"A nuke. Really?!"

"Wasn't my fault. Was just a bit too slow to prevent that asshole from launching it."

"Shit, Bobby, are you alright?"

"We've been out of the Fallout Zone. Payload wasn't big enough to reach us, but the shockwave took us by surprise. I'm a little sore, but fine otherwise."

"I was worried sick when the news said that this thing is in New Marais."

"That's what worries me too. There's no saying when it decides it had enough and just blows the shit out of us."

"Without any warning, right?"

"It did, in the past. Chances are it will do so again. However, I won't leave here. I was told to hunt that bastard, and I will do so."

"Can't tell you not to."

"You're younger than I am, so no, you don't get to tell me what to do."

"Guess so. But Bobby, I think I can help you."

"Do tell."

"The man you booted out of his own city is called Bertrand, right? Joseph Bertrand III, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes"

"Good. Because we have a common acquaintance. The Governor of Louisiana. Called me just the day before and was complaining about the things your guys uncovered in that train yard."

"Wait. It's on the news?"

"Yeah, well. What did you expect? Nice pictures of your team going in and raising Hell, though."

"Oh for God's sake...Okay, can't be changed now that it is out there. The Governor?"

"I think he was drunk. Anyways, if I do some more digging, I think I can uncover some more about Bertrand. How does that sound?"

"If you don't expose yourself too much."

"Don't worry."

"Be careful, David."

"I always am, Bobby."

Cross sighed and cut the connection, sliding the non-traceable phone into the innermost pocket of his uniform. He was glad he had risked this talk despite the general communication ban Blackwatch employed. He never liked rules anyways. And speaking to his brother revealed that, apparently, at least Louisiana was made aware of what had happened in New Marais. MacGrath had a camera with him, and Cross would bet some of Laroche's men had too. Just...Dana had promised to only broadcast it into New Marais, not all of Louisiana.

...Someone probably recorded everything and shot it off to a bigger news agency. Finding that one would be a waste of time now that the cat was out of the sack, so the question they should ask was how they could use the situation to their advantage.

Hopefully Rooks would play along. Or he already blew a gasket.

Cross coughed briefly, frowning at nothing in particular. Ever since he got up, his throat felt like sand paper. Was probably from all that stress he'd been in, plus likely the gas the Behemoth had belched up.
No time to dwell on this- there was much left to be done.

The Specialist left the main building- it had once been a tourist trap, but Bertrand had it re-purposed as housing for his Militia. Once they were booted out, the Wisemen had moved in and put claim on Fort Phillipe.

He stopped in the kitchen area to grab a glass of water in hopes of soothing his throat, when he caught sight of his D-Code immersed into a deep conversation with Mercer through a window. This in itself was strange- neither man had much love left for the other, and if Mercer wanted to talk to him, he usually did so on his own terms- on some rooftop or over phone, at the very least away from the other soldiers- but never on the grounds of a base.
When Cross approached, Grayson snapped to attention and saluted him.

"At ease." The Colonel glanced at the other. "Why are you here?"

"To check up on you", the Runner replied after a brief hesitation. "You've been hit hard by explosive shockwaves twice. I guess..." He trailed off for a moment. "How are you?"

Cross blinked, the concern actually taking him by surprise. "A little sore, but it's nothing I didn't have before."

"That's...that's good to hear." There was a strange tone in his voice that quickly vanished once his expression settled into a concerned frown. "Because I need you at your best."

"Oh?" That was something new to hear. Cross just cocked his head, waiting for him to continue.

"The Beast is here. We have both seen it, and we know it won't kill us right about now. Which still doesn't mean it won't eventually do so."

The D-Code snorted. "You suggesting to shoot at it? It swallowed a nuke, and is still fine."

"You have to distract it, not defeat it", Mercer shot back. "I know it will be risky, and I know I can't order you around- but this is the only way I can imagine that will work."

"Why?" The Specialist frowned deeply. "Like the Captain just said, shooting at it won't work."

"But it will stall it." Mercer scowled briefly. "Cole told me that Bertrand assumed he would have been able to stop the Beast with his help. Bertrand doesn't have any powers other than infect other living beings and turn into a giant monster-"

"Both things you can do too, technically."

"I can stall it, I hope", Mercer continued without paying attention to him. "No, I know I can stall it. Back in Empire, physical damage put it down for a few hours. And if I manage to put it down again and again, I can buy time. Time you need to find something that actually works."

"Like the RFI?" Cross cocked his head. "You're putting a lot of faith into this thing- and you're certain it'll work?"

The answer was a shrug. "The technology seems to add up", he explained with a grimace. "Not really sure whether it does work. But it's Wolfe's work, and until now, everything he made held up to what it promised."

Cross furrowed his brows. "Good, in that case, Captain, please ready the men."

"At once, sir, but", the D-Code cocked his head towards Mercer. "If you can deal with the Beast, and you already have the weapon needed to take it down, what do you need us for?"

"Any reason you're not doing it solo instead?" Cross added. "Lord knows you have enough of Greene inside your head to get a few armies of your own."

Mercer seemed to find the tips of his shoes suddenly very interesting. Cross inhaled sharply. "You already did. You already got them ready-"

"That's what I need Blackwatch for", the Runner admitted in a low tone. "I'm not sure how many additional bodies I can securely control. I need to spread my attention between all of them to avoid accidentally doing something I know I'll regret, but if I have too many bodies, my mind could be spread too thin. Not complete anymore. And if that happens..."

Manhattan would look like a mild case of the sniffles. Cross grimaced. "That's what you need Blackwatch for. To stop you should you lose control."

"I know you got new versions of Bloodtox ready, know you will employ this stuff at any given moment. You will do the right thing, Cross."

"This is asking for a whole lot of trust."

"I am aware. However, even if I manage to keep myself, there are still going to be heavy casualties, especially since we need this thing subdued long enough until Cole can activate the RFI and just cut it off from its energy source. After that..." He trailed off with a shake of his head.

"After that we either are dead, or have won", Cross finished. "That's what you want to meet Rooks for?"

"He has the absolute command over Blackwatch and as such, the military forces too. If you could just get me a meeting, I can try to explain it to him, give him whatever he needs as a sign of my good will."

"Don't make promises you don't want to keep", Cross grumbled.

"Tough times require tough measures, no? And I thought about it. It is the only way."

"That's going to be your funeral", the Specialist sighed. "Very well, I get you your meeting." He cut himself off and cleared his throat a forcefully, followed by a dry cough. The sort that left him breathless for a short amount of time.

Grayson glanced at him. "You okay, sir?"

He waved the captain off. "I am, just a scratch in my throat."

"You're not", Mercer suddenly threw in, his eyes narrow. Cross didn't like the way he was watching him, like he was prey.

"And why shouldn't I?"

"Because you contracted the Plague"

Cross hissed and straightened his back. "What?"

"I think I can smell it?"

"Don't you fucking make things up."

"I'm not." The Runner didn't meet his eyes, and his jaw was set. "But think about it. Yesterday, all of us were inside the cloud. However, I have grown immune since the last time, Cole is a Conduit and as such already has the Genes the Ray Field introduces- but you don't have anything that protects you. You and the Wisemen- you got inside the Ray Field, and your body's currently committing suicide because of it."

Cross just stared, unblinking.

Then it settled and he felt a little like the ground was yanked out from under his feet. He inhaled once. Fuck. Of course he contracted the Ray Field Sickness. He's been right next to a live reactor that spewed this stuff everywhere. He had seen the reports, the scans, the data the eggheads had supplied them with- he knew how this shit worked, knew there was always this lethal cloud around the Beast. He himself had warned MacGrath about it, had told him about the numbers of casualties.

And still, he wouldn't have thought that he would be affected by it- logically, it had only been a question of time, but he would have never believed that it actually affected him-

The Specialist grunted and shook his head with a scowl. "One week, plus/minus some days before it becomes lethal, right?"

Mercer nodded, frown on his expression.

"Fucking wonderful" He grit his teeth, running his palm down his face.

"Sir?" Grayson seemed worried. "You know the protocol-"

"I know the protocol!" He hissed. "Infected personnel is to be cut off permanently. However, This is not a viral infection at all. This is radiation poisoning. So I don't give a shit about protocol."

Mercer glanced at him with a quirked eyebrow, then turned slightly to face the Captain. "He's right. Strictly speaking, the effect is similar to being bitten by a snake, or having eaten some bad shellfish- it's only centered on one carrier, won't spread either. Unlike nuclear radiation, Ray Field Radiation is also very short-lived. Dissipates fast after it is given off. Whoever got affected is not giving off radiation themselves. They are clean to be around, so to speak."

Cross snorted. "If we got the Plague", he pointed out, then lifted his hand to cut Mercer off. "And, even if this thing is real, we got a week or two left- and we still got a bunch of Runners around we need to take down. Captain, get me on the horn with the General."

Grayson grunted in agreement though it seemed like he wanted to continue arguing, then lumbered off to do as he was told. Mercer just arched an eyebrow puzzled. Cross sighed. "What?"

"Most people I know wouldn't be as casual as you are when faced with a message they're going to be dead the next week."

"That's because I am ready to die every time I get out of bed", the Specialist replied. "I don't get how you can question me when you've eaten your fair share of Blackwatch on your own. We are assholes, Mercer, weapons to be used. If we die on the job, we die." Given, getting torn apart or getting infected by a brain-eating virus was different to drowning in his own lungs, but death was death. "Before that, however, we are supposed to take as many of these things down as possible. Which we will do-"

"You are good at this", Mercer said simply, and Cross paused, glaring.

"Good at what?"

"Lying to yourself. I know your heart rate spiked, and I know you temperature changed. You are afraid."

"Of course I am. But I am not some rookie quaking in my boots. I've been on this job long enough already. I will finish my mission, no matter my own feelings in the entire situation."

"You don't believe me."

"You can't just drop a bomb like that and expect people to swallow it. Call it denial, but until I see proof, I will do what I am supposed to do."

Mercer wanted to continue arguing, but the Specialist simply turned around as a sign that this was over. "Now you either come along and wait here for Rooks' arrival, or you can take a hike until he's there."

"I...think I'll check up on the city again. Rooks will take some time to arrive, and I don't want to sit around and do nothing", the Runner decided with a sigh. "I guess your guys won't want me to be around either while you tell them of the news-"

"Potential news. Face it, until now we don't know how large the percentage of people getting affected by the Ray Field is, we can still assume that we aren't among them. Dana and Dunbar had been nearby when the Beast first appeared too, and they are both fine, right?"

"That...", Mercer trailed off, eyes distant. "You're right."

"I know I am. Still, I need to tell them about that possibility."

"Call me once Rooks is present", Mercer commented and was about to leave, when he stopped with a thoughtful expression "You know, when I realized that you found a nuclear warhead, I think I nearly slapped myself. Because I figured not even Bertrand would have a nuke stowed away so casually. Guess I was mistaken." He cocked his head. "I was mistaken about a lot of things until now. Could be I'm wrong about the Plague too."

"Better hope so, or I'd spend the rest of my days yelling at you, and then I'd haunt you."

Mercer cringed back slightly. "You know I can help you, right? Regardless whether you have contracted the Plague or not. I could infect you. Make you an Evolved. You'd be immune to all diseases, to all poisons, injury, old age-"

"I'll stop you right there", the Specialist cut him off. "What you're selling, I won't buy. Ever. Now scram."

Was he just exhausted, or was that really a hint of a smile on the Runner's face? "In that case, see you around, sir."

Cole was bent over a small table outside of their train hideout, frowning at the street map they had used back when they first arrived in the city. Most of the remarks 'Militia' had been crossed out and replaced for 'clear'. Which only left the Gas Works as possible places where Blast Cores were.
He didn't however know where to look, and with that place overrun by Ice Freaks, just starting to look was maybe not the wisest choice. Zeke had promised he'd check up on a lead, while Nix and Kuo had left to contact Laroche and see whether there was any damage from the fallout.

Well, it was mostly Kuo who was wanted to do that, but she dragged Nix along to keep her off Zeke's back, since it had been his idea that led to the accidental destruction of her house.

Heller and Dana were the only one left nearby, and they were busy packing up. While they didn't believe that Bertrand would have any manpower left to trash their hideout, they didn't want to risk it at such a critical point in time. Along those line of thoughts, Laroche had offered them a new place to stay, a recently abandoned three-story building at the North of Gas Works- which was maybe not the best position, but given just who they had as guard dog, would be doable. At any rate, they would be perfectly able of keeping the Vermaak under observation and could strike swiftly. All that was left to do was to claim the area.

Cole lifted his head when Zeke galloped towards them with a wide grin on his face.

"Let me guess. From your giddy expression, you've found something", Dana piped up, looking up from where she was securing her laptop.

"You got it, sister", Zeke beamed. "I just came back from Laroche!"

"And?"

"One of Bertrand's guys simply walked straight up to them, asked them to contact me. Now get this- it was Mikey, one of my buds on the Militia."

Figured Zeke would make friends on the force, Cole thought, and remembered Dwight. "And?"

"He asked Laroche to turn a mostly blind eye on him if he spilled some of Bertrand's secrets."

That got attention. Heller and Dana both stopped what they were doing, eyebrows arched as they looked at Zeke. Cole cocked his head too. "Tell me you got another Blast Core."

"I got another Blast Core", Zeke grinned.

Cole pumped his fist. "Shit, yeah. Where?"

"Over at Bertrand's warehouses. He says he'd been there when they moved a safe, and there was somethin' glowin' in it."

"I'll check it out", the Conduit decided in an instant and was about to rush off. "See you-"

"Hold it right there", Heller commented simply, and the younger stopped dead in his tracks. The sergeant glanced at him for a moment, then turned to Zeke. "The Warehouses? It's right in the middle of Vermaak territory, right?"

"Uh, now yes."

"Good. You stay here with Dana, finish packing up the stuff. We'll be back soon to get it to the new place."

"Consider it done."

Cole blinked. "You'll come with me?"

"After yesterday I'm not comfortable to leave you out of sight", Heller commented. "Lord knows you could have ended up dead, and then we would have needed new Blast Cores and a new Conduit to use the RFI. And we're too close to fuck it up."

...Right. Cole rubbed the back of his neck. "Guess you're right."

"Besides", Heller continued, "I haven't had any fun lately. Might as well get some before this shit blows over."

Cole just nodded, but he was relieved that the big guy was following after him. He could really need a bullet stopper, to avoid the events of the night before from repeating.
So yeah.
Heller? Was a keeper.

The warehouse district was just across the East Bridge of New Marais, just some blocks away from their current location. Cole figured they'd had to repair the bridge once they moved into a new place, as its derelict state meant having to cross the West Bridge at the other side of the city each time they wanted to enter the Gas Works.

"Heller?"

"Mhm?"

Cole pointed at the East Bridge as they passed by it. "Does either of you guys know how to fix a bridge?"

Heller blinked. "You mean, did Mercer eat somebody who would have known?"

"Yeah, 'cause I think it will be hard getting an engineer ready now." In Empire, there were Roger and Lou. He doubted he would have as much luck here in New Marais.

"Not that I know of, and I know most of what he does", the Evolved admitted. "And anyways, after that fiasco with Maya's doll house, I doubt my own abilities anyways. Better get somebody whose actual job is to repair bridges."

Cole slowed down, eyebrows arched. "There's a story behind it, right?"

The other snorted. "I tried putting together a doll house for my daughter, for her birthday. Figured I would manage, given I had the instructions ready. But there was a screw with three ends, and wheels. What kind of doll house has wheels?" He shook his head. "Needless to say, I gave it back to the store and got a stuffed animal instead."

Cole choked, then started laughing at the idea of that giant of a man trying hard to put a doll house together. Heller furrowed his brows after it didn't stop a few moments later. "You finished?"

He wheezed. "Sorry about that, but holy shit, I think I needed that."

"Guess so", Heller didn't seem to mind, just cocked his head as they stopped near the end of the East Bridge and faced the warehouse complex that made up most of this area. "Where to?"

"Let's find out", Cole tapped his phone. "Yo, Zeke. You sure we're going to find the Blast Core here?"

"Yeah. Remember that last scene of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'? Warehouse 18-AE belongs to Bertrand, and you know the sayin'. To hide a tree, use a forest, or somethin' like that."

"Where did you get that one from?"

"Some game, my friend", Zeke sounded very proud of that fact. "Now, Mikey said Bertrand had the Core hidden there to prevent us from gettin' to it. The crate got a Militia symbol stamped on it."

"Huh", Cole furrowed his brows. "Might as well take a look then." He cut the connection and glanced at Heller. "18-AE. Anything to beware of?"

"Bunch of hicks", the Evolved commented as they drew closer. "Strange to see them here after everything that happened, though if they are present, then chances are Bertrand wants the Core back and he still has a few guys loyal to him."

"Guess so." Cole tried using his radar pulse, but the corrugated iron sheets making up the walls masked the men's presence unless they were leaning against the supports. "How many?"

"Best guess? About half a dozen. Nothing serious. However..." Heller's expression turned into a slightly demented grin. "How about we show them that we can't be fucked with?"

Cole scratched his head. "Uh, yeah? I mean, kicking ass is already something of the sorts?"

"Correct, but that wasn't my idea." He carefully rapped his knuckles against the walls. "This stuff is made of steel, right? And it is magnetic, isn't it?" He glanced at the Conduit. "Didn't you have some sort of, oh, I don't know, magnetic fields?"

Cole blinked when Heller's words settled, and once they did, he grinned. "I can do that."
Might as well try it out. It shouldn't be too different from lifting cars, right? He braced himself and focused for a moment. "Once the wall's clear, take out the idiots."

Heller smirked. "With pleasure."

Cole clenched his fists and generated his field of electricity- then yanked his hand back and ripped the metal wall right out of the building to scrunch it into a ball like it was made from paper.

The hicks inside didn't have much time to realize what was going on before Heller collided with the first one, grabbed him roughly by the throat and threw him into two of his buddies to knock them over. They would be out for a time, and the Evolved already rushed at the other three, seizing the first two guys and lifting them off the floor easily. He held them there for a moment to regard them with an unhinged smirk, then slammed them together to knock them out.

One guy left, and even though he was obviously terrified, he still scrambled to aim his rifle at Heller. The man just snorted. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you", he commented simply, subtly jerking his fingers to tell Cole to flip his polarity and shoot the crumpled-up ball straight through the open space of the warehouse to utterly demolish the opposite wall with an ear-splitting crash of metal on metal. The hick paled as both men approached him. "You better get out of here", Cole told him. "Drop your weapon and your uniform, and never think about it again, and maybe we'll show some leniency."

The man jerked his his rifle away like a hot potato, throwing his arms up. "I never really wanted to take part in this", he squeaked, and ran off. Heller and Cole watched him leave and held their positions for another short moment, before both doubled over laughing.

"Hah! You saw that face? Fucking wonderful!"

"I didn't know scaring the crap out of people was that fun!"

"Yeah, you get to do that a few times more often if you want to. Just remember to never gloat before you are certain you got everything under control." He clapped his shoulder. "Now come, let's look for that crate."

Cole nodded and hurried off into one direction, while Heller took to the other side. There were rows upon rows of crates, all in different sizes and shapes, and conditions, so some had badly eroded symbols stamped on. After a few minutes, Cole paused and furrowed his brows, then sent out a Radar Pulse. Zeke said that the Core was inside a safe, and the safe was inside a crate. So all he had to do was to...find a crate that contained more metal than just a few guns, right?

He found several objects nearby that contained metal, and none of them spoke to him. One was a lot of metal, however, so he figured he should start with that. He picked up his voice. "Heller?"

"Mhm?"

"Left of you, maybe six steps. At knee height. See anything?"

The Evolved didn't reply immediately, though Cole heard a low whistle after a short moment. "Crate with Militia symbol. Looks pretty knew." He heard the grinding of wood on metal, then the crack of wood, and made his way over, finding the other man kneeling in front of a safe. "That you looking for?"

"Will know when we look inside", Cole shrugged.

Heller cocked his head, grabbed the door with one hand and steadied the safe with the other- and yanked the door right out with a hollow crack.

There was a disappointing lack of purple glow, though Heller didn't seem to be deterred. "Well", he drawled as he reached inside. "No Core, but a folder." He flipped it open. Cole furrowed his brows at the words there. "Property deeds", Heller explained. "Looks like Bertrand owns three more warehouses."

"So, at least we got the right idea, only the wrong warehouse?"

"Yeah, looks like." Heller got up and handed the files to Cole, who put them into his bag. "You up for ripping out a few more walls?"

"Hell yeah I am!"

All things considered, Heller thought, MacGrath was pretty enthusiastic about the whole work. He quickly refined ripping walls out of buildings, and even attempted to disarm his opponents with the same magnetic abilities. Didn't work so well at a distance, but he learnt to circumvent this by getting as close as possible towards the enemy and then just steal their weapons right out of their hands.

The enemy wasn't just Militia anymore either. The second warehouse was filled with bodies and some Vermaak soldiers. They found Blast Shards in the safe there. The third warehouse was again filled with hicks, but they escaped as soon they saw them coming, and tried to set them on fire- However, they didn't expect Heller to tear a hydrant from the floor, or MacGrath freeze most of the area to lower the temperatures until the fire no longer had any energy to burn. The safe was empty though, and Dunbar suggested they'd go home in a defeated tone, because apparently his 'friend' told lies in exchange for leniency.

Heller shook his head. "Nah, there's got to be a reason for all this opposition."

"He's right", MacGrath commented. "Like, if it was just Militia it could just be another trap to kill me. But the ice freaks? They're not on Bertrand's pay roll."

Dunbar hesitantly agreed, and the two were about to continue when Heller stopped the kid with a lifted fist. His attention wasn't on him, however, but rather the distant cracks of gunshots.

"Vermaak fighting Militia", he grunted. "And the hicks are losing."

"Which would mean we'd have one problem less, no?" MacGrath questioned, squinting also in the distance.

"Yeah, but we need to make sure they don't carry the Core off." If there was one, but these guys weren't fighting for nothing. He clapped Cole's shoulder. "Come, we'll sneak up and check things out. It would be a good idea to wait until one group's down. Less problems then."

"Good idea", MacGrath agreed and they hurried towards the shooting. The men were distracted, so they didn't notice them coming closer.

Heller grunted once they made their way to the roof, ducked low to avoid detection. "Shit. That's a lot of guys."

"Yeah. Plan?"

Heller cocked his head, and forced his body to bulk up in the form of Musclemass. "You got a larger distance than I have. Distract them, then I'll go for the clusters. If they scatter, pick them off."

"Deal" MacGrath got up, clenched his fist briefly- and fired a continuous stream of lightning bolts at a rapid pace at the closest moron. Chaos erupted, and Heller swung himself over the edge and downwards, hitting the floor with the fists first to utterly crater it and throw several men nearby off-balance.

Then he charged in, head ducked between his shoulders as he rammed into the closest group to scatter them. As soon they were apart, MacGrath fired off several bolts of lightning that arched into the sky and curved back towards their targets in sets of three, zapping them to knock them out.

Heller pivoted on his heel and dodged to the side to avoid being shot, then immediately surged towards a group of ice freaks. Shields of frost were thrown up between them, but he smashed through all the same, then grabbed the closest guy to smack him hard into the floor. Respect where it was due- these guys were better equipped both physically and mentally, because they didn't scatter like the Militia did, so Heller helped out by smashing his fists into the ground to fling them away from his position and all over the place. Once their formation was broken, MacGrath swooped in with orbs of lightning and fire that attached themselves to the soldiers and blew up in brilliant sparks, knocking the men flat on their asses.

Somebody fired at Heller, and the Evolved stumbled briefly from the force of impact, then slowly turned to glare at the perpetrator. A group of Militia hicks stared back, and turned as white as sheets when he bared his teeth in a snarl.

The scattered before he even moved, and MacGrath easily picked them off before they could comprehend what was going on. Heller dashed towards the Vermaak next, only for them to dive out of the way with synchronized ice jumps.

He wasn't deterred, just kicked off the floor and right after them, crashing himself into the closest guy with enough force to knock him out of the air and into a pair of his buddies. MacGrath was yelling something, and a massive ball lightning raced directly over Heller's head to collide with one of those Ice-armored guys.

Heller kicked against the air and dived downwards and away from the man, avoiding a series of lethal-looking groundspikes the guy wrenched from the floor.

"Distract him!" MacGrath yelled. Heller just grunted in reply and instantly kicked off the floor again to avoid another wave of ice spikes, through he heard the distinct crash of another metal wall being ripped out of its mounting.
He altered his trajectory again and slammed his shoulder with full force into the Vermaak heavy, flipped over his shoulder in the same moment and got out of range the very second MacGrath fired another crumpled-up ball of corrugated iron with so much velocity at the guy, he shattered into every direction.

Heller didn't wait for the others to catch themselves, instead rushed back towards the last of the Militia dudes, who screamed and dived out of the way. He was about to make a grab for them, when he froze with the realization that the Vermaak guys were not shooting anymore.

"Uh...Heller?" MacGrath landed besides him with a worried expression, though he wasn't looking at him. He was staring across the parking lot, and when Heller turned to look too, he paused.

It was as if a glacier sprouted arms and legs and marched towards them, creating pillars of ice wherever it walked.

"Oh" The Evolved just said.

MacGrath grimaced. "Oh shit. I always thought Frost Atronachs were smaller."

"Frost Atronach?"

"Elder Scrolls", MacGrath swallowed and fashioned a pair of static blades along his wrists. "I don't think I can get through that shell. Ice is water, right? And water's conductive."

"It can be broken, however", the Evolved growled. He slammed his fists together. "And besides, I already killed bigger." The Frost Titan was only half the size of a Goliath. He could take it. "I'll try to get that armor off it. If it is any like the other guys, there's going to be a body beneath. Scorch that one."

"Got it" MacGrath dashed to the left, Heller took to the center, rushing right towards the titan. The Titan roared at him and threw its arm out, generating a blast of condensed ice. The Evolved kicked off the floor and avoided the attack easily, then he kicked off the air and flung himself towards the creature. At the last second, he spun in mid-air so his heels crashed into the steel-like ice, cracking it in several places and making the Titan stumble back.

Flaming grenades hit the shell that moment and attached themselves to it, and Heller bounced backwards when they exploded.

The Titan barely reacted towards it, just roared again and flung its arm out to throw a massive ball of ice into the direction of MacGrath. The kid caught the blow with a shockwave and altered the ball's trajectory so it crashed into the floor.

Heller rushed the Titan in that moment, and the massive creature turned to swing its arm wide. The Evolved rolled under the blow and went directly for the Titan's legs, his paws closing around its ankle as he heaved with all strength. The icy cold bit into his system, but he ignored it in favor for straightening his spine- toppling the entire thing easily. It roared and crashed into the floor, where MacGrath greeted it with a wave of frost Groundspikes to the face.

Ice collided with ice with an unholy cracking noise, and the thing reeled and roared again.

"It doesn't speak", Heller realized. "It's just roaring like an idiot-"

"But...", MacGrath's eyebrows furrowed as they watched the thing struggle back to its feet. "The other ice freaks can still talk?"

Heller grunted in realization. "That's why they want the Cores. They get stronger the more they grow, but they also lose their minds."

"Great"

Then both had to dive out of the way to avoid the Titan's ice beam if shot at them from its palm. "Change of plan", Heller growled. "Let's target its arms first. Rip them off, crush them, whatever."

"Deal" MacGrath rushed to the side, grabbing and lifting a car with his magnetic field, and just chucking it at the Titan. The second the vehicle crashed into the monster, Heller dived after it and tackled into its shoulder, bounced off and came back down with his heels first again. Didn't really work, and he had to dodge an ice ball again. Screw this. He flexed one hand and willed the bones to alter and change, flattening the arm into his Blade within a few moments while also retaining his Musclemass along the rest of his limbs.

Then he pounced again, deliberately targeting the weakened side. MacGrath was taking the thing's attention- his normal lightning bolts ricocheted off its shell, but his grenades stuck to it and blew up, cracking the ice quickly. When Heller wrenched his Blade into its shoulder and just twisted, the entire arm came loose and fell to the ground heavily.

Like in the smaller Ice heavies, there wasn't much of a body beneath, only ice. Like it had completely replaced the flesh and continued growing. Can't have been pleasant, he thought with a grimace.

The Titan roared and swayed from the loss of balance, and the Evolved instantly bounced off it to attack the other side. MacGrath followed his example and targeted the other arm. Now that they had a little experience, the second arm came off in only half the time.

The Titan roared and swayed, dropping to its knees in a desperate attempt to avoid falling flat on its face again now that it didn't have any limbs left to help itself back upright.

MacGrath charged it, yanking his staff weapon free, leaping upwards to jab the prongs into the upper part of its chest area-

Heller's eyes widened in realization. MacGrath was targeting the thing's face plate, something he hadn't noticed existing before. He had thought it was just a literal glacier.

There was the hollow crack of ice breaking, and MacGrath stumbled back with a startled expression. Heller was besides him in an instant, brows furrowed into a scowl when he stared at the Titan's exposed face.

Again, it reminded him of a Goliath, with a constantly gaping mouth and wide eyes.

But this thing was still clearly human, even though its features had been flattened and stretched across what had once been its chest.

"Holy fuck", Heller hissed. That transformation had probably hurt a lot.
His body bristled and he grabbed and yanked the kid backwards the second the Titan lurched towards them, its arms suddenly regrowing in a flurry of icy mist.

Its face plate, however, did not, and the stretched face turned into an enraged expression.

MacGrath twisted in his hold and fired a pair of lightning bolt streams directly into its exposed weak point, and the Titan roared and backed off in pain. Heller dropped the Conduit and charged in, his Blade and other hand twisting and turning into Musclemass-enhanced Claws. The second they were finished formed, he leapt up and slammed them with full force into the Titan's face, making it jerk back and scream in pain as he gouged out eyes and drove his talons through the brittle bone into its brain.

It shattered into mist and shards the moment it died.

Heller hit the floor as MacGrath approached him. "Huh. Self-tidying-up, nice."

"Guess so." The Evolved cocked his head and glared at the few remaining Militia and Vermaak members, who had watched the battle in stunned silence. Now that the Titan was gone, however, all of them fled in blind panic.

"And you better remember that one!" MacGrath yelled after them. Then sat down heavily on a low piece of concrete like a sack of potatoes when all air left his lung in a huff. "What an ordeal."

"It was", Heller exhaled and just grit his teeth when he forced himself to transform back. His stomach rumbled too, and there was a fine tremor going through his legs, while his skin felt strangely cold.
Figures. He already had an increased metabolism, but Musclemass cranked his system's output even higher- and he didn't have anything to fuel himself with. He grunted again and pulled the kid back to his feet after a short pause. "Come on. We'll check whether we find the safe, then we'll go to the new place and eat something before I reel over from hypoglycemia."

"Gesundheit", the Conduit muttered as they slowly walked to the thoroughly trashed warehouse.
The safe sat innocently between a few wooden chunks. Heller had to focus this time to yank the door out, but was rewarded by a strong purple glow that immediately washed across the floor the moment the safe was open.

"Blast Core", MacGrath grinned, reaching in to take the crystal and hold it into the light. He tapped his phone. "Guess what, Zeke?"

"Anything good?"

"We got it", the Conduit claimed. He dropped the Core into his bag with a surprised noise. "And more even, we got a briefcase. Name on the front says JBIII. Bertrand's, most likely."

"Hell yeah, let's throw a look into it."

MacGrath placed it on the safe and flipped the lock open. Heller arched one eyebrow at the folders inside, and moved to take the upper-most to flip through it. "Well, look here", the Sergeant grumbled in a satisfied manner. "Those Vermaak guys really were designed to be weapons."

"Weapons?"

"Yeah, see here?" He tapped a few papers. "Contracts about amount of weapons to be delivered, test results, potential buyers, transfer contracts."

"Boxed supermen", MacGrath scoffed. "Ready to be shipped out and sold to any warlord with cash. He's gonna start a new arms race all by himself, and everybody will suddenly have own Conduits to play with." He furrowed his brows. "Think he knew Moya?"

"Jones?" Heller shook his head. "Don't think so. Though I guess power-hungry assholes all think the same." He growled briefly under his breath. "Fuck, how demented does one have to be to do shit like that? This is biological warfare!"

"It is." MacGrath took a few pictures from the case that showed Bertrand handing over checks to children's hospitals, or working with the community. "This doesn't fit here either. What's he doing? Trying to buy his way into Heaven?"

"No idea", Heller scoffed. "And frankly, I don't really care for the reasons some guy might have. I mean, just look around. All those people forced into becoming weapons, all those people he killed, all the damage he's done. I don't care whether he thinks it's been for the greater good, when he's doing so much worse to get to that point."

"Preachin' to the choir, brother", Zeke commented with a hum. "You guys sound tired though. How about you swing by here, eat something, and take a nap?"

"Sounds like a plan", Heller agreed. "You finished moving there, then?"

"Laroche and some of his guys came by to help packin' up. We're all set. Got food and everything here."

"I like that plan", MacGrath agreed. "See you soon."

Heller and Cole are both assholes. Confirmed.
Also confirmed: Cole could do some serious Magneto-like tricks, if he felt like it, right?

As for the Vermaak, so obviously there was one dude who was actually friendly, but how should I know? I never actually played inFAMOUS because I don't have a PS and NaughtyDogs just doesn't give a shit about making their games PC-gamer-friendly. Well, maybe we'll get a remastered version one day?
Let's just pretend that one guy's already kicked the bucket, or this particular side quest doesn't exist.

On another note, I once told you you can report any grammatical mistakes to me, and you can still do so, but it would be good if you just told me where exactly that mistake is, so I can avoid it in the future.

Also, to everybody thinking about telling me how to write and what to include into my own story: You want your own ideas in an inFAMOUS/PROTOTYPE Crossover, write one yourself, because this here is my story.