If human!Deborah had seen Helena fight Ada, she would probably go 'Stop it Helena, this isn't you!' Of course, Helena would just snarl and smack her out of the way. A simple combo of revenge and feral instinct overpowers everything else.
The train was approaching fast. They could hear the rumbling come closer.
Leon and Helena were grasping onto the sides of the rail, waiting like ambush predators. The train was due to arrive any moment now, and the plan was that in the split-second it passed by, they would need to immediately vault themselves onto it. It required insanely precise timing, and about a million things could go wrong, but they had to do it.
Leon trusted Helena. He believed her claim that yes, for some reason he could not comprehend, Simmons was on top of the train, alone, which was how his scent was carried on the wind and detected by Helena. He didn't bother to question how she knew his scent; he knew the answer.
For now, everything was silent save for the rumbling of the coming train. The atmosphere was so thick with tension, almost anything to break it would be welcomed. Leon was clicking his mandibles in anticipation, his second heart beating faster and causing the area around it to glow yellow, whilst Helena was salivating profusely, the acidic liquid flowing down the concrete as the large claw on her talons tapped the wall repeatedly.
Then, it came. The rumblings were coming much closer. Leon looked to Helena with his yellow eyes, nodded. Helena returned the nod. They were ready.
Nearly a second later, the train sped by.
In that moment, Leon jumped, vaulting himself over the wall and landing on the train with a loud smash. Helena similarly flipped through the air, landing more gracefully on the speeding vehicle, kneeling down with her hand on the train.
A moment too late, and they would have missed their opportunity.
They looked to each other, nodding before turning around to look at the opposite end of the train.
Sure enough, there was a figure there, apparently kneeling down in despair. Even from here, they could see his flapping white trench coat, the coat they had started to associate with him and him only. Helena growled as Leon moved forward first. She followed after that.
They were about halfway to him when he suddenly screamed, standing up before bursting into flames. The two mutated agents paused, staring as all his clothes save for his pants were burned off, before he knelt down again, panting like he had nearly drowned. Yet for some reason, there was no slime coming out his body; they had fully expected him to become a Chrysalid as they had. Instead, he still looked relatively normal for some reason.
Still, the fact he had combusted in itself was proof he was infected with the C-Virus. Which meant that, chrysalis or not, he must be considered a threat.
A moment paused before Helena looked at Leon, who nodded again. They moved closer.
Simmons seemed to notice them quickly, as he slowly turned his head around before standing up to his full height to meet the two, or rather, gaze up at them. It was laughable, really-both Leon and Helena were now taller and much stronger than Simmons ever was, and for all his political power he was more or less a pathetically weak human compared to these two mutated, highly lethal B.O.W.s.
And yet for some reason, he seemed only mildly surprised to see them, as if he had other, much larger problems to deal with and these two were mere annoyances.
"Agent...Kennedy, and Agent...Harper, I presume?" he said, his voice seemingly raspier than normal.
"Simmons..." Helena quietly hissed as Leon growled. As they got closer, they could now see that he looked horrific; several cracks were present all over his otherwise normal body, including across his face, and blood was seeping out of them.
"Heh...I take it that wretched woman has also infected you two with the virus earlier, somehow." he then chuckled, before adding "I wonder if it was before or after you met Agent Birkin and the Muller boy." Leon growled at the mention of Sherry, but otherwise did not act. Somehow, Sherry had made it to Simmons first. He hoped she was okay. That Jake kid, if he really was as strong as he claimed to be, better protect her, or else.
"Not difficult to see why, but...how dare she do this to me?!" Simmons angrily yelled.
"...w-woman?" Leon asked.
"That traitor, Ada Wong! Don't you know that she's responsible for all this madness?! Who knows what else she's got in store? She's already done this to all of us, yet still you continue to chase me?!"
Leon growled like a feral beast as Simmons continued ranting, pointing out how Ada should have been their target. Personally, he did not believe Ada could be responsible for the current situation. He could not understand why she would do such a thing. Simmons was probably just looking for a scapegoat.
Helena growled as well, though for a different reason. For once- for once- she may actually believe Simmons. Simmons seemed to notice their reaction, and he smirked.
'What?! Is this all about the President? Is that it?! That's the only reason you're after me?! Do you know what would have happened had he disclosed the truth behind Raccoon City?! The United States would have lost all its authority, and the global political order would have collapsed! Believe it or not, I saved the world! I did what I had to do! President Benford was my friend for 30 years, do you think making the decision to assassinate him was an easy one?!"
Leon responded by roaring at him, not speaking at all. The mere notion of Simmons implying he truly was a friend of the President was enough to send him into a rage. Friends did not betray each other, no matter what.
"What are you trying to say, Agent Kennedy?" he asked, apparent amused. "That it was wrong to do that?! What else was I supposed to do, then? Everything I did, no matter how cruel, how horrific, I did for my country, and to maintain global peace, keep it from falling into chaos! His death, and the death of 77,000 civilians, it was all a necessary evil!"
This time, it was Helena's turn to screech at Simmons, her eyes burning with hatred at his lies as spittle flew out her mouth.
Simmons appeared to grin at her, before saying "Oh, and Agent Harper? You and your sister...are very much alike, am I right? I never got to see what she mutated into, but I do believe it does share some similarities to your mutations. Am I right?"
She screeched, before shrieking, "Goddamn you, Simmons!"
He merely laughed in an evil, yet defeated fashion.
"But then, you come for me anyway. It's ok. There's nothing for me to live for now anyway, my Family has already abandoned me. After all I did...this was how they repaid me." He made a grand gesture with his arms. "Abandoned me to die...come on, then. Come and finish it!"
And with that, he transformed. The two agents watched in shock and horror as the cracks across his body split open- wide. Muscles, bones and organs rapidly formed as he mutated, within seconds changing from a man into a four-legged, canine-like beast, black tendrils writhing across its body as it snapped its fangs at them, growling and roaring. He then leapt over them, coming to a stop behind the two before he charged.
"Get down!" Leon roared, the two of them ducking as Simmons sailed through the air again, his jaws wide open. Leon spun around just as Simmons also turned to face them. He was promptly met with a powerful fist punching down his head, bits of bone cracking and flaking off. Leon then continued with another punch, and another, before he extended his right blade and drove it forward, aiming for the middle of the head.
However, Simmons had dodged back, and roared before sending a powerful blow to Leon's side. Leon yelped as he pushed off the train, but before hitting the ground, was able to hang onto the side of the car. He roared repeatedly, calling for help.
Reasoning that he would not be able to make it back up without someone else's assistance, Simmons looked back, intending to confront and finish off Harper. She was gone, however, causing him to pause a while as he felt the train around him.
He then roared in pain as Helena jumped on him from behind, slashing at his armor the best she could as her insectoid limbs emerged, before stabbing down, causing major damage as large chunks of bone were punched through. It was getting difficult to hang on, though, and as Simmons thrashed about a bone spike impaled the yellow pustules on the joint of her left appendage.
Helena immediately felt the sharp pain go through her, followed by the rest of her body numbing as though she was stunned from her attack. Dizzy, Simmons was able to quickly throw her off, the limb severed in the process. She cried out at the massive jolt of pain as she crashed on the roof. Simmons, still recovering from her attack, slowly approached her.
Dazed and vulnerable, Helena nevertheless was able to gain enough strength to crawl over to the side of the passenger car. She then reached down and grasped Leon's arm, before heaving as she pulled him up, just as Simmons raised one arm to attack.
Reacting just in time, Leon roared as he stabbed at Simmons' unprotected underside, pushing the blade in deep before pulling it out, blood and bits of organ spewing out with it.
Simmons paused for a moment before roaring in pain, steam coming out as a sickly bone-crunching sound was heard. His body was disassembling, all the parts going back inside as a human body was reformed from the monster, the monstrous roar changing into the yell of a man. He then fell to his knees, panting as he rubbed his wounded abdomen.
Leon tried to help Helena up, but she pushed his hand away as she recovered and got up herself. They looked at him for a moment before Helena decided to jump down into the car through a hole in the roof, just past the now-human Simmons. Leon followed her, realizing it would be better if they did not fight on the highly dangerous environment called the roof of a speeding train.
"Damn you! Damn you both! I'll kill you with my BARE HANDS!" Simmons roared as Leon jumped in, hearing the now-distinct and nauseous sound of his body disassembling and reassembling just as the monstrous arm reached down, clawing around in thin air before going up.
The two of them stood close together, hearing Simmons stomp around above before another arm plunged downwards, ripping a hole in the roof as he felt around for them.
Helena looked from the arm to Leon, before pointing at it- her idea was to attack and sever his arm while it was down here. Leon shook his head, it was too risky a move. If anything went wrong, they would be grabbed and pulled upwards to a quick death.
The arm went up again as they heard Simmons roar in frustration. A few seconds later, half of his mutated form appeared on the side windows, smashing through the windows with his head before roaring at them.
Leon punched his upside-down head several times before Simmons backhanded him, sending him to the floor. With one arm, he then grabbed him by the legs and started slamming him around the interiors of the train like a rag-doll, while his other arm grabbed tried to grab at Helena, but found nothing instead. Unbeknownst to him, Helena had taken advantage of the distraction Leon provided and climbed onto the roof, where she did something that was probably positively humiliating to Simmons.
Extending all her insectoid limbs, including the severed one that had now regenerated, she stabbed him firmly in the area between his legs. Before ripping them out, then stabbing it again, and again, and again.
Understandably, down in the car, Simmons cried and wailed in pain as he felt the attacks. Flailing around, the bruised, battered Leon was accidentally brought just right next to him. His bone blade already extended, he then stabbed him straight in the middle of the head.
Pulling it out, Leon then proceeded to swing his blade over neck, decapitating Simmons, the stump spewing large amounts of blood as he went limp, the head rolling around on the floor. Above him, Helena watched as he went still, and wondered if Leon had successfully killed him.
For several long seconds, they panted in exhaustion as the fight appeared to be over.
Then, Simmons suddenly twitched, then he started convulsing as his headless body retracted itself from the carriage. Helena took a few cautious steps back as he quickly transformed back into his human form, battered and bleeding. He then collapsed, but a few moments later came back up. As he was seemingly vulnerable, Helena decided to finish him off now.
He then unexpectedly spun around and punched her smack in the jaw, causing her to see stars as she stumbled back a few steps before spinning around and falling to the ground. He was...very strong, even as a human.
"Agent Harper..." he said as he came closer. She then growled before swinging around, her powerful tail smacking him across his face, twisting it to the side as blood flew out his mouth. He slowly turned back at her before wiping his mouth and launching his fist again.
This time, she intercepted it, before rising to her full height and looking down at him- she was now nearly a head taller than he was, being nearly 7 feet tall. She remembered how she was cowering at his feet a mere four days ago.
She screeched and kicked him in the guts with her talons, causing a mere grunt of pain, before she lunged for his neck with her jaws. He then moved a little to the side, causing her to bite down on his shoulder instead. Still gripping on, she sank her teeth in deeper before ripping out a chunk of flesh, before spitting it away. Turning back, she was then met with a headbutt to her neck that caused her to stumbled back.
Simmons then began to punch her repeatedly at a very fast pace, leaving no room for counterattack. She was able to slash him across the face, but he retaliated with a powerful uppercut that sent her flying.
Landing a few feet away, she spat up some blood as she tried to stay awake. Those blows were very powerful.
Simmons closed in to finish her off, but paused when he heard the roar behind him. Turning around, he saw Leon, who had gotten up from below and was now challenging Simmons to a fight.
They both charged at the same time, but Leon was able to hit him first, with a powerful downwards blow, followed by another punch. Simmons then grabbed his arm, causing Leon to roar at him before kicking him hard. He then let out a grunt of pain as his grip on Leon's arm loosened, allowing Leon to grab him with both arms, before lifting him up into the air. He roared in triumph before slamming him down on the ground, before slamming his face against the wall that they were speeding by.
Simmons roared as his cheek was effectively flayed off bit by bit thanks to the friction, before Leon there's him back and stomped on his torso, pinning him down.
Throwing him off the train might have easy, but it would not guarantee his death. That was what they wanted.
With the man at his mercy, Leon didn't waste time. Grabbing his right arm and putting his foot on his torso, he pulled. A sickening snap was heard as the arm came loose, followed by Simmons' bloodcurdling scream as Leon ripped the arm off. Blood gushed out the stump as Leon used the arm itself as a weapon; slamming down on Simmons and punting him with it. The force was so powerful that over the next few hits, the arm was reduced to bloodied paste as the flesh was shredded, bone exposed with splattering sounds. The severed limb now useless, Leon threw it away.
Using his remaining left arm, Simmons suddenly reached out and grabbed the plate of armor on the left side of Leon's chest, before twisting and ripping it off.
Leon audibly gasped in pain as he was stunned for a moment, which allowed Simmons to get up and use his one arm to punch him in the exposed heart, with the glowing pustules surrounding it. This time, he roared in pain as he was knocked back, as that blow to his heart really hurt. Clenching his teeth, Simmons roared and punched him again, and again, in the glowing weak point, the force of the blows causing blood to spew out the heart.
"When is it that you are going to stop, Agent Kennedy?! What do you think will happen even if you manage to kill me?! Will you go back to the States?! Your own government would go on to capture you, study you, dissect you. And that's if you don't meet the B.S.A.A first, or get found by my Family. Face it, Kennedy. There is no future for you beyond this point! I am doing you a mercy by killing you! Me, on the other hand...I have many more friends besides my Family, anyways. Wealthy, powerful friends. Do you not know what would happen if they got hold of the word that I died?!" he taunted.
He then raised his fist to finish off Leon, but he was interrupted.
He screamed as a long blade suddenly protruded out his stomach, before pulling out, leaving a clear hole in him. Helena then screeched as she wrapped her arms around the struggling, screaming man from behind his shoulders, whilst she dug into his back with her talons, slashing them down and leaving gashes deep enough to expose the spine.
Seeing his chance, Leon got back into action, extending both of his arm blades before coming up before Simmons. His eyes were wide with fear.
"No! Stop it! What will you accomplish by killing me, Agents?! What will you accomplish?!"
His cries of mercy were ignored. Leon impaled him with both his blades, being careful not to touch Helena, before moving his arms in the opposite directions. And with that, Simmons was literally ripped apart, his already-weakened spine crumbling as the upper torso fell off from his legs, which spewed a shower of blood like a fountain. He continued screaming in pain as he felt around his own hanging entrails.
His eyes then turned to that of murderous rage as both his halves suddenly started to mutate.
"GRAHHHH!" he roared as he disassembled, the lower half transforming into the canine beast as his upper half became a writhing mass of bone, armor and muscle, his face sticking out at the top. His intestines seemed to morph into tentacles that conjoined themselves to the four-legged body of what was his lower torso.
A second train was speeding by in the opposite direction, and with a quick, affirmative nod to Helena, Leon jumped off just as it sped past, Helena following after him. The train seemed to have been badly damaged, as the lights were off and there was a gaping hole in the side. There was a large hole in the roof too.
"DO NOT RUN FROM ME! I WILL KILL YOU!" Simmons yelled in his distorted voice as he jumped off the train, landing on the tracks. There was yet another train coming in front of him, and he roared before charging into it head-on, ramming straight into the train. It exploded, flipping on its side as Simmons caught up with the second train, the one with Leon and Helena in it. Turning to face them, several small, sharp bone pellets shot out from somewhere on his upper parts, stabbing into the walls as the two agents took cover.
"HOW ABOUT I REUNITE YOU WITH YOUR SISTER, AGENT HARPER?! FROM WHAT MY RESEARCHERS TOLD ME, YOU MUST REALlY SHARE SOME SIMILARITIES WITH HER MUTATION! IS IT TRUE YOUR SISTER ALSO LOOKED LIKE THAT?! AND AGENT KENNEDY! HOW DOES IT FEEL LIKE BEING ONE OF THE THINGS YOU SWORE TO ERADICATE?!" he roared.
She clenched her teeth and resisted the urge to do something stupid. They had no conceivable means of attack from this range, so they had to wait out until he did something stupid instead.
That moment came right after, as Simmons leapt over to the carriage. He crawled in through the massive hole in the roof and started shooting bone pellets at them from this range.
They acted together. Leon jumped on Simmons, who roared and tried to shake him off as Leon put his hand on what appeared to be the place the bone pellets were coming from. He gritted his teeth in pain as his hand was rapidly shredded, and he decided to place his back on it instead. Meanwhile, thanks to the absence of the ranged attacks, Helena was able to reveal her additional limbs without fear of her weak points being attacked. She then proceeded to stab down on Simmons' organic superstructure several times, causing it to crunch as huge chunks of bone and muscle were torn off.
Simmons roared again before Leon started to slide off, but as he went he stuck a bone blade in him. It dragged along as he went down, bits and pieces of Simmons flaying off as he slid to the ground. Simmons then roared and went back up on what was left of the roof, before jumping off somewhere in front of them.
Screeching in rage, Helena crawled up herself. Leon stared for a moment, before he jumped up onto the roof too.
Up there, they could now see that Simmons was far, far away- charging the train from the opposite direction. Remembering how he had effortlessly smashed that other train to bits, obviously this was a bad sign.
Leon had a plan, though. A crazy plan, but one that might work.
"C-Come on up," he suddenly said as he motioned with his arms. Helena made a questioning growl.
"Just do it!" he quietly hissed.
She pause a moment before obliging, leaping onto Leon's outstretched palms before he then flung her at the closing-in Simmons, who jumped at them.
Screeching as she outstretched her arms, she held onto Simmons, his eyes glaring at her before she bit into his cheek. He howled in pain before shaking her off, sending her flying back to the roof the train, a chunk of his cheek still in her mouth. However, the damage was done. Simmons had missed his opportunity, and now he rapidly changed back to his human form mid-air as he, too, landed on the roof.
He was battered, his whole body scarred and bleeding. He glared at them before vomiting blood again in copious amounts. As they returned the glares, Leon noted that his right arm was still curiously missing.
"You...have no idea...what would happen if I die!" he shrieked before changing back into his centaur-like form. He was still arrogant enough to believe he would have an impact on the world, even if the Family had already abandoned him long ago.
"The world...would be...a better place," Leon said simply. Simmons roared and ripped off a piece of the train before hurling it at them.
Leon ducked, but Helena stood firm. She had a score to settle to with this guy, a personal score, and thus as the metal narrowly missed her, she opened her mouth, concentrating the force in her throat before unleashing a jet of acid at him.
The liquid splattered across his face, and he started screaming as he stumbled back, shaking around his head in a futile attempt to get the burning saliva off. Suddenly, he let out a cry of surprise as one of his legs slipped. Another one fell, and in the next second his entire figure fell under the train. There was a loud, jarring screeching sound as Leon and Helena struggled to maintain their balance, but the train itself was derailing, flying off its tracks.
Leon looked to Helena and quickly motioned his head to the river, and she nodded, understanding.
They jumped off into the water just as the train fell off as well before exploding.
And somewhere, out in the sea, a missile had been fired from a carrier ship. Moments later, it exploded right in the center of the Tatchi district, a massive blue cloud of virus enveloping the city.
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Hunnigan: I see you've found a Black Bass. The black bass, also known as Micropterus, is a genus of sunfish that are distributed throughout a large area east of the Rocky Mountains, to the Hudson Bay basin in Canada to northeastern Mexico. They are well known as strong fighters, and are highly popular game fish.
Leon: Why would there be a New World fish way out here in Europe?
Hunnigan: My guess is that the fish you've found there was brought here as a game fish. Bass fishing is a very popular sport in all parts of the world, and their flesh is firm and edible, so I wouldn't be surprised if the locals have somehow managed to procure some of them, possibly from an outside agent. But anyway, onto the next question- what are you doing with it?
Leon: Excuse me?
Hunnigan: I said, what are you doing carrying a fish around with you? Why did you even catch it?
Leon: I dunno, I was just looking at it swimming around in this dark underground pool, when I had this...urge to just shoot it.
Hunnigan: An...urge?
Leon: Yeah...something like that. No...more than just an urge. It was my destiny to meet with that fish; this was meant to be!
Hunnigan: Uh...I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying...
Leon: That fish- it was just swimming around in this pool in a dark, underground place. There was no way it could have ended up there logically! That fish...it had been there all along, waiting for me...Can't you see, Hunnigan?! That feeling when you fulfill your destiny, and feel that great...feeling as you pick it up from the water, knowing you and it were destined to meet. I really can't describe it any other way. I feel...satisfied.
Hunnigan: ...
Leon: You don't believe me, don't you?
Hunnigan: No, I don't even know what you were talking about.
Leon: You...should come see the fish, feel its cool scales all over your skin...then you'll know what I'm talking about.
Hunnigan: Wha-Hell no! Why am I always getting stuck with the weird ones?!
Leon: Heh...
Thus concludes 1/3 of the story, sorta. Rate and review, please. I actually enjoyed writing the fight scenes in this chapter. And don't worry, I have not forgotten and abandoned Sara the Snake(or Iluzija. Whichever you prefer). Meaningful critique is fully appreciated.
