The Protector's footsteps shook the metal staircase as he ascended towards a vent. It had been nearly a week since his daughter had been poisoned by the ADAM, and there had been no word about anyone else getting sick, but he worried nonetheless. Over the past few days, The Metal Man had watched over many of his daughters, who were all equally important to him, but his thoughts kept returning to the one with the filthy blonde hair. She had only come crawling from the hidey-hole once since the incident, and her normally vibrant yellow eyes had seemed more focused, but rather depressed. Her plasmid had been given her difficulties, like shocking her and her playmates at random back at home or electrifying a puddle as she stepped into it, but it was more than that. The glow in her soul had dimmed.

Reaching the top of the stairs, The Protector heard shouting and paused. If the area was flooded with Splicers, it wouldn't be safe to call for his daughter. He moaned with slight annoyance as he trotted over to a catwalk to check out the disturbance. Peering down into the atrium below, what he saw shocked him. A large crowd of every type of Splicer had gathered in the hall, the glass ceiling above them letting in just enough light from the canal above to make out general shapes. Houdinis sat next to Spiders, with Leadheads and Thugs mixed in. It wasn't just the eclectic nature of the gathering that was odd; every last one of the assembled mutants was silent. All but one.

"The Time has come!" The Splicer at the head of the column shouted out at the assembly. He didn't stand on any platform or stage, but he didn't need to. The leader was easily the largest person in the room, appearing to stand four meters at the shoulder. He was also heavily mutated, with multiple extra appendages sprouting from his back and waist, lumpy growths that could be new limbs forming dotted his torso and head, and all seven of his eyes moved independently of each other. His many arms and legs were massive, each the thickness of The Protector's already-large torso. The Protector was reminded of seeing the skeleton of a creature called a mammoth, except that the Splicer was larger. "The Time has come!" The Leader repeated, his voice booming in the silent chamber, "The she-devils, with their glowing eyes, they have brought about the curse that we now bear. Their existence has tortured us for all time, and their laughs taunt us as they drink from our dead! Enough, I say! They have reached the end of their road! The Tiny-Ones will be served justice, crushed beneath the weight of our pain, and slaughtered with the steel beasts they hold in their sway!" The incredible specimen of forced evolution gave a rousing speech, but he very well may have been talking to himself. There was not a sound coming from the gathered Splicers.

The Protector stood dumbfounded. The giant was blaming the Daughters for the mutations that the denizens of Rapture had gone through. Not only that, he had somehow convinced a small army that he was correct, and managed to control and discipline them. No, that wasn't quite right, The Metal Man realized as he noticed the red mist tinting the air in the atrium. The leader must have an incredibly powerful hypnotism Plasmid, and was using it to control the mob of Splicers. The Iron Giant forced himself to listen to the rest of the giant's spiel, doing his best to stay out of sight.

"Already, the downfall of the Tiny-Ones has begun! My disease has already begun to spread through Rapture's corpses, poisoning the blood for the she-devils. The Death of the Deep has started its work, and it is only a matter of time before they are weak enough for us to destroy. Our vengeance shall ravage their bodies, just as their curse ravages ours!" The leader's speech fell on deaf ears, but he acted as if cheers rang out from the crowd. However, the one audience member who had actually been listening did not feel like cheering. In fact, he felt like violently regurgitating the breathing fluid that permanently filled his lungs. Before, The Protector had been able to simply kill or destroy anything that had threatened his daughters. Against such a large group of enemies, even he had no chance, not to mention the leader. The Metal Man would be tossed aside like an empty wrapper. He needed help, and to report the sickness that the Splicer was spreading, somehow, to all of the Angels.

The Protector began hoofing it to Point Prometheus, post-haste. He needed to get word about this back to home, but he couldn't go himself. He didn't even know where the home was, and other than his daughter's, he had no regular communication with home or the Big Sisters, and it was too risky to call his little girls to him. However, he knew where at least one of the older girls liked to spend her days.

(A/N): Boom, conflict introduced. I actually had free time to work on this chapter, yay! That free time was tragically cut short by summer homework, not-so-yay! I less wrote this new villain than I did remember it from a nightmare, then twist it as needed. It was pretty demoralizing in the confines of my skull, and I really hope that I was able to get that across.

A few quick thank-you's:
To my best-friend, for being completely and utterly insane. Never change.

NJL97, for the kind words and encouragement. Also, seriously, I can't make this point enough, read this cool person's stories. I'm actually reading "Alone Under The Sea" right now.

Barber447, for being a loyal and kind reader and inadvertently giving me a name for the disease and inspiring this chapter. It may not be what this cool person had intended it for, but whats a little idea-robbery between friends?

PhloxPopuli, I'm glad I could surprise you. I was trying to do something I had never seen before, and still keep it interesting. I guess it worked :D

SadisticAvocado, thanks for the suggestion and the complement. Sissy should work great for the little sisters.

Aperture Science Turret, thanks for the Banshees idea for when I have the Narrator or The Protector talking. Also, I have to admit I was the slightest bit scared when I paused my game of Portal to check my email and your name popped up... On the Porthole topic, in my mind, they can see both through and with the fluid in the helmets. I can explain in greater detail in-story, if anyone is curious.

I really just want to thank you all for staying with the story and reading each chapter. It simply amazes me whenever I look at my inbox and see someone Favorited, or just look at the story stats and see another few people checked out the story. It blows my mind that people actually want to read what I write. Thank you so much.

Also, this chapter is brought to you by Infinite Leekspin. 8 hours is my record.

Please Read, Review, Recycle.