Batman/Resident Evil: The Gotham Protocol
Chapter 11
By: Christopher W. Blaine
e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: Resident Evil™ is a registered product of Capcom Inc./Batman™ is a registered product of DC Comics Inc. Neither of these properties is used here with permission. This original story idea is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.
The two Metropolis S.T.A.R.s agents stepped a little closer towards Nightwing and the hero kept his arms up. He had no way of knowing if these were simply over-zealous cops doing their jobs or paid-off thugs with badges here to finish cleaning up the mess left behind by Vandross. Their leader help up a hand. "Company," she said, inclining her head to the door.
A large man whose girth nearly was stopped from entering by the inadequacy of the doorframe stepped in, half of an unlit cigar in his mouth. He pushed back the dirty fedora on his head and stepped in just enough to allow several members of the GCPD to follow him in. "What in the hell is going on here?" Detective Harvey Bullock asked. The Gotham City cops surrounded the room occupants. One of the younger officers, his weapon drawn, ordered the S.T.A.R.s to drop theirs.
"We're federal agents…" Sheri started to answer.
"And I'm being audited by the IRS," Bullock said as he stepped through the ring. One of the male agents tried to intimidate Bullock by waving his shotgun. The detective eyed him sheepishly and then shook his head. "Put that back, boy."
"Hi, Harvey," Nightwing said, his hands still up.
Bullock grumbled out a curse word. "Should have known one of you freaks would be involved." He cast an eye at the dead body. "Who killed the stiff?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out," Sheri said. The ire in her voice was plainly apparent. While the two cops began to argue over jurisdiction, Nightwing surveyed the lay of the land and came up with at least three possible escape scenarios. Bullock seemed to sense what Nightwing was doing.
"You're gonna sneak out of here the first chance you get, aren't you?" he asked.
Sheri shook her head. "No he isn't. This is a case within the scope of a federal investigation into the activities of several rogue agents. This person is to be taken in and questioned."
Bullock laughed. "You sound like me a few years ago, sweet cheeks." Sheri's face burned at the comment, but Bullock didn't show any concern. "He didn't kill the girl."
"I could care less about her; what I'm more concerned with is what she was doing!"
Bullock looked around the office. There were the charts, posters and book stacks that you would expect to find in a university professor's personal workspace. "I didn't know that being a pig was a federal offense," he commented dryly. Several of his men smiled at the joke.
"If that were true, I'm sure I'd be reading you your rights," Sheri replied. Her men smiled this time. She then stepped up to Bullock and put her hands on her hips. He was at least three times her mass and it was an ironic scene to behold, something akin to Goldilocks scolding Papa Bear. "We believe that this woman was associated with several bad agents. We needed to question her and you friend was found standing with her dead body. I'd like to know why."
"Ask him," Bullock said, chomping on his stogie.
"I did, but he's being uncooperative," she said.
There were several snickers from the Gotham cops. Bullock pulled the cigar out of his mouth and gave her a sorrowful look. "I can't imagine one of Batman's cronies not standing around to answer questions."
Sheri turned back to Nightwing. "I don't suppose…what?" She moved to where Nightwing had been and found naught but air. "Where is he?"
"They do that lady," one cop said, holstering his gun.
"Yep, once had Batgirl in a corner," another one started.
"Which one? The new one or the redhead with the jugs?"
A female cop snickered. "They weren't big enough to be called jugs, O'Malley!"
Sheri stared in disbelief as the local cops treated Nightwing's vanishing act as part of simple procedure. Medical technicians then came in to examine the body. Bullock had already moved to start setting up a perimeter when Sheri caught up with him. "You let a federal witness escape!"
"I didn't do nothin' of the kind! I didn't see him leave," Bullock answered. Then he smiled to her. "You were blocking my view."
Sheri growled and stomped away, swearing to bring down every federal agency from the FBI to president's personal chef on the heads of the GCPD. Her men fell in behind her and they pushed their way through the throng of beat cops and campus security. Out in the parking lot, Sheri was still fuming. "This is B.S.!" she said as she kicked a Gotham City squad car.
"Take it easy, sarge," one of the men said. "S.T.A.R.s has a whole file on this Nightwing guy. We'll figure out where he went to."
"It isn't that, Jones," she responded as she fished for her pack of cigarettes. "The president himself is involved. I don't know why, but he is and I've screwed up." As if on cue, her cell phone rang. "Yokama," she said sternly. Her expression suddenly changed and she threw down the cigarette. "Yes, Mr. President."
President Lex Luthor turned his chair so he could look outside the window of the Oval Office. "I see, Sergeant," he said. "Please, continue your investigation." He hung up the phone and spoke into the air. "Damn it! I would have laid money that I had them this time!"
An advisor, one of several hundred, stepped forward to take the phone. "Of course, Mr. President; your information was flawless. The CIA was simply a step behind Umbrella Corporation's own security and intelligence services."
"I could have taken down one of LexCorp's primary competitors!" he cried out as he slammed his fist into his palm. "I know they've developed something good…"
The Central Intelligence Agency, under the guidance of Luthor's own handpicked director, had put in a considerable amount of effort into investigating Umbrella's activities. The cover story was that since the incident at the Spencer Estate, there was a real security concern regarding Umbrella, one of the major defense contractors in the area of weapons of mass destruction.
The president was unsure of what was going on, but considering the uproar that was going on in the S.T.A.R.s, he assumed it meant major profit and power. Do-gooders only got upset when there was real money to be made. "This Yokama woman, is she reliable?"
"A very honest agent, sir, above reproach." It was no secret that the President didn't trust the S.T.A.R.s, and he truly believed that Umbrella was controlling them, but his FBI probe had turned up nothing yet. "The perfect person for the job. Umbrella cannot buy her loyalty for she is already wealthy."
"Ah, yes, she was a teenaged pop singer several years back wasn't she?" Luthor only remembered because one of his lovers had been a contemporary of the girl and had complained awfully about her.
"Yes. After her career ended she enlisted in the Marines…"
"Where all beautiful women go to…"
The aide appeared flustered and Luthor waved him to go on. It was so hard to find help that appreciated sarcastic wit. "And after a four-year tour she joined the S.T.A.R.s, Metropolis office."
"Have her continue on with her investigation; I need an honest cop to find the information I require to remove Umbrella from map." Luthor, satisfied that his lackey understood, dismissed him and went back to the mundane duties of running the free world.
Batgirl, as usual, was the first to enter the office-building complex that was supposed to be being checked by Green Arrow and Jill. Green Arrow was not answering any summons from either her or from Oracle and so the entrance was made on the assumption that things were going wrong. Batgirl used the opportunity to point out to Oracle that not issuing communications equipment to the S.T.A.R.s had been a mistake.
"Don't start on me right now, Cassandra," Oracle said. "I can't reach Batman either." She went on to explain that it was probably nothing that the Caped Crusader had suddenly gone incommunicado. "He's under the ground, probably in some sort of old bomb shelter. Besides, he's Batman, isn't he?" she asked.
Batgirl quickly agreed and she and Rebecca began to make their way through the myriad of mess that was now the first floor. They each took different sides to provide the best field of fire, Rebecca with her 9mm and Batgirl with a batarang at the ready. It didn't take long to come across the telltale signs of a firefight.
"Oh, shit," Rebecca said.
Batgirl looked up from several embedded bullets to see a zombie approaching them. It was fresh, very fresh for the skin had not even begun to rot. The creature was dressed like a security person and there was fresh blood all over it. Behind it, in a small office, they could see various body parts and blood pools. They had obviously interrupted the creature's meal.
There was no way they could have known that this was one of the security guards that Jill and Green Arrow had tied up and who had become a victim of the Gotham Protocol via Vandross. The strain of the T-Virus the mercenary was using had half the incubation period but because of that, there was an 80% failure rate. Perot had been a success while the Gotham University professor had not been.
In the case of the security guards only one survived the change and he had been fortunate enough to have a warm meal waiting for him. His sense of smell had detected the women when they entered and his slowly decaying mind put a picture of hot apple pie and whipped cream before its eyes.
The women were dessert.
"Is it really dead?" Batgirl asked. It simply looked too human for her.
"Oh, yeah," Rebecca replied with two quick shots. One hit the zombie in the chest, forcing most of its useless heart out its back while the other went through its throat. It fell back with a wicked moan. "It's dead."
Batgirl shook her head. "That was not what I meant."
"At first, they can look quite human, but look at his pants. They're soiled because his bowels opened at death."
Batgirl stopped. "What if it is simply a man who is scared?"
Rebecca did not immediately answer and turned her head away. Because of that action, she did not see the zombie suddenly lurch out and grasp Batgirl's leg. The young hero was quick with the razor sharp batarang and cut the through the zombie's wrist, severing it from the arm. As she backed away with the corpse's hand still clasping her thigh, Rebecca put another two bullets into the zombie.
A pool of black blood formed under the creature as the last bits of air escaped from its useless lungs, a mournful cry carrying its soul to the afterlife. She then ran over to Batgirl who was still struggling to remove the hand. Rebecca pulled out a large folding knife and used it to gently pry the hand off of her new friend.
Tossing it away, she leaned in close to examine the wound. Blood had been drawn and Rebecca turned a ghastly white. "You've been infected possibly."
Batgirl nodded and hopped back to an unused desk. Rebecca pulled some antiseptic spray and gauze from her small medical kit. "How long before we know for certain?" Batgirl asked.
Rebecca cleaned the wound and saw that at least two of the scratches were fairly deep. "There are a lot of factors. Your own immune's system health, which we will assume is perfect; the strength of the T-Virus, the depth of the wounds." She applied a bandage to it and marveled at the fabric of the costume. It was made of the same material S.T.A.R.s combat vests were constructed of. "Best case is you weren't infected; worst case is an hour based upon my experience."
"That cannot be true. Green Arrow and Jill went through here not more than a half-hour ago I am sure; they would have seen this." She pointed to the dead bodies. "One of the bodies has handcuffs; perhaps you could see if they are the ones used by Ms. Valentine?"
She didn't have to go over to look; it was obvious that Jill had been through here. "I've never seen the virus work so fast…this is something new…maybe something old…"
"I do not understand…"
"It could be the original virus from which all of the other viruses came from. I simply don't know. If we had a lab and time…" Rebecca couldn't speak anymore. So many times in the past she had to give the same diagnosis, the same statement of doom and every time it was harder and harder to do. She was warmed when Batgirl put a hand on her shoulder.
"If I start to turn, then you will ensure I hurt no innocents?" she asked calmly.
Batgirl's strength added to Rebecca's resolve. The idea of shooting her new friend sickened Rebecca, but she knew what the consequences of not acting were. If she hesitated for even a moment, then not only could she end up dead, but so could any number of civilians. "I won't let you down." She then took a deep breath and checked her weapon. "How do you feel? Any burning, perhaps a feeling like being drunk?"
"I have never drank liquor," Batgirl confessed. "But, my leg does burn slightly. Come, we must press on."
Rebecca nodded and holstered her weapon and checked her medical pack. "You go first."
Ten minutes later they had made it up to the floor where the security computer room was located. They could smell the cordite in the air from Green Arrow's explosive arrow and they could also detect the sound of fighting. They rushed ahead, Rebecca remaining behind Batgirl where she could observe the hero's movements. If the virus started to take hold, then Batgirl would become sluggish. So far, there was nothing strange.
They entered a hallway that was filled with smoke and the limp body of Green Arrow. A few feet away, Jill Valentine was locked in hand-to-hand combat with a large African-American man with sunglasses. They did not need to tell each other what needed to be done; Rebecca went to Green Arrow's aid while Batgirl landed a flying kick to the back of Jill's adversary.
Vandross felt the blow to his kidneys and stumbled forward into Jill's right cross. He went back, accepting the strike with wounded pride and using the momentum to bring his left fist back at Batgirl. He was mildly surprised when she not only blocked the move, but she then put his arm in a hold that would normally stop anyone cold. "Very nice," he commented.
Batgirl applied more pressure and turned her head to try and get a look at Jill to see of she was okay when she saw the melted slag of a 9mm pistol on the floor. Jill started to let out a warning when Batgirl felt the heat on her foot. She had no choice but to let him go.
They twisted away from each other and he jumped to miss a foot sweep by Jill. Batgirl saw that his sunglasses had melted and he tossed them away as he came down. Batgirl nodded to Jill and they both attacked at the same time. Vandross dropped down, splitting his legs apart like a 70's disco dancer and landed a hard punch to both women. Jill went down, but Batgirl was unimpressed and slugged the mercenary hard enough to break his nose.
Blood splattered into Jill as Vandross went down hard. There was a crack as his head hit the floor, but he rolled with it, tripping Jill as he got back up. His former lover gave a cry as she fell back and he wiped his bloody nose. "You're good," he acknowledged to Batgirl.
"Better than you," she responded as she tightened her fists. The leather made an unnatural sound as she did so.
"Perhaps, but I'm getting old," he said. She had only a moment's notice as the membranes covered his eyes. Twin beams of heat vision shot out and Batgirl dodged away. The beams followed her, burning through everything they touched. Small fires were starting in the floor and Jill had to scoot away to keep from getting burned.
"Sebastian! Stop this!" Jill yelled as she moved to where Green Arrow was. Rebecca had finished her cursory examination of the hero and had drawn her weapon.
"Hold still!" he cried out as he continued to try and hit Batgirl. She danced away from his every strike and he was becoming consumed in rage in trying to get her. "I'll burn you so bad that…!"
The floor beneath his feet suddenly gave way as the semi-circular pattern Batgirl forced him to make with his heat vision collapsed. With a growl of fury he fell to the floor below. Batgirl wasted no time as she watched flames start to spread to the flotsam and debris strewn about the office building. "Get him out of here!" she called, indicating Green Arrow. He was still down for the count, the blow to his head much stronger than Jill had realized.
Jill looked at Rebecca. "Honey, can you get into that computer room and see of anything is worth salvaging?" The young medic looked just as a fiery support beam dropped in the inside. She shook her head and Jill cursed like a sailor as she picked up Green Arrow. He mumbled something about her breasts and then slumped again. "We have to go!" she said.
Rebecca nodded and helped her with the Emerald Archer and gave a small gasp when Batgirl jumped down into the hole left by Vandross. "Batgirl! No!" she cried out behind tears caused more by sadness than the growing smoke. She understood that the young woman in black was giving her life, what was possibly left of it, so they could make their escape.
Jill's words broke her out of her stupor. "I need your help, 'Becca!"
Together they started to make their way to the stairwell, moving away from the fire but not escaping it. Jill reflected on their situation. "This place is going to go up like a gasoline factory! There's paper and crap everywhere!"
Rebecca nodded and they pulled Green Arrow into the stairwell and Jill slammed the door, giving them a brief respite from the smoke. "We have to get to the first floor! There are some guards down their we left tied up!"
"They're dead," Rebecca told her and then she explained about their encounter with the zombie below.
Jill was on the verge of tears. "That son of a bitch! I can't believe I was in love with him at one time. Cold-hearted bastard!" She tugged at Green Arrow and they started to make their way down the steps. She reflected on Vandross and the life they could have had. If she hadn't decided to join the S.T.A.R.s, would she have ended up here as well?
"Where did he get heat vision?" Rebecca asked, hoping conversation would alleviate her fears of being burned alive.
"He said that Umbrella gave it to him when they saved his life a few years back," she responded automatically. She wondered why Rebecca had not commented when she had said she had been in love with Vandross once. She asked her about it.
Rebecca smiled and then shrugged. "Hell, I've got the hots for Chris. There is always an older man in a woman's life."
"Yeah, too bad mine turned out to be the wrong one," Jill said.
Green Arrow's head popped up. "I'm sorry, Pretty-Bird, but she was naked and I was lost and it was cold…."
The tow women merely shook their heads as he once again passed out.