The news from the canyon reached President Shinra in his opulent office in Midgar with shocking speed.
A messenger, pale and trembling, relayed the full extent of the disaster. The convoy, the Mako, the experimental weapon—all gone.
And the unprecedented power of Arthur Leywin Stark, a name that was now being whispered with a mix of fear and awe even among Shinra's most loyal soldiers.
President Shinra, a man accustomed to absolute control and unwavering success, felt a cold fury begin to rise within him.
His meticulously crafted plans, the very foundation of his empire, were unraveling.
First, the Midgar incident, now this catastrophic loss. He paced his office like a caged beast, his usual composure completely shattered.
"Unacceptable!"
He roared, slamming a fist onto his polished desk. The sound echoed through the silent, luxurious room.
"How could this happen? How could a single individual possess such destructive power? My intelligence reports were… inadequate!"
This made him felt like seeing Sephira once again but she wasn't on his side.
His subordinates, including the usually unflappable Heidegger and Scarlet, stood rigid, barely daring to breathe.
They had never seen the President in such a state of uncontrolled rage.
Veins pulsed in his neck, and his eyes, usually cold and calculating, now burned with a terrifying intensity.
"Find him!"
He shrieked, his voice hoarse.
"Mobilize every available unit! I want Arthur Leywin Stark brought to me, dead or alive! Preferably alive, so I can dissect every ounce of that abominable power he possesses!"
He turned, his gaze sweeping over his terrified staff, searching for a target for his fury.
"This is a direct insult! A challenge to my authority! To Shinra's very existence! They dare to defy us? They will learn the cost of such insolence!"
He continued to rant, his words growing more unhinged with each passing second.
His grand vision, the accumulation of Mako energy to reach the Promised Land, was being threatened by a single, impossibly strong young man.
The sheer audacity of it, the defiance, fueled his incandescent rage.
He gripped the edge of his desk, his knuckles white, as if trying to physically hold back the tide of failure that threatened to engulf him.
"I will not tolerate this! I will crush them! Wutai will burn, and this 'Arthur' will serve as an example of what happens when you cross Shinra!"
His voice was a guttural snarl, far removed from the smooth, composed tone he usually adopted for public appearances.
Heidegger shifted nervously, exchanging a quick, worried glance with Scarlet.
The President's fury was reaching a dangerous crescendo. He was losing control, not just of the situation, but of himself.
And then, as President Shinra was about to unleash another torrent of threats, his back to the door, something completely unexpected happened.
A sharp, clean crack echoed through the room.
President Shinra froze mid-sentence, his body stiffening. A single, dark red stain blossomed on the pristine white of his uniform, slowly spreading across his back, right over his heart. His eyes widened in disbelief, a look of profound shock replacing his rage. A low gasp escaped his lips, and he slowly, agonizingly, turned.
Standing in the doorway, a smoking pistol still aimed at his back, was **Rufus Shinra**, the President's son.
Rufus's face was unreadable, a cold, hard mask. His usually rebellious smirk was absent, replaced by a grim determination. He held the pistol steady, his hand not trembling in the slightest. The air in the room became thick with unspoken tension, every second stretching into an eternity.
"Father,"
Rufus said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion.
"I couldn't stand it any longer."
The President stared at him, his mouth agape, a faint trickle of blood beginning to seep from his lips.
The man who had ruled Shinra with an iron fist, who had manipulated continents and bent the will of nations, was utterly speechless.
Betrayal, more than the bullet, seemed to pierce him to his core.
Rufus took a slow step forward, his eyes never leaving his father's.
"Your grand plans… your obsession with the Promised Land… it's all been a disaster. You've brought nothing but chaos and destruction. Midgar is a powder keg, and now this 'Arthur' has exposed the weakness we've tried so hard to hide."
The President's knees buckled. He swayed, his mighty frame suddenly looking frail and insignificant. He clutched at the air, trying to find purchase, but there was nothing to hold onto.
"You've pushed us to the brink, Father,"
Rufus continued, his voice still unnervingly calm.
"Your antiquated methods, your reliance on brute force… it's not enough anymore. This world needs a different kind of leadership. A more… refined approach."
Heidegger and Scarlet, who had watched the entire scene unfold in stunned silence, finally reacted. Heidegger took a half-step forward, his hand instinctively going for his sidearm, but Rufus simply leveled his gaze at him. The look in Rufus's eyes, cold and absolute, made Heidegger freeze.
The President crumpled to the floor with a soft thud, a lifeless heap amidst the lavish decor. His eyes remained open, staring blankly at the ceiling, reflecting the opulent chandeliers above. The once-mighty leader of Shinra was no more.
Silence descended upon the room, a heavy, suffocating blanket. The only sound was Rufus's steady breathing and the faint dripping of blood onto the polished floor.
Rufus slowly lowered his pistol, then holstered it with a deliberate click. He surveyed the fallen President with an expression of detached finality.
"The world needs change,"
Rufus stated, his voice now ringing with a new, chilling authority.
"And I am that change."
He turned to Heidegger and Scarlet, his eyes now sharp and commanding.
"From this moment forward, I am the President of Shinra. Announce it. Immediately. And then, we will address the problem of Arthur Leywin Stark with a… different strategy."
His gaze hardened, a glint of ruthless ambition in their depths.
"We will still crush him. But we will do it my way. No more reckless rage. No more predictable attacks. We will use precision. We will use cunning. And we will remind the world why Shinra is, and always will be, the dominant power."
Heidegger and Scarlet, despite their shock, instinctively bowed. The power vacuum had been filled, swiftly and decisively.
A new era for Shinra had begun, an era under the cold, calculating rule of Rufus Shinra. The battle for the planet had just taken a far more dangerous turn.