I Never Let Her Die! (Aerith x Male Gamer Reader)

Disk 02: Chapter 19: Ruin

===Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Cloud===

Cloud sighed as he stepped away from the registration counter. He had just completed his third full round in the arena, and checked on the number of battle points he had saved up. Sixty-three thousand nine hundred ninety seven. Three points short of the price for his prize. Three stinking little points. He wouldn't have been surprised to learn that Dio had engineered this somehow, perhaps by tampering with the scoring system, just to make sure his biggest draw had to stay for a whole 'nother round of fighting.

Seeking to kill time while waiting for his final round of fights, Cloud wandered around the Arena lobby. Nearing the prize chamber, he saw that something was wrong: Dio was there with several members of the Saucer's security force. Yellow security tape stretched across the door. "I'd better check this out." Cloud thought. So he walked over and got Dio's attention. "Something going on?"

"Oh it's terrible!" Dio answered. "Come, look!" The man led Cloud past the tape and into the prize room. The glass case which had held the Double-Summon Materia was empty. A hole had been expertly cut into the glass, with the round glass that had been cut away lying neatly atop the case. "Can you believe this?" Dio asked. "Robbery! Thieves, brigands, here!"

Immediately suspicious, Cloud asked "Did anyone see who did it?"

"I'm afraid not. Both guards assigned to the door and the security cameras confirm no one came or went. Apparently the thief used the ventilation ducts... I told the architects from day one that they didn't need to be big enough for people, but would they listen to me?"

"I'd try to help out, but I can't leave the arena." Cloud said. He pointed to the Omnislash manual. "I really need that, and I'm three lousy points short."

"I'll tell you what my boy... I'll make an exception to the usual rules. You can help find the thief, and your battle points will still be there when you come back!"

"Because it's not like you could just forget the three points." Cloud thought to himself. "Ah well, it is Dio after all... That's the best I could ever expect..." He said "I'll see what I can do."

"Excellent my boy, excellent!" Dio slapped Cloud on the back. "Let me know when you have good news!"

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===Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Tifa===

The submarine shuddered as Reno docked with the ruins of the crashed Gelnika. A trio of indicator lights above the control panel all turned green. "Positive lock." Reno said. "We got equal pressure on both sides of the airlock yo. We're good to go."

Everyone followed Tifa as she led the way to the airlock. Once there, she said "Okay: According to Y/N there's some really good supplies in the cargo bay. Be ready to fight though... There's supposed to be some really strong creatures too."

With that, Vincent opened the hatch and they stepped through into the Gelnika. "Looks like we're near the front of the plane." He said. "We'll need to head aft to find the cargo hold."

No sooner had Vincent opened the first inner door then they came under attack. Three bizarre creatures lunged from out of the shadows, snapping and snarling. Tifa ducked under the first one, then rose back to her feet as it passed over her and pummeled it mercilessly with a flurry of blows. Reno, who that one seemed to have chosen as it's target, joined in with his mag-rod, which did little more than annoy it.

Vincent was forced to handle the second beast alone. He ran, leading it into a blind corridor with no one else in sight. Once there, he opened up with his gun, firing as quickly as possible. Five shots struck directly in the monster's head, but it kept coming, barely even Slowed down. Seeing little choice, he fled again.