Okay guys and gals, I'm back!
Claire fans, I promise I will get to her side of the story ASAP, but for now, she is behind the scenes and this is Leon and Ashley's chapter working together.
Don't worry; there will be many other combinations of characters working together with time in the spotlight! Thanks for your patience and I'm up for answering questions in email or comments!
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1-6: The Heat
The only rooms left were on the way down to the basement. Leon and Ashley noticed a rather large metal security door that had dropped down over some sort of escape route!
"I never knew about this!" Leon exclaimed.
"Apparently somebody did." Ashley replied, pointing towards a rack of flashlights with two missing.
Taking a door to the right, they came to a sign that said Furnace.
As they entered however, they found themselves in a large maze of cool cement halls. Ashley began to tire from the enormity of the basement level and began to pant, holding herself up with her hands on her knees in exhaustion.
She slowly looked up to discover a blue monster with a long tongue and exposed brain. Ready to scream, Leon covered her mouth and whispered to walk away slowly because the Lickers were blind. This one seemed to still notice them and dropped down, reaching out on its' hind legs for a target, tentacles like its tongue reaching out. However, they were able to duck and avoid being touched and made there way through the tunnels.
Finally they had reached the door and quickly shut it behind them suddenly overwhelmed by the massive difference in temperature, as well as the old dungeon-looking appearance of the furnace room.
As they rounded the corner, Ashley was about to scream! Quickly, Leon covered her mouth and pulled her back.
Mere feet away from them was a hissing noise, coming from what looked to be the back of a giant walking cobra.
Slowly, the purple figure seemed to use its' tongue to see. It's back was toward them, and showed the most gruesome-looking face on the "hood" that literally seemed to wrap around the back and head like a grim reaper cloth.
Leon slowly let go and made a motion for Ashley to stay quiet. Time dragged on forever as Leon cautiously approached the behemoth.
Ashley couldn't help but stare down the "face" of the cobra. The mouth looked ready to open with real teeth...
Leon was close enough to reach out with his mutant hand.
...the face had the shape of a monster in and of itself...
If Leon could just grab it and plow trough its' heart, this could be over before it began.
...the eyes gleamed back at her... LIKE REAL ONES!?
Ashley was alerted... AND THE MONSTER NOTICED!
Leon froze in a split second, as the design on the monster's back starred back... and blinked!
Another split-second later, leon ducked around and under sharp claws similar to his as the beast spun around to strike.
It saw with it's tongue too... all three of them! Fangs drew out from it's mouth as the eye sockets opened to form two smaller tongues with it's long whip of a third!
They heard the creature scream as they drew their guns towards the noise. The sound was now came from the licker hanging from the ceiling that fell in front of the fiery chamber in the furnace. It's skin began to burn and smoke as it cried out in pain... Mutating into something much more ferocious.
As it rose to its' hind legs however, Leon noticed a blue needle dart injected into its neck like a tracker, and Ashley saw a red keycard hanging from a chain around the monsters teeth.
It could have the first Bloodshot fight back at the furnace or something, and it watched as he examined it.
A licker with a needle stuck in him transformed it from a partygoer!
The beast charged at Leon... and he charged right back, taking it's coat and knocking him into the open furnace and setting it ablaze!
"...and that's what happens when you leave your licker out in the heat kids!" Leon joked.
"Any questions?"
The beast crawled back out slowly...
Ashley replied rhetorically with "Yeah, how do we kill it?"
"The brain...no wait!" Leon added. Upon further investigation, he noticed the monsters' chest cavity seemed to open and close with each breath, revealing the monsters core.
"The heart! Aim for the heart!"
Finally, as bullets burst through the lunging abomination, it fell down towards them and lay still.
Upon shooting the hulk down, they found the card on him and took their keys back down to open up the room.
"If we can't stand the heat..." Leon began.
Ashley finished with "I'm not going back in that cold kitchen!"
No, they were heading to freedom: HOME!
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One last thing before I disappear for another 6 weeks... Lol jk.
Would you guys be interested in hearing a holiday parody with these characters I had whipped up awhile back? I wouldn't mind giving it a reboot for the holidays, but it may contain spoilers for this story an would put me further behind on this one. Up to you!