Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy and its compilations... Doh! And I don't own the Simpsons either.

Chapter IV: An Old Friend

"Okay Spikeys!" Barret said to me and Cloud, "Get to the reactor and plant the bomb. Me and Tifa will be here in case of any reinforcements. We'll be waiting for you, and be fast!"

Me and Cloud nodded then went inside the entrance. The smell of the building inside reminded me a lot of being in SOLDIER. I didn't know why, but it did. Cloud must think so too. Cloud was busy decoding the facility's security doors, so I really had nothing to do. Boredom was getting the best of me at the last door as I started to tap my feet.

"Zack!" Cloud said irritated by the repeating sound of my foot, "Do you mind?"

I tapped my foot even faster so I could annoy the hell out of Cloud. But he kept his focus and eventually got the door to open.

"Finally, Cloud..." I said in an old man's voice, "I've been growing a beard over here."

Cloud gave me an irritated look and walked through the open door. I finally realized that Cloud wasn't in the mood to mess around, so I put my hand on his shoulder to apologize, but Cloud just shook it off. Cloud sure took this mission very damn seriously.

"Hey, c'mon buddy," I said as Cloud continued to walk ahead, "I was joking."

"Hurry up so we can plant the bomb and get out of here," Cloud said firmly, finally turning around, but then continued onward right away.

I scratched the back of my head then ran up to catch up to him. The mission with AVALANCHE had me remembering me ad Cloud's first mission together in Nibelheim. Ever since then, I felt Cloud's presence to be comforting. I felt like I wasn't alone. As we continued to get to the reactor, we came across a thin pipe that connected to a bigger pipe that had a ladder next to it leading to the reactor. I looked at the thin pipe surprised, then let out a sigh. At least Barret wasn't here.

"I'll go first," I said putting my weight on the edge of the pipe to see if t could hold me up. Sure enough, it was sturdy and I started to walk across it trying to keep my balance. When I was halfway, I heard Cloud's light footsteps behind me. I felt like turning around to see him, but it might cause me to lose my concentration, and maybe Cloud's as well. I felt my heart race, and I was soon sweating. I looked down past the pipe and saw how far up I was. I closed my eyes tightly and tired not to look down again. Soon enough I was right at the edge where it connected to the large pipe then I jumped off onto it. I looked at Cloud as he concentrated real hard. I took a deep breath and prayed that he wouldn't fall off. I looked at the ladder and put my hand on it trying to turn my attention from Cloud so I wouldn't freak myself out. Then I heard Cloud scream out. Then turned my head to see his arms flailing. I ran over and grabbed his arm before he could fall. Then I pulled him over to the large pipe. He stood up with his hands on his knees.

"Thanks," He said breathing heavily. It almost looked like he was about to cry. I couldn't blame him. What if I wasn't there to save him in time?

I patted his back then asked him if he wanted to go down the ladder first, he declined so I went down first. I kept thinking about how Cloud could have died, but I shook it out of my head and continued to climb down. As soon as I made it, I saw three Shinra SOLDIERS. I blocked their gunshots with my sword swiftly, then went up to one of them and slashed him horizontally across the chest. Then I kicked him into the other two SOLDIERS and as soon as I was about to finish them off, I saw bullets go into them. I turned around to see Cloud holding his rifle in one hand with his other hand still on one of the ladder bars. He then jumped down and we continued to walk towards the Mako reactor which was on the other side of a long path. We ran towards it, but more SOLDIERS emerged causing us to slow down, but me and Cloud finished them off easily. When we reached the reactor, Cloud started to set the bomb while I watched to make sure there weren't any SOLDIERS to stop them.

I tapped my foot impatiently, but I stopped when Cloud smacked my arm as he was irritated. I sighed then looked around the place. Is Shinra even gonna stop draining the planet's energy once we blow up the reactor? They're a big company with a lot of SOLDIERS. I started to think about Sephiroth. Is he really alive?

"Okay, let's go!" He heard Cloud say as he ran ahead of him. I ran with him. He started shooting at some hidden guards that I didn't see. Then I heard the alarms go off. Next thing I realized was a large thud right behind me. I looked at Cloud, but he was already turned around looking at something, that I guessed was large, with is mouth wide open. I then turned around and saw a large robotic scorpion towering over our heads. I looked at Cloud smiling.

"Get ready to fight your first boss my little chocobo," I said as his he had an 'oh ****!' look on his face.

The giant scorpion brought back so many memories from when I fought other bosses way bigger than this. It was great to be fighting guys like these again, but it felt even better now that I get to fight them with my buddy Cloud.

Cloud started shooting his rifle at the giant monster while I took care of the SOLDIERS behind him. I remember how I used to fight alone, with almost little or no help from anybody, but having a partner with me felt like I didn't have to fight battles alone anymore. It's as if at this moment right now, we were fighting back to back.

"Zack! Watch out!" I turned around to see a laser from the scorpion's 'stinger' sweep the floor and was about to hit me, but I jumped out of the way just in time. I looked back at the SOLDIERS I was fighting, and there was one left in the middle of a sea of dead bodies. I pointed my sword at him smirking then he ran away dropping his gun. I turned around to see Cloud still fighting the scorpion. The laser hit Cloud, and he fell back.

"C'mon Cloud!" I said playfully, "You can't even beat this guy?"

"Well I'd like to see your ass try!" He said angrily as he tried to stand up. Damn, what's his problem today? I looked at the large scorpion and thought out a plan. If I take out the legs, it'll fall, and the bigger they are... The harder they fall. I charged at the front leg and cut it diagonally. I saw the leg drop. It was still standing. So I took out the leg on the same side as the one I just sliced. The machine started to lose its balance as it was moving toward the edge of the path.

"Buh bye!" I said as it fell off and into the bottom of who knows where. I went over to where the machine previously was and took the mechanical leg. I shoved it in my pocket.

"Zack!" He heard Cloud yell at him, "Hurry up! The bomb is gonna blow soon!"

I finally remembered about the bomb and I ran towards the ladder with Cloud. We climbed up quickly and realized we had to clear the thin pipe again. I cursed, but then Cloud ran quickly across it. He waited on the other side.

"Dammit Cloud!" I yelled, but then I decided to try to jump across it. I went as far back as I could then ran towards the edge of the large pipe, then I leaped high into the air, but I missed the other side by a foot. I screamed out loud then I felt Cloud grab onto my hand then pulled me up. I briefly thanked him and we ran towards the entrance, but then there was a SOLDIER in our way. I recognized him.

"Freeze!" He ordered, but I recognized that voice anywhere.

"Kunsel!" I yelled, " It's me, Zack Fair."

I then heard gunshots from Cloud and bullets enter Kunsel's chest.

"No!" I yelled running over to my former SOLDIER friend, "Kunsel!"

"Zack!" Cloud said yelling at him, "We have to go NOW!"

"Zack..." Kunsel barely said as blood was coming out of his mouth, "It's good to see you again..."

"Kunsel..." I said, "I'm not leaving you here."

I picked Kunsel up and put him over my shoulder then started to run out of the building with Cloud. As we ran out, Barret and Tifa were waiting by the door. I looked behind me and saw the reactor blow up. I ran out before the explosion could reach me.

"Let's go spikeys!" Barret said then he noticed the SOLDIER I was holding, "You better explain, but not now. Let's get on the train."

"But Barret-" Tifa said but was interrupted.

"Don't worry about the rendezvous point Tifa," Barret said interrupting, "With that dead looking SOLDIER with us, people will think we're taking him to the hospital. Nobody will suspect us."

I nodded, then followed the gang onto the train. I heard Kunsel grunt.

"Don't worry man," I said to him, "I know somebody that'll fix you up."

I got out my cellphone and dialed in Aerith's number as I sat down on the train. I put Kunsel on the seat as the phone was ringing on the other side.

"Hey, Zack!" I heard Aerith say over the phone. I knew it was Aerith, but I didn't wanna take any chances.

"This is Aerith right?" I asked even though it was definitely Aerith this time.

"Mhm," She said cheerfully, "Do you need anything?"

"Yeah," I said looking at Kunsel as he moved his head around, "Can you head over to Seventh Heaven? I have someone here from SOLDIER, and he's wounded."

"Really? Who is it?"

"It's Kunsel."

"Okay, I'll be on my way," She said sweetly then hung up.

I looked at Cloud who was sitting across from me on the train. He had a serious look on his face. Was he still mad about earlier?

"Hey man," I said when he looked over at me with his Mako eyes, "Sorry about back at the reactor. I didn't know I would've irritated you THAT much."

Cloud looked at me understandingly then smiled. I still have my friend.

"It's all good," He replied, "but I should be sorry for going off on you."

I reached over and ruffled his hair like a dog.

"You're still my little chocobo," I said, "Oh yeah! This is for you."

I remembered about the scorpion machine, and took out the mechanical leg out of my pocket. Then I handed it to Cloud.

"Here's a souvenir for beating your first boss," I said then he looked at me as if it was crazy, "Well... That we beat up."

Cloud looked at the leg. It had a few wires sticking out of it.

"By the way," He said standing up from his seat, "You're kinda heavy, lay off on the food okay?"

We laughed then we hugged a manly hug.

Hope you enjoyed that chapter. And I'm sorry for all the people who expected Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, etc.. I just didn't have enough time to put them in the story, but I can almost guarantee that they'll show up later. Thank you for reading and don't forget to review!