RUFUS SHINRA

By Angelic Dawn

This is a romantic/comedy/action/mystery/suspense/thriller/sci-fi fic written from Rufus' POV. I love Rufus Shinra and this is his big love story…..

I brushed my thick blonde hair back with my fingers. It was a bit sweaty, maybe I should have showered twice that morning. These big important meetings always made me a bit nervous. I looked down and saw that my white jacket was all buttoned up wrong as well; it all looked like I had just gotten out of bed. Those bastards better not make any sarcastic comments about me sleeping in my clothes again, I thought, quickly buttoning up my jacket correctly.

There was a mirror just beside the door leading to the main conference room. Trust Shinra to have mirrors everywhere in their headquarters. Really, I thought, sometimes they're just too vain. I guess I had been guilty of that from time to time too, but come on some of the people in this place just really pissed me off.

I stepped towards the mirror and took a deep look at myself. God you look atrocious, Rufus Shinra. Dark circles under my eyes, strands of blonde hair flopping about all over the place and my white suit looked like it hadn't been ironed in years. Oh well, can't really do anything about that now. I looked at my watch; it was 2 minutes to 11am. Shinra meetings always start bang on time so I had no real time to groom myself. But then again, if you're going to go out drinking with Reno and Rude and Elena then I guess you deserve everything you get.

I took one final glance in the mirror before taking a deep breath and heading towards the large door. There was a large glowing pad to the side that read your palm print. Fascinating technology Hojo installed in the place. It was such a shame he was so weird. Hojo pretty much took control of all of Shinra when my father passed away. All the others sucked up to him and I kind of got forgotten about. But there was definitely no one more qualified to lead Shinra than me. I don't think I was being big-headed either; I was the right man to lead Shinra into the new generation of power and technology. These guys were just amateurs. They didn't know how it was done.

This wasn't the time for such thought, I only had some 30 seconds before the meeting was about to start. I placed my palm upon the glowing pad on the wall and a thin electronic noise came out of the speaker, followed by a female voice. "Palm print accepted, please enter." The door opened automatically and I walked inside the conference room.

It was absolutely massive, it stretched back miles. There was even an audience seating area that could hold at least a thousand people. However there was no audience today and everything seemed stark and empty. Perhaps that's why the room looked so big. I turned to face Hojo, Heidegger and Scarlett all sitting round a small round table in the middle of the room. The sun was peering in through the large window that covered one whole side of the room and the light was reflecting heavily off the table's varnished surface right into my eyes. I tried to look as composed as possible and I could see the slightly annoyed and impatient look on their faces. An expression I knew all too well.

"Glad you could join us" said Heidegger in his deep manly voice. He always titled his head back as he spoke and usually laughed hysterically, but his tone was a little more serious now.

"Took your time didn't you?" Scarlett said, glaring me in the face.

"Sorry" I replied. "I got held up. You know what Rude and Reno are like, always causing trouble. I had to have a quick word with them about it, you know."

Heidegger paused. "I understand. Those Turks are nothing but trouble. I've been wanting to get rid of them for a while now. Oh well, we have more pressing issues at hand here. Please take a seat."

I cautiously moved towards the table, pulled one of the wooden chairs back and sat down. I looked around, Heidegger with his huge beard and smug face. He was so big as well, I was always scared he was going to die of a heart attack at any minute. To his left was Scarlett, looking as sultry and seductive as ever in her silk red dress and blonde hair trussed up. Then finally next to her, was Hojo, who I would have said was the leader of Shinra. Despite his nerdy and weak appearance, he was a cunning and devious man and his looks usually only disguised the fact that he had power over most of Shinra and of Midgar.

The seat I was sat on wasn't very comfortable and I fidgeted around and my eyes were glancing all over the place. I was hoping that they wouldn't notice or at least wouldn't bring it up.

I took a glass of water from the table and drank a little.

"What did you want to see me about then?" I asked.

"We have a special assignment for you, Rufus" said Heidegger.

"A special assignment?"

"That's right" said Scarlett. "We've been watching you a lot lately and think you're doing a really great job for us. We'd like for you to join our elite council and then maybe one day you will run Shinra just as your father predicted all those years ago."

I was taken aback to say the very least. I thought I was walking into a massacre, but instead I was getting heaped on with praise.

"Thank you" I said. "Thank you very much. But what's this special assignment you spoke of?"

Heidegger gave his trademark laugh that echoed all around the large, empty room.

"You're being given our number one operation" Heidegger said. "You're mission is to kidnap Tifa Lockheart."

"Kidnap Tifa Lockheart?" I asked. "But why? What's she got to do with anything?"

"We need a strong fighter to test on our new Mako energy on. If it is successful, then we will have created an indestructible super soldier who will fight with us and help us take over the world. Plus Tifa is a key figure in the Avalanche resistance group. If we can get her then the others will follow without doubt."

Scarlett looked at her long red fingernails for a moment before clenching her fist.

"I, of course, have my own personal reasons for wanting to test this out on Tifa, that little wench."

Scarlett and Heidegger both looked at me eagerly waiting for my acceptance. Hojo didn't look at me at all and I found it quite weird that he hadn't said anything. He simply sat with his arm on the table, cupping his chin with his hand staring into space. He looked more menacing like that than I had ever seen him before. You just never knew what he was thinking and I knew this was all his idea.

"Yes" I replied after thinking it over for a second. "I will do it."

"Splendid" said Heidegger.

"Do not fail us" said Scarlett. "Make sure you bring that wench to us by tomorrow and remember that she must be unharmed. We don't want to see a scratch on her. She must be in perfect condition in order for us to inject the Mako energy."

"I will not fail."

I stood up from the table and saluted the group. The others, except Hojo, stood up as well and saluted back. I then strode confidently out of the room. Once out of the room, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. It had gone much better than I thought it would and they didn't seem to mind that I was a complete mess and still half drunk.

I couldn't believe that I was going to get an opportunity to join the elite council. I could finally make all the decisions and throw all the people out who got on my nerves. My opinion of Heidegger, Scarlett and Hojo just went up ten-fold. Five minutes earlier, I wanted to kill them but now maybe we could work in a team, I never thought of it like that before. We could rule the world together and the Shinra would rise once again.

All I had to do was kidnap Tifa Lockheart. Should be simple, I thought. I mean. How hard could it be to capture a five foot four woman with the skills and experience I had? Not to mention I had all of Shinra to back me up. This plan couldn't fail.

Later that afternoon I gathered twelve Shinra soldiers together for the operation in the lobby area. I had smartened myself up by this time and was ready for action. This new mission had given me a new incentive to try and be head of Shinra and I wouldn't let my father down.

The soldiers lined up in order and saluted. These were soldiers with no real identity, baggy blue uniforms, huge caps and masks to cover their faces. They had no life to live for except to serve. They would literally lay down their life at whatever cost for the Shinra Corporation. I admired their guts and dedication. I was once a Shinra solider when I was just starting up working my way through the ranks. I knew how hard they worked and how little recognition they received.

"All right, men, listen up." I said as loudly as I possibly could. I wanted to try and act with authority if I'm going to be on the elite council. "Our mission is simple. To kidnap Tifa Lockheart of the Avalanche resistance group and bring her back here completely unharmed. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir" they all said in unison.

"We will move around Midgar as stealthily as we can. We don't want to attract any unnecessary attention. Tifa should be located at the Seventh Heaven bar on the west side. Now enough talking. Let's do it."

I thought a short and sweet speech would be better than to keep going on and on. We needed action, not words. I led the line of Shinra soldiers out of the headquarters and onto the streets and slums of Midgar. I didn't stop to think for one moment after that point. This was going to be my finest hour, when I finally received my destiny and nothing was going to stand in my way. I would have Tifa Lockheart in my possession before nightfall.