Leon helped Aurelleah up as she reached the top of the ladder. Luis came up a moment later and pointed them in the right direction. "Okay," he said. "We'll be coming out in a very out-of-the-way area, if my internal compass is correct. I think I know the way to the machine from here, and there shouldn't be many guys in between us and it. I don't believe Saddler knows exactly where this cave lets out, as it hasn't been in use for ages, so there shouldn't be an ambush waiting for us. We'll cut through the ruins of a temple that used to stand in the area, then it'll just be one more short stretch to the machine."
The next door brought them outside once more. The air was still thick and grey, though it had warmed a few degrees. Unfortunately, Leon could see a darker bank of clouds on the horizon beyond the murky grey, and the light wind was pushing them towards the island. He was willing to bet more rain was on its way.
They were on a cliff overlooking the open sea. Tall fencing with barbed wire lined the edge, likely to keep out potential invaders. Nearby was a ledge with the remains of a ladder affixed to it. He and Luis crept over to it, keeping low, and saw a group of soldier-Ganados at the bottom, standing around a campfire. A large tent was set up at the base of the ledge, and two lean-tos against a cliff sheltered a bunch of supply crates and barrels.
He gestured to Elleah, cautioning her to stay back and hidden, and pulled out his Red. There was a small cluster of red barrels near the campfire, so this would probably be very easy. Just as he lined up the shot, one of them looked up and spotted him.
"Ahí están!"
Boom. Fire ripped across the small clearing, sending the men flying and setting several ablaze. He motioned for Elleah to come on over, then hopped down and held out his arms to catch her. Luis helped lower her down as the remaining enemies got back on their feet.
It took less than a minute to finish them all off. As with the earlier Ganados, they pitched a fit when they saw Elleah, shrugging off their pain to try and tackle her. They completely ignored him and Luis when they did this, and invariably went down very fast.
Leon considered checking the crates for supplies, but going by the horrible stench and lack of weapons in the camp, there probably wasn't any ammo or anything edible. That was really all he was interested in, so he decided not to waste the time. A small pass led them past the ocean again, barbed wire fencing once again lining the dropoff.
Up ahead, a set of tall torches were burning in front of an ornate and clearly ancient stone gateway. The ruins Luis had mentioned.
Luis started towards them, but stopped halfway along the pass, spotting something on the cliff that made his expression light up. "Hey – good find!"
"What's up?" Leon asked as he went over to the cliffside. A bunch of ivy or something was growing on a discarded piece of fencing, and Luis was poking at it.
He grabbed a long vine and started shearing the leaves off. "This is a really uncommon herb. It's great stuff, a very powerful medicinal plant used by my family for generations. It's very healthy, and will give you energy like you wouldn't believe."
Leon came over and inspected it, as did Elleah. It had flat, veiny green leaves that had started to age and discolor around the edges.
"They look a little dry," Elleah noted.
Luis shook his head. "They're just reaching the end of their season, which is actually good for us. The new growth doesn't have much of the chemical that gives them their invigorating properties. It's right now, when the Chlorophyll is starting to fade – that's where the herb is turning yellow – that they're really potent. And that red color right along the edges? That's the good stuff. That's exactly what we're looking for."
He began shearing the leaves off the stems. There were plenty of them on the plant, and he handed Leon a whole bunch.
Leon looked at the tri-colored salad dubiously. "Uh, no offense, but you want me to just eat a random plant you picked off the side of the mountain?"
Luis replied, "Well, you get a bigger energy kick if you smoke it, but it's not as nutritious. Also, we don't have any time to dry the things. So yeah, eat up."
He handed Elleah a bunch and poked the rest into his own mouth, chewing with obvious relish.
Leon shrugged. They didn't look all that different from the disinfecting herbs he'd encountered around Raccoon City, the ones he'd had to use to sterilize his wounds when he'd run out of actual medical supplies. Maybe they were in the same family.
He started eating. Maybe they weren't in the same family. The ones back in the Arklay area had been downright nasty. These were actually really good. Had a rich, earthy flavor to them, not unlike mushrooms, with a sharp tang that was almost citrusy. The veins were very tough and stringy, though, and he had to really chew to get through them.
They ate their way through most of the plant. By the time they finished up and washed it down with some water, Leon could already feel the effects starting to kick in. He stretched, popped a couple joints, and said, "Wow. That's good stuff."
They made for the gate. "Sí. Now, let's get going. Saddler has never shown much interest in the ruins, so hopefully there won't be much in there to—"
He'd just pushed open the gate to the temple ruins and stepped through. Halfway through his sentence, a large shape had descended from the archway overhead, its elbow clipping his head as it fell.
Luis dropped with a dull, "Oof." He crumpled, and did not stir. Aurelleah rushed forward unthinkingly, and before Leon could stop her, she was crouched at the feet of their attacker, shielding Luis with her arms.
Krauser looked down at her, but made no move for her. Leon wasn't about to give him a chance to. He drew his pistol and fired off the last three shots in the cartridge, aiming for the chest.
His mind went into combative overdrive as Krauser blurred to the side, literally dodging the bullets. Leon shifted his aim, but before he could fire again Krauser smirked and jumped backwards.
"Sorry about your friend," he called from his new vantage point. "But I didn't want anyone getting in the way of our fight. So, you and Ada – you all hooked up now? Is that it?"
Leon scowled, blood pumping, and he was glad they'd found that herb when they had. He was feeling sharper and livelier than he'd felt in hours – more than ready for a fight.
He narrowed his eyes as he took in the arena they'd ended up in. Tall, sandy stone pillars and the crumbling remains of walls stretched out across a massive area like a labyrinth. Towers stood here and there near the corners of the decayed temple, and torches burned brightly in wall brackets and braziers everywhere. Multi-layered, plenty of cover, tons of variability – a man couldn't ask for a more perfect combat zone.
As for his enemy, Krauser was dressed in camo pants and a tactical vest. No shirt. His face was painted with streaks of red to match his beret, on which shone a little golden pin that was too small for Leon to make out the design of. His arms were crossed in front of him, and his eyes were sharp, grey, and focused. The scars on his face stood out starkly in the firelight.
It occurred to Leon that Krauser was now in bed with Saddler. If that was the case, he might just know where the man was…and where Ashley was, too.
Leon decided to go for it. "Where's Ashley?"
Krauser tittered at his question, as though it were unworthy of his attention. "Do you really wanna know?"
Leon just glared at him, and he scoffed, rolling his eyes and relenting. "She's beyond that gate," he said, nodding off to the northeast. "But you'll need three insignias to open it."
Great. More puzzles and shit. "What are you gonna do, Krauser?"
Krauser ignored him. "There's one in the north, and another in the east."
Leon thought he knew where this was going. "And let me guess," he said. "You got the last one."
Krauser turned to give him a flat, calculating look. "It pretty much means you're on a tight leash."
Leon felt the hairs go up along the back of his neck as the tension in the air tripled, the imminence of violent action rising around them like heatwaves on asphalt. He could see Elleah out of the corner of his eyes, still crouched over Luis, cradling his head and checking his pulse. "Elleah, keep out of the way. Stay behind cover. Don't try to intervene. Take care of Luis."
He dropped the spent cartridge from his Red, reloading it and cocking it in one fluid movement. "I'll take care of Krauser."
She looked up at him, scared and pale, and nodded.
Krauser face split into a wide grin as Leon leaned forward into a sprint, gun coming up. Time to go.
First shot belonged to Krauser, as Leon was forced to hurtle himself to the side as what he guessed was a small automatic was pulled out of the crook of Krauser's arms and aimed at him. He rolled behind cover just in time, and alarm gripped him as bullets sprayed the area around him in a deafening hail. He looked over to Aurelleah to see her ducking low, still shielding Luis, covering her head.
There was a minor flash of relief as he saw the hail of bullets stop before nearing either of them. Krauser had a clear line of sight to them, could have executed them instantly, but it seemed he was only after Leon for now. He was leaving Aurelleah and Luis alone. Orders or gentleman's honor, Leon didn't know and didn't care. All he cared about was that he could fight without having to worry about them.
With that knowledge, a weight lifted from his chest. He dove right into the fray.
As soon as the spray stopped, he tore out from behind his cover and ran for another spot, a small tower in the corner of the arena that was sheltered enough to allow him to get a few shots off. He kicked the flimsy wooden door in just as the next spray of bullets began, and shards of stone clattered to the floor inside as he ducked around the corner. The gunfire stopped, and Leon stepped over to the window, Red coming up to fire at his opponent.
Unfortunately, his opponent wasn't so obliging. In fact, his opponent had vanished.
Leon's brow creased. Krauser must have ducked behind the wall, pending Leon's shots. He'd poke his head up eventually, though, and—
Boots hit the ground behind him, and Leon whirled around just in time to bring his gun up to parry the slash aimed at his throat. There was a hole in the roof, and somehow Krauser had managed to get up there in the two seconds it had taken Leon to get inside and move to the window. He'd leapt down to get the jump on him from behind, anticipating his move.
Leon recognized the knife by the burn marks on it – it was the one he'd left behind after sinking it into that can of gas in the warehouse after their first confrontation. Krauser had gone back to get it. Seemed he had a liking for it. Leon whipped out his own knife and went for a quick strike, but Krauser dodged back, and as Leon brought his gun up to get in a quick shot, the man began blurring to the left and right.
Leon tried to hit him twice, and missed by a mile both times from five feet away, as though he were a common rookie. Krauser's speed was insane.
He darted forward suddenly, knocking the barrel of Leon's gun away, and Leon once again was forced to parry a knife blow. This time, however, he was quick enough to get a small cut on Krauser, marring his left wrist with a laceration that he clearly felt slide across bone. A deep cut…and first blood.
Krauser grunted in pain and withdrew, then pulled something out of his pocket, dropping it just before launching himself up through the hole on the roof.
Leon had just enough time to recognize what the object was before the flash went off. He closed his eyes and covered his face, but it was still disorienting, and it took him a few seconds to recover. By the time he did, Krauser was gone.
Leon didn't waste any time. He didn't know what the ex-soldier's game plan was, but he suspected he knew the man's motives. Krauser loved combat. He wanted a battle out of Leon – not to simply kill him, but to defeat him. And he wanted to test out his newfound strength on a real opponent.
To that effect, Leon suspected he would need to play by Krauser's rules, and that meant going for the insignias he'd mentioned. He poked his head through the doorway to the right of the one he'd just one in, and spotted the tower that would contain the first one.
There was plenty of cover in case the automatic came out again. He went for it, running down the stone walkway past a couple of—
"Urk," he choked out as Krauser shot out from behind a small wall to his left and wrapped an arm around his neck. Leon got his hands up just in time, keeping the knife from sinking into his jugular, and slipped down and out of the grip before it became fatal. Having failed the strike, Krauser barked out a short laugh and jumped away, landing on a wall too tall for Leon to scale.
"Caught you off-guard, didn't I?"
Leon shot at him again, but he dodged to the side and jumped away behind the wall. The excitement in Krauser's voice was unmistakable. He was having fun.
"Damnit, Krauser, why are you doing this?" Leon yelled.
There was no response. He continued down the sandy stone corridor. There were no ceilings except on the towers, just walls of height varying from a couple of feet to the one Krauser had used to escape. As he rounded another corner, gun out and ready to fire, he spotted the gate that would let them through to Ashley. It featured a mural of three animals: a large cat, a bird of prey, and a serpent, all doing battle.
Mind moving fast with the rush of combat adrenaline, it occurred to Leon that Krauser might see some symbolism in this. The role of the large cat could be easily speculated, and he suspected that Ada, who was supposed to have been allied with Krauser, was the snake. Would he see himself as the bird of prey, then? And what might that say about him?
"Behind you!"
His lightspeed musing was brought to a close. He didn't have time to ponder whether the warning was legit or meant to prompt a bad move. He trusted his gut instinct and decided that Krauser was offering a true, sportsmanlike warning, and flung himself away from whatever was coming at him from behind, ducking behind cover.
An explosion rocked the small area, fire shooting past the pillar as whatever device had been deployed behind him was set off. Gut instinct one, Krauser zero. Though, given that the warning had come from Krauser, he supposed they were still net even.
He looked out to see no enemy, nor any kind of weaponry. Gone again. He backtracked quickly the way he'd come, taking another route, all the while staying light on his feet and watching for movement.
Next up, a long stone walkway lined with pillars. At the end was a squat building, and behind that, one of the towers that would hopefully hold an insignia. On the roof of the building stood Krauser.
Leon stepped behind a column as a projectile shot by, and a quick glance back showed that it was an arrow. He saw the blinking red light just in time to slide further behind the column before it went off.
Leon sighed. "Explosive arrows? Really?" He yelled.
"Just trying to have fun!"
Krauser laughed again, sounding for all the world like a teenager participating in a paintball game with his best friends, and the sound pained Leon. They'd been comrades on Operation Javier. He thought they'd been friends, or close to it, by the end of their partnership. News of Krauser's death had really taken a toll on Leon – he'd spent two damn days binge drinking to dull the loss of yet another good man. What the hell had gone wrong?
You know what went wrong.
No time. He rolled to the next pillar and another arrow shot past him. He didn't stop, instead using his momentum to gain more ground while his Red came up, barking out a chain of shots to dissuade further attacks. It was a ballsy move, but it worked – he reached the end of the walkway.
"I see you've honed your skills," Krauser called down as he ducked back from Leon's shots at the ledge. "But you won't beat me!"
Leon did not reply this time, only vaulting silently through an open window and swapping Red for Striker. There was the window, a door, and another skylight. Krauser would come at him through one – which one would it be?
Leon guessed window. He aimed the Striker for it, holding still and silent, and after ten seconds of silence Krauser's head popped up, hand on the sill to help himself over before he realized the danger.
Leon saw the man's grey eyes widen in surprise, and found his finger stall on the trigger. Damn it, he didn't want to kill Krauser.
He's not going to leave you a choice.
He fired…but his hesitation cost him. If he'd pulled the trigger right away, Krauser might have been blinded. As it was, only a few pellets skinned his back as he pulled out and turned away.
His voice came floating tauntingly through the window. "Too slow! Getting a bit rusty?"
Again, Leon did not respond. This hole in the ceiling had a ladder. He darted up it before Krauser could position himself for an ambush.
An arm snaked around his neck again, from behind, and Leon spat, "Fuck!"
Krauser was just too damn fast. No enemy Leon had ever faced would have been able to gain the roof of the building and silently evade his line of sight in such a short amount of time. Leon managed to slip an arm up to prevent the knife from reaching his throat, but Krauser's strength was overpowering. It slid closer, and Leon barely managed to get to his own knife in time. He struck backwards, digging it a few inches into Krauser's leg.
The man shoved him away with another grunt of pain. His voice came out huskier this time. "Good, Leon. That's what I'm talking about."
Leon scoffed and fired again with his Striker. He'd stick to this gun for the fight; the wider spray would be harder to dodge. Hopefully it would dissuade Krauser long enough to make more headway on the insignias.
It worked…kind of. Krauser dropped another flashbang. This time Leon saw it coming, and wasn't blinded by it. Still, closing his eyes did give Krauser the time he needed to escape again.
Leon looked around. Nothing useful up here. He didn't use the ladder this time, instead dropping right off the side of the building before heading for the tower. He moved cautiously through the doors to it, and when he reached the stairs, he didn't let himself hesitate before running up them.
Hope Krauser doesn't have any exploding barrels lying around, he thought as he rushed the tower.
Nope. He reached the top without incident. He spotted the insignia on the ground in the middle of a small field of statues. He reached down to pick it up, and heard Krauser noisily unsheathing his knife behind him.
He stood up, turning, to see the man circling around him, knife out. More questions came to Leon's mind. He suspected his old comrade would only tolerate so much talk, though, so he picked wisely.
"What do you intend to do, restoring Umbrella?" He asked. He wanted to know what Krauser's stake in this game was.
He seemed to deem that a worthy question. "To bring order and balance to this insane world of ours."
Oh, great. He was on a crusade. That was just fucking awesome.
But really, was it Krauser's crusade? He was just working for Wesker, now, right?
Leon tossed the insignia up and down a couple of times before slipping it into his pocket. "A psycho like Wesker can't bring order or balance. Do you really think his path is the way to any kind of peace or unity?"
"I think his is better than the alternative. You don't seriously think a conservative mind can chart a new course for the world, do you?"
Leon's reply was short and prompt. "I don't think this world needs a new course. Things are getting better. Have been for a while now. Can't you see that?"
Krauser's gaze darkened. "Easy to say when you're standing at the top."
Conversation over. Krauser vaulted straight at him with his enhanced speed, and Leon barely had time to dodge. The blade nicked Leon's arm, but the cut was shallow. He recovered, whirling around to bring the Striker up for a quick blast.
A few of the pellets caught Krauser on the first shot, and Leon, quickly getting used to his maneuvers, managed a full hit on the second. Krauser growled and darted behind a pillar, calling out, "You know, when I kill you, I'm taking my Striker back."
"Was this yours?" Leon asked, a bubble of banter surfacing in him as he checked his options and decided on a move. "Great gun. Really appreciate you leaving it lying around for me – comrade."
He darted forward then, stepping silently and putting his back to the pillar Krauser was using for cover. He expected the jibe to rile him, fishing him out into a hard strike, and Leon was hoping for a shot at his back as he flew past the pillar.
But it was a no-go…or so he thought, until he heard Krauser, ten feet above him on top of the pillar, go, "Huh?"
He'd jumped up, maybe to rain fire on Leon with that automatic of his, but Leon had disappeared. The lip of the pillar was a bit too wide for the man to see down to its base.
Making quick use of the blind spot, he slunk around the back, stepped away to get a line of sight to Krauser's back, pulled out his Broken Butterfly…and forced himself to let go of any lingering qualms against killing a man he'd once considered a friend.
The shot send Krauser flying off the pillar with a harsh cry as his right shoulder was torn open. He went crashing to the ground, and Leon managed to get one more shot off – right in the small of the back – before another flash grenade landed at his feet.
He swapped to his shotgun and fired straight ahead blindly as he closed his eyes for the flash. A very, very good move. Krauser had dashed for him, intent on using the grenade to do more than escape, and was forced to retreat with a short roar of pain as he was sprayed with pellets.
Leon recovered and looked around. Krauser was gone.
A quick scan of the arena showed Leon which way he'd need to go to reach the next tower. He descended the stairs, constantly on the alert for his opponent, but this time he saw nothing…until he reached another small building en route to his destination.
At the bottom of a small trench were a pair of spider-like drones. Leon recalled that Krauser had always been fond of such marvels of military technology. Unless he was mistaken, these ones would skitter towards him and explode once they were in range.
He wasn't gonna let that happen. He swapped to his Red, stuck his head out, and when they both turned in his direction, he shot one and ducked back behind cover.
They exploded. Leon continued along. He walked around the corner and heard a harsh beeping to his left.
He jumped back just as the bullets flew by, and before it could stop firing he ran around the other side of the building to see the culprit – a flying drone – hovering some six feet above the ground. He caught its back before it could reorient itself, spotted the pair of explosive drones at its feet, and shot one of these.
They were closely bunched enough that the explosion destroyed all of them. Leon continued on again. The next few halls were scattered with mine-drones, which he easily dispatched. At one point a pair of flying drones turned around to shoot at him, but one of them was apparently experiencing technical difficulties. Its buddy started firing when Leon ducked back behind cover to wait for an opening, but the second one beeped a couple of times, then dropped out of the air and landed on the ground with a low, dying whine. A moment later it started back up, and Leon heard it taking off in a random direction.
He took out the remaining drone, scanned the sky for the AWOL one, didn't spot it, and shrugged it off. He'd just have to keep an eye on the sky.
The next corner he rounded, he encountered his opponent once again. The man was on a ledge above him, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed.
Leon didn't fire. He just kept his gun at the ready, and Krauser asked, "What is it you fight for, comrade?"
He wasn't just talking about this battle. It was obvious enough that he was fighting for Aurelleah, Ashley, Luis, and his own survival. No, this was a philosophical question.
He didn't spare much thought for the answer. Now wasn't the time for philosophy. "The past, I suppose," he replied, and he guessed that was honest enough. What he wouldn't give to go back to a time before all this bioterrorism shit was constantly going on around the world.
Krauser scoffed. Two more drones popped out of the dirt at the end of the hall.
Leon shot them before they could finish surfacing, but they were close enough that he caught a bit of the explosion. It sent him stepping back, and by the time the smoke had cleared, Krauser was gone. But the tower loomed ahead, and Leon spotted a flash of movement at the top of it a few moments later. Time for the final battle, then.
Krauser must have been eager for it, because he did nothing to hamper Leon's ascent to the top of the tower – the tallest one in the ruins. He passed by a couple of empty floors, heading all the way to the top.
This one was a joint spire, the two rooftops connected by a short, broad stone bridge. The wind was really whipping around them now, the sky had grown black, and a faint rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. All in all, one couldn't ask for a more dramatic arena.
The second insignia was in plain sight. Leon walked over, picked it up, and behind him, a set of bars slid across the entrance he'd used, trapping him on the roof. He saw something on his chest and looked down. A tiny red light was shimmering on his torso, and he followed it up to its source.
Krauser had appeared. He was standing atop the ruins of a structure that had once lent extra height to the tower. In his hands, ready to go, was his automatic, the laser sight of which was leveled at Leon's chest.
Leon eyed it. There was no cover for him. Were Krauser so inclined, he could end this fight right now…but that wasn't really his style.
Leon held up the second insignia. "Two down, one more to go, Krauser." He dropped it into his pocket.
Krauser huffed in amusement, and sure enough, he threw the automatic to the side, off the tower. "We'll see about that."
With that he raised his left arm to the sky, and it began to change.
Grey eyes widened as the transformation began. The arm pulsed, muscles bulging as the limb began to warp. His fingers melded into three digits, which elongated into a trio of fleshy claws. Skin tore, and then quickly scabbed over with hard red and grey chitin. The core of his arm shifted and rippled in a wave from shoulder to fingers, finally culminating in the protrusion of a long, bony scythe that shot out the tip, twitching and hardening into a lethal weapon.
Leon thought that was bad enough, stepping back and preparing for the oncoming blow, but in a last gasp of malformation the scythe shot out further, doubling in length as three more blade-growths splayed out from the now-crimson limb. Krauser's arm was now nearly as long as his own body, triple-jointed, and consisted of a massive, wing-like fan of gently curving, deadly blades affixed to his body by ridges of throbbing red muscle, armored by dark grey chitin.
Krauser stared up at his own arm with an expression of wild ecstasy, the look of a man who has been caged his whole life, and who is suddenly presented with freedom – the absolute freedom that comes along with absolute power.
Leon shook his head slowly, dismayed. "You've lost it completely Krauser."
The expression of abandon faded as the man he'd once called friend dropped his gaze to look at him. "Prepare for your death, Leon," was all he said.
He splayed out his arm-blade, crouched for a jump, and with that first blow, the final battle began.
Ada received a signal on her multi-purpose tracking device. Checking revealed that Krauser had just deployed his combat drones.
All of them. At once.
She chilled, going straight into analytical mode. The signal could only mean one thing – he was fighting Leon.
She'd had other responsibilities to take care of and, assuming she knew which way he'd go and where he'd end up, had left Leon to take care of them after dissuading Krauser from his assassination attempt. But Leon had vanished from her radar, and evidently had ended up…
She checked the location of the drones and winced. He'd somehow managed to land himself so far away from where she was that she stood no chance at all of reaching him before the fight was over. He'd have to handle things himself.
Well, mostly himself. She did have one small trick up her sleeve. She'd hacked into one of Krauser's flying drones before deployment, and was now able to bring up the control interface for it. She needed to reboot it to make it work, which she did. When it came back online a few seconds later, she pulled up the camera feed to see that it was positioned next to a drone that was actively firing at the corner of a wall. She was willing to bet Leon was behind it.
He'd be sure to destroy both of them in short order, and a ruined drone was no use to her, so she hit the gas on it and took it well above the battle and out of Leon's range. She'd need a good aerial view to figure out what kind of mess he'd ended up in.
A quick 360 showed her that he was in an area called the Ruins, which held nothing of value to anyone and hadn't even been on her list of things to blow up. Hence why she was nowhere near it. She began flying the drone around the area to figure out the layout of it. She spotted a few areas where battle had already taken place, evidenced by scorch marks and bullet casings, and that combined with Leon's current position allowed her to figure out approximately where the fight was heading. It looked like Krauser had a big, dramatic battle in mind, if the giant tower arena he'd prepared at the end of the trail was any indication.
Ada was in no danger. She was on the top of another research building, and had just finished planting a few explosive charges in and around it. She had just a couple more locations to hit before her minimum obligations to Wesker were complete. But speaking of explosive charges…
Ada brought the drone down to the siding of the tower. Placed around the perimeter, hidden in such a way that Leon would not be able to spot them from the ground, were the handful of charges Krauser had been granted for the mission. The intent was clear – he would fight Leon, but even if he lost the battle, he intended to take his old comrade with him.
A quick check showed Ada that there was a security door installed on the tower roof's only access point. No doubt Krauser would lock it down once Leon was up there. That wasn't good. She wouldn't be able to hack into it if she wasn't present, and she didn't think there was any way for Leon to escape the tower otherwise. It was far too tall to jump from, there were no anchor points for ropes or pitons, and the outside was smooth, no hand- or foot-holds.
She turned the drone around, then sent it ducking back behind cover as she spotted Krauser flying across the Ruins towards the tower. Hopefully he hadn't spotted her.
She pondered how to proceed. The drone had a speaker, she a microphone, and she could speak to Leon if she could get close enough, warn him of the threat. But the speaker wasn't a good one, and she'd need to get close to talk to him. Knowing Leon, he wouldn't let that happen. If she tried it, she'd just be out her drone.
She hummed, then turned the drone around and took it to the perimeter of the Ruins. Aurelleah and Luis would surely be nearby. One of them could relay the message to Leon for her.
She spotted some signs of combat near a tall, arched entrance, but did not see Aurelleah or Luis. She did, however, see a few empty buildings nearby, and sent her drone to poke its camera in the first one.
Nothing. She tried the next. Nope.
Third one's a charm. She flew in, and saw she'd hit gold.
Aurelleah was sitting on the floor, pale and frightened. She was cross-legged, and Luis's head rested in her lap. The man, it seemed, was either dead or unconscious.
Ada was willing to bet unconscious going by the girl's reaction to seeing the obviously armed drone. She dropped his head and flung herself over him, covering his body with her own to shield him from the hail of bullets she was expecting.
Pity and respect were an unusual combination, but it was what Ada felt for the girl. Respect for the lengths she seemed to be willing to go to keep the man safe…pity for how meager her chances were against the enemies at hand.
But enough of that. She turned on the speaker and said, "Aurelleah, it's Ada. Can you hear me?"
There was no microphone on the drone, sadly, so she was only receiving video and not audio. She didn't need it to see that she was broadcasting clearly, though, as the girl's head whipped around at her words. She rolled off of Luis and began speaking.
When her mouth stopped moving, Ada said, "I'm afraid I can't hear you. It's one-way communication. Now, Leon is out there fighting Krauser at the moment, yes?"
Aurelleah nodded, brows creasing in worry. No doubt she feared for her protector's life. After all, if Leon fell, Krauser would come along shortly to collect the spoils of his victory.
Ada intended that not to happen. "Alright, listen closely. There are timed explosive charges set all around the tower that Krauser is leading Leon to. There's also a door that will lock down when Leon reaches it. If he ends up trapped up there, he's in hot water. I'm sure he asked you not to get involved in his battle, but he needs to be warned. I won't be able to get close enough to warn him with this drone – he'll shoot it on sight. Do you think you can relay the warning for me?"
Aurelleah looked torn. She looked back down at Luis, then up at the drone again.
Ada took it out of the building, raised it above the Ruins, and scanned the area quickly. There were no threats nearby at all, aside from Krauser himself. She brought her messenger back down to the building and said as much. "There aren't any enemies nearby. He'll be safe on his own until he wakes up, or until you come back for him. Leon is in danger now. He—"
She cut off as Aurelleah nodded, stood up, and took to her heels. She got out the door and began looking around, unsure of which direction to take.
Ada had gotten the basic layout of the Ruins during her scan, and brought the drone down to guide her. "This way."
She began zipping through the ruins at head height, not turning around, trusting Aurelleah to keep up. She did pause when she reached a small, three-way intersection to be sure that she wouldn't fall behind and take the wrong route, but almost as soon as she'd stopped the girl dashed by, skidding to a halt and looking up questioningly.
"You're a fast one, aren't you?" Ada commented.
Aurelleah smiled meekly and nodded. Ada continued on, bringing her at last to the tower.
Her heart sank as she zipped up the stairs, though. If she hadn't overtaken Leon by now, that almost surely meant that he'd already reached the tower.
Sure enough, when she gained the top of the stairs she saw the bars and swore. This was going to be difficult.
Difficult…but not impossible.
Aurelleah joined her a moment later. Ada turned the drone around and said, "New plan. Tell me, hun – how are your hacking skills?"
Aurelleah pursed her lips and shook her head. She could barely make her computer work, let alone hack a piece of high-tech equipment like this.
But evidently, Ada hadn't expected an affirmative. "No, I didn't think so. That's alright, I'll walk you through it. But do try to be quiet, and don't let Krauser spot you. If he sees you fiddling with his equipment, he might just lose his temper. Now, look on the right side of the door. About two feet down from the top will be a small panel you can use to access some of the controls. Press hard on the outside and slide down."
She did so, listening as the battle raged above. Leon and Krauser were going at each other savagely, and the sounds of their struggle were setting Elleah's every nerve on end. She heard Leon firing his Broken Butterfly again and again, and maybe one in every two or three shots were met with a pained grunt from the man in the red beret. Jack Krauser.
She'd been truly surprised to discover that this guy used to be a friend of Leon's. She suspected that he was really upset by the betrayal, and sincerely hoped that he wouldn't have to kill him, whatever he'd done to them. But it sounded like Krauser wasn't going to give him much of an alternative. The stones of the tower were literally shaking with the force of some of his blows, trickles of dust raining down on and around her. He wanted Leon dead.
There was nothing she could do to help Leon with his fight. All she could do was stay on the sidelines and make sure that he had a way to escape Krauser's trap when the fight was over. Assuming he won, of course.
She pressed hard on the part of the door Ada had mentioned and slid her fingers down. Nothing moved but her fingers.
"A little lower," Ada's voice instructed through the drone hovering a foot or so away. Aurelleah lowered her touch, pressed, and slid. A thin metal panel came away, revealing a very small screen that booted up once the covering was off. There were also a half a dozen lights, several wires, and three buttons.
"Do you have a knife or pair of scissors, by chance?"
Aurelleah frowned, then plunged a hand into her back pocket. Leon had given her a knife the previous night, when they'd first found Luis's supplies. She'd almost forgotten about it. She flipped the blade out, and Ada said, "Good. Now—"
The sounds of combat drew close to the door, and she ducked back down the hall several feet as Krauser backed into view. Ada had taken the hint and drawn back with her. Thankfully, he was facing partially away, so he hadn't see them, but it had been close.
The fight moved away again, and she returned to the console.
"Alright, cut the second black wire from the top."
She touched the one she thought Ada was talking about, received a confirmation, and slipped the tip of the knife under it, pulling to sever the little black cord.
The screen, which had a set of numbered interface options on it, flickered, and one of the black lights turned red.
"Good. Next, do you see the screen? It's a touch screen. Press option 35-BH."
She did so, and a list of numbers and letters came up. "Okay, good. Now press any of those options."
She did so, and the door beeped loudly. She winced and waited to see if the sound had been noticed, but the fight went on above without interruption. Ada fed her the next set of instructions.
"Press the second button under the screen."
She did so. The screen turned black, and her heart skipped a beat. Was that supposed to happen?
"Good. Now hold the first button down, and when the screen turns blue, cut the bottom wire."
She thought those instructions back to herself in her head, making sure she had them right since they were time sensitive. She looped the knife under the bottom wire, held the button down, and as soon as the screen turned blue – it took about six seconds – she yanked on the knife.
The screen turned green, then was flooded with text.
"Wonderful. Almost there. The next one will be tricky. You'll need to reconnect the first wire you cut – yes, that one – but only when all of the lights turn red at once. This will happen after a short delay once you cut the third wire up and press the second button. Ready?"
She shook her head. That was a bit much, given how nervous she was. Ada went over it all again.
Elleah went over the steps in her mind's eye, but she wasn't sure about reconnecting that first wire. A tiny bit of frayed wiring poked through the black plastic cover, but it would be tricky to make that touch with so little exposed. She took the knife, which had a really fine point, and used it to cut away and peel back some of the covering from both sides of the wire so she'd be able to connect the metal quickly and reliably.
Ada made a soft noise of encouragement. "Smart girl. Alright – yes, just like that."
Aurelleah had started, pressing the second button and cutting the third wire up at the same time. She then grabbed the peeled back wire and watched the lights, which were blinking in various patterns. Red, black, green. Mostly red. Mostly black. Two green, the rest red. One green, the rest red.
All black.
She felt slightly ill. Had she missed it? Should she have reconnected when they were all red but the one? Was Leon…stuck?
Then, suddenly, they all flashed on again. All red.
Ada didn't even have time to say, "Now!" Before Elleah had reconnected the wires.
The door beeped loudly again. The screen came back online. Two options were now on the touchscreen.
"Ha!" Ada exclaimed. "We'll make a top-tier hacker out of you, yet. Now, the top button – yes, that one – will open the door. But once you open it, Krauser will take note, so you need to wait until the fight is over. Okay?"
Aurelleah nodded and retreated back down the hall so she wouldn't risk being seen again. When she did, Ada said, "I'm going outside to check the charges. They should have a timer on them. If it looks like it's going to run out, I'll come tell you."
She nodded again, and felt a deep surge of appreciation for Ada. She was going to such lengths to make sure they all got out of this okay. Leon had said not to trust her, that she was dangerous…but how could that be? Ada had saved her life, after all.
So did Krauser. Does that make him a good guy? He's trying to kill Leon now.
She could hear them talking. Bantering, maybe. She crossed her arms in front of herself and shivered. A stiff breeze had picked up, snaking its way into the tower and down the stairs, and the air seemed wet to her. She hoped it wasn't going to rain again. She'd felt the telltale signs of a cold starting up after her last drenching, and she was sure that if she got soaked again, she'd catch some sniffles.
BOOOM!
A loud explosion, one that sounded more like half a few small explosions chained together, sounded on the roof.
She ran out from her cover in a panic, heading up the stairs and punching the button on the door to open it.
Leon.
Krauser raised his bladed arm and ducked behind it. The power he'd awakened was staggering, intoxicating, and he was drunk on it.
He swung his arm forward in a decapitating lunge, but Leon ducked the blow and whirled around, firing that gun of his again, and Krauser grunted as he felt yet another bullet lodge in his body. This one caught him in the thigh, but that was alright. Blood loss wasn't an issue for him. Not anymore.
Leon was taking measured shots with his magnum whenever the opportunity arose, and each one was agonizing, but only for a moment. Then the Plaga numbed the pain, allowing him to dismiss the wounds. This was fine. They weren't hampering his ability to move.
Pain is an indicator of damage. You need to listen—
He didn't need to listen. He needed to see if Leon would be able to dodge these.
He turned back to his opponent and sent out a pair of spinning roundhouse kicks. His body moved so fast that it was a blur, even to his enhanced senses. The kicks were delivered with enough force and speed to shatter bone, maybe even bend steel…yet somehow, Leon managed to dance back from them, and in their wake, he delivered a shot that sank right into Krauser's gut.
He's hit two major arteries inside of a minute. Even if the Plaga stops the bleeding in moments, you're still losing blood. You need to back off before the damage mounts to—
He needed to kill Leon, but before that, he needed to push his new body to the absolute limit. He needed to see just how strong it was. Just how strong he was.
He wound up for a punch with his blade arm, braced his feet, and propelled himself forward as fast as he could, swinging as he did. Leon ducked and the Plaga's blade swept over him, crashing into the last remaining stone structure on the tower and shattering it to dust. God, this was fun. This was fun.
This is going to kill you. The Plaga is going to kill y—
The Plaga shuddered, and his arm twitched as he was once again flooded with straight, chemical euphoria. He laughed, turning to catch the next bullet as Leon fired at him again. His arm's many blades spread out, and the metallic wing sent the round ricocheting off into the grey. His armor was impenetrable, his strength unmatchable, his speed untrackable, and he only needed to land one hit on Leon to finish this. He wasn't in a hurry. His Plaga wouldn't let anything happen to him.
It's already let everything happen. Armor is only as impenetrable as its user's defense, strength only counts when the blow lands, and speed is always relative. If your opponent is dodging you, you aren't fast enough. You've taken enough damage to lay out a bull. If you take much more, you're going to—
Krauser wasn't listening to the quiet, nagging voice droning on in the back of his head. The Plaga was singing to him, and its voice was too sweet to ignore. Leon tried lining up another shot, but before he could pull the trigger, Krauser had stepped forward, dropped to his hands, and send a leg flying out in an arc to catch Leon's ankles. He did, and Leon's feet flew out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.
Krauser exulted as he leapt into the air, blade up, and brought it straight down on Leon's chest.
But no, once again Leon managed to roll out of the way, bringing his magnum up as he did and catching Krauser right in the solar plexus. That one really hurt, and hit breathing hitched as he—
Shuddered in pleasure as yet greater euphoria cascaded through his body, healing his wounds and renewing his strength. Leon didn't stand a chance against this power.
IT ISN'T HEALING YOUR WOUNDS, IT'S HIDING THEM! YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!
For a moment, a brief, wretched moment, that voice rang clearly in his ears. He wasn't going to die to Leon, of course not, but he still had Ada to deal with, and then Saddler after that. If he expended all his strength here – and surely he'd already expended far more than he should have—
Then Leon shot him again, this time in the foot, and he snarled in pain. Then another wave of pleasure rippled out from his Plaga, and he sighed in bliss.
"Do you have any idea how much I'm going to enjoy killing you?" He asked, lightheaded from the chemicals his Plaga was feeding him. Dopamine? Serotonin? Something else? Who knew? Who cared?
Leon replied, voice far too calm for the situation at hand. Didn't he realize his death was at hand? "Too much, Krauser. What happened to you? You used to be a good guy. I can't believe that you're really this far gone – I just can't."
Krauser rolled his head along his neck, popping the joints. "Believe it, comrade. And believe this, too: Once I'm finished with you, I'm going to kill that bitch you're in bed with, take the Sample from Saddler's cold, dead body, and bring you all back to Wesker in body bags."
Leon's eyes narrowed. "Even the girls? You'd really murder them in cold blood?"
Krauser's mind slipped over to her. Aurelleah. It had done a number on him, seeing her crouched there at his feet for those sweet milliseconds before Leon had reacted. He'd get his hands on her the moment Leon was dead. He was hellbent on that.
"Oh, no," he said, mind side-slipping as it conjured up exactly how she'd look, bucking and writhing beneath him, wailing like a cat in heat. "I want her alive. Pretty little thing, isn't she? And so fucking small. I can only imagine how tight she'll be—"
His attention was drawn back to the moment when Leon darted for him, and Krauser laughed as his comrade's knife came in a blow oriented for his throat. "What's the matter, did I get your goat?"
Leon stumbled, and his hand shot out to steady himself as he dropped the blade to stave off Krauser's own strike. For a moment they were close, really close, and he tried to take advantage of this to end Leon once and for all. But his foe jerked back at the last second, and Krauser's strike hit only empty air.
He felt a slight tug at his belt as Leon threw himself back, and glanced down as he said, "Don't worry, I'll take great care of her. I…"
Leon was sprinting away, and it took Krauser a second to realize why. What had happened didn't quite register with him until the three grenade pins Leon had tugged out during his feign to the throat hit the ground with light, metallic chimes.
In the heartbeat left to it, Krauser's inner reptile said bluntly and without inflection,
You could have prevented that.
Krauser lunged towards Leon just as he was about to draw out of the blast radius, and the whole world went white.
"A large cat, a bird of prey, and a serpent? Let's see what I can find."
Ada had her drone hovering over the gateway out of the Ruins. It seemed to require three pieces to enter it, and going by the mural, these pieces were a trio of animals. She'd called Wesker to enquire about the puzzle, and he was now looking up the information.
"Ah, here we are. The three pieces of the Holy Beast – Panther, Eagle, and Serpent. There are three insignias in these shapes which need to be inserted into a gateway that leads one out of…the ruins of the old temple? Why are you so far off course?"
He sounded irritated. She'd planned for this. "I'm not," she explained patiently. "I located the insignias and didn't know what they were for. They're heavy, and I didn't want to carry them around unless I needed them. It's good to know I can throw them away."
"I see. Ada, where is Krauser? I haven't been able to reach him."
She needed to get back to the task at hand. The timer on the tower only had three more minutes to detonation. "I haven't seen him since our meeting at the radio tower. Perhaps he's dead?"
Wesker scoffed. "You should be so lucky. But then, Leon doesn't die easily. Perhaps he overcame Krauser, too. That's fine. We can use him to clean up Saddler for us. We'll let them fight it out. Neither one of them will manage to come out unharmed. Either way, it's your job to clean up what is left of them when the fight is over. Whatever happens, we can't let either of them live to see tomorrow. Our goal is to retrieve the Sample. Take out anything that might interfere with our plans."
Beep!
Ada scoffed. That had gone more smoothly than expected, though she didn't appreciate the renewed order to kill Leon. Still, at least she had until Saddler was dead to come up with a way to avoid it.
She put the radio away and turned the drone around. She needed to relay the information about the gateway to Aurelleah. She'd likely need it.
As the camera came up to tower level, she saw something unnerving. There was no movement atop it, only a lot of smoke. The charges can't have gone off, otherwise the whole structure would be rubble. What had gone up?
Just as she dropped the drone down, the security door opened and Aurelleah came running through, looking around for Leon. She and Ada spotted him at the same time, and she sucked in a short breath. He was rammed up against a small fragment of wall ringing the side of the tower platform. He was clearly unconscious…and the tower was set to detonate very, very soon.
She saw what had exploded. Somehow, the grenades on Krauser's belt had gone off, blasting the man into a smoking mess. His body was intact, shockingly, though the extent of the damage was hard to place, as he was lying face down.
Aurelleah was kneeling beside Leon, and Ada brought the drone over to her and flipped the mic on. "Aurelleah, the tower will explode in just over two minutes. Do you know where Leon's smelling salts are?"
She looked up and shook her head, and Ada's stomach dropped. Leon was clearly out cold. He wasn't going anywhere on his own steam.
It looked like this was the end of the road for him. She closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she said, "There are three insignias you'll need to get through the gateway out of the Ruins. A panther, an eagle, and a serpent. Check Leon's pockets, see if he has them.
Aurelleah checked and found two. "Alright, go check Krauser," Ada advised. "He may have the third. Then…" she sucked in a deep breath, and continued, "…leave Leon behind, get to Luis, and resume your mission. You need to get to the Plaga removal machine."
Ada felt a hard ball of ice forming in her chest, but that was normal enough. She'd felt it before. She hadn't managed to save Leon. He was going to die in roughly one hundred and ten seconds, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. But failing to save people was something she'd experienced often enough in her life. It was becoming second-hat to her. She'd…get over this.
Eventually.
Aurelleah had gone over to Krauser. She pulled the third insignia out of his pocket, dropping it into her own. Then she put a hand on his shoulder to brace herself as she got to her feet, and flung herself away from him in a start. He'd moved.
Ada looked at his gently twitching form with spite. If the man wasn't dead, he'd probably go after Aurelleah when he woke. That meant Ada would need to get a move on if she wanted to save the girl. And saving the girl was the least she could do for…
She blinked as the drone's sights drifted back onto Aurelleah. She was crouched next to Leon, and as Ada watched, the young woman shifted him so he lay flat on his back. She pushed his feet up so his knees were bent, and stepped on his feet. Then she reached forward, grabbed his right hand with hers, and pulled him up as far as she could into a sitting position. She slid her left arm between his legs, squatting down as low as she could, and slipped her knee between his legs as well. She then heaved, rolling him over her shoulder. She passed his right hand to her left to free up her dominant grip.
Ada watched in amazement as Aurelleah picked Leon, a grown man, up in a perfect fireman's carry. It was clear from the way her legs shook as she stood from her squat that his weight was crushing…but she managed it, and began making her way towards the stairs.
She staggered past Krauser, who stirred on the ground. It looked like he was already coming around. Ada would need to guide Aurelleah to the gate…assuming she made it out of the tower, that was.
Ada zipped the drone down as the girl mounted the stairs, barely keeping Leon's weight from sending them toppling down them. "Thirty-two seconds," Ada informed her.
She picked up the pace as much as she was able, using the wall to steady them as she made her way down. About halfway down, Ada said, "Twenty seconds."
Aurelleah picked up the pace even more, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs. She took off at a heavy, nearly over-balanced trot as she reached level ground. As she cleared the door, Ada said, "Eight seconds."
Aurelleah made for the nearest sturdy structure, and Ada took the drone along with her. Just as she rounded the corner of a short, squat wall, the drone dipped in the air and was sent careening to the ground as the shockwave hit it.
She waited for the rocks to stop raining down. When they finally did, she tried to get the drone airborne again, but it seemed that the rotor blades had been damaged. She was grounded.
She could see Aurelleah's feet from her angle. Hoping that the speaker hadn't also been damaged, she said loudly, "Aurelleah – listen closely. You need to get Leon through that gate. Krauser may still be alive. I'll tell you the way, just listen closely."
Aurelleah's toe tapped twice, which Ada took as a sign she was listening. Ada began feeding her the directions as carefully and quickly as she could, and when she was done, Aurelleah tapped her toe again and took off, Leon still on her back.
Ada sat back with a breath of relief, and drew the back of her hand across her forehead. She hadn't realized it, but she'd been sweating heavily.
She could feel that hard little ball of ice in her chest melting as she realized that Leon was going to be okay. Probably. So long as Aurelleah could stave off an attacker or two until Leon came around – and Ada was sure she could, especially if she picked up Leon's firearms – then everything would turn out just fine for him.
The warming halted and the coldness swept in again as a heavy boot fell right in front of the drone's camera lens. Krauser was alive, awake…and in pursuit.
She said nothing as he walked past. She suspected he was past words at this point. Instead, she abandoned the drone, packed up her things again, and stood up, drawing her hookshot.
She needed to get to the Ruins.
OoO
Oh, man. This was a fun chapter to write.
I've grown so attached to Krauser, I really wanted to do the final battle between them justice. Hopefully I did!
Steele, I'm sorry your Fourth was damp and dreary! I was working in the early evening, so I missed out on most of the festivities, but I was able to enjoy the neighbors setting off their fireworks after it got properly dark, so that was nice :) I'm glad you enjoyed the U-3 fight, and I'm happy that my uploads were able to lift your spirits :D Have a good one, and I'll see you around ^_^
Best,
The Topaz Dragon