Filled with disbelief and fear at what had just happened mere moments ago, Cloud, Barret and Tifa quickly rushed over from the playground to the main entrance gate of Sector 7, which was now merely a pile of ruins blocking the way, and behind it were the vast and silent remains of what was now left of Sector 7, just huge parts of rubble and scrap metal spread across the whole entire area. Barret quickly run up to the ruins that were blocking the gate, feeling immensely horrified and fearful, as he tried calling out for survivors, but of course, there were none at all.
"Oh gawd NO, Marlene was still in there!! Marlene, please answer me!!! MARLENE, NO!!!! Biggs!! Wedge!! Jessie!! Any of you, please answer…!! Oh, goddamn it, they'll gone, all of them gone! DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!! Just what the hell's it all for, if Shinra always gotta make others suffer so damn much because of their own selfish needs!? MARLENE, ANSWER ME!!" screamed Barret, in clear devastation, hoping for any of them to answer back to him, but he could see it was no use, and he collapsed onto the ground, shaking wildly in grief as the first of his tears spilled down onto the pavement.
"Barret, wait a minute, don't get upset over Marlene, there's no need! Everything's alright, Marlene's going to be fine, she's alright!" shouted Tifa, urgently, running over to him, but Barret hadn't took notice of her words, and hadn't heard them as he continued to sob there on the ground before the ruins of Sector 7. Cloud and Tifa both reached him and stood nearby.
"Hey, Barret, come on, try and pull yourself together!" said Cloud, trying to calm him, as he saw Barret was very upset.
"Barret, stop this. Please stop it, Barret…" said Tifa, gently.
Barret paid absolutely no attention to either of their words, however, and sprang up furiously to his feet. Throwing his head back, he roared and bellowed in anger and fury at the heavens themselves, and he suddenly opened fire with his gun-arm, and fired like mad all around the ruins of the whole Sector, the loud noise of gunfire echoing around the whole place, and it didn't stop until Barret's gun had finally run out of ammo a fair few minutes later.
As his gun-arm only clicked when fired now, Barret then lowered his weapon, and screaming in fury and devastation, he threw his arm back, and slammed his one fist hard on the wall of the ruined gate, giving it a few more cracks within it, as well as bullet holes that he had shot into the ruins.
Then Barret slumped back hopelessly to the empty and now deathly quiet playground before the ruins of Sector 7, his massive shoulders now bowed in misery, and they shook wildly as Barret's sobbing and grieving continued.
Cloud and Tifa, who had both been simply standing there quietly, and watching him weep silently, occupied by their own depressed thoughts about the situation, and could think of no words of use or comfort to him, as they quietly followed Barret, while he sat down heavily with a thud on one of the playground swings, and he buried his head in his arms.
"God damn it all, just end my life now, I can't take any more of all this misery that those damn Shinra have caused to people, and the whole Planet…Marlene…she's gone…she's really gone…and she was all I had worth living for…she was all that kept me going…" said Barret, bursting into even more tears at the very thought of it all.
Watching him in that condition, even Cloud couldn't help but feel pity for him, even despite all the distrust and abuse he had endured from the big black man, but right now he was watching a father grieve for his daughter. Tifa looked at Barret, looking very concerned and worried about him, but she shook her head, as if she strongly disagreed with something he said.
"Barret, please try to cheer up, you really don't have to put yourself through all this agony for nothing, because Marlene really isn't gone…I think that Marlene is…I think that Marlene is safe. I think that she's still alive and well, Barret," said Tifa, seriously, placing a comforting hand on Barret's shoulder.
"Huh, what…!? What the hell did you just say, Tifa!? She's still alive!? HOW!?" asked Barret, shocked, as he raised his head from his hands at once, and he stared urgently at her for an explanation, a look of intense hope emerging on his face. Now satisfied he was paying attention, Tifa smiled reassuringly, and explained it to him calmly.
"Think back to when we were speaking to Tseng on the top platform of the Pillar, and when we discovered that Aeris is now his captive. Right before they left on the helicopter, and took Aeris away, she said to me, 'Tifa, don't worry, she's alright, I've already taken her to safety', don't you remember that? I know already that she had to be talking about Marlene. I had asked her to take Marlene out of the Sector to safety earlier, before me and Cloud went up the Pillar," explained Tifa. Barret's expression brightened considerably, and this time it was tears of joy that filled his eyes as he heard her explanation.
"R-Really, she's not gone after all…!? YES, SHE'S STILL ALIVE! She's really still alive!" exclaimed Barret, delighted, and he suddenly sprang to his feet, and quickly squeezed a startled Tifa in a tight bear hug as he jumped about on the spot in delight at the same time.
Feeling rather woozy, Tifa gasped for breath as soon as Barret let go of her, and sorrow suddenly filled her as the thought of their three comrades who weren't ever going to be there with them anymore.
"Marlene is alive…but the others…they're all…" said Tifa, in a sad voice, tears falling from her face as she thought of the cheerful times that she had spent with her three dead comrades and friends, and now they were gone. Barret understood what she meant immediately, and was becoming upset again.
"…Biggs…Wedge…Jessie…" muttered Barret, slowly and glumly, looking and feeling rather depressed indeed, his head bowed in sorrow at what had happened to his best friends. At that moment, Cloud, who had been silent in his own thoughts for a long moment, finally spoke up with a heavy sigh.
"They all died just before the Pillar blew up, when they tried to defend it from Shinra's forces. And all three of them were in the Pillar anyway, when the whole thing just exploded," said Cloud, regretfully. Barret snorted at him angrily.
"You think I don't already know all of that, ya spiky haired dumbass? I know what happened to all of them, I was there fighting beside them from the beginning when they gave their lives for trying to help defend the Pillar, but it still didn't make any damn difference in the end, did it? But despite that…we, all four of us, fought together against Shinra right from the very birth of AVALANCHE, we all fought for the people, and we all fought for justice to be done! No matter how this day turned out, they still fought bravely and died well, and they never once gave up the cause for the Planet's survival, and for the good of the people, even in the face of death! But most of all, they were all my best friends, and I just don't wanna think of any of them as dead, or that I failed them all when they died in vain to try and save a doomed Sector!" shouted Barret, in clear grief.
"And all of the people and citizens in both the lower and upper city of Sector 7 are all dead too…all of them…" said Tifa, sorrowfully, looking very depressed and tearful indeed. Barret snarled viciously, his one fist tightly clenched in fury.
"This whole situation here is all just so damn well screwed up, the whole thing's gotten way out of control! Those Shinra bastards destroyed an ENTIRE SECTOR of the city just to get to US, those rotten spineless cowards! They killed so many people today…hundreds of thousand of them…just to finish off a measly little rebel group with only six members!" said Barret, boiling anger and murderous rage filling him. Tifa was sobbing quietly, but she looked up, pained at what Barret had said.
"Are you saying that Sector 7 being destroyed is all our fault? That it's our fault that all this happened, Barret? Because AVALANCHE was here, Sector 7 had to suffer for it? So many innocent people lost their lives…just because of us being here?" asked Tifa, with a look of terrible guilt, clearly saddened. Barret shook his head firmly at her, with a new burning, fiery look of determination and resolve in his dark eyes.
"No, Tifa, that ain't what I'm saying! That ain't damn well it! HELL NO!! It ain't us who are to blame for this disaster! It's the damn Shinra's fault that all this happened! It's never been anyone, but Shinra Incorporated that have been causing all the people such misery and devastation! They're EVIL, and they're slowly destroying our own Planet just to build their damn own power, and line their own bloody pockets with gold! If we don't get rid of them eventually, then they're going to KILL this whole Planet! Our fight here ain't never gonna be over, until we get rid of them rotten monsters! The bastards were prepared to kill a whole eighth of the population in Midgar, just to get at us! I'm not gonna give up the fight until I kill every single one of those rotten little bastards, one way or another, for all the terrible deeds they've committed against everyone, and for the Planet!" roared Barret, furiously, waving his one fist in the air around in anger. Tifa still looked doubtful and unconvinced, as she bowed her head and shook it slowly.
"I really don't know about all of that, Barret. This whole situation, the struggle against Shinra and AVALANCHE for the Planet's life, has gotten way out of proportion, and one or two million people have already died because of it all, the bloodshed it's causing has gotten completely out of control. If we carry on with this rebellion against Shinra, all we're going to end up doing in the end is just endangering even more innocent people that Shinra would be willing to sacrifice. Maybe…maybe we just shouldn't do this anymore…maybe we should just quit now while we still can…while Shinra still think we're dead," said Tifa, hopelessly. Barret's eyes widened in surprise at her words.
"What the hell are you saying, Tifa!? You're just gonna give up on AVALANCHE now, that the others were all fighting for? Don't you believe me at all, about anything that I've just said?" asked Barret, looking both stunned and rather taken aback, but he was still no less determined than before.
"(I know that what Barret said is all true…if Shinra aren't stopped, then the Planet will eventually die out, and the people of the world are going to constantly suffer under their mighty rule. But still…are we really saving the lives of the people of the Planet, if this whole thing involves just taking away so many of those lives in the crossfire between the two sides that battle each other so intently, without any real thought for the full consequences of their own actions? I just don't know if the people really can be saved from death…but either way, even if AVALANCHE continue fighting or just give up now, it's always going to end in a lot of bloodshed, and a losing situation for the people we're trying to save…)" thought Tifa, solemnly, as she then spoke up to Barret, trying to sum up her thoughts.
"No, it's not that I don't believe what you're trying to say, Barret. It's just that…I'm just not too sure about what I feel about our struggle for the Planet anymore, after all of this has happened. And about my feelings too," said Tifa, slowly. Barret pondered this for a bit, scratching his head irritably.
"And what about you then, what are you gonna decide on doing?" asked Barret, curiously, turning to face Cloud, who had been listening to their conversation, but at the same time, he was completely occupied with his own thoughts, with one thing in particular on his mind.
Although he had heard him, Cloud never answered Barret's question, and he silently turned away and walked off from the playground, down the road towards Sector 5, without another word to either Barret or Tifa. He had heard and understood what Barret and Tifa had discussed, but throughout their whole conversation, his mind had been on someone else who they hadn't even mentioned yet, and that was Aeris.
Cloud thought back to when Aeris had saved his life in the church, and had then helped him find his way back to Sector 7 to save Tifa and Barret. He also remembered how much he had enjoyed simply talking and being with her on the way there too (except for the cross dressing part of course, he still intensely despised that). But the bottom line of it all was that he had made a promise to Aeris to look after her, to be her bodyguard, and he hadn't been there for her when she had needed him. He had failed her. He had completely and utterly failed her.
Cloud knew what he had to do now, and he felt so strongly about doing it too, that there was no way he wasn't. She had definitely saved his life by healing and caring for him when he fell far above through the roof of the church, and even though he had saved had her life on the train the day before that, and from Reno in the church just after she had helped him, he still wanted desperately to return the favour to saving him from his own brink of certain death, he absolutely refused to just stand by, and let her life rot away in some sort of cell. It was because of her that he was alive right now, and he owed it to her.
But why exactly did Shinra Incorporated want her so badly in the first place? Fair enough, Aeris definitely had unique and mysterious powers and abilities, but why were they really trying so desperately to catch her? What was the full and real reason that Shinra had hunted her down so much?
"(Wait…didn't Tseng say something, back on the platform of the Pillar, that Aeris was…an Ancient? If she is one, it would certainly explain a lot about all the things she can do, and why Shinra would want her so much, but I had always thought all the Ancients were all dead, hundreds and thousands of years ago now. So how could it be possible that Aeris is an Ancient, but then again…even my information on them is limited. Before I go to save Aeris, I have to find out the truth about her, once and for all, so I can fully understand what's going on here. But who would know, who could tell me…of course, that's it! Her mother, Elmyra, she must know for sure…)" thought Cloud.
"Just where the hell does he think he's going off to now, anyways?" asked Barret, bewildered, staring at Cloud, as he watched him walk away with a serious and grim expression on his face. Tifa also seemed puzzled, until a sudden thought and realization then occurred to her.
"…Oh of course, he's worried about Aeris!" said Tifa, with a gasp, realising and understanding now about just what was bothering Cloud. Barret turned to face her, still looking puzzled, though he seemed to know whom she was talking about.
"Oh yeah, I remember her now. There was that girl we saw in the helicopter back at the Pillar, who that Turk captured for some reason or other for Shinra, right? Now that I think about it, I know I saw her on the train once too, just after we'd blown up the first Reactor. What's supposed to be up with her and spiky haired boy over there, anyways?" asked Barret. Tifa frowned darkly for a small moment, but then quickly regained her composure, and shook her head.
"I don't really know all that much about her right at the moment, I've only known her for today, and even in the short space of time I've been travelling with her, she seems like no other person that I've ever met before, for many different reasons…but you should know that she's the one I left Marlene with," replied Tifa. Barret looked far more urgent and concerned now, at remembering that he wanted to see with his own two eyes that Marlene really was safe and sound.
"Damn it, I almost forgot about that! Marlene, I've still gotta see if she's okay, I've gotta know whether or not she really is in a safe place at the moment! I'm betting Cloud's got an idea about where that Aeris girl took her to, and I'm getting him to lead me to Marlene. Tifa, you may as well come with us too, and stick around with us against Shinra. There ain't no turning back now, we ain't gonna give up the fight. We started this, and now we're gonna finish it too. There ain't no getting off this train we're on until we get to the end of the line," said Barret, grimly, and then he ran off and followed Cloud.
Tifa stood still on the spot, and glanced silently back for a few seconds at the gloomy remains of metal and rubble of what was now left of Sector 7, the same place that had once been her home for the last few years, and so many memories of the place had occupied her mind, and now the whole sector was gone for good, completely destroyed along with the people that she had so often served drinks to, in her now crushed bar.
Her head bowed in sorrow, Tifa gave one last and final glance to the ruins of Sector 7, and then without another look back, she then quickly ran off and followed Cloud and Barret along the ruined and cracked road to Sector 5. She knew what Barret said was right; there would be no turning back now.
Barret and Tifa were soon both rushing along the ruined cracked roads that made up the path to the Slums of Sector 5, where Aeris' house was, and that was where Cloud was heading to first, and no doubt where Aeris had also taken Marlene as well. Barret and Tifa quickly caught up with Cloud, as Barret stopped Cloud in his tracks, placing a firm hand on his shoulder and forcing him to halt at once. Tifa stopped and stood with them, as Barret let go of Cloud's shoulder.
"Cloud, don't you dare think about leaving the both of us behind, we're in this whole thing too, you know! The three of us are still AVALANCHE, and I'm still the leader here, and you're the hired mercenary, so I'm ordering you to do something for me first, before we decide on what to do next. I want ya to just take me over to where Marlene is right now!" ordered Barret, sharply, getting very impatient to see whether his daughter was really alright or not. Cloud nodded in acceptance at Barret's words, seeing as how he was intending to go there anyway.
"You're planning on going inside the Shinra Headquarters itself, to rescue Aeris from them, isn't that right, Cloud? Are you really that worried about her, that you would risk you life for her so much that you'd even walk right into the very building of our own worst enemies?" asked Tifa, anxiously.
"I know this sounds strange, since I've only known Aeris for a few days…but yeah, I am that worried about her, Tifa, and I do intend to rescue her from the Headquarters itself. As long as she's kept there in Shinra's custody, then she's in very grave danger, whatever they plan to do with her. But before I intend to go there to save her, there's something important I want to know first, something I really need to understand," said Cloud.
"What's that, Cloud?" asked Tifa, curiously.
"It's about the Ancients. Tseng claimed that Aeris was the last one alive, and to understand this whole situation, I'm going to need to find out for sure if it's really all true or not, and I have to find out all about the Ancients themselves if it really is," replied Cloud.
Suddenly, at that moment, Cloud remembered something that someone had said about the Ancients, as he thought back to what a certain man with a low, deep, cold, sinister voice (who he had not seen or heard from in years) had once said, on that fateful day five years ago…
"In my own veins courses the very blood of the Ancients themselves!! And that means that I alone am one of the rightful heirs to rule this very Planet!!" said a man with a deep, sinister voice, and an evil, haunting look on his face, laughing insanely as flames surrounded and engulfed him, so intensely hot it was as though they were from Hell, but the man's twisted laugh was still more than enough to chill Cloud with fear, the laugh still going on ceaselessly, as though the flames were causing the man no harm whatsoever…
Suddenly, Cloud then awoke from his thoughts with a startled jump, the memory of that moment vanishing from his mind, as it soon became far too much for him to bare, the memory of that very fateful time in his past, five years ago, still terrifying him to this very day.
"…S-Sephiroth…?" stammered Cloud, numbly, feeling very dazed, as he fell over onto the ground with a thud. Tifa and Barret quickly rushed to his side, startled by his sudden collapse, and not knowing the reason for it.
"Are you alright, Cloud? What's wrong?" asked Tifa, quickly kneeling down to his side, looking very concerned indeed.
"Come on you, get the damn hell up, and just pull yourself together, man!" said Barret, sharply, reaching down and pulling Cloud rather roughly and mercilessly to his feet.
Cloud slowly nodded in response, and after regaining his composure and his senses, Cloud quickly continued along the cracked and ruined road that led to the Slums of Sector 5, with Barret and Tifa both closely following him.
Meanwhile, in the President's office on the very top floor of the Shinra Headquarters, both President Shinra and Heidegger looked down from the big window in the room at the mere remains, and the large piles of metal and rubble of what was once Sector 7, both of them had satisfied smirks on their faces, certain that AVALANCHE was dealt with and finished for good, and that they had succeeding in dealing with that threat.
"I would say that the Turks have all done a very good job tonight, they've really outdone themselves this time. Just make sure that you pay them very well for this ultimate success and victory of ours that they have given to Shinra Incorporated, Heidegger," ordered President Shinra.
"As you wish, sir," replied Heidegger, with a salute.
"Good, and now that those filthy rebels are finally out of the way at last, let us begin the very next and last stage of the plan, Heidegger. Now that they have all been dealt with, I want to use AVALANCHE'S own terrorism against them, to report to the public that it was them who brought down and annihilated Sector 7, so that the public shall fully despise the mere memory of those dead scum. After we send that report, another one shall come later, telling the public how we have found and had AVALANCHE all executed, which will label Shinra as heroes in the eyes of the public, and gain complete trust of all those poor ignorant citizens," said President Shinra, with a snigger.
"Yes sir, it will all be done momentarily, without any fuss whatsoever! Shall we circulate the pictures of the rebel scum, to the public in these reports?" asked Heidegger. President Shinra shook his head in response.
"No, I think it would be far better to have the public think that we don't exactly know who all the members of AVALANCHE are, that we had no idea of their identities, until their very execution. This way, we can easily surprise any other enemies or threats to us when the time comes, and we will deal with them at once without warning, and then nobody can stop us," explained President Shinra. Heidegger laughed humourlessly.
"Ha, ha, ha! Yes, it is an ingenious plan indeed, Mr President, sir! I shall begin commencing with this plan and setting up these reports immediately, sir!" said Heidegger, saluting, and he walked off to carry out the President's orders, while President Shinra remained in his office, still staring out of his massive window.
"(Yes, it was a great victory that Shinra Incorporated have achieved tonight. The total destruction of AVALANCHE will mark the beginning of a new age of total dominance for Shinra, and no enemy or threat can ever hope to stop us. And with the Ancient girl finally in our grasp, it is truly a great day indeed for Shinra. Now with her here, our most important plan of all can finally begin…)" thought President Shinra, with an evil smirk.