Authors notes: 2018, This chapter is updated and reworked. Longer than before and maybe explaining a little bit more. I hope you like it!
He was sitting against the metal wall while he looked down at his pulsating slimy clawed arm, the electricity throbbing with his heart as he began to sweat due of his increasing body temperature. He couldn`t think clearly because of the mutation as it slowly reached his brain, crawling up his veins and arteries like tiny spiders. He looked away from his arm, glancing at his left shoulder as he noticed the B.S.A.A. badge attached tot he soft bloodied fabric. He frowned, only able to see through the still hazel colored left eye since the right one was a ghostly white, and gave it a saddened look.
I can`t do this anymore... I'll soon turn into one of those ugly and slimy things, then I'll lose my control and god knows what I do then…No, I can`t let this happen. There`s no hope for me, no cure, nobody can fix me or help me out of this shit. I`ve joined the B.S.A.A. in order to eliminate these biological threats, to fight against the bioterrorists, to fight against the war, against the death of countless innocent people, to prevent viruses spreading throughrough the world... I spent my whole life in the alliance to avoid these outbreaks… to save the world… to cover my comrades…
He looked up at Chris, who was trying to open the door of the escape pod, and he frowned, I`m sorry, Captain, but you have a future,your new Team will be needed by the world. You are the legendary Chris Redfield and you are the only one that is able to continue this fight that probably will never end, he thought and grabbed the patch with his still human left hand.
A shrill and short beeping sound was heard when the door of the escape pod opened, waiting for someone or something to get in. Chris bumped his fist against the wall in excitement after which he turned to Piers, bending over at him with an outstretched hand.
"Come on, Piers. We`re gettin` out of here," he said.
Piers hesitated for a moment, staring at Chris` hand, then he closed his mouth and grabbed his hand with his gloved human left and let Chris pull him to his feet. They both first struggled a few meters towards the opened door as Piers took a step back, pulling his hand out of Chris` grip, his body shaking slightly.
Chris almost lost his balance, but steadied himself as he looked at the badge Piers had left in his hand. His mouth was open while he gave Piers a quick disbelieving look as he noticed Piers` attempt to push him into the pod. Chris Redfield wasn`t the heroic Captain which everyone respected for nothing. He reacted quickly, too fast for Piers, grabbing his hand immediately as Piers touched his chest with his palm in order to push him hard into the pod.
He tightened his grip and pulled Piers with him into the pod as the other pushed hard. They both fell to the ground with two loud thuds. Piers` body was stunned by the action, not knowing what had happened as he landed on top of his Captain, his eyes half closed as Chris kicked the button to close the door. Piers` eyes shot open when he heard the noise of the door closing.
Quickly, he tried to get up before it was too late, but Chris` grip on his human hand was too strong and in the end, he couldn`t stand up in time.
The door shut right in front of his face as he stood there in front of it, stunned, in a state of disbelief, desperate and very much frustrated. Everything happened too fast for his weakened body, he didn`t even notice that Chris had pushed the button until the lights turned in red when the pod got ready to move from the corridor.
The pod trembled hard enough that Piers stumbled and balanced himself with his left hand on the wall while Chris sat up, relieved that he could save his partner from suicide. Piers winced in pain when he turned his gaze towards his Captain, his anger, frustration and despair written in his face that was partly covered in dirt.
"What... d...did...y...you ...just do?!" Piers managed to say between his pained breaths while hefelt his body falling down on the ground again once the pod was pushed into the deep dark ocean.
His back pressed against the white wall behind him. He let out a loud grunt and sat up against the wall, avoiding any phycical contact with his Captain. He could feel his skin burning from his rising body temperature, his blood pressure picking up in strenght and his hearing worsening.
Chris stood up and looked out of the large window. The ocean was dark, very dark. He frowned when he could see the underwater facility on the ocean floor. The lights fainted as more the pod started to dive to the surface.
"W...why..." Piers mumbled under his weakened breath, still shocked by the fact that Chris saved his life. His fear of mutating further and becoming a mindless monster grew greater as his body began to tremble with the intensity of his emotions and the more intense pain of his still mutating body.
Chris turned to look at him and frowned. "What? You ask me why? Piers you tried to kill yourself, god damn it! And you thought I could let it happen? Who do you think I am?!" he answered angrily. „You of all people know very wellt hat no one dies under my watch!".
"W...Why? Y...you don`t k...know w...why? H...holy...s...shit ..C...Captain, Y...you can`t save m...me anymore!" Piers said and grunted while his arm was pulsating more and with a higher frequency. His eyes wandered down, his functioning eye registering the view of his skin that was slowly pulled apart and replaced by growing and changing muscle tissue and thicker, black-blueish veins.
Chris took a step towards his partner, ignoring the mutations while opening his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but was stopped as they both heard a shattering sound from the underwater facility.
Both stopped and looked out of the window.
Haos had broken free and was swimming towards the pod with frightening speed. Chris gritted his teeth together and mumbled "Damn it!" while grabbing the gun from ist holster when the monster gripped the pod in its large hands, shaking it violently in the water.
The lights in the pod went off. The pressure oft he shaking forced Chris to clung to the cables of the ceiling while Piers steadied himself against the walls with his left arm and back, pressing his body against the wall behind him. Haos stopped shaking the pod and put its head to the window, roaring at the two small figures inside it with enormously hunger and a growing desire for revenge.
"God Damn it! When will you finally die?" Shouting was all Chris could do since he had realized that he couldn`t do anything to stop the giant mutant from attacking them. If he fired at it, the water would force its way through the holes into the pod and the pressure would shatter them it into pieces. Again the situation was too fast to react to, but this time Piers reacted faster than Chris.
Putting his mutated arm on the wall while he shouted at Chris, "Get off of the walls!" he used parts of his instincts to charge his right arm, the bubblish outgrowths between his mutated ripped muscles raising and shrinking with increased pressure and electricity. The increasing heat oft he electricity starting to burn his mutating flesh around the bubbling tissue and caused Piers to hold back a pained scream.
Chris blinked at him and quickly removed his hands from the cables, trying to steady himself with only his legs as Piers charged his remaining energy to let out a big flash through his arm which went through the wall, through the cables and through all the metallic things in the pod to the outside water, where it found its way through the giant hands of the creature to its whole body, cooking it in the water, which turned red in color.
Haos let go of the pod, wincing in pain as the electricity forced its way through its body, breaking it`s bones, burning its flesh, exploding its veins, leaving a cloud of blood flowing out of countless wounds as it began to sink to the ground. Panting heavily, Piers stopped his charging electricity, giving Chris a chance to steady himself against the wall and look out of the window at the scene in front of them.
He could see the underwater facility exploding underneath that giant thing, the pressure of the explosion sending the pod faster in the direction of the surface while it ate away the immobile body of Haos moments after the explosion.
The lights of the pod turned on again and Chris began to relax once they reached a fair distance to the life-threatening scene underneath them. Piers, letting out a breath he didn`t knew he held the whole time, leaned back on the wall, looking around the pod for a gun since he lost all his weapons in the battle against Haos in the facility. There was no way he was willing to mutate without doing something against it.
Chris sighed and attempted to walk to his partner`s side.
"Don`t c...come any c...closer!" Piers shouted at him.
Chris stopped for a moment, staring in his eyes in slight frustration. "Piers, everything will be okay, you'll be okay. Let me help you," he said calmly, trying to inch closer to the J'avo.
"D...don`t! Y...you can`t h...help me, C...Captain," his breathing quickened with every step Chris took closer to him while he could feel his heart beating faster and with much more pressure. Electricity started dancing over his ripped and bleeding skin.
"You`re in pain, let me help you, Piers" Chris continued to come closer, showing no signs of backing off.
Piers sat up quickly, pressing his body against the wall as he felt a wave of pain filling his whole body, heating the mutated arm up once again. His organs throbbed against his ribcage, the electricity covering them in a blueish light with black pulsating veins. Piers winced in pain, dropping his head on his upper chest while he could feel his mind starting to lose the battle against the virus.
He could feel the mutations within him continuing, changing everything on his inside. The look of his body was bad enough, he didn`t want to know how he looked from the inside, probably much worse since his ribs started to press themselves even more tot he outside of his body. They pressed against the wall behind him due to his flesh that couldn't grow as fast as the changing bones and organs.
Chris` despair grew by the second. He wanted to help Piers, he desperately wanted to take all the pain of his lieutenant onto himself and stop him from mutating further, "Piers, let me- "
Piers screamed out loud, falling to the ground as his arm changed further. The many outgrowths of his mutated hand fused into four digits that resembled lengthening knifes more than fingers. The swollen bloody flesh, which was covered in dark veins that went through his skin and muscles like the web of a spider, of his upper arm and forearm shrank slightly into reddish muscle while newly formed organs began to grow larger, pressing against his bones.
"PIERS!" Chris shouted, stopping in front of him, putting a hand on his shoulder as the sniper pulled it away quickly. He felt a small twinge of pain in his hand after a tiny electric impulse faded onto his skin.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Piers shouted out loud. He seemed to have gotten some strength back as he was not stuttering and trembling anymore.
Chris didn`t listen at him, not in a situation like this. He knew how Piers felt, he knew that his Lieutnant only wanted to avoid hurting his own Captain to whom he always looked up to. And he knew that he had to help him, no matter the costs. He put his hand on the throbbing shoulder, helping Piers ease into a sitting position in an attempt to make him comfortable.
Even his struggling and trembling against the help didn`t bother him. All Chris wanted to do was to listen at his heart, acting on emotion as he tried to help him, tried to show him that he wasn`t a monster or a Jàvo, that he was loved no matter how he will look like.
"Piers listen to me. You are a great man, the best soldier I ever got. I can`t let you die here!" he tried to explain, but the lieutenant didn`t listen at him as he shook his head.
"Please fucking KILL me, Chris! I`ll tear you in shreds once I am fully turned if you keep being so stubborn! Or hell, we don't even know if my body will crash this pod while growing" Piers said angrily, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"Shut up! Will you fucking listen to me! You know I can`t do it! We will make it through this! Don`t give up! These doctors oft he B.S.A.A. are specialized, they can find a cure!" Chris shouted at him.
Piers stared at him angrily, his eyes showing desperation, frustration and fear at the same time, "Stop that, Chris!" he said and clenched his eyes shut due to another wave of pain flowing through his body, wrecking it.
A cracking sound echoed through the tiny roomo oft he pod as Piers leaned forward again, tiny lines of blood dropping from his mouth and Chris realized that the cracking sounds came from his mutating bones. He could see the rips sticking out of the right side of Piers' body breaking and growing into sharper rips, pulling the veins that were connected between the rips apart. Smaller rips broked themselves free from the human ones, the blood gashing out oft he bones that started to grow in lenght. The sight alone wasn't one an usual stomach could manage without getting sick.
He didn`t know what to do. He could do nothing against the mutation, against the pain, against the desperation and fear in those hazel eyes. The three knife-like claws of the right mutated arm dug into the ground oft he pod while Piers tried to keep in control of his own body that was starting to become the body of another being. He clenched his eyes shut, squeezing one tear out of his eye.
The environment was becoming a lot brighter, they would reach the surface soon. Chris stared at the pitiful figure in front of him and grimaced because of the pain that was filling his heart. Piers` grunting and moaning became louder as his body began to change faster than before. Spikes, that pulled against the skin and muscles, slowly began to grow out of his back and with them, a large and thick dorsal fin.
He could see tears forming in that hazel eye which reflected so many mixed emotions. He could read the thoughts out of it, the fear of mutating, the fear of killing the own Captain, the desperation to keep the control oft he body that was no longer his, the anger that he wasn`t already dead, the sadness that his life would end like this, the love and respect he felt for his leader. He had given so much fort he world, fort he Team and for his Captain. He didn`t deserve the death of a monsters'.
Piers body heat increased so much that Chris could feel it burning his hand, but that didn`t keep him from giving his partner a hug. He grabbed the slightly molten remains of the vest on Piers` left side and pulled him into his huge arms, the hot skin leaving the smell of burning clothes. The molten parts oft he rubber stuck to Chris` side.
Piers was shocked and not able to react at first, his weak mind unable to realize what his Captain was doing. His pain disappeared for a moment.
Chris clenched his eyes shut as he felt his skin under his clothes begin to hurt due to the intense heat Piers' body was radiating, but he ignored it. He wanted to show his partner that he needed him, that the world needed him to stay alive. He couldn`t bear the thought of another man, his best man, dying under his watch, After Ada killed his new Team back in Lashiang, he swore to himself that nobody would die under his command again. After all, the men had died believing in him.
Not anymore, he couldn`t stand another lost life, specifically one of his best men and the most loyal soldier. The spikes along Piers' back were pulsating against the big arms, which are wrapped around the lieutenants' body. Chris let go of Piers right before the hot spikes could burn the flesh of his arms as he grabbed him by both shoulders, forcing Piers to look directly into his eyes, ignoring the burning marks of his own skin.
"We'll make it, Piers. I won`t leave you behind, I`ll never leave a man behind" he said firmly, tightening his grip on the shoulders.
Piers swallowed, his eye wandering to Chris' burned wounds, realizing that he couldn`t change Chris` mind because of his stubbornness. He nodded slightly, letting his head hang as he grabbed Chris` hands, pulling them away from his hot shoulders.
"...I heard you, Chris. Please don`t touch me again..." he murmured, wincing as the pain returned.
Chris could only look at him in sadness, trying to get his mic ready to inform HQ, but it didn`t work. He turned his back to his Lieutnant to give him some privacy. After all, there was nothing inside the pod Piers could use to finish himself off.
Piers moved a little, pulling on his trousers slightly.
"Do you...have to...urinate or what are you doing there?" Chris asked after he glanced tot he J'avo, unsure.
Piers shook his head slightly and huffed in response, freeing a growing finned reptilian tail that simply slumped onto the ground behind him.
After that he let out a relieved grunt.
Chris frowned, "We will get a cure. You know they`re already working on a cure for the C-Virus. They'll help you. Just stay in control and fight this for longer".
Piers only closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall with his left shoulder, hoping that they would reach the surface soon so that the B.S.A.A. could come to rescue Chris and to put him down before his body would finish its mutation.
Breathing was getting hard. He felt like there wasn't enough oxygen in the air, but he remained silent so Chris wouldn't notice. It was hard to once his chest started to ache.
Chris was still trying to reach HQ through his radio and a cracking sound finally came out of the earpiece. "HQ? It`s Captain Redfield of Alpha Team oft he north american branch! Please answer if you hear me!" he shouted at the microphone but didn`t get an answer. He slammed his fist against the wall beside him in frustration, still trying to contact them.
"This is Chris Redfield, calling for reinforcements! HQ, ANSWER ME!" he yelled and the cracking sounds got louder. Piers opened his eyes and looked at Chris' angry eyes. The pod began to tremble again when it reached the surface, bobbing up and down in the water. It caused Chris to grip tighter on the wall while Piers' body wagged tot he left before it could lean against the wall again.
Chris steadied himself on the wall while Piers did nothing, getting up from the ground only to sit down once again while he pushed his tail away from under his thighs and butt, having no feeling of the new growing body part.
Chris pushed himself against the door, pressing the button to open the door. When it opened, he tried once again to contact HQ.
"HQ, this is Redfield! Answer me!" he shouted.
The crackling sound changed as a male voice answered him, "Captain Redfield, this is HQ. What happened? We didn`t get any information from you".
Chris let out a relieved breath as he tightened his grip on the microphone of his earpiece, " We`ve been in trouble. We need a chopper and immediate medical attention. One man is badly injured. Hurry up and send them to the location I am sending you!"
The voice remained steady, probably because the people in HQ were well trained to keep calm. "Copy that, we`re sending you a chopper from the Chinese B.S.A.A. base, HQ out".
Chris sighed, looking around the area. The water was calm and the sun was already shining, rising from the horizon behind the unmeasureable mass of water.
Piers winced, his mutating lungs making it impossible to breath as the still wrking vitals of his body started to shut down from the lack of oxygen.
Chris noticed the faint twitching oft he tail and moved next to him, leaning over him. "What's wrong? Do you feel worse?" he asked worried and got no response, Piers didn`t even lifted his head.
He put his slightly burned hand on Piers' shoulder, gently shaking him.
"Piers, answer me. What's wrong?" he asked, fear rising in his chest when Piers closed his eyes. "PIERS!" Chris shouted at him, faces only inches apart and after he didn`t get any response he grabbed Piers by the face in an attempt to get him to respond. He gently slapped the good cheek with his palm while he tried to ignore the growing fangs that slowly started to show themselves between Piers' slightly parted lips which were covered with a mixture of greenish slime and blood.
When Piers' eyelid twitched Chris noticed that he hadn't been breathing the whole time. Panic began to rise while he quickly lay him down, keeping his mouth closed with his free palm, wiping off the dirt and slime and pressing his lips on the nose, trying to force oxygen in his lungs. It didn`t work. The chest was rising, but there was no motion oft he exposed lungs. They simply didn`t respond to the act, the electricity that was forming around his body was fading.
"NO!" Chris put a hand on Piers' mutated chest, feeling an already weakened heartbeat which got even slower with every passing moment. He looked around, trying to find an oxygen bottle and that was when he found himself staring at the large dorsal fin, that started on Piers` back and went tot he tip of the tail.
"That`s it!" Chris said loudly, grabbing Piers by his shoulders to drag him a few meters to the edge of the opened escape pod. The salt water sting as his wounded arms came into contact with it, but he continued.
"Piers, everything's going to be alright" Chris said, holding onto Piers' head and carefully guiding him into the water in hope that way he would be able to breathe. There must be a reason why Piers' lungs refused to react tot he air. Probably, they grew some sort of gills inside that filtered the water like usual gills of fishes. But that was only a guess…
At first Piers didn`t make a move and Chris' hope was fading but then his fingers and claws at the end oft he pod right underneath the chest began to twitch slightly as his back rose, the spikes moving to the left and right as he gulped in the water. He could see the Adam's apple moving up and down with each gulp Piers managed to take.
Chris watched Piers` chest falling and rising while his head was underwater and he sighed in relief while he felt his own heartbeat reaching a more usual rate. After that he let go of Piers' head and slumped beside his body, gently patting the hot skin between the spikes of his back.
"Damn it, that was close..." Chris mumbled and Piers lifted his head out of the water after his body gained a bit of strenght.
After some coughing he began to speak, "...Thank ya, Captain". He wanted to add something but he knew that Chris wouldn`t take it for good, so he kept silent.
Chris grimaced angrily, "Why didn't you told me that you couldn`t breathe anymore! Do you want to fucking kill yourself? After all I told you?".
Piers didn`t say a word and sat down on his butt, twitching as he grabbed his tail by one oft he growing spikes on its end and pulled it aside so he didn`t sit down on it. The feeling of his touch coming from the skin of his tail still irritated him. He slowly gained awareness oft he new body part which made him feel like a freak even more.
"Just fuckin` talk to me, I'm trying to say that you`re not what you think you are. You`re still my partner and help will come for us in a short while. You`ll see. Please promise me that you`ll try to survive and that you fight this Virus. You can see that you`re still in control, even after being infected for so long. We can fight this whole thing and then you'll be the next Captain of Alpha Team".
Piers turned his head to look at him, angrily. "Don`t dare to fucking retire...The world needs you, it always needed someone like you. You did so much for them and you should continue it, that`s your fate!".
Chris shook his head, "No Piers, I`m too old for this. I deserve a rest. I can`t take this anymore".
The electricity appeared again over Piers' skin as anger rose up in him.
"No Chris, you`re not too old! You`re in top shape and nobody is as good and famous as you. Nobody`s like you and no one will hold these morals like you have. Besides, nobody wants someone like me" he gestured at his mutating body, "as their Captain. There's no way that they will accept me even through they are able to cure my body".
His lungs began to burn painfully as his body demanded more water. So he went to his knees down at the surface of the saltwater, putting his fingers of his left hand together, his eyes narrowing at the sight of growing web between them as he filled his palm with water, swallowing it as if he would breathe in the air.
Chris stood up, the shadow of his body falling across Piers` sight as he leaned forward and put a hand on Piers' left shoulder, frowning.
"I`m saying this for the last time: The world needs you and you will never disobey my orders again. Did you hear me, soldier?"