Okay, so the lady in the big dress was cringing at how she stuffed her face. Which made Yuffie grin and want to do it even more. Making stuffy fancy people cringe was one of her favourite pastimes, after all! Well, it would be, if she ever met many stuffy fancy people, but she kinda spent most of her life avoiding them. Still, pretty pleased with herself, she grabbed another handful of cake from the table and threw it into the air to catch it in her mouth, where it missed, and bounced off her nose, leaving a smear of icing on her face. She went cross-eyed for a moment as she attempted to lick it off, excitedly reaching for the icing with her tongue.

This also did not help endear herself to the guards who were currently still approaching her. Ah. Right. Them. They weren't looking happy. And big dress lady was not being much help in the immediate sense. Which meant Yuffie would have to deal with them herself! Well, it was time to show them just who they were messing with! For she was not just any party crasher, she was the great ninja Yuffie, and she would make sure they all knew it!

She moved to jump on top of the table, except the table had gotten a lot bigger all of a sudden. In fact, big dress lady's big dress had gotten bigger too. And the guards seemed a lot taller. In fact, everybody and everything was getting bigger. Very very rapidly.
"Oh! I get it! You can't fight me fair and square huh!? You gotta go and grow! Yeah, well, I can still take you! I can! Bring it on!" Yuffie cried ineffectually in a tiny voice as she threw several more mock punches, but now she was no bigger than an ant, and the guards were already trying to figure out where she had gone.

"Ohhh, hey, I get it! I shrunk myself to escape! Wow, I'm so good I didn't even know I was doing it!" Yuffie grinned at her newfound freedom. And then while the Big Dress Lady, who was now the HUGE Dress Lady, complained about, well, Yuffie didn't really know, fainting or something stupid, suddenly she was swept up under the very huge dress she had been observing.

Before she knew what was happening, she was inside the perfumed petticoats of the fancy lady.
"Whoa! Lady! This is getting seriously weird!" she protested. Of course, her voice was too tiny to be heard. "Okay, Yuffie, just don't look up, 'cause, well, I don't need to see no rich lady bloomers," Yuffie decided to herself. "But this is the perfect time to make my escape!" She grasped onto the petticoat. "BIG DRESS LADY HOOOOOOO! Get me outta here!" she cried out in her tiny voice, pointing forward as if riding some steed as she lifted herself off the ground to be carried by the big dress.

@ladyhilda

Yuffie cocked her head a little, hands on her hips as she considered his counter-offer. Well, technically it was a correction, but that was how Yuffie took it. On one hand, it seemed kinda uppity for her new minion to be asking to renegotiate the deal, but on the other hand, it still worked out well for her. She still got treasure, right?
"Wow, you drive a hard bargain, Verik, but deal!" she thrust her hand out for him to shake, a big grin on her face.

He asked if she hunted treasure, and then seemed to call her a thief. She turned, confused for a moment.
"Wait, how did you know I was a-" And then she paused. She was PRETTY sure she hadn't told him. And confessing being a thief didn't USUALLY end very well. "I-I mean, I'm not a thief. Whaaaaaaaaaaat? Where would you get THAT crazy idea?" she asked with ridiculously feigned innocence and a nervous laugh, followed by a small smile and a giggle as she headed back towards the chocobo.

"Though, y'know, people DID used to call me the Treasure Princess," she remarked with a proud smile, itching her nose as she climbed onto the chocobo. She wouldn't point out that by 'people' she meant 'herself'. She was a person, so it wasn't even a lie! "I'm super good at finding treasure where ever I go! Especially when you trick some rube into doing all the hard work for you and then you just swoop in and steal the treasure at the last second!" She threw her head back and laughed. "Nyuk nyuk nyuk!" And then she paused. "Uhhh, not that I'm doing that to you. TOTALLY different working relationship this. Besides, I was young then! And he was Shinra, so, y'know, it was fair game," she shrugged.

When he asked what materia was, she paused, gawping for a moment.
"You don't know what materia is? It's only the COOLEST thing ever! It's like these orbs except they're like... um... crystalised... mako... memories... of...?" Yuffie trailed off, frowning. "Okay, look, you don't have to know WHAT they are, all you gotta know is they're, like, magic orbs that make you able to all kinds of neat stuff. Like use magic!" She grinned. "Boy, you're lucky to have me here! I just so happen to be the world's greatest materia hunter!" She beamed. "I can show you how to find it and all the neat stuff it does!"

And then she paused, realising that she'd have been a LOT better off telling him it was just worthless.
"Uh, I mean, although, of course, you gotta be a pro to use it at all, so, like, I'm sure you're better off giving anything you find to me," Yuffie grinned quickly.

"Sure thing! Let's get movin'," Yuffie chirped, kicking her chocobo to move. "Let's get goin', Beaky! So commands Beast Master Yuffie!" she called out, pointing down the road as the chocobo began to plod in a slow walk. She turned back to Verik. "Injured, huh? I mean, sure, most people get pretty beat up savin' the world. Don't tell anyone, but I totally saw Cloud on his knees crying when we were fighting Sephiroth. The whole PARTY woulda gone to pieces if I hadn't been there, holding us all together," she gloated as they walked. "Yep. It's a big responsibility bein' the greatest warrior on your world, but, hey, someone's gotta do it, right? The others were lucky I was there!" she beamed. She was enjoying this, building up her own legend without the others around to point out the slight... flaws... in her claims.

@[Verik Einhart]

Yuffie flew through the air as he disappeared into that same inky darkness, which crackled with its own energy. Yuffie landed but quickly leapt back, away from it, to land on solid ground. He had emerged behind her, and continued to taunt her. She turned, letting out an angry cry of frustration that he had dodged her attack.
"Ewww, look at this stuff. Just as gross as ever," she said with a wrinkled nose, trying to hide her fear of it behind bravado. But even as she did, he taunted her, apparently not even remembering Sonon's name. She clutched at her shuriken, her knuckles turning white with anger. "You don't even REMEMBER!?" she called out in anger and disbelief. She dropped back into her stance, a fireball forming in her hand. "I'm gonna carve his name into your FOREHEAD so you never forget!" she spat, and she flung a fireball directly at him as he stopped to spread his darkness.

Slowly though, his darkness spread out, consuming the terrain, and Yuffie again threw herself backwards, hopping from ground to rock to tree branch to keep as much distance from the disgusting substance as she could.
"Ew! Ew! Ew! Don't let it touch me!" she shrieked without thinking, looking down at it in disgust. She looked over at him, flush with frustration. "Ew? You just CARRY dead bodies around with you? What, was the yucky darkness tar crud not gross enough for you? You were like, hey, how can I be EVEN MORE disgusting? Once I've kicked your butt, you're giving Sonon back to me, and I'm making sure he gets a PROPER burial!" With proper Wutai traditions. Yuffie could do that. Kinda. Well, she'd been to funerals. She knew her traditions. She'd make sure she did right by Sonon and his family. To make up for doing wrong.

Except the darkness was increasing. She had to jump back to another branch as it consumed the area. This wasn't working. She had long ranged attacks, but without engaging him directly, she didn't stand much chance of doing any real damage, and he could keep spreading the darkness. She'd have to try something clever!

Luckily, you couldn't spell Yuffie without a C L E V A and an R. Wait. E R. Was that right? Ugh, Shinra people had the weirdest way of writing, but now wasn't the time to worry about that!

"I see you're just as much of a coward as you always were," she said with as much pep in her voice as she could manage. "Hiding behind that gross darkness stuff instead of just fighting me like a real man. What's the matter? Know you couldn't possibly keep up with the Great Yuffie Kisaragi in a real fight? Can't say I blame you. I kicked your ass last time. Ohhh, do you still wake up at night crying about it? Boo hoo! I remember when the mean Yuffie lady beat me up real bad!" she put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You know you can't beat me in a fair fight! Admit it, you're a coward, and without your creepy darkness powers, you're NOTHING!" she taunted. The plan was, well, obvious. Get him to stop using his powers and engage her in a direct fight. THEN she was confident she could take him down.

Aria Diotisalvi

Yuffie knew that to an outside observer she could seem a little, well, chaotic. Not everybody could keep up with her energetic spirit, and to some, she knew they saw her as an amoral rule breaker who quite happily caused chaos where ever she went. And while it was true that she did enjoy breaking rules, and yes, quite often, chaos did follow in her wake, she wasn't exactly the type to embrace chaos for chaos's sake. She always had an objective. Sure, she liked to find the most fun way possible to that objective sometimes, and if you could have a little fun with your enemies in the process, why not? But everything she had ever done, for as long as she had remembered, had been for Wutai. Maybe not her father's idea of Wutai, but what she wanted for it. To fight back against Shinra. To free her people and restore Wutai to what it always should have been.

The point was, now stranded in the past (as Yuffie still believed it to be), she didn't have any of that. Wutai didn't even exist here. It might not for another hundred years! Or a thousand! Or maybe, like, a week. Yuffie wasn't sure. History class had always been boring so she tended to skip it to practice her stealth by sneaking into the Pagoda. Which always went well and she told Dad a thousand times that statue was broken when she got there and anyway she wasn't there because she wasn't allowed to be there and no she didn't know how that statue dust had gotten on her shoes.

....Ahem.

The point WAS, it had been a LONG time since Yuffie had been causing trouble JUST to cause trouble. Not since she had been a little girl and she wanted to annoy her Dad or her teachers. Or okay sometimes it had been fun to annoy that dark haired SOLDIER guy, but even then she'd been after materia and treasure for Wutai! Well, for herself,  but benefitting her benefitted Wutai!

But stranded in the past she was free from all of that! For the first time, she could just have some FUN! Which was why when she heard about some hoity toity party for rich people, she decided it was time to enjoy herself a tiny bit. Besides, they clearly weren't Wutainese, which meant that they would, in the future, be heirs to Shinra peeps or whatever, right? And that meant stealing from them was STILL hurting Shinra in the future, so, well, technically she was still helping Wutai, out, right?

Plus, hoity toity party and they didn't invite her!? Oh, sure, Yuffie HATED those things when her Dad forced her to go to them, and there was NO way she was wearing a kimono for anyone here, but it was the principle of the thing! Sure, Wutai might not exist yet, but she was still the daughter of its ruler! And she'd saved the world! Well, she'd helped. Well, the world had been saved and she had BEEN there. The point was, she deserved an invite!

So she'd teach those stuffed shirt snobs for snubbing her! Even if they PROBABLY didn't know she existed. They totally should. SURELY her legend had spread by now! She'd told, like, three, maybe FOUR people who she was. Gawd, how many people did she have to tell?

***

And that was how Yuffie was now undertaking Operation Untoity Their Hoity. Sneaking in to the establishment had been no challenge for a NINJA. Well, it had been no challenge for a ninja after two attempts. Look, everybody has to have at least two practice runs, right? Besides, she had to get the EQUIPMENT in. Maybe the strange shop selling things from a place called Sonora should have been a sign she wasn't trapped in the past, but Yuffie had no idea about technology. Who knew how long the dumb Shinra peeps had had it? Besides, it served her purpose pretty well. She'd seen them preparing their harps and wheeling in BORING rich people instruments, so she had planned the perfect disruption.

She'd gotten an instrument of her own.

Moving quickly, she snubbed out one of the chandeliers, and then another, darting across the rafters as the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. She waited for surprise to fall, and for there to be a sudden hush, and then she let out her best laugh, pointing down at the foolish rich folk below.

Which would probably be more effective if she hadn't just turned the room into darkness.

"Hahahaha! Hello, rich losers of the past! Never fear, for I am here to liberate you! Liberate you from the boredom that captures your soul! To spice this party up a little! To show you what a real party girl can do!" she taunted. And then suddenly she cast fire at the two nearest chandeliers, lighting them back up to highlight Yuffie standing in the rafters. Holding what was clearly an electric guitar. She began to strum it. A guitar riff began to play. "Oh, what's the difference between a real party girl and what you lot are doing?"

She threw up her hands and several of her coloured ninja smoke bombs went off elsewhere in the rafters, exploding in puffs of glorious bright coloured smoke and lighting up the chandeliers she had knocked out.
"PRESENTATION!" she cried cheerfully as she began to rock out with the guitar. She began to jump along the rafter, playing the guitar as she banged her head to the blaring rock music.

.....which, if anybody knew Yuffie and her issues with balance, might have known was NOT her best idea, because when she tried to hop onto one foot to strum the guitar, she immediately lost her balance.
"WH-WH-WH-WHOOOOOA!" she called out, her arms pinwheeling before she fell clean out of the rafters. The music continued to play, because, well, Yuffie wasn't learning to play a guitar for THIS prank. She'd just bought a recording and stuck it on a speaker she'd, uh, liberated from the Sonora shop. Regardless, Yuffie plummeted out of the rafter, before the guitar and its cord snagged on it, causing her to swing across the big hallway screaming. She let go and was sent flying through the air, upside down, where she landed face down in the huge ornate cake that was on the buffet table with a mighty splat, her legs sticking out of it in the air as cake flew everywhere.

Slowly, Yuffie sat up, dazed, confused, covered in cake and looking at some very angry people. She wiped the cake from her face slowly, giving a slightly sheepish smile.
"Uh, ta-" she began, when the guitar fell, following her, and landed in a huge trifle directly by her face, which immediately splattered it all over her face. "-da?" she finished unconfidently, letting out a very nervous giggle.

@ladyhilda