Chapter 7: Level 2, Vanquished
As I followed Raiden towards the door, I took a quick inventory of the items I had. I had the rifle in my hands, two clips of bullets in the left pocket of the vest I was wearing, a hand grenade in the upper right pocket of the vest, a handgun holstered on my right side, and a flashlight. I'm guessing that the vest I had was bulletproof, but I had no way of knowing for sure unless I get shot that – and I'll be quite honest, I'd rather avoid being shot at.
When we reached the doorway, Raiden moved in first and I followed a half-beat later. Inside the room that the doorway led to, not surprisingly, were tons of bodies strewn around, covered in blood. Normally I'd be scared out of my wits and overpowered by the smell of fresh blood, but for some reason I was totally calm. It surprised me a little as well, but unfortunately, there were more surprises that just that. It seemed that we found the actual transformers of the structure; there were two levels of course, the control panels and the transformers themselves. What was concerning was the sounds coming from the lower floor. It sounded like someone was being eaten by a vicious animal.
Raiden signalled to me to get down as we approached the stairway leading to the lower floor. I ducked down quickly, and he peeked out from the corner first. A look of shock found its way to Raiden's face. I stretched my neck a little to look over his shoulder, and instantly understood the reason for the shocked look. For there was a man wearing a trench coat pinning another man against a wall, and biting into his neck. Now I've heard of this in horror films before, so I'm assuming that this guy was either a zombie or a vampire…Judging by the scenes prior, I'd assume the latter. As that thought passed through my head, the man turned around with bloodstained teeth, and upon seeing myself and Raiden, growled menacingly.
"Oh shit…" I instinctively raised my gun up shakily and aimed it at the vampire or whatever it was.
Raiden brought up his gun as well, but he hadn't quite recovered from the sight. "What the hell are you?"
The vampire guy dropped the man he was just biting and turned his attention on us. His chest was bare for us to see, and I noticed that he had several cuts on it…Almost like tallies…Uh-oh…
Flicking out a knife from inside his coat, the vampire guy etched another tally on his chest. "So, today I have got eight."
I wasn't going to wait around for that to happen. I pulled the trigger on my gun as hard as I could and held it down.
"Ahhhh!"
The gun's muzzle flashed rapidly, and kicked violently in all directions. By the time I let go of the trigger, the vampire guy was no longer there. Though I'd at least hit him once, judging by the amount of bullet holes in the body of the man that the vampire guy had left behind.
Much to my surprise however, the vampire guy sudden appeared above me with a savage and bloodthirsty grin. In both his hands were knives, and they were pointed right at my heart. I couldn't get out of the way in time. This wasn't fair! Humans don't stand a chance against the super natural!
Before the knives could stab into my body, Raiden did some quick thinking and roundhouse kicked the vampire guy in the chest, sending him back a few feet. Raiden then fired off a few shots at him, but the vampire guy threw some of the knives he was holding, which somehow managed to hit the bullets and stop them dead in their tracks.
"Raiden…" I tapped him on the shoulder nervously, for it seems that fear had finally found me again. It's like that time I was trapped in another dimension with Ryoko Asakura. "We don't stand a chance. We need to get the hell out of here!"
"Go, I'll cover you." Raiden trained his gun on the vampire guy, but his face was white like a ghost's. He knew he didn't stand a chance either.
"Neither of you will be leaving." The vampire guy suddenly jumped up against the ceiling and then dived at me, pinning me down.
"Get off!" I twisted and turned as hard as I could, but the vampire guy just wouldn't budge! He was either made of steel or just ridiculously strong. A knife shot up into the air as quick as a flash, and it was aimed right at my right eye. The knife then plunged down, and was mere centimeters away from me now.
Damn it, damn it, damn it! This can't be happening. Am I really going to die like this?
…It would seem that fate was kind to me this time.
"Get down!" A voice barked from the upper floor.
Bullets then flew down towards my direction. I squeezed my eyes shut for fear that one would hit me, but I wasn't even scratched. I opened my eyes and upon seeing that the vampire guy was no longer there, looked towards the stairway. Standing there was another Navy SEAL. Considering that he had no blood on him whatsoever, he probably just got here. I don't think there were any survivors from before.
The SEAL looked left and right, trying to find the vampire guy. He inched slowly down the staircase, and stood a few feet away from us. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my gun as well. Raiden was also looking around.
"Hmm…Lucky devils."
Simultaneously, the three of us turned and aimed our guns towards the source of the voice. The vampire guy was standing on the upper floor, looking down on us and laughing evilly.
"It seems that there are other things I must attend to. I'll deal with you later."
With that, he turned away and disappeared.
"Hey!" Raiden fired a shot after him, but it hit nothing but the metal ceiling. The sound of an automated door opening and closing followed.
"He must've taken the other exit. Damn it!" The other Navy SEAL sat down in frustration.
Hold on. That voice…It sounds familiar. Like I'd heard it just a day ago or something…
"Hey, who are you?"
The Navy SEAL gave me a look, and took off his balaclava mask. My jaw nearly dropped at whose face was underneath that mask.
"Kenji…?!"
"Huh?" Kenji frowned, eyeing me suspiciously. "You know my name? Who are YOU? How do you know me, and- "
"Hey, cut it out you two." Raiden interjected, obviously annoyed by our lack of professionalism. "You're both from SEAL Team 10, right? Of course you'd know each other."
"SEAL Team 10?" Kenji bolted up, looking insulted. "I'm not part of any team! I came here on my own!"
Kenji looked different too. He had a lot more facial hair than I remembered; a moustache and a bit of a beard. He looked older too. Just slightly, so he looked like he was in his early twenties now. Actually, now that I think about it I haven't gotten a chance to look in a mirror yet. I don't know if my appearance has changed at all.
Raiden was rather confused by Kenji's remark, so Kenji decided to follow up on his comment. "I stole a uniform from a guy I found knocked out earlier. There's an even bigger conspiracy at hand here…The feminists have made their move, and I, being the only one who knows the threat the pose, infiltrated the Big Shell to stop them."
After looking at Kenji as if he was an escapee from an asylum, Raiden placed two fingers on his right ear again for a moment, before asking "What the hell are you talking about?"
Kenji's expression hardened, looking rather stern. "I knew you'd be ignorant of the danger. So I'll spell it out for you. Kidnapping the president and demanding a ransom isn't the end of it. They'll blow this place no matter what you do. And who has to do the clean up once that happens? The men! Men from all walks of life will be affected by the destruction of the Big Shell, and they'll all try to do something about it. While they're busy dealing with the environment, the feminists will start to seize power from the unsuspecting masses of men…Very soon, with the men out fixing everything, the feminists will establish a dictatorship in the United States, and all men will be enslaved to them! And that'll be just the start! Once they have control of the world's most powerful nation, they'll take over the world, trampling on the rights and freedoms of men! And so, now that you know the danger that they pose, you two MUST help me stop them!"
…Kenji…No matter what you say or what you believe, real world or not, people will think that you are batshit insane. I don't think anyone in the world even pays attention to your crackpot theories, let alone take them seriously.
Raiden was evidently unimpressed as well. "So let me get this straight. You think that…"Feminists" are going to take over the United States, so you pretend to be a Navy SEAL, sneak into a facility taken over by terrorists? If that isn't insane, I don't know what is. You're acting on information that can't even be confirmed and you threw yourself in the middle of a battlefield?"
Kenji sighed, disappointed with Raiden's response. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. That's too bad; I guess I'll just have to stop these guys on my own. But mark my words: They'll blow this place up no matter what you do."
"Who said you could leave?" Raiden grabbed Kenji by the shoulder and forced him onto his feet, hardly containing his frustration with Kenji. "I don't know what the hell you're doing here, but civilians and hostages must be evacuated and that includes you. You're staying with us, and you will help ME stop the terrorists if your goal is really that important to you."
"Actually, you're helping me. But there's no difference I guess." Kenji sneered in Raiden's generally direction.
…Off to a great start guys…Teamwork...Yay…
"Any idea who that vampire guy was?" I wanted to change the subject before these two try to strangle each other.
"Heh." Kenji pushed Raiden away with a glare, before pointing towards a throwing knife lying on the ground. "His name is Vamp. He's a Romanian who's quite adept with throwing knives, as you've seen. He isn't an ordinary human though. I hear that he's an immortal with superhuman powers."
"It seems you know your stuff, kiddo." A gruff voice replied.
The three of us turned our guns towards the stairway, where another Navy SEAL was now standing. Is this going to keep happening? Random Navy SEALs appearing from out of nowhere?
"I'm not an enemy. Calm down. My name is S... My name is Pliskin. Iroquois Pliskin. I'm a Lieutenant Junior Grade."
He removed his balaclava, revealing the face of a middle aged man. I could tell just by looking in his eye that he was probably a veteran. There's something different in the face of a person who's been on the battlefield for a while.
Raiden lowered his gun, albeit quite slowly. "How did you get into the Big Shell?"
Pliskin scoffed. "Fast rope descent from a navy chopper." He descended the stairs and leaned against the adjacent wall. As he did, a bug crawled out from his clothing, which caught my attention for a second or two.
Raiden, looking more bewildered than ever, placed two fingers against his right ear again. I don't know what he was doing; maybe check his pulse or something? His hand wasn't there for more than a second.
"Alright…Well, if we're all done here, we need to secure the President." Raiden headed up the stairway.
"The President?" Kenji exclaimed in protest. "We need to stop those terrorists first! It doesn't matter if the President survives if this place blows up!"
"Kid…" Pliskin grabbed Kenji and slammed him against the wall, shaking him. "You need to calm down. We're not going to charge out there just to get slaughtered. We need to analyze this situation carefully."
Even though this might sound bad, I'll agree with Kenji; forget the President, I need to find Haruhi and the rest of the Brigade. If they're here, I don't think they stand much of a chance against a vampire with throwing knives. If Kenji is here, it's likely that we weren't the only ones who were pulled in, so that means I might need to find Hisao's group as well.
I was just about to say something when a massive green hand shot out of the ground, which made everyone jump. With a single pulse of radiant green light, it snatched Kenji out of Pliskin's grasp and pulled him into the ground.
"What the hell?!" Pliskin drew his gun and shot at the hand a few times before it disappeared, but the bullets passed right through it.
Another green hand emerged from the wall to my right. I tried diving to my left out of the way. But as if I were super magnet of some sort, the hand flew towards me and grabbed me by the legs, gripping me tightly.
"GET OFF OF ME!"
I shot at the hand, and when that didn't work, I let the gun fall to my side. I punched the hand furiously, squirming and struggling with all my might, but to no avail. The hand was just too strong. It was like trying to wrestle a bear five times my size. Raiden dashed down the stairway and grabbed my left arm, and Pliskin grabbed the right. They couldn't pull me free though. With a single motion, the hand pulled me towards the wall. Of course, instead of smashing into a wall, I fell right through, and landed face first. I could taste a mouthful of dirt…
Wait…Dirt?
I opened my eyes again, and my vision was a little shaky. But I could see that I was in the middle of...a ruined city…It was just like out of some movie. Destroyed buildings, gray skies, rusted street signs...And a gust of wind that kicks up dust and dirt.
I slowly got up to my feet, and examined my gun, which was somehow still strapped to me. It was no longer the plain looking assault rifle I had a moment ago, but it was now a weird looking rifle with a crazy amount of shiny metal, neon lights, and even a small pop out screen that had a number on it.
"…"
I then looked at the rest of my body, and saw that I no longer had the Navy SEAL uniform I had found myself in, but I was now encased in some kind of futuristic armour. It was similar to the gun, in the sense that it was shiny and metallic, and it had neon lights everywhere. I…Guess I hit 88 miles an hour when that hand pulled me in? Even worse, if I'm in a city now, it's going to be damn near impossible to find the rest of the SOS Brigade.
A loud explosion came from my right, and before I could react, a large shadow loomed over me, and the only thing I could see clearly was a pair of sinister-looking red eyes.
…
