Chapter 2

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Cloud and the newcomer glared at each other with obvious hatred.

'Well at least they haven't started fighting…' Tifa thought.

Neither one had drawn a blade yet, but they didn't look like they were going to relax any time soon. They both walked towards each other, halting within arms reach of each other. They broke into wide grins and clasped wrists.

"Man I haven't seen you since that last mission we got separated on!" Cloud said. "Folks, this is Satoshi."

"Pleased to meet you all." Satoshi said cheerfully.

"So how do you two know each other?" Tifa asked.

"We were partners for a time in Soldier." Satoshi responded. "And while I'm thinking about it, I stole your old motorcycle from Shinra for you. It's in garage A7 in the sector 5 slums."

"How on earth are you still breathing? You took yours and mine? Shinra should be after your head!" Cloud exclaimed.

"They are." Satoshi deadpanned.

"How did you manage it?" Cloud asked.

"Did you hear about that patrol that disappeared in the sector 6 slums?" Satoshi asked.

"Dat waz you?" Barret asked as his mouth fell open in shock.

"Yep, although I just waited for the monsters and bandits to attack them first. All I did was finish them off."

"Even so, that's still impressive." Tifa said.

"Meh. Cloud could've done the same thing. They were only second class." Satoshi said with a shrug. "So anyway, Tifa tells me you guys are hiring for Avalanche. That right?"

"Yeah." Barret replied, still somewhat cautious.

Cloud stepped up to Barret. "Hire him. I'll vouch for him. He's easily as good as I am and we need the help to hit reactor 5."

"A'ight, I'll trust Spikey on dis one. You're in. Da pay's crap though."

"Better then being unemployed."

"A'ight, let's get some rest! We gotta big day tomorra!" Barret shouted, leading the way to their basement hideout. After a short elevator ride, they arrived in a room with four large armchairs and a couch. Barret immediately took the couch and propped his feet up on the low table. Marline joined him and the two fell asleep in moments. Biggs and Wedge each took and armchair. Cloud took one of the last two and pulled Jessie into his lap, causing her to blush. Satoshi sat in the last chair before realizing that Tifa had nowhere to sleep. He started to rise to offer her the chair when she pushed him back down. She grabbed a blanket before sitting in Satoshi's lap and draping the blanket over them both.

"If you try anything without my consent, Ex-Soldier or not, I'll beat your ass." Tifa whispered as she curled up and lay her head on Satoshi's shoulder.

"Can I at least kiss you goodnight?" Satoshi asked flirtatiously.

Tifa grabbed his chin and kissed him square on the lips. She started to pull away when he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her closer to him. 'For looking so young, he's awfully good at this…' Tifa thought as she felt his tongue slide across her lips. She opened her mouth and their tongues danced for a moment before she pulled back. "Goodnight."

The Next Morning

When Tifa woke, she was snuggled up against something warm. Still groggy, she cuddled closet to the warm object and attempted to return to her dreams of a certain black haired youth. She felt something warm press against her forehead for a moment before it pulled away and a voice whispered in her ear.

"Tifa, it's time to get up."

"Hmmm… Five more minutes…" Tifa mumbled.

"As much as I would love to cuddle you for the next five minutes, we run the risk of being left behind if we do."

Tifa's wine-colored eyes snapped open. She found herself curled up in Satoshi's lap, her head resting on his shoulder. She sat up and looked around, noting that everyone was staring at her. "What?" She asked bewildered as Cloud burst out laughing.

"You two were so cute cuddled up together like that." Jessie commented as they prepared to leave.

When they were outside, Satoshi sighed. "I guess I'm gonna have to leave my bike here, huh?"

"Yep. We're taking the train." Cloud said as they walked to the train station. They boarded the train without incident and paired off into different cars. Barret went by himself, Cloud and Jessie took one car, Tifa and Satoshi took another, and Biggs and Wedge took the last. The ride went as planned and they abandoned the train without a hitch. Biggs and Wedge returned to the hideout to keep watch while Barret, Satoshi, Tifa, Cloud, and Jessie worked their way through the underside of the sector 5 plate to reach their destination. They arrived at the lower entrance for the reactor with minimal trouble from the wandering monsters. Jessie quickly hacked the door and they were in. Barret, Cloud, and Jessie headed for the reactor core while Satoshi and Tifa went to secure their exit. Jessie set the bomb without an issue and they joined Tifa and Satoshi.

That's when things went horribly wrong.

Barret opened their 'exit', only to be greeted by several squads from Soldier. Barret stumbled back in shock before they all heard footsteps. They turned toward the noise to see President Shinra emerge from the reactor.

"Avalanche, how convenient." The president remarked. Cloud and Satoshi stepped toward the president. "And who are you?" The president asked.

"Cloud Strife, Ex-Soldier, First Class."

"And I am Satoshi Kumori, Ex-Soldier, First Class."

"Oh. The traitors. Well I can't be expected to remember everyone's name. Unless you become another Sephiroth." The president said in an offhand manner. He raised a hand and snapped his fingers, summoning a hovering machine. "This is Airbuster the Techno Soldier. I'm sure the information he collects from your bodies will be useful in future experiments." The president said as Airbuster slid passed Cloud and Satoshi to threaten the rest of the group. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner to attend."

"Dinner my ass!" Barret shouted as he raised his gun arm, only to have the president's helicopter cut off his shot. As the president made his escape, Airbuster launched two grenade like objects at Tifa, which she swatted away to burst harmlessly over the sector 5 slums. Jessie took out the ice materia Cloud had given her the day before and fitted it into a slot in her bracelet.

Satoshi sheathed his right hand blade and resettled his left sword into a two handed grip. Focusing for a moment, Satoshi activated his elemental materia, causing lightning to crackle along his blade. Cloud drew power from his own lightning materia and hurled a bolt spell at the machine's back as Satoshi charged. Cloud's attack clawed along the thing's right arm while Satoshi slashed into it's rear circuitry. As Airbuster turned to face the two men, Cloud called out to Jessie.

"Now! Freeze it to the walkway so it can't turn!"

"Ice!" Jessie shouted, pointing at the catwalk underneath Airbuster. Ice crystals formed rapidly, binding the techno soldier in place.

Tifa threw her own bolt into Airbuster's rear circuitry as Barret charged up an orange ball of energy at the end of his gun arm before firing it into the back of the machine's head. Airbuster started to twitch when Cloud and Satoshi both charged it and thrust their swords through the front armor plating on its torso. The two Ex-Soldiers looked at each other.

"Shit." They said in unison before Airbuster exploded, taking out the catwalk underneath them. They both managed to catch a hand hold on the broken walkway, halting their fall on the wrong side of the gap for the others to help.

"Barret, get out of here!" Cloud shouted.

"What about you?" Jessie exclaimed, not wanting to leave them behind.

"We'll be fine. Get away before the bomb goes off!" Satoshi said. Barret wrapped his arms around the two women and began to drag them away as the bomb went off, causing the catwalk to shake violently. Jessie and Tifa turned back in time to see Cloud and Satoshi plummet out of sight. The two men tumbled through the air for several seconds before they slammed into something and everything went dark.

Saxyguy – Alright, new chapter for you all to enjoy. If you haven't figured it out by now, this story mostly tracks the game with a few major changes. Now I have to post a vote to all of you. Once I finish with the game's storyline, do you want me to go on to Advent Children, come up with something new, or maybe even look at a Kingdom Hearts crossover? Voting is open until I finish the first plot arc, which will be a long ass time from now. And you may only vote once! No cheating! Jan ne!