Thank you for your patience. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy and please let me know what you think!
Chapter Five: Mastermind
A faint giggle reached his ears and Cloud shivered without opening his eyes. Though his patch of floor was as hard as ever, the room he shared with the male members of Avalanche was unusually cool this morning. If he didn't know Barret couldn't afford it, he would have sworn he was sleeping on tile. He tightened his grip around the warm pillow in his arms. It smelled like that flowery shampoo Tifa used. Nuzzling the silky surface, he gave a pleased hum.
A faint clicking sound reached his ears along with a woman's distant laughter. Barret's snores weren't enough to cover the barely heard whispers. Cloud wished the man wouldn't sleep with the window open as the Marson sisters insisted the alley behind Seventh Heaven was the perfect place to share their gossip. Lingering in the haze of half-wakefulness, he frowned. Seventh Heaven lay buried under the wreckage of the plate. A woman's poorly muffled coo snapped him back to reality. He stiffened and his mako-bright eyes shot open.
"And that's time! Marilee, you won that one." A brunette holding a small black book announced. Out of his sight, Marilee gave a cheer. Several other women moaned in disappointment. The clicking noise repeated as several cameras flashed in his direction.
The blond shuddered, as far as he could see, women lined the walls and towered over his prone form. Some perched on wooden chairs with padding leaking from the shredded cushions. Others leaned against bare plaster where there might once have been wood paneling. A small part of his mind noted that although gray and cracked, the floor actually was tile.
However, a larger problem filled his mind; he lay in a room ringed with fan girls, his fan girls, and he was still tiny. His throat went dry and he swallowed convulsively. A strange paralysis gripped his body yet his eyes darted around searching for a viable exit to no avail. The pillow in his arms shifted and gave a small moan. He looked down and met Tifa's sleep-clouded eyes. No wonder it smelled like her shampoo. Cloud and Tifa froze, gazes locked and cheeks flushing as they noticed their entwined legs and intimate embrace.
"Natalie, and against all odds, Melissa!" The bookie called gleefully. More cheers rang out.
"Fun time's over ladies," a small woman with chin length black hair poked her head between a pair of peeling, ash-gray swinging doors. "Advance look-outs say the boss is coming. Time to unshrink them."
"That's the next step anyway," the bookie shrugged. "Let 'er rip Kelsey."
Cloud saw the green motes of light in his peripheral vision, but didn't take note until a size-fourteen combat boot slammed into his back. His face flew towards Tifa's. The indignant cries of the rest of the party muffled the crack of his nose colliding with her forehead.
The women hissed and moaned in sympathy while yelps and bellows filled the air. A few women attempted to help remnants of Avalanche untangle themselves. A dozen others surrounded the group, gleefully taking pictures. Barret scowled and scraped fur off his tongue while slurring curses. The blond blearily observed all of this as Tifa held a tissue the sympathetic bookie provided to his bleeding nose.
"I don't think anybody bet on that one..." Agent 49B muttered, shaking her head.
"Actually-" the brunette began.
"I did." A man finished from where he stood behind the lookout with his arms crossed. "Why do you think I told you to put them farther apart?" The woman squeaked, shot him a guilty glance and dodged out of the doorway.
He stepped into the room and held one door open while waving toward the hallway beyond. "You've had your fun ladies; it is time for you to get back to work. I have a briefing to conduct."
With a few low murmurs of disappointment, the women filed out. A short blonde handed Tifa something with a giggle before skipping out. Tifa blushed and hid the item in her hip pouch before Cloud could see it.
"Follow me." The man ordered and left the aged dining hall. Cloud's brow furrowed as he climbed to his feet and helped Tifa up. The man's voice was strangely familiar. He peered closely at his back as they walked down the filthy, dim hallway of what seemed to be an abandoned hotel. The man's deep gold hair hung to his shoulders.
The former infantryman's eyes narrowed, the stranger's powerful build and fluid gait betrayed his fighting experience. He shot a sideways look at Zack who nodded slowly. Barret noticed the exchange and carefully checked his gun arm. The stranger led them to a small meeting room. Aged leather chairs circled a slightly warped conference table. The monitors on the back wall displayed a rotating diagram of the main Shinra building.
"Please make yourselves comfortable." The man waved to the seats, and then lowered himself into the chair at the head of the table. He locked his mako-bright, navy eyes on the party. Barret cursed and Zack reached for his buster sword. Cloud paused.
A lesser known side-effect of serving in Shinra's infantry included recognizing people from the shape of their cheeks and noses. Cloud peered intently at the man's face a moment and then started laughing. Zack shot the young man a wary look. "You okay buddy?"
Cloud's laughter petered off, and he shook his head. A rueful smile spread across his face. "It figures you're behind all of this," he chuckled. "I never thought you would remember the 'homework' you gave me or that I would ever find a use for it."
"You know this guy?" Zack gaped at his friend.
"Aw, I'm hurt Zack!" The man pouted. "I've waited five years to see you again and you forgot about me?" An awkward silence fell and Barret chuckled at Zack's gape-mouthed expression. Tifa and Aerith exchanged a shocked look and waited for the former SOLDIER to reply to the confession.
"Um, I don't know what kind of information your club has on me," Zack raised his palms toward the man. "But I don't swing that way. I already have an awesome girlfriend." He reached over and caught Aerith's hand. She beamed approvingly up at him.
The man's smile grew strained, torn between shocked denial and humor. Cloud had no such conflict. He howled with laughter. The leader mock glared at Cloud and shot Tifa a hopeful look. "What about you, Tifa? Do you recognize me?"
Although she relaxed at Cloud's humor and easy manner with the man, she stiffened again. "Um... Should I?"
He sighed, shoulders slumping. "It has been a long time; I guess I shouldn't be too surprised."
"You both know him," Cloud coughed and wiped his streaming eyes. "Zack, picture him in a Second Class uniform with helmet. Tifa imagine him with a hairstyle like mine."
The pair frowned and peered at the man. Their eyes widened in shock. "Kunsel?"
"How did you manage that, by the way?" Cloud patted down his massive hair spikes to no avail.
"Ah, the curse of the Strife hair," Kunsel chuckled.
"Strife hair?" Zack whispered to Tifa, swinging his head back and forth between the pair of the blonds. "Kunsel's last name isn't Strife."
"Kunsel and Cloud are cousins," Tifa hissed, and then hushed the man. She wanted to hear Kunsel's answer too.
"Ah Cloud," The man chuckled, wagging a finger at him. "You don't think I wore a helmet constantly for ten years for nothing did you?"
The younger Strife grimaced, "You're joking. That's-"
"Wait," Barret held up his arms, brow furrowed. "This Kunsel guy is your buddy," he waved to Zack, "and your cousin?" He pointed at Cloud.
Both men nodded.
"And you lead that pair of fan clubs Spiky here's afraid of?" He directed this at Kunsel, getting another nod in response. "Then why," he growled through clenched teeth, "did we have to be kidnapped by the freaky lady with dream powder?"
"Freaky lady eh?" Kunsel's snicker cut off when he saw Cloud shudder. He cleared his throat. "Well, Vanessa was one of at least fifty contingency plans and available agents were hard to get with such short notice."
"Honestly," He shrugged and scratched his chin. "I expected you guys to take the vehicles on display and have a nerve-wracking drive on the incomplete freeway. After fighting off grunts on motorcycles, you would have an epic battle with that metallic monstrosity blocking the Sector 5 thoroughfare."
Aerith gave a nervous giggle and muttered. "Makes me kind of glad we took a different way."
"Why didn't you take the vehicles?" Kunsel asked curiously. He leaned forward and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Our agents even made sure there were two motorcycles."
"No reason!" Zack chirped, his ever-present smile growing slightly fixed. Cloud coughed into his hand and turned away from his friend.
"That's cause Mr. Full-'o-Grace here," Barret jerked his thumb at Zack, "got cocky and crashed his. Never thought I'd see a SOLDIER come down a whole flight of stairs on his face."
Cloud's coughing fit redoubled and the raven-haired SOLDIER glared suspiciously at him. "Why didn't you have any trouble?"
The young man shrugged with a small grin. "Didn't you hear Kunsel's version of the escape? We grunts have a motorcycle elective-course."
"What? No fair!"
Amidst the laughter at Zack's deepened pout, Red lifted his head and peered at the former second class. "You mentioned your agents placing vehicles as well as multiple contingency plans." The feline cocked his head to the side. "It sounds more like a military operation than a group sharing a common obsession."
Silence fell, and Kunsel sat up nodding slowly. "Well observed. You are correct. While we still have our 'obsessed' members, the core of our group has a larger perspective."
He laughed and one corner of his mouth twitched up. "You probably don't know this Cloud, but after your traumatizing experience with Sephiroth's fan club, someone snapped your picture." He gave a toothy grin, "Let's just say you became an instant celebrity and gained a following of your own. Since you and Zack hung out often, your clubs collaborated to share photos and gossip."
Cloud's eyes widened and he shivered. Zack nodded thoughtfully. "I guess that part makes sense, but how do you and the fan clubs come into all this?" He waved at the computers and dilapidated hotel.
Kunsel shook his head. "Let's just say the power of obsession should never be underestimated. A few of our lovely ladies managed to hack Shinra security and caught images and whispers about you two. That you weren't really dead... Of course, that's where I came in. Shinra doesn't really monitor the fan clubs like they do 'terrorist groups', so I decided to use your fan clubs to strike back at Shinra."
"How would that work?" Tifa frowned at the older blond.
"Quite simple, fans thrive on stories and information on the object of their obsession; I merely gave them what they wanted. Photos, images, stories..." His smile took on a sharp edge. "Fans with just a picture are worrisome; add a heroic or tragic back-story and you can start a revolution."
He shrugged, toning down his intensity and waved a hand. "The large part of our organization is made of normal people who've heard your stories and are angry at Shinra's manipulation. Our agents are all over the world, ready to help you in nearly any endeavor."
He paused, giving them a moment to let his words sink in. "So, knowing you have such extensive backing," Kunsel locked eyes with Cloud and then Zack. "What are you going to do with it?"
Cloud and Zack frowned. Zack's eyes flicked to Aerith and Cloud nodded. "We're going after Sephiroth, or whoever that was in the tower." Cloud answered, "As for the rest of you-"
"I'm going." The rest of the party interrupted.
Zack gaped at Barret. "What about Marlene?"
"She's already with Elmyra, one of our agents," Kunsel assured him. "She'll be fine. We even have recordings of Mr. Wallace here singing 'The Seven Silly Mogs' to help her get to sleep." Barret sputtered, cheeks reddening. Red gave a coughing laugh from his position curled on the floor.
"My Mom is one of your agents?" Aerith cried, green eyes widening.
"Of course," Zack breathed nodding his head. "That explains why she didn't kill me after I left you for so long!"
The door opened and a young woman with a radio headset popped her head in. "Sir, all the preparations are in place. This is the last room we need to pack up."
"Good." Kunsel stood up. "How long until the Shinra sweeps reach us?"
"They are working through Sector Four right now."
"Right. Follow me." He led the party from the room and down a narrow hallway. Through one open door, Cloud saw a crew of men and women dressed like transients rolling a threadbare carpet over a wooden hatch and then spreading ratty bedding over it. The nymph-like blonde from earlier paused in smearing dirt and ashes on her face to toss them a cheery wave.
"They're pretending to be homeless?" Aerith theorized as she waited for Barret to squeeze through a heavy metal door that only opened part way.
"As I'm sure you deducted, this base is in the slums." Kunsel shrugged and led the party down a creaking wooden staircase. Every few steps, he reached for the cord of a hanging light.
Zack dodged a swinging bare bulb and snorted. "Hide a tree in a forest eh?" He peered over the rotted railing into the darkness below.
"Why doesn't this bother you? Aren't you afraid of falling?" Aerith cried as she clung to the moss and mildew slick wall. Tifa, in a similar position nodded.
Zack laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, it can't be worse than falling off the plate."
"That still hurt though," Cloud added with a small grimace.
Kunsel's chuckle drifted up from the darkness below. "We're almost there ladies." The scraping of metal on concrete echoed from below.
Soon the party stood around the dark hole. A faint roar of air traveling through the tunnels came from the pit. Red sniffed the opening and sneezed. "It is a sewer, but it does not smell like one."
"Yeah, these old sewers haven't been used in ages. At least not as sewers." Kunsel winked then handed Tifa a small, wind-up light and gave Cloud a map. "Follow the green line on the map. The tunnels will take you outside of Midgar. Our agents in Kalm can tell you where Sephiroth is heading. They'll speak in code to keep themselves safe, but you should be able to figure it out without too much trouble."
"Thanks Kunsel," Cloud clasped his cousin's arm while Barret climbed down the ladder.
Kunsel yanked Cloud's arm, pulled him into a half-hug, and whispered, "I'm glad you're alright chica-bo. Be careful out there." Cloud grimaced at the half-forgotten nickname and nodded.
The fan club leader pulled away and looked at his friend. "Zack, take care of them."
"Right." He gave a curt nod and then turned back to the former second with a faint gleam in his eye. "Any last bits of information before we go?"
A smirk curled the man's lips and his eyes flicked to his cousin. "Yes actually... if you still want to challenge Bro in sector six, you'll have to settle for a dyed wig."
"Huh?"
AN: Next chapter, finally outside of Midgar! Reviews are greatly appreciated! ^_^