Aeris, Cloud and Tifa finally made it back to Sector seven and have entered the area where the tower is. The tower really goes up there, it's about 40 or 50 stories high. There's a lot of action up there as well and the pillar is alive with the flashing of gunfire, lasers and what appears to be Barret's shouting.
Tifa: (Runs in) "We made it! The pillar's still standing!!"
Cloud: "But look up there? What's that sound?" (They all look up to the pillar which is alive with gunfire and action.)
Aeris: "It sounds like...gunfire!"
They look up there to confirm it's Barret but something else happens. Someone falls from the height of the pillar to the ground behind them. Aeris, Cloud and Tifa run over to see Wedge on the ground. He was only semi conscious and he smiled weakly when Cloud approached him.
Cloud: "Wedge! Are you okay?!" (Kneels over him to get a closer look on his wounds."
Wedge: "Cloud! You remembered my name..." (Wedge weakly points to the top of the support tower.) "Barret's up there...help him..."
Aeris: (Runs over to Wedge and tends to his wounds.) "Ill take care of him! Go up there and help him!"
Tifa: (Walks up to Aeris.) " Aeris, there's a girl I want you to take out of my Bar in Sector seven. Her name is Marlene!"
Aeris: "Don't worry about it, Ill do it."
Tifa: (Turns to Cloud) Come on, Cloud! Let's help him! (Turns to the people gathered around) Everyone! Get out of here before things get crazy! Everyone get out of Sector 7!!" (Cloud joins her as a Shinra soldier opens the gate. They both start the accent.)
Cloud and Tifa began the huge stair climb up the stairs that accompanied the gigantic support pillar. Along the way, they found Biggs hanging lifelessly over a rail. He looked over and said “He's up there, go help him before they blow the pillar up..." Cloud and Tifa were moving practically at warp speed up each flight of stairs to Jessie who was sprawled out over the floor.
Jessie: (Pretty much out of it) "Hi Cloud...I’m glad I could see you...one last time..."
Cloud: "Don't say ‘last...’"
Jessie: "Well...that’s okay. All those people we hurt blowing up the reactors…this is probably our punishment..." (Loses consciousness.)
Cloud and Tifa continue their trek up the stairs and they confront a group of three Aero Combatants. The first one tells them that one guy got past them but they won't. Cloud takes his buster sword and lunges at them and Tifa stays behind to take out a piece of materia to attack with. Cloud sword fights with the Combatants using sword against propellers. Cloud uses his sword to chop the propeller blades off of their arms. They look at him blankly as Cloud used the blunt side of his sword to knock them off of the stairs. They fall screaming to the world below. Tifa smiles as more Aero Combatants approach them, propellers in their hands and hard looks in their eyes. Tifa grips the lightning materia and chants a chant, she glows as she does it and two bolts of lightning slam down on them, they scream from the electrocution and fall unconscious to the ground. They finally make it to the top to see Barret shooting at a helicopter which circles the tower.
Barret: (Turns to them) "Cloud! Tifa! You came!" (Turns back to the helicopter.) "Careful, they're attacking from the helicopter. Better get ready for the worst!"
Cloud: (Gives Barret the Mythril Armlet and a couple of pieces of materia.) "You take these, we've got ours!"
Barret: "Thanks!" (Equips them.) "Here he comes!"
The helicopter hovers over the control panel to the left of the group and the unkept man Cloud saw from before jumped down. It was Reno, and he pressed a code into the computer there. With some clicks and a beep, the emergency plate removal mode for the computer was set.
Reno: (Turns to the group.) "There, Mission accomplished."
Tifa: "How could you do such a thing!?"
Reno: (Shrugs) "It's easy, you just push a button and press in the code. Simple."
Tifa: "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!! I MEANT IT FIGURATIVELY!! We won't let you get away with this!"
Reno: "You're mistaken, No one gets IN the way of Reno of the turks!” (Attacks)
Reno faced off against Cloud, Barret and Tifa. Reno took out his electro mag rod and swung it at Tifa and out came a an orb of light. The orb crashed into Tifa and formed a pyramid around her. He smiled. "Try and brake it if you can." Barret instead, attacked with his machine gun and got Reno in the chest. Reno got knocked back and there was no blood coming from him. He smiled again. "Bullet proof vest. All of us turks have them." Barret glared at him and Cloud leapt up high and brought his sword down on the pyramid, shattering it into light. Cloud turned and attacked Reno but he nimbly dodged out of the way. Reno brought his electro mag rod down on Cloud's back, sending a horrible electric current into him. Cloud yelled out from the pain and collapsed to the floor. Tifa cried out at that and angrily attacked Reno with a fast flurry of punches and kicks. Most of them connected, and they all sent out bright flashes of pink and white. Reno was slammed into the railing all the way on the other side of the platform. He gasped from the bruises she left him. He got up and smiled. "Heh, that's all for today." He spies the helicopter below and jumps down to the ladder. Tifa runs to the panel and looks over it while Barret looks at it as well.
Barret: "Damn! It's a time bomb!"
Tifa: (Turns to Cloud.) "I don't know how to stop this, how about if you try?"
Cloud: (Steps up to it and looks it over.) "This is different, it isn't a normal bomb."
Suddenly a helicopter hovers up and reveals a different Turk than Reno and he steps up. He was Tseng was much better kept than Reno, his outfit was more clean, more delicate. He must have been a senior turk or something...he had something important to gloat about and the group listened in.
Tseng: (Nods to Cloud.) "You're right! It isn't a normal bomb. It blows when some stupid jerk touches it. It's a security thing for Shinra's emergency plate release system."
Barret: "Shut yer hole!" (Begins to fire his gun arm at the helicopter but stops when Tseng continues talking.)
Tseng: "I wouldn't do that...you might make me injure our special guest." (Reveals Aeris)
Tifa: "Aeris!!"
Aeris: (Leans out of the helicopter.) "Tifa! Don't worry, she's all right!"
Tseng: (Looks at this and then slaps Aeris really hard across the face.)
Tifa: "What are you going to do with her?!"
Tseng: (Shrugs) "I haven't decided. Our orders were to find and capture the last remaining Ancient. I'm glad we'll finally be able to report this to the president." (Looks up as the sound of an explosion was created.) "Ha ha ha...well, it should be starting right about now...think you can escape in time?"
The helicopter flies away and Barret looks around
as chunks of the support pillar get blown off of the main pillar. Barret
finds a wire and tells Cloud and Tifa to jump on his shoulders and in a
daring feet, he swings from the top of the pillar down to the gates to
sector six while the very upper plate comes down in a horrible crash of
explosions and crushing metal. Barret, Cloud and Tifa just make it out
ahead of the blast. The plate hits the ground with a horrible KER BLAMMM!!!
(A few minutes earlier) Vex also happened to be
in Sector 7 at the time. When the explosions at the top of the were seen
by him he looked up in awe but then the chunks of the pillar were staring
to come down and he put two and two together. "... ... uh oh ..." He turned
and the plate started to fall and...he started to run. He ran faster and
faster as the plate was coming down and nimbly leapt over obstacles like
cars, trains and panicking people. The plate was coming down to him closer
and closer and he gulped nervously. He continued to gain speed and continued
to leap over more and more obstacles. The gate to sector 8 was just ahead
and he continued to run faster and faster. He realized with surprise that
his speed was about 70 kilometers an hour and leapt through the sector
8 gate just as the plate crashed to the ground in fiery explosions a terrible
KER BLAMMM!!! From above, high atop of the castle like shinra headquarters,
was the president witnessing the terrible 'accident' in his cushy office,
listening to opera music. Vex was out of breath and he looked back at the
fiery remains of sector seven through the edge of sector 8.
Vex: (Really happy) "...I made it...I made it out!! I RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO'S THE MAN?!?!?" (Does a spunky little dance, and chants.) "Oh yeah...It's my birthday...Oh yeah!! It's ALL good!! Now...I'd better go back to Sector 5 to see Aeris again to tell her what I did! Wow! She'll be so impressed!"
In sector 6, Barret, Cloud and Tifa look back at the smoldering wreckage and then at the playground. They looked about the playground and it made them sad to see even what the fallout from the plate did. Some boards and beams impaled the playground toys. The boards could be seen sticking out of the head of the cat slide. Their escape was bittersweet. Unlike Vex, who doesn't care about anything or anyone right now, they've lost something dear, especially Barret...
Barret: "Marlene! MARLENE!!!" (Runs up to the wreckage) "Biggs!! Wedge!! Jessie..."
Barret: (Starts to let it all out while taking out his hate on the wreckage by kicking and hitting it.) "DAMMIT!! DAMMIT ALL!! UURRGH!!!!" (Continues taking out his emotions on the wreck but loses energy in complete depression.) "...god damn..."
Cloud: "They were all on the pillar..."
Barret: "Damn it, I know that..."
Cloud: "Gave their lives to save the planet..."
Barret: "... ... But I don't... want to think of them as dead..."
Tifa: "Barret...it isn't your fault...it's..." (Walks up to him, sad.)
Barret: "No it ain't! It's the Shinra!! It ain't been nobody but the Shinra!! They're evil and trying to kill the planet...just to fill their own damn pockets with gold!!"
Tifa: (Realizes something.) "Wait! Marlene...I think Marlene is safe."
Barret: (Looks at her, surprised) "Huh?"
Tifa: "Before they took Aeris away, she said 'Don't worry Tifa, she's all right!' I think she was talking about Marlene!"
Barret: "Really?! Damn!! Marlene!" (Runs towards the broken down path in sector 6 but turns back to Tifa.) "So what are you gonna do now, Tifa?"
Tifa: "I don't know...It's just...Me, My feelings...I don't know..."
Barret: "Dammit, Tifa! There's no turning back...there's nothing left..." (Barret leaves the playground.)
Tifa: "... ... ..." (Runs out with him and they notice Cloud had already left them.)
Cloud walked up the rotten stairs that led from the playground and made it to the top of the hill. He looked about and saw Tifa and Barret running after them. Cloud blinked as they cried wait up and finally caught up with him as he looked up in the sky.
Tifa: "What are you thinking about?"
Cloud: "It's about the Ancients..." (Suddenly everything goes white for Cloud and the sound of high wind could be heard. He heard a voice call to him.)
Voice: "In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients, the heirs and rightful rulers of this planet!" (The strange flashback ended.)
Cloud: "...Sephiroth...?" (Falls to his knees and everyone rushes to him.)
Barret: "What's wrong?"
Tifa: "You okay?"
Cloud: "I'm going back to Aeris' house..." (Runs down the shoddy road of sector six away from him.)
Barret: "Yeah, what about that girl?"
Tifa: "...Oh! She's the one I let Marlene go with!"
Barret: "Damn! Marlene!" (Both, Barret and Tifa run after Cloud.)
Cloud ran ahead, and jumped from ledge to ledge until
he found something strange ahead of him. He stepped back as Tifa and Barret
approach from behind him. Tifa comments that it looks sort of like a house
but it's a little small and weird looking. It had a strange design on the
front and had an uneven red roof. It looked very out of place. Tifa goes
up to it and Cloud realized why Sector 6 was so dangerous. Cloud rushed
after her but it was too late. When Tifa touched it, it moved and jumped
over to face her. She was freaked and Cloud commented that it was a Hellhouse
and the house itself opened its shutters and a hideous skull head roared
at them.
The house attacked with a horrible gas which targeted
them all. They choked and gasped from it. Barret shot it with his gun and
it winced in pain. It's roof opened up and launched a hell bomber missile
at them. They cried out and tried to get out of the way but they were Caught
in the blast. They all go flying and fall on the hard ground. Tifa was
knocked out and her head was bleeding. Cloud attacked it with his sword
and it roared in pain as it glared at them. Barret took the restore materia
and used it to summon a wave of heavenly recovery over Tifa. The head gash
healed up and she felt much better. The hell house jumped up and did its
suicide drop attack which it sent out an explosion which Cloud shielded
Tifa from. Barret hid behind a sheet of scrap metal.
The monster was now unmasked, it was a horrible
skeleton like thing with an odd engine in it's behind. It's engine ignited
and attempted to rocket tackle Cloud and Tifa but Cloud took Tifa and ducked
out of the way. The horrid house got stuck in the wall and it was their
chance. Cloud attacked with his sword making slices out of the Hellhouse
and Tifa beat on it with her powerful punches and kicks. Barret used an
ice materia and he summoned a barrage of horrible ice shards which stabbed
at the monster. The hell house went limp but started to vibrate. Cloud
and Tifa gasped and ran with Barret to a safe distance. The hell house
exploded in a fiery inferno. Barret smiled and said. "I guess that's why
they call it the "Hellhouse."
They took the money that was left behind and ran all of the way back to Aeris' house. They looked it over and there was an obvious struggle. Some of the potted plants next to the house got knocked over and there was a broken window. They went inside to see Elmyra who sadly walked up to them.
Elmyra: "...It's about Aeris isn't it?"
Cloud: "...I'm sorry, the Shinra have her."
Elmyra: "Yes, she offered herself in exchange for the little girl, Marline's safety. They ran away but I guess that Marlene wasn't fast enough to get away."
Cloud: "What does the Shinra want with her?"
Elmyra: "She's the last remaining Ancient..."
Barret: (Walks up to her.) "But aren't you her mother?"
Elmyra: "Not her real mother...it must have been 15 years ago..." (They go on a flashback.)
In the train station in sector 7 15 years ago, the station was still looking good. There was a war going on in some far off place called Wutai. Elmyra came to the station, because her husband's letter said he was coming home on leave so she was eagerly waiting on the steps and holding his letter, waiting for the next train to pull in. Her eyes lit up when she saw the train approach the station. The man working there opened the doors and out walked out a handsome man. It wasn't Elmyra's husband but it was another girl's boyfriend. She ran over to him and he swung her around joyously. He leapt onto a street lamp and swung around it and they joined. They ran away joyfully into the morning light. Another man jumped out of the train and another girl greets him. She lifts him up and swings him around but loses her balance and they both fall down. They laugh and walk away from the train. Elmyra gets up and runs to the man working there. She asks but he shakes his head, Elmyra goes to sit down on the steps again. (The story halted for a minute.)
Elmyra: "...My husband never came back...I’m sure is leave was just canceled. I came back again day after day hoping to see him when I found this beautiful woman unconscious on the steps. She also looked about 8 to 9 months pregnant, just about to have her baby. Her daughter threw herself in my lap, crying. Her mother's last words were: "Please take Aeris somewhere safe." I didn't have anyone else but my husband and I was lonely so I took Aeris home with me. Aeris and I grew close very quickly. That child loved to talk, she'd talk to me about anything. She told me about how she and her mom escaped some research laboratory and that she wasn't lonely. Then one day..." (She returned to her story.)
Little Aeris: (Comes down the stairs and walks right up to Elmyra.) "Please don't cry...someone dear to you has just died. His soul was coming to see you but his soul returned to the planet."
Elmyra: (Shocked) "What do you mean? Like a star in the sky?"
Little Aeris: "No, this planet." (The story halted for a second.)
Elmyra: (Cloud, Tifa and Barret were around her.) "She truly was a mysterious child. At that time, I didn't believe her but...a few days later I received a telegram stating that my Husband has died in the war. I cried for a while but life went on...a lot has happened, we were happy until a strange man came to see us. (Resumed the story.)
Tseng: (Was let into the little house by Elmyra.) "So...we want you to return Aeris to us. We've been searching for her for a long time. (Turns to Aeris and kneels over to her.) Your real mother was an "Ancient", and the Ancients hold the link to the Promised Land. It's a land that promises extreme happiness. You will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums."
Little Aeris: "No!! You're wrong!! I'm not an Ancient!"
Tseng: (Turns to her.) "...But surely you've heard voices, even when you're alone?"
Little Aeris: "I don't!" (Runs out of the house and the flashback ended.)
Elmyra: (Cloud and the others were around her, Tifa was a little sad and Cloud seemed very interested.) "She really did hear those voices...I knew, but she tried so hard to hide it so I played along and believed her. The Shinra need her, so I guess they wouldn't harm her." (Becomes unhappy.)
Tifa: (Unhappy.) "It's my fault, I dragged her into this."
Elmyra: (Turns to her.) "Don't say that, Aeris doesn't think so."
Barret: (Rushes over to Elmyra) "Yeah...excuse me but where's Marlene?"
Elmyra: "She's upstairs, asleep, why?"
Barret: "I'm sorry to put you through all that trouble! I'm Marline's father!"
Elmyra: "You! How could you put her in danger like that?!"
Barret: "Please don't start with that. I'm fighting for the future but I do love her..." (Lowers his eyes to the ground) "If...I don't fight, then the planet is gonna die...so I have to keep fighting, I do love her." (Blinks) "See? I'm goin’ in circles..."
Elmyra: "I think I understand...why don't you go up and see her?" (Barret hastily runs up the stairs. Cloud goes up with him.)
Barret: (From the upstairs, Cloud saw Barret rush into the room and hug Marlene and kissed her over and over and crying.) "I'm so happy you're all right..."
Marlene: "Don't cry Dad! Your whiskers hurt!"
Barret: (After a couple of minutes he turns to Cloud.) "So what are we going to do now?"
Cloud: "We'll have to rescue Aeris but..."
Barret: "Yeah, I know. No trains go up there anymore but we'll have to find a way!" (Goes downstairs with Cloud. and sees Tifa standing in front of the door.) "Um, could you please look after Marlene a little longer?"
Elmyra: "I don't mind."
Barret: "What are we gonna do?"
Tifa: "I don't know but I feel like I have to push myself to the limit. I'm coming with you to the Shinra Tower. Maybe there's a way in Wall Market? Let's go!" (They all exit the house and enter the garden. They go to the way back to the Sector 5 town but something alerts them to the roof.)
Vex: "Hiiiieeee! Connichiwa again, lady and gentlemen!!" (Leaps off of the roof and lands right in front of them, blocking the way.) "Mister! We meet again!"
Cloud: "What do you want from me now? We've got more important things to worry about!"
Tifa: "Who might you be?"
Barret: "What the hell?"
Vex: "Looky what I found!" (Points to his large, heavy new boots.) "These boots are great!!"
Barret: (Both he and Tifa give each other and then Cloud strange looks.) "Cloud, you know him?"
Cloud: "Not really..."
Vex: (Bouncing around, obviously hyper.) "I was in Sector 7, or so it's called... And the plate was coming down on me! Very scary, yup, terry-fying. I managed to run to Sector 8 really really really fast and escaped. I had to go from Sector 8 ALLLLLL around the world to Sector 5! I came to see Aeris but she's gone! Where did she go?"
Cloud: "Whoa, Slow down... Aeris has been kidnapped by the Shinra. We're going to rescue her."
Vex: "..." (Nods) "Well, shall we go?"
Cloud: "... ...?"
Tifa and Barret: "... ...?"
Vex: "I'm coming WITH you! Duh!"
Barret: "You kiddin'?"
Tifa: "It's too dangerous! We can't involve you!"
Cloud: (Looks at Tifa) "That's exactly what you said to Aeris... (Turns to the kid.) I have a feeling that you're gonna come with us whether we want you to or not so I guess it's okay. Just keep up."
Tifa: "I have a feeling that won't be a problem..."
That's the end of Chapter 5, you think this is getting interesting?