My great thanks to HighFlyingWings, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
June 30th, near Tall Oaks.
Leon S. Kennedy released a gasp as he broke out of the water of the lake he was in, followed by the rest of his group.
They had managed to find a way out… only it ended with them coming out of a waterfall opening to a lake near the town of Tall Oaks.
After a bit of cursing, they all managed to reach the nearest shore, shivering slightly in the cold air of the morning, the fact their clothes were utterly drenched really not helping.
Hopefully, none of them would get sick, they hardly had the time for that right now, with Simmons still at large.
Turning, they looked in the direction of Tall Oaks, the sky still illuminated with the fires from burning buildings.
They glanced at each other, then took out their comm devices and started calling their superiors.
"Hunnigan, do you copy?" asked Leon, glad that his water-proof device had survived… Well everything that had happened during the night.
"Oh thank God you're still alive." sighed Hunnigan in relief at his voice. "I was getting worried at this point. It's been sometime since our last call."
"Yeah, we're out, near the lake at Tall Oaks. Everyone is accounted for. What's the situation in the town?"
"The situation is under control, don't worry. ISIS and US Armed forces took back the city, and they are in the process of hunting down any stragglers from the infected. The death count is still pretty bad, but most of the town survived, and honestly, that is a miracle considering how bad things could have been in other circumstances."
"And Simmons?"
"Still going to China, no changes on that point." she replied. "Well, except for something else. Take a look at these."
Leon and Helena, done speaking with her sister, glanced at the screen.
Their eyes widened.
"What happened?"
"Another bio-terrorist attack." bluntly replied Hunnigan. "The BSAA has confirmed that it is the same one used in Tall Oaks and in Eastern Europe 6 months ago. The C-Virus, as it's called."
Leon's eyes narrowed. "Neo-Umbrella." he glanced at Helena. "Carla's work, no doubt."
Helena nodded grimly.
"We need to get to Simmons and apprehend him. The quicker, the better." he declared.
"Agreed. I'll arrange for a flight for you both. You need to get there and fast."
"I can help with that."
They both looked up, staring at Summer Rose.
The ISIS Huntress smiled grimly.
"I got the news about China. ISIS forces in Asia are already on the case, and with the situation here under control, Command has decided to go all-in on China. So if you need a lift, I can offer you both a place on one of the planes to get there quickly."
Leon smiled. "Good, that'll make things easier."
"Oh, and-" she glanced at Helena, then at Deborah, then back at Helena. "-you don't have to worry about your sister. If you're both willing, we can escort her to Insight Corp HQ, where we can keep her safe and make sure that the virus is properly under control, just in case."
The two sisters glanced at each other, quickly whispering to each other before they nodded at Summer in gratitude.
"I'll gladly accept." replied Deborah, visibly grateful for the offer. "After everything that happened, I really want to stay somewhere safe. Looking more into whatever they injected me with would be great, too."
"Thank you again for looking after my sister." said Helena, voice breaking slightly with emotions. "If you hadn't been there…" her voice broke completely, and she quickly hugged her sister, who eagerly hugged her back.
Summer nodded. "Of course. Though you'll be able to thank Lucy Miller in person, since she'll welcome you at HQ."
She glanced back at Leon. "Also, our lady in red will be taking the plane too. With the situation as is, she wants to get to China as soon as possible, and there's no faster plane than an ISIS one."
Leon smiled. It was nice to see Ada trusting ISIS enough for helping her travel across the world… Even if all of them were working together against the same enemies on this one.
Either way, it was time to get a move on. ISIS soldiers showed up not long after, Deborah and Helena shared some final words before the two sisters separated, Helena to help Leon hunt down Simmons, and Deborah to go to Insight Corp. HQ to make sure she'll stay safe and that no complication would arise from the virus in her body, even if by all indications the cure worked.
Thus, Leon, Helena, and Summer along with a number of ISIS soldiers all went to a troop transport of ISIS, where Helena couldn't help but be surprised by the sheer numbers of soldiers embarking for China.
It was pretty obvious, by the numbers of airplanes around and the soldiers, that ISIS was taking the soldiers having already fought today for Tall Oaks to China, to reinforce their numbers already present.
And what cemented the fact that ISIS was taking what was going on seriously were the people gathered to welcome their trio near the entrance to the plane.
Leon smiled at Ada, who fondly rolled her eyes at him, obviously knowing that he was proud of her for working with ISIS so openly, before he glanced at the others. Jill Valentine, the other Summer Rose, Rebecca Chambers, and of course Aeon himself were all present, and the only missing Hunters were HUNK, Claire, Sherry, and Chris.
Needless to say, that was a pretty impressive number of very deadly individuals gathered.
The twin Summers immediately went towards one another, but Aeon and Ada went to talk with Leon and Helena, the leader of ISIS glancing at the latter and offering her a kind smile when she gave her immense thanks for his part in making sure that Deborah would be safe.
However, the subject matter quickly changed to talking about Simmons, and what was going on in China.
And apparently Aeon had some updates to give.
"Chris is already with the BSAA in China." he explained. "Neo-Umbrella has been acting up over there, and while there are… political complications, he'll still be able to help us hopefully. As for Sherry, she is in the same area- as it turns out, Jake Muller has been kept captive in a Chinese facility belonging to Neo-Umbrella, and she's gone there to rescue him."
He paused, before frowning.
"There are some concerns, however. Both of their missions are happening in the city of Waiyip, where it just so happens that a majority of the Chinese government is present, in talks with UN diplomats. There have been growing tensions between China and the international community for some time, and the diplomatic talks are there to hopefully make things better. As it is, I've gotten news that the diplomats have been attacked and were taken hostage by the same kind of infected we encountered 6 months ago in Europe, and we've got no news from the Chinese officials… Which is not good news, in this case."
"In short, we're headed for what might be a trap and a political clusterfuck all at the same time." grimly replied Leon.
Aeon nodded. "Exactly."
"And Simmons is headed there too." pointed out Helena with a heavy frown of her own.
"Simmons knows that Carla has gone rogue." declared Ada. She smirked as everyone looked at her. "I told him his little doppelganger of me wanted to destroy the world. I'm not surprised he's panicking, especially after the mess that Tall Oaks was for him."
"So both Carla and Simmons will be in Waiyip… Along with everything else Aeon just spoke about." summarized Leon. He let out a deep sigh. "This is going to be an absolute mess, isn't it?"
Ada actually laughed and grinned at him.
"Imagine, with everyone there, it'll almost be like Raccoon City!"
Leon shuddered. "Please, I hope not. I really don't want to go through all of that again."
"Aww come on now Leon, it wasn't all bad." replied Ada, eyes twinkling. "We met there, after all. Unless you'd like to tell me our first meeting wasn't memorable? If I remember well, I kept saving your life. Hopefully this time around I won't have to be your guardian angel… Even if you were adorable back then, all fearful and yet determined to do good while the city burned."
Helena gave them a look, but Leon ignored it in favor of giving Ada a dry look… With a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"And if I remember things well, I ended up saving your life as well. And let's not get into how we ended up separated at the end, when I finally learned why you were in the city for real…" he pointed out, not about to forget anytime soon how she played him for fool in order to get her hands on a sample of the G-Virus.
Ada chuckled. "Well, I dare say I'm quite glad I never had to shoot you, in the end. You're far more fun alive." she declared with a smirk.
Helena blinked. "Wait, you almost shot him?!"
Ada grinned at the stunned agent. "I never fail a mission. And as good as Leon is, and as adorable as he is when he's determined to stand up to me, at the same he was just a cute, young cop way in over his head."
They all ignored the way that Aeon shifted slightly at the "never failed a mission" part. Ada and Leon knew that wasn't quite true, but Ada categorically didn't consider anything involving the secret god in her career.
Even if Leon couldn't help but be forever amused at how she would pout whenever he teased her about the events of Manhattan.
She gave him a sunny smile. "Now, he's a handsome, way over his head government agent! I'm so proud of him." she wiped an imaginary tear of pride.
"As fun as watching you all banter about the past, we're here to work on building the future." interrupted Aeon before Leon could reply to his girlfriend's words. Still, he gave her a look, which she replied with a cheeky smirk.
Oh, and she crossed her arms under her bust to draw his gaze to her breasts. Despite himself, his gaze did wander, which only made her smile more.
The worst part was that he knew that was Ada deliberately baiting him to show off towards Helena that he was hers, and it was working.
Also, it was probably a slight tweak at Aeon, by making him focus on her rather than his words.
Oh, Leon had a feeling that the time spent in the plane was going to be all kinds of interesting… In the Chinese sense of the word.
How appropriate, considering the circumstances.
Either way, they still all went into the plane, and soon enough they were off.
And naturally, Ada wasted no time in flirting with him, in full view of Helena, while occasionally poking fun at her or subtly interrogating her about her life.
Yep, she was absolutely teasing him, while messing with Helena, and all of that while making sure that no one else spent much time interacting with her since she was obviously busy enjoying her time with her boyfriend, thus fending off any questions from the people of ISIS.
And she did that while she knew that he knew what she was up to, and only found greater amusement at his reactions to her antics.
Aeon in the background sending him amused looks really didn't help things.
Leon let out a sigh, wondering what he did in a past life to deserve all of this-
Then Ada got up to get something to drink-
Oh. Those were some very tight black leather pants she wore… He hadn't quite noticed before with everything going on-
She sent him a wink over her shoulder.
Damn.
There truly was no winning with her.
Though to be fair, losing had certainly never looked so attractive…
Hmmm… Yes, Ada really should buy more clothes like those, they fit her perfectly.
-
June 30th, Waiyip, China.
"HQ to Alpha Team. No change to your mission. Suppress the bioterror outbreak while proceeding to point Ace of Spades."
"Roger that. Preparing to drop on the Eight of Clubs. We'll make our way to the Ace of Spades and find the diplomats." declared Piers Nivans.
Chris and the BSAA team went down the rope to their infiltration point, before quickly moving on.
A high number of J'avos had attacked the city, and were currently taking the UN diplomats here to talk with the Chinese leaders hostage. While the J'avos had also attacked the Chinese leaders, the BSAA had not been allowed to help in their rescue, the recent tension between China and the international community rearing its ugly head in this mess.
Still, if nothing else it meant that the BSAA could focus on the diplomats in force, while Chinese elite soldiers went to try and save the Chinese government.
As they went to their mission, their radio echoed with the voices of the team leaders from other teams.
"Echo to HQ! We've encountered hostiles at Diamond Three! Moving in to engage!"
"HQ copies."
As they made their way down into the street from the rooftop, Chris had to hold back a groan at the sight of a group of journalists recording the entire mess as buildings on fire from the J'avos that left trails of destruction surrounded them.
And worse, those journalists quickly noticed them once they were in the street, and immediately came closer like a group of rabid wolves smelling blood.
"The BSAA has arrived on the scene. Excuse me, can I get a comment, please? Excuse me! Is this situation related to the one back in the States? The BSAA is involved there as well, yes?"
Chris ignored them- he had a job to do, and no time to entertain the civilians.
Glancing around, he noted the chaos, the locals running around in panicked terror, the explosions nearby and beyond in the city, and the fact the situation was quite clearly not controlled at all.
Well, he'd worry about that later. First, those UN diplomats weren't going to save themselves.
As he prepared to open a door leading into a building they needed to cut through to arrive at their destination, he heard the last remark of the journalist.
"Hey, wait… Isn't that Chris Redfield? One of the Hunters of ISIS?!"
He held back a groan. Well, there certainly was no hope of not getting even more media attention in this area of the city, now…
Ah, fuck it. Get the job done first, worry about the rest later.
He nodded at Piers, and together they busted the door open, with the rest of the BSAA team at their back.
"HQ to all teams, Alpha is en route to Ace of Spades. After they rendezvous with Delta, we will proceed with the operation as planned."
They kept moving, crossing corridor after corridor, even as the city kept on falling to chaos, while the radio kept on crackling with updates.
"Bravo to HQ! We're currently engaged with hostiles at the Four of Hearts! It's not looking good! Requesting immediate back-up!"
"Copy that. HQ to Charlie, assist Bravo at the Four of Hearts."
Chris frowned at the fact that other teams were already being pressed, just as he turned a corner to find a J'avo about to execute two civilians.
He fired a split second later, his plasma rifle incinerating the head of the infected in a flash of blue.
"Not on my watch, pal." he muttered darkly, nodding at the two civvies while he kept on moving.
He and Piers kicked open a door leading outside, and Piers immediately headshotted a J'avo on the other side with his lasgun.
The J'avo's head snapped back… but somehow, the shot didn't kill him, and the head began healing.
Chris scowled and fired as well, the blue plasma bolt outright incinerating the head of the target.
He grunted. "Damn things can survive a headshot from a lasgun now?"
"Seems like it." scowled Piers.
They kept moving, once more into the chaos of the streets, and they took a turn to the left just when a J'avo hit a helicopter with a rocket.
The helicopter promptly crashed into a nearby building, and Piers flinched at both the sight and sounds.
"Shit."
Then the helicopter fell down on the street, violently exploding, and Chris could feel the heat of it on his face.
HQ gave them a new route, and they ran as fast as they could- this entire city was turning into a mess, and the quicker the UN diplomats were out of there, the better.
They began closing in on their targets… Which obviously meant more J'avos.
A lot of them.
They went through buildings after buildings, Chris moving like a blur as he shot infected after infected, all of them armed with lasguns of their own, ensuring that the air became filled with lasers and plasma shots.
The buildings they fought in began to be filled with holes, as each missed shot on both sides created head-sized holes in the walls, but then again Chris expected that, considering how the entire city was in chaos, the cost of fixing this place up was probably not too much of a concern right now.
Of course, they weren't the only ones fighting. And the others didn't have a Hunter on their side…
"Echo to HQ! We can't hold them off! We're retreating to Diamond Three!"
"HQ to Echo! Requesting immediate mission update! What's going on?"
"We're being overwhelmed! There's too many of them! We've got no choice, we have to fall back!"
Chris pursed his lips at the exchange. Things were really not going well in this city…
Still, their team kept on moving, even killing a number of mutated J'avos. With Chris with them, it was easy enough for him to kill them.
Their mutated limbs were nothing compared to the beasts of Yharnam. Certainly, the Cleric Beast had been a lot more of a pain in the ass to deal with.
"HQ to Alpha Team. We've just received reports that hostiles are gathering around Bosawan. Proceed with caution."
"Copy that."
Naturally, that didn't deter any of them from their mission. They kept pushing, going through every path, wide or small, that would best bring them closer to their target.
Of course, the bad news still kept on coming.
"HQ to Alpha, we've lost contact with the recon unit. Proceed with extreme caution."
"Roger, HQ." grimly replied Piers.
They progressed through more buildings, with only Chris being a Hunter saving them from various ambushes.
J'avos hiding behind closed doors, peeking out of windows, behind pillars, it was the worst kind of warfare: urban warfare, with enemies lying in wait in literally every damn building they pass through.
Chris lost count on the number of times that only his quick reflexes and superhuman senses saved the team from death or at least wounds, as he had to kill J'avos in split-seconds or rescue BSAA soldiers from traps mere instants before they would claim lives.
"Bravo to HQ. Still neutralizing hostiles at Four of Hearts with Charlie Team. They've taken heavy casualties!"
"HQ, copy. Sending medics your way."
Chris grimaced. B.O.W's with guns were really not helping things. Sure, BSAA soldiers had good, solid armor these days, but a las-bolt to the face was still a las-bolt to the face.
Still, they kept going, getting on the rooftops once more, as they finally lay eyes on their target.
"HQ to Alpha Team. That building up ahead is the Ace of Spades. The UN staff that have been taken hostages are inside. Proceed with the extraction."
Of course, more infected showed up to stop them, even more mutated than the others.
"HQ, we've encountered a Type-5 mutation!" shouted Piers.
"Wings! Great." sarcastically grumbled Chris.
The mutated infected had, indeed, literal wings… where their legs should have been, causing the J'avos to be upside-down instead.
Not that it seemed to bother them much.
Of course, That also meant they were not behind cover, and with him being a Hunter, it was easy enough for Chris to line up shot after shot to kill every infected barring their path.
As they kept progressing, Chris had a feeling that this was going way, way too smoothly.
Naturally, he didn't like it at all.
Especially when his instincts kept screaming that he had a very long night ahead of him.
"Charlie to HQ! We've regrouped and are awaiting new orders!"
"Things aren't going too well at Three of Diamonds. They need you down there!"
"Roger that!"
Still, he didn't voice his concerns, and kept on moving towards the building. There was almost an incident with a rocket-launcher wielding J'avo, but Chris' superhuman reflexes saved him.
Still, he had to admit, just how many of the damn things were there?! They kept popping up from everywhere!
"HQ to Bravo! Alpha needs to move out to Ace of Spades. Can you relieve them?"
"Roger. Coming in from the Four of Hearts. En route to assist."
Chris smiled. Back up would be great. Sure, he could handle everything by himself if absolutely needed, but that would take longer than by working together.
Then more rockets started flying everywhere, and Chris was back to cursing.
"Bravo to HQ! We're taking some major heat over here! I don't think we'll make it in time to relieve Alpha!"
"HQ here. Copy that."
Chris glanced at Piers, who was the only one still by his side after all this time. A few BSAA soldiers had been wounded, and then the rockets flying everywhere had separated them from the others…
He sighed. As always, it was up to the Hunters to save the day.
Well, and Piers. Good to see the next generation was capable of not lagging behind.
Especially since he wasn't a Hunter.
"Huh. Guess it's just the two of us, then." mused Piers.
"Keep calm, stay focused, and you'll be fine." replied Chris, blowing the head of three infected in a single second.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm not your boss, different chains of command." he dryly pointed out.
"But you're the more experienced soldier." retorted Piers.
Chris smiled. "Don't sell yourself short, kid. The fact that you're here, with me, even now really shows that you've earned your place in the BSAA."
"... Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now come now, we've got people to save."
They soon found themselves on the rooftop of their target, at which point Chris called BSAA HQ.
"Chris to HQ. We're at the Ace of Spades."
"Copy that. Bravo Team has been dispatched to assist with search and rescue. Standby for orders."
"Good, I needed a break." muttered Piers, letting out a long breath.
Chris felt just fine, but he was a Hunter. Exhaustion was near foreign to him.
Well, except when Aeon was training him. Then it quickly became all he knew.
Of course, because things couldn't be that easy, it didn't even take a minute before more infected showed up and began shooting at them.
HQ ordered Bravo Team to try and arrive on the double, but meanwhile, both he and Piers were on their own.
Of course, there was still the little detail that he was a Hunter.
As a result, Chris couldn't help but feel some amusement when Bravo Team finally showed up, gung-ho for a fight…
Only to find them both calmly waiting while surrounded by the ashes of the infected surrounding them.
"Sorry guys, we already finished the party before you arrived." joked Piers.
There was some good-natured grumblings, but soon enough they all got serious.
With the rooftops secured, it was time to get on with their mission.
"HQ to Alpha. We've got your mission brief. Rescue the hostages on the first and seventh floor, then get out of the building. As soon as all teams are clear, we will begin the fireworks."
"Copy that, HQ."
They breached in, and soon enough came across their first hostiles.
Chris took point, rushing through each floor with brutal efficiency against all threats as he sought to get to the VIPs as fast as he could.
Soon enough, they arrived just before the room where the first group of hostages were being kept, and everyone gathered around the door to it.
They all glanced at each other, making sure they were all ready for a breach in a room full of infected, before Chris nodded and Piers kicked the door open.
To their surprise, there were only two hostages held in the limbs of mutated J'avos looking half like insects crawling on the ceiling.
Those infected tried to jump out of the room to try and leave with their captives, but Chris attacked first, the speed of both infected positively sluggish compared to how fast Aeon could move in a spar.
Two headshots later, and the hostages dropped to the ground as their kidnappers died and turned to ashes in death.
"HQ, hostages on the 7th floor secured. I repeat, hostages on the 7th floor secured."
"Copy that."
Chris nodded to Piers, and they and the BSAA teams with them moved on, as they now had to go save the remaining diplomats.
Of course, it turned out that somehow one of the hostage taker had brought the third hostage to the floor above them, so they had to run back up, kill that infected, rescue that hostage, and then they were finally free to go down at the first floor.
Chris wasn't sure why the J'avos weren't trying to kill the hostages, but he certainly was not complaining.
Either way, while in the radios, various teams gave the all-clears on their own missions, Piers and Chris kept going down to the first floor, eventually finding a path leading them straight above where the hostage was.
Chris immediately jumped down, headshotting two infected while in the air, before he rolled to the side to avoid a few lasgun shots and then stood up to kill the remaining half of the infected while Piers took the other half.
He then turned towards the hostage, the female diplomat flinching away i fear as a J'avo came through the same path they took, knife in hand aimed at the woman, and Chris' reflexes kicked in, and in a blink of an eye he headshotted the J'avo about to kill his VIP.
Then he swept the room one last time with his sight and magic to make sure all hostiles were dead, before nodding.
"First floor hostage rescued." he announced with satisfaction on the radio, with the woman muttering a shaky, trembling "thanks" at him.
"Copy that, Alpha. Now clear out of here, you're the only ones left."
Chris and Piers escorted the woman to the entrance, before relaxing once she made it out of the building while surrounded by more BSAA soldiers, though he frowned and tensed again as his instincts told him to very quickly get out of the building.
He gestured to Piers to get moving, and they quickly ran out of here.
"Come in HQ, all hostages are OK! Alpha Team is clear!"
"Copy that, beginning with the bombing."
A second later the entrance, as a result of all the fighting, crumbled down, and both him and Piers stared at it.
"Huh. Good thing you told me to get moving out of here."
"Agreed." Chris muttered, sending a quick mental prayer of thanks to Aeon for the warning to get out fast.
As it was, they simply walked away from the building, before watching from a safe distance as missiles after missiles slammed down on the place and brought the whole thing down.
Chris smiled.
"Mission accomplished."
-
Chris observed the BSAA soldiers going through the ruins of the building, in order to make absolutely sure that no B.O.W. remained alive.
Armed with potent flamethrowers, they carefully burned to ashes any hint of infected organic material they found.
Normally, he shouldn't have to be worried. The hostages have been saved, and were already out in helicopters leaving the city. As for the J'avos, well while a great many more still lived across the city, the issues of politics with the Chinese meant that for now all he and the others could do was secure this place and wait for new orders.
And yet, he couldn't help the feeling that the night was far from over…
"Piers, with me." he finally declared, deciding to go down there himself.
"Sir. Something came up?" asked Piers while following him.
"I've got a bad feeling that we've missed something. That we've got a long night ahead of us. We're going down there and see if anything might give us a hint." he replied.
"Yes, sir." Piers said, not even questioning things.
Chris almost smiled. Piers trusted his instincts, and if he said that something was wrong, then he wouldn't hesitate to back him up on it.
So, carefully, both men went down in the ruins of the building, passing by various BSAA soldiers burning down B.O.W. corpses-
And then everyone tensed when something large barged through a wall near a squad further ahead.
Except that no one could fire, because there was nothing there to see.
Or rather, there was nothing that could be seen.
Chris's eyes glowed for a second, and with a curse he brought his plasma rifle up just in time to shoot a giant fucking snake in the face an instant before it sank its teeth in a soldier.
The giant snake flinched away in pain, but quickly slithered away.
"Alpha to HQ! We're engaging a hostile! Some kind of invisible giant snake! Piers, with me! Everyone else, keep securing this place! I don't want any other surprises!"
"Copy that, Alpha."
"Yes, sir!" acknowledged Piers, not even hesitating a second to start running with him after the invisible monster.
They carefully, but quickly began to make their way forward, following after the snake. With the training from Aeon in hunting and his Insight, Chris could perfectly track down the damn thing.
They both went through building after building, putting down any J'avo they encountered along the way, before both of them paused at the sight of a duo that Piers obviously hadn't expected to encounter, though Chris had been more prepared for it.
"He's alive?" muttered Piers, staring at Jake Muller, currently talking with Sherry in a nearby street, with quite a few signs of fighting around them.
"Seems like it." Chris replied, staring at the son of Wesker for a moment.
Figures the son would be no less easy to kill than the father, he thought with dry amusement…
-
An hour ago, same city, same country.
Sherry shot the head of yet another J'avo while cutting off the right arm of another, before turning and headshotting the wounded infected man and stabbing her sword in the heart of another.
She released a breath as the infected man turned to ash, before glancing towards the large doors at the end of the room she was in.
It took only a bit of work, but with the facility having lost power for a time, she knew that Jake Muller was already fighting his way out towards her, while she was fighting her way in towards him.
Honestly, these infected were no real problems. With her not really having to hide her powers considering that she was alone and killing anyone in her path, with her powers turning any camera into exploding messes of metals, she could, and was, butchering her way deeper into this facility.
Absently absorbing blood from her blade, she grunted at the taste of the foul blood of the infected.
It most certainly was not "Good" Blood in any way, shape or form, that was for sure.
Still, the memories she got allowed her to better make her way deeper into this place, which combined with her sensing where Jake's soul was, allowed her to quickly carve a path towards him through everything standing in her way.
Gravity fluctuated, space and time broke, reality twisted at her every thought, tentacles and eyes and blood coming out of the walls, ceiling and ground, she killed every J'avos standing in her way. Incapable of fear as they may be, it meant nothing to a child of two Outsider Gods, adopted as she may be.
Damned soul after damned soul she banished into the afterlife, a few particularly vicious ones she first banished into the nearest star first since really, opening a portal to the sun was child's play for her.
These people were not good ones before being infected, killers, rapists, and the like, and she showed them no more mercy than they would show her.
Eyes glowing a bright, bloody ruby red, she stalked through corridor after corridor, bloodied sword in hand, a bringer of death only surpassed by those she called parents.
In a way, it was fortunate that those she killed were already beyond terror or madness, or their screams would fill the air of this place simply after a single look at the eldritch horror hunting them down.
As it was, there was only silence, and the occasional sounds of blood and corpses hitting the ground.
There were no shots fired. No screams of defiance, nor of terror.
There was only the calm, almost relaxed sounds of footsteps echoing as Sherry kept walking towards her destination.
Tentacles came out of the walls to tear men into pieces, eyes glowed with eldritch lights as the J'avos' heads exploded, portals opened and closed, all those falling into them never to be seen again.
And then Sherry reached her destination, and she smiled, even as around her the corridor suddenly returned to its original form.
She opened the door, her grin growing as she caught Jake bare-chested as he clothed himself with something more than the clothes given to him by his captors for the first time in several months.
"Jake!" she cheerfully shouted.
"Sherry!" exclaimed Jake in shock, before he smiled at her. "What are you… How… Were you-"
"I've come to rescue you, obviously! Who do you think temporarily knocked out the lights off this place?" she replied with a grin.
He grinned, quickly putting on a black shirt. "Of course, I should've figured. Well, I certainly won't say no to getting out of here." his face twisted. "I'm done being their guinea pig."
Her face softened.
"What did they do to you?"
He grunted. "Plenty."
He sighed. "They said something about using my antibody to enhance the C-Virus."
She grimaced. "Yeah, that explains the stronger B.O.W's we've been encountering. Anything else?"
He paused, then gave her a long look.
"They… also talked about Albert Wesker. My dad. They talked about him a lot."
He shook his head.
"Apparently, he had an antibody that could fight off any virus. To hear them say it, he abused his gift, took it for granted, and ended up killed because of his arrogance. Oh, and he was apparently also the guy who tried to fucking destroy the world! I know, you guys at ISIS also mentioned it, but oh, they really liked going into details about everything!" he angrily shouted.
He sighed, scowling deeply.
Sherry frowned, and stood right before him, her now blue eyes staring into his own eyes to make certain he would listen to her next words.
"Your father's actions have nothing to do with you." she said firmly.
He grunted angrily. "Yeah, but his blood does! It's the whole reason why we're even here! I mean, come on!"
He stared down at her, scowling deeply.
"You really think that crazy doesn't run in the family? That nothing of who my father was didn't somehow pass on down into me? You of all people should know that's true."
He took out and checked a lasgun, before looking into her eyes.
"I'm just saying… the man I am, the things I've done… At least it all makes a little more sense now."
He looked away, frowning deeply.
She stared at him, crossing her arms and just giving him a look.
He scowled at her. "What?"
"You can blame your father all you want." she said softly, but firmly. "But at some point, you have to take responsibility for your own actions. I have had two fathers in my life. In their own ways, both of them can be considered as true monsters. Both of them dedicated their lives to bringing death to others. The only difference is that one was selfish and brought death for his own ambition, and the other because he wanted to help make a better world for all. You're a killer by choice, Jake. But that does not make you evil by necessity. I've met a lot of killers in my life. I've been raised by the greatest to ever live. That does not make me evil, or cruel. So don't hide behind that rhetoric to excuse your actions. You don't like who you are? Then be better." she declared, words blunt and merciless in the truth they carried.
"It's that simple. But don't make excuses. That will never help you, or anyone." she finished, before turning and walking away.
Jake stared at her, before snarling in anger and then punching a nearby locker before angrily following after her, scowling deeply.
Still, he quickly focused, very eager to get out of here. More J'avos showed up, their twisted faces hidden by masks, and while Sherry couldn't use her more sanity-breaking powers with Jake around, her green glowing gun and sword was more than enough, combined with Jake supporting her, to kill everything on their path.
A few dozen J'avos died by the time they arrived at the entrance of the building, at which point Jake paused, and his eyebrows rose at the sight of the giant golden statue in the middle of the room.
"Damn, something like that must cost quite a bit."
"Considering everything we've seen of Neo-Umbrella, I'm more surprised that they even bothered with art." replied Sherry, genuinely unsure as to the reasoning behind getting art for a bunch of infected, brainwashed monsters.
She paused, then glanced at a nearby closed door, before going in front of it and kicking it to pieces with a single brutal kick.
She entered the room beyond, quickly going to the computer and starting to download the data on the computer before wiping everything.
"What's this?" questioned Jake, glancing at the data on the screen.
"The data about the experiments on you. I'm downloading it all and wiping the original."
Jake paused, then nodded.
"And what were you doing during the last, what, 6 months?"
"Tracking you down, kicking Neo-Umbrella down as much as I could, protecting the world. You know, the usual."
"Huh. Well… Thanks for helping me get out of here." he muttered awkwardly, visibly not used to genuinely thanking people.
"You're welcome. You can make it up to me by not getting kidnapped again, and helping save the world. I figure that you wouldn't mind kicking some more Neo-umbrella goons in the face, if you had the chance."
She finished her work, before walking back to the entrance.
"Come on, let's get out of here."
"Yeah, I've got enough of white walls for a lifetime." he grumbled.
She paused, glanced at him, then glanced around at the richly decorated Asian room they were in.
Jake grunted. "Yeah, my part of things was white everything. White walls, floor, ceiling, equipment, even the damn pants they gave me were white!"
She snorted. "Well, that won't remain that way once we can burn this place down. Still, that's for another day. For now, let's get out of here."
She took a step-
And then froze, Jake almost hitting her frozen body.
"Hey, what's-"
*CCCCCCCCRRRRRRAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!*
-"Is that a fucking tank?!"
Jake shouted in shock when a massive tank just burst through the front entrance, immediately turning towards them and moving towards where they were.
Sherry's eyes narrowed, and she raised her gun.
"We need to run-"
Sherry pressed the trigger, ignoring Jake's panicked scream.
The green beam of her gun slammed into the tank, disrupting the bonds between the atoms that made up its armor.
She fired again, and again, destroying the cannon, the treads on the sides, and then walking forward, hitting the same spot several times until finally-
*KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!*
-her gun hit something critical, the entire tank exploding into a fireball, the shockwave of the explosion sending Jake flying backwards while she remained rooted in place, bits and pieces of white-hot metal flying everywhere around her.
Then she turned, and looked at the stunned Jake Muller staring at her in shock from where he was laying on the ground.
"Come on, let's go. We've wasted enough time here."
*************************************************************
They quickly found a motorcycle to ride, with Jake driving and Sherry ready to fire on anyone trying to stop them.
Which didn't take long to happen, as soon enough hordes of J'avos fell on their location.
Helicopters in the sky, bikes in the street, Sherry quickly had to begin firing in order to kill pursuer after pursuer.
Green flashes of light illuminated the night sky as she kept firing, killing riders and destroying helicopters one after another, while Jake occasionally cursed as he had to avoid all attempts at stopping them.
Thankfully, with the chaos that had fallen on the city, the street they were in was deserted, so no innocents would be caught in the middle of this mess… But on the other hand, that meant the J'avos could focus entirely on them.
"What is up with these people?! Don't they know when to quit?! Fuck! God only knows how we're going to get out of this!" Jake cursed loudly, dodging a missile sent by an helicopter which thankfully harmlessly detonated in the street.
"Don't worry, you got me! I'm not as good, but I can still handle myself!" Sherry shouted back at him.
"Yeah, well- Hold on!"
Sherry held tighter on the bike, just when Jake deliberately went off-road and into a drop… before slamming down into another street.
A very narrow street.
"Jake, I hope you know what you're doing!" shouted Sherry.
Jake was about to comment, before taking a good look around at the sheer chaos gripping the entire city.
"This entire place is going to hell in a handbasket!"
"Sorry I didn't have time to warn you, but the city is full of J'avos!"
"Yeah, I noticed!"
Sherry felt the world slow down as a J'avo with a rocket launcher stood ready to fire at them, before she slowly brought her gun up and fired, the bright green beam impacting the rocket just as it was launched.
The ensuing explosion was a bit unnatural, with the disintegrating beam in the middle, but it certainly killed the J'avo.
Jake growled, then took a very, very small passage, barely big enough for them to take.
They found themselves back to a bigger street… Only for more J'avos to arrive.
"How many are there?!" screamed Jake, visibly exasperated.
"A lot!" she replied.
"What is going on with this city?!"
"Long story!"
"Yeah, well hold on as tight as you can, because these guys don't want to let us leave!"
A fact further confirmed when yet another helicopter showed up, firing at them.
"Give me a sec!" she shouted.
"What-"
She jumped, her inhuman strength allowing her to jump on the helicopter, before she put her gun in the glass, aimed at the pilot, and fired.
Then she jumped back on the bike just as the helicopter crashed.
"Go!" she shouted.
They kept going, and for a few seconds they could almost hope that they were free… Before more J'avos showed up, and now they were coming across actual traffic in the streets which made things more complicated.
Jake, thankfully, managed to perfectly dodge every car in their way, only to find the end of the road blockaded entirely.
"Hold on!" he screamed, going as fast as he could towards the one place where, if he angled things right-
There.
-their bike flew upwards, above the blockade and beyond, only for them to stiffened.
They might have gone past the blockade… But what about coming down?
"Jump!"
They both jumped out of the bike seconds before it crashed into a building, both of them hitting and rolling down painfully on the ground. Sherry had it easier, her Aura easily protecting her, but Jake groaned in pain for a moment.
"Worse rescue mission… Ever." he grumbled, but still slowly got up.
"You alright?" she asked in concern.
He waved her off. "I'm fine, just… Give me a sec."
They glanced around, before pausing when they crossed gazes with Chris Redfield and Piers Nivan.
Jake grunted at the sight.
"Looks like Redfield and his boy scouts are there, too."
"Not just them!"
He turned, eyes narrowing as more J'avos came out of the nearby buildings.
"Well then. Ready?"
"Always."
With that said, they started shooting.
And in mere seconds the entire area became filled with bright, deadly flashes of red, blue and green, as lasers, plasma and disintegration beams filled the air.
-
"Neo-Umbrella's after them!" exclaimed Piers, as they both watched dozens of J'avos gather in the courtyard they were currently overlooking.
"I can see that. Come on, let's deal with them." Replied Chris, already lining up his first shot and pulling the trigger.
One of the J'avos suddenly lost his head, and with that all hell broke loose, as everyone began shooting all over the place.
Chris didn't even blink at all the deadly flashes around him, simply focusing on killing J'avo after J'avo, though he did note that there was a new variant of mutation in the J'avos, one allowing them to turn their lower half into… some kind of grasshopper's legs? At least, it certainly looked like it.
Not that it really helped the damned infected. Chris alone could have wiped out the attacking force, with Sherry, Jake Muller, and Piers as back-up, it was more of a one-sided slaughter than anything else.
A military chopper did try to help the J'avo, but a single, well-placed shot from Sherry's gun disintegrated much of the cockpit and quickly took care of that problem.
When finally, the flow of enemy reinforcements ceased, Piers ran up to him and pointed at the two down in the courtyard.
"We should escort those two outta here. They probably could use the help, considering how determined Neo-Umbrella seemed to be in killing them."
Chris said nothing, as he and Jake silently stared at each other.
They had a long overdue conversation waiting for them, and they both knew it.
Finally, Jake looked away first, and both he and Sherry began to run away.
"Sir, what should we do about those two? Do we just let them leave, or-" Piers began, but Chris interrupted him.
"Our mission is to kill the B.O.W's in this city. Let Sherry focus on getting Muller out of here."
"But Neo-Umbrella is after them! Shouldn't we-"
Chris gave him a look, and Piers closed his mouth instantly.
"Muller got Sherry with him. Trust me, there ain't anything this world possesses that could get to him with her by his side. We, on the other hand, have our own mission, both as ISIS and BSAA soldiers: rid the world of B.O.W's. So let her do her job, and focus on yours, soldier." he said firmly.
"She's that good? Considering all that is headed their way?" questioned Piers.
Chris snorted.
"You know who's daughter she is, right? Trust me. Nothing short of Aeon himself could get to him with her around."
Well, and Lucy or Oedon, but no need to complicate things.
He turned away. "Now come on, we've got an invisible snake to hunt."
"... Yes, sir."
They paused before the building in their path, Chris frowning before tightening his grip on his gun… And rolling his shoulders, feeling the weight of his greatsword on his back.
Not something he had needed to use so far in this mission, but just in case, better to have it and not need it than the opposite.
"Let's go. Be as silent as possible, and keep your ears open for any sounds, got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good."
They entered, both of them carefully and slowly walking in the corridors of the buildings, or in the rooms of it.
The place seemed long abandoned, so hopefully they wouldn't have to worry about civilians being caught in the crossfire.
"HQ, this is Alpha Team. We're in pursuit of the target." muttered Piers in his comm system.
They kept walking forward, tense and ready to fire at the slightest sound-
*PPPPPPPPPSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS-*
"What the-"
"Target nearby. Stand ready." he whispered to Piers.
They carefully walked forward, coming to an intersection. They both carefully illuminated the path to the left…
And then Chris turned and fired in the path to the right.
Inhuman hisses of pain echoed, and the snake turned visible, black blood falling on the ground.
Piers reacted almost instantly, turning and firing on the newly-revealed foe, before the snake turned around and fled.
Chris almost ran after it… but many painful experiences with Aeon taught him the value of being careful. There was a time for bold actions, and there was a time for caution.
Instead, he carefully moved forward, Piers at his back, only to find the ventilation grid open when they entered the next room.
"Damn. Alright, stay frosty Piers, it's not dead yet."
"Yes, sir." he muttered back, both of them glancing at the blood on the ground, before they once again cautiously began to make their way deeper into the building.
Then Chris froze-
And pushed Piers out of the way when the damn snake burst out of the ceiling and barely missed him thanks to his instincts screaming at him.
Piers began loudly cursing, but Chris merely smiled darkly, put his gun right next to where he knew the snake's head was, and opened fire.
Needless to say, It didn't survive its second encounter with a Hunter for long.
Chris grimly smiled over its corpse. "As always, Umbrella can't beat Aeon's own brand of Bullshit." he muttered with satisfaction.
Piers cautiously poked at the dead snake, before looking up at him.
"How the hell did you know it was going to come out of the damn ceiling?"
"Instincts, experience, and the superhuman senses I've got as a Hunter letting me hear him move and hiss right above our heads." he deadpanned.
Piers snorted. "Well, I'm damn glad you're on our side, sir. Still, what now?"
"Now? We find that bitch in blue. I've got a feeling-"
Chris didn't think.
He acted.
One moment he was calmly talking, the next he jumped through the air, tackling Piers a mere instant before a syringe would have caught him in the neck.
Then he rolled to his feet and pointed his gun at her.
Carla Radames, calmly sitting on a nearby open window.
She grinned at him.
"Looking for me, boys?" Piers wasted no time pointing his own gun at her, even as her smirk grew. "Welcome to China."
He fired, the shot just barely missing her even as she jumped out of the window, letting a round-shaped object fall down on the ground.
Chris' eyes widened, his instincts once again screaming in warning, and he immediately fired at it.
The shot melted the object and its content, which was a very good thing as what little of the gas inside got out was an unnatural purple in color.
"Fuck, that was… Thanks for the save, Chris. Again." muttered Piers, looking at the spot where Carla was.
Chris scowled. "Don't mention it. Let's just focus on putting the bitch down. I'm goddamn tired of maniacs who want to see the world burn."
He called HQ, voice grim. "HQ, give me a location on Carla Radames. She just tried to infect us, so she should still be nearby."
"Understood, Alpha Leader. Give us a few minutes, we'll get something."
He nodded, before turning towards his BSAA friend. "Piers, you should go back to-"
"No can do, sir. Someone needs to back you up, and be your contact on the ground with the BSAA. I'm coming with you." Piers said firmly.
Chris stared at him. "Piers, hunting Carla will be insanely dangerous. I'm a Hunter, I can handle a solo mission-"
"Sir, maybe you might. Hell, probably. But the BSAA has just as much of a grudge against her as ISIS does, and I want her dead just as much. And if I die trying to do my duty? I know what I signed up for when I joined, sir. Killing monsters like Carla Radames is exactly why I'm in the BSAA. Also… Respectfully sir, I'm not actually in your chain of command. You're just genuinely the best leader we've got. But on this one, I will not follow your orders, not if it means leaving you to fight alone."
Chris and Piers stared at each other for a long moment, neither of them willing to budge on that one, before Chris groaned.
"Fine, but you better do as I say when I say it. True Hunter missions are dangerous, and this one has all the marking of becoming a mess if something goes wrong."
"Of course, sir."
Chris grunted. He wasn't exactly happy with this, but at the same time, he could understand where Piers came from.
He just couldn't understand just how much Chris was holding back just to not break the city around him.
"This is HQ! We've got a location for you. Radames has left the city and is heading south for the harbor. HQ to all teams, priority target Carla Radames has been spotted, heading south for the harbor. We want her alive."
"Seems like HQ agrees with me that this is to be a joint operation, sir." commented Piers, a measure of humor in his voice.
Chris scowled. "So it seems. Alright, enough wasting time. Let's get that bitch."
Alive or dead, because Aeon's orders were to kill her, not capture her, so frankly I'm just fine with simply putting a plasma bolt in her skull and calling it a day.
-
"Did you see the equipment they sent after us? Between the tank, the helicopters and everything, we easily reach several millions of dollars. Man, terrorism sure is lucrative."
Sherry sent a dry look at Jake for that comment.
"More like Simmons foolishly gave far too much money to Neo-Umbrella. And he's going to regret doing that pretty damn soon, I think."
"Heh. Some things never change, huh? Uncle Sam continues to be the source of all evils." snarked Jake.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, we're working on it. Simmons and Radames are the only true great evils left. After they are gone, the US might finally be free of all the megalomaniacs causing it trouble."
"You really think that it's going to end there? That all you have to do is deal with those two and poof, everything will be fine forever?" Jake questioned, sounding incredibly skeptical.
"No, but… Look, everyone likes to make jokes about America being where all the bad guys live, and love to blame us for everything going wrong, but we really are trying to make things better. And yes, I'm sure that there will be more bad guys in the future, but they won't have anywhere near the same kind of resources and power the old ones had. On the other hand, we will be as powerful as ever."
She paused, and looked at him.
"We can make a better world, Jake. And we will do it, one step at a time. It just takes time to change the world, you know?"
"And we're the only ones who can save it?"
She shrugged. "Someone has to, and honestly, we're not doing too badly. Hell, we're winning."
"Doesn't really feel like it when the entire city is in chaos." he pointed out.
"Well, that's what we're here for, isn't it? To make things better."
"So it's up to us to save the day, huh? Well shit. No pressure."
"Look on the bright side, you wanted proof that you can be different from your father, right? Helping me in saving the world sounds like a pretty damn good first step to me."
Jake paused, glanced at her, then kept going.
Her (Empathy) let her know she hit him hard with that one, though, and she could feel his determination to do what was right rising.
She smiled. Despite everything, Jake wasn't a bad person, he just needed the right motivation and example to convince himself he could be better.
And she was pretty much perfect for that role, considering her own history.
"Now come on, we should be hitting the docks soon, we just need to go through the shopping district up ahead."
She opened the door-
-and found herself staring at half a dozen J'avos.
"Man, everywhere you look, there's more of these assholes. Sucks being this popular." Jake snarked while they both began shooting their way forward.
"It is rather hard to sneak around when they seem to be everywhere, isn't it?" she agreed, though if she could use her powers it would have made things much easier.
But it would be rather awkward to bring up an insane, madly rambling Jake Muller to her dad. Sure, he could fix him up, but still.
Mind breaking people was bad.
Unless it was in sex, the other party was interested, and you could fix it afterwards, then it was always the right choice.
Or at least that's what her dad said, and neither Ashley nor Moira disagreed after Sherry experimented with them to find out, though now they always shuddered violently in desire whenever anything involving tentacles came up…
Anyway, point was, breaking reality just for the sake of convenience if it threatened people's sanity was a big no-no.
"Hm, Sherry?"
"What?"
"Do you know anything about B.O.W's with a chainsaw made of flesh and bones?"
She blinked, and stared at the B.O.W that just hit the ground not far from them after falling down from a train.
Huh.
She raised her gun and shot it in the face.
It fell, a massive hole where its upper half used to be.
… Also, she had to admit, her parents really made it much easier in not using her powers when giving her a gun capable of effectively disintegrating anything it hit with ease.
Which might have been the point, in hindsight. No need to break reality with magic when science did it much more safely.
As much as anything involving destabilizing the bonds between atoms could be considered "safe", at least.
"... You know, I didn't say anything before now, but… What the fuck is up with that gun?!" exclaimed Jake.
Sherry shrugged. "What, you thought my dad was the only one capable of terrorizing the world with his brand of bullshit? Trust me, mom is arguably worse."
"... Well, seems like it was a match made in Heaven, then." he muttered, staring at the corpse of the B.O.W.
She held back a snort.
He wasn't wrong, after all.
Though the more appropriate word here would be "Cosmos".
"Don't worry, dad makes sure she doesn't go too far in her experiments." Something to do with singing spiders…
"That sounds like a good idea. If this is her not going too far, I have to wonder what your mom would be like without limits."
Sherry paused.
Contemplated that question.
Then contemplated everything that both of her parents taught her.
And the kind of things they had yet to teach her.
She chuckled weakly.
She loved her mom, she really did, but she couldn't help but feel bad for the Space-Time Continuum if her dad ever told her mom to go wild.
She was pretty sure it would spontaneously gain a sentient incarnation just so that it could beg for mercy from her dad and plead with him to get her to stop…
She pushed the thought out of her mind for now.
First, she needed to deal with Neo-Umbrella.
Then she could have a quick talk with her dad about ensuring the continued survival of the Space-Time Continuum.
Just in case her mom would get bored once the great evils of this world were dead and she no longer needed to twist science into pretzels in the goal of better arming her and dad.
-
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Resident Evil 6!
The end of Tall Oaks, with both sisters making it out alive and well, and with most of the Hunters of ISIS ready to get to work in China. Only HUNK is left behind in America, in order to help make sure that nothing remains of the outbreak.
As for Chris' side of things, with him not recuperating from amnesia, being a Hunter and more, he's a lot more capable of getting the job done without losses, though as a result of his power, he does tend to be more eager to work alone unless other ISIS troops are around.
Sherry, meanwhile, finally gets to rescue Jake, while giving some words of wisdom along the way. This Jake is a bit calmer than in canon since he got the truth revealed to him about Wesker by more friendly people, but he's hardly pleased with the situation.
Beyond that, better weapons do help a lot for every fight, so most enemies really don't last long. How long that remains true, however, that's another question entirely…
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, we continue RE6 with heroes, villains, and monsters all meeting and clashing!