After the announcement that they needed to prepare for the match, Alex, Dean, and Aerith left the waiting room and stepped out into the corridor. Once again approaching the heavy gates leading to the Arena, Alex involuntarily thought about how incredibly eventful this day had turned out to be. And this was only their very first day in this world! Knowing how many more events awaited them ahead — and not only in gloomy Midgar, but beyond its borders as well — Alex tried to think positively.
In his memory the world of Gaia remained a wonderful place with a bunch of amazing corners where one could enjoy stunning views and rest to the fullest. Already starting to imagine himself on a sunny beach, Alex heard a quiet metallic clink. Turning his head, he saw Aerith, who was enthusiastically trying to toss the gold coin gifted to him by Sam Chocobo.
Completely ignoring the wild roar coming from the Arena, Aerith was trying with all her might to master this cowboy trick, but the coin categorically refused to obey her. Having almost dropped the lucky disc on the floor five times in a row, Aerith was already seriously about to howl from frustration and throw this stubborn piece of gold away.
Even through the plush Hamster mask Alex literally physically felt how her righteous indignation was boiling. And before Aerith managed to toss the coin somewhere far away, Alex with a deft movement intercepted it right from her fingers. In response Aerith funny and angrily huffed, making a couple of desperate attempts to snatch the coin back.
"Don't get angry. Watch how it's done," Alex said with a smile and lightly flicked his finger against the nose of her mask.
Hearing Alex's words, Aerith crossed her arms across her chest and demandingly raised her chin, showing that she was impatiently waiting for the demonstration. Smiling, Alex began deftly rolling the coin between his fingers, gradually increasing the speed. A moment later the gold disc was already rapidly fluttering from one of his hands to the other.
Aerith instantly focused all her attention on the shiny coin that Alex was literally juggling. Standing nearby, Dean leaned forward a little to see what they were busy with, but seeing another trick, only shook his head with a smile and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Continuing to juggle right in front of Aerith's nose, Alex tossed the coin high.
When the gold Chocobo coin flew down, Alex held out his palms folded like a boat and deftly clenched them. But the moment he immediately opened his fingers, Aerith saw that his palms turned out to be completely empty. Aerith's eyes widened from amazement and she instantly showered him with a dozen questions about where the gold coin had gone and how he had done it.
It got to the point that Aerith began rolling up the sleeves of his coat, wanting to make sure that the coin wasn't hidden somewhere inside. And turning into a real cute gremlin, Aerith unceremoniously stuck her hands into Alex's pockets, intending to find the missing item no matter what.
Chuckling at her unbridled enthusiasm, Alex lightly flicked his finger against the nose of her mask, attracting attention. Feeling the poke, Aerith pulled her hands out of his pockets and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Continuing to smile, Alex made a quick magical gesture right in front of Aerith's face, and in that same second the gold coin shone again between his fingers, which he carefully placed into her little palm.
"How did you do that?!" Aerith asked in surprise, mesmerized looking at the gold coin on her palm.
"Magicians never reveal their secrets. Besides, it's just sleight of hand," Alex replied with a smile and lightly touched the forehead of his Bear mask to Aerith's Hamster mask.
Aerith was already about to ask Alex to teach her this trick when the heavy iron gates began slowly sliding apart with a creak. Hearing the sound of the opening passage, Aerith deftly hid the gold Chocobo coin back into Alex's pocket and immediately turned toward the exit.
Looking at the sliding gates, Alex thought for a moment, but immediately smirked, noticing the gray Whisper circling nearby. The fleeing Ghosts of Fate had so worn out his eyes that now they caused only slight amusement. Moreover, the appearance of the Whisper finally confirmed Alex's guess about who exactly would become their next opponent.
Stepping out onto the roaring Arena, Alex and Dean habitually ignored the deafening howls of the spectators, who were now fully supporting their team. Aerith, on the contrary, cheerfully waved her hand, with pleasure accepting the ovations from the spectators in the stands. Scotch and Kotch, standing in the very center of the ring, began pouring out with doubled energy, finally whipping up the excitement of the public.
"Our contenders for the title of Champions are already on stage! But who will become their opponent today?!" Scotch roared at the top of his lungs into the microphone, effectively pointing his palm at the trio in plush masks.
"Their opponent is an inexpressible horror buried in the very depths of this Coliseum! Held in confinement, but released today exclusively for your entertainment!" Kotch picked up in the same strained tone, inflaming the excitement of the spectators in the stands.
"The secret star and the undisputed favorite in the eyes of Don Corneo himself!" Scotch added, building maximum intrigue.
"Meet — the Hell House!!!" Kotch and Scotch shouted simultaneously and scattered in all directions, hastily leaving the center of the Arena.
The moment Kotch and Scotch announced the next contender, the gates built into the floor of the Arena began slowly sliding apart. From the formed opening a dense cloud of white steam rose upward, completely blocking the entire view. From such an amount of smoke Aerith went into a coughing fit, vigorously waving her hand to get rid of the fumes near herself.
Hearing her cough, Alex simply waved his hand and instantly dispersed all the smoke in different directions. And the moment the steam cleared, the trio saw before them a seemingly cozy small house. Staring at the appeared structure, Aerith tilted her head to the side in incomprehension. She couldn't figure it out at all: was this cute and cozy-looking house really that terrible Hell House that Scotch and Kotch had been so pretentiously talking about?
The first thing Dean thought at the sight of this picture was that before them was a real cursed house. From his rich hunting experience everything that looks so harmless and cute turns out upon inspection to be creepy devilry that needs to be destroyed without delay.
Without even asking where such a cursed thing came from in a place like this, Dean reached for Cain's Blade hanging behind his back, intending to put this thing to rest just as he always did. And only Alex knew perfectly well that the so-called Hell House was just an extremely dangerous combat robot.
"Dude, where did they get a ghost house?" Dean asked, frowning and nodding his chin toward the Hell House.
"It's not a ghost house. It's just a robot in the shape of a house," Alex replied, making it clear that their enemy was not otherworldly devilry at all.
"A house-robot?.. Why the hell would anyone even need a house-robot?! And what can it do? Will it throw pancakes at us or force us to live inside it by force?" Dean asked in surprise, sincerely not understanding the practical benefit of such a device.
"And I'm interested in whether this cute house can take care of flowers itself? That would be so nice! Then I wouldn't have to worry that my babies will dry up without water," Aerith spoke in a dreamy tone, completely forgetting that the Hell House had been rolled out here as their deadly opponent.
Alex was already about to tell Aerith that this Hell House was not a cute robot capable of taking care of her beloved flowers at all. But before he managed to voice his thoughts, a bright flame flared up inside the structure, bursting right out of the closed windows. In that same second Alex scooped Aerith up into his arms and rushed away. Dean, who was still standing in place, looked at the fleeing Alex with Aerith in his arms, and then shifted his gaze to the Hell House that had been engulfed in fire.
Considering that the robot had simply broken down and was about to detonate, Dean stepped back literally a couple of steps, intending to enjoy the spectacle of the explosion from the front rows. But instead of an explosion the house-robot began slowly turning in place, turning its windows toward him. Interested in this performance, Dean puzzledly scratched his chin under his mask.
And exactly at the moment when the window shutters crashed open, Dean saw rocket launchers aimed right at him. In that same second it dawned on him why Alex without extra explanations had grabbed Aerith and taken off to the other end of the Arena. And before Dean managed to do anything, the Hell House fired a volley of several rockets at him.
Seeing the projectiles rushing toward him, Dean loudly cursed and took off running. He perfectly understood that the explosion itself didn't threaten him in any way, but his only set of clothes would definitely burn to ashes. Beginning to dodge, Dean quickly noticed that the rockets had a guidance system and stubbornly pursued him on his heels.
Starting to swear even louder, Dean wholeheartedly cursed Alex, who had bolted first and said nothing to him. Meanwhile Alex was also fully dodging the rockets flying at him, firmly holding Aerith in his arms.
"Careful, they're already close!" Aerith shouted, hurriedly patting Alex on the shoulder and urging him so that the projectiles wouldn't catch up with them.
"I know! And Dean knows! Basically everyone here knows that!" Alex roared, looking back over his shoulder on the run and not stopping for a moment.
Continuing to run from the pursuing self-guided rockets, Alex quickly looked around, choosing a safe route. And the moment he looked back, he saw that the Gray Whisper, which had been circling nearby all this time, was deftly redirecting the rockets flying in different directions right at them. Even Aerith finally noticed the Gray Whisper, which until then only Alex and Dean had managed to notice.
Narrowing her eyes under the mask, Aerith almost exploded with anger that these creatures would not leave her alone and for the sake of their so-called Canon were ready to put people in mortal danger. Seeing a rocket turning toward them, Alex irritably clicked his tongue and lunged right toward it. At the very last moment before the collision he jumped and lightly pressed on the rocket with his foot, forcing it to crash into the floor of the Arena.
Pushing off the projectile strongly enough and firmly holding Aerith in his arms, Alex deftly twisted in the air, escaping the remaining randomly flying rockets. Being in flight, he jumped right on the tops of the projectiles, colliding them with each other or redirecting them back at the Hell House. From such dizzying jumps Aerith had to cling to Alex with all her strength so as not to fly out of his arms. But even in such a dangerous setting it seemed to her as if she had gotten onto an incredibly extreme attraction.
The spectators in the stands froze with open mouths, afraid to blink and miss even a second of these insane acrobatic tricks in the air. Dean, on the other hand, was not going to arrange such a demonstration show, and he simply accurately shot the rockets stubbornly sitting on his tail with a pistol on the run. At the same time Alex stepped on another rocket, deftly redirecting it at the Hell House and immediately jumping up, spinning in the air.
"How long is this going to continue?! I think I'm about to get motion sickness!" Aerith shouted, pressing tighter against Alex and feeling how from these somersaults everything inside her was turning over.
"Hang on a little longer! He definitely doesn't have an infinite ammo supply of rockets!" Alex shouted in response, noticing how the redirected projectile crashed with a crack into the energy shield that had flared up around the Hell House.
After Alex's words Aerith could only press tighter against him and endure with all her strength, restraining the approaching attack of motion sickness. Alex himself at that moment with an accurate kick sent another approaching rocket back at the Hell House. And again the projectile uselessly crashed into the shining energy shield surrounding the structure. Irritably clicking his tongue, Alex softly landed on the floor of the Arena and immediately lunged aside, carefully pressing Aerith to himself.
In such moments he hated with all his heart such technologies of force barriers that his opponents loved to use so much. Spending a couple more moments running around the Hell House, Alex and Dean simultaneously froze the moment dry clicks reached them, signaling a completely expended ammo supply.
Hearing this long-awaited sound, Alex finally carefully set Aerith on the floor and sighed with relief. Feeling solid surface under her feet again, Aerith also exhaled with sincere joy. However, this did not cancel her secret thought that she would gladly repeat such a crazy flight again — though clearly not in the nearest time.
Dean, standing at the opposite end of the Arena, smirked seeing that the Hell House had run out of rockets. Chuckling, he unhurriedly walked past the silenced structure and, passing by, lightly kicked the Hell House with the toe of his boot, after which he headed toward Alex and Aerith.
But Dean hadn't managed to take even a couple of steps when Alex and Aerith silently synchronously pointed their fingers behind his back. Not understanding what was happening, Dean turned around and saw how the Gray Whisper was literally seeping through the roof right into the Hell House. In that same instant the smirk on Dean's face under the mask changed to extreme irritation.
"You're fucking kidding me…" Dean cursed with all his heart, perfectly realizing that now a second round of this madness awaited them.
The moment Dean cursed, the Hell House began rapidly transforming, taking its combat robotic form. From under the roof a stern metal head extended, from the windows massive steel manipulators jumped out, and the platforms with the help of which the structure turned lengthened, giving the robot the ability to move many times faster.
Completing the transformation, the head of the house-robot immediately fixed its gaze on Dean, who stood closest of all. The robot jerked one of its massive metal arms and delivered a crushing blow with a full swing. Seeing the huge fist rushing at him, Dean only managed to curse again and cross his arms in front of his chest, taking the Hell House's blow on a block.
From the most powerful impulse Dean slid across the floor of the Arena, leaving clear dark tracks from the soles behind him. The stands instantly exploded with shouts when the spectators saw how sharply the situation in the ring had changed and what the Hell House had turned into. Scotch and Kotch, standing on a separate commentary balcony, didn't fall silent for a second, describing every moment of the battle in all colors and heating up the excitement of the public — especially howling about the crushing blow taken by Dean.
Before Dean crashed with his back into the stone wall, Alex simply extended his hand to the side and softly extinguished the inertia, stopping his buddy. Stopping the sliding, Dean slightly shook his hands and first of all carefully examined the sleeves, checking whether his favorite jacket had been damaged. Making sure that the jacket was intact, Dean cracked his neck, intending to deliver a hard retaliatory blow to the robot.
But Dean hadn't managed to take even a step when Alex placed his hand on his shoulder and threw a short glance at the VIP box. Meeting Leslie's gaze, Alex barely noticeably nodded, making it clear that he would finish everything now. Leslie didn't react outwardly in any way, continuing to stand by the window with an indifferent appearance as if they weren't acquainted at all. Shifting his gaze back to the transformed Hell House, Alex slightly rolled up the sleeves of his coat.
"Aerith, want to hear one very wise phrase?" Alex asked with a smile, taking a step forward and slightly turning his head back to look at Aerith.
"I think now is not the time for philosophers at all! We have an evil robot here, you know! And I really don't like how it's looking at me… Really don't like it at all!" Aerith replied with a strained smile, pointing her magical staff at the Hell House.
"Once a wise man said: be like water," Alex spoke, slightly spreading his legs for stability and extending his left hand forward.
"And what is that supposed to mean right now?! How will turning into water help us defeat this creepy robot?!" Aerith asked in bewilderment, carefully observing his strange stance.
"Guess I'm kind of a tsunami," Alex replied with a wide smirk, drawing his right hand back and not taking his burning eyes off the Hell House.
As soon as Alex finished speaking, a bright flame flared up around him, creating a powerful impulse wave that forced Aerith to take a couple of steps back. In that same instant Alex's legs sank into the covering of the Arena with such incredible force that a deep web of cracks rapidly spread in all directions from his feet. The spectators in the stands held their breath from this spectacle and unanimously leaned forward.
They were seeing something like this for the first time in their lives and were afraid to miss even the slightest moment of what was supposed to happen next. Some of the quite wealthy guests even hastily took out their personal cameras, counting on taking as many unique shots as possible to then brag about them to their friends.
Scotch and Kotch, who had been nonstop roaring into the microphones until that moment, also instantly fell silent, stunned staring at Alex. Trying to maximally control the force of the blow so as not to collapse the entire underground structure of the Arena and bury everyone present here, Alex slowly exhaled a dense cloud of white steam that seeped through the mouth of his Bear mask.
Clenching his fist, Alex delivered a straight punch forward. The public, without blinking, watched how Alex's fist with seeming unhurriedness cut through the air. Dean, standing next to Aerith, immediately held the girl with his palm by the back, protecting her from the upcoming shock wave. And when the movement of the fist completed, a short ringing clap sounded, after which a colossal shock wave instantly followed. The shock wave with a roar scattered the sand in all directions.
The spectators standing closest to the protective barrier were fully covered by the impulse, throwing them back onto the people standing behind. Those who managed to stay on their feet coughed hard, trying to wave away the dense sand cloud that had risen.
When the dust and sand began slowly settling, the stands once again froze in deathly silence. The entire Arena in front of Alex had been turned into smoking ruins, and the massive metal gates opposite turned out to be deeply bent inward. The Hell House itself turned into a sparkling pile of scrap metal: from the once creepy robot only the charred legs remained, while the rest of its parts scattered across the Arena and stuck firmly in the stone walls.
"That was so cool!" Aerith shouted cheerfully, unceremoniously breaking the deafening silence that reigned in the Arena.
Aerith literally jumped up to Alex and began enthusiastically feeling his arms, not falling silent for a second and describing in all colors what she had just seen. And the moment this ringing cry sounded, the spectators in the stands also instantly woke up from the stupor. The underground Arena immediately shook from a flurry of applause, whistling, and deafening congratulations.
In one instant the Arena again filled with incredible noise. None of those present fully understood what had just happened, but no one cared about that anymore, because each of them had received a spectacle that they would definitely not forget until the end of their days. Leslie, who was in the VIP box, slightly pulled his cap over his eyes to hide a satisfied smirk.
He had received that very irrefutable confirmation of strength that he had been looking for. With soul-warming thoughts that the hour of reckoning with Don Corneo was already near, Leslie unhurriedly left the box to meet Alex, Dean, and Aerith at the exit on the street. Behind him remained the completely stunned Sam Chocobo, Madam M, and Andrea. Even for them, who had seen a lot of shit in their lifetime, the power demonstrated by Alex left an indelible impression.
And at that moment all three thought about one thing: Don Corneo had chosen a categorically wrong group of people to dictate his rules to them and refuse to pay the bills. None of them knew exactly what would happen in the nearest hours, but each clearly felt — the power at the Wall Market was about to change, and they should properly prepare for this moment. Not lingering longer than necessary, Sam, Madam M, and Andrea silently left the VIP box after Leslie.
At the same time Alex was already leaving the Arena through the central gates under the enthusiastic shouts of the crowd of spectators. On his back hung Aerith shining with delight, firmly wrapping her arms around his neck. Dean unhurriedly walked nearby, fully enjoying the adrenaline and the chanting of the stands.
But the moment they returned to the corridor and the gates slowly closed behind their backs, Alex and Dean simultaneously froze. Despite the fact that a dull roar still came from the Arena, the long passage in front of them seemed suspiciously quiet — absolutely all the employees and guards who had been here earlier had vanished without a trace. Aerith, who was still hanging on Alex's back, looked around in bewilderment, not understanding why the guys had suddenly stopped.
"Why aren't we going to the elevator?" Aerith asked with interest, sticking her head out from behind Alex's shoulder to look into his face.
"Seems like someone really doesn't want to pay us our prize money," Dean replied with a smirk, pushing the bag back and grabbing the hilt of Cain's Blade behind his back.
"How I love it when they try to pull that…" Alex muttered with deep sarcasm, sighing heavily and sticking his hand under the Bear mask to wearily pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Try to do what?" Aerith asked, easily jumping off Alex's back onto the floor and only now beginning to notice the strange atmosphere hanging in the air.
"Not let the winners take their well-deserved reward," Dean explained, cracking his neck and effectively spinning Cain's Blade on his palm.
"Oh, so that's how it is! Got it-got it… Wait! That's US the winners! Are they seriously not wanting to give us our prize?!" Aerith first nodded understandingly, folding her arms across her chest, and in the next second it finally fully dawned on her what exactly was happening.
As soon as Aerith's angry cry sounded, not restraining her indignation because of such brazen deception, armed bandits sent by Don Corneo began coming out of the previously locked technical rooms. Watching how the thugs loungingly and confidently poured into the corridor, Alex and Dean instantly wrote this entire company down as a group of idiot suicide candidates.
After all, any adequate person in their place would already be running from here without looking back after seeing what had just happened in the Arena. But judging by the zeal with which the thugs aimed their guns at them, Alex and Dean agreed that this mob of idiots hadn't seen anything and had simply obediently waited for them in the corridor from the very beginning. Gradually the entire passage filled with Corneo's people, each of whom clenched weapons in their hands — from automatic rifles and pistols to heavy machetes and rebar.
Alex already intended to cover Aerith with himself, but the girl herself nimbly jumped behind his back and now carefully peeked out from under his arm, narrowing her eyes suspiciously under the mask. Alex and Dean were already ready to attack first when in that same second the first single shot rang out.
Following the first thug who pulled the trigger, the others also broke and opened a barrage of fire. Corneo's thugs were not going to wait until their opponent decided to attack first. In that same moment a real hail of bullets poured down on Alex, Dean, and Aerith, crushing the walls, ceiling, and concrete floor, instantly raising a dense curtain of gray dust.
When the corridor shook with the clicks announcing completely empty magazines, the thugs lowered their barrels and peered into the dusty curtain. A moment later the dust cloud settled, and the mercenaries froze in stupor, seeing hundreds of bullets frozen right in the air mere centimeters from Alex and Dean.
Aerith, standing behind Alex's back, carefully peeked out from behind his shoulder, still tightly pressing her palms to her ears after the deafening shooting. Seeing the pieces of lead hovering in the air, the girl blinked in surprise and immediately noticed how Alex raised his hand in front of himself with characteristically crossed fingers.
"Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void," Alex said in a calm, almost everyday tone, not taking his gaze off the frozen bandits.
As soon as Alex's words sounded, for a fraction of a second Aerith saw how everything around plunged into impenetrable darkness, after which the world instantly returned to its previous state. Not having time to properly understand what that just was, Aerith stared at Alex with sincere interest. Dean, on the other hand, at the sight of this picture only slightly rubbed his chin and carelessly shrugged.
He immediately guessed the reasons for such a choice: Aerith was next to them, and arranging a bloody massacre in front of such a kind girl was clearly not worth it. Lowering his hand, Alex gently patted Aerith on the head and unhurriedly walked forward. Looking at the thugs and then at Alex, Aerith carefully followed him, firmly squeezing the coat on his back.
Walking after him, Aerith kept glancing at the thugs frozen in place like idols with absolutely glassy eyes. And she was ready to swear that saliva had already begun dripping from the corners of the mouths of some of them — as if their brains had simply burned out from overload. Approaching right up to the nearest thug, Alex lightly poked his finger into his chest, forcing him to topple backward.
The fallen bandit immediately launched a chain reaction: the thugs began falling one after another exactly like domino figures. Clearing a passage for themselves, Alex and Dean calmly walked right over the lying bodies, and only Aerith carefully stepped exclusively on clean islands of the floor, trying not to step on anyone. Reaching the elevator, Alex pressed the call button and habitually reached for a cigarette.
"What happened to them?! They just froze and then fell!" Aerith inquired, tugging at Alex's sleeve and pointing her finger at the corridor littered with unconscious bandits.
"I just overloaded their brains. In that instant their minds received such a gigantic volume of information that an ordinary person assimilates in about three years of continuous life," Alex explained, entering the opened elevator and removing the Bear mask from his head.
"And what exactly was the information that poured into their heads? It seemed to me that everything around became black for a second…" Aerith said thoughtfully, with visible relief removing the Hamster mask.
"They saw absolutely everything around. I myself don't fully understand how this trick works, but what I'm definitely sure of is that they saw absolutely everything. It's hard to explain in words if you don't experience it personally," Dean joined the explanations, removing the Panda mask as a true anime connoisseur.
"So… they'll never recover and stay like that?" Aerith carefully asked, not knowing whether she should be sad because of such a number of victims, or accept it, because these people wanted to kill them.
"No, they'll lie in the hospital for a couple of months and then recover. It's still too early for us to leave a trail of corpses behind us," Alex reassured her with a soft smile, slightly leaning toward Aerith and affectionately looking into her emerald-green eyes.
Hearing Alex's words, Aerith slightly pursed her lips and immediately began squishing his face, grumpily repeating his own phrase about the "trail of corpses." Continuing to pull Alex by the cheeks with an irritated feeling, Aerith didn't stop protesting the fact that instead of corpses they had left behind a corridor packed with drooling idiots who would recover only after a couple of months.
In response to her angry tirade Alex only sincerely burst out laughing, from which Aerith got even angrier and began rubbing his cheeks with triple enthusiasm. Watching this picture, Dean quietly chuckled, in parallel with difficulty trying to stuff three fluffy plush masks into his sports bag. The moment the doors slid open, Leslie appeared right in front of them, and his face still expressed stone calm and deep fatigue.
"You're late," Leslie said in an even tone, making it clear that he had been waiting for them for quite a while already.
"Hmm… Seems you weren't aware that Corneo sent a whole pack of his dogs after us," Alex replied, stroking his noticeably reddened cheeks and looking straight into Leslie's eyes.
"Now it's clear why there are so few people at the mansion… Did you kill everyone downstairs, or did someone manage to survive?" Leslie thoughtfully nodded, already thinking that it would be necessary to send a group of people to remove the corpses in the corridor of the underground arena after Corneo's death.
"No, we just turned them into drooling idiots. They'll lie for a couple of months and recover. And now show the way. We need our money," Dean replied in a lazy tone, walking past Leslie and lightly patting him on the shoulder.
Hearing such a strange answer, Leslie first thought that Alex and Dean had simply crippled all the thugs that Corneo had sent. Looking at the closed elevator doors, he for a short moment experienced the temptation to go down and see everything with his own eyes. But this feeling quickly subsided the moment Alex, Dean, and Aerith approached the exit.
Not intending to delay the revenge any longer, Leslie hurried outside to escort the trio to Don Corneo's mansion. He knew perfectly well: if even a little smell of something frying appeared, Corneo would immediately escape through the secret passage whose existence only two people knew. Catching up with the group, Leslie briefly nodded and led them after himself, because they needed to make it before the Don found out that the people he had sent had failed the task with a crash.
Following Leslie, Alex and Dean were already mentally calculating the stake, not forgetting to add a solid bonus for the delivered inconveniences. Aerith, on the other hand, was thinking only about how she would gladly hit Corneo a couple of times on the head with her magical staff for everything that this fat pervert had managed to do.
To be continued...
(Phew, now we can move on to extorting money from a fat mafia boss and heading to Sector 7 of the Slums. And then there's the meeting with members of the AVALANCHE group and becoming a terrorist. And after that, we'll move on. As for possible questions about when Sephiroth or Sephira will appear, that's later. Everything will come, I can't cram it all into one chapter; this isn't street magic. Hehe. Okay, time to eat, and enjoy the reading. Peace, love, and to run faster, just move your legs faster. Will it help you or not?)
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