And here it is, the conclusion of the epic Empire vs. Chimera fight.
Let's not waste any time and just get into it.
I don't own Worm or Ben Ten, and that's cool.
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.
"At ease gentleman, at ease."Kaiser said, holding his hands up placatingly."You've nothing to fear. You're not our enemy."
Despite his words, none of them felt the least bit relaxed. Studz lowered his weapon just a tad and regarded Kaiser and his followers wearily while Neil kept his weapon trained squarely on the gang leader's head, glaring defiantly all the while.
Aegis made it his job to keep his eyes on all of the Capes present.
"Actually, i'm glad you're here. Please, won't you accompany me to see with your own eyes, how the Empire took down that beast Chimera?"Kaiser preened.
"Wait,"Aegis said incredulously,"You honestly think you can take him?"
"Of course."Kaiser replied smoothly,"Where your Protectorate failed, we shall not. Simply because we have the numbers, the strength, the skill, and most importantly, we will be aiming to kill."
"Kill?"Studz blinked,"Isn't there a rule against capes killing each other?"
"There is, yes, however, I think we can all agree that Chimera doesn't abide by the Unwritten Rules."Kaiser answered."So gentleman, what will it be? Care to stay?"
"Tempting, but we'll have to decline. We have to report this."Studz said diplomatically.
"Shame. An eye witness account would've been quite helpful."Kaiser shrugged,"Oh well, at least you'll tell your advisors we were here."
"You're pretty confident."Neil said neutrally."Must have a good plan."
"Of course. I'd think a soldier would understand the necessity of a sound strategy,"Kaiser replied.
"Oh I know,"Neil said as he lowered his weapon and looked the gang leader right in the eyes,"And I also know that no real plan survives contact with the enemy. I hope your plan goes better then it has been so far. We've been watching Chimera throw your boys around the docks like nothing."
"Nothing to be concerned with,"Kaiser waved off,"We came in expecting a challenge, and truly, we're grateful for it. Where would the satisfaction be if this was easy?"
"Nothing to worry about huh?"Neil challenged, despite the warning look he was getting from Studz,"Here's something then, that healer chick you had...Chimera just took her fuckin head off."
At that, Kaiser paused. The twins besides him stiffened, their hands slackening and almost dropping their weapons from shock.
"You're sure?"Kaiser asked after he was done reeling from the news.
"Yup."Neil confirmed un-empathetically,"Popped like a goddamn grape."
"I see. That is...a shame."Kaiser spoke slowly."Othala was a...cherished member to our organization. Her sacrifice will not be in vain."
"If you will excuse us gentlemen, we have some business to attend to."Kaiser said as he and his followers eased their way past Aegis and the two soldiers.
"Oh just one more thing,"Kaiser called back to them,"I kindly ask that you hold off for about half an hour before you call this in. This fight was just going to be about teaching this monster a lesson, but now, with one of our members blood on his hands…"
They watched as long thin metallic spikes sprouted out of Kaiser's knuckles.
"This is personal."
They all watched with a tense focus as the Empire capes marched off to fight. When they were out of sight, Studz breathed a sigh of relief before turning an annoyed glance to Neil.
"Too bad, if you had tried any harder, i'm sure he would've skewered us for sure."He snipped.
"Ah he wasn't gonna do shit."Neil dismissed,"Not unless he wanted the National Guard on his ass."
"Still, that was risky."Aegis commented."That conversation could've ended differently if he wasn't so fixated on Chimera."
"You see how angry he got when you told him that girl was dead? Must really care for his members."Studz remarked.
"I doubt it."Aegis countered,"More likely he's just upset that his gang doesn't have a healer anymore. That's gonna cause issues for him later, and he knows it."
"Boo hoo for him."Neil drawled,"Let's get outta here and hope they all kill each other. Studz, radio this in, fuck him and his 'revenge'."
Rolling his eyes, Studz pulled his radio out as the group started to hurry back to the truck. Aegis cast one last look behind him and couldn't help but feel a growing sense of unease for the fight ahead.
"Are you really leaving?"
"I am. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, just...don't forget about us."
"I won't."
"Maybe we could even come over for dinner some time."
"I'd...I'd like that. Thank you for everything Marie."
"Your welcome, take care of yourself. And kiss Aster for me please."
"I will."
That was the last conversation she remembered having with her.
They never got around to having that dinner party. Be it work, family, or cape activities, they never got the opportunity to plan it. Instead they'd grown apart, never even speaking to each other.
Her wanting to separate from the rest of the Empire was no doubt a major cause of it, but why Marie herself had never tried reaching out had never been answered. And now it never will.
So that's why, with burning tears in her eyes, Purity released a blast of blinding light powerful enough to sheer the roof off a building down upon the thing that had killed her friend. Then she did it again.
And again, and again, and again.
Over and over, until the ground started to crater and sink into itself. She fired beam after beam with all the murderous intent she could muster, hoping that not even a single molecule of that monster would be left.
After almost two minutes, she finally stopped.
Where the beast once stood, was now a large smoking hole that sunk deep into the ground. The rest of the Empire was standing a fair distance away, marveling at the destruction she had caused and casting her looks of awe and amazement. She paid them no mind, simply staring uncaringly at the dark crater she had created.
When she finally did look away, it was to see Victor had successfully retrieved Marie's body, and was now kneeling, holding her headless corpse against his chest, small sobs fighting their way past his lips. The light concealing her body dimmed just a little.
'Oh Marie…'She despaired internally.
While the others started to regroup, Purity floated down to hover a few feet above the smoking hole, hoping to confirm that she had indeed vaporized the murderous villain. She blinked when a small orange glow started to emanate from the center of the crater, the light steadily growing brighter and brighter with each second until it was almost matching her own luminosity. Eyes widening, Purity flew back as quickly as she could just as a pillar of fire launched straight out of the hole, roaring like the engine of a jet.
The others shielded their eyes from the intense light and cringed back a few steps from the sudden increase in temperature. When it faded, a huge black cloud was left billowing out from the hole. Staring in horrified wonder, they all felt their blood begin to cool as a large shape started to ascend from the ground.
"Oh shit."Stormtiger voiced to the collective agreement of everyone present.
A simple wave of his arm dismissed the large cloud shrouding him, and Chimera was visible to everyone once again. A few burned hairs and wisps of smoke coming from his body was the only indication that the barrage of lasers had done anything to him at all. Purity stared down in shock after she retook to the air, at the cape that had taken some of her strongest attacks and was not only still standing, he also appeared to only be mildly annoyed. The only one she could say had done the same thing was Lung.
She felt her heartbeat spike when he cast an angry sneer up towards her.
"That hurt."He growled.
He launched himself into the air, his wings buzzing loudly as he flew towards her. She fired another beam, only for him to quickly swerve around it and cock back his crystal fist to strike her. She made to fling herself backwards like before when a large shape smashed into Chimera from above, forcing them both down to the ground. She blinked when a too small form jumped and rolled off Chimera's back before he hit the ground. A lady in black stood up and watched the downed monster cape intensely.
Night. Which means Fog shouldn't be too far behind her. She was proven correct when a large shifting cloud of dark gray gas swirled in from a nearby alley and compressed itself next to Night into the shape of a man before the smoke fell away to reveal a large man dressed in gray. Krieg emerged a second behind him, the goggles to his gas mask shining faintly in the moonlight.
Chimera stood up, now glaring heatedly at the duo before him. He barely stepped forward before Hookwolf bashed into him from the side. Together they tumbled over each other across the lot, punching, scratching, and snarling all the while. Chimera tossed Hookwolf's metal body off of him, multiple parts being forced to regrow after being gouged off by the monstrous capes claws.
Chimera was only given a second before Fog, in his gaseous form, converged onto him, easily concealing about half of the lot in smoke. Night was quick to jump into the poisoned cloud, her body no doubt shifting into its nightmarish transformation.
A loud impact was heard before Chimera let out a pained cry. Purity felt her chest constrict in suspense as she and the others listened to the sounds of the two fighting each other behind the veil of smoke.
Her attention was grabbed from the shifting gas cloud when she saw Kaiser march onto the scene with Fenja Menja and Alabaster just behind him. She flew over and landed in front of him, letting the light around her face disappear so she could look him in the eye.
"Othala's dead."She told him, eyes stinging with unshed tears. Kaiser didn't even acknowledge her, simply staring over her at the large cloud concealing the two capes within.
"I know."He replied evenly,"This monster will pay for this slight against us."
She clenched her fists. A slight. As if Chimera killing her was just a smear against the Empire's reputation. Nothing said for the quiet sweet girl who gave her everything for the people she cared about. Kayden felt her stomach twist in disgust. Swallowing the venom, she turned her attention back to the swirling mass of poisonous gas, letting the light hide her features again.
"You better keep your word."She warned him. Her jaw clenched when she heard him snort dismissively.
"Help us with this and you'll get what you want."He told her. The Empire forces regrouped and stood ready as Kaiser commanded them into formation. Their attention was drawn when an orange light shone from within the mass of smoke.
A bright explosion dispersed the cloud, the remaining smoke rapidly floating off to the side and pulling itself together to reform Fog, his body and clothes now smoking and sizzling from the fire.
With the gas removed, the Empire capes beheld the sight of Chimera breathing heavily with his magma arm still raised in the air and his crystal arm pinning Night-now in her human form-to the ground. Chimera stared at her with a feral look on his face, all the while, Night didn't appear the least bit concerned.
Flexing the claws on his lower arms, Chimera prepared to skewer her before Crusader sent his ghosts forward. He let Night go to block against the spectral lances aiming for his face, before a third ghost swooped in and snatched Night away from him.
Quickly smashing the ghosts out of existence, Chimera glared at the group in front of him.
"Chimera!"Kaiser called out,"For destroying our city and spilling the blood of our comrades, you now face the wrath of the Empire Eighty-Eight! Submit or draw out your suffering at our hands!"
Chimera blinked once, twice, then threw his head back in boisterous laughter. The action made most of the group uneasy, though Purity took a small petty bit of satisfaction at Kaiser's annoyance.
"Hahahaha! Really? You think you can beat me?"Chimera guffawed."That's rich. But hey, I won't run away from a fight. I wonder how many of you have to die before you do though. I already got one, let's see how many more it takes."
"Bastard!"Victor hissed. Purity found herself sharing his sentiment as power started to spark in her hands. This monster would pay for all he had done.
Hookwolf, like always, was the first one to leap into the fight, this time, with Fenja and Menja charging in behind him, both growing larger with each step.
Chimera raised his hand to strike Hookwolf's charging form before the villain suddenly stopped and dodged to the side as Menja-now ten feet tall-lunged forward with her enlarged spear to strike him in the chest. Crossing his arms deflected the strike, but Fenja followed her sister with a swipe of her sword, scraping across Chimera's stomach, causing the monstrous cape to stumble back. The two kept up their assault, stabbing and swiping at the murderous villain, slowly driving him back as they continued to grow taller until they were standing over him.
Chimera caught Fenja's sword in his two large hands before Menja planted the sole of her boot into his chest, launching him back to skid across the ground. Sneering as he stood up, Chimera launched himself at the twins only to be taken by surprise when a large wall of iron sprung up in front of him. Momentarily distracted, Crusader's spirits passed through the wall to drive their spears into his chest, pushing him back, and leaving him open for Purity to blast him from above, forcing him to his knees.
Krieg ran up to the downed villain and leapt up to land a kinetically enhanced punch across his jaw, causing him to grunt in surprise. Chimera made to punch the trenchcoat garbed man but found an unexpected resistance as his fist veered off course and buried itself in the ground just to Krieg's side. Alabaster took the chance to leapt in from behind and tried to wrap his arms around Chimera's large neck. Making to rip the albino cape off his neck, Chimera was suddenly stunned when the flashbang Alabaster had been carrying exploded in a loud and bright burst.
Alabaster fell away from the stunned villain, his hand rapidly healing from the damage. Kaiser lowered the iron wall while he and the Empire capes looked away or closed their eyes as Night leapt forward, her body rapidly switching to a nightmarish blob that launched itself forward in a burst of speed and struck Chimera hard enough to shoot him into the side of a warehouse.
Smiling beneath his helmet, Kaiser slowly swaggered toward the dazed monster as he tried to stand up. Purity hit him with another blast that knocked him back into the wall, Stormtiger blew a strong air current that kept him pinned. With hardly a thought, Kaiser formed steel bonds out of the wall, firmly locking down the beast's limbs. Fenja and Menja, both respectively 20 feet tall, leveled the tips of their sword and spear at the capes head.
Kaiser raised his hand, making the other Empire capes stand down for the moment. Sauntering up to the captive villain, Kaiser felt his smile grow across his face as he beheld the sight before him. With his head slumped down, dark hair concealing his hideous visage, Chimera was the perfect picture of defeat.
"Hmph, this is the monster that defeated the Protectorate? Really? I'm disappointed. Your victory must've been nothing more than luck. While not the hard fought victory I was hoping for, this will have to be enough."Kaiser gloated."It is a shame however, someone with your power could've been...useful to our cause. If only you had the foresight to come to us before all of this."
Purity kept her eyes firmly on the restrained cape. She noticed how unbelievably still he was, he wasn't trying to break free or even wiggle around in his binds. It was almost like he was unconscious. Which made no sense. Earlier she had leveled him with enough firepower to topple a skyscraper, and he just shrugged it off. If even her attacks weren't enough to properly hurt him, then how was he injured now?
"Something's not right."She muttered. Krieg turned to her questioningly.
"...-you've had your choice, and now you must deal with the consequences."Kaiser droned on.
Narrowing her eyes, Purity focused on the captured monster's face as best she could. Chimera lifted his head just an inch, the dark curtain of hair doing well to obscure his face, but the subtle move was just enough for Purity to see a sight that shot a spear of ice through her heart.
A smile, long, cruel and malicious, stretched almost across his whole face, perfectly showcasing his mouthful of razor sharp fangs. When his eyes found hers, it almost seemed to stretch impossibly wider.
"Get back!"She roared desperately while charging her hands full of light.
Chimera's form shifted to an ink black, almost smoky appearance, before it sank into the wall. The Empire capes staggered back in surprise.
"What?!"Kaiser screamed.
Purity blasted the wall to dust and stepped forward to shine a light inside. The warehouse was empty.
"Fuck!"Kaiser swore in a rare instance of lost temper.
Purity would've found the loss of composure amusing any other time had the circumstances been different, now, all she felt was a surging feeling of dread.
"Keep your eyes open!"Kaiser commanded,"He could still be here."
The others spread out, warily looking around for their target. Purity flew into the air, feeling her heart pound heavily in her chest. The moonlight didn't help very much for visibility, but that didn't stop her from looking.
A full minute of searching proved fruitless and she flew back to inform the others.
At the edge of the group, Rune stood looking back and forth, feeling more and more overwhelmed as time went on. It wasn't supposed to go down like this. They had a plan, they knew how to win against that freak, but everything started to go bad when Othala was killed. Angry tears stung at her eyes as she remembered how savagely that ugly fuck had killed her. It made her sick. Of all people, why did it have to happen to-
A violent chill wracked her robed form, causing her to shiver and a small tuft of white air to release from her mouth. Her brow furrowed in confusion.
"What the-?"She questioned, not seeing the giant shadow slowly emerge from the ground just behind her, Purity however, noticed right away.
"Rune behind you!"She screamed desperately trying to fly over to the young girl.
Spinning around, Rune's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in sheer terror as Chimera reformed, smiling nastily at her. The girl didn't even have enough time to scream before he was on her.
Purity flinched and looked away as a loud crunching sound pierced the night air. Looking up she saw, within a small crater, Rune's mangled body lay slumped, slowly filling the crevice with blood.
"No!"She bellowed. She shot forward, her hands pulsing with barely restrained energy.
Chimera turned to regard her for a moment, smirking all the while. Before she reached him, he disappeared in a blur too fast for her to see. She turned her head just in time to see him stop just in front of Krieg, the man stumbled back, no doubt desperately throwing up a kinetic distortion field around him to protect against whatever attack Chimera sent his way. It didn't do a thing to help when Chimera lifted his magma like arm and washed the man in a literal wave of fire.
The light of the fire swept over everyone present, casting them each in it's malevolent glow as they helplessly watched their teammate be roasted alive.
When the fire dissipated, the charred black corpse of Krieg fell to the ground, the smell of burned flesh filling the air around them.
A grimm silence settled over the area as the remaining Empire members absorbed the sight they just saw. In barely even twenty seconds, Chimera had killed two of their members just as easily as if they had been nothing more than insects.
Chimera looked down at the burned corpse in front of him before, in an act of pointless cruelty, lifted his leg and stomped the body, crushing the torso into an ashen paste.
Afterwards, he slowly turned towards the rest of the group, regarding them almost casually, and simply asked,"Next?"
The following seconds were tense, as no one, note even the ever battle starved Hookwolf, wanted to be the one to meet his challenge.
"Aww, no volunteers? Alright then."He smiled,"I'll choose."
They all barely tensed in preparation before once again, he became a blur of motion and stopped right in the middle of the group. A hard elbow and a tail whip sent Alabaster and Crusader flying while a mini explosion of fire sent Hookwolf and Cricket tumbling away.
Menja stomped forward, raising and stabbing her spear only for Chimera to catch the tip with his larger hands. The giant Valkyrie grunted as she tried to push down and impale him, but found stiff resistance against her. Chimera suddenly pulled, yanking the spear out of her hands and tossing it away before he shot up and flew into her face before punching her with both of the arms on his right side.
Menja's head snapped to the side before she stumbled back and fell onto a ruined warehouse, toppling the remaining structure.
Fenja rushed in, trying to swat him out of the air with her shield, only for Chimera to go intangible once more and have the shield pass right through him. Magma arm lighting up, Chimera threw a large fireball that exploded against Fenja's face. The large woman cried out in pain, falling to a knee and dropping her weapons before reaching up and wrenching her helmet off, revealing the severe burn the heated metal had done to her face.
Chimera took the chance to dive bomb into her face, kicking her powerfully with both feet against her forehead, Her eyes rolled back before she lost consciousness, falling onto her back and shrinking down to her normal size.
Watching her shrink, he prepared to finish her before a beam of white light hit him in the middle of his back, causing him to tilt forward in the air. He turned around to see Purity, her hand extended and shimmering with energy.
"You wanna go?"Chimera taunted. As he was about to fly forward to engage her, a large gauntleted fist struck him from the side, causing him to shoot through the air and through the roof of a warehouse.
Mejna shook her head, still feeling dizzy from the hard hit she had received. Turning to her unconscious sister, Menja was unprepared when Chimera burst through the warehouse wall and rammed into her shins, taking her legs out from under her and causing her to fall onto her stomach.
Skidding to a stop behind her, Chimera turned back to her before he slammed his crystal fist into the ground. A moment later, a large crystal spike rose from the ground, impaling Mejna through the stomach, lifting her up with the tip poking out of her back.
Menja gasped in agony as every little twitch seemed to shoot a raw hot spark through her abdomen.
"Damn you!"Kaiser raged. Chimera offered him a coy smile in return. With a gesture, Kaiser trapped Chimera's feet in steel traps, just before Crusader, leaning heavily on his lance, sent a wave of ghosts forwards to pile onto and restrain him.
"Purity now!"Kaiser signaled.
With a yell, Purity fired down a concentrated laser that sparked and popped through the air before making contact and enveloping the surrounding area in a blinding ivory light.
When the light faded, everyone looked in astonishment as Chimera's smoking body was simply brought to a knee, his four arms being used to hold himself upright,
"No."Purity whispered in despair.
Standing up unsteadily, Chimera winced as he flexed his back.
"That really stung. A for effort."He commented. He looked back to Kaiser, who stood completely stunned and smirked tauntingly,"But still not enough."
"Why won't you just die!"Hookwolf roared before he charged forward in a desperate attack, his body turning into a spinning wheel of sabers.
Clenching his magma fist, Chimera pointed the arm at the whirling mass of swords and released a focused blast of fire, the attack more akin to plasma. The metal quickly turned bright orange before melting away, Hookwolf screaming as the liquid metal melted away at his skin.
Tumbling out of the mass of melted steel, Hookwolf writhed on the ground, groaning and clawing at the ground as his body went into shock. Chimera picked him up by head, bringing the belligerent man up to his face.
"You first."
Lifting him high above the air, Chimera slammed Hookwolf down, the sound and feeling of his skull being crushed nearly causing him to laugh.
Looking back up at the remaining Empire capes, Chimera felt a sudden surge of anger at their sudden meekness. What happened to all that bravado from before?
"Come on! You want me?!"He challenged,"I'm standing right here!"
Kaiser stood, feeling completely numb with fear as he looked upon the monster that had decimated his forces so easily. When he had taken over the Empire, he had sworn to lead the gang into a new era, better than Allfather ever could. But in one night, he had nearly halved his capes numbers in a vain attempt at glory. Such an embarrassment would never be forgiven. How could he possibly redeem himself?
As he surveyed the downed members, each one brutally murdered in sickening and inhumane ways, Kaiser felt a large weight drop into his stomach.
"Oh God…"He breathed as he held the gaze of the demon responsible for such wanton slaughter. There was no victory to be found here. Only death. He didn't want to die.
"R-retreat, retreat!"He called with a tremble in his voice. His voice shocked the others out of their stupors. They looked among themselves and realized, that was for the better. They couldn't win. If they wanted to live, they needed to run.
A few of them took tentative steps back before Chimera started to laugh. The sound sent a rippling dread through all of them. When he finally stopped, he looked Kaiser straight in the eyes, smiling with maniacal glee.
Kaiser felt his heartbeat speed up as he turned around and ran.
"Where do you think you're going?"Chimera's voice said from right behind him.
Eyes widening, Kaiser half-turned before sending out a wave of iron spikes from the ground, each of them snapping and breaking against Chimera's hide. Not even breaking stride, Chimera reached out and grabbed Kaiser with his crystal hand around the neck.
Lifting the choking Empire leader to eye level, Chimera stared at him intensely.
"Six."He said. Kaiser blinked in confusion.
"I took down six of your crew before you decided to run away."He clarified,"Not too bad. Could be worse."He smirked in a way that made him tremble in his armor.
"Still can."He growled.
"P-please...don't…"He begged raspily. Chimera seemed to delight in his desperation.
"Don't blame me. I'm just giving you what you wanted after all."He explained.
Chimera flexed the claws on his lower arms, marveling at the renewed struggle Kaiser put up at the sight of them. He chuckled lowly.
"Thanks for all the fun."He said,"Too bad we won't be doing this again."
He plunged his clawed appendage into the armored gang leader. Kaiser's scream echoed throughout the docks.
The remaining members of the Empire took that as their cue to run. Purity was the only one who stayed behind long enough to see Kaiser's body, now with a large gaping hole through its chest, fall to the ground.
She stared, feeling a swirl of emotions in her chest. As she beheld the dead body she couldn't quite comprehend it. Kaiser was dead. Max was dead. Chimera had killed him.
Where did that leave her now?
She wasn't given time to think about this when Chimera turned his gaze to her, causing her heart to jump before she turned away and sped away from the massacre.
Chimera's chilling laughter followed her all the way.
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x
And that's it.
Tell me what you think in the reviews, I actually had fun with this one, it was cool to do a fight scene like this.
Anyways, Stay safe and have a good night.