Yuffie grumbled under her breath as she sat on the subway. She was on her way to the mall, where she would apparently be employed as a security guard.
The Wutainian ninja let out a loud whine as the overly-baggy uniform rubbed irritably against her skin.
"I don't get it! Why do I have to be a security guard? There's nothing to do at the mall anyway! Well, at least there's nothing to do that wouldn't get me fired…" Yuffie huffed and crossed her arms angrily. After much time passed, with the 22 year old simmering in her anger, the doors opened to the train station of downtown Edge.
However, the ninja was so occupied with her thoughts she didn't catch the announcement until it was too late.
Just as the doors were slipping closed, Yuffie made a loud "Yip" noise and dove towards the doors. Ignoring the angry "What's your problem?"s and "Get out of the way!"s, the girl dove through the doors by the skin of her teeth.
A short bus ride later, Yuffie found herself stepping over the threshold into the bustling mall.
Making her way towards the security room, Yuffie idly wondered where how everyone else was doing. And when she would get a lunch break.
As she pushed the door open, her eyes settled on a pudgy man seated behind a desk. At her entrance, the man looked up and audibly groaned.
"That's not nice Irve!"
"You are the Cirque De Shinra cast member that is supposed to be working here?"
"You sound unhappy to see me!"
"Every time I do see you, you have a materia centered object stuffed in your shirt."
"…Your point is?" Yuffie grinned triumphantly at the small twitch the older man's left eye made, placing her hands on her hips.
"Since you are so accustomed to how our job works, let me just give you the basics." Yuffie nodded once so the man continued.
"If you see someone fighting, stop them. If you see someone stealing, stop them too. If you see someone who needs help, help them. Got it?"
Yuffie threw the man a playfully insulted glare, "You make it sound like I'm an idiot! Of course I get it!" And with that, Yuffie spun on her heel and left the room.
"Good Gaia are we all in for hell…" Irve said as he slumped back into his chair.
An hour.
That's how long has passed since Yuffie begun patrolling the mall. And nothing had happened. The ninja girl was so bored she had resorted to hiding in a clothes rack shouting "Pick me Pick me!" For the last twenty minutes….until the store manager threw her out.
So here she was, back to wandering the mall aimlessly without anything interesting happening. Soon, however, she came upon what appeared to be a mini golf course lit only by several black lights that reflected off of neon colors.
Making soft cooing noises, the girl wandered awe-filled into the area. Just as she considered stuffing one of the many neon light-bulbs into her shirt, a young voice called out to her.
"Hey! Hey you! Do you wanna play a game?" Yuffie spun on her heel holding her hands up in a surrendering gesture.
"I wasn't stealing anything!" The three boys, no older than eleven, looked at her curiously before holding up a deck of cards.
"Do you wanna play a game?" The child with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes stood in front asked again.
"What kinda game?" Yuffie asked, her curiosity peaked.
"Blackjack."
"Aren't you a little young to be gambling?" An eerie smile crept across the blonde's lips.
"You have no idea. So, do you?" Yuffie pondered the idea for a moment before nodding.
"Excellent." The boy said as he led her to the air hockey table.
"Now, what do you have to bet?" Yuffie dug around in her pockets and pulled out three hundred gil. The boy did the same and pulled out some strange diamond-shaped crystals, laying them on the table.
"What is that?" Yuffie asked, poking one as the boy shuffled the deck.
"Munny."
"Huh?" The boy didn't respond, instead proceeded to pass the cards out. Yuffie looked at the cards sat in front of her. A seven and an eight. 15. That wasn't bad, and Yuffie didn't want to bust.
"Hit or stick?" The boy asked.
"Stick." Yuffie responded confidently, eyeing the strange crystals with undisguised desire.
"I call." The ninja flipped the cards.
"15!" She responded happily, reaching forward to snag the crystals and her gil back. But a small hand swatted her away. Slowly, the boy flipped his own cards.
"21." The boy said, gathering the gil and crystals before stuffing them into his pocket.
"WAIT A MINUTE I WANT A REMATCH!" Yuffie shouted, jumping from her seat and jabbing a finger at the child, earning several glares from passers-by.
"What do you have to bet?" Pondering that for a moment, Yuffie snapped her fingers and pulled out a potion.
The boy examined it with the intensity of a general examining a battle plan before nodding.
Half an hour later Yuffie was now potionless, etherless, shoeless, and holding her pants up with one hand.
"How did you do that?" She asked, anger and admiration laced into her tone.
"I have luck. And skill." Yuffie growled, stomping her foot in anger.
"Who are you kid!?" At that, the kid smirked over his shoulder as he turned to leave.
"Luxord." With that, the kid disappeared into a large mob of people leaving Yuffie in the beginning of a tantrum.
"That was easier than I expected," Luxord thought as he ceased use of the mimic materia and proceeded back to the security room where he would watch the monitors, "Now all that's left is to make sure she actually does her job."