The Mansion of Crossroads

Andrew quelled the anger rising within him. This bitch obviously never went through the hell that was the Resource War. The cops got off lucky, in his opinion. He still had nightmares of executing innocent Canadian civillians in the street. Seeing fourty Chinese Infantry all lined up neatly against a wall with their hands chopped off and their throat's slit. The people here didn't know true war. Hell, just the casualties between America and China put WWII to shame.

"Their wounds are non-lethal, and when they don't check in their buddies are going to come looking for them. Would you've liked me to put a nice, clean hole in their skulls?"

"Around 6.8 billion people in my world were eaten alive, then turned into monsters in their own bodies, forced to kill their loved ones. And it was my fault. I felt all of it. Their pain. their suffering. Their thoughts. As they killed people, their minds intact, but no control over their bodies. My military killed everyone to contain that. Anyone. So before you start bitching about *Problems* how about you take a step back and think of what you're doing. I think you lied when you said people worship you as a Messiah. They must be real stupid, or your not telling the truth. Pick one. Meanwhile, I'll be saving every life I can. All life is precious, all of it, no matter who or what it is." Aya dragged one of the cops into the car, shoving the one with a now partially mended gut off to the side. At least this one could floor it the heck outta this place.

"Nuclear fire and radiation destroyed my world, the most dominant powers are groups of raiders that rape and pillage their way through the wasteland, a bunch of mutated freaks that will either eat you or mutate you into one of them. The only good is the Brotherhood of Steel, and they don't give a fuck about individual people. Don't even fucking try to understand how my world works, it's far crueler than anything you'll ever meet."

Andrew turned and began to sprint down the hill once more, moving at a pace surprising for someone so over-equipped.

Deciding to be the better, and more mature of the pair, Aya decided to stop. She didn't like bragging about death, like how he loved to, anyway. It kind of sickend her that he would say things like that, without ever being to her universe. Oh well. He was young, and immature, so she would tolerate it, and piety his childlike behavior. That being said, she began to move the now out cold cops to the back. He'd really hurt them. Honestly, some one that trigger happy shouldn't be given a gun. She imagined he wouldn't be touching one for a long time after this, let alone use his power armor. Well, good enough for her. She really couldn't trust someone like that with a gun; and she imagined the others wouldn't either.

Andrew broke into his jog, taking a few strides with a thousand thoughts running through his mind. He'd fucked up, obviously. He was, once again, thinking like he was in the Wasteland.

He couldn't just leave those cops and Aya behind, could he? They were just doing their jobs. And apparently the lady had a heart of gold, helping those men.

"Argh, fuuuuuuuck." The Knight groaned as he about-faced, jogging back up the hill. He reached the car as whatever was thudding got closer. The Lone Wanderer pulled two syringes from his kit, Stimpacks, and ripped off the needle's protective cover. Ramming the things into the veins of the cops, injecting the fast acting fluid into both of them. In mere seconds, the bleeding stopped and the wound began to heal on a microscopic level.

"Alright, they'll be fine now. Can we please go now?" Andrew nearly begged Aya to move, as trees could be heard collapsing.

Sheppard had been on the roof for some time now, admiring the city and forest in front of him. He had heard RPD radio alerts flying around from each of the two CB radios beside him. He picked up the SV98 which was lying casually on the floor beside him and shouldered it. His head cocked to the left and looked through the scope with his right eye. The pupil grew smaller as he focused. With the sniper rifle, he could see blurred outlines of people and objects. He was able to make out passing cars and bikes, but things such as gender were hard to spot.

Without leaving the scope, John reached behind him for the CB's handset. He grabbed it in hand and brought it beside his mouth, pressing down the transmit button.

"This is Sheppard. Hearing increased radio traffic. What's going on, over?"

"Just a moment, sir." was the crackled response John got after letting go of the transmit button. He sighed in frustration and opened his left eye. His pupil immediately regained its normal size and John brought his head up from leaning on the stock.

"Great." he muttered to himself. He grabbed the P90 which lay on his other side and pushed himself up off of the floor. Holding it by the grip in his left hand, he walked to the door marked "Roof Access". John pushed it open and jogged down the metal staircase, P90 raised. He reached the door at the bottom of the small staircase before the "Roof Access" one could swing shut in the breeze.

Instinctively, John pressed his back to the wall beside the door and grabbed the handle. He opened it and swung round into the room, scanning the area. It was clear of anything, and the only life worth anything were two potted ferns.

"Hello?" he called out, replied with a few echoes rebounding off of the marble floor. Sheppard moved down the large staircase with his weapon up. Nobody was around. Everybody had left him here to protect nothing. The officer jogged to the front door which was left ajar. sighing as he pushed it open. He made sure to close it behind him, locking it with a small key located on the bunch he had conjured from his pocket. He placed them back in his breast pocket when he had locked all of the locks and headed off towards his rental.

He got into the driver seat and put the Submachine Gun on the passenger seat. He fished out the car key, which was separate from the others, from his pocket and inserted it into the ignition. He twisted it left, let go and put the car into gear. John then pressed his foot down on the acceleration, the pedal straying somewhere directly between it's original position and parallel to the floor of the car.

The car pulled out of the Mansion's parking lot onto the road which wound down the mountain. Sheppard manoeuvred it around the tight bends and corners with almost expert timing, though still almost stalling at times. Then again, it was a rental. If he could drive a Ford Mondeo this well, then he would have been fine in a car that had a little more style.

Around two miles down the road, Sheppard came across an RPD squad car to the side of the road. Three people stood beside it, whilst two bodies lay on the floor. Sheppard pulled over, stopping a few feet from the rear of the vehicle. He grabbed the P90 from the passenger seat before opening his car door. He stepped out into the mild breeze he had felt much stronger up on the roof earlier. He saw the two injured policemen and looked towards Leon and Andrew.

"Guys?" he asked slowly, his eyes slowly moving to meet the gaze of the woman who accompanied them, "What the hell did you do here?"

Sheppard raised both eyebrows and scratched his light beard. With the same hand a second after leaving his chin, he motioned for them to not even begin speaking with an open hand.

"Know what? I wouldn't put it past one of you crazy fuckers." he sighed, moving around the men to crouch beside the injured and the woman, "How bad did they go down?"

"I shot them. Just tending to their wounds now." Aya looked up from one of the police officers, as the crashing in the forest stopped. Interesting enough.

Andrew looked back at Sheppard as the man approached, opening his mouth to take the blame for shooting the cops. Instead Aya beat him to the punch. Thinking quickly, the Lone Wanderer added "Nothing bad, just some minor flesh wounds."

And then he crouched down next to Aya, pretending to assist in treating the wounds. Even though there wasn't really anything he could help with. "What the hell do you think your doing?" He whispered lowly, so only she could hear it. Andrew was kind of surprised at how she'd been yelling at him one moment, then taking the blame next.

He also noticed that whatever had been crashing through the forest was gone, or had stopped. It was a slight pressure off Andrew's chest. But he wasn't letting his guard down one bit.

Malachi looked at the sleek, advanced weapons that lia had, and turned to his own. It was a Magnum, a kife, and a copy of the necronomicon. "Hmmm... damn the priests.. not giving me a beam weapon... you've got thousands of em!" He grumbled.

"I let you fire that weapon. It was my fault, not yours. You don't know any better, and I should've been smart enough to see this coming." Aya looked at the approaching police cars. It would be time to have fun in intergoagation all night. She just wanted to zone out for that...

"The bullets left my barrel, and I have a lot more experience than you think. Don't take the blame for this, please." Andrew seemed slightly taken aback by the sheer fact Aya was taking the hit for him, seconds after she had basically said 'fuck you' in the most disrespectful way possible to a Marine.

He heard sirens behind him, but didn't pay any heed. "C'mon, I can take the heat for this. There was nothing you could've done to stop what I did."

Overhearing Malachi's grumbling about not receiving a 'beam weapon,' Lia said, "At least you can get more ammunition for your guns. I am going to have to find another weapon once I use up what remains of mine." She placed the shotgun on the small of her back, the magnets taking hold. She then did the same with her assault rifle, over her left shoulder and her pistol to her thigh. All her weapons in place, she activated her omni tool to be greeted by the image of Zel, the AI's hologram had its hands clasped behind its back. "Hello again, Lia."

"I could've stopped your gun from firing with my abilities. Now, get ready for a long night." Aya put her hands up as the police got them cornered, guns pointed at them.

"Please don't shoot at them this time."

"Since you asked so nicely..." Andrew grinned under his helmet as he set his M199 down, turning to the cops and raising his hand. Hell, if he had VATS on he could've dropped everyone here. Of course he didn't. Instead he allowed the cops to rush him to something that could be considered worse than hell.

Interrorgation Cell boredom.

"Hands on your head!"

"Ah, crap," Leon muttered under his breath, dropping to his knees with his hands placed firmly on his head. The uniformed cop advancing on him, VP70 handgun raised, the whole ensemble made Kennedy feel a pit forming in his gut. This place had all the details of the Racoon City he remembered, maybe just a bit bigger and less zombie-ridden. The uniformed officer, whose uniform reminded Leon alot of the outfit he wore when he first arrived on the job ordered, "Hands behind your back," he gestured with his head to his partner who approached with a set of hand cuffs.

The restraint in place, the officer went about a quick pat-down, though the bulky sweatshirt blocked them from finding anything aside from the .45 compact pistol he had in his waistband, "Do you have a license for this firearm?"

"Uh, no?"

"Sir, do you have anymore fire arms on your person?"

"Yes."

The officer nodded to his associate once more, "Relieve our friend of his jacket, why don't you?"

~

Leon was placed in the air conditioned backseat of a standardized Racoon City Police cruiser, his small arsenal laid out on the hood of the car as the two cops went about trying to catalog it all.

-One 9mm Handgun

-Four magazines for a 9mm handgun

-Compact .45 Handgun

-Three magazines, .45 ACP, Hollow Points

-One combat knife

-One grappling hook(?)

-One packet of gum

~

"Betcha he's some kind of cat burglar."

"Nah, probably just some asshole from the country."

"Doesn't have the accent."

"Doesn't have to."

"Yes, he would. You know the hill-jack's that live around here."

"Maybe he's a cosplayer? He kinda looks like Leon."

"Goddamnit, Bennings. Just because the city is named after a fictional city doesn't mean this guy is in any way, shape, or form related to that video game you always play."

"Sorry."

Have you been crying?

No.

Are you sure? You look very sad!

I can't pity myself. It's a weak thing to do, and I'm better than that.

It's okay to cry.

That's bullshit, and we both know it. My childhood is over at this point, and crying will get me nowhere.

+-+-+

Collins jerked awake and looked around the room. After a few seconds, the morning fog ascended a bit from his brain and allowed him to understand that he was in a very spartan bedroom. There was a nice blue rug on the floor, but the walls were abare manilla color. The only piece of furniture was the bed he was lying it; it had plain white sheets and a comfortable matress, but the lonely feel of this room scared Collins just a bit. The light in the room was provided by a lamp on his one night stand. There were no windows, so he couldn't be sure of the time of day. Overall, the circumstances of his awakening were not very forgiving.

He also had a light headache, which was repressing his clarity of thought.

Where the hell am I?

Oh, and here he remembers of the previous events. There was a talk and a nap on the couch, then an exhausted shuffle to the kitchen for some cereal. There was the bowl of Cap'n Crunch, the berry kind, with some almost-expired milk. The cereal was good, if a bit stale. Then, as he'd put away the milk, he'd noticed the six pack on the bottom of the shelf. He'd had what, two? Three? Four? Probably just two or three. He hadn't gotten wasted- his headache would have probably been much worse then. He'd had alcohol before, but he was smart about it. He knew that as long as you stayed smart, you could enjoy the relaxation the alcohol brought without much- if any- trouble. The faded memories were probably more a product of shock than alcohol.

"Damn. What time is it?"

Aya leaned back on the roof, looking at the sunrise. It was quite beautiful, she supposed, but she'd seen many. With the recent events, she'd started to question her morality. But not the fact that someday she would die of old age; that wasn't the problem. She was in effect, ageless. She would keep living forever, and ever and ever. And that meant, in effect she would never die. Great, just great. This would be a long eternity...

And then there were the people here. Some normal people like that jerkass/good guy Andrew. She didn't know whether to be happy with him, or to royally kick his ass. That being said, there was that weird little girl, some CIA creepers, an Alien, a giant fish, and some video game character. So many idiots with guns, so little brain to go around. She wouldn't be surprised if people started to have accidents involving her fist in their face pretty soon. She liked to be as helpful as possible. But if half the people were immature as that kid(Who she had mixed feelings about. He was her friend in a way, but she really didn't like him much after the entire shoot the cop part) then there would be problems.

That being said, they could do a lot of good here. They were some of the strongest beings on the planet, given. But still, as a whole, she was fairly sure they, as a team, could save a lot of lives. But that was a problem in and of its self; Aya didn't like, or want to be on a team. She was a lone wolf at heart, and honestly, she didn't need anyone but Eve in her life. Partners in her work included. Even Kyle was no exception at that, despite the fact that she was going to become his wife. Unfortunately, SWAT had saw that never happened. But, she had killed them all in retribution, and to defend her life. She didn't really like the hateful feeling vengeance gave her.

Aya Brea put on a pair of black sunglasses, and looked up at the clouds above for a few minutes, trying to find some shapes. She found only a few, a dragon, a lion, a turtle. Well, they looked like that to her. Pareidolia, that's what it was called. Seeing things where they weren't. She had a tendency of doing that with people, having to much faith. But if it meant she had to massacre people, well, she'd go with her faith in humanity. She didn't want to be a monster, in body or mind. But she just wasn't sure anymore.... She didn't even know what she was, really.

She never got sick. She didn't age.... What was she, exactly? She had no idea, nor did she want to know. When that monster (not her sister) Eve had questioned her why be on the human's side. She had replied "Well, why not? I'm a human". But she was beginning to doubt that now... But then, was a monster someone who acted like one? Killed or hurt people in cold blood? Or was being a monster something simply innate? She didn't really know, and didn't think she would ever know. It was a new dawn and day, so she had might as well use it wisely. She supposed in her early parts of life that a new day was like a Phoenix. A new day, and your life reborn. Everything was new, anything could happen.

But she had realized by this point that new day just stalled this days problem for the night, and would simply bring them back in the morning. She knew that much now, after all she had been through. But she had never told her sister that...she was young. She didn't need to be burdened by such horrible thoughts as Aya had realized. But then, Aya had a feeling Eve had as much as herself by now.... She had fought in war, at only 13. Then had been forced to kill her big sister. She had to kill her big sis Aya. Things would never be the same for Eve. Yet another failure added onto the list, but at least this time she hadn't survived. Or well.... it seemed she was cursed to life forever. And without some sort of suicide, or physical death, Aya was most likely staying around way past the 21st century. That sucked. Big time.

But, she would enjoy this best she could. Even if they would all be long dead in such a short time to someone such as her. Because, she guessed that was what being immortal was. Watching all your friends slowly die.... In a way, this gave her a new perspective to the world; everything was dying, slowly. The beautiful tree, the flowers, the people. All she saw were slowly fading objects, soon to become nothing more than an inanimate piece of trash. She supposed this was what the pyramids felt like, if they could feel. Nothing the world would ever notice. Humans really hadn't been around very long, really nothing more than a foot note in the history of the world. It would certainly out live humanity, so long as it wasn't totally destroyed, and erased from the galaxy. And she doubted that.

What a world it was today. All these wonderful things, and all the greed to match it. Aya looked back down at the forest ahead of the mansion, watching a light breeze go over it. She guessed she should live it up now. It was a nice enough day, for some time in winter. But it was supposed to snow today, so she had watched on the news. But, it wasn't that bad looking. Besides, she hadn't seen snow in a while, and it was truly beautiful...

She guessed that things had changed. With the seemingly rift in realities, fictional characters were now becoming....common place? They were going to be integrated into this world, she guessed. But with all those extreme powered beings....what would do it? What would set the powder keg off, and send this world into a war? She was a living weapon. Just like many fictional characters all over the world. And many countries were certainly in need of PMDs(Persons of mass destruction). She had a feeling the government wouldn't give them this home, unless they wanted something. Everybody wanted something from somebody. It was a simple fact. So the question was....what did they want with the people in this house?

Andrew silently stepped up from behind Aya, his feet making a slight crunch on the asphalt-like rooftop. He quietly laid his hands on the lip of the roof, leaning on it slightly; looking out at the beautiful morning scene.

"Nothing like this where I come from... it's all scorched and burned. This is a nice change in scenery..." Andrew mumbled, then twisted to face Aya, one arm resting on the edge of the roof. "Listen, about last night..." He mumbled obviously refering to the cops he'd shot.

"I don't need you to apologize. This goes vica versa, kid. I've seen people do worse than injure a few cops, and I imagined you have also. No need to go into detail." Aya crossed her arms, looking at the clouds above, hoping this kid wouldn't talk about his universe. It was over now. Both of their worlds were lost, at least to them...

"Why did you take the blame for it, though? No ones ever taken the heat for me before." Andrew questioned the woman standing next to him. He'd been caught off guard the night before, and was pretty thankful at the fact she took the blame for something he did. But he was still confused, and wanted to know exactly why.

"Like I said, it was my fault. I should've, and could've stopped you." Brea looked at the forest line, as the fresh sun broke dawn, bringing the sunlight with it. They'd have to get down soon, unless they wanted to get sun burned. This was laughable at best, considering she was immune to things such as sun burn, or skin cancer. And the kid next to her had been in a radioactive wasteland....so if he had it, he had it. Brea wondered if her blood could do anything to other people, but then thought against it.

As her blood was filled with a new species of liberated mitochondrion, they could very well attack his, and destroy him at a cellular level. Or cause a rebellion in his cells. Neither of which would be a pleasant, or fun by any means, death for him. She was fairly sure there was something out there in fiction that could cure cancer that was safer anyway. That much she did know...or hoped. Hopefully, this world would change for the better soon, hopefully. And though it may be true, they were fiction, they were here now. It was time to make a difference in the world, and try and stop the powder keg she thought of from before from going off. War was not needed on this world, or any other...but they happened anyway. But she would try her best to stop them, at the least.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Servant class Saber sat in a small orchard behind the Mansion, further down the hill, on a fairly flat terrain. It was getting warm; the sun was getting over the mountains, it would seem. A few apple trees around her signified the prescence of an orchard, but nothing was alive, it being winter. A lot of pine trees dominated the outer area, giving her some privacy, though a person like her didn't really need to worry about it. She kept her legs criss crossed, and her eyes closed, reflecting on every detail of yesterday she could. Nothing there seemed to pertain to her objective, but there were still innocents at stake. It was her responsibility to protect those needing protecting, even if she failed that in life. At her side, was Joyeuse lying flat in the grass. On the right side, a clear patch of area in the shape of a sword was taken up; bending the grass in place, but nothing could be seen.

Saber sighed, then put both her hands on her lap, enjoying the sun on her back. Her white sleeved shirt matched fairly well with her blue skirt. Though she didn't show it on her neutral face, she was actually enjoying the relaxation.

Andrew looked back down at the ground below him. He didn't like Mansions, especially old ones. Hell, he'd once fallen through two stories of rotted floor in Point Lookout in some old Mansion. That place blew up, suprisingly the Lone Wanderer didn't have much to do with it.

"Still, I was the one who pulled the trigger in the first place. And while you may have some superpowers that could've stopped me, I was the one who caused it... you seem like the type of woman who won't let me take the blame... so how about we share it, for now?"

---

James walked slowly through the region behind the Mansion. He wore his Combat Boots, a MARPAT Camo pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, a digital watch, and his dog tags. The Marine finally found Saber, his 'servant', sitting cross-legged in what looked like a dead orchard.

The Private First Class sat down close to the woman, leaning back slightly, supporting himself with his palms outstretched back. He was silent for a moment, glancing around at the scenary. "So, what are you doing way out here?"

Now morning, Lia stood on the front lawn of the mansion, staring at the forests around her. She wished so much that she could feel the wind, the bark of the tree, the sun on her face but her mask prevented that. She wouldn't be able to experience that. She wasn't even able to smell a flower. Now, slightly depressed by the fact, but still enjoying the view nonetheless, she stared off into the forest, leaning against the mansions outer front wall.
~~~
Agent George Malone had had a rough night. First he had been wounded by a flying sword, which to him made no sense. After the battle though, the RCPD had attempted to arrest the man. That didn't go over well considering he was pissed, the officer was pissed, Malone had been holding a gun, and he resisted the cop a bit too much. It ended with a couple dozen lashes from a night stick, putting him on the ground with his hands being jerked behind him before he was cuffed. All of this was followed by time in a holding cell, an interrogation, more time in a holding cell, and returning to the mansion a little after 3AM. To say the least, he was exhausted, and on the way in, he managed to trip over the leg of a table and land with his face on the ground. Now thoroughly beaten and sore, the man lie on the couch sleeping, and apparently he had been watching a VHS if the blue screen was any indication.

"So Misses alien. Watcha doin out here?" The little girl tugged at Lia's suit, seemingly coming from nowhere. She was indeed a ninja little girl, sneaking up on Lia. Unless she somehow heard her. Then that would make her less ninja. But then, by default, she could be a pirate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That isn't necessary. And I don't have super powers. I'm not a superhero. M'kay?" Aya stretched her legs out, keeping her eye on the forest. She could hear that little girl talking to someone she couldn't sense. Must be none human, or non-human related. So by deduction, it was probably that alien girl, Lia. From that one series....She'd have to look it up again. Sci Fi wasn't Aya's favorite, which was ironic enough considering she was from Sci Fi...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I am simply resting and reflecting on the events that transpired yesterday, Master. Have your three command seals appeared on your hand yet? I must've missed something. I apologize for failing you again, Master." Saber kept her head lowered, enjoying the sun. She kept her voice neutral, per usual, and didn't move much. She could smell flowers, somewhere nearby. But, alias, that was not her objective, she was not here for that. She was here to serve her Master and win this war for him. Though she didn't mind a trip to the town...specifically a "Zoo" that little girl spoke of. Though it was unnatural to capture animals like that, she'd have a feeling they would have lions there. She loved lions.

"C'mon, don't tell me you didn't want to be a superhero when you were a little kid. I certainly did." Andrew smiled his well-known charismatic smile as he turned to look back out over the Mansion's front yard, watching the sun rise and the moderately warm wind blow all around him.

---

James glanced at his hand in confusion, looking for the three 'command seals' that had yet to have... appeared on his hand? "Why do you have to be so hard on yourself? You didn't fail me. Far from it, in fact." The Marine soothed, while looking around at the pine trees blowing softly in the wind. It was calm and peaceful out here, well out of ear and eye-shot of the Mansion. And not another soul would ever come down here looking for them.