Murder Your Maker

by HobTheRobot

Exactly what the titles says, but not what you may think. Picks up right after the Evolved are consumed at the end of P2, just before the fight starts. This is a one-shot and shall remain such. Alex is very angry when he finally gets to meet his father. How do you kill something that was never alive? Simple: You Don't. You can't run, or hide from Blacklight.

First off, I own nothing.

Now, if anyone has any questions after reading this then send me a message or ask them in a review if you leave one and request a message from me answering them. The story is a one-shot that didn't give me the opportunity to explain everything.

Alex Mercer is a Person of Mass Destruction(PMD).

Note: There have been some changes to Alex's powers as they appear in this story. Nothing major for the most part. When using Claws Alex's forearm and upper arm look mostly the same as they did when he was in Armor form in the first game. When Blade is active his upper arm also resembles it's form from Armor mode.

In this one-shot Alex possesses powers based on Greene's abilities, those from the boss fight with her and others. Three of the new powers he uses are not based on anything from the games. This story takes into account the statement in the first game, somewhere in the WOI, that Blacklight will always be getting stronger and continually develop new abilities based on things it consumes. See if you can guess what sort of things Alex ate to get those three powers. Also, Alex has improved existing abilities.

I do not feel that anything I've done here is anywhere near as absurd or ridiculous as the 'Screw Physics' moment at the end of P2, or anything else in the game.

I would suggest, before reading this, looking up images of Guyver and Hercules beetles. You don't have to, and if you already know what both look like then that's good. Both of these are relevant later in the one-shot and Guyver at the end.

---

Some people don't know when to stay dead.

"Now I think it's time I got rid of you once and for all James." Mercer said, a slight growl slipping into his voice.

"Bring it fucker!" Heller shouted back, hands flashing to claws. Actions and words aside, James was anything but confident he could win this fight.

Before either party could make a move to begin the fight, their attention was drawn south toward the Gentek building. Even from such a distance, both super-beings could hear metal screaming in protest while thousands of panes of glass shattered, shards plummeting to the ground and splintering further. Concrete and mortar cracked and broke apart as the entire structure began to fall, partly collapsing in on itself as it crumbled.

"What the fuck?" James was nearly speechless, trying to figure out what his enemy hoped to accomplish by leveling the abandoned building.

"No. No!" Mercer roared, though curiously, it did not seem to be anger that prompted the outburst. The monstrous former scientist appeared to be afraid, impossible as that may seem. He abruptly spun to face James again. "James, things have changed. I don't have time to explain but we have no choice now: you have to help me!"

"What!?" Heller, understandably, was enraged by the maniac's declaration. "After what you fucking put me through, you expect me to just help your fucking ass?"

"James, we don't have time for this! He'll be here any-" The argument was cut short by a fountain of rubble exploding from the rooftop between the two shapeshifters. The destruction was caused by a vaguely human shaped object crashing down from above them and continuing through the building.

"What the fuck was-" James was cut off again as the structure began to come down. At least that explained what had happened to the Gentek building, didn't it?

Both men jumped clear, landing in the middle of Times Square not far from where Elizabeth Greene had died only a little more than a year earlier. Both turned to watch as the building was reduced to rubble, crumbling under it's own weight after the bottom floor was blown out when the 'object' apparently reached the ground.

"James! Please listen to me. I can't beat him myself and neither can you! The only way either of us is going to walk away from this alive is if you help me!"

"ALEXANDER MERCER!" The roar was understandable, but only barely. A portion of the settling rubble was blown away as the humanoid object that had brought the building down in the first place erupted from the heap, crashing to the street twenty feet behind the two Infected men.

Heller and Mercer both spun to face the threat, both switching to their respective blades. The moment James saw the enemy his brain nearly shut down. For there, in the smoke and dust, stood Alex Mercer, glaring murderously at...well, himself. His eyes glowed an ominous pale green in contrast to Alexander's glowing red eyes.

"You should have stayed dead you bastard!"

With that simple statement, the newly arrived Mercer launched himself forward, charging straight at the rather shaken looking Alexander.

Heller, too confused to react just yet, watched as the man he had been hunting shifted his left arm into a shield to block the other's charge. The newly arrived Alex Mercer simply flipped forward mid-step, slamming both feet into the barrier at nearly two-hundred miles per hour.

Both James and Alexander watched the shield shatter, along with Alexander's shoulder, as the would-be world conqueror was blown back from the force of what appeared to be a Bullet Dive executed horizontally.

The enraged shapeshifter took two steps forward before taking back the second step to avoid a pair of Hammer Fists which slammed to the ground just a foot in front of him, leaning back just enough to avoid the same weaponized limbs as their owner swung them diagonally towards him.

James snarled in frustration after the second miss and prepared to punch the Mercer look-alike. "If anyone's killing that fucking bastard, it's me!"

The certainty in those words vanished only a second later, carried away by the resounding crash as his right Hammer Fist was caught in the still unchanged left hand of the second Alex Mercer. The look James found directed at him was unsettling; being viewed with what he was sure was the same disinterested contempt he himself had shown countless Blackwatch soldiers was not a pleasant experience.

The moment was made all the worse when he noticed hundreds, if not thousands of tiny tendrils extending from the other's hand, burrowing their way through his deformed limb which then began to dissolve. James watched in stunned horror as more than half his right arm fell away from his body, reduced to unrecognizable sludge on the ground. He didn't even register the kick that sent him hurtling into the third floor window of a nearby building.

The second Alex turned back to his target just in time to see nearly a dozen Brawlers and half as many Juggernauts surround their creator defensively. A silent command from the near panicked Mercer sent the small army of Infected after the seething doppelganger, who simply roared in response; a roar nearly identical to that of a Leader Hunter during the First Outbreak. Meeting the attacking force head on, the destroyer of the Gentek building caught sight of his objective fleeing towards James Heller's last known location.

Landing inside the building, Alexander found James staring uncomfortably as his arm finished re-growing. The mad scientist shook the former soldier out of his daze as quickly as he could.

"James! Come on, we don't have time for this. We have to get as far away from him as we can."

Heller took a few seconds longer than normal to register what had been said before stubbornly scowling at his enemy.

"Fuck that! I ain't running away from that fucker!" James shouted. Making his way to the window, intent on engaging the second Mercer again. "I'm gonna-!"

James closed his mouth and stared at the scene before him. Down in the streets below three dead Juggernauts and six mutilated Brawlers lay in a grotesque field of their own organs while another Juggernaut roared in pain as it was ripped in half at the waist, both segments tossed aside in irritation by the beast's killer.

What cemented James' decision to follow Alexander was the sight of the man in the street turning to bring his fist down on a charging Brawler's head, splattering the creature's brains and most of its deformed torso on the broken concrete beneath it. The ground appearing to have gained something of a crater for the slain animal to lie in without the punch ever reaching the pavement just made the choice easier.

The two shapeshifters fled to the rooftops, the roars of the dying Infected echoing behind them. Less than three minutes later, the two enemies, now temporary allies, landed on a rooftop overlooking East 39th street and Madison Avenue, having passed Bryant Park only moments earlier and unable to hear the death cries of the Infected any longer. Heller brought the retreat to a halt and grabbed the other man's shoulder.

"Okay, just what the fuck is going on? You'd better start fucking explaining or I'll-"

"Or you'll what James?" Alexander shrugged off the hand and continued. "Kill me? Well then get in line, that's his plan. Of course, once I'm dead you'll be next on his list. You and anyone else with even the slightest connection to the virus."

"What the fuck is 'it'?" James snarled, trying and failing to intimidate the scientist. "Why would it come after me and why is it trying to kill you?"

Alexander looked over his shoulder, wishing they were still running. "He's the unintended, and honestly unexpected result of a gamble I made last year. He's insane and unstable, mentally. He hates Gentek and Blackwatch, and anyone or anything connected to them. That means me since I used to work for them, and you as well James. You did take orders from them before we met, didn't you?"

"I'm not fucking part of fucking Blackwatch!"

"James please, we need to keep moving. You can continue spewing four letter expletives and their variations at me later." Alexander said, turning south. Before he could take a step however...

A crash shook the building as their pursuer landed a short distance away from them, glaring once again at the man he bore a great resemblance to. "Still running away! Still doing everything to avoid the consequences! You brought this on yourself Alexander! You got what you deserved last year and I intend to make sure you get it again! This time: stay dead!"

The homicidal monster rushed forward again, reaching nearly one-hundred miles an hour in just a few steps. Before either Mercer or Heller could recover from their surprise a fist was driven into Alexander's stomach, blowing him clear across the street and into one of the upper floors of the opposite building. James shifted his arms to claws just in time to catch a solid side kick in the gut, launching him in almost the opposite direction of his temporary ally.

Alexander had just managed to rise to a crouch when he noticed a shadow fall over him. A glance at his attacker was all he got before a pair of spiked Hammer Fists crashed down on him, sending him through the floor and through the floor below that, finally halting on the second floor of the building which quickly gave out from the impact and dropped him unceremoniously to the ground floor of the structure.

The empowered scientist rolled to his right and rose to his feet, narrowly avoiding his doppelganger's destructive landing as the latter dropped down to continue his attack. Staggered by the impact of the others arrival, Alexander didn't have a chance to avoid the attack when his opponent thrust both palms forward: blasting him through the wall behind him into the next building over.

The second Alex stepped through the hole in the wall, both arms flashing to Blades, and began closing on the slowly recovering man before him. Before either could make another move, a car crashed through the street facing windows of the building, folding around the blade wielding shapeshifter on impact. The vehicle was brutally ripped apart and it's remains cast aside without more than a second passing.

"Forget about me fucker?" Heller sneered at the imitation of the older Mercer sibling. This bravado lasted a total of three seconds though. In that time, the right blade had melted back to the form of a normal human arm and the palm of the newly formed hand had been thrust in James' general direction.

The blast force only just reached the former Marine but was still enough to knock him off his feet and hurl him into another building. With that done, the second Mercer turned to face his target, just as Alexander himself finished preparing a Devastator. The concentrated mass of tendrils struck the murderous shape shifter in the chest, carried him back through the wall, and blasted him clear through the other structure and out into the middle of Madison Avenue.

Alexander retracted the tendrils as quickly as he could before rushing to retrieve Heller from the rubble across the street. Another pack of Brawlers was sent to delay the other for as long as possible.

'If I'm lucky, they'll buy us twenty seconds.' Alexander wasn't feeling very optimistic.

"James!" Alexander tossed the largest piece of rubble aside and hoisted the other man out of the heap. "Quit wasting time you idiot! We have to go! Come on!"

Heller stumbled out of the building behind Alexander and started running after the other shapeshifter. The two turned south on Fifth Avenue and continued passed a quickly gathering mass of Brawlers and Juggernauts. Alexander shifted into a Blackwatch Lieutenant, James following his example and adopting the appearance of a normal soldier. Just as they turned West on 36th street, the Infected gathered behind them began to roar and scream as the third shapeshifter charged through them.

Alexander turned south again on Sixth Avenue, slowing when he reached 33rd street and stopping moments later, which James loudly objected to.

"Why the fuck are we stopping now? I thought you were fucking scared of that thing!"

"Shut up James." Alexander offhandedly dismissed his fellow Infected and extracted a working radio from his Blackwatch uniform. Changing his voice before speaking into the device, he only needed to partially fake his panic. "Red Crown this is...is...Fuck this codename bullshit! I've got fucking Alex Mercer in the Red Zone, and the bastard's gone fucking insane! He's tearing up everything! Way he's going, he'll be at Greeley Square in about two minutes! Fuck requesting it! Get a fucking strike team down here now! Fuck, send everything! Ten, twenty, one fucking hundred strike teams! Just get me some fucking support!"

Alexander cut the line and replaced the radio on his uniform. "Now we wait. As soon as any military units engage him, we run."

Moments later, four tanks could be seen rolling up Broadway with another four heading up Sixth Avenue. Each squad of tanks was followed by four APC's while twelve gunships descended low enough to have a clear shot at the incoming hostile. Another four unit squad of tanks accompanied by four more APC's with four more gunships and two transport helicopters flying above them were approaching from 32nd Street when the rampaging shapeshifter arrived.

"You think that will save you? NOTHING CAN PROTECT YOU FROM ME!"

While the roar meant little to anyone else, both James and Alexander knew whom the monster was speaking to.

Missiles and bullets filled the air, the smoke covering the retreating shapeshifters as they slipped away from the ensuing battle. Alexander quickly removed a manhole cover and dropped down into Manhattan's underground tunnels. Heller groaned, but followed.

---

"Now where the fuck are we?" James questioned the man ahead of him as the two climbed through a crack in the street, returning to the surface.

"14th Street: just out of sight of Union Square Park if I'm not mistaken." The more experienced changeling looked back at the gap they had come through. "He's already down there. Four Brawlers just died."

"Well how the fuck are we supposed to stop him!? If all that shit Blackwatch brought wasn't enough what are we supposed to do!? Fucking nuke the bastard!?"

"He already survived that once, James, and I seem to be fresh out of nuclear weapons at the moment, so unless you've been saving one for a rainy day, I'd say that idea won't do us much good..." Alexander trailed off, staring into space while Heller digested what he'd just heard.

"How the fuck do you survive a fucking nuke?"

"It helps that he's not exactly alive to begin with." Alexander didn't look at James when he responded and seemed distracted.

"What the fuck's that mean? He seemed pretty fucking alive when he was beating the shit out of you." James snarled when no response came. "Hey! Don't fucking ignore me!"

"I'm not. I'm trying to slow him down."

The moment Alexander finished speaking, the ground shook. Heller turned and nearly shifted his right arm to blade form. A Goliath was ponderously waddling up Fifth Avenue. Another crash brought the ex-Marine's attention to a second Goliath approaching from the East.

"Well that should slow the fucker down."

"For a minute, maybe two." Alexander muttered.

Both men were jarringly alerted to the arrival of their enemy. Rather hard not to notice when the street explodes less than one hundred feet away from you. The murderous abomination landed on the overturned remains of a tank, glowing eyes locking on Alexander.

James followed his nemesis's example and turned to flee south, past the Northbound Goliath. Heller glanced over his shoulder and stopped, seeing the second Goliath bringing it's massive arm down, still unseen by their pursuer.

The idea that this would deter the enemy was ruthlessly crushed when the man with glowing green eyes stopped mid-step, the Goliath's shadow alerting him to it's impending attack. It wasn't that he knew the deformed monster was there that crushed James' belief, it was what happened next, when the Goliath's attack stopped without reaching the ground.

The thunderous crash of the attack impacting was misleading, as was the crater that formed beneath the creatures arm.

"No fucking way..." James stared disbelieving at the Mercer lookalike. He had caught the Goliath's attack, his feet had been driven into the ground by the force but he was still standing.

Raising the Goliath's hand with his right arm and pulling back his left, the other Alex roared and drove his left hand into the bottom of the giant monsters hand. Just before the attack connected, James saw the arm flash to claws, black chitinous armor replacing the sleeve of the man's jacket.

A mass of jagged black spikes erupted from the Goliath's arm, severing the tendrils that connected it to the beast's body. James ignored Alexander and watched in a daze while the second Alex extracted his arm from the Goliath's before spinning around and using the severed limb to smash the giant into the building behind it.

Alexander groaned and lifted James off the ground before turning and running, doubting that the second Goliath would last any longer than the first. James recovered seconds later and resumed running on his own.

While his target ran away once again, the second Alex leaped onto the second giant, burying his now clawed fingers into the sides of it's head and flipping forward, planting his feet on its deformed shoulders and quickly completely his flip, tearing the creatures head and a noticeable portion of it's spine free from it's body.

Hurling the severed head to the ground, Alex launched himself into the air to resume his pursuit of Alexander. The headless body of the Goliath fell to the concrete, unnoticed by it's killer.

Tracking Alexander wasn't easy, but as long as he kept the other Infected with him he couldn't hide. Though, it was easier to find the general area than it was to pinpoint them. Alex landed in the middle of the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 12th Street.

"You can't run far enough Alexander! You can't hide!" The self-aware viral construct began to glow. "I'll flatten this whole block if I have to!"

Heller took that as his cue, whether Alexander agreed or not, and fired his rocket at the man several floors below him. Alex heard the movement and the firing of the explosive and raised his right arm, shield shifting into place. Just as the first missile found it's mark, detonating against the shield, Alexander fired his own, immediately discarding the now useless weapon and leaping into the air.

The second explosion was taken as the cue for both Merer and Heller to dive down toward the smoke cloud. The pair flipped over at the last second, completing the Double Bullet Dive attack and blowing the smoke away.

"This really shouldn't surprise me."

Alexander groaned while his ally nearly had a stroke. James at least was very surprised to find himself standing on the still raised shield that had blocked the rocket he had used as the first phase of the distraction. It appeared Alexander's rocket had also been blocked by a second shield which was now supporting the scientist.

James knew his own shields would have been cracked by the first rocket and destroyed by the second. The fact that both of the enemy's shields were still intact was frightening. The only reason he didn't break down and try to run was that he could see cracks on both slabs of reinforced biomass.

Just as the two were recovering from their own attacks, Alex swung both arms aside, throwing Alexander West and Heller East. The seemingly invincible monster turned and charged after his twin, once again ignoring James.

Alexander hit the ground and rolled backwards, rising to his feet and sliding to a stop a little more than two-hundred feet from where he had started. He managed to stop and look up just in time to catch a solid left hook in the jaw, bones cracked by the impact immediately beginning to repair themselves.

Without a chance to recover, the scientist found himself the recipient of another hook to the opposite side of his face followed by a barrage of punches to his torso, the assault ending with a vicious kick to the stomach which sent him another two-hundred feet down the road.

James meanwhile, recovering from his rather violent impact with a mostly intact bus, was decidedly better off than the bus was after the collision.

"Fuck." James grunted as he snapped his shoulder back into place. "Yeah, I think that about covers it."

The ex-Marine saw the two Mercers fighting a few hundred feet West of his location and sprinted towards them. He only briefly hesitated when a pack of Brawlers, six in total, joined him in his charge.

Stumbling back to his feet on Seventh Avenue, Alexander grabbed a decent sized truck and hurled it at the approaching doppelganger, followed by a smaller car and a mailbox. The truck was deflected with a shield while the car was simply cleaved in two, the mailbox was ignored and crumbled against the charging humanoid before breaking apart, shards of metal falling to the ground unnoticed.

Heller arrived in time to intercept a bare fisted blow from the green-eyed Mercer, his shield cracking, nearly shattering, when the blow connected. Before the attacker could continue his assault, the Brawlers leapt on him in defense of their creator. James and Alexander quickly fled to the rooftops again.

The former soldier looked back down and watched three of the Infected be torn apart by a mass of writhing tendrils which erupted from their opponent's back. The remaining three were joined then by an Alpha Juggernaut and it's pair of lesser Juggernauts. James turned away, trying to imagine the fight going well for the Infected.

"Why the fuck weren't you preparing for this guy!? You started all this fucking shit knowing that thing would be coming for you!?"

"This was part of my attempts at preparing for him! Don't tell me you're really that stupid James! You don't still think this was some kind of personal attack on you, do you!? I intended to build an army to fight him and make myself stronger! The Infected are the army, the Evolved were supposed to make me stronger!"

"So you ate them?"

"I consumed them because it was supposed to make me more powerful. But it didn't. Not really. Not enough to matter. And the Critical Mass state it left me in has already worn off, not that it helped. You'll recall that he had no trouble punching me through a fucking building when it was still active."

The two fled another block over while Alexander ordered the newly arrived batch of Infected, a newborn Alpha Brawler among them, to attack his double. Being nearly three times as strong as it's lesser kin, Alexander expected the Alpha Brawler to last almost two minutes, assuming it didn't engage the enemy directly.

Alexander had formulated another plan, though he wasn't happy with it, and had no choice but to ask James to distract his wayward pseudo-son long enough for him to finish the rather drawn out process.

"James, you were supposed to be the last thing I needed to consume to gain the power I needed." Alexander didn't hesitate to tell the former Marine about that part of the original plan. He was actually quite proud of it in fact.

"You fucking bastard! You were gonna fucking eat me so you could fight this fucker?" James shifted both arms to Claws. "Well how about I fucking eat you and take him out myself?"

"Won't work James. At best you'd end up maybe ten percent stronger than you are now, maybe twenty if you're lucky. It wouldn't be enough. Think about it: all the Evolved and what did I gain? A minor boost and temporary Critical Mass and it didn't take him more than a few hits to wipe that out. Even if, unlikely as it was, you had won our fight, I was ready to consume you from the inside out. It doesn't matter now though, since I know it won't work. I have an idea, but I need you to distract him."

"Yeah, cause your fucking ideas have been real fucking gems so far." Heller growled and switched his hands back to normal.

"If you have an idea of your own, then let's hear it! If not, then try to keep his attention on you and don't die for a few minutes." Alexander's eyes started to glow red again as he disappeared into the building through a hole in the roof.

"Fucking..." James clammed up and jumped over the flying Juggernaut corpse that had nearly landed on him. Once again, there stood the doppelganger, eyes glowing a brighter green than before.

"Where are you!?"

James wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that the monster didn't seem interested in fighting him just then. While the second Mercer smashed holes in the roof searching for his twin, James shifted to Tendrils and launched his, self named, Black Hole attack at his back.

Heller rolled over and climbed out of the crater he wasn't sure he remembered landing in.

"What the fuck just happened?" A crash brought his attention to the green eyed Alex Mercer who had just dropped from the building he vaguely recognized. "Oh. Right."

"Where is he?" The advancing shapeshifter's right arm degenerated into a writhing mass of tendrils reforming as a single, spike covered Hammer Fist.

James shifted to Blade and scowled at his opponent. "Fuck you!"

The ex-Marine had about two seconds to wonder why the Hammer Fist was growing so rapidly before it crashed into his face like a speeding truck. James, blurry as his vision was, saw the fist that had embedded him in the wall rise slightly into the air before being pulled back to it's owner by what looked suspiciously like a Whip Fist tendril.

James didn't have to pull himself free from the wall. The green eyed monster didi it for him, tossing him into the middle of the street afterwards. James shook his head to clear the fog and grabbed the nearest possible projectile before hurling the twisted signpost over his shoulder. The absence of any apparent reaction from his attacker didn't instil confidence.

"He knows he can't hide forever. You're just a distraction." The doppelganger lifted the Infected soldier off the ground and spun him around, glowing green eyes locking onto dull brown. "Where is Alexander Mercer?"

Heller brought his feet up and planted them against the other shapeshifter's chest. "Fuck off!" While he was able to escape the other's grip with the force he kicked off with, James also lost most of his jacket's collar. The homicidal entity absorbed the two small bits of biomass without even noticing them and stalked towards the soldier.

"You're going to tell me where he is one way or another. I don't need you alive to find out what you know."

Meanwhile, in the basement of a nearby building, Alexander had finished gathering everything he would need and was nearly done liquefying the bodies of the various Infected which had crowded into the structure. "This has to work."

James grunted and tried to force his blade through his opponents shield but was again repelled. "Just die you fucking bastard!" James leapt into the air and spun downwards again, knowing that this attack would cleave through a tank and hoping it would have a similar effect here.

For his part, Alex stepped back with his left foot and angled his right arm across his chest. At the last second, he shifted his stance while his arm flashed to a new form. James stumbled and fell behind the more experienced shapeshifter, half his blade falling from the air and embedding itself into the ground.

"Fucking...fuck!" James shifted his arm back to normal, regaining the lost segment in the process. This didn't eliminate the pain from having his arm cut off, but still, it was better than nothing.

He turned and glared at his enemy, and at the blade that had cut his cleanly in two. The large weapon was plain compared to his own serrated blade, but what truly puzzled him was the dull humming noise that seemed to be coming from it and fact that it seemed out of focus.

The humming noise stopped and the blade became clear and distinct in Heller's eyes. The owner of the weapon shifted his other arm to match the giant blade and advanced on James again.

"Last chance. Where is he?"

James never got a chance to answer. A shrieking noise, accompanied by the sound of crumbling masonry, brought both men's attention to the sight of a giant beetle-like creature emerging from the side of a building fifty meters from them. Spikes sprouted from the creature's back at random angles while what looked disturbingly like a pair of miniature Hydras writhed and thrashed above the thing's horned head.

It turned to face the two, massive mandibles parting to issue another shriek as the behemoth lumbered down the street toward them, carried by six massive armored legs. Heller rolled to his feet and jumped onto a building while his former opponent turned to face the oversized bug head on.

Alex planted his feet and waited to see what Alexander was going to do. Turned out the scientist thought intimidation was a viable tactic. The massive body stopped several feet away from the humanoid, displaced air rushing past him with enough force to flip most cars. Alexander reared back before lunging forward and roaring in the smaller entity's face.

This only served to irritate the sapient mutagenic monster who responded in much the same language. Alex appeared to inhale deeply before taking a sudden sharp step forward and, for want of a better term, shouted at the giant arthropod. The result was a deep booming noise that shattered every intact bit of glass within twenty meters of the source while also appearing to physically strike the giant insect, if Alexander's sudden steps backward was any indication.

James, cursing himself for forgetting them until now, summoned his Brawlers from wherever they had been hiding and ordered them to attack the distracted monster in human form. As the four roaring Infected descended towards him Alex glanced up, an expression that could almost be called a smile crossing his face. Four tendrils, each as thick as that of a Whip Fist, erupted from his back and lanced through the air, piercing through the Brawlers and drawing them even more quickly towards himself.

The tendrils had fully deconstructed the Brawler corpses before they reached Alex, only formless masses of organic matter reaching the awaiting Blacklight construct. Alexander recoiled despite himself upon realizing, at least in part, what his enemy was doing. Heller just stared.

The quartet of blobs reached their destination and began restructuring themselves along with Alex's body. The shapeshifter expanded until his head, or what passed for one, was thirty feet from the ground. Biomass solidified. Chitinous armor plates morphed into place. Fingers flexed. Clawed feet raked the ground. A mouth full of razor-like teeth split the now reptilian head and roared while bestial eyes flared bright green to match the intensity of the glowing red orbs on the giant beetle.

Alexander lashed out with the Hydra-like appendages before the humanoid giant had fully recovered from its own transformation. Spike covered tendrils wrapped themselves around Alex's arms and began pulling him toward the giant insectoid. Two seconds later, the Hydra tentacles snapped back violently when their tendrils were severed.

James jumped further from the two giants, wary of the massive pair of blades now wielded by the enemy.

"Where the fuck is...Aha!" James jumped down to the damaged and abandoned vehicle. "Okay, looks like it still works and it's mostly loaded. Fuck to the yeah."

James retrieved the missile pod from the APC and leapt back to the rooftops. Alexander in the meantime, was hurling vehicles and debris at his assailant, slashing at him with his horns when the other got close. It wasn't going well.

Alex lunged forward and cleaved one of the horns off again before jumping onto the monster's back, both hands shifting to claws. The sets of metallic digits were slammed down into the armored shell, blunting the razor sharpness of the weapons, but piercing the hide regardless. Massive black spikes exploded out of the beetle's body at random angles.

Flipping sideways off his foe's back, Alex landed in the rubble of the building from which the gargantuan insect had come. Alexander sped forward when he felt the weight leave him, repairing the damage and attempting to restructure his body to fight the more agile titan.

The black armored giant tensed and launched itself into the air, rotating at the top of the arc and dropping like a meteor to land right in front of his enemy. Alexander, in a moment of both panic and insight, imitated one of his would-be murderer's previous attacks.

Giant, grotesque mandibles parted and a low, rumbling boom echoed from within the giant body. The sonic boom toppled the surprised Alex and blasted him halfway down the block towards Seventh Avenue. Alexander turned and rushed down Sixth Avenue, still hoping to rebuild his form to more evenly battle his enemy.

James saw his temporary ally fleeing and chose to cover him as best he could. Taking aim with his half loaded weapon and firing at the quickly rising giant, all four missiles detonated against the dragon-like head and drew the owner's attention to Heller.

Even without a human face Alex still managed to convey an expression of growing irritation at the human's feeble interference. He opened his mouth, having intended to use this attack against the fleeing Alexander, and fired two pressurized streams of volatile chemicals and a blast of superheated air at James.

"Holy Fuck!" James leapt away from his perch, narrowly avoiding the stream of fire as it burned it's way through the corner of the rooftop. He was aware heat had little effect on him compared to a normal human, but a column of fire wasn't something he wanted to test that resistance against. The fact that the fire also appeared to carry enough force to shatter concrete as it burned its way through the structure assured him he had made the right choice in fleeing.

Heller landed on another building, north of his previous position, and fired again. This time, the missiles had no chance of reaching their target. Alex was on his feet again and easily outmaneuvered the explosives, leaping over the buildings and landing in the middle of Fifteenth Street, facing south. Another blast of fire erupted from the giant's mouth and was swept across the rooftops, blasting and burning away everything it struck.

James dove forward and dropped safely to the street below, for a few bits of flaming rubble landing on him was preferable to what may have happened if the fire itself had struck home. The ex-Marine looked up just in time to see the giant soar over him as it headed south, straight for the retreating form of the giant beetle that was Alexander Mercer.

Alexander reared back when his pursuer returned, crashing to the ground on the north-west corner of Tenth Street and Sixth Avenue. The arthropod launched another Sonic Boom, only for the attack to be intercepted by a more powerful blast from the humanoid's mouth. The two opposing sound waves, only traceable by the distorted air around them, collided. The weaker blast imploded on itself while the second blast's remaining energy dispersed into the air with a roar of thunder.

The monstrous, mutant Dynastes backed up several steps. Alexander debated with himself over the wisdom of attempting the sonic boom attack a third time. His hesitation cost him.

Alex leapt into the air again, landing East of Alexander on Eleventh Street. Both arms shifted to Hammer Fist and were brought crashing down on the second and third legs on the left side of the beetle's body. The two limbs were crippled and rendered nearly unrecognizable when the weapons were raised into the air again.

Before the two wrecking balls masquerading as hands could be brought down again, the twin Hydras on either side of the large horn protruding from the insect's head struck back at the attacker. Masses of tendrils coiled around the deformed fists and Alex was pulled forward over his victim's back, being slammed to the ground directly in front of the injured monster.

Before they could be used for anything else, the tendrils holding Alex's hands were ripped apart as black spikes erupted from the already mutated appendages. He rolled to his feet and flashed his right arm to Blade, a step forward and one swing seeing the Hydra impersonators cut cleanly from Alexander's head, who was just glad he hadn't lost his horn again.

Alexander roared and limped forward, forgetting for a second that he had two broken legs. The scene was almost comical, if you could ignore the fact that it involved two giant monsters in the middle of Hell on Earth. Alex stepped forward again, shifting both arms back to normal, and grabbed the top and then the bottom horn of the Hercules Beetle. The humanoid hoisted the overgrown insect into the air and flipped it over, slamming it to the ground.

The shattered pavement and crushed vehicles went unnoticed by the two battling monsters. James did notice and was hesitant to get involved again, especially after his last direct interaction with the godlike creature that even Alexander Mercer feared.

The shapeshifting scientist again caught his enemy slightly off guard and was able to close his pincer horns on the titan before charging into the side of the mostly intact public library. The structure crumbled around the two, the falling rubble given not even a second thought by either as Alexander backed away with the intent of a second charge as his horns shifted into giant imitations of his Blade.

Alex's glowing eyes glared out of the debris, locking onto the beetle as it prepared to charge. Alexander finished repairing his damaged legs and began to advance again, pausing when the now standing Alex began to glow.

The emerald light focused in the center of the giant's chest, coalescing into a growing orb that survivors of the battle in Times Square during the First Outbreak would immediately recognize. The ball solidified and exploded away from it's source, impacting the beetle's face and detonating. If an insect could properly convey shock and surprise, then Alexander would have looked on the verge of a heart attack.

The giant beetle crashed backwards, further damaging the buildings behind it. Alex roared and lunged forward, grabbing the top horn again in his left hand while pinning the bottom under his foot, ignoring the bladed edges. Shifting steel-like armor onto his arm, Alex brought his right elbow down and snapped the bladed horn off the main body.

The towering Blacklight construct stepped back, flipping the horn around before slamming it into its owner's face. Alex withdrew the severed blade and deconstructed it, just as he had done to Heller's arm before. Alexander watched through badly damaged eyes as his lost weapon was reduced to reddish brown ooze on the street.

Just as an idea formed in his head, Alexander found himself lifted into the air again, this time by four massive tendrils growing from the humanoid titan's back. The causal, effortless manner in which his doppelganger tossed him backwards enraged the mad scientist to a point that he almost forgot how much he feared the other entity.

Alexander crashed to the ground on Greenwich Avenue, sliding into the side of yet another building he didn't care about. He wasn't too concerned about the external damage to his body since he was quickly making preparations to abandon it anyway. He rolled back to his feet and turned back toward his enemy just as the latter cleared the ruins of the library.

The beetle opened its mouth and released another sonic boom. Alex didn't move. The attack never touched the black armored humanoid. The blast itself lost effective power after only traveling thirty feet, while Alex stood fifty feet away and was only touched by a strong gust of displaced air.

"Damn it! I didn't come up with it, so of course he knows its limits better than I do." Alexander mentally reprimanded himself for overestimating his imitated power and advanced on his enemy, preparing another shot.

Alex flipped sideways and landed beside Alexander just as the beetle released the second sonic boom. The right arm of the Gigas shifted to Blade. Alexander knew where his enemy was but had no way of knowing what he was doing. He found out when he felt a third of his body being cleaved away from him. The low but incredibly loud humming noise that had started just before he felt the loss stopped and was replaced by a roar as the remaining portion of the beetle was lifted into the air again.

Alex tensed and launched himself and his cargo into the air, rising nearly fifty floors straight up before hurling the critically wounded monster down again. As the scientist turned monster plummeted, Alex dove after him.

James watched the two fall, once again stunned and unsure of what action to take. He was nearly blown off his feet when the beetle struck like a falling asteroid, obliterating what remained of the library and creating a sizable crater where it landed. But that was not the end of the devastation the site would see.

The former Marine was blown off his feet when Alex landed seconds later, completing his Bullet Dive and landing directly on the wounded Alexander. The shockwave which resulted from the attack radiated out from the source for fifty meters in all directions, deepening the crater and blowing all manner of rubble and debris into the air.

While the actual shockwave didn't reach James the displaced air was more than enough to knock him flat, as well as shattering every window within one hundred meters of the impact point.

James climbed to his feet and stared at the cloud of smoke and dust obscuring the crater. No movement could be seen beneath the dense covering. It was then that he noticed the approaching Strike Team. The four Gunships didn't seem to have noticed him, though with the sight before them, even he couldn't blame them.

Before Heller could decide whether or not to take action against the Blackwatch aircraft, four tendrils lanced out of the cloud. One pierced clean through one of the vessels while the others wrapped around the remaining craft before all four were pulled into the cloud. James heard four crashes as the Gunships were slammed into something.

As the smoke cleared and the dust settled, James saw Alex standing near the edge of the crater, the unmoving form of the brutalized beetle lying in the center. Suddenly cracks appeared on the body of the defeated monster. The fissures grew wider and traveled further over the motionless body.

Four massive spines, shot through with glowing red veins, erupted from the beetle. The body exploded, sending shards of inert biomass flying in all directions. A creature nearly identical to the form Alex now held rose to it's feet and roared. Massive clawed fingers flexed, mimicking the motions Alex had gone through after his own transformation.

Glowing red eyes locked onto the tensed giant standing fifty feet from the newly transformed Alexander. Now standing thirty four feet at the shoulder, the bulkier giant roared again. His eyes and the red veins covering his body right to the tips of the four spines on his back flared an angry red.

James had to remind himself he hated the man when he almost cheered him on. The red armored giant lunged forward, moving several times faster than Alexander could have before despite the increase in his size.

With another roar, Alexander brought his right fist forward, aiming the steel shattering punch at his enemy's face. The green eyed giant appeared to relax as the attack came; he seemed almost bored. A split second before the blow impacted his face, Alex's right hand shot up, catching the other behemoth's fist.

Staring over the back of his own hand, Alex narrowed his eyes at the reborn Alexander Mercer before throwing the captured punch aside. The red giant stumbled, falling to one knee, before looking back at his opponent only to receive a crushing blow which nearly shattered his jaw.

Alexander shifted his right arm and spun back to his feet, swinging the massive blade as he rose. The attack missed but allowed him to stand again, left hand shifting to Claws. The scientist brought his blade down in an arc where it was intercepted, two massive curved blades meeting in the air. Alexander's weapon bounced off the more simply designed of the two.

The two giants moved up and out of the crater, the black armored monster forcing the other back step after step. Blades clashed again and again, each impact dulling the red tinted weapon as well as chipping away its owners confidence. Alexander changed tactics mid-swing, Hammer Fist passing below the Blade of his enemy and crashing to the ground, causing the black giant to stumble.

Alex recovered only to be knocked back again when a second wrecking ball joined the first and was slammed into his face. A third attack was narrowly avoided with a fourth being dodged with casual grace, signifying that he had regained control. Both red veined hammers were brought down overhead only to be met by a black shield. Alex's own right fist transformed and was brought up, striking the red giant with a vicious uppercut.

Alexander rose into the air and crashed down again, the force of the blow far greater than what he himself had been generating with his own attacks. He suddenly found himself pulled to his feet again by the now clawed hands of his foe. Metallic talons piercing his armor with much less resistance than he would have liked.

The black giant hoisted the other to a standing position before headbutting him in the face, followed up by a pair of jabs to the chest and a right hook to the jaw. Alexander recovered and managed to block two more blows to his torso and dodged a slash of the other's giant claws.

A reverse side kick to the stomach knocked the bulky behemoth back several steps and cracked his armor. Another kick caught Alexander in the face, knocking several serrated teeth out of his mouth and driving him sideways into a building. He opened his eyes just in time to see his opponent drive his right fist forward, slamming a powerful punch straight into the center of his chest. The blow blasted him clear through the building and those beyond it, landing him on his back on Eighth Street.

Rising again, Alexander had just enough time to step out of the path of another green bolt of light as it flew by that would have hit him head on had it been moving any faster. Avoiding the attack didn't mean it had failed though, as the bolt struck the building behind the scientist and exploded with a force ten times that of a tank shell. It may have been a near miss, but the blast still damaged the red giant and knocked him off balance.

Stumbling away from the blast, Alexander became aware of the temperature quickly rising. Opening his eyes, he witnessed a column of fire slam into his chest with enough force to push him back several more steps. The fact that the fire hurt him on it's own told the psychopath that it would be best to avoid any future encounters with that particular attack.

The red giant lurched to his left, out of the line of fire, and began repairing what damage he could as more Infected were summoned to aid their master. Before he could make much progress, he found a knee driven into his stomach followed by a hand closing over his face and lifting him into the air before slamming him back to the ground again.

Alexander opened his eyes again, seeing the hand drawn back to form a fist. He groaned a split second before his head was driven further into the ground. The attacker meanwhile stepped back and released a blast of sonic force at the prone form of the scientist. The recipient of this abuse noted that his organs now felt similar to marshmallows.

Alex prepared to attack again but was distracted by a pack of Brawlers futilely attempting to harm him. Black spikes sprouted from the armor plates covering his body, impaling the attacking mutants as they swarmed over him. A flock of Flyers approaching the scene were spotted and never got the chance to do anything to contribute to the battle. Being reduced to goo by a sonic boom has that effect.

While his enemy was distracted, however briefly, Dr. Mercer climbed back to his feet and shifted his arms again. The massive claws, which could have easily ripped clear through several feet of solid steel, only left shallow cuts on the dark armor plates of the other giant, as well as bringing his attention back to Alexander.

James, toting one of the Gatling guns Blackwatch equipped their tanks with, landed on a structure overlooking Sixth Avenue and took aim at the monster that had resumed brutally pummeling the mutant scientist. Most of the bullets, unsurprisingly, bounced off the armored giant and those that didn't seemed to be ignored completely anyway.

Alex pulled his red armored look-alike to his feet and drove his knee into the already cracked armor. Stepping back as Alexander doubled over, he slammed his fist into the side of the construct's face, rendering the left eye useless.

Grabbing him by the right ankle, Alex all but threw Alexander into the air before turning and slamming him down on a building to his left, forcing Heller to flee or be crushed. As the building came down, he hoisted his enemy back into the air, releasing his leg, and drove a Hammer Fist straight up into the red armored torso.

Alexander gasped, coughing up something similar to blood, as he crashed to street again; an occurrence that was becoming all too familiar. Again struggling to repair as much damage as he could, the scientist also struggled to get his feet under him while trying desperately to think of a way to survive this encounter.

'Nothing works! No Infected can even slow him down. Blackwatch hit him with everything short of another nuke and he's still standing. The first construct was less than useless and even in the same form he's still so much stronger than I am. Heller can't do worse than irritate him and I have nothing else to send out. Goliaths took him less than a minute to kill before, so would he even notice them now?' Alexander roared and swung his blade down again. The weapon was deflected with a massive shield of biomass that barely had a scratch after the impact.

After deflecting the Blade, Alex thrust his right palm forward, sending another green ball straight into Alexander's chest that, while not as powerful as seen previously, was still damaging.

'Damn it! On top of everything else, I don't even know what the full extent of his power is! That green ball! Blackwatch said those soldiers were suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but even so, that ball wasn't a hallucination. Greene used it against him and now he can do it too! How am I supposed to fight that? I don't even know what it is!'

Alexander stumbled back and was caught off guard by a powerful roundhouse kick to his left side, sending him crashing through several buildings. He managed to roll to his feet and stop before reaching MacDougal Street. A muffled growl followed when what remained of his chest armor crumbled away, leaving the much more vulnerable and already brutalized flesh of the construct exposed.

Without warning the dark giant was there, clawed hand plunging into the red giant's chest. Alex placed his left hand on the soon to be discarded creature's shoulder and pushed it away while ripping his now closed fist free from its chest. The struggling form of Alexander Mercer, screaming as his own nervous system was violently separated from his flesh golem, was held in the crushing grip of his monstrous opponent's right hand.

Alex, with a casual flick of his wrist, sent the scientist hurtling through the air. The enhanced human crashed to the ground, leaving a deep trench in the already damaged terrain of Washington Square Park. The heavily damaged and rapidly decaying red giant was left to fall to the ground while the victorious Gigas made a short jump and landed almost right on top of his fallen enemy.

James had reached the slowly rising man first and shifted his arm to Blade, unsure as to what their next course of action would be. Running hadn't worked out. Hiding seemed impossible. Nothing they had put between them had stopped the destroyer, and now fighting him had failed spectacularly.

"Now what Mercer? How the fuck are we supposed to stop this fucking bastard?"

Alexander stared up at the being towering above them. He was beyond panic now. As his enemy began to glow once again, an idea struck him. A report from the First Outbreak detailed this being's 'rampage' through the city in pursuit of an Infected creature that was carrying a human woman.

"Wait! If you kill me now, Dana will die!"

The glow almost immediately dimmed. Heller didn't appear to have noticed that and questioned the bizarre tactic.

"Why the fuck would he care about Dana?"

"Trust me, he cares. It's the only reason we aren't both smeared all over the park right now."

"Where is she?" The rumbling growl from the giant shook both men's eardrums.

"He can still fucking talk like that?"

"Shut up James." Alexander stood up straighter and addressed his (almost) executioner. "So, you can be reasonable. Alright, here's the deal: let me go, James as well. If you let us walk away and swear not to come after me again, I'll tell you where she is."

Silence. For about three seconds, the three were motionless. Alexander wished it had remained that way. His head exploded in agony while the massive green eyes flared to a new intensity that could have outshined most floodlights.

"You're telling me where she is if I have to rip your brain out of your fucking skull!" The giant roared. Before either Infected could react, Alex stepped forward, slamming his foot down on the scientist and pinning him to the ground. The impact knocked Heller down and sent him tumbling several feet.

James stood back up and watched the scene before him. The giant continued to grind the helpless man into the ground while the latter screamed in pain unrelated to his ribcage collapsing under the pressure. The green glow in the monster's eyes seemed to be growing in intensity every second while the screams of its victim grew louder and conveyed ever growing suffering. James felt torn; should he try to help, or simply enjoy seeing the bastard getting what he deserved?

Meanwhile, all over the Red Zone and in every Gentek research facility for miles, Infected were dying. Walkers simply dropped to the ground unmoving for the most part, though the heads of others exploded for unknown reasons. Brawlers went absolutely ballistic, killing each other, themselves, and anything else they could get their claws into. Juggernauts stumbled about wildly, smashing everything around them and many times collapsing buildings on themselves.

The only clear connection between the horrific occurrences was that all the Infected began to rapidly decay after they died, degenerating completely into puddles of chunky red sludge no matter what the Gentek scientists did to preserve their live specimens.

After a full minute, James made his decision. Switching to Hammer Fists, he launched himself into the air. The former Marine brought the deformed limbs down with every bit of force he could manage, smashing them into the giant's head. A small cluster of spikes sprouted from the point of impact, impaling James' hands and forcing him to leap away while the black spires melted back into the monster.

For a brief moment, just after the attack had impacted, the glow in the titan's eyes dimmed and Alexander's screams lessened. Then the glow surged beyond its previous level and the scientist seemed to be in greater agony than ever before. The glowing eyes tracked James as he dropped back to the ground, landing thirty feet away.

Heller shifted his arms back to normal and glared at the giant. His glare changed to a look something like fear when the monster raised its left arm towards him as the extended limb began to shift into a new form. Five fingers were replaced by three rounded metallic claws while the rest of the arm took on an odd cylindrical shape, the three large claws arranging themselves into a triangle formation.

The upper arm took on an almost mechanical appearance that, while still clearly organic, just made it more unsettling all the same. James couldn't quite tell what sort of system the monster was trying to imitate at first, but then he saw through the small gaps in the upper arm what look suspiciously like miniature turbines.

Alex finished the physical changes, the whole morph taking longer than he would have liked, flooded the system with the necessary chemicals, and activated the turbines. Sparks flew from the small gaps used to cool the weapon and the claws spread apart, humming as the energy built within them. The whole thing took as long as James could to cycle through all of his weapons.

When those seconds ended, the three claws snapped together again. The moment the tips of the metallic digits met, a noise like muted thunder filled the area while lightning danced between the claws. Then the claws spread apart again.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Fuck!" James hurled himself to the ground, only a split second between him and the arc of artificial lightning which lanced through the space he had just vacated.

The claws snapped back together, rebuilding their charge for another attack. Again the claws parted and another bolt of electrical doom screamed through the air, missing the panicked soldier by only inches. Even still, James found himself sweating from the heat and gasping for breath as the air around him was ionized by the arcs of killer energy.

Each bolt that missed blasted smoldering craters into the ground where they struck or sailed across the park and blew smoking holes in the already ruined buildings of the city. Nine arcs leapt from the weapon, almost grazing the human every time.

James rose to his feet again, ready to leap away, and saw the deformed limb melting back into its default form as the Gigas turned its full attention back to the man crushed under its foot. The ex-Marine almost made another attempt at attacking the monster but thought better of it.

The glow in the eyes faded, Alexander's screams having ceased when James was still dodging lightning. Alex stepped back, allowing his double to roll over and crawl to the edge of the trench his previous landing had created.

"Twice now, Alexander. Twice you've released this nightmare! Thousands, Millions, Died in the First Outbreak! Wasn't that enough? And yet here you are, alive and well."

Alexander pushed himself to a crouch and glared up at the towering monster. A bloody cough escaped him before he spoke. "Tell me, what gives you the right to lecture me? I died before Greene escaped, I wasn't the one who slaughtered hundreds of American soldiers just because they were in my way. I didn't cripple the military every time they made progress against the infection. That was all you, Zeus."

The giant snarled, stomping towards the helpless man again. "I did everything I could to end it! I destroyed every hive I could, killed every Infected I found. Blackwatch would have happily glassed the whole fucking city! The only reason any of this is still here is because I stopped them!"

"Well aren't you a great hero?" Alexander said, the sarcastic, mocking tone irritating James even when he wasn't the target. "You only stopped Firebreak because Dana was in the city and then you left! Where were you for the last two months? If you're so dedicated to this city why weren't you here when I woke up? For the matter, why did I wake up? You remember everything now right? Why didn't you know about me?"

"I didn't want to remember you." Alex said. His voice carried a cold malice. "Alexander Mercer was a horrible person. He deserved to die for what he did and I was happy to let you rot, forgotten and left in the past. I pushed it all aside when it came back; none of your memories mattered to me."

"Forget the past and you're doomed to repeat it, right?" Alexander laughed while his executioner let out an enraged growl. "So you forgot about me? Then what? Where were you when I came to Dana? If she's so important to you, why weren't you there?"

"Why isn't she important to you?" Alex's words were nearly lost in the roar that followed them from his throat. "I do remember. Your whole life. Better than you do I bet. After all of that, how can she mean so little to you? How could you leave her to die TWICE?"

"It doesn't matter. You want me dead right? Well then: finish it."

Alex's body began to glow again, the giant snarling in rage at the target of his wrath. So distracted by that rage was he, that Alex didn't notice the rocket heading for his face.

Alexander did, and the moment the airborne explosive device detonated, he took his chance and launched himself into the air.

Unharmed, but still annoyed by the attack, Alex glared at James. He lost any interest in the man's presence and actions when he saw a small figure leap past him. The giant turned, thrusting its right arm after the fleeing doctor.

Alexander hoped Heller would provide more of a distraction, but his failure was evident. Snake-like tendrils as thick as his arms shot past him on all sides, looping back and capturing him once again. The mad scientist found himself held in the crushing grip of his enemy for the second time before he was hurled to the ground again.

Leaving no opportunity for another escape attempt, Alex glared down into the crater where his enemy lay and exhaled. A column of roaring fire erupted from the gaping maw and was sped to its target by the thunderous booming noise that followed it. Both the flames and the sonic boom slammed into Alexander, crushing him into the dirt and charing his already fatally damaged body.

The would-be world conqueror screamed as much of his flesh was burned from his body while his bones were reduced to pulp. The giant began to glow green, the energy gathering to the fanged mouth this time.

James almost fired again but decided against it. Even he had to accept that the fight was over. He watched as a pillar of fire tinged green blasted into the hole in the ground that held the body of Alexander Mercer.

The pure heat of the flames combined with the destructive force of the bio-energy ravaged the crater, burning away every trace of the Infected human. After ten seconds, Alex relented, eyes glowing orange as he scanned the crater for any trace of his creator's clone. He sighed in relief at finding none.

The former marine considered running, hiding, even begging for mercy, but choose to simply stand and stare while the giant lumbered away from the blackened crater.

Alex stopped and looked north. 'Dana.'

The sound of damaged concrete shifting under heavy feet drew his attention back into the park. James froze when the giant green eyes focused on him.

'And a few loose ends, I guess.'

The giant knelt down and bent forward, no longer regarding the man watching it. Before the eyes of the only living infected in the city, the black giant began to melt. Armor plates lost their form and oozed off the body, all the flesh following in a sickening black syrup that spread across the ground.

In less than a minute the giant was gone. Alex Mercer stood in the center of an obsidian puddle of slime, casually wiping off what remained on him. He glanced about, eyes glowing orange.

"Okay then, nothing active. Good." The viral construct nodded, confirming that the pool of sludge was nothing but inert biomass; dead and completely useless to anyone.

Alex turned north and jumped, clearing the park and the next block before the biggest 'loose end' had even finished processing what he had seen.

James shook his head and followed the monster who he had just realized may be his only chance of finding his daughter.

It took less than a minute for the ex-Marine to lose sight of Alex. Just as he was about to begin a string of pointless cursing, James caught sight of the man again, standing on a rooftop higher than his own position and staring down at him.

James sprinted forward and leapt into the air again. Just as he reached the building his target had watched him from, the man leapt away. He was still visible, but moving further without any sign that he even knew James was there.

Again, when James had lost sight of the man, he returned and waited for the former soldier to catch up before moving on. This repeated five times before James saw Alex drop to the street below and enter a building. Of course, James followed.

"Mercer!"

"Alex."

James paused, confused by the response. "What?"

"You called him Mercer, so I would prefer you just call me Alex if you're going to talk to me." Alex said without stopping or turning around.

"Where the fuck are you going?"

"To get Dana and your daughter."

James stayed tense but closed his mouth and followed the man further into the building. They came to a halt before a large steel door, quite obviously a safe.

Alex walked up to the small keyboard on the wall and entered a code. The door unlocked and he pulled it open with one hand.

"Alex?" Dana Mercer's voice reached the two, laced with venom as much as with confusion.

"Dana! Is Maya here?" James rushed past Alex, for the moment not caring who he looked like or what he was.

"James?"

"Dad?"

Heller rushed past Alex, forgetting everything he knew of the monster's power. Nothing else mattered to him that moment. His daughter was alive and he couldn't be bothered to care about anything else now.

"MAYA!" James shouted, relief the only thing in his voice then. He carefully picked the young girl up and hugged her. She returned the embrace and both allowed tears to stream down their faces unhindered.

"I...I should have been there. God, I'm so sorry." James mumbled through sobs as he held his daughter.

Dana just stared between the two Hellers and Alex, unsure what to think or say. Tears of empathy for the two went unnoticed by the woman shedding them.

Alex just watched the scene without blinking. No tears or expression of empathy. Just a calculated look of indifference on his face. He didn't glance at his 'sister', didn't acknowledge her presence or make any attempt to speak with her. He just waited for James to recover from his current emotional state.

"Alex?" Dana, anger still edging her voice, addressed her 'brother'.

The shapeshifter didn't even bat an eye, didn't turn, just waited for the 'loose end' to be ready to move.

James knew he should be on his feet, running, taking Maya as far from New York, Blackwatch and even Alex as he could. But, all he could do was hold the girl and tell her how sorry he was and how much he loved her.

"I promise, I won't ever leave again."

Dana gritted her teeth, giving one more glance to the father and daughter, before walking up to her 'brother' and nearly shouting in his face.

"What the fuck's going on Alex!" Dana Mercer shouted quietly, so as not to disturb the scene behind her. Alex spoke, but not to her.

"Heller! I know how you feel right now but we need to leave while Blackwatch and Gentek are still trying to figure out what's happened. Once we're out of here you'll have years with Maya, so let's go!"

James stood and rounded on the shape-shifting monster, Maya still held in his arms. "You don't know anything Mer-Alex. You don't-"

Alex's eyes glowed green. "I know everything you're thinking and feeling right now. He might be dead, but I'm still here. The Hive is still intact. I know. We don't have time to argue or fight. I have to get you three out of the city and away from them, so shut up and follow me."

Without waiting for a response, Alex turned and walked away from the vault and towards the stairs that had led the two super beings to the impromptu prison to begin with. The two adults left behind with the young girl traded confused glances before following the PMD out of the building.

---

Several minutes later, having to move slowly and carefully to avoid the Blackwatch patrols, the four came to a stop at the collapsed entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.

"Couldn't we have just carried them and got here faster? And why are we here? The tunnel's 'closed'." James asked. Dana was carrying Maya as Alex had made it clear that James needed both arms free in case they were spotted.

"If we'd carried them, it would have been nearly impossible to get here without being seen plus jumping too far, too high, or running too fast could have hurt them. And we're here because I can't get you three off the island the same way I got on." Alex answered as shortly as possible. The sapient weapon walked up to the rubble blocking the tunnel entrance and placed his hands on it.

Only a few seconds passed before James nearly questioned what his fellow god amongst men was doing. He was stopped when a large portion of the rubble lifted partly into the air, a shell of chitinous biomass holding it four feet from the ground.

"Go through, it reaches the interior of the tunnel. Other than the entrance, the tunnel should be stable."

"Yeah, how about you go first and we follow you?" James said, clearly not trusting the other.

Alex groaned and rolled his eyes. The shapeshifter's entire body began to ripple, the chitinous substance supporting the rubble bubbling at the same time. When the unsettling anomaly ceased, Alex looked over his shoulder at the three. Only two of whom were watching him, Dana having pressed Maya's face into her shoulder so she couldn't see the disturbing display.

"Happy? Now move." Alex's voice came muffled from the other side of the small opening.

James glared at Alex before turning to Dana. "I'll go first. Maya I'm just making sure it's safe on the other side. Stay with Dana for a minute."

The elder Heller smiled reassuringly at his daughter, who just nodded in response. James quickly shuffled his way through the low passage Alex had created, rising to his feet on the other side and looking around the almost pitch black tunnel.

"Can't see a thing. How do you expect us to walk through this whole thing? Is it even clear?"

Alex, the one inside the tunnel, sighed heavily and looked at James over his shoulder, eyes slowly glowing brighter with a pale white light. In the pale light, James saw something small and black break away from Alex's jacket and fly off down the tunnel. "Any other requests James? Should I get you the paper? Make some coffee?" He paused. "The tunnel's clear for the most part: just a few abandoned cars and such. We can move them if we have to."

"Dana, it's safe. C'mon through." James kept his eyes on the creature that could very easily drop the rubble any second. He let out a breath he didn't remember holding when the younger Mercer stepped into the tunnel, still holding Maya.

Considering what she had been through, James wasn't surprised Maya wasn't objecting to being held for so long.

Alex transferred the rest of his mass through the gap and lowered the rubble back down, leaving no trace that it had been moved. Eyes glowing, he turned and started down the tunnel, not even glancing back at the humans who cautiously followed him.

Three minutes of walking later, James spoke up. "Do you have to do that?"

"What?" Alex kept walking. If the humans were still moving, there was no reason to stop.

"Your eyes. The glowing thing."

Alex glanced over his shoulder, nearly blinding James and Dana. "You're the one that complained about not being able to see."

James shielded his eyes with one hand. "Yeah but it's freaking weird. Don't you have a flashlight?"

Alex stopped and tilted his head. He held up one hand after a minute and it dissolved into a mass of tendrils before reforming into a spike covered cylinder with an eye-like half sphere at the end. The 'eye' began to glow white, shining a wide beam through the dark tunnel. Alex's eyes dimmed back to normal.

"I'm getting tired of this James. If you have any other complaints, keep them to yourself."

"Alex?" Dana spoke up, hoping to get any sort of answer this time.

"Not now." Alex's voice was devoid of emotion with those two words. He simply began walking again, holding his transformed arm to shine it's pale light ahead of them. Four minutes later, he spoke up, still without feeling. "Until we reach the exit, the tunnel is clear of rubble. There was a Blackwatch guard post halfway through, but it's abandoned."

As he finished speaking, a small black object flew into the light from his arm's 'eye', disappearing seconds later when it slammed into his chest and melted into him.

James caught himself before saying something crude in front of his daughter but still questioned the event. "What the f-what was that?"

"A raven." Alex waved off the incident as if it were normal.

"A raven? Wh-is that, I mean, was that the thing that, ah, came out of your ba-jacket back at the entrance?"

"Yes."

"How can you just spit out a raven?"

"I ate one last year." Alex's responses carried the implication that he believed they were the obvious answers to James' questions.

"I at-ah, absorbed things but I can't just remake them and order them around."

"You're not even really a Runner so it makes sense you'd be more limited in control, and you're human, so you need things I don't. Besides, I've had a year to work on it."

James opened his mouth, but decided to end the conversation rather than continue questioning the others abilities and closed it again.

James, because Alex had the only source of light, moved any vehicles obstructing their path that Dana and Maya wouldn't be able to get around or over. When they came to the walls marking the former guard post, James scowled at Alex.

"And how are we supposed to get through that? We can jump it but you said that's not an option with Dana and Maya."

Alex rolled his eyes and stepped forward, raising his left arm toward the wall. The extended limb dissolved into tendrils which lanced to the wall and began spreading over it. After several seconds, Alex retracted the tendrils, reforming his arm, and a large portion of the wall crumbled to dust and chunks of metal.

While James extracted his foot from his mouth, Alex continued forward, the three humans quickly following. Dana stared openly at the sides of the hole as she carried Maya through it. She didn't remember Alex mentioning such an ability during or after the First Outbreak, but she did remember that Elizabeth Greene had done something similar.

Nearly half an hour after entering the tunnel, Alex again made a path through some rubble for the group to exit through. He shifted enough mass through the opening first to survey the area. After sending up a raven and confirming they would not be seen, he called the others through.

The four of them quickly made their way further from the river, and therefore further from the eyes of any Blackwatch patrols, in the air or on the water. After reaching the currently empty Ellsworth Park, Alex hot-wired a large truck. Several minutes of driving later, he quickly ushered them all out of the vehicle and guided them to another vehicle (one he apparently had the keys to).

"All of you get in the back and cover yourselves up with the tarp." Alex said, shifting forms himself.

"Why?" James crossed his arms and leveled a defiant look at the PMD.

"Because we're still in an area under Blackwatch's immediate jurisdiction and two of you are on their wanted list."

"What about you? You look an awful lot like public enemy number one don't you?" James continued to direct a speculative stare at Alex.

"Not right now I don't."

"I can do that to." James almost shifted but a flare of green in Alex's eyes stopped him. Truly stopped him. He couldn't even move.

"Don't. You've been stable long enough that viral detectors shouldn't register you."

James shuddered when the pressure in his head subsided, following the glow in Alex's eyes. "What about you? I'd think you'd show up pretty clearly."

"Not anymore. Just get in the truck and don't do anything to draw attention."

The ex-Marine almost argued further, but hearing a gunship in the distance convinced him it wasn't worth it. He climbed into the truck with Dana and Maya.

Alex sighed and climbed into the drivers seat, heading for the highway.

---

Four Hours Later.

Alex pulled off the road, his passengers tensing. They had been allowed to change positions one hour after the drive began. At that time, Alex had also changed his form to another person none of them recognized. There didn't seem to be anything other than trees as far as they could see, so when Alex got out of the vehicle and reverted to his normal form, both adults were on edge.

James and Dana got out, Maya staying beside Dana while her father followed Alex several steps from the truck.

"What are we stopping out in the middle of nowhere for? Thought you wanted to get away from Blackwatch."

"We're a four hour drive from the closest Blackwatch patrol. I think we're clear." Alex turned and stared at James, the look unnerving the man since it made him think Alex was deciding whether or not to rip him in half. "I'm leaving. You three can take the truck and go wherever you feel safest. If anything happens to Dana while you're still with her I will find you and make you regret being born."

"You're just leaving? After dragging us out to the middle of nowhere, you're just taking off?"

Alex put his hands in his jacket pockets and glanced off into the trees. "I still have work to do. I don't need Dana anywhere near it. You aren't involved, so there's no reason for you to worry about it. Besides, I'd think you'd be happy to see me gone."

James took a step forward, forgetting that a two-hundred ton Hercules beetle had failed to intimidate the man in front of him. "After all that, you aren't even going to explain what the hell happened back there? If that was Alex Mercer, then who are you?"

"I'm Alex Mercer. That was a clone of Alexander, my creator, unintentional as my 'birth' was. I was his first contingency plan. The clone was the only other plan that wasn't somehow stopped during the outbreak last year. That answer your questions? Good."

"Don't play with me Mercer! You're not leaving until you-" James stopped mid sentence, choking and coughing, Alex's eyes were glowing again.

"This is going to be...unpleasant." He looked up at his 'sister.' "Don't let her watch this."

Dana quickly spun the concerned daughter of James Heller around and held the girl close to her. "Alex, what's going on?"

"Loose ends. I can't let him walk around with an active strain in his body."

James screamed, but no sound came out. He gasped and fell to his knees, a stream of orange-ish red sludge spilling out of his mouth. His attempt to stand ended with another coughing fit and a little more of the slime splattering the ground.

Heller's vision went red. He couldn't see anything else but that one color. He couldn't hear anything. And all he could smell was something like blood. Pain though, was felt quite clearly. His bones felt like they were being crushed, his skin was on fire, his eyes burned. Everything hurt.

Dana watched James cough and choke for nearly a minute before, predictably, things got weirder. The jacket and jeans James had worn all through the Second Outbreak began to bubble and pulse, their color drained away, replaced by dimly glowing orange goop and writhing tendrils.

The mass of orange slime and tendrils grew for several seconds, reaching nearly the size of a small elephant, before going suddenly still. That motionless state lasted only a second before the mass simply collapsed into a pool of dark red syrup on the ground around James.

James, now with only the somewhat tattered remains of his Marine uniform pants and boots, coughed a few more times before collapsing. Alex examined the puddle of sludge, confirming that there were no traces of the virus left in the pool or in James' body.

The viral construct walked into the middle of the puddle and lifted the man into the air, checking his breathing and heartbeat, and carried him back to the truck. Alex set James in the seat behind the drivers seat and turned to Dana.

"Take the truck and go wherever you want, as long as you stay away from New York or any other place Blackwatch might be watching. Do not investigate Gentek or do anything else that might draw attention to you. I don't care if you stick with James as long as neither of you do anything that puts you in danger." He pushed the keys into Dana's hand, Maya having rushed to the truck to check on her father.

"James will be fine in a while. He can't shift anymore, not without hurting himself. Tell him that. He'll heal faster than a normal person but he can't consume, and it will shorten his life if he's not careful. Make sure he understands that he's not immortal."

Dana blinked at the quickly delivered words, barely noticing the keys in her hand. Alex seemed to be in a hurry to leave and she had been holding herself back since the safe opened. She had no intention of letting him get away without an explanation.

"ALEX! What the f- Just tell me what's going on! You disappear for months then show up with all that new world order bullshit. Another outbreak. Maya's mom. After all of that...and what the fuck do you mean there was a clone?"

"Dana. I'm sorry." Alex put his hands in his pockets again and turned mostly away. "I left to get ready. Blackwatch and Gentek...they're still a threat. As long as they exist and have the virus, it can all start over again. Last year, they found out what happens when you prepare for the wrong war. I wasn't going to make the same mistake."

"What are you talking about? The Evolved? The outbreak? That was you 'preparing' for a war with them?"

"No! I went...as far as I could from people. I needed to learn to control it, my powers and the virus. I wanted to be ready for whatever happened in the future. When I came back, not even a month ago, I heard about the outbreak and the quarantine. I couldn't believe it was happening again."

"You started it all over again though! How can you say you didn't even hear about it until a month ago?"

"I didn't...Dana. Your brother did it. Not me." Alex turned further, facing almost fully away from the young woman.

"What? Alex that doesn't even make any sense! You're my-"

"No, I'm not." Alex cut her off sharply, not shouting but still shocking her into silence. "I'm not your brother. I'm not Alexander Mercer. I'm not even human. Never was. You were right, Dana, when you told Heller your brother died more than a year ago."

"Alex-" Dana stopped when Alex spun around to face her, eyes glowing a pale green once again.

"Alexander Mercer died in Penn Station last year. He was shot by Blackwatch troops when he threatened to release Blacklight to expose them. He was bargaining for his life. He didn't care that they were creating illegal bio-weapons." As he spoke, Alex's voice was joined by others, those of his and Elizabeth's countless victims, and even Mother's own voice joining the collective. "I killed hundreds of people before I was even aware. I consumed Alexander's body in order to survive. I lied to myself and to you. Even after I found out what I was...I am Blacklight, Dana, not your brother."

The two stood in silence, Dana trying to rationalize what she had just heard, Alex waiting for whatever reaction would come from the one person who mattered to him. Maya, not understanding any of it, simply tuned them out and resumed trying to wake her father.

Two minutes passed and it began to rain, just lightly at first. Dana took a deep breath and locked her eyes on the still glowing green eyes that were so out of place on what was clearly her brother's face.

"You...You're the one that saved me before, from Blackwatch at the beginning of the outbreak last year and from that monster later. Right?" She continued at the nod. "You're the one that killed Greene and stopped Blackwatch from nuking the city?"

"Yes."

"Who started the second outbreak?"

"Dr. Alexander J. Mercer."

"How?" Dana swallowed, trying to remain calm. "You said he died."

"After I heard about the outbreak, I went through Alexander's memories. When I first realized I could remember his life again, just as easily as I could the others, I pushed his memories to the bottom and tried to forget about him." Alex sighed.

"I found out he had other plans, in the event that threatening to expose them failed, other ways to try and get away. He never got the chance to use any of them, except one. When he realized he was in danger, Alexander used a weaker strain of DX-1118 and his own DNA to begin an attempt at cloning himself. It was set up so that if he didn't get to the clone by a certain time, it would be allowed to fully mature and wake up, enhanced by the virus."

"That's who caused all of this? A clone?" Dana shook her head, telling herself that no matter how absurd it sounded, it wasn't automatically a lie. Considering what the man she was talking to was capable of, why doubt the idea of an evil clone?

"Yes." Alex hesitated before adding, "Dana, this one wasn't really your brother either. I know, I remember Alexander's life and, he may not have been perfect, but he would never have done this. I know everything the clone thought and did. He was a monster. Dr. Alexander was just...damaged."

"You and James, you killed the c-clone?"

"No. He convinced Heller I wanted to kill him and his daughter too, so they both fought me. I wouldn't have killed him. He wasn't my target. I killed Alexa-the clone, in Washington Square Park. After that, I led Heller to the safe and you know the rest from there."

Under different circumstances, Dana might have laughed seeing a creature who could stand up to the entire United States army fidgeting and uncomfortably seeking an escape from the discussion. As it was though, she just shuddered as a seemingly endless string of horrible thoughts ran through her mind.

"Now what?" Dana asked, a pleading look on her face. She desperately wanted him to give her something else to think about, something to do, a goal to work towards. Anything to keep her mind off what she had learned.

"Nothing. You go somewhere safe. I have...work to do." He turned and began walking away.

Dana nearly ran after him. "Alex wait! I told you, no matter what-"

Alex abandoned the shape of Alexander Mercer, armor replacing flesh. "No, I am not your brother. There is no...nothing between us. You aren't my sister, you shouldn't feel any sympathy or pity for me. Forget I exist, and...be safe."

Rain poured over the seven foot armored humanoid. Smooth green lenses serving as eyes were streaked with rain. The smooth armor plate in place of a mouth made it difficult to believe the creature was truly speaking.

Alex tensed and launched himself into the air, disappearing from Dana's sight almost instantly. The young woman stared into the sky, ignoring the rain pouring down on her.

Alex...you can't just...I don't want to be... Please don't... Dana wrapped her arms around herself as the one person she could really call family vanished. Don't leave me alone...

---

Alex finally landed in a small clearing in the trees. The armor shifted away and he dropped to his knees in the mud and just stared into space.

It's better like this. She's safe. She could never have a life if I was around. She'll be happy this way.

His body flared red, everything within fifty meters was reduced to ruin. Another Crimson Shockwave pulsed out thirty seconds after the first, and again and again for three minutes.

Alex leaned forward, hands sinking into the moist ground, he was sure he had never been closer to being exhausted then he was just then.

Blackwatch. Gentek. Pariah. The bastards who started it all. That's what matters now. I have to kill them, every last one. I don't have time for this. I don't have time to...I don't care. I shouldn't and I don't. That was Alexander's life, it...it has nothing to do with me anymore. She has nothing to do with me.

The most powerful being on Earth struggled to his feet, eyes glowing red in the night.

"My name...My name is Alex Mercer. I am Blacklight. And my work is not yet done."

---

That's the end.

I have reason to think that Alex is just as important to Dana and her continued mental health as she is to him. She did drop everything when Alexander called her for help even though they hadn't even spoken in years.

I would appreciate reviews of this. This one-shot is partly responsible for me not getting any work done on the fourth chapter of Project: Crusade, writers block, life, and me being bad at character interaction are pretty big reasons to though. This was meant to get an idea or ten out of my head and help clear the writers block issue.

Alex's Armor form, seen briefly at the end, now resembles a cross between Prototype 1's Armor and a Guyver unit, minus all the little details like the control metal and such. Notably still lacks any mouth or nose.