It was early morning. Cloud had just received word from Dio that the ropeway was fixed and he could leave.

He had just exited his hotel room and was about to head down to the lobby to meet up with the others but he noticed Dr. Coomer was in the hallway leading downstairs.

"Hey Dr. Coomer." said Cloud, getting his attention.

"Ah, hello Cloud!" replied Coomer while waving,

"Good to see you up and about! It's time we got going, the Temple of the Ancients awaits!"

He then turned around and headed to the stairwell.

"Wait." said Cloud, causing Coomer to turn around.

"There's something I want to ask you: what exactly are playcoins?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked!" said Coomer,

"Playcoins are what is used by the main character to help them in sections of the game that they may be stuck on!" Coomer explained,

"So say at some point you get stuck on something that you need assistance with, for a certain amount of playcoins I can help assist you with that area!"

"Uh okay." said Cloud, while having trouble understanding what Coomer was telling him.

"And you said Gordon has them too?"

"Correct! Seeing as he's a main character as well he can use playcoins too!" Coomer explained,

"And with enough playcoins you can activate the Superplayer Feature!"

"What do you mean by he's a 'main character' as well?" Cloud asked,

"Well- erm." said Coomer, trying to find the right words.

"Let's just say that you and him have…similarities."

"Similarities?" Cloud asked,

"What does that mean?"

"Well, umm."

Coomer stood there, struggling at what he was about to say. Meanwhile Cloud looked on, waiting for Coomer's answer.

"Well Cloud I am actually glad we have this chance to talk, I actually wanted to discuss my future spar with Tifa!"

"Huh?" said Cloud,

"Oh that. Look, I know you want to be but I-"

"I know what you're about to say: 'I don't want you to spar with her after what I saw you do in the Battle Arena.' Or at least that's what you're thinking, am I right?"

Judging from the look on Cloud's face, Coomer read him right.

"See, I'm no fool. I can see how much Tifa means to you and how it might be scary to have someone of my strength fighting her. But I just wanted to tell you not to worry at all! I'm only looking for a friendly sparring match, and I would also like to test her strength as well!"

"Oh well, uh-"

"I would never hurt a friend, Cloud. And I would never hurt anyone who's close with a member of the Science Team. That you have my word on."

Cloud didn't know how to respond, but looking at Coomer he could see that Coomer meant what he said.

He really has no intention of going to that place they all saw him go in the Battle Arena, or at least that's what Cloud was hoping for.

"O-Okay." said Cloud,

"But just know that I won't hesitate to step in if you go too far."

"Not a problem at all Cloud!" replied Coomer,

"Now let's get going!"

"Wait!" said Cloud, stopping Coomer before he could go down the stairs.

"You still didn't answer my question earlier." He said,

"And are you alright?"

Truth be told when he first saw Coomer he noticed he had a look in his eyes,

As if he had seen a ghost…

"Oh uh, I'm quite alright Cloud! Now we really should get going!"

"But you still haven't-"

"Hey Dr. Coomer!" Gordon called from downstairs.

"Ah, hello Gordon!" said Coomer as he descended down the stairs, leaving Cloud there without an answer.

'What did he mean by me and Gordon having similarities? What does that even mean?'


The party was outside a large stone temple that was about three stories tall. With help from Cait Sith they were guided to the Temple of the Ancients location.

"This is the place." said Cait Sith,

"Just so you know, I'm coming with you on this, need to make sure we secure the Black Materia."

"Fine." said Cloud,

"Just don't step out of line."

"I'm coming with you too." said Aerith,

"I can… I can hear the temple calling to me and…"

"That's fine."

He then looked at Gordon and Tommy.

"You guys are coming with me too."

They both nodded as they went over to join Cloud and the other two.

"What about us?" asked Bubby.

"The rest of you will stay out here. We don't know what's inside that temple and I don't want to take any chances of losing everybody." replied Cloud,

"And I don't want to risk having you all walk into a Shinra trap."

Bubby rolled his eyes and looked at Coomer.

"This is a bad fuckin idea." Bubby said to him.

Cloud ignored him as he, Tommy, Aerith, Cait Sith, and Gordon ascended up the steps.

As they got to the top they noticed a hooded figure at the top, the same as the one Cloud encountered at Nibelheim.

"Mr. Strife it's another hooded man." said Tommy,

"Should we kill him?"

"No, hold back." said Cloud,

"They don't seem necessarily hostile."

The hooded figure then spoke.

"Raven…….Valor……S.V.E.R…."

The group looked on in confusion.

"Vouch…er code."

"Let's keep moving." Cloud said, as he and the others entered the temple.

As they entered the temple, they saw a man in a familiar suit hunched down in front of an altar. He was clutching the side of his stomach which was bleeding.

Upon closer inspection they noticed he was a familiar foe.

"Tseng!" Cloud shouted.

Tseng looked up at the pair.

"Oh, it's you." He said.

"Well, I don't know how to say this but…we've been led astray."

"What are you talking about?" asked Cloud.

"The Promised Land…that isn't what Sephiroth is after all along."

"What!?" said Cloud, now on full alert.

"Sephiroth is here now?"

"Is Benrey with him?" asked Gordon.

"Go inside and find out for yourself." said Tseng, as he held out a shiny gray stone.

"The Keystone…"

Cloud took the stone from Tseng's hand, as he moved aside.

As Tseng moved to a nearby pillar, still clutching the side of his stomach, Tommy reached into his coat and pulled out his Glock. He then aimed it directly at Tseng.

"Tommy no!" Aerith shouted, standing in front of Tseng before Tommy could squeeze the trigger.

"Ms. Gain- Gain- Aerith, you're in the way." He said,

"I need to finish him off."

"I won't let you!" She shouted.

"Haven't you learned yet? You can't just go around killing people!"

"Why not?" asked Tommy,

"He's with Shinra, and Shinra are our enemies."

"That doesn't matter!" She replied,

"He may be with Shinra, but he's in no condition to fight or defend himself."

"But- but-"

"Lower your gun, I won't let you harm him."

Tommy stood there, he was aiming his Glock at Aerith but it was clearly meant for Tseng. Cloud and Gordon considered disarming Tommy in the event he did try to shoot. Meanwhile, Tommy wanted to do what he always did at Black Mesa: kill all his enemies.

"If you kill him, I won't consider you my friend anymore."

From the look on Tommy's face those words clearly got to him. It took a few moments but he then slowly lowered his gun, and stashed it back into his lab coat.

Tseng, who had his head slightly turned to the commotion, silently breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just so you know-" Aerith said, turning to face Tseng.

"I didn't do that for you."

"Figured as much." Tseng replied, as Aerith went over to the altar where Cloud had the keystone.

"Before we go anywhere." said Gordon, as he crouched down in front of Tseng,

"Why don't you answer a little question for me: What does your company want with me?"

Tseng looked at Gordon, deliberating if he should tell him the reason why Shinra wanted him.

"You wanna know the reason?" Tseng asked,

"Why don't you ask Coomer."

"Huh?" said Gordon,

"What does Coomer have to do with this?"

"Heh." Tseng said,

"Let's just say your friend was quite the chatterbox when we had him."

Gordon looked at Tseng, perplexed at what Tseng just told him.

"Gordon!" said Cloud, get his attention.

"Let's go, we'll ask Coomer the next time we see."

Gordon looked at Cloud, then back at Tseng before deciding that asking Coomer directly was the only course of action.

"Well Coomer has some things to answer for." said Gordon, as he joined the group on the altar.

Cloud placed the Keystone onto the altar which began to glow. As it did the ground beneath their feet began to shift.

"Uh." said Cait Sith,

"Should we be concer-"

Before the cat could say another word, the ground opened up and everyone began to slide down.


The group slid down to a lower part of the temple, when they got to the bottom they found they were in an open area that was devoid of color. Their were also several sets of stairs around, most of them seemingly leading nowhere.

"Where the heck are we?" asked Cait Sith.

Aerith walked forward, and looked as if she was taking in the environment.

"Words….feelings…..there's so many of them here."

"This place has a different feeling then everywhere else Mr. Freeman." said Tommy.

"Huh? Yeah I guess." said Gordon,

"Let's keep moving though, the Black Materia can't be far."

Gordon then went ahead of the group.

"Follow me!" He shouted,

"I think I know how we can traverse this area!"

As the group followed Gordon, the person playing as him had an image up on the upper right side of the screen inside the headset that showed the way through the staircase room.

'This'll definitely save us a shit load of time.'

"How do you know where to go Gordon?" asked Cloud.

"Oh uh." He said.

'Cause I'm cheating.'

Just a- just a hunch I have."

"Oookay." said Cait Sith, as the group entered another room.

This room, besides a path that was floating in midair, was a completely black void. In the center was a small pool, and it was glowing.

Aerith began walking to it.

"What is it?" Cloud asked.

"It's…..just follow me." She replied.

The group silently followed Aerith, as the pool started glowing even brighter.

"What is that, Aerith?" asked Tommy.

"It's full of knowledge from the Ancients." She replied.

"Actually, that's not the right term……it's more like a conciseness…a living soul."

She then lied down with her ear pressed onto the ground next to the pool.

"Huh, what are you trying to say?" She said.

"Danger? An evil consciousness? An otherworldly entity?"

"Who is she talking to Mr. Freeman?" asked Tommy.

"I think the Temple is talking to her." Gordon replied.

Tommy gave a confused look as he and the rest looked on.

"You want to show me?" asked Aerith.

The room suddenly turned white as the group found themselves in a completely different room, this one with Egyptian like drawings on the wall, a familiar figure in a black suit was also there.

"Where are we?" asked Cait Sith.

Aerith shushed him as another figure entered the room. The group recognized her as Elena, one of the Turks.

"Tseng, will we be able to find the promised land with this?"

"Maybe." He replied,

"For now, report what we found to the president."

Elena nodded and left the room as Tseng continued to further examine the drawings.

When Gordon got a good look at figures in the drawings, he noticed they were all holding………..PlayStation 3's???

"What the hell?" said Gordon,

"Why do they all have-"

But then suddenly another figure appeared in the room, this one all too familiar. When Tseng noticed him he jumped.

"Sephiroth!" He shouted, drawing his pistol and aiming it at the former SOLDIER.

"So you were able to open the door? Well done." Sephiroth said.

"So you know what this place is?" asked Tseng, still aiming at Sephiroth.

"This, this place holds the lost knowledge of the Ancients." said Sephiroth,

"And here, I'll be able to create the world Benrey told me about."

"Benrey?" Tseng asked, "So that's his name?"

"That is correct." Sephiroth replied,

"I was originally going to become one with the planet, I was to become a god, but after what he showed me, all of that is meaningless."

He then turned to face Tseng.

"Now, I only wish to create the world he and I envisioned, and finally obtain a copy of MAG."

"MAG? What the heck is-"

Before Tseng could react or say another word, Sephiroth drove his sword into Tseng's side. Tseng let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground.

Another white light engulfed the group's vision and they found themselves back in the room they were originally in.

"What the hell was that?" Cloud asked,

"Where is that room?"

"We're almost there." said Aerith,

"Just a little further."

"Is Sephiroth still here?" Cloud asked.

Aerith nodded.

"Then let's go! This might be our chance to take him out once and for all!"


Cloud, Tommy, Gordon, Aerith, and Cait Sith all entered the room they saw earlier from the pool. Gordon himself went over to examine the drawings on the wall.

"What the hell is this?" He said, as he continued to examine them further.

"Why do they all have PS3's? And are those…"

On closer examination, we saw the human figures on the wall battling familiar creatures.

Those of which he encountered at Black Mesa.

"What the fuck?" He said surprised,

"Are those Peeper Puppy's? Bullsquids? And- and Vortigaunts?!"

"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked, as he went over to see what Gordon was looking at.

"These, these are the aliens we fought at Black Mesa." He said.

"What?"

"But this can't be possible! They shouldn't even exist here!"

"Mr. Freeman look!" said Tommy, pointing at the other side of the room.

When they all looked over to where Tommy was pointing at, they saw Sephiroth in front of an altar.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted, as he and the other four ran over to him, while Sephiroth turned to face them.

"Ah, so you all finally made it." He said,

"But it doesn't matter now, I already have what I want."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gordon asked,

"Just what are you planning, if becoming a god isn't your plan anymore?"

"It's simple Dr. Freeman." replied Sephiroth,

"I want what Benrey wants, to be given the chance to obtain a free month of PS Plus."

"What the?" said Gordon, dumbfounded at what Sephiroth just said.

"What the fuck are you talking about? What does that even mean?"

"Benrey showed me the truth of our world, what it really is." Sephiroth said,

"There's nothing here that I want anymore."

"Then why are you so hell bent on destroying the planet?" Cait Sith asked.

"I'm not going to destroy the planet, just simply wound it. And from there I will harvest its energy to create the world we envisioned." Sephiroth explained,

"What are you talking about? What world?" asked Aerith.

"This world is fake, an illusion created by being's beyond our comprehension. But with Benrey's help, I'll be able to create it into one where I'll get to play MAG."

He then raised his arms in the air.

"And I'll make Raven the top PMC in the game!"

Everyone stood there, trying to make sense of whatever Sephiroth was going on about. Is he really doing all of this just to play a video game?

"U- Uh- Uh what-" Gordon said,

"What does- why are you- what makes you-"

"Think Benrey can do all this for me?" Sephiroth said,

"He already gave us free will, his power is limitless."

"What?" asked Gordon

"And take a look at the wall."

Everyone looked over at the wall and saw it:

Where Meteor was supposed to be was instead replaced with a giant head of a Half-Life 1 security guard.

"What the fuck!?" Gordon said in disbelief,

"How is that possible? That's not supposed to be Benrey! That- that's supposed to be…"

Gordon put his hand on his forehead and rubbed it.

'What the fuck is going on!? None of this should be here! Are the freaking games really colliding?!'

"This all didn't have to happen Gordon." Sephiroth said,

"All of this is your fault."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean!?" shouted Gordon.

"Wait," said Cloud,

"How exactly is all of this because of Gordon?"

Sephiroth slightly chuckled at Cloud's question.

"You'll find out sooner or later."

He then turned his attention to Tommy.

"So, you're Dr. Coolatta. Benrey told me all about you."

"Huh?" Tommy said, taken aback by the sudden attention Sephiroth was giving him.

"He also told me you were a fan of these."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny object.

The object itself was red and yellow like flames, it also had a dragon in the middle.

"Is- is that- is that-" Tommy said, suddenly getting very excited.

"Is that the Burst Bloody Longinus Gold Dragon Version!?"

"That's correct Tommy," said Sephiroth.

"It's all yours if you help us on our path."

Sephiroth then suddenly floated in the air and flew out the room. Leaving Tommy wondering if he should chase after him.

"Tommy- Tommy!" Gordon said, trying to get his attention.

"We've had this talk before, you can't get manipulated by beyblades. Look what happened when Forzen tried to lure you with one."

"B-B-But- But that one's super rare and expensive Mr. Freeman!" said Tommy.

"And- and-"

Without warning, Tommy ran out of the room in pursuit of Sephiroth.

"Tommy NO!" Gordon shouted, as he gave chase.

"Gordon, wait!" shouted Cloud,

"We have to-"

"Just get the Black Materia! I'll get Tommy!" Gordon shouted as he left the room.

Cloud shook his head and went over to the alter Sephiroth was at.

"Cloud uh, should we go after them?" asked Cait Sith.

"We should." said Aerith,

"I've spoken with the Ancients, this temple is the Black Materia."

"What?" asked Cloud, turning to face her.

"They told me If we do all the puzzles in this temple, it'll shrink down and we'll be able to obtain it."

"Alright then." said Cloud, still not grasping what Aerith just said.

"But what should we do about Gordon and Tommy? We can't just go after them. We still need to get the Black Materia."

"It's alright Cloud." said Aerith,

"Gordon's already heading to the first puzzle."