"Alright, so where are we right now?" said Cloud, as he addressed the party on the bridge.
"Well so far we've destroyed their passports-" said Tifa, gesturing to Tommy, Bubby, and Coomer,
"-and all we have left to destroy is Sephiroth's passport."
"Alright then," said Cloud,
"Then we'll head for the North Crater, take care of Sephiroth and destroy his passport."
"Hang on a second," interjected Tommy,
"What about Mr. Freeman?"
"I'm still trying to figure out a way for all of you to get in," said Cait Sith,
"But so far I haven't-"
"Enough about that!" said Tommy,
"For the past few days you've been trying to find a way and you've come up with squat!"
"I'm trying my best!" Cait Sith shouted,
"Do you have any idea how much I'm being watched? I feel like even after I leave the office they're following me home!"
"I don't give a damn about that!" said Tommy,
"Mr. Freeman is running out of time and if we don't rescue him now they'll……they'll……" Tommy trailed off, clearly worried about Gordon's well-being.
"Tommy," said Coomer,
"I wouldn't worry about Gordon for right now."
"And why's that?" asked Tommy.
"They're not going to do anything that would bring harm to Gordon. They need him alive and unharmed in order to get what they want from him."
"But we still need to rescue him!"
"I am quite aware of that," replied Coomer,
"But first we have a Planet to save."
Tommy still had an unsure look.
"Tommy," said Cloud,
"If it'll make you feel better, we'll go and get Gordon before confronting Sephiroth."
The look of unhappiness quickly turned to optimism as Tommy looked up at Cloud.
"Really!?" said Tommy, hope in his voice.
"That's right," said Cloud, nodding,
"Gordon is one of our own, both as a member of this group and the science team. While stopping Sephiroth and Benrey is our main priority I'm not leaving anyone behind. That's why we're going to get Gordon first before anything."
"But we still don't have a plan!" said Cait Sith,
"If you all go in guns blazing, Shinra will tear you apart."
"I'd like to see them try!" said Barret, holding up his chaingun,
"I'm not leaving my chaingun bro behind! And besides, we're pretty good at improvising!"
"Alright, then it's officially settled," said Cloud,
"We're going to Midgar and rescuing Gordon, after that we'll confront Sephiroth and end this once and for all."
Everyone nodded in agreement, everyone but Cid.
"Cid," said Cloud,
"Is there something wrong?"
"Well," said Cid,
"It's just……..something's not right."
"What is?"
"This whole ordeal that involves destroying passports in order to take out Benrey. I don't know but it just feels that there's more to it than doing that."
"Hm…" said Vincent,
"He does have a point. While destroying the passports has had an effect on Benrey, it feels like we're missing something else…"
"Like what?" asked Yuffie,
"And what should we do about it?"
"I believe I might have a suggestion!" said Coomer,
"We should go and see Bugenhagen!"
"Huh?" said Red XIII,
"How is it you know grandfather?"
"I've heard about him from Tommy!"
"Wait," said Tommy,
"I never told-"
"And I believe he can help point us in the direction we need to truly defeat Benrey!"
"Hm," said Cloud,
"Fair enough, we'll stop by Cosmo Canyon and talk to Bugenhagen and see what he can tell us. Is that alright?" Cloud said to Tommy.
Tommy hesitantly nodded.
"Alright," Cloud said,
"Then set a course for Cosmo Canyon."
"Wait, hang on one minute!" Bubby said,
"We have a massive problem!"
"And what's that?" asked Cloud, clearly annoyed.
"Cid's bitch wife is on the ship!"
"Bubby!" Cid shouted,
"She saved our lives and she has nowhere else to go, and I'm not about to just drop her off somewhere so she's staying on this ship whether you like it or not!"
"God dammit!" Bubby said,
"Why can't we just send her ass to Mandyville?!"
Cloud and the rest of the party ascended up the stairs that led to Cosmo Canyon.
As the village came into view, they noticed that with the exception of the guard standing by the front, nobody was out and about.
"Hey Nanaki." The guard said to Red XIII.
"Hello," replied Red XIII,
"Is Grandfather around?"
"That he is," The guard replied,
"He should be up in his observatory, and I believe he is expecting all of you."
"Say, where is everyone?" asked Barret, as he looked around the village.
"Everyone is staying inside to avoid the gaze of Meteor, I would join them but given my job of acting as the village watch I cannot."
"I see," Red XIII replied, as he turned to face the others.
"Come, grandfather awaits."
"Grandfather!" said Red XII, as he and the others entered the observatory.
"Nanaki!" said Bugenhagen, greeting his grandson,
It's good to see you! And I see you've brought your friends as well!"
"That's right. We were hoping you could help us."
"Of course I can help you, what is it that you need?"
"It has to do with destroying Meteor." said Cloud,
"We've been destroying passports, as weird as that sounds, in what we think will take it out. But we're now thinking that's not enough."
"Not enough?" asked Bugenhagen,
"What do you mean by that?"
"We think there's something else we need to do in order to destroy Meteor, but we don't know what that is. And we were hoping you could guide us in the right direction." said Cloud
"I see," said Bugenhagen,
"First I need to know something, where is Aerith?"
A few somber moments of silence passed, before Cloud spoke up.
"She's gone…" He said.
A look of sadness was seen in Bugenhagen's eyes when he heard that.
"I'm sorry…" said Bugenhagen,
"But…..I think she may be the key to stopping Meteor."
"What do you mean Grandfather?" asked Red XIII.
"Tell me, what was she doing the last time you all saw her?"
"She was at the City of the Ancients." said Cloud,
"We have no idea why she left the group and what her goal was, but she said that she had to do it because that was the 'role' she had to play."
"I think I might have an idea," said Tommy.
"Tommy?" asked Tifa.
"When I was in the Forgotten City, I spoke with her briefly, right before Sephiroth did what he did." Tommy explained,
"She told me that she was going to summon a spell strong enough to destroy Meteor once Sephiroth summoned it."
"A spell strong enough to destroy Meteor?" asked Cait Sith.
"That would be Holy." said Bugenhagen.
"Holy?" asked Cloud.
"It's a spell powerful enough to destroy anything that it seems a threat to the planet." said Bungenhagen,
"But that being said, it could also see humans as a threat too."
"Huh," said Barret,
"So summoning this thing would be a pretty big gamble, with what Shinra has been doing to the Planet and all."
"But wait," said Bubby,
"When we saw her she looked like she was praying or something. Was she summoning it then and there?"
"Probably," said Cloud,
"The only question now is whether she was able to successfully summon it or not."
"I believe that's a Gordon question!" said Coomer.
"Gordon?" asked Vincent,
"How would he know?"
"Well, I believe Cloud and us would know why." said Coomer.
"Cloud?" said Tifa,
"What does he mean by that?"
Cloud shook his head and took a deep breath.
"When we had our science team meeting earlier, Tommy told us some things about Gordon."
"Like what?"
"He…….I don't know how else to put it, he knows things about us and this world."
"What?"
"That includes me not being with SOLDIER."
"Wha- how?" said Yuffie,
"How could he know that?"
"That is definitely a great question," said Bugenhagen.
"You see, there's something about the three individuals here-" He said, gesturing toward Coomer, Bubby, and Tommy,
"Along with Mr. Freeman and Benrey you should all know: They are not from this world."
"What!?" said Barret,
"How is that possible?"
"Well, I think we were teleported here by accident!" said Coomer,
"We were meant to go to the alien border world known as Xen to stop the alien invasion, but during teleportation we must've hit an anomaly of some kind and got sent here!"
"But how the hell is that possible?! Unless…" said Bubby, as he trailed off into his own thoughts,
"Those fucking dirtbags at the Lambda Complex sent us here to screw us! I swear to god, once we get back I'm gonna kill them all!"
"I don't think that was the case Bubby!" said Coomer,
"Rather an……outside force drove us to be here."
"An outside force?" said Red XIII,
"What kind of force are you talking about?"
"ME!" Benrey's voice said from above,
"I HAD US ALL SENT HERE BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY WAY I COULD GET MY FREE MONTH OF PLAYSTATION PLUS!"
"And there it is…" said Cloud, as he looked down at the ground and shook his head once again.
"But how would he be able to do that?" asked Barret,
"What kind of powers does Benrey even possess to pull something like that off?"
"Well……I think Gordon is partly to blame in this scenario," said Coomer.
"And how is that?" asked Cloud.
"Well….I don't really know how to put this but….Gordon…..he's……"
"It's alright Dr. Coomer," said Bugenhagen,
"I'll tell them."
"Tell us what?" asked Cid.
"While Coomer, Bubby, Tommy, along with Benrey come from the same world, the same cannot be said for Dr. Freeman."
"What?" said Yuffie,
"Are you saying he's from a completely different world entirely?"
"Yes and no." replied Bugenhagen,
"While the physical form of Gordon Freeman is from the world that they inhabit, the……..spiritual one is from an entirely different world. One beyond any of our understanding."
"A world beyond any of our understanding?" said Cid,
"What the hell is that-"
It was then he remembered what Sephiroth said back at the Northern Crater:
'And let me ask you this: is Gordon Freeman even your real name?'
"Just what is he?" said Cid.
"Cid?" asked Tifa.
"Just what the hell is that guy!?" Cid demanded.
"Just who is he, how does he know all these things about us?"
He turned to Cloud.
"Did he know Aerith was going to die too?!"
After a few moments, Cloud hesitantly nodded.
"How? HOW?" Cid shouted,
"How does he know all these freaking things? And there's also something that I thought of: What does he know about this world that we don't? What does he-"
It was then Coomer grabbed Cid's wrist. Cid looked a Coomer, clearly frustrated.
But when he saw the look on Coomer's face, it looked as if he was half pleading, and half serious.
"Don't ask questions you aren't prepared to hear the answers to."
A long, loud silence filled the room as everyone stood there, no one willing to speak up after hearing Coomer's brooding statement.
"In- In any case," said Bugenhagen,
"If Aerith was successful in summoning Holy then it should be enough to stop Meteor, along with destroying the passports."
"Alright then," said Cloud, gaining the will to speak up,
"Then what we need to do right now is rescue Gordon as we originally intended. We'll ask whatever questions we want to him afterwards. Is that clear?"
Everyone silently nodded in agreement.
"Actually Cloud," said Cait Sith,
"I want to bring this up to all of you before you come to Midgar, they moved the cannon from Junon Harbor to here."
"What?" said Barret,
"What the hell would they do that?"
"From what Rufus has told me, they're planning on shooting it at the Northern Crater where Sephiroth is residing. They think it'll kill him once and for all."
"I see," said Cloud,
"Still, that doesn't change our objectives, we're leaving for Midgar now."
"Before you all go," said Bugenhagen,
"There's something you should all know."
"What's that?" asked Cloud.
"There are more from the other world that have come here too."
"What? You mean the aliens?" asked Yuffie.
"No," replied Bugenhagen,
"There are two others."
Gordon was where he had been since getting captured by Shinra: strapped to a table with his arms spread out.
The table moved upwards and Gordon found himself looking at Hojo typing on a computer.
"Oh, hi again asshole." said Gordon,
"What is it now? More of trying to prod me into 'opening up my eyes'? Because guess what, it isn't fucking happening."
"Oh I've given up on that." said Hojo,
"I just wanted to say goodbye before I go and carry out my plan."
"And what plan would that be?" asked Gordon.
"Rufus has brought the cannon, or the 'Sister Ray' as that nitwit Scarlett is calling it, here to Midgar in hopes of killing Sephiroth. However, I have another idea in mind."
"And that would be?"
"I'm going to use it to power him up! Making him the immortal being he was always meant to be!" said Hojo,
"And once he becomes a god and creates the world he and Benrey envisioned, the rumor will finally be dispelled!"
"What rumor!?" Gordon shouted,
"What is this fucking rumor you keep going on about?"
Hojo stopped typing on the computer and went over to Gordon. He leaned in next to Gordon's right ear and whispered.
Gordon gasped and looked at Hojo in surprise after he was finished.
"No, no that can't be." Gordon said in disbelief,
"There's only one person who gives a shit about that. And he's supposed to be dead, but…"
Hojo grasped his chest again and the "IG" tattoo on his neck began to morph.
Gordon also noticed his face began to change into someone else's.
When Hojo looked up at Gordon, his face was that of someone who he thought was dead.
"You!" Gordon said,
"It- it can't be! We killed you at Black Mesa! We-"
The face returned to that of Hojo as the "IG" tattoo stopped morphing as well.
"Well, I must get going," Hojo said,
"Not only will I make Sephiroth immortal, I'll also kill that stupid dog as well!"
He then began to walk towards the room's exit.
"My assistant will take care of you from here on out. This is the last time we will see each other."
Before the door to the room closed, Hojo turned to Gordon and said one final sentence to him:
"Son examen TMNT était tout à fait original!"
The door closed, leaving Gordon speechless.
'Can this get any more bizarre?'
Author's Notes: Before I end this chapter I have good news and bad news regarding this story:
Bad News: We are getting close to the end as I intend to make these next four chapters the last. That being said the frequent chapter updates are highly likely going to be slowing down.
Good News: Since these are the last chapters I'm going to be writing I intend to take the time writing them. And there is a high chance they'll be longer than previous chapters have been.
That all being said I'm grateful to those who are reading and I hope you are enjoying the ride!