Resident Evil – Fight for the Ink Ribbon

a/n: A short story about Claire Redfield, stuck in the typewriter room (also "save room") and fights to save the game.

Claire was bending so low in the trunk her head was almost bruised against the countless green and red medicines, guns and rifles. Her eyes were searching for the small black ink ribbon, which she would put into the typewriter and be able to save the game. Only an hour ago she had battled successfully with a horribly powerful Hunter(a gigantic green creature with enormous claws) and that had lowered her health to orange 'at risk', also leaving the monster bleeding on the laboratory floor. She was only about to get away from that place when she met a Bandersnatch. Luckily, she ran away from it, bumped into a save room and took some of her stored medications inside her trunk and she was fine. If she saved right then, she wouldn't have to go through the whole process of killing the Hunter all over again (if the Bandersnatch killed her as she went out of the room).

'Where IS that thing?' She huffed. If she couldn't find the ink ribbon she'd have to go out and face the dreadful Bandersnatch, most likely get killed, and…the prospect was terrifying.

'Come on, Claire, you can find it, you put it here just yesterday!' Shouting to herself, she emptied the contents of the trunk, but that proved to be useless as green powder and ammo littered the floor in the dark light, making it harder to find it.

Bang.

'Huh?' Claire looked around, finding the source of the sound. A rocket launcher probably fell off the shelf.

Bang. Again. There couldn't be two rocket launchers falling off the shelf.

Before she could find where it was coming from, the noise came once more. Seriously, she thought, there wouldn't be two rocket launchers and one grenade launcher in this room, all falling down one by one?

Just then the door shuddered. Something was banging against it. Claire walked to the steel door and pressed her ear on it, which probably wouldn't be a wise idea if a tyrant on the other side smashed the door into a million pieces. There was a stop to the noise the moment she stood near the door. She peered through the lock and a big, white eyeball with red veins glared back at her.

'ARRGHH!' She screamed, backing away from the door so fast she fell onto the pile of stuff she got out from the trunk. There was a great big 'BANG!' and a small sound like the turning of a metal doorknob. It turned left and right slowly and after a heart-pounding ten seconds, it clicked. The door opened slowly and there stood a green hunched figure with scaled skin, its heavy claws drooping from its gargantuan arms.

'Oh my gosh, no…' Claire whimpered. Weren't save rooms supposed to be…safe? She didn't remember the last time she faced a monster, not even a mere zombie, inside a save room.

The Hunter crawled with its bendy legs towards her, breathing like a snake waiting for its prey.

Claire looked up at it, feeling completely helpless. Remembering she was in a room full of grenade launchers, rifles, rocket launchers, bow guns, and submachine guns, she grabbed the nearest weapon - her old Beretta - and fired it at the Hunter, constantly reloading until there was no ammo left on the floor beside her. Unfortunately the stupid Hunter didn't even care about the bruises the bullets made on his rough skin; it only made him angrier. It advanced swiftly across the room, claws outstretched, kicking guns out of his way. He came across a shotgun, was about to kick it when Claire snatched it back, making him fall.

'Ha! Bet Hunters don't read Peanuts!' Said Claire triumphantly, now aiming the shotgun at the monster's reptilian head. It whined, fell onto the floor and lay there bleeding, its body shuddering.

'Phew!' Claire sighed, continuing her search for the ink ribbon. It was even harder now that the room was messier – guns the Hunter kicked away and the Hunter's carcass were on the floor.

'Ah ha!' She found it up on a shelf right above the bow guns and walked to the typewriter when suddenly a huge orange arm grabbed the ink ribbon from her. A Bandersnatch stood in the door, which she had forgotten to lock.

'No, not again!' She picked up a shotgun beneath the desk and shot it in the arm and head. It limped into the room, unharmed, overlarge right arm swelling and swinging. She gave it a few more shots and only got some annoyed groans from it. Then she tried the desperate. In her left hand, she fired a submachine gun at its head and in her right, a bow gun at its right shoulder. After many tries, the Bandersnatch fell beside the Hunter, dead.

Knowing her bad luck, she had no time to waste. She tried to pry the crunched up ink ribbon from the Bandersnatch's fierce grip, but it was no use. She crouched there fighting with its hand for who knows how long, and felt a pair of eyes staring at her from behind. She had heard his footsteps and heard him coming, but was too preoccupied with the ink ribbon to take any action. This was the worst monster of them all, the Tyrant. It stood high in its muscly man-like form, ready to attack. Claire knew that there was almost no escape for it, as the way she killed the last one was by pushing it off a flying jet plane. Neither fire nor bullets could kill it, but she had to fight. She had to, in order to save the game.

'Yaaah!' Grenades and fireballs hit the Tyrant smack in its chest, doing no harm to it. Explosions erupted in flames behind.

It was getting closer by the second and Claire was devastated. If grenades and fireballs didn't work, what would? Her fingers lingered in her pockets, searching for some ideas. Then she felt a steel handle. Her combat knife! She swished it in the Tyrant's face and before it could react, pierced it into its neck. The nozzle of her rocket and grenade launcher was pressed against its head. Fireballs and grenades exploded through its skull and it dropped dead.

That one was considerably easy to kill, compared to other bosses. Claire thought she had done marvelous for a starter, looking at the dead bodies of the monsters. With her combat knife she swiftly pried open the Bandersnatch's fist and got her ink ribbon.

And now, let us save the game…

'Aw man!' A black screen replaced the game. 'Power went out again. Damn the storm.' Chris Redfield threw down his controller and kicked the console. 'Might as well get some more chips…'

a/n: There you go! The frustration of the power going out (or you accidentally hit the 'reset' button on your console, or the plug went loose) just when you were about to save,