Ed, Saeko, and Ben continued on their way to the Takagi Estate. The three stuck close, Saeko and Ed using their newfound blades to take care of any zombies while Ben got up close and personal, ripping them apart with his bare hands.
"Together, we are unstoppable!" Ed cheered, thrusting his Nodachi in the air.
"Be careful with how you swing, Ed-Kun." Saeko chided as she wiped the blood off her blade.
Ben then held out his hand to the two, his Vision Mode activating as a helicopter flew through the air. Ed and Saeko followed his gaze and saw the chopper carrying some kind of payload before dropping it. As the helicopter left, Ben could see a logo painted on its tail; Umbrella.
"The Umbrella Corporation...like the pharmaceutical company?" Ben pondered to himself.
"What do you think that was about?" Ed asked.
"I don't know. Umbrella seemed quite eager to drop whatever that was. Perhaps it's supplies for any survivors." Saeko suggested.
The trio continued on their way, only to suddenly hear loud, thumping footsteps approach them. The three got on guard, knowing that it couldn't be any regular zombie making that noise. At first, they thought it was another Tank, but the movement was too slow and coordinated to be one.
Then, they saw it; a tall, muscular man in a wrap-around trenchcoat with a fedora and black gloves. However, his skin was a waxy grey and his eyes were cold and dead, focused only forward.
"What is that?" Saeko asked. "It's not human, that's for sure."
"He looks like Mr. X from the X-Hunter!" Ed cried, quoting one of his monster movies.
"Guess that's what we're calling this guy, huh?" Ben joked before ducking as the newly-named Mr. X swung his fist in a fast haymaker.
Ed and Saeko cleared some distance as Mr. X looked between them and Ben before zeroing in on the latter. Ben's Predator Vision activated as it scanned the juggernaut approaching him.
"Damn, this guy's a walking tank!" The Nanosuit-clad boy cursed as Mr. X lunged to crush his head with a clap of his hands, only for Ben to smack his arms away and punch him in the stomach as hard as he could.
Mr. X barely even flinched and raised his fists to slam them on Ben's head, only to stumble when Saeko slashed him in the back. As he turned to see who dared strike him, Ed flew in and swung his Spiked Bat across the brute's face, making him nearly lose his footing as he took several steps back to steady himself.
"He is huge and strong!" Ed said, looking at his bat, which was now completely broken beyond repair.
Ben took out his Desert Eagle and fired a few shots into Mr. X, punching bullet holes in his coast before one stray bullet knocked his fedora off his head. The beast looked at his fallen hat and then turned to Ben. If looks could kill, Mr. X wouldn't even need to touch Ben as he'd already be dead.
"I fear that just made him mad..." Saeko noted wearily as Mr. X stomped toward Ben at a much faster pace and swung his fist, this time nailing him hard and sending him flying.
"BEN!" Ed cried as he rushed to his pen pal's aid, thrusting his Nodachi through Mr. X's back and out his chest.
The beast didn't even seem phased as he looked at the blade poking out of his chest as if it was a minor inconvenience. However, before he could turn his wrath on the lovable oaf, a gout of flames suddenly hit him, making him stumble and flail to shake the fire off his body.
"Ve! Ve! Ve! (Go! Go! Go!)" Shouted a man of Hispanic descent, followed by a few others of similar nationality. "Kill that motherfucker!"
The men had all sorts of guns, looking like a guerilla tactics force if anything. They opened fire on Mr. X from all angles, the juggernaut unable to react to all the attacks coming from every side of him. The one who hit him with the fire was carrying a custom-made flamethrower and was pouring the heat on the beast.
With Ben, he struggled to get up, the hit from Mr. X having knocked the wind out of him. Whoever made him definitely designed him to hit like a speeding truck. However, he noticed someone crouching down to his eye level and as his vision cleared, he saw who it was.
"Hey, wake up, Romeo. Your Juliet needs you."
The man in front of him was wearing faded blue jeans with a red muscle t-shirt and there were various tribal tattoos on his arms. He also had a black mohawk and goatee.
"W-Who are you...?"
"Just a man like anyone else in this world. I had a life, it was pretty normal...then shit got fucked up, hermano."
"Are you a survivor?" Ben asked, managing to get to his knees.
"Survivor? Killer? Gunrunner? It makes no difference. We're all fucked up in the head from all this." The man shrugged, waving a Desert Eagle around. "Oh, looks like things are wrapping up over there."
Mr. X, overwhelmed by the attacks, fell to his knees and then collapsed, hitting the ground face-first and not moving. The guerilla group began looting his body, one of them taking out a large black case that was hidden in his coat before opening it up, taking out some gun parts and vials full of a mysterious virus.
"Vaas! We got the goods!" One of the guerillas said, showing the vial to Vaas as he took it and chuckled, inspecting the virus as Ed and Saeko approached him while Ben fully got back up to his feet.
"Who are you?" Saeko asked, not trusting the look in the man's eyes.
"Who am I? Pardon my manners, lady. I'm the great sexy Vaas and you, chica?"
"Saeko Busujima. This is Edwin Horace Alba and the one in the suit is Ben Torekuroshi."
"Doesn't roll off the tongue. How about...wait no I lost the name...wait it came back...no it didn't. Fuck it, I'm just gonna call you Jason, Citra, Riley from now on."
"My name is-" Saeko repeated herself indignantly but Vaas put a finger to her lips and shook his head.
"Citra, calm your tits. Just enjoy your fucking self, will ya?"
Saeko did not tolerate this man's disrespectful attitude and both Ed and Ben didn't either. However, he could tell they were annoyed and backed away, holding his hands up.
"Sorry about that. See, I'm a businessman by trade, or at least I was until all this shit happened." Vaas laughed a bit before continuing. "Anyway, I've been watching you for quite some time now."
"You've been watching us?" Ben asked dangerously. How could he not have noticed this guy before?!
"Oh yeah, ever since you left the house of that army chica." Vaas smirked. "We've been keeping an eye on your group since then. A professional courtesy of some mutual friends you don't know we have."
"Mutual friends?" Ed asked quizzically.
"Umbrella, man! They're the ones fucking the world over with their shit!" Vaas suddenly snapped. "They sent this big motherfucker to kill you. Don't want anybody blabbing that it was their fucking shit that's turning everyone into zombies!"
"Wait...you're saying Umbrella is responsible for the outbreak?" Saeko asked with clear shock on her face.
"I used to work for them, you know. That's why I know these things." Vaas smirked, tapping the side of his head with his gun. "They fucked me over, you know? And now...I want some payback."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Ben cautiously asked.
Vaas laughed. "You're not very bright, are you? I'm planning on forming an alliance with your group in the future. But...I need you three alive to do so. If the big fucker killed you, well, then that would've been a mess."
"So you're on our side?" Saeko asked. "And what do you plan to do with that?"
"This?" Vaas gestured to the virus vial. "Oh, this is what you'd call insurance. This little vial is what caused all these fucking zombies to show up."
"And what? You plan on making your own zombie army?" Ben asked.
"What? Nooooo!" Vaas said slyly. "In fact...I'm giving it to you."
"What?"
"Abu-bu!" Vaas wagged his finger. "Here's the deal. I have some very useful tools that could help you and your friends survive...but only if Riley takes this vial and chugs it into his fancy suit."
Ben narrowed his eyes. It was true his nanosuit had assimilated the T-Virus, the source of these zombies and monsters, but he was unsure if accepting an offer from this clear wild card was a good idea. However, it would benefit his friends to have some more firepower so with a sigh, he accepted the vial and crushed it in his hand, causing the virus to seep into his suit.
"Intergrading new T-Virus strain… stand by."
Like the last few times, Ben fell to his knees, feeling all his strength leave him and his suit weighing on him like a car on his back. Ed and Saeko moved to help him but Vaas and his men held them at gunpoint to keep them from interfering.
This new T-Virus strain was different, Ben felt his suit adapting to it quickly but it was much slower than normal. Soon, the agonizing process finished and Ben breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as the weight disappeared.
"Integration complete. Suit upgraded." The suit's automated voice said. "Armor Mode now requires 50% less energy over time."
"Well...that was something." Ben huffed as Ed and Saeko made sure he was alright, Vaas laughing and clapping his hands.
"Si! That's exactly what I wanted to see happen!" He then gestured for his men to come over, the one with the flamethrower handing it to Ed, much to his confusion as more came by with other bizarre weapons.
"What are these?" Saeko asked.
"Where I come from, we call these Resolver Weapons. Just made with crap lying around that we figured could be put together to make some useful items." Vaas explained."
The Resolver Weapons given to the trio were El Tostador (the flamethrower), El Muro (a hand cannon with a shield), La Clavadora (a crossbow that fired spears), El Besito (A fumigator that spat out a special poison mist designed to kill zombies), Pyrotechno (a fireworks launcher), El Susurro (A silenced rapid-fire nail gun), Discos Locos (A gun that fired music CDs), Zeusito (An EMP Railgun), El Pequeno (A gatling gun made with motorcycle engine parts), La Sorpresa (A sniper rifle that fired explosive rounds), and La Varita (a revolver rifle that seemed to be forged from ancient metal).
"Coooool~!" Ed awwed as he looked at the weapons in hand before storing them in his jacket.
Vaas laughed as he saw this. "That's what I call deep pockets, Jason! Just like the old days!"
"The old days?" Ben and Saeko pondered before Vaas and his men began to leave.
"Well, pleasure doing business with ya! We'll see more of each other soon." Before he left, Vaas stopped and then turned to Saeko, approaching her as she immediately got on guard.
"What do you want?"
"I can see it in your eyes, Citra...the eyes of madness." Vaas said cryptically. "Let me give you some free advice..."
"What advice could a madman who worked for Umbrella possibly give me?" Saeko asked.
"Did I ever tell you...about the definition...of INSANITY?"
Saeko paused, Ben and Ed looking on edge as Vaas chuckled, seeing their confusion as he continued,
Insanity is doing the exact...same fucking thing, over and over again, expecting...shit to change. That is crazy; but the first time somebody told me that... I dunno, I thought they were bullshitting me, so boom – I shot him. The thing is, okay...he was right. And then I started seeing: everywhere I looked, everywhere I looked, all these fucking pricks, everywhere I looked, doing the exact same fucking thing. Over and over and over and over again, thinking: "This time, it's gonna be different; no, no, no, no, no, please...this time it's gonna be different."
"Why tell us this?" Ben asked.
"Because...all of us are insane in an insane world. We're doing the exact same thing. Every single one of us." Vaas explained cryptically. "Killing, surviving, trying to make sense of this fucked up world we live in now...That's my free advice."
Vaas and his men soon left, Ben, Saeko, and Ed unsure of what to think of his words. After a moment of deep pondering, the trio began to make their move to find the Takagi Estate again.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Mr. X's prone, burnt, and bullet-ridden body began to twitch...
The sun rose into the sky, it was around noon when the trio managed to make it to the border of the Takagi Estate...
Eddy simply sighed as he and Saya were playing Go Fish with Arisu and Kohta. At first, it was just him and Saya in the room. He found a pack of cards earlier and was about to play Poker with Matthew and Takashi but Saya drags him to help clean the room that they are sleeping in. Yes, he and Saya were now sleeping together. No not sex but just roommates sort of as he slept on the floor while she slept on her bed.
Nikolai and Rolf had arrived with the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy but no Saeko, Ben, and Ed in sight. This did not bring up the rest of the Fujimi Survivors' hopes up. But Eddy and Double-D held it in their hearts that their friends were alive.
A shoe being thrown at the back of his head snapped Eddy out of his thoughts as he turned to see Saya giving him a dirty look.
"It's your turn dummy."
Eddy just looked at Saya while rubbing the side of his head that was hit.
"Aren't you too old to be calling someone a dummy?"
"Aren't you too short for your age?" Saya retorted.
Eddy growled and before Saya could react, he pounced on her as they began tumbling across the bedroom, wrestling furiously while making grunts that would make passersby mistakingly believe they were having intercourse. Luckily, Arisu was out of earshot since Kohta took her to get some fresh air.
Eddy eventually managed to pin Saya down, only for her to headbutt him in the chin and knock him on his back as she reversed their positions, grinning predatorily as the de-facto leader of The Eds scowled before Arisu's voice reached their ears.
"THEY'RE HERE!"
Getting up, Eddy and Saya ran to the balcony, seeing Kohta spying through the scope of his rifle and Arisu excitedly pointing at something.
Eddy looked at what everyone was staring at before his eyes widened. On the road that leads to Saya's house were none other than Ed, Saeko, and Ben.
"HEY, LUMPY! WHAT TOOK YA SO LONG?!"
"EDDY!" Ed cheered as he rushed through the gate, leaping over it like an Olympic Pole Vaulter and then rushing into the house like a charging train, crashing through the front doors, running up the stairs to the balcony and pouncing on his best friend.
"Lovable oaf..." Ben and Saeko smiled as they followed the trail Ed left behind, the gatekeeper awkwardly letting them pass.
Now, the gang was reunited and they could finally relax for a change...
Introducing Vaas of Far Cry fame! And he's offered some gifts to our survivors while also dropping hints that he has a bigger role to play in everything. For right now, everyone is together again and it's time to take a load off!