Yuffie Kisaragi, White Rose of Wutai and elite awesome super-skilled spec ops ninja operative, had skillfully and elitefully infiltrated Midgar, the belly of the beast!

Well, okay, based on the smell, the beast had a medical problem. And speaking of beasts, a lot of monsters wandering around the scrap piles of the slums. Surprise surprise, the Shinra Security only took care of monsters causing problems to the company.

"Well, they're barely a threat to me," she shrugged, making her way towards her destination.

Moogle posters guided her way, creepy guys in Black Cloaks did creepy guy things not even reacting to monster attacks, and the so-called megapolis was so far just junk and decay. And for some reason her butt was itchy. Well, not her butt, more like her lower back just above it, like...

Putting that to one side (and occasionally scratching) she dispatched monsters, climbed rubble, broke crates, and so on. Standard super spec ops spy stuff.

But eventually the residential area neared... and she saw the place was full of dogs? Big red dogs with their tails on fire and some wearing clothes? Presumably no one had an issue with them unlike the wolves in the scrapheaps but then again, this was such a weird city...

Through the gate, the two guards seemed surprised.

"Hey, did you just come from.... Wait, how are you..."

She ignored them and kept moving, seeing a group of men around a TV along with... some of the dogs? Including one with blonde hair, one with black hair, one with a jumper tied around its waist.

Weird weird city. Anyway, what was the TV talking about? Some nerdy science guy blabbing about...

"Wait, that's Hojo, the shinra evil scientist dude!" Yuffie exclaimed, getting a look from one of the dogs.

"...With cleanup underway. We urge the public to report further observations of unusual symptoms beyond those already noted, but repeat that there is so far no confirmation of any rumours that males are starting to be affected. We also repeat that there is no sign of affecting prepubescent individuals..."

"And some kind of plague outbreak. What a city of garbage..."

"Yuffie?" A male voice spoke up, and she turned to see a blond man in a grey-green jacket, holding a moogle hood.

"Aha, you're my contact!" She said, as a dog rolled its eyes.

"Pretty loud for a spy or somethin, ain't ya..." The... dog... said?!

Yuffie blinked in confusion until the man spoke again.

"I'm Zhijie, and yeah, your contact.... Sorry about not meeting up with you but things are a little chaotic here, and besides, a W-Agent like you shouldn't have had too much trouble... Especially since you don't seem to be having as much issues as other women around here."

"Chaotic, huh? Like this plague outbreak evil science man was talking about? And what's a W?"

"Yes, the outbreak. And it's anyone from where you are...."

Yuffie was a little distracted by noticing a water fountain, and feeling thirsty... but seeing the fountain was taped up and marked as out of service.

"Right. Say, is there anything to drink around here, it's just that fountain seems broken."

Zhijie paused outside the clinic door.

"Bottled water and juice, soda. If Seventh Heaven was open they'd probably serve you something but not booze. Tifa sets an eighteen plus limit. Nibelheimers, ya know?"

"Uh, no, I don't know, I'm a 'w' remember?"

"Oh. Drinking age in Midgar is legally fourteen but bars can set their own age limits higher."

Yuffie considered this.

"Well, that explains a lot about this city."

"People from out of town say that a lot. Anyway, come meet the others...."

The clinic basement held two other men, a blonde in a denim jumpsuit, a strawberry blonde who didn't seem much older than her, and a dog with brown hair, glasses, and a skirt.

"Billy Bob, Polk, and Nayo. This is Yuffie," Zhijie introduced.

"Hi. So, uh, possibly weird question right now but what's with all the dogs wearing clothes around here and now I think about it, where are all the other women in town?"

The dog and two men stared at her, and then Zhijie.

"...Ah, you just got here. Yeah, we have some things to explain," Nayo said.

"Oh, you guys aren't dogs at all, you're those Cosmo mountain lion thingies! I thought you guys were super rare?"

"Um, not quite. See, the outbreak... it's something that apparently turns women into.. Cosmo lion thingies," Billy Bob said.

Yuffie blinked, and looked at the lioness.

"So... you're a woman. And all the other lions were women?"

Nayo nodded.

"You should be fine though, the virus or whatever was in the water, so as long as you haven't drank anything from the tap you'll be fine. You might well be the only non four-legged woman in the city."

"Which means you'll stand out. Unless you want to go take a drink," Polk said.

"Er, is this whole thing reversible?"

Nayo whined a little.

"We... aren't sure yet. Shinra claim they have ideas, but... it's Shinra," Zhijie said.

"Why would they do this though? I assume it was them, right? Not some Avalanche plan, because this seems kinda weird, don't get me wrong."

The three men and one transformed woman winced.

"Um, well... it was kind of them, but may have also accidentally kind of been... not us, but people associated with us," Polk said.

"There's another Avalanche cell here in the sector, kind of a splinter group. They wanted to take some more direct action and we heard that their bombmaker, Jessie, was trying to intercept a shipment when she went missing," Zhijie said.

"They were preparing to bomb the Mako Reactor in sector one I think," Nayo said.

"I like the idea of blowing things up, but there's a lot of risk to that... and I guess with their bombmaker missing and probably with paws that's on hold?"

"Yes. By the way, we should let you know the other Wutaian, Sonon? He's out helping look for Jessie."

"Really? But... this confusion would be a great time to try and get the materia we're after!" Yuffie realised.

"True, but, well, like Polk said, you kind of stand out a lot right now," Billy Bob added.

"Because I'm a W and also not a lion. Okay... Maybe I can get some baggy clothes and pretend to be a boy?"

To try and prove her point, she removed her moogle cloak, and the four others frowned.

"...What? I'm not that obviously feminine, right? Like, I know it's a weird thing to admit and I'll have to put on a deep voice I guess, but I'm pretty sure I could pass for a guy if I had loose enough clothes and longer pants!"

"No, it's more... you're growing a tail. Did you drink any water?" Nayo eventually said.

Yuffie blinked.

"...Oops. A little from a fountain in the scrapyards about half an hour ago."

"Well, maybe that's all the change you'll have. It's unlikely there was much of the contamination in there, it's pretty remote and the water flowing might have washed out most of it already?" Billy Bob said.

"Either way, you probably should stay here for a while. Even with a little tail you will stand out," Zhijie warned.

"Gha... Fine. But what are we gonna do for now then, just wait? Play Triple Triad?"

"Triple what now?" Nayo wondered.

"Er, never mind, wrong game..."

"I was going to go and offer our help to the other Avalanche cell. Barret, Biggs, and Wedge are still in the sector I think, so we speak to them, go look for Jessie. Tifa's already out there I think," Polk said.

"Seems like a plan, but... If I have to wait here, how do I help?"

***

The answer to that  arrived with the other Avalanche cell. She was small and wearing a pink dress, accompanied by an older girl in a white jacket.

"So, uh... babysitting?" Yuffie blinked.

"Holding down the fort!" Betty, the older girl, corrected.

"But this a clinic?" Marlene frowned.

"It's a figure of speech, Marlene, don't worry about it. Anyway, I need you, Betty, and Yuffie to look after this  place while we go look for Jessie," Barret said.

Yuffie totally wasn't intimidated by the hulking guy with a gun for an arm, no siree!

"And how come she's not furry like the other ladies?" Marlene then asked.

"Cos she's not from here and only had a little water," Betty said.

"Anyway, I need to speak to Yuffie a second, darling. You and Betty wait here," Barret added, leading the Wutaian upstairs.

"...Look, kid, I know you're some skilled ninja or something and you're here to help the main group with some raid, and they vouch for you, but... just keep my daughter safe and you're good. You don't..."

"You'll shoot me and feed my corpse to monsters, got it, but I promise I'll look after your kid. And that other kid that's here for some reason," Yuffie nodded rapidly.

"Good. And Betty's here 'cos her dad's coming to help look too. Jessie might have the key to this whole dog lion transforming thing since she was after that shipment, and, well, you're affected too if that tail's any indication. Oh, and I know it's not real fire and like just some magical projection but don't let Marlene play with it."

"My tail's not on fi-Oh my gawd it is, when did that happen?!"

"So, you are changing more. Well... crap," Zhijie said.

"Stop saying naughty words up there!" Betty chastised.

"Oh, that reminds me, don't teach Marlene any Wutaian swear words," Barret warned.

"Can do, but why would I?

"Because she'll ask. She asks Tifa about Nibelheim swear words all the time when she thinks I'm not listening. And I'm pretty sure she's picked up at least one phrase that means 'this really sucks' or something, since Tifa used to say it a lot but stopped...."

"I could teach her a non-swear word and let her think it's a swear word?" Yuffie offered.

"...Nah, just say no all round, Yuffie, it's easier. But yeah, look after them, only drink bottled or canned stuff, you too, and if they start showing signs of changing, call me on the PHS right away."

With that, Avalanche headed out... leaving a Ninja as a babysitter.

"Holding down the fort!" Betty and Marlene corrected.

(Yuffie had no idea who they were correcting but chalked it up to Garbage City Weirdness)

"So, girls... any ideas on what to do?" Yuffie said as she headed downstairs.

"We normally watch cartoons about now but they just have the dumb glasses guy on all the time now," Marlene sighed.

"Ooh, we could play Tetra Master?" Betty said.

"Tetra what?"

"Oh, uh, never mind, wrong game."

Yuffie wracked her brains for an idea to entertain the kids, and herself...

"Miss Yuffie, are you gonna be a lion like the other ladies at some point?" Marlene asked.

"Oh, um... I don't know, actually," She admitted.

"Are you scared?"

"What, me? Pfft! No.... Okay, maybe a little," She admitted.

"I'm not. I'm kind of annoyed. I wanna be a lion but it's only people who did publicly get turned into them," Marlene pouted.

"Yeah, it's kind of unfair. Like, I love cats, I would love to be a big cat with a fire tail and play with the little cats, but it's only older women who all ran around yelping about it," Betty sighed.

"Well, it is kind of unexpected to turn into a different shape. Like, some Ninja back in Wutai can shapeshift but it takes years of training, and anything else that can change you is usually bad..."

"Wait, there's other things people turn into?" Marlene wondered.

"Well, yeah. Like I said some people where I'm from learn to turn themselves into monster forms to fight, but they can turn themselves back. And there's some bad monsters transform people too, like Touch Mes that turn you into a frog."

"Eww! That sounds bad," Betty protested the idea.

"Yeah, I think being a lion is better than a slimy frog," Yuffie admitted.

"The ninjas that can become monsters to fight, what can they be?" Marlene wondered.

"Can you do that?" Betty added.

"Well, they can be anything really, but they train to be one monster only. Like my friend Chekov can be a thing called a Twin Brain to use magic better. I can't do it though, I wanna stay my pretty self and kick... bad guy butt as a normal human."

She looked at her hands, which now seemed to be developing claws, and felt an itch in her ears....

"...Or a lion, maybe," She sighed.

"Are there any other cool things Ninjas can do?" Betty asked.

"Sure, lots! How about I tell you some stories from Wutai?"

"...Will you teach us Wutain swear words?" Marlene said, hopefully.

"Uh, no, sorry, your dad said no."

"Dette var helt ræva..." The younger girl pouted.

"...I guess she got that from listening in on Tifa?"

"She got that from listening in on Tifa," Betty sighed.

"At least it's not actual swearing, but... yeah, Ninja stories!" Yuffie diverted the topic.

***

Yuffie kept the two entertained with various Wutai legends and fables, actual history, and an exaggerated tale of once defeating a SOLDIER on her own.

"And even though I was only about the same age as Betty, he was such a wimp I could defeat him blindfolded! But I was merciful and let him escape. Then I sent him emails to lead him into traps, to make sure he knew I was the superior warrior...."

"Miss Yuffie, your ears are lion-y now," Marlene noted, and a reflective surface confirmed this.

"...Yeah, they are. And I think I'm growing fur too."

She'd removed her boots as she realised she was growing claws there too, and noted there did seem to be a little orange-y fuzz on her arms.

"You guys are okay though, yeah?"

"Yeah..." The pair pouted.

"Not even a fang," Betty grumbled.

Yuffie's other woes right now were that apart from being stuck here, she had limited choices to drink. Marlene only took a certain soda or water, Betty only took water, and the other choice was an energy drink. Which was a bad plan to give to kids.

And probably a bad plan to be the only thing she drank too but it saved the rest for the kids.

There was a knock at the door, and Yuffie tensed for a second until Billy Bob spoke.

"Yuffie? We're back. Can you unlock the door?"

She did so, letting the Avalanche teams in. Billy Bob, Polk, and the two from Barret's cell, Biggs and Wedge, filed in.

"No luck finding Jessie I guess?" She asked.

"None," Biggs sighed.

"Met Tifa though, she's met with some friend of hers and an ex-SOLDIER... They're trying to go up to the top city to look around, crazy sh...tuff, but she's a good fighter and the two guys seem pretty tough as well. They're at the bar with Barret and Nayo."

"Maybe I can go with them?" She tried.

"Doubt it, you're still a little too stand-out," Polk reminded her.

"It's weird though, you took a little and barely changed over, what, six, seven hours? Most of the other women changed all at once."

Yuffie shrugged.

"Vague shinra transformation potion stuff I guess. At least we're not pigs, right?"

"Anyway, your friend Sonon's still looking around the lower city and might not be back until tomorrow...  And there's another problem," Wedge said.

"Ever heard of Don Cornero?" Billy Bob spoke up.

"Uh... He's some kind of creepy mob guy?" Yuffie said.

"Creepy is an understatement. He's meant to be looking for a bride... And with every woman turning into a lioness, he's looking for women who haven;t changed yet, or that much. Story is there's other women like you, that maybe are more humanoid and that's as far as they went..." Biggs sighed.

"Wait, so, I might become a sexy lion lady not just a lady lion?" Yuffie perked up at the idea of staying bipedal at least.

"Which is a bad thing right now. Cornero and the Shinra are both looking for 'more humanoid' women for their own ends. Shinra for science, and Cornero for..."

"....Ew, I think I can guess."

"Yeah. So... might wanna not advertise yourself much."

Yuffie realised this meant....

"I'm stuck here even longer?!"

"Afraid so."

***

Night had fallen, and Yuffie... struggled to sleep. Drinking energy drinks all day had indeed been a bad plan. And by now, more fur had grown and her face was shifted into a slight snout, pointed teeth developing as her normal human molars transformed into predatory fangs.

"And I can't even go get some fresh air... well, as fresh as this city has," She grumbled to herself.

The others in Avalanche were either asleep downstairs or at their homes, planning to help look for women that hadn't changed or were like Yuffie, as they had little expectation that it would end well for them if the Shinra found such women. And it would probably be worse if Cornero found them.

"Won't even let me out to see who this ex-SOLDIER guy is. Bet I could take him, especially if it is Zack," She muttered again, and then heard a voice outside.

A woman, shouting a name. Silently she opened the door, hearing the distant noise of the woman shouting again.

"Sounds like something's up, but... Aha," Yuffie had an idea, donning her moogle cloak again, and quickly inspecting herself in a mirror.

"Ears hidden, tail hidden... Ow, ow," she said as she stuffed said tail down her shorts.

She grimaced with her canine teeth and slight snout, as well as her mostly orange-furred body.

"...Those parts not so hidden but it's dark, right?" She lied to herself, and slipped outside.

She followed the noise to find an anxious lioness near the entrance to a scrapyard full of wrecked trains and went on all fours to at least not have to bother with putting on a voice...

"Hey, what's up?"

The lioness turned, looking frantic.

"My daughter, she ran into the ruins! She's scared of changing like everyone else. I told her she might be too young but... she's panicked... And I can't go in there, the ghosts..."

...Ghosts. Hooray.

"I'll go look for her," Yuffie offered, leaping the fence.

"Be careful!" The lioness warned, and Yuffie began searching.

"...I don't even seem to have a better sense of smell. That or this place just stinks too much," She mused, slipping into some dilapidated warehouse.

As the clouds cleared the moon, though, she spotted a shape atop some old carriages. A young girl, sitting down and sobbing.

"Aha! Hey, kid!" She said. The girl panicked, but Yuffie jumped up beside her.

"It's okay, I'm friendly! And not a ghost!"

"...Ghost?" The kid said.

"Yeah, this place has ghosts. Apparently. Haven't seen any yet..." Yuffie noted.

The wide eyed look on the girls face made Yuffie sigh.

"...There's one floating behind me right now isn't there?"

The girl nodded.

"Okay. You run, back to your mom, I'll fight this ghost. Deal?"

The girl nodded, and ran away. Yuffie threw her cloak off and drew her shuriken.

As she fought it with magic and ninjutsu, she didn't quite realise the lion woman's shouts had attracted other attention. The girl had met her mother, two men in leather vests, and a Shinra trooper, the latter three having been drawn in by the noise of the shouts, and then, the fight in the trainyard.

"What's going on in there?" The Shinra trooper asked.

"The lady's fighting a ghost that was after me," The girl said.

"Lady? She doesn't look like a lioness to me..." One of the leather-vest men mused.

As the distant figure of Yuffie dispatched the ghost and began making her way out of the trainyard herself, heading another direction from the gate, the three men watched the lioness and her daughter leave... and knew they had something to report to their bosses.

"Command, this is Sector Seven... something interesting down here," The Shinra trooper spoke to his radio as he walked away.

And the two men working for the Don were already on the phone as they went the other way.