she/her 🦂 20 🦂norm be damned I love a good monster 🦂current hyperfixations Resident Evil, FNAF, DMC, Young Justice/ Batfamily 🦂ADHD🦂 I'm a writer, I think 🦂love character analysis
Since I'm back home now, I can continue playing REV2. I just finished Claire's half of EP 2, and still the only thing I know for sure about T-Phobos is that it's triggered by fear and is misogynistic
I have to put this down so my brain shuts up about it!
So maybe in RE9, when Zeno is going to kill Leon while Grace is watching, something WEIRD happens and the trio somehow gets transported to the Spirit world of Spirited Away.
Leon ends up there first (time is a little twisty here) and meets Yubaba who notices that he's nearly at death's door from RCS. She makes him a deal saying that she can save his life, but he has to replace Haku and become her new dragon twink.
While obviously hesitant, Leon is like shit, cause if he's here then Grace is going to show up eventually as well, and he can't just die and leave her here in this weird place all alone, so he takes the deal.. HOWEVER, Leon also makes also sure there is a hidden loophole in the contract, something that Grace can figure out and use to break the deal and set him free.
With the deal made, Leon losses his memories and name and becomes a dragon like Haku to take care of Yubaba's more nefarious chores. Lucky for him, Grace shows up soon after (maybe a few months later) and gets into almost the same shenanigans as Chihiro. Leon saves her, but unfortunately does not remember her, and she finds herself saddled with a new mission.
She has to find a way to get Leon's memories back, break his contract, and somehow get them both back home, all the while trying to not get fired while working at a Bathouse filled with spirits.
((Even when Grace tells Leon his name, it's still not enough to help regain his memories, but it does help Leon gain a bit of his spark back.))
(( Zeno arrives later, and it's similar to the scene where Yuababa's sister, Zeniba, first shows up in the movie, near the baby room.
Like Leon's K.O for some reason and Grace is trying to protect him from Zeno. And Zeno is like, "I have NO fucking idea where we are or what's going on, but I'm gonna finish what we started!"
And before he can pull the trigger Zeniba shows up and is like "Yeah enough of this-" and turns him into a white ferret to save Grace. And now the man has to depend on Grace to protect him, cause even though Leon doesn't remember him, he looks like he's ready to tear Zeno apart any second now....))
((Grace is successful and is able to get Leon's contract broken and his memories returned and she's sobbing, both utterly relieved and overjoyed when Leon smiles at her, saying, "I knew you could do it!"))
((Before they leave, Grace asks Zeniba how to break Zeno's curse.
"Well sweeitie, he has to stop being evil and actually care about someone!" The kind old witch answers, slightly smug.
And Grace just looks over at Zeno and she's never seen a ferret look so haunted/defeated in her life.))
((Leon, Grace, and Zeno return to the human world and Leon has a showdown with Gideon and finds out, hey, he's still a dragon! and kicks Gideon's ass. Zeno is stuck as a ferret and now lives with Grace, and is like, the weird family pet. So now if you visit Grace's house/apartment it's not uncommon to see a ferret sitting on the kitchen with a pile of bills, studiously budgeting the finances.))
((Leon reunites with Chris and everyone is a like, "btw I'm cured, but I'm a dragon now too, long story."
And they're all like: ( ಠ_ಠ )….What?))
Forgot to post this, but if you were all wondering what Leon's signature 'Sad Puppy Dog Face' looks like in this AU, then here you go!
This is basically what Marvin and Claire have been dealing with all night when Leon keeps insisting that he's a monster while looking at them like this.
Manifesting what I want in the world I guess lol. If I ever finish the Iron Lung Graphic novel, this would be the cover. If yall like it I might just make some posters too!
Leon notices after the events of Degeneration that his whiskers are finally growing in and decides to poke one, only to realize they are EXTREMELY sensitive.
They'll get longer as he ages and they help him fly better too as they allow him to detect wind currents and subtle changes in the airflow. (Meaning he can sense how the wind flows and bends around objects.)
Had to draw a scene from the oneshot that @quasar-crew did about Gideon being a dick and using Leon's pendent to keep him in a constant state of flux between forms by taking the pendent on and off again.
@polarspaz I give you more Noodle Leon, but this time, it's Leon in RE9 when he's getting interrogated by Gideon. This is unironically one of my favorite things I've written in the past couple months... just, the characterizations, weaving in the threads of canon, Gideon's entire disturbing deal, Leon's "flux state"... it just all hits really solidly for me.
WARNING: This is accurate to Victor Gideon's whole deal in RE9, which means the scene is VERY harassment and assault coded, except virus/snake flavored. Please take care of yourself!
...
It’s the heavy thud of footsteps that stir him into waking.
Leon jerks in place, but he doesn’t get very far. His arms are held uncomfortably behind him and when he shifts, rope and plastic bite into his wrists. Tied up. Cracking his eyes open, Leon glances up only to hiss as he’s immediately blinded. Heavy footsteps sound, something shifting to block much of the light. When Leon squints his eyes open again, his gaze trails from his own legs to those of another, and finally up to the backlit form of Victor Gideon.
Well, Leon found Victor. Or, Gideon found him.
“Why are you here? Is it for me?” Victor asks, his voice raspy as an odd smile twists his face. While it’s hard to see in this lighting, the man’s lips are cracked, skin split by scars and seams. As he speaks, Leon catches a flicker of the man’s tongue behind his black teeth. “Or… for her?
Grace.
Well, Gideon definitely knows who Leon is, if his welcoming at Rhodes Hill is anything to go by. But… he doesn’t know who Leon’s here for? Between that and Victor kidnapping Grace, it all points to the man deeming Grace important in some way. But why?
Instead of answering, Leon stays silent, keeping his gaze fixed on Victor. He’s been interrogated before, had training in how to handle interrogations. And one odd thing Leon’s learned over the years is that being in the chair can be a surprisingly good method of figuring out what the interrogator knows. The thing about interrogation: generally you aren’t interrogated for no reason, but because someone needs answers. And as the one with answers, that makes you surprisingly valuable. (Usually. Of course, sometimes, torture is on table.)
At Leon’s silence, Gideon leans forward. “We can talk,” the man says, and Leon has to duck his head as he gets a whiff of the man’s absolutely rancid breath. Jesus Christ, is this guy gargling gym shorts?! Forget experimenting on the dead, this man’s breath smells like the dead. Leon grunts, and when he lifts his gaze back up, the scientist’s expression has dropped.
“Right,” Gideon steps away, turning his back. Leon takes the opportunity to test his restraints, glancing back as he does so. His gaze immediately catches on the blood stained plastic lining the wall and floor behind him. …Not a great sign. “Or,” the scientist says, clicking his tongue, “we can begin your treatment.”
Leon looks over in time to see Victor turn back around with… ah, a scalpel in hand. Seems torture-style interrogation it is then. Leon flexes his wrists, idly testing the ropes as he sizes up the scientist. “The silent treatment, I hope,” Leon snarks.
Gideon eyes him for a moment, unamused, but then his cracked lips split into an eerie smile. “You’re an investigator, right?” Gideon hums as he points the scalpel at Leon. The amusement is short lived, expression quickly dropping into a scowl. “So investigate.”
Gideon moves closer and Leon shifts in place, only to grit his teeth as the everpresent pain in his body flares. Fuck. He hates interrogations. He hates this damn rot. Forcing his breathing to steady, Leon fixes his gaze on the far side of the room. Victor looms over his shoulder.
“What do you want to know?” the man asks, almost friendly. In Leon’s periphery, Gideon leans down. “Is this where I conduct my research?” Great, the guy’s asking rhetorical questions. Leon stays silent. He keeps his gaze fixed forward, even as he’s aware of a hand brushing the hair on the side of his head. Don’t react. Don’t move. “Yes,” Gideon murmurs, answering himself as he moves behind Leon. A hand settles on his shoulder. Stay still. Stay silent.
Leon keeps his head down as he feels fingers tug at his collar, as those same fingers brush against the necrosis on his neck. He can’t feel them, Leon only knows the fingers must be there thanks to the pressure transmitted to the living tissue beneath. Unease churns in his gut but he stays still. Silent. He doesn’t know what Victor wants, but Leon isn’t going to give it to him.
Besides, he seems to be quite happy answering Leon’s questions for him.
“Are the answers to your disease here?” Gideon mutters and he must press harder, because jagged needles of pain shoot down to Leon’s clavicle. In his periphery, Leon’s aware of Gideon bending down, hand still pressing into his shoulder and the blackened skin beneath. “Yes,” the man hisses, almost whispering in Leon’s ear,
Now, Leon’s been a good sport about this whole interrogation so far. But Victor getting up in his face is uncomfortable for a number of reasons, not least of which being that his breath still reeks. “You know, I do have a question,” Leon mutters as he cringes away from Gideon. He twists his neck to look at the face a few inches from his own. “When was the last time you brushed your teeth?”
Judging by Gideon’s black gums and rancid breath, the answer is probably never.
Gideon withdraws, allowing Leon a bit of fresh air, but it’s short lived. The man moves around in front of Leon, his hand trailing down from Leon’s shoulder to his sternum. To the pendant around Leon’s neck. Well, shit.
“Such an interesting necklace,” Gideon hums as he tilts the pendant up. It must have slipped out from under Leon’s shirt somewhere in the chaos of the past hours… or when Gideon kidnapped him. Swallowing his unease, Leon keeps his gaze fixed on the middle distance, staring through Gideon. But he can still see the scientist in front of him twisting the blue stone around his neck. “Odd thing to wear during all this, no?”
Leon keeps his expression neutral, even as a small thread of worry uncoils. If Gideon removes it, Leon will start transforming immediately… but, turning into his dragon form would make for an excellent distraction to take Victor by surprise and break these restraints. Leon breathes, keeping his muscles loose as Gideon fully takes hold of the pendant and then, with little fanfare, the man drags it up, pulling the cord over Leon’s head.
Instantly a familiar burning settles under Leon’s skin. He grits his teeth as dual waves of pain—from the rot and the transformation—pulse through muscle and bone. Vertebrae click as his spine is pulled and stretched. Skin itches as it's replaced by scales. His jaw aches as his face is pushed out, his splitting tongue running past sharpening teeth.
But then, abruptly, the burn abates as Victor drops the pendant back over Leon’s head.
Leon blinks, the whisker-like barbels on his upper lip twitching as they start to shrink. He glances up at Gideon over a half-elongated face and… the scientist doesn’t even look shocked. No, instead his expression is of something else. Delight. Leon shifts against his restraints as his spine begins to shorten, dread churning in his gut.
…Gideon knew.
Somehow, he knew.
A dozen theories are considered and discarded as Leon stares Victor down. While it’s possible the scientist could have encountered a situation like Leon’s before… Leon’s been stripped of his guns. It’s reasonable to assume Victor might’ve tried to take the necklace. Because yeah, people don’t wear jewelry like this in the field. Not without reason.
Gideon probably took it off before Leon even woke up. And then got a front row seat to what, exactly, the pendant did.
“How interesting,” Gideon murmurs, lifting a finger from the pendant to flick at the barbels still protruding from Leon’s upper lip. He can’t stop his flinch—couldn’t even if he wanted to. The things are so packed with nerves it’s ridiculous, even at this proto-stage.
His flinch however, seems to only embolden Gideon.
The scientist takes hold of the pendant again, slipping it off Leon’s head. The bone-deep ache returns, fierce and hungry as it reaches inside Leon’s body and starts to take him apart.
His face, nearly back to human, begins to elongate again. His neck arches—several inches longer than it was a moment ago—and his back digs into the chair as his spine is pulled. He can feel his tail budding at the base of his back, growing nerves protesting as he’s forced to sit on it. Scales flush over his skin, he can feel them itch along his back, his neck, his arms. The barbels at his lip tense and twitch with every wave of aching agony, stretching longer, longer—
And then Gideon drops the pendant back over Leon’s head.
Leon’s body burns as the mutations start to recede again. He glares at Victor, fangs flashing. It's partly out of frustration and partly because Leon’s teeth are currently too big for his mouth. Gideon just chuckles, letting Leon get a glimpse of the man’s own forked tongue.
‘Is there a point to this?’ Leon wants to ask, but he swallows the question. He knows why. Victor’s own fascination and amusement. And Leon, the unfortunate and unwilling subject.
Gideon’s hand shifts from the pendant back to Leon’s still-elongated neck. This time, Leon can feel the fingers brushing over his skin and scales. The numbness of the rot doesn’t stretch as far on Leon’s scaled hide—size-wise, there’s more of him, so the rot’s reach is smaller. But he knows where it is, knows that Victor is tracing where his scales turn black and start flaking off.
But he can also feel how Gideon’s dry cracked fingers move higher, tracing a patch of healthy scales along his spine.
“You’re a pretty thing,” Gideon murmurs, and Leon very, very, very carefully does not react. He breathes, gritting his oversized teeth as his jaw slinks back. The pendant is removed again, and this time Gideon keeps his hand on Leon as scales ripple back over his skin, as his vertebrae pop and multiply.
Leon’s ears flick as the burn ripples through his muscles. His shoulders scream, the transformation trying to force them forward, but the restraints keep them locked behind his back. Leon hisses as his back slips up the chair, forcing him to bow forward with a spine a foot longer than it was previously. Inside his thick trousers, Leon’s growing tail flicks against his thigh, struggling for an escape he can’t give it. His boots feel tight.
Leon twists his nearly foot-long neck to glare at Gideon over his partially-formed muzzle. “This is coming out of your credit card,” Leon informs the scientist. Victor already took his jacket, which is going to cost him. If Leon has to fight Gideon without shoes and wearing assless pants, he’ll do it, he’s had to do it before, but he won’t be happy about it.
Gideon smiles, showing off his blackened teeth. “Feeling more talkative now, are we?” he hums, letting the pendant fall over Leon’s head again. Leon grits his teeth as the mutations stutter to a stop, pressure on his body easing. It’s not going to last. “Hm, pity.”
Leon can feel his skin and scales crawling as Gideon inspects him, watching as the mutations retreat. But before they can vanish completely, he takes the pendant off again, keeping Leon’s body in a state of flux. Not human nor even dragon, but something other caught in-between.
Sick bastard.
Right, Victor’s not being helpful anymore, so time for Plan… C? D? Doesn't matter, new plan. Behind his back, Leon taps his scaled knuckles along his spine. His hands are too far from his hips now to reach for the small knife he keeps hidden in his belt. But, the talons cutting into the skin of his palm offer an alternative.
With clumsy fingers, Leon starts working the ropes. He tries to curve his aching back up a bit, and idly notes that even sitting, with his neck and back straight like this he’s nearly as tall as Gideon now.
While Leon is slightly worried Victor will see it as a threat now that Leon is no longer ‘beneath’ him, the man instead seems to find it delightful. The scientist lets the mutations creep another few inches, but then the pendant is back on. Leon’s whiskers twitch as Gideon’s fingers trail along the stuttering scales on his neck, then higher up toward his head.
Unease and disgust curdle in Leon’s gut as Victor leans closer, his breath rancid, face far too close. Leon feels those damned fingers trail along his jaw, along the fur that had begun to thicken from the stubble at Leon’s cheeks.
And you know what? Leon’s had e-fucking-nough. Before Gideon can pull his hand back, Leon lunges, sinking his still-elongated teeth into Victor’s motherfucking finger. The scientist screeches and blood fills Leon’s mouth—and he promptly has to fight back a gag. Even this man’s blood is rancid. But it does the job, Victor staggers backward clutching his hand and Leon talons tear through the last of the ropes.
He lurches upward, unsteady on his half-formed legs, but even half-transformed the muscles of his torso and neck are developed enough to keep him upright despite the extra feet of height. Leon staggers away from the chair and Gideon, clutching his pendant protectively. His eyes immediately catch on one of his pistols, discarded on a small table and he stumbles forward.
Leon swipes his gun and whirls, already firing. But Victor is as slippery as the snake he resembles, rushing away with a trail of black blood in his wake. The scientist slips past Leon’s shots and around a corner, and by the time Leon follows, Victor must have hit some mechanism because the passage closes behind himself.
Beyond the closing walls, Victor snarls. “You’re a dead man walking!” Gideon screams before the latch finally seals and Leon lets his gun fall.
Leon curls his lip, his partial muzzle peeling back to show his fangs. Bastard. The rotten taste still on his tongue has him grimacing, and Leon takes a second to gag. After several moments of frantic spitting, Leon manages to get rid of the blood and remains of Gideon’s finger still in his mouth. “Eugh,” Leon mutters, wiping his mouth with his free hand. “That guy is disgusting.”
His other hand still clutches his pendant, taking some comfort in the solid stone as the mutations finally fully recede into his skin. Leon rolls his shoulders, a quick survey informing him his pants and boots are thankfully intact. His body still tingles, phantom aches playing through his bones as if trying to replicate the flux state he was forced into.
Leon finally lets himself shiver, dropping his hand from his necklace. They already knew Victor was crazy, but Leon can now confirm he is bat-shit crazy with an added dose of harassing stalker ex. Why does Leon always get the weird ones? He shakes his head. Right, time to get going. Victor may have escaped but Leon still has a job to do.
“You there?” Leon asks, the lingering cold chased away as Sherry’s voice fills his ears.
EVERYONE GO READ THIS RIGHT NOW, I AM SUPER SERIOUS!
The body horror in this is TOP TIER and Leon's and Gideon's interaction is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!
I LOVE THIS FIC!!!!!! YESSSSSSS!!!!! (Gonna go read it again!)
@polarspaz this is the first thing I've written for one of your AU's that Ive felt like sharing on here. Hope you like it and that its ok!! Losing that pendant is NOT fun!
Also I wrote this at work on my phone so sorry if the format is funny at all!
Leon woke up dazed. He stayed in bed, eyes closed, letting consciousness fall over him. He didn't know how long he'd slept.
He took a moment to figure out how bad any aches and pains were from the mission. He'd, of course, been thrown around a bit.
He tried to pinpoint the primary spots where he had assumed he would hurt. Nothing seemed where he was expecting it.
The more awake he started to feel, the more confused he became. He opened his eyes and was greeted by his own blue scales.
Shit.
He didn't have his pendant on.
He tried to retrace his steps last night in his mind before he panicked.
He'd gotten home, taken off his work clothes, and climbed into bed. No where in that did he remember removing his necklace.
A quick glance around his room yielded nothing. There was his pile of clothes on the floor, but with no sign of the light blue stone.
He felt dread pooling in the pit of his stomach.
Leon had only misplaced the pendant one time, and it was during the short stretch of time where they were figuring out what exactly had happened to him.
It had taken 3 days, Luis, Ashley, and a handful of researchers tearing apart the lab to find the pendant, tucked somehow behind one of their cabinets.
That time, he'd barely learned what the pendant actually did. He had been human again for the first time since he'd picked up the cursed thing in Spain. He had taken it off so that Luis could try and figure out how some of his dragony things worked. When he went to grab it off the table, it was gone.
He had gotten better at moving carefully like this, but still bumped the nightstand with his back, knocking off the alarm clock.
He started with his bed. He pulled off the blanket, checking between it and the loose sheet. He pulled that off next, and then the mattress pad.
Nothing.
He shook out the fabric, holding it as high as he could, hoping the damned thing would fall out of it. It didn't. Instead, Leon had just poked some serious holes in his bedspread.
He tossed his clothes around, checking in every pocket. He found a couple pieces of trash from the ride back,along woth his keys, but no pendant. He threw the dirty clothes on top of his blankets.
He pulled open the drawer of his nightstand and found it mostly empty, like normal. It wasn't there.
He took a breath. “It's here somewhere, you were human when you got home,” he assured himself.
He wasn't going to be able to get an angle to look under the nightstand, so he pushed it over instead. Nothing. He looked at his claws, attached to shoulders too many feet from his head.
Shit.
That pool of dread hardened into adrenaline-filled panic. It seeped into his bones. The very idea that he had lost it, the one thing that was making this whole curse manageable whispered in the back of his mind.
Leon tore his room apart, throwing things from one side to the other until it looked like a tornado had ravaged the small space. His mattress and box spring propped up against the wall, all of his clothes strewn about outside of the closet, the lamp and nightstand knocked onto the floor.
He didn't care how his claws caught in the carpet, pulling little strands loose with each step. His security deposit didn't matter now.
So it wasn't in the bedroom. He opened the door and moved to his living room. He hadn't been in here long, just enough to toss his jacket over the back of the sofa.
He snatched it and dug through the pockets as he had his other garments. As he had been both expecting and fearing, the pendant wasn't there.
He snaked around to the front side of the sofa and started pulling at cushions.
He spent a good amount of time with the living room, then moved to the kitchen. He opened every cabinet, every drawer. He even checked down the garbage disposal.
He hadnt even come into the kitchen last night.
He retraced his steps as best as he could between what he could remember and the fact that he was currently a 40ft long dragon.
He got home, came up the stairs into the apartment building. He unlocked his door, came inside, shut it. Hung his keys up on the hook by the door.
He walked back to the bedroom and guided himself through how he thought he had gone from there. Taken his work clothes off, climbed onto his bed, fallen asleep. There was atill nothing.
His panic-addled brain was out of ideas.
He took that energy and started putting his bedroom back together. Kind of. He pulled the bed back into a usable position, and put all of his clothes in one big pile. He stood back ip the other furniture, but didnt bother to straighten it out.
He slunk back out to the living room with the intention of doing the same, but instead just collapsed on the pile of couch cushions. He curled in on himself, his own breath hot on the scales of his body.
So much had gone wrong in Spain, starting with him and Ashley getting infected. Then he just had to steal the baubles to pay the Merchant. If he hadn't done that, he wouldnt be sitting in his apartment as a 40 foot long wet noodle.
Now he had to contemplate what would happen if he couldn't find the pendant. He would be stuck. Until he died.
It was easier to deal with in Spain, the idea that this wasn't reversible. It was easier to push it aside, to focus on his mission. To use the little advantages he had been given to save Ashley and Luis.
Now that he was used to being human again, and in his own apartment for God's sake, it felt like the world was ending for him.
His phone dinged from the charger. He wouldnt be able to open it like this. He didnt have quite that much dexterity. He ignored it.
**
He woke some time later to his front door opening.
“Sancho?” Luis called as the door shut again. It didnt take the man long to find Leon, curled up on his mess of couch cushions, sulking as he contemplated the rest of his life.
Leon huffed at Luis.
“What's wrong?” The Spaniard asked. “And what happened in here?”
Leon kept his gaze on Luis's shoes. “I lost my pendant. I looked everywhere.” His voice shook as he spoke, just enough for Luis to notice.
Luis knelt down and placed a hand on Leon's shoulder. “Where was the last place you had it?”
Leon turned his head away. “I already tried that.” He explained how the morning had gone.
“Well, let's look again. I'll help you.” He rose back up to his feet and motioned for Leon to follow.
Leon uncoiled and stood as he watched Luis look around.
The man chuckled. “You searched everywhere?”
Leon nodded.
Luis laughed again and walked to the front door. He grabbed what seemed to be Leon's keys from the hook on the wall. When he turned back around, Leon could see his necklace dangling from Luis's hand.
“What?”
“You mush have taken it off and hung it up instead of your keys,” Luis guessed. He held out the pendant to Leon. “Now, let's find your keys before you tear this place apart again.”
The memory of tossing his keys aside this morning flickered into his mind. He'd left them in his pocket.
The man-turned-dragon laughed to himself. “Leon, you dumb shit.”
AWWWWWWW NOODLE LEON LOOKING FOR HIS PENDENT!
THIS WAS WONDERFUL!!
You perfectly captured Leon's slow, but steady descent into panic mode while he tears through his apartment! (I love how everyone has had this happen to them at least ONCE in their life. Loosing that ONE thing they need and then spending HOURS looking for it, only to find it sitting right there, out in the open, mocking you.)
Love how you detailed the whole search process too, turning over the furniture, ripping through the sheets and mattress top, moving from room to room as he looks. And then the cute bit a the end where Luis comes in to see Leon sulking and then finds the necklace for him, before teasing him about how now they have to look for Leon's keys WAS PERFECT!!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I LOVED IT! (and I'm glad you had fun!)
If you were wondering how the hell Luis is still alive in this AU, well it's all thanks to Leon's magical healing spit!
The only reason the group even knew Leon had this the ability was because he accidentally sneezed all over Luis earlier, and when the poor man was able to wipe his face clean of dragon spit, they all noticed that the minor cuts and bruises on his skin had healed instantly.
The only issue Leon has with this is figuring out how to "apply" said magical spit. He's obviously hesitant to lick the wounds at first cause...EW? But he soon realizes that this is unfortunately the best way to do it, especially after dealing with Luis's severe stab wound.
(Also if you were wondering, the healing spit thing applies to Marvin too in the Rookie version of this AU!)
@polarspaz Noodle Leon in Vendetta! Or, the idea of Leon actually tumbling off the building and transforming mid-fall was too good, but also too good is how it would look from Chris' perspective, where Leon falls and then there's an honest to goodness dragon attacking Arias.
...
Chris can feel his bones cracking under Arias’ grip. A pained scream slips past his gritted teeth as the now-mutated man squeezes tighter. He tries to kick his legs, to do something, but he doesn’t have nearly enough reach or leverage. Fuck fuck fuck— Beyond the agony shooting through his chest, Chris registers an oddly cheery ding and then the roar of a motorcycle.
Leon.
There’s a flash of movement in his peripheral and then Chris sees Leon, still astride that damned motorcycle, bearing down on him and Arias. Then, Chris is airborne. He hits the ground back first, agony shooting through his ribs. He scrabbles for a moment, instinctively trying to curl in to protect his vulnerable stomach, but even that’s too much. His head falls back against the roof as he struggles to get air into his aching lungs.
Shit, he’s definitely got a cracked rib or three.
There’s a shift of movement to his right, scratching against the concrete and a rumbling growl that can only be Arias. Chris cracks his eyes open, his vision too blurry to make out anything more than a large indistinct dark mass above him. Arias, he’s right there, shit— Chris’ hands paw for any kind of weapon but then there’s a softer higher-pitched grunt of pain—shit, Leon—and then a blur of movement.
Distantly Chris hears a loud crunch and bile barely has time to burn his throat before there’s the sharp retort of a gun. Still alive. Chris wills his vision to focus in time to see Arias’ towering over him, but instead of bringing a massive fist down on Chris’ prone body, the mutated man is turned away from him. Arias snarls, flinching back with each crack of gunfire, his direction becoming more intent. Then he’s out of Chris’ eyeline, the bark of gunfire intermixing with roars and impacts that Chris can feel in his bones.
Get up, Redfield, Chris growls as he pushes himself up, one hand wrapped around his ribs. He manages to get himself to his knees, eyes quickly flickering across the rooftop. Rebecca is a handful of meters away—uninjured aside from the virus still ravaging her body—and on the other side of the glass walkway is Leon, weaving around Arias.
Chris shoves himself further up, his eyes catching on his watching and the ticking timer. Five minutes. Shit. He’ll have to trust Leon to handle Arias, Rebecca needs that vaccine— But before Chris can make a move to head inside, there’s a blur of movement and Chris looks up just in time to see Leon’s limp body fly through the air, crash through the glass barrier, and disappear off the side of the skyscraper.
“Leon—!”
The cry catches in Chris’ throat, and for a second he stares at the empty air where the man vanished, an old familiar horror curling up his spine. (Another friend, dead.) But as instinctual as the call was, it’s a mistake. Arias turns back toward Chris, face twisting into a leer as he slowly steps forward, with the easy certainty of knowing he’s won. Chris is too injured to run and has no weapons, Rebecca is beside him and too weak to stand, and Leon just fell to his death.
“Tiiime’s uppp, Redfieeeld,” Arias snarls as he steps closer. Chris grits his teeth, carefully bracing himself on his feet. Like hell, he’s not going down without a fight.
But before he or Arias can make another move, a massive shape barrels into the mutated man from the side. Chris swears sharply, stumbling back as the thing—some kind of massive snake—rams into Arias, knocking him back. Arias snarls but seems momentarily put off as the new player stills just long enough for both Arias and Chris to get a good look.
… It’s a fucking giant flying snake.
Chris gapes, utterly stunned for a solid few seconds as he sees what he can only describe as motherfucking dragon ungulate midair in an utter slap in the face to physics. And then, before Chris can question whether he’s begun hallucinating, the flying serpent arrows toward Arias. The mutated man doesn’t get a second to react before the dragon is coiling around Arias’ torso and limbs, jaws sinking into the mutant’s neck.
It’s only several decades worth of fighting impossible monsters that gets Chris’ brain to reboot. His eyes flicker to Rebecca and back to the two tangling monsters. He needs to get that vaccine, he doesn’t have time, and while he hates to leave Arias, the… dragon seems to have things in hand.
And so, one hand clutching his ribs and the timer on his watch clicking ever downward, Chris shuffles back inside to find Arias’ vaccine. Hopefully he can at least save one of his friends.
And somehow, Chris does find it, along with some high powered ordinance with Arias’ name on it.
By the time Chris makes it back outside, DC and Nadia have arrived in the Osprey. Arias, meanwhile, has managed to grab onto the dragon, squeezing it in a massive hand in much the same way he did to Chris earlier. The dragon, however, is returning the favor. It’s wrapped its body around Arias’ arms and torso like some kind of constricting snake, and judging by Arias’ howls, it must be just as painful.
Right, time to finish this.
Chris loads his gun, levelling it toward Arias. The dragon spots him though, his snarl faltering for a moment as it catches sight of the gun. Then, seemingly realizing what he’s doing, it abruptly unravels its body from Arias. Arias staggers in place, and the dragon takes the opportunity to wrap nearly its entire body around the arm still holding it. Then, with an almighty SNAP, Arias howls in pain and the dragon suddenly shoots skyward, freed from Arias’ grasp.
“Bye, bye, asshole,” Chris growls as he pulls the trigger.
The high powered mortar round sinks deep into Arias’ chest and then in a bloom of fire, detonates. Chris is nearly thrown off his feet by the force of the explosion but manages to duck down, gore and bits of rubble raining down around him. After a few seconds, Chris slowly stands, looking at the smoking pile of meat scattered across the rooftop that was once Arias.
Chris exhales, watching the smoking ruin for a few moments, for any sign that the arms dealer isn’t as dead as he looks. But, thankfully, nothing stirs.
With Arias as dead as Chris can make him, he quickly drops the rifle and rushes back toward Rebecca. She’s pale, her skin riddled with blue veins and body twitching erratically, but she’s not gone. Not yet. Chris rigs up the mask as quick as he can, carefully inserting it over Rebecca’s face. Her breath rattles in her chest, but with each inhale, the twitching slows and her breathing becomes steadier.
Finally, the veins start to dissipate, her exhales steadily clouding the mask. A reminder she’s still alive. Chris’ watch beeps, it’s timer having run out. Chris takes a rattling breath of his own. She’s okay. Seconds to spare… but she’ll be okay.
“Hey, Rebecca,” Chris smiles softly, heart aching. “Scared me there.”
He glances back toward the shattered glass barrier where Leon had vanished off the edge. He saved Rebecca but got more of his friends and allies killed in the process. Damian, now Leon… Chris swallows. I’m sorry, Leon, Chris thinks quietly. They know what they signed up for in this profession, but that doesn’t change the fact that Chris is the reason the man is dead. He’s the one who pulled Leon into this mess.
And now Leon is dead, because of that. Chris is going to have to go down there… find him.
Chris huffs, a pained laugh wringing itself out of his throat. So many of them in anti-bioterrorism die to monsters… they forget they can die to such mundane things as a gunshot or gravity as much as anyone else.
A soft sound pulls Chris’ attention back to Rebecca, who stirs slightly beneath his hands. As Chris watches, her eyes crack open, looking up at him. She blinks at him for a few moments, before giving him a weak smile and a shaky thumbs-up. Chris chuckles, the corners of his mouth twitching up as he looks back at her. “Hey, doing okay?”
Rebecca hums but then her gaze fixes on something above them, and the sound hitches, her eyes widening. Chris immediately jerks his head up, and… Oh fuck, he forgot about the fucking dragon. It’s moving lazily through the air, almost as if it’s swimming rather than defying the laws of physics. Chris watches warily, pulling Rebecca closer to him as the dragon trails toward the rooftop, the beam of the Osprey tracking it as it descends.
Now without the frantic chaos of the fight, and the added light of the aircraft’s spotlight, Chris can get a better look at the creature. It feels wrong to call the thing a bioweapon, to lump it in with that class of monsters, considering it treats physics as a mere suggestion. It’s serpentine, a good forty feet long at least, coated in blue scales and a mane of blonde-brown fur trailing down its spine. It touches down gently on the other side of the rooftop, across from Chris and Rebecca.
A sharp tug on his sleeve has Chris’ gaze flickering away from the dragon to Rebecca, who is looking from the dragon to him with wide eyes. Are you seeing this?! Chris nods. Yes, he is seeing this. Somehow. He looks back toward the dragon, alarmed to see it’s drawn closer, maybe five meters away. The only thing keeping Chris from reaching for his gun is (a) that he doesn’t have any more rounds of ammo for it and (b) the dragon is… oddly non-hostile.
As the dragon steps closer, it finally allows Chris to notice something…odd. There’s something dark wrapped around the creature’s forelimbs. At first Chris thinks it’s a shadow or some sort of scale pattern, but no, it’s a jacket. A dark brown leather jacket stretched over pale scales, two vertical white stripes running down the arms. Leon’s jacket.
Chris’ eyes flicker up from the jacket to the dragon’s head. A pair of slitted stormy-blue eyes stare back at him almost curiously, blonde-brown hair flopped over an elongated snout. Fuck, he even has the same haircut.
It feels like time has stopped as Chris stares into the dragon’s eyes. He can’t tell if there’s recognition in them, if there’s anything of his friend still inside. What happened? Chris wants to ask, but how can he? He can’t even tell if this mutation is the result of a bioweapon… he’s certainly never heard of anything turning people into fucking probably-magical dragons.
The dragon turns its gaze from Chris to focus on Rebecca, head tilting. And then, as if Chris’ day couldn’t get any weirder, the dragon opens its mouth and speaks.
“How are you feeling, Rebecca?” the dragon asks in Leon’s voice.
Rebecca blinks, but gives a shaky thumbs up. “B-better,” she says softly. Chris can’t tell if the shake in her voice is an aftereffect of the virus, or the fact there’s a fucking dragon that might be Leon standing in front of them.
The dragon pulls its head back, nodding. Then it looks down, head tilting to inspect itself. The dragon growls, a huff of air whistling past its bloodied fangs. That’s right, it bit Arias. Several times, even.
“I bought this jacket two months ago,” the dragon grumbles, arching its neck and back. It slaps its tail against the concrete, drawing attention to the ragged set of jeans around its hind legs that are holding themselves together by mere seams. “And this is the third pair of jeans this month. Forget doing this pro bono. Redfield, you’re going to buy me a new set of clothes and the booze you dragged me from.”
Chris is dimly registers the words, but his brain is in the midst of a blue-screen of epic proportions. A blue-screen that was due the instant he saw a giant fuck off snake defying physics.
“Helloooo? New York to Captain Redfield?”
Something waves in front of his face and Chris starts, focusing to see a pair of long tendrils waving in front of his face. Chris starts and the tendrils draw back, revealing themselves to be… whiskers? Long, cat-fish like whiskers, attached to the front of the dragon’s snout.
The dragon huffs. “There you are, now quit zoning out. We’ve got a job to finish.”
Chris blinks, and finally broaches the question that’s been sitting lodged in his throat since he first recognized that stupid jacket. “…Leon?”
The dragon—Leon—looks at him and… huh. Chris never knew a dragon could look sarcastic. “Yes, that’s me. No shit Sherlock,” Leon says, lips curling back to flash his fangs in what can only be called a draconic smirk.
Why the hell is Leon being so nonchalant about this?! Chris gapes, his jaw falling slack as he waves an arm furiously over Leon. “What is this?!”
Leon blinks, looks down at himself, then slowly raises his head to look back at Chris. The expression on his snout rapidly turns from judgemental to confused to sheepish. “Oh…” Leon hums, his serpentine neck arching back on itself as he pulls away from Chris. The tip of his tail—because that’s right Leon has a goddamned tail, hell, he’s all tail!—twitches, curling back toward his body. “Uh… I can explain?”
“You fucking better,” Chris says, pointing sharply at Leon. But, regardless of his desire for answers, Leon is right, they’ve still got a job to do and a city to save. Chris slips the mask off Rebecca’s face and helps her up, glancing toward the Osprey now parked on Arias’ helipad. “We need to get this vaccine out.”
Supporting Rebecca, Chris starts limping toward the stairs. But Rebecca nudges him to stop, looking back toward Leon. “You coming?” the resident scientist asks. Chris follows her gaze to Leon, still draconic, sitting awkwardly—all forty feet of him—on Arias’ rooftop.
Leon blinks. “Uh… yeah.”
He steps forward, body unfurling as he cautiously moves to Chris’ other side, next to Rebecca. Rebecca slowly stretches a hand toward Leon, but hesitates, looking up toward his head. “Can I…?” Leon nods, and Rebecca rests the arm not looped around Chris’ shoulders on Leon’s shoulder. Leon carefully shuffles closer, and despite having a frankly ridiculous amount of body and spine, he seems adept at controlling it.
“Grab the mane,” Leon says, carefully positioning himself so Rebecca can do so. “Better grip.”
Rebecca follows his instructions, fingers brushing over scales before twisting into the fur (or hair?) along Leon’s spine. “Feels like fish scales,” Rebecca mutters.
Leon snorts. “Feel me up later Rebecca, we gotta get you to medical.”
“Oh my God, Leon,” Rebecca groans, her face flushing and Leon barks a laugh, fangs flashing at the tease. Chris chuckles as well, despite himself, as their motley crew make their way up to the Osprey. DC and Nadia are waiting, eyeing Leon with no little bafflement.
“I think I need a vacation,” Nadia mutters and Leon snaps his teeth.
“Says the ones who pulled me away from mine,” Leon grumbles, but nods to Chris’ crewmates all the same. “Thanks for not shooting me by the way.”
“Uh… sure?” DC says faintly as they get Rebecca aboard and start organizing how they’ll load and distribute the aerosolized vaccine.
As they talk, Chris glances over at Leon, running a critical eye over the man-turned-dragon. “I don’t think you’re gonna fit in the Osprey. Also, think you can carry some of the canisters without puncturing them?” When Leon gives him a look like he’s gone insane, Chris gestures toward his own mouth. “Your uh… teeth. No hands?”
Leon sighs heavily, his entire serpentine body seeming to deflate. “Get me a spare set of pants.”
“What?”
“Pants. I can turn back, but I’d rather not moon all of New York while we load this stuff.”
Chris has officially reached his threshold of insanity for the day. Leon is a dragon. Leon has apparently been able to turn into a dragon at will for an indeterminate amount of time that he is not shocked by it. Chris is only now just finding out about it. Sure, why the hell not.
“Right,” Chris mutters faintly, and turns to look at DC. “Well? Get the man some pants.”
NOODLE LEON VS ARIAS! YESSS!
This IS SO GOOD! Love the mix of angst and comedy in this one! HIGHLY RECOMMEND everyone go read this if they adore Dragon Leon!!
Here's a Rookie version of Noodle Leon for you guys!
I guess in this AU he found the pendent in the Raccoon City Police Department when he was looking for the medallions with Claire. He took the necklace with him just in case in was needed for a puzzle or something later. (Plus is was too pretty to just leave sitting in the dusty corner like that!)
And moments later, before poor Leon knows it, he's transforming into a noodle after tucking the pendent into his pocket.
Leon has lost the pendent only a couple of times, but every time it happens, he's an anxiety filled mess.
The first time it happened was when he got home from a mission after staying awake for nearly 3 days straight. He was so tired that when he was taking off his work clothes he also automatically took off his necklace and put it on the key hook by the door.
Again, running on nothing but fumes, Leon doesn't even realize he's transforming and just collapses onto his bed before passing out. Cue the next morning when he wakes up as a dragon and is utterly confused, only for that confusion to quickly turn into panic when he realizes he can't find the pendent.
He looks for hours, rifling through all his clothes, turning their pockets inside out, flipping over furniture and rugs, searching through cabinets, literally checking almost EVERY nook and cranny of his apartment.
It's only found after Luis stops by for a visit later that day, when he see's it hanging on the key hook by the door after he walks in. When he shows Leon the pendent dangling between his fingers, Leon collapses into heap on the floor, relieved but irritated at the same time.
Okay so here's all the info about Leon's curse!
The cursed pendent was made from the pearl of an Eastern Dragon long ago. The pearl itself had been stolen from the Dragon and given to the Emperor as a gift after being fashioned into fine jewelry. The Dragon however flew into a mindless rage after losing it's pearl and savagely tore apart the countryside until it was tragically killed.
After it's death, a curse was placed on the pendent, ensuring that whoever stole it would be forever bound to it, for if they do not wear the necklace then they will transform into a dragon and stay that way until they can put it back on.
Unfortunately for Leon the curse lasts until death, so he's stuck like this for the rest of his life. (even if someone 'steals' the necklace from Leon, the curse WILL NOT transfer, and Leon would simply be stuck as a dragon until he gets the pendent back.)
Busy day today, so the best I got for you guys right now is a disgruntled Chris dragging a drunk noodle Leon to the next mission during the events of Vendetta!
((Later on tonight I'll try and make a post explaining how Leon's curse works.))
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