Unlikely Heroes
Chapter 27: It
The small group made it to the door which led outside. It was then a short walk and around a corner until the group found a long rope leading down. Leon went first. Napoleon had to do two trips with the dogs due to his ability to walk up and down walls. Nicholas was quick to follow. The way down led to a lift which was taken. The group emerged into a darkened corridor that had water dripping. The weapon's merchant was found here. Leon did the usual selling but the male werewolf wouldn't let the human sell the staff that had been found. Nicholas told Leon like with some of the other treasures that were kept, he wanted this one.
Then it was through a door with a small path that led to some kind of small harbor for a couple of boats. One motor boat was already there and Ada was inside, apparently waiting for the group. The males had their guns quickly out just in case. "Need a ride, handsome?" she asked Leon.
The male human let out a breath. "Okay…" he replied uncertainly.
Soon everyone was in the boat and on their way to the island mentioned. As they got closer they could see the smoke coming from stacks that showed the island had a bit on industry on it. Leon was lost in thought and then looked to Ada, wondering what she was plaining. She noticed and did a sharp turn which caused the male human and the others to loosed their balance as the boat pulled up next to a cliff wall. The female human brought out a grappling gun and fired it while stepping on the steering wheel. "Got some business to take care of," she said. "See you later."
Ada pulled herself up and without that weight, the boat's steering wheel suddenly moved, causing the vehicle to go out of control. The guys grunted and Nicholas managed to get the boat back under control. Leon let out a breath. "Women," he stated.
Napoleon then spotted a landing point that was natural and everyone got out. Before they could go anywhere, the radio the male human had went off. He answered it. This time it was Ladder who was making the call. "We hate to break it to you, but Lalazar's dead," Leon said.
"Yes, it seems that way," the enemy replied, uncaring.
"Ladder why don't you give up and let Ashley go home and give the rest of our friends to us?" Nicholas growled.
"Perhaps you are disillusioned with overconfidence just because you three killed my small-time subordinate?"
"Ladder you're small-time!" Napoleon snapped back.
The enemy human let out a laugh. "Writhe in my cage of torment my friends." The call was then ended.
The small group began their walk along the small rocky path. There was the water to their right, and a cliff wall to their left. It was a couple of climbs up and down and even a hop across before they even saw the entrance to the industry area of the island. But now they saw it was more like a military fortress instead. There were even search lights. "A fortified area," Nicholas said. "Perfect."
"At least we can-" Napoleon began but Leon noticed something.
"I see them," the human stated, pointing out Ashely being carried over the shoulder of what appeared to be a mercenary like enemy. The rest from the nether were following looking a little rough and in chains. They all went through a door that closed behind them with the cult's symbol on it.
Leon shot at the search lights and broke the bulb inside each, causing them to shut off. It was then a small jump across a ledge to actually reach the entrance. The male human led the way to the side. He then stopped and the others saw it, an enemy. The person came around and was quickly and quietly killed. A ladder was then found and everyone after helping the dogs up, climbed up. They found a strange kind of reflecting mirror with the cult's symbol being the main shape. They hadn't even made it to the edge when they were spotted. And the one enemy in charge appeared to be a big man with an eyepatch that had the cult symbol on it. The single eye glowed red. There was a dark red cap on the head. The guy carried a huge machine gun with ammo on his shoulders. "Shit!" Nicholas said, seeing this.
"Time to make this big boy fall!" Napoleon stated.
The group let this new enemy come to them. It didn't take long for this person to do so and was quickly ambushed. While it took quite a bit of shooting to kill this enemy, it wasn't too hard to do so. They noticed that like another type of enemy, this one didn't melt away. Jumping down from the ledge, it was onto taking out the rest of the baddies and making their way to the door the rest had gone through. On the left was a button that shot a laser that hit another of the strange reflecting mirrors. They made their way to it and rotated it so the beam went to the other one seen before. That one was rotated to the other side of the door and the thing opened. It was then through some cave like structures before a ladder was found and everyone went up after helping Kratos and Venus up it.
This led them to a section higher and they could see the area they had just come from. It was then into a structure on the side which had more enemies. One of them had a Lagas limb emerge but this was only at the first state. There wasn't much here besides that and a few items. Once all these things had been gathered, it was then outside. Another search light was here since the beam could be seen. A bit of help from Nicholas and Napoleon with a concealing rune for invisibility was used so they could go on ahead and clear out the area. Another door was found that was easier to open. Behind it was a tunnel dug into the rock bed. Some of the enemy followed the group in and there were more just ahead. All of them were killed off. Once that was done, it was then through another door. This led to what appeared to be more of a building rather then a cliff wall. "I think we can take a breather here for enemies," Nicholas said.
The sound of water could be heard dripping in this place. "It's a bit dim in here," Napoleon commented. "It's good for undercover."
The small group went down the hallway pass a few doors into a bigger one with shelves and discarded items. A single enemy was here and quickly killed. The sound of flies could also be heard which meant something was rotting. "Let's get out of this shit hole quickly," Nicholas groaned, covering his sensitive nose.
They made their way forward and then out another door. Instantly they heard a familiar female voice. "LEON!"
"It's Ashley!" Napoleon stated. "The others must be with her!"
They started to go forward but Leon stopped them so he could snipe an enemy ahead. There was another down below that could be shot out through some spaces. The male human then spotted a third and shot them in the head. What came out was a third state Lagas limb. The guy was able to kill the body, but the limb detached itself and came crawling towards the group. A simple shot took care of it. It was then downstairs quickly to get some of the items and two more enemies that had Lagas limbs emerged. these were quickly killed. And all this time Ashley didn't stop screaming. "Jesus; would she shut the fuck up?!" Nicholas growled. "We're coming!"
They followed the screaming to a room that had monitors and saw the noise was coming from there. The female human was banging on the door to the cell. The males noticed the rest from the nether were in there to, but in chains. They then noticed an enemy approaching from behind Ashely. He threw her away from the door. The guy then looked up and the group saw him looking up where the camera was. He gave orders to another person in the cell. In the room all the monitors went blank. Leon let out a scoff. "Amateurs," he said. "Just hang in there Ashley. We're coming for ya."
It was then to a door on the left that led out of the monitoring room. A hallway with poor lighting greeted the group. Taking a side path found the weapon's merchant. Leon did some selling and buying before the males and canines moved on. It was then back out to the hallway where at a corner they saw what appeared to be a garage door. It suddenly slid open, revealing enemies with lit explosives. These were fired at, causing some explosions and killing them off. Three more then appeared and those were killed. The money they left behind was collected. Then it was through another door that led to a similar looking hallway. It was then up some stairs and through doors that looked like ones from a hospital. Here the group went through a sliding door that was automatic. They could see the equipment in here. "Some kind of research equipment," Nicholas said after looking at it. "Wonder what it's used for?"
Napoleon then looked to the right and saw a large viewing window. Behind that was an operating room. The male vampire then did a double take as he saw a body on the table. It wasn't human, but grey colored with clawed hands. There was no hair on it and impossible to determine the sex. The head was turned away. "What the hell is that thing?" he asked.
Leon then found a security system for the door ahead. "Shouldn't take long," he said and got to work on it. Nine panels with different colored arrows came up on the panel. It was quick work to get the door up ahead unlocked. The group went inside what appeared to be another operating room.
"How many of these are here?" Nicholas asked.
"Wait, I see something," Napoleon stated and went over to a table on the side. It had a memo on it.
"What is it?" the male werewolf asked.
"Another one from Luis."
It started by saying the monsters fought so far were merely by-products of the diabolical and inhuman experiments conducted on the specimens that were once human. But there was one type of creature that clearly distinguished itself from the rest called Revivers. They had a superior metabolism that allowed them to regenerate lost body parts at incredible speeds. Luis had never seen anything like it. The characteristics of it made them almost invincible to conventional weapons. But there were ways to kill it as the Lagas inside of it were living in the body like leeches. While these couldn't be seen with the naked eye, thermal imaging could see them. The leech-like Lagas had to be located and destroyed to stop the regeneration process. It ended by saying that as far as Luis knew, these creatures had a number of these leech-like Lagas. With the memo were a couple of photos of the Revivers. "Wait… I think that was one I saw back there in that room," Napoleon stated with a jerk of his head. "It looks very much like the ones in the pics here."
"I don't suppose you guys have the ability to see thermal images or have things that can make us see them?" Leon asked.
"Naw, we're not the kind of monsters that are snake like," Nicholas answered. "We don't have ruins as well. Let's hope there is something here though that can help us." This guy took this memo with him.
The three then turned to the operating table behind them and froze when they saw what appeared to be a Lagas parasite on top of some human with the second body facing away. The area where the spine was cut open. "What the…?" Napoleon asked. "What kinds of experiments are going on around here?"
Leon then found another body in a corner. There was a card key right by the feet. It had a red section that looking sowed it was meant for a freezer somewhere in this facility. There was nothing else in here so everyone went back to the door that led in here. Suddenly a crash of glass was heard and Kratos and Venus let out growls. From the other side kind of strange noises were heard. "Uh oh," Napoleon stated. "I think that might be the Reviver I saw back there."
The door was opened and the males saw it walking towards them with a strange walk. "Shit!" Nicholas snarled and everyone fired. One of the legs was blown off while wounds appeared in the stomach area. They noticed small tentacles appear on the wounds, trying to knit them back together and regrow the missing limb. Then instead of wasting ammunition, the male werewolf and Leon hacked at the enemy with their katana and knife. Even though the wounds kept regenerating, it wasn't as fast as the two stabbing weapons. Then at last the creature let out a grown and the upper body exploded. The reaming lower half melted away.
"Damn, Luis wasn't kidding," Napoleon said. "We'd better find some kind of scope to help us see those Lagas leeches."
Going back the way they came another Reviver was found. The same method from before was used to kill it. Then after going a bit forward, Leon spotted a locked freezer like area. He used the card to allow the group in. The first thing they noticed was that it was very cold. They could also see two stretchers, ones of which had a body on it. There was a blood pack attached to it. There were also Reviver bodies hanging from hooks on the ceiling. The first stop in here was to the right in a side room. There was a card key rewriter. Leon inserted the one they had picked up and rewrote the data on it to make it the Waste Disposal Card Key. Napoleon then found some kind of cryogenic device. The vampire turned it off which made it less cold and unfroze something in a side room up ahead. Nicholas in the meantime checked the body on the stretcher. "These bodies must have been cryogenized with the parasites still in their bodies," he said. "Sucks to be them."
Leon then went to the second side room and found a door that was made of glass that protected a couple of shelves. He got it open to find a case with a scope inside of it. The human picked it up and saw it was a thermal kind that was perfect for his sniper riffle. "Found one," he called to the others.
As soon as he picked it up, they heard the door lock. "Shit!" Nicholas cursed.
They also saw one of the bodies of the hanging Revivers detach from the ceiling. Leon went out quickly and using the new tool her had gotten was able to see the Lagas on the monster and kill it fast. Once it was, the door became unlocked. Outside was another one that was quickly killed. Then it was to a door that the card key had to be used to get to the Waste Disposal area. A bit of walking latter, the group found themselves in the control room. They could see dumpsites and enemies through a window here. The three males and canines went out to the area to kill them. Leon looked over the edge and saw the waste down below. "Maybe this leads to the lower levels," he said.
It was then through another door that led to some kind of office with tables and TV monitors. There was a security switch for the door on the left at the end of the room, but nothing that could help at this moment. It was then through the next door. On the other side in the hallway that had parts of the wall missing, a pounding sound could be heard. "That noise…" Napoleon said.
Nicholas sniffed the air. "It's them!" he stated. "Let's go!"
Everyone ran forward and found two armored enemies standing guard. The male werewolf and vampire ran forward and slaughtered them. They and Leon ran to the door and saw Ashley and those from the nether with the latter being held in bindings so they couldn't use their power. But they could move a bit. "Liru!" Nicholas stated.
He saw her banged up a little but her eyes lit up with love and the female went right the entrance door. There were bars in the window like area so the two could touch and kiss even if they couldn't fully do it. Napoleon was like that for Pachira. "Thank god… thank god you're okay," the male werewolf whispered to his girl.
"I knew you would come for me," she said softly. Liru noticed Kratos and Venus and with Nicholas's help, the dogs were able to lick her face.
"Liru… did they hurt you or… er… expose you in any way for fun?"
"NO!" Liru replied, red in the face of the thought of having sex.
"Sorry love," her boyfriend replied. "My mind went to the worst-case scenario."
"It wasn't like that for any of us," Cosmo said. "Not even Ashley."
"Let's get them out of there," Leon said. He tried the door. "Damn it's locked. We need a card key."
"We'd better go get it," Nicholas growled. "It's a pain but it's better than trying to break down the door. It might set off an alarm. We'll find it and be back quickly. I promise."
After he and Napoleon gave their girls a goodbye kiss with telling they loved them, it was through a different door close by. There was nothing in the hallway but there were enemies in the next room. They were quickly killed. There wasn't time to look around this section, even if there were what appeared to be x-rays of some kind hanging on one of the walls. It was then down some stairs and through another hallway. Then taking a left led to some kind of room that had medical equipment and security screens. Leon looked up at one and saw it was showing a door. Suddenly it opened and a Reviver walked out. The male human noticed it was carrying a card key on it. "That has to be it," he commented.
He noticed it coming on the right and shot at it with his snipper riffle. Every time one of the Lagas leeches were killed spikes would emerge on the monster. It didn't take much to kill this thing off and get the card key that was needed to free the others. It was still worth checking this area out. There was a lab section that had large glass tubes. Breaking these allowed to see what was inside them. "This looks like living tissue," Napoleon said. "But from what…?"
Everything of value was taken. There were more glass tube that had more samples, but these were large and more grotesque. Then it was through another door that led to the outside. It was a short path to an elevator. But before the group went on it, Leon did the usual buying and selling with the weapons merchant. Then one ride up latter, the group found themselves up at the top of a radio tower. They went in and Leon went up to it and turned it on. "This is Leon; requesting back up," he said into the mike. "Repeat, request back up." There was nothing but static on the other end of the line. "Damn!"
"It was worth a shot," Nicholas commented. The group then went back to the way they came. There were a few enemies but these couldn't stop the group. Then at last they reached where the rest were being held and got the door open. Going inside found the rest waiting at the back. "Leon!" Ashley exclaimed.
"You okay?" he asked and she nodded.
Nicholas quickly had the others out of their bindings. "Damn that feels better," Logan said.
Liru and Nicholas met in a hug and the same applied for Napoleon and Pachira. "Come on; let's get out of here," the male human stated.
It turned out their weapons were in a storage area next door. The group grabbed them and the rest felt strong again. But before they could leave, Leon noticed something fly in the window of the room where the rest of the group had been held. It landed and went over to it. "What is it?" Nicholas asked, noticing this.
"Some kind of paper airplane," he replied and unfolded it. "It's from Ada."
"How can you tell?" Liru asked.
"Who else would leave this mark on it?" The others noticed the lipstick kiss on it. Reading it said that the way out by using the waste disposal dump that the smaller group had passed by before.
It was then out of the door and killing the enemies that appeared again. They went much quicker now that more were in the group that could fight. This time when going back to the room that had the button, it was used to stall the group. But this didn't slow them down at all. Soon they had reached the place they needed to go at the waste disposal. "Looks like this is it," Leon said.
"Ugh, it stinks," Ashley commented.
"Sure does," Nicholas agreed and grabbed Kratos. Napoleon did the same thing with Venus. The females all looked at the males and saw them looking down the chute where waste went.
"No way Nicholas," Liru growled.
"Way," he replied and the males all grabbed one of the females hands and jumped taking them with them. They all landed at the bottom just fine. The dogs came out of the arms holding them and shook themselves over and let out a happy bark.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Uma asked.
"We knew you'd be fine if you landed on your ass," Napoleon replied. Pachira glared at him since he managed to stand up.
"What is this?" Aiko asked, pulling her arm off of something. The male werewolf, vampire, and Leon looked and saw it was another Reviver body.
"Let's go," the male human said quickly and everyone got up.
The way ahead was blocked by a gate and the lever to operate it was nearby. The second Leon pulled it, the Reviver right behind them rose up with a moan and the spikes on the body extended out. "What is that thing?!" Ashely asked.
Leon found another switch which closed the gate again. Now the enemy couldn't get threw and allowed him to take care of it. After it blew up Nichols quickly told the rest what it was. Then up ahead came a container that had to be pushed over in order to cross a section and another Reviver that was swiftly killed. After pushing another container out of the way, the group was able to leave the area through another door. The second they did, an enemy spotted them and let out a warning cry. "Time to kill again," Cosmo stated.
"Now it's payback time," Logan agreed.
The ones up ahead were killed and even the ones with Lagas limbs emerging didn't stand a chance. Then it was up some stairs to a room that had a lava pit and wrecking ball. Kratos and Venus needed some help down and two of the group caught the dogs who jumped down. Enemies then emerged and were killed off. Leon then went to the other side of the room that had the controls to move the wrecking ball. He did so a few times until the ball broke through one of the walls to create a new path. There was a door behind it which was they group went through. Right away they heard the sound of a Reviver. Leon took care of it quickly. Another was heard down the hallway and killed to. However the main path was blocked by a sliding door. So the group had to go around and find a button to get it part way up. There was just enough room for the females and dogs to get underneath.
They were able to pull a lever on the other side to get the door fully up and allow the rest to follow. Then came a double blue door with a lever on each side. Leon and Ashley pulled one at the same time. Going through found the group in some kind of garage storage area. There was a huge truck with a claw on the front that had an open bed. "Now what do we have here?" Cosmo asked.
"Guess it's our only way to keep going," Aiko said, pointing at the truck.
"Leave it to me!" Ashley said and got in the driver's seat. The rest got on the bed.
The female human broke down the wall ahead and the vehicle began to move. The rest on the bed then saw enemies beginning to close in. They shot and killed all who came close or managed to board. Then a bit latter a truck that was on fire came down to crush the group. Cosmo took care of it by blowing it up with a well-aimed grenade from his right arm. Then at the end of the pathway, the vehicle reached a section that could be used to take it up higher. But to get it moving, a lever had to be pulled. Some of the guys including Leon climbed up a ladder to reach the level were the lever was. Once it was pulled, they quickly returned to the vehicle. The section then moved up to a door that moved out of the way, leading to the outside. Ashley continued to drive while the ones in the bed shot at the enemy that was waiting for them above or tried to come in from the rear.
Then the group heard the sound of another truck heading their way. Cosmo was quick and fired another grenade. Even so Ashley had to swerve to the left which caused the group's vehicle to crash into a wall. Everyone waited for the dust to clear before hopping off. "Well that was a letdown," Logan said. "I was enjoying that joyride."
"I see a door right there," Uma commented pointing it out.
Going through found a room to catch their breath and the weapon's merchant. Leon did a little selling and buying with him. Then it was through another double door. The group rushed in a stopped when they saw who was up ahead. Kratos and Venus let out growls, barring their teeth at the person. Up some flight of steps was Ladder. "I can feel them growing ever so strongly inside of you," the enemy said and turned to face the group.
"LADDER!" Leon shouted and ran forward to attack. The cult leader stretched out his left hand at the male human. Leon stopped and felt pain in his chest as the Lagas in him stopped his movements. Those from the nether moved but were stopped by chains that suddenly appeared from the floor, trapping them. The male human groaned in pain. They noticed the staff the enemy had had two wavy tentacles that had appeared from holes while the head of the weapon was pulsing.
"Perhaps you can resist. But you cannot disobey. Even those of you from the nether can be contained even if the parasites cannot infect you." Ladder's hand then moved towards the female human in the group. "Now come to me, Ashley."
She let out a gasp and her head went limp. The others saw nothing happen but then her head rose up and the eyes opened to reveal they had changed to red. Ashley walked towards Ladder. Leon tried to reach her but was still in pain. "Ashley!" he grunted and threw a tiny tracker on the back of her shirt. Kratos and Venus had by this point gone by Nicholas and Liru's side, not attacking. Those from the nether couldn't even break the chains as they were the same kind seen before.
The rest of the group watched as Ashley walked away with Ladder. Only when they had disappeared did the chains slink off those from the nether and the pain stopped for Leon. "It's already begun…" he stated.
"Nice move with that tracker," Nicholas said to the male human. "Even if our noses don't work, we can use that to. It never hurts."
The group walked up the steps and found a table with another memo and a few photos. One of them was of the dead village chief and another was of the Lagas parasite. "Another one," Liru commented. "Is it from Luis?"
"No it's from Ladder," Napoleon replied.
They all took a look at it. The memo began by saying because of the group Ladder had lost the chief of the village and Lalazar. Nevertheless, everything would proceed according to Ladder's plan. He did admit however, the loss of his loyal men was a bit disheartening, but he would deal with it. Replacing the loss wouldn't come easy. Ladder had to choose wisely, for the Lagas reflected the conscience of their hosts. If chosen poorly, they could betray him. He needed men who would swear their allegiance to him. The memo ended by saying he had learned that lesson before and would not make the same mistake again. In this important hour, Ladder wouldn't let anyone stand in his way.
"Come on, let's move," Leon said after Nicholas took this and led the way through the door the enemy had gone through. It led to a hallway with dim lighting that had a metal floor.
Nicholas suddenly let out a growl. "Something wrong?" Liru asked.
"Just a bad feeling," he replied. The male werewolf was right as elsewhere Ada was in a communication room. She wasn't alone though.
"What's the news on our friend Leon and those from the nether?" the same male voice that was rough who had spoken to Ladder asked.
"They're not making it easy," the female human replied. "The sample?"
"Ladder's got it. Seems he sniffed out our little game."
"Perfect." Ada began to walk away.
"Just so we understand each other clearly, I don't trust you. Nor does Desker," the male voice stated. "If you try to do anything cleaver, I will kill you."
"Is that so?" Ada replied. "You know, I met Desker long before you."
"We'll see soon enough if you did."
"Yeah, we'll see." The female human then walked out of the room.
Elsewhere the group had begun to move. Leon had already killed the first enemy and had even spotted them from a distance and sniped them off in the dim lighting. It was then down some stairs and through a door that was brighter. This was due to being in some kind of furnace and boiler room. There was steam here to. This area was cleared out before heading through another door that led to a different hallway with better lighting than the first one. It was then a short path that ended at a lift. Everyone got on it and rode it up. Arriving, they saw they were on top of a metal walkway with huge boilers surrounding them and pipes leaving off to other areas. Leon held up his hand. "Everything alright?" Nicholas asked him.
"Let me go ahead," the human said. "I feel something's watching us. If it is an enemy, you guys can ambush them when they attack."
"Sounds good."
Leon went ahead and down a small flight of stairs while the others hung back so they couldn't see him. The male human walked forward to the center of the room. The same feeling of being watched came back stronger. The guy slowly drew his combat knife. He quickly turned around with the weapon in his right hand. But there was nobody there. Suddenly a sound from above made Leon look up to see something descending down. He was able to roll out of the way and got up, feeling his right cheek cut. Leon whipped the blood away.
"Been a long time, comrade," the same voice that had spoken to Ada and Ladder said as the figure stood up. It was another male human but dressed similarly to Leon with a few more grenades and a knife. A red military hat was on his head. There was a scar stretching from the upper left eye down to the chin. But Leon knew who it was.
"Krew!" he stated with shock.
"I died in a plane crash some months ago, is that what they told you?" the second person asked as the two began circling.
"You're the one who kidnapped Ashley and told the enemy about my friends being from the nether!"
"You catch on quick. As expected." The knife Krew had was being twirled in his left hand. "After all you and I both know where we come from."
The enemy then struck from the side. Leon was able to move back and did a thrust with his weapon to make the second human back off. The two were on guard and watching the other closely. "What do you want?!" Leon asked, switching his blade to the left hand.
Krew didn't answer but instead swung his knife with the first male human leaning back. The enemy came in again and Leon was able to avoid the blow. The two went back to their original positions. "The sample Ladder developed, that's all," Krew answered.
The knife he had came in and Leon blocked it, sparks coming off both blades. "Leave Ashley out of this!" the first human said.
"Oh I needed her to buy Ladder's trust in me. Like you, I'm American!"
Krew changed the grip on his knife so it was pointing upwards and kicked a barrel towards his opponent. Leon knocked it out of the way and saw the enemy coming in. He leaned back and the blades collided. The motion of their bodies caused them to fall off the level they were on to the one below them. The first human did a backflip and landed on his feet while the second landed on his hands before flipping to his feet. The two turned their heads to look at the other. "You got her involved just for that?!" Leon asked.
The first human came in with his knife and Krew deflected the blow. The two went at it with a few moves. Leon then spun around, switching his weapon to the left hand and across the enemy's chest. Despite Krew's speed, he still got cut. He looked at it and grunted a little. Leon waited while breathing a little hard. The enemy let out a laugh and charged in with a strike. The first human caught the weapon wrist with his left hand after quickly switching his knife to the right hand. Leon put the enemy in a lock who quickly switched his knife to the left hand. The first human blocked this strike and the two were glaring at the other. Krew then spun around and managed to kick Leon in the back and send the first human to the ground. He managed to roll over, wincing from the pain.
"All for Rindella and Millennium Virus's sake," Krew said.
"Rindella and Millennium Virus?!" Leon asked in shock.
"Almost let it slip. Enough talk; die comrade!" The second human jumped up with the knife down. The first human caught the blow and tried to stop the blade from piercing him. Suddenly a shot was heard and the enemy's weapon was knocked to the side. Leon kicked Krew off of him and both looked up. They saw Ada with a gun and the rest of the group looking down from above.
"Ada!" the first human said.
"Well, if it isn't the bitch in the red dress," Krew stated, standing up.
"Looks like we have the upper hand here," the female human said, looking at Leon. The enemy let out a chuckle and then jumped up to a higher level. The group was left in shock at this.
"You may be able to prolong your life. But it's not like you can escape your inevitable death, is it?" the enemy said and then ran away from sight.
The rest went to where Leon was. "You… knew each other?" Ada asked.
"More or less," Leon replied, picking up Krew's discarded knife. "Maybe it's about time you told us the reason you're here?"
"Maybe some other time." The female human jumped over a ledge disappearing as well.
"I swear that woman is nothing but trouble," Cosmo said.
"Never mind that, was that really Krew?" Nicholas asked. "Why the hell was he fighting you?" The others were quickly told. "Well that settles it. It seems the enemy is trying to get their hands on the Lagas sample for their own purposes. And if I had to guess the remands of Rindella have joined up with Millennium Virus."
Suddenly the radio Leon had went off and he answered it. It was Ladder. "Enjoy the reunion with your old friend?" the enemy asked.
"As a matter of fact we did," Leon replied sarcastically.
"Wonderful. I wouldn't want my special guests on the island feeling unattended."
"Guess we're supposed to thank you, right?" Nicholas growled.
"Ah… I have an idea," Ladder said, struck by a thought. "Since you're here, why don't I introduce all of you to 'It'. It should keep you busy."
"Can't remember the name?" Liru replied with a smirk. "A senior moment perhaps?" Her boyfriend gave her a nod with a smile, surprised his girl could come up with such a comeback. Ladder was taken aback for a second before chuckling evilly with amusement.
"Enjoy the fun." The call was then ended.
The group then found a ladder that took them down to the lowest level. There was a door they then went through. They emerged in an area that was shiny and had better lighting. "Oooh, sweet!" Uma stated when a pair of doors opened up automatically.
"Don't be impressed," Logan said. They could see a long hallway with nothing.
"I don't like this," Cosmo commented.
"Why don't only some of us go on ahead," Leon suggested. He, Nicholas, Liru, Pachira, and Napoleon decided to do so. They had only gone forward a bit when four lasers colored light orange came out. The small group were instantly on guard. They saw the lasers moving and were able to get by them easily. A bit further more came out but were moving in a different pattern. This time they had to wait a bit longer in order to get pass. Then these disappeared and more came out but in a way that it was impossible to wait. These came forward quickly. The human and nether beings jumped through the gaps here and made it. More lasers then came out and tried to get them. The all jumped back twice to avoid the deadly beams. They then reached the door but found it locked.
"Now what?" Pachira asked.
"There's a switch," Liru said and pressed it. More lasers came from behind the group. These came at them and everyone used the door as a way to jump over them. With that the door became unlocked and the rest joined them. Going in found a room with a high backed comfortable chair with the cult symbol behind it. On the ceiling was a treasure that was shot off. It was an elegant headdress made of silver with an aqua colored gem on it. This was sent to the other treasures those from the nether had put away safely for themselves. Looking behind the chair was an elevator that took the group down to an underground system with lights.
There was only one path and the group walked forward until they saw a huge double door. But Leon noticed another way on the right. Looking showed the weapon's merchant was here. "May as well get something before heading the other way," Nicholas said.
Everyone thought it was a good idea and walked up to the guy. The male human did the usual selling and buying from him. There were also a couple of items in the surrounding area to be picked up. "That should take care of that," Liru commented.
"Wait, one more thing," Cosmo stated and pointed at what appeared to be another memo. Everyone took a look and saw it was a different one from Luis.
This one began by saying the dead human report his findings about the Lagas here. They had three distinct characteristics. First, they had the ability to manipulate the behavioral patterns of their host. Second, they were social organisms. That meant they lived in perfect social harmony. Luis stated it was believed they had a collective intelligence. It could be seen among such animals as bees and ants. But it was rare to see this among parasitic organisms. Perhaps it was learned by the Lagas. Luis stated he would look into this further. The third trait was that the Lagas had exceptional adaptation skills. They were able to live off of many organisms and create the perfect environment inside the host. This, combined with their social behaviors, allowed them to interact intelligently between hosts regardless of the infected organism. Luis then said that he was ashamed to admit his fascination with the Lagas had blinded him to the true research purposes of the cult. It ended by saying even with the knowledge that Ladder was going to abuse the results of this research, Luis couldn't walk away. As a result, he was just as much as a responsibility for this mess as the enemy was. Luis saw now he was wrong but trailed off in wondering if he could stop the cult's plans?
"It's nice to know Luis was really innocent and tried to do what he could to stop them," Uma said.
"Now we must really make sure his death wasn't in vain," Logan commented.
It was then through the big double door. They emerged out in a more open cave system that even had a cliff ledge that showed what appeared to be a black bottomless pit. Walking a bit further found them at a much larger area. There were even platforms of some kind with grate like walls and containers on them being held over the pit. "What the hell is this?" Napoleon asked.
"It's best to move on," Aiko suggested with a worried look. The rest nodded and continued to move. Leon then heard a beep and noticed something flashing red in a pool of water. Going up to it, the human saw it was the tracking device he had thrown on Ashley.
"Ashley…" he said. Suddenly the group felt the ground shake.
"What was that?!" Logan asked.
Everyone felt it again but stronger. They all looked around and the ground shook once more. They then realized it was coming from bellow. Everyone dived out of the way as something erupted from the earth. Leon was thrown over towards the platforms and landed on them. The thing followed the human. The group then saw what it was. It walked on four legs and the skin was a mix of flesh and dull pink. The left arm was a tentacle and the other had clawed fingers. The being was quite tall. The tongue was long and whipping back and forth from the mouth which opened at the sides. It roared at Leon, the white eyes exactly like Ladder's. "Just get out of there and we'll try to fire at it from here!" Nicholas yelled at the male human.
They saw the monster slowly approaching the human. They all fired at it. After a few hits, the enemy jumped up to the roof of the platforms. Leon took this opportunity to move. He saw that the section he was on had a metal door. There was a green colored light next it. Shooting at this caused the door to open up. There was a switch behind this which was pressed. He realized this was one of the emergency switches and there had to be another nearby. Leon then moved and suddenly had to duck to avoid the enemy who tried to grab him. However the second time it managed to grab the human. Thanks to the others firing at the enemy and with Leon fighting back, the creature lost its grip on him. The guy then found the other switched and pressed it. The male human only had some second to get to the door before this section fell into the pit bellow. The enemy tried to grab him again but Leon was too quick. He made it and saw the section he was on fall. However he only walked a little ways in the second section when the enemy dropped down before him again.
"Shit!" Napoleon snarled and everyone fired.
This caused the creature to retreat for now. Leon found the first switched and pressed it. The guy then had to find the green light and shoot at it to get to the second one. The guy made it to the third section and everyone saw the previous one fall down. Leon then found the next switch and pushed it. The monster then appeared, making everyone groan. They then saw from the back a limb erupt, spraying blood out. Looking showed it had a mouth with sharp teeth and two limbs with blades on it. The rest of the group fired so the male human could get pass this thing. The male human quickly found the other switch and pressed it. A hook then descended from above for him to grab onto. Leon quickly made his way to the exit and jumped for the hook. He saw the monster try to follow and kill him but it was too late. The final section fell, taking it with it. The rest of the group met up with him near a section of a door that was right by and dug into. "Are you okay?" Liru asked. Kratos and Venus let out whines.
"I'm okay," Leon replied. Everyone began to walk forward and then heard a roar.
"Don't tell me…" Nicholas growled. They looked over the edge and saw the monster climbing up towards them. The group ran for it and pass the door just in time as the creature made it and tried to kill them with its blades. Gates came out, blocking the exit which meant it was time for a fight.
Everyone fired which caused the monster to rear back. Leon then spotted a barrel nearby and with a whistle alerted the others to it. They group lured the monster right next to it and he fired. There was an explosion, damaging the enemy. With a roar, it then burrowed underground. "Steady…" Cosmo said. Some of the group then moved as the creature came up from underneath them. Everyone then took the opportunity to fire with everything they had. It was just enough to kill the monster who let out a roar and for the body to smoke. It melted away and a gate opened which meant everyone could move on. What they didn't know was that it would be to the end.