Chapter 2

"S.T.A.R.S.!"

The noise sent shivers down Dr. Albert Wesker's spine, but despite that, a smirk crossed his lips, taking in the sheer majesty of what he saw before him as he stood on the roof of The Raccoon City Police Department, looking down into the entrance courtyard. The monstrosity wearing all leather had just murdered Brad Vickers, and it felt so good having seen it. He wouldn't want to be anywhere else at that moment.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," he whispered to himself, remembering that it had been Brad that had completely ruined Wesker's plans the night of the Spencer Estate, taking off like the chicken heart namesake he'd been given by the late Joseph Frost. Judgement had finally come for the former Alpha Team pilot, and shortly after, it would swiftly strike down Jill Valentine as well.

He had to pat himself on the back, figuratively speaking, because it was his doing that Jill was even in Raccoon City right now. She had left days earlier with Chris Redfield and Barry Burton, going off to who knows where to cause all kinds of new problems for White Umbrella, but because his efforts had finally gotten Dick Valentine out of incarceration and into Umbrella custody, a little rumor had been circulated around through S.T.A.R.S. HQ by Tom Kurtz. He made certain that all department heads spread the good word that Dick Valentine had been moved to Raccoon City in order to draw out his daughter so they could learn the location of her conspirators.

This was, in fact, not entirely true. They did have Dick Valentine, but he was safe, far away from Raccoon City. However, drawing the S.T.A.R.S. fugitives back to Raccoon was their play, as Red Umbrella knew that White Umbrella was going to release the Nemesis prototype to hunt them down, having not known that they'd left the city. How exactly Trent knew that they'd left was beyond Wesker, but at the moment, he didn't care. All that mattered was, at the least, that Jill, and apparently Brad, had both returned. It was odd, because the pilot had skipped town weeks ago. Whatever reason he'd returned was his own, and he had just taken it to his grave.

Observing as the tyrant, code named Nemesis, strode in Jill's direction, Wesker immediately ending up being disappointed, as Jill had managed to dart out of the way of an oncoming attack and rushed inside the precinct.

He frowned. 'Too bad I'm needed elsewhere. I want to see her destroyed too.'

The Nemesis roared down below.

Wesker stood up and shook his head, turning to leave. However, before he could take a step in the direction he was going, a massive form jumped onto the roof seemingly from out of nowhere, now blocking his path, before standing up tall.

'Did he smell me out?' Wesker thought to himself. 'Or could he sense me? Why would he even know to be looking for me? Most people believe I'm dead.'

Nemesis roared. "S.T.A.R.S.!"

Wesker shook his head. 'Whoever programmed him knows I'm in the city. They want me dead.'

The Nemesis swung wide, but Wesker was ready for this, and he had been wanting a fight all night. The W-Virus took hold as his eyes turned deep red. The attack was blocked as Wesker grabbed the massive arm, holding it at bay with one hand. He shook his finger from his free hand right in Nemesis' face.

"I was never actually S.T.A.R.S.," Wesker informed.

Rearing back, Wesker kicked Nemesis in the gut, causing the creature to back up several feet. He spin-kicked his would be attacker, knocking the monster even further back. Finally, Wesker jumped into the air, kicking outward, but Nemesis managed to grab him, causing them both to topple over the side of the building and tumble toward the unforgiving ground below.

At the last possible second, Wesker managed to punch Nemesis in the face with all of his available force, sending the creature sprawling right through a window on the first floor. It looked like the window was near a stairwell that would lead to the hallway where the statue puzzle was located. That information didn't matter to him. What did matter was that Jill just so happened to be in that hallway at that moment. She moved for the staircase in order to get away from Nemesis as he got back to his feet.

Wesker shook his head. "I might be better than you, but you're still magnificent." He took out a grappling gun that had recently become standard issue for Red Umbrella, aimed it toward a nearby building's roof and fired, taking off into the night.

A faint "S.T.A.R.S.!" could be heard from behind him, back in the precinct, and that was the last time Wesker would allow a shiver to go up his spine.

Crouched on the roof of a clothing store near City Hall, Wesker observed a soldier from the U.B.C.S. moving in the direction of Grill 13. It looked like the name on the back of the Latino's vest said OLIVEIRA.

"Who's the Spanish hottie?" a female voice asked from behind him.

Wesker scoffed. "You always did have a thing for Hispanics." He turned his head. "Too bad Dr. Howe wasn't."

Ada Wong sighed as she moved up beside him. "Don't remind me. I still haven't gotten John's stench off of me."

Wesker chuckled. "I've missed us working together."

"Rumor has it that we're going to be doing so again before long," Ada told him.

"Did Trent tell you that?" Wesker asked as he stood up from his crouch, finally turning to fully face the Asian spy.

Ada grinned slyly. "Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. I guess you'll find out eventually." She turned to leave.

"Are you on your way to retrieve the G-Virus?" Wesker asked.

Ada turned her head slightly back. "You know more than I thought you did, but no. I have to see Ben first."

Wesker laughed. "Bertolucci? What use do you have for that loser?"

"He has information that Trent needs," Ada replied. Then she sighed. "Plus, there's rumors that John is still alive. I have to make sure that I haven't left any loose ends."

"Does Ada Wong actually have it in her to kill John Howe?" Wesker asked, clearly amused.

Ada turned back around, narrowing her eyes. "You think this is just one big game, don't you?"

Wesker nodded.

Ada gestured out to the city. "Do you not see what's happened? Thousands of people have died."

"And if I have my way, millions will," Wesker promised.

Ada took a step back in shock.

Wesker took a deep breath. "When you're done playing around with that reporter… should you run into Annette Boyd…"

Ada raised an eyebrow, despite that she was still trying to recover from what he'd previously said. "Annette Birkin? The way you say her name…"

"Just tell her that I love her," Wesker told her.

"So, the rumors about Ellen Smith –"

Wesker sighed in frustration. "Were true, but only because I was bored."

"You claim to love someone, and yet you won't drop everything to go find her," Ada accused. "This city is crumbling. Umbrella is going to give the go ahead for the bomb in a day, maybe two, and yet, you're not doing everything in your power to find her."

"She isn't the priority!" Wesker exclaimed. "She should've already evacuated! Jay Reston's Special Forces team are a bunch of rookie hacks! They failed, and this city has fallen to the T-Virus because of them!"

"You better not let Agent HUNK hear you calling him a rookie hack," Ada said. "I don't think –"

"I do not fear Mr. Death," Wesker told her matter-of-factly. "He's more than welcome to try me." He stepped closer to her.

Ada instinctually tried to step back, but Wesker grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Do what you want to the reporter, but if you hurt Annette, and I find out about it, there will be hell to pay," Wesker warned.

Ada pulled her arm away. "She isn't my mission. She'll be fine if she doesn't get in my way. You know what happens when anyone steps in Ada Wong's way."

"And you know what happens when someone crosses me," Wesker told her. He turned away and moved for the other end of the roof. "Contact me when you're out of the city. There's work to do elsewhere." With that, he used his abilities to practically teleport as he jumped to the nearest building's roof.

Dr. Albert Wesker crashed through the window of the Virology Department at Raccoon University and pulled his magnum, taking down three zombies with precision headshots. He looked around the classroom and saw a zombie crawling on the floor toward him. Leveling his handgun, he fired one last time.

Moving out of the classroom, he strode down a hallway like he owned the place, downing two more zombies as he went.

'I know you're here somewhere,' he thought to himself. 'Ah, I bet you're there.'

Wesker used a teleport to go the rest of the way down the hallway in one stride. He tried and failed to get the door to the main lab auditorium to open, receiving a beeping noise from a panel beside the door for his trouble. He looked over, seeing that security was set to maximum and that no entry was allowed.

"Cute," he commented before balling his hand into a fist and rearing back.

The door crashed inward as an alarm blared. Dr. Albert Wesker moved in and cricked his neck. A smirk crossed his lips. "There you are."

Dr. Gregory Mueller stood beside Professor Peter Jenkins at the far end of the auditorium, fear on their faces that evaporated into confusion once they realized who was there.

"Dr. Wesker?" Mueller asked.

Jenkins sighed in relief. "We thought you were a Tyrant. We received a warning message that one was being sent to the police department, and there was a chance that others were going to be released throughout the city."

"I figured you'd be more concerned about Thanatos," Wesker said. "Which is one of the reasons I'm here."

"Weren't you told?" Mueller asked. "Thanatos was taken by Jackson Courtlandt last week. We tried to protest, but when a member of the board of executives makes a decision –"

"What use does Courtlandt have for Thanatos?" Wesker asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but it's probably for the best," Mueller said. "Other than this room, the rest of the building is without power. He would've gotten out."

Wesker moved in their direction, shaking his head. 'Trent isn't going to like hearing about this.'

"You said that Thanatos was only one of your reasons for being here," Jenkins stated. "What else could you possibly want?"

"Daylight," Mueller said. "He wants the samples and research. If we've truly found a way to cure the T-Virus, he has to make sure that it –"

Wesker teleported right up to Mueller and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air. "I want to know what you did with him!"

Jenkins stepped back in shock from the ability that Wesker had just performed. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he was out of his depth. In his fear of what would happen next, he ran.

"Peter!" Mueller strained to yell out. "Help me!"

"I don't think Professor Jenkins cares to do any such thing, Gregory," Wesker said. "It's just you and me now." He pulled Mueller down to eye level. "You're going to answer my question."

"Annette made certain that you would never find him," Mueller said. "I can't betray her trust no matter how much I miss little Jake. He was like a son to me."

Wesker sneered, his eyes turning bright red beneath his sunglasses.

Mueller noticed this, shock coming back to his horrified face. "What did they do to you?"

"Give me back my son!" Wesker yelled.

"You'll never find him!" Mueller exclaimed through pained breaths as Wesker's grip on his neck became tighter.

Finally, Wesker tossed Gregory Mueller into a nearby projector, knocking it over.

Mueller moved to crawl away as Wesker strolled after him. "Annette was right. You're insane."

Wesker leveled his magnum. "You were a fool to get between a father and his son." He fired the gun, the bullet sailing into Mueller's head. Sighing, he holstered the weapon before moving to a nearby desk, searching through the files, not finding anything on his son. However, pulling up one that was labeled DAYLIGHT, he put it inside his vest and moved off, putting his hand to his ear, activating the hidden comms device.

"This is Dr. Wesker," he said as he made his way to the door to exit the auditorium. "I'm leaving Raccoon City now with Daylight, Trent. You'll have it soon."