"This is it?" Leon peered up at the cathedral through thick, dusty glasses. "Their base is in a church?!"
"They probably find it funny and ironic. Besides, who would think of them being here?" The Professor gazed up at its dark and forbidding spires that scraped the clear blue sky. It was an abandoned church on the outskirts of a small city in former Germany. It was a place big enough where no one would notice any activity in the church, but small enough where no one would come near it.
The wind whispered warningly in Zelda's ear. Turn back!… Turn back!… Don't go!… …Suffering only awaits you there!… It tugged cruelly on her clothes, grasping at her with wiry claws. Its pitch traveled several octaves, howling its curse at the old building.
Dandelion tried to hold onto his disguise, "Where did this wind come from?!"
The words 'Let's go back' were on her lips, but she swallowed her voice to keep from showing her fear.
"Go to the side, there should be a small hatch that leads into the courtyard!" The Professor yelled over the noise. Obeying, they darted into the surrounding woods.
Leon removed his outfit- he was still an escaped convict- and scratched his head in a complaining manor. "Geez, we come with hardly a plan but to find a guy who may not even be here, with just a few weapons, on a bright clear day with 100 visibility and we have no idea who else is inside."
"You put all those facts together in a negative way but make it sound so lighthearted," Zelda commented.
"Yeah, I do, don't I? Wait a second, is THAT the door that's going to get us inside??!!" he pointed at a two foot wide, rusted, dirty, vine covered hatch in the wall.
"Yes it is." William appeared behind them.
"Do you believe that I can fit through that??!! Do the mathematics! The size of that thing does not equal the size of me!"
"You're going in and that's final."
"Tch, I'm not and you can't make me 'Nerdsworth'."
---
"I hate you." Leon glared up at the Professor and Zelda, who were already on the other side of the wall. He, to the others amusement, did manage to get stuck in the hatch. His upper torso was in the court yard while his lower half was outside. They were in the process of pulling him through when somebody met up with them.
"Tres?!" Zelda stopped tugging at her friend and turned towards the man who came in on the other side of the yard.
"See?!! This is what happens when you have stupid plans!!! Someone's come to kill us and I'm in a wall!! They probably were taking their time to get here too-"
"Quiet," Professor pulled out a small gun, closed his eyes and randomly fired. Part of the wall fell away, allowing Leon to come free.
He scrambled to his feet, "You shot at me with your eyes closed!! You could have killed me!!"
"Tres…" Zelda gulped and tried to calm her heart. She thought, This is not the time to be thinking anything, anything at all. He is now your enemy. You must protect your friends… Slowly, and evenly she spoke without looking behind her, "I'll handle this, you guys go on ahead."
"Kid…" Dandelion trailed off.
William nodded silently and secretly put a small object in one of her hands, "We'll leave it to you then." They ran in the opposite direction, leaving the two to face each other.
"Do you intend on fighting me Zelda Bäcker?" Tres' voice carried over to her ears. She nearly died at hearing his voice once again but by sheer willpower, kept herself in check.
"So be it," he took her inability to say anything as a yes. He pulled out his guns as she weaved her way towards him.
Firing off rounds, he asked, "Why don't you fight me seriously, Zelda Bäcker?"
A bullet whizzed past her ear, "I could ask you the same thing." She pushed off on her left foot with all of her strength to cover the rest of space between them. Zelda jumped through his guns and his outstretched arms to land in a hug-like position against his chest. She felt like crying because this was how she used to hug him.
For one second he hesitated to turn his guns inward and finish the fight, but she took that chance for the final strike. Looping her arms around him, she injected the vial that the Professor had slipped her.
The guns fell from Tres' hands and his eyes widened slightly. Agonizingly, she explained, "The Professor made these Nanites. They were created to wipe out your system. I'm sorry. Tres, I'm so sorry!!!" Tears streaked down her face and she gripped him tighter.
"Forgive me," she gave him a small kiss. "Please." As the Nanites took their toll, his metal frame leaned forward and rested against hers. "Please don't hate me," was the last thing he heard. Weeping, she laid him on the ground and shut his eyes.
A few minutes later she brushed away her tears, removed the vial, pocketed it and sprinted away in the direction of the others.