Leon slowly came to, vaguely aware distant voices speaking indistinctly.

Something was thrust beneath his nose, and the pungent odor of ammonium carbonate filled his nostrils, rousing him abruptly. Leon's eyes flew open to see the saturnine face of a male lab technician. He recoiled from the vial of overpowering smelling salts, but the technician persisted.

Growling low, Leon headbutted him in the face. The man cried out in pain, dropping the vial to clutch his bleeding nose and hasten away.

"I'm awake," Leon snarled.

He endeavored to move his arms, but the effort proved vain. Cold steel bit at his wrists. He tried to move his feet, but found them likewise fettered. Leon was jolted out of his befuddlement as he became acutely aware of his predicament.

His weapons and gear had been confiscated, and he had been denuded of his shirt. He was in a windowless, dimly-lit room, bound to a gray, concrete wall by steel wrist and ankle restraints. A floor lamp stood in front of him, positioned to deliver its intense, white-hot light directly at his face. Streaming sweat plastered his bangs to his forehead and poured down his body.

Struggling beyond the lamp's blinding beam, Leon's dazzled gaze fell on a surgical instrument stand. A metal tray lay on it set with an assortment of scalpels and skeletonized knives glittering ominously in the low light. Leon set his jaw grimly, his pulse quickening with apprehension.

Jake and Sara were nowhere in sight.

A soft feminine chuckle followed by light applause broke through Leon's agitated observations.

"Bravo! Bravo! You just can't keep a good agent down, I see," the woman said snidely.

Leon recognized the voice that had gloated in his ear in Hunnigan's place. "Hana Matsuo," he averred. He sought her out, but could see nothing more than a silhouette. "Or should I say, Osakabe?"

"Denkiwotsukeru!" (Turn on the light!) the woman commanded.

Immediately the room blazed with fluorescent lights. Now Leon could see his captor plainly.

Osakabe stood before him, a mocking smile curving her lips. She was stylishly attired in a plum-hued sheath dress and black heels, looking more like she was heading out for a night on the town instead of world destruction.

Beside her stood a male figure clad in crimson ninja armor, his face hidden by a mask and hood. His eyes, the only visible feature of his visage, watched Leon malevolently. Trailing behind Osakabe and the blood-red ninja were guards dressed in black. Like Kuroki, they wore black masks, but their eyes glowed white through the eyeholes.

Osakabe advanced on Leon. She crossed her arms, analyzing him. "I must say, I'm genuinely impressed—pissed off to no end, but impressed. I've pulled out some of my best work, yet you're still here."

Leon eyed her defiantly, his gaze blue steel. "Where are the others?" he demanded.

Osakabe snickered. "The surefire sign of a hero: oblivious to his own plight in his concern for his fellow man."

"Oh, I'm aware," Leon returned, speaking more coolly than he felt. He cocked his head at the instrument stand. "I noticed the cutlery. And the lamp—a little old-school, but a nice touch. You haven't answered my question."

Osakabe shifted her weight, shaking her head in dark amusement. "You control your fear well, but I know you're afraid. You should be."

"That really does it for you, huh?" Leon gibed.

Osakabe chuckled, nodding. "It does have a certain addictive quality to it." She sighed lightly. "Well, you're in no position to make demands, but I'll tell you about your little playmates.

"It occurred to me that they could be put to better use for genetic research. Muller's blood is fascinating. His cells are resistant to various forms of viruses, and he possesses a degree of superhuman strength and agility. Then there's tenderfoot Rios. She put on quite the show at the temple with those powers of hers."

"The temple…?" Leon couldn't hide his dismay.

"Absolutely. When I learned that you all survived the greenhouse incident, I sent out surveillance drones to spot you. The footage from Shinsei was very interesting. Your friends are a gold mine, really. The possibilities with their DNA are endless."

Leon's heart sank at those ominous words as he wondered what new horrific experimentation his friends were being subjected to. Only one thought gave him some relief: Osakabe hadn't mentioned the antivirus or the microSD card. Apparently, the kokeshi doll's precious cargo remained undiscovered.

"What do you need further research for?" he asked. "You've already got Judgment Day scheduled."

Osakabe snapped her fingers, and one of the guards brought her a stool and a remote control. As he withdrew, she sat down, looking at Leon smugly. "True; Judgment Day is indeed at hand. But it's not going to be the end of the world, Mr. Kennedy."

Leon scoffed acerbically. "Really? You're unleashing a virus powerful enough to level the planet in a matter of days."

"You misunderstand, Mr. Kennedy! I'm just hitting the reset button on humanity."

Here Osakabe turned to face a large monitor at a computer console to the far right of the room. She pressed a button on the remote, and the monitor came on, displaying a sickening image.

Huddled together in a small room were eight children; four girls and four boys. Some lay listlessly on the floor while others sat sobbing.

"What the hell…?"

"Behold, Mr. Kennedy: the future. Once Bakuro's virulence has died out, I will start the world over again, just as God did after the Great Flood of the Bible. These children are the chosen seeds to repopulate the world, and I will be their matriarch!"

Osakabe turned back to Leon, smiling maliciously.

Leon stared at the monitor, aghast. He recalled Jake's mission to seek out the wife and child of an unfortunate man. No doubt the boy was among those children, his mother most likely dead or a mutation.

"Patricide wasn't enough; you wanna play God and launch your own personal armageddon, dragging those poor kids into your psychotic version of paradise," Leon said, glaring at Osakabe disgustedly.

Osakabe crossed her legs and leaned back, her cocoa-brown eyes flashing. "I am saving those kids," she snapped. "Men's lust foments the vanity of women, in turn feeding the greed of companies like Seishin. When the purge is complete, these children will live in a world free from the deadly sins of lust, pride, and greed."

"If you wiped out the other six sins, there'd still be one left breathing in you: wrath," Leon declared. "What the hell gives you the right to judge?"

Osakabe leaped from the chair and struck him across the face backhandedly.

He grunted in surprise at the blow, glowering at her from behind a curtain of sweat-drenched hair.

"I claim the right to judge on the basis of my sufferings thanks to my father's greed! You have no idea what I endured in my father's house―all his demands and expectations; his cruel punishments if I didn't live up to them. All to mold me into the perfect tool for his precious company. But worst of all, he took my mother from me!" Osakabe thundered.

"When I finally found her, she was a broken woman; lost and ruined. But I made her whole again. I gave her direction and purpose―the opportunity to serve justice to the man responsible for the horrors she lived. I saved my mother!"

"You played on her pain and made her a murderer," Leon retorted.

Osakabe struck him again fiercely. He balled his hands into fists, his fingernails digging into his leather-clad palms in suppressed rage.

Osakabe jabbed her forefinger at him accusingly. "You and your friends took her away from me all over again. You turned her against me!"

Leon's eyes scintillated, but he feared for Oiwa. Now that Osakabe had discovered her defection, she was liable to kill her.

"Sunako opened her eyes and realized how insane this is. She was trying to make things right before it was too late," he reasoned.

"She's a traitor," Osakabe answered flatly. "And she will be dealt with accordingly."

Appalled, Leon stared at her. Well might Oiwa say her daughter was dead. There was no trace of the sweet-looking, innocent little girl from the photo in the woman he now beheld. There was no ruth―no mercy―in those frigid eyes.

"So you're gonna murder her like you did your father?" he asked hoarsely.

A slow, cruel smile formed on Osakabe's face as she regained her composure. "If I were you, I'd be more concerned about your fate than hers."

Leon blinked as cascading sweat stung his eyes. He drew a shallow breath, his lips pinched stonily.

"Have you heard of the ryouchi―the 'death of a thousand cuts'?" Osakabe asked, resuming her seat.

Leon maintained a sullen silence.

"The ryouchi actually originated in China in 900 A.D., and was known as lingchi. A condemned prisoner would typically be bound in a public place, and the executioner would proceed to slowly cut pieces of flesh from the victim."

"Thanks for the history lesson," Leon wisecracked, his stomach roiling at what that information implied.

Osakabe's smile widened. "I always thought that was such a savage, grotesque method of executing someone―carving them up like a turkey. Ugh."

Leon narrowed his eyes.

"Now, some executioners took a more refined approach. They would inflict small cuts, carefully avoiding major arteries to protract the victim's death. Of course, eventually the victim would die of blood loss or circulatory shock induced by excruciating pain."

Osakabe snapped her fingers at the Red Ninja. He silently wheeled the instrument stand to her then stepped back.

Osakabe ran her fingers over the assortment of knives leisurely. Presently she selected a hawkbill-blade scalpel. She leaned toward Leon who watched her stolidly as she approached it to his left breast. "Now, agony and exsanguination… that I can get behind."

She skimmed the cold blade over his areola lightly, gazing into his austere face with diabolical delight. With a flourish, Osakabe slashed him, sneering triumphantly at Leon's low gasp and the sight of his trickling blood.

Leon winced, glaring back at her tenaciously despite the sharp pain.

Osakabe withdrew. "You've just experienced your first cut. I wonder how many more it'll take before you bleed out."

She grabbed Leon's face roughly. "And how long it will take before you scream for mercy!"

Releasing him with a shove, Osakabe turned away and rose.

"The situation is truly tantalizing; I'd rather stay and play with you, but I have pressing business to attend to. Buraddoātisuto, here, will have to take over for me."

The Red Ninja stepped forward and took his place beside the instrument table.

"Fortunately, I'll have the pleasure of replaying your final exit." Osakabe gestured at a camera perched high in a corner of the ceiling. "It's a poor substitute, but it'll have to do."

She chuckled low. "Goodbye, Mr. Kennedy. I know I'm leaving you in excellent hands."

Leon scowled in reply.

Osakabe waved imperiously to her inhuman guards then strode out of the room.

Leon watched the company depart grimly, his mind working futilely for an escape plan. His eyes flicked over to Buraddoātisuto who was examining the scalpels and knives contemplatively.

Buraddoātisuto took a trailing point blade and inspected it briefly. He turned his menacing gaze on Leon and approached him, the tool poised for a stroke.

Leon tugged at the restraints vainly, causing the steel to cut into his skin. He clenched his teeth, glancing down at the approaching blade then at Buraddoātisuto.

Buraddoātisuto laid the knife first against Leon's clavicle then against his stomach. Cocking his head thoughtfully, he moved aside to Leon's right flank and dealt him a short, rapid slit.

Hissing, Leon averted his furious eyes from his tormentor to the door behind him. As Buraddoātisuto leaned in to deliver another cut, Leon caught sight of movement over his shoulder.

Following the strained burst of a suppressed gunshot, Buraddoātisuto suddenly fell forward against the wall, leaving a streak of blood as he sank to the floor.

Leon looked up to see his intercessor. Ada stood at the doorway, as poised as ever, her silenced pistol still aimed.

"Ada," he muttered, relief quickly giving way to concern. Ada's unexpected arrival meant she was hot on the trail of the virus sample, and was undoubtedly very close to it.

Ada entered the room, chuckling derisively. "Some things never change, I guess," she said blithely.

Her eyes ran over Leon's bare torso, her glance denoting a hint of admiration. "The view is better than usual, though," she added, holstering her weapon.

Leon eyed her dourly. "Thanks for the save, but you're in the wrong department; the virus isn't here."

Scoffing disdainfully, Ada made her way over to the computer console. "I know. I'd managed to get into the castle when I saw Osakabe's puppets hauling you and the others here. I got curious. Don't read anything into it."

"Wouldn't dream of it. I take it you know where the virus is, then," Leon assumed, following Ada's movements gravely.

Ada began typing. "What if I do? A lady never reveals her secrets," she replied.

A low beep sounded, and Leon heard the manacles click. He pulled at them, but they wouldn't yield. "Shit…"

Looking on, Ada tutted. She approached Leon and opened the right manacle. She then reached across to open the left, pausing for an instant and leaning into him provocatively, her body mere inches away from his. She looked into his face teasingly as if she would kiss him.

Leon glanced at her icily and turned his head aside. The behavior that he had once found so seductive and exciting now repelled him greatly.

Ada chuckled gutturally and continued her task. "Hard and sharp as a katana. It suits you."

As the second manacle was released, the door was flung open and the lab technician burst in, wielding a gun and shouting in Japanese.

Wrenching his hand free, Leon pressed Ada down against him and swiftly drew her gun from its holster. He fired a single shot, hitting the man dead in the head.

The technician collapsed, a pool of blood spreading beneath him.

Ada craned her neck, glancing at the fallen technician. "Hm. Nice reflexes."

Remembering the hidden camera, Leon released her and immediately shot it out. "Damn it! I think we're gonna have company soon."

Ada straightened up. "That's my cue, then."

Leon returned the gun to her and proceeded to undo the ankle fetters.

"You know, we might not have made a bad team," Ada remarked, heading for the door.

"The thought occurred to me," Leon replied, stepping free from his bonds. "Until I realized that it could only have worked if you had become more than the woman you are, or if I had become less than the man I am. That was a compromise neither of us were willing to make."

He regarded her solemnly, feeling strangely liberated at the utterance of those words.

For a moment, Ada's lofty air slipped ever so slightly. Her haughty smile dimmed, and a shadow of disappointment crossed her ivory face. She recovered quickly, however, assuming her natural manner.

Catching sight of Leon's sullied shirt lying on a table, she snatched it up and tossed it to him.

He caught it readily, still watching her intently as he hastened to pull it on.

"Well, I've done my good deed for the day," Ada said. "As for your friends, I can only tell you they're on the third floor of this keep. You're on your own from here."

She began to depart.

"Ada, wait. For once, do the right thing and forget that damn virus! Raccoon City, Europe, China―hasn't there been enough horror?" Leon expostulated. "Please."

Ada glanced at him over her shoulder, smirking. "Sorry, handsome; no sale," she answered.

Frowning, Leon advanced on Ada, determined to stop her.

Ada quickly reached into her pack, pulling out a fistful of explosive pellets then tossing them onto the floor.

They burst into brilliant white light and a cloud of dense fog, blinding Leon and throwing him into a fit of coughing.

By the time the smoke had cleared, Leon found himself standing alone in the room. Ada had vanished.

Leon huffed. "She would've made one hell of a ninja," he muttered.

Sighing resignedly, he turned his attention to the situation at hand. He had to find his friends and put an end to Osakabe's plans.

Mastering the pain of his smarting wounds, Leon worked to form an escape plan. Without his gear, things were going to be difficult to say the least, but he wasn't about to let that deter him.

He returned to the instrument tray and took one of the knives. He carefully slipped it into his back pocket then walked over to the dead technician.

Leon picked up the gun. He ejected the magazine and inspected it. It was only half full.

"Hm. Well, better than nothing," he remarked.

He stood listening for several seconds. Hearing nothing, he opened the door and peered into the wide corridor.

Pale rays of waning daylight shone through six windows lining the wall on the right. Twilight was approaching quickly, casting strange shadows over the broad beams of the ancient castle.

Satisfied the hallway was clear, Leon stepped out and began cautiously making his way through.

He hadn't walked more than a few paces when he heard the sound of rushing footsteps rounding the corner at the end of the hall.

Leon looked ahead to see two black figures running toward him, their eyes blazing in the dusky obscurity. He recognized them immediately as Osakabe's peculiar guards.

Leon expelled a tense breath. "Great. One man, two B.O.W.s, and a half-loaded gun."

He listed his head as he aimed the gun at the first guard charging from the left, peering through its sights carefully as he prepared to take the shot.

"Good thing I never deal in odds," he murmured staunchly.