Chapter 5: Reunion

Chris was very familiar with morphine, whenever you gained consciousness every limb in your body felt like it was coated with molasses with just a hint of an unnatural buzz whispering through his veins. He wanted to open his eyes but the morphine was inhibiting even the minutest of efforts. He could hear the rustle of cloth next to him by his bedside. Someone was fumbling with the machinery next to him, a doctor or a nurse. Realizing he wasn't going anywhere any time soon he tried to recall what exactly had put him in the hospital in the first place. Because his entire body felt like rubber Chris couldn't pinpoint exactly where he had been hit but if the amount of numbness was any sort of indication it was around his right arm. Thinking hard Chris tried to eliminate exactly what it was that got him sent to the hospital.

Recently he had begun training recruits for the B.S.A.A so it could have been a training accident. Perhaps there had been another zombie outbreak of some kind? Since he wasn't undead it must have been a weapon that had got him possibly a knife or a gun? He systematically went through all the undead he had fought during his years from his days on S.T.A.R.S to his most recent assignment in Africa. Several in particular popped up including the Ganado that agent Leon had encountered on his mission in Europe. He spent an undeterminable amount of time playing with any possibility till he noticed a lightness beginning to worm its way around his body. It his stiff joints began to slowly unlock allowing him to move in brief spastic fits tempered by dull pain. Forced to be patient he waited another long period before opening his eyes ready to see who was waiting for him on the other side of his eyelids.

A typical bright, white ceiling dazzled his eyes forcing him to blink rapidly to regain his vision. "Take your time; if you rush it you'll just aggravate the wound" a female voice cautioned him. He tried to crane his neck in order to look at who was talking to him which he struggled with. His head was on a very plush pillow that practically locked his view so that all he could see was the ceiling. The voice sighed before a gloved hand was placed on his neck to stop him. "I'm not going to hurt you" she said slightly exasperated "If you keep struggling like that you'll get another injection." A face entered his vision one brimming with disproval "I have a lot I need to discuss with you." Chris fought to keep a juvenile blush from appearing on his face, the woman was extremely beautiful.

Her features were sharp, chiseled with a strict little mouth as well as piercing green eyes. Her hair was a crazy color of red, likely dye, styled into a strange hair do that would have only looked natural at the zenith of eighties culture. The crown of her head was graced with a sizeable pompadour that transitioned into a French braid that trailed down her back. Her wonderfully large boobs were shelved into her suit reminiscent of a cocktail waitress'; they dangled just above his paralyzed torso like some unreachable promised land. Finally a pair of yellow sunglasses dangled jauntily off the bridge of her nose granting her a business like demeanor. As Chris was about to find out this woman was all business all the time.

"There, is that better?" she asked wryly making sure she was in his field of vision "I really don't want to wait around for three more days while you get put under again for aggravating your wound." Snapping out of his brief reverie Chris met her gaze quizzically "Who are you?" Satisfied he wouldn't move any more the woman took her hand off his neck "My name is , CIA." His eyebrow shot up "C,Viper? Is that really your name?" His voice was extremely raspy. She gave a small smile "The full name is Crimson Viper and it might be my full name." Chris gave smirk "Sure as hell hope its not." He coughed a bit trying to clear his vocal chords. C,Viper disappeared for a second before returning with a cup of water "Use your left hand, your right shoulder is still healing up." Grateful he took the water from her shakily spilling a bit on himself but downing it all the same with a contented sigh. After a few more cups Chris managed to shake the gravel out of his voice allowing him to continue "Where am I? What happened?"

Her eyes narrowed for a brief second, not out of anger but out of reflection, how would she approach this? "You're in St. Meriata hospital in New York City." She began with the basics, no need to bring out the real reason why she was here, yet. "New York City?" he repeated dazedly "That's impossible." His face furrowed as he ruminated over this unexpected piece of info. "I was In Washington D.C in a meeting how…" The memories hit him like a sack of bricks, the bench, the park, the zombies, Wesker, the angel all came flooding into his mind causing a quick flare of pain in his head. He grunted while his heart monitor hiked a bit, on reflex was at the door ready to dash down to the nurse's station if this didn't abate quickly. Luckily the pain died leaving Chris' head buzzing with a multitude of thoughts but one stood out from the others. Wesker was alive, alive and spreading the viruses around.

"Wesker" he roared grabbing both of the handles attached to his bed trying to get out. Before he could even arch his back to sit up the CIA agent was by his side immediately launching a blow to his midsection that knocked the wind out of him. Climbing a top the bed she brought her face an inch away from Chris' "If you keep moving I will personally knock you out myself and I assure you that morphine is a much more pleasant experience than my fist." she whispered to him in a low dangerous voice as she brought her fist into his field of vision. "But…but…Wesker" he said panting hard his lungs on fire "I don't know who this Wesker person is but you're free to run after him once you're discharged." said breezily getting off of him "I have some questions need you to answer." Chris grimaced hard glaring at the agent but he decided not to push his luck "You're doing a hell of a job, you know that?" he sniped at her but she merely ignored him.

"Do you remember how you got here?" she asked "No, all I remember is waking up on a bench in the middle of a park, probably Central Park since we're in New York." sighed and shook her head "I'm not sure what you're talking about. I was asking if you remember how you got to this hospital." Chris thought back, he had gotten shot by Wesker and was about to be finished off ny the bastard when a large zombie fell from the sky followed by the angel. The pair had fought against Wesker who had managed to injure the both of them before the angel had driven him off with a wonderful blow to the chest, he'd treasure that look on Wesker's face for a long time to come. Then she had said something about coming from a different world, his eyes widened for a second causing to stir slightly in anticipation. Feeling spiteful at her sucker punching him he decided not to share this particular but of information and furrowed his brow in mock reflection once more.

He remembered feeling really light headed afterward, from blood loss obviously, blacking out right in front of her. Everything else was really hazy, Chris struggled to try to find some sort of concrete memory he could dig up. The last thing he could sort of remember was a mish mash of lights along with the rush of wind. He glanced up at C,Viper "The angel brought me here." He was half guessing but logic dictated the feathered female had probably hauled his bleeding carcass to this hospital. The agent nodded and seemed to mull over this for a bit "Do you know where she id now?" Chris shook his head "Let's just get this out of the way first; I've never seen her before in my life. She came out of nowhere, helped me beat Wesker and we talked for a second before I passed out." She gave him a pointed look "What did you talk about?" Keen to know what the angel had said to stalked back over next to him needling him with a gaze that just dared him to clam up. 'Crap' was Chris's only thought realizing he had let a vital piece of information slip.

He didn't want to share his conversation with the agent so he pretended to be struggling for an answer while he fished for an answer to cover his ass with. After a moment he turned to her putting on the best confused façade he could "I think it was a verse of Revelations, something about the sea giving up their dead and what not." She stared at him trying to see the tiniest squirm that would reveal he was lying to her but Chris had stared down scary things in his life. Unable to break stone like countenance backed up "I see, do you know where she might be?" This time his oblivion was genuine "I don't have a clue where she is. Like I said, I never saw her until last night." The woman said nothing for a spell before heading to the door "I'll be back in a bit. Are you hungry?" Chris shook his head "Naw, the little bit of morphine left is making me queasy." nodded before heading out into the hall leaving Chris by himself. He counted out a minute in his head then sat up wincing at the pain that assaulted his bones.

While Chris attempted to escape was only a few feet down the hall chatting away on her cell phone. "He's awake" she said reporting to her handler "I talked to him for bit but I haven't got anything we don't already have yet." "Press him a bit Agent Viper, we're scrambling to contain this one. Our sources inside the mayor's office have confirmed Interpol agent Chun Li reportedly having found and shut down the source churning out the zombies. We might have a day or two before the media returns; they already have a photo ready to broadcast despite our best efforts to gag them. We have to get to the angel first and contain her." sighed pinching the bridge of her nose "Understood but don't expect me to get anything more out of the guy. By the way can you look up Revelations verses for me, according to the witness the angel spouted off some crap about the sea giving forth its dead or something?"

"Sounds apocalyptic" her handler replied sounding slightly worried "I'll get back to you on that within the hour." "Understood, this is over and out." Clicking her cell phone shut she made tracks to the cafeteria. Grabbing a few pieces of fruit as well as well as a small bowl of green jello returned to the witnesses room balancing most of it in her arms save for an apple she had placed in her mouth. She opened the door to find her witness gone leaving a small trail of IV fluid from the side of the bed to the door. Spitting the apple out of her mouth she tossed the other fruit on the bed before racing back out onto the hallway. 'Men' she seethed spinning nimbly about the corridors 'can't live with them, can't live without them.' A nearby orderly nearly pissed herself when C,Viper grabbed her demanding to know if she saw a large man walking about. The poor middle aged woman merely shook her head weakly

Setting the orderly down reversed direction heading back the way she came wondering where she had missed him. A few corridors away Chris pushed his way out of a nearby room. Luckily both occupants were asleep so they didn't raise a fuss when he had ducked in their to avoid C,Viper as she returned from the cafeteria. Shuffling down the hallway as fast as he could with half limp, half on fire legs Chris kept his ears open for the sound of her boots clacking down the hallway. He was inone of those silly paper gowns they put patients in whether they were dying from some tropical disease or merely getting check up. With his bare naked ass hanging out for the entire world to see Chris was exceedingly glad the night shift here was sparse. Spying a nearby stairwell he ducked into it flabbergasted to see that he was on the tenth floor of the building. The stairs loomed before him like a monster triggering a tweak in his back as if his entire body was warning him that this was a really bad idea.

From behind the door he heard someone zip past him, was hot on his trail. Deciding that the agent was far worse than any kind of fall down the stairs Chris gritted his teeth grabbing the railing with both knuckles. Each step was painful and that pain accumulated exponentially with each step he took yet he never buckled. His thoughts lay with Wesker who was no doubt sitting somewhere plotting global saturation with that smug little grin on his face. As long as the Tricell agent was still alive and Chris better than anyone knew you couldn't write off the bastard as deceased until you saw the body. Sadly all the grit in the world couldn't help him endure two floors of stairs. He stumbled over the last three before the eighth floor landing face planting onto the concrete. Groaning he rested for a brief moment before trying to get up his hand touching something wet, warm and sticky. His shoulder wound had reopened leaking a slow steady stream of the stuff down his arm onto the floor.

While the pair played cat and mouse in the hospital a mere six blocks away Malice began to stir properly for the first time in days. Feeling significantly better than she last time Malice slowly pushed herself up from her face down position on the couch. Looking around critically she managed to survey the room she was in, it was fairly small with all the lighting coming from candles scattered about the floor. Ignoring bric-a-brac scattered around her feet Malice sat up till she was sitting on the couch giving her wings plenty of space to stretch. She allowed herself a brief unladylike yawn before focusing on the task at hand, where in Asgard was she? She remembered the small Sprite child opening the floor allowing her to enter the hall but after that it was all oblivion. Possibly the Sprites had decided to tend to her while she was unconscious, such good cattle. Amused by the stuff the Sprites had placed about her she examined them intrigued by what their significance was. A number of statuettes lay about her feet, most averaging about two feet or so, all of the same woman. 'Never seen this goddess before' Malice thought 'she's really overdressed too, usually the gods are in the skimpiest of outfits.' Regardless of whether it was angels or Sprites, Asgard or the city of Tethys mortals wanted to portray their gods as exhibitionists for some reason that would remain shrouded in mystery and perversity.

Along the walls were a cluster of a particular symbol, it looked like a letter of Sacred Tongue but Malice couldn't be sure thanks dimness of the room. Unable to understand their reasons for placing odd décor in her room Malice carefully slid the goddess statues to one side. Skadi wasn't in the room, a fact that made her feel vulnerable, especially if she had misread the Sprites as benevolent. Guessing her diviner was still on top of the roof Malice made her way out the door into the hallway, her wings fluttered slightly as she exited extinguishing the candles in the room. Quietly creeping along the hall she failed to notice the door open behind her until the person gasped at her presence "You're awake!" Malice whipped about her fists balled, even without her axe she was going to be a force to be reckoned with at least, tensed for battle until she spotted the little Sprite, the same one who had seen her on the landing, was the one behind her. Sighing in relief Malice turned around to continue her journey back to the roof but the girl called out to her again "Are you going back to heaven?"

Not wanting to wake the entire community of Sprites housed within this building Malice drew upon the dregs of kindness that lay withered somewhere in her heart. Turning about she gave a serene smile, one befitting of a messenger of the gods who were giving good news, and bent down to face the child eye to eye. "Why is a good little girl like you wandering around so late at night?" she asked as gently as possible trying her best not to barf from the sugary sweet syrup coating her voice. The child ducked its head cutely "I was going to your room to pray. Mommy told me that because you here the monster in the mirror won't get me cause you're angel." It took all of Malice's strength not to laugh in the child face, demons appearing from mirrors, is that what Sprites used to get their children to eat their helikraut? Keeping the smile plastered on her face Malice reluctantly patted the child on the head.

"Worry not, for heaven is on your side" Malice said drawing it from a passage from the Valdes Scriptures "Why don't you return to your room?" However the girl's eyes were brimming with questions rooting her to the spot "Mr. Montgomery said you were an evil angel cause your wings are black. Why are your wings black?" Apparently along with scaring their children the Sprites were also neglecting teaching their kids basic catechism, such sacrilege. "My wings are black because I am a Grim Angel" Malice answered feeling a bit robotic "Those who were born before the Ragnarok have white wings." The girl looked confused "I don't remember that in Sunday school. What's Ragnarok?" Even if Malice was not super religious herself Ragnarok was basic knowledge that even the most brain dead of demons understood. It just cemented what Master Hector had told her, Sprites were just animals to be harvested for the glory of Asgard.

Tired of this charade Malice stood up with as much heavenly grace as possible "I must go, heaven awaits." Before she could take so much as a half step back the little girl lunged forward grabbing Malice's hem. "Please Miss Angel, could you give me a blessing pretty please!" Swearing to return to this god forsaken building once she found Skadi and contacted Master Hector in order to harvest these pitiful souls Malice mustered one last weak shade of kindness. Stiffly palming the child's head Malice gave a watery thin smile "May the gods smile down on you throughout the rest of your long life." The girl smiled happily before returning to her room not seeing the look of absolute loathing that had manifested on Malice's face. With all due haste malice found the stairwell door leaving the floor before anymore Sprites accosted her with ridiculous requests. The air was cool as it tousled Malice's hair, a storm was coming. Her weapon lit itself up once it sensed her arrival; it lay unmolested on the roof not that Malice was expecting it to get stolen or anything. Quite the opposite really, diviners reacted violently toward anyone who wielded one without their owner's consent. Had a Sprite stumble upon it by accident then decided to touch it they would have lost their hand to frost bite.

Gripping the weapon with both hands Malice nuzzled it against her cheek happy to know that the thing she had sacrificed so much for was once again in her grasp. She unfurled her wings to the height of their wing span stretching out the army of kinks they had accumulated. While the first few drops of rain splashed against the concrete the Grim Angel lifted herself into the air in a hurry to find a shelter away from this accursed building before the lightning started. As she maneuvered through the air a thought crossed her mind, the Sprite she had brought to the hospital. Surely by now the doctors should have treated his wounds; no doubt he was sleeping soundly nearby. While she wasn't thrilled by the prospect of having to interact with more Sprites by any means that man potentially held info pertaining to why she was in this bizarre world. The quicker she could figure out who or what did this to her and how to reverse the process the better she would be.

had circled the entire tenth floor but her witness had vanished without a trace meaning he was most likely kidnapped. That left only one option for them to leave by, the first floor doorway. A quick calculation in her head assured her that the stairs would be quicker than the elevator by roughly 43.56 seconds give or take certain variables. Wheeling about the hall she made it to the stairwell door and began to descend it like a flash fully intending to head off the kidnappers. Her entire theory fell apart when she came close to stumbling over her witness' body when she turned on the seventh floor stair landing. He was lying their pained on the landing in a pool of his own blood flashing an annoyed look at her. "You're lucky I'd hate myself in the morning for beating on an injured man." She informed him lifting him back onto his feet as he grunted in pain.

With a bit of shuffling around the agent opened the door dragging him into the hallway. Spying a nearby orderly she beckoned the guy over "Go get me a gurney, this man is too injured to return to his room. Bring back some bandages as well, the stitches got messed up." The man opened his mouth to question her but she shot him a look that could freeze hell that sent him skittering for a gurney. Sitting the witnesses bare ass down in a nearby chair she rounded him in a cold fury "I hope you realize you just made this whole ordeal a hell of a lot harder on you." Her voice was flat which just made her threat scarier, Chris had to swallow hard before he shot his own angry glare at her "Back the hell off, I told you everything I know." "I don't believe you" she shot back pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose till the gleam of the lights obscured her eyes completely. "If you're an American patriot you'll tell me everything you know about that angel." He groaned and rolled his head petulantly like a child "I love the red, white, and blue as much as the next guy but I've got more pressing priorities here. Wesker's out there and he is going to start global saturation again."

All managed to do was throw up her hands before the window in front of them shattered into a million pieces. She covered her head to block any of the shards while a whoosh of air shot directly above her head. When she looked back up her witness was gone, a faint cry from the window clued her in that someone had yanked him out the window. Rushing over she saw the faint white flutter of his paper robe as her witness was being flown up into the sky, Couldn't see what had grabbed him. Cursing vividly she raced back into the stairway her feet pounding as she made her way up to the rooftop.

Outside the sky had finally let loosed the flood gates, fat raindrops assaulted Malice as she headed toward the hospital. Blowing a wet strand of blond hair out of her eyes the angel began to sweep the buildings trying to remember which one was the hospital. A brief flash of lightning sped her up; the last thing she wanted was for a stray lightning bolt to strike her especially after being comatose for the last few days. As she rounded the bend the thunder broke over her still weak due to the storm's recent appearance, if not for that she wouldn't have heard a panicked cry to her near left. The lights from the streets illumined a man being dragged into the air by a red winged demon. Malice did a double take, once for the demon that had appeared in this world. If it really was from Utgard that meant this world was connected to the realm she was from. The other thing that she noticed was the victim the demon had in its claws; it was the Sprite that she had saved. Groaning in frustration she built some altitude before sliding into a shallow curve that sent her speeding toward the pair.

Chris was fighting for his life as he the monster pulled him higher and higher into the air. His body was on fire but his mind didn't register it at all since it was overwhelmed with the primal fear of prey being lifted into the air. He thrashed weakly trying to shake the monster's grip on his right arm which accomplished little else than causing the demon to give a keening sound that was probably laughter. Dimly he realized that they were currently hovering over the top of the hospital, the street was below them visible only by a blurry band of light. Fluttering over the edge of the roof the demon lifted Chris up by his arm till their gazes met. The yellow pupil looked over Chris lazily before a cruel smile etched itself onto the demon's face. It loosed its grip slightly clueing Chris in that the thing was about to drop him to his doom. Unconsciously he began to pray, to what he wasn't sure but it was one last desperate plea to get a last chance to bring Wesker to justice. Chris wasn't very religious to begin with so he was surprised when his prayers were answered.

The demon shrieked suddenly bucking forth and losing his grip on Chris' arm. For a brief terrifying second he hung in the air in that transition state between potential and kinetic energy before an arm was slung around his middle saving him from the harsh mistress that was gravity. He felt his savior move back a few feet before he was deposited on the edge. His legs gave up on him sending him ass down into a shallow pool of rain water. The demon was a few feet away from him jerkin about in the air trying to sooth the pain coming from a nasty gash that had split him right down the middle between the wings. A flap of feathery wings made him look up at his savior; it was the angel he had seen a few days ago.

They stared at each other for a moment, his two brown ones meeting the one which wasn't covered by her swooping bangs. "Are you my guardian angel or something?" he asked stupidly in a drenched paper gown that was beginning to disintegrate while his blood mixed with the rainwater. She gave him a look that mixed wry amusement with extreme haughtiness "If you ever ask me that again I'll cut you in half." He laughed, it was so surreal he wasn't sure why he was chuckling but he was, here in this world where nothing made sense. While Chris fought through his Alice in Wonderland moment the angel had decided to ignore him for now hoping that the Sprite wasn't completely insane, she had questions she needed him to answer. Instead she turned to the demon who was regaining his equilibrium as the initial blow from Skadi began to cool. Turning around it shrieked at her recognizing a heavenly being, its arch nemesis, and the two began to size the other up.

"It's been a while since I've battled a demon" Malice taunted brandishing her axe with a flourish "I hope that ugly mug on your face isn't the only thing that's scary about you." Before either of them could move someone kicked the door to the stairwell open with a fiery blast. A woman ran out onto the roof looking slightly panicked before spotting the man sitting there on the roof. She let loose a small sigh of relief before looking at the demon and the angel. In particular the Sprite woman seemed to be sizing up Malice which caused the angel to glare at her just daring her to make a move. Coolly the sprite strolled up the winged pair "I need to talk to you." Malice's mouth quirked up into a condescending little grin "Too bad, I have nothing to talk about. If you run away now I might not kill you." The sprite woman shot her own little grin at the angel but before either of them could move the demon got tired off all the conversation and attacked its mortal nemesis.

Effortlessly Malice parried the blow from its foot talons with Skadi sending it back a few inches allowing her retaliate with the blunt of her ax. The demon brushed back with a flap of his leathery wings then launched a fire ball at Malice. The Grim Angel screamed as the flames assaulted her catching her clothes on fire sending the sprite woman into action. With an amazing jump she brought her fist onto the cackling demon's face sending it down onto the ground. She followed it up with a sweep of her foot sending the demon up into the air where she met it in mid fall with a flurry of blows that sent it back down onto the ground. When she went to continue her barrage the demon swiped its claws at her forcing her onto the back foot. While they scuffled Malice fell onto the ground trying to beat the flames off of her robes. The rain helped immensely in keeping her from staying on fire so that the total damage was only some singe on her clothing.

Growling at the impetuous little demon that had the gall to harm her Malice swirled the head of her weapon around summoning the ice and frost from the driving rain. Once it was condensed enough she advanced her ax glittering ominously ready to carve some demon flesh. Sweeping forward she slashed her ax with surgical precision using a technique she called Guilty Edge. The sprite woman managed to barely flip herself over the initial sweep which sent her out of the strike zone as the Grim Angel brought her full wrath to bear on the hapless demon. The swipes left deep grooves in the monsters carapace that soon frosted over increasing the size of each cut. The final blow smacked on the wing slashing the leather webbing ragged rendering the poor soul flightless. Screeching in rage the monster battled back with its claws engaging the pair into a scuffle. Skadi's range was both a blessing and a curse depending on the range as the demon charged in while Malice forced it back out.

After a particularly nasty clash leaving the demon with a frost bitten scar running down its chest while Malice had to contend with a cut on her forehead which was beginning to obscure her vision plus a puncture wound that had gotten her in the left leg. As the pair fought to stop their backwards inertia in order to ready another charge the Sprite woman came down from sky landing her foot on the monsters face. Activating some power from her feet she placed one foot back to act as a motor while the other stayed planted firmly on the monster's neck. Flames burst forth from both feet frying the demon's face while propelling both battlers forward on the ground allowing the woman to surf on its back. Seeing her chance Malice wiped the blood from her face giving her a quick glimpse of the battlers but only one peek was all she needed. Raising Skadi into the air Malice floated commandingly as a stray bolt of lightning hit her ax with a buzzing crackle. Instead of getting fried the bolt seemed to be drawn into the diviner making it shine like the light of judgment which made the air sparkle like diamonds.

The power of the heavens manifested within its enforcer and with a cry Malice brought the ax down along with the temperature. A massive front of frigid air moved forward at an amazing pace causing spikes of ice to jut up defiantly into the air. The front over came both the demon and the Sprite, they screamed with pain as the frost coated their bodies cutting deep into their flesh. Both reacted hastily, the demon tried to fight the blizzard with the fire in its maw swinging in wild rotating strikes to melt the freeze. The woman decided it was far more pertinent to run than fight activating those flame jets to melt the frost gluing her legs to the ground. With another giant leap she vaulted out of the blizzard zone behind Malice dropping on her knees from shivering so hard.

The Sprite had made the proper choice to escape the blizzard, even with its impressive fire power the demon couldn't even make a dent into the blizzard. Within moments it was frozen solid into a popsicle its final pose one of rage with its maw opened in a rage against the heavens. With a nasty smile Malice slashed horizontally cutting the demon in half "It's our fate to pass judgment on demons" she said haughtily watching the torso fall to the ground with a clink. Brushing back her swoop bangs only to have them return stubbornly over her eye she turned to the male Sprite who was still sitting dazed in a puddle of rain water. The shower was growing fierce drenching everyone present to the bone. Since her wings were not waterproof Malice grounded herself on the roof top before strolling over to the man. "I have a lot of questions to ask you." She told him icily but then noticed the stream of blood undulating down his arm. "I see your Sprite doctors were far more inferior than I gave them credit for." She groused standing above him; she tore yet another strip of cloth from her robe using it to stem the blood.

He didn't reply choosing instead to face plant onto her shoulder completely unconscious. Not wanting to wait around for however many days for him to regain consciousness Malice embraced him awkwardly making sure her wings surrounded shielding him from the rain. She then activated Angel Awakening filling the both of them with light which both stopped the blood loss along with instilling the both of them with a healing factor. After about twenty minutes Malice pulled away feeling fatigued but in much better shape than she had when she had fought that blond demon. She hadn't required as much healing now plus she didn't have to aggravate the healing wounds with more movement. Meanwhile Sprite's shoulder wound had healed up quite a bit. It was no longer bleeding thanks to the new epidermis that now encased the wound still pink from its thinness. Recovering the ribbon of cloth she had used as a bandage she pocketed it then stood up planning to carry the man a short distance back into the door to the stairwell.

Sadly while she had preoccupied with healing the male sprite she had completely forgotten about the female one who had revered from the chilling effects of Malice's Blue Sophia attack. In slightly better shape than the angel she brought her hand onto the angel's neck rendering her unconscious with a quick poke to her pressure point. The winged woman tipped forward nearly toppling onto the witness being caught just in time by . Exhausted she bought both of them out of the storm into the stairwell for a brief rest before hauling the man downstairs onto the first floor she could get to. After a bit of searching she found an orderly, flashed her badge, and managed to procure a room for the witness. Next she ordered the orderly off the floor along with anyone else who was not confined to a hospital bed before bringing the angel down as well. Using some strips of linen she bound the woman's hands, legs, and wings as best she could. even tried to confiscate the weapon the angel had wielded which was lying on the roof but if it weren't for her quick reflexes when she went to grab it she would've lost a finger at least to frostbite.

Checking the clock she saw that it was nearly morning, she felt exhausted but she still had work to do. Pulling out her cell phone she called her handler. "Angel apprehended." She reported "Requesting back up as well as transport." The guy on the other line was quiet for a second "Are you for real Agent ?" Clicking the cell phone off she took a picture of her captive sending to her handler, she only had to wait a second before he called her back. "Holy Shit Agent " he exclaimed his usually calm demeanor shattered by her actions "I'll get headquarters to haul ass to your location as soon as possible. That'll take about an hour or so, keep her under wraps till back up arrives." "Understood" she replied coolly "C,Viper, over and out." Idly she rummages around the drawers in the room till she withdrew some bandages as well as some painkillers. Dry swallowing four she wrapped her cuts wincing slightly from the pain. She considered paying the angel back for the pain but that annoying little moral about beating up on people who couldn't fight back reared its head so all she did was give a grumpy glare at her captive before settling in a nearby chair to catch a quick cat nap before back up arrived.

From a pocket dimension in the shape of a plain white room two players sat over their board game watching the pieces maneuver themselves around the battlefield. This pair was responsible for summoning those displaced souls to this place; they were the pawns in celestial game the mysterious forces were playing. Under critical scrutiny the pawns moved themselves across the board as any direct control was considered cheating which would result in an immediate loss. One of the pawns blinked a transparent blue, signaling that a mission had been a success, before returning to the far south of the board which was the domain of Player One. His pawn's gamble to obtain a critical piece of technology for mid game had paid off leaving the opposing forces utterly clueless over who had attacked them.

Actually Player Two's forces were in fairly dire straits even without Player One's nip and tuck tactics. They were missing their champion, their leader, the person who was supposed to receive instruction from Player Two in order to win the game. A brilliant move from Player One at the beginning of the opening turns had captured his opponent's champion and locked him away in a small pocket dimension. Hovering over the edge of the rightmost side of the board game was a small golden sphere signaling the containment of Dr. Strange, his opponent's champion, which would hopefully remain in isolation for the rest of this short, decisive game. When Player Two had demanded they play this Player One had nearly burst out laughing, his opponent had never played this before and their inexperience was making this all too easy. Even now as he watched Player Two's forces he could see them moving about aimlessly unaware of the stakes they were playing for.

His own forces lead by Dr. Doom was a text book example of how to play this cosmic game, consolidate your forces quickly, protect your champion at all cost, whittle away at your opponent before lowering the boom at end game. Admittedly he was a bit rusty himself, he hadn't played this particular game for quite a bit of time but he was plenty skilled enough to crush naïve Player Two. Speaking of his enemy, Player Two's face was set in an unhappy frown as he watched his pieces muck about trying to form some sort of coherent theory over who had attacked them. Bereft of his champion it was all he could do to watch them maneuver about independently without any sort of direction. "Want to throw in the towel" Player One asked lightly slipping his drink "This is beginning to become a bit of a waste of time; I'll begin to wrap this up in the next ten turns or so." His barb proved to be ineffective as Player Two merely gave him an agitated look "You have all the time in the world" he replied gruffly before grabbing the dice in the center of board, his turn to roll.

It was nice to see that Player Two was beginning to panic, their constantly serene state was an affront to Player One who like to see despair grip his opponents before he extinguished their last rays of hope. The reply his opponent gave him was no surprise really, Player Two had a lot at stake here and a loss would be catastrophic for them. Relieving some tension by rolling the dice about their palms for a minute or so Player Two sighed and sent them rollicking about the center of the board careful not to hit any of the pawns. "Nine" he breathed glancing at the pads of paper they had in their lap in order to find out what exactly they could do with those points. Player One rolled his eyes, his opponent had all of the noob luck in the world. First they consistently got high point totals from the dice while his highest total hadn't exceeded five since they had begun to play. If his opponent wasn't incapable of cheating he would have inspected them himself to ensure they weren't using loaded dice or anything. Then there was the recent event he had tripped courtesy of his pawn Wesker, the zombie invasion event which had flooded the board with low power pawns. Despite lasting for several turns the zombie flood had been beaten back by Player Two's forces without a single one of them being converted to his side via being bitten by a zombie. It had been a bit maddening to say the least but Player One kept his cool, after all he was winning decisively at this point plus the zombie invasion could be triggered again by Wesker or even M.O.D.O.K now that the two were partnering up together

"Ok, let's see" they mumbled flipping through the game manual trying to find some sort of tactic that would work for them. "I sacrifice two points to summon two more pawns" they declared reaching a hand inside the cosmic portal they had constructed and drawing forth two plastic looking pieces. As per the rules Player One wouldn't be able to attack these newly summoned pawns directly until the end of Player Two's next turn. They were interesting pawns to say the least; in fact Player One was quite sure the pair was worthless in this particular game. Still that just meant quicker victory for him so he graciously didn't point out how stupid that move had been. Setting them down within his territory, Player Two returned to flipping through the game manual making Player One mock yawn. His opponent gave him another agitated look before giving the manual one last desperate glance hoping that the pages would give them the remedy they needed before closing it and holding up their right hand. "I end my turn" they replied wearily before spinning a large vertical wheel which would not have looked out of place on another board game like Life or Sorry. The wheel clacked loudly thanks to the plastic stub slowing down it momentum before it landed on an empty white space, no special event would befall upon her forces this turn.

Picking up the dice he rolled them about in his hands for a bit "I'm surprised with you, I didn't think you had the guts to summon the Phoenix Force." His opponent rolled their eyes "Does my choice in pawns make you nervous?" Player One chuckled "Hardly, you don't realize what a destructive force that entity is do you, and may I remind you that if this game board breaks you lose automatically?" Player Two sniffed "I'm aware of my actions. I advise you to pay more attention to your own force than mine." Player One tossed his dice. "Four" he muttered a bit miffed at yet another low number. On the left most side of the board was a crimson colored portal that Player One had summoned early on, the reason he was so starved for points currently. Unlike the cosmic portal that reached into the multiverse this one was a small portal to hell which allowed him to extract low powered pawns for a mere fraction of the cost he would have paid to use the cosmic portal.

His fingers withdrew from the brimstone depths carrying a familiar pawn, yet another Firebrand to replace the one he had lost. That had been a calculated risk for him, the angel was a potential spanner in the works for both of them and it had been imperative to find out more about her as soon as possible. Sadly because a Firebrand was such a low power pawn they hadn't been able to glean much from the battle thanks to how one sided it had been. What really infuriated him though was the fact Player Two had gone to some length to interfere by engaging her own pawns in battle, one of them had ended it very quickly by knocking out the angel. To really rub it in his face Player Two had retreated with the angel in tow back behind her front line preventing him from seeing exactly what it was Player Two's pawns were doing to it. Unlike his white pawns or Player Two's black pawns the angel was represented by a blue pawn which told them there was a hidden third member of their game who had snuck in at the very start of it.

This worried both of them for one really big reason; there was very powerful player out there who would love to crash their game. This guy was always on the lookout for new dimensions to conquer, this particular dimension acting as their game board would be a lovely addition to the scads he had under his control. Not only could neither player rebuff him directly from playing he was also very skilled at this particular type of game, even more so than Player One. They had done their utmost to keep this top secret, to hide it from him, but even with all their preventive measures this player had a way of finding out where games were being held. Still if this guy was messing with their heads he was doing so in an awfully roundabout way. The fact that if he was playing he chose to play anonymously, hiding out in a nearby dimension choosing not to reveal his presence, seemed very out of character for someone like him. Mysteriously the anonymous player had let their pawn move about on her own accord much like Player Two's but with the added disadvantage of not being able to roll for points or summon anymore pawns to the game. Hell, the player hadn't even declared his or her single blue pawn a champion meaning they couldn't converse with it to give it guidance.

Praying that whoever was working behind the scenes of their game was not that pain in the ass guy Player One stocked his points and spun the wheel idly still wondering exactly who it was controlling the blue pawn. The wheel gave a celebratory ring as it landed on an event space "A Mysterious Warrior approaches!" a disembodied voice sang out happily "His might can shake the earth and he seeks the most powerful of opponents!" A single yellow pawn, dictating that it was an independent piece, appeared on the middle of the board. Casually Player One swiped the air in front of him bringing up the mysterious warriors stats. "My, my, what a nasty little obstacle" he remarked before dismissing the page with a second wave "Too bad we can't recruit him to our cause, he might have helped you turn this around." "I have all the pieces I need for now" his opponent shot back "Focus on your own pawns." "Touchy, touchy" he chided placing the dice back in the center of the board "I end my turn."

Morning broke over the city of New York brining an antidote to the terror the inhabitants had been feeling for days. The few zombies roaming about were becoming scarcer and scarcer by the hour thanks to quick decisive work from the NYPD. By seven in the morning the news' gag order to be revoked by order of the mayor's office allowing reporter's to wander the streets hunting down the harvest of juicy stories hiding around every corner. People began to move about openly on the streets cautious at first but by noon the typical New York cockiness had returned fully. The after affects were very similar to 9/11, a sort of dazed awakening shown in the civilians eyes like one from awakening from a deep sleep. It seemed unbelievable to them that a zombie attack had happened in the greatest city in America.

It was three in the afternoon when Chris woke up, the familiar sight of a hospital ceiling looming above him. He slowly checked his limbs from feet to finger tips then checking the bullet hole on his shoulder, there was nothing there. Shucking the sheets off of him Chris got up happily noting the soreness in his muscles had faded away as well and headed down to the nurses' station. The one behind the counter must have just come in for she was bristling with cheerfulness. "How can I help you?" she asked giving him a great big grin "Uh…I'm the patient in room 2051, I was wondering if I could leave. I feel much better." The nurse typed on the computer for a second "Ummm…you're the John Doe the Feds brought in right?" "Yes" Chris keeping on the lookout about for . "You've been cleared for discharged by the doctor. We'll return your clothes and any articles you had on your person save for those weapons you had, they were confiscated by the NYPD." She looked at him pointedly "You got lucky, the Feds paid for your medical expenses as well as scrubbing the fact you had concealed weapons on your person. A big felony here in New York but I guess when you know people in the White House…"

"Where are the Feds?" he asked looking around surprised hadn't sidled up to him from behind ordering him back to his room so they could chat. "From what I heard from the morning shift they left this morning." This shocked Chris, was gone? Suddenly he remembered that the angel had been there as well, had the CIA agent somehow over powered her? "Did they take anything with them?" he asked interested if they had been public with the capture of an angel. The nurse bent towards Chris "You didn't hear this from me but Juvelon on the night staff; he said the Feds brought a huge truck and forced everyone off the twentieth floor. Apparently he heard from Joachim who heard it from Gordon who heard it from Amareus who saw them taking a huge black tube out to the truck they brought with them. The she saw them bring down what looked like the Ark of the Covenant from those archeologist movies. The guys handling it looked spooked and when they turned the corridor the ark dipped a bit and Amareus said she saw some kind of shining blue stick in it."

The nurse leaned over even more "I think its aliens, the old Men in Black shtick but Juvelon thinks it was some kinda fairy or mermaid or something." "I…see" Chris said his mind buzzing with theories "I'm going to return to my room and wait for my clothes." The nurse waved him off nonchalantly daydreaming about what could have been in that tube. Once Chris got back in his room he sat down on the bed taking a few minutes to piece together what had happened. The Feds had obviously captured the angel leaving him alone, after all they what they wanted why play around with him any longer. What bothered him was what to do next; he wanted to contact the B.S.A.A as soon as possible to report that Wesker was alive but he had the sinking feeling something was off. He had seen the Tricell agent die that much he was sure of. The angel had sounded really confused about where she was asking him about things like Asgard and other such nonsense. What was going on in the world?

His thoughts were interrupted by a nurse returning with his clothes. He quickly changed into his field outfit, the same one he wore when he woke up. He looked pseudo military in it minus the weapons, his belt and holster had also been confiscated by police. After he pulled his shirt over his head he saw a sliver of blue edging out of the pocket of his vest. Pulling it out he recognized it as the same color of fabric the angel wore, it was stained heavily with blood turning most of the sash brown. 'She must have ripped this off her robe to bandage my gun wound' he thought gazing at it uncomfortably. He was at a cross roads with what he could do next as he stared at that dirty ribbon of cloth. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to hunt down Wesker and end him as soon as possible with no mercy. His heart was telling him to find the angel; he doubted the Feds had stolen her away in the wee hours of the morning to engage her in deep theological debates.

As a government agent himself he had witnessed firsthand how badly the government reacted when presented by a threat. The Raccoon City incident was testament to that fact, if they were willing to nuke a small town with survivors still screaming for help within its boundaries who knew what sort of things they do to an angel in the wake of a zombie invasion. She had saved his life twice along with bandaging his wounds, Chris owed her big time. Plus...well he'd quickly find out if there could be a very important second reason to find her. He left the hospital room heading down to the first floor where some phones were lined against the wall. Picking up the phone he dialed the number for the B.S.A.A headquarters. A robotic little tone told him the number did not exist putting real evidence into the theory forming in his head. He then called everyone he knew that was a part of his recent past from his temporary partner Sheva who had aided him in Africa to colleagues who had survived the Raccoon City ordeal like Barry. Either someone else picked up telling him he had the wrong number or the robot voice reported the number he was dialing did not exist.

He set the phone back down on the cradle a bit dazed, it was true then. Chris Redfield had stumbled into a different world, he wasn't sure how or why but the evidence was there. It was so surreal like Alice in Wonderland or something. The world looked strange for a second while a feeling of intense isolation wrapped around Chris choking him with fear. He laughed for a bit before swearing then kicking the wall which brought stares from the other hospital patients spurring him to head outside. The street smelled of hot humidity as the sun evaporated the rain that had accumulated during the night. Stumbling around pedestrians he reached a secluded alley pulling out the scrap of cloth in his pocket. The angel was in the same hell he was, Chris was as sure about that. Chasing after Wesker would do him little good in the long run aside from granting him a deep sense of peace, cathartic to be sure but it probably wouldn't bring him one step closer to getting home. With a deep breath he put his hatred aside like a person attending a fire might put a red hot coal onto the cold ground with a pair of tongs. He needed to find the angel, if not to start collecting clues to find his way home then to possibly gain a companion.

Of course if he did want to save her he would have to find where the Feds had taken her, no easy task. He doubted anyone back in the hospital would have seen where they had gone and anyone passing by would have forgotten the spectacle by now. The only thing he had left was a shred of her clothing, it might be a long shot but perhaps a dog could follow their trail. Chris couldn't help but give a nasty little mirthless chuckle at this stupid thought, where the hell would he find such a tracker? "Oy, mate have ya lost ya marbles?" a voice taunted him from somewhere in the alley. Turning about Chris tried to spot the source of the voice his hand heading down to his belt gripping empty air. "Damn" he muttered realizing that the police had taken his piece. "Never liked Earthlings, sodders the lot of them." The voice remarked as some garbage from down the alley shuffled around. "Who the hell are you" Chris asked agitatedly "Why the hell are you here?" "That's the fifty million dollar question mate, I wake up today and, cor blimey, here I am back on Earth some fifty million light years from the ship I fell asleep on." The voice griped "I try to call my colleagues to tell them to cut the grade school crap and pick me up but they've gone AWOL."

Chris' heart beat jumped up in excitement "You woke up in this world too?" There was a moment of silence "What do ya mean this world? Yer an Earthling ain't cha? This is your world, right?" Chris hesitated "This is Earth but this isn't the world I come from. I woke up here in a random bench on the park, I can't contact anyone I know, this happened to you too right?" Another silence "Ya ain't pulling my leg now are ya. Ya mean to tell old RR he fell into a different dimension again?" Chris tilted his head "RR?" "That's my name ya blighter, Rocket Racoon" the voice jumped up from his spot in the trash landing in front of Chris balancing on a trash can. Chris stared at the creature nonplussed, the owner of the voice was an anthropomorphic raccoon dressed in a blue uniform with a blaster strapped to his hip. "If you're going to be an Earth pansy and fall over from shock like the rest of them blighters I'm pissing on your face" the raccoon informed him snootily. The former S.T.A.R.S member shook his head slightly muttered a quick "Damn" then like so many other times in his life he stared down a biological impossibility and resumed business as usual.

"It's nice to meet you, my name's Chris Redfield" he said introducing himself hesitating a bit before offering his hand. The raccoon shook it before placing his hands on his hips "So, what the hell do we do now?" It was a fair question, Chris had something in mind but he wasn't sure how to accomplish it. "Well, I'm looking for another one who is in the same situation we are. She got taken somewhere by the Feds." Rocket Raccoon snorted "Well then, why the hell are we standing around here like a couple of blighters? Let's go mate, I love the ole save the damsel role meself. Is she a looker?" "But I don't have a clue where she is." "Don't you worry your widdle heart bout that mate" the raccoon assured him pointing to his nostrum "This ole sniffer can pick up the trail of any damsel, preferably the naked kind." "This is a piece of her clothing" Chris said proffering the scrap "It's covered with my blood but can you still get a scent from it?"

Snatching it from Redfield's hand Rocket Raccoon sniffed it hard for a minute or so. "Cor blimey, you smell awful" he remarked waving a paw in front of his face "But luckily for us even your ogre stench can't completely obscure the ole whiff of a woman." Jumping off the trash can the beast crawled about the ground like a bloodhound pausing every now and then to stick his nose in the air. The pair caused quite a stir as they stepped out onto the street not that either of them noticed. Rocket Raccoon jumped up pointing down the road "That way mate, the scent is as fate as a the light of a star being sucked into a black hole but damn if ole Rocket Raccoon can't track it through this Earthling heap. Put a little pep in your step mate." The creature scurried off leaving a wake of screaming humans in his wake and Chris Redfield hot on his heels the scrap of cloth clenched tightly in his hand.