A|N: Edited this as of 04/09/2021.

-Rivai

Save File Three

"Yo, kid, wake up!" I grunted at the voice as I tried to swat the hand, that was trying to wake me up from such great sleep, away from my shoulder. Unfortunately, the shaking grew worse, until I finally decided to wake up. "Alright, alright! I'm up dammit!" I reluctantly opened my bleary, green eyes and caught sight of Barret looking down at me in an annoyed manner.

"We're going now, so get your ass up and let's go!" Satisfied with my awakened state, he sauntered over to the pinball machine and slammed the switch to go up. Yawning, I stretched my limbs and managed to crack all my sore joints in place. The members of AVALANCHE didn't trust me enough to let me have a place of my own, so they more or less had me detained underground. I was thankful that at least they didn't bound my wrists again, and that they left my stuff on the table. Unsurprisingly, they looked through it to check for security reasons, but it didn't look like they messed with it enough to deem me suspicious.

As I moved to retrieve them, the pinball machine once again moved and traveled down, revealing Cloud who was holding a pair of fingerless gloves, some light armor as well as a bangle, and what looked like to be a short sword. He's wearing his SOLDIER outfit with a shoulder pad off and his Buster Sword sheathed at the back. "Evening." He greeted me simply as I gawked at him. "Evening already? How long did I sleep?!"

"I dunno. Tifa did say you've been asleep for a long time and didn't wake you. You looked like you needed it anyways." Cloud shrugged. He strode towards me and pushed the items onto my non-outstretched hands. He doesn't seem to think my sleeping habits were that unusual because he was just watching me, weary as usual.

I examined all the items he gave me. The gloves will be good for some hand-to-hand combat, and the armor and bangles are great for Materia, although I'm a little worried for the short sword, since the only weapons training I had in my life was Eskrima, and honestly, I'm extremely bad at it.

'It's alright,' I thought to myself as I wore everything in place, 'I'm inside a game, and I have all the time I need to practice.'

Cloud eyed me and my belongings and then he pointed towards my headphones, "I've never seen that kind of headset before, you made it?" He asked bluntly as I scratched my head, trying to come up with a believable answer. I hate that feeling when you lie to people; more guilt and more reasons for your heart to palpitate, and that's not a good thing when you have health problems to begin with.

"Nah, I got it as a gift." I awkwardly grinned just as he shrugged and walked back to the pinball elevator. I followed him while strapping my short sword to my waist, "The target's the Mako Reactor 7." Cloud spoke up. "We'll have a quick briefing before going to the train." I nodded at him as we rode the elevator in silence. I tried my best not to stare at him amidst this awkward silence, but thankfully he didn't notice me fidgeting about.

I spared a glance either way. The more I look at him, the more I realize how surreal this situation is. Now that I got a good night's sleep, all of last night's events started piecing itself together in a way that I could finally understand. The last memory I had from my own world was…

'A lightning strike.' I tapped my chin thoughtfully. After that, there was a blinding bright light, and I felt every hair on my body stand up on end. When I remembered that particular memory I unconsciously gripped my shoulders. It just might be possible that…

I died. Because the next time I woke up, I was already in this world. My grip tightened almost to the point of bruising my shoulders. 'What on earth happened? Did I really die...and reincarnated into this world..?'

The characters are amazing; Aerith and Tifa are gorgeous and all, but the one standing right next to me is Cloud Strife, one of the very few people who can wield this butter knife of a sword, can look awesome while rocking his chocobo hair, and most importantly, he's the main protagonist of this world. He's the literal definition of a badass. I know I shouldn't treat him as a friend immediately, but all my life I've been a huge fan and I just can't wait to get to know him and everyone else (even if I knew everything about them) personally, hoping that they'd even go so far as to treat me like a friend too.

And here I am, a fellow member of AVALANCHE and hopefully a potential help in this crazy world. I just hoped I'd be alive to see this through the end.

(So, what happens next?)

When we reached the bar floor, the whole group's already gathering around Barret, while Tifa's behind the counter, wiping the already pristine countertop and listening to a radio. Marlene's at a corner, playing with her paper dolls. Instinctively, my hand felt into my pocket and found the flower I got from Aerith. I remembered one of the scenes here as I pulled up my best smile and walked over to the little girl. She stared at me with apprehensive eyes, but they quickly softened when she saw the flower I held out for her, "Oh, what a pretty flower!" She exclaimed as she accepted it giddily.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Noel!"

I chuckled as I patted her hair. "Well, you could just call me Noel now, Marlene. I'm sorry for causing a mess yesterday." The child smiled at me when the corner of my eye caught Tifa smirking at my direction.

"It's okay, you're helping Papa now too. And besides, Tifa kicked your butt so we're even!" She teased as I embarrassingly rubbed the back of my neck. I forgot kids can remember even the faintest of details. Strangely perceptive, kids could be, something I still have to get used to regarding my original occupation.

"Yup, she did, huh?"

"Alright then!" Barret turned around to look at this exact moment and stiffened when he saw me talking to his little girl. "Noel, get your ass over here, the briefing's gonna start!" He shouted at me just as Marlene waved and trotted off to play somewhere else. I then went towards the group and sat on a nearby chair. "Alright, everyone's here! You know our mission and what we do. Blow up Mako Reactor 7, kick Shinra's ass, and save the Planet!" The huge man declared; his gun arm held high as everyone cheered, except for me and Cloud. The ex-SOLDIER was leaning against the wall with an apparently bored expression while I was slumped on my chair about to doze off.

"We'll be splitting up into two teams. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie will stay put in the rear car on the way to the Reactor while me, Cloud, and Noel will hide up on the roof of the train. Once we're at the station we head out and go with the plan!" Simple, vague, but straight to the point, this was pretty much how Barret is. Well, whatever works for me. I'll do my best to support the team.

The briefing ended as I quickly scarfed down a bowl of oatmeal. I wanted something heavy for the mission, but Tifa insisted I shouldn't upset my stomach when I haven't eaten for a whole day. Everyone's preparing to head out as soon as we're all good and set to go. "Be safe, you guys. I'll make you dinner when you come back." Tifa solemnly said at our retreating backs as we hauled ass for the incoming train for Sector Seven station. Cloud was indifferent as always but he did nod at Tifa before leaving, and I gave her a quick salute before following my new employer, who was currently hollering for our names to hurry it up.

The cold rush of the wind was unable to contain my nervousness for this mission.

Nobody bothered to tell me, but I figured the reason why we had to hide on top of the train was so that the ID checkpoint won't spot us without a legit ID. I mean, Barret's basically the face of the current AVALANCHE, Cloud was supposedly the SOLDIER guy who defected and I more or less appeared out of thin air. If anything, we're the most suspicious people in this train, thankfully we have people on our side who can handle the technicalities of it all.

Seriously, though. The least they could do was give me a thicker jacket. It's cold enough that I had to stuff my hands into my pockets, watching Cloud stare at the buildings with a hard look. I wonder how he's holding up. He's probably not nervous like I am, but it shouldn't be a bad thing to take a peek into his thoughts, "I've never done something like this before." I casually mentioned, watching him slightly turn his head towards my direction.

"It's too late to back out now." He scoffed as I waved a hand and shrugged in reply. "Oh, don't worry about that. I said I came to Midgar for work, and I'll take on any kind of work, even if that includes blowing up reactors." I then looked on towards Barret's direction to see if he had a reaction to that, but he doesn't seem to be listening in our conversation. If anything, he's just out of earshot or the whistling wind was just too loud.

Cloud looked like he wanted to say something, but stayed silent. Disappointed, I laid down on my back, arms crossed under my head as I stared at the inky black sky. Midgar, a floating city, a plate beneath the sky, a sprawling metropolis incapable of knowing its effect on the Planet. People here are too busy to survive and make a living to care whether sucking up mako is a good or a bad thing. Of course, as long as it's lining up the pockets of Shinra with Gil, they don't care at all. What a classic capitalistic case, my professor who thought I'd flunk would be so proud of me.

Another cold gust of wind made me shiver uncontrollably. Huh, if it weren't for the smog, maybe I could see the stars. I wonder about the flower girl, who once said she was scared of the sky. "I hope Aerith is doing alright…" I whispered to myself, before smirking. Man, it hasn't been a day, and I already miss her.

After about an hour, we were riding past the residential and commercial areas and started hitting up on the nitty-gritty base of factories lining up towards the reactor. "We're here now foo's! Get ready!" Barret shouted at the din for me and Cloud to hear. I sat up and stretched my arms, just as Cloud stood up from his spot as well, his grip on his Buster Sword and gazed at the Shinra tower. I turned my attention back at Barret and rolled my eyes, "Yeah, yeah whatever you say, boss." I said with a chuckle. The train was speeding away and we're finally arriving at our destination, Mako Reactor 7.

Screech!

The train screeched to a halt at the station. There were two guards stationed at its flanks but as expected, Biggs leaped out of the door and threw one of them over his shoulder, while Jessie brought up the rear and expertly kicked the last one out of consciousness. Wedge came out of last and quickly scaled the place with the other two, finding the route to the Reactor. The three disappeared behind an archway as Barret jumped off the train. "Come on, newcomers, I'll show you the way!" Having said that, he ran to the pathway without looking back. I straddled my legs as I bounded off the roof. I braced myself for impact as I rolled to the ground and got up, completely unharmed. Cloud was next. Being an ex-SOLDIER has its perks too. He was able to get down without any problems. Cloud stood up as we nodded at each other and began sprinting towards the Reactor.

Suddenly, two Shinra infantrymen came up from behind the archway with their guns drawn. Cloud instinctively grabbed his sword from his back and began slashing the infantrymen. I've had half a mind to grab for my shortsword as well, but man this thing is heavier than I expected. As I thought, I can't use it, not yet at least. Bullets rained down on us as we dodged their shots while we each took our consecutive hits, a deep slash on one guy, and a punch to the gut on the other. Both men slumped to the ground as we took off to the path. But before we left, I searched through the pockets of the guards and each took a Potion from them. The walkway was pretty straightforward as Cloud and I traversed in silence. Somewhere in front of us I could see the silhouetted forms of our comrades Minutes later, we arrived at the Reactor's gates.

Jessie was trying to deactivate the security of the gates while Biggs and Wedge were on lookout duty. "Hey, we haven't really formally met huh? What's your name?" I know Wedge's just being friendly, but Cloud, being the bastard that he is in the first game, only responded, "Cloud." I waved cheerfully at the three. "You can call me Noel!" Wedge smiled at me while Biggs grinned thoughtfully.

"Cloud and Noel, huh..? Well, my name is-"

"I don't care about your names. When this mission's done, I'm outta here." Damn, Cloud. Jessie looked over from her shoulder with an apparently confused look. "Aren't you from SOLDIER? What's he doing here with us in AVALANCHE..?" At this, Biggs shook his head.

"He WAS in SOLDIER, Jessie. He quit them and now he is one of us." I gotta admire the spirit of these three. Shame that they have to die sometime in the game. I looked down to the ground and clenched my fist. No matter what, whatever means necessary, I won't let them die. I'm going to prevent the Sector 7 plate from falling, and stop Shinra from getting their way.

I was so caught up in my own mind, that I didn't notice Barret appearing from out of nowhere and already lashing out orders, "The hell you all doin'?! I thought I told you never to move in a group!" The muscular man then pointed to the structure just ahead of us. "Our target's the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it!" The group, except for Cloud, nodded at him then headed off to the building once Jessie managed to crack the gate open. But before we made a move, Barret stopped in his tracks and turned to Cloud with a sour look on his face.

"Ex-SOLDIER, huh? Don't trust ya!" He jeered at him before he went on his way. I followed him as I watched Cloud stare a bit at the Reactor prior to following Barret inside the depths of the place. He has been doing a lot of staring ever since we rode the train, huh. We ran until we reached the bridge, with Wedge splitting up from us at the intersection. As I watched the round man run off to the other side, I felt someone push me to the ground roughly, "Get down!" Cloud's face loomed into view as the sound of bullets ricocheted. My green eyes peeked over his spiky blond hair to see three Shinra MPs. Thinking fast, I ran for cover while the blond used his sword to block.

"Noel! Catch!" I turned my head to see a small, green orb flying towards me. I grabbed it with a fist and stared at it shockingly. So this is materia… From the looks, and feel, of it, I say it's one of Cloud's materia, Ice. I was taken off guard at how big it is, like the size of a golf ball, yet it is extremely light, just like marbles. I looked at it more closely and there seems to be a small, blue ice crystal residing inside it. "What are you doing?! Use it!" My thoughts were interrupted with the sounds of battle and Cloud's irritated voice.

Ah, shit. How do I use this again?

I fumbled with the materia in my hands, trying to remember from the games and films on how materia was even equipped. Right, you put materia into slots, but my gloves don't even have slots! I was about to give up when I looked at the bangles on my arms, and I nearly pissed at myself.

'Of course, the fucking bangles have slots; get your head in the game Noel!' I quickly slotted the ball of magic into my right bangle, and suddenly felt a surge of power forcing itself inside me as I doubled over for a bit. Weird. Has materia always been like this for the first timers? As soon as the power washed over, I could feel a new one pulsing. It felt as if something cool, refreshing, and alive was blanketing itself all over my body. I stood up from spot, raised my arm and pointed it at the guards, hoping that this would work.

"Ice!"

The action soon followed after my words. A cool breeze licked my face as I was awed at the sight of a giant snowflake bursting from the MP. However, that feeling immediately disappeared, being completely replaced by dread as the MP collapsed to the ground, dead and unmoving. I shakily gulped and fought the urge to collapse as well.

'I just… I killed someone…' "You did well." Cloud seemed to have finished off the other two as he approached me. He placed a hand on my shoulder, looking pretty smug. Seeing as I didn't respond, he frowned at me. "Hey, are you-"

"Y-yeah, alright, let's get going." I brushed him off at the next second and turned away. I then sprinted off inside the Reactor, leaving Cloud a little confused. I can't get shaken off just because I killed a person for the first time. That's something...I have to get used to during my stay in this world. I gritted my teeth when I finally saw Barret in a distance. Am I considered a murderer now? …But Cloud and the others always go around raising hell and kicking everyone's ass. Maybe I shouldn't think too much on this; anyway, it's just a game.

(Are you sure about that?)

Barret spotted me and waved one meaty arm, "Yo! This your first time in a reactor?" I assume Cloud has already followed me so I didn't say anything. Lucky for me, said bastard shrugged and turned away from him, "No. After all, I did work for Shinra, y'know."

The big man continued, "The Planet's full of Mako energy. People here use it every day." Everyone except for me and AVALANCHE, of course. "It's the life blood of the Planet. But Shinra keeps suckin the blood out with these machines." Cloud shrugged again with an indifferent face, "I'm not here for a lecture. Let's just hurry." With that, Barret's face got redder as he got angrier with his attitude. I brought a gloved hand to my mouth to hide my snicker, "Calm down, you two. It's only the beginning of the mission." The swordsman and the gunman shot me an intense glare, which I ignored.

In the end, Barret shook his head, looking pissed at us. "That's it! You two are coming with me!" I saw Cloud shift his eyes towards me, and I noted that barest twist of a smile coming up at his mouth. Well, well, so he's capable of showing other emotions after all.

We found Biggs crouched down by the security system, a look of concentration etched upon his face. "All right. Code deciphered!" The gates instantly opened much to their chagrin as we pressed on. Jessie and Biggs would help decipher the codes while Barret was looking out for enemies. During the time we're at the second area, I scouted the place to look for something. Cloud was curious but he did not come along. The area's not that large enough to get lost in so eventually, I came across a Phoenix Down in a chest. Just the appearance of this very long and fluffy, blue colored feather was enough evidence to say that I'm inside the exact world of that video game, and that comforted me at the very least. If I didn't find it, I may as well have been losing my mind right now.

I don't know how to use this, but I'll just ask Cloud and the others how to later. Without another thought, I pocketed it and went back to my comrades, where Jessie already cracked the code. We got into the elevator while the girl pointed at the switch.

"Push that button over there."

"Aight!"

The three of them stared at me cluelessly but I didn't notice as I pushed the button Jesse pointed at. The elevator rumbled to life and as we descended, Barret began to speak once again, "Little by little the reactors'll drain out all life. And that'll be that." I don't really get it, but I think this is Barret's way of reminding himself every time by reminding Cloud of what they do. That Shinra's the bad guys, yadda yadda, the Planet's dying, same old same old. He's not directing these sentiments to me, so I don't need to rebuke this kind of thinking, not yet at least.

Cloud shrugged again, "It's not my problem."

"The planet's dyin' Cloud!" The man became angrier than ever. I stood by Jessie trying to ignore the conversation, as it was getting too awkward to listen in.

"The only thing I care about is finishin' this job before security and the Roboguards come." Cloud gave off a heated gaze at him while crossing his arms. Barret turned away, pissed as hell, but he kept looking back at him with this unreadable look. Wow, how these two got along, I will find out later on. I ran a gloved hand through my mousse hair and stared at the two, waiting for the lift to go down to our designated place.

Professor Hojo once again looked up from his paperwork, obviously looking irritated and quite annoyed. He just had a small talk with the President regarding the Promised Land, which he still does not believe in, and of the Ancients. No, that was not what was irritating him.

What is irritating him is that his prized specimen just disappeared under his nose without a trace.

It was by far a lucky chance when he found it: an anomaly. The very first in years since Sephiroth. Just yesterday, the idiot assistant accidentally started up one of his oldest machines while cleaning the lab. That machine was used to track down Ancients, using the data collected over years of researching Ifalna and pairing it with the identification system of Shinra. It was considered defective for not pinpointing their locations exactly, but it sends signals that something is indeed there. The most basic features of an Ancient consisted of brown hair and emerald green eyes, containing what was theorized to be the 'essence of the Lifestream' that has since then been proven evident. That machine detected two persons of interest that matched those descriptions. One was the Cetra girl those Turks were hiding, and the other was the anomaly.

What fascinated him the most is that the anomaly seemingly appeared from thin air. Furthermore there were no records of such a person within Shinra's database, and as such, piqued Hojo's interest. He dispatched most of his men to retrieve the specimen, yet by the time they arrived at the scene, said specimen was already gone. It infuriated him at how this, this thing, just started moving on its own, when it shouldn't be. Hojo piled some research paper unto the linoleum floor and began making calculations; mostly about how it got in and what it is. Well, whatever it is, he will find it.

He smiled sickeningly. Oh, how much fun he will have with this thing, no matter what it is, he will discover its secret for not being human, most especially that this just appeared out of nowhere. It may very well be an incredible source of information, possibly the key to all problems. Hojo laughed at the thought. Even though the Ancient girl is as important to his research, this one is much more important to the point that he will do almost anything just to get this thing.

His phone vibrated. Hojo lazily pressed the button and listened to what the caller had to say, "When are we taking her?" The voice belonged to a very skilled marksman, an excellent Turk who served him well, Tseng. The man giggled inceptively, already thinking of the many things he will do to the Ancient. Now that it is a direct order by the President, the Turks can't hide her now.

"As soon as you can, Tseng." The caller seemed to pause for a bit, then recovered his thoughts, "Understood. I will dispatch Reno to the case." The call ended and Hojo slicked back his greasy hair, looking more mad than usual.

"What an interesting anomaly…"

"Enemies at your twelve o' clock!" I grit my teeth just as one of the boxed robots fired a freaking missile on me! I rolled on my back as Barret jumped into the fray, shouting curses left and right. Cloud was too busy with a Roboguard while I stayed with the other to back him up. "Die foo'!" Barret then reeled back to smash the box as I focused on one of them.

"Ice!" I raised my arm and focused all the energy into it. A huge snowflake exploded from the guard as it detonated and disintegrated on the spot. Huffing a satisfied breath, I made a leap and performed a resounding kick at another one, slamming its circuits and shutting it down. Cloud and Barret were able to finish off their own share as I stood up straighter and stretched my joints, the rush of adrenaline felt tingly in my bones. "Alright! Now that's not too bad." I grinned cheerfully as Cloud and Barret walked up to me, looking safe from the fight. We then continued our way deeper into the reactor. The place stunk like a mixture of gasoline and the sewers. Radioactive sewers that is. Jumping down from the ladder as Jessie instructed us, I caught a glimpse of the sea of mako underneath. I'm only being honest if I said it actually looked hauntingly beautiful. Something about it is giving me the chills though. The three of us walked in silence and kept a watchful eye for enemies when we finally reached our target. I spied the Restore materia just inches in front of us but I didn't move to get it yet.

"When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be nothin' more than hunka of junk." Barret turned to Cloud and handed him a ridiculously deformed looking bomb with a clock jutting from the side. Seriously, it looked like it was just two sticks of dynamite tied together with duct tape and corded to a clock. You'd imagine an eco-terrorist organization would invest more on explosives and get a better looking bomb, but then again, I probably shouldn't say anything about this with Jessie though… "Cloud you set the bomb." The blond furrowed his eyebrows at him with a glare and said, "Shouldn't you do it?"

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

"Fine, be my guest." Cloud strode towards the core of the reactor but suddenly stopped, a look of pain suddenly appeared on his face. When I moved forward to help him, I, too, stopped in my tracks.

Watch out!

'What…the hell..?' I gripped my head as I grimaced. A sheer edge of pain grasped my temples as I tried to block it as well as that mysterious voice. I began to panic. I wasn't supposed to hear Cloud's thoughts! These were his and his alone!

This isn't just a reactor!

"How…even..?" I muttered subconsciously, feeling my knees weakening. But as soon as it came it just passed over, gone. I vigorously shook my head to keep unwanted thoughts away. Damn, that voice… It definitely wasn't the one I kept hallucinating about. So, who..?

"What's wrong?" Barret asked. I turned to him then at Cloud, shaking my head. "N-nothing. You okay there, Cloud?" I slightly raised my voice at his name, so that I could interrupt him from his thoughts. Cloud rubbed his head, mumbling an apology as he began to set up the bomb. He tucked it near the gears and widgets of the reactor core and set the timer.

Just then, an ear splitting noise erupted as soon as he pressed it. A low rumbling was heard, followed by a loud crash coming from behind us. I readied my fists as Barret twisted around to point his gun arm at our uninvited guest. "Heads up, here they come!"

The smoke cleared and a gigantic, spider-like robot appeared in front of us, its guns were already drawn and aimed at our heads. Cloud yelled for us to scatter, just as it used its machine guns on us. Bullets came down hard as I dodged and ran for cover behind some debris. The bigger man cursed the robot with his middle finger while spraying it with ammo. The ex-SOLDIER however, was able to even move while casting out his Bolt magic. Small traces of lightning bolts pierced the robot, making it screech deafeningly, as a few of its circuits were combusting. Just a little more!

I side stepped one of its rifles which were poised at me and emitted another Ice spell. I directed it towards the guns to knock them out of commission. I have to figure out how to kill this thing before ten minutes are up, else we go down with the reactor ourselves. Barret and Cloud were mildly injured thanks to my efforts of handing them random Potions. I can't do much damage with just my punching and kicking; I'm not Tifa, and only my Ice materia can reach standards like that. I looked around myself to find something, anything that might defeat it once and for all. As I turned and twisted, my eyes finally caught sight of my short sword, hanging dumbly by my waist.

All of a sudden, a wild idea started to form inside my already twisted mind.

The Grand Scorpion twitched and vibrated, its tail beginning to rise up at an alarming rate. Barret stopped gattling his gun while Cloud stopped casting, their eyes widening at the rising tail. I quickly ran up to them, shouting, "Guys, don't hit it! It will counterattack with its laser!" I stopped short between them, sword already in hand. "What do you mean? Counterattack? How the hell did you know that?!" Barret roared, a vein already popping from a temple. Cloud also looked like he was in need of an explanation, but there's no time for me to go into detail about that.

"Listen," I placed my hand unto the blond's shoulder and gripped it hard. "On the count of three, Barret will boost me up to the Scorpion's head and I'll stab the head with my sword." I ignored the gunman's dubious face. "Then Cloud, cast your strongest Bolt magic yet, and direct it towards the sword. The sword will act as an electric rod, gathering all the energy, and will form a current straight into the head and to the heart!" Cloud blinked at me, but in the end nodded as he sheathed his Buster Sword at his back and began to gather enormous amounts of mana needed for a good Bolt attack. Barret, however, was staring at me frantically, "You want ME to throw you over that thing there?" I swear, I felt a chip pop over my head as I felt a brow ticking in annoyance.

"You have a better idea, ha?!"

"Not exactly..."

"Alright, then on the count of three!" I positioned myself on Barret's hands, waiting for the countdown to catapult me to the thing's head. I nodded at them and gave them a (hopefully) reassuring thumbs up.

"One!" Grand Scorpion was still readying to use its tail laser, and from that light forming on the tip we have only seconds until it uses it.

"Two!" Barret stared at me nervously, as if wanting to say something.

"Hey shouldn't we-?"

"THREE!"

The cold air blasted at my face as the man heaved and effortlessly threw me at the thing, as if I weighed nothing. I shouted obscenities and flailed my arms, my vision obscuring for a minute while narrowly avoiding its trembling tail. Barret, however, must have had a pretty good aim as the top head of the robot came into view. I gripped onto my short sword very hard and brought it down to completely bury itself to the hilt onto the monster's circuits. There was a low rumble as I heard Cloud at last shout the words, "BOLT!" as artificial lightning burst through his person and towards the sword. I jumped out of the way as I watched it flail around the floor, the lightning coursing through its body thanks to my authentic electric rod. After a few more seconds of it having an epileptic fit, the Grand Scorpion was no more as it collapsed on the ground, finally off duty.

I sighed and panted breath. That was...a seriously dangerous idea for someone who doesn't even have combat experience. My biggest worry was that scorpion tail, which thankfully did not charge in time for it to attack. With the adrenaline slowly dissipating I could feel a dull, aching pain spreading on my left shoulder. I palmed it only to grimace; damn, must've been from one of the rifles. I'll have Tifa take a look at it later. The three of us moved towards the robot and scavenged through its remains. Ah! Barret rummaged something and hefted a crazed smile; looks like he found new equipment for his gun. Cloud and I dug around and came upon a stash of Gil and some Potions that we could use. We found my short sword among the singed remains, and unfortunately it looked beyond repair, as the only thing I can obtain from it is the small hilt of the sword. "It's fine, we can get you another sword." The blond, having noticed my scowl, said. I waved a hand dismissively. "I'm alright, I don't use swords like you."

"Alright, let's get outta here!"

Ah, shit. I completely forgot about the bomb!

I scrambled onto my feet just as Barret ran ahead to signal Jessie and Biggs to get out. Just as I was about to follow him, Cloud stopped for a bit, bent down, and snatched up the Restore materia into his grasp.

Damn, even I forgot about the materia.

We raced back to the entrance of the Reactor. We climbed the ladder up after battling some more persistent guardbots, when I noticed Jessie kneeling on one of the metallic beams, her face scrunched in pain. "You okay?" I rushed over to her side and inspected her leg. "Does it look like I'm alright?" Ignoring her sarcastic remarks, I stuck my hand through the beams and wiggled her leg off the crisscrossing metal grates. The girl gave me a bright smile and sprinted off with me. Cloud, Jessie, and I got into the elevator and hastily pressed the button up. Many more guardbots tried to take advantage of us, but the ex-SOLDIER wouldn't have it and slew them with his Bolt magic from his leftover mana.

"Hurry! We got two minutes left!" We finally got off the elevator and at the bridge. Biggs and Wedge stood there waiting for us as a loud explosion sounded from the depths of the reactor. Ah, so that bomb wasn't just for appearances anyway. The ground shook but we forced ourselves to keep running. Fatigue was slowing me down, but I pushed on. Jessie tripped to her knees, but Cloud was quick enough to help her up. We sprinted away safely as the Reactor blasted into bursting inferno. I could hear the explosions even through my headphones; they sounded exactly like the ones in movies, animes and games. Deafening, heart-thumping, but pretty cool, I say.

Noel..?

I opened my eyes slowly and sighed.

We are all standing in a dark tunnel that got blocked by the debris from the explosion. We can still hear it ongoing even from this distance. We were here for about fifteen minutes because Jessie was trying to figure out her calculations on how to blow up a way to the station. I'm no bomb expert so I didn't help. I stood a good distance away from them, my headphones slipped on as I listened quietly to my music, contemplating my life so far.

So far, it was… exhilarating. Nothing that I've ever experienced. I fought with robots and monsters, I just casted a spell from materia, I defeated an actual boss, and I just escaped from an explosion I took part in. This single night has been the most I've done in all 20 years of my life, and it's not over yet. I smiled to myself as I watched Biggs and Wedge argue over who would call dibs on Tifa's dinner for tonight. Jessie's still busy scrunching numbers, while Barret and Cloud stood around, idle and bored. They all seem so...real. Real, and alive.

My face fell at the thought. 'And I just killed someone for the very first time.'

I immediately shook my head, willing those thoughts to go away. 'I can't think about that now…' I cranked up the volume of my music until it's blasting in my ears, hoping it's enough to distract me from overthinking too much.

It was when I suddenly felt a hand clamp onto my shoulder. I nearly grimaced at that small spike of pain shooting up as my green eyes met Cloud's mako blue ones, "You okay?" He questioned softly, realizing he touched my wound and drew his hand away. I blinked in surprise; this guy's been paying me too much attention lately, despite his character. I don't mind though, it just shows that he cares, in his own way.

"Yeah, still just shaken up, that's all." I replied, smiling wanly.

"Okay! Now, everyone get back!" Jessie seemed finished with her preparations as we all backed up into the cramped little space to hide from another explosion. A loud bang resounded from the direction we were from, followed up by an earsplitting crack that shrouded the silence. Fire and smoke appeared as we all nodded at each other and ran out of the place and towards the outside.

"Gugh!" I grunted as I jumped from an opening flame and I quickly rolled on my back to prevent the flames from burning me. We're at the courtyard of some Sector, probably Sector Eight. Barret and the others came next. The last one to get out was Wedge, and it seems that his butt caught on fire… "All right, now let's get out of here!" Barret moved further into the courtyard and pointed north. "Rendezvous at Sector 8 station! Split up and get on the train!" At this, everyone nodded and headed off in different directions.

I saw Cloud stop Barret though, "H-hey!"

Barret stopped and shot him a heated stare, "If it's about your money, save it 'till we're back at the hideout!" And without another word, he ran off without looking back. I pity Cloud, I'd also demand for my payment after a decent job, but, oh well. We made eye contact and there was an inaudible agreement that from now on, we stick as a team, surprisingly enough. I half-expected him to brush me off like his lone wolf personality.

We took the stairs that led us to a marketplace. A lot of people scurrying around, obviously peeved at the sight of a busted up reactor just moments away from this place. At a street corner, a few people were running away, until one of them knocked over a familiar lady clad in pink. Knowing who it was, I strode over to her confidently and struck out my hand, "Need any help, miss?" I smiled at her who took my hand as she made herself stand up. "Thank you very much sir…" Man, it's really nice to see her again. Out of all the dark and monotone colors in this place, she immediately stood out in my eyes, like a bright speck of paint in a blank canvas.

"Ah, so we meet again, flower lady."

"Hm?"

Aerith peered closer at my soot-stained face and almost gasped at the sight of me. "N-Noel? Noel, it's you!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide with anticipation. I chuckled lightly at her reaction as I watched her dust the dirt from her dress. "Uhuh, and you're still selling flowers at this time." Before she could reply, the blond mercenary finally caught up with me. It looked like he saw the Potion nearby and went to retrieve it, only to find me not following him. He looked at her first, then at me, and frowned. "Noel, we should get a move on." He said with some urgency.

I sighed at this and ran a hand through my mousse brown hair. "Yeah, we probably should, huh." I then turned back to Aerith to say goodbye, but she must've noticed how dirty and battle worn we are right now, so she asked, "Excuse me, what happened?" The both of us flinched at her question. Cloud looked troubled, but apparently didn't show it with the way his cool mako eyes paid closer attention to her. They shifted to her face, then to her form, back to the face, and then to the flower basket she was holding close to her chest. The flowers were looking a lot livelier than I last saw them from before.

"Nothing…Hey, listen…" His voice trailed off at the sight of the yellow and white lilies. "Don't see many flowers round here…" At this, the flower girl held them up close, a proud smile at her face.

"Oh, these? Do you like them? They're only a gil..." Figuring what he'd say next, I flashed some Gil from my gloved hand with a triumphant smirk from my face.

"Two please!"

Aerith seemed delighted at this request. Browsing through her flowers, she picked out a bright, yellow lily for Cloud, in which she slid it in between the folds of his suspenders and sleeveless shirt when he didn't accept it, and a silky white lily for me. I handed her the gil, and even left some extra change in her basket when she's not looking. "Til' we meet again, flower lady!" I waved at her goodbye as Aerith walked away. She giggled feverishly at my antics while Cloud merely stared at the flower poking out of his chest. "Why'd you buy me one?" He asked me bluntly as we moved along. I also placed my white lily in my front pocket as I beamed at him.

"Oh, come on. Didn't you see her basket? It was barely empty. Might as well help with her business, you know?" We walked out of the central area and into a residential street, our footfalls the only sounds in this quiet area. "Besides, you said so yourself. You don't see many flowers around here." I nonchalantly said, my hands clasped behind my neck as we passed by closed shops and establishments.

"...She's a strange one, alright."

"You gotta admit she's pretty cute though." I grinned. "She's the only person I've met who wears pink in this godforsaken city."

Cloud breathed in a heavy sigh and closed his eyes. "Actually, she reminds me of you."

That made me stop in my tracks as I processed his words over and over again. "Wait, Cloud, do you honestly think I'm-"

"Hey, you there!" Crap. The both of us had no choice but to look back and see a pair of Shinra MPs stalking close. "Tch." The mercenary clicked his tongue as his hand already made way for his Buster Sword. Damn it, I don't think we should fight them. I wanted to reach the station in time as I'm not too keen on jumping from the bridge to ride the train in style. The two of us made eye contact, and seeing my reluctance to fight, he lowered his guard; his hand, however, didn't leave his sword.

"Noel…" Cloud whispered to me, his eyes cold and glaring fiercely at the MPs, who were walking nearer and nearer, "On my signal, we make way for the edge of the bridge and wait for the train. Prepare to fight them off." Wait, what?! We're going to fight and jump anyways?! I wanted to object, but then another MP appeared at the other end of the block. I sighed audibly before nodding in affirmation.

"What are you two do-"

"Now!"

As soon as Cloud gave the signal I was already running towards the bridge. It wasn't that far, nothing my legs can't handle, but dammit, another MP's blocking our way! I had to think fast, so when my hand felt its way towards the hilt of my sword, I threw the hilt at the MP as hard as I can, distracting him for a moment as I pulled an all-around kick in his gut. Cloud was at my rear trying to back me up, but even that is not enough. Soon, more MPs appeared. Shit, at this rate, we'll be-!

"That's as far as you go." The soldier calmly said, their batons flashed as they cornered us at the railings. If they moved any closer, I would've fallen to my death now. Where the hell is that train?! "I don't have time to be messin' around with you guys." Great, Cloud, provoke them some more, would ya?!

"Enough babbling! Grab them!" I wasn't sure I heard their words right, because as soon as they surrounded us, I heard the loud honk of a train coming nearby. I noticed Cloud gesturing at it as we both jumped from the railing and landed onto the roof of the train, as the said train sped down the tunnel and out of sight.

Somewhere, inside the train, in the farthest car, a group of rough looking people were all sitting around, looking a bit glum and remorseful. Barret, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie always knew that messing with Shinra will have to take lives, but…

"Cloud and Noel never came." Wedge stated the obvious, staring at his friends.

"Cloud…Noel…wonder if they were killed?" Biggs said as Barret looked up from his contemplation and let out a hoarse voice, "No way!" His exclamation came out rather surprising as the three gaped at him. But he had nothing else to say, as he looked down to his feet. Jessie sighed, momentarily muttering their names, "Cloud…Noel…"

THUMP! THUMP!

Barret looked up from his spot and at the ceiling and wondered what was going on outside.

THUNK! "Shit! Mother of-!" I shouted a very loud curse when my head hit the archway's alcove. Cloud gave me a sign to shut up but fuck him, I can't help it. The intense pain was already swelling up in my temple. I raised my middle finger at the blond, who rolled his eyes at me and continued to trek down the train slowly and carefully.

The group was silent once again. Although Biggs spoke up once more to his leader, "Say, do you think Cloud and Noel's going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE?!" At this, Barret sent a glare at his way.

"The hell would I know? Do I look like a mind reader?" He hit a crate in response. It's quite obvious that the big guy's upset that Cloud and Noel weren't able to meet up with them, and it may probably be his fault for breaking his promise to Tifa for not protecting the two. "Hmph! If y'all weren't such screw-ups…" He turned away to hide his face.

"Hey Barret! What about our money..?" Barret hit the crate again, out of anger this time.

"Uhh, nothing…sorry. Ah…" Wedge relaxed on a sack of potatoes and tried to doze for a bit.

THUNK! THUNK! Everyone looked up at the same time at the ceiling to check what's going on.

THUNK! THUNK! The sounds seemed to be getting closer…

THUNK! THUNK! The train door suddenly opened and two figures flipped inside the car from above. The one with familiar blond hair revealed as Cloud, and the other Noel, who was sputtering obscenities to himself. Everyone jumped at the sight of them.

"Cloud! Noel!"

"Cloud…Noel…"

"Cloud! Noel!"

Cloud brushed the soot from his SOLDIER clothes and shrugged smugly, "Looks like we're a little late." I pointedly stared at him and continued rubbing the sore spot on my head, "Uh-huh, right. That's because we got lost and Cloud was too stubborn to ask for directions." Biggs, Wedge and Jessie laughed at that but Barret looked like he was seething with rage.

"You damn right, you're late! Come waltzin' in here and makin a big scene!" He bellowed. Cloud shrugged again, a hand on his hip while the other waved at him, "It's no big deal. Just what I always do."

"Shi't! Havin' everyone worried like that you don't give a damn bout' no one but yourself!" Barret screamed at him again, however Cloud still didn't lose his cool.

"Hmm….You were worried about me!?" The gunman did a double take.

"Wha-?! I'm takin' it outta your money, hot stuff!" He steadily walked himself at the center of the car, waving his gun arm.

"Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me!" And at that he disappeared into the next car. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were giving out their thanks and compliments to us, even the girl helped with our faces, which were covered with soot and dirt. Cloud and I followed the members into the next car, finding ourselves in a comfortable compartment where a hobo sat sleeping on his seat and most of the other late night commuters were moving upwards to avoid the hitch-hiking team. I heard a computer intercom saying something about the time, which is midnight, five minutes past it. Most of the members are near that intercom so I myself just plopped on a seat and watched the city lights drift by from the window. Cloud was being called by Jessie, probably to look at the map of Midgar. Biggs was sleeping while leaning on a pole. Wedge's eating a wafer or something. And Barret's lounging about like nobody cares.

A red wall of light came by but almost dissipated as soon as it came. It must be the ID checkpoint, something Shinra was very proud of. I slipped on my headphones again and listened to some soothing music, to reflect this atmosphere. It's gloomy but at the same time, it's nostalgic, and reminds me of the times when I commuted back home from clocking out late.

"Look…you can see the surface now." Barret proclaimed, staring outside to the sky. "This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there," He pointed his thumb at the plate above us right now. "We could see the sky." Cloud, after having finished his conversation with Jessie, walked up to him and looked out of the window.

"A floating city… Pretty unsettling scenery." He said dryly, continuing to look outside. I tilted my head at them as Barret stood up and crossed his arms. "Huh? Never expect to hear that outta someone like you."

"…you jes' full of surprises." Barret smirked at Cloud who glared at him annoyingly. He lifted his gun arm and gazed at it thoughtfully. "The upper world… a city on a plate… It's cuz' of that shitty 'pizza', that people underneath are sufferin'!" That's no different from any other country in my world, my country being a special mention for cases like these.

The gunman continued his rant, "And the city below is full of polluted air. On topa' that, the Reactor keeps drainin' all up the energy."

"Then why doesn't everyone move onto the plate?"

"Dunno. Probably 'cuz they ain't got no money. Or maybe…" He then turns to me with calm eyes. "'Cuz they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets." I nodded at him, almost resolutely. From what I remember, Midgar was just a small town. Its economic growth flourished, but more so when Shinra came. That may have been a good thing in the past, but what about now? People may say they're living comfortable lives at this moment, but at what cost?

Cloud bobbed his head, silently agreeing, yet he still watched the view outside, "I know…no one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train," A faint glimmer of sadness crossed his face before it disappeared entirely. "It can't run anywhere except where its rail takes it."

My eyes glanced over to the window, once again to stare at the ceiling. It was dotted by dozens of lights from the upper plate, giving it the illusion of stars. 'What a sad place.' I thought glumly. Shinra destroyed more lives than what they improved. And every single one of these characters got screwed over by Shinra in some way. Barret lost Corel and his family, Tifa lost her father and Nibelheim, Aerith lost her parents and her childhood, and Cloud…lost everything. His hometown, his only family, Zack, and most importantly, his memory. The sorry state that he's in right now can't be called an identity. It was never his to begin with.

I slumped onto my seat and folded my arms. It will be a while until we get to Sector Seven, so I might as well catch some sleep.