I really should update my other fanfic. People are waiting, Cay! Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there. Chapter 10 is ready to go and I'm planning on writing another fanfic. Clue: Check my profile! Enjoy Reading! :)

P.S. If you guys were wondering for this long where the Children are actually coming from, prepare to be quite startled.

Chapter Ten: Poison Ivy

"Wakey wakey Heller," someone called out his name and he moaned before his lids slowly opened. He almost instantly panicked as he spotted a whole swarm of Children surround him and one said "Heller, we won't hurt you. We need you." He looked at his arms; black worms wriggled, tightening when it thought he was escaping as he was suspended in mid-air. "Where the fuck am I?"

"Far away from Manhattan," a unique voice spoke from the crowd and altogether it parted, singling out a woman Heller hoped he could kill himself. She was hooded, black cape flowing down to her feet and as she looked up, he became mesmerised by her white emissive eyes. She wore a black, figure-hugging one-piece with thigh-high boots and a silver glove on her left hand. "I'm gonna kill you when I'm out of this, you dumb bitch!"

"And it's nice to see you too, James. How's life been?"

"Fuck. Off."

"I don't think you should say that to me. You see, all these Children you see here, I have control over them."

"You're nothing."

"I'm powerful, James! All because I'm one of them now. If you try and kill me, daddy will not be happy."

"Tell me who it is, so that I can break him myself."

"It's... Actually, I can't say. You're gonna find out for yourself. He's coming soon so you better be prepared but first... Will you help us kill your friends?"

"What? Sabrina, you're fucked in the head. Now put me down and let me outta here!"

"No. No James, I don't think you understand. I'm doing you a favour!"

"And what if I say no?" From where he was hanging, everyone there looked like little bugs just waiting to be squashed by the sole of his boot. He knew this place, he was told about it when he was in the Marines. Hope, Idaho. When they dropped a nuke on this artificial place to destroy Elizabeth Greene and everyone else. Now it was burnt to dust, houses disintegrated, trees to its roots. Where he was, though, looked more advanced than GENTEK with a bit of black gooey stuff in random places.

"If you decline this opportunity, we will kill your daughter."

"Don't you dare get Maya into this!" He roared, remembering the long journey to find his daughter. Brutal, unexpected and just plain sad. Sabrina laughed and her gloved hand stretched out from under the cape, moving the digits slightly. "Or what? You gonna kill me? Well, you can't. I'm invincible, an Evolved Child." He felt the black slither towards his neck and he gritted his teeth, feeling the cold thing curl around his neck. "I've got more power I've wished for, James. I want you to join us."

"Hmmmm, let me think... Nope."

"You'd have power beyond your imagination. Think about it; you and me..."

"Yeah, all I see is me slicing you to bits. I'm sorry, Sabrina, but it's not gonna happen."

"Fine. All I'm saying is that you're making a big mistake." Her outstretched hand slowly formed a fist and at the same time, the oily stuff on Heller's neck clenched in command. His eyes bulged and his legs started kicking about as she was crushing his windpipe. His daughter was the only thing that came into his mind at that moment. I mean Alex, Jessica, Katy and Dana can look after Maya, right? But he knew they were already outmatched, there was really too many Children. And plus, BLACKWATCH and GENTEK need to be taken down too. Fuck, their imaginary plate is overloading and black spots are appearing. He managed a struggled yelp of air before saying "Fine... Fine, I'll... Join y-you. Just don't-t... Hurt my baby."

The choking stopped and Heller was dropped, left there to gasp on all fours for precious air. "Thought you'd say that." He heard footsteps approach him and a pale hand lifted his head up, to look in white. "I'll make you the greatest Child there is, James. You need to trust me on this."

0o0o0

Back at the safehouse and on the sofa, Phase slept peacefully on Alex's shoulder with a hand on his chest while his eyes were closed and had a handful of her hair. On the armrest though, Katy was trying her best to keep a crying Maya calm by humming a lullaby her real mother used to sing to her. At the desk, Dana, as usual, was getting crucial information and her eyes widened. "Hey guys, check it out."

"What?" Alex asked, feeling ANGEL turn her body a little and sigh in her sleep. "Well, since Lieutenant Riley and Colonel Rooks has suddenly disappeared, BLACKWATCH are under control by someone called Blake Daniel. Apparently, everyone fears him because he's that scary. And it's weird because he's an Evolved. Wait, what happened to callsign Checkmate and Castle?"

"Well..." Alex started, clearing this throat. "I made Jess consume Rooks mainly because were executing a plan that actually worked. And I guess Heller took Riley to find out where they held his daughter."

"Wait, the only Evolved left is Sabrina. How did Blake survive?"

"He must have a stronger strain, more resilient," Katy answered. "He must've been able to contain a bit of biomass to regenerate from. Like when Alex survived the nuke and ending up like a splat on the pier, Blake's body might have reacted in a similar way."

"So he's still under my control?"

"Very unlikely." While the little girl in Katy's arms gave up crying and drifted to sleep, the woman on Alex's torso started waking up, remembering what happened to her legs. "My legs... uh..."

"Can you feel anything? Rush of heat? Cooling sensation? Anything?"

"Yeah, rush of heat. Ah, my toes are tingling!"

"Okay, now Phase's back, it seems like BLACKWATCH has got a new leader. Colonel Blake Daniel."

She blinked, "He's an Evolved. If he's in charge of the para-military organisation, then we've got some problems sprouting up. My theory is that he's the virus and the building's his host. By next week, every single one in there will be just like him. And by then, every Child will be dead—except Katy, of course—and then we'll have to deal with GENTEK and BLACKWATCH. They'll go last and also suffer the most traumatising death I can think of."

Everyone just stared at the ebony woman, literally shocked at what she said within the minute of waking up. She simply stood, wandered into the kitchen and they heard the clinking of mugs and the beep of the coffee machine doing its job. "But what about Heller?" Dana asked, back to looking at the laptop screen. "We have no link, connection. We need to get to Rosaline first, then we might have something."

"That's true," Katy agreed. "We can't go when we don't know where Heller's been held."

"She's gonna be around Chinatown, looking for trouble." Jessica re-entered the living room with a steaming mug of coffee in her hand. Handing it to the figure sitting by the tech, she heard Katy arrive from the bedroom. "Put Maya to bed?"

The former Child nodded and Phase went to sit back down when something snapped. "Blake didn't survive, he still lived. When Heller consumed you, his tendrils of doom didn't reach the Green or Yellow Zone. He might have been staying in the Yellow Zone."

"Wait a second..." Alex started. "If the Green of Yellow Zone hasn't been infected-"

"Then the rest of the Evolved have been recruited to work for BLACKWATCH."

"Exactly."

"But there isn't enough, is there? I mean, they could've been recruiting mortals too."

"If we wanna figure this out, we gotta work as a team. While us three are out there, Dana, hack into all /BLACKNET terminals and see what you can find."

"Right."

"What are you trying to say, babe?" Alex asked and this time, he felt a smile coming on. "We fight together or we die alone. There is a saying: one man for himself. But when your peers are in danger, fuck that quote. Force yourself to make choices and predict the inevitable. No matter what the cost."

"I'd never leave your side, Jessica."

"I know you wouldn't, love." Katy looked at Alex, Phase then back at Alex and stepped back, seeing them in a loving gaze. "Uh... I'll meet you two in Chinatown. After I kill Rose, and I fucking will, we'll go and visit Blake before we go for Raven."

"Yeah," Dana agreed, standing up as the door closed behind the former Child. "I'm...Gonna go check on Amaya." And she left, leaving Phase and Alex standing in the living room and she found the opportunity to slide into his arms. He sighed delicately, hands gliding across her back as his cheek found her head. "I love you," he finally said and he felt his chest squeeze, waiting for the correct reply. "I love you too," she smiled into his stunning silver eyes, almost melting. Literally. Sharing a brief but passionate kiss with his hand tangled in her luscious hair, he saw her laugh a bit and asked "What?"

"Why is my life like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like everything. I mean, from the best assassin in Manhattan to the most wanted. And I have powers. Powers. I can kill mortals with one punch. Used to take me a bullet or two. And, yes Dana, I'm officially in love with your brother... And no, she just left." Alex slowly parted away to look at his sister, who wore a confused look on her face. "How did you-"

"She read the little voice in your head, Dana."

Her jaw dropped. "You can read minds? How?"

"Well, they made me to be more... Advanced than BLACKLIGHT. Ragland... Saved my life. He helped me understand the WHITELIGHT virus. If it weren't for him, then I'd be running around, being reckless."

"I'd rather have you reckless, Jess." She laughed, playfully punching Alex's arm before winking at Dana. "Stay safe, D."

"Always have, always will."

0o0o0

Chinatown was somewhat filled with surviving Walkers, the BLACKLIGHT Virus crawling along the streets and buildings and cars. If you were a normal citizen, you'd see the amount Alex has neglected the borough with damages unfixed. A group of them were feasting on a woman's corpse, two on the leg and the other on the arm, when the rustling of leaves disturbed them. All three looked up in frustration, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. All they saw was a woman in green and she was infected, overly infected.

The unexpected happened and the woman flicked her wrists, and vines shot out of the ground and sped towards the group. Yelling in fear, they stumbled to their feet and ran but it wasn't long before the plants latched onto a limb and was yanked back. The woman grabbed one of their heads, tilting it to the side before blowing air through her mouth, and a green substance made its way into the Walker's bloodstream. Choking and gagging, it jittered and suddenly it bulked out in size. The other two, startled for their lives, watched as their brother grew 8 times his actual size, muscles stretching and toning, clothes ripping and in the end, the woman became satisfied and consumed the other two.

"Now now," she said in a Texan accent, petting the large beast by patting its leg. "You'll get your fun... An' your fun arrives now." She was right; Katy, Phase and Alex was only thirty feet away from her. "Well, hi there Rosaline. These are Alex and Jessica and right now, you're in for some really tough shit."

"Really? Really? Please Katy, you need your last breath for screamin'. Now, what you see here is my prototype.I've been workin' on a toxin that grows victims and make 'em fall under my power. Take this Walker for example. He's pretty pissed off, ain't he?"

"Okay, Alex, can't we just kill this bitch?" Katy asked, spotting her minions growing behind Rose. "Well," he answered, hands turning into claws. "That is the plan." Katy heard the thumping of something behind her and she looked behind her, and a whole line of Brawlers were charging them. "Brawlers!"

"They're not just any Brawlers, they're my Brawlers." Phase turned, swiping the air stylishly as her arm turned into her trademark blade. "I've got the Brawlers, someone take that Walker down!"

As soon as they were close, ANGEL brought her foot up and hammered the ground. White groundspikes exploded from the concrete, spearing the nearest two. The third was faster, and managed to dodge it before suffering the same fate. It raked Phase across the stomach, only to feel some sort of hard surface. Its head tilted to the side in confusion, then it cried out in anger as it realised. "Nice try," she said in a muffled tone, armour coating her, and she shoved the Brawler. She swiped twice before it blocked the third, and it spun, claws harmlessly affecting her. Growling, it grabbed her and whipped her back onto the cemented terrain, where she recovered and flipped, landing with one foot behind the other. Bolting towards it, she cut low and got his leg, but changed tactic and spun on her heels, wound travelling up its back and blood dribbling out. Without taking chances, Phase ran to it again but this time sliced the Brawler in two before taking its living matter.

Katy didn't have a power unleashed at the moment; she wanted to use her fists for extra fun. She kept her guard up as these plant/people minions circled in on her. "Okay," she muttered as she scanned them. "Twelve of them, consume if possible. If not, kill them." She briefly shook her wrists and bounced on the spot and the first one came for its target. It ran and she ducked its swipe before chopping at its throat. It made a sort of gagging noise but it was stopped short when a hard fist snapped its neck. Seeing their sister drop like a limp fly, the remaining eleven shrieked in anger before charging her but Katy was prepared. Grabbing the nearest, she performed a choke slam and rolled before getting up, to avoid the attack that was gonna hit her from behind. Another jumped her and she was shoved onto the floor, its jaw wide open. She banged her head on its mouth, before giving it two solid jabs. She almost sighed when she consumed it, but stood quickly, not letting the warming sensation get the better of her.

Alex looked up at the brute that was called a Walker and the brute looked down at Alex. Its eyes suddenly changed a fiery red and it hummed in patience, and Rose pointed at Alex, shouting "Kill him!"

The monster snapped his gaze at the virus and the virus swallowed, hard. Growling, mainly because it wanted to, it bolted towards him but he easily evaded it by just simply doing a side cover-roll. But Alex judged his action wrong and the Walker didn't stop, its feet moved fast for a bulky thing like itself. It took a very sharp left, its legs almost losing it but maintained control and before you know it, it grabbed him by the legs and flung him skyward. The brute smiled but instantly frowned when his toy didn't come back down. It spun, looking behind him and turned back, feeling jagged rock hold its back and it was thrown through a building. "Feel the pain, you deformed bitch!"

Jessica was all bloody when she was tackling her last Brawler. She didn't know long she's been fighting but these Brawlers seemed like they were 'copying and pasting' themselves. She didn't feel so much suffering until this day; sweat wept down her face, her muscles cried out in distress but she pushed herself, working on adrenaline. It pinned her onto the wall, trying to tear her thorax apart and she planted a boot on its shoulder. It realised what she was doing and pressed its body harder and she cried out, hands regenerating more and denser cells and she grunted "I may not have Musclemass, but I sure do have Hammerfists."And with one great strike across the head, it howled and wobbled on the spot and she ran up the building faster than she ever thought possible. When she reached the top, she flipped backwards and fell elbow first, catching the Brawler in the back and also setting off a couple miniature groundspikes.

Katy panted, blades now singing in brutal harmony as she chopped the last two to grassy threads. She sighed, wiping her forehead when anger built up inside her as she felt a vine rope around her legs. Without jerking in surprise, she was hauled off the ground, hanging upside down as she met eyes with her sister. "Aw, look at our lil' reunion. It's been a long time, Katy."

Katy crossed her arms and rolled her gracefully hateful jade eyes. "Just let me down, Rose."

"Or what? You'd try an' kill me when you 'ave the chance? I ain't lettin' my guard down for nobody."

"Rose... You're the reason why I'm destructive like this. What you did to me," Rose heard the tears in her voice and smiled as she drank the pleasure in. "Made me run away. Far away from that fucked up place I used to call home. I thought I'd be by myself, getting lost without nothing better to do... But it seems that you reshaped my personality, found the REAL me. And for that, you deserve a thank you." The world instantaneously clapped twice before shades of grey cropped up in fluffy, odd ovals.

Rose grabbed Katy's chin and smiled, "You're becomin' ruder an' ruder by the second. We could kill 'em, your so-called friends." She batted her hand away in disgust and for that, got a dirty slap right across her face. She growled as her head snapped to the right and she reached for the redhead, smashing her forehead into her own. Rose fell off the leaf she was standing on and Katy followed her to the ground, dazed. Rain hit their bodies with quiet drips and both watched each other with outlandish calmness. Katy thought the expected and Rose lunged for her, and they rolled until the former Child was on top.

Alex didn't want to do this but it was the only way of killing this thing he called a beast. Once he does it, straight shower, no questions asked. And, maybe brush his teeth because he could feel his leftovers coming to manifest him. The Walker was hurt pretty badly but it didn't lose hope as it lazily swiped for him, missing again. His hands shifted and he swallowed in his pride before running to the Walker and jumping on its shoulders. The smile it showed to Alex was fucking distorted but its mouth opened the widest it would go and he jumped in. The Walker swallowed him whole and patted his stomach but he felt his insides vibrate and a second later, the Walker was no more. Alex stood where it was, shivering in hatred. Never again is he gonna let off a Devastator in a thing like that. Never again.

Jessica caught her breath as she ran towards Alex, catching him before he lost balance. "Thank goodness that ugly fuck is dead. How did you kill it?"

"You don't wanna know." She almost laughed but someone was missing. "Katy.Where's Katy?" He pointed in the desired direction and she asked "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," he coughed. "I'm fine."

"Babe, you need a shower. You're as sticky as fricking slime. Ughh."

"You think?" This time, she laughed and left his side, leaving him there to throw up and spit the repulsive aftertaste from his tongue before catching up to her.

Rose struck two punches, which Katy blocked and landed another on her stomach, knocking the wind right out of her. She doubled over, gasping for air and a knee connected to her face. Her brain mashed into the wall of her skull and she fell back, unconscious, and Jessica stopped when she found Katy, hair messy and clothes stretched, on the ground with blood oozing from her nose. "What the fuck did you do to Katy?"

"What I used to do to her every day. She was always a rude child; she needed discipline." The sky clapped again and the rain flattened their hair; Jessica didn't have time to pull her hood up.

"You're one sick fuck, do you know that?"

"An' this is where you try an' kill me, right?" The blade was back with its triumphant return. "With pleasure."

"Okay," and she darted towards Jessica but she too leapt and both clashed in the air, spinning as they were brought down. Phase hit her head a little too hard there and lost her grip and found another one latched onto her throat. She tried to pull her hands away, but Dana was right, she's really was an Evolved Child.

Gasping for air, she felt light headed as Rose smiled down at her, coldness in her grey eyes with a section of amber. "Your eyes..." She managed to choke out and the Child tilted her head. She dug her nails in harder and Phase cried out in torment, eyes closing with serene slowness. "Alex..." She rushed out, attempting to swallow another mouthful of oxygen.

Rose's head made an unexpected ping noise, and her body wobbled before falling on her side. The former assassin gave in the longest gasp, sitting up fast and clutching her stomach and she heaved in and out, laughing when she spotted the black knee-high Converses. The pole she was carrying fell from her hands, making a heavier ping sound. "You alright?"

She hummed in approval, and a second later Alex dropped next to her. "You okay?" He asked her, concern in his eyes and she nodded. "Just needed to catch my breath. Bitch tried to strangle me to death."

"But you're alright... Right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Hope what you find is useful."

"Me too," Katy nodded and literally dug her hand into her sister's head. Poor girl didn't have time to scream before she died. Oh well...

"Okay," Rose said to Elias and Sabrina, who both were sitting rather close to each other. "So we 'ave the gang of 'heroes' that we're gonna take care of. Anything else to do?"

"Heard news that an Evolved is running BLACKWATCH," Sabrina smiled. "Colonel Blake Daniel."

"He seems sexy."

"He could be working with them; Alex, Jessica, Dana and Katy."

"So what do we do?" Brown eyes stared at the Texan and in unison, said "Kill him."

Katy held her breath, blood dripping from her hands and she heard the whisper of something. She half-thought it was Mother Nature talking to her, saying its welcomes to the new host. She didn't know what it was until she heard Phase stand up. "Can you hear that?"

"Yeah," Alex answered. "But it's too faint for me to recognise."

Eyes flashing crimson for a while, that sentence Alex never wanted to hear came out. "Dana's in trouble!" Dana never is in trouble or caught for that matter. Why this day? Was this day linked to something bad happening? For a moment, Alex knew how it felt to be in Jessica's shoes. "Where is she?"

"... She's still at the safe house. We need to go now."

"Right behind you," the former Child grabbed Alex and Phase by the waist and the air parted for them as Katy ran. Within seconds, the door to the safe house was opened and the three came rushing in, calling for Maya and Dana. Katy checked the bathroom, nothing. Phase checked the bedroom, nothing. But when Alex spotted the window in the living room to be opened by an inch, he suddenly went into predator mode. "Alex," Katy called out, seeing him with his head down.

"Someone took them," he said, voice not short of a harsh whisper. Phase came walking in, also in predator mode. "I will find who took them," she said. No bubbly, playful Jessica now. She peered at the window, walked to it and crouched. "Someone's lazy attempt to close the window. They thought we'd never spot this."

"Jess, can you read fingerprints?"

"I… I've never tried. But I'll give it a go." Looking at the sill, she concentrated as her eyes blended to red. It only took her seconds to find out who did this. "I… I can't fucking believe this." She stood, never losing eye contact with the spot she scanned. "Who took them?" Alex asked, voice going softer.

She turned her head to him, anger written on her face. "It was Blake."

Ooooohhhh, cliff-hanger! I never knew it would come down to this.

You see the way I used juxtaposition? I'd never thought it'd work, mainly because I didn't know what it was... So summing it up from the beginning, James has been forced to join the Children as Sabrina threatened to kill Maya. Meanwhile, the gang realise that BLACKWATCH is being run by Colonel Blake Daniel, who is an Evolved. Dana and Maya have been taken by Blake and now Alex and Jessica are going to BLACKWATCH. So, what happens next?

Please, do leave a review. Be it constructive criticism or praising me in any way, I will take note of it. And yes, I did name the chapter after a super villian, anything else wouldn't go. Please don't hate me!