-Party Load Out and Materia-

Tifa: Human (Displaced)

Metal Knuckle- Fire, Ice ---- Upgraded Bangle - Time + Added Effect

Other: Enemy Skill+Mime (Absorbed), Rude’s Sunglasses

Rarity: Unicorn

Silken Dream- Restore, Esuna, Ice ---- Mythril Armlet- Barrier, Lightning

Other: Enchanted, Reinforced (and Perfectly tailored) Suit

Sunny Flare: Human

Shuriken- Afflict + Added Effect --- Mythril Armlet- Lightning + Water + Elemental

Other: Enchanted, Reinforced Suit

“So there’s Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Magic?”

Tifa walked through the Wall Market with Rarity and Sunny Flare as the morning lights over the slums shifted to their afternoon settings. It had been two days since the incident in her apartment, Rarity having thought it’d be best not to start immediately after the confrontation. For one it gave Tifa a chance to make sure that strangers weren’t in her apartment alone again as they fixed her windows, and it also gave her sometime to recoup and get used to her new, forced employment.

“Yes, that is correct dear” The horned woman answered.

“And we have to find these Elements?” Tifa continued.

“Regrettably, the true elements themselves have been lost for nearly a millennia” Rarity clarified “But! There are some… ‘stand-ins’ that should also serve our purposes.”

“Stand-ins?”

“Huge materia attuned to each of the Harmony Stream’s currents of the respective elements” Rarity explained matter-of-factly “Along with suitable wielders for each of the materia, we should be able to use them to largely the same effect as the originals.”

“So we have to find six huge materia And six people to use them? I’m guessing these six can’t be just anyone either” Tifa surmised.

“You guess right dear. Though we only have to find five of the materia; Shinra already has a huge materia that we believe has proven a suitable substitute for the element of magic” Rarity confirmed.

“And where do I fit in all of this exactly?” Tifa inquired further, the rookie Turk finally speaking up in response.

“You’re a failsafe; you’re here in case we screw up and can’t find everything” she said bluntly, glancing at her through a black eye. While her face wasn’t the swollen mass it was after the chair broke against it, she was still left with a pretty good shiner; even after the healing spells.

“Well dear, to put it a bit more thoroughly… we had hoped to be able to use the materia, the one now within you, to… well, to ‘fudge the details’ as it were” Rarity tried to find the right words “In case we couldn’t find all the materia or suitable wielders we planned to use your materia to imitate any missing piece and hope for the best. As you’re not a mere materia though, you could consider yourself a kind of reserve team rather than a failsafe.”

“Well if I’m just a back-up then why do I have to go with you guys and be part of this whole investigation and searching thing?” the buxom fighter asked “Why not just set me up in the tower and keep me safe there until I’m needed?”

“Because Shinra is a business” Sunny stated “It’s inefficient to waste talented assets when they could be best served helping with the cause.”

“I’m an Asset now?” she didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

“You really must work on your delivery Agent Flare” Rarity grumbled to the girl “You’re still a living being darling, but she is correct; it would be a waste to lock you away when your abilities make you so well suited for the kind of challenges ahead of us. That you were able to hold off Rina and Rude is testimony enough to that, even if they were only trying to incapacitate you. Think of yourself as more of an involuntary contractor; you don’t represent Shinra, but you do still work for us.”

“So I have to help because I’m just so damn good?” she snarked “You can’t tell me there aren’t far more qualified combatants at Shinra. Can’t you just get a platoon of SOLDIER on this? You’d think ‘saving the world’ would be on their to-do list already.”

“Much of SOLDIER IS working on this darling, or preparing for if it all goes kerfuffle. Our part is only one of a larger whole after all; a very significant and important part yes, but that’s why it requires so much more delicate maneuvering. We don’t want to incite panic or have word of these sources of power fall into the wrong hands after all. We’re also not the only team assigned to this particular task either” the senior Turk deliberated “There’s also the fact that it’s very possible any opportunities to use your materia’s abilities will only be available as they happen. I’ve seen it myself, when things simply can’t come together in time if they aren’t together already.”

“…sounds like just a lot of bureaucracy to me” Tifa muttered, to which the younger Turk give a light huff in response.

“We’ve been told to bring you with, so we’re bringing you with” Sunny stated plainly and not a little irritated “It’s not like you’re not being compensated.”

“Fine, whatever” Tifa relented as they came up to a large and very flashy building with a pair of Shinra troopers talking with the door guard “Though you still haven’t-”

“I'm afraid the rest will have to wait,” Rarity interrupted as they approached the main doors “Time to go to work.”

“Here? But this is Corneo’s place!” Tifa exclaimed, feeling grimy just saying the Don’s name “You can’t tell me this guy is one of the wielders!”

“Oh heavens forbid! May the Stream help us all if that were true!” Rarity gasped.

“Pfft yeah, I’d resign right here if that were the case” Flare added “Still, the slime ball has info and the reports say he’s been in contact with AVALANCHE sympathizers; we may be racing to the first materia already.”

“Agent Rarity” one of the troopers addressed them “the Don has agreed to see us but insists we disarm.”

“Well that simply is not going to happen” she countered before striding up to the door guard herself “You will remind Mr. Corneo of section 12- article 14 of Midgar security statutes and kindly inform the Don that despite the times Shinra has overlooked his questionable business practices in favor of region stability, it does not infer any authority over us and he should consider that we haven’t simply arrested him for conspiracy as a sign of good faith.”

The guard bristled under the shorter woman’s tone but returned inside to inform his boss all the same. Tifa stood by, impressed by the unicorn; even after seeing her tear into the other Turks she still got the impression of her being rather soft. She’d have to stop thinking like that if she didn’t want the Turk to get the better of her next time.

“The Don will see you now” the guard returned and led them through the gaudy estate. They passed a kind of office Tifa recognized from the game; this is where he’d line up girls to choose his favorite. They moved past the long desk to a pair of massive doors with the don’s own likeness carved into them. The height alone necessitated the use of automatic openers rigged to the tops.

“Overcompensating much?” Tifa muttered “he must be tiny…”

Sunny and the troopers found themselves struggling to suppress chuckles while even the proper Rarity failed to hide a snicker. They all quickly righted as the doors opened, revealing a pudgy sack of grease with tiny wings lounging on a bed.

“Well well well, the latest fox in my hunting grounds,” the balding pegasus cooed “I told you I’d get you into my little love palace someday, didn’t I Tifa?”

The brunette woman’s skin crawled as his eyes danced hungrily over her body; she was now really wishing she wore more covering clothes today. Rarity quickly stepped forward to block the don’s view.

“Miss Lockhart is a member of our investigation Mr. Corneo, she’s to be treated with the same respect as the rest of us.”

“Oh don’t get jealous now, you still look equally delicious my little tart” Tifa saw Rarity’s shoulders tense as he leered at her “The dessert to Tifa’s meaty entrée.”

“I don’t think you understand the seriousness of the accusations levied against you ‘Don’” Rarity continued “That title that so impresses your little band of ruffians will not save you from the consequences of consorting with known terrorists.”

The Don’s face actually managed to reach a modicum of seriousness at Rarity’s threat. It was short lived however as a feigned ignorance took its place.

“Terrorists?! Why I have no idea what you mean! I would never consort with anyone set against our city’s most generous benefactors” he lied easily, the younger Turk stepping forward in response.

“We have some very damning evidence of multiple meetings between you and several flagged individuals ‘Don’” Sunny tossed a folder of photos and eye witness reports on the bed. Concern peeked through again as he sifted through the folders contents, Rarity gaining a smirk of her own.

“Now it would be a terrible shame if you broke your record of cooperation and made this city’s benefactors generously give you a new home” she delivered smugly.

“The kind with metal walls and barred windows if you’re too dense to catch on” Sunny continued for the ivory skinned woman “but if you start talking…”

The greasy lecher scowled at the Turks before looking back at the pictures.

“Yes… Yes now I believe I do remember meetings with some of these painfully serious sorts” he finally relented “But I assure you I had no idea they were AVALANCHE.”

“Funny…” Tifa finally spoke up “None of us said they were AVALANCHE.”

“Oh uh… Well-um-I mean who else could they be?! Are there other groups foolishly opposing Shinra?! I certainly haven’t heard of any! They’d have to be mad! Heh heh…” he sputtered rapidly.

“What did they want?” Rarity quickly cut in, not caring for any excuses.

“What everybody wants from me that’s not in my pants; Information” he delivered, failure of a suave smile on his lips “I came across some dated but still apparently profitable material about some dusty, old artifact...” he trailed off as five sets of eye’s continued to look at him expectantly.

“…Well?” one of the troopers finally broke the silence.

“Well what?” he mocked “I told you this was profitable information. I wouldn’t be a very good businessman if I let it go for nothing!”

“Seriously?!” Sunny snapped “You actually have the balls to try and charge us!? You’ll be lucky if we decide not to arrest your ass and leave it in a cell for the next twelve lifetimes! Assuming you’re not tried for Treason first!”

“We are here asking for cooperation we could easily force Mr. Corneo” Rarity threatened “The only reason the company has turned a blind eye to your little ‘enterprises’ down here is that fact that you have offered an odd semblance of peace to the area. But some infractions simply cannot be ignored.”

He studied the group pensively, determining the validity of the threats before finally relenting.

“But of course, I would be more than happy to assist agents of the company in any way possible…” he leaned back against the elaborate head board, arms spread wide along its fixtures. His left hand rested atop a blue ball lamp as he spoke again “it’s just too bad they never showed up.”

‘Oh crap!’ Tifa’s memory sparked. She tried to dash forward as the others stood confused.

The lamp lever swung down triggering the floor to fall out beneath them and even for all her strength, Tifa couldn’t push off something that wasn’t there. The others fell as she just barely snagged the edge of the trap door, fingers screaming as they struggled to keep hold of the wood. The don slipped off the side of the bed and stood over the hole.

“A real shame to lose such a prize, but oh well” he sighed, foot coming to hover ominously over her hand “Do you remember the first thing you said to me, you top heavy tramp? I think it’d be quite appropriate for this…”

The sandaled foot began pressing into the straining digits.

“So little Lockhart, 'you think you can do me a solid? And FUCK OFF?!'”

He kicked out and sent her plummeting into the dark, the obscenities echoing back up music to his ears.

Foul water engulfed her, invading Tifa's senses as she tried to keep her mouth closed and figure out which way was up. She breached the surface, the light barely enough to even see the sludge but ambient enough to show that she was slowly headed toward a drop.

She didn’t bother fighting the weak current and merely swam to reach the side, her fingers finding easy purchase long before the drop. She clawed her way out of the stream of filthy water and slumped against the sewer wall for a moment to catch her breath. She immediately regretted the first deep inhale, the smell so pungent you could actually taste it.

One lost breakfast later she was up and following the current, a small flame held above her palm for light. She had to be rather particular about her materia choices with her limited slots and was now glad she made the right call on the fire. She pondered if Shinra would ante up for some better equipment for her now that she was helping them; no doubt they kept the Turks well equipped.

She hopped down the drop that was a lot shorter than she thought and was immediately attacked; a terrier sized crab flying at her face. A single punch and the mutant flew back, shattered bits of shell raining in its wake. More splashed toward her from below the stream a moment after, earning a heavy sigh and eye roll from the buxom fighter.

A sharp gesture and a snap of the fingers later, the small group lay frozen in great chucks of ice along the surface. She ignored the weakly snapping claws and continued on, the first crab hastily hobbling its way back into the muck as she passed.

A cacophony of echoing shots rang out ahead, quickly sending the woman sprinting toward the source. She soon came upon a large battle, the four Shinra employees on a grate over the sludge and surrounded by grotesque bipedal turtles and slimy blobs inching towards them. One trooper unleashed another burst into one of the slime creatures, the rounds sinking harmlessly in to its gelatinous body. The turquoise turk shoved him aside, as sparks began to dance around her fingers.

“They’re flans idiot!” she snapped “You have to use magic!”

An arc of lightning flew from the Turk’s hand, detonating the blob before one of the turtles lunged at her. The creature’s trident soared at her face only to veer off course as a shot rang out next to her head, the monster’s head snapping back as it fell to the ground. Sunny flinched way from the rapport of senior Turk’s unusual gunblade, holding her ear as more of the creatures moved in.

Tifa sped forward, turning the flames above her hand into a fully-fledged fireball before it sailed toward the attackers. Half of the survivors scrambled in retreat as the rest turned to the new threat, one of the larger mutants striking out at the female. She easily sidestepped the trident, snapping the shaft swift kick before redirecting the strike.

The turtle monster retreated into its shell as the kick struck, unfortunately only to find itself hurled back against its allies. The others slowly regained themselves as to see their clan mate’s limbs falling flaccid out of the protective covering, countless cracks spider webbing out from the massive dent now across its surface.

Their beady eyes bulged at the fighter raising her fists up, ready to continue. They wearily stood their ground until a shriek escaped one warrior taking up the rear, a bright blue streak of light passing straight through its shell. They rounded on the ivory skinned Turk, her weapon glowing brightly to match her horn.

They took just a single glance between the two before immediately scooping up their wounded and retreating to the water, their best defenses proven useless against the pair’s abilities. It didn’t take long for the united group to mop up the remaining flans, the goopy abominations falling easy prey to their combined magics.

“Sorry we weren’t able to wait for you darling, as you saw we found ourselves a tad preoccupied” Rarity apologized “Very glad you made it down without injury though.”

“Yeah…” Sunny added slightly begrudgingly, a finger probing at her ear “Nice timing.”

“Oh terribly sorry about that Sunny dear” Rarity gave “but I figured I bit of ringing in the ears was better than a trident in the face after all.”

“No it’s fine, don’t worry about it” Sunny admitted before looking back to the troopers “You two alright?”

“We’re good, we’ve been on the sewer sweeps before” one answered, a small smile beneath his helmet as he slapped the other trooper on the back “Though it seems Norman here forgot some of the basics.”

“Yeah yeah, I screwed up” the other grumbled “Not exactly standard procedure here though.”

“Sewer Sweeps?” Tifa inquired before the turquoise agent elaborated.

“Every few months Shinra sends squads through the sewers to keep the monster population under control and escort maintenance teams to fix any problems.”

“So you know how we can get out of here then” Tifa shot to the pair.

“Not this section exactly but most of the city’s sewers follow the same configurations” Norman admitted “So we really shouldn’t be too far from an exit; if we just keep going we'll hit one eventually.”

“Alright…” Tifa started as they began walking “Now that we have a moment, maybe we can get back to what I was asking before-”

“Here we go…” Sunny muttered, earning a disgruntled glance from the fighter.

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want to know just what we’re trying to find all this stuff for.”

“As I’ve said several times Miss Lockhart; We’re trying to save the world” Rarity repeated.

“Yeah, I got that part. But from What?”

“I am terribly sorry Miss Lockhart but it has been deemed prudent to maintain a certain level confidentiality in-” Rarity began the practiced response before the younger Turk cut in.

“We don’t know” Sunny stated bluntly “The director and President have been pretty keen to keep it that way until ‘the right time’ too. There, you now officially know just about as much as we do.”

“They’re not even telling you guys?” Tifa stared at the pair, concern deepening on her face.

‘Well this whole thing just got significantly more shady…’ she added mentally, though Rarity still seemed to pick up on the context.

“I am willing to admit that it is a wee bit… concerning yes, but one doesn’t have to spend long in the upper levels of the company to learn just how dangerous even simple knowledge can be” she admitted “Just look at materia for example; half the reason they allow people to use magic is by imparting the knowledge to do so; some materia are forbidden just because most minds simply cannot withstand the knowledge within.”

“I always thought it was weird how such dangerous things can come from energies connected to the Harmony stream” one of the troopers replied.

“Harmony doesn’t necessarily mean peaceful” Sunny stated “true it usually suggests as much, but just like the musical term it can be happy, sad, peaceful, violent, angry or any number of things.”

“Is that an exit?” Tifa interrupted, pointing to the small shaft of light a ways ahead.

“Yeah I think so, not sure where we’ll end up but it should at least be on the street level again” Norman confirmed.

“I don’t understand what Corneo was hoping to accomplish with this other than ruining our clothes” the first trooper mused “It’s not like there’s anything down here that-”

The trooper suddenly crashed into the tunnel's wall, hurled by a giant fist crashing through the debris of a side passage as a thunderous roar filled the sewers.

A massive… THING barreled into the open space, chained arms and clawed tail thrashing about. The four still standing retreated from the swinging limbs as the abomination rounded on them, its hooves cracking the stone as it stomped forward and barred their escape.

Norman opened fire as he strafed toward his fallen compatriot, quickly drawing the beast’s attention. He blanched under his helmet at the horned monstrosity’s arm bore down upon him, only narrowly missing as something tackled him from the side.

The trooper looked up and found his vision almost entirely blocked by dirty white cloth, even when the woman on top of him was already arm’s length from the ground. Several deeper shots rang out beyond her as the two Turks drew the creature’s attention back to them.

“SURGE!” Sunny shouted, a geyser of the foul water beneath the grating shooting up into the beast and knocked it off balance. Before it could recover a line of freezing spikes streaked out from Rarity, the materia glowing brightly on her unique weapon as the geyser froze the monster in place.

The hold proved fleeting however as with a roar it quickly broke free, already charging the agents when a third woman jumped between them with fists ablaze. Torrents of flame crashed against the charger, sending it reeling back screaming.

“It’s weak to fire!” Tifa shouted back during the brief reprieve.

“Ummm… hehe, well…” Sunny began, sheepishness poorly hidden behind the pair’s unsure smiles.

“I’m the only one here with it aren’t I?”

The beast didn’t allow an answer as it lunged at them again, focusing on the fire bringer to snuff out the source of the flames. Ducking under the punch she leapt at its face still trailing fire, just to have its giant tongue lash out at her.

“Eww!” Tifa moaned, firing the flames out to rocket her away from the slimy whip. The monster scrambled back flailing panicked at the flames once again washing across his face. She landed back among the Turks still unleashing their ranged attacks at their opponent, their continuous assault finally showing a cumulative effect. Rarity began charging the shots as before, her horn further illuminating the cave as streaks of light pierced the beast again and again.

Another, pained roar assaulted the group before a loud snorting sounded above the echoes.

“How uncouth…” Rarity criticized the monster’s mighty intake. Offence soon tripled as the collected phlegm suddenly drenched them, a disproportionately large glob completely covering the trio “By the Stream, it’s EVERYWHERE! This is simply the WORST POSSIBLE THING!”

Disgusting as it was Sunny soon realized the true threat of the mucus, as every effort movement now felt like trudging through molasses. She quickly saw the others struggling to move at more than a snail’s pace.

“We’ve been SLOWED!” she called, even her words coming out at a drawl.

The beast smiled before bounding forward on all fours, tongue lolling as it leapt with a fist raised. It smile abruptly fell to a scowl as the jiggly food flared brightly, the gooey filth shattering off her in a blaze of light. Tifa struck out against the mammoth strike with a fist of her own, an ear rending crack singing through the tunnels when they met.

The abomination reeled back clutching its broken fingers, snarling at the tiny food before trying to pound it flat. Tifa flipped over the arm to land a heavy sweep kick to its jaw, pulverizing stone as the beast’s head drove straight into the tunnel’s wall. Now bereft of one of its horns it, it ripped itself from the reinforced supports to see its meal now gathering blinding flames all around itself.

It turned to retreat to only receive a grenade detonating beside its head, the trooper now firing after his thrown explosive.

“PARALYZE!” Sunny shouted before sparks danced across the creature, its limbs going sluggish as they grew numb to the world. Another point of light lanced through the beast’s leg, finally breaking its balance and sending it right into the martial artist’s waiting strike.

'Where’s the fanfare when you need it?' Tifa gave a small smile as she delivered the full force straight with as much fire as her reserves would allow. The beast soared back through the sewers, right past their exit and crashing through the metal grates into the current below.

Tifa stood straight, humming the little tune since the world wouldn’t do it for her. She looked back to see the pair slowly liberating themselves from the unpleasantness clinging to them as the trooper dragged his compatriot over. A quick esuna later and Rarity was kneeling over the fallen grunt. She pulled a small bundle of fiery feathers from her coat, closing her eyes and illuminating her horn as she scattered them across him.

Tifa and Sunny waited as the senior Turk alternated between the item casting and her restore materia. Unlike the games, Phoenix Downs weren’t a sure thing here. Healing in general could already be pretty hit and miss with grievous wounds, and while it could still bring some back from far further gone than back on earth… others weren’t so lucky. Dead was still dead; even in the games Aerith proved that.

The glow receded but the trooper remained motionless. The pair let their shoulders slump but then Rarity spoke up, her ear against the trooper’s chest.

“He’s still with us, but we do need to get him proper care quickly if we want him to stay that way” the other grunt quickly hefted his friend at her words and made way for the ladder. The senior Turk nodded at he looked back to them “Take him up first and get him to a hospital, we can take care of everything else on our own.”

He nodded back to the ladies and began trudging up. They waited below at the base of the rusted ladder, ready in case the soldier's grip slipped. Just as he reached the top and began opening the hatch Sunny spoke up, scowling upward.

“I swear I’m gonna put a bullet in that fat fuck,” she growled “right in his little pecker…”

“Even at point blank that’ll be quite the shot” Tifa quipped, earning a tired chuckle from the Turks before the Trooper called down.

“It’s clear! We’re in sector five near the border; it shouldn’t take too long to make it back to Corneo’s!”

“Thank you Darling, now just go get him-” Rarity’s words were cut short as the grating behind them exploded upward, an enraged shriek ringing out. Beady eyes rounded on the pair as the burnt and bleeding abomination gained a sickly glow. Only half out of the demolished waterway the monster bellowed a guttural scream, a tingling wave of air washing over them as it surged through the sewers and beyond.

“What the hell?!” Sunny exclaimed “It knows Magic?!”

A faint rumbling met the trio’s ears, soon growing to the unmistakable roar of rushing water. The beast actually laughed as the torrent appeared, swirling and racing towards all of them from behind the creature. The tidal wave of sewage crashed into the monster first, instantly pulling him from sight as it passed. With it moving far too fast to even attempt to escape, Tifa had but a single though before it was upon them…

‘Aw shit...’

Corneo lounged smugly in his bed, nibbling on a plate of strawberries as he watched the young women on his TV bounce around in short shorts. He did so love girls volley ball; the hot pants, the jumping and jiggling, and all those deliciously suggestive grunts. He dragged a hand down his flabby chest until he found his lip curling.

He let out a disgusted snort; as much as he loved his little trap, he still lamented the odors that always managed to creep though despite his best efforts. He stood to spray yet another misting of air freshener when he thought her heard a commotion from downstairs.

“I swear to the stream if another one of you morons broke one of my vases I’ll-” he blanched as a burst of gunfire rang out closer. He froze; hearing shouts and yells among shattering furniture and dwindling weapons fire.

“No, no it couldn’t be! How could they have survived my sweet little Aps?!” he whimpered panicked before a loud bang hit his bedroom doors, a weak groan heard as something slid down against them. He scrambled back onto the bed and flattened himself against the headboard just before the doors flew off their hinges and a fresh wave of stink assaulted his nose.

A woman covered head to toe in filth stood in the opening, the fury of the sun itself in her eyes as she stalked forward. The terrified Corneo slammed the lamp down for the trap door, only to have the woman stride straight across the hole on the massive doors now easily bridging the gap.

The lecher’s eyes bugged as he dove at this nightstand, fumbling with the drawers before a steel grip latched onto his throat. Powered plaster filled the foul smelling air as he felt himself slammed into the wall, his stubby legs dangling as he was held aloft by a single hand. He stopped dead as a fist struck an inch from his head, denting the reinforced metal behind the plaster as if it were tinfoil.

“So Don…” he stared terrified into the furious, manic smile of the buxom woman holding him. He could feel a warm wetness trailing down his leg as she spoke,

“Ya Think you could do me a Solid?”

Tifa plodded through the dimly lit hallway, the uncomfortable squelching of her boots sounding with every step. They hosed themselves off only after… ‘apprehending’ Corneo, having agreed to wait as to drag as much through the prick's estate as they could.

‘He should still be able to talk with some missing teeth and a swollen face right?’ she mused.

They were not gentle. Rarity had managed to keep Sunny from what she called ‘Degloving his Berries’, but the younger Turk still got in a really good kick… it might take the doctors a while to find where that dislocated orb ended up. Even after everything the he put them through in the sewers, Tifa still actually felt a little bad about that one.

Only a little though… maybe.

“TIFA!” the door across the hall flew open, its occupant immediately slamming a hand over her nose “Um… so… mmnn… so how was your first day?”

Tifa looked over to the pink woman who was trying to hold her breath and keep smiling.

“Shitty” was all she said as she lumbered into the apartment, not even bothering to strip out of any of her ruined clothes save her boots before stepping into the warm shower. She stood letting the hot embrace of the water course over her, washing away the day as she tried to relax.

‘Today could have ended a lot worse’ she thought tiredly ‘we nearly lost somebody… I nearly lost myself.’

She didn’t admit it to the Turks at the time but she had nearly drowned in the beast’s final attack, and was a little disturbed by just how undisturbed she was about it at the time. But now that she had time to actually think about it… she quickly shook the thoughts away, burying them as she grabbed the soap, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and the little gift set of mini scrubs and other fancy stuff and got to work.

After several latherings and lots of scrubbing her stomach finally gave a lurching growl, forcing her to leave the comforting warmth and cleanliness of the shower. She glanced at the dripping, tried up trash bag of her clothes and decided she'd deal with it later. She threw on some pjs and headed back toward her living room when she heard someone moving around on the other side of the door.

‘Damn it, they said they wouldn’t bother me for at least a few days’ she thought before opening the door, about to tell the suited pricks to fuck off. Instead she found a mane of green hair swaying about as it emptied the take out bags marked with the logo of the Wutai restaurant on the corner.

“~Comfort fooooood~” Zest sung as she held up a couple boxes “~I got your faaavorite~”

Tifa smiled tiredly as some of the stress drained from her shoulders at just the sight.

‘How’d I manage to just stumble into such a good friendship?'

'Oh! You should tell her that- Tell her she’s a good friend. And don’t puss out like you always-’

“Thanks Zest.”

‘God fucking damnit Tifa…’

“Any time girl” Zest winked at her with a smile before sitting down, her music faintly heard from the headphones round her neck “So now that you’ve had your hour in the shower, how was your first day?”

Tifa sighed before taking a seat and grabbing one of the to-go boxes, eating a little before getting into the details. She didn’t much enjoy reliving the day but she did have to admit it had a kind of detoxing effect. Zest was also a pretty damn good listener, Tifa guessed it had something to do with the fact that listening was half her life when it came to music.

“You got to beat up Corneo?!” Zest yelled “You lucky bitch! How could that ever be a shitty day?!”

“Um, with virtually everything else that happened before that?”

“Well yeah okay, but still… you got to kick the Don’s ass! You can’t say that didn’t make the day at least a little worth it!” Zest laughed.

“Well… maybe a little” Tifa admitted with a small chuckle.

“Though hopefully his arrest won’t cause some kind of power vacuum” Zest added a bit uneasy, to which Tifa shook her head.

“The Turks told me they’d recommend more security to try and prevent that…” Tifa offered “Maybe they’ll see the city below the main plate needs a little more attention than the one on top…”

“Fat chance…” Zest mutterd “You need an esuna after being down in the sewers?”

“No I’m okay, thanks. Rarity already cast it on all of us after Sunny cast cleansing” the brunette answered before taking another bite and trying to enjoy the quiet moment, but having trouble not dwelling on the fact they’d be back within just a few days to pick her up again.

“So did you learn anything by chance?” Tifa snapped out of her daze at Lemon’s question “Y’know, with your enemy skill?”

The brunette blinked, having completely forgotten about the actual purpose of the materia outside of the ‘fail safe’ they wanted it for. Now that she actually thought about it, she could feel the little tingling of added knowledge materia gave at first.

Zest jumped as the buxom woman’s head abruptly met the table, making everything atop it jump with her.

“Um, Tif?” Zest asked hesitantly as her friend only groaned meekly toward the floor.

“Sewer Tsunami…”

“…What?”

“Sewer Tsunami!” she practically shouted “The very first ability I get and it just had to be summoning a literal tidal wave of shit that also hits me!”

Zest blinked a few times, processing what she just heard. A blush rose in her cheeks as she pulled her lips tight, small tears welling as she struggled to control herself.

“Pfffffffffff-”

“Go ahead” Tifa sighed, head still resting on the table.

“BA-HAHAHAHA!” Zest burst out “OH that is just too fitting!”

Tifa’s head snapped up, looking hurt as her supposed friend continued to laugh at her.

“Oh don’t look at me like that! I didn’t mean for you!” Zest argued between bouts of laughter “I mean for this whole thing! One day you’re just serving your tables and the next thing you know a wave a crap hits you and pulls you into this shitty situation.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Tifa grumbled.

“Hey look at the bright side, at least when this is all over you have a perfect way of showing them just how much you appreciate it” the music lover grinned at her, it only growing more mischievous when her next thought struck her “And just think if you learn typhoon or tornado to go with it.”

“Let ‘em deal with the ‘shit-storm’ they brought upon themselves?”

“Literally.”

The pair burst out laughing, Tifa finally relaxing fully.

‘Ok, maybe all this will be worth it after all.’

“She matched the strength of such a creature?”

“According to agent Flare’s report, she actually surpassed it by a decent margin Madam President” Agent Sweetie Drops read “True her strength didn’t completely out class it, at least based on what she observed; but it would seem there’s even more to this woman than we suspected…”

Celestia continued looking through the paperwork, pausing only to glance over the latest memo at the director's unsaid thought.

“How many times must I repeat that you are free to speak your mind in my presence Miss Drops?”

“Well... perhaps it would be prudent to fully assess her abilities and perhaps prepare some sort of containment-”

“She is not one of the Professor’s experiments Agent Drops” the president stated sharply.

“No, of course not ma’am; I did to mean to suggest-” the Turk leader paused to regather herself “I simply meant we should know the full extent of her abilities; to not only see if she can indeed serve the purpose we may need but-”

“Yes I know…” Celestia sighed, already regretting snapping. She knew Agent Sweetie Drops wasn't too much happier with the possibilities than she was. Setting down her paperwork, the Shinra leader stood up and strode to the window to look over her city. Unless they pulled off a miracle, if things didn’t go just right… It was regrettable yes, but it would be for the greater good.

“We need to know for when her sacrifice is needed…”

Author's Notes:

So I didn't see any answers if you all would like music in the story or not- It would probably just be something like just little blurbs of [Optional Music] for certain scenes but let me know down in the comments what you think... If you feel so inclined.

But YAY! Finally a second chapter! Sorry about the wait readers. Admittedly I'm not entirely satisfied with how this chapter turned out, I don't hate it by any means yet it's still not as much as I was hoping of myself... BUT thankfully I think my writers block is starting to dissolve. I AM looking forward to the next chapter quite a bit though so I know it'll be good (We get to see a little of another of the Mane 6's roles in the story )- so stay tuned readers!

But until then, as always: thanks for reading and hope to see you for the next chapter! Have a good one!

Oh and P.S. - Don't look up pictures of degloving, seriously- just don't. It's gross.