FORTY-EIGHT

Me and Aerith went really fast down the road while the helicopter flew right behind us and above us. Its lights were bright and white, and they stayed on us as we drove away from Sector 7. Even though I was a little scared and I didn't know where we were going, I knew that Aerith wouldn't let those Shinra people get me.

When the road split, we went left, and it went through a lot of junk piles before we got to a big wall. There was an old, open gate in it, and I held onto the vase and Jessie's flower as we rode through it. We came to another part of the slums, and the helicopter was still following us. As I rode with Aerith, I looked up at it sometimes.

After a while, we followed the road into an empty scrapyard, and I saw lights far away. They were from another town like Sector 7, and we drove right through it. Aerith said it was Sector 5. The helicopter went away and started going down, maybe to land somewhere while we kept going. We passed a big long house with benches in front of it and went onto a narrow trail that turned a lot.

We finally came to a nice house with lots of flowers growing across the big yard. It had bridges and a waterfall and was really pretty. When we got in front of the house, Aerith stopped the motorcyle and turned it off. Then she got off and helped me down, too. She gently picked me up and put my feet on the little stone path.

"Is this your house?" I asked.

Aerith smiled. "Yep! You're gonna stay here for a little while. Don't worry, Marlene. We'll let your daddy know that you're here just as soon as we can so he knows where you are, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay!"

Then we went in her house. It was really nice, with more flowers, a table, chairs, and some stairs in the back. When Aerith closed the door behind us and leaned her staff against the wall, an older lady in a green dress and a nice white apron came downstairs to see us. She went over and hugged Aerith and then looked at me while I stood there and held the flower and vase I had brought with me.

"I'm so glad you're back, Aerith," she said. "Although I'm not happy that you snuck out. But anyway, who's this?"

Aerith put her hand on my shoulder. "Her name's Marlene. I told a friend I'd take her someplace safe. You've heard about Sector 7, right? It used to be her home, but now…"

The lady nodded. "I understand. I saw the news."

"Shinra's doing it, though. Not Avalanche, no matter what the news reports say. Avalanche is trying to save everyone. Cloud's one of them. So's Tifa, the girl who asked me to take care of Marlene. I promised her I would. So that's why she's here."

"Did you run into the Turks?" the lady asked.

Aerith let go of me. "You could say that. Had a short little chat with Tseng. I got away when he tried to bring me in, but I think he followed me here. It's… about that time, Mom."

Her mom sighed. "I always knew this day would come…"

"So did I," Aerith said. "But I won't let them take Marlene. And if it means that I have to go back, then… I will."

"Aerith…" her mom looked at her.

She smiled. "It'll be alright, Mom. Cloud'll come save me. He's still my bodyguard, after all. I won't be gone long. But in the meantime, will you take care of Marlene for me?"

"Of course," her mom said. "You know that."

Then Aerith got down in front of me. "Marlene, my mom's gonna look after you while I'm gone. Her name's Elmyra."

"Where are you going, Aerith?" I asked.

"Nowhere you need to worry about, sweetie," she said.

Just then, the door opened behind us. Aerith stood up, and we saw the man with black hair and a blue suit standing there. He was the one she had called Tseng. There were two soldiers from Shinra behind him. I stepped closer to Aerith.

"You've led us on a merry chase, Aerith," he said.

She frowned. "Tseng."

He held up his hand. "Before you say anything, be aware that your options are quite limited. Speak carefully."

"How about… we make a deal?" Aerith asked.


"Is that everyone?" I asked.

Wedge nodded. "Just about. Still a few stragglers, but we can move 'em along as we go, Lena."

I looked back through the gate as I stood on the road. It was pretty empty now, just a couple more people coming through. Not nearly the whole population of Sector 7, but it was all we could do. Biggs wasn't in any shape to help with the evacuation, so I had handed him over to our friend Katie to make sure he got out safely.

Katie was about my age, and she kept her brown hair tied up in the back. Biggs and Wedge knew her better than I did since she worked to track how many monsters the watch took out every day, but I'd met her a few times. She was energetic, to say the least.

It hadn't been a hard sell to get Katie to give us a hand, and so she'd gladly helped Biggs limp down the road toward Sector 6. Thanks to the potions and spells that Tifa must've used, his bleeding had stopped, but he was still in rough shape. I had told her to get him to the Leaf House in Sector 5 and that we'd meet them there.

"Guess we oughta get going, then," I said.

He gazed up at the top of the pillar. "You think they'll be okay?"

I looked at it with him. "You bet. Cloud, Tifa, and Barret… they're all strong. And Jessie's up there, too."

"Yeah, you're right," Wedge said. "They—"

"Wedge?" I asked.

His eyes widened. "My babies! I've gotta go back for 'em!"

My jaw dropped. "What!? Are you serious?"

"Just go on, I'll catch up!" Wedge said, running toward town.

I hurried after him. "No way! I'm not leaving you!"

Most people probably would've called us crazy for risking our lives to save his cats, but I knew how much they meant to him. And what he meant to me. Where he went, I would follow. Although we'd only been seeing each other for about six weeks or so, we'd known each other and been friends for a lot longer, even if he had been adorably shy during a lot of that time. And he had the biggest heart.

The heat hit us first as we raced down the street, followed by all the smoke swirling around. I coughed, blinking as it stung my eyes. Debris was everywhere, and a lot of buildings were on fire. I hated seeing this place coming apart. It was like a second home to me, and I knew it had to be worse on Wedge. But we kept going, hurrying as fast as we could until we skidded to a stop outside Seventh Heaven. It was burning, and not all the tears in my eyes came from the smoke.

"No…" Wedge breathed.

I blinked and pointed. "Look!"

Ahead of us in the yard just outside the bar, a guy wearing a purple SOLDIER uniform was fighting half a dozen Shinra soldiers along with a squad of at least that many grunts. Four of those eyeball plant things that Jessie had called monodrives swarmed around him, too. It looked like he'd already taken out a few other soldiers—their bodies were lying sprawled out across the ground—but he was still badly outnumbered. I wasn't sure if even a SOLDIER could hold out against odds like that for long. As I drew my gun, I looked at Wedge.

"That's the SOLDIER that went to help Aerith, right?" I said. "The one you told me about? We've gotta help him!"

Wedge nodded. "Right! Come on!"

He had retrieved his own weapon earlier, and while he sprayed the grunts with lead and fire, I focused on the monodrives, taking out two of them with a few quick shots before the others even realized we were there. The other two were trickier, though. Once they detected us, they darted about back and forth, making it harder for me to aim. I dove to the side when they started shooting bursts of flame at me, but I still got a little singed. I came up shooting, though, catching one of those pesky things as I did. It blew apart a second later.

When I went to fire at the last one, though, all I got was a bunch of clicks as the chamber went empty. I was out of ammo, and that was my last clip. I had left home in such a hurry that I hadn't brought as much with me as I should have. After holstering my gun—Jessie had modded it for me after we'd first met a few years ago, giving it a bigger magazine capacity and a faster rate of fire, so I didn't want to lose it—I raised my fists and braced myself to fight up close.

Biggs had taught me the basics over the years, and I'd done a lot of practicing on my own as well. I knew I couldn't hold a candle to Tifa or Jessie, but I wasn't helpless, either. I'd taken out wererats and hedgehog pies before as part of Sector 5's neighborhood watch. And I knew that I could hold my own. When the last monodrive swooped down at me, I slammed it with a few quick punches that sent it flying across the yard and into the ground in a smoking heap.

By then, Wedge had dispatched half the grunts, and the SOLDIER was holding his own against the rest of the Shinra troops—looked like he'd taken down two more. That still left four more, though. Blue bolts of energy flew past me as one of the remaining grunts fired at me, but I dove aside just in time. When it swiped its claws at me, I ducked under the reach of its arms and hit it in the jaw with a rising uppercut. It flew onto its back and didn't get up.

I had barely taken a single step when suddenly I lurched backward as somebody grabbed me from behind, and before I knew it, there was a rifle being pressed against my throat. I thrashed and tried to cry out, but I couldn't breathe. Whoever it was was trying to choke me. I fought to pull the gun off me, but the guy's grip was like iron.

"Lena!" I heard Wedge yell.

Spots swam in front of me, and I was starting to feel faint. With the last of my strength, I drove my elbow as hard into the soldier's stomach as I could. He groaned, his grip loosening just a little, and then I heard a roar that sounded like Wedge. The next thing I knew, the soldier was torn off me, the gun flying away, and suddenly I could breathe again. I gasped, sinking to my hands and knees, and took in the air in big gulps as I saw Wedge pouncing on the guy.

"You!" I snarled, recognizing the soldier. "You were at the gate! You nearly got us all killed, you bastard!"

He glared at me as he fought. "No one crosses me!"

I'd barely straightened up when I heard another soldier coming for me, but this time I was ready. I spun around and kicked him square in the chest, and he staggered backward just in time to get hit with a blast of cold from the SOLDIER in purple. Then I went to help Wedge, who was still struggling with that idiot who had refused to open the gate to let everyone out. I was smaller than him, but Wedge was doing a good job keeping him distracted.

They were rolling in the dirt, punching and grabbing at each other, and when the soldier managed to get on top, I rushed in and drove my foot into his side in a short, sharp kick to his ribs. He flew off of Wedge and crashed to the ground a few feet away near his rifle. I ran toward it to kick it away, but he got to it first, grabbed it, and spun around with a grin on his face as he got to his feet and aimed it at me. I froze, my eyes on the barrel not two feet away.

"No one disobeys my orders!" he snarled. "I—"

He never finished, because a sizzling orange fireball suddenly tore into him from the side, throwing him across the street into the flaming wreck of what had once been a shop. The soldier crashed right through the broken wall with a startled shout that was abruptly cut off when he hit the ground hard and collapsed.

I turned to see the SOLDIER in purple lowering his arm as Wedge got up. While we'd been busy fighting the guy from the gate, our friend had taken care of the rest. He hurried over to us, concern on his face as he shouldered his sword. I saw he had a few cuts and scratches on him, and there was a bloody splotch on his right side.

"You okay?" he asked us.

I nodded. "We're fine, but… what about you?"

He smiled, waving off my worry. "Took a shot or two, but they just grazed me. It's nothing serious."

"Here," I took a potion from my pocket.

The SOLDIER looked at me. "You sure? Looks like you've got a few scrapes there yourself."

I nodded. "Call it a thank you. For saving my life."

"Anytime," he said, taking the potion. "You helped me, too."

Wedge joined us. "Couldn't let you handle all those guys alone. Oh, and by the way, Aerith managed to escape. She and Marlene oughta be in Sector 5 by now. Thought you'd wanna know."

"Thanks," the SOLDIER said. "It's Wedge, right?"

"Yeah, and this is Lena," he introduced us.

The SOLDIER drank the potion I'd given him. "Good to meet you. Name's Kunsel. What are you still doing here?"

I looked at Wedge. "We're… looking for someone."

"Need any help?" Kunsel asked.

"No, we're good," Wedge shook his head. "It's not too far from here. But thanks anyway. You should get going."

He nodded. "Alright. You two better hurry."

I smiled. "We will. Good luck!"

"Oh, I almost forgot," Kunsel said. "There's a tunnel right down the street. It leads all the way to Sector 6, so if you can't get back to the gate after you find your friend, then head over there."

"Will do!" I promised.

Kunsel waved. "Thanks again for the backup."

I lifted my hand. "Anytime. I—"

The whirring sound of a helicopter suddenly cut me off, and we all looked to see one slowly descending not too far away, the wind from its rotors blowing around us and ruffling our clothes and hair. I narrowed my eyes when I saw the Shinra logo. Once the chopper had landed, the pilot opened his door and stepped outside.

I stiffened right away when I saw the dark blue suit. He was a Turk, bald and bearded, with a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes. And his co-pilot was also a Turk. I looked past Baldy to see the other guy sitting in the chopper watching us coldly. His hair was long and black. Kunsel moved in front of us, drawing his sword, but we weren't gonna let him fight alone. Wedge and I stood by him.


Barret was yelling and firing at the Shinra chopper when we finally got to the platform. It let loose with a stream of bullets as it swept past, and I ducked behind a line of cylindrical power generators for cover as Cloud did the same, Jessie held firmly in his arms. She was injured but alive, and I intended for her to stay that way. Cloud had saved her, just as I'd known he would, and now all that was left was to take her over to the control console and buy her enough time to shut it down. It wasn't gonna be easy, but we'd get it done.

"Tifa!?" Barret shouted, only half-turning as he kept firing. "Damn am I glad to see ya, but you better get your ass behind cover! Chopper's gonna chew you up, girl!"

I stood with my back against the generators. "Loud n' clear, Barret! We're more than ready for it!"

He paused. "You got Spike with ya?"

"Yeah," Cloud said. "Sounds like you're still kicking."

"Damn right! I ain't dyin' that easy! Leadin' man's gotta stay 'till the end. Right up 'till the credits roll."

Cloud didn't miss a beat. "I intend to."

Barret snickered. "Smartass…"

"Looks like the chopper's moving away," I said.

It flew just out of range and started circling around the pillar. Some of Barret's shots had come pretty close, and I saw that a few had nicked the chopper's hull. Shinra was probably regrouping, but they'd be back soon. And we had to be ready. They were sure to try getting over to the console soon, maybe on their next pass.

"Yeah," Barret agreed. "They come an' go. You run into Jessie down there? Thought you was her at first."

I swallowed. "Yeah, we found her. She…"

He finally turned around to look at us, and when he saw Jessie, his jaw fell open and he hurried over to see her. "Jessie! Goddamn! What'd them Shinra bastards do to ya!?"

"Had me a… little disagreement with a chopper…" Jessie said. "But I took it out. Almost… did me in, though. Cloud… saved me. Right in the nick of… time. He really is… my hero."

Barret took her hand. "We gonna get you outta this, girl. You hear? That's a promise. Jus' leave it to us."

Jessie smiled. "Thanks. Told ya I'd… catch up."

"That you did, Jessie," he said.

"Although… this wasn't exactly… what I had I mind." she smirked. "But I got 'em, Barret. I… got 'em all."

He grinned. "Never doubted it, girl. You done good."

"Barret, I…" Jessie started.

"I know," he said. "We'll talk later, awright? Got some things I need to tell ya. But we got work to do now."

She nodded. "Yeah. We do. Let's… get it done."

"Chopper's coming back," Cloud said, gazing past us.

Barret and I turned to see it flying straight for the platform, rotors whirring as it flew closer. My eyes narrowed, and after we exchanged a determined nod, we hurried toward the console. It was built right into the pillar itself—a large, flat monitor with a wide control panel below it and a forest of cables and pipes connected to it. Above it, the immense bulk of the upper pillar rose all the way to the plate.

Then I knew what the two men Barret and I had seen climbing up here early this afternoon had been doing. They must've reprogrammed the console and set up the detonator so the Turks could trigger it later. My fists clenched at the thought of it as I rushed across the platform. It wasn't gonna happen. I wouldn't let it. The chopper hovered next to the platform, and the co-pilot's door slid open.

"Here he comes," I said.

A man in a dark blue suit leaped out of the chopper and landed on the other side of the platform. He had bright red hair in a thin tail, and his shirt and jacket were unbuttoned at the top. He watched us with icy blue eyes below his dark goggles, and he had a steel nightstick grasped in one hand. At first, he just stood there and sneered at us as we ran for the console. We'd surely get there before he did.

But then there was a flash of pale blue light around him. He moved so fast I barely saw him. One moment he was standing by the chopper, utterly nonchalant. And in the next, he was at the console, just a blur of motion cutting across our path. We all stopped short as he quickly put in a series of commands, his fingers tapping the keys one after another as the display lit up, black with flashing red letters. But then, the screen flickered, going in and out as static swept across it and the text became a garbled and distorted mess.

"The hell's this shit?" Reno swore. "Interference? What jerk's stupid enough to try jammin' us?"

"Havin' a little trouble there?" Barret quipped.

He glared at him. "Only be a second, pops! Just sit tight!"

I didn't know who or what was messing up Reno's attempts to turn on the detonator, but I didn't care. It was helping us, and that was what mattered. His hands flew over the control panel, but whatever he tried to do didn't seem to be helping. The monitor flashed and blinked like a slideshow gone mad as text flew across it.

"Shit…" Reno said to himself. "Nothin's ever easy, is it?"

"You!" Cloud blinked.

"Oh, right," the Turk snickered. "If it isn't Mr. First Class himself. I remember you. First Class asshole…"

Barret whipped up his gun-arm. "Step away! Now!"

The Turk scoffed. "Or what, big boy?"

Barret growled and fired, but the Turk moved way too fast, darting up to him, smacking him across the shoulder with his nightstick, then flitting back to the console in less than a heartbeat. How could we beat a guy like that? How could we possibly keep up with him? There had to be a way, but I had no idea what it could be.

"Stand still!" Barret snarled.

"Get in my way and I'll run you the hell over, bitch!" the Turk shot back. "Reno of the Turks don't stop for no one!"

Then he took something out of his suit pocket and slapped it onto the console. It looked like a device of some kind. Small, squarish, black metal. The end lit up with a red light, and then Reno tapped several of the keys in quick succession before we could stop him. At first, nothing happened, but a moment later, the monitor cleared up and returned to normal. I gasped in dismay as he laughed, slipped his little device back into his pocket, and input more commands. Then an automated female voice spoke as the words appeared on screen.

"Authorization code accepted. Detonation sequence armed. Awaiting final confirmation to engage."

"Yeah, yeah…" the Turk muttered. "I'm comin', baby."

I started toward him. "You can't!"

He glanced at us. "Too late, sister. One touch of a button and that'll be all she wrote. Fireworks time. Someone thought they'd be clever and try to frag the system, but they don't know the Turks very well. We ain't just pretty faces. And we come prepared."

Cloud gently set Jessie down. "Wait here. We'll handle this."

"Be careful," she said.

"Always am," he smirked, drawing his sword.

Reno snickered. "Still bein' the hero, Mr. First Class? Guess I'll just have to put a stop to that."

"Try it," Cloud challenged, glaring at him.

As the chopper lifted off, I raised my fists, ready to kick Reno's ass right off the platform. Cloud and Barret were at my side, and we didn't back down as Reno flicked a switch on his nightstick and brandished it with a flair. It hummed with electricity, and while I knew this would be a tough fight, I pushed my doubts away and focused on what we had to do. This was a battle I intended to win.