It was dark in his office this afternoon. The smallest department in the Shinra Electric Power Company was especially quiet since the head, Doctor Palmer, dismissed all of his employees for a break earlier this morning. Although he didn't have many employees to begin with, he was able to find some of the most intelligent minds after an alien woman and stowaway embarked on the Planet, Gaia. She was his best operative in the unit: wise, skilled in firearms, strategic, oddly polite, but the most important thing to him was not her traits but her genius in engineering crafts. THAT was the true beauty of the alien. Suddenly, after Rufus met with his alien woman a few days ago, he's closing up shop with his Department of Space Exploration?
He was lumbering about, gathering items for his favorite cup of tea: the usual lard, sugar and honey. Although he was shuffling about, his preparations for his cup of tea were anything but leisurely. His movements were stifled and rough. He muffled his swearing as he added excessive amounts of sugar, hushed his insulting by adding a large tablespoon of lard, but, as he mixed the honey, he unleashed his anger. He slammed his cup upon his desk and broke it.
"That fool! How come I have to work with some - some impudent child? First, he allows me to work with the alien lifeform to improve the company for years; now, after some conspiracy, he wants to take her away? I wish my daddy were some rich dead guy. That way I can do as I please and not think that my decisions will hurt some part of the business!"
Satisfied with the mess he created, he sat in his black leather deskchair and twirled around in it. He peeked over his shoulder to spot a picture of himself, a few co-workers, and a woman with tattoos on her shoulders. He himself draped his large arm across her shoulders and managed to get her to produce the tiniest hint of a smile.
"She is not of this world, Palmer. Her presence on our planet could be a possible threat to us all. You've been with her for three years, and she has refused to let us examine her thoroughly to ensure the safety of other inhabitants. We could qualify your protectiveness of her as high treason against the orders of your president."
"President Shinra, this isn't fair!" Palmer argued. "Shinboru hasn't done anything wrong, and she's told us that she was a qualified soldier on her own planet. If she was gonna destroy us, an entire fleet would have blasted the Planet to kingdom come!"
"A qualified soldier from another planet is danger within itself! That makes her a bigger threat!"
"If she wanted to kill us, she would've done it before she entered this company. All she's done is benefit us. More sales have passed from us than ever before. People actually trust us again! She hasn't asked for anything other than a place to stay, which we let her find on her own. There's nothing we have that she wants."
"I admit, I disbelieve in her utilization of our Mako or lingering Jenova cells, but she's too strong. Her inhumane strength and adaptability in Gaia causes room for concern. Creatures have been coming from places they normally wouldn't be and destroying them is more difficult. What have you to say about something of this vitality?"
"I say, Shinboru is my friend and she shouldn't have to be treated this way because she's stronger than you!"
"Palmer, I have had it with you and this discussion! Shinboru is to be exiled from here dead or alive! If you want to keep your job, I suggest you go back to constructing airships like the childish fat man you are instead of angering me to a point where resignation will be the only option for you in this company!"
"President Shinra, this is madness!"
"Madness? You're harboring an alien who has the capability of destroying the company by meditating in a lab, and you're calling this entire ordeal madness? You should learn to re-evaluate the importance of your position in the failing department of Shinra's Electric Power Company. Honestly, Palmer, you're not that significant to us."
"That bastard..." Palmer hissed, sipping his tea. "If Shinboru didn't have a reason to kill us before, she certainly has one now because of you, President Rufus Shinra."
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"Well, let's get one chore out of the way. My day off anyway, right...? Yeah, I gotta stop talkin' to myself."
That's what Yuffie was doing: shopping for some new clothes. Sad, isn't it? The one woman on the planet who hates girly stuff has to go shopping on her day off. It's not like she wanted people to know she was in a mall, but she was out of options. Okay, so she usually wears about four outfits in battle and one at home. No one actually cares, so long as she does her job and bathes daily. She at least takes care of her hygiene. So what's the big deal?
It mattered to Reeve apparently, and her coworkers, and everyone else who complains when they do the same thing she does. Especially Cid, Vincent, and the rest of AVALANCHE! Vincent hasn't changed his attire since they met, and he's a living corpse...! Who somehow usually smells approachable. Yuffie sighed at this. She subconsciously went inside a chain store called Sephora and stopped dead in her tracks to mumble things only audible to herself. There was soft jazz music overhead as customers looked at items.
"May I help you, miss?" a woman asked, noticing Yuffie's unresponsive staring. Yuffie didn't answer the woman; she was far too mesmerized by the expensive perfumes and some such rubbish that only Tifa or Shelke or Marlene would wear. "Excuse me. Hello, are you there?"
"Eh?" Yuffie responded, seeing the woman's hand waving in her eyes. "Whoops, sorry. Spaced out for a minute."
"Well, you must be bored," she said, giggling. "Need help with anything?"
"Oh, I'm just looking around," Yuffie answered, frantically waving her hands. "Thought I'd buy...some perfume," she said, wincing at the thought, "for a friend. She doesn't wear it very often, so I don't know what to get her."
"Hm..." the woman hummed, placing a finger to her lips. "A challenge, huh? What's your friend like? Does her personality say something about her?"
Yuffie stared at the woman for a moment, startling her with the blank expression. Suddenly, Yuffie huddled into a corner and contemplated the opinions and definitions of her friends and family. The woman watched a dark aura form around her as she mumbled characteristics of herself to herself. Yuffie then stood up and answered the woman's question gravely albeit, but as honestly as she could from her deductions.
"She's a typical smartass in a charming way if you can grasp a discrete concept of that. She's a rebellious, cocky tomboy who has good intentions, but she'll become aggressive if pushed or tempted. She doesn't consider the consequences in the most important moment, and will act impulsively towards her goal without shame. Her sense of pride creates an innovative twist to her personality; thus, she tends to give herself honorific titles. She represents the sickening modern thought that opposes civilized traditions."
"Eh?" the woman responded, frightened by how ghostly Yuffie's aura became. In truth, she was mimicking the words of her father and her entire being became incensed to the point where she didn't want to shop for anything anymore. The woman chirped another 'eh' before saying, "Oh, well, how about some nicer qualities...with rainbows and sunshine...?"
Yuffie magically perked up at this and searched for good qualities that people have given her. To the woman, it looked like flowers sprouted out of her head and stars glittered around her. "Besides being obnoxious, she's friendly and willing to help anyone in need. She's very clever, reliable and caring. She doesn't even like to indulge in heroics."
"That's much easier to solve. You need something that embraces your friend's boldness," the woman says, directing Yuffie to a certain aisle. A poster of a denim-adorned blonde in black and white hovered above her. She must've been at a beach because the sand was still lingering between her fingers as she held her arms. "We have a lovely sample of Givenchy's Play for Her. It comes in a gift set and a variety of opulent colors."
The woman gently lifted a sampler bottle and placed a drop onto a fragrant stick then waved it about. She dabbed some of the perfume onto Yuffie's wrist and let her sniff it. Yuffie inhaled the scent and gasped.
"Hey, this smells cool!"
"Your friend sounds like a woman who is ready for life's surprises. Givenchy's perfumers created this sparkling composition to astonish and captivate any who dares come near a woman with headstrong characteristics."
"Awesome!" Yuffie commented, tossing a box of the perfume into her basket. "In you go, little guy."
"Oh! And over here is another collection: Aquolina," the woman says, directing Yuffie to the left of the Givenchy shelf. "This particular fragrance is called Pink Sugar. It's a stylish, lively and distinctive item that brings back the play in a woman's childhood memories. I take it your friend is young, so this might attract the inner adventurer."
"Well, guess where you're going, friend," Yuffie said, tossing the other perfume box into the basket. "Oh, can we limit the choices to about five? I just need one of these for her."
"No problem. You gave very specific traits about your friend, so it's a little easier to limit the choices. Over here, there's a collection of Gucci. The fragrance for your friend embodies the line Guilty, which centers around women who shatter expectations and show off a feeling of power. That sense that she can attain whatever she wants—even the thrill of the forbidden."
"Hells yeah, you're goin' in this basket, pal!" Yuffie said, thrusting the box of perfume into her basket. "Well, three down and two more to go."
"Let's see now..." the woman hummed, searching for another collection. She was enjoying the challenge more than Yuffie, who was surprised she knew so much about this junk, and took pride in her successful findings. "A-ha! This collection is Dior's J'adore. This particular fragrance celebrates your friend's confidence in sensuality and spontaneity."
"Sa, it goes in," Yuffie says, tossing the box in the basket.
"And last, but not least, Giorgio Armani's Emporio She. This fragrance is the embodiment of the modern woman: daring, spirited, embracing. This is more mature than all of them combined with dual characteristics embedded in the bottle."
"I'll take it!" Yuffie declared, tossing the box in the basket. She was beaming confidently now.
"Will that be all, miss?"
"Yep! For now anyway. Gotta find..." Yuffie trailed off, eyebrow twitching, "scented soaps..."
"Ah! The woman on the ladder can help you," the woman said, pointing to a startled brunette. "She uses practically all of the soaps in her free time."
"Angela, what have I told you about that?" the woman shouted, growling.
"Anou, I gotta go!" the woman exclaimed, zipping away. "Toodles!"
"Well, that was the most fun I've ever had shopping," Yuffie remarked, carrying one bag from Sephora. "Fighting takes a lot out of a babe like me. Let's see...I got the smell-good stuff, so I need to get some clothes now. The other store was a little too expensive, so let's try..." a glittering light interrupted the ninja.
She walked inside of the store and spotted red-tag sales from one corner to the next. She looked around for something of interest and spotted a tube top. It was military-styled, something Reeve would definitely be proud of, but cut low like a halter just the way she liked them. Seeing as though it was something new for herself, she took it and trailed off elsewhere. There were yellow boot camp short shorts and knee-high socks that called out to her so she took those. She found a really nice black faux leather bomber jacket and took that too. A woman directed her to a fitting room, and she was sold once she looked in the mirror. A perfect ensemble within her color pallet!
She bought the outfit then scurried outside of the mall. Everything went eerily smooth. Yuffie was actually excited to show everything off when she got back to WRO headquarters. Their minds would be blown! Suddenly, quick as a second thought, a cloaked figure bumped into her and made her drop her bags. The woman, as quickly as she came, caught the bags before they hit the ground and held them out to Yuffie.
"I apologize for my carelessness. Please allow me to properly return these," she said, bowing.
"No, it's okay. You look like you're in a hurry," Yuffie said, forcing herself to chuckle nervously. "Thanks."
"My pleasure, miss," the woman said, handing Yuffie her bags and running.
Yuffie watched the woman's retreating form, changing her nervous expression with a more serious one. A couple of Turks were hastily strolling through the crowded sidewalk; they seemed to be following the shady woman. Yuffie observed them closely to see they were whispering to other agents.
"We see her, captain. Her signal was traced to the public streets, just as you said," a man informed.
"Let's continue before she escapes," a woman says, trotting.
Hm...what a strange person, Yuffie thought. My day off just got interesting...
"I am sorry, but your presence on our planet threatens my people."
She ran through the ruins embedded in the mountain passes as quietly as possible.
"I have allowed you to work for Palmer because I wanted to evaluate your cooperation with other humans based on how much you could contribute to the company's defenses, scientific development, and anthropology."
She could feel she was being followed, but the ones who were trailing her weren't humans. They were definitely familiar with her scent by now. These inhuman creatures are excellent hunters for their heightened sense of smell. Fortunately for her, her sense of hearing and sight were an equal match. If they had eyes or ears, perhaps.
"You are not of this world, Shinboru..."
Faster. She kept running until a berserk Behemoth rushed towards her and blocked her path. His gallops forced the insides of the mountain to echo, and his heavy breathing produced irritated flames to spew from his jaws. He bellowed his disapproval of her intrusion in his mountain then called out to peculiar-looking spiders and a few cat-like fiends.
"I don't know anything about you beyond the fact that you have come from another world. For that, we are going to have to terminate you."
Two swords plunged from her back and rotated through open tears in her blue cloak to attach to her gloves. She intercepted them and clung to the hilts in a vice grip as she prepared her stance. If Shinra wanted to kill her, they'd have to re-evaluate hiring aliens for the company's benefit.
The spiders crawled about, impaling the cave floors with their heinous toe-claws. She sprung towards them and released her blades. Whips extended from her gloves and she veered them harshly to the left to intervene a jumping spider's attack then wound them around her body to attack them all. The blades retracted in her hands as she rushed to the Behemoth.
It trembled as it prepared an attack and unleashed a firaga magic. Her eyes glowed a piercing green as she held out her hand, and she redirected the bellowing flames at the spiders, instantly killing them. The cat-like creatures leapt towards her with haste, but she rolled to dodge their attack. She unlocked her blades from the whips then threw them like boomerangs. Her blades separated into four as her swift hand motions commanded them. The creatures were maimed and destroyed, leaving only the Behemoth charging towards her. The four swords split into eight, she retrieved two and performed a barage attack on the beast. Complete, the swords split into 1000 and unleashed a 1000 Needles attack that killed it.
Footsteps were heard over the lingering growls of the disappearing beasts. She turned her head slightly to see the young girl from Edge standing in one of the cave's entrances. She was looking around in awe as she walked towards her.
"Hey, that was good!" she complimented. "You managed to beat all those fiends before I came to help."
The cloaked figure stood her ground. The girl must have followed her after she accidentally knocked her shopping bags out of her hand. Suddenly, other footsteps crept in the shadows of the cave and her blades quickly reattached to their whips before she threw them.
"Behind you!" she shouted, blocking an attack from a blue furred cretin.
"Hang on, I got ya!" the girl said, throwing a Cross Shuriken at a blue beast that was in mid-air. "Wait, these are Makonoids."
"Isn't that obvious?" a male voice said.
The Cross Shuriken returned to its owner as did the blades. The two women looked above them to see a man walking out of the cave's top entrance. A taser rod was positioned on his shoulder so his head was tilted to one side, a smirk was plastered on his face as he inched his way closer to the edge of the cave's balcony. His hair was spiky and had a vibrant red color.
"Well, well. Shinra's favorite alien found a friend. Nice job with the fiends earlier, Shin-chan," the man chuckles, clapping his hands. The Makonoids were clapping their hands with him. "Yeah, see! Very good work."
"How are you doing that?" the girl questioned, gripping her shuriken.
"Doing what?" the man asked, mischievously.
"Making the Makonoids clap, you ass!" she insulted, pointing at the man. "Cut the crap, Reno!"
"I dunno," Reno answered honestly. "Me and Shin-chan were hanging out when the smart people found a way to control the Makonoids so intensely. Ain't that right, Rude?"
"Yeah," Rude stepped out of the entrance beside his partner, Reno, and folded his arms.
"Figures," the girl mumbled, positioning her fighting stance.
"So, Shin-chan, look where we ended up after all we've been through. Doesn't it just piss you off?" Reno questioned, jumping down from the balcony. "It took us a long time to trust each other, and after a couple of drinks I thought you were cool. You made the boss real mad, ya know. That's considered offensive."
"Your president would not accept my apologies," the cloaked woman said. "My offense was too great for him to forgive me. I take it you are my executioners?"
"That's really a much too strong, accurate word," Reno responds. "Look at us as your disciplinarians. Killing you would be harsh, but I think you'd do better suffering on a planet you should've never come to in the first place. Sorry we couldn't hang out more, Shin-chan. It's been a blast, but it's just good business."
"Hey, what about the little ninja chick?" Rude questions.
"Ah, all ninjas have good reflexes right?" Reno comments. "If she can escape, she'll be fine. If not, it was nice seeing you again, Yuffie Kisaragi."