by Byrd, Daniel
"Makoto, we've got to get out of here!" Alexis shrieked from the sidelines. She'd watched his futile efforts and came to the same conclusion as him. Unfortunately, her shouting had drawn the attention of the creature, and it made its way towards her. Out of ammo, she desperately prepared her flashlight as a minuscule weapon before she found herself screaming in terror. Makoto charged at the predator and brought the sword over his left shoulder before swinging at the right leg of the zombie. Once again, the blade failed to cut through as it met something solid enough to withstand the blade. There was no way to stop this thing.
Rather than try and smash the small woman before it, the creature leaned down in its charge to Alexis as the mouths on both heads opened wide. The fear of death gripped every muscle in her body as the mouth of the left head came within feet of her, when the entire thing was knocked aside and onto the floor. Makoto had thrown all of his weight into it to bring it down, and that thing was heavier than it looked. He chalked it up to whatever was inside stopping his cuts. Flight time. Makoto sheathed his sword and grabbed Alexis by her arm before running for the elevator shaft. Tossing her inside, he turned his back to the shaft and realized that he could no longer see the threat hidden in the dark, but prayed that meant the same thing for it.
"Makoto! What the hell-"
"CLIMB!!!" Makoto boomed. There was no other sound from Alexis other than grunting from her efforts to climb the cable and get away from the fighting giants. Makoto waited for her to get up a ways before turning his attention back to the shaft, but everything began to shake as the sounds of booming steps returned once more. Makoto couldn't make out anything in the dark, but he knew his demise was growing close. Even as a samurai raised by the bushidō, there came a time in every man's life when he had to realize he was in way over his head, and for Makoto Nagase that time was right now as the monster smashed the floor somewhere behind him with one of its weaponized arms. Alexis was high enough, he figured, so he jumped for the cables and began to climb as the stomps drew near. If going down with one arm was tough, this would be like trying to defuse a bomb with no fingers. He used all of the muscles in his legs to support himself as he let go for a brief second at a time to grab higher on the cable and hoist himself up. After three good pulls upward, something crashed below him. He didn't dare look down as he hastened his climb, knowing that the being had just found its way into the shaft below. Still, he didn't think it would manage to get to them with the hands it had, though with everything he had experienced in the past twenty minutes he wouldn't have been too surprised if it sprouted wings and started to fly.
After several minutes of grunting and tugging himself along to the sounds of that thing bellowing inhuman roars somewhere beneath him, he finally saw the faint light pouring in through the crack in the shaft doors he'd made before they came down here. The light became partially blocked as Alexis made the gap between the cables and the door and pulled herself up to the ground floor. Makoto made it a few more feet before he realized he was going to have a lot of difficulty with the jump, and the freak below making the cables shake wasn't helping.
"Makoto, take my hand!" Alexis shouted. Makoto frowned at her from the dark. That was easy to say when you weren't currently using your only good one to keep yourself from falling back into the grips of that thing in the depths of the building. Besides, she wouldn't be able to hold his weight after a jump. He shimmied up a few more feet before addressing her.
"Move!" he barked. Alexis complied and stepped aside as Makoto slammed into the doors on the other side before his hand emerged and he pulled himself through onto the lit ground floor, face concrete as always. Alexis collapsed to the floor and took a deep breath to help get the oxygen back to her brain again in the hopes that she would quickly realize that she was in fact still alive after that ordeal. The lightheaded feeling from the strain of climbing up the shaft was finally wearing off, and she could think clearly again. There was no immediate threat in the area; she and Makoto were finally safe!
"Makoto, we did it!" Alexis cried as she jumped up to hug the big guy around the neck. The sudden rejoice caught the samurai by surprise, and all he could do was vaguely blush as his frown withstood the joy she expressed. Makoto was hesitant as to whether or not he should pat her on the shoulder and say something reassuring, when she suddenly backed away and scowled. He was genuinely lost, until she kicked him in the shin and began to threaten him in his ear as he bent over and grimaced.
"That was for hitting me with your sword!" she hissed viciously before stomping on his foot. “And that was for tossing me into the elevator shaft!"
Makoto winced, but overall the efforts at instilling pain into him were useless as long as he was donning the armor. The best thing she could do was shoot him with her empty gun.
"Now that that's out of the way," Alexis said after regaining her composure, "should we call those two and let them know what we found here?"
Makoto shook his head. “Not yet."
Alexis was bewildered. “Why not?"
"We have nothing to tie anything here to Lewis. To be more specific, we need to restock and go back to investigate."
Alexis couldn't believe the words that had come from the man's mouth. He had nearly been crushed by an abomination against God and creation, and he wanted to go back and finish the fight? “You're fucking crazy, “she stated calmly. “That's a joke…right, Nagase?"
Makoto ignored her and set off for their vehicle outside. In his mind he was already formulating a new plan of action. The only issue was that he couldn't resort to anything too destructive and risk bringing the shaft or higher floors down on him, so he had to get down there again without getting caught by the…what the hell did you actually call something like that?
"So you're actually going to go down there and take on Gobbers the two-headed zombie-tank again?"
Makoto ceased walking and immediately looked back at Alexis. “Gobbers?"
Alexis shrugged. “Now that we're away from him…or them…whatever, now that we're up here I feel a lot better, and I was wondering what to call that freak."
Makoto closed his eyes, his head hurting from the sheer stupidity, let alone the stress of nearly dying. “You named the demonic fiend that almost killed us Gobbers?"
"Well yeah, he tried to bite me with both mouths, so I figured that Gobbers was a fitting name. Better than just Gobber, since it…has…two heads…" she trailed off as she realized that Makoto was grimacing at her. He had no earthly idea as to why in the hell this young woman was so professional, yet so childish. Besides, Gobbers was a dumb name, considering that the two mouths were the least prominent characteristics of the being. With the clubbed arm and…he turned his back to her and swore in his native tongue under his breath as he realized he was going through the exact same process in his head. This was why he hated company; people tended to rub off on one another. He had to admit though; the air out here was peaceful, and dusk had settled in. The autumn winds were still warm to his face, and the smell of the sea not far from there was almost relaxing. Almost, considering he was about to go back for round two with that freak of nature in the basement of the HQ. He had just passed the fountain when a new noise disturbed the calming winds around him. It was faint, but he knew it all too well. Rotors.
Makoto stopped in his tracks as Alexis followed suit, confused as to what had brought the giant to a standstill. Makoto assumed that she couldn't hear it; gunfire did a number on your ears after a while, and he'd fired far fewer weapons than her in his lifetime. Sure enough, the sound of the rotors beating through the air grew steadily louder by the second, but something else was wrong….there was more than one source of the noise.
"Hawkins," he uttered, "grab the LAW from the trunk."
"Seems dangerous to take that into the bottom floor of a building," Alexis remarked, assuming that the rocket launcher was for the thing she named Gobbers. Makoto couldn't believe that she still couldn't hear the incoming helicopters. Sure enough, he could see li
ttle dots to the sky in the southwest against the barely lit backdrop of the dying sunlight. Whoever they were, they were coming this way.
"Hey, Makoto?" Alexis began, concern evident in her tone.
"Hawkins?"
"Didn't the tape say something about company?" she reminded him. Makoto was stricken with a sudden realization.
"Grab the largest caliber gun you have and prepare yourself."
"Is that for Gobbers, or-"
"We have incoming!" Makoto yelled. Alexis jumped at the sound of his voice and looked around for what he was talking about, finally spying the approaching dots in the distance.
"Are those…"
"The company the voice on the tape spoke of," Makoto answered. “We need to prepare for anything."
"I'll grab the DSR," was the statement she left him with as she started for the car. The .50 BMG variant in the trunk would prove useful if they had to deal with the helicopters. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best they had next to the LAW. She was five yards away from the car when a light from the front of one of the helicopters lit up the area. The hood of their vehicle was punctured by a shot out of nowhere, immediately followed by the crack of a gunshot.
"HAWKINS, GET DOWN!!!" Makoto boomed as he dove behind the small cover of the sides of the fountain. The statue might add a little extra cover, he thought, but he didn't even know where the shot had actually come from. There was no way someone from the helicopter had made that…had they?
Alexis chose to be gutsy and continued for the car, sliding across the ground beside it and putting the metal between her and the approaching choppers. The rotors were clearly audible as they got within half a mile of the vicinity and began to descend, and Makoto swore as he saw the colors of what he now could make out as Mi-24D Russian gunships. They each donned a red and black pattern, the very colors that he didn’t want to see. One broke away and came closer before hovering between the fountain and the car. The other two circled the area, and Makoto finally caught a glimpse of the sharpshooters hanging out of the cabin doors with guns trained on him and Alexis. The one hovering over the area began to descend, with gunmen on each side ready to put bullets into the two of them if they tried anything. It wasn’t like they could, being that Makoto was equipped with only a sword and Alexis was currently out of ammo, and going for any of the weapons in the trunk would be a certain death sentence. When the chopper reached a height that was only feet above the ground, a man stood in the doorway on Makoto's side and passed off a rifle to one of the other passengers before hopping down to the ground. After adjusting himself to full height, he took a few steps towards Makoto, stopping a few yards from him and smirking at the samurai. Makoto scowled at the man with the straight-jawed face, dark hair and brown eyes who was happy with his control over the situation. He was wearing black armor with red trim similar to Makoto's, but it had what appeared to be a neck guard, and looked slightly thicker. The outline of the abdomen gave the appearance of a very fit individual, though Makoto knew it wasn’t just the suit that made him look intimidating. It was the fact that they didn’t expect to find him here…or rather for him to find them. Makoto's suspicions were verified as he took his chances and closed the distance between himself and his former colleague. Former member of Tiamat Unbound's Dragon's Talon Unit Jackson Lewis looked as smug as ever, and Makoto couldn't help but notice the three swords he had sheathed; two on his left hip and one on his right. The Muramasa Makoto had given him was nowhere to be seen. Lewis’ voice was distinct. Deep and gravelly, relaxing when quiet yet powerful when loud.
"It's funny to see you in those colors again, Nagase!" Lewis shouted over the sounds of multiple helicopter rotors. Makoto noted the other infantrymen leaping down from the chopper and surrounding Alexis on the other side of the Hind. Lewis threw up his right hand and gave a slight wave of his fingers, and with that the Hind ascended and flew a distance away, with the other two in tow. Makoto had a clear view of the scene behind Lewis now; Alexis was being led over at gunpoint, her gun confiscated by one of the armed men. It wasn't like she could've done anything risky like take a guy hostage to negotiate or something. This was quite a mess.
"I can't believe I made that shot with the PSG1, honestly," Lewis said with a laugh as Alexis was shoved next to Makoto. The five men accompanying Lewis all stood guard behind their captives as Lewis stepped forward and stopped in Makoto's face. “I take it you actually defeated that experiment down below?" Lewis asked with a grin. “I guess I shouldn't be surprised since Makoto Nagase of all people tangled with it."
"You mean Gobbers?" Alexis inquired. “He's still alive."
Lewis tilted his head and eyed her suspiciously. "What the hell's a ‘Gobbers,’ and why…what?" Alexis looked to Makoto, who just continued frowning, but added a shake of his head in disappointment. Lewis rolled his eyes before focusing them back on Makoto. “Never mind. My question now would be what your purpose in being here is?"
Makoto said nothing, just opting to continue to express his displeasure at the situation. Alexis took the time to chime in. “We were looking for you."
Lewis nodded in her direction and smiled as he addressed Makoto. “See? Why can't you be more honest like her? I thought you liked honesty, Nagase?"
"I never expect honesty from a man in those colors," Makoto stated coldly. Lewis grinned out of the corner of his mouth.
"Speak for yourself," he said as he reached out and patted the spot on Makoto's shoulder where the Tiamat Unbound patch once resided. Makoto would've loved to have grabbed his arm and broken his wrist right then and there, but the multiple guns trained on them suggested that he remain still and behave like a good captive.
"What are you doing with these people, Lewis?" Makoto demanded. Lewis refused to take his eyes off of the samurai as he replied.
"Well, I received an interesting business offer following the establishment of my rehabilitation center. You see, I was reminded that soldiers like us don't have a place among the public, but rather where conflict exists. We aren't meant to be rehabilitated; we're meant to thrive in a world such as this."
"A world such as this?” Makoto repeated in disbelief. “You believe this world you created is ideal for people such as you?”
Lewis sneered. “Now Nagase, do you really think I have the means to do such a thing as start the apocalypse?”
"We know about Project Second Fall," Makoto said sternly, "and we know you have the documents on it."
Lewis made a show of pacing around the samurai. “While that may be true that I have them, I'd like to know how you know that fact. Let me guess, that Craven kid have something to do with it?"
"Craven enlightened us on a talk between the two of you,” Makoto replied. “Before you left us he copied the documents you stole during the raid last year from the safe in the CEO’s room.”
Lewis chuckled and walked away from the two, his back turned as he spoke. “Of course. I expected as much. He probably didn't trust me from the beginning. Maybe I shouldn't have shared my ambitions with him…tell me,” he said as he looked over his shoulder, “where is he now?"
"Probably in front of a computer.” Makoto lied. Then again, Aaron probably did have some sort of technology with him on the road.
"Oranienburg, right?" Lewis answered himself. Makoto bit back a string of swears.
"How did-"
"I'm assuming you were all looking for me, so where else would he go if you two are here?" he turned back to them and approached Makoto again. “The better question, is what exactly brought you two here?" Makoto and Alexis said nothing, but Lewis proved to know more than he was asking for. “I take it one of you knew of the hidden basement floor, being former members as well?" When the two persisted in their silence, he sighed and continued. “I'm willing to bet Makoto here was the culprit. He had better clearance anyway.”
Still, the two kept up the silent game, and Lewis began to finally show signs of impatience as he leaned forward and mouthed off to Makoto's face, “You know, Naga
se, you and I have stood face to face a few times before, but we'll never see eye to eye. We’ve both some terrible things, but you think that just because you stopped means that you’re better? We will always be the same; your brother was a murderer, I am, and so are you. I'm through playing nice. Now, someone better explain to me why you're here."
"I could ask the same of you," Alexis replied anxiously. Lewis stepped back from the samurai and directed his steely gaze to her.
"What you're doing here is of great concern to me," he said in a deadpan tone. “You see, I don't like trespassers on my property."
"This property belonged to a now-defunct organization,” Makoto stated dully, “and you seem to not understand that. Are you planning to rebuild Tiamat Unbound with all of this chaos transpiring?”
Lewis patted the patch on his left shoulder, and it was only then that Makoto noticed the difference from the old logo. Sure, it was still a round red patch, but rather than a chained dragon the centerpiece was what appeared to be a misshapen skull. Makoto cocked an eye, noting that the pieces that made up the figure resembled landmasses. It was a skull made up of the continents of the world.
“What is that?” Makoto inquired. Lewis grinned as he crossed his arms, the smugness practically sleeping between his teeth.
"You're looking at the new owner of Tiamat Unbound, or as we call it now, the ‘World to Come’, as the Americans know us," he said with complete pride, holding his arms out as if to indicate that all was his.
Makoto was disgusted. “You believe you can just step in and take over what Belmont left behind?”