After passing through the corridor filled with laser traps — where a Frankenstein-like monster had fallen from the ceiling onto Alex, only to be effortlessly dealt with — Alex and his group moved deeper into the laboratory.
Alex was particularly interested in the room where people captured on Wesker's orders had been held. Horrific experiments had been performed on them. Even now, Alex felt an unpleasant aftertaste in his soul after reading the memories of the now-dead Liam. In the scientist's memories, Alex had seen them conduct experiments even on children — and what those children had turned into after the monstrous procedures.
Just thinking about it made Alex want to destroy the entire laboratory down to its foundations and kill Wesker, the mastermind behind all this horror. But besides killing Wesker, Alex also wanted answers. He suspected — or rather, was almost certain — that it was Wesker's fault Davoth had been able to find a path into this world.
As they continued walking through the laboratory's corridors, which resembled a true labyrinth with countless branches, Alex realized that without a map of the facility, they would have been wandering here all day — something they couldn't afford in their situation. Avoiding yet another ambush — or rather, swiftly eliminating the demonic soldiers — Alex and his group moved deeper and deeper inside.
For the most part, the fighting was handled by GIR, MIMI, Stitch, and Wolf, who had taken on the task of wiping out all soldiers and failed experiments that either jumped out of side corridors or dropped from the ceilings. Each creature looked more grotesque than the last, as if they had escaped from the worst nightmares.
At the moment, Alex, Claire, Rebecca, Red, and White were taking cover behind a wall while GIR, MIMI, Stitch, and Wolf dealt with the latest ambush in a trap-filled corridor. Although Red had regained control over most of the security systems, Wesker had still managed to sabotage some of them, and certain traps now operated autonomously, making them impossible to deactivate. Alex leaned lazily against the wall, waiting for his assistants to clear the next obstacle from their path.
Rebecca and Claire had already gotten used to the fact that they hardly had to do anything — Alex's assistants handled all the work far more fiercely than any enemy standing in their way. Claire and Rebecca even began wondering whether it had been necessary for them to join Alex in the first place, considering how little their help was actually needed.
While Alex continued to relax and Claire and Rebecca questioned their usefulness, the sounds of gunfire and screaming in the corridor finally died down.
"Looks like they're done. We can move on," Alex said, putting his phone back in his pocket.
"Why do I feel like we're just tagging along for company?" Rebecca asked, looking at Alex.
"Exactly. We're basically doing nothing — all the work's being handled by your assistants, or as you call them, your 'kids'. I haven't even fired a single shot this whole time," Claire said, shaking her head.
"Not for nothing. For example, you're a former TerraSave member, and thanks to your experience, you know how to organize people in a dangerous situation and lead them to safety. And Rebecca here is a former medic from a special unit, so when we find survivors, your skills will be crucial," Alex said, glancing at the girls.
"No wonder you have so many girls around you. You seduce them with your speeches — it's hard to argue against you," Claire said with a smirk, looking at Alex.
"Almost. There's love mixed in there too," Alex said exaggeratedly, making a theatrical gesture with his hand.
"Yeah, love and your sweet talking," Rebecca added in the same exaggerated tone.
Alex smirked and headed down the corridor where the carnage had just occurred. Red and White followed him without hesitation. Claire and Rebecca exchanged glances, smiled, and went after them.
Stepping into the corridor, Alex saw the aftermath of the massacre his little helpers had caused: everything around was destroyed, bodies were scattered everywhere. Now they all stood before a closed door.
Alex approached GIR, MIMI, Stitch, and Wolf, curious about why they were staring at the door. Listening carefully, he caught muffled sounds coming from the other side. Someone was in there. There were two possibilities: either it was a scientist who had managed to escape and lock himself in to avoid becoming a victim, or it was a staff member who had hidden there at the very start after the alarm was triggered.
"Why are they all staring at the door?" Claire asked, noticing everyone's focus.
"Someone's hiding in there. Now the real question is — who exactly?" Alex replied.
Alex stepped closer to the door and tapped on it lightly. Almost immediately, he sensed the person inside flinch in fear. Raising an eyebrow, Alex pulled out his phone and connected to the security camera inside the room where someone was hiding. He didn't want to simply phase through the wall — Claire and Rebecca would definitely have questions he didn't feel like answering.
Claire and Rebecca leaned in to look over his shoulder.
On the phone screen appeared a man around forty years old in a lab coat. Alex recognized him instantly — a face he could never forget. One of the scientists responsible for the monstrous experiments on captured people and children.
Thomas Johnson. One of Wesker's followers, obsessed with the dream of immortality and eternal life.
Claire and Rebecca looked questioningly at Alex. In response, he simply showed them the man's dossier, so the girls could understand just what kind of scum was hiding behind the door. After scanning through Thomas's criminal record, Red also provided additional personal data on the scientist — pushing the girls into outright fury.
Behind the door was a true piece of garbage, one of those it was hard enough even to track down.
Putting his phone back in his pocket, Alex approached the door again with a slight smile on his lips.
"Tommy, my boy... Open the door, I know you're in there," he said, lazily tapping his fingers against the metal surface.
But silence reigned behind the door. Thomas knew very well that he had been discovered. But what terrified him most were the four strange creatures that had wiped out an entire squad of modified soldiers in mere minutes — soldiers who were supposed to represent the "next step of evolution" towards immortality.
All his precious test subjects had perished before he even fully realized what was happening. Now, all Thomas could do was hide in the room and pray they wouldn't find him. But luck had already abandoned him.
He didn't know who was standing on the other side of the door — and he didn't want to. After all, he hadn't yet achieved his "great" plans, the ones he had pursued his entire life.
Then, the voice came again, as if it sounded right inside his head:
"Tommy, my boy... I can smell your fear. I can feel it coursing through your veins, creeping into your heart. I can sense how your mind is filling with panic and your body is freezing in terror... You weren't afraid when you were stealing the lives of innocent children, experimenting on them. So why are you trembling now, Tommy? Come out quickly, before the fear completely devours you."
Alex's voice was quiet, almost a whisper, echoing against the walls and intensifying the suffocating atmosphere.
Thomas felt the lights in the room dimming. Children's screams began tormenting him — piercing, desperate, and relentless, even when he clamped his hands over his ears.
Each scream stabbed into his consciousness, tearing it apart from within.
The lights flickered, shadows stretched and twisted, and objects in the room seemed to come alive.
He could feel dozens of invisible eyes watching him. His heart pounded wildly, his veins felt heavy as lead, and every breath became harder to take.
He tried to gulp in air, but the panic tightened around his throat even more.
The pain in his chest intensified, as if a red-hot needle were piercing his heart. Thomas clutched his chest, trying to stop the pain, but it only grew stronger.
And then he saw them — the silhouettes of children, standing in the shadows. With every passing moment, their outlines became clearer.
As the ghosts of his victims neared him, Thomas let out a terrible, primal scream filled with raw fear. The last thing he saw before darkness consumed his vision was the small hands of the children reaching out to him.
His heart couldn't take it. He died with his face twisted in pure, genuine terror.
A shrill scream echoed from behind the door, causing Rebecca and Claire to flinch. Alex grinned, showing his teeth. Fortunately, the girls didn't notice the expression on his face — otherwise, they would have been just as terrified as the poor Thomas had been by his scream.
Both stared at the door in confusion, where the tragedy had just unfolded.
Alex wiped the smile off his face, realizing that Thomas's death was entirely his doing. A simple fear spell, slightly enhanced, had driven the poor man to heart failure. But Alex felt no sympathy — Thomas had earned that death.
"What was that?" Rebecca managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper. "That scream gave me chills…"
"I don't know. Maybe he got scared," Alex replied indifferently, hiding his smirk.
"That's one hell of a scare," Claire muttered, still hearing the echo of the dying scream in her ears.
"Well, I guess it's understandable. His poor little heart couldn't handle my friendly tone and polite tapping," Alex shrugged lazily.
Claire and Rebecca exchanged looks, watching Alex with a serious expression while he spouted nonsense. But with Thomas dead, there was no reason to stay here any longer. They had to move quickly to the rooms where the kidnapped people were being held.
Alex wasn't planning to waste any time either. The thought of what condition the prisoners might be in, and how many were still alive, troubled him. Picking up the pace, he turned down another corridor — and unexpectedly ran into someone.
He barely had time to blink in surprise before Cammy hit the floor with a dull thud. Alex bent down to help her up, but just then, Renka literally flew into him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him on the face.
The girls, seeing Alex, sighed in relief. At first, they had thought it was another group of strange soldiers, the kind they'd already encountered in this nightmarish place. If it hadn't been for Rory pointing the way, they would have definitely gotten completely lost. Although, to be honest, the apostle's help was dubious — following her directions, they had begun to seriously doubt whether they would ever escape.
Alex felt a slight moisture on his cheek and smiled warmly at the girls. They responded with equally warm smiles.
"Alright, Renka, get off Alex. He's not just yours," Chun-Li said cheerfully, easily pulling Renka off of Alex.
Renka wanted to protest, but she was quickly deprived of that opportunity. As soon as she was removed, the other girls also approached Alex — each of them gave him a quick kiss.
Alex felt his face being covered in kisses. Claire and Rebecca were the most stunned: witnessing such a display of affection made them feel quite awkward, especially considering both girls were still single.
GIR, MIMI, and Stitch started hopping around excitedly, boasting to the girls about their "achievements" and waiting for praise.
"I'm happy to see you too. But how did it happen that we ran into each other here, instead of you catching up with us?" Alex asked in surprise.
"There's nothing surprising about it. You can thank Rory for that," Rei replied with sharp sarcasm, casting a glance at the apostle.
Alex turned his gaze to Rory, who gave him an embarrassed smile and stuck her tongue out. He realized he was clearly missing something important... Why had the girls listened to her instead of following the blood trail left by his group?
The girls looked at Rory reproachfully. They had collectively decided that they wouldn't be listening to Rory's suggestions next time.
"And what did she do?" Alex asked, though he already had a rough idea of the reason.
"She said she knew a shortcut to you," Chun-Li sighed. "In the end, instead of just following the obvious trail, we stumbled upon a group of strange soldiers... And a couple of scientists who shot themselves in the head before we could ask them a single question."
Alex smirked, glancing at Rory. He approached her and gently ruffled her hair, understanding that she had genuinely tried to help, even though the result was questionable.
He also made a mental note to find out more about those strange scientists who had put bullets in their heads. The girls couldn't really tell him much about them; they preferred to kill themselves rather than be captured alive.
Sighing, Alex remembered that he needed to introduce Claire and Rebecca to the other girls so they wouldn't feel like strangers. The introduction went smoothly and warmly — even though they hadn't met before, they knew about each other.
"So, where are you headed?" Renka asked. "Since we've run into each other, let's go together. Otherwise, we'll get lost again if we decide to listen to Rory."
"We were heading to where they were keeping the people who were being experimented on or were going to be," Alex explained.
The girls nodded and followed Alex. Along the way, they took the opportunity to get to know Claire and Rebecca better, asking them about their pasts.
Renka, as usual, climbed onto Alex's back, settling comfortably, and whispered to him about what had happened with Saeko's father. It was already known that her father had ended up on the enemy's side, and this question had been bothering Renka.
Alex calmly replied that Saeko's father's situation wasn't much different from her uncle Sugetsu's, who also had turned to the side of evil.
Renka silently nodded, accepting the answer, and the journey continued in silence.
But as soon as Alex's face appeared around the next corner, a fist flew at him with great force. Alex effortlessly intercepted the punch, halting it halfway.
Cammy and Chun-Li reacted faster than the others: the former instantly shoved the attacker aside, while the latter fired her gun, assisting Shigure, who had thrown shurikens that pierced the aggressor's hands.
When the man lowered his hands, everyone could see his face clearly.
Before them stood a tall man with gray hair and a body marked by scars. Alex looked at the attacker with interest—he seemed familiar to him.
Judging by the expressions on Chun-Li and Cammy's faces, they recognized him too.
"Do you know this idiot who attacked me?" Alex asked, squinting skeptically.
"This is Bryan Fury," Cammy explained, crossing her arms over her chest. "Half-machine, half-corpse. Hard to call him an ordinary human."
Alex nodded, finally recalling where this character was from. In this strange mix of universes, he had long stopped being surprised by encounters with familiar heroes.
But Bryan wasn't going to wait for them to finish their conversation—he lunged at them again.
Renka immediately jumped off Alex's back to avoid being in the way.
Bryan appeared in front of Alex and threw a deceptive punch at his face, sharply changing stance and attacking with a kick to the torso.
Alex calmly deflected the punch, easily pushing the attacker back.
Bryan, performing a flip in the air, landed on his feet and, without wasting time, pulled a mini grenade launcher from behind his back, firing instantly.
Seeing the projectile coming toward him, Alex calmly opened the sheath of Yamato, drawing the blade just enough to slice the projectile in half. The two halves of the grenade dropped to the floor, making a sharp metallic sound.
"Hey, we're fighting with our hands!" Alex said indignantly, raising an eyebrow. "Or should I pull out a gun too?"
Bryan didn't answer, immediately charging again.
Alex smirked and rushed toward him.
Their clash echoed through the hallway. Bryan unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at Alex, but he avoided every one with a lazy smile.
Lifting his leg, Alex dodged a blow, then, in response, dropped his heel down like a guillotine, smashing it straight onto Bryan's skull.
With a dull crack, Bryan's face slammed into the floor, and a web of cracks immediately spread across the floor.
Alex didn't give him a chance to recover—he casually lifted his opponent's body into the air with his foot and, with a swift spin, sent him flying with a powerful blow.
Bryan crashed with a loud thud into the massive iron doors, but even then, he hadn't regained his senses: Alex was instantly by his side, driving his knee into his chest, finally smashing the iron doors with Bryan's body.
When the dust settled, Alex approached and saw the lifeless body of the half-cyborg. The final blow had turned his core into a pile of scrap metal, crushing his ribcage inward.
Turning away from Bryan's remains, Alex surveyed the room. What he saw made him clench his fists with a sharp crack.
Massive vats stood around the hall, filled with murky liquid. Inside, small, horribly deformed bodies floated.
Their twisted faces were frozen in expressions of pain and suffering.
Alex immediately understood who these beings were, and rage consumed him. He could feel the emotions emanating from the mutilated bodies—despair, pain, and hopelessness.
"Hey, that was quick... What the hell is this..." came Chun-Li's voice, rushing in after him.
Her upbeat tone quickly shifted to surprise and then to disgust when she saw what was happening. Her face turned pale, and her hands instinctively clenched into fists.
The other girls followed them in, but what they saw left them in shock. Not only Alex, but also the girls knew perfectly well who these deformed bodies belonged to. The bodies in the vats belonged not only to children but also to adults who had undergone torturous experiments at the hands of mad scientists who had followed Wesker.
"This is horrible... I can't believe these people were treated so cruelly. Their bodies are literally twisted by the experiments," Rebecca said, her voice filled with pain.
Alex could only nod in response. He didn't just see it—he felt the emotions of these unfortunate people, turned into monsters and trapped in these glass prisons. With a heavy sigh, Alex approached the console and cut the power to all the capsules to give them the peace they deserved, so they would no longer suffer. One by one, the capsules shut down until the light vanished from the entire room.
"I think you did the right thing. It's better to let them die than leave them in this state... I can feel their pain too," Rory said quietly, taking Alex's hand.
Alex nodded again. He understood: even if he had saved these people, they would still remain broken. Their souls had been forever scarred by the horrors they had endured. The best solution was to give them peace, rather than prolong their suffering.
The other girls stood in silence, their hearts reflecting the same pain. It was hard for them to even imagine the torment these unfortunate children and adults had gone through to end up turned into monsters.
Alex touched his communicator:
"Becca, are you there?"
"What happened, cupcake?" Rebecca replied. "Your voice doesn't sound right. Did something upset you?"
"Are you and the girls already in the lab?" Alex asked, sighing heavily.
"Yeah, we're following your blood trail. What happened?" Rebecca asked cautiously.
"It's a long story. Anyway, you'll have work to do. Find all the scientists who worked here and deal with them. All of them, without exception. I'll send G.I.R., MIMI, Stitch, and Wolf to help you with the search," Alex said, rubbing his eyes from exhaustion.
"What happened over there, Alex?" Valmet asked, joining the conversation. "Even I can tell something's wrong with you."
Alex sighed deeply and briefly explained what they had encountered in the lab, what they had seen, and who was responsible for it. The girls accompanying Rebecca had heard enough. Rebecca was the most furious. Briefly promising Alex she would track down all the scientists, she disconnected.
But Alex could clearly hear her grinding her teeth in anger. And the rest of the girls clearly shared her fury.
Alex looked at G.I.R., MIMI, Stitch, and Wolf and gestured for them to support Rebecca's group. G.I.R., MIMI, and Stitch saluted in response—fire burning in their eyes. Wolf silently bowed his head, threw the trio onto his back, and took off toward Rebecca and her team's position.
"What should we do next?" Miu asked, gripping Alex's hand. "I don't feel comfortable staying here..."
Alex gently squeezed her hand:
"We'll search everything here. There should be a room nearby where they kept people."
The girls nodded and scattered to search for the room where the people were kept. Only White and Red remained by Alex's side, standing just behind him. Alex took another look at the mangled bodies in the capsules and snapped his fingers. The bodies inside exploded, turning into a thick red liquid.
Lighting a cigarette to calm himself, Alex moved deeper into the lab. Passing rows of vats, he once again found himself before a heavy iron door that looked especially sturdy. From Red, he learned that behind this door were people intended for experiments, kept in an unconscious state to prevent them from escaping.
Alex nodded, approached, and kicked the door with force, breaking it inward. The sound of the door crashing drew the attention of the girls, who came over to see what he had found.
Inside the room, Alex saw numerous capsules with people deep in sleep. Some faces he recognized immediately, others seemed unfamiliar.
"Well, well... they got her too," Chun-Li said, pointing at one of the capsules in surprise.
Alex followed her gaze and saw a woman in the capsule—it was Juri Han, a long-time rival of Chun-Li. Both of them had gone through similar fates: both had lost their parents due to M. Bison, the head of Shadaloo, who had ordered their deaths. Only the paths of the two women had diverged.
"Is she your friend?" Alex asked, looking at Chun-Li.
"Friend? We've fought so many times that I don't even remember how many exactly," Chun-Li said, rolling her eyes.
"I thought you were friends. You both have similar fates," Alex remarked.
"How would you know... Oh, right, you're the all-knowing Demon King who knows everything about everyone," Chun-Li said with a slight smirk, playfully punching Alex in the shoulder.
"You forgot the most important thing: I'm also your husband," Alex added with a playful grin, raising an eyebrow.
Chun-Li smirked and kissed him on the cheek.
Alex walked over to the control panel and began deactivating the capsules, asking the girls to help those who might wake up disoriented after being under anesthesia for so long. The girls immediately began inspecting the capsules.
Suddenly, a cry rang out:
"Barry!" Rebecca exclaimed, seeing a familiar face in one of the capsules.
"Did you recognize someone too?" Alex asked, turning to her.
"Yes, it's Barry Burton. We worked together in S.T.A.R.S.," Rebecca replied loudly.
Alex raised an eyebrow, though he wasn't too surprised. Barry had once been Wesker's comrade, and it wasn't shocking that Wesker had used him in his experiments. Alex also hoped that Barry's daughter, Moira, was okay. Losing his daughter could have completely broken Barry.
Alex warned the girls to prepare and pressed the activation button. The liquid in the capsules began to slowly recede, and soon the capsules started to open. The girls carefully helped the weakened people to the floor.
At that moment, Claire, Miu, and Renka ran into the room.
"We found people in cages!" Claire reported.
Alex immediately wanted to know their condition. According to the girls, it was less than ideal: the people looked exhausted and could barely stand.
Alex nodded and contacted Saya, asking her to send people for evacuation and a team of doctors. Saya confirmed that reinforcements were on the way.
Turning to White and Red, Alex asked them to meet the people at the elevator and bring them here.
White and Red nodded and immediately left.
"You guys start releasing the people from the cages. Help is on the way," Alex said, addressing Miu, Claire, and Renka.
"Alright. But these people look very weak and exhausted," Miu quietly remarked.
"That's not surprising, considering everything they've been through," Rory sadly added, shaking her head.
Claire, Miu, and Renka went to release the people from the cages while the others carefully helped lower the rescued individuals from the capsules. Rebecca quickly moved between them, checking each person's condition to make sure no one had serious injuries.
But the silence didn't last long. One of the rescued suddenly opened their eyes and immediately lunged into an attack.
"Dammit, you bastards! You thought you could keep me here?!" Juri screamed, not caring who her fury was directed at.
In a blind rage, she attacked the first person she saw—Chun-Li. But Chun-Li clearly wasn't about to let herself be beaten. Their kicks collided in midair, causing a powerful shockwave, and both women stepped back. However, Juri, still in a rage, charged again.
Chun-Li and Juri exchanged a series of fast and powerful blows, destroying everything around them. Alex, watching the fight, frowned. He didn't want the battle to continue—especially near people who were just starting to regain consciousness.
In an instant, Alex appeared between them, easily intercepting their strikes.
"Enough, you two," he said calmly, holding their legs in the air.
Chun-Li was the first to retract her leg and glance at Alex. He, in turn, casually threw Juri back. She landed smoothly on her hands, flipped over, and stood at a safe distance.
Alex quickly assessed her and sighed. Juri was only wearing bandages hastily covering her body—essentially, she was almost naked.
Gradually regaining her senses, Juri stared at Chun-Li, who stood behind Alex.
"What are you doing here, Chun-Li?" she sneered. "Did they capture you too and turn you into a puppet?"
"Unlike some people, I wasn't captured and locked in a capsule like a lab rat," Chun-Li retorted calmly.
Alex sighed tiredly and rubbed his forehead. His mood was clearly souring.
Meanwhile, Juri shifted her gaze to Alex. Her eyebrow arched slightly—she was clearly sizing him up.
"And who's this handsome guy?" she asked, smirking.
"This is my husband," Chun-Li replied with a smile, wrapping her arms around Alex's neck.
"What? Husband?!" Juri exclaimed in surprise. "Since when do you like men? I thought you... uh... had other preferences."
Alex silently shook his head, his face showing a mix of exhaustion and indifference.
"I see you're coming to your senses. Maybe you should get dressed?" he asked, casting a blank look at her.
Juri snorted and, loosening the bandages around her body, mockingly said.
"What, is my outfit bothering you? Or maybe you want to see more? You'll ditch this 'long-legged' one and come over to me?"
Alex looked at Juri with a tired expression as she slowly loosened the bandages around her body. His eye started twitching — a clear sign of an impending headache. He was one hundred percent sure: another pair of girls was about to show up, and they would argue endlessly with each other. This time, it would be Chun-Li and Juri.
Once, Alex had considered Chun-Li calm and balanced. But that opinion was shattered the moment Juri entered their lives.
Turning his gaze to Chun-Li, he immediately noticed: another second, and she would snap. Chun-Li's face tensed, and there was a dangerous glint in her eyes. Meanwhile, Juri, grinning, continued to provoke Alex, clearly enjoying the situation.
Not getting the reaction she desired, Juri disappointedly removed her hands from the bandages, realizing that Chun-Li's "husband" wouldn't easily fall for her games.
"You're no fun," she dramatically complained. "Aren't you men supposed to be drooling over a half-naked girl?"
"Maybe you're right," Alex answered calmly. "But given the situation we're in, I couldn't care less. And for the love of all that's holy, put something on."
Not wanting to waste more time on arguments, he removed his haori and casually threw it toward Juri.
The fabric landed right in her face, freezing her in complete shock. Slowly pulling the haori off her head, Juri looked at Alex in confusion, who at that moment was massaging his forehead as if in despair.
Then her gaze fell on Chun-Li, whose face now held a triumphant, almost victorious smirk.
A vein popped on Juri's temple, but instead of a burst of anger, her lips curled into a sly smile. Draping the haori over her shoulders, Juri deliberately inhaled its scent, throwing a mocking glance at Chun-Li.
The tension between the two women quickly reached its breaking point — just a little more, and the room would have turned into a battlefield again.
But the sudden sound of a lighter stopped them.
Alex leisurely lit a cigarette and gave a heavy glance at both Chun-Li and Juri, clearly signaling that now was not the time for bickering.
Meanwhile, Cammy was busy helping a familiar giant — Zangief, who had also been found among the prisoners in the capsules — regain his composure.
Alex just waited for the main rescue team to finally arrive to evacuate all the freed prisoners, knowing that a headache from the ongoing chaos was just around the corner.
To be continued...
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