DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE SERIES/COVER ART INVOLVED IN THIS STORY.

Chapter 54

Men Like Gods

Alex slammed his foot into the ground and spun, reaching out with his Claws, the bladed digits spreading out for a deadly swipe. Pariah reached out with its left arm, catching Alex's attack before lurching forwards and slamming its head into his chest. Alex stumbled back, regaining his balance in a split second, but by then, Pariah was already on the move. A vicious swipe was aimed at his head, forcing him to duck to avoid decapitation.

Pariah's knee was already rushing up to meet his face as he ducked, but Alex's hands shot out, his Claws digging into Pariah's leg. His back leg reached behind him for leverage and he pulled back with a grunt, lifting Pariah off balance and into the air. Alex spun around, throwing Pariah over his head and sending the creature flying across the rooftop. It recovered almost instantly, slamming its feet into the rooftop and jumping off into the air.

Before Alex could follow, Pariah was already diving down at him with a pair of large, spiked Hammerfists aimed at him. Alex dove off the rooftop, gliding through the air while sparing a glance over his shoulder as Pariah landed. Its landing demolished the top of the building, causing the roof to cave in and collapse. A figure darted out of the rising smoke and dust, moving so fast that Alex had to snap his head to the side to follow its movements. Pariah landed on the wall of a building and bounced off, tackling Alex midair and sending the two of them flying through the air straight into another building.

They crashed through the wall in a ball of limbs and Claws, rolling across the floor before Pariah kicked Alex off, slamming him through a biomass-covered pillar that held part of the ceiling up. Alex was thrown off balance momentarily as he crashed through the support beam, giving Pariah the opportunity to throw its massive Hammerfist at his head.

Alex dropped to the floor, reaching out with his Claws for Pariah's still-moving feet. The elder Prototype responded by taking a massive step, its legs stretching beyond human limits as it avoided his grasp. Rather than chase it, Alex sprang forward, rocketing out of the building and back into the eerie red light that covered the city. As he flew back outside, he twisted in the air, turning back and watching as Pariah stepped out into the hole that had been created when the two of them slammed through the wall.

A dark Blade was hanging off its right arm as it stepped into view. It craned its neck before leaping into the air, high above Alex. It flipped forwards, aiming the back end of its Blade at Alex as it plummeted towards him. He lurched to the side, propelling himself out of the way as Pariah fell past him. He caught a glimpse of its emotionless stare as it eyed him.

It was like a split personality; in battle, all forms of human emotion evaporated form Pariah, leaving a living killing machine.

The moment was broken as Pariah's eyes passed out of his field of view, and Alex found himself frantically spinning to keep his eyes on Pariah. The creature was already on the move, its feet narrowly missing the window of opportunity to escape Alex's gaze. He caught sight of them as Pariah passed beneath him as he fell to the ground. Before he could react, however, something slammed into his back.

He grunted as he felt Pariah drive its shoulder into the spot just below his neck. Alex was flung forwards, but spread his arms and began gliding to stabilize himself. His arms were both transforming into Whipfists, and by the time he had gained enough control to fall to a rooftop, he had both weapons at the ready. He spun on his heel as he landed, stretching out his arms and letting his Whipfists fly, both rapidly approaching Pariah as it fell to a nearby rooftop.

The fist Whipfist was deflected with a hastily-formed Shield, while the second forced Pariah to raise its Blade for a block. The Whipfist bounced off the massive weapon, but the act of raising the Blade obscured Pariah's view of Alex. The hooded Prototype took advantage of this and moved instantly, transforming his right arm as he activated the Tendrils power he received from Ares.

Red and black tentacles leapt from his palm and rocketed towards Pariah, slamming into the being before it had a chance to react. The force behind the attack sent Pariah skidding backwards for several meters before it came to a stop, the back of its feet centimeters away from the edge of the rooftop. Alex's free hand was mirroring the movements of the first; transforming as the Tendrils power was activated and shooting forth half a dozen red and black tentacles.

The new batch of tentacles slammed into the building Pariah was standing on, drilling through it and causing it to cave in. Pariah momentarily lost its footing as the building began collapsing, but still managed to leap out of danger. Alex, meanwhile, dove into the dust and smoke kicked up by the falling building, landing on the ground with a crash before his whole body began writhing with tentacles.

He stumbled around as tentacles swarmed across him, crawling into place and solidifying with metallic clicking sounds. Finally, Alex stood at his full height, dressed in the Armor Ares had worn. It was a risky move, seeing as it slowed him down, but the added protection would help him tank Pariah's attacks.

The only issue was that Ares had a massive boost to his biomass prior to their fight. His Armor was supercharged and capable of withstanding massive blows like it was nothing. That had been why he didn't activate it later on after he lost it; the biomass required to make the impervious Armor was more than Ares could provide, and anything less wouldn't have been enough and would have just slowed him down.

This, however, wasn't the same as Ares' Armor. While the appearance was nearly identical, Alex's Armor wasn't as powerful as that which Ares had worn. However, because of the massive increase to strength and speed he had received from consuming Ares, he could wear it with a smaller loss in speed. The Armor would provide a layer of protection that would help withstand Pariah's Claw and Whipfist attacks to a greater extent, but the loss in speed might come back to bite him…

Oh well, he could always 'take off' the Armor.

Alex bent his legs and leapt into the air, taking a small note of the bit of extra effort required to do so. His feet slammed into the wall of another building and he leapt off, quickly crossing the distance towards another building and repeating the action. Before he knew it, he was on a rooftop, his head frantically spinning around as he searched for Pariah. He spotted a figure darting around through the smoke and immediately—

He whirled around as he felt a rush of air.

He stared into Pariah's eyes as it raised both Hammerfists above its head. Before he could react, the mace-like appendages came down upon his head, flattening his body against the rooftop from the force of the hit. The structure groaned in protest as Pariah slammed its Hammerfist down on Alex again. He pushed his body up, intent on standing and fighting back, but the action proved a mistake as Pariah took the opportunity to throw a violent uppercut at Alex's head as he tried to rise.

The hit sent him spinning backwards as his body responded to the force put upon it. He recovered quickly, spreading his limbs in a glide as he steadied himself. Pariah was already upon him, but Alex was ready. His arms came up, forming a pair of Shields, one on each arm, with speed that Pariah clearly didn't expect.

These were Ares' Shields. The punch Pariah threw came into contact with the first of the Shields, and Alex pushed back, willing massive spikes to extend from the protective barrier as they tore into Pariah. It was knocked back by the maneuver and began falling to the ground, but flipped in the air, landing with a tremendous crash as its weight crushed the street beneath it.

Alex noticed movement from the corner of his eye and realized that he had made the foolish mistake of confusing one of the Evolved that was on the move with Pariah itself.

Note to self; Evolved moving around in the background. Not to be confused with Pariah.

Pariah was rising to its feet as Alex landed on the ground dozens of meters away. It frowned at him as it studied him once more. Wordlessly, its legs bent as it slid back into a combat position, its arms slowly rising into the air as it held its Hammerfists high once more. Suddenly, Pariah slammed its fists into the ground, creating a massive shockwave. The ground shook as massive red and black spikes erupted from the earth in a circular pattern around Pariah. The fleshy red biomass that covered the street was ripped apart as the spikes arose, creating an odd looking net as tendrils of the biomass stuck to the spikes and were lifted from the ground.

Alex sprang backwards, putting distance between himself and Pariah to avoid being impaled. The spikes began retracting as Pariah began rising to its full height until all that was left was Pariah standing in the midst of the absolute carnage it had caused.

Alex activated the Tendrils power he had received from Ares, his arms taking the same shape as those of his previous enemy. With a grunt he brought his arms together and launched a set of intertwined tendrils at Pariah. The grey-skinned creature rolled out of the way before breaking into a full-on sprint almost instantly after it came to a stop. Alex yanked his tendrils back into his arms as Pariah rapidly approached, its Blade forming on its arm.

The second the tendrils had retracted, Alex formed his own Blade and charged. The two crashed towards each other, the ground cracking and groaning beneath their weight. They met with a thunderous crash as their Blades connected, sparks flying through the air as the metallic substances the weapons were composed of scraped against each other.

Alex leaned forward, putting all his weight behind his Blade while Pariah did the same. His free hand began taking the shape of a Hammerfist even as Pariah formed a Shield. Alex grunted as he swung his enlarged fist at Pariah, only to have it blocked by the Shield. Their legs kicked out periodically and smacked against each other as both fighters attempted to knock the other off his feet.

They circled each other as they moved, legs and arms lashing out and about as they met repeatedly. Alex quickly formed a single Shield and swiped it out in front of him, forcing Pariah to backpedal and give Alex a chance to slide back before lurching forwards, holding his Blade out parallel to the ground in a stabbing motion.

Pariah dodged out of the way, but Alex had already spun around and repeated the attack, this time catching Pariah on the elbow. The Blade tore through the flesh, but the arm stayed connected. The biomass limb began healing even as Alex turned for another attack, but Pariah was already moving. It sprang out of the way, diving to the side as Alex sliced through the air that occupied the space Pariah had been in a moment ago.

Countless years' worth of memories screamed at him to move, and Alex did just that. He dove out of the way as Pariah flipped forward for momentum, swinging its Blade down on the spot where he had stood. Alex rolled across the flesh-covered street, not stopping as his body rose and whirled around to face Pariah.

He was met with a Whipfist to the throat.

He gagged as the bladed tip of the weapon burrowed into his flesh, even though it was slowed down considerably by the Amor. Pariah yanked on its end of the Whipfist, bringing Alex forwards as he stumbled and fell on his face in front of Pariah's feet. Pariah's foot slammed on top of his head, crushing it against the street. The Armor helped absorb the blow, and Alex was moving sooner than Pariah had anticipated. His hands transformed into Claws as he lashed out, groping at Pariah's legs.

The grey-skinned creature danced away, narrowly avoiding Alex's grasp, but giving him the opportunity to stand once more. Tendrils formed on his arms as he pointed his palms at two random buildings, one on each side of him. Tentacles leapt from his hands, rushing over to the buildings he had pointed at and drilled into them, unbalancing and destabilizing them.

Pariah blinked before realizing what Alex was doing and rushing out of the way. Alex directed his tentacle to pull down the buildings, much like Ares had done in Academy City. The structures began collapsing, knocking down other buildings as it all came crashing down. Alex began running before his tentacles even finished retracting, creating quite the odd sight. He was out of the way before the buildings fully collapsed, and from where he was, he could hear surprised shouts and exclamations from the Evolved that had been watching.

He glanced at the carnage he had caused, noting the figures darting about in the smoke as they attempted to find new hiding places. Quickly, he allowed the Armor to fade from his body as he sprang into the smoke, all while taking a random form as he jumped in. He spotted the nearest Evolved and followed it, carefully tracing its movements and attempted to seem as inconspicuous as possible.

Eventually, the Evolved leapt through a building, unaware that Alex was following it in his disguised form. The two crashed in through the window, rolling to a stop. Alex jerked up, immediately noticing the Evolved standing behind the windows as they looked outside, searching for him and their leader.

A few glanced at him, but otherwise remained indifferent. There were six Evolved in the room, as far as he could tell. Slowly rising, Alex walked over to one of the windows and peered out, searching for signs of Pariah. He made sure his back was against a wall and that he could still see all the other Evolved in the room as he looked for his target. It was rather difficult, attempting to blend in and pay attention to all that was happening outside while keeping an eye on all the others in the room. It was made even more difficult with all the questions running through his mind.

How many Evolved are there out here? Are ALL of them hiding in the buildings, watching Pariah and I fight? Do they stay in one area and hope and wait for the fight to come to them?

He almost flinched when one of the Evolved scratched his arm, the movement itself causing Alex to nearly panic.

How am I going to play this one?

"Where's Mercer?" hissed one of the Evolved. "I don't see him."

Outside, Alex was catching glimpses of Pariah as it zoomed around the battlefield, searching for him. He fought the urge to use his Infected Vision to see how many Evolved were watching. Activating his powers would draw attention to him, and he didn't know how long it would be until one of the Evolved would notice that they had never seen him around here.

His fingers twitched when he saw Pariah had stopped moving and landed atop a building, scanning the ground before it. He wondered how long it would be until Pariah realized that he was hiding amongst the Evolved.

Suddenly, Pariah's arms transformed into Hammerfists and it hit its knuckles together once. Twice. Three time. His eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, and he failed to notice the Evolved giving uneasy looks to each other.

"So," one of the Evolved began, tearing his attention away from Pariah—as well as Alex's. "Spawn?"

What?

"Six," replied an Evolved, cutting off another that was about to speak.

"Eight," said the Evolved who was cut off.

"One," continued the third.

"Two," finished a fourth. With that, all six Evolved craned their necks to the side.

What the fuck?

When Alex failed to do the same, one of the Evolved immediately noticed. Alex's dumfounded expression was all he needed to see. Before Alex could react, the Evolved had formed a small Hammerfist and smashed through the nearest wall that led outside. His free hand pointed at Alex, and he yelled two words out into the open.

"He's here!"

Pariah was there in an instant, standing in the hole the Evolved had created. Its gaze traveled along the same path as the Evolved's until its eyes rested upon Alex. His fists clenched as he realized that Pariah must have set up a sort of code with its Evolved when it figured out that he was coming.

Clever little—

Pariah rushed forwards, tackling Alex even as his body returned to its normal form. The two fell to the ground as they struggled, each attempting to get back on top. Alex bent his legs and kicked Pariah off before leaping out the hole created by the Evolved.

Damn it, I didn't get to consume any of them!

He sprang out into the daylight, quickly scaling a building to avoid Pariah's attacks while he tried to form his next plan of attack.

His thoughts were interrupted by an ominous rumbling noise. Slowly, carefully, Alex turned around, eyes widening as it came into view; an enormous, hulking creature slowly crashed towards them, the gargantuan arm it dragged along the street crushing the ground it walked upon.

He knew what this creature was. Ares had a hand in creating it, after all.

"A Goliath," Alex breathed. It seemed as though Pariah had called in reinforcements.

Explanations/Clarifications

The Goliath: An enemy that was introduced in the second Prototype game. If you don't know what it looks like, you're welcome to look it up. Might help with visualizing the story.