HENRY ASHFORD AND THE WRATH OF MARCUS

CHAPTER 3:

TYPHON

So, how did they take the news, mother? Henry asked as they made their way through the train.

A chuckle came down their mental link. Not very well at all. Draco had no idea what was going on, and had his usual blood purity bluster spouting from his colorectal sphincter of a mouth. Birkin and Wesker, however, do actually appreciate the gravity of the situation. They were the ones who carried out Marcus' assassination, after all. They are, at least, considering the possibility rather than calling me a liar. While I leave them to scramble to try and deal with this, I intend to send Black and Lupin to the Spencer Mansion. Covertly. Wesker does not need to know. I am getting the impression Wesker intends to leave Umbrella.

What about Birkin?

No, he is still obsessed with perfecting the G-Virus. That being said, I heard he is working on a new version of G. Only rumours, but he has established a project called Typhon. I only found out, through Trent, shortly before I sent you. Incidentally, who are the others with you? One of them seems to be from STARS, judging by what I can see through your eyes.

Henry sighed. Rebecca Chambers is with STARS Bravo Team. She is also a Squib. The other is a former Marine called Billy Cohen. He was framed for a massacre. I used Legilimency on him. He is innocent. They are both good in a firefight. Both are, of course, horrified that this is from a bioweapon release, and suspicious of us. However, they have agreed to help us stop Marcus.

Good. I will leave dealing with them to your personal discretion. Trent, incidentally, has made contact with Valentine. Keep me apprised of the situation, Henry. Much rides on this.

Henry nodded, and then heard a crackle from Rebecca's radio. The STARS rookie took it. When an incoherent noise emanated from it, she activated it. "This is Rebecca, over."

The voice of a man came from it, partly veiled by static. "Rebecca, can you hear me? This is Enrico. What's your location? Over."

Enrico…meaning Enrico Marini, the Captain of STARS Bravo Team, Henry thought.

"I'm on the abandoned Ecliptic Express, Enrico," Rebecca said. "I've found survivors of a bioterrorism attack. Edward's dead, killed by dogs infected by a virus."

"…I see. Rebecca, we've found more information from the wrecked jeep about the fugitive. Coen killed as many as 23 people. We've also confirmed that he was institutionalised."

"Enrico? There's a Code: Hecate who has confirmed Coen's innocence."

Code: Hecate. Amongst American law enforcement officers in the know, Code: Hecate was shorthand for a wizard or witch being involved. Which meant Marini had some knowledge of the Wizarding World, Henry thought.

"…Put them on."

Rebecca handed over the radio. Henry briefly cast a spell to boost the signal, and then activated the radio. "Captain Marini? This is Henry Ashford of the Umbrella Corporation's European branch."

"Are you the Code: Hecate?"

"Yes. I presume you are aware of magic?"

"Only because I had to deal with your damned Aurors before, acting all high and mighty and calling me a No-Maj. I know Rebecca is what you call a Squib, though nobody else does to my knowledge. Did you use that Legilimency thing to check Coen?"

"Yes. But of greater importance is the bioterrorism attack. Captain, your men are in great danger. A man by the name of Doctor James Marcus has unleashed a bioweapon. This bioweapon has a mutagenic effect, and causes the organisms it infects to become unusually aggressive. If it infects humans, it turns them into what are effectively zombies. The strains we are seeing are infectious through bodily fluids, so do not let the zombies bite you. Be on the lookout for infected dogs as well, and leeches. The latter can swarm. I know this sounds like the plot of a bad horror movie, but believe me, it is all too real. What is more, the RPD is riddled with Umbrella's agents."

"You're with Umbrella."

"The European branch. There has been a schism in the company for some time. My associates and I will be accompanying Chambers and Coen to ensure that Marcus is stopped. I suggest you keep this information from spreading, Captain Marini. Umbrella's American branch would not hesitate to kill you if they believed you were going to expose them. They have stymied our efforts to resolve this competently. Rest assured, there will be justice for those killed by Marcus' insanity and the American branch's incompetence. However, be on your guard. Albert Wesker is an agent of Umbrella's American branch, but he is also seeking to betray Umbrella, and STARS, for his own personal gain."

"And how do I know I can trust you?"

"I have shown you significant trust, as well as in Officer Chambers, by telling you this, and I would appreciate reciprocation. That you know about Code: Hecate shows that you can be trusted with classified information. However, do not advertise to Wesker that you know his true allegiance, and should we survive this, Irons can't be trusted. I cannot guarantee that I will be able to help all of STARS survive, but I will do my best to ensure that Chambers does. The more STARS that survive, the better. Incidentally, Marini, if you ever make your way to the Spencer Mansion or the former Umbrella Executive Training Facility, be careful. The bioweapon outbreaks are centred there. We will be heading to the latter as soon as we can."

"…Very well. Thanks for telling us this much, at least. You're helping us survive for damage control, right?"

"Amongst other things, Captain Marini. The T-Virus and the bioweapons it has spawned are not to be trifled with. Neither is Umbrella. Thank you for your indulgence, Captain Marini. I will give you back to Officer Chambers." He handed the radio back to Rebecca.

As Rebecca spoke to Enrico quietly, Hermione frowned. "We had better be on the lookout. It's possible that this train was being used to transport BOWs."

"BOWs?" Billy asked.

"Bio-Organic Weapons," Lisa translated. "Animals and other organisms modified by the T-Virus, and others. Some are normal animals before being infected. Others are genetically engineered. All with fun titles like Hunters, Lickers, Chimeras, and so on."

"If we are lucky, we will only encounter loose BOWs at the Training Facility," Henry said. "Then again, I doubt we will be. The American branch's competence has already shown itself to be abysmal."

"Speaking of the American branch, what was that you said about Captain Wesker to Enrico?" Rebecca asked, having finished her conversation with Enrico.

"Albert Wesker has been a researcher working for Umbrella for over a decade," Henry said. "He joined STARS mostly to keep an eye on things from the inside, in case an incident like this occurred. The rest of STARS could be compromised, though I doubt any of them are on Umbrella's payroll. They may be coerced or blackmailed by Wesker, though."

"And Chief Irons?" Rebecca asked.

Hermione wrinkled her nose in distaste. "He was able to dodge a couple of rape convictions during his time at university…I mean, college to you. Umbrella helped bury the charges almost completely later in his life while helping him become the Chief of the RPD. We also heard rumours he's actually a serial killer with a taxidermy fixation, though we have no hard evidence."

"The Nargles spirit them away," Luna said.

"So we can't trust anyone in the RPD?" Rebecca asked.

"Nobody in the higher ranks. They're either Umbrella's cronies, or else Umbrella, usually through Irons, has scared them into complicity," Hermione said. "We're working to make sure Umbrella's American branch gets taken to account. Henry's mother is working to turn Umbrella into bioweapons defence rather than creating bioweapons, as well as focusing far more on medicine and pharmaceuticals. Unfortunately, much like the Wizarding World, Umbrella's American branch is full of idiots who think they know better than anyone else."

"That bad, huh?" Rebecca asked. "Okay, well, we'll worry about that later. If everyone on this train is dead, maybe we should see about getting it moving again. You said the outbreak is centred on this Training Facility of Umbrella's, right?"

"Yes," Henry said. Before he could elaborate, though, the train lurched, and began moving. Henry frowned. "Either Marcus is getting impatient, or Umbrella's little squad is here already. We need to be cautious, and make sure the train does not crash…"


Birkin was heading back to his laboratory, Draco in tow. While he didn't like the odious little shit, who had far less of the charm of either of his fathers, Draco did have some intelligence. No social graces, but he picked up the knowledge needed for virology and genetic engineering pretty well. Birkin supposed that part of it was due to the fact that Wesker, while no genius like Birkin, was nonetheless highly intelligent himself. Draco wasn't that intelligent most of the time, but when it came to gaining power, he was surprisingly driven, and he had blossomed with Umbrella.

Indeed, it had been Draco who had provided the first spark of the idea of what would become Typhon. The virus with which Birkin would regain his supremacy within Umbrella. And the two, despite being wizard and Muggle, got along somewhat, albeit in a professional context.

"It's too much to hope that Potter and his little harem will be killed by Marcus," Draco was saying more to himself. Wesker had been left to coordinate the squad of Umbrella operatives who had just managed to infiltrate the train, while Alexia and her entourage were off elsewhere. "If the Dark Lord couldn't kill him, then some Muggle fused with leeches couldn't."

"Don't underestimate Doctor Marcus," Birkin said. "Wesker and I did. We should have burned the body, not chucked it and that damned leech into a disposal chamber. Then again, Ashford and his seraglio shouldn't be underestimated either. Your eyewitness account of Henry Ashford's powers during the Tri-Wizard Tournament were useful. However, Alexia is overly confident that the S-Virus is the ultimate of the Progenitor viruses, or indeed the ultimate bioweapon. Soon, we will disabuse her of that notion."

"I hope so. That magic-stealing Muggle will know her place, along with the Mudblood and Blood-Traitors."

Birkin withheld a snort at Draco's hypocrisy. After all, he was a Half-Blood, technically. Instead, as they reached the laboratory, Birkin thought about his family. It was Annette's day off, and she had been looking after Sherry. Birkin sighed quietly at the thought. He felt ambivalent about his daughter. He loved her, yes, but their relationship was a distant one, partly because of his work at Umbrella. And there were times when he caught himself thinking of her as a potential test subject. That actually disturbed him, and he found that ironic, considering that he never had any qualms about experimenting on the likes of other test subjects, like Lisa Trevor, before Alexia spirited her away and turned her into a she-Tyrant dyke (and if Birkin knew that Lisa was dating Remus Lupin, of all people, he would have been mildly surprised).

They walked through into the laboratory, with Birkin opening the drawer with his notes. "Given what has happened, we should accelerate our timetable as much as it is safe to do so," Birkin said. "Thankfully, that re-engineering we put the Nemesis parasite through seems to have worked. Fusion is working well. Those biological samples you obtained from the various magical creatures seems to have worked well."

"I'm glad," Draco said, sounding anything but. "It's ludicrously hard, not to mention expensive, obtaining unicorn blood. Especially with no questions asked."

"If I had known or believed such things had existed, I would have had Spencer get me as much as he could," Birkin said. "Dragons, unicorns, Merpeople…turning those directly into BOWs may be more trouble than they're worth. We already have enough trouble controlling the Tyrants, not to mention Lickers and Hunters. But using their material as part of a new virus…one that will surpass the G-Virus, Veronica, even that bitch's much-vaunted Sentinel…" A vicious grin split Birkin's features.

Typhon. Named for the ancient monster of Greek mythology. The most lethal creature in the world, only felled by Zeus during a calamitous battle. But this Typhon would surpass God and Sentinel and Tyrant and Veronica. It would be a culmination, a fusion between G, Nemesis, and the power and ability of so many magical creatures. It would grant those infected by it the power to ascend beyond that of godhood.

Typhon. The ultimate bioweapon. And it was all his own. His trump card to use against that pompous upstart bitch Alexia, and her lackeys. Soon, they would see that his creation was utterly supreme…

CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:

So, here you have it. I know the first half of the chapter basically went over old ground. We'll skip to after the train crashes into the Training Facility for the next chapter. That being said, Typhon is something that's going to play a larger role later on. I had this notion of Birkin improving the G-Virus so that he's far more lucid when infected. Typhon will be the new Super-G.

Review-answering time! I'm actually astonished at how many reviews this got from just the first two chapters.

tamagat: Rebecca apparently appeared in a Resident Evil stageshow, albeit one exclusive to Japan. Apparently she became an academic in Australia. Billy, however, has disappeared.

davidteague3950: Having not played Prototype yet, I can't say. I'm sure it inspires a lot of debate between fandoms, though.

Dragon Master Naruto 003: No, I don't. I will bring in HUNK later, though.

Temporal Knight: Yes, Rebecca will become part of the anti-BOW alliance that Alexia is forming (well, anti-Umbrella of America, anyway).

No numbered annotations this time.