Motor Ball

The blue truck puttered along at forty miles per hour. Cloud knew it was too slow, but Barret was exultant.

"Home free, Red!"

"I wouldn’t celebrate just yet."

"Man, you need to lighten up. Hell, you might even try smiling," Barret said. Red smiled garishly and Barret's good mood faltered. "On second thought… maybe frowning suits you better. Hey, don’t pout!" Red flicked his tail, looking up at the Shinra building.

"Look."

Cloud looked back over his shoulder at the Shinra building, immediately tugging on the handbrake. Tifa, behind him, stopped with a screech of the small tires. The heroes looked back at the tower, and there were thousands of whispers enveloping it.

Inside the tower, Rufus looked around, alarmed.

"What is all this?" he asked Tseng, who was looking at his phone.

"Something wrong, sir?" then into the phone, "I see. Very good. The men are on standby, sir. Your orders?" Rufus smiled tightly.

"Bring them in."

***

"It's like the whole damn building’s made of ‘em," Barret observed. It looked almost like a tornado, Cloud thought. But why the tower?

"I don't understand. What are they doing?" Tifa asked.

"Who knows..." Aerith said, looking troubled.

"Wedge ... you don't think he got caught up in it do you?" Barret wondered.

"If he did, I hope he's okay..." Tifa said. Suddenly Red jumped onto the truck, his keen eyesight trained down the expansive roadway.

"They're coming. We must leave. Now." And then Cloud could hear them. Choppers, copters ... and something ... worse.

"Time to go!" Cloud said, the motorcycle roaring to life as Red and Barret jumped back into the truck. Cloud focused his efforts on the choppers, as Barret's microlaser cut through multiple copters. They weren't just behind them either, as other troopers had formed a roadblock ahead flanked by rioting shields. Clever, Cloud thought. Delay them up front and get chewed up by the back. And he could still hear the something worse, getting closer and closer by the minute. He hit the acceleration to the max, using the cycle itself as a weapon, disrupting the blockade long enough for Tifa to get through.

"Great job, Cloud!" Aerith enthused as they passed by. The heroes passed under a bridge ... a booby trapped bridge that exploded the minute they ran over a wire on the road. Cloud cloesd his eyes, preparing for the worst ... but it never came, as the whispers shielded the party from the debris that would otherwise be raining down.

"So… now they're on our side?" Barret asked skeptically. Red shook his head.

"The Whispers intervene not to defend us, but to preserve the flow of destiny."

The something worse was terribly loud now, and as they went across a corner, the final corner, it came into view. It was a hulking metal monstrosity, ridded with guns and some superhot javelin-type weapons. It rode on treads like a tank, with six axles.

"Oh, no, don't you dare! C'mon! You see the piece of shit we're driving here?" Barret growled.

"Says the three hundred pound sack of it," Red said, smirking sardonically.

"Hey!" Barret protested.
Cloud used his sword to attack the wheels, slashing at them until the robot moved to the other side of the road. It was dropping strips of spikes and mines, and Tifa was veering wildly. Just a few more strikes and he bet he thought he could get a change of the bosses phase ... until a superpowered laser emerged from the truck, cleaving it in two. Then Cloud heard a deep, satisfied chuckle.

"OP as fuck," Barret said, clearly pleased. The truck stopped, and Tifa jumped into the back, coating Barret in kisses.

"Oh, Daddy, that was amazing!" Tifa enthused. Cloud frowned. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.