"Dr. Freeman! Wait!" Komaru called, causing Gordon to stop in his tracks. "Do you even know where you're going?" Gordon tapped his bearded chin in thought before shaking his head. He'd only been in this town for about an hour before everything went to shit. "W- Well, apparently there's supposed to be someone here, but I don't know where they might be..."
Gordon sighed. While it was a fringe lead, it was still some advice on where to go. Keeping his weapon ready, he walked out a few steps, knowing that this restaurant was practically a giant square. Looking towards the back exit, he saw a man in a suit slumped against the door, bleeding, but alive. Gordon reached into one of the pockets in his lab coat and pulled out his emergency medical syringe (which he hadn't used due to the fact it had been tucked snug inside the H.E.V Suit during the Black Mesa Incident) and jabbed it into the man's arm. His bleeding stopped almost instantly, and he turned his head to face Gordon.
"A- Are you alright!?" Komaru asked.
"Wh- Who are you? You shouldn't be here... Hurry up and run!"
"U- Um... You're from Future Foundation, right?"
"H- How did you know?"
"I was told by a guy named Byakuya Togami to meet you here."
"Could you be...? Are you a Captive?"
Gordon immediately turned to look at Komaru after hearing 'Captive.'
"Go to the park... Head through this door, and go straight down the road. Th- There should be a Future Foundation helicopter there."
"Aren't you coming, too?"
"I'll hold off the Monokumas while you two-"
Gordon put his hand up to silence the man. Him waiting behind wouldn't do. Gordon was better anyway.
"What are you...? Oh, that's a Future Foundation Hacking Gun. You'll have an advantage over me."
Gordon nodded in approval, going to open the door and leave the restaurant when the sound of the one unbroken window in the shop breaking rang out. Gordon shoved Komaru and the Future Foundation agent through the door, raising the Hacking Gun.
"Dr. Freeman, are you insane?!"
Gordon simply looked back at Komaru, smiling. These guys were nothing on him. He slammed the door shut, leaving only him and the Monokumas entering the building.
He'd already gunned down three Monokumas before anyone could reach him. And when one did finally manage to get a swing at him, he easily dodged it. With them being slow as bricks, it wasn't hard. He put down the Monokuma that had just swung at him, catching another in the blast, destroying that one, too. Another Monokuma tried to climb through the window, but Gordon wasn't having it, sniping it right in the eye, causing it to fall back to the street below.
More kept coming in as he gunned them down. He could keep this up forever, but so could they. And so, instead of letting himself screw up and get killed, he turned towards the door, kicking it shut behind him. However, a Monokuma had caught the door, slowly opening it to make sure Gordon didn't escape. He fired a single shot at it, and it flew back, blowing up and catching five others in the blast. The amount of explosions had caught up with the building's structural integrity, and it soon began to collapse, crushing the Monokumas in the dining area, giving Gordon enough time to book it out of there.
When Komaru and the Future Foundation agent had reached the park with the helicopter, the skies had filled with a red smog, darkening the city streets, and casting a blood red glow when out in the open.
"Hey!" The agent called, drawing the attention of his teammates.
"Ah, Agent Kojima. You've returned." The only female agent in the team remarked.
"Barely." Agent Kojima joked. "Some scientist came along and saved both of our lives. He had a Hacking Gun, don't know where he got it from."
"That's right!" Komaru said. "Dr. Freeman! He's being attacked in the restaurant back there! Please! You have to-"
"Hold on a minute..." One of the male agents stated, interrupting Komaru. "Did you just say Dr. 'Freeman'?"
"Yes. W- Why?"
"What did he look like?"
"W- Well, short brown hair, well-trimmed beard, blue eyes, black glasses..."
"To think he'd be here, of all places..." The agent muttered.
"Do you know him?" Komaru asked.
"Only by name." The female agent revealed. "Anybody who hasn't been living under a rock would know who Gordon Freeman is."
"Why? Is he some sort of famous scientist?"
"'Famous' isn't the best term. 'Infamous' is better." Agent Kojima said. "He's partly responsible for the Tragedy breaking out."
"The Tragedy...?"
"I see... We don't have much time, so I'll give you the short version." Agent Kojima sighed. "The Tragedy was more than just an incident. It shook the world to its very core. And it wasn't just one. Various incidents broke out all over the world. And it all stemmed from one event."
"What event?"
"The Resonance Cascade."
"I... Don't know what that is."
"Not surprised. Nobody except the survivors know what exactly happened. Apparently the Black Mesa Research Facility had been experimenting with portal travel a few years back. However, at one point, an experiment went wrong, tearing open a portal to another world. The alien inhabitants poured out, killing everyone in sight. After some time, they called in the military to neutralize the threat. But the unit sent in was also slaughtered by not only the aliens, but by one single scientist."
"Dr. Freeman!?" Komaru shouted, filling in the blank.
"That's right. Nobody knows how, but he managed to fight his way into the alien world and close the portal from that side. But from there, he completely vanished. Gone without a trace. On the third night of the invasion, Black Mesa was nuked, completely obliterating the alien threat and anyone left inside. And for a long time, we assumed that included Gordon."
"Of course, the Black Mesa Incident made international headlines. And then, war broke out. There were countries that were furious with the United States for keeping these experiments secret, yet others who understood their cause. But, after a while, the war wasn't for any sort of reason. Just for the sake of war. And because of all this, society just... collapsed." Another agent explained. "Future Foundation has been trying the best it can to bring hope back to the world."
"Are you alright?" Agent Kojima asked. "Are you getting all of this?"
"Y- Yeah..." Komaru replied. "It's just... A lot to take in."
"I'm sorry, but you need to know." The female agent said. "This town is an island off the coast and controlled by a powerful IT corporation. It's commonly called Towa City. It used to just be a nickname, but then it just sort of stuck. Anyway, ever since the government stopped functioning due to the Tragedy, Towa Group and their cutting-edge technology are running the show here."
"Towa Group is a corporation that played a large part in rebuilding the world." Another male agent stated. "Ever since the Tragedy, air pollution has made much of the planet uninhabitable. But Towa Group developed an air purifier capable of cleaning large quantities of air at a time. It only took them three months to develop it after the safety order to stay indoors. But even today, people all over the world are clamoring for it."
"The clean air isn't the only reason people are coming to this city." Agent Kojima revealed. "It also hasn't been hit as hard by the Tragedy due to Towa Group's influence. But this kind of riot in Towa City is something we never anticipated."
"So it's a riot?" Komaru asked. "Why is something like this happening?"
"Your guess is as good as ours, kid." Agent Kojima sighed. "Where those Monokumas came from, why they're attacking the city, that broadcast by those creepy kids. And now Gordon... All we know is something horrible is happening here."
"We need to gather more intel. But first, our top priority is to escape." The female agent said.
"You're right." Komaru agreed. "We'd probably get killed in a place like this... And I'm... I mean, I want to see my family again. It's been so long, I..."
The agents looked to each other, knowing there was a high chance Komaru's family was dead.
"Hold on a minute." Kojima suddenly said. "Does anyone else hear that?"
"Is that... Singing?"
"Over there!"
Turning in the direction the agent was pointing in, Komaru noticed a single kid, wearing a Monokuma helmet sitting atop a sandcastle. However, he was soon joined by four monstrous looking Monokumas, although they didn't attack him.
"Get back!" The female agent shouted, only to be tackled by one of the Monokumas, being devoured in seconds.
"This way!" Agent Kojima demanded, motioning Komaru over to the helicopter. "Get in!" He said, shoving Komaru into the chopper, climbing halfway in himself before a Monokuma leaped at him. But just before it hit him, a blue projectile smacked right into the Monokuma, sending it flying backwards.
A familiar man in a white lab coat pushed Agent Kojima into the helicopter with Komaru, before throwing himself in and slamming the door shut.
The three people gathered turned to face the cockpit, only to find a normal Monokuma at the pilot's seat. Gordon raised his Hacking Gun, only for his arm to be lowered by Agent Kojima.
"Don't shoot, Freeman! If you miss, you'll blow this entire chopper sky-high!" Agent Kojima shouted as they frantically took off into the sky.
They watched the Monokuma attempt to pilot for a moment, until it broke off the control stick, sending the trio into a nosedive. The ground flew towards Gordon's face, and then his vision went dark.