A/N: Well, a friend of mine told me something disturbing. He compared to R-Virus to Hourai Elixir from Touhou Project. I'm no Touhou expert, but he sure is. Just one of those girls is powerful enough to solo the RE verse, so saying I created something comparable to an elixir from that franchise shows how overpowered my characters are. . . . Nice.
"Is this the lab," Natalie asked.
"Yup," Devlin answered before he put in the code. The group then walked in. "Mm, I was expecting at least o-"
A zombie lunged at Devlin and bit his shoulder.
"FUCK," Devlin yelled.
Natalie immediately punched the zombie's head off, the body flying away from Devlin. Natalie looked down at the corpse and saw the nametag: Dr. Muncy. Nat then noticed there was some braided hair on her knuckles "So it was you. Sucks to be you, bitch."
"Dev!" Nat looked to see Corey at Devlin's side as he held his bloody shoulder.
"Damn, she could bite," Devlin groaned. "Hm? The pain's already gone?"
"She bit hard enough to draw blood and infect you! How can the pain already be gone?!"
Devlin took off his coat and shirt to try and get a better look at the wound. Everyone was shocked to see it had already healed. "I thought the T-Virus would have made the wound last longer. The vines have an excuse since it was physical trauma, but this is from an infected-"
Devlin then jolted.
"Dev," Corey asked.
Devlin then looked like he was about to vomit. He immediately stood up and ran to the sink and actually vomited. "Urgh. That was unpleasant. Huh?"
"What's wrong," Natalie asked in disgust.
"Is there a microscope in here?"
"Yeah," Natalie answered.
Devlin looked around and saw it. He then picked it up before grabbing a clean petri dish and a cotton swab. He used the swab to get a sample of his own vomit before putting it on the dish and sliding it under the microscope. "No way."
"Let me guess: you puked up the T-Virus," Corey asked.
"Give that man a raise," Devlin said.
"Wait, really? Let me see," Corey said as walked up, Devlin stepping away. "Damn. It really is the T-Virus. Oh, man. Seeing Umbrella's magnum opus wither away and die is surreal. Not even the anti-virus caused a reaction like this. Dev... I think you made us immune to the T-Virus."
"Wow. I'm starting to wonder if there's anything the R-Virus can't do."
"Get us a fast pass to the Red Queen," Natalie asked sarcastically.
"Touché, my dear," Devlin said. "And it also doesn't have the gogg-... Huh."
"What," Natalie asked before looking behind her to see a pair of goggles. "That's them? They look like competitive swimwear goggles."
"Don't say anything to me. I'm not the one who made the damn things," Devlin said as he tried the same code he used to open the door. "Huh. Different code. Wonder if there's a clue or something for it."
Natalie looked down at the dead doctor before kneeling down to yank her nametag off of her. She looked around the tag to find any numbers and actually saw one. "Try this."
Devlin looked in time to catch the card Nat threw at him, and with just two fingers as well.
"Good catch," Corey said.
"Meh. Doubt I'd be able to pull it off again. I've done crazy catches like that before, but it was never out of skill or instinct or crap like that. I was just lucky." Devlin looked at the nametag to see the doctor's I.D. number. "Guess it would make for a good code." Devlin typed it in. "Bingo."
Devlin took the goggles and analyzed them. "Mm, as incomplete as my gauntlets." He looked around. "But there should be enough tools in here to upgrade both of them. Nat, mind taking them off?"
"Are we really safe enough for you to be trying this," Nat asked.
"Fuck no, but we're not safe anywhere in this deathtrap."
Natalie sighed. "Can't argue with the facts," she said as she removed her gauntlets, handing them to Devlin before walking around the lab, Devlin already working on the gauntlets and goggles. "Hm?"
"You found something, babe," Corey asked.
Nat moved some record books to find another keypad. She put in the code and opened a safe. "I think I found your early Christmas present."
"Huh?" Corey walked up next to his girlfriend, eyes widening as he whistled. "This should be enough to enhance my shotgun. Mm, but not enough for my magnum or Devlin's sniper."
"Don't worry about my sniper. It's good enough."
"Mm, but I think I'll have enough leftover for your handgun, bro."
Devlin tossed the gun at Corey without even looking.
Corey caught it without looking. "Dude! You know better! Don't toss loaded weapons!"
"Corey?" He looked at a surprised-looking Natalie. "How did you catch that?"
"Huh? What do you mean how did I-" Corey's eyes then widened in realization, Devlin also stopping his work, also realizing the importance of the question.
"How... how did I catch it? In fact, Dev, have you ever shot a gun in your life before this?"
"A BB gun, but handling actual 9mm handguns, semi-automatic rifles, being able to stab a damned Licker; no way someone like me should be able to do this. With you and Nat it makes sense, Nat being a boxer and you being... well, you, dude."
"What do you mean by me being me," Corey asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nuh-uh, you're not setting me up for that again. You and the twins laughed your asses off when you pulled the 'he's a racist' joke on that douchebag ex of Jade's. Honestly, I'm surprised that guy even survived with how badly he was losing it. That was the first time I've thrown a punch in years."
"And it was a damn fine counterpunch that made me proud of you," Natalie said with a nod of her head.
"That and you hated that guy as much as we did," Devlin deadpanned.
"True, but still."
"Anyway, I'm just a scientist. I don't work out, I don't train, and I shouldn't be as good with a gun as I was since this nightmare began. Cor, you're a good fighter, but if I had so much as a penny for the number of times Nat scolds you about being more defensive, I'd be as rich as an Umbrella exec. No way you're reflexes would be good enough to catch that gun."
"Does that mean... we're mutating," Corey asked.
Devlin looked at his arms. "Maybe? The mutations of the T-Virus happened nearly instantly. Even the test subjects of G morphed into something in the blink of an eye. Who's to say R won't have an effect like that?"
"Well, we're still at least humanoid," Nat said before seeing a syringe and using it to extract her own blood. "Won't hurt to at least analyze our blood's current state. How long will it take you two to finish your projects?"
"Ten minutes, tops," they said in perfect unison before looking at each other. They then nodded before getting back to work.
"Alright. Ten minutes is almost too much time, but it's time I have to at least analyze my blood," she said as she grabbed the microscope from the desk Devlin was at before preparing the petri dish, the three scientists were now at work.
"This is incredible," Natalie said. "The R-Virus is keeping the blood cells alive. In fact, it looks like it's repairing and even enhancing the blood."
"Sounds like it won't be coagulating for a while," Corey said as he put on the finishing touches on his shotgun before working on Devlin's handgun.
"That's an understatement. I can't even hypothesize when this blood will... well, die. And this is flowing through all three of our veins. Judging by the size of the blood cells currently, the amount of oxygen just one blood cell is carrying is at least 200% more than a growing child."
Devlin stopped to look at Natalie. "Are you serious? That would mean our bodies-"
"Are able to work at superhuman levels. It's like putting rocket fuel in a truck."
"Shouldn't we be feeling the effects, then," Corey asked. "I don't feel that much different from usual."
"I think that's where the problem comes in," Natalie said. "The progress of the R-Virus is... incredibly slow. Compared to the T-Virus, I feel like I'm watching slugs trying to race toward a meter-length goal post at the starting line."
"So we're not even close to the virus fully activating in us," Devlin asked as he put on the finishing touch of the goggles, now testing them himself.
"That's what it looks like. That means that we shouldn't get used to being bitten, slashed, or crushed. Especially not the head. The T-Virus is stopped by the destruction of the brain. Who's to say the same doesn't apply to the R-Virus?"
"We're not about to find out," Devlin said as he took off the goggles and tossed them at Nat, who easily caught them. "Let's just stay cautious."
"No arguments here," Nat said as she put on her new goggles. At first, nothing changed. Then, information popped in on the screen. Since she was looking at Devlin, information about him popped up. Age, weight, health condition... and even the rate of his infection: 30%. "Whoa. How do you change it? Like, say, infrared." It switched to infrared. "Oh, that's how. Mm, your temperature seems normal, Devlin."
"That's good, I guess."
"Let's see... let's test out the scanner." The screen changed, going back to displaying information. Natalie looked around before spotting some valuable chemicals, pointing them out to Devlin, who collected them. She even found some parts that Corey would find useful, picking them up herself. She also saw some files, but none of them were important at the moment, save for some codes.
"Okay, this is pretty cool, but I could use a deactivated screen right now." The information vanished. "Ooh."
"I take it you're pleased?"
"Very much so."
"Guess all that's left is the boots and frame," Corey asked as he finished the handgun, tossing it to Devlin, who easily caught it.
"Pretty much. However, I think I can still improve the set. For example, the goggle's X-ray can only see past the wall, right?"
"Huh?" Nat tested it. "So it seems. What, you think you can make it see through three walls?"
"I think five might be the limit."
"That's still insanely useful," Nat giggled.
"But, no tools, no parts, no way I can do it," Devlin sighed. "Something tells me that you'd be next to unstoppable if I could fully upgrade the set. We could try and find it, but I still think we should get to the Red Queen."
"Personally, I think we need parts for our weapon maintenance," Corey said. "It may take a bit of searching, but Nat's goggles should make it easier. With some good guns, we can take on whatever that asshole throws at us."
"Or, we could just book it to the subway and just leave," Natalie said. "We all know there's a self-destruct code in the subway terminal that not even the Red Queen could override. The trains would only be operational for a minute, but we'd already be there safe and sound and ready to bolt, while Alfonso would probably be too far from any escape route to make it out in time."
"Plus, that idiot is way too vindictive," Corey began. If we turned on the self-destruct sequence, he would probably just go on a mad dash to chase us so he could try and kill us to take the R-Virus. By the time he even got to the hall LEADING to the subway, boom. Sounds like a win to me," Corey chuckled.
"Only problem is that it's the farthest from where we are. We don't know what's in that direction. We could be running toward our deaths for all we know," Devlin said.
"I admit, it's a gamble, but this is a gamble worth taking, don't you think? We have the R-Virus, a chance to kill Alfonso and be able to make sure that nothing, not even the T-Virus ever escapes this facility. I don't see what we could possibly lose."
"I mean, when you put it like that," Devlin began. Then he perked up.
"Him? Something wrong, De-" Corey began.
"Shh," Devlin quickly went. "You guys hear that?"
The two began to listen. At first, they heard nothing. Then:
-m. -om. -oom.
"What the hell," Corey went.
"That's not the elephant," Devlin went. "It's way too fast."
Nat activated the X-Ray. " . . . Run."
When Nat said that, the scientists didn't hesitate. They all ran out of the lab, but Devlin stayed behind and punched in a code.
"DEVLIN, ALL THAT WILL DO IS SLOW IT DOWN," Nat yelled.
"I'M HOPING YOU'RE RIGHT," Devlin yelled. When he did, and the door shut, a quarantine door slammed in front of it, followed by an unsanctioned door, both doors much bigger and bulkier than the last.
"WHOA," Devlin went as a loud crash was heard. Then, he saw a small dent in the door. The small dent was enough.
"GO, GO, GO," Devlin went, the three running like hell. Had they looked back, they would have seen an even bigger dent be made.
As they ran, Corey punched a red button on the wall, an alarm blaring. Then, a massive metal wall shot down, and the metal doors were sent flying just as the wall slammed down.
The three were running as fast as they could, trying to outpace the descending metal walls. Though they were getting further from the alarm, it still didn't stop the fact that zombies and monsters were being attracted to the noise.
One tried to grab Corey, but he was actually able to easily lift the zombie and slam it on the ground with enough force to make it release him before continuing his run. Natalie was basically untouchable, showing off her boxing champion skills with precise weaves and counterpunches that made the zombies stumble past her. She was even able to send a Licker flying with a precise straight right point blank to its face.
Devlin was honestly speeding past the horde. He was basically untouchable until a Cerberus lunged at him. He barely caught the dog by its arms, the infected hound snapping at him before Devlin tossed it into a group of zombies. Devlin then looked up to see one of the walls about to fall on him before jumping out of the way, the walls crushing a Cerberus instead. Devlin then went back to running to try and keep up with his friends.
Then, Devlin saw a hallway out of the path they were running down. Briefly remembering the map, Devlin sped up, grabbed Natalie and Corey, and jumped into the hallway, the three sliding into it just as the wall slammed down.
"Dev, what the-" Nat began before Devlin held up his hand and placed his finger to his lips, both Nat and Corey getting the idea.
The three were quiet.
-m. -om. -oo. -boom. BOOM!
The three shuttered at the boom before they heard stomping. All three could tell from the footsteps alone that they couldn't kill whatever was on the other side of the wall. Then, they heard metal tearing followed by more footsteps. The sound of metal being torn again with the footsteps fading away.
Devlin then looked at Nat and pointed at his eyes. Nat looked toward the wall and activated her goggles' X-ray. She then gave a thumbs up, the three letting out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, I get the Tyrants are supposed to be powerful, but that was ridiculous," Natalie said. "I helped design some of them, but none of the specs I saw had them even be close to that level of power."
"No kidding," Corey said. "I was on the engineering team for these walls. We tested the metal with nearly everything on hand. Bullets, grenades, RPGs, and even tank shells. The only thing that should be powerful enough to get through this should be a damned railgun."
"And none of us are carrying firepower like that. But something else is," Devlin began.
"Several somethings," Nat began. "The self-destruct sequence is basically a nuke. It should make Chernobyl look like a firecracker in comparison in terms of sheer explosive power. More than enough to kill that thing. Plus, we have a giant freakin' elephant on the loose."
"Not big on trying to trick those things into meeting, Nat," Corey said.
"It's risky, but it could pay off. We all saw the Lickers attack other T-Virus-infected zombies. It might be because of the alarm, but it's still a decent gamble to take, no?"
"I'd say hell no, personally," Devlin said.
"Sorry, babe. My bro gets my vote."
"Then what do you two suggest?"
"The self-destruct is a great idea, but if we run into that Tyrant as we are now and it's blocking our way, or worse, chases after us, we're screwed. The Red Queen may not be able to control it, but she can activate plenty of facility fail safes to either slow it down or kill it."
"The laser systems," Corey went.
"Bingo. There's nothing that plasma can't cut."
"And what if that thing is blocking our way to your precious Queen, Dev," Nat said.
"Well, you're wearing option C."
Nat looked down. "You kiddin'? You yourself said we don't have the gear needed to beat that thing."
"I also said that my gauntlets are nowhere near complete."
Natalie took a moment to think. "So if you fully upgrade your gauntlets, we might have a fighting chance?"
"I'll do you one better: if we get the full set, I don't care what comes our way, nothing would be able to beat you, Nat. You'd pretty much make Hercules look like a newborn lamb in comparison."
"Ooh, I like that. Still, we have an option D."
"We do?"
Natalie pointed at her boyfriend.
"Me?"
"Who's the best engineer in Umbrella?"
"Well, I have gotten plenty of rewards and promotions, but-"
"Who can modify a shotgun into a mobile Armor-Peircer?"
"Oh, that's easy, but I don't-"
"And WHO can make homemade bazooka's out of random crap?"
"Ookay, I see what you're getting at. Still, I don't have enough of the right material."
"But I know a place that does," Devlin said. "The same area where we can upgrade the gauntlets and make the rest of Nat's armor. The Weapon's Research and Development Wing."
"Heh, get me there and I can make your railgun easily," Corey said with a smirk.
"Looks like we've got a plan," Nat said.
"Yeah. Now to see where this hallway leads and get our bearings," Devlin said as he walked to the end of the hallway and opened the door. "Aaaaaw... shit."
"What," Nat asked as she got up and joined Devlin, Corey right behind her.
The couple sighed. "Fuck," they said in perfect unison.
In front of them... was the sleeping elephant.
Devlin saw a containment unit and motioned to it, the three quietly rushing over to it, making sure not to make too much noise so as to not disturb the literal sleeping giant. At their spot, they all took out their phones, silenced them, and began to type.
I KNEW THE THING WAS BIG, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT COULD EAT A GREYHOUND BUS, Natalie typed.
I'M ALMOST CERTAIN IT ACTUALLY GREW SINCE WE SAW IT, Corey typed.
NO WAY CAN WE TAKE THAT THING ON. FORTUNATELY, WE'RE IN THE STORAGE AREA, MEANING WE CAN REACH ALL THREE SECTIONS. JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T KNOW WE'RE HERE, Devlin typed.
OH, YEAH. JUST SNEAK AROUND LIKE ROACHES SO WE DON'T GET CRUSHED! DEV, ONE WRONG MOVE AND WE'RE NOT EVEN PANCAKES! WE'D BE STAINS ON THE FLOOR! LET'S JUST GO TO THE SUBWAY AND BLOW EVERYTHING TO HELL, Nat typed.
ONE PROB, NAT, Devlin typed. He then carefully looked past the container, Nat and Corey looking with him.
The entrance to the hall leading to the subway was right in front of the elephant, with next to no hiding spots.
FUCK, Nat typed.
WE'RE CLOSER TO DEVELOPMENTS, RIGHT? LIKE I SAID, GIVE ME THE TIME AND MATERIAL, AND WE'LL HAVE A RAILGUN THAT CAN EASILY DEAL WITH JUMBO, Corey typed.
NO OBJECTIONS HERE. PLUS, I CAN UPGRADE NAT'S GAUNTLETS, Devlin typed.
ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT. I KNOW WHEN TO THROW IN THE TOWEL. LET'S-
The alarm then began to blare.
ATTENTION. ATTENTION. STORAGE UNIT B-23 IS COMPROMISED. NECESSARY ACTIONS ARE RECOMMENDED. ATTENTION. ATTENTION. LOCKDOWN INITIATED. PLEASE LEAVE THE STORAGE AREA IN T-MINUS 60 SECONDS.
"I HATE that guy," Corey hissed as the elephant stood up and trumpeted, making all three cover their ears.
"Fuck it. Cor, you're weapons would be able to burst through any of the defenses in the facility, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, the Red Queen would be able to make sure that prick doesn't mess with us anymore."
"At this point, I'd rather have an ally who can screw that guy right up the ass with the world's largest, spiniest, spikiest, hot sauce-covered, electrified dildo."
"Man, you hate that guy."
"Dev, that's me being NICE and you know it."
"True. Nat?"
"Fuck it. Let's wake the bitch up. Oh, for fuck's sake."
"What?" Devlin looked, with Corey looking with him.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," the brothers said in unison as they saw Lickers and zombies enter the area. And from Weapons and Development, no less.
"Yeah, we're waking the Red Queen up," Natalie said.
The three then tried to stealth their way toward the Red Queen Mainframe hallway. It was stressful considering they only had less than thirty seconds left and were surrounded by monsters, trying not to be caught. A zombie turned out to be crawling on the ground, grabbing Corey's sleeve. Devlin immediately stabbed it, freeing Corey.
Nat showed off that she was more than just a boxer when she snuck up behind a zombie and snapped its neck with terrifying efficiency. There were plenty of close calls, but they made it all the way to the Red Queen hallway without alerting the elephant.
"Well, that was stressful," Natalie said.
"I'm just glad we made it to the hallway," Devlin said.
"Is that a camera," Corey asked.
Everyone looked up to see that it was. They all, without missing a beat, flipped it off. Then, they ran.
WARNING, RED QUEEN MAINFRAME IS IN DANGER OF HACKERS. MAINFRAME DEFENSES ACTIVATED.
"WHOA," Devlin went after his reflexes made him jump over a laser that would have sliced his torso off his pelvis.
Corey's reflexes made him slide underneath a laser that would have sliced through his kneecaps.
Nat jumped over a laser that would have sliced through her ankles.
The three were somehow able to predict and dodge all of the lasers, outpacing both them and the descending metal walls. Then, with a burst of energy, they sped toward the mainframe before they all slid into it just as the last wall slammed down.
Alfonso roared in rage as he punched the computer screen, blood dripping down his fist. "HOW THE FUCK DID THEY DO THAT?!"
"HOW THE FUCK DID WE DO THAT," Corey went.
"The R-Virus mutation. It really is making us superhuman. That absolutely should have killed us," Devlin said.
"Well, all that matters is that we made it to the Red Queen mainframe," Nat said as she turned to look at the room. She whistled.
Devlin looked next. "Whoa. This is impressive, even for Umbrella."
Corey looked. "Damn. Maybe it was a good idea to come here first."