Chapter 1: Directions
Malice is a character from Riviera: The Promised Land
Malice had never been one to sleep in; she liked to get the initial grogginess of the morning over as quickly as possible. One of the few secret pleasures she indulged herself with was watch the sun rise over the spires within the castle of the Magi while sipping Elemina Mint tea. She hadn't slept in since she was a kid so it surprised her to awaken extremely refreshed, the kind of restfulness that accompanied sleep that lasted at least half a day. The next odd thing that caught her attention was the fact she was sleeping on the ground, very odd ground if what her cheek was touching was any indication. It was stiff like marble but gritty like sand, a very odd mixture she couldn't identify at all. Warning bells screaming in her head she jumped onto her feet her wings flaring to maintain her equilibrium.
She swiveled her head examining the strange area she was in, her reflexes tuned to strike should something threatening appear. It was dark she noted, night in fact, and it took her eyes a few precious seconds to adjust to the lighting. All the while she turned about in a tight circle searching for enemies. She registered very dim lighting filtering weakly above her, a weird lantern of some sort she reasoned but didn't dare look up just yet. She was in a dark alley with assorted paraphernalia strewn around the sides. Satisfied that no one was bearing down on her she calmed down slightly, still alert but no longer frantic. 'Where am I?' she thought agitatedly 'Why am I here? Where's my room?' She looked up to check the ceiling and spied the "lanterns".
They were not the elaborately crafted paper ones strewn about Asgard, these "lanterns" were glass abominations containing an ugly orange light. Her head was buzzing with sensory overload and for a quick second Malice thought she was going to faint. She closed her eyes and took a few deep, shaky breaths collecting herself into the deadly, independent Grim Angel she was. 'Ok, let's recap. I'm not in my room in the castle of the Magi. There are weird lanterns on the walls of this dark alley.' She glimpsed above her past the lanterns 'The sky, I'm outside.' The whole atmosphere stank of Utgard but that was impossible. Did Master Hector send her? She searched the folds of her robes for any sort of note from him but came up with nothing. She doubted even Master Hector could even send her to Utgard straight from Asgard, besides if he had sent her on a covert mission he would have contacted her through some means.
'This probably isn't Utgard…' she reasoned 'Still this energy, not quite demonic but somewhat similar.' Nothing was there in the alley and the longer Malice stayed there the longer she would be clueless about where she was. With a small growl at her helplessness she took a small step forward to prepare for lift off and nearly tripped over Skadi. Her Diviner axe had been transported with her apparently, once again she questioned if Master Hector had not sent her on some kind of mission. After a long moment trying to reach a conclusion behind her sudden displacement she ultimately gave up with an angry sigh. Grabbing Skadi she flew up into the sticky, hot, night air. Careening into the starless, moonless night she boosted herself up several miles before transitioning into a glide. She hung upon the wind, her black wings keeping her stable as she peered down onto the earth below. Giant obelisks thrust their way into the sky as far as the eye could see. There were lights everywhere, on the obelisks, the land, moving about in rivers of light of all different colors.
She stared dumbfounded by the sight, nowhere had she ever seen such scenery. It surpassed her wildest imagination and living in the land where gods once resided plus having seen Riviera the promised land, Malice firmly believed nothing else could possibly fill her with this much amazement. 'I haven't seen Utgard but I'd imagine there is more hellfire.' She pondered 'And a hell of a lot more intimidating.' She spent awhile gliding lazily above the strange land taking in the sight but eventually she remembered her predicament. She dove down sharply til she was a foot above the giant obelisks and righted herself into a soar. She opened her senses trying to see if they were projecting any kind of magic that could hurt her.
Not sensing anything other than the erratic energy in the air she tapped the top of a spire with Skadi. There was no reaction at all so Malice assumed it was inactive or something. Gingerly she touched down on its peak; it was made of the same material as the ground below. Looking around Malice noted nothing of interest save for a door In the middle of the obelisk. She heard a dull roar around her that she hadn't registered before, it sounded a bit like the ocean but warped. Walking over to the edge she peered down to examine the source of the noise, perhaps it was the ocean, and was astonished again. Sprites! Tons and tons of Sprites! They were everywhere weaving their ways about the rivers of light, hundreds upon hundreds of them wandering about like cattle. Her first thought was that Master Hector would die of joy if he knew about the massive amount of souls waiting obliviously to be harvested.
Her second thought was that there was no way she was in Asgard, Utgard or Riviera. Such a populace did not exist anywhere; even if all of their residents were to live together they would be merely a handful of water compared to this ocean. Staggering back Malice could feel the scope of her situation widen dramatically. She didn't know where she was or how she got here. She was fairly certain she was no longer in the universe her world existed in, an unbelievable claim to be sure but that was the most logical conclusion she could come up with given the information she had. Master Hector had not contacted her yet, her disappearance had probably not been noticed. He might contact her later but there was an equal chance he could not contact her at all. Until she could confirm that she was on her own this was not a problem at all.
Instinctively her thought process shifted into a warrior mind set due to the fact she was a Grim Angel. She needed more info on everything, the lights, the obelisks, the Sprites and their numbers, and lastly how she got here from Asgard. Unfurling her wings, she rose back into the air and flew off to the east, making sure her form could not be seen from the ground. She quickly discovered that the obelisks were filled with Sprites, effectively increasing their number by an exponential amount and revealing to her that the obelisks were in fact living quarters. Peeking into the windows she saw a variety of occupants per room, some were families while others lived by themselves or with a lover of some sort. The furnishings and size of the room varied wildly, each one was different in some way. A few of the occupants might have caught a glimpse of something fluttering about their windows but before they could get a better glimpse it would disappear.
Chris Redfield was no stranger to trouble; in fact he was familiar with all sorts of trouble from small trouble to big trouble to trouble that was beyond measure. When the better part of five years was spent dealing with zombies and the company that churned them out like canned peas trouble was something you ran at full force and grappled with. As such having been woken up from his slumber on a park bench by a horde of hungry zombies did not faze the former STARS member in the slightest. He effortlessly rolled off the bench drew his pistol and downed two of them before he had fully stood up. A quick scan showed at least twenty Umbrella zombies of the generic variety moving at a quick shuffling pace not fifteen yards away from him. He put down four more from his position before turning around and putting some more distance between him and the zombies reloading at the same time.
He took cover behind a tree and fired off more six shots more with each bullet dropping a zombie. As usual the zombies took no heed of their diminished number and continued on their singular quest, confirming to Chris that these were indeed the simple minded variety he had encountered during his excursion inside Raccoon city. He allowed himself to relax slightly as he reloaded his weapon during which he realized he didn't know where he was. Last time he was conscious he was back at the base waiting to hear how they would be dealing with Umbrella's escalating bio terrorism. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before; Jill's therapy wasn't going well despite the best efforts of himself and the psychology staff. He had rested his eyes for a few minutes but apparently he had lost consciousness entirely.
He slid out from behind the tree and finished off six more leaving only two. Wanting to conserve ammo he holstered his weapon and charged the pair brandishing his machete. He beheaded one with a strike and swiveled to his right using the blade to block the final zombie's biting lunge. He kicked it off his blade then stabbed it in the head, destroying it immediately. He backed off about a yard just to ensure none of the downed zombies launched a surprise attack. As his fight or flight reflex cooled more thoughts began to puncture his adrenaline focused mind. Why was he outdoors? Where was headquarters? Where had these zombies come from?
He was in a city, that was for sure, and most likely in an urban park if the trees were any indication. That was as far as he got when a rustling caught his attention putting him back in full battle mode. Forms padded out of the shadows at a much quicker rate then the zombies did and with a raspy scream rushed him. In the dim light he could just barely make them out, another old foe from Raccoon City, the frog men. Their putrid green skin was their telling mark but they were also dressed in blue vests and pants. Within seconds the front three were upon him aiming their meaty fists at his head. With a barbaric yawp he raised his machete and engaged them in combat. He turned away the first with a parry, knocking it down before slashing at the second's fist. It fell to ground with a clunk allowing Chris to ram it with his shoulder sending it sprawling onto the first. The third got his shot in, sucker-punching Chris right in the abs.
If this had been back in Raccoon city he would have doubled over in pain but the last eleven years had driven him to the gym, partly to help him ready for battle against the zombies and partly to give him somewhere to vent when sheer pressure of the situations he was placed in began to get to him. Thanks to the countless reps he had done the fist rebounded off a massive slab of hard muscle injuring him definitely and with sizable bruising going to appear in the morning but not agonizing. He repaid the blow with a blow; using the hilt of the machete he crumpled the frog man's skull killing it instantly. Reflexively he stepped away from the bodies for the same reasons he stepped away from the zombies, they had a penchant to rise again. He also glanced at the remaining group: ten left. They had stopped a few feet away to observe the fight with glassy eyes and shuffling feet.
Chris' mind was whirlwind at he made tactical decisions within half seconds. The dim lighting was working against him; there could be more groups of undead horrors, zombies or frog men or worse, waiting to assault him. There was no way he could outrun the frog men long enough to make it to the parks edge and into the city proper. He would need to find a lit path and follow it to the end using the light to spot enemies. He wasn't sure how much ammo he had left, he had stupidly used up too much of it dropping those garbage zombies. Without taking his eyes off them he reloaded six more precious bullets and with a pivot he charged head first behind him into the woods.
The frog men gave a whooping cry and began to pursue him with inhuman hops and bounds. He got about a hundred feet before he dove behind a tree switching from retreating into attacking. Sighting down the barrel of his pistol he squeezed off two shots dropping one frog man but missing another, costly. The creatures stopped and scanned the area for their assailant, granting Chris a quick moment to regain some breath before plunging back into the foliage. He was as stealthy as an anvil and, a split second later, the creatures resumed their hunt.
Far in front of Chris Redfield was the road that surrounded the park, dividing sectors of city and nature with an asphalt line. The light was typical of a city, hazy yellow and orange from streetlights illuminating the street perfectly. On the city side was a bunch of building, mini skyscrapers with large glass windows. In one of them was a blond man who had deemed it necessary to don to sunglasses in the moonless night. He sat leisurely in front of the window perfectly situated to view what would happen if Chris Redfield managed to make it out of the woods and onto the sidewalk. Beside him was an abomination of frankensteinian proportion, a man beast of large stature clothed in a large, black, leather coat. A small strain of drool made its way down its mouth but the beast would routinely wipe it from its face ensuring that not a drop would stain the floor.
The blond, its master, was supposed to be dead, killed by the hands of Chris Redfield. The face of Umbrella who had created it and the myriad of creatures that stalked the woods across the street. He was Albert Wesker, former companion of Chris Redfield who had betrayed him and his partner Jill in the interest of obtaining godhood. With the patience of a practiced schemer Wesker watched the border lazily having complete faith that the man he despised the most would emerge out from the woods and get splattered by the Nemesis. The hulking monstrosity beside him had been a pain to recreate. Wesker was familiar with the process but it required a special kind of genius to manufacture the STARS killing machine. Ultimately it came down between giving the recipe to either Dr. Doom or MODOK in exchange for their help. While Doom would have been a more capable ally Wesker didn't trust him as far as he could throw him, besides he was positive he could take down MODOK when it eventually came to that.
Using Wesker's knowledge of the T and G virus plus the basic biology of Las Plagas MODOK successfully recreated the serum and parasite while helping Wesker with mass administration of it. Sadly his plans to build an undead army had failed when Magneto had exposed his collaboration with MODOK to Doom and Super Skrull. They had demanded the pair to immediately cease and desist with their plans threatening to kill them on the spot if they failed to comply. Wesker's smug expression sharpened considerably as he remembered how they had steamrolled him so effortlessly like a bug. It had taken considerable restraint on his part to resist killing them all there and then but cooler heads prevailed. He had given his word to stop producing zombies and evolving the G virus into a more potent form, he even supplied everyone with a small retinue of Garradors.
He had of course lied through his teeth plotting with MODOK to continue their army building later. Doom had his eyes on them and despite the fact he was practically (practically!) a god he didn't want to cross their "leader" just yet. Reflexively he punched the Nemesis next to him to let off steam; he hated being bossed around by drivel! The Nemesis did nothing as if it wasn't even aware it had been assaulted, the infusion of Virus X by MODOK had really pushed it to the next tier power wise. Sucking a breath in between his teeth Wesker released it in an angry sigh before resuming his smug demeanor. A little stress relief was in order hence his lounging here waiting to watch the Nemesis 2.0 fall upon an unsuspecting Chris and reduce him to a bloody smear on the sidewalk. 'And they say it's impossible to enjoy a good show in New York without spending an arm and a leg' he thought with a smirk.
After flying around for awhile Malice had not been able to glean any more information on her whereabouts save that the buildings seem to extend past the horizon itself. Despite having awoken not an hour ago wheeling about without making any significant progress was starting to fatigue her mentally. There was no light illuminating the horizon at all, morning was still pretty far off if this world had a sun. She had been lulled into a false sense of security do the first strike blindsided her completely. A mass of something slammed into her back tearing at her wings causing her to lose control of her flight. A quick second of stun washed over her mind before her warrior instincts kicked in unconsciously. Her body rolled about in mid-air trying to shake the attacker from her back while her hands kept a death grip on her Diviner.
The thing clung on unperturbed by the flailing aerial aerobatics but unable to attack due to the G-force. As she plummeted to earth Malice caught quick glimpses of a building that was very close to her position and with a push she smashed her back into it dislodging the attacker. She looped about in the air regaining some altitude and turning to face her opponent. It was some kind of giant raven; she estimated it had a 6 feet wingspan, with a twisted beak made for tearing and milky white pupils. Its body was completely bare of any feather save for the wings and the face, the rest of it was rotting flesh and visible bone. It let out a shrill shriek and dive-bombed Malice again, attacking with its shiny black talons.
Malice's mind had finally caught up with the present at last with just enough to let her cleave the bird in two with Skadi. The remains fell to the earth in a flurry of chunky bits of flesh and greasy feathers. She flourished her weapon in front of her to control the swing and bring it back into her regular stance but she had not a second longer as a flurry of several more ravens flew toward her. They zoomed in a tight group, the same formation geese used when they migrating. As they approached they broke the formation, each of them zipping around Malice in a tight circle trapping her. Malice watched their antics with a small smile, she was not amused by their antics but with the irony of her situation. She was a grim angel, a being designed to slay demons, yet she rarely did her job. Master Hector had recruited her at a young age to be his right hand allowing him to strike at targets that could tarnish his image if he attacked them directly. Thus her time was spent eliminating political obstacles and harvesting the souls he required for his divine purposes. 'It is the duty of the Grim Angels to pass judgment on demons.' The creed uttered by many that lived in Asgard rang in her ears like a bell toll.
One of the ravens randomly shot forward aiming for her left wing. Shifting her grip ever so minutely she swung about, clubbing the raven with the blunt side of her axe and scoring a nonlethal blow to its body before turning and hacking at a second one trying to take advantage of her blindside. The injured one shifted back slowly and drifted down as it tried to regain its balance but Malice granted no quarter. Calling on the hidden potential within Skadi she slashed it horizontally releasing a frigid breeze. The raven's wings froze up and it plummeted to earth with a scream. With a second swipe she scattered a wave of ice about her, wild and inaccurate but it did its job. The ravens backed off breaking their momentum and giving Malice and opening.
She drove through and began to pick up speed; she would be risking injury if she let those demons continue their little games. She easily gained a sizable lead before they recovered and began to pursue. She began to review her options of attack as she took sharp bends about the buildings to try and slow them down. Skadi was crafted to deal damage to big foes; it had managed to shave large chunks off of a golem effortlessly. Against smaller, faster opponents Skadi's slower arcs were a disadvantage Malice had to compensate for. Luckily the freezing blasts her diviner could conjure went a long way into overcoming this, a frozen opponent couldn't dodge. The sticky, humid heat would damper that ability somewhat but it was still her best option for dealing with the ravens. Smirking she began to accumulate the cold about her dropping the temperature a bit.
Wesker checked the clock on his phone noting that forty minute had passed since the attack had commenced. He still couldn't see Chris' silhouette on the path yet but he was sure that within the next fifteen minutes the former STARS member would emerge and get slaughtered or he would send in the Nemesis to see if it could find any of Chris' remains. He shifted in his seat slightly and continued to watch making mental bets with himself over whether or not Chris had become zombie chow. His musings were interrupted by the abomination next to him hissing slightly like furnace. He turned to the beast "What?" he asked slightly annoyed. The thing didn't answer it simply turned the hiss into a growl and began to tense like a threatened cat.
Wesker observed the Nemesis for a second trying to ascertain exactly what it was doing, was this MODOK's doing? Something hit the window in front of him causing him to swivel about. Black feathers rained down from on high like snow and a body impacted the window. Strolling up to the window he pressed his face up against it, on the side walk were two smashed corpses. 'The ravens' he thought stunned. 'They were supposed to be the final wave before the Nemesis. How…? Who? Hell.' He turned to the monster "Go up and kill whosever interfering." With a war cry the bio weapon rushed for the stairs grabbing his rocket launcher along the way. Wesker checked his watch, eleven more minutes before Chris' ETA; the Nemesis had plenty of time to kill the interloper and return.
A top the building Malice had taken a stand against the ravens having accumulated enough frost. The temperature plummeted further with each swing she took coating the air about her with a thick veil of vapor. The ravens could dodge Skadi's edge easily enough but each subsequent arctic blast froze them solid sending them plummeting to the ground. Soon the skies were hers and she celebrated her victory with a flourish. Panting slightly, she brushed the hair out of her face in a dismissive manner. "Pitiful." She said "But now there are even more questions than before. 'There are demons here so…' A click was her only warning and reflexively she swung Skadi about. That move saved her life as the resulting freeze enveloped the arm and weapon of the monster aiming at her.
Someone, it might have been that pansy ass Ledah, had once remarked that demons while varied always followed a specific code. The weaker ones would charge in first and inevitably get slaughtered causing minor wounds and fatigue in the process. This would soften up the opposition for the big boss who would always enter swinging. Even Malice, a grim angel who had never fought demons before, could tell the creature on the building was the big boss. It was a profanity to humanity in its form, built like a human with highly exaggerated features. It was as big as a golem, slimy as an acid blob, and uglier than…well…anything she had ever seen. It gurgled green slime from its mouth and peered at its frozen limb quizzically. Positioning her weapon in front of her Malice grinned smugly "Think you have a chance?"
While the monster didn't comprehend the ice it did understand the threats and with an earth rending roar it smashed its arm on the roof, freeing said arm. He pointed his weapon back at her and pulled the trigger. A projectile flew by Malice by at amazing speeds and impacted the building behind her. The resulting blast peppered the air with concrete and glass and threw Malice forward right into the beast's range. Thrusting an arm forward a tentacle shot out of his wrist and smashed the grim angel in the torso. Malice grimaced from the pain but with a flap of her wings she managed to prevent herself from falling out of the sky.
"Cute." She remarked sending another wave of cold at the demon. It merely raised its arm blocking the frost from penetrating any further than the sleeve of his coat. Giving a keening noise it lowered its arm and took aim at the woman but he was too late. Malice had shot forward while the beast had been blocking and with a swipe from Skadi she rent his weapon on two. The front end of it clunked uselessly off the building while the back end landed behind the beast. Slamming the beast back with a tackle fuelled by her momentum Malice backed off a bit predicting a second tentacle attack. The monster obliged her with a quick one-two from the tentacles from wither hand. Both were beaten back with two quick swipes from her diviner and then she retaliated with the same cold blast from before. The beast blocked again and predicting a second assault it lunged forward with a shoulder charge.
Malice guarded just in time but it threw her slightly off guard and back five feet or so. More tentacles appeared but instead of a decisive strike the monster flailed them at her guard striking her with a flurry of blows. While she was trapped underneath the strikes the beast advanced to engage in melee. With a final push it retracted the tentacles giving him a clear shot to punch her in the bread basket again. Not wanting to break her ribs Malice managed guard the blow with the shaft of her diviner which in turn pushed her off the ledge and back into the sky. Deciding range gave her a much better advantage Malice backed up out of the beast's melee. When the tentacles came back at her she sliced them off with Skadi's edge buying her the time she needed. With two quick strikes she rent the air in front of her dropping the temperature very rapidly. A massive sheet of ice formed and with a second strike she carved an edge onto the front of it.
With a push she sent it hurtling toward the roof at a very low angle making it skid along the ground like a razor. The beast sidestepped the projectile shooting another tentacle at Malice grabbing her left wing. She grunted as it pulled at her feathers but she grinned nonetheless. Behind him a massive explosion rocked the roof sending the beast flying over her head and onto the ground far below. While the weaponry was alien to her Malice had predicted the weapon the creature had used still contained explosive charges. Righting herself in the air Malice hesitated for a split second before diving after it wanting to assure herself that it had perished.
As Chris neared the edge of the forest he tried to quiet the sound of his panting, he didn't hear any other zombies sneaking up on him but it had been awhile since the last wave and he was feeling paranoid. His ammo was gone, wasted on the rest of the frog men and the first few Ganado, all he had left was his machete which was coated in slime and his stun baton. The skyscrapers loomed a few yards ahead of him promising safety and help which helped alleviate his fatigue somewhat. After several seconds of hyper sensual overload trying to uncover any more zombies standing between him and sweet, sweet sanctuary he burst through the underbrush onto the concrete sidewalk. One deep breath to steady his nerves, a quick second breath to start slowing down his heart rate then a simultaneous mind numbing pain just below his right shoulder and the blast of a gun.
Chris stumbled and fell onto his knees using his left hand to stop himself from face planting onto the ground. There was a laugh, a chuckle, one he had heard many times before. "Impressive." Wesker commented "I see you can still bulldoze your way out unwinnable situations with those ridiculous muscles of yours. And you call me out on juicing." "Wesker" Chris spat clutching his injured shoulder "I see you don't have the good sense to stay dead." From his advantage point a top a streetlight Wesker jumped onto the pavement five feet away from his most hated enemy. "Ah yes, I'll have to repay you for that." He commented lazily raising his arm and aiming his pistol. "Let's see, the foot? The knee? Perhaps I should just shoot your spine and watch you squirm for the rest of your life as cripple." "Would it be too kind of you to shoot me in the ears first so I'll never have to listen to you rant again?" Chris snarked back. The blonde's smirk deteriorated into an angry sneer "That's what I always hated about you Redfield; you never know when to shut your damn trap when you've been outwitted."
"What can I say Wesker? It's my only source of solace after you launch into another of you little 'I am a god' speeches. And by the way, my muscles are natural unlike your hair." Wesker wasn't riled in the slightest "Goodbye Chris." Chris would have died, should have died but a huge thing came crashing down several yards to the right of Wesker. "What?" the former STARS member gasped "How?" There was a rustle of something and a whoosh of air before someone landed between Chris and Wesker. From behind Chris could only see the figures blue and grey robes and the large black wings attached to its back. In its hand was a large, blue, crystalline weapon of some sort which it raised threateningly. Before Wesker could react the angel cut the air in front of it and beheaded the Nemesis. "Who the hell are you?" Wesker asked waving his gun at the figure "Why are you interfering? Were you the one attacking my ravens?"
Malice looked over at the blond man nonchalantly "Those birds attacked me along with that beast. Were they yours?" "Yes, you winged bitch. And you just cost me a mint by killing the Nemesis." He snarled "You'll be paying me back with your life." The Grim Angel just stared at him for a minute, and then smiled a haughty little smile "big words from a little Sprite." He answered her with two gun shots, one to each wing. Malice screamed as the bullets tore though her wings setting fire to her nerves and almost making her black out from the pain. The blonde chuckled "You were saying?" he said as he cocked his gun intending to finish her off when Chris' machete buried itself into his arm. Climbing back onto his feet Chris smirked and drew his stun baton "Didn't forget about me did you?" "Chris!" Wesker yelled pulling the blade from his arm and tossing it aside "How dare you assault a god!" He aimed at Chris but there was a an arc of blue that knocked the pistol out of his hand. "A god? Don't make me laugh." Malice taunted through clenched teeth.
Wesker responded with a roar and zipped towards them using his superhuman speed. "Move." Chris warned, knocking the angel out of the way just in time to avoid a punch from Wesker. He attempted to retaliate with his stun baton but he only managed to strike air. A kick to the leg sent Chris sprawling onto the ground speckling the cement with his blood. He cried out as Wesker continued to pound away at his sides with powerful kicks. The angel tried to bat him away with the same results that Chris had, Wesker merely sidestepping the blow using his speed. Undeterred the angel waved its weapon around trying to nail him but the former STARS member effortlessly sidestepped each blow. Chris wasn't sure if it was the blood loss but he felt as if the temperature had dropped considerably. With a sliding kick Wesker sent the angel sprawling onto its ass and with a giant leap he landed back over near the lamp post where he had started his attack.
He laughed as Chris continued to spasm from the pain as he tried to pull himself up while the angel leaned on its weapon in order to support itself needling him with a death gaze. Wesker strolled up to the discarded machete, stained red with his blood. "Well this has been fun, but I've got things to do and viruses to spread." He picked up the blade and gave it a few test swings "Say hi to Team Bravo for me in hell." He dashed forward with his inhuman speed intending to finish Chris first, as he approached he saw the angel smirk triumphantly. His foot suddenly slid inexplicably causing to lose his balance; he fought to stop from landing ass first on the ground which the angel had been counting on. Activating her Angel Awakening, Malice shot forward nailing the blond in the stomach carving out a chunk of flesh on his side while throwing him onto the ground.
Chris watched in amazement as the angel began to glow and a golden light rim above the crown of her head grew until it became a halo of light. He managed to tear his eyes of the show of divinity in front of him and look at Wesker. The man was getting up, that damn virus regeneration reducing a crippling blow into nasty injury. At first Chris chalked up the lack of blood to the healing but as Wesker arose the light revealed glittering frost encasing the whole wound. "Dammit it all to hell" Wesker swore as he examined the wound. "As you wish" Malice quipped lunging at him. The man jumped back to evade but slumped to the ground covering his wound. It wasn't often Chris saw Wesker in pain but it was a rare treat when the smug bastard showed any emotion other than smug, smugger, and smuggest.
"Damn." Wesker reiterated before grabbing something in his pocket. Malice shot forward in an attempt to stop him but she was too late, he tossed something onto the ground which exploded into a blinding white light. When it abated the man was gone leaving not a trace of which direction he had escaped in. Malice briefly considered pursuing him but an experimental flap of her wings told her that an extended amount of flight was not advisable, Angel Awakening notwithstanding. Instead she turned her gaze onto the Sprite who had been the target of the demon's rage. The pair studied each other for spell under those dusky, yellow lights. "Thanks" Chris spoke up struggling to get to his feet his shoulder throbbing like crazy "Really saved my ass back there." "What is this place?" Malice asked not really in the mood to play nice. She was sore and lost and confused and once Angel Awakening wore off she would experience bone crushing fatigue for a day at least. "What?" the man answered her, she really, really hoped he wasn't as lost as she was. "This place, this town, these buildings." She gestured to the area around them "Where is this?"
"I'm not sure what city we're in but I think we're in America." The man replied gazing about "Maybe somewhere in Europe." "I don't know what that is." Malice snapped "Are we in Asgard or Utgard?" 'Asgard, Utgard?' Crhis thought, furrowing his brow 'Aren't those Viking terms or something?' Chirs tried again "You're on Earth, third planet in the solar system." Malice shrugged "I know not where that is Sprite. Do you know of Riviera?" "I think that's region in the south of France?" he said uncertainly 'If only Jill were here, she's better at this than I am.' The angel just gave and angry sigh "This is useless. When I find that idiot who sent me here I will…" "What do you mean someone sent you here?" Chris asked growing more and more acutely aware of how much blood was dripping down his arm.
The angel studied him for a moment "I did not come here of my own will Sprite, someone sent me here while I was unconscious-. " "Me too!" Chris interjected stepping forward his heart pounding. He hadn't thought a lot about his sudden transportation to where ever this is thanks to Wesker but apparently he was not the only one who had been mysteriously displaced. Sadly he wouldn't be able to glean anymore; his vision began to fade in and out while his feet began to wobble as if he was standing on a carousel. "Damn" he muttered realizing how much blood he must have lost if he was experiencing these symptoms. The ground rose up to meet him and he struggled to maintain a weak grip on consciousness.
The angel watched the Sprite keel over into a puddle of his own blood. It was a sight she had seen countless times, typically she was the reason they clung onto the last scraps of consciousness before entering a slumber they would never awake from. She could sense her fingers tensing around Skadi as muscle memory dictated this was the moment they raised the Diviner to relieve the poor sap of his soul. Instead of harvesting she knelt down, he was speaking something to her. "Hospital." He whispered before going limp beside her. Thankful that Angel Awakening increased her strength Malice decided to fly him to the hospital which would no doubt aggravate the wounds on her wings. Still this was her only lead so far and she could ill afford to lose it to blood loss.
Picking him up proved to be tricky, enhanced strength aside this was the biggest Sprite Malice had ever seen and she had killed more than her fair share. Undoing a sash on her robe she bound the wound as best she could before gathering him in her arms. Since she was flying a bridal style would have been best but the Sprite was just too heavy for that so she wrapped him in her arms like if she was giving him a hug and pulled him into the air. She fluttered unsteadily as her wings flapped for altitude. Finally she managed to gain some momentum and the pair of them made their way into the city. While the street they had been on previously had been devoid of people subsequent roads provided more and more traffic. Picking a random passerby Malice descended to street level.
The Sprite's face went from bored, the typical expression from anyone going about their business without much interest, to amazement as she fluttered in front of him about three feet off the ground. "Holy mother of..."the man muttered "An angel!" "Where's the nearest hospital?" Malice asked impatiently "An angel" the man repeated, dumb struck before snapping out of it. He pivoted about to the other pedestrians on the street "Am I the only one who sees this?" As a matter of fact he wasn't, everyone on the sidewalk was staring at Malice as well. "It's the end of the world!" one of the pedestrians shouted "It's just some kinda publicity stunt," another one brushed it off "Damnit, I knew I should have gone to Mass more, maybe there's still time." A woman nearby muttered. "It's an angel!" the man in front of her yelled "A real life angel!"
"Where is the hospital?!" Malice roared wishing that the Sprite wasn't filling up her arms so she could brandish Skadi at the idiots. "Left on 34th then go four block, turn right and go five more blocks, the hospital will be to your left." An elderly lady who seemed to have it all together yelled at Malice. "I don't know what that is!" Malice shot back "What does the building look like?" The Sprites who weren't ogling her or screaming something stupid looked at each other. "Well it looks like all the other buildings but different." One of them said blushing at how useless that was "Its…ahh…it's got a pyramid like roof." "No it doesn't your thinking of 's, the closest hospital St Meriata's and it has a dome roof." "You're all so useless; St. Meriata's got a huge entrance in the front and a helipad. Look for that!" "It's an angel!"
"Will one of you help me or are you all that incompetent?" Malice shouted furiously "Hey, lady." Someone shouted to the side of her. From one of the strange metal contraptions the Sprites rode in a bald hard boiled man waved at her. "Calm yo tits and follow me, I'll get ya there in record time." "Finally" Malice grumbled pushing herself forward. The contraption moved pretty fast even thought there were plenty like it clotting up the road. It twisted and turned about the road with an incredible amount of deft without having to slow down a smidge eliciting cries of outrage from the other contraptions and their Sprite riders. Malice tailed him relentlessly keeping the pace despite being slowed by her passenger. Within fifteen minutes they were at the entrance of the hospital. Realizing she would not be able to fly into the entrance Malice touched down and half carried and half dragged the injured Sprite inside.
"We need treatment!" she yelled as she entered catching the attention of everyone there. The exact same silence happened like it did when she appeared before the pedestrians which just served to piss her off. "This man is bleeding to death! Is there someone in this thrice damned hell who can help him?" she screamed. "Yo people, that man needs a doctor. Can we get a gurney to intensive care, please?" the Sprite who had led her there had followed her inside. His words had an effect; some Sprites wheeled a metal table into the room and took the man from Malice. Before they could leave with him Malice grabbed one by the shirt collar. "I need this man alive, Sprite. You shall make every attempt to treat his wounds or I shall judge you so mercilessly the gods will roll in their graves with sympathy for your pain. Understood?" The poor man squirmed in her grip "Yes, yes ma'am…er…your holiness, eminence…sir?" he replied weakly. She let him go and the pair scampered off with the Sprite deeper into the heart of the hospital. Before she left Malice turned to the Sprite who had led her hear "Thanks for your assistance." She said as she passed him. "Is all good." He replied "Just have remember this when the saints come marchin in and all that."
She didn't bother to reply because she didn't have the foggiest about what he talking about. Securing Skadi in her arms she took off once she was outside disappearing into the inky black night leaving a group of Sprites staring after her. Her wings were really beginning to ache now and the Angel Awakening was beginning to wear off. The light that had formed the halo was beginning to dim rapidly and her body stopped glowing. She pitched forward as a wave of fatigue washed over her like a relentless tide, she couldn't stay airborne for much longer. Spotting a nearby roof that was completely deserted and flat she landed on it, wobbled slightly, and then face planted on it. There was no time for any kind of thought as she blacked out into sweet slumber her wings reflexively covering her body like a shield.