71 Into The Last Stage

The train slowly departed as the countdown was relayed every second. Chris came at the last minute, boarding the train just right before it started moving. He walked past the Wolfpack group that was currently discussing something with each other. He pushed through the SHIELD Agents that was having a brief meeting with Agent Coulson. He just kept walking until he found his sister, Claire, who was looking after Sherry, before sitting at one of the seats near her.

Claire, who finally saw him, looked around for the small figure she wanted to see, before asking him, "Where's Edward?"

Chris didn't say anything and just shook his head. Claire was perplexed. Why Chris didn't take Edward with him? Why he left him there? Why... Why... and why... There was a lot of question, but she couldn't ask it. Not when his brother looked like this, downcast and gloomy. Something must have happened between him and Edward.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Claire.

Chris didn't answer it. He wanted to smile to ease her sister's worry but it was too hard, resulting in an awkward smile to come out instead.

Claire was baffled, although she was worried about her nephew, he believe Edward would do just fine. Not because he was strong, but because he promised her that he would return, no matter what.

He took a seat beside him after giving a waving at Leon to look after Sherry for her. "You two really resembled each other, you know?"

Chris glanced at his sister and asked, "Huh? Why did you think so?"

"You keep hiding everything from me, saying it was for my goodness. That's pretty lame, don't you think so?" said Claire.

"But if you got hurt..."

"I'm not Princess Peach or Lois Lane. I know how to protect myself." replied, Claire, while tapping at the gun strapped on her waist. Chris chuckled, remembering that Claire was such a tomboy even when she was small, not only that but a strong one as well. Among the Redfield siblings, she might have been the strongest one in terms of mentality. Seeing her brother chuckling, she felt glad.

With both hands on her waist, she harrumphed and asked, "Now, what is it that made my big brother upset?"

Chris laughed at his sister's antics. Although he still felt bitter about it, he finally had the will to talk to her. "You know, sometimes I forgot that Edward is just an 8 years old, who would crumble with the lightest wind. I should've become the pillar for him, someone who could give him an example, and someone that could offer his hand for him to lean on."

Chris then told her about his conversation with Edward, how he tried to stop him. How her nephew snapped and showed his disappointment toward him. Edward's word hit his chest like a sledgehammer, completely shattering it.

"Whoa, that kid, next time I meet him, I'll give him a beating. How dare he shouted at his uncle, moreover, at my brother," said Claire.

"Haha, stop it. You're embarrassing me, and who are you to lay your hand on my nephew?" replied Chris, mimicking her posture. Realizing how silly they were acting, both laughed at each other. Leon, who was near them, cringed and shook his head at the childish sibling while trying to cover Sherry's ears so that she could sleep properly.

"You know, if I'm in Edward's shoes, I don't think I could do as great as him," said Claire. While glancing in Sherry's direction.

Chris couldn't help but ask, "Why? Aren't you also rebellious when you were young?"

"This and that are different." pouted Claire, lightly bumping her fist at his shoulder. She continued, "Edward is much stronger than you think. No... actually, he is Chris 2.0."

"Why did you think so?" asked Chris, curiously.

"Remember when we lost our parents? I was 5 back then. I couldn't sleep, I didn't want to eat either, and Vanessa was busy with her new job. But you, you keep hiding your own sadness and loneliness, always smiling at me, cheering me up. That kid did the same as well. I don't know what happened in Paris, but I knew he was awfully depressed. But he hid it from me, and smiled stupidly like you did, just to cheer me who was having a hard time after sis Vanessa's death."

Chris knew what she meant. He recalled that moment, was it when Edward came back after the monsters suddenly vanish? Yeah, it was before he went to Umbrella's secret facility. Edward's eyes were red from crying. He wondered what caused it, whenever Chris asked, Edward would evade it by changing the subject.

Suddenly, Agent Coulson came into their carriage while shouting, "It's coming! Brace for impact!"

They then remembered that the facility was going to self-destruct. Claire ran toward the sleeping Sherry, holding her while grasping the chair. Both Chris and Leon dropped their body on the floor, holding at anything that could be held.

At first, they felt a slight trembling, but it kept intensifying until they felt that the train would derail at any moment now. A bright light was coming from behind the train, a precursor to the fire from the explosion, which was trying to swallow the train like a whale in the deep sea. Thankfully, the train arrived outside of the tunnel at the perfect time and the trembling weakened.

Agent Coulson checked on everyone's condition. Except for a slight bump on some part of the body, no one was injured.

"Claire, are you okay?" asked Chris.

"I'm fine, but I scraped my wrist. This is the worst trip I ever had," complained Claire.

Chris sighed in relief, finally, it was over. The train was still moving unobstructed, it would be a while until they reach the end of the railways. He stood and stared at the night sky shown on the window while thinking, 'Ahh... I should have chosen to stay with him.'

======

Inside the forest, a small fleeting shadow was sprinting left and right, tracing footprints or any mark left by certain someone. Faraway, behind him, the forest was set aflame and the lake was sinking, decreasing its water level in an instant. The facility had exploded already, but Edward still couldn't find Nikolai's trace. All he could find was some random animal footprints.

"Shit! Not this one either," grumbled Edward, smashing the tree trunk beside him. It was the fifth trace, but it led to nowhere, the same as the previous. He completely lost him. Edward glanced at the green bar of Raccoon City, it was almost red now with the number 90 written on it.

[Sir, it's better to give up now and get back to the city, either way, you need to replenish your stock of ammo] warned Regina.

"No! I we still have time, he must be around here somewhere." insisted, Edward. All he could think of was finding Nikolai and kill him as soon as possible. He made a mistake in letting him go once, he didn't want to do the same for the second time.

[Sir! There is no time! In 5 hours and 32 minutes, the missile would be launched, you need time to find a way to escape, first.] warned Regina, once more.

"It's okay, there must be a way."

[Are you planning to kill yourself, Sir? Is it that hard to accept reality? You can find him later after you get back to...]

But then, Edward snapped and interrupted her, "Shut up! Your job is to follow my orders not the other way around!"

Regina didn't give an immediate reply. However, as if angered, she threatened Edward, [Do you forget, Sir? I am a part of the system.]

Edward didn't summon up the Ques tab as it instantly popped on his face, forcing him to read It.

<Failure Conditions:

1. Death.

2. Failing to find the escape path, will trigger the first conditions.

3. Purposely ignoring the Quest will allow the Personal Assitant to take control of the user's body.>

<Rewards:

1. 1 Random Special Ability.

2. 1 Random Item.>

====

<Reward: Random Item or Special Ability every 5000 people saved.>

====

<Reward: Random Item or Special Ability>

Status: Cleared. The reward will be given after the Main Quest is Cleared.

====

<Reward: Random Item or Special Ability>

====

"Regina!" shouted Edward.

The Quest's clause changed, it forced Edward to find a way to escape now. With the chance to face Death or giving up control of his body.

[Which one do you prefer, Sir? Is it Death? The thing you wanted the most right now, or giving up your physical body to me and become my puppet to control.] threatened Regina.

"Fuck!" he hit the tree trunk once more, causing the 100 years old tree to fall as it snapped in half. Edward didn't know for what purpose Regina wanted to control his body, neither how long it would take for him to take it back nor how to do it. He stares at the faraway horizon, where the city was, and then at the deep dark wood where Nikolai might still lurking in.

He took a deep breath to calm his mind and walked in the direction of the city. But, he didn't plan to give up. After finding the escape route, he will find Nikolai no matter what it takes, no matter where he is.

However, there was one thing that escaped Edward's attention inside the Quest tab. It was the clause for Optional Quest 1, which changed from 'saving 50% of Raccoon City's citizen' to 'as many as you can'. The one that has the power to give Quest was the admin, however, Personal Assitant was given some authority in case something went downhill. By using that small chance, she changed the clause, giving him something that might make him feel a bit better once it was done and not reminding him of his failure.

======

The time still ticking, pushing forward for the unknown future. By now, everyone and anyone knew of what their ends will be. John Wick, unmasking his identity as John Wick, was currently inside the Continental Hotel. Emma Farlene was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a certain mercenary with mouth was by his side.

"So, how is it going?" asked John.

"What's going? Oh, right, I found two new Katana. I wanted to name them Ebony and Ivory, but I'm afraid it's already taken. I don't want to get any copyright lawsuits against me." replied Wade Wilson.

"Not that, you fool! Nikolai! Did you find him?" berated John.

"Oh, that guy? He's too slippery like an eel, once he was here and the other time he was there. I found his track leading to the so-called NEST facility, but that place suddenly blew up an hour ago." replied Wade before dropping his tired body on the sofa. "But how did he get in? Isn't that SHIELD locked the facility right after the zombie appeared?"

John wanted to reply, but someone else did it before him.

"Someone must have opened it from the inside," said Nick Fury, appearing from behind the curtain.

"Holy shit! How did you get here? Isn't this the 7th floor?" shrieked Wade. John was unfaltering, he already noticed him standing behind the curtain long before both of them came to the room.

"Care to explain?" asked John.

"Just like that ugly bastard said," said Nick, pointing at Wade's nose. "Someone opened the entrance for him, someone that had the same objective and worked for the same people."

John started thinking. The SHIELD's agents that worked for Nick Fury was handpicked by him, no one would escape his observation, not even an ant. The chance for a spy lurking between them was too small, almost reaching zero. That means... there might be a spy inside the Wolfpack group he sent to find Sherry. Nikolai was clearly working with either a rival company or other individuals.

"Can you reach out to your subordinate?" asked John.

"They succeed in escaping at the last minute. Currently, they were under the U.S. Military's hand, being watched and stuff," explained Nick.

"Wait, the Government has more soldiers outside? Why they didn't come here instead?"

Nick sighed and answered, "That bastard Stryker already escaped the city, and lead another army to surround the possible escape route around the Arklay County. They were tasked with taking care of any escapees that might get out of the city."

"What do you think will happen to them?" asked John. By them, he meant Chris's group.

"For now, they would be fine, Coulson might look like that, but he's a capable man through and through." reassured, Nick.

Suddenly, a hotel maid came in and whispered a message to John. Before she could finish her words, John strode outside, ignoring the maid. Nick and Wade were curious as to why he was in hurry. The answer came after they reached the training ground for the mercenaries. A little figure, led by Emma Farlene was emptying the warehouse, where the hotel's stock of ammunition and weapon was stored.

"And all of that would be 1.250 gold coin," muttered Emma. 1 gold coin could arm a single mercenary with every kind of weapon. The amount of ammo and weapon, Edward stored could fully equip more than a thousand man.

John walked past Emma who seemed to be unbothered by Edward taking all of her stocks. Either way, they would be useless once the city was destroyed. Even if somehow the city would be still there, he could just ask the other branch to supply her with more stocks.

"What are you planning to do with all of that?" asked John.

"To save this city, ending all of it," answered Edward.

John noticed the cloudy storm that muddled Edward's eyes. He asked, "What are you? A Messiah?"

"Why? Are you going to stop me as well?" challenged Edward.

"No. I'm coming with you," replied John, taking the Full Auto Saiga SBS, and a few clips. Wade who was watching, took a duffle bag out of nowhere and also put any weapon he could find inside, no matter the size.

Emma who was keenly taking note, gave up. She couldn't list all of them anymore and threw the notepad away before putting her hand on photographs at the desk near her.

As she gave it to Edward, she said, "The man you're looking for is in here. You better go now before it's too late."

All of them were the picture of Nikolai, getting into the now-abandoned Raccoon City's hospital. Edward didn't know what he was after. His knowledge of the original game couldn't help him either. But he knew there was another facility underground, the place he wanted to go to but couldn't since it was tightly guarded.

"He's after the cure," replied Wade. Edward glanced at Wade Wilson and wondered, why the hell he's here? He also took notice of the duffle bag. 'Wait, it was actually his? Not Leon's?' he thought. Now he could understand why such a bag existed.

Wade continued to explain, "I saved a researcher, along with some others that were in charge of the cure. They also said that there's a chopper that could be used on the Hospital to escape. He might use it if we don't go now."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go now," said Nick before informing Black Widow and Hawkeye of their destination.

John turned to Emma and asked something, "You said that Nikolai was with a group, who are they?"

"I don't know who they are, but there is a man with a metal arm with them as well. And also, The Hand member signed a truce with them. Now they were cooperating, so all of you must be careful." warned Emma.

One by one, they started moving outside, toward the last stage. There was 3 hours and 40 minutes left. Edward was the last one to leave the room, but before then, he asked Emma, "Why are you always helping me without questioning?"

Emma didn't answer immediately, she just smiled and said, "because you're cute. Your mother must be happy to have you as her son."

Edward was speechless by her response, but he didn't push it anymore. "Then, come with us, I'll find a way to help you escape."

Emma just shook her head. Her glistening face was still as proud as ever, "This is my city, I was born in here, grow in here. This is my only home. If it got destroyed, then so be it. But I want to stay here. In the place where my parents were buried in. Where I met my first love, and where I lost him."

Edward didn't say anything. Although he was confident, he didn't know if he could save the city from its demise. Just like Chris said, this city is un-salvageable.

Seeing his darkening face, Emma approached him and kissed his forehead. "This is my blessing. Although Vanessa isn't here anymore, I'll take her place to wish you luck on your future."

Edward still wanted to talk with her. He wanted to ask about her mother's days as a mercenary of the Continental and how she became the best.

"Marlo, send him outside," she ordered.

Both Marlo and Edward walk toward the elevator. He could still see her determined face as the door slowly closed. This might be the last time they will meet. Somehow, sadness filled his heart, but it was not only him.

[...]

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