April 17, 2012
By RahXephon [847246]
Summary: Two exiles fled their seperate worlds and were brought together on the war-torn realm of Reshan. With nothing left in their old existence, they reluctantly band together and explore this strange and alien world of endless skies. But will Alex Mercer and the Lady Morgana find the peace they desire, or succumb to the bloodlust deep inside their hearts? Crossover, Original World, OCs.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Prototype game franchise or the BBC Merlin series. I make no commercial income off this story.
The Demon and the Witch
Colliding Fates
The plan held a certain amount of simplicity. Get in. Reach the device. Use the device.
Simple, right?
As the heavily-armed soldiers of Britain fought back fiercely, the being known as Alex Mercer cursed the heavens for his complacence.
"Get out of the way already!" He growled at his opponents for the umpteenth time.
He gave his opponents only one second to retreat. Alex needed that much time to plant his grotesquely clawed arm into the concrete floor of the facility, tunnel his extended limb underneath and erupt the concrete beneath the feat of his opponents into a forest of claws.
The air rained in the blood and gore of mutilated humans.
Momentarily, Alex's shape twitched. His very being urged to feast on the flesh. Already weakened from this latest skirmish, the man let his body loose. Tendrils of black-and-red organic matter expanded from his clothed form, seeking out the tender organic matter and pulling it right back into the person. Alex Mercer smirked as his biomass replenished a little.
His name was Alex Mercer. But to describe him as a human was a mistake. Its actual name was codename ZEUS, a sentient, regenerative expression of the Blacklight virus, able to consume all organic matter and reshape its form to its will. The virus and all its variants were experiments that ran so out of control that half the world wanted it dead.
'Damn you, PARIAH.' Alex cursed the other government project that caused the entire world to rise up against the Blacklight virus. ZEUS' deranged, twisted cousin held none of the memories or moralities of a normal human being. PARIAH's very instincts ruled its very action, urging him to infect every human being in sight and expand his 'Hive' until it covered the very globe. Every being touched by PARIAH's virus had their faculties destroyed, and their body reduced to sodding wrecks. These zombies in all but name held an overwhelming urge to consume other people's brains.
Most of the east coast had already fallen. The west held out, but everyone knew the defenders were doomed. Other parts of the world also had their own infections to tend with, as fleeing Americans veered as far as they could to escape the genocidal onslaught. Their desperation only played in PARIAH's hands. Soon all of Earth would fall, and every living organic creature would be morphed into a super organism that spanned the globe.
ZEUS wanted to be off this darn planet before it turned into a biological wasteland. With that in mind, Alex travelled the globe and consumed all manner of scientists and soldiers, stealing their most salient memories and adding their voice to his own internal Hive.
The things these people knew freaked Alex out. He had never known the governments of the world were involved in much darker things than the Blacklight virus.
The facility he currently rampaged through only came to his attention a week ago. After running about amongst the wartorn streets of London, he met their version of the Special Forces and only planned to absorb them so he could understand the country's atrocious accents.
What Alex learned from a particular old veteran stunned his very being. His mind already wandered to the particular node of memory.
.."This bloody thing is what the boffins call the Astra Portia. Love it, hate it, but as of now, you're our latest batch of cannon fodder ready to enter the meat grinder."
Flashes of a circular device flashed into view, which spun and opened a portal to distant worlds.
"The things we meet out there will blow off your minds. That's why we're stuffing everything we can in your brains so you won't fucking freeze on the battlefield!"
Different images passed by. Aliens. Worlds. Spaceships. And death. So much death.
"Frankly, the shit we deal with is so unreal, it's virtually guaranteed you'll end up in a body bag. Luckily, that's not my problem."
The description of the alien worlds sounded just like heaven to the harried lifeform. To think there were millions of planets out there, just waiting to be explored. That most of the inhabitants were hostile mattered little to Alex. Most of them weren't human to begin with. 'Hmph, I wonder why I even care.'
Since the loss of his 'sister' Dana, he ceased caring about the human lives he destroyed. Dana had been his only remaining tie to humanity. Losing her from Blackwatch operatives had finally broken his faith in the race that spawned him and his kind.
The Astra Portia was his only ticket out of this hellhole. Nothing would stand in his way to freedom. "Get out of the way!"
The Lady Morgana lay defeated. The former queen of Camelot had captured the throne not once, but twice, only to be cast out by his idiot half-brother Arthur. The humiliation burned within her. After countless of plots of foiling the Pendragons, she received nothing for her efforts except for scorn, banishment and the ever-present feeling of loneliness.
For lonely was all she felt in this age where her homeland hunted and burned those with the gift of magic. Were it not for Uther's genocidal spree against magicians, she could have received help against the dreams. Not that it mattered. Lately, even when she ruled over Camelot, her forays into sleep only revealed one, inevitable vision: her defeat at the feet of the old wizard Emrys.
Emrys. The other magicians whispered the name in fear. Emrys, they would say, held the power of a thousand wizards. Emrys was the greatest of them all. Emrys was destined to help Arthur rule Camelot into an age of prosperity. Emrys, it seemed, could not even die.
And as for her? No one whispered the name of the Lady Morgana except in fear. There was no greatness for her in store. The prophecies spoke very little of her except for one minor detail. She was to be one of Emrys' many stepping stones to greatness.
It hurt. It really hurt. If Fate already ruled out her continued existence in Camelot, what else did she have to live for? She had no family left to love after Agravaine and Morgause had left this plane of existence. Even if she did somehow defy her fate and defeat the great wizard Emrys, there would be no one left to celebrate her victory. All that would be left were nameless peasants and oafish knights – none in the kingdom had the wit to match her grace.
After all her efforts, she suddenly realized that Camelot wasn't even worth conquering anymore. The kingdom had nothing to offer except for a fleeting amount of satisfaction at being crowned a queen, and Morgana had already tasted it twice. She had no wish to repeat the experience for a third time, only for Emrys to plot her downfall.
No, what she wanted was something nothing in Camelot or even Albion could provide. Camelot hated her. Albion feared her. What Morgana wanted the most in her heart was a place where she would be loved. Was that one, simple wish too much to ask for?
And then, after an indeterminate amount of time, she felt something. The loneliness that tugged at her soul started to lessen. The wounds she sustained during her flight from the castle lifted. Morgana woke up in amazement. What.. what was happening to her?
'Did the Old Golds answer my prayer?'
When she turned her head from the dirt, she saw something even better. 'A dragon!' A young one, actually, barely a year or so old. The old texts spoke of them in fear and amazement. To think that one would not only meet her in person, but heal her wounds. Truly she was in the presence of a god.
"I.. I thank you, sir dragon."
The small white dragon crooned in contentment at her words. Morgana felt her heart warm up for the first time in years. Truly she was in the presence of divinity.
"I thank you again for healing me. May you give me the honor of knowing your name, great one?"
The creature didn't speak – it sang. While she never really caught the creature's name, she did come away with a feeling of contentment. Eventually, its song touched something else, something deep within her heart.
"What? You can send me away? Even from Emrys' clutches?"
The dragon sang of tales, stories where she would meet her end at Emrys' hands. Then it sang of encounters where she would get the best of him, only to lead a life of empty hatred as everyone else had died around their conflict. Finally, the dragon sang of a different song. A song of escape.
To escape her destiny, the Lady Morgana had to give up much – her reputation, her birthright, all of Albion. Only when she was prepared to give up that much would the dragon give her what she desired most of all.
"I… yes. I accept, great one. I accept whatever price you ask in return for what I want."
The creature smiled, and hovered closer until its nose almost touched Morgana's own. She could feel its breath wash over her face, caressing her cheeks and brushing her matted hair. To have such a powerful creature by her side might even give her the power to defeat Emrys once and for all!
'Yet, it shall not be, for this creature is too great to allow itself to be bound by me. Perhaps it is for the best.'
She held out her pale, small hand and smiled at the innocent young creature. "Take me away."
Its paw clasped the limb and pulled.
The portal awaited.
By the time Alex actually entered the departure room, he felt like he went through an entire army. The closed quarters of the underground facility only worked through the British army's disadvantage. While they were quite inventive in establishing choke points and concentrating firepower, they never withstood his bull rushes. The heaviest weapon they could throw at him was a rocket launcher, and the shield that morphed out of his hand took care of that. The rest was minced meat.
Now that he actually entered the room, Alex marveled at the device. Its elegant, circular shape looked anything but human. From the exotic bronze exterior, to the alien runes carved on its surface, the Astra Portia thoroughly astounded him. The former scientist within him craved to study the origins of the device and figure out what kind of a superior intelligent race had invented it. 'Nothing human could ever design something so beautiful.'
Then the bullets started flying again and Alex had to concentrate in the fight. The defenders started rolling out different weapons this time, alien ones that shot lightning and laser beams.
"Is that all you got? Even women hit better!"
While one of his arms morphed into a shield to absorb the attacks, his other curled into a pronged tentacle. Alex hurled it forward into a broad arc, sweeping all of the soldiers off their feet with bone-crushing force.
"Now, let's see how to activate this machine."
The living virus in human form swept forward and picked the highest ranking soldier. The salt-and-pepper haired man meekly attempted to stab the intruder in the kidney.
"Nice try." Alex said as he calmly pulled the knife from his coiling body. The wound instantly closed as red and black tendrils repaired the tear. "But it's not nearly enough. Now," His fist plunged through the chest of the officer. "I need to know what you know!"
Alex's body exploded in a storm of black and red. The curls coiled eagerly around the dying form of the officer, absorbing not only the flesh, but also the most salient memories.
"..The Astra Portia, supposedly made by the gods, yada yada yada. You can read the history lessons later. All you need to know that once you go in, you enter somewhere else."
Images of an activating portal flashed by. Flashes, many flashes.
"Hostile extraterrestrials detected on the other side! We need reinforcements! Send armor support…"
"The activation device! Quickly! Dismantle it and bring the device back to us!"
A pillar, cool as stone but hard as diamond. At its center lay a jewel with many facets. Hands manipulated the jewel, causing several of its facets to brighten.
As the memories rushed through Alex's head, the intertwined bodies combined into one. Each consumption left him with another set of memories, and another voice in his internal hive. Those he consumed never really died – they simply transcended inside his constantly changing body. Each time he absorbed a person, he grew a little stronger, a little wiser, a little more knowledgeable. But the voices also made it harder for him to concentrate, for in the end, the people he consumed still lingered inside his mind.
The newly invigorated attacker cleared his mind. 'This is no time to mess around. I have to get up to the control room.'
The room was located on a raised level just near the gate. Alex looked around until he spotted the blast doors that covered the armored glass of the control room. 'Hm, breaking it won't pose much trouble.'
Concentrating, Alex redirected his biomass and morphed his arms into giant fists. He then used his prodigious leg strength to fling himself against the metal paneling. It shattered against the sheer weight of Alex's impact.
An overweight general along with some technicians instantly drew their firearms. They might as well have been firing paintballs for all the good it did to Alex. His unarmored fleshy shape easily absorbed the impact, passing through his 'clothes' like they were jelly. He jumped and slammed his oversized fists against the ground, knocking all of his enemies over and leaving them helpless against his casual slaughter.
The only people he spared were the general and one of the technicians. Alex took his time consuming their flesh and their memories. 'Well well, it looks like these British have been adventuring quite a lot.' Not that he particularly cared. He knew enough now to operate the device. He also learned that the general activated a self-destruct sequence.
A nuke was set to explode in thirty seconds. That left Alex with precious little time to select a human-habitable planet as his destination and spool up the ancient device. Even as its surface shimmered in an ethereal portal, he had to jump right into it as the explosion of radioactive fury engulfed the entire base.
No one actually knew what would happen to someone in transit as their Astra Portia became undone.
Morgana felt at peace. For the first time in her life, she finally felt her worries ease away as the dragon set her forth on a new, bright future. No matter where this journey ended, she was sure to enjoy a life away from the witch hunts that wracked the lands of Albion.
A new world offered many new possibilities. With her very identity stripped, she could start anew. Depending on the plants that she would encounter in the new world, she could offer herself as a healer, or perhaps an enchanter of minor trinkets. If it turned out her talents weren't as unique as she thought, there was no great loss. For if a world had so many magicians practicing their arts in open, then surely it must be her home.
As the lengthy journey through the spirit dimension continued, the mighty sorceress let her dreams carry her forth. Her incorporeal being flew amidst the strands of time with the ease of a bird. The Lady Morgana knew not where her destination might be, only that her heart would tell her where to stop.
Then, her peace shattered into the mist as a blast wave of roiling primordial energy washed over her peaceful flight. A wordless scream erupted from her thrashing form as the chaos overwhelmed the elegant magics that the dragon had cast on her. 'NO! Who would dare interrupt my journey?'
A small, but powerful presence suddenly crashed into her. Its black and red coils clashed painfully against Morgana's blue and green aura. For a moment, they fought against each other, letting their psychic signatures clash against each other.
'This presence! It feels-!"
The foul being felt unlike anything she had ever encountered before. Not even the darkest beasts of the Old Religion felt as sickening as this.. this monster. Morgana only felt a single presence, yet the chorus of voices that assaulted her consciousness was like an army. Even Camelot's entire contingent of knights couldn't hope to match the chaos that this entity contained within itself. 'Whatever it is, it's not human!'
After learning the futility of their constant struggle, Morgana decided to get rid of the interloper. Gathering her inner strength, she focused her will down in a single direction and let fly her resolve. A massive blast erupted from her shape that pushed the black-and-red entity away.
Only for it to extend a thick tendril that wrapped around her shape. 'Let go! But no matter what she did, she couldn't get the entity to latch off her form. Every minute the being held on to her, the further she veered from her destination. Eventually, the struggle ended.
A portal appeared in their path. Before Morgana could even react, it swallowed her whole—
Only for her to land roughly in a patch of grass. Barely a second later the thing that pushed her off course landed right behind her. 'It— it followed me here!'
Mindless of her serene surroundings, she scrambled on her feet and shot a swift wave of invisible force at the entity that took the shape of a man. The thing let out a short masculine cry as his body flung against a beautiful blooming tree.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" It screamed with an atrocious accent. The sheer vulgarity of its voice disgusted the sorceress.
Morgana continued to chant in the language of the Old Religion. "From the foulest depths, I summon Hellfire!"
A lick of flame burst from her outstretched hand. It torched the bright green grass in front of her as it reached out to the strangely garbed man.
Strangely enough, the man did not appear to be concerned. Just before the flame reached his form, his arm transformed into an ungainly massive shield of organic black. Her hellfire spell smashed harmlessly against its toughened surface.
"I-Impossible!" Morgana gasped, then crawled back from the shape that was anything but human. "Demon! DEMON!"
She had precious few spells in her arsenal that fared well against demons. Most of her banishment spells required reagents she did not have on hand, and exorcisms required the demon to be subdued. The sorceress looked around and tried to find anything that she could use to her advantage. The rich green fields, the gentle cliffs, the bright blue skies all presented an atmosphere of peace. Yet peace was the last thing on her mind as she tried to summon up the strength to hold off a being of the nether.
"You.. you ruined EVERYTHING!"
Alex Mercer groaned as his restless cells tried to adjust to the new environment. He hadn't imagined encountering another person just as the Astra Portia flung him into its depths. Shaking his head, he took a good look at the woman who seemed to possess strange abilities.
He had to admit, she looked gorgeous. His attacker possessed pale white skin, a perfectly framed face and the most gentle lips. The only thing that marred her beauty was the birds nest she called her hair and her rumpled Goth-inspired clothing. The woman stood with a healthy measure of grace. Even as she chanted something in a language Alex had never heard before, he found her appearance enchanting.
Then the woman finished, and a wave of holy energy passed over him. For a moment, Alex felt he was being lifted off the ground. Then the energy passed harmlessly off his biomass and dissipated into the air.
"That tickled."
"Don't mock me, demon." The woman huffed her chest and started another chant.
Amused, Alex crossed his arms and let the woman empty her bag of tricks. The girl might be some sort of Jedi, she was still unarmed. Unless she had the power to summon a bazooka, he seriously doubted the raven-haired woman could hurt him.
A huge burst of lightning shot forth from her outstretched hand. The bolt instantly reached his unarmored flesh and tore right through his stomach. A significant portion of his biomass burned into ashes before he could even blink.
"The fuck! That hurt you bitch!"
But the woman took advantage of his distraction and plowed him with another spell. This time he felt a push much larger than the one before. It lifted him perhaps a hundred feet back and into the air.
That was when he realized that there was nothing beneath him except the clouds and air. Alex looked back at the landmass in front of him. Somehow, the portal deposited him in some crazy world where islands floated high up in the sky! Judging from all the clouds beneath him, they were at least several kilometers from the ground, if that even existed at all. To fall down from such a huge height would shatter his form.
"Oh no you don't!"
Just before he fell past the edge, he morphed his arm into a whipfist. Launching it at a nearby tree, he latched on successfully and reeled himself back on solid ground. "That was a dirty trick, you bitch."
Woman or not, Alex was in the mind to teach the violent spellcaster a lesson. He cared little for this new floating world or the gentle verdant pastures. The only thing that consumed his mind was the bitch.
Clearly irritated at his choice of words, the woman scoffed. "Won't you ever shut up, demon?"
"It would help if you stop attacking me, witch?"
"Oh really?" The bitch drawled as she readied her arms for another spell. "And who's fault was it that interrupted my journey to paradise?"
Alex didn't understand much of what happened before. The whole experience was a blur to his mind. "I don't know what you're talking about, and besides," He swept his whipfist around. "This place doesn't look too bad."
"But I wasn't meant to arrive in this realm!" She shouted as her rage brimmed to the surface. "The dragon promised me peace! I was almost there, if not for you!"
'What is this bitch talking about? Dragon? Peace?' Alex felt not the slightest amount of guilt.
"Peace is a lie." He stated, quoting one of his favorite movies.
"I warned you once already, do not mock me. I am a high priestess of the Old Religion and I am more than a match for a simple shapeshifting demon!"
"For the last time, I'm not a demon, I'm a…" He trailed off as he didn't actually quite know who he was himself. A living virus? An collective of different humans clumped into a single body? "I'm a person, damnit!"
"You lie." The witch hissed acidly as she prepared a wordless spell. "There is no soul in your twisted flesh."
Her words stung harder than a thermobaric shot to his chest. He could deal with being riddled with bullets or taking punches from supermutated Hunters. But to be called as something less than human chipped at his very identity. The person he was right now might not be the original Alex Mercer, he had lost none of his humanity. To call him a demon or a soulless beast was to equate him with PARIAH. The bitch had no idea what she was talking about.
"So you think I'm a demon, huh? Well, you ain't seen nothing yet!"
His muscles quickly bulged into huge meaty chunks of blackened strength. He stomped over to one of the younger trees and snapped the trunk, freeing the upper half. After ensuring he had a good grip of the tree, he whirled around like an Olympic athlete, and let go of the heavy growth.
The tree came fast, too fast for her to dodge. Unfortunately, she was not without a measure of battle experience, and she had already prepared a spell that propelled herself out of the way the instant the tree hit the spot she left.
"You-You're trying to kill me!"
"Isn't that what you've been doing all along?" Alex shot back. "Just because I'm not human doesn't mean I lost all my rights."
The witch looked puzzled at that. "Rights? This is not a matter of law." Her anger intensified as her fists crackled in lightning. "What I want is revenge for pulling me away from my paradise!"
But before she could release her spell, a group of strangers appeared in the clearing. Alex was surprised at their sudden appearance – they moved fast, faster than him even. The men surrounded Alex and the witch and held out long straight swords with an intent to kill. Their strange garbs were colorful and flowed like silk. It held a certain Asian influence in their emphasis on balance and elegance. Yet despite their aesthetic nature, they could not completely hide the armored plates that lay underneath.
"Who are you guys?" He growled, and turned his hands into claws.
Whatever Alex expected, he certainly didn't the chatter of a completely foreign language assault his ears. The beautiful woman seemed likewise confused.
Regardless of the language, there was something about their tone that Alex didn't like. He watched them warily, taking in their battle ready stance and their hostile eyes. They were obviously not very open to strangers.
"You, witch." He hissed, softly enough so as not to startle the strangers. "The locals don't seem to like us very much."
"You can't help them when you look like that." The woman muttered as she eyed his claws. "And I am the Lady Morgana, not a common witch, you demon."
"And I'I'll stop calling you witch if you call me Alex Mercer."
"Demons have no need for names."
"And is a witch any better?"
Alex was so engaged in his argument with Morgana that the observers had enough. One of them raised his sword and practically flew at him. The blade impaled his heart.
Shock appeared on Alex's face. 'These guys move fast!' His huge three-clawed hand then sliced the body of his assailant apart in three fleshy chunks. 'But they're still no match to me!'
He pulled out the sword and broke it in his grip. "Looks like its gloves off!"
And he jumped into a flying kick that smacked against one of the attackers. He used the body to slide over the grass and reach the next attacker, who readied his sword in an overhand strike. Alex's claws easily tore the metal apart and cut off the head of his attacker. Jumping off from his surfboard, he noticed a clump of three approaching him rapidly in a formation.
'Perfect.' The living virus thought as he buried one of his claws in the dirt. A second later, a huge forest of spikes erupted beneath the attackers, impaling them into bits.
The surviving attackers held off at that point. Some of them even sheathed their swords, only to retrieve strange objects such as scrolls or something that looked like tarot cards. 'What in the hell..?'
Then, one of the locals summoned a fireball, while another person threw out a spear of radiant gold energy. Mercer quickly became peppered with spells that stung or even seriously hurt him. He desperately encased his body in armor, only to feel it chip away at all sides. 'Damnit, I didn't recover from my battle at the hidden base. I don't have enough biomass to pull off a devastator.'
Whenever he sprinted towards one of the attackers, his target would merely jump away. The rest surrounded him on all sides and continued to sling fireballs or wind blades at him. His whipfist managed to catch a few of them by surprise, but they quickly learned his limits and stayed out of his range.
The Lady Morgana hoped the local denizens of this realm would get rid of the demon. She never expected the strangely garbed warriors to attack her as well. "I am not your enemy!" She snapped, only frown when they talked back in their guttural language. In her years of exile, she had explored every kingdom of Albion and spoke with much of the foreigners that landed on its shores. None whatsoever spoke even a semblance of this language.
'Of course, they are from a different realm. It would have been a surprise if they actually understood my tongue.'
The attackers held off for a while, assuming she was a demon just like Alex. Morgana matched their spells with her own. As the sorceress became accustomed to their style of magic, she began in earnest, calling forth Old Magic to erupt the lands or make the skies throw down a thunderbolt.
This frightened her opponents, and caused them to try out different tactics. One of them gathered the courage to draw a sword, and closed in on the sorceress in an attempt to cut off her head.
Morgana saw the assassin coming before he even drew his sword, and pulled out her own longsword in a desperate attempt to parry the attack. The man's weight almost flung her off her feet. The attacker continued to press his attack, launching out a rapid series of strikes that left Morgana with no opportunity to launch a spell. She only had enough concentration to let out her quickest spell that did little more than to push the duelist away.
By then, the other attackers drew their swords and surrounded her from all sides. That was when she knew that death was close at hand. 'I'm not going to die mere minutes after I arrive at this new world!' Her swordplay was good, she knew she could match Arthur. But against a score of skilled swordsmen she had precious little in her favor. Her opponents were too smart to give her time to cast a powerful spell.
As her attackers eyed her warily, Morgana chanced a glance at her fellow outworlder. The demon who fancied himself as Alex Mercer raged uselessly against the long distance spells of the local warriors. No matter how much punishment he could take, the witch had no doubt he would eventually succumb.
Knowing that time was running out, she had no choice but to enlist his aid. "Demon! We have to fight together!"
"You're telling me!" The man, now covered in plates of black, struggled as he tried to throw rocks at his swift opponents. "Fine, what do you have in mind!"
"Hold them off while I prepare a spell to force them away!"
"Fine, but don't stab me in the back!" Alex yelled as he abandoned his current course of action and sprinted towards the beleaguered witch.
"Shouldn't I be worried about that, demon?"
"Oh shut your trap."
When Mercer reached Morgana, he easily swatted away the swordsmen who swarmed her. Using his bulging muscles, he caught one of them and threw them back at his pursuers, who became distracted in catching their comrades.
"There, I bought you time. Now get to it you witch."
Morgana glared back at her savior but refrained from retorting. She had a spell to cast first. The old words flowed easily from her mouth as she danced her body as if she was naked under the rain. The powerful sorceress did not notice the rain of limbs or the splatter of blood. As she called more and more upon the powers of her patrons, Morgana even passed over the disgusting spectacle of her protector absorbing the mind and body of one of the attackers.
"… and the rain of the elders shall cleanse the Earth!"
The whole area erupted into a storm of lightning.