My great thanks to HighFlyingWings, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
June 30th, Waiyip, China.
Chris led the way, rushing forward with Piers right at his heels.
They had to stop when they met a locked door, but just as Piers began cursing their luck Chris pointed his gun at the reinforced door, fired once, twice, then nodded in satisfaction when the few parts of the door not disintegrated into nothing fell on the floor.
"Hooray for the power of technology, eh sir?" Piers remarked with amusement a moment later.
Chris smirked. "Quite. Now come on, no time to waste!"
"I'm right behind you, sir!"
They ran forward-
"Gah!"
-only for two gray-skinned B.O.W's of some kind to jump out of a nearby air duct, slamming into them and sending them flying into a number of pipes running across the ship.
The two monsters then once again tried to jump on them, but both Chris and Piers had recovered quickly enough to bring their guns up… and started shooting.
The monsters were either disintegrated into nothing or close to it, though both men ended up staring in shock at the squirming, still living arm of one of the monsters.
Then Chris started shooting it until not even ashes were left.
"Sir? The fuck were those things?!" exclaimed Piers.
"I don't know, but be sure to remember that they are damn hard to truly kill if their arms can survive on their own. Still, no time to waste! On your feet, we need to go and fast!"
They both jumped out of the pipes just as they finally collapsed down into the bowels of the ship, both men taking a moment to look down before silently agreeing to put out of their minds how close to falling they had been.
Instead they ran forward, if with difficulty as the ship kept shifting unnaturally.
"How long will this place last?!"
"I don't know, but as long as it lasts long enough for us to get out of here, I don't care!"
Chris pursed his lips. If he had been alone, he could have gone faster…
No, that wasn't fair to Piers. The soldier was good, he just…
Wasn't Hunter-levels of good.
He shook his head. His standards really became twisted after passing so much time close to Aeon.
Both of them opened yet another door, and then-
"Look sir, a plane!"
"We're at the hangar! Come on, let's move!"
Chris all but jumped inside the pilot seat, Piers right behind him in the co-pilot seat, and he quickly got to work.
"Let's get it fired up!"
They took off as fast as they could, Chris's face a picture perfect example of focus as they went into the air.
"HQ to Alpha. The aircraft carrier has been located. It is heavily armed with anti-air guns. Take out those guns, Alpha!"
"One plane against an entire carrier? Is that even possible?!" exclaimed Piers, looking towards the distant figure of their target.
Chris grinned. "Hey, Piers! How's your aim?"
"Never better, sir!" firmly replied Piers after a moment, the man obviously having decided to just go and try to do the impossible, odds be damned.
"Perfect!"
"Pre-launch preparations have already been made, and there's nothing we can do to stop it from here." commented HQ.
"The missiles are carrying a virus. If they hit the mainland, it's going to be much worse than any normal warhead." grimly said Chris.
"And the only way to stop this is to get on that carrier." grimly agreed Piers.
"We've got no choice. OK, get ready, I'm going in!"
They came closer, anti-aircraft batteries shooting at them, Chris using his inhuman reflexes fully as he dodged all over the place while getting closer to their enemies, Piers at his back shooting everything they had at both enemy planes and the carrier's defenses.
Explosions filled the night sky, along with the shots from the anti-air artillery, but through sheer inhuman reflexes Chris was able to give Piers the time and opportunities he needed to start wreaking havoc on the enemy forces.
"Radames said she wanted to bring Raccoon City to the world… But there's only one ship we know of. Come in HQ, are there any other vessels in the water?" Chris asked in between dodging two missiles.
"Negative, intel sees only the current target."
"She could have been making it up, I wouldn't put it past her…" he muttered, before shaking his head.
A problem for later. For now, he had more pressing concerns.
He focused on his current objective, flying through the air and dodging all enemy attempts at taking them down while Piers focused on destroying their enemies until, finally-
"All anti-aircraft guns destroyed."
"Alright, now we can focus on stopping the missiles! Find a place to land, sir!"
"HQ to Alpha, the missile countdown has started! Find the control unit and stop the launch!"
"Copy that HQ, I'm on it!" shouted Piers, before getting out of the plane, Chris bringing them very close to the ship, allowing him to jump out and then rush off into the ship.
Chris remained in the plane, thankful for the new technology allowing him to use it like a VTOL, and focused on providing air support by blowing up anything standing in Piers' way.
And then one of the giant creatures from back in Europe suddenly popped out of the ship, and started going on a rampage.
"Looks like more trouble, sir!"
"Oh great, just what we needed. Seriously, what the fuck is that thing doing here?" he grumbled, before starting to shoot at it with his plane.
The creature stumbled, roaring in pain and rage, but Chris didn't let up. He couldn't afford the risk that the monster would destroy critical components in stopping the launch, or get in Piers' way.
For a tense minute, Chris focused on killing the creature, its roars echoing in the air while he was all too aware of the counter going down, silently praying to Aeon that Piers would be able to get the job done or else-
"HQ to Alpha. Missile launch has been aborted. I repeat, the missile launch has been aborted!"
Chris almost slumped in relief, before grinning.
"Way to go, Piers! Now come back here and we can get out of here!"
"Roger that!"
Chris kept shooting at the giant creature, rivers of blood falling from its wounded body as it staggered backwards, crushing parts of the ship, though Chris saw Piers run towards him so he didn't care about the collateral damage anymore.
Piers ran, getting up on a nearby crane and then jumping back aboard the plane.
"Good to have you back, soldier!" Chris shouted with a smirk as he kept shooting that damn giant monster which refused to die.
And then that smirk fell away in favor of horror.
"HQ to Alpha! We have an emergency launch! One of the missiles has been reactivated!"
"How in the hell?!" they both exclaimed.
"The monster! He's right next to it, maybe he activated some kind of failsafe when damaging something he shouldn't have!" shouted Piers, pointing at both the missile and the monster.
"Fuck!" cursed Chris. He kept shooting the monster in front of the missile, finally killing it, before-
"We're out of time, Alpha! Permission to destroy the missile granted!"
"Copy-"
He stopped.
Cold like ice spread through his veins when he saw the one thing he dreaded-
The missile launched.
"It's heading for the city!" screamed Piers.
Chris froze, before changing frequencies, he needed to check-
"This is Sherry Muradasilova, reporting for-"
His eyes widened.
"Sherry! Where are you?" he shouted.
There was a moment of pause, before Sherry's voice returned.
"-Chris? Me and the others are near the docks, why?-"
"Get the hell out of here!" Chris screamed.
-
A few minutes ago, near the docks.
"Echo Team to HQ, come in. We're escorting civilians in Tatchi to safety. We've also encountered a group led by Sherry Muradasilova. Requesting orders, should I dispatch soldiers to escort them to ISIS HQ?"
Leon looked around while letting Sherry deal with the BSAA soldier in charge of the area, seeing the masses of people still evacuating the area. The battles have hit the center of the city the hardest, and as a result a number of people have been trying to escape by boats, rather than land.
Still, there could only be so many boats, so as a result the BSAA was now trying to take away from the mass of civilians in the area and escort them behind secure lines while avoiding the center of the city.
A single look around was enough to tell him that the work for that was very, very far from done, though it could have been worse without ISIS holding the line elsewhere, allowing the BSAA to focus on other matters… like here.
He turned towards two nearby BSAA soldiers looking at the people with confused frowns.
"There's been no hint of any C-virus infection in this part of the city. Why are we evacuating them so desperately?" questioned one of them.
"It's just precaution." replied an older soldier. "Things can go to shit at any moment, better be prepared."
He looked away, glancing at Sherry who, apparently done with her talk with the BSAA soldier, was speaking through her radio.
"Is it over?" wondered Helena, looking at the mass of people slowly moving out of the area.
He smiled…
Before frowning.
He had… a bad feeling.
Like if things weren't actually over quite yet.
And then his radio crackled to life.
"Leon, we have a situation. We've managed to find out the position of Neo-Umbrella's HQ in an undersea oil field 80 miles away from you." suddenly declared Hunnigan.
He and Helena blinked-
"If I may interject." suddenly came a second voice that Leon recognized well.
Aeon, what are you-
"What- who-" Hunnigan spluttered, before being cut off again.
"ISIS will deal with the base. Please ensure that no one besides us goes in. I've got an idea of what's going in there, and only Hunters should deal with it."
"That's- you can't just-"
"Sorry, but I had a talk with the President, along with others. The exact reasons are classified, but let's just say that this is a mission solely for Hunter-level soldiers."
There was a moment of silence, before Hunnigan sighed.
"Copy that. In that case, I'll pass what intel I have, though it's apparent you probably have more than I do."
"Nonetheless, I appreciate the cooperation. It's just, ISIS has to handle this one. Someone else might get it wrong, and we can't afford to with what's in there. I'm going there, along with as many Hunters I have in China right now. Or at least, as soon as this current situation is dealt with."
There was another moment of silence, before Hunnigan's voice returned, a grim feeling in it.
"If you are willing to send so many of ISIS' best, including yourself, in whatever is in there… Then I think I'll trust your judgment. Anything that warrants such a response from you of all people is enough to tell me this is way above your standard B.O.W."
"You could say that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to keep an eye on another developing situation. Leon, I suggest that you start going out of where you are, just in case… quickly."
The line cut off, and Leon shared a look with Helena.
That certainly didn't sound good…
For a moment they just looked around, not quite sure what to do now, before Helena looked into the distance, towards the sea.
"What is that?" she muttered.
Leon glanced at her, before glancing at Sherry instead, who was looking-
He frowned, she looked concerned, and-
He turned.
And blanched.
"That's a missile!" he exclaimed, staring at the distant, but rapidly closing shooting star in the night sky-
And then a second shooting star came from further in the city, the new star crossing rapidly the distance with the first before both hit one another, causing Leon to instinctively flinch back at the new brilliant star in the sky.
"What-"
"This is Commander Aeon of ISIS. To everyone listening, I've just managed to intercept a missile containing a heavy dose of the C-Virus before it fully hits the city with an anti-air guided missile. The bad news… is that most of the virus is going to hit the docks, and the nearest areas of it. To all units, the docks of the city are now considered Code Red. Code Black shall be given if confirmation comes of all present human life being killed or infected. The areas around the docks are now Code Orange. Expect them to become Code Red soon. To all units, here are new orders-"
Leon stopped listening, and instead stared in horror as what seemed to be a blue-purple cloud of smog fell down on the people of the docks.
The screaming started soon after.
"Shit. We need to move!" shouted Muller at the sight.
"Agreed."
They turned towards Sherry, who was looking grimly at them. "I just got a call from Chris. There were a lot more missiles than just one, but thankfully he and a BSAA soldier stopped the rest. Still, there's a lot of people at the docks, and they are about to almost all turn into zombies. We need to rejoin the lines of ISIS and the BSAA, and fast."
"Yeah. Come on, we gotta move."
They quickly began to run, while from the radio came the increasingly tense reports and orders going back and forth between the soldiers on the ground and the commanders in the back.
Leon led the group through back alleys and out of sight passages, knowing well that the more populated areas were about to become slaughterhouses.
Especially when they could all see the horrific gas still spreading through the entire area and coming closer to their position.
"We're taking a detour towards the Quad Towers!" shouted one of the BSAA soldiers leading what people still followed them. Everyone else had begun panicking at the sight of the gas spreading, which Leon knew well was going to cost a lot of lives… But there was little he could do besides helping the group he was in to survive.
The gas came closer still, and they took refuge into a nearby shop, closing the doors firmly and making sure everything was airtight.
"Right, we need to move! That's going to hold back the gas, but not the infected! We can't stay here, we need to keep moving!" declared Sherry to everyone in the group, and the BSAA soldiers took one look at who just spoke and decided that she definitely knew her stuff.
"Understood. Keep moving everyone, there's a back entrance leading to a jeep outside! Let's go!"
They ran, kicking open the doors just as the sounds of broken glass and undead moans filled their ears.
"Move, move, move!"
They kept running, the sounds of undead moans filling their ears, before busting open the door leading to the parked jeep and all but collectively jumping inside the car as fast as they physically could.
"All right, hang on!" shouted the soldier in the driver's seat, just before he floored it and they began going at high speed through the city's chaos-filled streets.
They stared in silence at said streets, all of them crammed inside together in the jeep, though the fact their group was small enough to fit in a jeep at all really said how bad things were, and how many people took off in a panic the moment the missile's contents hit the docks.
At first, they were lucky enough to find only seas of corpses in the streets…
But soon enough, they found moving corpses instead.
"HQ to Charlie! Change of plans. Entry into Tatchi is prohibited. Hold your ground around the docks, instead."
"What? But Echo is still inside! We need to get them out!"
"Fall back! That's an order! We can't risk more men in there!"
"Damn. Guess we're on our own." the BSAA soldier cursed.
"Not surprising, the number of undead outside has to be going up at a crazy rate right now. Holding the line is going to be a priority for the time being." grimly declared Sherry.
"Even for ISIS?" asked Helena.
Sherry hesitated, pursing her lips. "Maybe. Depends on a number of factors."
"Well. Let's hope for the best then." she muttered, saying out loud what they were all hoping for.
Otherwise, anyone caught in this mess but still not dead were going to need to wait a while for rescue.
They kept going, all of them occasionally grimacing as more and more undead tried to swarm their jeep, only to end up crushed to death instead.
If nothing else, Leon was glad to see that military jeeps were properly built to handle rushing through hordes of zombies.
Eventually they nonetheless found their path blocked, and the soldier grimaced.
"Right, if you want to go to the tower to await extraction, you'll have to go on foot."
"You aren't coming?"
"There's a number of our squad still out there… Until we get confirmation of their deaths, we'll try and link up, see if they are anywhere near their last known locations."
"That's…" Helena trailed off, but Leon merely nodded with grim respect.
"Good luck, soldiers."
"Thanks, we'll need it."
Their group got out, thankful that at least the gas was now dispersed, though the damage was done at this point.
"The tower is right up ahead. You just need to keep going."
"Copy that."
Leon glanced at the few civilians with them, all of them looking torn between horror at the situation and terror for their lives.
"Right, stay close, and listen to every order we give you, and you'll make it out. Got it?"
They nodded.
Going over the wrecked vehicles blocking the way, they barely walked for 5 minutes before a fuel truck going out of control hit a car and collapsed on the side before exploding, sending their group flying back.
"Shit. On your feet! We need to move, fast! The explosion will draw the zombies in!"
Everyone scrambled to their feet and started running, the sounds of hordes of zombies hot on their heels filling their ears.
Helena grimaced as the pain from a large number of bruises kept slowing her down, before Sherry used some medigel to heal her.
"It's not perfect, but it'll do." she commented, Helena thanking her with a smile before moving faster.
The horde of zombies on their heels grew however, more of them coming from every passage, and soon it became a running battle with Leon, Helena, Muller, and Sherry forced to fight to defend their lives and that of the civilians with them.
Bolts of deadly colors flew in the air at terrifying speed and numbers, but still more and more zombies came, uncaring of the growing sea of corpses their group left behind as they moved.
And then aid came from above, as they all looked up in surprise to see Ada inside a helicopter smirk at them before opening fire, her helicopter's lascannons tearing the horde to shreds.
"Come on, we need to move!" shouted Muller, and then all used the time gained to keep moving forward.
Leon sent one last look towards Ada, and then followed the group into the narrowed passages of the city towards the Quad-Towers they were heading towards, where they could hopefully be exfiltrated from.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly was Ada doing here and now.
He doubted that she had kept an eye on him during all this time, so…
Questions for later.
For now, he ran.
And behind him, Ada smirked in the helicopter, before taking off…
Straight towards the Quad Towers themselves.
-
Some time ago, not long after Carla Radames was shot…
Ada ran out of the office, going outside just in time to see her clone fall from high up and smash down below on a lower level of the ship, a big puddle of blood growing around the blue-clad corpse below her.
For a moment, she stared at the body, and at the visible hole in her chest, a storm of emotions going through her as she witnessed the cooling body of someone looking so perfectly like her.
The closest feeling she could describe it as… Was as if she was staring at her own grave.
She felt a chill down her spine, the knowledge that, if circumstances were different, it could have been her looking like that.
If the leader of ISIS had been less merciful… If she had never met Leon…
Would she have ended up like this? Dead and forgotten by all, unmourned by anyone?
Just yet another corpse rotting away somewhere?
With some difficulty, she finally tore her gaze away, taking a quick deep breath before forging onwards.
She took an elevator leading down, listening to the chatter on the BSAA comms-lines, and about the growing development about potential C-Virus containing missiles ready to be launched.
Still, she discarded that problem for later, instead slowly walking towards the broken blue-clad corpse on the ground.
She stopped at a good distance from it, a slight frown on her face.
"Your hatred for Simmons drove you to tear down the world his Family created, but it was your conscience, Carla, that saw you fail."
She smiled wryly. "After all, isn't that why you brought me into this?"
She came closer. "It's a shame. If you only had sought revenge on Simmons alone, I would have helped you."
She stood over the corpse, looking at it with something like sadness, before gasping and taking a step back when it suddenly jerked to life.
Ada's eyes narrowed as she watched her clone convulse, stumbling to her feet, before suddenly jerking her head towards her and puking a wave of acid towards her.
Ada rolled to her left, getting back on her feet and holding up her gun, but for now simply silently watching what was about to happen.
Carla stumbled, her human body seemingly dissolving… or was it spreading and turning into goo?
Her head snapped towards her, a look of contempt and hatred twisting her features.
"Get over yourself. Help me?" her body jerked unnaturally, becoming a mass of gray-ish goo.
"I'm the real Ada Wong!" she shouted, her voice turning inhuman several times. "I don't need help from anyone!"
She took a stumbling step forward.
"My plans aren't failing, they are thriving!"
Carla shuddered, all signs of humanity disappearing as her entire body turned into a vaguely human shaped mass of gray goo.
"And soon this frail shell of a society will collapse!" Carla spat, waves of gray goo spreading from her body.
Ada stared at her with cold eyes, letting her speak her last words, her fingers clenched tightly around the gun in her hands.
"After that, you know what will be left of this world? Nothing!" she screamed hatefully.
"Hell will rise, and chaos will reign!"
And then Carla's human body fully dissolved, Ada blinking at the sight before taking a step forward-
"And I, Ada Wong, will be queen of the new world!" Ada froze, looking around at the voice seemingly coming from every direction.
The mass of gray go exploded into motion, charging straight at Ada, who immediately ran towards the nearest door into the ship and then locked the door behind her.
She looked out through the window, a cold smirk on her face.
"Hate to break it to you, but you're a cheap knock-off at best." she replied to what she considered Carla's last words.
After all, if hate was truly what lied in her clone's heart, then she truly was nothing like what Ada Wong actually was.
She looked away for a second, before smiling sadly at what lied outside.
"Rest in peace, Carla."
And then she turned and walked away.
Time to get out of this sinking ship.
She was done here.
She ran, seeing waves of gray goo spread through the ship's corridors, consuming everything on their path, even the Neo-Umbrella soldiers. Ada kept moving forward, passing corridors after corridors, always staying seconds in advance of the waves of gray goo seeking to consume everything.
The entire ship began to creak and groan, as more and more of it began to break to pieces under the weight of the growing monster spreading through it, the lights cutting off soon enough, Ada continuing to run forward with a simple light to keep showing the way.
And still, her deluded clone kept speaking.
"I'm Ada Wong… Derek… Simmons…"
The deeper she went, the more gray goo was everywhere, and now even took the shape of massive faces looking like her twin in gray goo form, speaking to her through inhuman lips.
And then one of them growled out madly, charging forth through the entire space of the corridor after her, tentacles of goo shooting out of the walls to try and catch her or slow her down.
Ada didn't even slow down, jumping, avoiding and dodging them all, focused on nothing else but the path forward out of this hell.
Finally, she saw a chance to make her back off, turning around after passing by two chemical containers and firing on them, their content splashing on the goo and harming Carla, causing her to recoil.
Ada wasn't sure how she could even feel pain, but she wasn't going to complain.
She then kept going, locking a door behind her only to see an elevator at the end of the corridor, while chemical containers were all over the place.
She took a step forward-
And then stepped back when suddenly Carla's face grew out in the path, its inhuman gray eyes staring at her.
"I hate you! I'll kill you!"
"So big, and yet so emotional." Ada mused to herself, shooting at her with her gun, or at the chemical containers to cause them to explode. "It's time for you to shut up Carla."
"I'm the real Ada Wong! Me!" Carla screeched in return, gray goo tentacles trying to grab her and kill Ada.
Ada didn't even blink, frankly it was all too easy with the gun she had in hands to disintegrate anything trying to get to her.
And then she saw it.
A large group of chemical containers right behind Carla's face, revealed after one specific shot, created a hole in the woman's gray face.
Ada didn't waste any time and shot it-
*KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
-and Carla screamed before her head seemingly exploded.
"You tried so hard to destroy the world. Now you've even destroyed your body. I hope that is what you wanted, but I doubt it." muttered Ada.
She took the elevator, going up and finding a helicopter ready to go.
Wasting no time, she got in and took off, while in the distance seeing a plane go into the distance- Chris Redfield and his BSAA friend, no doubt, going to prevent Carla's plans from being successful.
"I'll let them clean up Carla's mess…" she took out the Quad-Tower statuette. "While I go take care of Simmons'."
-
July 1st, 2013.
Unnoticed by all, in the middle of the aircraft carrier holding the gray goo body of Carla Radames, a portal opened, a tall man with a glowing right eye going through it with a scythe in hand.
Moving quickly towards a squirming mass of gray goo, the man stared at it in silence for a second, before nodding once.
"Good work, Ada, but you did the equivalent of a knock-out blow, not a true killing one. Then again, killing something made of goo isn't exactly easy… Unless you can cheat like I can."
The scythe fell down.
The goo froze when the scythe cut through it, before falling down, unmoving, across the entire ship.
Then it seemingly began to disintegrate entirely, leaving nothing behind.
"Conceptual attacks really are an OCP in this world, huh? But then again, these sorts of messes are always up to a Hunter's work to clean up."
He turned back, another portal opening before him.
"Goodbye, Carla Radames. May you find in death the peace you were denied in life."
The man went through, the portal closing behind him, leaving no trace that this event ever happened.
-
"Come on, let's go!"
Leon glanced at their group, before refocusing forward.
With Ada's help, they were able to leave the hordes of zombies behind, though now they had to deal with those hidden in the tight passages of the city, or in the buildings themselves.
He couldn't help but grimace whenever they came across a zombified BSAA soldier, though thankfully it had only happened twice so far.
Of course, then they found themselves forced back towards one of the area's main streets, and they all paused, staring in horror at the sheer destruction all around them.
"This is terrible…" muttered Helena at the sight, Muller cursing softly at the sight of the entire street being flooded with the shambling forms of zombies.
"It certainly brings back memories." softly agreed Leon, his mind going back to 1998 and Raccoon City…
He took a deep breath. This wasn't 1998, Aeon and the rest of ISIS along with the local BSAA forces were on the case already, and all he had to worry about was reaching the tower with his group of survivors.
Also, Ada was watching his back, which was a comforting thought to be sure.
He double checked with Hunnigan for directions, then once he was sure he had the right path he nodded to the group.
"C'mon, we need to get through."
"You want to go through that?!" exclaimed one of the survivors.
"The tower's that way. We either cut through, or we get swarmed anyway eventually. Don't worry, we'll keep you all safe." he assured.
The man looked ready to object, but Sherry stepped up to him and quickly began whispering something to him.
Whatever it was, the man didn't seem all too happy about it, but ultimately just nodded and grimly looked onwards.
Sherry nodded at Leon, who gave a thankful smile back before taking a deep breath.
Then he moved, going into the street with everyone following, the moans of the dead, and the crackle of fire raging now being also joined by the sounds of weapons firing as they forcibly cut their way through the ranks of zombies on their path.
Leon was glad to have Sherry here, as the younger woman killed by herself more zombies than the rest of the group combined, moving so fast that she was a blur to his eyes.
So for a time they progressed, the civilians with them looking somewhere between awed at the sheer killing prowess of the group, and Sherry in specific, and terrified of the fact that the horde of zombies still didn't seem to diminish even slightly despite all the deaths they took.
And then their luck turned for the worse, as a military plane somehow embedded into a nearby building finally failed its struggle against gravity, and fell down.
Right where a fuel truck was.
Sherry's eyes bulged at the sight, before turning towards them with the first sign of panic she had shown all night.
"Run!"
They didn't waste time, and a second later the wisdom of that warning appeared when the entire street seemingly went off in flames, each new abandoned vehicle caught in the blast adding its own explosion to the shockwave rushing across the street.
They all ran, more than a few of the civilians screaming in terror as behind them, entire trucks were sent flying by the weight of the shockwave, while all of them were forced to both dodge the cars in the way and the zombies still mindlessly trying to get to them.
To their surprise and joy, a BSAA helicopter appeared, the soldier inside shouting at them to get in.
"Go for it!" shouted Sherry, and they all pushed themselves towards where the helicopter was, even the civilians somehow finding themselves capable of running as fast as the trained agents with them.
I'm not sure if it's you helping, Aeon, but thanks if it's you! Thought Leon, jumping along with the other on a car before jumping again into the helicopter, all the others joining in, at which point the civilians all but collapsed in exhaustion.
Leon allowed himself to breathe in relief-
Only for a pained gasp to catch his attention.
He blinked, then went to talk to the pilot-
Only to find that somehow, in escaping the blast, a piece of shrapnel hit the pilot and killed him near instantly.
His eyes bulged in shock, and he grimaced and quickly pulled the dead man out of the seat before desperately trying to control the wildly spinning helicopter.
"Leon! What-"
"Pilot's dead!" he shouted back, the sides of the helicopter scraping against one building after another, though thankfully without actually smashing through.
"Come on, come on, come on!" he muttered frantically, pulling left and right over and over again as he tried to get control back, the left side of the helicopter even scraping against a passing train of all things at one point-
And then his eyes widened.
"Everyone, hold on!" he shouted.
Muller took one look outside and his eyes bulged.
"Oh shit-"
*CCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!*
Leon groaned, blearily opening his eyes.
Blinking, he tried to focus his swimming vision, before closing them again with a groan of pain.
"Did someone see the truck that hit me?" he grumbled.
"No truck, Leon, sorry. Though I do have good news! We reached the tower!"
He opened one eye, glaring weakly at the grinning Sherry standing by his side.
"What?"
"As I said, you somehow managed to make us crash straight into the Quad-Tower. I'm impressed!"
He grunted, then looked around.
"Don't worry, everyone's fine… Though I had to get creative to ensure that."
She winked at the word "creative", her one visible eye turning a bright, bloody red before going back to blue.
"The advantage of being the only one with Aura, thus the only one not having passed out from the crash." she explained.
Leon slowly relaxed. So basically, they had crashed into the tower, then Sherry used their unconsciousness to heal everyone in need of it since she didn't need to worry about someone watching her.
That… was good to hear.
"So, Quad-Tower?" he asked while getting up.
"Yup."
"Finally." he said with feelings, Sherry's lips twitching in amusement.
"It was certainly a more… memorable arrival than we would have all preferred, but nobody died, so it's all good."
Leon sighed in relief, before nodding.
"Alright, let's go then."
They rejoined the rest of the group, taking the elevator, which was still functioning thankfully, and going up to the very top of the tower.
When they reached the rooftop however, they found a surprise, in the form of a helicopter already ready to go.
Leon checked inside… and then smiled at the small letter from Ada cheekily complaining about having to save his ass from the fire yet again.
Sherry didn't even read the letter, just took one look at it and shook her head with a smile while sending Leon an amused look.
And Helena certainly seemed just as amused by the fact that his own girlfriend kept teasing him about being the princess requiring rescuing all the time.
Still, everyone managed to cram themselves in the helicopter, at which point they took off, free to finally go back to the safe area.
Helena took the radio, and began sending a message requesting an area to land in for their group.
And BSAA Command answered.
"We've got an area where you can go to, though you shouldn't worry. With the situation as it is, the city should be pacified by tomorrow at the latest."
They blinked.
"Wait, what?!"
-
Ada put her hand on the panel, the door opening a moment later as her handprints were recognized without issue.
The problems of being a clone, the original all too easily can go through your entire security with ease.
Yet another mistake of Carla… Or perhaps a part of her hoped for this outcome?
Well, it hardly mattered now.
She entered the secret lab in the tower, glancing around curiously.
"So, this is where Carla did all of her experiments, huh?"
She activated the main computer, putting up one of the recordings on the nearby screens.
"Another failure. Bring me another subject."
"Why do you think we had this lab built here in the first place? Just go outside. There's thousands of subjects to choose from."
"Tell Simmons that I'm busy. We're on the verge of solving this."
"Are you refusing my orders?"
"You're the one who chose me as a test subject, aren't you?" "No, no! No! It was Simmons! He forced me to! Please! Don't do this!" "... Believe it or not, I said the exact same thing."
"... Finally done it. This… will be my greatest work yet!"
The recordings cut off, and Ada walked deeper into the facility, looking at the center to see what looked like yet another pod from which C-virus monsters could be born from…
Only to see it open, a pale hand reaching out to the world beyond.
Ada shook her head at the sight. "We're beyond sympathy at this point."
She raised her gun. "We're beyond Humanity."
She opened fire, first disintegrating the being inside entirely, then beginning to fire at everything else in the lab, thoroughly destroying absolutely everything present.
Then she turned around and walked out.
Whether what was in that pod was a reborn version of Carla, another Ada, or something else entirely, she didn't care.
This madness ended here and now.
She activated the self-destruct system of this place, satisfied that nothing would remain, and that with the situation outside it's hardly like any innocents were going to be caught up in the explosion.
And then she walked away, satisfied.
There was only one Ada Wong in this world.
And there would only ever be one.
-
"So, can someone explain to me how things are going well inside the city? Because I admit I'm confused."
Leon glanced at Muller, who was looking at the BSAA officer with a confused frown.
"Last I saw, you guys were getting your asses kicked. So what changed?"
"It's simple." said Sherry. They all had reached a BSAA base, and were now looking at the leader of the base while they tried to understand the current situation… Which was apparently going quite well for the forces of Humanity. "ISIS counter-attacked in force, didn't they?"
"That's essentially correct." nodded the BSAA officer. "You see, Neo-Umbrella's soldiers were in the middle of the city. As a result, the center of the city was evacuated, with the population going preferably in the outskirts of it, or at worse being evacuated by ships. However, by the time the missile hit, those soldiers had been mostly wiped out. ISIS soldiers were focused on holding a line around the city towards the mainland, or being straight in the thick of it in the middle of the city. As such, when the missile hit, there were no ISIS soldiers in the areas infected, and only a small contingent of BSAA soldiers there to oversee the evacuation by the sea. On one hand, that meant the infected areas fell quickly, and with little resistance. On the other hand, the Neo-Umbrella forces were surrounded, and at that point, all but crushed."
The man waved at a map of the city, showing the locations of the various forces.
Muller spoke first, a sudden undertone of understanding in his voice.
"In other words, when the missile hit, the forces previously meant to box Neo-Umbrella in the middle of the city were stuck in-between the remnants of those forces on one side, and the waves of zombies on the other. Which should have been crushing… If not for a few details which changed everything."
The BSAA officer smiled approvingly. "Indeed. And the details are thus: Neo-Umbrella was in no position to put up a fight anymore. So instead of being caught between two forces of the Neo-Umbrella remnants and the zombies, the attacking ISIS soldiers were able to push through the first quickly and link up with those pincered BSAA soldiers, and thus reinforce the position into a strong wall and turn the pincer situation around: the BSAA soldiers and ISIS soldiers on one side, the sea on the other, with the B.O.W's stuck in the middle of both. And then, comes the second detail: the nature of our foe."
The man waved at the map again.
"Zombies. The basest of B.O.W's. Maybe, if given time, those zombies would have mutated, but here they had no such time. Moreover, they had no guiding intelligence, like the B.O.W's of Manhattan had."
"So instead of fighting against a foe strong enough for each B.O.W. to present a potential threat to a soldier, they faced mobs of weak cannon fodder… And those cannon fodder were utterly uncoordinated, meaning only those zombies nearest to the soldiers' lines would actually attack them." finished Sherry, nodding in understanding.
"Exactly. If every zombie in the entire Docks area had attacked before the link-up had occurred, or even slightly after, they might have pushed the line back. But they didn't. Instead, the majority of those zombies simply wandered around the areas they were in, without any goal in mind. Thus, the line held… And then, ISIS pushed back, sending all the Hunters available to them, and their leader, to penetrate deep into infected territory and draw the B.O.W's into large mobs focused on those Hunters alone, while behind the regular soldiers went through each and every building, carefully clearing every meter of ground of infection and closing the trap around the zombies, with one side being the sea, and the other the advancing line of ISIS soldiers, with the Hunters acting as the tip of the spears all over the docks and drawing the attention of as many zombies as they could."
The man shook his head.
"In short, it was a one-sided slaughter. From what I can understand, you didn't get to see it because you were deep in infected territory, but with an enemy both weak, utterly disorganized, and incapable of tactics, the whole operation looked like a mop-up job more than a battle."
"Well, that's certainly good news. Except for those poor bastards at the docks, of course." pointed out Muller, earning a few grimaces.
The BSAA officer nodded grimly.
"The loss of life is much better than it could have been, but you're not wrong. Thousands of people lost their lives in total. Still, the city will recover. It'll take time and hard work, but if both Raccoon City and Manhattan can do it, this place can do it too."
"Agreed. Though there's one last matter to take care of." Sherry's expression hardened. "Neo-Umbrella's HQ."
-
"Chris!"
Chris smiled at the sight of the group coming his way, glad to see that, despite the impact of the missile, neither Sherry nor the others appear to have been harmed by infected.
To be fair, he expected it, considering how strong Sherry was, but it still was a relief to confirm it.
"Glad to see you're all okay." he replied, Piers nodding in agreement at his side.
"Yeah. Looks like you guys managed to save the world again, huh?" muttered Muller, while staring intensely at him.
Chris didn't even blink when their eyes met.
He knew this meeting had been a long time coming.
"I can see your father in you." said Chris, and for a second another face replaced that of Muller. One full of hate, rage, and contempt.
Then it was gone, gone as the man who bore it was long gone.
And someone much younger stared back at him, with eyes no less full of a storm of emotions.
Sherry glanced at both of them with wide eyes, before opening her mouth and Chris could tell she was about to desperately try and prevent a potential confrontation-
But Muller acted first. He stomped forward, coming to a stop right in front of Chris, a hard look in his eyes.
"Chris Redfield, huh? I've been meaning to talk to you for a while now." he said coldly.
"So have I." he calmly replied.
Muller's lips curled into a sneer, a second before he took out his gun and pointed it right at Chris' head.
The others around them reacted predictively, reaching for their guns as well, except for Sherry who flinched at the sight.
Considering the storm of emotions she must be feeling from Muller, he wasn't surprised.
Chris raised a hand towards Piers, silently asking him not to interfere.
"Chris?" Piers asked, glancing at him with concern but not lowering his gun any.
"Better put a leash on that puppy." coldly said Muller.
"This is between him and me." he said firmly to Piers, though his eyes never left Muller's.
Piers hesitated, then lowered his gun with a deep grimace on his face, visibly torn about what to do.
Chris took a step forward, letting his forehead almost touch the barrel of Muller's gun.
He wondered if he would have been as fearless if he wasn't immortal. Still, he had a feeling he would have done the same.
Some things needed to be done properly.
"Go ahead. Shoot. You have every right to." he said. If there was one thing that Chris knew, it was revenge.
And one look into Muller's eyes told him all he needed to know that the younger man in front of him had a lot of anger bottled up inside of him for a long time now.
"Just promise me you'll survive to help the world deal with the virus. The world depends on it. On you." he said firmly.
"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?!" Muller exploded, taking the gun in both hands and pressing the barrel against his head.
"Stop it!" Sherry pleaded, while Piers raised his gun once more, shouting at him to put the gun down.
In the background, Leon and his partner watched with grim silence, their own guns towards Muller's back.
Chris kept silently staring at Muller, who stared back with a scowl on his face. "Tell me," he growled. "Were you just… following orders, or was it personal for you?"
"Both." Chris replied, hiding nothing. Killing Wesker had been deeply satisfying, and something he had never regretted.
There were things he wasn't proud of in his life, actions he regretted. Killing Wesker had never been one of them.
Even now, when confronted by the man's son over it.
Muller bared his teeth, the storm in the man's eyes only growing, and Sherry finally couldn't stay silent any longer.
"Jake, put the gun down."
"Back away, Muller!" ordered Piers.
Chris and Muller didn't blink, they just kept staring in each other's face, entire conversations seemingly being exchanged between both through merely their eyes and their twitches of expressions.
"Jake, please!"
"Muller!"
"AAAAAAHHHHH!"
*FWOOOSH!*
Everybody froze, staring at Muller…
And the glowing Aura on the right side of Chris' head, where the shot went by, rather than at his face.
Chris glanced at his Aura, then back at Muller, who deliberately shot to the side.
The younger man scowled, looking like he had bitten into a lemon, but the look in his eyes was a lot more calm.
"There are more important things at stake than you or me." he bit out between clenched teeth.
"Jake." muttered Sherry, and the man let out a deep breath.
"I know."
He stepped back, lowering his gun.
For a few seconds, both men kept staring at one another, before Muller sighed.
"I went through a hell of a lot of shit in my life… But I'm not going to kill a man who saved the world a few times over. Especially when that world includes me in it."
He glanced at Sherry. "Let's make a deal. You keep him away from me, and I help you guys out again with making a cure to that damn virus. Sounds good?"
Sherry hesitated, but sighed and nodded. "Yeah."
"Good."
He looked back at Chris. "And you, go save the world again. Neo-Umbrella still has an HQ, right? Go blow it up, and I'll consider things between us settled."
Chris smirked. "Consider it done."
Muller grunted. "Good."
Then he turned and walked away.
"Now if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to go get drunk. These last few months as a lab rat fucking sucked."
Chris looked at him walking away with a feeling of respect. Refusing to go through revenge takes a kind of inner strength that Chris never had to find out if he was strong enough for.
Seeing it in the son of the man he hated more than any other really amplified that feeling.
Turns out, Wesker actually did one thing right in the world, after all.
And now, the world would owe a Wesker the lives of countless thanks to the man's blood. The irony was quite something to behold.
If he didn't know better, he'd say that Aeon was involved in this, but from what he knew he hadn't actually set up any of this.
Maybe it was just fate? In as much as that concept held any power when gods watched over the world.
He shook his head. He could think over all of this later.
For now, he needed to focus on something more important:
Destroying Neo-Umbrella once and for all.
-
"Right, time for one last dance, ladies and gentlemen, before we can all go home and call it a day. You're all ready?"
I glanced around. I had brought all of my Hunters except for HUNK, who I simply sent to take care of a number of problems that would require his… personal brand of problem-solving skills to resolve.
Nothing quite like sending one of the deadliest solo fighters in the world to remove issues before they could cause trouble.
Still, that left even this rather big elevator taking us to the depths of Neo-Umbrella's underwater base rather filled up.
There was me, of course, but also Chris, Jill, Claire, Sherry, the twin Summers, Rebecca…
No Piers, since I didn't intend for him to die here, and no Leon, Ada, or Helena either. Their part in this ended when Simmons died.
Of course, that still left a number of incredibly deadly Hunters to call upon.
Considering the size of the B.O.W. we were about to deal with though, it certainly felt appropriate to call on so many Hunters.
Also, it was the last true threat to this world, so might as well go all-out.
True, I was mostly going to be here to observe if all went well, but hey, I had faith in my Hunters.
Individually, each of them might have a chance to win against everything I fought in Bloodborne with just one life.
True, against the likes of Gerhman it might not be a big chance, but the fact they had actual odds of victory at all in such a match up was damn impressive.
They were god-slayer level, they just lacked the gods to kill to fully prove it…
Well, for now at least.
"I don't think we need to be worried, consider the sheer firepower currently present." remarked Earth!Summer.
"Well, you never know. It's enough to spook Aeon, after all!" teased the other Summer, grinning at me with twinkling silver eyes.
"Indeed. He needs us to reassure him. Maybe he just really doesn't like water?" said Jill, grinning at me as well.
I rolled my eyes at them. "If you're being sassy, then you've got time to check your equipment instead."
"We've got everything in our inventory, we'll be fine." calmly said Rebecca, the green-eyed woman sounding almost bored despite the fight ahead.
Heh, she really grew up a lot from what she used to be…
"I've got the celebratory drinks all stocked up!" cheerfully declared Claire, who seemed just as assured of our victory as everyone else.
"Of course you do." said Sherry, shaking her head fondly at the other woman.
"Hey, I wouldn't mind going for a proper orgy after our victory too, if Aeon's up for it!" Claire replied, sending a lustful wink and grin my way.
"Claire, please focus on the mission." groaned Chris, sounding half-exasperated, half-resigned over his sister's priorities.
Claire shrugged. "Hey, it's fine. It's been a long time since we really needed to worry about B.O.W's, Chris. At least when we don't need to hold back and protect others… And wouldn't you know it, we're all Hunters here. This mission will be a walk in the park. More importantly…"
She grinned at the two Summer "Hey, you two want to join in on the orgy after we're done?"
Both women froze, before blushing. "Claire!" admonished Chris, though said red-haired woman merely shrugged at him. "Come on, we all know we're thinking the same."
The elevator finally came to a stop, much to the relief of both blushing women.
"Come on, let's go!" quickly said the Summer from Remnant, her twin just behind her.
Naturally, Claire didn't let them go without one last remark. "See, they're all eager to get to the fun part already!" she cheerfully exclaimed.
Chris face-palmed.
I shook my head at their antics, even as the rest of us followed after the two red-haired women already smashing through everything standing in our way with noticeably more aggression than what was truly required.
We quickly found a computer with a map of the facility, though downloading it alerted the base of intruders.
I could have avoided that, but really, attracting the soldiers in the base straight to us just meant less work hunting them all down later.
So we went deeper into the facility, killing everything standing in our way.
Here, Jill decapitated two Neo-Umbrella soldiers in one strike.
There, Rebecca waved her hands, and half a dozen melted in seconds into a puddle of organic materials.
At one point, the two Summers went like murder blenders through a dozen foes, cutting limbs and heads off in a blink of an eye.
The more enemies there were in a room, the more died in mere seconds.
I'd be proud, but frankly I didn't even see those things as enemies.
They were cannon fodder, nothing more.
A million or ten, it was all the same to me.
Hell, I could have just walked alone through the entire place with my hands in my pockets, and everything hostile would have still died.
The only foe worth a damn was the B.O.W. currently growing in the center of this place.
We progressed, my Hunters slaughtering everything that came charging at us with brutal efficiency. Magic was used freely, as we didn't have to worry about anyone watching us here.
Well, not anyone that would stay alive for long enough to matter, anyway.
There was a recording from Carla which activated as a result of our intrusion in her base, but frankly I tuned it out.
It was hardly worth listening to anyway, just the usual rant about burning the world down, mad science, a giant monster becoming the King of the World, and others such nonsense.
You heard it once, you heard it all, really.
Finally, we arrived at the center of the underwater base.
It was a massive shaft plunging deep into the earth, and at its center, a gigantic cocoon was held up, the monstrous greatest creation of Carla inside ready to doom the world if it ever reached the surface.
Too bad for it, we weren't going to allow that.
"That thing is massive…" muttered Huntress Summer, her twin nodding grimly at her side as we all stood on a platform overlooking the entire area.
"So… If that thing hatches…" Sherry trailed off, but I shrugged. "Yeah, the Earth would be in trouble. That's why I wanted us all here to kill it first."
Naturally, that's when the cocoon began cracking open.
I stared, then sighed.
"Or, he could just come out and say hello directly instead, because why the fuck not."
"So, what's the plan?" asked Chris.
I shrugged.
"As I've said before, you all go kill him. If you can't, I'll handle it, but I'm pretty damn sure that you should be able to take care of it."
Chris opened his mouth to say something more, but then the cocoon opened, and the thing inside broke out.
And promptly tried to squash us with one of its massive tentacles.
We all teleported elsewhere in the area, while I looked at it with a frown.
"How rude. We didn't get any pre-battle banter done yet."
Around me, the other Hunters prepared for one hell of a fight.
The giant monster, as a result of its movement, fell down into the giant shaft, but used its tentacles to hold on the walls quickly.
I looked down, then glanced at the others.
"So, what is your plan?"
"... I don't think we should stay in this place. The shaft favors it, not us." commented Sherry.
I nodded. "Most of you aren't as good with Space magic as I am, so yeah, that'd be wise. That thing will very quickly destroy every platform here, after all."
"There's an elevator over there!" remarked Claire, pointing at a higher level.
"Then let's go there." ordered Chris, and we all teleported again, right as the giant monster was about to reach the platform we were on.
We took the elevator, the giant monster doing its best to follow us.
I smiled at some of the tension I could feel from some of my Hunters. That thing, HAOS from what(Insight) told me, was as big as Amygdala, so I could understand some unease.
But really, the bigger they were, the harder the fall.
And anyway…
Enemies like those are why I taught them my (Dark Cloaked Dimensional Slash) in the first place.
-
Summer Rose bit her lip, glancing into the blue eyes of her twin before walking out of the elevator.
The wide area they were in now was covered in ankle-deep water, and had a big hole in the middle leading down into the deeper levels.
She had no idea what this room was for, but right now, it would serve as a battleground.
*RRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!*
Especially with the giant monster having just gone through the hole to get at them.
Tightening her grip on her weapon, which had received quite a few upgrades over the last decade, she shared a nod with her twin, and then every Hunters, except Aeon who was here only as an observer if everything went well, charged at their enemy at the same time.
Some opted to outright teleport, others turned into smoke and flew straight at the monster.
Sherry outright began glitching reality, her body defying normal physics in ways that would have given her a massive headache once…
But no longer.
She tried not to think too hard on the fact they all had Eyes lining their brains these days, even if those Eyes tended to phase in and out of reality.
Just one of the things she had come to just accept as normal, same with the fact that drinking Old Blood was something she did a few times a day.
Remnant's knowledge of Vampires were a bit different from Earth, as a result of the Grimm impacting society so much, but some things carried over.
And she might as well be one these days, considering that, with but a thought, she called on her magic to let her blood go out of her right arm and coat her weapon's blade, the blood then crackling with sparks as she added lightning to it.
By her side, her twin did the same, except with fire instead.
In front of her, she saw the monster try to swat and crush some of her friends with its tentacles, but failing utterly at catching them. The thing was surprisingly fast for its size, but any Hunter worth the name knew how to dodge well.
Sherry pelted the monster with burning Blood Spears, Rebecca hit it with something that made one of its tentacles begin to rot off, Chris and Jill began carving its flesh with their swords, Claire threw fireballs so hot they were a blinding white, and finally the two Summers reached their prey.
Jumping on its torso, they plunged their weapons in its chest, earning a scream of agony from it, before it began thrashing around violently.
They jumped, barely avoiding a massive tentacle seeking to crush them, before they started Quickening all around him, the occasional flash of green light showing the use of the Gauss gun they had added to their weapon.
Sure, it wasn't Dust any longer, but considering the sheer power of Gauss weaponry, Summer considered it a good trade-off.
Also, she did have Dust in her, it just served to enhance her spell casting now.
Once again, they went on the offensive, especially as they saw the damn B.O.W. heal unnaturally quickly from its wounds.
"We need to kill it quickly, or it won't stop healing!" cursed Chris.
"I've got this!" shouted Rebecca, taking out some kind of glass container and throwing it to shatter on the monster's body.
Some kind of mist flowed out, and suddenly its healing slowed down greatly.
"Wait, that was-" exclaimed Chris, though Rebecca interrupted him.
"Something from Yharnam, yeah! Say what you will about the people living there, they knew their stuff when it came to fighting monsters!"
"Alright, then everyone, back to it!"
They charged back, jumping on top of a tentacle bigger than they were to slam down on its torso again, before letting gravity drag them down, opening two deep ravines in its flesh oozing unnatural-looking blood.
*RRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!*
The monster roared, the sound echoing in their ears from how loud it was, before both Chris and Jill swung their blades towards him, right where the wounds were.
Two great waves of Lightning and Fire slammed into his bleeding wounds, earning yet another roar of agony from it.
Claire was about to unleash a storm of fire to try and cook its flesh, only for everyone's eyes to widen when the monster used its tentacles to gather water and sent massive waves at them.
Both Summers, too close to avoid it, gritted their teeth and slammed their swords down with a simultaneous shout, great shockwaves erupting from them and blasting the water closest to them back.
Sherry wasted no time, turning the water in the air into ice spears and banishing them at high speed towards the monsters, each of them sinking deep inside its unnatural flesh.
The monster shuddered…
And then one of its tentacles snapped towards Summer and her twin, the flesh twisting oddly to allow it to go farther than should be possible.
"Guh!" "Gah!"
Both of them flew backwards, their Aura and energy shields flashing to life as they were sent flying back.
Then the monster roared in rage and jumped into the air, almost crushing Claire if she hadn't Quickened out of the way.
The shockwave creating a wave of water after the monster hit the ground was obviously not something she had considered, as she was swept away in the water cursing in the comms channel.
Both Summers got back on their feet with determined scowls on their faces, with her own silver eyes narrowing at the monster.
"Everyone! Keep it pinned for just a moment, and my twin and I will kill the damn thing!"
""On it!"" shouted her friends, and a flurry of spells flew towards the monster, while Jill and Chris charged it, swords raised high, and began to try and keep its attention on them.
Both twins glanced at each other, took position, focused, and remembered their training.
One thing that Aeon taught them both was the importance of martial skill, and how someone skilled enough with weapons could achieve miracles only the greatest of magic could replicate.
One such thing was his famous (Dark Cloaked Dimensional Slash). An attack so powerful that it could kill even gods in a single strike…
It just wasn't one that you could easily use.
The sheer amount of skill required… the sheer inhuman focus and willpower needed to perform it… The utter need for perfection…
A single mistake, and Aeon had made it clear that their bodies would pop like balloons because of the sheer pressure using that technique put on their bodies.
Even a god trying it and making a mistake would die instantly, unless they were so powerful that they could survive their bodies trying to violently tear itself apart.
Needless to say… Training in that technique made them die often. Very often.
But the result, when used properly…
The only one who successfully combined it with (Multistrike) yet was Aeon himself, as the sheer toll and focus required for even the regular technique was insane.
The fact that Aeon could use the combined technique with hardly any preparation still boggled Summer's mind to this day.
Not even Sherry has been able to perform it, though Aeon was confident she would succeed…
One day.
The only ones who did it were apparently Lucy and Oedon, and that was only in their Divine forms.
All that to say, even the regular technique required time for them to use.
And obviously, no enemy would stay still and give them that time.
Which is why numbers had a quality all of its own.
Rebecca rotted off the lower half of the monster.
Jill and Chris cut at its body, and attracted its attention.
Claire threw spells at it by the dozens, burning its outer body over and over again.
And then, Sherry joined in.
"Back away!" she screamed while charging the monster.
None of the others hesitated for a single second, immediately stopping what they were doing and falling back.
Then Sherry, eyes a bright, glowing red, reached the monster.
And then
Reality broke
Utterly beyond mortal comprehension.
Eternity sang with pride upon a throne where Stars danced in harmony with Black Holes.
The Lifeforce of All Things gazed upon them with inhuman love.
The Keeper of Knowledge nodded approvingly.
Reality returned, Space, Time, and Dimensions becoming whole once more.
Both Summers wasted not an instant more.
They swung their weapons.
And what was left of the monster, left staring blankly ahead as what passed for its mind tried to heal itself from gazing upon That Which Lies Beyond The Outer Gates, died with not even a whimper.
And by the entrance of the wide-open room, a tall man nodded once, a proud smile on his lips as his eyes twinkled like stars in the Cosmos.
-
Some time later, Waiyip, China.
"Sir."
"Piers. We're no longer on duty, relax, will you?" asked Chris, and Piers did as requested, a small smile on his lips.
"I heard your mission was successful?"
"Yeah. We had to deal with a pretty damn big B.O.W., but nothing we couldn't handle." replied Chris, feeling… satisfied as he gazed at the BSAA base around them, hundreds of soldiers working and patrolling all over the place.
The city was going to need a bit more time to be fully declared safe, but overall the work left was more for the cleaner crew than the ground pounders like them.
"And with it dead, Neo-Umbrella's goals will never come to pass. Once again, the world is safe." finished Chris with a smile.
"Yeah. Though I'm sure we'll have more crazies to take care of eventually." said Piers with a wry smirk.
Chris hummed, then shrugged. "Probably. Though I'm thinking of taking it easy for a while. Maybe pass a decade or two just training soldiers for a change."
Piers blinked. "Really?"
Chris waved at their surroundings. "I've been fighting this war for a decade and a half, Piers. Just because I'm not getting older physically doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate taking it easy for a while."
He smiled. "And as it stands, the world has a great many protectors, ready and able to fight the good fight."
He looked at Piers in the eyes. "You're a great soldier, Piers, and a good man. With you leading Alpha Team for the BSAA, I'm sure that ISIS will be less needed in the future. Aeon created ISIS because the world needed protectors, but nowadays…"
He looked at the bustling base and smiled.
"Nowadays, it isn't a war we're fighting alone. The world is ready to take care of itself, with just a little help from Old Timers like me from time to time. So… Yeah. I think I'm going to enjoy a few years of peace where I can focus on just training the next generation of soldiers. Might as well put all the experience I've got to good use."
Piers stared at him, before saluting with a smile. "Then I wish you a peaceful and enjoyable time in your semi-retirement, sir. God knows you earned it. You don't have to worry, I'll make sure that the world remains safe."
Chris smirked, because indeed the local gods did know he earned some time off from saving the world.
He saluted back, before both men shook hands, mutual looks of respect on their faces.
"It was an honor to serve with you. If you ever want to return to the field, know that Alpha Team has an open spot for you." declared Piers firmly.
"The honor was mine. Keep up the good work, and thank you for the offer. I might take you up on it one day, but not for a while."
Both men nodded, then Chris turned and walked away, feeling… at peace.
It was done. After over a decade of fighting, the world was, if not perfect, at least much more safe than it had been in a long, long time… if ever.
The Earth was protected by skilled, determined people of honor and integrity, and the future looked bright for all.
New generations were rising up to take the fight begun by those who came before, and the sacrifices of those who fell fighting evil was upheld by the guarantee of a better tomorrow.
Chris Redfield, after years fighting the worst horrors in the world, finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel… or the sun rise after a long night full of nightmares, as Aeon would put it.
He looked towards the sky, where the morning sun shone bright, as if to welcome a new, kinder world for all.
He smiled.
One day, Aeon would call him to pick up his sword once more…
But that day was not today.
And for now, he would enjoy his hard-won peace to its utmost.
Starting with buying a ring for a certain African woman he had been dating for some years now.
Yes… The future looked beautiful indeed.
-
'Jake Muller's blood sample and the 6 months worth of data collected during his stay in the Neo-Umbrella facility was handed over to the UN leading researchers, along with those of Insight Corps. working in tandem. With the data now in the right hands, things seemed to be finally settling down. Following Jake's rescue, BSAA officials classified his relationship to Albert Wesker as top secret, recognizing the threat it could pose to global security.'
Sherry saved her report, then shut down the computer, before gratefully accepting a steaming cup of tea from a stewardess and taking a sip.
Hmm, needs a drop of Blood…
Ah, well. She'd get a proper cup from her mom later.
She relaxed into her seat, glancing at the sky out of the window of the plane she was in, before her phone began beeping.
Putting away her cup of tea, she took her phone out and read the message, before smiling.
'I lowered my asking price… to 50 dollars.' -Jake
"I guess even a mercenary can have a heart of gold, huh Jake?" she muttered, before putting her phone back in her pocket and looking out at the blue sky outside.
Down below, an armed man clothed in black smiled up at the plane, before putting on shades and speeding away on his bike, ready to take on the world and all its horrors.
The contract he got from ISIS would make him a very, very rich man after just a few years of work.
All in all… maybe working for the good guys for a while would be fun after all.
-
Helena Harper smiled at her sister, waving at her before turning back towards Leon and Hunnigan, who had been calmly waiting for them to catch up.
She was relieved to know that her sister was doing well, and was in fact arguably in better health than ever after a thorough check-up from Insight Corps' best.
Deborah had nothing but glowing praise for both the medical staff and equipment, and by all indications would be able to return home sooner rather than later.
It warmed Helena's heart to see her sister so cheerful despite what she had gone through, what had almost happened, but apparently the medical staff was more than capable of healing both body and mind with extreme skill.
In hindsight that was hardly surprising, considering those people were the same that handled some of the people from ISIS.
Still, her smile turned smaller at the sight of the two awaiting her, but her eyes hardened with determination.
It was time for her to take responsibility. She had almost brought the death of the President, that wasn't something that was going to be overlooked.
The fact it was to try and save her sister didn't matter. She had been trusted, and proven unworthy of that trust.
Still, she'd face her fate without hesitation. Her sister was alive and well, and the man who had caused both of them so much grief was dead.
All things considered, the fact that things ended so well was something of a miracle in its own right.
Not that she was going to complain about that.
She reached both of her friends, then glanced behind them at the car guarded by men in black suits, before looking back at them both with a smile. "Thank you." she said, grateful for the fact that she got to check on her sister before being thrown in prison, or whatever awaited her.
"I'm ready." she declared firmly.
Both of her friends glanced at each other, then Leon came closer, took her right wrist-
And then put her gun as an agent in her hand.
She looked down in confusion.
"What? But… I assisted in the attack!" she exclaimed, staring at Leon in incomprehension.
Leon smiled, then glanced back at Hunnigan, who shook her head.
"The investigating commission has reviewed the evidence, and felt it unjust to hold you liable for Simmons' crime. They will also not be disclosing their findings to the public." she calmly explained, before smiling at her. "So yes, you're free and you get to keep your job."
"But…" she spoke up, before being interrupted, gently but firmly, by Leon.
"The word of the President also helped your case, as he feels like it is his fault for not seeing the truth of who Simmons was and allowing him so much influence into his own government that the attack was possible in the first place. In short, he sees it not as your failing, but his."
Helena stared in shock at Leon, who smiled kindly back at her.
"Alright, shall we go join the team?" asked Hunnigan with a grin, and after a moment Helena nodded, still shocked but determined to not fail a second time, and to make sure that this kindness was rewarded.
Helena got moving, throwing one last glance backwards towards her sister, who waved cheerfully at her from a bench in a park close to Insight HQ, before looking forward instead.
Forward into the rest of her life, one free of Simmons' influence.
"By the way, Aeon would like to see you. He's got some things he'd like to discuss with you next time you meet."
She glanced at Leon, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Ho?"
Leon smirked.
"Something about continuing the talk that you and Sherry had."
Helena stayed silent for a moment, before nodding.
"I look forward to it."
Leon chuckled in amusement, a glint in his blue eyes.
"Oh, trust me, that's going to be a very fascinating conversation."
Helena blinked.
Somehow, she had the feeling that he had just spoken a massive understatement…
-
Leon smirked, barely holding himself back from outright chuckling as he and a stunned-looking Ada walked down the corridors towards the entrance of the ISIS HQ.
Aeon had invited both Ada and Helena to a meeting where he finally explained his true nature to both, along with everything else involving ISIS and Insight Corps, and needless to say Leon had quite enjoyed the look on Ada's face as his friend took a warhammer to her worldview and repeatedly shattered everything she thought she knew about reality.
Not that Helena had been any different, but it was a lot more satisfying for Leon to see the usually perfectly composed Ada Wong have a minor freak-out session over the fact that she had been an enemy of literal gods for years before she flipped sides.
"You knew." finally declared Ada as they kept walking, her voice making it clear it wasn't a question.
"Yup. Pretty much ever since after Raccoon City. Aeon hides many things, but he's pretty open with people he considers his allies and friends." he replied.
She stayed silent for a moment, before groaning.
"No wonder he played us all for fools with ease all this time. Umbrella, Wesker, the Organization… We were all doomed from the start, we just didn't know it."
Leon nodded. That was true, after all.
"His greatest issue was his own desire to hide his true nature, along with gathering and training people to defend the world in his stead. It slowed him down massively, but at the same time, allowed for the world to grow much stronger thanks to his work. Still, you're right, it was a matter of when, not if he would stand victorious in the end."
Ada nodded slowly. "And what does he want from you? From us both? He told me that he was fine with us remaining essentially independent, but is that true?"
"It is. Aeon rarely bothers lying for one, he has no need to. Also, I know him well enough that, while he is proud of all his Hunters, he also has a soft spot for regular humans doing good without him actually empowering them. There's a reason he was actually one of the greatest supporters of the BSAA since its creation."
Ada frowned, glancing at him curiously.
"So wait, he wants people to not rely on him? Really?" she asked, sounding doubtful.
Leon pursed his lips, trying to think of a way to explain.
"Aeon, he… On one hand, I think he really likes to help people, and protect them. At the same time, he respects people capable of doing great things on their own. He's in the strange position where he wants to help, but at the same time is happier when he can just sit back and let others win their own battles by themselves. While he will always gladly lend a hand, from what I can tell, he will always respect people capable of saving themselves the most."
He shrugged. "I think it's because he's both a hero and a god. He wants to help like a hero would, but at the same time the part of him that is divine wants to see Humanity grow and become great by its own effort."
"He's kinda failed at the second, then." she pointed out, glancing at the very building they were in.
Leon grimaced, then sighed. "Blame all the evil organizations in the world. Fighting them all required him to all but take over the world to protect it."
She snorted. "The irony of humanity being conquered by someone who doesn't even want it…"
"I would hardly call it a conquest-"
"Might as well be."
"-but yes, I get your point. Still, I'd trust him over anyone else at any time for such responsibility."
"Well, I suppose that I can't argue that Insight Corp. and ISIS have done impressive work." she acknowledged.
Then she shook her head.
"Still, gods… And I thought I had seen everything already."
Leon grinned. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from the big bad god if need be." he teased her.
Ada snorted. "Aren't I the one who always saves you? I suppose I better start saying my prayers then, that'll ought to work better." she dryly replied.
"Pfft. You're just jealous I was on the winning side from the start." he shot back, a teasing smirk across his lips.
"It was sheer dumb luck!"
"Ah, I can't hear you over the smugness I feel! So that's how it feels to be the one holding all the cards, huh? I can see why you always were so smug when we met in the past and you knew more than me! It took a decade and a half, but finally, I paid you back from tricking me in Raccoon City!"
"Oh, for-"
They bickered all the way back to their house.
To some, the knowledge of gods changed everything in their lives.
And to others, it changed absolutely nothing.
For Leon S. Kennedy and Ada Wong, the second was true.
They had their hands full enough with one another to really worry about anything else, after all.
… Often literally so.
-
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we end the events of Resident Evil 6!
An extra long chapter, as I fit the epilogue for RE6 in it, with next chapter onwards being dedicated to the Epilogue chapters of the Resident Evil jump as a whole.
A few changes to canon, with the attack on Waiyip being much less successful thanks to Aeon and ISIS, Sherry and Jake not being captured, Piers not dying, and more.
The outbreak at Waiyip was frankly kind of glossed over in RE6, but at least here there are reasons for it (Aeon and co.), so I didn't really focus much on it.
Also, Aeon's general thoughts about the fight against the last boss can be summed up with "Kinda trash, not enough lasers."
His standards may be slightly skewed, though.
Either way, the end of RE6 has Chris actually going into semi-retirement, since it's mentioned that by that point Chris wanted to retire, but Piers dying took that away from him. Here, with people living much longer, him being a Hunter and more, Chris doesn't want to fully retire, but would certainly enjoy some years of peace, and Aeon is just fine with that.
The only other changes to canon are Deborah being alive, and Ada being with Leon. The second of which has Aeon pretty amused at the fact that it didn't take long before Ada got over the existence of gods and just went back to flirting with Leon instead.
In other words, Ada gives no shit about that whole Eldritch nonsense, she's too busy having her whirlwind romance, Mr. and Ms. Smith style, to care about any of that.
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, we finally get to the epilogues of Resident Evil, the setting/jump!