Chapter 3
Cloud's return to consciousness was a long trip. When he finally opened his eyes, he found himself staring into a pair of bright green eyes.
"Oh, you're awake!" The woman above him said happily. "I thought you might not make it. You fell though the roof. The flowers must have cushioned your fall. You and your friend scared me half to death, crashing through the roof like that." She said pointing over to Satoshi, who was currently sitting rubbing his head. She helped him sit up. "My name's Aerith. What's yours?"
"Cloud." He replied as he felt along his head for knots. "How long was I out?"
"About an hour. Your friend woke up just before you did." Aerith said as Satoshi rose and joined them.
"We need to get back to sector seven and rejoin the others." Satoshi said.
As they were talking, a red haired man slipped inside the door.
Aerith noticed him; as did Cloud and Satoshi, who started reaching for their swords.
"Have either of you worked as bodyguards before?" Aerith asked.
"Yes. But I don't work for free." Cloud replied. Before Aerith could open her mouth to offer a price, Cloud interrupted. "We can discuss a price later. Where's the nearest exit?" Satoshi shook his head at Cloud's antics.
"This way!" Aerith said as she stood and darted for a door in the front of the church. Cloud and Satoshi followed her as she slammed the door open. Satoshi paused to swing the door closed before following Cloud and Aerith up the stairs. They began to cross the rafters when the Soldiers entered the room below. The Soldiers turned their guns upward and began to fire on them. Cloud and Satoshi pushed Aerith out of the way as they drew their swords to deflect the hail of metal sent their way. Several of the bullets sank into the wood of the rafters below them. There was a loud crack as the rafter beneath Satoshi gave way. He fell passed the soldiers and into the basement of the church. As he landed, he pitched forward into a roll to avoid shattering his legs. He rolled to his feet and readied his swords as two of the Soldiers turned and fired on him. He dodged the majority of the bullets and deflected those that he couldn't. Cloud turned to help him when Satoshi waved him off.
"Get Aerith out of here! I'll take care of these guys!" he shouted as he slowly worked his way up the rickety staircase. When he reached the level the soldiers were at, they charged at him with batons.
The first one never even got close. Satoshi slashed clean through his baton and opened him up from his shoulder to his hip. The man fell back with a cry and another stepped up to take his place. Satoshi blocked his strike and side stepped a strike from another soldier. As the soldier stumbled passed him, Satoshi flipped his left blade into a reverse grim and stabbed him in the chest. The last two came at him from different sides. He blocked both of their strikes with ease and tripped one of them down the stairs before stabbing his right blade into the floor and throwing the other one after him.
"Satoshi! Quit fooling around and let's go!" Cloud yelled from the rafters.
Satoshi replaced both of his blades in his harness and grabbed Reno's arm as he attempted to strike him with his baton. "You should know better then that, Reno. You're no match for me." He said before slugging him across the face. As Reno fell, Satoshi turned and scaled the stairs to rejoin Aerith and Cloud.
"Took you long enough." Cloud teased as they moved along the rafters. They exited the building through the hole Cloud and Satoshi had left in the ceiling. The three of them clambered across mountains of junk to reach the sector five slums. When they reached solid footing once more, Cloud stopped. "Where is garage A7?" Cloud asked.
"Oh, you want Fenrir back I take it?" Satoshi said as he led them toward some large buildings. Walking up to a seemingly random garage, he punched in a few numbers on a keypad next to the door and it began to lift.
"What's a fenrir?" Aerith asked as the door continued to lift.
"This." Cloud said as he ducked under the door and approached his beloved motorcycle. "This thing was how I got around back in Soldier. Satoshi here managed to steal it for me." Cloud said as he ran a hand along the side. "I wonder…"
"Yes your swords are still in the storage racks." Satoshi said as Cloud pressed a button and the sides of the bike sprang out, revealing eight individual blades. Cloud grinned like a kid who just got Christmas early as he pulled the swords out and started assembling them. Once he was finished, Cloud placed the newly assembled sword and his buster sword in the racks and closed them. "Hop on. We'll use this to get to your house." Cloud said as he started the engine. Aerith sat behind Cloud and Satoshi drew his swords before sitting behind Aerith, facing back. Cloud revved the engine a bit and they took off, spitting gravel all over the garage. They reached Aerith's house in next to no time.
"Mom, I'm home! I brought my two bodyguards Cloud and Satoshi with me." Aerith called as they entered the house.
"Bodyguards? Were you followed again?" a middle aged woman said as she descended the stairs.
"It was okay, I had them with me." Aerith said, pointing to the two men standing behind her.
"Thank you for taking care of my daughter."
"I hate to run like this, but Cloud and I really need to get back to the sector seven slums. We have to meet some friends there." Satoshi said.
"Well it's almost dark out, so I'll take you tomorrow." Aerith said. "Let's get some sleep."
The Next Morning
Cloud and Satoshi woke at the crack of dawn, as usual. They woke Aerith and had a quick breakfast. While Aerith and Satoshi cleaned up, Cloud stepped outside to start up Fenrir. They got on the motorcycle and set off toward the sector seven slums. It took them a little over an hour to make it back to Seventh Heaven. When they arrived, they found Tifa missing.
"Where's Tifa, Barret?" Satoshi asked as Jessie almost tackled Cloud.
"When we got back from da reactor, I found dis man actin all suspicious so I caught im and squeezed some info from im. Dat's when Don Cornero's name popped up. I told Tifa ta stay away from dat guy, but I suppose she didn't listen." Barret said, his words causing Satoshi to go red with rage.
"If that fat fuck does anything to her, I'll make him beg for death." Satoshi growled as he gripped the hilt of one of his swords tightly.
"Satoshi, calm yourself. Even if you rush off now, it won't do Tifa any good. You're going to need some help. First, let's go to the sector six slums and see what's what." Cloud said. "Aerith, I'm sorry but can you get home by yourself?" Cloud asked.
"Don't even think like that. I want to help." Aerith said as Cloud and Satoshi started for the door. Aerith followed them outside. "I can help you. I know about the Don." Aerith said.
"What do you know?" Satoshi asked as they reached their motorcycles.
"I know that Don Cornero is currently looking for a wife. I also know that every night, he takes four girls and chooses one to sleep with. If we get there fast enough, counting Tifa, we have four people. You two would need to dress up. But we would be able to get the information you want guaranteed." Aerith said as Satoshi and Cloud got on their motorcycles.
"Normally I would try to say no, but we could use the help." Cloud said with a sigh. "Hop on." Aerith got on Cloud's bike and they took off for the sector six slums. After a thirty minute ride, they arrived on the outskirts of sector six.
"I just realized something. Why don't we find Tifa, bust into Cornero's mansion, and interrogate him?" Satoshi asked. "Cloud and I should be able to handle any guards Cornero might have."
"That's a actually a pretty good idea." Cloud said. Let's go find Tifa." He said before revving his motorcycle and speeding off.
They found Tifa outside of the Honey Bee Inn. She appeared to be arguing with one of the men who ran the place. Satoshi walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Tifa spun around, whipping Satoshi with her hair. "Wha…?"
Satoshi grabbed her and pulled her into a nearby alley. "Cloud is here. He knows what you're up to and we have a better plan." Satoshi said.
"Really?" Tifa asked, crossing her arms.
"Yeah. With all four of us, we can simply break in and interrogate Cornero. There's no need for you to play at being a whore." Satoshi said. "Cloud and I can handle the guards if you and Aerith can get Cornero to talk, we'll be fine."
"Alright, where's Cloud and what's your plan?" Tifa asked, allowing herself to be led away by Satoshi.
Don Cornero's Mansion
There was a knock at the door and one of Cornero's guards stepped up to the door to answer it. As soon as he grabbed the doorknob, the door exploded inward, hurling him across the entryway. Two motorcycles, one black and the other orange, skidded to a halt. Four figures leaped off the bikes, two of which dashed upstairs while the other two drew swords. Satoshi followed the girls upstairs and took up a position near the door they had entered while Cloud split off one of his swords and stood guard over the bikes. Several guards with batons charged out of one of the first floor doors and headed right for Cloud. The Ex-Soldier parried and dodged, making his fight look more like a dance. A few guards climbed the stairs toward Satoshi, who placed his left blade in his harness and drew power from his elemental materia in his blade. There was a fwooshing sound as his blade was wreathed in flames. He stepped forward as the guards reached the top of the stairs. He brought his blade down in a brutal chop that nearly cut the first man in half. He spun the sword around behind him and brought it across in a horizontal slice that parted the next man from his legs. With a flourish, he drew his second sword and activated his elemental materia, sending lightning crackling along its edge. They fought off two waves of guards in the same manner when Aerith and Tifa came out of Cornero's room looking dazed.
"Let's get out of here for now, you can tell us what you found out later." Satoshi said as he led them down the stairs and to their motorcycles. Cloud replaced his swords and hopped on his bike. Aerith climbed on behind him and he took off out the hole in the door, followed by Satoshi and Tifa. They rode straight back to Tifa's bar. When they arrived the first thing Tifa did was mix herself a drink.
"What did you find out?" Satoshi asked.
"Shinra plans on dropping the plate on us. They're going to kill everyone in sector seven just to stop us…" Tifa said, stunned.
"When?" Cloud asked. "Do we have any time to prepare?"
"They're on their way now." Aerith said.
"Aerith, can you take Marline to your house?" Cloud asked. "The rest of us will try to find a way to defend the pillar."
"Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, Ya'll go wit Aerith. Make sure she get ta her house wit Marline." Barret said. "Spikey, Tifa, Satoshi, an me'll take care of dis."
Saxyguy – Wow, I love not having a job. I can pop chapters out at an amazing rate! You'll probably see several new chapters out of me in the next few days. Ja ne!