RADICALISATION, resident evil [1] ✓

⤿ xxv. the ultimate form

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𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦-𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚

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Umbrella Laboratory (NEST), Raccoon City — September 30th, 1998

     Leon's head is throbbing when consciousness creeps back in, his vision blurry as he forces his eyes open, and his body fighting his orders for it to move. Still, he forces himself upright with the help of a wall, head spinning and his breathing a little more shaky than he'd like. Sluggishly patting himself down, checking for further wounds and missing weapons, he flinches as his fingers push against his bruised throat. It shouldn't hurt so much already, not when—

     Mason!

     Feet scrambling and legs aching in protest, Leon climbs to his feet and staggers towards the door to the testing lab, almost running into the tanks several times as his head continues to spin. He should have known the instant that Mason mentioned Leon needing to have self-preservation that the man was planning something utterly stupid like this. He should have known that Mason wouldn't stand by while Leon once again put his all into fighting against another monster.

     Especially after how poorly he held his own against Mason earlier when the mutated man was trying to egg Leon into killing him.

     He gets to the door leading out to the bioreactors room and it refuses to open, his stomach plummeting to his feet as he stares through the glass window embedded into the door. Mason is fighting the same monster he refused to let Leon fight, and... Well, it's a terrifying thing to watch. It's nothing other than primal and vicious, teeth and claws ripping and tearing chunks; it's like a graceful yet quite deadly dance around the room, and Leon cannot look away.

     This is the side of his partner that Mason has been trying to shield Leon from since the moment they met in the police station, and the rookie cannot blame the man. Because that thing down there, wearing his friend's face and quite literally tearing apart the beast in front of it, is not Mason. With how much the mutation has spread across Mason's body, wrapping him in thick muscle-looking substance, Leon cannot help but wonder just how much of the human remains.