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Shattered: Redux

Chapter XI: Dark Inheritance Part III

The past is not so easily forgotten...

-Anonymous

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They followed the jittery possum janitor as he led them through a winding trail of empty corridors and locked doors. Most of the corridors were empty, but a few had what looked like dried blood splashed on the walls and floor. It gave this place a very unwelcoming atmosphere. Every few minutes, the possum would look back and usher them to move faster, mumbling to himself as he did so.

"What's the rush?" Falco grumbled as he plodded along next to Fox, who was leading their band of misfits.

"We have to hurry, there's no telling when they'll come. No...you never can tell." Dan muttered to himself as he fiddled with his hairless paws. "Always out of nowhere...from the dark."

"Uh huh....okay then..." Falco replied, looking to Fox with a worried frown. "I think our guide is not all the way there if you know what I mean." He brought a feathered hand to his temple hintingly.

"That, we can agree on." Fox added quietly with a nod, looking to their guide uneasily. "How much farther is it?" He called out to the janitor.

Dan flinched as if he had been smacked and turned to face Fox. "We're close, yes so close." He mumbled and continued down a side path while the others stopped.

"I don't like this, Fox." Miyu voiced from behind him. "Something's not right about that guy. And I'm pretty sure we all know that."

"I suggest we keep on our guard." Fara said from her place with her squad in the middle of the group. "This is a venomian research facility after all. Nothing here can be trusted."

"If we want answers, we're going to have to follow the weird guy." Fay added with a sigh.

"I for one think it's a bad idea." Slippy said as he looked around fearfully. "Something's wrong with this place and I think we should just find Alex and get out of here."

Fox shook his muzzle in denial. "No, we have a mission to complete and we are not leaving until it's done. We follow Dan and we get some answers. After that we will search for Alex. And in order to do that we need to know what exactly is going on here."

The janitor poked his muzzle around the corner and looked to the group. "Come, we have t-"

"Hurry up, yeah we know." Falco cut him off with a sigh.

"Yes, yes, come, just around the corner." Dan replied excitedly, motioning them over with a paw.

"Well you heard the unstable janitor, this way." Fox said as he led them around the corner and to a long hallway with a pair of menacing doors at the far end.

"Yes, the others are inside." Dan quickly made his wat across the hallway and towards the doors.

The others were a little more reluctant to join him, but there decision was made when they heard a loud crashing far to the opposite side of the extensive corridor, and they could see something moving in the darkness.

"HURRY!" The janitor yelled back as he began to run towards the doors in a panic. "THEY"RE HERE!"

Fox and the others took one look at the abnormal shadows accumulating in the darkness and decided that the crazy janitor was the better option.

"Come on, let's move it!" Fox growled as he drew his blaster and fired a quartet of shots down the other corridor. The four red bolts of energy briefly lit up the hall, revealing twisted forms and when they impacted, a piercing howl reverberated through the metallic corridor and made them tremble.

They all turned and ran from whatever it was that pursued them, refusing to look back. The eerie howls pursued them, and they heard the rumbling of many footsteps that seemed to draw closer.

Far at the front they could see the possum pounding on the doors and yelling for someone to open them. In less than a minute they reached the locked doors and realized that they were trapped.

Fara and her squad took positions in front and started to lay down a curtain of crimson bolts from their weapons. They continuous stream of lasers hit the tide of creatures and slowed them down. The sheer volume of fire was almost blinding in the dimly lit corridor.

Fox and his team did what they could to contribute to the defense, firing their smaller blasters.

Fox looked over his shoulder and saw the possum hastily jabbing at a small keypad next to the doors. After a few moments, Dan shouted in elation and the doors slid open. "Hurry, get inside!" The possum cried and ran in.

"Guys, the doors are open1" Fox yelled over the sharp crackling of laser bolts.

Quickly, they all rushed inside and the possum thumped the lock button, causing the doors to slam closed. They all were breathing heavily and Falco grunted as he took a few attempts to holster his blaster securely. "What the hell were those?!"

"Them." Dan replied simply as he shuddered and turned from the door.

"I didn't get a good look." Slippy muttered and then shivered, holding his arms together. "But I don't think I want to."

"Are those the things that got Alex?" Krystal whimpered. The thought that such terrifying creatures could be responsible for taking him filled her with dread. And the worst part was that they were familiar to her, and she could not place why.

"I know he's alright. It's Alex we're talking about." Miyu placated her friend, placing a paw on her shoulder and smiling confidently. "Just you wait, we'll find him and he'll probably have a joke lined up." The feline said with forced cheer.

Meanwhile, Fara looked around where they found themselves, and saw that it was a huge hall, filled with long benched tables and what must have been the surviving elements of the base's staff. Around a hundred or so venomians of intermixed species sat around the tables with a few armored guards in the standard black and red armor. At the sight of the security, Fara had her team on alert, just because there were monsters here didn't meant that you could trust your enemy.

Likewise, the guards seemed to realize that the new arrivals were not venomian and cautiously readied their weapons. Fox and Falco noticed the brewing tension and so he walked ahead of the two potentially violent groups.

"Hey, hey, how about we all just relax eh?" Fox suggested with a weak smile, pumping out as much of his famous charisma as he could. "I think we have a few more problems that top the hostilities list. Like those monsters outside, I don't think we want to do their job for them right....right?" The vulpine asked uncertainly.

At that, the largest venomian soldier walked towards Fox, causing Fara and her team to raise their weapons slightly. But instead of attacking, the soldier took off his enclosed helmet revealing an old looking ape that looked down at Fox with a grimace.

"You speak sense little fox." He replied in a heavy accented tone. "But do not be thinking that we trust you. We welcome the extra guns, and paws to wield them. Yet this does not mean we are friends yes? A truce, until the threat is gone." The ape held out an armored hand. "I have people to protect, you will help yes?"

"Yes of course." Fox replied, placing his paw in the ape's larger gauntlet. He winced when the ape's grip tightly closed on his smaller paw but smiled through it. "A truce."

"Excellent." The ape said with a more welcoming grin that did not make Fox feel so welcome. He looked back over his shoulder and the other guards lowered their weapons. Fox looked back to Fara and her team and they soon complied as well, although the vixen was the last and most reluctant to do so. "Now, I have to tend to my own men, I suggest that you do so also, little fox." The ape turned away abruptly and walked off, gesturing for one of his men to walk over to him. Then, he began to speak in a venomian dialect that they could not understand and the soldier saluted before walking off.

Fox watched this and let out a breath he did not know he was holding. "Phew, that was close." He looked back over to his and Fara's team. "It looks like we managed to avoid a fight."

"Perhaps...for now, you can't trust venomians to keep their word." Fara muttered as she watched the ape walk away.

"Maybe, but it's going to have to do for the moment. I rather not have to fight them here, especially with all the civilians present." Fox replied as he looked at all the unarmed and frightened looking venomians that sat around the sea of tables. They all watched the team with both parts fright and relief, glad to have more protectors in such a trying time as they currently found themselves.

"Well..." Falco piped up as he looked around. "Now that we're here, what do we do?"

"We have to go find Alex!" Krystal said forcefully, stepping to the front of the group to confront Fox. "He's out there, with those things!" It was clear that she was in distress, her fur was sticking up and her tail flung back and forth behind her in agitation. It was also noted that her long black claws were unsheathed and her ears were flat on her skull.

"We can't just go looking for him." Fox said reluctantly, not happy with the situation either. "We don't know where he is and it would be suicide to go out there. You saw those things; I don't think we could afford to fight them, at least not until we have some sort of plan."

"So you want him to die then!?" Krystal demanded heatedly, her bushy tail lashing back and forth behind her.

"No, believe me I don't." Fox retorted with a heavy sigh. "He's my friend, but I know that if he wanted anything, it would be to keep you, Miyu, and the others safe. And I will do my best to do just that."

Immediately her anger deflated and she seemed to shrink down a size. She knew that Fox was right. "So...?"

"So, we stay here, find out what happened, and maybe afterwards we can see about finding him." Fox answered with a grimace and a sigh. "There's nothing we can do, for now...he's own his own."

"Uggh...what happened?" Alex groaned as he painfully opened his eyes and saw a ceiling of what looked like a dimly lit room, through his visor. A deep throbbing pain on the left side of his head seemed to have added itself to his other injuries; although he did notice that the pain from his other wounds had dulled considerably, something he was grateful for. It took him a moment to recognize that he was laying down on something and so he tried to stand up...and failed. Alex shifted his eyes down to his body and saw that he was strapped to an operating table of some kind, and at that realization, his short term memory started to return.

He had been struck upside the head with a...bed pan. That was definitely not on his list of blunt instruments he expected to be clonked by. Obviously someone had done the deed and so he began to look around for the perpetrator of the act. Alex looked to his left and saw the standard setting of an operating theatre, and so he looked to his left where he saw who had attacked him. Now that he had more time to observe his attacker, he could clearly make out who it was.

The one who had hit him with the bed pan was a female black wolf, with startling red irises. She looked to be about as tall as he was, and was wearing a white lab coat. But, the coat was splattered with a spray of fresh and old blood. The bloody lab coat stuck to her curves and bust nicely, which cut a stark contrast over all with her rather gory appearance. Behind her, he noticed a smaller figure, but could not make it out completely as whoever it was, was hiding behind the large female wolf.

"Uh...hello?" Alex called out hesitantly.

Instantly, the wolfess flinched and the figure behind her began to cower.

"So...you're awake." She replied timidly after a minute of uncomfortable silence if she was debating something. Her timidity was surprising and didn't match the gruffness of her speech. Alex also noticed that she still held the bed pan in her dark black glossy furred paws, and that she was trembling something fierce. 'I...uh...bandaged up your wounds." She added a little tentatively. It was clear that she had no idea what to do in this situation, and frankly, neither did he.

Not knowing what else to say, he simply thanked her for that.

She nodded at his thanks and shrugged. "It is my job after all." She waved off. "Or at least it was..." She muttered quietly.

He nodded back, it made a little awkward from his current position. "So...am I free to, you know...?" He moved his constrained arms.

It took a second for her to understand and she then nodded, the ruff of her furry cheeks darkening in what could only be an embarrassed blush. "Of course, it was just a precaution in case you...died...and turned into one of them....yeah." She finished lamely.

She stood up and timidly walked over to him and unstrapped the bonds with her free paw and then backed a good distance away, still clutching the bed pan in her furry grip. She looked about ready to repel any attempt on her life.

Alex slowly sat up, groaning as his wounds made their displeasure know. His shoulder was the most complaintive out of the small array of injuries he had sustained. Alex looked down his armored body, and saw that his right shoulder had been heavily bandaged and his left hand was wrapped in thick white gauze. The sight of his mangled hand sought to remind him that he was missing his ring finger, but he conceded that it could have been much worse than a lost finger. Overall he had escaped his confrontations so far relatively lucky. He just prayed that his luck would hold. Alex looked back up from his survey and saw that the female wolf was sitting back down, still holding the bed pan as if was her lifeline. It was a pitiful sight and made the human feel bad; he was the one frightening her after all. "I won't hurt you." He murmured softly as he stood up and walked over to her, taking a knee beside the shaking women. She winced when he placed his gauntlets gently on her shuddering paws and steadied them, but she didn't do anything else. "I promise I'm not one of those monsters." He spoke to her gently and after a few seconds she relinquished the pan, which he placed on the floor. "Good, see...I'm not going to hurt you...okay?" He tried to make his voice as friendly as possible, hoping that he would calm her tattered nerves. Alex understood, in a situation like this, such a reaction was commonplace and he had felt it himself when he first encountered necromorphs.

She smiled weakly and nodded, tail moving back and forth behind her happily.

"Now how about you tell me you name, and that of your little friend over there?" He asked in a cheery tone as he looked over her shoulder at the small figure hiding behind her.

The wolfess took a moment to answer, nodding to herself as she regained her composure. "Okay...alright...my name is Lupa, Lupa O'Donnell, and the little one behind me is Penelope O'Donnell, my little sister."

Alex looked over the women's shoulder and to the little cub that just emerged from behind her and smiled underneath his helmet. He loved kids, their indomitable spirit and wondrous innocence always managed to cheer him up. He also happened to love puppies and all manners of fuzzy little animals, so combining them into one form, to him, made them that much more precious. Alex moved his hand from his side, making sure it was his good one, and pressed the seal behind his helmet. It cascaded open and he smiled kindly at the cub with his bare face. "Hey there little one." Alex greeted with a warm and soft tone, making sure that he looked as unthreatening as possible.

The cub shyly pattered out from behind her sister and stood by the older wolf, clutching the hem of the lab coat as she gazed up at the large kneeling man with wide crimson eyes. She was a spitting image of her older sister, except she was wearing a little blue gown that seemed out of place in this terrible place. "What are you?' She asked in wonder, tail wagging adorably behind her. The little cub was clutching a tiny plush animal in her dainty paws. It looked like a bear of some sorts, and the human had an unpleasant flashback to the ark and the bloody bear he had found there. But he quickly dispelled the thought and focused back on the present.

Alex chuckled. "I'm Alex, a human, and you...you are a cute little wolf cub." He bopped her softly on her little black nose with a gloved finger, making her giggle and smile, showcasing her small still developing pearly white fangs. "Tell me, how old are you?"

She smiled up at him. "I'm seven years old." She held up her paws, displaying seven fuzzy digits proudly.

"Wow, seven years old!" Alex exclaimed in amazement, chuckling warmly. "That's impressive. Soon you'll be going off on your own, having grand adventures!"

The older female wolf smiled at their exchange, glad that the stranger had managed to make her little sister smile. It had been a long time since she had reason to.

Alex looked up from the cub and towards her older sister. "What is such a cute little cub like her doing here?"

At his inquiry, the older female sighed and brushed her coat, what must have been a reflex action as the lab coat had long ago ceased its value. "Our parents died when we were little and Penelope was only a few months old at the time. Since then, it has been just me, my older brother, and her. My brother became a private contractor and he sends some of his money to us, but it wasn't enough to live on. So I became a nurse, and worked for the venomians. It was not exactly the job I wanted, but it paid well enough. I couldn't leave Penelope behind and living with my brother was out of the question, so I took her with me."

Alex nodded as he listened. It made sense to him. But that wasn't exactly what was important at the moment. He needed to know how all of this happened, how the necromorphs managed to get a foot hold here. "When did all of this start?" He asked, gesturing around the room generally.

The lupine reclined on her stool and sighed, picking up her sister who snuggled into her coat. "Three or so weeks ago, a pair of deep space salvagers arrived, babbling about some crazy thing they found out there. At first, they sounded as if they had contracted space dementia, so I was told to run tests on them. But they passed...marginally. After they were cleared, the researchers took them seriously and asked to see what they had found. I only managed to get a quick glimpse of it as they moved it through the base, and it appeared for all intents and purposes to be a small rock. Yet I did notice odd sigils that seemed to have been hand carved into it, and it looked like it was glowing with a dull light."

Alex scowled at hearing that. It looked like, somehow, a piece of that damn machine managed to escape the cornerian fleet. And that was not at all a good thing. Even a small chunk of rock was enough to condemn a world, maybe even the entire system. And it was his entire fault...he should have never come here. If only he had been brave enough to destroy the ship, all of this could have been avoided.

Lupa noticed his grim countenance, but decided to not question him about it, instead opting to continue her tale. "Whatever the rock was, the scientists were in an uproar about it, the chunk of space debris was all they would ever talk about. Some claimed that if they managed to unlock its secrets they could achieve the dream of restoring Venom to its former glory...unlimited power as they called it. I personally didn't want a thing to do with that strange thing. But I was just a nurse and so my opinion wouldn't have counted for much."

She paused for a minute, no doubt recalling what took place. The wolf looked down to her little sister, who looked tired, curled up in the lupine's lap. As she began to speak once more, she started to run a paw down the cub's back, lulling her to sleep.

"Two weeks after they discovered the artifact, they started work on some sort of prototype, and the original piece was shipped to a more secure location, somewhere they suspected that the cornerians would never find."

Alex felt a jolt of fear course through his system. That meant that this was not the end of the infection, if they didn't manage to find the original and destroy it, soon they would have an apocalypse on their hands. The necromantic creatures would end everything.

Lupa, oblivious to his internal terror, continued on. "Soon after that, things began to go wrong. Almost daily, the staff would come into the clinic, griping about headaches and loss of awareness. At first I assumed that they were just experiencing fatigue from their long terms of work. But the complaints increased in both amount and seriousness. Soon some of the staff were almost debilitated by their conditions and were mentally breaking down. I was overwhelmed by it and hardly had time to leave the clinic and so I brought my sister here with me. And I thank god every day that I did. Because if I didn't...." She looked down to the sleeping cub and shuddered.

"Five days ago was when it all collapsed. I was in the clinic when two bodies were rushed in. I was stunned, never had there been a death when I was here, let alone two. When I saw the bodies, I realized that it was the two salvagers. Apparently the ape had killed his friend with a fork in the middle of the cafeteria, jamming it into the victim's throat. And before the shocked people could do anything, the ape killed himself, gouging his eyes out and then plunging the fork into his own throat." She looked nauseous at the memory. "It was one of the worst things I had ever seen. But it was far from over. I moved the corpses into the small morgue connected to the clinic and told myself I would deal with it later. I didn't want Penelope to see that. Then....."

Her gruff voice went quieter. "The next day...there was a suicide. One of the security officer's had pulled his gun on himself in the barracks. When I got the body, I moved it into the morgue, and saw that the other two bodies were gone. I remember being so confused, who would want them? I never considered that they had gotten up and left on their own power. That's when it happened. I turned to leave and notify security, when...something dropped from the ceiling. It was so horrific I couldn't understand what it was. But it lunged at me, and I grabbed the first thing I saw...the bedpan." She looked down at where the small container lay. "I would have died if I hadn't smacked it upside the head...or whatever it was it used as a head. After that I screamed in terror and ran from the room, straight to the clinic. I got inside and then locked the door; thankfully Penelope was already in there. The creature tried to get in but after an hour or so of it banging on the door, it left. That hour was the most frightening hour of my life, and Penelope was absolutely petrified. We were sure that it would have found a way in."

She looked about ready to go on, but Alex placed a hand on her knee, stopping her. He had heard enough, there was no use in making her continue her story. "It's okay. I can piece together the rest."

She nodded thankfully and sighed, holding the cub in her paws.

Alex ran the information through his head and then came to a conclusion. "You guys have been locked in here for five days?"

"Yes...there was nothing else I could do. I don't have any combat experience and there was no way I was going to endanger my little sister in some foolhardy escape attempt. Besides...I thought that the guards would be able to fix the problem. But after the first three days I stopped waiting for them to show up." She looked on the verge of breaking down. All the events she had to face were more than most could hope to bear and come out in one piece.

But judging from her story, Alex knew she would recover...if they managed to get out of here alive. And that seemed to become less plausible the longer he stayed here.

"How did you get here?" She asked Alex, looking at him curiously.

"I came with a team of soldiers, who were investigating the facility. Yet, I was separated from them when one of the creatures attacked me. I planned on getting here and patching it up, but you took care of that." He smiled at her, which she returned. "After that, I was going to try and find my team. But all of this was before I found you and your sister. Now, my priority is seeing to yours and her safety." He explained to her with a determined look.

Hearing that he intended to protect her and her sister, Lupa felt warmth bubble up inside her and her tail began to wag contentedly. "Really?"

"Of course, it is a personal oath of mine to protect anyone in need. I know it sounds a little tacky, but certain events in my life caused me to come to that decision." He answered with a small smile. "Now, is there any sort of contingency plan in case of emergencies?"

The lupine nodded and answered a little distantly, still caught up in what he had told her. "In case of emergency, the cafeteria doubles as a shelter, it has thick steel doors, backup generators, and it can be hermetically sealed in case of a leak of any kind. There's also a store of emergence rations and a beacon. I assume that since you came for the beacon, that others survived and made it to the shelter. I only hope that they still live."

Alex absorbed the new info and came up with a plan. They couldn't stay here, and if his team would be anywhere, the cafeteria was as good a guess as any. "That settled it then." Alex said firmly as he stood up from his kneel; glad to get his knees out of the uncomfortable position. 'I'll take you and your sister to the shelter. No doubt it is a much safer place then here."

"B-but what about the things out there?" She asked fearfully, looking to the door.

"As I said before, I'll keep you safe. This place will not stall them forever, and I'm guessing that you haven't had anything to eat in quite a while." He said knowingly.

As if on que, her stomach grumbled loudly and she blushed, pining her ears backwards.

"I stand corrected." He said with a frown. Alex looked to her with a comforting expression. "Look, I know you're scared, not only for yourself but for your sister as well. But if we stay here, we will die. Our best chance is to get to the cafeteria, where there are sure to be other survivors. From there, I can figure out where the prototype is and destroy it. With it gone, the fiends will perish."

"How do you know that?" She demanded.

"I have fought their kind before; I know how to stop them." Alex answered with a distant gaze in his eyes. "Although, I had hoped to never again have to face them. But I will do what I must." His tone held a dark finality that made her whimper. "Hurry, wake up your sister, the faster we leave the better." He ordered her as he walked towards a table where his stuff had been placed.

Alex looked down at the handgun and the sword.

He would be able to wield the sword in his left hand, despite the wrappings, and although his right shoulder hurt, he could still fire the gun. He looked down to his suit and saw small pits on his forearms and breastplate. The corrosive saliva of the necromorph had weakened his armor but had not penetrated it. He would just have to be careful not to get hit in the chest. As he grabbed his sword hilt and gun, he heard Lupa talking to her sister.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the female wolf getting her sister ready to leave. "Where are we going big sister?" Penelope asked tiredly as she rubbed a paw across her eyes and yawned widely.

"We are going to find the others." Lupa explained as she helped the pup put on her shoes.

"But what about the monsters, they're scary." The cub complained.

"Don't worry about them, Alex will keep us safe. Just make sure to stay close to him...okay." Lupa replied with forced levity. Alex could tell that she was scared out of her wits.

"Okay." The little wolf said simply, trusting in what her sister told her.

Alex was determined to keep them both safe, even at the cost of his own life; after all, he was to blame for this. It was only right if he would be the one to suffer the consequences.

The man stepped towards the pup and leaned down, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Be brave little one, I know you have it in you."

She beamed up at him, surprising Alex by grabbing his right hand and holding on to it tightly. "I can be brave, I'm seven years old!"

"Yes, yes you are." Alex chuckled warmly. He looked up from the cub to the sister and smiled at her. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be..." Lupa replied with a slight tremble in her voice.

"It will be fine...trust me." Alex promised and walked towards the door. He was a little startled when the cub's paw remained clenched onto his hand and he looked at her. Penelope seemed to have found comfort in latching herself to him, and that made him feel better. It was nice to be a protector again; the feeling that came with it was something he had missed.

Alex opened the door to the clinic and walked outside with the cub attached to him and Lupa pulling up behind. They exited the small connecting corridor and into the room where he had fought the creature.

At the sight of the dead necromorph, Lupa gasped and Alex covered Penelope's eyes.

"That's the one that tried to kill me." The lupine stated as she gazed at the dead mutated body.

"It tried to kill me too." Alex chuckled grimly.

"Y-you managed to kill it." Lupa mumbled in awe.

"Yes, although it almost did me in as well, took a chunk out of my hand." He looked down at his mutilated hand, wrapped in gauze. "Never lost a finger before..."

She watched him carefully as he looked down at his hand, and seemed to shrug some thought off. "Anyways," He said with a curt dismissal. "We should continue on, no doubt there are more around."

"Yes of course...you're right." She sighed and followed after him, giving the body one last look.