After the victory over the Trio of Idiots, Alex, Dean, and Aerith returned to the waiting room to calmly wait for the final battle and collect their long-awaited prize. Sitting down on the chair, Alex began slowly rocking from side to side, deeply immersed in yet another round of reflections. Remembering the past fight and the unexpected appearance of Beck's Trio of Idiots, he once again caught himself thinking how much he disliked worlds where fate played a key role.
Alex was perfectly aware: if not for the intervention of the Gray Whispers, their opponents in this underground Arena would have been completely different people. Stopping rocking, Alex shifted his gaze to Aerith, who was still trying to catch her breath after personally beating one of the bandits with her magical staff. Looking at her, he understood that the Whispers would not leave either the girl herself or those connected to her by the threads of fate alone.
And he understood that in this situation there existed only two paths opposite to each other: either completely erase these Gray Whispers, which could lead to catastrophic consequences for the entire planet, or continue carefully playing along with them, guiding the Canon in the direction convenient and needed for themselves. Feeling the thoughtful gaze on herself, Aerith turned her head and puzzledly tilted it to the side.
Seeing how intently Alex was looking at her, she couldn't help but ask what he was thinking about again. Alex only smirked and habitually poked his finger into the nose of the Hamster mask on her head, waving it off and making it clear that he wasn't thinking about anything special. While Alex and Aerith were talking, Dean had already loungingly thrown his legs onto the table and was simply relaxing, still quietly chuckling over how spectacularly they had dealt with the Trio of Idiots.
"So one more fight — and we finally get our Gil?" Dean asked, slightly leaning back on the chair and looking at Alex.
"I don't think so. The prize fund of one million Gil is just too big to simply give it to someone like us," Alex replied, shaking his head, taking a candy out of his pocket and holding it out to Aerith.
"So all this was for nothing?!" Aerith asked again in an offended tone, taking the treat from Alex's hands and immediately trying to open it.
"Not exactly. Most likely Don Corneo will try to pull another trick. Or maybe they will still pay us, since we arranged such a show for them," Alex began explaining, helping Aerith remove the bright wrapper from the candy.
"Hmm, and if this fatso decides not to pay us… Wouldn't that be an excellent reason to beat our money out of him? Plus compensation for moral damage," Dean said thoughtfully, rubbing his hands with a smirk and making it clear that such a layout suited him even more.
Hearing Dean's proposal, even Aerith nodded in agreement. In a different situation she would definitely have spoken out against such arbitrariness, but since the vile Don Corneo stood behind everything, the girl was not at all against personally beating the debts out of him with her staff. Chuckling at her unexpected bloodthirstiness, Alex slightly lifted the Hamster mask on Aerith's head and carefully put a strawberry candy into her mouth — so that instead of angry speeches she would relax a little.
The moment the berry sweetness found itself in her mouth, Aerith blissfully narrowed her eyes, propped her cheeks with her palms, and completely immersed herself in enjoying the new taste. All her attention immediately switched to the treat, and the guys' conversations faded into the background. Noticing what delight the taste had brought her, Alex decided to give her the entire package so she could try the other varieties as well. Pretending to reach into the inner pocket of his coat, he took a whole pack of candies with different flavors from his inventory and held it out to Aerith.
Seeing such a multicolored sweet treasure, Aerith instantly snatched the package and immediately hid it in the inner pocket of her red jacket — just in case, so that no one would even think of stealing her new treasure from her. Smirking at her thriftiness, Alex turned to Dean to continue the discussion.
All their options in the end boiled down to one: if the prize money was paid to them honestly, it was still worth beating a larger bonus out of Corneo, and if they tried to screw them over — all the more they would have to clearly explain to the local mafia boss why he was wrong and that debts should always be paid on time. By the moment when the plan for extracting the Gil was finally approved, a female voice sounded again from the speakers under the ceiling, inviting their team to proceed to the arena for the final match.
"Well, let's go see who they roll out against us this time," Dean said with a smirk, rising from the chair.
"Maybe some huge monster… That would be cool. And Aerith, stop already gobbling the candies, your stomach will hurt later," Alex said with a chuckle, shifting his gaze to Aerith, next to whom an impressive pile of wrappers had already grown.
"But they're terribly delicious! And I only ate a couple… Well, maybe five pieces…" Aerith grumbled in an offended tone, quickly scooping the crumpled wrappers into her pocket to hide the evidence.
"No one is going to take them from you. And I'll give you more when these run out… Just don't eat everything at once," Alex said with a smile, gently stroking Aerith on the head.
"Promise? Watch out, if you lie — I'll take revenge!" Aerith warned with a bright smile, firmly pressing the Hamster mask to herself.
Seeing such a persistent and demanding gaze, Alex could only smile, nod, and again promise that he would definitely throw her more candies as soon as these ran out. Hearing what she wanted, Aerith narrowed her eyes in the most contented way, broke into a cute smile, and immediately put the plush Hamster mask on her head, showing full readiness to give her all in the fight to the maximum.
Dean, who had been waiting for them in the corridor, called out to Alex and Aerith, urging them to hurry up and stop wasting time on flirting with each other. Coming out of the waiting room, Aerith proudly strode past Dean, funny snorting at him like an angry hamster, and demonstratively stomping further with the staff at the ready. Chuckling, Alex followed her, on the way amicably patting Dean on the shoulder.
Approaching the gates, they once again heard how Scotch and Kotch were rolling out a whole show in the Arena, heating up the already wound-up crowd. Listening to the roar, Alex understood that their new opponents were already in the ring. Wanting to check whether the Gray Whispers had a hand in this, he activated magical vision. His eyes flashed with a soft light for a brief moment.
Through the mask and the thickness of the metal the gates ceased to be a barrier: on the sand of the Arena stood two heavy Sweeper robots, which instead of standard machine-gun manipulators sported huge circular saws. Narrowing his eyes, Alex also noticed the reason for such an upgrade — right above the closed gates another Gray Whisper was silently hovering. Irritably clicking his tongue, Alex turned off the magical vision and mentally transmitted to Dean everything he had seen. Hearing the current layout, Dean only calmly shrugged, showing sincere excitement exclusively toward the combat robots.
"Well, when will they finally finish there? I'm already tired of waiting!" Aerith said in a lazy and slightly capricious tone, gradually losing patience from the prolonged waiting.
"They'll finish soon. After all, they need to somehow entertain the spectators," Alex said with a chuckle, bringing another cigarette to the slit in his mask and lighting it with a habitual movement.
As soon as Alex finished speaking, the gates emitted a metallic creak and crawled apart. Seeing that they were finally being released, Aerith joyfully perked up and prepared to step onto the sand first. However, taking only a step, she abruptly froze when she saw that right opposite them in the center towered two dangerous Sweeper robots with rotating saws.
Instantly turning to Alex, Aerith pointed her finger at the iron monsters and began furiously protesting yet another injustice. Alex, who had been listening to her tirade with a slight smile, simply gently placed his hands on her shoulders and began carefully pushing the girl forward while she continued on the go to express everything she thought about the honesty of the organizers of this event.
Pushing Aerith out into the light of the Arena, Alex shifted his gaze to the VIP box and met eyes with Sam Chocobo, who respectfully raised the brim of his hat. Knowing that these robots belonged to the local cowboy, Alex simply raised a thumbs-up. In response Sam only slightly smiled and crossed his arms across his chest. Noticing this strange exchange of signs, Dean peered at the Sweepers and discerned on their armor a bright emblem with the image of a Chocobo.
"So these two hunks of metal are the toys of the local cowboy?" Dean asked, nodding toward the VIP box.
"Yep. So let's spectacularly turn this cowboy's toys into scrap metal," Alex said, stretching his shoulders and not taking his eyes off the robots.
"Oh, I definitely won't refuse that. Then dibs on the left one, and the right one is yours. Flower girl, you get the most important part — slam them properly with your lightning!" Dean responded with a chuckle, throwing the sports bag behind his back so it wouldn't interfere with movement.
"With the greatest pleasure! I'll slam them so hard that all the gears inside them will bake!" Aerith picked up enthusiastically, and bright electric arcs immediately crackled and ran along her magical staff.
While Alex and Dean were warming up, Scotch and Kotch had already hastily left the Arena. The moment the commentators announced the start of the final match, both Sweeper robots loudly hummed with their engines, and the circular saws on their manipulators roared with an unpleasant, grinding sound. In that same second both Sweeper robots lunged at full speed straight at Alex and Dean. The spectators in the stands leaned forward, afraid to miss even a second.
Every clash with the participation of this strange trio in plush masks turned into something incredible, and the public thirsted for another spectacular trick. When the Sweepers jumped up close and raised the saws for a deadly strike, Alex and Dean without unnecessary fuss simply stretched out their hands and intercepted the blow in mid-air, squeezing the rotating discs. Once again a ringing, deathly silence reigned in the Arena.
Everyone down to the last spectator stared at the Arena with faces frozen in amazement, trying to comprehend what they had just seen. In the VIP box Sam Chocobo from unexpectedness dropped his favorite gold coin from his fingers. Sitting nearby, Andrea Rhodea gracefully stroked his chin, narrowing his eyes with special interest at Alex and Dean. And Madam M with a satisfied smile snapped her fan shut and lightly clicked it against her palm, because her large bet on the victory of the team in masks had just paid off one hundred percent.
"What an unexpected turn is happening right before our eyes?!" Scotch roared into the microphone, drowning out the silence in shock.
"Cutty and Sweepy stopped by bare hands! And not just stopped — their formidable weapons instantly turned into useless scrap metal!" Kotch immediately picked up, enthusiastically describing what was happening down in the Arena.
"But what's this?!… It seems the cute mascot of the team is preparing to deliver the decisive blow!" Scotch shouted, barely noticing how Aerith was raising her magical staff.
"Yes, here it is! That very technique that secured the team their first victory and gave us an unforgettable show! The famous Thunder Strike!!!" Kotch roared enthusiastically, effectively pointing his palm at Aerith, around whose staff blinding lightnings were already fully crackling and expanding.
As soon as Kotch's loud cry sounded, the stands in one voice picked up the new name of the spell and synchronously chanted: "Thunder Strike! Thunder Strike!" From such an unexpected and deafening pickup Aerith almost lost concentration, but managed to pull herself together in time. Sharply swinging the staff from top to bottom, she brought down from the ceiling a dense pillar of blinding lightning that instantly pierced the armor of both Sweepers.
Taking a short breather, Aerith immediately swung the staff again, and a second, even more powerful discharge followed, completely engulfing Cutty and Sweepy. After the second strike the robots finally went out of commission: everything inside them crackled and sparked, and the joints emitted a horrible grinding. Not putting the victory in doubt, Alex and Dean simultaneously raised their legs and with powerful straight kicks sent both jammed Sweeper robots straight into the center of the Arena.
Barely flying off, the Sweepers crushingly exploded, scattering a sheaf of sparks and burning metal shrapnel in all directions. Covering Aerith with himself, Alex lazily deflected the sharp armor fragments flying in their direction. As soon as the smoke cleared, the stands erupted with insane enthusiastic shouts, whistling, and applause.
Listening to the ovations, Alex turned to the VIP box and elegantly bowed: placing one palm on his chest and gracefully extending the other to the side. Seeing his gesture, Aerith immediately turned the same way, slightly lifted the hem of her dress, and performed an elegant curtsey.
Only Dean refused such formality — he simply threw his hands behind his head, loungingly accepting the delight of the public. Sitting in the VIP box, Sam Chocobo quietly chuckled, respectfully removed his cowboy hat, and nodded to the trio, acknowledging their unconditional victory.
Finishing accepting the ovations of the public, Alex, Dean, and Aerith under the loud shouts of the spectators slowly headed toward the exit from the Arena. Almost at the very gates Alex threw one last glance at the VIP box, and his eyes briefly flashed again. Thanks to magical vision he saw that in addition to the Trio of Wall Market Bosses, Leslie was also in the box — Don Corneo's right hand and at the same time the person who hated this fat pervert more than anyone in the world.
Noticing that Leslie was tensely talking to someone on the phone, Alex finally became convinced: they were waiting for one more, the most final fight. Shaking his head, he passed through the gates, which creaked shut behind his back. Returning to the waiting room, Alex decided for now not to say anything to Aerith and Dean about Leslie's conversation.
After all, they had just discussed that Corneo would definitely try to pull some trick. Sitting down on the chair, Alex wanted to lazily stretch, but felt someone squeeze his hand. Turning his head, he saw Aerith, who with genuine interest was poking her little finger into his open palm and carefully running her nail along it.
"What's this? Want to learn to read palms?" Alex asked, feeling a pleasant tickling sensation while Aerith ran her finger along his palm.
"And can you really predict the future that way?" Aerith asked again with sincere curiosity, raising her gaze to him and continuing to study the patterns on his palm.
"Predicting the future is an extremely subjective thing. The past is easy to learn, because it has already happened. But with the future everything is much more complicated. It's hard to guess what can only still happen. Every step of ours changes the coming and creates new branches. Out of a thousand possible outcomes you never know which one you'll end up with," Alex slowly explained and slightly moved his fingers, tickling Aerith's palm in response.
"Maybe that's how it is… It's unknown what future awaits us ahead, even if it's already predicted… Wait, you confused me!" Aerith thoughtfully nodded and immediately lightly slapped Alex's palm with a click, trying to return to where she had started.
"How did I confuse you?" Alex asked with a smile, sincerely not understanding her sharp change of mood.
"You with these talks of yours about predictions completely threw me off! I actually wanted to ask: how did you two even manage to stop those huge robots with bare hands?!" Aerith asked with feigned indignation, pulling Alex by the fingers.
"We just took them and stopped them. There was nothing complicated about it," Dean carelessly responded, taking a bottle of water from the sports bag and lazily tossing the lid aside.
Hearing such an answer, Aerith from shock first opened her mouth, but immediately closed it. Thinking a little, she nodded understandingly: indeed, it was already meaningless to be surprised by the tricks of Alex and Dean. Although they had only met today, it seemed to her that for these two there was nothing impossible at all.
Deciding not to clutter her head with extra thoughts, Aerith took off the plush Hamster mask, sighed with relief, and began lightly fanning her face with her palm. It was terribly hot in the plush mask, and the girl dreamily squinted, thinking of something to wipe the sweat from her forehead with. In that same second she felt someone carefully do it for her.
Turning her head, Aerith saw Alex carefully wiping the beads of sweat with a soft handkerchief. Narrowing her eyes cutely from such care, she leaned a little closer so it would be more convenient for him, and then slightly relaxing leaned against his shoulder and with a satisfied smile put a new candy into her mouth.
Barely had Alex managed to put the handkerchief back into his pocket when there was an unexpected knock on the door, and immediately a click of the latch sounded. Remembering Alex's main rule — never show your face to anyone — Aerith at the last moment managed to pull the Hamster mask back onto her head.
The moment the doors opened, Sam Chocobo stood on the threshold with his signature smirk, deftly rolling his habitual gold coin over his fingers. Entering the waiting room, Sam closed the door behind himself, removed his cowboy hat, and calmly sat down at the table. Alex, Dean, and Aerith looked with interest at Sam, who had decided to show up at such a moment.
"What brings you, old man?" Alex inquired, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and carefully inserting it into the slit of his mask.
"Came to congratulate you on the victory. That was a damn exciting show. Didn't think I'd ever see something like that in a place like this," Sam spoke with a smile, tossing the coin and deftly catching it in mid-air.
"You didn't come just for congratulations, cowboy?" Dean asked, lowering his legs from the table and leaning slightly forward.
"You're not only strong, but also perceptive. That's good. Yes, you're right. I came to warn you: you won't see the main prize yet. The local boss has his own plans and his own preferences, so another fight awaits you ahead," Sam spoke again, tossing the coin and carefully examining the reaction of the trio.
"We already know. This fatso always plays by his own rules," Aerith grumbled irritably, folding her arms across her chest and demonstrating with her whole appearance her extreme dissatisfaction.
"You should be more careful saying such words, kid. Usually those who insult the Don don't live long," Sam said in a calm tone, shifting his gaze to Aerith.
"Don't worry about our safety. And here's the fatso's representative. Seems like right now he'll come in and announce that we'll have to win one more fight," Alex calmly responded and casually pointed his finger right at the closed door.
Hearing Alex's words, Sam Chocobo raised an eyebrow with distrust and shifted his gaze to the closed door. For a second deciding that they were simply joking with him, Sam immediately heard a clear knock from the other side. Smirking, the cowboy shook his head, acknowledging Alex's intuition.
Chuckling, Sam put on his cowboy hat, rose from the table, approached the door, and pulled it toward himself. On the threshold stood Leslie, gloomily keeping his hands in his pockets. Quietly laughing, Sam turned to Alex and tossed him his lucky coin. Catching it in mid-air, Alex lowered his gaze and noticed that on both sides of the gold disc a Chocobo head was minted.
"This is a gift, lucky one. If you and your friends need a Chocobo rental, you know where to find me. And now allow me to take my leave, I have other business," Sam said with a smile, slightly raising his hat in farewell.
Dean and Aerith immediately stared with interest at the lucky coin, completely ignoring Leslie, who had frozen in the doorway with a stone face. Handing the coin into the hands of the curious Aerith, Alex shifted his gaze to the visitor and began examining him with genuine interest.
Leslie Kyle was a slender young guy with bright yellow eyes and silver hair hidden under a cap. He was wearing black knee-length shorts, a long white T-shirt, and a black-and-red jacket. Casting a glance at the departing Sam, Leslie shifted his gaze to the trio in plush masks.
Without saying a word, he entered the waiting room, closed the door behind himself, and stopped at the table. Examining Alex, Aerith, and the frozen Dean, Leslie sighed wearily, preparing to voice the reason why he had come here.
"Don Corneo conveys that if you want to get the prize, you will have to participate in one more fight. Considering how you showed yourselves, he considered that you should fight a stronger opponent," Leslie said in a cold tone, making it clear with his whole appearance how tired he was of this job and that he simply wanted to leave.
"Either double the prize fund, or hand over our million Gil and we're gone," Alex spoke in a calm tone, rhythmically tapping his finger on the tabletop.
"I'm afraid that's impossible. The rules are set by Don Corneo, and I only convey his wishes. If that's all, I'll go. It's up to you… But I'd advise agreeing. No one refuses Corneo, and he really doesn't like it when he's contradicted," Leslie replied in an even voice and threw one last glance at Alex, preparing to turn toward the exit.
"Sit down, Leslie. We're not finished yet," Alex said in a soft tone, stopping the departing Leslie.
Leslie decided to ignore Alex and already grabbed the door handle when behind his back extremely familiar clicks of cocked hammers sounded. Recognizing that sound, Leslie sighed irritably, released the door handle, and reluctantly turned back. And the moment he turned, he saw that two barrels were aimed at him at once.
Cursing this job once again to himself, Leslie maintained external calm, approached the table, and returned to the chair, folding his arms across his chest. The moment he sat down, Alex and Dean smoothly lowered the pistols and placed them in front of themselves on the tabletop. Without losing his imperturbable smile, Alex removed the plush Bear mask from his head and placed it on his knees.
The moment Alex's face opened, Leslie met the gaze of his eyes. Seeing this unusual, shimmering rainbow glow, Leslie instantly understood everything: sitting in front of him was a SOLDIER, even if the color of his eyes differed from the usual green Mako glow. Noticing the change of emotions on Leslie's face, Alex became convinced that he had achieved the needed effect, and now the conversation would go in the right direction. Taking a cigarette out of his pocket, he calmly lit it and exhaled a stream of smoke through his nose.
"So, Leslie, let's make a deal," Alex spoke with a slight smile, looking straight at Leslie, whose face said that he simply wanted to leave.
"I don't think I can help you. And if not for your guns, I wouldn't be sitting here at all," Leslie replied in an even tone, nodding his chin at the pistols lying on the table.
"Don't interrupt me, Leslie, my boy. Because I haven't finished speaking yet. The essence of the deal is simple: we remove the Don, and you get what you so passionately desire," Alex continued, pointing at Leslie with the smoldering cigarette.
"I'm definitely no help with that. Why would I betray a person who pays me?" Leslie cut off without changing his tone, although inside everything clenched from such an intent gaze of Alex.
"Because you hate this fat bastard with all your heart. Kid, you're far from the first who wags his tail in front of the master only to stick a knife in his back at a convenient moment. Only the reasons change, and the end is always the same," Dean smirked, removing the Panda mask from his head and placing it next to himself on the table.
Hearing these words, Leslie slightly frowned and lowered his hands. Leaning forward, he placed his palms on the table and alternately looked at Alex and Dean. The first thing he thought was that they were simply trying to deceive him. Or he had slipped up somewhere, accidentally blurting out too much, or they had been following him.
But once again meeting the gaze of Alex's rainbow eyes, Leslie understood that none of these explanations fit: these two simply saw right through him. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Leslie for a short moment thought about such a tempting proposal. He truly hated Don Corneo with all his heart and had long been looking for a way to stick a knife in the back of this fat pervert.
And to accomplish this, he had even gone into his service and over time even become Corneo's right hand. Aerith, sitting next to Alex, immediately felt a sharp change in Leslie's emotions when he immersed himself in memories. She didn't know the details, but clearly felt how these thoughts caused the guy burning sadness and all-consuming anger — not only toward Corneo, but also toward himself.
Aerith's empathy reacted almost instantly, and now she also sincerely wanted to help Leslie. Leslie himself had gone deep into himself, trying to cope with the surging pain. The reason for his hatred was the tragedy with his beloved Merle, whom Corneo had once chosen as his next short-lived "bride," and he himself at that time had been powerless to protect her from the Don's thugs.
And all he could do then was only watch as Merle was taken by Corneo's thugs into his mansion. And on that day all he could do was only watch, clenching his fists until they bled. Reliving these memories again, Leslie looked at his palms, on which scars remained from his nails from that terrible day. While Leslie was experiencing this attack of the past, Alex finished the cigarette and carefully extinguished it on the edge of the table.
"Leslie, I don't know what happened between you and this fat bastard and why you hate him so much. But the deal stands: we take what we need, and you get what you need," Alex said in a calm tone, putting Ivory back into the holster under his coat.
"Before I agree… I want to know one thing. You're both SOLDIERs, right?" Leslie asked with a heavy sigh and raised his gaze to Alex and Dean.
"Something like that. Only we're SOLDIERs of the zero generation. Everything is much more complicated than you think, and you shouldn't clutter your head with this extra stuff," Alex replied, deciding once again to skillfully play the SOLDIER card.
"Alright, let's skip that part. If you're SOLDIERs, then you'll handle what Corneo is about to sic on you. When you win, I'll be able to get you an audience with this bastard. Just don't kill him yourselves — I have personal scores with him. And then I'll help you get the prize money and even more. And after that our paths will diverge," Leslie said in a cold tone, folding his arms across his chest.
"Excellent, the deal is sealed," Alex said with a smile and extended his hand for a handshake.
"When you win, I'll be waiting for you at the exit," Leslie replied, nodding restrainedly and shaking Alex's hand in response.
Shaking Alex's hand, Leslie himself didn't fully understand why he so easily believed the guys he had seen today for the first time. Perhaps the role was played by how confidently they had shown themselves in the Arena. Or maybe everything was in his own deadly fatigue and irresistible desire to deal with Corneo as soon as possible. But now it no longer mattered: if even the slightest chance for revenge appeared, he would use it to the fullest.
Approaching the exit, Leslie for a second turned around and warned that their next opponent would be far more dangerous than all the previous ones. Alex only smirked and casually waved his hand, making it clear that there was nothing to worry about. Leslie looked at Alex one last time and only nodded restrainedly before leaving the waiting room.
Left alone again as three, Aerith slightly tugged at Alex's coat sleeve and began quietly telling what a storm of emotions she had felt inside Leslie. Dean only strongly surprised by Aerith's ability to feel other people's experiences, not particularly delving into what exactly was gnawing at the guy. Alex himself already knew Leslie's entire story perfectly well, which is why he had chosen him as the ideal accomplice: he was guaranteed to know all of Corneo's dirty secrets, including the exact location of the vault with all the fatso's riches.
"Are we really going to help this guy?" Aerith asked, lightly poking her nail into Alex's palm.
"Of course. I always keep my word when making deals, it's a family thing with us," Alex said with a smile and habitually poked his finger into the nose of Aerith's mask.
"Yeah, a family thing! Only your Older Brother takes first place among all the idiots in the Universe!" Dean grumbled irritably, once again emotionally cursing Lucifer.
"The fact that he's an idiot doesn't prevent him from keeping his word. Unlike your dear buddy Crowley," Alex countered with a smirk, pointing his finger at Dean.
"He's not my buddy! It was only a couple of times, and you know perfectly well why. And in general, go to hell," Dean rolled his eyes and immediately showed Alex the middle finger.
"You go to hell yourself," Alex replied with a laugh, raising the middle finger in response and literally poking it into Dean's face.
Knocking Alex's hand away from his face, Dean immediately poked the middle finger back at him, continuing with pleasure to send his buddy on a long walking journey. In the next second they were already fully bickering, sending each other to such specific places whose existence only they themselves knew. Watching this altercation, Aerith embarrassedly scratched her cheek, absolutely not understanding how a friendly jab had instantly grown into such a spontaneous conflict.
Feeling that they were about to grab each other by the throats, Aerith grabbed Alex by the sleeve and began with all her strength to drag him away from Dean. Alex and Dean at the same time didn't fall silent for a moment, continuing to exchange sophisticated colorful compliments of what they thought of each other.
Somehow managing to pull them into different corners, Aerith sighed heavily and wiped the sweat from her forehead. At that moment she clearly realized: calming these two was the same as trying to separate raging children. Not letting Alex shout another juicy curse in Dean's direction, Aerith covered his mouth with her little palms and stared at him with an extremely strict gaze.
When Alex tried to object something through her fingers, the girl put her hands on her hips, funny wrinkled her little nose, and shook a little fist at him, clearly demonstrating that the jokes were over. Looking at this strict but insanely cute picture, Alex surrendered and with a smile promised not to pick on Dean anymore.
Hearing what she wanted, Aerith instantly changed anger to mercy and lit up, beginning to drag Alex back to the table. Seating him in place, she awarded Dean with exactly the same heavy gaze. Dean only smirked and raised his hands up, showily demonstrating that he also promised to behave decently.
Seeing that she had managed to call Alex and Dean to order, Aerith folded her arms across her chest and with incredible dignity raised her chin. Chuckling at her proud appearance, Alex affectionately stroked Aerith on the head, from which she blissfully narrowed her eyes. In that same second a familiar female voice sounded from the speakers under the ceiling, inviting the team to come out to the Arena for the final match. Hearing the signal, Alex, Dean, and Aerith rose from their seats, ready to leave the waiting room for the last time.
To be continued...
(Hmmm, I thought we'd get to the looting part in this chapter, that is, getting Gil from Corneo. But a plot is a plot. Okay, so next up is the final fight, and then a blow to Corneo's head with a stick, and immediately after that, the transition to Sector 7 of the Slums. That's the plan for now. And while all this is happening, it gives me time to plan the first Mako Reactor explosion. And I plan to do it with panache and flair. And yes, I'm already looking forward to seeing Tifa and, ahem, Claudia. Hehehe. You can see their art in the chats, where my dear friend Jose posts them. Now I'm going to go eat. Peace, love, and there's nothing that could be nothing.)
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