William Normal William 2 2166 2001-10-22T05:55:00Z 2001-11-01T17:56:00Z 2001-11-01T17:56:00Z 19 7445 42439 353 84 52118 9.2720

            Disclaimer: All characters, places, and things associated with Resident Evil are property of Capcom. Everything else in this story belongs to me.

Resident Evil Judgment Day Four, cause we live by the sword Method Man- Judgment Day

Chapter Seven- Reformation.

Genoas Corp. HQ. Tokyo, Japan.

Philips sat at his desk and rapped on the surface with his fingers. He stared at Stacy, who was nervously rocking back and forth on her heels. "Where are the other three?"

Stacy shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't seen Eliza or Wesker since they left yesterday. As for Tim, I saw him an hour ago. He said he had to check on something."

"He better hurry up." Philips said. "An as for Wesker and Eliza, they better not be planning on taking a vacation."

"I called their apartments, but no one answered." Stacy said. "You think they disserted us?"

Philips growled. "If they did, then consider them dead." The door opened and Tim entered, holding a piece of paper. "What took you so long?"

"I checked Wesker's office." Tim said. "He was acting very funny ever since we got back. I found this." He handed Philips the paper. "It's an E-mail he sent to someone. He didn't care if we found it cause he would be gone by then."

Philips read the letter. He snarled as he crumpled up the paper as threw it away. "I don't believe this. First Grant, and now Wesker and Eliza. This company is falling apart right before my eyes. Who did Wesker sent this message too?"

"I don't know." Tim said. "It didn't say in the letter and I couldn't trace the address. My guess is either that he went back to Umbrella, or sided with another company. I doubt that he would go to that Black Ops group. From what I saw in Mexico, he has issues with several of the people in that group."

"Perfect. Within several days I lost several of my most valuable people." Philips held his head in his hands. "Now what do we do?"

Stacy had an idea, but was unsure if she should say it. Finally she mustered the courage. "We could merge with Umbrella."

"What?" Philips asked, taken back by the proposal. "You want me to join with my rival?"

"Look at it this way." Stacy began. "If we merge with Umbrella, then we won't have to worry about them attacking us. We'll have all the resources that they have plus our own. Then, with a little maneuvering you could get rid of Mr. Umbrella and take over the company and control everything."

Philips rubbed his chin. The idea was sound. Get inside his enemies company and take it over from the inside. "That's very good. I never knew you were this smart."

Stacy looked at the floor and smiled. It wasn't every day that the boss congratulated her like this. "Thank you Sir."

"Are you sure this is a good thing to do?" Tim asked. "Umbrella may dick us over instead."

"Nevertheless it is the best coarse of action we have." Philips said. "I'll call Umbrella immediately and set up a date. This may be the turning point in this whole mess." Philips reached for his phone. "Get me the number for Umbrella."


Umbrella HQ. Paris, France.

Everyone was gathered in Mr. Umbrella's office. After the incident in Mexico Mr. Umbrella had demanded a full report. He was less than pleased when he found out that O'Riley was a traitor. Now Mr. Umbrella was ready for the reports. "As you know this meeting is about the Mexico mission. What exactly happened?"

"Basically we engaged both Wesker and Connors' teams and a brief fire-fight ensued in which Wesker's group escaped and Connors group survived. We would have had then if that damn Tyrant of O'Riley's hadn't of attacked our men. Before that I revealed that Marcus here was my spy and told Chris and Claire the truth about their parents."

"You did what?" Mr. Umbrella asked, hoping he heard wrong.

Mike chuckled. "It seems that Tom didn't tell them what really happened. I thought that by telling them what happened I would break their spirits and destroy their trust in Connors."

"You idiot." Mr. Umbrella growled. "Do you honestly have any idea what you have done? You just gave them another reason to fight. The Redfields are not ones to fuck with. They have a history of violence, especially against those who hurt them. Chris Redfield responded to his sister being imprisoned by destroying Rockfort and dropping a nuclear bomb on Antarctica. Claire Redfield took down at least twenty of our guards before getting caught looking for her brother. Do you see what happened when we sent those men to kill Chris?"

"I think I saw the photos." Hunk said. "It wasn't pretty."

Mr. Umbrella nodded. "He literally gutted one man and almost decapitated another. Out of all the enemies we have, these two are the most dangerous, and you made it worse. You created a monster."

"A monster I'll deal with." Mike said. "And if I wasn't mistaken, didn't I insist that I kill those two when they were still children? And wasn't it you who stopped me?"

"We'll talk about this later." Mr. Umbrella turned to the doctors. "How are things coming along with the T-Veronica virus?"

"We are making rapid advancements with the equipment here." Brigit said. "In about a few more weeks we should have the virus finished."

Kennings nodded. "After that we can begin testing the virus on living creatures. While we do have Wesker's report on what the virus did to Alexia Ashford we still have no idea how powerful this weapon really is."

"Good." Mr. Umbrella said. "I see you brought the research on the cyborgs Genoas was working on Dr. Grant."

"Yes I did." Brigit replied. "I can begin to work on them immediately."

"You will. Dr. Grant, seeing as in Professor O'Riley is no longer here I need someone to fill in his place." Mr. Umbrella smiled at Brigit. "As of this moment you are in charge of the bio-weapons research. Kennings, you will continue to work on the T-Veronica virus. Do you two understand?"

Kennings nodded. "Yes Sir." Brigit replied.

Mr. Umbrella turned his attention to Marcus. "And as for you, I see you have been a great help to us."

"Yes I have Sir." Marcus replied. "In fact, I can lead you right to where my old unit is staying."

"Should we try to attack them?" Nicholai asked.

Hunk laughed. "Sure pal, attack them. They're probably expecting us too. With our luck we'll get there and the place will be empty. They may even have it set to blow when we enter. Besides, that Tyrant is there. We attack and that thing will rip us to shreds. I think we should back off."

"This is a perfect opportunity." Nicholai replied. "We know right where they are. One bomb and it will be all over."

"Then what excuse are we going to use?" Hunk said. "A gas pipe exploded in the middle of nowhere? Going after them will be suicide."

"Then we wait until they make their next move." Mike said. "In the meantime we should find out where they could go."

Mr. Umbrella lit another one of his cigars. "Well Hollows, where are they going to go next?"

Marcus shrugged. "That's one of the problems I had. Connors had a habit of keeping certain things to himself. Whenever we planned on moving he had several locations picked out. We wouldn't know which one until the last minute. Unfortunately I didn't fine out where his group is going. He had about eight different places to go, but he may have changed that. I also don't know where every little hideout is. To have any idea where they are we have to wait until they attack another place or check every single hideout that I know of."

"That will take to damn long." Mike said. He turned to Mr. Umbrella. "So what do we do now Sir?"

"We put searching for the Black Ops group for now and concentrate on wiping out Genoas." Mr. Umbrella replied. "We know where they are and can easily fight them. Once we get ride of Genoas no one else will dare mess with us."

The intercom beeped. Mr. Umbrella hit a button. "What is it?"

"Sir, you have a call." The secretary said.

"From who?" Mr. Umbrella asked.

"Stanley Philips Sir." The secretary replied. "He wants to take to you about a merger of his company and yours."

Mr. Umbrella perked up. "Really? Put him on, I'm interested in what he has to say." A light on his phone lit up. Umbrella took the receiver and pressed the button next to the light. "Hello Mr. Philips. My secretary told me that you with to talk business."

"Yes." Philips replied. "I want to talk about a joint venture between our companies. Is there any time I can meet you?"

"Yes, there is. You can come to Umbrella Headquarters tomorrow around noon, Paris time. I'm interested on hearing what you have to say." A smile spread across Mr. Umbrella's lips. "It should be good."

"It will." Philips said. "I'll be there with two of my associates. See you tomorrow."

Mr. Umbrella waited until the line went dead before hanging up the phone. "It seems as if we hit them harder than we thought. Philips wants to join our companies. The meeting is tomorrow."

"Do you think that's wise?" Mike asked.

"Oh, it is wise." Mr. Umbrella replied. "Because tomorrow will be a pivotal day in the history of Umbrella." Mr. Umbrella chuckled to himself as he began to plan for the meeting.


Black Ops 6 base, Northern Washington.

The team was gathered around the table in the operations room except for the Tyrant, Wesker, and Eliza. The Tyrant stood silently in the corner while Wesker and Eliza stood next to the large window. Connors looked around and began the meeting. "As you are all aware, since Marcus knows where we are we may be expecting an attack from Umbrella. They may strike at any time and the lull in the last few days may be a ploy for us to lower our guard. At any rate be should still be careful."

"Not to sound stupid or something," Scott said, "but we have that, that." Scott pointed at the Tyrant. "Shouldn't we give it a name?"

"And what do you want to call it, Rover?" Samantha asked.

"I was thinking more like Smasher or Crusher." Scott replied.

"Tyrant will be fine." The Tyrant said. "You don't have to give me a fancy name."

"That takes care of that business." Leon said. He then turned to Connors. "Scott is right Tom, Umbrella knows we have Tyrant here. They're probably scared to attack."

"Besides, you also have us." Wesker said.

Chris gave Wesker a dirty look. "Umbrella doesn't know you changed sides, or to be more correct screwed over Genoas."

Wesker chuckled. "If I didn't know better I'd think that nobody wanted me around."

"Is it that obvious?" Jill asked sarcastically.

"That's enough." Connors said. "I know none of you like the fact that Wesker is part of the team. I'm not pleased with it too but I have my orders. Now let's move on to business. We're moving again."

"Where to?" Heather asked.

"Dallas, Texas." Connors replied.

"Whoa, I thought we were going to Tampa or Boston next?" Ark said. "Dallas isn't one of the places we had picked."

Connors nodded. "Change of plans. Marcus knew which places we would go to next. There's a chance that Umbrella will search each and every one of those places. This way Umbrella will have no clue as to where we are."

"When do we leave?" Chris asked.

"I've gotten a private flight booked for tomorrow night." Connors said. "We'll use what time we have until that time to pack up. We'll decide on what to do from there."

Barry spoke up. "Tom, I, or we, were wondering if there was a possibility of stopping in Huston to see Kathy. I really miss my family and want to be sure they're safe."

"I want to see Sherry." Claire said.

"And I think I should check on Lott and Lily." Ark added.

"OK, I'll have the plane drop some of us off in Dallas and then take the rest to Huston." Connors said. "While you're there, the others in Dallas will set up the base."

Wesker raised his hand. "I take it that I wouldn't be welcomed in the Burton household, so Eliza and I will stay in Dallas."

Barry glared intensely at Wesker. "Damn right you are."

"Look, we'll decide who goes where tomorrow." Connors said. "For now we should be thinking about getting ready."

The dispersed and went their own ways. Wesker quickly made his way outside. As Eliza began to follow him, Barry stopped her.

"Can I ask you one question?" Barry said. "How is it that someone like you could be around someone like Wesker?"

"Because we're friends." Eliza said. "And I trust him."

Barry gave a gruff laugh. "You obviously don't know him like I do."

"And you don't know him like I do either." Eliza walked past Barry and out the door. She found Wesker standing by the brook, which had partially melted. She walked up next to him. "They don't really like you, do they?"

Wesker chuckled. "How could you not have noticed?"

"They make it sound like what you did to them was personal." Eliza said. "They don't believe that you were just following orders."

"They can believe what they want." Wesker said. "The fact is that after this is all done we'll have no more to do with them. I plan on leaving this group as soon as this whole fiasco is over. Until then we have to do whatever we can to survive, and if that means working with these people then so be it."

"So that's all it is to you?" Wesker and Eliza turned to see Chris standing behind them. "Just a means to an end."

"Chris, I didn't expect you of all people to converse with us." Wesker said. "What do you have to say?"

"That you should watch yourself." Chris replied. "That little comment you made didn't go well with the others. And what other thing, just what are you going to do after this is over?"

Wesker smiled. "Worried that I might join another Umbrella?"

Chris narrowed his eyes at Wesker. "I wouldn't be surprised."

Wesker's face became serious. "Well you're wrong. After this I plan on disappearing. I'm sick of all of this. In this business you're considered expendable and if you even think of leaving you end up dead. And when something goes wrong your head gets handed to you. If you think I want to get back into that kind of business then you're sorely mistaken."

"I never expected to here this from you." Chris said, unimpressed with Wesker's speech. "So what changed your mind?"

"They say when someone is about to die their lift flashes before their eyes." Wesker said. "I believe this happened to me in that damn mansion. I even think that was part of the reason I took that deal."

Chris laughed to himself. "Don't give me one of those come to Jesus conversion stories. You have no conscience for that to happen."

"And what about you and your friends?" Wesker asked.

"What about us?" Chris replied.

"Your reasons are equally pathetic." Wesker said. "You say that you do this for justice or to make sure another Raccoon City doesn't happen. Those sound nice, but all it boils down to is revenge. All of you want to hurt Umbrella because they hurt you. You want to make them pay for destroying your lives. Don't get all high and mighty on me when you are no different. And if you are still mad for what I did then let me clear things up. What I did in that mansion was what I was told to do. I was following orders and I was to accomplish my mission by any means necessary. If that involved manipulating your friends, then so be it. And as for Antarctica, my job was not to kill you but retrieve that virus. You and your sister just happened to get in the way."

"Thing is you would have killed us anyway." Chris said.

"Why would I have had to kill you?" Wesker asked. "You were no threat to me then, just like you're no threat to me now. Besides, I had an image to keep up. I had to appear to my new boss as the person he had heard about. Now is that doesn't answer all of your question, too bad."

Chris glared at Wesker before turning and walking away. "Just watch yourself. I'll be watching you."

Eliza watched Chris leave. "He really hates you."

"He has good reason to." Wesker said. "He used to look up to me, they all did. But that was another lifetime ago." Wesker turned back to the brook, feeling a tiny pang of what seemed like guilt in his gut.

Ark, Heather, Scott, Rebecca, and Samantha were busy packing up the weapons in the basement. "Can you believe we have to have that prick Wesker on our side." Ark said. "What the hell were Tom's bosses thinking. We can't trust that guy."

"The guys in charge must really want to bring Umbrella down." Samantha said.

Scott stuffed some clips into a duffle bag. "No shit. Because of those bastards we had to nuke one of our own cities. Then Umbrella wants to start spouting bullshit about mysterious diseases and radioactive contamination. I don't think they even give a damn about all the people who died."

"But I can't believe that they went to Wesker for help." Rebecca said. "He'll probably betray us again and then we'll all die."

Rebecca began to cry, memories of the Spencer Mansion flooding in. Scott wrapped his arms around her. "Don't worry Becky, he'll have to go through me first."

Heather watched Scott comfort Rebecca. She gently tugged on Ark's sleeve. "I have to talk to you."

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" Ark asked.

Heather pointed to the boiler room. "Can we do this in private?"

Ark nodded. "Sure."

Ark and Heather disappeared into the boiler room. No sooner had they entered than Samantha rushed over to the door to listen in. Scott and Rebecca soon joined her.

"What do you want to talk about?" Ark asked, staring at Heather in the gloom.

"It's about what you said a few days ago, before we went to Mexico." Heather replied.

"Oh." Ark said. He remembered the conversation they had had in this very room. "What about it?"

"I think you're right." Heather said. "Maybe we are right for each other. When we were in Mexico you covered me every second of that mission. I also don't feel like dying unless I tell you that," Heather hesitated as she gathered the courage to continue, "that I love you."

Ark smiled. "You don't know how long I've waited for you to say those words." Ark put his hands on Heathers shoulders. "I love you too, and I have for a while now. I'm so happy that you feel the same way."

Heather giggled. "You have a way of growing on people." Heather and Ark leaned in and gave either other a long, loving kiss. They then held each other in a strong embrace.

"I swear I won't let anything happen to you." Ark said.

"Neither will I." Heather said.

"Isn't this so sweet?" Ark and Heather turned to find Samantha, Scott, and Rebecca watching them, wide grins on their faces. "I knew you two would get together someday." Samantha said.

"And you two look so cute like that." Scott said. "I wish I had a camera."

Ark gave Scott a funny look. "Just don't go spouting of to everyone about this."

"What, that you two are making in the boiler room instead of packing up?" Samantha asked. "I wouldn't dare."

"So, are you going to tell Lott and Lily about this?" Rebecca asked.

Ark nodded. "Definitely. Those kids will be glad to know that they have a whole family again."

"Is that a proposal?" Heather asked.

"Maybe a little later." Ark said.

Scott nodded. "After we kick Umbrella's ass we can do whatever we want. Now let's get back to work before Tom comes down here and yells at us."

Everyone left the boiler room and headed back to the armory.

Claire finished packing her suitcase. The few things she had with her were in this suitcase. She scratched the back of her head think if there was anything she had forgotten.  She began to reach for her hair tie when she heard the door behind her open and someone enter. "Chris, I think that I can do this myself."

"You mean Chris does all the packing for you?" Claire whirled around to find Carlos behind her. "I wish I had someone do that for me."

"What do you want?" Claire asked. "And don't you know it's not polite to enter a woman's room without knocking?"

Carlos put up is hands in defense. "Take it easy, I just wanted to see how you were doing. These last few days must have been rough on you. I think they've been rough on everyone."

"Rough isn't the word I would use." Claire said. "I'd say horrible. I'm just waiting to see who else joins our team next."

"So how are you holding up?" Carlos asked. "You seem to be taking thing with your parents well."

Claire ran her hand through her hair. "No thanks to you, my brother, and Tom. I can't believe that Burns murdered my parents. Tom was right, I was better off not knowing."

Carlos walked up to Claire and started to stroke her hair. "At least you know the truth. Umbrella has a lot to pay for. I lost several of my best friends in Raccoon City. When I run into Nicholai again I'm going to give him more than a limp. It's a shame that I missed him at that plant."

"Well, I'm thankful that you were willing to protect me from that Tyrant." Claire said. "That was brave of you."

At this time Chris was heading to him room when he heard Carlos and his sister talking. He tried to ignore it but his instincts as an older brother overrode his thinking. He moved into position outside of Claire's room and listened.

Inside the conversation continued. "I told you I'd cover your back." Carlos said. "And I'll continue watching you until this whole thing is over. And I plan on doing the same thing for everyone else, even your brother."

"And what about Wesker and Eliza?" Claire asked.

"They can cover their own ass." Carlos replied.

Claire giggled. "You always have a way of cheering people up."

Carlos stared at the group and smiled. "Back in my old unit when I was part of the U.B.C.S. I was the one that lifted everyone else's spirits. If someone was feeling down I could have him or her feeling better just by talking to them. I guess it's a natural gift."

"I know." Claire said. "You helped me a lot with helping me deal with what happened to Steve."

"And you helped me gat over losing Jill." Carlos said. "I guess it wasn't meant to be."

"I'm glad I could help." Claire said, punching Carlos playfully in the arm.

Carlos laughed. "Speaking of which, I think I may have found someone else."

"Who is she?" Claire asked suspiciously. "Is she someone I know?"

"Well, she has pretty blue eyes, a good sense of humor, and brown hair that looks pretty when it's not in a ponytail." Carlos looked into Claire's eyes. "And she's standing right in front of me."

Claire looked down and blushed. "I don't know what to say. I like you too, but don't you think this is too soon? And what is Chris hears us?"

"I'm sure Chris won't go nuts." Carlos replied. "Besides, I think he's a nice guy. I'm sure your brother will understand. And as for this being too soon, I'd rather that than be too late. I like you a lot Claire. I think you're the perfect one for me."

"And I think you're right guy for me. Let's just take this slow, OK?" Claire said.

"OK." Carlos replied. Carlos gave Claire a warm hug, which she returned.

Chris heard the talking stop. He tried to stop himself from barging into the room, but it was difficult to do. Suddenly someone tapped him on his shoulder, almost making him shout. He spun around to find Jill standing behind him, hands on hips and giving him a "shame on you" look. Without saying a word she grabbed his arm and led him to her room. She shut the door and turned to Chris.

"Didn't you grow out of eavesdropping when you were a little kid?" Jill angrily asked.

"I couldn't help it." Chris said. "I'm her big brother, I'm supposed to worry about my sister."

Jill gawked at him. "So that gives you the right to spy on her?"

"I overheard them talking and I just had to know what was going on." Chris said.

"And if you heard Leon and I, or Ark and I talking, you would listen in on our conversation."

Chris wasn't sure how to answer the question. "Is that a trick question?"

Jill sighed and smacked Chris in the arm. "You know, you can be so stupid sometimes. Did you ever thing that Claire has a life of her own, and being so overprotective of her is messing with it?"

"I don't want her to go through the same thing that she went through with Steve." Chris said. "It's not that I don't trust Carlos, but I think he's moving too damn fast."

"At least Claire might be able to tell Carlos how she feels about him." Jill said. "From what she told me she never got a chance with Steve. And maybe she needs someone right now. These are some tough times we're going through. We all need someone."

Chris looked at Jill. "Then what do you suggest I do?"

"Leave it alone and let them handle it." Jill said. "Claire did the same for us." She saw Chris chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"She sort of did." Chris replied. "She kind of pushed me to talk to you. I was a little scared."

Jill stared blankly at Chris. "So in other words if Claire didn't press you you wouldn't have told me that you loved me?"

Chris noticed the hint of anger in Jill's voice. "I would have told you, but probably later."

"When?" Jill asked.

"While we were running for our lives." Chris said. He managed a weak smile.

Jill stared at Chris for a few more seconds before speaking. "Either that or I would have told you." Jill walked over to Chris and wrapped her arms around him. Chris stroked her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. "So will you let them be?"

"I will." Chris said. "It' just that I have a feeling that things are going to get much worse from here."


Umbrella HQ. Paris, France.

The helicopter landed on the roof of the Umbrella building. Hunk watched as Philips, Tim, and Stacy got out. He walked up to the guest. "My name is Hunk. Follow me."

Stacy gave him a sly grin. "Do you have some other name besides "Hunk"?"

"Just Hunk." Hunk replied. "Now please follow me."

"Cheery guy, isn't he?" Tim asked.

"Just do as he says." Philips said as he followed Hunk to the elevator. Tim and Stacy walked after their boss, gazing around the roof in aw.

"So do we have a deal?" Philips asked. He was seated across from Mr. Umbrella in a large conference room. Tim and Stacy stood behind him, eyeing Mr. Umbrella's men that stood behind their boss.

Mr. Umbrella took a puff from his cigar. "Let me get this straight, after all we've been doing trying to destroy each other you want to join our companies together? That seems like a very suspicious move on your part."

"I just believe that all the energy and resources we waste fighting with each other could be put to better use." Philips said. "We also have a common enemy that continues to grow stronger by the minute. From what I've been told, they have your most advanced Tyrant on their side. Plus, we have lost both Wesker and Eliza. We believe that they may have gone rogue or are working for another company that we do not yet know of. Either way, by combining our companies no one will be able to bring us down. We may even benefit from each other."

"I believe that you are talking about the T-Veronica virus." Mr. Umbrella said. "I am glad that you managed to acquire it both those blasted Redfields destroyed our base in Antarctica. Plus I doubt that Alexia would have willingly handed over the virus. We may have had another problem like the incident with Birkin. As for our other bio-weapon research, some of our latest creatures are very impressive."

Philips nodded. "And my cyborgs may also prove useful to you. And as for the T-Veronica virus, I doubt that you have the antiquate facilities to work on it. I, on the other hand, have numerous facilities that have the equipment necessary to finish the virus. In fact my largest facility is specially designed just for T-Veronica research."

"I do see your point." Mr. Umbrella said. "Even the facilities in this building lack the necessary resources to quickly produce the virus. Your facilities would be most helpful."

"So do we have a deal?" Philips asked. "All I ask is that we share control of the company. I get control of the facilities I have and you get control of the facilities you have. Everything will be equal."

Mr. Umbrella stood up and began to pace. "I do admit that your proposal is intriguing. Our two companies could benefit from each other very well." He took the contract and slid it over to Philips. "You first."

Philips signed the contract and passed it back to Mr. Umbrella. "Then we have a deal?"

Mr. Umbrella nodded. "Yes, but I have a problem with your idea of sharing. I fear that maybe while we start out equal that you may try to pull something in an attempt to gain complete control for yourself. At least that's what usually happens in situations like this. You see, it all comes down to trust, and I don't trust you. What I'm saying is that there only room for one person in this business, and you are not the one."

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" Philips asked.

"Simple." Mr. Umbrella said. "I'm not going to merge with your company, I'm taking it over."

Philips stood up. "Over my dead body."

"That's the point." Mr. Umbrella gestured to Mike, who pulled a gun. He then turned back to Philips, who was frozen with shock. "Why do you think I had you sign the contract first?"

"You bastard." Philips said.

"Look at it this way, your company will be in good hands." Mr. Umbrella turned to Mike. "Burns, kill him."

Mike flashed a wicked grin. "My pleasure." He shot Philips in the heart and watched as his victim staggered back before falling to the floor. He then looked at Tim and Stacy. "What about his party? Should I kill them too?"

Mr. Umbrella sat back down. "Well, Mr. Wolf, Miss Coors, what are you going to do? Will you join Umbrella or follow your boss?"

Stacy looked at Philips dead body and then at Mike. "I don't seem to have that many options, do I? I think I'll chose to live."

"I was getting tired of working for Philips anyway." Tim said. "I'm in."

"Welcome to Umbrella Inc." Mr. Umbrella said. He turned to Mike. "Dispose of this body. I also need a cover story for his death. We have a very important announcement to make, everyone must know about the new Umbrella."


Black Ops 6 base, Northern Washington.

Leon walked into the rec. room and flopped down on the couch. "Well, everything is just about ready. I swear I never had to do so much work in so little time."

"Tell me about it." Ark said, laying back in the recliner. "Add to the fact that we had to get up so damn early didn't help either."

"Quit your complaining." Barry said, walking into the room and sitting down in one of the other chairs. "You don't have two little girls running into your room at six on Saturday morning and use your bed as a trampoline."

"Sherry kind of did the same thing." Leon said. "Only she would shout in my ear."

Ada walked into the room and sat down next to Leon. "Talking about children are we?"

"No, we're complaining about Tom turning into a slave driver." Ark said.

Samantha and Heather walked into the room. Heather sat on the arm of the recliner. "I hope we never have to move again. I think I may have pulled something in my back."

"Maybe I can help." Ark said. He slid his hand up the back of Heather's shirt and began to rub her back. "How's that?"

"That feels wonderful." Heather moaned. "Just a little lower."

Samantha took her place on the floor. "Can you take this someplace else?" She turned on the TV and began flipping through the channels. "Let's see what's on." She turned CNN.

"Why are you watching the news?" Barry asked.

"Cause I want to see what's going on." Samantha replied. She turned back to the TV just as a special announcement came on. "I wonder what's going on?" Her question was answered as the anchorwoman began to talk about the recent merger of Umbrella and Genoas. "What the hell?"

"EVERYONE, GET IN HERE! THIS IS IMPORTANT!" Barry yelled. Soon the rest of the team was packed into the rec. room, watching the TV.

"What the hell is this shit?" Scott asked. "I thought these two were trying to bump each other off?"

"Maybe all their recent losses made them consider joining up." Leon said.

"The union of the companies comes with one sad detail." The anchorwoman said. "CEO of Genoas, Wesley Philips, was found this morning in an ally. He was shot and robbed by a yet unknown assailant. His body will be sent back to the U.S. for burial."

"I bet I know just who the assailant was." Chris said. "Burns."

"So Umbrella and Philips make a deal to join together their companies." Barry began. "Then Umbrella has Burns kill off Philips. That would mean that Umbrella now has control of both companies. This is bad."

Connors stood silently, letting the news sink in. "This definitely makes thing more difficult. With the combined resources of both Umbrella and Genoas, it's going to be harder to take them down."

"So what do we do?" Claire asked.

"We proceed as scheduled." Connors said. "We leave for our new base and make plans for our next attack. This situation changes nothing." Connors turned and left the room.

Wesker laughed to himself. "I always knew Mr. Umbrella was a greedy bastard. It looks like we're in for a whole lot of trouble."

Jill glared at him. "If you have anything to say, keep it to yourself."

Chris made his way out of the room and followed Connors into the dining area. "Tom, how can you say that this changes nothing? Umbrella's twice as powerful as it was before. This situation has gotten more dangerous."

Connors turned to Chris. "One thing that I learned about leading is to give them confidence. If I told them this operation was hopeless, we wouldn't be able to complete our mission. Besides, I still have a few tricks up my sleeves."

"Another one of your spies?" Chris asked. "Who the hell is it going to be this time?"

"You don't have to worry about that." Connors replied. "All you have to know is that we can still beat Umbrella."

"How can you seem so sure?" Chris said. "After all that's happened it seems that everything is getting worse. Didn't what happened in Minnesota and Mexico show that you are not in control? You had a spy in your team from the beginning. Face it Tom, Umbrella may just have turned the tables on us for good. We may not bring them down."

Connors walked over to a window. "Have you ever played chess Chris?"

Chris was stumped by the question. "No, what does that have to do with this?"

Connors turned to Chris. "In chess the idea isn't to simply beat your opponent, but to outsmart him. You do that by thinking two steps ahead of your opponent. You also position your pieces strategically around the board and strike at the last moment. This whole battle has been a chess game, with all three sides trying to outthink the other two. Mr. Umbrella has just made his move, now I will make mine. All the pieces are almost in place and soon I'll go for the checkmate. Umbrella thinks that this takeover will give him an advantage, but he's wrong. I have something he doesn't, and I plan to use it."

"I just have one question." Chris said. "How many more pieces have to be sacrificed before this little game in over." Chris turned and walked out of the room.

"I hope no more." Connors said to himself.

Jill stood outside and took one last look at her surroundings. It would be the last time she would see snow for a while. She also needed time to herself. Ever since the team had seen the story about Umbrella on TV that was all they were talking about. Her thoughts drifted back to what Chris had said. "I guess you were right Chris." She said to herself. She suddenly felt a large presence behind her, like what she had felt in Raccoon City before the Nemesis showed up. She turned to see Tyrant standing behind her. "What do you want?"

"I don't think the others want me around." Tyrant said. "I decided that it was better if I waited out here until we left."

"I wonder why." Jill muttered.

Tyrant looked at Jill. "Why is it that you hate me so? I have done nothing to you. I don't understand."

"You remind me of a monster I had to fight in Raccoon." Jill said. "It was called the…"

"Nemesis." Tyrant said. "Prototype Tyrant made and programmed to hunt down all S.T.A.R.S. members. Released in Raccoon City soon after the outbreak of the T-virus. It failed in its mission and was destroyed by you. Limited intelligence and speed. Very aggressive and relentless. It was my for-runner. William told me all about it. He told me that it was a true monster."

"It was." Jill said. "I saw it kill my friend Brad right in from of my eyes. I couldn't do anything to help him. The worse part about that thing was its voice. I don't think I'll ever forget that voice."

"I'm not the Nemesis, or like any Tyrants before me." Tyrant said. "I am different. William gave me the ability to choose, to make up my own mind. I know the difference between right and wrong. I know that Umbrella is evil and must be destroyed. William gave me a soul."

Jill laughed. "A soul? O'Riley gave you a soul?"

"Yes." Tyrant replied. "I believe he did because he told me that evil people like Burns don't have souls. He says that only good people have souls. Because I want to stop Umbrella then I must have a soul."

Jill shook her head. "You don't have a soul."

"Why?" Tyrant asked.

"Because creatures that are put together in a laboratory don't have a soul." Jill said. "They aren't even normal." Jill stormed off into the building, leaving Tyrant alone.

"Listen up, here's what we're going to do." Connors had the group assembled in the operations room. "Claire, Carlos, and Samantha will take the vehicles to the airport. The rest of us will take the helicopters. Barry and Chris will be the pilots. We'll split up accordingly. The flight down to Texas should be a few hours. Once we arrive in Dallas we'll unload the plane and those that want to head down to Huston can do so. I wish that I could say that this is going to be easy, but from the looks of things we're going to have more trouble than I though. However, I do believe that we will beat Umbrella. Let's move out." With that the team left the building for the last time.


Umbrella HQ. Paris, France.

Mr. Umbrella sat at his desk looking over his newly acquired recourses. "Over one hundred additional facilities as well as twice as many new employees. This is the greatest day in the history of Umbrella."

"Correction." Mike said. "The greatest day in Umbrella's history will be the day we crush our enemies for good."

Mr. Umbrella smiled. "Soon that will happen. With our new strength we will easily take these fools out. Then no one will be able to stand in our way. Umbrella will be unstoppable."

Mike chuckled. "You always did dream big, ever since you got control of the company."

"It was fortunate that the Board of Directors found the Ashfords too unstable to run the company." Mr. Umbrella said. "And now that both founding families are no more I now own the company." Mr. Umbrella saw the door to his office open and the rest of Mike's team enter. "Aw, I was waiting for you to arrive."

"What is it that you want to see us about?" Nicholai asked.

"Did you look over the estimates for our new military strength?" Mr. Umbrella asked.

Nicholai nodded. "Our private military is almost double our old one. Genoas didn't have as many solders as we did, but I believe that those men are well trained."

"They also have some impressive weapons." Hunk added. "Some of these guns we don't even have. We should be able to supply our men with ample firepower."

"Good." Mr. Umbrella said. "I believe that I should thank you for this event, Miss Coors. If it wasn't for your suggestion this company may not have gotten stronger."

Stacy smiled. "Thank you Sir."

"Now on to other matters." Mr. Umbrella said. He began to speak when Brigit entered the room. "Dr. Grant."

Brigit straightened herself. "I'm sorry that I'm late Sir. I was waiting for the information regarding the cyborg research to arrive. It took longer than I expected."

"Speaking of the cyborgs, can they do what you claim they can do?" Mr. Umbrella asked.

"Yes." Brigit replied. "They are virtually indestructible. They can take more damage than a standard B.O.W. and still function completely."

Mike turned to Brigit. "Ha, right. From what I saw your little robots got dismantled by OUR bio-weapons. Those walking scrape heaps seem useless to me."

Brigit gave Mike a dirty look. "Against unconventional weapons they may have a disadvantage, but against conventional weapons like guns they are unbeatable. And I seriously doubt that any of those fools in Black Ops 6 except for that Tyrant will be able to go head-to-head with one of my cyborgs."

"She's right." Mr. Umbrella said. "These cyborgs may come in handy for your next assignment. You are to find and exterminate this Black Ops 6 group once and for all. Then I want you to locate and kill both Albert Wesker and Eliza Walker. Use these cyborgs in conjunction with our troops and bio-weapons to do this. Right now Connors forces are broken and vulnerable. Without any of his spies Connors will be blind to what we are doing. His team will be unprepared for an attack."

"Understood Sir." Mike said. "We better get to work and find them." Mike's team left the room.

Brigit stayed in the room. She waited until she was alone with Mr. Umbrella before she approached him. "Sir, I have something important to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Mr. Umbrella asked.

"It's about the Black Ops 6 team." Brigit said.


Fells Residence. Huston, Texas.

Two silver cars pulled up in front of a beige house. Barry, Ark, Heather, Claire, and Carlos got out of the cars and walked up to the house. "This is it." Barry said.

"Nice place." Carlos said. "Just the kind of house you would expect in the suburbs."

Barry smiled. "Kathy's parents have lived here for the last thirty years or so. Sometimes my family visits them during the holidays." Barry knocked on the door. "A woman in her late fifties opened the door. "Hi, is my family here?"

The woman's face lit up. "Barry, how nice to see you. Kathy and the children have been worried about you. We all have." The woman gave Barry a hug. She then saw the others. "Are these your friends Kathy told us about?"

"Some of them." Barry replied. "I'll introduce them to you."

"Oh, where are my manners." The woman said. "Please come in." Barry's group entered the house. No sooner had they entered the living room than Polly came running up to her dad.

"Hey Polly." Barry said, scooping up his daughter. "Have you been a good little girl?"

"Of coarse." The girl replied. She looked at the rest of the group. "How are they?"

"Friends." Barry said. "Now why don't you get your mother?"

Polly nodded and ran off into the other room. "She's been worried about you." The old woman said. "We all have."

An old man, also in his late fifties, entered the room. "Barry, how have you been? I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to here from you again."

Barry turned to his friends. "Guys, these are Kathy's parents, Grace and Joel Fells."

"Nice to meet you." Claire said. "I'm Claire Redfield."

"I'm Carlos Olivera." Carlos said.

Ark raised his hand. "Ark Thompson."

"I'm Heather Mansfield." Heather added.

"How nice to meet all of you." Grace said. "I think the other children were talking about you people. Where are your other friends Barry?"

"Up near Dallas." Barry replied. "We all really appreciate you two looking after the kids. I'm sure it was a burden for you."

Joel waved his hand. "Nonsense. We love children. Besides, we put them to work helping around the house. There are very nice kids."

"We would look after them ourselves but it would be too dangerous." Claire said. "By the way, where is Sherry?"

"Last I saw her she was out in the back yard." Joel said. "She was playing with those other two, Lott and Lily."

"Thanks." Ark said. "Mind if we go out back?"

Grace shook her head. "I don't mind at all. I'm sure they want to see you just as bad."

As Claire and the others left for the backyard Kathy walked in from the kitchen. "Barry." She ran up to him and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm so relieved that you're still alive."

"I'm not planning on kicking the bucket any time soon." Barry replied, hugging his wife. He looked into her blue eyes. "How have you been holding up?"

"Good enough." Kathy said. "Ever since I got your message to come down here with the children I thought something terrible had happened."

Barry was going to answer when Margaret ran into the room followed by her sister. "Daddy, did you win?" The older girl asked.

"Not yet Moira." Barry replied. "But soon."

"Why did you want us to stay with Grandma?" Margaret asked. "Did something bad happen?"

Barry could sense the concern in her voice. "No, I just thought that you were getting lonely. In fact, we just moved down to Dallas so we could be near you. All we need are a few more days and we'll be done."

"OK." Margaret said.

Kathy could tell that her husband was lying. "Girls, mommy has to take to daddy. Why don't you go watch cartoons with grandma and grandpa?"

"If you two need to talk in private you can use the den." Joel said. "We'll keep them here."

"Thanks Joel." Barry said. He and Kathy entered the den and shut the door. "That was close."

"So what's really going on?" Kathy asked. "Is everything OK?"

Barry shook his head. "A lot of things have happened. We had to move because we had a spy in our team. We also have some new people in our unit."

"Oh God." Kathy said. "Does Umbrella know we're here?"

"No." Barry said. "Tom and I made sure we were the only one's that knew."

Kathy was relieved. "And what about these new people?"

"Well," Barry started, "we got Ada Wong. She was a spy for Umbrella that turned to our side. Then we got a Tyrant."

"You mean those monsters you told me about?" Kathy said. "I thought those things were killers?"

"This one is smart." Barry said. "It could have killed us but didn't. One of Tom's spies made that thing to help us. So far he hasn't hurt any one of us, though none of us like it being around. But that's not the worse part. The last two people are Wesker and Eliza."

Kathy gasped at the name. "Wesker is in your team? How can that be? I thought he was one of the bad guys?"

Barry took a deep breath. "He made a deal with the government for him and this Eliza woman to testify against Umbrella in return for a shorter sentence. From what I've seen the only reason he did this was to save himself. However, I heard that Chris did warn him not to try anything funny. Even Tom doesn't like the idea, but we have no choice."

"I heard that Umbrella and Genoas merged." Kathy said. "That's going to make things worse, isn't it?"

"Tom seems to believe that we can still pull this off." Barry said. "I think that we may be able to do this too."

"How much longer will this take?" Kathy asked.

Barry shrugged. "I don't know for sure. I do know this; no matter how long this takes I will make sure that you are safe. Umbrella is going to fall and I'm going to help. All I need you to do is be strong. I also think that the girls shouldn't know the truth."

Kathy nodded. "I won't tell them any of this. When are you going to leave?"

"I was thinking about spending a few hours here." Barry replied. "The rest of the team is setting up the new base. They shouldn't need us."

Kathy gave Barry another hug. "God I missed you."

"So have I." Barry said, returning the hug.

Claire and the others stepped outside into the yard. Claire stopped Sherry playing tag with Lott and Lily. "SHERRY!" Claire called.

"CLAIRE!" Sherry yelled as she sprinted toward Claire's opened arms. "I missed you." The girl said, giving Claire a fierce hug.

"ARK, HEATHER!" Lott called.

"Hey Lott." Ark said, walking over to the boy. "How have you been?"

"Just fine." Lott replied. "Did you get Umbrella?"

Ark shook his head. "Not yet. We seem to have a bigger fight than we thought on our hands, but we'll get them."

"Hey Heather." Lily said. "I missed you." Lily gave Heather a hug.

"Same here." Heather replied, returning the hug. "I think you got bigger since I saw you."

"So how have things been?" Ark asked.

"OK." Lott said. "Moira and Polly's grandparents had us helping around the house. They're nice people."

Ark smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

Heather cleared her throat. "Guess what guys, I have an announcement to make. Ark and I are officially together."

"OH BOY!" Lily squeaked. "I was hoping that you two would."

"So I guess you guys are getting married then, huh?" Lott said.

"Maybe after things settle down." Ark said. "Anyway, we have a few hours until we go, so why don't we have some fun?"

"OK!" Lily said. She tapped Heather on the arm. "TAG, YOU'RE IT!"

Heather watched Lott and Lily take off. She then looked at Ark and grinned. "I guess you're it?" She slapped Ark on the arm and took off after the children.

Ark stood stunned for a minute as it sank in. He then grinned and took off after the others.

"So how are you doing? How long will it take? When will you be back again? Where are you going now? What about the others?" Sherry rattled off question after question.

"Slow down Sherry." Claire said. "Everything's fine. We should be done soon, and the others are just fine. Boy, someone must have given you some sugar. You're one hyper kid."

Sherry took some deep breaths, tired from her questions. "Sorry, I'm just worried about you."

Claire stroked Sherry's blond hair. "So have I."

"How's Leon?" Sherry asked.

"Oh, he's doing OK." Claire replied. "He even has a girlfriend now. Her name's Ada."

"Why's Carlos here?" Sherry asked.

Carlos chuckled. "I'm looking after Claire. And I also wanted to meet Barry's family. I didn't get a chance before. I heard that they're nice."

"They are." Sherry said. "Kathy even took us out to the movies once." Sherry gave Claire a sly grin. "Are you and Carlos together?"

"Why do you ask that?" Claire asked, a little startled by the question.

"Because you look like it." Sherry answered.

Claire looked at Carlos and then back to Sherry. "Almost. We're just good friends."

"Right." Sherry said sarcastically. "Like I would be fooled by that line."

Carlos nudged Claire. "I guess you can't hide anything from this kid?"

Claire laughed. "I guess I can't."

After a few hours Barry's group was ready to go. "I'm sorry that we can't stay any longer, but our team needs us." Barry said.

"Don't worry Barry, we'll look after them." Grace said. "You just take care of yourselves."

Barry nodded. "We will."

"Goodbye Sherry." Claire said. "You behave yourself."

"You too Claire." Sherry replied.

Ark patted Lott on the shoulder. "You take care of Lily for me, OK."

Lott nodded. "I will."

"See you soon Lily." Heather said.

The girl nodded and gave Heather a hug.

Barry gave his girls a hug. "You two look after your mother for me." Barry said.

"We will." Margaret said.

He let go and gave Kathy a hug. "I'll see you when this is over, I promise."

"Just make sure you come back in one piece." Kathy said.

When the goodbyes were done the team left the house and got into the cars. They pulled away, each filled with a new purpose to win.

Author's Comments: There sure was a whole lot of talking in this chapter. But don't worry; the following chapters will be loaded with action. Of coarse, important things did happen. With Umbrella now merged with Genoas the stakes have just been raised. While the rest of the team is worried about this development, Connors seems overly confident. Also, there is still friction between the group and Wesker as well as Jill and Tyrant. Plus, Barry saw his family and Claire and Ark got to see the children with Carlos and Heather along for the ride. Philips has met his end at the hands of Mr. Umbrella, or should I say Burns. And finally, what exactly is it that Brigit knows about Black Ops 6? You'll have to fine out in the next chapter.

In chapter eight more surprises get revealed. Also, Black Ops 6 gets another blow delivered to them. A shocking secret from someone's past is revealed and someone's going to die. Things get hairy in Judgment Day: Chapter 8- Turnaround.