From Below, there was the company suits. There was: the President, Scarlet, a busty old woman wearing a revealing dress who was in charge of weapons department. Reeve was the blue suit who worked in city design, Heideggar who was in charge of peace preservation, and the fat oaf Palmer who was in charge of the space program.  Barret, Tifa, Cloud and Vex looked down on them through an air duct in the ceiling.

Barret: "Damn, that's a lotta suits!"

Vex: "What're we gonna do now? Beat them up? Come on, I'm bored here."

Cloud: (Shushed them both.)

Reeve: (In the conference room) "The cost of the plate destruction was over 10 billion gil. The cost to rebuild it is..."

President: "We're not rebuilding."

Reeve: "What?"

President: "We're leaving Sector 7 as it is...and restarting the Neo Midgar plan...Heideggar and Scarlet, want you two to have the reactors raise the mako rates 15% in each area."

Palmer: (Gets excited and jumps up and down.) "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra la la! Please include the space program when you get the extra money!"

President: "I'm having Heideggar and Scarlet divide the amounts received."

Palmer: (Nearly collapses at that and loses his energy.) "Oh man..."

Reeve: "If you raise the mako rates in each sector, the people will lose confidence..."

President: "It'll be all right. The ignorant people won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra even more!"

Heideggar: "After all, we're the ones who saved the people from AVALANCHE! Gya HA HAH!!"

Barret: (Back in the air duct.) "Fu#$@$ Bastard."

Vex: "Is it just me? Or does that fat bearded guy laugh like a horse? He's got a HEE HAW sound to it!"

Tifa: "That's a donkey that makes those noises."

Vex: "I know. That fat bearded guy looks like a donkey..."

    Back down in the conference room, they were still gloating about the plate incident. Barret was getting mad but the others shushed him. Finally, Hojo walked in. Hojo was a case to study, he had a crick in his spine and hunched over. He wore a lab coat that looked kind of ragged and had Black hair and lips. He definitely looked like a crazy old scientist.

President: "Hojo, you've finally made it. What's your report on the ancient that we finally captured?"

Hojo: "..." (Grips his chin with his hand and ponders.) "Well...as a specimen, she's inferior to her mother. I've calculated the difference at 18%"

President: "Well...how long will the process take?"

Hojo: (Looks at his feet and looks up and ponders.) "120 Years...probably not within our lifetime or within the lifetime of the specimen for that matter." (Faces the conference table.) "That's why we're thinking about breeding her, we need a specimen that's strong enough to survive the procedure."

President: "That concludes our meeting." (All of the Shinra executives get up and leave except for Scarlet.)

Scarlet: (Turns and looks at the air duct. It scares Vex and he moved out of the way.) "...Something stinks..." (Leaves the conference room.)

Vex: (looks at Cloud and Tifa, kind of scared.) "Whoa! She's a creepy one, that's for sure! Her boobs are huge too, she probably filled her bra cups with paper!"

Cloud: "Why would you say something like that?"

Vex: "Oh...I just telling everyone what you were thinking!" (Smiles and leaves the group, back for the bathroom.)

Cloud: (Barret leaves and Tifa gives Cloud an odd look and leaves. Cloud blinked.) "How did he know that?"

    They all jumped back down to the toilet in the bathroom and came out of the stall. Someone was in there, washing his hands and turned around. Vex glared and punched the guy out and turned and smiled to them and they stared back at him. They ran all the way back to the stairs and went up them. They saw Hojo go through the door with his Key card and left the door open. Cloud and everyone crept through when the door was still open. They followed the kooky scientist to the lower level of his lab.

Hojo: (Walks up to his assistant.) "We're starting the experiment. Follow me to the upper level." (The assistant followed him to the upper level of the lab through the elevator.)

Tifa: (Walks up to the strange looking animal in the specimen cage and mimics Hojo's haggard figure and raspy voice.) "Precious specimen...?"

Vex: (Runs up to to the cage) "Cool! A big kitty!"

Tifa: "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

Cloud: (Walks up to a strange cage) "Jenova..." (Looks inside and finds a humanoid, naked woman with cables sticking out of her and she didn't have a head. Cloud suddenly felt a ringing in his ears and fell to his knees. He tried to get up but collapsed onto the floor.)

Vex: "Hey! What on earth are you doing?" (Runs to the downed Cloud.)

Barret: "What's wrong?" (Runs to Cloud)

Tifa: "Hey! Are you all right?" (Runs to Cloud)

Cloud: (Gets up) "...Sephiroth's...so they brought it here...?"

Vex: "What do you mean?"

Cloud: "Look through the window...It was breathing...still alive?"

Vex: (Looks through the window and gasped) "What...WHAT is it!?" (Suddenly the area flashed brightly for Vex) "Wait! It's Jenova...but how did I know that? And where is it's head? Hey guys, take a look in this weird holding tank!"

Barret: (Looks into the window and turns to the others) "Where's it's Fu#$%*@ head? This whole thing's stupid. Let's go, everyone."

Cloud: "Hmmm..."

Vex: "HEY! I'll bet that Aeris is on the floor above us!" (Points to the elevator and runs over to it.) "Yeah, it goes up there and look what I found! Catch!" (Throws a piece of materia to Tifa and she caught it.)

Tifa: "Looks like Materia! Ah! Poison Materia!" (Runs to Vex and everyone soon follows her.)

    They all get onto the elevator and they go up to the next floor, floor 67. There, they got off the elevator in a large science lab. The lab had all sorts of samples and control operations for robotic experimenting for biohazardous and on the main platform was Aeris inside a glowing blue tank and looking at the tank was Hojo.

Vex: "It's Aeris!" (Runs to the tank and knocks on the glass wall.) "Aeris! We're here to save you!"

Hojo: "Excuse me, child?"

Vex: (Becomes threatening) "I'm VEX! If you don't let Aeris go, I'm gonna stomp ya!" (Glares at him)

Hojo: (Takes a good long look at him) "... ... Oh I see, Ha Ha Ha...So You're the child the Shinra have been talking about. Hmm, hmm... Some Shinra soldiers have lost their lives to you haven't they? There's also been reports that you've incinerated some of our foot soldiers."

Vex: "Yeah, so what? You're no different from them." (Cloud also was about to draw his sword.)

Hojo: "You have no guilt? That's very odd for a child of your tender age...you remind me of Sephiroth. Sephiroth had unlimited strength...just like you." (Turns to Cloud) "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should...without me, who would run the machinery?"

Cloud: "Ugh..." (Leaves his sword)

Hojo: "Right...you should think things over before you make any rash moves." (Turns to Vex) "...There was a Shinra soldier that reported you stole his clothing and he saw you emerge from the Mako...I want to examine you, normal humans can't survive the mako you've endured and then there's you. You seem almost...superhuman."

Vex: (Shrugs) "I am what I am. But YOU won't have me!"

Hojo: (Pushes a button and Aeris moves to the side of the tank. The animal from the lower floor was raised up and placed in the same cage the animal appeared aggressive and threatening as it snarled and growled at Aeris.)

Aeris: (Gets further away from it.) "Cloud, help!"

Cloud: "What are you doing?!"

Hojo: "Lending a helping hand to two species on the verge of extinction. These animals won't last without human hands..."

Tifa: "Aeris...an Animal? That's terrible! Barret, can you do anything?"

Barret: (Stepped back and armed his gun arm.) "Alright! Step back!" (Starts shooting and the tank begins to glow so brightly that Aeris and the red creature could not be seen.)

Hojo: "WHAT are you doing?! My precious specimens..." (Moves closer as the door opens and the Red creature leaps out and tackles Hojo.)

Cloud: (Runs in and gets Aeris) "You okay?"

Aeris: "Thank you for coming to rescue me...what's happening?" (Aeris and Cloud get out of the tank and the Creature alerts them. The creature sort of resembled a large cat like wolf with a a small headpiece and a Tattoo RED XIII on his foreleg.)

Red 13: (Stops tackling Hojo and turns to them.) "He's quite strong, I'll lend you a hand."

Hojo: "This isn't an ordinary specimen, this is a ferocious specimen!"

Cloud: "Tifa! I'm counting on you! Take Aeris to safety!"

Tifa: "Okay! Let's go!" (Aeris leaves the area with Tifa.)

Vex: "Whoa! Here it comes!"

Hojo: "They must have released it. Meet Sample: HO512 and its optics. Let's see if you people can take him on." (Leaves the area.)

    The monster was a real experiment, it had huge fangs and long claws and machine like legs. With it were it's OPTS which looked like little bugs with a cyclops glass eye. The monster roared and everyone including Red 13 faced off against it. Vex leapt up and came down on the monster, knocking it to the ground. It swacked Vex off of it's body and it's little bug henchmen started to attack using Ice and Fire magic. Cloud and Barret got hit with the ice and they fell to the ground. The third attacked Red 13 with a fire spell and he felt the burn. Vex looked back at the creatures with contempt.
    He leapt back and fell into meditation. "Majikkuhando...okibi ...SEISHOU!!!" Several red rings of energy appear around him and fly up to his hands which were raised. The ball of energy formed and got bigger until it flashed with red and yellow. Then Vex shot the energy at the soldiers engulfing them in a fiery explosion. The blast destroyed all of the bug monsters and slammed the Sample HO512 against the cage. It roared in pain and anger. The monster took in a deep breath and blasted a green mist which everyone choked and coughed. They all felt sick and poisoned. Cloud took the opportunity and slashed at the monster with his sword, causing lots of slashes and cuts. Barret shot at it and Red howled and glowed a green glow and suddenly the HO512 burst into flame. The monster was getting more and more wounded. Cloud took out the restore and the all materia and recovered all of everyone's wounds and Barret took one last cruel blow and shot the monster in the head. It fell lifeless to the ground and disintegrated into a yellow materia. Tifa and Aeris returned to the scene and they smiled to one another.

Cloud: "Are you all right, Aeris?"

Aeris: "Yes, I am now thanks to you." (Smiles to him.)

Red13: (Sat down.) "She seems all right...in many ways."

Barret: "What are you?"

Red 13: "...An informed question, but difficult to answer. I am what you see. (Turns to Aeris) "I'm sorry for what happened back there, I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard. Hojo gave me the name Red 13, a name meaning nothing whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish."

Vex: (Jumps up and almost sings it) "SUPER KITTY!!!"

Red 13: (Gives him a strange look) "Anything...but that..."

Tifa: "Look everyone, if we move in a group this huge, we'll be spotted. Let's go to the 66th floor elevator. Me, Aeris and Barret will be one group and Cloud, Red 13 and Vex will be in another..."

    Cloud's group and Tifa's group went their separate ways to the elevator. Cloud, Vex and Red 13 went down the stairs and walked to the 66th floor elevator. Cloud inserted his key card in and with a ding, the elevator door opened. Everyone got into it and when Cloud went to push the button, an older man with a suit and a shaved head walked on. It was Rude of the Turks.

Rude: "...Could you press up please?"

Cloud: "Turks!"

Vex: "It's a trap!"

Tseng: (Walked into the elevator with them.) "Well, this must have been fun for you. What do you have to say?"

Vex: "Question. Are you a girl? I'm just curious because you've got a ponytail and you move in that feminine sort of way."

Tseng: "Shut up!"

Vex: (Makes a claw swiping look with his hands and makes a bitchy cat noise) "Man, you've got PMS!"

Tseng: ".... ...." (Curses under his breath.)

    They reached the president's floor and all but Red 13 were cuffed. They were lead to the president's office in handcuffs. They were escorted by Rude and Tseng to the president and he smiled smugly.

Cloud: "Where's Aeris?!"

President: "...In a safe place. Hmm...you might as well know, she is an ancient." (Gets up and starts his speech while walking around.) "The Ancients...or the Cetra, have ruled the planet before us humans and now they're just a forgotten page of history."

Red 13: "Cetra...the girl is a survivor of the Cetra?"

Vex: "Cetra...(Suddenly everything flashed and he looked up, as though he had been jolted.) "The Cetra!! They ruled the planet and were a migrating race! They were searching for the promised land, a land with happiness and everlasting life. It's full of fertility!"

President: "Exactly, and if the world is fertile..."

Barret: "Then there's got to be Mako!"

President: "Wow, you're an educated bunch. Anyway...that is where Neo Midgar will be built. If that girl is an ancient, then she'll know where it is. I'm expecting a lot out of her."

Barret: "Fu$%#&!! Quit dreamin'!!"

President: "Oh really...well these days all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power. We'll absorb the energy and make a gigantic profit from it...that'll be all for our meeting. Rude, Tseng! You may take them to their holding cells."

     Rude and Tseng took them all away but Barret came back, cursing and shouting. Rude took him from the front and drags him away. The president wiped some spit that Barret made from his suit and commented. "If there's anything else, talk to my secretary." They were dragged to some high tech jail cells. Cloud and Tifa were in one, Barret and Red 13 were in another and Aeris and Vex were in the final cell.

Cloud: "..."

Tifa: "Do you think we can escape?"

Cloud: "Leave it to me!"

Tifa: "You're so brave!"

Cloud: (Walked to the door and pondered) "I wonder how Aeris is doing?"

Aeris: (Was lying on the bed, talking to the wall Cloud was behind.) "Cloud?"

Cloud: "Aeris!"

Aeris: "Thank you for coming to rescue me."

Cloud: "Hey! I am your body guard right?"

Aeris: "Right! I almost forgot...The deal was for one date right?"

Tifa: (Almost INNATELY reacts to it by getting up from the bed.) "...Oh I see.."

Aeris: "Oh! Tifa, you're there!"

Tifa: "EXCUSE me."

Cloud: "Can you really communicate with the planet?"

Aeris: "Yes...but it's full of people and noisy...I could only hear them when I was in the Church. My Mother told me that Midgar was no longer safe...that is, my real mother....As far as the promised land existing, I don't know if it exists. You search and search until you feel you've found it...All I know is that when I leave Midgar, I'll search for it and find my promised land."

Cloud: "...I wonder how Barret is doing?"

Barret: (Sitting on the floor thinking things over, talking to Red 13) "You think the promised land exists? If it does, the Shinra finding it is gonna be horrible. They'll suck out the energy and the planet'll get weaker." (Stands up, raising his voice.) "Urrgh! I'm recruitin' NEW MEMBERS! Cloud...Tifa... and Vex and that girl too." (Turns to Red 13.) "...What about you?" (Red 13 lies down and sighs on the floor.) "...You're so damn boring."

Cloud: "...I wonder how Red 13's doing?"

Red 13: (Lying on the ground, almost asleep.) "...Grandpa..."

Barret: "Grandpa? ...Mmm, ha ha ha..."

Red 13: (Waking up.) "Hmm?"

Barret: "Nothing...ha ha ha..."

Cloud: "...I wonder how Vex's doing?"

Vex: (Flushes the toilet.) "This suite is so luxurious!"

Aeris: (Looks at him.) "Huh?"

Vex: (Flushes the toilet again.) "Look at this toilet! It's just inches away from your bed! If there was a mini bar full of macadamia nuts and tiny bottles of liquor, you'd never have to leave! Party in CELL 1 24/7!!"

Aeris: "...That's what I like about you. You can take any situation and find some light."

Vex: (Smiles broadly) "...and we'll listen, sing and dance to "The Jail house rock!" (Flushes the toilet again and again and again and again.)

    Meanwhile, on floor 64 and in the female locker rooms, mist was floating carelessly about the showers as Elena was refreshing herself after 45 minutes of high impact aerobics. She sighed as she washed her body delicately.

Elena: "Ahh...there's nothing like a shower after a big workout..." (Suddenly, the water turned ice cold and she yelped.) "Agh! Cold! It's COLD!!" (Suddenly the water turned incredibly hot.) "Bwaw!! HOTT!! HOTTT!!" (Suddenly the water became ice cold again. "Augh!! COLD!! (Became pissed off.) "GOD!! WHO IN THE HELL IS SCREWING WITH THE TOILETS!! AGH!! COLD! HOT! COLD!! HOT!! DAMN THOSE ASSES WHO INSTALLED ONLY ONE WATER LINE FOR THE BUILDING!!! AAGH! HOT! COLD!!"

Vex: (Stopped flushing the toilet and called to Cloud) "Listen Cloud...about that stunt with the cover materia? I, I apologize...sorry..." (Yells louder) "THERE! I apologized! Now you can't hold a black, evil, until death grudge against me forever right?! We're cool, right?!"

Cloud: "...Right" (Smiles) "...What are you doing here in the world?"

Vex: (Gets a little somber and sad) "I don't know...that creepy Hojo guy said I was born from the mako. I..I don't have anyone...no parents, no siblings...no cool pets...But now that I've met you guys, I've got something to hold onto!"

Red 13: "...I'm guessing the 'Cool pet' is me, huh? Well...that's okay, just so long as he doesn't attempt to give me a bath."

Vex: (Perks up) "That idea of saving the planet from these Shinra guys is pretty cool! I'm IN! I'LL SHOW THOSE CREEPS WHO'S BOSS!! You can count on me!"

Cloud: "Let's get some sleep..." (Cloud lies up against the bed and they all drift off into sleep.)
 

That's the end of Chapter 7. It's a little short but I guess it could balance out the longer chapter 6 huh? Come on and review! I want to hear what you think of it so far!