"How much longer until we've reached Midgar?" Cid asked the Highwind's pilot.
"Not much longer," He replied,
"We should be there in about two hours."
"Alright, keep me posted." Cid said, as he left to speak to Cloud and the rest of the group.
"Pilot says we should be reaching Midgar in about two hours." Cid said to Cloud,
"Run the plan by us again."
"Alright, so here's the plan," said Cloud,
"We're gonna airdrop near Shinra HQ. They're more than likely gonna see us coming so we'll have to get as low to their building as we can so when we drop off they won't be able to shoot us out of the sky. Now, Cait Sith has already provided us with the schematics of where Gordon is being held, so we'll follow that and get him. Obviously we'll be facing heavy resistance coming in and out so that's why we gotta go in and out as fast as possible. After we get Gordon we'll discuss what we'll do next. Everyone clear on that?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Alright, now let's-"
"Uh sir!" The Highwind's pilot shouted from the front, as Cid rushed to the front,
"We have a massive problem!"
"What is it?" asked Cid.
"Look!" The pilot said, pointing at the ocean below.
Cid looked at where the pilot was pointing and saw it:
One of the Weapon's was walking across the water and was heading straight for Midgar.
"Oh shit." said Cid,
"Cloud! We have a problem we gotta deal with before we get to Midgar."
"What kind of problem?" asked Cloud.
"The Weapon kind!"
Cloud took a deep breath upon hearing that and immediately turned to Coomer.
"Coomer," said Cloud,
"Think you can work your magic with the previous Weapon on this one?"
"That I can do Cloud!" Coomer replied enthusiastically,
"Just drop me off by the shore!"
Cloud nodded and turned to Cid.
"Have the pilot drop Coomer off by the shore!"
Cid nodded.
"You heard the man, send us to the shore!"
The pilot steered the ship down towards the ground near the coastline. He stopped just low enough for someone to safely.
One of the crew members dropped a ladder which Coomer slid down and touched down on the ground.
"Be careful down there boss!" One of the crew members said, as the Highwind took off to a safe distance.
Coomer turned to face the Weapon as it began to approach land.
It wasn't long until it was right in front of Coomer, towering over him as Coomer had his whole neck cranked backwards to look up at it.
The Weapon roared at him with such force it send a strong wind that would have blown anyone back, but Coomer stood there unaffected.
"Ah, so your friends have told you about me!" said Coomer.
The Weapon roared back in response.
"I am curious as to what they have said about me though!"
The Weapon once again roared at Coomer.
"Well of course! While I can see why their matchup on June 3rd, 1994 is considered one of the best in AJPW history! I just prefer their match from May 1st, 1998! It's just my personal preference!"
The Weapon roared in response to Coomer's statement.
"Oh so what if it didn't get five stars from Meltzer! That doesn't take away from the match at all! And you shouldn't base Meltzer's rating system on what makes a match good or not! And let me ask, what matches from the four pillars era of All Japan have you seen?"
The Weapon roared again.
"What? You can't just limit yourself to just watching matches with Misawa in them! There's plenty of other matches from All Japan from that era that are exceptional!"
The Weapon roared at Coomer, only this time it sounded like it was asking a question.
"Like the Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams match from August 31st, 1993! Or even the Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada match from January 19th, 1995!"
The Weapon roared in response.
"Yes I know the matches I just said have Kobashi in them, and I will admit he is one of my favorites. That still proves my point that there are other matches you can watch that don't strictly have Misawa in them!"
The Weapon roared at Coomer again.
"While you aren't wrong that Misawa has the most five star matches in history from Meltzer. I feel like that could change in the near future!"
The Weapon gave Coomer a confused roar.
"Well just take a look at Will Ospreay! He's only 27 and already he has 9 five star matches under his belt."
The Weapon roared at Coomer again, as if questioning him.
"Why of course! Anything can happen in the world of pro wrestling!"
The Weapon let out a low growl, then turned around and went back in the other direction.
"Make sure you watch those matches I told you about! You won't regret it!"
When the Weapon was at a good enough distance away from Coomer. The Highwind flew down to where Coomer was and dropped the ladder.
Coomer climbed up to where the crew member who dropped for him earlier.
"Good job Dr. Coomer!" The crew member said,
"What did you do to draw that thing away anyway?"
"Oh we just, what's the term Steve Austin likes to use, 'shot the shit'!"
"Uh okay," The crew member said, clearly confused,
"Well anyway, everyone else is waiting for you at the bridge!"
A large BOOM went off as Coomer and the crew member looked over and saw a large light beam pass them by and go into the direction of the Weapon.
The Weapon, completely unaware, was shot through the chest by the beam, leaving a huge hole in its wake. The Weapon slowly feel to the ground, now a lifeless creature.
The beam continued and eventually reached the Northern Crater. It hit the barrier that surround it and caused the barrier to break.
"Looks like Shinra had the cannon working and destroyed the light barrier! Which'll definitely work for us later on!" said Coomer,
"Still, it's a shame he won't get to see the matches I recommend!"
"We're approaching Midgar airspace!" The pilot shouted, as everyone was getting ready to parachute.
"Twenty minutes to drop off!" One of the crew members said as he checked his watch.
"Everything good so far?" Cid asked from the cockpit.
"So far so good, but the drop zone is showing a high pressure mass." One of the copilots replied,
"Our CAV's okay too!"
(Quick Author's Note: CAV means Cloud and Visibility.)
"Good, we have high visibility," said Cid,
"Keep me posted if anything changes." He said, as he went to rejoin the rest of the party.
While everyone was getting ready for the drop off, Bubby was busy downing a can of soda and still hadn't put his parachute pack on.
"Put away that soda!" The crew member who was keeping track of time said to Bubby.
Bubby scowled at him in response.
"Put on your parachute too!"
Bubby ignored him and continued to drink his can.
The crew member, noticing this, sighed in frustration and went over to Cid.
"Captain!" He said, getting Cid's attention,
"Does this pantywaist know what he's doing?"
"What the fuck did you just say motherfucker!?" Bubby said, as he came storming over to the crew member.
Cid however was able to get in front of him and block Bubby before he could do anything.
"Bubby, relax, he didn't mean anything by it." Cid said, trying to calm Bubby down.
"But he does have a point, put the soda away and put on your parachute."
Bubby, after a few moments, growled under his breath and threw the can away and put on his parachute pack.
He then looked at the crew member and gave him the double bird and went off to the top of the ship.
"Six minutes to drop off!" The crew member said,
"Everyone follow that prick!"
The party obliged and followed Bubby to the outer top part of the Highwind. As they got there they saw the sun was rising in the distance.
"Sunrise." said Tifa, as she got into position.
"We'll be falling at 130 miles per hour!" said Cid,
"Let's try not to get frostbite from the wind chill!"
"One minute to drop off!" The crew member said over the intercom.
"This'll be one for the history books! The world's first HALO jump!" said Coomer,
"At least in an urban environment!"
"Uh Cloud!" said Cait Sith,
"What is it?" asked Cloud.
"There's been a change of plans!" said Cait Sith.
"A change of plans?" asked Cloud,
"What are you talking about?"
"Ten seconds to drop off!"
"I'll tell you about it once we get in the ground!" said Cait Sith.
Cloud sighed as he prepared himself for the drop.
"Status okay! All green!"
Everyone was in position.
"Prepare for drop off! Countdown: five, four, three, two, one!"
"Let's spread our wings and fly! God be with us!" said Coomer, as he jumped off the Highwind.
Everyone followed suit and jumped off in unison with Coomer.
Tommy on the other hand jumped off while doing front flips. He then balled up causing him to spin faster before pencil diving face first downwards.
Cloud hit the ground on his feet and quickly discarded his parachute. He looked around and saw that the others had all landed safely as well.
"Cloud!" said Tifa, as Cloud went over to her and the rest.
"Hey," Cloud said, greeting her,
"Did everyone make it down alright?"
"Yeah, I think we're all accounted for!" said Barret.
"Not all of us," said Red XIII,
"I don't see Tommy amongst us at all."
"That's cause he's flying in right now!" said Bubby, pointing at the sky.
Everyone looked up and saw Tommy was flying down to where they were.
He was a few feet above the ground and instead of waiting to land fully he detached his parachute and landed crouched down with his arms out in front.
"Tommy?" asked Tifa,
"Tommy are you-"
Instead of replying, Tommy shot his head up. He slowly began to rise and was on his feet. He took the pack off and went over to the rest of the group.
"Damn Tommy, didn't peg you as the type to make entrances," said Barret.
"Kept you waiting, huh?" Tommy replied.
"Alright, alright," said Cloud, getting everyone's attention,
"Now that we're here we can get the ball rolling on this operation. But Sith has something he wants to say before we continue."
"Uh right," said Cait Sith,
"As I said to Cloud before we jumped, there's been a change in the plan: we aren't rescuing Gordon, at least not right away."
"What?" said Tommy,
"What do you mean we aren't 'rescuing him right away'?"
"Well, let me get you up to speed on what's going on with Shinra right now," said Cait Sith,
"Rufus is dead."
"What!?" Barret said in complete shock,
"How and when the hell did that happen!?"
"10 minutes before we were going to drop off a bomb went off in his office where he presumably was at the time." Cait Sith explained,
"No one was able to find a body but right now Shinra is in a state of total chaos without a clear leader. Scarlett and Heddigar are doing there own thing now and I've pretty much been left to my own devices. But that's not the reason we should focus on Gordon right now."
"And why not?" asked Tommy, clearly frustrated.
"It's Hojo, he's at the cannon's controls and he's planning on firing off another shot at the Northern Crater."
"You gotta be kidding!" said Cid,
"That thing has barely had enough time to cool off! Firing off another round so soon could destroy this whole city!"
"I know!" said Cait Sith,
"But Hojo has completely lost his mind!"
"So you want us to go and stop him before he fires off the cannon again?" asked Cloud.
"Yeah," said Cait Sith,
"And I hate to say this but it's gonna take all of you to do it"
"And what about Mr. Freeman!?" Tommy shouted,
"You just want us to abandon him!?"
"No! Nothing like that!" Cait Sith replied,
"I'll- I'll rescue him."
"Huh?" said Yuffie,
"You're gonna rescue him by yourself? What if you get caught? They'd kill you if they find out you're trying to break Gordon out."
"It's fine." replied Cait Sith,
"It's the least I can do after I lied to all of you. And besides, with the city is in total chaos right now I think I can slip Gordon out without anyone noticing………or I hope anyway."
"Alright then," said Cloud,
"Then we'll all head for the cannon and stop Hojo before he has a chance to fire it off. Let's move out."
Gordon was where he was for the past week and 3 days: strapped to the table with his arms bound.
Only this time he was trying to free himself.
"God dammit! God dammit fucking come on!" said Gordon, as he tried to free his arms,
"Fucking stupid Hojo and his fucking stupid fucking split personality!"
The door to the room opened. Gordon looked over and saw Darnold walking in and towards the computer that Hojo was typing on previously. He immediately began typing in it.
"Darnold, I don't know what the fuck you're doing, but you really need to-"
The bindings to Gordon's arms retracted and Gordon's arms were freed. He dropped down to the floor on his feet.
"-free me…"
Darnold looked up at Gordon and walked over to him.
"Darnold I…..I don't know what to say. Why are you freeing me all of sudden?"
"I told you I had to wait until the time was right." replied Darnold.
"Uh okay," Gordon said, still baffled as to why Darnold was suddenly going against Hojo's orders,
"But why turn on Shinra all of sudden?"
"That man from Black Mesa promised me that I would get to go to his son's birthday party if I freed you. But I don't like birthday parties so I asked if he would give me my own potions company and he allowed it!"
"Uhhhhhh alright…" said Gordon, confused at Darnold's answer,
"Well anyway we need to get the hell out of here before Rufus or anyone from Shinra finds out you've freed me, now do you know where-"
The door to the room opened again and Reeve came sprinting in.
"Gordon!" He shouted,
"Gordon I'm here to get you-"
Only to his surprise he saw Gordon was freed and was with Darnold.
Reeve, thinking Darnold was still on Hojo's side, drew out a pistol and aimed it at Darnold.
"Step away from him right now!" ordered Reeve.
"Reeve wait!" said Gordon, as he got in between the two of them,
"It's alright, he's a friend and he just freed me."
"A friend?" asked Reeve, as he lowered his pistol,
"But wasn't he working with Hojo not too long ago?"
"He was but……let me introduce you two." said Gordon as he step beside them,
"Reeve, Darnold. Darnold, Reeve, or Cait Sith as he's known in our group."
"You two know each other?" asked Reeve.
"That's right," replied Gordon,
"In fact he's the one who gave me this!"
Gordon then held out his chaingun to show Reeve.
"Huh, interesting." said Reeve,
"Well in any case we don't have a lot of time, Hojo is at the Sister Ray and he's planning on firing off another round at the Northern Crater. Now luckily I know the way out of here and every SOLDIER and trooper worth a damn is either trying to get the city under control or has just straight up abandoned their post. But that doesn't change the fact we're still in danger if we stay here."
"I don't think we're the ones in danger." said Gordon,
"We are the……you know what, never mind."
"Huh?"
"Just show us the way out of here." said Gordon,
"And I don't think it's Hojo who's planning to fire off the Sister Ray."
"No?" said Reeve,
"Then who is it?"
"An old ghost from Black Mesa."
Cloud and the others were making their way through Midgar's subway tunnels. At Cait Sith's suggestion, they were informed of Scarlet and Heddigar's knowledge of their arrival and decided to go through the subway tunnels in order to avoid detection.
"How far are we from the cannon?" asked Tifa.
"Not much further," replied Cait Sith,
"Just a few more miles and we should get there soon."
"I'm afraid we can't let you go any further."
Everyone turned around and saw Elena of the Turks approaching them from behind, while being flanked by Reno and Rude.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" said Cid,
"You guys are really gonna fight us despite what's going on with your freaking company!?"
"While it's true that Shinra is in a state of total disarray, that doesn't change the fact we have to take you out." said Rude,
"Sorry, but orders are orders."
"We don't have time for this." said Cloud,
"Cid, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Bubby. You guys will have to hang here and deal with them. The rest of us will go to the cannon and stop Hojo, understand?"
"Yeah, we got it." replied Cid, as the other three stepped up to the Turks.
Cloud nodded as he and the others ventured further into the tunnels.
"Don't worry Cloud! This should only take a minute!" Yuffie shouted at the group as they left.
"I wouldn't sound so confident." said Reno, as he pulled out his nightstick,
"We aren't the same Turks we were from earlier."
"So you'll take 20 minutes to beat as opposed to 8 minutes to beat, got it!" said Bubby, as he pulled out his Tau Cannon.
"You all got lucky back at Gongaga! Now this time there's no escape for you!"
Cid and Yuffie drew their weapons while Elena and Rude got battle ready as well.
The two groups were now primed and ready to battle.
"Wait, hang on one second." said Cid, as his ears began to perk up,
"Do you all hear that?"
"Hear what?" asked Rude.
"That noise, it sounds like…."
"What, 'the sound of our defeat'? Is that what you were about to say?"
"No, I hear something else."
"You're beginning to lose your hearing at your age," said Bubby.
"Shut up Bubbs, I'm only 32! Now everyone be quiet so you can all hear it too!"
Everyone fell silent to hear what Cid was talking about.
And that's when they all heard what he was talking about. It sounded like a horde of demons were in the tunnels with them, and they didn't sound far either.
"What the hell is that?" asked Yuffie nervously.
"No idea, but it sounds close, whatever it is."
"Wait a sec…" said Bubby, as he began to listen in more closely,
"That sound, I think……..no, it can't be."
"Bubbs?" asked Cid,
"What is it?"
"No, there all supposed to be at Black Mesa, there's no fucking way in hell they should even be here!"
"What is it?" Cait Sith asked,
"What shouldn't be here? Do you know what that noise is?"
"I do…." said Bubby, as he gulped,
"It's the prototypes."
"The prototypes?" asked Cid,
"What are you talking about?"
"Uh guys?" said Yuffie, as she pointed behind the Turks,
"Why is Bubby over there when he's literally right here?"
Everyone including the Turks looked over and saw what she was talking about:
Stepping out of the darkness, Bubby(?) was a good 3 miles away, and he was walking erratically in their direction.
"What the hell?" said Cid.
"Dammit!" said Rude, as he and the other Turks turned to face the other Bubby,
"Hojo must've unleashed them to buy himself more time!"
"Unleashed them?" asked Yuffie,
"What do you mean by-"
Out of that same darkness a large swarm of Bubby prototypes came out and were walking the same way as the first one who came out.
When one of them saw the group, it opened its mouth and let out a blood curdling screech. The other prototypes did the same and soon broke into a full sprint and were running to where they were.
"Crap!" said Yuffie,
"What should we do?!"
"Don't worry, I came prepared in a situation like this!" said Bubby.
Right before Cid, Yuffie, and Cait Sith's eyes, Bubby turned into the same blue sedan as he did in the Forgotten City.
"Get in!" Car Bubby shouted, as his doors flung open,
"Except you, you big dumb cat, you ride on the roof!"
Cid got into the shotgun while Yuffie climbed in back. Cait Sith begrudgingly climbed onto the roof.
"Hey what about us?!" shouted Elena.
"Fuck you! You're on your own!" said Car Bubby.
Car Bubby took off at 95 mph, leaving the Turks to fend off the prototypes for themselves.
"Think they can handle all of them?" asked Yuffie, as she buckled her seatbelt.
"Doubt it, but it'll probably buy us some time," said Cid.
"Still, I feel bad for leaving them like that!" Cait Sith said from the roof.
"Hey! Better them than us!" said Car Bubby.
"Hey wait, hang on a second!" said Yuffie, as she came to her senses as to what was going on.
"I just realized Bubby turned into a car and we're riding inside of him!"
"Oh yeah, that kinda just hit me too." said Cid,
"Bubbs! Since when have you been able to morph into a car?"
"I'll tell you what I told Cloud and Tifa earlier: We all have our secrets!"
Cloud and the others were running through the now abandoned streets of upper Midgar, they were only a few miles away from the Sister Ray and so far hadn't met a lot of opposition.
"We're almost there!" said Cloud.
"Hopefully we don't run into any unexpected opposition on the way there!" said Coomer.
And right on cue, giant footsteps were heard which caused the ground around them to shake. They turned around and saw a giant red mech with yellow outlines and four arms and a large cannon on its back.
"So we finally found you!" A familiar voice bellowed from the mech.
The head to the mech opened and revealed Heiddegar inside, right beside him was Scarlet, who was in a full body cast.
"Not taking us seriously was the last mistake you'll ever make! Now you're all gonna die here!" He boasted, as the head retracted and the mech got into a stance.
"Come on! We really have to fight this thing first!?" Barret complained, as he armed and aimed his chaingun.
"I'll handle this!" said Coomer, as he stepped forward.
"Coomer?" said Red XIII,
"Are you sure? This is our chance, mine, is your's, and Vincent's to confront Hojo for what he did to us."
"Oh it's quite alright Nanaki! I was the one who jinxed us so I should be the one to clean this up!"
"Uh, alright then," said Cloud,
"We'll let you handle it, make sure you catch up to us as soon as you're done."
"Not a problem at all Cloud!" said Coomer.
Cloud nodded as he and the others headed in the direction of the Sister Ray, leaving Coomer to confront the Proud Clod.
"I've been waiting for this moment ever since Junon Harbor!" shouted Scarlet,
"I haven't forgotten how you groped me before and how you- you-"
"Put you in a body cast," said Coomer, finishing her sentence,
"And I wouldn't say I groped you, I was just revving up my attack!"
"Silence!" Scarlet shouted,
"Because of you I haven't been able to move any of my limbs and haven't been able to eat solid foods! I even need assistance using the bathroom! Do you have any idea how humiliating that is for a woman of my stature!?"
"That sounds quite demeaning!" Coomer replied.
"Shut up!" said Scarlet,
"Now I can finally pay you back for what you did to me! Prepare to die!"
Coomer cracked his knuckles and wasted no time as broke into a sprint towards the Proud Clod.
"Get him!" Scarlet shouted.
The Proud Clod brought down its arm on Coomer. Coomer, being quick as he was, was able to juke to the side, avoiding the arm as it came hurling down and left a big crater on the floor.
Coomer ran over to one of its legs, the automated turrets that were attached to it all pointed at him and opened fire. The bullets all went through Coomer but he was seemingly unaffected as he punched away at the mech's armor. The mech in response raised its leg and brought it down in an effort to stomp on Coomer. Coomer though was able to dodge it and jumped high up and grabbed one of the automated turrets. He ripped it off and jumped over to another turret and ripped that one off too.
The Proud Clod reached over and grabbed Coomer off of it. It moved Coomer over to its front and had him locked in a tight grip.
"I'll crush you like the bug you are!" Scarlet said.
The mech's grip tied around Coomer, hoping to crush him.
Instead, the hand was beginning to implode on itself as Coomer pushed the hand off of it.
"What the!?" Heddigar shouted in complete shock.
Coomer then grabbed the arm that held him and ripped it clean off. He then landed on the ground, looking up at the mech, now missing an arm.
"Shit, he's stronger than we thought!" said Heddigar,
"We need to get out of here!"
"No! I refuse to let him escape!" said Scarlet,
"Unleash the payload on him!"
The Proud Clod jumped high and backwards, unleashing a stream of missiles at Coomer.
Coomer quickly jumped on one of the missiles, then jumped on the one in front of him. He was then jumping on each individual missile as he made his way towards the Proud Clod as it was firing off missles, destroying nearby building's in its wake.
Coomer, in the air and now in punching range of the Proud Clod, grabbed the mech's other hand as it was already trying to punch Coomer out of the air. It ripped that arm off and then soared high to the mechs head and punched it downwards.
The mech hit the ground hard as Coomer landed with his back turned to the mech, thinking he had defeated it.
"Big mistake!" Heddigar shouted.
The mech grabbed Coomer with its other arm and threw him high on the side of a building.
Coomer, quickly shaking it off, sprinted down towards the mech as it continued firing off missles at him. Coomer weaved and dodged his way out of the missiles.
When he was close enough to the mech, he pumped his legs and shot off the building like a javelin towards the mech's head.
Before Heddigaer or Scarlet could react, Coomer shot inside of the mech's cockpit, grabbed them with each arm and landed on the ground feet first.
The mech exploded and fell down in a giant heap behind Coomer, as he dropped the both of them on the ground.
"Shit, shit!" Heddager said, as he tried to get up and escape.
Coomer, frost now emitting from his hands, shot a stream of ice at Heddiager, freezing him in place.
Coomer, without saying a word, formed a sheet of ice on the ground, he slid on it and uppercutted the frozen Heddigar, shattering him like a broken ice sculpture.
He then shot his head over to Scarlet and began walking over towards her.
"Wait! Wait a minute god dammit!" said Scarlet,
"I can give you whatever you want! Money? Power? Just name it and it's yours!"
Coomer, now standing over Scarlet, looked at her disappointingly and contemplated what he was going to do with her.
That's when he heard a car horn and looked over to see Car Bubby driving towards him.
"Get in Coomer!" said Car Bubby, as one of his doors flung open.
"Bubby, I see you've turned yourself into a car again!" said Coomer.
"Yes and with good reason!" said Car Bubby,
"The fucking prototypes are here and theyre trying to fucking eat us, now get in!"
"Wait a second, did you just say the prototypes?" Scarlet asked, fear in her voice as Coomer got inside Car Bubby.
"You- you can't leave me here! They'll tear me to shreds!"
"Don't worry Scarlet! I won't kill you!" said Coomer,
"But that doesn't mean I have to save you!"
"Please! Please don't leave me!" Scarlet pleaded.
Car Bubby then took off, leaving Scarlet lying there next to a shattered Heddigar.
The same screech was heard as the swarm of Bubby prototypes came running out of the subway tunnel towards Scarlet's direction.
Scarlet screamed as the prototypes descended onto her and began to tear her apart. Her screams soon became gargled as she began to choke on her own blood and slowly began to lose her life.
"Should we-" said Yuffie, as she began to look back.
Only Coomer grabbed her and forced her to look forward.
"Don't look back."
Gordon, Darnold, and Reeve all ran out of the front entrance of Shinra HQ. No SOLDIERS or troops were seen as Reeve scanned the area.
"Coast seems to be clear," said Reeve.
"Alright then," said Gordon,
"Let's head to the Sister Ray."
"I'm sorry Dr. Freeman but I'm afraid this is where I'll have to leave you!" said Darnold,
"It's like before, all this excitement is just to much for me!"
"Wait, you're just gonna go?" asked Reeve.
"It's fine Reeve, Darnold doesn't owe us anything." said Gordon,
"Just get somewhere safe, and I guess I'll see you around."
"Likewise Dr. Freeman! If my potions company takes off I'll let you in on the business!"
Darnold then walked a few feet away from them and stopped. He stretched out his arms as his shoes began to emit a rocket stream as he began to float in the air.
The streak grew stronger as he took off high into the sky and was soon out of sight.
"What the heck?" said Reeve.
He shook his head and turned his attention to Gordon.
"Anyway, you head in over to the Sister Ray, I need to take care of something else."
"Huh?" said Gordon,
"What would that be?"
"I need to go and get Marlene along with Aerith's mother. Once I get them I'll take them somewhere safe, somewhere outside of Midgar."
"Alright, then I'll let you go." said Gordon,
"And Reeve…"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful out there."
"I will, but you should know something," said Revee,
"The Bubby prototypes are loose."
"The Bubby prototypes?" said Gordon,
"Fuck! I thought I had enough of those things at Black Mesa."
"Well unfortunately we're being chased by them as we speak, we're all heading towards the Sister Ray so get there as fast as you can!"
"Got it!", said Gordon,
"Now get going!"
Reeve nodded as they both took off in opposite directions.
Cloud and the rest of the party were making their way up the steps that led to the Sister Ray.
"We're almost there guys," said Cloud,
"Just be ready for anything, who knows what Hojo has up his sleeve."
As they made their way up, they heard a rather peculiar noise.
"What's that sound?" asked Vincent.
"Dunno," said Cloud,
"But it sounds like a…….a dog barking?"
"Red, is that you?" asked Barret.
"I don't bark, you imbecile!" Red XIII shot at Barret.
"Alright alright, just an honest question."
"Wait a second…" said Tommy, as he began to closely listen in,
"I think I know what that is!"
Without saying another word he took of past everyone and sprinted up the stairs.
"Tommy!" said Tifa,
"Tommy, wait!"
The rest of the party took off after Tommy, who was already at the top. He had his MP5 aimed and had look of anger and distress on his face.
They looked over and saw Hojo manning the Sister Ray's controls.
And next to him, surrounded by a series of turrets, was a large golden retriever.
"Sunkist!" Tommy shouted.
"Tommy!" said Cloud, as he and the others joined him to confront Hojo.
"Ah, so you all finally arrived…" said Hojo.
He turned around to face them.
The group quickly noticed he looked disheveled and was sweating profusely, he was also clenching his chest and was breathing heavily.
"Hojo!" shouted Barret,
"Your plans end here!"
"Heh, this is only the beginning…" Hojo said,
"After I fire off the cannon at Sephiroth, he'll become the immortal being he was always meant to be!"
"Why though?" asked Tifa,
"Why risk your life and everyone else's to just power him up?"
"Foolish girl! This is the best gift I can give to my own son!"
"Your son?" asked Cloud,
"Are you saying your Sephiroth's father?"
"That's right!" Hojo replied,
"I am Sephiroth's biological father! I am the one who fathered him and injected him with Benrey's cells to make him the powerful being he is now! And now, I'll make him an immortal god! And his and Benrey's world will become a reality!" He said,
"And then…..then the rumor will finally be dispelled!"
"What rumor!?" shouted Red XIII,
"You keep going on about some rumor being dispelled, what rumor are you talking about?!"
"The rumor…"
Hojo fell to one knee.
"The- the rumor!-"
He fell to both knees, his face beginning to clench. He shot his head to look at the group and shouted:
"The rumor that the Irate Gamer ripped off the Angry Video Game Nerd!"
"I- ah uh what?" said Cloud, as he and the others were completely taken aback by Hojo's answer.
Hojo then screamed as his body began to contort, he fell back first and began to wither around.
His shoes turned into combat boots, his pants turned into urban camo cargo pants.
His body proportions as his arms and chest began to grow more muscular.
His lab coat began to change into Powered Combat Vest, the same issued to HECU marines.
His face and head also morphed into someone completely different, the "IG" tattoo on his neck also changed, it now read "IRATE GAMER" with a big red heart around it, his hair formed into a red beret.
He was breathing heavily, as the group looked on, completely bewildered at what they just saw. Only Tommy didn't look as surprised as everyone else.
The person that was once Hojo began to rise up, laughing as he did so. He stood up and looked at the group, still laughing.
"Hahahahahahahahaha! After all this time I finally reveal myself!" He said.
"What the hell?!" said Barret,
"Who is that and what the hell happened to Hojo!?"
"It's him…" said Tommy, still having his MP5 aimed.
"Tommy?" asked Cloud,
"Do you know this guy?"
"Yes," Tommy replied,
"It's Forzen, guess Benrey didn't kill him after all."
"That's right!" said Forzen,
"Benrey spared me and allowed me to be a part of his big plan!"
"And what plan is that?" asked Cloud,
"How did you…..disguise yourself as Hojo?"
"I didn't disguise myself as him! Benrey injected my data into him! I became him!" said Forzen,
"And being Hojo did have its benefits, I mean, how else was I going to plant that bomb in his office."
"So it was you." said Cloud.
"And I have been waiting for the right time to reveal myself! And now I am finally free! As for his plan, it's simple," Forzen said,
"I'll make his other friend immortal, and they'll both create a new world! And in their new world I'll be able to create my own nation! One of which people will finally see how original the Irate Gamer actually is!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Cloud,
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"You don't get it do you?" asked Forzen,
"Do you know what kind of hell I've been through being a pure fan of the Irate Gamer? You, nor any of your friends have any fucking idea how painful it is!" He said,
"Hours upon hours I spent online arguing with AVGN fanboys, the fucking idiots who couldn't seem to grasp the idea that everything the Irate Gamer did was his own idea. I mean, so what if his TMNT on the NES review contained similar things to AVGN's review, so what if he pointed out the pizza box like AVGN did? SO WHAT!?" He shouted,
"Did AVGN cover the TNMT arcade NES port? Did he cover any other TMNT games in his review? NO! But those stupid fucking AVGN fanboys can't see past that! They also couldn't help themselves in bashing his Back To The Future on the NES review, his first one mind you."
"He copied almost everything from the Nerd's review," said Tommy.
"SHUT UP!" shouted Forzen,
"He had to start somewhere!"
"Enough about this!" said Cloud,
"What are you hoping to get out of Benrey and Sephiroth's plan? What is even your end goal?"
"My end goal?" asked Forzen,
"I already explained: I will create a nation of pure Irate Gamer fans like myself. One where the Irate Gamer is celebrated as the prestigious video game reviewer he always was," He explained,
"And in my nation, there will be no other fans of those fraudulent reviewers that have stained his name! No Angry Video Game Nerd! No Nostalgic Critic! And no Angry Joe!" He said,
"And my nation will be called…"
He paused, hoping for dramatic effect but only getting weird looks from everyone.
"Irate Heaven."
"What the hell…" said Cloud.
"That doesn't change anything!" shouted Barret,
"You're still putting all of us in danger! Now step aside!"
He armed his chaingun and aimed it at Forzen.
"Stop right there!" said Forzen, pulling out a remote,
"Make one move and I'll kill the dog!"
"Don't you fucking dare Forzen!" Tommy shouted.
"Tommy relax," said Cloud,
"We'll find a way to free him."
Tommy's earpiece began to vibrate, he freed one hand and put it against his ear to answer it.
"It's me, what's your status?" said Tommy,
"What? They're here too?………You're on your way ing in hot!? Fuck!"
He removed his hand from his ear and put it back on his MP5.
"Tommy, what's going on?" asked Tifa.
"I just finished speaking with Bubby. Him and the others are headed here now, and they have company."
"What kind of company?" asked Vincent.
"The Bubby prototype kind."
"What?"
"Just think of it as a swarm of fast zombies." Tommy replied,
"I don't really have time to explain, just go and help them!"
"Wait a minute!" said Cloud,
"We still need to stop Hojo- I mean Forzen from firing off this thing!"
"I'll deal with him." said Tommy.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure!" Tommy said,
"Now go! From what Bubby said there's more than a hundred so it's gonna take all of you to fight them, just leave Forzen to me!"
Cloud sighed as he looked at the others.
"Looks like we don't have a choice. We'll leave this to you Tommy."
Tommy nodded as Cloud and co. ran back down the stairs. Leaving only Tommy and Forzen.
"I admire your courage Dr. Coolatta." said Forzen,
"How about this, I'll give you a beyblade to turn around and walk away, I'll even free Sunkist as a bonus."
"Fuck no!" shouted Tommy,
"Fuck beyblades and fuck you!"
"Hmph, so this is how it's gonna be." said Forzen, as he stepped forward.
He adjusted the dial on his remote and held it up.
"Let's make this interesting, when I press this button the turrets will go off and kill Sunkist. However I've now set them to go off in eight minutes, if you can beat me within those eight minutes you may be able to save Sunkist and stop the cannon from going off."
After some consideration, Tommy nodded in agreement, while going into a stance.
Forzen pushed the button, and went into a stance like Tommy.
"Avoir chez toi Coolatta!"
Cloud and the others ran back down the stairs to the ground floor. They were all looking around for any sign of Bubby and the others, along with the Bubby prototypes.
"Where the hell are they?" said Barret.
"No idea, but just keep an eye out for-"
A blue sedan then came driving out of the corner towards where they were. It screeched to a halt just a few feet away from them.
Yuffie, Cid, and Coomer got out of the car while Cait Sith climbed off the roof.
"Guys!" said Yuffie, as she and the others ran over to them,
"It's great to see you again!"
"Likewise," Vincent replied,
"But where is Bubby?"
The blue sedan then turned back into Bubby, as he brushed himself off and went over to the others.
"What the!?" said Barret, dumbfounded at seeing the car turn into Bubby,
"That car was Bubby the whole time!? How the hell is that possible?"
"Don't ask," said Cloud,
"Trust me on that."
"Alright listen up!" said Bubby, Tau Cannon in hand,
"My fucking prototypes are here and there's a fucking Left 4 Dead sized swarm of them heading this way. Make sure you all have the proper amount of ammo and med kits and what not cause there is literally more than a hundred of them!"
"Got it," said Cloud, as he drew out his buster sword.
Everyone else followed suit and drew out their weapons. Vincent pulled out the SPAS-12 he got from Coomer and Coomer took out his M249 SAW.
"If anyone needs ammo let me know, I still have everything from my testing chamber in Nibelheim!"
"Noted." said Vincent, as he and the others who possessed firearms aimed them at the corner where Bubby drove out of.
It wasn't long until the swarm that was chasing after them rounded the corner and were sprinting to where they were.
"Fire!" Barret shouted, as they opened fire on the prototypes.
The prototypes began to fall at the hail of bullets that were shot at them. But for every dead prototype that fell, another was there to take its place. And it wasn't long until the prototypes were just a few feet away.
Cloud, without saying a word, charged in with his buster sword. Tifa and Cid followed suit while Yuffie and Cait Sith stayed back to cast spells.
Cloud slashed away at any Bubby prototypes that came close to him while Tifa and Cid covered his rear. Tifa herself was punching and kicking her way through prototypes while Cid stabbed any that came close to him.
"Looks like they need help!" said Bubby, as he ran over to assist the melee trio.
Tifa, thinking a prototype was coming at her, delivered a hard punch across Bubby's face, knocking him off his feet.
"Ow what the fuck was that for!?" Bubby shouted at her.
Tifa gasped when she realized she hit the real Bubby.
"Oh I'm so sorry!" She said apologetically, as she ran over to help Bubby up.
"I can get up on my own!" Bubby said, pushing her off,
"Just focus on- LOOK OUT!"
A Bubby prototype was sprinting towards her. Tifa turned around to fight it but by the time she did it was already mid pounce ready to claw at her.
Only it didn't reach her, as a hail of bullets shot the prototype out of the air and caused it to fall the ground face first.
"What the heck?" said Bubby,
"Barret! Did you do that!?"
"That wasn't me man!" Barret replied, as he was facing the other direction, shooting at his share of prototypes.
"Then who-"
"Here's your answer!" A familiar voice shouted, firing off his chaingun at the prototypes.
Everyone turned their heads briefly and saw Gordon was running towards them, firing off his chaingun at the prototypes that surrounded them.
"Gordon!" Tifa shouted, while still fighting the prototypes.
"Hello Gordon!" said Coomer,
"You came at the perfect time!"
"Yeah, glad I showed up when I did!" said Gordon, as he ran over to Tifa.
"Where's Tommy?" He asked.
"He's up at the cannon, he's confronting someone who we thought was Hojo but turned into a completely different person."
"Yeah I know, it's Forzen, he's the last surviving member of the United States military!"
"Oh darn! I thought he was gone after Black Mesa!" said Coomer,
"But I guess old ghosts don't truly die!"
"Alright, here's the plan for now!" said Gordon,
"Tifa! You go help Tommy with Forzen, I'll stay here and assist the others!"
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"I'm sure! Cloud?"
"I'm okay with it!" said Cloud, slashing at a prototype,
"Go help Tommy, we can handle these guys!"
"Alright! Just don't do anything drastic!" said Tifa, as she ran up the stairs to help Tommy.
"Good to have you back Gordon!" said Cloud.
"Good to be back!" Gordon replied,
"Now let's kill these fuckers!"
Forzen sent a left hook Tommy's way that Tommy was able to sway his head out of the way of. Tommy responded by trying to deliver left jab to Forzen's face but Forzen was able to grab Tommy's arm and throw Tommy to the ground.
Forzen tried to punch Tommy while he was in the ground but Tommy rolled out of the way, causing Forzen to dent the floor as Tommy quickly got back up on his feet.
"Five minutes and thirty seconds left!" Forzen said tauntingly,
"Better hurry!"
Tommy charged in and went for a right punch. Forzen, expecting it, put up his arms to block it but Tommy feinted and gave Forzen a knee to his gut.
He gave Forzen what looked like a DDT and tightened his arm around Forzen's neck, locking him into a headlock.
Forzen, acting quickly, jumped over and bridged, loosening Tommy's grip and allowing him to free himself. Before Tommy could react Forzen stomped on Tommy's stomach and climbed on top of him. He delivered stiff punches across Tommy's face.
Tommy, face now bruised and blood gushing out his mouth, was able to grab Forzen's wrist as it was coming down. Forzen tried to deliver a punch with his left but Tommy was able to grab that too. They both then struggled with Tommy refusing to let go as Forzen tried to free himself.
"Three minutes and counting!" shouted Forzen,
"Dead Sunkist coming right up!"
As they were struggling, Tifa came running up the stairs and saw the struggle Tommy and Forzen were in.
"Tommy!" She said, running over to help him.
"Don't!" Tommy shouted at her,
"Shut the cannon down!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! I can handle him! Now go!"
Tifa, deciding this wasn't the best time to argue, complied and ran over to the cannon's controls.
Tommy meanwhile was able to kick Forzen off and quickly got back onto his feet.
Tommy charged in but Forzen reached into his pocket and threw sand into Tommy's eyes, causing Tommy to cover his eyes and rub them.
"Ha! Pocket sand!" Forzen said,
"Dirty trick but it's effective! Now,"
He pulled out his Desert Eagle and turned and aimed at Tifa, who was in the process of shutting the cannon down.
"Time to die you b-"
Tommy charged in and tackled to the ground Forzen just as he fired off a shot. Wasting no time, Tommy disarmed Forzen as they were on the ground and grabbed Forzen's right arm. He then transitioned into a kimura lock and tighted his grip around Forzen's arm.
Tommy's grill tighted and tighted until SNAP! Forzen's arm bent in an irregular direction.
Forzen screamed in pain and before he could react, Tommy transitioned into a fujiwara armbar and grabbed Forzen's left arm. He pulled back on the arm until a cracking noise was heard.
Tommy let go as Forzen continued to scream in pain. Tommy got up as Forzen crawled over to a nearby wall and leaned himself against it, the remote falling off of him.
"You broke my fucking arm and dislocated my shoulder!" Forzen shouted at Tommy.
"You shouldn't have tried to kill my dog and shoot one of my friends." Tommy replied.
Tommy then picked up the remote as Tifa ran over to him.
"I managed to shut down the cannon." said Tifa.
"Good," Tommy said,
"Now to shut this off."
Tommy looked at the remote, which had a timer on it that counted down how much time was left on the turrets: 1 minute and 26 seconds.
He pressed the button, hoping to shut it off, but instead it had another effect:
The timer now read 10 seconds.
"What the?" Tifa said,
"I thought that was supposed to turn it off."
"Ha!" Forzen said,
"I made it so if I lost the turrets would go off anyway! I win in the end!"
Forzen laughed triumphantly as Tifa worriedly looked over at where Sunkist was.
"Tommy!" She said,
"You have to call Sunkist out of there right now before-"
The turrets then went off around Sunkist. Tifa watched in horror as Sunkist was engulfed in a hail of bullets.
But it wasn't long until she realized the bullets weren't having any effect on Sunkist at all. In fact it looked like to her the bullets were harmlessly bouncing off of him.
"Huh?" She said,
"Tommy, nothing's happening to Sunkist? Is it firing blanks?" She said, trying to find a reason why Sunkist is seemingly unharmed.
"No those are real," replied Tommy,
"And I told you Sunkist was an immortal dog!"
"But you were worried the turrets were about to kill him." said Tifa.
"Oh I wasn't worried about that." said Tommy,
"I was just worried it would trick…"
"Trick?" asked Tifa.
Tommy didn't answered, but instead walked over to Forzen, picking up his Desert Eagle in the process. He aimed it at him as Forzen looked up at him.
"So this is how my nation dies," said Forzen,
"At the hands of an AVGN fanboy…"
Forzen looked back down as Tommy stood there, still aiming the gun at Forzen while Tifa looked on, a part of her hoping Tommy wouldn't pull the trigger.
After what felt like an eternity for Forzen, Tommy lowered the gun, and threw it into Forzen's lap.
"When your arms heal up, you can do it yourself." He said coldly, as he walked away.
"Come boy." Tommy said to Sunkist.
Sunkist followed Tommy as they went down the stairs. Tifa followed, but not before getting a glance at the now broken Forzen before going down the stairs.
In a weird way, she was relieved Tommy didn't finish Forzen off.
'He really has changed.'
As Tommy, Tifa, and Sunkist came down the stairs, they noticed a mass of dead Bubby prototypes surrounding the rest of the group. Coomer and Bubby were shooting the lifeless bodies of dead prototypes.
"Is that really necessary?" asked Red XIII.
"Hey, rule 17!" said Bubby.
"Always make sure they're dead!" said Coomer.
"Hey," said Tifa, greeting the group.
"Hey," said Barret, as Tifa, Tommy, and Sunkist approached,
"Were you able to stop Hojo? Or Forzen or whatever the hell his name is?"
"Yeah, we did," said Tommy,
"He won't be an issue anymore."
He then noticed Gordon and the expression on his face instantly changed. Gordon too also noticed Tommy and went over to him.
"M-Mr. Freeman…" Tommy said, voice shaking,
"I'm- I'm sorry but I-"
Before Tommy could say another word, Gordon swung his arms around Tommy and embraced him. Tommy, being caught completely by surprise, put his arms around Gordon after a few moments.
"I'm sorry." said Gordon, still embracing Tommy,
"I'm sorry for what I said at the Forgotten City, I'm sorry I exiled you, I should never have done that."
"No, you had every right to." Tommy replied,
"Aerith died because of me, I deserved all the scorn you guys gave me."
"No," said Gordon, letting Tommy go,
"Aerith's death wasn't your fault, I gave you a task that was beyond your comprehension or understanding. It had nothing to do with you."
Tommy looked at Gordon, unsure of how to respond, and before he could Sunkist walked over to them.
"I see you found Sunkist," said Gordon.
"That's right." said Tommy.
"So this is Sunkist huh?" said Barret, as he walked over to them,
"Didn't expect him to look like this."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Tommy,
"Do you think something is wrong with him?"
"Well uh, erm-" Barret stammered,
"It's just I didn't think he'd look so big and………flat…"
"Flat?" asked Tommy.
"Rude!" said Bubby.
"Either way, we got the dog back, now we just need to figure out what to do with him," said Cloud.
"We could bring him aboard!" said Coomer,
"He really doesn't have anywhere to go."
"We don't really have anywhere on the ship to put him." said Vincent.
"I know!" said Bubby,
"We could throw Cid's off, that'll solve the issue!"
"We're not doing that Bubbs!" Cid shouted,
"We'll find some area to put him, but Tommy-" He said,
"You have to take care of him, understand?"
"Yeah," replied Tommy.
"Say Tommy," said Gordon,
"What were you about to tell me earlier?"
"Oh," said Tommy, the regret starting to set in,
"I told them."
"Told them?"
"I told them about what we talked about at the prison."
"What we talked about at the prison? Tommy what're you-"
Then the realization of what Tommy was talking about hit Gordon, and he took a deep breath, while looking at Cloud.
"You have a lot of explaining to do," said Cloud.
"I know," said Gordon,
"But first, let's get back to the Highwind."
While they were talking, Vincent had a look of disappointment on his face, which Yuffie noticed.
"Hey Vincent," she said,
"Everything alright?"
"Oh I'm fine," he replied,
"I'm just upset that I could get my hands on Hojo."
Yuffie looked at his eyes and thought they had turned red for a split second, but dismissed it as her imagination as she and Vincent went to rejoin the others.