Cloud, Gordon, and the rest of the gang were all in the shack waiting for Tommy to get back from the Chocobo race. A few hours had passed since Tommy left.
"What if he doesn't win the race?" Yuffie asked, "What are we gonna do?"
"Don't think like that." Aerith replied,
"I'm sure Tommy is more than capable of winning the race on his own."
"But if he doesn't we're-"
Before Yuffie could say another, the door to the shack opened and Tommy walked in. Everyone immediately got up.
"Tommy!" Gordon said, "What happened? Did you win?"
Tommy looked at Gordon, and with what felt like forever replied with a simple "Yeah"
A huge sense of relief swept over everyone inside the shack.
"Way to go Tommy!" Aerith gleefully said, holding up both her hands to him.
Tommy, after a few moments realized she was going for a high five and compiled by holding up his and high-fiving her back.
"Good job Tommy." Gordon said, "Are we free to go?"
"Yeah the guy in the speedo said we could leave, he also gave me these."
He then pulled out a set of keys along with a letter, he handed them both to Gordon.
"What are these for?" Gordon said, as he examined the letter.
"And this is addressed to Cloud."
"Huh?" Cloud said, as Gordon handed him the letter. He unfolded it and began to read.
'Dear Cloud, first I just want to apologize for the way I treated you and your friends, especially the one wearing the orange armor. My assistant manager told me about what happened with Dyne and I felt the best way to make up for it was by granting you all a full pardon. As well as keys to a buggy on the edge of the prison that'll allow you guys to leave. As for Sephiroth I did speak with him along with his security guard friend, they both said they were heading down south to Gongaga village. Maybe it would be a good chance for you to get his autograph? - Dio'
After Cloud finished reading he looked up at the rest of the party.
"We have a way out of here, the keys Tommy got are to a buggy that's on the edge of the prison. We'll use that to head to Gongaga."
"Gongaga?" Barret asked.
"It's where Sephiroth and Benrey are going. We'll follow them there."
"Well let's get going!" Yuffie said, "The sooner we stop them the better!"
"Then all of you head over to the buggy. Tifa there's something I need to discuss with you so hang back." said Cloud.
"Got it." Tifa replied.
Everyone but Tifa then filled out of the shack. Gordon gave a sideways glance at Cloud and Tifa as he exited.
"What is it Cloud?" Tifa asked, although she already knew what they were going to talk about.
"You know what this is about, we need to find out who Gordon really is, the same goes for Tommy. Being honest I feel we have a traitor amongst the group. I really don't want to start casting suspicion like this but Shinra's known our every step and right now the both of them seem like the most susceptible out of everyone. And we still don't know what Shinra wants with Gordon."
"What do you think we should do then? She asked,
"And Gordon probably suspects we're on to him in some way, you saw the way he looked at us as he left."
"Find out what happened at Black Mesa, I don't know if that'll tell us if they're traitors or not but that's our best course of action right now. I did have some doubts about it even being real but the way Gordon and Tommy have been acting makes me think they aren't exactly making everything up and something did happen to them. The only way we can find out is by asking them directly." He said.
"And I wouldn't worry too much about Gordon in this instance, there isn't much he can do in this situation."
"Alright." Tifa said,
"But we'll have to ask them when they're separated. Gordon could skewer Tommy's version if he's present, and we could compare their versions and judge if what they say adds up."
"Good idea." Cloud said, "Now let's get going."
Tifa nodded as she and Cloud left the shack.
Gordon, Tommy, and the rest of the party were all by the buggy Dio provided waiting for Cloud and Tifa to arrive.
Gordon himself was a bit on edge.
'Fuck, I'll bet anything the both of them are talking about what they're gonna do about me, and they probably know I'm thinking this too.'
Gordon then shook his head.
'I really need to find a way to get them to trust me. I know I can't tell Tifa outright how I know about Cloud's past with SOLDIER but there has to be some way……..wait.'
An idea then popped in Gordon's head.
'I could do that. That could boost both their confidence in me. The only question would be whether they'll be fine with it.'
Before Gordon could ponder more, he noticed Cloud and Tifa approaching.
"Glad to see you're back!" Aerith said.
"Likewise." Cloud replied, "How's the buggy, does it look like it can run."
"From what I've been able to tell, yes." Barret said,
"Won't lie, this is a hell of an apology gift!"
"Would expect anything less." Cloud replied, "Now let's get going, Benrey and Sephiroth could still be in Gongaga."
Everyone nodded as they boarded the buggy.
"I'll drive." Cloud said.
"Shotgun!" Tommy shouted, climbing into the seat adjacent to the driver side, Aerith slightly giggled.
Cloud sighed as he hopped into the driver's seat and turned the keys in the ignition. The buggy revved up.
"Buckle up!" Cloud shouted, as he pushed the gas pedal and took off.
The buggy came to a stop as it reached the outskirts of Gongaga. Everyone slowly filled out with Cloud and Tommy being the last ones out.
"Alright." Cloud said as he faced everyone,
"I'll be entering Gongaga but I'll only be taking a few of you. The less attention we draw to ourselves the better. Gordon, Tommy, Barret, you're with me. The rest of you hang by the buggy."
"Got it." Barret said as he, Gordon and Tommy joined Cloud.
Cloud then looked over at Tifa who had a concerned look on her face, Cloud gave her a reassuring look before they ventured into Gongaga.
'This is a bit of a gamble, but if they are spies this'll be the best way to test their loyalty, and at least I have Barret as backup.'
"So Gordon." Barret said, as they were walking along.
"How did you get your gun arm anyway? Tommy said something about drinking a potion?"
Cloud gave a confused look as he was walking.
"Heh, yeah I got from chugging an entire barrel's worth of potion." Gordon replied.
"An entire barrel's worth?" Both Cloud and Barret said at the same time in bewilderment.
"Yeah, as batshit crazy as that sounds, I got it by drinking a barrel of potion a scientist made while we were making our way through Black Mesa. It wasn't a fun experience by any stretch of the imagination." Gordon said.
"How about you Barret, how'd you get yours?"
"Well, after I lost my arm I decided to get a prosthetic arm at first, but I quickly ditched that in favor of this." He said, hold out his chaingun arm.
"Figured this would be the best way to get back at Shinra."
"Yeah well, me and you both." Gordon replied.
Tommy glanced at both Gordon and Barret's chainguns.
"Mr. Freeman, does that make you guys brothers?" Tommy asked.
"What? No Tommy, it's just a good coincidence." Gordon replied.
"Yeah, nothing like that Coolatta, but-"
Barret then put his hand on his chin.
"Something like the Chaingun Bros does have a good ring to it. What do ya say Freeman?" Barret said, as he held out his chaingun to Gordon.
Gordon chuckled and bumped his gun with Barret's.
"Yeah, I guess." Gordon replied.
"Focus." Cloud said, as the four reached a now destroyed Mako reactor.
"Hmph." Barret said, "Less of these damn things the better."
"Let's head inside." Gordon said, as they entered the destroyed structure.
As they entered, a helicopter could be heard landing from outside. Thinking quickly the four all ran behind some rubble. Barret and Tommy were on one side while Cloud and Gordon were on the other.
Four people entered the destroyed reactor, one was a woman with long blond hair that was tied up and was wearing an elegant red dress. The other was Tseng along with two Shinra troopers.
"Blasted reactor." Scarlet said, as she examined the reactor's destroyed core.
"Crappy reactors like this will only produce junk Materia!"
She then turned to face Tseng.
"With better reactors we'll be able to produce strong Materia. And with enough of that we'll create the ultimate weapon!"
"We're working on it as hard as we can." Tseng said.
"Then get to it!" Scarlet said,
"With Hojo being MIA the weapons department has gotten a bigger budget, but I have doubts that idiot Heddigar will even be capable of using such a perfect weapon."
She then walked past Tseng towards the exit.
"Come! We have much work to do!" She exclaimed, as she and the two Shinra troops exited with her.
Tseng sighed and turned around to leave. As he did, Tommy went to move and his foot slid in such a way that it made a loud noise, like a pile of rocks being dragged across dirt.
Tseng then stopped as everyone who was hiding froze. Cloud put his hand on his swords handle while Gordon and Barret armed their chainguns, Tommy pulled out his glock.
After a few moments Tseng then continued walking towards the exit, but not before saying something in his ear piece that the four couldn't hear.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Tseng exited, they then emerged from their hiding places.
"Damn Tommy! Be a little more careful!" Barret said.
"S-Sorry." Tommy replied.
"Just be glad they didn't see us." Cloud said, "Now let's get going."
"Hey wait a sec." Gordon said, noticing a shiny red object from inside the core, Gordon reached in and pulled out a red orb.
"Summon Materia." Gordon said, "I think I'm good for now. You want it Barret?"
"Yeah, sure." Barret said.
Gordon tossed the red orb to Barret who caught it and inserted it into an open slot in his chaingun.
"You could've asked if we wanted it." Cloud said.
"Hey, us chaingun bros gotta stick together." Gordon said, patting Cloud on the chest as he headed for the exit.
Cloud sighed and shook his head as Barret chuckled. The three followed Gordon out of the destroyed reactor.
"There's a village nearby that we passed." Cloud said, "We'll stop by there and see if-"
"Not so fast." A voice from behind said.
They all turned around and saw Rude standing in front of the entrance, with Reno coming up from the rear.
"Good to see you again." Reno said, "Now I can pay you all back for last time."
"You're not getting that chance." Cloud replied, pulling out his sword.
Gordon and Barret armed their chainguns while Tommy pulled out his glock.
"Why don't we make this easy." Rude said,
"Hand over the Ancient and Freeman and we'll let you go."
"Not gonna happen." Cloud replied,
"Barret, you and Tommy handle Rude. Me and Gordon will take Reno."
"Got it." Barret said, as he and Tommy split off to face Rude.
"Well, looks like they're not gonna come quietly." Reno said with a cocky smile on his face as moved in to face Gordon and Cloud.
"Just remember, we want him alive." Rude said, as went to confront Tommy and Barret.
"You got it." Reno replied, pulling out his nightstick.
Wasting no time Gordon immediately opened fire on Reno who swiftly dodged all the bullets (or fingernails in this case) and ran in.
Tommy did the same as he unloaded his clip in Rude's direction who dodged all of Tommy's bullets and charged in.
Reno was then immediately in Gordon's face and went for a swing at Gordon's head from underneath. Gordon, thinking quickly, dodged to the left but the nightstick was able to catch him on the head slightly, knocking off his glasses.
"Ah shit!" Gordon shouted, his vision now slightly blurred.
'Didn't know it was possible to lose my glasses here!'
"Should've gotten contacts four eyes!" Reno said, going in to charge at Gordon again.
Cloud was able to intercept Reno and went in to swing his sword. Reno got his nightstick up and was able to block Cloud's sword as it was coming down on him.
Gordon then came charging in ready to unload onto Reno but Reno was able to push Cloud off of him and swing his nightstick at Gordon, hitting his chaingun, and tripping Gordon up.
"That gun can only get you so far!" Reno shouted.
Rude meanwhile was trying to land a blow on Tommy who was dodging all the jabs that were coming his way.
'What the hell is this guy?' Rude thought.
When Tommy saw an opening he swung his Glock and aimed it at Rude's head but Rude was much quicker and grabbed Tommy's arm and pushed it away as Tommy pulled the trigger. Rude then revved up his fist and delivered a devastating blow to Tommy's face that would've knocked out most people.
Only Tommy didn't react or move at all. Rude stood their dumbstruck.
'How is able-'
But before Rude could finish his thought, Barret came charging in and kicked Rude off of Tommy. Rude was able to regain his footing and charged back in.
Gordon meanwhile was blocking a barrage of attacks Reno was unleashing in him with his nightstick.
"Can't keep blocking forever old man!" Reno said arrogantly.
"I'm 27!" Gordon retorted.
Gordon saw the nightick coming down on him and was able to deflect it away with his chaingun and landed a left hook across Reno's face who staggered briefly.
Cloud, seeing the opening, charged in with his sword and swung his sword at Reno, who had to put up his nightstick to block.
Gordon then ducked in and went in to deliver a low blow to Reno but he saw it coming and was able to kick Gordon away and push Cloud off of him.
"Don't try anything dirty now!" Reno shouted.
Tommy meanwhile had put his glock away and was fist fighting Rude. Both were trading and dodging each other's blows while Barret, not wanting to risk hitting Tommy, stood by and let them fight but kept his gun trained on Rude.
"You got skill kid, I'll give you that." Rude said, as he dodged a left jab.
"I learned a lot from watching Dr. Coomer!" Tommy exclaimed as he went for a left hook which Rude blocked.
'Wait a sec,' Rude thought,
'Did he just say Coomer?'
Unfortunately for Rude this lapse in thinking proved costly as Tommy was able land a right hook across Rude's face, knocking him off his feet.
"Shit!" Rude shouted groggily as he was on his hands and knees.
"Don't move!" Barret shouted, moving in with his chaingun trained on Rude.
"The reactor that was 'junk' actually had some good Materia in it. Make one move and I'll show you what it is!"
Rude decided then it was best to stay where he was for now and wait for an opening to escape.
Cloud and Reno were trading swings with each other's weapons, almost like a lightsaber duel.
Gordon then charged in and tried to swing his chaingun arm at Reno, who pushed Cloud away and was able to dodge just as Gordon fully arched his swing.
"Nice try, gramps!" Reno said.
"I told you, I'm 27!" Gordon shouted, who turned and went back in with his chaingun swing.
Reno then put up his nightstick thinking he could block it. When Gordon noticed this a grin formed on his face.
"Big mistake!" Gordon shouted, as his chaingun was halfway towards Reno.
Reno stood his ground thinking he could withstand the blow.
But, like so many others who were hit with Gordon's chaingun, he went flying and hit the ground hard sliding, leaving a massive skid mark where his body was flung.
Gordon and Cloud quickly ran over to where Reno was, who was now getting up on one knee while using his nightstick for support.
"Don't move! Don't fucking move!" Gordon shouted, pouting his chaingun at Reno.
"Ah crap." Reno said, his face black and red as he looked up.
"We have some questions for you." Cloud said,
"First, what type of weapon is Shinra trying to make? And why do you want Gordon captured?"
"Yeah, what the fuck do you want with me?" Gordon said,
"What importance do I have to Shinra?"
Reno, looking over at Rude, saw him give a slight nod in his direction.
They both then pulled out blue cylinders and removed the pins.
"Shit! Flashbangs!" Gordon shouted.
The four covered their eyes as a loud popping noise was heard. After a few moments they uncovered them to see that Reno and Rude were gone.
"Dammit! They got away!" Barret shouted.
"Figures." Cloud said, as Gordon went over to where his glasses fell and put them back on, his vision now clear.
"But I have no doubt we'll run into them again. Shinra's presence here seems to have dissipated. Let's go meet up with the others, then we'll head into the village."
Gordon, Tommy, and Barret all nodded as they followed Cloud away from the destroyed reactor.
"We still don't know what the hell Shinra wants with me." Gordon said, giving a frustrated sigh.
"We'll figure it out sooner or later." Cloud said.
'And I hope so for your sake.'
Cloud, Gordon, along with everyone else we're entering Gongaga village.
Cloud had informed everyone about the destroyed reactor, overhearing Scarlet and Tseng's conversation, and their encounter with Rude and Reno. And while Shinra seemingly was gone from Gongaga they were all still on alert.
The village they entered looked almost like North Corel but still somewhat habitable. The destroyed Mako reactor could be seen in the distance.
"This is just like with North Corel." Aerith said,
"These people are suffering because of Shinra's actions."
"And that's why we gotta stop'em!" Barret exclaimed.
"Alright." Cloud said, turning to face the party.
"For right now we'll split up into groups and ask around for any information on Benrey and Sephiroth. Tifa and Aerith you're with me."
They both nodded as they went over to join Cloud.
"Tommy, come with me on this one." Gordon said, as Tommy nodded in agreement.
"I'll come with you!" Cait Sith said, running over to join Gordon and Tommy.
"Alllllrighty then." Gordon said, as him, Tommy, and Cait Sith ventured off into the village.
Barret, Red XIII, and Yuffie formed their own group and went off into the village.
"Alright." Cloud said, facing Aerith and Tifa,
"We'll go door to door and ask if anyone's seen either of them."
"Sounds like a plan!" Aerith said.
"Hey!" A voice nearby said.
The three turned around and saw an old man waving at them from outside his hut.
"Are you with SOLDIER? I recognize the uniform!" He asked.
"Uh, I was, why do you ask?" Cloud replied,
"I have a son who's probably with them. Come on in and we'll talk." He said.
"What do you think?" Cloud said, looking at Tifa and Aerith.
"Why not? He might have information." Tifa said.
The three then took up the old man's invite and followed him inside his hut.
Inside the hut their was an old woman sitting on a chair near an open window. When she saw her husband enter with the trio she got up.
"Ah! I see you've brought guests." She said.
"That I did, and one of them was with SOLIDER." The old man said.
"Does he know our son?" She asked.
"That depends, who is your son exactly?" Cloud asked.
"His name is Zack, Zack Fair." The old man said.
Aerith then gave a look as if she knew who this was.
"He left here ten years ago saying he was going to join SOLIDER. We haven't seen him since but he did write to us occasionally." The old man continued.
"What did his letters say?" Aerith asked.
"Oh just how things were going and how he was set on becoming the hero Shinra needed. Just like Sephiroth." The old man replied,
"He also mentioned that he had a girlfriend too. But around 5 years ago he stopped writing entirely…." The old man said, a sad look forming on his face,
"I would've loved to have met his girlfriend to be honest, the way he described her she sounded like a very sweet person."
Hearing this caused Aerith to walk out of the hut with saying a single word. Cloud looked on with concern and confusion on his face.
Tifa meanwhile was trying to hide the guilt she was feeling.
'Zack..'
"There's one more thing I should mention." The old man said,
"A day or two ago a man dressed as a security guard came to our house.
Cloud and Tifa then looked up at the couple with full alertness.
"He was here?" Tifa said with urgency in her voice, "What was he doing here, what did he want?"
"He just came in and asked for our passports." The old man said,
"And when we said we didn't have ours, he said 'Neither did your son.'
Shock was then etched on Tifa's face.
"W-What else did he say?" Tifa asked, her voice shaking.
"Tifa?" Cloud said with concern in his voice.
"Nothing else, before we could ask him what he meant by that he just walked out and closed the door. When I went to follow him and opened the door he was gone completely! Like he vanished."
"Did he say anything else, like where he was going?" Cloud asked.
"No, nothing like that." The old woman said.
"Damn." Cloud said, turning to look at Tifa.
"We'll have to keep-"
But it was then he noticed that Tifa was shaking, almost like she was frightened about something.
"Tifa are you alright?" Cloud said, reaching an arm out to her.
But Tifa then walked out of the hut without saying a word the same as Aerith did.
"Huh, what's up with her, and your other lady friend too?" The old man asked.
"It's nothing, you've both been a help. And I'll see if I can find out more about Zack." Cloud said as he went to exit the hut.
"Take care and good luck!" The old man said as Cloud exited.
He looked around and saw Tifa standing a few feet away, looking downwards at the ground. He then walked over to her.
"Tifa, are you alright?" Cloud asked with the same concern in his voice.
"I-I'm fine." Tifa replied, turning to face Cloud.
"I just had a thought of what Benrey could've done to those people and it just got to me. You should check on Aerith."
"A-Alright." Cloud said.
What Cloud really wanted was to see what was bothering Tifa so much but he could see that she wasn't in the mood for talking so he set out to look for Aerith.
Tifa meanwhile looked down and clenched her fist, the guilt inside still present.
'I didn't want to lie like that but…'
It wasn't long before Cloud found Aerith, she was standing a few feet near the village's exit and he could tell that something was eating her up inside.
"Aerith!" Cloud said, getting her attention and going over to her, "Are you alright?"
"I-I'm okay." She replied,
"I just.."
"What is it?" Cloud asked, "You can talk to me."
"Do you remember back in Midgar when I told you I had a boyfriend who was in SOLDIER?" She said, Cloud nodded.
"Zack was my boyfriend."
"Huh?" Cloud said, a surprised look on his face.
"And he was the same as you, SOLDIER 1st Class."
"That's weird, not many people make it to 1st Class, I would have heard of him." Cloud said.
"Maybe, but I haven't seen him in five years," said Aerith.
"He was quite the ladies man though, so he might've found another woman."
"That's his loss then." Cloud said,
"Now come on, let's not dwell on the past. We have a job to do."
"You got it boss!" Aerith said.
"Hey!" A familiar voice said.
Aerith and Cloud turned to see Gordon, Tommy, and Cait Sith walking over to them.
"We got some info on where they might be going. A resident said they saw them heading west." Gordon said.
"Alright." Cloud said,
"It's not much to go on but it'll have to do, we'll collect the others and get going as soon as possible."
"Got it." Gordon said, "And hey Cloud can I talk to you in private?"
"Sure." Cloud said, as him and Gordon went to an area separate from the rest.
"What is it Gordon?" Cloud asked.
"It's uh, about Cait Sith." Gordon replied.
"Huh?"
Cloud was expecting Gordon to talk to him about his and Tifa's private conversations about him but he was somewhat relieved it was something else entirely. Although he was curious as to what Gordon had to say about Cait Sith.
"What about him?"
"While we were walking through the village he kept asking me and Tommy about Black Mesa."
"What did he ask about?" Cloud asked.
"What happened there and how we got out. Nothing else really. Now the only reason I'm bringing this up to you is because he just joined our party and I don't exactly feel comfortable talking about a traumatizing experience in my life like that with someone I'm not that familiar with. Granted I just met you guys too but I've known you all longer than I've known him" Gordon said.
"Alright." Cloud said, "I'll talk to him about it."
"Thanks." Gordon said as they both went to rejoin the others.
'Well I know the real reason, but I think it's best not to bring that up.' Gordon thought.
'And I could use that knowledge to my advantage.'