Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil...and I've just lost two seconds of my life that I'll never get back. Now leave alone you mind-sucking perfectionists!
Authoress' Note: (Please READ) I am SO sorry for taking so damn long with this chappy! You see... I caught by the deadly creative slump and writer's block! le gasp I wasn't able to easily escape, so I had to take time off and play Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles for inspiration. And replay Resident Evil 4 to make sure I wasn't off track, missing items, rooms or what-have-you. But in the end, I was able to escape! Yays for me! So again, I apologize for taking long! I hope you enjoy this chappy and furture ones! Thank you!
Final Note: 122 reviews! Wow, that's a lot for just a fic with 23 chappies. blush I didn't know that I'm becoming an idol to some of you. smile Thank you, you guys are my idols for being there to read my fic. I would love to thank all of you for your lovely reviews and suggestions for this fic!
Everyone gets a Rally bottlecap that says: (pokes button) (Combat Rally w/ a smile and holding a grenade) "Got Grenades?"
RESIDENT EVIL AND LEON FOREVER!! WESKER TOO!
1wingangel and Nicole this fic is for you! May you two continue to bless this fic as I add flavors from both you and I! I shall promise to keep the originallity going! And may you help me along the way, if I stray from this promise. Thank you, truly.
Resident Evil 4: A Fangirl's Dream Come True!
Chapter Twenty-Two: Weapons Exhibit, An Unsuspected Rage And A Dagger?
- Audience Hall
I glared at the hollow Chimera mural as Leon dug around in his attache case for the pieces. Man, the Salazar Family must have been pretty paranoid to create this puzzle. I mean, seriously were those times that bad or did they do it to keep their crazy relatives out? If they did then they missed one. I frowned a bit as the agent set aside the Goat Ornament and rummaged around for the other two pieces. I glanced at it then at the picture. So all that running, shooting, freaking out, losing my innocence, and losing Luis was to gather these three pieces and solve a puzzle.
One fucking puzzle.
Salazar, you crazy ass son of a bitch. You have truly flipped beyond all reason.
Leon smiled as he revealed the other two pieces and handed them to me. He picked up the other one and we stood before the Chimera mural. I handed him the Lion Ornament in exchange for the Goat Ornament and he set the first piece in. The Lion piece clicked into place and we waited for something to happen. Actually, I knew that the wall won't come down until all the pieces were in place. I was just waiting to see if any cultists were gonna barge in before we finished the picture puzzle.
When nothing happened, we proceed with the puzzle. I gave Leon the Goat Ornament and he placed it into its slot right behind the Lion. It clicked into place and we waited to see if any surprises were gonna pop out now. Again, nothing happened and I looked at the Serpent piece. The final piece to the puzzle and the very piece that Luis had died right before my eyes. I went through hell trying to get this one but had to see Luis suffer before I could go get it. It was as if the Serpent Ornament had sank its vemonous fangs into Luis' fate beforehand. Just thinking about him and this thing at same time made me want to chuck the stone piece to the floor and blast it with the shotgun.
Stupid Serpent Oranment.
I pushed aside my anger and pushed the ass end of the Chimera pieces into its spot. At first, nothing happened and I began to growl in frustration. Oh, don't fucking tell me we have to get something else to make it move! After a few seconds, the wall in front of us shuddered as a low rumble sounded. The chimera fresco disappeared from our view as the wall sank to the floor, yielding passage to us and revealed the room beyond.
We both stepped into the new room and Leon's eyes drifted about in search of traps that may spring out. I, on the other hand, began to make my way to the open doorway on the right. Seeing nothing that'll harm us, the agent followed and we went up the stairs. Upon arrival to the room above, the government agent knocked aside the Saddler portrait and grabbed the Gold Bars. I smashed a small vase that sat on a pedstal behind Leon and snatched up a Hand Grenade. Score! Now I have an amazing...one Hand Grenade. Yay, for me!
We stepped onto the balcony that Salazar had been on when we first ran into him. Something sparkled on a wall across from where we were and I suddenly remembered. We never actually got the treasure from this area beforehand. I turned toward Leon and Caleb with a grin.
"Hey, Leon." I called and the agent turned to me. I pointed toward the shiny object, my grin never wavering. "Shoot that shiny thing."
(A/N: For the record... Rally never got the Red Gem from the garden maze. I kinda forgot to add it there and decided to have it get picked up now. Sorry, for any confusion.)
The blonde agent looked wary. "Why?"
I smiled. "Well, important things are shiny. Besides, if its not anything important then we can sell it for pesetas. You can never have too much pesetas out here."
Leon inclined his head at the logic then nodded. "True. Fine, go down stairs and I'll shoot it down."
"Sure." I said as I headed for the stairs. The blonde agent then quickly told Caleb to go with me as he turned to face the shiny object on the wall. The White German Shepherd bounded after me as I took the steps two at time. I scurried over to where the Red Gem would fall and waited for Leon to fire. Caleb looked around, noticing the vases that where there and became curious. He head over to them and knocked one over to look inside.
"Okay, Leon! I got it!" I called as I looked over to see the agent stand on the balcony. I smiled as I watched him judge the levels and raised his gun. As I watched him adjust his aim, I suddenly pictured him differently. In the light of room while he stood on the balcony, he looked... cuter. I then began to imagine how the castle looked back in it's prime and instead of the Salazars in charge, it was Leon's ancestors. I mean, he looked like type to have nobleman's blood, right? Well, anyway, I pictured it in my head and I kinda saw how Leon looked back then, wrapped up in aristocrat clothing. And man, did he look hot in those! I blushed as I pictured him in those clothes, standing on the balcony and addressing to the nobles that used to come here. He looked... so regal... standing there...
WHAM!
I yelped out in pain as my hands flew up to the top of my head and I grimanced after something hard bounced off my skull. Leon yelped out in shock and called out to me in concern. I glanced downward and saw the Red Gem on the carpet at my feet. I glared at it as my hero jumped down from the balcony and jogged up to me.
"Hey, Rally, are you okay?" Leon asked as he approached. I grimanced again from the pain and rubbed the spot where the Gem had slammed onto, then afterwards nodded. The agent smiled a bit in relief. "Good." Then he raised a brow. "I thought you said you had it."
I rubbed the spot gingerly, "Yeah, I got it alright." I frowned at the little red jewel again. Stupid Gem falling on my head while I was picturing Leon as a nobleman. Wait... that was my fault. Gah... these fangirl thoughts are gonna kill me one of these days.
Agent Kennedy scooped up the red jewel and popped it into place on the Elegant Mask. I blinked in confusion. Wasn't the Green Gem supposed to... wait... the Green Gem was already on the mask when I found it. Oh, well, whatever works. We both jumped in surpise at the sudden crash and whirled around, expecting to see at least a half a dozen cultists right there... but all we got was a comical sight.
Caleb had poked his head and half of his body into a vase and now... he couldn't get out. The poor dog was stuck. The German Shepared whined as he tried to crawl back out on his own and ended up just rolling along with the vase. He braced his back paws on the rim of the vase and pushed against it, his bushy tail sticking straight out at the strain. Leon snickered good-naturedly at the sight, shaking his head slightly. I hid a giggle then walked up to help our faithful pooch.
"Aw, poor Caleb. Don't worry, I'll get you out of there real quick, boy." I said gently and Caleb wagged his tail, happy about the news.
Leon crossed his arms over his chest, a brow raised and a teasing smile on his boyish face. "'Poor Caleb'?He's just stuck in vase. He wasn't nearly barbecued by a giant dragon thing."
I cast Leon a sly smile. "I know, but I knew you wouldn't be dumb enough to stand still and get grilled by one." My grin grew wider, "Besides, I recall you saying that you needed to enter that room on your own."
The blonde agent mocked a grimance. "Ooh, got burned there."
I laughed again as I walked over to the white dog. "Yes, my blonde rescuer, you did."
I quickly had Caleb stay still and broke the vase around him with my survival knife. The pieces of vase fell away and Caleb looked up at us in joy, wagging his tail happily. Leon took one look at him and bursted out in laughter again and I loved his laughed. I glanced at our furry friend to see why would the handsome agent be laughing about and what I saw made me laugh as well. Caleb looked at us both, wondering what could make an agent and a college girl laugh. I'll tell you; he had a piece of vase sitting on his head like a hat. Caleb cocked his head to one side and made the scene all the more funny.
After our laughing fit, we ventured through the door that was on a small flight of stairs. Beyond it was another tramcar and rail, plus goodies sitting on either side of the tiny platform. Leon and I each took a side and cracked open the small vases to see what was there. The agent discovered Spinel and I found a box of shotgun shells, which I handed to Leon right away. We climbed aboard the tramcar and settled into our seats, Caleb sitting next to me with a happy look on his face. I had to smile and give the dog a good scratch behind the ears at which the agent grinned as the White German Shepherd panted in delight.
The tramcar pulled away from the platform much more smoothly that the first one and we silently went down the rail to our next destination. The gentle rocking of the little car was more than enough to soothe Leon into a drowsy state, though he did try to fight it off.
"Want me to sing you to sleep again, Leon?" I teased as he stretched out on his side.
He smirked, "No, thank you."
I acted miffed. "Oh? And why not? Don't like my singing?"
"You're singing is fine, Rally. But if I'm going to close my eyes, I only want to nap, not sleep the whole day away." Agent Kennedy teased back even though his eyelids drooped slightly and started closing. I grinned as he mumbled something about Ada once more and he was fast asleep. Caleb soon followed the agent's example, curling up on the floor to sleep. I stayed awake a bit longer, enjoying the soft breeze that whipped around us as the little tramcar continued its journey to the otherside of the castle.
Then I curled up on my seat and fell asleep, dreaming about my family that waited for me at home...
I felt a gentle nudge in my sleep and opened my eyes sleepily, blinking slowly so that the world could come into focus. Except, the only world that seemed to come into focus was an electric blue world. I blinked a bit more rapidly in confusion. What the-?
"Hey, Rally. The railcar stopped moving, we're here... wherever we are." Leon said softly and I suddenly realized that I was staring right into his eyes. He wasn't that close to me but he was leaning toward me while he was shaking me awake. I blinked and hid a blush that threatened to spring out. Keep a leash on fangirl stuff. I'm his friend, remember that Rally, his friend. Nothing more, nothing less and be grateful. No fangirl thoughts. Bad fangirl thoughts.
I sat up slowly, at least enough for him to back away as I sat upright. I pretended to rub the sleep from my eyes, which was difficult to do with Wesker's shades still on my face. Leon eyed the shades with a raised brow, the dark glasses finally catching his interest. Or maybe they had already caught his interest but was he only now just showing his curiousity.
"Rally," Leon hesitated as he gently plucked them from my face, "where did you get these sunglasses?"
I watched him as he studied them critically and hid a gulp. "I, uh...had them..." I glanced downward and noticed my sidepack, still strapped around my waist. "...in my pouch!"
"The whole time?" he questioned as he continued to look over them carefully. I nodded silently as the agent tilted his head to study the shades in a different angle.
"Y-yeah. They were my father's and he gave them to me six years ago." I lied, hoping Leon would buy the story and give me back those shades. He looked over the sunglasses for another minute before he flicked his gaze to me, blue eyes slightly narrowed.
"Come on, we need to keep moving." Leon said, giving me the shades back and therefore dropping the current subject for our mission on getting the hell out of this castle. But from the tone of his voice... I think he didn't believe me and duh, yeah, I'm lying to him but he didn't know that. Did he?
"Uh, right." I agreed, tucking the shades into the pouch to prove that I "hid" them there. And I think I saw Leon narrow his eyes again at my action but then it could just very well be me. We got off the tramcar, Caleb sniffing around for snakes as Leon set to work on breaking the two vases right next to the little railcar. I went around to the other side of the platform and broke the vase that was there, then moved to the large painting that hung on the wall. It was a lovely piece of art, no doubt the original painting, so I carefully removed it from the wall.
And behind it was a large hole about the exact same length of the painting. That puzzled me, why would the hole be that big if it was just hiding a small stack of Gold Bars? Well, I can't really blame Salazar for this because he wasn't the one that built the hole. But I can blame him for being stupid as to use that much space for gold bars. He could at least hide something a bit more worthwhile in it, like a Rocket Launcher. But no, he just hid his cheap secret stash of gold. I looked at the hole, it was big enough to fit a person in it.
I smiled mischieviously.
"Hey, Leon! Check this out!"
The agent turned to see what was up and did a double take, staring at me in confusion. I laughed as from my little spot as I held my pose, trying to keep still.
Leon raised a brow at me. "Rally, what the hell are you doing?" he asked as Caleb wagged his tail as if clapping for my performance.
I grinned, "I'm a statue."
Agent Kennedy gave me a half grin as he walked toward where I was, studying my pose. I smiled as he looked up at me as I stood in the tall hole in the wall. "Well, you're not getting points for that pose."
I stiffened, frowning playfully from my spot. "And why not?"
His half grin bloomed into a boyish smile and I was real close on jumping from my spot and tackling him to the marble floor for that smile. He was cute as it is but that smile made him ultra sexy, no wonder Ada hid in the dark. I bet she was secretly taking pictures of him smiling then staring at them for hours on end. I wonder if she could give me copies if I asked her?
"Because, my sassy friend, no one's going to believe your "helpless girl" pose-" He waved a hand to himself, "-if you wearing same outfit as me while having grenades around your waist, along with two guns strapped to your legs."
I tilted my head at his answer then realized, even though he was teasing, he was right. I hopped down from the hole and gave him a half grin. "You're no fun." I teased as I handed him the Gold Bars.
He took them and stuffed them into his attache case while still smiling. "Yes, I know. I'm a fun sucker." He chuckled as he brought out the Blacktail, "Now, let's go suck the fun from Salazar by going through his stuff."
I smiled as I brought out my Handgun, "Aha! I knew you would enjoy this sooner or later! Let's go!"
- Corridor Of Royalty (name from the Wii version player's guide)
As soon as we stepped past the door, we were greeted by a sweet smell that filtered from the room. I took a quick whiff of it and recognized it instantly as the lovely smell of the outdoors. The area here was much warmer compared to the rest of the castle (except for the Dragon Room obviously) and we both welcomed the warmth. The walls were painted a dark emerald green and trimmed with dark wood. Paintings, a few I assumed were portraits of the Salazar Family, filled the walls in a tasteful manner, really bringing the room together. We lowered our weapons and stepped further into the room, looking around in awe as Caleb sat down and waited for us to move out.
"Wow..." Leon breathed as he allowed his eyes to take in the lovely decor. "This is really nice."
I nodded in agreement. "I know, it's so beautiful here." I smiled slightly, letting the warm breeze that filled the room, from unseen open windows, soothe my nerves. I didn't know that my body was that tense. Even Leon relaxed at the pleasant slience of the corridor. I took a step closer to one of the paintings, examing it as the agent wander off to scope out the northern half of the area. Caleb had gone off to sniff around, probably make sure there weren't any traps as I looked at a painting of a lovely young woman. I guess she was the wife of one of the castellans several decades back.
"Hey, Leon. This area is pretty safe, maybe we can find some clues around here." I said as checked my Handgun, half a clip, not too bad.
"My thoughts exactly," the agent remarked as he returned from his search of the northern corridor. "Besides, we can't go further. The doors that lead out of here are locked by a lattice."
I pretened to grimance at the news. "I guess the key's gotta be here somewhere."
Agent Kennedy shook his head. "It's not locked by normally. It's another one of Salazar's crazy puzzles."
I sighed. As if we don't get enough of those. Thank you Salazar, now give yourself a great big kick in the ass. "Okay, what's this one about?"
"'A toast to our Royal Majesty.'" Leon said, quoting the inscription he had found on his search, "It's repeated twice, one on each bust that I found. Apparently, we need to find and bring back two grails that belong to the King and Queen."
I frowned, knowing exactly what this meant and still feeling a bit disappointed. Even Caleb whimpered at the news. And why is this a surprise? You know the game and this adventure is following it to the letter, mostly. You knew that it was going to happen! It's not like Salazar's gonna open the back door, let you go through and give you a box of assorted cookies as an apology for all the shit that's been happening.
No, but it would have been nice.
"Whoopie-fucking-doo... another scavenger hunt." I griped dryly, "We must be lucky to have a host like him."
Leon grinned at the sarcasm that dripped from my tone. "Yes, how fortunate we must be." He glanced at the map, "Left or right?"
I walked to his side and looked at th map he held and pointed to the room on the left, marked on the parchment. Correction: our right since we're facing south. "The Weapon Exhibit sounds promising. Maybe we can find a new weapon there as well as one of the grails."
Th agent nodded in agreement as he rolled up the map and placed it in his attache case. "Okay, and if we're lucky we can find both grails in the room." He sighed as he brought out his weapon. "Come on, let's go see what fun shit Salazar has planned for us."
I brought out my own weapon and followed the agent as he headed toward the door that led to the Weapon Exhibit. Caleb stuck close to us as we went, ears open for near silent noise and nose on alert for hidden smells. I smiled as Leon grabbed the knob on the door. Man, the three of us make a pretty good team. My smile faltered. But if Luis had survived, the four us would have been an excellent team. Perhaps enough to help Chris and Jill keep Umbrella down.
-Weapon Exhibit
Leon opened the door slightly, quickly letting his eyes survey the room first before pushing the golden door all way and let the barrel of his gun sweep the room once more. All was clear as I hoped it was as I joined him the room, letting myself look around the room to make sure there were no changes. And nothing had changed in the rather dull weapons room, it was still had all those axes and swords; one of the weapons caught my interest and the room still had the odd chessboard-like floor. There were two suits of armor on pedastals in the center of the room and surrounding them, besides the cheap white and orange tiles, were four large red tiles.
The agent ignored the door with the golden Las Plagas seal on it and headed straight for the door on the left. He jiggled the knob and frowned, seeing that it was locked on the eastern side. I inspected the red tiles and to my relief, they were pressure pads just like in the game. Suddenly, Caleb growled and scrabbled at the northern door, whimpering in frustration that the door refused to move. Leon turned away from his door and quickly went to Caleb as I did the same.
"What's up, Caleb? What did you find?" the blonde agent asked as Caleb whined and scrabbled at the door a bit more furiously with his claws. Leon narrowed his eyes at the dog's desperation then quickly examined the Las Plagas seal door, cursing under his breath since it was locked as well. But before I was able to mention the inscription, he found it himself, tilting his head as confusion filled his blue gaze. "'Four Knights shall clear the path'? What four knights?"
"Us." I answered, causing him to turn to me in surprise. I smiled as I slid a step to the side to let him see the two Knights in the center of the room as well as the red pressure pads. I almost sighed in dreamy satisfaction as I saw the agent's eyes light up at the answer.
"I get it." Agent Kennedy mumbled as he made his way to the twin Knights. He stopped by one and started pushing it to one of the back pads, intent on solving this puzzle and see what was behind door number one. I grinned as I headed to the other one and started pushing it to the other back pad, intent on helping the cute blonde solve the puzzle and confront Salazar.
Together, Leon and I were able to push our Knights onto the back pressure pads as Caleb watched our backs. After the red tiles sunk to the floor, we jogged over to the front pads, the ones facing the Las Plagas door, and stood on them. The pressure pads sank in and leveled off with the floor and the door in front of us slid upwards, showing us the next room. Leon brought out the Blacktail and I got out the Handgun, readying ourselves for whatever came. I quickly told Caleb to stay in the room. There was no point of bringing him with us into the next room, not with that killer ceiling and the drill coming afterwards.
- Falling Ceiling Room
Leon and I enetered the next room and growled as we spotted Salazar waiting for us. He had his back to us, gazing at the angelic portraits that decorated the light brown room. Leon focused his gaze at little Castellan while my eyes flickered to the floor. There were a pool of dried blood splattered near the other door and yes, the floor had the numerous holes in it. Gee, I wonder what they're for?
"I think you've lived long enough." Salazar said casually, earning a glare and a low growl from the agent. The little midget smirked as he looked over his shoulder, an evil glint in his yellow eyes. "Let's see if you can survive this time." He raised his arm over his head and flicked his hand as a signal.
At first nothing happened, but then the door behind us slammed shut and a low rumble echoed through out the room. Leon whipped around and watched the door, letting his eyes go over the wall warily to see what was going to happen. A shower of dust and the shuddering sound above us caused the agent to look up and stare in shock as the ceiling quivered from where it was. Long metal spikes slid out in unsion with a loud shh-ink! from the ceiling.
I took aim at the ceiling while Salazar let out his trademark giggle. Leon lowered his gaze and snarled, firing his weapon at the little fleeing Spainard. The round whizzed through the air and missed as the eighth Castellan disappeared through the open doorway and locked it. We were trapped in the room as the ceiling began to decend. The agent hissed angrily, cursing the round for missing his target.
"Leon, forget the little fucker! Focus! We got our own problem!" I snapped, aiming for one of the red flashing lights as the ceiling shuddered its way down. Leon glared at the door Salazar had disappeared through a moment longer before turing his vision to the red lights. I fired on one light, shattering it and discovered a terrible thing.
The ceiling was dropping faster.
"We're gonna have to be quick!" Leon called, noticing the rate the spiked ceiling was going. He fired at the light next to him and the ceiling began to pick up on speed right after the light's destruction. Two lights down and ten more feet to go before the spikes reach us.
We both aimed at the final two lights and I prayed that hitting the two at the same time wouldn't drop the whole ceiling on us. Suddenly, the spikes surrounding the final two lights began to pop in and out of their holes, creating a barricade. But what was worse was the fact that the other spikes had lengthen and began to pop in and out as well, only at random times.
"Shit!" I hissed as we dodged the spikes, making it that much harder to target the lights. The ceiling was less than seven feet above us and getting closer. We aimed at the lights and fired but we timed it incorrectly and the spikes blocked the rounds. "Damn it!"
"Just keep firing!" the agent said, hissing in pain as one of the spikes grazed his right arm. The ceiling was now five and half feet above us as we fired wildly in hopes of hitting the two lights at the same time.
Five feet.
I dodged a spike again and fired, the round going wide.
Four feet.
Leon arched his body to the side to dodge a spike and fired, missing the light too.
Three and half feet.
Caleb automatically began to snarl and bark from the other side of the sealed door. I guess Salazar ran into him. I mentally rolled my eyes as I fired. Duh, Salazar has to get past Caleb to leave the exhibit; unless he as a secret passage to go through and Caleb is just barking because he knows we're in trouble.
Two and half feet.
We're running out of ammo!
Two feet.
Leon and I fired the last rounds of our clips.
One and half feet.
Agent Kennedy glared at the door Salarzar escaped into, eyes burning in rage. I closed my eyes and prayed that those rounds won't miss. Come on, come on!
One foot.
There was the sounds of glass breaking and the ceiling lurched to a halt a lound BAM! The mechanical gears within the walls screeched, straining to stop the trap as the door that Salazar fled into unlocked. I cracked open my eyes and looked around as the blonde agent looked up at the ceiling warily. We both froze and waited to see if anything was going to jump out at us. When nothing happened, Leon slapped in a fresh clip and glared at the door that led into the accursed hall. And I stared in surpise as I saw his eyes give off a small but harsh glow.
I involuntarily shivered at the sight, knowing that the agent was pissed. Or was it part of the plaga's still limited control? Suddenly, Caleb let out a yelp of pain and the entrance to the exhibit open then close.
Salazar had escaped.
Leon snapped.
"That son of a bitch is gonna pay for this!" he snarled, running over to the door, kicked it off its hinges and bolted through.
"Leon, wait!" I cried as I grabbed the box of handgun ammo, holstering my empty gun and chased after him. I have to stop him! He's not thinking clearly! Damn that plaga! By the time I reached the door, Leon had already rounded the corner at a dead run. "Leon! Slow down!"
-Death's Hall
I entered the tiny hall and headed for the corner, poking my head around it and found that Leon was already more than half way down the corridor. Which, I noticed, was a bit more longer than in the game. I growled and went around the corner, entering the hallway as the agent blazed into the storage room. I took a few running steps further into the hall when a sudden low growl of machinery sounded behind me and the whole hall quaked.
I spun around in surprise at the noise. Now?! But I'm not near the storage room yet!
CRASH!
The wall in front of me exploded into bits and chunks of rubble as the drill tank, driven by two zealots, plowed through the stone. The giant whirring and snarling machine scared the hell out of me as I whirled back around and took off in sprint. The corridor now seemingly far longer than before and I felt like I was just running in place.
"LEON!" I screamed as the drill tank rumbled after me, the monks eager to either drill me to death or just plain run me over. I didn't care, all I wanted was to get away from them as fast as possible. Agent Kennedy whipped around and stared in shock at the giant metal thing covered in spikes; the drill attached on the front screeched for blood as the sides of the drill tore into the walls, seemingly feasting upon the destruction.
Leon mouthed out a curse as he ran forward but a metal gate dropped down and barred his path. He braced his legs and tried to lift it but it refused to budge, locked onto the floor until the trap either did its job or someone shut it off. "Rally!"
My lungs ached for air and the muscles in my legs screamed for a break, but I knew I couldn't stop running. So, I imagined the drill tearing into my back, ripping a hole in me and I found the capacity to run faster. The sounds of my ragged breathing was lost to the snarling of the drill as it clawed its way toward me.
All other noise was drowned out by the whirring death trap, except for the high whine of bullets that whizzed above me. I glanced forward and saw that Leon was firing madly at the grinning zealots with the Blacktail. But the shots were being deflected by the drill and the monks cackled at the futile attempts.
"Semi-Auto!" I yelled, raising my voice so Leon could hear me. "Use the rifle!"
Leon threw the Blacktail aside to his right and brought out the attache case and struggled with it, trying to get the Semi-Auto rifle. Ignoring the dried blood stains that covered the floor, I ran faster, hoping to gain more ground and-
WHAM!
-I bounced off something hard in front of me. I blinked upwards in confusion, ignoring the pain that coursed through me and then stared in horror at what stopped me.
It was another metal gate.
Shit.
I rattled the gate, even rammed it but it wouldn't budge. I stared at Leon helplessly as he fumbled with the rifle, clearly scared and angry at the same time. Then I looked over my shoulder and stared in terror as the drill tank ripped at the walls to get to me.
So this is it for me.
I closed my eyes and bowed my head.
Rumble, rumble...!
WHIRRRRRRR...!
Rumble, rumble!
It's game over for me...
BLAM!
The gate in front of me slid up and I fell forward, lying a daze, confused as to what was going on.
"RALLY! RUN!!" Leon screamed and I snapped out of my daze and confusion. I scrambled to my feet and raced down the hall with mixed emotions coursing through me. Fright and delight won over the others as I blitzed my way toward my hero. But how did Leon open that gate?
I dared a peek over my shoulder and saw the answer. Ohh, two drivers... two gates. The agent had nailed one of the pilots, the headless corpse slumped in its seat. The other crazy cultist driver didn't seem to care, only grinning insanely as he continued to drive the drill forward.
Fucking pyscho.
Leon aimed for the other zealot as both the drill and I neared the end of the corridor. But I quickly pulled ahead, gaining an easy ten feet. To be honest, I was exhausted both physically and emotionally as I collapsed against the gate, panting harshly. The agent blasted the second monk, its head shattering into a messy rain of blood and the gate shot up at the Illuminado's death. My hero smiled at their deaths but his expression of relief quickly switched to alarm as he noticed that the drill wasn't stopping.
Reaching out for me, Leon hastily lifted me up, held me close as he turned and ran from the door, throwing the rifle next to the Blacktail. He quickly went to the farthest corner away from the door as the snarl of the machine finally reached the doorway. It slammed into the wall and the drill tore at it, sending chunks of stone flying as it plowed through. Leon pressed himself against me, sandwitching me into the corner protectively as the debris flew everywhere. The drill tank collided into the next wall and drilled a hole in it, sending more stones flying. But soon the roar of the engine turned into a dying choke as the machine finally stopped moving and it settled to the floor with a soft sigh.
Dust filled the air as the agent eased himself away hesitantly, watching the machine for anything else with a wary eye. Other than the hissing of the overheated engine, the drill tank was no longer functioning and therefore no longer a hostility. Which is more than enough to say that nothing else was going to get us for a while. The dust settled as the blonde agent backed away to check on me as I slumped against the corner, breathing heavily.
"Are you okay, Rally?" he asked softly, placing his hands on my shoulders reassuringly.
"Y-yeah. Th-thanks, Leon." I answered tiredly, taking deep breaths to calm my jittering nerves and recover as quickly as possible. And stop my body from quivering from the aftermath of an andrenaline rush and the shock of what had taken place a few minutes ago. Leon smiled at me before he moved away to recollect his weapons. I blew my breath out and forced my body to stop shaking as the agent checked the guns over.
Afterwards, I helped him loot the room, grabbing another box of handgun ammo as the agent returned to his foul mood and muttered to himself. I frowned disapprovingly as I picked up the Velvet Blue and Spinel. Leon dumped the box of rifle ammo into his attache case as well as the box of shotgun shells he found. He then poured the pesetas into his money pouch before opening the cabinet and grabbing the Elegant Chessboard and shoving it into his case.
I followed him silently as he stalked over to where the red chest was and watched as he flicked the lid open. The agent peered inside, his eyes darkening as he reached in and grasped the item inside. He pulled it out and in his hand was the Queen's Grail. He glared at it.
"He nearly killed you twice for this." he hissed, referring to the golden goblet, "To protect this thing! You nearly died because he wanted to protect a fucking cup!"
From the way he was glaring at it, I was sure that Leon was on the verge of crushing the grail in his hand. I reached over and wrenched the important item from his grip. He glared at me and I glared back. "Leon, it's not just a cup! It's a key! One of the keys we need to get the hell out of here!"
"But-!"
"But nothing! We need this thing and you know it!" I snapped, then lowered my eyes as I spoke softly. "Besides, this isn't like you, Leon. You're scaring me."
At those words, Leon stared at me in surprise, completely shocked about what I said. I lifted my gaze and saw that the darkness in his eyes had faded and they returned to their normal bright hue. His shoulders slumped and lowered his gaze in shame for letting his rage (and the plaga, but I'm not telling him about it yet) get ahold of him and cloud his judgement.
"I-I'm sorry, Rally..." Leon mumbled, "I almost got you killed for being like that..."
I smiled at him, trying to cheer him up and put this behind us. "Hey, it's okay, Leon. I'm still alive thanks to you! So everything's all right. It wasn't your fault." I said reassuringly. Right, it was going to happen whether you were calm or not. Nothing you can do about it, really. Damn castle psychos and parasites. "Come on, let's go pick up Caleb and find the King's Grail."
Leon gave a small boyish grin, "Right. But before we go frolicking to the next item and our next near-death experience, I suggest a break at the merchant's place."
I smirked. "Sure, why not? We earned it!"
I packed away the grail as the agent kicked the door open.
-Weapon Exhibit
We enetered the room and found Caleb curled on the floor in a heap. We stared in surprise before running over to him and checking him out. At first, I thought that Salazar had killed the dog but it seemed he was only able to kick Caleb pretty hard. The midget had bruised the dog's leg, other than a slight limp, Caleb was perfectly fine. I breathed out a sigh of relief as Leon gave the dog a good scratch behind the ears. I found out why.
Caleb had jumped Salazar as he was fleeing and bit him the ass.
I giggled as Leon took the scrap of bluish cloth from Caleb's mouth and packed it away a souviner. As the agent packed away the rifle he had carried over to the room, I took a look around the weapons and found the dagger that caught my interest. It was beautifully made, the design was familiar but I couldn't quite remember from where I saw it before. Other than having the stupid Los Illuminados insigna. Anyway, it was sleek and can be easily hidden. I tucked it into my boot as Leon finished packing his gear and called me over.
"Okay, Rally, let's go!"
"Alright! Time for a break!" I cooed to Caleb. "We're getting a break! Isn't that great, boy?"
Caleb barked happily, obviously agreeing to the idea.
"Yeah, now let's go before the two of you spazz from the excitment." Leon teased, opening the door. I smiled and followed him with the White German Shepherd keeping close.
"Right, says the agent who's more than happy for break." I teased back, "Maybe we can try the shooting range again!"
And the three of us left as a figure stepped from the shadows and smiled.
"Just a little bit more..." the figured said softly.
WHOOT! Another chappy DONE! FINALLY! No thanks to that stupid creative slump and writer's block, a deadly combo those two. I'm so sorry for such a long delay! Anyway, that's a shocker huh? Leon getting all that pissed, who would have thought? And man, those traps. I had to play the same file several times to make sure I describe both traps well enough to satisfy you readers. Well, I hope it's good enough for you guys.
So, what funny, cute and exciting thing should do in the next chappy? I have an idea but I want to hear you guys' pitches too. Nothing's more exciting than seeing several ideas blend together to make a real good chapter!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chappy and thank you all for sticking by me and waiting for these slow updates.
Chat with ya later!
Wait... hold on. Don't go anywhere until you guys at least give me a review. A lot people read my fic but don't leave a review. I can't do a better job unless I know how you liked the chapter. I use reviews as a way to imporve my writing to keep you guys on the edge of your seats! I'm aiming to have at least ten reviews between chappies, that way I know that I still got fans out there!
See that little purple box that says "Submit Review"? It's on the bottom left hand corner of your screen. See it now? Good. Click "Go". Go on. Click it. Now type in what you like (or don't like) about the chapter and submit it. See? Wasn't that easy? Don't glare at me like that. You're not gonna break your fingers by typing in a few sentences, now are you? Besides, I always reply to my reviews!
Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
...Okay, you can go now.
