Waking came slowly, and somehow Cole felt wrong the entire time. It wasn't a real headache, or nausea, but he felt woozy and like he was in the completely wrong body. He wasn't, he checked, and then paused when realizing that this was a completely valid thing to wonder about in his life.

Then he wondered just when thoughts like that became valid to even think about.

The freight car they had created their new hideout in was completely dark asides from a low light burning on the barrel in the middle of the room, so Cole wondered briefly what time it was. Then he heard a snort, followed by a snore, and craned his neck to the side to find Zeke sitting on a chair, with his arms crossed and his chin against his chest. He was asleep, and snored while doing so. Cole reached over to slap his knee, but Zeke only jerked once with another snort, and slept on.

He shoved at his knee again, harder this time, and his friend finally spluttered awake. "Wha-huh?" He blinked at the Conduit for a moment. "Mornin' Cole. How are you feeling, brother?"

Cole grimaced, rubbing his stomach to try and ease the tension he felt. "Not good", he admitted. "Like...like I'm fake money. Like I'm upside-down and inside-out."

Zeke hissed through his teeth. "Doesn't sound good. You need a moment?"

He shook his head. "No time. Last time I felt that way, the Beast took us by surprise-" He blinked at the expression on Zeke's face. Then his brows came down. "How far away is it?"

The other rubbed the back of his neck, audibly inhaling air through clenched teeth. "Colonel Blackwatch poked in an hour or so ago, whisked Dana and Super Spy away. He also mentioned that the cloud of Ray Field Radiation is already close-by, as is the Beast-"

Cole felt icy dread run down his back. "How far?"

Zeke grimaced again. "He said a little over a hundred miles. It's probably going to arrive by dusk tonight."

"Shit", Cole forced himself to his feet and pulled the RFI from his bag. "Let's hope I have enough juice for this thing." He grabbed the handles on its sides and grit his teeth, sending sparks through it like he did with the Blast Cores- but nothing happened. He paused, and tried again, but the RFI sat like a paper weight in his hands. "Shit" He shoved it back. "A couple of more Blast Cores, and it should be ready to go."

"Are you sure you want to?" Zeke questioned. "I mean, you're lookin' pretty bad right now."

"Don't have much of a choice, have I?" Cole sighed and shuffled his feet. Zeke noticed it, and slumped his shoulders. "Go on out then. Check what kind of stuff you've gotten and get your system up and runnin' again."

Moving- yeah, moving sounded good right now. Cole nodded and pulled the doors open to jump out of the train, stretching first, then heading along the rails at a slow pace first. The fresh air helped, and after a few moments, the spongy feeling faded from his system.

Cole did a few laps around the closest block, climbed over the roofs and hurled himself across the flooded areas until he felt like himself again. Time to figure out what he gotten this time.

Nothing new, he noticed, but his Megawatt Hammers have come back to him- and they were both larger and faster than they've been before, though he couldn't exactly steer them anymore. They still punched through thin non-conductive walls with ease, and knocked bad guys clean off their feet.
His phone rang and he answered it. "Yeah?"

"I already heard the thunder claps all over the city, uhm, you okay, Cole?"

He blinked. Kuo? "Yeah, I'm fine now. Felt a bit weird before, but that's gone now."

"Good. That's good to hear. Anyways, could you come back to the train? We got news."

"On the way." He clicked the phone off and instantly started jogging back to the freight car. It proved to be harder than he thought- he simply couldn't remember the way. Certainly not from the other side of Flood Town where he was currently, and certainly not after all that punishment he had accumulated throughout the day before. He suspected that there had been some cranial damage on that list too, that was probably why he couldn't remember.

He did manage to reach the freight cart within a reasonable amount of time though, and slid the door open to take in the crowd present. Everybody was there, crowded into the suddenly much too small car. Their conversation was cut off the moment he arrived, and he noticed varying degrees of hostility towards the newcomer, hostility that quickly cleared the moment they recognized him.

He didn't blame them, Flood Town wasn't exactly safe. Last night, just as the heavy hitters had left, a pair of ice freaks assaulted him at Laroche's place, demanding them to hand over the Blast Core Laroche was about to give to Cole. Of course, he couldn't allow that and quickly proceeded with challenging the two ice guys. He had to admit, that they did have impressive powers, and especially the story-tall ice platforms they created as vantage point took him by surprise- but the surprise had only been a short moment and he managed to stomp both into the ground even before Kuo returned.

She had seemed impressed by his capabilities, and after a short time of dancing around the subject told them of what she and Heller encountered. Plus, apparently, she could control the ice freak's powers as well- the same powers that obviously turned these men into sentient ice which was why they were tearing Flood Town apart to get Blast Cores in order to fix themselves.

Cole cleared his throat as he pulled himself into the car, eying the map they had put up on a wall. "So, what do we have?"

"Dana discovered that Bertrand is heading into the train yard at least once per week, though without a fixed schedule", Colonel Blackwatch pointed out without much ado. "We just confirmed his current presence there, no matter the circumstances."

Zeke cocked his head. "The Flood Town's full of those ice freaks that want to tear Bertrand limb from limb, and the train yard ain't exactly where people like Bertrand tend to be, so what's so important about-"

"It's where the Swamp Beasts come from", Alex cut in, then added "I managed to get enough memories to piece their point of origin together."

"Exactly", Dana nodded. "We think this is where he turns the 'deviants' into the Corrupted, then has them conditioned there so they won't attack his guys."

Cole blinked. "And...why are you still here?" He glanced at Colonel Blackwatch, who just crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Pretty sure at least a few of you would have charged in and burnt everything to the ground the moment you learnt of it."

"A tol' dem de same!" Nix threw in.

"Because", Kuo sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Bertrand still has support from the Government of Louisiana. Probably got an ear of the President too. We attack him, and all of us end up on Interpol's Most Wanted."

"So?" Cole cocked his head. "Alex is already there, and I doubt neither Blackwatch nor Nix give a shit."

"We don't", the Colonel agreed. "Our job is to root out the problem, not play nice. However", he nodded back to Kuo and Dana. "These two came up with an additional idea."

"First we sneak in, get evidence", Kuo pointed out. "We make a live stream, get everything out to all available media. I was told it would be possible."

"Once it is out there, Bertrand will lose all backing. Hurt him where it hurts most- especially considering he's been lying to most of the Militia", Dana added. "Then you can start the scorched earth protocol."

Cole blinked. "That's...very considerate of you."

"Believe me, it physically hurts", Alex grumbled with an added "Same" from Nix.

Colonel Blackwatch exhaled very slowly in a way that told Cole he had the same conversation already. "I agreed to one hour", he explained. "Either you find evidence within that time, or we will take out the trash either way. If we do, we won't be very considerate about collateral damage." Translation: They were going to shoot anything that moved. Cole didn't see much of a problem on that front, seeing as most of those guys were Militia that were close-by when Bertrand did his thing with the people he turned into Swamp Beasts, and as such knew about this. More even, they were perfectly okay with their boss being a lying asshole, so why should he care for them?
Blackwatch could do whatever they wanted with them- but he was worried for the captured people that were also present. If Blackwatch scorched the earth, then there would be casualties. Innocent casualties.

"One hour", he growled. "I get the evidence, then free the prisoners. Got it?"

"What if you are noticed?"

"Then the civilians will be my first priority", he waved his hand. "But at that moment, I will also know where they are, so you will too. In case everything goes to shit, I want all of you to get them out as fast as possible, while Blackwatch gets to shoot at everything that moves on the opposite side of the train yard. Deal?"

"Restricted weaponry then, no carpet bombing", Colonel Blackwatch agreed. "Since the infection happens fast and apparently only in contact with Bertrand, we will know which things to shoot and which not, so those are acceptable terms." He jabbed his thumb at Alex. "Take this one with you too. You can gather the evidence needed to bury Bertrand, but he can supply us with information."

"Yeah, good point." Those hicks had been around longest. And likely knew most of what Bertrand knew. Blast Cores, the technology Wolfe had made for him-
And The Beast was coming.

"One hour, you said?"

"Unless you get detected", Colonel Blackwatch reminded him. "I got my team on stand-by. One hour from now, and we will burn the hive. You trigger detection, you got ten minutes max to get the civilians out or give us a target."

Cole swallowed once and furrowed his brows. "Then I won't waste any more time."

"One moment", Kuo handed him a camera. "Dana already hooked it up to her laptop. You take pictures or movies, and we will see and record them in real time."

He took it. "Okay, we're off. You guys get yourselves ready- when they figure out we're there, they will raise all kinds of Hell. And I expect you to raise some right back."

Nix's expression was an unhinged grin. "Ya get it, Demon. Don' let us wait too long."

"Wouldn't dream of it", he jumped out of the train car, and rushed along the ground for a bit before he catapulted himself straight upwards with a pillar of ice, then hovered through the air to reach a roof several yards away. He hit the building in a roll to avoid losing momentum, and immediately kicked off again, heading for the massive train yard to the north of the Flood Town. Before Katrina, this had been the busiest part of the city, now it was abandoned. Perfect for all kind of vermin to move in.

Cole stopped briefly, watching the area. He could see fresh damage wrought by the ice freaks, but the Militia idiots barely seemed to be any more attentive than they should be, despite obviously having faced down the Vermaak the night before. Even the guard towers didn't look particularly manned or ready.

"Idiots", Alex's voice rumbled besides him, and Cole swore a little under his breath.

"A little more warning maybe?"

The Runner snorted amused. "Not my fault you're not paying attention."

Cole grunted and turned his attention back to the yard. "You seeing any way to go in?" The hicks not being attentive didn't mean he could just fly in, or walk past them. He would need to sneak in to avoid alerting them. Plus, the main energy was off in the train yard, with only a few generators turning up on his internal radar.

"Not yet. But I can find out." Alex cocked his head. "Just give me a moment. Once the coast's clear, I'll give you a signal."

"Try to be quick about it."

Alex grinned and just...fell apart. Like the cohesion holding his form together simply failed, because he was gone from one moment to the other. Cole could see a few black tendrils worming down the side of the building he was on, and mere moments later he noticed one of the men down there freeze for several seconds while his electrical system was torn apart and hollowed out, turning into a formless shape of electrical currents all firing at random.

Outwardly, he didn't seem any different, and he started moving again as soon the takeover was complete. He did pause, however, to look into his direction and flash him a smug smirk.

Son of a...

Cole snorted and ducked a bit lower, watching his friend in his new form slowly moving out of sight. And then, out of the blue, he felt something echo softly at the back of his head. Like a soft hum, one that generally promised juice.

It hadn't been there before, and it was flashing strangely inside his skull. Normally, sources of energy were a steady flow, like a river. This was like waves washing on a beach, growing and waning. It spoke to him, in a way. No danger.

He carefully made his way to where he was sensing it, finding himself at the north end of the train yard, where a hole in the chain link fence between the store houses allowed him to get into the area without having to climb. Alex was nowhere to be seen, but he could sense the small source of electricity that had lured him near. Right now, right here in that juice-less area, it felt like a warm beacon in the darkness, and Cole took a few moments to look around, eventually kneeling down to peer beneath a train car. He blinked at the sight of several chitinous spikes poking out of the ground and sparking slightly- though they receded the moment he realized just what they were.

He shivered briefly when the only source of energy vanished, and tapped his radio. "You ready on your end?"

"Yeah. I got the TV antenna here rigged", Kuo confirmed.

"And I have the stream up and running. Go for it", Dana added.

"On it" He sent out a short radar burst, ignoring the luring call of the generator in favor for steering around the group of men nearby. Without juice, he wasn't sure whether he would be able to take them down without the others noticing, so leaving them alone was the better option for now. Also, it would be a lot funnier to have them realize that he learnt of all their dirty secrets while they were directly next to him.

Cole snickered and continued moving, carefully heading around a corner the moment he felt one guy with too much metal on him vanish in the distance. Literally vanish, and getting replaced for something with way less order. He shivered again and turned around the corner, then quickly sped across a large gap to climb through between a pair of cars.
Then he stopped, eyes narrowing on the boxcar full of people.

"Ah, shit", he brought the camcorder up, took a picture.

"Bunch of assholes", he heard Dana growl.

"Yeah, was thinking the same. Hold on, I'll try something." He checked the area and snuck closer, finger in front of his face to shush the civilians once they noticed him. Luckily, they were smart enough to recognize the gesture, but came as close as possible to the bars keeping them caged in.

"Hey, you the Demon?" One whispered once he got close up.

"That's what I'm being called."

"You here to get us out?"

"I am", Cole lifted the camcorder, set it to record. "However, right now it would be safer for you here."

"Here?!" One hissed, but was quickly shushed by the others. "You have no idea-"

"I don't", Cole cut him off. "But I know that, right now, you would only alert the guards to my position. But I have friends out there, and as soon I have everything I need, I will make sure you get out, okay?" He reached out, grabbing the closest wrist he could to squeeze in a reassuring manner. "I don't have much time either. Tell me, who put you here?"

"The fucking Militia, man!"

"And Bertrand?"

"Bastard comes by from time to time, and then people in the other cars are taken."

Cole furrowed his brows. "You know where to?"

"No idea, but they sure as Hell aren't set free."

He felt someone approach, and grimaced. "Listen, guards are coming. Can you stay put? Only an hour, not more. You'll be free soon."

"One hour", one of the prisoners breathed. "Please hurry up."

"You got it", Cole clicked the camera off and hopped to the top of the car to get out of sight as the guard came around. He held his breath, but the prisoners didn't say a word. He quickly hurried past the man and deeper into the complex.

"This is bad already, but you'll need more if you want to discredit Bertrand", Kuo reminded him.

"Yeah, I figured as much." Cole cut himself off as he noticed another guard walk past one of his buddies- only to spin on his heel, grab the other guy and crush his throat to take his place and shape in a flurry of tentacles and a small spray of blood. Alex threw him a glance and flicked one finger to the west, before resuming his victim's patrol. Cole instantly headed into the direction he was shown, crossing several tracks of rail and ducking behind one pillar of the loading crane to wait for another patrol to pass. His heart made a leap when he realized that there were trains with prisoners all over the place. He took pictures whenever possible.

"Fuck. When Cross goes in, we'll have problems separating the captives from the hicks", Dana hissed. "I'll let him know."

"Do that", Cole exhaled. "Shit, if it comes to blow, we need to secure these people first."

"Won't be a problem. Once this blows, Bertrand won't be able to hide anywhere anymore."

Then he heard and felt it- the soft clicking growl of Corrupted. Intrigued, he drew closer, noticing another box car that had moveable metal shields to close the bars off completely. Likely from the sun, because there was a bunch of Swamp Monsters inside the car. The head-exploding variant, though they seemed to be rather docile as they lumbered along in their cage.

Cole snapped a few pictures of them and zoomed closer to the wrist of one, where a bracelet was. Dana hissed into his ear. "Fuck this. These things are usually worn by teenage girls. How young are those 'Deviants'?"

The Conduit swallowed. "No idea, but I don't like it." He grimaced briefly when he felt another tug at the edge of his mind. Felt like more Swamp Beasts, so he carefully made his way into that direction. Alex was moving past him in another shape, guiding him to where the least guys were, so he could check out another cage without being seen.

This one contained the normal Swamp Monsters he'd first encountered at the public assembly. He took more pictures, then quickly dove out of sight when another guard came around. Guy hadn't noticed him, neither did the Corrupted. Cole figured that was because they were already conditioned to not hiss at the guys wearing the ridiculous orange outfits. He found Alex standing near another cage containing one of those tunneler beasts. The Runner was watching it with an expression that normally meant food, prompting Cole to clear his throat. "You know, if you eat them now these guys will notice."

The stolen face just arched one eyebrow at his direction. "I am aware", he said. "But I can still take a look at the menu. For later" He added after a second's thoughts. Cole grimaced and took another picture.

"Damn, if they weren't so ugly and made of people, this could be a Zoo", Dana commented. "Cole, get those pictures done so we can get the civilians out of there."

"And beat up as many idiots as possible", he added.

Alex made a noise that seemed suspiciously thoughtful. "You know, some of the men are thinking of quitting."

Cole blinked from the sudden change of topic. "Really?"

"Apparently, they aren't as stupid as we think they are, and some are having second thoughts."

Cole furrowed his brows. "Is that regret I hear?"

Alex scoffed. "Fuck no. The guys I've consumed, they've been with Bertrand from the beginning, have been there when he made the first Corrupted."

"And now they're having second thoughts?" Cole was pretty sure his jaw had dropped open.

Alex shrugged. "They are cowards. The entire time before they didn't hear their own consciousness, but now- with Laroche making noise and us chasing them down and the Vermaak crawling up their asses- now they are starting to realize that they are on the bottom of the food chain. And they want out."

He cut himself off, eyes narrowing on a building at the center of the place. "Bertrand is in that warehouse", he growled. "You get to the roof. I get in from the ground level. You either chase him off, or you force him to transform, then I'll take him down once he's in his monster form."

Hurry, he meant to say, but didn't. Cole heard it all the same and quickly ran off after making sure the coast was clear. If he could get a picture, or better- catch Bertrand in the act- then that would be the final nail to that guy's coffin. Oh, he was going to fucking bury that asshole- everything else was only second priority, including taking him down once and for all.

He paused for a moment to let a guard pass by, then hopped to the top of a shipping container and from there pulled himself up on the roof. He was lucky- there were large skylights in the ceiling, and one of the radar pulses he sent out came back with a distinct echo that was not human- though it was not Alex, who was slowly approaching as well. He couldn't tell what was different, but he also knew that this was another Conduit. Bertrand. He snuck closer and quickly discovered an open window- he climbed through while avoiding to make any noise, though asides from the layout, he couldn't see much of anything.

It was...like any other warehouse, with the office room being cut off from the main room by walls and a large window- Cole inhaled sharply. He could see Bertrand inside the room, with a man sitting on a chair in front of him. The Conduit snapped a picture, then scrambled back out through the window to get to the other side. He found another skylight, which opened directly to the office room. He was in time to see Bertrand circle the man on the chair much like a predator would. Much like Alex would, and Cole instantly lifted the camcorder to record the entire confrontation, feeling his blood go to ice. He needed to remind himself to not go down there, to not confront Bertrand- they needed this evidence, even if it meant knowingly killing another person.

It still felt like he was dying inside, even when for the most parts, Bertrand didn't even seem to be aggressive. He was just reassuring the man that everything was alright, that he wouldn't need to be scared and that he would cleanse the devil out of him- then his hands started glowing and emitting what looked like gas. The man started choking and within seconds began to mutate and transform. It was exactly what had happened to the Militia guys when they fought the Behemoth form of their leader- just as fast and just as traumatizing, if a lot more controlled because Bertrand had his full attention on it.

"Fuck", Dana hissed. Cole could hear Kuo's pitched breathing in the background, but her voice was frigid and steady when she spoke. "I'm broadcasting it now", she growled, "Let the people see what their leader really is."

Cole clenched his fist, teeth grit- and then Bertrand turned and froze when their eyes locked. The Electric Conduit grimaced and slowly waved his camcorder into his direction. "Uh...call Colonel Blackwatch. Guess we have to move the schedule up."

Cross was swearing under his breath as he dashed out of the train car, ordering Santos to get the team ready like five minutes ago. Heller grunted as he hit the ground outside not even a second later, with Agent Kuo and Nix hot on his heels. They had to move fast to keep the Militia off balance and prevent Bertrand from escaping. And despite them only needing about two minutes at most, when they arrived at the rail yard the whole area was thrown into chaos. Heller could see MacGrath racing across the roofs of the trains towards the closest boxcar containing captives- and instantly made a bee-line for him.

"MacGrath! Down!" The Conduit didn't question, just flopped against the roof while Heller slammed his shoulder into the loading crane nearby, shaking the whole construction and throwing the guy with the missile launcher up there off it. MacGrath swore under his breath and was about to climb to his feet when Heller already latched onto the metal bars and tore them right out of the car. Kuo materialized out of nowhere nearby, summoning a veritable wall off ice to shield the prisoners as they fled.

Heller growled. "Nix! Get those assholes off our backs! Kuo! Get the prisoners secure until Laroche arrives!" He bared his teeth. "MacGrath- electrical generators at five 'o clock. Get whatever you need, I got your back!"

"On it", the Conduit threw himself off the train, jerking his hand out to generate an electrical shield that caught several bullets meant for him. Heller yanked a barrel off the ground to throw it at the idiots that tried to shoot them, hitting and downing the entire group while MacGrath reached the generator to fuel himself.

Then he spun and fired off an ash tornado, ripping several men off their feet and making the train cars shudder. Heller was moving already, lunging at one Tunneler Beast that smashed its way out of its cage and was now charging at them itself.
He met it in the middle, the impact strong enough to rattle his bones and shove the creature several steps backwards before it caught itself with a screech. It swung its massive arm at him, he ducked under it and slammed his shoulder into its lower stomach to throw it off balance and send it sprawling against the ground. The Corrupted hissed and thrashed, and Heller casually stomped down on its throat to crush its trachea and break its spine, killing it instantly.

Icy mist enveloped him, hardening into thick sheets of ice to swallow a few high-speed bullets. Heller wrenched his head around, nodding briefly at Agent Kuo- then he lunged across the protective wall to dive directly at the Militia idiots while they were still reeling.

MacGrath was gone already, heading to the closest box car that contained some more prisoners to set them free- giant Groundspikes of ice that erupted from the ground marked his position, as did the lightning bolts that occasionally overshot their targets and dissipated in the thick clouds overhead.

The Hive Mind was hissing inside his head, and Heller simply stretched one arm to the side. Mercer hit his shoulder in a crouch with enough force that would have pulverized anybody else, while Heller just grunted at the feeling of the Runner's legs tense, and whirled on his heel to just throw him upwards in the same moment he jumped off himself. Heller instantly turned tail and dashed into the opposite direction, seconds before Mercer came back down like a warhead, burrowing into the ground and turning several dozen square feet into rubble and twisted wreckage, completely eradicating a pack of Corrupted at the same time.

Heller groaned. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes. Scare them out of their wits. Makes them make mistakes." The Sergeant grumbled under his breath at the voice inside his head. His eyes slipped into infected vision unbid, and he could only stare at the soft glow hidden in the ground.

Everywhere he looked. Just like Manhattan.

He exhaled sharply. "Holy shit"

Somewhere, a bunch of Corrupted screeched in agony as spears ripped from the soil to impale them, infect them and drag them down as they consumed them. Heller fought back the shiver down his spine as more voices joined the Hive.

And then Mercer just emerged from the ground like a fucking Nightmare flower, clad in Armor, and Claws glinting in the low light. He threw his head back with a snort, then charged into a group of hicks to send them scattering- he didn't kill any of them, but his presence was enough to get them panicking.

Nix's cackle echoed across the entire rail yard, nearly drowning out the roar of the Blackhawk helicopter that peeled out of the slowly approaching dawn. Cross and his team dropped down from the chopper to form perimeters and shoot the Corrupted, while the pilot turned away to head to the south of the yard.

At the same time, Laroche's men came in from the north end. The captives would be in good hands, Heller knew, so he headed over to where he could hear the sound of train cars being torn apart- and more, they weren't torn apart by people on his side.

The situation was obvious: MacGrath was currently in the process of trying to take down one of those large Devourer things. Heller figured he was proceeding very smoothly, but objects light enough to throw while heavy enough to cause damage were notably lacking, and the lightning in itself couldn't get through the thing's shell.

Good, he was starting to get bored with the small fries anyway. Heller snorted and just kicked off the ground to throw his body across the rails and right into the line of sight of the massive Corrupted. It snarled and tried to snap at him, but he easily dodged to the side, then braced himself and threw a violent uppercut into its lower jaw with enough force to make it stumble back, then leapt out of the way.

MacGrath blinked at his sudden arrival. Heller grinned at him. "Figured you'd need some help."

The younger huffed out, but it sounded relieved. "Yeah, you got that right. My powers only work when I nail them in the mouth. Your powers work when you nail them, period."

He cracked his knuckles. "Got that right, kid."

"Go for it, I'll slow it down", the Conduit replied, then whirled in place and slammed his weapon flat against the ground to create another wave of Ice Groundspikes that stopped the Devourer for a moment in its tracks. Heller charged in and slammed his shoulder into its front leg with enough force to snap its tree-trunk like limb, then he leapt upwards as it toppled to crash both heels deep into its face armor to crack the shell. The Corrupted snarled and shook itself, and the Evolved briefly leapt off it to allow MacGrath to feed it some more lightning.

It reeled, choking, and Heller used that moment to transform his arm into his Blade, then slammed it down with enough force to drive the edge deep into the thing's brain pan and kill it. The giant monster shivered, then collapsed like in slow motion, whirling dust up as it met the ground.

And the Hive hidden beneath reacted. Heller inhaled sharply when he felt the virus surge out to grab and consume the fresh carcass within seconds. Entirely too fast for the dust to settle first. Once it finally did, the Devourer was gone completely, leaving him standing there with his Blade dug into the ground. He stepped back and pulled it free, rolling his shoulder.
MacGrath whistled as he approached. "That's one way to deal with the cadaver", he pointed out with a tone of amazement. "Better than having a bunch of guys work it with a chainsaw I think."

"Yeah", Heller scoffed. "And it's also a wonderful way for Mercer to subtly tell us just how outclassed we are right now. I mean he could have ended all of this here with just a snack, but he lets us tidy up because he's oh-so-generous."

"It is more complicated than that", the Runner threw in from the inside of his own head. Heller grumbled under his breath, but didn't interrupt. "I have to focus to avoid accidentally causing Outbreak number three. And this time it would really be me, and not someone using my name instead."

"Yeah, but that wouldn't have been a thing if you hadn't started making a fucking Hive in the first place!"

The reply was sharp like a knife. "It's not a Hive-"

Heller snorted and cut him off. "It is. I don't know what kind of delusion you're telling yourself, but that's what it looks like." The other end was deadly silent, but he knew exactly he was still listening. "I also know that you're fucking scared of the Beast, enough so you are knowingly risking another Outbreak just so you get a chance at survival. I understand."

"I'm not scared-", he cut himself off when Heller put his entire focus into his Are you fucking kidding me?-thought. "Okay, I am scared. So sue me."

"I'm not going to do that. I know what it is to be scared. Believe it or not, I rather not face this thing. Pretty sure Dana and MacGrath think so too, and even Cross is quaking in his boots at the idea. We all know what it can do, so I won't tell you to get your shit together, because it's something I can't do myself." He cocked his head, staring at the ground where the Devourer had died. "You did what you thought was the right way. I'm not blaming you for it. What I do blame you for is that as soon you got your problem fixed, you went the whole twenty yards and just went full Runner." He grunted once. "Once we have beaten the Beast, you have to destroy those Hives to prevent Manhattan from ever happening again."

"...I am aware. It's just..."

"Pretty hard to let go of that amount of power", He snorted. "I get it."

MacGrath cleared his throat loudly. "I am just getting one half of this conversation, and frankly, you're looking like a lunatic if I wouldn't know it better." He crossed his arms. "Also, where's Bertrand?"

...Right. The guy they came here to take captive. The Runner that created the Corrupted. "He got away", Mercer supplied simply. Heller choked. "What?! And you let him get away?!"

"Thought it would be a worse thing for him. Right now, his World is coming crashing down all around him. His lies are exposed. He has to suffer before he dies."

"Do you know where he went to, at least?"

"Gas Works. Place is overrun by the Vermaak though."

"Gas Works?" Heller inclined his head. "Think I know where to go to next."

MacGrath blinked. "How the Hell did that asshole get to Gas Works? We had the entire area here under control!"

"Escape Tunnels", Mercer commented. Heller groaned. "Escape tunnels."

MacGrath groaned too, dragging his palm down his face. "Great. Just great."

"I'll tell Cross. Pretty sure Blackwatch will be able to do something."

Heller nodded, knowing he couldn't see, then looked around. The Wisemen were just shooting the last of the Corrupted, the rebels were currently detaining the few remaining conscious hicks, and Kuo was clearly visible flitting about and likely released the last captives.

MacGrath watched what was going on with a frown, but startled somewhat when Heller's heavy hand clapped his shoulder. "Stop moping about Bertrand", he told him sternly. "He won't get away now. You showed New Marais what kind of lying asshole their so-called 'Savior' is, and you should be proud of that one."

The kid's lips twitched into a smile. "Yeah. After today, I bet we won't be seeing any hicks running around in their uniforms anymore."

"Yup, you just gave the people back a massive amount of freedom. And you protected them from becoming Swamp Beasts. Now we just need to smoke out the last ones, and all problems that are left will be those ice freaks."

"And the Beast", the Conduit grunted darkly.

Heller scoffed. "It almost doesn't seem to be real, you know? Everybody else here I can beat by just hitting them hard enough. The Beast, not so much. It's like a natural disaster. That it why as a threat, it is too overpowered for me to even consider it as a foe. The only chance we have is the RFI, and if that doesn't work- well, then we'll be all dead anyways. So why worry about this at all?"

MacGrath cocked his head. "Nice prospect there."

"I know. Shit's fucked up. But if you worry about them, you will just distract yourself. Focus on what is important right now. And, right now", he grabbed his shoulders and bodily turned him around to let him see the rebels and captives celebrating together. "Right now you are a goddamn Hero to these people. Enjoy it for a little while, okay?"

Always remember, being a Hero is not just running around and beating up bad guys. It's also having a party with the guys you saved. Makes you look a lot more human than, say, broody-style vigilantes like Batman.