AOTD Chapter 13 - Training PT 3, a prototype fanfic

Chapter 13 – Training PT 3

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The constant onslaught made by Sophie's Shields was a nightmare to deal with, Adam had to admit. The way those Shields were built, meant that Sophie would be able to use them both offensively and defensively, either as their intended purpose as Shields, or blunt weapons to bash her way out of trouble. Adam could already tell that she'd be using them as her go-too weapon from now on.

Sophie cackled as she jumped at him, swinging her right Shield for a punch. He blocked with one Hammerfist, before jumping into the air and sending his Massfist, which he had figured out how to make smaller and slimmer as to conserve Biomass, towards her from above. Each of the Massfist's many tips were poised to impale her, but the woman just raised both Shields to block them, putting them together and merging the Shields into one, bigger form. The Shields collided with his Massfist, and after a brief battle of strength, the shields won in their defense of their wielder, much to Adam's annoyance and Sophie's glee.

"Oh Goddamnit!"

"Hehehehehe, sorry kid! You'll have to do better than that!"

The woman didn't give Adam a chance to land, having loaded a Bio Bullet into her right leg and having launched it at full force towards him. She only smirked when she saw how he managed to angle himself around it in mid-air, before landing in a kneeling knight position, before she charged at him with her shields poised to smash him.

Adam growled under his breath, his anger making Tendrils ripple over his skin as he glared heatedly towards his opponent. 'Oh no you don't, lady! I'm not letting you have all the fun!' he thought, charging towards her with his right Hammerfist cocked backwards for a punch, his opponent mimicking his gesture.

BOOM!

Once the two were close enough, they each threw their own punches towards one another and collided. The result was… a powerful shockwave that rippled through the air around them, blowing away the debris around their vicinity. Adam, channeling Biomass into his arms to help them handle the weight his Hammerfists came with, began repeatedly punching away at his opponent, who responded in kind with a massive grin on her face. It helped that his Énnoia managed to predict where she would punch so he could perfectly counter her.

BAM!

They went, circling each other like lions fighting over territory. Neither lost nor gained any ground in their epic fist bout, their fist/shields crashing against each other in a battle of dominance sounding almost like sweet music to their ears. Their limbs were moving so fast at this point that they were practically blurs, Blacklight improving itself through each punch to make them faster, stronger, feeding off the data gained to improve its existing weapons…

While also doing something else that they didn't notice.

Finally, the two separated, flipping back multiple times till they were about 30 meters apart. They each gave each other looks, Adam's look hidden by his helmet though. "Heh, this is fun!" Sophie exclaimed as she bashed her shields together. "Its been a while since I last went to town on a slug fest, used to do it all the time way back when."

"I do not think you're lying on that one…" Adam retorted, and if he could have his expression visible then she would see his perplexed expression as he regarded her Shields warily. 'Those Shields of hers are a deadly tool in her hands. For them to be able to resist a continuous barrage from my Hammerfists, then they must be pretty sturdy. Its amazing that she can use them the way that she does…' he thought, eyes analyzing her weapons through his helmet's visor.

It was then that he began noticing something… off, and Sophie soon noticed too.

"Hey, uh, is your arms supposed to do that?" She asked him, pointing her right Shield at his arms, which were already beginning to mutate. They were enveloped by Tendrils, dissolving into pure Biomass as they began a new transformation Adam eyed them with awe, feeling the burning sensation that always came with these mutations. However, instead of painful, he barely managed to resist moaning in pleasure. Guess this was also a mutation, to make the power-ups easier to deal with. Maybe he could develop more mutations in an aggressive manner in the future.

After a few moments, the process finished, and much to Adam's surprise, when he looked down towards his arms, the teen saw that he had a pair of shields of his own, much like Sophie. Hers were shaped like Turtle shells, but his… his looked quite different. His shields had the shape of some form of elongated head, made from hardened metallic sinew that almost seemed to shine, with large and fat extensions behind them that ended with glowing dark green tips. Along their tops, were a line of hollow dark green glowing eye-like features. They had the shape of closed mouths, with each tooth resembling fangs and made from the same metallic sinew, while their interiors were glowing a hollow dark green. Both shields grew from where his Forearms used to be.

Instincts formed within his brain, and Adam mentally commanded the Shields. His eyes filled with surprise behind his Helmet when he saw the Shields 'open' their 'mouths' to release a loud roar, reminiscent of a hundred Lion's. "Whoa, holy Jesus!" Sophie exclaimed, backpedaling in shock (and a little shred of fear – not that she'd admit that) as she regarded those shields. "What the hell?!"

"It looks like fighting you has garnered me some new abilities." Adam mused thoughtfully, eyeing his new Shields with an appraising gaze. He then pointed the left one to a section of rubble, and tried to command it to do something. He didn't know what it would do, but something told him that this would be an interesting weapon.

That something was most probably Blacklight, but meh.

Nevertheless, that something was right, for the Shield's 'mouth' opened to allow a set of 8 long, dark green glowing tongues to shoot out, slithering through the air faster than a bullet. They grabbed the rubble piece, tearing into it so the piece was now in smaller versions so they could hold them better, before Adam saw the Shield retract its Tongues inside it, pulling in the pieces too. Sounds of chewing could be heard as the Shield chowed down on its 'meal' and a rush of power ran through his body.

'Whoa, these Shields…!' Adam thought, gasping along with Sophie this time when he saw this happen. "Looks… looks like these things can consume things from both close and long range. Guess using them like boxing gloves like you do is possible, too…" Adam muttered under his breath.

Sophie however, did NOT look amused in the slightest.

"Aw, that's just fucking BULLSHIT!" She yelled, stomping on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. "How the fuck can you steal my goods, kid?! That's cheating, cheater!"

The male looked up at her after bashing the ground with his right shield, noting that he could indeed use them as blunt weapons. These babies would serve him well, just like the Hammerfists. "Well, then, lets…" he began to say, before he looked up and noticed something that gave him pause. "… Looks like I'm not the only one who got an upgrade."

"Huh?"

Sophie blinked when she heard him say that. Looking down at herself, she saw how Tendrils were already rippling over her like a constant suit. Armour plates and a fleshy suit were already forming over her skin, her clothes seemingly destabilizing into formless Biomass that added to the fleshy suit. "Whoa!"

"Keep calm! let the mutation take hold…"

Once Adam said that, the woman managed to get her breathing back under control as the mutation applied itself to her body. She wouldn't lie, she wanted to see what kind of badass Armour she would be getting. When the process finished, an image of herself in her Armour appeared inside Sophie's mind… and she almost fangirled about the sheer awesomeness of it. "AW YEAH! FUCKIN, AY!"

Sophie's Armour form was more futuristic, borderline robotic, in appearance. Its helmet had black metal plates covering the lower jaw and the sides of the head. Everything else, was concealed by a double layered visor, so her face was not visible. Her neck, plus her body, was covered by a black under suit, with a mechanical looking chest plate on her chest, a mechanical pair of shoulder guards with vents and pipes attached between the shoulders and near-completely mechanical arms, which ended in large, bulky gauntlets with robotic fingers. The stomach, waist, and legs were covered in mechanical Armour plates, ending in stiletto heels. What wasn't covered, was concealed by the black under suit. On her back was a small pair of thrusters, although they seemed there for solely cosmetic purposes.

In a nutshell, Sophie looked fucking badass.

"Hmmm, not a bad piece of Armour, I must admit…" Adam muttered as he glanced down at his own Armour form. He clenched and unclenched his Armoured fists, having shifted them back to this state from the Shields, before looking back at her. "It appears that we each have 'traded powers' in some form, the only explanation I can think of is that the data was transferred between us from our training."

While he said that, Sophie kept feeling her arms and legs up and down, getting a feel for the texture of her new Armour form. Its looked and felt like true mechanical Armour, something that she almost had a nerdgasm over. "You know, I should download some badass music, ya know, make this thing feel even cooler." She remarked to herself, a hand cupping the metal plates over her chin.

"Please don't."

"Ugh, he didn't even WANT to know what she listened to, if her current personality was any indication…

Hopefully, he'd find a way to shut down his hearing to protect it from that kind of abuse.

His head would probably split in two.

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts from his mind, Adam prepared himself. "We are still in the middle of training, lady." He stated with a frown behind his helmet, getting her attention as he shifted his arms into claws. "It would be best to keep going to see if we can refine more of our powers-"

Before he could continue, Adam's eyes, as well as Sophie's, widened behind their respective helmets when they saw (or in the former's case felt) his entire body just… split. A jagged line had been briefly visible going vertically down the middle of his form, before both halves just split aside, standing on one leg before the two halves regrew what was lost in a flurry of Tendrils.

In the end, there were 2 Adams standing next to each other, both clad in their Armour forms while each one had a different weapon: one with a claw, and the other a Hammerfist.

"Uhhhhhh… okay, what triggered this, then?" Sophie muttered, completely lost as she scratched the top of her helmet. While the transfer thing, she could get, this new skill wasn't something that had been hinted before, so she was completely lost. Like she said, al that techno stuff wasn't her forte.

Adam hummed as he cupped his chin, looking the other him up and down. Said other him was also doing the same thing, mimicking his movements down to a T. "Hmmm… perhaps that Scorpios is the key. Remember, it could separate itself into two different forms to attack us with, right?" he glanced to her, and slowly Sophie gained a look of realization, the revelation dawning on her. When explained simply, she could grasp some topics, it seemed.

"Yeah, I remember!" she exclaimed in surprise, before confusion replaced her emotions as she looked the doppelganger of the kid up and down. "But wait, didn't we get our mutations right after we consumed that pile of shit? I'm pretty sure that this one shouldn't have been as late as it was."

Adam sighed, his doppelganger mimicking him again. Okay, that was getting annoying, if that other him didn't stop what he was doing RIGHT NOW, Adam was going to be one pissed Prototype. "My thesis is this: that these creatures, these bosses of these Lairs, they all have very complex DNA, more so than what Blacklight's used to. That DNA will take time to unravel, so not all the mutations we could get from them will happen right away. Training seems to speed up the process though, if I'm correct." A ripple of Tendrils came down his spine, almost as if the virus was telling him that he was right.

"Huh, I see…"

While Sophie thought that, Adam eyed the Doppelganger of him, who returned the gesture down to the tiniest detail. The teen stared for a long moment, leading to one of the most intense staring contests in existence. It was like a heavy weight had settled on the air around them, telling any that were nearby (Sophie) to not but in. After a while of intense staring, Adam got an idea, and it looked like the Doppelganger thought the same thing.

Both shifted their arms, forming dual Hammerfists as they reared their right ones back. They then threw them into a straight punch, their weapons clashing to create a large air wave on impact. They each held those fists there, some trembling being seen from their limbs as the two pushed against each other.

In the next second, they were moving once more, Adam going into a scissor kick which was mirrored by his Doppelganger. He twisted his body to do a reverse back kick, which was again, mimicked. It almost looked like they were dancing with each other with the way their movements were so in synch.

After a reverse high kick that ended in the same results as the others, both Adam and his Doppelganger flipped backwards like a cartwheel, landing in a crouch before standing upwards. The two looked at each other intently, but this time it was far shorter as the Doppelganger strode towards the main one with no hostility in his posture. Thus, Adam didn't attack, though he remained on the defensive. This turned to stunned confusion when the Doppelganger seemingly… melted, back into him. Like, it became a mass of dark green Biomass that just sunk into his flesh.

When the process was finished, Adam stumbled backwards, temporarily taken aback by what had happened, if his utterly bewildered stance was anything to go by. "Okay… that was one of the weirdest things that's happened to me so far… and that's not counting all the freaky shit I've seen." He whispered, though thanks to their makeshift training area, Sophie heard it loud and clear.

"I'll say, what the heck do you think THIS little trick o'yours should be called? It probably needs a name, for you know, reference and stuff." She questioned him, and the teen pondered on that thought intently.

It was true, the ability would require a name, as summoning a Doppelganger did seem like a mouthful. While he was thinking about that subject, Adam noticed his surroundings slow to a halt and the color vanish before his eyes. Though, thanks to having seen this before, the teen didn't give much of a reaction, just an arched brow as he looked up at the skies above. "Hey Mercer." He stated bluntly.

"Looks like you've unlocked Replication."

Upon hearing the man's voice through his surroundings and his mind, Adam furrowed his brows while his Armour Form shuddered against his skin, Blacklight once again becoming weary of the being that was communicating with them. "Replication? But I thought Viruses usually breed through infecting foreign organisms' cells then use them to produce more of the virus's own."

"Normally, that would have been the case. However, that beast's DNA carried the genetic blueprints for mitosis, the ability that cells have to divide. It's the base of every form of life in existence, this ability. For Blacklight, it lacked that ability due to it being a virus, however thanks to that beast that isn't the case no more. It's just amplified tat ability to the extreme, leading to your ability to create Replicas."

"… Huh, well that explains a lot. I did notice that the Scorpios' DNA was more complex than other Infected, which lead to Blacklight not being able to assimilate it properly at first." He mused to himself.

"You put that knowledge from the Orb of Intrigue to use, I see."

Adam nodded his head in response, his lips pulled into a firm line behind his Helmet. "Yeah, it helped me form theories on how to understand the virus a bit better. Anyways, can I ask you your thoughts on the genetic transfer between me and Sophie."

"Ah, the one that Blackwatch has given the codename HERA to. In any case, I can say that it's a concept that is only possible between people who mutually benefit from it, as well as have a certain degree of a relationship to one another. Otherwise, the virus would lock its information away while attempting to break into the other's genetic vaults. Speaking of which, I'll inform you that those two have their own codenames, like yours being KRONOS. Sophie Neller is now HERA, while James is POSEIDON. They want you three all on a lab table for experimentation, but I get the feeling you know that already."

That he did. Adam internally scowled, remembering the way that they were treated back at the lab. Those bastards deserved every bit of flack they were going to get in the future, of that he was certain. Though, he couldn't help his surprise when he heard the announcing of the new Codenames that Mercer told him. He may not completely trust the man, but this information was worth knowing to him. At least they wouldn't have to worry bout asking soldiers who they're yelling about while trying to pump them full of holes.

Pretty sure Blacklight cells would adapt to stop that from happening, in the future…

"Oh yeah, before I depart, I must warn you. Those two will be working closely with Father Louise Guerra, a known civilian identifier. While I'm sure you know this already, it would be best if you two stayed apart for the time being, Blackwatch has their eye on you two. Don't think you'd want to bring more trouble to him, would you?"

Now THAT made Adam tense, his form stiffening as his eyes widened, his jaw unhinging slightly. He soon regained control over his body though, and gritted his teeth in discomfort, clenching an Armoured fist at the memory of his surrogate grandfather playing like a video recording in his mind. Most importantly the memory of the last time he saw them… the night his family had been shredded to pieces.

Never had he felt so pathetic, every moment in his time in this Outbreak had the thought of seeing the man he had cared for as a grandfather not been present in his mind. Sometimes, he would be just too fed up with everything and wonder if he could just go there and see what happens. Would he be welcomed? Or would he be ridiculed? It was those questions though, that stayed his hand and kept him away. He didn't know for certain, but his experiences plus his pessimistic view on the world taught him that even family can betray one another.

He just couldn't take that risk.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt every time he thought of the man. No, Adam would sometimes feel something wet gather at the back of his eyes when he remembered the times when he, Guerra and his family would get together for dinner. It wasn't very often they got to see him, thanks to them living in Britain for most of his childhood, but they still tried. His father made sure to keep him from as many family dinners as possible, but there were few that he had to attend, and in those dinners Guerra would 'help' Ada through his 'problem'. He was someone Adam could never truly hate, never someone Adam didn't dislike.

Like his job occupation, Guerra had been a saint to him.

"Yeah… I get you."

He could almost feel Mercer nod before he felt the man's mental presence vanish into thin air. The surroundings returned to normal while color bled back into existence. Once time started up again, Adam reigned in his emotions and placed them deep within his mind, for later when he was alone. He would only grieve when he was alone, that was his show of masculine pride.

It took a moment, but Adam remembered that they were talking about the name for his new ability, to which he decided to go along with the name that Mercer had given it. "How about 'Replication'? It feels like my body can make replicas of itself that fight alongside me…" Adam narrowed his eyes when he felt Blacklight send him information about the ability that he had just gained. He just noticed one weakness to this ability, one that was quite major in his eyes, although opinions may differ.

"Unfortunately, it appears that this power drains much of my Biomass reserves, just like the Massfist. Unlike that one, which is like a constant draining of it, this power takes simply a large chunk of it and nothing more." He explained further, Sophie humming in thoughtfulness. It was like the difference between constantly biting at something and merely taking only one large bite. Both drained a lot of Biomass, but one seemed more advantageous than the other.

Although, to be fair to the Massfist, Adam had been noticing that Blacklight had been working on the weapon's Biomass needs throughout its usage. As a Prototype, he was always privy to the workings of the strain within him. He could always feel it when each cell that makes up his form changes in some manner, and through the last few battles Adam had noticed several minor tweaks in his Massfist mutation, tweaks that resulted in a slight decrease in Biomass drainage.

His thoughts got interrupted when he noticed the expression of annoyance on the older woman's face. Was she doing that 'pouting' thing that he'd heard human females did when something negatively affected their emotional state? Rummaging through the memories of his victims, Adam found solid proof of this fact, electing a mental groan from him.

Blackwatch weren't the ideal people to use for reference when looking at the memories that once belonged to those that were of their payroll, mostly due to how most of them were violent, savage criminals who would have been imprisoned or killed for their past actions.

It could safely be said that they were hardly the 'people' type, but in this case, there were some instances within the memories of their fallen comrades, where the women they were with would pout, like how Sophie was doing. Although those relationships often ended… badly, and not for the soldiers either.

Still, didn't mean he liked using them as reference, either.

"Alright, what has gotten down the wrong windpipe for you?" he questioned her at last, pushing back the memories that he had been reviewing. Being able to just look at other people's memories was something that definitely came in handy when it came to information gathering. One can just go straight to the source of one's experiences and get anything they wanted out of them, without any need to worry about lies or deceit. Hell, it made talking to people feel so much less necessary than it was before.

Why talk when you can just consume someone for what they know? Not like the Military could even damage them at this point. If they couldn't destroy average Blacklight constructs, then beings like the Prototypes would be considered gods to them.

Unaware of his thoughts, Sophie crossed her arms and glanced to the side. "Oh, nothing much, just annoyed at the unfairness of it all." She remarked, her tone laced with sarcasm as she threw her arms up to the air in exasperation. "I mean, I'm the older sister here, so I should be setting an example for the younger siblings, but here you are one-upping me with all these new powers you're apparently getting. What the hell, am I right?" She ranted with frustration, before questioning him with a look that just screamed 'agree with me or else'.

While Adam would have said no and stated what he really felt about her ranting, that would just cause unnecessary complications. He may not care personally about how she was apparently feeling inferior to him, but it wasn't like he was the invincible one, either. Everyone had a weakness, and it just so happened that social norms were his, and Sophie here knew it. Plus, he didn't have the patience to endure such whining from the older woman right now, especially with the thoughts of Father Guerra and Blackwatch's Operation: Flytrap happening in a few days.

"Well, how about instead of complaining like a little baby…" he began, ignoring the indignant 'hey!' from the woman as he shifted his arms into claws. Tendrils rippled over him as Adam got into a battle stance, his eyes narrowing like a Predator about to pounce on its prey. "How about you and I continue training, see if we can unlock more powers from each other."

Now THAT got her attention, as her previous bloodlust-fueled glee returned to her face with a vengeance. "Hah, now you're talking my language, kid!" she bellowed, tucking her arms in as her Armour form, which had been dismissed at some point before, reformed over her body. She shifted her arms while thrusting both forwards, turning them into her Shields which she bashed together in front of her chest. "Let's see if ya can keep up with me!"

"Oh, I would be preparing to eat my words if I were you."

And with that dark, borderline ominous statement, Adam charged at the woman to resume their training.

Deep within the Red Zone, hiding in his primary Lair, one Alexander Mercer, codename ZEUS, couldn't help the sinister grin that spread across his features.

The man stood atop one of the many buildings that consisted of the once human metropolis formerly recognized as Manhattan, now an infected Kingdom of his own design. As a Blacklight Being, he was no stranger to conflict, hell he could even say that what he was watching now was conflict, but on a much greater scale than the mere skirmishes the humans had with his infected.

Down below, the man could see that a bunch of infected were fighting each other, 2 hordes of 30 beasts. There were various sounds below, from flesh being torn in violent, gory manners, to unholy shrieks, snarls, cries, growls, roared and others. It looked more like a full on warzone than a mere 'turf war' as Mercer happily called them.

Turf Wars were dictionary defined as specific battles between two apex predators over territory and spoils. To the winner goes the spoils. He always liked that idea, probably because of his nature as a viral monstrosity, an abomination of nature. Thus, he had decided to include this feature in his Kingdom that was the Red Zone.

He grinned so madly to himself due to the sight below, possibly ecstatic even at the sight. Whereas when one saw infighting amongst their ranks, they would do all they could to quell the situation before things got out of hand. In his eyes though, this was just what he wanted, as while the infected were primarily controlled by the hivemind, Mercer wanted them to constantly evolve in ways that not even he would have anticipated.

And that was exactly what Blacklight had done when it took over and made this marvelous land of Evolution.

The fight below consisted of infected Walkers, some of them having mutated various pieces of Armoured sinew over parts of their bodies, as well as intelligence considering how they were organizing the weaker ones to fight better than they would if they were leaderless. These walkers, unlike the many that were created in the past, actually wielded proper mutated weapons, not unlike those the he himself, along with KRONOS, HERA and POSEIDON were reported to use. There were a mix of claws, whips, hammers, drills and even ranged Tendrils, making them a more versatile force on the battlefield.

These Walkers, they were of a dying breed in the eyes of the other Infected, less and less of them were being produced as the days went was due to the other strains being made being far superior to them, thus making them easy prey to hunt for food, Biomass and evolution. Although they offered little, the concept of 'every scrap counts' had been ingrained into the minds of every infected. Thus, their numbers had been decreasing since a few weeks ago. Because of this, they have begun mutating faster, adapting to their lesser numbers by forming large groups to help them survive in this environment.

Survival of the fittest, one could say.

And the beasts that they were fighting against were beings that had only been recently created through the use of scientific experimentation, and evolution from some… unusual means. They were based off of some stray Cockroach species that Blacklight had found scattered through the remains of certain areas, consuming them and adding their DNA to its genetic pool. With some careful manipulation, weaving genetic codes and application of Biomass, these bad boys came into being.

Boy were they a sight to behold, Mercer noted as he eyed the Infected creature with interest.

These creatures were human-sized cockroaches, standing proudly at over 200cm (2 Meters) tall, varying in colors of black and brown. with muscular, humanoid bodies. They had the heads of a mix between cockroach and human, with large eyes, emotionless facial expressions while they had two antennae coming out the tops of their heads. Buried within their back flaps, were large bug wings from their original forms, but strengthened by the Blacklight virus to allow them flight. Some wore pieces of tech that they had scavenged from destroyed human convoys, while others went full commando. Not that there was anything wrong with that considering they didn't have genitals.

Having retained the abilities of the cockroaches of which the virus had used to create them, they had the agility, strength, toughness and a sturdy carapace of them, thus making them incredibly difficult to kill. They had also adapted to high temperature and fire, thanks to being exposed to massive sources of said temperature prior to infection. They also possess intelligence, learning how to use advanced weapons left by fallen Soldiers. One even used a Tank's main gun as a sledgehammer, something Mercer wanted to do himself one day.

The sheer thought of being able to swing a Tank main turret gun in a way sounded very cool in his mind.

However, one special feature these particular infected had was the stealing of genetic information from their fallen enemies, this being done by taking their enemies' remains to an isolated location and, using Blacklight shapeshifting powers, duplicating specialised tools to begin dissecting these corpses. Then, they went about implanting anything of interest to evolution within specialized eggs.

When those eggs were born, the resulting Infected had those additional abilities on top of its inherited ones. They also became immune to having these weapons used against them, with room for more potential growth as dictated by the viral cells in their bodies. Helps that their growth period was insanely short, too, so they could recover their numbers efficiently. Something that the pathetic human species lacked.

Mercer called them 'Terraformars'.

'It appears the Gene I inserted into my forces is working its magic, as I suspected it would…' Mercer thought, watching the two species struggle below for dominance. 'The 'E-Gene, the Evolution Gene, a special byproduct of my own creation…. It works much better than I ever anticipated.'

Mercer couldn't help but marvel over his creation. After taking over Manhattan, he had added in a specialised gene that stirred the predatory instincts within the Infected, a gene that usually only took effect when he wanted it to. But, if there was a time where Evolution was required, then the gene would activate on its own and force the creature to consume any Biomass it could find for the sake of making itself stronger.

In essence, it forced the Infected to consume each other to Evolve themselves beyond their normal limits.

This process had resulted in the entire Red Zone being filled to the brim with all kinds of infected creatures, creatures that Blackwatch wasn't, and couldn't even be aware of since he made sure to have each of their recon drones shot down before they could find any. Each infected had a desire to feed, to hunger, to evolve and grow beyond its own limits.

He wasn't worried about any potential coups from these infected though, in fact, he was eagerly anticipating it. The entirety of Manhattan, AKA the Red Zone, was now teaming with all kinds of infected strains, each composed with varying special abilities that they can use. This and had practically become one big jungle of nightmarish proportions, at least in the human eyes anyways.

In his eyes, it was nothing but paradise.

A land full of beings capable of high end evolution, where everything was dictated by 'might makes right'.

In the case of those human bases run by Blackwatch and the Marines, Mercer told the infected through their shared Hivemind, that only the weak infected were to go after them, the stronger ones were to stay away from the human bases so that they could keep their 'projects' hidden from the human eye till the last moment.

Some of Mercer's Agents told him that the humans were gearing up for some pretty extreme powerups for their soldiers. What they were wasn't known yet, as his agents didn't have the knowledge or the clearance for access as of right now, however Mercer knew that in time, those attempts at resistance would be futile.

Down below, Mercer watched as the fight seemed to be ending in the Terraformars' favor. They had better physical abilities and natural advantages over the frail, old-school Walkers, as well as better intelligence and skills at their disposal. That was the point though, that was what the Terraformars were meant to do: replace the Walker Strain o his infected army.

When the time came, they would replace the Walkers entirely, making Blacklight one step closer to its goal of being separated from the Redlight Virus, its predecessor.

Just as they were going to kill the last of the Walkers, a single shriek came from their leader, making the Walkers quickly flee the area through previously built tunnels beneath the bases of tall buildings. This action briefly surprised the Terraformars and even Mercer himself, although this surprise didn't last for long. The Terraformars quickly got into a defensive formation, one reminiscent of Army countermeasures, as a new player entered the fray.

Literally.

From within a former Bank, a massive, and that was a literal sense, MASSIVE creature pounced forth, pouncing through a large dust cloud formed from its exit point. This succeeded in catching the other Infected creatures off guard, as well as knocking down one of the Terraformars before it could react. It was pinned down to the ground, unable to move as the assailant swiftly dug into its prey its fangs tearing through it like hot knives through paper.

Sounds of flesh being bitten into, torn to pieces then being devoured filled the area as the other Terraformars regarded this new threat to their existence without any emotion. They didn't feel emotion, they only wanted to evolve. They wouldn't care that their own just got attacked and mauled to death as long as they would evolve from the mistake.

As the creature feasted, the rest of them stared at their new enemy, readying themselves for combat. Their leaders were already shouting orders in their own tongue, consisting of shrieks, growls and cries.

The creature finished its meal in several seconds, turning to face the rest of them to reveal itself to be a 6-meter-long, 3-meter-tall Arthropod, Huntsman Spider-like Infected. It had no official name, but its massive, hulking form towered over the Terraformars.

Its long spider legs were slim, yet powerful and slimy looking, with its many eyes narrowing in hunger at the new prey it found. The beast was a mix of lavalike orange with black splotches here and there, with its thorax being covered with short, fat and stubby spikes. Its head had several horns protruding from the sides, while its pincers looked almost like that of claws. It's many red eyes honed in on its prey, searching for the best one to attack, before it charged forth. This prompted the Terraformars to respond in kind, prompting another Turf War in the Red Zone.

One of many, that is.

All the while, Mercer sat down in the Japanese sitting position, and began watching the show. If he could, he'd open a bag of popcorn and drink some coke, too.

At least humans had decent food from those fast food joints he'd visited… in secret, of course.