"If any of you… so much as think about what might have happened up there… I will drown you in acid until you don't come back up." Alex growled out to the assembled Saints who all paled at the deathly serious look gracing their boss' face. Alex and Ryūko had come back down from the upper level of the Villa, and to the Saints' continued shock and slight horror, both were holding hands like a father and daughter would. Said father figure then turned terrifying at the barest hint of mocking, even from Gat. "Now, back to business." Alex breathed out along with everyone else, though each were for completely different reasons.

"Can we, like, talk about what happened in Japan?" Shaundi asked cautiously.

"Yes, myself and Dane arrived without any problems. We then went to the Revocs headquarters and confirmed that Revocs does indeed have access to a resource comparable to Blacklight." At that Alex picked Ryūko off from the table where she had been sitting and carried her, much to her protests, out to the pool and dumped her on a lawn chair. He instructed her to wait for him there. Ryūko hadn't been listening though, as she was enthralled at the sight of her first pool. Seeing this, Alex told her that she was not to go in until she either had swimming lessons or they filled the pool with something she couldn't drown in. The gathering of Saints leaders then reassembled to continue hearing the report on his visit to Japan. "They are called Life Fibers, and they were practically made for enhancing and controlling humans. To this end, they are able to make Life Fiber-human hybrids, the CEO of Revocs is one and so is Ryūko…" Alex explained, pointing to the small child dangling her legs on the pool's edge. This illuminated the Saints further about the child and why the Boss had taken her. The serious tone of the meeting was temporarily disrupted as Alex appeared behind the girl and carried her back to the chair, firmly telling her not to go in the pool. It was increasingly disturbing for them to see this force of nature in the shape of a man acting more and more like a real parent. Alex then walked back and motioned to the Saints to continue.

"So uh… how's this going to affect us?" Carlos asked trying to get to the part that he and the other leaders thought actually mattered.

"I fucking hate Ragyo Kiryuin, that bitch of a CEO of Revocs and apparent queen of the Life Fibers. We fought, and she won… but that will not be the case for very long. I will have a round two and this time I will fucking rip her skull out of her head and use it to beat her body into pulp!" Alex snarled loudly with an anger none of them had seen in a long time. This was a side of him they were far more used to seeing. "But as for the Saints, it does not currently affect us much. Revocs affects Ultor and the Life Fibers affect the Hives. So that is the score and our angle. Don't worry about Revocs, but do understand that one day you all as part of the Supreme Alpha's Hive will be called to battle against another Apex race for domination of the planet. Other than that, keep up the good work in the Saints." Alex said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Everyone but Gat all left quickly as to try and find a place to try and wrap their heads around what had just happened. "Something to say, you two?" Alex asked both his Betas as Gat stood up and Mileena climbed in from the window.

"We won't talk about Dana, but we need to know if you're alright." Mileena said completely unafraid of Alex lashing out.

"Yeah man, you gotta be feeling some serious shit." Gat said nodding also not afraid. "Just say the word and we'll believe you."

"What the hell is it with you two, Betas are supposed to look out for weakness and here you are trying to help. Gat I can understand because we're bros, but you… you still are a mystery to me." Alex said looking at Mileena who just shrugged not caring at Alex's apparent lack of trust. She knew deep down he did in fact trust her as she had proven her loyalty to him several times before.

"And I've told you before how that isn't what Betas do. We're here to support you no matter what, not merely in matters of combat or war."

"Yeah, what she said. We're here for you. I mean, shit… I'll always be there for you, we've bled together, killed together… sometimes with the same gun…" Gat said with mock tears in his eyes.

"Damn it man! Don't talk like that… you're gonna get me all… fuck…" Mileena watched in a mix of fascination and pity as the two men reminisced through their male bonding over violence.

"Alex… our question." She said trying to break things up.

"Fine… if you must know… I'm still a little… whatever….. but all you need to know is that I'm better and I got all my emotions under control again."

"Thanks to her…" Mileena said as she looked over to the girl who had abandoned the chair she had been ordered to stay in and made her way the side of the pool.

"You're not going to turn crazy and start plotting her death because she's getting between you and me?" Alex asked, only half-mocking.

"As if I could be so childish." Mileena retorted back as she had done before. "If you wish to take care of this child then that is your wish." She said before walking out of the room, leaving the two men to themselves.

"You can't tell Aisha until I get Ryūko's father to sign her over to me." Alex said as he turned to his Beta.

"Too late, 'Eesh is already heading over here." Gat chuckled as he knew Alex was going to be getting a dose of Aisha's yelling. "Don't worry boss, I don't think she's pissed at you beatin' us having the first kid out of our little circle of friends."

"She still can't fly?" Alex asked, as when he had left for Japan Aisha was advanced in her pregnancy such that she couldn't utilize much of the advanced mobility Evolved had.

"Nah, but holy fuck is she horny. I swear I never had a problem keeping up with her until these last few months. Damn… sure glad I've got that limitless stamina now." Gat said as the two men both nodded in male understanding. Their moment of mutual masculinity was interrupted by the loud splashing noise of someone falling into the pool. They both turned their heads to see Ryūko floating at the edge of the pool.

"That's good, she knows how to swim."

"KILL IT WITH FIRE! LOTS AND LOTS OF FIRE!" Atshushi screamed as he stumbled past massive descending gate within the Church Compound. He quickly recovered and frantically ran to safety behind a line of Legionaries. All were equipped with his latest bio-weapon. Behind him two gigantic three-fingered hands forced the gate open with a metallic screech. A grotesque head roared as it tried to force itself out of the massive doorway. This was Atshushi's latest attempt at making a Blacklight Rancor, one classic-sized at sixteen feet tall. The only real difference between Atshushi's attempt at the creature and the one seen in the movies was the addition of a pair of ribbed tusks that extended down from the sides of its mouth, and the fact it had bony armor covering its body much like the Legionnaires.

"Take aim!" The Legionary captain called to the line of Blacklight soldiers once their creator passed their line, the rogue Construct still trying to push itself through the door. The Legionaries raised their new bio-weapons: Blacklight flamethrowers. Like the barb guns that they normally used, the Blacklight flamethrowers were semi-sentient creatures that attached themselves to their wielder, in this case by a series of bony claws that grasped the user's arm and back. Around the arm was a long barrel-like snout that ended in two small antennae that would occasionally spark a small amount of electricity between them. These acted as the igniter for the stream of fuel that came out of the weapon. Said fuel was a Blacklight-made biological nitroglycerin substitute, highly flammable and highly effective in what it was designed to do. "Fire!" The line of Legionaries did as ordered and let loose a blazing torrent onto the rogue Construct. The Blacklight Rancor roared in pain as the flames covered its body and began burning it to char.

"Oh… fuck!" Atshushi cursed as he gasped in relief while laying back against the wall. "Why does this keep happening? The Legionaries are perfectly fine, there should be no reason why these newer Constructs keep going crazy!" he yelled before continuing to watch his creations handle his latest mistake. "When we first let out that first Horror we thought the reason it went rogue was because it wasn't showing up in the Hive Mind. But, my earlier Rancor attempt also went crazy and it didn't have Limelight in it. And the only Strains that have shown the Hive Mind invisibly is Limelight, Strain 338 and Strain 581. I used neither of those in either of the Rancors. So there has to be another reason for this." The scientist's keen analytical mind went to work on this new problem.

"So, you have a kid now?" Aisha asked as she watched Alex blow dry his young ward. She had apparently tried to sneak into the pool, and when she found out that Alex wasn't able to get her out due to his weakness to water, it took a bit of convincing to get her back on land.

"Yes… her name is Ryūko Matoi… but I'm working on getting that changed. Just need her father to sign the paperwork." Alex responded casually as he kept Ryūko under control so he could get her dry. He was already feeling like crap due to Aisha giving him the "You're a moron" look that Gat was so used to by now.

"Aw, she's a quiet one isn't she?" Aisha said as she refocused her attention to the girl.

"Nah, she's a real chatterbox. She just doesn't understand a word we're saying." Alex said as he threw a towel over Ryūko. Aisha then watched as he said something in Japanese to the girl and she responded with a slight irritated tone. Alex then said something in his normal "Alex joking" way which caused the girl to look up with eager eyes. She then began to dry her hair with the provided towel as she got off the stool she had been sitting on. Aisha watched as the girl ran upstairs clearly excited.

"What did you say to her?"

"Just to get dry and ready. Then I told her that we're going to be going out so we can get some stuff for her room." The Alpha said as he walked over to the opposite couch Aisha was sitting on. "So, you're…. looking great." Alex was more hoping to weasel his way out from under a rant.

"Thank you, these last few months have been a interesting experience to say the least. Not what I expected out of pregnancy."

"No mood swings or weird cravings?" came the joking inquiry.

"Oh, there have been cravings all right…" Aisha said grimly. "Like how I suddenly get a deep urge to go out and eat some fool." She continued like she was expecting him to explain this. Alex's face simply held a look of surprise.

"Uh… and have you?" Alex asked as his mind began working to try and figure out what this might mean.

"At first I ignored it, but for the past month I've been blacking out and I'm sure that was what I was doing." Her distress at not being in full control of herself was evident.

"Okay… ah… biomass… that's got to be it. The baby needs fresh biomass and your body is responding by going on autopilot to go out and find it." Alex said, making his most educated guess. "Have Gat go the Church and get some Biomass from Atshushi. If that doesn't stop it then… I don't know."

"I was hoping you would have more than that." Aisha sighed.

"You are the first Evolved to be having a kid, this has only happened once before and even that can't exactly be compared to this." Alex said not wanting to bring up something, or more accurately someone, but he felt Aisha should know all the facts.

"This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I thought me and Gat were the first to mate and only mated Evolved can have kids?"

"That's how it apparently works with the Hives and Blacklight. But not for Redlight, which is the virus that Blacklight originates from. The "perfect" Host of the Redlight virus was a woman named Elizabeth Greene, and she did have a kid. But from the memories I gathered, they terminated Pariah about two years after she had it. Apparently the thing wasn't nearly as stable as she was… and if you knew Greene then that is saying something."

"That's not going to happen to my baby." Aisha growled out in a way that would have been at home on a mother bear.

"From the memories I gathered… I have to agree with how they handled the situation." Alex didn't respond to the look of mixed hurt and fury in Aisha. "Redlight is a whole other beast compared to Blacklight. Everyone thinks that it was Blacklight that destroyed New York but it actually was a Redlight virus that hijacked various Blacklight genomes. Greene's kid was a monster, it was a born monster. Not created like Greene or me or you or any other Evolved, but born Redlight, if what's growing in you turns out to be anything but a normal baby, then it will be a Natural. Not an Evolved, but a Natural born Blacklight being." Alex looked back up to Aisha with a dark look on his face. "There are only two reason to why I haven't gutted you, one… Blacklight instincts haven't told me to do so. That means it won't be a threat to me in the Hive Mind. Two, because this is the first Blacklight Natural." Aisha was too upset with Alex for talking this way to get mad at the fact that he had not listed her and Gat's relationship to him. "If it turns out that your kid is anything like Greene's kid, then I'm taking Blackwatch's advice and killing it on the spot." Alex growled with all the power of being the Supreme Alpha he had. "I personally hope that this will end as best it can, but I will not have anything threaten the Hives, especially from the inside." The room was filled with a deathly sharp tension between the two. Both sides could be set on the other at slightest motion of hostility. The tension was broken at the sound of Ryūko clearing her throat announcing her presence in the room. They both looked over to see a look of confusion and concern on her face.

"You can say all that with you claiming her as your daughter. With what she is?" Aisha said with a cold threat behind the words.

"Yes I can. Life isn't fair, and hypocrisy is one of the perks of being the Supreme Alpha." Alex said unabashedly as he stood up. "And again, I do personally hope that this ends with everyone as one big happy family. But I need to be realistic and know that with Blacklight, we're all fucked up. And that means fucked up shit will always be a part of our lives." He finished before walking over to Ryūko. Aisha watched as he picked her up and put her on his shoulders much to her protests, though she could tell the little girl enjoyed the attention. Aisha kept her face of thinly-concealed fury as they walked out, but it finally cracked once the door closed.

Atshushi was trying to figure out just why his newer creations were not responding as he thought they would. He was looked over the results of the testing done to each of the strains that he had used, but this was a long process as he used hundreds of strains in each Construct. Many of them he knew the ins and outs of perfectly, but the problem was that they would always react differently to every single other strain used in the creation of a Construct. It was only thanks to his genius with genetics and his eidetic memory that Atshushi was even able to possibly produce what had already in the time he had.

"It can't be 161, but… that does handle the increased… fuck… there's something I'm missing." Atshushi mumbled as he chewed the end of his pen. "Maybe 532, if I add that it might decrease aggression but the last time I used it alongside 449… no… no… 449 is far too crucial. Without it, there would no point to making the Rancor a mobile weapon platform. Maybe I could make some type of symbiotic Construct alongside the Rancor… but where would I even… fuck… this is harder than my third PhD." Atshushi continued his muttering, not even noticing that Alex had entered the lab with a child on his shoulders. "That… no… if I could… no…"

"Dude… I'm getting a little worried." Alex said trying to get Atshushi's attention but to no success. "Hey… Earth to nerd… fine… I gotta do it. Hey Atshushi, I brought rocky road ice cream!"

"What?! I get first scoop!" Atshushi yelled as his head snapped up at the mention of his favorite treat. "Wait… dammit, I told you not to do that!" He grunted as he realized how he'd been played. Then he noticed the young girl on Alex's shoulders. "Uh… Alex… explain, please."

"This is Ryūko Matoi, soon to be Ryūko Mercer. I picked her up in Japan. I need someone that can teach her how to speak English."

"And you came to me because I'm fluent bilingual. Can't you just get an Infected to handle this?"

"None of them speak Japanese, and I thought this might go faster if I have someone who speaks both. She's still young enough to learn a second language quickly."

"And what do I get out of it?"

"Dude…"

"No, I'm serious. I'm charging for this, my work on Blacklight is my orders from the Director but this… is not in the job description. So I need something from you in exchange."

"Can't I just throw money at you?" Thanks to the original Saints and the growing number of tithe-paying Saints Chapters, Alex was quickly becoming a very rich man, not yet "Saudi prince" level but still wealthy enough that solving problems with buckets of cash was a viable strategy.

"No." Atshushi said with a shit-eating grin. "You are the proverbial dealing devil, and I want more than just money."

"So what do you want?"

"Let me poke around in Mileena's brain." Atshushi said flatly, his face completely blank regarding what he had just asked.

"What?"

"Let me have one full hour to poke around inside the head of the only Blacklight Proto-Novus. It could give me understanding about the inner workings of the connection between all Blacklight beings, as we know that the Hive Mind works off a psychic connection rather than a biological one. Mileena as a Proto-Novus is far more deeply connected to the Psychic Plane than normal humans, and we know from your time in your coma that the Hive Mind does in fact exist in some form within the Psychic Plane, so if I can test a few things on the inner workers of a Proto that is infected with the Blacklight virus… I could possibly unlock even more understanding about just how it all works."

"And you would do this in exchange for teaching a little girl English?"

"Yes."

"No… I understand the benefits to exploring this line of research but… I gained a bit of understand while in that coma about certain things that you really don't want to play with." Alex said completely serious. "There are dangers lurking in the uncharted parts of the human mind. And while Blacklight provides a bit of protection from those dangers but you are not Blacklight… yet… so for now I don't want you anywhere near the Psychic Plane."

"Then what if you could get someone that is a bit more experienced in this thing… maybe someone from the Illuminati proper. We have talked about expanding the staff here. I'm a wiz at the Constructs and the strains but there are aspects of Blacklight that I just can't handle. The Hive Mind for one." Alex had indeed wanted to further explore the Hive Mind in a more controlled environment. And he certainly would prefer it being that way instead of stumbling onto some landmine of a new irritating instinct.

"Okay, I'll talk to…" Alex suddenly stopped talking and stared off into space. He looked at the wall to his right for a moment before taking Ryūko off his shoulders and placing her next to Atshushi. "One moment." He told both of them and then stood a little ways away from the more expensive equipment.

"Uh… Alex… explain please?" Atshushi asked once again as he watched Alex just stare at the wall, apparently waiting for something.

"A-a-a-a-any second now…" Alex mumbled as he stood in place. Suddenly, a Legionary's body smashed through the wall, flying through the air and crashing into Alex in a cloud of dust. Atshushi and Ryūko both watched as out of the smoky cloud of the ruined wall came Gat in his Viral Armor. "That wasn't very nice…" Alex grumbled sullenly as he pushed the dead Legionary off his body. "… so I'm assuming that Aisha told you about my plans for your kid if it threatens the Hive." Gat didn't respond with any words, instead barreling forward with a raised fist and a thunderous yell. Alex didn't even try to block or dodge the blow and took it point blank. Sending him flying into the wall, breaking through and crashing into the next wall with a bang.

"If you two could please take this outside…" Atshushi called out but at Gat's angry roar of irritation he quieted down. "Okay… if they hit the Strain vault though, the world is so going to end." Atshushi said as he took out his remote to the Complex's security levels. He quickly flipped the switch for maximum lockdown. The lights turned off leaving only the red-tinted emergency illumination. Sirens started to blare and the doors began sliding closed. "Come on Ryūko, let's head over to the panic room until they sort everything out." Atshushi hurriedly said in Japanese as he shepherded the young girl out of the room.

"Gat! This is nothing against you or Aisha, I'd do it to anyone! You have no idea what kind of monster Blackwatch was dealing wi…" His best friend delivered another bone-shattering punch to his face, interrupting his attempt at explaining himself. This time his head exploded in a shower of gore. "… fuck… I don't know which hurts more… admitting Blackwatch was right on something or your right hook." Alex said quietly as his skull reformed. "Atshushi! You and Ryūko safe y-" Another uppercut stopped Alex's question.

"Yup! We're safe in the panic room. But… uh… this thing wasn't meant to have two people in it. We're not going to last very long so could the two of you hurry this up." Atshushi said anxiously over the Complex's intercom.

"Fine by me..." Alex grumbled as once again his head reformed. Gat lunged for another hit but this time Alex lashed out and grabbed his fist before he could blink. As the Asian Beta was singlehandedly forced to his knees, any illusions he had of beating his boss evaporated. "Atshushi… you were in Blackwatch… explain Pariah to Gat. Please." There was no response at first but eventually Atshushi did speak again.

"Uh… c-can I please not… I mean… I-I-I still have nightmares a-about that… that..." Terror bled into Atshushi's voice. "Listen Alex… I-I did lots of testing already. We aren't... we won't have… we just aren't. I made sure, real sure. Aisha's kid is not going… please don't make me talk about it." His voice was no longer that of a aloof scientist, but a shivering child reliving his worst nightmare.

"Do you hear the panic in his voice… that pure, undiluted terror of what a natural-born Redlight being means to him? A man that saw the horrors that Blacklight can create, and gets a stiffy when he thinks about making worse ones, hear how horrified he is to even remember the name of that thing? That! Is why I am so serious about this. That! Is why I will have no issue killing anything like that abomination!"

The intercom came to life again. "A-Alex… it won't be… it won't be like that. I have been doing tests with Aisha for that very reason." Atshushi said trying to deescalate the situation. "Gat and Aisha's kid will be a Viral, but I compared the tests with the ones done on Greene during her pregnancy. That… it had substantial damages and mutation to its brain, mostly to the parts that dealt with emotion and empathy. The entire amygdala of… that… it was entirely misshapen. Everything that I am currently seeing in Aisha's baby… it's not that Alex." With that, Gat's fist was released. The Beta's arm numbly fell to his side, and he remained kneeling on the floor of the lab.

"I'm still going to handle this as the Supreme Alpha first and friend second." Alex said before walking away from the man deciding that it would be best if they didn't see each other for a while.

Ragyo was once again trying to find a way to deal with the exasperating pest that was the final Blacklight Horror. It had been three months now and still it vexed her. She had personally gone to find it in her domain and yet nothing had come of it.

"As much as I detest the thought… Avarice was correct… theses pests are a 'bitch' to clean out." Ragyo thought privately to herself, ever the picture of corporate leadership as she looked over a blueprint of her headquarters. She had begun sealing off sections of her building to try and fence the beast but it continued to evade her. This one pest was even beginning to affect her long-term plans with all the delays it was causing to the production and distribution of Life Fibers for her clothing factories.

Her thoughts and plans were interrupted at the sound of the elevator to her office opening. She frowned as she knew of no appointments for the day. She looked up and to her surprise Hoomaru was escorting a sharply-dressed man over, what astonished her the most was the small creature coiling its bladed body against her assistant's neck. It was clearly Blacklight in nature. The man she was escorting didn't feel like how Avarice or Dane felt, so she was assuming this interloper himself wasn't Blacklight.

"Lady Ragyo… may I introduce Dex Jackson. He wishes to speak with you concerning Blacklight." Hoomaru said as the creature slithered away and coiled around the man's arm.

"I see… and just what do the hives have to say to me. You wish to throw salt into the wounds that your little vermin have inflicted?" Ragyo growled but was met with a blank face. This newcomer was clearly unintimidated, but not overly cocky like how Avarice had been.

"I am not part of Alex's hives. I have left them behind, and I'm seeking new employment, your employment. But honestly I wasn't expecting you to know about Blacklight. I came here because you are Ultor's competition, not because of any other connection." He said, his face remaining passive but there were hints of surprise and a small bit of excitement. Ragyo liked where this was going.

"You have a history with those pestilential beasts then?"

"You could say that… they both ruined my life and gave me everything I could ever want."

"I see, but you said you didn't know about Blacklight being here. You came because we fight Ultor, and if I'm correct… Dex Jackson is the current Ultor Executive in charge of Internal Security for Ultor. Is this an act of corporate betrayal?"

"Yes, Ultor is now under the control of Alex Mercer who also rules the Third Street Saints, and the Blacklight Hives. With those three, he's posed to take over the world. It's only a matter of time in my opinion." He shrugged before looking down at the spools of glowing Life Fibers Ragyo had on her desk. "... unless the rumors at Ultor are true and Revocs really does have a secret sauce in its products."

"Exactly what are you offering?" Ragyo asked leaning forward.

"Information, and as a show of good faith… here's the location of the secret Akuji clan compound." Dex said as he handed a flash drive to Hoomaru. Ragyo arched a delicately-shaped eyebrow at this, that was a piece of information that had eluded her from quite some time. Only members of the Yakuza leader's family were privy to such knowledge, and its destruction would be another nail in the coffin of her opposition here at home.

"So… do we have a deal?"

Author's Notes

Hey-o back with another chapter. Just want to tell you all that I have a poll up for the Viral Saints Halloween special on what costume you want me to have Alex have. You can find the poll on my profile page.

Reviews

helkil - not that soon and Alex is a total harem guy. No one can tie that guy down... maybe... who knows... plans in the works maybe?

IAmPedobear - NEW CHAPTER. thank you for your support it seriously means a lot to me.

pedofaria339 - you should... its really good.

Xalimech - thank you... I hoped it would do that. I always feel like I might not be able to pull stuff like that off.

Legonnas - yes... yes they are.

rmarcon321 - we will see... but its the Saints... they handle shit good.