Stetsons and Fal'Cie

by Raziel12

A Western themed AU. Can Sheriff Claire "Lightning" Farron and the others possibly make it through all the trouble that lies ahead?

30. Chapter 30

The Ghosts of Oerba

Fang pressed herself low against the ground and looked down over the top of the ridge. "Well, isn't that just a pretty picture?"

"I wouldn't say that," Lightning murmured as she followed Fang's gaze. "But at least now we know that Quistis and Fujin were right, and that Zack wasn't lying."

Fang glanced sideways at Lightning. "I guess that's one way to put it. Her eyes narrowed just a fraction, though her voice remained light and easygoing. "There's a lot of them down there. I'm beginning to wonder if we've got enough bullets."

Rather than say anything, Lightning just tossed a scowl her way, and Fang took one last look at things before the two of them crept back behind some cover. Just like they'd expected, the dam and the area around it were crawling with trouble. On their side of the river, there were two rows of rundown, weather-beaten buildings to worry about with the only ways past them a muddy street that ran through the middle and two narrows trails that were on either side. If she had to put her money on anything, she'd say that's where most of the hired guns were staying until Cocoon got its business done. Past the buildings was the dam itself. It was a huge thing, all dull grey with a surface scarred and pitted in places by years of hard rains. What really caught her eye though was the scaffolding that covered most of the dam. There were five levels, leading all the way from the lower riverbank, right up to the top of the dam.

They'd seen some people moving around at the top of the dam and Fang had a pretty good feeling that two of them were Hojo and Barthandelus. It was the safest place for cowards like them to be, since reaching them would mean fighting past all the hired guns in the buildings and then all the hired guns on the scaffolding. They'd seen the explosives too, big barrels tied together and pressed right up against the dam in several places. Vanille reckoned they would probably all be connected to a single main fuse, and when it came to blowing things up, there probably wasn't a person alive whose judgement she trusted more than the red head's. Still, they'd gotten there in time, because it didn't look like all of the explosives were in place yet, although it probably wouldn't be long now.

Back on the other side of the ridge, Vanille and Sazh were waiting for them.

"From the look on the sheriff's face, I'm guess that things were about as bad as we thought they'd be," Sazh drawled. He sighed and rubbed his temples. "And here I was hoping that this might actually end up pretty boring." A weak grin crossed his face. "Although I can't really say I've had a boring day in my life since I ran into you and Vanille."

"Well, you know what they say." Fang smirked. "May you live in interesting times and all that." Her voice sobered a little. "But, yes, you're right, it doesn't look too good. We're going to have to fight our way past a whole street of buildings and then all the way to the top of that scaffolding."

"I don't suppose we could sneak around or something, could we?" Sazh asked. "Maybe cross the river and skip past those buildings?"

Fang pointed over to the river and shook her head. Even with the dam still in place, the great downpour over the past few weeks had it close to bursting its banks. It was one big angry mass of roiling water, the kind that just about scream horrible death. "You want to try crossing that?"

Sazh grimaced. "I take your point."

"So, how are we going to do this then?" Vanille asked. She had her shotgun slung over her shoulder and a jaunty sort of grin on her face, but Fang knew her well enough to see that she was nervous, real nervous. The red head might like blowing things to bits, not to mention she had a tricky streak in her a mile wide, but she'd been in the business with Fang long enough to know what the odds were, and frankly they weren't good.

Fang glanced at Lightning. The two of them had talked things over plenty on the way there along with the night before too. They'd both come to the conclusion that there really was only one way they could pull this off. "We've got at least another hour before they're ready to blow the dam, I think. Our only choice is to just go right in there and stop them before they can." Sazh's face made it pretty clear what he thought about that idea, but Fang pressed on. "The way I see it, Cocoon's only got once chance at this. If they blow those explosives and the dam doesn't go down, then they're going to have to get set up again before they can give it another go. That'd take them a lot of time – more time than they've got, really – so they've got to get things right the first time, or not at all."

"So, we're just going to go in there, guns blazing and kill the lot of them?" Sazh chuckled. "That doesn't even sound like a plan."

Fang shrugged and looked them all in the eye. "You're right, as plans go, it's not much of one, but if anyone's got something better, I'd sure like to hear it." No one said a thing. "In that case, here's how Lightning and I have things figured." She led them back to the top of the ridge and pointed things out as she talked the plan over. "Vanille, you're with me. We'll be handling the left side of the street, the one near the river. Lightning and Sazh, you'll be worrying about the other side of the street." Fang looked at Vanille. "You know how I'm always telling you not to blow things up?" Vanille nodded and Fang smirked. "Well, forget I ever said any of that. There's a lot of them, more than we've got bullets, so when we get down there, you're going to have to light them up, really put on a show. Just make sure you don't get us blown up too." Vanille's grin was almost too big to fit on her face. "Lightning, Sazh, wait till Vanille gets things started. Once everything starts going to hell, those hired guns are going to come out of those buildings looking for a fight. That's when you get them. After that we head for the scaffolding, see if we can't make it there in decent shape." She pointed to how the scaffolding spanned the full breadth of the dam and actually led across to the other side of the river. "We want to get to the top of that scaffolding, but there'll be more hired guns on the other side of the river. Someone's going to have to hang back to hold them off."

Lightning inclined her head at Sazh. "That'll be you and me." She didn't bother to tell him why it had to be them. Vanille and Fang had a score to settle with Cocoon, so it was only right that they be the ones to head up to the top of the dam to see things through to the finish. Still, there was a fair bit of worry in Sazh's eyes, and Lightning could hardly blame him. Vanille and Fang were just two people, no matter how good, and there were a lot of hired guns up there. "Don't worry," she said softly. "Once we've got things quietened down, we can head up top to join them."

Sazh nodded grimly. "I guess that's the only way to do it then." He shook his head slowly and then grinned. "Looks like we really will have to pick our shots though, otherwise we really will run out of bullets." No one laughed. "Not too funny a joke, I guess."

Lightning quirked one brow. "I didn't think you were joking." A faint smile crossed her lips. "But thanks for trying."

Fang rolled her eyes and cuffed Sazh lightly over the shoulder. "Come up with something better next time, Sazh." She looked at the others. "You all ready?" They nodded and a smirk spread across her face. "Then let's go pick a fight."

The group crept down from the ridge, careful to keep close to cover as Fang and Vanille headed to the left, and Lightning and Sazh went right. Although they'd have to fight sooner or later, they wanted to keep out of sight until they were ready to get things started on their terms. That was easier said than done though, with a couple of patrols out and about, and the occasional hired gun out for some fresh air.

"Keep close," Fang said to Vanille as they closed in on the first group of buildings, almost near enough now to pick out the faces of those inside. "And I mean keep close." There was a bit of lightness to her tone, but some hardness too. She'd come this far with Vanille. It'd just about kill her to lose the red head now.

"Right." Vanille nodded, and trailed in Fang's shadow as the older woman led them from tree to tree and then across the last bit of open ground before the shabby fence just in front of the buildings. They were over the fence in a heartbeat and as they dropped down on the other side, they saw that Lightning and Sazh were over the fence on their side too.

Fang looked over to see Vanille's gaze on the others. "Vanille," she murmured softly. "I'm not trying to be mean, but you can't worry about them now." The red head's eyes widened and Fang held up one hand to cut her off. "I know… I'm worried about them too, real worried, but right now, we can't get distracted." She smiled and took Vanille's hand in hers. "And don't forget, they're not exactly push overs. Lightning's about as tough as they come and Sazh that old bag of bones is too tough to die over something as silly as all this. Now, let's get going."

As they reached the first building, a hired gun came around the corner. He was probably looking for some fresh air, although Fang wasn't sure how fresh the air could be with all this rain pelting down. His eyes were on the cigar he was trying to get lit, and with the rain striking drumbeats on the roofs nearby, he never had a chance as Fang rushed forward and grabbed him from behind. The cigar dropped from his mouth and he kicked wildly, but she had one hand over his mouth and the other around his neck. His boots slipped in the mud and before he could get himself right again, Fang wrenched his head to the side.

"I'll go and take a look around," Fang said as she dropped the body into the mud. "Get your explosives ready and get a route mapped out in your head. Once I'm sure the coast is clear, we're going to liven things up a little."

Vanille nodded eagerly. "Keep safe, Fang," she said as the other woman headed off behind the buildings along the trail right up next to the river. Turning her gaze to the body, Vanille sighed and reached down to grab the man by the ankles. It probably wouldn't be too good to leave him out in the open like that.

With Vanille back behind some cover, Fang snuck along the backs of the buildings. It would probably take the red head at least a couple of minutes to get things ready, but if everything worked out, they might get lucky and take out most of the buildings on this side of the street in one go. That would make their lives a heck of a lot easier, and it'd draw the hired guns on the other side of the street out into the open for Lightning and Sazh to pick off. Hopefully, Sazh and Lightning could stay out sight until then.

As she came up to the next building, she caught sight of another hired gun. For a moment, the two of them locked eyes and then he dropped the bag he was carrying and went for his gun. Fang didn't bother reaching for hers. Instead, she palmed a knife and threw it. Bullets might be faster than knives at long ranges, but they couldn't have been more than fifteen yards apart. Knives were quieter too. The knife caught him right in the eye, and he died with his hand halfway to his holster. The body made a wet thump as it slumped into the mud, and she quickly got the body out of sight so that she could search him for anything useful.

From there, she continued on down the trail. The river was right there, only a few yards away, and while she was grateful that it and the rain made it hard to hear her going along, it made it hard for her to hear people too. Along the way, she took a quick glimpse through the back window of each building. There were weapons in one, a makeshift saloon in another, and even what looked to be a general store of some kind. But in all of them, there were hired guns keeping themselves busy. The rain had made everyone miserable, and she had a feeling that even if they'd been told to keep an eye out, no one really wanted to be out and about. Besides, who'd be crazy enough to attack in weather like this? Fang grinned. She and the others were more than crazy enough for that. Still, things were looking pretty good, and if she and the others played their cards right, the hired guns wouldn't know what was going on until explosives were going off all over the place.

Halfway down the trail, she ran into her next bit of trouble. There were four hired guns ahead, most likely a patrol of some kind. Fang smiled thinly. She had to hand it to them. Most people forgot to patrol trails like this that were small and muddy and out behind the buildings. They were headed right for her and she quickly hid behind a half-broken shed. Four men was a lot to take care of without making a sound, even for her, but it wasn't like she had much choice.

She waited until they were just about level with her and then lashed out with one foot. The kick caught the lead man right in the jaw and he went down, already out for the duration. The others scrambled to fight back and she hurled her knife, still bloody from before, into the throat of one before she caught another with an elbow flush across the chin. He staggered and she landed an uppercut flush right on the point of his jaw to knock him out. The last hired gun had taken the chance to run, tearing down the alley at a pace too fast to let him do much more than pant. For a moment, Fang almost went for her gun, but then she spotted a rock down by her feet. A grin crossed her face as she remember the way Lightning had taken a hired gun out with a pebble way back in Eden City. She picked the rock up, took a moment to take its measure, and then threw it. The rock hit the hired gun right in the back of the head and he stumbled for a second before he dropped to the ground.

Fang grinned. Damn, if only Lightning had been around to see that. Still, that patrol would be missed eventually, which meant she needed to get a move on. She covered the rest of the street in a hurry, but it looked like they were in luck. The rain was still going hard enough to make it unpleasant to be out and about, so most of the hired guns were indoors, playing cards, or loafing about. The few hired guns that she did run into were pretty easy to deal with, and she was careful to tuck them out of the way before she headed back to Vanille.

"You got things planned out, Vanille?" Fang asked as the red head peeked out from behind the box she was using for cover.

Vanille pursed her lips and then pointed down the trail. "I'm thinking I'll go the same way you did. There are windows on the backs of all those buildings, right?" Fang nodded and Vanille smiled sunnily. "Then I figure I can toss explosives in through the back."

"Sounds good," Fang said. "But we'll have to be quick. I'll run ahead, you run behind me tossing those explosives of yours. Make sure you run fast though, those explosives of yours pack a punch and a half."

Vanille nodded proudly. "They're the best in the whole damn West." She reached into her coat and palmed some explosives. "Let's get a move on."

And then they were running at full pace down the trail. To anyone else, they'd have looked like a pair of fools – and all things considered, maybe that wasn't too far from the truth – but right now they had a pretty good reason to be running. That reason got real obvious too, when Vanille got the first explosive lit and tossed it through the back window of the first building they passed.

There was a gap of a few seconds and then a tremendous roar as the explosive blew the building apart like it was made of newspaper. Rainwater flew every which way as the noise of the blast rippled outward, a single peal of chemical thunder punctuated by a cloud of smoke and fire. Debris and mud rained down on them, and even the river trembled as the part of the riverbank nearest to the explosion began to give way. The other buildings trembled, and then began to shake as the shockwave blew out all the windows, and sent a tremor through the ground.

"What the hell did you put in those?" Fang screamed as she struggled to keep her footing. They were level with the second building now, and as Vanille tossed another explosive through the back window of the building, Fang felt mighty tempted to really put some speed on. Only the fact that Vanille couldn't run as fast as her held her back, but with all the bits of wood raining down on them along with the rain and the occasional burning body, it was getting harder and harder to not just run for all she was worth and damn the consequences.

Vanille laughed like Fang had said the funniest thing in the world. "After our little bit of trouble on the train over here, I thought I might add something a little special, make them a mite stronger." She giggled and waved her hands about. "Seeing as how we're basically outnumbered by more than I can count, I figured it'd be a good idea." She said more, but the words were lost as the explosive she'd tossed only a few moments ago went off with a boom fit to break the sky.

The building must have sturdier wall than the last one, because it was the roof that came off first. It landed almost whole in the river beside them as the walls finally blew outward like sheets of linen caught in the wind. Bodies followed the roof, some of them burned, some of them whole. Most of them crashed into the river, but others landed in the dirt around them. Fang shot any of them that twitched, but mostly, she ran. Behind her, Vanille was like a kid in a candy store, lobbing explosives into every building they passed.

They reached the end of the street and turned around just in time to watch the last building come apart like an overripe tomato. The walls bulged outward along with the roof, before a tide of flame hurled them away, the building reduced to little more than its smouldering foundations. Fang and Vanille had to duck for cover as nails, planks, and what looked to be a couple of half-melted pistols flew through the air toward them. By the time they stepped out, their whole side of the street was in ruins, and Fang could hear the shouts of the wounded and the dying over the rain as the hired guns from the other side of the street poured out of their buildings to see what had happened. A couple of them spotted her and Vanille right away.

"You ready for some shooting?" Fang asked as she drew her pistols.

Vanille put her hands on her hips and looked over the mess she'd made. Not a single building on their side of the street was standing. Hell, there wasn't even a single wall still in place. If ever she'd seen something prettier, she was hard-pressed to remember it. A grin crossed her face and she lifted her shotgun up. "What do you think, Fang?"

X X X

"Honestly, those two are something else," Sazh muttered as he watched the last building on the opposite side of the street explode.

Lightning made a face as a big piece of burning wood fell just a little too close to her for her liking. "You've known them longer than me. Have they always been like this?"

Sazh grinned. "You should have seen what happened the first time Vanille made explosives. The damn thing burned my eyebrows right off. Fang had a right good time at my expense." He glanced at the street where the hired guns had begun to gather. "What do you say? Let's go introduce ourselves."

As they strode out onto the street to get a better line of fire, Sazh thought back over the last few minutes. He'd known from the moment he'd met her that Lightning was dangerous, and he'd heard plenty from the folks he'd talked to who'd gone past Bodhum, but this was the first time he'd really gotten a good look at her in action. It was one thing to shoot a man, quite another to just slip as silent as a shadow through the rain and then get up behind him to break his neck. Sazh might've been quite a bounty hunter once, but he'd never been that good at killing people. No, Lightning was a bit like Fang that way – really, really good at killing people, scary good, and a right natural at it too. At least she was on his side though, because he'd hate to have to go up against someone like her.

They came out into the open and the hired guns kind of stopped and stared for a moment before they all went for their guns. Lightning and Sazh fired first, and then turned to stand back to back as Lightning laid into the hired guns on the left of them and Sazh the hired guns on the right. Standing like that, they had no choice but to trust the other to look out for them, and Sazh felt all the long years of fixing sewing machines and other little knick-knacks slip away. He always liked to say that he'd changed, and he always had a word or two ready for Dajh about what it meant to grow up good and right and decent. But deep down inside, he knew he wasn't the kind of man who could spend his life in a workshop, not really. This, right here, was what defined him, this tangle of bullets and mayhem, this riot of blood and smoke and a thousand different sensations all jammed together and hammering away at him like every battle he'd ever fought rolled into one. This was what he lived for.

He fired both guns together, his attention split perfectly between his two targets as all his years on the road hunting the scum of the earth flooded back. A hired gun popped up from behind a crate and he drilled him easy as could be with a shot right through the head. Another appeared in the door of one of the buildings alongside them and Sazh put a bullet in his heart. It didn't seem to matter where the hired guns were coming from or how many there were. His hands were moving faster than he could think, old instincts awake and ready once again. The world slowed down until he was knocking hired guns off like they were cans on a fence and it was only when his left pistol clicked empty that the world sped up again. He holstered the empty pistol and used the last two rounds from his other pistol to drop a pair of hired guns who'd been about to blindside him. Behind him, he could here Lightning's pistols click empty too, but there were still more hired guns and he had a feeling they weren't in the mood to give him and Lightning a break to reload. It was a good thing then that Sazh hadn't brought just his pistols with him.

Sazh tugged the shotgun off his back and called for Lightning to follow him toward some cover. A clump of hired guns closed in, guns blazing, and he felt the sting of a bullet as it grazed his cheek. Then he brought his own weapon up and fired, and the hired guns reeled back, two of them killed outright, a couple more of them wounded. Taking the chance to get out of there, he and Lightning ran for one of the buildings that was still standing and crashed through the door.

"We need to reload," Sazh muttered as he shot a quick look through the ruined door. More hired guns were headed their way. Lovely.

Lightning followed his gazed and nodded. "Damn straight we –"

Lightning stopped midsentence as a big shadow fell over them. Sazh watched in disbelief as a big hulk of a man grabbed the sheriff by the scruff of her coat and then tossed her across the room. She managed to right herself in midair somehow, but even so, the force of the throw had her skidding into a stack of tables and chairs. She shoved out of the upturned furniture, and shook her head to clear it, but there were hired guns closing in on her. Sazh stepped forward to lend her a hand, but the big man blocked his path.

"You're not going anywhere, old man," the big man growled before he slapped the shotgun out of Sazh's hands. The weapon hit the ground with a clatter and went off, catching a hired gun in the leg. But Sazh had no time to worry about that as the big man came forward, fists already in motion.

Sazh wasn't as fast as he used to be, but the last thing a man like him ever lost was his strength, and although the hired gun was bigger than him, that didn't matter much when Sazh kicked him right between the legs. As the man folded like a paper bag, Sazh couldn't help but wince. Really, strength didn't have much to do with it when it came to kicking people between the legs, but he wasn't about to fight fair, not at a time like this. As the big man clutched at his privates, Sazh kneed him in the face. The big man groaned and stumbled back, but somehow managed to stay conscious, so Sazh did the only thing he could think of and yanked a chair up and smashed it over the hired gun's back. Finally, the big man went down. As a fresh group of hired guns raced in through the door, Sazh scrambled for the big man's gun. Thankfully, it was still loaded, and even though it was a bit shabby, the other hired guns were too close for that too matter. He dropped a couple of hired guns and then flipped a table over for cover. Safe, at least for the time being, he chanced a look back at Lightning.

The sheriff had managed to find her feet again, and as one of the hired guns closed in on her, his gun already up, Lightning darted forward and knocked it out of his hand. Before it could hit the floor, she caught it and as the hired gun gaped, not quite able to believe what had just happened, she levelled the gun with his chest and fired. The other hired guns immediately closed in on her, determined to put their numbers to work, but she was a blur of movement, a flash of pink amidst all the browns and greys. She kicked one man in the face, and then spun as a gunshot ripped through the air where her head had been. In the same movement, she drove her elbow into the gut of a hired gun behind her, and then reached over to toss him into the others. Three hired guns tripped over him and she fired twice in quick succession at the two that managed to keep clear. As the others recovered, she fired until her stolen weapon clicked empty. With a scowl, she tossed the weapon into the face of the nearest hired gun, and then laid into them with her fists and feet. A few of them managed to hit her, one even rocked her head back with a wildly thrown haymaker of a punch, but she refused to falter as she rattled hired gun after hired gun with her blows. However, one of them had managed to sneak up behind her, and as he rushed forward to try and tackle her, Sazh brought his gun up and picked him off. Lightning turned as the hired gun dropped to the floor beside her. Their eyes met and she nodded to him once before gunfire from the hired guns by the door forced her to look for cover.

Seeing that Lightning was tucked away behind some tables and now had a chance to reload, Sazh peeked out over his upturned table. The second he did, a bullet nearly took his head off, and he winced as more gunfire slammed into the table. The table was mighty thick, but each shot made it a little smaller and damn if one of those hired guns didn't have a shotgun. With a growl, he pushed away from the table and dove for the makeshift bar across the room. Along the way, he squeezed a few shots off. One shot caught a hired gun in the throat, another went wide, and the last one hit a hired gun in the shoulder and spun him round to tumble out the door. He reached the bar and scrambled over it. His back gave a groan as he tumbled willy-nilly onto the ground. Really, he was getting too old for this kind of thing. Several gunshots from the back of the room followed by a pair of anguished cries told him that Lightning had started shooting again, which meant he really should take the chance to reload too.

A few seconds later, he was ready, and as he popped back out from behind the counter, one of the hired guns took a flying leap at him. He shot the man in midair and the hired gun crashed through the wall behind him in a shower of timber. Looking through the hole in the wall, Sazh suddenly found himself face to face with another group of hired guns. Aw, damn.

He leapt back over the bar as the hired guns by the door riddled the floor and bar around him with bullets. Swearing up a storm – and glad that Lahna wasn't around to hear him do it – he scrambled to find some cover. More bullets headed his way, this time from the hired guns who'd just come in through the hole in the wall, but Lightning was up on her feet with eyes colder than the winter chill. She dropped two hired guns by the bar, and the others reeled back. Then she turned her attention to the hired guns by the door and it wasn't long before a few more of them were dead too. Glad to have the pressure off him for a bit, Sazh added his own gunfire to the mix and it wasn't long before the rest of the hired guns were either dead or running for it.

"You okay?" Sazh asked as the two of them watched the last of the hired guns turn tail and run. Lightning's coat was ripped in several places and her lip was cut and swollen. She had to be bruised all over from the earlier scuffle too, but she lifted her chin and her eyes just blazed defiance.

"I could ask you the same," Lightning said.

Sazh chuckled. "I guess so." He tilted his head toward the door. "Looks like there's still a lot of them out there."

Lightning nodded and the two of them took the chance to reload before they ran back out onto the street. Not too surprisingly, Fang and Vanille were already there, the red head sizing up the best place to throw her next explosive as Fang covered her, the black haired woman a blur of motion as she picked off hired gun after hired gun. Around them, the ruins of the buildings continued to smoulder despite the rain.

X X X

Fang smiled when she saw Lightning and Sazh come out of one of building nearby. She'd heard a lot of shooting and cussing coming inside and while she was mighty confident they'd come out on top, she couldn't help but worry just a tad. The fact that she and Vanille really could use a hand too didn't hurt either. They might've blown one entire side of the street down to kindling, but that didn't seem to make a lick of difference as hired guns came from what felt like every direction. Right now, she and Vanille were using an overturned wagon for cover as the red head continued to use what explosives she had left to put her own personal spin on the scenery.

"Nice of you to join us, sheriff," Fang drawled as bullets clipped the side of the wagon just over her head. She waited for a slight lull in the firing and then leaned over to fire back. Her shot caught a hired gun up on the roof the building in front of them, and he gave a drawn out scream before he toppled to the ground. "Care to give us a hand?"

Lightning ducked down into place beside Fang before the hired guns could shoot her head off. "That was quite a show you two put on." She gave Vanille a sort of wondering look. "Just how many explosives did you bring, Vanille?"

Vanille shrugged and then winced as the wagon shuddered under another round of gunfire. "I don't know, as many as I could carry, really." She frowned and opened her coat. "I've only got two left though, so I should probably hang on to those until we really need them."

Fang chuckled. "Only two left? Hell, that's two more than most people carry into a fight." She peered over the wagon again and then made a face. "I think we've got some real trouble headed our way."

"What do you mean?" Sazh asked. A bullet knocked his hat clean off his head and he had to fumble for it in the mud. When he put it back on there was a nice hole in the middle of it. He sighed. Sometimes he wished he could be a little shorter. Even ducking, it was hard for him to keep completely out of harm's way, whereas Vanille looked nice and comfortable up against the wagon.

"Tell you what," Fang said. "Pick up that plank of wood next to you and hold it up."

Sazh reached over for the plank of wood and held it up over the edge of the wagon. "What now?"

Bang.

The plank of wood practically exploded and Sazh dropped it in a hurry. "What the heck was that?"

Fang stuck her head out for a moment and then quickly ducked down again. A loud bang ripped through the air before a bullet kicked up a spray of mud. "See that building at the end of the street? Well, they've got hired guns with rifles up there, good ones too, and their aim isn't half bad." Her lips pulled back into a snarl. "I'm guessing they're going to try and keep us pinned down here while the others circle round and get behind us." Right on cue, there was some yelling and the sound of a whole lot of boots tromping through the mud and rain to flank them. "We need to get rid of those hired guns up there with rifles."

Lightning pursed her lips and then nodded as she pulled her rifle off her back. "I can do that, but I'll need a distraction." She looked at Vanille.

Vanille pouted and flicked some rain at Lightning. "Hey! Why does it have to be me?"

Fang grinned. "You have to admit, you do kind of draw attention to yourself."

"I do not," Vanille huffed. "Well, not that much."

Sazh patted Vanille on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll do it." He winced and stretched his legs. "Lahna would be all kinds of angry if I let you get hit, Vanille." He shot a glare at Fang and Vanille. "But damn it, you two better cover me. If I end up dead, I swear I'll come back and haunt you till the day you die."

Fang laughed. "Don't worry, old man, you've plenty of days ahead of you yet." She looked at Lightning. "You about ready?"

Lightning gave her rifle one last quick look and then nodded. "Whenever you're ready, Sazh." Her brows furrowed. "Make sure you don't run in a straight line, okay? Run in a zigzag, that'll make it harder for them to get you."

Sazh chuckled nervously. "Don't worry, I know that." He took a deep breath. "I just hope you don't miss, Lightning."

With a mad cry, Sazh pushed out from behind the wagon and charged up the street, zigzagging wildly. The instant he was out of cover, a hail of bullets went his way and Fang felt her heart skip a beat as the closest thing she'd ever had to a father ducked and dove through a storm of metal. For a second, he stumbled as his feet slipped in the mud, but he got his balance back and poured on every bit of speed he had, screaming at the top of his lungs to draw as much attention as he could. Once the hired guns took their eyes off the wagon, Fang and Vanille moved out from behind it too. They opened fire and it wasn't long before they began to make a pretty decent dent in the number of hired guns at ground level. But there were a lot of them, and Fang cursed as a bullet sliced through her coat at the hip. It wasn't much more than a scratch, but she knew for a fact she'd just gotten really lucky. A couple more inches to the left and she'd be missing a leg.

"Come on, Lightning!" Fang growled as she and Vanille blazed away. "What are you waiting for?"

But Lightning didn't say a word. Instead, she watched, calm and cool and ready as she eyed off the positions of the hired guns on the roof and counted their shots. One of them stopped to reload and then another. Now, now was her chance. Lips drawn into a thin line, she brought her rifle up to her shoulder and began to fire.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Lightning fired four times, each shot as loud as thunder as the wind tossed her hat aside and the rain swept down her cheeks. With each shot, a hired gun went down on the roof of the building at the end of the street. Every single one of them had a hole blown clean through the middle of their forehead. Water dripped into her eyes, but rather than reach up to wipe it away, she simply flung her head back to jolt it clear and then took aim again.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

The hired guns had cottoned on to Lightning as the shooter now and bullets went her way but she paid them no mind. She trusted Fang and the others to take care of the hired guns at ground level while she picked off the ones on the roof. A bullet shot past her, so close that she could feel the wind of it brush against her ear, but she had eyes only for the hired guns on the roof. She could see them clear as day, and as she stared down the barrel of her rifle at them nothing else mattered, not the rain, or the wind, or the mud, or even the taste of blood in her mouth. Instead, she let her whole world shrink down to each shot as she picked them off one after the other, easy as could be.

"Damn that woman can shoot!" Fang cried with wild, ringing laughter as she and Vanille headed down the street after Sazh. With the hired guns up on the roof gone, things were a fair bit easier and the hired guns at ground level had begun to fall back.

Behind them, Lightning dropped the last of the hired guns on the roof and then turned her attention to those at ground level. As Fang, Vanille, and Sazh surged forward, she added her own fire to the mix, the rapid staccato of their pistols punctuated by the boom of her rifle.

Up near the end of the street, Fang fired until her pistols came up empty. Then, since the next bunch of hired guns were close enough, she switched to fisticuffs. She slugged the hired gun closest to her with a savage hook across the jaw that sent him sprawling back into the mud. Another leapt at her from the side, but she caught him in midair and twisted to throw him over her shoulder. A third lunged at her with a knife, and she twisted away. As he came back around for another slash at her chest, she eased back and then kicked him in the chest. He flew back and skidded through the mud, and as he tried to find his footing, her boot caught him flush across the face.

More hired guns came running from the side and she grabbed the shotgun she'd brought with her and put it work. Shotguns really were more Vanille's thing, but up close and personal like this, a shotgun was just what she needed. She fired right into the middle of the group of hired guns and two of them went flying. A third and fourth followed a second later as she fired again before she ducked behind a barrel to reload.

Suddenly though, something smashed into her from the side and she found herself rolling over and over through the mud. She looked up just in time to dodge a knife aimed at her throat. Even so, the knife scored a cut across her arm. The hired gun on top of her gave a roar of fury and stabbed at her with his other knife, but she managed to bring her shotgun up in time to block the attack. The knife lodged in the stock of the shotgun, and she smacked him across the face with the weapon. He grunted with pain but managed to keep on top of her, and she cursed as he struck out at her again and again. Somehow, through the blur of cutting steel, she managed to get a hold of his coat and she growled as she kicked him up over her head.

As Fang scrambled to her feet, she caught sight of Sazh and Vanilel not too far off, the two of them were fighting hand-to-hand now that the hired guns were too close to let them reload. It was hard, ugly fighting, but she knew Vanille and Sazh were up to it. Further back, Lightning was still firing, her rifle spitting death as she took down any hired guns that looked like they were about to get a shot off on Vanille or Sazh.

Then she had no more time to think as the knife wielding hired gun closed in on her again. He was damn fast, Fang thought, and skilled too. As he came forward, she pried out the knife still stuck in her shotgun and used it to parry his first set of strikes. But having to hold the shotgun in her other hand was slowing her down plenty, and he cut her twice, just shallow cuts both times, but stinging all the same. Through the rain, she heard boots behind her and as she turned, strong arms grabbed hold of her. With a growl, she jerked her head back, and she heard the hired gun behind her swear as she broke his nose. He let go of her and clutched at his face, and she swung her shotgun up to clip him on the temple. He went down and she turned back just in time to block another attack from the hired gun with a knife. Their knives locked and she twisted just enough to let him skid past her. As he struggled to get his footing back, she scored a cut of her own along his side and moved in to finish things, but another hired gun tackled her from the side. They crashed through the wooden wall of a building, her shotgun and knife jolting out of her grasp in the tumble, and she backpedalled quickly as he made a grab for her ankles.

He missed and she caught him with a good kick right on the chin. However, as she went to get her shotgun and knife back, the knife-wielding hired gun bounded in through the hole in the wall. He pushed her back with a string of fast, flowing attacks until she bumped into a table. On reflex, she reached back to steady herself, and her hands closed around a thick coat. She grinned and as the hired gun lunged in again, she swept the coat up and wrapped it around his knife and the hand that held it. Grin turning nasty, she jerked the coat – and his arm – up to one side and slammed her knee into his gut. He doubled over and she tightened the coat around his arm, and heaved him into the opposite wall. He smashed right through it and tried to rise, only to fall flat on his face in the mud. Still grinning slightly, she picked her shotgun up and headed back outside, reloading as she went.

Out on the street, things had begun to quieten down a little. Fang picked off three more hired guns and then rejoined the others as they made their way closer to the dam and the scaffolding that led up to the top of it. Her eyes narrowed. One way or another, she'd be settling things today that had weighed on her for a long, long time

"Everybody okay?" Fang asked

Vanille grinned and spat some blood onto the ground. Fang was happy to see though, that the red head didn't seem to be missing any teeth, although there was a mighty nasty bruise on one cheek. "I've been better," she said. "But you should see the other guy." She waved her hand at a nearby crater. "He used to be over there but…"

Lightning gave Vanille a mildly worried look and then glanced back at Fang. "I'm fine." Out of all of them she probably did look the best, because other than a few little cuts and scrapes and a split lip, most of the damage seemed to be to her coat.

"Ask me tomorrow morning," Sazh muttered. He wasn't doing too poorly, but his coat was hanging in tatters and that, more than even the slight limp he was carrying, seemed to bother him. Fang could understand why though. Lahna had gotten him that coat and if he came back without it, he'd never hear the end of it.

"Well, hope you're ready for more then." Fang looked up at the scaffolding ahead and felt a savage grin cross her face. There were more hired guns up there, lots more, and the longer they waited, the worst it would be. "All right, let's finish this."

X X X

Lightning eyed the scaffolding keenly as they moved in. The whole time, they had to duck and dodge and weave as the hired guns up there made their presence known with gunfire. The scaffolding had five levels, with the highest level flush with the top of the dam. Still, even if they managed to get to the scaffolding, things wouldn't be easy. The scaffolding was narrow, only a few yards wide, actually, with each level connected to the next by a wooden ramp. Her lip curled in distaste. The whole thing was one big bucket of bolts, strong enough to get the explosives set up, but weak enough that it'd come apart nice and easy when the dam went down.

They managed to get to the foot of the scaffolding and waiting for them there were the first group of hired guns. If Cocoon thought that half a dozen men would be enough to stop them, then clearly, they hadn't been paying too much attention, because they'd just taken a whole damn street out a few minutes ago. The four of them barrelled right into the hired guns like they were hardly even there. Guns blazing, they dropped four of them in a flash, and as the last two gaped in fear and wonder, they fired again and took them down too. Nearly sprinting now, they charged up the first ramp that took them from the riverbank and onto the first level of the scaffolding.

As they stepped onto the scaffolding, Lightning hesitated for just a moment. The scaffolding was anchored to the concrete wall of the dam and that meant that every vibration, every shudder, and every groan that rippled through the dam as the water behind it raged and roared also rocked the scaffolding. It was a scary thought, all that water below and behind them with the only thing they had to rely on a big pile of rain-slicked wood and rusty metal. Sazh must have been thinking the same thing too, because he gave them all a queasy sort of smile and then kept going.

At the top of the ramp were more hired guns. With no room to really dodge or manoeuvre, it was a simple question of who could fire first and Lightning had no intention of coming in second. She was the first to fire and the others weren't far behind her. The two groups couldn't have been more than ten yards apart, and Lightning winced as one bullet nicked her side. The sting of it made her growl, and she peeled off two quick shots, killing one hired gun outright, and hitting another in the shoulder so that he spun in a slow circle and then toppled off the scaffolding into the river below.

"There's the ramp," Lightning said as she and the others forced the hired guns back. Her pistols finally came up empty, so she switched to her rifle. The big weapon jerked against her shoulder and the bullet tore through one hired gun and into the man behind him too. "Well, what are you waiting for, Fang, Vanille? Go!"

Fang looked over at her for a moment and Lightning could see the hesitation written there. If Fang and Vanille headed up, then she and Sazh would be boxed in on the bottom level with hardly any cover and not much room to move.

"You've waited just about your whole damn life for this," Lightning growled as she grabbed Fang and shoved her toward the ramp. "Now, go up and do what you need to do."

Fang laughed a little wildly and held Lightning's gaze with her own. "Don't you dare die on me, Lightning."

Lightning looked away just long enough to drill a shot right through the heart of another hired gun before she looked back at Fang. "Do you really think I'd let scum like these hired guns put me down? Not a chance, Fang, not a chance in the world."

"Then I'll see you later, Lightning," Fang said. "Look after Sazh for me, will you?"

And then Fang and Vanille were heading up the ramp, shooting as they ran headlong into the hired guns set up there to stop them. Smiling once at the pair, Lightning turned her attention back to the hired guns in front of her. Behind her, a few yards back was Sazh, and he'd managed to kick a few boxes over to make some cover for himself. She had to watch his back and trust him to do the same. At least the narrowness of the scaffolding made it hard for the hired guns up the back to shoot without hitting the ones up the front. Of course, she didn't have that problem.

As the hired guns ran toward her they had to try pretty hard to keep from bunching up or getting in each other's way. She brought her rifle around and lined up her first shot. She took out two of them with that shot, the hired gun at the front and the man just behind him. Her second shot dropped another hired gun as the others spread out as best they could on the narrow scaffolding and fired back. Bullets ripped past her as she ghosted from side to side, firing until her rifle came up empty. Her eyes narrowed. There was no time now for her to get behind cover, no time, really to do anything, but draw her survival knife and hope that she'd be up to the task at hand.

With a low growl, she flung herself at hired guns. A gunshot grazed her thigh, another her shoulder, and then she was spinning, stumbling drunkenly about as pain ripped through her chest. Was she hit? Had they shot her? No, she realised, as she felt down her chest for blood, they hadn't. Instead, her hand came up against her sheriff's star, which was still tucked away in her front pocket. There was a hole in her shirt over it, and she jerked her hand away as her fingers touched the still smoking bullet lodged in the metal star. Her sheriff's star had taken the bullet for her and even though her chest was going to be one big bruise, she could hardly bring herself to care. She was alive, and she had no intention of letting the hired guns change that.

Righting herself, she closed the gap between her and the hired guns. There was panic in their eyes as she drove her knife hilt deep into the gut of the first man and then tossed him into the river. The hired gun behind him took a leap at her, and she ducked to let him pass overhead. As he scrambled to get to his feet again, she swept one foot up and back and kicked him into the river too. He gave a short, frightened scream before the river took him, the churning waters dragging him under as easy as could be. In front of her, another hired gun brought his gun up and fired. She ducked just in time, and as he gaped and tried to get his second shot lined up, she leapt forward and struck twice, once in the chest and again in the throat.

And then she had to give ground as one of the hired guns pulled a sabre and lunged right at her. The first blow sailed just wide, and she ducked as the second swing ripped right through one of the wooden posts holding up the scaffolding. The wood above them gave a low groan and the hired gun pressed his attack, driving her back with a blindingly fast series of cuts and thrusts. She blocked as best she could, her knife not exactly well suited to the task, but finally she got what she wanted as she diverted the sabre up and into one of the metal posts driven into the wall of the dam. There was a loud clan, and the hired gun cursed as the shock of the impact shuddered up his arm. In the split-second that his grip was a tad loose, she struck. She drove her knife into his sword arm and as the sabre clattered out of his hands, she dove forward to catch it.

When she got to her feet, the sabre was in her hand, and for just a second she let herself savour the feel of it. It wasn't like the one that she'd trained with back in Bodhum. That had belonged to Amodar and was more for show than anything else – marshals never really wore their sabres except for during ceremonies. Still the sabre she was holding now was plenty sharp, and up close in a cramped place like this, it was probably better than a gun.

With a flick of her wrist, she gutted the hired gun she'd taken the sabre from and then turned to the others. The panic in their eyes had started to crystallise into cold terror, and she darted forward to finish things before they could get their wits back. They fired wildly as she closed in, but fear made their aim unsteady, and all she needed to do was get close. She did.

A gun came up to point at her head and she brought the sabre up and forward in a gleaming silver arc. The gun – and the hand holding it – clattered to the ground and she grabbed the screaming hired gun by his shirt and tossed him into the river. The others closed in, mad with the kind of courage that only real fear could bring, punching, kicking and shooting. But she felt as light as a feather, all the tiredness dripping off her as she let the sweet steel in her right hand sing just for her. A bullet skimmed her side, but she barely felt it as she cut one man down and then another, the sabre a constant blur of motion as she cut through cloth, and flesh, and bone. Blood splattered the scaffolding around her, spreading as the rain dripped down, and suddenly the hired guns weren't moving forward anymore, they were moving back, not a one of them wanting to face her anymore.

One of them found the courage to turn and fight. He screamed something at her, eyes wide with fear and impotent anger, and she let the sabre reply for her. She split him from hip to shoulder and then twisted to cut another hired gun out of the air as he leapt at her. A third fired his gun, but she was already in motion, crouching low to let the bullet pass overhead as she stabbed up into the man's gut.

More hired guns came forward, pushing past the others, as they drew their sabres and stared her down. But to her they seemed as slow as molasses as they tried to box her in, her one blade seemingly fast enough to keep up with all of theirs. There was no need for her to hold back here, no need to worry about hurting anyone she cared about. All she needed to do was to take them down, and she did, her blade wreathed in dark, vivid red, as she replied to each attack with a sharp riposte.

Finally, the hired guns seemed to run out of steam as their numbers began to dwindle and those not already hurt or dead began to drift away. But before Lightning could let herself relax to much another hired gun stepped forward, and she could tell, right from the start, that he was different from all the others. He was a tall man with long, spiky silver hair, and built real solid. His eyes were a bright blue tinged with yellow around the pupils, and though his face seemed calm enough, there was madness in his gaze. He moved with the easy grace of a man long used to fighting, and as he stopped just outside the range of her sabre, he drew a pistol and then a sabre of his own. Eyes narrowed, Lightning skipped back a step and plucked a pistol from one of the hired guns she'd just killed. The weapon was still fully loaded – the hired gun hadn't even gotten a shot off before she'd cut him down.

"You're pretty good to handle so many hired guns." The silver haired man's lips curled into the faintest of smiles. "It's no wonder Rosso couldn't take you out." He tilted his head to one side. "The name's Weiss, and you're not going anywhere until I'm done with you."

And that was all the warning Lightning had before he brought his gun up and fired. Damn, she thought, he was fast. She had just enough time to jerk her body out of the way before he darted forward and lashed out with his sabre. The sheer force of the blow knocked her back through a wooden post, and she had to scramble to get her balance back before she toppled into the river. But, he was on her in a flash, his sabre striking out again and again, never giving her a moment to counterattack or get her breath back. He was strong too, real strong, and each time their blades met, she felt the shock of the impact coil up her arm and quiver through her body. She was starting to tire, as well, the countless little injuries she'd taken starting to take their toll as she finally faced someone who could fight her on even footing. A slash nearly took her head off, and as she backed away, she had to blink blood out of her eye from the thin cut on her brow.

"You managed to keep your head on," Weiss murmured. "You really are pretty fast." He shrugged, not even breathing hard. "But you've been fighting a while now, and it won't be long before you slow down enough for me to take you out."

Lightning said nothing, choosing instead to drag in a few precious breaths. Seeing her panting, Weiss closed in again, his sabre whipping up to force Lightning's blade up and out of the way as he brought his gun up and levelled it with her chest. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she only just managed to bring her own gun up in time to try and fire first. They fired almost together, both of them twisting away so that the shots went wide, before their sabres met again and then again in a shower of sparks.

They fought back and forth across the scaffolding, and Lightning had to keep an eye out on the bodies of the downed hired guns in case she tripped on them. Their sabres tangled again, and she snaked her gun up and under his blade to try and shoot him in the chest. He jerked away at the last moment, and then she had to dodge as he fired back, his own shot nearly catching her in the shoulder. As they broke apart, his blade streaked out, too fast for her to catch with her own, and she felt a stab of pain as his sabre's edge scored a cut along her thigh. A second later, he got her again, opening up a thin cut along her stomach. She winced and faltered for a moment, and his gun whipped up to aim at her head. She dove for the floor as the shot went high, and swept his legs out from under him. He went down, and she tried to stab him before he could rise, but he rolled, and her sabre jammed into the scaffolding. A grin crossed his face as he drew one foot back to kick her sabre out of her hands, but it fell off his face as she levelled her gun at his chest and fired. He tried to get clear, but the bullet caught him in the side and staggered him just long enough for her to get her sabre free. But he was mad down to his boots now and he caught her with a kick right on the point of the chin.

She crashed back, seeing stars, but somehow able to keep a hold on her sabre. He bounded forward, wound forgotten, and she could barely keep up, as his sabre seemed to come at her from a hundred different directions. He fired his gun again, but she managed to keep clear, and as he lunged forward with another attack, she managed to trip him up again. He hit the scaffolding with a grunt, and as he looked to find his feet, she darted forward to finish it. However, he was ready for her, and at the last moment, she had to jerk away as he raised his pistol and fired. The bullet grazed her cheek, and she let loose a curse, tripping over a downed hired gun. A second later, she found herself staring down the barrel of his gun. He pulled the trigger.

Click.

She smirked. He hadn't counted his shots, and now he was empty, but her pistol wasn't, not yet. It was just a matter of choosing the right time to take her shots. She got to her feet at the same time as him and the two of them struck out at each other again. She was built for speed, but tired as she was, and in the relatively narrow space of the scaffolding, she was hard pressed to take advantage. After a blindingly fast series of blows, she finally slowed down enough for him to drive her to her knees with a powerful overhead chop. It took everything she had to hold his sabre off with just one hand, but she needed her other hand free to use her pistol.

"I think this is where we say goodbye, sheriff," Weiss drawled. "I hope you don't mind me throwing you into the river once we're done."

She grunted with effort as he bore down on her with all of his weight. His sabre dug into her shoulder and she felt a scream tug at her lips, but she refused to give him that much. If only she could find the strength to get her gun up and shoot him, but her left arm was hurting something awful now and it refused to cooperate. But maybe she didn't need to get her gun up. Hissing in pain, she angled her gun around just far enough to shoot him in the leg. He gave a roar of outrage, and she rolled free. His sabre smashed into the scaffolding beneath them, and the wood gave an ominous creak. With a growl, she brought her sabre down on him with all the strength she could muster. Somehow, even with his wounded leg, he managed to block the attack, but the force of it was too much for the scaffolding beneath him and the wood cracked and then gave way. He screamed as he tumbled down into the river and for several seconds he fought wildly against the current, before the river closed over him and bundled him downstream.

However, Lightning's relief was pretty short-lived. No sooner had Weiss vanished from sight than the rest of the scaffolding around her began to shake.

"Sazh!" she screamed. "We need to get going, this place won't hold up much longer."

Hoping he would follow, she sprinted for the ramp up to the second level, bullets whistling past her as the first level of the scaffolding began to collapse. He beat her to the ramp and half-carried, half-dragged her up it as the entire first level of the scaffolding gave way and collapsed into the river. Lying on her back next to a dead hired gun, Lightning could only thank her lucky stars that Fang and Vanille had already been this way. Still, from the sound of things, they hadn't gotten all of the hired guns on their way through. She pushed herself back to her feet and looked across to where a couple of hired guns were.

Sazh followed her gaze and winced. "Looks like we'll be busy all day, sheriff." He looked every bit as beat up as her.

"Figures," Lightning said as she hurried to reload her weapons. "Let's hope Fang and Vanille don't take too much longer to sort things out."

X X X

Vanille rubbed her leg and hobbled as quickly as she could after Fang. She was all for hitting people with planks of wood, but it wasn't so great when she was the one getting hit. In front of her, Fang paused, one foot on the ramp to the fourth level of the scaffolding.

"Vanille, you okay?" Fang asked.

Vanille nodded quickly. "I'm fine, just a little sore. We need to keep going." Besides, it wasn't like Fang was doing much better either. Just getting this far had been one heck of a fight, with bullets and knives, and all sorts of unpleasant things. It made her kind of wish that she could just lob an explosive and blow the whole thing to bits, but that could just as easily bring down the dam too. "Come on, let's go."

They got up the ramp, and then stopped and stared. Hojo was right there. He looked just like Vanille remembered, with his left ear missing and one arm in a sling. He glared at them for a moment with his beady eyes and then turned tail and run, a couple of hired guns moving in to cover him.

"Where's he going?" Fang growled. Hojo wasn't running toward the fifth level of the scaffolding. "There has to be some other way out."

"You're right." Vanille jerked her head toward the ramp up to the fifth level of the scaffolding, which would take them up to the top of the dam where Barthandelus was sure to be waiting. "You go up and settle things with Barthandelus, Fang, I'll settle up with Hojo."

"Vanille…" Fang said.

"Go," Vanille replied, more serious than Fang had ever seen her. "Go and settle with Barthandelus, I can deal with Hojo."

Fang bit her lip and then nodded. "All right then, but take care, Vanille." And then she was gone, running the opposite way to Hojo as she darted up the ramp to the fifth level of the scaffolding.

Shaking her head slowly to clear it, Vanille turned her eyes back to the hired guns standing between her and Hojo. Suddenly, her leg didn't seem to hurt anymore, and instead of pain, all she could feel was ice-cold fury. Hojo was the one who'd come up with the plan to burn Oerba, and if she let him get away she'd never forgive herself. No matter what it took, she'd get him, and anyone who got between her and him was just a dead man walking.

Staggering forward, she blazed away with her shotgun at one of the hired guns. He flew backward, crashing through a couple of posts as the second hired gun fired at her and then closed in with a wild haymaker of a punch. She eased away from the punch, and stuck her foot out as he skidded past. He tripped and went over the side of the scaffolding into the river. More hired guns came running, but there was murder on her mind now and her shotgun was up and ready to greet them. As they fell back, riddled with metal, she cracked her shotgun open, reloaded, and then fired twice more to clear the rest away.

Stepping over the bodies, she saw Hojo heading toward a ramp leading down onto the other side of the river. A stray shot must have hit him somehow, because he was hobbling pretty slowly, one leg of his pants stained with blood. Yet just as she stepped forward, shotgun raised and ready to finish him, the scaffolding beneath her rumbled and then came apart as a massive hand grabbed her by the ankle and yanked her down onto the level below.

She hit the scaffolding below so hard that her shotgun slipped from her grasp and slid away. Rain splashed down onto her face as she looked up and caught sight of the biggest man she'd ever seen. He had silver hair and yellow eyes, and he was so tall that it was no wonder at all that he'd been able to just reach up and smash through the scaffolding to pull her down. And he wasn't just tall either. He was one big mountain of angry muscle, and in one hand he held a rifle so big that Vanille wasn't sure if two of her could have lifted it. If it wasn't for the fact that it was pointed right at her, she'd have been right interested in just how it worked and what it shot. Right now though, she was more worried about getting out of the way.

He fired.

She shoved herself out of the way just in time. The scaffolding where she'd been only a moment ago exploded in a shower of splinters as the rifle slug – far bigger than any normal bullet – ripped right through it and then continued on through the floors below. This had to be Azul, she realised as he brought the gun around again, the giant of a man that Zack had told them about. He fired again, a real slimy sort of smile on his face, and the posts behind her vanished in a hail of mangled timber and metal.

"You're pretty quick on your feet for being on one leg," Azul said. "But that's what makes this whole thing so fun." He chuckled. "I don't like Hojo much, but he pays well and I always run into the most interesting people."

"That so?" Vanille staggered to her feet and lifted her fists up into a fighting position.

Azul threw his head back and laughed. "You're going to fight me with your bare hands, girl? You really are crazy."

Vanille giggled. "Of course, I'm not going to fight you with my bare hands, that'd just be stupid. You're huge." And quick as a flash, she had her pistol drawn. He reacted surprisingly fast for a man as big as he was, but even though he managed to dodge her first shot, he had no choice but to block the next few shots with his rifle. By the time her pistol clicked empty, he was still standing, but at least his rifle wasn't in any condition to fire. He looked down at the ruined weapon in disgust and then threw it at her. She was forced to duck, and that was all it took for him to close the gap between them.

One big fist caught her on the chin and Vanille was sure her jaw was broken. Apparently, it wasn't though, because in the next second, he'd grabbed her and thrown her up into the scaffolding above them and then down onto the ground. Blood filled her mouth and despite the pain in her jaw, it was still working well enough to let her spit some of the blood out so that she could breathe. Her front and back were one big mass of pain as he yanked her up, and slapped her pistol out of her hand with an easy flick of his wrist.

"I don't know how someone like you managed to get this far," Azul taunted as Vanille swam in and out of consciousness. He slapped her across the face. "Now, don't you go blacking out, we're not done yet."

Slowly, and smiling the whole time, he began to choke the life out of her. She kicked wildly, but he was too tall and strong, and his face was too far away for her to reach, so she couldn't poke at his eyes or his throat. Her vision began to swim and she felt her arms go slack. Seeing her go a little limp, he loosened his hold on her throat a fraction.

"No," he said. "You don't get to die that easy."

Vanille tried to force some air into her lungs, but it was no good. The strength was almost gone from her now, and it took everything she had to glare at him as he choked the life out of her. Then her hands brushed up against something in her coat, something she'd completely forgotten about – a vial of acid, the same kind she used to melt locks and the like.

"What's that you got there?" Azul asked mockingly as Vanille struggled to get the vial up.

Vanille forced the words past all the blood in her mouth as he loosened his hold just enough to let her speak. He really was an arrogant fellow, wasn't he? "You should have killed me while you had the chance." And with that she tossed the vial into his open mouth, and then jerked her whole body up so that she could kick him in the chin.

He let loose a hideous screech and dropped her to the ground as the vial broke, and acid spilled into his mouth. But somehow, he was still alive. Even with his lower jaw melting off and his face and throat a patchwork horror, he found the strength to stumble toward her. Still trying to get some air back into her lungs, and aching all over from the beating she'd taken, she wasn't able to do a thing as he picked her up and slammed her into the dam wall beside them. Pain flared in her side and she felt at least a couple of her ribs break. Blindly, she fumbled for her pistol, only to remember that he'd knocked it away from her earlier.

An incoherent cry of rage bubbled up from Azul's ruined throat and Vanille cried out as he slammed her against the dam again and again. Just when it seemed like, she was done for, his hold slackened and he fell away. A moment later, Vanille found herself being hauled up into a sitting position, and she lashed out, thinking it was Azul trying to finish her off. It was only when Sazh spoke that she realised what had happened.

"Easy there Vanille, it's me," Sazh said.

Vanille brought her hands up to her battered throat and then threw herself at Sazh. "Sazh!"

Sazh looked down at her and felt a bitter surge of hatred filled him. He shouldn't have just shot Azul in the head. That monster deserved something much worse than that, but when he'd seen Vanille being slammed into the dam like that, he hadn't been able to stop himself. No one hurt Vanille like that and walked away in one piece, no one. "It's all right," he said. "I've got you."

Vanille pulled back and scrubbed at her eyes. "Sazh…" she croaked. "You need to help me… Hojo's going to get away."

Sazh looked like he might argue – she really was in no condition to be going anywhere – but he could tell from the gleam in her eyes that she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Fine, let's go get him then."

As he helped her back up to her feet, she frowned. "Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but weren't you supposed to stay down on the lower level?" Her eyes widened. "Wait… is… is Lightning…" She trailed off, not wanting to say out loud what she feared.

Sazh chuckled. "Don't you worry, Lightning's just fine. She's gone up ahead to look for Fang. As for the lower level…" Sazh grinned. "It sort of fell into the river."

Vanille grinned shakily. "And they say I'm the trouble maker."

They went back up to the fourth level of the scaffolding and then picked their way past the hole that Azul had made. As they got to the ramp down onto the other side of the river, they saw that Hojo was still there trying to get a carriage ready. Most of the hired guns must have either died or fled, because he was doing it on his own, and the chocobos were putting up a huge fuss as he panicked and tried to bully them into getting ready faster than they wanted to. Finally, one of the big birds gave an angry squawk and kicked Hojo in the chest. The madman gave a cry and then toppled into the mud.

Vanille took one good, long moment to savour the sight of Hojo crawling and flopping around in the mud before she reached over to borrow Sazh's pistol. There was a bang and then Hojo let out another scream, one of his knees shot out from under him. He rolled over to see them coming down the ramp and screamed again, the cry turning harsh and guttural as she shot out his other knee.

"You!" Hojo wailed as he tried to crawl away from them, his coat dragging in the mud, the cold and rain and fear turning his face a deathly white.

Vanille just smiled. "Yes, me."

Hojo snarled and tried to draw his own pistol only for Vanille to shoot it out of his hand. "I should have done a better job in Oerba," he growled as she stood over him, gun levelled with his head. "What are you waiting for?"

Vanille tilted her head to one side. "If I could, I'd do you slow, really make you suffer, but I don't think I've got time for that." Her lips curled. "But shooting you would be much too kind. No, I've got a better idea." She glanced sideways at Sazh. "Truss him up."

Sazh almost opened his mouth to argue, but there was a look in Vanille's eyes that he'd never seen before, a look he never wanted to see again. Slowly, he nodded, and a few moments later, he'd taken some rope from the carriage and gotten Hojo tied up good and proper.

"Thank you, Sazh," Vanille said as she pulled an explosive from her coat and bent down to wave it in Hojo's face. "You know what this is, right?"

Hojo nodded, eyes wide with fear and pain. "Yes."

"Good," Vanille said. "It'd be no fun at all if you didn't." Then, right in front of Hojo's face, she lit the explosive and tucked it into his front shirt pocket. "Enjoy the trip to the other side, Hojo, and save a spot for Barthandelus too. I've got a feeling he'll be joining you pretty soon."

As she and Sazh walked away, she heard Hojo scream incoherently as he thrashed and flailed in a vain attempt to get free. But Sazh had done a right good job tying Hojo up and all he could do was writhe in the mud in futile, impotent agony, until the explosive went off. The resulting boom that finally put an end to Hojo's screaming was just about the sweetest thing that Vanille had ever heard.

X X X

Fang stepped out onto the top of the dam as the wind kicked up and drove the rain into her face. After all this time, she was finally face to face with the man who'd started this whole damn mess. Barthandelus didn't look like much. No, he just looked like an old man with wrinkled features and a bit of white hair peeking out from under the hat he wore. His eyes though were keen, sharp and hard as diamonds, and despite the fact that she was standing there not five feet away, there wasn't a trace of fear on his face.

"When I was little," Fang said, speaking loudly so that he could her over the rain and the water surging up against the dam. "I used to dream that you were some kind of monster." She chuckled softly. "You know, the kind people tell stories about to frighten little children. But looking at you now, you're not a monster." Her eyes narrowed. "You're just a man, and not much of one at that." She smiled. "And soon, you'll be a dead man."

Barthandelus shook his head and smiled at her – no, she realised, not at her, but at someone behind her. "I don't think so."

She ducked at the last moment and a bullet streaked over her head. An instant later, a knee crashed into her jaw, and she staggered back, only for her attacker to grab her by the scruff of her coat and drive several hard punches into her face and gut. She tasted blood and then, as she reeled, she tasted concrete as she was thrown to the ground.

Barthandelus laughed. "You've come all this way, spent all this time chasing me and look at you." He stepped forward and kicked her in the head. Fang flopped onto her back and stared up into the cloud-strewn sky. Barthandelus reached down and grabbed her chin. "Well, since you did make it this far, how about I introduce you to someone?" He made her look at the man who'd blindsided her. "I'm sure you've heard all about my son here. He tends to go by the name of Orphan."

"Your son?" Fang's mind spun. How could anyone have missed this? Now that the two of them were side by side, there was no mistaking Barthandelus and Orphan as anything but father and son.

Barthandelus smiled softly. "I'm real proud of him. Cid might be better cut out to run the business side of things, but Orphan can do what needs doing." He backed away and glanced at Orphan. "Rough her up."

Fang tried to get her hands to work, but Orphan slammed one fist into her jaw. She went limp and her weak grasp on consciousness got even weaker as he piled a few more punches in and then tossed her across the concrete again. She skidded along the top of the dam, and managed to drag herself to her knees just in time to take another kick in the gut. Darkness clawed at the edges of her vision, but she forced herself to stay awake. She couldn't fail, not now, not when she was so close.

"You should have walked away after Oerba burned," Barthandelus said as Orphan dug in a few more kicks. "I wouldn't have come after you if you'd just stayed out of sight and kept to yourself. But, no, you had to come gunning for me and Cocoon, making all kinds of trouble. I've lost a lot of money because of you and that friend of yours, but it ends today." He made a disgusted sound. "Why can't you see that it was necessary? Your people were a bunch of savages, not an ounce of civilisation between the lot of you. You were sitting on a fortune and what did you do? Nothing!" He laughed. "No, it was better for everybody that I got rid of your people. You were all standing in the way of progress, can't you see that?"

Fang tried to speak, but she could hardly get the words out through all the blood in her mouth. As Orphan lifted her up again, she felt a shiver crawl up her spine. Orphan and Barthandelus had the exact same smile on their faces. They were enjoying this, really enjoying it.

"Well, like I said, this all ends today." Barthandelus stared out over the river. "By sundown, the Al Bhed will be gone and so will you and your friends." His smiled widened. "Tell me, how do you think your friends will go against my son here? I wonder if they'll scream a lot or if they'll keep all quiet like you." He looked at Orphan. "What do you think?"

Orphan shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm sure looking forward to finding out."

Through the haze of pain that had engulfed her, Fang felt a wave of rage bubble up. It didn't matter to her too much if she lived or died so long as she took Barthandelus with her, but the thought of them laying hands on her friends, on Vanille, and Sazh, and Lightning… that was more than she could take. With a low growl, she grabbed hold of Orphan's hands as he yanked her up to her feet. She'd never had to fight all that dirty because she was usually stronger and faster than whoever she was fighting, but she knew how, and she'd watched Vanille plenty. She jerked her head forward into his face and Orphan let go of her out of instinct as he clutched at his broken nose. With his hands out of the way, she jabbed at his throat with her fingers, and then kicked him in the groin as he gagged. Groaning, he sank to his knees, and she grabbed his head and slammed her knee into his face.

That would have been enough to knock most people out, but Orphan wasn't most people. Blindly, he grabbed at her ankle and yanked her off her feet and the two of them tumbled to the ground. They rolled over and over and Fang had to admit she got the worst of it. He was too strong and fast and somehow he managed to get up on top of her. He rained punches down on her, and when she put her arms up to block, he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her into the ground again and again. Barely conscious and with her head ringing something fierce, she managed to get one foot between them, and kicked him off.

They circled each other, Orphan wary of her now despite the limp she had and the woozy way she moved. He darted forward and snapped her head back with a punch. As he followed up with another punch, she staggered out of range and kicked out at the side of his knee. He stumbled, and she lunged forward to try and land a punch of her own. Her fist caught him on the side of the head, and he grabbed her arm and heaved her over his shoulder. She hit the ground with a wet thump and felt something in her back or chest crack. Desperate, she kicked out with both feet and managed to trip him. She threw herself on top of him and lashed out with all the strength she had left.

She punched him in the face, the gut, the chest, anything she could reach, she hit. He clawed at her face with his hands and kicked to try and throw her off, but she clung on, hammering away for everything she was worth. In her ears it wasn't the thud of flesh on flesh she heard, it was the crackle of quickly spreading fires as they swept across an open plain. And in her mouth it wasn't blood and bile she tasted, it was ash. Oerba had burned and it didn't matter what she had to do, or whom she had to kill, she wouldn't let Barthandelus get away with it. If Orphan wanted to stand in her way, that was fine, she'd kill him with her bare hands if she had to, bite out his throat if that was what she needed to do.

Finally, he managed to throw her off, and Fang slid across the top of the dam. She came to a stop right next to the ramp that led to the scaffolding. For a moment, she just lay there, the wind and rain buffeting down on her as she tried to find the strength to stand.

"You're even more troublesome than I thought," Barthandelus said. He smiled coldly. "Orphan, just kill her now, we've still got to deal with the others.

Fang watched as Orphan reached for his gun. Her own gun had clattered loose in the struggle and there was no way she'd be able to get to it in time. It was over, she'd failed and Barthandelus had won. And then she saw it, a flash of pink out of the corner of her eye. It was Lightning. The sheriff was right there at the bottom of the ramp.

"Fang!" Lightning shouted as she drew her arm back and flung her pistol up toward Fang.

Fang caught Lightning's gun just as Orphan's hand reached his pistol. There was a blur of motion and then they fired together. For a moment, Fang could only wince, blood bubbling from the wound just above her belt, but there was triumph in her eyes as Orphan swayed and then toppled to the side, a hole blown right through his heart.

"Fang," Lightning cried as she reached the top of the ramp and helped Fang sit up. "You're shot!"

Fang chuckled softly and then let out a hiss as Lightning took a look at the wound. "Nice of you to notice." She smirked. "What took you so long?"

"Stop joking around," Lightning growled and then she fell silent for up ahead of them, Barthandelus had dropped to his knees beside Orphan's body, disbelief written into every line of his old frame, his face twisted into a mask of rage.

"Step away, Lightning," Fang said as she forced herself to stand. "It's time I finished this." She swallowed thickly and pointed at the gun still in Orphan's hand. "Take that gun, Barthandelus, take that gun and face me good and proper."

Barthandelus's fingers slowly pried the gun out of his dead son's grasp. When he stood, his eyes were as cold as the mountains way up north, and his body shook with barely leashed fury. Suddenly, he wasn't just an old man anymore. No, he'd been the one to teach his son how to shoot and now he was going to put those same skills to use once again.

"You've been trailing my company a long time, causing me all kinds of trouble," Barthandelus said, the gun held loosely at his side. His voice was calm, deadly calm. "And for that I was going to kill you. But now you've killed my son and for that I'm going to make you suffer real good, you and all of your friends." His eyes narrowed. "You're going to die, I'll make sure of it myself."

For a long moment, Fang said nothing, but then she spoke, and despite all the wounds she'd taken, her voice rang out clear, and proud, and true. "You killed my people and burned my home, and given half a chance you'd kill me and all my friends, but there are some things that no bullet can kill, that no fire can burn." Her lips curved into a slow, gentle smile. "So, go ahead and draw, the ghosts of Oerba haven't forgotten you, and no bullet you shoot can kill me."

Then there were no words, only the rhythmic pound of the river and the rain on the dam, and the sharp, howling whistle of the wind. They stared into each other's eyes, saw forever skip past with each drop of water that gathered on their faces and trickled down to join the water pooling at their feet. Fang had waited her whole life for this moment, for this one, singular chance to lay the spirits of her people to rest.

And then there was no more waiting, only a rush of movement as Barthandelus brought his gun up faster than any man his age had a right to. But Fang was faster still. His gun had hardly come up level when her first shot all but blew his hand off. Blood spurted from his mangled hand, and he let loose an agonised wail. Her second shot caught him in the shoulder, spinning him round, as his boots skidded on the wet concrete. He stood there, poised on the edge the dam, his ruined hand clutched to his chest, the shoulder of his coat a deep red.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way," Barthandelus growled. "You're just some stupid savage and your people were better off –"

Fang shook her head. "Don't waste your breath."

And with that she fired once more, the last shot catching Barthandelus right between the eyes. His legs went out from under him and he tumbled off the dam and down into the turbulent waters of the river far below.

Fang dropped to her knees. "It's done," she whispered softly. "It's finally done."

Lightning was at her side in a flash. "Fang," Lightning said as she cradled the other woman in her arms. "Don't you dare close your eyes, damn it. Stay awake!" Quickly, she got a bit of her tattered coat ripped off to try and slow the bleeding from Fang's gunshot wound.

Fang groaned. Getting beaten up like that hadn't been good for her, and getting shot hadn't helped much either. With Barthandelus dead, the adrenaline she'd been running on was fading fast and it took everything she had to form her lips into a smirk. "I don't know, Lightning, I'm feeling kind of weak here. What do I get if I can keep my eyes open?"

Lightning's laugh was wild. "Whatever you want, Fang, whatever you want."

"You mean it?" Fang asked softly.

"Of course, I do!" Lightning had to stop herself from shaking Fang silly. Did the other woman really think she was joking?

"Good," Fang said. "Because I'll hold you to that." Her eyes twinkled. "How about a kiss?"

The look on Lightning's face was just about the funniest thing that Fang had ever seen. The sheriff looked like she wasn't sure whether she should laugh, cry, or just punch Fang in the face. Fang grinned. Knowing Lightning, she'd probably do all three, and in that order too. But, no, Lightning didn't do anything of the sort. Instead, Fang's eyes widened as Lightning pressed her lips against hers.

Damn, Fang thought as she leaned up into the kiss and let her eyes flutter shut. There was no way she could let herself die now.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

So… the ghosts of Oerba have finally been laid to rest. Our heroes have managed to come out on top, but it wasn't easy, not by a long shot. Other than that, I won't say too much about this chapter, because really, I think it speaks for itself. What I will say, however, is that this chapter is, somehow, slightly longer than the previous one. At the time, I barely noticed, since I wrote the first draft in pretty much one sitting.

One thing that I do want to discuss is making Orphan Barthandelus's son. I thought it would be appropriate given the events of FF XIII that those two have that sort of connection.

For those who are not aware, Weiss and Azul both come from FF VII: DoC. Like the other Tsviets, they are far from pleasant people. This makes them ideal as foils for our heroes. It doesn't hurt that they're pretty mean in a fight too. Azul in particular is quite intimidating, especially if you're as small as Vanille is. In fact, next to Azul, even Snow would look short. Hojo is from FF VII along with Zack, and I must confess to feeling a certain level of glee while writing out Hojo's demise. He's not a particularly nice person and in the end, he probably deserved something even worse than what he got, but hey, the important thing is that he's dead. Everyone else, namely, Fang, Lightning, Sazh, Vanille, Barthandelus, and Orphan are from FF XIII.

As for the last scene… I couldn't resist adding a bit of Fang and Lightning fluff at the end there. It'd be a shame if Fang goes through all that and can't even sneak a kiss for all her trouble. And yes, her jaw probably is very sore and there's blood in her mouth, but sometimes things like that just don't matter. Besides, does anyone really think Fang would pass up an offer like the one she got at the end?

If you're wondering what happens next, don't worry. There's still one chapter to go.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.