Red Moon Rising - A Prototype for Perfect Evil

BANG!

A shot echoed like thunder in the falling rain, a single light bursting from the barrel of a loaded gun before fading away. Rain pounded on the roof above, everything else lost in an erie silence. Then in a flash gears turned, clicked, the large door swinging open, the darkness inside seperating for a passing second as two bodies charged in, slamming the door behind them, the bolts locking in place.

Both were heavy with fatigue, each breath coming rapidly and heavier than the last. One final breath fell short, exploding back out as a roar to the other.

"What the hell were those?!?!"

"Intel said you dealt with these things before! Why are you so surprised?"

"Yeah, but each one was intelligent and only wanted a fancy sword fight! THEY DIDN'T PACK UP AND TRY TO EAT ME!"

A hand slid across the wall. Feeling a bump in the palm it flipped up, activating the power for the room, lights flashing on. The room was the entry way to a large home of the greatest riches. Expensive paints lined the oak walls, a fine rug leading up to a large staircase which ascended to a large stained glass window.

A white haired man ran his gloved hand over his head, looking around the room in disbelief. He had heard stories of this place in debriefing, but didn't think it would be this extravagent. He turned, his crimson red trenchcoat swaying over the floor as he made eye contact with the other lifeform in the room.

"So, where to next, Jill?"

The girl walked past him, adjusting the blue beret that found home on here head. She placed the gun she had held in her hand into the holster on her side, one of three on her body, then turned to face the naive young man.

"We're here to find Spencer and bring him in for questioning. He reveals the location of the T-Virus, we turn it around, and everyone leaves happy."

"I don't think happy is the wo-"

A thud caught him off-gaurd, turning in an instant to see a bone chilling sight. A single hand had slapped against the glass of the fogged window next to the door, followed by another, and another, groans from the other side of the wall piercing through. The white-haired man reached down, removing the two custom-built handguns from his sides, spinning them once and locking them in place on the door.

"Blair, what the hell are you doing?!?!"

"Your higher-ups hired me to kill these things, that's what I'm going to do."

The woman identified as Jill grabbed Raven's wrist, pulling him away from the approaching attack, whatever it was.

"That's suicide, idiot. It's not part of the mission. If need be, S.T.A.R.S. will level this entire place. We just need to find Spencer."

Raven looked back, looking on the hands, before charging down the hall.

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A door smashed open, wood splintering across the room as guns clicked into life, iron sights positioned, ready to fire if needed.

"Ozwell Spencer, you're under arrest for......."

"The right to be a god?................the right is now mine."

A hand ripped from the chest of an old man, the dead figure falling next to his wheelchair. His assailant smirked as he looked upon his blood-soaked hand, throwing some of the blood off of it before turning to the two intruders.

His body was clothed entirely in black, a trenchcoat flowing down to the back of his heels. With his clean hand, he pushed the rather large sunglasses that rested on his face closer to his eyes.

"Jill Valentine, such an unsuspected surprise, and you've brought a friend. Delightful, now you both shall join Mr.Spencer."

"Wesker!"

No more words, Jill pulled the trigger, a bullet flying through the air lined-up perfectly with the forehead of the man known as Wesker, but hit nothing. Black haze dispersing as the shades of his glasses materialized inches from her. A desperation shot left the barrel of raven's gun, only for the same to occur. Just as Wesker reformed, a punch was thrown by Raven's free-hand, only to be caught with ease. Wesker simply chuckled at this poor mortal's attempt.

"What are you? You're not human!"

"Do I frighten you, boy?"

"Let him go!"

A flash of blue, shattering glass, and a brush of ocean air. Jill and Wesker fell from the cliff top where the castle found home, leaving only Raven to wtach as his temporary voice of reason fell to her death, bearhugging the black-clothed killer.

"JILL!"

Nothing. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below, a rumble of thunder following a crack of lightning in the sky. Raven never saw this coming. This was a simple escort mission. He kept his eyes on the rocks as he removed a phone from his coat pocket.

"Blackbird, this is Crimson Beast, I need immediate e-vac. Spencer has been killed, and Valentine is......K.I.A."

He listened to the words of disbelief, followed by the somber confirmation. Chopper blades descended, just as the sound of the front door caving in met Raven's ears, the moans following him again. A rope ladder fell to his position to which Raven gripped, rising into the air to safety, looking down to see the masses after him standing at the edge of the room, clawing at open air.

The ladder was pulled in, Raven taking a seat across from another man, also suited up in similar gear to the fallen Jill.

"You fail the mission and get one of my top officers killed?!? I should shoot you right here myself!"

"She saved me. There was another. she called him.....Wesker."

The man's eyes widened as if Raven had told him the devil had faced him just minutes ago.

"Then this just got a whole level worse. We'll meet back at S.T.A.R.S. HQ, form a team."

"If I may, sir? I know a few outside of your ranks who can be a great aid."

The soldier nodded, realizing the grave situation at hand.

"Make the call."

"Will do."

Raven turned on his phone.

Ima hummed a tune as she walked on the beach, giggling as the waves rushed past her bare feet. It had been a long time since she was afraid of water, and a part of her wondered why she ever was. Now she loved it.

Her love of water wasn't the only thing to have changed. She had obviously grown older in the 5 years past, getting much taller and her hair growing much longer, reaching more than half way down her back. She had traded her sweater and skirt for a white dress and a light blue jacket, the latter with a dark blue star on the back.

Ima giggled once more as she felt the water on her feet again. Despite the physical changes, the alien was still very much a child inside.

In many ways, she had grown up though.

The girl paused as the phone she had in a jacket pocket began to ring. The teen took it out and looked at it curiously, wondering who could be calling before picking up.

"Hello?

"Ima? Ima Terran? Geez you sound different. Guess time does that to us all."

A long pause passed as the voice on the other end collected his thoughts. What he was about to say would be tough, but it had to be done for the greater good.

"This is Raven Blair, we met a few years ago during the Spira incident. It's been a while."

He took another pause as well as a deep breath, exhaling through his lips as he continued his conversation, the events of the past few days weighing heeavily on his mind.

"I......need your help. I've been entrusted with forming a team for a mission with combat skills well versed enough to make sure we all survive. I thought back to spira and the group, and realized there may be no one better suited for this than Yourself and the others. Can you help me?"

Ima's eyes widened when she learned who it was, and her smile widened even more than her eyes. Raven! It had been so long since she seen him and any of the others. Well, by human standards. She had come to learn several differences between them and her kind in the past time, the concept of time being one of them.

"Raven! It's great to hear from you, it's been so long!" She chirped happily, despite the seriousness of her friend's tone. "Of course I'll help!"

"Gr-Great."

Raven's voice was flooded with guilt as he acted to have nothing but happiness at the young girl's glee. Was it right to bring her into the mix? Raven knew he had no choice.

"I'll be contacting the others as well. A helicopter will be arriving shorting after. We'll bring you to HQ for debriefing on the situation."

He sighed.

"Be ready for anything, Ima."

"I will! I promise!" Ima said, nodding even though she knew he couldn't see her. "And Raven? You sound a little down. Don't worry, whatever it is, I'll help."

The teen knew that if Raven needed help, it must be bad. He was so strong after all! But if he honestly needed her help, she knew she would not regret helping a friend, no matter what came to be. And honestly? Ima really couldn't wait to see all her friends again.

She laughed a little. "I'll see you soon, 'kay?"

A blonde male yawned and glanced at his pocket watch, catching it with a snap before he resumed his walk. Takato Rutherford hadn't changed much, his bright amber eyes burning in the sun as his metal arm twitched with each footstep he made. His hair was slightly brighter and was rather tame, framing his pale white features and new clothes rather proudly, a new sleek coat flowing within the wind. A single small fox trailed behind him, seemingly bored with what they were doing. His features were a bit more narrow, yet his small height was very much the same. People passed him by like normal, uncaring of his current mission.

Then, it happened.

"Huh?"

Takato blinked and dug into his coat, flipping open a rather odd phone with the word "Owl" imprinted on the front,

"Takato Rutherford here, whose calling?"

&&&&&&&&&&

Takato Rutherford (Five Years Later):

"Takato.....this is Raven Blair."

The somber voice of the once energetic pretty boy hunter spoke on the other end of the line, chopper blades whipping by in the background.

"There's been a situation. I've been charged with forming a team to answer the problem. I immediately thought back to Spira. We may need your talents on this one."

He took a break to catch his breath, then conitnued.

"Can you help me?"

Takato arched a single eyebrow and scratched his cheek before shrugging,

"Guess so. Send the location and I'll be there."

&&&&&&&&&

OOC: Short post is short.

"There's an opening near the watery center of your town, Ima is on her way. Meet there, we'll extract you."

Raven took a second, the guilt of putting a second soul on the line, no matter how powerful, hanging on him.

"Takato, be ready for anything. You'll be debriefed on the scenario when we arrive."

"Not a problem."

Takato finished with a chuckle and then said his goodbyes, flipping the odd phone closed. He brought up his hand and gestured for his fox to follow him, his form slowly walking down the road with his backpack slung over his shoulder. His walk was calm and slow. his blonde hair flowing within the heavy wind rushing down the path,

Anything, huh?

"Lets go Al!"

"Aright already!"

Water spread in a circular fashion as wind blasted down from the blades of the helicopter that hovered down into Magnolia town. Standing on the landing gear was the form of Raven blair, holding on to the inside as to not fall off.

He lowered, closer and closer to the landing point, beforethe machine touched down, followed by the boot of blair. He looked around the town, awaiting the arrival of his friends. He had hoped it would stay this sunny, but he knew better.

Ima soon arrived, smiling widely when she saw Raven. She practically glomped him when she got close enough. "Raaaaaaaaaveeeeeen!" The teen squealed with joy. "It's so great to see you again!"

She released the man from her death grip, still smiling. She giggled then. "How are you? It's been so long..."

Raven stumbled slightly back from the pounce by Ima, trying his best to muster up a smile as he hugged her back, allowing her to stand on the ground after she had finished.

"Wow, look at you, all grown up."

Raven smiled the best he could, thinking back to the past five years and the many missions he had gone through.

"Yeah, it's been a while. I'm.....I've been better, to be honest. I'm alive though, that's something, right?"

Footsteps echoed as two amber eyes flashed, flashes of blue flaring with the determined depths. The figure grew closer, trails of darkness blocking the features of the man. Blonde hair was ruffled by the upturning wind, a chuckle slipping over a pair of pale lips as gloved hands twitched with chilling sparks of magical power. A single red coat moved like a cape behind the figure, boots shattering earth with each step.

"My apologies for my late arrival, I needed to speak with Fairy Tail.”

Takato Rutherford had arrived.

And with that, it was Takato's turn to be glomped.

"Takatooooooooo!" Ima cried as she hugged her friend. "I haven't seen you in forever! I've missed you!"

She let go of him after that, giggling and bouncing in place a bit. She was really happy to see her friends again. If only Zora was here, then the gang would be complete!

"Good to see you, Takato. Now we don't have much time to waste, the situation is getting worse by the minute."

Raven motioned back to the helicopter, nodding to the Pilot to activate the engine again, the blades spinning up.

"Let's move. I'll fill you both in when we arrive."

Takato nodded and threw his bag over his back, laughing at Ima as he hid his thoughts. He couldn't help but be quite shocked how much she had grown, his eyes flashing to gaze upon her features before a small smile crawled along his lips. It was nice to see her like this, a pretty teenager that looked at the world with clear and happy eyes.

"Me too, me too."

&&&&&&

(OOC: Feel free to time skip.)

"Alright, let's go."

The group packed into the helicopter as it lifted from the ground, flying off into the azure sky, bringing the three onboard to face destiny yet again.

TIME SKIP! YEAAAAAAAH!

Pebbles shook and spread out as the rumble of tires on the earth rolled by. The sun had hung itself just over the horizon, hours passing by, it's beams reflecting off of the steel reinforced Military Assault Vehicle platoon crawling to it's final location. It is in one of these vehicles we find the three black sheep of the unit. The brighter colors, the eccentric attire, and the hidden abilities that very few among them knew of. These three were their only hope.

Raven sat across from Takato and Ima, his arms resting on a small table placed inside the vehicle for tactical discussion. The lights from the various screens in the otherwise dark transport danced on his expression as he spoke.

"I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise that I sound like a mad man when i explain what we're about to go into, but once you see it with your own eyes you'll know the truth."

He sighed, looking down to the cheap wood table, then back to his allies.

"We are currently inside a caravan heading for Raccoon City. We are joined by the Special Tactics And Rescue Service, also known as S.T.A.R.S. which was a branch of the Raccoon City police department.....until a few days ago."

He leaned forward, the signature sword of the demon hunter shifting in his lap.

"That same time S.T.A.R.S. believes that the Umbrella Pharmaceutical Company released an agent into the city, a virus for experimental reasons. The results were catastrophic. It has been named the Tyrant Virus, T-Virus for short, and has spread through the city at an extremely rapid pace. We attempted to find the owner of Umbrella, Ozwell spencer, but on arrival we witnessed his murder by another man, pressumed to be Albert Wesker. Wesker was a member of S.T.A.R.S. until found out to be an Umbrella Agent, but if he was Umbrella, why would he kill Spencer?"

Raven realized he had been rambling about what he had witnessed, being notifed by one of the officers onboard that they would be arriving within minutes.

"Let's make this short. This virus.....it kills the infected within moments, but they don't....stay dead. Dead tissue reanimates after, the virus taking control. Even tissue long dead before the virus can potentially spring back."

He looked deep into the eyes of his friends.

"These things, they may seem human to you. They aren't. Any trace of humanity they once had are long gone. All they do now is run on instinct, they need to feed. Our mission is to infiltrate the Umbrella Corp. laboratories we believe are hidden under the Spencer Estate, find the T-Virus and return it to form an anti-body, maybe find a way to reverse this damn curse these monsters have put on the world.....and to kill off as many of these things as we can on the way."

Raven leaned back again, feeling the tires come to a screeching hault.

"I give you two tips. One, aim for the head. Decapitation or total obliteration of the brain are the only ways to put these things down for good, and two..........."

Raven grabbed the hilt of his weapon.

"Don't......get....bitten. A bite or a scratch, any form of entrance into your body will transfer the virus. You'll be as good as one of them. Don't under estimate these things, I've seen them myself."

Ima had a surprisingly serious face when she nodded to Raven. Again, she had known that it must be bad if Raven was calling for help, so she was prepared for something like this. The teen knew she'd probably still be shocked when she saw these things, but she knew what she was getting into.

Still, after that she smiled happily.

"I understand."

Takato blinked and nodded, bringing up a single arm before taking hold of one of the gloves with the other. Metal fingers twitched, sparks echoing at the very tips with hints of magical energy. A single flash of blue expanded in his eyes as he smiled, feeling his magicka flow through him tamed and able to lash out at will. Undead? Not something he had expected, but he could deal with it. He doubted this type would be effected by holy magic, so he quickly ran through a list of spells in his head.

He wasn't about to let Ima and Raven handle this alone,

"Got it."

Raven's boots touched down on the concrete below, surveying the area as the team began to pour out of the vehicles, suting up with their equipment, ready for anything. Even Raven had brought out some new weaponry, removing from the back of the vehicle a large rifle-like gun, slinging it over his torso, as well as a small, wider weapon of unknown type which he placed on a holster on his lower back. Add it to the few additional items he slipped into his pant pockets without much fuss and he was ready to go.

"Raven Blair?"

"Who's asking?"

A larger male made his way to the group. He wore gray pants and a body holster that held a handgun, his short brown hair accompanying his rather stern features.

"Chris Redfield, I am.....was Jill Valentine's partner."

"Oh, listen.....I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not going to bring her back, now is it? If you weren't for your ignorance Jill would still be alive.......but it's not the time for this now, my focus is on the mission. I'm your escort to the spencer estate."

Raven looked to his friends, then back to Redfield.

"Sounds good."

The girl looked around curiously. So many interesting things! She was still learning about this planet after all. Making a mental note to ask about everything later, she turned her attention to the new person.

Ima filed 'Jill Valentine' as another thing to ask about later and smiled at Chris. "Hello! I'm Ima, nice to meet you!" She extended her hand for a handshake.

Takato simply gazed at the sky with his sack slung over his shoulder, his red coat moving within the wind. He gave a simple greeting gesture and began to walk in a following motion after Chris, introducing himself with a mere mention of his name. The Magi seemed on edge, almost as if he was sensing something the others were not. Seemingly he was slightly different and careful than he was five years ago, hints of blue flowing within his narrowed stare,

"Spencer Estate..?"

Chris nodded to Ima, not necessarily accepting the introduction but being friendly enough to the younger girl. He found it strange that they allowed such a young girl on the battlefield, but he knew S.T.A.R.S. had trusted Raven in finding useful allies,and he could not go against their orders.

"The Spencer estate is where we believe the Umbrella Corp labs are located, or rather under it. There's a multiple story lab underneath the mansion. We're infiltrating this location to find traces of the T-Virus, simple enough. I know raven mu-"

"Here they come!"

The group drop to dead silence as they all turned, looking down the barren street of Raccoon City. Gray sky scrapers rose above them all, tarnished, windows cracked an shattered. A flock of crows flew overhead to which many of the team viewed.

Then the sounds began. Those haunting, inhuman sounds.

The sound of flesh sliding on the ground filled the are, moans of pain or rather animalistic instinct piercing the ears of those there. One made it's way around the corner, greenish-gray skin peeling away on parts of it's body, the clothes it wore before infection torn on it's bumbling body.

Then it's eyes. It's eyes were lifeless, emotionless, only wanting one thing. To feed. It slided closer, soon followed by two more, then two more, and so on until the group reached twenty in numbers, former men and women coming for their next meal.

"LOCK AND LOAD PEOPLE!"

Raven reached to his side, removing one of his two handguns, spinning it once before locking it in place. He aimed down the sights, pointing directly at the center Zombie's head.

"Bang."

He pulled the trigger, and the creature's head disappeared in a flash of plasma and flesh.