Cloud had used the megalixir he was given, but it hadn't stopped the corruption in his arm. It wasn't a question of vitality, nothing that the mixture could fix, and far beyond the capabilities of a Remedy or anything of the like as well. Whatever was going on here, he could only hope that solving this would fix it, but doubt was beginning to creep in. Even so, he gently declined the offer of Zack's potion, at least for the moment.

When he glanced back at Kaji and MarKus on the other hand, there was a pained expression on his face. 'Is this the girl you know?' No, she wasn't. She was older. She looked like she had been through more. This wasn't the Tifa he knew, but he knew her well enough to know that it WAS still her. "I...She's..." He closed his eyes and looked away and his hand settled on the grip of his gunblade.

But he wasn't about to betray them. He wasn't sure what was going on, or what was even the right path, but all of this just felt wrong. He didn't want to draw on her, but attacking the others wasn't an option either. He glanced at Zack and met his best friend's eyes. He would try to talk her down, but if it came to a fight...if it came down to a killing blow...he wasn't going to be able to do it...

"Tifa." He stood straight as he could muster, pushing back the pain, "Please don't do this. Stand aside. I don't want to fight you."