BOOK
1
Wall Market and Don Corneo
_____"This
place is scary in a lot of ways." Aeris said as they stepped on to a
long street lined with shops and market stalls. "Especially for a girl.
So we've got to find Tifa fast."
_____Cloud scanned across the street. A hotel,
a drug store, a dress store, a canteen, Wall Market had almost everything
you could need. That is, for anyone who wasn't a murderer, mercenary
and a member of one of the most powerful rebel factions in the world.
_____His eyes found a bright neon sign saying
'Honeybee Inn'. It was attached to a tall building with a picture of a young
lady dressed in a fluffy bumble bee costume next to the sign. A group of men
were standing outside, including an off-duty Shinra guard. Also outside was
a man - about Cloud's age - wearing black trousers and a black shirt with
the sleevs rolled up and the top few buttons undone. His hair was bright red
and quite short. Cloud recognised him as Johnny. He had known him for a long
time, and had also seen him around in Sector 7.
_____"Oh man..." he cried, sweating
all over. "Should I go... or not...? I get so mental at times like this!"
He looked up and spotted Cloud. "Hey!! Aren't you... What?! You mean...
you're... too?"
_____"Don't bring me down to your level."
Cloud replied sharply.
_____"What... Me too." Johnny said
cautiously. "I've decided this after a lot of deep thought. My last memories
of Midgar... you know?
_____Cloud nodded and made his way over to the
entrance. A large fat man was standing there wearing a burgandy tanktop and
a white shirt underneath and small glasses on the end of his nose.
_____"Welcome!" he beamed. "You
looking for a girlfriend too?"
_____"Do you know a girl named Tifa?"
Cloud asked.
_____"Hey! You're pretty fast!" the
man chuckled. "Tifa's our newest girl! But she's having an interview
right now. Here at the Honeybee Inn, it's customary for all the new girls
to be taken to Don Corneo's mansion." Cloud gave him a blank look, signalling
that he didn't know what he was talking about. The man sighed and explained.
"Don Corneo's a famous dilettante. Now he wants to settle down and is
in the market for a bride."
_____"Come on!" Aeris said grumpily,
obviously sick of the place. She grabbed Cloud's elbow and pulled him away.
They slowly wandered up the street, steering clear of tramps and irritating
salesmen. The tasty smell of a barbecue drifted out of the canteen as they
passed it.
_____Eventually they reached the top of the street.
There was a large mansion with bright flags hanging all over it. The windows
were stained glass and very beautiful. Whoever owned the place must be very
rich. Outside was a scruffy-looking guard.
_____"This is the mansion of Don Corneo."
the guard said. "He's the most powerful man in Wall Market. Look, the
Don's not into men so don't let me catch you around here again!" He folded
his arms across his chest, then his eyes gradually found their way to Aeris.
"Hey! And you got another cute one with you!" he exclaimed.
_____"I'll go take a look." Aeris whispered,
pulling Cloud aside. "I'll tell Tifa about you."
_____"No!" Cloud cried. "You can't!
You DO know what kind of place this is... don't you?"
_____"Well then what are we supposed to
do?" Aeris huffed.
_____"We can't bust in there, it'd cause
too much of a commotion." Cloud said to himself, then noticed that Aeris
was giggling quietly, just as she had done in the church.
_____"Cloud, why don't you dress up like
a girl? It's the only way!" she grinned.
_____"WHAT?!" Cloud cried, almost falling
over in surprise. But it was too late, Aeris had already stepped up to where
the guard was standing again.
_____"Just wait," she said. "I've
got a cute friend I want to bring."
_____She went back to where Cloud was standing
and lead him back down the street.
_____"Aeris... I can't..." he started.
_____"No complaints!" she interrupted.
"Come on, let's find some stuff on Wall Market!"
_____The
dress, the wig, the cologne, even the lingerie, it was all too much. He even
had to go inside the Honeybee Inn to have his make-up applied. How did he
ever get into this mess? But when he remembered that it was all for Tifa,
he didn't mind.
_____Cloud paced across the dress store in his
long, blue dress. Aeris, the store owner and her father watched in disbelief
and even wanted to laugh at him.
_____"Oh, you're so cute, Miss Cloud."
Aeris grinned. "Ahh, I want one. Do you have one that'll look good on
me?"
_____"How's this?" the store owner
asked.
_____"How about that one?" her father
suggested.
_____"Father, what are you talking about?
This one's much better!"
_____"No, what are you saying? This one!"
_____"I want THIS one." Aeris said,
reaching for a short red dress with sequins on it. The store owner and her
father stared in disbelief again. They had been totally wrong.
_____"I'm going to change." Aeris said.
".....No peeking."
_____They
presented themselves confidently to the guard. He grinned a perverted grin.
_____"Damn!" he yelped. "Your
friend's hot too! Come in! Come in!"
_____He stepped aside and Aeris and Cloud entered
the mansion. On their left was a desk with a man behind it. They supposed
that all of the staff here were male. On the right was a staircase leading
to a balcony with lead around the edge of the room. There were two doors upstairs
and a dark passageway too.
_____"Hey, ladies." the receptionist
said. "I'll go let the Don know you're here. Don't go wandering about."
_____He disappeared behind a curtain.
_____"Now's our chance!" Aeris said.
"Let's find Tifa!"
_____Cloud knew the first place to look. He imagined
the Don to be an insensitive man who didn't really care about the well-being
of the women he 'dealt with'. He headed up the stairs and entered the dark
room. It was an old stone flight of steps which lead down into a dungeon of
some sort. Aeris followed him into the cold and there they found the girl
they had seen on the carriage.
_____"Tifa...?" Aeris asked as Cloud
stood shyly in the corner. The girl turned around. It was Tifa all right.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Aeris. Cloud's told me a lot about you."
_____"Hey, you're the one with Cloud in
the park!" Tifa said.
_____"Right," Aeris said. "But
don't worry. We just met - it's nothing."
_____"No, don't misunderstand." Tifa
chuckled. "Cloud and I grew up together, it's nothing more."
_____"Poor Cloud," Aeris smiled. "Having
to stand here and listen to us call him nothing!"
_____Tifa gasped and her eyes opened wide. "Cloud?!"
she cried. "Why are you dressed like that?! What are you doing here?
Forget that, what happened to you after the fall? Are you hurt?!"
_____"I'm dressed like this because there
was no other way to get in here." he explained. "I'm all right.
Aeris helped me out." He looked at Tifa's dress. "Tifa... What are
you doing in a place like this?"
_____"Yeah... umm..." Tifa began. "When
we got back from the #5 Reactor, there was this weird man. So Barret caught
him and squeezed some information out of him. That's when Don Corneo's name
popped up. Barret told me to leave the lech alone but something's been bothering
me. I wanted to get the story straight from Corneo's mouth, so I made it here
but now I'm in a bind. Corneo is looking for a bride. Every day he gets three
girls, chooses one of them and then... well..." She didn't need to explain
the rest. "Anyway, I have to be the girl or else I'm out for tonight."
_____"Hey!"
cried a voice. They turned their heads to the top of the steps where the receptionist
was standing. "The Don is waiting for you, ladies!"
_____They proceded upstairs and went through
a set of double doors into the Don's office. It was decorated just like the
rest of the house with traditional oriental style. Corneo was sitting behind
a large desk. He was a short, fat man with a long red robe on. Only one quiff
of hair protruded from his round head and a fat cigar poked out of his wide
mouth. Cloud, Aeris and Tifa lined up in front on the desk.
_____"Hmm, splendid!" he grinned. He
bounded over the desk and stopped before Aeris.
_____"Now, let's see, which girl should
I choose?" he asked himself, walking to face Cloud. "This one?"
He walked over to where Tifa was standing. "Or this one?" Luckily,
he hadn't noticed that Cloud was a man.
_____"Whoo-hoo!" he cried, jumping
back on to his desk. "I've made up my mind! My choice for tonight is..."
_____There was pounding in Cloud's ears. Knowing
his luck it would be him.
_____"The one in the middle!!" Don
Corneo yelled, pointing his chubby hand at Cloud.
_____"Wa, wait a second!" Cloud cried.
"I mean... Uh... please wait a moment!"
_____"Yeowza!" Corneo laughed. "I
love chickies who play hard to get!" He turned to his four henchmen.
"You can have the other ones."
_____Cloud
sat nervously on the end of the bed. Corneo rolled around gleefully at the
other end.
_____"All right, pussycat." he smiled.
"Come to daddy!"
_____He hopped on to the bed on all fours and
moved towards Cloud.
_____"Gimme a kiss!" he ordered.
_____"Nope, can't do that." Cloud replied.
_____"Why? Why?! WHY?!" the Don cried,
becoming angrier by the second.
_____"Because I'm gonna have to use that
mouth of your to give me some information!!" Cloud yelled, tearing off
his disguise to reveal his merc clothes underneath. Tifa and Aeris charged
into the room, also wearing their old regular clothes, and Don Corneo was
terrified.
_____"What did your assistants find out?"
Tifa interrogated. "Talk! If you don't tell us..."
_____"I'll chop them off!" Cloud snarled,
putting his foot up on the bed.
_____"No! Not that!" Corneo cried.
"I'll tell you everything! I made them find out who the man with the
gun-arm was! But that's what I was ordered to do!"
_____"By who?" Tifa asked.
_____"No! If I told you that I'd be killed!"
he squealed.
_____"Talk!" Tifa ordered again. "If
you don't tell us..."
_____"I'll rip them off!" Aeris grinned,
putting her foot up on the bed next to Cloud's.
_____"Waaah!" Corneo wailed. "It
was Heideggar of Shinra! Heideggar, the head of Public Safety Maintenance!"
_____"The Shinra?" Tifa asked. "What
are they up to? Talk! If you don't tell us..." She put her foot up on
the bed aswell. "I'll smash them!"
_____"Ohboy, ohboy, ohboy!" he panicked.
"Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE. They're
going to literally crush them! By breaking the support holding up the plate
above them! The plate'll go PING! And everything's gonna go BAMM! I heard
their hideout's in the Sector 7 slums."
_____"They're going to wipe out the Sector
7 slums?" Tifa cried. "Cloud, will you come to Sector 7 with me?"
_____"Of course." Cloud replied. They
began to leave the room and got to the foot of the bed when Corneo cried "Just
a second!" They all turned to face him.
_____"How do you think scum like me feels
when they babble on about the truth?" he asked. "A) They've pretty
much given up on life. B) They're sure they'll win. C) They don't know what
the hell's going on."
_____Cloud looked at the others and said "B,
they're sure they'll win."
_____"Whoo-hoo!" Don Corneo cried.
He seized hold on the bed knob and pulled it. With a click, a trap door opened
beneath the trio and they plummetted down into the darkness...