"Well, what the heck are we gonna do now?" asked Barret, curiously, turning to face Cloud.
Cloud sighed wearily.
"Sephiroth is still alive. That definitely can't be good for this Planet. I have to find him. I have to settle the score between us," replied Cloud.
"And that will save the Planet?" asked Barret, doubtfully, raising an eyebrow.
"It seems like it. I'm not exactly sure, though. But there's a high chance that it might," replied Cloud.
"Alright, then. I'm going too," said Barret, filled with new determination.
Tifa turned to face Cloud.
"I'm coming too. Like you, I lost a lot of things in the past thanks to Sephiroth. And now its time to finish him for all that he's done," said Tifa.
"I'll go too. I'm definitely coming. I have things that I want to find out. There are lots of things I need to know and discover," said Aeris.
"About the Ancients?" asked Cloud, curiously. Aeris hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"Yes indeed, but that's not all I want to find out about. I need to know and discover many things that I didn't know before," replied Aeris.
"My hometown is to the west of the Planet. I will go with you all as far as that, but no further," said Red XIII, sternly.
"I guess this is goodbye then, Midgar," said Tifa.
"Yeah…and good riddance," said Cloud, darkly; as he stared out at the nightmarish city he had grown to intensely dislike over the past few weeks.
"What do you mean?" asked Barret, sharply.
"For one thing, if we leave, we might be able to dispel memories that are painful; terrible moments that occurred here, but come on, be honest. If it wasn't for the fact that Shinra were in Midgar, I doubt you, Biggs, Wedge or Jessie would ever have come here in the first place," said Cloud.
"Yeah, I guess you're right 'bout that. Anyways, now its time to escape," said Barret.
"Judging by the way that those Shinra guards pursued and attacked us back there, I doubt that we will be able to get out by wandering back up the freeway. So we will need to find another exit," said Red XIII.
"Then we use that," said Barret, pointing to a nearby crane.
"And what do you propose we do with that?" asked Cloud, raising an eyebrow.
"That crane is being used to finish building Sector 5, therefore I think that the cord shall go all the way down to the slums. Not only that, I'm sure that I can aim it beyond the gate, so we can get outside of Midgar for good," said Barret.
"Clever, so can you use it?" asked Cloud.
"I was born and raised in a mining town, so I've used this sort of stuff since I was a child, so don't worry about it. Everyone, get ready to slide down, and get out of this damn place for good," said Barret.
Barret quickly climbed into the cab of the crane and pulled a few levers before hitting a switch that sent the crane wire all the way down to the slums.
The group carefully made their way down the wire, and after a few moments, they all had climbed over the gate of Midgar, and were finally outside of Midgar.
There were many miles of fields outside Midgar. Cloud, Barret, Aeris, Tifa and Red XIII would begin a long journey, though they did not know it at the time.
The sun was beginning to climb over the mountains when Cloud jumped off the chain and landed on his feet on the ground, having climbed over the exit gate of Midgar.
Barret and the others followed, each of them taking a deep breath and enjoying the fresh air. It wasn't thick and stale like the air in Midgar; it felt like you could actually breathe out here.
"You know what? This is the first time I've ever really left Midgar. I never really knew what the world looked like outside it," said Aeris, her tone full of wonder and innocent curiosity as she stared out at the fields beyond.
"Really? Are you worried?" asked Cloud, concerned.
"A little, I guess…No, maybe I am worried quite a lot. But either way, I still have my bodyguard, right?" said Aeris, grinning at Cloud.
Cloud grinned back, and nodded at Aeris, who smiled at him. Tifa scowled slightly.
"We told Aeris's mom to go somewhere safe so Marlene should be safe too," said Barret.
"Yeah, she should be," replied Cloud.
"She said that she didn't want to stay in Midgar any longer after all that's happened there recently. Maybe it's for the best…" said Aeris.
"I guess this is the start of our journey, then," said Tifa, thoughtfully.
"You hate travelling?" asked Cloud.
"I don't know…but I don't have anywhere else to go after all, so it doesn't really matter whether I like travelling or I not," replied Tifa.
"I'm going back to my hometown. I'll go with you as far as that. I'll help all of you out until I reach my hometown. But, after that, you're all on your own," said Red XIII.
"Then let's go," said Cloud, with a nod.
"We need a group leader for our journey. Every group needs a leader, ya know. And that's me. Of course, only I could be the leader. That's just how it is," said Barret, firmly.
"You think so?" asked Tifa, uncertainly.
Aeris shook her head in disagreement as well.
"No, I believe the leader of this group should be Cloud. It should be Cloud, and no one else," said Aeris, firmly.
"I vote for Cloud too," said Tifa, nodding.
Red XIII didn't seem to care either way.
Not believing what he was hearing, Barret stared around at them all with anger and disbelief. He cursed angrily and loudly, then sighed heavily, and reluctantly agreed.
"Alright, alright. Go northeast to a town called Kalm. If something happens, then we'll meet up there. Besides, we can't have four people and an animal strolling down the fields. It's too dangerous. Split up into two groups. And if ya want Cloud to be the leader so much, then you can go with him," said Barret, turning to face Aeris.
"Yeah, me too! Uh, that is…I want to go…with…with Cloud," stammered Tifa, quickly, blushing when the others, practically Cloud, looked at her quizzically.
"Alright then. Come on, mutt," said Barret, turning to face Red XIII. Red XIII growled, but otherwise took no notice.
Cloud, Tifa and Aeris decided to go in one group while Barret and Red XIII went in the other group.
"I thought you'd do that. Later at Kalm," said Barret, with a wave and a nod.
Barret walked off to Kalm with Red XIII, and Cloud, Tifa and Aeris walked in another direction to Kalm. They walked northeast across the fields outside Midgar in the direction of Kalm.
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Meanwhile, Rufus Shinra was back in the Shinra headquarters at the 70th floor, as the mess in the building was quickly being cleaned up.
Rufus had just recovered from his wounds in his fight with Cloud, and he was now planning how to get rid of Sephiroth, and find the Promised Land. Just then, Tseng came into the room, and he walked over to Rufus.
"Sir, everything is all cleaned up. What do we do now?" asked Tseng.
"Is Sephiroth heading for Junon?" asked Rufus.
"Yes, sir. We have reason to believe that AVALANCHE will also be heading that way, as it is the only city apart from this one that has local transportation off this continent," said Tseng.
"Then we'll go after Sephiroth there. And we'll also hold a parade there as well, as a public distraction. The parade and celebration of the new president of Shinra Incorporated – me," said Rufus.
"What about Cloud, Aeris, and the others?" asked Tseng.
"We'll deal with them later. We'll just catch them before they can get anywhere near the base. They're of no concern to us, especially compared with the likes of Sephiroth. But we can't let them get in our way either. Send two of your fellow Turks down to the Junon area to spot their location, and track them closely," said Rufus.
"Yes, sir," said Tseng, saluting.
"But, just remember. It's Sephiroth that we need to kill above anyone else. Don't get distracted by those other fools," said Rufus.
"Yes, sir. We can leave tomorrow morning for Junon. Sir, if you wish, we can hold the parade there as soon as we know that AVALANCHE or Sephiroth is there," said Tseng.
"All right. We'll leave tomorrow to Junon. All the Turks will come, as will Heidegger," said Rufus.
"Yes, sir," said Tseng, leaving the room, while Rufus stared out of the window, emotionless, left to his own thoughts.