The Midgar Adventure continues!
This would have been so much better if i had set a schedule, then failed to deliver. Cause cloud says he's a little late...and I would have been a little late...haha...haaaa
Ahem. So after meeting with Colorful NPC Flower Girl, Mister spiky hair gets chased through town by some soldiers (read: cannon fodder). Being the stalwart adventurer i am, i fought them all, but cloud decides it's a good idea to jump over the bridge they were standing on, and on top of a moving train. He's just lucky there were no tunnels.
Well said Barret, i was thinking the same thing.
He goes on to preach about ShinRa being evil, sapping the lifeforce of the Planet and how they are the only one's who can really do anything to stop them.
Cloud doesn't care, (surprise) and the rest of the train ride goes just as smoothly. The gang makes it back to the Sector 7 Slums, which i unfortunately never got any screenshots of. If you've played it, then you remember, and if not, then when you do you'll be in for a mediocre, uneventful set of events (Yes that's an oxymoron. You're also an oxymoron).
Imagine the grodiest restaurant you've been to, in the shadiest town. Now imagine a big guy with a machine gun for a hand runs in and tells everyone to get out. He doesn't care that your sandwich is now all over your shirt because he scared the fire out of you. He wants you out.
This is the bar that AVALANCHE runs their operations out of, it's called 7th Heaven, and it is run by Ms. Fan Service. I mean Tifa Lockheart.
I'll try to get through this, since i know you're only here for the pictures and i'm getting to those.
Turns out, Tifa is Cloud's childhood friend, Cloud was once in ShinRa as a member of a faction called SOLDIER. Square you're killing me with these names. Cloud is now ex-SOLDIER and works against them, more out of a favor to Tifa, then because of any real motive. He doesn't really seem to think there's a problem, and just wants his money. This consistently drives Barret nuts.
Oh, also Barret has a daughter named Marlene, but i think he stole her. Cause there's something different about her than Barret...i know what it its, she's not nearly as angry, so she can't be his!
After spending the night, and being asked questions that i'm allowed to give weird answers to, (Tifa: How did you sleep? Cloud: Barret's snoring kept me up all night) It's time to blow up another reactor! YAY TERRORISM! This time, Tifa's going with us. Great now there's a girl. Barret i thought this was a no girls allowed party.
A while later, The train they are riding on goes through an ID checkpoint. Obviously our heroes (terrorists?) will be spotted, so they run through the train, finally hopping out action movie style, landing on the rails. The party of three moving along the track...tunnel...thing until they find a vent! YAY VENTS! Barret makes a fat comment, but other than that, these vents lead to an area quite similar to the last reactor area. Ya know i think Square might have used the same pre-rendered backgrounds...
Ah here we are! Reactor 5!
And here we see the majestic Cloud Strife bowing in reverence to the reactor he's about to touch. "Oh Wheel of PreRendering," he prays, "Allow me to touch you, that we may blow you to bits!"
He touches the wheel. I WARNED you about WHEEL's bro. I TOLD YOU DAWG!
Well last time we touches the wheel you know what happened, ScorpoTron woke up. Well we weren't having that this time, so it was time to run. Outside on a skybridge linking facilities, AVALANCHE was cornered. Well my party was, because Biggs, Wedge, and Klutzy went back home, the slackers.
Lucky us, though, we were visited by someone important to ShinRa!
He didn't seem impressed by us though. I don't know why, i mean with Cloud's hair defying gravity like that, you'd think he'd at least be astonished! But no, he's all "Who're you? Are you a threat? Nah, i'm just going to leave you be instead of killing you. Gee, i sure hope you don't come back to haunt me!"
But then he drops a name that sounds quite familiar.
Apparently this Sephiroth guy was a great enough warrior that he's become a household name.
Mister President dismissed the conversation by asking us to welcome another guest. I sure hope it's Scorpotron!
You aren't Scorpotron. You're just a jerk. Take him out Barret.
Seizure bot went down without too much of a fight, but it was long enough for Pr. Shinra to get away. I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME!
Alright neat so what's my prize for killing Spazbot?
McSpaz blows up, and though Tifa and Barret are safe, that little dot right there in the lovey blue circle, that's what i get for having hair rivaling the sun in color and gravitation.
Oh gosh i had the most horrible dream, i was with fan service, and trigger happy fighting stupid robots and dumb soldiers and blowing up reactors and
AUUUGH IT'S FLOWER GIRL
Huh. I thought i wasn't supposed to see you again. Wait are you a main character? Your clothes aren't bright enough for a main character, where's your basket? That'll really seal the deal. OH! Do you fight with the basket? is that your weapon?
Ok so after flower girl, who's name is Aeris, helps me up, these fellas walk up wanting a nice game of croquet. Or to kidnap Aeris. I'm not the best with memory. On a split second decision, she asks cloud to be her body guard, to which of course i make him oblige. I mean i have to find out why she's important so she has to live long enough to at least give me a slice of information.
As is true of her character archetype/trope (The Girl) she gets trapped by these hooligans, and i, being resourceful, use barrels in the beams of the church roof to take them out. Fighting is for Square. PUNS.
As her bodyguard, Cloud takes her back to her home, stopping on the way for the Weapons Trailer to hook him up. Ah yes, quality business.
Aeris asks if Cloud can rest there, instead of going back to sector 7 at night. Aeris' mother complies, and after Aeris goes upstairs, she tells Cloud to leave before Aeris knows.
Ok now i HAVE to find out this girl's deal.
Cloud falls asleep at their house anyway and has a dream about his mommy i think.
I guess that's not weird. So Cloud sneaks out of the house only to find Aeris can teleport, because there's no way she ran passed him. Cloud reluctantly agrees to allow her to go with him and they share a moment at the playground near sector 7.
How nice. Even girls he only met an hour ago are comparing him to their exes.
A chariot driven by a chocobo (YAY CHOCOBOS) pulls through sector 7 with a girl on the back. Cloud recognizes her as Tifa and the two of them follow the ride to Wall Market
This place is the epitome of family fun.
From houses to find girlfriends
To great ominous grafiti!
Aeris and Cloud find out Tifa is being kept in Don Corneo's mansion, and only girls are allowed in. Aeris has a brilliant idea to dress Cloud up like a girl to get them in. So Cloud goes to the lengths of getting a dress, finding a wig, and even went to that lovely "girlfriend" place, the Honeybee Inn, to find out maybe about makeup.
I guess this is where the magic happens.
What kind of sorcery is this?
I can't tell if this is talking to Cloud or me, the player. It kind of creeped me out. And Cloud collapsed and fainted, naturally after seeing his own ghost sitting on air i guess.
I was then treated to a black screen with message boxes.
I think i'll just leave you with that for now.
Until next time crew!