"What the hell happened?"

"Noct? Cloud? You guys all right?"

Yes. I think they'll do. Will you watch me strike them down like I did your friends, Cloud?

Cloud scrambled back on his feet, grabbing his blade and made a break for it. He heard shouting behind him. He knew they would overtake him. The blonde thought about the whistle, but he knew their chocobos would be just as fast. And he didn't know the terrain as well as they did.

He made a split second decision and bolted into the garage. Cloud leaped into Fenrir 2.0 and started her up. The engine roared, and he accelerated out of the shop. Cindy cried out for him to stop but he paid her no mind. The bike swerved to turn on the road and just like that he was gone.

Cloud was gone before Ignis could even start the Regalia. He cursed as he sat in the seat.

"What's taking you?" Noctis demanded.

"The Regalia is an old girl, Noct. And we're limited to the road while his bike can be on all terrain."

"But what if he was making that up?"

"Did you see the wheels he placed on that thing? He can go off the road." Cindy confirmed. "So what happened for him to be spooked so bad?"

"It's... Kind of my fault." Noctis hung his head.

"Okay, is anyone else confused about what's going on, or just me?" Prompto looked around.

"Noct, you better start from the beginning."

The prince explained over lunch about the nightmare vision he had with Cloud. How he watched Cloud fought even though his body was ready to give out. Then his enemy Sephiroth took notice of Noctis. Upon realizing he was there Cloud did, too. He grabbed the prince and pulled them out of the nightmare.

He relayed what little he knew of Sephiroth. Then he explained about the most recent episode where by one simple touch he was able to see Sephiroth again. And once again those cold eyes were staring at him. But the apparition disappeared soon as Cloud fell through him.

"So you're saying there's some kind of bond between those two? And Sephiroth is haunting him? But why would he run?"

"Would it be too far of a stretch that Sephiroth could potentially control Cloud? He said he didn't remember what caused the meteor, or why he was a part of it. But since Sephiroth's body wasn't found with him, then one can only assume he's somehow sharing the same body as Cloud." Ignis theorized.

"That would explain why he ran. Sephiroth is becoming more of a threat. And just like how he hid the pain of the Starscourge and carried the burden alone, he did it again with Sephiroth." Gladio understood the warrior spirit.

"But why would he do that?" Prompto asked.

"Because he doesn't want us to die. He's already seen all of his friends die because of Sephiroth." Noctis made a fist, the hand shook. "But damn it he shouldn't have to be alone if he's dying!"

"So how do we go about finding him?"

"Well, we have a few things on our side. One, he doesn't know the terrain or know how to get around. And his bike would stand out a lot if he passes other towns." Ignis pointed out.

"Then we should get going and follow the direction he initially went."

xXx

Cloud could feel the Starscourge spreading rapidly. Was it supposed to be like this? The pain made it difficult to focus on navigating the bike. He didn't know where he was going. He only knew that he had to get away as far as possible.

He got off a main road somewhere. This road had more scenery of a forest. He started to wonder if he should get off the roads. But then if he needed somewhere safe to stay during the night he couldn't stray from the roads. Fenrir 2.0 wasn't equipped with headlights yet.

Why do you run, Cloud?

Shut up.

It's pointless to run. I'll still be the one to end their lives in front of you.

Shut up!

And I will make this planet become the next meteor.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Cloud yelled at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly they were approaching a huge gate. Cloud was forced to slide into a halt. It didn't go so well when he didn't realize how fast be was going beforehand. Realizing that he was going to crash anyway Cloud leaped off the bike. His landing wasn't perfect.

Cloud looked up to watch his bike crash against the gate. It didn't scatter into too many pieces or blow up into flames. The blonde willed himself to stand. He heard movements above, and it was all the warning he got before guns started firing down upon him.