I love Kabuki, classic cyberpunk slum area but it feels so full of life and character as it usually does in the guts of a city.
People chilling around fires on worn sofas on rooftops surrounded by neon ads and ventilation smoke, killing time doing nothing. Toxic water crossing with sewage spilling in just across from the sleek Japantown metropolis in the distance. Makeshift shacks and favelas filled with Vending and Arcade machines. Metro line cutting through overhead, with a big tyger claw casino below. Seedy motels and Bd shacks. Lizzies bar. The atmosphere and the blend of absolute poverty and futuristic tech is just so on point.
What is your favourite district?
submitted by DCNext Proudly Presents…! STARMAN
Written by Fortanono Edited by VoidKiller826 << Previous | Next >> (coming February) -=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 1: Jennifer Knight ”Now!” Ted barks through my earphone. I dash between the rooftops of a series of old brick buildings and look down. Courtney and Jack are shooting blasts of energy through the dense pale-green fog that fills the streets around us; Rick is looking around, clearly bored but unable to actually do anything. Darrell is above the arena, making sure everything goes smoothly, and Aunt Sandra is
somewhere around here but I have no actual idea where. I jump down, twisting my dial to the “Bubble” mode as I land. Quickly, I summon a purple-black bubble around me, trapping just a bit of the Mist’s fog in it. I’ve successfully separated part of the Mist from the rest of him, but I’ll have to be quick about what comes next.
The small tendril of fog in my bubble seems to realize what’s happening as I dart as far as I can down the street. I see it bend and contract, diving into my throat. I start choking; it becomes harder and harder to breathe, but I just have to go a bit further out. Eventually, as I begin to get light-headed, I release the bubble and switch my dial to “Panic.” A burst of energy surrounds me, knocking the fog away from me and out of my mouth. I cough a bit before straightening myself and speaking into my microphone.
”He’s gonna try to reassemble himself,” I say.
”Darrell, it’s your move.” ”Right,” Darrell says. I can’t see him above the battlefield, but I immediately notice his presence as dozens of tiny blue-and-red drones drift down from the sky, each one with fans. They surround the Mist’s missing piece, keeping him in one place, still separate from the cloud that Jack, Rick, and Courtney are dealing with.
”Fantastic,” Ted radios in.
”Mist’s primary goal will always be to keep himself together. It’s a sort of side-effect to his powers. Keep him there, and the rest of him’ll follow eventually, no matter how hard he resists.” It takes a few seconds, but the giant cloud of fog slowly starts drifting to meet up with the smaller one. Courtney and Jack rush over to the area with the fans, both concentrating fire on the one position where they’re merging. I turn my dial to “Energy Blast” and add my own energy to the mixture. Slowly but surely, the green fog begins to get thicker, and soon enough, the figure of the Mist begins to take hold.
“I was hoping you guys still thought I was in Gotham,” he mutters in a raspy voice. I stare at the face of the villain that Ted had been so worried about, remembering how we had prepared for this battle for over a month before he felt comfortable sending us out. He looks old, weak; in his eyes, I see a man who knows he’s been defeated, a man who may have once been a titan but whom old age has gotten to. I smile as Aunt Sandra decloaks and cuffs him with a pair of power-dampening handcuffs. Nearby, a police car pulled up and Clarence, one of the older O’Dare brothers, escorts him away.
“I will be back,” he hisses. “You should all know that.”
I know that it’s still possible for him to come back once again, that he had even come back when the world thought he was dead. There is a sincere promise in his words. But even so, seeing the frail figure of Opal City’s legendary villain once again defeated, I smile.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Rick, Darrell, Courtney, and I re-enter Ted’s workshop once again; Jack and Sandra split from us and went back to the Stargazer. As we descend the stairs, I could tell that Ted was over the moon.
“Wow,” he says to himself. “Just… wow. I’ll be entirely honest; I was certain we would have had to retreat at some point during that battle. I did not expect this to be one and done.”
“Well,” Rick chuckles, “I think the guy’s just a fucking pansy. No offense; I get why you couldn’t beat him or whatever, but like, the dude tries to make us go to Gotham so he didn’t have to deal with us. Again, no offense; I’m sure you were, like, a great hero in your time, of course.”
Ted laughs heartily. “None taken. I’m sure that as he’s gotten older, he’s had to rely more on cheap parlor tricks like the one in Gotham. I, for one, definitely knows how the aging process can take a toll on your abilities. I’m just… so happy that bastard is behind bars again.”
Courtney nods. “Here here.”
“Anyway,” Ted says, “I’d like to let you know that our little merry band of heroes is going to get a fifth member fairly soon.” His tone sours as he continues to speak. “My sister… she’s a vapid idiot, so you can understand that we haven’t talked in a long time, but her son started developing metahuman powers. And he started going out as a hero. She told me that she couldn’t stop him, so she wants him to at least have more support.”
“Ah, great,” Rick laughs. “Because I was just thinking that we didn’t have enough people who sucked at being heroes on this squad.”
“Rick,” Ted glares. “Please cool your behavior. I’ve seen what you’re able to do on the field and I must say: it’s pretty bad too.”
The door to the workshop slides open once again, and a new kid walks down the stairs. He’s got dark brown hair that’s just barely covering his eyes and is wearing a grey T-shirt and jeans. He waves to us as he walks down the stairs to meet with us.
“Hi,” he says. “Name’s Aaron. Aaron Munro. I’ll be working with you guys for a while.”
“He’s been helping people in his hometown of Liberty Hill as the great ‘Iron Munro’ for the past few months now,” Ted explains. “Unfortunately, Aaron, when you decided to do that, you perhaps made the worst mistake you could have made in this line of work. You made your identity public. Tell me, why’d you do that.”
Aaron sighed. “I… I just thought it was a small town, and I figured we all knew each other already, and… I guess I wanted to be recognized for my deeds or something.”
“I’m sure you’ll feel sufficiently recognized when your mother gets a bullet in her skull,” Ted says bluntly. “Let’s be clear: I hate the lady, but not
that much. Come with me.” Ted beckons Aaron to the far corner of the workshop.
I stare blankly at what’s happening in front of me; Ted’s a hardass, but this is… a bit much even for him. Clearly, this was about more than just business. I had heard small things about Ted’s sister before but never met her or her family. Whatever happened to separate them had to have been a big deal.
Ted shows Aaron to a costume on a stand in the corner; it consists of a brown-and-grey bulletproof bodysuit with metal accents and a full face-mask made entirely of metal. “This,” Ted says, “is going to be the new you. I’m calling it: ‘Metalsmith.’”
“Th-thanks,” he says. He looks frustrated; I can tell that he’s not happy to be here, but he’s holding it all in. “I--I just have to say that… this really isn’t my style. I’m trying to go for a friendly hometown hero vibe, and having my whole face covered up… It just doesn’t seem right.”
Ted grimaces. “You
did the hometown hero thing, and you failed. You showed your face to everyone. Metalsmith isn’t the friendliest guy around, but he’s safe and so is his family. If you wanna talk about alterations, feel free to tell me. But keep in mind that I have to work to preserve your safety first.”
Aaron nods. “Fine,” he says.
I look around the room; all of my teammates are either looking at the spectacle in front of them, or looking at their phones. Starved of anything else to look at, I turn to look at Rick’s phone. He’s responding to a text message from someone named Luisa; I think she’s a girl in his class or something. It doesn’t quite look like a message about normal things teenagers talk about, though.
hey, so I have a confession to make, the message begins.
John and Maya and i, we knew about you being hourman and everything before we met you. we’re still your friends, we always were, but we also want to get your help with something we’re working on. a project that involves metahumans, basically. let us know if you’re interested. I immediately turn away from the message on the phone. Clearly, this is something I’m not supposed to know about, but now that I do, I can’t stop thinking about it. Some other people want Rick to help them with…
something related to his powers. It sounds really shady; should I tell Ted about this? It could be a conflict of interest, whatever it is. On the other hand, Ted doesn’t seem like the most level-headed person to deal with this. Who knows; maybe it’s for some sort of superhero stunt show or something really cool, and I’d be denying him access to that.
Whatever. It’s not my problem right now. It was never meant for me.
“Hey,” Aaron says. “You here? You listening?”
I look up; Aaron is standing right in front of me, his hand outstretched. “Sorry,” I say, shaking his hand. “My name’s Jennifer. It’s nice to meet you.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 2: Sandra Knight “Well, that could’ve gone a lot worse,” I say, currently on the back of Jack’s Star-Cycle. Jack apparently figured out that he could make his motorcycle fly if he used his Cosmic Rod, which is both hilarious and something that neither Ted nor David would ever begin to consider trying out. Which is why Jack is so great; he’s questioning everything, figuring out new ways of doing things, and making a motorcycle fly.
Feeling the wind rush against my face, I’m taken immediately back to my rebellious college days and my early stints as the Phantom Lady. It’s nice, almost nostalgic, but still different enough. We come to a descent in the back of the Stargazer, and Jack locks up his motorcycle.
Hope comes out the back door to greet us. “Glad you could make it,” she says. “Cutting it a little close, though, I gotta say. The meeting’s in less than 5 minutes.”
Oh, right. The meeting with our potential client. The Mist tends to give a lot of people tunnel-vision; I had completely forgotten about this.
“Sorry about that,” Jack chuckles. “You know how it is, going out, saving the day. Maybe someday, you should give it a--” He cuts himself off as I glare at him. His expression turns more serious. “I’m so sorry,” he finally says. “I forgot about what happened with you and the Mist.”
Hope sighs. “It’s fine,” she says. “We can deal with this another time. He’s behind bars yet again; he can’t hurt anyone else. That’s the best news anyone could hope for.”
We walk into the office; Jack takes a seat, ready for the meeting. “So, this new client. What’s the deal with them, again? Missing kid? Brother’s a supervillain?”
“She has some information on who might have been behind the prison break a few months ago,” I say.
“Okay, wow,” Jack responds. “That’s sort of a big deal.”
We hear the door swing open. A young woman with light brown skin and shoulder-length black hair walks in. She’s wearing a sleeveless white shirt and black winter coat; on her left hand is a tattoo of the Superman “S” sigil. “Look who’s here,” Jack smiles. “Glad you could make it.”
The woman sits down in front of Jack, putting her coat on the back of the chair. “Yeah, well, me too,” she sighs. “Listen, if you have any witness protection-type deals or whatever, can you hook me up with one of them? I’m honestly… I’m honestly terrified right now.”
I nod. “Well, there are a few options there. My cousin can easily create a fake ID and get you out of the city without anyone noticing. If you want to go through a more legitimate program, Hope here has contacts with the police who can get you into proper witness protection.”
“I’ll take the first one,” she says. She reaches out and shakes Jack’s hand. “Name’s Sarah. I’ve been working for Maxie Zayas for the last few months; I needed work, and he seemed really nice at first.”
Maxie Zayas. That’s going to be a tough one. A big-time club owner and crime boss, following in the footsteps of his father; I was personally involved in putting his old man behind bars. All of Opal City’s heroes
know about him, but we’ve never been able to really do much about it. A few years ago, David flew into Maxie’s club and arrested him straight-up for drug trafficking. Not 12 hours later, he was out, cleared of all charges.
This isn’t going to be a battle we can fight with force.
I walk closer to the table where Sarah and Jack are seated. “And you believe that Zayas is responsible for the recent breakout?”
Sarah nods. “At some point, I began to hear whispers that he was planning some meteoric takeover of Opal City. He said he needed something to distract the local heroes in the meantime. And then, a few days before the big event happened, I saw him talking to that card guy who broke them all out.”
“Jeremy Tell,” Jack says.
“I… I couldn’t be a part of whatever he was doing,” Sarah says. “I grew up in Opal City. Believe it or not, I loved you guys.” She points to me. “I actually had a poster of you in my room. I thought Zayas was a harmless dude who just sat around. It wasn’t a big deal, whatever he was doing. The people he broke out… I remember seeing what they did on the news. I had to talk to you.”
“Glad you did,” Jack says. “Hey, that’s awesome that you had a poster of Phantom Lady. Wait, why aren’t
we selling posters?” He turns to me. “Can we do that?”
I laugh. “Topic at hand,” I smile.
Mia leaves, and Hope walks up to us. “So… what’s the plan then? We can’t both take down Zayas and the people he released, right? Those are two huge undertakings.”
“That may be so,” I say. I pause for a second. “We may not need to. If we can get the All-Stars to handle the escaped convicts, we could divert all of our attention towards figuring out what Zayas is planning.”
“Okay,” Jack says, “but how are we going to take him down? David tried, and he failed miserably. The guy’s just super well-connected. We can’t just storm in there, can we.”
I smile. “Jack, sweetie. There are other ways to do this kind of work that don’t involve punching all your problems away.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Interlude VIII: Hour of Espionage ”Positions, everyone,” Al Carlyle said through the microphone.
”We need to set the scene just right.” Carlyle stared at the multitude of cameras around him. He watched as Luisa, Maya, and John made their way to the docks. Turning to another monitor, he watched as several stealth-agents readied their sniper rifles, hiding on rooftops, in windows. He pressed a button on the console in front of him; a series of machines around the docks whirred to life; to the outside observer, they looked like they were doing nothing, but Carlyle knew that they were the key to this mission.
“I have to say,” Luisa said apprehensively. “I’m really worried about this. These snipers… if he doesn’t show up, they
will kill us, right?”
”11:49 PM,” Carlyle reiterated.
”Unfortunately, for this to work, the snipers have to be steadfastly committed to their mission. The dude doesn’t get visions about things that could
happen. He gets them about things that will if he doesn’t intervene. But don’t worry; we’ve run several experiments with the energy emitters. Every time, he shows up right on cue.” Luisa nodded. ”Okay. And what’s the deal with those machine things? You’ve explained them to me before, but I’m not good at remembering all the science stuff. Just isn’t my thing.”
”They emit a specific frequency of radiation that, for reasons unbeknownst to us, seem to massively increase the likelihood that Rick gets a vision in that area. We found residual traces of it naturally occurring in almost half of Rick’s usual visions; when we massively crank up the numbers, he always seems to show.” The three kids sat down at the dock. After a few seconds, Carlyle spoke up.
”We’ve gotten confirmation that Rick has now left his house. The snipers can now evacuate the area. The three of you, just act normal. It’ll take the better part of the hour for him to get here, so get comfortable.” As soon as they had settled in, the masked snipers quickly ran off, lowering their weapons and quickly changing into civilian wear like clockwork.
John was the first to speak up after Carlyle went silent. “So, what, we’re gonna wait, like, 58 minutes until he gets there? Well, this will be boring.” He pulled out a couple of joints from his pocket. “Anyone want some?”
“We’re on duty,” Maya said. “I don’t think it’s worth it.”
John shrugged. “What? We have to sit around, pretend like we’re doing something, and then act all buddy-buddy with him when he shows up. It’s not like we’re taking down Basilisk; this is easy shit. It’ll be fine.”
Maya shook her head. “We should wait.”
John chuckled. “Alright,
fine, you win. But we’re popping these babies out as soon as the man of the hour gets here. Got it?” He shoved the joints back into his pocket.
“Alright, whatever you want,” Maya smiled. “Just don’t come running to me when Carlyle yells at our asses for being high on the job.”
Carlyle watched the security footage, smiling and shaking his head to himself. Behind him, William Vickers walked up. He was the same age as the rest of them, but he had proven himself remarkably more mature than the others, quickly becoming the group’s de facto leader.
“Sorry to bother you at this time,” William said. “I gotta talk to you about another developing situation.” Carlyle hesitated, before standing up and dusting himself off. The two of them walked into the next room, where they began to talk.
“Basilisk activity’s been at an all-time high for the past few months,” William finally said. “Just recently, they’ve opened up 3 new cells in Germany, and are pulling in a remarkable number of recruits in Indonesia and Malaysia, to name a few. There’s also been a lot of restructuring; several smaller cells have been suddenly relocated to South America for some odd reason. If the ASA’s gonna be able to keep limiting their spread, we need more agents, and they need to be trained.”
Carlyle nodded. “Yes, yes,” he said. “I’ll remind you that you’re looking at only a small piece of the bigger picture. We are only a tiny fraction of what the ASA has to offer, and the adults are well aware of these issues. That said, you’re not wrong; we need all the help we can get. That’s what we’re working on right now.”
“Rick Tyler,” William affirmed. “He seems strong; he’d be a great start. But one metahuman won’t be enough. We need more metahuman soldiers, or at least, soldiers equipped with energy weapons and similar tech. The capes have been doing it for years; it works. But somehow, we can’t seem to find nearly enough people willing to serve. Maya’s the only metahuman on our squad right now, and her powers are still very much a wild card in combat scenarios.”
Carlyle nodded. “Yes,” he finally said. “Well, I don’t think that just recruiting a bunch of people is the right way to go. If we do that, we run the risk of potentially exposing ourselves to a large number of double-agents. But… if this lead pans out, there might be a way to enhance the prowess of the agents we already have.”
William perked up. “Yes? Do tell.”
“Presumably, Rick could gain access to the technology that Starman and his companions use to fight crime. Luisa could take a staff, you could take the blacklight…”
“I’m not the type of guy to stay in the shadows,” William said. “Have you
seen my attempts at infiltration? Not my strong suit. Appreciate the offer, though.”
Carlyle nodded and smiled. “Well, whatever happens, this new member could help us more than we initially thought.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 3: Jack Knight I pull up to a street corner a few blocks away from what many Opal City residents affectionately refer to as the ‘Zayas Strip.’ Hope is sitting in the back seat, done up to look like a completely different person, and Sandra’s already run off to do some good old-fashioned sleuthing. The prosthetic nose I’m wearing feels so uncomfortable already; couldn’t we
just have gone for the blond hair dye and nothing else?
Sandra materializes on the hood of her green convertible, startling the bejeezus out of me. “Password for the night is ‘Prometheus,’” she mutters.
“Alright, alright,” I say. “Hey, I know it’s
technically your car and all, but maybe don’t jump on the hood, okay? That was probably the biggest scare I’ll have all night unless Grant decides that the Olympia is his new favorite haunt.”
Sandra ignores me. “You two head into the bar; I’ve given you fake IDs for the absolute worst-case scenarios, but you shouldn’t need to wave them around. I’ll never be too far behind, but as usual, you won’t see me. Got it?”
“Clear as ever,” I smirk.
“So,” Hope says from the back seat, “you ready to raise some hell?” Her usually-red hair is now jet-black, and she’s wearing these bright blue contact lenses that accentuate her eyes. If I didn’t know who she was, I would never have recognized her in the first place. Let’s just hope my disguise is just as good.
Sandra vanishes and we walk a few blocks further down Harris Street. As we walk down the street, the quiet townhouses are quickly replaced with a completely different atmosphere of bustling nightlife and flashing neon lights. On both sides of the street are a series of Zayas-owned businesses: strip clubs, brothels, bars, casinos, even a fight club at the far end of the street. It’s almost disorienting; look, I’m not the nicest guy in the world, never pretend to be, but I
promise I’ve never been in a place like this. Not
quite like this, at least.
Nestled in the middle of the brilliant signs and faint bouncing of club music is a single building not illuminated by lights. The top floor is taken up by some sort of high-end brothel with a sign reading ‘The Elysian Fields’ on it. The stairs that lead down to the bottom floor are guarded by a dude who seems absolutely ripped--like, probably-a-meta ripped--and a sign at the front reads “Olympia Nightclub.” Zayas’ personal shining gem, for those who were affluent enough to get an invitation.
I walk up to the bouncer and am immediately taken aback as I realize who exactly it is. Tony Woodward, aka Girder. Former Flash villain who got in a few fights with David before being broken out. As I get closer, it becomes clear that this dude’s entire body is made of rusted metal. He speaks up in a deep voice as we approach. “What’s the code?”
“Prometheus,” I say.
Girder bows his enormous metal head and steps to the left. “Enjoy.”
As we walk in, the last trace of the booty-bounce music that I could hear vanishes as it’s replaced by a classical violin tune from a distant speaker in the corner. The walls are blue plaster; segmenting the walls are a series of white column-like decals meant to invoke ancient Greek architecture. The bar in the center of the room is also surrounded by similar white columns. On the far end of the club is a wooden stage, currently unoccupied, and a few poker tables. Still not nearly half as good as my restaurant’s interior design.
The bartender walks up to us as we take a seat. His head is completely shaved; from what I can tell from the rest of his body, he appears covered in tattoos of vines and flowers. “Don’t think I’ve seen you lovely pair before around here,” he says.
“No, you wouldn’t have,” I smile. “We’re new in town. Heard about this place from an old military buddy of mind, and as it turns out, we got just enough money to spend on a nice place like this.” I reach out my hand and he shakes it. “David Vosberg. This is my girl, Rita.”
Hope offers her hand as well. The bartender shakes it. She turns down towards the cocktail menu, looking over the options. Her face shifts a bit as she reads over the various options; each one seems to be based on various tragic events that Opal City has suffered through. Down the list, I see the ‘Swift Hydro Plant’ as their fancy new drink, the ‘Prison Break,’ the ‘Doll Killer’--complete with a miniature doll in Martha Williams’ likeness--a drink simply labeled ‘The Mist,’ and, the final drink on the specialty list, the ‘Fallen Hero.’ The description listed it as ‘a tribute to the asshole who tried to bust us finally kicking the bucket. May aliens continue to do what we never can.’
My stomach
drops. Fuck, while we go out and bust our balls to make this city a better place, the people in this club turn around and laugh at our failures. Laugh when one of us dies. I feel my blood boiling.
I need to stay in character. I can’t blow this for all of us. Gritting my teeth, I take a few deep breaths before sucking it up.
“What’s the matter?” the bartender asks. “Can’t take a couple of dark jokes? Lighten up, man.” He gives me a pat on the back like I would ever be okay with that.
“Sorry,” I say. “It’s just… Well, let’s just say I lost someone personal in the hydro plant attack. One of, uh, those flying shadow things cut my brother open. I’ll take… I’ll take a Fallen Hero, I guess.” At this point, I’m flying by the seat of my pants. I’m definitely excited to get that drink.
“And I’ll take a Mist,” Hope says.
“Damn,” the bartender says. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t realize that you could… I’m sorry to hear about your brother.”
“It’s fine,” I say. “You couldn’t have known.”
The bartender serves our drinks and we quietly sip at them. Aside from a few regulars, nothing much seems to really be happening.
I feel a slight breeze on the back of my neck. I turn around; nestled in my suit is a small piece of paper. The writing on it reads,
”Can’t find Zayas, but did find something else big. Meet me outside? -Sandra”.
“Hey, uh, Rita?” I clear my throat and put my arm around her, subtly passing the note over to her. “This place is getting really stuffy; I think we need to step out for a second. Whaddya think?”
Hope shrugs. “Oh, alright,” she says, covertly reading the note. “But we’re coming back; this place is just fabulous, don’t you think?”
“Definitely,” I say. We walk outside, brushing past Girder’s cold metal form as we do. Sandra’s waiting on the corner of the street, fully visible.
Sandra turns to us as we approach, and her voice turns to a whisper. “So,” she says, turning to Hope. “Before I bring this up, I figure it’s worth asking. How much do you know about what your brothers work on in the Force?”
Hope takes a deep breath. “Well, you know what’s going on with Mason, Clarence is in the same precinct as me, Barry just got a promotion to Major Crimes, and Matt works… well, I think he works around
here, actually.” Her face turns bright red. “What’s going on?”
“I managed to get into one of the back rooms,” Sandra says. “And… well, Zayas is there, and he’s talking to a bunch of associates. One of them was Tell. And I think one of them may have been Matt.”
Hope nods. “Okay,” she finally says. “I… I guess I’m not surprised. He’s always been really secretive about what he’s doing, he’s denied promotions before… but I didn’t really think about it before.”
Sandra sighs. “I know this can be hard to hear, but I, unfortunately, have to ask you for one more favor. We’re here to watch Zayas over an extended period of time, figure out what he’s planning. For that reason, you can’t tell your brothers about our suspicions.”
Hope nods. “Got it,” she says hurriedly. “My… my lips are sealed.” As she speaks, I can tell she’s not fully convinced.
We walk back to the car. This was a short mission, but if this goes right, it will be one of many. And once we’re done, I’m almost certain, we’ll be able to take Maxie Zayas down.
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 4: Rick Tyler “Okay,” I snarl as I pass Luisa in the hallways of my school. She’s currently putting her bag into her locker. “I need to know
what the fuck is going on, and I want you to tell me everything. What do you want from me?”
“Rick, calm down,” Luisa says. “Look, there are reasons why we had to do what we did, why we couldn’t just tell you everything as soon as we met you. We’ll explain everything soon enough.”
I shake my head. “Again with the secrets. Just fucking tell me what I need to know, alright? You guys pretend to be my friends, stage some sort of chance meeting with me--I got no idea how you did that. You pay some guys to shoot your heads off if I didn’t show up?”
“More or less,” she whispers. “Look, keep your voice down, okay? What we’re involved with isn’t something we can talk about in public.”
Oh, for Jesus fucking Christ’s sake.
Luisa bows her head. “Meet me out front of the Valor Building, this Saturday at 3 PM. All three of us will be there. Once you get there, there’ll be no more secrets. You’ll get to know everything. Promise.”
I sigh and throw my hands up. “Okay,
fine,” I whisper. “I’ll be there.”
As I make my way to class, I shake my head. Fuck this. Clearly, they don’t trust me any more than anyone else seems to. But still, for some reason, I still want to meet with them. Just to figure out what’s going on. And then I’ll be done with them.
I nod my head. That seems fine. Find everything out, then leave. I can handle that.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Valor Building is one of Opal City’s oldest brownstone skyscrapers; it’s not even close to the tallest anymore, but it’s right in the middle of the city center, and it’s one of the most iconic buildings here. To those who actually give a fuck about Opal City, I guess. I remember that when Dad and Mom were still together, we ended up going for a weekend trip to Opal City. Dee and I were taken aback by the Valor Building and all of the dazzling skyscrapers in the city center; it felt so much nicer than Baltimore did. Then I moved here and discovered that like every other city, it’s full of shit. Tourists just like to hide the shitty parts from view.
I walk up to the front steps of the building. John is leaning against one of the pillars near the entrance, and Luisa and Maya are waiting for me up front.
“Yo, glad you could make it,” John smiles. “We were placing bets as to whether you’d actually show up. Seems like Luisa here owes me ten dollars.”
“Trust me,” Luisa laughs. “If you’d have been there, you’d have agreed with me. He didn’t seem like he was in the mood to keep putting up with our bullshit.” She turns to me. “Regardless, glad you could come. Sorry to put you through all of this.”
“Sorry,” I say, shrugging. “I can let my nerves get the best of me at times. I’m feeling better now, don’t worry.”
“So,” Maya says. “Are we ready to go?”
Luisa nods. Maya turns to the keypad next to her and types in a code. 7, 8, 4, 4, pound sign. The door clicks open. Immediately, as I walk into the lobby, I feel like I’m in a place I’m not supposed to be. The floor is made up of elaborately-patterned stone tiles; large windows to the sides let in a lot of sunlight as I walk to the elevators.
“So, uh, what do you do here?” I ask. “This is just, like, an office building, right?”
“Just, like, 10 seconds left,” Luisa says. “Then you’ll get to know all our secrets.” She calls the elevator, and we walk in. I push my way to the back as John and Maya get on.
“Alright,” John says. “I think it goes without saying that what we show you here today, you can’t mention to another living soul that we don’t approve of. Not even your hero pals. Got it?”
“Yeah, of course,” I say nonchalantly.
“Okay.” John reaches up above the panel of buttons on the elevator and opens up a small compartment. Inside is a fingerprint scanner; John jams his thumb onto the pad and the elevator begins to go down. After a few more seconds, the doors open. We’re in a pristine grey room; computers line every wall, and dozens of people look up as we walk in. Immediately, it reminds me of Ted’s workshop, but on a much bigger scale.
A man is waiting for us in the middle of one of the hallways. He’s wearing a neatly-ironed grey-green suit, with combed-over white hair. He reaches out his hand for me to shake.
“Al Carlyle,” he says. “Director of the American Security Agency. Nice to meet you, Rick. I’ve heard so many great things about you.” I turn around. All three of my so-called “friends” have deserted me, leaving me with this weird dude.
“Uh, nice to meet you too,” I mutter, shaking his hand. “So what exactly is going on here?”
“Well,” Al smiles, “what
isn’t going on here? I suppose you’re a bit confused, a bit overwhelmed, so I’ll try and give you the long and short of it. We’re like the CIA, sort of. But a bit more secret. We’re the CIA when the CIA can’t be involved. Take, for example, metahuman agents. Do you know much about the Freedom Fighters?”
I shrug. “Heard of them. The original Starman was working with one of them, I think.”
Al nods. “Come,” he says. “Walk with me.” I sigh and follow him through the convoluted halls and terminals of this absolutely massive underground base.
“Now,” he says, “the Freedom Fighters were a truly amazing group of people. They were a UN task force composed of one sergeant, a handful of regular soldiers, and three metahumans. Well, they fought long and hard for the values that we hold dear to us today, but in the end, the UN saw them as a threat. What’s to stop our enemies from conscripting metahumans too? It’d be another cold war, one that many countries were all-too-eager to stop. So, metahumans were banned from serving in combat.”
He clears his throat and lets out a hearty chuckle. “Well, you see, terrorists don’t tend to follow by our rules. I suppose that’s what makes them terrorists, don’t you think? So that’s where we come in. One of many examples, I suppose, of where we come in. We use many of the techniques superheroes use to fight against potential threats to the land of the free and the brave. And I’ve had my eye on you for a while. I think you’d make a great addition to our cause.”
I pause and look around me. This place is
huge. It’s bound to take up more than a few city blocks. When I intercepted the battle Jack was having with Swift, this base was underneath it all, computers typing away. Our school is only a few blocks west of here; it’s very possible the base extends that far too. I haven’t even been in Opal City for a year yet, but I had felt like I knew everything about it. Clearly, I was wrong.
I’ve never been the type of person who hated the government and everything they did. I followed the news, though, and they’ve clearly done some questionable things in the past few years. With Cale as President, that’s just going to get worse and worse. Do I want to be a part of this? Clearly, I don’t think I do. I was just here to get answers, and I got mine. That’s as far as this goes.
‘Take your time,” Al laughs. “We’d love to have ya, but no pressure either way.”
Before I can tell him no, my vision flashes white. A man walking down a run-down section of Snejbjerg Street. Nearly bald buzz-cut, blue eyes, wearing a grey hoodie. A car pulls up to him, firing three rounds in his chest. The blood splatters over the sidewalk. I snap back to reality.
“I have to go,” I say, my voice strained. “How do I get out of--”
Al gives me a knowing smile. “What’s going to happen, and where will it be?”
I sigh. “Some dude in a grey hoodie is gonna get shot on Snejbjerg Street. Drive-by shooting. It was a black sedan, I think. Just let me go, okay?”
Al turns on a radio on his jacket. “I want a dozen soldiers placed across Snejbjerg Street within the hour. Look out for black sedans, check each one for weapons. And get Rick Tyler here a tall glass of water.”
Immediately, the people around me start getting up and gearing into action. A young woman who was manning a computer earlier walks up to me and offers me a glass of water. I drink from it.
“Thanks,” I finally say.
Al hands me a burner phone from his pocket. “If you ever get any visions at an inconvenient time, text me from this phone. We’ll have it handled, and you can focus on the things in life that matter.”
I smile. “Wow, thanks.”
Al nods. “Look, Rick, I know that everything must be really disorienting for you right now, but trust me when I say that we’re here for you. From what I’ve heard from my agents that have been interacting with you, that doesn’t seem to be the case with the other team you’re on right now. They see you as a loose cannon. Maybe they’re right, who knows. But here, we need loose cannons. You can beat up as many terrorists as you want here--or don’t, whatever floats your boat. But you’re welcome here as you are, no matter who that is.”
I pause, looking around for a second. He’s right; in the few seconds I’ve met him, Al has made me feel at home more than I’ve ever been with the All-Stars.
I reach out and shake Al’s hand. “I’m in.”
“Fantastic,” he smiles. “Well, let’s meet the team then.” He brings me to a room with a circular table. Around the table are John, Luisa, Maya, and another kid I don’t remember. White kid with neatly-trimmed brown hair.
“Well,” Al says, “this is one of our finest covert ops units. We’re calling them the ‘Force of July.’ Right now, they’re mostly doing international missions, but we’re planning on bringing them into the spotlight as superheroes to handle domestic matters in the near future.”
He gestures to John. “You’ve already met John Trujillo, Jr., alias: ‘The Black Condor.’ His dad was one of our finest officers before sadly meeting his fate protecting our country. He piloted a one-of-a-kind wingsuit that his son now uses.”
“Besides that,” Al continues, “the Campoverde sisters have been fantastic assets. Luisa first came to us because she needed help with her sister’s metahuman powers. That’s right:
she found
us. Always a good metric for future success. Turns out, her sister has a bit of a way with plants, and it was a bit out of her control. Now, the two of them serve us as Lady Liberty and Mayflower.”
The last kid, the one I haven’t met, reaches over to shake my hand. “William Vickers,” he says. “Also known as Major Victory. My teammates have been telling me a lot about you. It’s good to finally get to meet you in the flesh.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” I say. And somehow, surprisingly, I mean it.”
Al nods and smiles. “Now that we’ve gotten to know each other, Rick, I have a special mission briefing for you and only you. I can tell that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.”
submitted by Saw the post mentioning that no one has attempted to give Quantum of Solace a rewrite and decided to give it a shot. It was actually harder than I thought. Rewatching it I think many of the film’s issues comes from the director writer than writing. I think the generally plotting of the film is fairly decent, especially giving the ongoing writer’s strike at the time. The main issue is that there’s effectively two films going on: One in which Bond is hunting down Quantum seeking revenge for Vesper and one in which Bond goes rogue in order to stop the CIA financing a coup d’etat in Boliva. My main goal was to try better merge them into a more cohesive story. In particular I want to give Vesper’s former lover, Yusuf Kabira, (ie the reason she betrays Bond and then gets murdered in Casino Royale) more of a role, rather than just having him be relegated to a single scene at the end of the film.
The Changes
· Making Yusuf Kabira, Vesper’s former lover, a major character, effectively serving as the main henchman of the film
· Changing Camille’s backstory. Instead of being a Bolivian agent she’s the daughter of the current Bolivian president and she’s has also been seduced by Kabira. Quantum’s plan is to expose the relationship between the President’s daughter and a foreign agent, thus creating a political scandal that will pre-empt a coup d’état by General Medrano.
· We cut Dominic Greene and the Plot To Steal Bolivar’s Water entirely. We give most of Greene’s role to Mr White.
· Finally, we are going to play up the whole Bond Versus the CIA thing. Lets try and use Jefferey Wright more and give Felix a bit of a redemption arc
The new plot
We are going to cut the opening car chase entirely and start with Bond driving into the Sienna safehouse having captured Mr White at the end of Casino Royale. Waiting inside the safehouse are M and another agent called Yusuf Kabira. Bond can greet Kabira saying something like “How was Bolivia?” and he replies with something witty like “Very stimulating”. The interrogation goes the same way as the original as Kabira is revealed to be a double agent and helps Mr White escape. Bond chases Kabira across the rooftops of Sienna. They can briefly fight but Kabira is able to escape. Cut to the opening title sequence.
After the titles we see MI6 investigating Kabira’s London apartment. In a secret compartment they discovered files on Vesper Lynd including photos of Kabira and Vesper together. Bond is visibly shaken by this information and M asks him if Bond can be trusted to keep his feelings separate from his job. Bond assures M he will. He also suggests looking into Kabira’s recent mission in Bolivar. When they do, they discover that Kabira was having frequent meetings with a mysterious woman at a particular hotel and will soon meet her again.
Kabira meets the mysterious woman, who we learn is called Camille, in the hotel in Santa Cruz, Boliva. The two are clearly lovers. They go to their room but are ambushed by Bond waiting for them there. We then basically get the scene from the end of Quantum of Solace where Bond reveals who Kabira is to Camille and shows her the necklace he gave to Vesper, identical to one Kabira’s given to Camille. Camille is obviously shocked by this revelation. At gunpoint Bond orders the two of them into a car to drive to an airfield where MI6 is waiting to arrest Kabira. In the car Kabira taunts Bond about Vesper. The car is soon stopped by members of the Bolivian military led by a General Medrano.
Bond now finds himself being captured as he is separated from Kabira and Camille and taking to a different site. There he discovers Felix Leiter and several other CIA agents. Initially Bond is pleased to see an ally but quickly realises that Felix and the CIA are working with Medrano and Kabira. Leiter tries to justify himself saying that things are more complicated than they seem, and that MI6 has no business getting involved in Bolivia. He also reveals that Camille is the daughter of the Bolivian president. He pleads with Bond to go back to London and forget about what he has seen. Bond refuses and escapes leading to a chase between Bond and the CIA. Bond is able to make his way to the airfield where he leaves Bolivia, dejected after failing to capture Kabira and avenge Vesper.
We then see Leiter meeting with White and Medrano. This pretty much resembles the scene from the original film where the CIA strikes a non-interference deal with the pair in exchange for the USA gaining access to Bolivian oil. After Leiter leaves, Medrano tells White that he has held up his end of the bargain and accuses White of unnecessarily delays. White argues that they need the support of the other partners of “his organisation” before they can go ahead, and Medrano replies that perhaps he should speak to White’s partners in person.
MI6 discover that Medrano has booked a ticket to see an opera in Bregenz, Austria and Bond goes to investigate. We then get the scene from the original film where the leaders of Quantum have their meeting during the Opera. Medrano is also at the meeting and we hear the Quantum members give their assent to go ahead with Medrano and White’s plan to expose the relationship between Camille and Kabira (who will be presented as a British spy) thus creating a political scandal which will cause a crisis allowing Medrano to seize power. Afterwards Medrano will allow Quantum to take control of Bolivia’s oil fields. With Medrano is Camille who is clearly being held there against her will. When she excuses herself to go to the bathroom Medrano sends one of his men to watch her. Camille still attempts to escapes and Bond intervenes helping her but blowing his cover in the process and gets caught in a very public shoot out with Medrano’s men. Medrano and the other members of Quantum escape.
We then cut to London where we see M getting a dressing down from the foreign secretary in the aftermath of the shooting in Austria. The foreign secretary tells M that the Prime Minister has bowed to American pressure and order that all MI6 operations in South America be terminated. With no choice M calls Bond and orders him to return to England but Bond of course refuses. M once again asks if his desire to get revenge on Kabira for Vesper’s death is affecting his decision-making. Bond hangs up.
In a safehouse Bond and Camille watch as news of Camille’s relationship with Kabira makes international headlines and the crisis Medrano and White engineered begins to take shape. Bond and Camille open up to each other, with Bond hinting at his past with Vesper. They resolve to return to Bolivia and attempt to prevent Medrano’s coup d’état. Without MI6 aid Bond turns to Rene Mathis who, after being acquitted of being a double agent following Casino Royale, is living in retirement in the south of France. Mathis agrees to help them, and they use his private jet to fly to Bolivia.
As they reach Bolivian airspace two American fighter jets begin tailing them, ordering them to land. Bond, Mathis and Rene agree that their only option is to abandon the plane only to learn there’s only one parachute onboard. Mathis tells Bond and Camille to escape while he leads the Americans away, sacrificing himself. Bond tries to protest. Mathis tells Bond that Vesper did love him. As Bond and Camille cling to each other with the parachute they see Mathis’ plane get shot down.
Once they land, they make their way to Bolivia’s capital La Paz. Felix contacts Bond for a meeting, effectively offering a brief truce. Camille tells Bond its a trap, but Bond decides to go anyway. They meet in a bar and Bond is able to convince Felix that Medrano will betray the CIA and give Quantum access to the Bolivan oil fields. Felix tells Bond that they are currently being watched by other CIA agents and as soon as Bond leaves, they will try to kill him. Felix gives Bond a location to go to if he survives. Evading the American agents Bond goes to this location and discovers Felix has left him a file detailing the CIA’s involvement in the impending coup d’état.
We then see tanks rolling into La Paz as the Medrano’s coup d’état begins. Medrano arrives at the state television station to announce his takeover. Bond and Camille race to the station to try to stop him. Fighting their way through Medrano’s men they are confronted by Kabira. Bond and Kabira get locked in a one-on-one shootout as Camille goes to take on Medrano alone. She finds the studio where Medrano is broadcasting the announcement of his new rule. His men have all left to stop Bond leaving Medrano all alone. Camille shoots Medrano and starts showing the Felix’s evidence of the CIA’s involvement.
Mr White, watching this unfold, orders the broadcast be stopped by any means necessary. The tanks outside the television station suddenly begin firing on the building, reducing it to rubble.
We cut back to Bond and Kabira who are now fighting hand-to-hand. As the building starts to collapse Kabira becomes trapped under falling debris. In desperation he reaches out to Bond. Bond holds out his hand, only to drop Vesper’s necklace in front of him. He leaves Kabira to die. Finding Camille, the two escape the collapsing television station.
They go to the Bolivian Presidential Palace as the Bolivian military either retreats or surrenders around them. There Camille’s family is waiting. The two kiss before parting ways.
Cut to a few weeks later Bond meets Leiter on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Leiter tells Bond that Mr White and the other members of Quantum have all gone underground and can’t be found. Bond asks Leiter if he’s been reprimanded for the whole Bolivian affair and Leiter replies he’s being sent on a dead-end assignment to San Monique. The two part as friends. As Felix leaves Bond receives a call from M about his next mission.
submitted by Travelled to Melbourne and a few other cities that had a culture of proper rooftop bars - ones on the top floor of large hotels (Brisbane), or other elevator-access rooftop bars with views.
It made me realize I’ve never seen anything like this in Vancouver, the closest example I can think of is Black + Blue’s “rooftop” patio (4th floor) on Alberni, and Guu Garden on Hornby.
Edit: More examples pointed out: Parq casino (restaurant/bar on 6th floor), Reflections at Hotel Georgia, Joe Fortes.
Is there a reason we don’t have more of these here, with proper views?
submitted by Hey guys, so I wasn’t very satisfied with RE2 Remake’s treatment of the story so I decided to write my own treatment. Got it done and I was happy with it. Now I have to admit, I wasn’t a big fan of RE3 Remake’s treatment either but I much prefer it over RE2 Remake. I felt the plot was actually expanded upon even if little (finally explained the vaccine’s origins) as well as flesh the characters out much more than what RE2 Remake did for theirs. Overall, yes I like RE3R over RE2R even if it “cut” out more (though I believe RE2R’s cutting of B scenario is a bigger sin than any in RE3R), so sue me!
I’m not here to write a novel, just a Wikipedia/walkthrough style summary of how I would’ve done RE3R same as I did for RE2R. Here’s my treatment of RE3 Remake.
The game’s intro was alright. I’d like to expand on it by including news footage of police and UBCS forces fighting against zombies. So a bit of a mix between the classic and the new intro. Remember how they did the Birkin vs USS in RE2R by turning it into found footage instead of a flashback? I didn’t like it in RE2R but felt it would work better for this one. So found footage of police body cams, reporters’ cameras, etc. They are filming the fall of Raccoon City. Its last stand on September 28th. This intro is interspersed with scenes of Umbrella experimenting on and creating Nemesis. The intro ends with one of the police officers getting massacred and dropping dead, his body cam focused on a helmet of a deceased officer. Sort of a reference to the final and iconic/memorable shot of the original RE3’s intro with the zoom-in.
Now here’s what I didn’t like with RE3R’s prologue. Jill somehow slept through all of the chaos going on outside and it all happened instantly? Hmm… something isn’t right. Then again in RE: Outbreak, the eight protagonists were chilling in J’s Bar while there was already an army of the undead just a few blocks away but whatever.
So in my version, Jill is already aware of the chaos going on outside. My redesign of Jill is quite similar to the remake version except she doesn’t have an elbow brace and is wearing a t-shirt with a sweater wrapped around her waist. She has her belt and leg holster on, her Samurai Edge on her, and she’s ready to move. She delivers her classic speech of “this is my last escape” and prepares to leave. She gets a phone call before she leaves and answers it, hearing Brad from the other line warning her about something and telling her to meet him outside. Jill hears a loud crashing just outside and the electricity goes out in her apartment which also cuts Brad off the line. Jill exits her room and finds her neighbor feeding on someone. She raises her gun at him and he does the classic RE1 zombie turn.
Jill is forced to kill him before heading for the elevator. As she waits, she hears loud steps and breaks coming for her. She turns and the wall bursts as a large masked man enters. It goes after her and attacks her, she manages to escape it as she heads down the stairs. She sees the lower levels of the apartment has been set on fire and she keeps running as the man chases after her. She manages to evade him by jumping off a window as an explosion envelopes the area.
Jill lands albeit as safe as can be on the street just outside her apartment building. Standing up, Jill finds herself surrounded by zombies. She fights her way through the end of an alley and is cornered, forcing her to break open the door. Jill makes a run for it and enters a small warehouse before locking the door behind her. As she moves, a paranoid old man appears from behind some boxes aiming his gun at her. Jill tells him to stay calm and put the gun down, and he refuses, telling her that this is his hiding place and she should get out. Jill talks him down by telling him she’s a police officer before quickly disarming him one-handedly (reference to RE1 Remake Jill with Barry before the Lisa fight). Jill then puts the gun down and tells him they have to survive together. He tells him his name is Dario Rosso and that his wife and daughter were killed outside and he has nothing left, instead he makes a break for a container and locks himself in. Jill tries to talk him out of it but he refuses to leave and would rather starve to death than be eaten.
Jill exits through the other end of the warehouse and navigates herself through the ruins of Raccoon City. She runs into some people running away and she hears cries of death echoing throughout. Jill eventually crosses paths with Brad while he’s running away from zombies. Jill eliminates them and catches up to him. Brad warns her that something is coming after them and Jill realizes it might be the same one who attacked her in her apartment. She asks if he’s seen it too and he nods yes. They then hear a faint cry of “STARS” from the distance and Brad suddenly gets scared, telling Jill to run away as more zombies follow after them. They run inside a bar and try to shut the doors and Brad gets bitten. He stays behind as Jill is forced to leave.
Jill keeps looking for her way out of the city and spots helicopters passing by. One of them spots a light on her and calls for her to go the rooftop of a nearby parking garage. Jill heads for the parking garage and ascends the stairs. Jill gets to the roof as the chopper lands. She hears the elevator ring from behind her and wearily aims her gun at it, only to see Brad come out of the elevator. The two are briefly reunited as they both make for the chopper. Suddenly, a rocket shoots through and destroys the helicopter. Jill and Brad turn to see the large man from behind them armed with a bazooka. It makes a huge leap and lands in front of them. The man shoves them both to the ground and aims the bazooka at them. Jill aims and shoots just in time to blow up the bazooka, setting the man on fire and burns off his mask, revealing his monstrous face. Surviving the explosion, the man keeps walking towards them. Jill gasps when she realizes this now unmasked creature is a B.O.W.
Jill gets up to shoot at the monster until she runs out of ammo. Cornered, Jill has nowhere to go and Brad sacrifices himself by pushing her out of the way as he himself is grabbed by the man. He lifts him by his head and he starts violently shaking as Jill helplessly watches. A tentacle bursts through and impales Brad’s head as he convulses in shock and terror. Jill reloads and faces the creature. Nemesis turns towards Jill and she is forced to fight him. Using the environment around her, Jill manages to subdue the creature. Believing it to be a tyrant, Jill leaves in case it gets up again.
Scouring the city once more, Jill finds a cop car with a radio attached. She enters and uses it to get in contact with Raccoon City Police Department, asking if there are survivors. She hears Marvin on the other end, and learns that the RPD has created a safe haven for survivors. Jill gets ready to head there. On her way to the RPD, Jill hears gunshots and follows them, hoping for more survivors. She encounters a handsome mercenary finishing off a small group of zombies. She compliments his work and he introduces himself as Carlos.
My version of Carlos would be a mix between remake and original, he has the boyish looks and accent of the original but the build and hair of the remake version.
Carlos flirts with Jill, telling her she’s the very first cute “chica” he ran into that’s not dead. She notes that he doesn’t look like an officer nor a member of the National Guard. He tells her he’s a contracted mercenary, part of a paramilitary unit sent in to rescue civilians. Jill tells him that the RPD has several civilians in need of help. Carlos volunteers to escort her there. Together, they journey through Raccoon and eventually reach the RPD’s front gates.
Before they enter, Jill notices the Umbrella logo on Carlos’s sleeve. Realizing he’s working for Umbrella, she starts an argument, questioning his intentions. Carlos doesn’t know what she’s talking about and that all he’s there for is to truly help civilians. Zombies begin showing up and Carlos asks if they can continue this conversation later and enter through the front gates, locking it behind them.
Jill and Carlos meet with Marvin, who’s holed up with 20 other survivors in the main hall. The East Wing of the RPD has been overrun and thus was locked down and quarantined. Carlos asks if there’s a radio he can use to contact his unit (he lost his radio) and Jill suggests the STARS office. Jill asks if the STARS office is safe to go to. Marvin tells her to go for it if she needs something from there.
Both Jill and Carlos make their way to the STARS office via West Wing and Jill finds her lockpick. She grabs more gear to put on (torso holster). Carlos contacts his unit and learns the comm systems are down (a possible sabotage by Irons). Jill asks Carlos if genuinely believes he’s helping the people and he tells her she doesn’t have to trust him if she doesn’t want to. Realizing there’s no way to get in contact, the duo decide to return to the main hall. They hear a crash from somewhere nearby. Upon investigating, both are horrified to see that Nemesis is still alive and has crashed through the West Wing, allowing zombies to enter and invade the station. Many of the survivors are killed and Marvin is bit during the struggle. Jill is horrified to realize that Nemesis was tracking her and followed her to the RPD. A remorseful Jill and Carlos lure Nemesis away from the station as she bids goodbye to Marvin, apologizing for letting this happen.
The two manage to evade Nemesis out in the streets when they hide inside a restaurant. Carlos asked what the hell was thing and Jill quips that it’s a co-worker of his, a creation of Umbrella. Carlos is shocked by this. He then tells Jill that his team made a small shelter in the train station, and that they should head there. Just then, Nemesis discovers them. Jill forces Carlos to leave her as she promises to meet him at the train station. Jill proceeds to lead Nemesis away as she heads for the sewers.
In the sewers, she manages to evade him by crawling under a vent. Jill encounters Hunter Gammas in the sewers before finding her way into the train station. She follows through and makes it the outdoor train station where the UBCS unit is stationed. Jill runs to meet Carlos and the rest of the team: Nikolai, Tyrell, Murphy, and squad leader Mikhail. Nikolai is hesitant to let Jill in but Mikhail overrules him, revealing he knows of Jill and her identity, and that she could be of great help to them. Carlos reveals they have trouble getting the train back in order as the power is down. Jill knows where the power plant is to bring that part of the city’s power back in working order. Mikhail sends the team in separate units to run other errands while Jill volunteers to go to the power plant, with Mikhail thanking her and Carlos wishing her luck. Jill tells them she’s not doing this for them but for the civilians they have rescued. Carlos hands her a radio to stay in contact. Before Jill leaves, she overhears Mikhail talk to Carlos and Tyrell about a Doctor Bard.
Jill makes her way back to the city, with Nemesis secretly in pursuit and ambushing her at any opportunity. Jill has to go through an abandoned factory, a casino, and the park to get to the power plant. She also requires sets of items to progress and has to search around the city, making it even more difficult since Nemesis is in stalker mode and can pop out anytime.
Jill goes through an autoshop where she hears cries for help. She witnesses Murphy being confronted by Nikolai. Murphy calls for her and Nikolai promptly shoots him in the head and the shocked Jill asks him why he would do that. Nikolai tells her that he suspected Murphy was bit and therefore infected. Jill asks him if he’s sure and Nikolai invites her to check on Murphy’s corpse, and she declines. Nikolai lets her know that he still does not trust her and will keep his eye on her to make sure she doesn’t ruin things for them. Jill questions why he’s so hostile with her even though she’s already helping and Nikolai briefly hints at her involvement in the mansion incident, causing Jill to wonder how he knows of such information. Considering Irons did everything to bury the story.
Nikolai advises her to walk away before she gets hurt, which she takes as a threat. He then leaves the autoshop and Jill collects the parts she requires to progress. Jill soon passes by outside the park where she meets with Carlos and Tyrell, asking them what they’re doing there. The gate to the park is locked and Carlos volunteers to scout the area and clear it. He climbs over the fence and investigates the park upon learning the gate is electronically locked. Jill thinks he’s doing it to impress her and Tyrell backs her on that. Carlos winks at her and she tells him good luck. He says he promises to not leave her in a cold, cruel, Carlos-less world.
Carlos searches around and encounters multiple infected. He radios Jill and Tyrell while he searches around and looks for the generator to turn on the power and unlock the electronic gate. He cannot enter through the south exit as it is locked with a simple lock. As Carlos investigates further in the cemetery, an earthquake occurs and the ground burrows from beneath him. He falls and witnesses a gigantic worm-like monster emerge. The Gravedigger begins to chase Carlos and he manages to climb out the tunnel. The Gravedigger hunts for Carlos while he sees the fountain break and pour water into the tunnel. Realizing he could use this to his advantage, he breaks some wires and tosses them into the water. This sequence is similar to the Iluzija boss fight (invisible snake) in RE6. Carlos then turns on generators one by one while evading the Gravedigger and its spawn. Eventually, he manages to lure Gravedigger into the puddle and turns on the last generator, electrocuting Gravedigger. Thinking its dead, Carlos checks on it, only for it to rise one more time. Carlos throws a grenade in its mouth and destroys it from the inside. With the power back on, Carlos releases the lock on the gate and lets Jill and Tyrell in. They see the large worm and congratulate Carlos on its kill. Carlos and Tyrell reluctantly leave Jill on their quest as they head out on their own mission while she continues hers, using the lockpick to go through the park’s south exit.
Jill finds her way to the STAGLA gas station as the way forward is blocked and the only way is through the garage. She enters and Nikolai appears to be already there. Still distrustful of one another, they briefly form a truce to investigate the area. Zombies begin to ambush the gas station. Jill and Nikolai join forces and fight through. They are able to go through the garage and Nikolai lifts the shutter for Jill to squeeze through. Nikolai tells her to run for it and a spontaneous spark ignites a fire. Jill is forced to leave Nikolai and she runs for her life as STAGLA gas station explodes, seemingly killing Nikolai. Jill sadly bids him farewell, admitting she was wrong about him. She radios Carlos, telling him Nikolai is dead, much to his dismay. Nemesis appears again to stalk Jill, forcing her to hurry.
Jill makes it to the power plant where she loses Nemesis, and the plant is now infested with a gigantic Drain Deimos nest. She powers through and manages to turn the generators on. In my version, it’s going to be more intense and less annoying. No impregnating or deep-throating, just latching on to Jill and attempting to suck her brain out and she has to push them off like she would any other zombie.
Jill turns on the power to the substation and is ambushed by Nemesis just outside the plant, now armed with a minigun. This is basically the rocket launcher sequence from the remake but this time it’s with a minigun. Jill tries her best to escape and goes through a building while Nemesis shoots after her, imitating the intro to CODE Veronica. Jill runs as fast as she can to escape Nemesis’s clutches and she heads for an office building, jumping into a trash chute to get away from Nemesis as he runs out of ammo. Jill makes it out of the office basement/parking garage and she gets on a car. She drives it out of the garage where she finds Carlos alone outside, having followed her and separated from Tyrell.
Carlos enters the vehicle and together they drive away with Nemesis in pursuit. They are both stunned to see that Nemesis is quite fast and is able to latch on the car with his tentacle. Jill manages to put enough power to pull the car away from Nemesis, and she crashes into a street lamp while Nemesis is pulled and falls flat on his face. Carlos, seeing no other way to escape, gets out of the car and instructs Jill to do the same. Jill spots Nemesis about to get up. She locks the door to prevent Carlos from getting back on and utters “It’s my turn, bitch” as she plows the car and rams Nemesis into a wall. Nemesis is pinned between the car and wall and he reaches into the car, using a tentacle to briefly stab Jill in the arm. Carlos uses his rifle to shoot Nemesis, causing him to let go of Jill.
Injured but still alive, Jill manages to climb out the car and walk away from Nemesis as he tries to push the car off him. She sees that fuel is leaking out of the car. Carlos asks her what are they supposed to do now. Jill asks if he has a lighter and he gives it to her, she lights it and throws it at Nemesis, setting the fuel on fire and exploding the car, seemingly killing Nemesis. Carlos jokes that it was his “grandfather’s lighter that he kept as a remembrance of him.” Jill laughs with him, relieved that the monster is destroyed, before she begins wincing in pain. She realizes Nemesis’s tentacle injected a toxin in her and she is now infected. Jill begins to collapse as her infection takes hold of her, with Carlos holding her in his arms and telling her to stay with him. Carlos remembers Doctor Bard and how he may be able to help her. He carries Jill and radios Tyrell to meet him at the hospital.
Carlos brings Jill to the hospital where he places her in a safe and contained treatment room. Jill awakes and tells Carlos that she can’t feel anything. He tells her that’s a good thing but Jill tells him that she can’t feel *anything* and what would happen to her if she doesn’t feel human. She begs him, if it comes to it, he must kill her. Carlos can’t bring himself to and promises to make her better. Jill slips back into unconsciousness.
Carlos scours the hospital. This part is still very similar to the hospital section in the actual remake so I would change very little about this. So the Hunter Betas still stay the same. Maybe make it a much bigger and expanded hospital with more enemies. Carlos eventually finds Dr. Bard but he’s already dead. He sees recorded footage of Dr. Bard confessing all of what he knows about Umbrella, thus Carlos realizes Jill was telling the truth. He’s been duped by his own employers. Tyrell appears, paranoid and aiming a gun at Carlos. Carlos questions him and Tyrell asks if Carlos is the traitor, to which Carlos has no idea of what he’s talking about. Tyrell tells Carlos that the vaccine is worth a lot of money and they’ve been backstabbing each other for it, to which Carlos still has no idea. Tyrell goes for the container and opens it, only to realize too late it was booby trapped. A grenade explodes and kills Tyrell as Carlos jumps for safety. Carlos realizes the original vaccine has been stolen and he has to make a new one himself as per instructions in Bard’s research documents. Carlos uses what he can of the hospital and Bard’s resources to formulate his own vaccine. With the vaccine, Carlos makes his way back to Jill. He injects Jill with it, hoping she would get better. While waiting, he falls asleep.
Jill eventually awakens and sees Carlos asleep. She wakes him up and he becomes cheerful she’s still alive. She thanks him, and apologizes for being a bitch to him earlier. However, both realize much time has passed and it’s already near midnight of September 30th. They see the news and learn that the United States government made the decision to nuke Raccoon City by sunrise on October 1st. Jill and Carlos then get out of the hospital to head back to the train station. Carlos radios Mikhail, only to hear static with short cuts of screaming from the radio. Both Jill and Carlos are getting incredibly worried.
The two make their way back to the train station and find it in ruins. Dead bodies everywhere and all the civilians and the rest of the UBCS squad are dead. They hear gunshots and run for it, seeing Mikhail fight against zombies and throws a grenade at them to blow them up. Carlos and Jill run for Mikhail and help him back up. Carlos asks what happened and Mikhail tells him they’ve been set up. Someone betrayed them and turned everyone into guinea pigs. The mission was already a failure from the minute they landed. Carlos then realizes it was Nikolai who set them up which surprised Jill as she thought he was dead.
Mikhail reveals that Nikolai was the traitor and it is shown in flashbacks what Nikolai has done. And thus Nikolai was the one who set the base up to be ambushed by zombies, Mikhail is the only survivor. Jill and Carlos help Mikhail up and to the train, as it is in working order now. There is a National Guard post set up by the Saint Michael’s Clocktower and they should get there. They board the train and start it.
As the train goes on, Mikhail rests in the back car while Jill and Carlos commandeer the train. They then talk about how they’re going to escape once they make it to the Clocktower. The train suddenly shakes and they hear Mikhail screaming. Jill turns to investigate and finds Nemesis still alive and aboard the train. Nemesis has now mutated into his shirtless 2nd form from the original. Both Jill and Mikhail try to take him on but Mikhail stops Jill and tells her they should get to the front car. Jill moves to the front car but Mikhail locks the door from behind her. Jill turns and begs Mikhail to come with them, but Mikhail stays behind to sacrifice himself and give the two more time to escape. Mikhail confronts Nemesis and Nemesis shoves him away. Before Nemesis can kill Mikhail, he activates a grenade and blows himself and Nemesis up. Nemesis is thrown from the train and back out on the street. The train becomes unstable and both Jill and Carlos realize they can’t stay. The train begins to decouple on the bridge and the duo open the doors of the train. Jill and Carlos agree to jump out together and into the river below. Jill is able to jump but the force of the train knocks Carlos back as it crashes.
Jill lands in the water and screams for Carlos as the train crashes. Believing Carlos to be dead, Jill sadly goes on her own way. She swims to the docks and finds herself at the waste disposal treatment facility, or Dead Factory for short. She goes through there while encountering BOWs of any kind. She also learns that Nemesis is inside, hunting for her. It becomes a cat and mouse game inside the dead factory until Jill required a key card to escape. She runs into Nikolai, who ambushes her and fights her. He tells her she’s a tough cookie but her time is up. Jill asks him if it was worth the lives of all those people he got killed. Nikolai snidely comments that there is a price tag for everything, even a person’s life. To him, he does not care and he’s still going to get rich from this. He reveals to Jill he has the stolen vaccine, and intends to sell it to the highest bidder. Jill tells him the world needs the vaccine for good. While both of them have their guns at each other, Nemesis bursts through the wall in-between and separates them. Nikolai leaves Jill to be distracted by Nemesis as he makes his escape.
Jill is cornered by Nemesis in an arena-like area, filled with acid tanks and bodies of deceased and disposed Tyrants. With no choice but to confront him, Jill calls him an ugly motherfucker and it’s time for him to let go. Using the acid tanks to her advantage, Jill manages to subdue and take down Nemesis once again. Nemesis is defeated and partially melted down by the acid. Jill takes the key card from a dead employee and makes it out. Unbeknownst to Jill, Nemesis survived and begins feeding on dead Tyrants in the area to recuperate.
Jill finally makes it out of the Dead Factory and begins heading for the Clocktower. Upon arrival, Jill finds the gate to the courtyard closed and the area empty. Wondering what happened to the army stationed there, Jill assumes they too have been taken over. Jill is forced to enter the Clocktower through the back in order to find a way to open the gate. So basically the Clocktower sequence from the original but instead of ringing the bell, it’s to open the gate, so puzzles galore!
Jill goes through the mansion-like area. She is ambushed by zombies inside and when cornered, suddenly someone begins shooting them down. Jill turns and is happy to see that Carlos has survived and has come to her rescue. They run to each other and he caresses her cheek, telling her he promised to not leave her in a Carlos-less world. She smiles and embraces him, and the two agree to work together and split up to find a way to open the gate. Jill manages to finally open her part of the gate but is ambushed by a heavily mutated Nemesis, now in his 3rd form (2nd form in the remake but a little smaller). Horrified, Jill attempts to escape Nemesis and Carlos appears just in time with a grenade launcher to blast the ceiling. This causes a cave-in and crushes Nemesis underneath all the debris.
Jill and Carlos get out to the courtyard and find Nikolai. Nikolai tells them about the helicopter just by the courtyard. He offers to give them a split of the profits if they fight Nemesis and allow him to record the combat data. They refuse and tell him that the world needs the vaccine. Nikolai dangles it out and threatens to drop it if they don’t comply. The rubble begins to vibrate as Nemesis starts to break free. Nikolai uses this opportunity to retreat and both Carlos and Jill are left to deal with Nemesis, who has grown bigger and stronger. Carlos finds a large rail gun established by the National Guard. The two realize they can use that to their advantage and Jill sends Carlos to operate it while she deals with Nemesis. Suddenly, an alert sends out a siren warning that the nuke has been launched and the missile is approaching the city in T-minus 10 minutes.
Carlos goes to use the rail gun and Jill lures Nemesis into its path. Nemesis is knocked on its back by the cannon, which misfires and causes three power plugs to unplug. Carlos can’t operate it if those aren’t plugged in. Jill then fights Nemesis while plugging those back in at the same time. With those finally back in place, Carlos begins a countdown as to when Jill can trick Nemesis into facing the rail gun. After an intense and lengthy battle, Jill lures Nemesis into the path of the rail gun and the overcharged cannon unleashes all its energy into Nemesis, obliterating the creature. Jill and Carlos are relieved and are about to walk away when what’s left of Nemesis (the parasite, similar to how the final form look in the original but smaller) rises and tries to kill them. Jill tells Carlos to go deal with Nikolai while she deals with this herself. Carlos leaves, knowing she’ll be okay, and Jill faces this dying creature one last time. Jill finds a dead soldier’s magnum and unloads all of it into Nemesis, telling him if he wants STARS, she’ll give him stars. The final shot explodes the parasite’s head, thus killing it for good.
Jill follows after Carlos and makes it to the helicopter, only to find Carlos unconscious. Nikolai ambushes her and aims a gun at her. He throws the vaccine at her and shoots it, destroying it much to her anger. The pissed off Jill tells him he’ll regret that. Nikolai laughs, telling her she should have accepted his offer when she had the chance. Carlos rises and fights Nikolai. Both Jill and Carlos tag team Nikolai, who was still capable of taking them both. He manages to overpower them and knocks Jill back and takes a knife against Carlos’s neck. Jill aims her gun at Nikolai. Nikolai is also aiming a gun at her, threatening that she can’t shoot him fast enough to save Carlos. Carlos tells her to take the shot and don’t worry about him, to save herself. Jill pretends to surrender and drops the gun. Jill quickly drops to the ground to catch it and shoots Nikolai in the chest (another reference to CODE Veronica). Zombies hear the gunshot and start making their way for it.
Nikolai drops to the floor and both Jill and Carlos watch him as he pathetically begs for his life, even offering to give her information on Umbrella. Jill tells him he’s not worthy to come alive with them and that she can do her own detective work. Both Jill and Carlos take the helicopter and leave Nikolai to die as zombies begin to circle him.
Jill and Carlos fly out of Raccoon City as daylight approaches. Both witness as the nuke passes by and heads for the city. They watch the nuke detonate, destroying Raccoon City. So pretty much the same exact ending as the original except this time I would have liked to add close-up shots of the city and its iconic locations blowing up. You know, just like the original? I will also get rid of the post-credits since that has like almost nothing to do with the plot anyway. I’ll keep Jill’s end speech the same as the remake’s with the human greed and all for the woke points lol
Anywho, all done. I hope you guys enjoyed it as well as I did writing it out. So I pretty much just took the basics of the original and remake, mashed them together, and made my own version! Thank you for reading and have a great day :D
submitted by My friend is having a bridal shower next month. It’s gonna be fairly small and they want to do something in Atlantic City, but I’m not clear on the details. They talked about having either a rooftop baclub night or doing something at the casino, but they seem sure they are gonna rent an Airbnb and possibly have the party there? I don’t know but I am very nervous about attending because I don’t know how well these girls will follow safety measures. I’m already not attending the brides Halloween party this month, but this is her wedding and I’m a bridesmaid- I can’t exactly say no to attending the shower(or the wedding that she still plans to have in February). Any advice? Like if I keep my mask on the whole time and wear my hair to cover my ears and wash my hands/use hand sanitizer regularly, is that enough? I didn’t mention social distancing because i don’t know if these girls will and if one of my bffs in the party would want to hug me. I can say don’t do that ahead of time but I’m nervous about the whole thing and I plan to self quarantine regardless.
Any advice?? Edit: telling me not to go isn’t helpful. I’ll decide if that’s what I need to do later but for now please just answer the question I’m asking, thank you
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