Until Next Time

"This feeling..."

The moment John Wick unconsciously negate Flying Dutchman's force beam, Vanessa felt his presence. She was connected to all of her familiar through some kind of mental bond. Using that same connection, she gave Flying Dutchman a direct command, "Get away from him! Now!"

Her command wasn't made because she was worried about John's well-being, it was actually the opposite. She was worried that Flying Dutchman would cease to exist. John had the power to unconsciously control fate and the existence of a wandering soul or ghost on itself was against the purpose of fate. In short, John was the weakness of their existence in the living world.

After being attacked by Flying Dutchman, John thought that the ghost in front of him was also an enemy. So, he aimed his LE 5 toward the confused ghost and pulled the trigger. Dutchman, confident that he wouldn't be damaged by physical attack raised his chin, even turning his chest as a target board, complete with red dot and circles to taunt him. John wick missed the formed target, but it hit all of the other body parts. The moment the bullets went through his body, Flying Dutchman screamed in horror. It was the most painful thing he ever felt since he became a ghost thousand of years ago.

Green mist, followed by a storm, appeared as he vanished from John's sight. He regretted not obeying Vanessa's command the moment she said it. When he returned to her side, Flying Dutchman's body was riddled with holes that wouldn't heal no matter what he did.

Vanessa sighed and said, "I told you didn't I? You should have returned much faster."

"Is that the man you told me to be wary about?" asked Dutchman, meekly.

Vanessa never took him out whenever she fought John. If a recorded soul from Pandora's Box was destroyed or defeated, they would return into the box and couldn't be used for some time. However, Flying Dutchman wasn't a recorded soul and he existed in the living world. There's no way to resurrect him if he ever got destroyed.

With the unexpected defeat of Flying Dutchman, Vanessa had no choice but to end it faster. She was also at the edge of her power and the next trick would be very risky, but it was not the time to be on guard when her son's life was at the stake. Now that she appeared in the living world, she must make sure that Edward would be able to face this crisis without any problem.

"Take care of G3 and go back to Bikini Bottom," said Vanessa while pointing at the four-armed mutants behind her. Flying Dutchman needed to rest, if he stayed on the surface any longer, it would be detrimental to his existence.

After making sure Flying Dutchman knew what he should do, she walked toward the now weakened Nemesis. Most of Nemesis's Soul was absorbed by the gauntlet, it was the perfect time to use the ability. Without any way to resist, Nemesis could only stare at her as her hand raised his chin. Suddenly, a reddish fire covered Vanessa's body, incinerating every flesh she had, leaving only her black dress to cover her exposed skeleton. The only fire that was still burning was on her skull.

"Look into my eyes..."

Vanessa used Penance Stare, an ultimate ability that every Ghost Rider had. Nemesis squealed in pain as she gave his soul a painful torment for what he had done.

She then muttered, "Limbo, begin extraction."

The gauntlet on her right hand glimmered and entered an ethereal state, it was one of the few hidden abilities Limbo had. Her hand, along with the gauntlet pierced Nemesis's heart, but it didn't damage his flesh. As if the gauntlet was inside a hologram. The moment she started pulling it out, she could feel a little bit of tug from the inside.

This extracting ability that Limbo had, allowed Vanessa to completely remove the soul from the main body. However, the soul must be put in a coma-like state, and thus she used Penance Stare beforehand. This ability would've allowed her to put Nemesis's soul into Pandora's Box directly, making him her own familiar.

"But too bad, you're of no use to me," muttered Vanessa.

Nemesis's soul was deformed from a forced mutation into a Genma. If it was the original Nemesis, she might be a little bit interested.

As if knowing Vanessa's disinterest toward the soul. The Oni Gauntlet trembled in excitement. It was telling Vanessa to give up the soul and let him consume it. Nemesis's soul almost transcends into a Lord state after several evolutions of his main body. It must be noted that the only Lord level ever existed could be counted with one hand, and Nobunaga Oda was one of them.

The moment Vanessa released her grip on the soul, the Oni Gauntlet immediately absorb it. The soul's power could be used to upgrade either the Gauntlet or the Weapon. However, the gauntlet needed to absorb more Souls to do that.

Vanessa suddenly felt a burst of power within her, signing that Edward just leveled up twice from absorbing Nemesis's soul. With this, Nemesis's end had been confirmed. She glanced at the empty body of Nemesis, contemplating what she should do about it.

"Dutchman, I'm done here. What about you?"

"I'm done as well," he replied, pointing at the ashes of the G3 Tyrant. He continued, "Could you turn back to your human form? It really scares me whenever you turned into that form."

"Nahh, I need to do some clean up in this form. You can return to Bikini Bottom after burning this one as well. I only have two minutes left, I need to go now " said Vanessa.

Flying Dutchman nodded his head and prepared to burn the now empty body of Nemesis. Meanwhile, a blazing whip formed in mid-air, a weapon that she took out from her spatial inventory. When she was about to leave, she suddenly stopped before glancing at her left. Twenty meters away from where they stood, a man was standing while staring at them. It was John Wick under his HUNK identity.

"Do it fast!" ordered Vanessa.

Flying Dutchman was nervous, he used the last bit of his power and then escape into the green cloud without confirming if the job was done or not. Vanessa cracked the whip, wrapping the other end to a pole, and used it to propel her away. While in mid-air, both John's and Vanessa's eyes were locked to each other.

======

The number of civilians that have been turned into lifeless zombies had reached up to 75% of the total number of Raccoon City's residents. The future looked bleak as the survivors started losing hope. Some, if not more, also decided to just end their life right here and now.

An old man was sitting in a corner of the room with a gun pointed to his head. He could hear the occasional banging from the door and the wall. Tears and snot covered his face. No help had come for him, not even from the military that had been deployed since days ago. He was trapped in his apartment all alone, staring at the ceilings.

Not long after, the door finally gave in, and three zombies came in. From the dozen footsteps outside of the room, he knew more was about to come as well. They were all familiar faces that he saw every day, mostly his neighbor, including the kids he always watched over at the park.

He closed his eyes and prayed for a better tomorrow. Not for himself, but for those that could survive this tribulation. Suddenly, before he could pull the trigger, he heard a loud commotion around him. Curious, he opened his eyes and witnessed men in red cape and bronze helmet with armors, tearing every single zombie in front of him with their shields and

spears.

It happened in a flash. In less than 5 seconds, all of the zombies in or outside of his room were decapitated and crushed without leaving a single one of them untouched. The same thing happened all around the city. Men with Spears and Shields, came out of nowhere, slaughtering the zombies, and moved through the wall once they were done.

Mopping a big city like Raccoon City with only 300 men might take a long time, but since they were souls, they couldn't be stopped at all. Not long after, Vanessa joined the fray. She moved through one building and another with the help of her whip. She only had 1 minute and 30 seconds left. She needs to grind for the shake of his son. From the moment the Spartan warriors spread out, Edward had leveled up for 10 times already. At least, she wouldn't stop until she could level him one more time.

And her effort paid itself after a whole minute. With this, Edward had leveled up for a total of 11 times, reaching level 37 in an instant, with a surplus of 55 points in stats.

She moved to a nearby building and take out a round bead the size of a fist. This was her last tool he could afford to take out. The function in itself was simple, forming a safe point for Edward. The moment the countdown ended, Vanessa would return to his body, and don the persona of Regina again.

She went out forcefully, causing a slight dent to her son's spirit, thankfully the system's admin had some conscience and put some protection on Edward's soul. However, he still needs time to recover. Who knows how long Edward would have to sleep this time.

She put down the bead on the ground and started chanting. The bead crumbled in pieces and formed a bonfire with a sword stabbed right in the middle. A small done membrane also covered the place she was in. Vanessa laid down on the floor and closed her eyes. The time had come.

======

At the same time, in a room that was familiar to both the son and the mother. Edward was laying down on the bed. His eyes were closed with tears rolling down his cheek. If it was only the knowledge of him killing Michael, he might handle it well enough without breaking down at all. However, the accumulated pressure he had was much more than that.

The moment he fled the chase in Africa, the moment he sat down while staring at the bloody body of his father. The moment he held the cold body of his mother. Every single lifeless body and slaughtered people in France. Everything that has been happening around him was bursting out at a single moment when he put a bullet to someone that he could finally call a friend.

And then, when he was reaching his limit, a soft and warm hand wiping the tears on his face. Vanessa took her son's head and placed it on her thigh. She stares at her sleeping son's face while tapping his chest with her left hand, and caressing his chestnut hair. It felt like it had been a long time since the last time she had done it. And it might be the last as well.

======

The moment Vanessa return to Edward's body. The barrier that covered Raccoon City was also gone, returning the communication line to normal. Every monitor inside the secret base of Alex Wesker returned to normal as well. But she still needs to find out what happened in those five minutes.

And soon, Nikolai was on the line, "You won't believe what happened here."

"Stop beating under the bush, just tell me, now!" replied Alexa, she was so curious that she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"First, check the condition of Tyrants that were deployed, including the thing you called Nemesis," said Nikolai.

Intrigued, she wanted to tell her subordinates to do so, but the report came before she could say anything.

"Miss Alex! We can't find the signal of the Tyrants and Nemesis!" said one of her men.

Alex frowned, not because she couldn't believe it, but because she already predicted it. Nikolai's words, telling her to check on the Tyrants and Nemesis, was a clue in itself. But the main question now was how.

To kill a Tyrant, you need an Anti-B.O.W. RPG, but to find one was a challenge. Not to mention all seven of them were obliterated in five minutes. She spoke at the communication device, "Who is it, Nikolai?"

Nikolai then answered with another question. "Ever heard about the Soul Marionette?"

Alex's eyes bulged wide open. There was a small legend inside Umbrella. 'If you ever met a woman in a black dress, run! And don't ever turn back.'

She never believed it, not even putting it inside her mind. At that time, she was too focused on her study that she ignored the warning. One day, she appeared in a lab under her charge, slaughtering her way until HUNK was deployed to stop her. It was the first time she felt genuine fear. Never she wished to be reunited with that feeling anymore.

"I thought she's dead..." murmured, Alex.

"And so did I. But then, I saw it with my own eyes," said Nikolai. He knew a piece of information that would make the world turn crazy. The information that would make anyone pay with everything they had, no matter what it is. But he wouldn't tell anyone about it now. He'll wait until the news of the Soul Marionette's return was spread around the world. And then, he would tell them how she appeared from inside the body of a certain boy.