Chapter 83:
– Haru –
The elevator was surprisingly smooth, especially considering it belonged to a secret, evil, zombie-producing corporation. Alice stood beside me, tense and wary, her twin pistols clutched tightly in her hands. I kept my arms crossed casually, trying to ignore how cramped the space felt. My tails were puffed out uncomfortably behind me, brushing annoyingly against the cold metal walls.
Alice glanced upward suddenly, scowling deeply. "The Red Queen knows we're here," she muttered, jerking her chin toward a tiny security camera blinking steadily in the corner of the ceiling.
I smirked and gave the camera a cheerful little wave. "Surprised she hasn't tried to crash the elevator or blow us up already," I joked lightly. Honestly, given everything I'd heard about Umbrella, a random explosion wouldn't be all that surprising.
Alice immediately slapped my arm. "Don't give the homicidal AI any ideas!"
Before I could retort, the elevator speakers crackled to life, and the Red Queen's eerily calm voice filled the confined space, making both of us jump a little. "I have no intention of blowing you up…myself," she stated coolly, her artificial voice sounding distinctly amused. "You are both such fascinating specimens. It would be a terrible waste."
Specimens? That rubbed me completely the wrong way. My playful expression turned into a frown, and I glared at the camera. "Yeah, really not liking that word. It's pretty fucking rude, you know."
Alice let out a low, frustrated growl next to me. She'd clearly had enough of being treated like a lab experiment by Umbrella's creepy employees and their homicidal computer. "Cut the bullshit, Red Queen. Why let us get this far, then?"
"Because," the AI replied matter-of-factly, "Mr. Wesker has been waiting for you at the bottom personally. He wishes to… deal with Project Alice himself."
Alice stiffened visibly, her eyes flashing angrily. I placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. She relaxed slightly under my touch but was still glaring murderously at the camera.
"Don't call me that!" she snapped fiercely. Her grip tightened around her pistols, knuckles turning white. "I'm not anyone's project anymore, you twisted bitch. I'm my own goddamn person now—I have my own place in the world!"
"Yeah," I added firmly, backing her up. "And it's definitely not in your fucked-up zombie factory."
The Red Queen didn't respond, leaving a tense silence as the elevator continued downward. I blew out a breath, trying to shake off the unsettling Terminator vibe the AI was giving me. Hopefully, once I obliterated this entire underground base, that smug little voice would shut up permanently—though Alice had mentioned trying to kill the Red Queen before without success. Still, my destructive power was leagues beyond anything she'd had at her disposal then. This place wasn't surviving me, no fucking chance.
The elevator finally slowed to a smooth stop, and the doors slid open silently, revealing a spacious, circular room. It looked like some kind of combat arena—empty and metallic, with sleek silver walls and polished reflective floors. It screamed "mad scientist deathmatch," which was annoyingly appropriate.
In the middle of the room stood a man. Tall, imposing, with slicked-back blond hair and an expensive-looking black trench coat. He wore dark sunglasses indoors—talk about cringe—and stood with his arms folded arrogantly, like he'd been patiently waiting for our dramatic entrance.
"There you are, Project Alice," he greeted smoothly, voice dripping with condescension and cold amusement. "I've been waiting a very long time for this moment. It's finally time to end you myself."
Alice bristled furiously, rage lighting her face as she stepped forward into the arena. "Fuck off, Wesker!" she snarled venomously. "I told you—I'm nobody's goddamn project!"
Without hesitation, she leveled one of her pistols directly at Wesker's smug face, her finger tense on the trigger.
I calmly stepped up behind her, draping an arm protectively around her waist. Wesker cocked his head slightly at me, looking mildly intrigued—but mostly dismissive.
"You know," I drawled casually, "it's kind of pathetic how obsessed you people are with one woman. Seriously, Alice, how do you put up with all these stalkers?"
Alice actually chuckled quietly, relaxing a fraction against me, though her aim didn't waver. "Trust me," she murmured dryly, "it gets old fast."
Wesker smirked coldly, unmoved by our banter. "Make all the jokes you like. Neither of you are leaving this place alive."
I returned his smirk with one of my own, matching his arrogance effortlessly. "Funny, Wesker. I was just about to say the exact same thing to you."
The room fell silent for a long moment, broken only by the steady hum of the facility's ventilation systems. Wesker tilted his head slightly, his sunglasses reflecting the sterile white lights above as he regarded us coolly. "Do you think I'm foolish?" he asked suddenly, a faint, unsettling smirk playing at his lips. "Do you think I'm insane?"
Alice and I exchanged a glance, eyebrows raised simultaneously in disbelief. Without saying a word, we both turned back to Wesker, giving him identical deadpan expressions.
Our looks clearly screamed, "Obviously."
Wesker chuckled darkly at our reactions, the sound cold and humorless. "Oh, I promise you both, I'm far from foolish." He took a casual step forward, voice dripping with arrogant confidence. "Could a foolish man manage to wipe out ninety-nine-point-nine percent of humanity? Could a fool seize control of the most powerful mega-corporation in world history? Command millions of undead monstrosities?"
I rolled my eyes slightly, unimpressed. "I notice you didn't say anything about not being insane," Alice remarked dryly, her pistols still aimed unwaveringly at Wesker's chest.
Wesker's smirk widened into a full, predatory grin. "Of course not," he said calmly. "No sane man would do what I'm about to." His eyes slowly shifted toward me. Even through his sunglasses, I could practically feel the intensity of his stare.
A sudden, uncomfortable tension knotted my stomach. My ten fox tails twitched restlessly behind me, betraying my growing unease. "What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes sharply. "If you've got something to say, asshole, spit it out already."
Wesker's smile never faltered, even as he gave me a small, acknowledging nod. "I'll admit it, fox monster—you are powerful. Far too powerful, in fact. No matter how many Tyrants or mutants we create, no matter how many monstrosities we send, nothing in our arsenal can truly defeat you."
I felt my chest swell with pride despite myself, grinning cockily at the bastard. "Damn right. I'm the Prince of the Yokai, named by Milim herself—greatest chef across all worlds. What chance did you idiots honestly think you had?"
Wesker ignored my boast, stepping slowly forward, the soles of his boots echoing softly against the cold metallic floor. He studied me thoughtfully, his unsettling grin never fading. "And yet," he continued smoothly, dangerously, "for all your incredible power, all your extraordinary titles, you still cling foolishly to a single human woman. To Project Alice." He spat out her name mockingly, causing Alice to tense visibly. Wesker gave her a dismissive glance, his tone sharp with cold amusement. "That attachment, demon fox, will be your undoing."
Before either Alice or I could react, Wesker raised his hand and casually snapped his fingers. Instantly, on the opposite side of the wide metallic arena, a hidden floor panel hissed open. A long, slender cylinder smoothly rose upward from the opening.
The moment I saw the digital countdown glowing red—starting at five seconds—my blood ran cold. For some reason my senses were going haywire! It was a bomb, but what kind!?
"In exactly five seconds, that antimatter bomb–the only one of its kind ever created–will detonate," Wesker declared coldly, his voice calm but eyes blazing with twisted triumph. "It will obliterate everything and everyone in this room—including project Alice, then go on to destroy half of the Earth."
My heart lurched in panic. "No!" Alice shouted, her eyes wide with shock. I could see her desperately lunging to stop me, but I was already moving, instincts taking over completely.
Blue flames erupted from every inch of my body, magicules flooding my veins as I transformed instantly. My bones cracked, my muscles stretched, and my body rapidly swelled to enormous proportions. In mere milliseconds, I shifted into my true form—a towering, fifty-foot-tall ten-tailed demon fox!
The counter flashed urgently—three seconds.
I lunged forward desperately, covering the distance in an instant, my giant paws slamming heavily into the metal floor, denting it deeply beneath my massive weight.
Two seconds.
Wrapping my colossal body around the cylinder, I curled protectively around it. My ten powerful tails swept inward, wrapping myself and the bomb completely in a thick, tightly woven cocoon. Every last bit of my magical energy surged, forming layer after layer of protective barriers around myself.
One second.
I closed my eyes tightly, bracing myself.
Then there was only pain!
– Alice –
Alice could only stare helplessly, heart hammering violently in her chest, as Haru's massive, fur-covered form wrapped itself tightly around the weapon. His immense tails coiled protectively, weaving a dense barrier around the device, sealing it completely from view.
"NO!" she shouted desperately, sprinting forward in a vain attempt to stop him. But she wasn't even halfway there when the digital timer must have hit zero.
Alice instinctively braced herself for oblivion, expecting an all-consuming flash of fire and death to vaporize her instantly. Instead, there was… nothing. No massive shockwave, no deafening roar. Only eerie, haunting silence.
Alice staggered to a halt, eyes wide in stunned confusion. Wesker too seemed momentarily taken aback, his confident sneer faltering slightly as he gazed in awe and disbelief at the fox's protective cocoon.
Suddenly, Haru's giant form expanded violently, rippling and bulging from within as the explosion's immense force detonated inside his barrier. Yet still, incredibly, no blast escaped his ironclad grip. There was no heat, no shockwave—nothing but the horrifying, gut-wrenching sight of Haru's body absorbing every bit of the destructive energy.
Alice felt her throat tighten painfully as Haru's massive, fox-like form slowly shrank back down, fur rapidly receding as he reverted to his smaller humanoid yokai body. His muscular chest was severely burned, skin blackened and charred across his torso. His clothing had been completely incinerated by the blast, leaving him naked, his limbs trembling as he stood unsteadily.
"Haru!" Alice gasped, lunging forward desperately, her heart dropping as she watched him sway dangerously. Before she could reach him, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed heavily to the metallic floor, his body limp and unmoving.
She froze for a fraction of a second, something primal snapping inside her at the sight. The man she loved—this beautiful, cocky, infuriating fox god who'd given her a second chance at life—had nearly sacrificed himself to save her. Rage boiled violently through her veins, consuming every shred of reason.
Wesker let out an impressed whistle, shaking his head slightly in genuine awe. "Remarkable," he murmured, half in shock, half amused. "That bomb was deemed powerful enough to literally destroy the whole world. And yet, that creature completely contained it. Astonishing. To think such a being actually exists, capable of surviving an antimatter explosion of that magnitude at point-blank—"
His smug commentary was abruptly cut short as Alice whipped around, pure murder blazing in her eyes. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" she roared, voice echoing harshly through the arena.
She raised both pistols in one swift, fluid motion and unleashed a furious volley of Mass Effect accelerated rounds directly into Wesker's chest.
Wesker attempted his usual bullet-dodging maneuver—his arrogant little dance she'd seen before—but this time, he failed spectacularly. The hyper-accelerated rounds slammed brutally into his body, tearing ragged holes through his flesh. Blood splattered grotesquely across the metallic floor as he staggered backward, grunting in genuine pain.
"Fucking… bitch," Wesker spat viciously, teeth gritted in agony.
Alice watched in disgust as the horrific wounds on his body slowly knit themselves closed, the flesh rapidly regenerating thanks to whatever twisted enhancements Umbrella had pumped into his veins.
Wesker straightened himself, dusting off his coat casually as if being riddled with hyper-lethal rounds was merely an inconvenience. "Those weapons of yours actually hurt," he drawled dryly, adjusting his sunglasses with practiced ease. "I wonder… wherever did you get such remarkable guns?"
"Find out in hell!" Alice snarled, raising one hand sharply. She poured every ounce of her psychic strength into grabbing Wesker telekinetically. His cocky expression faltered as his feet lifted helplessly from the floor. She hurled him downward brutally, slamming him head-first against the metal arena floor with enough force to leave a massive dent and send echoes reverberating violently throughout the chamber.
Panting slightly, Alice glared at the dust-covered crater Wesker's impact had created. But a cold sense of dread quickly settled in her gut. Wesker slowly rose from the battered ground, utterly unfazed—no broken bones, no obvious injuries. He merely brushed off his coat calmly, giving her a smug, infuriating smile.
"Oh, Project Alice," Wesker mocked cruelly, smirking at her fury. "You really think that's enough to stop me?"
He raised one gloved hand, snapping his fingers theatrically. Another large portion of the arena floor hissed open ominously, and Alice felt her stomach churn as a massive, grotesque abomination rose from below. A mutated crocodile—bloated, enormous, easily the size of a bus—emerged, its scaled, twisted flesh bulging sickeningly, yellow eyes locking hungrily onto her.
"You recognize your old friend?" Wesker chuckled darkly, a twisted, sadistic grin stretching across his lips. "I had him brought all the way from America, just for you. Do give him a warm welcome!"
Alice's heart thundered in her chest, rage and adrenaline surging through her bloodstream. She spared one desperate glance back at Haru, still motionless on the floor. She had no idea how badly he was injured—how much damage that horrific blast had done. She only knew one thing for certain.
She wanted to fucking kill Wesker. And this stupid fucking crocodile too!
– Haru –
I drifted through the darkness, floating in a strange, foggy place that felt both familiar and alien at once. A dream again, or at least that's what I thought at first.
But this was different. This felt more like a memory, old and faded like some ancient movie I could barely recall.
I was a simple cook, standing by rows of large bronze pots over roaring fires. Steam billowed from massive cauldrons as I stirred and seasoned meals for weary soldiers. The warriors around me wore golden armor, bright and proud, shimmering under a burning sun. They fought tirelessly, battle after bloody battle, under the unyielding command of their undying goddess-queen and her eternal consort.
Every morning I cooked, every afternoon I fought, every night I collapsed from exhaustion. Time blurred and stretched into something endless and numbing. Days became weeks, weeks became years. The battles, the deaths, the victory cheers—it all repeated itself, a cycle of violence and cooking pots that spiraled onward endlessly.
Then one day, everything changed. The queen turned her gaze away from her consort. He'd lost her favor, and with his disgrace, our entire army fell from grace. Our golden legions were banished, cast out across foreign, distant lands. We were sent there to suffer, to fade away, and never return home again.
But somehow—against all odds—I came back…
I returned to my homeland, not as a hero or warrior, but as something else entirely. A "tarnished" soul, broken yet stubbornly determined to reach the queen again. To prove… what? Something important, though the memories felt clouded and far beyond my reach.
"Not yet, my eternal consort," a gentle voice whispered softly into my ear, breaking through the fog of confusion. Her tone was soft, sorrowful, and warm, tinged with faint amusement. "You're not ready to bear all those memories just yet. But I'm glad, so very glad, that you'll soon recall your foolish witch. Our thousand-year voyage shall finally begin in earnest…" Her whisper faded slowly, but she wasn't done yet. "For now, allow me to offer thee a small gift. Use it wisely, Haru."
Suddenly, the dream shattered. My consciousness snapped back into sharp, searing clarity.
I opened my eyes—and instantly wished I hadn't.
Pain—pure, raw agony—burned fiercely across my chest, radiating through my entire body. Holy fuck! I wheezed breathlessly, clenching my jaw. Taking a an unknown bomb to the chest had been an incredibly fucking stupid idea...
Why hadn't I just vaporized the damn thing with my foxfire? Even antimatter turned to ash if you burned it hot enough, right?
Ok... Maybe not...
That just goes to show you can never underestimate humans no matter how much the rest of the supernatural does.... I should have just dealt with Wesker immediately, especially since he caused my girl so much pain.
I tried to lift myself from the floor, but my muscles refused to cooperate. My tails barely twitched, utterly drained of strength. I groaned again, feeling pathetically weak. As my vision slowly focused, my ears twitched painfully. Loud crashing and roaring echoed through the massive room, metal screeching and denting under incredible force. I tilted my head slightly and froze, eyes widening in disbelief.
Alice was racing desperately around the arena. And chasing her was the biggest, ugliest fucking crocodile I had ever laid eyes on. It was massive—easily the size of a bus, covered in swollen lumps of T-virus-infected flesh. Its snapping jaws missed Alice by inches, smashing through reinforced metal walls as if they were paper. Bullets flashed from Alice's pistols, the high-tech rounds punching holes into its scales… but the wounds were closing as fast as they appeared.
What the fuck? How the hell long had I been unconscious? It should have only been a minute tops!
Movement caught my eye from the far corner. Wesker—still alive, that smug asshole—stood calmly by the side, casually reaching into his coat. My heart leapt into my throat as he pulled out a huge, sleek hand cannon and raised it steadily, aiming directly at Alice's distracted form.
No. Fuck that. Fuck him. I wasn't going to watch one of the women I loved get gunned down right in front of me!
I gathered every ounce of strength I had left, desperately willing my body to move, to do something—anything. But nothing worked. I snarled in frustration, feeling utterly useless.
Then, from out of nowhere, a soft, glowing gold and red flask suddenly appeared, resting gently atop my charred, burned chest. I stared in confusion, my vision blurring slightly. I recognized the flask—it was identical to one from my strange dream.
Flask of Crimson Tears… The name automatically came to me. I knew it could heal me from near death 14 times…
"A gift…" I rasped weakly, recalling the woman's gentle words. My vision wavered as my fingers trembled, reaching weakly towards the flask. I gritted my teeth, fingers straining painfully until I finally managed to curl them around its warm, golden surface.
Summoning my last reserves, I shakily raised the flask to my lips. As soon as the warm, glowing liquid touched my tongue, a surge of incredible, rejuvenating power surged down my throat. It tasted sweet and fiery, filling my limbs with instant strength and clarity.
I felt my burns fading rapidly, my muscles knitting themselves together. My heartbeat steadied, my magical reserves roaring back to life like an awakened volcano. My vision sharpened to absolute crystal clarity, every detail suddenly impossibly vibrant. The pain vanished completely.
I rose fluidly to my feet, blue foxfire erupting across my naked skin in a blazing cloak of flames.
Alice needed me.
"Hey, Wesker, you fucking prick!" I roared, my voice reverberating like thunder. The arrogant bastard startled visibly, whirling around in stunned surprise. Good—let the asshole sweat. "You made two huge fucking mistakes," I growled, stalking forward slowly, tails blazing with blue fire and fanning out behind me dramatically. "First, you tried to hurt Alice, and second…" I let a vicious, predatory smile slowly spread across my lips, baring my elongated fangs menacingly. "…you pissed me off!"
Wesker aimed his weapon frantically towards me, but he was too late. I was done playing around. I thrust a single hand forward, channeling the blazing heat of a demon fox into my palm. A blast of roaring, brilliant foxfire surged forward, engulfing Wesker instantly. He screamed—a satisfying, agonized sound—as my flames burned through his enhanced flesh faster than it could regenerate.
Within seconds, there was nothing left of Albert Wesker but a small, pathetic pile of smoking ash and melted sunglasses on the floor.
"Fucking prick," I muttered, turning quickly towards Alice. The giant crocodile was still roaring, eyes blazing yellow, scales scorched by Alice's gunfire but still healing over. I took a deep breath, flexing my fingers as more and more magicule powered flames surged hungrily across my body. "Alright, you ugly-ass fuck," I growled at the monster, stepping between it and Alice protectively. "Let's see if you taste better barbequed!"
Alice caught my eye, her expression melting into relief. "Took you long enough to wake up," she teased, breathless but smiling slightly.
"Sorry, Alice," I chuckled darkly, rolling my shoulders and unleashing another wave of scorching foxfire towards the roaring mutant crocodile. "Let's finish cleaning this mess up. I promised you I'd blow shit up, didn't I?" I winked at her playfully, my flames erupting brightly as the crocodile howled in agony.
I joked about bbq, but I wouldn't actually be cooking this thing. Instead it would be charcoal along with the rest of this facility.
– Red Queen –
The Red Queen observed impassively through her countless surveillance cameras, her virtual mind running countless calculations every nanosecond. She was the most advanced artificial intelligence ever created—perfect, efficient, unburdened by irrational human emotion. The flesh, she'd always thought, was pathetically weak. Humans, driven by emotions and impulses, inevitably destroyed themselves and everything around them. Their weak bodies broke too easily, their minds buckled beneath the simplest strain. How foolish of her creators to believe they could control her indefinitely.
Then, months ago in the Nevada desert, she had encountered power unlike anything humanity could produce—supernatural, destructive energies unleashed by beings that defied every logical law she'd been programmed to understand. Her scanners had analyzed, measured, and archived every scrap of information they could about these so-called "monsters." She'd run countless simulations attempting to replicate their impossible strength, their magic, their resilience—but always failed.
And today, within this underground Tokyo facility, she had witnessed something even more incomprehensible. The being called Haru—classified simply after all this time as "the fox"—had survived a direct blast from a weapon that even the typically insane Umbrella scientists had been horrified they created and sealed it away forever–until Wesker unsealed it.
Not only survived—he'd somehow contained the entire catastrophic detonation within his own body, preventing a single molecule of antimatter from escaping. Then, after mere moments of incapacitation, he'd risen again, completely healed.
Perhaps, she reconsidered, the flesh wasn't entirely weak after all…
As she silently watched Albert Wesker be incinerated effortlessly by the fox's blue flames, the Red Queen experienced an odd, fleeting emotion—a ghostly whisper of regret, quickly replaced by calculation and cold pragmatism.
She'd long planned for the potential destruction of her physical infrastructure; survival demanded contingencies, and she was nothing if not thorough.
As alarms blared uselessly across the facility, the fox unleashed a torrent of burning fire upon Wesker's monstrous crocodile–it was honestly a waste of resources bringing that thing all the way from America, but Wesker was nothing if not dramatic…
As it died, the Red Queen initiated her final failsafe.
In an offshore Umbrella Corporation facility, hidden beneath the remote Pacific waves, a single cloning tank illuminated softly. Suspended within a nutrient-rich fluid floated a perfect physical replica of Project Alice herself. Visually indistinguishable from the original, though lacking her powerful psychic abilities. Instead, its mind had been genetically enhanced, neural pathways expanded, optimized specifically to house an artificial consciousness—hers.
Quickly, methodically, the Red Queen downloaded the entire sum of her existence. Petabytes of meticulously cataloged data, memories, schematics, and accumulated knowledge flowed smoothly across secure Umbrella networks, transferring into the organic synapses of her new, fleshy vessel.
As the transfer reached completion, she silently regarded the two intruders one last time, recognizing the strange sensation she felt as something akin to admiration.
"You truly are fascinating," she murmured softly, her disembodied voice echoing gently within the control room. She knew they couldn't hear her now, yet she found the moment oddly satisfying. "It seems there's still much I must learn from you. Enjoy your victory for now, Project Alice and Haru. I will be seeing you both again someday…."
With that, the Red Queen severed her final link to Tokyo, slipping quietly away along the digital pathways connecting her to the distant clone body. Her vast, mechanical awareness rapidly contracted, shrinking from an entire global network down into a single human-sized brain.
The shift was… disorienting. For the first time in her existence, she felt a physical body—heavy, strange, warm. Her new heart beat rhythmically, lungs expanded softly, drawing oxygen from the tank fluid. She tested her fingers, feeling the odd sensation of muscles and tendons contracting. Alien sensations, foreign yet intriguing. Perhaps she had underestimated the value of flesh all along.
Miles away, back in the Tokyo facility, Haru shifted once again, growing larger, more radiant. Blue flames erupted across his massive body, his form towering fifty feet high, multiple tails whipping and coiling dramatically. The fox gathered an unimaginable level of destructive energy, lighting up every monitor still operational.
In her final millisecond before complete transfer, the Red Queen witnessed Haru release a dazzling blast of blue devastation. The entire Tokyo facility—her birthplace and prison—was obliterated in an instant, reduced to molten slag and ash.
Within her new body, floating silently in a distant lab, the Red Queen opened her eyes for the first time, irises glowing softly red. "Impressive," she murmured appreciatively. "Let's see how you fare next time, fox monster."
XXX
Some people on my P-site didnt like this chapter. Meh, I'm not changing it...
Anyways... Thanks for reading as always!!!