On the way back, Barrett and Co. were ambushed by some wolves, but after killing everything with no trouble, they piled back into the jeep. As Barrett turned the keys in the ignition, there was a huge explosion a few miles away, a fireball rose from where they had left Cloud.
'The hell?' Barrett mused, still fumbling with the keys, 'didn't know this heap of junk of that loud…' He turned his head just in time to see the fireball disappear behind the clouds.
'Oh.' He started the engine. 'Shit,'
Swerving the car around a small rock, Barrett took a U-Turn and headed back the way they came, towards Midgar, and Cloud. After a few minutes, Yuffie broke an uneasy silence.
'You think he's Ok?'
Red frowned. 'That was a pretty big bang. But, we've seen him go through worse, and I think he can ride it out.'
'But what the hell was that?' Barrett cut in. 'Couldn't have been Materia, right?'
'Actually, that's quite possible,' Red replied, licking his tail. 'Ever heard of something called Flare?'
'Uh..nah'
'It's a more powerful version of the fire materia that Tifa uses. But, I didn't know you cast it on such a big scale…'
'Since when were you the materia big shot?' Yuffie's face showed annoyance. Red blushed. 'Oh….I'm sure you know much more than I do about Materia, it's just-' He broke off as Yuffie shoved her sock in his mouth.
'Down boy, let me explain Materia to the Neanderthal,'
'The hell? Who you callin a Neanderthal?' Barrett asked, looking over his shoulder. Then, he counted the people in the jeep. 'Oh…'
'So anyways,' Yuffie continued, uhh…Flare is a real strong Materia…uh..so….don't think it's a really tiny orange and eat it, or something like that. Oh, and you can shove it in your-'
'Whoa!' Barrett yelled, as he stamped on the brakes as if stopping a horse. The Jeep spun around, and landed a few inches from the edge of a cliff.
'The hell?' Barrett exclaimed, staring out of the window. Red spat out the sock in his mouth, leapt out through the sun roof, and ran towards the edge, staring out into the charred, black ruins of Midgar. Except now, an addition had been made, another area of land also black and charred, where they'd left Cloud. Barrett joined him at the edge. 'Oh...shit,'
They drove across to where Flare had hit the land, the cliff now just a charred piece of rock that seemed to sway precariously in the wind. The burnt grass gave off a smell of the barbeque back at Seventh Heaven.
'Huh?' Yuffie was staring at something huddled against the for of a cliff, black with smoke. She ran over, but stopped as she trod on a sword. Cloud's sword.
'It's…' She stooped to pick it up, but then saw the figure make a grab for it. Carefully, she approached it, and gasped.
'Cloud? You Ok?'
The figure shook it's head vigorously, to reveal blond, spiky hair. He opened his mouth, and stared up at Yuffie.
'Masamune. He...Laexande….has the sword…. We need to-' But then he collapsed. Barrett steamed up to Cloud's side, Buster Sword in hand.
'Who the Hell did this?
'He mentioned a name…Laexande…' Yuffie said quietly.
Barrett nodded. 'Ok, that's a start. We need to move him back to Kalm' Then, he picked up Cloud, slung him over his shoulder like a thin balloon, and headed back to the Jeep. Yuffie and Red followed in silence. eHeHe HHdsgsrgs
