Originally written by Chewy Rabbits
Raccoon City, 1998.
With how much suffering Raccoon City had been put through, one could make an argument that the city itself had been condemned by God and the forces that be.
In all honesty, it was less God and more the Devil himself.
Or so the members of the diabolical pharmaceutical company Umbrella liked to believe anyway, with their dreaded experimentation bringing to life such abominations as Hunters, Tyrants, Zombies, Crimson Heads, and so on and so forth. Everywhere they struck mass casualties and destruction usually followed suit. But every story has its heroes and that was where Jill Valentine came into the picture in this particular epidemic.
Throughout the whole of the outbreak in Raccoon City, Jill had been pursued by a special breed of tyrants known as the Nemesis-T Type. Thanks to a special parasite that lived within the cranium of this particular tyrant, the creature was granted a semblance of sentience. Enough at least to take orders and follow them through to the letter and man weaponry such as a rocket launcher specifically designed for Nemesis himself to wield. It had been a long hard struggle but Jill had put Nemesis through a gauntlet of pain and it seemed as if she'd finally be able to leave the city before the firebombing occurred.
Unfortunately, this prediction would prove to be so, so wrong.
Having been doused with acid and left to die in a waste disposal plant, what remained of the parasite within the Nemesis' corpse acting out of pure self-preservation consumed a tyrant corpse that had floated alongside it. This is turn revived the Nemesis to enough of a reasonable state that it could continue its pursuit of Jill. But the drawbacks were severe in that the Nemesis' previous sentience had all but vanished leaving in it's wake a beast without any orders and merely wanting to destroy and devour.
Jill wasn't going to take that lying down, however. She had come too far to let all her efforts be made fruitless. Grabbing the closest thing she could find and that she believed would finally finish off Nemesis for good, that thing just so happened to be a railgun. It heavily damaged Nemesis' third form and Jill left assuming it to finally be dead.
Whether or not Jill's assault with the railgun finished it off, we'll never know. But it's fate was indeed intertwined with that of Raccoon City upon the firebombing finally starting.
But while in most cases this would constitute the end of the story for most people, that wasn't the case here. For there was a man known as Albert Wesker who, while he originally took note of the Nemesis project as being nothing but an over-glorified Tyrant and even going as far as to label it a perversion of his original Tyrant's design, acknowledged its positives. Positives such as being able to man weaponry and having some level of sentience but not enough to rebel against the orders Umbrella programmed into it. So, another one was designed in secret.
This glorious new creation earned Wesker the respect he deserved, at least until Umbrella was oh-so unfortunate to receive a generous trip to another dimension. A dimension where they gained the ability to pull others across dimensions, leading them to a second Wesker, one who this Wesker hated deeply. After the alternate Wesker started Umbrella into a failed operation in Las Vegas and left the group in shambles, this Wesker had to pick up the pieces. His new Nemesis was gone, but thanks to a certain scientist, a third was in order quickly enough.
But one of the pieces left lying on the ground was Leon Scott Kennedy, a survivor of both the Raccoon City outbreak and the initial Tesseract operation. The man was called upon to go and destroy the lab that this new Nemesis was being designed in. So naturally, a contingency plan needed to be formed in order to deal with Leon. There was one such a man that formed the backbone of said plan.
His name was Jack Krauser.
"So, you heard about me from doing a little bit of research, hmm? I heard about you from the military keeping tabs on all the people involved with the Rockford Mansion incident."
When standing before a man like Albert Wesker, it paid to be vigilant and on your guard. The man was like a snake in that if you said one wrong thing, he'd strike and it'd be all over. Krauser gathered that much from just reading what little the file had on Wesker.
"You've done the absolute minimum of homework, Krauser. I'm ever so impressed."
Wesker sneered as he looked down over his sunglasses at Krauser. It was quite amusing. Wesker could only assume this was the same conversation Krauser had exchanged with his alternate self, for the two had worked together before. In the process of bringing him back after his untimely death in Vegas, the man had undergone some memory loss and now did not remember much at all.
Krauser paused... then smirked. He believed he knew what Wesker was trying to get at; to see if Krauser was really worth the time and effort to try and mold into becoming one of his subordinates, or if he was in over his head and would end up being nothing more than useless cannon fodder.
"If we're going to hold a civil discussion, Wesker, I'll have you know that I can carry myself on your level just fine. But I'm not here for idle chit-chat and I'm sure you're not either. You can repair the damage that happened to my arm and I'll do whatever task you set before me."
Wesker grinned, hand dropping to flip open Krauser's file and then motioned to the notes section.
"... Alongside our usual Umbrella technicians, we have a scientist by the name of Lalonde working on the new Nemesis-T Type. She can no doubt do something to repair your arm and in return, all that's required of you is to assassinate Leon Kennedy who, as we speak, is currently on his way to the laboratory where the Nemesis project is being housed. You will intercept him and from there, make sure that Mister Kennedy will never be a thorn in our side ever again."
At the mention of Leon, Krauser fell silent once more as though the memories of him partnering up with Leon to take on a mission in a country in South America which had a deal with Umbrella to manufacture bio-weapons for a local warlord. Krauser and Leon managed to foil their plans but Krauser's left arm had suffered severe internal injuries in the process and it was enough to get him discharged from the military. Something he could never live down.
"Consider it done."
After learning the whereabouts of Umbrella's secret base from a captured Umbrella employee that had squealed in exchange for a lenient prison sentence, Leon had set out to it. He already done this dance before both back in Raccoon City and when he had been helping out that S.H.I.E.L.D. group.
After avoiding the guards for and following the maps he had picked up from the corpses of some guards that had some less than fortunate run-ins with some zombies, he was pretty sure that beyond this door was where the incubation tank for Nemesis resided. He just had to destroy it and Umbrella's latest plan would be finished.
Raccoon City, 1998.
With how much suffering Raccoon City had been put through, one could make an argument that the city itself had been condemned by God and the forces that be.
In all honesty, it was less God and more the Devil himself.
Or so the members of the diabolical pharmaceutical company Umbrella liked to believe anyway, with their dreaded experimentation bringing to life such abominations as Hunters, Tyrants, Zombies, Crimson Heads, and so on and so forth. Everywhere they struck mass casualties and destruction usually followed suit. But every story has its heroes and that was where Jill Valentine came into the picture in this particular epidemic.
Throughout the whole of the outbreak in Raccoon City, Jill had been pursued by a special breed of tyrants known as the Nemesis-T Type. Thanks to a special parasite that lived within the cranium of this particular tyrant, the creature was granted a semblance of sentience. Enough at least to take orders and follow them through to the letter and man weaponry such as a rocket launcher specifically designed for Nemesis himself to wield. It had been a long hard struggle but Jill had put Nemesis through a gauntlet of pain and it seemed as if she'd finally be able to leave the city before the firebombing occurred.
Unfortunately, this prediction would prove to be so, so wrong.
Having been doused with acid and left to die in a waste disposal plant, what remained of the parasite within the Nemesis' corpse acting out of pure self-preservation consumed a tyrant corpse that had floated alongside it. This is turn revived the Nemesis to enough of a reasonable state that it could continue its pursuit of Jill. But the drawbacks were severe in that the Nemesis' previous sentience had all but vanished leaving in it's wake a beast without any orders and merely wanting to destroy and devour.
Jill wasn't going to take that lying down, however. She had come too far to let all her efforts be made fruitless. Grabbing the closest thing she could find and that she believed would finally finish off Nemesis for good, that thing just so happened to be a railgun. It heavily damaged Nemesis' third form and Jill left assuming it to finally be dead.
Whether or not Jill's assault with the railgun finished it off, we'll never know. But it's fate was indeed intertwined with that of Raccoon City upon the firebombing finally starting.
But while in most cases this would constitute the end of the story for most people, that wasn't the case here. For there was a man known as Albert Wesker who, while he originally took note of the Nemesis project as being nothing but an over-glorified Tyrant and even going as far as to label it a perversion of his original Tyrant's design, acknowledged its positives. Positives such as being able to man weaponry and having some level of sentience but not enough to rebel against the orders Umbrella programmed into it. So, another one was designed in secret.
This glorious new creation earned Wesker the respect he deserved, at least until Umbrella was oh-so unfortunate to receive a generous trip to another dimension. A dimension where they gained the ability to pull others across dimensions, leading them to a second Wesker, one who this Wesker hated deeply. After the alternate Wesker started Umbrella into a failed operation in Las Vegas and left the group in shambles, this Wesker had to pick up the pieces. His new Nemesis was gone, but thanks to a certain scientist, a third was in order quickly enough.
But one of the pieces left lying on the ground was Leon Scott Kennedy, a survivor of both the Raccoon City outbreak and the initial Tesseract operation. The man was called upon to go and destroy the lab that this new Nemesis was being designed in. So naturally, a contingency plan needed to be formed in order to deal with Leon. There was one such a man that formed the backbone of said plan.
His name was Jack Krauser.
"So, you heard about me from doing a little bit of research, hmm? I heard about you from the military keeping tabs on all the people involved with the Rockford Mansion incident."
When standing before a man like Albert Wesker, it paid to be vigilant and on your guard. The man was like a snake in that if you said one wrong thing, he'd strike and it'd be all over. Krauser gathered that much from just reading what little the file had on Wesker.
"You've done the absolute minimum of homework, Krauser. I'm ever so impressed."
Wesker sneered as he looked down over his sunglasses at Krauser. It was quite amusing. Wesker could only assume this was the same conversation Krauser had exchanged with his alternate self, for the two had worked together before. In the process of bringing him back after his untimely death in Vegas, the man had undergone some memory loss and now did not remember much at all.
Krauser paused... then smirked. He believed he knew what Wesker was trying to get at; to see if Krauser was really worth the time and effort to try and mold into becoming one of his subordinates, or if he was in over his head and would end up being nothing more than useless cannon fodder.
"If we're going to hold a civil discussion, Wesker, I'll have you know that I can carry myself on your level just fine. But I'm not here for idle chit-chat and I'm sure you're not either. You can repair the damage that happened to my arm and I'll do whatever task you set before me."
Wesker grinned, hand dropping to flip open Krauser's file and then motioned to the notes section.
"... Alongside our usual Umbrella technicians, we have a scientist by the name of Lalonde working on the new Nemesis-T Type. She can no doubt do something to repair your arm and in return, all that's required of you is to assassinate Leon Kennedy who, as we speak, is currently on his way to the laboratory where the Nemesis project is being housed. You will intercept him and from there, make sure that Mister Kennedy will never be a thorn in our side ever again."
At the mention of Leon, Krauser fell silent once more as though the memories of him partnering up with Leon to take on a mission in a country in South America which had a deal with Umbrella to manufacture bio-weapons for a local warlord. Krauser and Leon managed to foil their plans but Krauser's left arm had suffered severe internal injuries in the process and it was enough to get him discharged from the military. Something he could never live down.
"Consider it done."
After learning the whereabouts of Umbrella's secret base from a captured Umbrella employee that had squealed in exchange for a lenient prison sentence, Leon had set out to it. He already done this dance before both back in Raccoon City and when he had been helping out that S.H.I.E.L.D. group.
After avoiding the guards for and following the maps he had picked up from the corpses of some guards that had some less than fortunate run-ins with some zombies, he was pretty sure that beyond this door was where the incubation tank for Nemesis resided. He just had to destroy it and Umbrella's latest plan would be finished.
"Been a long time, ain't it Leon?"
Leon was startled by the familiarity of the voice that addressed him and quickly turning he'd aim his pistol at...
"Krauser?!"
"Yep. Glad to see you remember me."
"I thought you were dead. What are you doing here?"
Krauser smirked as he pulled his knife out of its sheath and twirling it around on one of his fingers, the smirk grew more and more devious as he acknowledged Leon's question.
"You don't believe everything they tell you, do you, Leon? They told you I was dead but here I am standing before you. Alive and well. Now, what could that possibly mean?"
"Whatever the reason, it can only be Umbrella's fault."
"Heh. You're closer than you think, comrade. But the time for talking has long since passed. Die!" Jack snapped as Leon proceeded to try and open fire on Jack. Rushing off to the side as the bullets pounded into the wall, Jack hurled the knife at Leon, knocking it from his hands as both slid across the ground.
Having a good idea of what was coming next, Leon quickly turned but wasn't fast enough to prevent Jack from tackling him through the door that led into Nemesis's chamber. As both men started to pick themselves up, Leon quickly shot his foot out to smash it into Krauser's face to knock him flat on his back. After buying himself a bit of time, Leon rose to his feet and looked over his shoulder, seeing what he had come here for.
Nemesis.
The same monster that had terrorized Raccoon City throughout the outbreak that had occurred there. The same that had hunted down those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Only this one was supposed to be even stronger, or so the Umbrella agent proclaimed anyway. Leon had seen pictures and it still just looked like a big dumb tyrant to him.
"Why, Krauser? Don't you see what Umbrella is doing? That they're producing creatures like this?" Leon demanded as he turned to face Krauser. The man rose up and wiped the blood that had dripped from his nose away and chuckled.
"You think what Umbrella's doing is funny? Do you know how many people have suffered because of them?"
Leon could feel his anger growing. He didn't know how or why Krauser was here, but it was really pissing him off to see his former friend continue to work with Umbrella.
"Hehehehe, you never could grasp the bigger picture, Leon. Those people you're talking about? Acceptable losses. You want to know why? Because of order, Leon."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"I've already wasted enough time trying to explain to a dead man."
Krauser and Leon got in ready stances to continue their duel but unknown to Leon, someone had remotely activated Nemesis and as the fluid began to drain from the tank, Nemesis's lone eye slowly opened up. Glancing down at Leon, Nemesis reached for some of the tubes that were connected to him and ripping them out, Jack paused and grinned as Leon pulled out his own knife. "What's that supposed to mean, Krauser?"
[TARGET: LEON S. KENNEDY.
THREAT LEVEL:MINIMAL
ACTION:MURDER.]
Leon was startled by the familiarity of the voice that addressed him and quickly turning he'd aim his pistol at...
"Krauser?!"
"Yep. Glad to see you remember me."
"I thought you were dead. What are you doing here?"
Krauser smirked as he pulled his knife out of its sheath and twirling it around on one of his fingers, the smirk grew more and more devious as he acknowledged Leon's question.
"You don't believe everything they tell you, do you, Leon? They told you I was dead but here I am standing before you. Alive and well. Now, what could that possibly mean?"
"Whatever the reason, it can only be Umbrella's fault."
"Heh. You're closer than you think, comrade. But the time for talking has long since passed. Die!" Jack snapped as Leon proceeded to try and open fire on Jack. Rushing off to the side as the bullets pounded into the wall, Jack hurled the knife at Leon, knocking it from his hands as both slid across the ground.
Having a good idea of what was coming next, Leon quickly turned but wasn't fast enough to prevent Jack from tackling him through the door that led into Nemesis's chamber. As both men started to pick themselves up, Leon quickly shot his foot out to smash it into Krauser's face to knock him flat on his back. After buying himself a bit of time, Leon rose to his feet and looked over his shoulder, seeing what he had come here for.
Nemesis.
The same monster that had terrorized Raccoon City throughout the outbreak that had occurred there. The same that had hunted down those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Only this one was supposed to be even stronger, or so the Umbrella agent proclaimed anyway. Leon had seen pictures and it still just looked like a big dumb tyrant to him.
"Why, Krauser? Don't you see what Umbrella is doing? That they're producing creatures like this?" Leon demanded as he turned to face Krauser. The man rose up and wiped the blood that had dripped from his nose away and chuckled.
"You think what Umbrella's doing is funny? Do you know how many people have suffered because of them?"
Leon could feel his anger growing. He didn't know how or why Krauser was here, but it was really pissing him off to see his former friend continue to work with Umbrella.
"Hehehehe, you never could grasp the bigger picture, Leon. Those people you're talking about? Acceptable losses. You want to know why? Because of order, Leon."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"I've already wasted enough time trying to explain to a dead man."
Krauser and Leon got in ready stances to continue their duel but unknown to Leon, someone had remotely activated Nemesis and as the fluid began to drain from the tank, Nemesis's lone eye slowly opened up. Glancing down at Leon, Nemesis reached for some of the tubes that were connected to him and ripping them out, Jack paused and grinned as Leon pulled out his own knife. "What's that supposed to mean, Krauser?"
[TARGET: LEON S. KENNEDY.
THREAT LEVEL:MINIMAL
ACTION:MURDER.]
"S.T.A.R.S!"
Nemesis's hand burst through the glass of the chamber and gripped Leon's head in the palm of his hand. Smashing through the remainder of glass, Nemesis's feet stomped on the ground as the force around Leon's head grew tighter and tighter. Brushing himself off, Krauser approached and knelt down next to Leon.
"Sorry, it had to end up like this, Leon. But you don't have a place in the new world order Wesker's arranging."
But just as Krauser was about to leave Leon to his fate, he could have heard Kennedy cry out. It may have been muffled but Leon knew that if he wasn't going to get out of this, he'd be defiant to the very end.
"You keep believing that lie, Krauser! You used to live on the straight and narrow. Now you're just another one of Wesker's lapdogs!"
Pausing briefly at the doorway, Krauser glared as he looked over his shoulder for the last time.
"Goodbye, Leon."
*CRUNCH!*
Flinging the remains of Leon's head against the wall, Nemesis followed after Krauser. Having been informed ahead of time about Nemesis's functionality, Krauser held up his hands as if to signify that he was no threat to Nemesis. At least at the moment. This was of course just to keep Nemesis distracted and docile enough that Krauser could reach for the remote that'd let him control the beast.
[TARGET:???
THREAT LEVEL:ZERO
ACTION:NON-HOSTILE.]
"Yeah, that's right. I'm not an enemy." Krauser then whipped out his remote and Nemesis's mouth twisted into a snarl.
[THREAT LEVEL:HIGH
ACTION:MURDER.]
Nemesis extended the hand he had used to crush Leon's head and extended a slimy purple tendril from it as he lunged towards Krauser. But a split second before the tentacle connected, Krauser had flicked the on switch for the remote and Nemesis slowly recoiled the tendril back into his hand.
[TARGET:JACK KRAUSER
THREAT LEVEL:ZERO
ACTION:FOLLOW ORDERS]
Letting out a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to have to get himself embroiled in a long drawn out fight with Nemesis, Jack rose to his feet and gestured to the remote which had Nemesis's eye tracking it the whole time. "Yeah, you know what this is. It's your leash and as long as I have this leash you'll be my attack dog. Now c'mon. You need to get suited up and equipped." Krauser ordered as he continued making his way off as Nemesis growled but followed after. The mission had been an absolute success. Krauser had proved his worth in Wesker's eyes or so he hoped and Nemesis was up and running again. Things were looking up for Umbrella. For now, in any case...