A/N: Looks like I didn't explain Nihlus very well in "Empire." Never fear: next chapter will have plenty of detail on Nihlus, and hopefully will answer anybody's questions on how he does his…stuff…however, before that, even MORE of him doing ghastly things!
The Capitol
The head of a dead Peacekeeper crunched with a comforting snap of bone and cerebrum beneath Nihlus's heavy footfall. He stepped over the corpse of the white-armored police soldier he'd downed with a single shot from his rifle, firing not bullets but depleted uranium needle-like slivers. Bullets were far too clean; they didn't give one the chance to savor the taste of death. The uranium needles sheared through bone and muscle like an eagle's talon, leaving bloody, gaping wounds in their targets.
Death was all these pitiful organics deserved.
Civilians had long since evacuated the Forum, screaming and running for their lives as Nihlus marched a legion of automated Sentries straight into the main city square. He hadn't cared about subtlety; after all, it wasn't as if these Sentries were his. He'd hacked them straight from the Capitol's defense grid, reprogramming them remotely to listen to his electronic commands and countering cyber interference from outside sources. His earlier actions – attacking and disrupting network hubs underneath the Capitol while its vapid citizens fawned over the Quarter Quell – had done its job tremendously.
Physical interference had been another story. Although legions of Peacekeepers had been deployed to the districts, a good number still fought – and died – before Nihlus's battalion of black-armored cybernetic monstrosities. They ran headlong into torrents of machine gun fire, loyally falling by the platoon in a vain attempt to defend the heart of the city against this attack. It was no concern; soon Nihlus would be at his destination and there would be nothing they could do to stop him.
Nothing to stop him…from confronting the one person he wished to face alone.
The one tribute, to be specific.
Interference in his head alerted him to more enemies inbound as he slogged through Peacekeepers on his way to the Games Control Center. The giant stone pantheon reared up before him, seemingly rising above the bullet-ridden chaos unfolding about the Capitol's inner streets. Its marble columns and engraved limestone façade wouldn't remain so pristine for long.
Nihlus caught the first of the new Peacekeeper platoon with a single well-placed needle shot, ripping a barbed projectile straight through the unfortunate soldier's carotid artery. His Sentries turned to face the antagonists, leveling their miniguns and turning the limestone storefront the Peacekeepers hid behind into a shrapnel-filled cloud of ashen dust. Nihlus's soldiers were unmerciful and thorough; their human components had long since been reduced to basic processes. There was no more humanity left in those husks than there were in the buildings of the Forum.
A lucky bullet struck Nihlus's shoulder, barely even slowing the man down. He turned his head briefly towards the wound, smiling subtly as the frayed skin folded back over the impact point. His body rejected the bullet like a bad seed, spitting the projectile up and letting it fall back to the ground with a clatter lost in the din of combat.
Nihlus couldn't concern himself with mere human worries.
His charcoal eyes barely caught a glimpse of the black carbon fiber of his artificial musculature before his skin folded up a perfect fit around the wound, making it seem as if he'd never been shot. Nihlus calculated the trajectory of the bullet in an instant, whipping his gun around and executing the responsible Peacekeeper at seventy-five yards. Lights and clockwork beat flesh.
A vanguard of twenty Sentries mowed down all takers as Nihlus and the remainder climbed the steps to the Control Center. He felt like the leader of a conquering Roman army of yore – Caesar crossing the Rubicon; Scipio sweeping across Zama; taking that which was rightfully his. The morning sunlight glinted in his eyes as the Control Center façade loomed large in his vision, coming forth to meet him like an old friend. Nihlus tossed his needler to the side, pulled out and activated a vibro-rapier, and swung straight into the first Peacekeeper who dared stop his march to providence.
Nihlus swung open the great doors to the Control Center foyer, breaching the gates for his Sentry legion to have their way with the fortified Peacekeeper defenders inside. Nihlus's mindless soldiers showed none of the fear of their opponents, wading squarely into the thick of battle and shredding barricades and human bodies alike with rivers of automatic fire. Nihlus trotted through the combat like a giddy schoolchild, taking gleeful hacks at frenetic Peacekeepers and relishing in each kill. This was purpose – ending life that had begun, closing the loop forever in perfect mathematical precision! The error of nature be corrected!
He hacked into the Control Center's cyber mainframe as the Sentries mopped up survivors, finishing the last preparation needed before the grand finale. Nihlus accessed door controls for the district suites inside the Control Room itself, locking each suite from the outside and ensuring none of the mentors, from Capitol escorts to stylists to victors, would be able to escape.
He had bigger plans for them.
"Five of you, with me," Nihlus pointed out a group of the Sentries. Not as if he'd have to – they didn't need verbal commands to understand him. "The rest of you, eliminate the stragglers. I don't want to see anything alive out here."
The mindless drones obeyed with perfect precision as five of the tumor-ridden armored husks formed up on him. Nihlus led the way, strolling happily over moaning, twitching bodies of fallen Peacekeepers as he approached his final destination – the doors to the Control Room. How long he'd waited for this kind of moment!
Nihlus breached the door, blasting it open with a solid kick and sending it shooting to the ground. The soft blue-and-white lights of the Control Room glared ominously off the glossy black sheens of the Sentries and the matte coal of Nihlus's eyes. Gamesmaker personnel huddled below consoles, beneath tables and chairs, some trying to cram themselves back towards the Executive Suite. Nihlus caught a quick look towards the District 10 suite – of course, pretty little allies had to work together. He saw Annie Cresta's horrified face staring out of the suite's floor-to-ceiling window, knowing she was trapped like a rat in a cage.
How precious that you make this your first Capitol trip since your own Games, Ms. Cresta. Odair, sorry; only you believe you didn't take his name in that damaged head of yours. What should I do to your son when I am done here…and to his pretty, blushing, crush?
He'd have the real grand finale for that one. Right now, however, he had no need to kill Annie, Finnick, and any of the other mentors. They'd simply get to watch his fireworks.
Nihlus pointed about the room to his Sentries, his long, spindly index finger sweeping over the huddled, terrified Gamesmakers: "Erase them. All of them."
The Arena
Sam panted through intense humidity as she followed behind Thresh through the jungle. The morning was unusually hot as the force field crept up on them, advancing at its usual relentless pace like a harbinger of death. Today was the day – either they'd reach the pillar of light and whatever the climax brought, or they'd die on the way.
"Did they really have to make it so hot today?" Firth complained, more towards lightening the mood than expressing legitimate irritation. "It's like they put us in a jungle or something."
"Yeah, I thought we were in a snowstorm," River rolled her eyes.
"Exactly! District 4 on the same page."
Sam had stayed quiet throughout the morning hike. She felt the strain of reaching the climax getting to her, no matter if Firth could stay jovial about things. Once more, the pressure of potentially dying within the span of a day – more than potentially, really – weighed down on her spirit. Surviving seemed even worse; the Gamesmakers had forced her into a situation where every outcome brought about some horrible fate.
She hoped however it happened, it would be quick.
Sam cut away lingering green vines in her face with frustration, snapping a low-hanging whippy branch with her rapier. She was about to yell at Firth for yet another poorly-timed joke when the forest abruptly cleared.
Before her lay an enormous stone temple complex. Two long rows of granite bleachers oversaw a grassy field a hundred yards long and forty yards wide. Stone walls surrounded the ancient arena, remnants of buildings long since having decayed into ruin. Flat grassy plain ran for more than a kilometer in every direction, etching a pastoral scene across the historic landscape. Sam felt as if she'd stepped out of the Hunger Games and straight into the past – confronting her was the specter of a civilization long since dead. Here their hopes and dreams had faded with the passage of time until they were nothing more than stone relics.
At the far end of the husks of this ruined civilization lay a great pyramid, still intact and very much standing as a lone sentinel over this unending jungle. It rose as a great stone guarding for over a hundred meters in the sky, dwarfing even the tallest trees around. From the great pinnacle of the giant monument shone the very thing Sam had come this far for – the pillar of light shining forth into the sky forever.
"This is it, isn't it?" Sam whispered, her blue eyes stretching off into the spotty cloud cover. "The end."
"Now is not the time to delay," Thresh barked, striding forward. "We must –"
A low growl in the jungle interrupted his words. Sam turned slowly, her gut already sensing what it was that lurked in the green darkness. Lily backed up against her as a pounding quake rippled through the dirt, shaking Sam's feet and sending currents up her knees.
Pow! Blasting through a tree came the enormous mutt that had shredded Regal into indecipherable bits. Its injury had barely slowed it down; the giant brown-and-olive kaleidoscope of animal parts utilized its remaining hind leg like a spring, hopping from it to its weaponized forelimbs.
Has it been following me this whole time?! Sam frantically thought. That's not even fair!
Of course, the Gamesmakers had to have their climax.
"Get to the temple," Thresh ordered, holding his scythe aloft. "I will slow down this beast."
Sam looked aghast at the notion, even as Firth yanked on Lily and River and started running. "Thresh…no…"
"Go, District 10," he gave her a long, last look, his deep-set eyes reflecting a moment of clarity amid the harsh surroundings. Suddenly, Sam had an insight into who Thresh was – he wasn't the cold-blooded survivalist she'd come to think of him as at all. No, every kill for him had meant something – every action with thought. Here was a man not of selfish drives, but of honor in the face of adversity. "The last voice of District 11 has spoken in these Games."
"Good luck," Sam nodded breathlessly. She took off was as much speed as she could muster, refusing to look back even as she wanted to. The beast roared behind her, an angry, carnal snarl promising a bloody death through combat for Thresh. He had known all along since his district-mate had died that he wouldn't be winning, after all – he'd done it to ensure someone deserving had the best chance of winning.
At least four tributes had a better shot against wherever Vespasian lurked than just one.
Thresh's battle cry leaped up from behind as Sam heard the pounding steps of the mutt reverberate behind her. She kept sprinting, one foot after another, as the shing of steel on armor plate singed her ears.
By the time she reached the foot of the temple's stone steps, she heard the cannon. She didn't even stop for tears.
"Come on, Sam!" Firth shouted to her. "There' s a passageway up ahead; the light's coming from the top of the pyramid. I bet somewhere in there we can find a way to the top."
"Wait," Sam panted, out of breath from the mad sprint and throwing looks over her shoulder for the mutt. "Gimme just a sec to catch my breath."
"Death does not wait for breath, Samantha."
Vespasian exploded out of the doorway, launching Firth five meters with a swipe of his hand and slamming aside River and Lily with his other. He stood up before the four remaining allies, rapier in hand and looking stronger than ever. Sun burst off his bald, tattooed head in bright shimmers of white light. His muscles bulged from his uniform, clearly unhindered by the bountiful jungle around. He certainly hadn't had any trouble with mutts.
"Foolish of you, girl," Vespasian chided, his metal voice ringing painfully in Sam's ears. "Rushing forth without a second thought. Rash."
Sam took a step back, making sure her allies were okay before clicking on her saber's vibration cell: "Vespasian, if we don't turn this thing off, everybody dies!"
"So quick to the point," he mocked. "Now, Samantha, we come to the moment of reckoning: Where we deduce just how strong or weak you are. Will you succeed in this game of death – to achieve victory that is yours and yours alone, or will you allow the whims of hangers-on to cloud your judgment?"
He struck up a dueling stance opposite her, his sword at the ready. "At your ready, Samantha!"
"Screw you," Firth had gotten to his feet, picking up his spear.
He charged Vespasian, holding his weapon out like a lance and aiming straight for the man's chest. Vespasian played him like a stooge, easily knocking aside his spear with his arm and delivering an elbow to Firth's face. Sam rushed in to help just as Vespasian raised his sword, bringing it down towards Firth's head.
Clang!
Metal and metal set up an ear-piercing screech as the two humming blades ripped at each other. Vespasian threw his wait into his strike, forcing Sam back as he swung high at her neck. She barely countered in time, raising her rapier just enough to catch his in mid-swing. Vespasian leaped back and spun, delivering a kick to River's face as Sam's ally tried to get a stab in with one of the two knives. River fell to the ground, scrabbling backwards to avoid Vespasian's follow-up stomp.
Like in the training center, Vespasian managed multiple opponents with ease. He dove, twirled, spun, parried, ripping his blade past others while avoiding any strikes himself. He inflicted multiple wounds on Sam and her allies within sixty seconds, freeing a stream of blood down Firth's face and slicing open River's right forearm. She gasped in pain as Vespasian kicked her in the chest, grabbing the crook of her arm as blood flowed from the wound.
Sam had been the only one of her group to avoid damage – and she figured that hadn't been accidental.
"Look at them, Samantha," Vespasian hissed as he circled her, his rapier raised at his shoulder and angled parallel to the ground. "Pathetic. Weak. Your friends do you a disservice; they deny you the power within you. Your power gives you focus; it makes you stronger. Attack me! Strike your friends down and then beat me in battle. Claim the victory you know within you should have."
"I won't hurt them," Sam pushed away his overtures. "Any minute now, that force field will come and kill us all! Back off until we get this done!"
"Always so noble," Vespasian leered. "If you will not accept the dark kernel of your soul, I will force it upon you!"
He leapt at Sam, slamming into her with his shoulder and knocking her off balance. As she slipped back, Vespasian drove his fist into Firth's gut and sliced downward with his sword, tearing his left quadriceps in half. He spun in following, kicking River in the face, parrying Sam's blow and finishing with a stylish forte. As if he'd planned the move all along, Vespasian switched his rapier to a backhand grip and sent the blade straight through Lily's stomach.
"No!" Sam screamed. "Lily! No!"
"Somewhat familiar?" Vespasian sneered as he ripped the blade out of the writhing girl's gut, kicking her over against the pyramid's stone wall. "Here we are, fighting amid an arena in an arena…and still you can't save your friends, just the same way you couldn't save your lover two years ago."
"No!" Sam roared, feeling her blood boil and throwing aside all pretenses of restraint. She scooped up a handful of dirt from the ruined earth, throwing it at Vespasian's eyes just as she had Troop two years ago for her first kill.
Vespasian stepped back, not expecting the move and blinking the dirt away. Sam lunged forward in anger and primal rage, bashing her sword against her enemy's rapier without a though to her own welfare. She hacked again and again, throwing all her power into offense as Vespasian was forced to defend himself. Sam rammed her rapier up against his, pressing forward before she lunged out and bit down hard on Vespasian's nose.
"Ah!" Vespasian screamed as Sam pulled away, spitting half a nose worth's of cartilage on the ground. Her opponent bled profusely from the wound, staggering from the hit.
Sam wasted no time; she didn't care who lived or died now. She swung her sword in a rage, slamming the humming blade up across Vespasian's jaw prosthetic. The rapier ripped through the metal like cheese, its rapidly-vibrating edge sheering of sparks and jaw alike.
Vespasian fell to the earth as his jaw prosthetic clanked noisily against one of the pyramid's stones. His face was utterly ruined – his nose was almost gone, his jaw reduced to nothing but an emptiness. Grotesquely, Sam could see straight down the man's throat; his prosthetic had led all the way back to his neck, and now his windpipe lay bare for all to see.
An animal sound uttered from Vespasian's throat hole: It was so inhuman, so guttural, that Sam had no idea what the man intended to convey. His eyes said it all, however.
Kill me. Kill your friends, and obey the monster that has always lurked within you. I've won, Samantha. I have beaten you. I have killed that innocent girl; turned her into a brute no better than the mutt that killed Thresh.
Sam didn't care. With a screaming roar, she sent her sword tip straight through Vespasian's throat.
Boom!
She let out a long exhale as her mortal enemy's body fell silent, its soul destroyed and purged. She let the end of her rapier drop into the dirt, turning towards her three allies. Lily choked and coughed against a stone, her face scrunched up in an agonized grimace as she clutched her stomach with all her might. River leaned over her, ignoring her own profusely-bleeding arm and holding onto the young girl from District 12 through her pain. Firth sat next to them, his eyes in a daze and clouded over. His leg had been shredded, his muscle flayed and laid bare by Vespasian's sword. He wouldn't be walking any time soon.
Kill them, Samantha. Kill them now. Do what you were meant to do.
River looked up, catching the wild, animal look in Sam's eyes as she approached: "No, Sam…the top of the temple…you need to turn off-"
Sam didn't hear her. She took one step forward, than another – Kill them. Finish these weaklings. Take your place as a true victor; embrace the embodiment of power. It gives you focus.
"Sammy, please," River's voice had turned meek and hollow, pain and fear evident in the normally tough-as-nails girl. "Don't do this."
Ignore the dead. They will soon know the ground.
Lily's pained blue eyes reached Sam's, the lancing pain in her gut reaching across the space between them. Still Sam took a step forward, her mind churning with far too many emotions to process.
Kill them. Kill the little one. The one who thought she could be your friend. Kill the two from District 4. Kill that one who thought he could take your love from Storm.
Storm!
"Sammy, don't do this," Storm had come out of nowhere to be beside her, his face shrouded by light. Was she seeing things? Had Storm come in her moment of need? "We can still be together, Sam! Do what you have to do – at the top of the pyramid! Come back to me! Don't become a monster!"
"I…" Sam stuttered, her eyes clearing. Storm nodded to her next to her as her three allies looked on. "I…"
She picked up her rapier, de-activating its vibration cell and letting it fall against her shoulder: "Firth, look after River. I love you; all of you."
"Sam!" River cried out as she turned about, running for the center of the pyramid.
Sam couldn't hear her. Storm ran next to her, his feet gliding – flying! – over the earth beside hers. She felt his strength within her, carrying her further – faster – stronger with every step. A great stone girder moved out of her way as if by machines, revealing a granite elevator open and ready for her entrance. She hurried in, unable to cast a look towards her fallen friends and letting the carriage swoop her up.
"That's it, Sammy," Storm smiled at her, his voice sincere and loving. "We're almost there. We're almost together."
It is it, Sam thought. He's right. Whatever happens up here…I bet I'll die. It's how it has to be. Lily's a goner probably anyway; Firth and River can go home to District 4. They can live. I can be back where I belong…
"That's right," Storm kept her going. "We'll be back in the stars. Back where you and I belong. You'll always be the brightest star, Sammy – now everyone will know."
"Storm," she gasped, leaning against the elevator wall as it slowly climbed the pyramid, screeching foot by agonizing foot. "Does…does it hurt?"
"Not as much as watching you suffer down there, alone and afraid. Have faith in my love, Sammy. It's not long now."
She nodded, swallowing her fear and confronting the sunlight as it poured into the opening elevator carriage. She stepped out, facing a small, orange, holographic panel illuminated with a handprint icon. She needed to press that – to stop the energy gate, to take her life, to give River and Firth a chance at a future.
To go home.
"One last step, Sammy," Storm's energy surrounded her, giving her the courage for the end. "That's it. I'll be with you the whole time."
Sam sucked in her last breath, raised her eyes to the bright, shining sun, and pressed her hand to the panel.
Crack! Boom!
The sky exploded in light – blinding, powerful, hot white light.
I'm going to the stars. I'm going to find you again, Storm…we'll be back together.
Sam hadn't expected rain in the afterlife.
She opened her eyes, looking around and searching for Storm to be waiting for her with an embrace and a kiss. No Storm.
The sun was gone. The holographic panel had folded back into the ground, leaving Sam alone atop the pyramid with only a hot, torrential downpour greeting her to life after pressing the panel. Dark, menacing clouds rolled like a choppy sea across the sky, stretching for as far as Sam could see. Powerful winds buffeted her from every direction, threatening to knock her off her feet. The hurricane that had appeared lashed out at the rainforest below, blanketing the ground with sheets of howling rain and screaming gusts. Sam gasped in panic, looking about and stumbling on her feet.
What? Storm? Where are you?
Something flew in front of her and Sam felt a blinding pain in her face. She fell to the ground, propelled down by a powerful force. She blinked, shaking her head and meeting a pair of black, animated eyes.
"Welcome to my world, Miss Parker! You like what I've done with the place?"
