(continuing from the last chapter)

The party may have deactivated the initial countdown of the dropping of the plate, but unbeknownst to them, Shinra always had a contingency plan.

As the party continued to escape, they heard a voice over the speakers.

P.A. Announcer: 15 seconds till destruction. Please evacuate the area immediately 

Barret: what the hell?!

Y/N: keep running!

Cloud: zipline over there!

The four party members rode the zipline just as the Sector 7 pillar exploded, causing the support systems to fail and the plate to collapse and fall, but luckily all of the slum residents had evacuated to Sector 6. Meanwhile in the main building, President Shinra watched the destruction and explosion with a smirk on his face.

(Several minutes later)

Several pieces of the plate and pillar scattered all over the area, and the party members were separated. Y/N sat up and looked around the destruction and mess, but he gasp as he stood up.

Y/N: Tifa? Tifa!

He walked around until he found his lover laying on the ground. He kneeled next to her and cradled her head while holding her hand until she regained consciousness.

Tifa: mmhh... Y/N?

Y/N: are you hurt?

Tifa: I'm okay, thanks

Y/N: we got to find Cloud and Barret

Tifa: yeah, let's go

The couple held each other's hands as they carefully navigated through the narrow passages of the concrete rubble. Then they heard multiple gunshots from the other side of a large piece of concrete.

Y/N: stand aside, Tifa

The couple stood aside as the rubble was destroyed and on the other side was Barret and Cloud.

Tifa: thank goodness you two are alright

Barret: those bastards had crossed the line- wait Marlene!

Cloud: I have a feeling I know where she is

Barret: take me to her!

Y/N: chill Barret! Come on!

Cloud led the party through the junkyard of Sector 6 until they reached the undercity. They continued running through until they found a secluded house surrounded by beautiful flowers.

Cloud: this is Aerith's house, Marlene should be here

Tifa: I remembered telling Aerith to go check Marlene during the attack

Barret: come on!

Cloud: chill!

The party went inside the house and saw Aerith's mom, Elmyra.

Cloud: Elmyra, where is she?

Elmyra: Marlene is upstairs, fast asleep

Barret went upstairs to the bedroom to see his 4 year old daughter fast asleep and resting.

Barret: brave, just like her daddy

(Meanwhile)

Y/N: and Aerith, where is she?

Elmyra sighed and sat down.

Elmyra: they took her

Tifa: who?

Elmyra: Shinra, but it was mainly their head of Research & Development

Y/N: Hojo...

Elmyra: I already knew this will happen

Cloud: Elmyra, let us go rescue her

Elmyra: I miss my baby girl so much; please bring her home

Y/N: you got our word

Barret tucked Marlene in and joined the others downstairs to commence with the most dangerous objective... infiltrate the Shinra building and rescue Aerith.

What they learned from Elmyra, Aerith is the last of her kind called The Ancients. The Ancients were people that had the special spiritual interaction with the Lifestream, the main source of the Planet's energy source, Mako.

Shinra assumed that an Ancient like Aerith has the power to take them to the Promised Land and build an upgraded Midgar codenamed: Neo Midgar.

The party secretly gained entry into the main entrance by hitching a ride on a Shinra truck while also fighting some guards along the way. Getting in the building was no easy task as they needed a keycard to gained entry.

However, there were two ways to get up to the higher floors: by stairs or by elevator.

Barret: let's take the elevator!

Y/N: and risk getting caught, no thanks I want save my ammo for the executive officers.

Cloud: let's take the stairs, less likely to get caught

The party chose the stairs, and Barret saw how high they have to climb.

Barret: you have got to be shittin' me

Cloud: it's only 59 floors

Tifa: race you boys to the top

Y/N: wait for me!

The party began their climb up the 59 floors of stairs.

Tifa: wonder what's it like up there?

Y/N: heavy security and restrictions

Barret: we're gonna be exhausted by the time we finally get to the top

Cloud: long as you pace yourself, you'll be fine

They continued to climb up.

Barret: maybe we should take a quick break

Tifa: c'mon Barret

Barret: you can stop if you want. Can even say it's for me

Y/N: just say you can't hack it

Barret: I'll hack you, jackass!

Tifa: that's enough from the three of you. Stupid arguments aren't going to get us there faster

Y/N: but babe, I wasn't-

Tifa: not now, save it for the top

The four have passed the 25th floor, but still a long way to go.

Barret: guess these labs.. and shit... are all the way at the very top?

Cloud: yep. The very top

Barret: that's... good to know

Tifa: guys, keep an eye on Barret

Y/N: copy!

Tifa: what was that? I don't think I heard you. Speak up!

Cloud: we'll keep an eye on Barret

Barret: thanks for the assist

Cloud: whatever

(Minutes later)

The party was up at the 45th floor.

Barret: but tell me, these stairs... are these stairs ever gonna end?!

Tifa: I don't know! Ask the stairs!

Cloud: I don't think the stairs are talking

Barret: well duh. I mean... duh

Y/N: alright guys, cool it...

The party can only walk up the rest as the fatigue started to set in.

Barret: this sucks! I wanna go back!

Tifa: you want to go down all those stairs you just climbed?

With so much exhaustion, Barret took the opportunity to sing a song.

Barret: another day, another struggle... climbing stairs is so much trouble

However, the party finally reached the 59th floor, and took a rest to catch their breath.

Y/N: the end...

The four then continued infiltrating the HQ.

(Some time later)

The four members had their keycard upgraded, so they can access the 66th floor, Professor Hojo's lab, where is Aerith is currently being held captive.

Professor Hojo

The four rode an elevator and immediately spotted the professor walking around his lab.

Hojo: such hard work I put into, I can't wait to conduct more research

As the professor was about to access another elevator, Y/N snuck from behind and pointed his hidden blade at Hojo's neck.

Y/N: not another step professor, unless you want a blade through your own flesh for your own sick research

Hojo: hmm...

Cloud: where is Aerith?

Hojo: ah, is the Ancient your own property?

Tifa: she's our friend

Y/N: take us to her now!

But before getting any answers from the professor, the party were ambushed by some strange unidentified creatures.

Hojo: then you must get pass my creations first

The ambush gave Hojo the chance to escape, letting the party deal with the creatures. After defeating the strange beasts, the party pursued Hojo and stumbled upon the main area of his lab where they saw Aerith in a chamber.

Tifa: Aerith!

Hojo: hmm, most impressive

Y/N: unlock it now!

Hojo: why is that? The Ancient has something that I am looking for... some mysterious power. My research is merely complete, so I'm running a couple more tests. Try to survive

Hojo released more of his strange experiments as he got away. The four party members proceeded to defeat the strange creatures. Then they went to the chamber where Aerith is and Barret shot the glass to free her.

Tifa: you're alright

Aerith: I'm fine now, thanks for rescuing me

Tifa: of course, you're our friend

Cloud: did Hojo do anything?

Aerith: he didn't, he only asked me questions about the Promised Land

Y/N: well he'll promise to send anymore of his weird experiments, let's get out of this shithole!

The party nodded and escaped to the elevators to pursue Hojo, so they can squeeze out any information regarding the collapse of the plate on Sector 7, but as the party reached the elevators, Cloud and Y/N sensed something and the two SOLDIERs turned around to see black feathers floating.

Cloud: Y/N...

Y/N: no, it can't be him, Cloud. He's gone after you took him out, it's impossible for him to return after a blow like that

Cloud: yeah, you're right, let's go

Y/N and Cloud joined the others in the elevator to continue pursuing for the head of Shinra's Research & Development department.