Chapter 4
The four remaining members of Avalanche hopped on Cloud and Satoshi's bikes and sped toward the support pillar in the center of sector seven. They skidded to a stop to see several Shinra Soldiers approaching the stairs that led to the platform. Barret leveled his gun arm at them and fired a stream of hot metal into their midst, causing them to scatter and dive for cover. The distraction allowed the others to get off the motorcycles and dash for the stairs. Cloud and Satoshi cut a swath through the regrouping Soldiers and Tifa charged up the stairs. Barret arrived at the base of the stairs as Cloud and Satoshi fought off the rest of the Soldiers. Tifa shouted down to them from the platform. Without a second thought, Satoshi turned and barreled up the stairs, leaving Cloud and Barret to deal with the last couple Soldiers.
Satoshi arrived at the top of the pillar to see Tifa fighting off Reno.
"Reno, we both know you're no match for me alone, and Cloud will be up here in a few seconds, so what do you think you're doing?" Satoshi asked arrogantly.
"Who said he was alone?" A voice behind Satoshi asked. Satoshi spun around and caught the fist speeding toward his head.
"Rude, nice to see you too." Satoshi said before he grabbed Rude's sleeve and turned away from him, flipping him over his shoulder. Rude stood quickly and hit a button on the panel in the center of the platform before he turned back to face Satoshi. "What was that?"
"The emergency plate release system." Rude replied. "The plate is coming down and you can't stop it." He finished as he and Reno jumped over the railing of the platform. They heard the thump of helicopter blades beating the air as a Shinra attack chopper rose above the platform. Tseng and Aerith sat on the skids.
"Aerith!" Satoshi and Tifa shouted.
"Don't worry she's alright!" Aerith shouted to Tifa before Tseng slapped her.
"Good luck disarming that one. It's a Shinra emergency plate release system. Only Shinra executives can set up or disarm it. Other then that, it'll blow up the second some fool touches it." Tseng said with a laugh as the helicopter banked and left.
"What do we do?" Tifa asked.
"We get to the bikes as fast as we can and leave." Satoshi said calmly as he grabbed Tifa by the arm and pulled her toward the stairs. They took the stairs three at a time and reached the bottom of the pillar to find Cloud and Barret staring up at the pillar.
"What happened?" Cloud asked, looking over at Satoshi.
"Rude activated the emergency plate release system. We gotta go NOW!" Satoshi yelled as he pulled Tifa over to his bike. The four of them jumped on the bikes as sped off, spraying dirt and gravel in their haste to escape to sector six. They reached the gate just as the pillar exploded. The rush of displaced air caused both bikes to slew to one side. Cloud somehow managed to keep Fenrir balanced and skidded to a stop before planting a foot to keep his bike up. Satoshi and Tifa weren't so lucky. Satoshi's motorcycle caught its rear tire on a piece of debris, causing the bike to snap up straight and come to a sudden halt, throwing both Satoshi and Tifa from their seats. Satoshi managed to grab Tifa while in midair and curl his body under hers. Fortunately, they landed in the sandbox of the old playground nearby. There was a large cloud of sand kicked up by their landing, and they broke out the far side of the box and slid to a stop. Satoshi sat up, still cradling Tifa in his arms, and watched as the plate slammed down on top of the slums. Tifa flinched at the crash of metal hitting the ground.
"It's over." Satoshi said sadly as he stared at the jagged metal debris that used to be the gate to sector seven slums. As the dust settled, Tifa silently cried over the loss of life caused by Shinra.
"A…All those p…people… killed… by Shinra…" Tifa sobbed as she wrapped her arms around Satoshi, burying her face in his chest.
"Dey got Aerith… did dey keep her from getting Marline outta da slums?" Barret wondered.
"I doubt it. Remember, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were with her, she probably went with them to allow the others to escape." Cloud said as Satoshi and Tifa stood and returned to Satoshi's bike. "Satoshi, we're going back to Aerith's house. That's probably where they took Marline." Cloud said as he restarted Fenrir's engine. Satoshi quickly freed his bike's rear tire and he followed Cloud through the sector six slums. They parked both bikes in front of Aerith's house. Cloud was the first one into the house, followed closely by Barret. When Satoshi and Tifa entered the house, they saw Barret hugging Marline while Cloud and Jessie embraced.
"I'm sorry about Aerith. The Turks took her." Cloud said as he released Jessie.
"I know. They took her from here. She went with them to protect all of us." Aerith's mom said quietly.
"Don't worry. I'm going to get her back from Shinra." Cloud said before he turned to Satoshi. "Will you take care of Jessie a bit?"
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm going with you!" Jessie and Satoshi said at the same time. Satoshi glanced over at Tifa before she spoke up.
"Don't even think about telling me to stay behind. I want to save Aerith too." Tifa said defiantly. "Plus I want to pay the Shinra back for all the innocents that died in the sector seven slums."
"Alright." Satoshi said as he shrugged. "I figured you'd say that." Satoshi said with a grin.
"Wedge, Biggs, dis time we're goin into da heart of da Shinra. I want da two of you ta look afta Marline for me." Barret said as he followed Cloud, Jessie, Satoshi, and Tifa outside. Barret walked out to see the two men kick the bikes to life. Jessie climbed into the middle seat on Fenrir and wrapped her arms around Cloud's waist. Tifa did the same with Satoshi as Barret walked over to Fenrir. Barret swung a leg over Fenrir and sat leaned back against Jessie as he checked his gun arm before looking over his shoulder and flashing Cloud a thumbs up. The two motorcycles roared as they sprayed dirt and gravel as they took off for the Shinra headquarters.
Two hours later
The two motorcycles sat idling side by side as the remaining members of Avalanche conversed on how they were going to break into the building in front of them.
"I suggest a quiet break in." Tifa said. "I saw some emergency stairs over that way as we rode by." She finished as she pointed around the corner. Jessie nodded in agreement.
"Even if we do that, we'll still need a distraction; otherwise we'd get caught by security. I doubt their security is that loose that we'd get away with that." Satoshi said.
"Whaddaya mean ya doubt?! Ya don't know?!" Ya talkin like ya neva been here befo!" Barret exclaimed.
"Neither of us have, really." Cloud said simply. "I like Satoshi's plan. Tifa; you and Jessie sneak in on the stairs, Me, Barret, and Satoshi will break in the front and cause some noise. We'll meet back up on the 59th floor." Cloud said. Tifa and Jessie climbed off the bikes and hurried around the corner toward the stairs. "Ready?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah." Barret replied as he tightened his grip on the edge of the seat.
"Yep." Satoshi responded as he drew his swords from the storage racks and slid both into the harness on his back.
The two men revved their engines before Satoshi popped the clutch an instant before Cloud, smoking his rear tire for a moment before he was sent careening forward. He shattered through the glass doors and cut down the first guard as he stepped forward before he was passed the front desk and on his way to the stairs that led to the elevators. Cloud screamed through next, deftly avoiding the panicking workers as Barret took careful aim to shot down the guards they passed on their way to the other set of stairs. They both skidded to a stop in front of the elevators and hopped off the bikes. The looked around to see if there were any guards still standing before they boarded the elevator and headed for the 59th floor.
The doors opened onto the 59th floor and they stepped out of the elevators. They looked across the mostly open floor to see three guards standing in front of the elevators to the 60th floor. Barret smirked evilly as he pulled a grenade from his jacket and pulled the pin before tossing it at the guards' feet.
The three guards looked at the metal object in abject terror. "OH SHI…" One of the guards got out before the grenade went off, blowing all three into little chunks.
A nearby door banged open and Tifa and Jessie hurried out. "What was that?" Tifa asked.
Satoshi and Cloud both pointed at Barret. "He did it." They said simultaneously. Barret cringed slightly as Tifa leveled a glare at the large man.
"Don't do that again. You scared us." Tifa ground out as Satoshi bent and picked up the keycard left by the guards.
"Looks like we can get to the next level now." Satoshi said as he held the card aloft. He stepped over to the elevators and swiped the card through the reader. One electronic beep later and the door slid aside. They piled into the elevator before pressing the button and ascending to the 60th floor. After leaving the elevators, they saw several statues with guards pacing behind them. They snuck into a nearby supply room to bypass the first line of statues. They stepped out of the room behind the first row of statues and began to sneak across the room toward the stairwell, using the second row of statues as cover from the guards. They hurried up the stairs and found themselves in a cafeteria-like lounge. Cloud asked around about Aerith and got a keycard from one employee who mistook them for the Shinra Repair division. They used the card to board the elevator for the 62ond floor, where they met with the mayor of Midgar. After a quick discussion, the mayor gave them his Keycard, giving them access to the next several floors. They decided speed was of the essence and skipped straight to the 65th floor, where a large model of Midgar dominated the center of the floor. As the team stared at the model in awe, Satoshi and Cloud noticed that several pieces were missing. After a quick search of the floor, they found the pieces and reassembled the model. Once that was accomplished, they heard a click as a card popped out of a slot near the edge of the model.
"Keycard 66." Satoshi read as he took the card. "That was amazingly easy."
They proceeded to the next floor with caution, knowing they were getting close. After sneaking around the floor for a bit, Cloud spotted the President of the company walking into a conference room. He led the team to a nearby bathroom, where they climbed into the air ducts. They crawled in the direction of the conference room for a few moments before they heard voices. They gathered around the grate and eavesdropped on the meeting. After a discussion on Mako rates and weather or not to rebuild sector seven, Hojo walked in. They talked about Aerith and her connection to the Promised Land. That was when Hojo revealed his plan to breed Aerith so they would be able to do all the research necessary, which would take longer then Aerith would live. After the meeting, the members of Avalanche retraced their way back to the bathroom and quickly located Hojo. They followed him up to the next floor. They were nearing the steps for the floor after when Cloud saw it.
"What is this doing here? Did they move it…?" He muttered as he stepped closer and peered in the small window on the door. He looked for a moment before clutching at his head and falling to his knees in pain. Jessie caught him as he fell back.
"Cloud, what's wrong?" Jessie asked, concerned.
"Is it still alive? Is it moving?" Cloud asked, prompting Barret to look into the tank.
"WHAT DA FUCK! Where's da damn HEAD?" He exclaimed as he jumped back. Barret shuddered in disgust. "Yeah, da damn thing looks like it's still alive." Barret told Cloud.
Cloud shook his head to clear it and stood. "Alright, this is a problem for another time. I'll explain later, but right now we need to save Aerith before they try something horrible." Cloud said as he led the way to the elevator Hojo had disappeared into.
They rode up to the next floor and saw Aerith in a glass cage. "Let her go!" Cloud shouted as he pulled power from his lightning materia, causing lightning to crackle along his right forearm.
Hojo laughed for a moment. "Boy if you kill me, who will operate all of this delicate machinery?" He pointed out before pressing a button, causing the small elevator behind Aerith to start moving.
"Cloud, help!" Aerith shouted as she pressed up against the glass door. As they watched, a red lion like animal appeared from the elevator behind Aerith. It glared balefully at the poor flower girl, causing her to slump to the floor and shiver in fear.
Thinking quickly, Barret leveled his gun arm at the door. "Aerith, get to one side!" He shouted. Aerith dove to one side as Barret shot the door off of its hinges.
"MY SPECIMINS!" Hojo shouted as he dashed forward. He had just reached the door when the red lion slammed into his chest, sending him to the floor in a heap. Cloud slipped into the cage and picked Aerith up.
"Let's get out of here!" He shouted as he and Satoshi turned to leave by way of the elevator they had arrived on.
"Wait!" a voice shouted from behind them, causing Satoshi and Tifa to stop and turn back.
"Who was that?" Tifa asked Satoshi.
"It was I." The red lion said as he stepped off a motionless Hojo. "I would like you to take me with you."
"You can talk?" Satoshi asked.
"Yes I can talk. I'll talk all you want later but right now we need to leave. My name is Red by the way." He said as they followed the rest of the group to the elevator.
They descended to the floor below without incident and made their way to the next one to the lobby. They stepped into the elevator and Cloud approached the controls when Rude and Tseng stepped in with them.
"Could you press up please?" Rude asked. Cloud growled deep in his throat but consented, knowing they were caught. After a meeting with the president, they were tossed into cells. Red and Barret went into one, Aerith and Jessie went into another, Tifa and Satoshi were thrown into one more, and Cloud got one to himself. As they settled down to figure out how to escape, Red picked up a strange set of noises. Thinking nothing of it, Red ignored it and they soon slipped off to sleep.
In another cell, Aerith and Jessie were chatting back and forth. "So then I hired him as my bodyguard, and we still haven't agreed on a price." Aerith said.
"Wow. You've had it rough." Jessie replied sympathetically. "You've had to deal with the Turks all your life?"
"Yep. You wouldn't believe how much it made my day when Satoshi punched Reno. He's had it coming for a while now." Aerith said, causing Jessie to laugh.
"I kinda caught that impression off of most Shinra employees." Jessie said as she flopped back onto one of the two beds. "We'd better get some sleep. Knowing Shinra, tomorrow will be interesting."
Cloud awoke to find the door to his cell open. He poked his head into the hall and saw the dead guard at the end of the hall. Taking advantage of the situation, Cloud hurried down the hall and took the man's keys before coming back and opening the rest of the group's cells.
The first cell he happened to open was Aerith and Jessie's. The two women looked at him curiously for a moment before Aerith asked a question. "How on the planet did you get out of your cell?"
"I woke up and the door was open. Something has gone terribly wrong. All the guards in this area are dead." Cloud said as he beckoned the two women from the cell. Next, Cloud opened Barret and Red's cell. They were quick to join the others in the hall. Barret moved to the end of the hall while Red left to scout out the situation in the rest of the building. Cloud opened the last cell and found Satoshi seated on the floor with his back against the wall and his head down, clearly still asleep with his arms wrapped tightly around Tifa, who sat in his lap, leaned back against his chest. "Wake up. Something happened and I think we need to take the time to escape." Cloud said, waking the two. Once everyone was gathered in the hall, Red came back with news.
"Everyone I saw was dead. They were all killed by a sword." Red said, causing Cloud and Satoshi to pale.
"What's wrong?" Tifa asked.
"There's only one man who could have done something like this. Sephiroth." Satoshi said, his voice dropping to a whisper when he said the name.
"I thought he was dead. He was supposed to be dead." Cloud said as he shook his head. "We have to check to be sure. If he was here, he'd have gone after Jenova." Cloud finished as he led the way down the hall.
They arrived at Jenova's holding tank, only to see a twisted metal wreck where the container once stood.
"Oh shit…" Satoshi whispered as Cloud stared blankly at the wreckage in front of them.
"Any takers on whether or not he's still psycho?" Cloud asked.
"Not now Cloud." Satoshi replied. "We should check the top floor, the blood path leads up the stairs." Satoshi said as he led the way toward a set of stairs.
They arrived in the President's office to see the fat man slumped over his desk, pinned in place by the sword through his back.
"Sephiroth definitely did this." Cloud murmured.
"How can you tell?" Aerith asked.
"Only Sephiroth can use that sword." Satoshi replied pointing to the four feet of visible steel protruding from the President's back.
Suddenly a helicopter flew by the windows, cutting off further conversation as everyone sprinted to the balcony.
Cloud stepped forward as the helicopter flew in low and Rufus jumped to the balcony followed by Rude and Reno.
"Rufus Shinra. What are you doing here?" Cloud asked.
"I came to check on the company. I heard the reports of what happened and I wanted to see if my promotion was secure." Rufus said coldly as he peered through one of the windows. "Looks like the reports were correct. I now run the company."
"Who is he?" Tifa whispered to Satoshi.
"Rufus Shinra, former vice-president of Shinra, now the President by the look of things." Satoshi replied as he gripped the hilt of one of his swords warily. "Keep your guard up. I don't trust this."
As Satoshi was talking, Rufus had launched into a speech about running the world through fear as Reno and Rude took positions on either side of their boss.
"Dat's it! I'm sicka yo mouth!" Barret shouted as he raised his gun arm. Cloud stepped in front of Barret, cutting off his line of fire.
"Leave it Barret. I want you to get Aerith and the rest out. I'll take care of Rufus." Cloud said as he drew his sword and split a second blade from it.
Jessie stepped up next to Cloud. "I'm not leaving, so you can just deal with it." Jessie said as she focused for a moment and lightning crackled up her left arm as her right wreathed itself in flame.
Aerith sighed as she kicked her staff into a spin before catching it in both hands as she stepped forward as well. "I'm not leaving the two of you to this. Knowing Cloud, you won't have the common sense to run if you need to."
"The rest of you make sure we have a way out." Cloud said, never taking his eyes off the trio in front of him.
"Got it." Satoshi said as he led Barret, Tifa, and Red back into the building.
Without warning, Jessie fired a bolt of lightning at Rude, who leaped to the side as the bolt thundered by. Rude crossed his arms in front of him to block the fireball Jessie threw his way. When he brought his arms down, Jessie was already there, throwing a kick at his side.
Rude blocked the kick, noting Jessie's strength with surprise.
As Jessie and Rude clashed, Reno charged at Aerith. Aerith simply sidestepped his clumsy charge before knocking him in the back of the head with her staff, causing him to crumple to the ground. She jerked her head back in shock as Reno stood almost as soon as he hit the ground and swung at her head with his baton. Reno smirked as he drew back for another swing before being bent over by the force of Aerith's blow to his stomach. Aerith spun her staff around behind her and whacked Reno on the back of the head once more sending him to the ground face first. Aerith sighed as the red haired man rose once more.
Cloud charged at Rufus, starting off with a simple thrust with his left blade. Rufus turned to the side to avoid being impaled before flipping over Cloud's follow up swing with his right blade. Cloud tracked his opponent through the air as he flipped once and landed several feet away.
"For a paper pusher, you aren't half bad." Cloud commented before charging once more, only to skid to a stop when Rufus raised a pistol and fired. Cloud deflected the first two shots before leaping to the left. He landed and tucked into a forward roll as Rufus fired two more rounds at where Cloud used to be. Rufus's eyes widened in shock when Cloud lunged out of his roll at the young president. Rufus sidestepped Cloud's downward chop, only to be kicked in the face when Cloud dug his sword into the rooftop and spun around the handle. Cloud pulled his sword from the concrete and connected the two blades, leaving his left hand free, which he used to hurl a fireball at Rufus. Rufus shot the swirling ball of fire out of the air, only to duck, and loose some hair, as Cloud leaped through the remnants of the fireball and swung at his head. Rufus somehow dodged a few more of Cloud's high speed slashes before leaping back, desperately trying to create distance between them.
"Give it up Rufus. You can't beat me." Cloud said as he split another blade off of his sword.
Several floors down
Tifa and Satoshi stood tensely in the glass elevator, having volunteered to clear this route while Barret and Red checked the inside of the building. They looked up as another elevator slowly caught up to theirs.
"Well looks like this path isn't as clear as we thought it was…" Satoshi said as the other elevator pulled even with them and the machine inside leveled twin chain guns at the pair. Satoshi pushed Tifa out of the way as the thing opened fire, causing the glass between them to shatter. He took two steps to the left and drew one of his blades before lunging through the broken glass and into the elevator with the security robot. As the thing tried to turn to track Satoshi's fast moving form, Tifa stepped out of cover and pointed, throwing a bolt of lightning at the machine. It twitched for a few seconds before beginning to turn back toward Tifa. As it lined up a shot, Satoshi stabbed both of his blades into the thing's back. Using his two blades as handholds, Satoshi threw the robot from the elevator before jumping back into the elevator with Tifa.
"I'm not gonna lie here, that was rather impressive." Tifa said as she watched the mechanical guard fall to the pavement below.
Satoshi shrugged as he replaced his swords in their harnesses. "It irritated me." He said before the sound of helicopter blades made itself known. Satoshi looked over Tifa's shoulder to see a guard robot flying even with their elevator. "Fuck this noise." Satoshi said as he pressed the stop button, causing the flying machine to pass them. He pried to doors open and both of them abandoned the elevator. Satoshi pulled out a phone as Tifa looked up and down the hall they found themselves in. "Barret, when Cloud checks in, tell him not to take the elevators. They got all kinds of flying metal death traps out there." Satoshi finished before snapping his phone closed and turning to Tifa. "Lets get back to the first floor." Satoshi said as he led the way toward the stairs.
Roof
Cloud, Aerith, and Jessie stood watching as the helicopter took off, taking their three opponents with it.
"We need to get out of here." Aerith said. "Not just out of the building, but Midgar as well."
"I agree." Cloud said. "Satoshi and I need to look into what Sephiroth has planned anyway. Whatever it is, it can't possibly be good."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Jessie asked as she led the way back inside. Once they entered the president's office, Cloud pulled out his phone and flicked it open.
"Which way?" He asked, prompting a reply from the other end of the line. "Stairs or internal elevators? Got it. See you in the lobby."
"What's wrong with the external elevators?" Aerith asked.
"Evidently, Satoshi broke them." Cloud said, causing Jessie to laugh. Cloud gave her a serious look.
"You're not joking?" Jessie asked.
"Nope. Satoshi tends to break things when he fights."Cloud explained. "Fortunately, it's never
something on his side." He finished as he led the way to the stairs. "Lets go, we've got a bit of a hike."
Lobby
Cloud, Aerith, and Jessie stepped out of the elevator to see Satoshi seated on his motorcycle while Barret attempted to hotwire a truck from the display with only one hand.
"Dis aint workin…" Barret mumbled before cursing loudly as the wires shocked him. "Cloud git yer pokey headed ass ova here an gimme a hand!"
Cloud hurried over and had the truck running in less then a minute.
Cloud looked the truck over before making a decision. "Tifa, you drive the truck, Jessie and Aerith, ride with her."
"Guess dat leaves me an Red here with the truck bed." Barret said as he climbed in. Satoshi looked out the door.
"Cloud, looks like you and me are gonna have to run interference for the truck. They've got biker cops out there and they look mean."
"Not a problem." Cloud replied as he stored all but one of his swords in the racks on his bike. The last one he stashed in his harness. He started his bike and gunned the engine before breaking out the second story window and falling to the road below, followed by Tifa in the truck and Satoshi on his bike.
As they fled down the highway, they were harassed by the Shinra motorcycle police, but thanks to Tifa's driving and Cloud and Satoshi cutting down any that rushed the truck, they made it out of the city in short order. Once outside the city wall, the Shinra police chasing them spilt off and returned to their building. Cloud signaled Tifa and Satoshi to stop.
"We should head for Kalm. We can regroup there and decide on our next move." Cloud said.
"I agree." Satoshi said. "Besides, I haven't been to Kalm in forever."
"Well I'm not riding cooped up in this truck all the way to Kalm." Tifa said, sending a 'look' at Satoshi.
"There's plenty of room on my bike if you want to ride with me." Satoshi replied, prompting Tifa to shoot out of the truck and hop onto the back seat behind him. Aerith and Jessie didn't even ask Cloud. They simply got out of the truck and walked over. Aerith took the seat immediately behind Cloud while Jessie sat behind Aerith.
Barret sighed. "Looks like it's just you an me." Barret said to Red as he hopped out of the truck bed and slipped into the driver's seat. Red took the seat next to him. "Just don't shed on my new seats." Barret said, already claiming the truck as his own. Red rolled his eyes as Barret shifted the truck into gear and drove off, followed by Cloud and Satoshi.
"You know, we still haven't discussed what I'm going to pay you for your services." Aerith commented over Cloud's shoulder as they rode.
"Well you haven't made an offer yet." Cloud replied.
"How about I go on a date with you?" Aerith asked.
"You know, if we hadn't already talked about this, I might be mad right now." Jessie said, suddenly entering the conversation.
"Wait, you two talked this out already?" Cloud asked. "Don't I get a say in this?"
"Nope." Aerith replied. "Get used to it."
Satoshi laughed as Cloud hung his head.
"What's so funny?" Tifa asked.
"Looks like Aerith and Jessie just told Cloud that they both want him." Satoshi said with a chuckle. "Hope he gets used to those two running his life quick, or he's in for a rough ride."
"And do you think I run your life?" Tifa asked.
"Indirectly." Satoshi replied. "You aren't bossy, but I do consider your wants and needs heavily when making decisions."
"Good answer." Tifa said as she rested her head on Satoshi's shoulder.
Saxyguy – Yeah, I know it's been forever since I updated any of my stories, but military life doesn't leave one with a whole lot of free time, and most of my free time is spent sleeping. But just remember, I will never abandon a story, it just might take me forever to update it.