(Disclaimer: Plata-Azul Firebird does not own Final Fantasy 7, only her OCs… Otherwise, we might end up having a not-so-epic battle with the lawsuits.)
Altering Rhythm
Taking the Big Stage
Silver: Now… time to rescue Aerith! Charge! Sorry if this is late... I only got one reason... I got a new IPAD! And I'm distracted on it! XD! Yeah, online games to the MAX! Ha, anyway, as a bit of a punishment for me, i made this chapter long then the usual... it's 30 PAGES LONG! (faints) and almost 13,000 words! OMG! Okay, enough of my ranting and get the show on the road. Enjoy!
Taking the Big Stage
Arriving at Sector 5, there they meet up with Jessie where both Barret and Tifa smiles to see here again. Then the AVALANCHE leader asked about Biggs, they soon found out that their last member went to the Sector 4 to find shelters for the rest of the people since Sector 5 and Wall Market are full. Relief that their other member is still alive, they then heads to Aerith's place but Mira and Riley remained in the market with an excuse of seeing if the people are okay.
But….
"Well… All I can say is half-half." Mira quips as she and Riley stays in one corner and look around. "Half-success, that we manage to save the people in the slums, but we did not manage to save the people above the plate… Denzel is still an orphan."
"Yeah… if there is any consolation, I got this." the mime the shows her best friend her touch phone. "I manage to record the entire conversation right here… but I can't show it just yet."
"Duh, our phones are what? 10 or 15 years ahead from their technology." the songstress replied and pointing out the obvious as the brunette blew her bangs. "Anyway back to the point… the next task is to get into Shinra and rescue Aerith."
"And to destroy their information bank." Riley quips in and digs into her pouch, taking out a C4 explosive. "This will do on computers… what about the papers and sorts?"
"Hmmm… I guess we should try looking for oil, gas or something that can burn all the records into ashes."
"Should we try finding one now?"
"We have to wait for them for a moment, but let's try looking around in this area."
Nodding at this, the girls made a quick search for the said flammable liquid.
:::^*^:::
After Elmyra explains her daughter's true origin, she is surprise to learn that Barret is the father of the little girl that was bought in.
"You're her father! How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that?" she asked the black man with a incredulous expression and a stern tone.
"… Please don't start with that. I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene, if I… But you gotta understand somethin'…I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene… But I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't…the planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But, I'm worried 'bout Marlene. I really just wanna be with her…always. See? I'm goin' in circles, now." the AVALANCHE leader tries to reason with her and seems to be failing.
"…I think I understand what you're saying… She's upstairs asleep, why don't you go and see her." she then points to the stairs, the black man thank her before bolting to where his daughter is. Cloud and Tifa is about to follow when… "Excuse me, but where are your other two friends?"
"You mean Mira and Riley?" Tifa asked, as they turn back to look at her and the mother nods.
"They're outside, looking after the people that evacuated Sector 7." Cloud replied.
"I see…"
"Is there something you want to talk with them?" he asked.
"No… I just wondered why they are not with you." the two look at one another and shrugs at it before they climb up to the room where Marlene is.
"… I wonder if Aerith is going to be okay with them…" the mother whispers to herself, remembering how much her daughter describes the two strange girls. Seeing them the first time, they seems to be ordinary and nothing out of place… but then again, her adopted child is an Ancient and the last one. She sighs and looks up at the stairs…
She just wished that all of the conflict is solved and done so they could live peacefully.
:::^*^:::
"Got anything?"
"I got a bottle filled with leftover cooking oil and a half-full bottle of bug spray, you?"
"Got a pair of hair sprays, a flare and a bottle of whatever-I-don't-know-what-kind of liquid it is but the man says it flammable." the songstress said as the mime takes the bottle and takes a good look at it. "Can you guess it?"
"Honestly… no clue."
Apparently, both girls are able to find some items, considering some people just throws them away without care. "Well… I guess we'll find out when we use it on the papers?"
"I guess so- Ack!" the brunette yelped.
"What?" then the songstress is yanked by her best friend with a yelp.
"Cloud and the others are heading for the company!" the mime hissed as she runs to the blonde and the others, it soon clicks in the ravenette mind and she too jogs towards him. They quickly stash their stuff in their pouches as they near the three. "Hey!" she called out and the trio looks at them. "What's up?"
"We're givin Shinra a nasty visit." Barret stated with calm fury.
"Really? Then let us go with you." Riley stated, as she stops in front of them. "After all, me and Mira got a score to settle with Shinra." and then added in her thoughts. 'With the additions of fans back in our world who despises Rufus' old man… at least his son learned his lessons after almost getting killed by the Diamond WEAPON.'
"Alright then… we need to find a way to get up the plate." Cloud said.
"I checked the train station here in Sector 5, it's close due to the incident right now." Mira points out and looks at the station where Zack used to come and go to visit Aerith.
"Plus it will not open anytime till the incident in Sector 7 is solved." Riley replied and the blonde seems to scowl at this.
"What now, Cloud?" Tifa asked.
"Let's go to Wall Market and find anyone there that knows an alternate way up… probably, we have to find that idiot and demand for a way up." the blonde stated, the two girls realizes who the latter he is pointing out and Mira shudders at it.
'Have to be that damn perv.' the songstress thought and the group agreed to this. They then heads to Wall Market and left Jessie in charge of the civilians with Biggs once he returns.
:::^*^:::
Both Tseng and Rude look at one another and Reno sighs…
For the umpteenth time.
After they have delivered the Ancient to the head of the science department, both have been observing their redhead companion and after seeing him sulk, stare blankly and sigh once more. "Reno." Tseng called the redhead and he raise his brow, when Reno turns to look at them with a uncharacteristic blank expression. This made Rude express a slight concern for his partner, as the Wutainese Turk rubs his forehead. "Is something bothering you?"
"Nothing…" the redhead replied with a plain tone, no hints of mischievousness or cockiness.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah…"
Rude looks at Tseng. "What made him this way?" he asked.
"I don't know… must be the battle at the pillar earlier."
"And that did this?"
Tseng shrugs and a second later, Reno's eyes lights up a bit and digs in his pocket, taking out a wrinkled, folded paper. "Hey!" he called, the two turns to look at him, although surprise, they hid their expression on the redhead's sudden mood swing. "Do you guys want to have a drink?" as the two look at one another once more
:::^*^:::
"This is getting nowhere… SERIOUSLY!" as the mime agrees to her best friend. On arriving in Wall Market, they wasted about half an hour on searching aimlessly around the area and the other half on asking people around. After a series of misleading leads and wrong people to ask, the girls decided to take control of this situation.
"Cloud!" Riley called and the blonde stops on their search for a moment. "Are we suppose to save Aerith? Or asking more questions?" she asked.
"We are! But the only place we can find for leads is here in Wall Market" he replies firmly and both girls resisted face-palming.
"Cloud, we've been looking for an hour…" Mira then takes something out of her pocket, looks at her pocket watch and checks the time. "And a half since we started looking for the way up!"
"Fine, you got any ideas?" he demanded at them, as he cross his arms.
"Just one… I go scout the area while you restock some potions and equip yourselves some better equipments, since we're going fighting to the top." the brunette stated and then left before anyone could speak out about her suggestion.
The songstress pats the blonde on the back, as she shrug and smiles on this. 'Besides, this is a more faster way to get the whole thing done… the right way!' she thought as she guides the trio to the weapon shop to buy some good equipment for the team.
Once they got mythril armlets and better weapons for both Tifa and Barret, the songstress notices the kids are heading for the direction to where the wire they have to climb on. Once again, Cloud ask some random guy on the way up when…
"CLOUDY!" a yell and a glomp, the blonde yelped as he is once more is tackled by the ever hyper brunette. Mira shakes her head a bit and sighs…
'Considering if we are going to encounter Yuffie… anywhere in this frickin' world with woods, Riley might be a good experience on handling immature people.' she thought, as the blonde manage to yank the mime by her collar and the scene looks like an owner holding a (overgrown) hyper puppy. As the songstress stifles her laugh and Tifa giggles a little bit on the scene…
"I found one! And it looks quite promising." Riley stated cheerfully, as she stands and remove the blonde's hand on her collar. 'Well… more of a problem solved than guessing, anyway…' she thought.
"Really?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah, remember some cables are connected and some connects plate to plate?" the mime asked, looking at them and seeing their strange look at her except for Mira who knows. 'Oi, don't tell me they have no idea how mako energy is distributed or phone connections…'
"There are cables that connects plate to plate?" Barret asked, that made the songstress face-palm and the mime slumps and then falls to the ground.
'I swear, if this is an anime, I would be sweat-dropping and smack my head on the ground like those characters.' both girls thought, as the three looks at the brunette on her strange behavior.
"Guys, you don't know?" Mira asked, as they look at her and shaking their heads at the same time. She looks incredulously at them before recovering and explaining the importance of the cables. "Okay, first of all, there are cables distributed in each sectors and they each distribute mako energy, phone line connection, the system of the pillar, so on and so forth. Which is why there are still electricity in every sector despite bombing two reactors… now, you realize that the plate dropped, right?"
"Yeah…?" Cloud asked, crossing his arms as Riley stands up… then it just clicks in his mind and he groans as he face-palm himself. "Oh man… how can I be that stupid…!"
Both Tifa and Barret stares at him with incredulously, as Mira and Riley cheers on him getting the general idea. "Bingo! Since the plate dropped, it also bought some cables down too!" Riley chirps cheerily as Mira pats the blonde on the back.
"Aha… don't worry, Cloud, not even your friends know of it." the songstress points out. "So you're not alone in this."
"But how do you know all this?" Tifa asked, which made the two freeze on the spot.
'Ack! What now! What now!' the mime mentally panics on this as the songstress takes a breath for a moment and looks at them.
"Ummm… from some towns with Mako Reactors." the ravenette points out with a shrug, closing her eyes and looking away a bit before looking back at them. "I mean, we did travel around for a while before we found out that Shinra is behind the Banora Incident."
The blonde nodded at this and looks at Riley, asking her to guide them to the said cable she found. Both girls leads them to the wire the brunette found and as they head there…
"Hey." Riley whispered at Mira, who walking beside her and turns to look at her. "Not bad… but there's a bit of nervousness in there."
"Well… I rarely lie…" she whispered back, in the lowest volume which Cloud will not hear. "And this is different from going up the stage and singing out."
"Yeah… I never pegged you too be all that fake and jazz."
"And yet here we are, hiding our real origin just to change their fate for the better."
"True… beside we don't know how long we will be here either?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is this the place?" Barret asked, snapping the two out of their private talk and they look around seeing that they are near the gates where the Don's mansion is.
"Yeah, it's to the right corner." the brunette replied and points at the direction where the wire is. Going right, there they found some kids climbing up the wire, to see the top but one remains since he is a bit scared. Looking at the wire…
"Can we climb it?" Tifa asked, she sees it a bit unsafe for her.
"Yeah, it leads up to where Aerith is." the brunette explains, as she place her hands on her hips.
"Is there… anyway else to get up there?" the bar maid asked and both girls look at her, then they get the hint… on what she is wearing.
"Awright! We'll climb this wire!" the black man stated with an energetic tone.
"There's no way we can do this." The blonde reason out. "You know how far it goes up?"
"Asking more people again?" the mime asked and crosses her arms. "Cloudy…" she then receives a glare from him.
"This IS a way! Look! What's that look like?" Barret asked.
"Just a normal wire." the blonde deadpans
"Oh yeah?" he stated, as he looks at him then at the wire. "Well to me it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope." that causes Riley to laugh and Mira to turns away as the others looks at the wire.
"You're right." Tifa realizing it is the only way, much to her discomfort on this. "This is the only way to save Aerith…"
"Ok, that was a bad analogy, but, Barret, I understand how you feel." Cloud said, and looks back at the wire… finally seeing it as the only way up. "Let's go!"
Both Cloud and Barret went up first since Tifa is a bit sensitive on what she is wearing, and Mira is skeptical on climbing it. The both earthlings seems to be amazed on how Barret is able to climb with just one arm, it's like push, jump and grab the wire quick before he falls. Once Barret manage to 'ninja' his way up, Tifa takes her turn and climbs up, putting a bit of trust on the two girl to catch her if her fell.
Meanwhile, Mira gives the wire a stare before looking at Riley with annoyance. "Oi, think of this like one of those rope-climbing exercise back in high school!" the brunette hisses at her as her best friend sulks at this. "Come on, we have to save Aerith and you and I are going to destroy info."
The songstress still continues to stare at the wire, till Riley literally push her back to reality and drills her on climbing the wire. Then, she snaps her head up hen she hears a yelp and scrambles to move to where… "Guoooffffyyy!" she yelps out of breath as Tifa fell on her.
"Oh my!" Mira gasped and immediately moves to help the two up.
"Tifa!" Cloud shouts with concern.
"Teef! Are you okay?" the black man calls out.
"Please…" Riley groans out as Mira sets her keytar on her back and lends a hand to the martial artist. "Get her off me!" the mime yelled out of desperation and the songstress scrambles to help the two up. Once she manage to get the bar maid off and help her best friend up. "Ow… Tifa, are you sure those… are not the weight of a pair of watermelons, seriously you're heavy…" the mime wheezes out.
Although, Tifa wants to punch the mime on saying that, she refrains herself since she did fell on her. After that, she climbs again as Mira gives Riley a potion to recover from that fall. Once Tifa is up… Riley have to push Mira to go before her, since the songstress is not that thrilled with climbing and for the mime to catch her in case she falls.
Once the mime is finally up with them, she notices something on one corner and checks it out… it turns out.
"This thing needs a battery." Riley points out before the two girls mentally resisting smacking themselves on the debris, for making one itty bitty mistake…
They forgot about the batteries in the Weapon Shop.
The mime opts to go but Cloud stops and insisted that he'll go instead. Seeing that both Tifa and Barret agrees to this since Riley found the wire, Mira gives Cloud a hint that she saw some kind of batteries in the Weapon Shop and to check it there. He nods at this and climbs down the wire to get it.
:::^*^:::
Leaning back in her glass prison… Aerith thinks about the blonde and the two girls…
The blonde reminds her eerily of her first love... His action, speech pattern and the glow of his eyes, but at the same time different from him. She really missed him, but she needs to move on for their sake. And now, she hopes for her bodyguard to come and save her.
Then her thoughts shift to the two girls… those two are different from one another. She can tell from their personality and actions. While they are both active, Mira seems to be the mature one while Riley is more of the action girl. What weird her out is a certain spark in Mira's eyes and Riley's ability to mime the actions of others. The spark in the songstress' eyes suggests that she have a strong yet little used magic but is not certain on her overall appearance… but one thing is for sure, she's not one of her kind which slightly disappoints her a bit.
And the mime, while is more stronger and can endure more then her best friend, she have no materia to support her mimicry abilities. She also thinks of a possibility of her being one of her kind, but it quickly deflated when she senses… something way out of her like Mira, only different.
She knew that the two are best of friends and they trust each other like sisters.
But…
How come one is accepted by the planet while the other is rejected… also why does the planet becomes silent to the one they accepted.
Somewhere, in the lab…
A certain specimen slowly moves the 'wing'
"It's won't be long now…"
:::^*^:::
"Huh?" Riley stated and looks around to find… nothing…
"Hey, what's wrong?" Mira asked, as she runs to her side.
They are now officially above the plate and they are heading for the company. Shaking her head and ignoring the voice she heard, the two quickly follows the three and there they saw them staring at the company building.
"Hey, you oughta know this building well." the AVALANCHE leader said to the blonde.
Then Cloud thinks about it… "…Not really, now that I think about it, this is the first time I've ever been to the Headquarters." he stated and made the two girls stare at him.
"Really? I thought all SOLDIER personnels are station here?" Riley asked looking at him, she decided to dare making him remember. This made him try to remember of when he was here… 'Come on Cloudy… you been here since Crisis Core!' the mime thought.
'Go on Cloud, remember, you been here and befriended Zack and it's pretty obvious that Shinra would gather all important people in this frickin' company.' Mira thought, then his face scrunches up a bit. 'Don't let the pain stop you from remembering.'
"I… don't know…" he replied and the two girls sighs at this, while Riley resisted face-palming right on his response.
'Oi… Everyone, our leading star of FF7...' the mime thought as she shakes her head a bit. 'Aye…'
"I heard about this place before. Every floor above the 60th is special and not easy to get to even for employees. Must be where they took Aerith." he then pumps up is gun-arm. "The security's pretty light now. Awright, let's go!" and charges.
"Wait a second!" Tifa calls out, the black man stops comically like a Cactuar and looks back at her. "You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?"
"Well what else does it look like! I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt and…"
"That's not going to work! We've got to find another way…"
"Ain't gonna be no other way! If we keep wastin' time like this, Aerith will…"
"Huh, Barret…" Riley pipes in and they look at her. "Aye, have you forgotten what we discussed in Sector 7 already?"
"I do but-!" But Mira quickly cuts him off.
"Let's do scouting first… Riley, since you're not that much seen and it might take a long time for Shinra to post a wanted poster of you, you go in and check the place out." the songstress stated and the mime nods at this. Her best friend then trots inside the building as the others waits outside, right behind a statue.
And as they wait… "So… we just wait here?" Barret asked.
"That's the idea, Barret." the songstress stated. "Ever heard the term patience is a virtue?"
"But if we don't get in there right now, Aerith will-"
"If we charge in right now, we'll make a mistake and have them capture us." the songstress snaps back. "Remember, we are on Shinra's turf, so we're practically diving into a dragon's den."
"She's really right you know." Cloud stated in her defense and they look at him. "If you think about it, if we do charge in without thinking we'll be arrest by dozens of Shinra guards."
"I hate to say this, Barret… but you still got a long way to go in your position." the songstress quips and they wait… "By the way, is this really your first time here in this building?" she looks at Cloud.
"… I don't really know." the blonde replied and tries thinking again… only to gain a headache and sighs. "But… is it true that all SOLDIERs are station here?"
"Yeah, from what I heard, this is where all the SOLDIERs are station and they are only dispatched when they got missions of sorts."
"I…" he suddenly winces as the pain on his head intensified.
"Cloud!" Tifa yelps and went to his side, she held him up and prevents him from falling on the concrete ground. She checks and comforts the blonde, then looks at the songstress. "Can you talk about this another time?"
"… Okay…" Mira said and moves a bit away from the two as she stares at them. 'Tifa… sometimes healing requires re-opening the wounds…' she thought, as she looks back at the building. 'Also, there are limits on seeing what a person is capable of… Hojo.' she thought and glare at it.
:::^*^:::
Going inside, Riley is first greeted by a receptionist and wondering if she have an appointment. The mime stated she wants to see the showroom and buy a souvenir, the lady smiles at this and asked her to pay a few gils for the passes. Seeing that she'll be needing a visitor pass, she paid the receptionist and heads to the showroom. On the way there, she sees some guards and those are the Grenade Guards. Spending a few minutes in the showroom, she makes note of the truck they'll be riding in since they joined the group the numbers have increase and…
'Aye… one or two of us have to get another vehicle…' she thought and then heads to the souvenir shop, there she see more guards than the usual which she remembers in the game. 'Note: this is not a game anymore.' she remind herself as she reaches the shop. After buying a few potions and stuffs, she wonders about the chests behind only to be stop by the clerk. Slumping a bit that she couldn't get the chest… she instead finds something that pique her interest and takes it.
Then she resisted on smacking herself on the wall near her… both she and Mira don't know which floor the Turks are… all they know is that Floor 45 is where the important stuffs since it was shown in Before Crisis in Reno's story, the laboratory in 67 and 68, the library in 62 and probably the SOLDIER floor in 49 and 51 shown in Crisis Core... She is clueless on what's on floor 50, but what she really need is where the Turk's headquarters are…
'Ah crap… if those Turks have back-up info about Banora, we're screwed…' Riley thought as she briskly walks towards the entrance. 'Slick… got to find that damn floor!' and she walks out. Remembering where the guards are and their equipment… they're going to have to take the stairs.
Arriving back to the group, she notice Mira glaring at the building. 'Oh yeah, the fat man's enemy is also her enemy… Seriously, Lelouch much girl?' the mime thought as she smiles silly and blew her hair. "Hey, I'm back." she calls out.
"So bustin' in?" the black man immediately asked.
"Not even close, I've seen quite a number of guards in there." Riley points out, with her hands on her hips. "I want to save Aerith… but without the bullets holes riddled in our bodies which will make us look like cheese!"
"So… sneak in at the back or something?" Mira asked, as she dread on the fact that they'll be climbing all the way up to floor 59. 'I hate this company… so much right now.' she thought bitterly.
"It seems so." the mime noted.
"That settles it." Tifa stated and everyone seems to agree aside from Barret and Mira. Heading left and finding the emergency exit door, on entering… both girls stares at the very long climb they're going to do. One of them looks thrilled and the other looks like she's going to be sick.
"Yo, are we… gunna take these stairs all the way up?" the AVALANCHE leader asked faintly and Mira couldn't help but to agree with him.
"Why…?" Mira hissed as Riley pats her by the back.
"We've got to save Aerith somehow." the bar maid points out.
"Can't they even build escalators?" the songstress whispered to herself, as the mime just pats her back once more and shakes her head out of pity for her best friend.
"You really shouldn't skipped gym you know." the brunette replied jokingly and she receives a glare from her.
"Talk about out of the way." And they start climbing up all the way to floor 59.
"I don't have time to argue with you, I'm going" By that, Tifa sprinted towards the top.
"Yo Tifa, don't go off alone!" Barret yelped and goes after her. Cloud soon followed with the girls behind him, running in an easy pace and outruns the AVALANCHE leader.
"By the way, how many minutes is this supposed climb?" Riley asked her best friend, as she jogs beside her.
"In the game… I think it's about 5 minutes…" the songstress replied. "But now…"
"Aye… sucks to be you." the mime quips, she then runs away from getting hit by a keytar and outruns Barret. "Climbing to the MAX!" she yells loudly with a cheer and Barret stares at the mime for a moment and looks back at Mira, who's just a staircase behind.
"Yo, what's wrong with your friend?" he asked., pointing at the hyper brunette, who just outrun Tifa.
"Exercise freak." the songstress stated and continue with the, to her it's torturous, climb.
:::^*^:::
A few minutes pass…
'Ugh… if Lelouch were doing this, he'll be complaining.' the songstress thought as she takes a few second break and continues climbing.
"Don't know…" Barret wheezes out. "Why the hell… we gotta climb…"
"Once more, you're thinking with your muscles!" Riley shouts, and by distance and the volume of the voice… she seems to be quite far up.
'Damn energizer bunny!' Mira swears mentally as she continue with the climb.
"...because we don't want to start a commotion until we've saved Aerith." As Cloud outruns Barret. "I doubt that's possible though..."
"...heh heh heh."
"Knock it off. You're giving me the creeps." The blonde snaps at him.
:::^*^:::
'Damn, crap, fudge sticks, nutcracker…' the songstress mentally swore as she pants and takes another break on climbing. Apparently, she lost count on how many she have taken a break as the others continue with their climb.
"So even you will fight for someone else. I had you figured wrong I guess." The black man stated as he huffs a bit.
"Who cares what you figured!" The blonde Ex-SOLDIER snaps at him.
"I'm just sayin' mebbe I was wrong..."
"Heh heh heh…" Tifa giggles a bit ahead of them.
"What's that supposed to mean, Tifa?" Cloud asked, looking incredulously at the bar maid ahead.
"Cloud CARES! AAAWWWW!" they heard Riley… once more ahead of them. The blonde heard that and realizes what Barret was pointing out, he flushes out of embarrassment which he covers with his spiky locks as they continue with their climb.
:::^*^:::
"How much farther do these stairs go on?" Barret asked, once they reach the next set of stairs
"I have no clue!" Once again, Riley is way ahead of them and Barret is baffle on how the heck she heard him.
"Why don't you asked them?" Tifa retorts back at him.
"It's not one of them endless stairways or somethin', d'ya think?" he asked.
"STOP MAKING ME NERVOUS!" a faded shout came from below, that when the realizes at Mira is way too behind them.
"Of course not!" The bar maid snaps back at him.
"Right... couldn't be that..." As Cloud runs passes him again.
Meanwhile, Riley seems to whoops for joy.
:::^*^:::
"Are we there yet?" Barret asked.
"Not yet." Tifa replied
"...there yet?"
"I said not yet!"
"Yo..."
"Look, don't even ask! We're way way way way far away from being there, ok!" Then suddenly Riley is climbing down the stairs, which made Tifa, Barret and Cloud look at her as she goes down. "Wait! Where are you going?" she asked the brunette.
"I've been on the top!" she stated and they look incredulously at her. "Did you hear what Mira said about me? I'm an exercise freak and proud of it! So, if you excuse me, I better help Mira before she decides to throw a fit or sing us all to sleep… or something." she shrugs before bolting off to where her best friend is.
:::^*^:::
"Damn, man! I've had it! I'm going back!" The AVALANCHE leader shouts out of tiredness and frustration, after climbing another set of stairs.
"And take just as long going down as you did coming up?" the bar maid asked and the black man is silent on that one. Upon reaching the top section of the set of stairs, Cloud see Barret out of breath and is leaning on his knees while Tifa looks at him like a scolding mother while resting a bit. "C'mon, Barret, pull it together!"
"Yeah, well all I know is I'm just flesh 'n' blood... 'cept for this arm of mine." He winces, as he catches his breath. "Don't treat me like I'm some ex-member of SOLDIER or somethin'… or even that friggin' mime."
"What about me! I'm human too! Oh, do what you want, I'm going on!" Tifa snaps at him and is about to head off when she stops and… "Yaah! Barret! You go first!"
"What're ya ignorant? I didn't mean that..." But he is cut short when…
"All right, all right!" Tifa snaps at him and point at the next set of stair, slumping at this the black man trudges on to the next level. "Cloud, you go on ahead too!" she suggested, the blonde shrugs at this and follows Barret.
:::^*^:::
"Yo... What floor is this?" the black man asked.
"...I gave up counting." Tifa wheezes out.
"Why they gotta build these buildings so damn tall?" Barret swears. "That Shinra... They're just no damn good." And she is just silent on that. "Huff... Man, I'm beat... Marlene, Daddy wanted to see your face one more time..." As he is merely climbing the stair with pure adrenaline.
"Would you stop acting like a retard and climb?"
"I see cake! I SEE CAKE!" a familiar voice shouts out.
"Riley! Knock it off!" as suddenly Riley appears, catching up just behind them and is giving Mira a piggyback ride to the top. "Sorry about the lack of endurance back there." the songstress apologizes.
"Don't worry! It's just a bit more! … Maybe…" The bar maid stated a bit
"I agree! And there's cake up there! CHARGE!" the brunette shouts
"Riley!" as Cloud runs pass them again, and the two stares at him. "Seriously, how come you're behind from time to time?" the songstress asked the blonde.
"I took a break very now and then!" the blonde replied as he runs up.
:::^*^:::
Both Riley and Mira made it to the top first, the mime then sets her best friend down. Then taking peek through the crack of the door, there they see the Grenade guards by the elevators. Looking at one another, Riley widens the door a bit as Mira sits down and sets her Orchestra Ai on her lap. Looking at the brunette, who is now covering her ears, she receives a thumbs up and begins to play a song…
Now it's time to say good night
Good night Sleep tight
She sings.
Now the sun turns out his light
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.
Close your eyes and I'll close mine
Good night Sleep tight
Now the moon begins to shine
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.
Then she stop when she notice Riley is at the door, looking out before she looks back at her with a grin. She then bolts in as the songstress waits for the others, and it wasn't long before Tifa arrives with Barret dragging himself behind.
"F... finally... M... made it..." The AVALACHE leader wheezes out. "N... never wanna see... no more stairs the rest of my life..."
"Huff... Puff... this really takes it out of you..." Tifa pants as she catches her air and breathes in "But this is it. We'd better get ready...!"
Then Cloud arrives and looks at the three and notices Riley is missing. "Wait, where's Riley?"
"Pick-pocketing the sleeping guards." Mira points out and they took a peek out side to see the mime is pick-pocketing the sleeping guards. Seeing that it is safe to go in, the group files out and took a minute or two to rest a bit. Then the songstress drags the brunette on one corner and looks sternly at her. "Okay, what's with the cake thing?" she asked.
"What everybody loves cake, it's encouraging!" Riley stated in defense.
"Ever heard the term 'the cake is a lie'?"
"Ouch! Party pooper."
"Right, back to our topic, which floor should we go to get rid info about Banora?"
"45, 49, 51, 62, 67 and 68... Plus we got a bit of a problem." the brunette then looks behind for a moment and looks back at her best friend. "I have no clue as to which floor the Turks headquarters is."
"… fudge sticks." the songstress swore and sighs at this.
"Yeah, so we're going to explore this building at some point."
"Aye… the C4 bombs?"
"Well, this is the first time we're going to blow up something, but I manage to find a book about how to set a bomb."
"You know how to remote control a stereo but not a bomb?"
"Hey, I'm not a Mythbuster, y'know."
"… you're enjoying using titles or names from the shows we watch back, do ya?"
"It reminds me of home, girl." and then they become silent for a moment. "I'm starting to miss everything back home." as Mira pats her back when Cloud calls them, and turns to see that they needed the keycard for the elevator. Once the mime gives the keycard to him, he swipes it on the reader and the light went green. A few moments later, it arrives, the door opens and they quickly enter the elevator. Then Riley press the up button, the door closes and the elevator does up, as Mira tries to think of a good way to split from Cloud and the group.
"This is the real thing. Don't let your guard down." Barret warns them as he preps his gun arm.
"I hope Aerith is all right." The bar maid said out of concern as the elevator continue with it's climb.
:::^*^:::
Arriving on the 60th floor, Cloud peeks in but Riley just shove him out and he fell flat of his front. "Whoops, sorry bout that." the mime apologizes sheepishly as the blonde glares at her. After that, they head to the security room and as they head there… the girls wonders why the first two guard they met are very ignorant on their guard duty. They merely tell them off like adults scolding a lost kid, and returns on what they are doing… which is happens to be solitaire.
"Yeah… that's gonna cut some of their salary once their employer sees this." Riley whispers at her best friend, who shakes her head amusingly.
Arriving at the security room, there the three spied at the moving guard while the two girls thinks of a better way to pass the guards… and they got one.
"Lookit that, all them guards is runnin' around." Barret stated before retreating back into the room. "Cloud, you go on ahead and signal us when it's safe to come."
"Or… you could yet Mira handle this." Riley pipes in and looks at the ravenette.
"Huh? Is she good on sneaking in?" Tifa asked.
"Nah, I'm good at putting people to sleep." Mira quips, as she arms her Orchestra Ai.
"… there's no time to joke." the blonde stated.
"And she's not, seriously, she have the skill to put them to sleep." the mime placed her hands on her hips. "I mean, it's too much coincidence for the guards in the 59th floor to be sleeping." and they look at her.
"And I sang the Don to sleep too." the songstress added.
"Eh? You didn't knock him out?" Tifa asked.
"No, duh, I'm a songstress." the songstress points and deadpans at them. "You think I got this gigs for looks?"
"Oi, guys, she got status effect spells." Riley points out. "I mean, she did cast haste on you guys while singing."
The trio looks at one another, thinking about it before they decided to give her a shots. With a big grin from Riley, the brunette opens the door slightly and advises the others to cover their ears. The trio looks at her for a moment then covered their ears, and Riley gives her best friend a thumbs up. And Mira takes a breathe…
As a child there were them times
Mira sings.
I didn't get it but you kept me in line
I didn't know why you didn't show up sometimes
On Sunday mornings, and I missed you
But I'm glad we talked through
All them grown folk things, separation brings
You never let me know it
You never let it show because
You loved me and obviously
There's so much more left to say
If you were with me today face to face
I never knew I could hurt like this
And everyday life goes on like
"I wish I could talk to you for awhile"
Miss you but I try not to cry
As time goes by
And it's true that you've reached a better place
Still I'd give the world to see your face
And I'm right here next to you
But it's like you're gone too soon
Now the hardest thing to do is say bye, bye
Bye, bye.
Bye, bye.
Then she stops when she heard a thud near them and turns to see Barret fast asleep, all curled up like a baby. "Uh… Whoops? I think I forgot about his gun-arm is not a proper cover for his other ear." she said sheepishly as Tifa tries to wake him up.
"Well, look on the bright side, ya sang the guards to sleep, ya spoony bard." Riley stated, who is taking a peek outside and grins silly at her friend. Then she looks at the black man and pokes him with her boots, as the blonde went to the door to see if it's true Mira sings them to sleep. "Aye, he's dead asleep… someone have to carry this guy or shake him awake… real hard." the mime points out.
"Or splash cold water on him." the songstress suggested, as the blonde seems to scratch his head with amazement.
"Where the heck are we going to get water? Especially a cold one?" her best friend asked skeptically, only she is directed by the songstress to a corner where a fridge is. "… Oh."
They knew that the fridge was not in the game at all, but then again security are probably bored to death with nothing to do but to spy on people thru cameras. Once they splashed Barret with a cold ice tea, they couldn't find any water there, they then heads to the next floor thru stairs on the next room.
:::^*^:::
After getting the keycard, which mistaken Riley as a janitor to much her annoyance, they quickly heads up to the next floor.
For the girls, they arrived on one of their target floor but they cannot separate the group, they have to wait for the puzzle before they make note on where to place the bombs and fires.
"How do you do?" a man asked and only Mira remembers his name, which is Hart. "This is the Midgar Mayor's Office. Mayor Domino is in his office. I am the Deputy Mayor. If you should have any questions feel free to ask me..."
They enter the office and meets the mayor, Domino, who looks quite stress out and tired. The mayor talks with them and decided to give them an offer, tell him the password and he'll give the keycard for the floor 65 along. And if guessed tight in the first try, he'll throws in a freebie. For Cloud, he have no time to do this and is willing to knock him out and get the card, only he is stopped my Mira.
"Again, patience is a virtue Cloud." she points out lightly. "Tell you what, why don't you search the floors above while Riley and I look for the password."
"But…" the blonde is about to protest when…
"Hey, look at this on the good side, why don't you try looting some Shinra goods and use them against the company?" Riley suggested and the three look at her as Mira shakes her head on this. "Oh come on, haven't anyone of you guys thought of it? I mean it will be like slapping Shinra back on the face with their own medicine!"
"Come ta think of it, that ain't a bad idea." Barret said with a lewd smile that creeps both girls out.
"Barret! Riley! We're suppose to save Aerith!" the bar maid reminds them.
"That and smacking Shinra with their own inventions and so on." the brunette mime pipes up cheerily, which the black man grins at it to agree with her.
"Riley, just get the password with Mira and meet us at 64th floor." Cloud deadpans at the mime, who in returns gives him a mock salute and ending the conversation. Once the trio left to the floors above, the two look at one another and then they bolt out to check the books. Their they check for any title relating to Banora, then sprinkling those with a bit of oil in the papers and then finds the misplaced books for the clue.
Once they find the clues and a suitable place to explode, where it can cause fire, they return to the mayor's office with the password: MAKO. He's happy for them guessing the code, also since they guessed it on their first try, he gives them the Elemental Materia which Riley equips it with her Dark Fire.
After getting an encouragement from the mayor, they heads up to find the storage room puzzle… and is it now completely lock.
"I guess Cloud and the others took the stuffs here." Riley noted and heads to the next floor. There, they quickly heads to the locker room to where Cait Sith's megaphone is and takes it with the potion and ether.
"This way, we won't bother coming back here for the cat's megaphone." Mira stated as she places it in her pouch. "… I still feel like I'm in Looney Tunes with this Pocket Space, this pouch defies physics."
"D'oh, it useful." the mime replied with a grin as she loots some clothes from the locker. Then they went to the room where the beds are, however they encounter a SOLDIER 3rd who is just getting a drink from the gym. Knowing what kind of equipment and the ID he have for the SOLDIER floor, both girls follows him to the said gym. There they saw him trying get his drink from the gym that ate his gil and Mira quickly positions herself on a free chair. She then sings and not too long the SOLDIER falls asleep along with the other people in the gym.
"Just grab what we need and hide this guy." Mira just hissed at her best friend, who just look at her by the sudden act of sing all of the employees to sleep. Once they took the sword, gils, the ID and the uniform, they then hid the 3rd Class in a out-of-order restroom.
After stuffing everything except the sword in the pouch, they saw Cloud and the others walk out of the room "Hey, got the keycard."
"And a new sword for Cloud!" Riley cheers as she bounces toward the blonde.
:::^*^:::
After they solved the puzzle of the model of Midgar, they got the keycard for the next floor and they quickly heads up. On arriving at the 66th floor, they learn from some people around them that the meeting room stinks and hearing voices in the restroom. Wanting to know what's going on with the big wigs, Barret wants to charge in, gun blazing and demanding for answers.
"Barret… have you not thought of a way without involving charging in and gun blazing?" the songstress deadpans at him, as the black man scratches the back of his head. "Why don't we try looking for a way… without getting ourselves caught or trap or even shot on the spot."
"I'm going with her on this one." the mime pipes in.
"Same here." Cloud also stated and the two looks at the blonde with slight surprise. Barret slumps at this and follows the group to find a more suitable way to peek in the meeting. Remembering about the restroom, Riley noted to check out the bathroom and heads there with the entire group tailing behind. There the mime checks each toilet and she nearly cheers out loud to find the exact one with the duct above. She climbs up into the ventilation duct above the toilet and checks if it's wide enough for five of them. Once confirming the space, she calls out for the group and tells them to climb in, as she sets something in her pocket. The trio looks skeptical on this but Mira climbs in, knowing that this leads to the Conference Room. Shrugging at this, they climb up into the duct where they meet Riley with a cheery smile and motions them to follow. There they find Mira near the vent and is looking down thru it. They then crouch around it and through the slats, they see President Shinra and other employees sitting at a long table in the Conference Room.
"Geez-! That's a lotta suits!" Barret hissed and both girls shush him quiet and watch...
"We have the damage estimates for Sector 7." A man said, both girls recognizes who it is. Reeves, who after the METEOR, becomes the head of the WRO in the future. "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 Billion gil... The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is..."
"We're not rebuilding." The president stated.
"What?" the urban head asked in shock.
"We're leaving Sector 7 as it is and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan."
"...then the Ancients?"
"The Promised Land will soon be ours. I want you to raise the Mako rates 15% in every area."
Then a fat, bald, guy, jumps up and down, the girls can tell who it is…
"Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!" Palmer said cheerily and looking at the president like a greasy, overstuffed piglet.
"Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase." The president stated with no care at all and the fat man sits down, sulking a lot.
"Sir, if you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence..." Reeves noted.
"It'll be all right. The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more."
"Gya ha ha ha!" A bearded man laughs, who is Heidegger, the head of Safety Maintenance. "After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!"
Barret is about to swear on that but both girls shuts him up and glares at him.
"But what about the rumours that AVALANCHE evacuated the people from the slums? And the warning system that alerted them?" the Urban head asked.
"Meh, we can label that they planned to kill the people on the plate and the AVALANCHE members made that to evacuate the slums rats and their members." Heidegger stated gruffly. "All we need to do is find someone to take all the blame and kill them off right in front to the public. As they say, once a rat, always a rat."
Riley's eyes twitches on that one, as Mira keeps Barret down from going all out on the heads of the departments, the mime quickly excuse herself and left. Seeing her best friend is upset, she too left and follows her out. There the songstress sees Riley pacing back and forth, hissing and swearing as she holds her phone.
"You recorded it?" Mira asked.
"Yeah, I know the statement of the Turks is not enough proof to point that Shinra is the one who dropped the plate." Riley explains and she replays it a bit before packing it back in her pouch. "Mira, remind me to shave that man's beard."
"Eh?"
"So I can punch his jaw cleanly away." as Cloud and the others crawls and climbs out the duct.
"Come on, we need to follow someone to get to Aerith." the blonde stated, motioning them to follow. They then left the bathroom and come around a corner, and there they spot Hojo.
"Hojo... huh...?" Cloud noted and both Mira and Riley looks at him with concern. They knew that Hojo is the one who experimented on him and messed up his memories, and the one who causes Sephiroth's insanity by lying about his mother and origin. They quickly follow him up to the 67th floor, where the two-floor laboratory is located.
"I remember him." The black man said as they follow the professor. "That Hojo guy. He's in charge of the Shinra's Science Department. Cloud, don't you know him?"
"This is the first time I've actually ever seen him. So... that's what he looks like..." The blonde commented and both girls stares at him, yet they didn't make any remarks.
:::^*^:::
They follow Hojo to a dreary-looking laboratory, there a red, lion-like creature is imprisoned in a glass tube, sitting in the far corner. They hides behind a crate and just in time to avoid an employee who enters the room.
"Is this today's specimen?"
"Yes. We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level." Hojo commands, the employee nods and left to his station. The head scientist then places his hand on the glass, rubbing it with interest. "My precious specimen..."
He stands there for a while, then left for his work station. Cloud and the other comes out of hiding and Tifa went to where the red creature is confine.
"Precious specimen...?" She wonders and looks at the red creature. "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?" as Mira goes to where Red XIII or Nanaki is confine. The red creature perks his head up when Mira comes near, but lays back with less interest on either girls.
'That's kinda weird…' the songstress thought.
Then the blonde looks around and spots a metallic dome, he senses something… familiar in there. "Jenova..." He whispered, he walks towards the container and peers into the window and sees a headless, gray, female being. Her head has apparently severed rather violently, then Cloud backs away and clutches his head. A high-pitched whine reverberates in his head and he collapses to the floor. The girls notices this and runs to his side, then tries snapping him back to reality.
"Jenova... Sephiroth's... So... they've brought it here." He mutters
"Cloud, are you okay?" Mira asked.
"Did you see it?" he asked and looks at them
"See what?" the AVALANCHE leader asked, as Riley peeks in the window. She stills for a second but she brushes it off.
"It's moving... still alive?"
"Yeesh! It's creepy!" Riley comments and shivers, as Barret takes a peek in it too.
"Where's its $#&*& head? This whole thing's stupid. Let's keep goin'." The black man commented as he felt a slight chill on his spine on seeing the headless creature. Once Cloud recovers from the shock of seeing the headless lady, they continue venturing into the lab. They beat and loot some Carbon Bangles from the Moth Slashers, the girls giggles bit that they just knockout the supposed SOLDIER 3rd 64th floor.
And before they get in the elevator.
"Well done… you have bought her to me…"
Cloud stills for a second as both Riley and Mira looks back at him with concern. "Cloud?" the mime asked out of concern and he shakes his head. After stating that he's okay, they get into the elevator and both girls arms themselves for the in coming fight.
:::^*^:::
Arriving on the next floor, the lab in here is more advanced and clean than that on the 67th floor. There is a glass tube like that the one below and near it is Hojo, then, with a good look of the glass tube, inside is Aerith herself.
"Aerith!" Cloud calls out
"Aerith? Oh, is that her name?" the creepy scientist stated and turns to them. "What do you want?"
"We're taking Aerith back." Mira said sternly with a glare on him.
"Outsiders..." He mutters
"It's obvious, duh…" Riley deadpans at him.
"There's so many frivolous things in this world."
Both Cloud, Riley and Barret moves forward, only to be stop by Hojo
"Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should." Hojo tested them. "The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it? Hmm?"
Cloud winces at this as Riley blew her hair. "Delicate my ass, it's just a glass tube!" she points out. "Just smack it and Aerith goes free."
"Oh? Really? This glass is bullet-proof, I doubt you can break it easily." And she glares daggers at him. "That's right. I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves." He then turns to the control station where his assistant is. "Now, bring in the specimen!"
The red creature is lifted into the tube, gets up and growls aggressively at Aerith, who immediately backs away from it.
"Cloud, help!" Aerith calls out, scared of the red creature.
"What do you think you're doin'?" Cloud demands, glaring at the mad scientist
"Why, lending a helping hand to an endangered species... Both of them are on the brink of extinction... If I don't help, all these animals will disappear." Hojo stated as if they're annoying children who asked too many questions.
"...Animal? That's terrible! Aerith is a human being!" Tifa shrieks at him
"Yeah!" Riley pipes in and she takes out her dagger. "She's one of us despite her heritage!"
"Barret! Can't you do anything?" Cloud shouts over at the black man, needing to hurry and rescue Aerith.
"No worries! I got it!" Riley shouts and toss her dagger at the control panel, which effectively stabs and cuts the wires. Mira is shocked and momentarily walks to Riley's side, as the tube lights up.
"Hey, Barret is suppose to shoot at the panel." Mira hisses at her best friend.
"… Oh, yikes, sorry slight panic there." Riley apologizes as Hojo runs for the tube to quickly open it. "Look on the bright side, it's still following the storyline." as the songstress face-palms at this.
The door opens... the light dims, the red creature poised in the door, leaps forward and starts attacking Hojo. "Now's our chance to get Aerith!" the blonde stated and runs into the tube and helps Aerith.
"Thanks, Cloud." The flower girl said as she gets up with his help. But once she left the tube, the elevator begins moving and he moves away from it. Tifa asked what's wrong as the girls arms for the fight. When Cloud noted that the elevator is moving, Hojo pulls himself out from under the red creature.
"This is no ordinary specimen. This is a very ferocious specimen!" Hojo yells at them.
The creature turns away from Hojo and looks at them. "He's rather strong. I'll help you all out." It stated.
"It talked!" the bar maid yelps out of surprise.
"I'll talk as much as you want later, Miss." As the blonde approaches the creature.
"We'll take care of that monster. Somebody take Aerith somewhere safe... Tifa, Mira, I'm counting on the two of you." The blonde said. Both Tifa and Mira nods at him and guides Aerith away, the songstress give her best friend a warning look and mouthing the word Dark Fire.
'… Wha-oh crap, yeah, my Dark Fire got poison in it. This incoming freak is going to absorb and use it for healing it's wound." Then she just notices Hojo is gone. 'Man, I didn't even smack that fruit-loop with the books!'
After asking the creature's name, which happens to be on the label: Red XIII, the ferocious specimen arrives with it's miniature, round helpers bouncing around. Tifa, Mira and Aerith are just at the bridge near the control station, the ravenette arms her keytar and ready to support them. Both girls sees what the creature looks like, it seem more like a Resident Evil G-Virus and Tyrant combine with a huge mouth on the shoulder instead of an eye. A huge claw on one arm and a club on the other, as a bunch of tentacles covers it's face and some parts are covered in metal.
"Come on!" Cloud shouts as he, Barret and Red charges with Riley tailing behind to think of a plan.
Then… "Ah crap, I only got Lightning and this thing only takes half the damage from it!" She hisses to herself as she jumps away from an incoming claw and something clicks. "Mira you got the Blizzard, right?" calling out to her friend.
Remembering that she got one, the songstress removes her materia from her bangle and tosses it to the brunette. Casting Matra Magic on the small creatures, thee mime then jumps, caught the materia and lands down. She then runs around to avoid being hit by Fire and cast back with Matra magic, then she remembers the storage room in floor 63 and rushes to Cloud.
"Don't bother with the small ones! Just attack the main monster!" Red advises them and charges at the huge beast. Cloud agrees to this as he is starting to glow, meaning he going to strike with a Limit Break. Then blonde charges in and slashes the thing once…
Twice…
And then the third as Riley gaped at the sign at appears on each strike.
'Shit! That's Cross Slash! AWESOME!' she thought, and then yelps as she is hit by Blizzard on by one of the monster's mini helper. "OW! That's cheap you!" she swears and cast Dark Fire at it, which to her luck manages to silence it. With one removed with it's ability to cast magic, she once more went to Cloud's side as she drinks out a potion. "Hey, got the items from the 63rd floor?"
"Riley, there's no time for that!" he hisses as they both avoid the claw.
"Hey, there's got to be something useful in that floor." she retorts back at him, as she kicks one of the minions like a football and spied something blue.
"Focus on the fight!" He snaps at her and runs in with his sword, as Riley just stands there to a moment and then smack her forehead.
"Geez… I might as well do it like Kaitou KID." she mumbles and then charges to the fray. As they fight against the monster, Riley tries to take the chance to get near to the blonde but is always blocked by a Fire or a Blizzard spell from the Opts. "Annoyance." she snaps and cast Matra Magic on the two of them.
One died but the other seem manages to avoid her magic. Nevertheless, she saw the monster is about to spew poisonous gas at them and took this chance to steal the All Materia. She dash for the blonde and grabs his arms, then she drags him away from range.
"HEY! What are you-!" he yelped.
"Bad gas! Deadly gas!" she warns as the monster blows out a pink-purplish colored gas. Barret and Red are the ones who are mostly effected and are poison, as Riley manages to get out of the way with Cloud.
As Ex-SOLDIER is distracted, Riley uses her stealing skills and pops the All Materia out of his bangle. "Mira catch!" she yells and tossed the blue materia at the songstress. The blonde gapes as the stolen blue materia flies towards the ravenette and he looks at his bangle.
"Riley!" Cloud shouts at her as she cringes at the volume of his voice. "You-!"
"We need healing!" the brunette cuts him off and points at Barret and Red who are poisoned. "I only took the All Materia, so Mira can cast the Cure on all of us!"
"But she's too far!"
"She's long range!"
When the songstress caught the blue materia, she quickly place it on her bangle with a link to her Restore Materia. She then feel the spell is capable to cast widely and focuses on casting to all the party fight below. Casting cure on all of them in one spell, Riley tosses out a pair of antidotes on Barret and Red as she charges on to the monster. But she backs away when the specimen slashes at her with Keyclaw and is hit by a Fire from one of the small minions of the monster.
That's when her annoyance begins to build and bombards the small thing with Matra Magic. "Suits ya right, yeah friggin little- GAH!" she yelps as she is hit by the claw of the monster.
"Riley!" Mira shouts out with worry and cast another Cure fell on all of them as her best friend backs away for a moment.
Then mime stills, looking at the ground as Red strike back on the monster with his Limit Break: Sled Fang. But even with the three times the damage, it remains standing and releases another Shady Breath on them. Since Riley just stood far from the battle, she is not affected by the gas and only snaps back to see all three of them are poison.
"Guys!" the mimes calls out and jumps back when a Fire is cast on her place. She then glares on the small, round thing before focusing on the main target itself. "Okay, you really asked for it." as she glows light purple and a familiar transparent weapon forms on her hand.
Seeing that, Mira recognizes the weapon and gapes at it. "No way... that's..." she mutters as her best friend charges in swiftly and attacks the monster. She first spin slashes upwards, then a strong kick, followed by horizontal slash and another, then a shot at it, a flip kick with a strong back kick to follow, a slash and finally a spin slash to finish as she flips back to retreat. 'Oh my... skrits... did she just performed Lightning's Army of One.' the songstress thought, as the mime also gapes on her new Limit Break.
But since it is new to her, the movement is sluggish which is why the monster is still standing... Only it is shot dead by Barret's Big Shot.
After the fight, Aerith, Mira and Tifa run down the bridge and the songstress digs in her pouch and distributes the antidotes to them.
"Aerith, you all right?" Cloud asked the pink brunette, as he downs a bottle of antidote.
"She seems all right, ...in many ways." The bar maid said with confirmation, as the songstress cast cure on everyone who fought.
"I have a right to choose, too. I don't like two-legged things." The red 'lion' stated as he sits.
"What are you?" Barret asked.
"An informed question. But difficult to answer. I am what you see." Red stated. "...You must have many questions, but first, let's get out of here. I'll lead the way."
"Cloud... so you did come for me." Aerith said with relief and happiness, as both girls look at one another and sighs at this. Then the red feline leaps over the railing and walks toward the exit.
"I apologize for what happened back there. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard…" Red apologizes.
'Wow this feline got manners.' Riley thought, as she looks around the place for anything to loot and to use it against the company.
"Now we've saved Aerith, ain't no need to be in this buildin'! So let's get the hell outta here!" Barret announces.
"If all seven of us go together, we'll be noticed. Let's break up into groups." Cloud advises and they divided the group. With Cloud is Aerith and Nanaki, the second group is Barret and Tifa while Mira and Riley as the third.
"Okay, meet up on the elevator in the 66th floor. Got it?" the blonde points out.
Nodding at this, the group splits and heads to the elevators... but Mira and Riley have other plans. The two girls backtrack to the tube and they quickly pick the Enemy Skill Materia. Mira equips it as her best friend returns the Blizzard to her. Then they head to the control station, where there is a person in there
"No! Please don't kill me. I only did what Hojo told me to do." he stutters out as he is found by the two. "To prove it to you... here, this is the key card to the 68th Floor. Would I be doing this if I was the enemy?"
"Could have fooled me." Mira quips as she pockets the keycard and left. They then collect the Poison Materia which they nearly forgot in the rush to save Aerith, Riley equips it and feels the nasty yet joyful presence in it.
Then...
Both girls proceeds to Floor 62 instead of meeting the others in the elevator.
:::^*^:::
"It is time..."
:::^*^:::
"Finally..."
Silver: Ha, ha, yeah… reminds you of the other BFFs… Lelouch and Suzaku? I merely based Mira and Riley on their physical prowess, intelligence… no, not so smart like Lelouch but very decent enough to win 1 out of 3 in strategy game… Riley is more on fighting games as Mira is to sims. By the way, the song is Good Night by the Beatles, you have got to love the classics. Also the other song is Bye, bye by Mariah Carey… it's a bit hard to find good mello songs that would match the Lullaby, which is a sleep spell-effect. Give credit to the artists, peeps. Also Riley's mimcry Limit Break ability, will be limited within the Square Enix universe, so no anime or any other game moves.