Unlikely Heroes
Chapter 21: The New Threat
A couple of days latter the group met up with Leon and the person he was brining with. Now they were somewhere in the jungle, heading towards a village. There they would find a guide. The first male human had on a bit of camouflage to help blend in. It was just like old times; Leon hadn't changed a bit. At one point he stopped to take a breather. While Logan and Uma had casted a spell to fight against the heat and humidity, there was the problem of stamina for the human.
Leon pulled a couple of pics at out of his pocket. One of them had Javier Lidalgo's face on it. The guy had a beard and mustache, slightly longish hair, and sunglasses. This person was equally famous for his extravagant lifestyle. Following his sudden disappearance, the group found out that he had attempted to approach Rindella. They couldn't help but wonder what he was up to now. Those from the nether gathered round to take a look at the photos.
Suddenly a butterfly landed on Leon's shoulder, causing them all to look at it. This would be distracting as nobody noticed the snake sneaking up behind the human. It posed to strike and lunged. Suddenly a knife stabbing it caused the group to look back, startled. The weapon belonged to the second human in the group. The guy had a buzz cut, a hard face due to service in the military, and was quite muscled in the chest and arms. He took a drink of water from a container while holding up the knife. The snake was still attached to it but then shaken off.
"So, you think monsters and B.O.W.s actually exist?" he commented. "Oh wait, I'm in the presence of some monsters now. And all of you said you faced them before, huh?"
The guy's name was Krew. He was a soldier with the U.S. Special Operations Command. And had quite the resume of accomplishments in the field. But to him, after all he had been through, B.O.W.s, Cryptid… they were all the same. When first told about what those from the nether really were, Krew was skeptical, but once shown, his disbelief went away. Nicholas told him that monster did exist. Not just the kind humans could become, but real ones. Not all from folklore and tales from countries, but some of the classic ones existed.
"Our guide is in a village up ahead," Krew stated, holding up a map. "He'll take us to Ampario where Javier is hiding out. Come on, let's move."
The group soon made it to the village. But the place was deserted. "Pretty quiet around here…" Uma pointed out.
"Where is everyone?" Leon asked. Suddenly a radio could be heard somewhere stating the number of missing teenage girls had now risen to over 50. Cosmo saw some lost posters of them on a fence nearby.
"It's more than just girls that have gone missing…" Nicholas stated. "There's no one left."
The group slowly made their way forward. "Something's wrong," Krew pointed out. "It smells like… like a battlefield."
"I smell it to," Liru agreed. Her boyfriend nodded.
"A battlefield?" Leon asked.
"Yeah," the male werewolf said. "Like death."
Suddenly Krew spotted a nearby by person slowly walking towards them. "He looks hurt. Hey! You ok? What happened here?"
The first human noticed the second approach this newcomer. "Krew, wait! Something's not right with this guy."
The figure let out a familiar moan. The rest could see the glowing eyes, showing it was a zombie. Leon shot it down quickly. "Didn't see that comin'," the second male human said. "So this is what Rindella's virus can do, huh?"
"Yeah," Nicholas answered. "But there was something different about this one."
Liru turned and let out a shout. Two more zombies had appeared. Even when they were taken down, more slowly began to show up. "We'd better find that guide before it's too late," Logan stated.
The group moved out of the square only to find more enemies. These were all shot down. "Not bad comrade," Krew complimented after seeing Liru kill another zombie. "If that's the thoughest these bioorganic weapon things get, then we got nothin' to worry about."
Everyone kept moving, but it wasn't until they got out of the village area that tarantula like enemies began to show up. But it wasn't until these only with a few more zombies had been killed that Krew noticed something on one of them. "A snake tattoo," he said. "This is the mark of Javier's men, the Sacred Snakes."
"What is he doing with this virus?" Leon asked.
The path then went down towards the water's edge caused by a river. They noticed the water level was rising. The person they were looking for had control of a water gate. Some couldn't help but wonder if he knew they were coming. Then enemies began to show up including new ones that were piranhas. The amount of monsters then became too much, forcing the group inside a building. It was lucky they did, because upon exiting moans could be heard; the kind made by a human. They made it inside.
"That's our guide," Krew stated. Everyone went to the person. He was slumped against a crate and blood was everywhere.
"What happened?" Nicholas asked the guide, shaking him a little.
"That girl…" the male human gasped.
"A girl…?" Krew asked. "What girl?"
"She brought devils to this village. She escaped from Javier's mansion. I helped her. But then she…"
"Javier's mansion?" Leon asked.
Liru then saw the guide beginning to go. "Wait, where is she now?" the female werewolf stated. "Hey!"
The second male human in the group checked for a pulse. "Shit! He's gone. He said she escaped from Javier's mansion."
"Yeah," Leon agreed. "You think it was one of those missing girls?"
"The Sacred Snakes traffic organs on the black market," Krew explained. "Could have something to do with one of them, yeah. According to our report, there was no conclusive evidence linking the two, but… I think we'll need to track down that girl to find out for sure."
"Well now that our guide is dead… she could be our only chance to find Javier's mansion," said Napoleon.
"There should be a boat over by the church…" Logan pointed out. "Let's check it out."
The group left the area and had to make a choice in which path to take. The right was chosen. More enemies began to show up including amphibian ones. It wasn't much longer until the church was found. Before the group could approach, something massive erupted from the water. It was too fast to get a clear view, but somehow those that the thing targeted were able to dodge it. "What the hell was that?!" Krew asked.
"Where did it go?" Uma asked, scared, and got closer to Logan.
"I think it's gone," he whispered. Suddenly more amphibian like creatures showed up and all were shot down. From there it was into the church.
Upon entering the group heard the sound of a girl singing. There was a slight accent of the native language spoken here. Looking closer the girl had a long white bandage that started at the wrist and nearly went up to the right shoulder. She wore a simple white dress that was a bit sturdy. It was torn at the bottom and blood stained. She had fair skin, and long, light brown hair. She was sitting on a makeshift platform that was floating on the water. Krew then noticed a blob of some kind right in the water. "Guys!" he whispered with a jerk of the head.
The rest saw that it had glowing blue eyes. The skin was a dull grey color. Leon took aim with his gun. The sound of it being cocked alerted the girl. She stopped singing and turned her head to face them. The next second, she collapsed. The blob turned towards everyone, revealing it had been the thing that had attacked earlier. The eyes turned to red and the monster rose up, showing it's strange mouth. It looked like bent legs with a talon on each limb. The creature also had some tentacles as well to attack. "Fuck!" Nicholas snarled as he and Liru transformed. "Where do we shoot?!"
"This thing is huge!" Krew stated after getting over the quick initial shock of seeing these two changing. "How the hell are we suppose to kill it?!"
Cosmo ducked as a tentacle launched at him and fired a couple grenades. Everyone saw they managed to do a quite a bit of damage. The rest fired with their guns. The monster took a step back with a roar. Every time it tried using the tentacles it was beaten back. After a minute of this Leon decided it was time to move. "We'd have a better chance fighting this out in the open!" the human stated.
The rest followed him outside. The enemy followed by submerging underwater. They could see it coming on the outside. Every time it surfaced, the group attacked. Then the monster went under the water. "Where'd it go?!" Logan asked.
"Let's finish it off!" Nicholas yelled.
Suddenly the monster lunged out, and went after him. The thing managed to pick the male werewolf with a tentacle. He attacked with his katana and gun while everyone else fired. All this made the enemy drop the guy. "Shoot that!" Napoleon said, pointing up to the bell on top of the church. Cosmo did the honors with a well-aimed shot. The section came crashing down, right on top of the monster's head. It seemed to do the trick since the enemy fled the scene.
The group went back inside the church to the unconscious girl. "Guys, what the hell is goin' on here?" Krew said. "Have you fought these things before? Look… Fill me in. I need to know what you've been through. Everything."
The rest began, telling the entire story of how all this had started from that first mission that those from the nether had gotten involved in. The second human just listened, quietly. But the situation in the village was different than any from before. There were controlled B.O.W.s amongst the rest. Getting a boat, the group made their way upstream towards Javier's mansion. The man who could hold the key to uncovering this mystery.
The group found a boat big enough for them. Leo was at the motor, making the vehicle go as it traveled along the river. The rest were looking around, while Krew looked ahead. Suddenly the girl they had picked up stirred and quickly sat up. "You don't have to worry," the first male human reassured her, seeing this. "You're fine. We're not going to hurt you."
"We're the ones who saved you," Krew said.
The female human said nothing, but grabbed her arm that had the bandage around it. "You alright?" Nicholas asked, seeing this.
"So you're the girl huh?" Krew asked, turning to her. "The one from Javier's mansion?"
"The people in the village, what happened to them?" she asked.
"They're all dead," Napoleon simply replied.
"We're here on a mission looking for an American who had contacted Javier about a virus," Leon told the female human. "We need to find Javier. And we were hoping you could take us to Amparo." She gave a swift nod.
The boat soon arrived. "So that's Javier's… " began Nicholas.
"Yes… I escaped through there…" the girl explained. Everyone could see a huge white dam. They were soon inside the lowest level and in a tunnel. There was light to see.
"So if we follow this water channel, we should be able to get outta here," Leon said. "You haven't told us your name yet."
"Manuela," the female human replied.
"Please to meet you, Manuela," Nicholas commented. "Now from here on out, I need you to be more careful, alright?" The guy turned to look at her. "You must do as we say, no matter what."
"That means stay close if you wanna get outta here alive, kid," Krew commented.
"Yes," Manuela replied.
The group emerged in a rounded, open area that had pipes leading into the water that was in the center. Leon led the way in and looking up showed there was an opening where the sky could be seen. "This must be the Discharge Channel," Cosmo said.
"Wait!" Napoleon hissed and pointed. Everyone saw more enemy piranhas heading towards them.
"These little guys don't' waste their time, do they?!" Krew commented while firing. After they were all shot down, one zombie snuck up behind Uma. It was thanks to quick reflexes on her end that it was taken out.
"They just keep coming!" Nicholas snarled. "Let's move!" They tried to do so, but another enemy that could leap great distances showed up. It was skeleton thin with green and orange for the colors.
"Looks like he took his weight loss plan way too seriously," Liru commented. More enemies began to show up and it was time to head out. They went through a doorway and managed to close it.
"This place is a menagerie of freaks," Krew stated. "Javier must not like unexpected visitors."
"Manuela, how did you make it past all these things?" Leon asked.
"Wh-What do you mean?" she responded.
"It's just…"
"Come on kid, answer the question!" Krew snapped.
"I-I don't know," Manuela answered. "I didn't see any when I came through here earlier."
"That's… good to know," Nicholas commented, but didn't sound like it was.
"Wait." The statement made everyone turn to the female human. "Why do you want to find Javier so badly?"
"You saw the traps he set with all those monsters," Krew replied. "You really think someone like that should be allowed to walk free?"
"I suppose not."
Suddenly more zombies showed up and were all shot down. "We can talk about that latter, come on," Nicholas said.
"It's like a maze ahead," Manuela warned the rest. "You'll need to follow me."
The rest were on guard so they could protect her. They group then reached a series of stairs the female human had used before. There were a lot of them but they got to the top. Waiting for them were even more enemies. These things were quickly killed. It was then through doors and hallways that held monsters and eventually to an elevator. The group road it up to the top most level. Emerging showed there were at some kind of waterway inside the building. "I don't like it," Logan said. "It's too quiet."
"We're being watched," Aiko pointed out and the rest saw a camera on the wall.
The group began to cross a metal grate to the other side. That is until Nicholas noticed more water enemies heading towards them. In the commotion, Manuela was knocked over. "Manuela!" Leon shouted and dove after her. The two were sliding down a waterway in the room. He was able to grab her and then a ladder that was on the side. The male human pulled both of them out of the water while the rest fired at the monsters to protect them.
When they got out more enemies had to be taken care of. Slowly they went up since they were on guard. Leon and Manuela ended up walking past an entrance. The sound of firing made the male human look back for a few seconds to see the rest fighting off more monsters. Suddenly the female human let out a shout. Leon turned to see her backing away from another zombie. "Manuela!" the male human exclaimed and tried to follow. A tarantula and second zombie came out, forcing him to shoot at these things.
"Shit! What now?!" Nicholas cursed as he and the others caught up.
Leon didn't answer but ran into the room where Manuela had been forced into. There were large gears inside, ones that clearly worked the machinery here. "She's not here," the male human said. The rest were right behind him, just in time to help take out more zombies that appeared.
"Manuela?!" Leon called out. They then heard a familiar singing voice. "Manuela?! Is that you?!"
They saw her emerge from around a corner, clutching the arm that had the wrapping on it. "L-Leon?" she asked.
"Are you alright?"
"Thank god you're ok," Nicholas commented.
"I'm so sorry. I got scared and I-I…"
"What were you singing for, kid?" Krew asked. "You really wanna draw attention to yourself right now?"
"At night, whenever I got scared of the dark, my mother would sing to me," the female human explained.
"You were singing that at the church too, right?" Leon asked.
"Um…"
"It's not safe here," Liru pointed out. "We should keep moving."
Suddenly a voice on a speaker came on. It was right in the room. "Manuela…" It had a slight accent like the female human.
Everyone looked around in shock. "Wait, I know that voice," Krew stated.
"It's Javier!" Leon exclaimed.
"Please, my dear. Come home."
"Father!" she stated. This was shock to some.
"What?!" Uma stated.
Manuela suddenly ran off. "Hey!" Napoleon shouted.
"Javier has a daughter?!" Pachira stated.
"That doesn't matter now," Leon said. "Let's go after her!"
They followed her and shot down any monster that got in the way. They found her in the next room that had a waterway. She was looking up at a platform. They saw their target at this area. "Javier!" Leon exclaimed.
"Manuela," he said softly to his daughter. "All of this I've done for you." Everyone in the group looked at the female human who stared at the ground. "You need only to follow my directions for fifteen years. This will prevent the transformation." Manuela shook her head slowly while backing off. "But please, my dear. You must be patient!"
Suddenly Liru's ears twitched as she heard a sound. Krew did as well. "What the?!" he asked. Nicholas heard it to.
"The man who gave us the Leronica Virus told me it would work."
"The Leronica Virus?!" Cosmo stated, not believing it. Suddenly the shouts of Manuela made the group turn to see she was being restrained in the arms of one of Javier's men. He had a gun pointed at the group.
"These people cannot save you, my dear!" her father insisted. "Only I, your father, can help you now!"
Suddenly water came flooding in, taking the group with it. "Leon!" Manuela stated and dove in after them.
"Manuela!" her father cried. He couldn't see her as the water continued to flow. Still the statement about the virus had raised a question. Why had Javier given it to his own daughter? Why would he infect her? And how could she maintain her human form? How did she sustain it without transforming into something horrific, like say Steve?
Somehow the group managed to survive. Krew was the first to stir before waking up the others. "You ok?" Nicholas asked Leon after that guy regained conciseness. He was helped up.
"Not really, but we gotta keep goin'," the first human replied.
"Well that was a nice, refreshing dip, eh?" Krew asked.
"We need to find Javier," Cosmo said. He then took a look to the side. "The water's risen."
The group began to move forward. And with that, came the enemies. "It's dark, its wet, there's monsters…" Napoleon commented after shooting another down.
"Turning out to be one hell of a day, huh?" Pachira asked.
"Yep! Same shit as always," Nicholas agreed.
"At least I've got you here backin' me up, though, huh boys and girls scouts?" Krew stated.
"You're not gonna ask me to hold you hand, are you?!" Leon joked after shooting another enemy down.
"If only your aim was as good as your jokes."
The group then went through a door. "We'd better be careful," Liru said. It was dark in here so that meant the humans needed lights. "I can't believe Manuela is Javier's daughter…"
"I wasn't in the report," Krew commented. "Maybe she was from one of his mistresses."
"Regardless…" Leon stated. "She must really hate her father is she came through all this just to get away from him."
"Well we can ask her when we find her. But Javier is the one we're after. Not his daughter. Remember?"
"Yeah, you're right," Nicholas agreed.
Suddenly one of the very thin enemies appeared. It was sliced to bits by the male werewolf's katana. The walk down the hallway was short and it was then through another door. "We're somewhere near the dam entrance, right?" Cosmo asked.
"Yeah, this looks familiar," Uma said.
More enemies began to show up and were shot down. "Well I hope you got a good memory, 'cause I've got no clue where we are," Krew stated.
"Only one way to find out," Leon said, and opened another door. "Let's do this."
"That's what I wanna hear." The group was in another dark hallway. There were three different paths to choose from. The one on the left was chosen and the path led to the outside area of the dam. It was such a relief to see the sun and sky. But this didn't last long since after going up a flight of stairs it was back into the dark. But waiting for the group were new types of enemies. One of them were red colored zombies with Sacred Snake Tattoos on their chest. They also moved fast. These things were beaten and then after a bit more of walking got them to an elevator. They rode it up and find themselves back at the place where Leon had jumped in after Manuela.
It was here that the enemies began to swarm. The humans and monsters fired while running to the machine room. The door leading into it was slammed shut. They slowly went forward to the same entrance they had gone into before. Now it was shut with heavy metal doors. The group could see water leaking in. "Sounds like it's flooded in there," Liru stated after a twitch of her wolf like ears.
"We'll need to cut the water off first," Cosmo said.
"There's got to be a valve around here somewhere!" Aiko commented.
"Leon!" stated a familiar voice. Everyone turned to see Manuela had caught up to them.
"Manuela?!" the male human said. "How'd you get here?!"
"I'm so glad that you're alive! I thought that something might have happened to you. It's all father's fault! I'm just glad you're…"
"You're not with Javier?" Nicholas asked.
"I ran away," the female human explained.
"Manuela…" Leon commented. "Did he… do something to you?"
Before she could respond the group felt a heavy shake and whipped their heads to the door that was holding the water back. "The door can't hold the pressure much longer," Krew stated. "We need to stop the water!"
"Look!" the female human stated and pointed. "The valves! Over there!" The rest saw them. She crawled underneath a pipe to reach them.
"Manuela, wait!" Logan ordered.
"This must be it. I think these will stop the water!" The rest of the group then saw a few enemies emerge and shot them down. While those were taken care of, Manuela handled the valves. Suddenly they heard the sound of Javier's voice on the income speaker in the room.
"Manuela has been located. Bring her back at once! Otherwise, it will be too late!"
"Looks like he found us!" Krew stated.
Suddenly more banging could be heard coming from a different door. "What the hell?!" Liru stated.
"Something is trying to get in," Leon said. "They must be after Manuela."
"So this is our only way out," Krew commented, nodding back to the door that had the water leaking in. The group quickly were there and found the female human already at it.
"It's still not opening!" Uma pointed out.
"But we stopped the water," Manuela stated. "Why won't it open?!"
Suddenly the doors did, much to the relief of the group. They ran out, not wanting to stick around when whatever was forcing its way in showed up. Everyone was back right where they had been washed away. Suddenly one of the very thin enemies came from nowhere. Logan and Uma blasted it with lighting. Then it was up a ladder on the other side. The group go up it and turned to look from where they had came. The thing had followed them. It looked like a humanoid with dull green and purple skin. Its two main arms were muscled and had sickle like weapons where the hands should have been. There were four smaller arms with the same kinds of weapon at the end of them. Two tiny arms were where the chest was and the head was insect like with mandibles.
"What the hell is that?!" Napoleon snarled.
"This place is just full of surprises!" Krew stated as everyone fired. The monster covered its head with the arms to protect that spot. While it was distracted, the group reached an elevator and rode it up. They found plant like enemies and the wizard and witch in the group used fire to burn a path through. Everyone then walked forward and found themselves outside again. There were stairs leading to the top of the dam.
"It'd be nice if we could finish this up before nightfall, huh?" Cosmo asked.
The group made their way up the stairs. There were other paths and even a couple trucks. "I don't see any hostiles," Leon pointed out after taking a look.
Suddenly the same enemy the group had seen before caught up to them. "Wishful thinking!" Nicholas snarled as he charged in with his katana, getting some good hits in.
"Damn, this thing is ugly!" Krew said as the rest fired. It was enough to kill the enemy.
"Move!" Liru suddenly shouted while dodging a sickle like blade. Another had appeared along with a third.
"Don't let them get too close!" Nicholas yelled, who came back in. "We can take them out one at a time!"
It wasn't much longer until the two monsters were killed. Everyone let out a breath. Leon then turned to Manuela. "Manuela, I need to ask you something before we find your father," he said. "Why are you running away from him? Why did Javier infect you with the Leronica Virus? And what did he mean by too late?"
"You know, I shouldn't even be standing here," the female human replied. "Given the circumstances…" She reached up and took off the long bandage on her right arm. Everyone saw what was underneath it. From the elbow to the wrist, where there should have been healthy skin, there was only dull green flesh that was veiny.
"The virus!" Nicholas whispered in shock.
"I was injected with it as part of my treatment."
"Treatment?!" Krew spat in disgust.
"It wasn't my fault!" Manuela stated. "My doctor diagnosed me with the same disease my mother had. He told me there was no chance of recovery. And all we could find out was that only people living in this area contracted it. It… it killed my mother. But somehow… I…" She trailed off but it left some questions; even if she told them everything. The Leronica virus was used as a form of treatment. And consequently, she recovered. It must have strengthened her cells. However, the virus can severely damage its host's brain cells and if incompatible, will take them over completely. Even the family who created it and their researchers were unable to control it. There appears to be no exception to this outside Javier's treatment of Manuela. Somehow, he has managed to keep her from turning into a monster.
The group made it right near Javier's Mansion. Leon was looking through binoculars at the entrance. He could see trucks for carrying soldiers. "Leon!" Krew said, causing the first human to look at him. The sun was beginning to set. The humans and monster met away from the female human. "We should take care of the girl before it gets too late. It's only a matter of time Leon… Before she becomes a threat."
"Javier knows something," the first male human stated. "He's been able to prevent Manuela from transforming." The group looked back to her and could hear her moaning. She was clutching her right arm. "I have to take her with me and find out how." Leon then handed a small tablet for the others to read.
"Anti-virus Weapon Protocol number 7600…" Krew commented. "You're on a special assignment for the President."
"My mission… is to eradicate this virus once and for all. And with your help, I intend to do just that."
"Count us in to help," Nicholas stated. "If it means stopping whatever any enemy has planed that uses something faced before, then they need to be taken out." The rest from the nether nodded.
"Well, I am a soldier," Krew said. "And if your orders are from the President, then I'm on your side." They all placed their hands together in a symbol to do it.
"Let's go," Leon stated.
"Time to kick some ass!" Napoleon said with a grin. The group descended towards the entrance and noticed guard towers as well.
"He sure went all out on security," Aiko pointed out.
"Maybe he doesn't like door to door salesmen," Kew suggested.
Suddenly Javier's voice sounded out on an speaker system. It echoed throughout the area. "Welcome home, Manuela. And to my guero friends… Please accept my sincere gratitude for returning my daughter. Now bring Manuela to me. And kill the others!"
The group saw zombies begin to appear. "There's so many!" Uma cried out.
"Get ready!" Cosmo stated.
The first wave of zombies were cut down. "So this is his army huh?" Liru commented.
"The Sacred Snakes…" Leon said.
"What has he done?!" Nicholas growled as one of the zombies blew up.
"He's strapped them with grenades!" Krew stated. "Then let's use them to our advantage!"
The enemies were mowed down. "Look, it's our welcoming party!" Uma said as more showed up.
"They shouldn't have!" Logan commented as the next batch were killed.
"This way!" Manuela ordered. "I think there's an underground passage!"
The group made their way over to it. The doors burst open, revealing more zombies that were shot down. Then they were quickly inside and slammed the door shut. Nicholas and Leon led the way into the dark hallway. "It's dark in here," the male human said. He and Krew turned on their flashlights to help see.
The group slowly made their way forward. To their left were jail cells that held zombies. These were clearly trying to get at the group, but were held back by the bars. "What is this, the B.O.W. storeroom?" Krew asked.
"Looks like it," Nicholas commented. "Well let's not wait around for inventory."
Suddenly Manuela let out a gasp as the doorways sealed shut. "Shit!" Leon cursed. "We're locked in!"
The bars of the jail cells moved, opening them up. "They're coming!" Cosmo said and began to fire. When they were all killed, the group was still stuck.
"They're must be a way out of here," Aiko commented.
Manuela went to one of the walls and pushed on a section. This opened a hidden door. "This looks promising…" Leon said.
Everyone stopped short as they saw it looked to be like the inside of some kind of digestive track. Worst there were bodies as well. "What the…" Leon stated.
"Javier's victims," Krew simple said.
"Why would he…?!" Manuela whispered.
"Let's keep going," Nicholas commented. "We need to find this guy." Liru shrank close to her boyfriend.
A few steps latter found the group with a choice. "Which way do we go?" the female werewolf asked.
"Let's try this way," Krew said, pointing to the left. This lead to a dead end but there were crates that had stuff in them. But after this stuff was picked up, enemies began to emerge. They were all killed. The group went back and tried a different route. It was like the same prison holding area from before; dark with cells. Upon stepping in, more zombies came out and were shot. When the last fell, the doors began to close. Moving quickly, the group managed to make it before they were trapped again.
"That was close!" Uma stated.
"Look, a ladder!" Aiko commented, pointing it out. Pachira and Napoleon led the way up it. The group emerged on the outside, inside a courtyard of the mansion. Then they noticed some dead bodies in the area.
"Who are these guys?" Krew asked.
"There were my doctors…" Manuela answered in a whisper. "It's my fault… I made them tell me how they cured my illness… and then my father…"
Before anymore could be said, enemies began to show up. They were all killed. "So where the hell is Javier?" Krew asked.
"There is one place I could look. Somewhere I was never allowed to go," the female human answered.
"Take us there," said Leon.
She led them through a door. Upon entering the next room, they saw they were in some kind of greenhouse. But the sheer number of plants made it seem otherwise. 'What is this?" Krew asked.
"It's a greenhouse," Manuela explained.
"More like a botanical garden." Suddenly Nicholas noticed the huge plant in the middle of the room. It was dull in color and had huge white vein like structures on it.
"What the hell is that?!" he asked. Something about it didn't seem right. Before anything more could be said about that, Liru spotted another of the tough enemies with sickle like weapons.
"What?! Not again!" she exclaimed. The enemy was quickly killed.
"Come on!" said Manuela. The group slowly went forward and climbed up some metal stairs that lead to a scaffolding. This went around the entire area. A few enemies showed up and were killed. It wasn't until after this that some zombies and another enemy with two sickle like weapons for the hands came up. Once these had been dealt with it was onto a door that would take the group elsewhere.
Entering showed it was some kind of hallway. "You okay?" Leon asked to Manuela.
"Yes," she responded.
They found an elevator and rode it down. Emerging, they saw they were in another hallway that had a couple zombies. These were quickly killed. After going through a door, the group found themselves in some kind of huge warehouse. "What is this place?" Liru asked.
"Well it sure ain't the guest room," Krew said.
Suddenly enemies began to show up. Everyone shot at them, putting them down for the count. Only when the last one was killed, did Leon notice a freezer like area. "What's in there?" he asked. "I've got a bad feeling about this." The guy took a look behind the thick plastic sheets. Looking showed it was an operating room. Jars of organs were on the walls.
"These are all human organs," Logan stated as the rest of the group came in. Leon then noticed in another corner something hanging. Going over he found a female corpse, the same age as Manuela. The human recognized the face from the missing posters seen in the village before.
"The missing girls," he stated. Suddenly Manuela let out some moans and went to her knees. She then clutched her arm as they turned to pained gasps. "Manuela!"
"Her organs must be transplanted regularly," said a familiar voice. Looking showed it was Javier.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Nicholas growled. He and Krew had their guns pointed at the enemy.
"It helps with the pain, keeping the virus at bay. But that's only for the first 15 years."
"If you had just let me die… none of this would have ever happened…" his daughter whispered.
"No…" her father responded. "I couldn't just watch you die. In nature, the predators who prey on others only grow stronger and thrive!"
"You crazy, selfish, old fool!" Leon shouted.
"Considering how you brought my daughter back, I will grant all your deaths meaning…" Javier said and backed out of the room. A wall closed so there wasn't a way out that way. A roar then could be heard and something huge came landing down, knocking the selves in here apart. Looking showed it was the enemy that had been faced in the village. But now it had a harder exoskeleton and was a different color.
Everyone but Manuela rushed out to face it. "Didn't we fight this thing back in the village?!" Krew asked.
"Yeah, but it's different in looks!" Nicholas stated as everyone fired.
"Manuela, don't come out!" Leon ordered with a yell. "Stay in there!"
The shots seemed to not do anything this time. It was due to that exoskeleton. The monster launched forward with a bite. Leon was able to dodge it but got knocked to the ground. "Damn it!" he stated. "How're we suppose to kill it now?!"
Looking up showed the enemy had jumped to a higher level. The mouth opened, dripping some kind of liquid. Nicholas who was under it, moved out of the way. But not before managing to fire some shots and saw that this time a little bit of damage was done. The werewolf moved far enough back for Cosmo to use a grenade. As soon as it exploded, he fired with a machine gun. A bit more damage was done to the monster. The creature let out a roar and fire some kind of sharp spike like projectiles. The male werewolf used his katana to deflect them away. He then transformed into his werewolf form to get some more speed.
Liru then looked to the side and saw some crates that formed a way up to the level where the enemy was at. "We can climb those!" she said, pointing.
"Come on; hurry!" Aiko said and lead the way up. "Forgive me…" the female android whispered and fired along with her guy. The monster spat out more the liquid. It was deflected back each time. After a number of this, Krew managed to get a shot on it, making the enemy hesitate.
"Go! Now!" the second male human stated. The group jumped up to a platform that was a bit higher up.
"Let's try taken' it down from here!" Leon said.
"How do you like that, huh?!" Krew stated to the enemy as this time it was clear the shots were beginning to do some real damage.
The monster then jumped to the floor below. "Givin' up already!" Nicholas taunted it. He then moved and managed to land right on the thing's back. "Got you now!" The male werewolf fired a hail of lead into the weak spots. The monster managed to shake him off, but the guy was able to roll and quickly get back on his feet. Looking showed that the exoskeleton had taken on a reddish hue. He could see the eyes had turned to glowing red.
The rest of the group joined him. "We need to slow it down somehow," Napoleon said.
Suddenly they heard familiar singing, stopping the enemy. Looking showed Manuela had come out and was the one doing it. "Manuela, get outta here!" Leon shouted.
"Manuela!" stated her father on a speaker. "Stop singing!"
The female human suddenly did as her arm caused pain for her again. She went to her knees. "I'm ok!" Manuela said while gasping with pain. "I don't know why, but if I sing this song, it won't attack me."
The monster approached her. "Oh shit!" Nicholas exclaimed. "Guys, let's go!"
The rest of the group ran and stood between the enemy and Manuela. They fired and did some damage before climbing up the crates again. "Son of a bitch!" Krew cursed as they saw the enemy move.
That meant the group had to as well. "This thing's really pissin' me off," Logan said with anger on his face.
Suddenly the tail the enemy had rose up and shot some kind of spikes at them. Nicholas quickly deflected them away. "Go to hell, god damn it!" Krew shouted.
"Come on, we can do this!" Leon stated. The firing was intense. Finally though, the enemy fell over and didn't move.
"Did that do it?" Aiko asked. They all came down.
"Javier's gone," Uma pointed out.
"We gotta go after him," Napoleon commented. The group began to walk pass the corpse of the monster. Suddenly they stopped as some more spikes came out, just narrowly missing their feet. Krew turned and saw another being shot at him. He tried to fire, but the bullet grazed the projectile. It got him in the left arm and the male human let out a gasp of pain.
"Krew!" Leon yelled. He and the rest saw the monster begin to rise up. Everyone fired but Krew had a savage look on his face. The enemy let out a roar as the bullets tore threw it. It then fell to the ground with a final crash. Krew removed the spike from his arm and grabbed the wound, which was bleeding.
"You ok?!" Uma asked.
"It's nothing…" he growled threw clenched teeth.
Manuela slowly came over to the body of the monster. One of the tentacles it had slowly reached out for her, almost like a parent reaching out to their child. And the female human realized what this thing really was. "Mother?" Manuela asked. The group saw the eyes loose their light and close, but not before the creature shed a tear. It then went still.
"I don't want to live if it means other have to die…" Manuela said, on the verge of tears. Logan came over to Krew and took a look at his arm. His wand came out and it began to glow. The wound closed up.
"You can fix this can't you?" the human asked.
"I've done what I can," stated the wizard. "I'm sorry but… I was able to stop the bleeding and make it so your arm can move. But I can't fully heal it. Something about that spike must have done something. Even I have limits to what I can do with my magic. Some wounds just can't fully be healed." Krew said nothing, but his mind was racing of what to do in the future.
Meanwhile up in the garden, Javier had arrived. He walked up to the giant flower in the middle and stopped, let out an evil chuckle. "I should have done this sooner, Hilda…" he said, turning to look at a statue of a woman holding a child. It was meant to represent his dead wife. The human dropped his gun to the floor.
"Stupid humans and monsters. You think you can defeat it, don't you?!" He got closer to the plant. The machines that were used to monitor it suddenly went haywire, showing it was alive and active. "But you forget that when you look into the depths of the abyss…" The head opened up and moved down towards Javier. "… it swallows you whole." He held his arms out as though accepting the plant. Tentacles began to emerge and the petals could be seen showing the color was sickly and not naturally.
Down below the group were looking around and realized something. "We lost Javier," Leon stated. "We need some air support!"
"Let's go!" Nicholas said.
Before one step could be taken, something massive shook the entire building. Everyone felt it. "What the…?!" Liru asked.
It happened again before a massive one caused a ton of dust and derby to appear. Everyone coughed and had to wait for it to clear. But during it they hear some kind of roar, but unlike one they had heard before. Then as the dust cleared, they heard the sound of some kind of tentacles. Looking up showed some kind of grey color limb with tooth like spikes on it. The tentacles it had were brown in color. "Wh-What the…?!" Leon exclaimed.
"Where the hell did this thing come from?!" Logan asked.
Nobody spoke but fired. They even deflected the tentacles that tried to get them. It only took a minute to make the thing stop attaching. "Did we kill it?!" Cosmo asked. The answer to that was part of the thing rising back up through the hole it made on a long limb. A huge trail of blood flowed out from where it had torn away from the remaining part that was left behind.
"Ah!" Manuela cried. "What is that?!"
"We're gonna need some bigger guns!" Krew stated. "I say we fall back for now and recoup before moving on."
"Agreed," Leon replied.
The group saw that the way out was blocked. But there was another hole in the wall. Aiko was the one who pointed it out. "A hidden passage…?" Cosmo asked.
"Looks like this is our only way out," Nicholas said and lead the way.
Luckily the place had plenty of light to see. "What the hell is going on up there?" Napoleon asked as they got closer to the entrance. Suddenly the sound of a tentacle breaking through stone made the group turn to see just that behind them. They ran for it and dodged another one. Soon they were back at the entrance where they had come from. Manuela gasped in pain again, clutching her arm.
"Manuela!" Leon stated with worry. The group then made it to the surface, after seeing she was fine and coming along.
Upon emerging, the places where the zombies had been held were tossed to the side, sending up clouds of dust. "What the…?!" Leon asked.
"Fall back!" Nicholas yelled. "Go!"
"Take cover!" Cosmo shouted as he saw something coming in. In the dust some kind of claw foot could bee seen right where the werewolf had been seconds before.
"Is that a B.O.W. too?" Krew asked.
Another crash made everyone fall to the ground. It then stopped allowing them to look up and see what had caused it. The thing let out a roar and they could see how big it was. It had multiple legs along with some kind of skull like head. Tentacles that were a dead brown color could be seen from it. The body was a mass of spikes and more dead brown like flesh. One of the limbs ended with a sharp sickle like end. The other had a claw like hand that opened and closed.
"It's huge!" Krew gasped loudly. "What the hell is it?!"
"Behold!" the monster stated in a familiar voice. "The true power of the virus!"
"Father!" Manuela stated.
"He's become one with the plant!" Logan said.
"Come to me, Manuela. Let me take away your pain!"
The group began to fire at the head and body. They could see the enemy taking damage. At points they had to avoid the blade like arm and crushing claw. The monster just made it easy by standing there with the rest of the body. It was an easy target. Even so, this was getting old fast. "We're getting nowhere!" Krew stated. "We can't do this!"
"What are you talking about?!" Nicholas replied. "It's clearly taking damage. This is too easy!"
The claw like end of the weapon came down again along with the sickle like one, knocking the group to the ground. Manuela fell to her knees due to the pain in her arm. She then looked up. "I understand now," she said. "I feel this pain because I am still… still human! But if I were to no longer feel pain… Then that would mean… that I…" She went silent but then shook her head. "No! I choose… to die a human!"
Manuela stood up, facing her father who was now a monster. She ran towards him and everyone else noticed. "Manuela!" Leon shouted and ran after her. "Don't!" Krew stopped firing and looked on. Before the claw like end could come down and crush her, Leon grabbed her wrapped arm and threw them out of harm's way. Krew came in for a closer look as did the monsters from the nether. A different leg that ended in a spike came down. Manuela threw Leon out of the way and raised her right arm. It burst into flames like what Alexia had done before. A barrier of fire appeared around the two humans. The leg of the enemy was burnt away and the monster let out a roar of pain. The head turned to look at the female human. She stood up, showing the fire had burned away the bandages. Looking closer showed it was her blood that was used and it was burning.
"Manuela, are you…?" Leon asked. She turned to look at him.
"I'm still here." Krew looked on at this, his mind racing. The rest were shocked by this.
"Impossible…" Nicholas whispered. "She's actually in control of it."
"Krew, Nicholas!" Leon yelled, snapping them back to reality. "Focus!" The enemy was on the attack again. "Get in closer it's harder for him to get you!"
"Nice plan…" the werewolf replied. "As long as he doesn't crush us first!" He let out a yell and transformed. Liru followed suit. Everyone then went under the enemy and could see the underside.
"Shoot it there!" Manuela said and threw some of her burning flood at one of the joints of the legs. It worked, but looking at the female showed she was in pain again and clutching her right arm.
"Hurry!" she gasped and went to her knees.
"On it!" Uma replied.
"Aim for the join and he won't be able to move!" Logan stated.
"Easier said than done!" Krew commented. One of the tentacles went underground and was burrowing towards the group.
"Come on!" Leon commented. "This should be a piece of cake for you!" Everyone was able to dodge the flailing tentacle's attack after it emerged.
"On any other day!"
The group then fired at the joint until Aiko noticed something happening on the underside of the enemy. "What the…" she said. Everyone else looked and could see sections open up like flowers realizing some kind of huge spores. These were all shot down before the joint was fired at again. Then it was destroyed.
"Finally! One down!" Nicholas stated.
"We can't keep going like this for much longer!" Napoleon pointed out.
"Let's take out the rest!" Pachira said.
The group moved onto the next joint. While the rest did most of the work, Manuela helped as well. Leon could see it was putting a strain on her and the amount of blood loss was reaching a dangerous level. "Manuela, stop!" he told her.
However it didn't take much longer for the next joint to be destroyed, sending the enemy to the ground. "Fool!" Javier said after laughing. "I can regenerate! And every time I grow stronger! Everything I devour becomes a part of me! And so will you, Manuela."
"We'll never let that happen!" Leon shot back as everyone ran towards the front of the boss. They saw the face open up to reveal a hideous mass of flesh and teeth. In the middle of it they could see Javier's face, and his left arm. The other was a long limb.
"Witness my divine power!" Suddenly the mound began to twitch. "Wh-What is this? What's happening?! My body! Leronica… It's consuming me! Why?!" The flaps of the head closed in on him.
"Father!" Manuela cried.
"This virus is taking over!" Cosmo stated.
"I knew there was no way anybody could control it!" Leon said.
Now the enemy was on the offense, flailing about. Everyone fired at every opportunity with everything they had. Even Manuela, despite the fact Leon thought she was loosing too much blood. But with one shot from her, the rest were able to make the head of the monster open up and crash to the ground. "Let's finish it!" Nicholas stated, drawing his katana. He, Leon, and Liru rushed forward. They saw that only Javier's face was visible. "Kill me…" he moaned. With a shout, the two werewolves and human attacked. She stabbed with her claws, Nicholas with his katana, and Leon fired. The creature let out roars as blood gushed from the limb. It flailed about before falling with a crash. A few seconds latter, the body burst into flames.
A bit latter a helicopter came to pick up the group. They boarded, unaware that a familiar enemy with sunglasses had looked on, seeing the whole thing. He then walked away. The group in the meantime were on the way back. The sun was truly setting and they could see the smoking remains of the enemy that had been killed. "I should've died…" Manuela said. "With my father…"
"No, no one should have died down there," Leon replied, looking at her. "Besides, you've got an obligation to live. For the sake of the girls living inside you." She nodded in response.
Manuela was latter taken into custody by the U.S. Government. She was put under strict surveillance…. But there weren't any reports of any changes to her body. Krew's arm never fully healed and he was forced to leave the army. Where or what he did after that, nobody knew. Just like nobody knew why Manuela never lost her conscience. Could it have been something genetic? Or had she been sustained by the land that was so rich with life? However this was less of a concern as soon something else would come up.