THE DREAM
By James Chang
nikken@erols.com
Three young kids dashed into the fields. One of them wore a blue souvenir jacket, the other
was a young girl who wore a white spring one. The last of the three was a rather fat child,
and he was also the oldest.
"We did it! Fatboy, I can't believe we pulled this off!"
The kid with the souvenir jacket spun around in a circle.
"Don't say fat!" The fat kid replied.
Shera, the girl, joined in. "But Palmer, you ARE fat."
"I'm not fat! I'm festively plump."
"Yeah, whatever." Shera sighed to herself. "So, Cid, wasn't that great?"
"Kick ass! I still can't believe that we won the science fair!" Cid gleefully took out
a first place blue ribbon and waved it.
"But, you know, that was an awesome concept." Shera smiled. "Going into space. Wow."
"Shinra No. 1! Shinra No. 1! Our Shinra project was number one!" Cid cheered.
"I'm hungry..." Palmer rubbed his stomach.
"You're always hungry!" Cid screamed.
"Well, Palmer, if your really that hungry, we can go to my house. I can make some tea."
"Hey! Tea! With the lard, right? Shera's lard tea is the best!"
Cid had a look of annoyance. "You're disgusting, fatboy."
"Don't say fat!"
After Shera, Palmer, and Cid had a delightful tea party, night soon came about.
"Well..." Cid glanced at his watch. "It's night time. I gotta get home. Or else my
parents will kill me."
Shera grabbed Cid. "Don't leave, yet! This is our celebration party, for winning at the fair!"
Shera took Palmer and Cid outside. They glanced at the small miniature model rocket that they
had built for the science fair. Cid looked at the stars...
"Wow. Shera, Palmer, some day, I really want to go up there..."
Shera's gaze followed his. "Yeah, me too."
Palmer smiled. "I heard that the moon is made out of cheese! That cheese will be mine..."
Cid snapped the two out of their trance. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's get started!"
"What?" The two glared at him.
"Let's make a rocket, and go into space!"
Shera glared at Cid. "Are you crazy?"
"It'll be awesome! And we already have a prototype!" Cid waved the model rocket.
Palmer danced around. "I'll go. Maybe we can eat those dehydrated ice cream packs I heard about."
Shera smiled. "Sure! We'll meet tomorrow at my house at lunchtime!"
The next day, Cid and Palmer went to Shera's. Palmer went extra early in order to eat more
lunch. They then set to work on making a rocket, using the Shinra No. 1 as a model. Finally,
at the end of the day, they made a rocket using a firecracker.
"Launch it! Launch the Shinra No. 2! Let's go!" Cid screamed.
Shera frowned. "We need to be more cautious. A test launch, first."
"Fine."
Shera lit the rocket, and it rocketed into the distance.
"We did it!" Palmer happily danced around.
Cid smacked him. "Stupid fatboy! Now we don't have a rocket!"
Shera had a nervous look on her face. "Oops."
Cid stomped his foot. "Well, we'll make another one at my house, tomorrow."
"What?" Palmer screamed. "But your house doesn't have any lard, whatsoever!"
"Deal with it, fatboy!"
Cid, Shera, and Palmer left. Unbeknowest to them, the "rocket" exploded in the distance,
because it really wasn't a rocket. It was a firecracker.
Shera and Palmer headed to Cid's house...
"Here you are, Palmer. I bought you some lard." Shera handed Palmer a bag.
"Oh thank you! Hooray!" Palmer happily carried the bag with him.
The two entered Cid's house, and got to work on another firecracker. Shera lit the stove,
and began to prepare some tea.
"Man! Stupid #$@)!@ fatboy! You and you're dumb lard!" Cid commented.
Cid grabbed the lard bag, and began running around.
"Oh look at me! I'm Palmer, the festively plump man! I eat lard! I'm going to have 50
heart attacks when I grow up! I do nothing but eat! HEY HEY! TRA LA LA LA LA! I'm stupid!"
"Hey hey!" Palmer began to chase Cid. "Give that back!"
Unfortunately, Cid didn't notice, but while he was running around with Palmer's lard, he dropped
the firecracker right next to the stove.
Shera glared at the fire cracker. "CRAP! EVERYONE OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!"
"SHIT!" Cid screamed.
Palmer, Cid, and Shera managed to jumped out of a window right before Cid's house exploded.
"Wow!" Palmer glared. "That was one powerful rocket!"
Cid frowned. "I don't have a house, anymore..."
Shera looked at Cid. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I brought the lard and turned on the
stove. Hey, Cid, if you really need a place to stay, you can stay at my house for a while."
"Really? Thanks..." Cid looked at his house. He thought to himself. "It's a good thing that
my mom and dad are friends with Shera's parents. But, boy, they are really going to be pissed."
The move into Shera's house wasn't so bad, although Shera's dad complained that Cid's dad hogged
the TV. Undaunted, Palmer, Cid, and Shera set to work on the Shinra No. 4.
Cid frowned. "Why the hell did we name our rockets after Shinra?"
"It's because they supply our electricity." Shera replied.
The new rocket was soon finished.
"Wait!" Shera screamed. "We need to test it, first!"
"No we don't!" Cid cried. "Our first one worked, didn't it?! Now I'm going! Are you?"
Cid jumped on the rocket and lighted it.
"Sure, I guess." A nervous Shera also grabbed onto the way-too-small rocket.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...
"Wait! Wait for me!!!" Palmer jumped onto the rocket. His large mass slammed Cid and Shera
off the rocket. THe rocket began to take off.
"FATBOY!" Cid screamed.
Unfortunately, Palmer was too heavy for the firecracker to support his weight. The firecracker
took off, arched, and crashed back into the ground, right into the middle of the road.
A truck ran over Palmer.
Cid ran up to the truck. "You killed Palmer! YOU BASTARD!"
A HUGE burly man with a large gun came out of the truck. "Are you talking to me?"
Cid suddenly felt very anxious. "Um... er...... NO! I wasn't talking to you. He was!"
Cid pointed to Palmer.
Palmer looked around. "Who, me?"
"DIE!" The truck driver screamed. The truck driver shot Palmer with his gun.
Cid looked up at the truck driver. "You killed Palmer! YOU BASTARD!"
"Now I KNOW you were talking to me!"
Cid, Palmer, and Shera spent the rest of the day running from the big burly truck driver.
(Note: Apologies to any truck driver who is offended by this)
The Shinra Number five....
"You're too fat, fatboy!" Cid screamed as he hopped onto the latest firecracker.
"No I'm not!"
"I'm going, alone, this time! The rocket's not strong enough for more people." Cid lighted the
rocket. "The great captain Highwind, ho!"
"Good luck, captain!" Shera giggled at the make-believe.
"Bring back some cheese for me!" Palmer cried.
The firecracker launched into the distance. Cid was airborne. He looked around.
"#$(&!)*&#$)(! Forgot to put safety belts on this thing."
Cid flew even higher. He could no longer see the ground.
"Wow. So this is space... I can't believe it."
The fire cracker exploded.
"I hope the captain is all right." Shera glanced around.
"Don't worry." Palmer bit into a hamburger.
"aaaaaaayyyyyyyiIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
A charcoaled Cid landed on Palmer and squashed him.
"OUCH!" Palmer squealed.
"Wow! Hey, fatboy, thanks for the landing pad!"
Cid, Palmer, and Shera couldn't seem to find a way to keep the rockets from exploding in
mid-flight. They continued to work on it, day and night. But school and damn finals kept them
from making any progress.
"Damn teachers! Give so much #&$()@!!& homework! Can't they see that we're working on
a scientific breakthrough, here?!" Cid complained.
Finally, however, summer vacation started, and Cid, Palmer, and Shera started their work.
The Shinra No. 6...
"Here goes!" Shera smiled. "Let's see if this works. Hopefully, it won't explode."
"Tra la la! We're going to be famous!" Palmer danced.
"Test launch." Shera lit the rocket.
The rocket lifted off and flew into the distance.
The suspense mounted as Shera, Cid, and Palmer watched, waiting for it to explode.
It didn't.
"Woo hoo!" Cid grabbed Shera and began spinning her around. "We did it!!!"
"SQUAWK!!!" The rocket slammed into a bird and exploded.
"Drat." Cid looked up. "It ain't any good if the rocket explodes the minute it hits something."
"I'll get to work on it." Shera replied.
"I did it!" Shera beamed. "I made some rockets that don't explode! And, just in case
something goes wrong, I made five of them!"
Palmer and Cid burst into Shera's house. "Hey hey!" Palmer screamed. "It's the fourth of July!"
"Yeah!" Cid joined in. "We need fireworks to celebrate our independence!"
"Eh?" Shera stared, dumbfounded. "What independence? Our town has always been under Shinra
control, and I heard that a war with Wutai was brewing up..."
"Well, then! Let's show those Wutaians just how much we like our independence!" Cid smiled.
"Hey hey! Get the fire crackers!" Palmer grabbed the fire crackers, and Cid and Palmer
dashed out of the house.
"WAIT!!!" Shera screamed, but it was too late. The rockets flew into the air.
Palmer and Cid watched as the rockets flew away...
"Oops." A sweat drop appeared above Cid's head.
"Well," Shera sighed. "So much for Shinra No. 7 through 12..."
"Ziggle dweep tork?" Melvin the martian turned to his wife, and pointed out the window.
"Iggle figgle stomp." Melvin's wife, George, replied.
"Ipsy pipsy?" The two aliens stared out the window as five rockets soared towards their
space ship.
"AGGU NAGA TWIT!!!" The rockets hit their space ship and exploded.
Cid, Palmer, and Shera continued to study aerodynamics and time went by. The three young
children soon began to grow up. On the way to their pre-teens, they had tested their latest
rockets, the Shinras number 13 through 18. Various things happened. Palmer accidently blasted
the Shinra No. 13 up his nose. Shera screwed up with No. 14 and ended up blowing up Palmer's
house, too, so Palmer also had to live with Shera and Cid. Shera's dad got pissed off at Cid's
dad for hogging the TV and at Palmer's dad for eating all of his food so he destroyed the Shinra
No. 15 in a fit of rage. Come number 16, Cid Highwind learned the hard way that the planet has
an ozone layer around it, and consequently spent two weeks in the hospital. Palmer ate the
Shinra No. 17, and, finally, the Shinra No. 18 was decimated by a bunch of bullies who were
picking on Palmer, Cid, and Shera for thinking that they could go into space.
Even though they were now teenagers, the three hadn't changed much at all. Cid was still
always the leader, Shera kept her common sense and cautiousness, and Palmer remained a
happy-go-lucky fatman. But, due to stress from homework assignments, Cid developed a rather
nasty tendency to curse. The three went through much in their pre-teens, and, come time for
a car, Cid logically named his wheels...
"The Shinra No. 19!" Cid patted the sleek custom sports car that they designed.
Palmer happily danced. "With extra space in the trunk and a built in refrigerator, to boot!"
"I love it! When can we test it out?" Cid cried.
"As soon as one of us gets a driver's license." Shera replied.
"No way!" An angry Cid complained. "I want to use it, now!"
"We should wait." Shera studied the sports car. "Besides, it's illegal to drive without a
license. So, shall we get to work on our next rocket?"
"$!$@!@#! the rocket!" Cid screamed. "Those stupid things don't seem to be working at all."
"Well..." Shera commented. "Maybe we can use what we learned in our physics class this
semester. You aren't thinking about giving up, are you? What about space?"
"Yeah, yeah." Cid grumbled.
"Fiddlesticks." Palmer was thinking about something. "I just learned in class today that the
moon is NOT made out of cheese. Drat."
"You're still coming, though, right, fatman?"
"Sure, I guess. And don't say fat!"
Cid, Shera, and Palmer somehow managed to balance their schedule between schoolwork, the rocket,
and Cid's car accidents. However, this time they were dead serious about going into space. They
worked on that rocket for months. Checking every little detail, and going through mathematical
after mathematical calculation. Finally, the three made up a blueprint of what was to be,
hopefully, the first rocket to go into space...
"Well, there we have it." Shera glanced at the piece of paper. "The secret of space...
right in our hands..."
"Kick ass!" Cid cheered. "Let's get started!"
"Hey hey! Space will soon be ours!" Palmer did another happy dance.
"Sure. Let's get to work. First, we'll need a rocket engine, some rocket fuel, fifty tons of
adamant metal, a Super Mega Shinra Ver. 3.1 Shinratosh computer, and some dehydrated ice cream."
Palmer smiled. "Dehydrated ice cream. That's the good stuff."
"Yeah. Let's go!" Shera, Palmer, and Cid took the money they earned doing various part-time
jobs (like working at the choco-burger) and headed to the Shinra Auto Pit Stop. To their
surprise, they saw a bunch of Shinra Troops and their husky commander waiting around the store.
Cid walked up to the husky commander. "What the &#$*(@) is going on?"
A soldier glared at Cid. "Watch your mouth, sir! You are standing in the presence of the
head of the Shinra army, Heideggar, himself!"
"Heideggar?" Shera gave the soldier a surprised look. "Why is he here?"
Heideggar was about the same age as Palmer. He was almost just as fat, too. He turned to face
the three young adults. "Gya ha ha! Stay back! The weapons we got from Shinra will handle
everything!" He looked at Cid's puzzled face. "Hmmph. Morons. Don't you know? We are at war
with Wutai now!"
"Really?" Shera stared at all of the soldiers. "Why?"
Heideggar didn't bother to answer. He continued. "This quiet town is our closest outpost to
Wutai. Gya ha ha! The fools don't stand a chance! March!"
The commander and the soldiers marched towards the harbor to get onto the boats that would
transfer them to Wutai's island.
"Ah well." Palmer bit into an ice cream cone. "Who cares? Just as long as those Wutaians
don't reach us."
"Yeah, fatman. You're right. Let's get those supplies."
"Don't say fat!"
Cid, Shera, and Palmer entered the store and inquired about a rocket engine.
"500,000,000 GIL?????!!!!!!!!" Cid stared wide-eyed when he saw the price of the engine.
"Yep." The shop keeper replied.
"@($#*)$&#()(*&#! We don't have 500,000,000 gil! NOOOOOOOO!" Cid stomped his foot in anguish."
"Now we'll never..." Shera couldn't continue.
Palmer finished his ice cream. "No space? Phooey foo too!"
The three dejected companions left the store.
"That's it." Cid had enough. "We'll never get to space. I give up."
"What?!" Shera stared at Cid. "You can't!!!"
"We can't get that money! Everything we make just ends up blowing up in our faces, anyway!"
Cid tromped off and left.
Palmer looked at Shera. "What are we going to do?"
Shera sighed.
Cid walked out of Shera's house and looked up at the stars. He thought he saw something up
there. He saw a wishing star.
"I wish... I wish... I wish I could get up there..."
Shera and Palmer walked up behind him.
"Cid?" Shera sat down next to Cid.
"Shera... You know, it's interesting. At first, it just seemed like a little child's dream.
Something I would grow out of. I mean, space. What a stupid concept. What made me think that
I had a chance of ever going there in my life? Surely, it was just my imagination. Like I said,
I should have out grown that dream. But Shera, I haven't. All my life, I dreamed about going
up there. To be with the stars. To see other planets. Interesting. I have no life, no job,
no girlfriend, hell, I don't even have a house. I devoted my life to this."
"Cid, I..."
Cid looked at Shera. "What, now? Now that we can't go any further?"
Cid was surprised when Palmer spoke. "I don't know about you guys, but you can't just give up
like that. You had a dream. A dream which you harboured all through our youth. Are we just
going to throw that away? That's certainly not my style. These depressing talks just aren't for
me." Palmer ate another lard donut.
Shera smiled. "Palmer's right, Cid. When you have a dream, you have to pursue it to make it
happen. It might take years. It might even take centuries. But what else will we do?"
Cid smirked. "Yeah. The great Captain Highwind, heh heh....."
"What the hell happened?!" The fat man in the red cigar suit glared at Heideggar.
"We're sorry, President Shinra. Those damn Wutaians put up a helluva fight! Even our new
night vision goggles couldn't detect them with their ability to hide in the shadows!"
"Kya ha ha! Idiots, that's what you all are!" A lady with rather greenish hair and a red
ball gown laughed at the pathetic site. "Heideggar, you're a fool. Manpower and night goggles
aren't where it's at. You need weapons! BIG WEAPONS!!!! HUMONGOUS WEAPONS that are sooooo
big that even an elephant like you couldn't eat it."
"I'm not an elephant..."
"What do you suggest, Scarlett?" President Shinra was curious.
"Here, a new gun. Watch it blow those Wutaians to smithereens!" Scarlett handed Heideggar
a HUGE gun that was as big as... well, Palmer. And that's HUGE.
"The hell?" Heideggar glared at the gun.
"Go!" President Shinra commanded. "Destroy those Wutaians!"
Heideggar and an army of men left the building with their new weaponry.
Heideggar and an army came back with a bunch of wounds and casualties.
"Dammit." President Shinra sighed. "Now what do we do?"
Scarlett looked at an old newspaper that she read when she was a child.
"Hmm... Three kids win Science Fair with Rocket Theory.... I got it!!!"
"What?" The president looked at Scarlett.
"Lasers from space! The Wutaians won't know what hit them! Kya ha ha!!!"
"Gya ha ha! That's genius! But, how will we start a space program?"
A sickly young man ran up to them. "ME! I'm the head of the science program! I'll do it!"
President Shinra glared at him. "No way, Hojo. You're too stupid. Besides, your 11 toes
scare me."
A dejected Hojo walked away, grumbling to himself. "Someday I'll show them. I'll show them all!"
"Kya ha ha! Well? What are we waiting for? Let's see if we can find those three kids. They
should be grown up by now. They can probably do the job." Scarlett left.
"Gya ha ha! Those Wutaians will pay!" Heideggar also left.
The Prez smiled. "I just love those two's laugh!" He then walked away.
Cid sat in the field and grumbled to himself. "Need money. Need money." Palmer aslo grumbled.
"Need food. Need food." Shera suddenly had an idea. "How about we get a sponsor? Someone who
will pay for the rocket?"
Cid glared at Shera. "Who the hell would want to sponsor us?"
Scarlett and Heideggar walked up to the three companions. "Hey!" Scarlett smiled. "The Shinra
would like to sponsor your rocket."
Cid, Palmer, and Shera stared, bug-eyed.
"Wow! Lard donuts! All I can eat!" Palmer guzzled down the donuts like they were... well...
things that were easy to guzzle down. How the hell do you guzzle down donuts, anyway?
"This is great!" Cid cheered.
The three sat in the lounge of the Shinra building, waiting for their meeting with the Prez.
Suddenly, the President walked up to them.
"Wow!" Cid screamed. "It's the big head honcho, the fat mother $&#*er himself."
President Shinra glared at Cid. "Watch it! I'm going to be deciding who gets to be the head of
the Shinra Space Program."
Cid smiled. "That's gotta be me! I'm the leader! Right, guys?"
"Sure." Shera remarked.
"As long as you provide the food." Palmer replied.
President Shinra looked at Palmer. He felt a close bond with him because both of them were
remarkably festively plump. "I have decided who shall be the head of the Space Program. It
shall be this nice handsome man, here!" The prez pointed the Palmer.
"WHAT?!" Cid screamed.
"Who, me?" Palmer looked at himself.
"FAAAAAAAAAAAAAT MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Cid never got over Palmer being picked as head of the Space Program. A hatred and immense
jealousy of Palmer began to grow.
"Cid?" Palmer walked up to Cid, who was sulking in Shera's couch.
"$#(@)!(*@&()#&!@) YOU!!!!"
Palmer bit into a donut. "Well, it's not like I asked for the job."
"Shut up, $#&*(!@)#&$ fat man!"
"Don't say fat. I'm actually kind of sorry."
"GO AWAY!!!"
Shera entered the room. "CID! How can you be like that to Palmer? He's your friend! He was
with us and helped us work on our dream ever since the beginning! You should be happy for him!"
"..........."
Palmer looked at Cid. "Well, Cid. I'm going to be leaving tomorrow for the Shinra building.
I'm looking foward to it. Free food. But, I'm finding it difficult to leave here with you
hating me like this."
Cid groaned. "JUST SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
Shera frowned. "Come on, Palmer. Cid's in a bad mood."
Palmer looked at Cid. "Hey, Cid, if it'll really make you feel better, I'll make you the captain
of the rocket. You'll get to be the one who goes into space."
"........."
Palmer left the room. Shera walked out of the door, and turned around. "Goodnight, captain."
She then left.
Cid smiled to himself. "Captain Highwind. Heh heh." He sighed, and dashed out of the room.
"Fatman! Wait up!"
Palmer left for Shinra HQ, and managed Cid's and Shera's funding. They went through several
prototypes first, as the scientific method commanded. The Shinra No. 20, 21, 22, and 23 were
very successful in showing that a rocket could make it to space, but the space program still had
yet to send a man to the stars...
The war with Wutai dragged on, with no decisive winner. Heideggar ended up getting slim-fasted
the hard way several times, and Scarlett devised new weapons that blew up in his face. The prez
grew impatient.
Cid, Shera, and Palmer soon got a vacation.
"All right. Space can wait a few moments, can't it? It ain't going no where!" Cid smiled.
The three boarded the Shinra No. 19, Cid's cooool sports car. Unfortunately, Cid still didn't
have his driver's license. "#$&(*!@#)!*&#() DRIVER'S ED!" He complained.
Shera and her driving license took the wheel. "La de da." She whistled to herself as the car
slowly cruised down the roadway.
Palmer opened up the built in refrigerator, ate 101 daldonuts, and then took a nap.
"Dammit, Shera! Can't you drive any faster?!" Cid poked Shera in the shoulder.
"No way! I'm already at the speed limit!"
"FASTER!!!"
"Okay, then." Shera increased the speed by 5 miles per hour. "There. I'm driving as fast as I
can without getting a speeding ticket."
"FASTER!!!"
"But I'm already five miles over."
Cid grumbled at the 25 mph speed limit in residential areas. "#$*&()@$& the speed limit! We're
getting nowhere! Bring it up to 100 miles per hour!"
"Okay...." Shera jammed the gas pedal. The car burst foward and gained speed incredibly fast.
"HEY HEY!!!" Palmer, who had neglected to buckle his safety belt, flew out of the car.
"Dammit, Shera! That's too fast! What speed are we at?"
"I don't know! The speedometer exploded!!!"
"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!"
The car burst into flames.
"Shera! Stop it! Stop it! Slow down!" A flaming Cid was screaming commands.
"My hair's on fire! My hair's on fire!" Shera couldn't concentrate, 'cause her hair was on fire.
Shera tried to turn, but the brakes exploded under all the friction. The car kept on spinning
in a bunch of random turns.
Palmer got up, and brushed himself off. He stared at the incoming sports car.
"Hoo boy." He sighed. The sports car crashed directly into Palmer, and broke into pieces due
to Palmer's large mass.
Still engulfed in flames, Cid and Shera jumped out of the broken car and screamed in pain as
firemen came and put out the car fire in an attempt to salvage the vehicle.
The Shinra No. 19 was decimated. Cid mourned the loss of his car.
"My car....." Cid looked at the broken remains of what was once a grand sports vehicle.
"My daldonuts...." Palmer mourned the loss of all of the donuts that were still in the vehicle.
Shera looked crushed. "How come I always do these things? Never again. Next time, I'm going
to take my time, and I'm never going to rush anything, again."
From then on, Shera became extra-cautious and took her time on everything. She worked, as Cid
quoted, "SLOWER THAN A SNAIL, GODDAMMIT!!!"
Unable to cope with the fact that his car was dead, Cid put the remains of the sports car in the
living room of Shera's house. Now Shera's dad complains that the car hogs the couch.
"A flagship?" Palmer glared at Scarlett and Heideggar.
"Kya ha ha! Air power! That's what we need!"
"Gya ha ha! Project Gelnika will destroy Wutai!"
"Tra la la! We will... be victorious?"
Scarlett and Heideggar glared at Palmer. "Tra la la?! What kind of a stupid laugh is that?!"
"A flagship, eh?" Cid smiled. "Well, why not? I'll get to work on it."
Palmer sipped some of Shera's tea. "Great. And while your at it, Shera will work on the Shinra
No. 24."
Cid exited the house, and met up with five men, all dressed in crew uniform.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Captain Highwind?" The men saluted. "We will be the crew of your airship."
Cid smiled. "Captain, eh? Cool!"
"Here's our test vehicle!" Cid bragged to Shera and Palmer about the air-plane.
"It's not fat enough." Palmer commented.
"You mean, big, right?" Shera stared at the small airplane.
"Too tiny." Palmer replied. "Shouldn't a flagship be as big as... say... a brontosaurus? I
mean, I should think so."
Cid smiled. "Tiny Bronco, eh?"
"Huh?" Palmer looked at Cid.
"Excellent name, fatman."
"Don't say fat!"
Cid was happy, now that he had a miniature plane to take the place of his car. Progress on the
Shinra No. 22 went REALLY slowly, because Shera now took her time to examine every little detail.
Finally, Cid completed....
"MY MASTERPIECE!!!" Cid looked at the huge hulking airship before him. "And I shall call it...
THE HIGHWIND!" Cid and his crew boarded the airship. "How 'bout we take it for a spin?"
"Ay ay, captain!"
The Highwind burst into the air. It flew across mountains, rivers, and valleys. The view was
magnificent. It was like a dream.
Unfortunately, Cid woke up.
"WHADDYA MEAN I CAN'T HAVE THE HIGHWIND?!" Cid glared at Palmer.
"Well..." Palmer twiddled his thumbs. "Heideggar wants it. To use in the war."
"Damn worthless fat $#&*(@)#$&!@#!"
"Don't say fat!"
"I'll say fat and I'll like it!"
"No!"
"Yes! FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FATFATFATAFATAFATFATAFAFTAFATAFATAFATFATFAT!"
"FESTIVELY PLUMP FESTIVELY PLUMP FESTIVELY PLUMP FESTIVELYPLUMPFESTIVELYPLUMAPFELSTIVELSPLAUM!"
Dejected that the Shinra got his Highwind Airship, Cid spent all day cruising around in his
Tiny Bronco while Shera and Cid's rocket crew worked on the Shinra No. 24.
"Hmm...." Shera checked the eigth tank for the 101th time. "Okay, I guess. I'll just check
it again. Just to make sure."
"Dammit, Shera! What the #&*()&@!# are you doing?" Cid glared as Shera tightened a bolt.
"Just making sure that this one works. That's all."
"$&*(#@)$..." Cid mumbled a bunch of explecitives to himself.
"Captain, you really shouldn't curse so much. You'll end up looking like a grumpy old man."
"Whatever. Just make sure nothing goes wrong. And we need to hurry. Palmer can't contain
the president's patience much longer."
"Ha ha. Well, I'm done."
"Really?!"
"Yep. I think that's about it."
"Great!"
"We'll be preparing the launch, soon, captain. Space, I can feel it, now!"
Nightime....
"UGOONAMTRALAGGIT?" Melvin the Martian looked at his wife, George.
"Ipsuao." George replied. The two stared at the Shinra No. 24. Ever since their
spaceship was mysteriously shot down by an unknown assaulter many years ago, they were stranded
on earth. Now, this was their chance to get back to their home.
"Hey! What are you doing, here?" One of the ship's crew glared at the aliens.
"Agla Istonel!"
The crew member glared. "Yes, I do speak Spanish, thank you very much. I also speak French."
An annoyed Melvin blasted the man with a strange gun, turning the man into a mushroom.
The two aliens proceeded to the space ship.
BOOOM!
"The hell?!" Cid woke up with a start from the noise. He ran outside.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cid glared in horror as the spaceship took off, and rocketed away...
"Jimmy Joe Joe! Wake up!" Another one of the crew members shook the mushroom while Cid
grieved over the loss of the Shinra 24. Somehow, they managed to turn Jimmy Joe Joe back to
normal, but Jimmy Joe Joe developed a nasty habit of screaming whenever someone ordered mushroom
topping on their pizza.
"Don't worry, captain." Shera comforted Cid. "The Space Program has already gotten to work on
the Shinra No. 25. I wonder how Palmer's doing..."
"SUMO MATCH! BANZAI!"
"NO! NO!" Palmer screamed, as Heideggar and the President jumped off of the meeting table and
landed on him. "NO FAIR! TWO AGAINST ONE!" Palmer was squished.
The president smiled. "That oughtta show you! Don't fail me, again!"
Scarlett entered the meeting room. "What the hell are you three doing?" She glared at the
broken meeting table. "Hojo has something he would like to share with you."
Hojo entered. "Thank you, Scarlett. Hmm..."
The President got up. "Professor Hojo, what have you discovered?"
"A source of power, my friend. Something which I think will be most useful to you in the war.
I have discovered an energy inside the planet. An energy, which, when harnessed, has the
potential to destroy a city. Or light a light bulb. It makes good electricity, too."
"And what is this energy source?" The President asked.
"Mako...."
After the President, Heideggar, and Hojo left the room, Palmer got up. "Hey hey! I'm alive!"
He danced around the room. Scarlett stared. "What the hell are you doing? Stop that! Get
back to work!"
Palmer smiled. "You need to lighten up. Enjoy life. Life is a sport! Drink it up!"
"I'm not thirsty, for one thing."
Palmer walked up to her. "So, whatcha doin' with that mako?"
Scarlett frowned. "Hojo is a fool. Mako can't be used to make weapons. The only thing it's
good for is lighting light bulbs and serving as a supply of electricity. Look! This is our
most highly developed Mako weapon. AND IT SUCKS!"
Scarlett handed Palmer a cute little gun.
"Hey hey! Cool. What's it called?"
"Mako gun. Worthless."
"Really?" Palmer pulled the trigger, and the mako-powered device blasted Scarlett with lighting.
"YOU IDIOT!" Scarlett slapped Palmer.
"Ouch! I thought you said it sucked. I think it's cool!"
Scarlett frowned. "It's inferior to all of our other weapons. Look how powerful this weapon
is compared to that mako gun!" Scarlett snapped her fingers.
A HUGE robot walked over, destroying the all-too-small meeting room.
"Kya ha ha! This, my friend, is the ultimate in high-tech weaponry. THE PROUD CLOD!"
"Proud Clod? Why is it proud? And why is it a clod?"
"Because it has much to be proud of, and because of god-awful translation from Japanese to
English, I think. At any rate, it is MUCH better than that PUNY little mako gun."
Palmer pulled the trigger of the mako gun. The gun blasted the robot with a small ice blast.
The robot crumpled into little pieces.
Palmer gave Scarlett a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"
Scarlett frowned. "Mental note: Make the Proud Clod tougher."
Palmer smiled. "I don't think that thing will ever be very strong. I'd be surprised if it
managed to beat three people."
Scarlett slapped Palmer. "You can keep your silly little mako gun. I have other BETTER things
to worry about." Scarlett left the room with the beat-up Proud Clod.
"Hey hey!" Palmer put the mako gun in his pocket.
"Shinra No. 25, ho!" Cid cheered. Palmer, Cid, and Shera entered the new rocket.
"Wow. We did good work." Shera smiled.
"Captain!" The crew saluted. "Only two more months before it's ready!"
Unknown to anyone, two ninjas were in the engine room...
"Staniv! Watch it! Be quiet!" The female ninja in red smacked her green-hatted companion.
"Chekhov, why the hell are we sabotaging the Shinra Space program?" Staniv asked.
Chekhov sighed. "Well, for one thing, I get to get out of Wutai, and away from that annoying
brat. And for another thing, I heard that the Shinra plans to arm these rockets with lasers and
missiles to blast Wutai from space."
"That can't be any good. Well, let's get to work. There! Done!"
"Let's get out of here!"
The Shinra No. 25 exploded.
A charcoaled Cid, Shera, Palmer, and crew dashed out of the remains.
Cid yelled. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"
"#$&*(@)&*$(!)@&#()!#@&(@)!$&*(!@)#*&$(#!$*!&()#*&@()#*@!()#&*$(#@$)@*#)*(%*@)($&*%)@&!#&@O!!!"
Cid cursed and cursed and cursed a whole bunch. "DAMN WUTAI! HOW DARE THEY!!!"
Shera looked at the broken spaceship. "Well, captain, if at first you don't succeed,
try, try, again."
Cid frowned. "How? With those damn Wutaians sabotaging all of our rockets?"
A newpaper man ran up to Cid. "Extra extra! The war is over! Peace treaty signed!"
Cid glared at the man. "How?"
"One of our soldiers, Sephiroth, went over and kicked a bunch of Wutai ass." The man smiled.
"HOOOOOORAY!" Palmer cheered. "Now we can get to work without fear of Wutai!"
"YOU'RE CUTTING THE SPACE PROGRAM?!" Palmer glared at President Shinra.
"Yes, Palmer. We are cutting the space program. We have no need for it, anymore."
"But you can't! Cid will be crushed! That was his dream!"
The man in the blue suit that was standing next to the president looked questioningly at Palmer.
"I thought it was your dream, too." He commented.
"Well, Reeve, not really. It stopped being my dream ever since I found out that the moon was not
made out of green cheese. But my new dream was to send a man to space, and that man was supposed
to be Cid, and now the president is just breaking all of our dreams."
"My choice has been made." The president got up and began to leave.
"Mr. President!" Reeve yelled.
"What?" President Shinra stopped.
"Can't you just give them one more chance?"
"No."
Reeve frowned. "Okay, Mr. President. I'll give you a deal. You give Palmer one more chance,
and I'll proceed with the Midgar project."
The President glared, then thought to himself. "Fine. One more chance." He left.
Palmer looked at Reeve. "I thought you were against the messy slums and over-pollution of the
Midgar project."
"Yeah, well... I was just thinking about how all of those mako plants could really help the
populous. Don't tell Scarlett or Heideggar about this, okay?"
"Sure."
The Shinra No. 26. Finally. Everything was going perfect. It was the day of the big launch.
"This is it! The day! The day we will go into space!" Cid gave a toast.
"Here, here!" The crew joined in.
"Finally. My dream..."
(Quick author's note: My memory is a bit rusty, okay?)
"Quit checking those tanks, Shera!"
"Just one more check, captain. I want to make sure everything goes right."
"Those tanks wouldn't break if hell froze over them! Now hurry the shit up!"
Cid entered the engine room.
"Here we are!"
The men cheered. "Captain! Make our dreams come true!"
"You can count on me!"
Cid entered the control room. He started the launch.
"Space. It's finally happening. My dream will finally come true..."
"Well, here goes. I can't believe it..."
ALARM! ALARM!
"What the hell?!"
The comm link turned on, and one of the crew frantically yelled.
"Captain! An engineer is still in the engine room!"
"What?! What stupid idiot is that?!"
The link went on, again. "Here, captain. It's me, Shera."
"What the &$(#)@#&$ are you doing in there?!"
"Just making one last check, captain."
30 seconds until lift off
"Get the $(#*&)!@*&# out of there! You'll be burned to a crisp! Nothing will be able to survive
the heat down there!"
"Don't worry about it, captain. If I can just make sure everything's okay, the launch will
be a success."
"Okay, Shera... please, hurry!"
20 seconds...
"Tank Number 7, okay. Proceeding to check number 8."
"SHERA! GET OUT OF THERE! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!!!"
15 seconds...
"Shera, don't make me a murderor..."
10 seconds...
"Checking number eight..."
"Oh, what do I do...
5 seconds...
"Space... my dreams..."
2 seconds...
"Shera!"
Lift off!
"SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Cid slammed the emergency shut-down before the engines could kill Shera.
Palmer watched as the rocket began to take off. "Well, this is it. I did it."
He gazed in horror as the engines shut off, and the rocket fell back down.
After relanding, the rocket slowly tilted and leaned...
The Shinra Space Program was cut from the budget. It was now a space program in name, only.
Cid grieved for years, and spent all of his life in the tilted, useless Shinra No. 26. Shera
lost all self-esteem when she saw that she destroyed Cid's dream. Cid gained an eternal anger
against Shera, and treated her like garbage day in and day out. Shera took it, because she
felt that it was, once again, her fault. Cid cursed the Shinra for denying him, and desperately
searched for some way out. Palmer remained in the Shinra Building, eating his lard donuts,
and forever begging for funds from the president. Of course, no money for
the space program came. Then, one day, at a certain meeting...
"Raise the mako rates." The president commanded.
Palmer sat up. Was this his chance? "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra la la! And won't you please
give some money into our wonderful space program?"
The president calmly answered. "The money will be divided amongst Reeve and Scarlett."
"Oh man...." Palmer leaned on the table and groaned.
After the meeting, Palmer went back to his office. The office was littered with all sorts
of junk food, from lard donuts to cheesy choco puffs. Palmer brushed all of the food off of
his desk, revealing an old newspaper. On the front page was the heading...
"Three Kids Win Science Fair with Rocket Theory!"
Palmer frowned. "I won't give up! Never! I'm going to President Shinra's office on the top
floor right now and I'm going to get that money or I'm going to get fired!"
Palmer angrily entered the elevator. The elevator didn't move, because Palmer was too heavy.
"Phooey foo too!" Palmer angrily tromped up the stairs, and walked up to the President's office.
"You can't go there!" The secretary screamed.
"I'm going to meet the president!" Palmer ignored the secretary, and went upstairs to the
office. "MR. PRESIDENT!" He screamed.
President Shinra's chair turned around. The president looked at the fatman. Standing next
to the president was a young man with blond/orange hair wearing white. The young man petted his
pet panther.
"Old man?" The young man turned to his father. "What's going on?"
"Hey, Rufus." Palmer waved to the president's son. "I need to speak to your dad."
The panther glared at Palmer. "Habla espanol?"
Palmer always wondered how the hell Rufus' panther, Dark Nation, learned to speak Spanish.
The president spoke. "Ah, Palmer. Do you want something?"
"YEAH! I DEMAND THAT..."
ALARM! ALARM!
The president glared around. "What the hell is going on?"
The radio turned on. "Mr. President! It's Sephiroth! He's... AAAGGGHHHHHH!!!"
"What?!"
Suddenly, a man with a black trench cloak tromped up the stairs. He looked at the president,
and smiled. Palmer stared at those cold black eyes. "Sephiroth?! The hero of the war that
went mad at Nibelheim? CRAP!" Palmer dove behind one of the pillars in the office.
"Shit! I'm too young to die! I don't wanna get blood stains on my pretty white suit!" Rufus
dashed to the door that led to the balcony and called for a helicopter.
The president calmly sat in his chair, although fear was evident in his eyes. "Sephiroth, what
do you want?" He nervously asked.
Sephiroth screamed. "I WON'T LET YOU HAVE THE PROMISED LAND!" "AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!"
Palmer watched in horror as Sephiroth ran his sword through the president. The president
slumped on the table, dead. Neglecting to remove his sword from the body, Sephiroth laughed,
then dissappeared.
Palmer stared, paralyzed, at the site for a while. Maybe an hour. He was getting hungry.
Suddenly, he saw five people run up the stairs and enter the office. He recognized them.
Barret Wallace, the leader of the rebels known as Avalanche and Mr. T wannabe.
Tifa Lockeheart, an important avalanche member and maintainer of two VERY VERY lovely eyes.
Aeris Gainsborough, the ancient Cetra and Hojo's little experiment.
Red XIII, the dumb mutt.
And Finally, a man dressed in soldier uniform that Palmer couldn't recognize.
"What da hell happened here?" Barret pondered. Palmer watched as the avalanche members
discussed the latest occurences. He looked out of the window, and saw Rufus waiting for the
helicopter. "I have to escape!" Palmer made a break for it.
"HEY!" Aeris yelled when she saw Palmer.
Palmer ran as hard as he could. He ran and ran and ran to escape. He ran until he felt that he
would die from fatigue. He felt like he had been running for hours. Then, Barret and that
soldier grabbed him. Palmer opened his eyes, and saw that he had ran approximately three feet
from the pillar.
"Please don't kill me!" He begged.
"What happened, here?" The soldier asked.
"It was Sephiroth! I saw him! He killed the president! He screamed something about
not letting us have the promised land!"
"Sephiroth?" The soldier pondered to himself.
Palmer used his blubber to bounce Barret and the soldier away. He then brushed him self off,
and ran to the balcony. As he made his way to the helicopter, he heard Barret scream,
"Shit! Rufus! I forgot about him!"
Palmer ran up to Rufus. Rufus glared at him. "Well?! Do you want to escape or not? Get on
the helicopter!" As Palmer boarded the helicopter, he saw avalanche confronting Rufus.
"Your only president because you're old man died!" Barret screamed at Rufus.
"Get out of here!" The soldier commanded. "I'll take care of him!"
Palmer saw the avalanche members leave. Rufus looked at the soldier. "Why do you want to fight
me?"
The soldier gave Rufus a long speech on not letting Shinra have the promised land.
Rufus sighed as Dark Nation prepared for battle. "Too bad. I guess we won't be friends!"
Rufus whipped out his shotgun, and blasted the soldier.
The soldier slashed Rufus with a HUMONGOUS BIG-ASS sword, but a barrier put up by Dark Nation
blocked the strike. The soldier glared at the cat. "CROSS SLASH!" He screamed. The soldier
dashed up to the cat and slashed it up.
"No me gusta!" Dark Nation fell down, unconcious.
"That's all, for now!" Rufus grabbed Dark Nation, boarded the helicopter, and flew away.
"Get us out of here, Tseng!" Rufus yelled at the helicopter pilot.
"I can't!" Tseng replied. "Something REALLY heavy is weighing the helicopter down!"
Rufus looked at Palmer.
"aaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" Palmer screamed as he was thrown from the
helicopter.
Nothing much happened to Palmer for a while. Rufus went on a Sephiroth hunt to destroy
Sephiroth, and avalanche was hot on his heels. One day...
"Palmer!" Rufus glared at Palmer.
"Yes?"
"Pack up your lard donuts! We're going to Rocket Town!"
"HOORAY!" Palmer thought to himself. "It must be about the space program!"
(Note: Cid's, Shera's, and Palmer's town was renamed Rocket Town for obvious reasons.)
Rufus looked at Palmer. "I want you to get me the Tiny Bronco."
"What?!"
"Just do it."
Palmer continued to think. "Well, after I get him the Tiny Bronco, surely he'll fund the space
program!"
It was a long walk to Rocket Town. Palmer had to wonder why Rufus didn't just take a helicopter
or the Highwind. Finally, they reached Rocket Town. Palmer dashed into Shera's house.
"Hey hey! Cid! Long time no see!"
"Fatman!" Cid eagerly greeted Palmer. "Is the president here about the Space Program?"
"Hey hey! I don't know! Why don't you ask him, yourself?"
"Stupid worthless fat $#&*(@&!)!" Cid dashed out of the room.
"Don't say fat!"
Palmer saw Shera, then noticed the tea on the table.
"Hey hey! Tea! Gimme gimme! Lots of honey and sugar and... oh yeah! Don't forget the LARD!"
"Sure, Palmer." Shera replied.
Palmer looked at the three other people in the house. A soldier, a Cetra, and a girl who
maintains two VERY VERY lovely eyes...
"Do I know you?" He asked. Palmer thought to himself. A soldier, a Cetra, and a girl who
maintains two VERY VERY lovely eyes. "I guess not." Palmer helped himself to some tea.
The three people left to see what Cid was doing.
Shera continued to put more tea on the stove. "It's been a long time, Palmer."
"Yeah, I know. So how are things going?"
"Terrible. Cid has never been the same. I have never been the same. I think the only one of
us who hasn't been crushed yet is you, Palmer."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, Shera, I need the Tiny Bronco."
"Well, Palmer, you're not the first. Those three nice people also want it.
"What do you mean you want my Tiny Bronco?!" Cid screamed.
"We are after Sephiroth. We heard that he went across the ocean, so we need your Tiny Bronco."
"First you take the Highwind, then space, and now you're taking away the skies from me?!"
"Don't forget, Mr. Highwind, it was because of Shinra that you were able to get the Bronco in
the first place!"
Cid was fuming. Inside, he thought to himself, "How dare they mock my dreams... I hate the
Shinra! I hate it!"
Shera grabbed the three people and yanked them back in.
"I'm really sorry about this. Listen, you want the Tiny Bronco, right? Palmer wants to take it.
Why don't you talk to him?"
"Sure." The soldier, Cloud, and Tifa and Aeris went to the backyard.
Palmer stood up on the front of the propellar. He thought about how he was being forced to take
away Cid's Tiny Bronco. "Why do I have to do this? I'm the head of the Space Program!"
Palmer sighed. Suddenly, Cloud tapped him on the shoulder. Palmer turned around and looked at
him. "I'm almost sure I know you.... THAT'S RIGHT! Back at the Shinra Building, when the
President was killed!" Palmer frantically looked around. "SECURITY!!!"
"We can't let him call the soldiers!" Cloud yelled. Tifa shut the door to the house, so
no one could hear Palmer. Palmer saw that he was trapped in the back yard. "Hoo boy. Now
what?" He had to defend himself. Suddenly, Palmer had an idea. "THE MAKO GUN!" Palmer
grabbed out his prized weapon, and blasted Cloud with fire.
"OUCH!" Cloud screamed. "Stupid fat pest!"
Palmer blasted Cloud with lightning. "Heh, hic!" Palmer waved his butt at Tifa and Aeris and
farted.
Tifa and Aeris fell down, unconcious.
"DIE!!!" Cloud whipped out his BIG-ASS sword and charged at Palmer.
"Yipe!" Palmer jumped out of the way, and Cloud crashed into the Tiny Bronco.
"Heh, hic! Come on!" Palmer waved his arms, and danced around. "I can take you!" Suddenly,
Palmer heard something move. He looked, and saw that the Tiny Bronco was activated when Cloud
crashed into it. "Woah!" The Tiny Bronco's propellar began to turn, and so did the Tiny Bronco.
The propellar was heading right for Palmer's head. "EEK!" Palmer quickly ducked. "Whew."
Palmer took a big breath. He figured that he should probably run away. "NYA NYA! Can't catch
me!" Palmer stuck out his tongue, and ran away. He didn't look where he was going.
BAM! A truck slammed into Palmer.
"Come on!" Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, Barret, Red XIII, some stuffed cat thingie, a vampire, and
a materia hunter jumped onto the Bronco as it began to fly.
"What the?!" Rufus stared at the plane. "SHIT!" Rufus ducked as the plane flew past him.
"My Bronco!" Cid jumped, and caught a hold of the Tiny Bronco.
The Shinra soldiers shot the Bronco down, and Rufus saw it smoke into the distance.
"Ugh..." Palmer woke up in a hospital. "Dumb trucks." A truck hit Palmer.
Sephiroth continued to run amok and summoned a big meteor which was headed directly for the
planet. Rufus was trying to figure out a way to destroy it. Aeris died, even though it was
found out that the Sephiroth being chased around was just a psychic shade. No one bothered
to think about how Aeris or the President or Tseng could be killed by a psychic shade.
Palmer found out that Cid joined Avalanche. He didn't care, because Avalanch had nothing to do
with the space program. Shera continued to blame herself for destroying Cid's dream. Cid took
the Highwind airship back by force. Palmer continued to search for funds. Once
again, the fate of the space program took a turn at another Shinra meeting.
"Kya ha ha! We're going to build a huge materia bomb!" Scarlett smiled. "We'll blow that
Meteor to bits!"
Palmer perked up. "A huge bomb to blow meteor to bits? But the meteor is in space, and that
must mean that..."
"I'm allocating some funds to the space program." Rufus declared.
"HOORAY! Wait until I tell Cid.... Oh, wait. That's right. Cid's with Avalanche. The
Shinra won't take him back..." Palmer pondered the dilemma. "Well, at any rate, I should tell
Shera."
Palmer told Shera the news.
"Oh, is that right?" Shera replied. Her voice had a sad tone in it.
"Why are you so depressed?" Palmer asked. "This is our dream, remember?"
"Yeah..." Shera and Palmer walked up to the repaired Shinra No. 26. "Palmer, he hasn't
forgiven me."
"Who?"
"Cid. He still hates me. And he always will." Shera boarded the rocket.
"Shera, what are you doing?"
"Palmer, I'm going to set the auto-pilot for the rocket, of course."
"Oh, okay."
"Palmer? Do me a favor."
"What's that?"
"Lock the auto-pilot."
"What? Why?"
"Just do it."
Palmer locked the auto-pilot. Shera entered the rocket.
"Shera? Are you crazy? Don't you know that the rocket is going to explode on Meteor? Get
out of there."
"No, Palmer. I can't face him anymore. I can't go back to him."
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
Palmer knew what Shera wanted to do. "Goodbye, Shera."
"Goodbye, Palmer. Go launch the rocket." Shera close the door, and locked it.
"Get the hell out of my rocket!" Cid smacked Rude the turk down, and dashed into the rocket.
Rude died. But he mysteriously came back to life, later on. Maybe he didn't die, but it sure
looked like he did.
Cloud and Cid entered the rocket in order to rescue the materia. They were joined by Yuffie, the
materia hunter from before. Cid glared at the crew men. "What the hell are you doing, here?"
"Captain!" The crew stared in surprise at Cid. "Our rocket's going into space!"
"Let me handle this!" Cid screamed.
"Yes, captain!" The crew dashed out of the rocket.
"Cid! What are you doing?!" Cloud glared at Cid.
"Listen, Cloud. I know you want to get the materia. But, I realize that there are only
two things here that will stop Sephiroth. Magic, or Science. Now, I know that magic can be
powerful, but, goddammit, science has been guiding me my whole life. My dream. My entire life
is based on science. My job was dedicated to science. If I had to choose which one to put my
money on to stop Sephiroth, science would be it. Just give me this one, Cloud."
Cloud said nothing.
Rude ran up to Palmer. "Those bastards killed me!"
Palmer looked at him. "Who?"
"Cloud, Yuffie, and CID!"
"Cid?" Palmer smiled. "Wow. So Cid came back. I'll help him out! His dream will come true!"
"Let's grab the materia and get out!" Cloud yelled.
"LOCKED?!" Cid glared at the controls.
"Hey hey!" The comm link went on.
"Palmer! What the hell?"
"Shera told me that the auto-pilot was fixed, so I launched it!"
"WHAT?! Damn Shera! Why did she have to pick today to work quickly?!"
Rufus was impatient. "Launch the rocket, finally!" He wanted to launch Avalanche right into
meteor, but Palmer didn't know that. "Okay, okay!"
"3, 2, 1, lift off!"
"What?!" Cid screamed. "No countdown? It just isn't the same without a countdown!"
The rocket began to launch.
"Can't you stop it?" Yuffie glared at Cid.
"No good. That damn Palmer went out of his way to lock the auto-pilot. We're going to space!"
The rocket lifted off. The blast from the engine decimated Rocket Town (but the town was
magically instantly repaired after that cool CG scene of the Shinra No. 26 blasting off). Cid
was launched into space.
"Wow. So this is space. All of my life, I dreamed of going up here. And now, I'm here..."
"Big deal!" Yuffie whined. "We're all going to die!"
Cid smiled. "No way. I put an escape pod in the ship. It's right this way."
"Wait." Cloud stopped Cid. "What about the huge materia?"
"Wow!" Yuffie smiled. "If you don't want the huge materia, can I have it?"
"Do whatever you want with it!" Cid complained. Cloud grabbed the huge materia.
The three proceeded to the escape pod. They went through the engine room.
As Cid went by the oxygen tanks, an explosion occurred.
When the dust settle, Cid was trapped underneath a huge broken tank.
"Cid!" Cloud yelled.
"Leave me!" Cid shouted back.
"No!" Cloud and Yuffie ran over and tried to help Cid out.
"I can't lift it!" cried Yuffie.
Cid had a revelation. "So tank number eight did explode. Shera, you were right..."
Shera heard Cid's voice.
"Captain?"
"Who's there?!"
"It's me, Captain, Shera."
"Shera?! What the hell are you doing, here?"
"I'm here to help."
Shera ran up to help Yuffie and Cloud. Using her GODLY powers that appeared out of nowhere,
she magically lifted the huge tank which no human being should have been able to lift. Cid was
free.
"Come on!" They headed back to the escape pod.
As the escape pod left, Cid looked outside. "Space. Well, that's it... I wished I could be up
here longer. I didn't even get to visit a single star..."
The rocket hit meteor and exploded, but it did no good. Palmer mysteriously vanished, and
no one heard from him. Shinra in the end lost to Sephiroth, and was destroyed. Sephiroth
was killed by Cloud. Meteor was finally stopped by the lifestream. Cid headed home, to meet
with Shera, where they could live together peacefully.
"Hi, captain!" Shera waved.
"Shera!"
"Captain, there's something you should see..."
Shera took Cid out, and they went to where the Shinra No. 26 used to be.
Cid was greeted by his space ship crew and the crew of the Highwind.
"Captain!" All of the crew members cheered.
"Guys!"
He stared in awe as he saw the new rocket standing in front of him.
The door to the rocket opened.
Palmer stepped out of the door.
"Well, what are you staring at, Cid? Care to relive a dream, again?"
"Awe, fat man, you shouldn't have..."
"Don't say fat."
"Sure thing, festively plump man.
The End
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