Word count 9,180
"My apologies for this place being so… hectic. I've been monitoring your progress from here. I am grateful for your assistance. Daylight should have been it. The only resource against the t-Virus. Even with Insight Corp. creating their own cure however, I refuse to give Daylight to Umbrella. They are the ones responsible for the catastrophes which have befallen the city. In retrospect, that entire 'T' project was a total disaster. Brute force should not be the only criteria for a weapon. It must also be beautiful, unique, and god-like!"
Cindy Lennox stared at the mad scientist from Umbrella before her, disgust clear in her eyes at the madman's words.
She and the group of survivors with her had come across information that there might be another cure to the t-Virus in this building, and while it wasn't truly required to survive thanks to Insight Corp.' own cure, it was still something they had wanted to check out while trying to see if George Hamilton's friend was still alive.
Of course, they did confirm the existence of Daylight… but they also found out that George's friend was dead, and the university they were in was only occupied by this mad scientist from Umbrella now.
One who was staring with cold glee at the group breaking in on his makeshift lab.
"Of course, you will also assist me. You're going to play with my ultimate creation!" he finished, seeming to relish in the upcoming death of the group.
"Farewell, doctor." smugly whispered Nikolai, before pressing the trigger of his silenced gun.
Cindy flinched as the mad scientist froze, blood falling from his throat and from a bullet wound on his head, before collapsing on the ground, dead long before he hit the floor.
She looked up, trying to find the killer, but she froze when she saw the telltale red glow of an armed explosive ready to blow.
"Run!" screamed George, and they all ran for their lives across the university, killing any remaining zombies on their paths as they desperately tried to leave the building before it blew up.
The moment they were outside, they quickly made their way to the nearest safe corner to hide in before-
*KA-BOOM!*
Cindy let out a deep breath in relief as the building harmlessly blew up behind them, the group taking a moment to gather their breath.
The leader of their group, Kevin Ryman, took a look at them all, glanced back at the now burning building, opened his mouth-
*STOMP*
- And then closed it, face going pale like all of them when some new kind of Tyrant suddenly showed up, probably the mad scientist's "greatest creation" or whatever it was called.
It turned towards them, his eyes narrowing slightly in hatred.
"Open fire!" shouted Kevin, who wasted no time putting his words to action, swiftly followed by everyone else in the group.
The Tyrant roared, and Cindy took a moment to be thankful that, for whatever reason, it seemed already wounded, his right arm missing entirely.
A good thing, because while the monster was really slow, it could also jump shockingly far, and was not shy in trying to crush them flat under it's bulk.
Cind and the others were well used to fighting all sorts of monsters nowadays however, and quickly scattered, always remaining on the move, and always making sure that at least one of them would be free to keep firing at the Tyrant, while also targeting it's obvious weak point.
Cindy had no idea why the Tyrant's heart was partially out of its chest and easily visible, but it certainly made things easier for all of them.
Unleashing bullets, grenades and more, the group slowly but surely whittled down the Tyrant's until eventually, finally, it fell down, unmoving.
For a long moment, they merely kept the Tyrant in their sight, ready to fire, but as no movements were seen, they relaxed slowly.
"Well damn, that's impressive."
They all turned, but paused when they saw a ISIS squad staring back, a young woman with an axe and a grenade launcher at the front looking at them with respect in her green eyes.
"Not often a group of civilians successfully take down a Tyrant, even wounded as this one seemed to have been. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about what happened here?"
Cindy and her group glanced at one another, before Kevin looked back at the young woman.
"And you are?"
The woman blushed slightly, before grinning widely.
"Sorry about that. Name's Rebecca, Rebecca Chambers. Huntress of ISIS. The building exploding caught our attention, so we came to investigate. We arrived just at the end of the fight. Still, that left me with a bunch of questions, such as why did the building explode and what's up with the dead Tyrant."
Cindy and the others glanced at one another again.
"Well, it started when we found information that there might have been another cure to the t-Virus in the city, and it kind of went downhill from there…"
Nikolai carefully stared at the gathering of survivors and ISIS soldiers, before turning away.
His mission here was done, so there was no point in staying around here any longer.
The former Umbrella scientist was dead, his pet monster's combat capabilities were recorded by Nikolai, and ISIS could deal with the clean up.
And with this job done, there was only one thing left to take care of, before he could leave Raccoon City behind, a positively obscene amount of money richer than he entered the city with.
Nikolai smirked coldly.
From what he knew, his last target was hiding up north-west, with all USS soldiers remaining making a beeline straight for Sherry Birkin.
Including Wolfpack.
And to make things even better, both Echo Six and Jill Valentine were heading there too, where Aeon, leader of ISIS, was watching over Sherry Birkin until such time where she could safely be extracted from the city.
Nikolai almost laughed at the thought.
A chance to fight against the Aeon of ISIS? Oh, that was going to be fun.
Especially when he still owed the man for so spectacularly foiling his assassination attempt on him a while back.
It was a pity that his employer confirmed that HUNK made it out of the city, because Nikolai would have loved the chance to have a three-way fight between himself, Aeon of ISIS and Mr. Death himself.
Ah, well. Wolfpack would have to do in place of the Grim Reaper. A pale shadow of the man himself, but who knows, maybe Nikolai would have the chance to dance with Death another day?
He could only hope.
For now, he had a little girl to get his hands on, and plans to put into motion.
He wondered: how many of the remaining infected could he trick into swarming the place that Aeon and those with him had found refuge in?
Only one way to find out…
I looked up, eyes narrowing.
"Aeon?" asked Claire, a measure of concern in her voice at seeing me suddenly holding up my plasma guns.
"We're about to get company. Umbrella is making one last attempt at getting rid of us."
Leon opened his mouth-
And then closed it when an explosion echoed and the distant moans of the undead suddenly picked up.
A lot of them.
"Quick, get into firing positions and be ready. We're not dealing with just zombies, but USS soldiers and probably some mercenaries too." I declared, thinking back on Nikolai.
We rushed to various positions across the roof of the building we were in, starting to pick off the first incoming zombies-
And then I moved, dodging a bullet that would have blown my brain off.
I snapped back a shot, eyes narrowing at the small, well-hidden shadow of the Russian ex-UBCS moving out of the way of the blue plasma shot.
Which, naturally, is when a bunch of USS soldiers arrived on-sight and began opening fire on both zombies and us.
I grunted, using the gun in my right hand to blow off the head of a USS soldier and the one in my left to snap off another shot at Nikolai, who sadly ducked under cover fast enough to avoid being hit.
Well at least Wolfpack, Echo Six and Jill were coming closer...
"We're here. But…"
"Why the hell are there so many infected?!" growled Beltway, staring at the rushing horde of infected running towards the position where Aeon and several others could be seen firing.
"This is Aeon. Do you copy, Wolfpack?"
"Yeah, we copy. What's up with all those infected? I thought most of the city had been pacified by now!"
"You can thank your old friend Nikolai for that one. He used some of the gas that attracts the infected created by Umbrella to gather a horde and send it straight at us."
"Fucking Nikolai!" cursed Beltway, the entirety of Wolfpack tensing in anger at the name.
"So what's the plan?" asked Lupo.
"The plan is simple: deal with Nikolai. I and the others can deal with the zombie horde, but the bastard has been making things… complicated for us. Nothing I can't handle if pushed, but I'm sure you won't mind getting your shot at killing Nikolai, do you?"
Lupo smirked slightly. "You want us to kill Nikolai? Well that's a plan we can get behind. Consider it done." she declared darkly, eager to finally get revenge on Nikolai.
"So we'll finally get the chance to kill that Russian bastard… Good." muttered Beltway with relish.
"Agreed." muttered Bertha, a dark smirk on the woman's face.
They moved onwards, killing off both infected and USS soldiers who got in their way, trying to make their way deeper into the Lonsdale Yard.
"The US government is closing in! We're running out of time! Take care of Leon and find that girl!" declared Command, and they all grinned darkly.
You are running out of time, not us. Lupo thought with satisfaction.
"I've no idea how the hell Aeon is still keeping these idiots in the dark, but fuck am I happy to be on his side now." commented Beltway.
"We'll pat ourselves on the back for our good luck later. For now, let's kill Nikolai." replied Lupo.
"With pleasure." said Specter.
They made it to the building Nikolai was holed in, carefully avoiding the various explosive traps the man left all over the place.
"I'm half tempted to blow all these things up and see if we can bury the bastard alive that way." grumbled Vector.
Lupo grunted. "Too much risk he'd survive somehow. I don't want to take any chances on this one. I'll believe him dead after I'm done blowing Nikolai's head off."
"As long as the rest of us get our own shots in, I'm fine with that." darkly replied Four Eyes.
"You'll have to be careful, Nikolai is headed your way. Not sure how he found out about you, but he did."
Lupo cursed at Aeon's words, before smiling grimly.
"Fine then. He wants a fight? He'll get a fight! Wolfpack! Spread out and let's give a warm welcome to Nikolai!"
"Aye aye, boss!" replied her team, grim anticipation in their voice as they spread out across the room they were in.
For a moment, there was only silence-
*KA-BOOM!*
Until Wolfpack flinched as the ceiling of the room they were in exploded, a flash grenade rolling down into the room after that.
"Get down! Incoming!" shouted Lupo, taking cover a second before the flash grenade illuminated the room.
Several Lickers with explosives on their heads rushed towards the team, who swiftly gunned them down.
"Nights out, Wolfpack!" shouted Nikolai, standing on the remaining floor of the room above them with a fucking rocket launcher aimed at them.
Lupo's eyes widened, and she screamed "Take cover!" at her team, jumping out of her cover and as far away from the incoming explosion as she could seconds before Nikolai fired and Lupo gasped as she flew and crashed roughly through the nearest wall from the explosion.
Curses and groans of pain echoed in her ears from her comms, but she had no time to worry about her team now.
Instead she got up, refusing to let herself be taken down by the ringing in her ears and the way the world kept moving, and she went back in the room to try and kill Nikolai.
Who, of fucking course, was nowhere to be seen, probably having left to wait behind more traps to whittle down the team with before trying to engage them in battle.
"Wolfpack! Status check!" she ordered.
"Beltway *cough* alive and pissed!" shouted Beltway, sounding enraged at how close to death they all had been.
"Vector! Alive and well. I was outside the blast radius."
"Specter here! Sorry Lupo, I was far enough to try and shoot him but froze at the sight of the rocket launcher." said Spectre, sounding remorseful and angry at himself.
"Bertha here! I'm fine, but Four Eyes isn't!" shouted Bertha, and as they all turned to look, they grimaced at a passed out Four Eyes with several deep, bloody wounds being worked over by Bertha.
"She ended up the closest to the blast, and some shrapnel got her." explained Bertha, not pausing her work while talking. "I'm doing my best, and she should live, but she's out of the fight for a while."
Dammit, cursed Lupo in her mind.
"Bertha-"
"Go, Lupo. I need more time to work on Four Eyes, and we can't give that time to Nikolai." firmly said Bertha.
Lupo hesitated, but Bertha cursed. "I'll be fine, and so will Christine!" she said, actually using Four Eyes' real name out of stress and concern. "So go and blow that bastard's brains out!"
Lupo's expression hardened. "Consider it done." she said darkly, a well controlled feeling of rage in her voice.
She turned and walked away, the rest of her team following after her.
Karena "Lupo" LesProux was officially done with this fucking city. After days of non-stop hell, traitorous bosses, increasingly insane missions and ever-increasing wounds and exhaustion on both her and her team, even her willpower was at its breaking point.
"We're going to kill Nikolai. We're going to turn his fucking body into such fine red mist he'll be buried in a fucking matchbox. Then we'll get to Aeon, demand our fucking extraction, tell Umbrella to go fuck themselves on the nearest cactus bare ass naked, and then one way or another we're all going to get a month straight of vacation. Sounds like a plan?"
Beltway chuckled. "Sounds just fine with me, Lupo."
"Good. Then may God have mercy on anyone getting in our way, because I'm fresh out of it."
And so began a deadly game of cat and mouse with Nikolai.
The building they were in was wide, with many rooms, offices and more. Wolfpack quickly learned that almost every single one of them had been trapped in some way, Nikolai quite obviously having anticipated a hard fight and prepared accordingly.
Unfortunately for him, Wolfpack was by now fueled nearly entirely on sheer, all consuming spite, uncaring of any wounds and exhaustion they all took in their single-minded desire to finally kill that son of a bitch who caused them so many problems during their stay in Raccoon City and who was, even now, standing in their way of leaving this damn city forever.
Bullets, explosions and zombies alike proved themselves not nearly enough to do anything more than slow down the enraged Wolfpack, Lupo herself proving the wisdom of her given nickname as she pursued Nikolai with all the cunning wrath of a mother wolf on the warpath against one who has hurt those she considered her own.
The building they were in quickly became a structural hazard as explosions, bullets and laser holes filled every wall and quite a few floors as both sides ran across the entire building, exchanging fire, throwing explosives and fighting off incoming infected drawn by the running battle between both sides.
In the end, their battle took them in a wide open room where both sides exchanged fire, bullets and grenades whistling in the air as Lupo shouted orders while firing, the rest of her team trying their best to finally catch the Russian bastard who just refused to fucking die!
And then Lupo had enough.
Sweaty, exhausted, bleeding from the wounds taken from various explosions and bullets coming way too close for comfort, panting for breath as her lungs burned like they were on fire, she glared hatefully at the Russian who was still mocking them while firing back.
At least he was mocking them for being lapdogs of Umbrella, so he was obviously not aware of their deal with Aeon of ISIS.
Which was good to know, except they needed to kill Nikolai if they wanted to actually leave this damn city!
"Cover me!" she shouted through her comms at her remaining teammates, not even waiting to hear their reply before she jumped out of cover and just charged at the damn Russian!
Nikolai's eyes widened at the sight, but the covering fire of her teammates forced him to avoid their fire instead of gunning her down, retreating back and away from them.
So she turned the same corner he had just taken-
And the world slowed down.
She could see Nikolai, could see the gun pointed at her, the knife in his left hand, the satisfied grin on his face, the cold triumph in his eyes-
All of which lasted until he saw the flash grenade in her right hand.
The one she had just taken the pin away from.
Instincts born from years of battles made him reflexively close his eyes and focus entirely on protecting himself-
Which is why he certainly wasn't ready for her to knee him in the balls and, when his eyes and mouth opened in pain, for her to shove the flash grenade in his fucking mouth.
At which point it went off.
The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, ears ringing and the most horrendous of headaches making her groan in pain.
"Fucking hell, Lupo, if you wanted to kill yourself there are easier ways to go about it!"
She opened a bleary eye and weakly glared at Beltway, standing over her protectively, a measure of amusement and reproach in his voice overshadowed by awe.
She grunted. "Nikolai?"
He chuckled darkly. "See for yourself."
She looked down towards where he was waving, seeing the bloodied corpse on the ground, the number of bullet wounds on the body making it clear that the rest of her team, who were currently staring down at Nikolai's corpse with clear satisfaction, had already taken their pound of flesh in revenge.
"We didn't touch the face… though considering that Flash grenades sure as hell aren't meant to go off in someone's face- literally- we're pretty sure he was dead even before we pumped him full of lead."
Lupo grunted, thankful for her mask allowing her to protect her from the worst of the damage from taking a Flash grenade at point blank range. She had closed her eyes an instant before it went off, but even then…
She slowly got up, stared at the broken corpse on the ground…
And then went full auto on the bastard's head with her rifle.
Let it not be said that Lupo was a liar who did not follow on her words.
Echo Six and Jill Valentine stopped, staring for a moment at the three way fight in front of them.
On one side, a horde of zombies, steadily decreasing in number but still numerous, rushed forward towards the other two groups, consisting of a number of USS soldiers somehow still being alive at this point.
And lastly, there was Echo Six's objective, the group of survivors protected by Aeon of ISIS, who was simultaneously fighting off both the zombie horde and the USS soldiers, blue plasma bolts striking any of the later who dared try and leave whatever cover they had taken to hide behind, while two people the briefing told them were Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield did their best to match the blue whirlwind of death that was the leader of ISIS.
"The survivors are alive and well for now. Eliminate the remaining USS soldiers and then help them finish off the zombie horde attacking them." declared Command.
"Copy that." replied Dee-Ay, who immediately led his team into the fray.
The ensuing battle was brutal, as the USS soldiers seemed more desperate than ever to achieve victory, but Echo Six and Jill still went through their lines like a scythe through wheat.
Valentine herself seemed to fight even harder under the gaze of her boss, and Echo Six was treated to the rather unique sight of Aeon shouting the occasional words of approval or criticism whenever she did well or made a mistake.
All that while the man's rate of fire didn't even slow down.
Hell, most of the time he didn't even seem to be looking at her!
Nonetheless, Echo Six and their temporary ally pushed onwards, going through the twisting paths of the Lonsdale Yard while killing any USS soldiers or infected they came across.
And for a while, things seemed to be going well, and Dee-Ay almost dared to hope having a straightforward mission for once in this damn city-
Which naturally, is when things got complicated.
*RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!*
"It's the Tyrant from the facility!" shouted Party Girl, but Dee-Ay could tell with a single look that it was definitely different.
The giant parasite on it's back with the equally giant limbs kind of gave it away.
"Scatter!" screamed Dee-Ay, everyone immediately following orders as the fight began and they all unleashed everything they had into the twisted combo of a parasite and a Tyrant trying to kill them.
"Fire on its back!" shouted Jill, her grenade launcher firing at some kind of glowing orange spots on the back of the monster.
"Easy to say!" shouted Party Girl, barely avoiding having her head taken off her shoulder by one unnaturally large limb from the parasite.
"Surround it and keep firing! I want someone firing at those weaknesses on its back at all times!" screamed Dee-Ay, dodging the deadly limbs of the monster and unloading magazine after magazine into the mutated freak in front of him.
He really hoped they didn't get injuries, because with Harley, their Medic, wounded in their last mission they really couldn't afford any.
"Incoming infected!" shouted Tweed, and Dee-Ay mentally cursed as he saw that some of the zombies from what was left of the horde were heading straight for them, no doubt attracted by the sounds of battle.
"Shona! Willow! Deal with them! We can't afford to be distracted right now!"
"Understood!"
"Copy that!"
Dee-Ay snarled at the rampaging mutated Tyrant, who seemed to have decided to focus its effort on Valentine.
A rather foolish decision, as Valentine ducked, rolled and weaved between the various attacks from the monster with unnatural ease, even Dee-Ay being forced to take a second or two to admire the sheer agility and reflex of the woman, who stared at the abomination born from mad science without a hint of fear in her blue eyes, only disgust and determination.
"Nice going, Blue!" shouted Party Girl, obviously agreeing with his own thoughts.
"Blue?" questioned Valentine, not stopping her assault on the monster while talking.
"Look, that seems to be your entire color scheme, alright? And I'm busy fighting for my life! If you want a better nickname, you'll have to wait until I can focus on it!" replied Party Girl, before rolling to dodge away from the monster slamming two giant fists the size of a car each on top of her previous position.
"Blue will do!" said Valentine with a laugh, using the moment of distraction from the monster to shoot another grenade at its back.
Dee-Ay glanced at Shona and Willow, checking that they were still doing fine while handling the incoming zombies.
Seeing that they were, he turned his focus back on the monster-
Wait… where did it go?
"Move, Dee-Ay!"
Dee-Ay jumped away before he could even think about it, which proved to be the only thing that saved his life as a deadly limb suddenly shot out of the fucking ground to crash right where he had been an instant before.
His eyes had just the time to widen in shock before the Tyrant bursted out of the ground, roaring in rage and rushing towards him.
It can burrow underground?! Fucking bullshit!
Dee-Ay snarled, taking a flash grenade and throwing at the charging abomination.
"Flashbang!" he shouted, looking away seconds before it went out, the screeching of the Tyrant proving the success of his plan to distract it.
"Grenades out, everyone!" screamed Valentine, and then the Tyrant flew back from the force of several grenades exploding simultaneously at its feet.
It collapsed on the ground, silent.
They all slowly approached it, wary it was merely playing dead.
There was a moment of silence.
"Is it-"
The Tyrant jerked, lunging towards Party girl's voice, only to be stopped when Valentine's grenade launcher ended up straight into its mouth.
"Survive this." she coldly declared, before pulling the trigger.
The upper half of the Tyrant and parasite blew up in an explosion of blood and gore, showering Valentine in red, not that the woman seemed to care at all.
"Well, damn girl. Reminds me not to piss you off." joke Party Girl, sending a grateful look at Valentine.
"I'll keep that in mind." replied Valentine with a smirk.
A battered, bleeding, exhausted but fiercely satisfied Wolfpack made their way towards the building where Sherry Birkin and the other survivors were hiding in, all of them staring at them warily when they met up.
Lupo glanced at Aeon, who merely nodded approvingly at them.
She contacted Command.
"This is Lupo. Targets have been apprehended."
"Then eliminate them and bring us the girl!"
"We can do that. But first, we need to renegotiate our deal." she coldly declared.
"What are you talking about?!" angrily exclaimed Command.
"You left us for dead, fighting your damn B.O.W's. And we have… reasons-" she glanced at Aeon "- to believe that ISIS has proof that we were involved in the outbreak. We want triple the pay, an evac chopper sent to our location immediately, and some concrete assurance that we aren't about to become public enemy number 1 of the USA!"
"You must be out of your mind! We're not negotiating with you! Finish the mission!" snarled Command.
Lupo snarled right back. "Finish it yourself! Consider our contract with Umbrella… terminated." she immediately replied, rage and satisfaction clear in her voice as she finally had the chance to tell USS Command to piss off.
"Then you can die along with Raccoon City! You think ISIS won't kill you for everything you've done?!"
She smirked sadistically, looking at Aeon with dark glee in her eyes.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. What do you think, Aeon?"
"I think that you definitely should give my best regards to Lord Spencer, and that he shouldn't worry: I'll make very good use of his precious Delta Team." the man said, eyes twinkling with mirth.
"... What?!"
Lupo snorted at the sheer shock in Command's voice.
"Don't worry. Once we are out of the city… we're going to gut you from the inside out, Command." she said mockingly, before cutting the communication.
"Damn that was satisfying." declared Vector.
"Taking the words right out of my mouth." replied Lupo, before looking at Aeon.
"So. You think that ISIS would be interested in an ex-Elite team of the Umbrella Security Services with a grudge?"
The man chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure we can find you some good work sooner rather than later. With this cluster fuck in Raccoon City over with, we can now focus on the next step: bringing Umbrella down for good." he smirked at them. "I presume that you'll be interested in any mission which can help with that?"
Lupo glanced at her team, receiving a number of firm nods.
She looked back at Aeon with a smirk.
"Count us all in."
"Good work with that parasite-controlled Tyrant, Jill."
Jill smiled at Aeon's praise, nodding at him. "I wasn't alone, but thanks. Still, we both know that I fought worse before."
He chuckled. "Fair enough."
She glanced at the former USS team Wolfpack on the side, who was looking warily at both her and especially Echo Six while waiting for the ISIS extraction chopper to arrive.
"Are you sure about them? They aren't regular mercenaries like with the UBCS. They are true elite soldiers of Umbrella, the best of the best… and probably, the most loyal."
"Don't worry. I can assure you, they will never work for Umbrella or their ilk again." replied Aeon, winking at her, a glowing eye flashing for a second before the glow disappeared like it never even existed.
She smirked. "Understood."
She glanced at the group of civilians he had been with, first at the young girl in her mother's arms and then at Chris' sister.
Who was looking straight at Aeon with a look she recognized all too well.
"And I see you put your charms to work. Chris' sister, huh?"
Aeon laughed slightly, before shrugging.
"You know quite well yourself that fighting together brings people together."
Jill nodded. "Can't argue with that. Still, the next time I see Chris will be weird… especially if, or perhaps when, I'll end up in bed with his sister."
Aeon glanced at Claire, before shrugging slightly. "It won't be for a while. There's a lot to discuss first, a lot to reveal, and she wants to find her brother first. I could help her with that, but…"
He sighed, eyes glowing for a moment before returning to his regular black.
"But letting her take the long path might be for the best… I'll let her make the choice."
"The problems with Omniscience, huh?" she whispered, Aeon nodding at her words.
"And the girl? Sherry? She can't stay with her mother." she asked.
Aeon pursed his lips, before looking at Sherry.
The girl turned, smiling and waving shyly at Aeon.
Jill frowned sadly. To think someone like her could be the daughter of William Birkin…
Well. At least his utter incompetence at being a parent seemed to have worked out for the best, in this case.
Aeon's eyes softened.
"No, she can't. I'm thinking of adopting her, honestly."
Jill blinked in shock. "Really?"
"Really. She needs someone to watch out for her, and I sure as hell don't trust the government. And besides, you know that Oedon would love to adopt her."
Jill stared at Sherry, before wincing slightly.
Considering what she knew of Oedon's past when it comes to children, yeah, she'd have no problems with adoption.
Sherry might end up too spoiled, as a matter of fact.
Jill herself had no problem with it, the poor girl has suffered far too much as is.
And she doubted that either Rebecca or Lucy would have a problem with it either…
Jill snorted. "She's going to have so many mothers hovering over her."
Aeon smirked. "Indeed. But considering how distant her parents were, I don't think she'll mind that… at least for a while. Teenagers gotta teenagers."
Jill smirked, if a little sadly. "Fair enough."
Then she looked back at Claire, who was still throwing the occasional glance their way, and grinned.
"Hey, Aeon?"
He turned towards her. "Yeah-"
She took him by the front and smashed her lips against his, kissing him passionately.
His eyes widened, but he quickly kissed back, Jill closing her eyes in bliss for a second before re-opening them… and glancing towards Claire, who was blushing at how passionately they were kissing.
She smirked in the kiss… and then winked at Claire, making it very clear that she was free to enjoy the show.
Claire blushed harder, biting her lower lip.
Jill broke the kiss with a chuckle, Aeon grinning in amusement at her.
"Really?"
Jill shamelessly grinned back. "Hey, from what you told me, she's certainly brave, kind, and I know how men are towards red-heads. Also…"
Her smile turned soft.
"You did it. You helped save the city. There is only the clean up left, making sure nothing of the T-Virus remains, and dealing with any infected left. You saved Raccoon City, Aeon. I feared… After the Mansion, I just…"
She took a deep breath.
"You proved to the world… and to me, that we could fight off Umbrella and all of their horrors. That this was a war we could win. I…" she swallowed. "Thank you, Aeon."
He smiled softly at her.
"We did it, Jill. Together, all of us, we did it. It wasn't just one man against the world, this time. It was Humanity against monsters, and we won. Don't underestimate the help you brought to this city, from the start of the outbreak to its end, Jill."
She bit her lip. "Maybe, but I still did so much thanks to you. The training you gave me… being a Huntress… If it wasn't for that, I know that things would have been a lot harder."
Aeon opened his mouth… and then sighed, smiling slightly. "Let's agree that we all did good, and leave it at that, alright?"
Jill nodded, and then turned her head towards the incoming choppers.
One for Sherry, her mother and Claire, and one for the Wolfpack.
Leon would stay in the city, since he was still part of the RPD, and Lieutenant Branagh needed all the help he could get.
"I'll go talk to Claire, Sherry and her mother before they leave." said Aeon, and she nodded.
Jill then turned away, looking back towards the city.
She took a deep breath.
Exhaled.
And then smiled, as she saw the sun rise on the horizon.
"The night was long and full of horrors… but all nights end eventually, and with it, all the nightmares they contained."
Jill chuckled.
Two for two, now, Aeon. First Yharnam, now Raccoon City…
Jill tightened her fists, blue eyes shining with determination.
No matter what horrors the future held, Jill knew one thing.
She would be there to hunt them all.
A Hunter must Hunt, after all, she thought with a smirk.
I smiled at Claire as I came closer.
"Well, you did it. You're free to leave Raccoon City at last. I imagine that you're pretty happy to get away from here, aren't you?"
Claire huffed in laughter. "That's certainly one way to put it. Zombies, viruses, secretly evil corporations and more… that's a bit more than anything I ever expected to deal with in my life."
She shook her head, before smiling.
"It wasn't all bad, though. I was able to help Sherry and her mom, meet Leon and…" she blushed slightly. "You."
"Me." I said with amusement.
She huffed. "Yeah. Listen, Aeon… Thank you." she said, blue eyes gentle. "I know that you didn't have to go out of your way for me, but… well, knowing what I do now, you knew I was coming, didn't you?"
I chuckled. "I did. As I said, I wasn't going to let Chris' sister go through what we did on your own if I could help, and besides…" I glanced at the Birkins. "It wasn't just for you, to be completely honest."
She smirked. "Fair enough. Still, thanks."
She glanced at Sherry and her mother. "And about them…"
"Annette will end up arrested, she committed far too many crimes not to. As for Sherry… I'm thinking of adopting her, honestly."
Claire blinked in shock, before smiling brightly. "You will?!"
I nodded. "She's going to need someone to watch over her, might as well be me. I'll ask her and her mother, but I don't think they'll have a problem with it."
Claire hugged me, thanking me for looking after Sherry, before stepping back, glancing at Jill and then back at me.
"So… about us... "
"You need to find your brother first, right?" I replied.
She smiled a bit sheepily, but mostly with determination.
"Yeah. I'd love to spend more time with you, but… even knowing that Chris is alright, I still want to find him. Do you…" she trailed off, looking hopeful.
I sighed.
"I could point you to him… but first, I'd like to have a long talk with Sherry, you and Leon about… well, a great many things, really."
She smirked. "Yeah, I have… many, many questions I'd like to ask you. And I'm sure that Leon does, too. Still, I imagine that you're going to be a bit busy, finishing your work here at Raccoon City, so… just call me when you're ready to talk."
"Will do."
She hesitated for a second, before muttering a soft "Fuck it." and then…
She kissed me. A bit hesitant at first, but more and more deeply as I returned the favor, even as I bent down to better kiss her, her arms going around my neck as she deepened the kiss with a blissful moan.
By the time we broke the kiss, Claire was blushing as brightly as her hairs, a slightly dazed but happy look on her face.
"Damn. You're really good at kissing, Aeon."
"Oh trust me, it gets better." I said with a wink.
She blushed, biting her lip. "Godly skills, heh?" she teased with a smirk.
My smirk widened. "Exactly."
She blinked, before her blue eyes lost focus.
"Holy shit, you can be a literal god in bed…" she whispered, obviously losing herself in fantasies.
Good ones, by the look on her face.
Then she shook her head, glaring slightly at me.
It would have been more intimidating if I couldn't see the desire in her eyes.
"Stop trying to convince me to jump into your bed, Aeon. I'll find my brother first before anything else."
I chuckled. "I know, I know. Still…"
I gave her a quick kiss, before stepping back. "I look forward to getting to know you better… Hopefully once things calm down a bit and we aren't in danger of a zombie apocalypse anymore."
"Agreed." she said softly. "Now go talk to Sherry and her mom, you've got good news to give them, no?"
I smiled. "Indeed. Take care, Claire."
I stepped away, heading towards the remaining Birkins who were obviously trying very hard to not look at me flirting with Jill and Claire.
If the blush on Sherry's face was anything to go by, she didn't really try all that hard.
I grinned slightly as her eyes met mine, Sherry immediately looking away with a brighter blush.
Heh. I was looking forward to introducing her to everyone.
"Aeon." said Annette as I came closer, a complex look in her eyes.
"Annette. Sherry." I replied, nodding at the first and smiling at the second.
"I'm here to talk about… well, Sherry's future, since we both know that you won't be able to keep her, Annette." I said, not without a measure of kindness in my voice despite Annette's numerous crimes.
Effectively losing guardianship of your child, even if as a result of one's crimes, has to hurt badly.
And Annette agreed, as a flash of pain crossed her eyes, before being ruthlessly crushed through sheer willpower.
"I know. But… I'm all that Sherry has left. I fear that the government will get involved with her, trying to control whoever will become her guardian."
I snorted. "You mean Simmons."
She grimaced and nodded. "Yes. Him and others, but definitely him. I don't want him getting his hands on Sherry. Who knows what he'll do to her?"
Sherry winced, looking uncomfortable, but not surprised that she wouldn't live with her mother anymore.
I suppose that Annette already made it clear what was going to happen to her.
Well, in that case…
"I may have a solution, if you both are willing to hear me out?"
Sherry immediately looked up hopefully at me, though Annette merely narrowed her eyes, seemingly debating with herself for a moment before nodding.
"What do you propose?"
"If you two are willing… I'm willing to adopt Sherry myself."
Their eyes went wide.
"Really?!" exclaimed Sherry, looking shocked and delighted in equal measure.
I smiled. "Really. My wife will have no problems with it, and neither do I. And if there is someone who can ensure that the government will back off, it's me. There might be a few concessions, I can't imagine that Simmons won't demand something in exchange for letting this happen, but it won't be anything I won't approve of, you can be certain of that."
Sherry looked up at her mother. "Mom-" she paused, looking both sad and happy and in general torn up about what to feel.
Annette looked down at her daughter with sad eyes.
"I know, Sherry. But I can't stay with you, I'm afraid."
She glanced at me, the desperate hope of a mother forced to leave her child behind unless a miracle happened, but I merely looked back calmly.
I sympathized with her, I truly did, but she really brought this upon herself.
I already granted her a miracle, there won't be a second one.
Annette flinched slightly, but nodded, understanding and resigned in equal measure.
She looked back at her daughter.
"Is that alright with you, sweetie?"
Sherry glanced at me, then back at her mother and nodded.
"Yes."
I smiled, if a bit sadly. "Then I'll see it done. I'd like to stay and speak more, but I need to get back to HQ and get a sit-rep, and make sure that the city is truly cleansed for good. Don't worry, I'll see you as soon as I can."
They nodded, and I stepped away, the two of them beginning to speak quietly as I left.
I focused my attention elsewhere from the two preparing for the future and saying their goodbyes, and went to talk to Echo Six.
The US elite team perked up at my approach, stopping their not so subtle wary looks towards the Wolfpack.
"Aeon." said Dee-Ay, welcoming me with a curious look.
"Echo Six. I've heard you did good work with Jill, and that fight with the parasite-controlled Tyrant was impressive." I replied with a slight smile.
"To be fair, Blue really helped us out a lot." said Party Girl, to the obvious agreement of her entire team.
My smile widened. "Thanks. I trained her well, though she's got a lot to go yet before coming close to my level."
They all gave me long looks.
"That's impressive, considering what we've seen her do. I have to wonder what kind of training you went through yourself to reach that level." said Dee-Ay, probably fishing for information about me or ISIS.
I merely snorted. "Survival horror." I deadpanned, lips twitching in amusement.
They blinked, looking confused or incredulous.
I shook my head.
If only they knew.
I turned back towards Raccoon City, looking at the city before me.
Then I looked back at them, frowning slightly.
"You should be careful about who you trust in the future, Echo Six." I said, voice grim.
They frowned. "What do you mean?" questioned Willow.
I sighed. "Do you have any idea of what's going on in the US military and government right now? Or after this?"
They glanced at each other. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means" I said grimly "that the remaining groups with influence in the US military are Blackwatch-" they grimaced "and Derek Simmons. You've seen for yourselves how the first operates, but the second is arguably no better. Simmons wants to change the weapons of war of the world to B.O.W's. And he wants the USA to become the ones with the most, and strongest, B.O.W's in the world… at any cost. See this?" I said, waving at the war-torn city behind me.
"This is the future he envisioned. This is what he expects the future of war to look like. Cities ravaged by monsters, civilians turned into beasts, the bestial cries of bloodthirsty abominations resonating across the land. You've seen Raccoon City. Experienced its horrors first hand. Can you imagine entire countries ravaged like this? Cities having to be burnt to the ground, to prevent the terrors within to spread?"
"And your point?" asked Party Girl, looking, much like the rest of her team, troubled and concerned.
"My point, is that changes are coming. The world will change. The 20th century saw two world wars, and almost a third. And yet, the horrors of the 21th might very well make the 20th century heaven on Earth in comparison. All I ask is that you think about what you want for yourself and the world. Why did you become soldiers? And at which point do you feel that your country is going too far? If you want to serve your country, no matter the cost, then disregard my words. But if you want to fight for a better world… then please think about joining with those who could use your talents to keep the world safe."
"You're offering us a job at ISIS?" remarked Party Girl, sounding amused.
I shook my head. "I'll welcome you gladly if that's what you want, but I was talking about the future organizations that will be created after this. The US government might succeed in hiding the truth of what happened here, at least for now, at least officially, but many countries, organizations and corporations will know better. And they will act- they have no choice at this point. When whatever new task force is created, they'll need the best of the best… and even better if those elite soldiers have actual experience with B.O.W's, no?"
They all looked at me for a long moment, before glancing at one another, and I could see them thinking deeply.
In the end, they all had their reasons to join Echo Six. But this was a whole new threat, requiring a whole new set of tactics, weapons and soldiers to fight a war against B.O.W's.
And right now, they were, bar Blackwatch, the best soldiers for the job in the US.
I smiled at them. "Give it some thought, yeah?"
I looked at the departing choppers for a moment, before turning away and walking back towards the city, Leon at my side.
"Ready to finally introduce yourself to Lieutenant Branagh? It's been a hell of a first day on the job, after all." I asked.
Leon snorted. "That's one way to put it. I certainly didn't expect… all of this when I got the job."
He shook his head, a determined look on his face, before glancing at me.
"But then, you might have, didn't you? We haven't had as much time to talk as I'd like, but you're apparently…" he trailed off, looking both awed and lost and a bit angry.
I smiled sadly.
"Watching over Humanity is a full time job, to say the least. Especially when I try to not rule Mankind's future… even if that means letting evil be born, and limiting myself to fighting it as… well, not as a mortal per say, but at least not as a god."
He stayed silent for a moment.
"You could have prevented all of this."
I sighed. "I could have. Like I could have prevented WW1, or WW2, or any other horrible moment of human history. But I firmly believe that human history should be written by human hands, with only as much interference from me and mine as is absolutely required. Even if… Even if it's hard, sometimes, to not answer the prayers of the people to save them from the very real monsters of this world."
Leon seemed to muse on that for a moment.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Basically that, except on the world's scale, huh?"
I huffed in amusement.
"Benjamin Franklin, huh? Yeah, pretty much. Whether for good or ill, I'd rather let Humanity have Liberty than perfect safety."
My expression darkened.
"I've seen what happens when gods interfere too much with mortals, Leon. Perhaps, one day, I will find reasons enough to take active control of Mankind's future… but today is not that day."
I smirked at him.
"But enough heavy talks for now. How about we talk about something more interesting, heh?
He looked at me warily, something in my voice or expression warning him to be careful.
"Like what?"
My smirk widened. "Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but you and Ada Wong certainly got along pretty well, didn't you? Planning on seducing the beautiful asian mercenary to the side of the good guys, are you?"
He blushed.
"That's not-! How do you even- That's-!" he spluttered.
I laughed, clapping him in the back.
"God, remember? And boy, do you have work to do if you want to pull that off! Good luck Leon, you're going to need it!"
He spluttered some more, before shaking his head.
"Even if I wanted it, it won't happen. She's a mercenary, one working with people who want to develop more viruses. We'll always be on opposite sides. And besides, I'm just a rookie cop, why would she be interested in me?"
I glanced at him, shaking my head.
"Leon… If there is anyone she could be with, it's you." I raise a hand to stall his protests.
"You're, as you said, a rookie cop. You aren't someone she considered a threat, and that's exactly why she let her guard down around you. And you've got the morals to stand up to her, and the kindness to try and make her see that she could be a better person. You lowering your weapon and daring her to shoot? That was ballsy, Leon, but it worked, and that alone tells me that, somehow, someway, you managed to become important to her."
I chuckled. "That rocket launcher didn't come from nowhere, you know."
Leon stared at me for a long moment, a complex mix of emotions in his eyes, before shaking his head.
"Even if all of that is true, we probably are never going to meet again." he finally said.
I laughed at him.
He stared at me.
"What?"
I only laughed harder, gleefully replying "Spoilers!" while walking away, smiling smugly and with clear amusement.
The mixed look of surprise, anticipation, dread and fragile hope on his face was glorious.
Someone's got it bad. I thought with a smirk.
I looked at the city through the window of one of the offices of the RPD building, which while in obvious need of repairs was at least no longer filled with dead bodies… or undead ones.
The city was not fully at peace, there were still isolated pockets of infected to hunt down, and a whole lot of decontamination that I had to ensure was as thoroughly done as humanly possible (and then some more if needed), but overall, Raccoon City was officially considered taken back and the outbreak broken for good.
No longer did the city resonate with the moans of the undead walking the streets, no longer did people need to fear monsters eating them, through sweat, blood, tears and a whole lot of laser weapons the city had been pacified.
Things were still tense, soldiers twitching at any unexpected loud noise, eyes carefully checking every corner for any hidden infected, and the area between ISIS and Blackwatch was on a hair-trigger at all times, but despite everything…
Victory was achieved. The city cleansed of beasts. Humanity stood triumphant over the monsters which sought to exterminate all human life in the city.
ISIS had proven itself, morale was higher than ever (the lack of casualties from ISIS helped), Jill and Rebecca had fought well and became much stronger, strong enough that I was considering letting them have a second trip to (simulated) Yharnam, Claire, Sherry and her mother were safely out of the city and overall things were as good as they could be.
I also got reports that Ada Wong successfully left the city, and so did HUNK, who left with his own sample of the G-Virus.
I chuckled darkly at that. I was looking forward to the sheer clusterfuck that sample was going to cause to Umbrella.
Not that the one that Ada Wong got would cause any less problems to the various evils of this world in the long run. And much like the one HUNK got, said samples would eventually be erased from existence, just not before it led to certain problematic groups being revealed and then dealt with.
And I…
I took a deep breath.
Exhaled.
Took in the sounds of human life, of soldiers bustling about, of laughter coming from my people as they joked freely, feeling proud of themselves for the good work they did here and the lives they have saved.
I smiled.
There was still so much work left to be done… but for a little while, I was going to allow myself to relax, and enjoy a moment of well-earned peace.
I closed my eyes, pupils suddenly glowing as I watched as only a god could over the remaining people of the city, of the world, taking notes of the various remaining threats to take care of…
And then I looked at the far future, at all the bright and prosperous timelines where mankind thrived, free from the terrors of the past, where I could sit back in the Hunter's Dream and simply feel proud of my people as they made their way towards the closest to utopia they could create with their own two hands.
I smiled, taking in all the wonders created by mortal hands that would one day fill the stars with their presences, and in many cases surround them entirely.
One day. One day, the heavens will no longer belong only to the gods, but to mortal kind as well.
I just needed to help safeguard Humanity for long enough that they could reach for the stars themselves.
Much like children, they needed to be protected and guided until they could take care of themselves.
… I mentally snorted. Look at me now, seeing Humanity as a whole as children…
I suppose I was getting old. Certainly, my true self has seen several entire multiverses by now…
And that was nothing to say to all the horrors I fought against while in my human bodies...
I shook my head
For now, however, I would allow myself to enjoy the sights of the wonders to come. Seeing all that the future had in store was… soothing.
I chuckled.
Truly, nothing teaches patience as much as being a god capable of looking forward in time...