Destiny's Crossroads

Chapter 18: Destiny's Crossroads is the eighteenth and final chapter in Final Fantasy VII Remake. It comprises events after Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Barret Wallace, Aerith Gainsborough, and Red XIII escape the Shinra Building.
Completing the chapter unlocks the bronze trophy of the same name and unlocks Chapter Select and Hard Mode.
==Story==
Cloud and Tifa drive the vehicles they stole from the Shinra Electric Power Company showroom along the Midgar Expressway as the group makes its escape. In the back of the Shinra Hauler SA-37 three-wheeler pick-truck that Tifa is driving, Barret celebrates that they're home free, but Red XIII says it is too soon to say that. Barret tells Red XIII to lighten up and try smiling. Red XIII tries, but Barret is taken aback by the unnatural expression and says frowning suits him better after all. More and more Whispers arrive to cover the entirety of the Shinra Building and the group stops to watch.
Inside the Executive Suite of the Shinra Building, Rufus Shinra watches the Whispers float around, confused what they are. Tseng, who is with him, cannot see them, and does not know what Rufus is talking about, shocking him further. Rufus tells Tseng to make a phone call as he heads to the windows to watch the Whispers. Tseng reports that his men are on standby and asks for his order. Rufus replies to bring them in.
Back in the Midgar Expressway, Barret comments on the building being covered in Whispers, as Tifa and Aerith wonder what they are doing. Barret realizes Wedge might be caught up there, with Tifa hoping he made it out. Red XIII warns the group that something is coming, as Shinra soldiers on motorcycles head toward them. Barret and Cloud tell the group to get going. Tifa hops onto the driver's seat of the truck as Cloud follows on the Hardy-Daytona motorcycle. Cloud defeats some of the soldiers to protect Barret and Red XIII from gun fire, who are riding on the back of the pick-up truck.
More soldiers arrive as Barret tells Tifa to go faster, but the three-wheeler is slow. Cloud takes down a security van, and throws it at a Shinra road block, allowing the group to get through. A Shinra helicopter arrives and Barret proclaims take it down. The group takes cover inside a covered bridge, Red XIII warning that more is coming as Cloud fights off some drones and a M.O.T.H. Unit. Cloud spots bombs in the ceiling and tells the group to get down, Barret firing at them to detonate them. Whispers protect the group from the explosion as they exit the bridge.
The Shinra helicopter arrives with two 3-C SOLDIER Operator motorcyclists. Barret tells Cloud to take care of the soldiers while he deals with the helicopter. After Cloud handles the motorcyclists, Barret shoots at the helicopter that fires at the group one last time before Cloud uses a ramp to jump and attack the rotor mast. The helicopter crashes onto the road with Tifa driving into the exploding wreckage, but Whispers protect the three-wheeler that escapes unharmed. Barret asks if the Whispers are on their side, but Red XIII says they are only preserving the flow of destiny.
A M.O.T.O.R. shows up as Tifa tells the group to focus. Cloud and Barret team up to take the Shinra war machine down. As Barret notifies it is ready to be finished off, Red XIII sees the road end up ahead and jumps onto Cloud's motorcycle, who orders him to go for the head. Cloud and Red XIII approach the struggling M.O.T.O.R, Cloud striking from below while Red XIII attacks from the top. Red XIII returns to the pick-up as the group passes the broken highway, the M.O.T.O.R falling off from the end of the road and exploding. The group celebrates their victory when Cloud suddenly sees Sephiroth in front of the highway border control. Cloud and Tifa stop as Cloud realizes that Sephiroth is not there anymore. A black feather drops as he gets off his motorcycle.
The group walks past the border control to the end of the Midgar Expressway. Black feathers rain down with Sephiroth descending upon them. Barret wants to attack him, but Aerith tells him to stop. She says Sephiroth is wrong who retorts that those who look with clouded eyes see nothing but shadows. Aerith continues to exclaim that Sephiroth is all that is wrong in the world, who says that all born into the world are bound to it. He adds that should the world be unmade, so will her children. Cloud declares the world will not end today, but Sephiroth will. A swarm of Whispers from the Shinra Building arrives as Sephiroth tells the group to listen to their voices. He exclaims that destiny has come as the group covers their ears from the screaming of the Whispers.
Meanwhile, in a daytime Midgar in a different time, a black-haired SOLDIER member with a Buster Sword named Zack Fair sees the metropolis covered by Whispers. He is surrounded by Shinra soldiers and helicopters, as a few Whispers hover around them. Zack says that the price of freedom is steep as he pulls out his sword. He tells himself to embrace the dreams and protect his honor as a SOLDIER and moves in to engage the Shinra army.
Back at the Midgar Expressway, the Whispers have stopped screeching and Sephiroth cuts through their swarm to create a portal. He tells Cloud he will be waiting and enters. Cloud moves ahead, but Aerith stops him, saying this is the point of no return. Aerith uses her mystical powers to make the portal shine bright, and tells the group this is the destiny's crossroads. Cloud asks why she stopped him, but she doesn't know. Tifa asks what is on the other side, Aerith replying they will find boundless, terrifying freedom, like a great never-ending sky.
She says the voices they heard from the Whispers were the voices of the planet, the ones who were born, lived, died, and returned, howling in pain. Cloud wonders if Sephiroth is the reason, but Aerith says their words do not reach him. Sephiroth had told the group he cares about preserving the planet, but Aerith declares this isn't the way it is supposed to be, and denotes him as the biggest threat to the world who has to be stopped. Aerith asks the group to help her defeat Sephiroth, but warns them that if they do, they will be changing fate. She adds that if they win, they will be changing themselves, and this is why she hesitated entering the portal. The Whispers screech as the group covers their ears. Cloud agrees with Aerith, saying he has heard enough howling for a lifetime.
Tifa muses that she never tried to challenge destiny before, while Red XIII says that the portal is the destiny's last defense and that it won't be easy. Cloud tells the group to get going as they enter the portal. Before heading inside, Barret comments this won't be the first time he spit in destiny's eye, as she is always trying to have her way. Barret looks back and tells Marlene that he will come home soon, and steps through the portal.
The group has arrived in Singularity, though at first it looks the same as where they had entered. The Whispers above form a purple darkness where tornadoes touch down and the group begins to run. The tornadoes corner the group and blow it away, as Cloud is blown into the sky and sees the tornadoes tear Midgar apart. The Whispers gather and merge into the Whisper Harbinger, a colossal Weapon-like monster that howls as it gathers up debris with a black portal and throws it at Cloud, who dodges and deflects it. Cloud runs along a piece of broken up road that the Whisper Harbinger levitated and finds Barret and Tifa surrounded. Cloud fights the Whispers off as Barret is glad Cloud is alive and calls the Whisper Harbinger the arbiter of fate. Tifa declares they can beat the Whispers as the Harbinger summons Whisper Rubrum, Whisper Croceo, and Whisper Viridi, who surround the group.
The group fights them off as the Harbinger makes the other Whispers disappear and blows the group away. The group reaches another area, where Cloud falls from the collapsing road. Tifa and Barret save him as the Whisper trio returns. The group deals some damage to them as the Whisper Harbinger again makes the Whisper trio disappear and attacks the group. Barret says they need to get out of here and shoots at the debris to clear the path. The group slides down the highway and the Whisper Rubrum appears before them whom the group defeats, hurting the Whisper Harbinger in the process.
Aerith and Red XIII show up and the group experiences a vision from the Whisper Harbinger of an older Red XIII running with his cubs toward the overgrown ruins of Midgar. Barret asks Red XIII about what they just saw, Red XIII saying it was a glimpse of tomorrow if they fail to defeat the Whispers today. The Whisper Harbinger attacks the group, separating Cloud, Barret and Red XIII from Tifa and Aerith. Whisper Croceo and Whisper Viridi appear before Cloud's group while the defeated Whisper Rubrum appears before Tifa's group. Barret wants to know how they can stop the Whispers, with Red XIII commenting the Whisper Harbinger is looming just ahead. Cloud tells the group to focus on the two Whispers in front of them. The smaller Whispers' defeat hurts the Harbinger even more, who gives everyone another vision of a meteorite falling to the planet. Tifa objects to this being their future as the Whisper Rubrum attacks her. Cloud saves her, arriving with Barret and Red XIII to join Tifa and Aerith.
Aerith says the future is always a blank page as the trio of Whispers respawns. Cloud tells the group to split up and take them all down at the same time. Barret goes for the Whisper Harbinger and leaves with Red XIII. During the battle, the trio of Whispers transforms into a Whisper Bahamut, but Cloud's group splits them up again. They take the Whispers down one by one while Barret and Red XIII fire at the Whisper Harbinger. The group sees a vision every time a Whisper is defeated. When Cloud's group defeats the Whisper Croceo, they see Cloud fight Sephiroth. When they defeat the Whisper Rubrum, they see Aerith drop a glowing materia. When they defeat the Whisper Viridi, the group sees Cloud carry Aerith to a pond. Cloud, Tifa and Aerith take down the Whisper Harbinger, which explodes in blinding light.
The group finds itself in an area bathed in light. Cloud asks Aerith where are they, but she doesn't know. Cloud hears Sephiroth waiting for him as Aerith is confused by what she just saw. The area begins to turn orange and a meteorite hurtles towards them. Sephiroth appears and absorbs the meteorite to gain the power of darkness and throws a building at the group, separating them. Cloud cuts through the debris and sees Sephiroth descend. Cloud proclaims to finish this, and during their duel two out of the three party members (Barret, Tifa and Aerith) will help him fight Sephiroth. 
Although they triumph, thwarting Sephiroth's attempt to use Divine Proclamation Supernova upon them, he persists and sends out Whispers to attack the group. The last party member shows up with Red XIII to intervene. Sephiroth stands back up as Aerith tells the group they can change destiny and make it right. Sephiroth sends out more Whispers but the others stay to fight them telling Cloud to go after Sephiroth. Cloud walks past the floating debris while cutting down Whispers. He makes his way to Sephiroth who blocks his charge with the Masamune, and the Whispers explode in a bright light.
Cloud and Sephiroth are on a barren rock before the starry skies as Cloud experiences a headache. Sephiroth grabs Cloud's hand and tells him to be careful since the events that lie ahead do not exist yet. Cloud jumps back as Sephiroth says their world will become part of it one day, and that he and Cloud will not end. Cloud asks where they are, Sephiroth revealing they are in the Edge of Creation. Sephiroth asks Cloud to lend his strength and defy destiny together. Cloud refuses and continues to challenge Sephiroth, but is quickly disarmed, leaving him defenseless. Sephiroth stops his attack and tells Cloud he has seven seconds until the end, and wonders what he will do with it. As Cloud turns around Sephiroth has disappeared, leaving a black feather on the ground.
Meanwhile at the President's Office in the still intact Shinra Building back in the normal world, Rufus looks over the metropolis. Heidegger tries to get his attention by calling him the vice president. Rufus does not acknowledge him as Tseng corrects the title to "the president". Rufus says that is correct, enraging Heidegger. Rufus approaches the president's desk as Palmer, Reeve, Scarlet and Heidegger line up in front of him. Rufus sits down as Tseng stands behind him. At the 68th floor, the Shinra scientists and soldiers clean up the mess of the glowing purple liquid from the large broken tank as Professor Hojo laughs maniacally, realizing that Jenova is gone.
Meanwhile in the alternate daytime Midgar, Zack has defeated the Shinra soldiers and helicopters. He struggles to stand but excitedly asks if Cloud saw him defeat the army. An explosion happens at Midgar down below, and Zack falls. He sees the explosion engulf Midgar and turn to light, and the Whispers around Midgar disappear. Zack stands up, puts his Buster Sword on his back, and marvels at the beautiful glimmering scenery that was left after the explosion.
Back at the ruins of Sector 7 the survivors help rebuild the slums, cleaning up the broken Seventh Heaven sign as Marle watches. The air glimmers as she and the others watch the skies above. At the Leaf House in the Sector 5 slums, the children see the beautiful scene as a bandaged Biggs lies on a bed inside the orphanage, next to a desk with Jessie's gloves. He awakes, realizing that he survived the plate collapse.
At Aerith's house, Marlene is watering Aerith's flowers in the guest room when Elmyra asks her to come down. Marlene looks out the window and calls out to Barret. Barret, who is on the wasteland surrounding Midgar with Cloud, Tifa, Aerith and Red XIII, calls out to Marlene, looking back at the city they have left behind, promising to come back to her.
Tifa asks what the group should do now as Aerith shakes her head. Cloud holds the black feather, saying Sephiroth is out there as the feather disappears. Barret thought Cloud beat Sephiroth already, but he shakes his head. Aerith says the group can defeat Sephiroth, and Tifa and Red XIII step forward, willing to help. Barret wants join the mission as well, saying that since Sephiroth wants to destroy the planet, he is an enemy of Avalanche. Cloud agrees to let the group come along when it begins to rain.
Meanwhile in the other time, Zack helps a weak and struggling Cloud to Midgar. A vision of the pair passes the group, but they can't see it. Back in the current Midgar, the group heads out to the wider world to pursue Sephiroth, as Aerith stops to lament how she misses the steel sky.
The Unknown Journey Will Continue
==Quests==
*Flying Through the Night
*The Turning Point
Category:Chapters in Final Fantasy VII Remake
Category:Trophies in Final Fantasy VII Remake