Cloud pulled on the brakes and screeched to a halt. Smoke and acrid fumes rose up around him and temporarily obscured his vision. He waved his hands around his face to clear it and tried not to breathe in the toxic tyre fumes.

The truck almost never made it. He could see Tifa sitting behind the steering wheel, her arms outstretched and her back arched as she applied pressure to the brakes. The others braced themselves. You could see the terrified looks on their faces, their features frozen in fear; but the truck juddered to a halt, mere inches from the edge of the road. If she had been driving any faster, they would have hurtled off the side and into the blackness beyond.

They leapt from their vehicles, armed and ready for action, and faced the robotic beast that was thundering ever closer, watching as its form grew larger as it approached. Cloud began to wonder if they would have to fight it at all and envisioned it roaring straight past them and hurtling over the edge, but he knew they wouldn't be that lucky.

"Let's do this," Cloud declared as he removed his sword from its holster and waited for the monstrous vehicle to halt.

Red and Tifa joined Cloud at the forefront while Barret shot at it from a distance. Aeris stayed near to the truck, ducking behind it so that only her head and shoulders were visible, ready to cast her healing spells whenever they were needed.

The bullets ricocheted off its thick metal casing and bounced off the asphalt, barely even denting it, and as it moved forward, the beast didn't even judder as it ploughed into them like a battering ram, knocking them all off their feet. Cloud fell backwards, hitting his head on the floor, but Aeris was quick with her white magic and healed him.

A blast of ice whizzed past Cloud's head. A moment later the hulking machine was encased by a thick sheet of ice. As the ice melted away, huge chunks of the protective casing came with it, exposing its innards which were comprised of wires, tubes and other electronic components that would soon break down when exposed to the elements. Now it was time for brute force.

Barret fired again, honing in on the beast's most vulnerable parts. It momentarily gained some strength but it was whistling as though something inside it would pop and explode at any moment. A wave of flames suddenly erupted from a thick metal tube that was attached to its armour – a flame thrower guessed Cloud. Shinra certainly didn't like to cut corners with their armoured robots.

Cloud rolled to the side, evading the flames, but he could still feel the intense heat as some of the rogue flames darted outwards, almost as if they were honing in on him. Green light pierced the air as Aeris swiftly cured any burns the team might have acquired, just as another blast of ice hit the machine's body. This time it roared pitifully as the ice churned up its insides. It smoked and fizzed as its vital components crumbled and dissolved from the force of the icy blast and fell to the floor in a heap of twisted metal. All that Cloud could hear now was his own heartbeat and heavy breathing.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Barret after a moment of pensive silence.

Cloud ambled towards the edge of the road and looked across to the barren landscape beyond. A faint band of orange light stretched across the horizon. Another hour or so and the group would be doused in brilliant sunshine. Cloud had felt the warmth of the sun on his face before, but what about the people of the slums? Most would probably live out their lives without ever knowing what the sun looked or felt like. He shook his head dismally until his mind was taken over with thoughts about him.

"Sephiroth is alive. I… I have to settle the score."

Barret walked up to him. Cloud glanced towards his comrade and saw that he too was looking into the distance. This was not over for anyone. They all had their own motives for continuing this journey. Cloud needed to find Sephiroth. What about Barret? Tifa? Aeris, even? He shot a glance towards Red. He had his own story, too.

"And that'll save the Planet?" Barret asked, jolting Cloud from his thoughts.

"…Seems like it," he responded after a short pause.

"Awright, I'm going!" yelled Barret enthusiastically.

"I'll go too," said Aeris as she slowly made her way towards Cloud. "…I have things that I want to find out."

"About the Ancients?" he asked.

"…Many things," Aeris simply responded.

"I guess this's goodbye, Midgar," sighed Tifa.

He figured they would split up and go their separate ways now that they were leaving Midgar but a part of him was happy that they seemed intent on sticking together.

Cloud had always been introverted, much preferring his own company, but these guys made him feel like he was part of something. Tifa cared for him and he knew she always would, but Barret, Aeris and Red had also shown in their own ways that they too considered him a friend.

It was a weird feeling, neither overtly good nor bad, but it stirred up warm fluttery feelings from within him. He was changing from the cold-hearted SOLDIER mercenary back to the person he used to be – introverted but with a warm heart. It was time to let people in once more and for once be a part of something. It would be hard; after all, once an introvert, always an introvert, but he knew he could do it.

To be continued…