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Raccoon City was usually such a wonderful place, a cosmopolitan center with many different sights and sounds. The buildings used to challenge the skies with their might, a small yet mighty industrialized powerhouse found deep in the Arklay Mountains The roads leading into the city were always cleaned and newly paved every so often to preserve that "new city shine".
Said aforementioned streets were currently being utilized as a mixture of a junkyard of decrepit automobiles and a mass grave. Lifeless bodies littered corners and sidewalks...and those bodies which moved...did not truly have life, their ghastly groans and sunken eyes were incentive enough to explain how they were no longer on par with the living.
On one of these streets, surrounded by dried liquids of unknown origin and crackling flames, sat a lone manhole cover snug between that new city shine. Soft, echoed thumping could be heard below it, one or two lone zombies glancing over at it questioningly before getting back to eating their fill of humans. They munched happily if that was even possible for zombies when an audible "ow" arose from the closed cover. Following an audible pop, a familiar head of hair emerged from his wastewater confines.
"And you mentioned this to me now why?" You growled, the rest of your figure wrapped in the familiar elastic black body suit cropping up from the grate in a disorderly manner. The notorious blonde-haired Wesker popped out promptly after, dusting himself off as he gazed out into the crippled street.
"Because..." He drawled, gazing up into the smoggy sky as if it would finish his statement. "Because things happen to heroes out of the blue, and you, as a hero, must be ready to face these...unexpected circumstances."
"Wesker...we are talking about a city...blowing up. Kapoosh." You exaggerated with a wave of your hands.
"Listen here," Wesker commanded, breaking you away from your escapades. "Why do you think we haven't seen any forms of life other than those undead freaks? This whole city has been quarantined. No heroes in, nobody out. The government has already decided they could get all the people out that they could, and now they're planning on making this place look like where the asteroid killed the dinosaurs."
Wesker's conclusion did seem correct. No heroes or any leading lights were here to save the day.
"Umbrella's got what they needed. Now they got the government between the fingers cleaning up their work. In this case, it means the destruction of Raccoon City."
"There's got to still be survivors here," You spoke breathlessly. "And Umbrella has left them here all to die."
"Precisely," remarked Wesker. "Which is why I've created another masterpiece of a plan for you to follow."
"Oh boy..."
"Your next hero mission!" Wesker shouted, a pointer finger held high in the air. "Is for you to find as many people as possible and bring them to the safe zone where we originally landed. There should be a boat situated there near the docks. If we want to get out of the radius of that thing, we need to leave an hour early, which leaves you with very little time to spare."
"Well, get to it!" With a hefty slap to your back, you were sent forward before you unexpectedly bit back the urge to regurgitate your lunch.
"Wesker...what was in that needle?" You asked through strained breaths.
"Hmm..." he lowered his glasses to scan over your body with orange orbs. "That really must not be taking a liking to your body. No matter, hop to it."
Wiping the sudden sweat from your forehead, you nodded. There were people that needed you, no time for complaining. Dashing down the street, you began to devise a plan that would hopefully save as many lives as possible.
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Heavy, ragged breaths filled the already humid air surrounding him, the small handgun clutched to his chest tighter than he had thought possible. The yellow puffy vest he always donned was dirtied with the lifeblood of those lifeless creatures, the wall he pushed up against a comforting embrace against the darkness. He tried to slow his heartbeat, to make his breathing even, to little avail. With trembling fingers, he took the magazine from the pistol, and with faltering hope realized he only had a few bullets left.
"This place is one giant shithole..." He grumbled to himself, peeking out from the corner of the wall. His short, cropped hair stood on end as he saw a lone zombie waltzing its way over to his position, hands outstretched and sniffing the air vehemently. With a click, the magazine snuggled back into place in the gun, pulling back the slide before readying himself.
Peeking the corner quickly, the zombie barely had time to turn its head before a bullet was put through its kneecap, bringing it to the ground before a piece of lead lodged itself between the eyes. With a groan the zombie tried to stand up, foggy eyes glancing up at the shadow that had appeared over it.
"Die die die die die die die!" Vile blood splattered along his grey camo pants with each stomp of his boots. Bones and other body parts cracked and gave way, but the man did not stop his stomping before he made sure it was laid to rest. Gasping breaths gave way once more to fright as he glanced down the mouth of the alleyway where he had been hiding.
The zombie that wandered into his view was nothing he had ever seen before, not in his wildest dreams. Where its head would have been was replaced with a manifestation of a scorpion, with ghastly appendages like fingers and a sharp, wildly lashing tail. In the center was a giant, molten eye, that fit into its features like someone gouged out its insides and placed it there. With a slow turn of its head, it landed on the puffy jacket man before casually strolling towards him.
The empty click of his gun put dread deep into his being. He was out of bullets and out of options. He contemplated using the knife he acquired off another poor fool, but to be in that range meant that tail would surely grab him.
"Stay back I say! Back!" He commanded, gun still pointed at the monstrosity even though it was void of ammunition. It gave him a minuscule amount of hope, feeling the cold grip on his palm, but he knew his time was coming to a quick end. He thought back to the easier times, chatting with friends in the breakroom, or going on long trips to gaze at the sunset after finishing his helicopter training.
The creature's footsteps abruptly stopped. He stared at the odd zombie loonily, the zombie's molten eye staring back at him with the same dim gaze. They stood there for long, sweeping moments before the zombie suddenly jerked.
With a strained amount of effort, the zombie's limp arm was raised into the arm, the poorly bent elbow leading to a misshapen hand that jumped left to right.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me..." the man bleated, staring dumbfounded at the zombie's attempt at a hello. With a wild movement of its neck, the other arm and hand move a sweeping movement towards the zombie's chest, as if beckoning him to it. The creature promptly began to shamble back outside the alley, towards the main street, glancing back occasionally to see if the puffy jacket man was following.
Whether it was hysteria, the lack of food, or pure stupidity, the man laughed darkly before putting a sweaty hand to his forehand, beginning to follow the zombie out towards the main road and away from safety. What was once eating the brains of one of his companions was now acting like a camp counselor leading him along the safety rope.
"I really must be losing my mind," He berated himself, still keeping a safe distance away from the malformed undead. Though as time began to gradually tick past, his mind found its way to a weird realization.
These distorted walking dead were everywhere, checking under rubble, inside garbage bins, around flaming apartments, and inside cars. Everywhere. They dotted the landscape like flowers in a field. He also began to realize he wasn't the only one being led to some unknown destination. There were a few others, barely less than a dozen, all as scared and uncertain as he. They looked more roughed up than him, clutching to their arms wearily as their sunken eyes never stopped jumping from creature to creature.
"Mind telling us where are you taking us?" He asked, his self-diagnosed feverishness daring him to ask the groaning zombie a question. The zombie only turned to him again, making the same sweeping motion as before as if reassuring him they were going in the right direction.
After another stretch of walking and gazing at the scenes around him, the carnage started to become less and less, which he assumed meant they were nearing the edges of the city. When the group of zombies led the entourage of leftovers from the catastrophe, the zombies that had led them broke apart, heading back into the heart of the city to presumably look for more survivors. They were suddenly greeted by men clad in black armor and apparel, but the man's focus was drawn to a large figure that slowly approached from behind the men.
The assumed military personal spread apart as the hulking figure moved forward, standing nearly 9 feet in height. Though before his very eyes, the silhouette shrunk down and transformed into what seemed to be a teenager in his high school years.
"Is everyone okay?" The flames that flickered against the boys' eyes told a story. He had seen his fair share of horrid things in this world, far too young to really understand the weight of it all. Yet he still went around the group, checking wounds, calling medical personnel over, and briefly looking behind him every now and then at a black-coated figure who nodded in approval.
The boy eventually landed on the man, the boy's eyes lingering on the emblem on the sleeve of the man's shirt that was not covered by the puffy vest.
"What's your name?" The boy asked, eyes swirling with confusing emotions.
"B-Brad." The man said after a slight moment of hesitation. "Brad Vickers."
"Alright Brad," the boy responded. "You seem to be in some kind of police position. Do you know of any other places where people would be hiding? Safehouses? Buildings? Points of interest?"
"Everything that I've already seen has been utterly destroyed." The man dubbed Brad answered. "Most of this place is just ash and soot. There could possibly be survivors at the fire department, but last time I checked, it was overrun with the undead."
With a snap of the boys' fingers, more zombies with their mutilated scorpion heads came from the woodwork, briskly shuffling as fast as their broken and tore up legs could take them. Brad's jaw could not help from dropping at the sight, slowly turning back to the kid with bewilderment in his eyes.
"You..?"
"I call them Alpha Hunters. Pretty cool, right?" The boy smiled, playfulness dancing in his sunken eyes.
A sudden, far-out fulmination of fire and ash erupted, most of the people and zombies in the vicinity turning to gaze at where it was coming from. Brad and the boy looked up as well, seeing the birth of new flames atop a large, rectangular building that grazed the skies. Even from here though, they could tell it was under-constructed, the loose beams and other materials falling like snow from its sides.
The boy looked back to the coated man once more. He eyeballed his watch before looking back up. "You've got at the most one hour. Get to it."
"Yes sir," The boy responded, a small troop of the Alpha Hunters gathering at his sides.
"W-wait, you can't go in there kid! That's a death sentence!" shouted Brad, glancing between the high schooler and the burning building in the distance.
"Oh don't you worry," He responded, cool as ice. " I couldn't leave you in a (Y/N)-less world. That would just be too cruel."
His body enlarged to the hulkish figure, dashing into the twilight towards the old construction building. Most confusing though, was a visible stumble before he resumed his run.
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The streets and signs became a blur as you approached the building that had caused the recent commotion. Stopping near the base, you keeled over along with the wall, once again biting back the bile that threatened to spill from your mouth. Something was most definitely wrong with your body, the parasite inside not even sharing a peep at your predicament.
A cold hand touched your shoulder, and a curious Alpha Hunter cocked its head to the side at seeing your facial features. You waved him off, communicating to the others to wait here until the situation was either handled or understood.
Swallowing deeply, the putrid tang of vomit stung your throat and caused your eyes to slightly water. Spotting the new plume of smoke above your fingers sunk into the building's material, hoisting yourself upwards before heaving your foot into the man-made divot. Your tentacle shot out like a grappling hook as you scaled the building at impressive speeds.
Though heights were not your favorite thing, they were nothing compared to the prospect of the fire. As you were climbing, where a window should have been billowed out flames to your side, causing you to flinch to the side and almost lose your grip.
"Only one way to get over it..." You grunted, resituating yourself before breaking off another small piece of material for your foot to hold onto. "You're stronger than this."
As you neared the top, a strong wind began to blow, the smoke and ash twirling to follow it. Through the blaring of the gust in your ears, you could barely discern the firing of some type of weapon, followed by a large crash.
With a newfound vigor, you scaled the last few floors, using your tentacle like a swing and launching yourself high up into the air, through the plumes of gray before landing loudly in a crouch.
"There's two of you fuckers?!" A feminine voice shouted, beginning to pepper you with ammunition. There was a loud groan, more deep and guttural than that of a normal zombie, drawing your attention away from the mysterious girl.
Your eyes widened, gazing at the new creature like looking in a mirror. A strange, fucked up mirror. Same face. Same distorted nose. The same skin stretched back much too tight to be comfortable. The bottom portion of the jar is without lips or skin, its pale red muscle open to the polluted air.
Instead of a black bodysuit like yours, the mirrored monster was covered in black wrappings that resembled caution tape. The same black boots. The same tentacle that slithered from its wrist to point at you accusingly.
"What the...who are you? Who created you?" You demanded, standing up to full not. Well, not entirely the same. The same Nemesis-looking creature was just a bit shorter than you.
"You look like me...are you me?" You asked again, clenching your fists, only for the creature to stay silent. In a flash its tentacle lashed out in your direction, lancing through the left part of your abdomen before dragging you forward.
At the moment when its fist connected with your skull, you wondered if this was the same feeling that others had felt when you had clobbered them. A horrifying concept really, that left you lying on the ground before you could stand back up. Its heavy boot was placed on your chest, pushing more and more and you struggled to fight back. More gunshots rang out, landing in precise spots in the opposing monster's skull.
It did little to affect it, but it did cause its twisted neck to turn toward the source. In its short moment of ignorance, a sicking snap caused the imitation Nemesis to look down at its shattered leg, before being tossed into the air. On its way down, a hearty fist connected with its stomach, sending it flying off the building at tremendous speeds. You stood up, spitting off the incomplete building towards the monster's flight path. Catching your breath, you now had time to do a full one-eighty and investigate the person that found themselves up here as well.
Your eyes began to jump from each bloodied scar to battered bruise, found along uneven spots on a feminine body. Her hair was cut in the style of a bob, with mud, and other grimy substances sticking to her strands. She donned a vibrant blue v-neck sleeveless shirt, a white tank top hiding underneath just creeping out at the edges. Dark gray jeans hugged by a gun holster were accompanied by black combat boots, a black arm wrapped around her shoulder as well. Matching the black necklace she wore, black fingerless gloves held onto shoulder holsters that held other types of firearms. For added storage, a utility belt was hung limply around her waist.
There was an awkward silence that pierced the smoke before you finally started to speak.
"So uhh...mind telling me what you're-?"
The chunky sound of a shotgun reloading cut into his question. "I'm the one asking questions here. Who are you? And why are you here?"
"The name's (Y/N)(L/N), a hero in training...ma'am," The last part was added with a nervous curtsy, your confidence slightly cracking under her intense glare.
The barrel had yet to leave the path to your chest. "This place is full of monsters. You expect me to just believe you?"
Still in your Nemesis formed, you breathed out a guttural sigh. "Believe me or not, we got to get you out of here. There's a nuclear warhead-"
"A what?!"
"Nuclear. Warhead. Headed for the city. Comprende?"
Something soaring through the air reached your ears, causing something to tingle dangerously through your scalp. A large explosion of ash and dust billowed some distance away from you and the intense woman, causing you both to shield your eyes. When the dust finally settled, it was none other than the lookalike Nemesis, back with a fury this time. Though joining him, a large metallic tank was strapped to his shoulders, leading to a tube connected to that which resembled a rectangle with a protruding muffler. In front of it, a lone, tiny flame flickered.
"You've got to be kidding me..." You grunted, quickly snatching the woman up in your arms and turning away to protect her from the onslaught of flames. She gave out a cry of complaint at the sudden maneuver but seemed to understand the predicament. Slowly moving to a clump of mismatched building materials, he set the girl down, eyes tight shut at the flames that danced across his back. Though they barely hurt, somewhere deep mental scars began to reopen.
Newfound rage began to fill and bubble up your body, rising in intensity just as the flames were. With a monstrous yell, your tentacle shot out of its hidden compartment, twisting and turning through the sky before latching its way around the nose of the flamethrower. Through the sting of the heat you gripped hard, causing the tentacle to crunch around the nozzle like a boa constrictor. The flames were quelched quickly, the actual weapon getting ripped from the canister, tube and all, and being launched into the twilight.
The rubble you hid behind crumpled like wet paper beneath your feet, causing the woman to go and find protection elsewhere. The smaller Nemesis looked at you in confusion, thoughts that weren't programmed into its brain flowing like water as you charged it, ducking low before coming up and grabbing it by the face.
"You're a reject," you whispered, for only it to hear through its distorted ears, before slamming it into the floor. You picked it up, smashing it again, this time to be met with a groan of protest. A sick smile found its way to your lips, going up and down, again and again, before the floor broke from its support beams, and the two of you were sent floors and floors down.
The gravity kept you going, through each and every single floor, yelling and screaming as the creature's body was sent first through each one. A substance coming from its body, similar to blood began to splatter your body, its groaning becoming louder and louder. The flames that had begun to eat the building previously were in full effect on the lower floors, casting shadows across your features and you kept thrashing and pummeling.
At one point, its tentacle came out weakly, its final resort to its ceaseless beating, but it was quickly grabbed. With a sickening sound and an even louder yell of guttural pain, the tentacle was completely ripped from the body of the creature, joining the endless hunger of the flickering flames.
"Reject! Reject! Reject!" You kept screaming. The creature had stopped responding. Though you kept bludgeoning. Again. And again. And again.
You hadn't even realized, but you were on the bottom floor, hearing more explosions of gasoline and flames overhead.
"REJECT!" You bellowed, tears beginning to form at the corners of your eyes. Beating the senseless punches, a cold, tiny hand was placed on your shoulder. Your neck snapped to the source, seeing the group of Alpha Hunters staring at you with their molten orbs, some painfully.
In a blink, your head was cleared. The body was dropped, and a sickly feeling permeated your whole body. Your body quickly transformed back to human, and the sense of needles poking your skin was felt all over.
"What have I done...what have I done..." You kept whispering, staring down at your hands as you staggered backward. You tripped, to be caught in multiple pairs of arms, the Alpha Hunters glaring at you concerned.
"I am a scorn upon this Earth. An opprobrium of this world. I do not belong here. I don't belong anywhere..." The stress and pain from all these recent months finally began to barrel down on you, leaving you a sobbing, miserable mess. All the transformed zombies could do was lay a hand on your shoulders, as the feeling of unconsciousness slowly began to overtake you.
"Reject..."
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- Toilet_Watur