Resident Evil
The Seraphs
By: Xenogears
Chapter eight
In no way do I own the characters of Capcom's legacy, Resident Evil. They are used for non-profit purposes, only for entertainment.
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"That's all the note said."
Mark let the effects of Dr. Vickers's already existing rage linger in the air.
SLAM!
Dr. Vickers's fist went straight into his desk, so hard, that Mark thought his fist might be broken.
Vickers's whole body trembled with rage.
"Find her!" Vickers bellowed. "I want her back at all costs!"
Mark looked visibly unaffected by his outburst.
"Don't worry," Mark said. "They will come to us."
Vickers's voice dropped to a raspy whisper. "Davidson...I gave him a chance at something wonderful, and he throws it away..." he said. "Kill him...I want his head on a silver platter!"
Mark grinned. Just what he hoped Vickers would say.
"I'll get to it right away."
"Mark. While you are handling them, I will leave this place. There is nothing more to do here. Meet me at the other laboratory. Do it quickly, because you may get caught in the self-destruct."
"Don't worry. I know."
Mark walked out of the office. Though he had already destroyed the two Tyrants that had managed to find their way to the labs, he was still up to killing a traitor. Two, if it came down to it.
Mark watched the swirling flame in his hand. He then mentally shaped it into a Scottish Claymore.
"Batter up..." he said to himself.
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Anna couldn't sleep. Too much was on her mind. She turned on the light on her nightstand, and got up.
'Man...' she thought. 'I still don't know if I can do this...'
She shook her head to dismiss the thought.
"No..." she said aloud. "No...I have to...there's no other choice..."
'Actually, there is...' came a voice in the back of her mind.
'Mark...?' Anna thought, a surprised look on her face.
It was believed that telepathy could only be used between Seraphs that shared some sort of bond. From friendship to love. She had been friends with Mark before she turned traitor. Did he still think of her remotely as a friend?
The voice must have either seen the look, or expected it, because he gave a chuckle.
'That's right, Ms. Yamaguchi!' Mark's thoughts felt cold, icy, full of sarcasm.
'Stop it, Mark! You should know that what Vickers is doing is wrong!'
'No. You're wrong. What he is doing is divine. Something like this should have happened years ago. He's just bringing the human race up-to-date, and dispatching all those who are unworthy to even be under the holy eyes of God!'
'Listen to yourself, Mark! You're insane! He's brainwashed you!'
'No! You listen! He's doing the right thing!' Mark thought/shouted. 'The man gave me the gift of life, and the power to be one of the chosen ones! You can't ask for a much greater gift! He gave you the power too, and look at you now! You're betraying him all because you have a case of puppy love for that Ryan Davidson! He's turned you against us!'
'Don't you even go there!' Anna thought in an angry attempt to silence him.
'Go where? Oh! Mean to tell you that you're betraying the right cause all because of a few misguided emotions?'
'Shut up!'
'Hey. This is America. Free speech and all that.'
'Wrong. This is my mind! You have no right to even be here!'
'Last time I checked the Constitution it said nothing against reading minds, or using telepathy,' Mark retorted in thought.
Anna was boiling with rage. She was used to telepathy to read others' minds. Having someone else use telepathy to read her mind without her consent wasn't a thing she particularly liked. For that reason she refused to use it unless she had to or with the consent of the other person.
'Cut the remarks, Mark!'
'Hey! It rhymes!'
'Shut up, damn it!' Anna thought at Mark. 'I don't need any of your commentary at this time, nor do I need your ignorance and blindness to the truth!'
Suddenly, there was a flash of pain through her mind. Then another one though her whole body. She cried out in pain and fell to the floor.
'Wrong, Anna. You need all the advice you can get from me. This is the only thing I can do to a Seraph in this kind of situation, but if I use it constantly, it may cripple you, or even kill you.' Mark's thoughts had turned suddenly dark and pernicious.
'Get out of my mind!'
Anna tried to shut him out, but his mental abilities were much more developed than hers.
'Such a pity. You haven't developed your mental abilities that much?'
"Go away!" Anna cried out.
'Fine,' That was the last thought that Anna received before Mark severed the mental link.
Anna got onto her knees and picked herself off the floor. Her healing abilities wouldn't kick in for something like this. The mental flashes of pain were just that, mental.
She limped over to the door.
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Ryan was busy reading Shogun to Sherry, when he 'felt' a presence in the hallway. He was sure he had felt it before. Something clicked in his head, and he realized it was Anna. But why was she scared, hurt, and sad? Wait. How could he sense her emotions? How did he even know that she was there?
He looked up from the book, much to Sherry's disappointment.
"What's wrong?" Sherry asked.
Ryan didn't hear her, however. He was too busy concentrating on the very faint voice in his head. He was amazed to find it was Anna's.
'Please be awake...'
Her presence was at the foot of his door. He wanted to test if these were just tricks his mind was playing on him, so he called out, "It's open."
And to his surprise, the door opened, and Anna stepped inside the room. He would have to ask her about this later. He was sure that it was a Seraph ability.
Her skin was pale, she had a slight limp and she was shaking a bit.
"Ryan...?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Can I talk to you in private? Just for a second?"
'Please say yes...I need someone to talk to...'
Ryan dared to answer the thought.
'Since when are you co-dependent?' He thought/said without ill meaning.
Anna went wide-eyed.
'You can...hear...my thoughts...?'
'Uh...yeah...I guess...'
Ryan then got the feeling that Anna was pushing various thoughts to places of her mind that he could not reach, and wouldn't want to. Human curiosity or not, he respected her privacy. He then decided to do the same, and didn't get the feeling that Anna was trying to pry into his mind.
"Sure," he said. "We'll talk in the hall."
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Sherry wasn't sure what to make of what she had just seen.
First, that Asian girl--Anna Yamaguchi or whatever--walked in , and asked to talk to Ryan in private. Then there's a few seconds of silence, the girl went wide-eyed and a few more facial expressions from both sides. Then Ryan answers with "Sure, we'll talk in the hall" in a voice that suggested that she had asked him just a few moments ago, when all there had been was about thirty seconds of silence. Plus, there weren't any voices coming from outside.
Sherry's brow furrowed.
'Just what is going on between those two?'
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'Okay,' Ryan thought. 'What's going on?'
'It's Mark...' Anna thought as she looked down at the floor.
'What about him?' Ryan asked, his face darkening.
'He...he...he has a mental link with me...'
'Like this one?'
'Yes...he used it to warn me of what would happen if I didn't turn back over to their side...and he...used some sort of mental attack on me...'
Ryan's face turned angry.
'He...attacked you?'
'Yeah, I guess you could say that.'
Ryan turned away form Anna.
'Son of a...'
He then looked at her again. A deep fire was burning in his eyes.
'I'm gonna kill him. No man can hit a woman and get away with it.'
Since Ryan wasn't adept at the mental link, the first thought to pop in his head was said.
Anna remained silent in both thought and speech.
'Sorry...that came out of nowhere. Seriously, you shouldn't--no--you should worry about it, but...well...you have to understand that he's been brainwashed. You were just lucky enough to not be under Vickers's influence as long as he was. There may be a way to get him back to our side. I'll help you as much as I can,' he thought. 'But if you don't get to him, then my chances aren't much better...damnit! that came out of nowhere again! I'm really sorry!'
'It's okay,' Anna replied.
'What else did he tell you?'
Anna tried to smile.
'Besides acting like I'm on a game show? He told me that...well...the reason that I'm with you guys is because of...uhhhh...nothing.'
'Nothing?'
'It's too embarrassing to tell you.'
'Okay...then how about this, is the answer yes or no? You don't have to tell me what it is, just think it for yourself.'
Anna then retreated to her inner thoughts, but still kept the mental link with Ryan.
'I...man...how else can I explain the mental link with Ryan?'
She deleted that thought.
'No. I can share the mental link with someone if they're a friend. Which is just what Ryan is. A friend. Nothing more.'
A voice in the back of her head said otherwise.
'Denial.'
'Screw you!'
That wasn't Ryan or Mark's voice, it was her own.
She could feel Ryan wanting to ask her something, so she came out of her thoughts.
'Yes?' she asked.
'Is this a Seraph power? You never told me about this.'
'Yeah. I didn't tell you because I thought that we wouldn't be using a mental link. Notice how faint my voice sounds?'
'Yeah.'
'Well, that means two things, first, you aren't adept at this yet. Second, it means that we don't share that strong a bond.'
'What bond?'
'The power of a mental link is determined by how closely the two people involved are. It can range from friend to lover. Experience with mental linking is also a factor. It is also believed that you may even get to read the minds of other non-Seraphs if you use this for years.'
There was a short pause between the two.
'So...this means that we're friends?'
'Apparently.'
"Okay then," he said, aloud. "Umm...if you need anything else, you know where I am."
"Thanks Ryan. I feel a little bit better." She then bowed as an equal. "Oyasumi nasai."
He returned an equal bow.
"Yeah. Oyasumi nasai."
Anna turned back toward her room.
'I promise not to invade your dreams, but I'll try to keep a mental link with you,' she thought.
She heard Ryan chuckle.
'Okay, but if something is happening in my dream--I think you know what I mean--then don't disturb me, okay?' came his reply.
Anna chuckled herself.
'Don't worry.'
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The trip to the labs was spent in silence. There was only one thing left to do, and they knew it. And it was something that they weren't too thrilled about. Especially Anna. They were glad that this would bring them one step closer to stopping Umbrella, but the thought of taking a human life, or lives, still lingered in their conscience.
Anna had not showed them the hidden door in the courtyard, not wanting to give herself away to the others. Instead, she let them lead the way to the boiler room entrance.
The lights were now almost out of commission, making the trip through the room much like wandering through the dark. Without warning, the lights suddenly came back to full life, and she glanced over to Ryan who was looking at her, smiling. Anna returned the smile. He was adapting to his powers quite well.
When the elevator stopped at the upper level of the labs, she had to wrinkle her nose. She had not been on the upper level since the T-virus had been released, so the rotten smells were new to her.
Referring to the map, they found a place where they could search into the lab's mainframes in an office not far from their location, but it went through uncharted territory, where zombies and other types of B.O.W's would be waiting for them.
Something that no one liked.
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Various sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the room, from the small 'pop' of a .380, to the loud 'Blam' of an M629C.
They had wandered into a large open room that was apparently a Licker nest. They had no choice but to pass through it, and the ventilation shafts were too risky.
The room had various small molds and fungi spreading over the walls and the temperature was higher in here than in most places in the labs. Crude nests that were made of metal, bloody cloth, and molds dotted a few corners of the room. Though there were not that many nests, there were very many Lickers.
The humans were in a back-to-back formation so that on one would have to worry about being attacked from behind.
Claire fired her Winchester .38 Rifle at an approaching Licker. It fell back, injured, but still alive.
Pow!
One more .38 caliber slug from her rifle fixed that. The new weapon that Chris had bought her just recently had been proving to be very useful in the labs.
She had the job of not only assisting Sherry in taking down the monsters, but of covering her own back as well.
Chris was handling himself very nicely, and Leon would back him or Claire up when they needed to reload.
Ryan and Anna were covering for each other, but once in a while, Ryan would pick off an approaching Licker that was headed in Sherry's direction.
Claire's gun had run out of ammo, and her reserves were running out. She decided to load one last time, then switch to her Grenade Launcher.
"Leon! Cover!" Claire shouted above the gunfire.
"Copy!"
She turned to the task of reloading.
'Three...four...five...six...'
At that point, she heard Anna give out a yelp.
A Licker had crawled on the ceiling and gotten around her defenses, and was now on top of Anna.
Claire jumped to help her, but held back when she found that the Licker had suddenly recoiled, its skin melted to the bone by what looked like acid.
Claire wanted to think about what she just saw, but her brain wouldn't allow her to. She had to finish killing off these monsters first.
Anna quickly recovered, picked up her gun (it was really Ryan's, Claire had noted before, but thought that he had only given it to her as a means of protection), and finished it off. Anna called to Ryan for cover, and reloaded, then got back to the task at hand.
Claire had finished her reloading only a few seconds after, and started to shoot at Lickers that were hanging from the walls.
There were a few more minutes of continuous gunfire, then silence.
After their breathing returned to normal and the adrenaline subsided, they took the time to survey their damage.
What looked like between fifty and seventy-five Lickers were sprawled out on the floor.
They all breathed a sigh of relief, and gave themselves a mental pat on the back.
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Mark sat watching the monitors with high interest. He had expected Ryan and Anna to get through, but not the unworthy humans that were with them now.
A tiny smile played across his face. The humans were better than he thought.
Mark stood up.
But they couldn't stand up to the power of a Seraph.
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Sherry had started to wish that she could have a better firearm. The one that she had only held seven rounds, and it was a little inaccurate. Plus, it only fired .380 rounds.
But it worked very well against zombies, she soon noted.
The group of zombies that had followed the onslaught of Lickers had her gain a new respect in her weapon and accuracy skills. But it also had her wondering where all these new ones came from. There weren't that many here last time.
She dismissed her thoughts when she saw a zombie that everyone had thought was dead, starting to crawl for her.
Pop!
One bullet to the head put it to rest. The hallway was then soon cleared of zombies, but a monster cry soon re-ignited the fear that they all had. It was a Hunter cry. Sherry could see Ryan start to shake and to back up. His hand went for his pocket.
There was another cry.
'Where the hell is it coming from?' Sherry thought.
Her questions were answered when one of the tiles in the ceiling fell to the floor and a red Hunter followed it. The hunter soon slumped to the ground; a switchblade embedded in its face.
She looked over at Ryan who, though he had a look of extreme fear and surprise, was still in a throwing pose.
"I...didn't know what was happening until I threw the knife..." he replied.
Ryan shakily bent over the Hunter's corpse, and yanked out the switchblade with a sickening sound. He recoiled his hand as if he had been burned, then produced a cloth with which he cleaned off the knife.
He said nothing else, and tried to look calm, but everyone could see a certain fear in his eyes.
Without another word, the group continued on.
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As Mark slowly walked down the hallway, various thoughts formed in his head. Thoughts of killing Ryan, and how to deal with Anna.
'I have decided to make you suffer Ryan...Prepare to face my wrath...' Mark thought. 'But how to deal with Anna? Hmmmmmm...I could...no, I must give her a chance first...If she refuses?...Then I guess I'll have to knock her off this mortal coil. The humans? Bah. Easy. Incineration.'
Mark smiled to himself, savoring the thought of the kill. He then thought back to the time that Umbrella had sent their forces to deal with them.
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"Put your hands up!" One soldier barked. "Do it! Now!"
Mark and Anna were standing in the way of the Umbrella assault team, guarding the elevator behind them. They weren't going to let them pass.
Mark looked at and Anna, and both nodded. He formed an invisible fire barrier around both of them, and gave a smile.
"Try us," Mark goaded at them, his voice calm. "Can you pitiful, worthless humans truly sand up to the powers of a Seraph?"
"We delt with you guys on the surface! You can't really do anything!"
Mark and Anna laughed. This caused the soldiers to back up a few feet, but they kept their MP5 mini-machineguns directed at them.
"Ha!" Mark laughed. "They were just unworthy humans like yourselves! We are Seraphs!"
Mark then formed a ball of fire in his hand, and hurled it at one of the soldiers. Even with his armor vest, the ball of fire went straight though him, and after words, burned his to ashes in a matter of seconds. Anna formed an ice block in her hand, mentally shaped it into a long icicle, and launched at another soldier, impaling him through the chest, and sending him to the floor.
The soldiers once again backed up, and opened fire. All of the bullets harmlessly turned into small fireballs and fell to the floor. After a few seconds of firing, the Umbrella soldiers saw that this was having no effect. So, the ones in front tossed a few grenades at them, not even bothering to figure out that if they really exploded, all of them would most likely be killed.
The grenades met the same fate as the bullets did, and the soldiers began to back up once again.
"Is this all you have?" Anna mocked. "Jeez, you were right, Mark. Humans really are pathetic."
"Really, Anna."
Then, Anna formed several ice blocks in front of her, and made them shatter into hundreds of sharp needle-like projectiles. The front three rows of soldiers were ruthlessly skewed by the ice, blood flying everywhere, the front row taking the most damage. They fell screaming, dead even before they reached the floor.
Mark then made all the rest that hadn't fell victim to the ice attack, become engulfed in large balls of flame. Not even ashes of them remained.
Once the carnage had stopped, they looked around the room, trying to look for survivors. There were two. One could still talk in a very low and raspy voice, while the other could barely breathe.
Anna went over to the one that could still talk.
"Help...me...please..." He begged.
"Help you? I can relieve you from your pain if you so wish."
Anna once again formed an ice lance in her hand. She then stabbed the man though the neck. He tried to scream, but all that came out was a gargled hiss. The man died seconds later.
Mark went over to the other one, hovering over him. The soldier reached a hand out for him, begging him to save his life.
"I don't think so," Mark said.
Mark simply walked away with Anna, letting the man die a slow and painful death.
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Mark wished that Anna hadn't had such a change of heart. Her performance had been nothing less than perfect in that battle. She was ruthless, and like her element, cold.
'But,' Mark thought. 'Water can also be warmed up, which is exactly what that Ryan has done. That is why he must die.'
With his 'battle plan' worked out, he quickened his pace a little, but remained in a walk.
"The Seraphs shall rule...I will let nothing disrupt the will of God...Nothing. Not even God himself..."
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Chris and Leon studied the map.
Using Leon's canny sense of finding locations on maps and Chris's leadership and strategic skills, they mapped their escape plan. Going on to this Dr. Vickers's office, they would initiate the self-destruct program. Then, they would hightail it to the underground hangar where two choppers were waiting.
They were only about two meters from Vickers's office. They were running low on ammo, but just one more room, and a long hallway, and it would be over.
They once again drew their weapons, and entered the next room. It was another living quarters similar to the one that Chris had encountered. This room was full of zombies that were busy feeding on the various corpses lying on the ground. The bodies shook helplessly under the ripping teeth and clawlike hands of the zombies.
It wasn't until what looked like pieces of brain and lung hit the wall near Anna that Ryan quickly opened fire, and the others soon followed suit. The zombies fell like flies, some not even getting the chance to rise from the ground. Some were hit by two or more bullets.
When the gunfire ended, the only thing left upright was the group. Still, six zombies that had not been hit in the head were crawling toward them.
Everyone picked a zombie, and either smashed its head, or kicked its head off its shoulders.
Finished with the room, they moved to the door on the other side of the room. It slid open and then they were in a long hallway. Just behind the door at the end was Dr. Vickers' office.
The tingly feeling of excitement filled their veins as they walked further down the hall. When they reached the door, their hearts were racing.
Leon went ahead and turned the doorknob. It opened with a click. Then, Leon and Chris suddenly jumped into the room, and scanned it with their guns. When they found nothing to cause alarm, they motioned everyone else in.
Each of them scanned the room for what would be the control panel for the lab mainframe.
"I think I found it," Anna called out.
It wasn't on the computer as everyone else thought at first. She had lifted the white marker board behind his desk, revealing another computer built into the wall.
"Ummmm...anyone here know how to hack?" Leon asked. "Unlike Bhrams, this is password protected."
The adults were clueless. They turned to their younger companions, as if they were expecting something from them.
"I'll try," Sherry volunteered.
"What? Since when do you use computers?" Claire asked.
"Since two years ago. Learned from a friend how to hack without using any special programs. Let's just hope that their database is poorly protected..."
Sherry's hands flew across the keyboard. Claire guessed that she was typing seventy words per minute.
Soon afterward, a black window appeared in DOS format on the monitor. She typed in a few key codes, the screen went blank for a moment, then a message appeared reading, 'Welcome.'
"Yes!" Sherry exclaimed. "You can do the rest from here."
"Please," Chris said, obviously impressed, "do the honors."
"O-okay..." she replied.
Sherry tapped a few keys, and a window appeared with a list of commands.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1 Projects *PASSWORD REQUIRED*
2 Developments
3 Umbrella News
4 Personal Files *PASSWORD REQUIRED*
5 Other
--5 Y N?
--Y
1 Alarm
2 Release B.O.W's *PASSWORD REQUIRED*
3 Security Cameras
4 Self-destruct *PASSWORD REQUIRED*
--4 Y N?
------PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD:
DOS: usumb259347/jvickers/hackpw/re/ent/
------------------------------------------
CHECKING………………….
PASSWORD ACCEPTED.
CONTINUE? Y N?
-- Y
Are you sure? This will destroy the laboratory.
-- Y N?
-- Y
Self-destruct sequence will begin in ten minutes. After this, there will be no way to abort it. Please proceed with emergency escape. Dr. Jared Vickers will be informed of this happening in order to prevent sabotage.
[9:59]
To cancel, press Ctrl+Alt+Esc
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"Okay. It's done," Sherry said. "Let's get the heck out of here."
Wordlessly, Ryan handed her a low-five, which Sherry returned.
"My little computer genius," Claire said as she gave Sherry a playful head rub.
"Claire! Stop it! You're embarrassing me!"
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'You know where I am, Anna.' Mark thought.
'Damn you Mark! Don't bother me!'
'Heh...Sorry, but that just can't be done. If you don't come to realize your mistakes in a few minutes, you'll die by my hand, as will Ryan.'
'You don't need to kill him. I came of my own free will.'
'But he placed the ideas in your head to make you turn traitor. Therefore, he must die.'
'If you kill him...'
'Oh...why are you so protective of him all of a sudden?'
He could feel Anna flinch.
'I'll just leave you with these thoughts.'
Then Mark cut off the mental link. He walked over to the ceiling door controls for the underground heliport, and he pressed the 'Open' button. There was a loud mechanical clang, and a smooth grinding noise. The ceiling slowly opened to the afternoon sky. The weather was very clear today. Perfect for flying.
Mark sighed, tilted his head to the port, and closed his eyes.
"Ahhhh......Nature can be so beautiful..." His expression turned dark. "And humans so deadly and barbaric..."
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Claire looked back at Anna and Ryan. At first Ryan was looking ahead with everyone else, and odd expressions were passing over Anna's face, as if she were talking to someone. Then Ryan and Anna were looking at each other, and though they exchanged no words their faces looked as if they were talking to each other. Ryan even softly chuckled once.
'That's very odd,' Claire thought. 'I wonder. Are they having some sort of staring contest?'
No. Ryan wasn't like that. He would try to loosen up others, not himself, in tense situations like this. Then again, she had noticed a few unexpected things coming from Ryan since Anna had been on the scene.
She smiled.
And Sherry seemed a little agitated. Something definitely was going on here. And not just with Ryan and Anna.
'Maybe she thinks that Anna is going to steal him away from her. No, I don't think so. Ryan and I are the only family she has after Raccoon. He wouldn't abandon her that easily.'
"Hey."
Leon's whisper into her ear snapped her out of her thoughts.
"What's going on? You looked like you were dozing off there."
"Just making an analysis of the situation," Claire answered and jerked a thumb back toward Anna and Ryan.
Leon followed the direction of her thumb and took a look himself. They still seemed as if they were talking though they weren't.
"Yeah, I know. They've been doing that all morning. I also talked to Sherry, and she said that something similar was going on last night," Leon said.
Claire shrugged.
"They act like they have telepathy, or something." She said.
She then felt Leon's firm yet gentle grip around her hand. He gave a light squeeze, and she returned it, smiling at him.
"Okay, people," Chris said. "Let's hit top speed. We don't have much time to spare."
Everyone nodded, and they all sped down the hallways for their escape route.
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Mark could sense it. They were coming. They were running.
"It's about damn time. You already wasted four minutes. I could make it here in just two."
His gaze kept gaze on the sky, he formed an invisible fire barrier around himself to protect himself from gunfire, should there be any. In another moment, the hangar doors opened. He turned to meet them.
Though the humans looked surprised, the two Seraphs had very controlled faces. Masks over their real emotions. Ryan rage, Anna sorrow. He could feel the electricity in the air from Ryan, the cool relief of water from Anna. He could also see a small spark of electricity from Ryan's hand, and a few droplets of water from Anna.
"Welcome!" Mark said cheerfully. "Unfortunately, I can't allow you to leave. Your resting grounds will be here!"
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They were stepping into the room, but Ryan had felt Mark far down the corridor, well before he was ten yards from the door. He was here, and he wasn't going down without a fight. He could feel that Anna felt that same because she tensed up and blocked her thoughts.
When the hangar doors opened, he and Anna stepped a few feet closer to Mark than the others. He clenched his fist, and could feel a small spark of electricity in his right hand.
When Mark spoke, the calmness of his voice sent a wave of dread over Ryan.
"Welcome!" he said cheerfully. "Unfortunately, I can't allow you to leave. Your resting grounds will be here!"
"Like hell it will!" Ryan said.
"Mark," Anna pleaded. "Please stop this!"
"Anna, I told you what your choices were. I shall present you with them now. Will you rejoin us or not?"
"Okay," Leon broke in. His tone was flat, as if his temper were being held at bay. "Can someone tell me just what's going on here?"
"Quiet, human!" Mark snapped. "Do not interfere with matters that are out of your league!"
Leon froze in his place, silent.
"Anna! Your answer!" Mark demanded.
Everyone looked at her. Four wanting some answers to what was going on, one pleading her to say no, one demanding her to say yes.
It was only a few seconds of before she had her reply.
"No. If you need to kill me for to you to realize the severity of your actions, then so be it."
Anna stepped forward.
"Wait," Ryan broke in. He stepped forward. Placing a gentle hand on Anna's shoulder, he pushed her back.
"Listen to me, guys, no matter what happens, you must stay back. Period." Ryan said to the others.
"Can you tell us what's happening?" Claire asked.
"No. Not now. When we make it though this, I will."
"If you do." Mark said.
"Shut up, Mark," Ryan shot back with venom.
Ryan took out all of his weapons and items, and placed them on the floor.
"So you smoke?" Mark taunted. "My, my, my...will you ever learn?"
Ryan ignored him, and took another step forward.
"No! Ryan! Don't! He'll kill you!" Anna beseeched.
"I've got no choice," Ryan said. "They can't kill him, and he's still your friend."
Chris must have seen that Mark had let his guard down, for suddenly he fired his Glock 17 at Mark. But when the bullets reached five feet of him, they turned into little balls of flame, and fell to the floor.
Mark looked annoyed.
"What the hell...?" Chris said.
"Don't you DARE try that again, human!" Mark roared in a voice like some sort of vengeful god. "For if you do, I shall make your blood turn into fire within your veins, along with your body!"
"Step back!" Ryan demanded. "He can kill you guys with very little effort!"
"Come, Ryan! Give me a challenge! Show me what one Seraph can do to another!" Mark announced.
Ryan stepped up to Mark. For the first time, he was fighting for the lives of not only himself, but the others, all by himself.
"Bring it on..." Ryan said.
He went into a fighting stance, and a flame appeared in Mark's hand. It soon shaped itself into a Scottish Claymore.
"Are you afraid?" Mark asked.
Ryan didn't respond. He just circled around Mark, waiting for him to make the first move. He would have to be careful of how he fought. A helicopter was right behind him.
Mark made the first move. He swung with his Claymore, leaving red flames where it had been. Ryan had barely been able to duck. He rolled to the side when Mark decided to bring it down on him. His enhanced speed was making this a little easier. After the next strike, Ryan found an opening. He tried his best to charge his own bio-electricity into his right hand, but only came out with too small a charge.
Mark recoiled from both the shock and the punch.
"Ahhhh...you're adapting to your powers well," Mark said. "Well then, I guess that this makes it unfair."
With another swing, the sword vanished into thin air.
"Let's get down to the basis of all combat, yes?"
Mark got into a fighting stance himself, and Ryan found himself wishing that not only that he had taken his Jujitsu, Judo, and Kung Fu lessons a little bit more seriously, but he also wished that Mark had taken the Claymore back out.
Mark was pulling off various moves from various martial arts, most that Ryan had not seen. He had somehow managed to fend them off, but whenever he tried to land a hit, it was either dodged or blocked, but always countered. As time went on, Mark's hits started to land closer to home. Ryan knew that Mark had been taking it easy on him. Then on an unexpected move, Ryan was hit by a sweep, but had managed not to fall. However, as soon as he looked up at Mark he was hit in the side of the face by a flying roundhouse, which sent him into a spin, and he hit the floor. Hard.
Ryan coughed, trying to regain his breath.
Mark waited, letting Ryan rise to his feet.
"I was taking it easy on you," Mark sneered, "then I showed you just a taste of my abilities as a human, and you take forever to get back to your feet? I do give you credit for looking like I didn't hit you at all, except for your bloody lip."
Ryan touched his lip, but kept an eye on Mark. He wiped the blood from his lips, his mouth tasting like copper. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that his blood was purple, something which startled him for a moment, but he still kept his mind to the task at hand.
"I'm nowhere near finished!" Ryan declared.
"Good, cause I need some fun..."
Ryan charged, remaining calm, but releasing swift motions that would take a trained eye to follow. Mark blocked most of them, but more and more were getting past his defenses. Ryan sent a kidney punch that was blocked, a sweep was dodged, a roundhouse was dodged, a high kick was dodged as well, and a knee to the stomach was blocked--and reversed--sending Ryan into a flip. He had anticipated this, and landed with eerie grace just a few feet away.
Hoping Mark was fooled into thinking he was resorting to kicks only, he sent another kidney punch to Mark, catching him off guard. Mark hunched over in response, and Ryan took the opening to land him a hook in the jaw and an elbow to the back. This time it was Mark's turn to hit the floor.
To everyone's surprise, Mark simply laughed, got up, wiped the blood from his lips, and spit.
"That was very good, Ryan. Unfortunately, I must take off the kid gloves now. It was a pleasure to fight with you, it truly was," Mark said.
"Keep dreaming!"
Both charged at the same time, emitting loud war cries. Ryan's fist came in first, hitting Mark in the chest. Mark countered with a sideways chop to the neck. Ryan blocked it, and then threw a few feint punches and a kick to the kneecap. Mark moved out of the way, and charged into Ryan elbow first. Ryan was hit but only fell back a few feet. He quickly recovered and came in with a drop kick to the face. A risky move, but it paid off. Mark was hit, and fell back. He quickly recovered, and Ryan came at him again. This time, Ryan kicked him in the ankle, and followed with a kick to the side of the head. He then came in elbow first to Mark's stomach.
"ATTENTION," A mechanical voice boomed from the loudspeakers and reverberated from the stone walls of the hangar. "THE SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. REPEAT, THE SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. THIS SEQUENCE CANNOT BE ABORTED. ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY TO DESIGNATED LOCATIONS. TEN MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION."
It was this that caused Ryan to lose concentration in the fight, and Mark hit him with a flurry of punches. There were so many, that Ryan didn't know where he had been hit, only that there were explosions of pain from everywhere in his body. Then Mark sent a backhand to Ryan's face, an uppercut to the jaw, and an elbow to the stomach. Ryan was losing balance. But Mark didn't stop there.
He grabbed Ryan, and gave him a kidney punch. Two kidney punches. Three. Four. Five. Six. A highkick to the face sent Ryan to the floor like a rag doll. He lay there face down for a few moments, not moving, but then he turned over, groaning with pain. Ryan had been beaten.
Mark hovered over him, a hand poised for his throat. If he were to jab forward, it would break Ryan's neck.
"You were one of the best adversaries that I ever had. No one your age could have taken a beating like that from me and even be conscious. It will be a shame to send you to the other side, Ryan Davidson. It really will be."
Mark raised his hand and pointed it toward Ryan's neck like a spear.
Mark then fell to the floor screaming. A hissing noise rose from his skin. He had been hit by acid.
Everyone looked at Anna who still held a fist toward Mark.
"I told you what would happen if you tried to kill him, Mark. You seem to forget that opposite elements don't mix. Water and fire."
The humans stood dumbfounded. This girl was one of them?
Anna ran over to Ryan and helped him to his feet. Mark was staggering to his feet.
"Why did you do that, Anna?" Mark groaned.
The acid had burned a hole in the back of his clothing, red muscle visible through the fabric, but he looked like he took no heed of it.
"Because I won't allow you to kill him."
"And...why is that...?"
Anna couldn't articulate a response. Ryan then seemed to suddenly regain his strength. He rushed at Mark with a blinding fury, and threw multiple punches that were a blur of voltage. With the last blow, Ryan sent his palm straight for Mark's forehead. The impact sent Mark rolling on the floor.
The fading echo of combat died out and it was silent in the hangar. Ryan fell back into Anna's arms, visibly exhausted.
He could feel a mental link forming with Mark and Anna, so he tried to establish one with Anna, using Anna as a go-between so he could also speak to Mark.
'You were right, Anna. You were right. It's strange that you only realize things like this when you're so close to death...'
'Don't talk like that, Mark. You'll be fine.'
'Stop fooling yourself,' came Mark's voice. 'You know damn well--just as I do--that there's no way I'll survive this. That acid burned through my body down to muscle and the electricity pretty much fried everything in me. I'm surprised that I'm still alive.'
All three knew Mark spoke the truth.
'Mark...I'm sorry...' Ryan thought.
'What for? You were fighting not only for the lives of your friends, but also for humanity.'
'It was my fault that he ended up like this,' Anna thought, not being able to restrain the first thought that popped up in her head. 'If I hadn't used that acid attack...'
'Then I'd be dead,' Ryan finished for her, even if he knew that wasn't what she was going to say.
'That's right. You saved his life, Anna. He owes you...'
The minds of the three telepaths were momentarily emptied. It was Mark who broke into the silence.
'Ryan, I need to ask you a favor.'
'What?'
'I need you to finish me off.'
'Mark!'
'What? I...I can't kill you! You...not when you've just realized the truth!'
'Then you want me to die a slow, painful death? Though I probably deserve it, that's not what I would like.'
'I...'
'Anna, go get his gun for him.'
Anna fought with herself but her visions of a slow painful death for Mark were more than she could bear.
She picked up Ryan's Beretta 92, and handed it to him. Ryan could barely stand on his feet.
Ryan aimed, but did not fire.
'Ryan, please. He's in pain. Just put him out of his misery...'
'Then why don't you do it?!' Ryan nearly shouted in thought. 'He's not a threat anymore! He doesn't deserve to die!'
'But he will even if we don't do anything!'
'But--'
'Please, Ryan. I know I couldn't do this.'
Ryan aimed once again, shaky but not straying from his target: Mark's head.
Ryan halfway squeezed the trigger. It was then for the first time in his life that he realized how simple it was to end a life. Like a simple pull of a trigger.
He shut his eyes, and both he and Anna looked away.
'Thank you, Ryan,' were Mark's last words.
'Forgive me!' Ryan thought.
Pow!
And there was an undeniable silence.
Anna helped Ryan gather all of his things, and then Chris spoke up in a voice faltering out of control. "What just happened?!"
"FIVE MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION."
"We don't have time to explain right now," Anna told him. "Let's just get out of here!"
They all ran to the chopper and boarded. The blades of the chopper started up, and soon they were lifted off the ground. Leon called on his experience from the short time that he had piloted a cargo chopper to escape the Bhrams labs in the little six-man chopper. This machine was more difficult, but when he piloted it out of the hangar and it lifted whirring into the air, everyone cheered.
Just when they had flown free of the labs, a deafening explosion rocked the earth. They saw the lab erupting into the air in millions of pieces, and several blocks of the town surrounding where the labs had been went up with it.
"So where to now?" Leon shouted above the sound of the chopper blades.
Ryan, teetering on the verge of consciousness, was able to speak without too much of a slur.
"I...hear that there's a KKK rally going on in...this suburb north of Chicago called Skokie..."
"A rally?" Claire asked.
"Yeah...we could go in opposition of them...give them a piece of our minds...I think it's the 16th of this month...in front of the county courthouse..."
"Why not?" Leon said. "We don't have much of anywhere else to go, plus it would be good to see the Chicagoland area again."
It was at this point that Ryan blacked out in a deep, exhausted sleep.
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Epilogue
Three months later...
7:47 PM
Leon logged into his e-mail, not expecting to see anything. However, there was a message from a Megan Kennedy. He smiled and read the message.
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'Waaaaaazzzzzzzzaaaaaappppppp??!! (Sorry, just had to do that)
It has been two years since we've spoken to eachother. How did you know that I was going to the University of California? Mom and Dad told you, right?
Since you're wondering how I'm doing, I'm doing great. My grades are above average (yeah, Kennedy's do get good grades), but college can be SO boring at times. Most of the time, though, it's a blast!
That woman you're with, Claire Redfield, I can tell just by looking at her that she's a great person. I would grab on to her and never let her go if I were you.
Well, my personal life is very well; I've met someone myself. His name is Carter Smith. I've got a picture in an attachment file, so take a look if you want to.
Later (with love back at ya)!
Megan'
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'Well,' Leon thought. 'Next to waking up next to Claire today, this would probably be the highpoint of my day.'
He clicked on the attachment file, expecting someone for him to disapprove of (his 'protective brother' instinct). What he found was just a simple young man who looked like he was having a good time with his sister.
'Lucky you,' Leon thought. 'You've started out on my good side.'
Leon had been overprotective of her ever since she had got the wrong boyfriend. He was a 'crackhead,' which Megan found out too late. She was drugged one night with 'roofies' as they're called, and she was almost raped. If Leon hadn't known of her location and hadn't followed his gut feeling... he beat the living daylights out of the guy, and for that he had landed in jail for two days.
The other guys got five years with probation, if Leon's memory served him correctly.
He smiled at the memory. He loved it when he beat the guy down. It had sickened him at first, but when he realized what a scum of the human race the guy was, he had almost enjoyed having the guy's blood on his hands.
"Speaking of the human race..."
Leon remembered when they had found a working van a few minutes after they had landed the chopper. They left Carlton and didn't look back. Now they were in the Chicago area, living in the suburb of Skokie. Since Leon's old precinct was only about six miles away in Chicago, he had agreed with the others to take a house in the suburbs.
Ryan and Anna had explained what happened and everything they knew about Seraphs when they had gotten to a hospital the night of their escape. It hadn't taken much to make them believe Ryan and Anna. It did however take some time for them to regain their trust in Anna. Ryan had suffered a mild concussion and a dislocated arm. He was also barely able to use his legs for the next week or so, but was back and on his feet for the KKK rally, which he said he actually had 'fun' screaming at the Klan members, and even throwing snowballs at the police, and 'beating up some skinheads', but everyone knew that he didn't take part in the latter, though other people did.
Leon did get his old job back, after quite a tongue lashing. The chief let him stay, because he knew he would be losing a valuable officer if he didn't.
The same day he had gotten his job back, Leon had gotten Chris on the force as his partner. After explaining that the rumors about the Raccoon S.T.A.R.S was just something Raccoon Chief of Police Brian Irons had made up just because he didn't like any one of them--except for Jill, but he didn't really get enough time to try and do anything to her, luckily--so then he could replace the whole team, which wasn't far form the truth.
Claire Redfield enrolled at the University of Chicago for medical school, which she took only four times a week. Sherry vowed to follow after her as a Scientist.
Anna and Ryan were enrolled into the closest high school, Niles West. Sherry went to Lincoln Jr. High to finish her grade school education which was only about a mile away from Niles West.
Leon was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt someone wrap their arms around his shoulders and whisper in his ear, "What cha up to?"
It was Claire.
She started to look at the screen.
"So. This is your sister Megan?" She asked.
"Uh-huh."
"She...looks just like a female version of you..."
"So I've been told."
"Let me guess, you take on the 'concerned, overprotective big brother' role in the relationship?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
Claire gave a grin and shrugged.
"You just look like the type. Not so much as Chris, but you still look like you fill that role well.
"Since when did you get back from the hospital?"
"Just now. I was lucky enough to be let off early. My god it was such a hectic day. Being around doctors for so long makes them seem like they're speaking an entirely different language."
"Just look at all those chemical and drug names. Not to mention procedures. Of course they do."
Claire gave an exhausted sigh.
"Well," She said. "It seems like I'm learning the 'language' and practice pretty well. The doctors are less stingy to me now, and I don't seem to make the same mistakes I used to. Still, I have a long way to go."
"Don't worry, you can do it. You're Claire Redfield. Once you set your mind to something, you don't give up."
"Thanks."
She then pulled him in for a kiss. When they separated, Leon got up from his seat in the chair.
"I've got to be on the graveyard shift in a few hours, so I need to get as much rest as possible." Leon said.
"What? I thought that your hours were during the daytime?"
"Well, the captain switched my hours for about two moths. Something about an officer and his partner who got shot during his graveyard shift. It was a gang shot out between the Latin Kings and the Blood I believe. I'm supposed to hold his position with Chris until he recovers."
Those words gave Claire a sense of fear.
"Chicago can be dangerous at night...I know you have Chris with you, but still try to be careful. Especially if you go down to the south or west sides. Okay?"
Leon gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't you worry. I'll be fine."
Leon went upstairs with Claire not far behind.
"If you're thinking of doing that," Leon said, turning to face Claire. "Then I have to say no. Everyone's downstairs."
"No. I just want to be with you. Besides, I'm pretty zoned out myself."
There were cheers from downstairs, and several high-fives could be heard.
"That'll teach ya not to mess with the Chicago White Sox, biyach!" Came Sherry's voice.
"Go back to New York, ya freakin' Yankees!" Ryan shouted. "And bow down to the second city while you're at it!"
"Yeah! Hit it to 'em 'Mags'*!" Anna cheered.
The only one who didn't cheer was Chris, who was obviously a Yankees fan.
Leon and Claire exchanged a laugh, and continued their walk up the steps. Times were good now, and it looked as if a promising future loomed over the horizon for all of them.
Fin
If you're wondering how I know of the KKK rally, let me say that I was there. I will go on record saying that I didn't do anything to the cops or skinheads who came to taunt us, but I did curse my head off at em. It got very hectic at the end, and I was forced to leave when the police brought out the M79s with teargas, and nightsticks. Now that I look back on it, it was actually kinda fun, besides all the arrests.
*'Mags' is the nickname for a very good Chicago White Sox player, Maglio Ordornez, second only to Frank Thomas in terms of hitting (Yes, I know that that's not the proper spelling, so sue me. I can't spell in Spanish).
For those who didn't know, and to prevent confusion, the part where Mark and Anna are killing the Umbrella S.W.A.T, it's a flashback, not something that was happening currently.
Jeez...153 HTML pages...this is modt probably the longest single document that I've written in my life...Anyway, I really have to thank my editing team, F.Buckley, Mayumi_H, Red Kat 9, and Catalina and Jack the Ripper. You guys did a great job with this whole series, as you usually do! I also have to thank you, the reader, for reading this all the way through. There were a lot of encouraging reviews that I got. Alright. Well, let me say that I'm not going to stop writing any time soon, and I have three other projects that I'm currently working on (two of which are still in the 'maybe' category). So, this is Xenogears, signing off for now.
Oyasumi nasai (O-ya-su-mee-na-sa-Ie)/Good night.
Draft: 4/12/01
Final:
Ja ne!