"Let me see…who you are…every inch…every scar…" t.A.t.U "Fly on the Wall"
"You haven't changed."
Everybody's attention turned to the origin of the voice, and Chris's eyes widened in surprise and flashed with anger. An air of uncertainty also made itself more evident. He hadn't forgotten what Wesker was capable of. He hoped that this time, Sheva and he would be more prepared than Jill and he were.
"Wesker! You ARE alive!" Chris's gun was immediately pointed at Wesker, but uncertainty and a little bit of fear made their way through his voice.
"This is Wesker?" Sheva exclaimed in surprise. She was expecting somebody more horrible from what Chris had told her. But when she thought about it, the accounts that Chris had given never really mentioned what Wesker looked like, how he sounded, or what his age was. Nor was she curious enough to ever ask. Although he didn't look that bad, Sheva felt something very bad about the man.
Wesker's psychological warfare continued. He was effortlessly undermining Chris's confidence. "We last met at the Spencer Estate…wasn't it?" Wesker continued as he sauntered down the stairway he was on as he made his way over to the lady in the cloak. "Well…isn't this one big family reunion…I'd thought you would have been happier to see us…" he purred on.
"…us?" a confused Chris asked.
"So slow to catch on," Wesker proceeded to pull down the hood of the cloaked lady.
And Chris was surprised again.
What happened to Jill?...What did he do to her to make her beautiful brown hair go blonde? Why is she so pale? How come she's narrowing her eyes at me as if I were an enemy?
"…Jill…Jill! It's me, Chris!" his sorrow and joy were oblivious to Wesker's menacing smile savoring the entire scene.
"What? Are you sure that's her?" Sheva didn't think that a B.S.A.A. agent could do everything Jill was able to, and the woman in front of her looked very similar but wasn't a spitting image to the photos she had seen of Jill. She also thought that being betrayed by your captain would be warrant enough not to be working alongside him.
"The one, and only," Wesker announced as if Jill were a rare specimen he couldn't wait to show off.
Jill moved so quickly Chris couldn't defend himself from the full-on flying kick in time. Trying to recover as much as he could on the floor, his head spun wildly with thoughts.
"Jill, you won't suffer any more from the business Wesker and I have to take care between each other, nor will anybody else!"
Chris's face and stomach weren't the only parts of him that were hurting. His heart and ego were heavily bruised as well. Wesker had reminded him of his failures, and now he had to fight his own partner, the woman he loved so much that both he and Sheva's risked their lives for her? Guilt also overcame him…if he were stronger, then Jill wouldn't have gone through whatever Wesker did to her. She sacrificed so much for him, yet it seemed as if he could never return the favor.
As he and Sheva got up from Jill's onslaught, Wesker spoke again.
"Now let's finish this once and for all. I think the odds are fair, two on two, don't you Jill?"
Chris pushed the nagging thoughts out of his head about how unfair it was going up against super Jill and Wesker since Jill and he didn't stand a chance against him before, but being fueled by determination to save the woman he loved and his faith in Sheva, he stepped into the fray.
"Seven minutes. Seven minutes is all I can spare to play with you." Wesker started cracking his knuckles and popping his neck.
"It'll take fewer than that; I'll make sure of it!" Chris exclaimed as he trained his gun on Wesker.
"Now…let the fun begin…" Wesker's mouth widened into an evil grin and he dashed toward Chris. Jill went after Sheva. Chris knew that shooting would be moot at this point and decided to brace himself for close quarters combat.
"I hope you're prepared for this Chris! Do you know how long I have waited?" Wesker said while aiming for Chris's jaw.
Chris managed to duck in time and attempted to hit Wesker's abdomen. "To rid the world of you?"
Wesker moved back and Chris grabbed his gun. As he dodged bullets, Wesker continued to taunt.
"Oh…so full of justice, as always! Or does your mission have a more…selfish motive?"
"What do you mean?" Chris said thought gritted teeth.
Clack!
Chris gasped when his gun ran out of ammo and quickly fumbled for a magazine. Wesker's taunting was having its effect—he was listening more to his words instead of paying attention to the situation at hand.
No don't make this mistake again! Fight him! Don't listen, don't listen…
Wesker grinned, dashed at superhuman speed, and roughly grabbed the surprised Chris's hair. With faces a couple of inches apart and lips close enough to tease, he proceeded in a suggestive tone.
"Or is it to rid me out from your world Chris?"
Chris's eyes widened and his breath began to come in gasps. He couldn't lose focus at a time like this…but that small comment cracked open a lid on repressed memories he spent years trying to damp down.
After all of these years…you still have a hold on me…still have some control over me…I've come all the way here, thinking that…if I finally defeated you and ridded you off the face of this Earth, that maybe I would have some atonement from failing my friends and family…consolation from how you haunt me…how you have hurt the ones I love, how you have taken my heart and stabbed it over and over again…
"Damn you Wesker!" he regained focus and aimed the gun at Wesker's head. But when he fired Wesker let go of his hair and back flipped out of the bullet's path, kicking Chris in the chin in the process. The force knocked Chris to the floor.
"Your reaction delights me Chris…" Wesker said with a smile on his face while standing over him. "You've probably been thinking about me…dreaming about me…fantasizingabout me this entire time against your will…yet within it." He drawled out and spent extra time loudly enunciating every word, making sure that Jill and Sheva would overhear. He was also relishing Chris's reactions to his words.
No doubt Chris wasn't expecting for the fight to turn in this way, and he definitely didn't want either one of his partners questioning his past with the man. Well, their knowing would hurt him more, which was what Wesker wanted.
He grabbed Chris by the neck. Chris's hands immediately went up to try to break the tyrant's vice grip.
"Oh, don't tell me you don't get a thrill from this…"
Damn him! How cheap! He knew exactly what to do to make him angry, shocked, and…aroused…
"No…no…the Wesker you knew is dead!Thisone is a…"
As Wesker lifted him from the floor, he peered into Chris's eyes and asked, "Tell me Chris, what is it like to love a monster?"
Although Chris couldn't audibly respond with cursing or whatever because of lack of air, Wesker saw the sadness, shame, anger, pain, and even a hint of desire in those eyes.
He concentrated so much on Chris's eyes that he failed to notice a bullet coming his way. He flinched as it embedded itself into his shoulder. Sheva continued to shoot at Wesker and he let go of Chris to dodge the bullets.
Chris was lying on the floor coughing. Sheva ran over to him to help him up.
"Are you okay partner?"
"Yeah…thanks." Chris briefly met her gaze and then dropped his to the ground. He didn't want to make eye contact with anyone, especially his partner, at this moment.
Concern etched itself into Sheva's face. "Chris…is…what he's saying tr—"
Jill's kick knocked Sheva away from Chris and Wesker's sent Chris flying into a door. The force sent both him and the door flying a few feet.
"Let's take this some place more personal."
Chris quickly got up and ran into a room with coffins and a large sarcophagus. He couldn't fight Wesker like this. He needed to catch his breath, massage his neck, and build his defense again…
Damn.
This entire time, he forgot to build up mental and emotional defenses, and Wesker was fully manipulating them to his advantage.
Well…fuck.
Even though Wesker was no longer human, the bastard sure did know how to manipulate his mind and heart. This would be the real battle.
And he was losing.