Resident Evil 9: Return

Chapter Twelve:

Moreau had changed, mutating into a creature far more hideous than his original form. Arcane watched in horror as he finished devouring the poor man who had once been his goon, turn away, and head back in the direction he had come from.

Arcane wouldn't have known where to begin when describing what Moreau looked like, and for a moment wished he still had a hold of his communicator so he could take a photo to show someone. No one would have ever believed the horror he had just witnessed.

Except Averie and Carson, who're going to be on the menu unless I move now! Arcane took a deep breath to help cope with his fear of heights as he looked at the ground far below him, and prepared to jump. He took a calm breath, and didn't question about hurting himself on the landing when he hit the ground.

That is, until a lycan jumped up onto the wall from behind, and pushed Arcane over the edge.

Averie turned her attention away from the two men as she heard a loud sound from around the corner that Moreau had just run behind.

The most horrifying creature Averie turned the corner of the building and gazed at the group, causing Carson to scream and all three men to curse at the top of their lungs.

Moreau looked more like a fish now than ever before, two arms supporting the majority of his amphibian like body as he dragged himself towards the group. Several eyeballs coated the top of his torso, mimicking a shell, while his mouth opened into five flaps. His hideous maw revealed a human torso with a head and arms, as if a man were stuck halfway down Moreau's throat. His long tail slid along the ground behind him, spreading a thick substance along the ground that Averie decided to title 'mutant slime'.

The creature guffawed loudly, laughing wickedly at the poor, terrified souls in front of him. The large mouth dripped both slime and blood as Averie noticed a severed arm was clutched in one of the creature's hands. It must have belonged to the other ex-goon, who had been unaware of how Moreau had threatened to the group moments before.

Everyone began backing away from the monster, keeping the reservoir to their right.

"Is there another way out besides the gate?" Averie asked the two men as she held tightly onto Carson's hand, taking cautious steps backwards. She winced in pain at the cut along her stomach, seeing that the wound hadn't yet stopped bleeding. Her constant movement and stress from the horrifying creature in front of her probably weren't helping.

"I've only ever seen the gate-" The one man began to answer Averie's question, before his companion slapped him upside the head.

"Oi, what the he-"

Averie stopped paying attention to the two men as she looked for a way out, while Samuel kept his gun pointed at the monster that lurked along the group's left side only a couple hundred yards away. Samuel was breathing heavily, but looked braver than Averie had ever seen him before. What had changed in the last few minutes?
"What if he is after me, Averie?" Samuel asked while he kept his eyes on Moreau, who kept an even pace with the group while he planned his next move.

"What do you mean?" Averie asked quietly as she looked around. There were large floating scraps of wood floating throughout the reservoir, and a small boat stuck in the middle of the body of water. Perhaps she and the others could get to the boat and climb over to the rock walls on the other side…

"Moreau is after someone, that much we can figure. He probably couldn't use Carson because he's too little." Samuel explained, keeping his tone low and his voice quiet.

"Hey!" Carson objected.

"I mean you're still a child. But I'm a full-grown adult, and those men were discussing that I may have been the one Moreau actually needed…"

Before Averie could try and comfort Samuel, she noticed Moreau, who had been keeping his eyes on Samuel this whole time. Perhaps Samuel made a point…and the conversation she had had with Duke and Arcane didn't ease her concerns.

However at this very moment, Moreau had cocked his head to the side and had focused his attention elsewhere, and Averie instinctively looked behind her.

Moreau's ex-goons had separated themselves from the group by a large margin. They kept their guns pointed at Averie as they sneered in victory, keeping the others from getting any closer.

"That creature might be mad at us, but he ain't after us." The first man explained, and without a moment's hesitation, or any guilt for what his actions would do to the others, proceeded to dive into the water on his right.

"That boat in the middle is going to be our getaway, I suggest you try running back to the gate." The second man explained, dropping his aim as he followed his comrade into the water.

Acting out of desperation, Averie lunged towards the man and grabbed a hold of his gun as he jumped into the water, almost falling in herself. The man cursed at her as Samuel pulled on the back of her jacket to keep her from getting soaked while Averie clutched her newly acquired gun, crying out in pain as she pressed her hand against her wounded abdomen.

"How could they just leave us?" Carson asked quietly, standing in utter disbelief. Averie felt her heart sink as she realized all the evil this kid and his sister had endured over the past several hours, and was sickened to admit that human cruelties were among those acts of horror.

Moreau turned his attention back to the trio, and Averie swore he was smiling. She could hear the two men curse behind her, and Carson watched as they pulled themselves onto the boat in the middle of the reservoir and began to paddle towards the rocky walls on the other side.

As Averie tried to stand up, she felt nauseous. Both from the mere sight of Moreau's mutant form, and the pain she felt from her wound. She didn't know if she would be able to fight against Moreau, and feared that this reservoir would be where she met her end.

"What if we split up?" Samuel asked as he helped Averie stand erect, keeping his gun pointed at Moreau and slowly stepping away from both him and the reservoir. He walked backwards in as straight a line as he could, a balancing act of holding his gun, giving Averie support, and keeping himself from being too close to Moreau's hideous form or the churning water of the reservoir beside him. Samuel knew that if he and the others tried to swim away to safety, Moreau would have no difficulty following them.

"I'm sure I'm right, Averie." Samuel confessed as he stared into the eyes of the monster. Moreau couldn't keep his many eyes off of Samuel. Averie sighed, both out of pain and in defeat.

"I'm not trying to make this about me. But he is after someone. And maybe I'm not the one he truly needs for whatever reason, but he might think I am. Maybe that would be enough to keep him from hurting us."

"To keep from hurting you, Samuel. He doesn't need Carson or I." Averie clarified, clutching Carson's small hand tightly. She took a deep breath and stood up on her own, shrugging away the support Samuel had been giving her. Turning her gun in her hands, Averie stared into the many eyes of Moreau.

"What do you want?"

Samuel felt his bravery disappear as he calculated his options in his head, bearing in mind the information he had garnered from the situation at hand, and the assumptions he had made thus far in his journey throughout the strange village.

Those goons of Moreau knew what they were doing when they kidnapped Carson. They knew they had to find someone for Moreau, even questioning if the old Lord had made a mistake in his choice. Moreau wouldn't stop staring at Samuel, at least one of his many eyes on the man at all times.

Samuel shook his head. He was going to die if he continued any further.

Arcane swore at the top of his lungs, punching the lycan square in the jaw before picking himself up from the ground and pulling out his gun.

The lycan stood up and stumbled forwards, but Arcane was quick and shot the creature straight through his skull. The creature fell to the ground in a heap, then dissolved into dust.

Arcane didn't hesitate to run after the newly mutated Moreau. He rounded the corner and stood behind the monster, admitting that his behind was a better view than his front.

He could see Averie standing between Samuel and Carson, immediately noticing the red stain across her stomach. He could see Averie wobble as she stood tall, pointing her gun at Moreau, and demanding an answer.

"What do you want?" Averie yelled at the monster, while indicating for Carson to stand behind her.

Arcane pulled out his gun to shoot the monster's back, until he noticed the small boat in the reservoir with Moreau's other ex-goons. Understanding what the two men had done, Arcane took no hesitation as he pointed his gun at the boat itself, firing off several rounds. He was a good shot and wasn't aiming to hit either of the men. Instead, he smiled coldly as he heard the men swear at each other as the water beneath them began to bubble, as the little boat began to sink.

Both the gunfire and the men yelling grabbed Moreau's attention, as Moreau swiftly turned around to face Arcane. Samuel took the opportunity and moved himself farther away from the reservoir, indicating for Averie and Carson to follow.

But Moreau hadn't ignored Averie's question. As he glared at Arcane, he politely answered the girl's demand, not realizing she had moved.

"I need help." The creature gurgled in a voice loud and deep. "I require another, a man to save my body and keep me from dying." Samuel felt his stomach drop as his assumptions had been proven true.

"And you thought the boy would be able to help you?" Arcane asked, wondering how stupid Moreau was. After everything Duke had told him about the Lords' plans, it was quite obvious to Arcane that a child wouldn't suffice.

Moreau shook his head, almost looking ashamed.

"I wasn't thinking….and now the doctor…" He blubbered.

"You mean the scientist behind all of you?" Arcane yelled.

"The one who brought you all back?"

Moreau nodded. Meanwhile, Averie, Samuel and Carson had backed far enough away from the creature, pausing to take a look at Averie's wound. The blood was slowly clotting, and Averie felt a bit better, but she knew that the cut wouldn't heal if she didn't get away soon and get some sort of treatment. Her face was pale, and the nausea hadn't subsided. But she could still walk, and determined that since her vision hadn't blurred, she had to be alright. Needing immediate medical attention, but alright, nevertheless.

"Right, what's the plan now?" Carson asked.

"I mean we could try our luck at fighting this monster, but given Averie's current condition and our lack of skills I'd say that would be a terrible idea." Samuel said sarcastically. Averie rolled her eyes and looked around, taking in the new view she had of the compound.

"We could try hiding in one of the buildings-" Averie started.

"He'd just wander over and knock it down, burying us beneath a pile of rubble." Samuel cut her off.

"Alright, so we head back to the gate and scale the walls-"

"In your condition? You'd bleed to death before you made it halfway up."

Averie glared at Samuel in irritation as the annoyance she had had with him when they first entered the compound started to resurface. But as she looked at him, she could see the confidence he had been showing from the past few minutes start to fade, understanding why his tone had changed.

"We can't give up, Samuel." Averie said. "Our mission isn't accomplished. We have to get Carson out of here." Samuel turned away from Averie, taking a step back. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Moreau was looking at him. Several of the eyes that stretched down Moreau's back turned their attention to Samuel.

"He may be the one…" Moreau blubbered, slowly turning his body away from Arcane. As the creature fully turned to face the trio, his tail slid sharply along the ground, knocking Arcane to the ground. As Arcane tried to stand up, the tail slid over from the other direction, thrusting Arcane into the nearby reservoir. Averie hoped the man could swim as she aimed her gun at Moreau, not taking a moment to hesitate as she fired a round at the creature. Several of her shots hit the creature's many eyes, little spurts of blood and mutant slime oozing out of the sockets.

Moreau yelled in agony, briefly turning his attention to Averie.

"Lady Dimitrescu….would use you." He bellowed in agony, pulling himself forward on his two arms.

"She is in need of someone as well…" Averie felt her stomach turn, which was impressive at this point considering how nauseous she already felt. She could remember what Arcane and Duke had been telling her, how Duke had cut himself short before Averie could ask about someone being after her, needing her for something.

"I've never liked Lady Dimitrescu….always so rude and condescending…she doesn't deserve another chance." Averie fired another round of bullets, her fear building as the creature drew closer.

"If you're out of the way…she won't succeed."

Moreau began to run across the rocky surface of the compound, his intentions clear. He would remove Averie out of the equation, taking out the young boy beside her for good measure. Then, he would drown the other man whom he had pushed into the reservoir, and use the last man, Samuel, to accomplish the doctor's plans for him. Moreau would have another chance, and the villagers would cower in his presence, no longer teasing the poor doctor for his appearance.

This time, Moreau would succeed. And Lady Dimitrescu would no longer be one of the most feared Lords in the village.

Samuel's confidence faded as he watched the monster draw closer to Averie, taking steps away from the girl so as not to suffer the same fate. Any idealization of being the hero in this situation faded, as Samuel didn't want to die.

Moreau's pace had slowed as he drew closer to Averie, his movement not as determined and confident as before. The shots Averie had fired caused him to stumble, and more slime drained from his mutated form. His arms slid underneath him in small motions.

Arcane was able to keep afloat in the water, firing shots with his gun in one hand, while his other arm helped him to tread water.

"Shoot, Samuel, shoot!" Arcane bellowed, as the man could see Samuel just standing there, watching in horror. Averie was unable to move as some of the slime had spread around her feet, cementing her to the ground. Averie told Carson to run as she squeezed her eyes shut, praying that the boy would be reunited with his sister.

Carson wasn't very good at listening, but he had impeccable aim, and excellent observation skills. As the monster was about to grab on Averie as he had taken out the poor ex-goon minutes earlier, Carson ran at the creature, shooting as he went. Moreau's balance was impacted by the bullets tearing through him, and as he cried out in agony he slid on the slime buildup that was underneath him. As the mutated Lord slid along the slime of his own creation, his arm jutted out, intending to grab onto Averie. But Carson was quicker, running to the creature's right and slamming all of his bodyweight into the creature's torso, gagging at the smell. Carson then stumbled and fell into the reservoir behind him. The impact of Carson's body caused Moreau to panic, and instead of grabbing Averie his arm slammed into her, knocking the girl into the water. Averie felt herself sink in the murky water and hoped that Arcane, or Samuel at this point, would be able to save her.

Unknown to Averie in that moment, Samuel wouldn't be able to help anyone, including himself. Moreau slid along the ground and slammed into Samuel. Both continued to slide until they rammed into one of the buildings on the opposite side of the reservoir, the impact causing the building to shake, and then collapse on both man and monster. The building was now a large pile of rubble, and Samuel was dead.