The clinking of metal on bone resonated through the room. Two figures stood in its center, locked in combat. Shiny blades and a twisted staff met each other again and again, as they fought each other, each trying to land a blow on the other.

Leon did not think, and neither did his opponent. All they did was act. Attack and block, strike and parry, they altercated for several seconds in a fierce whirlwind of weapons.

Finally, an opening. Leon saw Saddler move his staff upwards to block a thrust of Leon's knife at the right side of his head, leaving his lower left side open to attack. Leon took advantage of this by reaching forth with a bladed wing and…

Wait…wing?

Pain and shock hit Leon as Saddler's staff thrust into his belly, doubling him over. Then more pain and stars before his eyes as he's knocked backwards. He landed somewhere behind where he was, under the catwalk.

"Very good, Leon. I did not expect you to join us so soon. And such control. I am impressed Leon." Saddler laughed.

Everything in the past few seconds was a blur to Leon…what did Saddler mean…"join us"? Leon stood, and for the first time, noticed a strange extra weight on his back. Saddler simply stood there, with an evil grin on his face, staring. Leon followed the sadistic man's gaze…

Wings. They really were there. Leon suddenly realized that the pain from his spine was completely gone. His back felt a little wet, probably with blood. And on his back, in the center of the wetness…Wings. Two of them. They vaguely reminded Leon of something he'd seen before, when Krauser had decided to show his true form as a Ganado. Leon flexed them, confirming they were indeed part of his body.

So…he had taken too long as well. Then why wasn't he under Saddler's control?

Leon then realized that he really didn't care. He wasn't a mindless slave, and that was good enough for him.

Watching Leon flex his new appendages experimentally, Saddler spoke once more. "Good. Now, come to my side. You shall make an excellent bodyguard, Leon."

Leon felt a slight tug at his mind, bidding him go to Saddler. Fire built in his belly and spread to fill his whole body.

"No. I'll never join you. I'm going to kill you, and then I'm taking Ashley and getting out of here."

Saddler laughed his sadistic cackle. "Hahahaha. You amuse me, Leon. I'll let you in on a little secret."

Leon intended to ignore Saddler, reaching onto his back for his attache case. When he didn't find it, he suppressed his curiosity (He could always figure out where it went later) and pulled his trusty 9mm handgun from its holster at his hip. He fully intended to start firing, but Saddler's words stopped him.

"Mendez and Krauser resisted at first too."

Leon thought back to a note which he no longer had, lost along with the attache case. The sheet of paper he'd collected a little while back, written in Saddler's own hand.

"I must be careful to choose hosts, lest they turn on me."

Leon suddenly understood that. And he understood he was going to be the one that would make Saddler's fear come true. Steel-plated wings shot outward, extending to a full 14' wingspan. Leon raised his gun, aiming it at Saddler.

"I'm not Mendez or Krauser. I'm Leon Kennedy. I won't join you."

Before he could fire, Saddler laughed again.

"Foolish American, the American triumphing in the end is a cliché found only in your Hollywood movies. You entertain me, Leon. As a reward, I will free you from your world of clichés."

On his final word, Saddler's mouth opened wide. Far wider than he needed to. Far wider than he should have been able to. Wide enough to fit the yellowed eyeball that moved from somewhere within Saddler's throat to fill his mouth.

This is bad. was all that went through Leon's mind as he saw four long tentacles…no…they were jointed, pointed legs--shot from the cultist's neck, as the staff receded into his right arm, splitting it into a mass of gray tentacles. Smaller, white bladed versions of these came from the monster's back, and a single yellow eye adorned each leg. His head grew and grew along a long goldenrod stalk, waving itself about like a cobra ready to strike. Indeed, upon closer inspection, there were actually fangs surrounding the single yellow eyeball in Saddler's mouth.

A deafening roar (what on the gigantic beast before Leon was producing it, he had no idea) filled the room as what was once Lord Saddler of the Los Illuminados charged forth at Leon, two sharpened legs raised into the air to strike.

Instinct took over again, and Leon found himself in the air. Loud flapping coming from beside him confirmed what he had just done.

Wow…I'm flying. Shouldn't I be a bit more in awe of how cool this is?

Leon shrugged and took aim with his gun again, holding his position in midair.

Four shots from his gun convinced him, however, that simply shooting his foe would do absolutely nothing. They were also all he could squeeze out before Saddler demonstrated his notable jumping prowess with a huge lunge into the air at Leon. Leon quickly got out of the way, trying his very best not to be skewered. Parasite or no, he assumed having one of those legs rammed through his body would probably be very, very bad for his health.

As Saddler landed, he followed, trying a different tactic. Leon turned his body as he dived, running the sharp edges of his wings across one of Saddler's legs.

This turned out to be a very bad idea.

The next thing Leon knew, he was on the ground, skidding and generally making a mess of his face. His left wing ached a bit, as if he'd struck a brick wall with it. It felt kind of like stubbing his toe…only on a much larger scale.

Had he had more time, Leon might have used it to consider just how thick this meant Saddler's hide was, but as things turned out, he immediately had to turn his attention to rolling out of the way of a flurry of tentacle attacks from Saddler's back, and then several stomps of spear-like feet.

I can't keep this up for very long…he's got too many things to attack me with…

Leon glanced about him for a solution, while desperately attempting to avoid being hit with a blade or a foot. All he had within arms reach was his knife and his gun…and his wings.

Well…it worked for Krauser…and they certainly looked like that shield of an arm Krauser had…

Leon waited for the next attack from Saddler's tentacles, hoped to God that he wasn't grounding himself, and folded his wings before himself.

The force of the blows vibrated his wings a bit (causing a twinge of pain in his left wing) but Leon was relieved to find that he felt no cuts forming on his wings. He was slightly less relieved that Saddler almost immediately noticed his attempt at self-defense and began using his pointed legs more extensively.

Not wanting to push his luck or the toughness of his wings, Leon quickly rolled out of the way of these blows, all the while trying to keep his wings between him and the still-flailing tentacles. He needed to figure out how Saddler was reading his moves and find a way out from underneath him or he wouldn't last long…

There! Leon suddenly remembered seeing eyes on all four of the parasitic monster's legs. Sure enough, both of Saddler's back leg eyeballs were trained right at him. Leon knew how to fix that. He rolled out of the way of another attack, pulling out his gun. Leon could've sworn he saw the eye he pointed the 9mm pistol at widen a bit in surprise before he blasted it into a caved in mass of jelly. Saddler roared and began swaggering back and forth.

Time to get out from underneath the falling monster.

Leon pulled himself backwards with his arms just in time to see Saddler's legs give way, and the waving stalk of a neck/head droop down on the other side of the heap of parasitic flesh.

On a wild hunch, Leon vaulted over the Saddler's still feebly twitching tentacled ass and onto his back. He reached for the knife sheathed on his chest and found the large eyeball in Saddler's mouth.

Well…if shooting the little eyes causes this kind of a reaction…

He plunged the knife into the eyeball.

The response was immediate. The beast that was Saddler gave another, louder roar of pain and began bucking like a rodeo bull. That was Leon's cue to jump off and land in front of it as it writhed in pain.

Leon's eyes were suddenly drawn to his blood-stained knife. Then, he turned his gaze upon his newly-acquired appendages.

Duh. What was he thinking…using something as small as his knife?

As Saddler writhed (hopefully in too much pain to counterattack), Leon jumped over to him and caught the eyeball again with his right wing.

He felt something warm and gooey coat several of the feather-like blades that composed the wing and saw the eye/headstalk jerk backwards. He jumped backwards a bit to watch Saddler squirm a bit before he regained his composure and leapt once more into the air. Leon made very sure he was nowhere near where Saddler landed, and then reduced the other back-side eyeball to a gooey mess.

Once again, the beast before Leon was reduced to a helpless heap of monster, and Leon hopped upon its back, this time plunging both wings into the central eyeball as it lolled over onto the ground.

Leon got off Saddler's back as he began thrashing about, confident he could now win this fight, now that he'd learned the Great Lord Saddler's weakness.

Of course, this was when Saddler demonstrated his ability to learn. Leon watched disappointedly as the two remaining eyeballs shut tight. An experimental shot with the remaining few bullets in his gun proved that the eyelids too, were impervious to gunfire.

A discouraged Leon suddenly found himself on the defensive again, trying to dodge a series of hard tackles the monstrous Plagas Lord threw at him.

He needed a backup plan…and fast.

There was no way to damage the small eyes now, and Saddler seemed to be making sure that his head did not stay in one place long enough for him to shoot it…

Leon supposed he'd just have to get around that. If he could just get onto Saddler's back…

A ferocious lunge from Saddler gave Leon just the opportunity. He leapt straight up and started flapping his wings (hoping he was doing it right). Now all he had to do was land on Saddler's back and…

A sickly brown blur and pain shot through Leon's senses. He saw the blur rise up from the ground in a gigantic leap and then extend two tendrils he guessed were legs. Then he felt something pierce the flesh of his wings, and finally, then sensation of falling.

The force of the impact with the ground, coupled with the four-inch thick spike-like legs driven through his wings, were almost enough to make Leon pass out as Saddler pinned him mercilessly to the ground. He expected one of the legs to lift itself off one of his wings at any time and run him through…but instead, Saddler seemed keen on studying him with his one open eye.

Saddler's pupil grew wide as he examined Leon's helpless form. It made sure to stay out of swinging range as it did so as well, sealing Leon's fate.

Did Saddler always indulge in such feline behavior as playing with his prey before he killed it?

Saddler's pupil grew yet larger still. And larger.

Leon suddenly realized that there were most definitely teeth inside that pupil.

There was a sickening ripping noise as the eye/mouth split open to reveal a rather large and sharp collection of teeth.

Now that's just messed up. Why would you need to have an eyeball that can eat people? Hmm…am I about to get my head bitten off by an eyeball?

Leon considered his options as the head reared back. Then he realized…his arms weren't pinned.

The head rushed downward at Leon's face, ready to seal his fate. Leon's right hand was a flash, darting to his chest and then forward into the head's mouth.

"ACK!" was the only sound other than the tearing of flesh that filled the room right then as Leon's knife plunged into the roof of Saddler's mouth.

There was a brief pause as both combatants digested what had happened. Then Leon retracted his arm. To his surprise, most of the eyeball and a good chunk of tissue went with it, caught on the knife.

Saddler gave an enraged roar and a gurgling noise as he staggered back. His head, once menacing in appearance, now looked like it devoid of all neck bones. Perhaps it was. A small amount of force and it would probably fall off…

The monster staggered back and forth and back and forth, clearly near death.

Leon approached it to finish it, but a voice stopped him. It sounded much like Saddler's with a hint of…something else. And blood. And death.

"W-why? Why? You could've had riches, power beyond your wildest dreams… if you had only fought alongside me! Why? Why did you choose to fight me…?" the voice gurgled.

Leon didn't even think for a second.

"Because…I'm an American cliché."

Then his boot removed Saddler's gutted head from its body, and Lord Saddler of the Los Illuminados was no more.