Author: Second to last Chapter.
Also, I love Cole's Reaper skin in inFAMOUS2.
EDIT: Thanks to DeliciousCookie pointing out a minor grammar mistake, I have fixed it. Thanks for mentioning it.
Hunter
His prey had eluded him. Tricked him. Managed to disappear. He couldn't even find a trace of him, as the trail of ionized particles had disappeared amongst the bright signs and millions of electrical appliances all over the city jungle.
It reminded him of the older man, and he couldn't help but wonder: Had they known each other before they fought until the older man dropped dead? Both had the same abilities, with the older man just having the advantage of experience.
But it seemed the older man had taught the younger one much. Or- which could be possible since they didn't seem to exactly stand each other- the younger one had devised exactly the same trick the older one used to vanish.
The Hunter clicked his mandibles together slightly irritated. The weather was getting colder again, and he should finish his hunt soon, but now the Demon continued to elude him. He wondered if he knew- or was just trying to hide until he lost his interest.
He shook his head. That didn't fit into the image of the younger man. He was no coward. After all- he did challenge him, even directly, and had led him away. He wanted to fight him, but it seemed he didn't want to do so now.
He wanted to face him on his own terms. And that thought excited the Hunter. It was one thing hunting prey- and another one hunting prey on its own terms and ground.
But a part of him wanted to finally finish this. He was growing weary of this world, wanted to get back and hunt the Black Serpents, which were much more thrilling than these soft creatures. So he was impatient as he stalked the edges of this 'Neon' area.
He wondered whether he should try to draw his prey out again. Hunting lesser prey seemed to...rile him. The Hunter wondered why, for he did hunt them as well. They were his prey too, and still, he felt it was necessary to fight him over their lives.
He snorted. It seemed they both were hunters, even if the Demon didn't know it. And two hunters fighting over the same territory- only one of them was going to survive.
The muffled sound of an distant explosion drew his attention. The Ripper whirled around, eye narrow behind his mask as he searched for the origin of the blast.
In the area the oomans called 'Historic', was a thin column of smoke rising. In an instant, the Hunter tapped the side of his mask to zoom closer and increase the audio output of that place. He picked up the sounds of weapon discharge and more explosions, and began moving.
Maybe this wasn't the prey he originally wanted, but battles meant prey worthy of hunt.
It was a chance he wouldn't let pass by unused.
As the Hunter reached the Historic area, the battle was raging. He was perched atop the hollowed-out shell of a building near the blast crater, glancing down. He saw the men in the masks being driven back by a large group of the men in the red hoods. He frowned, inclining his head. Those usually didn't leave the Neon. And more even, they were more like wild animals- snarling and growling instead of actually speaking- but they were clever. They moved fast and vanished into the underbelly of the city if they were threatened, but they weren't as powerful as the men belonging to the other groups. Hunting them was for warming up, really, and for when he had nothing better to hunt. They usually were the weakest of them. But now they were boldly attacking the strongest out of the three factions.
Well, they used to be the strongest. The Hunter clicked thoughtful. He had hunted them during his time here, but the Demon had violently devastated their ranks already. And when their leader died, they all but...vanished. Their numbers had dwindled noticeably too.
So maybe the Serpent Woman had decided to let her warriors take over this area and take them from the masked men's clutches? She was the only of the Great Powers left, bar the Demon. Maybe she was trying to get more control over the city?
He frowned again. Maybe he should hunt the Serpent Woman- she seemed to be a formidable foe herself.
The sound of battle drew his attention yet again. Interested, he watched how the hooded men drove back the masked men, snarling and hissing like the rabid animals they were. He clicked once before he jumped to another roof to keep them in his line of vision.
The hooded men suddenly stopped chasing after the masked men and instead began to rush through the empty streets and away from him. He set after them, wondering whether it was an incident or whether they were aware of him. Four of them suddenly broke away to the side, stopping to throw sticks of explosives behind them. Not in his direction, but towards the hollow building he was currently on, and the ones besides them. The constructions collapsed in an ear-splitting cacophony of breaking stone and mortar, forcing the Hunter to retreat, least he wanted to be swept away in the maelstrom of dust and rubble.
This has not been on random. No. They knew he was stalking them. They knew he was there.
The Hunter scanned through the dust of the collapsing building, finding all of the hooded men standing in the middle of the crater, turned towards his position.
He snorted. They were forcing him into the open. They were waiting for him.
With one bound, he leaped through the cloud of dust and hit the crater ground with a heavy thud. The hooded men still couldn't see him, but they were pulling back with snarls, glancing uncertainly around.
And then one of them suddenly lifted his arm and aimed his palm at him.
A lightning bolt smashed into the Hunter's chest before he could even react, sending him stumbling back and rendering him visible. While the other hooded men scattered and fled back into the city jungle, the one that attacked him slowly lifted his head, glaring at him.
It was the Demon.
The Hunter eyed him in surprise. Not only did he ally himself with his enemies, he also disguised himself as one of them and he had lured him out.
Like a Hunter preparing bait for a trap.
It took him a moment to realize it, but once it did, the Ripper doubled over, laughter echoing from his throat.
His prey had truly become a hunter himself.
There had been a small moment in which Cole doubted himself. Doubted that his plan would work. Doubted that he was doing the right thing. But there had been no backing down. He had asked Sasha for help (again), suggesting a truce until the Ripper was done for. Surprisingly, Sasha had agreed. Cole assumed that she wasn't as crazy as he always thought. Or she had the mind of a mad scientist. He couldn't really tell.
But, as it was, she had suggested that he'd dress up as one of the Reapers, to lure the Hunter out. Cole, after a moment hesitation, had to realize that this was actually an even better idea than what he originally planned- namely have the Reapers lure out the killer (or Alien, or whatever he was), while he waited in a hideout and took him by surprise.
So he had exchanged his usual yellow shirt and tell-tale union-jack-print pants for a Reaper uniform (which was surprisingly clean) and enough face paint to supply three elementary schools. Cole wasn't sure about getting a skull painted on his face, but Sasha assured him that it would come off again.
He really hoped it would- he couldn't run around looking like a Reaper out of Uniform after all of this was said and done.
He had started to doubt that this would work when he and a bunch of real Reapers went into the Historic district to torture a bunch of First Sons. Not that Cole was objecting- without the First Sons, Trish would be still alive- but he just didn't see the point in fighting if there was something better to do. But then his Radar Senses picked up something in the background, twisted and smudged by a familiar field of energy. The Ripper had arrived and was following them.
Cole ordered the Reapers to head to the center of the crater, and to blow up the buildings behind them. This bought them some time to head into the open. The Conduit took a moment to check for the broken cables that had been around when he fought Kessler. They were still there and still sparking, so he positioned one foot near one of them and just waited.
The Dust parted in one place, seconds before something heavy hit the ground. Cole didn't give the killer any time to react when he charged up a lightning bolt and targeted the other.
The attack connected, blasted his field apart and rendered him visible. That was when the other Reapers scattered, escaping to return to Sasha. Cole let them. They had helped him and he wasn't going to shoot them down. Besides, he would need all his strength for the Ripper.
He lifted his head and glared at him.
The massive Alien seemed surprised for a moment, before he suddenly bowed his upper body and started...laughing. It was a deep sound, barely human. But the implications were clear: The Hunter was highly amused by Cole's attempt at luring him out.
Cole's eyes narrowed. I give you something to laugh at.
He stomped his foot down onto the sparking wire, and lightning started to snap out of his body in a massive arc.
The sky darkened instantly. The Ripper clicked once before he tapped his wrist gauntlet. Cole noticed the shoulder canon swing into his direction.
Well, too bad.
He unleashed the charge he gathered, summoning a massive pillar of lightning. The Ripper made a startled noise and dodged to the side, but Cole focused on him, letting the lightning change its traction and follow after the alien. His net-like armor sparked from the proximity of the massive electrical field. Cole frowned, remembering their first battle. The guy had a sort of drainage device that rendered his attacks useless, but even the relatively small discharge he had used when he tackled him had managed to shut it off.
A second pillar of lightning slammed into the ground on the Ripper's other side, trapping him inside a massive field of heavy electrical currents. They wouldn't touch each other, though. He had experienced it once and that had been a discharge even he couldn't control, but as long both lightning pillars were close to each other, the field created between them was enough. Cole ground his teeth together against the pain that raced through his body from having to channel this much energy at once, but hearing the Hunter howl out in agony was definitely worth it. He just had to hold it until he had fried that stupid tech- or the Ripper himself, if possible.
The Alien shrieked, but his cramping muscles didn't seem to deter him much when his claw smacked the wrist gauntlet. Cole's eyes widened when he saw a blue orb of energy peel itself out of the sheet of lightning and race towards him. He reacted immediately, diving to the side to avoid the projectile that would hurt even him; at the price of collapsing his Lightning Storm.
The smell of singed flesh hit his nostrils as he rolled over his shoulder to get back to his feet. The Ripper snarled and shook his massive head, flicking his dreadlocks, and a metal object dropped from his belt, singed black. The Alien grunted, then turned his attention towards Cole. Cole sneered back and ducked low. Both moved at the same time.
The Hunter flung the metal disc towards the Conduit, who jumped off the floor to let it fly into empty air. He was an easy target up here- he had experienced it several times before during his battle for Empire, but that didn't mean he had to remain that way. So he twisted his body and unleashed a Kinetic Blast to the back. Since he didn't have a solid footing, he was flung to the front, towards the Ripper. The Alien lunged at him in that moment, clawed fingers flexed anxiously.
Cole swallowed, preparing himself. He knew this was a crucial moment- if the guy managed to grab him then his chances would turn bad pretty fast.
Lightning arched over his body, before he made it explode outwards. The Ripper made a startled noise, jerking back slightly. It wasn't much, not more than a misstep to others- but to Cole it was all he needed.
Moving like a cat, he seized the scaled arm of his foe and used his own momentum to swing over the other's back. The Ripper snarled and swung his arm into his direction, Dual Blades already popped out and ready to kill. Cole hissed and brought his leg between his torso and the lethal weapons, while also grabbing the shoulder canon. In the very moment the metal bit painfully into his thigh, Cole wrenched the gun off the Ripper's shoulder with a loud crack. Judging by the surprised head jerk of the Alien, this was clearly something that hadn't happened before and wasn't suppose to happen at all.
Thank God for my enhanced strength.
Then the Ripper suddenly flung his other arm out, grabbed the Conduit and tore him off his shoulder. The blades, that were still stuck in his leg, twisted roughly, forcing Cole to grit his teeth against the pain. Without missing a beat, the Hunter slammed his opponent into the ground, hard enough to crack the floor. Cole hissed when his skull collided with the pavement below. When the Ripper then yanked out his Dual Blades, Cole's vision briefly turned white, though he quickly got back into the game when he saw the Alien lift his claws over his head. The Conduit snarled and discharged his body, sending thousands of volts into his foe, who jerked back with a pained yelp, freeing him in the process.
Cole wasted no time to scramble away from the killer and back into the open, before he whipped around to face him once more. He didn't put any weight on his injured leg, though he could feel the sting that came with his powers knitting his flesh together. The Ripper stared at the sparks and the healing wound with interest, and the intensity of his stare deeply unsettled the young man.
"Superhuman", the Ripper snarled a moment later. "Worthy hunt"
Looks like Zeke had been right about that Code thing. Cole ducked his body and readied himself. He could stand to get a fresh charge, so he would have to get to the nearest wire to juice up. A quick flick of his eyes to the side told him that there was one of them nearby. Okay, he could do it. The Ripper didn't have his canon anymore. The single most dangerous thing he had on him was a useless piece of twisted metal on the floor besides Cole now.
Though it didn't meant that the guy was beaten- he was only far less dangerous now.
Cole moved. His natural agility did only increase with his powers, allowing him to rush faster than most people. The Hunter snarled and turned his massive head to watch him. Out of the corner of his eye, the Conduit notice him reach for his gauntlet. He wasn't sure whether he actually heard the sharp beep or whether he imagined it, but he did hear the sharp hiss of the shuriken thing as it cut through the air. He swore and aborted his rush for the nearest electrical wire to flop flat to the ground, avoiding the lethal disc as it soared through the air. The Ripper caught it effortlessly and fixed it back to his belt. Cole was back on his feet, glaring at the Alien.
The Hunter made this clicking sound again and inclined his head, as if daring him to try something similar again. Cole balled his fist, bounced on his heels twice- and kicked off the ground. The other snarled and ripped that rifle thing off its holster against his leg, but Cole was faster. He chucked several Shock Grenades towards his foe, where they bounced off the floor before they exploded in a shower of electric sparks. The Ripper pulled back with another snarl, but not before squeezing off a few shots. Cole threw his hand out and generated his Shield, stopping the Y-shaped projectiles in mid-air.
Twack
Cole blinked at the small thing that suddenly hit the ground next to his foot. He needed a moment to realize that it was blinking.
Right. Bombs.
The Conduit all but threw his body to the side, while also moving his shield between himself and the explosive disc.
When it went off, the shockwave threw him several yards through the air. Cole swore as he struggled to get into a better position, but the time was too short to stabilize his posture. He barely hit the floor with his feet and felt something twist painfully (probably his ankle, Zeke has told him a dozen times not to move them them when landing), seconds before another bomb burrowed itself into the ground. This one, he zapped to loosen it and flip it back, so it detonated more or less harmlessly away from him. The explosion still made his ears ring and some piece of debris caught him on the cheek.
The Ripper threw his arm to the front, releasing three more bombs. Cole scowled and smacked them with his Kinetic Blast to blow them up long before they came into his vicinity. The detonations were still immense and they did whirl up quite a lot of dust, obstructing his view. Cole swore and jumped backwards, away from the cloud. He couldn't afford being blinded through obstructing dirt.
Flunk
Cole blinked. That sound was new.
Confused, he turned to glance into the Ripper's direction, moments before something hurled towards him. He jumped backwards again, only for the thing to suddenly extend into every direction. His brain came to a screeching stand-still.
A net?!
Seriously, from all things the guy could have used, this looked like the least dangerous one. It was a large net with one peg attached to either corner.
A second later he realized that he shouldn't take any chances, no matter what he thought, so he jumped off the floor and tried to avoid it.
He underestimated both the speed with which the net flew and the sheer amount of force it had. He was simply too slow to avoid it, and it hit him with the power of a small car, flinging him through mid-air like a ragdoll. Cole threw his arms up in an instinctive reaction to protect himself and arched his back, moments before he hit the ground hard.
And then the four corner pegs of the thing suddenly burrowed into the ground, fastening the net and Cole securely to the ground.
Cole hissed and tried to kick it off, but then he heard a sharp mechanical whirr. He noticed how something in the pegs started to spin, drawing the net in- pulling it taut and trapping him inside.
He snarled and wrapped his fingers around the metal strings as it tightened more around him- but let go of it almost immediately with a pained yelp.
The metal wire was razor sharp.
And Cole realized just how screwed he was.
The net cut into his forearms and shins, and continued to shrink around him, slicing deeper and squeezing his legs harshly against his body. The Conduit began panicking, struggling to somehow escape his restraints. He heard a sharp click and twisted his head to the side, noticing the Ripper approach him with his lance.
Oh Shit.
He couldn't tear through the net, for it was much too durable, but he had to get out before that bastard got close enough to skewer him (again) with that spear. But entire brain was screaming and running around in circles, because the net had drawn too tight and cut bleeding wounds into his body and everything hurt.
He tried tugging again, but the metal bit harshly into his palms.
Evolve or die.
Cole snarled at the sudden flashback of Kessler's words, and his fist curled around the metal, unbothered by the sharp sting. Kessler had thought him weak. But he wasn't. He was stronger. Stronger than that. A net wouldn't stop him.
The Ripper had come too close by now, only a few more steps separated them. Lightning snapped out of the Conduit's skin, setting the net ablaze with electricity.
Induction heating is the process of heating an electrically conducting object (usually a metal) by electromagnetic induction.
Cole's body jumped into a frenzy, with lightning lashing out of his skin like a wild fire. The Ripper stopped a few feet away from his would-be victim, glancing at the sparks that prevented him from coming closer.
The metal between the Conduit's fingers started to heat up. Slowly at first, but it soon started to glow red hot. Cole grit his teeth with a curse word when the heat seared his skin where the metal had sliced into him.
There was a sharp hiss and the smell of hot metal, seconds before the net snapped apart. Cole immediately lunged towards the surprised Ripper, lightning fashioned into a pair of blades on either hand.
Payback, Bitch.
Moving faster than the Alien could react, he slammed both Blades into his lower torso, before he charged up again and send thousands of volts slamming right into the Ripper's body. The Alien recoiled with a pained howl, his entire body convulsing. Cole could smell burnt flesh and he noticed the warm, glowing green blood run over his hands where the heat wasn't enough to dry it immediately.
But he didn't stay close for long. As soon he felt his own powers drain, he shoved hard against the Alien and jumped away. This blow just took all out of him and he had to recharge.
He dove for the nearest electrical wire, ignoring the shrieks of pain behind him. However, as he latched onto the outlets, his eyes widened in horror. Several mines were scattered around the only source of electricity around.
And they all beeped once.
"Crap"
Cole had barely enough time left to throw his body to the side as far as he could, before all of the mines went up in a glorious ball of fire. He hit his head hard against the floor, and everything went black.
Cole groaned when his consciousness came back to him. Everything around him was burning and he felt like crap. Every inch of his body hurt.
It reminded him of the time he woke up after the Blast.
Moaning, he struggled back to his feet, trying his best to ignore his pounding head. Shit. How much time had passed?
He shook his head, trying to clear it, when he noticed a shadow falling over him. He just managed to dive away to dodge a violent spear thrust. He quickly got some more distance between himself and his attacker, and finally turned around- to face the Ripper.
Sucker was still standing. Figures.
"Shit", Cole groaned, "You are one tough bastard, aren't you?"
"Superhuman", the Alien snarled with an audible pant in his voice. Cole furrowed his brows. The guy was standing- barely. The two wounds he'd torn with his Electro Blades had already closed, most likely because of the intense heat of his weapons, but there were still tell-tale green stains on the killer's mottled skin. His entire body posture was stiff, as if he was in pain.
And there were sparks across the metal parts of his armor. The eyes of his mask were fizzling on and off, and the wrist-mounted computer was scorched black from the immense discharge.
Cole knew he'd done a number on his foe, but had to realize along the same line that neither of both could keep going for much longer.
The blast from before- it had done more than just knock him around. No, it had damaged the electric grid of the Historic District, causing this entire area to be without power.
Great.
Cole shook his head and scowled deep. No juice for him anymore. No wonder his head hurt so much.
The Ripper made a weird strangled noise, seconds before something at the side of his mask blew up. He grabbed the helmet and ripped it off his face to fling it away with a disgruntled snort. Cole saw the inside of the thing smolder, and there were fresh burns on the Hunter's face.
The Alien clicked his mandibles together and popped his Dual Blades out of his gauntlet, before roaring at Cole. The Conduit scowled back, though his eyes kept slipping out of focus. Damn weakness that came without any sort of juice around.
This was it, then. The last encounter, huh?
They rounded each other, glaring. None of them dared to make the first move.
Cole watched his opponent closely. For all the damage he must have wrecked on the guy's internal system, he was moving pretty well. His golden eye was focused, but not solely on him. He was ready for whatever the Conduit would throw at him.
Cole ground his teeth together. Better at reacting than acting, he didn't know what to do. If he would snap first, the Ripper could easily react. If the Alien went at him first, then he maybe wouldn't be able to stop him.
He scowled as they slowly continued to circle each other, trying to figure out any sort of weakness in the other.
Until Cole stepped onto some loose rubble. His feet slipped, causing him to lose his focus and stumble with a swear. The Ripper lunged at him.
The Conduit ducked under the initial Blade Swing, but missed the follow-up backhand thrown into his direction. The impact snapped his head back and rattled his teeth while bruising his jaw.
Ow.
His lip had split, but the wound was knitting itself together before it could spill blood. But he already had worse. Cole threw his entire weight into his opponent, targeting one of the wounds he'd torn before with a vicious headbutt. He didn't really think it would have worked, but the Ripper flinched back with a barely contained pained yelp.
A smirk appeared on his face. Okay. He could work with that.
The Ripper snarled and swung his claws at him again, And Cole dodged again, though this time he jumped up and grabbed the arm, letting himself be pulled along. He drew his knees against his body and delivered a powerful kick into the Ripper's chest with both feet, making him stumble. The Alien swung his arm in both an attempt to keep his balance and slice him with his claws, but Cole quickly dodged and slammed his shoulder into the other's torso.
The Ripper stepped back to keep steady and grabbed the Conduit, then flung him off and through the air.
Cole hissed and twisted his feet down to land, but jumped at the larger the next moment. He couldn't afford letting him get his bearings together- and he should be faster than the massive Alien anyways.
He overestimated himself. Badly.
The Ripper was faster than him, able to swing around and snatch his throat within the blink of an eye. Cole choked when the Hunter nearly crushed his trachea and effortlessly held him aloft. The Conduit's hands snapped up and clawed into the scaled skin for hold and to take the weight off his neck.
Okay. That hadn't been so brilliant.
The Ripper clicked again and moved his arm, Dual Blades ready to skewer his opponent. Cole's eyes narrowed. Like Hell he would allow this to happen again. Instead, his muscles coiled together and he wrenched his legs upwards, kicking his foe with full power into his armored throat. The metal- weakened and heavily damaged through the massive amount of electricity having surged through it before- gave in with an ugly crunch.
The Ripper reeled back with a choking noise, letting go of Cole, who dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. The Conduit coughed and massaged his sore neck, before his attention returned to the Alien not even three feet from him.
The Hunter was on one knee, mandibles flaring as he made an ungodly gurgling choking sort of sound, while one hand was clawing against his throat. Cole saw green blood trickle out from behind his fingers.
Some of the metal of his collar had impaled his neck when he kicked him.
Cole faltered for a moment. Should he try to heal him? Should he leave him to die?
It was in his nature to help others, having tried to rescue Moya, even as the Washington sank and against everything his brain told him.
But this guy- he murdered hundreds. Took their skulls as trophies. Had tried to kill him- and endangered even more. Did he deserve mercy?
He didn't. The Conduit grit his teeth and rose to his feet, then slowly walked over to the Alien, who glared at him with a snarl.
"Guess this is it", Cole growled. "End of the Line, buddy."
"Champion", the Ripper croaked.
Cole halted for a moment, eyes narrow. The Marine had said that they have some sort of detonation device on them to take their life should everything go south. But he had fried it, hadn't he?
Better not take any chances.
The Conduit lunged at his weakened opponent, tackling bodily into him. And this time, the Ripper couldn't withstand the assault. The two of them slammed hard into the ground, Cole on top. He saw movement from the corner of his eye and stomped his foot down to pin the Ripper's arm against the floor.
The Alien snarled once, but didn't offer any more resistance. He admitted his defeat.
Cole grabbed his face, while the other hand curled against his shoulder. He almost stopped there, though, because what he was about to do was not something he never enjoyed doing.
Reminded him too much of David.
But some foes didn't deserve anything better- and he had to heal.
So the Conduit turned his attention towards the closest source of Electrical Energy. The synaptic charges of the Alien.
The Ripper gave one startled whimper when Cole leeched him, then his body convulsed once before it went still. The Conduit stumbled back with a hiss, away from the fresh cadaver, then sat down with a groan.
It was done. The Ripper was no more.
