I own nothing presented in this chapter.
Didn't I tell you this finale had two parts?
It began with two warriors of fiction, taken from the pages or screens of their greatest battles and entering the arena...
Now, two of the worst fictional plagues on the galaxy will collide in a battle to the death!
(A slick, black, reptilian creature with an elongated head and massive claws hisses at the camera.)
Xenomorphs: the galaxy's most dangerous creature that slaughters all it sees before forcing them to continue its species.
(A Xenomorph drops onto a terrified human, silencing her screams with a bite to the throat from its second mouth.)
Vs.
(A sickly yellow humanoid covered in pulsing growths and red feelers swings a claw at the camera.)
The Flood: a parasite so dangerous, a single creature can annihilate a species through infection and devouring.
(A Flood Combat Form makes a roaring leap upon a UNSC Marine and tears his throat out, an Infection Form crawling into his chest soon after.)
Now, these two terrors of the stars will collide in a deathmatch to decide, once and for all,
WHO
IS
DEADLIEST?
"Okay guys," Said Zivon, Scarecrow and DAM flanking him in the Fight Club. "We've got two of the most dangerous alien species going up against each other in the sim today. What do we know about them?"
"Let's start with the Xeno." Said DAM. "The species of Xenomorph born from a human is massive."
Xenomorph
Series: Alien/Aliens
Height: 7'
Weight: 385lbs
Semisapient
"This thing is a nasty creature." DAM continued. "It's voracious, it's completely lethal, and the worst part is that any physical damage to the creature itself can also damage its attacker with its acid blood.
The Xenomorph attacks its prey with a series of lethal natural weapons:
Claws
Fangs
Second Mouth
Tail
And its Acid Blood
"We already know that the Xenomorph can use any of its attributes to butcher a human." Said Scarecrow. "With the Flood being physically stronger than a human, that might be more difficult, but the Flood Combat Forms are also a lot more fragile than the average human, so the Xeno may be able to eviscerate the flood if they get too close."
"Keep in mind as well though, the Flood don't attack on their own, they attack in swarms." Said Zivon. "And one slip up could cause the Xenomorph to become infected, putting a new weapon in the Flood's arsenal, as the parasite can infect any creature, living or dead, as long as it has sufficient biomass."
"And that brings us quite nicely to the Flood." Said DAM. "Let's have a look at them."
The Flood
Series: Halo
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 214lbs
Hive Mind
"The Flood operate as a hive mind, and since we're testing this based on human combat forms, they have similar stats to humans." DAM continued. "The difference being that the Flood infection causes a severe spike in muscle mass, making the Combat Forms stronger, faster and able to jump higher than the average human."
The Flood would devour its foes with its own, smaller arsenal:
Claw Growths
Tentacles
Infection Forms
Carrier Forms
"The Flood have annihilated entire species." Said DAM "The only way to reliably stop them is to starve them, meaning keep them as far from any sentient species as possible. When these things take over a body, no matter what, it turns it into a killer."
"We know that the Flood's claws and tentacles can puncture human, Elite and even Brute skin, so there's no question they'll be able to kill the Xenomorph." Said Scarecrow.
"Completely true," Said Zivon "But you also have to take into account the parasite's effect on the rest of the body, the massive growths that provide an excellent target, and the rapid decay that leaves the infected body fragile and vulnerable to attack."
"You also need to take into account that hitting a Xenomorph with one of the Flood's claws can cause it to bleed." Said Scarecrow. "And acid blood will burn right through a combat form and turn it into a puddle."
"So obviously this fight won't work as one on one or as a squad fight." Said Zivon. "No, that would be too easy. Instead, this fight will be between a small pack of Xenomorphs and an entire horde of Flood. The only question now is numbers."
"I'd say go for the all reliable 3 on 150." Said DAM. "That'll give a good amount on both sides, the Xenomorphs having the superior intellect and strength, while the Flood have their sheer numbers."
"Completely agree DAM." Said Zivon "And for the purposes of this battle, I think we all know exactly where it would take place."
"So what are we waiting for, guys?" Scarecrow asked. "Let's start the battle."
The simulation will be run 1000 times to see just who would win in a fight to the death. Will it be the lethal predator, or the deadly plague? There is only one way to find out.
Scarecrow types in one last command and the battle begins.
0010101010101010101010101010101
In the dark, silent vacuum of space, a single ship floated, adrift, lights flickering across the vessel, illuminating a symbol on the outer hull, a logo instantly recognizable to any passing: Weyland Yutani.
Within the ship, the halls were quiet, an occasional hiss or moan echoing through the halls before falling silent once again. Within one room, three stasis pods opened due to a power fluctuation, but their contents were far from human. The creatures that emerged were massive, slender beings, pitch black in colour with elongated heads, limbs and tails. A set of ferocious looking claws decorated their hands and long, bladed tails protruded from their abdomens. The Nightmarish image was completed by their heads being topped off with a set of massive, fanged jaws, lines of saliva dripping from the creatures' teeth as they hissed.
These were Xenomorphs, aliens experimented on by the Weyland Yutani corporation in the hopes of creating a new bio weapon. Their experiments had always been met with crippling failure, but Weyland Yutani was nothing if not stubborn to the point of insanity, so their experiments continued. This time, however, they had been placed in stasis for a lengthy period of time, untouched by even the most extreme scientists. The combination of this, and being awoken in an empty and silent ship, confused the primitive minds of the Aliens, and the fell odour in the air was even stranger. It was the scent of death, decay and hunger. That wasn't from any human, nor was it from any creature they had ever encountered. Splitting up, the three Aliens went on the hunt for whatever made that smell, two of the creatures roaming the halls of the ship, while one followed the scent into an air duct.
Xenomorph: III
Crawling through the duct, the first Xenomorph noticed something else: sound. Coming from down the vent was a collection of moans, hisses and even growls. Following the noise deeper into the ship, the alien soon found itself above a vent looking down into a large room. And that room was completely full. Occupying the room, was a horde of nightmarish creatures, yellow and green deformations completely covering their bodies, with large tendrils growing out of where their hands used to be, and red feelers emerging from what was once their heads. They were the ones making the sounds it had heard, and the smell they gave off was unmistakable, the sheer volume of it enough to make any normal human sick to their stomach. But this was no normal human.
Xenomorph: III
Flood: 150
Luckily for the Xenomorph, it was no normal human. With a shriek of anger, it broke through the vent, lunging claws first into the horde of creatures. The Flood immediately responded as the Alien ripped through two of its number with its claws, and as one they surged for it. The Alien was not so easily defeated, however, and with a swing of its tail it cut several of the lunging creatures apart. It was merely a drop in the bucket, however, as several of the undead monsters leapt upon it, slashing with claws and tendrils. The Alien's thick hide did much to protect it, as some of the blows were glancing, others however, managed to pierce its hide, inflicting a laceration across its back, the blood from the wound melting the claws of the Flood that inflicted it. Fighting through the pain, the Alien became a blur of claws and tail, pieces of flood falling all around it. The horde, however, would not give up, as more and more piled on it, one managing to sink its tendrils through the Xenomorph's chest, the creature hissing in pain as the offending flood was melted by its acid blood. The Alien sank to its knees from the wound. IT tried to rise, but before it could, a yellow shape leapt onto its face, tendrils burrowing into its skin. The Xenomorph roared in pain and panic as it began to swell up, yellowy pustules emerging all over its body, its head pushed aside to make room for the infector as tendrils grew from its limbs. Soon, the Xenomorph was no more, merely another soldier in the flood army.
Xenomorph: II
Flood: 106
Drawn by the sounds of battle, the other two Xenomorphs arrived just in time to watch their packmate turn. The flood soon noticed them, however, and knowing they would not be successful against this many foes in this open a space, the Aliens took off down the hallways of the ship. The Flood followed, gaining on them with their speed. Both of the Aliens slithered through the ship, the hordes of undead in hot pursuit. One of the creatures took its packmate's strategy and crawled into a vent, while the other continued down the hallway, halting in its tracks as a wall of the Flood was suddenly in its path. It tried to retreat, but another horde was still behind it. Knowing combat was the only option for survival, the Xenomorph hissed in anger and leapt into the horde before it rending several of the monsters with its claws and cutting down an entire row of creatures with a swing of its razor sharp tail. The horde began to thin as the Alien continued its onslaught, leaping onto a Combat Form and using its powerful second jaws it punctured right through its body, killing the infector. Its target dead, the alien picked up the corpse and hurled it at one of the swarms, slowing its progress. Turning to the other group, the Alien saw it had retreated slightly, and a large, balloon like creature was hobbling towards it. Seeing a target, the Xenomorph lunged, only for the creature to stumble and fall forward. Unable to stop itself, the Alien swung its claws at the creature, but the second it punctured its head, the swelled up creature burst, the blast smashing the Alien into a wall, dazing it. The last thing the creature would see was an infector leaping onto its face. Then it saw no more.
Xenomorph: I
Flood: 61
The last Xenomorph slithered through the ship's ventilation. There was no way off this ship, so if it wanted to survive, it would have to kill all the remaining creatures. Suddenly, it heard a noise, like dozens of creatures crawling squeaking and slithering toward it. Then came the all too familiar scent of those creatures as a swarm of infectors surged from the darkness of the vent right at it. Nowhere to run, the Xenomorph leapt into the horde, a flurry of claws and teeth, biting and slashing the infectors to pieces. As the swarm grew smaller, one of the creatures leapt on the Alien's back, but a swipe of its tail cut the infector in half. Soon, the swarm was nothing but ribbons on the floor of the vent, but the Xenomorph knew its work was not done. The faint aroma of death and hunger still permeated the air, and would continue to do so, so long as those creatures lived. Finding a vent above a large horde of the creatures, the Xenomorph burst out of the air duct and slashed right through a Combat form with a slash of its claws, cutting down several more with a swing of its tail. A swing of its clawed arm sent one of the creatures flying right into another, the Xeno leaping onto the fallen creatures and impaling them both with its second mouth. Two more creatures leapt for the Alien, but the Xeno impaled them both on its tail, killing each one. The Xeno could see victory as the Flood's numbers began to dwindle as it cut down more and more of the monsters. As it cut down what appeared to be the last of the beasts, a pair of roars drew its attention to the door of the room. The Alien recoiled as it saw what emerged.
Xenomorph: I
The Flood: II
Through the door came its former packmates, both of them hideously disfigured and covered in the familiar sickly yellow growths and tendrils of the beasts they had fought. The uninfected Alien readied itself for combat, baring its claws and teeth, hissing in anger. The infected Aliens shuffled forward, breaking into a mad, roaring charge as they grew closer. The first one leapt on the uninfected, claws outstretched, only to receive a tail to the face, but this strike left the uninfected Alien open to the second monster, who surged forward, knocking the Alien to the ground. It jumped on the monster and used a claw to hold it down as it reared back for a strike, but the Alien used its powerful jaws to bite through the arm holding it down and then used its own claw to strike the infector.
Xenomorph: I
Flood: I
Throwing the corpse off of it, the final Xenomorph turned to face the last of the Flood, only to be immediately slashed across the chest, acidic blood dripping from the wound and sizzling as it hit the floor. The Alien hissed in pain and recoiled from the attack. The Flood took advantage of this, roaring as it used an enhanced leap to jump on the Alien. The Xeno, however, was ready for the attack, and lashed out with its tail, slicing off one of the parasite's arms and knocking it off course. This didn't slow the infected monster down for long, as it was soon on the attack again, running for the Alien, and though it tried to attack again with its tail, it wasn't fast enough, and the parasite tackled it to the ground, raking its remaining claw across its chest. The Alien shrieked in pain, but the fight was decided at that moment, as acidic blood sprayed from the wound, landing right on the infector spore, destroying it.
Xenomorph: I
Flood:
Throwing the mutated corpse off its body, the wounded Xenomorph rose to its feet, and let out a mighty roar of triumph.
Winner: Xenomorph
"In this monster on monster battle, the Xenomorph ended up winning, but just barely." Said Scarecrow. "The Flood's sheer numbers threatened to overwhelm it, but its tenacity and actual intellect, being able to plan and ambush its prey won it this battle."
Xenomorph Kills
Claws: 128
Fangs: 105
Second Mouth: 88
Tail: 132
Acid Blood: 52
Total: 505
The Xenomorph's tail, being able to kill multiple flood in one swing, ended up being the Alien's deadliest weapon.
Flood Kills
Claws: 116
Tentacles: 110
Infectors: 148
Carriers: 121
Total: 495
The deadliest tool of the Flood was its infection, with which it turned the Xenomorphs into their own weapons.
Well, now that that little distraction is out of the way, let's focus on what really matters: Back for Blood
Expect the entirety of Back for Blood within the next month or two, and after that we begin season three. Voting for the opening match will remain open until the end of Back for Blood, and if you have any suggestions for warriors or matchups, suggestions are more than welcome.