Tokyo, Japan, 2010.
"I'm surprised, David. When I called you out here, I honestly didn't think you were going to meet me due to being too busy taking care of your new mate...you are such an obedient werewolf," Mei remarked while we were walking down a city pier.
"I'm only here to get information, so whatever you want to speak to me about had better be important," I stated firmly.
"That's so typical of you David...not taking shit from anybody. Anyways, try this," Mei said as she suddenly shot a piece of candy into my mouth before I could react, forcing me to swallow it.
"Ugh! What the fuck?!" I choked and tried to to regain my breath as I glared at her.
"Like it?" Mei mocked and I reacted by snarling as I charged at her.
I struck rapidly while Mei dodged and taunted me, then jumped into the water, giggling in glee as I stared at her crossly.
"Whoo, that was fun! You should really lighten up David because such stress is not good for you," Mei lectured humorously, but I was unamused.
"Are you done?" I inquired sharply while Mei was getting out of the water, her clothes soaked to her skin.
"Oh fine...since you want to get down to business, I might as well quit teasing you. The reason why I asked you to meet me here, is so that I could assess who you are as a person," Mei admitted.
"Why?" I asked.
"I'm sorry David, but I can't tell you that...all I can say is that it's about your past and you will discover the truth of what had happened that night 15 years ago and why," Mei told me while my eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"How the hell do you know about that? Just who the fuck are you, Mei Rei?" I interrogated coldly.
"I already told you about that," Mei evaded.
"I don't believe that," I stated.
"That doesn't really matter...just know that you are not alone in this world. I understand you more than anyone ever since we met one month ago...more than any human, more than any vampire. I'm the only one who truly understands you," Mei said softly.
"What the hell are you going on about?" I questioned.
"Very soon...you and Akira will be faced with a dilemma the likes of which you two have never experienced before. I'm on your side and I want to see you and Akira survive if possible," Mei stated just as my phone rang.
"Excuse me," I said and answered my phone, "This is Temple. Who's speaking?"
"David, it's Yuki," Yuki said which took me by surprise.
"Yuki? Why are you calling me all of a sudden?" I inquired in concern and Yuki explained, causing me to add, "What?!"
"She told me not to say anything to you and Akira, but I had already told Akira and I thought you should know as well," Yuki explained.
"Shit...I've heard of the Three Clans...they are not good people. Thanks for informing me about this Yuki," I said and we said our goodbyes, then I hung up and I looked at Mei.
"Is this what you were telling me about?" I asked her.
"Afraid so...you and Akira are gonna go anyway, aren't you?" Mei inquired.
"My mission is to protect the Princess from anything that could harm her, so I need to return to the Bund ASAP," I stated while my hand rested on my hip holster.
"Tell me...why are you so determined to keep the Princess safe?" Mei asked me.
"Because she reminds me of someone I grew up with in the facility...the person's name was Jessica and she was mostly the reason why I didn't end it all," I admitted.
"I knew it...don't forget. No matter how dark things will be, there will always be someone to pull you out of that darkness," Mei told me wisely and I nodded in agreement.
I left the city pier and met up with Akira. The two of us headed back to the Bund and when we got there, we were unexpectedly prevented from entering by the V.G.S. guards.
"What the hell do you mean we can't enter?! We have full authorization to enter the Bund!" I snapped in irritation.
"Sorry Sir, but we have direct orders from the Princess not to let you and Kaburagi-san inside the Bund," the Corporal explained sympathetically.
"Shit...hold on while I make a few calls to find out what the fuck is going on," I grumbled as I took out my cell phone.
Suddenly, I heard a noise and my phone along with the Corporal's head was sliced in half, causing Akira and I to drop to the ground while the second guard aimed his P90 around frantically.
"Get your head down, soldier!" I ordered urgently while I quickly pulled out my USP and combat knife.
A projectile of some kind shot out of nowhere and went clean through the second guard, causing him to disintegrate. I quickly stood up to aim my gun behind me while holding my knife in a reverse grip under the gun. I saw a teenaged girl with short black hair, wearing a white jumpsuit. Her right hand was covered in blood and she stared coldly at me and Akira.
"Identify yourself and get down on the ground!" I called out as Akira stood up but the girl didn't respond.
The girl suddenly charged at us and I felt danger. Akira and I quickly dodged and wove from something that was slashing at us while I deflected the attacks with my knife and shot at the girl, forcing her to dodge.
"Akira! Fall back so that we can get some breathing distance!" I ordered as one of my shots hit the girl.
I suddenly heard something in the distance and looked to my left to see a man without a shirt, wearing an Oni mask, come out of nowhere to attack me with a spear, forcing me to block and deflect the fast strikes as I was being pushed back. I quickly dodged another attack that was thrown at me from behind as I looked to see that it was another man wearing an Oni mask.
"Shit! Where the fuck did he come from?!" I thought as I was currently fending off two well trained and highly skilled attackers with spears and spiked gloves.
Then, two figures wearing armor of some kind joined the fight and it became every man for himself while Akira and I struggled to survive the ambush that was suddenly upon us. The female figure in armor took out two Berettas and opened fire at me while the male fired a Spas-12 at either Akira or the other attackers. Akira and I took advantage of the other attackers fighting each other and we quickly fled the scene, running and winding up in an alley after a while.
"Dammit! These bastards are relentless!" Akira exclaimed in frustration as we looked around and started running again.
We kept running through crowds and I could hear screaming behind me. I looked back to see the girl somehow killing people who got in her path. The girl's arms formed into blades before my eyes and she sliced her way through the crowd as she charged at us, forcing us to keep running. To lose her, we ducked into a bar.
"Excuse me, Sir, we need to use your phone," I stated to the bartender who stared at me blankly and I made a phone gesture with my right hand, causing the man to walk over to the phone and dial in a number.
The man spoke on the phone for a little bit and hung up, looking at all the patrons and nodding which caused everyone to come at us with raised fists and weapons. Akira and I beat the hell out of the patrons and I sent a man crashing through the back door while we ran out and stayed on the move.
"Akira-san, David-san, over here!" I heard a familiar voice call out to us and I saw Yuzuru gesturing us to follow him into an alley, Akira and I ran over and took cover just as the crowd of thugs passed the alleyway.
"Yuzuru? How the hell did you find out that we were in trouble?" Akira inquired as we moved through the alley.
"I got a call from Yuki-chan. She said that you two were in danger and told me to get you out of here," Yuzuru explained.
"While we are grateful that you came to help, you took a serious risk and put yourself in danger," I lectured.
"It's okay because Nanami-chan showed me a safe route out. I know this is dangerous because this area is controlled by Lord Dermaille but neither of you would get out alone. But...Yuki-chan's request isn't the only reason I came here. I came here because I owe you two," Yuzuru admitted.
"Yuzuru? What the hell do you mean by that?" I questioned in confusion.
"Thanks to you two and Hime-sama, Nanami-chan and I are...well, you know...so I wanted to do something in return," Yuzuru elaborated which struck a chord in me.
"Yuzuru...so, you don't regret it, do you?" Akira inquired.
"No, I don't. Not at all!" Yuzuru declared and I tussled his hair.
"You are a lot stronger than I am..." I trailed off with a chuckle, causing Yuzuru to blush at the praise.
"Um...I'll go take a look around. We should be able to get out of here soon," Yuzuru quickly stated as he left the alley.
Akira and I waited for a while until Yuzuru came back. When he did, I noticed that something was wrong and my eyes widened when I realized that his scent was not the same as before.
"Akira, look out!" I yelled in alarm as I pushed him out of the way of a bladed arm that would've carved him in half.
Yuzuru came out of nowhere and hit the monster on the head with a pipe, sending it crashing into garbage bags.
"Thanks, Yuzuru!" Akira stated while the kid trembled.
"I don't know what had happened! One minute I'm going to check the area out and the next thing I knew is that I'm being sucked into some kind of weird shadow! What was that thing?! It looked just like me!" Yuzuru cried out in disbelief.
"I don't know, but we need to extract before it gets back up," I said grimly.
Just as I said that the creature sat up with its face caved in. It snarled as its body rippled and grew older, and developed female curves. As we watched, the Yuzuru before us changed back into the girl who was trying to kill us.
"Oh, dear Kami!" Yuzuru cried out in horror.
"A shape-shifter?" Akira wondered in shock.
"Wait, I read about those! It can change its form at will. That's how it makes that creepy arm weapon," Yuzuru explained.
"Hold on...there are vampires just like that? This is the first time David and I had ever seen one," Akira stated.
"Yuzuru..when Akira and I give the order, run as fast as you can and don't stop," I instructed as I aimed at the monster.
"What?! I won't leave you two here! David-san, no matter how well trained you are, you won't be able to handle that thing on your own even with Akira-san's help!" Yuzuru tried to reason.
"It's nice that you're worried about us, but I've survived missions deadlier than this. That thing is just nothing more than an enemy that's in the way of my mission so run when Akira and I give the order," I instructed just as one of the men in the Oni masks came out of nowhere and the girl went to attack him.
"Run!" Akira exclaimed and all three of us booked it.
We kept running and wound up leaving an alley due to Yuzuru's directions, but an army of vampires was waiting for us with many weapons.
"Uh...Akira, David?" Yuzuru asked hesitantly and I looked behind us to see that we were surrounded.
"Damn...this has turned into a FUBAR situation," I stated just as the army charged us from all sides.
I willed myself to shift into my wolf-man form but a sharp pain prevented me and I collapsed to the ground, hearing Akira and Yuzuru call out to me in complete worry.
"Ugh...fuck! Why can't I change?! Something's wrong," I thought in agony as the maid vampires passed us with swords and slashed the ground in front of the vampires that were going to attack us.
"Beyond this line is the territory controlled by Lord Borgiani! Those who cross this boundary welcome their own deaths!" the head maid declared and the enemy vampires gritted their teeth as they were forced to leave.
"Wh..what just happened?" Yuzuru questioned in confusion.
"This area must be an allied safe zone," I groaned as Akira went to check on me.
"Are you okay, David?" Akira inquired in concern.
"I can't change form...something's wrong," I growled in pain as I clutched my heart, and Akira put my left arm over his shoulders as he lifted me up to my feet.
"Akira Kaburagi-sama and David Temple-san, my master awaits," the head maid told us as she gestured to a convertible that had Alphonse sitting in the driver seat.
"Hello, boys. Shall we go for a ride?" Alphonse offered with a smirk and we all got into the car, then Alphonse began to drive us to an unknown location.
"Are you okay, kid? You don't look so good," Alphonse pointed out in concern, looking at me in the rear view mirror while I was gasping in pain.
"Something's wrong with him. David's unable to change form and he's grabbing his chest like he's about to have a heart attack," Akira explained, since I was in just too much pain to respond.
Alphonse frowned and reached into the glove compartment to grab a small case, took it out and opened the case to get a syringe filled with a liquid.
"Take this, David. I've had this prepared just in case something like this situation were to happen," Alphonse instructed as he passed the syringe back to me.
I took the syringe and jammed it into my neck, pushing the plunger and feeling the substance going through me as a cool sensation spread and the pain went away.
"Feel better?" Alphonse asked when he saw that I didn't look to be in as much pain.
"Just give me a stiff one and I'll be as good as new...what the fuck happened?" I groaned.
"If I had to take a guess, your body was having a bad reaction to something...did you ingest or take anything in the past several hours?" Alphonse questioned.
"Not that I can...wait. The piece of candy Mei tossed in my mouth...it must have been affecting me somehow, though I doubt Mei intended for it to affect me like this," I rasped weakly.
"If what you say is true, then whatever the thing this Mei person gave you caused your body to start rejecting itself from the inside out. You were seriously lucky I had that syringe otherwise you would've died," Alphonse stated grimly, causing Akira and Yuzuru to look at him in horror.
"Are you serious?! Oh, Kami..." Akira trailed off in disbelief as we kept moving throughout the Bund.
As we kept driving, I had learned that Akira was being targeted by the Three Clans in a bet to take Mina as their bride...and I was enraged along with being revolted beyond belief that Mina was going to suffer through something called a Purity Exam, a test where Mina would go through the humiliation of having her virginity checked so that she would be considered pure for one of the rulers of the Three Clans. The rulers mostly did it out of some sick amusement and a domination of power. I may have been a lot of things, but there are some things that pissed me off greatly and there were some lines I would never even think of crossing. Alphonse eventually pulled over to a construction site. Akira and I got out and looked at Alphonse and Yuzuru.
"Well, this is a far as we can go. From now on, you two are on your own and David...I just want to warn you that since your body's metabolic energy is completely focusing on healing from the damage you just went through, you won't be able to shift into your two wolf forms for an hour so be careful," Alphonse warned and I nodded.
"Copy that," I said as I looked away and waited for Akira to finish chatting with Alphonse.
Akira walked up to me and we nodded to each other, heading into the construction site and preparing for the fight of our lives. Pretty soon after that, we were being pursued by the shapeshifting assassin that wanted Akira dead and we kept fighting to survive against the enemy. When Akira and I took cover, the girl gave us a proposition. If Akira told her the truth about what had happened and what he had seen on the mission he took last year, and if I told her what I remembered what had happened that night 15 years ago, she would let us live. I was confused about what she was talking about, since my parents had been killed in a robbery gone wrong and the killers had died during the struggle.
I kicked the giant containers to make them fall and crush the girl, then watched to see her slithering out of the wreckage like a snake, and I growled in irritation.
"Goddammit, just fucking die already!" I shouted in frustration as I tried to impale her with a broken pipe, but when she turned around, I stopped in my tracks and my eyes widened when I saw Yuki standing right before me.
"Yuki?" I wondered.
"David...why are you leaving me alone right now? Am I not good enough for you?" the copy of Yuki questioned mockingly.
"You're not Yuki...you're just wearing her face so fucking stop it!" I shouted in anger.
"I don't understand...why are you being so hateful to me right now? I've been so worried about you. That evil Princess had gotten to you, hasn't she? Please, David, tell me what had happened that night 15 years ago. What truly happened that night for you to suppress it? Tell me and I'll let you do whatever you want to my body," the copy of Yuki offered and I trembled with rage.
"How dare you...How dare you for fucking going there! I'm going to make you wish you were dead!" I snarled in fury.
"I was trying to be nice to you, but it's too late! I'll just make you tell me!" the copy of Yuki charged. Akira was sent crashing into a container while the monster was trying to slash me into bloody ribbons.
"Why won't you tell me?! We are in a relationship so we need to be honest with each other!" the copy of Yuki shouted as I tried to dodge and suddenly got impaled by a bladed arm, letting out howls of agony as the copy raised me into the air and tossed me into a container.
"I'm done with playing games! You'd better tell me what you'd seen that day!" the monster roared. My head started pounding as fuzzy memories slowly started to rise up to the surface.
I heard the monster changing again and when I looked up, I started making shuddering breaths when I saw my mother standing before me.
"David," my mother called out to me with a soft smile as I tried to stand up, her familiar brown hair and blue eyes bringing back memories of the good times.
"No...you can't be here. You're dead," I stuttered in disbelief and I was sent crashing to the ground by an extended arm.
"That's right. Your mother is dead, and it is all your fault she and your father died that day," the copy of my dead mother taunted me.
"Shut up..." I grounded out with gritted teeth, feeling the hot rage coming up to the surface.
"What's wrong? Can't handle the truth? You got them killed that night and you will always be guilty of what happened," the copy goaded.
"Shut your fucking mouth!" I roared in a blind rage as I went to stab the monster that was wearing my mother's face.
"Yes, David! Kill me! Be responsible again for my death, just like what had happened on that cold winter night 15 years ago!" the copy egged me on as she kept beating me and stabbing me in the same place again as she pinned me to the wall.
"You can't...you can't even kill your own mother. You should've died that night," the copy scoffed and tears came running down my cheeks.
"Please...stop," I begged brokenly, just wanting this physically and mentally scarring torture to be over.
"Oh I'll stop when you tell me what happened that night!" the copy declared as it moved the bladed arm even deeper, causing me to scream in agony.
Then the blade came out of my shoulder and I fell to the ground, looking up. My mind nearly shut down out of sheer denial when I saw Jessica, who I thought had died in that lab accident when I was 13 years old.
"J..Jess..." I gasped and Jess smiled at me.
"You've endured so much, David. I'm truly sorry you went through so much pain in your life...it's alright now and you can tell me anything," Jess told me kindly as she hugged me and added, "Please David...tell me. I want to know what you saw and then I'll make the pain stop."
Something shattered in my mind and I felt myself completely losing it. Nothing but animal savage fury ran through me as I roughly grappled my arms around the back of the monster that dared to mock me by wearing the faces of my loved ones.
"Don't say my name...with that voice..." I snarled uncontrollably as my body started changing forcefully.
"What the hell are you doing, David?! Don't you recognize me?! The one who was always there for you in that facility?!" the monster cried out in alarm and she gasped as shadows poured out of my body like black tar and started covering me.
"Don't you dare mock me...with that voice and that form, you fucking bitch!" I roared in blind rage as I turned into my shadow form.
My body rippled and I shoved the monster's legs and the bottom of her torso into me, as she screamed and pleaded to me. I formed a sharp blade inside and she howled in agony as her lower half was being torn apart. My amorphous form spat her out to only see that her upper body was the only thing that was intact. I approached slowly with a psychotic grin as the monster tried to desperately crawl away with her intestines and other vital organs being dragged along with her. I formed into my wolf-man form and slammed a paw on her back, causing her to choke as I grabbed her arms and pulled them back.
"You seem to be proud of these arms, little piggie. I wonder what would happen next?" I questioned mockingly as I pulled forcefully and the monster screamed in pain.
I kept pulling and a slight loud tearing sound occurred as the flesh, muscle, and bone were being amputated by force, the girl desperately pleading and howling as the arms were slowly being ripped off. I grinned sadistically as I completely tore the arms out of their sockets, hearing the girl shrieking incoherently as blood sprayed everywhere. I closed my eyes in bliss at the beautiful music of her screams and the delicious scent of her blood. I took my paw off the girl's back and she looked at me with pure agony and terror as I placed my hand on the bottom of my muzzle in mock thought.
"Please! Spare me! I beg you!" The girl gurgled, but I ignored her.
"Hmmm...a beautiful work of art, but there is still something missing...I know! There needs to be a little adjustment!" I declared and leaned down to say, "Are you afraid, little piggie? You haven't seen true fear yet."
I reached down and stabbed my claws into the girl's back, causing her to make choking and gagging noises while there were the wet sounds of flesh ripping and tearing as I dug in and found what I was looking for. I grabbed her spine and wrenched it, picking up her body and making it look like she was a sock puppet by holding her in front of me.
"Hmm...I always wondered what it was like to have a living puppet. It's not as satisfying as I thought, so I might as well leave a message for the Three Clans. What do you think?" I asked what was left of the body and only got a weak twitch, causing me to add, "Yeah...that's what I was thinking too."
I walked over to the pair of arms that were on the ground, picking them up and heading to a broken pipe so that I could put on a show for the Three Clans' assassins.
I shook my hands to flick off the blood as I stared at my handy work. The body was jammed onto the sharp part of the broken pipe with its intestines wrapped around it like Christmas decorations and the arms propped up next to it while the head was on another broken pipe in the front of the body with its eyes, ears, and tongue completely removed, a message in blood on the container saying 'YOU'RE NEXT' in bold letters.
"Well, I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself...now, time to find Akira," I muttered to myself as I shifted back to my solid human form.
Suddenly, I felt exhaustion kicking in and I collapsed to the ground, barely staying awake as I heard footsteps approaching.
"Damn David...not only did you get badly injured, but you also shifted into your wolf-man form while your body was still recovering from the drug I gave you and you're still alive? You are just like how I remember you back in that facility...always stubborn and a survivor. That's definitely who you are," I heard faintly and I saw a blurry female figure kneeling down right in front of me.
"Who...the hell...are you..." I rasped weakly as I faded toward unconsciousness.
"You really don't remember me? I'm not surprised considering what Umbrella did to you...just survive kiddo," the voice and figure stated and I managed to recognize who was in front of me.
"Mei?" I questioned weakly and everything went black after that.
A/N Well, was that real or a hallucination? And what do you think will happen next? The only hint I can give you all is that David's past will be revealed in the next chapter so be ready for a shocking twist. As always, stay tuned.