While the city slept uneasily as the police fought off the dregs of the zombie invasion, Albert Wesker regained consciousness. After escaping Chris and his mysterious angelic partner, he had managed to retreat back to the hideout on foot back to a group of Ganado ready to begin their invasion of New York. The first thing he noticed was the green liquid that he was submerged in, then myriad of equipment he was attached to. He briefly considered breaking the tube containing the liquid open but reluctantly decided against it, whoever was taking care of him would not appreciate him trashing their equipment. With a controlled patience he tapped on the glass with his finger expecting that something was watching over his recuperation.
His expectations were fulfilled as a set of robotic arms descended from the roof of the tank and clamped onto his shoulders in order to brace him. The liquid drained out from the bottom of the tube and the myriad of cords attached to him began to fall away and the tube lifted up to reveal his caretaker. "About time" M.O.D.O.K commented as his partner in crime shrugged off the metal arms and walked forward uninhibited. "How long was I out for?" Wesker asked grabbing a towel proffered by a robotic servant and drying his body off. "Twelve hours or so give or take; has been bitching about you for awhile now." Wesker didn't answer, the zombie invasion had not been authorized by Doom but it wasn't as if he had given away their location or anything. "Once you're done come to the meeting room on the second floor. That insufferable fool has called a meeting to discuss his plans for the future."
Wesker grunted his confirmation causing M.O.D.O.K to turn around and begin to exit "Prepare for a dressing down." The mad robot advised with a small giggle before flying out of the room. Disposing the towel on the floor Albert returned to his room to change out of the metal diaper he had been wearing in the tank. After a fresh change of clothes including his favorite trench coat and a fresh pair of shades he skulked over to the meeting room. It was barren save for a round table where the other members of his group were sitting around. Taking a seat he surveyed everyone dispassionately. M.O.D.O.K sat to his left grinning nastily in anticipation for what was coming. Super Skrull sat on his right looking extremely bored while Magneto sat next to M.O.D.O.K with a look that was all business,
Their "leader" Dr. Doom sat between Super Skrull and Magneto with his elbows on the table and his hands grasped in front of him, a typical villain pose. Despite the fact he couldn't see Doom's face Wesker was sure the villain was scowling at him. "I hope you enjoyed your little excursion Wesker" The Tricell agents face did not betray the smallest hint of emotion "It was enlightening" he replied simply. "Be thankful that your actions have not betrayed our presence to anyone." Doom said "Do that again without our permission and you shall suffer the consequences. Doom will see to that personally." Everyone at the table shifted slightly from the tension that was mounting. "I'll keep that in mind, let's discuss the plan."
Doom hit a button on his wrist which activated the overhead projector. A map of New York splayed itself over the wall to the north of where they sat forcing a few of them to crane their necks to view it properly. "From the info Doom has gathered the Avengers have assembled and now lead the attack on your bio weapons." "The original Avengers" Magneto asked. "Mostly, Doom's intel did not see Hawkeye with them but otherwise the original group has gathered. They have done a decent job cleaning up your mess Wesker." Underneath the table Wesker's fist tightened, he was a god, how dare Doom needle him so cavalierly.
"What of the Fantastic Four" Super Skrull asked his boredom transforming into keen interest "Have they arrived yet?" Doom shook his head "Not yet, but if the note intel Doom has gathered is correct their arrival into this world will be staggered throughout the next several months." Super Skrull fell back into his seat with a scowl. Wesker rested his head on his hands, his stare focused solely on Doom. Where could he have gotten such information? The Tricell agent couldn't help but believe that Doom was hiding information from them. How they had formed into the group they were now was a prime example of Doom using some sort of incredible foresight too accurate to be simple predictions.
Wesker had not been in this world for less than a day before one of Doom "Doombots" had picked him up and explained the situation to him. Apparently he and a few others had been transported to this world with many more on their way. The Doombot had given an offer Wesker couldn't refuse, join with or die right there. Normally Wesker would have declared he was a god before trashing the robot but he was low on the virus he used to fuel his super speed and strength. Deciding that living in temporary partnership was better than dying again he reluctantly took up Doom's offer with the promise he could have his own lab. He quickly learned, however, that even with his powers at their full strength Doom would prove to be a real thorn in his side so Wesker decided to bide some time and to stay in the group. From within Doom's group he planned to go about his own business biding his time to revitalize the total global saturation infection plan.
He wasn't exactly chummy with the other villains at first but he was aware they all knew each other as acquaintances. After he had partnered up with M.O.D.O.K the robot filled him in. Apparently he and Doom had worked together as part of some sort of conspiracy group with several others, they were not friends in the slightest. Super Skrull and Doom shared protagonists with a super hero group called the Fantastic Four; they just barely tolerated each other. Magneto and Doom knew of each other but didn't have any connection with each other. The fact that the insufferable genius had surrounded himself with people who hated him was both advantageous and telling. It meant he was alone in any secret projects he might have been scheming up but if he was that unconcerned with the group rebelling against him he had a hidden ace or was powerful enough to command their respect and loyalty.
M.O.D.O.K had also informed him that Doom had gathered everyone else in the same manner he had approached Wesker. Obviously he had known ahead of time where each of them would be and how vulnerable they'd be having just woken up into this world. It was apparent that whatever his "intel" was it was the thing or person that had put them into this parallel dimension. Even if they had figured it out Doom had been absolutely silent about the whole thing and whenever pressed for info he would deny that anyone other than his own technologies were giving him information pertaining to this situation and threatened to kill whoever the poor soul asking him was if he kept probing.
After giving it some thought Wesker decided he ultimately didn't care, this summons to the parallel dimension had pulled him from death's grasp offering him another shot at his goals as well as Chris Redfield's head. Who cared if someone was pulling strings behind the scenes, after all he was god and soon even the manipulator would bow before him. Pulling himself out of his reverie he leaned forward "What's the next step of our plan? Are we going to kill the Avengers before they get out of hand?" Doom shook his head and used the remote to zero in on Stark Tower "No, we shall leave the heroes to continue running about clueless of their own situation. Using this time while they are unaware of our presence, we shall strike and secure some important supplies. M.O.D.O.K, you shall launch an attack on Stark Tower using the robots you've been building. There is some tech there we shall need if we want to continue on to phase two of our plan." The killing machine cackled "I suppose this is going to be a hand off sort of mission then?" Doom nodded "Doom doesn't want our presence to be noticed yet. Make sure your robots can't be traced back to us."
Pulling a memory stick out of his cape pocket he slid it across the table to M.O.D.O.K. "What tech Doom wants is on the stick. Feel free to show it to anyone you want but Doom doubts anyone else here would understand it." Picking it up the machine placed it into a compartment of its chair. "Ohhh, I can't wait." Doom then turned to Magneto "I want you to infiltrate Trask Industries and place every Sentinel in there under your command. Phase four requires a lot of fire power and having those robots on our side will make taking on enemy mutants easier." For the first time since he had met him Wesker watched as Magneto's face changed from dignified neutral to something resembling keen dislike. "I detest having to rely on something used to eliminate mutant kind. Surely your own Doombots would be far more capable of shoring up our offence then scrap refashioned in such an odious way?"
"Doombots are not to be used for any trivial reason. The Sentinel units are far more capable at dealing with mutants than Doombots. Your feelings have no place in our plans." Magneto said nothing but something in the room began to rise. The metallic walls seemed to shake as if an earthquake had enveloped them. Wesker leaned back in his seat very intrigued about the display of power, he had heard of Magneto's innate ability to control metal but he had never seen it in action. He watched as a low wave passed through the area giving everything an extra rattle as it went before it came upon Doom. The tyrant's armor rattled ominously as Magneto controlled every aspect of the armor encasing him. Doom's foot tapped for a moment then stopped, his fingers would stretch reflexively then close into a fist, his mask would skewer slowly from left to right as if Magneto wanted to twist the head from Doom's shoulders. Still the genius did nothing to stop it, he just leveled his gaze at the mutant. Then it stopped, the walls shaking, the increased level of tension, and Doom's unwilled moving.
Magneto sat back in his seat "Very well." The tension diffused rapidly and silently with the only sounds being the click of Wesker putting his gun's safety back on, M.O.D.O.K cooling his chairs lasers, and Super Skrull's petrified fist returning to flesh form. Without missing a beat Doom turned to him and Super Skull. "You two shall stay here. You'll both be needed in the phases to come." They both grunted their consent causing Doom to stand up "You have your orders. I suggest you carry them out to the best of your abilities." Without wasting anytime the villains left quickly to go attend to their own affairs. As he walked down the hallway M.O.D.O.K caught up to him "Go to my lab. We'll talk there." He ordered with a giggle before jetting away.
Wesker spent the next two hours restocking his supply of personal virus and organizing the data he had gathered when fighting Chris and the angel. While the angel hadn't presented any threat to him or the group he decided to with hold his information about her from Doom. The man was already carrying a large amount of secrets with him and while the angel was no ace in the sleeve it comforted Wesker on a petty level that Doom didn't know everything there was to know. When the two hours were up he discreetly entered M.O.D.O.K's lab using his super speed to boost himself past the cameras.
The mad face machine was waiting for him in front of another lab tube, one among hundreds as far as the eye could see. In it was the makings of another Nemesis, the human had already been injected with another batch of the enhanced T-Virus and was mutating normally. "Please try not to break this one; these aren't cheap to make you know." M.O.D.O.K grumbled as Wesker sidled up next to him. Uninterested with the monstrosity growing in front of him he turned his head and stared at the robot. "What do you want M.O.D.O.K? This can't be all." Hovering closer to the Tricell agent M.O.D.O.K activated a white force field obscuring them from any cameras Doom might have set up, it was soundproof as well. From his headband came a flashing red light that ran down the both of them surveying for any bugs on their persons before stopping with a beep to assure them it was safe to talk.
"Dear old Doctor Doom has both of us under heavy surveillance after you last stunt." The robot informed him "I've found five hidden cameras here that weren't here yesterday." "Did you destroy them?" Wesker asked "No you fool; he'd know we're up to something." M.O.D.O.K replied angrily "What I'm saying is that we'll have to put our plan on hiatus for awhile until tin can becomes focused on something else." "How long do you think that'll take?" Wesker answered evenly despite the fact his blood was beginning to boil. "How should I know?" M.O.D.O.K spat back "It'll probably take to part way into phase three in the least unless something really unexpected happens. A dangerous enough threat to make him concentrate on destroying it at least, I've worked with this guy before and he can keep his sights set on something for a pretty insane amount of time."
Sighing, Wesker pushed his shades up his nose a bit higher "I guess I'm grounded til then." He mentally noted that when he betrayed Doom to make sure to take his sweet time with grinding the man's bones to dust. "While you're sitting here on your ass I'd like you to take another gander at this." From his arm of his chair M.O.D.O.K extracted a memory stick "Here's the recipe of my batch of Uroboros, it's still not giving me the desired results so I want you to look it over and see if you remember anything else about the formula." He pocketed the stick in his coat "Will do." Their conversation over M.O.D.O.K retracted the force field allowing Wesker to return to his room.
Deciding that this was as good a time as any the Tricell agent put the memory stick in his computer and opened the file. M.O.D.O.K's formula popped up on screen listing at least a hundred chemicals and the incredibly specific combinations he had used in his failed batch. Before he began to scroll through the file he wrote down a number of things on his "to-do" list. Along with violently tearing Chris apart, and ordering several new pairs of sunglasses he added grinding down Doom's bones, checking up on the new Nemesis as well as exacting his revenge on the angel. Even with all those projects the only thing Wesker could do was lift a hand to support his chin as he reviewed the recipe in front of him.
As dawn blossomed New York City woke itself from a long and troubled sleep. The zombies had become more active at night and even though Captain America and the Hulk had been there to help soften most of the blow the zombies had still managed to claim a number of lives, both military and civilian. Staring down the second full day of zombie hunting, the men and women of the NYPD roused themselves on weak coffee and tired jokes. The drain could be felt by everyone, which combined with the paranoia of not knowing when the next attack was going to happen nor how many still lurked within the shadows of the alleys of the city. Above them a lone copter cut its way across the city heading directly for the government building.
The occupant within had spent the last two days in transit, first within a plane across the Pacific touching down near the capitol of the U.S before hopping on a high powered copter to New York. Still they showed no signs of fatigue as they touched down on the street right in front of the building. That area had been secured by the best of the best in preparation for their arrival by order of the governor himself. The passenger waited until the blades had stopped before jumping out and stretching their tired limbs happy to be back on land. The chief of police approached. "This way, please." Together they made their way up the steps into the building. The entire place had been transformed from a place of politics to a war zone headquarters. Several men in military uniforms sat clustered around a map of the city that had small figures stacked on top of it to mark certain groups of either people or zombies.
One man in particular turned to face her, the mayor of New York City. He was a very tall and imposing man wearing a suit that looked like he had been wrestled into. Yet despite his hulkish looks he exuded an aura of charisma and confidence that dispelled any sort of doubts one might have harbored upon seeing him for the first time. "Ah, you must be the Interpol agent." He exclaimed walking up to her "The name's Mike Haggar, mayor of New York City." He extended a hand which she shook "I'm special agent Chun-Li from the Chinese branch; it's very nice to make your acquaintance." The man gave a belly laugh as he crushed her hand in his "To be honest I was expecting someone a little more…big." Chun smiled demurely as she applied pressure to the man thumb forcing him to break off the handshake from the pain. "I'd imagine as both a wrestler and politician Mr. Haggar you'd know better than to judge a person by their size."
He gave another huge laugh and nodded enthusiastically "I'm glad Interpol sent their best agent, we're really in the shit here. By the way call me Mike." Leading her out of the room and into his office he gestured at the bar near the window "Would you like a drink Ms. Li?" "You can just call me Chun, Mike. I'd love any sort of tea of you have it." Mike busied himself with making their drinks while Chun looked about the office. It had the typical paraphernalia of a mayor's office, an American flag hung proudly on the wall behind his mahogany oak desk. Shelves containing a multitude of complex political textbooks lined the side walls. Along with a bundle of abandoned paper work stood a single picture of a boy and a girl smiling in front of a house with a baby in their arms.
"Here you are Chun" Mike said giving her a piping hot cup of green tea. "Please, take a seat." Once they were situated Mike began by pulling out a map identical to the one the men were reviewing outside "To be honest we're doing a lot better than how we were yesterday. We've beaten them back from some sectors completely and seriously thinned their ranks in other areas. However in these sectors-"he waved a hand over the northernmost part of the city "the presence is still very strong. Morale has been down lately and even with help we've been hard pressed to make much of a dent." "I see, and you want me to help?" Chun asked taking a sip of her tea. Mike shook his head "Naw, I want you to find out who did this." Chun's eyebrows rose in surprise "You think someone did this?" Instead of answering her Mike turned in his chair to gaze at the flag plastering the wall behind him.
"Have you ever heard of the Avengers, Chun?" he asked her. "No, I have not." She replied "Are they an agency of some kind?" There was a moment of silence between them. "Something like that. They're an organization of super heroes." "Superheroes?" Chun repeated skeptically "Like in the comic books, those really exist?" "I can't tell you how relived I am to hear your doubt." Mike replied wheeling around "but they do exist." He turned his computer monitor around and tapped a few keys. Some footage came up showing clips of events that had transpired yesterday. The clips shifted around four individual men aiding in the fight against the zombies dressed in the most garish of garments. One was wearing a tribute to the American flag with matching shield, another was dressed in a suit of flying armor. A third looked like a medieval fair reject while the last looked like a steroid junkie who had dyed himself green.
While they looked ridiculous they were more than capable of destroying the hordes of zombies around them. Chun watched with an trained eye as they proceeded to take out their attackers with a variety of means from martial to supernatural. "I've never heard of these guys before." Chun remarked as she watched the video "I would be hesitant to call them super heroes; I've seen techniques and technology that could emulate some of those actions in my travels." Her thoughts drifted to some of her opponents, the mysterious and her suit, Akuma and his Satsui no Hadou, heck she could shoot balls of kinetic chi, a feat not many people could claim to know about.
"Their actions aren't what concern me most." Mike replied shutting down the computer "It's the fact that I woke up yesterday morning and everyone knows who they are." "Come again" Chun asked tilting her head. "Two nights ago I went to bed after a normal day at the office; there were no such thing as the Avengers." Mike explained "After we began to deal with the zombie invasion, surreal in and of itself, but part way through some guy named Tony Stark called me in order to strategize when and where the Avengers would be deployed. I wasn't sure what the hell he was jabbering on about but I had bigger fish to fry so I just agreed to whatever. The, next thing I know, these guys are leading the charge and everyone is ecstatic about it. I turn to one guy and asked who the hell they are, and you should have seen it. Everyone got real quiet and turned to face me with these looks."
"It was as if I asked them what where the colors on the American flag. I was the only person in the room who didn't know of them." Mike sighed "I was even beginning to doubt myself here for a bit." "And you want me to do what?" she asked really confused about what was going on here "I want you to investigate who these guys are along with finding out the source of where the zombies are coming from. I can't let these guys roam about my city with powers like that but I'm too busy here to do anything on my own." Chun reflected on this particular piece of information for a second. It seemed impossible for the mayor to not know about a group of supposed "super heroes" gallivanting about his city. He was either seriously ill or incredibly misinformed since everyone else knew who they were. Still Mike Haggar did not seem mentally impaired or neglectful of the duties of his office. Tactfully she accepted his offer, she could start making her own enquiries about the group and Haggar himself.
The man broke into a relieved grin "thank you so much Chun. If there's anythin you need to start your investigation just let me know." "Just your number Mike, I'll call in with any info I manage to uncover." He gave her his card along with a map of the city he withdrew from a drawer from his desk. "This is just a guess but I think the zombie problem might be coming from here." He pointed to the northern part of the map where a large density of zombies lurked "Yes" she agreed "that would make sense. They would be gathered closely around the source." Tucking the map into her bag she got up from her seat "I'll call in about two hours from now." "I hate to say it but you'll have to go on foot." Mike said "All available vehicles are being used in patrols about the city or to usher people to safe houses." "It's a bit inconvenient but not a problem." She replied with a shrug. "Thank you so much for your help" Mike said also getting up "Allow me to escort you out."
Leading her back to the door they exchanged their goodbyes before Mike was called back over to the war table. Heading outside Chun noted that the copter was gone, most likely to the local air port to fill up before returning to New York. Making her way past the police barriers she headed north at a steady jog. The streets were completely barren of traffic save for the occasional police cruiser who halted her to ask her to return home. A quick flash of her badge informed them she was no civilian and she managed to get clearance into the districts that still had some zombies lurking about. "Make sure they don't bite you Ms. Li." One of the cops warned her "Once that happen there ain't no way to stop yourself from turning into one of them. Are you sure you don't want a vest or something?" She accepted a denim jacket thick enough to prevent a small or medium bite from breaking her skin.
Her first encounter with a zombie was about ten miles away from the mayor's office and, to be honest, she wasn't very impressed. She had been expecting some sort of predator but this sad sack of flesh seemed more likely to kill itself in some clumsy way than kill someone else. Vaulting forward Chun effortlessly decapitated it with kick. The head exploded like a rotted cabbage as its body immediately lost the small amount of tension keeping it upright. Chun felt an small amount of disappointment at how easy a foe it was, but common sense dictated that their strength lay in big numbers. She was in an area where most of them had been expunged, depriving them of their greatest advantage, an advantage that would work particularly well against her. As a martial artist she was used to one on one combat which had been her greatest obstacle when she joined Interpol. Eventually she got used to battling many enemies at a time which served her well when rounding up criminals and their ilk. However, from the reports she had been given the zombies were moving in groups typically exceeding twenty or more. That would require a more open ended mind set than Chun was used to than her typical arena style mind set, she'd have to be conscious of her fighting technique.
She didn't come across any more zombies and only a meager handful of people when the first two hours passed. Her phone in was brief and uninformative, there was nothing new Mike had dug up. He sounded pretty tired which caused Chun to wonder how much sleep he had gotten lately. She had gotten some decent shut eye on the plane from Beijing unlike Mike who seemed to be the sort to forsake rest till the job was done especially if it concerned the well fare of his constituents. He wished her the best before hanging up leaving her to her thoughts. She hadn't gotten too much farther before a sonic boom caught her attention. Overhead a streak of red and gold zipped past her leaving a faint blue trail across the cloudy grey sky. 'Iron Man, I think.' He was headed north at a very fast clip perhaps to deal with a problem or aid a band of survivors. Chun considered recalling Mike to ask him if it was serious but decided to leave it alone, he would call her if he needed her assistance.
Instead she dialed the Interpol branch in China in order to follow up on her second objective. Ducking into a nearby doorway she waited several moments for the cross continental signal to make it to the Beijing offices. "Yes? Hello, this is agent Chun Li." She said in perfect Cantonese "No, no, there's no problem with the mission. I was wondering if you could do me a favor? Could you look into our case files about a group called the Avengers based in New York City?" There was an abnormally long pause on the phone an for a second Chun thought the call might've been cut off. "Miss Li are you alright?" the operator answered worriedly "Yes, I am fine." Chun answered puzzled by the weird response "I'm surprised you're not aware of them. China is far from America but even the most uneducated farm hand knows of the Avengers. They have aided us several times during the recent years." "It was as if I asked them what where the colors on the American flag. I was the only person in the room who didn't know of them." Mike's words rang in Chun's ears whole a shiver crawled up her spine. "Oh! Excuse me I must go." She said hastily before hanging up.
'Mike said he fell asleep one day in a world without the Avengers then woke up the next day in a world with them.' She thought grimly 'Did that happen to me as well?' No matter how she reasoned the mystery would not offer up any more clues. Ultimately she did not have enough information to go on; more would be required before she could form an explanation. Shaking her head she returned to the business at hand but not before bumping up her investigation of the Avengers much higher on her priorities list. As she journeyed north for the next twelve hours she played with possible explanations for their sudden appearance and notoriety.
By the time dinner rolled around she had managed to enter the border between the controlled districts and the hostile ones. It was clearly outlined by a row of police vehicles stationed horizontally across the street forming a barrier. The officers on guard looked either tired or agitated at the prospect of another long night. There was ammo carefully organized in stacks around each policeman with wrappers from foodstuffs surrounding strewn all about them. Their lieutenant, a young black woman went immediately into action the minute she saw Chun. "Stop right there! This is the last controlled zone in the district; beyond there we have limited control .Please return to your house immediately." She barked marching toward the Interpol agent. Flashing her badge at the woman Chun introduced herself "My name is Chun Li and I am under orders of the mayor to check out the area beyond here. Please let me through." The policewoman eyed the badge with a critical eye for a long minute before handing it back to her. "Listen, I don't mean no disrespect but you don't look equipped to deal with this problem. I lost some good men out here and I know we've been taking sizable casualties, these aren't hoodlums they're monsters and if you go in there be sure to expect hell."
"Thank you for your concern, I'll take your advice to heart but I must continue through." The policewoman sighed before ushering over one of her men "Bring the camera Huntington." Once the man had forked it over the lieutenant quickly scrolled through something. "All right, listen closely; we've been fighting these things for about two days now and there are a bunch of different ones." "Yes, I've fought one on the way here." Chun explained "It didn't put up much of a challenge." "It was one of these, right?" the woman asked pointing the phone at Chun. On the screen was the slouching undead corpse she had destroyed on the way there. Chun nodded her confirmation causing the police woman to retract the phone "Those are the easy ones, like shooting fish in a barrel. They come in big groups but not all that deadly though if they bite ya you're a goner."
The next pic she showed Chun was a dog zombie "These ones are smarter with a pack mentality. They employ basic animal tactics like ambushes and they join with other groups." The next one was some sort of unholy union between frog and man. "These ones are real strong; they can rip through metal with their hands. Don't let em get close." The next one was a bit blurry but Chun could see it was a really big bird "These giant ravens like to dive bomb your position and claw out your eyes, its generally part of a pack comprised mostly of…these." The next picture was one of a very well preserved zombie, other than the off color skin it resembled a human very closely "These little bastards are what get you. They are real smart and can even use weapons or employ advanced tactics. Gregory over there-"she nodded to a man with a look of dull shock plastered over his face "his whole squad was taken out by a group of these guys who strapped bombs to the dog zombies and blew them up. He just managed to avoid injury and regroup with us here."
Chun nodded "Thank you for this information. I'll use it wisely." The policewoman shrugged dismissively "Your funeral then." Walking between the cars she could feel every single officer boring holes into the back of her neck making her feel like a prisoner of death row heading to their execution. 'Been through worse' she thought as a confidence booster and she wasn't lying to herself either. Over the years she had been in some really hairy situations but had managed to fight her way out of each one. Shadaloo or zombies, it made no difference to her.
For the first twenty or so feet she had to carefully maneuver her way around mounds of rotting corpses and shell cases. The street ahead was strewn with garbage; graffiti littered the concrete walls filled with broken windows, a regular American hood. As if on cue, the moment she was out of the view of the police a group of frog men materialized from the shadows of the buildings. There were five of them surrounding her and ready to strike. With a lunge, two assaulted her from both sides, their fists ready to flatten her into a fine paste. Chun smirked, their foot work was sloppy; this would be no problem at all. She waited for them to close in until they were mere inches away from her before springing into action. Twisting her body about, she dodged both blows effortlessly before knocking the both of them off their feet with a well-placed sweep. Quickly she sent a blast of Kikoken at one of her downed opponents blasting the head open like a pumpkin. Back flipping on reflex she slammed her knew into the crown of the other one rising up behind her sending him back down in pieces.
Silently the remaining frog men watched their allies fall with blank stares as if they couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Suddenly they snapped to like if they had heard some kind of signal and launched themselves at her with surprising speed. With a flip Chun bounded over the head of one and sent it sprawling with a retaliatory strike. As it scrambled to get back up it the other two linked arms and charged forward in a shoulder tackle. Chun crouched and her legs shot forward like pistons halting their advance while turning their legs into fragments. Pitifully they tried to climb forward in order to attack her on their arms only to be take two more Kikoken blasts to the face. The final one tried to hit her with a shattering blow that managed to create cracks on the side walk, a testament to its power.
Un-phased, Chun blasted the head off its neck with a kick, noting that this maneuver would probably be the best way to finish them off in a decisive manner. Satisfied all enemies had been beaten, she turned around to continue her way down the street when she caught sight of it. One of those human monsters had been watching the battle from further down the side walk; it disappeared the minute she took notice of its presence.
She considered giving chase but hesitated, these other zombies had managed to sneak up on her effortlessly which was no mere feat. Reluctantly, she let it go, choosing to continue at her own pace while keeping her senses honed. Looking back on this decision Chun would be very thankful she had chosen caution as the next half hour would be fraught with waves of zombies of all varieties being thrown her way. Had she chosen to run after the watching zombie she would have been ambushed within the first two minutes of giving chase which most likely would have gotten her bitten. Her caution allowed her to detect the ambush early enough to launch preemptive strikes. Every few steps she took down the street were broken up by yet another wave of zombies turning her progress into a slog.
As she fought these hordes she learned two very important things that would become invaluable in the future. First, she had been absolutely spot on about her battle mentality monitoring her surroundings. All too often she found herself going into stances that would allow the zombies to get too close or using destructive kicks on a single enemy allowing the rest of the horde to attack her from behind. She found that sweeping attacks with a shot of Kiko Ken to the head was an excellent way to finish a zombie off. The second thing she realized that accepting that denim jacket had been a huge stroke of luck. More than once the zombies had managed to get close enough to attempt to nibble on her arms or the back of her neck. While she fought she noted that if the opportunity presented itself she should get some pants made from sturdy material, her tights were getting soaked from all the rotten blood her kicks were producing.
As the sun was beginning to set Chun managed to destroy the last zombie that had been a part of the latest group. This naturally caused the watcher zombie to scamper farther down the road no doubt baiting her into another ambush. Chun stopped to catch her breath and weigh her options. On one hand it was getting late, the added advantage of the night would turn these little skirmishes from manageable to impossible. Of course, if she was going to hunker down for the night where would she go? She was an hour way from the police barricade, more than enough time for the sun to set completely, which would force her to race back leaving her rear open to pursuers. Looking about Chun noticed she was in a shopping district filled with dumpy little all 24/7 convenience stores. She was considering barricading herself in one of those when a human yelp split the air not more than a few feet away from her. There was a crashing noise as well but she didn't pause to analyze what it could be, she was running full tilt towards it.
Rounding a nearby bend she saw a guy slumped on the ground unconscious with shards of glass poking into his arms and legs. "Call me that again you sonofabitch and the zombies will be the least of your worries" someone screamed from inside the building. With a lunge Chun jumped through the broken window sill fully intending to either save someone from the zombies or beat them half to death for alerting their positions to the undead horde. She landed between two tables near the front of the building where the large panel window had been allowing customers to look out the window. She startled one of the occupants sitting at one of the tables so bad he fell back onto the floor spilling his drink all over his plaid shirt.
Once her adrenaline had abated somewhat Chun noticed with a small blush she had just charged into some kind of dingy American, biker bar lifted straight out of the nineties. A large pool table was in one corner of the room near the bar where a fat bald man was picking his nails. The only light in the room came from the sparse liquor signs and a single stain glassed light hanging over the pool table. Every single resident was wearing either plaid, leather, a baseball cap or some combination of the three. The whole place stank of cigarettes and cheap beer giving the atmosphere just the charge it needed in order to be summed up in one word: seedy. "Well look at that, boys, the stripper's showed up." One of the men called out rising up from his seat "Bout damn time too. Any longer and I'd have been knocking heads." He swaggered up to Chun and put his arms around her in a casually possessive way. "How bout it honey melon, want to go upstairs and spend the rest of our miserable lives makin love til the zombies come?" A swift kick to the knee busted it allowing her to follow up with a blow to the stomach. He keeled over with a grunt causing a stir among the men. "Damnit!" one swore "Who the hell paid for an S&M hooker with special emphasis on the S?"
Chun wanted to insist she was a special agent not some broke call girl but from prior experience with hoodlums like these she knew it was futile. Without a word she turned about to look for an exit and spied one on her left side. As she picked her way around the men, some rambunctious from her actions and some passed out from the amount they had been drinking since the invasion she grabbed the knob. "Wouldn't do that if I were you." A really deep voice warned her, had it not been for her excellent hearing she would have missed it over the din of the bar. "The zombies get way more active at night. You'll die before the hours up, Miss Federal Agent. Turning to her right she spied the speaker partially hidden by shadows about the bar. The stranger was hunkered down at the end of the bar nursing some kind of beer in a dirty glass. Like the rest he was dressed like a hood with a cheap leather jacket and denim jeans. "How did you know I worked for the government?" she asked, strolling up to him, her interest peeked. "Civilians don't have moves like those and if you were military you'd be packing" he replied simply. Taking a seat next to him she tried to see his face but the darkness in the room only gave her the bare necessities. He was older, late thirties or so, with black hair cropped into an odd style, like if it were fur or something. Other than that she was clueless, any further investigation would require her to violate polite personal spaces. "My name's Chun Li" she said introducing herself "Do you know a lot about the zombies." He grunted "Just the basics, it's only been two days after all." "So what do you suggest I do" she asked.
"Barney'll rent you a room for fifty dollars. It'll be up on the second floor with a lock in order to buy the druggies enough time to stash any grass. Lock up, grab some shut eye, head out in the morning, it's just that easy." And indeed it was, with one small inquiry Chun returned to the man with a dirty key hanging on a greasy looking leather strap. "Thanks for the advice" she said warmly "But what about everyone else." Her gaze swept over the bar at the other patrons rollicking away even with the window out leaving a perfect opening for zombies to enter by. "What about them?" he asked drinking from his glass. "Shouldn't they evacuate or something?" she asked, they might have been scum but they were people too. "You ever hear about the guys playing poker on the Titanic?" he asked her without stopping to receive her answer "It's like that, the end can't be near if they're having a hell of a time even if they're neck deep in shit. Better to save yourself than drown trying to convince these shits." Chun took a second look back at the patrons; they were currently singing something that could have resembled a Metallica song if they weren't so drunk. They were beaming with happiness completely unaware of the danger outside, probably by conscious choice no less.
It would leave a bad taste in her mouth but Chun decided that the man at the bar was right, if these slobs wanted their last few minutes to be ones soaked in whiskey, far be it from her to try and restart the flight or fight reflex back into their inebriated minds. As she turned to head upstairs she looked at the man. "Will you be up shortly?" she asked. The man shook his head "I'm gonna finish my drink first." She frowned "I thought you said this ship was sinking." He looked at her letting her see his eyes in the light of the bar, they were black "It is sinking but I know how to swim." It was very cocky and Chun felt a bit disillusioned but before she left them to her fate she asked one last question "What's your name?" "Logan." He answered before he turned back to his drink causing Chun to head upstairs.
The upstairs was just as dingy and smelly as the first floor but Logan had been dead on about the locks. Along with the key lock there were two sturdy deadbolts on the door along with a chain and even a bike lock. Feeling reasonably safe Chun checked the room once she locked the door. It was windowless, muggy with no ventilation of any kind which was normally horrifying in an ordinary circumstance but in this particular zombie infested one it was almost optimal. Stripping the bed of the filthy sheets Chun used her denim jacket and qipao as bedding. A quick check of the bath room was disgusting beyond belief but the water was still clear allowing Chun to wash her tights.
Even with the room conditions Chun found herself to be very tired, she had been moving around a lot that day with very little rest or food. Curling up into a ball in order to avoid touching anything more than her own clothes Chun found herself falling asleep faster than she expected. Even with the locks she had been spooked enough by the zombies to place her trust in their sturdiness completely so she tried to keep her sleep light so she could be ready for anything. Pathetically she lasted about ten minutes or so before falling into a very deep sleep.
While the Interpol agent lay upstairs dead to the world Logan watched out the broken window spotting shambling shadows begin to emerge from the dark. The street lights with their harsh yellow light gave an air of surreal horror to their endless numbers. Even with the imminent threat of death mere feet away from them, the men in the bar continued to party in an uncontrolled shaky way, doused in plenty of whiskey. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the bar tender quietly pick up his cash register and escape into the back room. From the sound of multiple doors with multiple locks he had always been prepared for this eventuality causing Logan to grin wryly. 'You sick little opportunistic bastard you' he thought impressed by the man's pragmatic greed. The bartender had escaped not a moment too soon, like a snake entering a den of newborn wolves one of the zombies stuck its rotting head in looking for a tasty meal.
Choosing one of the drunks it lunged and grabbed one before retreating with its prize kicking and screaming in protest as if it was the cops hauling it away rather than an undead monster. At some points the screams of protest gave way to shrieks of terror which almost covered the tearing of flesh and bone as the zombie and a few of its friends began to devour the poor bastard. The other poor, doomed souls seemed not to have noticed as the others began to rollick about in a frenetic manner, as if trying to get in as much fun as they could before they were eaten. Realizing that the shouting inside the bar was indeed food the rest of the zombies rushed forward trying to climb over one another as they entered the bar through the window. Like some sort of flood made up of undead groaning flesh the zombies burst forth and began to attack the men inside.
A few went down before it somehow managed to push it way through the inebriated minds of the bikers, their ship was sinking and they were mouth deep in the water already. Logan watched as expressions of fear dawned on their faces as the men tried to escape from the horde. Some used bottles and pool cues to beat the advancing horde back while others turned tail and fled. It was totally useless, if not because of the monsters than because of their drunken states rendering their strikes soft and inaccurate while the ones escaping turned about like blind chickens trying to determine which way was out.
Soon their cries of surprise became screams of fright once they were caught and a few of them went from screaming to groaning as the virus spread through them corrupting their flesh. Out of the twenty or so guys there, only three were spared in order to bolster the size of the horde. These new ones joined in the unholy feast spread about them chowing down on the flesh of their former companions. Logan watched them neutrally as he continued to sip at his beer. The taste was reminiscent of donkey piss mixed with gas with the tiniest hint of what might have been really watered down beer at one point in its life but he had tasted worse before, a lot worse. It wasn't until the zombies had finished off their massive meal till they realized they had missed some dessert. With awkward head twitches they spotted him over down by the end and began to stagger toward him their eyes burning red like devils.
In one smooth move Logan downed the vile drink in one gulp smacking his lips as he savored the after taste. Turning his gaze to the crowd of zombies stalking toward him in a leisurely pace as if they knew full well he had no intention to run from them. Stepping down from the bar stool he began to remove his coat in an equally slow, casual manner "You bastards ought to know I'm not really the kinda of guy who likes having his happy hour cut short." He placed his coat over the side of the bar before pausing a moment. He knew that if he fought his clothes were going to get ruined and while he could stand the stench of his own unwashed body the thought of walking about in clothes drenched in rotten blood made even him cringe. He growled a bit at the alternative to getting his clothes dirty but reluctantly he began to strip. Pulling his shirt over his head with more urgency this time he tossed it onto his coat before quickly fiddling with the buckle to his pants. "You chuckle heads are going to force me to bath after this." He muttered angrily at them as he shed his pants and boxer shorts revealing that the slightly cool evening air had not diminished his size in the slightest. He kicked off his shoes before summoning his claws with a snikt and a pissed off grin "I really, really hate baths." He yelled at them before charging forward, bare-ass naked, slicing through them like butter. Like some kind of hive mind, every zombie went on the attack, trying to bite the nude bolt of sweaty flesh barreling through their ranks.
