Ch. 69: Enough running, Old Man

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the wait!

I have become rusty when it comes to writing so I am resorting to posting short chapters like I did when I first started out.

If the wording and stuff in this update is subpar compared to what I have written in the past, I apologize. So many things have happened lately and I have not been able to practice writing and keeping my edge. However, I promise to try to get back up to speed as soon as I can for the sake of not only what is left in this story but also all of my stories. They are all still my babies and I still love the series that they come from so even if I can't devote so much time to them like I did in the past, I still am a huge fan of fanfic writing and playing the games.

Anyway,

Enough of the sob story.

I am gearing up for the epic chapter-long final battle but I wanted to post a real update since it has been so long.

Thank you for anyone still out there that has been patient enough to wait on this story. It is weird to think about but it truly has been in a rather large amount of my adult life so I thank all you guys for being part of the wild ride with me.

I hope you enjoy!

Read and review if you want!

"We've got another wall of fuckers to our right!"

Foxtrot 813 had no sooner called out with his modified Replica VII voice before the dozen or so denizens of Hell were vaporized by the supporting fire from our Dark Signal APC's cannon that was under the direction of our resident marksman Bravo 2. Meanwhile, above us, the ancient dragon that had become Amara's fiercely loyal pet and the accompanying flight of our vanguard airwing of F-22 Raptors were keeping us covered from any flying abominations that tried to stop us from advancing towards our objective.

We were now less than a mile from the Hell Portal and the raw energy being generated from it would have been enough to prevent most machinery from being able to approach it had it not been for the presence of both Amara, Akira, and Alma. Due to the close proximity to the portal, my wife and I were now literally fighting side-by-side through the seemingly infinitely respawning wave of hellspawn. However, by now, the once highly coordinated and formidable force had been reduced to little more than a ragtag group that relied on trying to use mass charges as soon as they respawned out of the portal. As such, it was not so much that we were at a strategic or tactical disadvantage but more of just needing Alma and our beloved daughters as heavy duty fire support to assist our Replica Forces as we slowly but surely pushed forward with the veteran 1st Division leading the way behind Dark Signal.

I lamented the fact that we had not anticipated that the level of hellspawn being pumped out of the portal starting about a mile and a half from its base around where the secret ATC Facility that the Akira-possessed Carson had been waiting for us months prior had been located. Due to my lack of foresight, had it not been for my beautiful and disturbingly powerful wife, we would have been forced to slow to a crawl as we used the raw brute strength of our military to wade through the mass of bodies rushing towards us. Even with the remaining field agents of F.E.A.R. now fighting at our side, our infamous combat prowess that had been born of our Liberation of Fairport, the systematic destruction of ATC across the globe, and then the apocalyptic war against Akira's Army of Hellspawn, our skills were being pushed to their absolute limit against the endless waves of enemies.

Luckily, we had three things working in our favor. First, as stated before, it appeared that order and leadership in their ranks had become virtually nonexistent ever since Akira had defected to our side and, thus, all of their assaults were now basically little more than mass wave attacks. Second, now that we were so close to the portal, the hellspawn did not have enough to properly take forms like they had in the past and were now all essentially featureless humanoid black shapes that relied upon physical attacks rather than firearms and modern weapons that used psionic energy are bullets. Finally, third, while their numbers were infinite, they were no match for the unstoppable killing machine that was my wife.

To say that Alma's more disturbing side had been sufficiently riled up by the opportunity to either vaporize or cannibalistically absorb near endless waves of humanoid figures was an understatement. In truth, I had not seen such an intense look of bloodlust in her child form's glowing orange eyes since perhaps when she had gone on her initial rampage at Fairport upon being released from her watery prison. Her beautiful, pale, blood-soaked slender frame was now also covered in charcoal black ash as she effortlessly cut down dozens of the denizens at a time with little more than a glance in their direction. At one time, I would have been completely disturbed by the genuinely happy smile on my wife's ethereal face as she effortlessly cut down dozens of supernatural entities as if she was a child playing on a playground. However, now, it was merely another reason why I had fallen for her.

As I continued moving forward, a hellspawn suddenly manifested out of a patch of shadow on the ground about five yards in front of me. The world seemingly moved in slow motion around me as my surgically enhanced reflexes activated out of instinct while I swung my Patten Assault Rifle. My swing struck home as I cracked the humanoid creature in the left side of its head with the butt of my rifle's stock with enough force to send it staggering backwards a few steps. Before it could recover, I then moved forward and thrust my bayonet into the hellsoldier's chest. As the impaled creature let out an inhuman cry of pain while it struggled to free itself, I twisted the blade inside of it slightly before then ripping it back out.

However, the creature had no sooner began to dissolve into ash before alarm bells went off inside my mind. I leapt off to my left just in time to avoid the massive molten rock club impacting the soot-covered ground where I had been standing moments prior. The force of the semi-truck-sized object slamming into the ground was enough to send me stumbling forward a few steps after I rolled and attempted to stand back up before I managed to restabilize myself.

I deactivated my reflexes as I twisted back around to face the towering abomination before me with my rifle raised at the ready. The easily two story hulking monster that was standing less than ten yards away resembled what I could only describe as being a humanoid demon with pitch black skin, a heavily muscled frame, two bull-like horns on top of its skull-like armored head, burning red eyes, and razor sharp teeth in its pronounced jaws. As the creature lifted its club-like weapon back up into the air, I began to grip the trigger of my assault rifle in anticipation of the fight.

However to surprise of both the towering monstrosity and I, suddenly, three unnaturally thick tree root-shaped tentacles erupted out of the charred ground around the abomination and then rose at least four stories into the air. As the massive, surprised brute began try to struggle against its impending demise, the tentacles wrapped themselves around its body before they then began to audibly rip their victim apart. The beast tried to let out a cry of agony but was silenced moments later as it was violently ripped into several pieces which were then crudely tossed aside before the tentacles then slowly dissolved into ash.

Confused, I turned back to see Alma standing about an arm's length away from me. My wife was still in her child form but there was something different about her overall demeanor. Her body was covered in blood and her the usual calm serenity that had come to fill her eyes had been replaced by an almost feral level of aggression and intensity that only softened briefly as her gaze met mine.

However, despite her unnerving demeanor, there was a noticeable amount of genuine concern in her beautiful voice as she asked me, "Are you alright, my love?"

I raised the muzzle of my Patten Assault Rifle up into the air slightly as I replied with a feigned sense of cockiness, "Yeah…thanks…though, I could have handled him myself."

The blood-soaked demoness rolled her glowing eyes for a moment before she replied, "Oh…is that so?"

After lowering the muzzle of my rifle back down to a normal level, I shot back, "I can take care of myself, thank you."

My wife smirked ever so slightly before she pressed, "You said the same thing the time that time that you went down that sentient flight of stairs even when I warned you not to."

Irritation began to swell up inside me as I retorted, "I didn't think that they would actually be infinite."

Alma flashed a brief smug smile before she lectured, "And you got stuck in the endless descent because you didn't listen to me."

My eternal partner cupped her small, doll-like hands together as she then teased with a mocking tone, "Help me Momma. Please, I'm sorry for not doing like Mother told me to. Save me, please."

I growled back, "First of all, that is not how that conversation went down. Second, you were the one that waited until after I had started to descend the stairs before saying that they 'might' be dangerous."

My wife simply smiled and remarked, "Clearly it would have been fine if you had just listened to Mother."

I let out a brief laugh before I said, "I seem to recall that I was the one that had to save you from that weird creature thing that could only move if you didn't look directly at it."

The demoness dismissed my statement as she retorted, "That was just a slip...I was simply caught unprepared by its weird little gimmick where looking at it might stop it but you cannot kill it without looking away from it. You simply got lucky and discovered how to counter it before I did."

She paused for a moment and then added, "Then it was I who had to save my poor defenseless boy when he was about to be ripped apart by that hulking mass of dead bodies that had been turned into a walking tank creature."

Seeing another wave of hellspawn approaching in the distance from the direction of the portal, I shot back, "Well, enjoy 'rescuing' me while you can because once we close the portal and things finally go back to normal, you probably will never get the chance again."

There was a brief pause before the goddess replied, "I'm not going to let things go back to normal."

Despite our inhumanly close bond, I thought that I must have not heard my partner correctly and I turned back to ask, "Sorry, what was that? I don't think I heard you right."

Despite our surroundings, there was a slight chill in the air as my wife explained, "Don't you see, Michael? With the power of Hell and that old fool's power once I absorb him, we could permanently turn all of reality into one large Fairport. We could have a playground to play on forever and ever…just like we always wanted."

Having become accustomed to Alma's manic episodes, I simply replied, "Or…we could just kick back and have a beer when this is all over…you know…just chill for a century or two."

The petite, raven haired demoness pouted slightly before she argued in a childish tone that suited her current physical form, "I'll be bored!"

I assured my psychotic partner, "We'll be able to find ways to amuse ourselves without having to turn the entire world into a nightmarish hell scape."

Alma smiled ever so slightly and then said, "I'm going to hold you to that, little boy."

With my wife's more feral side seemingly satisficed for now, I simply smiled back and then turned my attention to the enemies that were approaching our location. However, they were quickly mowed down by supporting fire from Bravo 2 from his position manning the cannon on top of our APC. With the path cleared again for a brief moment, I began to advance forward towards the Hell Portal.

Unfortunately, I had only been able to take a few steps before the display of my newly supplied set of HUD Glasses began to malfunction with the readouts of my health status and ammunition supply becoming nearly unreadable due to the level of distortion. My vision suddenly became black as my surroundings seemed to inexplicably disappear. However, the void around me was soon occupied by a singular being as the Plague Doctor materialized into existence to stand before me approximately five feet away from me. Despite he himself being cloaked in nearly all black attire, the god-like individual was perfectly visible against the void surrounding both of us due to the glow of the green aura surrounding him.

I tried to raise my rifle and activate my enhanced reflexes, but my body refused to listen as if it was frozen with my arms locked at my sides. A faint crimson aura surrounded my body that occasionally seemed to turn a much dark shade as if my psionic emissions were being suppressed by the power of the being before me. All I could do was glare back at the malevolent god-like entity before me as he seemed to peer into the very core of my mind despite my attempts to repel his psychic intrusion.

After a moment, the Plague Doctor addressed me, "Tell me…why do you fight for that monster? Do you truly believe that what you feel for her is love?"

Before I could reply, the masked being dissolved into a cloud of ash only to rematerialize somewhere behind me and then remark, "You know her true nature more than anyone…a predator…a monster that cares for nothing except satisfying her own selfish desires regardless of anyone or anything that tries to get in her way."

Images of Alma attacking and killing not only Armacham personnel but also Delta Forces Operatives and even civilians that were unfortunate enough to run afoul of her during her blind rampage to get revenge appeared before my Mind's Eye. I felt my stomach drop as the visions began to involve my old squad mates during the nightmare that was ultimately a failure of a mission to try to destroy Alma in Fairport.

The doctor seemed to have moved closer to me due to how much louder his voice was as he continued, "You know firsthand what happens to those who try to resist her."

I felt a wave of nausea hit me as I saw a vision of her taking advantage of my defenseless body while I was in the amplifier at Still Island. As the vision played out, the Plague Doctor pressed, "What she did to you was one of her most unforgiveable sins…yet…here you are…at her side…why?"

The aura around my body finally turned a solid crimson as my body began to respond once again. I turned and began to fire in the direction of the voice only to find that I was seemingly alone inside the void once again.

As I began to slowly sweep my surroundings with my rifle held dead steady, I called out, "I don't have to explain shit to you!"

Alma materialized directly at my left side in her child form as she remarked with a steady, confident tone, "Our love is not something that we have to explain to anyone else."

The god-like entity let out a curt laugh before he then held the end of his cane out towards us and commented, "Oh please…this abomination of what you two call a relationship is a mockery of the very word 'love'."

My wife shot back, "And you think you have the right to judge our love? The only being that you have ever loved is yourself."

The Beak Doctor let out a short, curt laugh before he remarked, "That is a pretty sentiment coming from the woman that took advantage of a loner to fill the void in her heart left by the loss of her two children."

He paused and then looked at me before continuing, "And you…you realize that you are defending the girl that groomed you while you were a child and then raped you? You do know how pathetic that is as a man to defend that monster next to you?"

I raised my Patten PK470 up, the tactical rails on the top and the left side of its worn frame just above the grip just barely being visible in the darkness as I aimed it dead steady at the Beak Doctor once more. Just as I started to squeeze the trigger, I growled, "'Pathetic' this motherfucker!"

However, the burst of 7.8mm rounds that I fired sliced through nothing but air as the god-like entity dissolved into ash the moment that I had started to fire my weapon. Irritated at my target's cowardice, I began to sweep the darkness surrounding us.

However, I had no sooner started to sweep my surroundings before I suddenly heard his voice very close behind me as he taunted me with his slightly muffled voice, "Is that really your solution to everything?"

Alarm bells rang out through my mind as I willed my body to react in time before my foe could take advantage of his position. However, thankfully, before I could even fully react, the deafening sound of the report of a shotgun broke the relative silence of the abyss. The sound of my salvation was mixed with the Doctor letting out a loud cry of shock and fury as the blast hit its mark on the overconfident being that had foolishly allowed my unseen ally to get the drop on him.

I wheeled around to find Alpha 1 approaching my wife and I from the darkness. The weathered muzzle of his signature Vollmer Ultra92 Automatic Shotgun was both smoking and glowing slightly from the heat of the 12 Gauge round while he inched closer with his firearm at the ready.

As the battle-scarred, veteran Replica VII Heavy Trooper moved to stand next to me, I once again, had to turn back around in another direction as I heard the malevolent entity taunt us, "Ah, I see the faithful guard dog has arrived."

As my brother stopped beside me, the being continued, "Tell me, do you ever get tired of having to babysit these two while they go off on their little reckless spur of the moment schemes and impulsive decisions? Always having to be the voice of reason…the sane one of the trio. Doesn't that get tiresome after a while?"

Upon seeing that his words were not riling up the heavily armed and armored soldier, the god-like entity resorted to asking, "Should I even get started on how both of those disgusting little brats that they call their daughters have a creepy little crush on you?"

My stoic brother's only response was to fire another round from his automatic shotgun. However, yet again, the Beaked Doctor once again dissolved into a cloud of ash just as the spread shot could impact his frame.

My wife took a small step forward before calling out, "All this is big talk for a coward that will not face us head on!"

Taking a step to stand next to the raven-haired demoness, I called out, "Enough running, old man…time to end this shit once and for all!"

As the god materialized before me once more, I addressed him, "It is over…your army is all but useless at this point and the portal is within our grasp. If you were going to make a cliché last ditch effort to stop us in a climatic final stand, now would be the time."

Alma remarked as a thick crimson aura began to swirl around her child form's petite frame, "Come on, old man…the time has come…either you finally face us once and for all or you leave our world with your tail between your legs."

Our words seemed to have finally riled our elusive adversary enough to push him into action as he fully materialized approximately fifteen yards away while the world around us began to change from the featureless black void that had previously been surrounding us into what appeared to be a Late Medieval era town complete with cobblestone streets and buildings that were tightly packed together. As the town finished taking shape, the sky shifted into a dark hellish red while a faint green mist began to drift lazily around us in the streets.

As he motioned towards us with his cane, the Plague Doctor remarked with a low, echoing tone, "As you wish."

However, just as he seemed to be in control of the upcoming battle arena, a loud crack of thunder rang out. I briefly turned back to see that the area behind us had been transformed to resemble the war torn version of Fairport that I had come to love ever since I had first seen it during the premonition that I had had during the trip to Aristide's Penthouse. Upon turning back, I saw that the cobblestone street beneath my feet had become the cracked, burnt asphalt of the streets in Alma's twisted version of our beloved home as the area was bathed in its signature glowing orange hue.

As we moved towards the masked entity that had become our most powerful foe upon revealing his true intentions for our world, the raven haired demoness at my side remarked with an icy tone that was dripping with malice and cruelty, "Foolish old man…you have become weak…however, I still look forward to finally absorbing all that power that you still have and officially becoming the God of this world…then no one will ever be able to harm my family ever again."

As I raised my Patten Assault Rifle up at the ready as my body was enveloped by a pulsating crimson red aura, I remarked, "I believe that 'Devil of this world' is more appropriate for you, you beautiful psychopath."

However, before my wife could respond, the area behind the Beaked Doctor changed to match Alma's Nightmare World and, thus, effectively boxing the ancient entity into a small space of the void that was still under his control.

As the new expanse of Fairport took hold in the emerging battle arena, Amara and Akira both materialized behind the ancient god as Amara addressed us with her innocence tone, "Oh my…a family affair and we weren't invited."

Foxtrot 813 materialized behind Akira with his worn Patten Assault Rifle at the ready as she remarked, "My dear sweet sister…it looks like everyone is having so much fun."

As Point Man joined 813, Amara hugged the alternate version of herself as she said in response, "So much fun, my beloved sister…I want to be part of it too."

As we surrounded the now trapped god, the two precious little girls asked politely in perfect sync, "Mother, may we play?"

Alma replied without missing a beat, "Of course you may, my precious daughters. Make Mommy proud."

Then, my wife's voice darkened once again as she addressed us all, "Now…let's show this old fool what happens to even gods who dare to threaten the Wade Family."

The world seemed to slow to a crawl as my Enhanced Reflexes began to take over as I opened fire upon the masked being that had caused my family and countless worlds so much pain and suffering. One way or another, this conflict was going to end today.