Chapter 4: Alexandria and Jonun

"Welcome back, kupo" A moogle was standing over Cloud. He was in that dream again. The same one he had been having all week. "Have a nice rest?"

Cloud stood up. The town, Alexandria, was decimated. Buildings were torn apart. Streets were filled with debris. But worse of all, the Castle was completely destroyed. Was this the work of bahamut?

"…Am I…in Alexandria?" Cloud finally muttered.

"Yea, kupo, it was destroyed by the invincible while you were away."

Cloud could see people trying to rebuild their lives, and their town. Everyone was working together to bring this place back to what it was.

"Is it true that the Queen’s away in Lindblum?" A villager asked another.

"I’m not sure, but General Beatrix is here."

Cloud had no idea what was going on, but he stepped towards the men. "Excuse me, but-"

"Boy, he’s a weird looking one."

"You can say that again. Gosh, son, how’d you get your hair like that?"

"Well, err, can you guys tell me what’s going on?"

"well, A big ship came and blew the hell out of the place. Our queen, Garnet til Alexandros-"

"the 17th."

"…the 17th went with her group to Lindblum. We’re now picking up the pieces of our town."

Cloud thought for a moment. Alexandria, Lindblum, Garnet til Alexandros, and the Invincible are things he’s never heard of. Hey, maybe these people know about the meteors!

"Excuse, but which way is it to Jonun?" Cloud asked the men.

"Jonun? What the hell is that? You some kind of spoony bard?"

O.K. Obviously these people haven’t heard of Jonun…. Cloud was thinking.

"That’s because there is no Jonun in this world, kupo." Kupo the moogle replied to his thoughts.

"Wha! How’d you know what I was thinking?!" Suddenly what Kupo said sank in on him. "Another world? What do you mean?"

"Your gonna have to find out another time, kupo, it’s time for you to go." The moogle smiled and then faded, along with the rest of the world. Cloud woke up.

He sighed. "What do these mean?…"

***

The Highwind soared over Jonun in the early morning. It’s rockets blazing. Cid still had to make the repairs from North Cave on it. With marriage coming up, he hadn’t the time. As the airship flew over the ShinRa tower, a motorcycle carrying Mr. Wallace drove on the streets below. Barret skidded around corners speeded through lights and cursed through traffic.

"Feels good to get back on da road. It waz a long way from Kalm, but I managed to get here. Those damn ShinRa better have something good cooked up fer AVALANCHE." Barret said as he road his hardy daytona down the busy Jonun streets. A buggy sitting in traffic noticed Barret.

"Hey! That’s Barret!" Tifa cried when she saw Barret’s bike fly by. "And that’s the Highwind! Cid!" She tried waving out the car window.

{Today is April 26 and you’re listening to GEAR96.7 radio. Good morning Jonun! The temperature is a modest 71’ and sunny. It is now 10 in the morning and I’m your DJ, Vicks!}

"Hmmm…I thought he was dead." Tifa said as she listened to the radio with a big smile. Traffic was going nowhere this morning. Would she be late to the AVALANCHE meeting?

"Good morning Tifa." Tifa looked in her side mirror to see Cloud on his hardy daytona, obeying the traffic laws, unlike Barret.

"Hey Cloud! Guess what! I saw the Highwind pass over and Barret on his motorbike. I think everyone’s actually going to be here!" She beamed.

"Well, I think we’re going to be the last ones there. Just look at this traffic." Cloud hocked his horn.

"Yea, but even if we’re late, we’ll still see them." She turned to look out the other window to see Red XIII run by on the sidewalk.

"RED! Hey RED!" She screamed. Cloud looked over to and saw him. He smiled. Why makes a fool of himself in public when Tifa will do it?

Red stopped and looked at the traffic. He thought someone called his name. With all the honking it was hard to hear. Red just shrugged it off and ran towards the ShinRa building. He’ll see everyone there.

"Oh well. I guess I’ll see him there." Tifa said softly. "Hey Cloud, Red just ran by!"

"I know. Don’t worry, they’ll still be there when we’re late." Cloud honked again. A bloodthirsty roar deafened his honking. He looked up to see the Chaos Beast soar overhead towards the tower. "Heh. There’s Vincent."

Tifa waved from the buggy, but it seemed like the monster didn’t care. That’s everyone except Yuffie. Would she come? The traffic finally let up and Tifa and Cloud continued driving to the ShinRa building.

***

The buggy pulled into a parking spot that read "RESERVED FOR AVALANCHE" and stepped out, brining her purse. Cloud parked in a bike rack, next to Barret’s.

"Look at this! Barret’s stealing my vehicle! I’m the only one to ride a motorcycle." Cloud walked over to Tifa. She chuckled as they stepped inside the whirly doors. They walked through some guards, who told them that they were expected on the 51st floor. They stepped into the elevator and pressed up.