Lark: *shakes her head* “No. This was a fluke. Fate. There’s no coming back anymore. It’s over.”

Synopsis
Can the ramble gang fight back when a powerful evil threatens to destroy everything they love?

Ramble Milestones
Nothing this time.

I like movie better than the last ramble. I think it’s funnier and just think it’s bettter written. I actually created a whole ‘opening credits’ sequence that I was going to record, but that never materialized. When I was almost done writing this last part I realized I missed these characters…and I wasn’t quite done with them yet. Enter the Gaiden!

(the next morning. It’s very early. Lark, Brady, shell, rude, Ashley, seifer, cloud, zack, cid, koudelka, tseng, reeve, sephiroth, Vincent, Edward, yuri, maya, phoenix, twilight, opal and reno are all gathered outside and the three sealing groups are preparing to leave.)

Cid: “Be careful, Koudelka.” *glares at yuri and Edward* “If anything happens to her, I’ll @#$%#$^ kill the both of you!”

Koudelka: “Easy there. I’m a big girl, you know. I can take care of myself.”

Yuri: “Hey, if anything happened to Koudelka I wouldn’t have a job. So that’s an extra incentive. You know, in case I didn’t like her or anything. But I do. Like her.”

Koudelka: *rolls eyes* “You’re so sweet.”

Edward: “I’d give my life for you, Koudelka!”

Koudelka: “I’m glad I know that’s a lie. Because I’d gag otherwise.”

Phoenix: “Be careful, Maya. Are you sure you want to go through with this? It’s going to be dangerous.”

Maya: “I’m not really worried. If this warrior I’m going to channel is half as good as everyone says, I should be okay.”

Twilight: “This is gonna be easy!”

Opal: “Twilight, I warned you about getting cocky.”

Twilight: “I’m not being cocky! I’m just certain I’m gonna kick ass!”

Reno: *quietly smoking a cigarette*

Seifer: “Don’t worry, Ashley! Nothing gets past the Sorceress’ Knight!”

Ashley: “Unless you’re playing badminton.”

Seifer: “Hey! There was something wrong with my racket!”

(tseng goes over to koudelka and hands her a small headset)

Tseng: “You’ve been put in charge of communications for your group. Make sure to stay in contact with the base.”

Koudelka: “No problem.”

Cloud: “Stay safe out there, Zack.”

Zack: “I better come back here to find not a scratch on you. God knows I can’t lose you again.”

(he grabs cloud and kisses him hard. Meanwhile, tseng goes over to reno)

Tseng: “Hey.”

Reno: “Hey.”

Tseng: *holds out headset* “You’ve been put in charge of communications.”

Reno: “…Who the hell picked me for that job?”

Tseng: “I did.”

Reno: *shakes head* “Get Rude to do it.”

Tseng: “No. You’re doing it.”

(he takes reno’s hand and shoves the communications device into it. Reno looks down at his hand and then looks at tseng.)

Tseng: “Do the Turks proud, Reno. That’s an order.”

(and he walks away)

Shell: “I’m a little nervous, Rude. I’m glad you’ll be there to protect me. You sure you’re okay with your leg?”

Rude: “Nothing as trivial as my injury will keep me from fulfilling my mission.”

Shell: *blink blink* “Wow. …I know this isn’t really the time, but this side of you is kinda sexy.”

(tseng goes over to reeve. He is fitting his own communications devices)

Tseng: “Koudelka and Reno have their headsets. And I have mine.”

Reeve: “Good.” *grabs his hand and holds it tight* “Stay in contact with me, okay? All the time.”

Tseng: “Of course.”

(he goes to put his headset on, but reeve squeezes his hand harder. He has tears in his eyes)

Tseng: “I’ll be okay, Reeve.”

Reeve: “Every time you go off like this I worry that you might never come back.”

Tseng: “I’m always gonna come back to you, Reeve. I promise.”

(he smiles at reeve and kisses him.)

Brady: “I don’t think you understand just how dangerous Ganon really is.”

Lark: “I’ll be okay. I’m in good hands.”

Brady: “I really don’t like this.”

Lark: “Look, Tseng and Reeve will have contact with each other, okay? If anything goes wrong – which it won’t – Reeve will let you know. You just concentrate on your job.”

(Brady grabs her and hugs her tightly)

Brady: “I just love you so much…”

Lark: “…I love you, too.”

(meanwhile, sephiroth is pacing uneasily. Vincent walks over to him.)

Vincent: “It seems everyone is ready.”

(sephiroth stops pacing. He looks at Vincent and nods)

Sephiroth: “It’s time.” *he takes a step but then turns back to Vincent* “Be careful, Vin.”

Vincent: “You too, my angel.”

(sephiroth hesitates but then he grabs Vincent and hugs him hard)

Sephiroth: *whispers* “I love you…more than anything.”

Vincent: *small smile* “Same here, angel.”

(sephiroth draws away, gives him a small smile and walks to the head of the group)

Sephiroth: “Does a member from each group have a headset?”

Tseng: “We’re all set.”

Sephiroth: “All right then. You all know where you have to be and what you have to do.” *pause* “Let’s finish this.”

(he gives Vincent one last small smile, and those who have loved ones staying behind wave as they follow their group leaders off into the distance.)

Vincent: “We must have faith that they will achieve what they set out to do. Now we have our own battle to prepare for.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(not long later, everyone in the main fighting group has taken their positions. there are esthar soldiers, shinra soldiers, garden students, vampires, and villains and characters from the previously mentioned games scattered in the various groups. In the group led by cloud, the main people are: edgar, locke, cid, kiros, algus (and zed, even though his name starts with z), kimahri, auron, Dracula, alucard, d, uncle herb, death, dante, Lloyd (even though he’s technically vergil…) basch, gippal, Ashley, delita, jack, karsh, fargo, bowser, dedede, cyan, celes, freya, amarant, hugh and juste. In squall’s group are: setzer, shadow, tifa, yuffie, red, selphie, quistis, rinoa, zell, nida, ward, zidane, Steiner, tidus, wakka, nero, snake, vaan, maxi, rudy, serge, skelly, nightmare, nemesis, sabin, quina, rikku, richter, Trevor and simon. Up on the roof we have the magic users: Elena, vivi, lulu, kuja, Seymour, Cecelia, terra, garnet and yuna, and the gun users, led by rufus: barret, Vincent, laguna, Irvine, balthier and chris. The gundams can be seen patrolling in the distance. Everything is eerily silent.)

Laguna: “What if they’re not coming?”

Rufus: “They’re coming.”

Irvine: “…This is kinda scary.”

Barret: “Yo, don’t be getting cold feet now! You got a damn sniper rifle there! And you gotta use it!”

Irvine: *swallows and nods* “I gotta concentrate.”

(there’s silence. Then suddenly in the distance they can seen the gundams spring into action. They start shooting and there are explosions. Everyone tenses up a bit.)

Irvine: *mutters* “Here we go…”

Barret: “Ain’t no turnin’ back now!”

(rufus glances at Elena, who is on the other side of the roof, and she kind of nods at him. He nods back.)

Rufus: “Let’s show these assholes who they’re dealing with.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

(meanwhile, Ashley’s group is heading along towards specter’s hideout…)

Yuri: “Hey, Koudelka.”

Koudelka: “What?”

Yuri: “Can you like, see our future or anything now?”

Koudelka: “Why, Yuri? Do you really wanna know?”

Yuri: “Well—“

Koudelka: “Because it could be bad. It could be horrible. We could all die.”

Yuri: “Forget it.”

Edward: “Way to lift our spirits, Koudelka.”

Seifer: “Uh…is it too late to turn back?”

Ashley: “Seifer, you’re supposed to be protecting me for a change. Not wussing out.”

Seifer: “Wussing out? I never wuss out!”

Ashley: “Oh, please, Seifer. Your whole life has been one big wuss out. You even ran out of the petting zoo that time.”

Seifer: “Okay, that goat was out to get me!”

Koudelka: “Shut up. We’re getting close. And the last thing I want to do is get discovered because you were yelling about a goat.”

Edward: “So what’s our strategy?”

Seifer: “Easy! I run in there with my gunblade and kill this stupid monkey bitch!”

Everyone: *blink blink*

Koudelka: “Yeah, and then we all die because we’re too busy being shocked by your overwhelming stupidity.”

Seifer: “What? What’s wrong with my plan?”

Koudelka: “Did you listen to the presentation yesterday at all?”

Seifer: “Kinda… But they had a cheese plate at the snack table.”

Ashley: *hits herself in the forehead*

Koudelka: “Um, does anyone else want to chew this guy out for being a complete idiot, or can I have the honor?”

Ashley, Yuri and Edward: “Go ahead.”

Koudelka: “Okay. You see, this “monkey bitch” has psychic powers. So you just running in there with your gunblade – is like a death wish.”

Ashley: “At this rate he may be most useful as a sacrifice.”

Seifer: “Okay, so he’s got special powers! Big deal! If I’m so useless, why did Sephiroth send me along with you guys?”

Yuri: “Maybe he knew we needed a sacrifice.”

Seifer: *whines* “Ashley! You gonna let them talk to me like that?”

Ashley: “Yes.”

Koudelka: “Anyway, long story short, since we’re both psychics, let me do the majority of the fighting. The rest of you can get him once I’ve fried his brain.”

Ashley: “Then I’ll do the sealing. You can cover me while I’m doing that, Seifer.”

Seifer: “See! I have a use!” *looks around* “Did we bring a sheet or something…?”

Ashley: *blink blink* “It means you make sure nothing attacks me while I’m trying to seal him!”

Seifer: “…I knew that! I just thought you might want a sheet too! You know…for…extra…protection.”

Koudelka: “…Yeah. Those sheets are tough as steel.”

Yuri: *quietly to edward* “This guy makes us look like real catches.”

Edward: “I think I just found my new best friend.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(meanwhile, over at shell’s group, she, rude, twilight and opal are walking together. Reno is dragging behind.)

Twilight: “So then *I* told Luke Skywalker, there is no way I am going into that deep, dark cave with you! I do *not* swing that way!”

Shell: “This story sucks, Twilight.”

Twilight: “Hey! You wanted some entertainment for the walk! And you didn’t wanna hear any of my best stories!”

Shell: “Because we’ve heard them already! Multiple times!”

Opal: “And you made them watch that video reenactment you made.”

Twilight: “Of course! I look great on camera!”

Rude: “I think we’re getting close.”

Twilight: “Great! Let me at this freak!”

Shell: “We’re going to need you and Opal to do your whole Force thing against this guy. He’s not a normal bad guy.”

Twilight: “No worries! The great Twilight XyXia hasn’t met his match yet!”

(opal glances back at reno with a worried expression)

Opal: “Is he okay? He looks like he just lost his best friend.”

Shell: “He better snap out of it before we get there. We can’t have two groups with dead weight.”

Opal: “Two?”

Shell: “The last time I saw Seifer doing something useful was…never.”

(she, twilight and opal walk on ahead. Rude hangs back until he’s walking with reno.)

Rude: “Hey.”

Reno: “…………”

Rude: “Really gonna need you today.”

Reno: “You got other people.”

Rude: “I need someone I know I can rely on.”

Reno: *snort*

Rude: “I need my best friend.”

(reno watches as rude leaves him to join the others once more.)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(meanwhile, over to lark’s group…sephiroth, tseng and lark are all walking together. Zack is walking with maya, who has already transformed herself into link…)

Zack: “So I’ve really been trying my best to try and help this guy, but I haven’t been having much luck at all. And I know it’s so much more than Tourette’s syndrome.”

Link: “……………”

Sephiroth: “Zack, give it a rest. I don’t think he’s much of a talker either.”

Zack: “I guess I’m just a long, long way from understanding this disorder.”

Sephiroth: “I don’t care if that guy never says a word. He just needs to stop this Ganon enough so Lark can seal him.”

Lark: “It sounds so easy when you put it like that.”

Sephiroth: “I’ll make sure it gets done.”

Lark: “Can we go over the plan again?”

Sephiroth: “Tseng will go after Zelda and the kids while the rest of us seek out Ganon. As soon as he gets them to a safe place he’ll come and find us. Then Tseng, Zack, Link and I will do as much damage as we can to that son of a bitch until he’s weak enough for you to seal.”

Tseng: “And you just keep your distance until then.” *stops walking and puts a hand to his ear* “Yeah, Reeve?” *frowns* “I see. Okay. Thanks.”

Lark: “What did he say?”

Tseng: “The army started attacking a little while ago. The Gundams have been taking down the vehicles, but the bulk of their army has reached ours and it seems they’re still coming.”

Lark: “Is anyone hurt?”

Tseng: “Not that he knows of.”

Sephiroth: *mutters* “Not yet.”

Zack: “…………………”

Sephiroth: “Okay, well no time for stopping to think about it. We have to keep moving. The faster we seal this monster, the sooner they’ll be safe.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(meanwhile, at the hospital, doc walks into franswa’s room, humming a song to himself and looking down at franswa’s chart.)

Doc: “Good morning, Franswa. How are you today?”

(but he gets no answer. doc looks up in confusion to find franswa’s bed empty. his eyes widen and he runs to the doorway)

Doc: “Nurse! The patient! He’s gone!”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(meanwhile, back inside the ramble room, everyone in the communications group is listening intently to their headset. reeve is linked to tseng, sunshine is linked to rufus, phoenix is linked to squall, heidegger is linked to heero, scarlet is linked to richter, Brady is linked to koudelka, bryatt is linked to vincent, bria is linked to cloud and trini is linked to reno.)

Heidegger: “Gya haa haa! Another plane down!”

Scarlet: “Is Nida still okay?” *frowns and mutters* “I really should have found out if he has life insurance…”

Reeve: “Tseng says they’re almost to Ganon.”

Bria: “Cloud is reporting that the troops are pretty concentrated where he is.”

Brady: “Koudelka says that they’re going into Specter’s hideout now.”

Phoenix: “This Squall guy does not say much.”

Trini: “Reno says everything’s okay so far.”

Sunshine: “I just hear a lot of shooting…” *gasps and puts a hand to her ear* “Rufus says someone was hit!”

Reeve: “Who?”

Bryatt: “Vincent says it’s Chris Redfield.”

(out to the roof, vincent, barret and rufus have gathered around chris, who is lying on the ground, grabbing at his shoulder. elena comes running over)

Elena: “What happened?”

Rufus: “Start casting cure! Chris, where were you hit?”

Chris: “My arm! My good arm! And I almost had enough to get to Europe! Why is it always me?”

Barret: “Yo, what should we do?”

Rufus: “Get back to fighting. Elena, you stay here until he’s stabilized. Then make sure he gets to the place we talked about earlier. Vincent–“

Vincent: “Already reporting it.”

(back to the communications room, bryatt is listening intently, nodding.)

Bryatt: “Got it. Okay, Vincent says Chris Redfield was hit in the shoulder, but he’ll be okay. Elena’s tending to him. He’s pretty much out of the fight, though.”

Reeve: “We better report this to the sealing groups.”

(out in lark’s group, they’re all walking along when tseng stops and puts to a hand to his ear with a frown.)

Tseng: “I see. Okay, I’ll let them know.”

Lark: “What? Is something wrong?”

Tseng: “Reeve says Chris Redfield is hurt.”

Sephiroth: “Redfield! But he was in the gun group. They’re up on the roof!”

Tseng: “Yeah, well apparently they’ve got guns too or some kind of projectile.”

Lark: “Is he going to be okay?”

Tseng: “Reeve says he was hit in the shoulder. So he’s out of the fight, but he’ll be okay.”

Zack: *opens his mouth to speak*

Sephiroth: “You can tend to the wounded all you want when we get back, Zack. For now let’s keep going. And let’s pick up the pace.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(meanwhile, back out to the battlefield, the place is swarming with enemy troops. everyone who is part of the ground assault is running around like crazy, attacking any enemy in their path. dante and lloyd are fighting back to back, as they are surrounded by enemies. they are slaying anything that comes close, and looking quite stylish doing so.)

Dante: “Heads up, bro.”

Lloyd: “Watch your right, Dante.”

(dante pulls off a spectacular attack that fells the five guys around him, but as he stops a moment to catch his breath, an enemy lunges at him, sword ready to strike. with a loud cry, lloyd makes a huge slash with his sword and cuts him down like nothing. dante turns and grins at him.)

Dante: “Thanks, Vergil.”

Lloyd: “Any time, Dante.”

(and they go off in their separate directions. meanwhile, nightmare is fighting by himself and easily felling a bunch of enemies with his giant sword. but suddenly about ten of ganon’s goons gang up behind him and jump on him, pinning him to the ground and beating him with their weapons. with an angry growl, nemesis comes barreling over and starts throwing the enemies off nightmare. nightmare lays on the ground, his armor looking pretty banged up. nemesis kneels next to him.)

Nemesis: “STARS!”

Nightmare: “A little fall of rain…can hardly hurt Nightmare now.”

Nemesis: “STARS!!”

Nightmare: “Nightmare…defeated. The rest…is silence.”

(nemesis rolls his eyes and helps nightmare up, escorting him to a safe place where he can recover. meanwhile, squall is furiously fighting a bunch of guys and looks a little winded. after felling the last one he feels a sudden shadow over him. he turns around to find an enemy about three times his size standing behind him. squall’s eyes go wide with fear as the creature raises it’s sword. suddenly there is a loud cry and a loud explosion. the creature lets out a sound of pain and falls down, defeated. squall looks shocked down at it, and then looks up to see a grinning nida with his rocket launcher.)

Nida: “I saved someone! I’m a savior! I sav–” *blink blink* “Squall?! I saved SQUALL?!”

Squall: “…Whatever. Thanks.” *runs off*

Nida: *looks up at the sky* “Why must you play with me like this?!”

(meanwhile, locke, yuffie, shadow and interceptor are in the midst of things. interceptor is biting enemies left and right, causing them to cry out in pain and fall to the ground.)

Shadow: “I told you he was vicious!”

(yuffie keeps throwing her weapon. shadow is throwing shriukens. locke is defending himself with a small sword. every time yuffie gets her weapon back in her hand she looks over to make sure he’s okay. but one time she looks over and he’s gone)

Yuffie: “Locke? Locke?!”

(but she gets no answer. yuffie starts to frantically fight her way over to where she last saw locke. shadow and interceptor follow, backing her up. as they clear away a few more enemies, they find locke lying on the ground, hurt)

Yuffie: “Locke! Are you okay?”

Locke: “Yuffie….my…hero…”

Yuffie: *pulls out cure materia* “Good thing I stole I this from Tifa!”

(meanwhile, on the roof, irvine and vincent both duck down at the same time to reload their weapons.)

Irvine: “They just keep coming!”

Vincent: “We haven’t sealed any of the monsters yet.”

Irvine: “What’s taking so long? I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up!”

Vincent: “We must. We don’t have another choice.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(back to the specter group, they’re in the hideout, which is pretty empty. they’re all quietly walking down a long hallway.)

Edward: *whispers* “Why is this place so quiet? You’d think there’d be some guards or something?”

Koudelka: *whispers* “They probably all got sent to fight at the ramble room.”

Yuri: *whispers* “So this guy leaves himself totally unprotected?”

Koudelka: *whispers* “I don’t think he thinks of us as much of a threat.”

Seifer: “Well little does he know!”

Everyone: “Shush!”

(koudelka pauses and closes her eyes a moment, taking a deep breath. everyone pauses around her.)

Yuri: “You okay?”

Koudelka: “He’s just up ahead. Listen, I’ll attack him head on. Yuri and Edward, you guys defend me, okay? And Seifer, you know what to do.”

Seifer: *nods* “Got it.”

(koudelka then starts moving quickly towards a room at the end of the hallway. the others follow her closely. as they come into the room they find specter sitting in his floating chair, arms crossed over his chest.)

Specter: “I’ve been expecting you.”

Koudelka: “We’ve been waiting for this ourselves.”

Specter: “If you’re looking for the kids, they’re not here. Ganon has them in his very protective custody.”

Koudelka: “I know that. We’re not here for them. We’re here to seal you back in your world where you belong.”

Specter: “Really? And you think five puny humans can stand against me?”

(suddenly a lighting fixture is ripped down from the ceiling and goes flying at specter’s head. he just barely manages to dodge it, and he is no longer smiling. he glares at koudelka, who glares back at him.)

Koudelka: “Enough talking. This is over.”

(then all hell breaks loose. koudelka does not move, but instead she starts to take everything around the room and starts using her telepathic powers to throw it at specter. he’s using his powers to throw it back at her, but yuri and edward are using swords to deflect the objects. specter is dodging everything until koudelka focuses her mind on a chunk of concrete yuri has just deflected and aims that at specter. he isn’t expecting this, and it hits him full on. he cries out and his chair spins out of control for a few seconds. koudelka immediately closes her eyes and focuses hard. moments later specter’s chair bursts into flames. he cries out as he is forced off and falls all the way to the ground.)

Koudelka: “NOW!”

(specter goes to get to his feet, but edward and yuri come over and hold swords to his throat. koudelka stands before him as well.)

Specter: “Why not kill me why you have the chance?”

Koudelka: “I’m not a murderer.”

Specter: “You’ll regret this.”

Koudelka: “I don’t think so.”

(then a door appears from nowhere and swallows specter up. he and the door then disappear. there’s silence for a moment. then…)

Seifer: “WE DID IT! HE’S GONE!”

Yuri: “You did it, Koudelka! That was amazing!”

Koudelka: “Thanks for backing me up.”

Edward: “Anytime, babe.”

Koudelka: “Don’t call me babe, idiot.”

Seifer: “What do we do now?”

Koudelka: “We report our success. Then we go home.”

(back at the communications room, Brady is listening intently to his headset and then suddenly jumps to his feet.)

Brady: “Koudelka says they did it. They sealed Specter!”

Bria: “Cloud says the monkeys are retreating!”

Everyone: “YES!”

Reeve: “One down, two to go.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(meanwhile, to shell’s group, they have reached l-block. it just hovers there, not moving.)

Twilight: “…Is it sleeping?”

Opal: “I don’t think blocks sleep, Twilight.”

Shell: “Don’t talk about it! Fight it!”

(at her words, a bunch of blocks appear out of nowhere and start flying at them. shell screams and goes to run for cover, but twilight quickly uses the force to set up a shield that protects them all.)

Twilight: “That won’t hold forever…let’s get him!”

(he and opal run forward, using their force powers to bombard l-block. it’s unaffected, however, due to the shield on him. rude and reno hang back, watching.)

Rude: “…We gotta get rid of that shield.”

(he reaches into his pocket and takes out a small device. reno’s eyes widen when he sees it.)

Reno: “A sticky bomb? Where’d you get that?”

Rude: “I made it. I bet if I can get it on him it’ll break his shield.”

Reno: “How you gonna get that on him? He’s floating like twenty feet above the ground!”

Rude: “Take care of Shell for me.” *takes off towards l-block*

Reno: “Rude, no!”

(rude keeps heading towards l-block. reno takes a deep breath, shakes his head, and starts to follow him. meanwhile, twilight and opal are doing all they can, but even their lightsabers are having no effect against the shield. l-block is still summoning blocks on them, but twilight’s shield is still protecting them. rude comes up behind l-block and is looking up at it, trying to figure out how to get the bomb up there.)

Reno: “How are you gonna get that up there with your leg?”

Rude: “All I gotta do is throw it.”

(before reno can say anything else, rude braces himself and prepares to throw the bomb. one of the summoned blocks is headed right at him from an angle.)

Twilight: “I lost the shield!”

Reno: “Sh*t! Rude! Look out!”

(and he shoves rude out of the way and to the floor. the block crashes to the ground, but the bomb falls out of rude’s hand and hits the ground. it starts to beep like it’s about to go off.)

Rude: “Dammit, Reno!”

(but reno isn’t listening. he scrambles to his feet and grabs up the bomb. he runs up to l-block with it)

Rude: “No, Reno! There isn’t enough time to get away!”

(but reno runs right up underneath l-block and hurls the bomb straight up at it. as soon as it sticks, it explodes. l-block seems to shake a bit, and there’s some smoke and flame.)

Twilight: “His shield’s down!”

Rude: “Reno?”

(rude scrambles to his feet, which isn’t too quickly because of his leg, and looks around for reno. he can’t find him at first, but he eventually spots him crawling along away from l-block. he is all bloody and his uniform is shredded in some places. rude rushes over to him)

Rude: “Reno! You okay?”

Reno: “…I’ll live, I guess.” *collapses to the ground* “But you better take the communications device.”

(he presses it into rude’s hand. rude frowns)

Rude: “You could have been killed.”

Reno: “I wasn’t gonna have another one of my mistakes mess up the whole mission.”

Rude: “What mistake? You mean saving me from that block that would have instantly killed me?”

Reno: “That’s the one.”

Rude: “You’re an idiot.”

Reno: “Get out of here. Go make sure Shell’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

Rude: *stands up* “…By the way – now we’re even.”

(he goes over to where shell is standing, watching twilight and opal continue to fight)

Shell: “Is Reno okay?”

Rude: “He’s not in the best of shape, but he’ll live.”

Shell: “I hope Twilight and Opal can wear this thing down soon. Even now it doesn’t seem to be reacting to the lightsabers. LIGHTSABERS! Those things can cut through anything! Well, except another lightsaber.”

Twilight: “Freaking die, you stupid block!”

Opal: “Argh!!”

(and everyone watches as opal launches her lightsaber like a boomerang up into the air. the end goes through one of the blocks near the very top of l-block. there is a strange moaning sound, and l-block crashes to the ground just as opal catches her lightsaber back in her hand.)

Twilight: “What the hell??”

Rude: “Shell! Now!”

(shell closes her eyes and starts chanting something to herself. within a few moments a door appears, swallows up l-block, and then they both disappear. twilight is staring at opal in disbelief.)

Twilight: “I think you killed it!”

Opal: “Oh dear… I didn’t mean to.”

Twilight: “It was like you stabbed it in his eye or something.”

Opal: “Maybe…”

Twilight: “I coulda done it…but I think it was about time you had something to do.”

Opal: *small smile* “Okay, Twilight.”

Rude: “What did you do to seal it away?”

Shell: “Oh, it’s super easy. I just concentrate on putting him back where he belongs and imagine there’s this huge gate that he can’t pass through that keeps only him back.”

Rude: “That doesn’t sound easy.”

Reno: “It’s totally okay to just leave me on the floor bleeding to death over here. Take your time.”

(shell and rude look at one another and smile.)

Rude: “I told you. Let me just report this back to the others and we’ll get going.”

(meanwhile, back on the roof at the ramble room, vincent is shooting at some enemies when he notices the block enemies retreating. he ducks down for a moment to listen to his headset. irvine ducks down besides him.)

Irvine: “L-Block’s army is retreating. Does that mean–“

Vincent: “Yes. That group was successful.”

Irvine: “Awesome!”

Vincent: “It seems Reno was injured, however.”

Irvine: “What?!”

Vincent: “I’m told he’ll be okay.”

Irvine: *frowns*

Rufus: *yells* “Keep it up! Just one army left!”

(vincent reloads his gun and goes back to shooting.)

Vincent: *mutters* “You can do it, angel.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(meanwhile, to our last group, they have arrived at their destination. they are standing outside, gazing up at it.)

Tseng: “I guess this is it.”

Zack: “We’re the last group to go.”

Sephiroth: “Let’s not waste any more time. Tseng, you know what to do. The rest of you follow me.”

(so they head into the building but immediately split up. tseng goes down several hallways until he hears the sound of crying. he walks into a room to find all the kids kept in one cage, and zelda in the other)

Lily: “Dada!”

Tseng: “Lily! Kids! Are you okay?”

Marcy: “We’re fine, considering! Are you here to rescue us?”

Tseng: “You bet I am.”

Zelda: “Oh thank goodness. I was beginning to think I’d never get out of here.”

Tseng: “Well I still have to figure out how to open the cages.”

Halley: “The code is 5-8-3-9 for ours and 1-4-7-0 for Miss Zelda’s.”

Tseng: “That was easy. How did you know that?”

Halley: “…I just do.”

(so tseng quickly goes over to the computer panel and punches in the numbers. both cage doors pop open. the kids and zelda come running out. the older kids are helping the younger ones just as they were before.)

Tseng: “Sorry it took so long. It look us a long time to find out where you were.”

Zelda: “The important thing is that you’re here. Ganon planned to use these children to create the DNA for a perfect army.”

Tseng: “I don’t even wanna think about how he’d go about doing that. Now come on, let’s get out of here.”

(tseng scoops up lily, zelda takes rufus jr., and the other older kids help with duke and the other little kids. they run out of the room. meanwhile, lark, sephiroth, link and zack turn a corner and find ganon standing right in the middle of the hallway. they’re all a little shocked to see him.)

Lark: “Omg…”

Ganon: “So you have come.” *spots link* “So you think you have a plan? You know nothing.”

Lark: *runs forward* “We know more than you think.”

Sephiroth: “Lark, get back!”

(but before he or lark can move, ganon reaches forward with his giant hand and grabs up lark. she screams.)

Ganon: “Ah… I wish I knew about your condition sooner. You’ll be an excellent addition to my collection.”

Sephiroth: *whips out masamune* “Let go of her or I swear–“

(but ganon just laughs and disappears with lark still in hand. tseng, zelda and the children come running over.)

Sephiroth: “Where did he go?! Where did he go?!”

Tseng: “What just happened?!”

Sephiroth: “Ganon took Lark and disappeared!”

Zack: “What was he talking about? What condition does Lark have?”

Sephiroth: “…She’s pregnant.”

Zack and Tseng: “WHAT?”

Sephiroth: “Where did he run off to? We have to find her!”

Zelda: “Perhaps he took her back to where he had us imprisoned.”

Tseng: “Probably. Let’s go – I’ll lead the way.”

Zack: “Zelda, take the children and get out of here. Will you be okay?”

Zelda: “Fine. Don’t worry about me.”

(tseng hands lily off to marcy and zelda and the children leave.)

Sephiroth: “Let’s go!”

Tseng: “Do you think I should report this back to base?”

Sephiroth: “I don’t have the time to stand here and talk about this!”

(he heads off in the direction tseng came from. zack and link follow. tseng stays behind and touches his headset.)

Tseng: “Reeve…can you hear me? I’ve got some bad news…”

(back in the communications room)

Reeve: *paling* “What?”

Brady: “What’s wrong?”

Reeve: “They’ve found Zelda and the kids, and they’re fine–“

Sunshine: “That’s great!”

Reeve: “–But Ganon’s kidnapped Lark.”

Brady: “WHAT?”

Reeve: “Tseng says they’re going after her right now.”

Brady: “That f#$%@ing Sephiroth! He said he’s take care of her! Give me the headset! Give it to me right now!”

Reeve: “Tseng says Sephiroth has already gone after her. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

Brady: “I *trusted* him!”

Reeve: “Everyone relay this information. Everybody needs to keep fighting!”

(back outside to the battle…rufus and vincent both frown)

Rufus: “Got it. We’re holding them off.”

Vincent: “The Gundams are reporting no more vehicle spottings.”

(across the roof, seymour suddenly cries out in pain and falls to the floor, grabbing his leg. kuja walks over and looks down at him.)

Kuja: “I told you your boots were too tight.”

Seymour: “No! Something hit me!”

Kuja: “Oh.” *pause* “Do you need cure magic?”

Seymour: “That would be nice!” *winces in pain*

Kuja: “You are such a drama queen.”

(back down on the ground, squall runs into cloud.)

Squall: “Did you hear about Lark?”

Cloud: “Yup. Not exactly the kind of info that rallies the troops.”

(there’s a cry of pain from nearby. both cloud and squall run and slay a few enemies who were beating someone on the ground. after they fall, they see a bruised and bloodied auron lying there. cloud immediately kneels next to him.)

Cloud: “Auron! Are you okay?”

Auron: “I… Vince…” *passes out*

Squall: *into headset* “Wright, tell the guys on the roof we need a healer down here. Now!”

(meanwhile, across the battlefield, zell, richter, juste and hugh are fighting together. richter pauses and frowns a moment.)

Richter: “More injuries. One looks serious.”

Zell: *turns to him* “What? Who?”

Richter: “Auron.”

Zell: “Auron? But he’s like hardcore!”

Juste: “There are no guarantees in a battle like this.”

Hugh: “Behind you, grandfather!”

(they turn around to see about twenty enemies coming toward them. they all split up to take on a few each. alucard and d come running over as well, swinging swords.)

D: “Concentrate on the North, brother! I’ll take the South!”

Alucard: “Understood!”

(they run off. then there is a grunt, and juste goes down on one knee, holding his side)

Juste: “I’ve been had!”

Hugh: “Grandpa!”

(the enemy that attacked juste turns and flees.)

Hugh: “You won’t escape alive!”

(he takes off after him. zell runs to juste’s side.)

Zell: “I’ll find Richter and get someone to heal you!”

Juste: “Concentrate on the battle!”

Zell: “But you’re hurt!”

Juste: “Watch yourself!”

(but it’s too late. before zell can even turn around an enemy clubs him on the head. he falls to the ground seeing stars. the enemy then grabs a sword, intending to hit both juste and zell. he lifts it high in the air, when suddenly he pauses. there is a sword sticking out of the middle of his chest. both juste and a half conscious zell watch in surprise as the enemy just crumbles to the ground. standing behind it, and looking totally shocked himself, is franswa)

Juste: “Franswa!”

Zell: *half out of it* “Fran…swa?”

Franswa: *collapses next to him holding his side in pain* “Hey.”

Zell: *softly* “Franswa…you saved me…”

Juste: “Franswa, you’re still hurt. Why did you leave the hospital?”

Franswa: “I couldn’t just lay there while everyone else was out here fighting.”

Juste: *small smile* “And yet you doubted you were a Belmont.”

(meanwhile, over to algus, he is looking bored as he hacks away at some enemies with a lazy yawn. zed is running back and forth like a maniac, being overly showy with his sword movements. in the background, crazy pizza man runs by, followed by atsuma.)

Atsuma: “Fire attack, Crazy Pizza Man! Fire them up like you do your delicious pepperoni pizzas!”

(they run off. meanwhile, algus yawns again)

Algus: “This is boring. Can’t I pay these people some money to just go away? My throat is parched, and I can’t even get someone to bring me tea. What kind of torture is this?”

Zed: “Master, watch out!”

(algus looks up to see an axe being hurled right at his head. in true dramatic fashion, zed leaps into the air in front of algus.)

Zed: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

(and with that he takes the axe in the chest and falls to the floor, dead. algus looks down at him with a frown)

Algus: “…Slave? …Slave?” *pokes him with his foot* “Dammit. Now who’s going to get my tea?”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(meanwhile, back to ganon’s lair, sephiroth runs into the room with the cages in time to find ganon shoving lark into one of the cages. he slams the door shut. link, zack, and tseng run in behind him. sephiroth has the masamune in his hand and a murderous look on his face.)

Sephiroth: “It’s over, Ganon.”

Ganon: “Yes it is. For you.”

(without warning, link charges at ganon, the master sword in hand. ganon pushes him back with some kind of invisible force. zack and sephiroth run over to join the fray while tseng goes over and quickly lets lark out of the cage)

Tseng: “Stay back!”

Lark: “But–“

Tseng: “Just stay out of the way!”

(and then he runs over too. sephiroth and zack are trying to attack him with swords while tseng shoots at him, but ganon seems to not be affected. ganon is distracted a moment by zack and sephiroth, and link charges him from behind. he lands a blow, and ganon screams in pain. he then lets a bolt of lightning magic fly from his hand. it hits link head on, and he tumbles to the ground, still. the master sword falls from his hand)

Lark: “Maya!”

Ganon: “You were foolish to think I could be defeated so easily. Now you’re all as good as dead.”

(glaring at ganon with a murderous rage, sephiroth drops the masamune and picks up the master sword. he makes a confident slash in the air with it. ganon seems surprised.)

Ganon: “You…no human can wield the master sword!”

Sephiroth: *darkly* “Then it’s good for me I’m not human.”

(he then charges ganon with the sword. zack and tseng only watch as the two fight furiously. ganon keeps shooting off magic at sephiroth but he’s dodging it all. at last sephiroth gets up close and ganon tries to swipe at him. he cuts sephiroth on the shoulder with his sword, but sephiroth ignores the injury and, with the master sword held tight in both hands, thrusts it deeply into ganon’s chest. ganon lets out a loud groan, and his feet suddenly become very still and begin to turn to stone. sephiroth backs off, panting and looking tired.)

Sephiroth: “Lark! Now!!”

(lark closes her eyes and starts talking to herself. tseng and zack rush over to link/maya. even though his body is hardening, ganon turns and looks at sephiroth, a fist clenched tightly at his side.)

Ganon: “I’m not too easy to get rid of.”

Sephiroth: “Neither am I.”

Ganon: “…Oh…really? …We’ll see about that.”

(and with one flick of the wrist, he shoots some of the lightning magic at sephiroth. it hits him directly in the chest and he groans and falls to the ground. just then the door appears, swallows up ganon, and they’re both gone. in the background, zack has link/maya sitting up and looking alert. lark opens her eyes, sees sephiroth on the ground, and rushes over.)

Lark: “Sephiroth?!”

(sephiroth is totally limp and he’s not breathing. zack and tseng come running back over.)

Lark: “Sephiroth! Sephiroth!?” *shakes his shoulders*

Zack: “He’s not breathing! Here–“

(but before zack can do anything, lark starts performing cpr on him. she’s concentrating hard, tears silently running down her face. she keeps doing the motions over and over again, but sephiroth is not responding.)

Tseng: “Lark…Maybe you should…”

(but she is not listening to them at all. again and again she goes through the motions, looking and more and more determined. it is clear by the look on her face that with every fresh try she is closer to losing it completely. then, at last, sephiroth starts coughing, and sits up looking woozy. he just looks into lark’s eyes and she completely breaks down crying, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tight. he hugs her back.)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(we next go to the hospital. sephiroth, auron, seymour, juste, zell, franswa, locke, chris, nightmare, reno, and maya are all being kept in one room and they’re all in beds. there are a bunch of people crowded at the front of the room. near the door we have zack, doc, lark, shell and Brady.)

Doc: “Well, me and Zack here examined everybody, and they’re all gonna be okay. Most just need to relax now.”

Lark: “Thank you, doctors.”

(doc leaves. lark and zack start to walk over to where sephiroth is. shell and Brady follow them.)

Lark: “You know…I never thought I’d actually use that stuff I learned. I thought if I was ever in a real emergency I’d just freeze and forget everything.”

Zack: “In situations like that, you don’t even have time to think. You knew what you had to do, and you did it.”

(meanwhile, over to reno, tseng, rufus, reeve, elena, rude, trini and irvine are crowded around him.)

Reno: “So I’m legitimately hurt here, and for once I have witnesses! Can I get workman’s comp?”

Rufus: “No way! You were not on company business!”

Reeve: “Besides, Reno. The doctor said you’re going to be fine in a day or two. You mostly got banged up and have some burns, that’s all.”

Rude: “Nice try, though. I got hurt on the job and you don’t see me getting workman’s comp.”

Elena: “Rufus!”

Rufus: “What? He insists he’s fine! And I got it on tape! So that’ll hold up in court!”

Trini: “How you feeling there, bro?”

Reno: “Okay, I guess. Considering a bomb exploded right over my head.”

Irvine: “I still can’t believe you did that! That’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done! And you’ve done some pretty crazy things! Remember that time with the toothpaste and the possum?”

Reno: “Yeah, I got some pretty bad bites. But I didn’t have a choice this time. Somebody had to do it – or we’d still be fighting that thing!”

Tseng: “I’m proud of you, Reno. I knew you had it in you.”

Reno: *smiles* “Yeah, yeah. Don’t give me that look, Tseng. Now where can an injured man get himself some booze around here?”

(meanwhile, over to zell, juste and franswa, richter, tifa, trevor, simon, hugh, bria, squall and rinoa are crowded around.)

Franswa: “…And I have to admit it’s a good thing you kept putting that holy water in my pocket, dad. Because I used it all before I found that sword.”

Richter: “I knew it!”

Zell: “You were awesome, Franswa!”

Trevor: “You deserve to hang in the hall of heroes!”

Franswa: *eyes light up* “Really?!”

Trevor: “Well, a tiny picture. In the honorable mention section.”

Franswa: “I’ll take it.”

Juste: “You were very brave today, Franswa. Even if you were reckless.”

Richter: “There’s nothing wrong with a little recklessness now and again! My son is a hero! And so is my other son!”

Tifa: “I still can’t believe he managed to get out of that cage and use a computer panel! He can’t even read!”

Richter: “He’s a Belmont! I wouldn’t expect anything less!”

Simon: *to hugh* “And you! What did you accomplish?”

Hugh: “Lots! Really! I killed a lot of those guys!”

Simon: “Really? Then where are your trophies?”

Hugh: “Trophies?”

Simon: “The heads! Where are the heads?”

Hugh: “Ew! I didn’t go around cutting the heads off! They were already dead! What’s the point?”

Simon: “The point is proof! You could have spent the whole battle inside listening to hippity hop music and playing tv games for all I know!”

Hugh: “But–but–but–“

Bria: “It’s okay, Hugh. You know what you accomplished.”

Hugh: “But if no one else believes me, what good is it?”

Rinoa: “How are you feeling, Zell?”

Zell: “Okay, I guess. My head still kinda hurts, though.”

Squall: “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

Zell: “Thanks, Squall! I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me!”

Squall: “Whatever.”

Zell: “How are your new stitches, Franswa? They hurt?”

Franswa: “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s probably the pain meds. But maybe it’s because I’ve realized I’m not useless after all.”

Zell: “No one ever thought you were useless.”

Simon: “I did!”

Franswa: “…I know. Fighting may not be my thing, but now I *know* I’m capable of defending my family. And that’s important to me.”

(the kids all come back into the room after being examined by the doctor. duke breaks away from the nurse and runs right over to tifa)

Duke: “Mama!”

Tifa: *picks him up* “Hi, sweetie!”

Duke: “Dada! Ganpa! Fansa!”

Franswa: “How you doing, little guy?”

Duke: “Okay. You okay, Fansa?”

Franswa: “Yeah. I’m gonna be just fine.”

(over to chris, dante, alucard, d, maxi and gippal are crowded around his bed.)

Chris: “How many times can one guy break his leg!?”

Dante: “Looks like we’re gonna have to replace you at the club again.”

(there’s moaning coming from behind the curtain next to chris’ bed. alucard and dante exchange a look)

Alucard: “Is that the good kind of moaning or the bad kind?”

Dante: *glances around* “Well, Irvine and Reno are accounted for, so I would go for it.”

(and so alucard moves the curtain across. lying in the bed is dracula.)

Alucard and D: “Dad!”

Alucard: “Dad, what are you doing?”

Dracula: “I don’t feel good, Alucard!”

Alucard: “There’s nothing wrong with you, dad.”

Dracula: “I can’t feel my foot!”

Alucard: “…That’s because it’s missing.”

Dracula: “I think a sofa stole it, Alucard! Those sofas can never be trusted! They stole your older brother from me! And I’ve never seen him since!”

D: “I’m right here, dad.”

Dracula: *gasps* “Alucard! Did you know George Washington’s ghost is behind you? Ask him how he made so many things out of peanuts!”

(alucard grabs the curtain and pulls it back across)

Dracula’s voice: “Everything’s gone dark, Alucard! I think I’m dying! I see the light! I see the light! …Oh wait, that’s just more darkness. But there is jell-o hiding in there! Horrible, delicious jell-o!”

Alucard: *to d* “I can’t deal with this right now. Maybe later, but not now.”

D: “Don’t worry. I’ve definitely come to understand your pain.”

Dante: “So where am I gonna find another dancer?”

Maxi: “We could put another ad in the paper and hold auditions.”

Gippal: “Or we could just hire that last skank you dated. He liked to rub himself all over other men.”

Maxi: “Hey! That wasn’t funny when you left it as a MySpace comment, and it’s not funny now!”

(dante is looking past him, however, and over to the middle of the room, where atsuma is with crazy pizza man)

Atsuma: “We did it, Crazy Pizza Man! We totally beat those bad guys! We gotta celebrate! Hit it!”

(and some cheesy music starts to play from out of nowhere. atsuma starts dancing. and he’s pretty good.)

Atsuma: “Whoo! I’m feelin’ it now! Oh yeah!”

Dante: *grins* “That was easy.” *calls out* “Party at my place later!”

(meanwhile, over to auron, he is asleep. tidus, wakka, lulu and kimahri are crowded around him)

Tidus: “So the doctor says he has a concussion, but he should make a full recovery.”

Wakka: “Too bad he doesn’t have amnesia. Then he could stop quoting those ‘helpful sayings’ all the time, ya?”

Lulu: “Wow. That was really mean.”

Wakka: “What! Not like he can hear me!”

(meanwhile, over to nightmare, nemesis is sitting by his side.)

Nightmare: “How is Nightmare going to afford getting the dents out of his armor with no job?”

Nemesis: *shrugs* “Stars.”

Lloyd: *runs over* “Hey, buddy! I heard you were hurt, so I came to see how you were doing!”

Nightmare: “Nightmare was feeling better before you showed up.”

Nemesis: *nods* “STARS.”

Lloyd: “Hey! That’s no way to treat a well wisher! And besides, I couldn’t help but overhear you’re having money troubles! Maybe I could help!”

Nightmare: “Nightmare highly doubts that…”

Lloyd: “You see, after the battle was over, I went around and picked all the valuable stuff off the battlefield! We could sell it on Ebay! And, because the stuff was free, it’s all profit!”

Nightmare and Nemesis: “……………”

Nightmare: “That not such a bad idea, actually.”

Nemesis: *nods* “STARS.”

Lloyd: “See! I told you it was a good idea! Now we can be friends again!”

Nightmare: “Nightmare doesn’t think you should push your luck.”

(over to locke, he is surrounded by shadow, yuffie, edgar and setzer)

Yuffie: “So how embarrassed are you that you got your ass saved by a girl?”

Locke: “Not at all actually. I’m totally okay with that. The important thing is, I’m not dead.”

Edgar: “It seems you’ve found yourself quite the catch!”

Setzer: “I heard Interceptor was a pretty good help, too.”

Shadow: “I told you!! I told you! And no one believed me!”

Locke: “Well, no offense there, Shadow, but no one believes most of the things you say.”

Shadow: “And that’s why you’ll be sorry!”

(suddenly, solid snake pops up behind shadow, making him jump)

Snake: “Hey. Ninja.”

Shadow: “Where’d you come from?”

Snake: “Wouldn’t you like to know. I saw you out there fighting today.”

Shadow: “Oh yeah?”

Snake: “Pitiful. I have farts with more fight than that.”

Shadow: *frowns* “But–“

Snake: “That’s all I came for.”

(then he disappears again. shadow turns back to the others, still frowning)

Shadow: “I need my mask!”

Locke: “Shadow, no. You don’t need the mask, remember? You know you’re a good ninja now. Don’t listen to that Snake guy.”

Shadow: *covers face* “Everybody can see my face!” *runs off*

Locke, Yuffie, Edgar and Setzer: “……………..”

Locke: “…How much does that Koudelka girl charge? A lot? Because maybe we should look into it. Seriously.”

(meanwhile, over to maya, phoenix and sunshine are standing with her.)

Phoenix: “What was it like being that Link guy?”

Maya: “I don’t really remember anything about it. When you’re channeling someone, you become that person, and you don’t really have any memories of it.”

Phoenix: “Oh. Right.”

Sunshine: “The important thing is you’re okay.”

Phoenix: “Right.”

Maya: *frowns* “But I have this weird urge to see a goat.”

(over to seymour, kuja, heidegger, nida and scarlet are around him.)

Nida: “The doctor said you’ll be back on your feet in no time! I know, ’cause I asked him a billion questions!”

Seymour: “…Thanks.”

Scarlet: “Even if you’re not in pain, tell them you are. You’ll want those medications later.” *pause* “And if you don’t, I will.”

Heidegger: “I ate a cart full of lunches! Gya haa haa!”

Kuja: “You know what I was thinking of when you got hurt?”

Seymour: “What?”

Kuja: “How much I really want those fabulous Prada heels I saw online.”

Seymour: *frowns* “Touching.”

(meanwhile, algus and argath are talking. zidane stands nearby, looking kind of bored.)

Argath: “Where is your new slave?”

Algus: *big sigh* “Deceased. Such a pity, really. He was supposed to fluff my pillows today. And I do like a good fluffing.”

Argath: *nods* “Who doesn’t?” *pause* “What are you going to do about burying him?”

Algus: “Oh, I took no ownership of him. Let the hospital deal with it. Perhaps he’d be useful in a medical experiment of some sort. I don’t have the money to go around burying every slave who lays down his life for me.”

Argath: “Of course not!”

(zidane shakes his head looking disgusted.)

Argath: “So I suppose now that all this nonsense is finally over with, you and I can get back to Uncle’s will?”

Algus: “Absolutely. It’s about time we settled this.”

Both: “………..”

Argath: “So shall I call my lawyer then?”

Algus: “Oh, I already called mine. Uncle’s wishes or not, there is no way I’m splitting any of that with you.”

Argath: “What kind of foolish wish was that? Who can split wealth like that with someone as unimportant as their own brother?”

Zidane: “Are you kidding me!?”

(algus and argath turn to look at him as he comes over to them)

Zidane: “Your Uncle is dead! And all he wanted was the two of you to split his stuff! You’re both rich as hell anyway! You have more houses than most people have teeth! By dragging this out in court you’re just destroying everything your Uncle wanted!” *pauses thinks then gasps* “Omg… What is wrong with me?”

(he leaves them. algus and argath looked confused)

Argath: “What was all that about?”

Algus: “I don’t know. I think he’s on drugs.”

(zidane runs over to kuja)

Zidane: “Kuja! We need to talk!”

Kuja: “Not without my lawyer present.”

Zidane: “Come on, Kuja! This whole fight over Garland’s will is stupid! He wanted us to split it! What’s so bad about that? It’s what he wanted!”

Kuja: “So? You can’t always get what you want, Zidane. I’ve always wanted a diamond necklace, but you don’t see me wearing one.”

Zidane: “…You’re wearing two.”

Kuja: *looks down* “Oh. Right. I forgot how fabulous they look with this outfit.”

Zidane: “Kuja, how much was that lawyer going to charge you?”

Kuja: “…………………………..”

Zidane: “Aha! A lot, right? Plus the time and energy to carry out this whole lawsuit! Let’s just split it like Garland wanted and call it a day.”

Kuja: *big sigh* “Fine. But only because I’m going to have to spend a lot of time taking care of my poor Seymour now.”

Seymour: “Really?”

Kuja: “When I’m not busy with the other more important things in my life.”

Seymour: *frowns*

Zidane: “Glad we could settle this.”

(bryatt walks over)

Bryatt: “What’s going on over here?”

Zidane: “Kuja and I both agreed to split the money like Garland wanted.”

Bryatt: “So you finally realized you were morphing into Algus?”

Zidane: “Yup. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Bryatt: “More fun watching you discover it yourself.”

Zidane: *shivers* “I feel really dirty now.”

(over to sephiroth, lark, shell, Brady and vincent are around him.)

Vincent: “I’m so glad you’re okay, angel.”

Sephiroth: “Thanks to Lark.”

Lark: “You would have done the same for me.”

Shell: “Did you really die?”

Sephiroth: “I don’t know… I just felt like I was floating in a place I didn’t want to be. And I felt really alone.”

Lark: “I thought I had lost you.”

Sephiroth: “But you didn’t give up.”

Lark: “Friends don’t give up on each other so easily.”

Brady: “So why do you think Ganon grabbed you? Because he knew you were going to try and seal him?”

Lark: “Uh…no…not quite.” *pause* “I was going to wait and tell you this, but…I’m pregnant.”

(she suddenly realizes the room has gone silent and everyone is staring at her in surprise)

Lark: “Great. Of course you all pick now to be quiet.”

Brady: *wide eyes* “You’re pregnant? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Lark: “I didn’t want you to make me go back home! I had a job to do!”

Brady: “How could you put yourself in danger like that?”

Lark: “I didn’t have much of a choice.”

Shell: “I’m gonna be an aunt! This is so exciting!”

Lark: “Look, nothing happened to me. I’m fine.” *carefully* “So…how do you feel about it?”

Brady: “How do you think I feel? Happy!”

(he grabs her and hugs her. everyone in the room claps. vincent leans down and whispers to sephiroth)

Vincent: “I guess this is the happy ending.”

Sephiroth: “Not just yet.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(montage ~ joe cocker, with a little help from my friends ~ there are tifa and richter at the altar again, facing one another happily. franswa stands nearby holding duke. everything looks exactly the same as it did before everything fell apart last time, except now lark and the others are sitting there watching the ceremony as well)

What would you think if I sang out of tune

Would you stand up and walk out on me

Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song

And I’ll try not to sing out of key

(they say their vows with big smiles on their faces, and as the minister pronounces them man and wife, richter cups tifa’s face in his hands and kisses her passionately. then, grinning at each other, they join hands and head back down the aisle as everyone claps and cheers.)

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get high with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

(the rest of the bridal party proceeds back down the aisle, and they all seem to be walking with an extra spring in their step. as franswa walks back down with elena, duke waves to everyone from his brother’s arms)

What do you do when our love is away

Does it worry you to be alone

How does it feel by the end of the day

Are you sad because you’re on your own

(at the reception, tifa and richter have their first dance, and then everyone else is asked to join in. all the ramble couples quickly pair up and join them. vincent is just standing by watching with a smile when sephiroth approaches him and offers his hand. vincent’s face lights up and he takes sephiroth’s hand as they go out to the floor and start to dance.)

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get high with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

(tifa is throwing her bouquet. she tosses it high over her head, and rinoa bowls over about five people to snag it. she holds it up high with a triumphant look. over to the side, squall swallows nervously while seifer laughs and zell tries to pat him on the back consolingly.)

Do you need anybody? I need somebody to love

Could it be anybody? I need somebody to love

(at the end of the night, everyone lines the walkway to their limo. tifa and richter move happily through the line, and when they come to lark, tifa gives her a sad smile and gives her a tight hug. richter gives her a hug as well. they then get into the car and everyone waves as the car drives away. Brady puts an arm around lark’s shoulder and gives her a squeeze as she has tears in her eyes.)

Would you believe in it’s love at first sight

Yes I’m certain that it happens all the time

What do you see when you turn out the lights

I can’t tell you but I know that it’s mine

(everyone has shown up to scarlet and nida’s wedding, even the ramble girls. off to the side there is a tv screen with hojo watching via video feed. nida is lovingly looking at scarlet, who walks up the aisle in an attractive white dress. she smiles back at him stiffly, but you can see the affection there.)

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get high with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

(the ceremony proceeds, and as it ends, nida stomps on the glass, as is Jewish tradition, and grabs scarlet, kissing her hard. as they finally break apart, she looks embarrassed a bit, but she laughs it off as they proceed back down the aisle together, arm in arm)

Do you need anybody? I need somebody to love

Could it be anybody? I need somebody to love

(sunshine is giving a toast, and scarlet keeps having to wipe tears away from her eyes. off to the side, scarlet’s brother mustard tries to hit on nida’s teenage sister mindy. she gives him a disgusted look and stomps on his foot.)

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get high with a little help from my friends

Oooh I’ll get by with a little help from my friends

With a little help from my friends

(scarlet prepares to throw the bouquet. she makes a few fake tosses before actually throwing it back. it disappears into the back of the crowd, and everyone turns around to see that rinoa has caught it again. selphie sits on the floor next to her, rubbing her head and looking up at rinoa with an angry look. off to the side, squall flees the room.)

My friends, my friends, my friends, my friends, my friends

My friends, my friends, my friends, my friends, my friends

My friends, my friends…..

(the night is winding down. scarlet and nida are dancing to a slow song. Brady is off talking to vincent and auron nearby. meanwhile, lark and sephiroth are sitting at a table, taking in the scene.)

Lark: “I never thought I’d want to attend Nida and Scarlet’s wedding, but I’m really glad I’m here.”

Sephiroth: “I haven’t seen Squall in a long time. I think he hopped a flight to Mexico.”

Lark: *laughs quietly* “You know, I’ve missed this place. I’ve missed it a lot. But now I think that when I go back home, I’ll finally be able to really let go.”

Sephiroth: “What do you mean?”

Lark: “I mean I wasn’t ready to go last time. What happened was so sudden – we didn’t really have time to accept it ourselves. I’ve spent most of the last year looking at the gifts you guys gave me and thinking about this place. I hadn’t really accepted that I could never come back.”

Sephiroth: “But now you can come back.”

Lark: *shakes her head* “No. This was a fluke. Fate. There’s no coming back anymore. It’s over.”

Sephiroth: “And now you’re okay with it?”

Lark: “I’ll never be okay with that. But I can accept it. My life will go on. Your lives will go on. We’ll all be happy. Sure, we’ll miss each other, but we all have a lot of really great memories. And that will always link us together.”

(they watch in silence as the song that’s playing nears its end)

Sephiroth: “Hey, Lark?”

Lark: “Yeah?”

Sephiroth: “Before you left…last time. …I said I was sorry I didn’t have a gift for you. And you said that I did.”

Lark: “After all that happened then, Sephiroth, your good-bye was enough of a gift for me.”

Both: “……………….”

Sephiroth: “Vincent gave you my magic 8 ball, didn’t he.”

Lark: “Yeah he did.”

Sephiroth: *smiles at her* “That’s okay. You can keep it.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(the next day. the same group that gathered to say good-bye last time, minus tifa, richter, nida and scarlet, have gathered to say good-bye again. they have set the ps3 up in the ramble room. there are a lot of hugs and tears. the girls hug everyone. shell hugs rude extra long. reeve turns on the ps3 and the ‘home’ option is still there. after lark has hugged everyone she turns to sephiroth with a sad smile.)

Lark: “I guess this is good-bye. For real this time.”

Sephiroth: “I’m glad we got a do over.”

(they hug, then draw back give each other sad smiles.)

Sephiroth: “I have a gift for you this time.”

Lark: “Oh?”

Sephiroth: “Yeah. It’s perfect for a boy or a girl.”

(he then hands her a little onesie meant for a baby. it reads: reply hazy, try again, which is of course one of the many answers given by the magic 8 ball. lark starts to laugh so hard she has tears coming down her face. she throws her arms around sephiroth and hugs him again.)

Lark: “I love it.”

Sephiroth: “You’ll be a great mom.”

Lark: *smiles* “…Thanks, Sephiroth. I hope so.”

Brady: “Come on, girls. We gotta go.”

Shell: “Rude! You can sell that vacation house I made you buy for me! It’s okay!”

Rude: “Okay, Shell.”

Seifer: “I can’t believe this is happening again!” *bursts out crying*

(each of them grabs a part of the ps3 controller)

Lark: “Bye, everybody!” *looks at sephiroth* “I’ll be missing you.”

Sephiroth: “Same here.”

Everybody: “Good-bye!/Bye!/Good luck!”

Reeve: “Thanks for your help.”

Lark: “I’m glad I could.”

(and with that, reeve presses the button on the controller and clicks ‘home’. the four of them flicker once, and then they’re gone, the controller with them. everyone’s attention goes to the tv screen. the entire ‘transport’ option has disappeared. sephiroth hangs his head. vincent puts a hand on his arm)

Sephiroth: “…I guess she was right. It was fate.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(several days later, it is a bright and sunny day outside the ramble room. the castle is being rebuilt in the background. loud music is coming from dante’s house. he’s having a party. dante is talking to atsuma in the doorway)

Dante: “I’m not gonna lie to you. It’s mostly men who come into the club, so if you’re expecting to hook up with a lot of girls, you better look elsewhere. But the money’s good – real good, and I really think you’ve got some talent.”

Atsuma: “Really?? Nobody ever told me I was talented at anything! I took one of those career tests at school, and it said I was going to be a homeless man. And that wasn’t supposed to ever come up.”

Dante: “Well, as much as I hate to say it, you don’t need brains to shake your ass around. So will you take the job?”

Atsuma: “Yeah! You bet I will!”

(dante smiles and shakes atsuma’s hand. someone is trying to sneak past him in background. dante frowns and sticks out his foot. nero trips and falls down)

Dante: “And what the hell do you think you’re doing? You left! You said you found a new place to live!”

Nero: “I got evicted!”

Dante: “Evicted?! It’s been twenty minutes!”

Nero: “My arm didn’t mean to do it! It really didn’t!”

Dante: “Well you and your creepy arm are not welcome back in my house!”

Nero: “Aw, but come on! I brought potato chips! Your favorite kind, too!”

(the phone rings)

Dante: “Argh! I don’t wanna deal with this while I’m having a party! Just come in, and if you grope my boyfriend again, I’m tearing that arm right off!”

(he goes inside to find dracula has picked up the phone)

Dracula: “Yes, I would like a subscription to Reader’s Digest!” *pause* “What do you mean you’re not selling magazines? I demand to speak to your alien!”

Dante: “Whatever, that’s fine.”

(he walks into the living room to find lloyd, nemesis and nightmare gathered around the computer)

Lloyd: “Look! This bloody axe is up to five dollars already!”

Nightmare: *frowns* “Nightmare does not care for bidder’s screen name of Astaroth_rules!”

Nemesis: “STARS.”

(irvine and reno are looking at a picture)

Irvine: “Whoa, who is the hottie?”

Reno: “Yeah, I’d totally do her.”

Irvine: “Hey, Dante! Who’s this hot chick?”

(they turn the picture around and dante grimaces a bit)

Dante: “Dude, that’s my dead mom.”

Irvine: “…Oh.”

Reno: “She was a MILF.”

(the phone rings again. moments later, alucard pokes his head into the room.)

Alucard: “Hey, Dante. It’s Capcom on the phone returning your call.”

Dante: “Finally! When I’m done with them they’ll never show me fully dressed in a game again!”

(he takes the phone and stalks into the kitchen. d comes over to alucard)

D: “The castle seems to be coming along nicely.”

Alucard: “Yeah. I’m sure Dante’s eager for dad to move out.”

Dracula’s voice: *from a closet* “The light is broken in here!”

D: “I’m still amazed that our belongings were not destroyed.”

Alucard: “With the way dad destroys things left and right, I have so many enchantments and spells on our stuff to protect everything, it would take fifty wizards to remove them all.”

Dracula’s voice: *from closet* “The toilet isn’t flushing!”

Alucard and D: *pales*

D: “This sounds like it will take the both of us.”

Alucard: “Goody.”

(back outside, zell, franswa, seifer, squall and hugh are happily enjoying a game of football together while rinoa and tifa watch and play with duke. locke, yuffie and shadow are walking around outside the castle grounds with the metal detector again. shadow isn’t wearing the mask, but he is holding it in his hands. the bushes outside snake’s condo shake violently.)

Snake’s voice: “Ow! Why are there thorns? ….Someone must be out to get me! Otakon!”

(cloud, zack, koudelka, cid, barret, yuri, edward, halley and marlene all ride by on bicycles. halley and marlene are trying to race. meanwhile, on the porch, red is curled up in a quiet corner sleeping, while algus and argath are on the porch swing)

Algus: “You know, I’ve been thinking about this will, and I think we should simply come to an agreement about it.”

Argath: “What sort of agreement?”

Algus: “If, after five years, we cannot get the courts to settle this for us, we will try once again to settle this ourselves.”

Argath: “Very well. I suppose that sounds reasonable.”

(rude, zidane and bryatt are going across the street to dante’s party, talking and laughing. rufus, elena, tseng, reeve and the kids are walking along together, just taking a stroll. lily and rufus jr. are in strollers and max is bouncing a ball along. twilight and opal are practicing with their lightsabers in the front yard. auron is standing in the yard with binoculars, watching a bird land in it’s nest on the roof and start to feed some baby birds)

Auron: “The circle of life continues.”

(over near loser land, nida is planting a garden in the backyard while scarlet watches. kuja and seymour are returning home, many shopping bags in hand. heidegger can be seen through the window, passed out on the couch, snoring loudly with spilled potato chip crumbs across his chest. edgar and setzer drive up and park in the driveway. they get out of the car with a balloon that says ‘it’s a boy!’. they tie it to the mailbox as a bunch of people come over to talk to them. meanwhile, on the side of the ramble room, vincent comes around the corner to find sephiroth there, wiping dirt from his hands. there is a fresh sapling in the ground in front of him.)

Vincent: “There you are, angel. What’s that?”

Sephiroth: “Oh, I just planted this. Remember my tree that burned down when the original ramble room did? Well, I thought it was about time I replaced it.”

Vincent: “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

Sephiroth: *sigh*

Vincent: “What’s on your mind, angel?”

Sephiroth: “Before Lark left, she said she spent the last year just looking back into the past, not accepting what happened. And I think I was doing the same thing. But I don’t have that same feeling anymore. I know she and Brady are going to have a happy future together with their child. And for the first time that honestly makes me happy.”

Vincent: “I believe that’s called closure, angel.”

(sephiroth goes over and puts an arm around vincent. together they start to walk away from the ramble room. as they talk, imagine the camera panning out until you can see the whole ramble complex and area from above, and everyone below is just a small dot…)

Vincent: “Do you wish to go to Dante’s party?”

Sephiroth: “I don’t wish to do anything with Dante. But I guess we can go. People are probably expecting me.”

Vincent: “Oh, angel. After all you’ve been through together, can’t you simply put your differences aside and be friends?”

Sephiroth: “No!”

Vincent: *sigh* “I suppose the more things change…”

Sephiroth: “Hey! Auron! What the hell are you doing with those binoculars?! Spying on us?”

Vincent: “…I don’t need to finish.”

 

THE END