Author's note: Hey guys! I have to give out a big thank you to all who reviewed and gave positive remarks about the story. I know I left you all in a bit of a cliffhanger back there, but I wanted to build that tension so you all can get sucked into the story. I think it worked…did it? You tell me. Haha, well then as to give my own intake about what I'm doing? Well I believe [Prototype] has a more realistic view of it's environment, it's people (soldiers), the government, just everything. Which is why I wanted to give our boys at the U.S.M.C. some depth then rather have them just there, you know? Those Devil Dogs deserved it for getting slaughtered countless times by our dark hero Alex Mercer!

As the story progresses you will notice differences between how BLACKWATCH and the Marines handle things. The Marines would be…how can I put this without spoiling much…Ah! Marines: kill and be compassionate. Whereas BLACKWATCH: kill and be more ruthless then the infected themselves. See what I'm getting at? But don't worry, this won't be about just the Marines…you all will see. So yeah let me not bore you and just jump right in it! Happy reading guys!

Chapter II: Paint the town green

I'm not your friend.

I'm an animal who dreamed he was a man.

But the dream is over…

And the beast is awake.

And I will come for you…

Because it's my nature.

U.S.M.C. Times square headquarters.

8:11PM

'Damn it…my whole body feels numb. Just what the hell just happened…' thought Alex as he laid there still in the guise of the Force Recon Corporal Lillian Frost. As he absentmindedly stared at the rather large puddle of blood he had just hacked out of his system his mind began to wonder and he closed his eyes, Alex started to remember back, back to when he consumed Frost. The web of intrigue: His tool, his story, his past, his present, their past, their present. It's all his; it's the constant reminder of his sins, but can it also be his redemption?


34th street train station

6:36PM

"Don't let the tango get away! Keep at him!!!" yelled the Lance Corporal of the 1st Force Recon unit who at the moment were chasing down their target: ZEUS.

'Shit! She's not here…I must have hit up the wrong spot. Regardless I have to keep moving…can't let these leathernecks get me.' thought Alex who was still slightly weaker at the moment from recovering from the nuclear blast he voluntarily took while trying to save the entire state just moments ago. Looking over his shoulders he saw the Marines behind him pursuing him with the best of their efforts, some shooting as they ran which made their shots a little bit inaccurate. The entire train station was huge! Alex who continued to run stayed in the lead, jumping over benches like hurdles, running on the sides of grungy looking walls when trash was in his way, taking many twists and turns that the station had to offer for both the prototype and the Devil Dogs who were still hot in his pursuit.

Shortly after he finally led the missile out of Manhattan's reach via helicopter, while he had his stay in the helicopter he found some files belonging to a couple of Gunnery Sergeants of the Marine Corp. The files had stated a soldier who recently had been accepted into the Marine FORECON a.k.a. Force Recon's units, a Lance Corporal who had been recently also promoted to Corporal upon entrance into Force Recon's 1st company. A woman, which is shocking to all branches of the military being that it was the first woman ever to see real combat at all. A supposed test to say to the world that even the Marine Corp's women are even more tougher then most branches.

The only thing that caught his eye about this woman was that she is Captain Robert Cross's sister, due to a dispute over family matters and or other confidential things she had changed her last name; Lillian Frost. Upon entrance into the Marine Corp she has proven to be an exceptional test for the project, even to be recognized by BLACKWATCH themselves. So much that they requested her to take part in their operations. 'According to these papers, the Corp denied the transfer but what else does is there?' thought Alex as he read on. One thing that Alex had noticed from the papers was a trait that lead to her being the only Marine who knew more about BLACKWATCH's duties other then just the guard duties many of her fellow Marines had been given. Noting that she asks 'too many questions'.

"Hmph…reminds me of whoever Mercer used to be…" said to himself as he put down the file and continue flying the chopper. 'Maybe she has some leads to even the PARIAH project…I'll have to find her after I get rid of this…' Alex thought as he finally reached the desirable place to drop the missile, noting it being farther from Manhattan…

Reaching the deeper parts of the 34th street station Alex leaped past the ramp that leads passengers towards where people can take the F Train, landing with a bang! Wooden benches being shaken out of their pinned down spot and random discarded trash all suffered under Alex's landing. Stopping in his tracks he'd look over his shoulder once more to see if anyone else were chasing him down, sucking his teeth at the disgust of four Marines who caught up with him already getting on one knee and opening fire at his position.

Reacting rather quickly he looked around himself. He couldn't afford to waste much needed energy after using so much to recover himself from a puddle of blood and bio-mass after the effects of the nuclear threat he had quelled, he'd have to use more cruder yet more resourceful ways of protecting himself. Rolling out of the way of the incoming fire he'd find himself two feet away from an escalator and it's safety rails. With a grin he grabbed the safety railing and with much ease he ripped it out from it's fellow rails. Resembling more of a staff or a bo stick he'd start spinning it in front of him, whipping it all around him with untraceable speeds! Which resulted in deflecting all the incoming fire that the Marines had to offer.

As he span the rail around him, the leading Sergeant of the four that fired; Sgt. Paul Jackson had stopped firing due to the need to reload, so did the other three around him. Instead of reloading he stared at awe of Mercer's ability without even using his true power to protect himself from a barrage of awesome fire. Even using something so simple as a safety rail to his advantage, this entire subway could not only be his weapon but their death trap if they didn't react quicker.

"What the fuck did we get ourselves into…" He whispered as he stared at the bullets that some two Marines still continued to fire at him just fly off of the rail that Alex whipped around his form.

Finally the last two had ceased fire and began to reload, the only one who didn't was Jackson who was still awe struck. Upon the fire of the Marines finally coming to a stop it was Alex's turn to attack, twirling the rail between his fingers he reeled it back and flung it at his pursuers at such a strength that was unmatched by anything the infected or any enhanced soldier had to offer. With the rail soaring through the air, ripping through gravity as it came to it's targets, mostly targeting any Marine in front of it's zone, namely Sgt. Jackson who was stunned at the moment in awe was in danger from the oncoming attack.

"SARGE!!! GET DOWN!!!" The voice of a fellow Marine had snapped Jackson out of his fantasy land back into this hellhole called life his eyes widened seeing the railing approaching him. Thinking he didn't have enough time to get out of the way he brought up his arms and shielded himself knowing it wasn't going to do any good, he was as good as dead. But that wasn't going to happen, not tonight. The Marine who yelled the warning out immediately threw his body against the Sergeant literally pushing him out of the way and taking the rail at full force.

Jackson landed against the side of the Marine next to him, sending both him and the Marine to the floor with him on top. The Marine on the bottom groaned out quite the feminine tone despite the balaclava, goggles, and helmet that shielded her face from even looking anything slightly feminine.

"Paul!" The female Marine called out as she was crushed by Jackson's heavy muscular frame and his equipment but it didn't even matter anymore as the two watched in horror at the Marine who's pinned against the wall by the rail that would have been Jackson's new appendage. The long piece of metal that impaled the Marine and pinned him onto the wall like shish kabob. The wall which he's pressed upon and the concrete beneath him was covered in blood.

Jackson who remained speechless at the selfless sacrifice that had been crucified in front of him stared at the scene, the Marine below him gasped and stifled her tears back as she wrapped her arms around the Sergeant.

"Oh Paul…" she managed to muffle out as she pressed her face against his shoulder, horrified and not wanting to look at the scene any longer.

"Shit! He's getting away!" The other Marine yelled out as he jumped from his cover behind the ramp's railing to chase after the murderer of their fellow rifleman. Jackson and the female Marine immediately got their acts together and followed the Marine down the ramp. The initial Marine who followed him down first was the one to see Alex stand over the mezzanine's edge whereas below were the train tracks that were still on and charged with more then several million volts of electricity.

"Die you son of a bitch!!!" The Marine yelled out as he took cover behind the wooden bench and opened fire on Alex's back, Jackson and the female Marine followed up with the attack. Taking cover on the right and left side of the bench also opening fire, in honor for their mission at hand and their fellow brother in arms who gave his life to save another.

With much hesitance Alex leaped from his spot taking the shots to his back, bullets ripping through flesh and leather, but still this wasn't enough to break his fall. Halfway through the other side of the tracks the enraged Marine had enough. Throwing down his M4 he clipped off one of the grenades from his vest and pulled the pin.

"Fuck this shit! You're gonna fry, freak!!!" Yelled the Marine as he threw the flash bang into the train tracks, "GRENADE!!!" yelled out Jackson as all three of them made sure their goggles were on right and proceeded to take cover behind the bench. Alex however wasn't so lucky, the intense flash of light and the ear piercing sound emitted from the flash bang had caused him to loose focus and break his fall, right into the tracks; the electrified tracks.

"ARGHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Yelled Alex in pure pain as he rolled around in a spasm, he didn't know what to do? Fry in pain from the electricity or try to cover his ears from the excessive ringing of his senses overloading.

This was one of the greatest pains he had ever felt in his life, well if not one of the greatest it was definitely up there. Number one would have to be his first time fighting Captain Cross when he first showed him his weakness, electricity. Number two would have to be feeling his own tendril barrage against him, feeling the massive amounts of tentacles driving through him and slowly pulling back out. And number three would be the nuclear blast he had just encountered, which nearly obliterated his entire body. This would have to be number five.

Hearing enough of Alex's screams of anguish, the three Marines rushed out of their cover and watched Alex roll around and suffer.

Enough was enough. He could feel it inside of him, through all the pain and turmoil he could feel it. The rage of a beast, that monster that everyone always accused him of being. With a loud humane roar of pain and adrenaline he let himself go, everywhere. Tendrils started to leave every pore of his body at a accelerated rate, all of them dripping red with his own blood, appearing as muscles of his own and others flesh all assimilated into one; no thousands of the masses he has consumed. Literally a barrage of a thousand tentacles had left his body, impaling, smashing, piercing everything in sight. It was a nightmare to see, some of it had electricity running along it as well.

"TAKE COVER!!!" Jackson said as he saw the tendrils whip and pierce poles, lights, anything in it's path basically. The three Marines rushed back to their cover, as the jumped over the bench preparing to get back into cover and prone; the flash bang Marine had been caught in it's deadly path.

"BRAD, NOOO!!!" Yelled out the female Marine as she attempted to stand up to try and reach out to him, in someway to try and help him. Jackson immediately grabbed onto the back of the Marine's Kevlar vest pulling her forcefully back down as one tendril had narrowly missed her upon Jackson's grab. "Lily! Get down and stay down!!!" screamed out Jackson as he held onto Corporal Frost, not letting go no matter what.

The Corporal struggled against her Sergeant's grip, it was strong but her will to save him was stronger. Why? Private Brad Kim was still alive. The tendril had pierced his left bicep and he's hanging on that, he screamed and writhed in pain but he also held his other arm so it wouldn't rip and wind up falling. Then he'd be dead. As he hung there and held onto his left arm, he'd curse out in Korean in a muffled whisper.

Then the tendrils started to retract back into Alex, except for some reason he couldn't control it to be as painful as possible by slowing the retraction speed. So the tendrils were pulled out exceptionally fast out of every surface, including Pvt. Kim's arm. As he fell, Jackson let go of Lily and caught him before he fell. Immediately Jackson took off Brad's helmet and balaclava seeing his face, bloody but pulling through.

"Th-the fucker got me, Sarge…" muttered out Brad, Jackson just shushed him and continued to hold him while Lily took off her own helmet and balaclava, preparing to start giving Brad some emergency treatment. Despite the fact that there is a big hole in his bicep.

"Shh…it's ok, you're not infected. Mercer can't spread the infection…you're gonna be fine, just hold on. Just shut up and hold on." Jackson said trying to keep the rapport of his Marine so he wouldn't die out on him, looking to his side he noticed that not only Lily stopped trying to heal him and was over at the edge of the mezzanine observing Alex who got up and climbed out of the tracks and now crawling up the escalator.

"His name is…ZEUS damn it. St-stop calling him by that fucking name, Sarge! That fucker killed…Petey…fuckin' petey!!! What the hell am I gonna tell his parents Sarge?" Brad groaned out as he clinged to his vest, Jackson had heard him but he hadn't acknowledged him. His concern was towards Lily who was picking up her rifle and was about to head up the ramp to pursue Mercer.

"Lily! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" He yelled as he held onto Brad who continued to cling to him busy with his own pain.

"I'm going after him! We can't let him get away!!!"

"Are you fucking insane?! Look at what he did to the squad! Let him go, we'll call for back-up, have them search the entire city for that scumbag. Just get back do-?!" Jackson was interrupted by Lily who just couldn't take it.

"NO! After all of this?! He can't get away! I won't let him! Pete sacrificed himself just to let him go?! No way am I letting his death go down in vain. If I leave now I can catch him, Alex is wounded he won't get far." She said as she slung her assault rifle around her shoulders and had her helmet hang from the other shoulder, already getting ready to run.

"Stand down, Corporal. I don't want to have to pull rank on this one. I love you, I hope you know that. I can't let you get yourself killed like that! Don't you dare pursue Mercer, don't you fucking dare!!!"

"Ehehe…you both still call him by his name…wow, you guys are fuckin' retarded. Hahaha, man….doesn't she remind you of that crazy brother of hers?" Brad said in parted breaths, which obviously Jackson caught onto which gave Lily the leeway to leave.

"I love you too, Paul. But I have to do this…Semper fi, Sergeant. Remember that!" Lily said before she took off running up the ramp leaving Jackson and Brad there. Jackson looked up and yelled out to her but she didn't turn around, she just kept running. It was what she was best at doing.

"LILY!!!!!"

Grabbing the last hinge of the ramp, Alex climbed himself up out of the lower F Train area. Falling down on his knees he rolled up the sleeves of his leather jacket and the full-zip hoody to see his forearms, they've been scarred and burnt due to the high voltage of the tracks. The wounds were healing rather slower then usual, he needed to feed. It was quite sometime since he had consumed anyone. Maybe this is why his barrage wasn't doing so well before, plus the electricity did do some damage to him on a high level.

"I need to get the fuck out of here…" Alex said in parted breaths as he stood up, holding his right arm and started to power walk till he heard some shots fired behind him. Turning around he saw the lone blond haired Marine, a woman. She flung her M4 back around her shoulder and started to dart to him.

"You're not going to get away with this, Alex!!!"

His eyes widened as he remembered before the helicopter blew up with him, the files, Cross's sister, the Force Recon girl; Lillian Frost. It was her! Of all times for her to appear? Cursing under his breath he turned around and started to run, it was the only thing he had the energy to do. He couldn't afford to fight her now, even if it was just one Marine. Determined not to let him get away she followed eagerly behind him; jumping over garbage pails, hopping safety rails, and still having the energy to keep her sprint. She was one determined Devil Dog.

Finally reaching the stairwell that led to the outside world, not even bothering to run up the stairs Alex just leaped high into the air and saw the people below who were clearly frightened.

"I need to lure her away from the rest of the Jarheads…" He muttered before noticing the crowd of people below him, spinning in mid-air he propelled his body into a temporary flight which he glided across the ground and past the people back into the air. It only lasted long enough for him to turn into an alley five blocks away from the crowd. Alex sat down on the floor behind a dumpster and waited for her, she'd come. He knows it.

A minute of waiting, there she was. Stalking slowly into the depths of the alleyway with her M4's stock against her shoulder and her eye on those iron sights ready to take aim and shoot down wherever Mercer was hiding, unfortunately it just wasn't her day. The second she went past the dumpster, Alex rose up from behind her and used the back of his hand to smack her far from her spot.

With a yelp she went flying, far into the alley. Her M4 dropped right next to his feet which he kicked away, slowly Alex shuffled over to her. Rolling around, she'd grasp her back and pray to God for that kelvar she wore to protect her from the full force of his blow plus the electricity must have sapped his strength for a little bit. Noticing he was coming straight towards her position, Lily crawled back trying her best not to show how afraid she really was, she'd make her last stand and fight.

"You bastard…you bastard!!!" She yelled as she took out her Beretta M9 from her side-holster and start firing. Shot after shot after shot, all went into the approaching death. Shots rang out to Alex's arm, his leg, his chest, and his head. It didn't matter, he just kept walking. All the bullets that hit him just spilled out of his body and the wounds closed right up as if he didn't even get touched. She emptied out the entire clip and just continued to pull the trigger even if the only thing she heard was…

.click.

Naturally tears were streaming down her rosy cheeks and those sky blue eyes stared up at the hooded male's chocolate brown ones, it reflected what she was, a broken Marine. She bit down on her lip and took a deep breath.

"This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than any enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will…" Lily was reciting the Rifleman's Creed, the USMC doctrine. All Marines are required to learn this creed while in training, male or female. Alex had stopped in his tracks and stood in front of her, watching her say the creed as if it was her last prayer. Upon consuming many Marines during these three weeks, he knew the Rifleman's creed by heart so he knew what she was doing.

"My rifle and myself know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit…" As she continued on, her voice became heavy, her tears more prominent yet she had no need to wipe them clean, she was going down a whimpering dog. One thing she never wanted to be known as.

Kneeling down he'd look down towards her, she was pitiful. Her will had been broken, especially in a situation like this. He actually felt sorry for her, especially since the Marines aren't that tied into his quest to finish the work he started. It's BLACKWATCH who are the real enemies, plus GENTEK and of course the infected. The USMC just tries to defend, even if it requires taking him down as well. If she didn't know anything about Cross or BLACKWATCH perhaps he would have let her go. Sighing he'd continue to kneel there, listening to her as she was about almost done finishing the creed.

"Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but Peace." When she finished the creed, Lily opened her lids to see her killer above her, nodding her head she didn't give up a fight and she just laid there waiting for the inevitable.

"I'm sorry, but I need to know what you know…Lillian Cross…" Alex whispered out to her, Lily's eyes widened when he heard the last name of her former family tie spoken out. Before she could utter out another word, she was already dead.


U.S.M.C. Times square headquarters.

8:13PM

And with that, the Web of Intrigue made it's close, showing Alex Mercer a death that he had seen dozens of times in his dreams. Along with a thousand others. Reopening his eyes he'd groan out in slight pain, not only out of the pain of recovering from hacking out an organ or two figuratively but also from remembering such a recent event, especially such a powerful one as that. Finally mustering the strength, he'd sit up and plant his body…well to be more precise, Lillian's body against the wall. With his back against the wall, he'd stare at the puddle of blood and take one big deep breath.

"I always hated that part. I had best get out of here before somebody says someth--?!" His words were interrupted when he saw the puddle of blood start to move, or rather shift!? And of all times for this to be happening the bathroom door flies open and there comes Sgt. Paul Jackson yet again, getting in the way. In his guise he didn't even bother to look at him all he did was stare at the puddle that all of a sudden started to shift and act up.

"Oh fuck…" He said in parted breaths as he watched the horror that was about to unfold in front of him and the Marine who had just walked in to check to see if his loving "girlfriend" was okay. Especially due to the fact she ran into the men's bathroom and not even the women's, many did say they reported her acting weird. Probably sick? Pregnant?! He hoped not.

"Hey, sweetheart. Are you okay?" Said Jackson as he walked up to the downed "Marine", Alex looked up and put his hand out weakly.

"Stay back!" He yelled out the best to his efforts in a strained tone of Lillian's the best way he could without entering his own voice by accident, he's using up energy even trying to keep the voice. The Marine caught onto what he was referring to, which was the bubbling puddle of blood in the middle of the bathroom floor, instantly he whipped out his Beretta M9 due to his assault rifle being in the locker and he wasn't even equipped with most of his combat gear. Aiming it at the puddle he signaled with his hand to try and get the blonde's attention.

"Lily, get away from there!"

"I can barely move, just get out of here!!!"

Whether it was from experience or pure speculation, to be consumed – body and soul – was never a pleasant thing. The insanity-driven experiment was able to experience it first-hand, yet, she wasn't so sure how it felt. In fact, it all happened so suddenly, she couldn't react in any way. As she was eaten alive, no heaven came to her, no hell engulfed her in flames – she was completely eaten by the infamous Alex Mercer. Ever since then, the individual known as Elizabeth Greene, project "Mother," left existence.

Did she, really?

x--Devil May Cry.

Author's note: Now what did you think of them apples eh? That's what inspiration at 5 'o clock in the morning does to ya! The credit for this idea again if I mentioned this earlier goes to my friend Elizabeth, she was great, though she's pretty modest but trust me. If we didn't come up with this idea together, this fic wouldn't be here. Some of the writing when it comes to Lizzy Green comes from her. Some, not all. If you think this is all that there is? Hold your horses because there will be much more to come.