Sorry for the late update, I've been wanting to finish one of my other stories for some time now. With that (kinda) completed, I can work on this. Enjoy Reading! ;)
Alex Mercer had his eyes fixed on his sister, who was asleep on the sofa, so peaceful and calm. He could never do that. Sleep. That's what mortals do and he is not a mortal, neither is Dana but she seems to be doing it. Even if he tried, all he'd get is memories from all the people he'd consumed. Some of them would be okay to witness but others felt far too realistic for him to handle. So he decided not to sleep and not to dream.
He sighed, scratching the back of his head with a warm hand, he honestly didn't want to get her into all this mess. PARIAH, Greene's son, has been let out of custody by Dr. Archer and now he's partnered up with his counterpart, which is complete bullshit. He didn't get it, why the true ZEUS? The heartless, sardonic and psychotic side of himself? The one that kept nagging him at the back of his head most of the time to 'kill some blackwatch bitches'?
Then it all came crashing down on him: ZEUS was the real him, how the virus should be. Alex could experience dreams, emotions, feelings like a normal mortal and it scared him slightly. Still, he was the host of the BLACKLIGHT Virus, and he was designed to... Well, do whatever he fucking feels like.
He sat back and closed his eyes, trying to place the memories of Chad Branning in order since his mind wasn't all in sync, starting from when he got his first kiss to when Alex 'ate' him. He was handsome, with curly blonde hair and sky blue eyes but girls saw through him because of his inability to approach them. Most of the time, it was girls that came up to him and he told himself it needed to change. So he joined BLACKWATCH and couple weeks later, he was sent to restrain a Hive with several others. That when Alex stepped in, huge creepy smile on his face as he saw tanks. Motherfucking tanks. He just couldn't resist.
He remembered that clearly, the way he had Chad by the throat as he bolted up buildings and airdashed to victory, the alerts dropping by the second. Man, BLACKWATCH really do give up easily. Chad was cursing wildly, even said some thing Alex couldn't even recognise but in the end, he snapped with neck in one quick move and that was the end of Chad Branning.
Just as he opened them, his eyes dilated, he felt something. Not like an itch that needs scratching but this presence that wasn't meant to be here. He quickly reconnected himself with the Hivemind, purposely blocking out ZEUS' annoying voice and tried to discover something under the controlled mutters. Nothing.
He instead used his senses, starting with his hearing. He stayed still as he tried to pick up an unknown sound but all he got was the roaring of car horns and tanks grinding into the cemented ground. He stood from his place and wandered to the centre of the room, okay, there was nobody here. Nothing to touch. Nothing to taste. Then chunky splinters of wood sprayed onto his back, a forceful wind that followed it, and then he felt it.
PARIAH had found him. And Dana was sleeping. This was not good.
"Surprise," the suited man said with a mischievous grin on his face, moving at lightning-speed as he struck Alex's back and sent him sprawling to the wall, his nose healing before it got the chance to actually shatter. He thanked himself for finding a new apartment, the other one was permanently scarred. Alex glared up at the man and growled, colliding with PARIAH with enough force to throw him off his feet and went for another strike but PARIAH was fast, side-stepping out of the way.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to collect my prize."
"You're not taking Dana."
"Who's gonna stop me?"
"Her brother." PARIAH's grin grew wider as he blurred past him, Alex growing bored at the fast strikes he sent at him and yawned, simply gripped his blazer jacket and dashed him through the window. He chased him outside, the perfect incarnation having his arm into a blade already and he planned his moves carefully, pushing his biomass to his hands and feeling it become much heavier than a couple of moments ago.
"Hmm, you seem to be a bit stiff Alex," he said, jumping to him and swiping at his chest, his jacket weaving back together with the help of this virus. He pounded his Hammerfists into the ground, channeled biomass emerging as black spikes and darting to PARIAH in a straight line and he could barely dodge, a spike impaling his chest. His speech didn't falter though, "Like your movements actually need a lot of force to deliver a lot of damage."
"If you're trying to piss me off, its working." A figure tore through the air, past Alex and into PARIAH, sending him smashing through buildings. It hissed, rolling its shoulders and Alex only realised now who it was. "Dana..."
"What did I miss?" She smiled, Alex's eyes lighting up as she went to look into the gaping holes she made. He didn't want to get her into all this mess but she was very capable. But not capable to battle PARIAH, one wrong move and it's all over for her.
"Nothing. Dana, go help Heller. He could use it."
"Really? What about you? He could kill you. Rip you into bloody bits."
"Kill, what a very powerful word. Let's change that to suppress. Yes, he could suppress me."
"I'm being serious, Alex. I don't want to lose you again."
His tone turned serious, "You won't. Now go, I got this." She glared at him before running into his arms, a sigh escaping his lungs as he stepped back. He started to like this, the whole hugging thing, and coiled his own arms around her. "I'll be fine, I promise."
Metal sliced through the air and Alex jumped with Dana still clinging onto him, landing atop a building and she let go, smiling thinly before turning on her heels. He started screaming, an inhuman scream too, and Dana looked back at her brother and watched him hold his torso, weakening to his knees.
She gasped when hands covered her mouth and she fought for resistance, elbowing her attacker in the face until their grip relaxed, enough for her to reach behind her and toss them over her head. "Alex!" She yelled, crouching in front of him and held up his head, his eyes not mustering that natural, lively glow it usually had. "What the fuck did you do to him!?"
PARIAH was back and his clothes were covered in tears, red eyes still bold and demanding but she didn't dare turn a blind eye to him. "Because he was stupid enough to not sever the link between him and the Hivemind and I was clever enough to find him through that, I used it to my advantage and took over his mind."
"Hivemind..." She muttered to herself. "Stop it! Let him go!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Miss. Mercer." He clenched his fist and Alex screamed again, Dana's heart splintering at the sound of her brother's distress.
"I said stop! Right fucking now!"
"Or what?" She became silent as her right arm melted into viral flesh and metal, flicking her rendered arm behind her and half-smirked.
"I'm just gonna have to deal with you myself."
"I dare you." She sprinted but this time PARIAH couldn't follow, as she pushed him past the edge at the last second but he latched onto her, bringing her down also. They wrestled in the air, the true form of the virus piloting her to go down first but being fast, she kicked him out of grasp and when he landed, the stored kinetic energy formed into a shockwave that pulsed outwards, destroying everything weak enough in its radius. As soon as she landed, he ran to her with a grimace on his face and she jumped up on his chest, spun in mid-air and cleanly chopped off his arm. He wobbled back and breathed heavily, holding what was left of his arm and glared at the woman, her blade now slick with his blood.
"We can do this all day, PARIAH."
"This would've been quick... But now, now I'm gonna make you suffer." He ran off, the severed hand turning into a pool of biomass and she shook her head, not even bothered to go chase after him. There was a soft groan and she peered upwards, rushing up the building and catching Alex before he fell on his side. Looking in his eyes again, the sparkle began to brighten.
"Alex, Alex, can you hear me?"
"What happened?"
"PARIAH controlled your mind via Hivemind. You didn't cut the link."
"Shit... Because there was no time. I felt him coming. Like a tidal wave in a swimming pool. Where is he?"
"Gone for now."
"What did you do to him?"
"Cut off his arm. See, you need me Alex and you can't deny that."
"Maybe so but we have other small problems." Alex's brow jumped and she looked, two Brawlers steadily closing in on their prey as their elongated tongues lapped aimlessly between their sharp teeth.
"Can't we just run?"
"Yeah, that's a better idea."
Oh, Alex. About time PARIAH fought the Mercer siblings, don't you think?