Having passed through the huge hall with stations for charging robots, Alex and the others reached the massive doors that led straight to the Mako storage premises and the reactor itself. Approaching the metal leaves, Alex stood at the control panel and immediately connected his phone to it in order to quickly hack the system and open the passage further. A moment later the doors hissed open, and the entire group moved forward along the long corridor going downward — straight to the heart of the complex.
Walking behind Barret and Tifa shoulder to shoulder with Claudia, Alex slightly shook his head, and in his mind one extremely cheerful idea immediately matured of how to spoil the already not the best day for Shinra's leadership even more. Thinking that this would become an excellent dirty trick, Alex with the most serious expression on his face nodded to himself — which, of course, did not remain unnoticed by Claudia. Seeing this reaction, she lightly pushed Alex with her elbow in the side, attracting attention to herself.
The moment he turned, Claudia quietly, in a barely audible whisper asked what was on his mind again. Hearing the question, Alex negatively shook his head, convincing her that he was simply trying to understand the logic of what was happening and to calculate what exactly Shinra was planning. Looking Alex straight in the eyes, Claudia understandingly nodded. She perfectly realized why such thoughts visited his head.
After all, when she together with the others had descended to the lower levels of Mako Reactor 1 in order to switch the energy flow, a huge number of grunts had stood in their way — even despite the fact that Alex, Aerith and Dean had arranged a grand pogrom on the upper levels. Claudia even for a moment thought that they perhaps should cancel all plans, considering that they were literally walking with their own feet into a set trap.
Raising her gaze to Tifa walking ahead, Claudia suddenly felt how in her head again a wild, sharp pain responded — as if someone had driven a red-hot needle deep into the brain. And in that same moment before her eyes flashed foreign, vague memories: a crying Tifa helplessly hugging the bloodied body of her deceased father.
Frantically grabbing her head because of another attack, Claudia heavily leaned her back against the cold wall of the corridor, trying to realize what exactly she had just seen. However, the haze quickly dispersed the moment she again felt Alex's warm, supporting palm on her shoulder. Shaking her head to finally get rid of the tormenting consequences of the headache, Claudia raised her gaze to Alex and weakly waved her hand, showing that she was fine.
Not letting Alex utter a single word, she softly pushed his hand away and stubbornly walked forward. Watching the departing Claudia, Alex wearily sighed and scratched his cheek with a finger. It seemed to him that dealing with such attacks of Claudia's would be far simpler if there were at least a drop of Jenova cells in her body.
However, there was simply no such alien filth in her — and that meant only one thing: she would not be able to become a puppet of Sephira in the future under any possible situation. Everything that in the end was tormenting Claudia now was only a chaotic mess of false and foreign memories. Once again heavily sighing, Alex hurried after the others before the group went too far.
Picking up the pace, Alex caught up with the others right before they left the corridor and exited into the spacious Mako storage. Approaching closer, Alex heard how Tifa and Barret were actively discussing where in general all the workers of the complex had gone, considering that it was only midday on the clock right now. In response to such a question Barret only smirked and confidently declared that all the Shinra bastards had simply scattered from fear.
Looking at Barret's broad back, Alex shook his head, for a moment thinking: shouldn't he right now open their eyes and say that this entire plant is just one big stage prepared in advance by Shinra? But meeting Claudia's gaze, who warningly shook her head, Alex decided to keep silent. To him and Claudia it was clear even without extra words: even if they openly spoke about the trap, Barret, as a stubborn idiot, would still want to bring everything to the end, so their warnings would change absolutely nothing.
Deciding not to tell Barret and Tifa anything about the preparing ambush, Alex with quick gestures asked Claudia whether everything was okay with her. Instead of an answer Claudia only demonstratively turned away, putting on her habitual cold and detached expression. She preferred to ignore Alex's question about her condition. Claudia still sincerely did not understand in exactly what way he helped her cope with these wild attacks, but that did not mean at all that she would openly ask him for help.
Pressing her lips together, Alex unhurriedly walked past Claudia and stepped out onto the spacious metal balcony located right above the Mako storage and the reactor itself. Standing next to Alex, Tifa looked down and immediately recognized this place — after all, she had already seen something similar when Alex, Aerith and Dean had arranged a grand performance in Reactor 1.
"So this is what this place looks like… In real life it seems completely different," Tifa said, examining the spacious storage premises with interest.
"Not so chaotic when no one is performing from the stage here. Am I right?" Barret said with a smirk, looking down at the glowing Mako pool.
"Next you'll say you didn't like it then," Alex asked, rolling his eyes, nonchalantly leaning on the railings and slightly turning his head toward Barret.
"Yeah," Claudia added in a dry tone, already approaching the technical ladder in order to descend.
Turning his head toward Claudia, Alex looked at her with a tired gaze, to which she simply jumped down from the balcony so as not to waste extra time on descending the ladder. Shaking his head at such open ignoring, Alex patted Tifa on the shoulder and proposed that they still begin the descent. Nodding, Tifa once more looked down and together with Barret headed toward the technical ladder.
Watching how the others gradually descended from one flight to another, Alex preferred a far lighter and faster path — he simply climbed onto the metal railings. Standing on the very edge of the fencing, Alex looked into the depth of the hall and calmly stepped forward. He began rapidly falling to the very bottom, nonchalantly keeping his hands deep in the pockets of his coat.
Sliding down yet another ladder, Tifa suddenly saw how a black silhouette rapidly flashed past her, in which she instantly recognized Alex. Realizing from what monstrous height he had just swept downward, Tifa immediately jumped off the steps and ran up to the railings in order to look whether everything was okay with him. Looking down, she was stunned: Alex as if nothing had happened was lazily pacing along the lower platform, slightly dancing to some internal music of his. Clapping herself on the chest from the overflowing emotions, Tifa thought that it was time for her to get used to the fact that Alex was capable of absolutely any mad things.
Pacing below, Alex did not even suspect that he had nearly caused Tifa a full-fledged heart attack. At that moment his thoughts were completely occupied with another question: should he arrange another grand performance or not? And the choice here was more than obvious — after all, his older brother Lucifer had directly asked to do everything with maximum chic and brilliance.
And knowing Lucifer's character, Alex was a hundred percent sure: the brother would definitely find a couple of legal loopholes in order not to give the remaining part of the payment for saving the world of Gaia if the show turned out insufficiently spectacular. While Alex was immersed in his reflections, Tifa, Barret and Claudia had already safely descended to the very lowest level.
"Hey, SOLDIER kid! Stop eternally floating in your reflections!" Barret said, noticeably patting Alex on the shoulder and bringing him out of another stupor.
"Yeah-yeah… If you yourself never think, that still doesn't mean that the others shouldn't do it either," Alex countered with a smirk, unhurriedly sticking his hand into the inner pocket of his coat.
Before Barret once again snapped at Alex's tease and this grew into another verbal skirmish with a potential fight, Tifa decided to intervene in time, not letting the situation escalate. She braced her hands against Barret's broad back and began insistently pushing him forward, toward the Mako reactor, in order to finish the business as quickly as possible and finally leave this dangerous place.
Muttering something indistinct, Barret with a sweeping stride walked toward the reactor, reasoning that it was not worth getting into a conflict when they were literally one step from their main goal. Shrugging his shoulders from the annoyance that a spectacular conflict had not happened, Alex raised his gaze to the ceiling. He with a smile surveyed the dozens of surveillance cameras that dotted the perimeter of the premises. Unhurriedly taking a small case from the inner pocket of his coat, Alex immediately opened it.
Inside was a compact pocket mirror and thick, bright multicolored makeup. Taking a sponge, Alex, shaking his head, began carefully applying the makeup to his face, slowly walking after the others. Approaching the reactor itself, Tifa, Claudia and Barret did not even suspect what performance Alex had arranged behind their backs. Stopping at the very core of the reactor, Barret slightly clenched his fist and at an angle raised his gaze upward.
Looking at this gigantic bulk, he mentally rejoiced: even though last time he himself had not managed to arrange the explosion because he and the others had been sent to switch the Mako flow valve. But this time he would see with his own eyes how Shinra lost yet another most important resource used for the slow destruction of the Planet. Tifa just as silently looked at the reactor, experiencing strange, oppressive feelings tightly connected with her sad past.
"So here we are at the very machine that is destroying our planet, pumping the last blood out of it. The planet is dying, and these scoundrels still sit in their leather chairs, continuing to take the very last from ordinary people," Barret said, frowning, and forcefully punched the armored wall of the reactor with his fist.
"We can change all this. Even if just a little…" Tifa said in a heavy tone, slightly sighing and lowering her gaze to the floor.
"We're not just going to change everything a little — we'll completely overcome Shinra! And we won't let them destroy our world. What do you think about this, SOLDIER girl?" Barret asked with a smirk, nonchalantly folding his arms across his chest.
"Shinra can't be overcome with simple loud words. To destroy them, something far greater than banal reactor explosions is needed," Claudia answered in a calm tone, turning her head toward Barret.
"Heh! Something greater? We have a damn reactor in Seventh Heaven the size of a trash can that alone is capable of providing light to all the Slums. And now imagine that we have dozens of such! We can, damn it, give light to all of Midgar. And then Shinra can go straight to hell!" Barret declared with a wide smirk, proudly raising a thumb upward.
"Striking the enemy with his own weapon… Hmm…" Claudia muttered in a thoughtful tone, suddenly recalling the exact words of Alex spoken by him several hours earlier.
"Exactly, right on the money! Fine, kid… Take out your miracle bomb, plant it and let's get out of here. And, damn it, no more concerts!" Barret shouted loudly with a wide smirk, turning his head back, and in that same second froze dead in place.
"Hmm… What did you just say?" Alex asked again in an absolutely thoughtful tone, for a moment ceasing to apply makeup to his face and raising his gaze to the stunned Tifa, Claudia and Barret.
Noticing that Barret had suddenly fallen silent mid-sentence, Tifa and Claudia also turned around — and immediately froze in place like idols. Their gaze turned out to be literally fixed on Alex, who had already practically finished applying his strange makeup. And now his face was covered with a dense, thick layer of snow-white greasepaint, under the eyes bright-red shadows glowed resembling flowing bloody tears, and on the lips a wide, slightly smudged scarlet smile stood out that reached to the very cheeks — as if it had been drawn with fresh blood.
Looking at all this madness, Claudia wearily covered her eyes with her hand and tightly pinched the bridge of her nose, trying with all her might to unsee this horror. Tifa, on the other hand, widened her eyes, sincerely not understanding when he had even managed to apply such complex makeup if only a few minutes had passed while she was not looking at him. But the most enraged and irritated of all was Barret, who instantly realized: Alex was going to arrange another damn show that the entire Midgar would see through the surveillance cameras.
Clenching his teeth from the boiling anger, Barret with wide, decisive strides stepped toward Alex, intending to physically stop this psycho. Alex, still not having heard clear explanations about what they wanted from him, absolutely calmly returned to applying the makeup. Humming a light, cheerful melody under his breath and slightly dancing in time, Alex applied the final finishing touches.
Carefully covering the last open areas of skin, Alex moved his head in different directions, checking through the mirror whether he had missed a spot somewhere. And at the same time he with a sigh understood: he completely did not know how to do a kind and harmless clown makeup — once again he had gotten exclusively a terrible, nightmarish clown face. Heavily sighing, Alex was already preparing to put the case back into the inner pocket of his coat when he noticed that right in front of him in full height the enraged Barret had appeared.
"Wipe off this damn makeup right now! We don't have time for your stupid performances!" Barret growled, hot-temperedly grabbing Alex by the shoulders and beginning to noticeably shake him.
"Hey, careful! You don't even imagine how complex and painstaking a process it is to apply such makeup. And in general, the residents of Midgar are already most likely impatiently waiting for my next grand concert," Alex answered with a smirk and lightly pushed Barret with his palm in the chest, forcing the giant to stumble and take a couple of steps back.
"I don't think the residents of Midgar are waiting for the performance of such a terrible clown," Claudia said in a cool, tired tone, removing her hand from the bridge of her nose and noting the details of his new image.
"Did it really turn out that terrible?" Alex asked again, slightly tilting his head to the side.
"Well… if only just a little terrible," Tifa said in an embarrassed tone, raising her hand and slightly spreading her fingers, showing a tiny distance between them.
"A little terrible?! Just look at him yourself! If you see such a monster in the dark — you'll immediately shoot without thinking!" Barret barked in an irritated tone, poking a finger right into Alex's painted face.
Pressing his lips together, Alex looked at Barret and demonstratively rolled his eyes. After all, he could not directly tell them that he usually applied such makeup for only one purpose — to scare the bastards he was going to kill to death. Heavily sighing, Alex took the phone from the pocket of his coat, intending to launch another live broadcast to all of Midgar. Seeing that Alex was still going to continue this madness, Barret clenched his teeth from the boiling anger, intending in a hard form to remind the guy for what they had come here at all.
Noticing the open rage on the giant's face, Alex raised his gaze to him and decided finally to explain one of the main reasons why he was arranging this show, and at the same time to open their eyes to what was actually happening at this plant. The moment Alex voiced the bitter truth about the empty complex, Barret and Tifa instantly frowned.
And as a final confirmation of his words Claudia from herself added that a huge strategic plant under no circumstances should be empty at such a time of day. Finally realizing why there was not a single soul here and how they had absolutely without any problems reached the Mako reactor itself without meeting a single patrol on the way, Barret dissolved into a loud angry tirade. Listening to another explosion of the giant's emotions, Alex only carelessly waved his hand, forcing Barret to fall silent so that he would not interfere with the process.
Irritably sighing, Barret asked what exactly Alex had planned and what his next performance would ultimately turn into. Smiling widely with his painted scarlet smile, Alex began explaining: he would again completely take control of all the media communication of Midgar, and then supposedly give Shinra the opportunity to intercept the signal — which in the end would help them themselves learn what exact tricks the corporation's leadership had planned.
"Will your plan definitely work? It's just that I still don't quite understand why Shinra needed to arrange such a complex trap at all," Tifa asked, slightly frowning and looking at Alex with doubt.
"It will work just fine… And as for their true plans, I'm more than sure: this is one big and dirty PR move," Alex answered, shaking his head from side to side, and waved his hand at the fairy-drone Navi that had flown up into the air.
"A PR move?! Are they going to shoot some damn commercial here or what?" Barret asked again with sincere bewilderment, completely not understanding the meaning of Alex's words.
"They are going to artificially create for the people an ideal public enemy. When society has a clear and terrible enemy, that society is far easier to manage and control. Exactly the same way Shinra pulled everything during the war with Wutai. And if Shinra 'defeats' this enemy before everyone's eyes, people will trust them even more," Alex explained in a calm, icy tone, letting them understand that the hidden meaning of this ambush lay on the surface.
"There is logic in this. If they make dangerous and merciless terrorists out of us in a live broadcast, then Shinra will have completely free hands for any cleanups and raids in the Slums," Claudia added with a frowning smirk, folding her arms across her chest and leaning her back against the metal railings of the balcony.
Having listened to all these explanations, Tifa and Barret understandingly nodded and quickly pulled themselves together. Even if Shinra had decided to accuse them of terrorism, they had initially been morally ready for such an outcome and tried to calmly accept the fact that the corporation had decided to raise its prestige at their expense. Shaking his head, Alex decided first of all to open the fresh news on the phone in order to check whether Shinra had begun making its first moves right now.
And the moment he launched the news feed, he saw dozens of live reports on the most different channels. In all the stories he himself, Aerith, Dean and the remaining members of Avalanche were openly accused of cruel terrorism and intentional destruction of the most important city infrastructure, because of which a multitude of ordinary people in one moment had been left without work and electricity.
Shaking his head at such clumsy propaganda where they were trying with all their might to portray him as the most terrible person in the world, Alex slightly laughed and turned the phone screen toward Tifa, Claudia and Barret so that they themselves could see what was happening outside right now. Despite the fact that in the news stories the faces of the group members were smeared with interference, everything was still extremely clear.
But what amused Alex most of all was the fact that even despite the previous broadcast where he had openly shown his face to all of Midgar, Shinra still had not managed to restore a single clear frame. In the end in the identikits they simply used the image of his plush Bear mask with the caption: "Especially dangerous terrorist."
"Yeahhh… You arrange unforgettable, exciting performances for the residents of Midgar, and in response they call you a banal terrorist. I'm even somehow offended," Alex said with a light chuckle, listening to how he was thoroughly scolded and cursed from the screens.
"Although there are also those who quite sincerely support you… And for some reason these are exclusively women," Tifa said with a strained smile, poking a finger at the phone screen where right behind the reporter's back stood an impressive crowd of girls with posters on which the Bear mask was drawn.
"Oh, that's so sweet of them… I didn't think that the moment I only showed my face once, I would immediately have an entire personal fan club," Alex said in a cheerful tone, slightly nodding his head.
"That's all exclusively because of your damn beautiful mug!" Barret expressed with clear irritation, noticeably pushing Alex in the shoulder.
"Not a damn mug, but a devilishly beautiful face," Alex corrected him with a snow-white smirk, slightly waving a finger right in front of Barret's nose, from which the latter only irritably clicked his tongue.
"And when exactly are you going to start your show?" Claudia asked in an absolutely calm tone, with an imperturbable gaze observing the raging reporter in the frame.
"At any moment. My fans are already simply burning with impatience waiting for the next performance," Alex answered with a confident smirk, raising a thumb upward.
At the same time throughout all of Midgar the residents of the city were tensely watching the endless emergency reports that were being broadcast on absolutely all channels. The announcers without tire told about the malicious actions of the dangerous terrorist group Avalanche striving for the complete destruction of the city. Many people sincerely resented this, after all a huge pile of workers had lost their places after the Mako reactor in the First Sector had simply disappeared together with the entire plant complex.
Another part of the residents of Midgar openly spoke in support of Alex, loudly reminding those around: if he and his group really were merciless terrorists, then there would have been incomparably more terrorist acts and human victims. Such heated arguments regularly led to the fact that right on the streets fights flared up, and the reporters with greed filmed all this chaos, with pleasure making another loud sensation out of the city disorders.
And while passions were boiling on the streets, suddenly throughout all of Midgar once again absolutely all screens showed one and the same familiar picture. On every huge city monitor and on every home television the already beloved by the public dancing plush trio in the persons of GIR, MIMI and Stitch in cute clown costumes was displayed. In their soft little paws the trio held bright posters with the inscription: "We're starting soon!"
The moment the residents of Midgar saw this image, all their attention was immediately fixed on the nearest screens. Everyone anticipated what grand performance they would see this time. Especially inspired were the women of Midgar, who thought only about the fact that now they would again be able to admire Alex's attractive face.
In that same second from all the city speakers and loudspeakers a light, cheerful melody began to carry, to which GIR, MIMI and Stitch began synchronously and slowly dancing.
"Hey, put on a happy face… Then everything's okay… Put on a happy face," GIR, MIMI and Stitch suddenly sang with their ringing children's voices, not ceasing to perkily dance on all the screens of Midgar.
Together with the continuing singing of GIR, MIMI and Stitch the picture on the screens suddenly changed, and all the residents of Midgar once again saw the familiar outlines of a Mako reactor. True, for everyone a logical question immediately arose: in which exact one of the eight reactors were these events unfolding right now? While the light melody continued to play, the camera smoothly and slowly spun in time with the music, finally fixing on Alex.
He was standing with his back to the lens, carefully putting his hands behind his back and slightly swaying from side to side to the cheerful motif that did not fall silent for a second. And the moment Alex's figure appeared on all the monitors of the city, absolutely all the residents of Midgar concentrated their attention exclusively on him.
Heidegger, who was at that moment in the office of President Shinra, from rage clenched his fist so strongly that he nearly crushed his PHS in his palm. However, he pulled himself together in time so as not to spoil the subtle plan prepared by the President himself. Turning his head, Heidegger met the gaze of President Shinra, and the latter barely noticeably nodded, letting him know that their countermeasure could be begun.
Obediently nodding in response, Heidegger immediately dialed the number of Shinra's technical department, giving a hard order to instantly intercept the media signal and completely return control over the air. During this short conversation Heidegger did not take his heavy gaze off Alex's back, who as if nothing had happened continued to slightly dance in time with the cheerful music.
At the same time Alex himself raised his hand upward and juicily snapped his fingers — in the strict premises of the reactor the light immediately began to burn noticeably brighter, clearly signaling readiness for the beginning of the performance.
"Flip the switch, flip the stove. World gone mad, let's start the show!" Alex sang in a cheerful, ringing tone, effectively turning face right to the camera lens.
The moment Alex fully turned toward the lens, all of Midgar finally saw his terrible clown makeup. But at the same time such an image did not frighten anyone at all — on the contrary, it caused a strange feeling of complete understanding in the public, as if this eerie style perfectly suited that cheerful song which he had begun to perform.
The women of Midgar, true, expressed slight disappointment because of the fact that once again they had not managed to make out Alex's beautiful face. But not a single one of them even thought of averting their gaze from the screens, sincerely wishing to watch the entire performance to the very end. Alex himself continued to slightly sway from side to side in time with the music, with a bright smile on his face, completely not paying attention to the ominous scarlet shadows of his makeup.
"Get your kicks and let's go. If you're sad, don't let it show!" Alex sang in a cheerful, perky tone, gracefully turning in place and effectively spreading his arms to the sides.
In that same moment right behind Alex's back from his shadow Zhang Ya appeared with her habitual long, beautifully flowing hair and scarlet-red eyes that clearly peeked through the impenetrable darkness. And Zhang Ya without extra bows immediately forcefully kicked Alex with her foot right in the back, forcing him at full speed to slide along the smooth metal floor until he with a whistle crashed exactly into Barret's legs.
Barret himself at first did not even understand what the hell was happening until he lowered his gaze and saw Alex stretched out at his boots. And Alex himself right on the fly deftly flipped onto his back, already holding in his hands a neat stage microphone.
"Say I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy today!" Alex sang ringing, continuing to imperturbably lie on the floor, after which he sharply extended the microphone from below upward right to Barret's face.
Barret stared point-blank at the microphone brought to his nose, and his physiognomy instantly expressed absolute, inexpressible bewilderment. Alex with an expressive, icy gaze through the clown greasepaint clearly made it clear: if he did not sing the needed line right now, he would without hesitation receive a rather unpleasant blow to the leg. Suppressing the terrible embarrassment before the multimillion audience, Barret with an absolutely stone face forcedly leaned closer to the microphone.
"I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy today…" Barret somehow sang in a monotonous, pressing bass, sincerely trying at least approximately to hit the given notes.
"They say put on a happy face!" Alex picked up, suddenly springing up from his place and instantly growing right under Barret's side.
Alex unceremoniously gripped Barret's stunned face with his fingers and with all his might stretched his cheeks to the ears, forcibly forming on his stern mug a wide, comical smile. Feeling how his skin and lips were heartlessly being pulled in different directions, trying to force a smile before the million audience, Barret tightly clenched his fist, with all his might suppressing the wild irritation and burning desire to on the swing plant one right into Alex's painted face.
And what absolutely did not make the situation better was the fact that he accidentally met the gazes of Tifa and Claudia standing on the opposite side of the platform. Tifa enthusiastically raised her thumbs upward, showing that he had simply excellently handled his vocal part, while Claudia looked at this scene with an absolutely empty face expressing not a single emotion.
Flared up from righteous anger and embarrassment, Barret sharply turned to Alex and was already seriously preparing to hit him when he suddenly noticed that the latter had deftly stuck his hand into the inner pocket of his long coat.
"'Cause we're tick-tock, tick-tock!" Alex sang ringing, with a mysterious smile drawing his hand out of the inner pocket.
Alex took out a small, absolutely smooth black cube and immediately without extra ceremonies placed it right into the open palm of the stunned Barret. Seeing the strange object in his hand, Barret slightly frowned — but exactly until the moment when on the cube a alarming red indicator began to flash, launching a rapid countdown. Not quite understanding what all this meant, Barret instantly raised a furious gaze to Alex, who had already managed to gracefully step back a step.
"Ticking like a timebomb!" Alex sang in a cheerful, perky tone, perkily raising two thumbs upward.
In this same microsecond moment it finally dawned on Barret: a real, damn explosive had been shoved into his hand. Without thinking for a fraction of a second, Barret with a swing threw the black cube high upward, and himself with a cry jumped aside, covering his head with huge hands. Alex just as artistically jumped to the opposite side, covering his head with the most happy smile on his face.
The residents of Midgar, with bated breath watching this performance at the screens, for a moment were stunned, thinking that right now in the broadcast a bloody explosion would occur. Some especially nervous city dwellers even began emotionally booing Alex, cursing him out loud and shouting that he was a finished terrorist.
Meanwhile the lens of the fairy-drone Navi floating in the air carefully and clearly followed the rapidly flying upward black cube. And the moment the cube flew to a sufficient height, instead of the supposed deadly explosion right under the ceiling of the Mako reactor a blinding, colorful fireworks flashed, blossoming into bright emojis in the form of smiling faces!
And right after that from the sky a lush rain of multicolored confetti poured down, which began cheerfully falling onto Alex's shoulders and the still lying on the floor Barret. Continuing to shine with his scarlet painted smile, Alex immediately jumped in place, and in his hand by some miracle the stage microphone appeared again.
"Hey, put on a happy face… Then everything's okay… Put on a happy face!" Alex sang with a laugh, cheerfully dancing and jumping under the magical rain of bright confetti.
Not ceasing to sing, Alex continued cheerfully jumping right in the middle of the settling rain of confetti, sincerely rejoicing at what was happening, like a child who had seen something truly captivating. The lying on the floor Barret heavily raised his head and discovered that he was literally covered from head to toe with colored papers. Irritably sighing, Barret rose from the cold metal floor and dejectedly shook this entire mountain of confetti off himself.
Tifa, on the other hand, observed everything happening with a sincere, joyful smile on her face, slightly clapping her hands. She could not even imagine that watching Alex's performance live would turn out to be such an exciting and impressive spectacle. Only Claudia alone looked at this entire circus with a strict, absolutely calm expression on her face.
And the moment her gaze crossed with Alex's gaze, deep in her soul she clearly felt: right now something extremely unpleasant would happen. And she turned out to be absolutely right. Alex, not ceasing to sing the song, with a cheerful laugh hopped right in her direction. Jumping up close to Claudia, Alex immediately unceremoniously stuck his fingers into the corners of her lips and tried to forcibly stretch a smile onto her strict face.
But instead of playing along with Alex, Claudia with a swing planted her fist right on the top of his head. Alex with a dull thud collapsed flat on the floor, and scarlet splashes immediately flew in different directions! Seeing this, Claudia and Tifa shockedly widened their eyes.
And the most frightened of all was Claudia herself, who sincerely thought that she had overdone it too much and accidentally killed Alex. However, all her instantaneous worry immediately changed to dull irritation when Alex calmly flipped onto his back, displaying the crushed package of ordinary ketchup under himself.
"Say you're good, say you're fine. Tell 'em everything's alright!" Alex perkily sang with an absolutely imperturbable expression on his face, clenching the branded microphone of the news channel in his hand.
Completely ignoring Claudia's cold, murderous gaze, Alex gracefully rose from the floor, quickly adjusted his clothing and hairstyle, still daringly holding the microphone in front of himself. In that same moment on all the screens of Midgar Alex's broadcast immediately transformed, turning into a classic news report right from the scene of events. Putting on a perfect, professional face of a real announcer, Alex looked straight into the camera lens with the most tender smile.
"Midgar News on your timeline. Telling you who to love and who to hate. Who is the villain and who is the hero. And which lies to believe and which not!" Alex sang in an even more cheerful, ringing tone, immersing himself in the role of a real television star.
The moment these daring words sounded, the correspondents filming everything on cameras right on the streets of the city immediately sharply felt as if they had been literally shoved face-first into that very crap which they every day fed to the public by order from above. The residents of Midgar just as well felt a sticky, extremely unpleasant realization: they, like the last idiots, had all these years been openly led by the nose, insolently indicating whom to love, whom to hate and what exactly to believe in.
At the same time on the very top floor of the majestic Shinra headquarters the President of the corporation himself was looking at the screen with a dry, absolutely stone expression on his face, only slightly tapping a finger on the polished surface of the table. He deeply did not give a damn about the fact that such sedition had been heard by millions of city dwellers. In his hands there was an endless multitude of ways to rewrite reality again and force the residents to believe exactly in what was beneficial to the corporation.
Heidegger stood nearby and only coldly snorted, with contempt thinking that very soon this entire ridiculous circus would end once and for all, and Shinra would again squeeze everything in its iron hands. And if they said that Alex was the most dangerous terrorist, then so it would be, as soon as the thought-out plan of President Shinra finally entered into its legal force.
To be continued...
(Holy shit, it's already chapter 800, and we're 80% closer to the 1,000 chapter goal. I never imagined I'd write so much. Damn it, that's 800 damn chapters, and almost 4 million words. Wow, honestly, I'm shocked. And if you think about it, we've come a long way together, and I'm glad you've been with me all this time. I'd definitely hug you if I could. But you're all far away, so here's a really tight hug. Hehehe. Well, luckily we can continue on this path. Now it's time to eat. Peace, love, and put on a Happy Face.)
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