"You're late!" Barret exclaimed, glaring at the blond ex-SOLDIER, who merely shrugged in response. "Anyway, we'd better get started quickly. Jessie's ID tags don't last long."
"In my defense, Shinra's security base is ridiculously strong. The fact that they last a few hours at all is a testament to my skills," Jessie muttered with a frown.
"I don't think that's what he meant, Jess," Wedge said, shaking his head.
"Oh, that's good to hear," Jessie replied with a smile, though her gaze quickly shifted to the handsome new recruit. "I have a lot of questions, and seeing how far we are from the reactor, I guess we've got more than enough time to talk everything over calmly."
Cloud's expression remained serene, but if one looked directly into his strange, greenish-tinged eyes, they'd see the flicker of a boy starting to lose his patience.
---
"Jessie, leave the guy alone," Barret said after watching the only girl in their group flutter around their temporary member like an overexcited cockatoo. "He looks like he's about to jump out the window."
"No, I don't think he's that rude," Jessie replied, placing her hands on her hips. "Besides, I'm just worried about my friend, Tifa."
"And I guess that's why you been putting up with so many questions," Biggs added, crossing his arms. "Seriously, if it had been me, I'd have shut you up already."
"And that's why he has such a cute girlfriend, and you're still single, Biggs," Jessie huffed, hitting a nerve, though she didn't seem to care.
"We're about to begin an extremely important mission!" Barret roared, clearly losing his patience. "Would you two stop acting like idiots?!"
"Leave them alone. They're just distracting themselves to stay relaxed," Cloud said calmly, closing his eyes.
Barret was momentarily speechless before frowning in reluctant agreement.
"By the way... Did you manage to evacuate the civilians?" Jessie asked, noticing how close they were getting to their objective.
"Yeah. It was a bit difficult, but nothing a little Zeny couldn't fix," Cloud replied, shaking his head.
"I hope that didn't come out of our funds. We're already in the red after borrowing from her allowance," Barret muttered, clearly referring to Marlene's school money.
"Relax. This was our decision, so we'll take care of it. Besides, we've got more than enough money to live comfortably for decades," Cloud said with a casual shrug.
"Uh... How much are we talking about?" Wedge asked, clearly intrigued.
"A number with more than eleven figures," Cloud replied honestly.
Every member of [Avalanche] visibly froze at that.
"Why are you charging us if you've got so much money?!" Barret roared.
"Because it's just a formality. We usually charge five times what we're asking now," Cloud answered with unsettling calm.
"How did you even get that much?" Wedge asked, raising an eyebrow.
"During our missions, we got lucky and picked up some high-level treasures," Cloud explained. "I've got so much, I even bought a villa in [Costa del Sol]."
"Do you think you can convince Tifa to join you guys~?" Jessie teased with a playful smile.
Her companions gave her blank looks, but just shook their heads, assuming she was joking—or at least hoping she was.
Cloud gave her a flat, unreadable stare that made Jessie start to sweat.
"It's a joke, a real joke!" she blurted, letting out a sigh of relief when the boy nodded.
"We're almost at Sector One. You'd better stop joking around," Barret warned, looking at his group.
The [Avalanche] members quickly nodded, while Cloud retrieved his trusted spear, which appeared to be made of a heavy material—its dark blade resembling obsidian.
"I thought you used a two-handed sword like your black-haired friend," Barret remarked, mildly surprised.
"I thought so too, but I feel more comfortable with a spear," Cloud replied simply. After all, he'd spent years perfecting his technique with that type of weapon—his skill now far surpassed anything he could do with a sword.
"Well, I'm not one to talk about weapons," Barret muttered, glancing at his arm, now a functional metal prosthesis. "Anyway, it's time."
"Okay!" the group shouted as the train began to slow down.
Without hesitation, they jumped out the window upon spotting only three guards nearby.
"This will be easy," Wedge said, knocking out the first one with a surprise hit. "See?"
"Shit, it's [Avalanche]!" the second soldier yelled, rushing to his comrade's side.
"Bad idea," Biggs said, stepping in front of the soldier and kicking him hard in the gut, sending him crashing into a wall. "Hmph!"
"Stop!" the last soldier cried, only to scream in pain as electricity surged through his body.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You need to be more aware of your surroundings~" Jessie smiled, pulling back her small stun gun.
"Not bad, huh?" Barret grinned—until his expression darkened. Two more SOLDIER members were running straight toward them. "I guess it's time for the rookie to show us what he's made of."
Cloud casually stepped forward as the two soldiers recognized him instantly.
"Shit, it's the Dragoon—Cloud Strife!" one of them yelled, raising his pistol. "We need backup! We can't take him alone!"
"Understood!" the second soldier said, leveling his weapon at Cloud's head.
But Cloud didn't even flinch. Instead, he disappeared—and reappeared several meters ahead.
The soldiers went pale. They knew this move: [Ghost Walk]. It was in the database.
"Forget it, empty the clip!" the first soldier shouted, opening fire recklessly. Whether it hit a civilian or not didn't matter to him anymore—he was facing a monster on par with Zack Fair.
Cloud darted between bullets with inhuman speed, leaving an afterimage behind with every step. It was as if a ghost were stalking them—one they couldn't escape.
The SOLDIERs were drenched in sweat, their fear palpable. The aura Cloud emitted was overwhelming. They didn't want to fight anymore. It was a lost battle.
"We surrender!" they yelled, tossing their weapons aside and dropping to the ground.
Cloud stopped in front of them, silent and blank-eyed, as if reading their minds. It made the moment even more terrifying.
After a few tense seconds, he slammed the butt of his spear into their rifles, destroying them, and tapped each man on the head to knock them out cold.
"I thought you were going to kill them," Barret said, shaking his head. He had to admit—Tifa's childhood friend was far more formidable than he expected. Cloud Strife. The Dragoon. Or as the few survivors who'd faced him whispered: Cloud, the Ghost Dragon. Now he understood why.
"We don't need to kill them. They're just doing their job—I know that from experience," Cloud said, shaking his head. "When you join SOLDIER, you're giving Shinra leverage. They can use your family, your lover, your friends... anything to control you."
"Is that why you left SOLDIER?" Jessie asked, clearly curious.
"No. My reason's a bit more personal. For now, I'm not ready to talk about it," Cloud replied, shaking his head. "It also involves Tifa. And I won't speak until she's okay with it."
"That's sweet of you," Jessie said, smiling. Maybe he wasn't as cold as he appeared. Maybe he just didn't know how to express what he felt.
Cloud frowned slightly and looked away. What others thought of him didn't matter right now. "Anyway, it's only a few blocks to [Reactor 1]. If my instincts are right, there'll be more SOLDIERs ahead."
"Nothing our ex-SOLDIER can't handle… right?" Wedge said, forcing a smile.
"Possibly," Cloud replied calmly.
-
NEW WORLD - FINAL FANTASY VII ( AFTER THIS - DRAGON BALLS ]
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