The Don's Mansion
The next morning Avalanche was ready to execute it's next move: take out the Sector Five reactor. The plan was to keep away from a pattern to avoid being ambushed by Shinra military but to still expect higher security measure being taken. We had to act fast and hard before it became impossible to get past them. Tifa was going to help them on this mission but I was still conflicted about the whole thing, so I opted to stay behind and watch over the bar and Marlene.
The whole day I had the feeling of being on edge. To start with it was because I felt nervous about watching someone's bar and residence while they were away. The other reason was that, if the Turks came by again, I knew I had no where to run from them and I could put Marlene in danger. I kept the worries to myself, kept checking on Marlene in the back while keeping the bar, and myself, busy. I think I eyed the windows and doors a few too many times out of paranoia. The one peculiar thing I noted was that one man came in early afternoon, sit in the corner, order water, and keep to himself. After an hour or two he went outside for a few minutes then came back inside, ordering more water.
It was heading into the evening when everyone came back. Everyone bar Cloud. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge all headed into the back almost immediately, as did Barrett, while Tifa gave me a silent signal to follow them. I double checked the bar, noticed the man going outside again, then followed into the kitchen area.
"What happened?" I asked as soon as I entered.
"We bombed the Reactor, but we lost Cloud," Barrett said.
"How did you lose him?"
"The Shinra fucking ambushed us, that's how!" He yelled. Tifa checked the front in case anyone heard him. "He fell of the damn walkways as the bomb went off!"
"And he's made no contact? Could he be in the Sector Five Slums?" I asked. I knew people who could survive falls like that. If he was a Soldier, genetically engineered to be more advanced then a regular human, then he must have survived.
"We've only just got back," Tifa said. "We can't go anywhere near that Sector, Shinra will be everywhere looking for us."
"We gotta lie low for now," Barrett said. I nodded and peered into the bar again. The man had just came back in and was sitting back down. Something was definitely wrong.
"Close the bar," I ordered suddenly, heading out into the front. "We're closing! Everyone out now!" There were groans of displeasure about the announcement. I looked over to Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, nodding for them to start getting everyone out. I watched the man in the corner, who didn't move for a few moments. He a good number of people were at the door he got up and started to head out. I was already approaching him and grabbed him by the shirt. "You're not leaving."
"What are you doing?" Tifa asked. I shoved the man back onto a chair. I kept my eye on him as the bar emptied. When I heard the door click and lock I folded my arms.
"You've been here all day and you've ordered nothing," I began.
"Not true: I've ordered water," he replied. "I don't know what this is about I just came here to relax. Does she normally treat your customers like this?" I glanced at Tifa and Barrett briefly, then back to the man.
"I've seen you come in and out of the bar. You've been on your phone. Who are you talking to?" I asked.
"I went outside because it's quieter," he said and started to get up. I grabbed his arm and twisted it around his back, shoving him against the wall. "Are you fucking insane? Let go of me!"
"You tell me who've been talking to," I said, gripping his arm tighter.
"Nobody! I swear!"
"Barrett?" I nodded for him to come over. He stood beside me and aimed his gun at the man's face. "I won't ask again: Who were you talking to?"
"Okay! Okay! It was the Don!" He yelled out in panic. Looking around I saw everyone's faces turn sour. I twisted his arm further.
"What does he want?"
"I don't know! He just said to watch the bar after the Reactor was bombed last night!" He answered. "I was just told to watch the bar! I swear! That's all I know! Let me go! Please!" I looked at Barrett.
"... Fuck it. Probably doesn't know anything," he said, lowering his arm. I grabbed the back of the guy's head and slammed it against the wall, knocking him out cold.
"He needs to be dumped somewhere away from here before he wakes up," I noted. Biggs and Jessie went to the body and lifted it out, Wedge heading out first to check the coast is clear. "Who's the Don?"
"He's the damn creep who thinks he runs the Wall Market down in Sector Six," Barrett said.
"Something's not right. There's got to be a reason why he's started watching the bar," Tifa said.
"Tifa, leave it. The lech ain't worth it."
"Barrett there's got to be a reason. Why would he watch the bar after the bombing?"
"I don't know but I ain't letting you go down there to get answers. The man ain't worth that trouble."
"What if he sends more people? What then?" I asked. "We need to get answers from him."
"Hey! We're not going to the Wall Market! I said he ain't worth it!" Barrett ordered. I suppose we had to listen to him. He was the leader and all.
We kept the bar closed the rest of the day to be on the safe side. The whole mess with the Don wasn't brought up once but it didn't sit well with anyone, especially Tifa. We all just kept our mouths shut about it.
It was getting late and everyone had bedded down for the night. I couldn't sleep and stayed up, wandering around the bar. I had noticed Tifa leave a little earlier and just saw her coming back. When she came into the bar she was little surprised that I was still awake.
"You okay?" I asked. She was still worried sick about Cloud but something else was plaguing her mind. I looked at the bag she was holding. "Get anything good?"
"Um... look promise you won't tell Barrett?" Tifa sighed, knowing she would get caught either way. "Something isn't right with the Don watching the bar. I need to hear the story from him."
"What's your plan?"
"Every night the Don chooses from a group of girls, usually three or so, and... is looking for a bride so he... gets them together and picks one and... you know how it goes. I need to be the one he picks tonight. I need to her the story from him," she explained. I sighed and shook my head.
"Okay, first off, that whole premise is fucking gross and degrading," I began. "And second. You're not going yourself."
"So you don't want to find out what he's planning?" Tifa said, looking at me in disbelief.
"Tifa, I said you're not going yourself," I said again. "He needs a group of girls to pick from, we need to up our chances. Besides, between the two of us do you think he'd pick this mug? I'm going with you." Tifa seemed conflicted about the suggestion but eventually sighed and nodded.
"Okay. I suppose it'll be better if both of us go," she said hesitantly. "I just don't want you getting involved in anything you're uncomfortable with."
"What I'm uncomfortable with is you going alone," I told her. "Now when do we leave?"
"We should be getting picked up in half an hour. They'll be fine with you coming, so don't worry about them being confused about you being there," Tifa said. "I, uh, need to change first."
"Take a change of clothes anyway. I'll change too," I knew my clothes from Besaid would probably fit this scenario more since they were for warmer climates, plus they'd assume I'm trying to draw attention away from my face.
When we were both changed Tifa took me with her to where the carriage was waiting. Already it felt dodgy and I was uncomfortable but didn't show it. They seemed okay that another girl was joining them, but I could see them eyeing my face when they noticed the scars even though they said nothing. I kept my mouth shut, knowing I'd say something that'd get me into trouble and I was here to support Tifa. I still didn't really like the plan but Tifa was determined to go through with it and there was no swaying her.
The trip to Sector Six was quiet. I sat listening to the white noise outside. The carriage took us to this large, tacky looking house, and we were ushered into a "waiting room" which... it was a sex dungeon. Whips, chains, cuffs, odd cabinet of pills. The works. They sure know how to make women feel welcome.
Tifa started pacing around the room while we waited for what felt like an eternity. No one came down to see us, they literally just put us there and left us to our own devices. Not that there was anything to do but look through all the tools kept down here. I found a cane and some nipple clamps hiding in the back of a shelf, so I showed them to Tifa to try get a laugh from her. It didn't really work so I gave up on the idea.
"Worrying isn't going to help," I said.
"It's taking too long," Tifa said, her gaze down at the ground. I sighed and walked around the room.
"They could be waiting on more girls. They should call us up when they're ready," I tried to reassure her. "Just try not to worry so much. We'll get the information from him no matter what."
"I hope you're right."
We heard the doors open and a series of footsteps coming hurriedly down the steps. Two women had entered the room, hopefully the last of the girls. One of them was a blonde who appeared really shy and was looking at the floor, while the other had long brown hair and was wearing one killer red dress. She also had the greenest eyes I've ever seen aside from Andra. She gave us a warm smile and approached us while the other stayed back, turning away.
"Hi, I'm Aerith," she introduced, extending her hand to Tifa. "Sorry, is it Tifa and... Christie? Sorry, Cloud told me about you. We saw you in the park."
"Oh, you did?" Tifa said, not doing very well to hide her disappointment. Aerith chuckled a little bit.
"Don't worry, we just met. It's nothing," She said.
"What do you mean "don't worry"?" Tifa responded, surprised at Aerith's assumption. "No, no it's not like that. We just grew up together." We both got a bit confused when Aerith laughed a little at Tifa's answer.
"Sorry, just poor Cloud having to listen to us say he's nothing," she said, looking over to the other woman. "Right... Cloud?"
Tifa and I looked at one another, then finally got a look at the other woman who had come with Aerith. Blonde, very blue eyes with the... the Mako glow that Soldier's had. I covered my mouth and held back a shocked laugh. He thought Tifa was in trouble and went so far as to dress as a woman to get her. That was... well it was dedication.
"Cloud! What are you doing here?" Tifa asked, mouth agape as she looked at her friend. "No, never mind that. What happened to you after you fell? Are you hurt?"
"Tifa, I'm fine," Cloud answered. "This was the only way we could get in. What are you two doing here?" Tifa clasped her hands and looked away. She looked at me for a little help so I stepped into the conversation.
"There was a shady guy hanging around the bar, he said he got his orders to watch the place from the Don," I said. "Barrett said to leave it be, but Tifa wasn't having any of it. We think there's more to it and I wasn't letting her come here alone. So... here we are."
"Right. Every night the Don gets together a group of girls, picks one and... you know," Tifa continued. "But I have to be that girl. I need to know why the Don was watching the bar."
"Well, you know who all the girls are so that shouldn't be a problem, right?" Aerith said. Tifa gave a hesitant nod. It actually did put us in a better position if everyone was in on the plan.
Not long after we had someone call on us to follow him to the Don's office. The room was garish to the point of tacky, brightly lit, gold statues and coloured paintings, fake plants, and a sliding door that led into the back. The Don himself was a portly man, hair shaved at the sides, thin moustache, dressed as garishly as his office, cigar in his mouth and wine on his desk. His leer was making me uncomfortable because I damn well knew what he wanted to do if he got our hands on us. He was already scanning us up and down and grinning.
"Yes, yes! Now, stand in a line, dearies, let me take a good look at you," he said, sweet to the point of toothache. We stood side by side, watching as he walked around his desk, coming a little to close to us for comfort. He started with Aerith, then Cloud, then myself, and finally Tifa. He looked over us a couple of times and, admittedly, I could feel myself glaring at him to get him to back off from me, or maybe that was his kink I was screwed either way. "Hmm, yes, I think I've made my decision," oh, great. Make it quick. "This little beauty!"
We looked at Tifa, who gave a quick sigh of relief. She was instructed to follow the Don into the back room and I gave her a look to let her know we'd be with her as soon as we could. One of the men escorted us out and into a room off to the side. It was filled with cigarette smoke and the smell of alcohol. There were maybe four or five guys, playing cards and leering at us as we walked inside.
"Well boys, here are the runners-up," the man said as he closed the door. I looked at Cloud and Aerith with no amusement. I knew what I was planning to do. "So let's have fun, huh girls?"
When the guys stood up I, with no hesitation, walked straight up to one and hooked him in the face. When they were caught by surprise I got one of guys close to me and slammed his head on the table. Another guy tried to jump at me but I blocked him, punching his gut, then head-butting him. I looked up and saw that Cloud and Aerith had taken care of the last two men, although Aerith had more of a surprised look on her face.
"You work fast," she said.
"Let's go get Tifa," I said, leading them out of the room and back into the office. There was a man standing outside the Don's office, surprised at us coming towards him. I Knocked him out quickly and pushed the doors open, rushing to the sliding doors and throwing them open. The Don was on the bed and Tifa was standing at the end of it, leaning over. Well she was until we barged in.
"Guys!" She exclaimed out of surprise.
"What is going on?" The Don asked, somewhere between the realm of confused and aroused. Gross either way.
"We're asking the questions here," I said, walking past Tifa and approaching the Don. "You sent your me to watch the Seventh Heaven after the Reactor bombing. Who ordered you to do it and why?"
"I'm not telling you anything," he tried to sound bold and unafraid but I wasn't having it.
"If you don't tell us what we want to know," Tifa stepped in, walking up to my side. "I'll smash them." Oh the look on the Don's face when she said that, if I had a picture of it.
"O-okay! It was Heidegger of Shinra!" He blurted out. We knew it. "They had a lead on Avalanche and wanted me to follow it up, so I sent my boys to watch the place. Now it looks like they were right: Avalanche is in Sector Seven and they're going to go ahead with their plan."
"What plan?"
"They'll kill me if I tell you!"
"And I'll break your dick if you don't tell me," I retorted, making him go pale. At the side both Cloud and Aerith were watching in amazement, and cringing a little.
"You're serious, aren't you?" The Don gulped. "Okay, I'll tell: Shinra are going to drop the Plate on Sector Seven, frame Avalanche for it, and kill them in the process."
"What?" Tifa gasped. "They can't do that! They'll kill thousands of innocent people!"
"Which is why they'll frame Avalanche," I said. "We need to warn the others."
"W-wait just a second!" The Don called as we were leaving. "Don't you want to know why I would just babble the truth out to you like that?"
"Because you'd have no balls and would have to piss out a tube otherwise?" I said. The Don just laughed.
"Close, but no cigar!" He pulled a lever and the floor gave way underneath the four of us, having us fall down a dark chute into nothingness.
