Walking down in the direction of the pier the man took solace in the rain and night time sky. The setting around him was a pitch perfect reflection of his inner soul. The predator stops for a second observing the moon. Unaware of the current time, and only using his instincts to depict such information. By now it must have been close to midnight. Returning to reality, Alex looks over his shoulder. Where was he even heading to? If he wanted things to get better he would need to stop and get his 'shit together' and decide on where to go.

Mercer readjusts his jacket and continues to walk down the sidewalk. Which option was the most applicable, he could go to Dana's apartment. Yet right now he didn't want to be around her. Alex Mercer was just a role he played, and lying to Dana for any second longer would brake him. Maybe he could go destroy a hive, or eliminate a Blackwatch base. No… Alex didn't feel like causing the death of anymore lives right now.

The world was growing clearer to the prototype. No matter what path he chose in life he wouldn't fit in. For now he would just have to go with the flow and see where life takes him, continuing down the path Mercer feels the friction of his shoes and the sidewalk meeting together. The constant pattering of his shoes echoed throughout the streets. It seemed that this was the only sound he could hear as of now.

After all these years of living in New York, and consuming multiple Blackwatch troops it could be said that New York is never quiet unless it was forced to be quiet. Maybe a surprise attack was coming his way? The best course of action would be to stay alert. Although Mercer never let his guard down to begin with. After walking all this way he could tell that all directions were clear. But was his aerial position clear?

-BLACKWATCH, MILLITARY BASE-

"Damn't why'd he stop again?..."

"I have no idea John, Maybe it senses something's off?"

"If he spots our cams we'll have to send in our best squad in to apprehend him."

"You know that won't work John. Maybe we can try communicating with it." Steve replied gripping his coffee mug tighter while looking at the bright screens.

"And ask for tea time? That thing right there is a killer! It rips everything it sees to shreds for Christ's sake! Don't be naive Steve" Both men were giving each other heavy glares inside the conference room. The two were good friends at one point, but ever since these past few months things have gotten stressful so to say. Sitting across from each other the two look over to their superior for his view on the situation.

"I wouldn't be so fast to misjudge Steve's plan." The man fixed his tie, all of them were in black suits, but this man in particular had the best out of all of them. This was common place in their field of operations. John scoffed as he heard his superior commend Steve. Meanwhile Steve smiled arrogantly.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself Steve." The high ranking man pinched. Getting out of his seat, the leather chair ruffled and creaked as he sat up alerting the others to his actions. Walking forward and ignoring the nosey stares he stepped closer to the screens until the blue flash was practically glowing off him.

"Communication may not work so send in our elite squad like John said. Yet we use our words first, not our egos and fists." He continued. Times were getting rough for the military, sure they were in a stalemate with the infected. But for how long could they keep this up? Every day was horrible, people cried out, people complained, and people died…

"Both of you go outside and brief the squad of their assignment…"

Mercer still didn't feel like his current location was safe. Right now his instincts were telling him that the current area was compromised. 'One last look…' Mercer activated his thermal vision, looking up there was nothing at first… Wait! Now he could see them clear as ever. Five strike package viral detectors were tailing him. They appeared to be too high so he'd have no choice but to kick it into high gear and book it.

Sprinting now his body shifted slightly forward and the ground beneath him shattered each time his feet hit the ground. Directing himself into the street Alex quickly formed a plan. If he could get them to chase him, he could run up a building and then destroy them all with one expert like swoop. It was easy and practical, and he only needed a second to think of it!

Mercer continued to run, his jacket was rustling in response to the wind resistance. The rain was proving to be less welcoming as the faster he ran the harder the rain hit against him. Yet he continued to run as he was approaching his max speed, the lower half of his legs were letting violently swaying tendrils move about all around. Oddly this always happened when he used a part of his body to the max. A building would be getting in his way, luckily this building seemed to be tall enough. Alex ran forward panting like a madman.

Getting close to the building he anticipated the jump, leaping now he gave off a short "UGH" and yelled "eurf" in reaction to hitting the buildings wall. Racing upward he could feel the glasses obliterate as he made his way to the top of the building. After only a few seconds of racing up he let out another giant jump. Reaching the top of the building he executed an acrobatic flip over the edge. Now that he was at the very top he decided to look down with his thermal vision. His plan worked they were right below!

Mercer looked down and jumped again this time extending his leg out and dashing in the direction of the viral detectors. A mix of red and black tendrils followed him twirling around his legs and arms, there were probably going to be even more after this. Diving straight down an aura of red air trailed with him as he smashed through the invisible detectors, and continued falling.

Diving straight down face first he enjoyed the cool breeze brush past his face, the sound of his leather jacket violently thrashing around due to the wind alerted him of his speed. His landing was coming closer so he flipped over so he could land on his feet, and BOOM. The whole street caved in, the cars around him were sent flying with their glass shattering. Smoke from the rubble and debris filled the air, but it was slowly dissipating so there was no need to use his thermal vision anymore.

-BlackWatch, Millitary base-

"Alright you four get over here now!" John echoed through his already sore throat. This was a typical military base except the only difference was this one had a conference room, lab, and the best of the best.

"Oh great. This better be good, hope it's not just jump in and shoot some shit."

"Shut the hell up Myers, this is the most dangerous mission of your lives."

The four squad members grew silent and looked at each other. Wasn't their job like the rest? Usually they'd only attack hives, do rescue mission, or other stuff like that. They were even sent to attack a groups of alpha hunters all by themselves at one point. What could be more dangerous than that?

"Alex Mercer has been located." The four squad members stood confused and baffled. Who?

"Pardon me sir, but… We have no idea who you're talking about." Sarah Kinsley announced with a still confused look on her face. Usually she knew almost everything when it came to the infected but she had never heard of something like that before. Myers was just as confused, Carol was too but Sam on the other hand. He had a rising suspicion of what they were referring to. Rumors spread across New York's about some terrorist who was infected running around fucking some serious shit up. Yet this couldn't be it, those were most likely myths he thought laughing to himself.

"-sigh- Allow me to repeat after him, Alex Mercer code name Zeus has been spotted."

"Ah so we gotta find this guy and spank him for information or something? Count me out, either give me an important mission or call me when Jennifer Lawrence has been spotted." Myers had always been known for being good on the field but having one of the worst timings to give out his jokes. Carol Parkton tried his best not laugh and kept his face as null as can be. Meanwhile Sarah was letting a thin smile escape her lips, even though she really hated Myers and his jokes.

John walked over to Myers and bitch slapped him across the face. The flying backhand smoothly edged into the smart mouth's mouth. This time everyone started to laugh except for John and Steve. This wasn't good they needed them to be serious, and they actually enjoyed their presence but sending them off like this was heart wrenching.

"Alex Mercer is no laughing matter you fools! Its existence compromises everything!" John screamed.

"How troublesome can one guy be?" Sarah asked in deep concern, there was no way a man like him was more of a threat than an Alpha hunter. How was this going to be their most dangerous mission.

"Alex Mercer is our biggest threat compared to anything BlackWatch has ever faced… He's the most wanted man in the world right now." Steve spoke finishing the sentence for John. Sam L. didn't like where this was going. It was time to speak up.

"I've heard rumors about a guy like this, wasn't he just a civilian?" The others grew even more bewildered, not only was this just one man but he was also a damn civilian! This was getting stranger by the minute. Something felt off to Sarah but she kept her mouth shut, they were talking about this guy like he was some god.

"Alex Mercer is no Civilian, we've obtained new intel on him through spy cams and through Peter Randall. It turns out that He isn't a civilian. He's a virus that used a dead body as a host, the real Alex Mercer is dead."

"What the fuck? So he' like a zombie or something?" Myers wasn't joking now, this was unlike anyother of their missions and it was sure sounding like a real suicide mission.

"No, he's completely intelligent and believed himself to be the real Alex Mercer because he obtained his memories. We're not sure if he still thinks that. As for him being a civilian…. It has been theorized that every person he's 'consumed' has given him their memories." Finishing the sentence with an almost regretful sentence Steve looked down to the ground.

"What do you mean by consume? Did he eat their body parts like a zombie? You need to be more detailed sir." Sarah didn't mean to be upfront but as said previously she usually knew everything about the infected and she stayed that way by asking questions, and getting to know what each term meant. Especially random terms like 'consume'.

"Alex Mercer has this ability where he can absorb people, if he tries this on you you'll be gone in an instant. In this state he regains his health, and recovers from any wounds. It has been said that when he does this he gains the person's skills, abilities, and memories… Not only that but he can also shapeshift to take the form of anyone he consumed…. He could even be in this very room and no one would know." John said massaging his bald head as he eyed the other Blackwatch troops.

"Holy shit that sounds crazy. How are we gonna kill this fool?" Carol voiced unsure of how they could get the drop on such a guy. The whole crew were starting to think that being cocky at first was jinxing the whole situation.

"We're not sending you to kill him as we don't think that's possible…" Steve responded

"Bullshit, we could rip this guy apart if we had enough tanks." Myers shouted. Steve shook his head and was thinking about slapping him again.

"No… Our cameras witnessed him getting incinerated in a nuclear blast…."

"What?" Sarah questioned not knowing what the hell was going on.

"We were going to set a nuke to wipe out all of Manhattan but Alex Mercer intercepted the nuke, fought a Supreme hunter, and then risked his life getting the nuke far away from Manhattan. That's the thing that makes us question his objective. He's been seen assisting the military here and there, and other times attacking. With this it goes to show that he's sticking his neck out of someone else other than him."

"Wait he survived a nuclear blast? When was this? I only knew about him getting spotted recenetly."

"I know it's a lot to take in, but his body was only a small sack of meat after being charred. We thought he was dead but no… He consumed a crow that tried to pick at his remains and regenerated from a small pile of goop…." Steve was frowning furiously now. Nothing like that could be human, yet he was going to still try to interact with it. Although some small scrap of humanity appeared to be in him. Steve didn't see it at first, but when he zoomed in on the cameras he witnessed Alex's face filled with remorse and pain or what looked like it, the other people in the room at the time thought he was pissed that he was damaged but he had his own ideas. Maybe they could use this to end the nonsensical fighting.

"If… If we're not killing this guy what are we doing then? I'm not always worried but this is making me shit my pants guys." Myers wasn't always one to be serious but when he was it was never a good sign. Sarah could feel tension building up.

"We're assigning you to meet up with the target and to perhaps negotiate with him to come back to this base to come up with a deal." John looked and Steve and guessed he was right, maybe their best squad wasn't good enough to kill him. Yet they could be the best for convincing him to give in and comply.

"Alright you all have your orders, head to the objective marker on your radars." John ordered.

"Wait! We forgot to mention this. Zeus's real form is Alex Mercer's body. It was its first body and it probably still believes it's him, and if not it probably just takes comfort in using that body. Before Alex died he wore a Hood with a leather jacket." Steve's words also got himself thinking. What purpose would Zeus have to use Alex Mercer's body if it knew it wasn't really him? Did the thing develop human emotions? Did it identify as Alex Mercer?

"Alright now go quick before he runs off, we're sending you in on these new prototype jeeps they should be pretty fast. If he resists mention Dana Mercer, she was Alex's sister, we're not sure if this'll annoy him if he knows he's not the real mercer though. So be careful."

Picking himself up from the rubble Alex could feel that there was something coming for him. Ever since he obtained the hive mind, he could sense things around the city and whether they were headed for him. Whatever it was, he could feel his body aching him to stay put. Maybe this was something important, who knows.

Alex moved down a bit past the debris to another street, and down the sidewalk. He kept on walking until he crossed the street and met a new sidewalk. Wondering if something was following him again he used his thermal vision to check around. Again there were more Viral detectors! 'Whoa? The hive mind… It's…' Alex Mercer let his hand come to his head, he could feel a massive headache for some reason the hive mind didn't want him to attack the viral detectors. Not wanting to endure this pain for much longer Alex shut that part of his mind off. He would might as well stay put.

After several minutes of standing still he was getting bored. Closing his eyes, his mind flashes through the multiple memories he obtained. Searching through them Alex did this until he got bored of that too. He was beginning to lose hope until he looked down the street witnessing four tanks come from every direction. Instantly he could tell they were drones, the military probably assumed letting humans pilot the tanks was too risky now. The tanks lit up, Alex was now in a pool of light and was almost blinded.

Hearing the thwooping of helicopters he looked up, and used his thermal vision. Again there were 4 vehicles but instead of tank they were attack helicopters carrying no one inside. Was this a cheap attempt at killing him? The vehicles made no move so he stood still wanting them to make their turn. He wasn't really in the mood for explosions right now. Out of nowhere a jeep drove in and four Blackwatch soldiers got up.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Looking at the four troops he could tell that they were powerful like those giant towering Blackwatch troops, yet they appeared to be normal humans. Maybe blackwatch improved they're human engineering. Looking to the left Alex noticed that one of them was female, he's killed hundreds of people and the only female he had ever killed who wasn't infected was Karen Parker.

"Alex Mercer?" Sarah asked holding her assault rifle tightly, and preparing to swing her Taser blade if he tried anything. Looking him up and down he fit the description. His clothing looked gritty and tough but his eyes looked beautiful and his face looked really handsome. Honestly she couldn't recall meeting someone so handsome after the virus outbreak. His jawline and lips were catching her attention now. 'STOP this is a dangerous criminal! He could kill you in an instant, be professional!' Still she was tempted to eye him down some more but let her eyes fall on his.

"You're the one who realized the virus right?" Mercer eyed them down carefully all of them were wearing tactical gear, but their heads were exposed. They must have been elite members.

"I didn't, kind of…" Not sure what was going on Mercer stood still. This was the first time any Blackwatch trooper wanted to speak with him up close. It was nerve wracking to say the least.

"We want you to come with us" Sarah continued. Alex Noticed her hair was dark brown like his, and liked the fact that her hair was short.

"If I refuse?"

"We'll kill your sister Dana Mercer." Myers said with a serious voice. The sound of his sister's voice coming out of this fuck face's mouth pissed him off. His brows joined together and the four squad troops took a step back. Alex let out a grunt and his arms began to transform. The squad watched in horror as tendrils swarmed around his arms, and the leather transformed in to blackness. Within a short five seconds his arms transformed into claws.

"You hurt my sister and I will rip you apart!" Sarah was tensing up, if he survived a nuke their tiny weapons weren't going to do shit. 'God damn't Myers!'

"Wait! Wait! We don't want to hurt anyone! Just please come with us! No one has to get hurt!" Sarah said. Even though she had her gun in her hands she held both hands up to calm Mercer to not slice them to bits. Alex really didn't want anymore blood on his hands, standing there he looked all of them in the eyes.

"What do you people want this time? Every minute you idiots try to kill me."

"We just wanted to make a deal with you to stop all of this!" Carol spoke. Alex stood up straight returning to his normal stance from his combat stance and morphed his arms back to normal. Sarah was still looking at his arms as the tendrils seeped back inside. 'How's that even possible?'

"Alex please, we don't want any more violence."

"Alright fine… Just don't mention my sister this time asshole!" Alex pointed his finger in the direction of Myers.

"Sorry man, they said to mention her if you resisted so I ju-" Alex stepped forward and picked the man off the ground and held up in the air by his neck.

"Ack what the hell man I was-"

"I don't give a damn… Don't mention my sister next time." Alex lightly threw him to the side like a ragdoll. The others stood and watched not wanting to intimidate Alex into doing anything rash. Walking to the jeep Sam stopped him.

"Hey there's only four seats man I think we need to get-"

"No, just leave this dumbass here. Otherwise no deal." Alex said looking to the side at a coughing Myers who was on all fours grasping for breathe.

Alex hopped into the wheel seat and waited for the others to join him.

"That was my seat but ok." Carol said. Usually he liked to be the dominant one but unfortunately Alex was someone who you couldn't fuck with.

The jeep began to move and the car zoomed past the cold streets.

"They say you survived a nuke is this true?" Sam asked not sure of whether or not it really was the case.

Alex didn't feel like talking much so he kept silent, ignoring the question completely. This vehicle he found himself in was going at a deadly speed, the thing seemed to be going faster than any helicopter he ever piloted so far. Currently Alex still felt dead inside, could he even relate himself to anything dead? His mind raced back and forth with no clear pattern as the jeep sped on. His own personal hell was unfolding within his own mind.

It's not certain whether he will choose to continue lying to himself that he's Alex Mercer. But one thing's for sure, he's not done yet. He has Alex's sister to look after. Holding onto these last pieces of purpose Alex knew he couldn't give up yet. As he was thinking of this he wondered if the original Alex Mercer was in hell or not, truly something he didn't want to think about.

"You can't just be a loner you know." Sarah jabs at him, the very sentence splinters under his skin.

"Why should you care?" Alex barks while looking off to the side.

"We're just trying to be nice, you should be a bit more thankful. Way I see it, you're the one responsible for this mess." Carl says disregarding the fact that Alex could kill him at any moment.

"I am now." Not understanding his words the group sat still looking at the back of Mercer's head.

"No more hostility guys. I'm just glad you're complying peacefully Zeus." Sarah says while putting her hand on Alex's shoulder. The sensation of someone touching him caused him to jump in his seat, and Sarah pulled her hand back not wanting to upset him further. Initially he thought of her as annoying, a thorn in his side. But he had actually longed for such Human interaction being that the only human interaction he received these past months revolved around killing people, commanding people, or talking to someone about their next move.

"Yeah I… I agree but don't expect me to just kneel before Blackwatch, if this deal is crap I'm not going to bother accepting it."

"Fine by me, but you should remember that we won't give you another chance like this." Sam said while looking behind him to see if anything was tailing them.

"If you don't mind me asking… Why do you have so many collars? Like you have a button down shirt, a hood, and then a leather jacket." Alex Mercer looked down, staring at his clothes.

"I didn't have time to pick a right outfit. I was a head researcher of Project Black light, and the people involved on the project were being systematically murdered. I had to get my shit together fast before I was offed." Everyone in the car lost their fear of the man, and instead grew curious.

"Wait so you were also responsible for not only releasing the virus, but creating it?" Sam had underestimated Alex, at first sight he looked like some punk who liked leather too much. Somehow he was proven wrong with a single sentence.

"Partially. The first virus ever used was tested on random civilians in Hope Idaho. I myself only experimented on it further, but the people working on the project were being gun downed. I grabbed one the vials containing Black light and ran into the streets hoping that'd give me leverage. I was wrong…"

"How do you know all of that about Hope Idaho, that's classified information?" Wanting to put an end to their suspicions Carol asked the question that was on Sarah's and Sam's mind.

"Every person I 'consume' gives me their memories and abilities. I had to kill a lot of people of interest, and after consuming one or two marines, I had the search and destroy knowledge to find and hunt down the other men of interest. Getting into military bases became as easy as brushing my teeth after a few days." Sarah let her head load what she just heard. This man literally was killing people and draining them of their memories. She could only imagine what that'd look like to see someone ripped apart, and see them get absorbed like a damn happy meal.

"That confirms a lot of our theories on you. You said getting into military bases was easy, so I assume you could shapeshift too?" Alex sat in his seat and knew just exactly how to answer his question. Focusing now, he forced his body to shift into a BlackWatch troop. The skin around his quickly morphed, tendrils squirmed in and out swirling around him as he suddenly appeared in a militaristic disguise.

"HOLY SHIT" Carl screamed caught off guard. The other two members of the squad held their mouths open wide. Changing back to his original form he smirked at the reactions given.

"What?"

"You had to kill that guy in order to get his body? You're a monster if you don't feel remorse man."

"I know I'm a monster!" Mercer screamed gripping the jeeps door in fustration causing the metal to slightly cave in.

"I did what I had to do to survive, and save New York. I have the blood of Millions of New Yorker's on my hands, but that wouldn't be possible without Gentek and Black Watch. You people were the real ones responsible for this." Sam decided that he had enough of this guy and his antics. Sticking up for his friend Carol he spoke.

"You're the one who released the virus!"

"I didn't release shit! I'm not the real Alex J. Mercer, this body's just another disguise like all the others." His throat was sore now but he spoke more anyway not caring. The pain in his voice could be detected by the three in the car.

"I was the Black Light Virus, the real Alex Mercer is dead! Do you know how it feels knowing your birth caused the death of millions." The three members stood quiet. They were briefed that his origin may have very well been that, but they expected him to reveal this later on with evil in his voice. Instead his voice was a mix of several emotions combining into a dreadful speech.

"The original virus wasn't made to cure cancer, help solve world issues NO! Do you know how it feels knowing your whole existence, no purpose was intended for killing! The original Virus was made to target people of minority." At first they all pegged him for some scumbag who was shady, then they misjudged him as some evil sentient virus that wanted to take control of the world, but now it was clear what he truly was.

To Carol he seemed weak and pathetic, Sam was picturing him as the shell of a man with the world on his shoulders. Myers would have actually apologized if he were the seat with them, but Sarah was letting her head go blank listening.

"I know I'm partially responsible, but not all the blame goes on me." Alex choked.

"Well in the end you helped. You weren't responsible at all if you're not the original Alex. You saved the city from turning into a wasteland, and you helped save it from being nuked. You're a hero." Sarah calmed, instead Alex snapped and bashed the door braking it off not knowing his own strength

"IM NO FUCKING HERO! I killed men with families! Soldiers fighting for something they didn't believe in, guys who had kids at home!"

"Everybody calm the fuck down! Just take a minute." Carol interrupted. Things went well, but they'd probably end up getting scolded for the jeep being partially damaged. Fucking grade A…. Sam figured turning the radio on would help ease things.

"I think some tunes would do us some good." Sam suggested from the back, raising his voice so he could be heard. Sarah analyzed the cars buttons until her pupils were held hostage by two knobs. Hopefully fiddling with them for long enough would get her somewhere… Nope!

"I need some help with this guys, the position of the radio is unknown and I'm taking heavy fire!" Sarah joked. Alex looked over at the knobs, feeling regret over his little outburst he turned the radio on.

"Put something good on" Carol commanded, he preferred 80's type music so in hopes of not having some garbage blasting he spoke again.

"Go to station 40.47" Carol added. Alex dialed the knob the right, and did the same to the left and the radio screeched for a few seconds before music started to play.

"9/11 was just a misconception, *guitar tune*" The radio hummed. Everyone in the jeep sat up, mercer knit his brow in confusion. 'What?'

"George W bush is a damn lizard so, punch that faggot right in the gizzard!" the song echoed. 'What kind of song is this?!' Mercer tried shutting the damn thing off but the song continued.

"Oh yea take a sip of mountain dew! But if you're JEW, fuck you!" The song ended there and left everyone in silence.

"I think we should turn the radio off to save our ears." Sarah chimed, throwing her fingers at the on/off switch she didn't notice before. Alex looked over his shoulder to speak to Carol.

"You like that kind of music, no wonder you work for Black Watch." He taunted with a joking tone. The car was reaching its destination and Mercer could tell.

"Pipe down grim reaper." Carl bested, maybe they could warm up to him. There have been far worse people they've met in comparison, he was still a threat, but who knows maybe he wasn't so bad. The jeep bolted down the road, the sides were nothing more than a fast blur to them. Soon they'd be down at headquarters sipping on hot cocoa, negotiating with the man sitting before them. Life was good.

-Beep-

"Huh?" Carl worried looking down at the radar, there was a red dot in front of them and they were approaching it fast. The sudden rush of panic consumed the three remaining members of the squad.

"Get your guns ready, if we're lucky it'll be a common infected." Sarah soothed, "and besides we're trained to deal with hunters and other stuff like that." Reassuring them that things were gonna be ok was her main concern. Foolish on her part, she knew that they were going to go through hell with Myers not by their side as they were a team of four not three.

Alex had learned a long time ago that letting fear grip your body was futile. Whatever was ahead of them, he'd be able to take it. Getting visions of his previous fight, he began to get amped up. The world was trying to kill him again for the second time he concluded looking down at the radar. The GPS guiding system was heading towards the red dot and according the meter the infected levels were off the charts.

"Whatever this thing is, it's got a huge infected level. I'm hit the meter to check up on it." Sarah announced, "Ummm guys this is a problem…" Looking at the meter the thing had a higher infected level than a supreme hunter. There was no time for talking as the car unexpectedly stopped in mid place. If it weren't for their seat belts they'd be dead instantly except for Alex of course.

"You idiots stay here, I'm gonna check it out." Mercer ripped the belt apart and leaped out of the car. Their jeep had stopped right in front of a building meaning the threat would be right above this small apartment building, well that's what he thought. Landing on top of the building he thought that the dot may have been inside but out of nowhere a voice called out to him.

"So we finally meet eachother at last Mercer…." A voice rung out. The strong coldness of the voice pierced into Alex's senses warning him that the man before him was a foe. "Sounds nice but, who exactly am I meeting right now?" Mercer beckoned his hand upside down in a questioning point towards the man standing a few feet away from him. He wore dark grey cargo pants, and black puffy vest, but oddly enough he wore a white hood that made him stand out from the dark sky in the background.

"You know me, but the question is how much." Alex Mercer knew that there were only 3 infected beings he had ever come to think of. One being himself. The other two were Elizabeth Greene and Cross. Both of which tried to kill him. Whoever this guy was he was infected for sure. Come on Alex think! According to the people he consumed to add to the web of intrigue a runner was someone who was infected but alert and sentient… According to them Alex Mercer was the first male runner. Of course that was wrong since he was actually dead and the virus was using his body for a host.

That only pointed Alex in one direction. After consuming so many people he knew that he wasn't the first male runner, since he was actually sentient, and after consuming more he found out who the real first runner was…

"Pariah…." The words dripped out of his voice like melting ice water. "So what's this about you plan on consuming me or something?" His memories pointed him to a marine he had consumed 'Something real… Bad would happen if these two were to meet'. Every single memory he had concerning Pariah was centering on something sick and twisted. Alex knew he was a freak but Pariah was BORN human, yet he seemed loonier than he did in some of the memories Alex had of him. 'Green was an imperfect release of non-coding regions of the genome. And Alex Mercer was something more. What if Pariah was a perfect realization of all the non-coding regions in the genome? It may be the final purpose of all life on earth.'

"What do you want with me? You gonna try and consume me?" Mercer scowled as he got himself ready in a combat stance. The world was a cruel place, let your guard down for a second, and you'll die faster than you can blink.

"Don't get yourself flattered, I'm not going to consume you… Not yet that is." Pariah shouted while looking to the side enjoying the view of the sky. For someone who gave such a sinister smile, he sure seems to be calm right now oddly enough. Pariah gave Mercer an assertive gesture pointing at the city, thanks to consuming so many people he'd learn that this was a military hand gesture used to signify control and dominance.

"The city may be reverting back, but as far as I see it. There's still the two of us." Mercer looked down, but not far enough to let his guard down. Alex was immortal and he knew it as painful as it was, and over time fighting the infected would get old but he'd had to do it anyway.

"We'll meet again, that may be next month, or the month after that, or next year, or the year after that, or the next decade, ah well you get the point. You and I have an eternity to get thing done."

Finishing his sentence, Pariah took a bow, and then leapt off. Moving quickly into the distance until he was gone. This time he let his head fall to floor, balling his fists. Whatever it was that Pariah was planning it wouldn't be something that wouldn't earn him the complete hate of Alex Mercer. It doesn't matter that Alex and him are both infected. It didn't matter that both of them were made by greed, for greed. It didn't matter that both of them had rough child hoods.

What mattered was that Alex would be ready for Pariah when he would initiate his plans, and that he'd be ready to kill him within a moment's notice like he was nothing.