5. The Legacy
1
Rufus Shinra stood alone on the top of the skyscraping hotel he had been staying at, having elected not to room at one of the suites located inside of the Shinra Headquarters. He had sent his bodyguards away because he always did his best thinking when he was alone.
Besides, he thought, looking at his slightly swollen knuckles, they have other business to attend to.
He smiled, knowing that the other business had involved sneaking the dead slum-girl out of his room and then out of the hotel itself.
His fingers throbbed with a percussive yet endearing pain, and he basked in the glowing high it gave him.
Felix, his father, had been right. There were countless women and girls in the slums willing to do anything for some gil, including becoming his slave for the night within his lofty hotel suite.
The throb in his groin returned momentarily as he recalled the actions that had taken place just hours ago.
Oh, that one suffered . . .
The woman had been older than his usual prey, possibly in her late thirties or early forties. She'd been more than willing to do as he pleased, and for a few hours, Rufus took advantage of the woman's sexual knowledge.
He remembered at first being amazed at her carnal desire and general astounding performance, but then had come to the realization that sex was free, and was probably practiced in places like the slums more than anywhere else.
Most slum women were probably good at it, he'd thought.
She'd been willing to experiment – and had impressed Rufus with the angles she could achieve – but when the president's son pulled out a pair of scissors, the woman had begun to shake her sweating head.
He'd only cut her naked form enough to force a few ear-piercing and lovely screams from her mouth, because more than anything else he enjoyed using his fists to cause pain.
And perhaps he did get carried away as the guards had said, slamming the woman's face hard enough to send the smashed whites of her eyes into the back of her bleeding head, but what was life if you couldn't have a little bit of fun?
He wouldn't even have hit her so hard if she hadn't bit him, her tooth scraping along the inside of his left forearm.
After that he'd appropriately lost control, punching her face until his own breathing was ragged, before he ultimately placed the long pair of scissors into the woman's gurgling throat.
She'd made a bit of a mess, but that's what room service was for.
His thoughts were brought back to the present when the sound of an approaching helicopter caught his ears.
"It's about time . . ." he said, the air around him swirling from the swiftly-moving blades of the looming chopper.
2
Now on the helicopter and travelling towards the Shinra building, his two bodyguards back at his side, Rufus felt a conundrum plaguing his pacing mind.
For a long time he had thought of nothing else save for his anger and his desire to end his father's life.
But now, everything had changed.
Out of the blue Felix had contacted him, had given him a half-hearted - if reluctant - apology, and had informed him that one of the Shinra's Gelnika military airships was coming to Costa del Sol to pick him up.
To 'retrieve me' he had said.
At the time Rufus had been speechless, and most of his mind was telling him to stay where he was, to not go back overseas to the floating city.
But over the next few minutes an elaborate plan had begun to take shape inside of his mind.
He would fly back to Midgar, and when he arrived . . . he would kill his father. He would kill the President of Shinra, Inc.
He understood that by doing so he would be dooming his chances of ever taking over the company, but at the time he didn't care, and only felt the persistent longing to pulverize his father's fat face.
The helicopter suddenly dropped a few feet of altitude, jerkily shifting the passengers.
"Hey!" Rufus yelled. "Pay attention you goddamn idiot!"
Shaking his head he continued to plod on the circumstances that had brought him to where he currently was.
He had been sitting in the restaurant, having arrived in Midgar only an hour hence, and was having a bit of fun with the young waitress.
Shooting the shit, he thought, remembering how much he had loved hearing that choice of slum-slang for the first time.
The waitress was just going to be an unexpected warm-up, something to keep his racing mind on track. When his father arrived he was going to murder the old man, he was going to make him suffer.
But when his father had arrived he had acted . . . well, not exactly warmly to his only son, but certainly not as cold as the previous times they had spoken.
He'd seemed genuinely happy . . .
Felix had then gone on to tell him that he wanted Rufus to begin 'learning the ropes' of the company, because a time of great change was coming.
With the sudden prospect of owning Shinra, Inc. Rufus had secretly become unraveled, losing any murderous thoughts that were swimming through the conniving mind that sat under his red hair.
But now as he was sped along in the chopper, heading for the Shinra building, those same scheming thoughts were creeping back into his head.
He allowed himself a small grin.
If I could get away with it . . . without anyone knowing that it was me . . . it would still be nice to kill the old bastard.
He shifted in his seat and looked at the others in the helicopter, as if they could somehow read his mind.
A rush of warmth flooded his tall body, a physical eagerness at the thought of killing his old man and becoming the new President of Shinra, Inc.
He grinned again, almost tasting the power he could potentially have if he controlled the Shinra legacy.
It might take some skill, he thought, noticing that they were only minutes away from descending onto the helipad that sat on the Shinra building's roof. But it would be worth it. It would definitely be worth it . . .
The helicopter began its decent.
