A/N: The finale. Please enjoy it!

-MVC-

My eyes narrowed. X-23 was like a cannonball; she flew fast, and I really didn't want to be caught by her.

I executed another rolling dodge to get out of the way. I reluctantly found out that the difficulty from my last fight with her had been ramped up to eleven. By the time I was done rolling, I already had another pair of claws soaring at my neck. I just barely managed to catch her wrist with both hands. My own wrist, the one Wesker had gotten to, hated the idea, but as much pain as it was giving me, those claws would be a lot worse.

I heard another sharp sound and cringed. The only claws she had left to apply were the ones in her feet. Thanks to my current situation and the ever-thickening fog, I couldn't even see where her feet were.

Luckily, I had someone watching out for me. Spider-Man must have caught the reflection of it or something, because he reacted by launching a string of web. The spike hit me in the leg, but I could tell it was wrapped inside of webbing. It hardly felt like a poke, much less cause any pain.

X-23 -I wasn't about to call her Laura when she was like this- became startled by the web for the brief amount of time I needed. I called on my strength reserves and got to throw her to the ground beside me because of it. While she was falling down, she put her other hand forward and made a long pair of scratches straight down my arm.

The pain was bad, but this situation was still worse.

Spider-Man liked the idea of catching people on their backside with that webbing of his. He made a claim to X-23's back, spun around 270 degrees with her along for the ride, then smashed her body into the ground with the momentum he had built up. It had to hurt, and on top of that, it gave me a chance to get to my feet.

As I did that, Spider-Man talked. He used a serious voice, which always made me nervous. "Chris...We have to do something. Could you imagine if she got loose? We're in the Big Apple. She could single-handedly murder one-eighth of the country's population tonight."

I figured that had to be some kind of exaggeration, but I knew to some extent, he was right. This city would be soaked in blood within hours if we didn't find a way to calm X-23 down.

My partner gave a hefty sigh. "I'm going to hate myself in a few seconds for saying this, but...I'll distract her." As if on cue, she began rising up from being thrown as soon as he said that. He seemed to have been expecting that, since he didn't mention it. "We might need some help for this one. You have two guys circling above us right now. Please tell me they can do something."

Even though he made a request, he didn't wait for me to grant it. He made a dynamic leap to face X-23 one-on-one. To ensure she would go after him, Spider-Man launched a quick blot of webbing at her eyes. Unsurprisingly, it worked well enough.

I looked into the sky. The bug was right; I'd actually forgotten about assistance from above. The helicopter itself wasn't in sight, but I told those two to stay local, and they listened. I could still hear the chopper's blades coming from somewhere. I ran through a mental checklist of what they might be able to do for us. They weren't trained in hand-to-hand combat any better than I was, I knew that for a fact. Throwing them up against X-23 would be sending sheep to the slaughter. However, there remained the fact that the helicopter itself was far from defenseless. It wasn't an attack copter by any means, but it had a toy or two on it.

"You guys up there?" I asked innocently enough after pressing in the button on my headset.

"Itching for orders, Redfield."

I mimicked Spider-Man's sigh as I dropped my vision back down to the fight. Spider-Man landed a few punches, but was eventually ducked over and hit with a spike-powered roundhouse kick. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but forget Wesker. There's a way more immediate threat here."

"Something worse than him?"

"Worse, no. More immediate, yeah. Come back down here. And get the DragonNet ready."

The DragonNet. Probably my least favorite weapon. It was one of the most painful, drawn-out, sadistic torture devices I'd ever seen. Human, animal, science experiment, or whatever combination of the three X-23 was, she didn't deserve this. Nothing that breathed air did.

"Understood. We'll be there in thirty."

I really hoped that meant thirty seconds.

Spider-Man connected two strands of web to either one of X-23's ankles. He pulled off an acrobatic slide right in between her legs, tripping her with a disgusting amount of style. "Please tell me you aren't enjoying this, Spider-Man."

"...A little!" he admitted. He clicked both wrists together which helped him form a web ball. The unique projectile exploded when it connected with X-23, ensnaring her to the building.

The Spider-Man started to make his way over to me. "So what's the word from above?"

I would have answered, but I saw something he couldn't have with his back turned. X-23 had already shredded her encasing and was bolting towards him, all while remaining terrifyingly stealthy. "Spider-Man!"

It was no use. By the time he heard me, X-23 had jumped. There was no diving attack this time; that wasn't what she wanted. She'd timed her hop so well as to land squarely on Spider-Man's shoulders, then bring both of her legs up to strangle his neck. Likely stunned by the sudden weight, he wasn't able to do much about it.

I was familiar with things that wanted to kill me latching on to my shoulders, so I shared his pain in a way. That wouldn't comfort him much if he knew that X-23 raised both of her hands up, ready to dig about six inches into his shoulder bones and muscle. "No!" I shouted, knowing too damn well Spider-Man would be a few short slices away from death if that connected.

I charged forward without any weapon aside from my own arms. I got there just as X-23 began bringing her claws downward; I got there, but I didn't stop. I tackled Spider-Man, effectively making X-23 lose her balance and fall off. That's the second time in the past three minutes she was less than a second away from mortally wounding someone. Namely us.

Through all of the action, a sudden rush of relief came. I realized that the helicopter was sitting in the air about nine feet above the top of the building. The sound of the blades made hearing somewhat difficult, and the wind made my eyes water, but they were such small prices to pay for the concept of backup.

In the back of the helicopter, where the three of us had been resting just earlier tonight, one of the co-pilots was kneeling. He was facing us, looking through the open door that Spider-Man had kindly created. In both of his hands was a jungle green bazooka-like weapon. The DragonNet, or DN. They got here at the perfect time, since both of us were separated from X-23 for a moment.

The launcher's voice came over my headset. "DragonNet firing. 3-2-1!" he counted down rapidly.

I came so close to ringing in on my own headset. Telling him not to fire.

So close.

The DragonNet fired straight at X-23. Out from it came a net. The wire was thick and colored black, so it stood out in the artificial light rather well. The target got entangled by it, and I knew what happened next. She didn't get a chance to struggle for long. I saw movement as the pilot pressed a button on the bazooka itself, activating the DN's worst property. While it appeared like an almost primitive trap, the net was hardwired with incredible tech; with the touch of the button, that tech released electricity throughout the entire net.

X-23's body lit up in blue and white as voltage that my electric rod could only dream about surged through every inch of her body.

Spider-Man and I had both stood up by now. He wasn't saying a word. His mask hid his face, but I felt safe betting he was starting to dislike this idea as much as I was.

"I would have guessed the crazy guy in the suit would have cracked first," the pilot commented, setting the rifle aside. "Guess that's women for you, eh?"

Most people I call in for assistance would say something like that simply to be a jerk. This one in particular seemed to be somewhat fond of me, so there was the smallest chance he was trying some attempt to cheer me up. I appreciated it, but it didn't work well. I watched, trying hard to keep a straight face, as my own men, under my orders, fricasseed my teammate.

"How...bad is it?" Spider-Man asked. He used a normal volume for a voice, which combined with the helicopter to be fairly hard to hear. I didn't blame him for that.

"She's got metal in her body, doesn't she?" I responded back.

He fell dead quiet.

"Then you don't want me to answer that."

Seconds were hours, as far as I was concerned. I couldn't believe it had come to this. Laura is the reason I'm still alive, and I repay her by doing this. I tried not feeling bad, but it didn't work. In the end, no one was to be blamed for this but Wesker.

X-23 had been screaming a lot. That was to be expected. But then more and more time passed, and I realized she hadn't dropped to the floor yet. She wasn't dead, unconscious, or even weak, all of which are common side effects of the DN.

Then the scream changed.

It shifted from despair to rage in less than a second. I squinted my eyes and noticed something else. She was beginning to grow resistant to the pain. Within seconds after that, she brought her arm up. Her claw sliced a gaping hole in the DN's net. The entire thing fell to the ground around her, still sparking uselessly.

She wasn't only freed, but really, really pissed off.

Making things even worse, the first person she looked at wasn't me or Spider-Man. She had her eyes set on the person who had shot the net around her. I urgently smashed in the button on my headset. "Get out of here! Move it!"

The copter began lifting up, but so did X-23. She felt no intimidation by its height and made a jump for it. The machine managed to pull itself into the air a few more feet by the time she reached it. If it hadn't moved, she would have easily gotten on board. I definitely would have needed another ride home.

As it was, she missed and came falling back down. She didn't seem overly upset. I'm sure our blood would be just as good as theirs would have been.

Out of desperation, I looked to the side and saw something startling. On the ground, right where I had left it: Wesker's Magnum revolver. After getting humiliated by X-23, he must have forgotten to grab it. That gun could be instrumental in finishing this, but...

Wait.

I scanned the entire building's roof again and noticed something even better. "The gas...it's gone."

"Yeah. That's what happens after you fart, but do we have to-"

"Spider-Man, the fog!" I interrupted as soon as I realized where that sentence was going. "The wind from the helicopter must have blown all of that fog away!"

The concept was there, right under our noses, and it never occurred to us. The gusts from the helicopter's blades were unmistakable; of course it was bound to get rid of the fog.

Spider-Man took a second to look around, only now noticing the same thing. "Huh. Pretty sad that the propellers were more useful than the high-tech weapon, isn't it? But we're not done yet. Until she breathes enough regular air, she's still running on whatever chemical that was."

I turned my head back to the Magnum. "...Cover me!" I ordered, already making a dash for it.

Like I was surprised. Maybe it was an instinctive guess on my part, or maybe just Murphy's law. X-23 targeted me. No one could say if she, while trapped in that state of rage, had the sense to realize I was trying to grab a weapon, or if it was just bad luck she picked me.

She jumped forward, like a jaguar putting the last touches on prey. I asked Spider-Man to cover me. That's what he did. Except this time, he didn't think fast enough to come up with more parlor tricks. He stopped her the most effective way he knew how.

I gritted my teeth. My anger towards Wesker was reaching a boiling point. I knew where that guy was going, but I had to deal with this first. Finally, I was within distance of the gun. I slid on the ground, grabbing the Magnum as I passed it, then purposely stayed floored. It was quicker than rising up, and my aim wasn't harmed by it.

I pointed the gun at my teammates. They were close by each other. When I saw what truly happened, I closed my eyes for a second, hoping that when I opened them, things would look different. Better.

X-23 had already gotten a set of claws into Spider-Man's torso. They hadn't penetrated through to the other side; he was using all the force he could gather to hold her arm back.

"Take the shot, dammit!"

I'd never heard Spider-Man cuss before. Nor had I heard him behind clenched teeth.

I focused carefully. Spider-Man was standing in front of X-23, so that made aiming hard. I didn't want to severely harm X-23; that made aiming worse. The fact that I didn't want to harm someone with a Magnum revolver was almost too ironic, but there wasn't an option to look back now.

Bang.

Intense recoil nearly made me hit myself with the smoking barrel of the gun. That was honestly the last thing on my mind at the moment; I watched that speeding bullet like a hawk. Even after pulling the trigger, I kept my breath held. Too much could go wrong too fast.

The gunshot missed Spider-Man's leg by less than two inches. It passed right by him, deciding instead that Laura's leg looked more inviting. To much of my regret, my eyes trailed the bullet a little too well. I saw it insert itself into the front of her leg, and exit clean out the other side. Its velocity didn't even seem affected after that, but then again, I did lose interest in it after that.

That leg gave out from beneath her instantly. With what strength he had left, Spider-Man ripped the claw out from his body, then delivered a kick just to get her farther away. He hit the ground afterwards, clenching his wound and rolling until he was face up.

I tossed the Magnum to the side and scrambled to my feet. I wasn't sure who to attend to first, but it hit me along the way that X-23 might still be hostile. Spider-Man it was.

"Spider-Man!" I knelt down next to him. "Spider-Man, are you all right?"

He tried shooing me off with his other hand. "Great. Dare I say, never been better. I'm fine, Chris."

"You're not fine. Let me look at that wound."

"'You're not fine'?" he retaliated, lifting his head off the ground some. "Do you tell that to all the injured people you come across?"

I smirked. I knew he was in pain, but I shouldn't have been surprised he didn't want me to know it. I offered him a hand up, which was an offer he accepted.

When we both stood up, I took note he refused to move his hand away from where X-23 had dug into him. A question about it was a moment away from coming out of my mouth, but we got distracted.

Coughing. We turned to face Laura, who was laying limply on her side. Her face was scrunched up in pain. It was horrible to think that that was fantastic. No more snarls, evil glares, or frustrated screams; unlike with the DN, she recognized that she was in pain.

The nightmare just might be over.

"Laura-"

Just as I took a step toward her, Spider-Man dropped his hand on my shoulder and clamped down on it. He was looking at my squarely. At least, as squarely as a mask can look at someone. "I think it's best if we part ways here."

That startled me. I looked at the poor X-23, who wasn't even paying attention to us, then back to Spider-Man. "...What? But she-"

His mask folded up. He had altered his facial expression somehow. Judging by the way he motioned toward his injury, I had to assume it was in anger. "You might be able to understand why I'm a little mad at her right now. I know it wasn't entirely her fault, but...Look, even I don't like myself when I'm angry. If everything is back as well as it can be, it would be better if I went off on my own. I don't want to say something I'm just going to regret later."

I took a moment to process everything. He'd spent the night with her -specifically requested she went on the team- and he didn't even want to tell her goodbye? In the same way, there wasn't a point in arguing with him. I had no reason or authority to make him stay. Instead, I stuck my hand out and again smiled triumphantly. "It's been nothing less than an honor, Spider-Man. Where are you off to?"

He shook my hand without hesitation. Even through his injuries, his grip had barely faded at all. "First, I'm going to make sure the Hulk made out okay. After that, I suppose I should check on Dante, too. Then it's time for some midnight web slinging to sort things out. Call me when we can do this again, okay?" He paused for a moment before correcting himself. "Err...Maybe not that last part. Everything before it was pretty fun, though."

"I'll send up the Spider-Signal," I assured him jokingly.

"You better."

Spider-Man took a few steps toward the edge of the building. I recognized it as the side closest to where the Hulk ended up getting pulled down. As I turned to attend Laura, he stopped me by once more setting his hand on my shoulder.

"Chris." I looked at him, but said nothing. I thought it was a good enough cue to go on, but it still took him awhile to keep talking. "Do me a favor...Give Laura the help she needs. She deserves it."

"I'll do all that I can."

He didn't need to ask that. I was intending on doing it anyway. But, I was glad that he did. It meant that he didn't hold much contempt for X-23 after all.

His head bobbed in a nod before he took off running. He leaped off the roof of the building, and seconds later, I heard that now-familiar sound of a strand of web being launched. I stared at the spot that he jumped off of for a moment. As far as costumed vigilantes go, I had to admit, he wasn't so bad.

"He left."

It wasn't a question. If it was, it didn't sound like one. I turned to X-23. To my surprise, she was now sitting up. I looked at her leg, only to find a scab where a Magnum bullet had been. She was healing from one of the most deadly guns out there in minutes.

"Yeah," I said with some reluctance. There wasn't much emotion in her two words, so I didn't know how she felt about it. "He wants you to get better."

"I'll never get better," she said quietly. "I'll never escape that. How you two held me off...No one's done that before."

At least she was thinking optimistically about it.

I sighed. It was such a random question. A random question that needed to be asked. Against my better judgment, I came out with it directly. "Laura."

She'd been staring at the night sky. It was mostly overcast, so she couldn't have been connecting stars. She was more likely trying to connect her life. At the sound of her name, I managed to fully get her attention.

"I'd like it if you came with me."

"What?"

I took slow steps forward. One reason was so I could gather my thoughts. Another was so I could detect any traces of hostility before it became too late. When both of those things yielded decent results, I threw caution to the wind and knelt right beside her. "You don't deserve to live in fear of yourself. The BSAA has some of the top scientists the world's seen. They can find a cure for you. Besides, something you do deserve is another shot at Wesker. Trust me. Stick with me, and you'll have your chance."

She went without words for awhile. I didn't rush her; for the longest time tonight, she had needed to think about most of her words anyway. In the meantime, her head lowered to the ground, then went all the way back to the sky again. Minutes later, I still didn't have an answer.

I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but I wanted to know she was at least thinking about something. I followed her gaze to the nighttime clouds and asked, "See anything?"

"...I'll go."

Not a second more was spent staring at the sky. I jerked towards Laura, then found her still contently looking into space.

"That," she said slowly. Her words came out at a consistently slow pace, almost like she didn't care if they made it out at all. "What you saw tonight. You can try if that will make you feel better, but you aren't going to find a 'cure.' That will always be a part of me. Wesker, though, can go die in a fire. I wouldn't mind being there when that happens."

I smiled, and nearly laughed. I couldn't agree more. For the first time tonight, I was able to relax as I brought my hand up and tapped on my headset. "Come on down, guys. You can say hello to Laura while you're at it."

"Please don't tell me that's the crazy girl," the co-pilot pleaded.

I shook my head, even though he couldn't see it. X-23's leg injury was recovering well, but I still let her put an arm around my neck to support her on the way off the ground. We stood there for a few minutes while waiting for the helicopter to come down.

I looked to the ground, not too far away. Wesker's Magnum. Over in the corner was his helicopter in no better condition than it had been the last time I looked at it. It was even still on fire. Tonight could have gone in a hundred different directions, but it ended up being this one. The one where no one ended up dead. Even if Wesker did get away, it was hard to complain with an outcome like that.

When our ride landed, I heard another comment over my headset.

"Ah, crap. It's the crazy girl."

-END-

A/N: I want an electric net.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that I had a blast writing this entire story, and that I hope you picked up on that. The story might be over, but please feel free to review. I'd love to be aware of anything that was particularly bothersome (especially regarding the first-person perspective). Or just being told your favorite parts is okay too.

As Spider-Man would say while hurling an opponent from one side of the screen to the other: See you later!