Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil...and I've just lost two seconds of my life saying it.
Authoress' Note: (Please READ) Thank you dear readers for reading this fic and your lovely reviews! As I have mentioned in the summary, this was inspired by 1wingangel's fic: Resident Evil 4: Real Life Edition! Truly an amazing fic and you should read it before reading mine. Savin' Me is done by Nickleback and Hero is done by Chad Kroeger. Man, I love these songs! They fit, right? I apologize for leaving out the fanboys of Leon, sorry! Oh, and I'll be adding Holding Out For A Hero by Bonnie Tyler once I figure out where to put this little song on. The reason why I placed all the songs you'v read so far in the fic, is because it's my personality. I sing (not very well to be honest) when I get nervous or something. It just helps me calm down.
Final Note: I would love to thank all my readers (fans! YES! I HAVE FANS!) for your lovely reviews and suggestions for this fic. Sabertooth and Wolf, thank you for being a loyal reader from day one! Misty Maxwell, same for you and your eagerness to read! Netbreaker0, thank you for being there, you're such a big help! The Autumn Alchemist, wow...you're really eager and hyper for my fic; love your reviews! To welcome a new author to the realm of and being so sweet, Daddys-Girl-13! You are so sweet and I'm flattered that you love my fic! And last but by no means the least, I thank the rest of my readers who I can't remember your pen names at this time! (I'm sorry, I can be scatter brained at times... with trying to get over my writer's block for my other fic and the chaos I call my life) I love you guys!
Everyone gets plushies of your favorite RE characters! Together now! RESIDENT EVIL AND LEON FOREVER!!!!
1wingangel and Nicole this fic is for you!
-------------------------------------------------
Resident Evil 4: A Fangirl's Dream Come True!
Chapter Nine: Castle Defense
I don't want to leave my good dream yet...I want to stay in it for a bit longer before getting up... In about five minutes we have to wake up and run through the horror of the castle...Argh! My lungs are burning!!!
I jerked awake from my dream, drew in a ragged breath and started coughing crazily. Gah! Fucking plaga!! The coughing fit startled the two men and dog awake as I curled on the floor still coughing. The merchant jumped up from his chair with a yell of surprise and swept his high powered guns around the area, searching for enemies as Caleb leaped to his paws with a yelp and glanced around in confusion. Leon snapped awake with a shocked cry, snatching up his shotgun from his lap; eyes darting around for anything wrong before finding out that I was the one who woke them up. The agent was instantly at my side as I continued to cough, my body shaking from the fit and he started to panic.
"Rally! Rally, what's wrong?!" Leon cried in alarm as he placed a hand on my back. I couldn't answer him right away as pain racked through me. I wrapped one arm around my stomach, willing the pain to leave as my other hand covered my mouth out of habit. After several long minutes, the coughing fit subsided and left to me to lie on the stone floor, panting heavily from the lack of air. My lungs calmed and no longer burned.
That damn parasite better not be that developed! I'm no where near that damn trap of Salazar's! But still... that was a scary thing to go through... I uncurled and lifted myself with my hands a little. Leon helped me up with worry in his blue gaze. "Rally, you were holding your stomach. What happened?"
I only managed a small bitter smile, "Plaga."
That one word was all the agent needed to know exactly what happened to me. "I see... The same thing happened to me while I was trying to find the Round Insignia." He smiled grimly, "I didn't have the coughing fit but I did cough up blood and the pain was so intense that it knocked me out completely for six hours." The grim smile disappeared and determination was set into his eyes. "I won't let that happen to you."
Oh, Leon. That's so sweet. I want to believe you...I really want to but... no matter what you do... that's going to happen. As long as Saddler is still alive, the convulsions will continue until the plagas are strong enough to overcome us both.
"You ready to go?" the agent asked me as he reloaded his handgun. I watched him as I began to nod but stopped short as I remembered something.
"Wait! Do we have enough money to buy a Blacktail, riot gun and Semi-auto rifle?" I asked Leon, who stared at me in surprise. The merchant, who had calmed down and was watching scene, cleared his throat. He took what I said as a cue to get ready to start up business again.
Leon blinked and looked at his weapons. "The weapons we have are already upgraded as much as they can be. Not mention I won't have room for new weapons."
I bobbed my head to his response in understanding. "So, why not sell those and purchase the better Blacktail, Riot-gun, and Semi-auto rifle?"
"But then I may not have enough to upgrade those." the agent returned seriously, still not sure if he should sell the weapons.
I grinned, "Sure you will." I held out my hand and several items sparkled in the moonlight. "Sell these to the merchant and you'll have more than enough to upgrade the new weapons to a degree."
Both the agent and merchant blinked at me in surprise. "Where did you get those!?" they both exclaimed in shock.
I grinned again. "Mendez. What? I swiped the armlet and gems from him while he was holding me hostage at the shed."
Leon stared at me. "But he didn't have an armlet while I was fighting him."
"True, he wasn't wearing it but he had it stuffed into his back pocket, along with the gems." I smirked. "If he insisted on using me like a backpack then I might as well be one and hold his stuff for him."
(A/N: Okay, I know Mendez had no such treasure on him (besides the money) when you play the game but I placed that there for the sake of the fic)
The agented grinned at me. "You're one sneaky girl, aren't you?"
I smiled back. "It's a gift. Besides, we're in a huge castle and we need to be prepared for just about anything. If my guess is right, there will be more enemies here than at the village."
Leon nodded in agreement. "True. I was thinking the same thing when you told me about your bad vibes from this place several hours ago."
The merchant scrunched up his face in delight, "Got some good things on sale, stranger."
--------------------------------
Several minutes later, we were walking away with our newly bought weapons. Ooh, lovely Riot-gun! Beautiful Semi-auto rifle and cool little Blacktail! They're so shiny! Just looking at them makes want to learn how to shoot for our protection. Leon glanced at me with a confused look as I kept looking at the guns.
"Why do you keep staring at the weapons like that?"
"Because they're so cool!"
"These are tools of death... how can they be cool?"
"True, they're made to kill... but they're the only things that can keep us alive. It all depends on how you look at them. Besides, death for the infected people here is a mercy they deserve. I know they don't want to harm us but the plagas..."
"Are forcing them to do it in the name of Saddler. The bastard..."
I nodded solemnly and the agent shifted uncomfortably and decided to change the subject. "So, what did the merchant wanted to talk to you about?" Leon asked as he looked between the Riot-gun and Blacktail, trying to decide what to use. I blinked in surprise for nearly forgetting the little chat the merchant had with me.
"Um..." I thought back to it.
(A/N: Okay now it's a flashback!)
"Lass, I think ya should take this with yeh." the merchant said seriously, handing me the attache case that Leon sold to him. I took it and stared at it then looked at the merchant in confusion.
"Why do I need this for? I have my side pack." I said, still confused as to why he was handing this to me.
The merchant sighed, "That lil' side pack is already full of whatever items ya have, lass. If ya want to help the stranger out as much as ya want to then yeh need this to carry whatever item he can't carry himself."
I narrowed my eyes and gave him suspicious look from the corner of my eyes. "Merchant... are you hiding something from us? Do you know what's coming next?"
The robed figure frowned... at least I think he did. "Now, lass, why are ya suspectin' me of such a thing?" I smiled and fingered the case lightly.
"Well, you seem to pop up whenever we need of your help and you seem to know what's going perfectly well."
"Aye, yeh can say that."the merchant grinned back me. "But I can say te same thing about ya, lass. Ya know more to what the dangers are than what yer telling the stranger."
I stared at him in shock.
"How else can ya explain to me on how ya found out about my secret weapon, the Chicago Typewriter? Ya know exactly what's going on but ya won't say a word to yer friend, only drop hints on what to do... Am I right?"
I didn't answer his question, "Thank you." I mumbled as I accepted the case and followed Leon up the stairs. So the merchant knew what was going on but didn't want to say... like me.
(A/N: Okay, this was only my way of thinking on how he pops up everywhere. I think the Merchant knew what was going on and decided to help us get rid of Saddler. Remember this is just my guess, so don't go flaming me if its wrong. That an it sort of explains how Ashley has a case to carry stuff for her solo adventure.)
"Rally? Are you listening?" came a concerned voice that snapped me out of my little flashback. I blinked in confusion and looked up at Leon. He was looking at me in worry and I grinned slightly in embarrassment. "Are you okay? You spaced out a little..."
"Oh...um..yeah! I'm fine, I was just thinking. Sorry to worry you."
"No problem." The agent smiled as he pushed open the rusted door and stepped into the next area of the castle. Whoopie fucking doo... Our first cultist filled section of the freaking castle. How lucky we must be...
"Muere, muere, muere, muere..."
We all froze at the light whispering and listened closely. Caleb perked his ears up and growled slightly, angling his head toward the voices. The chants were coming from the other side of the corner. I knew the culstists were near by, patrolling the battlements but their chants were so low in tone that we nearly missed it. I thought back to the enemy positions in the game. There should...,and I'm using the word should loosely,...be two cultists by the balcony. But that could've changed, the real life game doesn't play by the same rules as the law-abbiding Resident Evil games do. And we've seen enough evidence of that, haven't we?
"Morir es vivir! Morir es vivir..."
" 'Die, die, die, die... To die is to live...' " I translated absentmindly out loud. I guess that scared Leon.
He looked at me in surprise. "What did you say?"
I flinched inwardly and looked at him. " 'To die is to live.' Thats what they're saying. It's their chant."
The agent frowned slightly and tilted his head toward the source of the whispers. "Well, isn't that encouraging?" he muttered bitterly, " 'Join Los Illuminados, a "religious" group that believes in dying is actually living life to the fullest! Call toll free 1-800- TODIEISTOLIVE! Our operators are standing by!' "
I blinked at his comment and stared at the agent for a full minute before cracking a grin. I had to try really hard to resist the urge to laugh hard. My, god... Leon is so fucking funny! And the way he spoke... oh god I wished I had a voice recorder so I could listen to that sarcastic and fake sugary tone for the rest of my life.
"Why are you snickering?" the agent asked me as he glanced at me once more. The dog was staring at me like I was nuts and then lost interest to our conversation. I cracked another grin and covered my mouth with my hand and giggled softly.
"I was laughing at what you said earlier." I answered back, my voice slightly muffled by my hand.
"I was being sarcastic..."
"I know. And that's what made it funny."
Leon raised a brow at my answer. Oh, that's so cute! But then he shrugged it off and sidled along the wall to peek around the corner. There sitting on a stack of crates was a box of rifle ammo. The agent eyed it then glanced at the parapet walkway and put the two together. He switched his Blacktail for the Semi-auto and commanded me to stay. I nodded in agreement as Caleb took a stance behind me and watched the back door incase of anything decided to come through it.
I watched Leon as he hugged the rifle to his body and crouched walked toward the crate. He readied the rifle and took aim to the walkway across the crate. I peeked around the corner and watched the cultists wander around aimlessly over there. One...two... yep just two like in the game... thank god! For a second a black hooded head came into view...
BLAM!
Now that head popped like a gory balloon and the agent aimed the rifle once more. Red eyes from the other cultist came into view and the strange whispers grew in volume. He recognized who we were...
BLAM!
Ooh! Not fast enough, cultist! The whispers died away and Leon looked over the crate and saw there wasn't anymore enemies to snipe and stood. He motioned me to follow and I trotted out of the corner with Caleb following. "I think I got all the guards for this part... but the minute you see any more, let me know."
"You got it!"
We walked up the winding staircase, making sure to pause and listen for anymore chanting before moving on. As soon as we came into view of the second floor...
"Alli esta! Matalooo!"
Ahh...fucking red cult leader...he saw us. The air around us instantly heated up as a group of cultists launched their flaming boulders into the night sky.
"Rally, get down!" Leon grabbed my arm and pulled me down the stairs just as one of the boulders slammed against the wall with a loud CRACK! Flaming rubble flew everywhere and the stone floor quaked from the impact. The very force of the impact nearly knocked me over and down the rest of the steps but I managed to stay on my feet. The agent hissed angrily as soon as they stopped their barrage of boulders.
"Damn it, they're blocking our path. And they won't attack unless we show our faces." He switched for the Blacktail, then glanced at me. "Wait." I nodded in understanding as he vanished around the corner. More boulders were launched and I heard Leon curse as he raced across the area. I shifted nervously, fearing for his life. I always hated this part of the castle. One near hit from that and Ashley dies. A chill ran down my spine as another thought entered my mind as more boulders were launched in to the air. There was something else that I hated about this part and it had something to do with Ashley again...what was it?
What did the player's guide say about this place and the ditzy blonde girl...?
An eerie chuckle and Caleb's savage bark came from behind me, startling me from my thoughts. I whirled around and cried out in horror. A group of at least twelve zealots were standing behind me. Caleb already had one in his jaws and was blocking their path to me. The dog ripped the cultist's throat out and snarled at the others, daring them to move. And the zealots didn't bat an eye at the gruesome scene, only focusing on me. They grinned crazily as they rushed up and past Caleb to get to me. Oh, shit! The player's guide mentioned to never leave Ashley alone anywhere around the battlements no matter how tempting it is to leave her worthless ass behind. The dog barked angrily and tackled the nearest one, but the rest ignored him and came after me. And one of them was wielding a scythe!
Sorry, Leon! I raced from the saftey (if you can call it safe) of the stairs and onto the open area. More boulders were launched as soon as the catapult group saw me. I looked around wildly for Leon as the zealots followed me onto the stone path. I spotted him under the bridge and he looked at me in surprise. His blue eyes went wide at the sight of the cultists chasing me. He waved his arm toward me and fired sparingly into the group, careful not to hit me by accident. I ran toward him as more flaming rocks of death rained from the night sky. I barely heard Leon as he cried out in fright as one boulder slammed into the ground to my left and sent me flying to the side.
I flew to the side from the shockwave of the boulder's impact and rolled across the ground, dizzy. I lifted myself up a bit as the next wave of flying rocks were sent into the air and I knew the group troops were closing in on me. "Follow me!" Leon yelled as loud as he could as he fired wildly into the group of cultists. I looked toward him and my vision faltered, giving me double vision. Which Leon is the real one? Right or left? I stumbled to my feet as the flaming rocks rained around me. The scythe wielding zealot took a swing at me but I managed to step back from the swiping blade. This was bad, I can't see straight, so I can't fight back. I'm unbalanced so I can't run away either. This sucks!
Mr. Scythe swung again and I stumbled back, the air shrilling loudly from both the swinging scythe and flaming rocks. One boulder landed a little too near and sent us both flying to one side. I stared blankly up at the night sky as another wave of flaming boulders were launched and one came into my view... at least it was before my vision doubled again. Ohh, crap. Which boulder is the real one and which way should I roll? Right or left?! Mr. Scythe decided that for me and he swung his scythe downward in attempt to slice me in half. Okay, normally a lot of people would roll away from this guy to live, right? Well, I figured I could survive a cut better than being crushed by a two ton flaming boulder. I rolled into and past his swing so that I was at his feet and snapped my leg upward, nailing the zealot in the gut. The cultist doubled over and I stummbled back up to my feet...ohh, bad move. My vision worsened at the quickness of my vertical motion and now I'm seeing four of everything...
The scythe wielding manaic suddenly swayed on his feet before crumpling to the floor with a moan. A pair of cold hands wrapped around my neck and waist as a zealot grabbed and hoisted me over his shoulder like a sack. I couldn't much else...I was too dizzy to see straight. I heard Leon shriek angrily, a loud gunshot and suddenly I was on the floor once more. The agent ran up to me and hoisted me over his shoulder and bailed as a boulder fell and crushed the cultist that grabbed me. Caleb bounded after us to the safety of the bridge as Leon set me down and looked me over as I swayed a little on the floor. At least my vision was better... a little. The images went from four to two.
"Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" the agent asked me as I looked up at him, dizzliy. Oh, look! Twin Leons! YAY! Wait...Leon has a twin? Since when? Agent Kennedy pat the side of my face in an effort to get me to focus. "Rally, are you okay?"
I shook my head in order to help clear it and opened my eyes again in hopes of having my vision back to normal. Nope. The two Leons are still there... Not that I have a problem with twin cute guys... Argh! Snap out it girl! This is no time to daydream! The cultists are coming and we don't have all night for me get my act together!
"Are you okay, Rally?" the agent asked again and I nodded a little.
"Y-yeah... I'll be fine as soon as the world stops having two of you..."
The agent frowned a little. "This isn't good. They've got us pinned."
"W-why?"
"There's another section of battlements we have to get through but there are more catapults over there." Ahh, that's right. I forgot about those guys...
I pressed my hand to my forehead and sighed. "The red barrel...the same kind from Mendez's shed... I saw one next to the red guy. Fire at that and blow their asses out of the way." I mumbled dizzily and shook my head, my vision finally returning to normal. I hate being dizzy. It messes with your mind and fucks up your movements. Now I see why Pokémon smack themselves at times when they're confused...
Leon backed up a little from the edge of the bridge's shadow, enough to see the red barrel. He aimed the Blacktail...
"This is for trying to kill Rally!" he snapped angrily and fired.
The red barrel exploded and sent cultists everywhere, the red one was knocked over the edge and broke his neck upon landing on the stone floor. Eww...but cool!
"Muere...muere...muere...muere!" The agent growled at the sound of the chants. Oh, shit! I've got to show Leon the cannon or else he won't know how to open the gate!
"Leon, we need to get downstairs!" I yelped, tugging on his arm like a small child.
"Why?" he asked as I pulled him toward the set of stairs that led to the cannon. I sighed and thought up an excuse.
"Um, maybe there's a new weapon for you to use?" I tried as cultists rushed down the other set of stairs at led to the upper battlement area. "And it's good place to kill these guys off!"
We rushed down the stairs and positioned ourselves at the base of it. The cultists rushed after us and Leon let his frustration out on them with his new weapons. Damn this is so sweet! The Riot-gun blasted the heads off of six cultists! COOL! The agent handed me his knife as kept the cultists at bay and said for me to search for anything useful. I supressed the urge to shriek in joy. I'm holding his knife! I'M HOLDING LEON'S COMBAT KNIFE!! SWEET!
I rushed off toward the little room and stared at the cannon. Ooh, I'd love to stuff Salazar into it and fire his sorry ass at the gate. I broke open the wooden barrels and snatched up the shotgun ammo and green herb. After a bit, the whispers died away and Leon came into the room, looking for me. I jerked my thumb at the cannon as the agent stared at it in surprise.
"Hey, Leon, do you think we can use this for something?" I asked while handing him the stuff I found.
Leon studied it and nodded. "Yeah, from the way it's positioned... it's aiming at the castle gate. We can use this to blast it open. We just need to find a way to raise this thing up."
I smiled and thought about it, trying to keep up the charade. "Do you think that maybe the switch is up top?"
"I don't see one down here, so it has to be there. The question is, how do we raise this up without being blasted back with catapults?"
"We snipe out the ones manning the catapults! If they're dumb enough, there should be more red barrels near them... I mean something's got to be holding their gas to set those boulders on fire."
"True. Let's go!"
We headed out of the room and up the stairs and up another set of stairs...keeping as low as possible so Leon could pinpoint where the red barrels are. Caleb wagged his tail in eagerness to get out of the battlement area, but kept his focus by watching our backs. I love this dog! Hmm.. maybe Leon should keep him as a pet. I've already got too many dogs... if you count six little Chihuahuas running around a ranch as too many. They're easy to manage... they eat a lot... but still easy to manage... Why am I leaving? I'm susposed to be next to Leon but he's at the top of the stairs and I'm going down them... HOLY CRAP!!!
"LEON!" I shrieked in terror. One of the cultists managed to knock out Caleb and kidnap me with out either of us knowing! What the hell is up with that?! I instinctively twisted around and slammed my knee into the zealot's face... OW!! Pain shot up my knee from the point of contact. I ripped the hood off and saw why I got hurt. The jerk was wearing a helmet! Asshole!
Leon whirled around, saw what was going on and the helmet. He fired at the zealot's legs, forcing him to drop me as he stumbled and fell to his knees. I stood up and was about to kick the guy when the agent raced past me and did the coolest move in the game!
The Suplex!
I relished the sight. I just love Leon's cute little battlecry, the zealot's surprised rasp, the arch of Leon's sexy back and the snap! of the freak's neck. Helmet plus stone floor equals a sure death of a broken neck! I grabbed the pesetas and squealed at the move, pumping my right arm into the air.
"All right, Leon! That was so cool! Su-plex!" I grinned at him and he smirked back before chuckling a little.
"Thanks. It took a while for me to learn that move."
"It's all worth it!" More chants drifted into the air. Damn you cultists...! Wait...YAY! More chances to see Leon do the suplex! Bless you cultists! "Are you going to do it again?" I asked hopefully.
Leon listened carefully at the chants as he reloaded the Blacktail. "Nope. Too many of them to take down with just the suplex. We need to keep moving." Inwardly, I scowled in disappointment. I wanted to see Leon do the suplex again... CURSE YOU CULTISTS!! But I nodded in agreement and followed Leon and Caleb up the stairs again to the upper battlements. Time to take out the castle gate!
We readied ourselves for the run as zealots from the lower floor rushed at us from the bottom of the steps. "Leon, the crazy monks are coming!"
The agent smiled a little. "Great. I was hoping they would."
I gave him a puzzled look. "You were?"
"Yup. We'll be wiped out without us having to waste ammo on them. Ready?" I nodded and so did Caleb. "GO!"
We shot away from the stairs. Another raspy cry sounded and the launch of flaming boulders soon came after. We raced across the area as the zealots followed and the boulders rained down from above. Several of the cultists fell under the crushing weight of the rocks but the others were smart enough to dodge and weave the falling boulders. We headed for the little shed and raced in, stopping in time to dodge a scythe that swung at us. Leon cursed and fired on the zealot. The scythe wielding cultist used the flat side of the blade to protect his chest as he advanced on us. The agent growled angrily.
"Fine, be that way!" Agent Kennedy fired at the hooded figure's legs, forcing him on his knees. He ran up to him and did the suplex, breaking the neck of cultist. Damn, I love that move!! I sighed wistfully then remembered that the others were outside on their way here. Apparently, Leon remembered too, gave his knife to me and faced the door with his Blacktail drawn.
"Grab what's in here that's of any use; I'll protect you, okay? Remember, slash twice." I chirped out an A-OK and rushed to the boxes as the cultists rushed the shed. I slashed a box as Leon poured out the bullets and I grabbed a new grenade. Sweet! More ammo! I placed it on my belt loop and swiped another box with the blade. This one held some pesetas and grinned. Ohh, someone's secret stash! And it's ours! I dumped the gold coins in my attache case. I'll hand them over once everything is done here.
I slashed another box as cultists howled in pain from Leon's Riot-gun shots. It held nothing. Tightwads. I popped open a chest and grabbed the yellow herb nestled inside and stuck that in my attache case. I kicked open the wooden barrel as another group of cultists rushed at Leon. I heard him swear that he needed time to reload. I grabbed the grenade from the pieces of wood, pulled the pin, chucked it over the agent's the head, wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him back. The cultists went boom! as they shrieked in pain and flew everywhere. Then silence followed.
Leon stared at the mess of bodies and grinned at me. "Thanks. Are you going to do that again?"
I grinned back and bopped his hip with mine and winked. "Anytime your ass needs saving, I will." He snickered, I giggled and Caleb barked his thanks and wagged his tail. Yeah...it's all good...
CRACK!
Oh, yeah... we need to to get rid of those catapults before we can blow open the castle gate. I pointed out the red barrels and Leon sniped them, watching the zealots fly around like dolls until all were gone... except for one. The one that had no visible red barrel and to stop the catapult, Leon had to shoot the guy manning it. We raced toward the little room where the cannon was located at the bottom of the little tower. The zealot launched his boulder and it slammed against the room's roof as we reached inside. I pressed my back to the wall and sighed.
CRACK!
"Leon, you have to shoot the guy before the roof caves in! I don't think this roof is sturdy enough to withstand his boulders for long." I hinted as Leon tried to aim the rifle through the window. But every time he managed to lock on, the cultist will launch the boulder and the agent had to duck and cover, messing up his aim. I thought for a second and gulped.
Sorry, Leon... Looks like I have to piss you off again...
"Sorry, Leon! Yell at me later but I need to do this to give you a clear shot!" I called out and he looked at me in surprise.
"What are you-?" His eyes widen in horror as I ran out from the little room, "RALLY, NO!"
"HEY YOU! THE FREAK WITH THE HOOD! YOU COULDN'T HIT A GIRL WITH A GUN EVEN YOU WERE USING A SNIPER'S SCOPE!" I yelled out, trying to get the cultist's attention. (A/N: Sorry, for the lousy line it's the best I could come up with at 3 am.)
And it worked...ah..sorta. The cultist was more interested in killing someone than getting revenge for the insult and aimed the catapult at me. I stuck my tongue out and blew a raspberry. The monk launched the boulder at my position. I laughed at his attempt as I turned and ran from the marked spot, away from Leon's position.
I didn't get very far.
As I was running away, I tripped over a cultist's scythe and the blade bit into my leg, leaving behind a gash. It wasn't big but it still hurt. I looked up and saw that the flight path of the boulder was right on target... but how? I slapped my forehead, got to my feet and hobbled as quickly as I could from the blast zone. That damn cultist had fired it over here, knowing I was trying to distract him and I ran right into the trap!
BLAM!
Well, that jerk is dead now...
"RALLY! LOOK OUT!" Leon screamed out and I looked up...
Oh...shit...
CRACK!
The boulder landed in front of me and if I had gone another ten steps I would have been crushed. The shockwave of the blast picked me up and threw me back at least twenty feet. I bounced, rolled and skidded across the stone floor and came to a rest by the little shed we had taken refuge in. Another reason why I hated this place. Ashley would have died from just being hit by the shockwave! But I'm not Ashley. It'll take more...than...that...to...kill...me...off... Wh...why...i...is...so..so...hard...t-to...brea...the?
Leon and Caleb ran to my side and looked at me in horror. I guess I looked pretty messed up. Leon fell to his knees and stared at me then looked into my eyes. Oh, my lungs...they're burning... The agent spoke to me but I couldn't understand what he was saying and I think he asked me a question. But when I opened my mouth to answer him, I only managed to let out a pitiful, liquid moan. My hero looked at me in confusion then at my mouth. He reached over and wiped at it. He brought his hand back to his face and his blue eyes went wide. He yelled at me in shock...I think... and he reached down to picked me up.
My ears finally stopped ringing (that was why I couldn't hear anything) and Leon asked me if I was alright. I only managed a nod and the agent looked at me in surprise. He stared at me closely before he freaked out. I didn't know why though. My lungs are burning... why...? The agent set me down and looked me dead in the eye.
"Rally, are you sure you're alright?"
I nodded again. I wasn't going to tell him that my body felt broken and I felt like burning up from the inside out. That would only freak him out even more. The agent glared at me.
"That's not the answer I'm looking for."
Okay...what's his problem? Okay, so I ran off on him and nearly got smashed into the ground by a rock. But I did it to save our butts and get Leon his clear shot.
"I'm going to ask you again and you better not nod. I want a verbal answer from you." he growled as he narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you okay?"
I was about to nod but Leon's glare stopped me. I opened mouth to answer but an odd raspy whimper escaped my mouth. "Rally? Can you answer me?"
My lungs...they're burning! Why are they burning?!
"Rally? Rally! Rally, give me sign here!" The agent's voice rose to a panic level as he picked me up again and broke out into a sprint, "Oh, my god... you're turning blue! Rally!"
Lungs...burning...hard to think... too tired to think...
"Rally, snap out it! Stay awake!"
Too...ti...red...
He barged into the area and I heard him shriek out to the merchant. "Goddamnit, Rally, stay awake! Are you breathing?!"
S-so...t...t..ti..red...and...m-my...lungs...I...c...c...an't...bre...athe...! I shook my head weakly and saw little black dots at the edge of my vision.
Leon swore and set me down on the cold stone floor. He leaned over me, pinched my nose, took a deep breath and...
My world went black...
--------------------------------------------
I awoke with a start and looked around wildly, catching both the merchant and the agent glaring at me. Oooh, I'm gonna get it now. Leon let out a breath of relief but gave me an exasperated look, the merchant on the other hand...well, he looked pretty pissed. He only scowled at me, handed the agent some First Aid Sprays and stalked back to his "shop". I blinked in confusion and looked to the agent for an answer and he shook his head, indicating that he didn't know. Even Caleb shrugged, though hard to do since he's a dog.
I stood, thanked my hero quietly and went after the merchant. When I entered his shop, the robed figure whirled around and glared at me. I jumped a little as he wagged his finger at me. "Lass, that better be the last time ya have the stranger drag yer half dead ass to me for healin'!" he hissed angrily.
"But-"
"No buts!" he growled, "Yer feelings for him are out of control! Ya need to have better control over them!"
"What are you talking about?" I hissed back lowly, so Leon couldn't hear us. "I've chosen to keep him as my friend, nothing more."
"That is a lie, lass."
"What?"
"Ya only think ya have chosen already but in reality yeh haven't yet. Yer still split in two and yer tearing yerself apart trying to fight one feeling and hold on to another. And that, lass, is going to kill the both of ya."
"I don't understand a word you're saying."
"The only things yeh need to know is to control yer emotions and to stop tryin' to keep him from doing his mission." He leaned toward my face and spoke very softly so that only I could hear him. "Believe me, lass. I have a feeling that there will be a time where yer going to be by yerself with no help from either me or the stranger and that's when yeh really need to keep yer feelings in check. A slip up on yer end and its over for both of ya. Yeh'll die and the stranger will wander the castle for the rest of his days looking for ya, only to know that ya screwed up and died. Think before ya act. Only help him out when yeh can and its roughly somewhere within the logical thinkin' area."
I gulped at his words and stepped back. What scared me the most was the fact that he made sense and what he said was true. I blushed at the thought that I was still confused on what I felt toward Leon. Oh, god, how I hated hormones! Argh! It was true! I'm still confused and that's going to kill us all! And that dream... I still remember it and ooh! how it creeps me out!
Leon came in and that snapped me out of my thoughts. "What's going on here?" he asked quizzcally, looking at us both. I looked away for second and forced a smile at him.
"Nothing. I was just apologizing to the merchant for freaking him out earlier. Oh, and sorry Leon for running off on you." I answered hurriedly.
"Uh, that's okay, just don't do that again." he muttered as I kept up my forced smile. He raised a brow at me then looked toward the merchant, who met his gaze coolly.
"Aye, its just as she says, stranger. Nothing more. It's best ya go now before 'em crazed spaniards come back and yeh have to start all over on taking 'em out."
The agent didn't looked convinced about our answers but let the subject drop in favor for thinking about the castle gate. "True, we need to get going before they get back with reinforcements."
I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, let's go fire that cannon and "knock" on the castle gate."
Leon smiled a little, probably relieved to see the old me back. "Alright, let's go!"
-----------------------------------
I watched Leon blast open the large wooden gate with the cannon and grinned a little. I wonder how much its going to cost Salazar to fix that? We headed inside and "amazingly" found the merchant. We bartered with him for a bit and I walked away with a First-Aid Spray hooked onto another belt loop. Leon carried more Pesetas and less Velvet Blues in his possession but it was all good, Velvet Blues don't do jack but sit there and look pretty. Like Ashley.
We walked into the main body of the castle, where directly in front of us, hung the glimmering Platinum Sword. I grabbed it at Leon's request, and followed him upstairs. He eliminated the waiting zealots by riddling them with bullets and breaking necks with suplexes while Caleb helped him out. I waited by the stairs, sword in hand and thought of a song to sing. One cultist stalked a little too closely to me. EW! It was missing most of it's face! It was too close for me to use a grenade but then even if it wasn't it'll be a waste of a limited weapon. In a moment of panic, I stabbed the monk in the gut with the blade. The cultist stared at me in shock at my sudden action before it moaned pitifully and died, falling back and taking the blade with it.
I scrunched up my face at the sight and stepped forward to reclaim the sword when I slipped on the pool of blood. I waved my arms in effort to keep myself balanced but failed when I tipped over and landed on the cultist's side, face slamming against it's chest. Ewww! I stood up quickly, brushed myself off and yanked the blade out, hoping Leon didn't see what happened. A soft chuckle from behind me indicated that he did. I turned and saw that Leon was leaning against the pillar and had an amused expression on his face, even Caleb was supressing a snicker.
Now that I think about it, the agent's stance and expression, I'd bet he'll look twice as sexy doing that if he was wearing the gangster outfit. Ahh...no! Keep feelings in check! My cheeks burned in embarrassment as his grin grew wider.
"Not a word out of you." I growled, wagging the sword threateningly at him as he turned his face slightly a with a smirk. "Keep walking, Agent Kennedy, just keep walking." He couldn't hold back his mirth any longer and bursted out laughing, causing me to blush even more. "Don't make me poke you with this." He waved his mirth away and moved into the upper area, where I looted the room while he stared at the Golden Sword.
"This is stupid." he muttered, eyeing the gold blade and tilting his head to one side. I looked up from his attache case as I tried to cram some pesetas into the his money pouch.
"What is?" I asked as I finally succeeded in stuffing the gold coins into the pouch.
"This whole switching and matching swords thing. It's stupid."
"Okay, so it's stupid. What of it?"
He took the Golden Sword and studied it. "What the hell kind of security system is this?"
"A weak dark ages one." I looked around the room and noticed the many melee weapons lying around. "Hey, can I use one of these as a backup weapon?"
Leon sighed, "Maybe. Anyway, why don't I go down and stick this in the gold slot and you can put that silver one into it's slot? Two for one."
"Okay. And by the way, it's platinum."
"Whatever, I still think this whole thing is stupid." he muttered as he disappeared downstairs to the gold slot. I grinned and strolled over to my slot. I thought I've never live to see the day that Leon starts thinking things are stupid. It was funny and that made this whole adventure all the more enjoyable. The agent is so much fun to be stranded with in enemy territory.
I popped the sword into the mount and watched with a grin as the mount slid aside and revealed the red metal door out of here. Leon was still downstairs, probably collecting items we overlooked. I blushed as I remembered what the merchant said.
(A/N: Another song! The first verse actually. I think it fits nicely. It sorta reflects on what's happening within Rally. Can't Help Falling In Love With You by A-Teens.)
"Oooooo...Doot doo doo doo...I just can't help falling in love with you..." I sang softly to myself. "Wise men say, 'Only fools rush in', but I can't help falling in love with you. Shall I stay? Would it be a sin if I can't help falling in love with you?" Suddenly, the back of my throat went dry and my lungs flared in pain. A cough forced its way from my burning lungs, followed by several powerful ones. I bent over, wrapping my arms around my abdomen and tried to will the pain away.
Damn it...the plaga is growing really fast... wait... I'm having the pain now but why did Leon feel the effects first if he was injected with the parasite last? I'll figure that out later. When the coughing fit subsided, I quickly donned a smile as the agent returned with a box of handgun ammo in one hand. He lifted his brows in surprise at the revealed door as he stuffed a few clips into one the many packs around his waist.
"I guess that's our way out. Let's go." He checked the clip in the Blacktail, decided that it was enough and pushed open the door with a loud creak! I flinched at the rememberance of what that did in the village. The agent held his gun at the ready as we walked out toward the large, open area.
"Leon!" We whirled around and saw Luis sauntering in from behind us. Okay, now that's just weird. We just came from there and the door creaked on us but it didn't make a sound when he stepped through. Creepy.
Leon grinned and lowered his gun in relief. "Luis." I kept up my smile but I was actually worried. This may be the last time we'll see Luis alive.
The spaniard grinned at us, "I've got something for you guys." He fished through his pockets to bring out whatever it was he had, even though I knew exactly what it was. I silently prayed that he had them so to avoid his death. Please have them! Oh, god, please let him have them. "Uh...what?"
My heart sank. Oh, no...
Luis patted his pockets and checked himself over before letting out soft curse. "Oh, shit! I've dropped it when I was running away from them." He narrowed his brown eyes and looked over his shoulder to the door behind him. Got to keep the "scene" going...
"Dropped what?" I asked, hiding the fact that I was depressed at what was going on.
Luis shifted to one leg and looked at us dead in the eye. "It's a drug to stop the convulsions." Leon blinked in confusion and the spaniard sighed, closing his eyes for a brief second. "Look, I know you two are carriers. You've been coughing up blood, right?"
The agent blinked, darkened his gaze and looked away. "...Yeah..."
Luis looked toward me with a grave expression, waiting for my reply and lowered his voice. "And you?"
I haven't yet but Ashley in the game just nodded her answer. I lowered my gaze and nodded.
Sera swore, "Damn it! The eggs have hatched." he hissed and turned away, "We don't have much time."
Leon stepped forward with a slightly angry look in his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
Luis evaded his question by walking to the door, "I have to go back and get it."
Not without protection at least, Luis.
"Let me come with you." I muttered out but Luis shook his head, refusing my help.
"No, you stay here with Leon. He can keep you a lot safer than I could. Besides," The spaniard gave Leon a grin, "he's better with the ladies." I like that line but I wasn't going to let him go without someone to watch his back.
"Luis... At least take Caleb." I said as I motioned the white dog forward. Sera looked over his shoulder and gave me a quizzcal look.
"Why would I need the dog?"
"Because he's been a big help to us so far and I'm sure he can help you." I smiled, "He's saved our lives more than once."
Luis sighed, "Fine. I'll take him if you're that worried about me." Caleb walked forward and joined him by his side. Luis needs an extra pair of eyes and ears... Not to mention, where we are going a dog surely won't survive. Maybe with Caleb's help, Luis can avoid his death... maybe...
"Good."
"Luis, why are you are-?" Leon began to question but paused as Sera raised his hand and began to walk away with Caleb following.
"It makes me feel better..." he answered evasively, his voice dark and tone sad, "Let's just leave it at that." The two of them disappeared back the way we came. I sighed sadly as I followed Leon to a side door to look for the key to open the main door. Why are things so hard to take and change? Why is it things that I don't like never change but things I do...do? Survival horror...that's the name of the game here. It can't be a horror game without the deaths of those you like... but it was no longer a game. These guys are alive, not just some CGI character straight from the game itself. And playing with people's lives like this..for real...sucks. For the first time ever, I ...hated the game for being this way... but like it or lump it...its the way things are. I just hope I can pull off a miracle and save Luis' life...
Alright, Saddle, if anything happens to Luis, Leon won't be the only one hunting your ass down! Salazar... we'll be meeting you soon... asshole...
-----------------------------------------
Whew! Another chappy done! To be honest...I really didn't like what I typed out at the battlements...It just doesn't sound right and it looks like I'm doing all this on purpose to throw myself at Leon, which is what I'm trying to avoid but I won't change it. Anyway, we're about to meet Salazar and I'm gonna make things as interesting as possible; Even change a few things around...like the solo adventure. The solo one ..the level itself will be changed to make it longer and more exciting. I hope you enjoy it when it comes up.
Happy Thanksgiving, my loyal readers!
Chat with ya later!
Pikpixie03
PS
I'm still looking for translators for my Los Illuminados chant. If you can or know someone in that can translate then please tell me or email them about my dilema. I would greatly appreicate it and will worship the ground you walk on or something...Anyway, I'll thank you to no end! E-mail's at my bio if ya need it.
Thank you!
