Hey all, I'm back, with the episode that was the best planned of them all. I think it's one of my best, personally, I hope you like it too.

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The Adventures of Leon and Yuffie

Episode # 11: The Trial .o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o..o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Yuffie the ninja stepped out of the synth shop, chortling as she left. She had finally gained the upper hand on the meddlesome moogles. The foolhardy moogles would finally learn her financial wrath. She laughed heartily at her various plans as she passed Gheppetos's shop.

In the window of the shop were a few of the toys the old man had for sale. Yuffie walked by them with hardly a glance, but quickly backtracked at what she had seen.

"Sea Monkeys!" She pressed her face to the glass, looking at the picture on the front of the box. "They looks so cool!"

The ninja backed off the glass and looked at the price and realized she had just spent the last of her money on some stupid thing she didn't care about anymore. She looked glumly at the family of royal Sea Monkeys, smiling at her from the box. "Oh, I'd sell my sou- no…I'd sell Leon's soul for those…"

Behind the ninja came a crack of lightning. The area filled with black smoke. When it cleared, Hades, lord of the underworld, stood there. "Sell your soul, huh?"

"No," Yuffie crossed her arms, "Leon's soul."

The god grinned. "Leon? Oh that'd be just fine…"

"Okay!… Wait, can you really do that?" Yuffie frowned.

"Yeah, why not. So do you want the sea monkeys or what?"

The ninja considered for a moment, looking at the picture of the smiling aquatic family. "Yeah!"

Hades grinned, producing a contract in a puff of smoke and handing it to the ninja. The girl didn't hesitate to sign the document and hand it back.

"It is done." The god stood back and held his hands out, conjuring smoke from the fingertips. He raised one hand slowly, power crackling through it, then smashed it into the store window, pulling the box of sea monkeys out.

"There you go, Princess. Enjoy."

. o . o .

Leon sat in his room at his desk, pouring over his books and maps. He had been getting closer to finding the Heartless who had been kidnapping the princesses.

He opened another newspaper he had borrowed from the castle periodicals. The Queen had allowed him full access to the castle library for his investigation. The paper he was holding had a small article about sightings of a mysterious figure dubbed 'The Phantom.' Pinned to the wall in front of him were several similar articles, all from different worlds.

The SeeD frowned. If all these people had heard of this 'Phantom', why was he the first to look for it? Perhaps that wasn't the case. He would have to look further into that later. He clipped out the article and pinned it to the wall with the others.

As he moved on to the next paper, he heard his door open. Turning, he saw Aerith bringing in a tray with a glass and pitcher on it.

"Want some lemonade?" she said, smiling. Leon hated lemonade.

"…Sure."

Aerith looked at the walls. "Any closer?"

The scarred man took the offered glass. "A little, I need to talk to some of these 'officials' who have been looking into the Phantom. Someone has to be doing an investigation that brought leads…"

Aerith frowned. "Well…most of these worlds have fallen…"

Leon didn't say anything to that. Aerith cleared a spot on his desk and put the tray on it. "Well, make sure you take a break soon. You look tired…"

The SeeD nodded. Aerith started to leave, when a thunderclap in the room stopped her. In the center of the room, a black spot on the floor spewed smoke, and a demon in a business suit appeared.

The demon looked at the two in the room, then focused on Leon.

"Are you Squall Leonhart?"

Leon frowned. "My name is Leon…"

The demon sighed, "Is your legal, birth name 'Squall Leonhart?'" Leon glared, but nodded. The demon straightened. "You are required to come with me to the underworld for your sentence."

"Sentence? What are you talking about?" Aerith said.

The demon sighed again, then pulled out a piece of paper from his suitcase. "According to this contract, your soul is now the property of Hades, lord of the underworld, for all eternity."

"Let me see that…" Leon took the paper from the lawyer demon. After a failed attempt at reading it, the demon sighed and handed him an easier to read version.

The SeeD read through it. "What? How could someone have sold my soul without my permission?"

The Demon sighed loudly this time. "I'm afraid it's in writing. You'll have to come with me."

"You can't hold him to a contract that he had nothing to do with," Aerith said, crossing her arms.

"If you wish to take legal action, be my guest." The demon smiled.

"We will," Aerith said.

"Well then, feel free to send a summons to us at any time. Meanwhile…" Behind him, two large, muscle-bound demons appeared. "I'm afraid until this is sorted out, the young man will have to come with us."

Leon jumped to his feet, reaching for his gunblade. The first demon goon jumped at him, knocking him down before he reached his weapon. The second goon ran over and joined the scuffle. Meanwhile, the lawyer smiled smugly at Aerith and held out the papers in his hands.

"Take these two versions of the contract. They're his copies… I take it you'll want them?" the flower girl frowned and took the papers. At that point, Leon was trapped in a headlock by the first goon. They led him to the spot where the smoke was coming out of the floor.

"Aerith," Leon choked out, "Call McDuck! Get me a lawyer!"

The flower girl nodded as the three demons disappeared in an explosion of smoke, Leon in tow. She frowned, looking down at the copy of the original contract. That signature looked familiar…

"….Oh she didn't!"

. o . o .

Yuffie looked glumly at her 'Sea Monkey' aquarium. She used the magnifier again, and found that the inhabitants of the aquarium still looked like flecks of dirt.

"What a rip off!" She turned her back on the aquarium, disgusted.

The ninja nearly jumped out of her chair as the door slammed open. Aerith and Cid charged into the room, both looking rather upset.

"Yuffie, how could you!" Aerith held up the paper.

"How could I what?" The ninja questioned innocently.

Aerith pointed to the signature on the bottom of the paper. "How could you sell Leon's soul!"

"Aerith, let me show you something." Yuffie grabbed the box the Sea Monkeys came in. "Look," she said, pointing at the box art, "It's a little undersea kingdom! How am I supposed to say no to that?"

"Yuffie!"

. o . o .

Leon looked around his cell glumly. He had often thought about what death would be like. He certainly hoped it wouldn't be like this. He couldn't see anything other than what was in his cell, and the occasional screams from down the hall were really starting to bother him.

The SeeD looked up as Hades walked up to his cell. "Like your place, kid?"

Leon glared through bars threateningly. "You can't keep me here. I didn't have anything to do with that contract."

Hades waved a hand at him dismissively. "Details details. Until someone sues us, you're staying put."

"They're getting me a lawyer right now…"

. o . o .

Scrooge McDuck looked at the group of humans sitting across from him at his desk. He was scratching his chin, thinking of the most gentle way of putting things.

"No."

Aerith looked horrified, "But you're his employer!"

Scrooge shrugged. "He's only part-time. McDuck Industries only gives benefits to full-time employees. I'm afraid Leon doesn't qualify for the full coverage."

Cid glared. "You're just going to let him rot in the underworld?"

The duck shrugged again. "This situation he's in doesn't sound like it will hold up very long in court. Even an inept lawyer could get him out. However, I don't see why I have to pay for said inept lawyer." He looked at Yuffie. "It sounds like the ninja should pay."

Both Aerith and Cid looked at the spot Yuffie had been sitting until a half-second ago.

"Damn! Where did she go!" Cid looked around, then checked his pockets suspiciously. "AND WHERE'S MY MATERIA?!"

. o . o .

Leon knew it was taking too long for them to have gotten him a lawyer.

"McDuck isn't going for it…"

"Talking to yourself already?" Hades had dropped by again, with his lawyer demon in tow. "Usually that doesn't happen until after the torture stares." Leon glared at them, approaching the bars of his cell menacingly.

Hades grinned, "Take it easy there, tiger. I haven't heard from above ground in a while, I'm taking it that your buddies didn't shell out for a lawyer?" The SeeD's glare answered for him.

"That's too bad, what with the implications of your confinement here and all." The god grinned. "Rest up, 'cause we're going to start up the torture and degrading soon," the god left, leaving Leon to contemplate that particular threat.

. o . o .

"Your evilness, you do realize of course that the contract is completely useless, right?" The demon lawyer queried as Hades took his throne by his chess board.

"Yeah, yeah, of course…" Hades looked at his chess board. "However, we can get rid of the kid before his friends manage to find a lawyer and send a summons." The god knocked the piece on the board shaped like Leon off.

Panic blinked. "I thought he was already dead." He blanched when he saw the look Hades gave him. "But I mean…he's here…"

Hades sighed heavily. "He's not dead, numbskull, he's just trapped down here. Now if he just happens to get lost in the system and disappear before his friends can take legal action…"

"Why don't we just kill him?" Panic said, skittering over to the chess piece on the floor.

Hades glared. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a live torture subject down here? The dead ones just stop feeling it after a while. Besides, I've been looking for someone to put in the 'Tilt-a-Whirl'…"

. o . o .

Hours later, Leon found himself suspended from the ceiling by wrist shackles. He was still dazed from the 'Tilt-a-Whirl,' and hardly noticed that there were demons walling him into a tiny space in the cell.

"What are you doing?" Leon growled at Hades as he was inspecting the progress of his demon masons.

"Oh, we're hiding you in the wall. Don't worry, we'll let you out periodically to test any various forms of torture I can think of."

"You can't do this, it isn't leg-mmmph!" Leon glared poisonously at the lord of the underworld as he finished shoving the sock in the SeeD's mouth.

"Geez kid, when are you gonna learn when to shut it up?"

Leon watched helplessly as the bricks continued to be laid. It wasn't long before Leon saw Hades wave at him as the final brick was shoved in place. The small 'room' he was now in was completely dark. The SeeD thought for a few minutes, trying to figure a way out of the situation.

He mentally cataloged his assets, and started with realization when he noticed that he could still access his junctions and guardian forces. He called one, wondering why he hadn't thought of this sooner.

Diablos the demon slide out of a spherical void. He looked at his master, blinking. Leon glared at him until he removed the sock.

"What can I do for you?" the demon asked.

"You wouldn't happen to have a law degree, would you?" Leon asked in return.

"Most demons do."

"Great."

. o . o .

Hades looked down at the document he had just been handed.

"I am to appear in Wonderland Court Trial part 32?" The god of death glared at Diablos. "Why Wonderland?"

"It's the only living court system that covers this type of trial," the demon answered.

"Who's representing him?"

"I am," said Diablos.

"What?" Hades' hair fire turned red.

Diablos looked unimpressed. "I am his guardian. He needs my help, and I will provide it."

Hades smoothed back his fire hair. "Hey, that's no problem, gotta do whatcha gotta do." The dark god grinned evilly. "See you in court."

. o . o .

Leon looked around the courtroom he was currently seated in. It looked…normal. Far too normal to be a Wonderland courtroom. Everything was made of wood, and wasn't alive. He knew better than hoping for the best, so he brooded while the seats were beginning to fill.

Diablos appeared in the seat next to the SeeD with a stack of papers. He looked at his summoner. "You have nothing to fear. Most demons have an understanding of the law, I am no exception. This case will be over within the hour."

Leon nodded as the four-of-clubs bailiff stepped into the front of the room. "All rise for the honorable Judge…the Queen of Hearts!" The room all got to their feet, some people cheering. The woman entered and sat at her spot.

"Be seated." As everyone sat down again, Leon's suspicions were growing worse.

"Why is everyone acting normal?"

Diablos shrugged. "I'm sure Wonderland hasn't had a trial of this nature in a while. They may be-"

"BE SILENT!" the Queen bellowed.

After all the initial formalities were dispensed, Diablos stood, holding the contract. "Your honor, we are suing the Lord of the Underworld for Squall Leonhart's soul. We are doing so because Hades is not entitled to-"

"Objection!" Hades said calmly. The queen looked at him as he stood.

"On what grounds?"

The god grinned evilly. "The plaintiff's lawyer is under my employ. I believe that is a conflict of interest."

The Queen rubbed her chin. "Is this true?"

"Yes, your honor, but I-" Diablos was cut off by the Queen of Hearts as she pounded her gavel.

"I'm afraid you are unable to represent the plaintiff if he is suing your employer. Step down, please."

Leon's mouth hung open. He looked at Diablos, who shrugged. "I'm sorry. If that is her decree, I can't do anything about it." With that, the demon disappeared.

The Queen turned to Leon. "Now, young man, do you have someone else to represent you?"

Leon tried to think of something, anything. Before he could answer, someone stood behind him. He turned around in his seat, and blanched.

"Sephiroth for the defense!" The Ex-General stepped to the table Leon was seated at.

"Don't you mean for the plaintiff?" the Queen of Hearts said.

"Uh…yes, that." Sephiroth sat next to Leon, who looked like he was going to be sick.

Hades stood again. "Your honor, I must object again. That man is not a lawyer!"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Neither are you."

Hades glared. "I'm a god!"

Sephiroth seemed unaffected. "I'm kind of a god."

The people in the room murmured at this change of events. The queen pounded her gavel again.

"BE SILENT!" Everyone shut up. "Now, both of you are lawyer enough for this court."

Leon sat up. "No! This man does not represent me!"

The queen smiled. "Too late, he called it. And that is a binding law in Wonderland."

Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose. He felt a migraine coming on. Sephiroth looked rather pleased and slapped Leon on the back. "It is no trouble, old chum."

The Queen of Hearts cleared her throat. "Jury selection will begin tomorrow. The trial will begin immediately afterward."

. o . o .

The next day, after a long and grueling jury selection, Leon looked at the people who were more than likely going to condemn him to hell. In the jury box stood an even mix of former Garden Faculty members and former Galbadian soldiers. Leon hoped they didn't remember that one time he had thwarted all their plans almost single-handedly. No sooner did he think as much, than the first juror threw a tomato at him.

Sephiroth cleaved it in half with his sword before it reached the SeeD. The pieces landed in a bowl of salad that the Mad Hatter had held out.

"Thank you," the crazed man said, tipping his hat. Sephiroth bowed to him as Leon groaned.

Everyone looked up as the queen cleared her throat. "The court is adjourned until 10:00 AM tomorrow," she announced, pounding her gavel.

. o . o .

Aerith ran into the castle, panting. No one questioned her as she ran for the library. She WOULD free Leon, even if she had to take the bar and represent him herself…

. o . o .

This is Court TV

A woman wearing a white shawl sitting on a huge clam shell looked up from the pearl she was looking into.

"Welcome to the court of Wonderland, this is the night…of the trial of the century. I am Fabula, your court reporter. We now return to the defense's first witness…"

. o . o .

Leon looked remarkably more glum today as he sat down at his table. Hades had tested 'The Rotor' on him when they came back from the courtroom the day before. Sephiroth, however, looked rather pleased. He continued thumbing through an old copy of "Ancient Greek Mythology," while the first witness was brought in. The Ex-General looked up to see who it was, and started laughing manically.

"BE SILENT!" the Queen screamed at him. "Now, dear, continue…"

Cloud Strife looked like he was going to be sick when they were done swearing him in. Hades approached him, tapping his chin with his forefinger.

"Mr. Strife, would you please describe your deal with me to the court?"

Cloud looked guiltily at Leon. "…I signed my soul over to you in return for your help…"

"And what help was that?"

"I needed help finding-"

Sephiroth stood suddenly. "Objection! This is irrelevant."

Hades glared at him, but smoothed his hair back. "Fine. Please tell the court how this agreement came to be, so," he glared at Sephiroth again, "we can hear how I acquire souls legally."

Sephiroth grinned.

"Well, I was wandering around the Coliseum when-," The blonde man's face went slack. Leon looked at Sephiroth, who was grinning. "When Hades came and touched me in a bad place."

The courtroom was filled with gasps.

"WHAT!" Hades jumped. "What are you talking about!"

"He made me put on a sailor suit and took pictures, threatening to show everyone if I didn't work for him."

The god looked like he was going to explode when he noticed Sephiroth move his hand when Cloud spoke.

"…No further questions…your honor." Hades stalked back to his seat. As Sephiroth stood, merrily approaching to cross-examine.

"Meat puppet, who is the greatest flamenco dancer in all of history?"

Cloud's face was still blank. "You are."

The ex-general grinned, "And what is the pin number to your charge card?"

"4951."

Sephiroth jotted that down. Leon noted that everyone else in the room did as well. He simply committed the number to memory.

Sephiroth hooked his thumbs into his suspenders. "And Meat puppet, is Hades credible?"

Cloud's face twitched. "Yes he is, but you are unfit to practice law."

"What!" Sephiroth spun to face Hades, who was moving his fingers as Cloud spoke.

"And you are unable to please a woman."

Sephiroth held his hand towards Cloud. The blonde man twitched. "Hades can't go to Olympus because his brother thinks he's a dweeb."

Hades fumed and held out his fist. Cloud twitched again. "Sephiroth is a mama's boy!"

Sephiroth clenched his teeth and squeezed his hand into a fist in concentration. Hades did the same. Cloud twitched a few times, then fell out of his chair, landing with a 'thump.'

"Order! ORDER!" The Queen of hearts looked down at the SOLDIER, who was twitching considerably.

"…ten minute recess…"

. o . o .

Ten minutes later, Cloud looked even more miserable than when he first showed up. The Queen pounded her gavel.

"Now, Hades, you wanted to speak to the witness again?" She glared at both the god and ex-general. "AND NO MIND GAMES!"

Hades stood. "Of course, your honor." He looked at Cloud. "Now, did I acquire your soul legally?"

Cloud frowned. "Well…yeah, but-"

"No further questions!" Hades sat, and Sephiroth stood.

"Meat puppet, do you think you are a credible source of information?"

"Yeah."

"Your honor, I would like to present exhibit A as evidence…" He held up a photo, handing it to the Queen. She looked at it, and laughed. "Please show the members of the jury and defense," she said, handing it to Cloud.

The man looked like he was going to vomit when he looked at the photo. "NO! You… how …..why?!"

Sephiroth grabbed the picture out of his hand and passed it to Hades, who looked at it, failed to hide a laugh and passed it to the jury, who all looked at it. The entire group began laughing. Leon was handed the photo and looked at it:

Cloud was in a silk dress, diamond tiara, blonde wig and makeup. There were two girls in the picture, but they were out of focus.

Leon raised an eyebrow and looked at Cloud, who shot him a look that rivaled one of Leon's worst. Meanwhile, Hades had stood, grinning.

"Your honor," Hades crossed his arms, "I'd like to dismiss this case…"

The Queen was still wiping tears from her eyes as Cloud sulked back to his seat in the audience. "On what grounds?"

"The Plaintiff is a witch."

Leon was about to speak up, when someone in the audience stood. "He' a witch! Burn him!" The rest of the group started shouting along with the first.

"BE SILENT!" The queen glared at everyone one in the room, who all sat down. "Because of the seriousness of this accusation, it must be tested. The court will take a ten-minute recess to determine whether or not the plaintiff is truly a witch."

"What!" Leon got out of his seat as the crowd started reaching for him. He looked to Sephiroth for help, but the man was still reading the old book of mythology, apparently unaffected by Leon's plight.

At that point, the closest people to the SeeD had grabbed him, pulling him outside.

. o . o .

The courtroom bell was just finishing ringing when they mob brought Leon back in. He was completely soaked, and the group had an inner tube stuffed over his arms.

"Well, is he a witch?" the queen asked as the SeeD was pushed back down in his seat.

"He is, your honor! He floated when we threw him in the river!" one of the people shouted.

"Well, I'm afraid that-"

"Objection!"

The queen looked down at Sephiroth, who hadn't looked up from the book he was reading.

"On what grounds?"

"It is the Plaintiff's Unbirthday."

"Oh, well in that case, continue with the trail."

"What!" Hades was on his feet, pointing at Leon. "Clearly the man is dangerous. You heard the unruly mob."

"It is his Unbirthday," the Queen explained, sounding surprised that the god would question it. "Everyone gets one pardon on their Unbirthday."

The god sat back down, clearly angry. Leon slowly looked over to Sephiroth, who smiled and popped the inner tube with the tip of Masemune. Leon grumbled and pulled the remaining pieces off his arms as his 'lawyer' stood.

"I would like to call Demeter, goddess of grain and harvest," Sephiroth announced. The was a gasp in the crowd, and Hades jumped.

"Wh-what!" the god sputtered as the goddess approached the bench, glaring at Hades the whole time.

Sephiroth strolled over to the witness box and addressed the goddess. "Now, Demeter, was your daughter kidnapped from you by anyone in this room?"

The Goddess glared at Hades. "Yes."

"And did you make any desperate attempts to get your daughter back?"

"Yes."

"And when you finally DID get her back, did you find that her kidnapper had used a trick to force her to remain in his domain for half of the year?"

"Yes."

"Is your daughter's kidnapper in this room?"

"Yes."

Hades shrunk down in his seat.

"Demeter, please point out your daughter's kidnapper to the court."

The goddess pointed at Hades, glaring. The jury and audience gasped and started murmuring.

Sephiroth spread his arms. "You don't think someone who would do something that shady would be very credible, do you?"

"No. I don't."

"Thank you, Demeter." Sephiroth sat back down, smiling.

The Queen looked at Hades. "Would you like to cross-examine the witness?"

The god started to rise, but sat back down at the glare his mother-in-law was making. "No, your honor."

"The witness is dismissed."

Sephiroth stood again. "I would like to call Hercules to the stand."

After Hercules was sworn in, Sephiroth walked over to him. "Has the defendant every done anything…unsavory against you in the past?"

Hercules nodded and started ticking of on his fingers, "He tried to kill me as a baby, he maneuvered me into losing my strength and sent a Titan against me, he tried kill me a few times when he waged war on Olympus-" There was murmuring from the room at that. "He hired that guy to kill me," he pointed at Cloud, who shrugged, "and he ruined my birthday party last year." A few people in the audience gasped at the last part.

"Do you believe the defendant is honest?"

"No."

"Thank you. "Sephiroth sat down and Hades stood. The god stuck his thumbs in his robe and walked to the stand.

"When I 'maneuvered' you into losing your strength, did I do so illegally?"

The demi-god looked uncomfortable. "No…"

"Did I do so without your permission?"

"..No."

"In fact, you gave up your strength willingly as part of the deal, didn't you?"

"Yes but… it was all legal trickery!"

"'LEGAL' trickery," Hades repeated, smiling. "Thank you, no further questions."

Hercules left the stand and sat down in the audience on Leon's side. He gave the SeeD a thumbs-up, and Leon groaned.

Sephiroth stood again. "I call Zeus to the stand."

An entire deck's worth of card had to push a statue of the god near the stand. Lightning flashed, and the statue came to life.

"Zeus," the ex-general put a finger to his chin, "Would it surprise you that Hades would steal someone's soul?"

"Not really," the statue/god said.

"Has Hades done anything that would make you feel this way?"

"Well," the statue stroked its stone beard, "He did wage ware on heaven out of spite."

There were a few horrified gasps from the room and someone screamed, "DEMON!"

"Thank you." The silver-haired man sat back down.

Leon was rather impressed at the way Sephiroth had been handling the case. He had actually been helping his case the entire time. He looked over at Hades, and frowned at how happy the god looked as he stood.

"Zeus, dear brother…tell me, are you Hercules' father?"

Zeus looked distinctly unhappy at that questions, "Yes…why?"

"Who is Hercules' mother?" Hades asked casually.

The thunder god's mouth dropped. "I uh, you see-"

Hades grinned, "I will remind you that you are under oath."

Zeus shifted uncomfortably in his statue. "…..Hercules' mother was a pig farmer from Crete…"

The room erupted in shocked chatter. Hercules fainted. Lightning struck the center of the room, and Hera, queen of the gods, appeared.

"WHAT!?" She glared murderously at Zeus.

Zeus looked like he was going to be sick. "Honey, I …you know I love you, baby…you're my number one."

"I NEVER WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN!"

Leon blinked. "How could she possibly not have known?" he wondered aloud. No one seemed to notice his question.

Hades continued his questioning. "And Zeus…have you ever had any other affairs?"

The courtroom held its breath. Hera was glowing with energy as she glared at her husband.

"Um…maybe a few."

The room exploded from Hera's rage.

. o . o .

"A-ha!" Aerith stood up from the book she had been pouring over. "This is it!" She quickly walked out, leaving the section of the castle's library she had been in a mess. The librarian walked over and started muttering curses.

. o . o .

Sephiroth picked his way through the rubble, looking for his client. He found the younger man under a chunk of Zeus' statue, unconscious. The ex-general easily lifted the chunk off, and cast 'Cure 2' on him.

Leon coughed, sitting up.

"Ah, there you go. We need to get you ready to take the stand."

Leon looked around the room. There was very little of it left. The Queen was starting to sit up from the remains of her seat as others crawled out of the room.

"I don't think I'll be able to…"

Hades approached Sephiroth before he could reply to the SeeD. "Can I have a word with you?"

While the two 'lawyers' went off to speak, Leon looked at the wreckage. He hopped over a large chunk of plaster from the wall, searching the rubble for Cloud. He found him under most of the wall.

The SeeD tried to lift the debris, but found that it was as heavy…as a wall.

"I'll help." Hercules had walked behind the SeeD, Leon moved aside and allowed the demi-god to pass.

Hercules moved the wall hunk, and Leon cast 'Curaga' on Cloud.

The blonde man blinked wearily and sat up. "…Ow."

Hercules helped him up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Cloud noticed who he was talking to. " Say…um…are you, you know…okay?"

Hercules twitched, "Oh yes…I'm fine."

Leon and Cloud looked at each other "Well," Leon said quickly, "we should save the rest of the people trapped in the rubble…"

"Yeah…let's-" the demi-god was cut off by Sephiroth, who walked back their way with Hades.

"We have decided to settle this case out of court," the Ex-General said.

Leon frowned, "How?"

Hades grinned at him. "Sephiroth is going to contend against me for your soul."

Leon didn't look happy at that. "What kind of contest?"

Hades gestured to Sephiroth. "That depends on what contest the general finds suitable." He waved his hand, and a poof of smoke appeared on the only cleared area of the floor. The smoke dissipated, revealing three items, Masamune, a pistol… and a fiddle.

Leon moved to speak, but he was again tackled by Pain and Panic.

Sephiroth moved to grab Masemune… but his hand strayed towards the fiddle. He stood back up, looking at both choices, rubbing his chin. After a few moments, he nodded and picked up the fiddle.

Hades nodded. "Excellent choice."

"All right, let's go outside and finish this…"

Everyone left the courtroom, including the people who had been under the rubble, who seemed to be completely unharmed. Leon managed to get the small demons off him and glared at them. They shrugged again. The SeeD quickly ran outside to find Sephiroth and Hades surrounded by a circle of cheering people.

As he managed to shove his way to the front of the crowd, Hades pulled a fiddle out of a puff of black smoke. He held up his fiddle, and said "I guess you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player too, and if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you."

The general looked unimpressed. "My name's Sephiroth and it might be a sin, but I'll take your bet, your gonna regret, 'cos I'm the best that's ever been."

The people in the crowd all murmured. Leon blanched as some of them began to sing:

"Sephiroth you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard.

'Cos hells broke loose in Wonderland and the devil deals it hard.

And if you win you free the soul that has been sold.

But if you lose, the devil gets your soul. "

Hades grinned at his accompaniment, "I'll start this show."

And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow. And he pulled the bow across his strings and it made an evil hiss.

Then a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this.

Leon gaped as Hades hands moved too fast to be seen. When Hades finished, Sephiroth said:

"Well you're pretty good ol' son. But sit down in that chair, right there, and let me show you how its done."

The silver-haired man raised the fiddle to his chin, then glanced to his side. "Meat puppet, accompaniment!"

Cloud's face went slack again and he began to sing while Sephiroth played:

Fire on the mountain, run boys, run.

The devil's in the house of the risin' sun.

Chicken in the bread pin, pickin' out dough.

"Granny, will your dog bite?"

"No, child, no."

Hades put his head down after Sephiroth's impressive show. He knew he had been beat.

The silver-haired man grinned, saying, "Devil just come on back if you ever want to try again. "I told done you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best that's ever been."

Hades glared at both Sephiroth and Leon, pulling the contract from his robe. He handed it to Sephiroth, who ripped it up. The god disappeared in a billowing cloud of smoke.

"Well…" Leon cleared his throat, "…Thanks."

Sephiroth tucked the fiddle under his arm and smiled. "Think nothing of it, I was just doing my job."

Leon didn't bother to question that as Aerith came running up, "Leon! I've got the perfect way to clear you!"

Leon made a face. "You're a little late..."

The flower girl smiled. "Oh, never mind then…" her eyes widened as she spotted a familiar head of spiky hair walking out of the room. "…Cloud?"

The blonde man paused and turned his head slightly toward her. He didn't speak, but hung his head, and walked off.

Leon looked at Cloud's retreating back and then at Aerith. "What was that about?"

Aerith pursed her lips and remained silent.

Leon knew that face. "Never mind, tell me later."

The flower girl nodded.

. o . o .

Sephiroth strolled casually out of the court house with his fiddle over his shoulder. He stopped as he found Hades waiting for him.

"Hey there, champ. I figured since you beat me fair and square that I give you a little…you know, congratulatory gift…" Hades grinned wickedly.

Sephiroth shrugged. "Sure."

The Lord of the Underworld grinned, pulling a small object out of his robe and handing it to the white-haired man. "I trust you'll put it to good use," he said before fading away into smoke.

His fiddle dropped to the ground as Sephiroth examined the black sphere, turning it over in his hand. A look of pure evil came over his face as he strode purposefully away, stepping over the discarded fiddle.

End of Episode # 11

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I hope you liked it, I think it may have been my favorite so far. The next Episode is a two-parter, and the very last episode in this series. I've already beaten Kingdom Hearts 2 and I am thinking about doing a series for it, maybe.

Thanks as always to my editor, (who proposed to me last month, by the way)

Soon I'll be Mrs. Editor!

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Leon and Yuffie will return in:

The Battle of Hallow Bastion (part one!)