Chapter 5: Memories of Raccoon

Chapter 5: Memories of Raccoon

Chris, Rocket, and X-23 walked for miles along the beaches of South America, not another human or bipedal raccoon in sight. It was then that X-23 began to smell something. *Sniffing* X-23 took some massive whiffs into her nostrils as Chris looked at her strangely, like what he was seeing was incredibly out of the ordinary. Not long after Rocket began sniffing as well.

“Smell that?” X-23 asked.

“What?”

“Shoosh! I smell it too!” Rocket bellowed at Chris as Chris grew frustrated.

“Talking doesn’t affect your sense of smell!” Chris yelled, irritated that he’d been cut off by the Raccoon man before him that he’d barely spoken to since washing up on shore.

X-23 looked at Chris. “It smells like fresh water.”

“You can smell that?”

“Hah!” Rocket laughed. “Of course you can’t flarking smell it you lousy human!”

“Now you smelling it, that makes sense!” Chris said pointing at the laughing Raccoon as suddenly Rocket stopped laughing and became curious.

Rocket looked X-23 up and down as she grew a bit uncomfortable and put her left hand up and grasped her right arm as she looked away, avoiding eye contact.

“Huh? You’re right! Quill couldn’t smell running water from half a mile away. Hell! Half the time he couldn’t smell if his own ass he didn’t wipe!” Rocket yelled as if he’d had some sort of vendetta against his friend’s ass.

“What are you exactly?” Chris asked calmly as X-23 became visibly nervous.

“I’m-” She paused for a moment. “I’m a human…”

“Huh? Must be human evolution.” Rocket half-heartedly joked.

“…” Chris was silent. Considering she was on that Umbrella boat it was likely that she was once human. But whatever she was now… Chris wasn’t sure. And as for Rocket? Well let’s just say Chris was definitely unsure.

Despite the awkwardness of that situation and the silence. The group would move past it. Especially since there was apparently fresh water nearby. The group began charging into the jungle, moving through all the brush and branches and making their way into a small clearing in the jungle where there was a small rushing stream of fresh water.

“OH THANK GOD! I’M SO, SOOO THIRSTY!” Rocket yelled.

Chris and X-23 smiled as Rocket rushed over to get a drink. “You guys were right!” Chris said with a smile as he looked at X-23 and said. “You’re amazing!” He said before rushing over to get a drink along with Rocket.

X-23 stood biting her thumb for a moment. Acting a bit brashly, blushing and both flattered and embarrassed of Chris’ compliment. She had been demonized by so many so quickly for being different, for being a mutant but Chris treated her differently. Not only saving her life before but now treating her like a person too. It was different for her. She liked it.

“Hey X! Uh… 23. X-23?” Chris said, fumbling and not knowing what to call her.

“…” X-23 fell even further. Now amazed by his consideration. She still wasn’t ready for him or Rocket to know her real name in fear of getting too close, but regardless she felt she should let him off the hook somehow. “Logan! You can call me Logan!”

Chris’ confusion and awkwardness had seem to clear up a bit. He didn’t realize that this was a play on X-23’s mentor, Wolverine whose real name was Logan. Nevertheless X-23 rolled with it.

Chris then began filling up his canteen as he managed to restrain himself. Taking only sips so he didn’t get any stomach cramps if they got into a fight. However Rocket was the opposite just chugging water until his belly was pot shaped. X-23 didn’t think too much about how much water she drank, and even so she still managed not to overdo it.

Unfortunately this small victory would be cut short as a large number of human figures would stumble out of the woods. Despite their superior senses X-23 and Rocket were not the ones to notice these figures first. Despite the fact that they most certainly would have smelled putrid! Mainly because they were Zombies! The Zed Undead. Chris looked over his shoulder as he threw up his M16 assault rifle in preparation.

“Zombies!? Out here!” He yelled as the other two looked in turn.

“What the flark!?” Rocket yelled as he and X-23 looked on in shock.

Although the undead was shambling out of the jungle Chris was still caught off guard. You could say they weren’t like any zombies he’d ever seen 😉 Instead they were short and stumpy with exaggerated and cartoonish features. That’s because they weren’t the zombies from his universe. Instead they were from the universe Ghosts ‘n Goblins. And walking behind them was a woman with a witch doctor’s mask. The same Chris had seen on that Umbrella tanker.

“It’s that figure from the boat!”

It was then that Rocket began to smell something wicked and could hear flapping wings and screeching from up above. It was a red gargoyle. And this gargoyle had a name, Firebrand (Ghosts ‘n Goblins). The trio looked up at him as Firebrand’s mouth began to light up. And then in the blink of an eye he shot a large fireball at them. As it spiraled toward them X-23 jumped out of the way as Rocket froze in shock momentarily. Chris Redfield noticing this leapt in and grabbed Rocket, evading the blast as Rocket snapped out of it. Looking at Chris in surprise.

“You! You saved me!” He said, shaken up.

“Of course!” Chris yelled confidently, not giving it a second thought.

Rocket looked at Chris with admiration. As he looked up at the grizzled Chris Redfield. Seeing him as it looked as though his eyes could cut through the smoke of the explosion of that fireball Firebrand had thrown. Holding up his M16, ready for the zombie onslaught. It was then he caught a glimpse of his friend Peter Quill. And suddenly Rocket felt more comfortable around him.

It was then that the zombies began pushing through the smoke screen. Chris opened fire with his M16 as 5.56 rounds shredded the zombies and they fell to the ground or stumbled with falling limbs. Arms hitting the ground like tree branches falling from the jungle. X-23 could make out the figure of the woman who stood behind the horde as she growled. She suddenly popped her claws, two blades protruding out from her knuckles in both hands. Chris noticed this and suddenly he was stumped. What kind of B.O.W is she!? He wondered.

But before he had any more time to think on this the zombies had really surrounded them, and his attention as well as Rocket’s were drawn to them as Chris shot and Rocket slashed with his claws. X-23 however had bigger fish to fry. She ran and then leapt over several rows of zombies to this witch doctor as the woman backed away a bit in surprise. X-23 gritted her teeth baring both her fangs and her claws. The witch doctor then pulled out a Scorpion Sub-Machine gun and took aim at X-23. But before she could shoot X-23 was already in there hacking and slashing.

While fighting off the zombies Rocket saw the red gargoyle was coming back. And as this gargoyle Firebrand swooped in after Chris whose attention was elsewhere Rocket would swipe up and nearly slash Firebrand with his claws.

“Stay back you!” He yelled as Firebrand backed off a bit.

“Rocket are you okay!?”

“Yeah I’m fine. I got this creep! You get those other freaks!

It was then that Rocket would enter a full blown assault on Firebrand. The two slashing at each other with their claws and Firebrand shooting small but quick fireballs that Rocket as Rocket dodged. X-23 and the witch doctor would also fight as X-23 would kick and then slash this assailant. The woman in the mask would then return with a kick and a punch of her own, throwing X-23 off and pushing her back. All while Chris fought off the unrelenting mass of the rotting undead.

As Rocket and Firebrand fought, Rocket would swipe, and punch and then bite. Firebrand really wasn’t ready for this tiny Raccoon to put up this much of a fight. And every time he would try to fly away so he could use his ranged attacks it would be thwarted by Rocket who’d grab him by the leg and throw him back to the ground. It would be then that Firebrand would decide to get more aggressive as he flew into Rocket and tackled him into the jungle, away from the others.

As they fought in the jungle Firebrand would shoot small fireballs and then leap in and take swipes with his claws, cutting Rocket’s fur. Rocket jumping and catapulting from tree to tree to get away from him but being fairly unsuccessful at it. In the meantime Chris had run out of ammo in both his M16 and Beretta M9 and was forced to pull out his stun rod. Smacking the undead as a surge of electricity would put them down. In tandem Rocket continued to fight and dodge Firebrand’s attacks. Until…

“Ouch! Ouch that’s too hot!” Rocket yelled after a small fireball had hit him, burning his tail as smoke arose from his lower backside. Scrambling to get away Rocket would trip into the fresh water stream as he yelled again. “Too cold! Cold!” He yelled as he jumped out, now shivering.

“EEEKKK!!!” Firebrand yelled then giggled as if he were taunting Rocket.

Rocket was mad. This creature had mad him feel the two extremes of hot and cold. Rocket then decided to do something he wasn’t sure would work. And that was to play dead. Pretend to be road kill so to speak. As Firebrand flew in closer he’d grown more confident. He lay out his claws and darted in to slash Rocket. As he grew closer Rocket’s eyes widened as he smiled. He jumped up, catching Firebrand off guard as Rocket dodged the gargoyle’s claws and then slashed his wing with his own. Firebrand shrieked in pain as he flew away in defeat.

“Yeah you better run you sky rat! You sky ra-ra… raccoon!” Rocket said as he struggled to think of a different insult.

Elsewhere Chris had fried his last ghoul, liquefying its insides with his stun rod. After doing so he looked over for X-23 to check on her. What he saw was incredible as these two women swiped, punched and kick incredibly fast. So fast his eyes couldn’t track. Their arms moving so quickly that they seemed like a blur to him. Like to Saiyans fighting in Dragon Ball Z. Quick and powerful.

“Wow… look at them go!” Chris said in astonishment.

Between this woman with metal claws and a talking Raccoon Chris suddenly found it funny that he was seemingly fighting alongside the B.O.Ws that he’s sworn to destroy. And he thought about it, how earlier X-23 or Logan as he now knew her had seemed fairly insecure about being asked what she was. And Rocket was the same way. Did he used to be human? Chris thought. Did he used to be a normal Raccoon? Did Umbrella choose a Raccoon as some sort of sick joke? Like Raccoon City? Chris had so many questions yet no answers. But before he could ponder these questions too much, the woman in the mask had gained some distance in her and X-23s fight. She then took aim and pulled the trigger as bullets spewed out in droves. Almost every round hitting X-23.

“Logan!” Chris screamed in fear for her.

X-23 slumped back and took a knee as Chris watched her as he held his breath. A wave of sadness had swept over him for this poor woman. A victim of Umbrella’s experiments. But to his surprise X-23 wasn’t only not down, but not out as well. Both Chris and the Woman gasped as X-23 drew her claws yet again. Jumping in and slashing yet again as the woman’s mask flew off of her face. As the mask hit the ground and dirt flew up into the air Chris was in total shock. Still not over the fact that X-23 was still standing but now there was who was behind the mask. Though with her blond hair she looked a bit different it was unmistakable. His old partner Jill Valentine.

“Jill?” Chris said as Jill threw a smoke bomb onto the ground and retreated just as Firebrand had done in his battle with Rocket Raccoon.

“Where are you going?!” X-23 yelled as she started after her.

But just as she had begun to chase Jill down she felt a tug on her arm. As she looked back in anger she immediately regretted it seeing that it was Chris. Her face would tell a tale of rage falling to shame as she redacted her claws and ripped her arm away from him. Chris was more than a little shocked by her claws, but still he needed to make sure she was okay first and foremost. Wanting to chase Jill as well yet needing to check X-23s bullet wounds.

“Wait!” Chris yelled. “You’re probably too injured to go after her!”

As Chris said this he’d taken a look at her wounds as X-23 shivered. Seeing the holes where the bullets had entered but then he saw the shrapnel from the bullets get pushed out of her body. Then after that the bullet holes would soon be sealed up. Healing incredibly fast. Rocket who had returned from the jungle with his battle with Firebrand and would see her healing factor, and he would be just as shocked as Chris. In fear of what Chris might think of her she grabbed both arms with both hands as she looked away. Chris amazed but also sorrowful.

Chris would look at her and then would notice Rocket again. And then he would think to himself What has Umbrella done to you two?