Leaving her home for the last time, Aerith turned back and looked at Elmyra, who stood motionless in the living room and saw her off with a long, warm gaze. Softly waving goodbye to her mother, Aerith unhurriedly climbed the wooden steps after the others. Passing by his motorcycle "Fenrir," Alex with an inconspicuous motion opened the secret weapons compartment and completely unnoticed by those around extracted from there a folded Saw Cleaver.
He was sacredly certain that this weapon against monsters would guaranteed come in handy against the devilry that would inevitably unfold within the walls of the Shinra headquarters. Hiding the Saw Cleaver under the flaps of his coat, Alex with a dull click closed the compartment and quickly followed the group before they began to hurry him along.
Quickly catching up with the squad, Alex fell in next to Dean, who calmly strode forward, habitually thrusting his hands deep into his pockets. But in reality at that very second Dean was experiencing inside himself an extremely specific, mixed feeling from the fact that for the first time in his life he was about to penetrate a place like this.
And Dean simply could not help admitting: what was happening evoked in him wild excitement and anticipatory thrill that bore no comparison whatsoever with those feelings when he had had to fight his way into Hell or Heaven. Right now Dean felt as if he had fallen into some gripping spy movie where he together with a company of loyal friends had to penetrate the citadel of a villainous megacorporation in stolen trucks, using a special pass from an embedded agent. Feeling almost childish joy inside, Dean emitted a quiet, sly chuckle.
"What are you grinning about there?" Alex asked, turning his head upon hearing this anticipatory chuckle right under his ear.
"Dude, you and I are right in that very spy movie! Just think about it, this is pure 'Mission Impossible'!" Dean answered with a predatory smirk, shifting his gaze to Alex and slightly gesturing with his hand.
"Yeah, only rooms with lasers are definitely not in the cards here. And there's somehow no Tom Cruise in our team either. And none of us will have to beautifully descend on a cable from the ceiling… Probably," Alex quietly laughed, taking a thin cigar out of his pocket.
"That doesn't change anything at all! If necessary—I'll become Tom Cruise myself! Damn, I've dreamed my whole life of descending on a rope into a secret room packed with lasers! That's hellishly cool!" Dean responded with a laugh, already mentally picturing himself in such an epic scene.
"And who is this Tom Cruise?" Yuffie's ringing voice suddenly rang out; she had eavesdropped on their conversation and instantly jumped up to them from the side.
"He's a very skilled thief who is capable of penetrating anywhere and stealing everything his heart desires," Alex answered in a cheerful tone, with a warm smile stroking Yuffie on the head.
Hearing about the legendary thief capable of penetrating absolutely everywhere and stealing everything his soul desired, Yuffie's eyes immediately lit up with unrestrained excitement and the desire to learn as many details as possible, and at the same time to challenge this unprecedented master. Remaining true to her hyperactive nature, Yuffie began blurting out a dozen questions per second, passionately wishing to extract from Alex literally every detail.
Listening to this endless stream of inquiries, Alex merely slightly smiled and warmly patted the kunoichi on the head, promising to tell everything in detail later—when the situation became a bit more suitable for such chatter. From these words Yuffie demonstratively and offendedly pouted her lips, after which she immediately jumped up to Aerith, tightly embraced her by the arm, and began complaining about how she had just been brazenly deprived.
Looking at the funny Yuffie, Aerith softly smiled and then shifted a playfully strict gaze onto Alex—as if making it clear that upsetting their restless kunoichi was not necessary at all. Raising his hands upward in a sign of full capitulation, Alex decided to promptly change the subject and loudly announced that it was time for them to set out for the railway station in order to rise straight to the upper Plate.
The moment this proposal rang out, the entire group for a moment stopped and stared at him with unconcealed doubt. Seeing these hesitations, Alex quickly explained his logic: Shinra right now was guaranteed to be lying in wait for them on all sorts of secret paths and in alleys, completely not expecting that the squad would decide to rise upward completely openly—on an ordinary passenger train.
Shifting her gaze to Alex, Claudia calmly nodded, fully agreeing with his train of thought. She also considered that the corporation would first of all start blocking the illegal routes, not taking into account a simple train ride.
The first one who did not waste time on extra reflections turned out to be Barret: he merely loudly snorted and first stepped toward the exit from the Slums, declaring that if Shinra decided to hinder him from rising to the Plate, this would become for him only an excellent pretext to break a couple more of their bones.
Seeing how the big guy was leaving ahead, the others also did not delay and followed him. Walking behind the entire group in the direction of the station, Alex for the very last time cast a long gaze over the boundless dump of the Slums and slightly smirked, thinking that further only the most fun awaited them.
Slightly smiling at his thoughts, Alex drew level with Claudia and began walking shoulder to shoulder with her. Claudia merely cast a short, expressive glance at him and silently continued on her way. The moment they stepped onto the station platform, already a couple of minutes later a train composition with a dull hum rolled up to the platform. Staring at the doors of the car that hissed open, everyone for a second froze in their places.
"Well then? Everyone ready, kids? The moment we just sit in this car, it will already be too late to retreat—we'll have to go all the way to the end until all this shit finally ends," Alex said, stopping right at the doors of the open car.
"Ha! And you really thought that this would stop me even a bit?! From the very beginning I went with the sole goal—to shove my boot deep into the ass of these Shinra bastards! Let's see how they'll destroy our planet with a boot sticking out of their ass!" Barret cried out with a predatory smirk, passing by Alex and heartily patting him on the shoulder.
"For such trips you'll pay me double later," Claudia said with a light, barely noticeable smile, calmly entering the car after Barret.
"If a new road opens right before us, then we simply need not to be afraid and boldly go forward!" Aerith said in a cheerful tone, passing by Alex with an incredibly cute, bright smile on her face.
"Ugh, I'm simply burning with impatience! I'm terribly interested in what exactly I'll be able to steal from them there! Heh-heh, this will be insanely fun!" Yuffie began speaking with a laugh and with a cheerful springy gait hopped past Alex, immediately jumping into the car.
"We've already gone too far anyway… So let's just go forward," Tifa said with a soft, warm smile, tenderly touching his hand with her fingers while passing inside.
Alex slightly smiled and shifted his gaze to Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, with sincere curiosity expecting from them some next pathos cry before stepping into the car. But as soon as Biggs and Wedge opened their mouths in order to deliver something special and maximally cool, Jessie exaggeratedly rolled her eyes and began without extra ceremony shoving both guys into the doorway, insistently reminding that they had no time for this nonsense.
Having shoved the two idiots inside, Jessie stopped next to Alex and, as always, coquettishly smiled at him. Already preparing for yet another fleeting kiss on the cheek, Alex instead felt how Jessie playfully poked a finger right into his nose, declaring that she would demand a full reward from him right after all this shit successfully ended.
Having admired his instantly puzzled face, Jessie cheerfully laughed, on the way out touched his lips with a finger, and lightly stepped into the car. Remaining on the emptied platform in the company of Dean, Alex turned his head to him and questioningly raised an eyebrow, without words asking whether there would be at least some pathos little phrase for the road from him.
Dean merely dismissively snorted and silently entered the car, habitually keeping his hands in his pockets and carrying the imperturbable Tonberry Steve on his shoulder. Rolling his eyes at such "companionship," Alex finally extinguished the thin cigar and entered the car last of all.
The moment he found himself inside, he with satisfaction noticed that in the car there was absolutely no one except their own group. Not wasting time on long searching for the best seats, Alex sat down on a free seat next to Claudia and leaned back against the soft backrest.
A couple of minutes later the car tangibly shuddered, marking the beginning of their trip to the upper tier. Taking wired earphones out of his pocket, Alex silently offered one of them to Claudia, but she merely measured him with an absolutely calm, impenetrable gaze and turned away to the window. Shrugging his shoulders, Alex inserted the earphones into his ears and closed his eyes.
Half an hour of unhurried travel later the train with a hiss came to a stop at the station of the Fifth Sector located right on the upper Plate. Feeling how someone softly pushed him in the shoulder, Alex opened his eyes and saw right before himself the face of Tifa, who was carefully trying to wake him. Sleepily blinking and quickly looking around, he understood that they had finally arrived at the needed place.
Grabbing his backpack, Alex followed Tifa to the exit. Finding himself on the platform, Alex immediately in a quiet voice warned everyone that they needed to immediately move farther away from the human flow in order not to discuss further steps in sight of the crowd. Leaving the station, they turned into a dead-end alley that partially resembled a closed inner courtyard and headed there with the entire group, having previously made certain that there was no tail behind them.
"And what's next? From where exactly are we going to steal Shinra's trucks?" Biggs asked, leaning his back against the brick wall of a house and warily looking around in case someone from the passersby decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"A couple of blocks from here is one of Shinra's logistics warehouses. Those trucks are definitely there," Alex answered, taking his phone out of his pocket and on the go connecting to the surveillance cameras of the needed object.
"What about the security?" Claudia asked, casually resting her elbow on Alex's shoulder and intently staring at the screen of his phone.
"Minimal. Right now practically all their security is concentrated around the main Headquarters," Alex explained, switching to the outer surveillance cameras located along the perimeter of the central Shinra building.
"They've organized full-fledged fortified checkpoints there… Why are they even doing that?" Tifa asked, approaching closer to Alex and with anxiety peering into what was happening near the main entrance.
"These bastards are simply scared to death of someone's revenge for the dropped Plate. Or else this is such a luxurious welcoming delegation personally for you three," Barret said in a sarcastic tone, poking a finger toward Alex, Dean, and Aerith.
"How nice of them! But I'll politely refuse such a lavish meeting. Somehow the prospect of a whole crowd of gloomy guys with guns waiting for me on the threshold doesn't smile at me at all. So let's better quietly steal their trucks and calmly drive right to visit them," Dean began speaking with exaggerated tomfoolery, loungingly placing his hands behind the back of his head.
Nodding his head, Alex put the phone back into his pocket and cast an attentive gaze over the entire group, proposing to split into very small detachments in order to reach the warehouse by different paths and not attract extra attention of Shinra's hounds. Agreeing with his reasonable proposal, everyone began splitting into groups so that their movement looked maximally natural and unsuspicious.
The first to leave casually were Biggs and Wedge, successfully pretending to be two bosom friends who had simply gone out in the evening to breathe fresh air. Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, and Jessie set out in a foursome, ideally playing a girls' company that had gone out for a stroll through the local little shops and dropped in for a cup of aromatic coffee. Next to set out were Dean and Barret with the imperturbable physiognomies of guys whose stern path lay straight to the nearest beer bar.
Remaining alone with Claudia, Alex turned his head to her and silently with a gesture proposed to go. In response to his sign Claudia merely silently raised her hand, pointing at the spiral fire escapes, and proposed to cut the path across the rooftops. Seeing absolutely no reasons to refuse such a convenient route, Alex habitually lit a thin cigar and jumped onto the metal tier.
Intending to lower the retractable ladder for Claudia so that she could climb after him, Alex did not even manage to do this when she already gained rapid acceleration, a couple of times lightning-fast pushed off from the brick wall, and jumped right up to him. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Alex, Claudia slightly snorted with a light smile on her lips and unhurriedly headed upward along the spiral staircase.
Finding themselves on the very roof, Alex and Claudia did not waste a single second and immediately gained pace, tearing toward the Shinra logistics warehouse. Dashingly jumping from one roof to another, Alex and Claudia in a matter of minutes reached the needed place and froze on the very edge of the building. Climbing onto the high stone parapet, Alex squatted and, slightly narrowing his eyes, began carefully evaluating the situation on the warehouse territory.
"Seems Shinra doesn't worry at all that someone will have the brains and audacity to rob their warehouses… Since on this entire territory there are at most a dozen Troopers," Claudia began speaking, casting a fleeting gaze over the warehouse yard and habitually leaning on the stone railing next to Alex.
"Well, that only plays into our hands… If we do everything maximally competently and cleanly, then we'll manage to cheerfully beat up these Troopers even before all the others get here," Alex quietly laughed, shaking cigarette ash from the height of the roof.
"Think we'll really make it?" Claudia asked, moving away from the stone crossbar and turning her head to Alex.
"What, do you really doubt your own skills, lady SOLDIER? And here I sinful thought that you're an incredibly cool girl among us," Alex said with a predatory smirk, leaning his torso closer to Claudia.
"Want to check personally? Then let's go and see. Three minutes will more than suffice for us to fully neutralize all these Troopers," Claudia answered with a light, challenging smirk, gracefully climbing onto the stone parapet.
"That's exactly where we should have started! Then the setup is this: whoever in the end takes down fewer Infantry will buy the winner the best beer," Alex said, stretching his stiff neck, and with a light click tossed the extinguished thin cigar back.
"Deal. So get ready in advance to shell out for my beer," Claudia answered with a dry crack in her shoulders, taking her grappling gun from her belt.
Slightly smirking, Alex took a confident step forward and at full speed flew downward from the height. Right during free fall he with a trained motion grabbed with his fingers the protruding brick wall, damping the critical speed. Claudia also did not delay and stepped after him into the abyss. Midway she with a habitual motion fired from the grapple gun, catching onto the cornice and softly landing exactly next to Alex.
Putting the grappling gun behind her back, Claudia met Alex with a short glance. Quickly nodding to each other, they at full speed tore toward the Shinra warehouse, not even paying attention to the automobiles driving along the road. Deftly and gracefully jumping right over the hoods of moving cars, Alex and Claudia in a whirlwind reached the warehouse territory and, without slowing the furious pace, headed for the main checkpoint.
The Trooper on duty in the guard booth with bulging eyes observed how two rapidly running people were purposefully racing in his direction. Completely losing his bearings from such a bold spectacle, the Infantryman hesitated, not knowing what to do: immediately turn on the alarm siren or try alone to stop the two madmen who intended to penetrate the guarded object. But when his gaze slid over Claudia's figure, he instantly recognized the SOLDIER uniform, and the first panicky thought in his head became the desire to reach the cherished red button.
However, before his hand managed to cover the distance to the panel, Alex and Claudia were already on the threshold. Widely smirking, Alex sharply accelerated, half a body ahead of Claudia, and in a powerful jump at full speed flew right into the window of the guard booth, knocking the Trooper off his feet together with the remnants of the wooden frame. Laying the Infantryman on the floor, Alex heard under himself only a muffled moan of pain. Quietly snorting, he tightly grabbed the Trooper by the helmet and briefly struck him with the back of the head against the concrete floor, instantly sending him to the realm of dreams.
Having knocked out the first guard, Alex calmly raised a thumb above the ruins of the booth so that Claudia could see his success. Noticing this sign, Claudia merely slightly narrowed her eyes, catching out of the corner of her eye how from around the corner of the checkpoint a second Trooper ran out, attracted by the ringing of broken glass and the crash of the blow. Accelerating even more strongly, Claudia from a run easily vaulted over the lowered barrier, on the fly thrusting her knee forward. Her knee with a dull crunch smashed into the Trooper's face with such terrible force that the poor fellow was thrown back and smeared against the brick wall, forcing him to instantly lose consciousness.
"Well then, so far a draw one-one… Shall we continue?" Alex asked in a cheerful tone, unhurriedly coming out of the half-destroyed guard booth and appetizingly sipping from a mug of hot coffee taken from the first Trooper.
"Those were my words. I told you right away: get ready in advance to shell out for my beer," Claudia answered in an absolutely calm tone, with a habitual motion of one hand adjusting the massive Buster Sword on her back.
Slightly smiling in response to her words, Alex calmly poured the remnants of the hot coffee right onto the head of the second unconscious Trooper and, squeezing the empty mug in his fist, rapidly rushed into the depths of the warehouse territory. Claudia instantly rushed after him, not intending at all to yield to him in this improvised bet. In her head at that moment flashed only one insistent thought: if she won, she would at least this way get even for that bold case when he had grabbed her by the breast in the church.
Running between the rows of parked transport, Alex noticed yet another Trooper who was patrolling the territory and just coming out from behind a massive truck. Slightly narrowing his eyes, Alex for a moment froze and with a strong swing launched the mug forward.
Hearing the strange whistle of air being cleaved, the Trooper puzzledly turned his head—and the first thing he managed to see before himself was the rapidly flying ceramic cup. Before the guard managed to properly figure out what was happening, he received a tangible blow exactly to the forehead, from which his eyes instantly darkened.
The moment he with a dull thud collapsed onto the ground, from behind the body another Trooper leaped out and immediately ran up to his switched-off colleague. Sinking onto one knee, he frantically tried to bring his partner to his senses, with all his strength yanking him by the shoulders.
Suddenly the Trooper heard the rapid, clear click of approaching steps. But the moment he only turned his head, right before his face appeared a heavy boot with a metal toe. Before the Infantryman managed to produce even some sound, Claudia's leg with crushing force smashed right into his jaw. From this terrible blow the Trooper's head jerked back, he with all his might slammed the back of his head against the flat side of the truck and instantly lost consciousness, sprawling next to the first.
"Two-two, so far again a draw. Exactly six left," Claudia began speaking, shoving with her foot one of the switched-off Troopers under the undercarriage of the truck, and cast a quick glance at Alex.
"If you so strongly want free beer, then just ask. I'll without problems buy you as much as your heart desires—I'm a rather rich guy after all," Alex said with a smirk, simultaneously hiding the second Infantryman under the same truck.
"That's absolutely not interesting. Then there won't be absolutely any sports excitement in this…" Claudia answered in an absolutely calm tone and immediately deftly hid behind the body upon hearing the distinct sound of approaching heavy steps.
Hearing the approaching steps, Claudia instantly hid behind the truck, tightly pressing her back against the metal body and squeezing with one hand the convenient hilt of the Buster Sword. Hearing how the click of heavy boots was getting closer and closer, Claudia turned her head toward Alex, intending to give him a silent signal to attack.
But the moment she turned around, she with surprise discovered that behind her there was no one at all. Puzzledly narrowing her eyes, Claudia quickly turned her head back—and immediately met the direct gaze of two Troopers who had already managed to approach the very corner of the truck. Pulling the Buster Sword from behind her back with one deft, polished motion, Claudia delivered a most powerful sweeping blow in an arc, intending to knock down both Infantrymen with one sweep.
The first Trooper did not even manage to react: the blunt side of the massive blade with a dull crunch drove right into his ribs. Pressing with both hands on the hilt and putting the weight of her body into the motion, Claudia sent the first Trooper into a real flight, forcing him with a crash to collapse onto a mountain of empty metal containers.
The second Trooper managed to retreat at the very last moment and instantly raised his weapon, aiming from his shotgun right at Claudia. And already intending to press the trigger, the Infantryman suddenly noticed how a dense shadow was rapidly falling on him from above. Raising his eyes, he saw Alex who with a wide smile on his face was flying at him right from the roof of the body.
Falling from above onto the Trooper, Alex with a death grip squeezed his neck and together with him with a swing collapsed onto the concrete. From such a hard landing a muffled cry of pain escaped from the Infantryman's chest, after which the poor fellow instantly lost consciousness. Releasing the head of the switched-off Trooper, Alex rose, slightly stretched with his entire body, and turned to Claudia, triumphantly raising a thumb upward.
"And again a draw, three-three. At this rate we'll in the end have to buy drinks for each other," Alex said, with a smirk looking straight into Claudia's eyes.
"That's still how you look at it. Four more Troopers left… Careful!" Claudia began speaking in an absolutely calm tone, but in the next moment sharply grabbed Alex by the arm and with all her strength pulled him toward herself.
Grabbing Alex by the arm, Claudia sharply dragged him toward herself and at the same moment tightly pressed him against the metal body of the truck. In that same second from the opposite side rang out deafening sounds of automatic bursts, and ricocheting bullets with a juicy ring began riddling the metal hull of their cover.
Feeling how Claudia with her entire body pressed him against the side of the truck, Alex looked her straight in the eyes and cheerfully, with an unconcealed hint moved his eyebrows. Seeing this brazen smile on his face, Claudia lowered her gaze downward—and only now realized that she was tightly pressing her lush breasts against his chest.
Finally understanding in what ambiguous position they both had found themselves, Claudia heavily sighed and expressively looked at Alex, posing a silent question: did he manage to think about something like that even at such a mortally dangerous moment?! Hearing her silent reproach, Alex merely carefreely shrugged his shoulders, absolutely not embarrassed and making it clear that his current setup more than suited him, and in general—it was damnably pleasant.
Looking at Alex's satisfied smirk, Claudia for a second seriously thought about right now grabbing him by the hair and with all her might slamming the back of his head against the body of the truck. However, the moment this vengeful thought flashed in her head, from that side dry metal clicks were heard—the shooting Troopers simultaneously ran out of cartridges, and the magazines of their automatics emptied.
Hearing this characteristic sound, Alex and Claudia exchanged glances and simultaneously briefly nodded, instantly understanding each other without extra words. In that same moment they as a duo leaped out from behind the truck and rapidly rushed toward the four confused Troopers. Deciding to open the score with the first attack, Alex right on the run with all his strength kicked the heavy shotgun lying on the concrete, sending it into a grazing flight.
The Trooper frantically reloading his automatic did not even manage to figure out what was happening when the massive butt of the flying weapon with a crunch smashed exactly into the bridge of his nose. Receiving a crushing blow to the face, the Infantryman staggered back, dropped the automatic, and heavily plopped onto his backside.
The remaining three Troopers by this moment had already managed to insert fresh magazines and were ready to open fire at point-blank range. But Alex and Claudia had already gotten too close for long-range combat. Without slowing his pace, Alex with a death grip squeezed the face of the second Trooper and with enormous force smashed him right into the ground.
From the terrible blow with the back of the head against the concrete the Infantryman instantly lost consciousness. This gave Alex the ideal opportunity to instantly switch to the first, bent from pain guard, and with a swing deliver him a knockout blow right to the head.
The remaining two Troopers were instantly knocked off their feet by Claudia: with one wide, filigreed swing of the heavy Buster Sword she swept them and sent them into a deep knockout. Having dealt with all the guards and finally clearing the warehouse, Alex casually clicked the lighter and lit a thin cigar. Turning to Claudia, he slightly tilted his head to the side and cunningly narrowed his eyes.
"Well then, seems we have an official draw here," Alex said with a satisfied smile, exhaling a stream of gray smoke right toward Claudia.
"Thanks for voicing the obvious… So we'll simply buy drinks for each other right after this whole mess finally ends," Claudia answered with a light, approving snort, turning to Alex and with a habitual motion sending the Buster Sword behind her back.
"By the way, keep in mind: I drink exclusively expensive and aged alcohol…" Alex began speaking loungingly, with a smirk rubbing his fingers and as if hinting that someone would have to shell out nicely for a quality drink.
"You'll drink what they pour you. And in general, at what exact moment did our conversation smoothly shift from an ordinary purchase of beer to your expensive swill?" Claudia sharply interrupted him, measuring Alex with an absolutely imperturbable, empty gaze.
Looking at Claudia, Alex carefreely spread his arms to the sides and with feigned simplicity declared that she for sure had enough money to treat him to normal, quality alcohol. Hearing such a declaration, Claudia measured Alex with an absolutely empty, not expressing a single emotion gaze and dryly reminded that he himself was quite capable of allowing himself to buy such a drink.
Alex already drew air into his chest and opened his mouth, intending to furiously object, but Claudia looked at him so eloquently that this gaze directly and without ambiguity said: if he continued to chatter—the only drink he could count on would be dirty water from the nearest puddle.
Offendedly pouting his lips, Alex answered nothing, but merely grabbed by the legs two Troopers who had lost consciousness and silently dragged them behind the containers in order not to leave the bodies in the most visible place. Following with her gaze his sulking figure, Claudia quietly burst out laughing, sincerely rejoicing that she had secured the last word for herself in this argument. Grabbing by the legs the remaining Troopers lying nearby, Claudia just the same dragged them behind the containers, finally covering all traces of the short clash.
While Alex and Claudia were absorbed in covering the traces of the fight, the first reinforcements appeared on the warehouse territory—Barret and Dean, who unhurriedly dragged after themselves two unconscious Troopers taken down still near the checkpoint. Noticing the pair that had arrived, Alex loungingly waved to them with a hand, resting his elbow on the hood of the truck. After them on the horizon appeared Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, and Jessie. The girls quickly and covertly passed the open territory of the warehouse in order not to attract extra attention of possible observers.
"So these are those very two trucks with the help of which we'll be able to freely penetrate Shinra?" Tifa asked, carefully examining the heavy trucks around which Alex, Claudia, Barret, and Dean had gathered.
"They themselves. I really hope that your genius plan will this time also work like clockwork," Dean answered with a cunning smirk, patting the metal hood with his palm and turning his head to Alex, who in response merely calmly raised a thumb upward, making it clear that everything was under control.
"I see you had a good time here without us?" Aerith ran up to Alex with a warm smile, noticing the traces of the recent brawl; she cast a cheerful, understanding glance at Claudia.
"Yeah, and how we had a good time… By the way, where are our two main idiots?" Alex slightly laughed, affectionately stroking Aerith on the head.
"And there they are! They're riding here on some terribly strange thing!" Yuffie cheerfully cried out; she had already managed to deftly climb onto the very roof of the truck and was peering beyond the territory of the warehouse.
Hearing Yuffie's loud cries, everyone jointly turned their heads in the direction where the kunoichi was pointing and saw Biggs and Wedge. The guys with maximally stern faces were riding astride a little stolen scooter, looking at that incredibly comic and absurd. Taking a deep breath, Alex turned away to the side and simply burst into loud laughter at the sight of this absurd picture.
The others also with open amusement reacted to how Biggs and Wedge with stone, full of importance physiognomies had piled the two of them onto a tiny moped. Standing nearby, Dean grabbed the hood of the truck in order not to fall and laughed at the top of his voice, frantically trying to take a clear photograph with his hands trembling from laughter.
Jessie at the sight of this spectacle with a ringing clap applied a palm to her forehead, not at all surprised that her friends had again pulled something similar. Driving closer, Biggs and Wedge deftly jumped off the little scooter and presented themselves before the unrestrainedly laughing group. Wiping the tears that had welled up from laughter from his eyes, Alex strained and raised a finger upward, intending to say at least something sensible, but he simply could not utter a single word—before his eyes this absurd spectacle still stood.
"Yes-yes, it's all very funny to all of you! We simply had no other choice at all, we had to twist and turn on the go!" Biggs began speaking in an absolutely dry, deliberately offended tone, looking over his comrades who were going into fits of laughter.
"And what exactly happened to you this time? So much so that you even had to go for stealing someone else's transport?" Tifa asked with a sympathetic sigh, casting a fleeting glance over Biggs and Wedge and then shifting her gaze to the scooter abandoned on the ground.
"We simply accidentally ran into a Shinra patrol! And in order somehow to pass for locals and not attract extra attention, we couldn't come up with anything better than to steal this children's motorcycle," Wedge explained in a cheerful tone, pointing a finger at the dented scooter behind his back.
"I'm afraid you still didn't manage to pass for your own… But these will be the most gorgeous photos in my collection, I swear!" Dean forced out through Homeric laughter, turning the phone and demonstrating to everyone the shot he had taken.
"Ha-ha-ha… Oh, damn, I'm about to die from laughter again! Okay, that's enough humor for me for today. Quickly take seats in the trucks! Barret and I sit in the first cabin, Dean and Biggs take the second, and everyone else jumps right into the body," Alex laughed again, waving a finger in the air in order to calm down a little and finally switch to the matter for which they all had gathered here.
"So it's time to start! Forward! Time for us to finally become real legends of Midgar!" Barret announced enthusiastically, loudly clapping his hands, and with a wide, excited smile on his face first headed toward the cabin of the truck.
To be continued...
(Right, I'll really try to pick up the pace from here on out; it's just that there is so much going on—things that shouldn't happen off-screen or be merely glossed over. This also helps me map out the events at Shinra. After all, playing the game and pretending you remember the details is one thing, but actually fitting them into a chapter is something else entirely. Phew—anyway, enough complaining. The plot is moving forward, and as Aerith said, we're practically at a crossroads that will lead us down a new path. And now, as the author, I think I've earned a bite to eat. Peace, love, and—when looking up at the sky—try not to keep your mouth open.)
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