Chapter Nine-the fires continue, and I remain incredibly bored so I write.  Its actually kind of making up for lost time since I haven't updated this story for so long…ha!

A/N- this chapter is almost exclusively involving the situation in Paris (Which we hardly ever hear about) so it's Nemmy, Wesker, Hunk, Kate, and…a new monster? Gasp!

"If the radiance of a thousand suns
Were to burst at once into the sky
That would be like the splendor of the Mighty one --
I am become Death,
The shattered of Worlds."
-Hindu Spiritual, Bhagavad-Gita Gita

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PARIS

UMBRELLA – HQ

"This brings the total up to nine." Albert Wesker dropped the latest evening headlines on the desk of the secretary to Umbrella Corporation's head of Public Relations, "Do you hear me? NINE!"

            "I'm sorry sir, I still can't let you in to see Mr. Anderson-"

"No, Fuck Anderson.  I want you to get me Spencer hear me? Wesker banged his fist on the table jolting the woman out of a caffeine-induced coma.  She glared at him from behind horn rims, and typed hurriedly into the computer.

Wesker stared out at the deepening gloom of Paris, the city of love lit with the soft buttery glow emitting from hundreds of bodies that were completely serene.  He was sick of this damn city.

He wanted to go home.

            "Mr. Spencer has gone home."

Of course. Wesker nodded dejectedly.  What made me think I could touch him? He would have pursued the matter further had he not promised to keep his dinner date with Kate McGraw and her mysterious "Boyfriend."

He turned on his heel and left.

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Outside, he had to keep his face covered.

            The press was dotting the building façade with lights, asking questions in English and in Loud French, which a bewildered representative of the company was attempting to answer.  Wesker turned his attention away from the poorly held press conference, focusing instead on the dark back alleys that seemed to make up most of the area nearest to the building.

"Albert!"

            Albert looked up.

Kate stood a few ways back, wrapped in a dark red cape with a pale white dress underneath.  Next to her, a tall figure in an evening suit…

"Special Agent Hunk?"

            The man smiled, "You've heard of me?"

Only by reputation.

            Hunk, also known as Mr. Death, was the feared member of the UBCS team.  Wesker knew very little of his background, but apparently he was the one who Umbrella sent in to deal with various "Disturbances" of their employees.  Since the UBCS was becoming the police force of choice for the company, Hunk was getting even more press then usual.

Wesker hated him.

            He hated him even more because he respected him.  He respected the smooth, easy way that he moved through the crowds.  He respected the loving looks that he gave Kate as they led Wesker to a car, a sleek thing that probably hadn't ever been seen by any American.  He even liked the way that Hunk held open the door for Kate, before getting in himself.

"So Albert…hows the monster hunt going?" Hunk said, chuckling lightly.

"There have been nine murders." Wesker coughed.  They stepped into the sleek black thing as Hunk gave orders to the driver in French (Yet another thing to respect him for) and turned to study Wesker with a critical and keen eye.

"So you're Albert Wesker."

            "I see you've heard of me."

"James is very…popular." Kate slid her arm through his and lay her head on his shoulder "Aren't you Mr. Cooper?"

Wesker resisted the urge to gag.

            "They've hired me to bring it in alive."

Wesker coughed, and then studied Mr. Death with new eyes.

"They've WHAT?"

            James leaned back and Kate pushed away, staring out the window at the Parisian landscape.  There was something about his eyes that caused Wesker to flinch back instinctively, like meeting the eyes of the director-or-god forbid-Mr. Spencer himself.

            "They've hired me to bring it in alive." Hunk smirked at Wesker, "Don't look so surprised, it's a highly expensive specimen."

"I don't even know what it is." Wesker's eyes narrowed. Mr. High and Fucking mighty is more like it…

            Here Hunk smiled, and folded his hands across his chest, studying Wesker carefully. 

            "Gentlemen…" Kate leaned foreward, interrupting the boys and their staring contest, "The level of testosterone in the car is starting to choke me, and lets tone it down a notch hmm?"

Wesker shook his head, "Kate, there's no problem here."

            "We've Arrived Monsieur Cooper."

Wesker peered out into the night, ignoring Kate, "Where are we?"

            "Dinner." Kate pointed at the glimmering lights of a restaurant.  People in faux spandex, which seemed the high of fashion, were crowded outside a fake Grecian palace.  Wesker sighed, as Hunk opened the door for Kate who glowed at his touch.

I wish…

He closed his eyes and followed them out.

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UMBRELLA-HQ

"Mr. Spencer, Mr. Wesker was back again today."

            The only answer to the Secretary's information was the sound of heavy breathing.  The high domed ceiling made the sound echo off the rafters.   Ornate columns decorated the long hallway leading up the single desk that she was addressing-a bizarre altar to some god of darkness.

"I sent him away, but he continued to return." She said quietly, "Soon, company affairs fears that he will suspect the existence of the prototype."

The breathing continued.

"Sir…do you have anything you wish us to do?"

            Spencer raised a withered hand and placed a gray-green piece on his chessboard.  The existence of the mole could not be compromised-not yet.  If the Americans were to find out now, that the mother corporation had people in all walks of life in relation to his company keeping tabs on them…

"Sir?"

            The nemesis was becoming a problem.

"Send out another little toy to keep Wesker occupied-then have Mr. Cooper retrieve our missing specimen."

"Yes sir."

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The Bowels of the Umbrella Corporation

There are limits to madness.

            Although the events that were set in motion by Spencer and Ashford were heinous, they were nothing compared to the lengths the corporation was truly going to.

There were limits to that playing field.

But no limits to Europe, dominated on one side by the omnipresent "Red" menace, and on the other by the shrieking eagle, daring those who did not support its frenzied whore of capitalism to attack.

They were prepared for anything and everything.

In the basement of the Parisian faculty were cages.

And in these cages were…things.

            The field of Genetic testing was at its birth in the 1980s.  However thanks to the genius of a select few madmen, the Umbrella Corporation had pushed its limits up to a standard that governments and medical scientists expected to reach in the year 2003.

Manipulation.

The Technician was an American, so he wasn't surprised that the order from above came down in English.

Montague,

Orders have come from the highest Executive level (Class 9.7223) to release and establish a colony of Manticores in Paris for testing purposes.  Use Access tunnel 18-A12 to release Male Specimen (Codenamed Adam) into Parisian Sewer system along with Beta Specimen (Codenamed Eve)

Regards,

Management.

"Holy Fucking Shit." Montague absorbed the paper for a few moments, re-reading the orders again, and double-checking the clearance.

The order came from Spencer himself.

            Impossible. Montague left his secluded desk, stalking down the dimly lit corridors that looked like relics from so many long forgotten horror films, They can't ask me to…

            He stopped in front of a steel bolted door labeled A-11.  Inside, furious growling and snarling could be heard-occasionally interrupted by the sound of a large body thrashing against a cage.  The Manticores could be restless when agitated, and even they seemed particularly perturbed today.

He shrugged, orders were orders after all.

He removed a lab-key from his pocket and slid it through the electronic opener, and entered carefully.

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Somewhere outside Paris-unknown

Samantha stirred when she heard the rustling.

            She blinked a weary eye as she groaned, pushing herself up off the seat.  Her companions lay still in various states of repose around her-the late evening light bouncing glow off their faces.

"Hmm?"

Something in the bushes was moving.

Correction, the bushes were moving.

            Like a great green mass, something large and ugly moved out of them with a speed that Samantha could not picture, and did not understand.  Her addled brain frowned to itself, trying to comprehend what she saw.

"The Hulk?"

The thing roared.

            It raised a great fist and peeled away pieces of leaves and grass from it's scarred face, revealing a hideous small filled with grinning teeth.  Impossibly large-it was naked-revealing its gruesome detail to the world about it.  Pale tubing still stuck from parts of its back, its body in the advanced stages of decay.  For the entire world it was the zombie king, coming to revenge those lost in the thousands of movies where zombies had been taken.

" OH MY GOD!"

She started the engine, flinging a startled David into the dashboard.

            "Sam? Sam what the hell is the matter with-"

"Get the fuck down, get the fuck down, and get the fuck down-"

"Sam?"

"Its coming, its coming, holy Jesus mother of god its coming-"

            "Sam!" David screamed as she narrowly avoided a great oak tree, "WHAT THE HELL IS-"

"REEEVEEEENNNNNGGGGGGEEEEEEEEE!"

"Holy Christ!"

            David glanced over at the rear-view mirror out of habit, laughing as he read the "Objects in Mirror may be closer then they appear." Sign.  Somehow, something in his brain registered the joke.

The little car bounced toward town as David tried to explain to the frightened teenagers in the car, that an eight-foot killing machine bound to chase them until death.

            "Head into town!" Felix cried, "Then…maybe-"

"Mon Dieu!" Sam careened onto the sidewalk and knocked an old lady down.   Behind them, the monster retreated from the lights-its eyes visible like two points in David's vision.

It was afraid…

            People were yelling now, swarms of angry French people were covering the car like bees.  Felix had opened a window, yelling back and trying to get two of the cops to push away.  Sam took a deep breath and lay back.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded weakly, managing the ghost of a smile to reassure David of her safety.

            He kissed her lightly on the lips before getting out of the car to explain the situation.

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Le Maison D' café

"Madamoiselle, telephone." A waiter handed a pearl phone to Kate, who interrupted her stream of conversation to take it.

            "She's beautiful." Wesker hadn't touched his prawns (Prawns again!) and Hunk was smirking.  Kate spoke quietly, and then raised her eyes.  She put a hand to her mouth, making a small O.  The polite tinkle of high society was everywhere, making both Wesker and Hunk nervous-although Hunk was better at hiding it.

            "Merci, Merci." Kate hung up the phone and waved her hand at the waiter, pushing him away.  Wesker studied his prawns again, preparing to make another attack-

"That'll have to wait." Kate pushed her food away and grabbed her handbag, "They found the kids I'm looking for."

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Paris Subway system

6:00

6:00 and Pierre Dupont was already late.

            Shit. He checked his watch again.  He was going to be late for dinner for the fifth time this week, and his wife was not going to be pleased.  Marionette and Claudia weren't going to be pleased either, today was Claudia's fashion show, and he'd managed to miss it again.

Damn.

He breathed deep and inhaled the smoke from a hundred cigarettes.  His end of the platform was deserted, unfortunately making it impossible for him to make small talk with anyone nearby.

            Pierre looked out into the gloom of the subway station and frowned.  Two tiny lights, almost like distant flashlight beams crossed his vision, before darting back into the inky cloak of the opposite side of the platform.

"Hello?"

            The lights appeared again-this time staring directly at him.  They were joined by a second pair, and followed by a third these smaller then the first too.

"Hey! You there!"

The sets of eyes vanished.

            Pierre sighed and set down his briefcase carefully.  He shed his trench coat (That time of the year again, as his wife said) and walked carefully over to the edge of the platform.  He had a half an hour before the next train, and the distant rumble of the tracks didn't bother him in the slightest.  He knew his way around tunnels like these, as a contractor-he had to.

He grunted as he dropped his weight to the lower levels.  Soft dirt and ash crunched under his feet as he made his way cautiously over the tracks to the other side-which remained shrouded in gloom.  He frowned, reaching out a hand to grip the hard concrete side.

Nothing.

            He pulled himself upward into the darkness and cursed.  He should have grabbed his flashlight before bolting off to the side like that, maybe-if he was lucky he could still grab that and examine the lights.  They might be punk kids-who could get in and damage the electric lines if they weren't careful.

A long, thin arm reached out of the void, grabbing him around the neck-and he knew no more.

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A/N-There's Chapter Nine! Woot! Chapter ten will be all Raccoon City, and then we'll go back to the usual of Paris/Raccoon.  Boy! Keeping two storylines in toe like this is hard work!