Alex and Dean unhurriedly followed Aerith, who once again had taken on the role of their guide through the underside of the Slums. This time the path ran through a stinking sewer collector — the only safe way to reach Sector 7 without extra problems and bypassing the attention of the patrols.
Walking along the underground corridor, Alex casually chatted with Aerith about everything in a row, answering any little things that came into her head. Aerith was tormented by a burning curiosity: she insanely wanted to know what the world was like beyond the walls of Midgar, what people lived there and what they did.
Partially remembering the structure of the Planet Gaia, Alex gladly satisfied her endless stream of questions. Walking nearby, Dean also listened to the stories with undisguised interest. Dean was especially hooked by the description of one resort island with a strange name. The first thing Dean thought was how with great pleasure he would right now rush to that paradise place: stretch out on the beach with an ice-cold cocktail in his hand, and in the evening maybe even go fishing.
By this moment they had just approached the massive entrance to the abandoned technical tunnels. To everyone's surprise, the steel leaves turned out to be tightly locked with a dense bolt. Aerith leaned back on her heel in surprise and puzzledly raised an eyebrow — she remembered perfectly well that this passage always remained open.
Noticing the confusion on Aerith's face, Alex gently pushed her aside with his shoulder and approached the jammed barrier himself. Grabbing the edge of the heavy metal door with his fingers, he pulled it toward himself without much effort. With a prolonged, screeching creak the old leaves yielded and a moment later swung open.
"Done, the doors are open. Where do we go next?" Alex asked, turning to Aerith.
"We need to get to the opposite side of this tunnel. Over there will be a ladder leading straight up," Aerith explained, stepping into the spacious room of the abandoned technical sector and pointing her finger to the opposite side.
"And you claim these are abandoned technical tunnels?" Dean asked in surprise, looking around and stepping over the threshold after Aerith.
Stepping after Aerith into the technical tunnel, Alex and Dean discovered with surprise that this place didn't look abandoned at all. Bright lamps burned along the walls, and all the units and mechanisms were maintained in such cleanliness as if the workers had just stepped out for a break and were about to return to servicing the equipment.
Approaching the railing, Alex leaned over the railings and looked down, where a sewage stream was seething, breaking through the closed steel shutters. Peering into the murky water, he noticed a suspicious silhouette movement. Having not the slightest desire to deal with those who were stirring there, Alex stepped back a step and turned to Aerith.
Aerith herself at that moment was frowning puzzledly, trying to recall a detour, because the massive concrete bridge leading to the opposite side of the tunnel turned out to be completely destroyed. Dean was also examining the gap in hopes of finding something interesting that would attract his attention.
While Aerith was feverishly sorting through the map of the dungeons in her memory, her feet suddenly left the ground, and a familiar sweet smell hit her nose. Slightly gasping from the unexpectedness, she turned her head and found herself literally a few centimeters from Alex's face.
"This way it'll be much faster. I'm not against small adventures, of course, but definitely not when it smells like sewage all around," Alex said with a soft smile, securely holding Aerith in his arms and looking her straight in the eyes.
"I completely agree with you! I don't give a damn about spending time on what's stirring in this sludge. I've had more than enough of monsters that like to sit in shit," Dean supported him with a smirk, and calmly ran up and easily jumped over the wide wide gap.
"But that's not interesting at all!… I thought we would be wandering detour paths, and at the end defeat the local monsters," Aerith groaned theatrically, funny dangling her little legs in Alex's arms.
"Maybe another time. The time is already approaching four in the morning, and we're still only halfway to Sector 7," Alex objected with a smile, stepping back a few steps to gain a run-up for the jump.
In response to Alex's jab Aerith resentfully pouted her lips, pressing the rescued box of chocolates even tighter to herself. However, even through this theatrical frustration Aerith continued to tensely reflect on why the leaf had turned out locked, because she clearly remembered that the passage was supposed to stand wide open.
For a brief moment a guess flashed in her head that they had simply ended up in this place much earlier than the due time. Slightly narrowing her eyes, Aerith looked at Alex. With every minute spent next to Alex she became more and more convinced that the predetermined course of fate was inexorably collapsing. Even if for now it was expressed only in small details that hardly anyone would pay attention to, it seemed to her that very soon everything would turn into a giant snowball.
Because of this Aerith could no longer predict what would happen next. On the other hand, she was warmed by the thought that this way a chance would appear to rewrite the tragic ending. Only she didn't know whether these changes would be for the better or for the worse, and that caused her slight anxiety.
Immersed in deep thoughts, Aerith didn't even notice how Alex in one jump vaulted over the cliff, and they had already begun walking further along the corridor. Carrying Aerith in his arms, Alex noted her detached, withdrawn gaze. Deciding not to interfere with her analyzing what was happening, he took on the role of guide and himself led Dean to the exit.
"What's with her? Why did she suddenly go so quiet?" Dean inquired mentally, expressively jerking his chin toward the silent Aerith.
"She knows how everything was supposed to happen in the original. And right now she's finally starting to notice how strongly everything has deviated from the course because of our intervention," Alex responded telepathically as well, explaining to Dean the reason for such thoughtfulness in Aerith.
"Hmm… So we really are the main reason why these gray farts were picking on the Flower Girl so much? And what's next? Will everything get even worse or what?" Dean hummed with a smirk, trying to assess the scale of the upcoming mess.
"Hard to say yet… Have you watched 'The Butterfly Effect'? It's a similar situation here. With the only correction that the key events will still try to happen, no matter what," Alex explained mentally, adjusting Aerith's position in his arms.
"Watched something like that, a long time ago though… Alright, to hell with these space-time puzzles. We'll act by the proven method," Dean hummed irritably, stroking his chin and turning to Alex with a smirk.
"Solve problems as they come and save everyone we can?" Alex clarified, thinking that he had guessed correctly their future direction of affairs.
"Exactly. If those gray farts crawl out again — just grind them into dust. If Shinra shows up to take the Flower Girl — just break all their bones. And we'll repeat the procedure until we save this damn world," Dean summarized with an excited grin, raising a thumbs-up.
Hearing Dean's words, Alex for a brief moment grinned in a wide smirk, flashing sharp fangs. He was perfectly aware: the key events of the future would still try to happen. And if one tried to completely erase them from reality, one would have to sacrifice the lives of too many innocent people — which he would definitely never go for.
Therefore the only true path remained: move strictly forward, save everyone who was destined to die, and reduce future casualties to an absolute minimum. Deciding not to clutter his head anymore with what could only still happen, Alex shifted his gaze to Aerith, who, meeting his gaze, thoughtfully tilted her head to the side and slightly narrowed her eyes.
Noticing that she had finally emerged from her reflections, Alex was already about to carefully set her on the ground, but Aerith immediately pouted her lips capriciously, making it clear with her whole appearance: riding in the arms of a strong guy was much more pleasant than stomping in boots through the dirt. Slightly chuckling, Alex walked a few more meters and soon fixed his gaze on a steel ladder going straight to the surface, to the abandoned train depot in the Seventh Sector of the Slums.
"We're almost there! Just need to climb these steps, and we'll end up right at the Train Graveyard," Aerith announced with a smile, pointing her little finger upward.
"Just don't call this place the Train Graveyard… Or we'll really summon ghosts, and the rest of the night we'll have to chase them around the entire abandoned depot," Alex asked in a tired tone, finally setting Aerith on the floor and preparing to climb first.
"I sure as hell don't feel like starting another day with races after evil spirits… Move aside, I'll go first," Dean interrupted grumpily, slightly pushing Alex aside with his shoulder and confidently grabbing the rusty rungs, beginning to climb up.
"Well, maybe another time then… Catching ghosts should be very fun!" Aerith pouted her little lips cutely, lightly kicking the rusty metal ladder with the toe of her boot.
"Not as fun as you fantasize. And now give me your box of sweets and climb after Dean," Alex shook his head, taking the package of chocolates from Aerith's hands to free her palms.
"No way, better you climb first!" Aerith muttered slightly embarrassed and with a light smile pushed Alex toward the ladder.
"Why is that?" Alex slightly tilted his head to the side, sincerely not understanding why Aerith wanted to climb last.
"Don't you really understand?… Or are you just pretending not to understand, mister?" Aerith asked, narrowing her eyes, and playfully poked Alex's nose with her little finger.
"Actually it's elementary safer this way. What if some local filth crawls out from below and wants to grab you by the leg?" Alex replied with such a serious look as if everything was obvious.
"Or mister Pervert is simply looking for an excuse to peek at what's under the innocent lady's dress!" Aerith continued joking and pressed her finger even harder on his nose.
Hearing how he was directly and without reason called a pervert, Alex lowered his gaze and fixed on the free pink dress in which Aerith had overcome this not short path to the Seventh Sector with them. Raising his eyes upward and instantly assessing the viewing angle, Alex understood everything and coughed embarrassed into his fist. Trying to hide the sudden awkwardness behind the coughing, Alex pushed off the floor with a strong push and instantly jumped out onto the surface.
Alex had simply weaned himself off such delicate nuances, because the girls from his close circle were in romantic relationships with him, and he hadn't had to care about the strictness of the dress code over ladders for a long time. The moment Alex literally flew out of the hatch, Dean immediately noted the strange and too hasty behavior of his friend. Dean couldn't help but inquire what the hell had happened down there.
Alex only vaguely waved it off, making it clear that a purely light misunderstanding had occurred. Dean distrustfully shrugged and continued warily looking around — in case the local evil spirits decided to arrange a warm welcome for them after all.
A moment later irritated puffing sounded from the technical hatch in the floor. Climbing the rungs, Aerith was showing with her whole appearance how strongly she was offended in her feelings. Approaching the hatch, Alex extended his hand to her to help her get out, and immediately met the gaze of offended green eyes.
"You yourself insisted that a terrible monster might grab me by the leg from below, and then you just took off! And what if someone really did grab me?!" Aerith pouted her lips, but still grabbed his palm and climbed out onto the surface.
"It came out by accident," Alex muttered with a guilty look, embarrassed scratching his cheek with his finger and trying not to look Aerith straight in the face.
"Or you just got embarrassed, you silly… Heh-heh! Alright, maybe next time you'll get lucky and I won't notice anything," Aerith drawled with a coquettish smirk, jumping up close to Alex and cheerfully looking into his eyes.
"Everything has its time and place… Next time I'll just jump up together with you," Alex replied, returning Aerith her stolen box of chocolates.
"Only your 'time and place' clearly shouldn't be expressed in flirting every second! I'm already literally nauseated by this pink aura you've dumped everything with here. You're not alone here, by the way!" Dean's irritated voice sounded behind their backs.
"Don't be jealous! If you're lucky, you'll definitely meet someone too," Aerith fought back with a cute smile, sticking her head out from behind Alex's broad shoulder and looking at the grumbling Dean.
"I don't need that. I already have one. And in general, where do we move next?" Dean cut off completely calmly, averting his gaze and continuing to examine the depot in search of an exit.
"Really?! And who is she?! What does she look like?!" Aerith immediately cheered up, forgetting about everything in the world and instantly jumping up to Dean, burning with impatience to hear a juicy romantic story.
While Aerith was enthusiastically interrogating who exactly Dean was dating, and he was ignoring her endless stream of questions with an unyielding appearance, Alex began looking around. He quickly figured out that they had ended up in a huge covered hangar of the abandoned depot, noticing around a multitude of old and abandoned train cars that had long been covered with a thick layer of dust and rust.
Trying to find the shortest path outside, Alex jumped onto the roof of one of the old cars and looked around. At the far end of the room he discerned massive locked gates that could lead in a completely different direction. Intending to make absolutely sure where they needed to go, Alex raised his gaze to the ceiling.
Noticing that the first barely noticeable rays of the sun were already breaking through the collapsed roof, Alex decided to climb higher and personally look around in search of a path. Warning Dean and Aerith that he would return soon, Alex immediately jumped and easily hooked his hand onto a steel support beam.
Slightly pulling up for a swing, he pushed off the rusty metal and in one yank flew through the breach right onto the roof of the depot. As soon as Alex found himself on top, a captivating picture unfolded before his eyes: in the distance the sun was slowly rising, illuminating the Slums of Midgar with the first rays. Admiring this extremely pleasant spectacle for a couple of moments, Alex turned toward the Seventh Sector.
"There's simply a gorgeous view from here… Hmm… Seems I can even see the sign of the Seventh Heaven bar. That means the meeting with Tifa and Cloud is already literally a couple of minutes' walk away," Alex muttered with a satisfied smile, stroking his chin and peering into the dense development in the center of the sector.
"Hey! Did you see where we need to go up there?!" Dean's loud shout sounded from below, interrupting Alex while he was admiring the views of the Seventh Heaven bar.
"Yes! We're already practically there! Just need to get out of the depot, and we're a couple of steps from the residential quarters!" Alex responded, looking into the hole under his feet and looking at Aerith and Dean below.
"Then get down already! Enough admiring the landscapes up there!" Dean barked impatiently, urging Alex to get down faster.
Rolling his eyes at Dean's impatient shouts, Alex threw one last glance at the Seventh Heaven bar looming in the distance and stepped into the breach. Falling downward, he deftly hooked onto the protruding steel crossbars, damping the speed, flipped over his head in the air, and softly landed right in front of Aerith, who immediately clapped her hands cheerfully from delight.
Slightly chuckling, Alex waved his hand toward the locked metal gates of the depot, showing the direction. Seeing the needed direction, Dean was the first to walk forward, driven by one single and most unyielding thought — he urgently, right now needed to eat at least something. Approaching a rusty car blocking the passage, Dean didn't look for detour paths: he simply raised his leg and wholeheartedly slammed it against the steel car.
From his blow the multi-ton car crawled across the concrete with a deafening screech, leaving deep furrows on the floor from the jammed wheels. Clearing the road, Dean habitually shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and moved on. Seeing the last barrier in front of him in the form of the massive steel gates of the depot, Dean without extra thought delivered another strong blow, immediately knocking down the heavy gates together with the hinges. Watching how Dean was literally smashing a path to the exit for them head-on, Alex and Aerith synchronously exchanged glances and simultaneously shrugged.
"I think he's just hungry," Alex summarized, picking up the pace after Dean before he went too far and started cursing them out loud for slowness.
"I think so too! Or tired. Or more likely both: both hungry and tired," Aerith supported with a smile, cheerfully rocking as she walked next to Alex.
"In something you're definitely right. Dean always turns into a walking disaster when he doesn't eat on time. So there's no need to be surprised at his brutal methods of dismantling," Alex said with a chuckle, habitually taking a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it on the go.
Quickly leaving the abandoned depot, Alex and Aerith managed to see how Dean was already raising his leg over another rusty car. Not intending to make Dean wait, Alex and Aerith hurried after him, driven by the joyful thought that they had finally almost reached the Slums of the Seventh Sector. Already standing practically on the threshold of the city, Alex asked Dean to slow down with his overly noisy way of clearing the road, because extra attention from the patrols was the last thing they needed right now.
Dean, who had already prepared to slam the steel car, lowered his leg and looked at Alex. Slightly nodding, Dean jumped onto the roof of the car, and before him opened a view of the town that turned out to be noticeably larger than what they had seen in the Fifth Sector. Alex jumped onto the car after him, carefully holding Aerith in his arms. Standing on the old roof, Alex, Dean, and Aerith examined the view of the Slums of the Seventh Sector spreading before them.
They watched how the first residents were coming out of their shacks, dressed in greasy work overalls, with frankly dejected faces, with such a look as if they insanely didn't want to get up so early, but they had to work so much to feed their families. Alex's gaze again smoothly moved to the sign of the Seventh Heaven bar. He wondered whether Tifa had already woken up or they would have to sit like complete idiots on the threshold of a closed establishment in the hope that someone would take pity on them and let them in.
"Fortunately, I grabbed something that will guaranteed help us negotiate," Alex voiced his thoughts, lightly patting the bag hanging on his shoulder.
"And what did you grab there? Want to shove cash at them or those magic balls of yours?" Dean asked with a chuckle, turning his head toward Alex.
"Nope. Don Corneo was actively digging under AVALANCHE, and I pinched a couple of most interesting documents from his archive. And if that turns out not enough, I can find other ways to negotiate," Alex replied with a smile, unzipping the zipper and demonstrating a plump folder lying on top of the packs of Gil.
"Yeah, or just seduce some beauty inside, and then they'll immediately arrange the best overnight stay with breakfast for us. Excellent plan, dude!" Dean said with a laugh, raising a thumbs-up.
"That's not how it works! And in general, they'll definitely let us in without any seductions! I'm sure!" Aerith immediately shouted indignantly, pouting her lips and soulfully punching Dean in the shoulder with her little fist.
"I'm just offering options… At worst we'll sprinkle them some Gil and a batch of Materia. In the end everyone will stay in the plus," Dean replied with a shrug, with icy calm ignoring this sudden attack of jealousy from Aerith.
Starting to quietly puff from the surging anger, Aerith turned to Alex and with her whole expressive gaze made it clear to him: he shouldn't even think of seducing anyone for the sake of being accepted into AVALANCHE. Seeing this jealous order, Alex only pursed his lips, sincerely wondering how she could even imagine such a stupid scenario.
Patting Aerith on the head and softly shaking his head, he made it clear that she was completely worrying in vain and that he would definitely not do that. Scooping up the still pouting Aerith into his arms, Alex easily jumped off the car and unhurriedly walked toward the gates. Almost reaching the border, he waited for Dean and carefully set Aerith on her feet, considering that flashing before the locals with a girl in his arms would be too suspicious.
When Dean caught up with them, Alex stepped forward and calmly pushed the leaf of the gates under the bewildered gazes of the first passersby. Such an appearance of three colorful strangers from the side of the closed, abandoned part of the Slums raised quite a few questions.
However, no one was going to clarify relations with them: the sleepy population of the Seventh Sector was habitually trudging toward the railway station to make it for the early shift. Passing the residents, Alex slowly led Aerith and Dean straight to the Seventh Heaven bar, located in the very center of the settlement. Walking deeper into the quarters, Alex and Aerith synchronously latched their gazes onto a territory fenced with netting, which was a working zone with massive main pipes through which green Mako energy was pulsing.
Looking at these constructions, Aerith squeezed the box of chocolates in her hands with all her strength, perfectly remembering that it was in this place that a monstrous tragedy would occur in the future. Alex, also perfectly knowing about the upcoming fall of the Plate, slowly raised his gaze higher, to where a multi-ton steel disk was hanging over their heads, which was destined to fall.
"Hey, why did you freeze? Is this some local factory or something?" Dean inquired, noting how Alex and Aerith were looking too intently and gloomily at the fenced object in front of them.
"Something like that. Through these pipes Mako energy is pumped right into the reactor above us," Aerith slightly nodded, pointing her little finger at the steel pipes going to the very top to the plate.
"Now it's clear why the hell they put up so many fences here… Alright, enough standing like pillars. Unless, of course, you've decided right now to smash this factory to hell with shouts of: 'Save the Planet!'" Dean threw with a chuckle and was the first of all to step further down the street.
Hearing Dean's ironic comment, Alex slightly laughed, deciding for now not to stun his friend with the news that the slogan about saving the Planet they would soon have to shout on every corner after all. Continuing to smile warmly, Alex turned to Aerith. She was still thoughtfully and tensely peering at the steel covering of the Plate that was hanging right over their heads.
In these minutes she sincerely hoped that with joint efforts they would manage to prevent that nightmarish catastrophe that was supposed to destroy this sector to the ground. Still immersing herself in these unpleasant thoughts, Aerith felt a warm hand on her shoulder and immediately turned. Meeting Alex's gaze, Aerith with a habitual movement hid the surging sadness behind a radiant smile. Alex tenderly rubbed her little nose and nodded toward Dean, who without reducing the pace had gone far ahead.
Slightly leaning to the side to peek out from behind Alex's shoulder, Aerith saw that Dean had already passed the crossroads and practically reached the center of the settlement. Noticing that they had once again been unceremoniously abandoned halfway, Aerith funny wrinkled her little nose. Forgetting about all her gloomy thoughts, she firmly grabbed Alex by the hand and with all her strength dragged him after herself, trying to catch up with the eternally going-ahead Dean.
While Alex, Dean, and Aerith were only approaching the center of the settlement, on the second floor of the Seventh Heaven bar an alarm clock rang deafeningly. Almost instantly an elegant woman's hand stuck out from under the warm blanket and carefully pressed the button to make the alarm clock turn off. The owner of this hand was Tifa Lockhart, concurrently the manager of the Seventh Heaven bar.
Slightly yawning, Tifa rose from the bed and smoothly rotated her head, stretching her neck that had stiffened overnight. Finishing the stretch, Tifa got out of bed and went to wash up to finally shake off the remnants of sleep and start a new day. Quickly washing up and dressing in her habitual things, Tifa carefully stepped over the threshold of her room.
Closing the door, she crept up to the neighboring room and quietly pulled the handle. Looking through the crack into the bedroom, Tifa smiled with relief, noticing that little Marlene was still sweetly sleeping, absolutely not reacting to the sound of the alarm clock. Tifa also silently closed the door and headed toward the stairs. Descending to the first floor, she decided to quickly have a snack before starting the general cleaning after yesterday's wild evening.
Preparing a couple of sandwiches and brewing herself a mug of hot instant coffee, Tifa sat down at the bar counter, thoughtfully peering into the rising steam. Inside her a real storm of emotions was raging. The recent return of her old childhood friend, Claudia, whom she hadn't seen for long years, was supposed to bring joy.
But Tifa was troubled to the depths of her soul by how poorly her friend remembered her and how cold, alien, and a completely different person she had become. Taking a sip, Tifa sighed heavily, sincerely hoping that with time everything would settle down.
Preparing to take another sip, Tifa suddenly shuddered from a clear knock that sounded from the side of the entrance door. Turning on the stool, she puzzledly raised an eyebrow, because none of the local residents usually knocked on the doors so early.
"Sorry, we're still closed!" Tifa shouted loudly, making it clear to the unexpected visitors that the establishment wasn't working.
But instead of an answer a clear, persistent knock sounded again from behind the door. Completely frowning, Tifa rose from the stool, intending to personally find out who had the urge to bang on the doors so early. Approaching the entrance, she slightly opened the massive leaf and carefully looked out onto the street.
The first one who caught her eye was a young guy about her age in a blue coat and with a captivating, extremely rare color of eyes. The most noticeable were the straps of two tightly packed bags hanging on his shoulders. Then Tifa's gaze slid a little to the side and stopped on a girl in a pink dress and red jacket who was pressing a heavy cardboard box to herself and smiling so warmly and openly as if she had come to visit a long-time close friend.
And the last one whom Tifa glanced at was an adult frowning man. His stern facial expression painfully reminded Tifa of the habitual face of Barret in his "best" minutes. Not understanding where this strange trio had come from, Tifa frowned and unnoticed clenched her fist behind the door. She had no idea who was standing before her, but at any moment was ready to give a decisive rebuff if the situation got out of control.
"Sorry, but the bar is still closed. If you need something, please come in the evening," Tifa said with a soft smile, very politely seeing off the unexpected guests.
"Oh, please accept my deepest apologies for such an early visit! May I inquire whether you would like to talk about our Lord and Savior — the Flying Spaghetti Monster?" Alex blurted out his favorite joke with a widest smile.
After Alex's words a real short circuit occurred for a brief moment in Tifa's head. Tifa simply couldn't understand what she had just heard and what pasta monster this strange guy was going on about. Alex continued to smile impeccably as if nothing had happened, as if it wasn't he who had blurted out the wildest nonsense a second ago.
Dean immediately turned aside and quietly giggled, covering his mouth with his palm. He wasn't at all surprised that Alex had decided to blurt out such stupidity at the most responsible moment. Only Aerith, noticing Tifa's stunned gaze, sympathetically pursed her lips, after which playfully slapped Alex on the back for untimely humor.
While Tifa was in a light stupor, Alex managed to briefly examine her. As he remembered, the girl had luxurious long black hair and expressive, almost scarlet eyes. She was wearing a short sports top under which a truly big heart was hidden, and a practical black skirt that absolutely didn't restrict movements. Shaking her head, Tifa quickly shook off the delusion from the stupid joke and slightly frowned, looking at the smiling guest.
"If you've come for that, then I can't help with anything. Whatever flying… something you're talking about, it's definitely not the right address," Tifa repeated still calmly, gently closing the topic and showing that she had no time for this.
"Alright, sorry for the joke. I just didn't know how to start the conversation. Actually we're here on business. And we need to talk to a guy named Barret," Alex spoke with a sigh, not letting Tifa close the doors.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken, there's no Barret here. Maybe you should look in other Sectors of the Slums," Tifa said in a calm tone, not giving away her friend to three people unfamiliar to her.
"For God's sake, lady! We know perfectly well that he practically spends the night here. We've got something that will guaranteed interest him… And you, stop playing the gentleman-diplomat and just show her that damn folder!" Dean said in an irritated tone, staring at Tifa, after which he hit Alex on the shoulder so that he would stop playing comedy.
Hearing about some folder, Tifa slowly shifted her gaze to Alex, who by this moment was already unzipping the bag hanging on his shoulder. The first thing that caught her eye was that the bag was literally bursting with tight packs of Gil, on top of which lay a plump folder. But all her attention was instantly captivated by the familiar emblem on the cover, which Tifa definitely wouldn't confuse with anything.
Not understanding how things with Corneo's symbolism ended up in the hands of three strangers, Tifa frowned, the first thing thinking that before her were another of his flunkies who had come with a standard ultimatum. However, instead of more filthy invitations to become the Don's bride, a sheet of paper extracted from the folder appeared before her eyes. Quickly running her gaze over the lines, Tifa in that same second snatched the document from Alex's hands. Reading what was written, she squeezed the paper with such force that it almost tore.
"I think now we can definitely talk. Such things clearly shouldn't be discussed right on the street, am I right?" Alex said with a smile, carefully taking the document from Tifa's hands before she tore it to shreds.
"Where did you get this? I know for sure that the one from whom you took this wouldn't have parted with such papers just like that," Tifa spoke in a tense tone, folding her arms across her chest and continuing to steadfastly block the passage.
"You mean that fat bastard? Well, he didn't want to pay us for the victory in his tournament. So we wrote him off, and at the same time slightly cleaned out his safe," Dean said with a shrug, seeing not a single reason to hide that Corneo was already dead.
"Don Corneo is dead? Are you serious?!" Tifa asked stunned, clearly not expecting to hear such wild news so early in the morning.
"Well, when we saw him last, he was already choking on his own blood. I think by this moment Leslie Kyle has already finished him off," Alex said with a smile, bringing a cigarette to his lips.
"Got it… Alright, come in. What you brought is really too important. Barret should come only in a couple of hours, so you'll have to wait," Tifa said, still in a light shock, stepping aside and letting the first visitors of the day into the establishment.
Seeing Tifa's stunned face, Alex smiled slightly and stepped first into the bar. Aerith followed Alex and friendly waved to Tifa in greeting, to which Tifa herself wearily smiled, showing how shocking the news had been for her this morning. Last entered Dean, who desperately wanted to snack on something and drink. When everyone had entered, Tifa once again looked out onto the street and slightly looked around before closing the doors behind herself.
To be continued...
(So, we've finally reached Sector Seven, and Tifa with her big heart. Hehehe. Next up, we have the arrival of a tough guy with a machine gun for an arm, and a cold mercenary with a Buster Sword. And then we'll move straight to the first Mako Reactor. Yeah, that definitely has to happen. Yeah. I wanted to say something else, but there's no time. If you have any questions, please contact my secretary, who is also me. I'm going to go eat. Peace, love, and heh, a big heart.)
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