The technical train was rapidly approaching the warehouse located in the First Sector on the Plate. Taking advantage of the last minutes, Alex once again repeated the main plan of action right upon arrival. Despite the slight dissatisfaction on Barret's part, who with his whole appearance demonstrated how much he didn't want to listen to orders from a guy much younger than himself, he still preferred to follow Alex's instructions.
After all, the variant he proposed looked far more reasonable and reliable than their own idea of a total explosion of the reactor and the blind hope that the blast wouldn't provoke a chain reaction. Thanks to the fact that Alex had earlier gained full access to Shinra's systems, he had at his disposal a detailed map of Mako Reactor No. 1. To Barret's suspicious question about where he got such precise schemes, Alex carelessly replied that he had bought them for a rather decent sum.
Hearing such an answer, Barret only nodded gloomily, preferring still to remain wary. When the train began noticeably slowing down, Alex put the phone in his pocket and pulled the plush Bear mask over his head. After him Dean put on the Panda mask, and Aerith — the charming Hamster mask. Seeing such an absurd and at the same time cute appearance of this trio, those present reacted differently, but mostly with a good-natured joke.
"You look rather cute and completely harmless in this mask," Jessie said with a smile, approaching Alex closely and looking into his eyes through the slits of the bear muzzle.
"Tell that to the guys from the arena in the Sixth Sector — they'll definitely tell you the opposite," Alex responded in a cheerful tone, deftly inserting a cigarette right into the mouth of the plush mask.
It was no secret to anyone present that in the Sixth Sector of the Slums there was an underground arena that Don Corneo had previously run. Unlike the others, only Barret knew in detail what exactly had happened to the fat mafioso when he decided to stiff this trio in cute plush masks of their money. Claudia, even if she didn't know all the details, easily guessed how the debriefing on the arena had ended and wasn't surprised by it at all.
But she was still sincerely interested in how strong Alex and Dean were, since they also called themselves ex-SOLDIER. And while the technical train was slowing down, and Aerith was trying to drag Alex farther from Jessie, who at any convenient opportunity tried to sit up close, the car noticeably jerked. Realizing that the composition had finally stopped, everyone immediately shifted their gazes to the doors. From the opposite side of the car two Shinra Grunts stepped out onto the technical platform.
Their duties included inspecting the compositions, because they needed to make sure that no one from the Lower City was trying to sneak into the Upper City. The Shinra Grunts habitually moved from car to car, checking the integrity of the locks. Approaching the sixth car, one of the Grunts noticed that the lock was torn off. Frowning under the helmet, he raised his automatic rifle, and with the other hand began slowly sliding the heavy door aside.
But the moment the leaf moved from its place, a dry and clear sound of a cocked slide reached his ears. When the door fully opened, the Grunt froze in place, staring at the barrel aimed right at his face. But what shocked him most was something else: three people standing in the center in absurd plush masks. Looking at the frozen Shinra soldier, Alex put a finger to the lips of the Bear, making it clear that making noise was highly not recommended.
"And now be so kind as to come into the car… I don't need to explain what will happen if you make even a peep, do I?" Alex said in a soft but steel tone, continuing to hold Ebony at the level of the guard's eyes.
"I-I-I know…" the Shinra Grunt answered nervously stuttering and with difficulty nodded, hurriedly lowering the automatic with the barrel down.
"That's great then," Alex said in a soft tone, beckoning the Grunt closer to himself.
Seeing the amount of weapons aimed at him, the Grunt could only obey, not intending at all to turn into a colander. When the guard approached closer, Alex threw his arm over his shoulder as if over an old friend and pressed the barrel of Ebony right into his ass, from which the Shinra soldier shuddered even more. Turning to Aerith, Alex asked her to take zip ties and a gag from the bag.
Quickly nodding, Aerith pulled out everything necessary. A moment later the Shinra infantryman was already sitting with his hands tied behind his back and a rag in his mouth. Having seated the poor guy in the corner of the car, Alex looked at Biggs and asked him to lure the second guard. Smirking, Biggs approached the edge of the platform and quietly whistled.
Checking the neighboring car, the second infantryman heard a strange sound and hurried to check where this noise was coming from. Seeing the open door of the car, he looked inside and immediately noticed the tied partner with a gag in his mouth. But he didn't even manage to raise the automatic when he felt the cold metal of a pistol barrel on his cheek.
With difficulty turning his head, he met the gaze of Biggs, who, completely parodying Alex's gesture, put a finger to his lips, showing that making noise wasn't worth it. Lowering his weapon, the second guard obediently entered the car, where he was instantly tied and seated next to the first. Finding themselves in the same position, both Shinra soldiers exchanged glances and sighed heavily, cursing the day they agreed to go on the night shift.
"Alright, the technical platform is clean, we can exit… And try not to kill anyone," Alex said, picking up the sports bag and being the first to leave the car.
"And does it make a difference? They're definitely going to shoot at us," Biggs doubted, sliding the car door shut as soon as everyone was outside.
"What kind of stupid questions? Who do you want to be — saviors of Midgar or banal killers? It doesn't matter if it's the upper city or the lower — ordinary people live everywhere. We came here with the goal of saving this world, not slaughtering each other," Alex replied, shaking his head and taking a bunch of zip ties from the bag and holding them out to Jessie.
Jessie thoughtfully looked at the held-out zip ties and nodded, putting them into the pouch on her back. She perfectly understood what Alex was getting at. Despite the readiness to go for blowing up the reactor, none of them in the depths of their souls wanted extra casualties. And even more so none of AVALANCHE wanted to turn into banal killers with huge targets on their backs. Biggs and Wedge thought exactly the same.
Even if Shinra had broken the life of each of them, their main goal remained a bright future for all residents of Midgar, and not revenge at any cost. Claudia, on the other hand, slightly arched an eyebrow upon hearing such humane words from Alex. And in that same instant a sharp headache tore through her temples. A strange male voice echoed in her ears — surprisingly familiar, as if she had heard it quite recently. Grabbing her head, Claudia leaned against the wall of the car, barely staying on her feet.
"Follow your dream… And no matter what happens… Protect your honor as a SOLDIER… Protect those who cannot protect themselves…" Claudia quietly whispered, repeating word for word the precept that was sounding right in her head.
Alex and Aerith immediately noticed that Claudia was having another attack — she again weakly grabbed her head. Stepping toward her, Alex carefully placed his palm on her forehead, trying to ease the pain. He perfectly understood that right now two different layers of memories were colliding once again in her head — one of which belonged to Zack Fair, a true SOLDIER, unlike Claudia herself. And while Alex was helping Claudia come to herself, among those present there was one for whom his humane speeches were not to his taste at all.
Unlike Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, Barret had experienced all of Shinra's ruthlessness on his own skin when they burned his native mining town of Corel to the ground. The only ones who survived that bloody massacre were he himself and Marlene — the daughter of his best friend, whom he adopted and raised as his own. And Barret was not going to forgive these crimes or spare those who wore the corporation's uniform.
Clenching his teeth from the boiling anger, Barret unceremoniously pushed everyone out of his way, approached Alex, and roughly jerked him by the shoulder. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge didn't even manage to react when Barret was already poking his fist into Alex's chest. Alex himself immediately frowned — he was interrupted at an extremely responsible moment. Helping someone put together a collapsed mind is filigree work, especially when a person's thoughts have turned into continuous mush because of heavy Mako radiation and the conflict of two personalities.
"What the hell difference does it make?! These bastards work for Shinra! And if you forgot, it's Shinra that's destroying our world, pumping Mako out of the ground! The Planet is writhing in pain while they're stuffing their pockets with our money!" Barret loudly growled, pushing Alex in the shoulder.
"Barret, then I'll ask you a counter question. Do you want to save this world for your daughter at the cost of a mountain of corpses? Or do you still prefer to avoid senseless casualties? How many of these soldiers do you think don't have children at home? How many more lives do you dream of destroying? Will you then be able to honestly look into the eyes of these orphans and say that you killed their parents for the sake of saving the Planet?!" Alex coldly articulated, in response pushing Barret so hard that the latter was forced to take several steps back.
Barret opened his mouth, intending to object to Alex, but immediately closed his lips, and not a single word flew from his tongue. Before his eyes instantly flashed that cursed day: the native town of Corel engulfed in flames, and the bodies of people he had known since childhood on the blood-soaked ground. He remembered how he couldn't hold the hand of his best friend Dyne, who had fallen off the cliff.
He remembered that chest-rending pain when he found the lifeless body of his wife Myrna near their cozy home. And he remembered how he found tiny Marlene, whom Eleanor had covered with her own body when she herself was riddled with bullets… Every night he relived this tragedy anew in endless nightmares. And the only thing that still forced him to get out of bed and go forward was Marlene — for her he was ready to turn this world upside down and gnaw out a future for her. Not saying another word, Barret only gloomily walked past Alex, brushing his shoulder.
Seeing that their leader was leaving in deep sorrow, Jessie cast an apologetic glance at Alex and hurried after Barret together with Biggs and Wedge — they didn't want to leave their friend alone with his demons. Watching them leave, Alex met Dean's gaze. On his face a silent question froze: "What the hell just happened?"
In response Alex slightly shook his head, making it clear that he would tell about Barret's tragedy later. Dean nodded understandingly — even without details it became clear to him that the past of this giant was no less dark than his own. Finishing this silent exchange of remarks, Alex turned to Claudia. Next to her Aerith was already standing, helping her rise to her feet.
"Oi, Chick, how are you? Because this is already the second time in my presence that your head is splitting… Maybe you're allergic to me?" Alex inquired, intently examining Claudia's condition.
"Stop calling me that… I'm fine. Just a light headache. It's already passed," Claudia cut off in a cold tone, carefully pushing Aerith's hand away.
"Are you sure? Want a headache pill? I always keep them on me," Dean offered, taking a bottle of painkiller from the pocket of his jacket.
"No need. I said I'm fine… Stop wasting time for nothing. We came here for a specific matter," Claudia waved it off and quickly walked forward without waiting for anyone.
Watching the departing Claudia, Alex sighed heavily. In such moments he felt like a real hypocrite. Lecturing others about the value of human life was easy, but he himself from the beginning of his path had left mountains of corpses behind him — and far from only monsters. What about the massacre on the orbital station Helios alone, when the monsters from the most terrible nightmares he released slaughtered everyone who was there. Lighting a thin cigar, Alex sighed again, but immediately felt a gentle warmth in his palm.
Turning his head, he met Aerith's gaze. Even if her face was hidden by the plush Hamster mask, Alex perfectly felt how strongly she was worrying about him. Barely noticeably shaking his head, he made it clear that everything was fine and suggested moving on. He had long gotten used to the bloody trail behind his back, understanding that in the future this list of victims would only grow. Patting Aerith on the head, Alex together with Dean rushed after the others.
Reaching the technical station, they saw several Shinra infantrymen with bloody faces and hands tied behind their backs. It wasn't hard to guess that this was the work of Barret, who had decided to get rid of the accumulated anger and poured it out on the completely innocent guards. Climbing to the upper tier of the station, Alex, Dean, and Aerith caught up with the group at the doors leading to the territory of the adjacent warehouse.
Noticing their appearance, Jessie friendly waved her hand, beckoning them closer. Approaching the team, Alex first of all cast a glance at Barret, who was standing a little apart, "guarding the passage." Turning his head, Barret only gloomily furrowed his brows and immediately turned away. Alex wearily shook his head and shifted his gaze to Claudia, quickly assessing her condition.
"Biggs almost cracked the lock, wait literally a couple of minutes," Jessie whispered with a smile when Alex, Aerith, and Dean approached closely.
"Too long. Move aside," Alex threw, without ceremonies pushing Biggs away from the electronic terminal.
"Hey! I almost finished! Don't you see I'm trying to be a useful member of the team here!" Biggs theatrically protested, stepping back a step.
"Yeah, you'll show yourself next time… Well, done," Alex replied lazily, making a couple of touches on the screen of his phone and instantly unlocking the heavy warehouse doors.
When Alex with just a couple of touches on the screen calmly opened the heavy iron gates, Biggs with a sad smirk looked at his homemade lockpicking device and realized that his gadget was complete garbage. Noticing how Biggs's face stretched, Alex only quietly laughed and stepped forward. Passing through the opened gates, the group came out onto a spacious technological platform packed with trucks, loaders, and iron containers.
But at that moment Alex's gaze was captivated by a massive pipe from which dense clouds of green smoke were billowing. Looking at this colossal structure, he already in full colors imagined the stretched faces of President Shinra and Heidegger when they found out that an entire plant for processing Mako had simply taken and evaporated.
Dean, examining the giant construction up close, doubted to himself whether the power of one vacuum bomb would be enough to compress such a bulk. Aerith, on the other hand, distinctly felt every second of the plant's work, and from this it became unbearably hard for her — after all, all Mako energy for her was the living memory and feelings of those who once walked this earth.
"What's up, kid? Still think we need to go soft on them?! Just look at this plant! This is exactly where they process the blood of the Planet. Every day they make our world bleed!" Barret gloomily roared, pointing the barrel of the machine gun toward the smoking pipe.
"Soon nothing will remain of it… At this place we'll split up. We'll make a noise and draw attention, and you meanwhile will make your way to the technical elevator and go down," Alex replied, barely noticeably shaking his head and immediately moving to the matter.
"And how exactly are you going to draw attention? Because all we've heard from you is vague promises to arrange a real concert," Jessie inquired, gracefully sitting on the metal railings and not taking her intent gaze off Alex.
"Seems I know how… I just had a damn crazy idea. But you're thinking about exactly the same thing as me, right?" Dean said with excitement in his voice, staring at a certain point on the platform.
"Oh, damn it, YES!" Alex responded with a wide smile, following Dean's gaze and instantly understanding his plan.
"What other crazy idea is this?!" Wedge asked sincerely surprised, completely not understanding what the hell was going on in the heads of these two.
Alex and Dean never answered Wedge's question. Instead both of them with burning eyes continued to look at the massive truck that more resembled an armored cash collector. In such moments their brains worked absolutely the same and extremely insanely: if you're going to draw all attention to yourselves, there's nothing better than kicking in the main gates with your foot!
Aerith completely didn't understand what was happening, but this excited laughter of Alex and Dean, who didn't take their eyes off the armored truck, frankly scared her. Before leaving, Alex held out to Jessie a folded sheet with a list of things that he needed from the lower tiers if they could find them there. Running her gaze over the lines, Jessie nodded restrainedly, promising to look for the needed parts while they made their way to the valve for reversing the Mako flow.
Nodding in farewell, Alex grabbed Aerith by the hand and with broad steps pulled her toward the truck. And the closer they approached the vehicle, the more strongly Aerith's heart squeezed — she realized with horror that this idea would turn out far crazier than any of her worst fears. Climbing into the cabin, Dean flipped down the sun visor, from which the keys fell right into his palm, and without delay inserted them into the ignition.
The engine immediately roared. Not wasting time, Dean quickly connected his phone to the stereo — and from all the speakers at full volume the first chords of the legendary track Highway to Hell rang out. Jumping in after Dean, Alex pulled Aerith closer to himself, seating her next to him, and immediately slammed the door, cutting off any of her thoughts about escaping.
"You… you are going to do what I think you're going to do?!" Aerith nervously cried out, grabbing Alex's arm in a death grip and hoping to the last that she was mistaken.
"Oh, you hit the bullseye, Flower Girl! We're going to knock on the main gates with our foot… And now hold on tighter, darling, it's going to shake a little now!" Dean delivered with the grin of a seasoned madman, releasing the clutch and flooring the gas pedal.
"NO-O-O-O!" Aerith screamed at the top of her lungs when the heavy armored truck with a crushing roar tore from its place.
When the armored truck tore from its place with a roar, leaving black tracks of burned rubber on the asphalt, the entire group began to have vague doubts about how exactly Alex, Aerith, and Dean were going to attract attention. Each of them even thought that through the roaring music from the speakers they heard Aerith's full-of-despair cry, who clearly was not delighted with the plan that had matured in the insane heads of Alex and Dean.
Deciding that the guys simply needed transport to quickly approach the main entrance and raise a noise, Barret, Claudia, and the trio of under-terrorists from AVALANCHE headed toward the technical elevator leading to the lower tiers of the plant. Walking farther and farther, Wedge kept looking back in the direction where the armored truck had raced off. The question of why such a heavy armored vehicle was needed for an ordinary maneuver bothered him more than anyone.
"What's up, Wedge? Also wanted to take a ride with the wind? Though it must be admitted, their musical taste is excellent. True, I've never heard such a song before," Biggs drawled with a smirk, walking next to his friend and throwing his arms behind his head.
"No… I'm just sincerely interested in how they plan to distract the security. They're not… they're not going to fight their way right through the main entrance, are they?" Wedge shook his head, again casting a glance in the direction where the truck had raced off.
"Stop joking like that, Wedge! They're guys with a screw loose, of course, but not that crazy to break through…" Jessie began, but her words immediately drowned in a crushing rumble that rolled somewhere in the distance.
The moment the powerful rumble sounded, everyone immediately synchronously turned their heads toward the noise and saw how a fireball flared up at the place of the plant's main gates. After the explosion an unceasing barrage of automatic bursts echoed throughout the area. Having visually convinced themselves that Alex and Dean had decisively burst through the main entrance, Jessie traitorously pursed her lips — she realized how catastrophically she had underestimated the level of Badass and insanity of this pair.
The moment she was about to turn everything into a joke to hide her embarrassment from her own words about them "not being that crazy," a second explosion thundered, and the burning husk of a Sweeper robot beautifully flew into the air. Barret even with an approving smirk slightly raised his sunglasses.
Claudia only once more briefly cast a glance toward the blazing entrance and stepped further, catching herself on the thought that nothing would definitely happen to Alex. Realizing that she had just seriously worried about his safety, she immediately shook her head, driving these strange thoughts farther away.
"Let's go. We still need to finish our part of the work. They'll be fine. A SOLDIER isn't that easy to kill as you think," Claudia said calmly, casting a short glance over her shoulder and continuing to walk confidently forward.
At the same time Dean continued to cut crazy turns right at the entrance to the Shinra plant, putting the armored truck into a prolonged drift and knocking everything that came his way with the side. On the next circle he sharply jerked the wheel to the side and rammed another Sweeper robot, making it fly at full speed into a group of other mechs.
The collision provoked a most powerful explosion, the detonation of which scattered the Shinra Grunts in different directions. Aerith, sitting in the cabin, at first grabbed Alex in a death grip. For the first seconds this idea seemed absolutely crazy to her, but a moment later she was already fully catching the drive from these wild turns!
Deftly switching places with her, Alex opened the window and half-leaned out of the cabin, opening fire with both hands. With each precise shot he hit right on the weapons of the Shinra soldiers, forcing them from surprise and pain to drop their automatics. Noticing what Alex was doing, Aerith immediately grabbed the edge of his jacket and, bracing her feet against the door, began holding him with all her strength, not letting him fall out on the next sharp turn.
Having dispersed the crowd at the entrance, Dean sharply spun the wheel and rushed toward the exit from the plant's territory. At the very exit he again threw the armored truck into a skid — the heavy vehicle slid sideways across the asphalt and froze with its nose right toward the closed gates of the complex. Dean slightly narrowed his eyes and floored the gas pedal, forcing the truck to spin its wheels and burn rubber. At that moment Alex climbed back into the cabin and slammed the window.
"Open the gates! Time to make a noise already inside!" Dean said with an excited grin, leaning forward and not taking his eyes off the barriers that the Shinra Grunts and surviving robots were feverishly erecting.
"With great pleasure… Aerith, hold on tighter. It's going to shake even harder now," Alex responded, with a touch of the smartphone screen opening the massive gates and turning to Aerith.
"HOW MUCH HARDER?! I'm already almost motion-sick from all these circles! I also had to hold you so you wouldn't fall out the window! I didn't agree to this at all!" Aerith screamed at the top of her lungs, grabbing Alex and beginning to emotionally shake him by the shoulders, clearly demonstrating "how much" she "liked" their ride.
Aerith continued to shake Alex by the shoulders, insistently repeating that if they planned to pull such stunts, she needed to be at least warned. But before she managed to express all her indignation, Dean yanked the handbrake, and the armored truck tore from its place. Seeing the multi-ton armored truck rushing at them, the Shinra infantrymen didn't even think of opening fire — they immediately scattered in different directions, saving their lives.
Only the Sweeper robots instantly closed ranks right in front of the vehicle, blocking the path and opening a barrage of fire from the machine guns. From the sight of this steel wall Dean's smirk became even wider, and he floored the gas pedal. Realizing that the truck wasn't even thinking of braking, the Shinra soldiers picked up the pace so as not to find themselves in the epicenter of the inevitable explosion.
In that same second the armored truck at full speed rammed the row of mechs, scattering their husks in all directions, and rushed toward the massive iron gates that were beginning to close. All this time Alex tightly covered Aerith with himself — in case the armored glass stopped withstanding direct hits of machine-gun bursts. Raising his gaze, Alex understood that they were almost at the goal and again touched the smartphone screen, activating the mechanism for closing the gates.
Squeezing the absolute maximum speed out of the vehicle, Dean counted on slipping through the gap at the very last moment. But the moment the truck was supposed to cross the line of the gates, a rocket flew from behind. It crashed exactly under the rear of the armored truck, throwing the multi-ton vehicle into the air.
Feeling how the truck took off, Dean instantly braced his feet against the steering wheel to absorb the impact, and Alex tightly pressed Aerith to himself, protecting her from the inevitable collision. The burning armored truck at full speed crashed onto the plant's territory, slammed against the concrete, and spun in a skid, smashing everything in its path until it crashed into a wall and tipped onto its side.
When the vehicle finally stopped, the Shinra Grunts guarding the inner perimeter immediately took the smoking truck into their sights. Deciding that the attackers had been liquidated, the Shinra guards exhaled with relief — they thought everything was over. However, their joy didn't last long. A deafening impact rang out, and the heavy metal door of the truck, knocked out from the inside, whistled into the air. Alex climbed out of the opening with a lounging air.
"Oi, cunts. Daddy's home!" Alex said with a wide excited smirk, squatting right on the edge of the overturned armored truck.
Seeing that the insolent raider in the Bear mask who had rammed the plant not only survived but was standing in front of them completely whole, the Shinra guards instantly raised their automatics, preparing to open a barrage of fire. But none of them managed to press the trigger. In that same second Alex simply disappeared from his place, and right in the middle of their formation a dull impact rang out, followed by a groan of pain.
Turning around, the grunts froze in stupor: the attacker in the Bear mask had suddenly appeared in the very center of their detachment. And next to him several of their comrades were already lying, who in some unimaginable way had been driven headfirst right into the concrete floor of the hangar. Realizing what terrible fate had befallen those who stood closest to Alex, the remaining Grunts backed away in horror, trying to stay as far as possible from this monster.
Alex, on the other hand, was in no hurry to continue the attack. He only with a lazy gesture took a thin cigar from his pocket, inserted it right into the mouth of the plush mask, and unhurriedly lit it. After which he lazily turned his head toward the frozen Shinra soldiers, making them shudder from primordial fear. The ominous silence didn't last long. Another deafening rumble rang out, and the rear doors of the overturned truck flew out with such crushing force that they flew across the entire complex and stuck firmly in the wall at the other end of the hangar.
"Ugh, fuck! Seems I hit my head hard again," Dean grumbled irritably, climbing out of the smoking insides of the armored truck.
"I'm fine… Oh wow, seems something interesting is happening here!" Aerith responded cheerfully, curiously peeking out from behind Dean's shoulder and spotting Alex surrounded by the stunned Grunts.
Noticing that none of the attackers had received even a scratch, the commander of the Grunts realized that things were bad and prepared to request reinforcements over the radio. But the moment he reached for the headset, he felt a sharp jerk, and his eyes immediately darkened. The Shinra guards once again saw how the guy in the Bear mask simply dissolved into the air, and in the next second their commander was already sticking headfirst into the concrete.
The remaining security employees again froze as if rooted. Looking at the stunned Grunts, Alex unhurriedly raised his index finger and smoothly twisted it from side to side, making it clear that doing stupid things was highly not recommended. Understanding that arguing with this madman cost more than it was worth, the grunts could only blink their eyes in fear. And in that same instant all of them felt how the hairs on their bodies stood on end, and the space around filled with the crackle of static electricity.
All gazes immediately fixed on Aerith — she was squeezing her combat staff in her hands, along which bright electric arcs were fully dancing. Not trying to find out what lethal magic this girl in the plush mask was going to apply, the grunts unanimously threw down their weapons, picked up the stunned comrades together with the captain's "carcass," and without looking back raced away, saving their lives. Watching how an entire detachment of Shinra soldiers fled in shame, Alex, Dean, and Aerith only exchanged surprised glances.
"Why did they run away? I didn't even manage to do anything…" Aerith said embarrassedly, stopping maintaining the spell.
"I think they simply chickened out, scared that you'd turn them all to ash in one go," Dean responded with a chuckle and patted Aerith on the shoulder.
"But I couldn't have done that. I can't summon such a big lightning. At most I can hit two or three with lightning at once. If I had Lightning Materia, I could do it," Aerith said thoughtfully, putting a finger to the lips of her Hamster mask.
"But they didn't know that! And you just saved us a ton of time… So you're a super-good girl. Here's a well-deserved prize: boop!" Alex said in a cheerful tone and playfully poked his finger right into the plush nose of her mask.
Aerith immediately broke into a smile and playfully butted Alex in the chest with her head for his jabs. Slightly laughing, Alex headed toward the elevator that was supposed to lower them to the middle floors of the complex — right to the Mako reactor for the sake of which they had broken in here. Approaching the cabin, Alex raised his gaze to the surveillance camera right above them, struck a funny pose, and folded a neat heart from his hands over his head.
Noticing his antics, Aerith didn't complicate everything with questions: she instantly copied his pose and charmingly turned to the lens. And only having done this did she discern the red light of the camera aimed right at them. Staring at these two in their absurd stances, Dean dryly smirked.
He wasn't going to strike stupid poses, but immediately understood Alex's plan — they were already being fully watched. Considering that a juicy middle finger right into the lens would hurt the pride of the Shinra guys far more than any hearts, Dean wholeheartedly flipped the bird right into the camera.
At that very moment in a special situation room filled with dozens of monitors sat a heavyset bearded man in a military uniform. His furious gaze was fixed on the screen on which Alex, Dean, and Aerith were displayed. Seeing such an open and insolent mockery, Heidegger — the head of the Department of Public Security — with force slammed his massive fist right on the display. In all his service he had not yet met anyone more brazen and off-the-rails than this trio who with jokes and pranks had burst into one of Shinra's main strategic objects.
To be continued...
(So, we've finally reached Shinra's first factory. I did it as much as possible in Alex's style, and how he likes to do things. And of course, I promised a concert, but here's the thing: I had to make a choice: show the characters and their inner experiences, or skip it all, but I can't do that. Characters need to be alive, with their own feelings, their own pasts. How would you find out why Barret hates Shinra so much? Well, basically, you could play a game, or watch a video where they chew up all the lore and stuff it in your mouth. But that's not interesting, and maybe not everyone wants to do that. Okay, time to eat and relax. Peace, love, and guess what song Alex will be singing. Hehehe, I'll give you a hint in the form of the title "Insane," or not.)
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