Chapter 2.) Inside the North Mako Reactor

Cloud moved cautiously onto the gigantic suspending T-shaped walkway. The sound of a metallic clank accompanied every single step seemed he took, every one of which echoed endlessly around him. He peered over the rusty railing to find himself looking down at what appeared to be a slum of some description, although a faint layer of green mist that occupied the air prevented him from being completely certain. The walkway was so high above the slums, that anything he could make out appeared to be the size of his fingernail. Deciding not to become too distracted from the mission at hand, he turned right onto the second walkway that would lead towards the control room. He suddenly spotted Wedge standing at the opposite entrance however, and became extremely confused that he wasn't with the group. Wedge noticed Cloud's confusion and shouted to him.

Wedge: "I'll secure our escape passage. You concentrate on the mission, Cloud.........we're really gonna blow this huge furnace up, huh? This'll be somethin' to see!"

Cloud was worried at Wedge's excitement towards such a dangerous mission but forgot about it promptly and ran ahead to catch up with the others. He rushed up a small flight of stairs and approached the group who were standing outside another door. A small control panel was mounted on the wall to the left of the door, which was having its' buttons pressed rapidly by an impatient Biggs who was attempting to decipher the code for the lock. Jessie sat cross-legged on the floor with her head in her hands, while Barret leaned against the wall with his arms-folded. Both were looking very bored. Cloud noticed that Barret was still ignoring him, which meant that he still wasn't trusted either. Eventually though, Barret spoke to him.

Barret: "Yo! This your first time in a reactor?"

Cloud: "No. After all, I did work for Shinra."

Barret: "The planet's full of Mako energy. People here use it everyday. It's the life blood of this planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with these weird machines."

Cloud: "I'm not here for a lecture. Let's just do it."

Barret quickly became very angry at Cloud's impatience and lack of concern.

Barret: "Alright! You're coming with me from now on, newcomer."

Biggs: "Finally!" he exclaimed. "Code deciphered!"

Barret: "About time, jackass! Let's go!"

After several bleeps from the control panel, the huge metallic door slid open. They rushed into the next room, where they were confronted by another security door.

Biggs: "Dammit! Not again!"

Jessie: "Don't worry...leave it to me." she said calmly.

Jessie coolly approached the control panel and began pushing several buttons on the keypad. In to time at all, the door was unlocked.

Jessie: "There! Code deciphered!" she said gleefully.

Biggs jealousy was expressed when he mumbled Jessie's words in a high- pitched mocking tone. As the control pad beeped and the door slid open, Biggs paused for a moment before turning to Jessie.

Biggs: "Hey Jessie. Think how many of our people risked their lives, just for this code..."

Jessie: "...L-Let's move on. We've got a reactor to destroy a-after all..."

Cloud could tell she was uncomfortable with what Biggs had said. But when he came to think about, Biggs was probably right. Not wanting to ponder over it for too long, he entered an elevator with Jessie and Barret, while Biggs remained outside to act as sentry and secure the passage.

Jessie: "Push that button over there!" she said to Cloud, pointing towards the wall.

Biggs: "Be careful, guys."

Cloud pushed the flashing blue and red button on the wall. The rustic doors gradually came together, making an uncomfortable screeching noise as they did. As the lift began to descend down the long shaft, Barret tried to continue his previous talk about Shinra's evil deeds.

Barret: "Little by little, the reactors will drain out all the life. Then that'll be that."

Cloud: "It's not my problem." he replied, obviously not interested in what Barret had to say.

Barret: "The planet's dyin', Cloud!" he shouted angrily. "Don't you care?!"

Cloud gave a long sigh.

Cloud: "The only thing I care about is finishing this job before security and the Roboguards come."

Barret clenched his fist and murmured something under his breath, before controlling himself and leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed, giving Cloud an irritated stare. After several uncomfortable silences, the lift eventually arrived on the ground floor with a sharp stop. The doors opened with their previous screeching noise and revealed a long stairway that lead past what could only be described as a giant boiler. A mildly green mist escaped out from the funnel and evaporated into the pitch black above them. They rushed down the stairs and made their way through another door, which led into a gigantic room, full of massive girders and metal pipes. The amount of mist that occupied the room was more prominent than before, but they could just make out a walkway very far below them.

Cloud: "What do we do now?"

Jessie: "We go down." she said, jumping onto an angled ladder that was attached to a giant pipe.

Barret: "You gotta be kiddin."

Cloud and Barret followed suit, even if Barret wasn't entirely comfortable with it; after all he only had one hand to use. After clambering down several more ladders and girders, Jessie suddenly stopped. Barret continued the next ladder while Cloud stopped to find out what the problem was.

Jessie: "You go on with Barret, Cloud. I'll be waiting for you here. Good luck!"

Cloud had guessed that like Wedge and Biggs, she was securing the passage. He continued after Barret down another ladder and along some large pipes that led into the rear wall of the room. Barret jumped onto the wall- mounted ladder and began climbing down the extremely long ladder that led to the walkway. Climbing down ladders was generally difficult with one hand, but one as long as this made Barret a little pissed off. Cloud could occasionally hear Barret saying something, usually along the lines of 'goddamn ladders'. When he finally arrived at the bottom, he stepped off onto the walkway and looked up at Cloud, who decided it would be fun to jump onto the ladder and begin sliding down the railings. He quickly landed on the walkway with a thud and Barret had to promptly jump away from the ladder to avoid being hit. Cloud turned to Barret and looked at his pissed off face, trying his hardest not to smirk.

Barret: ".........smart ass." he eventually said, pretending to be unimpressed with Cloud's stunt, although he was clearly jealous of it too.

They both continued along the giant walkway and both took time to look over the edge. Below them was what appeared to be Mako being sucked up giant suction pipes. It gave off a bright turquoise iridescence that illuminated the entire room. Normally it would be a very bright green, but it appeared that the resource of Mako for this particular reactor was beginning to diminish slightly. There was more mist occupying the room than normal too, so it was difficult to see their surroundings. As they neared the main control panel for the reactor, Cloud spotted a 'Restore' Materia lying in front of him. He crouched down and picked it up, but couldn't equip it as he already had a 'Bolt' and 'Ice' Materia equipped. It glowed softly in his hand and was quite happy to stare at its green luminosity for a while, before pocketing it and continuing towards the control panel.

Barret: "When we blow this place, it ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunka junk. Cloud, you set the bomb."

Cloud: "Shouldn't you do it?" he replied with a confused tone.

Barret: "Jus' do it! I gotta watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'."

Cloud: "Fine, I'll do it." he said, while implying Barret to calm down.

Cloud was about to approach the control panel, when everything around him became silent. He tried to speak, but not a sound came from his lips. He tried shouting. Still nothing. Everything around him turned to a dark and murky red. A high-pitched whine began ringing in Cloud's ears and he covered them quickly to try and stop the pain. The pain grew and grew, until everything turned black and only the faint noise of a heartbeat that gradually grew stronger and stronger remained. He heard a faint voice, which sounded oddly familiar.

"Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!!"

A bright white flash brought him back to reality, and Barret looking extremely puzzled.

Barret: "What's wrong?"

Cloud: "Huh?" he said, still confused by the hallucination.

Barret: "What's wrong, Cloud? Hurry it up!"

Cloud: "Yeah, sorry."

Cloud walked over to the keypad and knelt down as he entered a 24 digit number code. Beeping noises from the keypad echoed endlessly in the massive reactor room. Everything turned quiet for few moments. Suddenly, loud sirens began blaring from all around them. Red alarm lights began flashing. Cloud and Barret looked around frantically, waiting nervously for whatever surprise that was coming for them. They waited and waited. Suddenly, a loud clank came behind them, followed by strong vibrations. Something had landed on the walkway, and as it proceeded towards them, the mist began to clear. Their opponent was made clear.

Barret: "Heads up, here it comes!"