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"IT TURNS OUT THAT old man Saddler wasn't buying me from the start.
Even though I succeeded in kidnapping Ashley, I sort of sensed this when Saddler didn't completely let me in the loop.
Under the circumstances, I had no other alternative but to call for her assistance.
Perhaps she knew this was the way it was going to turn out all along...
My guess is that her ultimate goal might be different from Wesker's and mine.
This is just the perfect opportunity to find out.
And after I get rid of Leon, the unnamed agent, and retrieve the sample, I'll put her in a bodybag along with Leon and send them both to Wesker."
— Krauser
Tents and tarps had been set up, along with supplies and boxes. Metal fences surrounded the area, revealing sandy dunes. Mortared bricks formed little walls to duck and hide behind.
"I don't like this," Leon said as he jumped down, waiting for her to follow. Piles of wood were made in bonfires. "Be on your guard."
Walking right above them was Krauser.
Now shirtless as if he's ready to fight, it revealed a deeply muscular body underneath. Straps and holsters wrapped around his waist. A large scar ran across his body.
"So...you two are hooked up now?"
Backing away, Seraphina wasn't sure how she should be interfering with them. It seemed like their history ran deep, nothing to do with her at all. Still, standing by and doing nothing would mean she was giving up.
"Where's Ashley?!" Leon exclaimed.
Krauser laughed. "Do you really wanna know? She's beyond that gate. You need three insignias to open it,"
"What are you gonna do, Krauser?" Leon asked.
"There's one in the north...and the other in the east." Krauser said with a taunting smile.
"And let me guess, you got the last one."
"It pretty much means your on a tight leash."
Krauser pointed a laser gun at them, the red light touching Leon's body. He glared at Seraphina, knowing there was two of them, but didn't seemed fazed going against both. In fact, he didn't even look to be scared at all. As if taking on two enemies were nothing but a nuisance.
"Sounds like you thought this out pretty well."
Leon threw a grappling hook straight at him, taking her hand as the hook threw off Krauser. They both dived behind the brick walls as a rain fall of bullets narrowly missed them. Realizing she had landed right onto his waist where his injury was healing, Seraphina scrambled to get up.
"Sorry, didn't mean to...! Are you okay?" Seraphina crouched down next to him as Krauser kept shooting at them without relenting. Seeing it was futile to waste his ammo, he stopped, which wasn't a good sign. Leon got back up on his feet to drag her away.
"Not gonna be if he gets us. Let's spilt, I'll get the north insignia and you get the east. I trust you."
I trust you...
Nodding, she tried her best to cover her shaking hands. I can't fail. Krauser's footsteps could be heard miles away, yet she couldn't even get a glimpse of his movement at all. Leon may be familiar with his fighting and steps, but she was walking blindly into this.
They separated, leaving Leon far away with him by her side. Seraphina tossed her feelings aside for a moment and realized all this time, she'd barely been away from him. Except that one time with Dean. It was more than nerve wracking, knowing her enemy could easily sweep her off her feet.
I have to avoid Krauser at all costs.
Seeing the knife right from before, Krauser fought in close combat. That made her feel much worse...Seraphina trained with guns and weapons most of the time. She'd only learned basic combat to defend herself. After seeing Krauser's amazing melee skills and Leon barely holding up, things were looking hopeless.
Out of everything, he decides to trust me.
Maybe out of bad luck, Krauser hopped right in front of her. He held the knife handle by his palm, sideways in a way to fight. Krauser held this defensive position, but things were odd. He wasn't trying to slash her immediately.
"Finally, your alone. It seems like Leon trusted you to get the insignia. I never got why you're alive. Why are you here, huh?"
Seraphina tried her best to hide her stutter and quivering lip.
"I'm here to help rescue Ashley. I don't understand why you're working with Saddler. What are you getting out of this?"
Krauser folded his arms. "Won't say. This is involved with me and Leon, you shouldn't be here. I'll let you go now if you leave miss, but once your hands are on that insignia, I'll kill you."
"I'm not leaving."
Krauser scoffed, smirking at what he heard.
Just like when he came, he left in a flash without leaving a trace behind. Scarily, Krauser could jump around light on his feet without even making much noise. It might be true, on what he said.
She has no idea why she's been alive this long.
Seraphina knew she could die at any moment. Saddler could easily twist the mutated parasite inside her body, killing her. It almost was like the ticking time bomb of the T-virus...when she thought she was going to turn in those few hours.
Somehow, she's alive and well.
It meant she couldn't just stop now. Not yet.
Submitting to the Las Plagas would be a lifetime of shame. Seraphina knew that perfectly well, if she gave up without an effort, then what would have it all been for? Leon had trust in her and so did Ashley to bring her back to the states safely.
The ground constantly shook, throwing her off balance. Sounds of explosions and booms drummed in Seraphina's chest. Krauser dangerously had begun to throw around bombs, which meant another thing to look out for, besides him...
Even if it was two against one, Krauser had no struggle trying to throw both agents off. He had especially gone hard against Leon, slicing and slashing Leon whenever he could. Blood dripped and left trails behind, leaving a dreadful path for her to follow.
One of the insignias had laid on a stand engraved in stone without even a guard standing by. Then they only needed one more piece before it completed the strange wall puzzle to release Ashley.
It couldn't have been that easy.
Rocks and sand flew around as the explosions blew the debris away, landing onto Seraphina's skin and clothes. Grime and soot caked onto her, while the blood dried and piled on top of the dirt. The sediments and dust wanted to crawl like little bugs inside her lungs and take the air away.
As soon as she approached the altar stand, Krauser jumped down in front of her. Gasping, Seraphina backed away with hurried steps. She hardly had anything on hand. Grabbing her own dagger, she propped it up in front and stood in a defensive stance.
"I see you made your choice. You are a very sorry sight, miss nurse. But I don't play gently."
"I'd like it better if you would stop underestimating me and fight!"
Aiming forward, Krauser sliced right into her stomach, cutting the surface of her clothes and barely pierced the skin. Seraphina knew this was an unbalanced and unfair fight. The only way getting out of it alive was being smart.
Both of their hands collided, leaving Krauser to nudge and knock her backwards. The ledge where the altar sat wasn't a big space, leaving Seraphina to roll over and fall onto the ground with a painful thud. Coughing, trying to breathe again, she watched as Krauser jump down to stab her—
He had stopped midway.
Squinting his eyes in the other direction as if he heads something, Krauser had a rare moment of letting the woman stay alive and jumped away to attend to something else. That something being Leon, most likely.
Taking advantage of those precious seconds of his disappearance, Seraphina weakly stumbled back onto her feet and grabbed the insignia.
Now it was all or nothing.
Get the insignia in.
Even if it meant she bled out, or her legs ached so much that it hurt, Seraphina ran for her life.
Towering above, a ladder and staircase led all the way up towards the sky. Two shadowed figures stood near the air, but that could only mean all this time, Krauser had been fighting Leon. Hearing beeping noises and the red glare, Seraphina's eyes focused on the bombs attached to the tower.
She doesn't have much time until they blow.
As if a reminder, Krauser's arm lifted towards the sky. Pulsating as the flesh and bone crunched, his arm mutated to something that resembled a wing and a talon. His arm had became double the size of him, a sight otherworldly and not possible for a human.
Dodging his attacks, both men used their knives to slice each other. Even Seraphina could hear the skin tearing and metal clashing from the way down. A fatal misstep had left Leon hanging off the ledge with a single hand, slowly, Krauser used his foot to crush his fingers and laughed at his pain.
A single bullet landed in Krauser's knee, giving Leon the time to climb back up as Krauser grimaced at the woman who was still alive. Seraphina could hardly breath, so much that she felt sick enough to vomit but mustered a small grin at the accurate aim.
"You!"
Wasting no time of her distraction, Leon slashed Krauser multiple times before kicking him backwards. They had roughly two minutes before the bombs went off. Why were they always running into destruction? First the Umbrella lab exploding, now this?
Facing a few more ruthless cuts to the arms, Leon weakly defended himself. It took all of his expense to dive the knife straight into Krauser's heart, which had been the killing blow. Blood shot out of his mouth, flowing out of Krauser's chest. The sight of death and suffering burned into one.
Gurgling on his own blood, Krauser was defeated.
Leon took a moment to watch his former comrade die. He had been a good person before, maybe a little bit strayed away. Used to be someone he thought he knew. Now he laid in a puddle of blood with a mutated monster arm, unrecognizable to the person Krauser was.
Seeing his death whisk away into the cold air where the sand lay, there were no words said. Leon couldn't get to say goodbye or say words of hatred towards his former friend and fellow comrade. He wasn't sure if he should feel pitiful or sympathetic.
Now it had been a minute.
Managing to get all three insignias sucessfully, they both left the scene as the walls crumbled down.
Beep...a radio call interrupted their short lived victory. Leon wasn't sure if he should just shut the thing down or not, but he didn't want to miss the chance of it being Hunnigan.
"So it seems like you killed Krauser too. How should I return my appreciation?" Saddler smiled.
"What? What are you talking about? I thought he was with you." Leon said.
"What are you talking about? Did you really think I'd trust an American? To tell you the truth, I was contemplating on how to get rid of him. But thanks to you, that's no longer necessary."
"You were just using him right from the start."
"I must hand it to you...you've demonstrated quite a bit of promise by killing Krauser. When your assimilation with Las Plagas is complete, I'll have you serve as my guard. For your friend, I'll have to see her fight properly before I decide."
"Unfortunately I'm going to have to decline your generous offer. She's off limits too. I have prior engagements." Leon answered sarcastically.
"Enjoy your smart mouthing while you can."
Combatants roamed and guarded the area. They were dressed in loose camo clothing. Some wore bandanas, normal clothes. It would have been a normal sight if it weren't for their perplexing array of weapons and unsettling, glowing eyes. Campfires burned as the smoke rose into the air.
Seraphina clicked onto her radio. Nothing was going through, only ringing. Really bad timing for the connection to go out.
I need to talk to Dean. Why now?
They hid behind a supply crate, waiting and observing the guards. Too many for them to fight. Leon clicked his tongue, knowing the bright lights around the camp made it hard to sneak around. No fighting or sneaking, unless their coordination was precise.
His radio clicked in this time, beeping. Fully expecting for Saddler to annoy and belittle them again, Leon didn't pick up but a helicopter shone it's light over them. Relieved, he picked up the call.
"It's about time."
A male voice was heard. "Yeah, sorry guys. Got caught up on the way here. I'll cover you both."
Blazing with bullets, it rained down on the men as they shouted helplessly. Leon and Seraphina continued to hide behind, waiting for it to be over, but she could tell things were finally getting back to the agency.
I thought they forgot about us.
Leon looked up. "Now that's what I call backup."
"My name is Mike. You looking for firepower, you got the right place."
Mike continued to cover for them, shooting down the countless amount of men with a array of bullets. With Mike ridding the scene of men, it created an vital opening for the two agents to come in and take down the rest. Seraphina could barely hear her own thoughts over the overwhelming sound of a machine gun and the blood splattering against the ground, with the fires blazing in the back.
"¡Por ahí!"
"Vayan por detrás."
"¡Bloqueale el paso!"
Time passed in a blur. It was a matter of minutes, yet everything passed so slowly. Even when they had gotten surrounded by combatants, Mike had gunned them all down. With all their time spent trying to rescue Ashley, things didn't feel hopeless.
Leon glanced around to look at the helicopter above them. "Thanks. When we get outta here, drinks are on me."
"I think we owe Mike more than few drinks," Seraphina commented as she saw the helicopter driver sitting in his seat. He wore a black mask with a helmet, his face barely distinguishable in the distance and darkness of the approaching night.
"Haha, yeah, I know a good bar." Mike replied.
"Mike, I think you should—" Seraphina about to warn him had been seconds too late as a rocket launcher shot straight into the helicopter. Seeing as the helicopter fall and crash, the little hope they had suddenly disappeared and dread crawled onto her skin.
Shielding themselves from the destruction and debris, the helicopter blew into pieces and fell, along with Mike. Now nothing but a shred of metal, their hope had withered away fully. Seraphina hated this moment, as death and destruction always followed her. She wanted to cry, scream, but nothing would work.
"Mike!" Leon shouted, then glanced behind them.
Saddler and his guard had been watching the entire time. It'd almost felt like mocking, knowing that they were celebrating with relief moments before Saddler had gone and took it away. Like he had taken a toy away from a child, leaving the child to cry.
"I'll make sure your the next to go, Saddler."