A Touch of Red
By evolution-500
Genres: Horror/Friendship/Romance
Feedback: Always welcome
WARNING: This story contains violence, course language, mature themes and disturbing imagery. Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: KILLER INSTINCT is a property belonging to Rare and Microsoft while RESIDENT EVIL is a property belonging to Capcom. I do not own any of these characters.
Author's Note: Shout-outs to Disciple of Ember, The Goddess Iusaaset and Shaderem X - thank you so much for your help, guys! You absolutely rock! :)
Chapter Seven: Secrets
Konrad watched the screen on his monitor as David Kellog settled down into his chair.
"Ah, Mr. Chairman! Welcome. It's good to see-" the latter caught himself, frowning disapprovingly. "Your camera is offline again, Mr. Chairman."
Konrad shrugged. "I'm aware, David."
"Really, Mr. Chairman, you should replace your computer or at the very least get a proper camera installed-"
"Can we get a move on already?" he retorted sharply. "I have a program to run soon, and the more we bicker about nonsense, the more valuable time that is going to be wasted. Move on."
He watched on the screen as David's mouth pinched itself into a tight line, his eagle-like eyes glaring at him.
"...Very well." He said calmly. Shuffling his papers, he placed on a pair of glasses. "Before we begin this meeting, as a reminder to everyone here and online, please make sure that all cellphones and pagers are turned off immediately. I cannot stress enough the importance of confidentiality and the sensitive nature of our work. Please take the time to shut them down."
Konrad heard the Board of Directors mutter on the audio as they all shut off their cellphones.
Once everyone finished, David then slid his glasses up the bridge of his aquiline nose. "Now that matter is out of the way, let's get right down to business."
The beast roared in its cage as it slammed against the bars, causing all the personnel to flinch, save for Glenn Arias. A tall man of 6'3, Arias was a lean figure with the athletic build of a twenty year old, but his shortly cut silver hair betrayed his age of fifty-seven, his narrow eyes possessing a cool, calculating intelligence.
"Patience, little one. You'll get your chance to fight," he said in a soft, soothing voice. Raising his eyes to the nearest guard, he pointed. "Keep on guard, I'm going out for a smoke at the entrance."
"Yes, sir." The guard nodded his helmeted head, his voice distorted by a filter.
"Now that we have finished covering the warranty agreements for our new line of service androids, let's direct our attention over to Item Four, concerning the Killer Instinct program." David looked expectantly at the screen. "How goes the program, Mr. Chairman?"
"All of the fighters are gathered and waiting. They are largely in good physical condition, although there are one or two subjects that are at their peak in comparison to the others," Konrad replied. "Once the program begins, ARIA will begin recording combat data for Project Fulgore."
Konrad watched as Sergei Vladimir folded his arms together, staring coldly at the camera. "You intend to test your precious machine against them?"
The Baron shook his head, even though Vladimir couldn't see the gesture, "Certainly not! We're just gathering data from their movements and fighting styles. Once that information has been collected, we'll implement it into the machine's program."
David frowned. "You do realize that the presentation for Project Fulgore along with Odyssey is less than a few days, don't you?"
Konrad frowned back at the screen, "David, please. I am quite aware. Mathison and Gore are already done with their work - it just needs a few finishing touches in its programming and presentation. We'll be running some tests to make sure everything is in working order and make the necessary adjustments."
"Will they be able to deliver in time?"
"They will."
"Remember, Baron, a lot is riding on this machine of yours, along with your Odyssey energy project. I don't need to remind you of how Electrocorp bungled everything up when one of their ECO models started walking into a wall and tripped over its own damn feet."
"I remember that incident very well, David, thank you very much. Rest assured, it will not be a repeat of history."
"Let us hope that it isn't. To be frank with you, Mr. Chairman, I have doubts. I mean, really, a cyborg soldier? A generator that syphons energy from other dimensional planes? If your projects end up malfunctioning or failing-"
"They won't," Konrad said certainly. "Once you've seen the results for yourself, David, you'll be grinning from ear to ear and seeing dollar signs in neon."
David quirked a brow. "Really? That's a very bold claim to make, Mr. Chairman."
"I have the utmost confidence in their success."
Konrad watched as David shrugged on the screen. "Very well. We'll see the results for ourselves." He looked back to the pages in his hand. "Now, continuing on with the tournament, what match-ups do you intend to feature? Will you be featuring any of your costumed friends in any of them?"
Konrad's brow furrowed, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
"Ja, we have a good selection for the upcoming fight. Our first matchup will be one Claire Redfield along with an 'Alice Abernathy'. Both are Raccoon City residents, so it only seems appropriate to start off with something that has a local flavor. Next we have Aganos and Hisako-"
"One thing that has me rather curious with your matchups," Sergei interrupted, "is that you never seem to have the human fighters combat your costumed friends." He looked meaningfully at the screen. "Why is that?"
Konrad chuckled. "Too complicated and expensive. It's as much for the fighters' sakes as it is for the crew's. After all, Sergei, we don't want lawsuits now, would we?"
Vladimir grunted, his dark eyes unreadable.
"You should consider having such a matchup sometime, Mr. Chairman," David spoke up. "After all, we have been getting a lot of fan letters requesting for such a thing to happen for quite a while now. Perhaps this season we can shake things up a bit?"
The Baron sat still, his face darkening. "...I'll...take that under consideration. No promises, though." He then cleared his throat. "Continuing on with the tournament schedule..."
Glenn stood outside the warehouse, watching as the lighter snapped out a tiny flame that wavered, leaning forward to light it.
"What is taking our contact so long?!" Diego said impatiently beside him, his rough accented voice low and grating.
In contrast to Arias, Diego Gomez was a robust bald-headed man with squarish features and broad shoulders, his face hairless save for a grey goatee, his dress suit a dark black, made of a material less expensive than Glenn's carefully tailored grey pinstripe clothing.
Drawing back from the lighter with his cigarette still smoking, Glenn drew his thumb away from the switch, the tiny flame dying out as he leaned back into the leather office chair, "Calm down, Diego. There's nothing to worry about."
Diego grunted, then paced anxiously about, checking and rechecking the 8mm in his hand.
Casting his eyes over, Glenn watched as the large and robust form of his trusted friend and bodyguard Diego Gomez as he paced about nervously, his grey hair and beard shining in the light. Nearby stood Diego's daughter Maria, a tall, lithe blonde woman in her twenties that wore a buttoned up black blouse with matching pants and shoes. Leaning casually against a wall with her arms folded, Maria kept her attention elsewhere, her features betraying nothing, while all around were black-uniformed armed guards, their visors glowing a dim blue light in the barely lit warehouse.
"When is he going to be here?" Diego demanded.
Inhaling his cigarette, Glenn drew back the sleeve of his fancy pinstriped grey coat, checking his watch.
"He'll be here. There is still time yet." Lowering the sleeve, he then neatly brushed down his grey suit, straightening the wrinkles that he incurred into both his coat and red shirt.
"This is a dangerous game you are playing, Glenn," Diego warned.
Closing his eyes, Arias smiled lightly, his demeanor calm and collected. "You seem nervous, old friend," he commented.
"You know that I am," the bodyguard retorted back. "If Ultratech finds out-"
"They won't," Glenn replied certainly as he drew closer, putting a hand on the big man's shoulder. "Don't worry - I have covered my tracks. No one suspects a thing." A smirk crawled up one side of his face, "Besides, what are you worried about? We have armed guards with us."
He watched as the large man's form relaxed a little, but he could see he was still tense.
And he couldn't blame him. Ultratech was incredibly efficient, much more so compared to Umbrella.
And yet, in certain other areas, Arias couldn't help feeling disappointed. Ever since the buyout of Umbrella, the Baron had to do a lot of reformatting and taking stock of Umbrella's inventory. It was a shame, really - so much research, so many wonderful specimens, so much potential!
Why the Baron had opted to put a halt to everything and destroy it all rather than continue on, Arias will never know, although he partially suspected that whatever "condition" he had made him senile. Only a fool would ignore the potential money-makers these viruses and creatures represented.
He waited a minute, then two. Checking his watch again, Glenn was about to call the whole thing off when his contact arrived; a tall man of 6'2 and 225 pounds with short silver hair and a long, narrow face with dimples, his dark, cold eyes looking especially cruel.
"Ah, Nicholai!" He greeted, shaking the Russian mercenary's hand. "Zdravstvuyte."
Nicholai shook back firmly. "Zdravstvuyte, Glenn. My apologies for being late - I came as soon as I could."
Glenn shrugged it off. "No worries. I'm just glad you have made it."
"Do you have the specimens?"
"Indeed I do. The show was just about to start. Wouldn't want you to miss it now, would we, 'Silver Wolf'?"
The Russian rolled his eyes at the code-name as he was led deeper into the warehouse, following Glenn.
The abandoned underground Umbrella warehouse that they were occupying was large and spacious. A former storehouse for vehicles, a collection of hooked chains creaked noisily overhead. Glenn mentally noted to himself to thank his wife Sarah for suggesting this location.
Hell, he should thank her for managing to get that one extra creature, the one that really caught him by surprise!
The room was dark and tense as all of the guards stood alert, their eyes fixed ahead on a large, caged-off arena with a pair of spiked pillars stood erect in the center, the floor stained with a mixture of fresh and dry blood and gore of previous challengers that came before.
Glenn then looked over to a guard that stood next to the fenced off arena and the cages, "Is the cage secure?"
"Yes, sir." The guard nodded.
"Are you sure?" Arias pressed, his eyes forming a glare. "I don't want any room for errors. You remembered what happened last time."
The guards exchanged nervous looks, then double-checked to make certain that the cages were locked into position. Satisfied, they returned.
"The cages are locked and secure."
Glenn puffed on his cigarette, exhaling, "Good. If it isn't, though, it'll be too late for any regrets."
Hearing a snarl, he turned around to find the Hunter baring its teeth at him. Smirking, he turned away, then gave an affirming nod.
"Bring him in."
He watched as one of the cage doors opened from the left, revealing nothing but a black, shadowy interior.
From one end, the first creature emerged.
About four or five feet tall, the creature was short but had a wide frame and a vaguely simian outline, with long muscular arms that had three fingers and an opposable thumb on each enormous hand, the digits lined with razor sharp talons.
It barely had any sort of neck at all, just an ugly squat toad-like - or perhaps snake-like - head that almost looked as if it were fused together with its shoulders, just slightly protruding outward, giving it a vaguely cobra-like look. Green and heavily muscled, reptilian scales glinted in the dim light as it walked cautiously out into the arena on its hind legs on triple-jointed, three-toed clawed feet, flexing its clawed hands as it let out a loud shriek, revealing sharp teeth, its back textured and ridged like a crocodile's.
Glenn nodded quietly, his eyes squarely fixed on the arena.
"Very impressive, isn't he?" he commented lightly. Flicking the cigarette out from his fingers, Glenn held one arm out dramatically in demonstration, speaking with the air of a showman. "An old, long-forgotten specimen from Umbrella - the Hunter Alpha. The initial prototype series were produced through infecting human embryos with the Beta Two T-Virus strain as a bonding agent before splicing in animal genes of reptile origin."
Nicholai nodded, impressed. "How long does it take to develop?"
"Maturation usually takes a year, but it involves repeated exposure to growth hormones."
"And its intelligence?"
"About equal to that of an Orangutan. It can recognize ten different commands taught by trainers. As you can plainly see, the hard, keratinized skin on it acts as a form of armor."
Nicholai nodded in approval. "He seems like a fighter."
Glenn's smile grew, "Wait until you see his opponent."
The Hunter paced about, sniffing the air. As a group of guards entered with another large cage, the creature jerked its head up and widened its yellow slit pupiled eyes in alert. Bearing its fangs, it started to slam its fists on the ground like a gorilla about to charge, letting out a challenging roar in agitation.
From the other end, his opponent roared back a deafening reply, a harsh, unearthly sound like the squawk of a parrot and nails on a chalkboard played through a filter, causing the creature and everyone in the room to flinch, startling Nicholai.
"What in God's name was that?!" the Russian demanded.
Glenn gave a coy smile. "That is his opponent. Something that my wife had inadvertently found, apparently."
He watched as the guards nervously made certain the cage was locked into place. Several men had their fingers coiled around the triggers of their rifles and tasers while one or two were visibly shaking with fear.
Arias watched as the cage door drew open from the opposite end of the arena facing the Hunter, the occupant of its cage snorting and hissing in serpentine fashion.
Stepping slowly out with its clawed feet scraping along the ground, the other creature poked its snake-like head out and peered around, flickering its forked tongue before emerging fully into the arena itself, dwarfing its opponent and practically filling the arena itself with its massive form.
"Вот дерьмо!" Nicholai uttered in Russian.
People were silent as it slinked steadily into the arena.
Orange in color with black stripes on its back and a yellow undersection, the creature was tall, a whopping seven footer that stood on its tiptoes, kind of like a dog.
Proportionally, it was very humanoid, with a robust, heavily muscled torso, a very slim waist and a pair of long, sturdy muscular legs.
Like its opponent, the creature had very pronounced serpentine features, even more so compared to the former, with a cobra-like "hood" that hung over the shoulders like a pair of miniature wings, while the incredibly strong-looking back itself was a sort of scaly, heavily muscled and armored shell.
The most human feature of the thing, though, were its arms and hands, both of which were bound in a pair of steel manacles with chains; despite having only three fingers on each hand excluding an opposable thumb and having huge talons at the end of each digit, they looked remarkably human. Disturbingly human.
And incredibly strong-looking - Glenn could easily imagine those arms and hands crushing someone or something in their grasp.
The worst feature were the feet of the damn thing - on each of the beast's four toes, including its dewclaw, were four enormous sickle-like talons.
Completing the overall package, though, was a very long and strong-looking tail with a sharp stinger at the end that swished around behind the creature, oftentimes hanging directly over the creature's back like a scorpion.
Viewed as whole, it was a creature that looked as if Freddy Krueger decided to build himself a dinosaur, using a cobra as its base.
"Look at the size of it!" Nicholai gasped quietly.
Staring back at its opponent, the Hunter let out a challenging shriek.
Looking over in its direction with a steady stare, the creature retorted with a guttural roar, its snake-like head and jaws unhinging at a one hundred and eighty degree angle, revealing a series of razor-sharp teeth along with a huge pair of viper-like fangs that dripped with venom.
Taking that as an invitation, the Hunter leapt high into the air toward the larger beast, its arm reared back, ready to swipe its clawed hand at the beast's face when its opponent struck first with a slashing uppercut that caught the Hunter across the chest, sending the smaller creature flying.
As it crashed hard to the floor, the snake-like creature took the opportunity to continue its assault, even as the Hunter hopped back onto its feet with a bleeding chest wound.
With a swiftness that caught everyone by surprise, including Glenn himself, the larger creature charged toward the smaller one and lunged into the air, rearing itself back on its tail like a kangaroo as its scythe-clawed feet cut and kicked at the Hunter, looking as if it were riding a bicycle. Black claws raked and kicked into the Hunter's skin, flaying green scales away, revealing exposed pink and red muscle and sinew underneath, blood spilling to the floor in quick sprays.
"Jesus fucking Christ!" A guard yelled, putting a hand to his mouth.
Glenn watched as the snake beast kicked its opponent several times, then slashed in a downward arch with both claws, slashing down its opponent's shoulders before leaping forward with a front flip in a rolling arch, its great, curling tail slamming onto the Hunter's back.
Then, it suddenly bounced back up from the floor like a coiled spring, lashing out with a pair of thrusting kicks that struck its opponent's chest.
The moment its feet made contact with their target, the Hunter was lifted off the floor, struck with such force that it practically flew all the way toward the other end of the arena cage and crashed into the arena bars, causing them to bend outward.
"WHOA!" A guard yelped as the cage rattled, ducking out of the way.
All around, men were cheering, egging the creatures on as the snake creature charged forward with frightening speed, pinning its small prey down with a startled cry.
The Hunter shrieked and whined as it tried to get away, the creature's long tail coiling around its whole body like a python as it frantically struggled, the great viper-like maw chomping onto its neck.
The Hunter's screams grew louder as the scythe-like claws rapidly and relentlessly raked into its flesh, carving and cutting into it with the ferocity and speed of a chainsaw.
Intestines spilled and were flung into the air while blood sprayed wildly around like a wild firehose, soaking every corner of the floor and cage itself, causing some of the guards to back warily away to avoid being soaked.
As the Hunter gave its last pitiful cry, the warehouse became still as the death cries were replaced with gurgling along with the sounds of eating and fresh meat being torn from bone.
For several minutes, Glenn and Nicholai remained quiet, both men overwhelmed, albeit for different reasons.
Poking its snout through the bloody exposed ribs of its latest meal, the snake beast tore a huge chunk of flesh from its defeated enemy, lifting up its head to let out a bellowing cry.
Swallowing, Nicholai swept his hands through his grey hair, swearing something in Russian, his eyes wide the whole time, completely transfixed by what he had just witnessed. "What is that thing?! Fucking shit, what is that thing?!"
Glenn smiled, sensing the Russian's growing excitement.
"Allow me to introduce you to the 'Retrovirally Infected Predator'," he said grandly. "Otherwise known by its acronym, 'RIPTOR'."
Nicholai reared his head up, giving a startled look. "'RIPTOR'? Wait a minute...are you saying that-"
"Yes," Glenn nodded with a smirk, knowing the question he wanted to ask, his mind lighting up with dollar signs, "The best part? It's for sale. So, what will be your starting-"
Glass shattered as soldiers repelled into the room from the roof, causing the cigarette to drop in startled surprise. "What?!"
It had happened so fast that Glenn didn't even have time to process what was happening before it was all too late.
One or two guards had tried reacting only to be gunned down instantly.
Glenn himself had attempted to draw out his 8mm Beretta only to have several guards force the weapon out from his hands, one of them socking him hard in the eye with the butt of his rifle, causing Glenn to see stars.
As he rolled over dazedly onto his stomach, he felt himself pinned down to the floor with his arms restrained behind his back alongside Nicholai, Maria and Diego, the four of them struggling to break free when a shadow fell over them.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A familiar voice commented lightly, causing Glenn's heart to stop as he heard footsteps drawing closer. Finally, a pair of fancy, wing-tipped black leather shoes appeared right in front of the captured group. "Hello, Glenn. Hello..." he paused, glaring down as his tone became laced with displeasure, looking as if he stepped into fresh dog shit, "...Nicholai..."
"Room is clear, sir," a muffled voice asserted. "Hostiles have been neutralized."
"Were you able to secure any specimens or files?"
"Only some of them so far, sir."
"Continue on."
Giving an annoyed grunt, the man then reached out with a black, leather-gloved hand and gingerly picked up a chair that had been upturned during the chaos, straightening it back up before dusting it off.
Looking up, Arias' eyes widened as he caught sight of the distinctive grey fedora, the brim lowered over its owner's eyes, concealing his entire face in shadow.
Shaking his head slowly, the man in grey clucked in disapproval as if Glenn were some naughty child.
"Glenn, Glenn, Glenn." He drawled, taking the seat for himself as he sat directly in front of the four. "Double-dipping behind our backs?" The man lazily waved a gloved finger from side to side tauntingly, tsking. "Nicholai is to be expected, being the dirty, opportunistic cocksucker that he is, but you, a researcher? Tsk tsk tsk. Very naughty. Did you really think you could just stick your greasy little fingers into the cookie jar without people noticing?"
Glenn struggled, trying to break free from the guards' hold.
"How- How did you-"
"How did I know?" Dieter repeated with a devilish smirk as he took out a pack of cigarettes from his coat, quizzically looking over to one of the black-suited commandos. "Why is it that whenever we catch these fuckers red-handed they act so confused? Any thoughts, HUNK?"
The gas-masked operative remained quiet.
"No?" Ignoring him, Dieter then looked back down at Glenn and the others, slipping the cigarette into his mouth. "Newsflash, dateline Racoon City - you're not the first Umbrella cockroach that tried pulling this kind of shit, genius." Taking out a match, he flicked it off Glenn's cheek, producing a small flame as the man in grey raised it up, smoking like a chimney. Pulling the cigarette out from his mouth, Dieter then breathed directly into Glenn and Nicholai's faces, causing the former to cough. "It wasn't hard figurin' you out. In my line of business, guys like you are a dime a dozen. You had good connections; I'll give you that." His face hardened as leaned forward, the bottom half partially lit. The rest of the top half remained in shadow, making Dieter look absolutely Mephistophelian, his voice a steady calm that betrayed nothing, "Of course, I should know."
Glenn's brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"
Someone stepped into the room. Arias listened as their footsteps clacked along the stained floor, pushing past the guards to reveal a fat, balding man in a black suit, causing Arias' eyes to widen and his mouth to drop in shock.
"You?!"
The man gave him a dismissive, contemptuous glance, then turned his attention over to Dieter as he straightened himself.
"Dieter," he nodded.
The man in grey nodded back, his expression neutral. "Joel."
Then, to Glenn's further astonishment, the two men suddenly embraced, the two laughing as they patted each other on the back as if they were dear old friends.
"Dieter, you crazy fucker!" The man laughed. "How are you?"
Dieter shrugged. "I'm good. How's the wife and kids?"
Glenn stared, his insides turning to ice. "You...know each other?"
"We do." The man in grey replied. "You don't need to know the details, but we've always kept in touch throughout the years." Dieter looked back to Joel. "So this was the guy, eh?"
"It is."
"Hm. Well, give my love to the Missus. Just wait outside while I deal with this."
As "Joel" disappeared outside of the warehouse, Dieter then looked back to Glenn and chuckled darkly, shaking his head in amusement. "I have to say, I was quite surprised when he told me about your offer."
Nicholai glared at Glenn. "You made an offer to him?! You told me I was the only one!"
Arias felt his heart constricting in his chest, mustering the strength to glare up at his captor. "I-I didn't know."
Dieter's teeth glinted in the light as he grinned. "Of course you wouldn't." The bodyguard shook his head, letting out a laugh. "What a shithead! What a pair of grade-A shitheads you both are! You couldn't be any more perfect for one another."
"Does your Baron know what you are?" Nicholai sneered.
The bodyguard shrugged. "He only knows what I want him to know." He crouched low with cigarette in hand, sprinkling his ashes over the Russian's head. "It's not polite stealing other people's shit."
Glenn smirked. "Nobody was using it."
"Doesn't matter - the Baron was pretty clear on what he wants. 'Destroy every sample, document and creature you could find.' Doesn't sound like 'sell off to the highest bidder' now, does it?" Dieter then folded his arms, "Now, what do I do with the four of you?"
Diego swallowed. "L-let us go."
Dieter quirked a brow. "And why would I do that?"
"We can help you make money," Nicholai said seriously, his forehead sweating, his eyes betraying just a hint of desperation. "Lots of money. After all, you can't put a price on life, right? I know for a fact that your precious Baron is-"
Nicholai's skull imploded as it blew apart, the shot ringing in Glenn's ears as he felt something warm and wet hit his face.
"No, wait! WAIT! Please!" Glenn pleaded.
"Been wantin' to do that to that rat bastard for years." Dieter blew the smoke away from his pistol, then narrowed his eyes down at the three remaining. "You've been playing with dangerous shit, Arias. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into... just as your precious Sarah had."
Glenn looked up with a start. "Sarah? What are- what are you talking about?" He clenched his jaw. "You- you bastard, what- what have you done with Sarah?!"
"What I have done?" Dieter's grin widened. "I didn't do anything. Sarah, on the other hand, got a little, how do I put it...too close to one of the creatures. In fact," he paused deliberately, a savage smile formed on his face, "...I'm surprised that you didn't recognize her. After all, you did just feed her..."
Glenn's heart stopped, his mouth feeling dry as his eyes widened in horror. "N-no. No, that's- that's not-"
"Oh yes." Dieter sneered. "After she got scratched, well, that's when the idea occurred to me - why not have some fun? How funny would it be for you to find out that you've tried selling off your own wife? You got to admit, that's absolutely hilarious, isn't it?"
Arias remained on the ground, his form numb. He wanted to throw up. He wanted to scream, to cry, to do something...but...he couldn't. Meanwhile, in the background, Sarah was eating noisily, tearing off strips of meat, not taking any notice of the things happening around her.
"You only got yourself to blame, Glenn," Dieter shrugged. "You got your wife involved...and now she's paying for it. It's amazing how quickly she turned. Less than two, three days. She was crying and screaming your name all throughout, begging for you to be spared, for you to come rescue her. You're a lucky guy, you know that? A woman like that? You should have seen her during her final moments. Even when she was barely lucid, she still loved you and called you by name. Shit, it almost made me a believer in that whole namby-pamby 'true love' crap. Now, there's nothing of her left. A pity, really. I would have loved to have fucked her." He gave a sigh of longing. "She had some great tits and an amazing ass."
Glaring up at him, Glenn struggled on the floor beneath the guards, wanting to strike the man in front of him, "YOU ROTTEN SON OF A-"
His cries were cut off as the bodyguard fired his weapon.
Dieter stared down at the smoking remains of Arias' head.
"It's been fun knowing ya, Glenn. You've been a real pal." The man in grey turned his attention over to Diego and Maria.
"No, no!" The former pleaded. "Please, wait-"
Multiple shots repeatedly echoed, drowning out Diego's pleas.
Once the ringing ceased, Dieter hissed sharply on his cigarette, staring down at the fresh remains on the floor. "Serves the four of you right for muscling in. Don't worry, Glenn, I'll take very good care of your lovely wife." He then looked back to the guards. "Search them. Bag and tag whatever you can find, then get rid of the bodies, fellas. I want every document and creature found. Don't leave anything unchecked."
As the security detail proceeded to go to work, Dieter then glanced down at Nicholai's remains, the cigarette still in his mouth. Exhaling smoke, he let it fall, watching as it plummeted into Nicholai's exposed brain matter.
"Commie motherfucker."
"And that concludes this meeting," David said as he shuffled the papers in his hand. "Good luck with the program, Mr. Chairman. I hope you put on a good show."
"Thank you, David. Take care, and say hello to your wife and son for me." And with that, Konrad turned the monitor off, letting out an exhale as he pressed a button on his phone. "ARIA, are Gore and Mathison ready?"
"Yes, Baron," ARIA replied in a flat voice. "All of the equipment is in position and ready for recording."
"And the creatures?"
"Still sealed in their cages."
"Good." He straightened in his chair. "Well, time for the show to begin."
Author's Note: Hope you liked this, everyone. Take care, and stay safe and healthy.