Joseph and Cassandra both yelled a battle cry as they lunged forward, with their opponents doing the same. Joseph was taking on Michael while Cassandra was taking on Diane. Their initial clash was followed by a flurry of swings, blocks, and parries as they all fought furiously against each other.

Cassandra was able to bring Diana away from Joseph so he wouldn't get hit by a stray sword strike. Good thing too, because he had enough to worry about as is. Michael was unlike any opponent he had ever faced. His strikes were solid and powerful, and he was surprisingly fast for a man of his size. Joseph was pulling out every trick in the book as he blocked and delivered strikes of his own. This thankfully allowed him to keep up with his father, and his triathlon training meant he wasn't getting tired any time soon, something that surprised his opponent.

Cassandra was having the same situation as she fought Diane. They were equally matched with skill and speed with neither side gaining an advantage. The brunette had the advantage of her swarm ability, but she couldn't abuse this or else it would make her predictable. So she instead decided to wait for the right moment to use it.

Joseph blocked another incoming attack, but Michael swung the clashing blades into a tree that was next to them, causing Joseph's katana to embed itself in the wood. For a moment, the soldier thought his opponent was helpless, but Joseph retaliated with a flurry of kicks to his stomach, chest, and head, causing him to stagger back and allow Joseph to free his weapon.

Michael couldn't help but smile a bit and nod at this.

"You're pretty good, Joseph. I'll give you that. They teach you Kung Fu at the BSAA?"

"You gonna talk, or fight?" Joseph said as he once again charged forward. He knew better than to let his opponent's word's get to him. It was one of the most important things Master Hisashi taught him.

A little ways away, Cassandra and Diane were both battling just as fiercely. Each blow being stronger than the last, causing sparks to fly. Seeing an opening, the brunette delivered a roundhouse kick to her opponent's head. But as the soldier fell, she turned and swung her blade, forcing Cassandra to step back, dodging the blade by just an inch. Like her fiance, the brunette was being challenged in every way possible, and she was needing to apply everything she had learned into this battle.

Diane charged forward again and started to deliver another flurry of strikes to her opponent. Cassandra was able to keep up, but soon found herself backed up against a tree. Thinking quickly, she dodge out of the way of a swing and used the hilt of her sword to strike the soldier in the jaw, causing her to grunt in pain and stagger back. This allowed the brunette to move to a more open space.

"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" Diane asked with a mix of frustration and confusion as she rubbed her jaw.

Cassandra smiled.

"Your son."

The soldier was taken aback for a second, but only for a second as she soon recovered and continued dueling with the brunette. It was clear though that she was starting to get tired as her swings were becoming a little slower.

Seeing this, Cassandra played her trump card. She allowed part of her body to swarm and fly into Diane, which she yelled in annoyance at as she tried to swat the insects away from her face while at the same time trying to defend against her opponent.

With her opponent distracted, it didn't take long for Cassandra to find an opening and kick the huge knife from Diane's hand. Then taking a note from Joseph, she followed up with a lower, sweep kick that knocked the soldier off her feet.

Before Diane knew it, she was on the ground with Cassandra's blade to her throat. She had been beaten, and she was in complete disbelief. The brunette was staring down at her, but the look in her eyes wasn't anger like the soldier was expecting. Instead, they had pity.

"Alright. You beat me." Diane said. "Just please kill me quickly. I don't want any pain."

But she was in for another surprise, because Cassandra didn't kill her. Instead, she removed the blade from her neck and put her foot on her chest.

"What are you…?" Diane began, but Cassandra held up her hand to silence her. The brunette then spoke.

"Listen to me. Joseph feels horrible about what happened to Mandy. He broke down crying when he first told me and my family about it, so it was pretty fucking obvious how much guilt and regret he's had for what happened. And yes, Mandy was very bitter about it when I first called her, but I did not force her to do anything, or brainwash her, or anything like that. She chose to come to Romania. She chose to forgive Joseph, because she didn't want to hate him anymore. She realized that even after what happened, she still loved him. Thing is, I think you know that too, and you've just buried it away."

Diane frowned.

"Who are you to say that? You don't know anything about me."

Cassandra shook her head.

"Cut the bullshit. You're using the same tone you used when you spoke to Joseph and Mandy on the phone. And now that I see your eyes, you confirm my suspicions. You have the look and tone of a person who uses hate to hide how they really feel, to run from their own guilt. I don't think you hate Joseph like you say you do. Not like Michael anyway."

Diane's eyes started to widen. She had never actually heard someone say those words before. And now that she did, something in her that was long forgotten started to surface again.

The brunette sighed and took her foot off the soldier before continuing.

"Look Diane, I know all too well how difficult and painful the past can be. It's a kind of hurt that just eats you up inside. It can take you over, corrupt you, and before you know it, it can turn you into something ugly, something you never thought you were capable of being. Look at what you're doing. You're trying to kill your own son, and you're even willing to put your own daughter in danger for god's sake! You need to stop this now before it goes too far and ends in something you'll regret. Trust me, I speak from experience."

Cassandra took a few steps back now.

"Just let your hate go. It's not worth it."

They then both turned to a yell coming from their right. Michael was swinging madly at Joseph now. He saw this person as a disappointment and a failure. Yet for some reason he couldn't beat him, no matter how hard he tried. Every time he used a move he thought would guarantee victory, Joseph would counter it with a move of his own. The soldier's rage and hatred towards his son was taking over, and it was making him sloppy and predictable, something Joseph took full advantage of.

Dodging a clumsy swing, Joseph spun and managed to cut Michael's right arm with his katana, causing the soldier to yell in pain and stagger back. He moved his knife to his left hand and tried to take a stance again, but his new injury put him at a serious disadvantage. Joseph was winning, and that thought made him even more mad.

Meanwhile, Diane's mind was at a conflict with itself. Cassandra sparing her and trying to reason with her already gave her a moment of pause as she wasn't expecting that from the brunette, but seeing her husband ferociously try to kill Joseph out of anger gave her a moment of clarity she never knew she needed.

It all came crashing down on her at once. This wasn't an enemy. This was her son. Her son that she and Michael always pushed to be something they wanted him to be for years, not believing in the disability he had. This caused him to be bitter and angry, and yet they were surprised and disowned him when he couldn't take it anymore and lashed out, paralyzing his sister.

Yet despite all of that, Mandy found it in her heart to forgive him, because she realized she still loved her brother, and she didn't want to hate him anymore. Diane really felt the same way, but Michael's manipulation got into her head and made her believe otherwise. Because of this, she chose to keep hating Joseph, refusing to believe he could be forgiven for paralyzing her daughter. She let that hatred build and build, and now she was trying to kill him, her own son, and she was even risking having her daughter killed too just so she could run from what she really felt.

It was at this moment that Diane finally understood. This was never Joseph's fault. It was hers.

Seeing her husband about to charge forward again, Diane suddenly shot to her feet.

"MICHAEL! STOP IT!"

The soldier froze and turned to her, confused. Joseph shared the same look.

"What? Why?" Michael asked.

Diane shook her head.

"We made a mistake! We can't do this! We can't keep hurting Joseph like this!"

Michael's expression started turning from confused to angry.

"What the fuck are you talking about?! Joseph did this to himself! He just couldn't grow a pair and learn to be successful in life!"

Joseph shook his head.

"No. It was because I wasn't the perfect son you wanted and could show off to people. You refused to accept me because of your own ego." He said.

To his surprise, Diane nodded and started to tear up, causing Michael's anger to build even more.

"Don't tell me you actually believe that shit, Diane!"

"He's right, Michael! It took me too long to realize this, but he's right! I thought all those years I was doing those things for Joseph, to help him be better. But no, I was only doing it for myself! I hurt my own son because I was selfish!"

"He is not our son!" Michael yelled.

"Yes he is!" Diane yelled back. "He was only our enemy because we chose to call him that! We hated him for something that we caused! That hate made us even bigger monsters than we were before! So much so we're willing to risk Mandy dying to get what we want! We can't do that, Michael!"

Joseph lowered his guard a bit and then spoke.

"That's right. Giving into your anger will only cause more harm than good. I learned this lesson the hard way, but you know that already. After that however, I learned a more important lesson, that everyone deserves a second chance, no matter what they have done."

With Cassandra now able to help him, Joseph decided to take a calculated risk. He stood straight, holding his sword at his side, and took a few steps back.

"I see Cassie gave mom a second chance, so it's only fair that I give you one. Please, let's not fight anymore. Despite what you've done, I don't hate you, and I never wanted to fight you. I came here to race in a triathlon with Mandy and Cassie. Yes, Mandy is competing in sports now, despite her disability, and I couldn't be more proud of her. So please, let's just stop all of this so we can put this behind us and try to make peace. If not for you, at least do it for Mandy. It's what she wants."

Despite this plea however, Michael's face did not change, at least not in the way Joseph hoped for. It just became more and more rage filled. The more it did, the more it became obvious that he wouldn't let go of his hatred. He didn't want to. Michael valued his own pride more than his family.

"FUCK YOU!" He roared and used his injured arm to draw his gun. Joseph's eyes widened and he tried to duck behind a tree, hoping he'd be quick enough.

A gunshot echoed through the air. Joseph's heart skipped a beat as he thought for a moment he was dead, but then he realized the shot didn't come from Michael's direction. He looked up and saw his father's body slump to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The reason why was obvious. He had been shot in the head, and he was dead.

Joseph turned. He thought it was Cassandra that had fired, but he was in for a surprise.

Diane had her sidearm out and was pointing it in the direction Michael was standing. Joseph's eyes widened in realization. It was her who fired the shot. She had killed her own husband to protect her son. Cassandra stood frozen, equally as stunned as her fiance was. Even though she asked the soldier to forgive Joseph, she wasn't expecting her to do that.

Wordlessly, Joseph put his sword on the ground and cautiously walked over to Diane, who still had her gun pointed in the direction Michael was standing. He put his hand on her arm, lowering the weapon. The soldier slowly turned her head in his direction. Her face was a mix of at least a dozen emotions going on at once. It was really impossible to tell what she was thinking at that moment.

"Mom?" Joseph half asked and half stated.

Diane began to stammer.

"I…I had to do it. H-He was going to hurt you, and I didn't want to be selfish anymore. I-I know this doesn't make up for what I did to you, but…"

Joseph put his hand on her soldier with a look of awe in his eyes.

"Mom." He said "You saved me. When it came down to me or him, you chose me. I…thank you."

Hearing her son say 'thank you' broke Diane. She dropped her gun and threw herself onto Joseph as she began wailing in anguish and pain as a tidal wave of tears came flooding out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Joseph! I'm s-so sorry! I…I…" She couldn't even say anything else as her cries overtook any words that she had.

Joseph didn't move at first. He was still trying to process what had just happened. In his years before arriving in Romania, he had always hoped that Mandy would forgive him. And even though he had that same hope regarding his mother, he wasn't expecting it to actually happen.

That was when it all caught up to him. His hopes were answered. His mother just protected him because she chose to forgive him. She actually forgave him.

In a flash, Joseph returned his mother's hug, crying almost as hard as she had gone into this preparing for the worst, but he was overjoyed that this didn't happen, and instead turned out better than he could have hoped.

Mother and son stood there embraced for a moment before Diane turned her head to face Cassandra.

"Thank you. You opened my eyes today, and saved me from doing something horrible. Joseph said your name is Cassie?"

The brunette smiled.

"Yes. Cassandra Dimitrescu. I'm Joseph's fiancé."

The soldier smiled back.

"Joseph is beyond lucky to have you, Cassandra. You're such an amazing person."

Now Joseph smiled.

"You have no idea."

The trio was interrupted by approaching footsteps. They all turned to see Chris, who was now accompanied by Jill and several BSAA agents. Joseph and Cassandra were so occupied with fighting Michael and Diane that they didn't hear the gunfire or Jill arriving at the scene. Needless to say, the two BSAA Generals were confused at the sight in front of them.

Seeing them, Joseph's eyes widened.

"Chris! Jill! Where are the others? Are they-"

Chris put his hand up.

"They're fine. Jill and her team came just in time. We were able to take out those hostile without any casualties on our side."

Joseph breathed a huge sigh of relief. The rest of his family was okay.

Diane then let go of her son and faced the two Generals.

"You're Chris and Jill Redfield, right?" She asked.

They both nodded. The soldier then held out her arms.

"I'm giving myself up. I will take responsibility for what I've done today, and will accept any punishment you give me."

Chris and Jill were surprised by this, but they both nodded again and signaled two BSAA agents to arrest her. Diane didn't put up a struggle. In fact, she seemed more at peace than anything as the agents cuffed her and took her away.

As Chris called it in, Joseph and Cassandra embraced in a hug, crying tears of joy as they did. They had done it. They had faced Michael and Diane, and they won. Not only that, but their hopes with Diane turned out to be true. Deep down, she really did love her son.

"I can't believe you convinced her." Joseph said. "First Mandy and now my mom. I love you so much, Cassie."

The brunette smiled widely against her fiance's chest before she looked up and kissed him. If their bond wasn't obvious before, it sure was now. This day proved that they would go to the ends of the earth for each other.

Their moment was interrupted however by a short cough. They parted and turned to see Jill standing there.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. It's going to take a while for us to clean this mess up, so why don't you guys head back to the hotel and get some rest. I say you've more than earned it."

The couple looked at each other and smiled before turning back to the BSAA General.

"That sounds like a great idea." Joseph said. "Before we do though, can I talk to my mom before you take her away?"

Jill looked surprised by this, but smiled and nodded.

"Sure. No problem."