Las Plagas: Resident Evil IV
Chapter Ten: Chief Mendez
"Descubre quien toco el timbre." A deep and gruff voice was heard from above as the footsteps neared the top of the staircase. "Sufriran mucho por la interrupcion."
"I don't mean to worry you, friend." The prisoner whispered urgently. "But if that's who I think it is, you better find a place to hide."
"Who do you think it is?" Leon asked, turning toward him. "Are we…
But there was no point in finishing that question, since the Agent looked back just in time to see the prisoner vanish back into the armoire before pulling the doors closed to make it look like he hadn't been released in the first place. What a pal, Leon thought sarcastically, having a hard time believing that the prisoner had just left him there… but then he had to find a hiding place himself, crouching down behind the large, abandoned chair he had seen earlier just as heavy footsteps started coming down into the basement.
Thud… thud… thud… peeking around the wooden frame of the broken chair as the owner of the footsteps came into view, for a second the Agent thought he was having another Raccoon City nightmare when he saw that this slow walking man was about seven feet tall and wearing a dark green long coat. Oh God, he found himself thinking uncontrollably, it's another one of those Umbrella giants that chased him through the police station… no, wait, this guy had the same kind of skin as the other villagers, and… and probably the craziest spinach-chin beard that he had ever seen.
Flanked by two of the villagers, who both looked like dwarves while standing next to the big guy, the big man slowly moved away from the stairs as he slowly headed over to check on the armoire, and that's when Leon realized he was in trouble. This guy was sure to notice that the latch on the doors had been lifted, so he needed to sneak up the stairs and get away, at least until spinach-chin left… the only problem was that the two villagers had been left standing at the bottom of the staircase.
Crap, the big guy was getting closer to the armoire… but wait, the villagers were facing toward him, so maybe if the Agent crept around the other side of the chair and circled behind them, he could still manage to get away. So he tightened his grip on the shovel and silently made his way around to the other side of the staircase. So far it was going good, especially when the villagers stepped forward after spinach-chin grunted with surprise on discovering that the armoire's latch was open.
Creak… Leon had just put his foot on the first step of the upward staircase, when it creaked so loudly that the villagers jumped a little, growling as they spun around to see what it was… but the Agent wasn't about to be ambushed again. Whack! Swinging the shovel upward as soon as he realized he was caught, the tool caught the first villager under the chin, lifting him off his feet before he fell to the floor. The second villager grabbed onto the shovel in an attempt to overpower him, but Leon shoved him backwards against the stone wall, bringing his knee up into the deranged man's stomach, before pulling the shovel away and smacking him upside the head with it… just in time to feel the big guy's large hand closing around his throat.
"Well, well, if it isn't the outsider." Spinach-chin said, ripping the tool from his hands while effortlessly lifting Leon off the ground. "I imagine most people in your position would have tried to escape, but I thank you for saving us the trouble of hunting you down."
The big guy's grip was powerful, choking the Agent while keeping his feet from touching the ground as if he weighed nothing, and to make matters worse, Leon was unable to break spinach-chin's grip no matter how hard he punched the big guy's arm, or how hard he kicked him in the stomach. Unlike the villagers, who seemed like normal people aside from the fact that they were completely out of their minds, hitting this guy was like punching a piece of rock, something that the Agent hadn't experienced since his battle with the green giant in Raccoon City.
"I am Bitores Mendez, pleased to meet you." The big guy continued, tightening his grip, and smiling when Leon's struggles became more desperate from lack of air. "And as the chosen Chief of the people, allow me to be the first to welcome you to our…
Now desperate for breath, and unable to overpower the Chief, Leon interrupted the big guy's words by poking him right in the eyes with two fingers, and making him grunt with what sounded like annoyance as he staggered a little. Funny thing, though, was that one of Mendez's eyes felt a lot harder than the other one, as if it were fake… that certainly explained why one of his eyes was blue and the other was brown… which the Agent had just suspected was due to inbreeding… and still suspected that a little.
However, instead of dropping him like Leon hoped, or at least loosening his grip a little, the village Chief turned his body around, and swinging his arm hard enough to send the Agent flying through the air away from the staircase. Crash! Landing on what remained of the broken chair, and shattering what was left of the frame with his body, Leon hit the ground hard, bouncing a couple times, and then coming to an abrupt stop against the basement's far wall. The good news was that he could breathe again… not that it was easy to do so after taking a fall like that.
"Typical Americano… no manners at all." Mendez continued, slowly walking toward him after discarding the shovel. "Perhaps I will teach you a lesson in humility."
He was hurt, but the Agent wasn't about to give up just yet, so he waited until the village Chief was right on top of him, before grabbing a large piece of the chair's remains. Jabbing it straight upward into Mendez's groin, the big guy grunted while bending slightly forward, allowing Leon to make an upward swing with the piece of wood that connected with the Chief's heavily bearded chin as he got up. Smash! The board shattered as the big guy was made to lean back slightly, so the Agent dropped it before spinning around, and delivering a powerful kick to the Chief's mid-section.
Or, at least it was supposed to go into his mid-section. Unfortunately, even after taking the hit with the board, Mendez was still able to reach out and catch Leon's foot with his large hand… and then ramming his other fist into the Agent's stomach. The blow was hard enough to not only completely knock the wind out of him, but also make his knees give out, so that Leon fell to the floor, although still being partially held up by his captured foot.
"You have a lot of nerve coming here uninvited, outsider." The village Chief said, now lifting him up off the ground by his one foot so that Leon was hanging upside down. "This is a peaceful community of devout worshipers, and not only have you disrupted our harmony, but you could not even bother to learn our language."
"Peaceful community?!" The Agent exclaimed between coughs, trying to look up at him. "You killed all those Officers, and you're mad because I didn't…
Whump! Leon's words became an agonized outcry when Mendez suddenly balled up his free fist and rammed it into the Agent's stomach hard enough to make him swing a little. Whump! Whump! Whump! This time the punches kept coming, each one stopping Leon from taking a breath while an incredible amount of pain shot through his entire body, and after taking a few more he found himself on the verge of passing out.
However, instead of hitting him again, the village Chief swung his arm again, turning his whole body around so that the Agent was sent flying right into the armoire. Like what remained of the chair, the larger piece of furniture collapsed upon impact, this time causing both Leon and the prisoner inside to fall onto the ground amongst the wreckage. The dark haired prisoner immediately scrambled to his feet, and tried to run away, while the Agent was very much done fighting… or moving in general… not that either of them were going to get away.
"Y a donde crees que vas?" Mendez asked, grabbing the prisoner by the top of the head when he tried to run past. "Te quedas aqui donde no puedes causar mas problemas."
The prisoner then cried out, falling to his knees as the village Chief squeezed the top of his head, and trying unsuccessfully to break the big man's grip, no matter how hard he pulled against those overly large fingers. After a few more seconds of this, Mendez suddenly let go, instead simply pushing the prisoner backwards so that he fell over, and then snapping his fingers so that the villagers who had accompanied him into the basement approached… as did the three others who had also come down the stairs at some point.
"Algunos hombres fueron asesinados por la iglesia." One of the new ones reported. "Pero no hay indicios de quien toco el timbre."
"Debe habar mas forasteros entre nosotros." The big guy said, shaking his head in frustration. "Voy a ir a la caza… castigarlos un tiempo y luego llevararlos a Senor Saddler."
Leon didn't like the way Mendez was speaking, regardless of not understanding the words… not that he was able to do anything about it when the village Chief walked away, leaving the five villagers free to approach the two captives. The dark haired prisoner tried to scramble away again, and actually succeeded in knocking on of the villagers down by kicking him in the ankle, not that this helped him when two of the others grabbed him by the arms.
Together they held him while the one he knocked down pulled back his fist and slugged the prisoner right in the mouth, while at the same time the other two, the ones the Agent had beaten with the shovel while trying to sneak away, turned their attention toward him. Leon was just starting to be able to get up to his hands and knees, when one of the villagers kicked him in the stomach, making him fall back down on his face just before both of them started kicking him in the sides, as well as stomping him on the back each time he tried to get up.
Eventually the beating was just too much, and the next time the Agent was kicked back down, he didn't get back up… in fact, he didn't even feel the hits anymore as everything went black and he slowly lost consciousness.