Hey there. Sorry it's been a week or so since I last posted. Got back from my holiday last Sunday, and had to do all the things you have to do when you've been away for ten days. Get up to date on Destiny, mow the lawn, go to work, download some new stuff, play more games, play some movies.

And I also had to replace my laptop.

See, my laptop is bit on the old side. And a while back (like a couple of years ago) the battery stopped working. Wouldn't hold a charge. Had it replaced; still didn't work. So I decided that it still worked well enough as long as I had it plugged in, and I could keep using it.

Then while on holiday, we had a power cut for five and a half hours. And I couldn't use my laptop at all during that time. Well, that kinda defeats the point of having a laptop.

I had saved some money while I was on holiday, and so the next week I went into town and bought a new one. And then I had to download stuff onto that.

But here we are, with a new chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it.


Chapter 12: Step 12 – Play by Your Own Damn Rules

Word quickly spread about Slaughterhouse Nine. About how they had finally arrived and began their rampage of terror. Regent, Coil, and Blacklight all got a visit from one member of the Nine each. So did the PRT, and Hookwolf. As far as we can tell, they're recruiting. Win, and you get forced into a group of monsters and hunted for the rest of your days.

Lose, and you suffer and even worse fate.

So here we were, travelling by two boats across the lake Leviathan made to a lone patch of land, cut off from everything else by fallen buildings and rubble. The lake was the only way in or out. Perfect for letting us talk about the Nine without them sneaking up on us.

Hopefully.

I looked over to my right, watching Blacklight as he flew next to us. His armour was lit up bright, almost blinding. Streaks and patches of black showed through, the material something that didn't change. Two large leathery wings grew from his back, flapping every now and then to give the illusion of unpowered flight.

It was obvious why no one had heard anything about Purity now.

"Everything ok in your territory?" I practically yelled at him, trying to be heard over the sound of the engine. He turned his head slightly, my goggles saving me from getting spots in my eyes. "Siberian didn't kill anyone?"

He shook his head. "Just told me that she wanted to recruit me. Got people to the shelters before she tried anything. Now I've got heavier fortifications in place in case any of them make a repeat appearance."

"I thought she didn't talk at all." That was one of the rumours about her. She never said a word. She was an animal on two legs. There were so many reasons people had on why she never spoke."

"She talks. It probably is that no one survives to repeat anything." He tilted away slightly. "Better be professional now. There are already some people waiting."

He was right. Three flashes blinked at the dock, followed by two. Alex raised a hand, flashed it twice then twice again. One flash in response. Blacklight pulled ahead on us, landing softly as we slowed down. Two of Coil's men hopped out of the boats, tying them to rods of rebar stabbed into the ground. We hopped out after them, and headed further inward. Cricket was waiting for us, flashlight in hand. She nodded, and led the way. Someone had already cleared a path through the wreckage, several holes in the buildings making a tunnel.

We came out the other side to a 'room' in one of the towers. Everyone else was already waiting.

Hookwolf had most of his Chosen standing to attention, acting as scouts and lookout. Faultline stood by one wall, covered in more concealing clothes than before. I sort of wondered how they had gotten on after Blacklight had given them whatever they had been after. Did they find out what they were looking for?

Coil and the Travellers were standing at the other end of the room. We moved closer to them, while Blacklight cleared his own space. He looked at the large number of capes in Hookwolf's entourage. His body shifted, growing wider and thicker. Then it split into three slimmer piles. The center pile took on his appearance again.

The two outer piles though, took on new appearances.

The one to his left grew shorter and slimmer, his armour growing slender curved spines around the joints. Murals of the sun started forming over the chest, arms and legs, sticking out slightly like a 3D picture. Two large spines grew from his lower arms, sticking out backwards from his elbows. Three holes just before his hands, like a wrist launcher. The featureless face plate was replaced by a different mask, resembling a human face. Half of a sun covered the right side of his face. Two horns curled round from the back, twining like a laurel wreath.

The figure on his right was also shorter and slimmer, though it had grown feminine curves. She too had a similar structure to the other, though her armour was covered in moons, and the mask had a moon on the left side of her face. And the 'guns' on her wrists were molded differently. Spikes stuck out the end, a long end poking up her arm. Two pieces of hardened biomass were folded out, forming a bow or crossbow of some kind.

We all stepped back slightly in surprise. The others because they weren't expecting him to be capable of doing that; and me and Tattletale because we weren't aware that he was going to separate himself like that again. Why did he want to make himself seem to have lackeys as well?

The two other Blacklights moved forward and bowed towards him. "Artemis and Apollo, reporting for duty, Sir."

Wait. Artemis and Apollo? What was with the fancy titles?

"Is there a reason you're trying to show off your cloning powers, Blacklight?" Coil asked, sounding amused. But… Well, if I were him, I'd be scared. One Blacklight was too much. Three of him would be overkill.

"They're not clones." Blacklight responded. "Before the Nine showed up, I had started recruiting lieutenants to help manage my claimed territory. All I did was transfer them from my lair to here. If we're going to have a pissing contest over how many capes we've got working for us, then I'd prefer not to be left out. Might make you lot think you're tough enough to fuck with me."

He… He got… Holy shit. He's got some way of making more people like him? And having them appear by his side whenever he wanted? How could he even do that?

There was still so much about his powers that we didn't know about.

"I… see." Coil said. "So if we're all done trying to one up each other, perhaps we could get to the matter at hand?"

"In a minute." Hookwolf said. "We're still waiting on people. And I've got a few grievances to air first." He nodded to Stormtiger, who pulled out a flare and fired it straight up. I saw Artemis and Apollo readying their weapons. Apollo's arm-mounted barrels twisted forward, and Artemis raised her crossbows. I saw Blacklight's claws lengthening.

Faultline also looked ready for a fight. "If this is an attempt to call in the Nine, you won't survive the night, Hookwolf."

He smirked back at her. "Hardly that. I'm just calling some other people who are interested in stopping them." There was the sound of a motorboat engine, and then footsteps on the rubble. I had a few of my bugs land on the people approaching. Too few to be the Nine, though they could've sent only some of their members.

Miss Militia stepped out through the tunnel, followed by Battery, Triumph, Clockblocker, and Weld. The Protectorate were attending too. Of course they would. The Nine are among their most notorious targets. They'd accept any help in taking them down for good.

Hookwolf gave a short nod to Miss Militia as her group joined the party.

"Is this everyone?" She asked him, looking at the group. Behind her, I noticed four more members waiting by the tunnel, standing guard. They were dressed up in white armour, with various bits attached to them. One of them held something in his arms. It was hard to make out from here. "Can we get to business then?"

"We just got a complaint to address first." Hookwolf replied. He pointed at us. "The Undersiders and the Travellers have been taking over while we've all been pulling ourselves back together again. Grue's been scaring off my boys in the upper Downtown areas; Bitch's dogs have been heard in the trainyards; Regent's been sighted over in the college neighbourhoods; Swarm's completely taken over the Boardwalks; Ballistics' been shooting off everything he can get his hands on north of here; Sundancer's been spotted in the shopping district; Genesis at the downtown coast; Trickster's taken over the heart of Downtown; and I'm willing to bet that Tattletale's all nice and set up in the Docks." He turned to point at Blacklight. "And we've all seen that eyesore you call a base."

"You're just pissed because I'm not operating out of an abandoned warehouse like your boys are." He replied.

"Hookwolf, we're already aware that they've been taking territory. Right now, we need to focus on more…"

"This is important. Maybe not now, but you can bet your ass that we'll be regretting all this in a month or two when we can't dislodge these fucking ticks. I bet that they've been working even harder ever since the Nine showed up. Catch us while our pants are down." He crossed his arms angrily. "We need to make sure they're not gonna try and steal more of our turf while we're off fighting the Nine. I say we have them stay away from their territories until the Nine are dealt with."

Stay away? Did he mean we should be moved into a base or something? Leave our people to fend for themselves? To be prey for the Nine?

I don't think so.

"Are you fucking retarded, Hookwolf?" Blacklight growled. "You're seriously wasting our time with shit like this when Slaughterhouse Nine are in the city? Fuck you." He turned to Miss Militia. "There are hundreds of people grouped up in our territories. The PRT and the Protectorate are too busy to look after them, or else you wouldn't let us be. You take us away and put us somewhere else, you're leaving them vulnerable to the Nine. This isn't going to help. It's just Hookwolf being a whiny little bitch."

She frowned. "Despite your… choice of words, you make some good points. But the Nine are too important to waste time debating about territories. You'll all just have to play nice until we deal with them. The likely loss of life or injuries incurred should keep anyone from starting anything."

"But we'll be leaving them in an advantageous situation." Hookwolf stressed.

"A compromise then. All the capes of every group present here would move into neutral territory until the Nine are dealt with. No one can give orders to attack, or try to claim territory. Does that sound fair?"

"No." He replied angrily. "We'll be sitting ducks for the Nine to…"

Alex slammed his fists together. Not hard enough to blast us all away, but definitely enough to make us stumble. Hookwolf and Miss Militia stopped arguing.

"How about this for a plan? You lot tell me everything you know about the Nine, and I'll kill them all for you. The rest of you can go fuck off or screw each other or whatever you do while I'm busy."

"Killing the Nine isn't gonna be like taking on Skidmark and his shitty band of capes." Hookwolf argued back. "They're monsters."

"So am I. They tried to recruit me, remember?"

"Then…"

"Shut up. If I wanted to join them, I'd just kill the lot of you and bring your heads to them for admission." He turned to look at the four guards. "Your freaks over there know I could do it if I wanted to."

"Shut up, Blacklight." One of them – the lone woman – replied. She turned to the others. "He has a point though. He survived everything we threw at him. He could handle whatever the Nine use against him." She shrugged. "And if he doesn't, then there's one less villain in the city. Win-win."

Hookwolf fixed her with a glare. "And just who the hell are you?"

"Captain Sanderson, leader of Prometheus." Miss Militia replied for her. "They're going to be our Slaughterhouse response team. They've already proven themselves against one member." The larger man on their team stepped forward, dropping the dented thing on the ground.

It was a white torso, cracked and melted to an empty husk.

Mannequin.

"The Nine have incredibly dangerous powers, but from a defensive point of view only Crawler and Siberian have anything to help. Our team, working with Blacklight, could take their more vulnerable members within three days, maybe even less." Captain Sanderson said. "From there, we can focus on either killing the last two, or at least driving them out of the city."

"In that case, I'd like to volunteer some very important information." Coil said. "According to a source of mine, Jack Slash is the key target. If he makes it out of Brockton Bay, it will bode ill for everyone."

"That's annoyingly ominous." Triumph replied.

"The last time I heard someone say 'bode ill', it was about a bioweapon." Blacklight mused. "How dangerous are we talking about here, Coil?"

"My source has been a bit vague on some of the details. But from what she's told me, he's the catalyst of the end of the world. If he makes it out of here alive, he will meet, talk, kill or influence someone. That single action will lead to a series of events that will result in anywhere thirty-three to ninety-six percent of the world's population."

Everyone stared at him in shock and surprise.

"If he dies, then the events will happen at some point in the near-distant future instead."

Blacklight nodded. "So it's someone outside the city. It won't be from someone already here?"

"I'm afraid that I don't know. And my source is currently out of commission."

"In that case, I'm doing this alone."

"You can't be serious." Sanderson said.

"I am. My power could fit the bill, and I'm the only one here who actually knows what I'm fully capable of. Artemis, Apollo; return to base and keep it on lockdown. No one gets in or out until Jack Slash is confirmed dead." His capes nodded, and re-fused with his body.

"I want everything you know about them. Especially Jack Slash, Crawler, and Siberian."


Amy was walking into Hell itself.

At least, that was how she felt, heading into Blacklight's territory.

The outermost reaches of his new territory weren't too bad. They looked normal, if a bit ravaged. But as far as she could tell, she was the only one there. There was no other sign of life, apart from little monsters he must've created. She shuddered as she saw one scurry past. It turned to look at her, before moving away. It made her think of Bonesaw's creations; things made of meat and bone that just shouldn't exist.

Well, once she got her hands on his skin, they won't ever work together again. Maybe hit him with a plague, or make his heart stop, or make his brain explode inside his skull. She had already broken her most important rule; surely getting revenge… I mean, stopping him from joining the Nine was important enough to forget about her rules.

Just for once.

But her bravado started fading as she actually got near to his base, actually causing her to grind to a halt at the edge of the street right before it. The ground on the opposite side of the road was covered in a layer of… something. Molded to resemble concrete. Large towers and walls surrounded it, an obvious thorax moving around and lighting the place up. Two giant monsters stood on either side of the entrance, looking like they were ready to tear her limb from limb.

It all may have looked normal, but she knew he was a biological Tinker. The ground was probably made of flesh, or a meat moss, or something equally gross and perverse.

And now that she stood at his front door, she wasn't even sure how she was going to get in.

A sobbing laugh erupted from her mouth, one hand trying to hide it. This was insane. What was she thinking? That she could somehow sneak into the heart of his base, kill him, and then make it out? She was a healer, not a damn fighter. If one of those monsters took a swipe at her before she could destroy them, she'd end up dead. This was madness.

But then a crowd of people started approaching, and she found her way in.

The crowd came to a halt before the monsters, wrapped in rags and carrying bags. Amy snuck into the crowd, gently pushing her way into the centre of it. Maybe being surrounded by all these people would make the monsters think she was one of them. She trembled as they approached, lumbering over and sniffing them. Two tendrils rose up from their back, eyes attached to them. It almost seemed to glare at her, and she actually felt her knees knocking. But they stepped aside and let them past unharmed. Then two large gates closed behind them, and she was cut off from the world.

No problem. Once she had killed Blacklight, she'll just use her power to make a hole in the wall and escape that way.

She was actually amazed by just how many people there were in here. And how normal it all looked. These people were like the citizens living in the wealthier parts of the city; well dressed and apparently living with water and power. Everyone else had to scavenge for what they needed, but these people… Yeah, these people were being handed all that on a silver platter. She saw people lining up outside a store, walking away with food packages. One person she passed had a small lizard following him, coming to a stop before another group. The lizard continued into the center of the ground, curled up, and started glowing red. The men pulled out marshmallows and started roasting them over the lizard's back.

Unbelievable that he had all this from organic creations.

She shook her head. This wasn't the time to be gazing at monsters. The longer she spent in here, the more likely someone might decide to attack her. Or she might get found out. Walking with purpose, she headed towards the base itself. A nightmarish castle devoted to a sick monster.

To her surprise, the front gate was slightly ajar. Enough for someone skinny like her to squeeze through. She grimaced as she felt the organic senses of the door through her power. Muscles acting like hinges, opening and closing the door on command. Cheap theatrics to wow the stupid. She managed to get through, and found herself in a large hallway. No, not large. Massive. Big enough for Leviathan to walk down.

Or a Leviathan Killer.

Oh god, please don't let that thing be his creation.

She kept sneaking down the hallways, pushing herself onwards instead of letting her mind realise how completely goddamn stupid this whole thing is. The whole place was completely deserted. She didn't encounter a single guard on her way through. Was he really expecting those monsters at the front gate to deal with any threat? Or was he just so arrogant that he didn't expect anyone to make it this far? Whatever it was, it was working for her. She had made it to another set of massive doors, also left slightly ajar. She peeked through the gap.

Inside were four costumed people, wearing similar outfits to Blacklight. Likely some super suit he created for them. They were standing about, or lying on the floor, or in one case sitting on a chair fused to the ground. They didn't look all that alert.

Two of them – a man and a woman – suddenly sat up alert, hand pressed against their ear. They both nodded, and then somehow sunk into the ground. In their place rose up Blacklight himself, standing like a dark tyrant of nightmares. He shook his head, and his armour started melting away.

There. That was her chance. His skin was bared, and he was obviously not expecting an attack. Before the rational side of her said anything, she started running. Blacklight turned at the sound of her footsteps, but didn't armour himself up again. She yelled in anger as she got near him, pressing both hands against his chest. Her powers lit up, and she reached out to his body.

No bones. No muscle. No blood, or organs, or proper flesh. Millions upon millions of fake cells. Something else, something… horrifying. She picked up the body of a rat mixed in with him, saw his cells close in like sharks to blood. Her power showed her in disgusting detail as they tore into the rat, entering its cells and eating away at them. Splitting, and growing, and changing. Making more and more and more. Her power studied them in action, studied what they could do. How easily they could kill.

In desperation, she reached out for anything like a brain. Instead, millions of images assaulted her mind. Flashes after flashes after flashes. People dying, people being tortured, people being murdered, people being eaten.

A virus. His whole body was made up of a virus that was beyond anything she could imagine. Beyond her worst nightmares.

When she pulled away, she finally heard herself screaming. Blacklight stared at her, and then something was wrapping around her body. Pulling her under.

And then she went under, felt the virus flowing around her like water. Felt it squirming and touching and… and…

She kept screaming until she mercifully passed out.


"Not one of our better meetings, was it?" Swarm said as they returned to shore after the meeting. Unable to find any real fault with his plan – and likely keen to let him kill himself stopping the Nine – everyone else had shared plenty of information about the Nine. Most of it was simply about how dangerous they were. The bit about how Shatterbird's power could be cancelled by a certain frequency was useful though. He'll have to listen to Cricket again, see if he can replicate that same frequency. Lure her into a trap, surround her with Infected making noises, and then she'll be an easier target. The others were simply a matter of weathering their attacks long enough to get within range. Rip them apart, take their shards. Easy. Crawler and Siberian were going to be the biggest problems.

He would have to avoid them until he gained more data on them.

"We should make some plans." Grue said. "We're going to be vulnerable while this is all happening, and I want contingency plans for if we come under attack. After our frosty reception I doubt the others are going to rushing to save us."

"We need some early warning system." Swarm mentioned. "All the planning in the world won't help if we can tell if they're already here."

Trickster nodded. "And what should we do once we've spotted them?"

"Hit them as hard as you can while getting the fuck out of there. Anyone that's lasted as long as they have has gotten good at avoiding or surviving attacks. Then give Blacklight a call while you're running. Hopefully, he'll catch them before they escape. Or get you first." As they spoke, Alex turned his attention to his scavengers. Had them move to areas in the city, reformat into sensors. They wouldn't be foolproof, but they should at least give him some advanced warning of where the Nine were. And the more that spotted them, the better he could triangulate their position.

It was like a game of cat and mouse, except that the cat had a million eyes and a bazooka.

And the cat had already found its prey.

Jack Slash, current leader of the Nine. Shard power is to extend the edge of his blade to incredible lengths, allowing him to attack a target from range. But apparently his most dangerous weapon was his words. He could always find chinks and weakpoints to talk someone into defeat. Break them down, and then pull them back up as monsters and killer. And apparently, he would lead to the end of the world. Threat rating: Moderate.

Siberian. Completely invincibility. Some kind of barrier set up around her skin. Unbreakable so far. Threat rating: Extreme.

Bonesaw. Tinker. Can take people apart and put them back together again in horrific and seemingly impossible ways. Most likely has enhanced the Nine to make them more durable. Threat level: Low.

Crawler. Regenerator. Can heal and adapt to almost anything. A fight with him would likely end up being a contest of who can kill whom faster. Threat level: High.

Shatterbird. Complete control over silicon through sound. Break glass, fry electronics, and blast with sand. Threat level: Slightly moderate.

Burnscar. A young woman with powers over fire. Can create lots of it, and travel through open flames. The heat and fire will be a bitch, but it will be cornering her that'll be annoying. Threat rating: Moderate.

And finally, Cherish. Regent's little sister. Can detect people through their emotions, and influence them. Make them frightened enough to attack their comrades, make them sad enough to commit suicide. Threat level: Annoying.

And they were all in the same block as them.

Damnit.

"The Nine are here." He said aloud, interrupting their conversation. "Three streets west, two streets north." He watched as Cherish pointed out one of his drones, and Siberian jumped up to rip it in half. Shit. Cherish must be able to detect him through the drones. Sense his emotions. He'll have to take her out second, maybe even first.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Trickster asked. "Right out the gate? We got shitty luck."

"Maybe not." Regent replied. "Cherish's always been good at tracking people from afar. Her senses spread out through the entire city maybe. She probably found us – or maybe just me – and decided to bring the Nine this way."

"What did you do to make the Nine want you so badly?" Ballistic asked him."

"Nothing. Cherish pretty much admitted that she only put my name forward so that they'll kill me and my friends." He shook his head sadly. "She's being a complete idiot. She joined the Nine to try and get away from Heartbreaker."

Joining the Nine to escape one man. That was like running into a pack of hungry wolves to try and hide from your drunken father.

"We need defences." Swarm said, thinking tactically. "Somewhere we can hide, maybe some extra armour and weapons. Blacklight, can you make us something?"

"I'm gonna need everything I've got to take them down. I can't waste materials on you while I'm keeping them busy far away." He replied. But as he said that, he realised that it was highly likely that at least two of them Nine might escape on him; keep heading in this direction. And besides, he and Dana knew that he was going to have to take more control over this city; if only to keep the PRT from trying anything stupid again.

Having the Undersiders and Travellers owe him might make that easier. As would having them alive and unharmed.

He rolled his shoulders as slabs of his biomass slathered off, dropping to the ground. Small flies buzzed away from it, joining with Swarm's hive. "Here. Grab a handful of that and slap it on your body. It isn't enough to cover everything, but it can act like a second armour. Swarm, I've given you some bugs with stronger venoms. Should prove distracting enough for you to run." As they warily moved towards the pile, he took off at a run towards the Nine. Three streets became two; two became one. He jumped over the buildings before him, ready to start tearing into them.

And saw Siberian being tossed at his position.

A quick blast of air shoved him aside, Siberian's claws only just hitting his side. And then Jack slashed him with his blade, the power marking a groove into his chest. Alex pushed himself towards the ground, slamming into it hard enough to make a small crater. The Nine were sent flying away from the impact.

As he landed, he took note of where the Nine were in relation to himself. Shatterbird had taken to the air, nearly crashed against the side of a building from the shockwave. Bonesaw was curled up near the steps of an apartment building, Siberian dropping down to protect her. Jack was lying on his back, a large cut on his forehead. Cherish was cowering inside a building, trying to get away. Crawler was slammed through a wall, his body scarred and pulverised. Burnscar was shooting flames from her hands, ready to land inside the fire.

And then his perception sped up, and he got to work.

For starters, he let the Virus start having some fun.

See, when he had landed, it was just debris that he sent blasting out with the shockwave. He had also unleashed the Virus as well. Made it obey his will. So now, every living thing within five meters of himself was currently infected, allowing him to track and kill them at his leisure.

He could just activate it fully and let it kill all the vulnerable members of the Nine. But he wasn't certain if their higher brain functions and shards would still survive a remote kill like that. There could be something useful in their heads, some weakness of the Siberian's or Crawler's.

Besides, he enjoyed getting his hands dirty. Being able to just command people to drop dead was boring and anti-climactic.

So. Easiest target right now; Shatterbird. She shattered all the glass around them and threw it at him. He simply let it bounce off or shatter against his armour while he ran her through with his whipfist. All the glass around them fell to the ground as he consumed her. He found her shard and her memories, and sent the lot of them back into the Hive Mind. Another part of him processed them, leaving him free to keep fighting without becoming vulnerable to a counter-attack.

Like, say, Siberian reaching him and grabbing him.

She ripped him in half like wet paper, throwing both halves away before stomping on his head. It hurt like a bitch, but he ignored it. Even with her powers, he still had more than enough biomass to withstand the assault. His Infected Vision spotted one man standing not far from Jack's location, likely debating whether to fight or flee.

One internal switch flicked, and the Virus was in control. Alex was in control.

Jack barely turned as he heard the man running towards him, merely slicing him apart and stepping to the side. His smug grin vanished as he saw the corpse pull itself back together. He started backing away, but Alex shoved his fist through his chest. Bonesaw's work tried to fight back, but just like with Shatterbird, it was fighting a losing battle. Her modifications could withstand a lot, but there were limits. And a hole in the chest and getting eaten alive were just too much for it.

His upper body turned into fluid and flowed away, just as Burnscar blasted his position with fire. It re-joined the new him, and he charged back into the fray.

Meanwhile, his lower half had reformed and was currently heading towards Cherish. He nudged the Virus inside of her, and it started tearing into her. Not enough to kill, but enough to hamper her. The modifications fought back, but with every defence, the Virus learned. Knowledge was transferred, sent to the rest.

Cherish collapsed to the ground, looked up at him in panic. She lashed out with her power, trying to crush him under sorrow and despair.

The world was fucked up. Humans were fucked up. The so called 'good guys' were more determined to mess with things they didn't understand, and the villains were taking over. They lie, and cheat, and kill without reason. Without remorse. Why should he keep fighting for them? Why doesn't he just kill them all off and replace them with something better?

Because he refuses to let some fucking goth bitch freak tell him what to do. If he was going to end the world, if that ever came to pass, it would be his choice. And Dana would have to have died for that to ever come to pass.

He took far too much pleasure in smashing his foot through her and picking her brain.

Outside, his other half was doing surprisingly well, all things considered.

Yes, he was having to avoid Siberian's attacks. Yes, Crawler had joined the fight and was currently trying to rip him apart as well. Yes, Burnscar was throwing around fire like it was the fourth of July and generally being a pain in the ass.

But hey, at least he was keeping them occupied. And he was flying. That made it easier to dodge their attacks.

But then his Hive Mind found something in Cherish's memories.

Whenever the Nine went, there was always someone else following. The same old man, inside a van. He was asleep whenever Siberian was active, and awake when she ever vanished. She was a projection. That's why she's so invincible. There's nothing real for them to work against.

Jackpot.

"Coward! Come down and fight me!" Crawler roared at him. He fired another ball of acid, but Alex just flew to the side and avoided it. He wanted to avoid hitting Crawler too often; it would make him more resilient to his attacks. The Virus was still inside of him, but it was doing a good job of impersonating the rest of his cells. For now, his body has no reason to assume that it's under attack.

While Crawler was busy shouting and yelling, Alex was using the Hive Mind to tap into Cherish's powers. A flood of emotions crashed into him before he slowed it to a trickle; a slight sense of where everyone was, just like how he could sense where his biomass was in the city. Siberian, Siberian… Where was he?

His cellphone was busted up, but luckily he kept several spares back at base. He called Swarm from there. His other self kept the four survivors occupied and distracted. "Siberian is just a projection. Her real body is vulnerable and in hiding. You're looking for a man hiding inside a van."

"Got it." She replied. "I'll let you know when I find him." He focused on the self fighting the Nine, and moved towards Bonesaw. Siberian moved to stand guard over her, ready to rip him apart again.

Jack's memories told him she'd do that.

He used a blast of air to push himself to a complete stop, landing on the ground. As Siberian moved forward, he pushed backwards. Burnscar wasn't expecting that, and so his hand ripped her head clean off before she could escape. At the same time, his other half smashed through the wall behind Bonesaw, and crushed her underneath.

That just left Crawler and Siberian. The two most resilient members of the group.

Back at base, his phone rang.

"I've got at least five people I think might be our guy." She replied. "I don't know if he can be awake and use Siberian though. They all woke up normally."

"Then I'll work my way through the list and see what happens." He replied. A call went out to all the drones. His phone pinged with the coordinates. They swarmed those five locations, ripping open the vans and consuming the men inside.

He got up to the third target before Siberian vanished. Another shard joined the Hive.

Oh, the things he could do with that power.

And then Crawler body slammed him.

Alex lashed out with claws and spikes, tearing his way free even as the acid melted into him. He dropped off damaged biomass, mashing it into Crawler's face as he fought free. With every strike, it became harder to hurt that area. His claws sliced it at a slower rate, felt more resistance.

This fight wasn't going anywhere fast.

Think, think. What did Crawler want? What did Jack offer to stop him from leaving, or taking over?

Violence. Being attacked. Crawler wanted deadly scenarios so he could always become stronger.

"This fight isn't worth your talents." He called out as he bounded away. "Neither of us is anywhere near our prime."

Crawler glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You think this is the best I can do? I wasn't actually prepared for you guys. Fighting you here and now was a 'spur of the moment' thing. But if I had time to prepare, time to gather up my tools or take this somewhere I had the advantage… I'd destroy you."

Crawler smirked, his mouth widening into a grin. "You really think so, don't you?"

"You know anyone capable of killing off the others is definitely worth your time. I could probably get closer to killing you than anyone else out there. Hell, I managed to send Leviathan packing all by myself." Crawler licked his lips in anticipation. "If you manage to survive me, you'd be the toughest thing around for miles. No one could come close to being a threat to you ever again. This will be the fight you've been waiting for your whole fucking life."

"…Name your time and place." Crawler replied.

Alex smiled behind his mask. "My base, tomorrow night. Right in the heart of it."


The next day, everyone was evacuating from Blacklight's territory.

It was a quiet and orderly evac, helped out by the fact that the people themselves didn't need to move at all. Their houses grew thicker exteriors, stood up on several thick strong legs, and slowly walked away. They moved at a sedate enough pace to not disturb anything inside; several families could be seen having breakfast through their windows. The houses moved in an orderly fashion, in rows guided by a single intelligence. The walls had shrunken down to let them all leave without getting into single-file. The water towers and electricity generators moved with them.

The order and control behind the evacuation worked in Shadow Team's favour.

The PRT had quickly heard of Blacklight's victory over the Nine. Most of their members were glad to hear that the murdering monsters were gone; the news that they had a team with similar base powers cheered them up even more. But to Director Piggot, the news had been even more ominous and foreboding. She honestly would've preferred it if the Nine had won against Blacklight. The idea that he could kill all the Nine – even The Siberian – with his base powers on top of being able to fight Leviathan to a draw was terrifying enough. But the fact that he could harvest powers, that he had the Nine's powers, was even worse.

She needed some incentive to keep Blacklight in check. To that end, she formed Shadow Team.

A team of five PRT agents outfitted with the latest in Tinker-designed stealth suits. Invisible on all spectrums, trapped heat signatures, refracted light to avoid casting a shadow, even had tech in the feet to avoid creating dust in dirtier environments. They were as invisible as you could possibly get.

They weren't being sent in to assassinate Blacklight. Piggot had already told them that would never work. But Athena had suddenly appeared in Blacklight's employ; she lived and worked out of his base. She could be his lover, or a friend, or a family member. But she was likely important to Blacklight.

Important enough that he would likely be willing to back down if her safety was under threat. And her data would be incredibly useful in learning more about the current power struggles.

That was their mission. Get in, abduct Athena and her computer, and then get out again. All without being spotted. Simple.

Except that when the suits were designed, they were never made with the idea that the ground beneath them was alive.

When Alex created his base, his 'dark tower', he knew he would be processing large amounts of data. Enough to even probably cause him to lose his sense of self amongst the Hive Mind. To that end, he had created a brand new personality to control the base for him. Free him up to focus on other things. Dana had decided to call this new mind Argus, after the hundred-eyed giant that served Hera.

Argus liked Dana. Alex may have created him, but it was Dana who made him who he was. And he would reward her kindness by doing his job.

So when he felt footsteps on his surface where there weren't supposed to be any, he paid careful attention to them. When he saw nothing where they moved, he felt confused.

He flicked through the spectrum available to him, getting more and more concerned as he continued to see nothing. Invisibles. Assassins, maybe? Or did Crawler have the power to become invisible? No. Too stealthy for him. He'd come charging through the crowd in broad daylight, driving Alex to attack him to try and stop him. Whoever these people were, they weren't allied with him. If only he knew what he was looking at.

He followed the footsteps to the front gate, felt them start slicing a hole in the surface. He let them do so, weakened the bonds to make it easier. When all the feet were inside, he sealed the door behind them.

Well, at least inside there was something he could do.

He released the Virus as a gas through the air, tiny enough to appear similar to dust. It went transparently through the hallway, coating everything it touched. When it landed on himself, he drew it back in.

Then he flicked to Infected Vision. Outlines of five humans appeared in his sight. They were similar in design to the suits worn by Prometheus.

The PRT.

Well, they already knew they'd likely come. Dana and the Pantheon had all known of their attack on Alex before, and had expressed concerns that his one-sided assault on the Nine would frighten them. Enough that they would try another attack.

If Argus had a head, he'd be shaking it right now. One of these days, the PRT is going to push Alex too far, and he'll kill them all for their troubles.

But right now, Alex was busy preparing for Crawler. The PRT's latest stupid idea was his department.

Well, no time like the present. He lashed out with tendrils, wrapping around their forms. The squad yelled and shouted and started blasting away, and he ripped them apart or dragged them into his flesh. Memories were gained, sorted, and filed away. An attempt to use Dana as a hostage. Force Alex to back down.

He'll see what Dana wants to do with that. He turned his gaze to her room. She was currently packing things away, storing her hard drive in her suit again. He applied pressure to the membrane of the door, simulated knocking.

"Come in." She called out. He let a face form on the wall behind her. A sculpted figure that was as much a man as a statue or a work of art. "How's the evacuation going, Argus?"

"Seventy-three percent of all households have been moved further down towards the boardwalk. It should take another twenty minutes for the remainder to join them." He replied, his voice deep and rich like chocolate. "But there are other matters to be concerned about."

She sighed. "Of course there is. There's always more problems when a big massive fucking monster is arriving to attack." She sighed again. "Alright. Hit me."

"A PRT team attempted to sneak their way into the base. Their goal was to kidnap you and hold you hostage to make Alex more compliant."

She frowned at him. "Really? Shit. Just our fucking luck. Please tell me those memories aren't already in Alex's head."

He shook his head. "I have already filed them away, but on a separate part of the Hive Mind. It's closed off; only I can allow access to it."

"Thank Christ. If Alex learns that the PRT were going to grab me, he'd call for a hunting season on them. We so do not have time for that right now." She held out her wrist computer. "Send every last memory into this thing. It's on a closed system, so Alex can't find out about it."

"Of course." Tendrils grew from the wall, linking up with the hard drive. As he did so, he felt a feeling. The best human description would be that something was bumping his funny bone.

A way he had set things up to alert him when their prisoner was waking up.

"Amy Dallon is regaining consciousness." He informed Dana. She nodded and moved back to her computer, the tendrils flowing across the wall with her. When they were all moved over, she sat down before the membrane that made up the monitor. It showed Amy Dallon from above, sitting in the center of the room and looking around wildly. "How did Alex even know she was heading this way?"

"Assumptions and guesses. Several drones spotted her heading in our direction. But it wasn't until a Hunter spotted her in the crowd that he realised something weird was happening. He and I talked, and came to consensus. We agreed to let her in, and see what she did."

"And conveniently left all the doors open for her."

"We did. We assumed she was heading for the throne room, and Alex created a copy to stand in for him."

"Why did she pass out though? Was that part of the plan?"

"No. But we have some ideas. Her power lets her study and understand things on a biological and genetic level."

"Oh god." Dana said, finally understanding."

"Her first actual interaction with the Blacklight Virus was when she tried to interact with it. She understood what it's capable of almost immediately." He winced as he felt her use her powers. The carapace that made up the wall started melting away. He pricked her fingers, made her jump away in shock, before fixing the damage. He could still feel her power bubbling over, trying to interact with him. Trying to fix the damage the Virus' very existence causes.

But there was nothing to fix. There was no unchanged cell inside of his body. It was like trying to build an island in the middle of the ocean.

"You should probably talk to her before she tries tunnelling out again. Find out why she came here." He said.

"Isn't it because Alex smacked around her sister or something?" She asked as he created stairs downwards. A direct line to the cells.

"We're not sure. It seems the most likely reason, but why wait until now? We can confirm that Glory Girl is still alive. Nothing has changed on that front."

"Weird." She shrugged. "Oh well. Guess we'll just have to talk like real people then." By now, he had led her to the cells. The door was covered by a membrane on their side, eyes projecting what was on the other side. Amy was standing there, stock still and clutching herself. Dana moved towards the door, and he pulled back on the bones and tendrils keeping it locked.

Amy jumped as the door opened, as she saw Dana in the entrance. Dana tried to give her a kind smile, but it obviously didn't work. She was likely too worried about the Virus to pay attention to anything else.

"Hey there." Dana said. She kept away, near the entrance. Didn't want to spook her. "Glad to see you're up." Amy's eyes darted around. She was hyperventilating. "So, you want to talk?" She took a single step forward.

Amy jumped like she heard a gunshot. "Get away from me your freak!" She nearly shouted, backing away. When she hit the wall, she shrieked and backed away from it. She stood trembling in the middle of the room again, panicking.

Dana stepped back, hands raised up. "Ok, ok. You're freaking out. I get that. You're in a room made up from a virus. It's perfectly normal to be scared." She tapped at her suit, and it slithered off her body. She was left in her normal clothes. "But I'm perfectly normal. Still human. I just… I just want to talk."

"You… You can't be human. You're s-s-surrounded by… by…" She took a shaky breath, and then stopped. "The air. It's in the air. Oh god. Oh god, I'm… We're all…"

Infected.

"Why would he… Blacklight's… Why?" She blurted out.

Dana sat down, crossed her legs. She still looked calm. "It's not as bad as you think." Amy levelled a look at her. "Ok, so it is. But it's not gonna hurt you. The Virus… It's intelligent. Alex can command it to not infect people, and it'll do that. It'll stay dormant until it passes through your body, and then it'll… I dunno, rejoin the rest." She shrugged. "In fact, according to Alex, it's not intending to be so lethal."

"And you actually trust him? The monster that made this shit? The guy so evil that most of the fucking Nine wanted to recruit him?"

"Wait. What did you just say?" Dana looked at her curiously. "Argus, what is she talking about?"

What indeed. He looked through the memories they had gained from the Nine. About their targets. Siberian wanted Alex because he was a monster. That much was obvious. But Bonesaw also wanted Alex because his power complemented her own.

Just like Panacea's did.

If he had a head, he'd be slapping it right now.

"Bonesaw attacked Amy Dallon because her original target was already chosen by Siberian." He said aloud. Amy jumped as she heard his voice. "That's why she attacked us. She blames Blacklight for her family coming under attack."

Dana turned back to Dallon, still trying to smile. "Alex… He didn't exactly create them. Maybe it would help if I explained."

And she did. She recounted everything she remembered about the original Alex, everything she knew of the new Alex, and everything that happened in New York against Blackwatch. Argus kept one eye on them, while returning focus to the buildings. They had all been moved successfully. Swarm was near them, her bugs flying around them. Alex was in the heart of the base with the Pantheon, getting everything prepared. Organising fight after fight after fight; filtering out mutations and improvements. Changing the shape to better combat Crawler, moving biomass to surround it.

Satisfied that everything was still ok, he turned his attention back to the conversation.

"…And Alex nearly gave his life to stop the bomb from taking out Manhattan." Dana was saying. "Hell, if he couldn't regenerate like he can, it would've killed him. Don't you see? Alex may be a monster, but he's not acting like it. He's a good person. He just… has trouble expressing it."

Amy looked at her, her expression stunned like she had gotten smacked in the face with a ham. "But… But… Y-You said that your brother improved this… this thing." She waved a hand out wildly. "He took an abomination and made it worse. And you think that the… the… the monster… the thing that wears his face is good? You said it yourself; the Virus can trick people. It's using you to kill everyone else."

Dana raised an eyebrow. "You probably have a better idea of just how dangerous the Virus is, about how quickly it can kill you. So why would Alex not use it yet if he was planning on killing us all?" She shook her head. "You know what your problem is? You're so used to the idea that everyone's either good or evil that you can't understand that it's a fucking stupid idea. It's more than stupid, it's fucked up. What, you think that because someone wears a costume and fights for good and justice that they're nice? It's ideology. It's just something you believe in. Take Blackwatch. You know, the mass murderers I told you about? The guys who tried to blow up an entire city? They did all that horrific shit because they believed that they were doing the right thing. They were government employed killers and fucking psychos. And the only thing stopping them from wiping out everyone because they fucked up was the very thing they were trying to kill." She crossed her arms and glowered. "So according to you, Alex is still the bad guy in this picture."

"No. No. They're both bad. They're both evil. Where were the heroes? Where was the Protectorate?"

"We didn't have them. We're from a completely different Earth. Where the Virus is the only thing with access to powers." She shook her head again. "I don't know how to say this any other way. In real life, there's a really thin line between good and evil. And where that line stands depends entirely on the person looking at it. Not what they do, or what their abilities are, but what they decide. Hell, Alex – the monster you hate – has probably done more to help out than the entire Protectorate."

"What are you talking about? What has he done that's helpful?"

"He was the Endbringer Killer. The giant monster that kicked Leviathan's ass and sent him running? That was my brother. And while you were passed out, he went ahead and killed Slaughterhouse Nine." Amy looked up in shock at that. "Yeah. He just did in fifteen minutes what the good guys have failed to do for years. Only one left is Crawler, and he's coming here tonight for a final showdown." She stood back up, her suit crawling into her hand and shaped like a suitcase. "I'm getting out of here before that happens. You can leave too; we won't stop you. But if you go after my brother again… I can't say for certain if he'll let you live next time. All I can say, is that he won't unleash the Virus on the world. He just wants to be left alone." And she turned and left the room.

Amy stared at her in shock, before stumbling out too. She flinched away from everything around her, stopping when she nearly stumbled into the walls.

Argus watched her as she ran into the city again.


The moon lit up the abandoned village, the smooth flat surface. Not a single living thing stirred in the pale moonlight.

Then from the far end, a large animalistic shape smashed through a building, charging straight for the giant base before it.

And Alex started tripping his traps.

The ground beneath Crawler suddenly exploded, tendrils and shrapnel shredding into him. The ground around him rose up and spat out acid that burned him. Monsters came charging from nowhere to smother him, claws and teeth tearing into his flesh. The Virus went became active, consuming and infecting every cell it could. Crawler's body would adapt to the Virus, and the Virus would adapt to overcome the changes.

Crawler kept moving as best as he could, claws and teeth lashing out around him. Body parts fell to the ground around them, consumed and then released as more creatures. Same with the corpses.

Here, the Infected could just keep coming.

Crawler smashed into the front gates. But they held firm, and grew spikes. The spikes tore into him, infecting him even more. They dragged downwards, tearing into him and pinning him. The frame grew teeth, and slammed down on him. Once, twice, three times. On the fourth, he was sheared in half. The biomass consumed the lower half.

And still he kept going. Crawled inside the hallway.

The Pantheon jumped down, started attacking. Apollo flew overhead, firing beam after beam while shooting his arrows. Artemis did the same, running around and putting the arrows into his eyes. The shafts exploded, tearing apart pieces of him. One teammate, Hephaestus, fired a massive tendril through his body before slamming a metal spear into him. From that spear, more metal sprouted. Stabbing and tearing and ripping away. The last member, Hermes, teleported onto his back, and pulled the pin from a grenade he held. Another Hermes appeared by his leg, blew that up too. And another, and another.

The Virus was starting to gain some ground.

The roof above them opened up, and Alex slammed down onto Crawler as the Pantheon jumped clear. He then jumped off as large spikes pinned Crawler down, holding him in place. The five of them moved back in, aiming for any possible weakpoint or offensive limb. Alex tore even more into him, his claws wearing away with each strike. He had sharpened them to a single cell, allowing him to cleave through Crawler more easily. The building consumed every piece of flesh that was sliced or ripped off.

Crawler moved more frantically now, as he realised he wasn't adapting fast enough.

Alex tore his way to his internal organs, ripping them out and consuming them. The others pulled away at his skin, while tendrils linked up with what was left. His powers were too busy trying to heal, adapt, and fight off the Virus. Slowly but surely, he was being consumed.

Alex slammed his claws into Crawler's brain, and ripped it out. His body consumed it as the building finished what was left. He was hit with an amazing amount of data. Every mutation and adaptation Crawler's body had in it. Acidic spit, redundant systems, senses, fireproofing, all kinds of things. Centuries worth of evolution, now all his.

The Nine were completely wiped out. And he gained so much more power than he could've imagined.


Legend had to admit, sometimes the problem of being part of a secret organisation was the locations you had to go to in order to get to the base.

The latest 'drop-point' had been an oil rig off in the Atlantic Ocean. From there, it had only been a few seconds before the world before him shifted. Turned into a white-tiled hallway. He already knew where to go; he had been down these halls far too many times.

There were plenty of cover names for the group, if they ever had to speak of them in public. But only one was its real name.

Cauldron.

He arrived at the conference room shortly, finding everyone else already waiting. Alexandria and Eidolon, the other two members of the Triumvirate. The Doctor and the Number Man, the two main faces of the group. And a second woman, dressed in full black. Likely some insurance to help distract them if the three of them ever turned on them.

The Doctor looked up from her papers. "Legend. You made it. In that case, we can begin with the meeting."

"Of course." He replied, sitting down. "All your message said was that we needed to speak about Blacklight."

"Correct. I assume that you've heard the news?"

He nodded. "He killed most of the Nine on the first night, including Siberian. And the next night, he managed to overpower Crawler and kill him too." It was both terrifying and yet amazing. Some of the biggest monsters around were finally dead.

Alexandria spoke up. "He also has the power to harvest powers from those he kills and devours. We should work under the impression that he has taken all the powers of the Nine." Legend glanced at Eidolon, saw him frown.

He had to admit, he had a good reason to. Blacklight was showing some of the powers Eidolon could use, and he wasn't exactly a paragon of justice.

"Maybe I could try speaking to him." Legend offered. "See if we could cut a deal with him to join the Protectorate."

"He'll refuse." Alexandria retorted. "Why would he accept? He's gained territory, notoriety, lackeys, and he's far more likely to allowed to gain powers working as a villain. We have nothing to offer him."

The Doctor nodded. "But we do have more reasons to capture him."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Ever since Blacklight showed up, we've been very curious about him. To have mid ratings in almost every category is unheard of. Not since Eidolon showed up at any rate. And then we heard something from one of our operatives."

"What did you hear?" Eidolon asked.

"According to him, when he was returning from collecting some materials for our work, he was followed by a young woman and an older man in a hoodie. He tried to stop them, and the man started killing. The Doorkeeper opened a random doorway to throw them out…"

"And it led to Brockton Bay." Alexandria guessed.

"Indeed." The Number Man confirmed. "Once we heard that, it was easier to follow up on Blacklight. The results are hopeful, but not pleasant."

"We'll be the judges of that." Legend said.

"Blacklight – real name Alex Mercer – was originally a bioterrorist from a world we're tentatively calling Earth Delta. He was originally part of a team to research bioweapons and create antidotes for them, only to turn traitor and unleash it upon New York City. The virus in question was called DX-1118. Or Blacklight for short."

The Doctor took over. "Blacklight is more of a genetic enhancer than a bioweapon; a virus that infects and alters any organic material it finds. Nearly all attempts, however, put too much strain upon the body, and kills them. The Virus then 'raises' the body as a zombie-like creature, and seeks out more people to infect and improve. These 'Infected' have enhanced strength, agility, and toughness. Enough of them in a single spot allows them to bind the flesh together into greater monsters."

Legend looked at them in shock. A virus that created zombies? And worse? "And what about Mercer? What happened to him?"

"Mercer was a one-in-a-million chance, I believe the expression goes. When the Blacklight Virus infected him, it managed to succeed in altering the body without killing the subject. He is the natural conclusion of the Virus at best. Something more or worse at the most." The Number Man said.

"I'm not hearing how this is hopeful." Eidolon said.

"Thanks to the mutation caused by Alex Mercer's body, the newly created virus is much easier to manipulate. Make it mass producible. Fireteam Prometheus of Brockton Bay is one such example. Their abilities are nowhere near Mercer's, but they are still impressive."

"You're… You're suggesting that we intentionally let people be infected." Legend realised.

"Symbiotic, instead of parasitic. The Virus, if treated properly, could make it so that we would have armies to fight the Endbringers. Not just dozens of capes." The Doctor said. "In the short term, more capes could survive lethal attacks, be back on their feet faster."

"If you really think this 'bioweapon' can help, then why aren't we trying to negotiate with him? If he's the natural conclusion or whatever he is, surely he can make the Virus into a form we can handle safely." Legend asked.

"As Alexandria has already pointed out, we have very little to offer him. And we believe that he has no love for governments after his terrorist actions. Like it or not, we aren't going to get the Virus by asking nicely."

"So instead, you want to piss off the guy who's been beating us at everything." Legend summed up. "Even if this succeeds, you're going to have people fighting at only half strength against a parahuman operating…"

"He's not a parahuman." The Doctor interrupted.

"He's close enough that it doesn't matter. But as I was saying, they're going to be fighting against a man operating on levels we can't get to. I know from Miss Militia's reports that he has advanced healing. Is that because of the Virus, or how much there is of it?"

"His healing works because he is made up entirely of the Virus."

"So if we slash him in half, he'll just recover. But if he slashes one of our men, they're dead."

"All plans run risks." She offered.

"I have to agree with Legend on this." Eidolon remarked. "It sounds like we're intending to antagonise this guy for something that might possibly work." He crossed his arms. "I say we just keep an eye on Blacklight and, I dunno, manipulate him into helping us out. Get some real nasty monsters to go gunning for him."

Legend was thankful for Eidolon's help. It may have been motivated more by jealousy, but it was another point on his side.

"And what happens if he decides to team up with the monsters we send for him to kill? What if the Nine managed to convince him to join their numbers? Every moment he walks is another chance that he could destroy us all."

"Then perhaps we shouldn't give him a reason to choose them over us." Legend replied.


And… done. Wasn't too sure what to do with that last part, and Legend's words seemed like a good place to stop. I always think of him as the reasonable kind of guy. The kind of person who looks at a plan to piss of Alex and go 'that's a stupid idea'.

For those of you who haven't read Worm yet, or haven't gotten far in it, Cauldron is a secret group trying to make sure the world doesn't get wiped out. They're shady enough that you'd think of them as a Bigger Bad group, but really they're just really bad at being the Big Good. They sometimes test their serums on people they kidnap from other Earths, resulting in mutations, and then they throw them onto Earth Bet to be someone else's problems. The Case 53s as they're called.

And that it how Alex ended up on Earth Bet in the first place.

Now, I know that some people will think of the fight against Slaughterhouse Nine to be anti-climactic. But their main defence has always been Siberian. Have her grab some teammates, and they're invincible. And Jack has a precog sense for shards. He can tell when they get used. Alex wasn't using a shard, and who'd expect someone to get back up and kill you after being sliced in half? And like I had Alex pointed out; if he used the Virus and infected them, he could kill all his enemies (or at least most of them) with a cough. Now that's anti-climactic.

Think I did good with the fight against Crawler though. That's how I think you'd take him out. Keep piling on the damage and never give him time to heal. Rip him apart and consume him piece by piece.

And finally, Amy (someone pointed out her last name is Dallon, not Dalton. Not gonna go back and fix every mention, but it's still been changed). She's described on TV Tropes as black and white morality. Or insanity. One of the two. Basically, she sees the world as good guys and bad guys when it's all grey. If you're called a villain, you're a heartless monster and will never change. At least she never found out that she's the daughter of a villain in this story. So she's not fucked up even more. I mean, I read the stuff she says, and my inner Alex is talking about how bullshit it all is. No offence to Wildbow, but she keeps acting like the fact that her dad is a villain means that deep down she's just as evil. It just… argh.

Ahem. Next chapter will hopefully be a bit quieter. Just Alex upgrading the Undersiders and the Travellers, maybe get some more members of his Pantheon.

Edit: Oh, forgot to mention that when I looked up Shards of Impossiblity to just read through it (in case I forgot something important) I found out that there is a reddit page for it. Awesome. Thanks for that. Next step would probably be get a mention on TV Tropes or something.