"Hey!"
Scene 24
- Biggs... Wedge... Jessie... ...Marlene... -
(Cloud, Tifa, and Barret come to in the playground. Everything has been demolished; shards of debris protrude grotesquely from the happy face of the children's slide; steam rises from the ground in several places. Barret runs over to the pile of debris that was the gate to Sector 7.)
Barret
"Marlene!!"
"MAR---LE---NE!!"
(He runs to one side.)
Barret
"Biggs!"
(He runs to the other side.)
Barret
"Wedge!!"
(He runs back to the center.)
Barret
"Jessie!"
(He punches the debris repeatedly.)
Barret
"GOD DAMN IT!!"
"DAMMIT!!"
"DAMMIT ALL TO HELL!!"
(He stops; his shoulders are hitching.)
Barret
"What the hell's it
all for!?"
"ARGGHHHH!!!"
Cloud
"Hey, Barret!"
Tifa
"Barret!"
Barret
"ARGGHHHH!!!"
(Cloud and Tifa run up to him.)
Cloud
"Hey!"
Tifa
"Barret, stop... Please
stop, Barret."
Barret
"URGHHHH!!!"
(He fires on the pile of debris, sweeping it with bullets... then stops, and falls to his knees.)
Barret
"God damn..."
(He punches the ground. The scene fades.)
(The scene fades back in. Barret is sitting on the end of the slide. Cloud and Tifa stand nearby.)
Barret
"Marlene..."
Tifa
"....... Barret......?"
"Marlene is.... I
think Marlene is safe."
(Barret looks up.)
Barret
"....huh?"
Tifa
"Right before they
took Aerith, she said, "Don't worry, she's all right. She was probably
talking about Marlene."
(Barret stands.)
Barret
"R, really!?"
Tifa
"But..."
Barret
"Biggs...... Wedge....
Jessie......"
Cloud
"All three of them
were in the pillar."
Barret
"Think I don't know
that?"
(He turns, not facing either of them.)
Barret
"But... we, all of
us fought together."
(He sits on the slide again.)
Barret
"I don't wanna think
of them as dead!"
Tifa
"And the other people
in Sector 7."
Barret
"This is all screwed
up!"
"They destroyed an
entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people...."
Tifa
"...are you saying
it's our fault? Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their
lives because of us?"
(He stands up and shakes his head.)
Barret
"No, Tifa!"
"That ain't it! Hell
no!!"
"It ain't us! It's
the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but the Shinra!"
(Cloud steps back, facing away from Barret and Tifa. Barret faces away and raises his arms.)
Barret
"They're evil and
destroyin' our planet just to..."
"build their power
and line their own damn pockets with gold!"
"If we don't get rid
of them, they're gonna kill this planet!"
(He turns around.)
Barret
"Our fight ain't never
gonna be over until we get rid of them!"
(Tifa shakes her head.)
Tifa
"............I don't
know."
Barret
"What don't you know!?
You don't believe me?"
Tifa
"It's not that. I'm
not sure about ... me. My feelings."
(Barret faces Cloud, whose back is still turned.)
Barret
"An' what about you?"
(Cloud looks up, still not turning.)
Cloud
"..........."
(He leaves the playground.)
Barret
"Yo!"
"Where's he think
he's goin'?"
Tifa
"Oh! Aerith!"
Barret
"Oh yeah, that girl.
What's up with her?"
Tifa
"...I don't really
know... But she's the one I left Marlene with."
Barret
"Damn! Marlene!!"
(Barret runs to the exit of the playground, then stops and turns.)
Barret
"Tifa. There ain't
no turnin' back now."
(He exits. Tifa heads for the exit, stops and looks back over her shoulder... then exits. The scene fades.)
(The scene fades back in. Cloud is walking along the broken highway, away from the playground.)
"Cloud!"
(He turns to see Barret and Tifa run up.)
Barret
"Take me to Marlene!"
Tifa
"You're going to help
Aerith?"
Cloud
"Yeah.... But before
that, there's something I want to know."
Tifa
"What's that?"
(Cloud takes a step forward.)
Cloud
"It's about the Ancients."
(The screen flashes white, as if lightning were striking, then goes completely black.)
In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!
(The screen goes white again... then we are back at the broken highway. Cloud looks down.)
Cloud
"Sephiroth...?"
(Cloud falls down. Tifa and Barret run to him.)
Tifa
"Are you all right?"
Barret
"Pull it together,
man!"
(He rises. They all travel to Aerith's house.)
phoenixgenesis@game-developer.com
Continue to Part 3 Scene 25