A Quiet Embrace

Chapter 23 : The Final Battle

Neo's POV

I rushed Wesker first, thrusting my umbrella towards his head but my attack was dodged. Wesker tried to counterattack but I was too quick and I kept dodging his barrage of attacks. Damien came in and swung his sword towards his head but Wesker gripped the blade of his sword and punched him in the face before Sarya kneed Wesker in the back of the head. Wesker hit Sarya across the face with a spinning backfist and thrust kicked her in the stomach before spin kicking her in the head. I attempted to strike him in the leg with the blade in Hush but Wesker dodged it and swung a punch at me but thankfully missed due to my dodging capabilities. I retracted my blade and swung for the fences towards his head. He ducked and punched me in the ribs, stunning me before grabbing me by the head and slamming me into the ground and throwing me away.

"Neo!" I heard Damien scream as I flipped and landed on my feet and saw Damien was getting overwhelmed by Wesker's onslaught. Sarya kicked Wesker in the back before driving her axe into the back of his legs, but unfortunately doing no damage to the man. He cloned himself and hit Sarya into his other half, who kicked Sarya in the center of the back, sending her to her hands and knees. Damien slashed at Wesker's head while I ran in once more to assist him. Wesker dodged the sword attack before punching Damien in the nose, grabbing by the arm, and thrown him over his back towards me. Damien collided with me and sent us flailing several yards behind where I was standing.

"Do you three actually think you can beat me? Please. Damien's gone soft and it seems as if Sarya doesn't have her head in the game. Allow me to fix that." Wesker said as he grabbed Sarya by the hair and slammed her face first into a wall and threw her towards us. Damien ran forward and caught her, breaking her fall and avoiding any potential further injury.

"Sarya!?" He yelled as Wesker was suddenly right in front of Damien and used Damien's vulnerability to his advantage by delivering another punch to Damien's face before I ran and dropkicked him in his face and taking the sudden advantage in full. I struck him with combo after combo with kicks and strikes from Hush, which seemed to actually be stunning him a bit. Damien rushed in, using his power to get a speed boost and assisted me in the fight. Wesker was beginning to fight back but we still maintained control.

"You filthy bastards don't let up do you?!" Wesker asked as he continued to block our attacks. He swatted Damien away with a backfist before sweeping my legs out from under me, followed by a punch to my umbrella that had enough force to send me to the ground before he jumped and drove his foot directly into my chest. He then kneeled over my injured body and punched me in the face several times before Damien went for another sword attack which got inevitably dodged. I could barely see what was going on. My head hurts and I can see a red liquid dripping onto the ground that I can only assume is my blood. I tried reaching out for my umbrella but I couldn't find it. I then saw Sarya stumble over to me and fall to her knees over my body.

"Neo...just relax. Let us handle it from here." She said. I could tell she was hurt from her voice, but she seemed physically capable enough to fight for now. I don't want to sit back and let them do all of the work while I rest. There's too much at stake. I reached out for Damien, but when I could finally focus my vision enough to see a little better, I saw Damien and he looked more furious than he ever has been before. I felt Sarya help me up to my feet before she picked my umbrella and helped me walk quickly away. I was reluctant, something that she picked up on quick.

"You and I both know that you're not in any condition to fight right now. If we go back, you are one gigantic neon telling everyone that it's open season and you're the only wildlife being hunted." Sarya said as I slowly shook my head and tried to push her away from me but I felt too weak to even lift my arm up. Sarya dragged me around a corner but I saw several people standing in some kind of format, but I couldn't make out who they were. Just as they began to speak, I felt myself begin to fall and I passed out as soon as I hit the floor.

Damien's POV

"This is it brother. You...and me..." Wesker said.

"You tried to kill me...Neo...Sarya...countless others who have run into you have also suffered the same fate. You've used people to get what you want, manipulated others to do your dirty work, threatened those who refused to listen to you. I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna do it, not just for the people who you've made sure wouldn't be here today to see you fall, but for those who could potentially cross your path later on." I said.

"What happens if you don't kill me Damien? What if I win and you and your gang of misfits all fall before me?"

"That's not an option. You're not leaving here alive. I'll make sure of it, even if I have to die in the process."

"Suit yourself." Wesker said as he held his hand out and summoned a giant buster sword from thin air. He then lunged at me, swinging his sword and colliding with arm. Thankfully, I went into my energy wave and flew around him and kicked him the neck before I dodged another incoming attack from his blade.

"You're nimble, BUT YOU'RE NOT UNTOUCHABLE!" Wesker yelled as he grabbed my leg before throwing me away. I must not let him have any breathing room. I dashed at him with enough momentum to deliver a devestating punch to the center of his chest, forgetting for a split second that it's heavily resistant to damage due to it being composed of mostly metal, I felt several bones in my hand snap in an instant.

"Agh...son of a bitch..." I said as I looked up to see I had actually stunned him. The metal plating took a significant amount of damage around his chest region, and there was the opening I needed, but my hand is in crippling pain. This isn't gonna be easy.

"Are you this fucking stupid Damien? What happened?! You were supposed to be bright and cunning, YET I'M SEEING NONE OF IT!" Wesker said as he swung his sword downward in my direction before I used my good hand to propel myself out of the way and above him before kicking him in the top of his head. I swung my sword at him and he grabbed the blade like he did back when he took my eye and snapped it like a twig. He then grabbed me and threw me onto the ground, breaking my artificial aura, before grabbing the pointy end of the blade and driving it into the right side of my chest.

I laid there and looked up at the night sky, watching the stars flicker in and out of sight. Wesker stood up and grabbed his buster sword before raising it above my incapacitated body.

"You know what Damien. You and your friends have proven to me that you will always be a nuisance to not only me, but only those who can see the big picture. The growth of the Black Legion is most important, but with people like you in the way, we will never reach our potential. I'm gonna enjoy killing you, just like I'm gonna enjoy killing Sarya. I may keep your little girlfriend alive but implement some augments to make her my slave. What I wouldn't do to see if the carpet matches the drapes if you know what I'm saying. Anyways, thanks for the sparring practice. It was quite enjoyable. Goodbye...Damien." Wesker said as he lifted his sword into the air and was preparing to drive it downwards into my chest. This was it...I lost. Suddenly a bullet hit him in the arm, causing his body to recoil to the side and dropping his sword, which impaled the ground less than half a foot away from my head. I looked over to see General Ironwood, who was holding his pistol and aiming it in our direction...he saved me. I took the oppurtunity to rip the blade out of my chest, and slashed Wesker's leg, causing him to fall to his knees before I drove it into the weak spot in his chest. I let it sit there for a few seconds before ripping it out, allowing the blood to flow out of his chest like a waterfall. He slumped over as I fell back down onto my back, allowing myself to rest for a few seconds.

"You may have killed me here..." Wesker said as I heard him begin coughing up blood. "But the others won't allow this to go unheard." Wesker said.

"There won't be any others. You've doomed them all giving the General the information you gave him. Now, you will rest, and they will all collapse on top of themselves."

"We'll see about that in due time Damien...in due time..." Wesker said as I looked over and watched him die. I sighed as I heard footsteps coming towards me.

"We need to get him medical assistance." I heard someone say as Atlas military personnel started gathering around Wesker's body and myself. All I could think to myself during all of this...was hoping that wherever Sarya took Neo, that they were okay.