Standing over the region looking out to Raccoon City was Albert Wesker, the traitor to S.T.A.R.S. having his eyes fixated on the future for himself, as well as his organization.
"Wesker," Came the voice of Sephiroth. "You seem to be alive and well."
"The virus I created seems to be a success," Wesker said. "I revived shortly after my Tyrant had 'killed' me."
"What now?" Sephiroth asked. "Will you continue to work with Umbrella?"
"No, I have officially parted ways with that company, I have a grander vision in mind," Wesker said. "In fact, I'd sooner destroy Umbrella for good. They served their purpose, but that purpose has expired. Just like my use for S.T.A.R.S."
"Do you know if they survived?" Sephiroth asked.
"I won't discount that possibility," Wesker said. "When I went to check on my creation, it had been utterly destroyed. No doubt Chris proved his usefulness."
"Do you worry about Chris Redfield?" Sephiroth asked.
"Chris is one of my best, but he is only human," Wesker said. "Meanwhile, I am on my way to becoming the God I deserve to be. It starts with the fall of Umbrella. Perhaps I will make a temporary alliance. I hear Shadoloo is doing quite well, or perhaps I should turn my attention to another organizaton. Perhaps I can find contacts outside this country, I hear Japan is an interesting place to be around this time."
"I am sure you will figure it out," Sephiroth said. "For now, I have my own business to attend to regarding Shinra."
"Is this about your current form?" Wesker asked. "I do hope you prioritize that. It would be useful."
"I have many plans in mind," Sephiroth said. "However, I should warn you. Things about this planet may change soon. So I would brace for the future if I were you. Once I find JENOVA, that's when I will unleash my own destiny."
"Very well," Wesker said.
"Oh, and be sure that Chris Redfield won't be a bother later," Sephiroth said. "I overlooked a bothersome pest once, and he proved to be a nuisance on my plans."
"Is this about Cloud Strife?" Wesker asked, Sephiroth's silence being more than enough of an answer for him. "You might need to pay him a visit soon."
"Perhaps..." Sephiroth said, making his exit. "I wish you luck in your plans."
Wesker sinisterly chuckled, "I don't need luck."
Months later in Raccoon City, the four heroes continued their journey on their path for a desperate escape from the horrors they've encountered.
The last fight was unexpected, and the heroes weren't sure if they could pull it off. But they managed to drive away the enemy again. Of course, this was wearing on their nerves, being stalked by two dangerous monsters and still no way out of this infected city.
To make things worse, Ada had suffered a terrible injury while Sherry was dealing with a potential embryo problem, both courtesy of the Umbrella Researcher turned monster, William Birkin.
The heroes hoped to maintain some faith that things would get better. They were descending fast toward Umbrella's lab, and all seemed to be going well, until the locomotive surprisingly stopped in the middle of its descent.
"What now?" Clint asked, the archer looking visibly annoyed.
Natasha turned her attention to a nearby electric sign, reading it aloud. "Warning: the motor has been stopped due to problems with overheating."
"You can't be serious," Clint lamented.
"Guess that last fight was a lot for this old thing," Leon said.
"We still need to get down below though," Clint said. "Ada's injured and Sherry's sick. If we don't act fast, one of them could die."
"Clint! Did you really need to say that?" Claire asked, the girl holding Sherry in her arms as she lay against the corner.
"Hey I know that sounds harsh and I'm sorry, but sugarcoating the situation isn't going to do us any favors," Clint said.
This of course was heavy for everyone, knowing the unfortunate truth of Clint's words, worry filling the air.
During this, Ada, who was seen laying on the bench, started to wake up, Leon being the first to check up on her. "Welcome back."
"Ugh..." Ada was clearly in pain.
"Natasha, do you have any herbs left?" Leon asked.
"I have a couple," Natasha said, applying them to Ada's injury. "Still, this looks almost worse than your gunshot wound, we're gonna need a bit more than herbs here."
"Alright, I'll go and look for something," Leon said.
"Leon, we're in the middle of a stuck elevator, where are you gonna get anything?" Clint asked.
"I'll figure something out," Leon said, trying to be optimistic about the situation.
"No Leon, I'll only slow you down with these injuries," Ada said. "You're better off saving yourself."
"I swear, it's like I say something, and someone always has something to say in response," Leon said. "Listen, it's my job to look after you Ada. Remember, I am a police officer, I may not be a superhero, but this badge is worth just as much as any cape to me."
"But, you'll be in danger if you stay with me," Ada said. "I've only known you for a short period of time, but I really have enjoyed being with you, Leon."
"I..." Leon felt a bit flustered. Everyone around didn't seem to know what to say or how to react. Given her injuries, many felt it was probably better to let the two have their moment.
"I'm normally not capable of caring about anyone," Ada began. "But I don't want to lose you, Leon."
"We're leaving this place together, all of us," Leon said. "Wait here for me, I'll be right back."
As Leon made his exit, Natasha made a decision of her own, "I'll go with him. I don't think he should be out there alone."
"That's fine, Claire and I will take care of Ada and Sherry," Clint said.
"I'm counting on you." Natasha made her own exit, leaving the four behind in the locomotive.
"I'm sorry you're all stuck watching over me like this," Ada said. "Especially given Sherry's condition."
"Well you did help out Leon when he got injured, so we can return the favor," Claire said.
"Thanks, truth be told, I'm quite fond of the rest of you as well," Ada said. "I know it doesn't seem that way, but I'd rather none of us die."
"We're not," Clint said. "You heard Leon, we're escaping together. You have my word as an Avenger. We'll get your wound treated, and cure Sherry, then we're getting the hell out of this city. Then I'm gonna tear some higher ups new ones for pretty much allowing this shit to happen."
"How do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to react to all this?" Claire asked.
"I have no idea, I know Nick Fury isn't going to turn a blind eye, but there are things even he might have trouble explaining," Clint said.
"...You think he'll help me find my brother?" Ada asked.
"Don't worry about Chris, I'll personally make sure you two reunite," Clint said.
"Thank you," Claire said.
Outside, Leon and Natasha were exploring the area, seeing if there was a way to get the turntable moving, or if there was any other passageway.
"I imagine there had to have been some emergency protocols for stuff like this happening," Leon said.
"Question is, what would they be?" Natasha wondered.
As Leon looked around, he spotted a vent, "Hey, think that might lead somewhere?"
"Probably," Natasha said. "Wait, you want to crawl through a ventilation shaft? What do you think this is? An action movie?"
"Well I am a cop," Leon said, smirking a bit at the spy.
Natasha raised her eyebrow at Leon's perceived smugness. "That doesn't mean anything!"
"Look, this might lead somewhere, I'm going to check it out," Leon said, running over to the vent.
"Ugh, you're too headstrong sometimes," Natasha said, following Leon.
The two had made their way through the other side of the shaft, finding themselves in a strange, red hallway.
"Well we're not finding our way back," Natasha pointed out.
"It's fine, we just need to-" Leon heard something activating, as did Natasha.
Suddenly the turn table had reactivated and gone down, surprising everyone in the locomotive.
"Looks like we're moving," Clint said, grabbing his radio. "Leon, Nat, you there?"
"I'm here, did the locomotive start moving?" Leon asked.
"Afraid so, I don't suppose you're outside?" Clint said.
"No, we crawled through a vent and we're...well I don't even know," Leon said.
"Explore the area a bit, hopefully we can rendezvous," Clint said.
"Yeah, sure," Leon said, placing the radio away. "Great..."
"I knew this could happen," Natasha lamented. "Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk. Let's just see what we can find."
Meanwhile down below, Claire had carried Sherry out of the Turntable with Clint carrying Ada as the two made their way to a nearby security room. Sherry was laid on a bed while Ada was laid adjacent to the young girl.
"Sorry you have the company, Ada," Clint said.
"It's fine, as long as she's comfortable," Ada said.
"We appreciate it," Claire said, having taken off her vest and giving it to Sherry. "Clint, we should go find Leon and Nat."
"Yeah," Clint was about to leave with Claire when Sherry spoke up.
"Claire? Clint?"
"Oh, you're finally awake," Claire said.
Sherry looked down, "Wait, isn't this...?"
"That's fine, you keep it," Claire said. "I believe it will keep you safe."
"Thank you Claire," Sherry said, looking around. "Where are Leon and Natasha?"
"They went off on their own for a bit, they'll be back," Clint said.
Sherry looked ahead, seeing the woman beside her, "Ada? What's wrong?"
"Nothing dear, just a small injury," Ada said. "I just need some bed rest, hope you don't mind the company."
"I don't, I'm happy we can be here for each other," Sherry said. "It's what I've always wanted."
"What you've always wanted?" Clint asked.
"The thing is, while I'm an only child, my parents never really spent much time with me. Because of their work. So, because of that, I grew up alone. But now that you're with me, I have someone I can rely on. I also have you too Clint. Leon, Natasha, and Ada too. It's like we're a big family who look after each other. It's what I've always wanted."
Shortly after pouring her heart out, Sherry began weeping, still feeling burdened by the situation, but also a relief of her bottled up feelings.
"Hey, come on, dry your tears," Clint said.
"Sorry," Sherry said, wiping her eyes. "I hope Leon and Natasha are alright too, I don't want anything bad happening to them."
"Leon already promised that we're leaving this city, together," Clint said. "He's got the heart of a superhero, so I believe his conviction."
"We'll all escape," Claire said. "I'll let Leon and Nat know you're here, this way they can feel at ease. Meanwhile Clint and I need to find an antidote."
"Be safe, Sherry," Clint said, affectionately patting the girl on the head. "By the way, you look badass with that vest."
"Oh, thank you," Sherry said.
"Come on Clint," Claire said, leaving the room with the archer. Outside she grabbed her radio and spoke. "Leon, Natasha, we left Sherry and Ada in the security office, we're going to see if we can find a cure for her embryo situation."
"Got it," Leon said.
The two walked down the hall of Umbrella's lab, heading toward the Central Power Room, three rows of railings connected by the middle.
"Hope it doesn't take too long for Leon and Nat to catch up, this seems like a place you can get lost in pretty easily," Clint said.
"They'll be fine, I have faith in them," Claire said, coming across a fork in the road, Blue Lighting leading down one path, Red Lighting down the other. "Which way should we go?"
"Let's try right," Clint said, the two making their way across the railway and heading through a door, arriving in the West Wing of the facility.
Once on the other side, the two spotted some unusual enemies. A pair of giant walking plants were seen roaming the area, glancing at the two.
"Of course there's going to be some weird shit here," Clint said, aiming his arrow. "Take this!"
He began firing as Claire did the same with her handgun, taking down the mutated Ivy plants.
"Remember earlier when we worried about trees?" Clint asked.
"Ugh, don't even," Claire said, Clint shrugging it off. "Let's just hurry before."
"Careful," Clint said, noticing that the deceased plants still had live parts trying to grab them. "Geez, even dead these things are dangerous."
The two carefully tip-toed around until they approached a shutter. Clint activated a button that opened the shutter, both keeping their weapons ready in anticipation of danger.
"Nothing yet, let's keep going," Clint said, leading Claire down the area, taking the two toward another room with a ladder. Turning right, the duo immediately spotted the terrible sight of giant plant life on the wall.
"What the hell is this thing!?" Clint wondered.
"You don't suppose this is the mother of those two walking plants, do you?" Claire asked.
"If that's so, we need to find a way out of here and fast!" Clint said.
"Let's try down this ladder," Claire said, the two climbing down together.
Once down they went through another door, taking them to a central hall. Walking around, they spotted some zombies roaming the area.
"Back to zombies," Clint said, firing his arrow and hitting one in the head. "At least they're easy to kill."
Claire shot one in the face, then followed through with another. "Just realized, without Leon and Natasha, I might run low on ammo."
As Clint pulled an arrow out of a zombie, it surprisingly broke, much to his annoyance, "I might run out of arrows. Let's move quickly."
As they continued to walk, they came across a large room full of monitors, the duo immediately drawn to the sight.
"This must be the Monitor Room," Claire said. "So many security cameras."
"I don't suppose one of them might show a way out of this place," Clint said, stopping to look at the cameras. "Let's see, nothing so far..."
"Do you see Leon or Nat?" Claire asked.
"Not yet," Clint said, squinting his eyes. "Was that...?"
"What's wrong?" Claire asked.
"I...I thought I saw Ada," Clint said. "Must have imagined it, no way Ada would be running around with her injuries."
"This might sound terrible to say but...sometimes I don't fully trust her," Claire said. "She's just so mysterious and well...something about her just bugs me."
"I get that vibe too," Clint said. "But I'm used to it, Nat can come across like that too. She is a spy after all."
"...You don't suppose that Ada is a spy, do you?" Claire asked. "I mean, she has ties with Umbrella though her boyfriend. Or she had those ties better said."
"You think she might be here to sabotage our mission?" Clint asked.
"Just the way she acts, how she gets around so well, it's just so suspicious to me," Claire said.
"You're not wrong, I've had my doubts about her for a while, and I know Nat does too," Clint said. "If anything, Leon is the only one who isn't suspicious of her."
"Probably because he's head over heels for her," Claire bitterly stated. "Like what is it about women like Ada that makes guys so...weird?"
"How old is Leon, about twenty? Or twenty-one?" Clint asked. "While I wouldn't say I'm much older than him, guys his age do tent to be immature or to simple minded on a lot of things. Sometimes guys like a little mystery when it comes to a girl. I wouldn't be surprised if Leon's found himself attracted to Natasha. Thing is, she makes it hard to approach her. Ada doesn't really. Maybe at first but now..."
"It started when she told us her boyfriend's dead," Claire said. "Maybe it's me but she didn't seem to care that much. Like did she get over it that fast?"
"She did seem surprised but yeah, she moved on pretty quickly," Clint said.
"Now she's talking to Leon, saying she doesn't want to lose him," Claire said. "What if she's stringing him along or something? I don't want Leon to get hurt by this woman."
"We'll keep an eye on him, but honestly, I don't want to judge Ada either," Clint said. "Am I suspicious of her? Yes. But I could easily be wrong. Plus even if she's not so pure, she's still a person who needs our help. As an Avenger, I can't turn away from anyone who needs help, and Leon doesn't want to either, because he wants to be a hero. He's not saving the day with a smile like All Might would, but he's still trying his best to shed a positive light on the situation.
"Yeah, I really admire that about Leon," Claire said, the girl sighing in worry. "When I saw that he got shot...it really had me freaked out. I tried not showing it too much, but I was so afraid he was gonna die."
"So was I," Clint said.
"Didn't think a hero could feel scared," Claire said.
"Lots of heroes get scared, it'd be stupid to not get scared," Clint said. "Anyone who doesn't fear death is stupid. There's a huge different between being brave and being a fool. A fearless person would be dead now."
"So, I take it you're a little afraid of this whole situation?" Claire asked.
"Well yeah, I'd rather not get killed by zombies or any of these monsters," Clint said. "But more than that, I'm more afraid of you or Leon dying on me. I'll give my life to keep a civilian safe."
"I hope it doesn't come to that, I couldn't live with myself if it did," Claire said.
"Well then let's work together and prevent that from happening," Clint said.
"Thanks...I needed this," Claire said. "I have been feeling a bit worried. I really don't want to die here either. But, I also don't want to drag anyone down."
"Tell me, what are you afraid of right now? More than anything?" Clint asked.
"I'm afraid that Sherry will die if we don't find a way to cure her," Claire said.
"Turn that fear into motivation, the reassurance that you WILL save Sherry," Clint said. "You got this Claire."
"Yeah, I got this," Claire said. "Come on, let's go."
The two made their way past the monitors, unaware that Mr. X was seen walking across as well, looking for those who dared to try and run from him.
The two made their way down another hall, turning right at the end and spotting something strange.
"Uh...what could this be?" Claire wondered.
"Kind of curious to find out," Clint said, holding his bow and arrow.
"Hey, be careful," Claire said, following Clint to the door at the end of the hall. Inside they spotted what appeared to be a giant moth, immediately freaking the two out.
"What in the world?" Claire said, holding her gun close to her.
"Let's just not go in here," Clint said. "There's no need to-"
Suddenly the moth turned around and flew at them, both Claire and Clint opening fire, Clint firing an arrow through its eyes while Claire unleashed rounds from her handgun.
The creature had fallen, now seemingly dead on the floor with both Claire and Clint freaked out by the sight.
"I thought I was going to die!" Claire said, placing her hand over her beating heart.
"Same here," Clint said. "I hope it's dead."
"I'm afraid to find out," Claire said.
"Hand me your knife," Clint said, Claire obliging as Clint slammed the blade down on the moth's neck, pulling his arrow out and jabbing it again. "Alright, that should-"
The creature's wings twitched as Claire fired her gun once again, startling Hawkeye in the process.
"Are you nuts!?" Clint shouted.
"Sorry, I saw it move," Claire said.
"Still, be careful," Clint said, handing Claire back her knife. "Let's get out of here."
The two left the hall, heading toward another door on the other side of the room.
"Wonder what's in here?" Clint said.
"I hope it's not another moth," Claire stated, still feeling weirded out from the last encounter.
"I doubt that we'd-" Clint heard a gun clicking, the two turned around and saw a familiar face.
"Annette!?" Claire asked.
"You...you both killed William, I will never forgive you for that!" Annette shouted.
"He tried killing us!" Clint said. "You couldn't expect us to do nothing!"
"I don't want to hear it," Annette said, holding a vial. "You see this? It's a sample of the G-Virus that I just finished processing. This is the most significant piece of research my husband's left in my hands."
"Ma'am, you love your husband, and that's really great," Clint said. "But you're letting this get to you in a really bad way. Your husband isn't the man he used to be! He's just another one of those monsters!"
"How dare you!" Annette said, aiming her gun at Hawkeye's face. "You think that just because you're one of The Avengers, that you can do anything you want, don't you?"
"I don't, I really don't," Clint said. "I'm just trying to be reasonable here!"
"That's enough!" Claire said. "Annette, listen. Sherry's in terrible danger. William implanted an embryo in her, and they're going to pupate any moment!"
"He did what?" Annette asked, then heard a roar. "William!?"
"Shit," Clint readied his arrows, but suddenly Annette ran off. "H-hey! Wait!"
Annette ran through a hallway, her mutated husband emerging from the ceiling. "William...you're alive!"
In one swift motion, William struck her with his claw, just before Claire and Clint could make it in time.
"No!" Clint shouted in frustration. "Son of a bitch!"
"Annette!" Claire said, checking on the fatally wounded woman.
"William is still alive...he's getting stronger with each skin he casts off," Annette said, a mix of pride and fear in her voice. "Sh-sherry!"
"Please tell us how we can save Sherry! There must be a way!" Claire said.
"I have detailed information," Annette said, handing the papers over to Claire. "Everything you need to know is right here."
"A synthesis for a G-Virus Antigen," Clint noted. "Thanks for this."
"Please, save my daughter, and tell her that I'm sorry I wasn't a better mother," Annette said.
"Hey, listen to me, if you have something to say to Sherry, you can tell her yourself!" Clint said. "Please, try to hang in there!"
"It's too late for me," Annette said. "Please, help Sherry. Tell her, I love her."
"Hang in there!" Claire urged. Unfortunately it was too late, Annette had succumbed to her injuries. "NO!"
"It's too late..." Clint said, lamenting the situation. "I know she wasn't exactly a friend of ours, but still."
"Her father turning into a monster, her mother getting killed by that same monster..." Claire wiped some tears from her eyes. "Annette..."
Clint knelt down to comfort Claire, when an alarm went off and the place began shaking.
"What's going on?" Claire asked as a voice-over began playing.
"The self-destruct sequence has been activated, repeat the self-destruct sequence has been activated, this sequence may not be aborted, all employees proceed to the emergency car on the bottom platform!"
"What the hell!?" Clint shouted in worry. "Who puts a self-destruct in a laboratory like this?"
"It's one thing after another," Claire said. "Come on, we need to get to the Synthesis room."
"Where is it?" Claire asked.
"It says it's here, but what we need is on the other side of this lab!" Claire said.
"It's what!?" Clint asked. "Where?"
"The map says the Central Control Room, with the red and blue lights will lead us to the lab, let's hurry!"
"Alright, let's go then," Clint said, the two making a dash back to the monitor room. Once there, they heard something going off.
"What's that?" Claire asked, checking the nearby monitor. "Clint! It's Leon!"
"Huh?" Clint looked at the monitor, "Holy shit, he's alive! But wait, where's Natasha?"
"Leon, can you hear me?" Claire asked.
From within the monitor, Leon had answered the radio, "Claire? Is that you? Where are you?"
"I can see you on the monitor," Claire said. "But enough about that, I need you to find Sherry and get her to the platforms below!"
"Wait, what about you? Where are you going?" Leon asked.
"Clint and I are going to synthesize a vaccine for Sherry," Claire said.
"Hey Leon, where's Natasha?" Clint asked.
"She's here, but Ada...she's..." Leon began, unable to finish."
Claire's heart sank, suddenly feeling terrible for many of the thing she said earlier about the woman. "Leon...I'm so sorry."
"It's fine...we can still save Sherry, I'm on it," Leon said.
Claire placed her radio away, "Let's go."
As she ran off, Clint stood silent for a moment, feeling regret over what appeared to be Ada's death before shaking it aside and following Claire.
The two ran until they returned back to the Central Control Room, heading toward the East Wing of the Labs.
Once on the other side, the two entered a room, killing all zombies present as Claire began to prepare the base of the vaccine.
"You know how to work this thing?" Clint asked.
"The instructions are very simple," Claire said. "I think we can pull this off."
"All units report the emergency car on the bottom platform!"
Clint shook his head in annoyance, "That's going to be ringing in my head for a while."
"Same here," Claire said as the machine began working. "...So, Ada..."
"Yeah..." Clint said.
"I know I said some things about her but...I didn't want her to die," Claire said.
"Same, but...I guess some things can't be helped," Clint said.
"And Annette..." Claire said. "Despite everything, she's Sherry's mom. I know the pain of losing a parent, both of mine died when Chris and I were little."
"This is going to be hard for Sherry, but we'll be there for her," Clint reassured just as the machine finished. "Come on, let's hurry."
The two grabbed what they needed and were about to leave when Claire spotted something. "Some Grenade Launcher Rounds, these might come in handy."
The two ran back toward the Central Control Room and back to the West Wing of the facility. Once there, they spotted yet another Ivy plant.
"Lucky you Claire, you get to try out your new Grenade Rounds," Clint said.
"Yeah, lucky me, unlucky them," Claire said, grabbing her grenade rounds and blasting the Ivy creature, setting fire to it.
"Looks like fire works well against plants," Clint said. "Seems fitting."
"Yeah, let's hurry," Claire said.
"Time to make some major backtracking…" Clint said, feeling minor annoyance.
The two of them made their way back to where they started, right back to the Laboratory Hall.
"There's the room," Claire said. "Come on, we're so close."
The two entered the Chemical Research Room, heading down the automatic doors and running into a group of zombies.
Clint looked around and spotted a convenient case of ammunition. "Claire, handgun bullets!"
"Right," Claire said, grabbing what she needed and opening fire on the zombies, with Clint using his remaining arrows.
"I still have some ammo leftover, let's hurry before I need to use it again too soon," Claire said.
"Right behind you," Clint said, pulling the good arrows out of the dead zombies. "I can't wait for this nightmare to be over."
Claire ran the vaccine through a synthesis machine. It took a few seconds, but the wait was worth it. Claire grabbed the antidote and tucked it away somewhere safe. "I got what we needed, let's go."
"Hold on, how do we even get out of this place?" Clint asked.
"Uh...there should be a map nearby, hopefully," Claire said.
The two frantically searched the room until they came across a map on the table, immediately checking where to go.
"Alright, Section 7, not too far away," Clint said. "Let's hurry."
"Right behind you," Claire said, about to follow when she spotted something interesting. "Clint!"
The archer turned around and saw that Claire got her hands on a submachine gun, "Great find!"
"Thanks, no extra ammo, hope this is enough," Claire said.
"You'll be fine, let's go," Clint said.
"Coming," Claire said, following Clint out of the room and heading toward the elevator room. On the way there, a licker popped out from on top of a ceiling, startling the two.
"This version looks different," Clint said. "More black than red."
"Out of the way!" Claire said, placing an acid round in her Grenade Launcher and blasting the creature, it got up to keep fighting but one more blast finished it off.
"Nice work," Clint said. "Let's hurry!"
The two made their way down a hall leading toward the Elevator Exit.
"Fine minutes until detonation!" The voice-over said.
"Shit, that's not a lot of time," Clint said. "To the elevator!"
The two activated the elevator and waited for it to arrive. Both were impatiently waiting, hoping this wouldn't take too long, not just for their sake, but for Sherry's.
"Hurry up, dammit!" Clint said. Suddenly the ceiling above them started to crack, Claire and Clint nervously looking up.
"No, don't tell me," Claire said.
Within seconds, William Birkin in his fourth form appeared before the trio, the two immediately jumping back and away from the monster.
"Of course! Make our escape even harder than it has to be!" Clint shouted in annoyance, aiming his arrow. "It's over for you! Die already!"
He immediately fired at the monster's head as Claire opened fire from her handgun. Once that ran dry, she grabbed her grenade launcher and relentlessly unloaded, weakening Birkin as he fell to his knees.
"Is it over already?" Claire asked.
"Don't be so sure!" Clint said as the monster began to transform. Suddenly it took a more quadrupedal form, and its face opened up to reveal larger teeth.
"...Dammit," Clint fired again, rolling and dodging until he ran out of arrows. "Claire! I'm dry!"
"I got this!" Claire said, pulling out her recently acquired submachine gun and relentless opening fire. "Die already you bastard! I came this far; I am NOT letting you stop me!"
Birkin leapt at them again as they rolled aside. Claire had dropped her handgun but was too focused on firing at Birkin to notice or care.
"This thing is too damn stubborn!" Claire shouted, maintaining her fire. "Annette wasn't kidding about how much stronger William would get, but I'm not going to give up now! Not when Sherry needs me the most!"
The monster withstood the gunfire as it got closer, getting ready for the kill when it felt gunfire from the side. Clint had picked up Claire's weapon and began his own assault, hitting the creature at precise locations to weaken it.
"Quick, finish it off!" Clint urged.
"Time to go out with a bang!" Claire said, placing away her submachine gun in favor of her Grenade Launcher. She got in close and blasted her weapon point blank in front of the monster a until she was out of ammo, leaving the creature seemingly dead and burning.
"Hope this monster's finally dead..." Clint said.
"If this didn't finish the job, maybe this place exploding will," Claire said, turning to the elevator. "Speaking off..."
By this point, the elevator had arrived, Claire and Clint wasting no time taking it down.
Once below, they saw that the train was moving, Leon urging them to climb on board.
"Claire! Clint! Hurry!" Leon called, then pulled himself inside when he nearly connected with a wall.
Fortunately Claire and Clint were able to hop on, though once there, the train began to shake again due to the explosion of the laboratory. Once it was calm again, Leon gestured to the young sleeping girl, "Sherry's unconscious."
"I have the antidote!" Claire said, administering it to the girl.
"Is it working?" Natasha asked.
"It has to!" Claire urged. "Come on Sherry, stay with us, please!"
After a few seconds of anticipation, the four adults worried for the safety of the girl. In time howeverm Sherry's eyes began to open.
"Huh? Where am I?" Sherry asked.
"It worked!" Leon said.
"Oh thank God," Clint said, taking a breath while Natasha seemed overjoyed.
"Sherry...you're gonna be alright," Claire reassured.
"Thanks Claire," Sherry said.
Clint wiped his head, "Man, I fought supervillains and aliens and stuff but that! Boy was that close."
"I'm just glad it's finally over," Leon said.
"Not yet," Claire said. "I still need to find my brother."
"Yeah, you're right, this is only the beginning," Leon said, heading to the front of the car with Natasha following.
Clint knelt beside the young girl, "You gave us all scare, we're glad you're okay Sherry."
"Thanks to this," Sherry said, gesturing to Claire's vest. "You were right Claire, it did keep me safe."
"Yeah, it did," Claire said, hugging the girl. "I'm so glad it's over."
This however was not the end of their story, as another side needed to be explored before the true ending was revealed. More secrets to be uncovered.