Resident Evil/Biohazard: Hostage Rescue

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Resident Evil/Captain Commando/Street Fighter are under the copyright of Capcom. All characters of Martin Mystery are under the copyright of Marathon. All characters of Kara no Kyokai are under the copyright of TYPE-MOON. All characters of Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. All characters of Jiraishin are under the copyright of Tsutomu Takahashi. The appearance of Kenneth "Kenny" Feng is under noctorro's jurisdiction. All others are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

The escape from the Catacombs is almost at hand. Can the team make it out? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 23: Gonna Take You for a Ride


Catacombs, below Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Leon, Kevin, Hiryu and Hien had spent a few minutes clearing and checking the rest of the catacombs to make sure that no Ganados were walking around. Before the four went down, Kevin got a couple of flashbangs for emergency measure.

The Key to the Mine was used on the metal door, which led to a long path going downward. On the way down, they stopped to smash up a small crate that had 3300 pesetas inside.

"A door..." Kevin murmured. "I'm getting a bad feeling."

"Agreed. But we'll probably need to get inside the room to find a way out." Leon didn't like it, but shared the same concerns.

"Only one way to find out." Hiryu slowly opened the metal door. It looked like some typical crypt room with a door on the opposite side of the room.

I got a bad feeling...

The four operatives shared the same thoughts when they got inside said room.

The door behind them got locked, sealed with a portcullis. At the same time, the ceiling began to move downward with spikes portruding out.

"Got some company!" Hiryu shouted when he saw parasites in the form of scorpions emerge.

"Cover!" Kevin got the safety pin from the flashbang and hurled it at the ground. Everyone covered their eyes to protect themselves from the blinding light, which killed all the parasites that were exposed.

"Now what..." Hien saw that the ceiling was still moving down.

"Look." Leon pointed to the four red lights on the ceiling. "Those red lights. They could be a trigger mechanism."

"I guess shooting them's our next best thing?" Kevin asked his partner.

"Yeah. Better do it."

Leon gripped the Silver Ghost and Kevin his Glock 21 Mariner. Since the masked twins didn't bother with pistols and packed combat knives as their backup, they took out their HK G36C and Pindad SS1-M5 Commando carbines.

"Fire!" The four fired their weapons in unison at the red lights. When they were broken, the ceiling stopped its descent and the door at the other side of the room began to slide open.

Hiryu and Hien immediately went out to check the area, which was merely another small open space with a stone stairway going down to a set of double metal doors.

"Clear!" Both of them shouted in unison.

Leon and Kevin went down first. They saw a barrel near the doors. Leon gestured to Kevin to wait as he kicked it hard.

There was nothing inside.


Mine Cart Railway, below Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Aside from a couple of barrels that offered 5.56 NATO rounds, 4700 pesetas and a Green Herb nearby, the only way out and explore the rest of the place was through the mine carts that were on the rail. The only way to access it from the rickety old wooden platform.

"Carts again?" Hien rolled his eyes when he jumped down from the platform.

"If there's another way, I'm willing to listen." Leon sighed when he jumped in with Kevin. Hiryu stayed a bit behind to cover their rear, being the last person to jump right in.

When the carts started to move, Leon gestured to the others to get their weapons out. Leon swapped his sidearm for his Remington 870 shotgun, just to get access for stopping power at close quarters.

"Bro... With me." Hiryu advised Hien when they secured the slings of their carbines. The former got his Fairbarn-Sykes commando knife and the latter gripped his Strider MARSOC SMF folding knife.

The ride was fast and cumbersome. When the carts were approaching a platform with Ganados on it, Leon shouldered the weapon and fired rapidly to make them fall down. Only one of them made it on board, but the two teens made short work of him by stabbing him in the chest multiple time before they did a double kick to get him off.

This tactic was repeated for a few more times. Kevin used his Glock 21 Mariner when a Ganado unfortunately jumped on the mine cart he was using.

Kevin did a quick aim before he fired a shot to the lone Ganado's head since he was very close.

"Shit... the cart's slowing down!" Hien shouted when he pointed to a Ganado loitering near a rail switch. Some Ganados were also seen loitering by the platform nearby.

"Cover me!" Leon had just reloaded his shotgun when he opted to fire at the platform to get rid of the Ganados waiting. Hiryu and Hien stayed down and brandished their knives in case there's a need to fight up close.

We need to get to the switch. Kevin took advantage of an absence of the Ganados on the platform to take aim at the lone one standing near the rail switch, holding a lit torch. It appears that he was holding onto the lever since it was positioned to be in the middle.

Deep breath. Deep breath.

The brown-haired man concentrated on aiming the iron sights of his pistol and momentarily allowed Leon and the others to cover him when he fired a couple of .45 ACP rounds at the back of Ganado, hitting the back of his head.

The Ganado was killed. As he collapsed, his hand jerked from the middle to the right. This allowed the carts to get moving again.

While all the Ganados were killed, Leon warned the others. "Looks like some lumber's blocking the way for us to stand! If I shout to get down, all of you should get down!"

"Right!"

"Got it!"

"Roger that!"

The carts traveled further down the rails and saw a platform with ordinary Ganados.

"Fire! Fire!"

Hiryu and Hien shouldered their carbines and fired at everyone on the platform. Everyone fell down, including the hooded man.

"Nice work! That should give us a break!" Kevin complimented their shooting as they took the opportunity to rest and reload their weapons.

"Get down!"

Leon shouted and the rest ducked down when they saw lumber blocking their way to stand up. When it was clear for them to stand up, the carts were making an approach towards another platform.

The four ducked, leaned back on the carts and fired their weapons on the platform to make the Ganados drop down dead by making them fall over. Even the Dr. Salvador was not immune to this as he got killed by the long fall.

"That ought to give us a break..." Hiryu sighed after the cart was now going for the long haul.

But it later moved faster and faster.

"Uh guys..." Kevin was now concerned about the ride on the mine carts. "We're moving way too fast for mine carts here..."

They all held tight on the mine carts since it was going faster and faster and there was no sign that it was slowing down any time soon.

At any minute now...

"Jump!" Leon shouted, pointing to the end of the rails, which just leads to an open hole below with no way out, except to make a long jump from the carts to the other end of the supposed platform that leads to a small corridor with a door.

OH SHIT!

That line of though was in everyone's mind when they made the jump before the carts started to fall down, obeying the laws of gravity.


?


Somewhere out there...

Kenny was seen sneaking around, trying to leave a note or two somewhere where Leon and the others can find said note inside an industrial area.

"Dammit... where do I go?"

He didn't notice that an Asian woman in a red dress was conducting surveillance on him from afar.


Some wrecked mine cart railway, below Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Hiryu and Hien were the first ones to get themselves up the platform. Once there, they assisted Leon and Kevin up by grabbing their hands and telling them not to let go.

"Oh... geez..." Leon huffed, feeling tired from the ride.

"I... I think I just wanna sit down first." Kevin chose to sit down on the ground to get some rest.

"We'll go and look ahead." Hiryu told Kevin. He and Hien chose to go down the short corridor, which then led to an open door...


Some Altar (I guess), below Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


The altar room was quiet and no signs of anyone was inside when the two cleared the room from side to side.

"Looks like some kind of altar with an artifact placed on some kinda stand."

Hien checked the stand to make sure that it was not rigged to another trap.

"We good?" Hiryu asked his twin.

"Should be good." Hien nodded.

"I'll be taking this."

Hiryu got the Stone of Sacrifice from the stand. This made the rock passage up ahead open ahead, which led to a corridor with a ladder going to the surface.

"What happened?" Leon asked the twins after he and Kevin heard the rumbling noise from outside.

"A way out." Hien pointed to the open passage.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Leon grinned. "Let's go."


Outskirts of Old Castle Ruins, somewhere in Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


When the four-man team was able to climb up the ladder, they got out of some ruins near the fireplace in front of the sealed door that has some space to insert an icon on it.

"Did anything happen on the way out?" Fujino asked them when they arrived.

Some handshakes and high fives were exchanged.

"Just... a long wild ride." Kevin sighed.

"What he said." Hiryu pointed to Kevin. "It took us on a ride, but we had to contend with cannon fodder on the way back."

The others were confused on what they were talking about.

"Forget it. For now," Leon showed them the Stone of Sacrifice. "This should be our ticket out of here."

Leon walked up to the locked door and inserted the artifact.

The door made a slight rumbling noise before it went up, revealing an open elevator with a console inside.

"I think we can all fit..." Jean grumbled when he saw the limited legroom.

Everyone went inside and into the elevator. Diana volunteered to man the controls for the elevator to go up.


?


A noise?

Kenny got into a fighting stance when he saw Ada approach him from the back.

"What are you doing here?" Kenny was alarmed by her presence. "I thought you're doing something..."

"Relax. I see that you don't want to do everything on Wesker's terms, right?"

He didn't say anything, but kept his guard up.

"I'll leave them something." Ada extended her hand to him.

He glared at Ada.

"Are you or are you not going to help them?"

"F...fine." Kenny sighed and handed her a piece of folded paper.

"Relax. I'll be sure that they get it." Ada smiled at him. "Besides, who do you think made sure what you were safe all the time when you were with Wesker and Krauser?"


Ground Level, Cathedral, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


The group carefully walked out of the elevator, passing by some old typewriter with a box of 9x19 ammo. Leon grabbed it and used it to refill his magazines. Whatever leftover he had, he shared it with the others who used the same caliber for their weapons.

"This looks too easy." Cammy pointed out the statue in the lower ground level with a bridge over a body of water that led to a locked door.

Jill and Eriko volunteered to check the bridge out. It seemed... normal. They turned around and saw that the white statue was present, based on the image and likeness of the current Salazar family patriarch himself.

"That statue gives me the creeps." The detective was not at ease with the statue.

"Agreed." The ex-STARS officer shared her sentiment.

The bridge began to rumble, which made them retreat away from the middle of it. They then saw parts of the bridge retract down to the water.

"No dejes que escapen a la isla vivo!"

The group saw that the shouts came from the armed Zealots. When they were near the staircase to the lower ground level, they saw that they were spread all over the area.

"Damn, the bridge is out!" Martin shouted when he pointed to the Zealots armed with flails coming for them by using the statue's hands as makeshift elevator platforms.

"We must clear them out!" Sho drew out Lightning Light from the saya.

"We'll have to split up..." Leon pumped a round into his shotgun. "again."

The loud shouts of the Zealots were getting louder and louder.

Everyone else got their firearms loaded and ready. Java cracked his knuckles while the other Center agents got their X-Staffs ready.

Tea silently took out a cloth with a pentagram drawing on it from her jacket.

"Great..." Chun-Li sighed when she stretched her feet. "We'll have to clear the area before we get the switches."

"What are you waiting for? Let's start..." Cammy said when she charged up to the second floor. The Delta Red agent took action when she saw the first Zealot who moved to said floor.

"HAAHH!" The blonde woman starts the offensive by using a double knee attack known as Knee Bullet. This is followed by turning in a 180 degree motion to Cammy's left, kicking the enemy by the chest with her left leg while using her right leg to propel her briefly to the air.

"CANNON SPIKE!"


MOM's Office, The Center


MOM was now going over various documents that Billy gave her. In them, he explained that from information obtained from other intelligence agencies, the involvement of the CIHL was a high possibility. This was due to, at least, the presence of high-tech jamming equipment that even the Center's own tech is jammed.

Damn Octavia...

MOM clenched her fists. Here she is wracking her brains out that a fellow agent who had the same potential to command the Center someday struck out on her own and established a rival anti-paranormal agency before branching out to the development of BOWs as a future WMD.

"Excuse me."

Her thoughts on processing the details were on hold since Billy was now inside her office.

"What is it, Billy?"

MOM felt that a potential headache was coming any time now.

"We're still trying to ascertain the full extent of CIHL's involvement with Los Illuminados, but we got reports from the raid in Virginia that Octavia did some work on creating a monster of her own."

Billy handed MOM a report from the DSO regarding the notes of a creature being made as a prototype.

"What the..."

MOM read on and saw that Octavia had personally overseen the project herself. And the notes attached to said report mentioned the components of the prototype creature, including components from the head of an Andean Wolf, the body of a Sasquatch (aka Bigfoot), the wings of Owlman and the arms, legs and skin of a Kappa. The report ended that the notes they found mention that there wasn't time to test it, but scientists have checked to see if the creature's biology did carry the weaknesses of its parent.

The report also did have a brief mention that there wasn't a way to see if it was perfect creature since like any BOW, there can be a way to exploit it even though no visible weakness is seen.

"It seems Octavia's hard at work again..." MOM was being sarcastic in praising her work.

"We're still trying to see if we can find a way to get past CIHL jammers in the vicinity. But there's no dice. If this prototype BOW is meant to compensate the weakness of the original creature, then there's no way the guys can handle it."

MOM sighed. Dam you Octavia. "I see. Let me know if there's any changes."

"Understood."


Ground Level, Cathedral, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Sho and Cammy began to work in clearing the upper levels and reach the lever switches in order to get the bridge accessible again.

Jill and Kevin were in an elevated position to help take out Zealots in case one would try to use the open palms in traveling up and down the place. The others simply had to wait and provide support since there wasn't enough room for all of them to fight.

"Hey, were you able to get a good look at that door there?" Yu asked the others.

"No." Diana shook her head.

"It's either me or the door seems to have a giant lock on the door knob."

Yu tried to focus on the door the female Center agent had pointed out a while ago.

"It's way at the opposite end of this place, but yeah..." Yu squinted his eyes a bit. "It does seem like that a giant padlock is mounted on the door knob."

"Anything?" Kevin approached them as Sho and Cammy secured the area near the lever switches.

"That door there." Yu pointed to the door from the opposite side of the bridge. "Looks like some genius decided to use a padlock on the door knob."

"We don't have time for someone to swim back and forth." Kevin raised the Steyr SSG P IV and looked through the riflescope in order to focus on the door. "I'll try to fire on the lock."

Once the man was able to get a bead on the giant lock, he immediately fired on it. The ex-SPF officer noted that the lock was dangling a bit after he shot the padlock body.

Partially damaged. May need another shot.

Kevin pulled the bolt to extract the used 7.62 NATO casing and reload his sniper rifle. He took aim at the padlock's shackle and opened fire at the joint where the end of the shackle connected with the body.

The second shot worked. He watched the padlock break down from the stress of being shot twice.

"Okay. Locked door is now unlocked." Kevin reported the situation after he reloaded his P IV.

Leon passed along info that Sho and Cammy were now ready to get the levers secured and were now about to pull them both since more Zealots came in to interrupt them. He also mentioned that they were able to collect some items while clearing the upper levels.

When everyone was waiting, the two pulled the levers hard.

Parts of the bridge that was submerged underwater were now being pushed back up, completing the bridge link back to the unlocked door.

"All right! Let's go!" Kevin got his arm up and waved at the others to get to the bridge.

Leon chose to hang back a bit in order to secure their rear and wait for Sho and Cammy to get down from the upper levels.


Boat Dock, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Ada had just arrived at the boat docks located underneath the castle. She had done research on the castle a few hours ago the woman infiltrated the area and learned that the area has a modern dock constructed for boats. This made her wonder if the cult had anticipated this during its rise.

Good thing that it can fit a speedboat.

The spy carefully navigated the speedboat to the dock and checked the area to see if the coast was clear of any Ganados or Zealots roaming around.

"Hm. Looks like the coast is clear."

She just had her Springfield XD pistol taken out from a holster strapped on her leg as a safety measure. In Ada's world as a spy with murky contacts and contracts, she made many enemies in various parts of the world and it wouldn't surprise her if an enemy of hers has taken advantage of her presence in Spain just to take a chance to kill her.

Now to do the waiting game.

Ada did a brass check and slightly moved the slide to check the chamber for signs of a loaded bullet.


Ground Level, Cathedral, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


When the coast was clear and most of the party had made it across the bridge, Leon was the last person to start crossing it towards the door.

Suddenly, they heard some move. A very loud noise in fact.

"What.. the hell was that?"

The Salazar patriarch statue started to move its arms and legs, leading to the floors built near it to collapse.

"RUNNNNNNN!"

Leon shouted the warning after the statue started to walk after them in a slow, but menacing manner.

The door was kicked open by Java, which made it go down as the hinges were removed from the wall. This gave everyone else the opportunity to just get out and start running down the bridge outside towards the tower summit.

"COME ON! COME ON!" Kevin shouted as he ran towards the summit.

"Ah geez... I should've up my PE time back then." Martin said when he ran, feeling tired than usual.

"Hey, I ain't gonna pick you up if you drag us behind." Hiryu glared at him when he kept up his pace.

"HEY, WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO ARGUE!" Diana shouted at him. "JUST RUN!"

The other normal people (aside from the caveman, the werewolf, the immortal and the others wearing augmented orihalcon suits) had the pressure of keeping themselves moving or the statue may do something to them.

On the way to the summit, they could hear some of the pillars were being knocked down since the statue was too big to go through. Naturally, this made the pillars collapse and some of the debris landed around them. So far, no one was hurt. But this forced them to keep their guard up, even if it meant that they needed to jump over the debris in case it landed in front of their feet.


Since everyone was running fast before the statue got a chance to chase them, they were halfway through the short bridge when they heard some noises coming from the rear after the party was making the approach towards the summit's entrance.

This started when the doors leading to the outside was smashed up to bits.

"What's that noise just now?" Fujino shouted when she heard the sound of someone noisy creaking like some kind of machine or gadget was about to break up.

"I don't know, but we need to keep running or we get killed." Tea advised the young SHADOW agent, concentrating on running to safety.

"Ah fuck... The statue's chasing us!" Kevin shouted when he took a brief glance when he looked to his right.

More loud noises were heard from the rear. Most of it were from the statue starting to sink down to the bridge because of stress problems in maintaining the weight threshold.

And because the bridge couldn't hold onto the weight, it slowly began to collapse. By then, almost half of the party made it to the summit.

"JUMP! THE BRIDGE IS A GONER!" Hien shouted at Leon, Chun-Li and Eriko, being the only three who were almost a bit behind the others when the chase began.

The trio began to jump after most of the bridge had collapsed. They were fortunate that the others were just nearby in time to give a helping hand.

"I got you..." Cammy reached out to get Leon's arms.

"T...thanks..." Leon worked with Cammy to get himself up. Chun-Li and Eriko were assisted by Java after Diana and Martin advised the caveman to use his cavemen strength to help the ladies get up.

"Java can do it." Java told the stepsiblings after Chun-Li and Eriko were able to grab onto his hands. Once secured, he pulled his arms so that the ladies can get back on the remains of the bridge that led to the summit.

"Nice one, Java." Martin gave Java the thumbs up after he saw that the Interpol agent and the Japanese detective were pulled to safety.

"Everyone accounted for?" Leon asked as he started to count if everyone in the party was safe.

They all waited until the DSO agent was able to finish his head count.

"All right. We should get inside." Leon pointed to the door to the summit with his right thumb in a hitchhiker's gesture.

Those with small arms stacked up on the double wooden doors on both sides. The rest hanged back to let them do the work.


Tower, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


When the party entered the ground level of the tower, they were met by someone they expected to show up every once in a while.

Ramon Salazar and his companion in a black hood with weird alien-like arms, the latter being compared to a monk who was quiet and didn't interact with the public.

"So nice you could join us, ladies and gentlemen."

"Ah, the little squirt..." Yu glared at Salazar. "Man, you really got an OOPArt that we need to take out of commission."

OOPArt? Leon, Kevin and Chun-Li wondered what the Japanese Spriggan was saying. Cammy was suspicious about it. It wasn't a secret within British military and intelligence services (including MI-5) that ARCAM had launched an op in British territory not too long ago to stop the British Army from excavating an advanced OOPArt machine.

But that's a story for another day.

"Hmph." Ramon wasn't fazed by Yu's insults. "The OOPArt that ARCAM seeks to destroy is the only way for the rest of my family to atone for the deeds they've done."

"Atone my ass!" Hiryu shouted when the G36C was aimed at him. "You're just being used by the cult. But from what we can see, you don't seem to give a damn."

"Say what you want, but the sacred rite that is about to begin at this tower will bestow the girl with magnificent power. She will join us, become one of us." Ramon raised his arms up, as if he was saying something great.

"What is it with these damn cults?" Kevin sighed when he aimed his sidearm at him. "You guys aren't nothing, but friggin' terrorists. Just like what happened to Waco and Tokyo."

Ramon sighed when he heard that Los Illuminados is compared to terrorists. "Isn't that a popular word these days? But not to worry, we've prepared a special ritual just for the guests of honor."

"Hah!" Leon quickly drew out his Mercworx Sniper combat knife from the sheath strapped on his belt and hurled it towards Ramon. The blade went through Ramon's right hand before it pinned him to the wall.

"W-what...!" Ramon felt the pain coursing through his body when the knife was hurled at the hand's palm.

"Don't move!" Jill shouted when she aimed her sidearm at Ramon.

While the others raised their weapons at ready, the hooded... person (?) managed to secure the knife by removing it from his master's hand.

The gesture was returned when the party saw Leon's knife being hurled back.

Before it can make impact, Jean simply got his right arm up and snatched the knife by the handle.

"Here." The French Spriggan agent handed it back to Leon. "I believe this is yours."

"Uh..." Leon was amazed as how Jean was able to catch the hurled weapon without breaking a sweat. "Thanks."

Yu opened fire with his HK G3A4 battle rifle at Ramon's direction. However, the 7.62 NATO rounds he fired were being absorbed by the hooded person covering Ramon with his body even before they got to the elevator.

Yu charged in to fire some more. Hiryu and Hien joined in and opened fire as well. When the elevator ascended, they realized that they weren't able to kill the patriarch nor his companion.

"Damn. Back to square one." Hiryu groaned as he conducted a brass check on his weapon.

"Guess this means going up the stairs." Yu ejected the spent magazine on his G3A4 with a new one.

"Elevator's on lockdown." Hien told the others when he examined the sliding metal gate. "Our generous hosts must really like us if he jammed it to make us exercise up there." He pointed to the staircase nearby before he reloaded his SS1-M5 Commando.

"I'll go and look around." Eriko said to the party as they began to check their weapons and gear for the long haul.

"Man..." Kevin groaned in frustration when he looked at the long staircase. "If this was the case, then I should've just joined in a gym and work out there 24/7 'til I drop."

While Kevin was complaining, Eriko found an unlocked chest that has a Yellow Herb and a box of 9mm bullets.


Somewhere in the Center


For the meantime, Billy was in charge of the Center's operations since MOM took the day off after a few hours to get some needed sleep. For now, he needs to pick up the slack while he's working in MOM's office.

In the meantime, he had just been informed that the Center's Japanese branch has sent a report, detailing what happened to Sawamura. The mole's death was confirmed a few hours before MOM was scheduled to leave the office for the night. This meant Billy had to go over it and read about how he died.

"Sustained multiple gunshot wounds." Billy murmured while he read another report that their agents in various media branches in Tokyo have scrambled to do minimal damage control to ensure that his affiliation with the Center is not revealed, although they have gotten some Japanese-language media reports about his links with his LDP politician father, formerly arrested on corruption charges.

"Most likely shot by Wesker," Billy mused when he read through the report. "this means we're back to square one."

The alien was disappointed that the biggest lead into the infiltration of the Center was shot down by Wesker. This meant that even though they have known that the ex-Umbrella researcher is a cunning man, he was also always two steps ahead of them thanks to his time in the Raccoon City Police Department as a police officer planted by the disbanded company.

"What now..." Billy mused when he heard someone knock on the door to the office.

"We got some more information from our agents in Tokyo." A SID analyst handed another manila envelope.

"Anything specific?"

"Just a photo or two taken by some bystanders when Tokyo Metropolitan Police cordoned the area where the mole was assassinated."

"All right, thanks."

When the analyst left, Billy opened the envelope and saw a few photos that were enhanced thanks to SID tech. They contained images of the area cordoned by the TMPD when the mole was shot.

The alien checked the photos one by one to see if anything was standing out.

Then Billy was able to find one photo of a particular target.

"What the?"

Wesker was seen in the crowd, watching TMPD officers interview potential witnesses.

There's no mistaking it. He still has trademark shades even after he left Umbrella to do his own thing.

He wondered what the fugitive was doing there. It would have made sense if he fled the area right after killing the mole. But if Wesker was in the area, he was probably there to personally gloat about his success.

I'll have to update MOM when she gets back.


Tower, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


As usual, the party decided to split up in order to clear the area much faster with just a few people leading the way while the others would stay behind in order to protect the rear in case enemies would come and surprise them in a sneak attack.

They drew straws to see who'll be the four persons meant to ascend up the staircase, clear the area and to look for a way out.

The volunteers assigned to lead the vanguard (and the ones who drew the short straw) consist of Jill, Yu (who took it like a champ), Java and Kevin. They were in charge of leading the way to clear the staircase and the upper floors of the summit.

"Let's go." Jill took the lead to go up on the staircase after she and Kevin moved up to lead the other two upstairs.

"Not this again..." Kevin sighed when he accompanied Jill upstairs. "I feel like fate wants to play games with me."

"You and me both. The sooner we can clear the upper floors, the sooner we can get outta here."

Jill got her Heckler & Koch SL8-4 ready, being the pointman when a fight's going to start. Even though Kevin was nearby, content to settle with his Glock 21, Yu was seen nearby since his G3A4 was good to use to take on Zealots equipped with wooden shields. The 7.62 NATO bullets would be good enough to penetrate it better than the 5.56 NATO rounds Jill's SL8-4 has.

Java... well, he's just there for close quarters when shit goes down.

When they started to go up the stairs, they heard the rumbling noises of wooden barrels rolling down the steps.

"To the left!" Kevin shouted when he saw the balcony on the left side of the first staircase landing they saw.

From there, Jill opened fire at the Zealots manning the levers used to deploy the barrels.

"All right, I got 'em." Jill told the others after she stopped firing her load.

"This time, I'll take the lead." Yu said when he did a brass check on his battle rifle to make sure it was loaded and ready to go.


?


"So we're done with their rituals?"

Krauser was seen somewhere talking to Kenny inside what seemed to be a deserted machinery room.

"From what I've been told by Saddler himself after his goons sent Ashley to the island."

The ex-American soldier was a bit... impressed to hear that things were progressing.

"Wesker mentioned in my last contact that we'll continue to do things with Saddler. For now, we wait..."

"But the others are coming to this place any time now, Krauser."

"You just let me deal with that Kenny boy."

Kenny sighed. "And what about the others?"

"They're just waiting for our friends to come. I know that someone or two is getting antsy lately..."


Another ?... Yes I know. Bear with me.


Octavia made it to another CIHL base via portal from Spain, leaving Krauser and the others to tend to the high-tech comms equipment she contributed to their cause.

"What's happening?" The blonde woman spoke to a plainclothes CIHL agent.

"A few more of our fronts have been raided." The agent handed her a folder. Inside was information on the university/school campuses used by CIHL to research on potential hires in their anti-paranormal agency. "From what I heard from our employees who were able to get away, they heard that the police were looking into evidence that we're assisting into the First Daughter's kidnapping."

Octavia gritted her teeth when she read that a few more university/school campuses either fronted/secretly owned by CIHL have been raided in Canada, Mexico and the US. She assumed that the Center was providing federal, state/provincial and local LE agencies/departments with damning info needed to raid them.

"It's only a matter of time before they pull the carpet off our feet." Octavia realized that MOM was pulling all the stops just to get at her. She most likely figured out that CIHL was involved in the Los Illuminados conspiracy.

"What do we do? Do we move all the assets?"

"Do a quick security study on our remaining facilities. Only move them if they're a threat. But do it without attracting attention from the police."

"Understood."


Tower Raid, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


The four-man team managed to secure part of the tower when they took out the Zealots and stopped the barrels from going down the stairway and block their way.

Their progress was sometimes hindered by the tenacity of the Zealots, when they made their presence known by dropping down to ambush them from all sides. Not to mention the two large crates that were in the way.

They were thankful that Java was around. He used his strength to push them out of the way with no trouble at all.

"They really want to make us run out of ammo..." Yu sighed when he slapped a new mag on his G3A4 after using the last bullets on his battle rifle to take out a downed Zealot armed with a crossbow.

"Hopefully I don't run low..." Kevin pulled the slide of his Glock 21 after he finished reloading his sidearm. "We still got to clear the tower's summit before we can get the others to go up."

Jill and Java waved to the other two that there's an industrial-type elevator that leads to the summit. It was previously cleared of Zealots and the area around it was quiet. But there was no time to wait and see if any other enemies would show up.

"Let's go." Jill motioned to the others.

Java cracked his knuckles in anticipation of another fight as the team boarded the elevator. On the way up, they managed to collect some pesetas, some ammo and a few items. In the meantime, the ammo collected was meant to be used for them only since their top priority to clear the summit and the others would secure the ground floor.

"Okay guys! Here we go!" Jill got her SL8-4 ready.

"We're getting company!" Kevin shouted after the elevator was running at full power and was also ascending.

Zealots robed in red garments instead of black were beginning to show up by seemingly jumping down on the elevator from... somewhere. Their presence on the elevator made it stop. This meant that they had to be cleared out.

"Close quarters!" Yu shouted when he used the G3A4's buttstock to smack a Zealot in the face multiple times when he tried to use the flail to bash in his head. "They're stopping the elevator!"

Java, for his part, just grabbed any Zealots nearby and just hurled them out of the elevator, letting gravity do the rest.

"I have a feeling that this elevator ride's gonna be swell after all." Kevin said out loud when he found himself using his sidearm to execute a downed Zealot after Java punched him down. He fired a few times at the head until the Zealot's body dissolved.

"You're jinxing us now!" Jill shouted at him while she shouldered the rifle to open fire at the Zealots trying to board by jumping from above.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Kevin's sidearm had the moment to have a stoppage. The ex-SPF officer grunted while he pulled the slide back to clear the jammed .45 ACP bullet. He was able to pick up the bullet that fell out and pocketed it.

The Zealot armed with the spiked shield tried to ram Kevin out of the elevator, but Java used his fists to punch through it. The Zealot was taken by surprise when he was about to fall off. He only hanged on by grabbing onto the edges of the elevator floor.

"Too bad. You're going to just be a pain..." Kevin aimed the Glock and fired twice at the man's forehead.

The bald man shot in the head began to fall. Kevin could swear that he could hear the others to watch who and what they're doing up there since the falling corpses could kill them.

One of the few Zealots that dropped in was one who wore a mask made out of a goat's skull with horns of it. He was armed with a crossbow that had a bolt loaded, its head lit with fire.

"Not on my watch." Yu quickly aimed the battle rifle and fired a short burst to send the mask-wearing man to his doom.

"OY! WATCH IT UP THERE!" The Japanese Spriggan heard shouts from his fellow Spriggans on the ground floor. "DON'T MAKE US DAMN COLLATERAL!"

"Reload and check your mags!" Jill began to check her weapon to see if she was fine. Kevin and Yu took advantage of the lull in Zealots dropping in on the elevator to check their mags, see if the used mags they have needed to be reloaded or not.

Only a few more minutes before the elevator would eventually arrive at the summit.

Looks good.

Yu saw a couple of red Zealots jumping towards the elevator from above. He shouldered his G3A4 and opened fire after he knelt down.

"WHOA!" Kevin shouted after he saw the teen kill the Zealots by shooting at them. They were shot multiple times that their corpses dissolved before they landed on the elevator.

"I think we should be clear." Yu told the others when the elevator was almost near the summit. "I don't see anymore of those sickos jumping in to say hi the Spanish cult way."

"Finally..." Kevin sighed. "I don't wanna have any other surprises waiting for us."

The elevator reached the destination after the ascent slowed down for a few minutes.

"Are we clear?" Kevin said when he looked around for signs on an enemy.

The elevator was now connected to a wooden walkway that led to the outskirts of the summit.

"I guess so." Jill sighed in relief. "For now."

"Don't jinx us." Kevin told her. "I don't want any more bad luck to come to us when we get the chance to have a break."

"The thing is..." Yu began to speak while looking at how far the elevator went up. "we'll need to collect the others, considering that the elevator has a very limited capacity."

"Java want to know how they go up..." The caveman raised a very good question.

"I propose that some of us scout ahead and a couple should stay behind and provide security for the elevator." Kevin gave an idea.

"Java will go with me." Jill said. "You two stay here and provide cover."

Jill pressed the down button on the elevator.

"I'll go..." Yu volunteered. "In case those cult freaks come back, my rifle's caliber should give me a punching edge."

"We'll see you guys later."

Jill motioned to Java to come with her.


Wooden Walkway/Platform, Tower Summit, continuation of Tower Raid, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Jill drew out her Beretta Px4 Storm after she slung her SL8-4 in order to conserve ammo. Java was by her side, offering his caveman strength for punching things only.

There's no one here. And the area's way up high...

The part-time SHADOW agent told Java to walk carefully since the wooden path may give way at any time if the Zealots had chosen to sabotage it. Java nodded, but had his clenched fists ready.

Along the way, they noted that only wooden barrels were there. Java stepped up to punch them. Only a few had pesetas or some ammo. Eventually, they were able to get round the area.

It simply led them to another area of the summit with a two-man elevator going up. They caught a glimpse of Yu already going down the elevator they used. Kevin simply stood on guard, but with his sidearm holstered for the time being.

"Not much choice now." Jill wanted to get her hands on whoever made the plans to upgrade the castle with a long way to go up the tower summit. While she was trained to endure a long distance in ops like this, the ex-STARS operator murmured that she was basically exercising.

"If I wanted to do something like this..." Jill murmured when she approached the elevator. "I could have just joined a gym near my place."

The woman took a closer look at the elevator to check it and see if anything was out of the ordinary.

"Looks clear to me." Jill looked around the elevator by walking around. Once it was made clear, Jill was the first to get inside. She waited for Java to enter.

Once the caveman was able to get inside, Jill pressed the up button to operate it. The elevator ascended up until it was up on the floor leading to the castle tower interior.


Outside Tower Summit Interior, Tower Summit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Jill and Java walked down the corridor, which led up to a flight of stairs. Both of them looked around for anything out of the ordinary, aside from the fact that like the rest of the castle, the age of the structure seemed to be from the 13 to 1400s. It was left untouched.

Such is a community that was left alone by the modern world.

Especially if a cult with a parasite would influence the villagers to be wary of outsiders.

"Hmm?" Jill saw a familiar person nearby with the familiar blue torches. "Is that..."

The hooded man seemingly stared at her and her companion while they walked up the stairs. Next to the him, there was a wooden cabinet drawer. And on top of it was an old typewritter.

Maybe it was something that the hooded man held such nostalgia for.

"Ah, welcome strangahsss..." The man welcomed Jill and Java.

"You again." Jill answered. "I find it really strange that a traveling merchant like yourself was able to find your way about the castle despite the fact that the cult has been trying to kill anyone it deems hostile."

The Merchant chuckled at her inquiry. "I suspect that line of inquiry will never be answered at all."

"Why?" Jill raised an eyebrow. "Is it because you know something about the cult?"

"Who knows... strangah."

Jill was about to ask him if he can sell anything that has a lot of firepower. But she remembered that she wasn't the one who carried the pesetas with her at all times.

Java was seen nearby and was about to ask her. Jill raised a hand and told him. "We've secured the area, so let's wait for the others to get here. It's going to be long since the elevator has a very limited capacity in terms of carrying three to four persons per trip."

Java nodded.

In the meantime, the two waited near the Merchant to preserve their fighting strength. Jill merely did a brass check on her sidearm to make sure it was still functioning and that she had enough ammo for the next encounter.

The process of having some of their allies in the same floor with the elevator going down to pick up three to four more persons, it's going to take a while.

And even if Jill was up to the task to go scout ahead for any hostile activity, she'd be potentially be overwhelmed even if the caveman was with her.

She didn't want to experience the same thing that happened to her in Raccoon City. When she was fighting mostly by herself without any backup from her RPD colleagues.


Public Security Bureau, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan


Inside the TMPD's secretive bureau, a classified meeting was being held by the head of the Japanese Ministry of Justice alongside the chief of the PSB with a few PSB officers who have experience in Western Europe, including Spain. The meeting was important that all communication to the participants was deemed forbidden during the meeting unless the calls/inquiries are of national importance.

The word that was in the meeting once it started indicated the presence of two persons of interests related to criminal/terrorism in the TMPD's jurisdiction. The two men wore white dress suit and matching red neckties and black loafers. The only difference was that the justice minister wore a gray suit while the chief wore the black suit like his subordinates.

"Sir..." One of the PSB officers, who wore a black suit, white dress shirt and dark red necktie, presented a photo of a woman who was taken via surveillance photo in the streets of Tokyo. "We've received word from our Spanish counterparts that this woman was spotted in the streets of Madrid a few weeks before President Graham's daughter was abducted."

The justice minister, a man in his early 50s with black hair and some gray hair strands, examined a copy of the surveillance photo taken by the Spanish National Police Corps' General Commissariat of Information or Comisaría General de Información in Spanish.

The CGI received word from Interpol that she's a likely suspect after reports suggested that the suspect held by the DSO had some connection with her through another contact in Ashley's abduction, they sprang into action when word got out that someone fitting Wesker's description was spotted meeting her in a Starbucks.

The woman was East Asian in appearance. That seemed it was all to it.

"And who is she?" The minister asked.

"According to the CGI, she's identified as Kei Amami when she went through immigration at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas airport." The PSB officer replied. "I read a report that she was the main suspect in assassinating a Pure Wind cult leader in custody a few months ago."

The minister felt like a headache was coming in after he got word on who she was.

"What's her relationship with Wesker?" The PSB chief decided to speak up.

"We don't know. But our liaison officer who spoke with the CGI officers assigned to the case mentioned that she's hired for her sharpshooting skills."

"So in the end, we're back to square one." The chief sighed before he asked another question. "Any word from the others on communicating with Detective Aizawa?"

"I'm afraid not. We've reached out to Naicho and requested assistance for their use of surveillance satellites to scan the Iberian Peninsula for any electronic abnormalities."

"And how long will it take?"

"Maybe a few days. Our friends in MI:5 and MI:6 passed word that the Los Illuminados has been able to acquire specialized equipment to block transmissions in and out of their areas of influence."

Another PSB officer stood up to read his report. "The Center has passed word that the CIHL may have provided the tech as part of their alliance."

"That accursed farce of an anti-paranormal agency."

The justice minister leaned in on the conference table and steepled his fingers. "Continue to work with Naicho on the issue and see if we can find a way to get through the jamming that the cult has. Meanwhile, I want someone to get in touch with someone from the Shinjuku Police Station."

"Understood, sir."


Outside Tower Summit Interior, Tower Summit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


After what seemed to be hours of waiting, Jill saw Leon led the others up to the Merchant's makeshift shop. He mentioned to her that most of the party was very tired from traveling and waiting for the elevator to move up and down just to accommodate them.

"I know that we need to save the First Daughter before it's too late," Leon looked to see Kevin talk to Martin as they sat down on the floor. "but some of the the others can't push too hard. They're just civilians after all."

"Except for the ninja."

Leon sighed. "Yeah. Except for the ninja."

The others, at least those with guns, spent their time doing brass checks to see if their ammo count is okay.

"Ah..." The Merchant greeted Leon. "Greetings, strangah."

"I have a name..." Leon groaned after hearing the hooded man call him a stranger for the nth time. By then, the DSO agent lost track of how many times he's called a strangah.

"Settle down there." The ex-STARS officer motioned to him by putting a hand on his chest. "Don't do anything rash."

Leon nodded before he turned his head around to ask the others. "Does anyone still have an RPG?"

"Nope." Hiryu replied. "Jean finished the last one."

"Least I tried." Leon murmured.

Sho stepped up. "Allow me to go ahead. I will scout and see."

"Don't you need to take a break?" Jill asked the ninja commando, considering the trek that they went through just to arrive at the castle.

Sho shook his head. "Evil does not take a break. And neither do I."

But the ninja saw that the others are trying to catch their breath. "On second thought, maybe not everyone can make it through the castle like a super man."

"You need either of us to go with you?" Leon raised the question.

"This will be a quick one." Sho placed a hand on his saya. "I can handle it."

With that said, the ninja made a quick run towards a short path that led to a couple of big red doors. Sho crouched and gripped the door handle. He checked it to see if it was wired or hooked up to some kind of trap.


That Hallway with the big red doors, Tower Summit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Too easy. Way too easy.

Sho slowly opened the door. Just enough to get a peek inside.

Let's see what's going on.

Sho took a peek inside and saw the Salazar patriarch yell at a couple of Zealots in Spanish to move out of the castle at once while standing in front of a Christian altar in front of some kind of organism mounted on the wall. His bodyguard was seen hanging around from the back to make sure that everything was safe.

The Zealots were seen bowing before Salazar before they moved out towards another area of the room where Salazar is.

Sho continued to watch his every action from behind the door. From what he can tell, Salazar wasn't paying attention that the door was slightly opened.

In the meantime, the ninja decided to backtrack his way towards the party. Hopefully, they got some rest done.


Outside Tower Summit Interior, Tower Summit, Salazar Castle, somewhere in Spain


Sho discussed his observations regarding Salazar and the interior of the room after the big red doors, especially the altar with the red carpet with the organism on the wall.

"It may be related to the plaga." This was Diana's observation after the ninja explained the details.

"And an altar in front of it?" Kevin was wondering about the altar being in front of the organism. "Makes sense in a way, if you think about it."

"Yeah..." Hien chimed in. "Since LI is a cult, they'd worship something that they'll proclaim as a god."

"I can't shake the feeling that it reminds of a HP Lovecraft story." Martin shared his feeling regarding the situation.

"So how do we do this, Leon?" Jill asked Leon after Sho filled everyone in on the details.

Leon pondered on the details Sho gave them and the organism that he saw.

"I'm having a bad feeling about this." Leon mused while he looked at the party. At least to the persons taking a break. "We can't take everyone with us to confront Salazar. It's most likely that he'll have something up his sleeve."

"I won't disagree there." Jill shared her thoughts wit him.

"Since we don't have any heavy artillery as backup, we'll have to decide who to take with us." Leon spoke up about his concerns. "Let's look for anyone who's fast and who can pack a punch with their weapons or skills in case things go south."

Chapter 23 END


PS - Apologies for the wait. I did other fanfic stuff, finished doing distance to complete rest of my studies to do my BA and had to fly to Canada to get it. I'm also applying for jobs, most of them rejects so far as of November 2018. Still working with the NGO for more than half a year now, being dependent on my folks giving me allowance to survive while living with them so as not to worry on rent and stuff.

I decided to not showcase the fight in the Cathedral with the Zealots in the room with the big ass statue of the Salazar patriarch because IMO it's not needed and wastes my time writing up on it since I want to get to the story of this fic. Also the same for the tower summit scenes for the same reasons. I want to focus on the story and its impact on the characters involved.

I also changed how the elevator going to the tower summit operates from the three person limit to a four person limit.

For the chapter title... Well, just look at the amount of traveling the party had to go through. XD

We are now done with Chapter 4-3 (Most of it now)/4-4.

Also got some (honest) feedback with the pacing of the story so far from lolrus555. Really appreciated the good and bad stuff about it to (hopefully) improve my writing here as the story draws near to a close. Though with the concern of having a few character choices...

Although I had the OCs way from before in my Martin Mystery fics in an attempt to integrate them to the Resident Evil verse aside from Spriggan.

Okay now back...

Some of the reasons why they're in Spain, aside from the ones mentioned in the first two chapters (at least) will be answered in the form of an encounter with an enemy Krauser brought in against the party. It'll be hard for me to start over, since many years from college, I had to halt it due to health and family concerns and I'm searching for a full-time paying job, so I can't possibly kill it.

I'll just say that when the next chapter, I'll skip a bit to an upcoming boss fight prior to moving to the island.

But what I'll do again is to split the party more once they get to the island stronghold to give them even screentime in the next few chapters.


Pesetas in Total = 353,100