As the chopper soared away
A ringing CRACK was heard
The detonations had begun
And could not be deterred

Barret bellowed at the sky:
“GOD DAMN THE SHINRA! [expletive deleted]”
Tifa slapped him, shouted, “Help!
In this thing Cloud’s still stuck!”

Barret raised his arm and roared
The bullets blasted through
Cloud muttered, “Thanks for missing me”
Barret said, “Lucky you

“Doesn’t matter,” Barret sighed
He’d used up all his ire
“There’s no way to get out of here
Hey, wait . . . is that a wire?

“We can use this to escape!”
Cloud scoffed. “That little thing?”
“You got a better idea? Nope!
Just hold on tight and SWING!”

AVALANCHE clasped to the wire
They through the air did soar
The pillar snapped, the plate collapsed
Then Seven was no more

They got back on the chopper
As Barret woke from his trance
Raised his gun, said, “Hold it there!
I’ll make you bastards dance!”

Tseng reached back into the hold
“You’d not want to hit this”
He placed afront him a bound girl
Tifa looked, cried, “Aeris!”

“Why’d you take her?” Tifa asked
Barret could only glare
“She’s the last Ancient,” Tseng replied
“Beyond that, I don’t care”

Aeris struggled to break free
“Tifa! That girl . . . Charlene!
She’s safe! She’s with my—ugh,” she groaned
As Reno punched her spleen

“How nice to save one little girl”
Tseng said as back he hopped
“That’s all you’ll get today, I fear
This sequence can’t be stopped”

“There you have it,” Reno said
“You cannot beat Shinra
You can blow up all you want
But we’ll always win. Duh”

Cloud charged forward, sword on high
To world of Reno rid
Suddenly, he found himself
In golden pyramid

Reno limped back toward the rail
Barret was frozen stiff
“If . . . you live . . . we’ll fight again
But that’s a real big ‘if’”

At the top stood Barret
Like an avatar of fury
“I’ll kill ev’ry last Shinra scum!
I’m judge, ex’cuti’ner, jury!”

“You okay?” Cloud asked the man
Face streaked with bod’ly dross
Barret grunted. “Can’t let up
That chopper holds the boss”

As he spoke, a man jumped down
To the cold steel platform
His hair was red, his suit was blue
His smile strangely warm

“I knew I would see you again
Too bad that it’s for work”
Barret growled, “Who are you?”
Cloud said, “Reno. A Turk”

“The pillar’s coming down,” he said
“Whether or not you care
As punishment for your group’s bombs
It’s really only fair

“Your intervention’s meaningless
Sector Seven is through
So, really, we don’t have to fight”
Growled Cloud: “Oh yes we do!”

“Have it your way,” Reno said
As he drew out his cane
“I just want it on the books:
You chose the way of pain”

They came up through a manhole
But their path was by trains barred
Aeris looked around and said
“This feels like a graveyard”

The trip upstairs was solemn
They had lost Biggs, even Jess
There was no chance for last remarks
They’d no time to digress

The three stood up, wiped themselves off
Before the muck could harden
Cloud grumbled, “At least last time
I landed in a garden”

Tifa snarled in disgust
“God damn that bastard Don!”
Aeris said, “It could be worse”
To which Cloud moaned, “Come on!”

A hulking beast came from behind
Unleashed a wave of gunk
Aeris whined, “You wrecked my dress!
You lousy little punk!”

Tifa said, “Forget the dress
Should have prepared to soil it
But where did this thing come from?
Did it get flushed down the toilet?”

“Who cares?” Cloud said, whipped out his sword
“We’ll beat him anyway
I’ve some frustration to unleash
This isn’t my best day”

“Hey Cloud, where did you keep that sword
When you were in a dress?”
“Huh. I never thought ‘bout that
Things just worked out, I guess”

The toilet monster felled with ease
They trudged off through the sewer
The minutes left to Shinra stop
Were ever growing fewer

“What?” said Tifa, now real scared
“What are they gonna do?”
The Don grinned. “To fair Sector Sept
The Shinra bid adieu

“They can do it, too,” he laughed
“The whole plate, just like that
They blow one supporting pillar
An entire sector’s flat!”

“Oh God . . . we have to stop them!”
“Hey, can I come tag along?”
“Damn those Shinra. Think they’re so bad”
“Wait. I’m not done with this song

“Do you know why I would blab so?
Why I would so eas’ly give?”
Cloud just shrugged. “We do not care
D’you lose the will to live?”

“Wrong, wrong, wrong!” Corneo cried
“Your ball missed ev’ry pin!”
Flicking a hidden switch, he said
“It’s ‘cause I know I’ll win”

The floor slid out from ‘neath them
Sending to the depths the three
As he fell, Cloud muttered
“Why’s this keep happening to me?”

Tifa charged in, saw the Don
“Corneo!  Up you’ll fess!”
Aeris followed, looking sad
“Aww, Cloud took off his dress”

“I did what he wanted
I helped him his problem fix
Pointed him to Sector Seven
Oh thank God we’re here in Six”

Aeris could not help but grin
And Tifa looked offended
Cloud piped: “Y-you mean this other girl
Yes, that’s what you intended!”

Corneo’s eyes narrowed
“That’s a funny thing to ask
So, are you the pretty face?
Or do you wear . . . a mask?”

“Sweet Jesus!  I was joking!
You . . . you’re actually a guy?”
Cloud savored his freedom
As he rearranged his fly

“Hey! What are you doing?”
Called a voice atop the stair
“Dat room’s not ‘til later
First da Don’s gotta . . . prepare”

Tifa whispered frantically
“Okay, so here’s the plan:
For tonight they’ve brought three girls
Well . . . two girls and one man

“The Don comes out and picks one
Who then shares his bed tonight
But, instead of foreplay
You interrogate him. Right?”

Aeris said, “This sounds like fun!
Oh boy, will he be tricked!”
“Sure,” said Cloud, assuming
That he’d not be the one picked

The two girls pranced up the stairs
With “Ooohs!” and “Ohmygawds!”
The guard said, “Why I gotta deal
Wit’ all o’ dese dumb broads?”

In his office, Corneo
A fat man in maroon
“I say! Look at these lovely girls!
I think that I may swoon!

“My, you’ve got a pretty face!
And this one’s so cute, too!
I’ve never had a choice this hard
But I will go with . . . you!”