This article is the work of TLS member Morello.

---

This script is taken from the English dub of “Advent Children Complete”. I’ve added descriptions and occasional references to the English subtitles if there were marked differences between those and the dub. If I’m not sure about my interpretation of an event or a character’s meaning I’ve put a question mark in brackets (?). For ease of finding scenes, I’ve divided the script into ‘chapters’ with simple titles highlighted in yellow.

 

“Advent Children Complete” Script

Text: To those who loved this world and knew friendly company therein: this Reunion is for you.

(Opening scene – no dialogue. ‘Camera’ pans down from the clouds as Nanaki and two cubs run along a valley, bound up the rocky slopes, and stand overlooking the now green ruins of Midgar. Nanaki roars.)

Text: 498 Years Earlier

Kadaj and Rufus Discuss Humanity

(The scene starts in an elevator, then takes place high on an unfinished building in Edge. Rufus is in his wheelchair.)

Kadaj: Why does humankind even bother? You wreck everything you’ve ever made then you start over like it’ll be any different the next time.

Rufus: I suppose we’re no good at facing our memories. We’d rather gild the past… Find something worthwhile among the rubble and build a future with that.

Kadaj: And that’s why you salvaged Mother? To “gild the past”?

Rufus: We were trying to rid ourselves of a more immediate problem.

Kadaj: You can’t mean the stigma? But you’re the ones who brought that on yourselves in the first place. Well now. I guess you really do have a short memory.

Rufus. Hm. No. Not me. You see, it is my choice to forget.

Text: Two weeks earlier.

Retrieving Jenova’s Head

(View of Northern Crater in a snowstorm. Tseng and Elena’s voices are heard over the helicopter radio.)

Elena: Tseng! Look at this.

Tseng: Pay dirt.

Elena: Not a pretty sight, is it?

Reno (in helicopter): Who cares? Just get the damn thing.

Tseng: Reno – the chopper.

Reno: You got it. (Helicopter descends into the crater out of view.)

(Gunshots.)

Tseng: Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Elena: Reno, hurry! Reno!

Reno: Who the hell is that?

(Elena makes sounds of pain.)

Tseng: Elena!

Elena: Get out! (Confused sounds and more gunshots.) Tseng!

(More sounds of pain, shots, static. The subtitles say “damn it!” but this is not audible in ACC. Someone says something that sounds as though it contains the name “Tseng”, but it’s hard to decipher and not subtitled. General air of confusion. The chopper rises out of the mist and flies away.)

Marlene Explains the Story So Far

(As Marlene narrates we see images of the things she’s describing.)

Marlene: The Lifestream. That’s what we call the river of life that circles our planet, giving life to the world and everything in it. The Shinra Electric Power Company discovered a way to use the Lifestream as an energy source. Because of Shinra’s energy, we were able to live very comfortable lives. But wasn’t that because we were taking away from the planet’s life? A lot of people thought so. Shinra used their power to try and stop anybody who got in their way. Shinra had a special group of warriors called SOLDIER, and all of the SOLDIERs had Jenova cells put inside them. Jenova was a calamity that fell from the sky a long, long time ago and tried to destroy the planet.

Anyway, there was one SOLDIER named Sephiroth who was better than the rest. But when he found out about the terrible experiments that made him he began to hate Shinra. And then, over time, he began to hate everything. Shinra and the people against them. Sephiroth, who hated the planet so much he wanted to make it go away. And the people who tried to stop him. There were a lot of battles. For every battle, there was more sadness. Someone I love went back to the Lifestream too.

And then, it came. The chosen day. In the end, the planet itself had to make the battles stop for good. The planet used the Lifestream as a weapon and when it burst out of the earth all the fighting, all the greed and sadness, everything was washed away. “Sadness was the price to see it end.” It’s been two years since they told me that.

(‘Camera’ pans down from a spectacular view of Edge under construction with the ruins of Midgar in the distance, past a sign reading ‘Midgar 2 Miles’ and ‘Midgar Edge’, to a view of the busy central plaza and the monument commemorating Meteorfall. A child places a flower on the base of the monument where a plaque reads “METEROFALL – ?ERA 0008 0121 Keep on Rockin’ in MIDGAR”. Pedestrians walk through the streets. We see a man leaning on a pillar with a bandaged head, who has the marks of geostigma on his face. Street scenes. ‘Camera’ pans to a street in Edge – Silence Street – where three children are watching construction work. They notice a man with advanced Geostigma collapsed against a wall.)

Small boy: Uh – let’s go.

Girl: Uh – yeah.

(They run across the street, bumping into a passerby.)

Man (passerby, not the man with geostigma): Hey – watch where you’re goin’!

Girl laughs. As she runs through a puddle she accidentally splashes Moogle Girl who is sitting with her sick brother. A man staggers towards Moogle Girl and her brother, dripping black geo-ooze and clearly on his last legs. Moogle Girl covers her brother’s eyes.

Marlene’s voice narrating: But it looks like the planet is a lot madder than we thought.

(Cut to Marlene watching Denzel, who is ill in bed.)

Marlene (still as voice-over): They call it geostigma.

Denzel: Well, Marlene? How does it look?

(Marlene doesn’t reply.)

Marlene (as voice-over): Please. Please don’t take Denzel away.

(Cut to shot of angel statue, and then the outside of the 7th Heaven.)

Tifa at home

(Tifa is cleaning the bar and washing glasses etc. A phone is ringing.)

Male voice on radio: The commission’s report released this morning has revealed that Lifestream concentration in the atmosphere has dropped to a mere hundredth of the levels two years ago and now poses no threat to the human body. However, the concentration remains toxic around the Shinra company’s main building…

Tifa: He’s not here any more…

Radio: … as well as the company’s mako reactors. To prevent the onset of geostigma, the commission does advise that you stay away from these facilities and the surrounding areas. Next up: should Shinra be held financially responsible for the crisis?

Denzel (from his bed): Cloud, where are you?

(Tifa climbs the stairs and answers the phone. Cloud’s desk is covered in medical books and articles about geostigma.)

Tifa: Hello, Strife Delivery Service. You name it, we deliv – May I ask who’s calling? (Giggles) Yeah, I remember you. (It’s Reno. I’ve read that in Japanese you can tell this because Tifa imitates his distinct style of speech, ending words in ‘zo to’.)

Cloud meets the Remnants

(Cut to Cloud’s wolf by the rusting Buster sword on the bluff overlooking Midgar/Edge. Then cut to titles over the following scene. Cloud on Fenrir, picks up a message from Tifa.)

Tifa’s message: You got a call from Reno. He’s in Healen. Says he’s got work for you. Cloud, how have you been?

Automated voice: You have no more messa – (Cloud switches off phone. He clutches his arm, experiencing a brief geostigma attack, then puts on his goggles and rides off. Sinister music plays. The Remnants, on bikes, arrive on the cliff overlooking Midgar. Kadaj kicks over the Buster sword.)

Yazoo: Hey, Kadaj? Is that where Big Brother lives?

Kadaj: Yeah.

Yazoo: Do you think he’ll be glad to see us?

Kadaj: Not a chance.

Loz: Don’t cry, Yazoo.

Yazoo: But Mother’s with him.

Kadaj: Maybe not…

Yazoo: Don’t cry, Loz.

Kadaj: Hold on, he’s coming.

Yazoo: Hm.

Loz: Hm. (They look at each other. Kadaj gives them the nod, and they set off on their bikes after Cloud. Fight – Cloud vs. Loz, Yazoo and some Shadow Creepers. Loz uses a weapon attached to his arm (‘Dual Hound’), while Yazoo shoots his gun (‘Velvet Nightmare’) Kadaj watches from the hill, and phones Healen.)

Loz: Where’s Mother?

Yazoo: We know you hid her, Brother.

Kadaj (on the phone – presumably talking to Reno): Don’t tell me you’re leading me on? Because I think you do have Mother there. No need to shout. I don’t want to talk to you any more. Put the president on.

(Yazoo shoots at Cloud, grazing his forehead. Cloud is almost overwhelmed by the Shadow Creepers when Kadaj calls them off. Loz and Yazoo leave with Kadaj. Cloud looks puzzled.)

Denzel’s Story Part One

(Denzel is in bed. He looks at a photograph of himself with Cloud and Marlene outside the 7th Heaven. Next to it is a repaired photo of himself with his parents, Abel and Chloe.)

Denzel: Guess I was the last straw.

Cloud meets Rufus, Reno and Rude at Healen Lodge

(On his bike, Cloud approaches “Healen Lodge”, formerly called “Cliff Resort”, a facility built for Shinra employees to holiday in but now being used for geostigma patients. Healen consists of small, white, round lodges set among spectacular mountain scenery with trees and waterfalls. We hear a phone message from Barret.)

Barret: What up, fool, it’s Barret! I am the man! Oil, Cloud! I just found the biggest damned oil filed you ever seen! Surveyin’s done, so I should be able to get out there and see Marlene soon. You let her know, all right, Spiky?

(Cloud passes the sign for “Healen Lodge – Geostigma Sanatorium in love of silence”.)

Tifa’s voice on message: Reno called again. He says to hurry, and he sounded kind of strange… Be careful, okay?

(Cloud leaves Fenrir, climbs the stairs to the lodge, briefly “fights” Reno, and shuts the door on him.)

Reno: Okay, so you’re good. (Cloud locks him out.) Yeah, Rude, looking sharp! (How can he tell through the door? Rude extends a baton, but Cloud threatens him with his sword and he backs off.)

Rufus: Good. You fight like the SOLDIER you once claimed to be. You haven’t lost your touch.

(We see a brief flashback to the day of Diamond Weapon’s attack on the Shinra building in which Rufus appeared to have been killed in the original game.)

Cloud: Rufus Shinra. Do I feel sorry for you.

(Rude clears his throat.)

Rufus: The day of the explosion –

Cloud: What do you want from me?

Rufus: – I managed to get out of the building –

Cloud: Who were the guys that attacked me?

Rufus: – before it collapsed –

Cloud: I’m leaving.

Rufus: We need your assistance, Cloud.

Cloud: Not interested –

Rufus: I acknowledge that Shinra owes the planet a lot. It goes without saying that my company and I are the ones who put the world in the sorry state it’s in. Therefore, it’s our responsibility to set things right.

Reno: I’m still out here…

Rufus: As a first step we have commenced an investigation in Sephiroth’s wake. It’s been two years. Now that the world is on its feet again, what poses the greatest threat? Well, that one’s easy. Geostigma. And we have reason to think Sephiroth is the one responsible. The populace, they blame mako energy, and the reactors… even the Lifestream for causing the stigma. However, isn’t that blame misplaced? The Lifestream has existed as long as the planet, and even mako energy has been part of our lives for over forty years. And yet, there’s no mention of the stigma in recorded history. So, what happened during our time to change all that? I can think of only one thing. The arrival of Sephiroth.

Cloud: Sephiroth is dead.

Rufus: Yes, but has his mind died? What if he somehow dissolved into the Lifestream, coursing through the planet undiffused? I know it is merely my speculation – but it is possible, isn’t it? And we can’t cure the stigma until we know the truth. So we took action. We went to look for traces of Sephiroth. We started – do you know where?

Reno: (From outside) Yup, at the Northern Cave!

Rufus: And what do you think we found? Relax – we didn’t find anything. However, not all went as planned. We were… interrupted.

(Cut to grainy video footage of Elena and Tseng in the cave. The footage appears to be from a camera Elena is wearing, which must be transmitted to the helicopter, or direct to Healen. She gives the box containing Jenova’s head to Rude in the helicopter, which is hovering. We see Elena’s gun. She’s staying with Tseng, who has been wounded. As it flies off, shots ricochet off the helicopter, fired by the remnants.)

Elena (to Rude and Reno in the helicopter): Get – get out! (We see Tseng on the ground, a wound on his head, clutching his right shoulder. Elena fires at the remnants.) Tseng!

Rufus (still speaking to Cloud): Kadaj and his gang.

(On the video we see Tseng trying to get up, but too wounded. Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo are half-formed. They start off naked, but their cothes form around them as they approach Tseng and Elena.)

Cloud: Kadaj?

Rufus: They’ll be after you as well. If they haven’t already found you.

Cloud: Leave me out of this.

Kadaj (on footage, grabbing Elena, talking to the camera): Don’t think you can keep her from us for long. (Camera footage cuts off.)

(Cut back to Healen lodge)

Rufus: How? Your ties to Sephiroth run as deep as ours do, Cloud. If Kadaj’s purpose is to do what’s necessary to prepare for the moment – we stand in the way as his greatest threat.

Cloud: Moment?

Rufus: Sephiroth… reborn.

Cloud: Are you done talking?

Rufus: Let’s get to the issue at hand. In order to combat Kadaj, we need someone with your expertise. Will you join us – former SOLDIER, Cloud?

Cloud: In my head. (Pauses, having opened the door) What’s this stuff about “Mother”?

Rufus: Why, did Kadaj mention something?

Cloud: Rufus – if you’re hiding something…

Rufus: I’d never keep a secret. Not from a comrade. You must want to learn all you can about the stigma? Naturally, for the sake of those orphans you live with. Surely you long to see the smiles return to their faces? All we want in the end is to rebuild our world, Cloud. (Rufus holds out his hand.)

Cloud: But I…

Reno: Come on Cloud. Think about it. Together we could rebuild Shinra!

Cloud: Not interested.

Rude: Reno!
Rufus: Reno…

Tifa and Marlene in the church.

(Cut to the church in the slums. Tifa and Marlene enter and discover evidence that Cloud has been there. “Tifa’s Theme” plays.)

Marlene: Does Cloud live here?

Tifa: I guess he does.

Marlene (finds closed box of materia): What’s this? (Tifa shakes her head.)

(Tifa and Marlene find a bandage with signs of geostigma on it.)

Marlene: It’s just like Denzel! Is Cloud sick?

Tifa: Why didn’t he say something?

Marlene: Did he leave because he’s sick?

Tifa: He just wants to fight alone.

Marlene: Fight?

Tifa: No. I don’t think that he will.

Marlene: Tifa?

Tifa: Let’s go home, Marlene.

Marlene: We can’t! Cloud’s not here yet!

Tifa: I know, sweetie. I miss him too.

Marlene: Yeah.

Tifa: So say he comes back?

Marlene: We all go home!

Tifa: Not until he gets a lecture.

Marlene: Uh-huh!

Reno and Rude at Healen

Reno: Now we just gotta find Elena and the director. (He throws himself onto a couch.) The other employees give you any leads?

Rude (walking to the window and looking out): No. Nothing yet.

Reno: Who’d a thunk? A lot of Shinra’s people actually returned to work! Now that’s dedication. I’m tellin’ ya, this could be a fresh start!

Rude: Well, those left alive have a lot to atone for.

Reno: Two years already. Seems a lot longer than that. What a nightmare, huh? The world was nearly obliterated, and we were the obliterators. Seriously, though – how are we ever supposed to atone for that? Too bad the director’s not around, you know?

Rude: Elena too. (Rude moves to sit next to Reno on the couch.)

Reno: Hope they’re alive…

Rude: They are. Tseng’s just like the president. They’re kinda like cats. Nine lives, you know.

Reno: You got that right!

(Kadaj appears, pouring through the cracks around the door in the form of black smoke! The scene goes dark.)

Kadaj: Found ya!

Denzel’s Story Part Two

(Cut to the 7th Heaven.)

(Phone rings. Denzel picks up.)

Denzel: (listens.) Church? (listens.) Oh, I know the one. (listens.) Mm-hm. I’ll be here. (Puts down receiver.) Mmm (despairing sound.)

Flashback. Denzel, carrying a metal ‘spear’, wanders through the debris of the slums, presumably in Sector Five, as he’s near the church. (In “The Case of Denzel” we’re told that he’s hunting rats to eat, which he thinks will kill him, since his former friend Rix told him they were contaminated by pollution from the plate.) The ruined plate is above him. He puts his hand to his head, and it comes away stained with geostigma. He notices the church and goes towards it, but stops when he sees Fenrir and Cloud’s phone. He takes the phone and dials four numbers.

Automated voice: Your call to Sector 7 cannot be completed at this time. Your call to Sector 7 cannot be completed at this time.

(The camera pans down from the sky and the number 7 mako reactor to the rubble of Sector 7. A large sign amidst the rubble says “Shin-Ra Electric Power Company Company House”)

Automated voice: Your call to Sector 7 cannot be completed at this time.

(The camera pans across two shoes – one man’s and one woman’s – before zooming in on a photo of Denzel with his parents. The glass of the frame is shattered. It’s the same photo as the one beside Denzel’s bed at the 7th Heaven.)

Automated voice: Your call to Sector 7 cannot be completed at this time. Your call to Sector 7 cannot be completed at this time.

(Denzel ends the call and makes to throw the phone away, but reconsiders when the phone beeps with a missed call message. When Denzel sees the call is from “7th Heaven” he scrolls though lots of 7th Heaven missed calls, and then accidentally calls the number. When he sees that the phone is calling “7th Heaven”, he looks hopeful, as though he thinks it might be where his parents are.)

Tifa (on phone): Cloud, what a surprise. You never call. Is something wrong?

Denzel: Uh – ah –

Tifa: Cloud?

Denzel: No, ma’am.
Tifa: Well, who, then? Why do you have Cloud’s phone?

Denzel: I don’t know.

Tifa: Who is this?

Denzel: I don’t know. Please… I don’t know what to do. I can’t do this. (Denzel cries and drops the ‘spear’.)

Tifa: Hey, are you crying?

Denzel: Argh! Ah! (Falls to the ground, having an attack of geostigma.)

Tifa: (Alarmed) Hello? Are you okay?! Cloud, if you’re there, pick up!”

(Denzel blacks out.)

Cloud’s voice: Hey! (Shot of Cloud approaching from Denzel’s fallen POV.) You okay?

(End of flashback. Cut to Denzel back in the 7th Heaven. He hears what he thinks is Cloud’s bike in the distance, smiles, and rushes outside. Yazoo rides past dangerously fast, scattering pedestrians. He stops when he sees Denzel, and looks back at him with a creepy smile.)

Yazoo. Hm. (He rides off with a squeal of brakes.)

Angry passerby: Hey!

Kadaj confronts Rufus at Healen

(Reno and Rude are on the floor, too wounded by Kadaj to move.)

Kadaj: Boy, do I hate liars.

Rufus: I apologise. Ths time you get the truth. The object you seek fell from the helicopter while we were running from you. I’m afraid we were careless.

Kadaj: Is that right?

Rufus: I swear it.

Kadaj: Fine. Then swear on these. (He throws the bloody ID badges of Tseng and Elena at Rufus.)

Rufus: Why did you do this?

Kadaj: We need Mother’s power. The Reunion is coming and we need her.

Rufus: Reunion?

Kadaj: My brothers and sisters who share Mother’s cells will all assemble. And together we’ll take revenge on the planet! We’ve already sent out the invitations, but, you know, someone’s gone and hidden the guest of honour.

Rufus: Invitations?

Kadaj: The stigma? But you know all about that, Sir. Mother’s mimetic legacy lives on in the Lifestream and makes it happen. She does so much for us, and we – we don’t even know where to find her. But what can we do? We’re just Remnants – merely remnants of Mother’s legacy. Until we find Mother and receive her cells, we can’t be whole again. Geostigma and a legacy aren’t enough. Not for a true Reunion.

Rufus: What do you mean?

Kadaj: But, Sir, surely you’ve noticed? (Kadaj kneels and does that ‘looking like Sephiroth’ thing!)

Denzel’s Story Part Three

(Cut to a street in Edge. A man accidentally knocks Moogle girl, who stumbles and drops her sick brother and his toy moogle.)

Moogle Girl: Ah!

(Denzel is sitting on the pavement watching, despondent that Yazoo wasn’t Cloud.)

Man: Ah Jeez – sorry about that. (Goes to pick up the brother, and gets geo-ooze on his hand.) Ugh! The stigma! Urgh! Can’t you people just stay indoors?! (Murmurs of agreement from passersby.)

(Denzel picks up the dropped moogle toy and hands it to the girl who has hoisted her brother onto her back.)

Denzel: Uh…. (subtitles: Here.)

(The girl snatchs the moogle angrily and shoves Denzel away. When she looks back at Denzel she’s crying. Denzel watches her stumble away, sympathetic, but not knowing what to do or say.)

Memories of Zack

(Cut to hill overlooking Midgar. Cloud puts the Buster Sword back upright, Kadaj having kicked it over.)

Cloud (talking to Zack, symbolised by the sword): I said I’d live out both our lives. Easy to make that promise.

(Flashback of memories of Zack, cutting from one to the next.)
Zack: So you wanna be in SOLDIER? Hang in there. (While Cloud has mako poisoning) Hey, you doing okay? (In truck on the way back to Midgar) Well, what are you gonna do once we get to Midgar? We’re friends, right? (gunshots) Pops, park us over by the rocks! Cloud, ride’s over! (View of Zack walking away before battle with Shinra troops, words from afterwards) My honour, my dreams… (View of dying Zack) … they’re yours now. You’ll be my living legacy.

(End of flashback.)

Cloud: I swore that I would never forget. I tried. But I…

(Cloud has a geostigma attack with visions of Sephiroth.)

Sephiroth’s voice: Don’t pretend you’re sad. Why tremble with anger that’s not even there? (Screen goes black.) Face it, Cloud. All you are is an empty puppet.

Tifa Fights Loz

(Cut to church. Marlene and Tifa are waiting for Cloud. The doors are flung open. Tifa jumps up happily expecting Cloud, but it’s Loz.)

Loz: Wanna play? (Tifa holds Marlene and glares at Loz.) I guess that’s a no. Where’s Mother? (Loz walks into the middle of Aerith’s flowers and holds his nose in disgust at their perfume.) Ugh! Gross! Hey, where’s Mother?

Tifa: There’s no one here!

Loz: Fine. Play with me.

(Tifa pushes Marlene out of the way. Marlene watches from behind a stone pillar as Tifa pulls on her gloves.)

Loz: Huh! This’ll be fun.

(Tifa and Loz fight in dramatic and gravity-defying fashion until Tifa flings Loz into some pews and he disappears from sight.)

Marlene (impressed): Tifa!

(The victory fanfare sounds. Tifa and Marlene look around, surprised. It’s Loz’s phone. Loz busts out of the wreckage and answers his phone.)

Loz (to either Kadaj or Yazoo, sounding irritated): She’s not here. I’m not crying! No, I got it. I’ll bring the girl. (Loz readies Dual Hound) Where were we?

(This time Loz easily defeats Tifa. He’s about to deliver the killing blow, when Marlene throws an orb of materia at him. Distracted by all the shiny materia in Cloud’s box, Loz leaves Tifa and heads for Marlene menacingly.)

Marlene: Cloud!

Tifa (wounded among the flowers): Just run!

Denzel’s Story Part Four

(Cut to Denzel on the street near the 7th Heaven, looking shocked, as though he can sense some of what’s happening. Moogle Girl appears.)

Moogle Girl: Sorry about before. Thank you.

Denzel: Sure.

Moogle Girl: My little brother… Well, he’s gone.

Denzel: I see.

Moogle Girl: Hey, I know you’ve got it too. (Denzel looks at her, startled.) Come on – they’ll fix us.

(She leads him through some alleys until they come to a truck where Yazoo is gathering children together. Several children are already in the truck.)

Yazoo: Hm.

Cloud Finds Tifa

(Cut to church. Cloud enters and finds Tifa, unconscious.)

Cloud: Tifa? Tifa!

(Tifa half comes around.)

Tifa: You’re late.

Cloud: Who did this?

Tifa: He didn’t say. (Tifa suddenly remembers) Marlene! (She loses consciousness again.)

(Cloud looks around and realises that the materia has gone.)

Cloud: Damn! (He has another stigma attack and collapses, unconscious. Shot of a blue drop of water falling into a pool – Aeirth? Shot of unconscious Cloud and Tifa among the flowers. Cloud’s wolf is lying nearby.)

(Cut to Marlene and Denzel’s bedroom in the 7th Heaven.)

(Cloud opens his eyes and sees Tifa still unconscious in the next bed. He gets up to look at her when someone speaks behind him.)

Reno: You know, you’re pretty heavy.

Rude: Weren’t there some kids living with you?

Reno: Because they ain’t here.

(Cloud looks at the floor.)

Rude: You don’t care?

Cloud: I just… (He looks back at the unconscious Tifa. Reno and Rude look at him expectantly, but he says nothing.)

Reno (exasperated): Ah! You’re a real handful. (Reno and Rude leave, Rude slamming the door angrily behind him. Cloud looks at the photo of Denzel with Cloud and Marlene, beside Denzel’s bed.)

Denzel’s Story Part Five

(Flashback. Cloud lifts Denzel onto Fenrir.)

Cloud: Tifa said to take you home, kid. Grab on.

(Denzel seems unable to react except by falling against Cloud’s back, so Cloud takes his hand and holds on to it. Denzel’s hand is shaking. Cloud holds it tightly.)

(End of flashback.)

(Cut to Yazoo’s truck going fast through desert terrain. There are around eighteen children in the back.)

Denzel: So who’s gonna fix us?

Moogle Girl: I don’t know.

Denzel: Hm. Whatever. Like it matters anymore.

Loz and Kadaj at the Forgotten City

(Cut to loz and Kadaj in the Forgotten City. Loz has hold of Marlene. The remnants are looking at the materia Loz stole from Cloud.)

Kadaj: Look at what Brother was hiding. Powers forged in the Lifestream. With this materia, those powers will be ours. (Kadaj presses a sphere of materia into his arm. It seems as though it becomes a part of his body.)

Loz: So – those are a gift from Mother? (He releases Marlene, who backs away, trying to escape.)

Kadaj: Yeah, gotta be.

Loz: Then Brother’s hiding Mother too?

Kadaj: No, it’s that Shinra guy. Keeping her hidden is something they’ve always been very good at. (Kadaj holds up his arm, and the materia is visible, glowing inside it.)

Loz: Then all we gotta do is check everywhere that’s got anything to do with Shinra. (Loz examines one of the materia spheres from the box, sniffing it! Perhaps that helps him work out what kind it is?)

Kadaj: Hm. But we’ll have plenty of help soon.

Loz: Boy, I can’t wait.

Kadaj: But first, we need a word with Brother. He likes to pretend he’s not part of the family. How he breaks my heart. (Kadaj casts a spell at a tree, which comes crashing to the ground, cutting off Marlene’s escape. Loz yells and Marlene screams.)

Kadaj: Yeah!

Cloud Goes to the Forgotten City

(Flashback) Cut to 7th Heaven, kids’ bedroom. Night. Tifa comes round.

Cloud: Reno and Rude are out looking. (Shot of Cloud on his bike going to the Forgotten City. Cut back to bedroom.)

Tifa: You have geostigma, don’t you? (Back to Cloud on bike. He seems to be remembering the conversation with Tifa as a flashback. Back to bedroom.)

Tifa: You’re going to give up and die. Is that it? (Cloud says nothing.) So it is.

Cloud: There’s no cure.

Tifa: Yeah, but that’s not stopping Denzel, is it? Don’t run. Let’s fight it together. (Brief shot of Cloud on bike.) We can help each other, I know we can. (Cloud doesn’t respond.) I guess that only works for real families.

Cloud: Tifa… I’m not fit to help anyone. Not my family, not my friends. Nobody.

Tifa: Dilly-dally shilly-shally. (Cloud looks up.) Dilly-dally, shilly-shally…

Reno (who has appeared silently in the room, along with Rude): I think she wants you to move on, man.

Tifa: Did you find them?

Reno: No, only a witness. Kadaj’s gang took the kids.

Cloud: Where are they? (Reno goes to answer but Rude gets there first. Is this because he wants Tifa to notice him?)

Rude: They’re at their base now. The Forgotten City.

(Cut to Cloud riding through the Forgotten City. Cut again, to the remnants standing in front of the big shell by the pool where Cloud ‘buried’ Aerith in the original game. Marlene is still with Loz. On the opposite side of the pool a lot of children – 30 or more – are gathered, including Moogle Girl and Denzel.)

Kadaj (Proclaiming): Mother has given me a very special gift: the power to fight against a planet that torments humanity! She gave this gift to all her children. That’s right. You and I are brethren. Brothers and sisters chosen when we inherited Mother’s memetic legacy through the Lifestream. But – the planet doesn’t approve of that at all. It’s doing everything it can to hold us back. That’s why it’s racking our bodies with pain and filling our hearts with doubt! Now I shall heal you. And we will go to Mother together!

(Kadaj begins to de-solidify – smoky black coming off him as it did when he first materialised in the cave, and when he poured through the door at Healen.)

Kadaj: We will join as a family and strike back at the planet! Do as I do.

(As he enters the pool, the water turns black around him. He drinks the black water, and the children copy him. When they drink their eyes change to having vertical slit-like pupils, like the remnants.)

Marlene: Denzel! (He takes no notice, and drinks the water.) Denzel! (Kadaj laughs.)

Kadaj: See, Mother? All my new brothers and sisters! They can keep me company, just until I find you.

(Camera pans to shot of huge full moon, very similar to our own… Pans down to Cloud approaching on his bike. Suddenly he stumbles into a white space, and finds himself – in his mind? – standing back to back with Aerith.)

Aerith: You came. Even though you’re about to break. (Cloud feels Aerith’s hand on his arm and breaths in sharply.) That’s a good sign. So… why did you come?

Cloud: I think… I want to be forgiven. Hm. More than anything.

Aerith: By who?

(Cloud turns to look at her, but he’s back on the bike, and Loz and Yazoo are shooting at him. Kadaj summons all the children, Denzel at the front, so Cloud is forced to brake to avoid him. Fenrir skids and Cloud falls off, onto the ground. Loz stops Fenrir with his foot.)

Kadaj: I’m glad you could make it.

Cloud: I only came for the kids.

Kadaj (to the children): See this man? He’s our big brother. But alas, in our happy flock he’s what you’d call a black sheep. (He raises his sword to kill Cloud…)

Marlene: Cloud!

(Marlene’s distraction gives Cloud time to grab his sword. He fights Loz and Yazoo and then Kadaj. The fights involve casting spells, destroying trees, running from branch to branch in the trees, and avoiding bullets. Cloud holds off Yazoo and Loz, who fight as a team, but when he fights Kadaj, he has more trouble. Kadaj is very fast. Just when it seems things are looking bleak, Vincent appears in a swirl of red cloak, and rescues Cloud. Cloud’s phone falls into a pool.)

Kadaj (irritated): tch!

Cloud Talks to Vincent

(In another part of the forest)

Cloud: See, I knew I’d be no help. Vincent. What do you know about this?

Vincent: I come here often. I’ve seen what Kadaj’s group is doing. The stigma. It’s a symptom of alien matter infesting the body. The body tries to eliminate it and overcompensates. Inside our bodies is a current, like the Lifestream. That current is what fights off any malevolent intruders.

Cloud: What do you mean by “intruder”?

Vincent: The Sephiroth gene. Jenova’s memetic legacy. Call it what you want.

Cloud: You’re well-informed.

Vincent: Tseng and Elena. They were brought here half-dead. They must have been brutally tortured. I did what I could to save them, but… Well, we’ll see.

Cloud: Tortured?

Vincent: They had it coming. They got their hands on Jenova’s head.

Cloud: Then when Kadaj says he’s looking for “Mother”…

Vincent: Heaven’s dark harbinger. The calamity, Jenova. If they wanted to, they could re-create Sephiroth.

Cloud: Kadaj… What is he?

Vincent: Hm. I’d rather not know.

(Cloud jumps up and draws his sword, startled by rustling in the bushes. It’s Marlene.)

Cloud: Marlene!

Marlene: Cloud! Denzel! And Tifa!

Cloud: Tifa is all right.

Marlene: I wanna talk to her! (Cloud realises that his phone has gone. Marlene turns to Vincent.) May I? (Vincent throws back his cloak to reveal that he has no phone!) You don’t have a phone?

Cloud: Vincent, will you bring Marlene to Tifa? I’m gonna go see Shinra and get a few answers.

Vincent: I can’t do that.

Cloud: But I –

Marlene: Forget it, Cloud! Why don’t you ever pay any attention to us? (Marlene runs to Vincent.)

Cloud: Marlene, please give me some time. There’s a battle to be fought… but it’s not as simple as just fighting it. Understand?

Marlene: No, I don’t! (and who can blame her?)

Vincent: Cloud, you sure this is about fighting?

(Flashbacks.)

Cloud’s voice: Where are they?

Rude’s voice: They’re at their base now. (Cut back to the scene in the bedroom at the 7th Heaven.)

Rude: The Forgotten City.

Cloud (to Reno and Rude): Go. (Reno and Rude look at Cloud. So does Tifa, who is sitting on the bed.) I have to talk to Rufus.

Tifa: Stop running! I know. Even if you find the kids, you might not be able to help them. Maybe something will happen that can never un-happen. That scares you, doesn’t it? But you need to think about now. Really take it in. (Subtitles: You really need to think about now.) Look at you! You think you’ve got it so damn hard. Well, you hate being alone, so let people in! Sure you might not answer the phone, but I don’t see you throwing it away either!

(While she speaks Reno and Rude have a disagreement in the background. Reno wants to leave – Rude physically turns him around and makes him stay. Is this because Rude still has a crush on Tifa?)

Reno (to Cloud): You go. The base is all yours. (Reno leaves, followed by Rude.)

Tifa: Which is it? A memory, or us?

(Cut to Cloud against a white background, in the Lifestreamy headspace where Aerith is.)

Cloud: But – I let you die.

Aerith (Sighs): Dilly-dally, shilly-shally. Isn’t it time you did the forgiving?

(End of flashbacks. Cut back to forest.)

Cloud: Are sins ever forgiven?

Vincent: I’ve never tried.

Cloud: You mean… Never tried? Marlene, let’s go.

(Marlene nods.)

Cloud: Well, I’m gonna try. I’ll phone in the verdict.

(Cloud takes Marlene’s hand and walks away through the trees.)

Cloud’s Phone

Cut to Cloud’s phone spiralling down through the water of the pool. Various messages are heard all overlapping each other:

Voices:

Reeve: It’s me, Reeve. How’s work going? I saw your flyer. How in the world do you stay in business? Huh! You never change, Cloud. If it’s all right I was thinking about helping you out, but I guess I’ll call back another time. Goodbye for now.

Yuffie: Surprise! It’s me, Yuffie. So, hey, all the kids are suddenly missing from Wutai. Weird. Have you heard anything about it? Give me a ring and fill me in okay?

Barret: What up, fool, it’s Barret! I am the man! Oil, Cloud! I just found the biggest damned oil filed you ever seen! Surveyin’s done, so I should be able to get out there and see Marlene soon. You let her know, all right, Spiky?

Tifa: Reno called again. He says to hurry, and he sounded kind of strange… Be careful, okay?

(The phone reaches the bottom of the pool.)

Aerith: I never blamed you, not once. You came for me. That’s all that matters.

(The phone goes dead. Cut to the shell by the pool where Aerith entered the Lifestream. Cloud’s wolf is looking into the water.)

The Remnants in Edge

(Cut to the plaza in Edge by the ShinRa-built monument to Meteor. The children stand in a circle around the monument. Loz and Yazoo have attached chains to the monument and are planning to pull it down, searching for “Mother”. And angry crowd has gathered.)

Voices in crowd: What do you think you’re doing? Give us back our children! Hey – can’t you hear us?

Man: Hey, you listening?

Second man, being restrained by woman: How can you sickos justify this? (Subtitles: What have you done with these kids?)

Woman’s voice: Give me my baby!

(More angry voices. Loz and Yazoo look at each other, and Yazoo raises his hand. A shadow creeper appears and attacks the first man. Four more shadow creepers appear. The crowd panics and everyone runs around. Tifa is looking for Denzel, and finally spots him.)

Tifa: Denzel! (She runs to him and shakes his shoulders.) Denzel! Denzel! (She sees that his eyes have changed, and gasps.)

(Cut back to Loz and Yazoo at the monument. They’re about to pull it down…)

Reno’s voice: And what are we up to?

Loz and Yazoo: Huh?

Yazoo (smiling): We know. Mother is here.

Rude: Oh yeah?

Loz: Yeah. This thing… Monument thing? Shinra made it.

Reno: So you think we hid her here?

Yazoo: Did you?

Rude: Why ask us?

Reno: Where we hid her is classified info.

(Reno and Rude snigger.)

Yazoo: Ah ha! Seems you do have something to hide.

(Reno and Rude look shocked.)

Reno: Rude! You and your big mouth! (Having been outwitted (!) Reno attacks.) Hi-yah!

Cloud Brings Marlene Home

(Cut to Cloud bringing Marlene back to the 7th Heaven. He parks outside and lifts her off the bike. The whole scene takes place in front of the door of the 7th Heaven. Marlene touches Cloud’s arm.)

Marlene: Does it hurt?

Cloud: A bit. But not as bad as Denzel’s.

Marlene: Is there a cure?

Cloud: I don’t know.

Marlene: After all you did… You’ve been trying so hard to find a cure for Denzel.

Cloud: You knew about that?

Marlene: Cloud! You should clean off your desk once in a while.

Cloud: Maybe I should.

Marlene: So, is that why? Is that the reason why you had to leave, Cloud? Because you couldn’t fix Denzel? Or because you have the sickness too?

Cloud: I just thought I couldn’t care for myself. Let alone anyone else.

Marlene (holding up one arm, and imitating Barret’s voice): How you supposed to look after your family if you can’t even look after yourself? (In her own voice) Or, at least, Daddy says so. Cloud, don’t give up.

Cloud: In the past you’re always looked after me. You and Denzel and Tifa. You were there whenever I needed you. Well now it’s my turn.

Marlene (looking pleased, nodding in agreement): Mm-mm.

Rufus and Kadaj in Edge

(Rufus and Kadaj are on the unfinished building in Edge, where we saw Kadaj bringing Rufus in the opening scene.)

Rufus: Say Kadaj. I’ve got a question for you.

Kadaj (as he retrieves a ball of materia from his arm): I’ve got an answer.

Rufus: You told me that you needed Jenova cells in order to be whole again, right? What did you mean by that?

Kadaj: Him. He’s coming back. (Frames of Sephiroth. Brief scene of Sephiroth against the flames of Nibelheim.)

Rufus: Sephiroth. The nightmare.

Kadaj: So they say.

Rufus: You mean –

Kadaj: I’ve never known Sephiroth. I just… I sense him there. It’s unbearable to think Mother might want Sephiroth more than –

Rufus: Poor little Remnant.

Kadaj: It doesn’t matter who she picks! You’ll all meet the same end! Mother came to this planet after a long journey. To rid the cosmos of fools like you! (Kadaj presses the materia against Rufus’ cheek.) But you know as well as I do – nothing’s changed since she got here. I have to change it, to make her happy. If Mother willed it, I’d do anything for her!

Rufus: Hm. The nightmare returns.

Kadaj: As long as you exist, the nightmares will come again and again.

Rufus: The Lifestream courses through our world… ever flowing between the edge of life and death. If that cycle is the very truth of life, then history, too, will inevitably repeat itself. Go on, bring your Jenovas and your Sephiroths. Cause trouble till your heart’s content. We’ll do as life mandates, we promise. We won’t let you win and we’ll stop you.

Kadaj: Please, Sir, is that your excuse for going after Mother yourself? You don’t seem all that sorry.

Rufus: Sorry? The truth is, I actually enjoy it.

Kadaj: Good. Then let’s put an end to all this.

(He uses the materia to summon Bahamut Sin!)

Fighting Bahamut Sin and Denzel’s Story Part Six

(Bahamut Sin appears in the sky. Citizens gasp in shock and make horrified noises. As the Bahamut flies towards them they scream and run. Tifa is still trying to get Denzel to acknowledge her.)

Tifa: Denzel, we’ve got to get away!

(Bahamut Sin attacks. Tifa punches it, but it keeps coming. Tifa holds Denzel protectively. Bahamut Sin leaves them and flies to the top of the monument. Reno and Rude, rushing to attack Yazoo and Loz, notice Bahamut Sin. Reno accidentally whacks Rude with his magrod.)

Reno: Oooh boy! Hello…

Rude: Hell, no.

(Reno and Rude run away, pursued by Loz and Yazoo. On the way Reno and Rude pick up three of the children to save them from Bahamut Sin.)

Reno: Is it after us?

Rude: I’m not looking!

(Tifa ducks, shielding Denzel as Bahmut Sin destroys the monument. Reno, Rude, the three children they’re carrying, Loz and Yazoo are all blown off their feet in the blast. Bahmut Sin roars in triumph. Cut to Reno and Rude lying on the ground, dazed. The children get up and stagger away. Reno and Rude start to get up. Loz and Yazoo are watching them.)

Yazoo: Are we having fun yet, huh?

Reno: The time of my life!

(Reno and Rude fight Yazoo and Loz)

Reno: When are you gonna call it a day?

(Yazoo jumps onto a high building!)

Yazoo: What? Just as soon as you give back Mother, that’ll be the end of everything.

(Reno scales the building and attacks Yazoo again. Rude is fighting Loz.)

Rude: Punks! What do you need Jenova’s head for?

(Loz throws Rude down the street. Reno is still fighting Yazoo on the roof.)

Reno: Forget your little Reunion and get a grip!

Yazoo: All we want is to be with Mother!

(Yazoo kicks Reno across the square. He bumps into a building, presumably dislodging the sign that lands on Rude later. Rude lands on the ground. Loz approaches him.)

Loz: Mother will know. When she gets here, she’ll decide what’s best. Now, where’s Mother?

(Rude gets to his feet. A huge metal sign advertising Loveless lands on his head.)

Rude: Argh! Son of a –

(Reno lands on Rude, who manages to catch him as they both fall to the floor. As Reno gets up he accidentally steps on Rude’s sunglasses, breaking them. Rude gets to his feet, looking at Reno reproachfully.)

Reno (brushing himself down): Mother, shmother. It’s Jenova’s frigging head!

(Rude gets out another pair of sunglasses.)

Loz: Hey!

Yazoo: I will not have you refer to Mother that way.

Loz: You meanie!

Rude: (Putting on the sunglasses) Our apologies.

Reno: Your ma’s cool – What the hell am I saying?!

(They attack. Reno actually manages to jump kick Yazoo, and Rude gets in a punch on Loz. Then Loz punches both of them half way down the street. They get up, battered. Yazoo laughs.)

(Cut to Bahmut Sin, searching the rubble of the monument for Mother. Tifa and Denzel lie stunned on the ground nearby. Denzel comes to, no longer under the remnants’ influence.)

Denzel: Tifa! (He turns to look at Bahamut Sin.) Son of a bitch! (He runs to attack. Bahamut Sin roars and Tifa comes around, but before she can move, Barret appears, moving Denzel out of the way and attacking Bahmut Sin with his gun arm.)

Barret: You look after Momma.

Tifa: Barret!

Barret: Marlene better be safe, huh? (Barret charges Bahamut Sin. Nanaki and Cait Sith appear and join the fight, Nanaki, biting Bahamut Sin, gets carried into the air, Cait Sith on his back.)

Cait Sith: We cannae handle this! (The subtitles say ‘we can handle this’, but judging from his tone and the fact that they get thrown to the ground moments later ‘cannae’ (Scots ‘can’t’) makes much more sense.)

(Barret’s gun jams but he’s saved by Yuffie’s shuriken, as she enters by parachute.)

Yuffie (to Tifa): All right, who’s been touching my materia?

Tifa: The bad guys. Naturally.

Yuffie: Oooh! (Runs to join the fight.)

Denzel: Who’s that?

(Tifa just smiles at him mysteriously! Cid appears and points at his new airship above them.)

Cid: She’s a beaut! My Shera, the latest model! I’ll give you the grand tour afterward!

(Vincent appears.)

Vincent: Where can I buy a phone? (Without waiting for a reply, he goes to join the fight.)

Denzel: Who’s he?

Tifa: They’re our friends.

(Denzel’s expression is priceless!)

Tifa: Denzel, can you make it to the bar?

Denzel: Uh huh!

(Denzel sets off for the bar, but sees lots of fallen people with a black smoky substance coming off them. I’m not sure if this is geostigma or the result of being attacked by shadow creepers. Denzel has a flashback to the fall of the Sector Seven plate. Tifa holds his hand, and reassures him, then attacks a shadow creeper that was about to attack him. Three shadow creepers and Bahmut Sin converge on her. Bahamut Sin attempts to blast her, but she evades the blast, falling to the ground. The three shadow creepers gather to attack Denzel but the spirits of Zack and Aerith appear briefly, followed by Cloud on Fenrir. Cloud throws his sword at the beasts and disperses them.)

Denzel: Cloud!

(Tifa jumps onto Cloud’s bike, avoiding a falling building. Cloud deflects bits of building with his sword.)

Cloud: Sorry that it took me so long.

Tifa: It’s all right.

(Tifa jumps off the bike when they reach Denzel.)

Tifa: You okay?

Denzel: Yeah.

Cloud. Marlene will be safe. I took her home.

(Tifa nods, pleased.)

Cloud: I feel lighter. Maybe I lost some weight. All that dilly-dallying.

Denzel: I’m gonna go back to see Marlene, okay Cloud? We’ll wait for you! (He runs off, then turns and pauses.) Hey, Cloud. See you there, right?

(Cloud says ‘mm’ and nods. Denzel smiles and runs off. Tifa gets back on the bike, and they got to join the fight.)

(Denzel runs into a side street where two shadow creepers are attacking citizens. He feels pain from the stigma and clutches his head. Either the presence of the stigma or the motion draws the attention of a shadow creeper. Seeing a leaking hydrant, Denzel cries out.)

Denzel: I gotta do this!

(He grabs a metal pipe and smashes the hydrant releasing a high pressure water jet that knocks the shadow creeper off its feet, giving him time to run past to safety.)

(Back in the square, Barret fires at Bahamut Sin, who fires a flare at Barret, knocking him off the high building he’s on. He manages to grab a girder and hang on. Vincent and Cid both attack the Bahamut, and Cid is rescued by Nanaki and Cait Sith.)

Cait Sith: This way!

(Vincent and Yuffie continue attacking, Yuffie running up a vertical beam! Nanaki and Cait also attack, and get into trouble until aided by Cid. Barret is almost crushed by falling girders, but Cloud appears just in time and saves him.)

Barret: The hell you been?

(Cloud makes no reply, but rushes to attack Bahamut Sin. He fights until Bahamut Sin falls to the ground, then does some impressive flips and lands on a beam. But Bahamut Sin is only winded, and flies upwards again.)

A Good Son Would Have Known

(Cut to Kadaj and Rufus on the unfinished building.)

Kadaj: This is too fun, sir! Any requests for the next act?

(Rufus gets out of his wheelchair and throws aside his blanket to reveal that he’s had Jenova’s head in a box all the time! Kadaj gasps.)

Kadaj: Mother!

Rufus: A good son would have known. (Rufus throws the box off the building. Kadaj yells in fury and launches a fireball at Rufus.)

Kadaj: Aaargh!

The Fight Against Bahamut Sin Continues

(Cut back to Cloud’s fight with Bahamut Sin. Cloud follows Bahamut Sin upwards, each member of the party helping him on his way.)

Barret: Alley-oop!

Cid: Giddyap!

Cait Sith (from Nanaki’s back): There you go!

Yuffie: Aaaah!

Vincent: Fly!

Tifa: No giving up!

(Bahamut Sin launches a huge flare at Cloud, who magically penetrates it. Inside he sees Aerith, who gives him her hand, transferring to him the strength of the Lifestream (?).)

Aerith: Ready?

(With this strength, Cloud defeats Bahamut Sin with one blow, sending it crashing to the ground where it dissipates. Cloud lands neatly on a beam. His attention is caught by Kadaj’s yell.)

Rufus Falls

(Back on the unfinished building, Rufus avoids the fireball, but falls off the building. Unfazed, he draws his collapsible gun and starts firing at Kadaj, as the fireball explodes.)

Kadaj: Mother!

(Kadaj throws himself after the box containing Jenova’s remains.)

(At the bottom of the tower, Reno and Rude see what’s happening, and watch with horror as Rufus falls.)

Reno and Rude: Sir, no!

(Cloud has retrieved Fenrir and is coming to help stop the remnants. Rufus fires at the box containing Jenova to stop the remnants getting it. He hits it and it starts to leak. Tseng and Elena appear, running, and fire net grapples which attach to buildings and catch Rufus! Kadaj lands on the ground unhurt, but looks worried when he sees the box is leaking. Reno and Rude get ready to fight, and Cloud is approaching. All three remnants jump onto their bikes and speed away.
Reno and Rude are joined by Tseng and Elena, and all four of them turn to see Rufus, who just nods. The Turks nod back, and Reno chuckles.)

Pursuit to Midgar

(Cloud chases the remnants on Fenrir. When they reach a ‘WRO Only’ sign across the highway, Kadaj rides through it. Loz and Yazoo attack Cloud from their bikes, while Kadaj rides ahead. Kadaj takes a right hand fork in the road (the high road) while the others go left (the low road.) Cloud can’t turn back because Yazoo and Loz are on his tail. When they catch up with him they start to fight from their bikes, Loz jumping off his bike to attack Cloud. Their bikes are equipped with machine guns. Reno and Rude fly their helicopter after the remnants.)

Reno (piloting): You losers are chasing the wrong guy! (He fires machine guns. Loz turns his bike and fires back.)

Loz: Bang bang! B-b-b-b-b-b- bang! Yeah!

(Rude shoots at them with a rocket launcher and blows up part of the highway, blocking Loz and Yazoo’s route. Reno laughs.)

Reno: Ha!

Yazoo: Hm.

(Yazoo, with a crazy laugh, drives up the broken road and through the air into the helicopter knocking a shocked Rude out of the door. Yazoo aims at Reno, then shoots out the cyclic instead.)

Reno: Rude!

(Reno stares at the cyclic, dumbfounded when it comes off in his hand.)

Reno: Hm? Huh!

(The helicopter spins out of control. Yazoo lands near Loz, looking pleased with himself.)

(Reno rushes into the cabin, looking for Rude.)

Reno: No, no, no! Don’t do this to me! (Looking out of the open door, he sees Rude clinging to a handy sticking out part of the helicopter.) Hey, Rude! You’re all right!

Rude: Yeah. I’m just peachy.

(The helicopter hits a metal tower. Reno and Rude fall from the helicopter before it explodes. They hit the ground hard, but soon get up, dazed but un-scraped. Reno is still holding the cyclic. He shows it to Rude and they laugh. Elena appears in a second helicopter presumably flown by Tseng. A rope is lowered to pick up Reno and Rude.)

Elena (waving): Hey, guys!

(Cloud avoids the debris of the destroyed helicopter and enters a tunnel, hotly pursued by Loz and Yazoo. Loz rides up the curved tunnel wall to get ahead of Cloud and much fighting ensues. Loz throws his whole bike at Cloud, who cuts it in half with his sword, and all three of them leap from bike to bike as the fight continues. Finally Cloud gets away. Loz lands on the back of Yazoo’s bike, and they travel together after throwing away a broken gun. The only dialogue is grunts of exertion during the fight and the odd chuckle from Yazoo.)

(Kadaj continues along the highway. Beyond the tunnel, Reno and Rude wait, having been dropped off by Tseng and Elena. They’re holding bombs.)

Reno: Hey, partner. This thing got any bite to it?

Rude: Shinra technology at its finest.

Reno: Oh, so you made this.

Rude: If nothing else, it’s flashy.

Reno: Oh good.

Rude: You love it. I know.

Reno: Looks like today we’re clocking out early.

(Cloud emerges from the tunnel and rides between Reno and Rude. By the time Loz and Yazoo get there a few seconds later Reno and Rude have gone, leaving the bombs in the road. Too late, Yazoo realises what’s going on. Reno laughs from wherever he is! The bombs explode. Cloud and Kadaj both look back at the explosion, then Cloud finally catches up with Kadaj. They fight on the bikes, sword to sword, bikes locked together, but the road ends and they fall into the remains of the Midgar slums below.)

Cloud’s Fight with Kadaj

(As they land in the slums of midgar, Kadaj speeds off while Cloud is forced to stop. He puts away his sword and removes his torn sleeve revealing the red ribbon he wears and the marks of geostigma. Then he chases after Kadaj who had gone to the church. In the church Kadaj looks in horror at the liquid seeping from the box containing the remains of Jenova.)

Kadaj: Mother! (He starts to cry.) Mother! (Shouting): MOTHER! Aaaaargh!

(Cloud arrives and they fight in the church destroying it even more. Kadaj casts various spells at Cloud and is about to cast another when a spring of mystical Lifestream water erupts into a fountain and creates rain that hurts Kadaj but heals Cloud. A drop of water falls into the pool created by the rain, and Aerith’s voice is heard.)

Aerith: Let’s go, Cloud.

(Cloud follows Kadaj towards the central support pillar and the ruins of the ShinRa building. When he gets to where the road ends, Kadaj is waiting for him. Cloud gets off his bike and readies his sword.)

Kadaj: Brother. I’m with her at last.

Cloud: So what’s gonna happen now?

Kadaj (laughs): Mother’s going to tell me.

Cloud: I guess a Remnant wouldn’t really know.

Kadaj: So what if I’m a puppet? Once upon a time… you were too!

(Kadaj casts a spell with multiple attacks a bit like matra magic. Cloud avoids it and they begin to fight at close quarters, leaping around the ruins. Kadaj looks up as the Shera arrives.)

(Cut to onboard the Shera.)

Yuffie (her arms full of materia): Cloud – I brought your materia! (She slips as the ship moves.) Whoa! Hey watch it!

Barret: Yo, Cid! Park this turkey!

Cid: Shut up! You want off? Then jump! Get off my back!

Vincent: He can handle this alone.

Yuffie: Huh?

Vincent: Kadaj is a remnant of Sephiroth. Think of him as a sort of larval form.

Yuffie: Larva? You mean he’s an insect?

Cait Sith: Lassie, shut your gob!

Cid: So the punk’s gonna become Sephiroth.

Tifa: Vincent, does Cloud know – about Kadaj?

Vincent: One would think.

Tifa: Then you’re right. It’s his fight now.

Yuffie: Why? I don’t get it. Why can’t we help out?

Cid: This is man talk.

Yuffie: Sexist. Sexist!

Cait Sith: Crikey lass, shut yer mooth!

Barret: The men don’t get it either.

Tifa: Two years ago… think of the strength we all had when we fought that last battle. It’s only been a couple years, but already that feeling is gone. But Cloud – I think he’s found it again.

Barret: He’s got ten minutes.

Yuffie: That Cloud’s a royal pain in the ass, like always.

Tifa: Cloud is Cloud!

(Cut to Cloud fighting Kadaj. Kadaj attacks Cloud, who repels him first with the sword in two pieces, and then in one. The second time Kadaj is thown backwards and ends up clinging one-handed to a ledge on the ShinRa building. He still holds Jenova’s remains, but loses his katana, ‘Souba’. He looks up at Cloud who stands above him, waiting. Kadaj throws the box containing Jenova’s remains into the air. As the lid comes off the box, Kadaj throws himself after it. He grabs the box, taking out what are presumably the remains of Jenova’s head, and discarding the box.)

Kadaj: My Reunion. Bet you’re dying to watch. (As Cloud jumps after him, Kadaj appears to push the remains of Jenova into his body, over his heart. This seems painful and he cries out. He lands on a lower piece of the building, reaches up and stops the falling Cloud. As he does so, Masamune appears in the air, and Kadaj instantly becomes Sephiroth.

Cloud’s Fight with Sephiroth

Sephiroth: Good to see you, Cloud. (Cloud’s eyes widen. Sephiroth repels him with Masamune, and jumps back onto a higher bit of building. The One Winged Angel music starts playing and continues throughout the following fight.)

Sephiroth: Your geostigma is gone? That’s too bad.

Cloud: Sephiroth – what do you want?

Sephiroth: The last thoughts of geostigma’s dead. Those Remnants will join the Lifestream and girdle the planet – choking it, corroding it. What I want, Cloud, is to sail the darkness of the cosmos with this planet as my vessel, just as my mother did long ago. (Sephiroth raises his hand, and the sky goes dark and swirly!) Then one day we’ll find a new planet and on its soil we’ll create a shining future.

Cloud: What about this planet?

Sephiroth: Well, that’s up to you, Cloud.

(Sephiroth attacks. Weird tendrils of dark Lifestream (?) appear in the sky, and the scene cuts to Marlene and Denzel watching from the window of their room in the 7th Heaven. Denzel’s geostigma is affected by the dark energy. Marlene hears a drip of water, and thinks of Aerith.)

Marlene: Is it her?

(Cut to shots of the church, and Aerith praying. Cut back to the ShinRa building. Rain and lightning. Cloud and Sephiroth battle each other inside the ruined building. Cloud locks swords with Sephiroth.)

Sephiroth: Oh – where did you find this strength?

Cloud: I’m not about to tell you!

(Cloud repulses Sephiroth, and leaps to attack him. Back outside the building they fight some more.)

Sephiroth: I’ve thought of a wonderful present for you. Shall I give you despair?

(Sephiroth seems to be getting the upper hand. He cuts off bits of building which Cloud has to deflect. Sephiroth stands on a higher part of the building, looking down at Cloud.)

Sephiroth: On your knees. I want you to beg for forgiveness. (Half the top of the building collapses down towards Sephiroth and Cloud. Cloud manages to deflect it, and Sephiroth appears out of the falling debris and attacks Cloud again. Cloud is getting the worst of it, but keeps coming back to the attack. Sephiroth eventually spears Cloud through the chest with Masamune, as he did in the Nibelheim reactor.)

Sephiroth: Is this the pain you felt before, Cloud? (Sephiroth lifts Cloud off the ground.) Let me remind you. This time, you won’t forget. (Sephiroth’s wing appears. He tosses Cloud into the air and flies after him, wounding him over and over again. When Cloud grabs Masamune’s blade, Sephiroth throws him down, and he falls with such force that he dents the building, bleeding heavily. Sephroth is hovering in the air above him. There’s blood everywhere.)

Sephiroth: Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away? (He dives for Cloud, about to run him through and finish it. Cloud looks up at him. We see quick frames of Aerith praying, Tifa, Marlene, Denzel and Zack. The music stops and the background goes white. Zack is there, back to back with Cloud.)

Zack: So what if it looks hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn’t give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as SOLDIER! Well, okay, you never made SOLDIER. (Zack taps his own chest) But it’s what’s in here that counts.

Cloud (struggling to speak): Zack?
Zack: Well? You need a hand with him?

(Cloud shakes his head, and gets to his feet with great effort.)

Zack: You already beat him once, didn’t you? This should be a cinch.

Cloud: Yeah.

Zack: Cloud. You know what I told you.

Cloud: That’s right. I am your living legacy.

(Zack vanishes, the music resumes, we’re back in real time. Cloud leaps into the air and attacks Sephiroth, who looks surprised.)

Cloud: I pity you. You just don’t get it at all. There’s not a thing I don’t cherish!

(Sephiroth chuckles. Cloud launches his final attack, his sword splitting into five swords, surrounding Sephiroth. Sephiroth looks shocked for the first time, realising that he may not win after all. Cloud attacks Sephiroth from five angles at once, to devastating effect. Black feathers fly everywhere. Sephiroth is defeated.)

Cloud (looking up at Sephiroth who is hovering in the sky): Stay where you belong. In my memories.

Sephiroth (slowly dissolving in the air): I will… never be a memory. (He closes his eyes and wraps his wing around himself. All the feathers fly away, leaving Kadaj. Kadaj falls to the ground. He tries to attack, but is too weak. He falls, and Cloud catches him. Kadaj is almost spent.)

Kadaj: Brother…

Aerith’s voice: Kadaj?

Kadaj: Huh? (The dark sky has gone with Sephiroth. Healing rain starts falling from bright clouds. The rain no longer hurts Kadaj.)

Aerith’s voice: You don’t have to hang on any longer.

Kadaj: Mother! Is that…?

Aerith’s voice: Everyone’s waiting, if you’re ready.

(Kadaj nods his head slightly in acceptance. He holds out his hand, and slowly evaporates into the Lifestream. Cloud watches, looking sympathetic.)

Aftermath

(In the streets of Edge people look up into the rain as the sun comes out and the sky lightens. Children discover that the rain heals their geostigma. Moogle Girl stands at the centre of a group of children as the rain heals them.)

Various children’s voices: Woah! Wow! I’m healed! Etc.

(In an alley between two tall buildings Tseng, Elena, Reno and Rude watch as Rufus, in his wheelchair, is healed by the rain.)

(On the Shera the former members of Avalanche celebrate.)

Yuffie (jumping in the air): Oh yeah! We Rock!

Barret: See, what’d I tell you fools?

Cait Sith: That’s ma boy, Cloud! You’re the chips and gravy!

Tifa: A little push is what he needs, that’s all!

Cid: Y’all calm down. Hang on to your britches!

Tifa (looking out at the falling rain, reflected in a single raindrop): Somehow, I knew you were there. Thank you.)

(Cloud looks up at the Shera, smiling, relieved. He tilts his head back and lets the rain fall on him. Suddenly he is shot in the back by Yazoo!)

Yazoo (on the point of disintegrating): We’ll go… together…

Loz: Together…we’ll play.

(Cloud struggles to his feet and rushes to attack the two remnants. Loz and Yazoo face him, materia in their arms glowing. With a cry, they explode!)

(On the Shera)

Yuffie: Ah!

Tifa: Cloud!

(In their room at the 7th Heaven Denzel and Marlene witness the explosion.)

Denzel: He’ll come back. He said that he would.

(The phone rings. Denzel picks up the receiver and looks happy, but only gasps gladly.)

Denzel: Let’s go!

Marlene: Mm!

(All over Edge phones are ringing. Denzel and Marlene run through the streets, joining other children and some adults, all running and laughing. Moogle Girl meets Denzel and Marlene and they run hand in hand until they reach the church.)

Everything’s All Right

(Cloud is floating in a white space – the Lifestream? A kind of Limbo? Aerith’s hand touches his forehead. Cloud’s eyes remain closed throughout the time he is in this place.)

Cloud: Mother?

Aerith’s voice: Again? Why is everyone calling me their mother lately?

Zack’s voice: I guess they must be fond of you.

Aerith’s voice: This one’s a little too big to adopt.

Zack’s voice: Tough luck, friend. Sounds like you don’t have a place here.

(Cloud seems to fall away. He comes to rest still floating in whiteness. The wolf appears, then vanishes. Children’s hands rest on Cloud’s chest. He opens his eyes and finds himself in the pool in the church surrounded by six children, one of them Moogle Girl. Other children, adults and the former Avalanche members wait on the edge of the pool.)

Moogle Girl: It’s like she said: “Wait here and Cloud will come back.”

Marlene (from the edge of the pool): Welcome back!

(Yuffie, Cid, Denzel, Tifa, Marlene, Vincent, Barret, Nanaki and Cait Sith nod to Cloud, who smiles and nods back.)

Cloud: I’m back.

Nanaki (looking from Denzel to Cloud): There are still children with the stigma.

Cloud: Yeah.

Tifa (to Denzel): Hey. Let’s get you fixed up.

Cloud: Come on, I’m here.

Tifa: It’s okay.

(Cloud lifts Denzel into the water and pours water over him. Denzel’s geostigma vanishes. He looks at his reflection in the water as though he can’t believe it. Cloud nods to reassure him and Denzel laughs. On the edge of the pool everyone laughs and cheers.)

Cid: Last one in’s a rotten egg!

Yuffie: It’s working!

(All the children jump into the water. Tifa nods to Cloud. Cloud looks towards the door of the church and sees Aerith talking to some children and Zack leaning against the door. Aeirth walks towards Zack, then turns to smile at Cloud.)

Aerith: You see? Everything’s all right.

(Aerith and Zack walk away into the light, Zack waving to Cloud.)

Cloud’s voice (in his head, as he smiles): I know. I’m not alone. Not anymore. (The scene fades to white.)

Where a Hero Began his Journey

(Credits on a black background are followed by shots of clouds. The ‘camera’ tracks Cloud, on Fenrir, riding through a real landscape which becomes increasingly lush and green. There is a field of yellow flowers beside the road at one point. Music plays – the theme song “Calling”, and shots from the film are show super-imposed on the scene of Cloud’s journey on Fenrir.

After the last of the credits we see Cloud’s desk at the 7th Heaven. The desk is covered in photos of landscapes from the journey we’ve just seen, and a stem of yellow flowers from the field. There are two framed photos on the desk, one of Cloud, Tifa, Marlene and Denzel, and the other of the whole ‘Avalanche’ crew smiling happily with Denzel and Marlene. We see a closeup of this second photo, with the yellow flowers lying in front of it.

Cut to some more of the same yellow flowers on the hillside overlooking Midgar and Edge where the rusting Buster Sword used to be. Sound of footsteps.)

Denzel’s voice: Is this somebody’s grave?

Cloud’s voice: No. This is where a hero began his journey.

(Cut to shot of the cleaned up Buster Sword in the sunlit church, surrounded by Aerith’s yellow and white lilies.)