I do not own Resident Evil, etc. Enjoy this chapter.

- Evil Editor

Chapter 6

Like Ada said, the entire castle was empty, and he found the automatic shuttle without difficulty. It moved on a single rail through a giant underground tunnel. From the castle it was a ten minute ride to the next building. The tunnel itself was well lit, but when he arrived at the next station there was hardly enough light to find the door. Was the power giving out?

This castle was clearly a lab, and Leon found himself in a ghastly exhibit hall. Dimly lit containers revealed the Illuminados' failed attempts to enlarge their numbers. This was why Irmoso wanted to harvest the plagas; because he wanted more deadly versions of the Ganado! If perfected, the Illuminados could become superhumans.

Just then Hunk's voice pitched in over the radio: "They took out my entire squad! I'm holed up behind the turbines, but if the power fails again these creeps are gonna rip everything apart!" The rest became static.

Leon found a computer nearby and accessed the security files. Not only did it show where the turbines were, but it also displayed an urgent message: 'Multiple container breaches, projects may be loose.'

Leon rushed towards Hunk's location but when he was nearly there he was stopped by Irmoso. "Having fun yet?" asked Irmoso with an evil smile on his face, "Your buddy is holed up and his teammates are dead. Soon you will be too. I am making no mistakes." Leon noticed that his arm had healed already in such a short time.

Five creatures stepped out of the shadows. Verdago. The humanoid menaces that had heavily armored carapaces and lethally fast reflexes. Leon had faced one before, and he knew it would be a challenge. Laughing, Irmoso fled.

Moving quickly he snapped off two shots from his magnum and ran. The two he hit went down, the bullets placed cleanly between the eyes. The fastest one came at Leon, running on the ceiling, hanging from the grating and trying to spear him with its tail. Another one lunged at him, its claws menacing. Leon plugged a few shots into that one, and it fell dead. Then he aimed upwards, and took four shots at the ceiling at where the Verdago was hanging. The grate fell from the ceiling, and the creature hit the ground, momentarily stunned. Picking up the grate like a shield, he braced himself as the Verdago picked itself up and charged Leon.

It slammed into Leon, but he was protected by the grate. Clawing madly, the Verdago could not reach Leon. He pulled out his magnum and pointed it at the creature's head. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He was out of rounds. If he tried to reload, he'd have to drop his only protection against the monster, and if he chose to stand ground, sooner or later he would be overpowered.

The solution came from the final Verdago, who shot his tail out at Leon. This involved spearing the other Verdago, but the tail came out the other side and through the grate. Shrieking in pain the first Verdago went limp, slumped on the grate. The remaining Verdago couldn't get his tail free. Using his remaining strength, Leon pushed the grate up against a wall, pinning the Verdago and leaving it no defense. Taking out the riot gun Leon put it at point blank with the monster's face. He pulled the trigger five times.

Before he could regain his strength he heard a sharp growling. Turning around he saw one of the two Verdago that he'd shot between the eyes getting to its feet. Running low on ammo, Leon ran. He reached a sliding door and shut it behind him.

Having gained a brief respite, he found a computer terminal and a blinded window. He looked at the screen. It only had a few words, but it chilled him to the bone. Peering through the blinds, he saw the same giant containers as before; but there were no failed experiments in these. He looked at the screen again.

'Mass Verdago-X Production: Success'

Author's Note: To those of you that still don't know, Verdago was the creature that served as Salazar's bodyguard in RE4. There will be no more monsters taken from previous games for a while, but expect to still see lots of monsters. Keep reading.