Hey, all. Sorry about the hiatus. I had finals and end-of-semester material to take care of, as well as a bit of writer's block on writing my latest chapter. But now, here's another chapter.
Speaking of writer's block (in a sense), there is one chapter that's set to come up in a few weeks if all goes well, but there is one small section of the chapter, just a conversation in length, that I have no idea how to write. Does anyone have suggestions for how to properly ask for advice on what to write? I would very much appreciate it if I could get some help in clearing up that empty spot in my writing. Thank you.
Chapter 101
Underneath the Rotting Pizza
The party stood outside of the Public Safety Division's detainment room for an hour waiting for Heidegger and the two officers who accompanied him to finish their "interrogation" of the AVALANCHE member. Everyone in the party doubted the nature of the interrogation, as all they could hear was the echo of what was undoubtedly a large number of punches. The other directors and the Turks maintained stoic expressions, although Elena was clearly uneasy. Kairi, Mickey and Goofy winced with each pound.
After several agonizing minutes, which probably were not as agonizing for some people as they were for others, the door opened up and Heidegger stepped out, with the officers following behind him. Riku and Aqua peeked past them into the detainment room and felt glad that they had not had dinner. The AVALANCHE member was covered in bruises. He was coughing up blood and clearly had a broken arm and jaw.
"Gya haa haa haa!" Heidegger cackled. "Good news, everyone. I got a confession out of him. AVALANCHE is guilty of blowing up the reactor."
Sora, Riku, Donald, and Zack crossed their arms and glared at him dubiously. Kairi put her hands on her hips and let out a "humph". Goofy scratched his forehead while Mickey simply sighed and Aqua shook her head. Even barring the fact that the suspect had told them, in apparent honesty, that AVALANCHE was not responsible, it was obvious that Heidegger's claims were suspect at best.
"So, I suppose you're going to send a squad of heavily-armed soldiers to their base to crush their alliance?" Aqua asked sardonically.
Tseng shook his head. "Unfortunately, we do not know the location of their current hideout," he said.
"Current?" Kairi parroted, wondering what could have happened to their base in the past.
"We do believe that their base is in the slums beneath Sector 4," Rufus added.
"Kya ha ha!" Scarlet laughed. Reeve pinched the bridge of his nose. Riku and Kairi looked at him sympathetically, imagining how tiring it must be to hear his coworkers' laughs on a frequent basis. "Then I suppose we'll have to send the soldiers and my weapons in there to take them out!"
"Gya haa haa haa! And if they're not there, we'll just keep running through looking for them!" Heidegger added.
Mickey, Kairi and Goofy gasped in horror at their callousness. This only caused Scarlet to widen her smirk.
Sora balled his hands into fists. "Don't you think the overkill strategy is a bit much?" he asked. Realizing that it was useless to try to appeal to their human decency, he decided to try to appeal to their pragmatism. "How about this? If you go in all guns blazing, you'll give them a warning and the time to either escape or prepare and fight back. If that doesn't happen, you'll only inspire more people to be like AVALANCHE and act out against you. And this time, they might actually pull deadly stunts like reactor bombings."
Rufus crossed his arms. "You sound rather skeptical about AVALANCHE's culpability," he observed.
Sora turned his glare to Rufus. "Considering that the guy told us that AVALANCHE couldn't have done it, and he didn't seem like he was that good at keeping secrets, anyway…"
"Not to mention, when you came out of that room, he didn't look like he would have been able to say anything, let alone any sort of 'confession'," Aqua added.
Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Very well, then. Perhaps you would rather go down and seek them out yourselves, and determine the truth for yourselves," he suggested snidely.
"Maybe we will!" Sora shot back.
"Then by all means," Rufus dared. "You all go ahead. And report back to me once you get your 'answers'."
"Hold up!" Donald interrupted. All eyes turned to the duck. "There's something you need to see. The robots weren't malfunctioning." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pink block. "I found this on the last robot, and it doesn't look like it was always supposed to be there!"
Mickey blinked in surprise. "Is that a Gummi block?" he asked.
"So, you are familiar with the meteor fragments?" Reeve inquired.
Goofy nodded. "We got here in a spaceship made out of them," he replied.
"That is something we call an Entice-G," Scarlet explained. "We've discovered that it has the capability to hack into and allow a separate user to override programming in a computerized system."
Riku, Kairi, Mickey, and Donald's eyes widened and the looked at the Weapons Development director with suspicion.
"What are you looking at me for?" Scarlet asked in mock offense. "We have one that we've been studying, but it's locked in a secure vault. And it only works when it's been plugged into the computer in question. And after the reports of the initial malfunctions came in, I checked on the block. It's still in containment."
"So someone else has these Gummi blocks and is using them to control your robots," Mickey determined. "What for?"
"That, I doubt we will be able to determine at this point," Rufus argued. "Presently, I believe the crimes of AVALANCHE are a higher priority. You said that you wanted to investigate on your own. So, unless you would prefer that I allow Heidegger and Scarlet to do things their way…"
"Fine!" Zack interrupted. "We'll go." He turned around and started to lead the party out.
Riku stopped and turned back to face Rufus. "I'd suggest that you not pull anything while we're gone," he warned.
Rufus smirked. "I give you my word that we will not act until you report back to us," he assured.
Riku, and Donald as well, continued to glare at him and his associates as the party left the room, and they soon exited the building.
The group walked through Sector 8 and climbed onto the train at the Sector 1 station, where Zack explained that they would ride it to the Sector 5 slums, and they would go to the Sector 4 slums directly from there. They remained silent for the first stretch of time between the train starting up and its arrival at the next station. After the train started moving again, Aqua spoke up.
"These Shinra people have a funny way of dealing with their enemies," she noted bitterly.
Zack nodded gravely. "I can't argue with that," he conceded. "AVALANCHE isn't even that big of a group. Like Elena said, they rarely even have the resources to even blow up a warehouse. But Rufus likes to intimidate people into submission, and Mister Gya-haa-haa and Miss Kya-ha-ha love responding to anything they don't like with excessive force. There was this one time a couple years ago, back when Rufus' father was still alive and running the company, when the Turks found AVALANCHE's base in the Sector 7 slums, a few days after the band, which was made up of only half a dozen people, lit up a factory after hours."
"What happened?" Mickey asked.
"You see the split in the plate when you flew in?" Zack asked. The others thought for a moment before nodding. "Shinra activated a destruct sequence in the pillar holding the plate up, and dropped it on the slums below, saying that AVALANCHE did it. Under orders, Reno carried it out, though I don't think he was happy about it."
The others merely stared at him in shock. They attempted, to varying degrees of success, to wrap their heads around the cruelty of this world's leaders. Destroying two districts of a city just to kill half a dozen people. For Mickey's part, he had heard the adage "you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs", but that seemed to be far too many eggs that were broken to complete one objective, especially since the enemies they had been trying to quash were supposed to be terrorists.
"How… How do you do it, Zack?" Aqua asked. "How do you continue to fight in this?"
Zack shook his head. "All I can do is try to find the light," he said in a dejected tone. "Find the good to stand up for in this twisted mess, and find other angels to stand up with me. It's tough when the world is run by the monsters, but I look for the light where I can find it."
Aqua leaned over and pulled Zack into a hug. She wrapped him up and swaddled his pain, sadness, guilt, kindness, and hope in the warmth of her embrace. Tears rolled down her face as she could only feel sympathy for her friend who had faced all of this on his own.
Listening to Zack's tales about the evils of Shinra, Aqua felt immense sympathy, and she also felt as though she gained some perspective. When she was in the Realm of Darkness, all she had were memories to keep her company, and tantalizing questions regarding the fate and well-being of her friends to torture her. But Zack, he dealt with reality each day, a reality where a corrupt organization ruled its world with an iron fist and unleashed brutality upon the people on a whim, all while having to work for said organization because that is the only real way he can effectively help people to the best of his ability. While Aqua struggled to hold onto hope that her friends might be safe, Zack was left to try to fight for good in a world where the most powerful people sought to crush it into the ground. They both desperately looked for a reason to keep pushing forward, but while she was simply fighting for basic survival, he dealt with a severe moral dilemma every single day. And his struggle was something that persisted and escalated for twelve years, as opposed to her unknown amount of months.
Aqua released him and pulled away, leaving her hands on his shoulders for a brief moment supportively, then backed away and wiped the tears from her face.
Zack sighed. "When I found out what President Shinra wanted to do, I tried to go and stop it, but Heidegger's troops held me back, until it was too late for me to do anything," he recounted. "When I was done lashing out at everything in punching range, I… I wanted to kill him. Everyone tried to stop me, but they only managed to slow me down. On the way up, I took my anger out on the Heartless that appeared in front of me. But when I got up there, there were Heartless flooding the office, and the guy was dead on his desk, a set of yellow-and-blue daggers in his back."
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Yellow-and-blue daggers?" he asked, not sure why that rang a bell. Kairi gulped from a reflex that she could not quite make sense of.
Zack nodded. "A few hours later, Rufus flew in and took over," he continued. "After that, my anger left me and I lost the strength to keep lashing out. I locked myself in my room to wallow in grief and self-pity. Cissnei came in to try to comfort me, though it mostly ended up being just us wallowing… together…" He trailed off momentarily, a slight look of embarrassment crossing his face. Riku and Kairi traded curious and intrigued glances. Zack cleared his throat. "She told me that the Turks weren't happy with having to do it either. Reno hit the bar to cope, and she would've joined him but she thought it wouldn't be fair to me, with my SOLDIER metabolism and all. It was still awful, but I knew that there were still people who wanted to do the right thing."
Sora shook his head. "Then why don't you do something about it?" he asked. "Why don't you all join forces and put a stop to this? Put someone who knows what's right in that office instead of someone as cruel and ruthless as Rufus or Heidegger or Scarlet?"
Zack shrugged. "Tseng doesn't think it'd be wise. The troops are desensitized and accepting of the brutality the execs preach, so even if we did something, they might not be too receptive of it, and Reeve told me that Rufus put a lot of contingencies in place in case something happened to him," he explained. "In the end, all we could agree to do was try to make sure that stuff like the plate dropping and police overkill are kept to a bare minimum."
Riku shook his head and looked Zack straight in the eyes. "Listen to me, Zack. Even when things look rough and there are bad people in charge, you are not powerless. Everyone has the power to make a difference. The only question is if you have the will to see that change made."
They heard a voice come in over a loudspeaker, presumably by the conductor. "Now approaching the Sector 5-Below Station," the voice said. At that point, there was only a handful of other passengers on the train. They felt the train begin to slow down, hearing a soft squeal as the driver put the brakes on. Less than a minute later, the train stopped and the doors opened.
"Well, here's our stop," Zack said. He and his friends stood up and climbed off onto the station platform one at a time.
Aqua turned to face Zack. "Okay. So, which way to Sector 4?" she asked.
They walked through a street lined with ramshackle houses that appeared to have been constructed and reconstructed with wooden boards and sheets of metal, while others had been built out of cannibalized materials from old and rusted construction equipment. Each step was met with a soft crunch as they walked over dried-out dirt. A few of the townspeople appeared nervous when they saw Zack, apparently recognizing his SOLDIER uniform.
Kairi looked up into the air, where all natural light was blocked by the heavy steel plate hundreds of feet in the air, feeling sad as she was unable to feel the sun's warm glow or see the sky's calming blue. "These people never see the sky?" she asked sympathetically.
Zack shook his head. "There are a few busted patches where sunlight shines through, but otherwise no," he replied.
"Why's the plate even there, anyway?" Goofy asked.
"I don't know the full details, but from what I understand, when Shinra built the reactors, they came up with a city design that would supposedly be a better setup for the Mako flow mechanics, which involved raising the piping and generators up to about the halfway point. When the reactors began to drain the earth around the city, Shinra officially commissioned the plate and moved most of the people up on top. By most, I'm referring to themselves and the people who were most able to pay for what they sold, while leaving the poor down in what was left of the old towns."
"That's awful," Aqua said, empathetic to the people who suffered without feeling the warmth of the sun on their skin. She imagined that there were some people who never felt the sun's rays or even seen the sky.
"And the thing is, most people up top don't even know how bad things are down here," Zack added. "The majority of them don't really put much thought to the fact that there are people living under the plate in sections that are actually called 'slums'. They're a bit more concerned with their own issues, while Shinra's propaganda keeps them from realizing there is a problem."
They continued on in silence, passing multiple houses and noticing the difference between the more makeshift or haphazard structures with candles in the windows or old, flickering lights and the sturdy brick and metal homes with working electricity and most likely plumbing above the plate. At a few points, they came across some Heartless, but made short work of them. Soon, they left the residential part of the sector and came into what appeared to be the best approximation of a downtown district, with what appeared to be drug stores and cafés.
"So, where should we look?" Donald asked. "It's not like anyone's just going to point them out to us."
Zack shrugged. "Standard procedure? Find a store or eatery, sit down, and make small talk, then wait for someone to slip up," he advised.
"Where were they the first time around?" Kairi asked.
"In a bar, from what I heard," Zack replied.
"Let's try something else," Sora protested. "Riku, Kairi and I are underage."
"Same here," Aqua added.
"How about that diner?" Goofy suggested, pointing to one of the buildings.
"Sounds good. I could go for a meal," Riku agreed, feeling his stomach grumble.
"Ahem."
They all turned to see the source of the voice, and saw a muscular dark-skinned man glaring at them from the shadows of a side alley. He had short black hair and a full beard, and he had a scar on his right cheek and a tattoo on his left shoulder. He wore a green tank top wrapped around with straps, a brown unzipped jacket with the sleeves ripped off, green pants, brown boots, and a fingerless glove on his left hand. What stood out the most about the man was that, at the end of his right wrist, rather than a hand, he had a cylindrical steel block with smaller cylindrical tubes sticking out of the face, which a few of the party members realized was some sort of gun attachment.
"This way," the man ordered coldly. Nervously, they followed him as he led them around and behind the diner. He then stopped and turned to face the party, keeping his icy glare. "Now, what are you SOLDIER numbskulls doing here, looking for my crew?"
"Oh, so you're with AVALANCHE?" Goofy surmised. "And you just came up to tell us you were here?"
The man shrugged. "I overheard you talking about your strategy, so I figured I'd just cut out the middleman," he admitted. "And I'm its leader. Now, I'll ask again: what are you numbskulls doing here?"
Zack held his hands up in a placating manner. "Sorry, Barret… er, Mr. Wallace. Honestly, it was either this or let the higher-ups lead a squadron of soldiers and military robots to destroy everything in their path until they crushed you and your men," he explained.
"What's this all about? What have we done to get them so riled up?" Barret asked, frustrated.
"The Sector 6 reactor was blown up," Sora replied. Barret glared daggers at him and gritted his teeth. "Or at least that's what Shinra seems to be sure of," Sora added quickly as he heard what sounded like a gun cock coming from Barret's right arm. "And Rufus and Heidegger are perfectly fine with pinning it on you and using it as an excuse to strike you down. They tortured one of your men and claimed that they got him to confess."
"Porkins?" Barret asked. Zack nodded. The AVALANCHE leader cursed. "Poor guy. Course, he wouldn't need to be tortured to make a confession if it were legit. Kid can't keep his mouth shut."
"We noticed," Riku snarked.
"Come with me," Barret ordered. He led them around to the side door and let them in. He guided them to a counter and had them sit down, then walked around so he stood on the other side.
A little girl who appeared to be about five years old sat in a nearby chair, having been momentarily playing with a stuffed cat doll. She had light skin and brown hair, and she wore a pink dress with an orange bow at the collar. "Hi, daddy," she said to the man with the gun arm. Barret smiled and rubbed her head lovingly. The girl looked at the party, mostly at Zack. "Hi, Zack. Are these your friends?" The newcomers smiled warmly at her, and Kairi and Aqua each gave her a friendly wave.
"Now, to business," Barret said assertively, turning all eyes back to him.
"Okay," Zack affirmed. "I guess we should start with: did you do it?"
Barret shook his head. "No, we didn't. I heard about it, though. One of the Turks led a group to clear the area before it blew," he said. "Surprised they cared to make sure the people down here were safe."
"I called it in and told them to make sure you guys were safe as well," Zack explained.
"You wouldn't know anything about the Heartless—the shadowy creatures, would you?" Kairi asked.
Barret gritted his teeth as his eyes lit up in anger. "Those things have been causing trouble all around the neighborhood! They've been trashing stuff and chasing people down!" he yelled, the mention of the monsters striking a nerve. "AVALANCHE has been trying to clear them out, but I can't do a thing about them!" He held up his right arm to show off his gun prosthetic. "I fire everything I got at them, but it doesn't do jack!"
"It's not exactly that they're immune to bullets," Mickey clarified. "They pass right through them, but they leave such small holes that the wounds close up almost immediately."
Barret stroked his beard in contemplation. "That explains why clubs and rocks have been doing more work. But that leaves me a sitting duck, and I'm ashamed of that since I'm supposed to be the guy they look up to. The only thing I can do it throw a few grenades, but the shrapnel could cause unwanted casualties."
"You could punch them," Sora suggested.
Barret shrugged. "I guess it's worth a shot. Now, why were you asking about those things?"
"When we got to the reactor, the place was crawling with hundreds of them, especially in the core where the bomb had been planted," Zack explained.
Barret sighed. "So, those things are flying around whoever was behind the bombing. Question is, who was it?"
"Also, how are we going to convince Shinra that you're innocent?" Goofy asked.
The girl raised her hand to draw the group's attention as if she was in a class answering a teacher's question. "If they're so eager to frame AVALANCHE, why did they let you come here to try to prove they're innocent?" she asked in an innocent and sincere tone.
Riku's eyes widened as her words sunk in. "Aw, crud!" he cursed under his breath.
Everyone froze as they heard the shuffling of footsteps from outside. Amidst that noise were the grinding of metallic gears, the stomping of robotic feet, and the grumbling yelps of random civilians who were no doubt being roughly shoved aside. Then their blood chilled on hearing a sound that confirmed everyone's suspicions.
"Gya haa haa haa!"
Barret reached across the counter and lifted Zack by the collar. "You led them here?!" he accused angrily.
Zack gulped. "Unwittingly, apparently," he choked.
"Come on!" Sora called, beckoning for everyone to head outside.
Grumbling, Barret let go of Zack and turned to one of the bus boys. "Get Marlene into the back, and tell everyone to take cover," he ordered. The bus boy nodded and picked the little girl up before heading through the door leading into the kitchen. Barret, along with Zack, Sora, Aqua, Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy ran out the front doors, where they were faced with Rufus Shinra, Heidegger, Tseng, Reno, Cissnei, a couple dozen infantrymen, and three saw-armed Cutter Machine Robots.
"Hello," Rufus greeted with a smirk on his face. "Thank you for reporting back to me so quickly. Now, shall we get to business?"