Chapter 18: Besieged on all Sides
While Malice and Rocket had been fighting the Avengers Chris and were forced to deal with a sudden rush of zombies who had managed to break through their door. "How the hell did the hell did they get in" asked ripping through them like wildfire "I think it might have been that" Chris shouted back emptying a clip into a horde of zombies. Behind the cannon fodder stood a huge zombie, at least eight feet tall, which was covered in bony plates that layered it like a pinecone with a giant mouth filled with jagged teeth and multiple spiles jutting out of cracks from its armor that spewed large jets of flame. "That's a new one" Chris said, clearing away several enemies with a straight and giving him a shot at the new guy. The three shots pinged off the armor like dice off a wall, ricocheting into the walls and one unlucky zombie's head.
"Shit" Chris mumbled as he removed the spent shells and groped in his pocket for a box of fresh ones. He came up with the only one left in his pocket, some 9 mm Parabellum rounds, making him grimace with the realization that his usefulness in this battle was about to plummet. "Do you want the bad news or the really bad news" he asked the redhead as he loaded them into his Red9. "Please don't tell me you're out of bullets" she said knocking down two Cerberus' with a fan kick "Lucky you, I've got one round left, that was the really bad news" Chris replied "the bad news is that bone thing is immune to bullets." "Where is Malice when you need her" asked to no one in particular.
"Unfortunately for you wench even that ebon winged guardian angel would be unable to save you from your inevitable death" a voice called out from above them. Jerking her head up caught a glimpse of a blond haired man in a black trench coat and sunglasses leering down at them from the ceiling. In the blink of an eye he disappeared and stood before them, making Chris growl "Wesker." The CIA agent took a step back in surprise, Chris hadn't been kidding when he said the guy had ridiculous comic book powers. With admirable reflexes Chris vaulted forward with a nasty right hook aimed straight at Wesker's face but the blond was faster, much, much faster. With a flicker of black he dodged at the exact second appearing behind the B.S.A.A agent. Not one to stand around uselessly launched a kick of her own which swiped through empty air as well. Chris's head snapped around as he tried to spot Wesker but the man had disappeared into thin air, while they had been preoccupied with him the zombies had advanced so close they could smell the cranial fluid saturating their breath.
The bony zombie had been moved by a group of Ganado, either its armor was too heavy for it to move on its own or it had mutated without feet. Retreating back a few steps and Chris continued to exterminate the zombies but now they had to be more mindful than ever of the jets of flame that doused the area at regular intervals. The CIA agent had to do the majority of the legwork, Chris was being mindful of his last six shots leaving him with no other way to attack save downing a zombie with a punch or smashing in the head of one with a stomp which left him vulnerable to getting bitten. After wiping out several waves a small respite gave the redhead a chance to catch her breath "How many more do you think there are?" "Such a futile question, there are an endless amount" Wesker taunted as he reappeared before them "Soon you'll be joining their ranks as my faithful servants." "Go to hell" Chris roared aiming his weapon and firing two bullets at the Tricell agent much to the dismay of . Instead of simply flash stepping away the blond thrust his hand forward and grabbed both the bullets out of thin air. "You never learn do you Chris" he said sardonically, holding the bullets in front of him allowing the heat to burn his gloves sending tiny whorls of smoke into the air. He disappeared once again, rounded on Chris "What the hell do you think you're doing" she snapped at him "Now you've only got four left!"
"It'll be more than enough" Chris growled back, his canines visible in his sneer "Just shut up and mind your own damn business." "He's taunting you, trying to get you to waste your ammo on him" said, trying to reason with him "Can't you see that?" A sudden wave of heat washed over them forcing them both to dodge out of the way as a plume of fire exploded around the area they had been in. The Ganado had moved the bony zombie once again and now their plan of attack became clear, every time Wesker would fool around with them they would walk it forward a few more inches. Chris and retreated back into the lobby just in time to avoid catching on fire. With only the elevators as the only means of escaping the room they were in the probability of being cornered and burnt to ash was beginning to escalate quickly. Slapping the panel on the side of the wall lit up the button that would send one of the elevators down onto their floor. Time was of the essence, with the door way acting as a bottleneck the sheer number of zombies spewing in formed the perfect shield for the Ganado carrying the flame jet zombie. Launching forward the pair of them began to beat back the zombies in a desperate attempt to stop the bone zombie.
Using the corpses as kindling lay down a flaming carpet of corpses hoping that the Ganado carrying it would succumb to the flames but she was a hair too late. The Ganado did fall, far too focused on their task to notice the flames licking away at their rotting flesh, but the bone zombie was now close enough to coat the entire room. Pressing her back against the wall grimaced as the heat washed over her, the plumes mere inches away from her chest. The air escaped the room leaving a thin veil of smoke in its wake making breathing more difficult. "Damn" whispered completely locked down thanks to those jets "Where the hell is the elevator?" Squinting over the shimmering haze of the smoke she spied the panel telling observers which floor the elevator was currently on. The light had stopped on the sixth floor for the last five minutes, perhaps there was a mechanical issue going on. "Don't hold your breath" Wesker called out to them from behind the bone zombie "The Nemesis made sure you couldn't go scurrying off into one of your rat holes."
Grimacing tried to move forward and see if she couldn't time her lunge so she could pass between the jets but the spiles had mutated in such a way to ensure that the jets overlapped preventing prey from slipping past. As if sensing her entrapment the zombie gave a huge smile showing off the layers of teeth that spiraled into its mouth promising a slow, grinding death. Stuck between Scylla and Charybdis took the riskiest option; Seismo. Slamming her palm onto the ground she felt her suit stiffen a bit as it calculated the exact amount of energy she would need before sending it deep into the crust in the space of the millisecond right before she hit. The effect took a second but the energy struck home aggravating the tectonic plate just enough for an earthquake, registered as a 6 on the Richter scale, to shake the area. Her calculations had been very hasty relying on far too much guesswork for to be comfortable with her decision.
The odds were in her favor though; the shaking did more than enough to weaken the floor underneath the zombie causing it to buckle under its enormous weight. It began to tip over as one side of the floor sank, crushing half of its spiles underneath it, while the others shot their jets into the air aimlessly. Wordlessly the pair made a break for it by circling around its now offence-less sides heading for the exit of the apartment. As they exited the floor gave away, dumping the bony zombie deep into the bowels of the building. Wesker was waiting for them outside with a condescending frown on his face "What's the matter Chris, losing your touch? I would have expected someone like you to be able to defeat such a thing by yourself." Chris didn't reply, he simply growled and tried to deck Wesker in the face. The blond continued to side step his attacks making the entire thing look like some sort of jerky dance between the two of them as Chris continually missed only to push even harder to land a blow. Watching from the sidelines frowned, she knew that Chris might become too enraged to fight Wesker with a calm mind but this vastly exceeded her fears. Wesker was literally just playing with Chris; he was in no danger of getting hit.
The same did not prove true for though; Chris angrily drew his gun and tried to shoot the blond indifferent to how ineffective that had been in the past. With a smirk Wesker simply flash stepped away with a quiet whump of air allowing the bullets to scream past him to where was standing. On instinct she lifted her arms to protect her face, three of them bounced off the tech suit's material harmlessly but one managed to cut through the patch Rocket had made after her battle with the ninja and penetrated her left arm. Muttering a curse gingerly examined the wound, the bullet had smashed through her ulna but the suit had prevented it from exiting completely, a round pump on the outside of her arm showed her exactly where it was sticking out from. Tsking in disapproval, Wesker wagged his finger at Chris "Really Redfield, where is that comrade minded cop who once fought beside me. Such reckless behavior ill suits a milquetoast like you." "Shut the hell up Wesker, who I was in the past couldn't even see the scheme you were hatching and he sure as hell couldn't protect Jill from you."
"Finally, you're finally starting to get it aren't you" Wesker said, his voice oozing with sticky sweet condescension "All this effort, this entire struggle, it's futile. I have become a god and no mortal man can stand against a god." From behind him rolled her eyes, yet another loony who wanted to be a god, there seemed to be no end to them. Unhooking her sleeve she gingerly plucked the bullet out, the wound began to spew large quantities of blood out forcing her to sacrifice more of her tech suit to make a bare bones tourniquet. Dismayed at how bad the injury felt she experimentally flexed her hand a bit to see how her range of motion was. Along with nerve grinding twinges that happened with the smallest of movements most of her grip strength was gone along with the ability to move her arm in a coordinated manner from the elbow down. Biting her lip she glanced up to see how Chris was faring. The B.S.A.A agent was getting hung out to dry. A massive jab from him phased through Wesker who launched a punch of his own sending the muscular man back a few feet. With a series of teleports he dashed forward pushing Chris back until he was up against the wall. Unable to move an inch Chris could do nothing but bite back a cry as Wesker pounded his torso with a flurry of gut busting punches before sending the larger man down on the ground with a kick to the side of the head.
Unable to stay on the sidelines any longer dashed forward and leapt into the air, using her flame jets to get more height. Without even turning around Wesker blocked her roundhouse with his arm, ducked the second rotation of her kick, side stepped her hell drop, then proceeded to launch a single elbow right into her mid-section that made her crumple like a rag doll. "Are you done yet" he asked fixing his sun glasses "I'll have you know I dislike interlopers interfering with my revenge." Pivoting on one foot he slammed the tip of his shoe into the CIA agent's head knocking her unconscious before returning his attention to his former teammate. The man in question was trying his best to get up; his fingers caressed his tummy gently as they tried to soothe the angry purple bruises that were forming. Smirking Wesker bent down and pulled Chris up by his hair till his the back of his head was level with his chest. With his other hand he reached into his leather coat and pulled out a Magnum which he placed near Chris' ear. "I remember once, a long time ago, this used to be my favorite gun. I was entranced by its beauty, the polish of its steel and the curves of its muzzle, but what need do I have for it now?"
Chris didn't say anything; he knew that Wesker had a propensity to jabber so he was making the best use of his time by trying to come up with a way to get out of this. "Now I move faster than any bullet, I am deadlier than any machine gun, capable of dealing death and destruction at a magnitude that could far outstrip this puny device." He turned the gun to the chamber was next to Chris' ear and snapped the safety on making Chris flinch as the sound assaulted his eardrum. "It has become a child's plaything. Can you possibly imagine how that feels, Chris? To be so superior to such craftsmanship that your very existence is as deadly as a knife" he chuckled and tapped the muzzle of the weapon against the B.S.A.A members temple "Of course you don't, how could you. All your life you were playing second fiddle to me and my majesty. Even when this gun was relevant to me you couldn't hold a candle to my accomplishments. I have always been superior to you Chris, since the day we met. That's why you could never, ever beat me in the long run." Chris could feel himself grow cold as he heard the faint click of the trigger stirring from its initial position, a light bead of sweat rolled down his face. He would only get one shot at this, do or die time.
The trigger continued its deliberately slow pace down toward the hammer in preparation to turn Chris' head into a grisly pile of grey brain chunks and skull fragments. Right before it hit the last little bump in the rut that acted as a safety guard between firing the gun and simply pushing down the trigger Chris reached into his back pocket and withdrew one of the first aid sprays he had kept after their invasion of the government facility. Pressing the nozzle down he sent a blast of aerosol-esque vapor right into Wesker's face causing him to choke. Having used countless first aid sprays during his career in zombie fighting Chris knew the first rule of using the spray was to hold your breath while applying it. The chemical mix was very irritating to the eyes, mouth, and nostrils. The finger Wesker was using to fire the gun clamped down on the trigger but didn't apply enough pressure before jerking away to help shield Wesker's mouth from the acrid cloud. The Magnum bounced uselessly to Chris' side allowing the man to pick it up. He stood up and fired on Wekser turning the blonde's head into a bloody mess. The headless corpse dropped to the ground oozing blood like crazy while Chris looked on in muted shock.
It didn't last long though, he had killed Wekser before, so he turned his attention to who was lying helplessly on the floor. Picking her up he carried her out the door into the street which had become hazy because of some kind of smog made up of a black, sooty material. Despite the fact that it was summer a cold wind whistled down from the crowns of the sky scrapers making Chris shiver. 'What the hell is going on here' he wondered for a second before the realization hit him 'Malice! Malice must be using Skadi somewhere, and Rocket Raccoon is with her. Are they in trouble?' Worried about his companions he took a few more steps forward only to jump back as the huge monster that had fought with Wesker before jumped in front of him. "Where the hell did this come from" he cursed under his breath recalling that Malice had decapitated it before "You're supposed to be dead!" "The finality of death doesn't apply to superior beings Chris" a voice behind him stated, a voice that made Chris' blood run cold. He turned around and watched as Wesker exited the apartment looking completely normal. "No" he said stumbling back a few feet from surprise. His response made Wesker chortle "I have transcended death itself Redfield. Nothing can stop me, not even myself." To demonstrate his new found immortality Wesker grabbed his head with both hands and yanked upwards. Flesh gave way, tearing apart like wrapping paper, while the mouth screamed for an instant before the voice box was pulled out along with his throat and a sizable chunk of his spine.
For moment it stood there, the corpse of a mad man who had just managed to decapitate himself in the most gruesome way. The face was frozen into a mask of utter pain, the lips jagged as they breathed out an aborted shriek. Then the body moved, much like an ant deprived of its head. It jerked backwards which in turn jolted the severed head out of its hands letting it land on the sidewalk with a thump. The body continued to jerk uneasily like if it was undergoing a seizure as a thin stream of blood began to flow from the severed neck like a fountain. Soon flesh and bone began to creep up the neck like a tree blossoming into a host of different parts. The neck reformed itself using the spine as a base to grow higher. A flesh bubble inflated until it was roughly twice the size that Wesker's head had been before, and by watching the skin twist and shake Chris could see where the skull was being regrown. It then deflated like a bubblegum bubble covering the new skull with wrinkles skin which ironed itself out automatically leaving a featureless face. A mouth formed from a rift in the skin revealing white teeth and a tongue. A much smaller flesh bubble blossomed in the middle of the face forming the nose while the skin sunk into the skin leaving two black holes that were filled with gelatinous white liquid.
Within twenty seconds of being severed Wesker had grown a new head. "That look of awe on your face is terribly appropriate" the blond said jerking his head to the side to alleviate a crick in his neck "The fact that you've finally connected the dots like some infantile idiot is very satisfying to see." Chris took another step back, the terror clawing at his mind had prevented him from remembering that the Nemesis was only a few feet behind him "Wesker…you…you've…what have you done" Chris asked. "I have finally reached the potential, the goal for which I was born to grasp!" Wesker said stalking forward slowly "For too long I have suffered, slaving away for Irons and Spencer and Excella, incapable of understanding the scope of my godhood. Even while using the Progenitor Virus I was merely tapping into .0001% of my actual abilities but now, now I have been unleashed to bring about a new world. No more will mankind crawl about this infertile Earth that strains to keep the masses satiated with her limited resources. Ouroboros will commence and bring about the first great awakening of mankind by killing off 90% of it. The truly empowered will thrive amidst the new world and will bow to me, the most powerful."
He lifted his fist to the sky, his voice jubilant "The second awakening will occur as homo superior will infect the world once again only to be brought down as another like me seeks to push it to the next level. And so on and so forth will history repeat until the purest and brightest generation is refined like gold in the forge more beautiful than ever in its splendor. I shall rule over this generation for eternity, my own Promised Land!" Wesker was far gone into the deluded recesses of his own mind to notice Chris about to haul ass out of the area but before the former S.T.A.R.S member could even pivot a giant hand clenched around his throat, the Nemesis. "S.T.A.R.S" it murmured monotonously flicking specks of green drool into Chris's eyes. The beast shook him lightly forcing him to let go of who dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The sound of her impact alerted Wesker who stopped his monologue with a sneer "I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here aren't I? After all there's still some work to be done, targets that need to be eliminated." This particular statement made Wesker take off his glasses revealing his Chianti red eyes allowing him to pierce Chris with a loathsome stare that just screamed how much the blond hated him. The Nemesis tightened his grip making Chris gasp to take in enough oxygen to stay conscious.
"You've been such a thorn in my side Redfield, you could have been the oblivious pawn who never needed to see the consequences of what happened after Raccoon City but you had to keep fighting didn't you? And for what, so you could be a "good" guy, a good big brother, some sort of testament that you're a man? But it wasn't your utter obliviousness to my splendor or the logic of Ouroboros, no, it was the fact you kept on winning. Despite all the odds, the sheer number of zombies, the hopeless situations, the loss of your comrades in arms, even fighting a god like me you never once lost. It was inconceivable, nature made a fool as the law of the jungle was subverted." Chris wanted to get in one last jibe at the end of this statement but before he could finish the first word the Nemesis squeezed his neck again forcing him to abort, no witty comebacks this time. "But now, it's all over, you're a dead man Chris Redfield and you've been dead for a long time. Ever since you've chosen to oppose me you're signed away your right to life as it is for all who oppose me." The Nemesis placed his rocket launcher on the ground and clasped Chris' neck with both hands preparing to break it like a piece of uncooked spaghetti.
Placing his sunglasses up onto his nose Wesker gave a little wave to Chris "Farewell Redfield, go burn in Hell." "My, my, my, such anger, such rage" A voice whispered into Wesker's ear "How long has it been since you've gotten any sex? It sounds like it's been eons." Wesker disappeared in a flash and reappeared a few feet away looking outraged "Who the hell are you and why are interrupting me?" Standing up straight the mysterious woman dressed in a white shirt covered by a white gi and hip hugging red pants gave him a wink "Name's Morrigan, queen of Makai. It's my solemn duty to defend studs everywhere" she gestured to Chris "Mind if I take him off your hands? He's quite a catch don't you think?" "The only place where Chris Redfield is going is Hell" Wesker snarled "Stay out of my way and maybe, after tearing him from limb to limb, I'll be too overjoyed wallowing in his death to notice you slipping away into whatever back alley titty bar you oozed out from." "You're not very charming and not very handsome" Morrigan said with a critical glare "I guess I won't be losing any sleep after I claw off that face of yours." Turning to Chris she shot him a wink "I don't do stud-in-distress work for free, ya know? It'll cost you big time." She giggled before getting into her stance "Ready or not, here comes Morrigan!" Sighing Wesker waved the Nemesis away "This'll be over in ten seconds" he threatened her but it had the opposite effect. Daintily placing the back of her hand over her mouth she sniggered at him "Ten seconds? Is that really something you want to advertise? A girl like me can't respect you if you can only hold out for that long."
Before Wesker could retort a massive blow shatter his spine, causing him to pitch forward onto the ground in a heap. "Miss Morrigan, are you alright" Ryu asked as he lowered his chi powered fist "Just fine, honey. Help me save that stud over there and then we'll talk about the fee I owe you for services rendered" Morrigan explained trailing her finger down her neck and deep into her décolletage. Jumping up onto his feet Wesker twisted once to the right and then once to then left in order to snap his spine back into place before flash stepping over to the queen of Makai who he caught completely off guard. A roundhouse sent her sprawling several feet away "Go now" Wesker commanded thrusting one hand towards the east "Wait till I'm finished dealing with these two."The monster gave a disappointed nod, it was going to have to wait a little longer before it could crush S.T.A.R.S, but loyalty had been ingrained deeper than the need to complete its mission. With a massive leap it took off into the skyline with Redfield in tow while its master dodged a Hadoken from the shirtless karate master. Phasing through the next volley he reappeared at shoulder height slightly to the left trying to punt the man's head off with a kick to the headband.
To his great surprise the Japanese man caught his foot and slammed him down onto the ground causing Wesker's mind to blank for a few seconds. He was amazed that anyone could catch him especially now that the cosmic cube was ratcheting up his virus abilities to the Nth degree. Because of his lapse in focus the karate master managed to get off several powerful haymakers that broke his ribs each time they connected. He must have realized they kept reforming with each punch because he looked up at his partner "He's regenerating." "Keep him locked down till I get back" Morrigan instructed him changing her wings into rockets preparing to pursue the monster but in the five milliseconds it took for her to get into the air Wesker had punched the karate master in the chin which sent him into the air and down onto his ass. He ran over to where the queen of Makai was in a blur grabbing her by the leg and flinging her toward the Ryu causing them to land together in a heap. "No one is going anywhere" the blond snarled "I have been waiting for this moment for ten years. No one, not even the interloper who broke into this game, is going to stop me from cleaning up some annoying loose ends."
"So I crashed your player's party, that shouldn't mean he can take it out on my delicious ass" Morrigan mock whined, underneath all the whimsy she was exuding she was beginning to worry. After that fight with Marietta she had been in really bad shape, Ryu had helped kickstart the healing process but it had taken a significant amount of Makai energy to finish off the rest. Without any way to replenish she was roughly at the power equivalent of Akuma, still very lethal to humans but nowhere near the level she had been when she entered this world. As such the majority of her demonic powers had been sealed off to her leaving her with few options to deal with this freak who could run circles around the both of them in the blink of an eye. Slowly, the realization that she might have stuck her nose into a very deadly fight began to dawn on her. "Tell ya what, let's pretend this never happened and go our separate, merry ways" Morrigan reasoned deciding that their lives were more important than the life of some random, hot stranger. Wesker was having none of that "I'm going to finish what you started, no one interrupts me in my moment of triumph and gets away with it." He dashed forward kicking Ryu out of the way aiming for Morrigan and launched her into the sky with and uppercut.
"Shit" Morrigan grumbled as she cartwheeled to the side just in time to avoid a punch but before she could complete it the man flashed stepped right next to her sending her stumbling back with a right hook. Swinging from hand to hand Morrigan counter attacked with a kick using her power to change her stilettos into blades. With a schwing she sliced his arm off at the elbow swirling back around to land several more lacerations on his chest before jumping back onto her feet to avoid a sweep kick. The blond tried to follow it up with an uppercut but his hand merely slid up against her wings which had wrapped around her to protect her. Instead of taking advantage of his whiff Morrigan flipped backwards behind Ryu who had been charging up one of his Hadokens. With a roar he launched the giant blue beam straight down the street enveloping Wesker in its destructive circumference. Leaning up against his hunched up figure Morrigan gave a demure smile as she trailed her finger down his exposed chest "That was impressive" she cooed. "He's not dead" he growled back breaking the mood forming between them. As the bright blue light faded Morrigan could see a dark figure standing there seemingly unaffected by the giant waves of chi roiling around him.
A few bits of the man would break off like if he was about to disintegrate but before long another skein of shadow would rebuild on top of the missing parts healing the man. Eventually the chi petered out leaving bright patches of flame that licked the asphalt of the street as well as the blond stranger who merely polished his sunglasses lazily. "Will you just die please" he angrily asked them through grit teeth "I am a busy man and the minute or so I'll use killing you if you resist will reduce to twenty seconds if you just let me cave your skulls in. Your deaths are inevitable anyway, allow someone to at least benefit from them." "You're a cocky little man aren't you" Morrigan asked taking a defensive stance in front of Ryu "Ryu, sweetie, you need to go. I'm pretty sure I can buy you three minutes, five minutes tops." He shook his head and stepped up until he was beside her "You promised that you wouldn't leave me out of a fight again, or do you plan to stick me in a cage again." "As much as I love the thought of you bound, gagged, and vulnerable this is life or death sweetie, not some sparring match. Hate to say this but we're probably going to die."
"All of my life I have been staring death in the face" Ryu retorted "I am not afraid of the end." Deciding to place the fear of death into him Wesker flash stepped around Morrigan sending Ryu flying with a haymaker before pursuing his airborne body. Cruelly he continued to keep the karate master airborne with punches and kicks and might have killed him before he could set another foot on the ground. Pushing her jetpack to the max Morrigan swooped in front of him and parried his next punch with one of her own giving Ryu a chance to drop back down onto the ground in a bruised heap. She raked her nails against his face, parried his next blow, and then kicked him away with a bladed heel. The wounds healed up in an instant making the Makai queen frown, she had never seen such a potent healing factor. Usually if it was fast it was weak and if it was strong then it took longer for the wounds to heal but this one was capable of bringing its host back from the dead before the Reaper could even touch his soul. Vaulting forward he circled around her again intent on keeping all her focus in keeping Ryu alive to wear her down just enough to end her with one strike before finishing off the karate master. However he had forgotten how Ryu had managed to block his earlier strike, his grab was reversed in an instant so that the karate master had him by the throat.
Zipping up Morrigan laid into him with a nasty pirouette kick that sawed him in half sending his intestines unraveling into a heap next to his legs. Confident they had killed him Ryu let him go and high fived Morrigan "That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be" he remarked which proceeded to jinx them both. With a snarl Wesker slid across the ground like a snake grabbing a sharpened piece of metal that had fallen down onto the street using it to sever the bond with his now defunct intestines. With a white flash a new lower half appeared all dressed and ready to kick ass. Kicking Morrigan aside he brow beat Ryu on the head several times almost inflicting a concussion before tossing his body knocking Morrigan down with it.
With a grunt he flew into the air planning to impale them both with a drop kick before returning to his revenge, Morrigan was trapped under Ryu leaving them both helpless, or so he thought. Wriggling her arms out under his sides Morrigan flung both palms into the air sending out something weird, it looked like skull surrounded by rainbow energy that chomped the air as it flew towards him. Unable to dodge in midair Wesker took the brunt of it which sent him spiraling through the air helplessly. He impacted the ground and jumped up as fast as he could but it was too late, Morrigan had managed to wiggle her way from under Ryu. They traded blows again; Morrigan continued to twist about his blows until she could get on top of his shoulders and send him crashing to the ground using another Soul Fist to buy her a few more seconds. Fluttering up to a building, still reflective despite the grit in the air, she pulled out one of her mirror clones who stood side by side as Wesker got up. "Parlor tricks" he sneered trying to decide which one was the real one before choosing the left one and charging her. With a giggle the pair jumped away and circled towards the right until he was caught between the pair of them. Swiping her hands through the air she sent Soul Fist after Soul into the air, her clone copied her every move, until the air was filled with mystical flying skulls.
Even with his super speed Wesker still managed to get hit by several of these skulls who exploded to take out a chunk from his side or back, wherever they hit, which he simply regenerated. At one point he managed to get close enough to try and grab her but before he could touch her she tapped into some sort of dark power that took the form of a black wave which sent him right back into the middle of the bullet storm. It took him a few minutes later to realize something was wrong, very, very wrong. Instead of slowing down from the amount of energy she was spending Morrigan seemed to get faster and more rejuvenated with each volley. Even worse, he was beginning to slow down. Every time one of those wacky energy things hit him his energy levels took a substantive hit which must have begun to drain the cosmic cube embedded in his chest. His attacks were becoming slower and more predictable by the second. With the possibility to actually lose to the succubus growing more likely with each passing moment he decided to cut his losses.
Digging deep into the cosmic cube Wesker wrapped himself in a deluge of power upping his speed back to its abnormal levels long enough for him to slip out of the bullet storm. Whipping past the succubus he used the rubble littering the area to quickly follow the path the Nemesis had created by crashing through buildings. Cursing under her breath Morrigan revved her rockets ready to chase after him but a muted groan caught her attention. Ryu was looking much worse for the wear; the bruises patterning his body were growing more and more vibrant by the second. Giving one last rueful look at the black leather coat flapping out of sight she turned her attention to her injured friend. "Try to take it easy" she warned him sitting him down on the ground "Where does it hurt the most?" "It's mostly my pride" he admitted "Don't be silly, the fact we got out of that fight alive is reason enough to celebrate" Morrigan chastised him. He sighed and nodded; still a bit miffed at his less than stellar performance "What's the plan?" "We go after him of course, that level of power is understandable for someone like Marietta to wield but for a mortal man? Something is wrong here." Painfully Ryu tried to stand up only to be gently pushed back down by Morrigan "I thought we were going after them" he said. "We are but not before I heal your wounds." Ryu rose an eyebrow "You can do that" which garnered him a naughty smile. "I'm a succubus, honey, Energy transfer is embedded deeply into my being" she hesitated a bit "Typically I transfer men's energy to me but how hard can it be to hit the reverse switch?"
Ryu paled wondering how badly this could "Are you sure you can do this?" Morrigan gave him a small but confident smile "Were you sure of yourself when you pumped me full of chi to bring me back to life." "No" Ryu admitted "It was mostly touch and go with a smidge of theory. But…I thought you weren't dead, just regenerating. You didn't need my chi at all." Morrigan waved her hand dismissively "Details, details, just trust me ok, I won't let you down." With that statement she leaned in to his face, her lips puckered which made him lean back confused at what exactly she was trying to do. "Aren't you going to use magic" he asked which caused her smile to widen from assuring to smug. "It doesn't work like that, at least for a succubus that is" she explained to him burying her hand into his hair "Physical contact is necessary, a kiss isn't the most effective way to do it." She trailed her other hand down his body till it was right on top of his crotch "The best way would take at least an hour longer" she said huskily. "V-very well then" he said with a gulp "Um, so…I guess if you're ready…" "I'm always ready" Morrigan assured him before lunging forward to capture his mouth in one fell swoop.
Instinctively Ryu jerked back as years of getting headbutted kicked in subconsciously instructing him to counter back but she pressed on throwing him off balance. The energy flooded through him like water through a dike, making him lightheaded yet washing away the sting of his wounds at the same time. His muscles relaxed causing him to lean farther back which Morrigan took as an invitation to crawl onto him until she was sitting in his lap. Eventually she broke the kiss off, her long tongue slowly dragging its way out of his mouth savoring each contour of his lips. "Feeling better" she asked rhetorically, his hair was frizzed due to the intensity of the energy boost and she could feel how hard he was in between her thighs. Ryu nodded, a bit disoriented, which Morrigan took full advantage of by licking the bruises on his chest which faded under her administrations. "As much as I'd love to continue this" she whispered to him "We've got a villain to catch."Extracting her tongue from his sweaty, shiny chest she pulled him up with one hand "Try to keep up." With a wink she dashed away sending tangles of raw emotion hurtling through his chest, what the hell had just happened?
Before he could chase after her he noticed a shock of red hair sticking up behind a pile of rubble, the color alone made a memory jump out of the hormone addled recess of his mind. "Hang on a sec" he yelled over to Morrigan as he jogged over wondering if it really was the woman he had fought a few years ago during the war against Shadaloo. She had been some sort of mercenary in their weapon developments unit using one of their products, a super powered suit, to smash through row upon row of opponents. The one thing he remembered, aside from her flame powered flying kicks, was her red hair styled into a bouffant. It wasn't something you forgot easily, which was the entire reason something in the pit of his stomach told him it was her lying prone on the street. After moving around several rocks he confirmed his suspicions, lay there beginning to rouse from her slumber. "Hey, are you alright" he asked her visually checking her body for wounds "Hang in there."
Gritting her teeth the CIA agent opened her eyes and clutched her stomach giving one very pained moan before sitting up. "Damn, I let him get the better of me" she murmured rubbing her tummy, there didn't seem to be any broken bones which was a miracle within and of itself. Taking a few deep breaths to focus, noticed Ryu sitting there next to her "What the hell are you doing here?" "I could ask you the same question" he replied "You look like it that blonde guy that did this to you?" She nodded "Which way did he go" she asked looking around "His stupid servant took one of my allies, he's in trouble." She pushed herself onto her feet nearly falling over in the process "Be careful, you're really banged up" Ryu said placing an arm under her shoulder. "Ryu, wasn't it? I don't have time to lounge about" she snapped at him "There's a blonde ego maniac running around at supersonic speeds creating zombies. He kidnapped one of my friends and the other two are currently AWOL at the moment leaving it up to me to stop this madness." She tried to shrug off his grip but he simply clamped down harder "I get it; I'm not going to stop you but let us come along as well. There's no way any of us can take that blonde guy on alone so let's do this together." "I don't need your charity" she said flatly taking a few steps before keeling over from the pain. She had to rest up against Ryu for a few seconds before revising her statement "I'll accept a little charity for now but if you clowns slow me down then I'm ditching you."
Together they walked over to where Morrigan stood gazing at both of them with a disproving look "My, look what you managed to drudge up" she said in a sickly sweet voice "Sadly we don't have time to cart around dead weight, put it back where you found it." "Blow it out of your ass" said snappishly "I don't have time to play the name game with a hussy like you." "Oh Ryu, she's being mean to me" Morrigan cried pressing herself up against his broad chest "You don't want to have to cart such a sharp tongued shrew with you, she's liable to castrate you in your sleep." "Morrigan, stop, her friend was taken by that weird blonde guy and she's too hurt to fend for herself. Another set of hands might be just what we need if we're going to fight him again." "We're fine on our own" Morrigan rallied back "She'll just slow us down." "I doubt that, I've seen her fight before and she is very accomplished" Ryu argued "Our options are few right now; let's take advantage of every resource that comes our way." Morrigan pouted as best she could but Ryu was ignorant of the message she was trying to tell him forcing her to accede…for now. "Fine, we've been standing around here for too long anyway. Let's haul some ass." Jetting into the air Morrigan zipped ahead, her fists clenched in frustration while Ryu and parkoured after her. "Mind filling me in" asked as she dashed through an office building the Nemesis had carved its way through.
"You're new to the circuit so it's no surprise you haven't heard of her" Ryu said "Morrigan has appeared in several high level tournaments for years now, she typically wins them but she never accepts the prize money for winning. Only a couple of people know where she came from, otherwise she's just an insanely beautiful woman who fights like ten men. In actuality she's a succubus from some demon world who fights to stimulate her sense of pleasure." pierced him with a critical look "How the hell do you know that?" There was some very suspicious subtext in her query which flew over the head of poor, innocent Ryu. "I managed to beat her once and she asked for a rematch. Granted, she was using some of her innate abilities this time so I lost but I put up a pretty good fight anyway." They jumped out the hollowed out guts of the skyscraper climbing a nearby fire escape to get the height they needed to vault over to the next building. made it easily enough but Ryu fell a bit short grabbing the edge of the roof before he plummeted to his death. "I'll meet you guys soon, I'm going around" he explained falling down onto the parapet leaving alone with Morrigan. Strutting up to the CIA agent Morrigan pointed down where Ryu was picking his way through numerous stone gargoyles "See that, that's mine" she announced glaring at "Mess with it and you're dead." "He's all yours" the redhead said crossing her arms "Have fun with him."
The trail led into the heart of the city where there was dearth of zombies, they formed a perfect mile wide circle as if an invisible force keeping them away. In the middle of this circle was the blond guy along with his monstrous ally who was holding Chris up with one arm. As they approached knelt down and pushed her jets to maximum output giving her a ridiculous amount of height, Hurtling through the air like a comet she targeted the large monster before controlling her fall with a series of flips while her boots began spewing out flames. Hearing her approach Wesker zipped forward up the side of a building in half a millisecond and flung himself through the air in order to tackle her. "I thought I dealt with you" he growled as they tumbled through the air "You elbow like a girl" said with a smirk. They landed on the ground with thud; the impact tore the pair apart allowing them to roll their separate ways. Picking herself off the asphalt hunkered down into her battle stance "Let Chris go" she demanded revving up the jets on her boots. Finally tired of talking Wesker didn't reply choosing to try and punt her in the stomach. To his great surprise she caught him his foot then twisted him in midair sending him tumbling to the ground "Looks like you're slowing down" she noted stomping him with her boots.
"She's got a point" M.O.D.O.K called out from above as he flew towards the pair "You're close to over draining your cosmic cub and that's the last thing you want." Grabbing telekinetically he flung her off his partner "How about a team up? You're going to need help if you're if you plan on taking them all out yourself." Rolling his eyes Wekser jumped back onto his feet "In case you haven't noticed you humongous head case I have the situation under control." A nearby roar turned their attention behind them where the Nemesis was fighting off a man in karate pants with little else while a succubus carted Chris away from the battle. The silence settled between them for a second before Wesker piped up "I'll deal with the redhead, make sure Redfield doesn't escape." Jetting through the air he smashed Morrigan in the back with a psionic beam making her drop Chris to the ground "Party's over here sugartits" he said with a giant smile "You know what they say about guys with big heads?" "Why, yes, I have" she chirped twirling around with a nasty smile of her own slashed across her face "Guys with big heads are always virgins."
"Cheeky" M.O.D.O.K grumbled pressing some buttons on his Doomsday chair "I guess it doesn't matter in the long run, I've never been a big fan of silicon." She shot him a dirty look but before she could defend her boobs M.O.D.O.K launched a salvo of missiles in her direction forcing her away from Chris Redfield's prone body. Sharply darting about she tried to shake them off her tail but they followed her with such a precision she deduced they must be heat seekers. Pushing her rockets to their maximum she gained a few feet before U-turning in the air launching a salvo of her own. The two groups of rockets slammed against each other exploding in midair, making Ryu stumble a bit and nearly costing him his life. With a keening sound the Nemesis whipped a tentacle forward trying to stab the man in the heart; Ryu had to jerk to the left to avoid it. Rushing forward he slammed the beast with a punch, ducked the counter attack, before sending it straight into the air with a Shoryuken. He juggled him with a follow up uppercut then finished with a hurricane kick but his hopes of keeping the thing down were promptly squashed as the thing got back up even while being pounded with Hadokens. 'This thing is even more persistent than Q" he thought as he parried one of the creature's uppercuts only to get the butt of its rocket launcher in the breadbasket sending him back a few feet.
He rolled away from the follow up rocket that flew past him, missing by a few inches, blasting several feet behind him where it was caught in midair by Wesker. A normal man would have been killed; the impact would have triggered the detonation switch set to fire within .005 seconds of being dinged by the lightest of touches. But .005 seconds was a lifetime to Wesker whose speed slowed down time dramatically so much that the within the blink of 's eye he caught it and then it was right in front of her face. A thought didn't even have time to form in her mind; she was completely helpless and should have been disintegrated. Instead the rocket simply hung there in the air surrounded by ethereal blue light. Both battlers stared at it for a moment before a blue laser beam slammed into the frozen Wesker disintegrating the upper half of his body. "Good job, Jean" a gold and red robot said as he hovered down in front of "You still in control" he asked as he flung the rocket up into the air and letting it detonate harmlessly. "For now, but it would probably be best if I stuck to support" she answered him telepathically "Parker and Kinney are on their way."
"Excellent" Stark said before turning to "Well milady, the Avengers are here and the situation is under control. Let me escort you to someplace safer." He offered his hand which she ignored looking at something beyond his shoulder "It's not over" she intoned cartwheeling out of the way. "Behind you" Jean screamed but it was too late before the first syllable managed to even form. Something slammed into his back placing a massive dent into his armor and sent him tumbling down the road til he rolled into a building with a bang. "Are you ok" she asked as Tony picked himself up annoyed at the way the den was pushing in between his shoulder blades "Yeah, what the hell hit me?" Turning about the view made his jaw drop in disbelief, the blonde he had evaporated was fighting the redhead he had saved. "How the hell did he do that" Iron Man asked as he replayed the attack back in his visor. The guy had clearly been hit with his Uni-Beam. "I don't know but it wasn't an illusion" Jean replied "ETA on Parker and Kinney is at least five minutes. Can you hold out that long?" "Your doubt in my abilities is very encouraging, not emasculating in the least" he replied playfully "Tell Potts to pop the bubbly in ten minutes."
He activated his jets to grab some air before swooping down into the battle trying to separate the two. They parted in the midst of their battle like dancers giving him a space to turn and launch both palm lasers right at the man. They struck concrete as the man seemed to flicker slightly allowing them to pass through him harmlessly before disappearing. Something grabbed his foot, the man had appeared below him, and using his super strength, twirled him about like a lasso before chucking him at the redhead. She jumped over him at the last second twisting sideways in the air trying to nail him with a flaming kick. Wesker braced himself as he tried to dash away but instead of a burst of blurred color that came before his faster than light movement a great pain gripped his chest locking up his knees allowing him to get nailed in the face. With a cry he backhanded her away, clawing at his burnt face, the pain was incredible. Taking a ragged breath he stood up to his full height, doing his best to ignore it and focusing instead on the pair in front of him.
"Having some trouble" M.O.D.O.K asked with a huge smile on his face "Luckily for your overconfident ass I called in for back up." "I thought you were dealing with the succubus" Wesker said with a snarl. "She's being dealt with" M.O.D.O.K replied pointing up at the sky where Super Skrull smashed the winged woman away with petrified fists. "Don't feel so smug" Tony barked at him "We've got the cavalry on the way." "Oh, goodie a battle royale, M.O.D.O.K likes" the mad face machine purred "How about a little two on two until they show up. That should be just long enough for us to beat you into the ground. They'll be picking up the strips of you embedded in the sidewalk just before they join you." Discreetly iron Man leaned over and whispered into 's ear "What do you think our chances are of beating them?" "In the shitter" she replied taking a deep breath to quell the sharp pain tearing at her middle "Try to keep up with me and know this; I'm not going to be watching your ass out there." "My eyes are going to be glued to yours" Tony said before the pair rushed the villains knowing full well the kind of uphill, high stakes battle they were about to wage.
