• The city that was once Midgar was now nothing more than a shadow of its former self. Buildings lay across the wasteland in destruction; life was exterminated and no longer existed within this desolate city; and the once flourishing vibe that surrounded the city was now lost with the depths of the ruined metropolis. Only a graveyard of infertile structures and forgotten souls who could not escape the destruction remained. However, among the lifeless buildings in this rubble, there was a group of kids who wandered into the spiritless city, playing a game of hide-and-seek. They were given strict rules by their parents not to enter this place but they did not adhere to the warning they gave them and roamed into the chasms of Midgar. The three kids – a skinny one with large glasses; a chubby one with short brown hair; and the “leader” who had black hair – journeyed here to do something new exciting instead of the same boring, old games they would play at home. Instead of being scared, they were actually very eager to continue their game, not knowing the dangers that lurked around the corner.
    “Okay Joey, you’re it!” the leader, Kyle, called.
    “Man, why do I always hafta count?” Joey (the chunky kid) replied exasperatedly.
    “Because, you’re the biggest one here!” Damon (the skinny kid) shouted.
    “Shaddup!”
    Joey didn’t laugh but Kyle and Damon chuckled together at the joke. Joey gave in to their nagging and began counting while the other two scattered among the smashed city for good hiding spots; and what better place than an obliterated city? Joey counted all the way up to twenty-five and shouted out, “Ready or not, here I come!”
    The first few minutes of the search were quite nerve-wracking for Joey. He looked around at the buildings that seemed to stare angrily at him, as if he were the reason for their destruction. Just now, in the window, he thought he saw a ghost!
    “Oh man,” he shivered to himself, “I knew I should’ve stayed home!”
    Further along the dirt road, he saw more haunted-looking buildings that seemed to harbor fainted spirits within the rooms. The sky above this place was dark and grey, which added greatly to the eerie landscape. All of a sudden a scream shattered the silence and echoed throughout the empty capital; it sounded like Damon! Joey ran towards the direction of the atrocious shriek to find him wrapped around a deadly vine, struggling to break free from its grip.
    “Damon!” Joey called out to him.
    “We have to find help fast!” Kyle exclaimed.
    “Yeah, but how?”

    Cloud was driving through the open terrain on his Fenrir motorcycle to get away from the city of Edge, at least for a little while. Driving around as a delivery boy was hard work, especially on those days when he would accidently mistaken the orders and transport them to the wrong homes. He would have to drive back to Tifa’s house and either change the date of the order or correct the problem, usually through telephone. Today, however, was his day off from working so Cloud utilized his free time to break free from the hassles of city life and enjoy an open ride. He stopped by the wreck of Midgar where he reminisced about the epic battles that took place there. All that fighting only brought more sorrow; alas, someone very special t Cloud was taken during these conflicts by a man he will never forget. Staring down at Midgar, a whirlwind of emotion circled within him but he pushed them down, not wanting to relive that pain again. He said his goodbyes once before, must he do it again? Revving up his sleek, pure black motorcycle, he was about to depart this place until a child with black hair moving toward him, panting heavily. In his eyes, the boy looked really scared, which prompted Cloud to get off his bike to see if he could help the child.
    “Are you okay? What happened?” Cloud asked him.
    The little boy had to catch his breath before he could speak to Cloud. Once he recovered, he told Cloud about the crisis that had befallen his best friend. “M-My friend is stuck… Please, help him…”
    Cloud did not hesitate; he followed the young kid to where his friend was being held hostage within the vines of the dangerous plant. The trip down memory lane had to wait until after the kid was saved. Cloud and Kyle arrived to see Damon frightened beyond reason and bound by the sharp plant’s arms. Cloud hurried over to the anguished boy to free him but because of how complex this plant was, Cloud was unable to use his Buster Sword; he had to use his hands. Carefully and cautiously, Cloud slowly untangled the vines while telling the child not to fret.
    “I’ll free you, don’t worry.”
    SWIPE!
    Suddenly, a sharp pain attacked his arm without him noticing. Looking down quickly, he saw his arm bleeding but couldn’t do anything about it. The child must be rescued before he could tend to his cut. Cloud reached Damon’s hand, telling him to hold on as he pulled him out warily. After six concentrated minutes, the little boy was at last free from the plant’s trap much to the happiness of his friends Joey and Kyle. After this little incident, the three boys decided to never again play in the ghost town! Cloud offered them a ride back to Edge in order to bring them back home.
    But it only has one seat… This isn’t going to be fun, Cloud thought.
    He seemed to forget totally about the cut on his arm during the rescue, claiming it was nothing…

    Back into town, Cloud drove them to Kyle’s house (he had been there before, delivering a package to their home). Cloud was overjoyed that the cluttered ride was over because of the screams from the three kids and after dropping them off, returned to Tifa’s place. Somehow, he began not feeling too well. When he walked inside, he was immediately greeted by Tifa who was with Marlene.
    “Hey Cloud.” Tifa said with a smile.
    “Hi Cloud!” Marlene called to him.
    Cloud waved to them but he still didn’t completely understand why his body felt so…strange. He slowly walked over to the stairs but began to feel very strong pain before he could take his first step. How bizarre… He didn’t feel any of these symptoms until after he dropped off the kids. Cloud began to realize, as he was wincing in pain, that those vines were much more than normal plants. Now he was in incredible pain; he could barely breathe and his vision began to get blurry. Tifa walked over in concern, wondering why Cloud was not moving.
    “Cloud, are you all right? If this is about last night, I–”
    Before she could finish her statement, Cloud suddenly collapsed onto the floor, gasping in agony. Tifa quickly rushed over to his side as did Marlene, calling his name when he began to fade to darkness… Slowly, the shouts of his name began to distort into slight mumbles as his eyelids closed…
    “Cloud…”