(A/N) And so it continues...

Disclaimer - This story was written with AI Dungeon just for fun, meaning that some stuff was written by me and others were written by the AI. This results in OOC moments, especially in James' case, and chaotic energy in general. It's also why my writing style is different since this is mostly AI generated.

I also do not own these franchises or their characters. Silent Hill belongs to KONAMI, Resident Evil belongs to CAPCOM, and Final Fantasy IX and NieR:Automata belong to SQUARE ENIX.


Chapter 6: The Three Rs: Rescue, Reunion, and Rest

James woke up strapped to another wooden chair. He saw the same room and nothing else. He twisted around to look toward the closed doors.

He was hoping that Piers would burst in at any moment to save him, since he was the only one of his team to have not gotten captured. He wondered what the guy was even doing, did he really think that he, Zidane, and 9S were taking more than three hours to search a warehouse? He had to know something was wrong!

James sighed. He wondered if Zidane was okay after what he had been through back there and hoped that 9S was still alive, as he hadn't seen the guy since they were thrown into cells.

The light flickered above James' head. This was driving him mad, he just wanted to save his friends and leave! That was when he heard the familiar voice.

"Hello, James was it?" said Simmons, striding into the room. "You ready to talk?"

James glared. He was getting nothing out of him! He's learned from past mistakes, he has to be wiser for his team. It was his fault they were even in this mess! If he hadn't called the warehouse's number, gave away what they were doing, and then agreed to go, he and his friends wouldn't have gotten tortured.

He's learned. He was going to be a better leader.

"Not talking?" Simmons asked sternly, slamming his hand on the table. "I don't have all day! If you won't answer me, I'm sure your other comrades would answer me with a little persuasion," he growled, revealing a knife strapped to his belt.

James felt his stomach lurch.

"Don't you lay a finger on them!" James shouted, gritting his teeth.

Simmons laughed.

"I won't have to if you tell me where you hid my documents and vials," he said, fiddling with the knife in his hands. "They're very important, so I need them back, you see."

"What are you trying to do?" James asked bitterly.

"I'm asking the questions here!" Simmons yelled, stabbing James in the hand.

James yowled in pain, while Simmons watched with amusement. When the initial pain had passed, he glared at Simmons.

"You'll have to do a better job than that!" James snarled.

"Oh, I can," Simmons grinned, pulling out a flamethrower from under the table.

James' eyes widened. No way he was going to burn him alive, right?

"If you die it's no loss, I'll just question your friends," Simmons gave a sickening chuckle. "When I tell them of your death, they'll understand that I mean business."

James gritted his teeth. If he didn't have Zidane and 9S to think of, he'd kill the smug son of a...

He looked to the side.

He noticed that the door lock was behaving abnormally, it was flashing green and Simmons seemed to notice this too.

"What's going on?" Simmons muttered.

"Hello? Is this thing on?" a familiar voice was heard over the speaker, making James' jaw drop.

"9S..." James whispered in shock. "How...?"

"What the..." Simmons growled. "What is this?!"

"I've hijacked your systems, including the locks," 9S answered casually. "Your security is weak by the way. You might also want to check the top floor, I've noticed that there's a fire and the sprinklers have been disabled."

"Son of a..." Simmons growled, as he bolted out of the room leaving James alone. "This isn't over!"

James sat there in confusion. Was he just imaging things?

He heard the door opening again and when he looked he saw 9S stood in the doorway with his blindfold back on.

"James, are you okay?" he asked with concern as he approached James and untied his bindings.

"Yeah," James nodded. "How did you do that?"

"I'm a scanner android model, remember?" he answered. "Hacking is one of my specialities. Also, whoever was in charge of my bindings didn't do a good job, I realised that I could just wiggle out if I was persistent enough."

James stood and rubbed his sore wrists.

"We have to find Zidane," he said.

"Don't worry, Piers has that covered," 9S told him. "I sent a distress signal to him, so he's here to help out. I've got the rendezvous coordinates, so just follow me," "

James sighed in relief, as he followed 9S out of the room.

They went down the stairs, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the empty warehouse.

James' heart pounded. He was afraid, very afraid. What if Piers and Zidane didn't make it out? It would be all his fault.

"We need to be quick," 9S stated, as they ran through a corridor. "If we're not out of here fast then..." he was cut off by the building shaking and some debris collapsing behind them. "The building will collapse on top of us," he finished.

James and 9S ran faster, reaching a staircase.

"This leads up to the roof," said James.

"Good, it's the quickest way to the exit," said 9S.

James reached the top of the stairs and put his hand out.

In the dim light he spotted a metal plate on the wall. He pushed on it, and it opened like a regular door.

James and 9S walked out and found themselves on the roof.

James blinked in the sunlight, shielding his eyes.

"I thought I'd never see the sun again," James sighed.

"Well, this might be the last time if Piers doesn't arrive with the helicopter soon," 9S said, as the building shook leaving cracks on the roof.

"Shit!" James cursed.

James looked up at the sky. A helicopter hovered over them, hanging in the air.

James waved his arms.

"Piers!"

The helicopter pilot turned and looked at James.

"James! 9S! Hold on, I'm lowering the helicopter!" Piers called down at them, as he lowered the helicopter.

The building began to shake violently.

"Make it quick, Piers!" James panicked.

"I always do! Okay, jump in!"

James and 9S ran to the helicopter as it lowered even more. James entered the helicopter behind 9S.

The helicopter took off just as the building collapsed, making everyone breath a sigh of relief.

"Is everyone okay?" James asked.

"We're fine," Piers replied.

James looked out the window, terrified.

"What's wrong, James?" 9S asked, concerned.

James looked down to the street below, as it shook and crumbled.

"Look," he said.

9S followed James' gaze down to the street to notice it quaking. He gasped when large, black tendrils burst from the cracks.

"Piers, drive faster!" James yelled.

"Roger that!" Piers nodded, as he maneuvered away from the tendrils.

However, one was able to smack the side of the helicopter, shaking it, which caused an unconscious Zidane to fall out of one of the side doors. Before he could fall too far, 9S was able to grab his arm, but was struggling to steady himself.

"James, help me pull him up!" 9S yelled.

James didn't have to be told twice, as he helped pull Zidane back on the helicopter safely.

"I'm so sorry, Zidane..." James whispered.

James put the unconscious boy in the rear of the helicopter so he could rest.

He felt horrible. If he hadn't been such a moron this wouldn't have happened.

James stared out the window as the black tendrils faded out of view.

He made up his mind. After they'd all gotten some much needed rest and geared up, they were going to dispose of those tendrils and hunt down Simmons.


Everyone is back together!

I had a lot of fun going through this chapter and the last chapter. My favourite ark in the story this far. At least an objective for our heroes has been established now.

Improvements are appreciated, please tell me what I did right, wrong and how I can improve. If you would like, you could also favourite and follow this fic, as well as suggest areas of improvement, which I guess is the same as the first sentence. R&R and thanks for reading!