By a Fraction of a Degree

A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129

Rated T for Violence and Language.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.

Part III: Demons

Chapter 58, Some Events Are Just Doomed to Happen

June 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 12:00 PM

Zack watched the footage again, still not quite believing what he was seeing. Somehow, not only had this strange man (he guessed it was a man though it was hard to tell with that strange headgear and the winglike appendages) managed to completely catch Tifa completely unawares, but he had pulled her through what seemed like a dark hole ripped in the fabric of reality. They were standing on the bridge of the Highwind, out of sight of Kalm, and Cloud was pacing irritably behind him.

"I still don't get why Rufus would just let them give us this information," Yuffie said from her position next to Aerith by the rail in front of the window.

"I think it's pretty obvious. He wants to poke Deepground to see what they'll do, but he doesn't want his own people to bear the consequences," Freya said. She was leaning against the front of the com-station, her arms folded as she watched the images.

"That doesn't matter," Cloud said. "We still have to find them."

"We will," Zack said patiently, he looked around at those assembled. "And I guess it can't hurt to take a look around and see what we're up against. It's not like we found much at the mansion unfortunately."

"We know that this Keter..." Tanjuu interjected, "is definitely one of the previously thought disbanded 14th SOLDIER division. That tells us that at one point at least, they used to be SOLDIERs. It's a shame Shalua has been unable to complete the decryption of Hojo's remaining files, we might have been able to glean some more from them not just about him, but also about this Nero person. What did he have to gain by grabbing Cissnei and Tifa when he could have just as easily gone after you and Rufus? What we really need to know is who exactly is in charge, because the Restrictor as he referred to himself, sounded only like he was speaking as a representative." He frowned as he considered that particular puzzle piece.

"Is it possible Rufus already knows?" Cid asked.

"Reno didn't say much. It's hard to say what Rufus knows," Freya said. "He always has been good at keeping his cards close to the chest. Though from what Cait Sith told us before we lost contact, he was at least looking into the possibility of Deepground's existence. Tseng apparently came up with some things. What we do know is that there are definitely more people like that person they were calling Nero, and according to this transcript that he sent with the footage," she stepped forward indicating several lines of text on one of the smaller images over the holo-projector, "When they interrogated Scarlet and Heidegger about the project, they identified the others."

"How many?" Vincent's question carried over the bridge from the back wall.

"According to this, there were six named ones," Freya squinted. "Tseng was always the better researcher wasn't he… From what it looks like… Aside from Nero the Sable, there's a Weiss the Immaculate, Azul the Cerulean, Rosso the Crimson… Shelke the Transparent… and Argento the Lustrous. They don't provide a lot of physical description, but apparently they were all the products of different research projects attached to Deepground's facilities. The Restrictors were initially under direct command from President Shinra, but after he died, Scarlet, Heidegger, and Professor Hojo were the only ones to have knowledge of the project. Hojo didn't care, so Scarlet and Heidegger decided to try and use it for their own ends rather than alert Rufus." She chuckled derisively. "I'm not surprised."

"So what happened?" Zack asked.

Freya started to read aloud, "According to Scarlet… 'We ordered Professor Hojo retrieved from custody because his knowledge could be useful to Deepground. A short while after we moved him down there, there was report of an attempted coup. We lost contact with the Restrictors a couple of months ago and even though I sent some of my machines down to investigate, none of them returned.'"

"It figures," Cid muttered. "Only person less competent than those vultures on the board was Palmer." His brow furrowed. "That still don't explain who their leader is. If not that Restrictor fella, then who?" He was playing with another cigarette in his hands as he asked the question, daring himself to light it.

"It looks like they don't seem to know," Freya said, backing away from the images. "At least if they're telling us the truth."

"Tsviets…" Aerith murmured and when everyone looked in her direction she added, "When I talked to Shears while everyone was busy, he said Luxiere mentioned something about them too. Apparently Shalua was really upset because he said the name Shelke. That was also the name of her sister."

"It's not beyond the realm of possibility that they could be the same person," Mao said, "It's not a very common name."

"It's awful close to be a coincidence," Zack agreed. "But this just means that if we go out looking for Tifa and Cissnei, we'll just have to keep an eye out for them too." It was time to get back on the other thing they had been looking into. "So what have we learned on the front of getting back into Midgar?"

"It certainly doesn't help that they've even got the slums in lockdown now," Tanjuu muttered. He and Mao had gone to check it out almost as soon as they'd learned of the city's evacuation. "Most people don't have a chance of entering or leaving now; there's guards at every gate."

Cloud shook his head. "If they're in there, we've got to get them out."

"It looked like there were a few exceptions," Mao said. "When I was looking around the Sector 6 entrance I noticed something that was rather interesting."

"Oh?" Zack looked at the other Gongagan.

"It would seem that Don Corneo has been allowed to come and go. Apparently, he wants to bring some women back into the city to… provide services… to the occupying forces."

Yuffie looked a little ill. "That's disgusting," she said.

"But it could be a way in," Freya said thoughtfully. After that, it's just a matter of searching around. We could get valuable information about the environs in there too." It was at that moment when Zack realized that her eyes had lit up. She seemed excited by the prospect. "We could send some girls in, and then have them break off once they're past the gate and look for Tifa then."

"Except we don't have a lot of girls with the kind of experience we need at the moment," Mao said. "It's not just a matter of looking like they belong, they have to be able to disappear when they need to, and fight when they need to do so."

"He's right," Tanjuu agreed. "Don Corneo has a nasty reputation when it comes to interviewing girls for that line of work, too. I think I'd know. I worked for the guy. But on the other hand… he's got people all over, and if they're letting him run freely, he just might be able to tell you some things about what's going on in there."

"You think he'd be willing to do that?" Zack asked.

The ex-gangster shrugged, "If you came prepared, I'm thinking. But you'd have to get his attention long enough for him to talk to you."

Suddenly Aerith started giggling. "What if… some of them only looked like girls?"

Zack wasn't the only one who seemed a little worried when Freya started walking around the room, gazing at the various male figures. "You know what Aerith? You're a genius! No one'll see that coming in a million years!"

He looked over at the two women, with a raised eyebrow. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew already, but in case he was wrong… "I probably don't need to ask, but you aren't thinking what I think you're thinking are you?"

His wife grinned at him and he fought down the urge to shiver. He knew that look. "You're right," the flower girl said. "There was no need to ask."

June 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 4:00 PM

Cloud couldn't believe what he was doing.

Not that he wouldn't do it. If there was a chance it would let him find Tifa, he would do it without question, but he still couldn't believe he was doing it. It had been a bit of a surprise to him, when after comparing appearances to see who was the most 'effeminate' and the least likely to be recognized by Corneo and his compatriots, it had been decided that he would be among the infiltrating party, along with two of the others. It had taken a little time and a visit to a local dressmaker in Kalm that also sold accessories, as well as a hunt to find someone who sold spare makeup kits, and coincidentally running across a displaced and very disgruntled… um… workout enthusiast… who happened to have a wig the appropriate length. But now that all the equipment had been assembled, it was time to get ready.

At the very least, everyone who was going on the 'mission' was getting ready in separate cabins. But it was no less embarrassing.

"Hold still!" He was currently sitting in a chair in front of a mirror in the cabin while Aerith was holding a bottle of mascara in one hand. She had volunteered to help him with certain parts since Zack had put his foot down when she suggested being one of the ones to go.

"Aerith, I know you want to help," he'd said, trying to be diplomatic about the whole thing, "But as your husband, or even as the leader of GUARDIAN, there is no way on this planet you're going. What if something happens in there?"

"Something could happen just as easily with Cloud. You're not worried about him or the others?" She'd retorted.

"Of course I am. But if anyone so much as looks at Cloud funny, I'd feel sorry for them," he'd replied.

"And you're saying I can't take care of myself when I grew up down there?" she'd asked, annoyed.

"Not at all…" Zack answered stubbornly. "Listen, I know you'd go, and Hell, I'd go too if I could, but we're needed here, okay? I need you here."

Cloud had felt a little embarrassed to hear that argument, but it seemed to have worked. Thus it had transpired that instead of getting herself into a dress, Aerith had decided to devote her time to helping Cloud with his, or more particularly, with getting him into some appropriate makeup. Except he kept having trouble trying not to blink reflexively whenever she got close with the mascara brush.

It took some doing, but finally, they were finished, and then Aerith slipped outside while he pulled on the violet dress they'd asked the dressmaker to appropriately alter for the occasion. It was rather jarring, looking down over the high collar of the thing to see the curvaceous bosom it gave him the appearance of having. After taking a moment to adjust the wig, Cloud finally dared to look at himself and found he wanted to go crawl under a rock. Add the uncomfortable heels, and the tiara someone had apparently left in the care of the owner of Kalm's accessory shop before skipping town, and the ensemble was complete. At the very least, the dress had enough room that he could stow the two switch blades from the Fusion Swords underneath, along with the rest of his regular clothes in a rucksack, but it gave the appearance that the dress had been fitted with a bustle.

Once he was satisfied, relatively speaking anyway, he took a deep breath and stepped out into the corridor leading out to the bridge to find Aerith waiting for him. She was trying not to laugh as they continued along, but finally she said "Walk more nicely… like this, Miss Cloud," she took a couple of steps in front of him to demonstrate.

"…What do you mean nicely?" Cloud asked after utterly failing to emulate her movements.

"Well try not to let your footfalls be so heavy," she tried to clarify. She took another moment to look him over as he attempted the appropriate walk a second time before grinning and clasping her hands together in front of her. "Oh, you're so cute, Miss Cloud."

He could only take that to mean he had started doing it right. He rolled his eyes, but kept going. This would be the most humiliating thing that had happened in his life so far… if it wasn't about to be compounded by the fact he was about to go waltzing out into enemy territory in this getup. Still, he tried to tell himself, he'd survived mako poisoning, Sephiroth and who knew what else to get to this point. By comparison, cross dressing should be a small inconvenience…

This pitiful attempt to rationalize the situation was brought violently to a halt when he looked down the corridor and saw Zack. The other swordsman was speaking with Freya, who looked every inch the part in a slinky green dress that accentuated her tall figure and more feminine attributes, with her hair piled up in a style that still allowed a few intentionally stray locks to fall dramatically across her shoulders.

It wasn't her appearance that lost him his train of thought, so much as it was the look on Zack's face when he realized Cloud was there. "Whoa… Uh… Cloud? Wow, Aerith knew what she was doing."

"Yeah…" He gritted his teeth as his face grew warm from embarrassment. The fact that he was blushing only seemed to be making things worse.

Zack was obviously torn between wanting to tease him and wanting to be a good friend and leader by not pushing his buttons any more than they'd already been pushed in the seriousness of the circumstances. The other swordsman rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm sorry man, I'm just having trouble with the fact that you don't look half bad as a woman... Not that you aren't a good looking guy either… I should probably stop right now…" He laughed nervously.

Freya too had done the smallest of double takes, but either her experience or iron discipline had kept her from doing more than raise her eyebrows and allow the corner of her mouth to raise in a barely concealed grin. "Well, we're almost all ready then," she said at last. "I wonder how our other 'lady-friend' made out."

That question was answered when one of the other cabin doors opened and at first Cloud wasn't sure what he was seeing. The woman before him was clad in a lovely black silk dress with a high collar concealing her neck, though it was sleeveless and she had accompanied it with a red shawl that brought out the color of her eyes, along with a pair of long black opera gloves. Her meticulously styled long hair had a silky sheen under the overhead lights and was completely devoid of any red headbands or bandannas. The whole affect gave her a smolderingly mysterious allure… And then she opened her mouth and the moment had suddenly become a lot more weird.

"Are we all prepared?" Vincent asked, his deep voice drawing a stark contrast to his current appearance.

"Yeah…" Zack said, doing his best not to grimace. "You might want to let Freya do the talking while you're in there, though. Otherwise, I think they'll find you out."

"Probably for the best," the gunman agreed.

That was when Cid appeared on the scene. "Hey ladies!" he said. "You might want to hurry along, time's a wastin'!"

Cloud stormed past him towards the main hatch. The sooner they got this over with, the sooner they could find Tifa, and the sooner he could ensure that this 'Nero the Sable' had a sword run through him.

June 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 6:00 PM

As the sunset was drawing near, and the Midgar wastes were slowly descending into the twilight of long shadows, the van Cid had rented in Kalm pulled up behind a low hill, a few hundred yards from a small camp, just in front of the Sector 6 gate.

Zack crept up to the crest of the hill, a pair of binoculars in his good hand. Once he reached the summit, he got down in a crouch so he could see without presenting an easily visible profile, and brought them to his eyes. His right hand shook slightly and he felt a small painful twitch as he tried to use it to assist in the operation. He winced in annoyance before attempting the maneuver again. Most of the time, the muscles in his arm didn't bother him that much pain-wise, but every once in a great while, he'd notice them spasm or do something else they weren't supposed to do.

What he saw was a pair of men at the campsite talking with a number of women dressed unusually nice for the rugged setting near what was clearly another van. A few Deepground soldiers stood at the gate, but aside from giving the women a couple of interested looks, were not paying them much mind. The info had been spot on in that regard, not that he was surprised. The renegades were all Turks after all. "All right," he said. "I think we've confirmed our entry point." He looked back down the hill. "You three ready?" he called.

"All set," Freya replied. She had stepped lithely out of the van as though she'd done this every day of her life. He found himself wondering a little where she was hiding her clothes and her shotgun in that dress she was wearing but decided it was probably best not speculated upon if he knew what was good for him.

Vincent and Cloud followed after her, Cloud looking slightly less graceful than Vincent, but then, that wasn't so surprising. Vincent seemed to have taken a very calm attitude about the whole thing.

Finally, it appeared that the Deepground soldiers were looking the other way, so he signaled that the three infiltrators make their way to the group of ladies at the camp. This they did and he finally felt his own mirth fade a little. He watched with baited breath as the men at the campsite spoke to the group of girls a little longer before asking that they get into the van. This they did, and soon after, it pulled in through the gate, right under the noses of the soldiers.

"Don't get yourselves killed in there guys. We need some good news right about now," he whispered.

After the van pulled out of sight, he climbed down the hill and walked to the driver's side of the van, to see Yuffie sitting in the passenger's seat. "You want to help me do a sweep of the area before we go back? See if there are any possible extraction points?"

The ninja nodded. "Okay."

June 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 7:00 PM

Cloud tried to make himself relax as he found himself sandwiched between Freya and some other strange woman in the back of the truck. Perhaps it was his imagination, but he could have sworn his motion sickness was coming back, and to make matters worse, with all the different perfumes that the various girls were wearing in here, on top of the cologne Aerith had insisted he use, it made the air in here very thick.

Freya sat next to him, calmly checking her appearance via a compact and Vincent simply leaned against the wall of the truck next to her as though the change in apparel made absolutely no difference. He supposed he really shouldn't be surprised. Both of them were former Turks; they were trained to handle things like this professionally.

"Just remember Tifa", he thought to himself. She was the reason he was doing this. If they got intel on what was going on in the rest of the city in the bargain, well, that was good too. He just had to do his best to ignore the awkward sensation of not wearing pants while his toes were being pinched in his current footwear.

Finally, a silence fell over the van as the engine died and the back doors opened. A black man with a mohawk looked inside with a lecherous smirk before drawling "All right ladies, this way please. No need to keep the manager waiting."

There were eight women in total, give or take a couple of quotation marks, and they all climbed out of their transportation to find themselves behind a building, the front of which, judging from the backglow over the roof in the smog, was bathed in rose-colored lights. They were led through a back door and down a hallway until they were in a very gaudily decorated chamber that looked like it was designed to cater to this 'establishment's' wealthier clients.

On the other side of the room, Cloud noticed, there was a thin man in a suit with the front two buttons open, who stood from an easy chair near the bed and spread his arms in welcome. "Hello my dears! Welcome to the Honey Bee Inn. I am the manager of this establishment. Most of you, unfortunately, will not be getting a 'personal interview' with the Don. But there are plenty of folks here who will love to get to know you better before you start work."

He began walking around the women in the room as he spoke. "The Don is however, still in the process of looking for a lovely bride for tonight." He paused in front of Vincent, who had produced a scarlet fan from somewhere and was pretending to be coy by hiding his face behind it. The manager walked on, looking at another lady in a light blue evening gown before moving on to Freya.

"Therefore, I think it would be only fair to pick three of you and he'll make make his final decision when you get over to his estate. How does that sound? Hmm?"

"It sounds lovely…" Freya's laughter was light and Cloud was not exactly certain whether it was fake or not, though it had to be. There was no way anyone could be anything but disgusted by this whole affair in his opinion.

The manager smiled at her words before moving on, looking at a couple of other women, and then Cloud suddenly found the manager standing directly in front of him, and he had the distinct feeling of being ogled like a piece of meat.

The man spent a little more time taking in the other women that had come with them before whispering something to a white guy in a green jacket and sunglasses and walking out the door. The man watched him go and then Cloud saw him come closer. "All right, the girls who are going to the Don are you, you, and you. The rest follow the manager out that way." The other ladies in the room cleared out, and to Cloud's surprise, (and possibly horror or relief, he wasn't sure which,) he found that the only ones left were himself, Vincent, and Freya.

Yuffie was making her way along the outskirts of Midgar, eyes alert for any way out that did not involve passing Deepground soldiers. Thus far, her efforts had not yielded any results, and as she was nearing the main checkpoint for the Sector 7 slums, she was starting to get a little frustrated. Part of it was that she was truly beginning to understand just how huge Midgar was. Yes, she'd been in the city, and had seen the skyscrapers, but having to traverse even a portion of the circumference of the city was a huge undertaking. It was not the easiest thing to try not to be seen, but she was a ninja, right? She ought to be able to handle it.

Gripping her shuriken, she sprinted between a couple of rocks before peeking over the one she landed behind to check if anyone had noticed. It looked okay. The soldiers at the checkpoint were talking with what appeared to be a woman in a Deepground Commander's uniform, though her appearance was very different from that of the other soldiers. For one thing she could actually see the woman's facial features, revealing a woman who was probably in her early thirties. With her long dark hair, she might even be Wutaian. Her uniform appeared to be predominantly white with black trim, the exact opposite of most of the other troops. She was also wearing what appeared to be a three-pronged visor, though after giving it another look Yuffie realized it was an ornate forehead protector, not unlike the much plainer one she wore herself. Her right eye was covered by an eye-patch, and it appeared she was wielding a broadsword instead of a gun.

Interesting… It was at that moment when the woman looked over in her direction and she ducked out of sight. Had she been seen? She shouldn't have been. She'd been very quick. She hurried on her way, just to be on the safe side, and was soon making her way past an oasis surrounded by dead shrubs and undergrowth. It wasn't the kind of place you'd want to take a drink from, but at the very least she had some cover.

She stopped at the edge of the water and sat down, grateful that it wasn't polluted enough for the water to smell. She allowed herself a sip from her canteen and leaned against a rock, well aware of how close she was to the wall, and hoping that she wouldn't be noticed in the last of the evening twilight. It wouldn't be long before she'd need to get back to the van and report to Zack what she'd found…

A stick cracked nearby, and she pulled herself into a crouch near the boulder she'd been leaning against, her shuriken at the ready. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the sounds of the approaching footfalls. They were the sounds of a pair of heavy combat boots. Had she been followed?

She waited for a few seconds, before her question was finally answered as a lone figure walked out from behind one of the trees, a single grey eye glowing faintly, even as it was getting harder to see the woman's face under the stars slowly twinkling into existence.

The woman walked to the edge of the pool, and Yuffie attempted to creep slowly away through the bushes when she heard a low, husky female voice call out "Just as I thought. Come out little one, I don't intend on killing you, yet."

"Hey!" She scowled into the dark and stood up to her full height. "Just who are you calling little, lady?"

The woman looked in her direction and Yuffie detected the tone in her voice turn derisive. "If this were below, you would be a dark blemish on the bedrock before you finished that sentence. Fortunately for you, I feel no need to demonstrate. If I did…" Yuffie suddenly found herself staring directly into the woman's single eye, though she had no idea how she had moved in front of her so quickly. "…You would not be standing here now."

The ninja looked up at the swordswoman defiantly. "Well, if that's not what you're after, then what do you want."

"I am sending out a call for help," the woman said.

"Help?" Yuffie raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "From what I can see, you didn't need any help taking over the city."

"Then perhaps you misunderstand what Deepground is," the woman answered her, looking warily back towards Midgar's city walls. "Because a vast majority of us did not become part of Deepground of our own will. Many of us are the products of Shinra's experiments. Within the limits of that place, it is often kill, or be killed, and the Restrictors play us against each other like puppets on strings. Even standing here and speaking to you rather than killing you immediately is a huge risk that could mean the end of my life."

"And you think I can help you with that?" Yuffie asked incredulously.

"I think you have friends who can help us with that," The woman clarified, producing a data disk from her pocket. "We cannot actively rebel even if we wanted to. However, if someone else were to succeed at killing the Restrictors, it would win us our freedom, while at the same time destroying the linchpin that is holding our forces together. All you need to do is take this disk to Zack Fair. It will tell you all that you need to know." She tossed the disk in front of the ninja.

"And how do you even know I know him?" Yuffie demanded.

"Did you think we wouldn't be given the information necessary to recognize GUARDIAN and Shinra personnel on sight, Princess Kisaragi? What use are trained monsters, if they don't know who and what they are supposed to destroy?" The woman smiled wryly as she spoke.

Yuffie's thoughts turned to Cloud and the others who were currently inside the city. Had this been a trap? Had they already been discovered? "Just who are you anyway, and how do I know we can trust you?"

"You may call me Argento, and given the circumstances the facts should speak for themselves. Those of us who long for freedom truly have nothing to lose," the woman replied. With that, she vanished into the dark leaving Yuffie staring at the disk on the ground in front of her. After a moment, she reached out to grab the small object before sprinting back through the shadows towards the place where Cid was waiting with their transportation back to Kalm.

June 18th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 7:30 PM

A few minutes after being selected, Cloud, Vincent, and Freya found themselves following the man in the green jacket through the streets of Wall Market with the man with a mohawk bringing up the rear. Cloud had never been down here before, but even he could see that under normal circumstances, these streets would have a certain amount of dubiously motivated activity. The bars were uncommonly quiet, and there were no Shinra guards around, but plenty of Deepground soldiers. He couldn't see if they held any vestiges of humanity under those cyclopean helmets they were wearing, but he could have sworn a couple of them were looking his way as he and the others continued through the dingy streets.

It wasn't long before the trio followed their guide into a courtyard and through another ridiculously ostentatious foyer that looked like the place where all of Wutai's rejected souvenirs went to die. Cloud was no interior decorator, but he found himself thinking if anywhere needed one, this was probably the place. Scotch led them up a gaudily painted staircase and beyond the gilded landing until they found themselves in an office that made the tackiness of the outer areas of this mansion seem like a classy antique shop. And as the two gangsters took up positions to either side of the desk, he found the person sitting behind it was a balding and ridiculously fat blond man with a mustache.

"All right, ladies!" the man with the mohawk said, "Line up in front of the Don."

Freya and Vincent immediately took positions on either side of him, leaving him in the middle, with a horribly perfect view of 'the Don' as he leaned forward in his seat to get a good look at them, muttering "Hmmm! Good, splendid!"

In a feat unexpected from a man so large, he leapt over the front of the desk and landed directly in front of them before walking over to take a look at Vincent, who was on his left, and was once again holding up the fan he was carrying. "Now, now, no need to be shy…" Don Corneo said, "Now let's see… Which girl should I choose? Hmm-Hmm-!"The grunting was almost guttural, as though he was combining the sound one made when they were thinking with an attempt to clear his gravelly throat.

He finished looking Vincent over and then Cloud found himself the object of the Don's scrutiny. He looked away uncomfortably as the man tried to meet his eyes. "This one?" The Don wondered aloud, still pondering his choice. The moment was made even more uncomfortable, when he reached up to lift his chin as though to get a better look at his face, and Cloud had a burning desire to reach for the two switchblade swords he held concealed within his clothing and cut this man to ribbons.

It was hard, but he staunchly resisted and prevailed until the Don moved on to Freya, looking over the only actual woman in the room with the same scrutiny. "Or this one?" The lady Turk smiled at him, batting her eyelashes seductively, which seemed to make him pause for a long time before walking back to the middle so he had a good view of all three of them.

He fidgeted with the curl of his mustache as he considered his choice before rubbing his hands together with excitement. "Woo-hoo, I've made up my mind! My choice for tonight is…"

He paused dramatically to let the significance sink in for everyone in attendance before making his choice. "This healthy-looking girl!"

For a moment, Cloud felt his heart stop beating as his eyes widened in shock. This had to be some kind of mistake or cruel joke but no, it was a cold undeniable fact… The Don was standing in front of him!

He could not stop himself from backing up a step. "Wa…wait a sec!" It was only then when he remembered he was supposed to be a woman and tried to bring the pitch of his voice higher. "I mean, uh, please wait a moment!"

The Don did not seem to want to wait a moment. "Woo-hoo! I love chickies who play hard-to-get! Yeowza!" He turned to the two men who were not in drag behind him. "You can have the other ones!"

His two henchman saluted and said in unison "Yes, sir! Thank you sir!"

The Don immediately turned back to Cloud, clearly ready to get down to… he supposed 'business' was an extremely polite way of putting it. "Well then, shall we go my pretty?"

Cloud grimaced as the man walked towards a wall screen near the back and he looked over at Freya who seemed a little surprised that she hadn't been chosen, but nodded that he follow him. He then looked at Vincent whose expression was carefully blank. The other man also nodded. Feeling his face already going beet red, Cloud slowly walked after the fat man, as though walking to his own execution. Soon, he found himself in a room that looked even more like the country of Wutai had thrown up all over it, staring at the edge of a very extravagant bed as the Don flopped down upon it.

"Ahh, we're finally alone…" the Don sighed and then looked up at Cloud, his eyes filled with lust. "All right, pussycat… Come to daddy!"

Cloud swallowed hard and wished he was fighting a Malboro instead of facing this monstrosity of a human being, but he simply looked back at Corneo, trying to decide how best to begin the interrogation. His thoughts were interrupted when the Don said "You're so cute, I never get tired of looking at you. Do you… like me, too?"

His mind went blank. At least he resisted the urge to shout No! outright. "Ummm…"

The Don leaned closer, his expression mockingly hurt. "You don't like me? There… There isn't someone else, is there?"

He waited for Cloud's answer, while Cloud waited for his brain to stop doing loops. It was only after what seemed like forever that he finally had a moment of clarity. I'm already in. It doesn't matter much now. For a moment he presented the Don with a wry smile, "Sure there is. Her name's Tifa…"

The Don blinked. "Who? You don't mean to tell me… you're a lesbian?!"

Cloud rolled his eyes and this time he didn't even bother with the faux feminine voice as he ripped off the wig. "No you idiot, I'm a guy!"

"A man! You tricked me…!" Corneo started to say.

Cloud reached under his skirt quick as lightening to reveal the first of his switchblades, "You'd better not call for help, because if you do…"

"No one'll come." He almost sighed with relief when he heard Freya's voice and glanced behind him to see the lady Turk and Vincent, still in their dresses, but Vincent was packing Cerberus, and Freya had her shotgun over her shoulder. It was a rather jarring image, though probably no worse than the one he presented.

Don Corneo looked between the two new arrivals. "You're the ones from before! Wh…what the hell's going on?"

Cloud did not allow him to ruminate further but stuck the switchblade in front of the Don's face to silence him as Vincent took a position at the far end with Freya between the two of them. His deep voice coupled with his black evening gown so disturbing Cloud found himself looking at the Don just to keep from losing his composure. "You will answer our questions," Vincent said calmly, "Tell us as much as you know about the power structure within the city right now. Otherwise…"

Cloud took that moment to rest one foot on the bed, sparkly heels and all while he gestured at his target with the sword in his hand. "…I'll chop them off."

The Don's eyes bugged out at that. "No! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

Freya smiled wickedly at him. "All right then little bird…" She leaned in just slightly, bringing her voice down to a poisonous whisper. "Start singing."

The Don nodded. "I don't really know who the guy is who's really in charge, but I know that Midgar's been divided up into four districts…"

"What else?" Vincent asked coolly.

Corneo scowled at them. "Either way, they're going to find you and tear you all into little pieces so why bother?"

"Wrong answer," Freya leaned in further, putting her own foot on the bed. "And honey, if you keep saying the wrong things…" She cracked the knuckles on her right hand as she balled it into a fist and Cloud noticed then that she had reached into her pocket to produce a bangle with several materia in it. "…I'll freeze them off."

The Don seemed quite horrified by that. "Waaaaaaaaah-! Okay! Each pair of Sectors is governed by one of those Restrictors, and each of them have a Tsviet under them… They just decided who went where this morning!"

"Their names, and capabilities, what are they?" Vincent asked. When it looked like Corneo might back off, he too rested a foot on the bed, brandishing Cerberus. "I will shoot them."

Corneo looked very pale by now. "…You're serious, aren't you… …ohboy, ohbooy, ohboy… I'm not fooling around here either you know." As Vincent did not seem about to relent, he went on. "The Tsviets, they've got four of the elite ones and then a few minor ones… Sectors 5 and 6 here were given to the Restrictor that got Shelke the Transparent. Real cute little thing too… Don't know how she got to be an elite." Seeing the look of disgust on Cloud's face, he decided it would be best to move on. "Azul the Cerulean was given to the Restrictor that got sectors 3 and 4. He's a nasty bruiser. You don't want to run into him. Rosso the Crimson was given to the guy that's in charge of Sectors 1 and 2. She talks real funny but she's got a nasty pair of blades and she likes usin'em. And then there's Keter, the Restrictor who did the broadcast? He runs Sectors 7 and 8. The guy in charge gave him Argento the Lustrous. She seems like a normal swordsman, don't know what makes her special..."

Vincent narrowed his eyes at the man. "Have you ever heard of Weiss the Immaculate, or Nero the Sable?"

"Never! I swear!"

The three of them looked at each other, before Vincent said to the Don, "We'll let you live, for now…"

They were almost to the door when the man seemed to have finally regained some composure. "Just a second!" he called after them

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Shut up," he said.

"No wait, it'll only take a second," the man said. "How do you think scum like me feels when they babble on about the truth?"

Vincent took a look around the room and then Cloud noticed that he seemed to have changed his stance. He wasn't sure why at first, but then Vincent said, "You think you've won, don't you?" His tone was low and venomous. Freya appeared to have noticed the change too, for, she had also tensed as though ready to jump back a couple of steps.

Corneo nodded, apparently not noticing the man's change in demeanor. "Correct!"

Several things happened at that moment. Mere moments before a trap door opened in the floor below them, Vincent dematerialized, Freya jumped back into the doorway, and Cloud leapt up into the air before kicking off the frame of the bed to land next to her.

Vincent reappeared next to the bed, his usually clawed hand directed down into the tunnel leading to the sewer. Magic channeled through the air and Cloud detected what could only be described as a roar of surprise followed by a significant drop in temperature and a bright flash of cold blue light from below. Corneo's eyes widened as the gunman thrust Cerberus' triple barrel directly into his face. "Shiva apparently dealt with your pet quite efficiently," he growled. "There will not be any more of this foolishness, or you will die right here. Are we clear?"

Corneo nodded and Vincent withdrew, folding again into his cloak and reappearing next to Cloud. The three of them left the room and quickly headed out the front door before ducking into a back alley. They soon found themselves in what appeared to be a graveyard of broken down trains and they started searching for a place to stop and get their bearings. Once they were a lot further away from Wall Market, Vincent said coldly, "We will not speak of this again."

"No arguments here," Cloud said, pausing a moment to switch out the shoes for his boots from his pack. "Let's get out of these clothes, and then try to find the girls."

Freya looked thoughtful. "Well, the first thing we probably ought to do is find a safe place to change, and then someone who actually knows about Nero the Sable. Then we might be able to find out if anyone knows where he is, and hopefully from there we can find them."

"That seems like a rational approach," Vincent agreed. Right at that moment, however, all three of them stopped in their tracks just as they were coming out from between two train cars.

Right in front of them, was what seemed to be a young girl with short red hair, in a Deepground mako suit, sitting on the top of one of the other cars with her feet hanging over the side and looking down at them with emotionless glowing blue eyes. It appeared she had just been taking a moment to herself and hadn't expected to see them there. She blinked as though mildly surprised at their appearance before her face returned to the disinterested mask of before. The three looked up at her, not knowing what to expect from this encounter.

Finally she spoke, her words as flat as the expression on her face. "Cloud Strife. Vincent Valentine. The both of you look completely ridiculous."

I've heard people mention a little disappointment that the cross-dressing scene had not come up, and it made me itch to say something but I didn't want to spoil anything. Now that its here, I can say without reservation that it's been in the cards since day one. I hope I did it justice, even under the drastically different circumstances. ^^

And for those of you who are not terribly familiar with the Online Content from Dirge of Cerberus (It's okay, I totally understand why as it isn't officially available with the release of the game that's in English and has only been subbed to my knowledge), Argento is a character from that portion of Dirge. It's unknown what exactly happened to her following what transpired in that story, which was supposed to explain how the Tsviets managed to take over Deepground, and is also the source for the Restrictors. It is believed Argento expired in a conflict with another Restrictor at some point between the time of the OC which took place roughly somewhere around Meteorfall and the events of Dirge (three years later in the original timeline). Seems we have yet another person who got a new lease on life out of Reno's sneeze. ^^

See ya next week!