Pain was the last thing Charlie remembered before everything went dark on her. Well, pain and...her girlfriend screaming her name.
"CHARLIE!"
The echoing sound of Vaggie's voice made Charlie jolt away and found it hard to move. She couldn't speak because of some kind mask hooked up to her face. In fact, dozens of things seemed hooked up to her, some of which were most invading. But as she did her best to keep her eyes opened, she looked around and found herself underwater, with dozens of tubes and cables seeming to wrap themselves around her. Clamps were around her arms, legs, waist, neck, hooked up to back of whatever she was in at the moment. But it couldn't hold her so easily, as she began to muster up enough demonic strength to break free. Her eyes went fully red and her horns appear as she began to struggle frantically before she could feel the clamps begin to give out, as she practically pried them off the back. Then, she focused on the glass in front of her and started to punch at it fast and hard, faster than anyone could punch underwater. Soon enough, she began to leave cracks until the whole glass cover broke apart and she was washed out of the thing she was held in.
Recovering as quickly as she could, the Princess of Hell, sits up and removes the oxygen mask around her face, along with any other tubes or wires wrapped around her. All except for one thing, directly attached to the center of her. It was in the same shape of some kind of insect, a scarab, with a red armored, yet transparent plate on the front of it, showing some kind of liquid and power core inside. Charlie tried to removed it, but the moment she pulled on it, she screamed in pain. Any attempt for her to rip it off caused her great pain, so she decided to leave it alone for now.
"Where...am I?" She pants, looking around to see that she was in a lab of some sort and what she just broke out of was a capsule. Standing up, Charlie gathers herself...and finally notices that she wasn't wearing anything, having been naked when she was in the capsule. "Eep! Clothes!" Looking around, there looked to be only one thing for her to wear. A red, one-piece jumpsuit with heels fitted at the legs, and it seemed to fit perfectly around her body, as she slips into it and zips it up.
"Not what I'm used to wearing, but it'll have to do for now." She also puts on a pair of foreleg holsters that were for some semi-automatic handguns that were alongside the suit. "Why would they leave these here? Forget it, I need to find a way out."
Automatic doors open for her to leave the lab as she finds herself in a some kind of dimly building, where her only source of light were those on the floor. As she slowly moved into a hallway at her right, she kept a gun in case she ran into anything that would keep her from leaving. Never in her life had Charlie experienced this much silence, and it was intensifying as the click of her heels echoed throughout the halls. As she continued, there were windows at both sides of the hall, showing glimpses of other laboratories within this place, one of which seeming to be overtaken by plant life that looked parasitic and mutated. Others simply showed labs with chemicals in them...along with stains of blood all over the walls and tables. Upon reaching the end of the hall, another door opened for Charlie, who then found herself walking on a bridge over an abyss.
"Whoa." She said. "Okay, don't look down." As she crossed the bridge, she could see power conduits running along the walls, going off for miles as she reaches the next door. Upon reaching the next area, it appeared to be a lobby of some sort, with the logo of who this place belonged to.
"...Umbrella? Isn't that the company that was behind the deaths of Steve and the S.T.A.R.S? Are they behind all this?"
It was then that she heard some screaming and turned to a door at the side and immediately thought "Welp, definitely not going down there. Time to leave." However, the door that seemed to be the exit wasn't opening for her. She tried to shooting at it, but that didn't work. "Oh, come on!" She was about to tap into her demonic powers...when the door just seemed to open on its own. It made her sigh at her waisted effort and ammunition. "This place is so unfair." Then, she decides to move on. Upon reaching the next room, what she saw next was...horrifying. Directly below her looked to have been large transparent cubes, each of them holding what appeared to be monsters that Charlie and the others have yet to face inside, and they were strapped down and were looking to be experimented on as machines with buzzsaws, probes and other medical equipment were hanging by the top of the cubes. Charlie slowly walked overhead on the bridge, continuing to see what was happening to each of these mutations. And that's when she began to see...familiar faces amongst those experiments.
"...Valentino?" She asked, seeing the former pornagraphic Overlord, now just another infected abomination, strapped to a table, acting like a wild animal as the overhead machine poked and prodded him.
"...Velvet..." Another one of the Three V's. She's yet to see Vox amongst them, but she would honestly be afraid of what they've done to him after seeing Velvet, who now has a horribly mutated arm of mangled flesh and bone...and she was pretty sure she saw an eye growing out of what was once her shoulder blade.
"...Rosie?" An associate of Alastor, as far as Charlie is aware of. Surprisingly, she wasn't strapped down like the rest of the lot, but instead, was on her feet...and puking. Her vomit was black, chunky and looked to have been moving on its own. It almost looked like the substance that covered the four intruders from the Hotel.
That's when Charlie took notice of another subject, one she did not recognized. And unlike the others, the one, who was male with a humanoid appeared, dressed in almost a soldier's garb, had skin with green hair, and what looked to be oozing cuts across his face, his right eye heavily mutated while the left was normal-ish. The most distinguishing feature, his horribly mutated right arm, if it could even called that, give how it's appearance was a wad of flesh and bone that appeared to be sparking with electricity. He was strapped up, hanging from the ceiling and he had the same device that Charlie also bares on her chest.
"Poor guy." Charlie said. "Wonder what happened to him." As she continued on, she saw more familiar faces, such as a mass-produced tyrant, similar to the first one she and her friends encountered when this incident happened. A creature that resembled the Nemesis that nearly killed her and Vaggie when they first the S.T.A.R.S team, albeit heavily mutated into more a bestial form in which it was on all fours, had no eyes and had fins and claws. It looked like it was looking for a way out of the container, "looking" around and slamming itself against the transparent walls, which made Charlie want to get away from it more.
The next thing Charlie made her more horrified, as inside one of the cubes, stuck in what appeared an mass of hardened mold...was Blitzø. She recognized the Imp as an alley she had made and was now beginning to fear what happened to the others as well. If they were trapped in this place, just as she had been.
"Hang on, Blitzø! I'll get you out! Somehow..." She said right before looking ready to jump off the bridge was on.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to anything, Princess Charlotte" A voice came from the end of the bridge, to which Charlie turns to face Wesker, in all his damned, matrix-looking glory. "...Besides my bidding."
Charlie immediately pointed her guns at the man in a defensive position, taking every step back as he took a step forward.
"I'm assuming you're one in charge around here?" Charlie asked with spite in her tone.
Wesker replied "You assume right. It was I who started this invasion over Hell itself, and I who had ordered you'd be brought to me, both have which have been accomplished with only a minor setbacks."
That is when the Princess decided to hold her ground and looked ready to squeeze the trigger on both of her guns.
"Well, you'r about add one more 'setback' to the list. I'm taking my friend and we're leaving!"
"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, my dear." Wesker said. "You are far too valuable for me to simply let go of now, especially since I have to schedule to keep."
Charlie held a scowl on her face, compelling herself so much to squeeze the trigger.
"Besides...you don't have much a choice in the matter anymore. The process has already been completed."
As much as she wanted to blast this guy right now, Charlie could feel herself being forced not too. The device on her chest was beginning to blink, and that is when she started to feel pain. Falling to the ground, she tried to reach for the device, but its like her body was fighting against her control. Unknown to her was that Wesker had brought out a hand held device to which, he typed away at as the device responded be injecting the liquid it held inside of Charlie. Her veins pulsed as her body was overtaken by the serum. The Princess of Hell, heir to Lucifer's Throne, was now being overtaken by something originally made by monsters in human skin...
"Honestly...I expected more from you, Dear Charlotte." Wesker said, melancholy. "I'm rather disappointed...but I'm sure you'll play your part as I hoped."
Only grunts of pain came out Charlotte's mouth as she was on her knees now, wishing for the pain to stop. Soon enough, it will overtake her and she would experience what hell really is.
The team of four was riding in a chopper that was currently heading towards the city limits. Wherever they were going, it was basically in the middle of nowhere, which shouldn't even be possible, yet here they are, flying towards the edge of a desert just outside of Pentagram City.
"This feels familiar." The pilot hellhound, Kevin said out loud."
"What do you mean, Kev?" Steve asked, to which the pilot had replied. "Sending a team of several men out into the middle of nowhere, right before shit breaks loose. That's literally how me and my guys die."
"Try to have faith, Kevin." Vaggie said. "You're just dropping us off. How we get back will be our problem."
"Right. But I can't guarantee that travelling through a desert will be any easier than through the woods."
"We'll manage." Steve said, readying one of his lugers. He looked over to Octavia, who had her own gun in hand, looking down at the floor in thought. "You gonna be okay, Octavia?"
The Owl Princess perked up her head and took a moment to reply "...I'll be fine. To be honest, never thought I've been doing something like this."
"Same." Loona said. "Blitzø never wanted me to be part of the human slaying part of the business. I know I can fight...just didn't think I'd be fighting virus infected weirdos."
"Welcome to me world." Steve said as they looked ready to land. The helicopter was close enough to the ground that the four passengers jumped and landed on hard dry ground. Looking back up, Steve gave Kevin a thumbs up and it was enough to have the pilot head back to the hotel, leaving the four of them in what was an outback of a desert.
"Okay...now what?" Octavia asked, looking around. "I'm not familiar with this part of Hell. As far as I know, this place shouldn't even be here."
"Agreed." Vaggie replied. "I've been here for a while now, and never even seen a desert beyond Pentagram City."
While they were looked around, they failed to see Loona sniffing around before deciding to crouch down and feel the ground. All while Steve was saying "First, we should pick up some kind of trail that will lead us to wherever we're supposed to go. Then, if we're lucky, find some mode of transportation somewhere in this waist land."
"What, do you expect us to find a taxi out here?" Vaggie said.
That's when Loona perked up and said "Got something. The smell of truck fumes heading northeast from here...goes on for miles."
"Great. But unless we kind something to ride like Steve says, we're gonna be walking all the way for God knows how long."
But then, Loona's ears perked up and she said "Something's coming!"
They all turned and quickly got of the way when they saw a dirty looking car come their way. Perched on top was a turret, and there was plaga infected demon manning it, wasting no time trying to unload on the four survivors before attempting to drive off. They would not have it though as each of the girls tried to fire back at them and Steve even tried to latch onto the bumper of the truck by extending tendrils from his hands. That didn't work out as well as he hoped, as he found himself being dragged from behind as the truck made a sudden 180 degree turn and drove back into the direction of Vaggie, Loona and Octavia.
"Okay, bad idea. Bad idea!" Steve said to himself as he tried to get back on his feet, ultimately failing as the truck continued to move at high speed. Vaggie rolled and Loona pulled Octavia out of the way as they saw it coming and the gunner continuing to fire at them. Vaggie quickly took out a knife and cut off Steve's tendrils from the bumper of the truck, freeing him but also leaving him bleeding profusely from his palms.
"Ow...Thanks, Vaggie." He said with his face to the ground.
"Don't mention it." She replied as they saw the truck ride back the path it was going on, giving up on its attempt to kill them as the four regrouped.
"Well that fucking sucked." Loona. "What's the plan now? Wait for another one to come and see if we can get that one?"
Steve turned around and said "I don't think another truck is coming."
All three of the girls turned around at the sound of multiple engines roaring. It was an entire platoon of infected on motorbikes, some with guns, others with sickles ad other sharp weapons. Their bikes were just what they might've needed though as the four of them broke into a run to where the truck was going off. They couldn't outrun the bikes, though, as they were coming in close. Loona dodged an upcoming sickle to the head before jumping and grabbing the infected, throwing him off as she was in control now. She revved it up before riding closer to Octavia.
"Hop on!" She told Octavia, who took hold of the hand she was offered and put behind Loona. Steve and Vaggie followed suit with Vaggie throwing a knife at an infected's head before kicking him off to get control. Steve summoned another tendril from his hand to latch onto the rider and pull him off before hopping onto the bike himself. Now that all of them had some wheels, they wasted no time going as fast as they could in pursuit of the truck.
"Keep the tracks in your sight! Stay close and don't crash!" Steve yelled before dodging a near bullet to his head. Octavia looked back and saw that there were more than just motorbikes to worry about now. It was another truck, more armored and well-armed with a turret on its roof. "We have more company!" She said as she decided to fire at the truck with her semi-auto gun. All the while, Steve and Vaggie were trying to get in close, but the turret gunner made nearly impossible as they were forced to move back if they didn't want to be filled with holes. Fortunately for them, the turret began to overheat and forced the infected to pause for a moment, leaving Steve open to get closer.
"Almost there!" He said, pulling out one of his own ingram in order to fire. But that is when another demon came on top of the back of the truck and pulled out a unique looking gun of some sort. Mostly had a rectangular, blocky design with a cylinder for ammo and two handles, one at the barrel, the other with a stock that the thumb feeds through for the grip.
(Mine Launcher from Resident Evil 3)
Forced to pull back so that he doesn't get shot at, Steve was caught off guard when the round fired at him, landed on the ground and exploded, nearly making him fly off his bike as he was sent up in midair before landing back on the ground hard. Another shot was fired and it was closer than the last one, staggering him and nearly causing him to go off balance. Third one hit the spot, land on his bike and he could see that it was a blinking mine shot.
"Oh come on!"
Quickly jumping from his bike just as it exploded, Steve sent his tendrils to attach to the truck again, once again dragging him against the ground before he managed to steady himself and roll back on his feet, which were now scrapping against the ground. "This is SO not fun!" Grabbing his tendrils, Steve began pulling himself towards the vehicle. The infected with the Mine Launcher attempted to shoot him in the face, only to wind up getting a spear in the face, curtesy of Vaggie.
"Get up there!" She told Steve, who quickly climbed up the truck, pulling the dead infected off and letting the Mine Launcher tumble off as well. See the weapon coming their way, Loona quickly leaned to her left. "Grab that thing!" She told Octavia, who did so as fast as she could just as Loona get back up. "Now shoot it!"
Octavia quickly turned the Mine Launcher over to the second truck behind them, firing round after round, doing some damage, but not enough to breach the armor as much. That is when Steve had taken care of that annoying turret gunner and decides to use the gun himself.
"Get clear, ladies!" He told his allies as they rode out of the way. Some of the infected attempted to do the same, only for Steve to maul them down with their own gun. He then turned it towards the second truck, which was quickly torn apart by the swarm of bullets. With that out of the way, he decided to turn to the driver, carefully making his way to the front seat, and climbing towards the door. The driver has spotted them, quickly pulling a gun in attempt shoot at him, only for Steve to grab his arm and forcefully pull him through the window and out of the driver seat. This forced Steve to open the door up and get inside himself to drive the truck.
"Alright. This is a little better." He said to himself as he took hold of the wheel. But, then he began to hear beeping and turned to his right to see the shotgun seat had explosives in place. Before he could get out, he noticed on the dashboard a portable GPS and quickly snatched it before getting out of the driver seat and leaping out of the truck just as it blew up. The blast made Steve fly a bit further before he rolled across the ground painfully. The Veronica Infected Sinner groaned as he struggled to pick himself up, just as Vaggie, Loona and Octavia rode by to see him.
"Steve, you okay?" Vaggie replied as she offered a hand to the guy. Gratefully taking it, Steve replied "Yeah, I'm fine. Bastards rigged the truck to blow if it was compromised. But I got this." He hands the GPS to Vaggie, who examines it, showing the designated path the truck was assigned was still on screen. Although the screen was a little damaged on impact, it was still readable.
"Looks like we have our heading." She said as suddenly, the sound of a chopper was coming close and above their heads. They looked towards where the truck was going to and saw a cargo helicopter flying back, carrying something, or rather someONE, big...
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Loona growled as they see the thing fly overhead and drop the huge thing. The girls managed to ride away while Steve was forced to run.
"Hop on!" Vaggie said to him as she gave him her hand and he got on the back of her bike. The saw the dust clear and looked to see that what the chopper dropped off...was Un Gigante.
"...Time to go." Steve whimpered out as they revved up their bikes. El Gigante roared at the sight of them and began to gave chase, surprisingly fast with how big it is, looked like it was charging like a bull.
Steve tried to look back, but they unfortunately hit a bump on the road and his hand slipped.
"Hey! Watch the hand, Steve!" Vaggie yelled at him, making him quickly put his hand back at her waist.
He quickly replied "My bad! Just keep her steady!" As he pulled out one of his Ingram in an attempt to fire back at the beast. All three bikes road off into the desert with junior on their tail, as this was only part of the dangerous journey ahead...