expense to bring the greatest fighters from the world over to his colosseum..."
"But even compared to such hallowed competitors who have come before, this, will, be, spectacular!"
"Because for our next match, in the red corner we have two fighters.."
"One, a complete unknown. The other, still a household name, fresh from a five year long retirement!"
"That's right, he's back, just for this one night, in this, one, place!"
"The SOLDIER,"
"To whom there are none bolder!"
"The First Class,"
"Who will kick your ass!"
"The General"
"Who…. JUST PUT YOUR HANDS YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR SEPH-IR-OTH!"
"And a local florist."
"You know, it's really irritating how you get all the good patter."
"Sup with the pole!? Gonna do a little dance for us, baby girl?" One of the spectators called out.
"I was wrong, THAT'S really irritating." Aerith growled.
"Just remember, they'll probably reduce our prize money if we intentionally harm the audience."
"Their opponent, one of Wall Market's own, a renowned master of beasts!"
"Will his pets make a meal of our two challenges before our very eyes?"
"Or will the beasts be beaten like so many foes before?"
"They've already been given their appetizer, but their hunger for flesh and fear is unquenchable, the demon dogs of hell, the Sanguine Stalkers!"
Doors on the other side of the arena slowly swung open.
A man with no weapons or armor came running through them like his life depended on it.
A moment later the cause of his fear became all too obvious when a pair of red and black skinned canines came chasing after him.
"No, please!" The man cried out in horror.
He risked a glance backward to see how close his pursuers were, which promptly proved to be his undoing, as he tripped over a divot left in the floor by one of the previous rounds of combat.
"Feast." Announced the dogs' master, a one eyed man with dark skin.
In an instant the dogs were on the fallen man. His screams of terror hurt Sephiroth's ears, but not as much as the high pitched it whistle that followed them. When the dogs still didn't let up the piercing whistle sounded again, and Sephiroth found himself reexamining his position on lethal force.
The dogs drew back from the fallen man leaving him with shredded clothing, but no injuries serious enough to prevent him from regaining his feet and once more fleeing for his life.
"You brought animals?" Aerith seemed to be less than impressed with their foe's choice of companions.
"First timers, huh? There's no rule that says your teammate gotta be human." The Beastmaster scoffed as he drew forth a wicked looking dagger.
"Who will prevail in this brutal contest between man and beast!? This could be over in an instant, so don't even blink! Without further ado, the match… begins now!" The announcer concluded, and then the section of the floor they were standing on suddenly began to sink downwards, taking them out of the arena.
"I'll handle him, you just keep his pets busy." Sephiroth promised, and he was halfway across the arena before Aerith had a chance to respond.
XXX XXX XXX
That was how Aerith Gainsborough, florist, found herself in a fight with a pair of dogs who looked like they'd been kicked out of Shinra's K9 program for being too bloodthirsty
Of course, since she and Sephiroth had been rushed into the tournament so quickly, no one had bothered to explain some of the finer points on what was and wasn't legal. The Beastmaster's use of attack dogs was one example; her innate "magic" was another.
Was it illegal for her to have spent most of the announcers' opening patter charging up a magical blast?
Since even Sephiroth had been surprised to hear her talk about it, her ability it must be very rare- which probably meant nobody had ever bothered to write down a rule about it.
So Aerith gave her first surprise to the crowd, letting loose with a large orb of white-green light that sailed across the arena and struck one dog squarely in the head, sending it spinning through the air.
Which meant she still had another massive killer canine racing straight at her. Seemed like it was time to do some "real" magic.
Aerith had never used materia before, and was sure that dog would be ripping her to pieces if her first spell missed. Which meant it was time to think more creatively...
"Blizzard!" Rather than attacking the dog, she let loose with a blast of ice magic aiming at the arena's floor.
In the blink of an eye metal was frozen over with a sheet of frost over an inch thick.
All four of the dog's legs began to flail about wildly as even its wicked-looking claws weren't long enough to let it find purchase.
Aerith lazily stepped to the side and the dog went sliding right past her, and kept right on sliding until it slammed into an arena wall.
Before she had time to congratulate herself for quick thinking, she heard the snarl of the first dog again, it seemed that her staff's magic hadn't taken it completely out of the fight.
She turned to face the charging dog, wondering if she should stick to ice or try something different.
Whatever choice she made, she'd have to make it fast because….
Then there was a high pitched whistle, and the charging dog abruptly slid itself to a stop and turned around.
Looking over in the whistle's direction she saw that the Beastmaster was on the floor of the arena, his arms bound together by a zip tie while Sephiroth held the whistle to his lips.
Just like that, the middle section of the arena began to part and a platform rose upwards with the tournaments' announcers on board.
"We warned you it might be quick folks!"
"But none of us expected just how quick!"
"That match saw the previous Don Corneo Cup record for fastest victory shattered!"
"Nay, obliterated!"
"It probably won't be the only thing to end up that way tonight either! Don't worry though, we'll find somebody who can make Sephiroth actually work for victory..."
"Even if it kills him!"
"For now, just take a moment and show your adoration for General Sephiroth!"
"And a local florist."
XXX XXX XX
Since there were other people in the tournament than just the two of them, Aerith and Sephiroth were shuffled off to an utterly unremarkable waiting room. There they sat on on creaky folding chairs, waiting for their next match to begin.
"So, is this what 'normal' is like for you? Not competing in an underground fighting tournament, but the way people are cheering for you like the greatest thing since sliced bread?" Aerith abruptly asked him once they were seated.
Sephiroth turned his eyes towards the ceiling, but that only bought him a few seconds of reprieve in the end. For some strange reason, he was unable to simply throw up a wall of icy silence and ignore the question.
"Yes." He sighed. "Yes, this exactly what my life used to be like before I left Shinra. Multitudes screaming my name, utterly enraptured by the world's most efficient butcher."
To her credit, Aerith didn't ask any followup questions... Which made it all the stranger that he felt a perverse itch at the back of his mind that he could only scratch by voicing another thought.
"It's a small mercy, but thanks to our last-minute enrollment, at least the Silver Elite didn't have time to buy up all the tickets."
"Wait, the Silver Elite? I think I've heard of them… weren't they that crazy fan-club that was started when you were like… five?" Aerith interjected, her voice filled with contempt.
"Three!" Sephiroth spat in a mixture of exasperation and derision.
"Just to be clear, I was never a member."
"I never thought you were." He assured her.
XXX XXX XXX
Sephiroth and Aerith had were eventually called back to their next arena for their next match.
"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, and let us remind you, your eyes do not deceive you!"
"Standing before you is the seemingly unstoppable Silver General who made his return to Midgar with a splash!"
"And a 'slash' as well for that matter! Even as we speak the judges are trying to find more precise clocks to measure how fast he can defeat his foes!"
"We'd tell him to slow down and give you a better show, but this isn't about the show…."
"It's about THE CARNAGE!"
"Which is exactly what you're about to see unleashed for your entertainment!"
"Their opponents, reavers of the scrapyard, thieves and killers through and through! Too criminal for common criminals, the worst of the worst!
"Check your pockets, because they may have already robbed you blind!"
"The most contemptible sons of bitches this side of Wall Market, Beck's Badasses!"
The doors at the opposite end of the arena opened and a familiar trio emerged.
Just like that Sephiroth's spirits lifted; and his feelings of preemptive guilt were banished by schadenfreude.
"Hey it's those guys." Aerith giggled.
"Hey boss, it's that silver haired guy who kicked our asses!" The chubby bandit 'helpfully' noted.
"And froze us in gigantic ice cubes." The other minion chimed in.
"That's cause he's nothing but a low down scum suckin' cheat. He bushwacked us before we could properly ambush him!" Beck shot right back. "So I hope you weren't thinking that what you did to us is gonna remain a cold case!"
"I thought a cold case was what you called it when you got twenty four bottles right out of the fridge?" The fat bandit interrupted.
"No you idiot, not a cold case of beers, a cold case!"
"What's the difference?" The lanky one seemed to be every bit as confused as his chubby compatriot.
Before the argument could proceed any further, the doors through which the bandits had entered opened again.
Five more men strolled into the arena, each of them carrying a firearm of some kind.
They didn't look to be any more combat trained or disciplined than Beck and his two companions, but you didn't need a lot of training or discipline to shoot a florist.
"And who are these unscrupulous-looking gentlemen?" It seemed the announcers had noticed the ruffian's reinforcements as well.
"It would seem that there are actually eight members of Beck's Badasses!"
"Eight on two, really? Isn't this against the rules?" Aerith protested.
"The only rule here is that there are no rules! If Corneo says it's okay, then you gotta suck it up!" Beck taunted her.
There was a playful chime and a screen on the side of the arena now depicted a cartoon caricature of Don Corneo enthusiastically holding up a sign with "OK" on it.
It would seem that Wall Market's ruler had decided to try and make this match interesting by discovering if a handful of gunmen would be able to mow down an innocent woman before Sephiroth inevitably won. The fights might not be to the death… but somehow Sephiroth doubted any of those firearms were loaded with rubber bullets.
"I've got enough zip ties for all of you. Don't do anything that makes me think twice about using them." Sephiroth warned the new arrivals, hoping his legend could accomplish a feat even his legendary skills might not quite be up to.
"The odds are overwhelmingly stacked against them!" The announcers gloated.
"This could be a real bloodbath! So I implore you, ladies and gentlemen—don't look away, or you may miss the best part!"
"The second match of the Corneo Cup's semifinals...begins now!" At the word "now" their platform began to sink back into the floor.
XXX XXX XXX
Aerith had heard the sound of gunfire before, just like everyone else who grew up in Lower Midgar. What she hadn't heard was quite so many rounds being fired off quite so nearby; there was only one event in her life that could possibly be its equal, and she was glad her memories of it were hazy enough to prevent an in-depth comparison...
The five men with guns weren't her problem though, the three original members of Beck's Badasses currently advancing on her with various melee weapons were.
"Not so tough without your silver haired boyfriend to do all the fighting are you girle?" The lanky subordinate one cackled.
That was when Aerith realized exactly how she could beat these three without even needing to use Sephiroth's materia. Why waste all her energy now when she could conserve it for the final round?
"He's not my boyfriend, in fact I'm not even sure that he feels philia for me, let alone eros." Aerith answered truthfully, glad that Elmyra had insisted on her having as robust an education as you could get in Lower Midgar.
"I'll teach you to say we're in eros!" The short member barked back as he advanced with his cutlas.
"Not in 'error' you idiot, in eros! It means flowery romantic love." Their leader scoffed.
"I'm pretty sure that's ludus. Eros is love so dramatic and passionate you loose control of yourself." Aerith correct.
"That can't be right, because Eros is the same as Cupid..." Beck grumbled, now obviously more interested in the argument than perforating Aerith's flesh.
"You mean the little kid with the wings and the bow and arrow?" The lanky one chimed in.
"That's right. When Midgar conquered Kalm we stole all their gods and gave them new names; except for Apollo, we just call kept calling him Apollo. So why would they depict the god of dramatic passionate love as a baby?"
"Because modern society chooses to whitewash and infantilize the acts of a god who intentionally caused mischief and suffering by making people fall in love against their will." A baritone voice answered.
"Thanks." Beck accepted the new information with a polite glance back towards the one who had supplied it.
He returned his attention to Aerith and managed to keep it there for a few moments before the proverbial gil coin dropped.
Beck took another look back confirming what he'd seen the first time.
The other five members of Becks Badasses were all currently laying on the ground their hands bound by zip ties, and an irritated General Sephiroth was standing directly behind him.
"Charlie horse!" Beck groaned before collapsing to the ground and flailing his limbs around pathetically.
"Richard goat!"
"Harry cow!"
His two teammates joined him on the ground of their own volition with equally enthusiastic shows of "pain" and inability to continue fighting.
XXX XXX XXX
With another victory under their belts Sephiroth and Aerith headed back to waiting room until the final match began. This time though they discovered that it was already occupied.
"No, I'm not mad at you guys; you did the best you could." Insisted a familiar looking man as he spoke to a pair of large red and black skinned dogs.
As the sound of a door opening drew his attention, Aerith abruptly noticed something different about him that she couldn't let pass in silence.
"Didn't you used to have only one eye?" She couldn't help but wonder aloud.
"No, I used to be wearing an eyepatch; I leave it up to the audience to decide how many eyes I have." The Beastmaster noted, perhaps a touch smugly.
Then he slowly brought his eyes up to meet Sephiroth's own.
"By the way… I wasn't gonna be so crass as to ask in the ring but can I get an autograph? My kids aren't gonna believe their daddy was lucky enough to get his ass kicked by Sephiroth himself."
The Beastmaster certainly had an interesting definition of "lucky".
When he produced a piece of pen and paper from the pockets of his outfit, Sephiroth reluctantly scrawled his name on it just to to avoid being pestered further.
"Didn't these two… almost kill somebody?" While Sephiroth didn't worry about the animals in question, Aerith had made a point to keep her distance.
The Beastmaster chuckled, pulling the whistle he'd used in the arena out and spun it around for emphasis.
"You've got more to fear from your average alley mongrel than these two. They're trained to go for restraint holds so that I can put my dagger to somebody's throat and force them to surrender. Anyway, Kyle is a bit more than just 'somebody', he's been my hype-man for close to a year now. Didn't have a pretty enough face to be in pictures, but he sure can sell fear and terror to an audience can't he?" The Beastmaster chuckled.
Suspicion warred with outrage on Aerith's face.
"Wait, how much of this is even real?"
"The fights are real as can be; but people don't just come for the fights, they come to see a show, so that's what we give 'em. Heat fills seats, y'know?"
XXX XXX XXX
Once more Sephiroth and Aerith were summoned to the arena.
Once more Don Corneo's heralds were there to further inflame the crowd's enthusiasm.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our time together is almost over!"
"Tonight's thrilling Corneo Cup, filled with unprecedented upsets and drama, has only one match to go!"
There were cries of disappointment and derision from all sides.
"We know, it's simply heartbreaking to think that this must be the end of the road. But ladies and gentlemen, all good things must come to an end! So let's celebrate by getting so damn loud, they'll hear us up on the Plate!
"Once more, in the red corner, we have that powerhouse pair who we can always depend on to bring the thrills..."
"Not to mention icy chills!"
"To our arena! He's big, he's wearing black, and tonight he's BACK, SEPHIROTH!"
"SEPHIROTH I LOVE YOU, MARRY ME!" One of his countless interchangeable "fans" screeched.
Sephiroth rolled his eyes, wishing he hadn't already heard that more times than even he could count.
"Wow… I'm sorry."
"... Thank you. It does get old."
"And competing alongside him, the only woman who could match his magical might; when she's not planting flowers she's planting her foes... SIX, FEET, UNDER!"
"Give it up for, A, LO-CAL, FLOR-IST!"
"I told them what my name was; if we win the tournament, will they finally start using it?" Aerith grumbled.
"That's right, they quashed their opposition in the quarter finals, they smashed them in the semis, but do they truly have what it takes to go all the way? Because in the blue corner, they're going up against the five-time winners of the Corneo Cup! Murder machines with countless kills to their names!
"Along with a handful of maimings."
"The deadly duo that takes out the trash, with a vengeance!"
"The electric executioners... Chocobo Sam's champions... Cutty and Sweepy!"
"Come on out!"
The doors on the other end of the arena opened, and a pair of heavily modified Shinra "urban pacification" robots emerged.
"Guess they couldn't find anyone human who'd dare face us." Aerith chuckled as she sized up the two massive machines, each twice Sephiroth's height.
Sephiroth wished he could have shared her enthusiasm. Robots had a lot of vulnerabilities, but there was no way he'd be able to intimidate them into taking it easy on Aerith. This was going to come down to raw strength and skill.
"Just make sure to keep your wits about you."
The obvious strategy was to get up close to the machine with built in canons while keeping his distance from the one possessing a pair of whirling buzzsaw arms, but they might have hidden secondary weapons designed for exactly that situation.
"Who will walk away with the one million gil prize!? Get ready for a fight guaranteed to go down in history!"
"The final match of the Corneo Cup...begins now!"
The announcers sank into the floor and the battle began.
Rockets built into the robots' feet fired and they slid across the ground toward Sephiroth and Aerith with the deceptive 'unmoving' speed of flowing lava.
A spinning blade larger than Sephiroth's torso plunged towards him, but the blow never landed. He circled around the descending arm and severed it at the elbow with a single upward stroke of Masamune, leaving him well out of reach of the sidesweep from the truncated limb.
A living creature would likely have succumbed to shock at that point, but the modified sweeper simply turned and thrust its other saw-tipped limb at him. A textbook downward chop severed that limb, as well, with a slight flick of Masamune sending the still-spinning sawblade skittering away across the ground.
At which point Cutty zoomed backwards, while its grill began to glow ominously red.
Deprived of its two main weapons, the machine let loose with a continuous blast of flame from the very center of its body.
Sephiroth didn't bother to dodge; instead, he countered with a howling cascade of ice borne on freezing winds.
The two opposing elements collided in a billowing cloud of steam and fog. Whatever mechanical process fueled Cutty's flames ran out well before Sephiroth's magic did; while its flames guttered and died, Sephiroth's mystical blizzard continued, sweeping over the robot and bringing it to a hoarfrosted halt.
A single slash later, two chunks of frozen metal dropped to the floor. Sephiroth couldn't intimidate machines, but he had no reservations about destroying them.
That was when he heard the sound of cannons firing. As Sephiroth spun around he reminded himself that it was a promising sound, Sweepy wouldn't be shooting if Aerith was already dead. She'd already held out this long, so she could do it another five seconds.
He felt a ghost of a grin tug at his mouth when he registered exactly what the machine was unloading on: Sweepy's ammunition hoppers were fruitlessly emptying into a rock wall that had to be least a foot thick. The arena may have lacked any useful cover against gunfire, but that hadn't stopped Aerith from making her own.
To his surprise Aerith wasn't looking at the robot currently shooting at her, or at least at the rock wall between her and said robot. Instead, she caught his gaze long enough to wink at him before slamming her staff into the ground. "Quakara!"
Impossibly tiny ripples that Sephiroth could "feel" more than see raced out from where her staff had struck. They crossed the distance between her and the robot, at which point a gigantic stalagmite erupted from the floor impaling Sweepy with enough force to lift it clear off the ground.
The murderous machine's weapons abruptly fell silent as it produced a massive shower of sparks and smoke.
Then it exploded.
"And with that marvelous bit of magic our former champions are cast down from their throne! Taking their place as the undisputed masters of mayhem are our brand new twin titans of the tussle, SEPHIROTH AND AERITH!"
Sephiroth wondered if he should congratulate the florist on having gotten her wish.
XXX XXX XXX
The pair had been told to return to the waiting room and that their sponsor would come to see them once she was done collecting their winnings.
Sephiroth was just glad to have been able to get through the tournament without killing anyone. While he was taking a moment to quietly bask in their victory, Aerith was babbling happily. Clearly the florist was flush with the post victory euphoria he'd seen many first time combatants experience.
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But...you two still have one fight left." Announced Madam M as she entered the waiting room.
"What."
Sephiroth had taken the inclusion of trained beasts, additional fighters, and killer robots in stride. This, however was cheating so blatant that even he found it objectionable.
"But we already won!" Unsurprisingly, Aerith shared his dim view of the ruling.
"Oh yes, you won. You won, and you won, and you won. Do you know the best way for the house to make money on betting?" Madam M abruptly inquired.
"Take a percentage of all bets?" Sephiroth guessed.
"Fudge the numbers and charge a processing fee so a winning bet doesn't pay out any more than it puts up?" Aerith added helpfully.
"Close, but not quite. This is the best way for the house to make money." Madam M countered as she handed over a betting slip to Sephiroth.
It was a 100 gil bet that Sephiroth and Aerith would defeat Cutty and Sweepy. Its payout was 101 gil.
Sephiroth looked at the ticket and then back at Madam M, not sure what she was getting at.
"So where's the profit?"
"People need to turn their tickets in to get their winnings. Given how many bets were placed on you before the final match, there should have been a flood of people turning in winning tickets. Instead, there was only a trickle. It seems many of our gamblers have decided that they'd be happier keeping their tickets, and letting the house keep their wager."
"That's, that's..." Aerith began to work herself up into a fine fury at the idea that people might bet, win, and yet still leave with lighter pockets.
"That's their choice. It's not our fault if people prefer a 100 gil souvenir that proves they saw Sephiroth fight over 101 gil of the house's money. Wall Market is built on the principle that a good transaction leaves everyone happy.
So, as you might be able to guess, that greedy scum-sucking piece of shit festering asshole who runs the tournament has decided to extend it an extra round!" Madam M began to stomp her feet and briefly looked tempted to hurl her fan clear across the room.
"So, in return for fighting an additional round we'll be getting?" Sephiroth pressed, tapping a foot on the floor in irritation.
"A favor from me, something beyond the dress. Corneo makes the rules down here, so the rest of us just have to try and make the best of it."
Sephiroth sighed heavily; he'd been able to handle everything this tournament had thrown at him so far. How much worse could one more round really be?
XXX XXX XXX
It was a house.
Don Corneo expected Sephiroth and Aerith to fight a house.
General Sephiroth was now expected to fight a living house in front of a cheering crowd of onlookers so that a woman he barely knew would be able to afford a dress... He prided himself on being a fast learner, but the damndest part was that he couldn't figure where he'd gone wrong.
End Chapter.
AN: We were originally going to have Sephiroth and Aerith just enter through the lobby like in the remake, but my editor/co-writer Fenrir reminded me that we're trying to have everyone act just a little bit smart in this story. So, instead they have a separate entrance for the "talent" to keep them from possibly getting mobbed by fans.
According to Crisis Core the Silver Elite club was started "twenty years" ago, which given when the game takes place means Sephiroth would have been roughly three years at the time. Granted, said club was most likely started by Hojo, so draw your own conclusions. Suffice to say, Sephiroth is probably very thankful that he has superhuman speed, it makes it easier to outrun screaming groupies.
The unredeemed winning tickets with Sephiroth's name on them are intended to be a reference to similar tickets that resulted from the 1973 Belmont Stakes, where over 5,000 people bet that Secretariat would win, but never actually bothered to cash their winning tickets, instead keeping them as souvenirs/proof of what they'd seen. Which to be fair, was a victory of Sephirothic proportions.
Also, here's a variation of the Beck and friend's interaction that my Fenrir felt was a little too reliant upon real world historical figures to work, but I liked enough to include as an omake…
"That was a violation of the Marquees of Queensberry Rules, and he knows it!" The bandit leader further accused Sephiroth.
"Wasn't he that guy who liked to beat people up in his bedroom?" The fat bandit interrupted.
"No you idiot, that's was Marques De Sade!"
"Why are so many fancy people named 'Markus'? It's a stupid name!"
Oh, also before you go, if you haven't already please check out Belderiver's story Wars Waged In Us which you can find here /works/24984004/chapters/60487456, it makes a lovely unintentional foil to Twilight Perfected, being an Aeriseph story that involves a version of Sephiroth who winds up siding with Avalanche, but for completely different reasons….