Airbuster moved swiftly along the bridge at them, separating the three. Barret and Amy were stuck on one side of the bridge, in front of Airbuster, and James was on his own, behind the machine.

'This is from SOLDIER?' queried Amy, sounding distinctly unimpressed.

'No way!' retorted James, 'this is just a machine.'

'Well, whatever the hell it is, I'm gonna bust it up!' snapped Barret, moving a step closer to it.

Amy was the first on the attack, coming right up close to the machine, and punching it hard, hurting her knuckles on the metal. She then followed through with a sharp kick. All Barret was able to do was shoot, since Amy had only given James one of the small magical orbs she had bought before getting on the train.

When Barret retreated to a safe distance after shooting, Airbuster loomed forwards, piling right into both Amy and Barret, who were nearly knocked over from the force.

James stepped forwards as bright green flames circled around him and another lightning bolt came crashing down onto the machine. Amy, seeing how effective James' magic was, waited until Airbuster had revolved and was now facing James, and then made an assault of her own.

The same flames that had encircled James when fighting against the Guard Scorpion had now appeared around her as she held her arms out, slowly moving them out to the sides, before clasping her hands to her chest and then stretching them out to Airbuster. The metal of the machine glowed red for a few seconds as it was heated up from the fire that Amy had summoned.

Airbuster leant forwards slightly, and then shot with its rear gun, the bullets pounding into Barret's body. He wobbled around dangerously on one foot as he lifted the other leg, to try and ease the pain in his ankle, not wanting to place much pressure on it.

'I'll be okay,' he said to Amy, who had just opened her mouth to say something.

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a grenade he had been carrying around with him, pulled the pin, and lobbed it carefully at Airbuster. It struck its target right on, the explosion echoing loudly. James had jumped back slightly, to avoid being struck by Airbuster as it rushed forwards at him.

Instead of allowing James to make his attack, Airbuster rushed at him again, catching him hard in the shins. He stumbled a bit and nearly fell down. He was in a crouch, holding at his shins, staring up angrily at the machine. The point of his Buster Sword was touching the ground as James failed to hold up the entire sword.

A surge of anger flooded his system as he straightened up, a slight maniacal glint in his eyes. More flames erupted from the ground at his feet, rising up almost past his had, but this time, they were not the same luminous green as before. The fire at his feet was a deep, dark blood red, gradually getting lighter, until the tips of the flames were yellow. They flickered and flashed around him for a second, whilst he prepared himself for his attack, still tightly gripping the Buster Sword's narrow handle.

He charged at Airbuster, his mighty sword dragging behind him, until he got closer and closer, and pulled it above his head, smashing the blade directly onto the mechanical foe. The momentum of his run ensured that his attack had more power behind it.

Sure enough, as the blade of the Buster Sword met Airbuster's steel hide, the entire thing jerked backwards away from James, and more towards Amy and Barret.

'It's nearly defeated!' exclaimed James to Barret and Amy. 'Quick, finish it off!'

But before either of them could make so much as a single move, Airbuster shot again with the rear guns, but this time the bullets hitting Amy. As soon as it had finished shooting, it immediately started to slowly turn on the spot, and then rushed at them, colliding into them both. Barret fell to his knees, injured badly.

'James, use the Cure materia Barret gave you earlier!' cried Amy. 'Don't worry about me; I'm fine, just heal Barret!'

James took a step forwards again, concentrating. The usual green flames sparked up around him, as he waved the Buster Sword around. He sheathed it, held his hands out to Barret and then pulled the Buster Sword out again. Tiny, minute green crystals materialised out of the air above Barret's head, and fell softly onto him, dissipating as they made contact with his skin. He managed to pull himself off his knees, and once again, stood proudly in the face of AVALANCHE's new adversary. He shot a few rounds at Airbuster, wondering how many bullets he had left.

Amy advanced, moving her arms about, summoning magic once more, as another flame burst from Airbuster's very core.

Within seconds, the machine had started to make its lifeless decent to the ground. James had sheathed his Buster Sword once more and was leaning against the barrier of the bridge, taking care not to look down, at the large drop into the Midgar slums.

As Airbuster struck the ground, the machine exploded, taking half the bridge out with it. Amy screamed and stumbled forwards, Barret holding onto her tightly, watching, as James fell forwards.

He was expecting to have plummeted right down, but fortunately, one of his flailing hands grasped the edge, clinging on tightly with one arm.

'James!' shrieked Amy. 'James, just hold one!'

'I'll try…'

'Barret, do something!' she yelled at him, looking furiously at the large black man.

'Sorry, but there ain't much I can do. How long do you think you can hold on for?'

'….Not that long, I'm starting to lose my grip…' replied James, distantly.

'Damn, don't you go and wuss out on me!' snapped Barret. 'Hang on just a bit longer; I'll see what I can do.'

Barret precariously leant forwards, outstretching his hand to James. But as his fingers came anywhere close to James, the ex-SOLDIER's grip slackened considerably, and he plunged down. Amy screamed, leaning forwards herself. Barret grabbed her around the waist and pulled her a safe distance away from the ledge, as they both watched him tumble down, out of sight.

James knew nothing for a while, and then when he was finally starting to come round, he heard voices, talking to him.

'Are you okay? Can you hear me?'

'Yeah…' James replied feebly.

'Back then, you'd just be able to get away with skinned knees…'

''Back then'? What do you mean?' James asked the darkness.

'Never mind that, what about now? Can you get up?' asked the mysterious voice.

'Answer me!' demanded James. 'What do you mean by 'back then' and 'what about now'? Tell me!'

'Don't worry about me,' the eerie voice told him. 'You just worry about yourself for now, alright?'

'I'll try…'

'Oh!' gasped a new voice. This one was different to the mysterious voice, it was female. 'It moved!'

'Heh, how about that?' whispered the mysterious voice. 'Take it slowly. Little by little…gently…'

'Hello, hello?'

'Hey, who are you?' called out James, speaking to both the female and the mysterious voice. Anybody whom chose to answer.