Into the Dark

Author's Note: Thanks to my fourth and fifth newest reviewers, Grim Tales and Clear Blue. Finally my story is reaching out to other people! Don't you worry Clear Blue, Ike and Zelda will be making an appearance in this chapter, as well as almost all the other chapters after this. Thanks to my two main reviewers SG-Kai and ScriptLord for keeping up with me in all this chaos. On a side note, I don't want there to be too much romance in this story, I mean, come on, whoever heard of a romance with zombies in it, seriously? If you guys want romance, then you'll have to wait for the sequel (hint hint) to this story, but I'm keeping that a secret for now. If you guys want to get a sneak peek at the sequel, visit my profile and find out!

Chapter 14: Truth

Van leaned against the wall impatiently. He reached for his knife, but only felt cold leather on his leg.

"Whoops, I forgot, I dropped it up there," he thought. He closed his eyes. "Damn, where are they? Were they attacked by more of those monsters?"

Van breathed deeply as he reached for his radio, pulling out the little antenna and putting his mouth to the receiver.

"This is Private Valchev of the Umbrella Retrieval Unit. Is there anyone out there? Over." Nothing but static replied to his question. Todd stirred to the side nervously. "This is Private Valchev, is there anyone there? Over," Van repeated. Still no answer. Todd sat on the cold floor in the hallway. Why weren't the torches warm anymore? The flames stared down at him from their post, but the heat refused to penetrate his body. "If there's anyone out there, please just give me a sign." The static laughed at Van's feeble attempts for rescue. Van cursed as he put away the radio.

"Don't expect backup anytime soon," he said to Todd.

Todd kept his head down and stared at the ground.

"That's a load of shit," he replied.

"Hm?"

"I mean how, you know, you and your men are supposed to be the 'great heroes' who come and save us, yet now, you can't even make contact with your squad. They've probably all been eaten by those zombies."

Van's eyebrow twitched as he looked at this man in the eye. How dare he mock Umbrella? How dare he mock his friends? He had no right in Hell, and yet, his words seemed to bite at Van like a thousand mosquitoes.

"I've been patient with you long enough," said Van.

Todd looked surprised.

"What?"

Van grabbed Todd's collar and pulled him off the ground and lifted him above his head against the wall.

"I've had to put up with your shit ever since I saved your ass! You haven't done a single God damned thing since you've been down here! I suggest you treat your 'heroes' with respect, otherwise, I just might feed you to those zombies myself!"

Todd looked scared.

"Y-You wouldn't do that! I mean, you're not allowed!"

Van pushed him harder against the wall. The sharp brick was now piercing at Todd's back.

"You wanna bet? I could kill you right now if I wanted!"

Todd looked into his blue eyes.

"Van..." he said, "what's wrong with you?"

Van's eyes got wide as he realized what he was doing. He slowly put Todd back on his feet and backed away.

"Todd, I... I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Todd adjusted his collar and stood straight.

"It's okay. You're right. I should never have insulted your troops like that. I'm sorry too."

Van nodded at Todd as Leon, Link and Claire came around the corner. Van's eyes immediately shot to the young lady's upper body as she ran towards him.

"Well, hello there," he said carelessly.

"I found Claire," said Leon plainly.

"No kidding." Van offered his hand to Claire. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Van Valchev."

Todd noticed that Van didn't introduce himself as formally as he did to him and the others. Claire shook hands with him nervously.

"Um, nice to meet you too."

Todd stepped up to her.

"My name is-"

"Oh, that's Todd," interrupted Van.

Van shot him a glare and he backed away.

"These are the other survivors I was telling you about," said Leon.

Claire nodded as she shook hands with Todd, but noticed the insignia on Van's left shoulder.

"Do you... work for Umbrella?" she asked.

Van was surprised that she knew about Umbrella, but he didn't show it.

"Sure do. I was sent down here to save the survivors. But unfortunately, I got stuck in a hole and, well, here I am."

Leon handed Claire his handgun.

"Just like old times, huh?"

Claire accepted it graciously.

"Thanks."

Link stepped in to the center of the group.

"So, now that we're all here, what's the next plan?" he asked.

"We should get out of here while we still can," suggested Van.

"Wait wait, we can't do that. Link still has to find Samus," Leon replied.

Link nodded his head. Van thought for a moment. He wanted to help Link find his friends, but escape seemed like the smartest idea right now considering this whole place was going to be blown sky high in a few hours. Van still wanted his revenge on the slime balls who murdered his squad...

"I'll help you, Link," said Claire.

Link smiled at her. It was good to know he could trust her. Leon put his hand on Link's shoulder.

"I'm with you too," he said.

Link felt a little embarrassed he was getting so much attention, but there was a feeling in his heart that kept him from letting out his tears. These people, for whom he only met tonight. Who were they? Van bit his lip and gave Link a thumbs up.

"Aw, might as well since I'm down here. Besides, I have a score to settle with those freaks."

Link was starting to see who these people were for the first time this night. They weren't soldiers. They weren't government spies or selfish people solely looking out for themselves.

"If you can trust me... I'll be willing to help anyway I can," chimed Todd.

Link couldn't believe how much these people cared. But who were they? Link searched to bottom of his heart for the right answer. They weren't strangers to him anymore. They were his friends. The answer struck him like a bullet. Friends. Was that really all they were? People who would help him no matter what the situation? These were his friends. And he accepted it like anyone would accept a hug. He put his gloved hand over Leon's hand on his shoulder.

"You guys..."

"We're here for you, Link," said Leon. "You've already helped me out loads of times. I feel I should return the favour."

He looked into the Hylian's eyes and noticed a small tear forming. Van stepped in.

"Alright, break it up! No need to get mushy! We're already wasting time!"

Everyone snapped out of the mood and returned to reality. Leon was immediately reminded of what he wanted to ask Claire when he found her.

"Claire, how did you end up down here anyway?" he asked.

Claire looked a bit uncomfortable, but she answered it as best she could.

"I... I was... kidnapped. I was kidnapped by those men in the black robes." She paused and thought hard; it looked as if she was solving a hard physics problem. "I can't remember much. But, I remember those men in red... the one in blue... the empty room with the chair... the needle..." She immediately looked at Leon who looked back at her in shock. "I think they injected me with something."

Leon cursed.

This was not good. They probably injected her with the Plagas. And if the virus worked anything like it did on the island, Orlow would have complete control over Claire's body. How many hours did she have before the mutation completely overtook her system? Leon tried not to think about it.

"We need to find a cure," he replied. "You could turn into one of those freaks if we don't do something quick."

"Then what are we standing here for? We should go!" said Van.

"He's right, but time is short as it is. What exactly is the virus going to do to her?" asked Link.

Leon was hesitant to reply. He forgot the Los Illuminados now had both viruses under their control. Could they have injected Claire with both?

"I don't know what the virus will do to her," he replied plainly. "If they injected her with both, anything could go wrong. What gets me the most is how they got their hands on the virus in the first place..."

Link raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"The Los Illuminados never had control of the T-Virus. They developed the Las Plagas, a virus with not as much power, but was just as deadly as the original T. Years ago, after the mansion incident in Arklay, and after the destruction of Raccoon City in 1998, Umbrella was supposedly finished after the rumors had been spread about the virus. They used the media to cover it all up and eventually, all traces of the virus were lost or destroyed. People never suspected such a tragedy to occur from a simple virus. They used cover-ups such as nuclear power plant explosions or natural disasters to explain the chaos. When I was back on that island, I suspected Umbrella to be behind the infected people from the very beginning. It wasn't until I noticed that these people were not zombies, but possessed. Driven by the urge to kill and the Plagas. I discovered that Umbrella did have something to do with the Plagas, but it all didn't make sense. That man in blue, Orlow, from earlier, told me how he had obtained the virus from Umbrella. They most likely plan to fuse the two viruses together to create the ultimate bio-weapon. I've been contemplating ever since he told me this. Could this have been the Los Illuminados' plan from the very beginning? Umbrella would never agree with them. There's no way Umbrella just flat out handed them the T-Virus. Putting all the pieces together, I came to one final conclusion."

"Which is?..."

"Everything I've fought for these past few months. Everything I've strived to obtain and save. It was all a set-up by the Illuminados. The kidnapping of the president's daughter, the enslaving of the Spanish villagers, the stealing of the T-Virus, Umbrella's dispatching of the soldiers, even the frickin' government missile. They planned this from the very beginning."

"What?"

"They're going to destroy the United States with the virus' power!" Claire gasped.

Link still wasn't getting the idea.

"I don't understand. Why would Umbrella send in soldiers to save the citizens if the Los Illuminados has the virus all along? Wouldn't they try to take it back from them?"

"They would have done that if they had the chance, but now it's too late. With the missile already on its way it'll only be matter of time. They probably wanted to save anyone before the rumor breaks out again."

"No," said Van.

Everyone looked at him. He was staring at the ground.

"No?" repeated Leon.

Van looked up at everyone.

"That's not why we were sent here," he admitted.

Todd looked confused.

"What!? You told me you came here to rescue civilians!" he cried.

Van gave Todd a glare.

"That was our original intention. I may not have told you this, but my squad was dispatched to this city earlier today."

"You told me something like that, I think."

"We were sent here to find and eliminate the source of the virus!" he blurted.

A look of shock and terror took over Todd's face.

"You lied to me! You would have left me to die if you had the chance!"

"No I wouldn't! We were told to rescue as many citizens we could during our mission! But now... they're all dead. Not one of them is alive. All my partners. My friends. Those monsters murdered them! And I want payback!"

"Wait, hold on. Are you telling us you knew about both virus' all along?" asked Leon.

Van hesitated before replying.

"Yes. I knew. It was my job to destroy it. My job to kill it! That's why I brought you down here Todd! I couldn't just walk away considering I was so close! So close to completing my mission! Had that chopper found us like it should have, you would have left the city by yourself. I would have remained down here to complete my task. My mission."

"But Van, your squad-"

"They're dead! I know! I know the odds are against me now! But I can't go home knowing that I let a hundred soldiers die without a cause! If I accomplish my mission, not only will I be rewarded, but I will be satisfied with the fact that I gave my comrades the only thing they'll ever have. And that is their pride as a soldier! That is why I fight, Leon! That is why I'm here! And I'm ready to accept my fate!"

Link was surprised to hear this dramatic speech come from Van.

"The poor guy must be breaking down under all the stress," thought Link.

Leon and Todd were both speechless. Claire walked up to Van and put a hand on his soldier.

"I'm so sorry to hear of your friends' deaths. But we can't mourn about our losses now. If you guys say that a missile is on its way, then we should stop wasting time. We need to find the remaining survivors and get out of here," she said.

Van tried to smile at her but he couldn't. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Thank you Claire," replied Van.

Suddenly, a man in black turned the corner and noticed the group.

"¡Mátalo!" he shouted as he pointed at them.

More men started filing in around the corner and running at the survivors. Link unsheathed his sword and shield, the light of the torches reflecting off of it and hitting the ceiling. He turned to his enemies and looked back at his friends.

"Well what are we standing here for? We have some survivors to rescue!"

Link charged towards the approaching mob. Leon nodded at Claire and he drew out his knife and followed Link. Claire looked at Van one last time before turning around and drawing her handgun. Van watched the survivors charge at the hooded figures. He smirked.

"Are you watching me... father?"

Van roared as he drew out his SMG and charged into battle. Todd remained behind and watched his friends as they risked their lives. What drove them exactly? Was it their will to survive? Was it because they cared about the people they loved? Was it just for fun? Todd thought about this in silence as Link brought his sword down on the head of the first monk.

Ike wandered the endless halls for what seemed like eternity. He had already run into and killed six men in black robes since he left the prison. He could sense Zelda's presence somewhere down here. The blood on his sword dripped on the ground as he walked along.

"Maybe leaving Samus and Ness wasn't such a good idea…" he thought to himself. "No! I have to stop thinking about them! I can worry about them when I save Zelda! Darnit! If only we weren't so spread apart." Earlier, he tried to interrogate the monks, but unfortunately, none of them knew how to speak English so he had no choice but to kill them. "That man in red spoke to me. Maybe the monks in the red robes can speak English?" Ike stopped at a red rusted door. It stood on its own, far away from all the other doors in the hallway. "This seems pretty suspicious."

Ike opened the door with ease.

The room was large and had numerous garbage dumpsters scattered all over the place. A large metal claw was hanging up above by a chain. A huge hole which made up half the room was on the far end. Ike went over to the hole and looked down into the dark. He couldn't see anything.

"Probably the garbage disposal? Aw, why am I even over here!? I need to find Zelda!"

Ike ran out of the room quickly and stumbled back into the hallway. No enemies to be seen.

"Better keep moving."

Ike wandered through the empty hallways, guessing at which direction Zelda would be in. He passed by a few portraits of a man in a purple robe, but he couldn't make anything out of it.

"I wonder what the others are up to? Hopefully they're having better luck than I am."

Ike recalled Captain Falcon telling him not to wander too far into the city. He figured he'd be safe with Zelda by his side, but he was wrong. He did not expect to be ambushed by those leeches. He discarded the thought quickly.

"Damn those leeches were creepy. And those zombies were even freakier..."

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a scream.

"Zelda!" Ike ran through the halls, the portraits on the side staring down at him with the same face. He followed the voice as best he could through the maze. "Dammit! Where is she!? What are they doing to her!?" The paintings seemed to laugh at him as he ran by. "Shutup!" Ike confronted a large metal door which he thought Zelda was behind. "Zelda! I'm coming!" Ike burst through the door into the large room. He was on a platform next to a pool of sewage water. A shark fin was circling the surface of the pool. "Zelda! Where are you!?" Ike called.

"Ike! Up here!" Ike looked up to see Zelda in a cage being lowered down into the pool. "Help me!" Ike ran to the edge of the pool and waited until the cage came within range of his Aether. Suddenly, a huge shark leaped out of the pool and chomped at Ike. He barely dodged as the shark disappeared back into the dirty water.

"Holy... Jeez, that shark was huge!"

The shark resembled that of a Great White except some of its skin was peeling off. The shark jumped straight up out of the water and attempted to bite at the lowering cage. Zelda screamed as she looked down the throat of her cold blooded killer. The shark came up short and fell back down into the pool. It jumped out again, this time knocking the cage with its snout. The cage swung back and forth in the air.

"Ike!" Zelda screamed.

Ike had to think fast. There was no way he could reach Zelda with his Aether. If he waited for her to come within range, the shark would just jump up again and eat her.

"I need to find a way to get up there before that shark," he thought.

The shark jumped again and managed to bite the bottom of the cage. Its large jaw made a dent in the metal as it fell back down again. Ike was running out of time.

"Dammit! Come on, think of something!...Maybe if I…"

Ike took the opportunity as the shark leaped again. He jumped onto the shark as it flew up into the air. He then jumped off it when he nearly made it to the cage. The force of the jump made the shark fall into the pool and Ike managed to land on top of the cage.

"Ike! Thank goodness!"

"I'll save you!"

Ike swung his sword to cut a large hole in the top of the cage. Zelda climbed out and they both stood on top. The shark jumped a final time before grabbing the cage with its jaw. Zelda stumbled on the top as the cage swung and she fell off into the water.

"Zelda! No!" cried Ike. The shark realized that its prey had fallen into the water and it let go of the cage. Ike jumped off as well and waited until he and the shark were falling at the same speed. "No you don't!" He threw his sword at the shark.

"AETHER!"

The blade spun at a fast pace and tore through the thick skin of the fish. The force of the attack knocked the shark off course as it landed on the edge of the pool, blood pouring into the sewage water. Zelda surfaced and looked around for her saviour.

"Ike? Ike!?"

"Right here." She turned around to see the swordsman standing on the edge of the pool, his hand outstretched. "Need a hand?" he said.

Zelda took his hand graciously and he helped her out of the water.

They looked at each other for a moment before hugging, regardless of Zelda's soaked dress. Ike was just happy she was safe again.

"Thank Farore you came here to rescue me. Had it not been for you I... I don't even want to know what could have happened," she replied.

"Heh, all in a day's work."

They hugged again, but were interrupted by the sound of clapping hands.

They both turned to see a man in blue standing at the room entrance, men in black at his side with crossbows. The two looked at the first man who was clapping the whole time. Ike put his sword in front of him and braced himself for an assault. The man just laughed.

"How touching."

"There they are!" said Samus.

A group of four monks were carrying a sleeping Lucario down the hall.

"I'll handle this," replied Snake.

He snuck over behind the unaware group for a few feet. He went over to the monk closest to him and he grabbed his neck. Snake twisted hard as the man fell to the ground, dead. The others turned to the secret attacker but were all knocked off their feet when Snake punched them all quickly. He caught Lucairo as he fell in midair. The monks on the ground got up slowly, but Samus quickly got rid of them with a few blasts of her cannon. Snake placed Lucario on the ground and started slapping him across the face.

"Hey asshole! Wake up!" he said.

Ness looked up and down the hallways to make sure they weren't being watched. Lucario came to after a few slaps.

"Huh, what? Hey... Hey! Hey stop slapping me!" he cried.

Lucario jumped to his feet and Snake backed away.

"Finally you're awake," he replied.

Lucario held his head.

"Ugh, I shouldn't have wasted so much aura. I'm going to need more rest if I'm going to recharge my energy."

Snake rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you do that, especially when we're trapped underground with a bunch of freaks running around."

"Hey, Ike's not here," said Samus looking around. She just noticed he was missing.

"Oh don't tell me you want to go looking for him. He's a tough guy! He can handle himself!" retorted Snake.

Ness's eyes got wide.

"I sense something..." he started.

"You sense something? What is it?" asked Lucario.

"Death. Over there."

Ness pointed to a door that was down the hall. None of them had entered that door before. It looked just like all the other doors they had went through. Why was this one so special?

"You sense death over there? Man, that's not a good sign," said Snake.

Ness approached it cautiously, Samus walking closely behind. Lucario and Snake followed from a reasonable distance. If there was a monster behind that door, they wanted to be far enough to not get hit by it. Ness opened the door slowly and stepped inside. No monster anywhere. Snake and Lucario caught up to Samus and they all entered at once. The entire room was pitch-black.

"Ness! Where are you?" shouted Samus.

"No need to yell! I'm right in front of you!" he replied.

"I can't see a damn thing in this darkness!" said Snake.

"Hold on, a second. PK fire!"

The room lit up from the light, but the group wished they had not seen what was in there. Dead bodies lay on top of each other in a large pile in the centre of the room. Ness jumped back and screamed as he saw this. The others just flinched.

"What the hell?..."

Lucario closed his eyes immediately.

"What kind of sick people are they?" he asked out loud.

Samus turned around and left the room. Never in her life had she seen something like this. It made her think of what these robed people were really planning. Ness, Snake and Lucario followed her out. Snake shut the door behind him.

"Jesus that was messed up," he said.

Samus didn't reply. She pulled out her communicator and brought up the image of the deck of her ship. There was no one on screen.

"Merchant, where the hell are you!? We need extraction now!" she cried.

Falco's image appeared on screen.

"Hey Samus," he said.

Samus' eyes got wide.

"Falco?! What are you doing on my ship!?"

"I came here a few minutes ago to check on you guys. The only one I found was this creepy guy in blue who was rummaging through your underwear drawer, but I took care of him so you don't have to worry."

Snake laughed at this and Samus' face turned pitch red, though the others couldn't see it because of her suit.

"Where is he?"

"He's over there in that chair. Don't worry; he won't cause you trouble anymore."

The camera turned to the merchant who was waving at the screen.

"Heh heh. No hard feelings, strangah?"

"How the hell did he get in my room?!"

"I'm not sure, but judging from the charred pieces of metal at the door, I'd say he used one of Snake's explosives."

"Why that son of a bitch! I don't care who the hell he is I'll kill him!" shouted Snake.

Samus got back on track.

"Falco, we need you to come pick us up. You have our coordinates from my Varia suit. Meet us at the surface in an hour."

"Copy that. Wait, we shouldn't wait that long!"

"What?"

"I just got word that this place is going to blow in less than 3 hours!"

"3 hours?! Are you sure?!"

"Positive. I don't know what happened but that missile will be arriving here sooner than we thought. You guys got to get out of there now!"

"Uh yeah. Well, um... I'll hook up with you later. We just have to find a way back to the surface. Damn, 3 hours..."

"Okay, see you then. Hurry up."

"Gotcha." Samus turned off her communication device and the other smashers around her just stared.

"3 hours..." repeated Ness.

"That's not a lot of time. We have to leave. Now."

They all nodded heads and ran down the hallway.

The timer was ticking. Soon, the events that occurred 10 years ago would repeat itself. The city would be destroyed. The virus would spread across the country and infect every single living thing. Our heroes had fought bravely. They were tired of running away. They would destroy the virus and save mankind, but only if they put their differences aside and fight as a team. It was now time to take a stand. To fight for what is right. To fight for justice. And to prove to the darkness that once and for all, good conquers evil.

The truth has finally been revealed.