Final Fantasy VII: The Battle for the Planet

_____The last three members of AVALANCHE stood in awe at the base of the massive Shinra Building. There were only two ways inside. The first would be the method Barret suggested - to break in through the main entrance and kill all who opposed them. The second approach - Tifa's idea - would be to take a more stealth-orientated route and climb the 140 flights of steps through the back entrance. It was up to Cloud to decide. He didn't like Barret's tactics as we would prefer to rescue Aeris without causing too much of a commotion. Then again, climbing all those stairs would tire them out. They would be exhausted if they needed to fight...

_____"F... finally..." Barret panted. "N... never wanna see... no more stairs the rest of my life."
_____"This really takes it out of you..." Tifa agreed, wiping sweat from her forehead. She removed her boots and rubbed her sore feet. Cloud looked at his surroundings. They were on the 60th floor - the employee lounge. There was a lush display of foliage in the middle of the room and a number of people in smart suits and dresses were sitting on stainless steel benches, sipping hot cups of coffee and reading sheets of notes. These people were spoiled, and they didn't deserve it.
_____"Who the hell are you?" asked a stern voice. Cloud spun round to find a smart-looking man in a grey suit. He pointed at Cloud. "What are you doin' around here?"
_____Cloud froze. They had been caught, and so early on into the mission.
_____"Where's Aeris?!" he growled, loud enough so that the man knew that he was serious but nobody else heard except Barret and Tifa.
_____"Aeris?" the man looked surprised. "How'd you know that name?! Oh, I know. The receptionist right?"
_____Cloud let out a sigh of relief.
_____"Say, you must be from the Repair Division, right?" the man asked. "I overheard Aeris calling you guys. Here, you'll be needing a keycard if you want to access the other floors of the building. Do something about that broken ventilation system on the 66th floor. People say they can hear voices when they're in the bathroom."
_____The man pushed a plastic card into Cloud's hand and walked off.
_____"That was too damn close." Barret said.
_____"Those keycards operate the elevators." Tifa said.
_____"Yeah..." Cloud nodded. "It all seemed a bit too easy."
_____They made their way over to the lift and stepped inside. The polished doors slid shut behind them and Cloud inserted the card into a slot in the wall. The buttons on the wall lit up, displaying the numbers zero to nine. He pressed the '6' button twice, and the number sixty-six appeared on the screen. The lift shook, then hummed gently as it began to move up. The walls were glass and from the lift, they could see most of Midgar. Columns of smoke still drifted skywards from the ruins of Sector 7.
_____"Speakin' of bathrooms..." Barret said. "I really gotta go..."
_____There was a faint 'Bing!' as the lift arrived at the 66th floor. The doors parted and the big man poked his head around the corner. The coast was clear and he followed the signs for the men's room, his legs wide apart and his hand holding his crotch. Cloud and Tifa stepped out into the empty corridor. Expensive lights lit the passage, and opposite was a large door with the words 'Conference Room' on it.
_____"Hey!" cried Barret's voice from the bathroom. Cloud looked at Tifa and she looked back at him. They followed his voice and went into the bathroom. Barret had just finished buckling up his chunky belt when he turned to them.
_____"There's voices comin' out of the vent!" he cried. Cloud gave him a funny look and went over and stood on the toilet seat. He opened up the vent cover and hauled himself up.
_____"Come on." he ordered. The others followed him and they crawled down the ducts. Eventually they reached another cover. As they peered through, they could see down into the conference room. In the middle of the room was a long table. Sitting at the table were Reeve and Heideggar and also some new faces. The first was Palmer. He was head of Galactic Development. He was larger than Heideggar around the waist, but was also one of the shortest people in the entire company. He wore a pale brown suit and his hair had begun to disappear. Also in the room was Scarlet. She was head of Weapons Development and had long blonde hair which was tied up into a loose bunch. She wore heavy eye shadow and a flowing red dress with a long slit down the side, exposing her legs. At the head of the table was President Shinra.
_____"Geez, that's a lotta suits!" Barret whispered, and they all turned to watch the meeting. Reeve glanced at a note pad on the table in front of him and turned to President Shinra.
_____"We have the damage estimates for Sector 7." he reported. "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 billion gil. The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is..."
_____"We're not rebuilding." the President said bluntly, not giving Reeve a chance to finish. He could tell what the executives were all thinking from the looks on their faces. Their jaws hung wide open and he knew that they thought he was crazy. They thought that the power had got to his head. "We're leaving Sector 7 as it is and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan."
_____"...then the Ancients?" Reeve asked.
_____"The Promised Land will soon be ours." Shinra smiled, pressing his fingertips together lightly. "I want you to raise the Mako rates 15% in every area."
_____"Rate hike! Rate hike!" Palmer cried gleefully, bouncing in his chair in joy. "Tra la la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!"
_____"Reeve and Scarlet," Shinra said, waving his hand towards the two people. "Will divide the extra income from the rate increase."
_____"Oh man!" Palmer huffed, sinking back down into his seat, his belly bulging over the top of his belt.
_____"Sir," Reeve seized Shinra's attention. "If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence..."
_____"It'll be all right." Shinra corrected him. "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra Inc. even more."
_____"Ha ha ha!" Heideggar roared. "After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!"
_____"That dirty #$*$^" Barret hissed, almost losing his cool and unloading bullets into every one of those people in the conference room, but he froze when a man in a lab coat wandered into the room. His back was hunched slightly and he wore small glasses on the end of his nose. His black hair was tied back into a ponytail with two thin strands hanging down over his rather large forehead.
_____"Hojo." the President said, raising his voice slightly so that the scientist could hear him from the other end of the conference room. "How's the girl?"
_____"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother." Hojo replied, placing his hands in his pockets. "I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18%."
_____"How long will the research take?" Shinra asked.
_____"Probably 120 years." Hojo explained. "It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter. That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that would withstand our research for a long time."
_____"What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?" the President asked, concerned.
_____"That's what I need to plan." the scientist replied. Shinra nodded and stood up from his seat.
_____"That concludes our meeting." he said. The executives got to their feet and made their way out of the room. It soon emptied, all except for Scarlet. She stayed by the table and slowly looked up at the vent cover. Cloud's heart seemed to freeze and he held his breath.
_____"Something stinks..." the woman complained, then left the room. Cloud's lungs let out a burst of air and he turned to Barret and Tifa.
_____"They were talking about Aeris, right?" he asked.
_____"I dunno, probably." Barret replied.
_____"Let's follow 'em." Cloud suggested. They slid back down the ventilation shaft and dropped back down into the bathroom. They all walked out and caught a glimpse of Hojo disappear around the corner. They chased after him silently, down the polished floors of the Shinra Building. The man made his way up the stairs to the 67th floor and they kept in the quiet shadows, observing his actions. He stopped in front of a cylindrical glass container which glowed with fascinating light. The 'cage' was surrounded by wooden crates and there was a dome-shaped pod with a door on the side and a small square window in the door. Inside the glass cage was a beast similar to a lion, although it was difficult to see in the bright light. Its fur was a fire-like orange, and it lay submissively at the back of its prison, showing no signs of hatred or anger.
_____Cloud, Tifa and Barret ducked behind a large crate as the man in the suit from before walked past.
_____"That Hojo guy," Cloud whispered. "He's in charge of the Shinra's Science Department. This is the first time I've actually seen him..."
_____"Is this today's specimen?" the man in the suit asked.
_____"Yes, we're starting right away." Hojo replied. "Raise it to the upper level."
_____The man in the suit walked over to a lift and it took him up to the next floor. Hojo, thinking he was alone, stepped closer and placed one hand on the glass.
_____"My precious specimen..." he whispered softly to himself. He lowered his hand and followed the other man upstairs. Tifa ran over to the cage and peered inside.
_____"Precious specimen?" she asked. "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

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_____Cloud slowly made his way to the steel dome. Bright purple light was shining out of the tiny window.
_____"Jenova..." he murmured, gazing through the window. Inside was a grotesque figure. It appeared to be a naked female, although its skin was extremely pale and had hideous pink patches across it. Large tattered wing-like features were folded up behind it, but the most shocking thing was that its head was missing. The wound was brutal and ragged, as if the creature had put up quite a fight whilst being decapitated.

_____Cloud fell to the ground, clutching the sides of his head and twitching erratically. Tifa and Barret ran over, almost as if in slow motion, and helped him back up. The whine faded suddenly and Cloud gritted his teeth.
_____"Jenova..." he snarled. "Sephiroth's... So they've brought it here..."
_____"Cloud, be strong!" Tifa pleaded.
_____"Did you see it?" Cloud asked. "It's moving... still alive?"
_____Barret moved over to the window and peered inside. He quickly fell back in shock.
_____"Where's its $#&*&@ head?" he cried. "This whole thing's stupid. Let's keep goin'."
_____Cloud nodded, and they walked over to the lift.

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_____Directly above the glass cage, on the 68th floor, was another cage just like it. This floor was a more advanced laboratory. Cloud supposed that the 67th floor was used for storing the specimens and this was where they were experimented on. Next to the cage was Hojo, and inside was Aeris.
_____"Aeris!" Cloud cried, the realised the stupidity of his actions. Hojo didn't even move.
_____"Oh, is that her name?" he said. "What do you want?"
_____"We're taking Aeris back." Cloud said. He and Barret stepped forward and readied their weapons.
_____"Are you going to kill me?" Hojo chuckled. "I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it? Hmm?"
_____"Ugh." grimaced Cloud.
_____"That's right." Hojo sneered. "Think things out logically before you make any rash moves. Bring in the Specimen!"
_____With a hiss, a hole opened in the middle of the bottom of the cage and a platform raised up. The lion-beast from below was let into the cage with Aeris, twitching its tale and snarling menacingly. Cloud, Barret and Tifa ran over to the glass and Aeris stepped away from the animal.
_____"Cloud, help!" she cried, although her speech was faint through the cage walls.
_____"What do you think you're doing?" Cloud cried, turning to Hojo.
_____"Lending a helping hand to an endangered species." the scientist smiled. "Both of them are on the brink of extinction. If I don't help, all these animals will disappear."
_____"Animal?" Tifa cried. "That's terrible! Aeris is a human being!!"
_____"Awright, step back!" Barret ordered, aiming his gun-arm at the tank.
_____"Stop!" Hojo yelled, but the man had already fired. The light inside the cage began to glow brighter and brighter, until Aeris and the beast were no longer visible.
_____"Wh, what are you do...!" Hojo shouted and ran up to the cage. With a hiss, the door slid open and the man went flying back, the lion-beast dragging him by the collar in its jaws. Hojo collapsed on the floor and the beast was on top of him, trying to bite him, but the scientist kept pushing it away. Aeris ran out of the cage and stood by the others.
_____"The elevator is moving..." Cloud said, hearing its mechanical buzz.
_____"This is no ordinary specimen." said a voice. At first, they thought it was Hojo, until they saw the lion-beast facing them. "It's very ferocious. I'll help you all out."
_____"It talked!?" Tifa cried.
_____"I'll talk as much as you want later, miss." the lion-beast said.
_____"Someone take Aeris somewhere safe." Cloud ordered. Barret took the girl by the hand and ran into hiding somewhere. Cloud turned to the lion-beast.
_____"What's your name?" he asked.
_____"Hojo has named me Red XIII." he replied, gazing into Cloud's glowing eyes. "A name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish."
_____"We'll call you Red." Cloud said. He didn't know what the number thirteen had to do with anything, but he had noticed that it was tattooed on to the animal's front left leg. He slowly examined Red. His mane was quite long and there was even an earring in his left ear, suggesting that this creature was a lot more advanced than they had thought. Over his right eye was a scar which ran from above his eye to his cheek. That is, if animals like that have cheeks. In the corner of his eye, Cloud saw that Red's tail was alight. However, when he looked at it he saw that it was just glowing somehow. This was a mysterious beast, and he wanted to learn more, but now was not the time nor the place.

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_____With a roar, a horribly mutated monster emerged from the cage. It myriad limbs were twisted and hooked, and its huge jaws dripped saliva wherever it went.
_____Without warning, Red bared his teeth and jumped forward. He clamped his jaws around the monster's bulk and hopped back, tearing out a large chunk of flesh. The monster recoiled and blood sprayed in all directions. Red spat the flesh out of his mouth and roared. The monster let out a deafening scream and a dozen beetles - no bigger than a foot long - scurried from beneath its tendrils. They screeched as they scattered, each one heading for a different person. Cloud lifted his sword and his 'Fire' materia kicked into life. The beetles began to squeak uncontrollably as they started to glow brightly. In seconds they were alight, burning down to crispy, black carcasses.
_____Tifa focused her attention towards the larger specimen, and bounded through the air effortlessly towards it. Her fist smashed into its face, breaking most of its sharp teeth into pieces. Before she even began to fall, her leg spun around and her heel caught the side of its head. Blood flowed from its mouth and the monster's body went limp. But the creature wasn't dead yet. Cloud lifted his sword by the hilt and darted towards it as Tifa hopped back to Red's side. The sword moved as if in a blur as Cloud hacked and slashed the beast to pieces, finishing off with his infamous 'Cross-Slash' attack. He moved the blade in an 'X' shape, each movement slicing the monster up more and more, until finally, the beast died.

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_____Barret and Aeris hurried back. The lab monster was dead but they weren't safe yet. They still had to get out of the Shinra Building.
_____"What are you?" Barret asked Red, more intrigued that horrified.
_____"Difficult to answer..." Red replied. "I am what you see. You must have many questions, but first, let's get out of here." Then he turned to Aeris and looked her in the eyes. "I apologize for what happened back there. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard..."
_____"Let's break up into two groups." Cloud said. He decided to split them into groups of gender, so he, Barret and Red XIII headed for the main building elevator. Stepping inside, Cloud slotted his keycard into the hole and was about to press the button for the ground floor when a man stepped into the lift. He was dressed in the famous dark blue suit of the Turks. He was completely bald and wore shades which concealed his eyes. This man's name was Rude.
_____"Would you press 'Up' please?" he asked, pointing upwards. Forcing them to the back of the elevator and trapping them in, Tseng also walked inside.
_____"Turks?" Cloud said. "Must be a trap..."
_____"It must have been a real thrill for you." Tseng said calmly. "Did you enjoy it?"

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_____Cloud and the others were handcuffed and lead into President Shinra's office in a line. Rude and Tseng stood at either end of the line and Shinra stood behind his large desk. Then Cloud noticed that they were all there except for Aeris.
_____"Where is Aeris?" he cried.
_____"In a safe place." the President replied, moving round to the front of his desk. "She's the last surviving Ancient. Don't you know? They called themselves the Cetra and lived thousands of years ago."
_____"That girl is a Cetra?" Red said to himself, quite shocked.
_____"Cetra will lead us to the Promised Land." Shinra explained. "I'm expecting a lot out of her."
_____"The Promised Land? Isn't that just a legend?" Red asked.
_____"Even so, it's just too appealing not to pursue." the man said. "It's been said the Promised Land is very fertile. If the land is fertile..."
_____He pointed at Barret, requesting an answer.
_____"Then there's gotta be lots of Mako!" Barret replied.
_____"Exactly." said the President, clapping his hands together loudly. "That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory..."
_____"@$#^%! Quit dreamin'!" Barret cried, tugging at his handcuffs.
_____"Oh really? Don't you know?" Shinra chuckled. "These days all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and science. Well, that is all for our meeting."
_____Rude and Tseng moved forward and lead the four people back downstairs. Barret tried to resist, but was hit over the head by Rude's fist and gave in.

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_____Cloud awoke in a very small cell. There was one bed, a door and four walls. Although clean, it was not pleasant to be locked in such a small room. Luckily, Tifa was with him and was lying on the bed. She was on her back with her arms folded behind her head. Her feet were slowly kicking together, falling back, then kicking again and again.
_____"I wonder how Aeris is doing..." Cloud said softly. The walls must have been quite thin, as, to his surprise, Aeris responded to his words.
_____"Cloud, are you there?" she called.
_____"Aeris, you safe?" he asked.
_____"Yeah," she replied. "I knew my bodyguard would come for me. The deal was for one date right?"
_____"...Oh, I get it." Tifa said, swinging round and putting her feet on the floor.
_____"Tifa?!" Aeris cried. "You're there too?!"
_____"EXCUSE me." Tifa said as she stood up. "Hey, Aeris, I have a question. Does the Promised Land really exist?"
_____"I don't know..." replied Aeris' voice. "All I know is... The Cetra were born from the Planet, speak with the Planet, and unlock the Planet. And... then... the Cetra will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness."
_____"What does that mean?" Tifa asked, sitting back down.
_____"More than words... I don't know..." Aeris replied.
_____"Speak with the Planet?" Cloud asked. "What does it say?"
_____"It's full of people and noisy." Aeris said. "That's why I can't make out what they're saying. I only heard it at the church in the slums. Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That is... my real mother.
_____"Someday I'll get out of Midgar. Speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. That's was mom said. I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but..."
_____There was an uncomfortable silence from the next room. Cloud sat down against the wall.
_____"Let's just get some sleep." he said.