Italicized: POV/Flashbacks/Thoughts/Spell
Bold: Monster
POV: Claire Redfield
Claire had sprinted for the Library immediately after leaving James in the lobby, her mission being to reach the lounge and attempt to guess the Unicorn Statue's code in the off-chance that Leon was unable to get the codes. She had taken down all of the zombies located within the library using the training she had gotten from Chris, before moving to the lounge. There, she had found the Unicorn Statue, which had three rotatable rings with three images each. She only barely paid attention to her surroundings as she got lost in her thoughts. Chris wasn't in the city, which was good, but he was still missing and had yet to contact her in over a month. Claire had to find him somehow, but she had no clue where to start. She was alone now in Racoon City with a rookie cop, an infected cop, and an unstable Tyrant that seemed ready to snap at any moment and destroy everything.
It made her a bit sad to think about James. He already seemed like he'd been going through a lot, but to add all of this to the mix must be difficult for him. Not to mention that he had told her about his inability to control his 'special abilities', making her believe that was the reason he had blown up the area 'Jill and Carlos' were in, as well as his incident at the gas station. If he lost control again, Claire was worried he could blow the entire building to sky-high with Claire, Leon, and Marvin still inside. It worried her a bit, but she moved past her own thoughts, and focused on the codes. She was saved from wasting her time when she felt an explosion followed by gunshots. "CLAIRE, HE'S HERE!" The voice of Leon screamed as she heard crashing and running footsteps. Claire aimed her gun at the door, waiting for that bastard to come through. Mr. X...the Tyrant. The one James had told them about.
After hearing nothing, Claire opened the door a small amount, peeking through the opening to find the library empty. The hole in the wall was massive, and there was a hole in the floor, no doubt from the Tyrant's foot. And beneath one of the tables was a small Officer's notebook. The book. Leon had found it. She crawled under the table, careful not to hit her head as she grabbed hold of it. She tried to pull back only for a zombie lying on the ground to grab her hand, its head lurched forward, with Claire putting multiple bullets into the zombies head. Shaking it off, Claire moved from under the table and got to her feet. She ran back into the lounge, stopping in front of the Unicorn Statue as she examined the code within the book. Fish...Scorpion...Jug.
The shield holding the medallion suddenly hissed, letting out a bit of steam as the small metal disk holding the medallion in place suddenly retracted. It fell into Claire's waiting hand, and she stuffed it into her pocket. Claire had to get back to the Goddess Statue. She did just that, moving out of the balcony and down the steps. She noticed that Marvin was still hidden behind his curtains, though he didn't seem to notice her as he watched the computer. Claire stepped up to the Goddess Statue, trying the middle slot to no avail. She placed it on the left, and watched as the cement ring around the base of the statue suddenly peeled away. It revealed a pattern to what looked like a small set of stairs, and Claire smiled. The Lion Medallion sat in the right slot, and a door was visible behind a set of bars. The way out really was through here.
Taking a deep breath, Claire turned and found two items that she realized she might need. Or three. A map to the police department, and two spare radios. She grabbed a radio and map, and took off back up the stairs, consulting her map for a moment as she moved back into the library. Claire moved up the set of steps within the library, and came up to a door labeled 'W.S.R'. West Storage Room, the room they needed to get into. She grabbed the knob, twisting it to find it was locked. Shit. She would have to go the long way around. Consulting her map once more, she smiled. The west hallway connected to the lounge led to the S.T.A.R.S Office as well as the stairwell leading up to the West-Storage Room.
If she was going to find anything on Chris in this place, it would be in the S.T.A.R.S Office. So, she ran down the stairs once more, careful to make sure that the Tyrant wasn't nearby as she stepped into the lounge. Stepping through the lounge, Claire moved into the west hallway, and was met with a foul stench. There were a few zombies roaming around the hallway, but what concerned Claire was the three Lickers crawling around on the floor, walls, and ceiling. Claire frowned, but knew she had to get to the S.T.A.R.S Office. She had to find Chris. Taking a deep breath, Claire slowly began to walk down the hallway, her eyes swiveling around the hall as she did her best not to make a single sound.
Claire made it to the corner, and was met with Licker that stuck its head straight out, inches from her face. She froze, completely still as fear petrified her. The Licker hissed and spat all over her, almost watching her as it crawled around her. Claire was disgusted, resisting the urge to wipe its spit from her face and shirt. After a minute though, the Licker left, leaving Claire alone to get into the S.T.A.R.S Office. Letting out a sigh of relief, Claire took her time looking around, finding some medical supplies, an attachment for her gun to reduce recoil, a crate holding an MQ 11 High-Capacity magazine, a flash grenade, a set of flame rounds for some sort of grenade launcher, high-grade gunpowder, a red herb, a 9 volt battery, and a few memos. And on 'A. Wesker's' desk was a roll of film labeled 'Rising Rookie'. Claire placed it in a small bag she found in the room that she was using to hold her things, before moving towards the computer in the corner.
There, she was met with a small bag labeled 'For Claire, from James'. Claire smiled, opening the bag to find a black void. She hesitated, but stuck her hand into the bag and frowned. She could feel a few things in here. Claire pulled out a small note first, addressed to her by James. It read; 'I'll keep this note short because I'm currently bashing Nemesis' face into the sidewalk, but I'll say this. These items will help you make it safely to the underground. I'm sure you can protect yourself, but a little help is never enough given the situation. Hope these come of good use for you, you'll find notes explaining what everything does. Give the other bag to Leon. See you around, James.' Claire smiled, carefully folding the note before placing it into her pocket alongside Elza's letter.
She reached into the bag once more, and found another note, she pulled it out and read. 'This bag is charmed to be endless, able to carry anything. Right now there's not enough in it to make it hard to reach in and grab something, but with the more items you place within it, it will grow harder to gain access to things. If you want something by that point, all you have to do is reach in and think about it. The bag'll do the rest,' Claire frowned. She didn't know how that worked, but assumed it was part of James' 'special abilities'. Claire stuffed her duffel bag into the small bag, and found that it somehow fit. She pulled it back out, wanting to explore what else was in the original bag. Claire reached into the bag, and grabbed a small envelope. She pulled it out and opened it, dumping its contents onto the table.
It contained a S.T.A.R.S Badge, a small booklet called 'Medical Benefits of Herb', a paper with the codes to the lockers around the building, a letter on the uses of gunpowder, and a small letter from some guy containing scribbles and three letters. Sob. She read the papers, and was able to combine a few red and green herbs she had collected for later use. She had a few medical spray-cans in her bag, meaning she would be fine for the foreseeable future...unless she kept getting injured. Claire then grabbed the badge, examining it closely for a moment before finding a small button on the back. She pressed it and was surprised to find that a USB dongle popped out of the top. Smiling, Claire moved towards the computer in the corner.
Sticking the USB Dongle into the computer, watching as the door to her right clicked and hummed, the lock clicking as the door unlocked. Claire stepped through the door, and found several locked lockers, a gun locker that was unlocked, and a small memo lying on the bench. She opened the gun locker, and found the MQ 11. Claire loaded it with the high-capacity magazine, before placing it in her duffel bag. Claire then grabbed the memo, and read it to herself. It read;
'To my bestest S.T.A.R.S buds, How are you all doing in that drab, old station? Hanging in there against old Irons? Me? I just got back from a date with a hot chick. Bet you can guess what we got up to under her extra-large umbrella. Europe is amazing. One month is in no way enough to even scratch the surface. Maybe I'll extend my vacation for another six months. Barry, don't you even think of coming to join me. Wouldn't want to make all the cute girls cry, yeah? So you just leave the babes to me. Jill, if Claire tries to contact you, please let her know I'm OK.
Chris Redfield, August 29th
Claire frowned. That didn't sound like Chris to her. Even in the time she remembered training with him after he returned to Raccoon City, Chris was always respectful and focused on more important things than women and vacations. Perhaps it was some sort of code? After all, he had been in the military, and they did use odd coding in messages. Or at least that's what Chris had told her a long time ago. So he was somewhere in Europe...something about an umbrella...and he was close with a guy named Barry and Jill Valentine. Shaking her head, Claire placed the memo in her duffel bag before placing James' pouch onto the bench. She placed her arm into it, feeling around again.
She pulled out a number of items, before dumping the rest onto the ground. It would just be easier that way. A flamethrower with a fuel canister, a valve handle, several green, red, and blue herbs, a combat knife, and a portable safe. Claire placed the flamethrower on the clip on her back, before combining the herbs. She then placed the herbs, the valve handle and the portable safe into the bag, slipping the pocket knife into the sheath on her belt. She would continue to use her S.T.A.R.S knife, but it was good to have an extra. After a moment, she put her duffel bag into the pouch, before clipping the pouch to her belt. It weighed almost nothing, and didn't weigh her down like the duffel bag did.
After moving a few things around, Claire frowned. There was no bag for Leon. She checked the desk once more, and found an even smaller pouch labeled 'For Leon, From James'. She grabbed the pouch, placing it into her own before pulling out the MQ 11 as she exited the S.T.A.R.S Office, she took a right, and moved down the hall, careful to avoid Lickers as she stealthily outmaneuvered the zombies that walked the hall. Claire stepped into the Women's Locker Room, mowing down a few zombies in the room before moving into the showers. There, she realized that a pipe was spewing out gas, blocking her only path up to the third floor. She heard crashing not too far away, and frowned. Leon. He was against that thing on his own.
Claire looked between the door and the gas pipe, lost in thought. Go help Leon and return with him? Or get to the Medallion? She remembered the code, and could get to it sooner than she could if she went back for Leon. Shaking her head, Claire dashed out of the Women's Locker Room, sliding beneath a Licker as she opened fire on its brain, killing it in a few seconds. She turned her gun on the other Lickers, taking them down. Her MQ 11 should have run out of ammo by now, but seemed to be filled every time she ejected the clip. Frowning, Claire took off in a sprint, moving through the lounge and through the library before coming to a stop at the door, listening to the radio as it kicked on. "Marvin, I'm upstairs at the fire escape, and am going to need some radio silence in case one of those Licker's shows up. I lost the Officer's notebook with the codes back in the library and have to loop around to get it again. Any word from Claire?"
"Nope. Last I saw she was running around the balcony above me, but went around through the other side. Haven't seen her since then," Marvin replied. Claire tried to use the radio, but it seemed to be busted, or maybe she wasn't using it right. She wasn't sure. Claire frowned, rushing down the steps before making her way through the lobby. She stepped through the opened shutters, down the hallway, before climbing onto the fire-escape. Claire rushed up the steps, before coming to a stop at the window looking into the second floor. The Tyrant stood in the middle of the hallway, grasping Leon's ankle as he hung upside-down. Leon aimed his pistol up/down at the Tyrant, firing a clip into the monster's face, lodging one of the bullets in the thing's eye. The Tyrant dropped Leon onto his head, with Claire screaming. "Leon!"
Leon turned his head, visibly in pain as he slowly got to his feet. Claire watched the Tyrant pull the bullet out of its eye and move to swing at Leon. "Watch out!" Claire yelled. Leon spun around, and Claire closed her eyes, unable to look at what would follow. She heard crashing and a scream, flinching as she heard rolling over. When she opened her eyes, she found that Leon was on the ground, looking up at a completely different individual. It was James, standing at nine and a half feet tall as held a giant metal pipe. His hands were glowing orange and his eyes were almost black, though the green was still there. There were cuts all over his body as he carelessly tossed the pipe aside, turning to look down at Leon with a smile. "The last medallion is upstairs. I'll try to hold them both off, but I'm having a hard enough time with Nemesis," James spoke. Claire tried to get a good look at the creature, but it was behind the wall, away from view.
James looked up at Claire, giving her a wink that made her smile. James then ran into the room to her right, his footsteps heavy as the ground shook. A dog-like creature was sent flying out of the building through the wall to Claire and Leon's left. The walls repaired themselves, leaving Claire and Leon alone. "Come on, Leon!" Claire shouted. She couldn't see the Tyrant, but she didn't doubt that it was still there. Leon gave her a sharp nod, shooting to his feet as he limped towards her, falling through the window and onto the fire-escape. Claire handed Leon the notebook, watching him take it as she spoke. "I got the Unicorn Medallion and put it into the Goddess Statue. That means all we have left is the Maiden's Medallion,"
Leon nodded, following her up the fire-escape. She could hear James below them grunting and yelling, as well as a few growls from Nemesis as the two fought. The two moved out of the fire-escape, entering the east hallway before moving into the main lobby. Claire led Leon back into the lobby and into the library. There, Leon came to a stop, looking up at the door she had tried before that led into the West Storage Room. When he moved to go up the stairs to it, Claire grabbed his arm, and spoke. "The door's locked," She said. "I tried to use it with no luck. I had to go through here," Claire motioned to the door in front of them. "There were Lickers everywhere, and it took me a while to get to you at the fire-escape. If we're going to go through here, we're going to have to be very quiet, especially with the two of us, because I don't know if anymore showed up,"
Giving her a nod, pushing open the door while Claire covered their six. She pressed her back against his, careful not to push him as they pushed into the lounge. They moved through the room, before moving into the west hallway where the Lickers were no longer present. Sighing in relief, Claire whispered to Leon. "The passage to the third is through the locker rooms there," She motioned to the door at the end of the hall. Leon gave her another nod, carefully moving forward with his gun drawn. He hadn't commented on her new gun or lack of duffel bag yet, seeing as he now had his own, but he was bound to bring it up eventually. Claire and Leon stepped into the Women's Locker Room, stepping over bodies as Claire moved up to the gas pipe.
"We need some kind of valve," Leon commented. Claire nodded, reaching into her pouch before thinking to herself. 'Valve Handle'. She felt something enter her grip, and pulled her hand out of the pouch to find she was holding the round valve. Leon raised an eyebrow, causing Claire to shake her head. She didn't know how to explain it, and wouldn't even try. Claire placed the valve where it was needed, and let out a grunt as she slowly twisted it. The connection shut off, the gas stopping as the two moved into the Men's Locker Room. There, they were met with a few open lockers, a hole in the right wall, and a few dead bodies on the ground that slowly began to rise.
Claire - using her MQ 11 - and Leon - using his pistol (which Claire would later find out he had named Matilda) - opened fire on the zombies, blowing their skulls apart as Claire looked around. There were shotgun shell boxes in a locker to the left, explosive rounds for a grenade launcher she didn't have in the right lockers, a portable safe in the middle locker, and two pouches on the bench. One labeled 'To Leon' the other labeled 'To Claire'. Leon turned to Claire, an eyebrow raised as he glanced down at the identical pouch dangling from her belt. "They're from James. He left me one in the S.T.A.R.S Office. He left one for you, but I couldn't give it to you till now," Claire reached into her pouch, thinking 'Leon's Pouch' as it appeared in her hand.
She pulled it out and handed it to Leon, who frowned as he opened it to find the same abyss as was in hers. "Just reach into it. I found the SMG and the valve in mine, there might be something useful in there for you too," Leon didn't seem convinced, but thankfully trusted her enough to reach into the pouch, reaching down as the pouch reached his shoulder. He pulled out a small note, which he read to himself. Most likely similar to the instructions she had gotten in hers. Claire dragged a few bodies away from him, and motioned towards the ground. Leon nodded, kneeling down as he turned the pouch over, dumping the contents out onto the ground as Leon stared at said items in disbelief, most likely thinking 'All that in a small pouch?'
There were a few attachments for his pistol, a combat knife, a few different types of grenades that he split with Claire - who hadn't gotten any - a flamethrower identical to Claire's alongside a fuel canister, a few different color herbs, a couple cans of medical spray, and a small piece of paper labeled 'Rookie's First Assignment'. Leon stored the knife on his belt, loaded the fuel canister into the flamethrower before clipping it onto the strap on his back, and stored everything else into the pouches on his belt, leaving the can and the note in the pouch that he clipped to his belt like Claire had. They then turned to the two new pouches, and opened them to find they weren't bottomless like the others, but were expanded with interior to look like a small car trunk in the interior.
There were a pair of folded clothes, and a massive case in each of their pouches. They pulled out their respective case, dropping them onto the ground next to each other as Claire and Leon exchanged matching grins. They clicked the cases open, opening them to find...guns. Lots...of guns. And attachments...and magazines. Claire's case held a GM 79 Grenade-Launcher that contained a case of grenade rounds, a JMB Hp3 with full attachments, attachments for her SLS 60, Quickdraw Army, and MQ 11, more hand and flash grenades, and a Lightning Hawk Magnum with full attachments. Leon's case contained a M19 (full attachments), a W-870 shotgun (full attachments), a Lightning Hawk of his own with attachments, and his own stock of hand and flash grenades. James had given them a whole arsenal, no doubt knowing they would have to face that Tyrant eventually. They couldn't just keep running. After all, it would eventually outrun them and they'd be...well...dead.
Claire's pouch had a note, one she read out loud because it was addressed to the two of them. "From James. God this thing is strong. I don't know how much longer I can hold this...I'm getting weaker with every minute, and I can feel it getting stronger. I've collected all of this stuff from around the department so that you'll be prepared to put an end to T-00, or Tyrant. These will also help you with the regular infected as well as the Lickers. But don't overly rely on them, because if you lose them, you'll be screwed. I hope you're both ok. Last time I saw you both, you were headed for the Maiden's Medallion. If you've gotten it before finding these, congrats, get the hell out of here. I'll meet you down below. If you haven't gotten it, get it fast and get through the door. I don't know if I can hold it off for much longer. Hope you bother are safe,"
"Hold this..." Leon mused.
"His inner Nemesis. That Nemesis thing evolves like the zombies out there. I think James' inner monster is trying to evolve, and he doesn't want that," Claire spoke.
"I wouldn't either. That Nemesis thing is disgusting," Leon added, shaking his head. Claire nodded, placing her new belongings into her pouch while Leon did the same. They both kept out their Lightning Hawks, using those as their primary weapons while they saved the change of clothes for later. "Come on, we need to get the medallion before James loses his cool," Leon spoke, sympathy in his voice as Claire nodded in agreement. They moved through the large hole in the wall, moving around the corner to find the stairwell leading up to the third floor. They began to move up the stairs, only for loud footsteps to fill the air. Looking up at the landing, they found T-00 at the top of the steps, casually walking down towards them, watching them with a stoic expression. "Claire...your grenade launcher," Leon said.
Claire nodded, pulling it from her pouch before loading an explosive grenade. She tossed it to Leon, who fired it at Mr. X. The blast seemed to only minorly affect the beast, sending him back a step before he continued. Leon opened the chamber to refill it, but found it was already full. Re-cocking it, Leon fired again, again, and again. Finally, the Tyrant fell to his knee, breathing heavily. Claire and Leon rushed past it up the stairs. They reached the third floor, turning right into what looked like a study before moving into the hallway. It was completely empty, but debris blocked the rest of the hallway, leaving only a single door. The 'W.S.R'. Claire slowly opened the door, her Lightning Hawk in hand as she pointed it into the room. She closed it after a moment, and turned to Leon. "A single zombie, and two Lickers," She told Leon.
Leon nodded, preparing the grenade launcher while Claire pulled out a grenade. She yanked the pin with her teeth, gripping it tightly as she moved back. Leon moved in front of her, cracking open the door just enough. Claire chucked the grenade into the room at the Licker to the right, while Leon fired at the Licker to the left. He closed the door as two explosions rang out, opening it once more before firing two more times, closing the door again as two more explosions followed. Leon opened the door once more, with Claire spotting the deceased corpses of the Lickers lying against the right and left walls, having been flung to the side. Claire held up her magnum, firing one shot into the zombies head as it dropped.
The two moved into the room, spotting the Maiden Statue behind a set of bars, with a stick of dynamite strapped to the end. But it was missing the detonator. "Shit...what are we going to do?" Claire asked, grabbing the bar as she examined the dynamite. She felt Leon grab her shoulder, and turned her head to see him hold up the grenade launcher. Claire grinned, backing away as Leon did the same. She positioned herself behind him, grabbing his shoulders to keep him steady if the blast knocked him back. Leon steadied his aim, and fired. The grenade shot out of the barrel, flying forward as it slammed directly into the dynamite. This resulted in an explosion that sent both Leon and Claire flying back into the wall, metal flying everywhere.
"Well...I think that did it," Claire said with a grin as Leon slowly got to his feet. He turned, holding out his hand to Claire, who took it. Once they were both up, they moved past the now destroyed bars and moved in front of the Maiden's Statue. Leon handed the book to Claire, aiming Claire's grenade launcher at the door in case the Tyrant returned. Claire looked down at the book, examining the code. Woman, Bow, Snake. She turned the dials, imputing the code as the shield suddenly clicked and hummed, letting off a bit of steam as the piece holding the medallion in suddenly retracted. The medallion fell out of the shield and into Claire's hand. She stowed it into her pouch, and turned to Leon. "I've got it, let's go,"
He gave her a nod, before moving towards the door to their right, which connected to the library. Leon unlocked the door, opening it to reveal the empty hallway on the upper level of the library. Only, it wasn't so empty seeing as something big was coming up the steps. Tyrant. It stopped in front of them, looking between the two before pushing forward. Claire dashed to the left, moving towards a ladder that she slid down, getting down quick and easy. Leon, though, was forced to resort to the only alternative. Jumping the railing and falling down to the bottom level of the library. He hit the ground with a THUD!, crying out in pain as he fell onto his hands and knees. Claire rushed forward, grabbing Leon's arm as she pulled him up, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as she helped him out of the library. That thing was still on them, and they needed to get out.
She helped carry him around the balcony and down the stairs, they were halfway down when Marvin opened his curtain. He was pale and a bit green, and was about to speak when everything went to hell.