Change In Command

Story
John, Gwen, Chopper and Ian are equipped with energy negating collars and handcuffs. Gwen was hyperventilating, really freaking out.

John: Gwen, relax. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Gwen: (Still gasping) Sorry. (Gasps) I just remember (gasps) Zombozo using these on me. (Takes deep breath, then exhales.) Okay. I’m better. (The four are led to the top floor by guards, to President Palpatine’s office. Driscoll stands in the back round, as the four are brought in front of Palpatine.)

Palpatine: So, (looking at John) you are the one who can transform into the monsters roaming our planet.

John: So, you are the one draining the mako from the planet.

Palpatine: And where did you hear such an outrageous lie?

Ian: (Lunging forward, being held back by guards.) You should rot in a hole!

Palpatine: I take it that you are Avalanche. Are you really that naive that you listen to what these terrorists say?

John: Well, I haven’t heard your side. The only encounters I’ve had with Shinra is you trying to kill me.

Palpatine: And with this company, (motioning his hand to the others) that is understandable. (Palpatine gets up, and goes towards the window.) Our way of life is dependent on mako. Avalanche does have a decent concern for what is happening, though their actions threaten lives. Somewhere on this planet, is the Promised Land.

John: The land that was found by Lady Artemis?

Palpatine: And you believe in that fairy tale as well. No matter. Yes, the one mentioned in that story. If we can find it, we can have an unlimited amount of mako. Our world will be fueled for hundreds of years to come. And Shinra will lead the way. With your powers, and your monsters, we can eliminate any threat to the planet. So, will you join me?

John: All I heard there was “I’m going to take over the world and kill anyone in my way.” The answer is no. I’m going to break free, and I’m going to take you down.

Palpatine: What I figured. You’ve been too corrupted by Avalanche views. Throw them in the holding cells, and prepare to transfer them to the Null Void in the morning. (The guards then take the group away.) Well done, Driscoll. You shall be receiving an award for your duties.

Driscoll: I thank you, sir, but it is not necessary. End Scene

The group is thrown in cells, John and Ian in one cell, with Chopper and Gwen in the other.

John: You guys alright over there?

Gwen: Yeah. I’m fine now.

Ian: Well, this is what I expected.

John: You expected to be thrown in a cell?

Ian: For us to be caught. If we had snuck in, however.

John: And climb 60 flights of stairs? We wouldn’t even be near the top yet.

Chopper: What do we do now?

John: We wait. Speaking of which, I wanted to ask you something, Chopper.

Chopper: Huh?

John: You knew that scientist guy, and how to get to the lab. What’s your history with him?

Chopper: Oh, him. Yeah.

John: If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.

Chopper: No. I think you should know. Some time ago, I was an ordinary reindeer. Well, almost ordinary. My blue nose made me an outcast from the start. Eventually, the herd leader kicked me out, and knocked me off a cliff. I fell down towards a river below.

Gwen: That’s awful!

Chopper: After that is when things got weird. I surfaced, and the river was green.

John: A green river? You sure?

Ian: Why wasn’t it green before?

Chopper: The river, in human terms, was always green. Reindeer can’t see most colors, though blue is extremely obvious to us. When I entered the river, I became, this. Part reindeer, part human. I flailed my new “arms” frantically, drowning. Animo found me washed up on a bank by the river. He became my friend. He brought me back here, and looked into me. He found out that my DNA was altered with human DNA. Animo then did some experiments, to see my limits. With his experiments, I can transform into a total of seven forms. With human DNA, I gained human level intelligence, maybe even higher than average. I figured out that Animo didn’t care for me. He was using me as a guinea pig. I confronted him about it, and he simply said, “You are nothing but a worthless animal with an interesting gift! Your life means nothing when it comes to scientific advancement!” I tried to escape, but I was captured, and thrown in the Null Void prison. I stayed there until you freed me.

John: I’m sorry, Chopper. For making you relive that.

Chopper: It’s okay. End Scene

John, Ian, Gwen and Chopper had gone to sleep. Suddenly, the sound of metal bending occurs, and they wake up. Sakura tears the door off their cell.

Sakura: Finally found you guys!

John: Who are you? (Sakura comes over, breaking his collar and handcuffs.)

Sakura: Name’s Sakura, the greatest warrior alive! (Breaks Ian’s collar and cuffs.) Well, after Kai at least.

John: You know Kai?

Sakura: She and the lizard are handling the guards.

John: Free the others. Ian, let’s go! (John and Ian run out the hall, when John stops, seeing a trail of blood. He follows it, and finds dead guards, killed by a sword.) Something’s wrong. There’s someone else here.

Ian: This wasn’t your guys?

John: No. Kai uses a bow and arrow. These are obviously sword wounds.

John follows the trail of blood, and the two arrive in the President’s office. Kai and Vector were there, and look at Palpatine’s body, sitting in his chair, laying on the desk, a long masamune sword sticking out of his back.

Ian: He’s, dead.

Vector: Hey, we just found him this way. We didn’t do any of this. (Kai nods, her face expressing concern.)

John: I agree. Who did this? (Sakura, Gwen and Chopper arrive, and Gwen gasps at the sight. Chopper screams in terror.)

Chopper: Aaaggggghhhh! You killed him!

John: Someone did. (Then, a helicopter is flying towards the building.)

Ian: Darn it! I forgot about him.

John: Who?

Ian: Michael. The President’s son. (The group goes outside, and finds Michael standing on the landing deck, the helicopter circling around overhead.)

Michael: (Yelling over helicopter) Well, well! The monster wielder, a giant lizard, Animo’s experiment, a member of the destroyed terrorist group, and you! (Pointing to Kai) A Hunter of Artemis! Unlike my father, I plan on getting what I want by fear! And you, my little beauty, are going to lead me to the Promised Land!

Kai’s face is enraged, and she draws an arrow and fires. Michael doesn’t move, and the arrow seems to go right through his chest, doing him no harm.

Vector: What the heck? He should be dead! That was a kill shot! (Kai lowers her bow, confused.)

John: Ian! Take the others and get out of here!

Ian: What about you?!

John: Kai’s going to fight! And I’m going to help! We need to escape before new guards appear! (Ian nods, and guides Vector, Gwen, Chopper and Sakura back inside.)

Sakura: (Following Ian) We can’t just leave them with that guy!

Ian: This is John we’re talking about! He probably has a plan already. (The group arrives at the elevator, and they all get in it. The elevator goes down, and Driscoll arrives at the elevator next to it. He uses his red materia, summoning Upgrade.)

Driscoll: Exterminate them.

The elevator closes, and goes down. Upgrade takes the form of the robot guard from before, and the elevator catches up with the other one. Upgrade fires plasma shots, destroying the glass walls. Wind rushes in, and the group holds on tight to the elevator, as Upgrade continues to fire. Gwen raises one arm, forming a mana barrier. However, it breaks instantly, her unable to keep her focus.

Gwen: (Screaming over wind.) I can’t, keep my focus!

Ian: We need to try something! Chopper, can you get over there?!

Chopper: With this wind, I’m not sure!

Ian: (Groans) Alright! Someone give me cover!

Sakura: You’re going over there?! You’re crazy!

Ian: Better for me to die than all of us!

Vector: Well said kid! Let’s rock and roll!

The green materia glows on his headphones, and Vector breathes fire, hitting Upgrade, forcing it to raise its arms, protecting itself. Ian extends his chains, catching onto the elevator Upgrade was on. He then jumps, going high into the sky. His chain runs out, and jerks his arm, dislocating it.

Ian: Agh! (He bites his lip, as his chain retracts, pulling himself in. Upgrade breaks through the fire, and prepares his chest laser.)

Chopper: Guys! Get behind me! (Vector, Gwen and Sakura get behind him, and Chopper turns into a giant furball.) Guard Point! (Upgrade fires its chest laser, hitting Chopper hard. Chopper reveals his face.) Ha! Nothing you’ve got can break this!

Ian: Chopper! (Ian was on the elevator, and extends a chain. Chopper shifts to Brain Point, as the chain wraps around him. Ian then swings his arm, launching Chopper at Upgrade. Chopper shifts to Arm Point.)

Chopper: Arm Point! (Chopper thrusts his arm forward, striking Upgrade on the Omnitrix symbol. It releases a flash of light, and Upgrade reverts to red materia. Chopper turns back to Brain Point, and Ian brings him back down, materia in tow.)

Ian: Nice shot. Agh! (He grabs his shoulder, wincing in pain.) End Scene

On the roof, Michael stares down Kai and John. The helicopter is still circling them.

Michael: (Yelling over helicopter) Don’t make this hard on yourself! Just surrender yourself to me!

John: (Yelling) Dude! That was so the wrong thing to say to a woman who hates men!

Michael pulls out a machine gun, and holds it up, firing at them. John and Kai jump to opposite sides to dodge, and Kai draws and fires an arrow. A hole forms in Michael’s chest from the point of impact, which reforms in an instant.

John: It’s not Michael. It’s Sludge Blob! (Sludge Blob’s body keeps Michael’s form, but it is in the appearance of a sludge. In the helicopter, Michael speaks through a radio, attached to Sludge Blob.)

Michael: Not bad! But that simply means that you can’t win! Destroy them!

Sludge Blob raises its machine gun, preparing to fire again. John fires a mana blast, destroying the gun. Sludge Blob stretches its arm, grabbing John and lifting him into the air. Kai fires several arrows, the impacts destroying the arm. John falls to the ground, hitting the Omnitrix.

Humungousaur: Humungousaur!

Sludge Blob charges in with a mallet hand, and Humungousaur grabs it, lifting it off the ground. Sludge Blob slips out of his grip, and stretches to hit Humungousaur in the face. It’s hit by an arrow, and Humungousaur catches it.

Humungousaur: Omnitrix! Capture mode! (The Omnitrix fires a yellow beam of light, capturing Sludge Blob. Then, Michael starts firing the helicopter machine gun at Humungousaur and Kai, Humungousaur covering Kai.) Alright. We need to leave now! This guy’s not worth getting killed over. Any ideas? (Kai runs out of cover, Michael firing at her. Kai then jumps off the roof.) Really? Of course she would jump off a roof.

Humungousaur runs to the edge, and jumps off the roof. Michael looks out the helicopter door, as if in astonishment. Humungousaur reverts, as John catches up to Kai. Kai does a bird whistle, and a few moments later, Tonga and Kai’s Chocobo start running up the building. They run past them, then turn around, running down the building. Kai grabs her Chocobo as it comes by, and John grabs Tonga. The Chocobo make it to the ground, when Ian, Vector, Sakura, Chopper and Gwen make it outside.

Chopper: Wow! What are they?

John: Chocobo. This one is Tonga. (Tonga chirps.)

Chopper: Actually, he says that it’s Xavier.

Gwen: You can understand them?

John: Then what’s Kai’s Chocobo’s name? (Kai’s chocobo chirps.)

Chopper: Grace. Also, (Chopper pulls out the red materia.) This is that monster that Turk used.

John takes the materia, and places it on the Omnitrix. They both glow, and the materia was gone, Upgrade appearing as a hologram.

John: Sweet. Thanks, Chopper.

Chopper: Thank Ian. He broke his arm to beat it.

Ian: (Grabbing his shoulder) Dislocated.

John: Oh, come here. (John holds his arm up, glowing with mana. Ian gives a sigh of relief, as he lets go of his arm.)

Ian: Thanks. (Then, Shinra guards arrive.)

Vector: Can we please get out of here already?!

John: Oh, right. Andata! (A dome forms around the group, and they teleport away.)

Characters

 * John Spacewalker
 * Kai
 * Vector
 * Ian
 * Chopper
 * Gwen
 * Sakura
 * Chocobo
 * Xavier
 * Grace

Villains

 * Shinra
 * President Shinra (dead)
 * Driscoll
 * President Michael
 * Shinra Guards

Used by John

 * Humungousaur

Summoned by Driscoll

 * Upgrade

Summoned by Michael

 * Sludge Blob

Trivia

 * John's group unites with Kai's group.
 * Palpatine is killed, and Michael takes over as President of Shinra.
 * Palpatine's death is exactly mirrored of what happens to President Shinra in Final Fantasy VII
 * Unlike the game, however, it is unknown who killed him.
 * It's revealed that Tonga's name is really Xavier.