(A/N) After a 5 month wait, this chapter is here.

Chapter 10, baby! Double digits! I honestly never thought I would reach this section of the story, but after a little over three years, we got there.

I was hoping to get this chapter done for the 4th of June, but as you can see, I'm eight days late... I thought I would get this chapter done for the three year anniversary, but stuff happens...

Speaking of stuff happening, the world has gone to shit; global pandemic and nobody learning from past mistakes... I hope everyone is doing well in these hard times. And I said in my last author's note for everyone to have "a happy 2020." What a year this is! It's cancelled!

On a lighthearted note, I'll talk about the chapter's length...it's longer than the last chapter by a bit; 5,474 words, and that's excluding this quite lengthy author's note. Don't get used to this. The quality of the chapter is mixed I think, I feel like there's something off, but I can't seem to pinpoint. I hope you enjoy regardless!

No flames please~! If you feel that some improvements could be made, don't be afraid to say so; tell what I did good and like I just said, improvements are good!

Disclaimer: I do not own these franchises, or their characters. Resident Evil belongs to CAPCOM, Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid belong to KONAMI and Final Fantasy belongs to SQUARE ENIX.

P.S. Don't take a shot every time I say "gas mask," or you'll end up in hospital.

Chapter 10: The Real Test Begins

Leon wasn't surprised; it was to be expected after all, as this was a fate they all shared. However, not being surprised didn't alleviate the concern that he felt. James appeared to be fine at the moment, but there was now a ticking time-bomb counting down. He wasn't the only one; Zidane, Heather, and Henry also had their eggs hatch... Leon figured that it was only a matter of time before Harry and himself showed signs. Glancing at the container of pills still in his hand, he knew that he had a job to do.

"James...are you okay?" Leon asked, approaching him.

The man in question simply looked up from his hands with mild perplexion. Henry, who was still stood next to him, placed a hand on his shoulder, his eyes asking the same question as the agent.

"I...don't know," James replied, staring down at his hands again. "I need -"

"A damp cloth?" Henry asked.

The blonde nodded, prompting Zidane to enter the Inn's bathroom and come out with a roll of tissue. He then proceeded to begin wiping the blood off.

"It's not a wet cloth, but it's close enough," he said, as he gently dabbed at the blood.

"Dry tissue?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"That's the opposite..." Henry stated, as he observed the minimal effect the tissue was having on the blood that had dried.

"I know that," Zidane sighed, throwing the used tissue in the bin and ripping a fresh one off the roll. "There's no cloth and I doubt there's running water in this place."

Henry shook his head with a small smile, as he ripped some tissue off the roll and dabbed the other hand.

"You haven't answered Leon's question, James," Harry said, suddenly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I feel fine," James replied, as he watched Henry and Zidane finish wiping whatever blood they could get off, before throwing their tissues in the bin.

There was a moment of silence in the room, as James still found his hands to be the most interesting thing in the room, while Henry watched him closely, and Zidane entered the bathroom with the toilet roll and shut the door behind him. Harry took glances at an unconscious Heather, and Leon stared at the ceiling fan and weighed his options.

There was no telling when Heather was going to wake up and if they sat there like ducks waiting, they weren't going to make it out alive. On the other hand, Heather couldn't be left behind; they could carry her, but that would slow them down.

Hearing the lock click on the bathroom door, Leon looked at the door to see the tailed-boy emerge with a grin on his face.

"Do I wanna know what you were doing in there," the agent said, as the blonde approached him.

"Nothing much, just putting that toilet paper to use," he replied, placing a small red jewel in Leon's hand. "Found this while decorating, maybe it can be put to use when we get out of here."

"Decorating?" Leon asked, eyeing the jewel in his hand.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "Nothing too fancy, I just covered the room with toilet paper."

"Why?" Henry asked.

"I dunno, it's something to do while we wait for..." he trailed off and looked at Heather. "...you know."

Looking at the jewel, Leon noticed that it almost looked crystal like. He couldn't see what he would need it for, but he pocketed it just in case.

The room wasn't silent for long before it was broken again.

"Got any questions?" Zidane asked suddenly, seating himself on the spare bed. "If you do, Leon can answer them, since he's kind of the expert here."

"I wouldn't call myself an expert," Leon said with a small smile. "If it wasn't for Luis, I don't think I would know much about Plaugas."

"Luis...?" Harry asked, making himself comfortable on the floor beside Heather's bed. "Is he a friend?"

Leon nodded slightly in response, joining Harry on the floor.

"He told me that he was a researcher hired by Saddler and judging by the memos he left for me to read, he wasn't lying," he looked down at the pills again, before continuing. "He seemed to be against the experiments the Los Illuminados were conducting and he even helped me."

"He was the one who gave you them, right?" Zidane asked, pointing to the pills.

"Yeah..."

"He's...no longer with us...is he?" James took a seat next to Leon and gave him a pat on the shoulder, while Henry sat down on the floor next to the blonde.

"How did you guess?"

"When you were talking about him, you looked sad," he stated.

"Saddler killed him after finding out what he was up to," Leon frowned, never taking his eyes off the pills. "He tried to steal a Plauga sample to give to...somebody."

"Where's that sample, now?" Zidane leaned forward, intrigued. "Did you give it to the government, or something?"

"I had it taken at gun point..."

"Oh..."

"Is there a way to remove the Plauga?" Harry followed the agent's gaze to the pills.

"According to a memo Luis left behind, it could be removed with UV radiation," Leon told him. "He created a machine that did just that on an island the cult owned; me and Ashley used it before leaving."

"Well, then what are we waiting for?" Zidane stood up and began to stretch. "When Heather wakes up, we save Ashley, and then we go to the island."

"I would imagine that would be easier said than done," Harry stated. "You're thinking too far ahead, we have yet to even find the girl."

"I'm not saying that this will be easy, but we need a plan for after we save her," the teen rubbed the back of his neck with a grimace. "And...if this island has a way to cure us, that could be our next goal."

"Yeah, a place that has since been turned to ashes," Leon said dryly, prompting the boy to sit back down. "And even if it was still standing, it would take a while to get there."

"And by then, we could be..." Henry mumbled, not bothering to finish his sentence as there wasn't a need.

"Right, but we have something to slow it down, don't we?" Zidane said with a small smile.

"That we do," Harry added, smiling himself. "Show them, Leon."

With a nod, Leon presented the pills.

"Luis gave them to me, they slow the growth temporarily," he explained.

"You're joking?" James said in mild shock, eyeing the container. "So, we have a better chance?"

"Unfortunately, this isn't a permanent solution," Leon explained. "Whether we have this or not, we are still on a time limit. But, with these our time is extended."

"It's funny how they were not taken away," Henry stated. "They give us an advantage and a drug to slow their plans down."

"This is either part of their plan, or they're immensely stupid," Harry glanced at Heather again, then back to the group. "Another question also remains, how long will it be before our symptoms present themselves, Leon?"

"Wait," James looked at Harry and then Leon. "What are you..."

"Zidane, Heather, Henry, and you have coughed up blood in that order exactly," Leon started to open the container of pills and split them into groups of six as he spoke. "That means the Plauga egg has hatched."

"So, that means we have to remain calm and we'll be fine, right?"

Leon shook his head.

"It will still grow over time," he explained. "Panicking will only quicken that process, because of the alterations made to the Plauga."

A groan interrupted the conversation, making everyone look at the source of the sound to see Heather start to stir. Immediately, Harry was alert; as he pulled her into a hug while the group watched with sighs of relief. Once the little celebration had died down, Heather was finally given room to breathe.

"Huh?" She scanned her surroundings in confusion and then stared down at the bed she was lying on. Looking down at the ground, she noticed that Leon was sorting out pills into six groups. Blinking rapidly, she turned to her Dad. "What happened?"

"You fainted..." he replied, the relief in his voice still present. "How are you feeling?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry," she sat up and as soon as her eyes met Leon and his little pill collection, she had to ask. "Did I miss anything?"

"Yeah, you missed quite a bit actually," Zidane answered, giving her a sympathetic look.

"She didn't miss much..." Leon trailed off, before looking at the perplexed girl. "...she wasn't out for too long..."

"She has missed some important stuff, like our plans and..." Zidane pointed at the pills, which made Heather glance at them again.

Leon followed her gaze and sighed. "I know."

"Is anyone going to tell me, or...?" Heather groaned, moving to the edge of the bed.

"Yes we will, but we have to take care of our next objective first," Harry told her, seating himself next to her on the bed and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sure..." she sighed, rubbing her temples.

After giving each member of the group their share of pills, while ignoring Heather's confused gaze, Leon turned to Henry.

"So, we have to look around for this key?"

Henry simply nodded in response, prompting Harry to stand and stroke his chin in thought.

"Then..." he trailed off, looking around the room.

"That means we have to split up again...?" Zidane stood to stretch his arms, as Heather without a second thought stood herself.

"Wouldn't that be what she wants?" She asked.

"Yeah," Leon agreed. "With us split up, we can be picked off easier, so splitting up is out of the question."

"Now the question is where should we begin our search?" Harry asked, after a brief pause.

The room fell silent, as everyone thought about a possible place to start. Leon himself wasn't very familiar with the town, so he couldn't think of where to start the search. In addition, he doubted that the town was tiny, it was most likely much bigger than the lava room he fought Sphinx in. Thinking of Sphinx, they had to keep their eyes peeled for him as they searched.

"I think I have an idea..." James broke the silence, making all eyes in the room look in his direction. "When I first arrived in town, there was a key next to a corpse."

Heather looked at the blonde in disbelief.

"James, I don't think -"

"Would it not be there anymore?" Henry interrupted softly, confused on where his friend's thought process was going.

"You would have taken it, used it..."

"Progressed..."

"Heather, Henry," Harry held up his hand as means to quiet them. "What he said could be plausible."

"How?" The girl asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"If you think about it, our location is made to resemble the town James mentioned," Leon said thoughtfully.

"Silent Hill," Harry mumbled under his breath.

"So, you're saying that this lady is making other things the same?" Zidane asked with a raised brow, getting a nod from Leon in response. "How would she know where the key was found?"

"Yeah...that is a very good question..." Harry sat back down on the bed in thought. "Even if the key is nowhere to be found, it's still a place to start."

"Exactly," Leon replied, taking his gun out of its holster. "What key did you find, James?"

"Woodside Apartments," he replied. "The key for the gate in front of it, anyway."

"But, we need to get to the amusement park..." Henry stated.

"If we're going with James' plan and we do find a key, it could either be a key to the apartments or the amusement park," Zidane pondered the idea.

"Or there's a chance the key won't be there," Heather muttered under her breath.

"Just hear me out," he turned to the girl and then the rest of the group. "If it's a key to the apartment, maybe the amusement park key is in there."

"That's tedious..."

"It doesn't matter," Leon piped up, looking between the two bickering teens. "It's something to work towards."

This earned a nod from Harry who stood with his gun ready.

"Do you remember where you found it?" Zidane asked, unsheathing his daggers.

James nodded, as he pulled the map from his pocket and unfolded it, while everyone gathered behind him.

"Let's hear it," Leon said, prompting James to point to an area on the map.

"We go onto Katz Street and take a right, which will take us to Martin Street," he explained. "That's where the key should be."

Saviour was sat on her throne in her dimly lit room, with her hooded guards still stood beside her. She was waiting patiently for her best squad, Uno Squad, to answer her call, while observing the security cameras in the underground prison. It was quiet with the exception of the members of Autumn Squad running around frantically trying to find the girl and her captors. From the looks of things, they were not having much luck, which was filling the woman with frustration. Her plans were beginning to fall apart only because she decided to go with the incompetent squad to guard the girl. How annoying...

Placing the tablet down on the arm of her chair, she heard a knock at the door which echoed across the large room. "Enter," she instructed as calmly as she could given the stress she felt under.

The door creaked open, revealing Delta, a young man who wore a gas mask with blue eye lenses and a navy blue cape that covered his hair. On his hip, he had a long sheath, which was where he kept his sword; this was mostly hidden by his long, navy blue rain coat. To his right was the second in command, Echo, who wore a gas mask with pink eye lenses and a grey cape with the hood up. In her hand was a crimson handled dagger, and on her belt were various types of grenades. On the other side of Delta was Foxtrot, the third in command, a woman with a red lensed gas mask and a black hooded cape. She wore a black, skin tight battle suit with holsters on both sides of her hips to hold her guns.

Behind them were the last four members, who all wore gas masks and battle suits in their own colours with a cloak. The first person in the row was Golf, who was the shortest of the group and carried a very timid air with him. His gas mask had yellow lenses and his cloak was black with small white stars on it; he was also the only member to not be wearing his hood, as he instead wore a yellow pointy hat. Next to him was Juliett, the only other female in the group, who had an arm around Golf's shoulders in a comforting gesture. She had orange eye lenses on her gas mask and a matching battle suit, which had a first aid kit on one side of her hip and a wooden racket in the other. Her cloak was white with red trimmings to make her role on the team apparent. India was walking next to Juliett, and he had a gas mask with green lenses and a black battle suit with green trimmings. His cloak was green and on his belt was a handgun. Lastly, Hotel wore a brown lensed gas mask with a matching battle suit.

With a bow, Delta, the leader, was the first to speak.

"Why were we summoned here today, Saviour?"

"Unfortunately, we have recently been faced with a major complication," Saviour began with a sigh, observing the reaction of her most trusted squad before she continued. "Autumn Squad has failed in their mission to keep the underground prison secured and as a result, it has been breached and the President's daughter has gone missing."

The whole of Uno Squad gasped, looking amongst themselves as the Saviour spoke again.

"Worry not, as Autumn Squad have been ordered to find her, otherwise they would be sent to the underground," she folded her arms as she leaned forward in her throne. "Hopefully, they find the third party responsible as that really could interfere with our plans."

"Yes, that would indeed," Delta nodded, sitting on his knees as he gestured for the rest of his squad to do the same. "What is our objective, Saviour?"

She grabbed a small tablet from the arm of her throne and loaded the security footage for the town, eventually finding the small group in Jack's Inn, huddled around James reading a map. The woman stood and approached the squad, placing the tablet in Delta's hand.

"They appear the be planning something, so take in their appearances before they leave the room," Saviour instructed, as the group on screen left the room, leaving the frame. "Where you able to gather what they looked like?" She asked, as she took the tablet back and sat on her throne."

"Yes," Delta spoke for them.

"Sphinx currently has a mission to abduct Heather, the only girl in the group, and Zidane, the one with the tail, which will then, hopefully, lure Leon to us," Saviour stated, eyeing a particular camera angle in a particular room. Turning the screen off, she continued. "Your mission is to cause enough stress to the remaining members, while being careful to avoid the agent, the girl, and the tailed-boy, as Sphinx will be handling them."

"Which one is the agent?"

"Brown bomber jacket, fingerless gloves - "

"Emo hairstyle?"

"Yes," Saviour confirmed with a smile. "The monsters have not long been released, so they should aid you in your task."

"Alright, would that be all, Saviour?" Delta asked, standing.

"Yes," Saviour nodded, as she watched the squad leave the room.

Turning the tablet screen back on, she looked at the camera angle that confused her before. The room that she knew was the bathroom was now covered in toilet paper. Before she could wonder why, there was a knock at her door.

"Enter," Saviour said, placing the tablet down again.

Entering the room was a platinum-blonde haired woman who lacked eyebrows and shoes. She sat on one of the steps leading to the Saviour's throne and sighed. "How long must I wait to see Alessa?"

"I could not lie to you, dear Claudia," Saviour stood and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "It could take a little longer than we had planned, but fear not as I have sent Sphinx to retrieve her."

The woman, Claudia, shrugged Saviour's hand away and stood. "It better not take long as without her, salvation will never come."

"Have faith," Saviour turned to her throne with a smirk. "Everything is finally going to be rolled into motion."

"So, we now have to find a way into the amusement park?" Heather asked Zidane, who had been going over the events that she had missed while she had been unconscious.

"Pretty much," he replied with a shrug, taking in the sights of the foggy town with mild curiosity.

Heather sighed. "Nothing can ever be simple with that witch, can it?" She said, looking around with a grimace.

"No," Zidane said with a small grin. "But, if you think about it, what kind of mastermind would turn around and hand you the key to escape?" He let out a little chuckle, glancing at Heather to survey her reaction.

The girl merely shook her head with a huff. "A smart one."

"Really?" He queried, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she said matter-of-factly, folding her arms with a confident smirk. "You don't want to be on my bad side, and you can trust me on that."

Zidane stoked his chin, while humming to himself, prompting Heather look at him in slight confusion. Not long after, he shook his head with a grin and shrugged.

"Okay," he chuckled. "Do you really think she's going to be scared of a teenage girl?"

"I guess not," Heather replied, looking ahead in thought. "With the way she spoke to us over the speaker and writes to us through notes, I'd say she seemed so..."

"Sure of herself?" Zidane wondered, his finger finding its place on his chin again. "Untouchable?"

"Self-righteous is what I was going to say," she stated, finally finding the word she was looking for. "Those words could also describe her, though."

"Well, considering that she thinks she's going to lead a cult on the world or whatever, I'd say you're right," he said, placing his hands on his dagger sheaths.

"We'll get her," the girl stated, patting the handgun strapped to her side.

Leon tuned them out after that, shaking his head. That level of overconfidence could get them in trouble, though he was one to talk with the stunts he pulled off on a regular bases. It's honestly a miracle how he isn't dead yet; chased down by zombies, narrowly avoiding getting neutralised with the now lost city, dodging boulders, falling into traps, knives getting thrown at him - if it weren't for his fast reflexes, he'd be six feet under ground. His future looked eventful, yet bleak... if they survived the ordeal to have a future.

Looking around his surroundings, the agent was suspicious to say the least - there were no monsters. The only thing that could be seen, excluding the fog, was desolate, crumbling buildings, abandoned vehicles that were smashed to hell, and surprisingly, rubbish on the floor. This was starting to get tiresome for the agent, he wondered how far they were from their destination.

He turned to James with a sigh. "Are we close?"

James looked up from the map he was reading with a look of bafflement. "Umm..." he briefly raised an eyebrow before turning his attention back to the map. "We've not known each other for that long..."

Leon shook his head. "I meant our location."

"Oh..." The man examined the map and looked up in thought before answering. "We're not too far now."

"Good," the agent said, looking ahead. With nothing to keep him occupied, the teen's conversation hit his ears again.

"Random question, but can you think of anything to talk about?" Zidane asked.

"I don't know," Heather replied, before saying the first thing that came to her head. "...age?"

"My age?"

"Well, I'm not asking for my dad's age, am I," The girl answered sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

"Just checking," the tailed-boy rubbed the back of his head with a shrug. "I'm sixteen, how about you?"

"Seventeen," Heather stated, humming to herself before asking another question. "What school did you go to?"

"I was home-schooled," Zidane replied, surprised to hear Heather give a low sigh.

"Lucky..." she said, prompting the boy to look at her curiously.

"Why's that?"

"Don't get me started -"

Not wanting to hear the woes of teenage life, he had been there before, he turned to James again and, desperate for his own conversation, said the first thing that came to his head.

"Do you come here often?"

James turned to face Leon slowly, looking at him incredulously. "...what?"

"Just making conversation..." The agent replied, making James shake his head in response and return to looking at the map.

Before Leon could return to his own thoughts, he heard cracking around them. The rest of the group had heard it too, as they were also glancing around cautiously. Looking up, he noticed that the roof on one of the buildings was crumbling, and as the crumbling worsened, it fell. Everything appeared to slow down, as he pushed James, who was the closest in proximity to him, out of the way.

Standing up after the fall, he looked around to see that two buildings stood beside each other had fallen. Next to him was James, who was standing up and dusting himself off. There was no sign of the others.

"Is everyone okay?!" Leon yelled.

"Yeah...!" Heather yelled back on the other side. "Dad, are you -" the girl couldn't finish her sentence as more debris fell. "No!"

"I'm okay, sweetie!" Harry reassured her. "We're just separated, I'm with Henry, so I'm not on my own!"

"Ah, so that means Leon and James are on the other side, then," Zidane beamed. "You're both okay?!"

"James is fine, I think," the agent stated to which the other blonde nodded. "And you heard me ask for everybody's status first."

"I know, but for all I knew you could have your leg stuck, or something," Zidane shrugged, causing Leon to shake his head in response.

Hearing static, the agent looked around frantically to try and find the source of the sound, before his eyes landed on James who looked on edge. He turned the safety off on his gun and held it close to his chest with sigh.

"Get ready," James finally said, confusing the agent briefly.

As if on cue, growls were heard in the distance, prompting Leon and rest of the group to prepare their weapons.

"Shit! We have company!" The agent yelled in warning, looking behind him and around.

"It looks like this 'Saviour' has finally realised that empty hallways aren't going to do anything," Heather quipped, aiming her gun and looking around warily.

"That, or she was waiting for the right moment," Zidane said, taking his daggers out of their sheaths.

"Perhaps, she was just luring us into a false sense of security," Harry suggested, aiming his gun cautiously.

The source of the growling made itself known when a canine creature with red, glowing eyes and patches of missing flesh on its fur, exposing the ribs, rounded a corner to face them. Other canine creatures with a nearly identical appearance accompanied it, followed by humanoid creatures that more resembled zombies with dull grey skin that had chunks of flesh missing, exposing teeth, ribs, and muscle.

"What...are these things?" The agent heard Zidane say with disgust from one side of the debris, tightening his grip on the daggers.

"It doesn't matter what they are, just -!" Before Leon could finish his sentence, one of the canines leaped at him with a growl. Without hesitation, he put a bullet in its stomach before it even touched him. He then rolled to the left of him after hearing a groan close behind him, and to save him some ammo, he switched to his knife, slashing the humanoid in the chest and neck. He then kicked a nearby humanoid creature in the gut, which was then promptly finished off by James, who whacked it on the back of the head with his gun.

Leon gave a thumbs up. "Good job!"

"Thanks!" James responded, face twisting in horror as he pointed at the agent. "Leon, behind you!"

Before he could react, he was grabbed from behind. James moved to aim at the humanoid's head, but the agent elbowed it and pushed it away. Aiming his gun, he didn't have chance to shoot, because the head exploded. Turning to James, he looked just as surprised as he pointed upwards to Heather, who was standing on top of the debris aiming a gun, with Zidane stood beside her waving.

"Thanks!" Leon exclaimed.

"Don't mention it!" Heather said with a quick salute.

"Is that the last of them?" The agent asked, getting a look of uncertainty in response.

"It looks like it..." she replied, looking closely at Leon's section.

"Well, for our sides, yeah," Zidane said with a worried expression, as he looked down at Harry's section. "Harry and Henry look more than outnumbered..."

"No, they keep coming," Heather stated, grip tightening on her gun.

"Shit!" Leon yelled in frustration, as he tried to find a way to climb to the top. "How did you two get up there?!"

"Dad!" Heather screamed, jumping down before Zidane could stop her.

"Zidane, answer me!"

"Bricks on our side!"

Leon had a brief look around to find the bricks Zidane mentioned, but came up empty. Groaning in frustration, he heard Harry.

"Leon!"

"Harry!" The agent yelled back.

"We're going to outrun them!" He stated. "We'll meet up later!"

"Rendezvous?!" Leon asked. Not getting a response, he grew concerned. "Harry?!"

"They've made a run for it..." Zidane informed, looking just as concerned as the agent.

Trying to get his mind back to the objective, Leon sighed. He didn't want the worry to affect their progress; he had to have faith in them. He turned to James, who was clutching the map in horror. "Location?"

James shook his head and sighed, looking at the map closely. "Not far."

The agent nodded, looking back up to the kid on the debris. "Come on, Zidane, let's go."

"But, what about the others?"

As if to prove the tailed-boy's point, a growl was heard in the distance.

"We better start walking..." James stated, turning around to face the direction they were going to be heading in.

"Have faith in them, okay," Leon said reassuringly.

With a defeated sigh, Zidane jumped down to join the other two blondes as they began walking.

In a dark, damp area further underground, three of Autumn Squad's members were hurriedly trying to find the girl that they allowed to escape their grasp. The leader of the group, Kilo, leaned on one of the many damp sections of the wall and sighed. They weren't going to get anywhere like this, for all they knew, the captors could have left the area. However, Saviour's orders couldn't be questioned...they were absolute.

Placing a finger on his gas mask covered forehead, he began to walk away. "I am going to have a look around the other half of the prison with the others," he said. "Tango, Victor, try your best..."

And with that, he was gone, leaving the two members on their own.

"You heard the man, Victor," the one with the female voice said. "You take one end, I will take the other."

"Roger," Victor replied, as he began to walk towards one end of the corridor. Before he could say that the coast was clear, he heard a clanging sound. Going over to investigate resulted in a hit to the back of his head, making him see nothing but darkness. On the other end of the area, Tango noticed her partner's fall and went to investigate; it wasn't long until she joined him on the cold, hard floor.

The cause of the members fall emerged from the shadows, once he felt the coast was clear. He was a brunette male who wore a skin tight, blue stealth suit, complete with a blue bandana around his head.

Seeing that the coast was completely clear in the area, he gestured towards another shadow obscured section, allowing another male with blonde hair and blue eyes to step out. Behind him was a blonde female with shoulder-length hair and honey brown eyes, who looked around nervously.

"Raiden is the girl alright?" The brunette asked the blonde.

"I think so..." he replied, turning to the girl. "Ashley?"

She nodded, before asking her own question. "Where's Leon?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," the brunette sighed, glancing around the area. "Based on what I've overheard the guards talk about, he's most likely been sent on a wild goose chase."

"So, he might not even be here...?" The blonde, Raiden, asked, folding his arms in mild frustration.

The brunette shook his head. "Maybe not."

"No..." Ashley gasped, putting a hand over her mouth as her eyes teared up.

"Don't worry, we won't be leaving without him," the brunette reassured. "The President's orders were to find you and Leon," he explained. "Raiden, try to find an escape route with Ashley, while I have another look around this area, just in case."

"Okay," Raiden nodded, as he gently took Ashley's arm to get her to follow. "Good luck, Snake."

Yeah, you see what I mean by this chapter is a bit of a mixed bag. Also, Metal Gear Solid is finally here, after the 9 chapters of teasing through the author's note. I'm sorry about that, I should have added it later.

There was also a fight scene, which wasn't good, but I'm trying to improve there and yeah. I hope you all hold up well, and see you whenever chapter 11 comes out.

Improvements are appreciated, please tell me what I did right, wrong and how I can improve. If you would like, you could also favourite and follow this fic, as well as suggest ideas for future chapters. R&R and thanks for reading!