[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 277 - Sorry, I'm an Undercover Agent

He looked utterly thrilled. "We are deeply honored to cooperate with such a magnificent being as Lord Ultron! This is an honor for Hydra, and an even greater honor for the entire world!"

Ultron seemed quite receptive to Sitwell's flattery. The simmering fury in its electronic eyes subsided considerably, replaced by unmistakable satisfaction.

It nodded, then turned its gaze toward Ava.

Ava's mouth twitched. But she voiced her stance at the right moment: "Hydra is willing to cooperate."

She found Sitwell utterly disgraceful. She still expressed her willingness to cooperate.

"Good." Ultron withdrew its hand. "To fight that Witch, and the magical forces potentially standing behind her, technology alone is insufficient. We must harness a greater power."

As it spoke, its palm opened, and a gem radiating a soft yellow glow materialized out of thin air, hovering silently above its hand.

The Mind Stone.

"I have already retrieved this stone from Stark." Ultron's tone carried a note of self-satisfaction. "But to maximize its power, I need a brand-new body, one specially constructed to bear such force."

Both Sitwell and Ava found their gazes pulled to the stone.

"Whatever you need, Lord Ultron, just give the order!" Sitwell declared immediately.

"The list of materials I require, along with the blueprints for the new body, have already been transmitted to your systems," Ultron said. "Prepare everything as quickly as possible. Time is running short."

It paused, as though remembering something. "Additionally, through network analysis, I have located someone who may prove useful to us. Send personnel to make contact."

The moment it finished speaking, a large display screen to the side lit up, showing an image of a woman.

A purple-clad witch, with an aura that was distinctly, unsettlingly off.

After Ultron departed, the vast control room fell quiet. Only Ava and Sitwell remained.

"What do you think?"

Ava broke the silence first. Her voice gave little away, her gaze still fixed on the spot where Ultron had vanished.

The look behind Sitwell's glasses flickered uncertainly.

He pondered for a moment, then his face settled into a smooth, practiced smile. "Lord Ultron is immensely powerful, his objectives are clear, and they don't conflict with Hydra's interests. I believe this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Ava nodded. "I think the same. Hydra has been dormant for too long. It's time for the world to remember our name."

She turned and moved to leave, apparently ready to begin arranging what Ultron had assigned.

The instant her back was turned, Sitwell's smile vanished.

What replaced it was cold, flat killing intent.

His right hand slipped silently into his coat and came out with a pistol. The muzzle leveled at Ava's back, aimed directly at her heart.

Then everything went wrong.

A fraction of a second before Sitwell pulled the trigger, Ava's figure went strange, rippling like a reflection disturbed by a stone, insubstantial and wavering, and then she was simply gone.

Sitwell's heart lurched. This is bad.

A chill struck from behind. He had no time to react at all. He felt only a sudden coldness in his chest, and then agony detonated through his entire body.

He forced his eyes down. A gleaming blade had punched clean through his chest. Blood welled up around it, dark and fast.

"You..." His eyes were full of pure disbelief. He could feel his strength hemorrhaging out of him with every heartbeat.

"My apologies, Agent Sitwell. I'm undercover."

Ava's voice came from directly behind him, flat and cold. "Lady Witch is my true master. Ultron is too great a threat to be allowed free rein. I can't let you cooperate with it, and I certainly can't let it have any chance to threaten Lady Witch." A pause. "So I'm afraid you have to die."

Kill him, then report everything to Lady Witch. After that, Ultron won't be stirring up anything.

Ava ran the calculation quietly in her mind.

The words "Lady Witch" landed like a slap.

Sitwell's dying eyes wrenched open wide. He scraped together the very last scrap of his strength and forced words out of his throat, a raw, outraged, grief-stricken roar.

"Are you KIDDING me?! I'm one too, you absolute—"

His head dropped to the side.

Silence.

Ava froze, the blade still in her grip.

She withdrew the blade slowly and stared at Sitwell's body crumpled on the floor. Her mind was an unbroken string of question marks.

What did he just say?

He's one too?

Oh no.

She'd killed the wrong person.

She was still processing this when another change hit without warning.

On Sitwell's wrist, a black metal band flickered to life with a faint, dim glow.

Then the wound in his chest began to close. Visibly. Rapidly. Flesh knitting back together until there was nothing left of it.

The next second, the thoroughly, definitively dead Jasper Sitwell rocketed up off the floor. He smacked the dust off his clothes and started swearing at full volume.

"Damn it all, that was vicious! You're lucky you left me with one breath, or even the magic item Lady Witch gave me couldn't have pulled me back!"

Ava stared at him. Lively. Furious. Completely intact. She couldn't find a single word.

Sitwell saw her face and smugly lifted his chin. He gave the metal band a little shake.

"What? Thought you were the only one who answers to Lady Witch?" He snorted. "Truth be told, Lady Witch gave me this treasure herself. As long as I've got one breath left, any injury — any — heals on the spot." He let the implication hang in the air. "Jealous?"

Then, as though the thought had only just caught up with him, he stared at Ava with belated, wide-eyed shock.

"Wait. Hang on. You're actually one of Lady Witch's people? Since when?!"

Ava took a slow breath and reined in her thoroughly derailed composure. Then she gave him the short version, how she'd met Hermione, how it had ended with her swearing loyalty.

The smugness drained off Sitwell's face as she talked.

What replaced it was unmistakable, barely-suppressed sourness.

Damn it all.

This woman pledged herself to Lady Witch before I did?!

Which meant he was no longer Lady Witch's most favored one?

They stared at each other for a long moment, the absurdity of it all slowly sinking in.

"Ahem." Sitwell cleared his throat and forcibly buried his bruised feelings. "Right. We're on the same side. Which means the only thing that matters right now is getting word to Lady Witch, Ultron's plan, and the fact that it's hunting for that purple witch. As fast as possible."

Ava's expression turned serious. "Agreed. But Ultron is practically omnipresent in the digital world. Every conventional channel we have is almost certainly under its surveillance."

"So what do we do?" Sitwell frowned.

Ava went quiet for a moment. Then a sharp glint crossed her eyes.

"If technology won't work, we use magic." She pointed at the image still displayed on the screen, the woman in purple. "If she's genuinely a witch, we find her and use her to pass the message. The catch is we'd need to quietly turn her to our side first."

Sitwell's face lit up. "That's exactly it. Let's do it."

Decision made. They got to work immediately.

...

Several days later.

Inside the Hydra base, space shivered, a subtle, brief distortion, and a purple figure appeared in the center of the room from nothing.

Ava and Sitwell straightened. They were on their feet at once, warm smiles ready, moving to step forward and deliver the pitch they'd rehearsed.

Then, before either of them could open their mouths, a familiar figure leaned out from behind Agatha and gave them both a cheerful wave.

"Hey. Long time no see, Ava, Sitwell."

That voice hit like a Freezing Charm.

Both of them locked up completely, staring at Hermione as she strolled toward them, their minds producing nothing whatsoever.

La, Lady Witch?

Why is she here with the target?

Hermione took in their expressions and her smile went wider.

She walked right up to them.

"Simple, really," she said. "The witch you've been jumping through hoops to recruit?"

She let the pause breathe.

"Also one of ours."

"...What?"

Sitwell and Ava turned to look at each other at the exact same moment. Shock and complete bewilderment stared back from both directions. Their mouths fell open in unison.

Another one?

➤ Next: Little Yi: The Witch Is Truly a Divine Being!