While the others were catching their breath after a rather lengthy wandering through the railway tunnels, Alex continued sitting on the stone partition, with unhurried interest watching how from time to time another passenger composition rushed past them with a screech. Once again bringing the cigar to his lips, he noticed how a heavy freight train raced along the neighboring tracks at breakneck speed. Managing to make out that the open platforms were transporting some massive covered cargo, Alex slightly narrowed his eyes, following the composition with his gaze.
It seemed to him that the train had gone exactly in the direction where that very old depot that Barret had mentioned was located. However, ceasing to look after the departed composition, Alex only indifferently shrugged his shoulders, not worrying at all about what might await them ahead. Slightly cracking his neck and shaking his head from side to side, Alex felt a light touch on his shoulder. Turning his head, he met Tifa's gaze, who softly informed him that they had already rested enough and it was time to move on.
Nodding in response, Alex easily jumped down from the stone partition. Descending back onto the railway tracks, Alex together with Tifa, Claudia and Barret headed toward the old depot located deeper in the tunnel. Spending about ten minutes on the passage to the needed fork, Tifa pointed a finger at yet another graffiti of a dog in a military helmet that Biggs had left as a landmark.
"The smiling Shinra dog is showing us the way to the destruction of its own master. How ironic," Barret said with a smirk, casting a quick glance at the drawing on the wall they were passing.
"Do you really dislike Stamp that much?" Tifa inquired with a chuckle, turning her head to Barret.
"It's not about the dog itself at all. I'm simply sick of the fact that Shinra uses such a loyal and noble animal for its vile propagandistic purposes," Barret answered, shaking his head, and slightly waved his hand toward the drawing.
"And would it be easier for you if Shinra honestly wrote on every corner what idiots they are, instead of drawing a cute cartoon dog?" Alex asked, throwing his hands behind his head and walking next to Tifa.
"And why not?! Marlene loves watching cartoons about this dog. And if Stamp at the end of every episode said in plain text what bastards Shinra are, it would be ideal altogether!" Barret answered with a slight snort, turning to Alex.
"I don't think that's the best idea — turning a children's show into a political banner," Tifa answered with a laugh, shaking her head at Barret's fantasies.
In response to her doubts Barret only snorted in a bass and began retelling in all details the plots of several episodes of the show about the dog Stamp that he had rewatched together with Marlene. Listening to his chatter, Alex only silently shook his head. Even without Barret's tales it was extremely clear to him with what nauseating volumes of propaganda Shinra pumped the brains of civilians in order to recruit more and more new masses into its service.
Slightly yawning, Alex picked up the pace and caught up with Claudia, who was walking ahead in case of another unwanted encounter with drones. Continuing to deepen along the rails into the darkness of the tunnel, Alex and Claudia finally saw the massive outlines of the old depot where a parked freight composition was already standing. Slowing down in time, they made out an entire group of grunts bustling near the cars.
With a quick wave of his hand Alex asked Tifa and Barret to slow down and not make noise. Approaching closely and taking cover behind a rusty metal container, Alex carefully peeked out from around the corner. The platform that had been transporting the heavy cargo was already empty. In that very second Alex finally remembered exactly what this freight composition was supposed to transport.
Slightly narrowing his eyes, he followed how the lattice gates of the depot opened with a shutter mechanism, from which a heavy loader slowly drove out. Looking behind the loader, Alex spotted something large-sized covered with dense fabric. The massive metal leg sticking out from under the tarpaulin finally confirmed his grim guess.
"There's far more security here than I initially assumed," Tifa said quietly, peeking out from around the corner and squatting.
"I counted about twenty grunts, plus patrol equipment. And it's still unknown whether they have backup nearby," Claudia added in a calm tone, quickly assessing the number of opponents in the depot.
"What difference does it make! If these bastards stand in our way — that's their personal problem," Barret cut off coldly, switching the toggle on his cyber-arm back to machine-gun mode.
"Yeah, and we'll again waste a ton of time fighting everyone in a row," Alex muttered, rolling his eyes, already mentally sketching a neat plan of action.
"Well then what do you propose, kid?" Barret asked, slightly raising his sunglasses and leaning his shoulder against the container.
"We can take out all these idiots quietly. If we do everything without noise and dust, the automatic security system won't trigger, and we'll only have to deal with the present grunts," Alex calmly explained, fishing a ball of the finest metal thread from the deep pocket of his coat.
Hearing Alex's proposal, Claudia silently nodded, fully agreeing with his plan to quietly deal with the grunts. Barret only snorted discontentedly, showing with his entire appearance that he was ready to listen to the details. Alex briefly laid out the essence: carefully knock out the grunts one by one while making their way to the main gates. He was holy sure that Claudia and Tifa would be able to lose themselves among the cars without particular problems, which could not be said at all about Barret, who with his dimensions more resembled a huge two-door wardrobe with massive arms.
Hearing such an assessment of his build, Barret nearly drove his fist into Alex's face, only hissing through his teeth that he perfectly knew how to act silently. However, despite his protests, even Claudia and Tifa looked at him with open doubt. Not putting the arguments on pause, Alex simply waved his hand, showing that he was starting first.
In that same second he easily jumped upward, turned in the air and firmly planted his feet on the metal ceiling of the depot. Seeing how Alex calmly walked along the ceilings upside down, Claudia, Tifa and Barret were not even surprised — for them such anomalous weirdness had already managed to become the normal state of affairs. Reaching the very center of the hangar, Alex stopped and looked down, waiting while the rest of the group took their starting positions.
Squatting upside down, Alex from above observed how Tifa and Claudia with silent movements crept between the cars and containers. Barret looked like a clumsy dresser trying to seem invisible while walking right on Tifa's heels.
When everyone was in place, Alex gave the start. Unwinding the finest metal threads, he instantly caught the grunt who was walking right under him. The guard did not even manage to figure out what had happened when he was sharply yanked upward — right under the ceiling itself. About to scream, the grunt felt how his mouth was firmly clamped, depriving him of the ability to make even a sound.
Meeting the frightened gaze of the soldier, Alex put a finger to his lips, calling for silence. Without interrupting his good-natured smile, he snapped his finger against the grunt's forehead, and the latter instantly blacked out. Hanging the unconscious guard by the belt from a ceiling beam, Alex assessed the situation with the others. Claudia was just dragging one of the grunts behind a metal container and knocked him out with a hard blow of the face against the iron. Tifa deftly wrapped her arms around the neck of another soldier and yanked him inside an open car.
The second patrolman, hearing a suspicious noise behind his back, turned around, noticed the disappearance of his partner and did not manage to take even a couple of steps when he received a heavy dull blow right on the crown. The grunt's eyes immediately rolled back, and it went dark in his head. Grabbing the limp body by the collar, Barret without ceremony tossed it into the same car like a sack of potatoes. Surveying the cleared sector, Alex gave a signal from above to repeat the trick with the remaining sentries and easily ran along the ceiling to the next target.
Continuing to deftly eliminate one grunt after another, pulling them to the ceiling and hanging them by their own belts, Alex could not help smirking. At that moment he sincerely felt like a real Spider-Man. Chuckling at his own joke, Alex was holding the very last grunt by the leg while the latter desperately tried to thrash, hanging upside down over the metal floor of the depot.
Tired of these senseless jerkings, Alex for a joke slightly loosened his palm — the grunt immediately thrashed in horror and began furiously shaking his head, with his entire appearance begging not to drop him from such a height. Tightening his fingers again firmly, Alex pulled the soldier closer to himself and gave him a light flick exactly in the middle of the forehead. Knocking out the last guard and securing him on the ceiling beam next to the others, Alex easily jumped down.
Smoothly landing on the metal floor, Alex fished a thin cigar from the pocket of his coat and clicked a lighter. Looking through the lattice gates, he fixed his gaze on the huge robot hidden under a dense tarpaulin. Exhaling two streams of smoke through his nose, Alex raised his eyes and spotted yet another hidden observation camera. Slightly scratching his cheek with a finger, he thought that it would be nice to deal with this piece of iron before it even managed to be activated.
After all, if the vaunted Shinra technology did not even start the engine, Heidegger at his headquarters would simply choke on bile and rage. Smiling at such an enticing plan, Alex turned to the others to assess their situation. Approaching closer, Tifa met his gaze and with a cheerful smile pointed a finger at the ceiling from which unconscious grunts were hanging in beautiful clusters. In response to this gesture Alex only modestly spread his hands, eliciting a quiet laugh from Tifa.
"I told you no one would spot me! Heh, I'm simply the best at stealth!" Barret delivered with a proud smirk, victoriously raising a thumb upward.
"Only those grunts you 'silently' knocked out will wake up already in intensive care with a severe concussion after your light fists," Tifa noted with a light smile, carefully brushing dust off her skirt.
"That's already their personal problem, not mine… Fine, enough lingering, we need to move on. The main gates are locked, so we're going around. We'll use this ladder here," Barret answered, carelessly shrugging his shoulders, and pointed with his hand at the technical flight leading into the working premises of the depot.
The moment Barret proposed moving by the detour path, from the opposite side of the lattice gates an deafening warning signal rang out, and the heavy metal leaves began slowly moving apart. Seeing that the shutters had come into motion by themselves, Claudia, Tifa and Barret instantly became wary — it was obvious that such a system could not have triggered without outside interference.
While the gates continued to rattle on the guides, from the depths of the hangar cut through yet another characteristic hum resembling the power startup of a heavy mechanism. Hearing this vibrational sound, the entire group synchronously turned toward the far end of the depot, where under a thick layer of tarpaulin something truly gigantic and imposing was hiding.
In that same second right through the dense fabric twin lights brightly flashed, terrifyingly resembling predatory eyes. Seeing how the combat Crab robot fully activated, Alex flung an irritated gaze right into the nearest observation camera, with a clear desire to kick Heidegger in the balls. He had not the slightest doubts about whose bitch paw exactly had given the order for the remote launch.
The Crab robot in a matter of seconds switched to a state of full combat readiness, started the powerful power unit and literally began revving in place, making the metal floor of the depot spark under its heavy supports. At the sight of this formidable military machine Claudia slightly narrowed her eyes, trying to instantly identify the modification of the Shinra armored vehicle.
"What the…?" Tifa exhaled in shock, not taking her gaze off the revived steel monster.
"Everyone aside! Quickly!" Claudia barked, perfectly realizing what such a combat model was capable of.
The moment Claudia's warning cry rang out, the Crab robot immediately tore from its place and raced forward at breakneck speed, knocking down and dragging everything in its path. With only its own colossal weight the Crab robot without particular problems crushed the heavy metal containers standing in its way. Seeing how a multi-ton steel bulk was rushing straight at them, Alex in the blink of an eye scooped the standing nearby Tifa into his arms and made a lightning jump aside.
Claudia with a death grip seized Barret by the collar and with force yanked him back, literally pulling the giant out from under the ramming impact. The robot raced past them by inertia and sharply laid a turn, with a deafening clang crashing with the side part of its body into a standing freight car. Freezing for only a tiny moment, the Crab robot immediately turned its guns and opened a barrage of fire at Alex and Tifa.
Before a hail of whistling bullets hit them, Alex deftly rolled behind the nearest container, still holding Tifa in his arms. Taking cover behind the iron wall, Alex transferred his gaze to the opposite side of the hangar, where behind the neighboring container Claudia was hiding together with Barret. Watching how the robot without stopping poured lead onto the cover of Alex and Tifa, Barret tried to carefully peek out from around the corner and plant a good burst in response into the body of the Crab robot.
But the moment Barret appeared from cover and aimed his gun, the machine instantly switched sensors to him and redirected the dense stream of fire. Hiding his head a fraction of a second before his body would have turned into a bloody sieve, Barret irritably spat onto the concrete floor.
"What the hell is this crap even?!" Barret roared, trying with all his might to shout over the deafening roar of the endless machine-gun bursts.
"This is an old-model combat robot!" Claudia answered, drowning out the noises, already frantically calculating options for how to approach the assault Crab robot.
"So fucking antique… And how do we smash this damn junk?!" Barret spat in a rage, vainly trying to time even a second for a return shot.
"This model has extremely weak protection on the chassis! If we break the armor on the legs — we can quickly put this robot out of commission!" Claudia shouted loudly so that Alex and Tifa on the opposite side would clearly hear her.
"Then I'll distract this piece of iron to myself, and you immediately hit the legs!" Alex shouted in response and with a smile raised a thumb upward.
Looking at Alex, Claudia briefly nodded, letting him know that she was ready to attack the robot immediately as soon as it switched attention to him. Nodding in response, Alex turned to Tifa and quickly explained that she needed to unnoticed transfer to the other side — to Claudia and Barret. Perfectly understanding the plan, Tifa agreed and immediately stepped back a couple of steps to gain a good run-up.
Noticing the preparations of Alex and Tifa, Barret instantly leaned out from behind the container and opened dense barrage fire with electric charges, delivering a couple of precise hits to briefly distract the huge robot. Understanding that the Crab robot had switched its turrets to Barret, Tifa tore from the spot forward. Running up close to Alex, Tifa easily jumped and stepped with her foot onto his clasped palms. With a powerful pushing impulse Alex tossed Tifa upward, making her soar right in the direction of Claudia and Barret's positions.
Deftly spinning under the very ceiling of the hangar, Tifa carefully landed behind the far container, performing several quick somersaults to dampen the inertia of the jump. Left alone in cover, Alex with short gestures showed Claudia that he was fully ready to begin. Receiving a return signal from her, Alex immediately jumped out from behind the container and raced at top speed toward the Crab robot.
The moment he left the safe zone, the robot instantly redirected all barrels and opened hurricane fire at him. Seeing the dense hail of bullets rushing straight at him, Alex only coldly snorted and with a sharp wave of his hands stretched the finest metal threads in front of himself.
The whistling bullets at full speed crashed into the stretched threads and instantly sliced into two neat halves, not even managing to approach Alex's body. Easily deflecting the first volley, Alex jumped high upward, winding the threads on the fly. Turning in the air, he hard-landed right on the upper armor of the Crab robot and instantly wrapped its side turrets with steel web.
"You definitely won't need this anymore," Alex said with a predatory smirk, with force pulling toward himself the hand wrapped in metal threads.
In that same moment the Crab robot began furiously thrashing from side to side, trying by any means to throw Alex off itself. Feeling how the steel bulk was jerking with all its might under his feet, Alex only lazily rolled his eyes and with a sharp motion pulled the hand with the wound threads toward himself — the heavy turrets on the robot's body were instantly cut off at the very root, like dry branches. As soon as Alex dealt with the side armament of the Crab robot, Barret leaned out from cover and brought down on the machine's body another continuous hail of electric bullets.
Under this covering fire Claudia and Tifa jumped out onto an open position, intending to reach the vulnerable supports of the robot as quickly as possible. Tightening her grip on the Buster Sword, Claudia made a rapid dash: in a second jumping up to the robot, she pushed off from its massive leg and soared into the air. Spinning above the machine, Claudia with a swing brought the sword down from above, with one clean and heavy blow cutting off the front limb of the Crab robot.
The moment the giant lost its first support, right behind Claudia's back Tifa appeared, rapidly covering the remaining distance. Sharply jumping forward, Tifa turned in the air and delivered a crushing circular kick right into the neighboring limb of the robot. The blow turned out of such wild force that the armored leg practically bent in the opposite direction. Understanding that one hit was not enough, Tifa instantly soared under the very ceiling of the hangar.
Using the metal ceilings as a point of support, she powerfully pushed off back downward and, clenching her fist, slammed yet another lethal blow into the same leg, finally finishing the power joints. Having lost both right limbs, the Crab robot with a deafening clang immediately toppled onto its side.
The moment the machine crashed onto the concrete, Alex jumped from its body, smoothly landing side by side with Tifa and Claudia. Spending several useless attempts to rise, the Crab robot immediately changed tactics: on the sides of its toppled body hidden rocket launchers clicked out.
"Rockets too?!" Tifa exclaimed in surprise, staring at the extended launch blocks.
"This is an old army model. They were all without exception equipped with such armament," Claudia answered, shifting the Buster Sword more conveniently and preparing to cut off the rocket turrets.
"Oh, how I adore it when they pull out their rockets. I'm even shaking with happiness," Alex said with undisguised poisonous sarcasm, experiencing an irresistible desire to simply kick this piece of iron and smash it to hell with one blow.
"Really? Do you like it that much?" Tifa inquired with naive surprise, completely not catching the sarcasm in his voice.
"Of course not! And now — dodge!" Alex barked and at the last moment pulled Tifa aside, a second before a rocket whistled into the place where they had just been standing.
Dodging the explosion together with Tifa, Alex managed to notice that instead of retreating backward Claudia rushed straight into a frontal attack. Deftly dodging the flying rockets with jumps from side to side, Claudia closed the distance to the Crab robot and soared into the air, calculating to cut off one of the rocket turrets with one clean blow. However already in the swing she sharply narrowed her eyes and only managed to put the massive Buster Sword in front of herself. In that same moment the Crab robot blindly brought down on her a heaviest blow with its single remaining front limb.
Taking the entire enormous force of the ram on the block, Claudia flew backward, fully feeling the weight of the multi-ton machine on herself. Before she at full speed crashed with her back into a hard metal container, Alex made a lightning jump and intercepted Claudia a second before the collision. Meeting the inertia of the impact, he rolled together with her along the metal floor of the depot, briefly nodded to her, and they immediately jumped in different directions, escaping from another rocket volley.
Continuing to continuously maneuver under the fire, Alex, Claudia and Tifa waited for the ideal moment for a decisive counterattack. The moment the Crab robot went into cyclic reload of the rocket blocks, right above their heads a hissing blindingly white light whistled past. The precisely fired projectile hit straight into the rocket turret of the Crab robot, and its armored body began to bubble and instantly melt before their eyes.
In a matter of moments the ultra-high temperature burned out the metal skin of the turret, and in the next moment an deafening internal explosion shook the depot. At the very last moment Alex, Tifa and Claudia managed to dart behind a metal container before the space around was showered with red-hot fragments of the exploded machine. Hiding behind cover, Alex cast a glance at Barret — on the latter's face a satisfied wide smirk was playing while he held the smoking machine gun aimed at the Crab robot.
Narrowing his eyes, Alex made out that on the touch panel of Barret's cyber-arm the inscription brightly lit up: "Thermite Ammunition." Alex could not help smirking at the fact that Barret had finally used his brains and himself figured out to set the needed type of cartridges against heavy armor. Peeking out from behind the container, Alex, Tifa and Claudia saw that a good half of the Crab robot had simply been incinerated and torn apart, but the wrecked carcass was still showing weak signs of life, trying to jerk with the surviving nodes.
"What a tenacious robot," Tifa said with a heavy sigh, examining the smoking remains of the robot.
"The explosion did not destroy the reactor core, so it's still functioning. We need to finish it off immediately before this piece of metal pulls another trick," Claudia said in a calm, even tone, coming out from behind the container and habitually shifting the Buster Sword.
"That's easy for us. As one wise proverb said: the one who strikes the opponent with his own weapon wins," Alex responded with a predatory smirk and with an unhurried step headed toward the barely intact carcass of the Crab robot.
Hearing Alex's words, Claudia expressed slight doubt regarding exactly what he had said that for. Tifa just as bewilderedly looked at Alex, trying to figure out why he had spoken about this at such a moment. Alex completely ignored these puzzled gazes and continued unhurriedly approaching the defeated Crab robot.
He sincerely liked such battles where each of them earned their team points, instead of him himself having to deal with absolutely everything alone. In the end, the whole sense of joint adventures was lost when everything rested only on your shoulders. Continuing to break into a smile, Alex nonchalantly approached the previously cut-off metal limb of the Crab robot.
Grabbing the heavy edge of the steel leg, Alex dragged it to the twisted carcass that was still emitting a plaintive humming sound and trying to rise. Shaking his head, Alex with one motion raised the massive limb above his head and with all his might brought it down on the armored body of the Crab robot. Delivering the first crushing blow to the robot with its own leg, Alex immediately planted the next, beginning to literally shower the machine with a continuous hail of blows.
Seeing exactly what Alex was doing, Claudia and Tifa with a synchronous mental "aaa" realized that his so-called wise words had been understood by him extremely literally. Looking at this beating, Claudia only slightly snorted and condescendingly folded her arms across her chest. Barret, with relish watching how Alex was smashing the robot with its own torn-off paw, proudly smirked — as if it were he himself who was pounding the piece of iron with such enthusiasm. Tifa simply heavily sighed and shook her head.
Very quickly everything that remained of the Crab robot turned into a formless pile of smoking scrap. Raising the oil-smeared metal limb for the final chord, Alex smiled widely and on the backhand drove the sharp fragment right into the central core of the machine. The moment the metal pierced the reactor, bright greenish particles of Mako flew out in all directions with a hiss, and the Crab robot instantly completely died. Having finally finished off the Crab robot, Alex slightly brushed the soot from his white gloves and turned to the rest of the group.
"That's all. The enemy is defeated, the path is free — we can move on," Alex said with a careless smirk, clicking a lighter and lighting a thin cigar.
"I didn't think your words about 'striking the enemy with his own weapon' would turn out so literal," Tifa noted with a cheerful smile, looking Alex straight in the eyes.
"Well, it was both in the literal and figurative sense at the same time. You know? Two facets of one concept," Alex answered with a smile in response and slightly waved the smoldering cigar, trying to better visually draw his thought.
"What's unclear here? Everything's simpler than steamed turnip! We take the guns from Shinra and immediately bomb these scoundrels with their own junk. Everything is extremely logical," Barret inserted with a confident smirk, authoritatively nodding and folding his arms across his chest.
"I don't think the context was exactly that… However, it doesn't matter. Let's go further. Where do we need to move?" Claudia spoke, measuring Barret with a completely empty gaze, after which she sharply decided not to voice the original thought.
"Hey, you finish saying it! What are you turning in that head of yours, ex-SOLDIER girl?!" Barret immediately snapped, instantly catching the thin irony in her pause.
"It's not important. If you didn't understand right away — then you already won't understand. Don't count on someone eternally chewing elementary things for you and putting them in your mouth," Claudia said in a calm, icy tone, casting a short fleeting glance at Barret and being the first to step forward along the tunnel.
"Are you looking for a fight?!" Barret growled, clenching his fists until they cracked, and with a heavy step moved right after Claudia.
Hearing how Barret had again latched on because of another trifle, Tifa looked at her friend with an infinitely tired gaze, thinking that after so much time she should have long ago gotten used to his outbursts. Hearing another shout from Barret, Tifa only understandingly smiled and in that same moment felt a warm palm on her shoulder. Turning her head, she met Alex's gaze.
Smiling at her, Alex conspiratorially raised an index finger, letting her know that he had something interesting, and immediately reached his hand into the inner pocket of his coat. Intrigued by this mysterious gesture, Tifa focused all attention on his hand. However, when Alex finally pulled out his palm, Tifa stared at him and immediately laughed from the heart — Alex had simply folded a neat heart out of his fingers.
Looking at this silly improvisation, Tifa could already not restrain a sincere smile. Continuing to chuckle, she decided to tease back and raised her hands, folding a heart already with two palms. Seeing that Tifa had readily accepted his game, Alex joyfully laughed together with her. Having chuckled a little, Tifa proposed to Alex that they catch up with Claudia and Barret, who had already managed to go far ahead.
Nodding in agreement, Alex stepped along the tunnel, jokingly nudging Tifa with his hip as he passed. Feeling the light push, Tifa with a smile answered with a light slap on his shoulder, urging him to go faster. Receiving an encouraging impulse in the back, Alex quietly laughed and picked up the pace to catch up with Barret and Claudia.
"Let's go faster, why are you dawdling at the very end?! The passage should be right behind these containers!" Barret barked, turning his head and urging Alex and Tifa on.
"Can you yourself squeeze into such a gap between the containers? Or should I dash off and look for a can of oil?" Alex asked with a cheerful smirk, approaching closer and evaluatingly examining the narrow opening.
"Hah, just watch and learn, kid!" Barret responded with a proud smirk and with grunting began squeezing sideways right into the narrow gap between the containers.
Watching how Barret with choice grumbling barely squeezed between two heavy containers, Alex for a moment raised a finger, wanting to crack some sharpness. However, deciding to hold his opinion to himself, he lowered his hand and easily, without extra noise jumped right onto the roof of the container. Seeing this simple maneuver, Tifa and Claudia reasoned that they absolutely did not need to squeeze in single file after Barret, and instantly jumped upward.
Walking along the iron roof, Alex specially looked into the narrow gap and slightly waved to Barret when their gazes crossed. Freezing in place, Barret with open bewilderment watched how the entire rest of the group calmly walked along the top. Feeling boiling irritation, Barret with all his might slammed his fist into the metal body of the container and growled even louder. Hearing this dull hum, Alex dissolved into openly loud laughter, after which followed yet another powerless blow.
Heartily chuckling at the fact that he had once again managed to bring Barret to a boil, Alex reached the edge of the container and made out the passage they needed. Jumping onto the concrete, Alex automatically turned back and accidentally fixed his gaze on the black shorts peeking out from under the skirt of the jumping Tifa.
For a second staring at this element of her wardrobe, Alex heard a dry, very insistent cough above his head and immediately raised his eyes. Meeting Tifa's gaze, on whose face a far from tender smile was playing, Alex instantly pretended that he had seen nothing at all and was simply studying the local ceiling.
Shaking her head, Tifa deftly jumped down, without a twinge of conscience stepping with her foot on Alex's shoulder, and only after that landed on the floor. Brushing imaginary dust from his shoulder, Alex with a light smile looked at Tifa, who in response slightly threatened him with a neat little fist.
"Damn, why is everything so narrow here?!" Barret's discontented voice once again carried while he continued with difficulty squeezing through the passage.
"Because you're one huge walking wardrobe with arms," Alex answered in a lazy tone, turning his head toward Barret.
"And so what?! Just look at these muscles! With them I can easily fold any grunt in half!" Barret declared with a proud smirk, getting free and beginning to furiously demonstrate his biceps.
"Cool… So next time we'll simply use you as a meat shield," Alex said, imperturbably raising a thumb upward.
"I think I'll manage somehow… So, this way. We'll go down here, and further there'll be a service elevator that will take us to the lower level," Barret carelessly waved his hand and was the first to pass by Alex.
Laughing at how Barret tactfully and deftly slid off the topic, Alex followed him to the service descent. Waiting while Barret first thundered with his boots down the flight, Alex was already preparing to descend after him, but then Tifa approached him closely. One of her expressive glances was enough to thinly hint: she would go down strictly in front of him.
Understanding this transparent jab from the very first time, Alex courteously stepped aside and even made a joking curtsy with a light bow. Quietly chuckling at his manners, Tifa stepped onto the metal ladder and deftly slid downward. Left on the upper platform alone with Claudia, Alex turned his head in her direction, directly meeting the gaze of her bright green eyes.
"Will you also prefer to go ahead of me? What if I accidentally see something I shouldn't?" Alex inquired with a light smirk.
"And what, for example?" Claudia asked with a sigh, habitually folding her arms across her chest.
"Well, I don't know… For example, your ass in dangerous proximity to my face," Alex answered, carelessly shrugging his shoulders, and slightly waved his hand.
"Seriously? Are you really interested in such crap at a moment like this? And I'm sincerely curious what exactly you expect to make out through my pants?" Claudia asked, shaking her head, and expressively indicated with her gaze her loose, baggy pants.
"I just asked, for the sake of conscience," Alex responded in a completely carefree tone, slightly scratching his cheek.
"Just go ahead already, idiot," Claudia said with a heavy sigh and pushed Alex with her palm right toward the ladder.
To be continued...
(Oh my god, what a tough day this is. The weather has changed so much, my head is going crazy. It was still warm yesterday, and today it's gotten colder, and then it started raining. My head is splitting with such a change in the weather. So, plot-wise, we're moving forward. I'll try to squeeze it all in, of course, but it's really hard. All this interaction is important so the characters don't look like plastic people. I couldn't write, they ride a train, get into an accident, and after a couple of hours of wandering and fighting, they reach the right passage, and it's all over. I just can't do that, it even sounds creepy. Hehe. I'm going to go eat. Peace, love, and wearing shorts under a skirt is right. Even if you're a guy in a kilt.)
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