After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes
Barret lead his group through the center of the 39th floor. They were surrounded on either side by rows upon rows of office doors, both occupied and vacant. The floor was deserted, only the sound of their shoes upon the new linoleum sounded through the hallway.
"Man, it stinks in here…" complained Wedge quietly.
"It is just new linoleum, I kind of like the smell actually…" Jessie said, then grinned as she sniffed the air.
"Don't get high off it now…" Biggs joked then nudged her in the shoulder. They all snickered quietly, all except Barret.
"Keep it down you idiots!" he snapped in a whisper. The snickering halted and they continued to creep down the hallway to the stairs leading to the 40th floor.
Cloud, Tifa and Cait edged down the right wall of the floor.
"We must be very, very quiet…" started Cait.
"Because we're huntin' wabbits!" finished Cloud, then he snickered. Tifa conked him on the head.
"Shh! There could be people still in the cubicles. I installed beds in those offices and the walls aren't exactly soundproof."
"Why did you install beds when there is a staff dormitory?" asked Tifa.
"I just found it more convenient."
"Oh…"
Group three quietly tiptoed down their side of the floor. Yuffie, toward the back, had her eye on Cid's materia on the Dragoon Lance tied to his back. Yuffie quietly slid up behind Cid and put a hand on his spear, trying to get the glowing orbs of magic out. Cid felt his weapon being slightly jostled around on his back, whirred around and began to open his mouth when Vincent hurried over and put his hand over Cid's mouth. Any vulgar protest Cid had came out in an angry muffle.
"Quiet you idiot! You could get us caught. Chances are they have sound detectors in here." Vincent hissed. "Yuffie, back off…"
Yuffie looked at Vincent with innocent eyes. "I wasn't doing nothin', I just bumped into him…"
Cid retorted with an angry muffle. Vincent sighed.
"Let's go, we are almost there…" Red whispered and the group traveled on.
Group three reached the 40th floor first. They hurried off of the staircase and into the shadows to wait for the others. Group one was next and they hid where group three was. Finally, Cloud led his group up the stairs. Now that they were all reunited, they had to come up with a plan of action.
"Simple enough, now what?" asked Jessie.
"Cait, which one is his and how do we get in?" asked Barret.
Cait grinned and pulled a card key from out of a pocket in his mog. "Skeleton key, can open anything in this entire building. Hojo's is that one over there." Cait pointed to a door on the far side of the floor with a number 148 on the door. Cait hopped out from behind the office they were hiding behind and bounded off to office 148 and slid the card key through the scanner. The light went green and he stepped inside. "Well, come on!"
The rest of the group ran over to the open door and stepped inside. Cait flipped on the light switch and the room was flooded with light.
"I'm guessing that it is in here…" noted Biggs as he poked at the safe behind Hojo's desk. "How are we going to open it?"
Cait held up the card key, and slid it through a scanner in the back. "I said this thing would open anything."
"Stop right there…" came a voice from the door. All 11 of them stopped what they were doing and turned to the voice. There was Hojo, standing in the doorway.