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         "Reeve, goddamit, I don't care what that Dyson piece of shit says, I'm not staying in this building one minute..."

         The momentary red dot that flickered across the forehead of Cid Highwind was the only warning he had. Fortunately, with instincts honed from decades of cutthroat office politics, the man standing across from him managed to react just in time.

         Just an instant before the large, picture window looking out of the Conference room of the Shinra building shattered with the impact of a single armor-piercing round, Reeve threw himself into the oblivious Airship Admiral and knocked the both of them to the ground. In time with the shattered window, the second row drawer of the filing cabinet which had been directly behind Cid exploded as the armor-piercing bullet tore into its delicate interior and shredded paper and wood alike, producing an explosion that, if not impressive, was certainly meticulously thorough.

         The graceful feline body of Red XIII was already darting into the relative safety of a nearby wall as the sniper outside the Shinra building, having been given an instant to assess the fact that he'd been discovered, flipped his rifle over to full auto and let loose an unaimed storm intent on destroying everything and everyone in the large, luxuriously furnished Conference room. Vince, the first of Reeve's bodyguards, crashed against the splintered end of the conference table with most of his chest missing, his eyes already going blank. He had thoughtlessly and selflessly thrown himself between his President and the storm of fire from the sniper outside, and had paid the ultimate price. Reeve would miss him.

         Given one more second of life thanks to Vince's valiant sacrifice, he had just enough time to roll into the relative safety provided by the thick oak and metal of the desk supports. Grunting angrily, he dragged a shocked Cid Highwind in with him just as the sniper finally corrected his aim and made one last attempt for the space of floor that the pilot had occupied less than a second earlier.

         Paul, Reeve's second bodyguard, slammed into the oak supports beside him, his pistol cocked and ready, as he waited anxiously for his President's orders.

         "Reeve... !" Cid managed in stunned amazement, as the Shinra President calmly pulled his PHS from the breast pocket of his jacket and thumbed it open.

         "Security, this is Reeve."

         "Security here, Mr. President."

         Another barrage of wood chips flew over their ducked heads, and the armor piercing bullets ate their way hungrily through the thick desk supports.

         "We've got a sniper..." A loud explosion cut him off, as the floor of the room shook slightly, and Security spoke again.

         "Taken care of, Mr. President. Are you all right, sir?"

         "Reeve, you... you saved my life!" Cid managed in shocked disbelief.

         Reeve cautiously stuck his head up over the splintered ruin of the conference table and took stock of the thick plume of black smoke rising from the wreckage of what had once been the top three floors of the Shinra book depository. The security turrets on top of the Shinra building were nothing it not efficient. He hoped that no one had been in the depository, with the exception of the sniper, when it had been vaporized. Fortunately, the repository had been closed today thanks to the ongoing war with Dyson Corporation, so the likelihood of civilian casualties was unlikely.

         In New Midgar, at least.

         "I'm fine. Vince is dead. The rest of us are okay." He settled back against the shattered table and noticed that Cid was still struggling to speak. So Dyson had attempted to kill him, even though it was still eight hours before their deadline, and almost fifty percent of Shinra's personal stocks, bonds and files had yet to be transferred to Dyson custody. And the executive who had come to take them was certainly gone as well, even though he had told them he was merely leaving them in the conference room for a moment to make a private call to his superior. That could mean only one thing, and Reeve felt cold as he realized that many more people than Vince were going to die today.

         "War Room, this is Reeve."

         "We're here, Mr. President," General Hawk responded crisply. "What can we do for you?"

         "Grissom, I want to scramble four large detachments of infantry and Airship transports immediately, everything we have. They are to head with all urgency to the towns of Kalm, Cosmo Canyon, North Corel, and Nibleheim, and annihilate whatever Dyson forces may be in that area. They are out for slaughter, General Hawk. Protect those towns at all costs. Take prisoners if you can, but you are cleared to use deadly force on anything which you feel may be a threat."

         "Consider it done, Mr. President," Hawk agreed. The transmission ended, assuring Reeve that the General was already shouting orders and scrambling his troops. He just prayed that they would arrive in time to save even one innocent life.

         "Reeve, you saved my life!" Cid practically yelled, jerking Reeve's attention back to the amazed Airship Admiral, as Red calmly padded over to where they crouched behind the table and regarded them thoughtfully. "How in tha' fuck did you..."

         "You don't rise this high in Shinra corporation without developing a healthy reaction time," Reeve said dismissively, rising to his feet and dusting some splinters of wood from his unblemished velvet suit. "Think nothing of it."

         "I take it this was a Dyson assassination attempt?" Red asked, gritting his sharp, white teeth. Reeve nodded, and Red looked away, pained. "Than that means they are cutting their losses. Something must have happened over in Wutai. They have given up on taking the rest of Shinra, and so the towns of the world will suffer for their loss."

         "Sir, I'm going to check the perimeter," Paul advised him as the bodyguard walked calmly for the door. "Stay here until the security squad arrives."

         "Now wait just a goddamn minute!" Cid protested angrily, as Paul cautiously opened the door to the conference room and darted outside, his pistol snapping right and then left to cover the hallway. "We ain't even finished turnin' Shinra over to those bastards! Why would they want ta kill us?"

         "Cosmo Canyon is not easily approachable, Red," Reeve said slowly, hoping to reassure his now expressionless friend. "Dyson soldiers cannot have made much progress in their advance on the town. There is a good chance that my men will arrive in time to save it."

         "Yes," Red acknowledged dully, his good eye blinking as he turned away, settled onto his haunches and stared at the door leading out of the room. "A good chance."

         "You mean those bastards are moving on the towns?" Cid asked in disbelief, still confused. "What tha hell is goin' on here, Reeve?"

         "Someone has obviously moved against Dyson Corporation." Reeve spoke with chilling calm, his emotions numbed at the thought of the carnage such an attack had likely unleashed. "As Red stated, they are cutting their losses. Cloud and Tifa are now out of the picture, one way or the other. With no further leverage to use against us, they are attempting to take what they've already obtained, kill those of us that they can, and evacuate."

         "Then it's over?" Cid asked. "We've won?"

         "Shinra will survive," Reeve acknowledged dully. He glanced down at Red, still staring intently at nothing, his face an expressionless mask. "Dyson will likely be thrown into disarray, perhaps disbanded entirely."

         "Hall's clear, sir," Paul said as he entered the room, his pistol holstered securely. "Looks like that sniper was all they left behind."

         "What about the Dyson executive?"

         Paul's shook his head negatively, clenching his teeth. "Sorry sir. He's nowhere in the city. The gate guards said he brushed past them, said you'd be killed if any action was taken against him, and got picked up by a Dyson Airship just outside of town. We're currently tracking its vector, but we don't have any Airships to send after it since you've already ordered everyone to attack those Dyson soldiers."

         "Leave it be." Reeve clasped his hands behind his back. "Protecting those towns is our top priority. We can deal with him later. I assume the soldiers enroute to Wutai by boat have already been cleared to attack?"

         "Yessir," Paul acknowledged. "They'll be hitting the place in less than an hour, if they can get past the defenses. But it's gonna' get ugly, sir."

         "Can't prevent that now," Reeve responded with a shake of his head. "All right, Admiral, let's move out. Might as well do what we can to coordinate the soldiers and see what we can salvage from this horrible affair."

         "What about Cloud and Tifa?" Cid asked as they filed out of the rubble-filled conference room, just as a squad of Shinra security guards showed up to escort them to Reeve's office. "You think... you think they made it out?"

         "We'll find out soon enough." Reeve glanced around at the stern faced soldiers surrounding them and caught Red's eye, his features cold. "You can be certain of one thing, gentlemen. Dyson Corporation will no longer exist by the end of this week. They have gone too far, done too much damage. One way or another, they are going to be taken out of the big picture. For good."

         As the last of the Dyson Attack Armor joined the large pile of dead and dying machinery which Cloud was using to provide a small measure of cover, he sunk to one knee involuntarily, clutching the gaping wound in his side and trying to breath. His vision was blurring, but he knew that he could not pass out, not until they stopped coming. Twenty-two had fallen so far, but he knew that many more were soon to arrive. It was looking less and less likely that they would win this fight.

         Additional explosions had been clearly audible from outside the building, and Cloud was still at a loss as to what was causing them. Unless the Dyson troops were for some reason fighting amongst themselves for the honor of taking him out, he could think of no reason that could account for the added conflict. He glanced at Tifa, who was looking quite pale, her breathing harsh and labored, but her eyes still burned angrily, and he knew that he would fall before she would, even with her broken legs.

         He would have never thought it would end like this. He would never again see Aeris, Devin. His town, Nibleheim. Or his comrades in arms. The last thing he would see was the laser sight of the lucky Attack suit that finally ended his life, and would shortly send his wife to join him.

         Through strength of will alone, he pushed himself back to his feet and took a stumbling step forward, bracing himself by resting his hand against the pile of smoking and crushed armor and blinking quickly, doing his best to save what he could of his rapidly dimming vision. He glanced at the carnage around him and smiled, grimly. Twenty-two was just the start. He was going for the record, here.

         Finally, he managed to pick up a group of cautious footsteps through the ringing in his ears. So they'd run out of Attack armor. What was likely coming at him was a platoon of soldiers, hoping to destroy him by numbers alone. Tifa shuddered, obviously pained greatly by her injuries, her eyes momentarily looking distant. As Cloud began to stumble toward her she seemed to focus, and flared with magic, bringing a personal Wall up around his body for what was probably going to be the last time. She managed a weak wink to show him she was still alive. That one spell would be enough. Cloud would make it so.

         The first of the footsteps came into view through the smoke, little more than a vague, black outline. He crouched into the cover of the pile of shattered Attack Armor, content to let it approach and, with luck, get the drop on the first of them. More figures appeared out of the smoke, vague black outlines which fanned out toward them in a textbook perfect flanking formation. Cloud had to acknowledge that they had him beat. Unarmed, he'd get six of them, maybe seven. But the way they were spreading out, there was no way he could take all sixteen. This was the end. Cloud was ready.

         "It's clear," a loud voice yelled, and Cloud spun around in shock to find a black clad figure standing behind him, arms crossed across its chest. It was a female voice that had spoken, one that from its position at his back could have easily ended his life before he even knew what was happening. So why had it given itself away?

         "Cool your jets, Strife," the female ordered him calmly, shaking her head disapprovingly, as if disappointed with how easy it had been to sneak up on him. She motioned to the smoke behind him, and two more figures stepped from inside it, a pikeman flanking a swordsman. Cloud looked closer, his eyes widening as he got a closer look. Not a swordsman. A swordswoman.

         "Lady Kisaragi ordered us to save your ass," the unidentified woman said, punching him lightly in the shoulder, grinning through the black camouflage paint that covered her face. "Oh, and you might want to go say hello to your daughter. I think she's a bit worried about you."

         "Aeris?" Cloud asked in disbelief, as he stumbled from the mess of Attack Armor and advanced on the pair of figures.

         "Dad?" The voice was unmistakable. The sword wielder sheathed their weapon and rushed toward him, and before he could react her arms were wrapped around his aching body, her head pressed protectively against his chest. The pikeman walked slowly after her, giving Cloud a respectful nod. It was then that Cloud recognized him. Dack Highwind. Had Cid come to rescue them, then?

         "Aeris..." he said, awkwardly wrapping the arm that he could still move around her waist. "What are you DOING here?"

         "We're here to save you, Dad," she blurted out, and Cloud realized to his dismay that she was almost crying. "Thank god you're all right. I was so worried!"

         "If... if you're here...," Cloud managed, as he pulled her over toward Tifa and found her quite awake, smiling. "Where's Devin? Did you get to him in time?"

         "He's going after Faulk," Aeris said, as she let him go and rushed to her mother, squeezing her hand gently, as if afraid she would break if she hugged her. "Are you okay, Mom?"

         "Fine, now," Tifa grunted, though she couldn't completely hide the pain in her features. "I'm just glad you're okay, Aeris!" Her voice turned gently reproachful. "Whatever possessed you to come all the way to Wutai to try and save us? Didn't you realize how dangerous that would be?"

         "Strife, some medtechs have just arrived. We'll move your wife out anytime your ready. Just let us know." The Wutai ninja that had snuck up on him earlier, having again appeared at his side, faded back into the smoke just as quickly, leaving him alone with his family.

         Aeris straightened and shook her head quickly. "We had to do something, Mom. We couldn't just sit by and let Dyson kill you."

         "So where IS Devin?" Cloud asked, suddenly worried, both for his son and what he might be doing. "You said he went after Faulk? Is he all by himself?"

         "No. He's got help." Aeris gave him a furtive, hesitant grin. "And you'll never guess who."

         "Red?" Cloud hazarded. "Cid? Barret?"

         Aeris shook her head at each name, then raised her hand to silence his guesses. "No, they're all back in New Midgar. He's with a girl named Ada. Ada Dyson."

         If it hadn't been firmly attached to his skull despite the damage to his body, Cloud knew with grim certainty that his jaw would have hit the floor.

         A beeping from the computer station caught his attention, and at first he ignored it, so lost in his own pain that he didn't care if the entire Hive was about to explode. It was too much to take in, too much to bear. They were all dead. He had killed everyone.

         Ada left him to his reflections for a moment as she rose and walked over to the computer terminal to investigate the sound, her own face a hard mask. Devin couldn't read her emotions, but he was too busy grappling with his own to care much for them, regardless.

         He was dimly aware of her sitting down at the terminal and regarding it for a second, then typing quickly on the keys.

         You sure would have made a great SOLDIER, Devin Strife. In just one day you managed to kill thousands of people. Even the great Sephiroth never managed that little feat.

         "Devin," Ada said softly.

         He didn't answer, staring dully at the floor, barely aware of the aching in his heavily cut left foot.

         "Devin, it's Cain. He's on the computer."

         Devin didn't hear her at first, but slowly, the words managed to sink in. Not daring to believe it, not yet, he slowly rose and limped over to the computer terminal. Cain had finally gotten in? Then maybe... just maybe...

         Words were being typed on the screen, from a remote terminal somewhere, likely Cain's laptop. Devin forced his eyes to focus and attempted to read it.

         "IS DEVIN THERE?"

         He glanced at Ada, who quickly typed a positive reply.

         "DEVIN, THIS IS CAIN. I'VE GOT ACCESS TO MOST OF THE DYSON SECURITY NETWORK, BUT THE TOP COMMAND CODES ARE ALL LOCKED DOWN. I CAN'T ACCESS THEM FROM WHERE I AM, BUT DON'T WORRY ABOUT NIBLEHEIM. I MANAGED TO COUNTERMAND THE ORDERS TO LEVEL IT."

         Shuddering, Devin let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, feeling as if he was in a waking nightmare. Nibleheim was safe!

         "THAT'S THE ONLY ORDER I GOT. I NEED TO KNOW IF THERE WERE ANY OTHERS. ANY OTHER TOWNS THAT GOT WHACKED."

         Devin crouched at Ada's side, as she waited for his answer. "Tell him Faulk gave orders to hit Kalm and Cosmo Canyon as well," he rasped, his voice tight. "Ask him if he countermanded those orders."

         Ada typed, and Devin closed his eyes against the pain after reading the reply.

         "THEY GOT PAST ME. I'M SORRY DEVIN. IT'S MY FAULT."

         Kalm. Cosmo Canyon. They're gone. He clenched his hands into fists, holding back the sudden urge to cry. You're wrong, Cain. It's not your fault. It's mine. It's all mine.

         "THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE, DEVIN. ADA. SOMETHING I FOUND WHILE I WAS HACKING MY WAY INTO THE SECURITY NETWORK. A PRISONER LIST. HIGH SECURITY A-BLOCK, THREE FLOORS BELOW THE OFFICE. ONE OCCUPANT."

         "Who?" Devin rose to his feet, suddenly daring to hope that it might be one of his parents, that at least one of them might have survived Faulk's execution order.

         "IT WASN'T EASY TO ACCESS, BUT I MANAGED TO TRACK IT DOWN. I DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS, BUT HE'S PROBABLY REALLY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE THIS WAS UNDER LIKE TEN SECURITY ENCRYPTIONS. THE COMPUTER LISTED THE PRISONER AS A CODENAME ONLY. PIANO TEACHER. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS?"

         Beside him, he heard Ada make a strange, barely audible noise somewhere near the back of her throat.

         "Ada?" He glanced back at the screen. "Do you know what that..."

         He didn't get the chance to finish. She bolted from the chair, leapt over the desk, and was tearing out of the office before Devin had even closed his mouth.

         Yuffie Kisaragi brushed off the rapidly weakening grip of the last of the Dyson guards as he made one last attempt to grab her before the blood gushing from his slashed throat silenced him for good. He had been the last of the soldiers that stood between her and the A-Block of the Dyson High Security Prison, equipped only with a knife which he'd wielded with less than adequate grace. He was no longer important, and it was time to restore her honor. That of her family as well of her country. The man who had dishonored Lord Godo and Wutai, as well as tricked them out of a fortune in Materia, would soon be gone from the world forever.

         She marched quickly for the door to High Security cell 2A, and paused for a second at the closed entrance before sending one sharp point of her Oritsuru into the security panel which held the door closed. Taking a moment to focus her thoughts and ignoring the shower of sparks, she sent her magic into the mastered Bolt materia located near the weapon's center and activated a special trick she'd developed for just such a situation. The electricity from the spell flared through the circuitry of the locking mechanism, and with an angry beeping noise the door locks clicked open. With a loud whoosh, the heavy security door snapped into its place in the ceiling.

         A haggard looking man slowly rose from a small, worn bed near the back corner of the cell and squinted at her, his hair long and unkempt, a heavy beard on his face. She frowned. How the mighty had fallen.

         "Who are you?" The man slowly pushed himself from the bed, rising to a sitting position and staring at her with barely concealed fear. For a moment, Yuffie almost pitied him. Then she reminded himself that, no matter his condition, he was still the enemy.

         "Lady Kisaragi," she said quietly. "I am here to take back what you stole from my father."

         The eyes of the prisoner widened at that, and then he slowly rose to his feet and spread his arms out to his side. "You want my blood, do you?"

         Yuffie nodded grimly, taking a step into the cell and raising her cross. "It is the only way to avenge my father's honor, and that of my country. You tricked us, Dyson. You know it as well as I. My father has already salvaged what he could of the situation, and he has gone from the world this night. You will join him."

         Reginald Dyson sighed and sank back to the bed, looking away from her. "If that is what its going to take to placate you people, then so be it. I don't have anything to live for anyway. And if it helps any, I'm sorry I did it."

         "Duly noted," Yuffie replied coldly. "Any last requests?"

         "One," Dyson agreed, settling back against the wall and turning to look at her. "Promise me that you'll kill Faulk after you get done with me."

         Yuffie raised an elegant eyebrow, surprised at that request. She had, of course, already planned on killing Gerrett Faulk, as she knew he was at least as responsible for Dyson's operations as its President. Still, it was a strange thing for Dyson to ask for.

         "Consider it done," she agreed after a moment, deciding it was best to let his motivations disappear with history. "Goodbye, President Dy..."

         "No!" a voice screamed angrily as its owner slammed into her from behind, and for a moment she let the momentum of the tackle carry her to the ground, silently amazed that the Dyson soldier had managed to sneak up on her. The President had distracted her in order to let his soldiers attack, one last betrayal on his part. As she crashed to the ground, she reached back and hooked her hands underneath the arms of her attacker, and then tossed the soldier into the President with as much force as she could manage. He had some nerve trying to tackle her!

         Dyson grunted as a body slammed into him and threw him back against the wall, and Yuffie rolled to her feet and brought her cross up to finish the soldier off.

         She paused at the last possible second, then took a step away as the young woman that had tackled her began to struggle to her feet. It was obvious she was no Dyson soldier, so what business did she had protecting the Dyson President? And oddly, she looked vaguely familiar...

         "You can't have him!" the woman swore viciously, taking a step forward, her arms raised in a pathetic guard stance that Yuffie could rip through in a second if she wished. "I won't let you hurt him, you bitch! Back off!"

         President Dyson was staring at her back in open-mouthed shock. "Ada? It can't be! You're alive?"

         Yuffie took a second to process the name that Dyson had given the woman, and then it clicked. Ada was the name of his daughter. But Ada Dyson had died two years ago along with her mother, in a strike ordered by her own father on the both of them. So, if she was dead, what was she doing here?

         "Stand aside, little girl," Yuffie ordered, her voice cold. She wondered which would be best, knocking the girl out or killing her. Ada had done nothing wrong, even if she was Dyson's daughter, and even if she was supposed to be dead. The problem was that the woman would never stop until she'd died trying to avenge her father's death, which would mean that Yuffie would have to take her out anyway, sooner or later.

         "No chance in hell, bitch." Ada quickly adjusted her fighting gloves. "You're not taking my father.

         "Why do you want to defend a father who tried to have you killed?" she asked conversationally, still debating the matter of what to do about this new factor in her revenge.

         "He wasn't behind that, ninja," Ada informed her angrily. "That was Faulk. He tried to have us killed because I found out about his plans to murder my father and take over Dyson Corporation."

         "My god... Ada!" Dyson whispered, sudden tears coming to his eyes. Yuffie wanted to retch. It was just like Dyson to put a family reunion in the way of a much deserved execution.

         "It's okay, Dad," Ada said, her voice softening as she backed a step toward him. "I'm going to get you out of this place. I'm going to rescue you."

         "I said stand aside, Ada," Yuffie ordered again, bringing a point of her cross up between her eyes and staring down at the pair balefully. "Your father has to pay for what he did to my country. I'm going to kill him either way, but I don't have anything against you. Provided you leave now and don't ever come back."

         "On a cold day in hell!" Ada yelled, and charged her, fists flying.

         Yuffie avoided her clumsy attack and slammed the flat of her hand into the side of her head, smashing her to the floor and stepping past her. "Pathetic," she muttered, as she glanced down at the crumpled form and shook her head.

         "Don't touch her, Kisaragi," Reginald Dyson warned, pushing himself to his feet. "She's done nothing to you, and she has nothing to do with this. Do what you want with me, but let her go."

         "I'm glad to see you have some sense of honor, Dyson," Yuffie acknowledged as she stepped toward him, and then stopped as a hand clenched around her foot. Then she yelped as sharp teeth bit into her ankle, kicking viciously and slamming her foot into Ada's face with enough force to dislodge her grip and send her sliding into a wall.

         "You little bitch...," she yelled, her face livid. The woman had actually BITTEN her! Ada tried to get to her feet, her nose bleeding fiercely, her cheek bruised and cut from Yuffie's kick.

         "You're... not... taking him...," she warned, spitting out blood and gritting her teeth as the struggled to rise. Whether it was her own or Yuffie's, she could only guess. Her ankle was throbbing.

         "Ada, go outside," Dyson ordered gently, edging between his wounded daughter and Yuffie. "You can't beat this woman. We have business to conclude. You're not a part of this."

         "Then take me!" Ada cried desperately, stumbling to her father's side and sagging against him, as Yuffie continued to stare at them in mounting disbelief. If only she'd just killed Dyson as soon as she'd opened the door, instead of chatting, she wouldn't be in this mess!

         "You hear that, ninja girl?" Ada rasped angrily. "If you want Dyson blood, then you take me! Leave my father alone! He's been through enough!"

         "Ada, shut up," Dyson said, trying to disengage from his daughter and pushing her toward the door. "Don't listen to her, Kisaragi. I'm the one you want. I'm the one who tricked you. She's delirious."

         "Dad, no!" Ada protested, refusing to be silenced. "I'm not losing you! Not again! You're all I have left!"

         "Ada, listen to me," Dyson said gently, doing his best to convince her. "I so glad that you're alive. But you have to leave this place. This is Lady Kisaragi, Ruler of Wutai. You can't stop her. I won't have you killed for my crimes."

         "I don't care, Dad, I'm not leaving you," Ada countered grimly. "If you want to kill him, Kisaragi, then you'll have to kill me too! Are you going to murder an innocent young girl? Huh?"

         "Ada!" another voice shouted from the door of the cell, and Yuffie spun to see Devin Strife stumble into view, his left boot shredded and covered in blood, which he was tracking with little regard for decorum across the stark white floor of the prison block. What the hell was he doing here?

         "Yuffie, what the hell are you doing here?" Devin asked in confusion, as he limped into the cell and then grabbed the door frame to prevent himself from falling, wincing from the pain in his cut foot. "Ada? Who's the prisoner?"

         "You know this woman, Strife?" Yuffie asked. Silently, she was seething. Now she had to deal with the Devin Strife factor as well. Cloud and Tifa had never been a big fan of murder. They didn't understand what needed to be done here.

         "Yuffie, this is Ada Dyson," Devin explained quickly, limping a bit further into the room. His eyes were dull and lifeless, and Yuffie wondered for a moment why he looked so down. "She's here with me. She came to help us rescue our parents."

         "I know who she is." Yuffie's gaze narrowed. "This man is her father. Reginald Dyson. The man who had your parents kidnapped. The man who set this whole war into motion."

         "That was Faulk!" Ada yelled angrily. "My father had nothing to do with it! Faulk took him prisoner and took over the Corporation!"

         "She's telling the truth, Yuffie," Devin said, settling painfully to one knee to favor his damaged foot. "Faulk did everything. I thought he had President Dyson killed, like he tried to do to Ada, but I guess he wanted to keep him around for some reason. But he had nothing to do with this, Yuffie. Faulk's been calling the shots for the last two years. Why do you want to kill him?"

         "He dishonored Wutai," Yuffie said coldly. "He turned us into a tourist attraction, and he lied to us. He destroyed my country."

         "Then he lied to you!" Ada said angrily, wiping the pooling blood from her upper lip. "So what! It's not worth killing him over it!"

         "Listen to me, Yuffie." Devin cautiously rose and stood next to Ada and President Dyson. "Ada helped me and Aeris get into the Hive, to take out Faulk. She's on our side. She's already lost her mother, Yuffie. She's been through hell. Don't put her through it again. My parents, your friends, would want it that way."

         Yuffie considered that for a second, then shook her head. "You don't understand, Devin. None of you do. Reginald Dyson didn't just lie to my father and my country. He cheated and ruined us. My father signed that contract with the understanding that in exchange for forming a partnership with Dyson Corporation, they would in turn help us to restore our economy, to become self- sufficient once more, as we were before the war with Shinra. This man gave us his personal assurance that he would do so." She stared balefully at the President, still holding Ada to his side. "Would you like to tell your daughter exactly what you thought of those promises, Mr. President?"

         "You're lying, bitch," Ada said from his side. "You were just too stupid to know that you were giving up! My father..."

         "Your father cheated these people," President Dyson interrupted, sighing heavily. "Ada, do not say such things. What Lady Kisaragi says is truth."

         Ada looked up at her father, slowly pulling away, confused. "Dad?"

         "What she says is truth," Dyson said again, sitting down heavily on the bed, his shoulders sagging. "That was the condition of the contract. That was why Lord Godo agreed to sign it. In exchange for letting us buy his land, which we already knew were full of valuable Materia deposits, I gave him my personal assurance that we would use our growing material assets to help bolster Wutai's economy, to make them self-sufficient, as Lady Kisaragi said."

         "And you lied to us," Yuffie commented coldly.

         "Yes, I did," Dyson agreed, holding up a hand to silence a resentful Ada. "We did not bolster Wutai's economy. Quite to the contrary. We took careful and firm steps to make them more and more reliant on us. Slowly, by manipulating the market and cutting off other imports, we forced them to come to us for their food, their utilities. Even things they produced for themselves before we came were soon replaced with commodities produced by Dyson Corporation. We ruined them, Ada. It the war with Shinra gravely wounded their economy, we finished it off."

         Ada was still staring at him in disbelief, but after a second she firmly shook his head. "No. All right, so you lied to them. So you ruined their economy. It doesn't matter! You don't deserve to be murdered for it! And who is this woman to decide your punishment? At the least you deserve a fair trial!"

         "He has already confessed," Yuffie said, tapping her foot angrily. The only thing that was stopping her from finishing it right now was the presence of Devin Strife. "What more do you want from him?"

         "Yuffie," Devin protested gently. "She's right, about killing him at least. What he did is wrong, that I agree with. But he deserves a fair trial, and obviously some serious jail time. But an execution?" Devin was remaining upright by will alone, obviously pained by his damaged foot but ignoring it to make his point. "You know that's not right, Yuffie. Besides, we can use him."

         "What do you mean?" Yuffie and Ada asked simultaneously, and then glared at each other.

         "What do you think I mean?" Devin asked, spreading his arms apart to silence them. "Do you have any idea what just happened out in the rest of the world, Yuffie?"

         She gave him a blank stare, not knowing what he was referring to.

         "I'll tell you what happened," he said, his eyes suddenly angry. "Because we came here to rescue our parents, and probably because you and your ninjas attacked his Corporation, Faulk ordered the destruction of both Kalm and Cosmo Canyon."

         Yuffie blinked, not understanding.

         "He had them LEVELED, Yuffie." He closed his eyes, and suddenly Yuffie understood why the pain inside him was so fierce. "He killed... everyone. Everyone in those towns. Men, women, children, all of them..." He forced his eyes open. "Faulk is the one that needs to die, Yuffie. Faulk is the one you need to kill."

         Yuffie took a second to take all of that in, slowly shaking her head, not wanting to believe it. Faulk... How horrible... Then her face hardened. "You're right. And I will take care of him as well, after I get done here. But that still doesn't change what Dyson did to us."

         "No, it doesn't," Devin agreed, ignoring a feral glance from Ada. "But I ask you, Yuffie, which is the greater evil? Dyson? Or Faulk? Which one do you think has done the most damage? Which one do you think is in the best position to do even more damage, take even more innocent lives?" He glanced back at Ada, his eyes searching, and her angry glare softened. "Gerrett Faulk, Yuffie. And I give you ten to one odds that President Dyson here is our best chance of finding him and dealing with him before he can do any more damage. But he can't help us find Faulk if he's dead."

         "You say Faulk has moved on to holding entire towns hostage?" President Dyson asked softly, from his bed. Devin glanced at him, nodding slowly.

         "Then he's finally done it." Dyson sagged back against the wall. "My god... I didn't think he'd actually go through it."

         "Do what?" Ada asked, looking as if she was having increasing trouble figuring out who to believe.

         "That's the whole reason that I ended up in the cell in the first place." The President appeared to be in shock. "We--had a disagreement as to the best methods to expand our power, to eliminate Shinra Corporation as an obstacle. We'd already taken Wutai, but no one had been seriously hurt. That was when Faulk came to me with his plan. Hostage taking. And not just one hostage. Hundreds, whole towns full of people. The theory was that if we threatened such a large number of people with death that Shinra, led by President Reeve, would be forced to give in to our demands."

         Ada was staring at him, horrified.

         "I turned him down, of course," he assured her quickly. "I might have been willing to lie and cheat to gain power and money for my corporation, but I sure as hell wasn't going to murder a hundred innocent people to get my way. I told Faulk to burn the documents on which he'd drafted the plans and never speak of them again. I should have fired him, but he was so integral to our command structure by then that I just didn't have anyone to replace him. In the escalating financial war with Shinra, losing someone so central to our operations would have finished us."

         "So that's why Faulk did it," Ada whispered. "That's why Faulk tried to have you killed."

         "Yes," Dyson said, his voice breaking. "That's why--that's why he killed Melyssa--your mother. That's why he tried to kill both of you. He told me that, after he'd taken me captive, smiling when I asked where you were. He said that he regretted the necessity, but that you somehow knew what he was planning and were going to tell me. So he... had you removed."

         "Is that enough for you, Yuffie?" Devin asked, turning on her. Yuffie merely stood there, unmoving, not knowing what to think.

         If you want Dyson blood, then you take me! Leave my father alone! He's been through enough! She had to admit that was a noble request even for a barbarian woman.

         "Dyson's been held prisoner in this cell for two years, unable to contact anyone." Devin sagged to his knees again, exhausted, unable to remain standing because of the pain in his foot. "He's lost his wife and his Corporation, and up until a couple of minutes ago he'd lost his daughter as well. He's had everything taken from him, Yuffie. Isn't that punishment enough?"

         Yuffie stared coldly at the three people who stood against her, but inside her resolve was wavering. Silence reigned throughout the cell for what seemed like an eternity.

         "If you want Faulk," Dyson said finally, "then I'll help you any way I can. He's gone too far. I've had some time to think about what I've done in my life in this damned cell. I've had some time to think about how much I neglected my wife and my daughter because I was so busy running this blasted Corporation. And I know that I'll never have a chance to make that up to my wife." He pulled himself from the bed, moving hesitantly toward Ada, and after a second she pressed against him, her eyes closed tight, and he wrapped his arms around her protectively.

         "Please, Lady Kisaragi," he said softly. "At least let me make it up to my daughter."

         She tried to stare the two of them down, tried to ignore Dyson's request, tried to convince herself that he was just faking it, that he was just buying time, a devious corporate bloodsucker to the end. But she couldn't lie to herself. No matter what Dyson had done to them, he did love his daughter.

         "You've got to help me, Yuffie," Devin said, again pushing himself to his feet, supporting himself against the wall, breathing heavily. "Please. Let Dyson help us. Help me kill Faulk. My parents... my parents would want it that way."

         "You think so?" she asked disinterestedly, turning away from Dyson and Ada dejectedly.

         "I know so." Devin's voice was stronger now.

         A voice came from the tiny radio set into her ear, one of her ninja reporting in. So she made the decision to let Dyson live. With Devin here, and the rest of the Strife family safely in custody, there were really no other options available.

         "Fine," she agreed with a shrug. "He lives. Do you want to go see your parents now? They're asking for you."

         Devin fell to the floor with a loud thump, his eyes as wide as saucers. "What?" he asked hoarsely. Yuffie glanced at him, finally understanding. He must have thought his parents were dead. She almost felt bad for not cluing him in earlier.

         "Yeah, they're outside the main building." She started for the door, leaving President and Ada Dyson to their own devices. "And it sounds like that kid friend of yours has gotten the Dyson soldiers to surrender. Seems like he screwed up their entire traffic control system, and after a few of their Airships crashed into each other and a surprise attack from the Shinra Army managed to take a third of the Hive before they even knew something was up, I guess they figured it'd be best to cut their losses."

         "Dad, let's go," Ada said, and Yuffie noted with a hint of amusement that she moved over to help Devin to his feet, allowing him to lean against her heavily so he could walk. I knew Strife didn't drag himself all the way here with that foot just for the conversation.

         Well, they could find their own way out. She had enough to think about. She had disappeared from the room before they had even emerged from the cell.

         He heard the footsteps behind him, but he did not look back. He already knew who it was. He continued to sit silently, looking out over the sea of trees he could see for miles from the distant cliff top he'd chosen for his daily reflections. He had been coming here a lot lately.

         The footsteps stopped, and a body settled beside him, letting her long legs dangle over the edge of the cliff top as she stared out at the sea of trees, attempting to see what he was seeing.

         She couldn't, of course. She saw green leaves, brown trunks, the mid-afternoon sun and the blue sky. What she saw was probably rather pretty.

         The leaves were not green for him. They were gray, gray like the burnt, ash-filled crater that now covered the area in and around what had once been the peaceful town of Kalm. The trunks were black and charred like the skeletons of the burned buildings. The sky was white, like the bones of every living thing that had been in Kalm when the Dyson soldiers had come.

         What Devin Strife saw in those trees was not pretty. But he had forced himself to look at it every day since they'd returned from the Hive, regardless. It was his penance for his failure and a daily reminder of what still needed to be done.

         "This place is peaceful," the woman beside him said softly, still looking out over the trees. "I see why you like it."

         Devin didn't speak. She couldn't see what he saw, and he prayed she never would. She was still innocent, in her fashion. She wasn't responsible for the death of hundreds of people.

         "It's not your fault, you know," Aeris continued, her words barely audible over the quiet sounds of the forest, rustles of wind through leaves and the songs of birds. He almost cursed her for her ability to read his mind, but he did his best not to. She just didn't understand.

         "I know you think it is, and I know you blame yourself. But you can't keep blaming yourself for everything, Devin. Cosmo Canyon survived. Nibleheim survived. Faulk would have destroyed them all anyway, once Yuffie and her ninjas attacked his Corporation, whether we'd come to the Hive or not. They wouldn't just have flattened Kalm. They would have gotten all those other towns as well."

         Devin didn't move.

         "We saved those people, at least." Aeris gently reached out to cover one of his clenched hands with her own. "And our parents, Devin. We saved them as well."

         "You saved them." Devin pulled his hand away and jumping to his feet, still feeling the pain of the foot he had nearly destroyed in his attempt to silence Faulk's hologram, despite the fact that it had been fixed by the best curative Materia available. Even that was not enough. "You and Dack saved our parents. Cain saved those towns and made Dyson surrender. Ada saved her father."

         He continued to look away from her, feeling too ashamed to meet her eyes. "But I didn't save anyone, Aeris. You want to know what I did? I'll tell you, sister dear. I fucked up. It's as simple as that. I had a chance to stop Faulk, to catch him and stop him from issuing those orders. That was my responsibility. My fault."

         "Devin...," Aeris protested gently, rising to comfort him.

         "No, Aeris, don't say it. You know it as well as I do. It was my responsibility. Mine. I let those people die because I wasn't fast enough to save them. I could have saved them, but I wasn't strong enough, fast enough."

         "Do you really believe that, Devin?" Aeris asked, her voice shaking.

         Devin gritted his teeth, staring into the trees that stretched down the shallow slope of the cliff. "It's the truth, Aeris. It doesn't matter what I believe."

         "The truth is that you're an idiot, Devin Strife," another voice said angrily, and Devin spun to see Ada Dyson stalking toward him from the trees. So Aeris hadn't come alone. That figured. "The truth is that you're acting like an immature child, and that you're so wrapped up in feeling sorry for yourself that you can't see the forest for the trees or what needs to be done."

         "Ada!" Aeris reproached her angrily.

         "Quiet, sister, and let me handle this," Ada ordered. "Your heart is in the right place, but it's gonna' take more than you to knock him out of this self-induced stupor."

         "What the hell do you know?" Devin demanded, turning away from her to stare again at the cliff. Aeris was still standing there, looking at him, so he had no choice but to turn to the trees that ran along the cliff face. He was quickly running out of options.

         "You can really ask me that, Devin Strife?" Ada was right beside him now. "After all that's happened to us, you can really ask me that?"

         He bit back an angry reply, forcing himself to remain silent.

         "You know why Faulk murdered my mother?" Ada continued hotly. "You want to know why, Devin? I've told you why. Because I overheard him talking about his plans to overthrow my father. If I hadn't done that, if I hadn't been sneaking around the office eavesdropping where I shouldn't be, she might still be alive. If he took my father alive, there's no reason he couldn't have taken us alive as well. Hell, he probably would have used us for hostages to manipulate my father, not killed us outright. But I took that choice away from him when I found out his plan. In his mind, there was no choice but to kill us."

         He felt her hand close tightly on his shoulder, and as he tried to shrug it off she grabbed his other shoulder and turned him to face her, forcing him to look at her. There was pain in her eyes, pain that Devin could understand, but there was strength there as well, and that was stronger than the pain. In that moment, as she stared into his eyes, having been through so much and still so strong, she was beautiful beyond words.

         "Does that make it my fault that my mother's dead, Devin?" she asked angrily. "Can you tell me that? Can you tell me I murdered my mother because I overheard Faulk's planning in his office?"

         Devin blinked quickly, shaking his head reflexively. "Of course not, Ada! That wasn't your fault! Faulk chose to have your mother murdered, and he sent the squad to kill the both of you! It was Faulk that did that, not you!"

         "You're right, Devin." It was Aeris who was speaking now, always the gentle mediator. "It's not her fault. It's Faulk's fault. She may have heard his plans, but that doesn't make her responsible for him killing her mother. Faulk did that. He is responsible."

         "Don't think I don't know what you're saying," Devin admitted, gently grabbing Ada's arms and removing them from his shoulders, staring into her eyes as she stared into his for a brief second, and seeing what he had never thought he would see in their depths. "But that's different. She didn't have a chance to stop that murder. She was just sixteen, Aeris! She didn't know what was going to happen! It's different with me! We were there, Aeris! In Reeve's office!"

         He stalked angrily to the cliff, dangerously close the edge but not caring in the least. "I was there when that Dyson exec told us what was going to happen if we tried to attack Dyson corporation. And I did it anyway. It was my idea to go over there, and it was my weakness that got those people killed." He turned back to them, spreading out his arms, beseeching them to somehow understand. "I had a CHANCE, Aeris, which Ada never had. A chance to stop him. I had a chance, and I blew it! People died! It's as simple as that!

         "Bullshit."

         He gaped at Ada, not understanding how she could be so insensitive. Why couldn't she just...

         "That's bullshit, Devin, and you know it." She walked closer to him and crossed her arms under her breasts defiantly, daring him to say otherwise. "You say you didn't save anyone over in the Hive, that you messed up, that those people died because of you. But that's not true, and it's about time you realized that and stopped sulking up here like a baby. You were there for me in New Midgar, and I sure as hell didn't give you any reason to be. But you saved me from Bull and his men even though there was a good chance you'd die by doing it."

         Devin opened his mouth to protest, to tell her he'd had no choice, that he couldn't have let her die and that no right-minded person would have, but she didn't even let him get started.

         "You may think that's normal, but it's not. Most of the people in this world probably would have left me for dead. You didn't. You stayed and you fought, for a thief you barely knew."

         Again he tried to speak, and again she silenced him, this time by locking her lips with his for a brief second. His eyes went wide, shocked, and then she pushed him to the ground roughly.

         "Interrupt me again and you'll get worse than that," she threatened. "I'm not finished."

         He tried to stammer something out, and she kicked him in the shin to silence him. "You fought as hard as any of us to save your parents and save those towns, to stop Faulk and his Corporation. You did your best, Devin. You did everything that anyone could expect of you and more. And you know what? I was even getting to like you because of it."

         He made an attempt to rise, and she pushed him back to the ground again.

         "Shut up. I'm not finished. The next time you didn't just save me, you saved my father. Don't think for a second I don't know what that Kisaragi woman would have done if you hadn't been there to talk her down. You limped down three stories with a foot that would have killed a normal person and dragged yourself after me after I went dashing off like a fool, when you could have just as easily stayed in that office and sulked. I know I couldn't have stopped her from killing him if you hadn't been there, and to be honest, maybe you couldn't have stopped her either, if it came to a fight. But I know you would have tried. Even for Reginald Dyson, even for him, you would have tried, because you didn't believe killing him for what he did was right. Because you were worried about me as well.

         "You always put others before yourself, because that's just the kind of person you are. And if there was any way, any way at all to save Kalm and any of the innocent people that Faulk has already killed, I know you would have found it. And you would have given your life, if necessary, to save theirs. Just like you were willing to do for me."

         Devin knew better than to try to say anything else. His lips still felt numb from her first kiss, and the way she was looking at him, as she suddenly reached down and just as roughly dragged him back to his feet.

         "You think about that, Devin Strife," she ordered, her voice and eyes leaving no room for argument. "You just think about that. And when you're ready to stop feeling sorry for yourself and come back to Nibleheim to help us take down Faulk, you come find me."

         Then she kissed him again, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and nearly squeezing the breath out of him. Just when he'd collected himself enough to start kissing her back, she broke away.

         "You come find me, Devin," she ordered again, as she turned away and stalked back into the forest. "Help me stop Faulk before he hurts anyone else. Forgive yourself. Acknowledge what you can do and quit hiding in this forest like some sort of cowed dog. You're better than that. So come find me, Devin, if you want me. Because this is your last chance. If you want to stay in this forest and sulk, that's fine. Just don't expect me to be waiting for you when you finally realize that I'm right."

         Before Devin could manage to say one thing in response, she was already far out of hearing range. Helpless, he turned to Aeris, who was staring after Ada with a barely noticeable smile on her face.

         "What...," he stammered, still a bit flustered. "What the hell was that?"

         "I couldn't have said it better myself," Aeris said with a hint of genuine respect. Then she looked at him, cracking a half smile. "Just don't expect me to kiss you in order to prove it." With that, she headed into the forest, back toward Nibleheim, away from the cliff. "I'd take her advice, Devin. Don't take too long to decide."

         Then she, too, was gone, and Devin was once again alone.

         After staring after them for a few seconds, he turned back slowly to look out over the forest of trees, still trying to sort out everything that had been said, trying to make sense of at least some of it. The feel of Ada's lips were still hot on his own, but he barely noticed, though that was no discredit to her. He was just too preoccupied with other things.

         Dammit. He looked out tiredly over the sea of trees, his chest heaving with a deep, long sigh. Why does she always have to be right?

         Here ends Gen II: Loss of Innocence. For the continuing adventures of Devin and Aeris Strife, Dack Highwind, and Ada Dyson, please visit Legionslayer.com for a look at the rapidly developing sequel, Gen II: Endgame. Thanks for reading!