Chapter 26 - Surface Ground of the Power Plant

Time remaining: 34 minutes, 45 seconds

Captain Wright, Leon, and Julia have remained on the surface grounds of the Power Plant of Rhombus District. They are on the look out for any possible threats that can interfere with their retrieval operation. "It's best if we spread out a little further and investigate the area, we return back here after passing 15 minutes." Wright says.

Then the three disperse from the area and started to look around, though Leon preferred to stick with Julia and have a little chat with her. "Hey, hey!" He smiles charmingly behind his transparent mask.

Just like Claire, she's unamused by Leon's flirtatious behavior. "We're all supposed to split up and patrol the place, what are you doing here?"

"How cold, you know that we don't have much to worry about anything right now. All the job there is to do here retrieving the Power Source, and the other two is already taking care of it. And it's unlikely for some I.E.A. soldiers to come up here and fight us."

"I don't care, just leave me alone, will you!?" Julia speeds up her walking pace and Leon tried to catch up. "You're really becoming unfriendly these days! It's like you're picking up Raphael's attitude since you like him so much."

She stops instantly when Leon spoke of that. Her face turns red trying to deny it. "Where did you even hear that!? I don't like him! And I'm not copying his personality either."

Leon doesn't buy it. "Drop the act, everybody knows. It's actually obvious since you can't help but wag your tail at him everytime he talks to you."

Her face turns red even brighter. "E-Everyone!?"

"Uh-huh! So don't go bother denying it like that, we already know." Leon chuckles.

Time Remaining: 33 minutes, 26 seconds

"Then does it mean that..." Julia began panicking in her mind as she thought that Raphael also knew about it. Her worry was clearly written on her face and it made Leon laugh a bunch.

"What an open book you are. I'm sure Raphael doesn't know about it, since he's not much of a sociable person in the first place." When Julia seemed to calm down about that, he just had the urge to tease her again. "Oh, but I don't know, what if a 'certain' someone told him?" He chuckles.

Julia shot a sharp stare at him and attempts to hit him on the arms. "You scumbag! If you dare tell him, I'll—"

"Woah, tuck in that claws!! I never said I'm going to tell him." Leon laughs off evading her attacks without effort. He really enjoys seeing serious people such as Julia to break character whenever he messes with them. And he sure would love to see that kind of side from Raphael as well.

It's still not clear whether Leon is good or not. For now, he's definitely enjoys passing his time especially right when he's with such a beauty. "Ugh, seriously! It ticks me off everytime I see your smug face."

"Yeah? The girls love it though." Julia sometimes can't understand why she come to hate him so much, but it's probably just his boastful attitude that makes her blood boil to no end. "Shall I change my style to your liking?" Leon added, grinning.

"Good idea, I'd love to help you with that!" Julia instantly had her bare right hand coming at Leon's face, though he was quick to dodge. "Ah, you just tried to rip off my face just now." He was glad that she didn't try to be as fast.

Time Remaining: 30 minutes, 2 seconds

"If you quit teasing me and just leave me alone then I might stop myself from attacking you from time to time." Julia says and continues to walk and look around.

"Teasing you... mnn, I can stop. But leaving you alone is impossible." Leon catches up to her again. "I gotta take every chance I get you know?"

"Take your chance on someone else, like madam Bernadette." She scoffs.

"Oh gosh, please don't joke like that." At the thought of pursuing someone like Bernadette makes his balls shrivel.

"...and just so you know." Julia gives him a stern glance. "I hate unserious people like you the most. So don't act too close with me."

"I see... so that's how you see me." Her words did not much affect him at all, and it more or less did not stop him from rambling on and on to Julia. Or maybe it did affect him in some way? Nobody will ever know what's underneath that smile of his.

Time Remaining: 28 minutes, 23 seconds

Eventually, Leon shuts up when Julia stopped responding to him. The only thing that can be heard from the deafening silence surrounding them is the sound of the steps they take. By focusing only on what is directly in front of them, they barely notice the small little critters that were silently following them from behind.

"...there's nothing much to see here. Maybe we should go back now." Julia found it pointless looking around at an empty place, and Leon just follows along.

By the time they turn to the opposite direction, the little critters were fast to get out of sight and hid from the bollard on the road. Julia may not have noticed, but Leon have caught a glimpse of it for a split second. "Did you see that!?" He asks.

"Huh? There's nothing here." When Leon glanced at her direction, he saw this thing behind her and immediately goes into action. "There it is!!" He ran to catch it but it was fast to get away.

Though after going pass through the spaces between these bollards built on the grounds, the many little critters scattered and runs away from different directions. "Gah!!" These unsightly little critters creeped Julia and Leon managed to catch one.

"This is!..." getting a good look at this critter, he notices that it was a small built object with four legs and a small round camera lense. Leon quickly realize what this thing was. "We're being wa!!—" before he can tell Julia about it, the little thing explodes in his hands.

"LEON!!"

Time Remaining: 26 minutes, 32 seconds