Resident Evil: The Ultimatum

For snipinggurl, who’s given me so much inspiration, and to her friend Brett aka Neil Krivins, who gave us too big of a scare!

“If you love something a lot, eventually you’ll let it go…”

Resident Evil: The Ultimatum

Chapter 1
It had been lurking on the edge of the earth’s atmosphere for almost 10 years. Left there as a relic of another time, when things had gotten too out of hand in the Midwestern U.S. , it lay forgotten, near-rusting away in the reaches of space. But to one man, it was still useful…

Back down on earth, that one man was near the outskirt of a Maryland city, called Harvardville, near the size of his former home, Raccoon City. He may have been feeling contempt for what he’d just done, but Frederic Downing knew that was one of the feelings that came with breaking out of prison. Now all he had to do was get back to the former WilPharma complex, and ready the Umbrella satellite to complete his plan, and plan which he felt would revolutionize the U.S. and change it forever…

Inside the city, other plans were being made as well, only these plans were more celebratory and less sinister.
“Well, we can’t have this party without friends, right?” the man asked. Leon Kennedy was the happiest he’d ever been so far, and that said something, because he never really seemed happy when you saw him.
“Of course. After all, what’s a wedding party without your friends?” Angela Miller was feeling good too, ready for anything, it seemed. “And we don’t just need the people we’ve met during our fight against Umbrella, either.”
“You might want to shorten your guest list one, then”, said a voice. Leon and Angela turned around to see a young man of 15 (even though he looked a few years younger), with medium-length blond hair, wearing a black shirt with a distressed Beatles logo, and blue jeans. “Eric, is that you?” Leon asked.
“In the flesh, Leon! How’ve you been?” Eric asked. And giving him a bear hug, while slapping him on the back lightly, he said, “I heard what’s been going on, and I just wanted to say congrats!” Then Eric turned to Angela, saying, “And you must be Angela? Leon’s told me a lot about you.”
“So…Eric, what are you doing?” Angela asked. Eric shrugged, saying, “ I thought I’d drop by for a while, and help you out, maybe. But I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news…”

“You can’t be serious!” Angela exclaimed. “You mean to tell me that that scumbag Downing has escaped?” Eric shrugged his shoulders apologetically, saying “I’m afraid so. There’s still an Umbrella satellite orbiting the earth, and the WilPharma lab is still able to be run.  So I’m thinking that he’s gonna use the lab to finish his plan of a T-virus dominated U.S.”
“I can’t believe this. After all we’ve been through…” Leon was at a loss for words but who could blame him?

Chapter 2
Some distance away, there was a plane deboarding in the reconstructed Harvardville Airport.  3 of the departing passengers were a woman with somewhat dyed-red hair, a young man thought to be dead, and a teenaged woman with the same hairstyle as the older woman. As far as the woman could see, it felt better to be back with the man he loved. The man felt the same way, but the younger woman felt a bit jealous.
“…we’re finally here”, Claire Redfield sighed with relief.  She couldn’t imagine being more safe. Up until now, the past time had passed in a haze of beating Wesker, saving Steve, and meeting Steve’s teenaged friend, who had gone by the alias Adalia.
“Tell me again why you went by that name.” Claire waited for an answer, as Adalia looked up at her. She spoke in a pure-toned, smooth voice. “Because I didn’t want my friends to know that I’d gotten in trouble like this. In case you’re wondering, my real name is Alannah.”
“That’s actually a very beautiful name”, Steve aid to her, and she blushed, turning away. Ever since she had first met Steve, Ella(as her friends called her for short) had been kinda smitten with Steve. She knew that it’d never happen, but that was no reason to dispel her pride.
But at that point, Claire’s phone started ringing, playing a bit of Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. She whipped her phone out, pressed a button, and said, “Leon wants us to meet him and Angela at their house. They’ve got some trouble on their hands, and Eric’s just told them about it.”
“Who?” Alannah asked incredulously. Claire turned to her saying, “We met him in the Raccoon City incident. Apparently he time-traveled there, (if you could call it that,) so he’s only aged a few years.
“How old is this kid?” Steve asked. Claire had forgotten that he’d never met Eric before. “He’s 15 years old, but he looks a few years younger than that.” Steve let a joking smile spread across his face, and he turned to Ella, saying, “Looks like you may have found yourself a new friend!”
“Oh, shut up!” she replied, laughing all the while.


Meanwhile, back in Harvardville itself…
The house the 3 were at fell into pell-mell security. Leon went to the top floor of the house to keep an eye out for any hostile beings, Angela patrolling the outside of the house, and Eric scanning the grounds from the inside of the house through high-power binoculars.
It was then that he saw a car coming toward them, a cloud of dust borne behind them in its wake. Focusing on the windshield a bit more, Eric was relieved when he could make out the face of Claire Redfield in the passenger seat. The driver must have been Steve Burnside, but there was only one person that he didn’t recognize.
She looked to be in her teens, not much younger than himself. Her hair was done in the exact same style as Claire’s, but hers was the same shade of blond Eric’s was. Her face was set by a somewhat grim expression, as if she knew…
Bringing the walkie-talkie up to his mouth, Eric spoke into it: “Hey guys, Claire and Steve at 12:00. Repeat, Claire and Steve approaching the front of the house.”  He brought it up to his ear to hear Angela saying, “I see ‘em. I’m coming back in.”
Then the front door opened, revealing Angela leading Claire, Steve, and the unknown girl inside the house. From closer inspection, she was wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and Ecko Unltd sneakers. Her face was lightly tanned, the freckles in the middle of her face almost blending in with her skin.
Steve didn’t look much different than when they last saw him, save for a bigger build, and slight tan. “Who’s the chick?” Angela asked them. Claire answered with, “Steve met her when he was in Africa. Her name is Alannah.”
“Right on”, Eric said, at the same time that Leon came to meet them. “Where’s Chris and Jill?” he asked. Steve spoke up, “They’ve already infiltrated the lab. But unfortunately, there are quite a lot of zombies lurking around, because Downing is apparently a one-man show.”
“Well”, Alannah interrupted in a light-toned, smooth, and slightly musical voice, “That’s no big deal. You guys have done this before. I’ve seen Steve do it more than enough.”
“Looks like you’ve got competition, Claire!” Steve and Eric chimed. Claire lightly hit Steve on the shoulder, saying, “Oh, shut up!”
“Enough humor, let’s get over there!” Angela commanded, and they left the house, ready to take down the last bit of Umbrella…

Chapter 3
Night had fallen like a giant curtain dropped over the giant stage of the landscape. With that night came the feeling of suspense that hung down like the many screams of pain he’d had to endure. It never really occurred to Chris until now, but because of his disorder, it had a bad effect on him.
It had only been a few minutes after sundown when he saw darker shapes moving among the darkness. Raising his assault rifle, he was ready to shoot someone down, but he saw the shapes put their hands up; that was the signal that the reinforcements had arrived. Lowering it, he walked at a fast pace to meet up with them.
It was just as he expected. His sister Claire was one of them, along with her friend Leon Kennedy, his fiancée, who Chris knew as Angela Miller. Steve was there as well (no big surprise because of the Rebirth Virus), but there was 2 teenagers, a boy and a girl, as well. The boy he knew, Eric, but the girl was unfamiliar. Oh well, if she didn’t get in the way, she could be useful.
“Chris!” he heard his sister yell. Then he felt her warm bulk collapse on him in warm embrace. She backed off then, saying, “Where’s Jill?”
“Patrolling the inside of the building. So far, nothing’s gone on.” Chris reported. But just then, they heard a series of fast, dull rattatattatatta: the unmistakable report of an assault rifle.
“We’d better go”, Leon whispered, and they all pulled their guns out, ready to take down the first piece of crap that crossed their path. Even the girl and Eric had weapons; she armed with a high-powered BB rifle, Eric with an airsoft handgun.
Might not do much good, but they might work
Stalking their way through the grass, they could make out the high WilPharma building, sticking out like a giant finger towards the sky. Some distance away was the dome itself, its roof not yet fully rounded, and Chris doubted that the levels were reconstructed inside.
They reached the skyscraper-like building, the gunshots now very distinct. Running down the walkway, Chris was armed to the teeth, hoping that Jill wasn’t dead…


I need a stronger weapon… That was the thought that ran through Alannah’s head as she trooped down to the WilPharma lab. The guy, Eric, was taking up the rear behind her. From what she’d heard from Claire, he had a spaz-like personality and sense of humor, but she saw no sense of that in his light-green eyes now.
They got to WilPharma’s front door, as Leon shoved it open, Angela looking for any hostile people nearby. Chris took one last look outside, Steve and Claire looking back to see that she and Eric were okay.
“You do realize we’re teens, right? You don’t need to be so worried”, Alannah retorted in her light-toned, yet serious voice. Claire shot her a look of seriousness, and then walked into the building.  Eric and Alannah looked back to check if they were being followed. They walked in as well, Leon and Claire looking at the virtual map in the middle of the hall.
For some odd reason, all the levels of the dome were where they should be, as indicated by the map. No big hole covered by a flat floor, no debris, just the levels themselves. Yet they were all gray, which Alannah took to mean that they weren’t fully furnished yet.
“Well, we may have an uprising on our hands with this guy.”, Leon observed. “Chris, you investigate the middle floors. Claire, Steve, take care of the top floors. Angela and I’ve got the bottom floors.”   He was interrupted by Eric’s call of, “What should we do?” Leon turned to them saying, “I think you guys should stay outside and keep watch.”
“Typical. The teenagers get the boring jobs”, Ella complained, as she and Eric left outside. The 3 groups remaining split up, unaware of what they were getting themselves into…

Chapter 4
Leon patrolled the left side of the ground floor hallway, making sure Angela was still on the right. It felt comforting that he had Angela’s back, and she his; he never really liked going it alone.
“So what do you think Downing’s planning to do this time?” Leon called to Angela. They both stopped as Angela answered, “ I don’t know, but one thing’s for sure: it’s another plot that reeks of terrorism. Well, at least I’m with you…”
They both finally faced each other, their head inching closer to each others. And the gap was just about to close when- CLANG! rattatattatatta. They looked up, guns at the ready, and they rounded the corner, seeing a woman with light-blond (dyed) hair, black shirt and pants, and wielding a sub-machine gun against a crowd of zombies.
Leon raised his gun, taking the first ones down, round holes appearing in their heads as they went down. Angela had the faster hand, and in almost no time, the zombies were down. The blond woman looked up, turned around, and Leon recognized her as Jill Valentine.  Her clothes were a bit rumpled, she was panting tiredly, and she looked like she’d been through a war.
Thank God she’s not bitten…
“You okay?” Angela asked. Jill looked at her, saying, “Yeah, thanks for wondering. Come on, we’d better keep lookin’”…


In the 3rd floor from the top, Claire and Steve were making sure of the same thing. “Well, it seems empty down here, don’tcha think?” Steve called to Claire. She turned around and said, “Yeah it is… like my heart without you.”
Steve turned around and says, “What’s that supposed to mean?” Claire came closer to him, saying, “Well, ever since you’ve been brought back, my life’s been near complete, and the reason I fell that was is cause I love you…a lot.” She wrapped her arms around Steve, giving him a big hug.
“Thanks, Claire”, Steve whispered. “That  means a lot to me.” Then he tilted her head up, and was just about to kiss her when-clackaclackaclackaclacka. It was close, like someone typing something into a computer. They broke off, rounding the corner, seeing the man himself typing something into a computer.
He was wearing a grey suit, and black pants, with slicked-back grey hair. The big monitor on the front of the room showed a big map of the world, surrounded by what looked like different times and coordinates. This must be Frederic Downing, and Claire and Steve pulled their handguns, but Downing had already noticed, and he pressed ENTER, signifying that a former Umbrella satellite was going to wipe Harvardville from existence in 10 minutes.
He aimed his gun at them, saying, “It’s too late now!” Then he ran to the elevator, taking it down to the basement…

Meanwhile, Chris already had the basement covered. So far, everything seemed normal. That’s when he heard the elevator coming. He pointed his gun in the direction of the sound, and then he saw the guy. Firing a shot (which went wide), Chris ran forward and clothes-lined the guy, who he took to be Downing, in the neck, knocking him down, and killing him almost instantly.
He heard 2 more sets of footsteps, and Chris looked up, seeing Claire and Steve. They looked excited and freaked out all at the same time. “There’s a rogue Umbrella satellite up in space! It’s equipped with a super laser set to destroy Harvardville in…” Steve looked at his watch, then finished, “8 minutes!”

Chapter 5
For the 2 outside, this wasn’t very fun for them. They wanted to be part of the action, yet like every action movie with kids, they were shoved aside.
Well, technically, we’re teens, but still! Eric looked at Alannah, saying, “Well, what do you think they’re up to in there?”  She looked back at him, saying, “Why don’t we find out?” They both entered without hesitation, and then tried to figure out what to do next.
Looking at the elevator’s directory, Eric suggested, “Maybe we should go to the top floor. Maybe they’re all stopping some giant disaster from destroying the city.” He looked back at Alannah, who replied, “What are the odds of that?” , then started to laugh. But Eric punched the top floor button anyway, just in case…

Meanwhile, Leon, Angela, and Jill had made their own way to the top floor, and were out patrolling its halls when they heard the sound of elevator gears. They ran to the elevator door, guns at the ready. Thankfully, it was only Claire, Chris, and Steve.
“Jill!”Chris exclaimed, and they both ran into each other’s waiting arms in a fond embrace. But Claire and Steve ripped them apart, dragging them to the control room, the rest following close behind.
They found the computer, and got into the main system, but when they tried to shut the satellite down, the systems for that were blocked. Steve looked back toward them , while Claire asked, “Is there anyone that can hack into this thing?” Leon, Angela, Chris, and Jill all looked at each other, then shook their heads.
“UUUUHHHHH! Where’s a hacker when you need one?”Claire growled. Almost as an answer, 2 teenaged voices said, “Right here!” A second later, Eric and Alannah were at the computer, having shoved Steve away.
“What are you guys doing here!?” Leon asked incredulously. Alannah looked back, saying, “Not important! We’re in the middle of this!” Eric had finished hacking the systems, and now it was Alannah’s time to shut the whole thing down. She began to type furiously into the keyboard, making her way into the drive, finding the controls, and getting the satellite’s self-destruct ready.
But when she was ready, a small window came up:
ENTER CODE PLEASE! “Does anyone know the code!?” Alannah yelled. Claire thought long and hard, then remembered: she’d seen Downing type the code in before.

T-E-R-R-A-S-A-V-E-1-1-1-0

She pushed Alannah out of the way, and typed the code in, as the window now said:

Do you want to destruct the satellite? Claire hit yes, while the timer showed a minute to spare.

Chapter 6
In the far reaches of space, the satellite was ready to arm the laser. It was ready to serve one last purpose, but suddenly, a circuit running its length suddenly connected, and in the airless vacuum of space, the soundless explosion occurred. A flash of white light, and the pieces floated their separate ways, never again to cause pain…

Back on earth, the group had safely made it out, panting heavily as they walked. But then, Leon looked at Eric and Alannah, saying, “Gotta say, we really underestimated you guys.” “Yeah, I’ll say”, Jill agreed, while Steve finished, “Thanks for your help!”
“And now that we’re done with that…”Leon looked at Angela mischieviously, and they were once again ready to kiss-
“HEY!” Eric and Alannah yelled at the same time, and Leon and Angela bonked their foreheads, rubbing them in pain. “Could we save it until the wedding?” Eric asked.
At this, Claire, Chris, Steve, Jill, and Alannah all said their congrats to Leon and Angela, and then they all took the mile-long hike back to their house, ready to move on to bigger and better things…






Epilogue
“Angela, calm down. You look fantastic!” Eric exclaimed. Really she did;  she was wearing  a blue dress almost like the one she wore the last day Leon was in Harvardville. The differences were there were no white polka-dots or lace on it.
“He’s right; you really do”, Alannah agreed. Now consoled, Angela was ready to go. She opened the front door, and even though she knew about the giant stage and audience, she was still surprised.  The place was packed with all of her and Leon’s friends. The man himself was standing in the middle of the stage, wearing black slacks, a white collared shirt, and a black tie to match. But the jacket was his old leather one, and Angela could see his holster underneath.
She walked slowly up the aisle, her insides brimming with happiness.  She looked back, seeing Alannah and Eric standing in the doorway, smiling widely at her. She finished the aisle, and walked up the stairs to the stage. She was wearing the same ring that Leon had given her when he proposed, so the rings were taken care of.
As it turned out, Barry was the one handling the services. “Well, I guess we’re ready to start, ain’t we?”
“Not quite”, an English-accented voice called out, and everyone looked back toward the door, expecting to see Downing back from the dead, but it wasn’t. It was a group of 4 people wearing matching collarless suits, same style of boots (with a few differences), and one of them was carrying a Rickenbacker rhythm guitar, another carrying drumsticks in ring-decorated hands, the 3rd carrying a brown electric main guitar, and the last carrying a Hofner bass guitar. These were the Beatles!
There was another 3 people following them. One was wearing a black collared shirt with red bow tie, lighter, but still black, pants, and black shoes. He was carrying a Junior Gibson Les Paul guitar. Another had spiky blond-ish hair, carrying a Fender bass, and the 3rd had a sort Mohawk going down the center top of his head, and was wearing a bluish-blacks shirt, and pants to match, also carrying drumsticks. They were Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool of the band Green Day.
The 8th person had a face that was almost feminine and had formerly been a light tone of brown in the skin. He was wearing a mafia-like suit, and wearing a white glove on his right hand. He looked ready to go, and Leon and Angela could tell that his skills were unlike any other. This was the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.
They all sat down in a row near the back, Paul and Michael chatting quietly, while the other 3 Beatles conversed with Green Day. As it happened, Barry started the sermon.”Angela, do you-” She quickly interrupted, “If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t be here. I do”.
Barry ten turned to Leon, saying, “Leon, do you take Angela to be your wife?” Leon turned back to him, saying” Does this answer your question?” Then he wrapped his arms around Angela in a loving embrace, their lips trying to crush each others, while everyone stood up, applauding.
The 8 performers ran to the stage, setting up their equipment, while Paul came to the mike, saying, “We’re going to do a duet between us Beatles and Michael Jackson. This song is called ‘Say Say Say’, and we’d like to dedicate this to Leon and Angela.” Everyone moved to the dance floor in groups: Claire with Steve, Chris with Jill, and Leon and Angela.  They started breakdancing as the singers started:

Say, say, say what you want
But don’t play games with my affection
Take, take, take, what you need
But don’t leave me with no direction

Michael
All alone, I sit home by the phone
Waitin’ for ya, baby
Through the years, you’ve left me standin’ here…

The song finished in a few minutes, and the entertainers were at the top of their game. But the 3 couples left for the house for their own party. Alannah and Eric noticed that, and they left after them , as the Beatles and Green Day launched into “Working Class Hero”.
They decided to follow Leon and Angela, who had gone into the den, making out passionately. As they did, they also began to strip each other’s clothes off. Eric and Alannah got away before it got too ugly. “Yeesh. I tell you, the number of times they keep doing this…” Eric said. “I know, right? It may be disgusting, but it’s funny, ain’t it?” Alannah wondered. They hardly noticed that the Beatles were starting their song called, "Things We Said Today".
Then they found Claire and Steve, up in the bedroom. Like Leon and Angela, they were also tearing each others’ clothes off, but they were actually doing it as they stripped each other. “Nightmares”, Alannah said in a high-pitched voice, and then ducked back into another room(this one empty), dragging Eric into it in the process.  At this point, the Beatles and Michael Jackson dove into "Come Together"
“Glad we’re out of there!” Eric sighed with relief. The whole of Leon and Angela’s house was alive with the sound of 3 couples making love, Alannah’s and Eric’s soft breathing, and the final refrains of ‘Working Class Hero”, before Michael Jackson went to the chorus of “Thriller”:

Cause this is Thriller! Thriller night
And no one’s gonna save ya from the beast about to strike
Ya know it’s Thriller! Thriller night
You’re fightin’ for your life inside a killer thriller…

“So what should we do now?” Eric asked. Alannah looked at him weird, saying, “Don’t ask me! I’m stumped for ideas.”
“That’ll explain why you look so tired”, he replied wearily, and he collapsed face-up on the floor, Alannah following suit.  “Whew… I’d have thought we’d stay up all night with the Beatles, Green Day, and MJ, but I’m tired as hell!” Eric complained.
“I was kinda thinking the same thing about you”, Alannah said, and Eric cocked his head toward her, looking into her dark-blue eyes ( I made a blind guess.) “Well, you can’t win ‘em all, huh? Besides, there are quite a few things about me I wish were different.
“Same here, too.”, Alannah replied. She then rested her head on Eric’s right shoulder, his gentle breathing telling her that he was about to off. The last thing she remembered doing was giving him a small peck on the cheek before she collapsed back onto his shoulder. Then she felt something soft and warm pressing against her lips, and she opened her eyes, seeing Eric’s light-green, half open eyes as he kissed her. Then they both finally fell asleep, thankful for no more Umbrella. After all, they weren’t the only ones.