Chapter 11: Vulcan

After the troops had left, I made my way through the cathedral. It was quiet, almost too quiet for comfort. All of a sudden, I heard a beeping sound. It seemed to be coming from one of the benches. The noise got louder and louder until I saw some device lying on the floor. It beeping while flashing a small light. All of a sudden, it sprouted legs and started walking over to me.

I pulled out my gun and pointed it at this strange machine, which looked like a drone. It then stopped and suddenly the beeping started to increase, and knowing what was about to happen, I hit the ground before the drone exploded. I threw the trench coat I was wearing off, since it wouldn't do me any good. I got up and looked around but saw nothing.

"Interesting little buggers aren't they?" I swung around, gun still raised, towards the source of the voice. I then noticed a man at the end of the cathedral, and a big one at that. He looked like the modern day Rambo. The one thing I noticed mostly was the large machine gun he was carrying.

"Who are you?" I said, pistol still raised.

The man chuckled. "So you must be the American that's been causing us so much trouble. As for me, the name is Ramsden, but you can call me 'Vulcan.'"

"Where's Naomi?" I demanded.

Vulcan was amused by this. "What, is she your girlfriend or something? She's being taken care of, don't you worry. To be honest, I think I would be more worried about myself in your shoes," he said, raising the Gatling gun at me.

(A/N: Okay, so before I was planning on using "Yell "Dead Cell"" for this battle, but I decided to go one step better. The song is called "Yell Dead Cell (VR Remix)" which is from LittleBigPlanet, but still as awesome as the original.)

I had only about a second to get the hell out of the way before the gun spilled bullets. I crept under one of the benches and used it as cover. *I then got up to a sitting position and made my way over to a spot where I could keep cover. I quickly contacted Otacon.

"Otacon, I'm in a bit of a pinch here," I said.

"No kidding, I myself wouldn't go against a M61 Vulcan," Otacon said. "Still, there's an easy way to beat this guy. While it is an effective gun, it tends to overheat after sometime and is a pain to reload. Those are the best times to go after him. Oh, and make sure to watch out for the drones he's placed out."

"Got it," I said. I quickly took a glance around and didn't see Vulcan. I crept quietly as I could to the next column. Then, Vulcan sprung out and quickly unloaded more bullets. After about five seconds, it stopped.

"Damn it!" he said, realizing he had overheated, and took the time to my advantage and fired a couple of shots into him. Despite hitting him, it didn't do much damage against him. He then threw out a flashbang, blinding me temporarily. After that, he had vanished.

All of a sudden, I spotted one of his drones, but this one was loaded with a machine gun and quickly fired at me. I went behind the column again and fired two shots, taking it out easily. That was when Vulcan appeared again, now just wanting to take out the column I was behind.

I then got to the floor and looked to where he was standing, and, realizing it was a cheap move, shot him in the foot.

"YOU BLOODY BASTARD!" Vulcan yelled, throwing grenades, trying to lure me out. Luckily, most of them missed, but a piece of shrapnel then hit me straight in the leg. Grunting in pain, I quickly pulled out my knife, and pried the piece of metal out of my leg, while my wound healed quickly.

I then noticed Vulcan had stopped firing, meaning he may be reloading. I got sight of his head, and quickly fired, bullets going straight into his head, but even after that that wasn't enough. But then again, he must have nanomachines as well.

I then heard a beeping and saw two more drones coming towards me. I shot both of them, but the explosion still blew me back against the wall. Groaning, I got up, feeling a little wobbly. My senses then kicked back in.

I looked around for Vulcan, but couldn't seem him in the open. I went to the other side, seeing if I could flush him out. Then as if in slow motion, Vulcan came out into the open but I was ready, I cocked my gun and shot him straight between the eyes, stunning him and causing him to fall back onto the ground.

I went up to him, pistol still out just in case. It seemed that he was finally spent.

He looked up to me and chuckled. "Nice shot," he said. "I had been in British SAS for almost ten years and I've never seen such accuracy. That's the last time I ever underestimate an American." He looked to me closely. "You have the fierce look of a wolf in your eyes. I can see it. You're already battle-hardened. I guess I couldn't expect any less from a soldier."

"Vulcan, where is Naomi?" I said.

"She should be somewhere up ahead," Vulcan said. "But I'm afraid if you lose her now, you'll lose her for good." He then sighed. "I had always wanted a better world, not just for my country, but for everyone else in the world. I thought maybe what I was doing would benefit it, but instead, I almost brought it to ruin." He then looked over to his gun, and with the last of his strength, brought it over and put it across his chest. He then raised his hand into the air. "God save the Queen." And after that, he was gone.

I then holstered my pistol and sighed. I was already used to people dying, but this felt different. A man who people thought was a villain turned out to be a hero underneath. I just didn't understand it.

I then got up and went out through the emergency exit. It seemed that the soldiers hadn't gone off as far as I thought. I then went in pursuit of the soldiers.

While I was somewhat far behind them, I was able to track down the route they've taken. Soon, I realized they were heading to St. James' Park. Once I had gotten near the park, I saw that there was a helicopter there, most likely transport for Naomi. Normally I would've let them go, but I had the feeling they knew the truth about her and I couldn't let anything happen to her.

I got to the outside perimeter of the park, checking out the scene before me. Naomi was being escorted into the helicopter. She looked over and saw me, but did not say anything although she had a smile on her face.

All of a sudden, something came over me. I felt a huge wave of exhaustion hit me, and before I knew it, I had blacked out.

I woke up, but I was in a different location. I was in a bed, which felt very much like the one I had at home. Then, looking around, I realized I was home. Getting out of bed, I realized I was no longer in my usual gear, but was just wearing my normal attire. "How did I get back here?" I asked myself.

I looked up at the calendar, and with horror, saw what day it was. The date was June 13, 2008. "But that's impossible," I said. "It's now 2009, and I shouldn't even be in the U.S. right now." Another weird thought came to me. Had this all been a dream? Had my mind been playing a horrible trick on me. It almost seemed impossible.

I went downstairs, and saw no one. Not even Pikachu. What in the world was going on? The living room looked like it used to before it had been attacked. I then took out my phone, and looking at it, called my parents' house.

To my greatest shock, it started ringing and then a voice came onto the phone. "Hello?" a voice said. I couldn't believe that I was hearing my mom's voice. I quickly hung up, my heart rate skyrocketing.

"No, this can't be right," I said, my hands on my head. "I must be losing my mind."

But was I? Or maybe what I had been experiencing was a hallucination? But even so, I felt saddened, realizing that Pikachu, Pikette, Mightyena or Dawn weren't real after all.

"Do you really believe that?" I looked over and saw a familiar looking ball of light, which ended up taking the form of Arceus.

"Arceus," I said. "What's going on here?"

"The time has come for you to make a decision," Arceus said. "As you can see, this is the day where you had found Pikachu, but if the past had been altered, this would just be another normal day for you. It's time for you to choose whether you would like to go back to the life you've always been to, or return to the present and fulfill what you were meant to do. But remember, once you make your decision, there is no going back."

"Arceus, is it true what Naomi had said," I said. "About the Pokemon?"

"It is uncertain," Arceus said. "I cannot foresee into the future. But there's a chance they could end up dying."

"Even Pikachu?" I said.

Arceus nodded. "Death is inevitable, but we can either delay it or have it take us sooner than we want to. Even if Pikachu were to die, you know as well as the others that he had lived a good life."

"But he didn't ask for it, he doesn't deserve it," I said. "If I were to stay in the past, would he be okay then?"

"If you chose that, then what events that had happened to him before would never have had occurred. And Pikette would still be in her world."

"Maybe that would be the best choice," I said. "It doesn't matter what I think, Pikachu's life is more important."

"You are very sincere, caring more about others than yourself," Arceus said, "But I'm afraid not all things would change."

"What do you mean?" I said.

"Even if you would never encounter Pikachu, the ones you seek to defeat would still have their intentions to destroy all that is good, and there would be no one to stop them," Arceus said.

"So, I can either face death, or have all that is good destroyed?" I said.

"The choice is yours," Arceus said.

I hesitated. I never wanted any of this to happen, but it seemed I was the only one who could end it, but if I chose that, Pikachu and myself could end up dying. "I know I'm taking a huge risk due to the fact I could die in a matter of months minimum, but I could never have my friends, and my country enslaved by evil. I have to finish it here and now."

Arceus smiled. "If that is your decision, then I shall return you back to the past." And all of a sudden, a flash of light blinded me.

I then woke up, my face in the grass. I got up, but surprisingly, I wasn't in any pain. I realized now I had made my decision and it was time to finish it. I looked to where the helicopter was and saw that it was gone, meaning that Naomi was gone as well. Well, I guess I couldn't feel that bad, since she would be seen again in another five years, at least I knew that.

My Codec then went off. I then answered it. "Otacon, what's the matter?"

"Finally!" Otacon said. "Chris, I had been trying to contact you for almost an hour. What's going on?"

"Oh, sorry," I said. "I actually lost consciousness."

"Lost consciousness?" Otacon said. "Well, are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Well, I think we're done here. I got all the information I could get."

"I see, did you find out the person's name?" Otacon said.

I smiled at this. "No, but I know she's working undercover for us," I said.

"Well, that's good to hear I guess," Otacon said. "We'll have someone pick you up in half an hour."

"Sounds good," I said, signing off. I then stared up into the sky. "Naomi..."

(A/N: Well, that was sure interesting. Before you say anything, it's not what you think. Chris only has sympathy for Naomi, since he knows more about her than she thinks. Still, it's rather sad since they quickly established some sort of relationship. Oh well, this was kind of a sad chapter in general, in my opinion. Anyway, I hope you liked this, and soon I'll start on the next part of the adventure.)

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