Chapter 6

Izuku's and Rebecca's search for information in the medical room revealed only a little more information than the notes on the antivenom. From what the two were able to find, the snake B.O.W., given the epithet 'Maw' by the scientists, was one of the earliest experiments of the T-Virus to see its effects on various different genus. It was perturbing for the two to see all of the results; from what was observed, it seemed that the T-Virus amplified various traits in insects, reptiles, and amphibians, making the infected animals larger, smarter and massively more aggressive. The only silver lining in this honestly horrifying news was in a note written by the scientists in one of their journals. In the journal, it was stated that cross species infection was almost impossible due to the mutations the T-Virus went through when introduced to a new host. This meant that humans could only be infected when exposed to a mammalian host to the T-Virus.

Mood bolstered by this, Izuku and Rebecca wasted no time in packing the various journals and notes into a few pouches in Izuku's uniform before moving out to return to the Servants Quarters to give their findings and good news to Chris… at least that was the plan.

Almost from the moment the two left the med-room, Rebecca and Izuku were set upon by a veritable flood of various infected. The swarm consisted not only of the now familiar human and dog carriers that the impromptu duo were able to take down with ease, new nightmare fuel made itself known.

Just as Izuku had swiped a sharpened tendril of [Black Whip] to take down three more zombies, [Danger Sense] flared painfully blindsiding the greenette. Turning towards the source of the sensation, Izuku's eyes bulged in surprise that quickly changed to anger at what was quickly making its way towards them.

There running along the ceiling as if it was the ground was something that almost resembled the mad experimental soldiers of Doctor Garaki, also known as Nomu. Only barely resembling the human it had probably been, the creature was monstrous scuttling on all fours reminiscent of a lizard or crocodile, massive taloned claws on the front limbs and curved talons on the rear limbs allowing it to stick to the ceiling as if it were the floor. It appeared to be skinless with bright red muscle fibers exposed to the open air, this was not the worst part though. In place of a humanoid head the top half of the thing's head, including the nose and eyes, were instead replaced by a grotesquely oversized and exposed brain that seemed to pulse and was only held in place by small lines of tissue. The final thing that Izuku was able to observe was the creature's mouth, filled with jagged teeth and a long, spiked, prehensile tongue that it whipped around as it rushed forward… but this was not what had Izuku's heartrate spiking… No it was the fact that the thing was rushing and preparing to pounce on Rebecca who hadn't noticed the approaching danger yet, too busy with the last of the most recent group of infected attempting to devour them.

"REBECCA GET DOWN!!!" Said brunette, who had just finished off the last infected coming towards her, only had a moment to look over at Izuku's blurred form as he sped towards her. The next moment Rebecca was blushing and sputtering in confusion while wrapped in Izuku's arms at the opposite end of the hall from where their intended path was. Just as the medic was about to question why Izuku had grabbed her, she was stopped when something warm dripped onto her cheek. Reaching up with a now trembling hand, Rebecca wiped the substance and brought it up to her view, only to see that her hand was covered in blood, eyes now wide Rebecca looked to where the blood came from only to gasp in shock.

Izuku's shoulder was torn open by what appeared to be either the world's dullest butchers knife… or something had just clawed him.

"Izuku… What happened… A-are you okay? Where's the thing that did that?" Any further questions were stopped when Izuku once again activated the lightning cloak and sped to the side.

Unlike the last time, when she had been too distracted to notice, Rebecca didn't miss it this time. Where the two had previously been, something had crashed into the ground at high speed, cracking the marble tile floors from the force. When the features of the creature registered for Rebecca, she had to hold back both a scream and a gag in disgust at the monstrous form in front of her. Even knowing what she was about to ask was stupid, Rebecca couldn't help herself from speaking up in a shaky voice.

"I-Izuku… what the fuck is that thing-" at the sound of the young woman's voice, the creature's eyeless visage snapped towards them, then it released a hiss comparable to a feral cat on steroids, its tongue slithering and whipping to and froe.

Eyes narrowed in disgust and anger at the thing in front of him that dragged up memories of his fights with similar monstrosities, with gritted teeth that unknown to the young man began to sharpen at the canines, the now familiar black and emerald, green lightning flashed around the former hero's body. Releasing and moving Rebecca to the side, the young woman about to protest until she noticed the wound on the enraged young man's shoulder closing at a visible rate without even a scar, Izuku waisted no more time and burst forward smashing the creature down the hallway.

The creature had no chance of responding to the overwhelming speed and force, being unceremoniously blasted down the hallway, all of the lights in the hall being shattered by the force, before finally smashing into and through the wall into another room. Breathing heavily from his anger, Izuku attempted to reign in his roiling emotions, the tendrils of living darkness on his body moving and jolting from the heightened emotions. Izuku suddenly found himself fighting against the pull of [Blackwhip] as it seemed to try and pull from his conscious control, smashing into the adjacent walls both smashing and slicing them. It was only when a small hand placed itself on his shoulder gently did Izuku finally break the hold his emotions and memories held on him and his quirk.

Taking one more breath to steady himself, Izuku pulled the energy and tendrils of his quirks back within himself then turned to face the worried face of Rebecca. Izuku had to fight back a wince at the worry and small amount of fear he could see in Rebecca's expressive brown eyes. The familiar look in those eyes reminded Izuku of another young brunette he had known in his previous world, who had given him a similar look when he had been at his lowest after he had left U.A. to fight against All for One and Shigaraki. Then like a tidal wave, memories flowed through him, all of those he had lost; his friends, his mother, Eri, how he never wanted to see this look on their faces…

'I really am becoming a monster, aren't I?…' Eyes softening with small tears at the edges of his eyes, Izuku reached forward and cupped Rebecca's face. Wiping away any of the remaining remnants of his blood that had landed on her face, Izuku spoke up with a remorseful tone filling his voice.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Rebecca… It's just that abomination-" Taking another deep breath to calm himself, Izuku continued. "It reminded me of the artificial soldiers that All for One had made to stand as his foot soldiers… the soldiers were called Nomu, the majority of these creatures were made from cadavers taken from local morgues or those who had truly disappointed their master. That bastard would take these bodies and people and give them to his personal mad scientist, a piece of trash known as Garaki, who would then modify these people and turn them into monsters that could hold multiple Quirks given by AFO. These things came in all shapes and sizes… but they shared one common trait among them."

Rebecca, still worried about her new friend but enjoying the feeling of his gloved hand on her cheek, had a growing feeling on what this 'common trait' was, and it was confirmed with Izuku's next statement.

"All of the Nomu, with only one exception, had a visibly exposed brain and for the most part were completely mindless. The moment that I saw that thing rushing along the ceiling towards you… I just snapped, worried that somehow these bastards had developed one of, if not, the most disgusting creatures from my world." Izuku's gaze turned remorseful and his bright eyes dulled, "Ever since I woke up in that pod… I feel like I have been slowly losing myself to my sadness, grief, and anger… I don't even know what may happen to me in the future if I can't trust myself to remain in control…"

Izuku then looked away in a combination of worry and shame. "I-if you don't feel safe with me anymore, I would understand and I can escort you back to Chris and Richard, then I can make my own-"

Izuku didn't even have time to finish his self-depreciating thought before he was suddenly stopped by a slap to the side of his face, curtesy of a now visibly angry and crying Rebecca. Eyes wide and cheek stinging from the strike Izuku could only stare as Rebecca spoke, steel filling her tone, once again reminding Izuku of Ochako when she was serious or angry.

"How could you think so little of me Izuku? Ever since I found myself in that lab and accidently freed you I can say for certain that if I hadn't met you… I would have been on the brink of a mental breakdown!" Tears now filled the young woman's eyes sending a shock of pain through Izuku's heart.

"I-if you leave… then I don't know what I will do, what we will do… so please j-just stay with me- with us, o-okay?"

Placing his palm to the quickly fading red mark on his cheek, Izuku could only stare in shock as the words Rebecca spoke sunk in. unable to talk back or give a rebuttal to the brunette, Izuku stared for another moment before taking a deep breath then returning Rebecca's pleading stare with his own, once again lit with his determination.

"Okay… and Rebecca… I'm sorry that you had to see me like that, I promise as long as you need me I will not leave, this I promise." Then without even thinking or giving Rebecca a moment to react, Izuku moved forward and embraced the young medic getting a barely audible but undeniably adorable squeak of surprise from the medic.

Unseen by Izuku, Rebecca was now a blushing mess as she was held by the larger greenette, the young woman couldn't help the rush of thoughts that ran through her mind as Izuku's words and action registered.

'Wh-what the hell is going on!? Why is he hugging me now… and god damn it why is his hug so comforting… N-No! Rebecca Chambers you are not getting a damn crush on the admittedly hot, trans dimensional super hero! Nope, nope, nope!'

Completely unaware of the crisis that he had just caused for the young medic, Izuku stepped back, ending the embrace and gave the still blushing Rebecca a soft smile. The moment that Rebecca bore witness to this kind and pure smile directed at her was the moment it happened… The youngest member of Raccoon Cities S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team's heart skipped a beat.

'Oh, shit… that smile just isn't fair'

Still completely oblivious, Izuku began to walk back towards the path to the servants quarters.

"Alright, let's get back to the others Rebecca."

It only took a moment for Rebecca to recompose herself before she shook off her fluster and gave a quick "Right!" moving forward to catch up with the superpowered greenette.

Elsewhere, unknown location at the same time…

Within an unknown location under the Spencer Estate, a figure watched as the young duo left the sightline of the hidden security camara before the view changed showing other areas and those few who were also fighting against the masses of infected and various experiments that now ran rampant through the mansion and the grounds surrounding it.

Slumping forward and leaning onto the desk that held the security monitors, hands clasped in an arch hiding his frown, the figure was finally revealed in the low light of the screens. Sighing and reaching up to remove the mirrored glasses that he habitually wore then rubbing at his tired eyes, the frustrated form of one Albert Wesker was revealed. Unknown to his 'team' Wesker had been involved with Umbrella almost from the start of their more clandestine ventures in bio-organic weapons. Recruited at the young age of seventeen by the head of Umbrella, Oswald E. Spencer, for his talents in the fields of virology, biotechnology, and bioengineering, as well as his admittedly flexible morals when it came to the sacrifices necessary to push forward in the field of science.

Now here he was, so many years later, and instead of working on the next step in human evolution, Wesker found himself playing secret agent and cleanup crew for his previous employer… at least that is what was written in his records. Gritting his teeth in frustration at that thought, Albert just tsked out his frustration at his lot and went over what he would need to accomplish to ensure that none of the information that Alpha and Beta teams had found during this shit show would ever see the light of day. Reaching into a pocket in his tactical vest, the blond double agent pulled out a miniature computer and looked over the list once more to see where he would need to go next to pull information and delete incriminating files. Seeing that the list was just about complete, the only remaining objectives being the destruction of the underground facilities and ensuring that Prometheus was terminated…

'Well… shit, how the hell am I supposed to stop something that could destroy both Yawn and one of those Gen 1 Lickers… with relative ease at that!?'

Going over the options in his mind to see what he could do to kill the formerly trapped teen; Albert almost swore again until the screens shifted once more showing two separate locations. Looking up once more, Wesker couldn't help the twisted grin that spread across his features as he watched the two other members of Alpha team, Barry Burton and Jill Valentine, as the oldest member of the team managed to pull the young woman out of one of the more cliché of Spenser's trap rooms.

'And really, what was that old man thinking, putting a goddamn booby trap straight out of 'Indiana Jones,' in what was supposed to be his home at one point?' Shaking off the errant thought and getting back to his current problem… and possible solution.

Realizing this could be an opportunity to sow some discord and maybe get rid of one of the biggest threats on the board, Albert moved to leave the security office and make his way towards the still unaware duo to lay the foundation of his final plan.

'And if this somehow doesn't work…' Images of some of the few 'successful' B.O.W.s that were still in stasis, such as the Hunters and maybe even the Tyrant variant if it was necessary. Smiling to himself as the plan cemented itself within his mind, Albert Wesker pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the glare of the lights reflecting off the mirrored surface the man began to chuckle darkly in delight at what should be an eventual end of this farce before he could retake his true place within the upper ranks of Umbrella.

-Line Break-

With Izuku and Rebecca, Outside the Servants Quarters:

Izuku was finding it harder to fight down the feeling that he and Rebecca were being watched as they finally made it back to the barricaded doors of the servant's quarters. After the duo's run in with the creature, that Rebecca had dubbed a 'Licker' due to the prehensile tongue that seemed to be its main form of attack, the greenette was warry from the sudden drop of infected ambushes. Rebecca had attempted to soothe the young man by pointing out that between, not only them, but also the others from Alpha Team they had yet to come across, there was the ever present chance that they had simply killed off the majority of the present infected within this part of the mansion grounds.

Now while in a normal situation, Izuku could have simply agreed with Rebecca's hypothesis, this however wasn't the case for the former hero student. It was unfortunate, but the holder of One for All knew that there was something else going on, ever since that attack by the Nomu knockoff, Izuku could almost feel that someone was observing them for a time only for it to fade when they were about to make it back to Chris and Richard.

Not wishing to be caught off guard again, Izuku decided that he needed to ask for help from the vestiges and reopened his link… only to be almost immediately knocked out from the sudden screams of Nana and Toshi as they began to reprimand and check on him respectively.

'What the hell were you thinking locking us out Izuku?! Do you have any idea how worried we all were when we couldn't contact you anymore… then Banjo lost his connection to [Blackwhip, and the quirk space began to change again-' Any further worried babble from the seventh user was suddenly cut off when the voice of her successor cut in.

'Sensei, please calm down, I am sure that Young Midoriya understands that what he did was wrong-' The former Number One hero didn't have a chance to finish before the sound of a piece of metal slamming into something resounded in Izuku's mind, causing said boy to flinch in slight pain from the noise.

Worried at what that could have been and a little guilty at his actions, Izuku directed his thoughts inward towards the vestiges.

'Umm… I-I'm sorry about cutting the link Nana-san, but I didn't do that consciously, it's just when I saw that abomination I just reacted and my body acted on its own… a-also, what was that noise I heard when Toshinori-sensei was cut off?' The young man's head was quiet for a moment, only for the voice of one of the usually silent duo to be heard.

'Ugh, don't worry about it kid, that was just Seventh knocking out Eighth with a frying pan… that she got from somewhere.' Sweat dropping at the words of Fa Jin, Izuku suddenly was confused and voiced it.

'Wait, were did she get a frying pan!? I-I mean you all are in my mind and as far as I know you all are unable to make anything…' Suddenly Izuku was beginning to fall into his muttering, though luckily only internally for once, only his thoughts were cut short when he received a nudge to his side.

Surprised at the contact, Izuku's head snapped up and he turned to the side to meet the worried gaze of Rebecca. Realizing that he must have missed something, Izuku inwardly smacked himself and gave a sheepish grin to the brunette.

Rubbing the back of his head, Izuku spoke up, "Sorry Rebecca, I was lost in thought, did you need something?"

Rebecca's worried look seemed to somehow increase, causing Izuku to wince internally. The brunette stared at Izuku for another moment seeming to search for something before speaking up in a light tone.

"I was trying to get your attention since we are finally back at the room, and you seemed to be a million miles away… Izuku are you okay?" And wasn't that a loaded question? Izuku knew he wasn't in the best mental state by this point-'Understatement of the century there kid.'

Then there were the voices in his head agreeing with him… honestly there were times, when Izuku had time to think about how far off the rails his life had gone after making it into U.A., Izuku wondered if he had made the right decision-'It is WAY too late for you to be thinking about 'What if's' brat.'

Ignoring the patronizing voice of Gearshift, Izuku turned and attempted to give Rebecca a reassuring smile… that did absolutely nothing to remedy the young woman's worries. Deciding that his problems could wait for a less… exposed location, Izuku tried again to reassure Rebecca, this time with words instead of empty gestures.

"Sorry Rebecca… it's just… could we possibly put this conversation on hold until we make it out of here?"

Rebecca probably would have argued that they should talk about this now but remembered that they were on a time limit. Sighing she only gave a solemn nod and then proceeded to knock on the door where Chris, and hopefully a still alive Richard, were holed up. After the knock there was silence for a moment, then a muffled voice calling out helped alleviate some of the building nerves that were plaguing both young adults.

"Who is it?"

Now if this was any other situation, Rebecca probably would have made a joke about it being the pizza delivery guy, but once again she had to remind herself that they were in a serious situation.

"Hey Chris, it's me and Izuku, could you open up? We were able to find the anti-venom for Richard… along with a new creature that Izuku took out."

A few muffled curses were heard behind the door shortly followed by the sound of the heavy dresser being pushed out from in front of the door. After finishing removing the barrier blocking the door, it was opened showing the haggard looking Redfield. Rebecca had to hold back a worried look at the slowly building bags under the older man's eyes. Chris took a quick look at the two in front of him then suddenly stiffened when he saw the torn shoulder of Izuku's outfit and the blood surrounding it. Suddenly Chris placed his hand on his firearm and spoke to the greenette in cautious concern, while also checking the area for any nearby threats.

"Izuku… what happened to your shoulder?"

Izuku had to fight the sudden urge to facepalm, how could he have forgotten to activate his costume's repair function while he and Rebecca had been returning to the servants quarters? Rebecca, without prompting, spoke up and began to explain what had happened when Izuku had saved her from the B.O.W., minus the greenette's temporary loss of control. Subtly raising a brow, though thankful for the brunette's discretion, Izuku hit the repair switch on his suit again catching both S.T.A.R.S. members' attention.

Both Chris and Rebecca were then given witness to Izuku's costume/combat suit beginning to writhe and wriggle as the tear and blood on the young man's shoulder disappeared without a trace. Rebecca looked at the event with eyes wide in excitement and wasted no time getting closer to the former hero-student to watch the repair up close. Chris on the other hand, first rubbed his eyes to ensure what he was seeing was really happening, then seeing that the slash was almost completely repaired in less than thirty seconds, just sighed out and spoke up to get the attention back on the main purpose of their previous hurry.

"Oi, Rebecca, Izuku,-" Hearing the older man's voice calling out, said persons' turned and focused their attention back on Chris.

Chris then crossed his arms and gestured with his head back to the room, "Aren't you both forgetting what you set out to do in the first place?"

The older man's countenance then hardened in worry, "To be honest, I'm not sure if Richard is going to make it at this point."

Fear and worry began to fill both Izuku and Rebecca, they then rushed forward to evaluate Richard's current condition. It only took a moment for both the younger members of the trio to find Richard… and like Chris said, it didn't look good.

Richard looked to have begun building a serious fever, if the sweat and shivering were any indication. Then there was the slowly darkening veins that were spreading from his torso to his extremities. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Rebecca rushed forward while reaching into her pack for one of the vials of anti-venom along with a syringe. As the young medic was preparing an injection site along with the correct dosage of anti-venom, Rebecca was suddenly stopped by a weak grasp of Richard's hand.

Surprised, Rebecca looked up to see that Richard was blearily looking at her and the others with a small and weak smile.

"D-don't waste your time youngster… I already know it's far too late…" Tears began to build once more in Rebecca's eyes at hearing what her only remaining teammate was saying. Shaking her head Rebecca spoke up with an almost desperate tone.

"H-hey… don't say that Richard…" Rebecca then indicated the syringe to the Bravo Team member, "-See, Izuku and I found the anti-venom… just please… let me help you… I-I don't want to lose anyone else to this nightmare…"

Richard's smile seemed to grow more strained as his breathing was getting fainter by the moment, both Chris and Izuku who were watching couldn't help but clench their fists at this situation. In this moment, Izuku would have given up anything for a healing quirk like Recovery Girl… hell even Eri's [Rewind] would have likely made the need for the anti-venom moot. Now here was yet another person he should have been able to save… only to fail them in the end.

Chris was also having a similar string of thoughts, ever since Bravo Team had been sent out it, nothing had gone right. It seemed the longer this mission went on the more their chances of surviving shrank, and Chris just didn't know what to do. In that moment, images of the fallen members of Alpha and Bravo Team ran through his mind. Then another face came to the forefront of Chris's mind, memories of his only living family, his sister Clair smiling jokingly at something he had said to her the last time they met up almost six months earlier. It was these memories helped to solidify Chris's determination to not only make it out of here but also bring the bastards that had started this mess to justice.

Both Izuku and Chris looked to each other, and a look of understanding flashed though their eyes. The greenette then went to the slowly dying Richard's bedside, the man's breathing coming slower with ragged gasps, and placed his hand gently on the now kneeling Rebecca's shoulder. The young medic, and soon to be last member of Bravo Team, had looked up and was about to yell out about there being something that they could do… only to freeze at the look of sadness, guilt and understanding within the young man in front of her. It didn't even take a moment to recognize the similar pain that lingered within those all-encompassing emerald orbs.

Rebecca remembered how just a few hours earlier, Izuku had told her of those he had been unable to save in his own world; innocents, civilians and heroes alike… even some of those who had been villains, only to redeem themselves in their final moments. Then there were those who were close to him, his teachers and classmates, he hadn't given her names, but she could see it, the gnawing anger and guilt that filled his eyes when he had seen the Licker.

It was this understanding that held her back from lashing out, swallowing another sob, Rebecca stood up and surprising both Chris and Izuku, latched onto the greenette. Fighting down his own tears of frustration, Izuku slowly returned the embrace and slowly began to lead Rebecca away and back towards the door. Chris only gave a nod of thanks to the young former vigilante, and before Izuku and Rebecca made it to the door the voice of Richard called out to the younger man.

"Hey, Midoriya… make sure to keep our rookie safe yeah?... and… don't blame yourself, neither of you two… sometimes shit happens and it's the job of people like us to ensure that those who die… in the line of duty did not die in vain… do you understand?"

Izuku couldn't help the tears that once again began to flow as he turned to Richard, giving the man a nod while showing a face of resolve. The older man, seeing the resolve to protect his last teammate in Izuku's tear filled gaze, gave the displaced young man a painfilled grin before waving them off. Izuku just nodded and continued leading Rebecca out of the room and shut the door quietly behind them.

After the two youngsters had left the room, Richard finally dropped his grin and gave a pain filled look to the still present Redfield. Grimacing at another wave of pain that shot through him as the viral enhanced venom worked to end him, Richard forced himself to speak up to his friend with a request.

"H-hey Chris… look lets be honest here, we both know I'm not going to make it…" Chris didn't even bother to rebuke that statement but kept silent until Richard finished.

"I-it's just *groan* I-I don't want to end up like one of those things out there ya'know?" Richard's breathing was little more than wheezing at this point, but the man pushed through on pure will power.

"S-so as my last request… could you make sure I-I don't come back…"

And there it was… Chris knew this was coming… hell he had even volunteered just in case this verry thing ended up being needed. Now here he was, asked by one of his few remaining friends to give him a mercy kill just so he doesn't come back as a monster…

"Fuck…" The whispered expletive caused Richard to give a small chuckle that ended when he began to gasp for air.

Chris began to approach Richard and pulled his sidearm from his holster. When he made it to his side, Chris placed his hand on Richard's shoulder, to give the man a final comfort. Giving Chris a final nod of acceptance, Richard then closed his eyes as his breathing finally stopped.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself Chris raised his hand, gun slowly shaking with suppressed emotion, and lined up his muzzle with Richard's temple. Giving a quick prayer to hopefully give some sort of peace, whether that peace was for him or Richard, Chris would never know. The man only said one thing before pulling the trigger.

"I'm sorry…"

*BANG*

-Line Break-

Hallway, With Izuku and Rebecca:

Rebecca burrowed further into Izuku's side when the sound of the shot rang from the room, sitting side by side against the wall, the only solace the greenette could give being his presence. Five minutes later found the duo still in the same position, Rebecca's tears finally ending leaving the medic both emotionally empty and exhausted. The silence continued, Izuku keeping watch for any signs of zombies or B.O.W.s, until it was broken by the door opening and Chris rejoining them. The older member of S.T.A.R.S. couldn't help but look down at the two young adults in pity at what they have had to experience in such a short time. If they were able, Chris would have at least let Rebecca rest to somewhat recover and cope with all that happened… and that wasn't even close to what would likely be needed in Izuku's case.

Looking back at the room, Richard's corpse covered in one of the large duvet blankets that had been stored in the closets, Chris locked the door from the inside then closed it to ensure that nothing got ahold of the body. Turning back to the two, Izuku helping Rebecca back to her feet, Chris sighed and spoke up catching the duo's attention.

"…I think we need to meet up with the rest of Alpha Team." Chris held up a hand to stop any response from either Izuku or Rebecca.

"I know that there's no guarantee that the others are okay, and who knows what else we may run into while we search for them, but our chances of getting out of here are significantly lower apart than together."

Rebecca looked down at that, the truth behind the words hitting like a hammer blow. If Bravo Team had just stuck together, could they have done better, would more of her team be alive now if they had stuck together…

'No… our situation was completely FUBAR from the moment we crashed in the woods… whose to say that we wouldn't have all died if we stood our ground in the forest rather than splitting up?'

Thinking things through clearly, Rebecca could see that they just had next to no creditable info going into this mess. That mixed with the bad luck of being struck by a random lightning strike, but that was then, and now with the situation as it is, regrouping is the better option. Looking up, the brunette medic gave Chris a silent nod of agreement.

Seeing the nod Chris then turned his attention to the greenette, who was still unknowingly holding Rebecca close to him much to the older man's amusement. Izuku seemed to be distracted for a moment but then just gave another silent nod of agreement. Taking a breath, Chris then spoke up in his 'drill-sergeant' voice.

"Alright, so here's how we'll go; the last time I was with my team, they had gone into the western halls of the mansion. First we'll make our way to the main entry hall, then from there we will begin our search for the rest of Alpha Team. Then if or after we find them, we will then make a plan to get the hell out of here with any evidence we have collected, sound good?"

Both Izuku and Rebecca seemed to straighten at the older man's tone, Izuku being reminded slightly of 1-B's teacher Vlad King-sensei and giving nods of agreement.

"Izuku, I know this is asking a lot, but would you be willing to be lead while we make our way?" Said greenette looked up in confusion at the request, seeing he needed to explain, Chris continued. "Look the fact is that you are the strongest of anyone here, and on top of that, you are likely immune due to the fact that you were previously exposed to a variant of this crap."

It was cold of him to ask the younger man to do this Chris knew, but the fact was that Izuku was the best option to spearhead their way to were the rest of the team hopefully was. Rebecca, not at all okay with this even knowing that Izuku wouldn't have much trouble with this, was about to speak up in protest only to be stopped by a reassuring squeeze from Izuku. Looking over, Rebecca was about to speak, but was stopped by the look and smile the greenette gave her. Still not liking this part of the plan, Rebecca kept silent, but couldn't help the shiver as Izuku removed his arm from around her. Izuku made his way to Chris and gave a determined nod and spoke up.

"Alright Chris, tell me where we're going, and I promise we will make it there."

Swallowing his discomfort at the necessity of this course of action, Chris just nodded and pointed down the hall leading back to the interior of the mansion.

The three survivors continued to make their way back to the entrance in silence. Once again both Izuku and Rebecca noticed the lack of corpses, though the rotting blood and organs still remained. Even the corpse of the creature Izuku had launched through a wall was gone, much to the greenette's silent dismay, hoping that the Nomu rip off had been truly dead when he and Rebecca had left.

This pattern continued along their path until the now trio found themselves outside the library, where Richard had been injured due to the giant snake Yawn, and where Izuku had been held at gunpoint by Chris. Rebecca, worried that the giant reptiles corpse would be gone as well, wasted no time hurrying to the door and throwing it open… only to gag at the smell of rotting meat that filled the hall.

Izuku, surprised by the brunette's sudden actions, had rushed forward to see what had caused the young woman to begin gagging and was also hit with the wave of rot that came from the door. Even Chris was having to take a step back and covering his nose to keep from vomiting his breakfast from two days ago, the stench being that bad.

Seeming to be unaffected by the tsunami of rank that filled the air in front of him, Izuku seemed to walk in an almost daze before disconnecting his costumes faceguard/rebreather then gently placed it on Rebecca's face cutting the stench off almost immediately. Rebecca looked up at the now blank faced greenette in thanks for a moment then returned her gaze to the open door.

There laying where Izuku had left it in a crater, was the definitely dead corpse of Yawn, but the thing that caught the two completely off guard was the sheer speed in which the corpse was breaking down. The corpse of the creature, that not even two hours ago had been hell bent on devouring them, was now little more than a pile of putrid rotting meat and bones. When Chris was finally able to push himself to come towards the door himself to witness the former B.O.W. in all its now slurry like glory he could only say one thing.

"What the hell happened to that thing, and how does it already look like it is weeks, if not months old?"

Rebecca tried to think up an explanation, only to be cut off by the sound of Izuku's voice beside her.

"I've seen something like this before…" Both members of S.T.A.R.S. looked to the young man, only to have to hold back a flinch at the dull, far away, look that was now present. While Rebecca could only look on in worry, Chris recognized this look… this look was of someone who was not seeing what was in front of them, Izuku was likely having some sort of flashback.

Continuing without even looking away from the sight in front of him, Izuku began again.

"When I had left U.A. after my first battle against the newly empowered Shigaraki… in the early days I had come across a hidden lab that had been abandoned by that bastard Garaki…"

Izuku could see it like it had just happened, the tubes filled with captured civilians, heroes, and even weaker villains… all left to die when All For One had called his doctor to his side after his puppet Shigaraki had broken him out of Tartarus prison.

"I remember the notes Garaki had left in his haste to leave had made it clear that after the first Nomu had been captured by the heroes after their first attack at the USJ. The man had placed a failsafe within the gene treatment used to make the Nomus… that when they were killed or captured by anyone, whether hero or even other villains, the cellular structure of the Nomu would break down at an accelerated rate so the enemies of AFO would have nothing to use against Garaki's master."

Izuku's fists then clenched as lines and arcs of energy began to flow up and around his body causing both Rebecca and Chris to back up from the young man. Izuku's mind continued to rush through the memories, the Vestiges calling out to him in a plea to stop only to be ignored.

"Now it all makes sense… those Umbrella bastards must have done something similar here."

Izuku's now glowing neon green eyes hardened and narrowed in disgust.

"What better way to ensure that their B.O.W.s are never reverse engineered than to ensure that whatever remains is so rotten that it would be useless."

Izuku could feel [Blackwhip] trying to slip his control again but was able to force it back when he felt Rebecca's hand on his arm and Chris's hand clasping on his shoulder. Shaking his head to try and reign in his emotions, Izuku turned to thank the two for knocking him out of his dazed state and hopefully put them at ease.

"Sorry about that guys… We should probably get out of here before Chris vomits from the smell."

Said man, slightly embarrassed from being called out, only grunted in affirmation and began to walk further down the hall to escape the smell. Rebecca kept her gaze on Izuku for a moment longer, seeming to look for something in Izuku's gaze before nodding to said man and turning to join Chris. Izuku looked back one more time at the corpse of the thing that had caused the death of yet another person he was supposed to protect before he too moved to leave, silently closing the door to seal the carcass once more. As he made his way back towards his teammates, the Vestiges were finally able to get through to Izuku again.

'Kid you need to stop blaming yourself for what you can't control…'

'Young Midoriya… I wish you could have confided in me when you ran into that situation, if I had known what you had experienced when you were on your own… I would have-'

'What would you have done eighth? The boy obviously wouldn't have listened to you; by that point, because let us all admit, Izuku Midoriya has a self-sacrificing martyr complex and the only reason he is even alive now is because of that test tube full of horrors that bastard of a Garaki knockoff forced on him!'

Izuku couldn't even rebuke against the flurry of back handed comments that were being put forth by Gearshift. All the young man could do was to continue on as both the second and third users continued to point out all of his mental inadequacies, while the rest of the vestiges (primarily Shoichi, Nana, and All Might) attempted to speak up in his defense.

Chris and Rebecca could almost see the waves of depression beginning to build in Izuku as the trek continued, not even the occasional run in with a zombie or some other abomination against nature being able to knock the former vigilante out of his funk. Not to say that the duo didn't attempt to engage the younger male in a light conversation, but their words and questions were only returned with grunts and non-comital gestures. Eventually their trip to the entrance was once again filled with silence until they finally made it to their destination.

Izuku could only look around at the opulent and grandiose entrance hall in disbelief, and maybe a bit of nostalgia of another of his classmates from his time at U.A. Chris, seeing that there were no signs of his team returning to the area recently, spoke up to the resting duo of Izuku and Rebecca.

"Okay, we need to keep looking-" Seeing the bags under Rebecca's eyes, Chris rubbed the back of his neck and came to a decision. "Look, how about you two stay here?"

Izuku and Rebecca looked up at Chris in confusion at that, hurrying to answer the unasked question in the brunette's and greenette's eyes, the older man continued.

"Rebecca, I can tell you are already on your last legs from all the action tonight," Chris then focused on Izuku, "and Izuku, you have been distracted since the library."

Seeing Izuku look down in disappointment, Chris spoke once more to get ahead of whatever self-depreciating thoughts were likely running through the younger man.

"Listen, I am not saying that you are a liability, it's just I think you need to rest for a minute, and more importantly, keep an eye out for Rebecca while she recovers… okay?"

Izuku seemed to think for a moment and then gave a solemn nod to the older man.

"Yeah, your right Chris, I need some time to decompress and don't worry, I'll keep Rebecca safe no matter what."

Though said greenette couldn't see it, Chris didn't miss the sudden blush that began to build on the rookie member's cheeks at the declaration. Said Alpha member had to hold back the smirk that attempted to grow on his lips at the obvious sign of the growing affections the young medic was building for the super powered other worlder. Shaking his head slightly to clear it of the asinine thoughts, Chris did a quick ammo and equipment check before he moved to begin his search for Jill or Barry, and if he were to come across Wesker… well then all the better then he guessed. It was just as the older brunette Alpha Team member reached the door to the west side of the mansion when a call of 'Good luck' was heard from the young duo.

Chris only gave a wave and thumbs up before he began his search for his remaining teammates.

AN: So yes, in the end I decided to kill off Richard. The fact was that there was no real way to save the Bravo member after he had been mauled by the Yawn. In the game, the guy succums to his wounds and then turns in less than an hour between Rebecca trying to find the anti-venom. Even if I did save the guy, there was no guarentee that the guy would have survived the rest of the night with the wounds he sustained without being taken out by something else in the mansion. It was a bit of a toss up if I was goint ot have him fall now or have him sacrifice himself in a later fight against a surprise boss enemy... Either way, if you have a problem with this I am sorry but in the end it was my decision so please accept it.

You have to understand, Resident Evil as a whole, is not a series that exactly stands out for it's 'happy endings.' In fact it would be more likely for a character to meet a messy end at the claws of an unseen enemy. Hell the zombie genre in general is known for bad or worse endings were there are no, or next to no, survivors.

Okay, rant over, next story release will be 'A Hero's Destiny'