THIRTY-ONE

The underground section of the storehouse shook around us as the black metal guard scorpion opened fire. I spun right, using the motion to start a chain of quick jabs into its side while Barret fed bullets into it, Lena did the same, and Red shocked it with a sizzling fork of lightning, sending smoke into the air and blowing off a few panels in a shower of sparks. My own blows hadn't made much of a dent so far, but I couldn't let up. I wouldn't. This thing had to go down.

"Keep it up with that lightnin', Red!" Barret called. "Cloud said the thing's insides could be overloaded."

Red unleashed another blast of electricity. "On it!"

I glanced at Barret. "Any other ideas?"

"Don't get killed," he snorted.

"I think I can manage that," I quipped.

As if to emphasize my point, I drove a pair of diving kicks into the scorpion's body, then backflipped away before it could retaliate, leaving it shooting at the floor where I'd just been. Then, while Lena fired blast after blast from her gun while circling around the mech, I unloaded on it with a burst of magical fire from my materia—I'd swapped mine with Aerith's this morning, wanting to try something else besides the Ice I'd been using, and she'd been happy to give me the Fire materia. I liked it so far, and I could see why Barret did, too.

The flames blazed brightly across the scorpion's metal skin, frying wires and driving it back, and although it didn't pack quite as much of a punch as Red's lightning, it still did plenty of damage. Barret added a large blast from his gun-arm, the searing orange fireball slamming into the mech's body with a bang. But we all knew it wasn't gonna go down so easily. It shuddered but held, and then it jumped up past the rail and clung to a nearby wall like a giant spider.

"Better watch out, guys!" Barret called. "Incomin'!"

We understood what he meant right away when the scorpion fired a volley of missiles straight at us. Barret immediately grabbed Lena and dove aside with her while Red and I sprang out of the way and a series of explosions tore into the platform just behind us. And as if to remind us of our situation, the whole complex rumbled again as a fiery orange glow began to sweep through the cluster of equipment and machinery below the platform. We didn't have much time.

Since the scorpion was still on the wall out of range, I sent another blast of magical fire into it while Red hit it with more lightning. Barret and Lena poured bullets into it as well in a steady stream. The scorpion held, damaged but not down yet, and jumped back toward us, spinning through the air to land squarely in front us, its tail up and glowing with a bright, wicked blue light. As Barret had told us, there wasn't much we could use for cover, just a few crates of supplies.

Red and I skidded behind them just as the scorpion fired, the tip of its tail pulsing with energy for only a few seconds before it unleashed a searing, bluish-white laser beam that swept across the platform. Barret managed to dart up the ramp toward the monster storage area to avoid it, but Lena wasn't so lucky. I watched helplessly as the blast caught her before she could get away, hurling her through the air like a rag doll to crash into the metal floor with a startled shout.

"Lena!" Barret and I yelled.

She didn't move, not at first, and I was afraid she'd been badly hurt. But then she stirred, grimacing in pain but very much alive, and rolled from her side to her back just in time to see the mech charging toward her. Lena grabbed her gun from where she'd dropped it and, while still on her back, fired again and again at the scorpion, damaging it but not slowing it down. It trained its weapons on her and prepared to trample her to death as it moved steadily closer.

I got there first, though, springing out from behind the crates in an instant and slamming my fists and feet hard into the side of the mech's body again and again while Barret let loose with a volley of devastating shots to drive it back. As Lena quickly darted out of the way, Red leapt on top of the scorpion and started clawing at the exposed circuitry, and it faltered, thrashing about and trying unsuccessfully to shake him off. But that wasn't happening. Then, with a flash and a low hum, the mech surrounded itself with some kind of energy field.

"Damn!" Barret spat. "Not this again! Take out the generator, guys! It's on the underside. Fire don't do shit, so throw as much lightnin' at it as ya can, Red. We'll back ya up."

Red jumped off. "Understood. I see it!"

We all focused our attacks on the metal hub fixed to the underside of the scorpion's body—as I found out firsthand, hitting anywhere else was pointless with the field up. My blows simply bounced off, throwing me back a few steps each time. But between my punches, Lena's bullets, Red's spells, and Barret's gunfire, the generator crumpled and exploded after only a few seconds, and the field went down.

But before we could take advantage of the scorpion's vulnerability, it started pulsing steadily, its own guns driving us back again. And then its damaged systems slowly began repairing themselves while it swung its tail at us, slamming it down again and again as it tried to swat us or impale us. I rolled aside just as it swept over me.

"Damn, an auto-repair unit!?" Lena swore, ducking under the tail. "We've gotta trash this thing fast or we're screwed!"

"Go for the legs! Cripple it!" Red said.

I didn't waste any time, hitting the scorpion's front right leg with a blazing forward somersault kick that drove a deep dent into the metal. And as soon as I'd jumped clear, Barret and Lena unleashed a volley of gunfire while Red blasted the same leg with one fork of lightning after another. It crumpled and blew apart under the onslaught, and seconds later, the scorpion collapsed to one side, knocked off balance, but none of us let up, knowing we had to end this.

"Now, while it's down!" I called to the others. "Take it out before it can get back up. Hurry! We're almost there!"

We all pressed the attack, pounding at the scorpion as much as we could. Barret and Lena fired shot after shot, bullets tearing through the exposed circuitry, as Red blew off one of the arm cannons with several blasts of lightning magic. At the same time, I hit the mech with a flurry of punches and kicks, crushing another leg and slamming panels. Then I followed it up with a rising uppercut, a focused strike to its head that left it nothing but a smashed, smoking ruin.

What was left of the scorpion staggered backward, flames pouring from it as it began to blow apart, and crashed through the railing to fall into the nest of machinery below the platform. It exploded a second or two later, pieces of it flying in every direction as plumes of dark smoke filled the room and we all took cover as best we could. The whole area glowed with orange light as the mech burned.

"Toasted his ass!" Barret laughed, pumping his fist.

Lena grinned. "We do good work!"

Red nodded as the complex continued to shake. "Agreed. However, this place isn't safe. We need to get moving, and quickly. Unless any of you would prefer to stay and feel the heat?"

"Not a chance," I said.

Barret snorted. "Hell, no! Time to haul ass, people!"

Lena holstered her gun. "Follow me!"

We did, rushing after her as she sped back toward the elevator. The rumbling grew louder as we raced through the rows of glass cylinders, the monsters inside them lurching about but unable to escape. And not very far behind us, fire swept across the platform where we'd just been, a deafening clap of thunder filling our ears as the complex began to go up. When I risked a quick glance over my shoulder, my eyes went wide at the sight of flames surging toward us.

"Tifa, come on!" Lena yelled, grabbing my arm.

I let her pull me into the elevator while Barret slammed the button over and over again until the doors slid closed, somewhat muffling the sound of shattering glass as the inferno tore through the monsters and their containers. The ride back upstairs seemed to take forever, and my eyes were glued to the level indicator. So were Lena's, I noticed, though she tried to keep up a tough front.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached the top. We sped into the bunker as soon as the doors had opened, Lena and I going first while Barret and Red followed behind. The whole place was shaking as we ran, the rumbling getting steadily louder behind us. Jagged chunks of the floor cracked and sank into a growing firestorm, taking many of the deactivated mechs along with them. Shelves collapsed with a bang, their contents disappearing into the blaze that was quickly catching up to us as we sprinted toward the door.

Red got there first, easily passing us with his four legs, and blasted it open with a shot of lightning. We all raced outside into the afternoon daylight, dashing across the small clearing as fast as we could, and dove behind the nearest mound of scrap just as the bunker exploded behind us in a huge orange fireball. But it wasn't just that. The ground, almost as far as our cover, blew apart as well. I threw my arms over my head as bits of dirt, metal, and concrete rained down all around us while Barret flattened Lena underneath him to shield her.

Once the dust had finally settled, Red looked at us from where he'd been crouching. "Well, that seems to have done it."

"Everyone awright?" Barret asked.

"A little shaken, but I'll be fine," Lena said.

I sat up slowly. "Same here. Red?"

"I am unharmed," he answered, his tail swishing around him. "And it seems that Barret is still in one piece as well."

Barret pounded his chest as he stood up and helped Lena to do the same. "'Course I am, Red! I ain't goin' down that easy! Now this is what I call makin' my exit from Midgar in style!"

Lena pumped her fist and smiled. "We did it! Guess this means I'm really part of Avalanche now, doesn't it?"

"Sure as hell does," Barret grinned, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You an' Red both. Did a damn good job today. Now let's head on back to Aerith's house an' wait for the others."

I coughed a bit on the smoke. "The sooner, the better."

Lena nodded. "Right. Road's this way."

Sweating from the heat, she led us away from the burning wreck of the storehouse. I followed just behind her with Barret and Red, wiping moisture from my face as I went along. The smoke was thick and heavy in the air around us, making it hard to see very far, and it must've been visible from half the sector away. There was no helping it, though, and I knew it would be best for us to be long gone from here before anyone from Shinra showed up to investigate.

So, our mission finished, we headed back to Sector 5.

With a roar, the behemoth charged, sending shockwaves all across the room, and it was all we could do to stay on our feet. While holding Buster with one hand, I quickly motioned with the other for Biggs and Wedge to fall back. This monster was well out of their league, and only Aerith and I stood a chance of beating it.

"Back up!" I ordered them. "Wedge, look after Tom. Biggs, get that door open, fast as you can. Your guns won't be much good against this thing, so let us handle it. Understood?"

Biggs nodded. "Kick its ass, Cloud! We got this!"

Wedge grinned. "What he said!"

"Go to it!" I told them. Then I glanced at Aerith. "Come on!"

"Right with you, bodyguard!" she said.

She spun her staff, then raised her hands above her head as a circle of sparkling pink and blue energy surrounded us before disappearing. I glanced at her, both hands on Buster now as the behemoth closed in on us, and felt a soft tingling in my skin.

"What was that?" I asked.

Aerith readied her staff. "Planet's protection. Took a while to build up, but I figured it'd come in handy. It'll shield us from harm. Only for a minute or so, but that oughta be enough."

I agreed. "Good call. You ready?"

"Let's show this bully who's boss!" she smirked.

With a faint smile of my own, I rushed in, slashing at the monster's side with Buster while Aerith hit it with a tempest of magical energy. It snarled and fell back a little, then swiped at us with its front claws. But thanks to Aerith's barrier, we were unharmed. I blocked the attack with my sword, holding it front of me like a shield as I stood firm to absorb the force of the blow while she darted aside.

As soon as the behemoth stepped back, I circled around behind it, striking at its back again and again while Aerith blasted it with a storm of magic that erupted from all around her. The monster tried to gouge her with its horns, but she was too quick, easily skipping out of the way and retaliating with another tempest from the front while I kept up the assault on my end, dodging the tail as it slammed down around me like a giant hammer crushing the floor.

When Aerith hit the behemoth with one of her cold spells, it barely even slowed the thing down. And it countered with a magical attack of its own, a bright orange flare that exploded right back at her and threw her hard to the ground with a shriek. The behemoth slammed its claws down, pinning her firmly in place.

With a yell, I leapt onto its back and hacked furiously away, cutting at the monster again and again. It tried to throw me off, but I stayed in place, slamming its spine with a spinning overhead chop. Then, when I saw how its horns were glowing, I went after them, slicing at one with a flurry of slashes until it finally came off. With a pained snarl, the beast finally drew back and let go of Aerith.

"You okay?" I asked as I jumped down next to her.

She stood up and brushed herself off. "More or less. Should've seen that one coming, I guess. Lesson learned."

I nodded. "I think it's safe now. It was tied to the horn."

"You sure?" Aerith wondered.

"Went brighter just before he let loose with that thing," I explained. "So it oughta be. Watch yourself, though."

She gave me a thumbs up. "Will do, Cloud!"

We didn't get to say anything else, because the behemoth leaped at us, forcing us to run to avoid getting crushed as it slammed down right where we'd been. Aerith continued to attack from the front while I kept hitting its back like before, realizing it was a weak spot. Then it jumped again, spinning around this time, so we had to switch roles to keep the pressure on as soon as it landed.

The impact of it sent shockwaves almost halfway across the room. Aerith and I barely managed to stay on our feet. Biggs and Wedge were just out of range, fortunately, staying close to the door with Tom like I'd told them, so they were unaffected. In the meantime, Aerith and I laid into the behemoth, her magic and my sword hitting it again and again, then I took Buster and ran right underneath it, cutting a long line into its belly before coming out the other side.

This time, when Aerith chilled the monster with another ice spell, it didn't retaliate. Instead, it toppled over, wounded but still dangerous. We kept up the attack, dodging or shrugging off its attempts to claw or kick us or swipe us with it tail. The behemoth was vulnerable, and this was our chance to finish it. If it got back up, we'd be in for a lot tougher fight. And I wasn't gonna let that happen.

"Get him, Cloud!" Wedge cheered. "Take him down!"

While Aerith kept on hitting the behemoth with a steady stream of spells and magical attacks, I rushed in and sliced it over and over again, trails of yellowish energy following Buster with every strike. Then, as I saw Biggs roll a pair of small black discs straight toward the behemoth, I jumped up into the air, dragging Buster along with me in a long, high slash that tore right through its body.

The discs exploded beneath me, abruptly cutting off the monster's last roar in a deafening blast of thunder as Aerith quickly got out of the way. I came down not very far from her, the behemoth burning behind me as I landed in a crouch with my arms out to either side. Then, after I straightened up and shouldered Buster, I headed across the room and quickly joined Aerith and the others.

"Damn, you guys are machines!" Wedge grinned.

Biggs chuckled. "They do kick ass. Still had a few of those grenades Jessie made for me, so I thought I'd pitch in."

Aerith smiled. "Thanks, Biggs!"

"Not bad," I admitted. "You get the door open?"

Biggs pointed. "Sure did, Cloud."

I saw he was right. The way out was clear, and now that we'd found Tom and beaten off the monsters, we didn't have any reason to stay. So I took one last look at the dead behemoth and then motioned to Biggs while Aerith checked on Tom for a moment.

"Pick him up and let's go," I said. "No need to stick around."

"Right," Biggs nodded.

Once he had Tom firmly in his arms, we got moving, heading back the way we'd come. We didn't run into much of anything, only a couple wererats that Aerith, Wedge, and I easily got rid of. Still, the sooner we got outta this place, the better. I'd had enough of Shinra's underground secrets for one day. So had the others.

About ten minutes or so later, we finally made it back to the tunnel that had led us here in the first place. I led the others inside, glad to see daylight ahead of us, and soon enough, the crumbling rubble from the pillar and the gaping hole that was our exit were ahead of us. Jessie was the first to see us, and she waved at me.

"Hey, guys!" she called.

Katie appeared next to her barely a second later. "You're back! Did you find Tom? Please tell me ya did."

Biggs moved up so she could see him. "Right here, Katie."

"He's hurt but alive," Aerith added.

"I knew you'd do it!" Katie gasped, tears in her eyes as Jessie sighed in relief. "Lemme help you get him up!"

Johnny reached down. "Just hand him to us, bro!"

Biggs and I did, carefully passing Tom up to Johnny and Katie. He hadn't regained consciousness yet, but I could see him stirring a bit, so I knew it wouldn't be much longer. Once they had him safely outside, I climbed up to join them, the others following behind me. Jessie smiled at me, then turned her gaze to Tom as Johnny and Katie laid him down on the ground nearby. Katie knelt at his side and held him up with her arm around him as Aerith bowed her head for a minute and tended to both him and us with one of her healing winds.

As the soft, refreshing breeze passed over him, Tom slowly opened his eyes. "Katie…? Is that you?"

"Tom!" Katie exclaimed. "Oh, you're alive!"

"More or less," he said. "Last thing I remember, I was falling off the pillar and found myself somewhere underground. I tried to get out, but I was hurt from the battle and got lost."

Tears ran freely down her cheeks. "You're safe now, okay? And I'm not letting you outta my sight, ya hear?"

Tom smiled. "I do, Katie."

"How are ya feelin'?" she asked.

"Sore, and with a killer headache, but I think I'll be alright," he told her. "How'd you find me, though?"

Katie glanced at us. "I had a lotta help."

"Cloud?" Tom blinked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "We went down there and got you. Me and a few others—Biggs, Wedge, and Aerith."

She giggled. "That's me!"

Tom smiled. "Thanks, all of you. And you, Jessie. Should've known you'd have a hand in all this."

"Of course!" she grinned. "Happy to help!"

They talked for a little while, with Aerith, Katie, Biggs, and Wedge telling him what had happened to Sector 7, how they'd all escaped, and how they'd come back here to help search for him, Jessie, and any other survivors. Although he could see the ruins all around him, Tom didn't seem to quite believe it yet. I wasn't surprised—a lot of people here had that same shell-shocked look in their eyes.

Once they were done, Aerith, Biggs, Wedge, and I told Jessie, Katie, and the others what we'd found underground—the old Shinra test site, the hidden lab with all those people floating in mako-filled containers made of thick glass, and our hard battles with the failed experiment, its minions, and the behemoth. They were horrified, of course, although I noticed Jessie wasn't as surprised as the rest. She knew as well as Aerith and I did what Shinra was capable of.

"I should've known they'd be up to something," Jessie muttered. "It makes me wonder if destroying that place was another reason that they dropped to plate. To get rid of the evidence."

"Could be," I agreed. "We'll tell Tifa and the others."

Aerith nodded. "Count on it."

We stuck around Sector 7 for another hour or so, helping who and where we could. The guys and I lifted rubble and debris to free anyone who was trapped, and Aerith tended to people's injuries with her magic and an encouraging smile. And although Jessie couldn't do as much as I knew she wanted to, she talked to anyone and everyone, keeping their spirits up as much as her own. She didn't show it much, but I could tell how hard being back here was on her.

After a while, when I started feeling Jessie leaning more heavily on me than she had before and her steps started to falter, I knew we had to go. She was still hurt and tired, although I knew she'd keep on going for hours to help people here if I let her. But I couldn't do that. So I sat her down for a minute to rest and catch her breath.

"You holding up okay?" I asked.

Jessie smirked. "I could go all night, merc. These people need help, and I wanna do what I can for them."

I sighed. "I know. But we need to get going."

"I'm fine!" she argued. "We can stay a bit longer, right?"

Aerith shook her head. "Sorry, no."

She frowned. "I'm telling you, guys, I can do this!"

"If you were in better shape, sure," I told her. "But you're not, Jessie. And we can all see how tired you are."

"Not nearly as much as the fuss everyone's making," she said.

And as if to prove it, Jessie let go of me and started to get up, trying to stand on her own. But she still didn't have the strength to do that, at least not for more than a few seconds. So she started falling right away. Aerith and I caught her quickly, though, holding onto her as she clung to us as best she could and winced in pain.

"You need rest," I insisted.

Jessie sighed. "Alright, you win… this time."

Aerith nodded. "Much better, Jessie. I'm gonna take a good look at you when we get back, just to make sure everything's okay. You've been pushing yourself pretty hard today, after all."

"Can't really argue with ya there," she admitted.

Wedge patted her shoulder. "Ah, don't worry. You're gonna be back to your old self before you know it!"

Jessie chuckled. "Oh, you bet I will!"

With that settled, we headed back to the tunnel, and from there to Evergreen Park and our bikes. Jessie smiled contentedly when I helped her settle snugly onto the Hardy in front of me, and the softness of her cheek brushing lightly against mine as I held her was both pleasant and damnably distracting. She just laughed.

Jessie was in better spirits when we pulled out and put our backs to the ruins of Sector 7 than she'd been when we'd first arrived. As Wedge and the others followed us on the Gust, we drove through the winding dirt trails in the fading light of the late afternoon sky, more than ready to put this long day behind us. We'd seen and learned a lot—too much, maybe. More than I wanted to think about right now. So I simply rode on toward Sector 5 and kept Jessie close.