The guards were coming down in fury now, all ready to take a chunk out of the little kid that had somehow gotten rid of all their predecessors. They all fell short of their goal, some even falling off the platforms themselves. One had jumped down to his platform and broken his leg right there. And thus, Reno was armed once again.
It only took two shots before he had the feel of the pulse cannon and he began his ascension. Sweat had broken on his brows but he wasn't ready to quit. Not now. After all, he still had to strangle that fat Cossack and give Rude a good sharp kick to the nuts.
Pulses whirred past him, rocking the ladder in their path. He growled, still climbing upwards. It felt like some sort of video game they'd have in an arcade, 'Make it to the top before you get knocked to the ground!' Somehow he figured that a Game Over was not in question.
Upon reaching the platform, he spun, facing the annoying grunt that had been shooting at him the entire time. Three shots later, the guard crumpled, taking the brunt of the pulse to his midsection. He laid motionless on the platform and two more guards appeared to take his place almost instantly.
Reno sunk back behind a piece of scrap, his sweat-streaked hair hanging around his face. He shook his head to dispose of the nuisance but the lasting effect was only seconds long. If this was what he'd be going through every time he got up in the morning, they could kiss his ass. He was getting pissed.
Throwing back his head, the red-haired boy began screaming.
"YOU SAID TWENTY MINUTES YOU FAT ASSHOLE!" he sunk the claws of the pulse cannon into the wall beside him. "YOU SAID TWENTY MINUTES AND I'D BE OUT OF HERE!"
He quieted, listening for anything that could be the way out. The Shinra grunts had begun to congregate on the opposite platform, some still climbing lower. He cursed, turning upon the wall he'd stabbed and kicked it violently. His polished shoes tore as the metal slashed across them and he cursed loudly as tiny droplets of blood rimmed the torn edge of his sock. He retracted his feet, pulling the injured close.
It took him a few minutes before he looked back up at the wall and the hole he'd caused. There was space behind it. The walls weren't five inch steel plates, they were almost paper thin. Just enough to take a few errant pulses.
A smirk slowly spread across his lips and Reno crawled forward to inspect the hole. About two feet of space and then another wall. Upon sticking his head in, the glowing green of the Mako-lit ceiling greeted him, only a couple dozen feet above him. Aiming the pulse cannon at the hole, he widened it, making the gap big enough to comfortably squeeze through.
IT was then that the platform beneath him rocked unsteadily, jolting him up and almost skewering him upon the twisted metal he'd forged. Looking through the grating, the blue-clad grunts had collected below him, their pulse cannons pointed at the platform. It swayed unsteadily again, one of the connecting plates keeping it up loosening completely.
Time spent, Reno leapt through the hole, not taking the moment to wince at the ripping of his shirt. He jabbed the pulse cannon forward, sinking the claws into the wall. They screeched and slid downwards, almost unsinking from the wall itself. Panicked, the redhead shot his legs out, pinning his knees into the opposite wall and his back into the one he'd just broken through. Forced into a fetal curl, his fall finally stopped, settling between the two walls tightly.
Sighing softly, the Turks-to-be wiped his brow with his free hand. He set to dislodging his claw from the metal, rending it nastily before it was freed. Screw this, he decided, I'm not gonna get to the top. I'm getting out of here.
The pulse threw his head back into the metal and he cursed. The hole was rather wicked, but small. He hadn't treated it to a foot-battering as he had the other and the force had knocked him for a loop. Through the hole, he could hear screeching of metal, the groan of pulleys and cables.
Two more pulses and the hole was big enough to see through. Readying the last pulse, Reno jabbed his arm forward in emphasis, fingers squeezing the triggers.

The elevator jolted to a stop, falling a foot and a half before locking the cables. Having fallen backwards in the sudden halt, Tseng made his way back to his feet, utterly bewildered at what had happened.
"BITCH!"
The elevator jolted violently again and the source of the problem became apparent. Following the curse, one could see a set of bent metal claws locked solidly into the thick shell of the car, pulse beats evident around them.
"What the..." Tseng trailed off, ducking aside as the bubbled metal broke through. The pulse arm slid forward through the hole, twisting back to rip the metal back through. No more than five seconds later, the familiar scruff of fiery hair poked through the hole, followed by the rest of the waif's body. Less than thirty seconds passed before the youth was curled up against the hole, smiling exhaustedly.
"You Shinra are some sick shits..." Reno mumbled, licking his lips a little. Tseng pulled his cellphone from his pocket, eyes still locked on the blood-and-sweat soaked boy as he flipped it open.
"Yes, the elevator is stuck... and I think that kid passed the test..."