Sitting in his office, Heidegger was breathing heavily, staring at the smashed, smoking monitor that he himself had destroyed a moment ago. Still seething with rage because of the unprecedented insolence of the trio that had burst into the Shinra plant, he began feverishly tapping on the keyboard to transfer the camera recording to the surviving display. The strange trio in absurd plush masks appeared on the screen again. All three were dressed in strict business suits that painfully resembled those worn by agents of the Department of Administrative Investigations.
Cracking his knuckles, Heidegger leaned closer to the display, trying to make out the details. Wanting to find out who these clowns really were, he launched a scan through Shinra's unified database. A moment later his face twisted with wild anger again: the facial recognition system had issued the personal files of this absurd trio! But what enraged him most of all was that all three were listed as official employees of the Turks, and their registered salaries were even higher than that of the head of the department himself, Tseng!
The personal cards themselves turned out to be completely empty — with the exception of the names and a few stupid photographs right in the plush masks. Heidegger slammed his fist on the keyboard with force. In such a situation one didn't need to be a genius to figure out: someone had insolently hacked their secret system.
And he immediately linked this to today's incident when all the Gil had vanished without a trace from the accounts of three active Turks agents. Following his professional instinct, Heidegger fixed his gaze on the guy in the Bear mask, immediately understanding who was in charge here. But what angered him most was the blatant incompetence of the departments responsible for Shinra's cybersecurity and the complete helplessness of the security that had allowed such an insolent breakthrough onto a guarded object.
"Damn you to hell! Just fall into my hands, you bastard!" Heidegger roared in fury, again slamming his fist on the keyboard and fixing his bloodshot eyes on the image of Alex in the Bear mask.
Having somehow suppressed another flash of anger, Heidegger narrowed his eyes, analyzing the reason why three unknowns had managed to hack their protected system without the slightest difficulty and had also demonstrated outstanding combat skills. Rhythmically tapping his fingers on the desk, Heidegger saw only one logical explanation: a high-ranking "rat" had appeared in the Shinra corporation itself and had assisted them.
And several influential figures immediately appeared on his list of suspects. The first candidate became the puppet mayor Domino, who had long lost real influence and retained only nominal power over Midgar. Taking out his PHS, Heidegger contacted the Turks and briefly ordered them to establish total surveillance over the mayor, recording his every step. Having finished the conversation, Heidegger lowered the PHS onto the desk, and another name immediately surfaced in his head — Reeve Tuesti, the head of the Department of Urban Development.
Knowing how Reeve always protested against the radical decisions of Shinra's leadership, Heidegger decided that it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on him as well. But the moment he was about to give another order, a red notification flashed on the surviving monitor: the system had recorded another group of saboteurs rapidly breaking through to the lower tiers of Mako Reactor No. 1.
"And who the hell are these, damn it?!" Heidegger muttered gloomily, fixing his gaze on the screen.
Frowning even more, Heidegger shifted his gaze to the neighboring monitor. On the screen he saw the second sabotage group consisting of five people. But what plunged him into complete bewilderment was that the figures of each of these raiders were completely covered in dense static interference. This mysterious distortion prevented the system from recognizing their faces, equipment, or determining belonging to any known group, unlike that first trio in the absurd plush masks.
At that moment Heidegger seriously doubted that the puppet mayor Domino even possessed technologies of such a level capable of so effectively bypassing Shinra's security systems. Due to his paranoid character, Heidegger even suspected Scarlet — the head of the Weapons Department, who definitely had access to the most advanced developments.
But he quickly discarded this thought, though not completely. His suspicions crawled further, covering the entire top of Shinra, including even the cowardly rat Palmer — although the latter would never have dared such a step. Still frowning, Heidegger decisively rose from behind his desk. He headed toward President Shinra, intending to personally report on the critical situation unfolding in Mako Reactor No. 1.
Leaving the office, Heidegger walked with quick steps toward the elevator, paying no attention to the artificial SOLDIER on duty on the upper floors. Calling the cabin, he stepped inside and pressed the button for the 70th floor, where the residence of the head of the corporation was located. The moment the elevator reached the top, Heidegger, without losing a second, rushed toward the needed doors. Entering the office without the slightest knock, he met the gaze of President Shinra, who was sitting in his massive chair.
The luxurious office occupied almost the entire 70th floor — a spacious refined room at the very top of Midgar. The President himself looked like a stately elderly man in a strict gray suit, with well-groomed gray hair and neat mustaches. Noticing the appearance of his subordinate, he only raised his gaze for a moment and immediately returned to the terminal screen, studying the fresh data on Professor Hojo's research.
"What brings you, Heidegger?" President Shinra inquired, closing the report files.
"President, we have rats," Heidegger said in a cold tone, walking with heavy steps toward the desk and restrainedly placing his hands behind his back.
"Rats? And many?" President Shinra clarified in an absolutely calm tone, again raising his eyes to the head of security.
"Exactly how many — I still have to find out. But I'm already working on it," Heidegger nodded and began walking around the massive desk, intending to clearly demonstrate the essence of the problem.
"Then why are you here? Isn't catching rats your job? Or do you have something that I should see personally?" President Shinra asked, turning his head to the subordinate who had stood next to him.
"Exactly. Two groups have penetrated the territory of Mako Reactor No. 1. And you should look at this with your own eyes to fully assess the situation," Heidegger coldly articulated, connecting the President's personal terminal to the broadcast from the surveillance cameras.
Having gained access to the cameras from the President's terminal, Heidegger brought up on the screen the broadcast from the elevator that was at that moment descending to the lower tiers of Mako Reactor No. 1. Seeing the attackers whose silhouettes and faces were completely hidden behind dense static interference, President Shinra thoughtfully stroked his chin, guessing where this group had gotten such advanced camouflage technologies. Stopping stroking his chin, the President turned to Heidegger and inquired what exactly was located on the lowest levels.
The head of security instantly articulated: there was the system for servicing the main pipes and a warehouse with repair equipment. Hearing this, President Shinra assumed that thieves from Wutai had penetrated the object, counting on stealing their developments or arranging sabotage on the Mako supply line. Heidegger did not deny such a possibility and nodded restrainedly.
However, it was not these five who worried him. Far greater interest was aroused by the second group that at the moment was heading straight toward the core of the reactor. Heidegger described the raiders in the plush masks in detail. Hearing about the insolent ones who had broken the protection of their database, registered themselves on the staff, and even assigned themselves salaries higher than that of the head of the Turks, the President for a moment experienced sincere curiosity.
But when the broadcast from the second elevator turned on on the terminal screen, the expressive faces of Heidegger and President Shinra synchronously stretched from amazement. The moment the video started, loud singing rang out from the speakers, and in the lens appeared a guy in a plush Bear mask who had enthusiastically started dancing with a girl in a Hamster mask!
"So she said, 'What's the problem, baby?' What's the problem? I don't know. Well, maybe I'm in love," Alex sang in a cheerful tone, holding Aerith by the hand and spinning with her around the spacious elevator cabin with sincere drive.
"Love!" Dean shouted on the exhale, standing right in the center of the cabin while a real show unfolded around him.
"Think about it every time I think about it. Can't stop thinking 'bout it!" Aerith picked up, continuing to hold Alex tightly by the hand and describing smooth circles around him.
"How much longer will it take to cure this? Just to cure it 'cause I can't ignore it if it's love," Alex delivered the next verse, elegantly dipping Aerith in a dance step.
"Makes me wanna turn around and face me. But I don't know nothing 'bout love, oh," Aerith sang playfully, affectionately placing her palm on the cheek of Alex's plush mask while he held her in the dip.
"Come on, come on! Turn a little faster! Come on, come on! The world will follow after! Come on, come on! Because everybody's after love!" Dean suddenly joined in, delivering the chorus at the top of his voice and cheerfully dancing from side to side.
Watching the strange dances and cheerful singing in the elevator, President Shinra slightly frowned. He shifted his gaze to Heidegger with clear doubt, wanting to clarify whether the latter had by mistake turned on a recording of some stupid show. But turning his head, the head of the corporation saw how his subordinate's face had stretched — Heidegger was literally boiling with anger, not taking his eyes off the screen. Barely restraining his rage, the head of the Department of Public Security began reporting what this trio in the plush masks had managed to pull off.
They had insolently rammed the main entrance on an armored truck of Shinra itself and arranged a real pogrom at the plant's gates. Having listened to the report, the President frowned even more. A cold thought flashed in his head: such a daring penetration onto a guarded territory was hardly possible without a tip from the inside. Turning off the broadcast from the cameras, the President ordered in an icy tone to find the saboteurs at any cost and find out their true motives. Heidegger hurriedly nodded and left the office with heavy steps, intending to raise the entire security service and involve the Turks in the search.
In the entire history of the corporation no one had behaved so loosely and insolently — even the operatives of Wutai at the height of the war preferred covert sabotage and guerrilla raids. Left alone, the President rose from behind the desk and unhurriedly approached the huge panoramic window.
Looking at the neon Midgar spread out below, he thought only of one thing: someone was again trying to shake his power and take away what rightfully belonged to him. Reflecting on the possible "rats" in the top of the management, the head of the corporation decided to take a wait-and-see position and fully observe the situation while Heidegger conducted his investigation.
At the same time Alex, Aerith, and Dean finished singing the moment the elevator cabin descended to the middle tiers. Alex didn't even suspect that with his antics he had once again put the entire Shinra under him, forcing the top of the corporation to run around again. All his attention was now fixed on Aerith: the girl was literally shining with wild delight after their spontaneous singing and dancing during the descent.
Stopping, Aerith slightly fanned herself with her palm and slightly loosened the tie on the strict suit. She couldn't even think that arranging a terrorist attack could be so fun and exciting — if, of course, one completely forgot those crazy turns at the entrance that Dean had arranged on the armored truck. When the elevator doors slid open, a long corridor sloping downward opened before them.
Considering that they had arrived at the needed floor, Dean stepped forward but instantly recoiled back. On that very place where he had just been about to step, a distinct scorched mark flared up and began smoking. Slightly peeking out of the elevator, Dean noticed laser installations sticking right out of the walls, feverishly accumulating charge for the next shot.
"Seems someone really didn't like what you arranged in the elevator," Dean noted with a smirk, pointing his finger at the turrets along the walls.
"You were singing too! Maybe they just didn't like how you performed the chorus?!" Aerith responded with feigned offense, playfully pushing Dean with her elbow.
"Ha, I deeply doubt that. I delivered an absolute masterpiece! But your dances… Well, so-so, maximum a three," Dean waved it off with a dismissive smirk.
"Your singing was a three! And we danced and sang in a duet excellently! You're the one who's… ugh! Alex, tell your friend that he's ugh!" Aerith cried out indignantly, pouting her lips, diligently poking her finger toward Dean, and beginning to pull Alex by the hand.
Intending to take control of the laser turrets, Alex felt how Aerith insistently pulled his sleeve. For a brief moment he got distracted, turning his head to the girl, and in passing accidentally pressed the wrong button on the smartphone screen. In that same second strange clicks sounded outside the cabin, followed by a deafening barrage of shots.
Dean peeked into the corridor and was stunned: the turrets were firing from all barrels at each other, smashing the walls and ceilings to shreds with lasers. Having observed this chaos, Dean turned around and looked at Alex, who was frozen with the phone in his hands. Looking at the screen, Alex realized that he had missed and accidentally activated a protocol that forced the system to consider everyone enemies, including its own installations.
Sighing heavily, he shifted his gaze to Aerith, who instantly released his hand, pressed her palms to the cheeks of her mask, and blinked her eyes cutely, with her whole appearance showing: "I have absolutely nothing to do with this!" Looking at this feigned innocence, Alex quietly laughed, put the smartphone in his pocket, and again playfully poked his finger right into the plush nose of her mask.
"Well, the path is clear. In theory this corridor should lead us right to the reactor," Dean said with a chuckle, exiting the cabin and stepping over the burning, smoking debris of the installations.
"Yes, this passage leads straight to the Mako reactor. We only need to wait until the others reach the valve and shut off the main flow. And then…" Alex began speaking, exiting the elevator cabin after Dean.
"And then we'll spoil Shinra's life even more! There won't be an explosion, right? Right?" Aerith clarified cheerfully, skipping after Alex and Dean.
"Nothing will explode. The reactor will simply carefully compress… We'll only need to turn on the emergency siren in advance for urgent evacuation," Alex replied with a warm smile, perfectly understanding the reason for her worries.
Hearing another confirmation from Alex, Aerith quickly nodded. But deep down she still worried that the Gray Whispers would intervene and forcibly arrange that very catastrophic explosion that was supposed to happen in the original events of fate. After all, this would inevitably lead to huge casualties among the peaceful population of the Upper City, and Tifa, Claudia, and Barret would simply be accused of terrorism, which in the end would turn into a tragedy for the entire Seventh Sector.
Walking next to Alex, Aerith anxiously looked around, with all her soul hoping not to see a single gray ghost of Fate. Reaching the end of the long corridor, Alex touched the access panel, and a moment later the heavy iron doors creaked open. The trio came out onto a wide balcony of a spacious hall flooded with muted green glow from the boiling Mako below.
Approaching the railings, they looked down: right under them was a massive reactor, entangled with dozens of thick metal pipes, and at the very bottom stretched an entire pool of the liquid energy of the Planet. Seeing it, Aerith convulsively grabbed Alex's jacket sleeve. Finding herself so close to the source, she had difficulty coping with the surging feelings, physically sensing how many memories, lives, and pain of different beings were splashing in this reservoir.
With all her heart she wanted all this power to return to where it belonged — back into the Lifestream flowing through Gaia. Feeling her mental pain, Alex gently stroked Aerith on the head, helping her calm down and cope with this mental storm. Dean, on the other hand, slightly jerked his head when the low hum of the Lifestream again distinctly sounded in his thoughts. In his understanding this praised Mako energy was no different from ordinary human souls that the local corporate bastards simply ground into electricity for profit.
"Seeing this is even more disgusting than I thought… And this damn reminds me of those cells that the bastard Chuck built. Fortunately that asshole already kicked the bucket…" Dean grumbled irritably, covering one ear with his palm to at least somehow drown out the hum in his head.
"Couldn't have said it better… The sight is really lousy," Alex responded in a dry tone, inserting a thin cigar into the mouth of his plush Bear mask.
"I'm just terribly sad from all this… What are we going to do next?" Aerith asked with a sad sigh, turning to Alex and tightly taking his hand for support.
"We'll arrange an unforgettable performance… We'll throw a whole welcome show. We need to introduce ourselves properly after all!" Alex replied in a cheerful tone, leaning forward and resting on the railings, not taking his excited gaze off the reactor.
"That's why you talked about a concert? You want to arrange it right here?!" Aerith asked again, widening her eyes and wanting to hear more details.
"Exactly! All of Midgar must see our performance… And believe me, none of them will be able to forget it!" Alex articulated enthusiastically, victoriously raising his index finger upward.
Seeing how inspired Alex was by the upcoming performance, Aerith also felt powerful excitement and anticipation of what was supposed to happen. Picking Aerith up in his arms, Alex easily climbed onto the railings and jumped down — right onto the technical platform near the reactor itself. Dean remained standing on the balcony. Even if he was curious about what exactly Alex was going to arrange, he wasn't burning with the desire to participate in it.
He knew perfectly well: Alex had started a whole theatrical performance. And since this wasn't a teeth-rattling rock concert, Dean saw no reason to get into the frame. Finding himself below, Alex held out a sheet of paper to Aerith on which everything required of her was detailed. He had planned this concert still during their stroll through the shopping center, so he intended to give it his all.
Reading into the text, Aerith began quickly memorizing the words, nodding on the go and pronouncing each line to herself. While Aerith was preparing for the role, Alex took the smartphone from his pocket and began connecting to Midgar's infrastructure, taking control of absolutely every screen capable of broadcasting. Having intercepted the airwaves throughout the city, he switched to setting up the lighting, positioning the searchlights so that everything looked as spectacular as possible.
Standing on the balcony, Dean watched with a smirk as Aerith paced back and forth, muttering the memorized text under her breath while Alex arranged a real light show in the reactor hall. Having spent about ten minutes on full system debugging, Alex called his fairy-drone Navi to himself, which had been recording every step of his journey. Seeing the golden flying ball, Aerith immediately showed a lively interest in it. Answering her questions about what this device was, Alex quickly tied Navi as the main camera for the live broadcast.
"Alright, seems everything's ready. Navi is working like clockwork, I've set the light… Aerith, are you ready?" Alex asked, releasing the fairy-drone into free flight and turning to Aerith.
"I'm ready! I've learned everything… But tell me, do I really need to say exactly these words? Won't they start considering you a villain after this?" Aerith asked carefully, pointing her little finger at a certain line in the text.
"Everything's fine, let them consider it. Shinra still won't be able to accuse us of mass murders — unless they themselves waste hundreds of workers from this plant, which they definitely won't do," Alex replied with a confident smile, carefully adjusting the Hamster mask on Aerith's head.
Aerith took a deep breath and nodded decisively, completely trusting Alex. Having done a few more approaches to breathing exercises, she made it clear that she was absolutely ready for the performance. Rubbing Aerith's cheeks for luck, Alex stepped aside and instantly adjusted the searchlights so that the main light fell only on her. Left alone under the blinding beam and the dim green glow of Mako, Aerith mentally repeated the text so as not to get lost at the most responsible moment.
After all, right now all of Midgar would see her — from this one thought everything inside boiled with impatience and anticipation of what a deafening resonance their stunt would produce. Gathering her spirit, Aerith adjusted the Hamster mask on her head one last time and carefully smoothed her strict black suit, bringing the image to perfection.
Turning toward the darkness where Alex was supposed to stand, she saw how a beam of light fell on him for a second when he raised three fingers, counting the last seconds of readiness. Nodding decisively, Aerith stood facing the fairy-drone Navi. In that same instant throughout Midgar — be it the glossy Upper City or the dusty Slums — absolutely every screen darkened in the blink of an eye. For a second all the residents decided that some large-scale accident had happened.
But immediately a picture flashed on the frozen screens: in the beam of the searchlight, against the background of the mystical green Mako glow, stood a girl in an absurd plush mask and an impeccably fitting strict suit. And the passersby on the streets frozen at the public displays, and the residents of the Slums staring at the screens of their fat old TVs — all of Midgar pressed to the broadcast.
Everyone wanted to know what was happening, who this strange girl was, and where she was. But the moment the characteristic crackle of switching radio channels sounded from the speakers, replaced by a lively melody, the atmosphere rang with tension.
"Dearly beloved, for your entertainment! It's my pleasure to introduce to you, Midgar's latest arrival… The equal-opportunity killer, Freddy the Bear!" Aerith spoke in a loud, incredibly cheerful and artistic tone, slightly spinning in place and with an effective gesture pointing her hand right into the darkness.
In that same instant when such a strange introduction followed from the girl in the plush mask, all of Midgar literally froze in bewilderment. No one sincerely understood what was happening and why such things were being broadcast on absolutely every screen. Some residents of the Upper City had already begun irritably complaining about where Shinra's security service was looking.
Others with undisguised curiosity waited: whom exactly had this stranger announced? Exactly the same chaos engulfed the headquarters of the corporation, where the image changed on every work terminal and on all floors. On the forty-ninth floor, in the Turks department, the operatives were just absorbed in searching for the unknown hacker who had cleaned out the personal accounts of their boss Tseng, as well as Reno and Rude.
The moment the picture with the girl in the strict women's suit flashed on the screens, Reno and Rude immediately shifted their gazes to Elena sitting nearby. By the build and how impeccably the suit sat on the stranger, she painfully resembled their junior colleague! Elena herself began desperately shaking her head and waving her hands in front of herself, flatly denying any connection with the ongoing farce.
But in the next second the attention of the Turks — as well as of all the other viewers — was again fixed on the screens. Right in the middle of the darkness another searchlight flashed, the bright beam of which fell on a guy in a plush Bear mask, dressed in a strict black suit, black shirt, and bright red tie.
"Hello! It's nice to meet you! Oh, can you tell me where I am? I don't know how I got here… But I, I think I'm startin' to understand!" Alex sang, slightly leaning toward the camera and casually waving his hand, smoothly walking from side to side.
Beginning to sing the first verses, Alex began pacing from side to side, theatrically waving his arms as if he really didn't understand where he was and how he had gotten here at all. Having finished the first line, he suddenly froze and fixed an intent gaze right into the camera lens. The residents of Midgar watching the broadcast leaned forward, tensely listening to the music and the text of the song, still trying to figure out what the hell was happening on their screens.
"I don't belong among the angels. And baby, that's just fine with me, huh! The things I did up there were high school. But now I'm going for my degree!" Alex continued to sing in a lively tone, spinning in front of the camera.
The moment he finished this part, a dark figure ran out from the darkness under the searchlight and accidentally crashed right into him. Alex deftly intercepted the colliding "actor" and elegantly dipped him to the side. Those who were watching the broadcast went numb from shock: a kitchen knife was clearly sticking out of the chest of the shadow! Thinking that they were watching a cruel murder in a live broadcast, many residents of Midgar fearfully covered their children's eyes.
"Hey, sorry, but you just got in my way! I promise, honey, I can feel your pain!" Alex sang carelessly, jokingly pulling the knife out of the silhouette's chest.
But the moment he extracted the blade, instead of blood a lush fountain of multicolored confetti rushed from the chest of the "victim," instantly turning the scene into a comic circus performance. While the bright paper pieces scattered in all directions, Alex spun the shadow in a light pas de deux and released it, sending it spinning away beyond the stage. Having gotten rid of the partner, he again turned to the camera with the knife in his hands.
"And maybe I enjoy it just a little bit… Does that make me insane?" Alex sang in a cheerful voice, theatrically sighing and coquettishly hiding the knife behind his back.
Slightly dancing, he threw the weapon aside and spun in place, going into the darkness. In that same instant the searchlight went out and immediately flashed in another corner of the platform. There Alex was already dramatically lying on the floor with his hands folded on his chest, between which rested a scarlet flower.
And above Alex rose Aerith, immersed in mourning, depicting inconsolable grief and wiping invisible tears from the plush Hamster mask. But the dynamic music continued to thunder, and Alex sharply turned his head to the camera, rolled onto his side, and propped the cheek of his mask with his palm.
"Haven't been the same since I expired. Doesn't mean that I plan to retire!" Alex continued to blaze with vocals, slightly waving the scarlet flower in front of himself while behind him Aerith was still diligently playing the mourning.
Having finished this verse, Alex with a swing threw the flower right into the lens, for a moment completely blocking the view. All of Midgar watched this insane performance spellbound, afraid to miss even a second. And when the scarlet bud slid off the lens, the light dimmed again to a moment later pick out Alex at the very railings. He carelessly leaned on the railing and looked into the camera so intently and directly that it seemed to everyone on the other side of the screen that the guy was looking straight into his soul.
"And now I have the power to bathe all of you in entertaining fire! Ra-da, ta-da-ra-da! Ra-da, ta-da-da!" Alex sang in an even more driving tone, easily pushing off from the railings and drawing the viewers after himself into another whirl of dance.
As soon as an even more cheerful and lively motif played, Alex with one movement tore off his strict black suit. Under it a bright red tailcoat with a striped vest and an elegant bow tie instantly opened, and on top of his plush Bear mask now sat a neat top hat! In that same second bright light flashed throughout the polygon, picking out of the darkness Aerith in exactly the same luxurious outfit.
And behind their backs a neat row of heavy Sweeper robots lined up! Without stopping for a moment, Alex grabbed Aerith by the hand and pulled her into a swift dance while in the background the combat machines performed their own, perfectly synchronized choreography, accompanying their performance.
Spinning together with Alex and cheerfully singing along to him, Aerith sincerely admired: she had no idea that Materia could be used so virtuously for an instantaneous change of costumes right in the middle of the show! Continuing to spin in the very center of the Mako reactor hall, Alex sharply dipped Aerith. In that same instant the light around them dimmed, and only one searchlight remained, picking their figures out of the darkness. The music smoothly slowed down, becoming quiet, intimate, and deeply dramatic.
"Wait a minute, do I know you? Weren't you an old beloved of mine?" Alex sang in a quiet, penetrating voice, looking straight into Aerith's eyes when their masks almost touched.
"But you departed from me far too early. And now we're meeting a second time," Aerith picked up in a tender voice with a slight haze, affectionately running her little fingers over the cheeks of Alex's mask.
"We used to have such fun together… And maybe you have what I need?" Alex sang barely audibly, leaning even closer to Aerith as if intending to kiss her right through the mask.
"But first, I have one tiny question… Tell me, do you demons bleed?" Aerith sang the next line with a playing smirk, softly pressed her palm against the plush face of Alex, and playfully pushed him away from herself.
All the residents of Midgar glued to their screens held their breath waiting for the continuation. Some even began arguing whether this strange couple in the plush masks would kiss now or not. Besides, no one in the city could even imagine that the severe combat Sweeper robots were capable of moving so lively and delivering real dance steps to the music.
And so, while the slow melody stretched the nerves of the viewers to the limit, the public's expectations didn't last long. Dark silhouettes jumped out of the darkness, picked Aerith up in their arms, and pulled her away from Alex while she dramatically stretched her arms toward him. The searchlight rushed after the kidnappers, but right on their path another beam of light flashed. There stood Alex, holding a pistol in each hand.
Making a serious face, he aimed the barrels point-blank at the heads of the shadows and instantly pulled the triggers. But instead of deadly bullets joke flags with a bright inscription "BANG!" flew out of the muzzles with a click. The shadows immediately theatrically grabbed their chests, with an "expression of deep suffering" dropping Aerith right into Alex's reliable arms.
The moment the shadows removed their palms from the "wounded" places, a lush salute of multicolored confetti again rushed from there. Scattering the bright paper pieces, the shadows spun in different directions and disappeared into the darkness beyond the light spot.
"Hey, sorry, but you just got in my way! I promise, honey, I can feel your pain!" Alex sang in a tender, enveloping tone, deftly throwing the pistols aside, picking Aerith up by the waist, and with feeling pulling her closer to himself.
"And maybe I enjoy it just a little bit… Does that make me insane?" Aerith melodiously picked up, placing her palms on his chest and rising on her tiptoes to be face to face.
"Haven't been the same since I expired. Doesn't mean that I plan to retire!" Alex continued to lead the vocal part, slightly pushing Aerith away and beautifully dropping onto one knee in front of her, with an elegant movement taking a mysterious black flower from the inner pocket of the tailcoat.
"And now I have the power to bathe all of you in entertaining fire!" Aerith sang in an even more cheerful and ringing voice, snatching the black flower from Alex's hands and with a light laugh tossing it high into the air.
When Aerith tossed the Black Flower into the air, Navi's camera smoothly rushed after it. In that same instant the flower brightly ignited right in the heights, and from the very ceiling a real snowfall of snow-white petals spun, smoothly falling and creating a truly captivating sight.
The residents of Midgar froze in front of the screens, with difficulty restraining the surging emotions from this incredible beauty. And when the lens switched back to Alex and Aerith, the music again exploded with a powerful, hurricane rhythm. Throughout the polygon juicy light flared up in the blink of an eye, and Alex and Aerith again spun in a swift dance right in the middle of the falling white carpet while in the background a rank of Sweeper robots rhythmically accompanied them.
The townspeople throughout Midgar could no longer stand still: caught up by this lively melody sounding literally from every corner, people right on the streets and in the residential quarters rushed into the dance! The city was instantly covered by an incomparable festive mood.
And only for Shinra this day turned into the worst nightmare since the very foundation of the corporation. For the top of Midgar what was happening became not just a cruel blow to security, but a deafening shame and an openly insolent mockery of everything they had built and created for years.
To be continued...
(Phew, so I finally got to put on the concert I'd been planning all along. And this is just one of the many concerts Alex will be throwing in this world. Hehehe, Aerith was adorable in that performance. And I think this is a little gift to the reader who asked for the Hazbin Hotel to be added to the plot. It's not the actual hotel, of course, but it's still a huge direct reference. As for the plot, what happens next is the reactor explosion, and then the return to Sector Seven. And I'm going to go eat. Peace, love, and Ra-da, ta-da-ra-da! Ra-da, ta-da-da!)
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