SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILERS

Now, this will be an unusual one for you guys. This is not a sample chapter by any means. In a way, it's more of an announcement of a pair of potential stories. I do intend to write one or the other, maybe even both, but I'm curious to see what you think of the concepts.

With these story ideas, I return to a crossover I started out on this website with. A crossover I tried, and failed, to write for again. But with the remake instalments of this game making waves, and expanding on the lore of the original, I feel it is time to try again, and with new and relatively fresh instalments.

I speak, of course, of Final Fantasy VII.

Now, the trailers are more of a proof of concept thing. The scenes may not go as they do in the trailers if and when I write the stories proper. But hopefully, they will be not far from it.

Oh, and by the way, there's no Jenova heel-face turn this time in either of them. Though there may be some other surprises in store...

So, I hope you enjoy...

FIRST TRAILER

As a solemn remix of Hedwig's Theme plays, we see brief flashes of Harry Potter in the King's Cross Station limbo, before he gets on the train, glaring over his shoulder at Dumbledore, feeling betrayed, heartbroken, before leaving on the train.

HARRY (voiceover): I died, saving the world from evil. But I'd had enough. Of the manipulation, the lies, the betrayal, and the ingratitude. I thought I'd move onto the Next Great Adventure, whatever that was. Maybe I could be with the ones who I lost.

The scene fades to black, before the green ribbons of the Lifestream appear, with the first stirrings of the Lifestream theme beginning.

HARRY (vo): I wasn't expecting to wake up in someone else's body floating in an oversized pickle jar. But Potter Luck is weird like that.

Suddenly, a pair of eyes, one sky blue, the other emerald green, open. Bubbles blast out of a mouth. We see a young Cloud Strife, not long after the Nibelheim massacre, floating in a tank of Mako. We then see brief flashes of Zack dragging Cloud along as fugitives, only for Zack to be cut down by Shinra troops, and Cloud, or rather, Harry in Cloud's body, to stare at Zack's body in horror.

We then cut to Cloud-Harry in Midgar at the Sector 7 Slums, walking through the crowds, running into Tifa, who does a double take on seeing him.

TIFA: Cloud? Is that you?

CLOUD: ...Umm...that's a simple question with a very complicated answer.

Over a shot of Cloud-Harry escorting Aerith back home, we hear the Cetra's voice.

AERITH (vo): So, Cloud's soul returned to the Planet, but you're in his body? A wizard? A Cetra from another world? Sounds like the sort of thing Mom talks about when she's using her...medicinals.

CLOUD (vo): Yeah. I've got three sets of memories in here: mine, Cloud's and your old boyfriend's, and honestly, I'm wondering if I'm still sane.

Cut to Tifa, her mahogany eyes looking at Cloud-Harry in disbelief, dismay, and disconcerting attention. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, she nods and smiles, before she yells...

TIFA: BARRET! CAN YOU DO ME A SOLID AND GET ME THE NUMBER OF A GOOD EXORCIST?

We cut to an aerial view of Midgar, followed by shots of the Sector 1 Bombing Mission, with the Airbuster version of the boss battle theme from the remake playing.

HARRY (vo): So yeah, now I've been roped into an eco-terrorist organisation led by a Mr T ripoff fighting back against an evil corporation. And things only go downhill from there.

We cut to the church in the Sector 5 Slums, and Reno and Cloud-Harry confronting each other as Aerith looks on.

CLOUD: Look, Mr Compensating-for-Something McCattleprod, it's been a really bad couple of days for me, and I think it's going to get worse. So stop harrassing this young lady before I shove that thing where only proctologists dare to tread.

RENO: HA! Looks who's talking with the bigass sword! Hello Pot, my name is Kettle! Are you gonna cry?

Cut to Rude confronting Aerith and Cloud-Harry near Aerith's home.

RUDE: ...I'm not going to even ask how you got it so far up there or how his suit was changed into that clown's outfit. Just go home, Aerith.

We see more events from the game, like the attack on Sector 7 and the plate falling, the fight against the Airbuster and Jenova, and Sephiroth making an appearance.

HARRY (vo): Of course, then we have to get into the fact that this world is in danger, and not just from the soulless corporation. Some supersoldier turned evil called Sephiroth has plans. And, for some reason, he has this fixation on making me suffer. Still, it's not been all bad.

We cut to Barret and Red XIII opening the door to a bedroom in Kalm, only to find Cloud-Harry in bed with Aerith, Tifa, and Jessie. All four are naked, and it's fairly clear certain activities have taken place. After a moment's awkward silence, Barret gives Harry an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up, and closes the door. Then, the quartet hear this muffled conversation through the door.

MARLENE (oov): Daddy, what are Cloud and the others doing?

BARRET (oov): It's a grown-up thing, sweetie. Now, let's go get some ice-cream.

MARLENE (oov): Yay!

A brief sound of footsteps, before...

RED XIII (oov): Before you dress, have a shower. I can smell you from across Kalm.

TIFA: Oh, bite me!

RED XIII (oov): No thanks, sweaty human flesh tastes awful.

As we zoom out over Midgar, like the opening movie, we hear...

HARRY (vo): I might have been thrown into another adventure again, but...maybe I can be happy. And this time, I can save the world on my own terms...

QUATERMASS PRESENTS...

OH DEAR, HERE WE GO AGAIN (working title)

So, as you might have noticed, this one may take some cues from Final Fantasy VII Machinabridged by Team Four Star, though the characters as they are in the original game and the remakes are the base for it. It's also based on a challenge I posted on the usual forums on this website.

And now, for the next one...

SECOND TRAILER

The Gainsborough house, surrounded by lush gardens filled with flowers. Aerith walks out of the house, only to see a pair of shapes sprawled amongst the flowers. She goes to help, to find Harry Potter...and a silvery-haired girl with a blue fringe. She goes to help them, helping Harry and the girl recover. We then see Harry and the girl being tended to in the Gainsborough house by Aerith and Elmyra.

AERITH: So, who are you?

HARRY: I'm Harry Potter. And this is my daughter, Delphi.

DELPHI: ...Hello.

She looks up into Aerith's eyes nervously, who recoils briefly...as Delphi's blue eyes have a very distinctive slitted pupil. A very familiar one. There's a brief flash of light, accompanied by a distinctive and familiar musical sting, until it cuts to darkness, and then, a dark room, with a toddler girl surrounded by many bodies of Death Eaters, slashed apart. A late teens Harry is approaching her gingerly, while she looks up at him with fear...and the same slit-pupilled eyes.

HARRY (vo): Delphi's birth father put her through a ritual that was meant to draw a powerful being to her, as a sort of guardian angel of sorts. Whatever's in her is dangerous...but only when provoked. Unfortunately, too many people feared her. And during an attempt at leaving Britain...well, we ended up here, wherever this is.

A shot of Midgar from the air, the Mako Reactors glowing, with the Shinra HQ squatting on top of the rotting pizza.

ELMYRA (vo): You're in Midgar, a city owned by the Shinra Corporation.

Harry is moving through the Sector 5 Slums with Aerith and Delphi, examining the poor quality of the ground.

AERITH (vo): Some say their Mako Reactors are sucking the life-force from the Planet.

There's a shot of an encounter with Reno of the Turks, Harry using Potterverse spells to subdue the Turk, before we see Aerith speaking to Harry in the church.

AERITH: ...You're like me. You're a Cetra.

HARRY: (turning away) I'm a wizard, not a Cetra, whatever that is.

We then cut to an aerial shot of one of the landscapes of the Final Fantasy VII world, ending on the Northern Crater.

AERITH (vo): Long ago, our people were stewards of the Planet. But, my mother told me, when the Calamity from the Skies struck, there were some who fled to another world.

We then see Hojo looking at a photo on a computer monitor, that of Aerith, Harry, and Delphi.

HOJO: More Cetra? (for a moment, he frowns in disbelief, before a cupiditous and vicious smile touches his lips) All the better for my experiments. And this one...oh, she looks familiar.

Hojo chuckles malevolently. We then cut to Harry looking at Aerith, before we switch to a shot of Cloud being helped through the Sector 7 Slums by Harry.

HARRY (vo): I found out what happened to Zack. I'm sorry. But...he went out swinging, saving someone's life.

Cut to a shot of Cloud in the Seventh Heaven bar across from Tifa.

CLOUD: What that guy told me...what the hell are my real memories, Tifa?

Tifa places a hand over his own.

TIFA: We'll find out together, Cloud.

As the Sector 1 Mako Reactor explodes, to the tune of One-Winged Angel, we hear...

BARRET (vo): Who the hell are you to tell me what I'm doing is wrong?!

At the Seventh Heaven bar, while Tifa, Aerith, and Cloud look on, Harry confronts Barret, poking a finger into the burly man's chest.

HARRY: Someone who lost too many of his loved ones to terrorists! Not everyone working for Shinra is a fucking psychopathic monster, so who's to say you didn't get innocents murdered in that fireworks display you just pulled off?! What kind of example are you setting for your daughter?!

We then cut to Harry, Aerith and Cloud sitting on the playground near Wall Market.

CLOUD: What the hell is real for me anymore? What is the real me?

HARRY: That's up to you and your friends, Cloud. But...I think Zack would've been proud of you.

Then, we cut to Harry and Aerith going on a date through Wall Market, Harry smiling fondly as the brown-haired woman flits from stall to stall. We then see Harry confined to a chamber in Hojo's laboratory, drugged up, but able to level an impressive glare at the scientist.

HOJO: And to think such wonderful specimens would fall into my lap!

HARRY: Specimens? If you harm a hair on anyone I care about's head, you will regret this!

HOJO: I don't think so. But I find myself curious about that girl you adopted.

As Cloud and the others fight one of Hojo's monsters, we see Delphi surrounded by dark energy, before it flashes to black, albeit not before showing brief images...including of a very familiar sword.

HOJO (vo): It's uncanny, really, how much she resembles him. She could almost be his daughter.

A long period of darkness, before a set of pale lips appear in close-up, and then speak.

THE OTHER YOU KNOW WHO: Good to see you...Cloud. Though...I sincerely doubt the feeling is mutual.

A pair of identical swords clash, both long and thin, raising sparks, before the caption appears...

QUATERMASS PRESENTS...

GUARDIAN ANGELS (working title)

TRAILERS ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it.

Now, keep in mind, there's no guarantee either story idea will become a proper fic, let alone both. And these are more proof of concept trailers, designed to illustrate what I'm going for.

The first story idea will definitely be a threeway pairing with Cloud-Harry, Tifa and Aerith, but as the trailer showed, I am putting serious thought into throwing Jessie into the mix, given how well she was characterised in the remake (plus, she was played by Erica Lindbeck, who has swiftly become one of my all-time favourite voice artists). It'll also be crackier, though not quite as cracky as the trailer implies. It'll be the remake's storyline, but with a world-weary and experienced Harry taking Cloud's place, and with a number of elements from Team Four Star's Abridged Series.

The second story, just in case it wasn't clear, is strictly Harry/Aerith. I tried doing that for Vert the Emerald and the Cetra Heritage, but I don't think that was working. However, well, you know how I said I wasn't going to have Jenova undertake a heel-face turn? It doesn't mean that another character won't go through the same situation, not unlike my Fate/Grand Order story Primordial Song, hint hint...

Anyway, I'm curious to know what you'd think. While the more popular story idea won't necessarily be written up, I would like to know which story interests people more.

No numbered annotations this time.