Midgar Zolom

Story
The gang appears some distance away from the city. It is now nighttime.

Sakura: Whoa! That was freaking AWESOME! Do that again!

Ian: What now? We have no goal, no plan. We have nothing we can do.

John: We’ll rest here for the night. Anyone have a map?

Vector: Map?! What do you need a map, hey!

Kai takes his bat, and drags the handle across the ground. In a matter of minutes, she had drawn a giant map. There are two main continents. The right one is the bigger, with a mountain range going from the top left “corner” down the continent, to about midway through. Near the center of that mountain pass is a body of water. The second continent was smaller, with a big mountain range in the center of the continent, with a river leading out to the ocean, going from in the mountains to the right side of the continent. To the left of that was a large island. A series of long, skinny islands are south of the first continent, with a few smaller ones between the main continents.

John: Whoa. Awesome. Where’s Midgar on this thing? (Kai draws a circle near the top of the eastern continent, above the mountain range.)

Ian: And Kalm, and the area of Avalanche’s former base, (He points to a spot east of Midgar.) in this area.

Vector: That mountain where we got separated before is near the bottom of the continent.

John: So we’ve been staying on the east side of this continent. Kai, you’ve been all over the planet with the Hunters, right? Tracking down monsters? (Kai nods.) Where would you go to find reindeer?

Chopper: Eh?! Hunting reindeer?!

Gwen: I’m sure that’s not what he meant. (Kai seems to bite her lip, as if holding back. She then draws a third continent, far to the north of the others. She then returns the bat to Vector.)

Ian: Why didn’t you draw that before? (Kai glares at him, with a death stare. She then backs down.)

John: So that would be where Chopper used to live.

Chopper: It is a barren wasteland of ice and snow.

Sakura: I’ve been all over, and there’s no ice on these main continents. What are you thinking?

John: Chopper said there was a green river up there. I believe that it is the Codon Stream.

Gwen: What’s the Codon Stream?

John: It is the source of my alien forms. I can access aliens that are in it. I feel that that is my destination, that I have to go there.

Chopper: No no no! I don’t want to go back there!

John: Chopper, you are as much as a member of this team as anyone. I trust and respect you. If you don’t want to go back to the Northern continent, your old home, that is fine. I won’t force you to. However, I would like it if you would come with us, as I believe you could guide us the best up there. (Chopper blushes, looking really excited.)

Chopper: Complimenting me doesn’t make me happy! (He’s dancing happily.) But I will go. I want to continue to travel with you.

Ian: What about the Promised Land? We can’t let Shinra find it. (Kai turns her face away, slightly ashamed. John catches this.)

John: To me, the Codon Stream is more important. Besides, the Promised Land is our enemies’ goal, and we’re not going to lead them there. (Kai gives John a slight smile, which fades in an instant. John then yawns.) Let’s set up camp for the night. End Scene

Three tents are set up. John and Ian are in one, Sakura and Gwen in another. Vector, being so big, had his own tent, no one else being able to fit in them. Chopper was sleeping on the ground, outside of John’s tent. Kai is coming back to the camp, having done a perimeter check. She sees someone leaving the camp, and goes to follow.

Gwen had gone into the forest, and was practicing her mana control. She fires several mana blasts, though none of them hits the target she had made.

Gwen: Darn it! Why can’t I hit it?!

Kai: You are too worried about controlling it. You are thinking you too much. (Gwen turns, seeing Kai.) Relax your mind. Release all thoughts, all emotions, all desires. Once your mind is clear, your instincts will take over. You will wield your powers like its part of your body. (Gwen nods her head, and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath, trying to cleanse her thoughts. However, she then releases a sigh of frustration.) It’s okay. I didn’t expect you to get it in one try.

Gwen: You didn’t speak before. Why speak now?

Kai: I refuse to talk around boys.

Gwen: I know that you are of the Hunters of Artemis, having sworn off boys for all eternity. But, why?

Kai: (Looking away) When I was about your age, I was set to be married.

Gwen: So young?

Kai: In this day and age, a notion like that is unacceptable. However, in my time, it was commonplace. Arranged marriages happened all the time, but despite this, I truly loved him. On the wedding day, I was standing on the altar. That’s when he broke it off, for another woman. (Clenches her fist, her face angry.) I ran for only Artemis knows how long. The Hunters found me, and gave me their offer. In exchange of surrendering boys for all eternity, I would be given eternal life, and sisters who shared the gift. Immortality isn’t scary. It’s the loneliness. Living without a friend. I was convinced at this point that all men were scum. I joined without a second thought. That was over 200 years ago.

Gwen: 200 years?!

Kai: And yet, the world still operates in the sense of men being stronger than women, that women need a man to protect them, to be dependent on. (She looks directly at Gwen.) You must become a stronger woman. You cannot be dependent on John forever.

Gwen: (Slightly ashamed) I, I don’t know how else to act. I have been forced to rely on a man for so long.

Kai: (Puts her hand on Gwen’s shoulder) I will help you. (The two smile, and head back to camp.) End Scene

The next morning, Kai gives a bird whistle. Then, four chocobo run towards them, Xavier, Grace and two other chocobo stop in front of them. One of the chocobo was green, and the other light blue.

Chopper: Hey there! How are you guys? Oh, hello, who are you? (The chocobo chirp to Chopper, in a conversation.) The green one is Billy, and the blue one is Steve.

John: Pleased to meet you all. Hey, Xavier. (Xavier comes over to him, and sits down, allowing John to get on.) Come on, Gwen. (He offers his hand, helping Gwen onto the chocobo.)

Vector: Hey there, easy, easy! (Vector gets on Billy, still struggling.) Well, I’m not sharing this guy.

Chopper: Then, which one do I, whoa! (Kai picks Chopper up, and jumps onto Grace, riding off.)

Sakura: Hey! I wanted to ride with you! (Ian gets on Steve.)

Ian: Looks like you are riding with me.

Sakura: (Unenthusiastically) Great. (She gets on, and Steve runs off to catch up to the others.)

The group arrives at a swamp, which separates them from the mountains.

Ian: There should be a cave that’ll take us directly through to the other side. From there, we can find a ship to take us to the western continent.

Vector: And you really want to cross here? Haven’t you ever heard of the Midgar Zolom?

Chopper: Midgar Zolom?

Vector: It is a big, 30 foot serpent that lives in this swamp. It attacks and eats everything that travels through the swamp. On foot, one is helpless. Even on chocobo, it is a difficult task to outrun it. (Kai taps Grace, and she charges forward.)

Chopper: Ah! We’re going into the swamp!

Vector: Should’ve expected that.

John: Of course.

Xavier runs after Grace, then Billy and Steve chase after them. Vector struggles to control Billy, trying to get him to turn around. A shadow follows them, and then slowly disappears. The Midgar Zolom, a giant cobra type serpent, breaks out of the waters, its body appearing in front of them.

Sakura: Whoa!

Chopper: Ah! It’s here! (John raises his arm, and a large mana path appears, going into the air.)

John: Everyone up!

The chocobo run up the mana path, and the Midgar Zolom spots them. It swings its tail, breaking the trail. The chocobo go flying through the air, Xavier and Billy going backwards, toward the mainland, while Grace and Steve fall towards the mountain. John uses his mana to create a new trail, and Xavier and Billy run down it, and they arrive at their starting point. The Midgar Zolom faces them, hissing at them. The chocobo get scared, and run off, away from the mountains.

John: Wait! Go back! Oh, man! (John jumps off Xavier, and Gwen follows shortly after. Vector falls off Billy after that.)

Vector: Wait! Come back! (The chocobo run out of sight.) Great. (They then see the Zolom turning away, going back into the swamp.)

Gwen: Where’s it going?

John: After the others. (John charges in, slapping down the Omnitrix.)

Humungousaur: Humungousaur!

Vector: You’re going to fight that thing?!

Humungousaur enters the swamp, gaining the Zolom’s attention. Humungousaur punches it, and it then coils back afterwards, biting into Humungousaur. It doesn’t pierce the skin, and it pulls back. The Midgar Zolom wraps around Humungousaur, squeezing him. Humungousaur then starts to grow, and starts to break out of its grip.

Grace and Steve make it to the other side of the swamp, and the group turns and looks at the fight.

Ian: That’s John! We need to get out there and help him! (Kai dismounts Grace, bringing Chopper down with her. Sakura follows her example, and Ian groans, dismounting as well. The chocobo then run off.) Hey, wait! We have to help him! (Kai turns away, heading towards the cave.) You’re just going to leave him there?!

Sakura: If that dinosaur thing is John, then I think he’ll be fine. And, he’ll meet up with us later.

Chopper: Uh, I think she’s right. John is the strongest person I’ve ever met. He’ll find us. (Sakura goes after Kai, with Chopper and Ian following behind them.)

Humungousaur punches the Midgar Zolom in the head, forcing it back. It hisses at him, and then pulls down into the swamp. Humungousaur goes over to the mainland, and reverts.

John: We need to find another way around the mountains. I don’t have a form that can completely defeat that thing.

Vector: Told you. And how do we get around the mountain?

John: We’ll find a way.

Characters

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

Villains

 * Midgar Zolom

Aliens

 * Humungousaur

Trivia

 * Kai speaks for the first time. However, it was only to Gwen.
 * The Midgar Zolom is the first character from Final Fantasy VII to appear in this story.
 * It is also one of the last.
 * The group is separated again, with John, Gwen and Vector being one team, with Kai, Sakura, Ian and Chopper the other team.