New Friends
By Vincent Valentine

A/N: I am sorry to say this will be the last chapter.I am sorry about that. You must read this no more. ~dodges away from all the rotten fruit being thrown at him.~ Damn it. alright, geez. ~someone from the audience grabs him and ties him to a chair in front of a computer "Work bastard!" the man says. My hands are tied to close to a keyboard.~ I guess I'll see you later. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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(Clouds pov)

After we ran into Shinra's more interesting members we made it to the 59th where we ran into robo guards.

"Get the intruders!" Said one of the robots in a voice that seemed to be a buzz

All of them ran at me and my friends. They fired out a stream of bullets that were almost impossible to dodge. In our efforts we got sepperated. Two of us to each guard. Jesse and me had one near a drop. It was huge hole the you could look down and see a set of stairs. (Have any of you seen that hole. I swear its there.) We kept running from the bullets. We tried to get to the others but the robot kept shooting at us. Finally I got the time to focus on my lightning materia. "BOLT" I yelled out while I aimed at the robots guns and was glad when the things arms exploded. Jesse then ran up to it and started to stab it. The thing fell over the railing around, but it took Jesse with it. I ran to the railing. I looked down and saw that the robot was still falling but Jesse had grabbed some object protruding from the side.

"Help!!!!!" She yelled. I reached out my hands to grab her. When I had her hand in mine I started to pull her up but for some reason I fell over also. I grabbed hold of the object she was hanging from a second ago.

"Help!!!" was all we could yell.
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(Brocks pov)

That robot was giving me and Misty one hell of a fight. I had weakened the thing with a bolt spell and Misty cracked open the frame of the thing. Now it was around Misty's size and all its wires were showing. But now that the extra wait was off the thing was going real fast. Every time I sent a bolt spell towards it the thing would just dodge it. I thought magic couldn't be dodged. Misty wasn't having much luck either. Every time she brought the mallet down It would miss and leave an imprint on the floor.

"Shit!!" was what came out of my mouth as the thing ran straight at me. It jumped up and then kicked me in the face.

"This is going no where." Misty shouted.

"I got an idea." I replied. I then put my staff in the air. I made a ball out of magic. I used the lightning materia to make it and I put the ball in front of Misty. She put her mallet over her shoulder and positioned it like a baseball bat. She swung and hit it with full force. The ball went flying faster then the robot could move. It connected and fried the robots circuits. It fell to the ground and then disintgrated. I then heard shouting. I ran up to this hole in the floor and saw Jesse and Cloud dangling over the edge. I grabbed Cloud and tried to pull them up but since Jesse was holding on to Cloud's foot I couldn't pull them up.

"Misty, come here and help me get Cloud and Jesse up" WE both pulled on cloud and got him and Jesse up. We looked towards Barret and Tifa. The robot they were fighting was full of bullet holes and dents from Tifa's punches and kicks. Tifa Jumped into the air and kicked the robots head off. They obviously did well. They looked like they hardly had any wounds. Cloud looked through the body of that robot and found a card key level 60. We went into the elevator and swiped the card through the slot by the panel. We chose the 60th floor. It was hard to do anything in the elevator with five people in there, but we managed. When we got to the next floor we almost got caught by two guards, but we sneaked in before they could see us. We left that floor (sorry but I don't want to go through the pointless guards and pillars scene.) On the 61st we were in some kind of place where employes rest. Some were eating, others were just relaxing. None seemed to really care that we were there. Most new that there was a commotion in the lower floors, but they thought security would keep them safe. One even thought we were the repair division but it got us a key card to the next floor. When we got there it looked like we were in a library. In the northwest corner we found a office. Outside it was a wierd guy with a Mohawk (Is that how you spell it.)

"How do you do? This is Midgar Mayor's office. Mayor Domino is in his office." He pointed toward the door. "I'm the deputy Mayor. If you should have a question just feel free to ask." We went into the office and were in front of a man in a tan colored suit. He was ba;d and skinny and seemed to hate being here.

"Hmm? Oh, and who might you be?" Domino asked."You all must be those... Anyway, I'm the mayor of Midgar. Actually I am only mayor by name. The city and everything in it is run by Shinra inc." He got even madder. "My real job is to watch Shinra's documents. Me! The mayor! A librarian! Ohh......" After he talked a little more we found out we had to find a password. After getting some useful(yet expencive) tips. We went into the library to find the password.
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(Ashes pov)

"So he has Jenova in him too?" said a fammiliar voice. It wasn't anyone I had met in this world so far. How could that be? My body felt like it was under water but I could still breath. I opened my eyes but quickly closed them. This wasn't water. I tried again and this time I was able to keep my eyes open. The liquid seemed to glow a gentle green. Almost like magic materia. It must have been mako.

"Yes. But he doesn't have as much as you or the other thirteen." said the voice of Hojo. I looked at the wall I remembered had my katana on it. I looked at Hojo and wondered who he was talking to. The other person must be behind me or something. "I think that was the problem with the other thirteen. If it wern't for sephiroth being the strongest you two would be the best."

"So he's my rival" he then muttered something that I could not hear. He then walked in front of me. I reconized him instantly. My eyes would have fell out of there sockets if that was possible.

"No! It can't be!" was what I screamed into the oxygen mask.(Cliffhanger time. Don't worry, you'll find out who it is in this chapter. try and figure it out.)
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(Cloud's pov)

"BOMB! Bomb is the password." I said.

"Correct, I love that word. I'm like a walking bomb. Well a promise is a promise. Here take it." He handed us a keycard for the 65th floor, and an elemental materia. He was about to tell us something more but we left. We had taken more time to find the password then wanted. We went to the 65th floor and did what we had to do to get the next keycard. On the next floor.It was a place with a large room in the middle. When we first got there the first thing Brock did was chase after a secretary. He stopped when she cast a weak bolt spell on him. It didn't do much but he got the idea. We turned a croner and saw several Shinra executives enter the huge room. One of them I reconized as the president himself. We ran to try to get to them but the door shut and locked before we could.

"Damn!" Barret yelled.
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(Ash's pov. I know that last part was short.)

I sat in the cell I was in. Aries was in the cell beside me and we talked when the guard was gone. I got up when I heard the sound of the guard's boots. He was leaving.

"Aries." I said.

"Yes Ash?" She replied.

"Remember when I told you the story of how I came here?" I asked.

"Yeah, you and your friends were transported here. Why you ask?" She replied

"One other person was transported to." I told her

"Who is that?" She asked.

"My rival Gary." I stated.( Never thought that would happen)"I just don't know how."
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(Misty's pov)

Three people voluteered to go into the airduct to spy on president Shinra. Me, Brock, and Cloud. Jesse and Tifa were keeping watch, but Barret didn't go because he was to big to go thruogh.(I swear he shouldn't be able to go in there. He is way to big.) We kept going until we were able to look into the meeting room.

"Wow. Who is that?!" Brock almost yelled but thankfully remembered to whisper. He was looking at the only female executive.

"Shut up dumb ass." Cloud commanded.

"We have the damage estimates for Sector 7." said one of the younger executives, "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damge is estimated at approximatly 10 billion gil." My eyes widened at that. Thay was alot of money. These people really are rich. "The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is..."

"We are not rebuilding." The president said.

"What?" The young executive said.

"We are leaving sector 7 as it is. And restarting the Neo-Midgar plan." He said. ~/That bastard isn't even gonna fix what he did in the first place\~

"...Then the Ancients?"

"The Promised Land will soon be ours. I want you to raise the mako rates 15% in every area." He stated like it was nothing. I was glad that Barret wasn't here cause he would start cussing.
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(Ash's pov. I'm putting Ash in here alot.)

"How are you here Gary?" I asked while going through my third injection of Jenova, and my first injection of mako.

"Same way you came here. I was on the other side of Cinnibar I think." He replied.

"What were you doing there?" I asked.

"After you beat me two years ago in the Johto League( that means Ash is a Pokemon master in my fic) I left to train. After a year of catching pokemon and battling trainers I left for Cinnibar to train and relax. I stayed there until the day of the errution. Since I was on the other side of the island which didn't have many people, I couldn't get to the boats on the side you were on in time." He explained.

"Ok, but why are you with Shinra? I new you could sometimes be a jerk but I never thought you could go this low." I said.

"How do you know Shinra's evil? For all you know that resistance group could be the evil ones." He said with a sneer on his face.

"They are not evil. Shinra is sucking out the planet's energy. The reactors suck out mako and the planet will die when there isn't anymore." I said while glaring at him.

"Hahahaha. How do you know this. Did they tell you this. Even if they do believe that, how do they know it also?" he said, his smirk getting even bigger.

"Look at Midgar. It is a major wasteland. Other places have one reactor but Midgar has eight. There is almost no plant and animal life at all." I said. "Also you didn't tell me why you are with Shinra."

"I was acting dumb like you when I first came here. I was found by Shinra shortly after I came here. I struggled, but around the time I got my fifth injection of Jenova I relized which side was best." ~/Jenova... Could that be controlling him. That voice in my head. It called me a puppet. What if it does the same thing to me. I'll fight my friends. Cloud, Tifa, Brock, Misty..... Oh shit!\~

"Gary. Jenova is controlling you. Haven't you heard those voices?" I said in a paniced voice.

"Hojo told me that was the voices of the planet. Jenova is a Cetra and the Cetra have the power to comunicate with the planet. Since we have her cells in us we can do that to." He stated as if it was the most obvious thing.

"No! Jenova is trying to control us! It called me a puppet. It already has a hold on you. Don't you see? She's blinded you and because of that you believe Hojo! Fight her Gary." I shouted.

He seemed to be considering what I said. Then he got mad. "Shut up now! You just want me to listen to you so I won't become powerful. You just want to become better then me. Just like before. You already became pokemon master. Isn't that enough for you!?" He yelled in my face. He then hit me in the face.

I ignored the pain. "Gary! You think that I want you to be second best. You just want to be better then me at everything. That is your weakness, she is using that weak....." I was interupted when he grabbed an axe from his belt and swung it at me. It was aimed at my face and I was just able to lean my head to my left enought for it to miss by centimeters.

"That's enough Gary!" Came a voice. It was Hojo. "I can't leave you alone with him it seems. Gary please leave while I do my experiments." He then walks up to me. "How are you doing?" He said looking at the right side of my head to see if nothing is hurt.

"I know that Jenova is trying to control us. It may have worked on Gary, but it sure as hell won't happen to me!" I yelled. I then spit in his face.

"You are rebellious also." He wiped the spit from his eyes. "You'll break sooner or later." He then took out the tubes from my body. "I'll leave you here for a while." He then walked over to the other side of the room,but stopped when I started to yell profanities at him. He walked back over and injected me with something. I started to get sleepy, but before I fell asleep I heard several fammiliar voices. I turned my head to see Misty's face before I fell asleep.
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(Hojo's pov. I know he's a S.O.B. but I wanted to make my story interesting so I put his pov up.I won't do it again. Unless needed.)

I stared at those intruders. ~/How dare they interupt my experiment.\~

"Ash, Aries!" The blonde man yelled. I smirked.

"Oh, is that there names? What do you want?" I said

"We are taking them back!" He yelled. I only shook my head.

"Outsiders...." I sighed. ~/ They never learn.\~

"Shoulda noticed it earlier, you....." The black man began but I interupted him.

"There's so many frivolous things in this world."(I still don't know what the fuck that has to do with what Barret was going to do or even what Barret was going to say.) Both men moved towards in Offensive stances. "Are you going to kill me?I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could opperate it? Hmm?" I said with a victorious smile on my face.

"Ugh." The blonde groaned.

"Now, bring in the specimen." I yelled to my assistant. He started to type in the commands and the elevator that connected the two holding cells on this floor and the one below it. I grinned when I saw the huge red lion like creature come up through the bottom of the cell.
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(Brock's pov)

~/That bastard! How can he do things like this\~ was what went through my mind as I watched that red creature got into what looked like an offencive stance. I felt my anger get higher and higher. All I could do was stare at him while he laughed like a maniac. Suddenly I saw red. I could not see any of the rest of the world. All I could see was Hojo. I felt for my pokeball. I hadn't even touched any of them since we got here. I missed all my pokemon. Unlike Ash I still had all of my pokemon ( I don't know exactly what pokemon he has in the Johto shows because I haven't been watching it much. I hardly have time to watch tv with me writing stories and playing FFX. I'm gonna say he has Steelix, Pineco, Graveler, Ninetails, and Crobat. I know he has Crobat and Pineco but I don't know about the others. I'll try and catch up.) I grabbed one and threw it towards Hojo. It landed behind him and opened up to reveal Ninetails. "BREEDER'S CARE" was what I yelled out. Ninetails started to glow orange and change in shape. It took on a human like shape. It had it's original white fur all over it's body but had bright red fur in certain areas which made it look like it was wearing a bikini. It still had it's fox like head which had what looked like seven of it's tails growing from the back of it's head. It also had a tail coming from each arm.

"Did Ninetails just evolve?" Misty asked.

"I don't know. I thought Ninetails was a fully evolved pokemon. Maybe something in this world changed it's DNA." I replied. "Let's see what attacks it does." As soon as those words left my mouth it charged towards Hojo and kicked him outta of the way and sent him into a wall. "Attack the cell." The thing jumped into the air and came back down in position for a kick. Before it kicked the cell it's body was surounded by a wall of flames. When it hit the cell a charge of electricity went through it's body and the new pokemon was sent flying straight back towards me. I got out my pokeball and was just able to recall it before it hit me.

"You should have known I would put up something to protect the cell. Any living thing that hits that cell get electrified." Hojo stated.

"Yeah well then I can still attack!" Barret yelled. He started to shoot at the locks on the door. The inside of the cell began to glow a bright white. No one could see what was going on inside. Hojo ran towards the cell and tried to look inside while he kept mumbling about his specimens. When the light cleared the door opened and the red creature attacked Hojo ~/Maybe that thing isn't so bad. Lets just hope it doesn't attack us.\~ While Hojo and that creature Cloud went in and got Aries. Before he got out the elevator started to move again.

"The elevator is moving." Cloud said. Hojo got out from under the attacking creature.

"Thats no ordinary specimen. This is a very ferocius specimen!" Hojo yelled while avoiding the claws of the creature. The creature stopped and got off of Hojo and looked towards the cell.

"He is rather strong. I'll help you." The lion like creature said in a calm voice.

"It talked!" Tifa exclaimed.

"I'll talk as much as you want later, Miss." It replied. Cloud ran out of the tube when a roar sounded from the elevator.

"Me, him," Cloud pointed towards the creature,"Brock, and Tifa will fight the specimen. The rest of you go help Ash." He then pointed to the place where Ash was strapped to.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Hojo has named me, Red XIII. A name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish." It said.

"That number has to go. A number is not a good thing to be known by. How about just Red(That is what I called him)?" I asked.

"Red is fine with me." It replied.

"Here it comes!" Cloud yelled.
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(Red's pov. I will refer to Red XIII as just plain old Red)

I stood in front of the monster known as HO512 and it's slaves. It's species always took a slave at birth. If it is strong it may get another. And If it is a superior to most of it's kind it will get three. I still wonder how Hojo got one with three slaves. I lunged towards HO512 ignoring it's slaves. The other three attacked the slaves. ~/They are waisting time. The beast will just revive his slave.\~

"Stop! Take out the main guy and it will take it's slaves with it." That got them doing the right thing. I jumped into the air above the HO512 and cast FIRE ALL on it and it's slaves. The blonde slashed at the beast's chest and the woman I believe was called Tifa did a jump kick to it's face and the teenager named Brock let out a monster from a red and white ball. The monster shot a fireball at the monsters. It hit the slaves and destroyed them and continued on but the slaves took most of the impact. HO512 kicked Brock's monster away. I jumped onto the monsters head and started to tear at it. It grabbed me and threw me across the room. It then swung it's arm at Tifa and sent her flying right towards me and I was to weak to move outta of the way. When we got up both of us were glowing. Tifa was the first to perform her limit break.

"BEAT RUSH" she yelled before doing an impressive combo of punches and kicks. She then yelled out "SUMMERSUALT" and kickflipped off of the things chest. It looked pretty weak. I used sense on it and found out my limit break would probably finish it off.

"SLED FANG" I yelled and started to charge towards it. I started off slow and got faster and faster. Finally when I got enough energy I linge foreward and went right through HO512's chest.
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(Misty's pov)

~/What had that monster done to you.I just wish you would open your eyes so I could see that your ok.\~

"Come on! We are going to have to carry him until he wakes up." Barret yelled.

"I wonder how the others are doing, it sounds like the battle has stopped." Jesse said. I looked over towards where the battle had taken place to see that the red lion like creature had gone right through the monsters chest.

"That's not a pretty picture." I mumbled.

"And nethier is Barret in the morning." Jesse with a slight giggle.

"You got a point there." I replied.

"What do you Hojo did to him? I was expecting to find him with an extra limb or green skin." Jesse said while picking him up by the leg while I got the other.

"I don't know. I just hope that nothing did happen to him. Barret come on. Grab his arms. You want to get out of here but you won't move your lazy ass!" I yelled at Barret.

"I sometimes wish you never even left the shithole you call a planet." Barret grumbled.

"I wish I was back at my home to. I bet Brock and Ash feels the same." I yelled, took out my mallet and hit him over the head hard enough to get the message through but not hard enough to knock out the strongest person here at the moment."Now lets get Ash out of here." Barret grabbed hold one of Ash's legs and Aries got the other.

"Lets get down there." Barret said while motioning for us to move to where the others were waiting.

"How is Ash doing?" Brock asked while recalling his pokemon.

"He seems ok. It is amazing that they didn't remove his pokeballs from his belt." Jesse said while laying Ash down. Before we could lay him all the way down he started to groan.

"Look like your friend is waking up." Said the the red lion like creature. When he spoke Aries began to get nervous. "I'm sorry about before. I was trying to throw hojo off guard."

"What are you?" Barret asked.

"An informed question. But difficult to answer. I am what you see." It said. Almost everyone had confused faces. The only one who didn't was Ash who was unconsious. "...You must have many questions, but first, lets get out of here. I'll lead the way."

"Don't you think eight people and a ughhh..... whatever will get noticed. Also the fact that one of them is knocked out." Tifa stated.

"Don't worry about that. Damn my head feels like it's been pounded by a brick." said a voice that made us jump. We turned around to see Ash sitting on the floor rubbing the back of his neck. "How you guys doing?" He then looked up and I let out a ear piercing. "What!?" He said.

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Brock said while just staring at Ash's face.

"I haven't even been near a mirror. Why?" He said in a confused look on his face.

"Here." Aries said and handed him a compac mirror.
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(Ash's pov)

"SHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!" was all that could come from my mouth. My eyes were glowing. not only that but they were a bright green instead of my usual brown eyes.

"They must have fused with mako." Cloud stated. ~/I did get mako injected in me with Jenova. I wonder if they did anything else.\~ I stood up and looked around. My eyes were alot more focused. I looked around for my katana. When I found I checked my materia. Everything was in place.

"Lets get the hell outta here." I commanded. "I will tell you everything that happened to me after we leave. Everyone got there materia ready."

"We have a whole shit load. Why don't we split the materia up." Barret suggested.

"Hey I think the genius came up with a good plan. Give the man a prize!" Brock said in a sarcastic tone.

"Shut up you @#$%^%!" Barret said while pointing his gun at Brock chest.

"Stop it. Barret did come up with a good idea." Jesse said. "What materia do we have."

"Is it ok If I keep my own?" Red said.

"Since you will be leaving as soon as we escape, I am ok with it." Brock said.

"It is true, he isn't part of the group so he should keep his own materia." Aries said.

"When were you part of the group anyway." Tifa said.

"I want to join. I have lived in Midgar all my life and I have watched some thing I wish never even happened. If I join you I might be able to stop some of the things in the world." Aries explained.

"She can join. Anyone who wants to protect the planet can join." Barret said.

"Lets get back to the materia we have." Misty commanded. "I have a ice materia and an elemental materia."

"I have lightning and a poison materia I found." Brock said.

"I have fire." I said.

"I have sence and fire" Jesse said.

"Cure,Steal,and all." Tifa said while holding up her glove.

"Lightning, all, ice, and cover." Cloud said.

"I got an enemyskill I just found but it's useless right now." Barret said.

"I got a cure." Aries said.

"Looks like we all got some good materia to help. Lets just go." Barret yelled."Jesse,Cloud, and Tifa are in a group. Ash, Misty, and Brock are together. And finally Aries, Red, and I will also go. Go to seperate elevators and we will meet up on the first floor." After that we all left and went to seperate floors. I let brock lead and I followed him keeping in step with Misty.

"I don't think I will be able to go home even if we find a way." I said.

"What do you mean?" Misty questioned.

"I have changed to much. They did something to me that probably will change my life forever."

"What did they do anyway?"

"They injected me with the cells of what is suppose to be an Ancient. But so far I believe otherwise. Also there is another who is injected also."

"So, its not like you know the other guy personally."

"Actually, I do"

"How is that possible?" She questioned and stopped.

"Hey why did you guys stop?" Brock asked.

"Just be quiet." Misty said. "Now tell me who this guy is." She commanded.

"Gary also was on Cinnibar Island when it errupted." I said in a gloomy voice.

"Shit don't tell me hes here also." Brock said now that he was in on the conversation.

"Yes and they is injected him with those cells also and they have made him even stronger."

"This is getting confusing. Lets get out of here and then work out the details." Brock said. We hurried and got into the elevator someone came in. I turned around and was face to face with Gary.

"Hows it going Ashy boy?" He said more then asked. He held up a green materia and muttered something. All three of us were then comepletly stopped in time. "I love time materia. It can speed someone up, slow someone down, or even stop them all together." He then motion to someone behind him and four guards came in and dragged us away.
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(Barret's pov)

Red and I were now being pushed forward towards the top of the stairs that led to the 70th floor. I knew I was going to come face to face with the president again. The worse part was that they had detatched my assualt gun from my arm. As we made it to the top of the stairs I could here the sound of opera music. When I could see over the stairs I could see the scum turn off the music. I looked to my left and saw the others getdragged in also.

"You all got caught, too?" Cloud asked.

"Hey where is Aries?" Misty questioned. It was true, Aries was not here.

"In a safe place." Was the presidents reply. He stood up and moved from behind his desk."She's the last surviving Ancient. Don't you know? They called themselves the cetra, and lived thousands of years ago. Now there just a forgotten page in history.

"Cera... That girl, is she a survivor of the cetra?' Red questioned.

"Cetra, or the ancients will show us the way to the 'Promiced Land.' I'm expecting a lot out of her." He replied

"The Promiced Land? Isn't that just a legend?" Red asked.

"Even so, it's just too appealing to not to pursue." The bastard said."It's been said the Promiced Land is very fertile.... If the land is fertile..."

"Then there's gotta be mako. " I said. I then started to struggle against my cuffs.

"Exactly. That is why our money sucking is a necessity." He said with a sneer. "The abundant mako will come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory..."

"@$#^%! Quit dreamig. No way a mother@#$%^& like you will get the Promiced Land while I'm around!" I interrupted. All the president dd was laugh.

"Oh really, don't you know? These days all it takes to make your dreams come true is money and science. Well thats all for our meeting." He then snapped his fingers. A bald Turk came in.

"Come on. Outta his way!" He said.

"Hold it. I have a few words to say to you." I said while trying to get to the president. The turk just started to push me back.

"If you need something else..... talk to my secretary." I heard him say before I was dragged off.
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A/N: Hello again. I was hoping on getting the guys outta midgar but I wanted to get this chapter out. Next chapter will be the last time in midgar.