Tightly clinging to Alex's back, Tifa sincerely could not understand how Dean had managed to catch and drag into her bar such a dangerous monster as a Tonberry, and was now sitting completely carefree, sipping beer and feeding this dwarf dried meat. But what frightened her even more was the fact that neither Alex nor Dean were taking any precautions at all and paid no attention whatsoever to the deadly nature of the green pursuer, treating it as the most ordinary harmless pet.
Trying not to scream once more so as not to accidentally provoke the Tonberry, Tifa was pulling Alex back outside with all her might, dreaming of taking a safe place as far away as possible. She had never seen this monster in person before, but she knew perfectly well what the little horror looked like and remembered dozens of terrifying rumors about how dangerous it was.
One of those rumors, which she had heard more than once from the patrons of her bar, claimed: if you crossed paths with a Tonberry and became its target, it would relentlessly pursue you wherever you went and wherever you tried to hide. It would still find you and kill you. There were a great many such stories, and each was darker than the last, for the little killer could not care less who you were or how many gil you had in your wallet. Thinking about all these horrors, Tifa continued insistently pulling Alex toward the exit, begging him to leave urgently.
"Why are you shaking so much? Just look how cool this little guy is!" Dean said with a smirk and lightly squeezed the Tonberry's snout while it continued chewing the meat with such an imperturbable air, as if it could not care less where it was.
"It's not about the appearance at all! This creature is deadly dangerous!" Tifa answered in a very tense tone, squeezing Alex's shoulders harder and hiding behind his shoulder.
"Him, dangerous? Are you serious? If he's so dangerous, then why didn't he attack me?" Dean asked, laughing good-naturedly, and carelessly poked the Tonberry on the nose with his finger.
"Didn't… didn't attack?" Tifa asked in shock, blinking in surprise and staring at Dean.
"Well yeah. When Steve crawled out of the pile of trash, he just walked up and hugged my leg… And if you're saying he's also dangerous, then that's even cooler!" Dean said, stroking his chin, and nodded approvingly at the Tonberry.
"Son of a bitch! What the hell is this thing doing here?!" Barret's sudden deafening shout rang out when he crossed the threshold and saw what the hell was going on in the bar.
A few minutes before Alex and Tifa returned, Barret, Jessie, and Biggs had been in the secret basement under the establishment, where they were heatedly discussing plans for the destruction of the next Mako Reactor. Jessie immediately suggested calling Alex and Dean to the council — after all, they had helped destroy the first reactor and had done it flawlessly, without a single civilian casualty. However, Barret dug in his heels, repeating again and again that their organization should act independently.
Besides, in his opinion, they needed to think ahead about a plan in case of another intervention by Alex if he decided once again to change everything on the fly right before the start of the mission. Biggs, finding himself in the epicenter of this argument between Jessie and Barret, simply did not know whose side to take. Despite the fact that he had known Alex for only two days, Biggs already understood perfectly well: Alex's head worked completely differently.
To somehow stop the prolonged conflict, Biggs resorted to the simplest and most effective method — he reminded them that a whole pile of specific materials was still missing for the mission. Last time they had had to blow up part of the armored doors and the Mako flow control panel in order to reverse the energy. The reminder of truly important matters made Jessie cool down a little. She began explaining that she had already figured out how to get everything necessary and only needed a little time.
Barret and Biggs immediately began grilling her about exactly what she had planned, but Jessie merely shook her head mysteriously, repeating that she would handle everything herself. At those words Biggs frowned and nodded understandingly — he had already seen that particular look on Jessie's face, and it usually appeared when she was going to visit her family. But before they managed to continue the conversation, agitated voices came from above, among which Tifa's frightened cry stood out clearly.
Exchanging glances, Barret, Jessie, and Biggs decided to immediately go upstairs and find out what the hell was going on in the hall. Approaching the platform, Barret pressed the hidden button on the pinball table, and the secret elevator smoothly went up. The moment they found themselves in the bar premises, they were stunned: right on the table sat a green creature that they least of all expected to see here.
In that same instant a deafening roar burst from Barret's throat, immediately attracting everyone's attention. Hearing that rough howl, Alex turned his head in his direction and noticed how Barret had spread his arms wide, shielding Jessie and Biggs with himself. The faces of the trio at that moment were very pale and no less frightened.
"What's with your reaction at the sight of this little guy anyway?" Dean asked in a weary tone, familiarly resting his elbow right on the Tonberry's head.
"Do you even understand what kind of creature this is?! Do you really understand?!" Jessie forced out in a frightened tone, slowly backing along the wall toward the exit.
"Well yeah… It's that… Tonky… Tonbu… Anyway, it's Steve," Dean answered in a carefree tone, watching with lazy interest as the trio edged sideways along the wall.
"It's a Tonberry! And this creature is deadly dangerous!" Biggs added, carefully backing after Jessie and not taking his tense gaze off the Tonberry.
"Yeah, I'm already aware. He's so terrifying that I'm about to shit my pants from fear right now," Dean drawled with exaggerated irony, completely tiring of how absolutely everyone around was reacting to his new pet.
No one answered Dean's ironic remark — everyone present was too busy trying to escape and had no intention of remaining in the same room with such a dangerous monster as a Tonberry. The moment Jessie found herself next to Alex, she immediately hung onto him after Tifa, deciding to use Alex as an impenetrable shield. Barret, for his part, was glad to himself that his little Marlene was currently walking outside and did not see this nightmare.
Feeling two girls already hanging on him, Alex merely wearily rubbed his forehead, sincerely not understanding the reasons for such panic. The Tonberry named Steve could not care less about the chaos unfolding. It did not even react to the howls and merely continued calmly sitting on the table next to Dean and unhurriedly chewing the dried meat with which it was being generously fed.
At the same time Aerith, Yuffie, and Wedge were unhurriedly approaching the bar, returning after feeding and checking on all the local cats that Wedge looked after. Noticing the strange bustle that had gathered at the entrance to Seventh Heaven, they exchanged glances and hurried to find out what was going on. Finding themselves at the doors, Yuffie was the first to start pushing forward, burning with curiosity.
"What's going on here… Oh gods!" Yuffie asked, squeezing inside, and immediately let out a frightened scream the moment she made out the Tonberry on the table.
Screaming, Yuffie ran up and jumped onto Alex, wrapping her legs around his waist in a death grip and in panic pressing Alex's face into her bare stomach, trying to make him run back outside. Wedge, for his part, acted like a real tough man — he simply blacked out on the spot, remaining standing on his feet with a glazed gaze. Noticing his friend's blackout, Biggs sighed heavily and began carefully dragging the limp friend aside.
Only Aerith was not frightened of the Tonberry in the slightest and decided to approach closer in order to stroke this cute little one. Tifa and Jessie wanted to stop her in one voice, but Aerith had already bounced over to the table and leaned right toward Tonberry Steve. Steve himself slowly turned his head and politely held out the unfinished piece of dried meat toward Aerith. Seeing this gesture, Aerith sincerely laughed, carefully lifted the Tonberry into her arms, and lightly rubbed her cheek against its smooth snout.
Everyone watched this picture with indescribable horror, mortally worrying for Aerith's life. Alex, for his part, saw nothing at all because Yuffie was pressing his face against herself with all her might, continuing to scream loudly and demand an immediate retreat. Because of the three girls hanging on him, Alex could not even properly move, let alone make out what was happening.
"What a cutie! He's such a sweetie, I could squeeze him my whole life!" Aerith said with a radiant smile, continuing to rub her cheek against Tonberry Steve's snout.
"You… you aren't afraid of him at all?! Why aren't you afraid of him?!" Yuffie screamed, from terror pressing Alex's face even harder against her stomach.
Aerith merely smiled softly and shrugged, still pressing Steve's cool snout to her cheek. She perfectly sensed the true nature of the Tonberry and exactly how it had come into the world. For Aerith, absolutely any creature born on Gaia — or even created by the Planet itself — simply could not evoke fear or seem dangerous. Yuffie, on the contrary, squealed even louder when her gaze accidentally crossed with Tonberry Steve's yellow eyes.
Feeling how he continued to be frantically shaken, Alex began to seriously tire of this excessive reaction. He would gladly have explained to them all that Steve was completely not dangerous because he had managed to become absolutely tame, but Yuffie's stomach, firmly pressed into his face, gave him not a single opportunity to utter even a word. And the insistent demands of Tifa and Jessie to immediately get the hell out interfered with speaking even more.
Even Dean had already begun to tire of this mass psychosis over his new Pokémon and decided to simply leave. Taking Steve from Aerith's hands, Dean transferred Tonberry Steve onto his shoulders. Finding itself at a height, the green little guy trustingly wrapped its paws around Dean's head and laid its snout on the top of his head, settling as comfortable as possible. Stuffing the dwarf's personal belongings — a kitchen knife and an oil lamp — into his pockets, Dean scooped a couple of bottles of beer and a plate of snacks from the table.
"What a bunch of softies you all are!" Dean spat, intending to go lie around and watch a series in the company of his Pokémon Steve.
"You're already leaving?" Alex asked dully from under Yuffie, still seeing nothing around.
"Yep. I'd rather go crash on the bed so I don't have to listen to these constant squeals about how dangerous Steve is," Dean tossed out with exaggerated irritation and slightly waved his hand in the air, walking past the crowd frozen in horror.
The moment Dean left together with his new friend Tonberry Steve, everyone present in the bar immediately experienced colossal relief — as if they had just survived a terrifying catastrophe that they had had to face completely unexpectedly. Tifa was the first to slide off Alex's back. With an absolutely pale face and strongly trembling hands she barely managed a couple of steps. Jessie followed her; she nearly collapsed onto the floor when her buckling legs touched the wooden boards.
None of them could still believe that they had been lucky enough to come face to face with a Tonberry. Barely staying on her feet and holding onto the wall, Jessie was still under the strong effect of the fear that refused to recede. Somehow reaching the nearest chair, she sank onto it powerlessly and sighed heavily, raising stunned eyes to Aerith. Tifa and Barret likewise with difficulty covered a couple of meters to the table and slowly sat down, unbelievingly staring at their trembling fingers.
Biggs at that time was dragging the unconscious Wedge into the bar; fortunately for him, he had at least skipped all this panic. Feeling that his body had finally become a little lighter, Alex tried to unhook Yuffie from himself; she continued frantically pressing his face against her stomach, wrapping her legs around his waist and her head in a death grip.
Understanding that he could not tear the ninja off by his own strength, Alex dully asked Aerith for help — the only one whom the presence of the Tonberry had not bothered at all. Hearing Alex's request, Aerith spread into a sly smile and with quick steps bounced over to them. Without thinking long, she swung and with all her might slapped her palm right on Yuffie's buttocks. Feeling the ringing and weighty blow right on her backside, Yuffie screamed loudly and immediately slid off Alex, awarding Aerith a mortally offended gaze.
"Ow! What was that for?! Don't you know that hitting someone on the butt is very, well, just very wrong?!" Yuffie cried indignantly, vigorously rubbing the bruised spot.
"And pressing a man's face against your bare stomach is very, well, just very normal!" Aerith answered with a light chuckle, mockingly mimicking Yuffie's intonations.
"That's completely different things! I was just… I was just looking for a safe place! And in general, I was actually trying to steal the rare red Materia from him! Yes! I was just professionally trying to rob him!" Yuffie began desperately justifying herself, trying with all her might to show how cool and calculating a ninja she actually was.
"Yeah… Well, I almost believed you. Only you were squealing louder than everyone here," Biggs needled her with a smirk, patting the cheeks of the unconscious Wedge and trying to bring his friend to.
"I wasn't squealing at all! You were squealing! Here, take this — super ninja throw!" the flaring Yuffie squealed and with a swing launched a Da-Chao bean that had come to hand at Biggs's head.
Seeing the bean the size of a large nut flying at him, Biggs already prepared to dodge. However, at that very same moment Wedge suddenly opened his eyes and sharply rose, covering his friend's face with his head. Wedge did not manage to utter a single word before the bean thrown by Yuffie neatly hit him in the temple. From the tangible blow Wedge's head jerked; he slammed his forehead into the edge of the table with full force and immediately blacked out again, crashing back onto the floor.
But his sufferings did not end there: the loosened wooden table leg could not withstand the load and broke, because of which the heavy tabletop toppled right onto the lying Wedge, delivering him a finishing blow to the forehead. Everything happened so quickly that those present managed to notice only how Wedge sharply jumped up, immediately received two blows to the head, crashed to the floor, and at the end accepted the final blow from the furniture.
After this silent scene everyone slowly shifted their gazes to Yuffie, on whose face genuine shock was displayed. Feeling a dozen condemning eyes on herself, Yuffie immediately darted behind Alex again, who in her opinion remained the most reliable protection in this bar. The moment the culprit of the incident hid, everyone again exchanged glances and stared with sympathy at the unconscious Wedge.
Yuffie, hanging on Alex's back, carefully peered over his shoulder with a guilty expression on her face — she could not have thought even in a nightmare that her ordinary throw of a Da-Chao bean would lead to such a wild chain of events. Finding himself in the very epicenter of this madhouse, Alex was barely restraining the desire to slap himself on the forehead with his palm. Just a few minutes ago he had been cheerfully chatting with Tifa, returning from the Wall Market, and now he felt a surge of oncoming headache approaching his temples.
Shaking his head and no longer paying attention to Yuffie hanging on him, Alex approached the bar counter and dumped onto it the wooden beam together with the bag stuffed with gil and purchases. Turning to Tifa, he noticed that her face still remained pale after the sudden encounter with Steve. Experience suggested the best remedy for such stress, and Alex decided to brew calming tea for the entire company. Quickly brewing the aromatic drink, Alex set the mugs on a tray and began unhurriedly placing them in front of each person.
"Here, drink up. This will help you calm down a little," Alex said with a warm smile, moving the cups of hot tea.
"Thank you… Honestly, I never thought I'd ever have to face something like this in my life," Tifa forced out with difficulty, holding the hot mug with trembling hands.
"You're telling me. I actually thought the existence of Tonberries was just scary fairy tales. For a moment it seemed to me that we were all done for," Jessie added with relief, taking a careful sip of the hot tea.
"He wouldn't have touched you," Alex said with a weary sigh, unsuccessfully trying to pull Yuffie off his back; she had settled too comfortably and clearly had no intention of getting down.
"And why is that?! Just because Dean somehow managed to tame this creature?!" Barret rumbled in a rough tone, slamming the table and nearly overturning his tea.
"You can think of it that way. In short, stop being afraid of this little guy and everything will be fine. Aerith wasn't afraid of Steve, and he even decided to share his food with her," Alex answered, abandoning the useless attempts to drag the excessively clingy Yuffie off himself.
"And indeed… If this Tonberry were as dangerous as they say about it, wouldn't it have attacked us right away?" Jessie said thoughtfully, nodding her head when the tea took effect and she finally remembered that the Tonberry had been simply sitting peacefully on the table the whole time and eating meat.
After Jessie's words everyone thought and finally understood: while they had been panicking and looking for ways to retreat, Tonberry Steve himself had paid no attention to them at all and had simply continued peacefully chewing its piece of dried meat. Seeing how the company was gradually coming to itself, Alex smirked slightly and asked where the tools were. He already understood perfectly well that it was better to quickly fix everything himself than wait for Barret to come to after the shocking encounter with Steve.
Hearing Alex's suggestion, Tifa immediately tried to dissuade him, assuring him that he should not bother his head with this. But Alex merely waved her off and asked about the tools once more. Sighing with relief, Tifa pointed a finger at the storage room where all the necessary inventory was kept. Heading there together with Yuffie still hanging on him, Alex took out a heavy box of tools and immediately proceeded to replace the broken beam on the bar counter.
Aerith immediately willingly volunteered to help with the repair — she had already had to fix things with her own hands more than once. Carefully dismantling the cracked wood, Alex continued the work, steadfastly ignoring the dozen questions from Yuffie that poured right into his ear. Thanks to Aerith's coordinated help, half an hour later the old part had been successfully replaced with a new one.
Deciding not to stop at what had been achieved, Alex also repaired the table that Wedge had broken far from by his own will. Spending a little more time on the repair, Alex contentedly brushed off his dirty hands and carried the tools back to the utility room. While Alex was putting the workplace in order, Claudia returned to the bar. She frowned slightly the moment she crossed the threshold and sensed the strange, tense atmosphere reigning in the hall.
"What happened here with you?" Claudia inquired, entering and with a habitual motion removing the massive Buster Sword from her back.
"A Tonberry happened," Tifa answered with a weary sigh, slightly shaking her head and gripping the cup of tea more tightly.
"A Tonberry? And what's wrong with that?" Claudia asked again, still not understanding the essence of the problem.
"Dean dragged a real Tonberry right into the bar," Jessie sighed heavily, forcing out an awkward smile.
"Yeah. Got it… Well, if it's already not here, that means everything worked out. Then why are you all so worried?" Claudia said in an absolutely calm tone, carelessly leaning on the repaired bar counter.
"Has anyone ever told you that with such a stern character you're unlikely to find yourself a boyfriend?" Biggs asked with a smile, casting a cheerful and teasing glance at Claudia.
"Has anyone ever told you that a heavy chair breaks a skull no worse than a huge sword?" Claudia parried with restrained irony, carelessly lifting a massive wooden chair with one hand.
Understanding that a heavy wooden chair was about to fly at him, Biggs immediately hid behind Barret's broad back. Claudia continued awarding the joker with icy eyes, making it clear: she did not necessarily have to throw furniture across the entire hall; she could simply walk up and personally knock all the nonsense out of him. And before Claudia managed to put her plan into action, a dry cough sounded right next to her.
Turning her head, the Claudia met the rainbow eyes of Alex, who transparently hinted: either she put the chair back, or she would have to shell out for a new one. Snorting, Claudia carefully set it in place and demonstratively turned her back to Biggs. Seeing that the threat in the person of Claudia had passed, Biggs carefully peered out from behind Barret and raised a thumb upward toward Alex. Lazily waving off that gesture, Alex unzipped his sports bag and began taking out sealed boxes with figurines.
The moment the figurines appeared on the bar counter, Aerith immediately joyfully picked one of them up, immediately recognizing herself in it. Not understanding how such things had even ended up in Alex's bag, Aerith began bombarding him with a pile of questions. Without changing his stone facial expression, Alex calmly explained where these miniatures had come from and who had made them.
At the sight of these toys even Claudia slightly raised an eyebrow, sincerely not understanding why Alex had spent money on something so useless. But Yuffie's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the figurines. Completely unaware of what shame was, she began brazenly tearing open the boxes in order to get them all out as quickly as possible. The other members of the company also drew closer to the counter, curiously examining the souvenirs that Alex had brought.
"Wow! This is a real hero of justice — the Dragon Warrior! He even has a hat and a cloak! How cool!" Yuffie exclaimed joyfully, picking up the figurine of Dean in the image of the Dragon Warrior.
"And this is me! Wow… I'll definitely have to gift these to Mom. She'll definitely appreciate them," Aerith said with a radiant smile, examining her figurines in three different images.
"And you really blew money on this junk? You'd have been better off spending it on something actually useful," Barret rumbled with a smirk and, leaning on the bar counter, dismissively poked a finger at the figurine of Alex himself.
"I spent two million gil along the way on buying materials for the arc reactor," Alex answered in an absolutely calm tone, propping his cheek on his hand and slightly rocking the cigarette between his teeth.
"Forget everything I just said," Barret said in a dry tone, immediately realizing what stupidity he had blurted out.
"HOW MUCH?!" Wedge's sudden deafening scream rang out; he had only just come to after the series of blows to the head.
The moment Wedge's scream sounded, everyone immediately turned their heads in his direction. Wedge himself, paying attention to no one, jumped up from the floor and, stumbling over everything that came in his way, ran up to the bar counter. He began frantically demanding explanations, trying to find out whether the figure had been a dream and whether Alex had really spent that many gil on materials.
But instead of Alex, Tifa took it upon herself to answer: she confirmed that she had personally been present at the moment the deal was concluded. Realizing that this was not a dream and that Alex had indeed spent a whole two million gil, Wedge sank onto a chair with a stunned face, desperately trying to digest what he had heard. Looking at the stunned Wedge, Alex suddenly felt a light touch on his hand.
Turning, he met Jessie's brown eyes; she with a barely noticeable gesture indicated that they needed to talk outside. Nodding understandingly, Alex extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray and followed her. Finding himself outside, Alex leaned his back against the metal railings and looked at Jessie, who had frozen nearby.
"What did you want to talk about?" Alex asked with interest, slightly tilting his head to the side.
"First of all I want to ask you to keep everything in the strictest secrecy. You're a good boy and know how to keep your mouth shut, right?" Jessie noted with a sly smirk and coquettishly poked a finger into Alex's nose.
"Now I'm even more intrigued. Spill it," Alex answered with a smirk, showing with a gesture that his lips were sealed.
"This is my personal business… I need to deal with it tonight," Jessie said, stepping closer to Alex.
"Sounds just like an invitation to a night date," Alex noted with a slight chuckle, looking at her.
"I myself would also like it to be just a date. But… I want you to go with me to the Sector 7 plate. And in return you'll receive a rather pleasant reward," Jessie responded coquettishly and playfully poked a finger into Alex's shoulder.
"And will there be details? Or is this somehow connected with the earlier suggestion that you know where to get the materials I need?" Alex inquired, lightly stroking his chin and raising a thoughtful gaze to the overhanging Plate.
"I'll explain all the details already on the way there. And until that moment — not a word to anyone. Or you'll quickly find out that it's not worth angering a girl who knows how to thoroughly kick ass," Jessie said with a chuckle and playfully threatened Alex with her little fist.
"All right, all right. When do we set out? Right now?" Alex asked with a chuckle, carefully pushing Jessie's fist away from his face.
"We'll meet at the station when it finally gets dark. And don't you dare be late, honey," Jessie summed up with a shining face and bounced over to the bar doors to return to the rest of the company.
Observing how Jessie returned to the bar, Alex looked at the window and sighed wearily. Completely not hiding her presence, Yuffie was literally glued to the glass from the other side, clearly having eavesdropped on their entire conversation from beginning to end. Noticing his attention, Yuffie smiled widely and expressively ran her fingers across her lips, deliberately demonstrating that her mouth was sealed.
Looking at Yuffie pretending to be mute, Alex did not believe her for a moment. He understood perfectly well: not five minutes would pass before this restless kunoichi would blab to someone about what she had managed to overhear. Rubbing his forehead, Alex took elegant pocket watches out of his coat pocket to check the time. Seeing that it would begin to get dark in a couple of hours already, Alex was sincerely surprised at how quickly this day had flown by.
However, denying that today he had managed to get through an enormous pile of things was pointless. Putting the watches back, Alex took out his phone, deciding for greater convenience to summon his motorcycle "Fenrir" into this world. Writing a short message to Lucina, Alex immediately received a reply with assurances that she would do everything in the best possible way, and sent her a heart emoji in response.
Putting the phone into his pocket, Alex returned to the bar to the others to kill the remaining time until evening. The moment he crossed the threshold, he immediately collided with Yuffie's narrowed eyes; she looked as if she had just been brazenly not invited to a super-secret party. Pretending that he completely did not notice this inquisitive face, Alex unhurriedly sat down next to Aerith.
"What did Jessie want from you?" Aerith inquired, turning her head as soon as Alex settled next to her.
"She asked for a little help this evening," Alex answered in a calm tone, habitually propping his cheek on his palm.
"And of course you'll help her?" Aerith asked with curiosity, leaning forward and almost touching his face.
"Depending on exactly what kind of help you're talking about," Alex responded, with a light smile running a finger along Aerith's nose.
"You yourself know perfectly well, you dummy. Only you need to be very careful. What you're planning to do can be really dangerous," Aerith said in an unexpectedly serious tone. She gently took Alex by the cheeks and stared straight into his eyes.
"And since when did you start expressing yourself in such a mysterious tone and riddles?" Alex asked with a chuckle, actually understanding perfectly well exactly what Aerith was talking about.
"Who knows, you dummy… Just be careful so that it doesn't accidentally get washed away by the stream. And then you'll be able to change yet another fate," Aerith continued playing at mystery and quietly whispered, lightly pulling Alex's cheeks in different directions.
Hearing Aerith's warning, Alex merely nodded slightly. He already understood perfectly well that Aerith knew the coming fate of everyone currently in this bar. She sincerely wished to change their lives for the better, but earlier she had not been able to do so because of the Grey Whisperers who had pursued her at every step the moment she only tried to go against the predetermined.
Again recalling Sephira, he realized that something would also need to be done about her in order to tear her out of the closed circle. Alex was aware that Sephira, without knowing it herself, was merely a puppet of Jenova, sacredly believing that she herself was pulling the strings, although everything was happening exactly the opposite. Feeling how from the weight of these reflections a headache was approaching again, Alex decided to concentrate on one matter at a time.
First of all he would change the fate of Jessie's family, which in the end would prevent Jessie's own tragic ending. And even if that led to her deciding to leave Avalanche forever in order to stay with her father, who would finally recover after the severest Mako poisoning — Alex considered such an outcome his main victory.
To be continued...
(So, we move on with the plot. What follows is a less-than-exciting ride to Sector Seven on the Plate, the appearance of an overly noisy guy, and a visit to Jesse's house. Oh, how I long for the group to set out on their journey, but we still have to live to see that happen. Oh. Life is hard; if I had the time, I'd probably write 25/8. But time is the kind of thing that will happily send you as far as possible. So, time to eat and rest. Peace, love, and vroom vroom.)
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