The corridor they had entered was very clinical-looking with varying shades of grey spanning from floor to ceiling. It was large and open plan with pea-green chairs placed in the centre. There were two elevators at the other side guarded by three Shinra soldiers donning scarlet-coloured, oversized metal uniforms. The group were spotted almost instantly by them.

"Destroy the intruders!" one of them shouted as they quickly advanced on the team. Cloud disabled them with a Bolt spell that he'd attached to a piece of All materia, cracking their armour and rendering them vulnerable. Without their armour for support, Tifa drop kicked one of the soldiers while Barret pummelled the other one with a peppering of bullets. Cloud cut down the remaining one with his sword. As the last soldier dropped to the ground, Cloud saw something fall out of his hand and slide across the floor.

"What's this?" Cloud wondered as he bent down to pick it up. It was a keycard that bore the number '60' on it. This could come in useful so he pocketed it.

Their only option now was to take one of the elevators to a higher floor. They stepped inside and pressed the button for the 60th floor. The elevator was made completely of glass. Cloud would have been able to see for miles from up here but it was dark now. All he could see was murky shadows of buildings and lights in the distance.

"This is the real thing. Don't let your guard down," cautioned Barret.

"I hope Aeris is alright," Tifa sighed.

The elevator pinged and they stepped out. This floor was mainly open plan with some small side rooms at either side. In the middle of the large room were two perfectly aligned rows of gaudy gold statues of various people that Cloud didn't recognise. There were two armed guards standing in front of them so the group quickly darted to an empty room on the left-hand side. It was stuffy inside with bare furnishings. Wires were jutting out one of the walls and two computers with flickering screens sat side by side on top of a rickety old desk. Whoever used this small office was regarded as a nobody in the eyes of Shinra.

There was another door on the right wall of the office that led directly into the middle section of the floor. Barret glanced through it and then shot back into the office for safety.

"Lookit that, all them guards is runnin' around," Barret gasped. "Cloud, you go on ahead and signal when it's safe to come."

Cloud crept out of the door and looked around. There were more guards here than he first anticipated, weaving in-between the rows of statues.

Too many to fight, thought Cloud, but if we utilise the placements of these statues then we should be just fine.

He waited until the guards turned their back and crept across the walkway, using each gaudy statue for cover. It was a tense moment and a couple of times he was almost caught, but he eventually made it across to safety. He beckoned Tifa next. She was the more agile of the group; fast and silent. He was worried Barret would get caught. He had a huge muscular frame with heavy footsteps. The word 'stealth' wasn't really in his vocabulary. So Cloud breathed a huge sigh of relief when the big man crossed the walkway without once even alerting the guards of a presence.

They quickly ducked into the door on the opposite side and entered a room with a staircase leading up. Thank goodness it was only one flight!

"OK!" Barret rejoiced. "We gonna rock!"

"Remember," Tifa warned him, "we're here to save Aeris."

"Hell, I know that!"

They entered the next level which housed a gigantic green shrub in its centre. This room was circular shaped, bordered with pretty potted shrubs that lit up. Tables and chairs had been placed here and there, and there was a canteen at the far end. Shinra had made a lot of effort turning this floor into some sort of posh eatery. Best of all, it was unguarded.

Shinra workers walked about idly going about their business. No one looked happy. Most bore expressions of mundaneness like they really didn't want to be here yet felt they had no choice. Such was life in Midgar; you were either trapped in the slums or stuck working for a money guzzling corporation. Take your pick.

They caught the eye of a worker who came strutting over to them with a maddened expression on his face.

"The hell are you? What're you doin' around here?" he demanded.

He looked at Cloud and pursed his lips, crossing his arms as he did so. This guy was annoyed.

"Oh, I see. So you must be that whatcha call it… Shinra Inc. Repair Division!" He hastily looked around at the walls and floor. He looked disgusted. "You know, it looks like this building is starting to fall apart. This door was just pushed open." He gestured towards an electronic door that had a flickering green light shining above it. "You ought to fix this right away. Oh yeah, and take a look on the other floors too. I'll give you this."

He fished out a keycard and handed it to Cloud. It had the number 62 written on it. This was great. Everything was falling into place. This was easy. Too easy...

The next floor contained a library. There were four compartments in the middle section each containing different coloured shelves with contrasting carpets. There was nothing extravagant about it at all, the whole floor adopting a very clinical aesthetic. After finding nothing useful within the four compartments, they eventually made it into one of the tiny rooms at the left-hand side.

This room had a warm feel to it. Its décor was a calming mixture of verdant greens and muted browns, decked with lush plants and grand, oaken furniture. A man who seemed to blend into his surroundings wearing a brown tweed suit was standing in the corner next to a large television. Upon seeing the group, he asked them, "Hmm? Oh, and who might you be?"

He eyed them up with keen interest but wore an expression of disgruntlement. He knew who they were but even though he was clearly put off by their general appearances, he didn't seem alarmed that they had barged into his office.

"You all must be those…" – he cleared his throat before continuing. "Me? I'm Domino, the Mayor of Midgar. Actually, I'm Mayor in name only. The city and everything in it is really run by Shinra, Inc. My only real job is watching over Shinra's Documents…" He shuffled uncomfortably. "Me! The Mayor! A librarian! Ohh…"

He took out a piece of paper from the pocket of his tweed blazer and handed it to Cloud.

"You want to get upstairs?" he asked him. "I tell you what, if you can guess the password, I'll give you my keycard. Yes, that's it. Guess the password and I'll give you my keycard! Get it on the first try and I'll even throw in a special item!"

Cloud inspected a list of possible passwords. They were all four letters but the word 'king' stood out to him. Mayor Domino obviously had visions of grandeur but his dreams were impossible. It seemed to fit.

"Got it?" the Mayor asked. "Then tell me."

"King?"

"KING!" the Mayor shouted. "God, I love the sound of that! KING! President Shinra sucks! I should be King of Midgar!"

The Mayor retrieved his keycard from his breast pocket and handed it to Cloud.

"Hmm, well, ok. Here, take it."

Domino looked down at his feet sheepishly.

"I never thought you'd get it on the first try… Just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover. Oh well, a promise is a promise. Take this, too."

He handed Cloud a blue orb of Elemental materia. He twisted it round in his fingers. This could come in very useful so he quickly pocketed it.

"Why, though?" asked Cloud.

"Why would I do something like this, you ask? To mess with them, of course! Shinra's been torturing me forever. That's why I was a little rough on you all just now. Now go up there and really make them suffer."

He rubbed his hands together voraciously and laughed. "This ought to make us even!"

Shinra had more enemies than allies it seemed. Equipped with the keycard to floor 65, the group made their way to the floor.

To be continued…