Uroboros: Resident Evil V
Chapter Thirty Six: Breaking the Spell
Sheva couldn't believe what she had just seen. After falling through the broken guardrail with Jill, the young woman landed hard on her side, feeling like she had bruised her hip and maybe rolled her ankle in addition to the general soreness now overtaking her body, but then Chris came over the wall as well. Landing even harder than she had, and a lot farther away, the Agent was trying to get up, when Wesker swooped down on him like a hawk from the sky, delivering a punch that sent Chris back down… and this time he didn't get back up.
But Chris had to get back up… he was a legend within the BSAA, a damn superhero who couldn't be defeated no matter what he was up against… but he wasn't moving. From where she was, Sheva could see that the Agent was still breathing, but he was also completely unconscious, and offering no resistance at all when the blond man reached down and put him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then he smirked at the unconscious Agent before starting to turn toward the stairs, only to stop and look back after a single step forward.
"I know, I promised to take you away, didn't I?" Wesker said as his smirk got bigger. "However, I need a subject with antibodies from the Daylight Vaccine, and you just don't measure up. Jill, take your time killing this girl, I want it to hurt, and then catch up with us."
For a second it looked like a flash of red light came from under his sunglasses, and then just like he had done with the wounded Excella, the blond man carried Chris off in a blur of distorted movement. This time, however, he didn't come back, leaving the young woman alone with Jill, who looked just as hurt from the fall as she was. The blonde woman was scowling like one of the infected, looking a little dazed as she used the wall to pull herself up to her feet while Sheva did the same thing, and then Jill attacked.
The young woman avoided the first kick that came by stepping backwards, and then she managed to block the punch that followed with her arm, but not the one that came after that. Taking the blonde woman's second punch right in the cheek, Sheva stumbled, righting herself in time to duck underneath a kick that was aimed at her face, and then she went on the offensive. Coming forward with a flying knee, the young woman didn't stop there even though Jill avoided it, finally managing to land a hit when her knuckles struck right next to the blonde woman's ear, forcing her to back off.
It was a victory that was short lived, however, since Sheva kept pursuing her when she backed away, it left her wide open for Jill to spin around and kick her in the chest, knocking the young woman off her feet. As expected, the blonde woman continued the attack, so Sheva thrust her legs upward and kicked her opponent in the mouth with both feet, knocking her down as well, and now it was time to get out of there. Chris had been taken away by Wesker to who knows where, and even though she managed a few lucky hits now and then, the young woman knew that she was no match for Jill in a stand up fight, so she needed to find…
A door was what she was seeking, preferably the one she and the Agent had come through, but instead the first thing Sheva's eyes fell upon was Chris's pistol laying a short distance away on the floor where the blond man had tossed it. She didn't want to kill the blonde woman or anything like that, but she doubted that Jill would simply let her escape, so… maybe a couple shots in the legs?
Scrambling to her feet, and limping a bit as she ran across the main hall, the young woman sprinted with what remained of her strength toward the fallen weapon, with her opponent's pursuing footsteps close behind. Jill was rapidly gaining ground after her own recovery, so Sheva dove for it, landing on top of the pistol just as the blonde woman leapt on top of her. Wrestling for control of the situation, the young woman was unable to get the pistol before her opponent grabbed her wrists, flipping her over and then giving Sheva a hard punch across the face.
Whack! Whack! Whack! Punching the young woman in the face again and again, Jill showed no mercy as she locked her really strong hands around Sheva's throat and started to squeeze. There was no way for her to break the grip nor get enough leverage to throw the blonde woman off from where she was, so the young woman did the only thing she could, which was to reach under her back for the pistol that she was laying on. Unable to breathe from being choked, and things already starting to get dark as her strength faded, all Sheva could think of was how sorry she was as she moved the pistol underneath Jill's arms and pointed it right at the center of her chest.
Bang! The weapon went off, with the bullet putting a small hole in the blonde woman's combat suit when it struck her in the chest, but instead of blood flowing from the wound, it was blue electrical sparks. Jill gasped in reaction, trying to jump backwards to avoid another hit, but then falling over sideways while gripping her suit near the wound as if she were in pain. The sparking continued as Sheva used this distraction to scoot away from her opponent, accompanied by a strange mechanical sound that for a moment made the young woman afraid that she was fighting some kind of robot… but then Jill let out an agonized cry as she pulled open the very top of her suit.
"Holy shit." Sheva whispered in Swahili, keeping the pistol aimed at the blonde woman. "What the fuck is that?"
Because of how hard she was pulling on the material, the zipper on Jill's combat suit came down low enough to reveal most of her cleavage, as well as a strange metallic device that almost looked like an insect. With silver legs and frame, the main body of the insect-device was a faded red color like a jewel, and this was where the sparking and mechanical sound came from, as it appeared that Sheva's bullet had damaged the main body. The whole thing was just sitting there just above her breasts, with the ends of the legs buried into her skin so that they could be seen protruding as they spread out, like this device was… imbedded into her?
Jill screamed while clawing at the device, flopping around like a fish for a second, but then snarling again, before jumping up and starting to run toward Sheva. The young woman was about to pull the trigger again, when the blonde woman suddenly stopped in her tracks, screaming again while trying to grab onto the device… but then growling and stepping forward… only to stop again. It was like her opponent was suddenly locked in a battle with herself, as if part of her was still trying to kill the young woman, while another part was obsessed with removing that device.
"What is that?" Sheva asked, pointing at it while keeping the pistol aimed with her other hand. "What is that thing there? Is it hurting you?"
"He… help!" Jill struggled to yell loudly as more sparks flew from the device. "O… off!"
With an angry growl, the blonde woman started forward, suddenly screaming again as she stumbled sideways, falling to her hands and knees. She pulled at it, clawing at her own skin until she started bleeding, continuing to call for help while awkwardly crawling toward where Sheva was seated up against the nearby wall. Jill was crying, tears running down her face while she struggled to speak, and the young woman was just starting to lower her weapon in order to help her, when that angry scowl reappeared as the blonde woman drew her own pistol.
Bang! Bang! Bang! With one bullet that went wild and his her in the shoulder, the other two struck the device, making black smoke pour from within its now partially shattered frame. During all of this, Sheva was terrified that Jill would kill her or that she would be forced to kill Jill, but maybe there was another option. Dropping her pistol, the young woman suddenly lunged forward the next time her opponent started screaming, using the distraction to tackle her onto the floor, before grabbing onto the insect-like device.
Wrapping her fingers around the exposed parts of its legs on both sides, Sheva used her small size and flexibility to bend her legs upward, planting them into the blonde woman's stomach and solar plexus while pulling with all her strength. It was a good thing that Jill had dropped her pistol when she was tackled, because at that moment the device started to spark even more rapidly, and Jill grabbed one of the young woman's legs to try and break her hold. Thanks to the wound in her shoulder, her opponent's strength wasn't as high as usual, allowing Sheva to hold on as the damaged device started to give.
"It's almost out, Jill!" She yelled, trying to ignore the pain of the blonde woman's fingers digging into her ankle. "Let go of me! Damn it, we need to work together!"
A couple centimeters at a time, the insect-like legs of the device were losing their hold, causing blood to run from the areas where they had inserted themselves into Jill's skin each time that ground was gained. It was tough, though, like this thing didn't want to let her go, but slowly… eventually… it came out. Flung away from Jill because of how hard her feet were pushing, Sheva landed on the floor while the device caught fire, making her throw it away once her fingers were burned a little.
As for Jill, she shrieked at the top of her lungs while collapsing onto her back on the floor, where she began to convulse. This seizure stopped after about a minute, ending with the blonde woman passing out, and now that her enemy was neutralized, Sheva could go after Chris. Among the items that had fallen out of her partner's pouches, was the satellite phone, which the young woman was going to use to call for extraction for Jill as soon as she got above ground, so she crawled across the floor, heading up the back stairs and going around the wall like Wesker had done while carrying both Excella and Chris… only to be blinded by sunlight after pushing open one door.
It was late afternoon now, judging by how far the sun had moved since she and Chris entered the cave in Irving's boat, and once her eyes adjusted, the young woman saw that she was no longer wandering through the wilderness of the marshlands. Instead, the place down at the bottom of a long metal staircase looked like the functioning port of a small city, complete with cargo containers, cranes and rigging, and a very large ship that was built for hauling cargo… one that was just starting to leave port as its fog horn blasted across the sky.
Now that the fight was over, Sheva was starting to realize how tired she was, struggling to use the speed dial function to contact Headquarters, while her eyes became heavy… and her whole body became warm just before she passed out right there in the doorway… lying face down on the concrete while the cargo ship started to leave port.