Big was an understatement. This thing was giant. Standing at easily four to five stories tall, with four crab-like legs beneath a hunched-over armored body. Its arms were tucked in, much like those of a mantis, and its pointed head had way too many eyes. Also, a split lower jaw and a whole lot of teeth to finish the look, because it wasn't creepy enough.
When it reared up, its chest spread open along a jagged line like a maw, folding to the sides similar to a pair of wings so it could inhale deeply and roar into the darkened sky, shattering windows around them from the sheer pressure of its voice alone.

Cole hissed, realizing he had subconsciously stepped back. "No. Way."

Heller growled too, voice harsh. "No. No. I see this shit- But I know what you did in the swamp, this one's all mine." It occurred to Cole that he wasn't talking to him. "I fucking know! Armor's too thick, claws won't work. It's not the first giant monster I'm killing solo." He flicked his left arm to the side, pressing the claws together- and they started to melt into each other. Bony talons became a bony blade, wrist and elbow locked together, and scales turned thick and massive, a process that took only a few seconds at most. Heller's resultant sword looked like a mixture between Alex's blade and something resembling a penguin wing, if Cole had to be honest with himself. But it looked sturdy enough to do some real damage.

The monster roared again and stomped towards them, its tiny eyes focusing on them as it crashed cars beneath without even slowing down.

The Conduit clenched his fists and lightning came to life along his arms. "And now?"

"Now we will punch this thing until it is dead", Heller said. "Hopefully the people are smart enough to stay out of its way."

"Good plan" Cole threw his hand to the front, firing a lightning bolt at it- the energy dispersed harmlessly against the shell, and the titan didn't even bother to acknowledge it. Its maw was hanging slightly open, drool dripping down in long sticky threads as it approached them with thundering steps. Heller's own attempt to stop it by physically tackling into its front leg only halted it briefly so it could shift its balance to the other three legs, then it continued moving. Cars beneath were crushed, balconies were ripped off the face of buildings.

People screamed, and suddenly Cole became aware of the Militia that was still around- he groaned and was halfway through turning on them to knock them back- when he realized that they were targeting the Behemoth, not him or Heller as they've done just before it appeared. They did jump however when the Evolved landed besides them in a crouch with a slightly unhinged expression. "Fucking awesome! It doesn't even fall over!" He paused and glanced at the more or less terrified guys. "What about you, huh? Suddenly, you're not the big strong Heroes of New Marais anymore, aren't you?"

Despite the situation, Cole snickered. "Yeah. What about it, wanna show them how we deal with a giant swamp monster? Unless", He fixed the men a glare, "Unless you can prove to us that you are not just playing the role of the big guys, but actually are." He spun around and threw a grenade at the Behemoth, watching how the electrical sparks sizzled off as it bounced away.

"He's right", Heller cracked his free hand. "You got the technology. Use it. Or get out of the way and let us stop this fucker from tearing the city apart." He dove to the side and yanked a car up, throwing it with high precision at the thing's face. It just stopped briefly, then snarled loudly and swung its massive arm, ripping a building to pieces and chucking rubble like projectiles at them. Cole caught them out of instinct with a shield that was made of ice and lightning, protecting himself and the men behind his back.

The Militia leader ground his teeth together as he brought his missile launcher into position. "We're not letting a bunch of freaks tell us how to do our job! Don't we, men?!"

"We can take it!" The others yelled. A part of the group raced to the side to get into a better position, while the others fired their rocket launchers, and the missiles impacted into the giant monster, exploding in a violent ball of fire-
The effect was practically non-existent.

The monster roared and jerked to the front, jaw spread wide open- and spitting several massive green globs at them. Cole threw his hands out to bounce the liquid back and shield the Militia hicks on their side- but when the stuff hit the street and walls, it started eating into the rock hissing and bubbling.
Acid. It could spit acid. The Conduit wrinkled his nose. "God, what is it with this town?!"

"No idea", Heller grunted. "I'll distract it. You look for any opening." He catapulted himself upwards and into the thing's face, slamming into it with so much force its head swayed to the side, but it twisted and snapped at him the next moment. The Evolved dodged easily, hit a roof hard to jump off it and tackle into it again, this time with his blade lodging itself into its armor. The Behemoth reeled backwards, momentarily lifting its front legs- then it stomped back down and smacked its wrist hard into the Evolved with enough force to rip him out of its throat and send him crashing into a building. It hissed and slammed its arm into it, pulverizing parts of the building with frightening ease.
The wound on its throat was starting to grow shut again, but not fast enough. Cole swore and targeted this area with his bolts. Several thousand volts crashed into the Behemoth's system, slid inside through the crack in its shell, and the monster cringed back with a hiss. In that moment, Heller lunged out of the rubble and threw a violent punch into the monster's face, then instantly jumped away to avoid being crushed into another wall.

The Behemoth caught itself roaring and stomped hard on the street, shattering the asphalt. Cole yelled at the men to pull back to the quayside, bringing up the rear in the process. Heller hit the ground besides them, hissing in pain and holding his side. His chest seemed to be literally dented in, and his shirt was mostly in tatters. The Conduit winced at the sight.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, it's just a few ribs." A terrifying grin revealed the Evolved's teeth. "I've forgotten how good it feels just to cut loose."

Good? Cole wouldn't have used that expression, but whatever floated his boat. He figured the virus was actually powered by masochism. He grimaced. "Can you try to keep distracting it? We try to hit something vital."

"The joints", one of the hicks suddenly threw in, "And the face. The armor's thinner in those areas, no?"

"It is" Cole spun around and stomped the ground hard, generating massive spears of ice in a very similar manner to Alex's Groundspikes- they hit the Behemoth, stopping it briefly. But then it stomped down again and shattered most of the ice, followed by another fountain of acid it spat at them.
Heller dodged to the front, Cole spun and threw the men off their feet with a shockwave, then dived out of the way himself as the green liquid hit the floor and instantly started eating through it for several seconds before its power petered out. But it gave him an idea- it had to open its mouth to spit at them, and much like with the Devourers, its outside was way tougher than its inside.

In other words, they had to shoot its mouth the moment it wanted to spit on them.

But then the titan altered its tactic- it jerked to the front and dug its arms into the floor. Cole remembered that too from Alex, so he whirled and knocked the hicks back again, while also lunging away himself, not a second too late when massive tentacles erupted from the floor, lashing out at anything they touched- and they had enough force in them to demolish the cars there.

"I got this", Heller bull-rushed the thing's wrists as long it was still rooted to the ground, tackling into its arms with the force of a pickup truck.
The impact was immense, and must have twisted at least something in the thing's wrist- but if it noticed, it didn't let them see.

Instead, it just turned its head, lower jaw flaring open, as it tried to bite the Evolved, Cole fired several lightning bolts in a rapid succession at its maw, and the giant bastard actually choked. "Haha! Pucker up, bitch!"

The Behemoth's tiny eyes flicked to him, and it snarled in its chest, seconds before the Militia at his back gave a cry of alarm, and started shooting. Not at him- but at the Corrupted swarming them out of nowhere.

He grit his teeth when realization settled- this thing was just like the thing he fought in the cemetery- a leader that summoned its own personal army- but instead of ankle-nippers, it had control over the bug people mutants- which made it a whole lot more dangerous in an instant.

"Shit!" One of the hicks swore, "Where do these things come from?!"

"Why don't they-" Another started to say but cut himself off just in time.

"The big guy!", Cole snapped, then spun around and fired a tornado at the group of Corrupted to fling them away from his current allies. "The big guy summons them!"

He noticed the men's expressions turn startled for a moment, but he figured it was for a whole other reason than the realization that it was a pack leader. He and the others already suspected that the Conduit controlling these things was working closely with the Militia- but now their creations attacked them as well.

Either they couldn't trust their own weapons, or these things went feral really fast.

Cole noticed the Behemoth opening its jaws to roar again, and instantly fired another barrage of bolts at it to halt it briefly- but it recovered entirely too fast and instead continued to stomp towards them. It was thankfully slow, but also wouldn't stop.

Maybe they could trap it in pitfalls?

It halted in its motion and dug its arms back into the ground, spawning another half a dozen cluster of tentacles all over the place, though Cole and the Militia managed to evade them. Heller was laughing maniacally as he hit the street in a crouch, then bounced off again to thrust his body into the creature again. The thing swayed and yanked its arms free, its jaw snapping shut as it tried to eat the much smaller Evolved.

"Better things than you have tried!" He shouted, "You're not something I haven't seen!"

The giant monster snarled and spat another wave of acid at him, flooding half the street in the process. Cole grimaced as he was forced to back up further. "Dude! Don't trash-talk the giant monster throwing up acid!" He had to swing around and take care of another pack of swamp beasts, stomping the floor to freeze all of them solid within the blink of an eye- then they were easy targets for the Militia.

But it was starting to affect him too, his head hurt and his throat burnt, and he easily recognized it as a sign that his batteries were empty. He needed to recharge, so he hurried to the side towards a street lamp, latching onto it to drain energy directly from the city grid. It rendered him vulnerable for a short moment however- vulnerable and unable to react, and the Behemoth used that moment to rear up and flare its chest open to inhale deeply.

Heller charged it in an instant, but was only a few split seconds too slow- and the giant monster belched out a massive cloud of noxious green gas with so much force, it shattered windows and flung anything lighter than a car several yards down the street.

Cole momentarily forgot to breathe from the rank stench of the gas, while Heller swore violently, shielding his face from the cloud. Gotta suck having virally altered super senses, Cole thought briefly, then realized that he was also flat on the floor down the street and more or less defenseless.

Coughing, he scrambled back to his feet, shaking his head to try and clear it from the cottony feeling that tried to settle- and froze.
The hicks that had been with him lay across the street, writhing and choking- until the first exploded out of his clothes and turned into a swamp monster within the blink of an eye. Everybody else followed in an instant, all of them screeching and squirming on the floor as they fought to get on their mismatched feet.

Then the titan roared once, and all of the Corrupted spun to face them.

"Oh shit!" Cole grabbed Heller and dragged him to his feet- the Evolved was moving sluggishly and unstable, and kept swearing under his breath, but at least he seemed to be fully lucid.

Several Corrupted leapt at them at that moment. Heller snarled and moved a little unsteadily, though his blade still ripped through the things to send the bodies splattering against the ground. "Fuck", he hissed. "That thing ain't just the leader!" He shoved at his shoulder. "Call Cross", he snapped. "Tell him we got the Hive Queen here- and tell him we know the infection process now!"

"What about-"

"I take care of the rabble!" Heller snapped, then his eyes flashed. "No, I still have this under control, you asshole!"

Cole knew he didn't mean him, and just rolled to the side to get out of the current fighting zone, then yanked his phone free and punched in Colonel Blackwatch's number.

"Cross. Speak."

"We found your Hive Queen!", Cole hissed. "And we know how it infects the people-" He cut himself off, whirled around and threw several grenades- writhed in fire and ice as well as electricity- at the Behemoth that had spread open its ribcage again and as such, revealed its lungs. The blow certainly showed some effect, but it was less than what he hoped for, though it did back off with a choke and curled its body protective over its chest.

"It's a giant thing just near the clock tower!" The Conduit continued with a hiss. "And it turns people with its breath! Spits a giant green cloud that turns people on contact!"

There was no answer at first, but the Colonel yelling at his team. "Keep that thing occupied."

Then the call cut off. Cole grunted and turned his attention back to the monster, just witnessing it sink its arms into the ground again. Instantly, he targeted its elbows again, deliberately choosing that area that Heller had tackled into before- this time he avoided using his lightning bolts and instead chucked several cars at it as fast as he could.

Something cracked on his last car and the giant froze for a second- then it screamed in pain and jerked back, folding only one arm back into the correct position.
Cole grinned. At the same time, Heller finished tearing the newly formed Corrupted apart and instantly dove back at the giant, slamming his body into its face again to throw it off balance. It smashed into an abandoned building at its side, the speed at which it went pulverizing the house and threw it off balance. Cole cheered. "Oh yeah! You're gonna wish you were never born!" He paused to dodge the rubble the thing threw about as it tore itself free. "Or hatched. Or whatever you are."

Heller snorted. "What was that about the trash-talking?"

"Hey, it's personal now. I was about to make these hicks into my new friends!" They dodged another glob of acid and his expression fell. "You think we could have helped them?"

Heller shook his head, picking up a car and chucking it at the Behemoth. "I don't think so. This just now- it's exactly like Redlight or Blacklight, only a lot faster. Once the Infection takes hold, the victims are little more than husks. If they are aware, they'll wish for death." He grunted once and dragged him backwards to avoid another few tentacles. "Trust me. I know what it is like to be a zombie. I don't wish that on anybody."

He understood. Cole grit his teeth and fashioned another grenade just as the Behemoth flared open its ribcage again. When the projectiles hit, the monster stumbled back with another pained yowl, and Heller charged in. Cole had seen his arms twist during their conversation, and they continued to change even as the Evolved catapulted himself off the floor to slam himself back into the giant monster. It snarled and flailed its remaining claw into his direction, and he ducked to the side to grab at the limb- locking it in place with absurdly muscular arms.

With one kick off the armored body of his foe, he wrenched the arm into the completely wrong direction, snapping it with a thundering crack and a pained screech from the monster.

Immediately, however, it jerked back to the front and exhaled another massive cloud into Cole's direction, forcing the Evolved to back off. The Conduit held his breath and aimed his lightning bolts at its eyes- hitting them dead on so the beast writhed and yowled.

Then he had to dodge to the side as more Corrupted swarmed him. Civilians this time, he thought, but also knew he wouldn't be able to help them. Not anymore, so he set his jaw and spun on his heel, crashing another vortex into them to fling them through the air.

Then the sky started burning.

Or, it felt that way when dozens of missiles impacted into the streets and their explosions dyed the dark air into vibrant colors of red and orange. Cole instantly scrambled out of the way, seconds before Heller came out of nowhere and snatched his collar to drag him on top of a roof nearby.
From his new vantage point, Cole could see the Blackhawk Helicopter swoop down towards the Behemoth, spewing missiles without pause and setting ground and Corrupted on fire.
The giant monster roared and spat acid at the chopper, but the vehicle easily dodged to the side and swung around for another run. At the same time, he became aware of the group of men appearing on another roof, armed with missile launchers. Military-grade missile launchers packing much more power and incendiary ammunition.

Blackwatch's giant soldier hit the roof besides Heller, just jabbed his chin once into the direction of the Behemoth, and the Evolved instantly set after him as the guy physically threw himself into the thing's front legs, sending it stumbling. When Heller crashed into its hind legs, he knocked them cleanly out from under its body and it collapsed into the streets, screeching.

Cole chucked another few grenades into its maw the moment it was open- it choked and squirmed, ducking behind its damaged arms to protect itself.
Then a human-shaped bullet hit it with full force, sending it crashing into another building with a terrified squeal.

Heller seemed to materialize out of nowhere besides Cole, groaning. "I told him I got this-" He cut himself off, eyes narrowing at the sound of what was definitely armor cracking.
It wasn't the sound of the shell breaking that accompanied Alex's feeding- it sounded like a steam boiler explode.

The very second his brain made the connection with the boiler, clouds of green gas hissed out of the Behemoth's body, before its armor suddenly exploded into every direction. Clouds billowed out of its carcass, swirling like a tornado and potentially turning any on-lookers into more Corrupted. Alex made a surprised yowl and shot out of the fog with a bewildered expression, obviously intent on getting as much space between himself and the rank stench of the gas as possible.

Was it dying? Should it be that easy?

But...Cole's eyes narrowed to slits. They had theorized that a Conduit was responsible for the creation of those Corrupted. The Behemoth could make Corrupted out of normal civilians. Conduits didn't necessarily have to look human.

That weren't its death throes. That was it getting ready to run. Cole inhaled once and held his breath, then lunged down into the swirling vortex. Inside, the gas was whirling around him with an ear-splitting howl, making him cringe back from the sheer volume. With grit teeth, he forced himself to continue further, realizing when he was halfway in that he didn't encounter anything even resembling the Behemoth- and by now he should have found something.

Which meant, it was back in its human shape, and as he sent out a pulse of energy, it came back with the signals of a human.

Gotcha

Cole maneuvered himself closer, still holding his breath, and blinked through the whirling clouds of gas and dust. His heart skipped the moment he saw a naked form crouching on the ground, coated in fast receding armor plates. When the figure lifted its head, Cole gasped involuntarily, inhaling some of the mist- the face was still half that of the Behemoth, the teeth and additional eyes were slowly vanishing- but still it was unmistakably.

Bertrand.

His wide-terror-filled eyes found him instantly, and Cole could swear he heard the man inhale sharply. He allowed himself to smirk at him, even as a particularly strong blast of gas took his sight again and drove him to the side so he could finally breathe again. He sucked in air, held his breath, and whirled back around to rush back, giving off radar pulses continuously to find Bertrand's track, so he could follow it once he discovered it.

And the track led right towards the quayside, where the distinct roar of a speedboat drew Cole's attention. His head snapped to the side so he could witness the man escape across the channel and into Flood Town, but even at that distance he could almost taste the fear.

He had discovered his secret- one that would mean the end for this man's hypocritical campaign- and Bertrand knew it.

Cole leaned against the railing with a smirk on his face. Bertrand wouldn't be able to get away with this. Not anymore.

Rather short chapter this one was. Altered some of the Behemoth's abilities so it becomes a real threat.