F.3.A.R.: Bound in Blood
Disclaimer: Hello FEAR fans. It's been a while since my last once-believed-to-be-oneshot fic entitled Sympathy for the Devil. Well, much to my surprise, everyone came at me for a sequel. Well, it wouldn't be much of a sequel per se, rather a different take on the 3rd FEAR game itself. Now while I did enjoy the game, there were some parts that I felt could be changed and some that didn't need to be there at all. ... Like Jin's character for instance. There will be a difference from the 3rd game, though still maintaining some 3rd game qualities based on what I feel as a fan could have been there.
I do hope you read and review.
"Wild, dark times are rumbling toward us, and the prophet who wishes to write a new apocalypse will have to invent entirely new beasts, and beasts so terrible that the ancient animal symbols of St. John will seem like cooing doves and cupids in comparison."
-HEINRICH HEINE, "Lutetia; or, Paris," Augsberg Gazette, 1842
"No one becomes depraved all at once."
-JUVENAL, Satires
By: VampireQueenAkasha
"It's the way of men to make monsters, and it's the nature of monsters to destroy their makers."
-Harlan Wade
Interval 00: Beginning
In 2002, the U.S. Army formed a secret unit dedicated to combating paranormal threats to national security. The unit was named First Encounter Assault Recon. In the year 2025, most of the team was lost to enemy commander Paxton Fettel and his Replica Forces. F.E.A.R. operative known as "Point Man" believed to have escaped from Auburn District shortly after the destruction of Armacham's Origin Facility. His location as well as the location of F.E.A.R. operatives Jin Sun-Kwon and Douglas Holiday are currently unknown.
O
"We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell."
~Oscar Wilde
"Brother..."
The voice.
"How much longer will you ignore me?"
He opened his eyes, staring at the same yellow, stained newspaper wall that he had been looking at for the past several months. It had been a sad change to his normal routine, but nothing had ever really been normal with him. Living here in Auburn, staying under the radar of Armacham wasn't going to change anything, but he wasn't about to go out there. Not when he knew for a fact that they were looking for him. Ever since that incident...ever since he had lost his comrades...
They had called him Point Man. He had no other real name. When they gave it to him, he almost had a sense of humanity from it; like it gave him a personality, a face, a purpose. But lately things had changed. He wasn't sure if he still had such a purpose anymore; the F.E.A.R unit had failed to locate him and even more so, failed to bring through anyone to even look for him at all. He was beginning to think that no one was going to come for him.
The sound of helicopters flying overhead jolted him from his position and he immediately grabbed his two handguns and peered out through a crack in the window. Point Man watched as five Armacham Technology foot soldiers poured from two helicopters that landed in the middle of the abandoned street. One of them was larger; dressed in heavy armor, but it wasn't like what he had seen at the Armacham Facility. This one carried far more power than the others as well as decorative sigils. His body armor seemed to shimmer and displace all around him, making him appear see - through.
"SAVAGE here, all clear," he said, in a deep, commanding voice, "He's here. We'll find him."
"Copy that." a voice said through his head set, "Proceed to first objective."
Another heavily armored Armacham soldier stepped down at his side. He was wearing different colors on his armor. "VECTOR reporting; split up into two and scan the area!" he commanded to his four smaller group of soldiers.
Immediately, they separated into two smaller groups and worked their way down the streets, clambering into buildings to look for Point Man. He quickly raced down the hallway of the empty building that he had made into his home. He skidded to a halt as an Amracham soldier began to tear down a boarded window. The soldier took one look at him and shouted out.
"He's here!" he called, "I've found him!"
"Run. They know you're here."
Point Man aimed at the soldier and plugged a round directly between his eyes, shattering through his protective helmet. A burst of blood stained the wood and immediately, his comrade joined in and attempted to fire off rounds at Point Man. He immediately took off up the stairs and every damn Armacham soldier poured into the building after him. Point Man surged up the stairs, his weapons in hand and he stopped in front of a drum of gasoline, kicking it down the stairs. It bowled over several Armacham soldiers in the process and Point Man squeezed several rounds into it, sending it bursting into flames. The heat and force of the drum bursting sent the man careening for a window.
He fell through the glass and stumbled across the fire escape, leaping down the length of it. Point Man could see the two armored soldiers waiting for him below. Though he still wore his mask, he knew for a fact that it wouldn't fool them.
VECTOR turned and spotted him immediately. "Commander SAVAGE, there he is!" he bellowed.
Point Man moved quickly, narrowly missing the S-HV Penetrator shells that nearly took his head off. The shells punctured through the bricks like they were nothing and Point Man resorted to sliding down the length of the ladder until he landed hard on the ground. The two soldiers moved toward him, seemingly faster than he would have expected for something so large. He immediately tensed, feeling the pressure rapidly starting to climb in his chest and slowly throughout his entire body.
His limbs crackled with energy and his entire body surged forward like a cat on an adrenaline burst. Time seemed to slow down all around him as he charged for the one who called himself VECTOR. He raised his gun and shoved it into the weakness at VECTOR's neck where the armor protected his head and shoulders. No sooner had he did, he suddenly contacted the ground hard and immediately, felt the burst of strength dissipate.
Point Man was stunned; it was a first time. It was almost as if he had passed through the soldier like he was a ghost. And no sooner had he attempted to rise again, VECTOR and SAVAGE were on him in an instant. He felt the weight of a knee pressed into his back and another one against his face, holding him to the ground as he felt his hands forced behind his back.
"Base, this is SAVAGE," the soldier announced, "Subject is secure."
"Copy that. Report back to Nest in one hour."
SAVAGE chuckled cruelly and grabbed the underside of Point Man's mask. "Did you hear that, freak?" he hissed, "That means we have an hour to get to know each other."
And with that, he tore the mask off, revealing Point Man's greasy features as well as a thick beard and slightly longer, neck - length black hair. Point Man glowered up at the two soldiers with defiance, awaiting the gruesome pain that he knew was going to come.
O
"Wake up, Brother... They must die..."
His head was throbbing.
Point Man felt his vision slowly coming into focus; he was lying on his side and appeared to be in some form of prison cell, though he couldn't make entire sense of where it was exactly. The floors were slippery and damp with water as well as his own blood. He couldn't move his hands; they had been strapped down with some kind of plastic handcuffs. The more he attempted to tug them free, the more the plastic dug into his wrists.
Point Man struggled to sit and a small river of blood trickled down his mouth. He took a moment to check his surroundings and noticed that there were several more people in the cells around him. Some of them appeared to be simple Auburn citizens. They were frightened and talking to themselves, obviously too far gone to be of any real use. Point Man could see that it appeared to be some form of basement level and quite possibly the Fairport Correctional Facility.
He looked to his left and noticed a brown-haired woman sitting in the cell across from him. She was wearing an Armacham employee jacket - the golden logo on her chest gleamed almost menacingly - and it was covered in splatters of blood as well as brown business pants; the only real oddity was the black hunting boots on her feet covered in a thick layer of mud. She appeared to be calm and composed and even smiled at him. She had the brightest pair of blue eyes he had ever seen before.
"Hi. You've been out for a while." she said, her voice just barely carrying an accent to it. British perhaps? He couldn't really tell right now. "You must have been very special to them for you to take such a beating."
Point Man frowned at her. She chuckled at his expression. "Sorry, I'm Crowe. Annette Crowe." she introduced, "But they just call me Crowe and only Crowe."
Point Man sensed no real threat from her and turned, scanning the entire terrain with his eyes. He was trying to find a way out of the cell; any imperfections or lack of security could help him. Crowe watched his movements with a sigh. "You can't get out, you know," she told him, "They tied your hands down for a reason."
He glared at her, in no real mood to hear this.
"I can help you," Crowe said, "If you get me out of here... They don't tie me down because they don't think of me as a threat." She chuckled dryly and he noticed a slight malicious gleam in her eyes. "Oh, what they don't know."
Then, she crawled over to the bars to get close to him and whispered. "I can get your hands loose," she whispered, "But you have to take me with you."
Point Man abruptly shook his head. That wasn't going to happen. Other people were just a liability to him. And it seemed that whoever was near him anyway, they ended up dead. Why should he burden himself with someone like her?
Crowe frowned at him and she looked slightly terrified to have her only means of escape leave this room. "I can be of use!" she insisted, "You have no idea what they have planned! I know their plans, codes and secrets! I can help you, I swear it!"
He thought about it for a moment before looking at her strangely, wondering just how she was going to get him out. She reached into her boot and removed a long, sharp object and held it up to him. It appeared to resemble a scalpel of some kind. She flashed him a smile, a particularly desperate one.
"I'll cut you loose, but you have to swear you'll get me out of here," she told him, "Your guns are over there." She gestured to a table just a few feet away and much to Point Man's surprise, a table left unguarded.
Crowe chuckled slightly at Point Man's silence. "Not a very talkative guy, are you?"
Point Man gave her a suspicious frown and waited there for a long time before he turned on his feet and presented his bound arms to her. Crowe carefully slid the scalpel beneath the plastic handcuff links and started to cut her way through the tough plastic. She cursed quietly at the resistance.
"Damn, bloody thing's tough as shit," she muttered.
There was a sound of a snap and Point Man immediately felt his arms freed. He rubbed his wrists and gave Crowe an appreciative nod before standing up and walking to the cell door and the Armacham electronic locking mechanism that had been placed there. He studied the lock briefly with a thoughtful expression before turning to her and he slowly held out his hand. Crowe knew what he wanted and shook her head.
"No. It's no good," she said, "I've already tried to get out that way."
Point Man thrust his hand out again, this time with more insistency than she saw the first time. Sighing, Crowe slid the scalpel underneath a small opening that separated their cells. Point Man took it immediately and began to use the tip of the sharp object to slide between the panels of the lock. After taking a moment of wiggling the scalpel through several wires and metal, Crowe's jaw dropped in shock when the door creaked open.
"Well, I suppose you've proven me wrong then!" she said.
Point Man walked to the table and grabbed his handguns. He checked them for ammunition and noticed that they hadn't stripped them of the magazine rounds. Well they must not have been all too bright then. He started to go, but Crowe's voice halted him.
"Hey! We had a deal!"
Point Man paused and turned, frowning back at her. She could see the hesitation in his eyes and it was immediately replaced with alarm when he heard the sound of an Armacham soldier approaching the cell block. He met Crowe's gaze briefly before nodding his head once.
The soldier walked into the cell block, oblivious to Point Man missing for the moment. He was wearing blue and gray body armor with a familiar insignia that looked somewhat the same as SAVAGE's; so he was obviously under his command. He gave Crowe a look; even though his face mask hid it, she knew perfectly well that he was suspicious about the sounds from the cell block. "What are you screaming about now, Crowe?" he snapped.
She shrugged her shoulders innocently. "Nothing," she said, "I'm having a marvelous time sitting here surrounded by...good people." She looked around at the nearly insane, catatonic people in the other cells with a snort.
The soldier sighed with boredom and approached her cell. "Don't lie to me," he told her, reaching into a sheath on his belt; he pulled out a knife with a slightly curved tip at the end, particularly used for skinning. It was called a Sharpfinger from what she remembered and it was a particularly deadly blade.
Crowe paled slightly. She looked over his shoulder briefly and noticed that Point Man was dropping down silently behind the soldier from the pipes above. She gave the ignorant soldier a weak smile and he tilted his head.
"You know, I can usually spot a dead man just by looking at him," she said, as Point Man raised a knife over the soldier's back. "I can even see how long it'll take for them to die."
The soldier laughed coldly; he obviously considered her speech to be a mere act of bravery rather than a true threat seeing since he failed to acknowledge Point Man behind him. "Really?" he sneered, "And how long will it take for me?"
Crowe smiled. "About 5 seconds."
The soldier was confused. He started to turn around and that's when Point Man buried his knife deep into the base of the man's neck, sending a spray of blood across the walls and floors of the cell. The soldier spasmed and struggled to reach back at him, but Point Man immediately closed his hand around his head, swiftly jerking it to one side to snap the bones in his neck, killing him instantly. Crowe winced at the sound and watched as the lifeless soldier's body slumped to the floor.
Point Man moved quickly and stabbed the same knife into the controls that locked Crowe's door. She immediately stepped out, relieved.
"Thanks," she told him, "But don't worry; I won't be a drag. I can fend for myself. I know how to swing a gun or two."
Point Man nodded his head briefly before he turned and slowly crept down the dark, stinking halls of the prison with Crowe tagging behind him just a few steps to give him room. She followed him as he walked into a room labeled "Security Monitor Room". Point Man moved quickly, scanning the security monitors. He could see several Armacham soldiers relaxing in the cafeteria that had been modified as a fortress. On other monitors, several soldiers were pacing back and forth, armed to the tooth with various weaponry.
"Well, this won't make leaving easy," Crowe replied, "We have to find another way out."
Point Man noticed another monitor that displayed the emergency stairway. It would probably lead up to the rooftops where they could escape. It was a risky idea and a long shot if he considered going that route. It would definitely be dangerous, but they had to take the chance.
"What's the plan then?" Crowe asked, skeptically; she made a gesture with her next words, "Just walk out in a nice straight line?"
Point Man grabbed a Vollmer Ultra92 Automatic Shotgun that was leaning against one of the monitors and thrust it sharply into Crowe's arms. She grunted from the force of his gesture and frowned at him in confusion.
"I know my way around Armacham weapons, but that doesn't scratch the fact that we're going to have difficulty leaving here," she pointed out, "They have the place surrounded."
Point Man gave her a scowl.
Crowe got the idea. She was expected to know every bit of the area to help him. "I know that the grunts sometimes get lazy in the kitchen. If we can make it through there, we can go out through the loading bay."
That was more than enough for him.
O
Point Man moved nearly faster than Crowe had expected; he cut his way through every soldier that stood in his path. He mowed them down as if they were practically useless toy soldiers with nothing to threaten him with. When they made their way into Cell Block C, something had changed in the air; Crowe couldn't quite describe what it was, but she felt a sudden heavy pressure bear down on her chest. It was like an incredible pain had washed over her though she could not see or touch it.
"Do you feel that?" she whispered, looking at Point Man.
Point Man didn't react save for that strong, impassive look on his face; instead he just walked through the darkened, empty rows of cells in silence with Crowe at his side. Point Man could feel her heart slowly starting to beat faster.
Within the empty cells, something flashed in a fraction of a few minutes; several writhing, faceless shapes that he remembered seeing during the infiltration of Armacham's Bio-Research Facility. They looked like naked, humanoid shapes with no identity, no purpose and no life. Their voices were like knives slicing through his chest; horrible sounds of misery and pain. Were they mere illusions? Not as far as he remembered.
"Help me..."
The voice came from his mother.
She was a fragment of his own memories; a long forgotten face that had disappeared in the darkness of his mind. She appeared to him in many forms that suited her own. Sometimes she stood as a blood - soaked nightmare, other times she was a small, frail little girl. He couldn't understand her. Sometimes he didn't like being near her. What could he feel for a thing that was a mere stranger to him? He didn't know her.
"Help me, please..."
The voice carried pain. Pain and fear. They were not different emotions compared to when he had seen her in the past in Armacham's Headquarters in Auburn. But there was something unique to the feelings. Something that he couldn't describe.
The illusion ended and the pressure in the air seemed to lift.
"Did you see that?" Crowe whispered, her voice haunted.
Point Man ignored her briefly as he quickly ducked behind a security barricade. He grabbed her by her jacket before she could protest and forced her down with him. They peered over the barricade, noticing that there appeared to be over twenty to thirty soldiers inside the cafeteria.
"There are quite a few of them, yes..." Crowe whispered, "What do we - WAIT!"
Point Man was already moving; he started firing off round after round at each head. Crowe attempted to keep pace with him as well by firing her shotgun at charging soldiers, shredding their bodies to bloody chunks. Point Man quickly grabbed a charging soldier who attempted to swing with his knife and he twisted the man's arm, drawing a shout of pain. Point Man immediately twisted the man's arm upwards in a fierce thrust, forcing his own knife into his chin.
Point Man used the body of the soldier as a shield when several more soldiers up on the catwalk attempted to mow him down with machine gun fire. Point Man grabbed the dead man's handgun holstered in his leg and used it to take out the remaining guards. Behind him, Crowe squeezed a round of her shotgun into a charging soldier, but resulted in merely taking his arm off in the process. He screamed like a wounded animal and surged for her, blood spurting from his shattered limb.
Crowe gave a shout and pressed her shotgun into his stomach as he fell directly on top of her, knocking her onto her back. She squeezed the trigger and the resulting blast ripped his body in two pieces as if it was made of paper mache'.
Point Man scanned the entire cafeteria for signs of anyone else. He looked at Crowe and she smiled weakly, nodding.
"It's clear." she said.
Then, a voice filled the air. A deep rumbling one. "Well, you've certainly killed a lot of my men, haven't you?"
Behind Crowe, the wall seemed to crackle and the air grew uncomfortably hot. She turned slowly in horror and disbelief as a shape stepped out from a blue ripple of light; another Armacham Commander that Point Man had seen in the Auburn streets. This one was also brandishing a Penetrator. There was a name scratched into his chest.
SPECTRE.
"You will suffer, abomination!" SPECTRE bellowed.
Crowe's eyes widened when he raised the weapon. "Oh damn..."
SPECTRE fired off several rounds and Point Man quickly took the defensive and ducked behind an overturned table. He grabbed Crowe by her ankle and yanked her with him, mere seconds before a high - powered nail could have embedded itself into her skull. Crowe stared at him in disbelief and horror. Point Man returned the look with a calm grimace and placed a finger to his lips, gesturing for her to keep quiet. Crowe nodded in accord.
Point Man suddenly darted from the overturned table, moving entirely too quick for either Crowe or SPECTRE to catch. Before she knew it, SPECTRE was doubling over with a sharp cry of pain and there were sparks flying out from his back. He snarled with fury and Point Man fired appeared at his side again, squeezing off several rounds from his handguns. The shots caused SPECTRE to double over with grunts of pain and Point Man seized the large knife in the Commander's belt, raising it high to stab the soldier. Crowe stood up and attempted to get a clear shot at him, but Point Man was in the way and she didn't want to hit him in the process.
"Damnit, I can't get a clear shot!" she cried.
Point Man looked back at her briefly before he disengaged himself from the soldier and at that same moment, Crowe fired. The blast from her shotgun struck the Commander dead in the face. He lurched back with a fierce shout, chunks of armor falling away from his face. He staggered back with a few moans to follow, but it was hard to tell whether or not they were of pain or anger. A hand went to SPECTER's face and he held it there for a few moments before snarling.
"You'll pay for that, worm!" he screamed.
When he looked up, Point Man and Crowe noticed that his face was now exposed from the shotgun blast. They could see a wide, blood - shot eye and raw, rippling muscle. Smoke billowed from his damaged armor. He surged toward them again with his weapon raised. Point Man's eyes narrowed and he lifted one arm in front of Crowe. Then, they looked to the left at the sight of a smoky red whisp that suddenly appeared from the shadows. It encircled SPECTRE and the two watched as he thrashed wildly, trying to fend off an unseen attacker through the red mist.
"No!" SPECTRE suddenly wailed, "Stay back! Stay back!"
Point Man and Crowe blinked, stunned as the mist seemed to seep into openings in SPECTRE's body armor and disappear completely. His body shuddered violently and convulsed before cracks appeared around his armor. Point Man and Crowe quickly ducked behind a table to avoid the spray of blood and body parts as the commander burst like a tomato. After a moment, the poked their heads up from behind the table.
Standing there was a being who appeared to be encased in flame. He was wearing a gray and red jacket and pants and had slicked black hair. There was also a bullet mark in between his eyes and the sight of him made Crowe's eyes widen. She looked over at Point Man and he stared at the being with a cold glare on his face.
"Hello brother," it spoke, smirking.
Crowe recognized the voice.
Paxton Fettel.
O
Note - Well? What do you think. Like I said, this is a different take on Fear 3, what I felt could have made for a better game. If you like it so far, let me know.