===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.
Working together, Tseng and Barrett led the third back the way they had came from. Barrett ran through the door just ahead of Tseng who stepped to the side. As it started through the door, Tseng pressed the emergency close button, trapping it in the doorframe. He then ran out of the line of Feu, allowing Barrett to open up with his gun-arm. Shell after shell slammed through the creature's body, but as Vincent had discovered these monsters were exceptionally rugged. It writhed and thrashed, unable to free itself but not dying either.
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Reno yelped as he barely avoided a bite on the arm. "Yo Teef! This ain't workin'!" He shouted.
"Tell me about it!" She answered back. "Any suggestions?"
"Juss that we could use more help!"
Tifa slammed a right hook into the creature's back as hard as she could. "I don't think that's happening Reno, they're busy too!"
"Then I think we're screwed!" Reno answered. He narrowly avoided another attack. "Don't you got any materia yo?"
"Libra says magic won't work on this thing!"
Reno swore. "This one no, but maybe the others? They was different! Let's lose this guy and go help Vincent!"
Tifa nodded and unleashed the limit attack she had been holding back on. The monster roared and turned to face her. She ran into a series of narrow corridors, hoping to lose the beast without getting lost herself. "Hey yo! Wait up!" Reno shouted, and ran to follow.
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Barrett stopped firing, and stared at the trapped monster. "Damn. That was a full clip an' it's still kickin'. What's it take to kill this thing?"
Tseng pulled out a Libra materia. "Strong to physical damage." He said... "No kidding there... Hmmm... Weak to Ice. Do we have a Glace Materia?"
"Not on me." Barrett replied. "But..." He knelt down and rifled through his satchel. "We found this materia in Mideel, supposed to have some high-level spells on it... Lessee, yeah, here it is..." He held up the materia. "Contain... Oh yeah, it can cast Freeze."
What are you waiting for then?" Tseng asked. "Try it out!"
Barrett stood, thinking. He still hated this man for Corel. But, there were bigger issues at stake here and now... he knew what he needed to do, what was the right thing to do, though it tore him up to do so... He tossed the materia to Tseng. "You're a stronger caster than I am."
"Thank you." Tseng said, regarding Barrett with surprise. He slotted the materia into his weapon and began casting. The powerful spell took time to cast, but once it was ready A massive block of ice condensed around the monster's body, freezing it solid. The creature howled in rage, and though it survived it was clearly weakened.
"Aw hell yeah!" Barrett shouted. "Do that again!"
Tseng nodded. "Once more should do it." He began casting again...
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Vincent ran through the aisles with his pursuer close behind. He considered transforming, but thought better of it; in enclosed spaces like this, with the weight of three thousand feet of water pressing in from outside and the others to worry about, he didn't dare risk losing control.
And so he ran, hoping to find a place where the monster couldn't follow, or perhaps a weapon that could hurt it. Then, as he turned a corner he found himself running directly towards Tifa who had her own monster in tow. From behind the monster came the sound of Reno shouting. Thinking quickly, Vincent grabbed Tifa and threw both of them through a side door, which he then slammed shut. From outside the door came the sounds of the monsters trying to break in, but the door was thick steel, well barricaded, and they were unable to get through.
"I'm glad I ran into you!" Tifa said to Vincent. "But what about Reno!?"
"What about me, yo?" Reno asked. Tifa and Vincent turned from the door to see Reno standing behind them.
"But... You were behind the creature that was chasing me!" Tifa exclaimed. "How did you..."
Reno shuddered. "You don't want me to answer that question."
Tifa eyed Reno warily for a moment, then said "Whatever. Let's see what we can find and get out of here....
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===Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Cloud===
Cloud moved with purpose through the Gold Saucer, looking for Yuffie. The thief had to be her, there was simply no question of it. He decided to check out the materia store in the saucer's mall. Maybe she had robbed them too, he thought. But when he arrived there and spoke with the clerk, he got a huge surprise: "No sir, nothing's happened here." She said. "It's been business as usual."
"Hmmph." Cloud mumbled.
"Well, actually there was one funny thing earlier..." The clerk said. She pulled out a locked case and sat in on the counter. "A woman came in and sold us this." She opened the case, revealing the stolen materia.
Cloud was in shock. Yuffie selling a materia? It was totally out of character. "I guess money matters to her too. How much did she get for it?"
"Well, we were willing to pay eight hundred thousand. She didn't actually take it in cash though, had us transfer the funds to the park's restaurants and clothing stores."
"You don't say?" Cloud asked. An idea was forming in his mind. It seemed so unlikely, given it was Yuffie, but then again... He turned to leave, saying "You'd better call Dio. That materia is stolen..."
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===Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Tifa===
Tifa, Vincent, and Rude explored the cargo hold for several hours. Eventually they were joined by Barrett and Tseng who had managed to defeat the monster blocking their path. "Found anything good?" Barrett asked.
"A little bit." Tifa answered. "Mostly it's just junk ruined in the crash, but we've found a ton of those Shinra source drinks, and a weapon Yuffie might like."
"Found this too, yo." Reno said, holding up a red materia.
Vincent stepped closer to Reno, leaned in and examined the materia. "Can you sense what it summons?"
"No. Weird huh?"
"Perhaps... I wouldn't use this... There's a feel about it..."
"A feel like what?" Tseng asked.
"Something... wrong..."
"Well that tells us a lot." Barrett said.
"I'm sorry that I cannot be more specific. Nevertheless, what I say is true."
"Let's just keep looking." Tifa said. "I wanna finish up and get out of here."
They began searching, but moments later a howling sound reached their ears, followed moments later by another, closer. Everyone prepared for battle, knowing more of the mystery creatures were coming. Then, suddenly, a pair of creatures identical to the one Barrett and Tseng had fought appeared around the corner of a pile of debris.
"Good." Tseng said. "This type is weak to ice. We can handle them easily."
Then two more appeared. Plus five of the type that had pursued Vincent and Tifa. And five of a third type they'd not yet seen. "Easy huh?" Barrett rumbled.
"I am open to tactical suggestions." Tseng said as the group backed away from the approaching beasts.
"Bad idea or not, I'm giving this thing a whirl!" Reno exclaimed. He slotted the red materia into his mag-rod and started casting. Vincent shouted for him to stop, but it was too late.
The room turned dark. Dark as in black, no light visible. The air went cold, so cold that Tifa was instantly on the floor, teeth chattering, clutching herself for warmth. A sullen red glow appeared in the center of the chamber, and from out of the glow emerged Hades. "I have come." The entity said. It eyed the monsters. "And, I need not ask your reason for seeking my aid." A large black cauldron materialized in front of Hades, who began to chant over it, circling his hands over the top of the cauldron. A sudden explosion of light burst forth and flowed out and around the monsters, which thrashed in agony as they were simultaneously poisoned, silenced, Slowed, stopped, confused, blinded, and miniaturized.
Hades turned to Reno with a terrible smile on his face. "I expect you can handle it from here. Call upon me again any time, but remember that only this first one was free. If you seek my services again there will be... ...a price...." Hades vanished, laughing wickedly.
The light and warmth returned to the chamber. Tifa stood and looked around in surprise. The monsters were still miniaturized, perhaps four inches long, and Barrett and Tseng were squashing them underfoot. Reno was curled in a ball, shaking. "Reno?" She asked, kneeling by his side.
"Geez yo... I'm never doubtin' Vincent again as long as I live! It felt like that thing was gonna suck my soul out!"
"I did warn you." Vincent said.
Tifa helped Reno to his feet. "Let's get the hell out of here." She said...
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===Begin Third-Person P.O.V: Cloud===
Cloud found Yuffie exactly where he had expected to: Just outside of North Corel. She was seated on a large empty wooden crate, facing the town, and there were a large number of other crates scattered about as well, also empty. They were labeled for foodstuffs, clothing, blankets, and the like. Approaching from behind, he didn't realize that she knew he was there until she said "Time to face the music?"
"Maybe." Cloud sat next to her. "I was ready to be furious, and then I realized what you were really up to. How many of them got something?"
"Everyone. The food was close but the other stuff went further than I thought it would."
"You know this is just a bandage? It's not gonna solve the real problem."
"I know."
"Then why do it? I mean, it's really out of character for you Yuffie."
"If you think that you don't really know my character. The whole reason I chose this life in the first place was to help Wutai when it was suffering. Didn't work out. But, when I saw a chance here, well, I had to try." Yuffie was silent for a time, then said "So, you gonna turn me in?"
"For what?" Cloud asked. He grinned and added "The thief got away. At least we got the materia back though."
Yuffie hugged Cloud tightly. "Thanks!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever... C'mon, let's get back into the park before Dio cancels my points...