Disclaimer: Same as before



Chap. 9

The group arrived in Rocket town the next day. As they entered, Zack was wearing a dark hood in order to hide his appearance. As they came out of the buggy, he whispered to Cloud, "Now the roles have reversed. Now I'm the one covering my head."

Cloud nervously laughed and then noted, "You don't have a weapon."

"No problem. I'll pick up something as we gather supplies."

Cloud nodded, but Zack could see a little guilt in his friend's eyes.

"Don't worry about it."

Meanwhile, Cid walked up to the back of his house where the rocket used to be. Now there was the Bronco, no longer small and lightweight, but a medium sized jet equipped with two huge booster engines.

"Shera, is the Bronco ready?"

Shera came out of the plane and looked to him, "Yes. I've finished checking over the coolant system and its okay. Also, the escape pod is also set."

"Alright, ready her for take-off!"

Shera gasped, "Now? But it hasn't been field tested yet."

"We don't have time for a field test, Shera. It's an emergency, so get it started."

"Okay."

Cloud gave Cid a nervous glance to which he responded, "It'll work. Trust me."

After everybody bought a few supplies, they seated themselves inside the Bronco.

"Ahh, the smell of new. Let's get this show on the road."

Everyone buckled themselves inside. Cid jumped in the cockpit seat and grabbed the controls, "Alright everyone, here we go!"

The Bronco's booster engines came to life and the plane began to move down the runaway. It picked up speed and in moments was airborne at high speed.

"Next stop, the Northern Crater." Looking over to Cloud, "I told ya I got it working."

The Bronco flew swiftly toward the north, heading for the Northern Crater. It was as they remembered it. A massive hole in the Planet that seemed to have no real bottom to it. An endless pit.

"Alright, I'm taking her down. Hang on; this might be a little rough."

The Bronco began to circle and lower down to the inner edge of the crater when suddenly, a flash of light appeared, followed by a low rumbling.

"Cid, what's wrong?"

"What the hell...? The engine has been shot."

Outside, the left engine was blown open and smoke was pouring out.

"Alright. I'm going to set her down. Get to the back."

Everyone ran to the back of the plane. There, a chamber door opened.

"Get inside now!"

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about it. Now go!"

Everyone jumped inside as Cid tried to soften the plane's landing. When he gotten low enough, he quickly ran into the chamber with them and closed it. The pod disconnected and dropped down to the ground while the plane hit the ground. The rocky terrain shredded the plane apart, but the pod was more durable as it rolled until it stopped. After awhile, everyone jumped out, slightly dazed.

"Ugghh...Is everybody alright?"

Barret sat up, "I'm fine. 'Cept for this damn headache."

Tifa dusted herself off, "I'm okay."

Red XIII shook his head, "That was some trip."

Yuffie was also dusting herself off, "You bet."

Vincent lent himself on the side, "It seems like everyone is okay.

Zack shook his head, "Speak for yourself. I think I lost half my lunch in there."

Cloud looked around, "Cid? Hey, where's Cid?"

Cid was nowhere to be seen. Red XIII started sniffing the air, "I smell him. That way."

The group looked over to the side. There, Cid was standing in front of the wrecked Bronco.

"Say it."

"Huh?"

"Go ahead Cloud, you can say it."

Cloud looked at him and put his hand on his shoulder, "Forget it. Besides, it got us here in one piece. For a pilot, that just means it was a good plane. And at least the escape pod worked"

Cid turned to him and gave a small smile, "Yeah, you're right. Well what are you waiting for? Let get going already!"

"Right."

The group left the crash site and head into the dark caverns of the crater. This place always gave them the creeps. As they ventured further down...

"Uggggh."

Zack clutched his chest and knelt down. The others stopped and went to him. Cloud helped his friend up, "Hey man, are you okay?"

"Yeah, no problem." Zack stood up, "We should keep going."

Cloud was worried about his friend, but moved on anyway. They eventually reached the cavern that splits up into two.

Cid scratched his head, "Okay, I remember this. Should we split up again?"

Vincent answered, "No point. They both lead to the same place."

"Too bad you won't get there."

Everyone looked up to see a dark figure jump down and face them. The creature had a solid body with tentacle flailing out of its back and arms. But its face, its face was familiar.

"Hojo?"

The creature laughed, "Yes. Do you like the new body? A gift, courtesy of Jenova. I see you fools have decided to come after all." His eyes fall on Zack, "And you brought extra company, I see."

Zack glared at him, "You demented freak. We're not going to let you go along with this."

Hojo chuckled, "As interesting as that may be to see, I'm afraid I have other matters to attend to." A loud roar echoed in the cavern as Hojo began to back away. "However, I'm sure my friend here can entertain you."

A giant form walked out of the mouth of another cave and glared at the group. Everyone backed away as the monster roared at them.

Aw, man. A ruby dragon!" ______________

AN: I have recently acquired Kingdom Hearts and have noticed a lot of people making fanfic based on that. So I figure I would try a bit by incorporating a part of it in the fic. You'll understand when I get to it. Oh and sorry for the delay.