The path back to the surface did not take too much time—especially after they as an entire group had thoroughly cleared the underground complex of all creatures capable of posing any danger whatsoever to the residents of the slums should they break out. The only circumstance that somehow slowed the progress of their group remained the jammed mechanical doors, which time and again had to be opened by force by hand.
But the most pleasant bonus for Barret remained the fact that the never-shutting-up Johnny was currently in a deep knockout and purely physically could not utter a single word. Continuing to carry Johnny on his shoulder like an ordinary sack of potatoes, Barret snorted with a satisfied smile and turned his head toward Alex, who was fully having to deal with Yuffie's whims.
Listening to yet another tirade about why he was such an unbearable greedy guts, Alex imperturbably reached into his inner pocket, took out a strawberry candy from there, and deftly tossed it right into Yuffie's open mouth in order to win himself at least a few minutes of long-awaited silence.
Feeling the pleasant sweetness on her tongue, Yuffie contentedly narrowed her eyes, comfortably rested her chin on Alex's shoulder, and began purring a cheerful melody, swaying her head from side to side and waving her little fingers in time with her own little song. Merely shaking his head at this picture, Alex heard a quiet chuckle next to himself and turned his head toward Aerith. Seeing his slightly tired gaze, Aerith smiled cutely and softly poked a finger into his cheek, forcing him to turn away.
Slightly smiling in response, Alex noticed the last massive door leaf separating the group from the flight with the staircase. The moment he pointed at the obstacle, Dean, without putting the process on pause, without particular visible effort with a scrape flung open the jammed metal doors. As soon as the leaves parted to the sides, a wide staircase opened before the squad, and at its very top shone an enormous hole in the ceiling through which bright sunlight was breaking inside.
"Well finally! How long did we even hang around in this hole?" Dean said with open relief, first beginning to climb the steps and casting a short glance over his shoulder at Alex.
"I don't know exactly… About a couple of hours. Hmm. Right now it's only three o'clock in the afternoon. So we did an excellent job finishing off all these creatures before they got out onto the surface," Alex answered in a thoughtful tone, taking elegant pocket watches out of the inner pocket of his coat.
"It's still unknown whether these creatures would have gotten out onto the surface at all or not… But at least we dealt with future problems in advance. And perhaps we even found what Johnny had poked into this dangerous place for in the first place," Tifa said with a sigh of relief, climbing the steps after Alex.
"These creatures would have broken out outside for sure! And those bastards from Shinra wouldn't have lifted a finger to clean up their own shit that they left right under the feet of ordinary people!" Barret growled with deep disgust on his face, perfectly understanding that he was absolutely right.
"Just don't start your next fiery tirade again. Better save your breath, big guy. The staircase isn't finished yet, and you still have a decent ballast in your arms," Dean said with a smirk, glancing over his shoulder at Barret who was dragging the unconscious Johnny.
Raising his gaze to Dean, Barret demonstratively snorted and powerfully slapped himself on the chest with his hand, showing that he could easily drag another good ten such Johnnys and not even get the least bit out of breath climbing the steps. Looking at Barret's self-satisfied face, everyone merely quietly laughed and continued the unhurried ascent. None of them considered that they had wasted time in vain by deciding to look into this abandoned underground complex accidentally found by Dean under the destroyed dormitory.
And even the fact that they had originally fallen underground due to a rather unpleasant combination of circumstances did not particularly upset anyone. The one most satisfied with the situation that had arisen was Alex—mainly because of the fact that he had managed to obtain yet another ancient Pokémon that he would gladly add to his personal collection.
Continuing to climb the steps, Alex looked upward, unexpectedly feeling how a strange, nagging feeling was rising inside—as if he had truly missed something very important. And as soon as this sensation arose in his chest, Alex narrowed his eyes, instantly realizing exactly what was being talked about. In his head quickly flashed memories of the previous day when he had detailedly pondered exactly which idiot from Shinra would decide to make his next move.
But already a moment later Alex exhaled relaxed—for he had insured himself in advance on this account. He had still yesterday placed a most powerful protective spell on Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge in case the Gray or Black Whisperers decided to kill this trio. And this morning he had done exactly the same for Elmyra and Marlene. But the most important thing—next to them as a personal bodyguard remained Tonberry Steve. So it was absolutely unimportant exactly whom Shinra would send for the capture of hostages: Steve would quickly and with taste deal with each one.
Slightly smiling at his thoughts, Alex patted himself on the chest and suddenly felt that he had touched someone else's small palm that immediately convulsively jerked. Perfectly understanding to whom exactly this little hand belonged, Alex turned his head and met Yuffie's gaze.
She instantly assumed the maximally innocent expression of face of which she was only capable. Slightly sighing, Alex playfully poked a finger into Yuffie's forehead for her next hopeless attempt to rob him. Feeling the poke, Yuffie heavily snorted, slightly leaned back, and began energetically shaking Alex by the shoulders, expressing extreme indignation.
"Well give me at least one, please! I really need it very-very much!" Yuffie moaned, beginning to tug Alex by the shoulders and more tightly wrapping her legs around his waist.
"And why do you need such a dangerous Materia? This isn't a toy at all. You yourself saw what can happen if the creature inside this sphere suddenly wakes up," Tifa said in a soft tone, patting the whim-throwing Yuffie on the back.
"I need it to save my homeland! Only this way can we finally overthrow Shinra's rule, and Wutai will become a great country again!" Yuffie said in a heavy tone, more tightly squeezing her fingers on Alex's shoulders.
"You're not the only one who suffered at the hands of Shinra. But even the stupidest idiot will understand: that creature sitting inside this red sphere will deeply not give a damn either about your homeland or about Shinra," Barret began speaking in a stern voice, looking at Yuffie with his habitual heavy gaze.
"Eh, I understand everything myself… It's just insanely offensive to me! I thought that if I could get this Materia… Then I would definitely be able to save Wutai," Yuffie said with a sad sigh, burying her chin into Alex's shoulder.
"No need to be sad! After all, now you have us. And together we will definitely defeat absolutely all the villains! Right?" Aerith said with a joyful smile, proudly raising a clenched little fist above her head and casting an inspiring gaze over everyone.
"Right. Well how can we abandon you? You're our friend too. Together we'll definitely come up with something," Tifa added with a soft smile, carefully patting Yuffie on the back.
"Count on me, noisy girl! If it will be necessary to properly kick the asses of Shinra bastards—I'll stand in the very first ranks!" Barret said with a smirk, winking and raising a thumb upward.
"I'll help only in the case if I'm paid enough," Claudia said in a dry tone, calmly walking at the very end of the group.
"Well there, you took and absolutely ruined everything, chick! And everything was going so beautifully and soulfully. Each of us was supposed to sincerely say that we are friends and never abandon our own in trouble… You should be sincerely ashamed!" Alex began speaking in a feigned, reproachful voice, turning to Claudia walking behind.
Raising her gaze, Claudia noticed that absolutely all gazes were directed at her. Rolling her eyes, Claudia with a barely noticeable smile said that it had been just a joke. Barely had her words sounded when the entire group burst into light, life-affirming laughter. Yuffie, still perched on Alex's back, again rested her chin on his shoulder and exhaled with relief.
She was still a little sad because of the fact that she had essentially failed her original mission and now would not be able to return the legendary ancient Materia to her native country. But on the other hand, she was sincerely glad that she had managed to acquire such wonderful friends ready to come to her aid.
And as soon as this thought flashed in her head, Yuffie unexpectedly realized: but she hadn't failed the assignment at all! After all, in Wutai still absolutely no one would manage to subdue the wild power of the Red Materia—only one single person in the entire world is capable of such a thing.
Yuffie's gaze smoothly shifted to Alex's face that was located right nearby. In her eyes an mischievous, cunning spark instantly flared: since she couldn't get the Red Materia itself, then she simply needed to get her hands on the one who is capable of controlling the giants imprisoned in these spheres and simply drag him after herself to Wutai! Considering this idea a sincerely brilliant plan, Yuffie laughed slyly and began cheerfully dangling her legs, swaying from side to side.
Seeing how quickly the shinobi returned to her habitual cheerful state, no one even was surprised—over the recent days next to her absolutely everyone had managed to get used to her restless nature. While Yuffie was secretly rejoicing at her inventiveness, the group overcame the last steps and reached the very top. Climbing onto the level ground through the formed collapse, they finally broke out of the stuffy underground back into the fresh Slums of the Seventh Sector.
"Phew, I'm insanely glad to see real sunlight again! Now I'm one hundred percent certain that I sincerely hate endless staircases. This was simply some kind of nightmare!" Aerith said with relief, wearily leaning on Alex's arm in order to restore her breathing after the prolonged ascent.
"I've also had my fill of these damned steps. If there's an elevator somewhere nearby, from now on I'll use only the damn elevator!" Barret supported her with open irritation in his voice, slightly shaking the unconscious Johnny hanging on his shoulder.
"Aren't you afraid that at the most responsible moment the elevator cable will simply snap? A staircase is still far safer," Claudia said, noticing Barret's emotions.
"Who cares! The main thing is that I won't have to tramp on foot anymore, everything else has absolutely no significance," Barret answered with a wide smirk, proudly raising a thumb upward.
"A weighty argument, hard to even argue with such… The older you are, the scarier these endless marches of steps look," Dean said, chuckling, and threw his hands behind the back of his head, clearly recalling one extremely unpleasant incident from his rich past.
"And how would you know about old bones? I see you didn't even get the least bit out of breath. We're the same age with you, after all," Barret asked with sincere interest, drawing level with Dean.
"Just so… There was one rather funny situation in the past," Dean answered evasively, chuckling, waving off the details as something ordinary.
"Just say straight out that out of stupidity you lost fifty years of your life to one sly-as-fuck sorcerer in a card game, and don't put on mystery here—it doesn't suit you at all," Alex began speaking with a smirk, unhurriedly walking behind this duo of old men.
"I later won back every year of my life!" Dean snapped with a smirk, casting a short glance over his shoulder.
"But the fact remains a fact: you first lost. And Sam had to win it back for you," Alex reminded with a poisonous smirk, laying everything out on the shelves.
"Go to hell, idiot!" Dean answered, twisting his face, and without looking flipped Alex the middle finger.
"I love you insanely too, you bastard," Alex responded in the most cheerful tone, carefreely showing him the middle finger in return.
Looking at each other, Alex and Dean quietly laughed and continued walking further. Once again hearing their habitual joking exchange, Aerith became interested in something completely different—namely Alex's short words about the fact that Dean had somehow lost his own years of life.
Tugging Alex by the sleeve of his coat, Aerith with sincere curiosity asked whether what they had just argued about was true. When her question rang out, Tifa, Claudia, and Yuffie also showed noticeable interest—for none of them in their entire life had ever heard that someone could literally lose their own years in cards. Hearing this question, Alex first glanced at Dean, nonverbally asking him for permission to fully lay out this story.
Casting a fleeting glance at Alex, Dean carefreely shrugged his shoulders, showing that he was absolutely indifferent. He perfectly understood: if he began telling it himself, then with high probability he would blurt out extra and reveal their true origin. Dean excellently realized that for now it was not worth disclosing the secret that they both had arrived from a completely different universe where literally a week ago they had liquidated yet another bastard who had put on the guise of a god and a pathetic scribbler.
Seeing Dean's silent consent, Alex slightly smiled and began spinning the yarn exactly as he always did—masterfully bypassing the topic of their otherworldly origin. While Alex was colorfully describing exactly how Dean had talentlessly screwed up by staking his own life in a card game, the entire group was unhurriedly advancing through the half-destroyed Slums.
Passing by collapsed houses and flowering trees created by Alex for the salvation of the Slums, they met more and more local residents who were straining with all their might to clear the debris in order to find at least some surviving things. By the moment when Alex put a colorful period in his story, the squad had already reached the familiar playground in the Sixth Sector, not far from the gates where they had a planned meeting with Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. However, finding themselves at the meeting place, they discovered none of the trio.
"Well where are these three?" Alex asked, looking around and seeing around only tired people dragging heavy debris of the collapsed Plate.
"Maybe they simply got delayed because of the fact that they took a long time choosing and buying all the necessary equipment?" Aerith assumed, thoughtfully tapping a little finger on her chin.
"Possibly something unexpected happened at the Wall Market, and they got stuck there?" Tifa began speaking, with slight anxiety glancing toward the noisy Wall Market.
"What could even have happened there? We hung around underground for a couple of hours—they had more than enough time to buy up everything needed! The Wall Market is literally a couple of minutes' walk from here," Barret snorted and without ceremony dumped the unconscious Johnny from his shoulder onto the ground.
Having fallen onto the ground, Johnny immediately instantly came to and with a wild gaze began looking around. The moment he rose, everyone shifted surprised gazes to him, interested in what this chatterbox would pull next. Having finished looking around, Johnny understood where they were, and a self-satisfied smirk quickly began appearing on his face.
"We got out?! Ha-ha-ha! We really got out! Lucky Johnny again cheated Death itself!" Johnny enthusiastically muttered, looking around, after which he burst into unrestrained, happy laughter, victoriously raising his arms above his head.
"Shut up, pervert! And quickly cover your shame!" Yuffie cried out and immediately delivered a tangible kick under Johnny's backside when his torn pants again parted, demonstrating to those around the bright pink underpants with hearts.
"Oy! What for?! I'm not a pervert at all!" Johnny exclaimed offendedly, sprawling on the ground after the unexpected blow to the rear.
Sprawling on the ground, Johnny offendedly looked at Yuffie who without any adequate reason had called him a pervert. Offendedly exhaling, Johnny began gradually rising from the dry earth, on the go muttering under his breath that he had again been completely unfairly accused of everything.
And the moment he only stood evenly on his feet, his jacket, carefully tied around the waist for covering the torn jeans, suddenly slid off and fell right onto the ground. Feeling a light, refreshing coolness below, Johnny lowered his gaze and stared at his underwear that had again ended up on public display.
Barely intending to complain aloud about his catastrophic unluckiness, Johnny heard a distinct, threatening grinding of teeth and with his entire body felt the icy gazes directed at him. Swallowing a heavy lump in his throat, he slowly raised his head and met the fierce gaze of Yuffie who was literally hissing from anger and poking a finger at him.
Casting a fleeting glance over the others, Johnny intended to ask for help. Alex, carefully covering the eyes of Aerith and Tifa with his palms, merely sympathetically shook his head, making it clear that he was definitely not a defender here. Dean and Barret were fully amusing themselves with what was happening and seemed ready to uncork a bottle of beer each for the sake of the upcoming retribution spectacle.
Understanding that the situation was rapidly becoming critical, Johnny felt upon himself an even more piercing, deadly gaze. With difficulty turning his head to the side, he met the gaze of Claudia who had already unambiguously placed her hand on the hilt of her Buster Sword, literally on her fingers explaining exactly what would happen to him if he did not immediately cover his shameful underpants.
Realizing that he had one single option of salvation left, Johnny took a deep panicked breath, scooped up the jacket in an armful, and, sharply spinning on his heels, with a loud squeal took to his heels, raising dense clouds of dust behind himself. Observing the rapidly fleeing UnLucky, Alex could no longer restrain himself and loudly, heartily laughed.
"Well there… I missed all the most interesting!" Aerith said in an offended tone, grabbing Alex's palm that was covering her eyes and with curiosity moving one finger aside in order to at least fleetingly glance at the fleeing Johnny.
"Did you want so badly to stare at a guy in pink underpants? Then just ask Alex—he'll without problems put such on specially for you," Dean said with a predatory smirk, pointing with his chin at Alex.
"Really?!" Aerith asked again with a cheerful, playful smile, turning her head toward Alex and looking at him with a sly gaze.
"No. I categorically do not wear such a fashion. The maximum that I can put on from something similar is bright beach shorts," Alex answered, playfully poking a finger into Aerith's nose.
"Oh, I'd gladly look at that! It would be extremely funny," Tifa slightly laughed, casting an mischievous gaze over Alex from head to toe.
"Well of course, it would be insanely funny for all of you," Alex responded, rolling his eyes, and reached into his inner pocket for a thin cigar.
"Okay, let's drop this topic about pink underpants… We'll wait here another couple of minutes, and if these three still don't appear, we'll go check what's even happening. Let's hope they simply didn't wait for us and returned back home to the Flower Girl," Barret said, freely leaning his back against the dilapidated children's slide.
"I think you're right. It's quite possible they got tired of waiting and already long ago returned to Aerith's home," Tifa agreed, slightly nodding her head and sitting down on the edge of the children's swings.
Seeing not a single reason not to wait another couple of minutes, Alex unhurriedly leaned his back against the stand of the children's swings and brought a thin cigar to his lips, intending to light up. Looking at him, Aerith slyly smiled, sat down on the wooden seat, and slightly tugged Alex by the sleeve of his coat, silently asking him to swing her. Hearing Aerith's silent request, Alex slightly smiled and began with one hand slowly swinging the swings.
Yuffie, for her part, instantly noticing what Aerith was occupied with, immediately wanted to swing herself. Jumping with both feet right onto the neighboring seat, Yuffie began energetically swinging, at the maximum height ending up literally upside down. Looking at the raging Yuffie, Alex merely advised her to be more careful and not break the already flimsy old construction.
Receiving in response only a ringing, loud laughter, Alex with a smile shook his head and turned toward the Wall Market, along the way continuing to measuredly swing Aerith. These several minutes of waiting seemed too drawn out, and Barret was gradually beginning to frown, not taking his heavy gaze off the direction toward the Wall Market.
Leaning her back against the children's slide, Claudia folded her arms on her chest and thoughtfully peered in the same direction—her inner instincts insistently suggested that right now something was happening. And not only Claudia—absolutely all the others gradually began realizing that something truly serious had occurred.
Hardly would Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge have left without waiting for the return of the group, or at least not have set off in search of them independently. Completely losing patience, Barret gloomily snorted and resolutely pushed off with his back from the children's slide.
"Okay, to hell with all this! I categorically don't like how events are developing. We need to go ourselves and make sure that everything is normal," Barret said in a gloomy tone, casting a stern gaze over all those present.
"Then let's start with the Wall Market, and from there immediately move to the Fifth Sector," Dean said, sliding down from the slide and quickly rising to his feet.
"I really hope that everything is in complete order with Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, and they didn't get into any troubles while trying to get in touch with the AVALANCHE cell," Tifa said in a worried tone, nervously squeezing her fingers behind her back.
"Don't worry. Everything will be completely in order with them for sure. But absolutely nothing prevents us from going and personally checking that," Alex said calmly and, passing by Tifa, encouragingly patted her on the shoulder.
Tifa looked at Alex and slowly nodded her head, trying to convince herself that everything would be completely in order with her friends for sure. Quickly leaving the emptied playground and still not having waited for the arrival of the trio, the group first of all headed straight for the noisy Wall Market.
Finding themselves at the arch at the entrance, Alex proposed to split up in order to quickly ask the local residents whether anyone had seen Jessie, Biggs, or Wedge. Splitting into small groups, everyone dispersed in different directions. Dean and Barret set off together to the farthest and most disreputable part of the Wall Market.
Tifa and Claudia went together in order to question the residents of the Seventh Sector who had found temporary refuge here after the dramatic events of yesterday. Alex, for his part, set off on the search together with Aerith and Yuffie, who once again with convenience jumped up and settled on his shoulders.
The first place that Alex decided to look into was the shop of that very merchant about whom Biggs had mentioned this morning—he had told that this dealer sometimes supplies excellent equipment and rare parts "for his own." Quickly finding the needed stall, Alex together with Yuffie and Aerith entered inside. Looking around, he understood that the premises more resembled a repair shop piled with ironware.
Already intending to call the owner, Alex approached the counter, but before he managed to press the bell, this with a joyful smile was done by Yuffie, ahead of him by literally a second. As soon as a ringing chime resounded throughout the stall, from behind the dense door of the back room a dry, smoked cough carried, followed by an irritated male muttering on the topic of visitors who always barge in at the wrong time.
A moment later from the depths of the premises came out a simple-looking graying man in work clothes stained with grease. Wiping his greasy hands with a dirty towel, the merchant immediately asked what exactly had brought Alex and his companions to him. Casting a quick glance over the man, Alex did not beat around the bush and immediately asked straight to the point.
"Yes, he indeed looked in on me a few hours ago together with his plump buddy. They took all sorts of little things and left," Fred answered, thoughtfully scratching his unshaven chin.
"And you don't happen to know where they went further?" Aerith asked, peeking out from behind Alex's broad back and looking at Fred with hope.
"No idea. Biggs often buys various iron from me, but he is definitely not obliged to report to me… Although," Fred shrugged, drawing out in a carefree tone and lounging back on the back of his wooden chair.
"Although—what?" Alex asked again, lowering a heavy gaze on Fred and at the same time laying a couple of hundred Gil on the counter.
"Your plump buddy with the stupid smile was babbling something there about special tools. And I know only one guy in this entire market who trades such specific things…" Fred said with a cunning smirk, unhurriedly scooping the bills from the counter and putting them into his pocket.
"Are you going to finish speaking?" Alex asked, surprisedly raising one eyebrow and carefully looking at the brazen trader.
"Sorry, guy, but you yourself know the rules: in this place absolutely no one says anything just like that," Fred answered with a light smirk, spreading his arms and with his entire appearance showing that he was only strictly observing the laws of the Wall Market.
"Hey! We just paid you! Come on, tell where they could have gone!" Yuffie cried out indignantly, poking a finger right into the face of the greedy merchant.
"I can't help with anything, little one. I'm already an old man, and I sometimes have problems with memory," Fred responded in a completely imperturbable tone, calmly looking at the raging Yuffie.
"Really? That's even for the better. I just have an excellent means in stock that will instantly loosen your tongue," Alex said with a predatory smile, unhurriedly putting his hand behind his back.
"Ha, this is exactly where you should have started right away, guy…" Fred began habitually smirking, but his smile immediately instantly trembled.
Alex knew only one universal method that ideally suited for conversations with such brazen dealers ready to extort coins even for the most insignificant scrap of information. He had managed to see plenty of such idiots still in Night City—there you could meet hustlers literally on every corner, and each one tried to palm off useless junk on you three times more expensive than its real cost.
Alex had more than once and twice had to comprehensibly remind those smart guys that inflating prices is extremely dangerous if, of course, they do not dream of broken limbs and knocked-out teeth. Deciding to act by the proven method, Alex with a casual smile took the "Jackal" out of the holster on his belt and calmly pointed its muzzle right into Fred's face. The self-confident smirk on the trader's physiognomy instantly froze the moment the blued barrel of the black pistol ended up right in front of his nose, resting exactly against his forehead.
Dryly, nervously laughing, Fred intended to justify himself and declare that he had simply joked. However, the moment he opened his mouth and carefully reached with his hand under the counter—there where the hidden shotgun lay—Alex clicked the hammer, and on his face blossomed a deceptively tender smile. Seeing this smile and noticing the too sharp, predatory teeth protruding through the lips that an ordinary person simply could not have, Fred in horror yanked his hands back and flat slapped his palms on the counter, trembling with his entire body.
Seeing how instantly the trader paled at the sight of the weapon, Yuffie haughtily snorted, with pleasure noting that he himself was to blame for his own boundless greed. Standing at Alex's side, Aerith valued absolutely any life, but even her patience had been exhausted by the brazenness of this dealer who from the threshold had tried to squeeze money out of them for a couple of words.
Continuing to smile, Alex briefly rocked the muzzle of the "Jackal" downward, making Fred an extremely transparent hint. Perfectly understanding this gesture, Fred with trembling, disobedient fingers grabbed a pencil, quickly scribbled a name on a scrap of paper, and hastily extended it to Alex. Snatching the sheet from the hands of the frightened hustler, Alex narrowed his eyes, peering into the crooked letters.
"Is this exactly that very name? You're not deciding to screw me right now?" Alex asked, again slightly pressing the muzzle of the "Jackal" against Fred's forehead.
"No! I swear! I'm a million percent certain that they went exactly to that shop! Only Paul in this entire sector trades such tools… Please, don't kill!" Fred began lamenting in a panicked voice, fearfully raising his arms above his head and frantically nodding.
"You know… And I believe you," Alex said in a thoughtful tone, moving the barrel away from Fred's face.
"Thank you…" Fred exhaled with incredible relief, feeling how his legs were becoming finally weak.
"But you wasted my precious time. Therefore empty your pockets. Now," Alex continued with a dazzling smile, unambiguously pointing a finger at Fred's pocket.
Hearing Alex's words, Fred lowered his gaze to his pocket where he had just hidden the received Gil, and his lips slightly trembled. Whatever dangerous situation was currently unfolding, he mortally did not want to part with the five hundred Gil that had literally just come to him for free. Seeing that the greedy trader was openly not burning with the desire to return the money, Yuffie irritably snorted and instantly jumped over the wide counter.
Not giving Fred time even to figure out what was happening, she with a deft little hand climbed right into his pocket, in parallel squeezing between her fingers an inconspicuous paper ball. Scooping the Gil out of the pocket of the dumbfounded hustler and leaving her "present" there, Yuffie easily jumped back and with a proud air returned the bills to Alex.
Slightly smiling, Alex placed his hands on Aerith's shoulders and softly pushed her toward the exit from the stall. Leaving last, Yuffie did not forget on parting to childishly stick her tongue out at the greedy merchant. However, the moment she turned to the door, a sincerely sly smirk spread across her lips. Observing the departing trio, Fred was able to fully relax only when the entrance door fully closed behind them. Hearing the cherished click of the lock, Fred wearily collapsed onto the chair, heavily rubbing his sweating forehead with his hand.
"Eh, what a terrible day today! Five hundred Gil still don't lie on the road… Hmm-mm. And what's this?" Fred muttered with a sigh, patting his emptied pocket and unexpectedly feeling with his fingers something strange inside.
Thrusting his hand into the pocket, Fred pulled out a small paper ball that he had never seen before. Slightly tilting his head to the side, he sincerely tried to understand how this strange trash had even ended up in his pocket. Deciding not to particularly bother about this, Fred squeezed the paper ball with his fingers, and gray powder immediately sprayed right into his face.
The moment the powder touched Fred's skin, he convulsively coughed, chaotically waving his arms. However, already a moment later he felt how his face began to burn unbearably, and his eyes instantly watered from the wild burning—as if someone had generously smeared select hot pepper over him.
With every second the burning became only stronger, reaching such a degree that it seemed to Fred as if his skin was about to melt right now. Not losing a single second, he frantically rushed toward the washbasin, but blindly caught his foot on the chair and immediately with a crash collapsed face-down, with all his might slamming his chin against the wooden floor. The blow was of such force that a tooth immediately flew out of his mouth. Feeling the hellish burning on his face and the dull pain in the smashed chin, Fred began helplessly rolling on the floor, flooding with tears and howling throughout the entire shop.
At the same time Alex, Aerith, and Yuffie had barely managed to move away from the stall by a couple of dozen meters when they first heard a loud crash of a dull fall, and then a mournful howl carrying from inside the premises. Hearing these sounds, Alex and Aerith synchronously turned their heads back and immediately heard a sly laugh under their side. Looking at Yuffie, they saw that on her face a maximally satisfied, gremlin-like smile was playing—as if she had right now committed the most perfect revenge in her life.
"Your handiwork?" Alex asked, with a chuckle placing a palm on Yuffie's head.
"He-he-he! Serves him right! He'll know how brazenly to extort Gil from us," Yuffie answered with a sly smirk, cheerfully raising her gaze to Alex.
"And what exactly did you do?" Aerith asked with a sympathetic sigh, continuing to listen to the mournful howl carrying from the closed stall.
"Pepper bomb! This is the best thing in the world in order to comprehensibly punish those who you don't like," Yuffie answered, proudly shaking her head, and brought her hand to their faces, demonstrating a couple of analogous paper bombs clamped between her fingers.
"Good girl," Alex said, laughing, and tenderly stroked Yuffie on the head.
"He-he, anytime! And now—only forward, to our next goal!" Yuffie joyfully laughed, deftly jumping back onto Alex's shoulders and victoriously pointing a finger right along the street.
To be continued...
(To start off, I'll share that I finally went to the doctor and found out I just have a cold, not some deadly crap. That's a relief. Basically, I just need to take my meds now—that's it. Luckily, I work from home. Now, onto the plot: I've laid the groundwork for why Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge never showed up. And that's important. Because something happened in Sector 5—I've mentioned this before. As for exactly what happened there... well, isn't it obvious? Or maybe not. Heh. Alright, moving on to other important business—specifically, Sector 0. Some serious shit is going down there. Well, that stands to reason—monsters and all that jazz. Now I've got to eat and take my meds. Peace, love, and don't let anyone fool you.)
Early access to chapters on my patreon: p*treon.com/GreedHunter