[♠] Believe It or Not, Leon S. Kennedy Was My Childhood Bully [♠] SMART THRILLER ~Chapter 11~ Missions and Reunions

I understood what she meant, she didn't want me to feel uncomfortable when she would be talking about the basis of the meeting; my getting the Progenitor virus of all the bio hazard specimens of Umbrella. She was indeed sensitive enough to ask me this. But I knew that I had to come clean some time, and that time is NOW.

I nodded my head, giving her a smile. "I give you my full consent."

She still stared into my eyes, trying to see if there were doubts hidden beneath them. But I was strong enough to hide them. Without any further ado, she opened the double doors gently, entered, then announced our arrival. Leon and Luis chivalrously gestured me to enter first and I nodded to them in thanks. My hands started getting clammy in nervousness that I had to clench them from shaking. Having to explain what had happened to me, and having to admit that this happened because of my carelessness, you can never blame me for feeling anxious all of a sudden.

"Everything's going to be alright. Just Relax... I'm right here whenever you need me.", Leon whispered gently before giving my hand a good squeeze to calm me down. His words were unfamiliar to me, after all we used to be enemies. The way he talked made me calm my nerves in a flash.

Bravely taking small steps forward into the stuffy meeting room, I looked straight ahead to avoid any eye contact. Stopping on my tracks, I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but I only dared to meet President Graham's. After all, he was the only one in the room that I know, right? Of course, aside from Leon, Luis, and Ingrid.

"Please, take a seat.", the President hospitably instructed us.

Finding three empty seats at the end of the humangous desk, I trailed my way towards the first. Leon kindly pulled the black comfortable swivel chair for me before I could sit down. He took a seat next to me and Luis took the last from the row. When silence was still lingering, I took the opportunity to look around and see if I could recognize anybody.

Before I could even jerk my head to the right, I spotted a surprised looking brunette. Next to her was someone familiar as well.

Claire and Chris Redfield.

You knew that you should be aware of the consequences once they would find out of your secret, but they were your friends and you know deep inside that you didn't want to involve any body else...

It was hard keeping a secret from people you loved, it felt like you were decieving them and that was something friends and or family do NOT do to each other. Claire was a sister to you, this you know very well. She has been always there for you when you needed someone. She was the one who supported you through out your climb to success even though you didn't have much time for her.

Chris... he was someone special, but not special enough that you were in love with him. He was just like the big brother you always wished to have. He was there when you needed an escort at night, especially after evening parties. He was right there to protect you from perverted delinquents and he was right there to punch someone in the face when they disrespect you.

The way you see things now, you knew that you must have hurt them from hiding something so big from them.

It was to protect them, right?

You thought wrong...

"Now that every one is here, I believe that we could start.", President Graham shattered the silence as he shifted from his chair, trying to find a comfortable position as he explains. "The reason why I have asked each and everyone of you to grace us in this meeting is because of a terrible... terrible situation we have at hand. I am confident enough, that you will understand the foundation of this meeting once Ms. Hunnigan would inform you with a presentation."

Giving a nod towards Hunnigan, she stride her way towards the life-sized screen, the lights dimmed. Taking a small remote from the attached-to-the-wall handle, she turned her back towards everyone. Her delicate tan fingers wrapped around the device and her thumb pressed a red button to activate the life-sized screen. A flash of blue light danced in the monitor as it warmed up. She waited a few seconds for her presentation to come up before she turned back to everyone else. With a clear feminine voice, she attracted everyone's attention, even the unbelieving stare you shared with the Redfields.

"September 1998, a biohazard outbreak has crept out of the underground facility of Raccoon city's Umbrella corporation, and has affected the lives of it's citizens... as you all know.", Hunnigan said the last of her statement whilst looking at each and everyone who gave a nod in return. She turned back to the screen, that showed juxtaposed images of Raccoon city before the viral outbreak, and the city after the infection.

"Now, I know that you are all aware of everything that has happened in the eliminated city, thanks to our ex-president.", another few nods of agreement from everyone except you, Leon, and Luis. "Wrong...", she sternly said.

Before whispers started growing, she continued as she pressed another button, to change the slide, into an image of a blonde, sunglassed man with the name Albert Wesker.

I thought his name was Wilbur? you thought.

"According to Ms. Claire and Mr. Chris Redfield, Albert Wesker is alive, and under 'well-maintenance'.", another crowd of whispers from everyone else started to bloom. "In reference to that he is half human and half monster after injecting himself with Dr. Birkin's un-named virus, also controlling what is left with the experiments of Umbrella, more specifically the T-Veronica and T-Alexia virus.", another change of slide as she showed a picture of the Ashford women named Veronica and Alexia. "I hand the floor to you, Chris."

Without any further ado, Chris stood up and paced across the room. "Good afternoon.", he greeted. "In a remote island called Rockfort, my sister and I have found a mansion that was under the influence of the creator of the T-Veronica virus; named after their ancestor, Alexia and Alfred Ashford- twins.", he added before settling himself infront of the screen.

"Alexia Ashford," he said as he pointed at the picture of a beautiful blonde woman. "was not only the creator but the virus herself. She injected the T-veronica virus into her body to perserve herself and use the virus to her plan of making a human-colony, similar to an ant colony, of the world. She has enquired that upon dropping the temperature in her body, the process of the virus eating her DNA away would not only slow down, but coexist with her system as well. In other words, she would be able to control the powers the virus provides without turning into a mindless zombie."

Chris looked at his younger sibling and she stood up herself, knowing that it was her turn to take the floor. The older sibling knew that it wasn't his story to tell and that Claire should be the one to explain everything else.

"The defeat of Alexia gave Wesker only one other option in keeping a sample of the T-Veronica virus... it was to keep a corpse of... Steve Burnside.", she whispered her lover's name. She tried her best to sound audible and not whimper at the sound of his name, and years of practise somehow helped her forlorn emotions to be hidden.

"Alexia injected the T-veronica virus into Steve, but without the cooling process she underwent, Steve was left to give his sanity to the virus. After gaining a mortal wound, his body rejected the virus and he was left dying in his human form. Although the virus was rejected by his systems, it didn't mean that the virus disappeared. When the virus' host is dying, the distinct ability of the general T-virus is that it would hibernate in the cold corpse, supposedly long enough to find another host before slowly dying. Burning the bodies of the 100% virus dominated zombies is an effective way of killing the virus, which happened to Alexia. With Steve's body in Wesker's hands, he would be able to not only retrieve the sample, but be able to revive Steve and use him as another one of his lackeys."

There was another long strand of silence as both Chris and Claire walked back to their seats, giving Hunnigan the opportunity to take everyone's attention once again.

"Thank you, Claire and Chris. Now, moving on to another fairly different matter would be the present time, ladies and gentlemen."

The President shifted in his seat, knowing that he would relate to the up-coming topic Hunnigan would reveal to everyone in the room. "Last month, President Graham's daughter was kidnapped by an unknown Spanish speaking cult. This news was not revealed to the public for the matters of avoiding invasions of the media and to avoid another chaotic convulsion in the State. One of the top secret government agents, Leon Kennedy, was sent to investigate in Spain, or so we thought."

Everyone was staring at Leon, even the President upon finding the fact that his daughter couldn't have been taken hostage in Spain. With a nod, Leon stood up and took the whole table's attention.

"Good afternoon. In 1998 during the viral outbreak, it was my first day of being an R.P.D. police officer. There, I met Claire Redfield. 6 years later, the present, I am now a government agent who was assigned to protect President Graham and his family." Leon started to pace the room, slowly making his way towards the huge monitor, that was now showing a picture of Ashley and some information that was provided for his search.

"Shortly after assuming my duty, I was given yet another assignment and this time it was far more dangerous than I would have imagined. According to Intelligence, I would be transported to Europe but my travel made me think other wise. Ingrid Hunnigan was my support through out the mission and have found out that my transport to the village, where Ashley was being held captive, was actually guided by computer signals from where the satelite was picking the image of Ashley, making the plane fly by auto-pilot, but for safety measures a pilot was needed.

"I was also convinced that since the satelite picked up Castellan castles near the village, they assumed that it was in Spain. According to the satelite the distance between the U.S. and Spain, is 3600+ miles. However the real mileage is 4700+ miles. Due to a sudden report that someone hacked into Umbrella's satelite, that is now surreptitiously controlled by the government of the United States, we were cautious of the report we recieved from the computer of the satelite. The hack happened a few minutes after using the satelite to find Ashley. Retrieving the possible location of the subject, could take half an hour at the least, making the hack an uncoincidental circumstance. Someone was trying to disrupt the rescue mission, and that someone was able to access into the main controls of Umbrella's satelite would be no other than a survivor who used to work in that company as well."

"Albert Wesker...", Rebecca Chambers, from S.T.A.R.S. bravo team whispered.

Leon nodded, and he continued. "Wesker was one of Umbrella's researchers and operative within R.P.D. When he hacked into the main system, he also shifted the information of Spain and Venezuela, leading us to think that the cult resides in Europe and far from the U.S. What he didn't know was that we didn't rely on what the satelite has reported. Instead, a new technology was built here in the U.S. for special rescues that needs efficiency and precision."

Leon changed the images in the monitor, now showing a 3-D image of the plane he took to get to Venezuela. "This plane was developed 3 months before the kidnapping of Ashley Graham. It's specially made using the Stealth Bomber's unique ability to repel detection by ANY satelite and radar, except planes like itself. Although it repels detection, it DOES recieve information or data from the satelite it is connected to, thus giving us precise directions to where the subject is located."
O.O Wow... nice explanation!
The President looked taken aback by such information. He laid back in his seat and tried to register as much information as he could. Placing a wrinkled hand on his greying head, he closed his eyes and tried to relax his composure. "Why is this information kept from me?"

Hunnigan took a step towards the President, beating Leon to the punch. "Mr. President, with all due respect we cannot give you information that we weren't sure of. The information in the satelite was hacked so we couldn't give you any details until Leon himself have obliterated our theory that your daughter was being held hostage in Spain. We have also recieved an allegation that there was a traitor in our midst. So this kind of information cannot just be handed out to anybody to confirm nor can be trusted until, as I have apprised, that Leon himself would report."

"Speaking of traitors, that would be Jack Krauser.", Leon informed.

Everyone's eyes have now landed on Leon in surprise, except for you and Luis who didn't know who Leon was talking about. Whispers errupted again, but they were noisier than before. Your breath caught in your throat and your hands getting sweatier by the minute. You knew that you will have to explain your side soon enough, and you don't know how they were going to react. Would they leave you to die because it's all your fault?

"But... he died in a car crash!", Jill Valentine exclaimed, her short brown hair gently caressing her beautiful face.

"Well no... he died by my hands.", Leon replied.

"Him being alive before you killed him would actually explain how the thief could have gotten past security and be able to take ammunition from the military as well...", the President pondered. "Either way, he is not a threat anymore.", everyone nodded in agreement to Pres. Graham. "Continue, Leon."

"Alright...", Leon started, turning back towards the screen now again, changing the image at the same time. An image of a tablet with a carving of an insect appeared on the screen. You looked carefully at the image, but you didn't see anything to ridicule about it, except that it was a horrible piece of art... if you coul call it that.

"In Venezuela I wasn't able to encounter anybody with the T-virus.", at this most of the people in the room sighed. "However they had something far worse than that."

Sighing too soon, every bit of information Leon revealed, many have been taken by surprise. "They had a parasite in their body called the Las Plagas. These parasites, unlike the t-virus, are actually beneficial to a host in many ways but one. That is, your thirst for violence. The benefits of having the parasites is that they resurrect their hosts quick and give you amazing strength by mutation. Like Krauser, his left arm transforms into a strong wing that repels any sort of damage making it a very reliable shield. With the plaga, you are also able to control your sanity but not your violence.

"Osmund Saddler, the head of the cult, has found a way to control the plaga inside their body. When a plaga grows, so will Saddler's power over you, and the more you will have a hard time removing it from your system. Sometimes, the host doesn't survive after the termination of the plaga.

"To summarise my report, Wesker has the only sample of the plaga, the leaders of the cult have died, and the village where the plaga started is still intact- making it possible for them to find a new leader."

Leon didn't sit back instead he asked Luis to come over and explain the rest.

"Buenos tardes todo el mundo. Me llamo, Luis Sera, un amigo de Leon." (Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Luis Sera, a friend of Leon) "I am here to explain other relevant information before we start the main event.", Luis said in his charming voice before winking at you.

A slight blush errupted from your cheeks while Chris' eyes errupted in anger towards the Spaniard. "I used to be a scientist for Osmund Saddler, but fortunately enough I was able to realise that what I was doing, was wrong. I decided to go against the cult, and escape from the treacherous pueblo, but I was captured by el grande queso- the big cheese. Leon helped me, and in return I assisted him in his journey."

Shortening Luis' 'story-telling' of his heroism, he explained how he was alive today and what he has researched about the plaga. Hunnigan stood up from her seat and announced.

"And now that we have shared a few insights of what happened during the outbreak, there is one important matter that we must attend to.", Hunnigan spotted your slouched and nervous figure that was fumbling her thumbs together. Calling upon your name, knowing that it was better for you to explain it yourself, you stood up immediately. Your walk towards the front of the room was one of the longest walks that you have taken in your whole life. Every step, your heart skipped a beat, ready to pump out the energy you need to bolt right out that door. But you needed to be brave... for everyone's sake. They would be a lot safer if you provided them information of what happened... of what you have done.

"Good afternoon... my name is _______ ~~~~~~~ and I am a journalist from the HEATHERS News Empire in Canada. However, my success to re-telling my experience in Raccoon city, has led me here in the United States and into the branch of the Eastern State. I was involved in the viral outbreak in the city as much as Leon and Claire have been. However... I believe I am also the one who might repeat the circumstances that happened in Raccoon city to the whole world."

Jill, Chris, Claire and Rebecca looked outrage at your confession. Their faces contorted into a displeased look as they gazed at your shivering self.

"When I was in the underground laboratory of Umbrella, to search for and rescue Mimi Heathers, my boss' sister, I was able to encounter a lone blue vial in the center of the whole lab. It is simply called the Progenitor Virus. This virus is unlike no other. It is the very essence of all the biological experiment and specimens Umbrella used, thus making it the mother of ALL viruses made by the ex-pharmaceutical company.

"Knowing that someone could use the virus for felony, I took it. Taking a disc that contains unfinished information of the sample, I continued to research about the Mother virus after the events of Raccoon city. This virus produces rapid and uncontrollable mutation in a host's genetic code but not enough to produce B.O.W.s. In hosts with a genetic structure less complex than humans, mutations are less pronounced, and usually restricted to increases in size and aggression. In order to enhance the virus's mutagenic properties, Umbrella created a variant of it through synthesizing it with the Ebola virus, but this strain retained Ebola's photosensitivity.

"I also found out that one drop of the sample, after finding its way into your body, is as lethal as shooting yourself in the brain. A few moles of the said specimen is all you needed to be able to mutate your systems. Because of the strength of the virus, it would take a long amount of time before it could co-exist with your D.N.A. the same way Alexia Ashford has done. But I also found out, that when set to the perfect temperature of 0 degrees celsius, the process of the virus coexisting with your D.N.A. would be completed in a matter of hours.

"I have kept this secret from everybody that I knew. I told no one and absolutely no one that I have the mother virus at hand. But... I guess Wesker was able to find out, so up to now he is trying to take custody of me. He has taken the sample from my laboratory at home.", everyone gasped. "But what he lacks is someone that have studied the virus long enough to know all about it. The disc that I found and have overwritten to complete, is in the safe hands of the Whitehouse. Without that disc, it would take years for you to study and make any sort of information about the sample."

Leon took a step forward to your audience, giving you time to rest your nerves. "With the mother virus in Wesker's hands, he wouldn't need any other kind of viruses composed by Umbrella, since it's the essence of all of their bio experiments. The only ace-card we have against him would be the amount of information that has been read and understood by _______. We assume-", Leon looked back trying to spot your eyes with his. He didn't want to take all of the credit, but he knew that you also helped him loose a few tied up notches of questions in his mind. "that Wesker is planning on combining the plaga and the mother virus. Probably to create a more powerful virus with the benefit of both samples."

"But I thought that the mother virus was strong enough to kill the host, let alone another kind of sample. He should know this.", Claire's beautiful feminine voice echoed in the silence.

"That's the point, Claire.", Leon replied. "He doesn't know... that is why he is after _______. She is the only one left with all the knowledge of the mother virus since all documents and researchers who studied the virus died during the contingency of Raccoon City. What we should be more afraid of would be if the new born leader of the Los Illuminados would decide to join Wesker."
REST IN RESULT


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"Alright...", the president stated before standing up, as if stretching his numb legs. "Now that we have shared important and top-secret informations to one another, we have some fair theories as to what Wesker would do next. Having Ms. ~~~~~~~ in our side gives us as much chance to sabotage Wesker as he does to us. I will only ask this once, and I want you all to know that there is no pressure in deciding. Would any one of you be ready to use your skills and distinct abilities to save the world and finish Umbrella once and for all?"
Everyone exchanged looks after the interrogative speech the President gave. Then, smiles started to form on each and everyone's lips.
Jill stood up, and saluted the President before exclaiming, "As a member of S.T.A.R.S. I will continue to follow my duty to protect the innocent and destroy any threat to our civilians!"
Chris followed suite. "Chris Redfield reporting for duty! Time to finally kick his cyborg a$$! Excuse my french..."
Claire: "Wesker! You're going down!"
Rebecca: "Time for some action! After all these years!"
Leon: "Time for you to study a new kind of cell Wesker... it's called a jail cell!"
Luis: "Going back to meet lovely people infested with gigantic lice in their body? Sin problema! (No Problem!)
To you, their reaction was something far from what you have expected but you were glad that they would still help out no matter what. Claire's gaze landed on you and gave you a wink as to let you know that she's with you all the way. Smiling back in return, you were so anxious to learn combat moves from Leon. Trusting your instincts, the President would ask everyone to train for the up-coming missions Hunnigan would list down for all of us.
Suddenly, the doors to the meeting room burst open to reveal a chubby red haired man with a beard creeping at some corners of his round face. With a smile on his face and a completely shocked Jill, Chris, and Rebecca, he exclaimed loudly.
"Who didn't invite me to the party?"