When Javier froze the monster, Aya immediately opened fire and destroyed it. Although the creature was dead, Melissa had vanished once again. Who knows what kind of trouble she'll cause next time.
Once the monster was defeated, the police finally managed to enter the park and ran over to them right away.
As the officers secured the area, Javier and Aya were already walking away.
"I'll take you back to the hotel. I'll let you know if anything new comes up."
Aya got into the car and drove Javier back to his hotel.
When he returned to his room, Natasha was already gone, having left a note saying she had to attend a meeting. Javier was left alone in the empty room.
The next morning, shortly after Javier woke up, Aya came to see him.
"Something happen for you to show up so early?" Javier asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I did some digging on you. I didn't expect you to have fought against bioweapons for so long—let alone that you were one of the survivors of Raccoon City. I hope you'll help us take down Melissa."
Upon hearing Aya's words, Javier nodded. His background wasn't exactly a secret—though only surface-level information was widely known.
"Take a look at this." Aya handed him a videotape, and Javier inserted it into the VCR.
"This is a video message we received last night. The person in it seems to know Melissa very well," Aya explained as the video began to play.
After a spray of blood flashed on the screen, a man in a white lab coat appeared. He was surrounded by scientific instruments, apparently inside a lab.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Dr. Isaac. I suppose you don't know much about Melissa's condition. I can tell you that Melissa is now like a queen bee. She needs to give birth to her own offspring in order to complete her goal of creating a new species."
The moment Javier heard the name, he recalled that this man had once been one of Umbrella's chief scientists. An expert on the T-virus—he had disappeared after Umbrella's downfall.
Melissa's case was clearly connected to this man.
"If Melissa wants to give birth, she'll need a large quantity of 'seeds,' which can only be found in a hospital. I've already left you the clues. Whether you can decipher them is up to you."
With that, the recording ended.
"We've assigned teams to guard and monitor every hospital in Washington where these 'seeds' could be obtained. We'll be informed the moment anything unusual happens."
Just as Aya finished speaking, her communicator buzzed.
"There's news. Melissa's gone to St. Francis Hospital. We need to head there immediately," she said, then ran out the door. Javier quickly got dressed and followed.
[A/N: Yes, I know this hospital is in New York, but let's just pretend it's in Washington since it really appears in Parasite Eve 😅]
They got into the car, Aya turned on the siren, and sped toward the hospital. Soon, they arrived at the scene—it was already surrounded by police. After they got out, one of Aya's colleagues came to brief them.
Melissa had already entered the hospital. The officers guarding the building had been killed, and several doctors and patients were injured. The entire place was in chaos.
"Damn it, we got here too late!" Aya slammed her fist against the car roof in frustration.
"All we can do now is find Melissa's hiding place as soon as possible. If we don't, we're in trouble," her colleague said, clearly worried.
In order to locate Melissa quickly, Washington PD launched an intensive citywide search. Javier and Aya could only return to the station and wait for updates.
"Aya, we found a lab in the sewers," her colleague said, running into the room.
Aya and Javier went there immediately. The entrance was already secured by police officers.
They headed into the sewers, and after a few minutes, they found the lab. Several officers were inside, along with a man in a white lab coat.
"Dr. Klamp?" Aya seemed to recognize him.
"I didn't expect you to find this place… but it doesn't matter. Melissa—no, she should be called Eve—she must be close to creating a new species by now," he said with a twisted smile.
Without a doubt, he was involved in all this.
"Why are you doing this, Doctor?" Aya asked.
Dr. Klamp scoffed. "The human body is far too fragile. Humans don't deserve to live in this world. Only the new species born from Eve will be a perfect existence."
Aya moved to apprehend him and demand Melissa's location. But as she approached, Klamp grabbed a scalpel and lunged at her.
Javier was faster.
He'd been watching Klamp closely. The moment the scalpel was raised, Javier shot him straight in the hand.
Klamp clutched his wounded hand but didn't scream. Instead, he glared at them with hatred and said, "When Melissa's child is born… all of you will die."
Right after that, his body began to mutate.
In seconds, Dr. Klamp transformed into a giant crocodile—but now upright, and with his injured hand completely healed.
He roared and swung his tail, flinging several officers aside. Then he lunged at Aya with bared fangs.
Javier immediately stepped in front of her, grabbed the creature's jaws—and, with a powerful twist, snapped them apart.
Klamp screamed in pain. Not giving up, he swung his tail again, this time at Javier.
Seeing the attack coming, Javier grinned, grabbed the tail, and hurled the creature against the wall.
Aya and the officers were left stunned by his raw strength.
Moments later, Klamp began reverting back to his human form.
"Where is Melissa?" Aya asked, walking toward him.
"She will avenge me…" Klamp muttered with a faint smile—and then died.
"What now? The only person who knew Melissa's location is dead." Aya gave Javier a disapproving glare.
Ignoring her expression, Javier noticed a computer nearby—still on.
"She's at the museum," he said, pointing to the screen.
Aya looked and confirmed it—there were detailed notes and files about the museum. It seemed Melissa had made it her new nest.
They got back in the car and sped toward the museum, joined by several police units. Once the police chief was informed, he also called in the military—they wouldn't be able to defeat Melissa alone.
---
(End of Chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."