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CHAPTER 4

Groggily, Cloud sat up slowly and tried shake his disturbing dreams away. He suddenly realized that he was in the secret hideout beneath the 7th Heaven bar. All the events had happened almost too quickly for him to remember. As he tried to piece everything together, he got up and prepared for the next mission.
    He got on the makeshift elevator disguised as a pinball machine and found Tifa and Barret waiting in the bar upstairs.  "Good morning, Cloud!" Tifa greeted cheerfully.  "Did you sleep well?"
    "Next to you, who wouldn't?" he flattered.
    "I don't know what you mean," she replied, a little confused.  "I'm going with you this time."
    "Our next target is the No. 5 reactor," Barret briefed.  "Go to the station first.  I'll fill you in on the train."  Cloud started out the door.  "Yo Cloud!" Barret suddenly blurted.  "I have a question before the next mission."  He continued in a low voice, "I...uh, don't know really how to use Materia.  I'll give you that Materia you found, just teach me how to use it!"
    Cloud sighed and tried to explain as simply as he could the properties of the mysterious Materia orbs often found in Midgar.  "Okay, I'll explain it to you.  Materia has magical properties that gives its user special powers," he began.  "Certain Materia has certain properties.  For example, if you want to use Cure magic, just equip "Restore" Materia on your weapon or armor, like this," he demonstrated, sliding a green, glowing, jewel-like orb into a hole in his sword, which automatically locked it in place.  "Usually, magic Materia like this raises your magic power, but decreases your physical strength, so it's not a good idea to equip too much Materia.  I guess Materia is kind of a double-edged sword.  Removing Materia is just as easy as equipping it."  Cloud carefully popped out the orb and showed it to Barret.  "I'll explain more later.  See?  That wasn't too tough."
    Already growing impatient, Barret grumbled in frustration, "$#!@, whaddaya mean 'not too tough'?!  I have no idea what yer talkin' about!  You take care of the Materia!"  Cloud sighed again and agreed.
    "The man on the second floor of the weapon shop said he had something for you," Tifa informed Cloud.  "Don't forget!"  Remembering Marlene, she turned and saw her playing behind the counter.  "Take care of the store while we're gone, Marlene!" Tifa told her in a motherly tone.
    "Okay!" she replied happily.  "Good luck!"
    Just as he was about to run to the train station, Cloud remembered the enemies he had encountered in the No. 1 reactor, and decided to get some supplies before taking on the next one.  He went to the second floor of the run-down weapon shop he had visited yesterday like Tifa said, and was greeted by a burly man wearing construction fatigues.
    "This is the Beginner's Hall," he explained.  "You say you're a beginner?  But your eyes tell me you're not."
    "Hey, don't mess with me!" Cloud retorted.  "I used to be in SOLDIER.  I'll tell you all I know, and for free too!"
    While explaining everything from healing to Limit Breaks, he was interrupted by the cry of a distressed child.  He turned towards the sound and saw a boy pummeling a frightened girl facing away from him.
    "Hang in there!" called Cloud.  "Your Limit Break is just building up!"
    The girl kept crying, but did as he said.
    "All right, you've reached your limit.  Now use your Limit technique!"
    With a rush of rage, the girl turned on her assailant and pounded him until the next thing she knew, he was on the floor.  Dazed, but more shocked than hurt, the boy quickly got up and retaliated by uttering a magical incantation.  Again, the panicking girl cried for help.
    "Don't worry!" Cloud assured.  "Whenever someone tries to use magic on you, you can protect yourself with a magic barrier, which absorbs half of the damage, or reflect, which bounces the magic spell back."
    The child closed her eyes and touched a pendant hanging from her neck.  It glowed and it cast a protective shell around the girl just as the boy call down a bolt of lightning.  The shell deflected the spell and the next thing she knew, the boy was flat on the floor again, still crackling with electricity.
    "Great!" Cloud said approvingly.
    The boy quickly recovered from the shock and turned to Cloud.  "Wow, you're strong!  I wanna be strong just like you!"
    "Me too!" echoed the girl.
    "If you wanna be as strong as me, you've gotta use Materia." Cloud advised.  "You have to figure out the best combinations of Materia to put on your weapons and armor.  The possibilities are limitless.  You've also got to have some natural talent."
    "I still don't get it!" they replied in unison.
    "Look kid, don't make me mad.  Just keep practicing and little by little, you'll get the hang of it."
    As he was leaving, a glimmering object on the floor caught his eye.  Bending down to pick it up, he identified it as a Materia orb.  "Wow, you got one right off!" a boy standing nearby exclaimed.  "That was Materia!"  Cloud recognized this as the type that greatly increased the strength of almost any other Materia linked to it, allowing the user to cast the spell on multiple targets.  Cloud quickly slid the blue "All" Materia into the slot linked to the "Restore" Materia already equipped on his sword.  Sparks flew between the two orbs with a sudden crackling noise, which subsided to a low hum as the energy stabilized into several streams, binding the Materia together and giving them both a much stronger glow.  The boy piped up again, "Now take this treasure box!"  Suddenly, a huge wooden box landed with a loud thud right in front of Cloud, making him jump with a start.  After recovering his composure, he decided take a look in side and saw a small glowing flask.  It was Ether, a mysterious and extremely rare substance that greatly refreshed a person drained from using magic.  Feeling satisfied and ready to take on the world, he took a deep breath, left the hall, and headed toward the train station for his next mission.
    Cloud took his time and on the way saw a couple standing together by a lamp post.
    "I've had it!" he heard the man say.
    "Me too!" replied the young woman.
    The man stopped and pondered.  "You know, this is the first time we've ever agreed with each other."
    "Yeah."
    "Well, then...shall we?"
    "All right."
    Before Cloud had a chance to figure out what they were doing, the couple had already collapsed on each other, lifeless.
    Still a little dazed at what had just happened, Cloud advanced slowly toward the train as Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie ran in.  He saw the old weathered conductor heave a deep sigh and look up at the gray sky.
    "Morning.  Dawn comes and nothing changes.  Be careful not to get hurt.  You come back again, hear?"  Cloud gave a half-hearted nod.
    "ALL ABOARD!" the conductor shouted.  "The train is about to depart!"

    "Yo, this ain't no private car, so split up!" Barret barked as soon as the gang got in.
    "Hoodlums again!  Don't I just have all the luck..." grumbled a formally dressed man, flopping onto a seat as everyone except Cloud, Barret, and Tifa moved to the next car.
    "You say sumthin'?" Barret grunted at the man.  He didn't answer, immediately wishing he hadn't said anything.  "I said, 'You say sumthin'?'" Barret repeated, expecting an answer.  Bewildered, he looked around and interrogated the man further. "Yo, look at that, the car's empty alluva sudden!  What's going on?!"  The terrified worker just huddled even more tightly, too agitated to reply.  Determined to elicit a response, Barret gave him a hard punch in the shoulder.
    "OW!!!"  Finally giving in, he broke down and stammered between sobs, "It...it's empty be...because of...because of guys...like you!"  He paused for a long and loud sniffle, then continued, "You...you've heard the news, haven't you?  AVALANCHE says there's gonna be more bombings.  Only devoted Shinra employees like me would get on the train at this time!"
    "You workin' for Shinra?!" Barret said, aiming his gun-arm at the whimpering employee.
    "I...I won't give in to violence.  A...and I won't give you my seat either!"
    "Barret!" Tifa cried, interrupting them before anyone could get hurt.
    "$!@#$.  Lucky $@#*!" Barret grumbled.
    "So what are we gonna do now?" Cloud asked, as if nothing had happened.
    Still simmering from his encounter with the worker, Barret shouted "$#!*, what the h*** are you so calm about?  You're bustin' up my rhythm!"
    Cloud couldn't care less.  Suddenly, the train lurched and everyone struggled to keep their balance in response to the inertia.
    "Looks like they just finished connecting the cars.  We're finally moving."
    "So what's the next target?" Cloud said, continuing the conversation with Barret.
    "Ha!  Listen to Mr. Serious-about-his-work.  Awright, I'll tell ya!  Jessie probably already told ya this, but there's a security check point at the top of the plate.  It's an ID scanning system that checks all the trains."
    "Which Shinra is very proud of," Tifa added.
    "We can't use our fake IDs anymore." Barret warned.
    A female computerized voice chimed, "Good morning and welcome to Midgar lines.  Arrival time at the Sector 4 Station will be 11:45."
    "That means we only have three minutes before the first check point," Tifa calculated.
    "Alright, we're jumpin' off this train in three minutes, got it?" Barret clarified, then dropped himself on a seat.
    Tifa looked for something to do for three minutes.  She decided on checking the map again and waved for Cloud to join her.
    "Cloud, come over here!  Let's look at the Railway Map Monitor!"
    Cloud walked over casually and looked at the screen in a bored way.
    "Hmmm, looks like you've seen it already.  It's all right; come a little closer!"
    Cloud complied and took a closer look.  All of a sudden, they heard muffled alarms, and the whole car was bathed in blood-red light to notify the passengers that they had reached a security check point.
    Tifa looked around in surprise.  "That's odd, the ID check point was supposed to be further down."
   The alarms turned into full volumed sirens. "Type A security alert!" droned a robotic voice, "Unidentified passengers detected.  A search of all cars will be conducted.  Repeat: Type A security alert!  Unidentified passengers detected.  A search of all cars will be conducted."
    Tifa was starting to get worried.  "What's happening?"
    She wasn't the only one to notice this.  "What's goin' on?!" exclaimed Barret.
    Suddenly, Jessie burst through the door.  "We're in trouble," she said with panic in her voice.  "I'll explain later.  Hurry, just get to the next car!"
    "^%#@%!  Someone blew it..."  Barret had no time to figure out who he would murder.
    "Unidentified passengers located in Car #1.  Preparing for lock down."
    Cursing again, Barret yelled for Cloud to follow and ran to the next car. And not a moment to soon.  Barely having enough time to rush through the door, they heard it close behind them with a loud metallic clang and lock itself shut.  They heard the monotonous voice again.
    "Car #1 locked down.  Upgrading to Level 2 warning."
    Biggs was already on the other end.  "Hurry up!"
    "They're going to lock the door, sir!" Wedge urged.
    "Unidentified passengers located in Car #2.  Preparing for lock down."
    Already wondering how many times they'd have to do this, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa raced against time and rolled under the closing door.
    "Just run!" yelled Jessie over the sirens in the next car.  "Changing to Plan B!"
    "Car #2 locked down.  Upgrading to Level 3 warning."
    The adrenalin coursing through Cloud's body was exhilarating, but at the same time panic clouded his reasoning.  He tried to calm down and think clearly while he was running through the car, but he knew it was a futile attempt and blindly rolled under the next door.  Oblivious, Cloud kept running even several moments after the alarms had stopped and the normal lights had flickered back on.
    "Awright!" Barret exulted.  "We clear?"
    "Not yet," Jessie said, still trying to keep the situation under control.  "They're starting another check; if we get caught, we're done for.  But don't worry.  If we move up the train, car by car, we should get past it."
    Just as she said, the alarms resumed and everything became scarlet again.  Jessie turned around just in time to see a man dashing away and hiding against the wall.  She caught up, slugged him, and pocketed the money he had stolen from her.
    "Unidentified passengers moving to front of train.  Currently tracking location."
    Cloud had barely had enough time to relax and cursed as a he began running again.  He bumped into a passenger going the opposite direction, but kept running, not stopping to wonder if the person had done it on purpose.  To notice the people shivering in the next car.  Or to notice that Car #3 had been locked down and that they had upgraded to a Level 4 warning.  To think about anything but getting to the next car.
    "Car #4 locked down.  Maximum security alert!"
    Cloud didn't care anymore.  He had lost track of the cars and it seemed like miles before Barret shouted with relief, "All right, we made it!"  Cold air rushed in as Barret pulled open the sliding door.  "Yo, this way!  We're gonna dive out of here!"  Panting heavily, Cloud checked up on the other members before getting ready to jump off the train.
    "How do I look, Cloud?" he heard Jessie ask.  Cloud looked around but couldn't find her anywhere.  Then he realized there was something odd about the Shinra guard standing next to him.
   "You look great," he laughed weakly, still trying to catch his breath.  "Just like a man."
    "Yay, I'm so happy!  I think..."
    Cloud approached Tifa, who was also recovering from the ordeal.  "Scary, huh?"
    "Too late to be thinkin' about that," he replied.  "Why'd you come anyway?"
    Tifa tried not to look at Cloud.  "Because..."
    "Hey you two, ain't no time for that!" Barret shouted.
    Tifa shook her head to snap herself out of her thoughts and looked out the open doorway at the ground as the train sped along the tracks.  "Yeah, I've made up my mind!" she said with determination.  "Watch carefully, I'm going to jump."  Gathering up all her courage, she jumped off the moving train and rolled unhurt onto the ground.
    "You don't mind if I go first?" Cloud asked Barret.
    "A leader always stays until the end," he replied gruffly.  As Cloud approached the doorway, he added, "Yo, don't go gettin' your spiky butt hurt!  It's only the beginnin' of the mission!"
    Cloud shrugged and nonchalantly jumped off the train, landing a short distance away from Tifa.  Barret stayed behind for a few moments to give the gang last minute instructions.  When all three were finally on solid ground together, Barret gave them some advice.  "Great, everything's gone as planned so far, but you better not let your guard down until we get to the Sector 5 reactor.  Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie got everything ready for us.  Now let's move it!"  He pointed down the dark passage ahead of them. "The reactor should be just down this tunnel."

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