Part 1
Chapter 1
The New Crisis
Back Again, Two Years Later
"I should get more for this," said Cloud to Mike.
"Well I'll see how much I can scrounge up back at HQ." Mike replied hopping into a small jeep.
Cloud followed him in while a small battalion was closing in on them, "HURRY UP AND START THE DAMN THING!!" he yelled.
"It's choking!!....come on baby start for me.." Mike said. Then as the battalion gained up the engine roared with life. "YES!!" Mike peeled the tires and quickly drove out of the forest.
Looking behind him, seeing the men disappear Cloud sighed, "That was a little too close back there."
"Well this jeep is old but you were great back there man," Mike said. "Anyway your pay will be decent for this job."
"It better be." Cloud said coldly. As they both sped off Cloud knew he saw Reno and Rude back there, but why were they? Mike drove up to a mountain side, then he hit a small button under the dash and a secret cave opened up. "Nice hideout..the last one I saw was under a bar at Midgar."
"Wow! Midgar? You must a good mercenary to come from Midgar." Mike replied. Cloud didn't reply, he just thought about everyone and what they were doing as they drove in.
"Hi there Mike, is that the mercenary you found?" Heather said, a special weapons maker.
"Yeah he needs his pay." Mike replied hopping out of the jeep. The group they were in was a small group and consisted of about ten people.
"Anyway Mike did that special voice activated bomb work?" Heather asked.
"Like a charm!" he replied. "But how much gil do we have?"
"I think there's five thousand for the weapon supply, and there's three thousand gil extra we got this morning," she said looking at her clipboard.
"Good..." Cloud said quickly. "That'll do for this job."
"Hey you jus' goin' to leave then?" Mike questioned.
"Don't misunderstand me I'm just a mercenary," Cloud said. "I don't get attached and I want my pay."
"Ok then, but I want to tell you about another jo-", Mike started.
"Hey I told you I just want my pay and to get out of here," interrupted Cloud.
"Yeesh..(He's really a happy person don't ya think Mike?)" Heather whispered.
"Hmm..(Yeah lets just give him the gil and get him out,)" he said. "Here's the gil Cloud, I think you know the way out."
"Yeah right..." Cloud said. He took the gil and headed toward the entrance to the cave.
"CLOUD WAIT!" Heather yelled. "Thanks for your help."
"Yeah sure, anytime," and with that Cloud walked out.
The fresh air greeted Cloud as he walked out of the cave. "It's a good day to build up materia," he said breathing in the air. He started running from the cave near Gongaga when he remembered that he gave most of his materia to Yuffie after everyone asked for the materia they wanted, and then the rest was Yuffie's. So then he figured he didn't really need to build up materia because he had most of his at master. All of a sudden he spotted some monsters in a group, but something wasn't right because they paid no attention to him. "Oh well..I'll kill them." Then he summoned Bahamut ZERO, then he saw a glimmer in the sky; high above the planet, in space, flew Bahamut, he came to a stop, spread his mighty wings, gathered a high-energy beam, and fired it down the planet. Cloud, far away, saw the beam hit; then a huge explosion, almost nuclear like, covered the enemies and killed them. "Hmm..twenty-six hundred gil...not bad." He shrugged his shoulders and moved on.
At that very time at the cave......."QUICK, DEFENSES!! WHERE ARE THE DEFENSES!!!!" Mike screamed to his people.
"Sir it's the Turks, they have destroyed them!" a member said.
"Well then," Mike said with doubt in his voice. "What about materia?"
"Sir all of our materia's at level one!" the member replied.
"WELL USE THEM!" Mike replied.
"Yes Sir!" the member said as Reno busted through the door.
"We're as good as dead," Mike mumbled.
"Elena stop acting so weak," Reno said.
"What now!?" she replied.
"You're being annoying."
"Oh shut up, this is the group that blew up the secret Shinra Weapon Research Center. They disserved it," Elena said.
".....I saw Cloud too....." Rude said out of the blue.
"Yeah so did I," Reno replied putting up his Electro-Mag rod.
"Cloud! Then we need to go get him too!" Elena said.
"No, let him go." Reno said.
"But why!?!" Elena replied.
"Because....he's not worth the time and trouble. Remember, we're professionals," Reno said. "But there'll be another time."
"Well.......okay then," she said.
Nibelheim was in sight and Cloud thought home sweet home. He ran up and when into the item shop, "I'll take thirty Hi-Potions." he said.
"That'll be six thousand gil," the clerk said.
"Here," Cloud replied and walked out. As Cloud walk into his house he heard the phone ring. "Hello?"
"Hey Cloud how's it going?" the voice asked.
"Tifa? Is that you?" Cloud guessed.
"Why Cloud I thought you'd forget who it was," she said.
"So how's the new bar going in Kalm?" he asked.
"It's going good but it seems lonely without Marlene and AVALANCHE below, but business is booming," she replied in a sad tone.
"Well do you keep in touch with Barret and the others?" he asked.
"Well.." Tifa started. "Barret went back to North Corel to try and help rebuild it."
"Hope he does a good job because that place was a dump," he said.
"Yeah, but he took Marlene with him. Last I heard Cid went back to Rocket Town with the escape ship; I think he's trying to build up another Highwind," she continued.
"I wonder if that'll ever get finished or started," he chuckled to himself knowing Cid as a procrastinator. "Please go on."
"Okay, well I know that Red went back to Cosmo Canyon and has been there since," she went on, getting kind of tired of the interruptions.
"I thought he would, he seemed determined to go back and protect it."
"You're right he did. Yuffie went back to Wutai with most of our materia and she took over the Pagoda tower from her father. I think our materia helped. Well I know that Reeve turned off Cait Sith and he gave Mayor Domino power to govern Midgar. Now Reeve's planning to take over Shinra Inc. and rebuild all of Midgar," she finally got a chance to say.
"Even sector 7?" Cloud interrupted.
"That's the idea. As for Vincent, last I heard he was wandering around taking random jobs, he even worked here for a while and that's how I know what he's doing."
"Well you know I've started up the mercenary business again," Cloud told her.
"Yeah..." said Tifa. "Those were good times, don't you think Cloud?"
"Yeah...it brought back fond memories," he said regretting just leaving them behind. Mike had even offered him another job which he just turned down. It was frustrating for him to keep pushing away the ones that cared about him, but it was his nature to do so since the Aeris incident. "I just got back from a job so I'm kinda tired."
"Then get plenty of rest and maybe I'll call back again. Bye."
"Bye," Cloud said hanging up the phone. He really was tired and thought about what had happened to him and Tifa. The entire group had split up and if she had asked him to work at the new bar she had planned to build and open, he would've gone. He knew she had feelings for him, but he just didn't feel complete. He thought about what Aeris had said to him on the night of their date. "I want to meet...you..." He knew she was happy and finally met him, but was still sorry for not being "there".
He wanted to forget these problems so he decided to turn on the TV to see what was on.
"Latest in Shinra news, a bomb attack on the Weapon Research Center destroyed over half the building and killed most of it's scientists. Many have been taken to a local hospital and are in critical condition. The Turks have helped SOLDIER in the capture of the group in charge of the bombing. Here's John on location with their capture. John?"
"Well Tom this group calling themselves REBELION have been blamed for the bombing and what you are seeing is SOLDIER taking them in for trial. Here's one of the prisoners now."
"I went down and now I'm going to pay for my crimes." Isn't that Mike thought Cloud, and sure enough it was.
"Well that was interesting, back to you Tom."
"Thank you John for that on location special report, and now back to your original program and thank you for watching Shinra news."
"That's too bad," Cloud said flipping the channel. "He was kind of a good leader." Suddenly there was a pounding on his door. Alarmed by the sound he jumped up and went to see who it was and what they wanted. "I'm coming." When he opened the door he was shocked at the sight.
Chapter 2
The Voices Within
"Thanks. I ran though a secret exit in my lab, but I got shot escaping for my life." she replied gasping for breath.
"Here take some Hi-Potions I just got," he said showing her a couple of bottles. "But...how'd you find my house?"
"I asked a person walking out of town where you lived. I had to cover my bullet wound to not look suspicious. Uh..do you have a bed so I can lay down."
"Yeah sure I'll help you there," Cloud agreed helping her step over to the extra bed that was next to his own. "Here are the Hi-Potions, take them slowly in your condition."
"Thank you but, I thought you didn't care."
"I don't really, but you need a place to rest 'til you get better," he quickly said trying to cover up that he did kind of cared. "Then tomorrow I'll take you beyond Nibel Mountains and from there you can probably make it to Rocket Town. Oh! And when you get to Rocket Town ask for a guy named Cid or the "Captain", as he's known in the town, and tell him, 'Cloud told me you could help me', and that should do it."
"Thank you so much, I don't know what I can do for you," she said just a bit nervous in front of him.
"Just make sure and leave when you're better and make sure that you stay alive. That's the most important. By the way....do you have any materia?"
"Yeah. I have a fire, ice, lightning, restore, and deathblow. Is that okay or do I need more?"
"Yeah that'll do. Now let's get some sleep," he replied knowing that she was being playful. He let it slide right by him and quickly got ready for bed.
"Ok, well goodnight Cloud and really, thanks a bunch for what you're doing for me," she said after taking some Hi-Potions and getting in the extra bed.
"Night."
Later that night Cloud started stirring. "I'm back......", "but I'm not like before......", "......I now know what to do......."
"What is that?" replied Cloud.
"I tried to become a god but you eight killed me....", "but it should have been nine.....", "......blame yourself because.......", "........you killed her....."
"...Don't listen to him..."
"What?" Cloud answered.
"......You're mine....."
"NO!", Cloud shouted in the darkness of the room. Sweating all over he got up and got a drink. He saw that Heather was still asleep, and he wondered why the voices came back now. It made no sense to him, two years later.....why?
"Hey HEY!! wake up Cloud!"
He opened his eyes to see Heather over him, and she looked like she was in good shape.
"Hey those Hi-Potions you gave me worked like a charm."
"Well, I paid good gil for them, I sure hope they work," he replied trying not to be grumpy. Cloud sat up and saw she had started to make breakfast for them before going into the mountains.
"I sure hope you like bacon and eggs Cloud," she said over the sizzling of the pan. "I had to go to the store and get this stuff 'cause you had nothing in your fridge."
"Yeah. It's like that for a reason," he commented sarcastically.
"...Men.." she said rolling her eyes.
"But yeah, bacon and eggs are fine. You know you didn't have to this." Cloud told her feeling bad.
"I felt like helping you 'cause you helped me."
Cloud got out of the bed, got some juice, and then sat at down at the table. Heather brought over two plates with steam traveling from them. "Smells good, I need a good breakfast 'cause I haven't had one in forever."
"That's what all the guys in REBELION said..heh heh."
"I'll bet," he said as he chuckled along with her. Her cheerfulness reminded him of Aeris which almost killed him about a year ago. It was the episode he had where he grieved for her so much that he felt like killing himself just to be with her, to make himself happy, but with the help of his friends he realized that Aeris wouldn't want him to do that and just live his life. They scarfed the breakfast down, equipped themselves, and headed for the mountains.
"What's that mansion for?" she asked.
"That is the Shinra Mansion. Alotta strange stuff happened there with Prof. Hojo and Gast. Mostly it happened in the basement and I was part of their projects...so were my friends."
"Brutal," she said giving the mansion one last fearful look.
"Yeah, well let's go on to the mountains," said Cloud as he turned from the mansion. They walked up to the steep mountains and started to trail the paths. "That's odd. There aren't any enemies to fight."
"Isn't that good?" she asked.
"Actually no because then materia can't grow to master so a new materia won't be born," he replied a bit worried. They walked though the mountains quickly and soon were at the end.
"Wow! That was easy!" exclaimed Heather.
"Yeah...kinda too easy," said Cloud. "I think I will go with you to Rocket Town so I can see Cid."
"Uh huh," she said with a tone in her voice and started mocking him. "But I thought you said, 'I don't get attached...It's just my job. Blah blah blah."
Cloud gave her a mean look but ended up smiling. "No, I really want to see Cid again."
"Hmm...so you'll be a kind of bodyguard for me? Cool!" she squealed hoping that he would. As she said that Cloud thought of Aeris and being her bodyguard even though he never did protect her from Sephiroth that time.
"Yeah a bodyguard," he said thinking of really doing it. "Okay, I'll do it."
"Good I'm glad you did. Now let's get going to Rocket Town, bodyguard."
They started off to Rocket Town when all of a sudden a voice started talking inside Cloud. ".....you killed her...", ".....it's your fault.....", "..follow my ways....", "......then kill everyone you care about......"
"NO!! Why are you doing this?! I'm going insane!" he yelled as he gripped his head and fell down at Heather's feet.
"Cloud, Cloud!, CLOUD!, WAKE UP!" he heard her yell faintly and then, blackness.
Cloud stood alone in blackness with nothing anywhere just pitch black. "Where the hell am I?" he said into darkness. All of a sudden a young Cloud appeared in front of him.
"Don't you know? It's your mind," said the little Cloud.
"This black void is MY mind?" he replied.
"Yes it is," a voice said. "You have nothing to care about now so you have nothing in your mind. Your mind is in chaos after two years which means something is happening. I don't know what it is because, well, because I'm your mind. I do have a clue from the Lifestream."
"Lifestream? How can that bring information here?" Cloud asked his mind.
"It brings all sorts of information, a stream of consciousness, that you blocked out before," the voice detailed.
"The orb at the City of Ancients," Cloud realized.
"Yes. The worst is here. Sephiroth is coming back along with the crisis from the sky. But his goal will not be the same. He will be changed somehow by some one. But the crisis from the sky will rule because we are all puppets," the voice explained as simple as it could.
"Wait! Sephiroth?! It can't be! I destroyed him!" Cloud yelled at the voice.
"Yes I know. Like I said, some one will bring him back, but not whole. He'll need you. Even kill you if he has to. The Jenova cells inside of you have seen his and have been forcing thoughts upon you to make you give in easier to his new presence. You have proven this difficult for the new Sephiroth."
"How do you know all this?" Cloud asked.
"I am the part of you that knows of the Ancient's power and for me to stay, you need to be alive. The alien Jenova cells have been acting strange so I have been monitoring them. Sephiroth will be a new threat, and if he gets what he needs, it'll bring the end to all planets, a new apocalypse for a new time. There is also a new one. A young man that'll be a major help to you in the future. The main thing is to keep Sephiroth away from the Unk-..."
"Damnit man wake up!" Cid yelled at Cloud trying to wake him up. "He hasn't been this way in two years when he was sucked into that Lifestream shit. Shera get some tea, I think Cloud's coming to."
"Wha? Cid? Am I in Rocket Town? How'd I get here?" Cloud kept asking one after the other.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on Cloud I can only answer one question at a time. Yes I am Cid, you are in Rocket Town, and this girl here dragged you in and asked for me. Now does that answer your questions? SHERA! Where's the damn tea!?".
"Heather, you brought me here?" Cloud asked, surprised that she found a way to carry him.
"Well sure I did, but I don't think that going unconscious is being much of a bodyguard."
"Heh, yeah," he said knowing that something could've happened to her as well. "Bad timing on my part."
"Thanks for saying 'Hi' to me, you're just being too damn nice," Cid said getting tired of being left out.
"Sorry Cid, it's nice to see you again after all this time. How's the new Highwind going?"
"Well I'm short on metal but thanks to Reeve he put in some Shinra money to help me get more supplies." They looked out the window and Cloud was surprised to see that the partial airship was hovering above the ground. He also noticed that Cid kept the escape ship to put inside the new ship.
"Wow I'm impressed Cid. I thought for sure that you'd never get back and have time to rebuild the Highwind," Cloud said. "I also thought that you'd turn into the town drunk."
"Yeah, this is the new and improved me," Cid said giving Cloud a scornful look. "No more sleeping around for me. Shera where's that damn tea I wanted?"
"I'm sorry Ci- I mean Captain. Here's the tea," she said placing it in front of them.
"Ah good, drink up Cloud," Cid said. "An' I know my hospitality is good enough for ya this time."
"Psst (hey Cloud he's as happy as you are)," Heather whispered to Cloud.
"Mmmm? Yeah...huh?" Cloud asked confused about her comment and then realized he hasn't introduced her yet. "Oh Cid, Shera, this his Heather. She was from a group was called...um..REBELION that's it. SOLDIER found them out and got them all except her. I know, I just finished a job with them yesterday with the leader, Mike."
"Oh yeah I heard 'bout it on the news last night," Cid commented. "Anyway hi Heather, I take it Cloud told you about me cause you did ask for me when you came into town."
"Yes he did," she replied feeling that Shera was being left out. "Come on Shera sit with us, have some tea."
"Oh thank you....Heather was it?" Shera asked.
"Yes, now sit with me, let's girl talk." Shera sat down near Heather and they started talking while Cloud was talking with Cid.
Meanwhile back in Nibelheim a dark figure walked in the town. Vincent looked around and then saw the mansion, "Many bad memories here," he said to himself. As he walked toward the mansion something caught his eye....it was one of those black capes all those clones wore with the tattoos. "This isn't right," he said kneeling down to pick it up. "This is entirely not good. I thought all those clones died going towards the crater." Then he dropped the cape and walked into the mansion not knowing what was inside.
The rain was lightly sprinkling at the new North Corel as Barret directed the construction crew. It was the least he could do for the people of his old town. "Hey watch that tent! You don't want to crush someone's home do ya?" Barret barked at a worker.
"No sir, I'll be more careful next time," the worker replied after grumbling to himself.
"Man I'm so excited! The town's almost finished an' tha power's going to come on today!" Barret said excitedly looking at the new town. "Heh, and they said it couldn't be done."
"Daddy daddy, where's our house going to be?" asked Marlene running to Barret as he picked her up and put her on his shoulder.
"See that house over there honey," Barret said pointing to a house on the first hill. "That's going to be our house."
"Oh it's beautiful daddy," she cheerfully said "I love it already!"
"HEY! watch those old homes, people still live there ya know. Do you want ta get fired?" yelled Barret.
"No sir(ya big mumble mumble...)"
The rain started getting worse by the minute, and Barret knew that construction would have to stop soon. He pulled out a radio and told the person at the reactor to start the power flow. Barret made sure that the reactor was fully functional because he didn't want Corel to end up just like Gongaga. Right then the Mako reactor hummed with life, then cranked up, and the lights flickered in the town. Barret smiled with pride because the view of lights in Corel haven't been seen in four years, and the look was breath-taking to Barret. "It's a good thing Reeve an' his stupid cat were in AVALANCHE. I think it taught him a thing or two 'bout the planet. With these new MR's I don't have ta worry about it suckin' the planet dry," Barret said proudly. "Hey You! What's your problem man?"
"S,sorry. It's just that lately I've been...!!" he stopped and grabbed his head suddenly. He started shaking his head no and fell down, shaking like a leaf.
"Hey man, I didn't know you were sick. Some one get him some help. NOW!" Barret yelled. Two men came and helped the worker up and took him to a nearby house. "Yo. Wake up. Hey man, you collapsed out there. Say, what's your name?"
"Huh?" the worker asked confused. "My name? It's Case...Case Garin. Did you say I collapsed?"
"Yeah, and it looks like ya took a pretty hard fall," Barret replied. Case looked around the room, looked at Barret, and then started to get up. "You think can work now?"
"No, I'm j,just going outside," Case said leaving the house. By now the rain was pouring down and Case just sat down at a corner and stared at the ground. "Why are you talking to me?...Why are you saying it'll be alright?...Is this normal for a person like me?...Why won't you tell me everything? What?! Am I a. You mean I could?...NO! I won't believe this! What you're saying is nonsense. Their race died ages ago. Just listen to me, I sound like I'm crazy 'cause I'm talking to myself. I won't listen to any of the voices anymore, especially yours. I mean what do you know, you say your a part of the planet but how can you be? I just wish I knew what the hell I should do."
Barret stared out the window at Case and wondered just what the hell he was doing. He thought that it might be good to let him off with his pay so the townspeople wouldn't start wondering. He was about to go tell him when he saw Case pull out a small sword and some daggers. Case turned and looked back at Barret, he shook his head, and ran out of Corel. "Wait!" Barret yelled trying to run after him. "Case do you want your pay?!" It was too late, Barret stopped running cause he knew Case had a head start. He stood here in the rain as he saw Case was running off, away from Corel, disappearing into the storm.
Vincent entered the old mansion silently and looked around. "Some one has been here," he said looking at the fresh footprints on the floor. "Recently too. I have a bad feeling about this." He continued on upstairs to the secret entrance to the basement of which he knew all to well of. The door opened with a clang and the winding staircase came into sight. Vincent went down quietly until he reached the bottom, and then saw something that him stop dead in his tracks. The light to the lab was on and noise was coming from inside. "So that's who has been here." He leaned next to the door to listen what was going on inside.
"Yes professor this experiment will be a complete success," said the first man who's voice Vincent didn't recognized.
"Indeed it will be. Adding mechanical components to the great Sephiroth's clone will lessen his chance of trying to summon Meteor or becoming a part of the planet. Plus, it will strengthen him in case Cloud and his friends decide to fight him again," the Prof. said fixing up the Sephiroth clone.
"Professor Edin you are a genius!" exclaimed his helper.
"Thank you Clive, I want to be as good as Hojo and Gast were. Now those guys were amazing scientists," Edin said.
"I don't think so!" said Vincent busting into the lab. "Prof. Edin is it? Well I can't let you revive Sephiroth, and so now you and your assistant must take a long sleep for your sins."
Chapter 3
A Confrontation
"Fine, just don't shoot the gun," replied Clive moving nervously away. "There's a lot of breakable equipment in here and you could easily bre-."
"Stop Clive," Edin said gesturing him to stop. "I don't think our friend knows how deeply in trouble he is. You see my friend.."
"First off I'm not your friend, my name's Vincent," he reminded him.
"Yes...I'm sure," Edin said continuing his original conversation. "Anyway you don't know what you're in. You see, Sephiroth is already alive we just need some blood with Jenova cells in it. We need a man called Cloud."
"You can't be serious?" Cloud said shock and happy for Cid. "Psst...(Are you really thinking about marrying Shera?)"
"...(Yeah I was thinking about it. You think I should? 'Cause she is a nice girl.)" Cid whispered a bit embarrassed.
"Yeah I think you should but whatever you want to do is none of my business, but...if you do, invite me so I can see everyone. It seemed like you were liking her when we left," Cloud said winking at Cid.
"Huh?! It showed?" Cid asked astonished. Cloud nodded.
"Really!? Cloud did that?" exclaimed Heather after Shera told her about all that happened two years ago because it had slipped her mind about Meteor, WEAPON, and the entire Sephiroth incident.
"Yes he did," replied Shera calmly. "Cid told me all about Cloud and how he helped save the planet...when I wasn't there with them of course."
"Wow, all that REBELION wanted to do was just stop the Shinra from making more weapons of destruction since there has been peace," Heather explained.
"Hey Cid, did ya ever get the Tiny Bronco flying again?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah I did. She flies like a dream, just like she used to. I also fixed that Shinra hot rod and now it's running fine," Cid said getting up to go to the back. "You wanna see it?"
"Sure," Cloud said putting down his tea and getting up to follow Cid. The guys went out back to look at the Bronco and the hot rod. Shera and Heather stayed inside and talked longer while the other two kept looking at the vehicles.
Case ran through the storm straining to see what was ahead, and then he saw a monster that tried to attack him. He threw two daggers at it and sliced through it like a knife through cake. He picked up the gil, his daggers, and ran on with his hair in his face when the single materia orb in his short sword started to glow. "Huh? That's funny, it's never glowed like this before," he said stopping to look at the shimmering materia. He pulled it closer and the materia shimmered brighter until it lighted the area all around him. He touched it to pull it out when the materia hummed loudly and shot out a beam of light that fried an enemy twenty yards away. "Whoa, this is like a 'Light Materia'. I bet when I get this at master, it'll kick ass." He ran on while the storm got worse as he passed the Gold Saucer and knew it was closed. The yellow figure towered even in darkness of the storm, and every time lightning flashed the Saucer shadowed over Case. Ignoring the Saucer, Case ran on into the growing storm. He finally reached the river but wondered how he was going to cross it because it was too deep and flowing too fast to cross by foot. He just sat there wondering when an enemy attacked from behind; the monster slashed at him but got his coat. He drew out three daggers and threw them at the monster, then slashed it. After killing the monster he sat back down and tried to think of a way to cross. He finally remembered that he took some heavy rope from the construction site just in case something like this happened. He reached in his jacket and took out the rope, tied it to his sword, and threw it across the river. Luckily the sword stuck into a rock firmly, and he crossed the river with ease. After crossing he kept going on until he came upon the cave of the REBELION group and walked in for some rest.
Back at Nibelheim, the thunder could be heard in the basement while the stand off was in progress. "Cloud? You won't be able to find Cloud," Vincent told Edin.
"Oh really?" Edin asked. "Then why am I in his home town? You see, huh...Vincent, I work for Shinra and I know that Reeve wouldn't like this so I went behind his back to do this. See I know all of the Shinra secrets, I even know about the real Sephiroth and Lucrecia."
"Lucrecia...." Vincent mumbled. With the anger he felt he squeezed the trigger slightly to let the hammer snap back. Clive quietly walked to a switch on the wall and waited for a signal. Edin and Vincent stood there locked in the same position, Vincent looked at the nearly completed Sephiroth while Edin looked at Vincent's gun. Then Vincent saw something that scared the shit out of him, Edin was blinking twice in the same pattern. Vincent turned around and shot Clive right at his chest, but it was too late, the switch was pulled down. "Shit!!" Vincent yelled and covered his eyes. Sparks flew around the table that Sephiroth was on and glowed all around the table. Edin hid behind the two mako chambers while Vincent ducked in the corner. The lights stopped over the table and then his arm started to twitch.
All of a sudden Cloud fell down to the ground at Cid's feet. "Damn man what's wrong?" Cid asked.
"Ugh....it's....I think it's.....Sephiroth," Cloud said as Cid helped him up to his feet.
"SEPHIROTH!? How the hell could it be?! We killed him, didn't we?" Cid yelled almost dropping Cloud.
"Yeah, I thought so too, but somehow I feel that he's back alive. Not entirely alive though, he's missing something," Cloud said having to struggle it out. "Just call it a sick-sense or something, but I think he's back."
"Damn," Cid said staring at the ground. "Some sick-sense. Let's get inside there's a storm coming. You and Heather can stay at the inn, I already paid the guy."
"Thanks Cid," Cloud said walking back inside with him. "I could sure use some rest to get my mind offa Sephiroth. C'mon Heather let's get to the inn before the storm hits hard."
"Ok Cloud," she replied quickly turning back around to talk to Shera more. "Shera it was really nice talking to you."
"It was fun for me too," Shera said as the four moved to the front of Cid's house. "Come back again sometime and we can talk some more."
Cloud and Heather waved bye to Cid and Shera then walked to the inn. They walked in as it started to pour down and the clerk told them to just go upstairs and in the first room. They walked in there room and started getting ready to sleep. "You can use the bathroom first," Cloud said being generous.
"Thanks Cloud, I could use a shower now," she said back going to the bathroom.
"No comment," Cloud kidded walking over to the bed. Heather poked her head out and gave Cloud a dirty look. Cloud lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, then fell asleep.
Sephiroth stood up from the table and looked around then just sat there. "Sephiroth," Edin commanded standing forward. "Go kill that man." Sephiroth looked at Vincent but just sat there. Vincent noticed something strange about Sephiroth, his cyber implants were making him not do anything. Edin then found the control to the implants, but then Sephiroth moved out of the lab and towards the exit. Vincent followed Sephiroth out of the mansion and saw him head north towards the mountains. Edin ran out of the mansion and stood next to Vincent. "He's going after Cloud." Vincent didn't reply and just ran off after Sephiroth just as Case walked into town.
Chapter 4
The Search
"Yes honey. I need to 'cause he worked for me. Plus something's wrong with that guy and I want ta see if I can help," Barret told her patting her on the head. "Brad, take good care of her."
"Yes sir! I won't let you down."
Barret gave Marlene one final hug and jumped into his jeep. He opened up a box with a project inside he had worked on with Cid earlier, a cybernetic hand. He detached his gun and put the hand on. He waited a moment and started to move it's fingers. Delighted about his hand he waved bye to Marlene with it and drove off into the storm like he saw Case do earlier. The rain was still coming down hard over Corel, Nibelheim, and Rocket Town as Barret sped through the plains and across the rivers. It was the worst storm the new continent had in a long time and Barret was afraid that there might even be a tornado. He drove on and saw the dead bodies of the monsters that Case killed and drove on past the REBELION cave and Gongaga up to Nibelheim. Barret figured that since this was the only other good town in the area that Case would run to here.
Case entered the town and walked, in the rain, up to the well. Edin came to him yelling through the storm at him "Hey! You're Case aren't you!?"
"Yeah! Who're you? And how'd you know who I was?" Case yelled over the clapping thunder.
"It doesn't matter!", Edin kept yelling as the storm got worse. "Go north passed the mountains 'til you get to Rocket Town! Some guy stole my materia and he's probably headed there! If you can stop him and get my materia back, I'll give you a handsome reward!"
Case shrugged his shoulders and didn't argue with him and ran off up into the Nibel mountains. Barret slid into a stop at Nibelheim, grabbed his gun, and hopped out to look for Case cause he knew that if he was going to go further it'd have to be on foot. He ran to the entrance of town and saw Edin, "Hey! Yeah you! Have you seen a man wearin' a long coat and baggy jeans with a short sword and some daggers?"
"Yeah he ran north into the mountains! I tried to stop but he didn't listen to me!" Edin yelled as Barret walked up to him.
"Sh'it!" Barret mumbled. "Thanks!" Barret yelled as ran up north to the mountains. Edin waited for Barret to be out of view before he started to leave. He walked over and picked up the black cape, that Vincent had left on the ground, and put it on. He reached in his pocket and took out his keys for the Shinra truck that was parked behind the mansion and drove out of Nibelheim.
".....I'm coming for you....", "....you're the last part to make me complete....", "....soon we will become one again...."
"What're you talkin' about?" Cloud asked the dream. "You're coming for me?"
"Wake up."
"What, wake up?"
"Yeah, wake up!" Cloud opened his eyes and saw Heather telling him to wake up. "Oh! So you're finally up."
"Yeah yeah. Let's get out of here," he replied quickly getting ready.
"Huh?"
"Trust me, I know," Cloud reassured her. "You do want me to be your bodyguard don't you?"
"Yes..." she replied nervously.
"Well if we left now I'd be helping to save your life," he replied. Heather cleaned up and got dressed while Cloud waited on the bed. Heather got out of the bathroom all ready to go. Cloud got up off the bed and they walked out of the inn to say one last good-bye to Cid and Shera. They ran through the rain to Cid's and knocked on the door.
"OUCH! Damn shoes mumble mumble....Who is it?!" Cid yelled through the door. "Oh Cloud. What the hell do you want?"
"I just wanted to say good-bye 'cause I'm leaving town," Cloud explained.
Cid opened the door, "Why?"
"Sephiroth's coming for me," Cloud said almost not believing himself. "So I'm going to leave to get some help."
"Well then I guess this is good-bye again," Cid said about to shut the door.
"Yeah well do...do you have any transport?" Cloud said stopping him.
"Sure, I still have a black chocobo if you want to use it?" Cid asked.
"Yeah that'll do fine," Cloud replied. He took the chocobo from the stable that Cid built and hopped on. Heather hopped on after him and they rode out of out of to the east. Cid and Shera waved to them until they were out of sight.
Sephiroth walked into Rocket Town with Vincent, Case, and Barret following him. Cid looked out the window as the storm started to die down and saw Sephiroth. "SHIT!!" he exclaimed. "Cloud wasn't lyin'. Sephiroth is alive and he looks just like he did two years ago. Well, he looks kinda funkier than he used to. Shera! Get back to bed." Cid stared at Sephiroth who looked around the town and left towards the east just like Cloud did. A while later Vincent showed up in Rocket Town and Cid saw him from his porch. "Yo Vincent! Hey over here!"
Vincent saw Cid and walked over to him and asked "Did you see Sephiroth?"
"Yeah he went over to the east after Cloud," Cid explain to him.
Just then Case ran into town and saw Cid and Vincent. "Huff... puff...is...is this Rocket Town?" he asked out of breath.
"Yeah, this is my town. Who are you?" Cid asked.
"My...my name's Case," Case continued. "I was told to come here by some guy in a lab coat. He said some guy took his materia and said he might come here. Have you seen any suspicious people around lately?"
"Edin...", Vincent calmly said.
"Did you take his materia?" Case asked Vincent curiously.
"Hardly," Vincent replied turning to Case. "Edin is a Shinra professor, I doubt that he'd have any materia."
Soon after that Barret ran in town also just like Vincent and Case did earlier. "Barret! Get your ass over here!" Cid yelled at him.
"Huff...puff...puff. Don't....yell....at me. Where's Case?" Barret asked out of breath.
"I'm right here Bar..uh sir," Case replied going to help him.
"Just call me Barret for now Case an' leave me alone," Barret said pushing him away.
"Ok Barret," replied Case trying not to argue with him.
"Damn this is jus' a littl' family reunion," Cid quaintly said. "An' just like old time 'cause we're all chasin' Sephiroth again."
"Yeah man........DID YOU SAY SEPHIROTH?!??!?!!", asked Barret waving his arms in the air. "Where the hell did he come from?"
"Prof. Edin brought him back to life," Vincent replied looking towards the east.
"Sh'it! I think I saw that sniveling little worm at Nibelheim. Man if I'd known I would've..." Barret exclaimed clenching his fists. "But not Sephiroth again! Man I jus' can't handle that again."
"Hey y'all, Cloud left here going to the east and Sephiroth followed him," Cid told the three.
"Sephiroth will follow Cloud wherever he goes," Vincent explained. "He needs Jenova cells, that's why."
"Well then les' go stop him," Barret said trying to cheer up the group.
"Shera! Take care of the house!" Cid yelled through the door.
"Ok honey!" Shera replied from inside.
"Honey?" asked Barret almost laughing.
"Don't say a damn word." said Cid pointing at him. "Don't forget that I built you that hand which I see that works."
"Yeah, and I thank you for it," Barret replied smiling. All four of them went around to the chocobo stables. "Wow, five gold chocobos! You must've done alotta raisin'." Each of them got on one and started to ride out to the east just like Cloud did.
Cloud looked through the binoculars, magnified a thousand times, at Sephiroth. His left eye was replaced by a mechanical eyepiece, his right hand looked extremely different, it was biomechanical from his upper wrist down. Then he didn't believe what he just saw. He saw it morph into a chainsaw and back to a hand as he cut down a tree. It was composed of super small microchips (like mechanical cells) that could make any mechanical form. His left upper arm was composed of a metallic skeleton just like his right upper leg and his feet, but his feet had hover components, which made him float like a ghost. His back had "jetpack" attached to it for flying Cloud guessed. Then Sephiroth looked straight at him with his eyepiece and saw it focus on them. Then he saw his right hand morph into a syringe and pointed it at him. Then Cloud saw Sephiroth's hand grow out towards him, and it was coming fast. "Get on the chocobo!" Cloud ordered Heather.
"Why? wha..." she started sounding worried.
"Just do it damnit!" he yelled back harshly. Then he turned and saw Sephiroth's hand in plain sight and drew out his sword. The syringe came up at Cloud and dashed at his arm. Cloud dodged and took one slash to cut off the part of Sephiroth's hand with the syringe on it. Then Sephiroth's hand shrank back and went to him. Cloud picked up the piece he cut off and put it in a little container and then he summoned 'Knights of the Round' on Sephiroth. He looked through the binoculars and saw Sephiroth go into oblivion. "That'll buy us some time. Now let's go." Heather nodded and they got the chocobo to go east more.
"What was that summon?" she asked looking back that the burnt ground where she saw Sephiroth go down beneath the ground.
"It was Knights of the Round:Ultimate End," he informed her. "It's the most powerful summon known."
"Then how'd you get it?" she asked turning back around.
"I've been around. Plus I have all the master materia," he casually replied. "It took a long time to get, but I think it was worth it."
"Sounds neat," she said and they rode on.
Back at where Sephiroth was, Knights of the Round was fighting him, and most of the attacks kept missing him surprisingly except the magic attacks. After Knights of the Round was done, Sephiroth got up. He stumbled around a bit and reformed his hand, as if the tiny mechanical cells were duplicating. After his hand was repaired he looked at where Cloud was and focused his eyepiece to zoom in. When he saw that Cloud was gone he zoomed out, morphed his right hand into a copy of the Masamune, and hovered off to the east with a cold look of nothingness on his face.
Chapter 5
Return to the Floating City
"..We're going to Midgar," he replied as they crossed more water.
"Whoa Midgar?! The big city? No, I'll be killed for helping REBELION with the bombing!" she said really worried.
"Don't worry I'll help you with a disguise," Cloud said trying to calm her. "Then we need to go find Reeve." They kept riding across the islands and shallow water.
Cid, Barret, Vincent, and Case rode up to the area where Sephiroth tried to get Cloud, they stopped, and looked around.
"There was a battle here," Vincent said hopping off of his chocobo. "There are burnt spots everywhere and that tree's cut down."
"This things been cut down wit' a chainsaw," Barret said examining the tree.
"Cloud doesn't have a chainsaw and I saw Sephiroth and he didn't have one either," Cid said confused.
"Sephiroth?" asked Case. "Is he the guy that one girl told me to stay away from?" He stopped, then the other three just looked at him with strange looks and shrugged. "Never mind." Then the four rode off again after Cloud and Sephiroth.
The sky got dark and the lights of Midgar shimmered in the distance over the horizon. "Midgar sure is a sight during the night," exclaimed Heather. Cloud was silent when she talked. He just thought about what happened in that floating city, all the hurt and pain came back to him just thinking about it. Midgar looked so different now with Sister Ray gone and all the construction on sector 7 and the rest of the city; it almost seemed like a completely different town. When Meteor was cast back out into space by 'Holy' and the Lifestream, Midgar was never the same. Over half of the city had been deserted and Reeve was left with a run down tower and a run down city. He took it upon himself to make the city run again but more prosperous. He told Barret to go back to Corel and tell the men there that he was going to start a construction business and there would be jobs for all. He quickly got a construction crew started and hoped that Midgar would shine again. He added sunspots and rain gutters all throughout the top plates so the slums below would be worth living in. He got the Shinra tower rebuilt and let Mayor Domino actually be in charge of Midgar. Reeve also looked into the making of MR's which replaced the old Mako Reactors but still gave the power that Midgar needed. The next thing was to move the Sister Ray back to Junon and that went over pretty well, but Reeve thought that the removal made Midgar defenseless. So instead of keeping the Sister Ray, he made plans for a Brother Ray which was a bit smaller, easily stored in a protective casing under the ground, and just as powerful. The storage place for it was huge but didn't get in the way of the city so it was very convenient. Then the rebuilding of sector 7 was Reeve's final plan and was being worked on as Cloud and Heather came closer.
The lights of the city got brighter as they got closer to it until they were in view of the gate to sector 5. Cloud and Heather got off the chocobo and watched it go back to Cid's stable. Cloud reached in his pocket and pulled out the key to the gate. As they walked in the slums still looked pretty much the same and the church was still there. "Let's stop here for a while," Cloud said pointing over to the church.
"Ok sure."
They walked into the church and looked around, "Boy. This place could use some redecorating," Heather said viewing all the broken down pews. Cloud didn't reply he went to the flowers in the floor and knelt down towards them. "They're very pretty." Again Cloud said nothing and then took the flower that he looked at.
"That'll cost you one gil sir," a voice said from the back. A young woman came out of the back, about late teens, early twenties with blonde hair and blue mako-like eyes.
"Huh?" asked Cloud surprised that anyone was even here.
"That'll cost you a gil," she continued walking over to him to explain. "I am the flower girl here of sector 5."
"Flower girl? How'd you become the flower girl?" asked Cloud knowing that Aeris was the original flower girl.
"I heard a story from two little kids about this nice pretty flower girl that used to live here, but then she stopped coming around so there was nobody to tend to the flowers. So I decided to look in this church after all and saw all of the pretty flowers here," said the flower girl. "So I decided to become the new flower girl and I tend to these flowers whenever they need it."
"Mmmm...." Cloud said thinking for a minute.
"What's your name?", said Heather butting in.
"My name is Katlyn....Katlyn Prevance," replied Katlyn. "Like I said sir that'll be one gil."
"Alright alright," he said reaching into his money pouch and giving her the gil. "There's one gil."
"Thank you so much sir," Katlyn said taking his money.
"You don't have to call me sir, I'm Cloud and this is Heather."
"Nice to meet you Cloud, Heather," Katlyn replied being polite.
"Likewise," said Heather, looking at the flowers.
"Here just make yourselves at home and I'll get us some water," Katlyn said going to the back room. "Then you can tell me why you're here." Katlyn walked to the back and Cloud and Heather went to sit in a pew, then Katlyn came back out and they started to talk.
Sephiroth was still in pursuit of Cloud even after what had happened before. His hate had grown stronger since then and he felt an urge to kill Cloud and just take the blood that he spilt. Sephiroth knew where Cloud was going so he thought to set a trap for him, and then rocketed towards Midgar with his jet boosters.
The four men rode in a line across rivers and mountains. "Where'd ya think they went?" asked Barret.
"Probably went back to Midgar 'cause Cloud said that he'd need some help, and Reeve could be able to help him," replied Cid.
"Midgar? Isn't that place still under construction?" Case asked.
"Last I saw it was," replied Vincent.
"Well then les' head out," Barret said commandingly, and the four rode off again with Midgar being their destination.
"My...that was some story. I would've never guessed that you were THE Cloud Strife," Katlyn said as if he were some celebrity. "But it's kinda hard to get to Reeve unless he knows you or you get the construction workers to let you on the top plate."
"That'll be easy," Cloud said lying back and knowing his connections.
"Well then shall we be off?" asked Katlyn.
"WE? What do ya mean we?" Cloud asked sitting up.
"Well you were so nice to me that I want to help you, and I can help you," Katlyn said giving them a wink.
"C'mon Cloud....stop being cranky...(let her come with us) besides you're being moody anyway," Heather complained about him.
"Moody!?" he replied raising an eyebrow.
"We would love for you to come with us," Heather answered for him.
"Oh thank you Heather, Cloud, this'll be so much fun," Katlyn said enthusiastically. Then the three walked out of the church and started for sector 6, where the construction site was for the rebuilding of sector 7. They walked through the slums quietly and just looking around for any monsters that could pop out.
"Hmm..no monsters...they must've cleaned out the slums," said Cloud impressed.
"Yeah, that was a project that is still in effect but some still lurk around in some parts of the slums," Katlyn informed them.
"Well still, this place gives me chills," Heather said walking closer to Cloud. They continued on walking and then started running for the construction site. Little did they know that they were being watched and followed by the Turks, who knew that Heather and Cloud were involved in bombing of the Shinra Weapons Base.
"Hey Cid!" yelled Barret. "Don't ya still keep in touch wit' Reeve?"
"Yeah, why?" asked Cid.
"Because! I don't wanna walk through Midgar again. Can't Reeve get us some transportation to the Shinra tower?"
"Hold on I'll call him.", Cid said pulling out the old PHS. Cid dialed Reeve's number and waited for an answer.
"Hello?" answered Reeve finally.
"Yo Reeve its Cid," Cid said.
"Oh! Cid how long has it been? Almost a year since I last saw you," Reeve said swerving in his chair.
"Yeah man it has. Oh! Thanks for those parts I asked for," Cid thanked him.
"Anytime Cid. When will you STOP mooching off of Shinra," Reeve kidded. "Now what did you call for?"
"Well....um....can you get a chopper to land outside Midgar and then bring us to the tower?" Cid asked feeling bad about taking so much from Shinra.
"Is that all?" exclaimed Reeve. "That's no problem I'll send a chopper down right now. Looking forward to seeing you."
"Right Reeve, you too," Cid said hanging up.
"So?" asked Barret eager to hear an answer.
"Don't complain. We aren't walkin'," Cid said relieving Barret.
The four rode up to the light of Midgar and saw the chopper coming down to pick them up. They got off their chocobos so Cid could send them back and walked to the landing chopper to get on.
"Buckle up," said the pilot as they got in and took off for the Shinra tower.
Cloud, Heather, and Katlyn walked up to the construction site and looked around. "It's their lunch hour now," explained Katlyn. "Everyday at this time they go to the Wall Market and have lunch then go back to work."
"Looks like they're doin' a good job rebuilding sector 7," Cloud said peering into the "Workers Only" area. "I don't think that they'll mind if we use this service elevator to get to the top plate do you?" Heather looked at Katlyn who looked back at Heather and they shrugged their shoulders.
"Let's do it," Heather said hopping on. The others got on the elevator and Cloud pushed the button for up. The elevator cranked, stopped, and started to move up to the top plate. The ride was slow so Cloud looked into the new sector 7 and it looked pretty much built, then he looked up and saw a helicopter flying to the newly built Shinra tower.
Barret looked from the helicopter at sector 7 and then asked the pilot, "Hey. When will sector 7 be finished?"
The pilot replied, "In about two to three months. Now we're coming to Shinra HQ so please stay seated." They flew up above the tower 'til they could see a helipad to land. The pilot steadied the chopper and touched down perfectly, "Thank you for staying seated and enjoy your visit to Shinra HQ." The four of them got off and watched as the helicopter took off to the sky.
The four looked around and waited for Reeve to come and greet them. "Hell Cid les' jus' go down to his office? I'm freezin' my ass off up here," Barret said shivering.
"Ok then ya big puss. C'mon everyone les' go to Reeve's office," Cid replied leading the way down. They found a staircase and went down to the next floor which was floor seventy, which was where Reeve's office was. "Hey! Is anybody here?" Cid's voice echoed in the big office. He started to walk in and saw somebody coming.
"Oh! Sorry, I wanted to surprise you," said Cait Sith hopping into the room.
"What the hell is that damn cat DOING HERE!?!" yelled Cid remembering when he was a spy. "I thought you said you turned him off Reeve!"
"Sheesh no need to yell," said Cait Sith turning to Cid. "Like I said, I wanted to surprise you."
"Damnit this is some stupid surprise," Barret said in an obvious "happy" mood.
"Sorry! Blame me for trying something good for you guys," Cait Sith replied turning back around. "Anyway I turned him back on so he could maybe get us some drinks while we sit and chat. By the way...... why ARE you here?"
"Well Reeve.....it's a long story," Cid said shaking his head. Then Reeve walked into the office and Cait Sith hopped out to get some drinks.
"You'll never believe how hard it was to find him in this big tower," said Reeve walking over to them. "Now let's sit down and catch up on old times." He stopped and looked at Case, "Who're you?"
"Me? I'm Case," Case replied shaking his hand.
"Oh well then, looks like I meet some new characters to," Reeve said with a smile on his face. "Like the first group wasn't enough." The five went and sat down at a nearby table; then Cait Sith walked back in with drinks and the five started talking.
Cloud, Heather, and Katlyn finally reached the top plate and stared at the huge tower over them. "Well," said Cloud turning to the girls. "Let's go in and find Reeve." The two girls nodded and they walked in, but they had no idea what would happen. "What the hell!?" There was blood and bodies of people all over the place. "Oh shit, this is just like two years ago. Don't look, just get in the elevator and go to the top floor. We need to get to Reeve as soon as we can." They got in the tube elevator and pressed the button for floor sixty-eight.
"EDIN?! That back-stabbing-son-of-a-bitch is FIRED!" yelled Reeve when Vincent told him about what had happened in the mansion. "You said Cloud was here."
"Yeah, he said he was coming here," Cid answered unsure. There was a brief silence in the room until there was a knock on the door. Cait Sith went to answer it and then Cloud busted in the room.
"Cloud!" they all yelled, except Case who looked at Katlyn.
"We need to get the hell outta here," Cloud told them quickly. Then he start to show Reeve the piece of Sephiroth's hand he'd cut off earlier. "Reeve..quick..does Shinra make these kind of machines?"
Reeve took the piece and looked closely, "Yeah we do," he told Cloud.
"Then what the hell do ya think you're doing reviving Sephiroth!?" Cloud yelled to Reeve.
"I didn't revive him, Prof. Edin did," Reeve replied trying to explain to Cloud. "Vincent saw him do it, and I had no idea his was going on behind my back, I'm sorry Cloud."
"Vincent?" Cloud asked looking to see Cid, Vincent, Barret, and some other guys he'd never seen before in the office as well. "Then...I guess it's not your fault."
"Umm...sorry to interrupt but why did we have to get the hell out of here?" Case asked casually. All of a sudden there was a loud banging on the floor below them, and the biomechanical hand started to move and squirm around.
"Shit....too late," said Cloud bracing himself.
Sephiroth violently flew into the room and stood right at
Reeve's desk. He stretched out his right hand and morphed into a
syringe again. The part of his hand that was in the little box flew
out to his hand and reattached itself. Everyone drew their weapons:
Cloud drew his sword, Vincent loaded his gun, Barret attached his
gun-arm, Cid got out his fold-away spear, Case brought out three
daggers and his short sword, Heather took out a crossbow, Cait Sith
got his megaphone, Katlyn got out a staff she found at the church, and
they stood there locked for battle. Sephiroth didn't move a muscle and
neither did any of the others. Then, in the blink of an eye, Sephiroth
shot out his right hand, with the syringe, into Cloud's arm, knocking
Cloud down, and filled the syringe with Jenova celled blood to
complete himself. He pulled his hand back and pumped the blood into
his arm and started to laugh insanely. Cloud got up and said uneasily,
"We're all doomed now."