Light from Darkness
The Final Fantasy VII Chronicles
Chapter 3- "Dark City"
The members of AVALANCHE were soon to be found at the dead end of a small, cramped tunnel, hidden in the depths of the Midgar Sector 1 Underground. Algea, mildew, and other slimy substances were strewn upon the dark green walls, which were additionally connected to a number tunnels and pipes running along them.
Wedge couldn't help but to glance around nervously, as if to constantly ensure sure no one would find them.
Biggs cast his own stare upward from where he had lain down, as he spoke in a quiet tone. "That should keep the planet going.. at least a little while longer.." Wedge glanced to the side, and nodded in agreement. "Yeah.."
Cloud and Barret had remained silent, while the only occupied member of the small resistance busied herself typing upon a small computer, the soft sound of electronic beeping the only thing heard in the midst of the silence, as Jessie finalized the preparations of what appeared to be an explosive device. A device fastened upon the tunnel's aforementioned dead end, no less.
Suddenly, after a hastened deactivation of the computer, she excitedly leapt to her feet. "Ok! Now everyone get back," she had yelled to then warnfully. They all did as asked with little argument.
*********
Meanwhile, a pair of newly trained Shinra soldiers were to be found with their rifles closely held, guarding thesealed entrance behind for any sight of the terrorists that destroyed the Mako Reactor number 1. One of them paused in the midst of their conversation and spun around, startled, glancing cautiously from left to right "Yo, Robert.. Ya hear that?," the taller inquired of his friend.
"Hear what?," who responded in a mellow tone, absolutely oblivious of what the other could possibly refer to.
"I don't know.. Some kind of rumb-"
Their speech was soon suddenly cut off, as the 'sealed' entrance had exploded into pieces behind them, the resulting flames engulfing any remains of what was once there.
Unaware of all this, a certain mercenary had leapt out from the burning wreckage, and took a quick look around, visually scanning the enflamed area. "It's all clear. C'mon."
Jessie, Biggs, and Barret soon followed at the signal, followed by a.. far-more panic-driven Wedge, who had doven out from the flames, running about in a circular pattern at an eventually successful attempt to extinguish a painfully lingered fire from his backside.
Fortunately, the wind of this hastened running eventually did just that. Wedge finally fell to a stop, taking a in deep breath. "Whew.."
Jessie quietly shook her head at display, smiling a bit. "Wedge, Wedge, Wedge.. What're we gonna do with you?"
Barret waved everyone over to a stairway, away from the flaming wreckage of the wall.
"All right, now let's get out of here. Rendevous at Sector 8 Station! Split up and get on the train!"
Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge all nodded, as the latter two ran off, and leapt over a railed fence, into the darkness below. Jessie had opted for the less dramatic path of the nearby stairway, as Barret had begun to follow her.. at least until Cloud's gloved hand had tightly gripped upon the dark man's muscled shoulder, holding him in place. "H, hey!," came the startled response.
Barret cast a threatening, annoyed stare to Cloud, from his easily taller, imposing posture. "If it's about your money, save it til' we're back at the hideout." With that, Barret shrugged off the grip as if it were nothing, leaving Cloud to hesitant alone.. and reluctantly up after him.
*********
In the center of a nearby Midgar street, citizens had been scurrying about in a panic. Upon learning the news of the AVALANCHE attack, this likely was of little surprise to note. So absorbed in the startling events this news carried with it, a certain swift individual hadn't even noticed, or cared, that his shoulder had painfully struck into a young woman wearing a pink dress with a red, open vest over it.
She winced at the impact and fell to her knees briefly, before she got up a moment later, while brushing off her dusted attire, and refixating her small brown basket, filled with flowers, over her right arm. It was a great relief to this woman that none of them had been lost. They did take ever so long to prepare, after all.
Cloud walked out into the street at sometime during this incident, and over to the woman with a touch of concern crossing his thoughts. It wasn't often one saw a person like that in the degraded slums, after all. Often an ill wind that boded little good.
The flower girl had reponsively glanced to him with a set of pale green eyes, in the midst of a formally-curtsied greeting, just before she curiously began to inquire of him.
"Excuse me..What happened? Why's everyone so.. excited?"
"Nothing," Cloud says, having decided it in the young woman's best interest to not know that he had just aided in blowing up a giant piece of Shinra property. "Hey.. Listen.. I don't see many flowers around here.."
The smiling face of the woman tilted a bit, looking at Cloud with a bit of surprise. "Oh, these? Do you like them that much? They're only a gil.."
Cloud's acceptance put the conversation to a simple close, as he simply handed her a coin, and took a small blue-petaled flower from the selection, pocketing it in his uniform soon thereafter.
The young girl smiled brightly at Cloud, thanking him several times before she hurried off into the dark streets.
Cloud had intended to continue for the train station afterwards, though he felt a peculiar tug of subconscious incline him to follow the girl's departure.. and so, with a rare decision to go along with his inclinations, he deviated from the path to the train station, as he followed her through the crowded streets. This path eventually took him under a brown archway, that was possessing of a large clock mounted in the center.
The mercenary began to look around for the unmistakable fashion sense of bright pink, and it soon became apparent that there was no sight of any such person. By scope of the crowd's size and width alone, he was lucky to have come across such a person in the first place, no doubt.
Resigned to the task at hand, he took in a light sigh to himself as he walked past a nearby polluted fountain of water.. just before a red-uniformed citizen stopped Cloud in the midst of his venture, voice arisen in a sharp inquiring tone.
"Hey, you.. Yeah, the spikey-haired guy! Just what the hell's going on?!" Cloud merely shrugged, and went right past him, soon coming to a man at the counter just ahead. The person's attention had been thoughtfully drawn to a wire along the ceiling, which was eminating with multiple bolts of cerulean electricity.
"Wonder what that is on the wall over there.. Let's see.." He blinked and looked to Cloud, realizing he had been under observation, and just as soon, he ceased talking to himself. "Sorry about that.. Just thinking."
"It's alright. Are you involved with the Shinra Company?"
The man, raggedly attired in blue shirt and pants seemed almost insulted at this insinuation, and shook his head wildly, glaring at Cloud. "Don't be fooled by Shinra!," he exclaimed.
"Mako Energy doesn't last forever! Mako is the planet's lifeforce! The end is in sight! AVALANCHE aren't terrorists.. They're protectors of the planet!"
Cloud gaves a slight, passive nod, then began to head on, leaving the man to his distracted machinations.. which made it all the more easier to grab an unattended potion off the counter along the way.
He next stopped in the middle of a deserted street corner, which had been dimly lit by a few flickering street lights. Small homes were scattered around the area, all darkened except for a faint candle litt in a lone window upon the top floor.
Cloud had begun to walk around, the neighborhood, though was stopped within less than a minute's passing, upon the overhearing of a loud "Halt!" outcry. Clearly addressed at his direction.
He spun around in a quick response, wasting no time in the drawing of his sword, just in time to witness the sight of a pair of Shinra Soldiers charging for his location, each of whom was equipped with a fully prepared and well-aimed machine gun rifle. Cloud, wisely opting to not waste his time, turned and ran the other way, and down one of the many local side roads, only to blocked by three more of the grunts.
"I don't have time for you!" Of course, this outcry was yelled rather hastily, for it was given while Cloud sped off for another pathway, while dodging the array of fired bullets that came screaming after him. It wasn't long before he had been stopped again by a trio of the rather numerous Shinra Soldiers, which blocked off the narrow path's only last escape.
Cloud growled, any patience he had been possessing of clearly worn out. "This time, I'm taking you down.." The words having barely left his voice, he lowered into a sprint for the group, using an outstretched arm to cleave two of the unsuspecting guards in one horizontal slice. The third one, vividly shaken at his group's abrupt downsizing, frantically reached for his waistbelt, and detached a grenade from it, which was flung at the (hopefully) distracted warrior before him as a last-ditch effort.
Cloud, little worried by this attempt, leveled his blade up to deflect it at the last soldier.. which exploded upon impact with the frightened person, and blew him over the side of the distanced bridge with the releasal of rapidly cut-off scream. Cloud allowed himself a narrow smirk, as he re-sheathed the multi-talented blade. "Serves you right.."
Just as soon as Cloud managed to exit the alley, and reposition himself upon the nearby bridge, many more of the replacable soldiers ran from the nearby series of paths and alleys, leveled firearms leaving him with little option but to back against an edge of the bridge.
"This is as far as you go," came a prideful comment from the head guard, finger easing around his weapon's trigger all too eagerly.
"I don't have time to be dealing with you guys."
In mid-sentence, Cloud turned to look over the bridge, at the vertigo-inspiring drop that awaited. Suffice it to say, his lone option didn't appear all that optimistic.
However, the train whistle he overheard a moment later helped make the venture appear a great deal more so.
Cloud hesitanted, and slowly turned back to the closing-in batch of guards that had gathered around him. No way out; the catch was theirs.
"I'll see you in Hell!," Cloud declared with a smirk, just before he backflipped over the bridge's railing behind him, colliding lightly upon the surface of the well-timed train's arrival. Having little time to spare, he forced himself back up, and dove to the side, a railed handle of which he grabbed hold of.. just before the overhead tunnel entered by the vehicle would have painfully forced the intruder back off.
"What was that all about?," one of the befuddled guards abandoned on the bridge above couldn't help but ask.
"'nother one of those suicidal narcotic addicts, prob'ly."
"..damn, what's the world coming to?"
*********
Inside the cargo compartment of a certain, rather popular, train, the members of AVALANCHE, minus a certain rookie former SOLDIER of Shinra, attempted to relax for once, after a long night's battle.
Wedge, speaking with a touch of sadness, was the first to interject into the lingered silence. "..Cloud never came.."
Biggs looked thoughtfully to the roof of the train, almost as if he could see the sky above. "Cloud.. I wonder if he was killed?"
Barret growled under his breath, as he stood upright with a sudden angered outburst. "No way!!"
Jessie's own stare was cast down at the floor, as she let out soft, worried sigh. "Cloud..."
Meanwhile, the sound of a light, overlooked banging pierced their quiet discussion.
Wedge paused, and glanced around, before he looked to Barret. "Say, do you think Cloud's.. Going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE?"
Barret crossed his arms, and leveled a ill-tempered stare back at the chubby mercenary. "The hell would I know!? Do I look like a mind reader?" He slammed his grey-gloved left arm against a crate at his side, which hadn't even a fraction of the temper-easing effect Barret hoped for, while he muttered in a bothered tone. "Hmph!! If y'all weren't such screw-ups.."
Wedge persisted his look to Barret, a hint of excitedness in his eyes when he next enthusedly spoke, perfectly obvious to the fire he was pouring gasoline into. "Hey, Barret! What about our money..?"
Barret slammed his fist against the same crate once more, with twice the impact. Wedge backed down after that. "Uh, nothin'.. Sorry."
A persistant banging was heard once more, though this time, it was not passed off. The group turned in unison, attentions inquisitively focused upon the train's metal entrance from where the pounding was coming.
It hadn't taken long for the answer to show itself. The passageway was forced open by exterior hands, allowing Cloud an entranced flip through from the railcar's above ceiling, coming to a perfectly maintained landing upon the floor within.
Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie all stood excitedly at this sight, their casted gazes at him all filled with relief.. save that of a certain disgruntled leader, of course. Barret's stare was just fine with being directed at the crate. It made good company, too.
"Cloud!!", the three had all spoken at once.. although Jessie's tone had appeared most relieved of all.
Cloud scratched the back of his head, chuckling a bit, as if he were unused to being the source of all the simultaneous attentions. "Looks like I"m a little late, eh?"
Barret frowned, and abruptly glared over at Cloud, aiming his gun-arm at him, though not purposely.. as if it was an accusing finger. "You damn right, you're late!! Come waltzin' in here, makin' a big scene!"
Cloud responded with a slight shrug. "It's not big deal. Just what I always do."
Barret uttered a light 'hmph', and glanced away, muttering a curse. "Havin' everyone worried about that.. You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself!"
Cloud smirked at this display, arms pridefully folded over his chest. "Hmm.. You were worried about me!"
Barret became rather excited at that insinuation, arms waved up and down in a denying display. "Wha!? I'm takin' it outta your money, hot stuff!" He then again turned away from the crates, and stormed to the front of the car, with a sidelong glance cast at the group. "Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me!"
With that proclaimed, Barret spun in the opposite direction, and leapt down a passage into the attached railcar. A moment later Wedge looked to Cloud, the former of him found it a great deal easier to speak in the wake of their leader's absence.
"Hey, Cloud! You were great back there!" The words off his mind, Wedge was soon also away, following Barret down the path. Biggs similarly walked away from his crate, to Cloud, scratching the back of his head with a grin casted at the spikey-haired latecomer. "Heh heh... Cloud! We'll do even better next time!" Biggs rans off, following Wedge and Barret's lead.
Jessie's silent approach was to the still-opened metal door of the compartment. "Be careful, I'll shut this," she commented, as she did just that.
Her attentions soon went back to Cloud, a discernful motherly stare cast up and down, hoping not to find the sight of any wounds.. upon the sight of his face, she emitted a light gasp.. hardly a wound, but the next worst thing. "Oh, Cloud! Your face is pitch-black.." She moved closer, touching her soft hand to Cloud's face, which delicately brushed away at the blackened dirt that was smeared along Cloud's visage. Notably, the mercenary repeatedly flinched in a hesitant fashion during this period of time.
"There you go!," Jessie said with a smile, contently obvious of this as she turned and began to head off after the rest.. though not without a pause, a glance cast back to Cloud over her left shoulder, the smile having not wavered in the slightest.
"Say, thanks for helping me back there at the reactor!" The thought was finally off her mind, that was reason for relief.. though the lingered silence between them left Jessie wondering if there had been something else on her mind. If there was, she could not find a voice for it.. so without another word, she turned, and exited as well.
Cloud paused in his absence, before he eventually went after them, with a wondering look in his blinked gaze. Of course, it was the exact nature of this person's eternal obviousness that was a converse source of relief to a certain recently-departed mercenary.
It made certain situations so very much easier for her to contend with.