Luis kept an arm around Aurelleah waist to steady her as they made their way after Leon. The shock had been a bad one, but not too bad. She'd explained to him that it hadn't really been much worse than when she'd accidentally grabbed an electric cattle fence as a child. She'd flown back six feet like the kid from Jurassic Park as she'd described it. For once, a cultural reference that he actually understood. Even he had seen Jurassic Park, and he'd been raised in the seventeenth century.
Still, she was a bit wobbly on her feet. Thankfully there didn't seem to be any enemies in this area, as evidenced by the lack of corpses along the way. They made their way to a room with some chain link fence and an elevator, but before they could call for it, they heard a gunshot.
Luis froze, finger near the call button, and pulled out his rifle. That gun had not been Leon's. He could tell by the sound. It had a silencer equipped.
From across the room, Leon's voice called out, "Ada!"
Another voice rumbled, "Well if it isn't the bitch in the red dress."
"Looks like we have the upper hand," came the calm and measured reply. Ada indeed.
Luis quickly processed this, trying to decide how to proceed. Sounded like Leon had landed himself in a confrontation of some kind. This might merit a stealthier approach. "Wait here," Luis whispered, gesturing for Aurelleah to hide behind a stack of crates near the elevator. There was a maintenance ladder on the outside of it he could take to get up there silently.
Aurelleah ducked down behind the crates, he took to the ladder, and when he mounted the platform, he saw something unnerving.
He ducked around into the elevator as a man in a red beret shot up from the floor, flying at least fifteen or twenty feet into the air to land on a catwalk. Luis didn't need a fancy scanner to know Plaga-enhanced strength when he saw it – they were dealing with yet another Dominant carrier. Not good.
But the man didn't seem interested in combat. Perhaps they'd been late to the party, and he'd already exhausted himself on Leon. He drew no gun or weapon, and before departing he simply said, "You may be able to prolong your life, but it's not like you can escape your inevitable death, is it?"
He left through a set of doors at the end of the catwalk. Luis waited a moment to see if he'd return. When he didn't, he went over to the ladder, waved for Aurelleah to come on up, and listened as Leon's conversation with Ada concluded.
"You knew each other?" Ada asked.
"More or less," Leon replied, which really caught Luis's interest. Sounded like they had a new character in this little play of theirs. "Maybe it's about time you told me the reason why you're here?"
He sounded exasperated, and Luis couldn't hide a grin of amusement as Ada replied, "Maybe some other time."
Sounded like she was also leaving. As it happened, her leave was a short one, and it brought her up onto his level just as Aurelleah reached it herself. The Asian woman spotted them and changed course, walking seductively over to him.
He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow inquisitively. He was inclined to be somewhat cautious around the woman. Aurelleah, however, seemed happy to see her. "Hi Ada."
"Hi there," she replied kindly enough. "Say, hawkeye – mind if I borrow your rifle for a moment? I swear I'll give it right back."
His other eyebrow went up at her audacious ask. "Amiga, you want me to just give you my finest gun? I kind of need this. We're not exactly up to our necks in high-grade weaponry, after all."
"Luis, that you?" Leon called from the ground floor.
"Sí, be down in a minute," he yelled back.
Ada pouted at him, quirking a hip in a downright tantalizing way and batting her dark, soft eyelashes at him.
Argh, women. He capitulated. "Fine. But if you don't give it right back, I swear I'm going to shoot you with my other gun."
She just smiled and held out a hand as he unstrapped it from his back and passed it over.
As soon as she had it she aimed her hookshot at the ceiling and let fly.
"Ay!" Luis protested, but before he could finish his protest she was soaring away towards a catwalk opposite the one Krauser had taken. Luis stared after her, considered firing at her before she disappeared, but decided against it. Even if he could hit her – he thought he could, but the distance was really pushing it – he didn't think he'd be able to bring himself to, even if she was stealing his rifle. She'd saved Aurelleah's life, after all. His little Valkyrie would be devastated if he shot her heroine.
Well, hopefully she hadn't been lying when she'd said she only wanted to borrow it. If they ran into any more Regenerators and he didn't have that thing, they were in for a world of hurt.
He went over to Leon's side of the room. He was down one level, picking up and inspecting a knife. Long, heavy, silvery and sharp. It was a nice knife.
Luis spotted some stairs and slid down them, offering Aurelleah a hand as she dismounted after him. "Hey, Leon, what happened?" He asked.
Leon was staring at the knife with a very serious expression. "Ran into an old friend of mine," he replied.
Aurelleah was looking around worriedly. "Was it the man in the red beret?" She asked.
"Yeah. Ex-U.S. military. His name is Jack Krauser."
Luis bristled at this information. Aurelleah's kidnapper, the man who still seemed to have an interest in capturing her, was nearby and in possession of a Dominant Plaga. "Leon. That man, the way he jumped like that—"
"Dominant Plaga?" Leon guessed.
Luis clicked his tongue. "Hey, you have been paying attention. Sí," he said as Leon stuck his tongue out at him. "That's the kind of strength you can expect from a matured Dominant. It's highly formidable." His brow furrowed as he noticed the cut on Leon's face. "Did you fight the guy?"
"Yeah, knife fight. He didn't seem all that strong to me, though at one point he moved so fast I hardly even saw him…"
"Maybe he wanted to see if he could beat you without his Plaga?" Aurelleah suggested.
Leon nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think that's likely. You see, we used to be comrades. Went on a major mission together to Venezuela, fought some B.O.W.s. He ended up crippled, and just a few months after that he died in a plane crash. Supposedly," he added. "But it looks like, based on what he said, he went and tracked down the very guys we were working against on our mission. He's teamed up with Umbrella."
"But he used to be a friend of yours?" Aurelleah asked. She sounded perturbed by this information.
"Yeah," Leon said, and for a moment Luis saw a flicker of real distress in his eyes. "I just don't get why…"
A rifle shot went off above them, on the roof. A moment later another one went off. Then there was silence.
Leon looked at him disapprovingly. "Man, don't give that woman anything. Definitely not your gun. She's not the most trustworthy of people."
Aurelleah looked perplexed by this. "She seems really cool to me."
Leon winced. He passed the knife he'd picked up to Luis. He took it, but said, "Eh, not really my style. You're welcome to hang onto it."
"Not your style?" Leon asked, sounded mildly offended. He pulled out his own knife and Luis saw with some amusement that the two were nearly the same make. "It's a great knife, what's wrong with it?"
Luis shook his head. "Bad for throwing. Not aerodynamic at all."
Leon snorted. "Bullshit. You just don't know how to throw."
He took the knife back, then quick as a snake whipped around and sent it flying straight at a small can sitting on a crate some ten feet away.
The knife sank into it and sparked on the metal. Turned out the can was full of gasoline, and the spark ignited it. It exploded, and they all covered their faces and wheeled away from the minor combustion.
Luis blinked open his eyes and heard a whistle above him. He looked up – and yelped, clumsily grabbing his rifle before it could clock him. Ada was looking down at them, shaking her head at the slightly dazed trio, clearly not impressed by their antics. Luis swore he saw her mouth boys before drawing her hookshot again and taking off once more.
Leon watched her go, looking mildly ruffled. As Luis strapped his rifle back into its holster, his American friend said, "Well, at least you got your gun back."
"See? She's cool!"
Leon opened his mouth to correct Aurelleah, realized he was fighting a losing battle, and said, "Come on, we need to get moving. Let's go."
Luis looked around, frowning. He'd expressed confidence that he could guide them to the machine fairly easily, but honestly, wasn't familiar with this area at all. He supposed he'd just pick whichever door kept them heading west and go with it, but he didn't like going into anything blind. There were a few unpleasant surprises lurking here and there that could cause an intruder serious trouble if one was not prepared for them.
Well, nothing for it. He picked the west-facing door.
They went down a few halls, and Luis decided he like this route. No enemies so far. Then they reached something very…interesting.
It was a well-lit, modern looking hallway, all clean white flooring and bright lighting, and it put his hackles up at once. There weren't a ton of areas, either here or on the mainland, that boasted anything like a modern touch. Leon clearly thought this odd, too, and stopped before entering, looking back at him questioningly. Luis only shrugged.
Leon took a moment to scan the hall thoroughly before saying, "I'll check it out. Stay here."
He stepped in, moving very slowly, and about three feet he triggered the trap. There were grooves all along the wall, and a stream of devices slid down them from above, flicking on when they got in range.
Aurelleah sucked in a short, sharp breath as a set of lasers spanned the hall. Thankfully there were only four of them. They began rotating in slow configurations around the perimeter. The threat was minimized by their movement pattern, though – they moved only left and right and up and down, not towards or away from Leon. He could tackle this at his own pace.
He did so, taking several moments to recognize the pattern before skipping easily through a gap. It wasn't tough – even Ashley could have managed it. The lasers shut off behind him.
Leon advanced. A few feet later, another set came on, this time comprised of six moving lasers. Tougher, but Leon once again gauged the pattern and ducked through the largest gap when it became available. As before, the lasers shut off when he stepped through. Hopefully Leon would be able to disable all the traps in this hall and allow the pair of them to pass through unaccosted in his wake.
He stepped forward again, and the lasers came on at the end of the hall, another line of six. This time, however, they were moving in his direction, and at no slow pace either.
Leon calmly watched them approach, jogging forward at the last second and launching himself through a small gap in the middle. He cleared it handily, and the lasers flicked off once he was past. Not bad.
A few more feet, and a whole slew of the laser projectors slid down from the ceiling, another half dozen. But this time they were spaced forward-backward as well as up and down, spanning a good seven-foot portion of the hall. They sparked for several seconds before activating, and as they did, Leon stepped back several feet.
Luis thought that this would be another stationary one. They would be difficult to navigate even if they weren't moving. But as soon as they came on, they began flying at Leon, and Luis sucked in a deep breath. He fully expected Leon to run away, retreat back to safety on their end, but instead the man crouched, tensed, and as they came at him, backflipped.
Aurelleah shrieked in alarm as Leon was enveloped in a forest of lasers. Even Luis had to hold back a shout, but to his amazement, Leon was not harmed. Luis couldn't even define the movements used, only that he'd somehow kept his body curved and mobile in midair to avoid both the floor beams and the mid-height beams before slapping to the ground to dodge the last few.
His hands had clenched hard in anticipation of Leon being minced, nails digging into his palms. He forced them to relax as Leon finally reached the door and examined the console at the end of it, which looked to disable the security system. The light on it was red, and there was a button beside it.
Leon punched the button, but it didn't disable the system. Another set of lasers flicked on, this one on their end of the hall. It consisted of a solid dozen red beams, left-right and diagonal facing, slowly moving and shifting as they began traveling towards Leon. They extended eight feet up, almost to the roof of the hall.
"Leon!" He yelled in warning, but Leon had already spotted them. Luis didn't see any way for Leon to dodge this. There was no gap, absolutely none, that was large enough for him to squeeze through. It was coming at him from the exit and Leon was trapped against a dead end.
Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, nonono…
Aurelleah voiced his inner dialogue, gasping, "No!" as Leon moved to confront the last security measure. He ran forward, and Luis thought he was insane. There was no gap. What could he possibly be doing?
But he stopped halfway down the hall, just before meeting the wall, and turned to sprint back towards the end of the corridor again, the lasers hot on his tail.
He reached the end of the corridor. Through the red haze, Luis saw him jump up, foot catching the handle of the door, and propel himself into a smooth backflip over the wall of lasers. He slipped his whole body through the two-foot gap between the top of the red wall and the ceiling, tucked as he fell, and landed crouched on his feet as the killing grid reached the end and shut off.
The light on the console turned green. The system, it seemed, was disabled.
He motioned for Aurelleah to wait, so he could make sure it was safe, but she shot past him, running at Leon as he stood back up. She skidded to a halt before tackling him and started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh," she gushed. "That was amazing. That was so cool! How did you do that?!"
Leon, for his part, looked completely unmoved. He tossed his head casually and said, "Laser security training. These systems pop up here and there in my line of work, so we learn how to deal with them. The training lasers aren't lethal, but they hurt like sin – great encouragement to learn fast."
Aurelleah was positively shaking with reaction to Leon's smoothly evaded near-death experience. She looked up at Luis. "That was so cool," she reiterated. "Wasn't that the coolest thing ever?"
Luis groaned. The second she'd looked away, Leon's expression had lapsed into a self-satisfied, almost boyish smile, which he had to turn away to hide as Aurelleah turned back to the door.
As they entered the next room Luis glanced at Leon and mouthed, show off, over Aurelleah's head. Leon coughed lightly, which Luis suspected was a poorly-suppressed laugh.
They all looked quizzically around this room. It was red, metallic, and seemed to boast absolutely nothing but a nice leather throne with the cult's insignia above it. And it really was a throne, and not just a chair; there was too much pomp and circumstance for it to be anything else.
As they stepped in, Leon's radio went off. He picked it up. It was Saddler.
"I see you've found my throne room. Feel free to enjoy the seat, it's very comfortable."
Leon began looking covertly around the room, checking for cameras, but none of them saw anything. "Maybe I will," he said. "On the other hand, sitting around won't help me catch you, so maybe I'll just pass."
Saddler chuckled. "As you please. By the by, did you enjoy the reunion with your old friend?"
Leon's reply was flippant. "As a matter of fact, I did."
"Wonderful," Saddler gushed. "I wouldn't want my special guests on the island feeling…unattended."
"Guess I'm supposed to thank you, right?" Leon asked sarcastically.
"Ah!" Saddler exclaimed, and as he did so, the door to the hallway slammed shut abruptly. Going by the sound it made, it had also locked. "Since you're here, why don't I introduce you to 'it'! 'It' should keep you busy."
"It?" Aurelleah interjected. "I loved that movie!"
Saddler faltered in his reply. "I…eh? What was that?"
"It!" She repeated. "You know, the shape-shifting alien monster clown? Pennywise? It!"
Yet another reference Luis did not recognize. Sometimes it was rough, not having grown up in the modern world. Leon seemed to know what she was talking about, though, because he was now struggling to keep a grin off of his face.
Saddler sounded wrong-footed. "I don't…I'm not…are you mocking me? Is she mocking me?"
Leon and Luis both barked out a short laugh, and Saddler let out a hiss of irritation. "Never you mind. My pet will make short work of you."
Luis was fairly certain he knew which one Saddler was talking about, and he realized that he'd led them in the worst possible direction, but given all they'd managed so far, he saw no reason why they should not be able to manage this foul little beasty.
He also knew why Saddler was not referring to it by name. "Let me guess, you forgot what it's called again, didn't you?"
Saddler spat in disgust, and Leon snickered even more. "Senior moment, perhaps?"
Aurelleah joined in the laughter, and finally Saddler gave up. "I hope you all die painfully."
Beep!
They all took a moment to let the cheer peter off. When it did, Luis wiped his eyes and said, "Alright, good news, bad news. The good news is that this route will cut a fair bit off our trip, and it only has one enemy."
"Let me guess," Leon said. "The bad news is that it's a big, strong, fast enemy?"
Luis pulled out a cigarette and held a hand out to Aurelleah for the lighter. "Yeah. Another one of my failed experiments. It won't listen to anyone, so Saddler keeps it chained up in the basement."
"Guy's kind of a dick to his pets," Leon said as Luis lit up and took a long drag. He nodded his agreement. Saddler really didn't have much respect for the organisms in his care.
"Mind if I have a snack?" Aurelleah asked. "I'm getting really hungry again."
Luis nodded and shifted the pack off his back. Leon began pulling out the last of their rations, doling them out and chowing down on some himself. He and Luis ate standing up, though Aurelleah sat down on the floor to catch a moment of rest. None of them wanted to try out the throne.
They didn't stop more than five minutes, and none of them ate much. There wasn't much to eat, but even if there had been, it was unwise to stuff oneself before a big fight. They walked over to the throne, inspected it, and discovered a door behind it.
Opening it revealed an end to the modern hallways. They were back underground proper, a simple metal stairway leading down to a roughly hewn stone cave. There was lighting along the wall powered by thick, clumsily affixed cables that led back to Saddler's throne room, but it wasn't particularly strong lighting.
Leon turned his light up to full and asked, "Novistadors?"
Luis shook his head. "If there were any in here, they've all been killed and no doubt eaten. It, as Saddler is so fond of calling it, is not big on sharing its living space."
"So what is it?" Leon asked. "Not a shape-shifting alien clown, I'm sure."
"You'll really have to familiarize me with all these cultural references when we get home, amigos. No, it is a very large, four-legged, two-armed beast. It can see in the dark, so blinding it might be effective. It's not armored, but its entire body is an extension of the Plaga, so it will take a lot of damage before dropping. Honestly, I'd recommend just wailing away on it with all we have until it dies. But if possible, let's try to sneak through without bothering it at all."
Leon looked briefly worried. "It'll focus Elleah, won't it? Because of Saddler's orders?"
Luis shook his head. "I doubt it. Again, it's defective. It might have heard Saddler's order, but it won't be at all driven to follow it. Still, Aurelleah, keep close to us and do what you can to avoid the thing."
She nodded. "I'll be careful."
She took up a position right next to him as Leon started onwards. Before following, she quickly slipped an arm around his waist and gave him a quick, sideways hug.
Luis appreciated this. The cave was cold, and it lent him a little warmth, damp from the rain though she still was. He reciprocated it, leaning down to add a quick kiss to the mix.
He also slipped a hand around to cop a good feel. She jumped slightly and blushed as his hand caressed one of her more sensitive areas through her clothing, but she tightened the hug before running ahead after Leon.
Luis chortled. Still so shy…but receptive. Always receptive. He didn't think it would take long to get her into bed with him, once they were home safe and sound.
They began making their way through the cave system. It started very narrow but widened out as they went along. He wouldn't bothering explaining the background of this cave – that it had been designed for storage purposes, even had a suspended rig series installed over the main chasm down here. Once Luis created the U-3 and lost control of it, Saddler ended up repurposing it as a holding pen for the thing. A foolish idea, Luis though, as the supplies down here were now effectively inaccessible. But hey – he was the boss.
They crept through the caves quietly, Leon turning his light down a bit when they entered larger chambers, Luis keeping to the front to guide them. So far, so good. Maybe it was asleep.
They reached the main chamber, and here Luis was faced with a choice. If he led them through the rig, it would take them a while to navigate it. Furthermore, they would be trapped in a confined space with many corners and opportunities for ambush. They would have the opportunity to lock the U-3 out of it to keep it off them if it showed up at the wrong time, though. By contrast, if they took the cable-car across the chasm it would be faster and easier, but if the mutant woke up while they were traversing it, they would be sitting ducks suspended above a deadly chasm.
Yeah, cable car was too dangerous. Rig it was.
He led them over to the rig entrance, all the while looking around for U-3. He didn't see a single trace of it. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
They stepped onto the rig. The entrance was just barely big enough for U-3 to squeeze in if it were so inclined, but if there was one thing Luis remembered from his experimentation on the thing it was that it hated – absolutely hated – confined spaces. It would not get on the rig unless it had a very good reason to.
Well, food was always a good reason, but he wasn't going to give it the chance. He quietly pulled the door to the rig closed and lowered the bar over it, locking the fiend out in case it should awake and decide to pursue them. That done, he nodded in the direction they needed to go. Each rig was divvied up into segments. Access to each rig was granted by a console opposite each door. An unnecessarily complicated addition, but it didn't matter. The whole thing was unlocked, and there wasn't—
A viciously loud alarm sounded throughout the chamber. The green lights that signified access to each segment turned red, and Saddler's voice came on over a loudspeaker.
"Hahahahaha! You want to sneak past your creation while it sleeps, Doctor Sera? For shame! Awake, O ruthless one! Go and greet your father!"
"He still can't remember it's name," Luis muttered disgustedly. "It's not even that hard. U-3 – is that hard? It's two characters long."
"No time," Leon said, and began scanning the rig. It was a maze of boxes. "Where to?"
Luis took off down one row. They needed to get out of here before—
"Luis, move!"
He felt Leon plow into him from behind, shoving him several feet forward, and a moment later he felt a rush of air as his creation crashed down right behind them. He turned to see U-3 towering over them. It must have been sleeping in the rig. Looked like it had gotten over its disdain of confined spaces.
It was significantly more grotesque than it had been the last time he'd seen it. Saddler must have been feeding it, because it had grown fat and flabby in pouches all along its underbelly. Other than that, it was largely the same, with one snaking, tentacled arm and one heavily clawed reptilian one. Its legs were also reptilian. It was perhaps twenty feet long from tip to tail, and it was about nine feet tall. It had a pair of mandibles and a long, thick, powerful tongue. It was hairless. Its eyes glowed white with black, snake-slit pupils.
It reared back and roared at them, furious that they had invaded its lair. Leon and Luis both drew their weapons.
Neither of them needed to voice their concern. Aurelleah was behind the beast, and if it turned, she'd be cornered against the locked door. To that effect, they both stood their ground and started unloading on it. With luck, it would take the hint and get lost.
Leon used his shotgun to spray its face while Luis used his rifle to start drilling into its chest. It took a step back as they launched their attack, and Luis could see anger and surprise in its largely human face. It wasn't used to being opposed. In fact, as far as Luis knew, it had never been attacked once in its life.
The assault had the desires effect. It snarled and jumped back up to scrabble over the crates it had been lurking behind, vanishing from their sight.
Aurelleah had stepped back to press herself silently against the far wall, and now ran over to join them. Luis didn't bother explaining the rig layout. All he said was, "Follow me."
They ran through the maze of crates to the control panel at the end. He pressed a few buttons, but when he got to the option to unlock the rig, he saw that Saddler had somehow managed to monkey with it.
"Shit," he said. "If I unlock the rig, it'll initiate the drop sequence."
"Drop sequence?" Leon asked.
"The rig will fall. We'll only have thirty seconds to get to the next section."
"Shit," Leon agreed. "Well, we can't really stay here, can we?"
Luis considered. They could go back to the exit and fight the thing on this side of the chasm. Maybe—
The rig shuddered, then. He looked up to the gridded ceiling – the whole thing was mesh, see through – and saw that U-3 had slunk outside. It was near the entrance, glaring down at them from outside, and as he watched, it grabbed onto one of the support cables…and ripped it clean apart.
The rig shuddered again, metal groaning, and Luis slammed his hand down on the unlock button. U-3 was watching the entrance. It would rush them if they tried to leave, and if it got one more cable broken, they'd be crushed by cargo as the whole rig slanted heavily to one side.
"Run," he said, and began sprinting through the maze to the exit. It was a simple maze, and the one dead-end they hit was easy to correct. He could feel U-3 walking calmly over to the last of the three cables on this side of the platform, and any moment now…
There. The door to the next rig. He threw it open, and saw that the connections between the two platforms was badly warped. The rig was off-balance, and as they all stepped through, the last cable snapped.
They all turned to watch as the entire rig wrenched free of its mooring to this one and swung down, now suspended only on one side. The cargo inside all fell against the bottom as it hit, and their momentum caused the last three cables suspending it from the roof gave up the ghost. They snapped, sending the giant metal box dropping into the black depths.
"Woah," Aurelleah said. "Wait, where's—"
She jumped back with a scream as U-3 popped up from below like a mutant jack-in-the-box. It began scrambling into the entrance, and Leon and Luis both started unloading on it.
It wouldn't be denied access to the rig, but it didn't like their too-warm welcoming. It slithered heavily through the entrance, then shot up the wall and vanished over a row of containment crates. It would probably come after them again in an ambush attempt, but for now they had a moment to locate the next console.
They were stuck on the rigs now, and this wasn't a good place to fight because of the close quarters, so they needed to get to the other side fast. He headed towards the next console – there were three rigs total, so two left – and went through the unlock/drop activation again.
Before he hit the button to initiate, however, he paused. Aurelleah had drawn her slingshot and nudged Leon, nodding between two crates. Luis glanced over and saw a sliver of sick, pale flesh through a small gap. It was on the other side, preparing to ambush them.
Leon pulled out his magnum and aimed it straight up. He looked at Luis, then nodded, and Luis hit the button.
The alarm sounded to let them know that death was imminent, and as it did, U-3 attacked. It jumped up on top of the crates and drew its tentacled arm back to strike, but they all dodged back and began unloading on it again. Leon's magnum was decimating, and the three shots he got off each tore out huge chunks of U-3's belly. Aurelleah aimed for its eyes, as did Luis, and together, they managed to put one of them out. It swung at them and missed, then shrieked in fury and retreated. It was really not enjoying itself.
"This thing isn't used to fighting," Leon remarked as they ran towards the next exit.
"What makes you say that?" Luis asked facetiously.
They reached the door, flung it back, and moved onto the next rig. It would be another ten seconds before it fell, and knowing that U-3 would be coming through the entrance once it did, they stood back and waited for it.
Leon reloaded his Butterfly. "It's sloppy, slow…and doesn't have a mind for strategy," he finished as the beast came in through the door, exactly as they'd expected. They all opened fire, and it only took a few hits before trundling behind cover, nearly sobbing with pain and frustration. U-3 had lived its entire life as the largest, most intimidating organism in whatever room it happened to be in. It had slaughtered countless Ganados, indifferent to the screams of their Plagas. It seemed that dealing with opponents who refused to be cowed or intimidated by it was taking a toll on it.
They ran around and looking for the next console, but Luis frowned. He knew where it should have been located, but it was totally surrounded by crates. It hadn't been blocked off, had it?
Then he spotted something as they ran past a wall of goods – a small gap in the bottom row of cargo. Luis looked at that and said, "I think that's the only way to get to the console."
Aurelleah dropped to her knees and said, "I'll get it. What do I press?"
Leon looked alarmed by this. "No way, you can't go alone. It ambushed us at the last button. It'll rip you apart."
Aurelleah looked at the tunnel, then moved aside and said, "Oh, okay, I'll let you do it. Go ahead."
Leon glared at her. The tunnel was obviously too small for him.
She rolled her eyes. "If it's over there, I'll stay in the tunnel. You two try and draw it away, okay? Luis, what do I press?"
He sighed, but fed her the instructions. She listened closely, asked for repetitions on a few of the words, then nodded. She dropped onto her belly and wriggled into the small, dark tunnel.
He and Leon stood around, trepid, and waited for an alarm or signal. They received neither. Maybe U-3 was at the tunnel entrance, keeping her pinned?
Well, they'd need to draw it away, then. Luis stepped well away from the tunnel, aimed in the direction he suspected their hunter would come from, and yelled, "Ey, ugly! You know, I've made a lot of mistakes in my time, but I've got to say, you're probably the worst. Honestly, you're flawed from the ground up. Understandable, though. To be honest, I was drunk off my ass when I designed you. Why do you think you look like…well, you know what you look like."
No strategic mind. None at all. It came up exactly where Luis had suspected it would, and he and Leon both opened fire on it. A moment later, the alarm for the rig sounded.
It turned and rushed back towards the button, and Leon bellowed, "Elleah, it's coming! Hide!"
An unnecessary warning. Aurelleah's head popped out of the tunnel seconds later, followed by a wail of frustration from U-3 as it discovered its prey had duped it.
They all sprinted for the exit. Luis threw the door open, and his stomach fell.
The bridge to the chasm edge had been destroyed. They were stuck on the rig, and it was going to drop in ten seconds.
The only thing between them and the edge were the series of cables that once held up the bridge, three on each side, perhaps five feet apart. Leon didn't hesitate. He jumped for one, used the momentum of it to swing to the next one, and Tarzan'd his way across in moments.
Seconds. Seconds. He and Aurelleah jumped onto the remaining cables just as the rig fell.
U-3 did not made it off the rig. It screamed as it plummeted into the depths, but this was a shallow consolation. Luis couldn't do what Leon had done. The cables were too thin, too far apart, and were swaying dangerously. He was stuck out there…and he wouldn't be able to hold on forever. Hell, he wouldn't even be able to hold on for long.
Aurelleah was grasping frantically at her cable, but Luis could tell that she was slipping. Her palms were probably sweaty – he knew his were – and she didn't have the upper body strength necessary to suspend her own weight for long. He couldn't reach her, though. He couldn't do anything.
It was up to Leon. "Elleah, hold on another minute!" The man yelled as he slipped his backpack off to root around in it. "I'll get'cha!"
"Hurry," she gasped, slipping another inch or two. Her feet were gripping the very bottom of the cable. If they slipped off, the loss of that little bit of friction might be enough to end her.
Luis saw that Leon had pulled out his piton cord and was busy tying it into something. Aurelleah, meanwhile, was slipping even further. He finished the knot, lifted the piton, and began whirling it around over his head. It had been fashioned into a lasso. "Elleah, try to grab onto this!"
She saw the lifeline, and watched the loop like a cat watches a hummingbird darting around overhead. She'd catch it if she could…but it would be up to Leon to aim it.
He threw, but it didn't quite reach her. The length of the piton was fine, but the throw was off. He drew it back in, and Aurelleah slipped down further. Her feet were almost off the cable now. Luis's arms, meanwhile, were burning, and he was starting to slip, too.
Leon pulled the cable back up, started whirling it with renewed vigor, and hurled it once more. This time, he hit perfectly. The noose fell into the crook of her arm, which she was able to slip through the hole. As soon as it was fastened around her arm – the right one, thankfully – Leon began tugging her towards the ledge.
"Grab onto the next cable," he called. She drew close to it, reached out…
And her grip failed.
She dropped. Leon stepped back and heaved on the piton. She screamed and grabbed it with both hands, and the noose tightened around her upper arm as the piton went taut. She was secure, but she then proceeded to swing nearly ten feet straight into a wall of unyielding stone.
Luis cringed as she smacked into it with an agonizing, meaty thud. She'd tucked her head in and turned sideways to it, so she hadn't been knocked out, but she cried out in unmistakable pain when she connected. God, that had to have hurt.
Leon began heaving on the cord to drag her up. She'd been stunned by the impact and was, for several seconds, unable to do more than hold onto the cord, scraping along the wall as Leon dragged her up it; but this was clearly painful enough to bring her back to herself, and she began using her feet to rappel upwards. Thank God, Leon managed to get her over the ledge.
He ran over and unlooped the cord from her arm, loosening the lasso for reuse, and Luis was very glad for his haste. He wasn't going to last much longer.
Aurelleah was lying on the ground, curled up, recovering, but she rolled over to watch as Leon wound up and threw the noose again. His aim was good on the first try this time, and Luis had enough strength to let go and grab the safety cord with one hand without letting himself fall. He got his arm through the noose, and once it was secure, Leon began pulling him towards the next cable.
Luis grabbed hold of this one and prepared to swing to the next. He couldn't afford to let go of the cables and rely only on the piton – if he fell the way Aurelleah had, Leon would have to let go of him or they'd both be yanked into the chasm. The man was strong, but not even he could handle two hundred pounds under the momentum of a fall.
Just as he swung towards the next cable, he heard a really unpleasant sound. A furious roar echoing up from the depths. U-3, it seemed, was still very much alive.
Aurelleah forced herself to her feet and went over to the edge. She looked down, her eyes widened, and she looked up at him and said, "It's crawling up the cliff. Hurry."
Luis looked down, then back up, and began working himself up for the last swing. He'd seen the massive, pale form shooting up the edge with vicious speed. It would be on them in moments.
He grabbed hold of the last cable, let go of the middle one, and swung. As he did, Leon reeled him in, and Aurelleah stood at the ready to catch him. He leapt for the edge at the end of his arc, and just managed to hook his arms over the side.
Aurelleah grabbed him and started pulling him up, Leon joining her a moment later, and they managed to get him up just as their foe roared out its fury some ten feet down the cliff.
No time for rest, which was unfortunate. Luis's arms were tired, and Leon's were probably exhausted. Aurelleah's right side was battered and scraped, and it was entirely possible – likely, even – that she had a broken bone or at least minor fracture somewhere. They were not in a good place.
They turned and sprinted for the next cave. There were a few walls and partitions in this area. If they could get behind one, it might be enough to stop U-3 – or at least slow it down enough for some recovery time.
U-3 gained the ledge, but didn't come straight after them. Luis heard some hideous, fleshy noises coming from the thing and didn't want to know what was happening to it. Knowing the kinds of shit las Plagas could pull, it was probably not good news for them. But it was giving them a few extra seconds, so he'd take it.
Yes. There was a barred iron partition at the end of this tunnel. Aurelleah was barely managing a quick trot in her injured state, and Leon grabbed her and forced her into a faster pace as U-3 resumed the chase. It was insanely fast on its feet, and Luis heard it cover the forty or so feet they'd put between each other in a matter of seconds. It was right behind them, now.
They made it. They shot across the groove in the floor, Luis spotted the lever, and heaved on it just as he saw his creation's pale form lunging for them. The bars slammed down, blocking the two colossal, pincer-like blades that had sprouted from a structure on U-3's back.
They backed away from the bars. U-3 crouched on the other side, growling wetly at them through the new mouth it had sprouted. Its upper body was slumped forward, allowing its new form to take precedence. It was the Plaga, erupted and ready to fight to preserve its host. It had sprouted from U-3's spine, extended about seven feet out, and was as thick as a man's torso. It had a gruesome, fanged maw as well as two pincer-like arms, each four feet in length and lethally sharp. Its posture suggested extreme aggression, and Luis suspected that it had completely taken over U-3's body functions upon realizing that the creature it was bound to was being thwarted by its own prey and overcome by its own insecurities.
It roared at them…then curled up and thrust its head into the earth. Dirt began flying around in huge, grainy waves. It was digging.
Luis hissed. The earth here was significantly softer than it was in other parts of the cave, soil instead of stone, and the creature would be able to force itself under the partition within the minute. "Shoot the thing," he told Leon. Leon nodded and pulled his Butterfly back out. He had to be careful to aim between the bars and to only fire when he had a clear shot through the flying dirt. As he started pumping magnum rounds into the thing, Luis inspected Aurelleah for injuries.
"Are you okay?" He asked, checking her right side over. Already, the marred skin was starting to darken. She was clutching her waist, and he gently peeled her hand away to see a small, bleeding divot where a knob of stone had dug into the soft flesh.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," she said. She was definitely lying, and he suspected she wouldn't be able to maintain the kind of speed she'd need to keep out of this creature's way. He looked around and spotted another cave section with a partition. There was a lever on this side of it.
He led her over to it, pushed her gently behind the groove in the floor, and said, "Stay here. Stay safe. We'll take care of this thing. And take this, in case it tries to come after you."
He handed her his pistol, safety off. It wouldn't be terribly effective, but it would hurt, and serve to dissuade the thing in a pinch. She took it, and he pulled the lever, bringing the bars down between them. He'd lift them when the fight was over.
"Good luck," she said worriedly, stepping back away from the bars.
He grinned roguishly and pulled out his rifle. "Don't need it."
Behind him, U-3 burst into the arena, and the battle resumed.
It raised its head and roared at them, charging Leon. As it did, Luis began taking measured shots at the Plaga on its back. When it had had enough of this, it turned away, giving Leon its back and taking several magnum rounds to its exposed spine as it came for Luis, pincers splayed and ready to cut him in half.
He ran, and it crashed into the bars to Aurelleah's hideout. It stopped briefly, peering in at her, then reeled away clasping its face as a pair of gunshots went off. She'd shot it. Good girl.
It snarled and tried to reach through the bars to get at her, but it was forced to withdraw as he and Leon began savaging it with their firearms. It turned and came for them again, and they were forced away from Aurelleah's cage as they began using a large boulder in the middle of the room for cover.
They circled it as they took turns drawing the thing's attention. It could only go after one of them for so long before the damage it was taking from the other became unbearable. It drove them around the full perimeter of the room lashing out with its tentacled arm and upper Plaga, but it hadn't managed to land a hit.
That being said, the beast was extremely durable. The fatty pouches on its gut were absolutely flayed and dripping ichor, but it had barely slowed down at all. It was in a lot of pain, but it hadn't been vitally damaged. Luis decided it was time to aim strategically – he started taking apart its head.
He took several moments to line up a headshot instead of just wailing away at its upper body in general, and the first round caved in a large part of its skull. The second doubled upon that, and it turned to rush him. Leon, picking up on the cue, took several moments to get himself a good line of sight, and he managed to get just one shot off before its pincers came up for a blow.
Half of its head was blown off as Leon's round found a home in the crater Luis had made with his rifle rounds. U-3 fell silent, but its Plaga screamed its rage as the upper half of its host body went suddenly and completely limp. It seemed it was about half dead.
Make that one-third dead. The Plaga was still perfectly vital, and had taken over the lower body completely. The head and torso were dragged along the ground like so much extra weight as it lurched adamantly towards Luis, who was forced to retreat.
Leon was taking shots at the Plaga, but the parasitic growth seemed to be very, very strong. It wasn't taking much damage, even from the Butterfly, and that didn't bode well for them. They really needed something to damage it.
"Hey, ugly! Over here!"
Luis looked up in surprise. Aurelleah was standing on top of a mountain of crates in the mouth of another side-cave nearby, clutching her side and looked pale and pained. Apparently, the storage cave looped around to the entrance Luis had sealed, and for some reason, she wanted to draw it over to her.
"Elleah, get back!" Leon yelled, but she ignored him, firing several shots at U-3 with the pistol.
The Plaga growled and turned towards her, then its growl raised in pitch until it was more like a trill. Evidently it liked its chances against her a bit better, because it started trundling towards her, ignoring both of its previous opponents.
"Raise the bars on the other side!" She yelled as she scrambled stiffly back down the crates. U-3 reached the barricade and began tearing through it, sending wood and metal and all manner of supplies flying as it did.
Leon levelled his gun to begin firing again, but he withdrew it, narrowing his eyes curiously at a lever on the wall beside the cave entrance. There was another partition over here. With the one on the other side, that might just mean…
"We can trap it," Luis said, finally getting the plan. It probably wouldn't stop U-3 permanently, but it would give them time to really do some damage to it while it dug under the bars.
He ran over to the other lever, heaving it up, but Aurelleah didn't emerge. He looked in to see her backing slowly away, gun up and leveled into the cave, and Luis yelled, "Leave it! That gun is useless! It won't—"
U-3 broke through, Aurelleah took another step back and fired, then went staggering back as whatever flammable container she'd shot in the hall exploded.
The mutant's Plaga shrieked, and Luis ran in to drag Aurelleah, who had been stunned by the force of the blast, away. He got her out, pulled on the lever – Leon pulled on his, too, locking the hallway down – and they all moved away from the bars.
Leon came over to their side, and Luis's creation came staggering out of the orange glow of the flames. It was very nearly crippled, one leg dragging uselessly behind it as it approached them. The maw of its Plaga opened up and hissed at them, then a jet of yellow ichor came shooting weakly out of its mouth. This clearly wasn't an intentional attack – it was just coughing up its own innards.
It was still trying to hiss at them, though, so Leon and Luis both took advantage of the thing's open mouth to line up their shots.
Luis glanced over appreciatively at Aurelleah as she took up position between them, raising the pistol as well. She looked a little shaky, but she was doing her best to help out.
They all fired simultaneously, several consecutive rounds, and the Plaga's hiss was cut off. It jerked back, gurgling, and at last its body gave in. It slumped to the floor, still thrashing weakly…and the fight was over.
Aurelleah sat down heavily on the floor, panting, and the two of them joined her. "Man," Leon said heavily. "Monsters are a lot easier to kill when you have competent help."
Luis nodded, pulling his canteen off his hip. "Tell me about it."
They all took a moment to drink and catch their breaths. Leon looked Aurelleah over to be sure she didn't have any bad injuries. Amazingly, she did not have any broken bones…though her whole right side would be a veritable rainbow of bruise-colors for the next week or two. He patched up the half dozen small lacerations, including the one on her side. They weren't bleeding much, but at this point every drop counted.
He also pulled out the Plaga medication and gave her another half-dose. It was a little early, but at this point she needed to slow its growth more than she needed to be helping them. She took it without protest.
They got themselves straightened out, Aurelleah returned Luis's pistol, and they took a moment took look over and reload their weapons. Naturally, however, their break could not last. They needed to get going.
Leon sighed and stood up. "Who was it that said the reward for completing a good deed is usually to be set a harder, better one?"
Luis forced himself to his feet, too, helping Aurelleah up as he did. She winced in pain. "That's from one of the Chronicles of Narnia. The Horse and His Boy, I believe."
Leon nodded. "Good books, those."
She smiled shakily up at him. "You really are as brave as a lion, you know."
He shook his head. "I'm no Aslan." He considered her for a moment, then said, "You'd sure pass as a Reepicheep, though. Challenge any dragons to single combat, lately?"
Her laugh petered off into pained silence as they released the lock on the room and started their trek again, and Luis guessed that she'd probably need more painkillers. She was limping.
"Leon," he prompted. "Those painkillers of yours…"
Leon looked over. "You want some?"
He shook his head, then nodded at Aurelleah.
Leon looked pained. "Sorry, but the dose I gave her was a big one. It'll be about four more hours before she can risk taking any more."
Aurelleah caught on to what they were talking about. "Uh…oh, no, I'm fine. My side just hurts a little, that's all."
Luis reached over and lightly stroked her hair as they made their way to the ladder leading back up to the surface. She smiled at him, but it was clearly forced. She was in a lot of pain.
He feared for her. Truly, he did. Both of the girls would be hard-pressed to survive the removal procedure – Ashley because she'd spent so much time off the medication, Aurelleah because she'd been so badly injured. It was now to the point that it could be seen not only at a still glance, but in every movement she made. When she started climbing, Luis took note of her stiff, sluggish pace, her pauses, the way her left arm shook as she struggled to simply pull herself from one rung to the next in the upper quarter. She'd gone three times as fast when climbing the ladder outside the Novistador's tower.
He scowled and swore to himself that he wouldn't let one more thing touch her on this trip. Not one more knock, one more bruise, one more drop of blood. He would keep her safe. Well enough to survive the Plaga removal.
He only hoped that he hadn't already failed.
OoO
I told you'd I'd update again!
Man, I love the Fourth. Had a ball last night. So many fireworks! I swear one of our neighbors must have set off at least two or three thousand bucks worth. That's what you get when you try telling us we can't celebrate ;)
Anywho, hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you all in a few days!
Love from the States,
The Topaz Dragon