BIGTIME

By Antony E Fenton


The city that never sleeps…

A million stars raced through the skies above at a snails pace to the naked eye, while below ice had formed on the oppressive plates that will always tower over the slums of Midgar. There was quite a forceful wind beginning to build up too that made the lonesome dark shadow crouched near the edge shift just a little, but seemingly more from the chill it carried than the strength of it. It had one of the best sights in the known world as it looked off into the distant horizon. The sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains that divided the great continent apart and a blanket of mist was unrolled over the town of Kalm not to far away. With the peace and the silence in the air it was almost impossible to believe that there were thousands now awaking to another grey day in the slums below and that the constant noise of traffic had ever been heard in this town.

As much as she hated the city she had to admit that it held an odd beauty in its own way. Nowhere else in the world could you find so many different people of different cultures and race…from the poor in the steel ghettos to rich in their luxurious penthouses on the upper plate, EVERY man in Midgar had a story to be told or a secret to be hidden from the light of day, a task that was all to easy in the dark streets of this town.

With one swift jump she was up on her feet and already quickly moving across the plate to the huge wall that separates civilization from the knowledge that it is sitting on a giant metal plate over a city of equal size below. She reached the wall quickly and swiftly launched herself up onto it. She paused looking to her left then her right. All was quite up here for the moment…. There were still many pitch-black shadows to hide in so she settled on a direction and again with one seemingly fluid movement she launched from existence into the shadows and back into the imaginations of any who might of caught a glimpse of her.

A great explosion rocked the world…

Everywhere panic was arising…what was going on? People were running everywhere…She leapt out of her bed…well technically her bed she did find it…. Outside in the streets below the only things that could be seen were those lit by car headlights. It was now about 2 in the morning. For the business she was in you had to do your work by the moonlight…not that there was much of that here…which was even better as far as she was concerned. She argued with herself ….In the distance over the buildings she could see flames arising…what was after happening…. She wanted to satisfy her curiosity but she didn't exactly want to make her presence known just yet…The debate didn't last long and quickly she was out the window and climbing the fire escape to the rooftops above.

The thing about funny Midgar is…well actually there are a lot of funny things about it…. but one of the strangest things is its attraction to chaos. How could such a well-designed work of wonder and science be so much trouble? She knew this was a bad Idea…But she had that feeling again. This would be it. The heist to end all heists…. The crime of the century…The Big Time…The…well you get the idea. And it was so simple…why didn't she think of it sooner. She needed Materia she needed lots of it and she needed it now. Where else in the world would you find so much in one go…. well in Mister Materia pockets himself that's where she thought. The guy was the head over countless Mako Reactors Anyways what would a President need with Materia anyways…. He's gotta be loaded. Anything he wants when he wants it. He didn't need materia to keep him happy. She laughed to herself as she glided across the rooftops. If there was one thing you could say about Yuffie Kisaragi she had a knack for justifying her deeds to herself.

The President was not happy. Not happy at all.

"Explain it to me!" he roared "Tell me how the Elite of the Elite the best trained fighting force in the world!…Let a group of nobody lowlifes get into the Reactor they are assigned to Protect and BLOW IT UP!"

The Mayor of Midgar sat solemn in the corner of the room staring out into space in front of him…. He hated this freaking job.

"I want answers! Do ya hear me ANSWERS and I want them NOW!!!!" Screamed the President.

"Yessir" the security chiefs saluted in unison and quickly exited the Presidents office.

Back on the streets security was out in force everywhere. They were looking for someone Yuffie figured…could it be her…. Did her reputation precede her she wondered? Checkpoints had quickly been raised on some of the major streets in the slums. Not that there were many of those. She began to piece it together though that there was defiantly something bigger going on and that they were probably not after her. She sighed but more from disappointment than relief. Ah well my time will come she thought as with style she leapt from the roof top of a Wutai restaurant and landed gracefully in a dumpster 20ft below...

"Damn it" she cursed herself for being to cocky. "I shoulda made that one"

Outside in the street a Shinra guard was startled by the crash coming from the alley. He whistled softly and beckoned to 2 other guards going down the street ahead of him. Slowly and quietly they moved into the alley weapons drawn. It was no surprise that the alleyway was nearly in complete darkness. The highest-ranking officer backed up against the wall as they approached a corner at the end of the alley. Behind this corner he expected to find some fiercely armed AVALANCE scum ready to kill him as soon as look at him. He signalled to the officers behind to do the same. With all the style of a professional military officer he drew attention to he eyes with two fingers in a V shape…he the slowly slid his left hand over hi right palm to indicate their next move and brought his fist up to his chest thumping it quietly once leading to holding 3 fingers up. The 2 officers behind stared at him in complete bewilderment…"Fine" fine he muttered to himself as the Sergeant threw himself around the corner weapon ready to fire "FREEZE" he shouted and a solitary rat sitting in the alleyway choked on a scrap it was eating. Apart from the 3 Shinra guards and one rat the alley was empty.

"I don't think it's a threat sarge" one of the officers remarked as the other began to smirk." But shall I call it in?" The Sergeant looked at him with disgust and gave him the finger. "Go on back out on patrol" he said as he waved the officers away. I hate this job he thought as he pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket.

Minutes later there was a soft sound. "Phew" Yuffie sighed to herself as she raised the lid from a trashcan she had managed to carefully squeeze petite self into and carefully climbed out. She brushed herself down and sighed again "That was close" she turned to see a confused looking Shinra sergeant with a cigarette hanging from his lips. He stared at her and coughed gently. Yuffie looked him up and down. She could take him. Then she noticed the semi automatic at his waste. "Umm can I bum one of them off ya?" She remarked. The guard reached for his weapon. Instinctively Yuffie sprung into action. With a quick flip of her body she launched the trashcan she emerged from at the Sergeants head. With a loud crash he toppled over and immediately Yuffie shot around the corner and raced down the alley.

The Shinra sergeant cursed and pulled himself up to his feet. Quickly enough he was off after her. Yuffie darted down the alley leaping over trashcans and boxes strewn about the place. She skidded out into the street. A horn blasted in her ear as a car pulled to a screeching stop beside her. She froze. Slowly Yuffie turned to see some very annoyed looking Shinra guards staring out the windscreen of an Armoured Truck. She smiled softly and gave them an apologetic wave as she slowly backed across the street and then walked into a bar on the opposite side. The guards looked at each other. They were beginning to drive away when they saw the Shire sergeant come racing out of the alley the girl had emerged from.

Inside the Bar Yuffie darted past the drunken clientele around a corner and into a kitchen in the back. The chef and some confused looking kitchen staff looked at her in surprise. "Back door?" Yuffie asked casually…. The staff stared at her quietly and then one raised his finger to a passage heading off to his left. "Thank you" Yuffie smiled gratefully and was off again. The shinra sergeant crashed through the doors of the bar and swiftly glanced over the room for the girl. "Where did she go!" he shouted. A drunken man at the bar turned and gave him a stare "she ran away *hic* with the guy that cleans our pool"…"you don't have a pool Georgie," said the guy sitting beside him…"I could have a pool!" Georgie shouted in defiance. The Shinra sergeant frowned and shouted again "The girl with the short hair and green top who just came in here…which way did she go?" Nobody cared enough to reply

Yuffie ran like the wind. She got down 3 streets when she decided no one was in pursuit of her and she stopped to catch her breath. Man she was having a blast. She laughed to herself and wiped the sweat from her brow. It was coming on 3 am now. It never ceased to amaze her the nightlife in midgar…in some places it was just as busy in the night as in the day. Did the town ever sleep? How was she supposed to get her job done if it was always this busy? Well the sooner she got it done the sooner she can get outta this hell hole she thought as she carried on down the street. As she turned the corner she was nearly knocked off her feet. At least 10 shinra guards came racing past her. Her heart stopped. "There he is" one of them shouted. What? He? I may have short hair… she thought. The guards raced down an adjacent street as they spotted their target. A lone figure stood at the side of a bridge looking out on the railway tracks below. He was surrounded. Yuffie stopped for a moment to watch this poor guys bitter demise. Still it looked like the Spiky haired lad wasn't going to go down easy. She watched from a distance as the cornered man drew a humongous sword and swung it around his head. With lightning speed he slashed into the first guard to attack and spun around to catch a second on the chin with his fist. He fought bravly. Suddenly there was a flash of blue light and 3 of the guards fell to the ground smoking from severe burns. Yuffies eyes lit up. Materia. Whoo hoo! Shame though because she was unlikely to get near the stuff this guy was carrying. More and more guards arrived on the scene…this guy musta done something big she thought. Might be something to do with all this fuss going on. They Blonde warrior fought hard but soon was outnumbered and exausted. He was again surrounded. Yuffie was arguing with herself again…should she help? She heard a train rumbling off in the distance.Right.shoot.Darn. Ah what the heck she thought he probably deserves it. She turned to walk away only to be surprised again at the Armoured Vehicle stopped in front of her…."Ahh not a train" She mumbled to herself.

The Shinra seargant who was pursuing her leaped out of the vehicle…He laughed out loud.."Mwah ha ha…. Sergeant Laverne always gets his man" he chuckled

He raised his weapon to Yuffie and suggested that she get her hands in the air.

She was not amused…."He's getting away," a voice shouted. Sergeant Laverne looked over at the commotion to see a group of Shinras finest looking over a bridge waving their arms in the air. He looked back at Yuffie to see her boot rushing at his face. With all her strength she kicked him right between the eyes and he flew backward. Yuffie shoot off. At the bridge the guards were cursing and shouting…the spiky haired guy leaped onto a train going by under the bridge." Well get after him" one guard suggested to his partner"what? I ain't no stunt man you go after him" he replied…

Yuffie came darting between the guards and with the aid of one of them as an unexpected boost she ran up his back and jumped off the bridge onto the train just as it passed completely under the bridge…

Man its cold. The train sped through the city at an unsettling speed I'd better get off this thing before I kill myself. She waited for the train to slow as it turned a corner and leapt onto a nearby balcony much to the surprise of the retired couple inside the apartment that the balcony was attached to." Sorry" Yuffie shouted as she threw herself over the balcony to the streets below She caught her breath and looked around. It was quite here. Just like the night should be.Yuffie gathered herself again and strolled down the street. She was pretty exhausted now and just wanted to rest. Quietly she laughed to herself again as she walked away. It was funny she thought…If Shinra are this easy to run around I should have no troubles getting into the Headquarters.