And now, for what we have all been waiting for. No need for a long intro, let's just get into it.
I do not own Worm or Ben Ten, for better or worse, cause I would make some changes to both.
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X
Helmet Cam Footage:
*Pause*
~Rewind~
-Play-
He thrust his halberd forward, the glowing blade being parried by a crystalline appendage before a clawed orange furred paw shot forward to encircle his neck. An arm came up trying to unwrap the muscled fingers before he was lifted off his feet, spun around and tossed across the asphalt, his armor clanking loudly as he bounced along the street.
Skidding to a stop, he looked up to see Assault and Battery rushing in-
*Pause*
~Rewind~
-Play .55 Playback Speed-
He watched the video with a tense focus. His finger steepled in front of his mouth as he reviewed his helmet footage for what may as well have been the hundredth time. He felt his fingers tighten around each other as he watched his team get toyed with and thrown around the battlefield. He'd long since cut the audio, having to listen to the wicked cackling and mocking words the first few times had been nearly enough to send him into a rage. Even without the audio however, having to watch that thing smile with perverted delight as he beat down and maimed his team boiled his blood.
Sighing heavily, Colin dragged a hand down his face, feeling the coarse stubble that reminded him he needed to shave soon.
How? How could they-how could he have been so underprepared? He and his entire team had been thoroughly and completely defeated. Not since Lung has he ever tasted a loss so bitter. Perhaps even worse. At least with Lung's appearance, nobody had died.
Chimera, by comparison, had killed hundreds. Mostly civilians and a generous helping of PRT troopers as well. Even Dauntless and Assault had lost their lives in the attack. Such a loss of life had never been seen in Brockton Bay. It left everybody reeling from the shock of it. A mass execution of so many people, by one cape. Not unheard of, but rare. But for it to happen here, a city with a strong Protectorate/ PRT prescience...
The Birdcage was certainly guaranteed. Though, there were many that were calling for a Kill Order. Why it hadn't gone through yet was a mystery to everyone.
Pausing the video, he leaned back in his chair, staring fixated at the grotesque visage that he'd become familiar with in the last few weeks.
In his entire career, he'd never been forced to kill anyone. He'd fought some of the cruelest, most powerful villains this side of the East coast, but he'd never been forced to cross the line. To actually take the life of another person, the thought didn't sit right with him. If he allowed himself to go to that level, it'd be a black mark on his record as a hero. A permanent stain he would never be able to erase.
However, looking at Chimera's fanged smile stirred a bubbling cauldron of hate in his chest, those apprehensive feelings burned away the longer he beheld the face of the one who had humiliated him so terribly.
'Perhaps,'He thought grimly,'It'd be worth it.'
Shaking himself out of those darker thoughts he pulled over the shaft of his dismantled halberd and got to work on some of the wiring.
So engrossed with his task, he didn't even notice when the door to his lab slid open, a pair of steel toed boots softly clapping against the floor.
Hannah strolled in, bandana hanging below her chin, her face carefully neutral. She looked around the room, several tools and pieces of metal strewn messily across the many tables. Wrappers of various granola bars and bottles of water thrown onto the floor. In one corner, she noted, a pile of lime tinted crystals were stacked around a microscope. She ignored the small throb of pain that went through her leg at the sight. Stopping just behind him she peered over his shoulder. She felt her heart jump to see the video on his monitor paused on the cruelly grinning face of Chimera. Fighting back a small shiver, she instead cleared her throat.
He tensed before turning around to regard her precariously.
"Miss Militia,"He blinked."Why didn't you knock?"
"I did. Twice."She answered,"I waited a few minutes before using my override code to come in."
"I see,"He said,"You normally don't use that unless there's a problem."
"Nothing's wrong, I just came to deliver a report."She responded.
He sighed in annoyance,"If it's just a report then why didn't you just email it to me?"
"I felt it better to deliver it in person since the Director commented that you had not been answering many of your emails lately."She answered patiently.
A beat of silence played out between them before he sighed again and turned back to working on his halberd.
"Proceed."He drawled. Hannah felt her jaw tighten at his dismissive attitude but she quickly relaxed herself with a quick breath.
"The clean up is going well, most of the debris is being moved to the Boat Graveyard for now till we can find an adequate way to move it to a better location,"She started,"Search and Rescue efforts are slow however, some people are still unaccounted for, either they're still trapped underneath the rubble or misinformation led them to being unchecked at the hospitals..."
All throughout her report, he never once stirred or looked up from his work, content to let her speak until she was finished. Hannah knew he may not be listening, but she kept going anyways.
"-and should be able to be on their way soon to provide backup."She finished.
She waited a few seconds for him to comment or ask a question. He didn't. Another quick breath later and she opened her mouth to keep going.
"I had to break up a fight between Carlos and Sophia earlier."She began. He paused, his hands still, then continued, this time a bit slower.
"It started off as a spar but things got out of hand with Carlos antagonizing Sophia. Carlos was sent to work her shift at Shelter 4 as punishment."
"Dean is exhausted. Both physically and mentally. I assume it has something to do with New Wave being absent lately, but I haven't questioned him on it." Now he had stopped completely, sitting a bit straighter, actually listening.
"Dennis is coping well enough with everything. I spoke with him for a bit and he tells me he's been talking to Panacea lately. To what extent their relationship is I don't know, but it appears to be helping him so we should be grateful for it at least."
"Chris and Missy are both trying-"
"Why are you telling me this?"He interrupted sharply. She blinked at his tone, but kept her face casual.
"I thought it important to tell you how the Wards are doing, afterall, being there Overseer is part of your job as leader of this branch."
He didn't say a word at that.
"Speaking of team members,"She continued,"Jess hasn't been doing well since Ethan passed. I've had to check up on her to make sure she's been eating. I'm worried if she'll be able to pull herself together."
"She'll be fine. Although losing Assault was a tragedy-"He started.
"Ethan."She interrupted."Assault was a casualty. Losing Ethan was the tragedy."
"You say that like they weren't one and the same."He says dryly.
"They were, he acted very much the same in costume as he did out, but we knew him as Ethan. And he should be remembered by his comrades, not as his persona, but as the man who was beneath the mask."She stated.
"Fine,"He sighed, causing Hannah's jaw to clench once more,"Losing Ethan was a tragedy, one the whole team feels-"
"Does it?"She interrupted again, her tone a bit more clipped.
"Excuse me?"He asked, finally turning to look at her with an annoyed glare.
"You say the whole team feels this loss, but how could you know that?"She said impassively,"You've been in your lab ever since Panacea healed us. You haven't been talking to each member of this team trying to understand where they are mentally. You haven't been keeping a close eye on the Wards to know if they're feeling overwhelmed. You haven't even checked your email asking if you wanted to try to hold a meeting to try and boost morale. With all this, excuse my confusion on how you could possibly know how the team is feeling."
"You're speaking out of line, Militia, I suggest you calm yourself"He warned.
At that, she paused for a few seconds. She blinked a few times before she took a deep breath.
"Yes,"She drawled,"I am. I guess I'm starting to reach my limit."She sighed, suddenly looking a lot more haggard then when she came in.
"I've been trying to be patient. I figured you'd brood but eventually come out and help the rest of us deal with everything."She said, casting him a small glare,"But instead, you're in here, not doing anything of use."
His left eye twitched.
"What I'm doing,"He said through grit teeth,"Is studying our enemy. Something nobody else seems to be doing."
"Because we have too much to do now to worry about him."She retorted.
"And if he attacks again? Then what?"He snarked. Hannah's lips tightened, not having an answer.
"You all can handle everything else, I need to prepare."He said, turning back to his wiring.
"Just you?"Hannah challenged,"And when were you planning on informing the rest of the team of any plan you had?"
"When the time was right."He snarled.
"And that was whenever you deemed it? What would it take then? Chimera coming back and killing more civilians? The Wards? What's the line? The last straw for us to be privileged enough to hear whatever great idea you come up with?"
His fists slammed the table, rattling his tools and computer. Taking heavy breaths, Colin forced himself to relax before responding to her,
"I'm doing what I have to,"He began after a tense silence,"I'm not sure if you're aware, but we lost. We were toyed with and humiliated. Random footage of us being tossed around the city has been circulating all over the internet for weeks. Our pride as the Protectorate ENE division has been dashed. The people know we can't protect them, that's why the national guard is here. It's an insult to everything we've ever accomplished, like all the time and effort we spent fighting for this city doesn't matter. All because of one cape."
For a moment, neither of them spoke, reflecting on his words.
"You're speaking for all of us again."Hannah finally said,"It's true, we were defeated. That the people have lost faith in us. But that doesn't mean we've become obsolete. The others are still helping, pushing themselves everyday trying to help this city. The only one that seems truly hung up on this, is you."
"Instead of acting like our leader, you've shut yourself away to plan and tinker without any of our input."
"What do you expect me to do then?"He said tiredly.
"The only thing you're expected to do. Lead us."She answered.
"Like I lead two of my teammates to an early grave?"He responded."They died under my leadership. I bear the responsibility of their deaths."
"Colin."Hannah said softly.
"I hated him you know."He admitted,"Daunt-...Shawn. I hated how little he had to work for everything. How his power gave him unlimited access to all the strength he could want. Becoming Brockton Bays 'rising star'."He chuckled humorlessly.
"I had to work tirelessly to get where I am, all those years spent tinkering and training. Just to have some newby come along to completely surpass all the things I've done, simply because he had the right set of powers. I've never been so insulted."
He leaned back in his chair, staring vacantly at the ceiling.
"And now he's dead. And despite everything, there's a part of me that's...relieved. Isn't that something, instead of feeling anger or grief that my teammate was murdered, I'm relieved that my biggest competition in Brockton Bay is gone. Hmph, disgusting."
Hannah blinked in astoundment, finding herself truly at a loss for words.
The sharp crackle of her earpiece jump started her out of her trance.
Putting her hand to her ear, Hannah turned away to answer.
Colin continued to stare dispassionately at the ceiling, vaguely aware of Hannah's voice as she spoke over the com.
A startled,"What?!" jolted him from his position and made him turn to face her.
She was standing straighter, her shoulders tense and ready. He felt a pool of dread and uncertainty start to swirl in his stomach as he sat waiting for her to finish her call.
Dropping her hand from her earpiece she turned to him, her eyes holding a dangerous glint to them. One mixed with determination and anger. He recognized that look.
It was the one she always had when things were about to get bad.
When Victor jumped in front of her to tank the explosion, her heart nearly stopped. Thankfully she had chosen to imbue him with Invincibility before they had entered the warehouse. Stormtiger and Cricket luckily had the benefit of being behind Hookwolf to take most of the impact, and Crusader had shielded Rune and himself with his duplicates. And Alabaster could handle any damage done to him.
They shouldn't have just charged in, they should've at least had Cricket or Rune check the building first. But it was too late for that now, they had found who they were looking for, and despite that, nobody seemed happy about it.
She couldn't repress the shivers that ran through her body at the sight of the monster that stood in front of them, awash with the firelight, long dark hair framing it's grotesque smiling face, its four arms held out to its sides in a mock greeting for them.
It stood, waiting, inviting, for the first ones to come forth and try their luck.
Hookwolf, ever the fighter, charged forward with a bellowing warcry, Cricket and Stormtiger right behind him.
Chimera smirked predatorily, watching as Hookwolf became a spinning mass of blades, hurtling right for him. Othala watched with her heart pounding in her ears as Chimera took one long step forward, and swung his four arms together to create one loud clap.
The explosion earlier felt tame in comparison.
Her ears popped from the sudden change in air pressure as she and the rest of her companions were lifted off their feet from the shockwave.
Tumbling and bouncing across the ground they went, only stopping until they were at the other end of the lot. She groaned softly as she pushed herself up onto her knees, casting a look to her teammates she saw they were as disoriented as she was, even Victor, meaning that the invincibility had likely worn off. Stormtiger and Cricket lay unmoving.
She looked up when she heard the cruel laughter of their target.
The flames alight behind him casted a long sinister shadow on the ground as he stood there cackling at them from a distance.
"Hahaha! Come on!"He beckoned.
"Bastard."She heard Crusader sneer. He stood up quickly, his armor clanking with the sudden movement, and with barely a gesture summoned half a dozen ghosts. As one, they charged, their spears pointed at the monster's chest. Chimera didn't even blink, simply continuing to smile maliciously. When they were close enough, Chimera puffed out his chest and let the ghosts thrust forward into his abdomen.
The spears were stopped cold, barely even pushing in the skin.
"Shit!"Crusader swore.
A powerful swing from his crystalline arm dispersed the group into a white mist.
"Is that it? I thought you guys were supposed to be tough."He taunted.
"I'll show you tough freak!"Hookwolf screamed, charging forward once more after he had regenerated the displaced parts to his wolf transformation.
Hookwolf leapt, claws and teeth bared to rip and gouge whatever he could. He was met with a searing hot punch that launched him into the wall of another warehouse. The right side of his head glowing orange from the heat.
Chimera did not look impressed.
"Seriously? This is so lame. At least make this interesting."He complained.
Othala whimpered quietly at how easily he had swatted Hookwolf away. One of their toughest fighters and he didn't even break a sweat against him.
"Othala,"Alabaster whispered from behind her,"I don't think I can do anything to him. I need Strength."
"Me too."Victor added,"Crusader, you and Rune distract him while Othala imbues us both. Othala, get Cricket and Stormtiger up afterwards."
"Okay."
"On it!"
"Right."
Summoning more spectres, Crusader and Rune charged forward with his ghosts surrounding the two while Othala placed her hands on Alabaster and Victor's shoulders, feeling the flow of energy that passed through her and into them, imbuing them both with Strength.
"Be careful."She told them. Alabaster nodded before leaping into the air towards the swirling mass of ghosts and flaming debrief being thrown at Chimera. Victor offered her a small smile before becoming serious and sprinting towards the fight.
She ran over to Cricket and Stormtiger's unconscious bodies, quickly imbuing them both with Regeneration. She looked up to see Chimera grab Alabaster with his crystal arm, raise him into the air and slam him hard enough into the ground to crack the pavement.
Victor was there in a second, ramming his shoulder into Chimera's side, causing the beast to stumble back a step and leaving him open for three spectres to fly in and attempt to slash him across the face. Blocking their spears with his arms, Chimera pushed them away before swatting them out of existence. A quick glance was all Victor got before Chimea spun and smacked him away with his thick striped tail.
Othala squealed in fright when she saw Victor fold brokenly and bounce across the ground. Soft groaning below her drew her attention, Cricket and Stormtiger started to squirm and slowly regained consciousness. Soon, the both of them sat up, shaking the last of the dreariness out of their systems before they were both on their feet.
She took the time to imbue Stormtiger with Flight and Cricket with Strength respectively before they too charged in to fight.
Rushing over to Victor, being mindful of the fight so she wasn't hit by any surprise attacks, Othala had Regeneration ready as soon as she reached him.
Doing her best to ignore his broken body, Othala placed her hands on his bicep and felt the power seep into him. A loud cry got her attention, she turned to see Rune fall out of the sky, a large green crystal stabbing into her abdomen.
"Tammi!"She whispered in distress. She hoped her friend would be okay long enough for her to finish healing Victor.
"You fucker!"Stormtiger roared as he flew in with his arm cocked back and the wind spinning around his fists. Chimera caught the blow, the air dispersing loudly around them and squeezed.
Stormtiger howled in pain as his bones folded and snapped before he was shot back with a point blank fire blast to the chest, his bare torso now red and burned. Cricket rushed in with Crusader, now having one of his spirits hover over him like a second skin.
Crusader flew in first, thrusting his spear towards Chimera's bulbos eye, only for the giant to dodge and spike Crusader down with a powerful hammerblow. Cricket jumped in and launched a kick to Chimera's head that was blocked by his lava arm, causing her to cry out before she was knocked aside.
Reacting quickly, Chimera caught the quadrupedal form of Hookwolf right before he could tackle into him. Hookwolf flailed in the monster's grip, scratching and biting to no avail as Chimera held him back.
"No good."Othala started at the sound of Victor's voice.
"Victor!"She exclaimed.
"It's no good, we need reinforcements,"Victor said drowsily.
"I'll make the call."Alabaster said, appearing out of nowhere and startling them both.
"Where've you been?"Victor asked as Othala helped him to his feet.
"I backed off when the power faded, figured I'd just be in the way."He supplied.
A loud crash forced them to look and see Chimera pinning Hookwolf to the ground by his chin and stomach. They watched in horror as Chimera opened his mouth, his large teeth glinting sharply before he lunged and bit directly into the neck of Hookwolf's form. They winced at the loud crunching sounds the metal made as it was easily crushed and torn away from the main body.
"Go make the call."Victor said distractedly as he watched Chimera literally maul Hookwolf's metal body away. Alabaster nodded and ran away to make the call for backup.
"We need to buy time."Victor said,"Invincibility now!"
"Victor…"She started.
"We don't have time. Do it!"He said, pulling out a large black pistol from his belt and putting in a clip. She looked uncertain as she laid a hand on him, barely passing him the power before he rushed forward calling out,"Heal the others!"
It wasn't long until Chimera had ripped away the layers of metal to find Hookwolf in the center, desperately trying to generate more metal to protect his body. Grabbing Hookwolf by his neck and yanking him out, Chimera held up the struggling villain, ignoring any blades that he tried to stab him with.
"Hey!"Victor cried out as he used the trashed wolf form to vault off of and place three shots directly into Chimera's face causing him to start in surprise and drop Hookwolf.
Victor ducked under a swing, firing more rounds all over his body before one of the smaller arms reached out and lifted him by the neck.
"I thought I felt you snap in half."Chimera pondered, peering down at him. He wasn't given much time to contemplate this before Hookwolf was on him again, metal body restored and back to clawing and biting futilely at Chimera's hide.
Victor watched as he grabbed Hookwolf by his snout with his lava arm, the metal superheating quickly, and lifted him off the ground.
"Alright, that's enough outta you, you're boring me now."He sneered. The fingers on his crystal arm molded together to form a giant spike.
'Shit!'Victor thought as he frantically emptied the rest of his clip into the villain to no avail. Instead all he could do was watch as Hookwolf's struggling metal body was held out in front, and stabbed straight through.
"Fuck!"He swore violently.
The struggle ceased immediately and Victor watched as Chimera pulled his arm out, the majority of the spike covered in blood and dropped the body uncaringly.
"You sick shit!"He raged,"You'll pay for that!"
"Oh yeah?"He smiled bringing their faces closer,"How do ya figure?"
"Cause now i'm pissed asshole!"
Chimera turned and was greeted by over 2 dozen spirits flying towards him, spears pointed at him. Victor was lifted used to block a few of them, but most found their purchase, not piercing, but rather pushing him off balance, just in time for Stormtiger to run in from behind and slash him across the back of his knees with his wind claws, causing him to stumble onto one knee and drop Victor in the process.
Quickly rolling away, Victor stood up quickly to watch his teammates try to keep the villain unbalanced. He looked over when he heard Othala gasp at the sight of Hookwolf's form, blood started to make a small puddle around him.
"Othala!"He called, causing her to jump and look at him."Quickly!"
Nodding her head, the young woman swallowed as she stuck her hand into the hole of the body and got to work.
Looking back to the fight, Victor saw Chimera disperse Crusaders ghosts before Rune, standing atop a manhole cover, smashed two large wooden crates on top of Chimera causing them to break and splinter, and Cricket blitzed in to slash him across the face with her now retrieved kamas before retreating for more of Crusaders spirits to fly in. All the while, the villain sneered in annoyance.
"Something's not right here."Victor heard him mutter.
Chimera lifted his crystal arm into the air before slamming it down and generating a ring of sharp crystals around him, puncturing and dispersing the ghosts and causing Stormtiger to leap back just as he was going in for more hits. Looking up to Rune, Chimera shot a large fireball her way causing her to fall back.
More of Crusader's spirits flew back in to drive him backwards, much to Chimera's visible agitation.
"Keep going!"Victor rallied even as Crusaders ghosts were continuously smashed and ripped apart,"We just have to keep him distracted long enough for the others to arrive!"
"Fuck that, he's mine!" A now thoroughly pissed Hookwolf said as he marched forward. Chimera's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in thought.
"Get ready!"Victor called as they all encircled him, each of them readying their own attack.
Suddenly Chimera's eyes widened before smirking. They all tensed when they saw him crouch and ready himself to leap forward.
"Here he comes! Be ready for anyth-"
A blur, strong gusts of wind momentarily blinded and deafened everyone nearby. Blinking away the blurriness in their vision the Empire capes looked around. Chimera was gone.
"What?!"Victor exclaimed.
"Victor!"Rune cried, pointing behind them. They all turned and felt a collective spike of dread, but none quite as deeply as Victor did.
At the other end of the lot, Chimera stood with his back to them, a struggling form clasped tightly in his crystal hand.
"No!"Victor roared.
Othala squirmed as best she could against the tight grip Chimera had around her head, but she found no purchase, even as she kicked against the arm holding her with the soles of her boots.
"So you're the one who keeps putting them back together after I break them."Chimera coyly acknowledged. She felt her heart beat in sheer terror as she beheld his distorted features up close.
"Put her down!"Victor bellowed, being held back from charging in by Stormtiger.
Turning back to the group of Empire capes, Chimera smiled.
"Oh, I'm sorry,"Chimera said, slightly shaking Othala around to taunt her teammates,"Does this belong to you?"
"Hurt her and I swear to God I'll kill you!"Victor raged.
"Aww that's not very nice."Chimera chastised,"I just wanted to get to know her a little-ah ah ah!"Chimera warned as a few of them started to step forward.
"Wouldn't want any accidents to happen in the excitement, would we?"He grinned applying a bit of pressure to make Othala squirm in his grasp uncomfortably.
"Guys, it's okay, don't worry about me."She whimpered softly. Victor's teeth grinded against each other painfully, his wrath growing by the second, much to Chimera's enjoyment.
"Isn't that sweet."Chimera mocked,"Willing to sacrifice herself. Heh!"
He stared Victor directly in the eyes as he asked,"What about you? Are you willing to let her go?"
Victor remained quiet, trembling fists held at his sides as he glared murderously at the fiend that held his wife hostage.
Chimera noted the rest of them, equally tense with anger and trepidation, nervous about what his next action would be. He felt his smile stretch all the way across his face.
"I guess not."
With but a fraction of the power he could muster in his hand, he squeezed.
"Fuck me."Neil swore.
Studz turned away to vomit in the alley.
Aegis stared in horror and revulsion as the now headless body of Othala was dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Victor's howls of rage and grief echoed chillingly through the night air.
He and the rest of the Empire capes charged forward, genuine murder now leading their steps as they rushed the sadistic cape. All the while he cackled at their fury.
"We gotta get outta here."Neil said as he started to back up.
"I second that."Studz weakly agreed from further down the alley.
"Come on kid let's go."Neil said to Aegis. When he didn't respond, Neil grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Aegis." No response.
"Aegis snap out of it!"He exclaimed while shaking his shoulder. That jolted him awake to turn his haunted stare towards Neil.
"We're in over our heads kid, we gotta go."Neil softly told him.
Blinking a few times, Aegis finally nodded."Yeah, yeah we gotta go."He said hollowly.
As soon as Studz was able to stand up straight they all ran away in the direction they came from.
"I'm gonna radio this in,"Studz said, putting a hand to his earpiece.
"Not yet, we need to confirm the area so they know where to send backup."Neil ordered.
A bright light surged from behind them, followed immediately by a loud crashing sound, causing them all to stumble a few steps before turning back around. In the direction of the docks a white light flashed multiple times, each one accompanied by another loud crash.
"The hell's going on?!"Neil screamed.
"That light…"Aegis breathed."Oh no…"
"What?"Studz asked.
"I think that's Purity."Aegis said.
"Purity?"Neil questioned,"Isn't she that Empire chick? Crazy strong blaster?"
"Yeah, with all the damage she can cause, things just went from bad to worse."Aegis admitted dreadfully.
"We gotta get outta here fast, no telling what could happen now that-"
"Well well well, what do we have here." A smooth voice cut in from behind them.
They all turned around, Studz and Neil pointing their M4's forward at the man garbed in ornate shining metal armor, a pair of twin valkyries on either side of him, one carrying a sword and shield, and the other a spear. Just behind them Alabaster stood, watching them curiously.
"Seems we'll have some witnesses to one of the Empire's greatest victories."Kaiser said, his voice oozing smug satisfaction.
'Damn.'Aegis thought.
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X
Did I say 2 parter? I guess I meant 3. But hey, could be worse.
Hope you enjoyed this part, though I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I can plan these things as much as I want to but the story honestly writes itself. I don't know, you tell me what you thought in the reviews, please.
Stay safe and have a good night.