- Chapter 9 -

Clash of the Titans

Chris and Jill looked from Wesker to Alice, and back again. They had no idea who she was or where she came from, but they could see that she was no friend of Wesker's, and for the moment, that was good enough for them.

"Alice," Wesker said, a faux friendly smile on his face even as he continued to cover her with his Samurai Edge. "How long has it been?"

"Save it, Wesker," Alice spat, her fingers tightening around her kukri knives. "You and I both know that you don't give a rat's ass."

Wesker shrugged, then fired two bullets, one after the other. Chris and Jill looked on in shock as Alice simply leaned left and right and dodged them with ease. "You're right, of course," Wesker sneered. "I'm sorry to cut our little reunion short, but I don't have time for you at the moment."

With that, Wesker turned his attention back to Chris and Jill. He quickly grabbed Chris by the front of his shirt with one hand, Jill with the other, and slammed them both into the wall. The two struggled as Wesker hoisted them up.

"Any last words?" he asked, a smirk on his face. Chris showed no sign of fear, only rage and hatred, and responded to Wesker's question by spitting a glob of blood into his face.

"Go blow yourself," he snapped. Wesker snarled, pulled Chris forward, and slammed him into the wall again. Before he could do more, however, an invisible force blast ripped through the floor, tearing through the concrete and slamming into Wesker, knocking him back and forcing him to release Chris and Jill. They looked back to see the small fissure in the floor stretch all the way back to Alice. Wesker slowly got to his feet all while fixing Alice with a glare that would cause most men to die of fright.

"Now now, Wesker," Alice quipped, wagging her index finger in a tsk-tsk gesture. "You know that I don't like to be ignored."

"Very well then," Wesker replied. "This is a perfect opportunity after all. With you, Redfield, and Valentine all here, I can kill three insects for the price of one!"

Leon, Claire, Helena, Rebecca, and Parker all heard the crash and were already running in a group to O'Brian's office. Helena and Leon took the opportunity to hastily introduce themselves.

"So, you survived Raccoon City just like Jill and Claire?" Parker asked Leon as they ran. "Nice to meet you, Agent Kennedy."

"No need to be so formal," Leon replied. "Just Leon will do."

"We can talk all we want later," Claire interrupted. "We need to get to O'Brian's office. There's no telling what's going on."

Everyone was in agreement on that.

Wesker, Chris, Jill, and Alice were all wrapped up in a brutal, three-on-one fight. Alice was directly engaging Wesker and they were evenly matched, while Chris and Jill were just trying to do whatever damage they could. Wesker backhanded Alice across the face and sent her flying into the wall.

"You should've stayed in hiding, Alice," Wesker hissed as he readjusted his sunglasses. "There's no place for you or any of these disgusting humans in my new world."

Alice leaped to her feet, looking none the worse for the wear. "Your 'new world' is just a deluded fantasy, Albert," she replied as she bent back down into a combat stance. "A crazy world domination plot from the biggest nutcase of them all."

Wesker shook his head, chuckling. "I'm not a nutcase, Alice," he replied. "I am a god!" As he advanced, he leaped into the air and caught Alice right in the face with an aerial spin kick, knocking her to the ground. "All of you pathetic worms will submit to my whim or die!"

With Wesker's attention on Alice, Chris drew his gun and fired. Taken by surprise, Wesker was unable to react before the metal slugs hit him in the back. "I've already told you, Wesker," Chris said as Wesker whirled around. "You're no god. You're just another one of Umbrella's leftovers. Nothing but a failed bioweapon and a raving lunatic."

Wesker growled, and darted over to Chris. With lightning speed, he grabbed Chris by his right shoulder, his fingers digging into the pressure points. Chris let out a growl of pain and sank to his knees, trying to pry Wesker's fingers off of his shoulder.

"Then tell me this, Chris," Wesker said conversationally as Chris glared up at him. "If I am no god, why are you on your knees before me?"

"Let him go, you freak!" Jill shouted. Charging forward, she leaped into the air, performing an aerial somersault and lashing out with both legs. The bottoms of her feet caught Wesker directly in the face, knocking him off of Chris. Chris quickly stood up and gave Jill a thumbs-up. Wesker let out an angry roar as he got to his feet.

"I've had enough of this!" he yelled. "THIS IS THE END OF THE LINE FOR YOU!"

With that, Wesker dashed forward. Before they could react, he rocketed a roundhouse punch to Chris's chest and kicked Jill in the stomach. The two flew back and slid across the floor, dazed. Wesker advanced as the two struggled in vain to get up. Grabbing them both, he lifted them to their feet by their necks.

"I'll see you two in hell," Wesker hissed. With that, he opened his mouth, and the same mandible-like tentacles he used to devour the college student emerged from his mouth. Chris and Jill, dazed and injured as they were, could do nothing but glare as Wesker prepared to eat them alive.

However, just as he was about to bite their faces off, a hand tapped him on the shoulder. Wesker turned around just in time for Alice's fist to slam into his face. Wesker was knocked backwards by the force of the blow, which knocked his sunglasses off and forced his tentacles to retreat back into his mouth.

"Sorry, Wesker," Alice said as she unsheathed one of her kukri knives and flipped it into a reverse grip. "Those two aren't on the menu today."

Wesker had just enough time to look up as Alice swept the knife upward. It ripped into his face, cleaving open his right cheek and puncturing his eye. Wesker howled in pain and rage as he staggered back, clutching his ripped face and damaged eye, blood already oozing through his fingers. Chris and Jill finally managed to regain themselves and get to their feet, aiming their guns at Wesker.

"Chris!"

Chris, Jill, and Alice quickly turned to see Leon, Claire, and the others charging towards them, guns in hand. Both Chris and Jill were briefly surprised to see Leon and Helena, but quickly put it aside and turned back to Wesker. Everyone else, after briefly regarding the injured Wesker with surprise and shock, trained their weapons on him as well.

Wesker looked at the group of eight, one hand clutching his face, the other holding his discarded sunglasses. He was half-blinded, both figuratively and literally, from the pain. Though the virus William Birkin gave him so long ago allowed him to heal quickly and would eventually restore his face and eye, the process was not instantaneous, and for all his confidence, Wesker did not want to chance a battle with a such a sizable group of the BSAA's finest, including Kennedy and his partner, in his weakened condition. It was time to retreat.

"Damn you. Damn you all," Wesker snarled, sounding more than a little like an enraged bear, as he got to his feet and slipped his sunglasses into his coat pocket. "This isn't over, Chris. Not by a long shot. One way or another, I will have my revenge!"

Releasing his bloody face, Wesker reached into his trench coat and pulled out a flashbang grenade. Before anyone could react, he flung it into the ground and leaped over the group's heads. He was already running, contacting his henchmen via radio and telling them to retreat, when the flashbang went off, disorienting everyone.

By the time everyone returned to their senses, Wesker and his henchmen were gone. After a moment, everyone turned their attention to the bruised and bloodied Chris and Jill, who had their own attention on Alice. Rebecca stepped forward.

"Guys, let me see those wounds," she said, but Chris waved her away, looking at Alice. Before he could say anything, Alice answered the unasked question.

"I'll explain everything later," she replied. "Right now, you guys better let her check you out. You got the shit kicked out of you pretty bad."

Chris nodded, not really feeling the urge to argue. His mind was on their current situation. Wesker was still alive. The nightmare was not over yet.

Author's Note:

Well, there you have it. Chapter 9 is done and over with. I'll let you guys guess what I referenced with the "why are you on your knees before me" line.

Now that that's done, I'm gonna retreat to my reinforced bunker before any of you can try to kill me or get on me with remarks or flames about Wesker's hasty retreat or whatever. Please R&R.

Until next time...