A MONSTER'S WRATH

Breakfast the next morning was a meager affair, a can of fruit each and some water.

Groaning as he stretched his hulking arms behind his head, Dennis yawned. "Right, I'm tuckered out after yesterday. Shouldn't be much fightin today so I'm only goin to send two people to 'unt for supplies. Twitchy, you snuck us in there so you've got the day off. Frankie, you 'acked the 'ell outta dat place so you can stay 'ome too."

Loosing an outraged shriek, Veronica shot to her feet. "What the hell is wrong with you Dennis? I was with you when that idiot was attacking, why the hell do I have to go too?"

Leaning forward with a savage smirk Dennis responded. "Because I said so ya bitch!"

Veronica stormed over to the door choking back a growl. "Fine! Pretty boy move your ass, I'm not waiting!"

Sitting up affronted, David glared at his harasser. "So I don't even get to finish my lovely bowl of canned peaches?" Sighing softly, he stood. "Great, just great, this is exactly how I wanted to start my day."

As he got to the stairwell that would take him into the hellish city, Veronica tossed him his shotgun. "Come on newbie, let's get this over with."

Closing his eyes with a sigh, David readied himself to go. "I can already tell, this is going to be a great day."

()

"Dip shit! Catch!"

Turning in time to get hit in the head by a can of pork, David had to admit that this was truly a miserable experience. His expedition partner was a bitter angry person who had done everything in her power to make this little expedition as horrid as she could. This little outing of theirs which at best was going to be unpleasant, was turning downright horrid.

Picking the can up off of the ground and placing it in his knapsack, he glared at Veronica. "You are an incredibly bitter person aren't you?"

"Fuck you newbie, and hurry up. This shit is boring!"

Resigning himself to a miserable day, David followed the bitter bitch.

()

Protector M2-Theta surveyed Rapture, the shattered remnants of Andrew Ryan's dream. Nothing inside its borders was beyond her reach; no one inside its borders could escape her wrath. She would protect the innocents that came to harm in this city, and she would kill anyone who attempted to harm them.

Leaping gracefully from the peak of the tower on which she was perched, she swam downward towards Olympus Heights. Mother had told her that a sister had gone missing there recently. She knew that the poor child wasn't going to be alive but she was not just a protector to the Little Sisters, she was a protector to the system. She would retrieve the Adam that the monsters had stolen, and she would kill them.

Scattering a school of fish as she drifted down towards the oceans floor, she couldn't help but smile in excitement, she was looking forward to this next slaughter. The monsters would not escape her, she was not weak anymore.

Allowing her thoughts to drift back to the last time she had seen Mother, she remembered the words Mother had coldly spoken.

()

The bright lights in Mother's office hurt Theta's eyes. So much of Rapture was bathed in a perpetual twilight that the light caused her to wince in pain, not that anyone would notice through her armor so similar to Daddy's.

Mother's cold voice broke her straying thoughts. "Someone has hurt one of the Family's children, Sister. This cannot be allowed." The rage in her voice was well contained but Theta could detect it. Not rage at the death of a child, no never that, rage that someone actually had the nerve to go against Mother's grand plan. That someone was thinking of themselves and not the Family. "I want you to retrieve the Adam that was stolen, and I want you to kill those responsible. This sort of action cannot be allowed. No one can be allowed to harm the Family."

Turning to face Theta, Mother locked her cold blue eyes onto Theta's glowing red porthole. "Kill them slowly and painfully, if possible make others watch. They must all know that this course of action is unacceptable."

Nodding with a low growl, Theta began to walk towards the airlock. "The Rapture Family thanks you Sister. Keep up the good work, and remember wherever you go, your family is with you."

()

Drifting, almost lazily downward, past the many windows of Olympus Heights, Theta watched with detached amusement as the monsters that saw her fled in terror. They may be monsters but she was a monster made for killing other monsters, they should be afraid.

Reaching the level that Mother had designated, Theta concentrated, and felt the water's pressure leave her, replaced by the screams of a female monster being accosted by two males.

"Help! Please someb-umph" cutting off with a slight whimper the monster went silent.

Theta turned from the noise, let the monsters kill each other what did she care, Theta unsealed her suit and took a sniff of her surroundings. She could smell concentrated Adam in the air. The type only around when a Gatherer had died. Loosing a shriek that she knew any monsters within several miles would hear, she headed towards the body of the Sister she hadn't been quick enough to save.

She found it in a large room lit by an obnoxiously big neon sign. She didn't remember what the symbols on the sign meant though she could recognize some of them. The sign showed a man with an animal head drinking something out of a large mug. She didn't know what it was but she had to admit its horns were impressive. She passed the body of the Sister's Daddy lying in a pool of its own blood with its entire upper body blown open. Rest in peace Sir Bubbles.

Then she saw her Sister, and felt a wave of sadness hit her with the force of a train. The girl's blank eyes stared at her protector, hand reaching for help that would never come. Her small face that looked like it had spent more time smiling then anything else, was frozen in a look of sadness mixed with terror, dried tears stained her cheeks. Her neck was bent at an awkward angle; Theta found herself hoping that that had been what killed her and not some postmortem evilness done to her by her murderers. Most noticeably, her chest was ripped open most likely from her murderer taking her slug. Theta felt hers wriggle slightly in her tummy at the thought.

As suddenly as the wave of sadness hit her, one just as powerful, but made of rage followed. How dare they! How dare they kill a little girl to satisfy their needs! This just reinforced what she already knew, they were monsters and monsters had to die.

Loosing another bloodcurdling shriek, Theta turned from the carnage. There were monsters that needed to die.

()

Ignoring her compatriot, Veronica ranted as they worked. "God I miss Sydney! That city was wonderful! I should never have listened to that charismatic bastard Ryan!"

Turning towards Veronica, eyes wide, David decided to comment. He knew that the chances of it actually helping his relationship with the hag were next to nil but it was worth a try. "You were born in Australia? Wow, you don't have the accent at all."

Completely ignoring David, Veronica continued her rant as she gathered food from around the area. "Oh but your so beautiful Miss Whithers and your singing voice is divine, Rapture needs people like you. It's a city for the best of the best, and I would love for you to come."

David shook his head with a sigh. "Swing and a miss."

Throwing a can of tuna into her pack as if it had murdered her mother,Veronica continued. "Of coarse I thought he was actually interested in me, but noooooo! Pft No Gods, Or Kings, Only Man. Bullshit! If that man didn't set himself up as King, Czar, Pope, President, or some other fucking dictator, I'm the god damn Tooth Fairy!"

Loosing his patience David decided to comment again. "You're the Tooth Fairy? Holy shit! My Mom lied to me! You are real!"

Hurling a pep bar at David's head, Veronica growled at him.

David couldn't help but glare at Veronica. "Oh, so now you hear me? Seriously, what the hell? Okay I'm going to ask one more time, why don't you have an accent?"

With a Sneer at David, Veronica turned to leave, only for a bloodcurdling shriek to pierce the relatively peaceful atmosphere. Ducking down instinctively he looked around frantically, some small instinctual part of him telling him that whatever was making that noise was not something that he wanted to encounter. "What in God's name was that?"

Veronica's hand darted out covering his mouth; in a heated whisper she scolded him. "Shut the hell up you idiot! That's not something that you want to notice you…ever!"

Nodding against her hand, David pulled it away from his mouth so he could whisper his next question. "How far away was it?"

"I don't fucking know! We need to get back to the vault!"

()

Frankie hummed softly to himself as he headed towards the warehouse. He wanted to make sure that newbie didn't fuck anything up, and another opportunity to harass Veronica was always good.

Without warning, something akin to the shriek of the damned split the air. "Fuck!" Hefting his crossbow and quickly equipping armor piercing bolts, he headed back towards the vault. Veronica and the kid could go fuck themselves; he wasn't dieing to save anyone.

He couldn't locate where the hellish noise had come from, or even how far away it had been. Turning desperately back and forth he looked for anything out of the ordinary. He felt himself beginning to hyperventilate; this was not going to end well.

Another, if possible, angrier shriek pierced the calm air. He had never felt this kind of fear before; somehow he knew that he was being hunted. Terrified, he turned and began sprinting home.

()

Protector M2-Theta cast aside the body of the monster, drained of blood. Feeling the familiar rush of power fresh Adam gave her, and allowing herself a brief self-congratulations, she turned and began sniffing for the other monsters. Gritting her teeth slightly, she pulled the arrow the monster had shot her with from her shoulder, dropping it to the ground.

There were three left that she could smell, along with a large concentration of the stolen Adam. Two were with the Adam, while one was off by itself. Smiling to herself she turned towards the two and the Adam. She had always enjoyed scaring monsters. She wanted the loner to know that it was alone, to know that she would find it and take the Adam back. Scaring monsters was fun.

()

"Where the 'ells Frankie? 'e should 'ave been back by now!"

The tone of Reggie's voice caught Dennis' attention. "Boss…you should take a look at this."

Shambling over to Reggie he glanced at the security monitor Reggie was staring at in horror. As he looked at the monitor, Dennis felt an emotion he hadn't felt since his transformation…fear. "Oh fuckin 'ell."

The Big Sister was standing outside the secret entrance, Blood red porthole locked directly onto the hidden camera.

()

The monsters were hiding, frustrating but not enough to make her give up the hunt. While she could transport herself past the door, she couldn't be sure what was on the other side. Teleporting into a wall would end very badly for her. She would need to attempt to get line of sight to the area, and if her sense of direction was right, and it always was, that door led towards the ocean. The ocean she could do.

()

It had been minutes since the second shriek had pierced the night. Turning towards David, Veronica sighed slightly. "We need to get back to the vault! That thing could be hunting us!"

With a quick nod, David stood quietly, "Let's go!"

"Mr. Bubbles, Mr. Bubbles, are you there? Are you there?"

Shit! Spinning towards Veronica, David saw her gaze go distant, "Veronica, don't! We need to concentrate!"

"Come and give me lollies, come and bring me toffees. Teddy bears... teddy bears."

A smirk slowly spread across Veronica's face and a slight pop along with a reddish cloud of smoke signalled her disappearance. "Holy shit! How'd you do that? Veronica? Veronica? Where the hell'd you go? Shit! Please don't leave me alone here!"

The rumbling footsteps of a Big Daddy as it walked down the hallway towards David announced its closness and that of its charge. Hugging the wall, David held his breath, and hoped against hope that they would bypass the room he was in, ignoring the body that rested at the room's center.

"Come on Daddy! I can smell the Angel! Through here!" A small blond pale skinned girl skipped into the room humming to herself. She jerked to a stop, glowing yellow eyes wide and frightened as she saw David.

Little Sister and human stood frozen, mirror images of each other, staring at one another in fear. Tilting her head to the side, the child squinted critically at David. After a second she seemed to reach a decision, and a broad smile spread across her childish face. "Hi Mr! What's your name?"

"Ummm…I'm David."

Waving enthusiastically, the little girl greeted David. "I'm Amanda, Mr. It's nice to meet you!" Turning suddenly from David, she continued to skip towards the body on the ground, brandishing her harvester. Cruching down next to the body, she raised her arm and stabbed it into the desicated corpse.

Rumbling steps announced the child's protector entering the room. It was mammoth, taller then the one that Dennis and the others had fought alongside David. Instead of many small portholes like the first, it had one large glowing yellow porthole. While it wasn't quite as hulking as the first, despite it's taller stature, it held a formidible looking gun in its hands. Turning disinterestedly towards David, it stared at him briefly before moving off to flank its charge, moaning softly as it did.

It didn't kill him? Why hadn't it killed him? Stepping towards the two of them slowly he was rewarded with a rumbling growl from the creature. Okay, stay away from the kid and it won't eat you. Good to know.

Turning to leave the area, he was interupted by a machanical whirring noise, one that was ignored by both the beast and the child. Eyes wide, his gaze shot upwards and was rewarded with the sight of some sort of crane hefting a huge metal cargo crate. One that swung to a stop hanging ominously over the beast's head.

Veronica was going to crush it with the crate. The child was right next to the damn thing! She would be crushed along with it! Darting towards the girl while dodging around its growling protector, he snached her and began sprinting away. With an enraged roar the metallic abomination set its, now glowing red, sights on the one who had taken its charge…and was promptly crushed by the crate.

"MR. BUBBLES! NOOOOO!" Wincing and cluching his ear, which must be bleeding by now from the scream the child had given off, David stumbled out of the room.

He was greeted by a widly grinning Veronica, hands extended towards the child. In her excitement she seemed to be having trouble controlling her powers, as fire seemed to be dancing along her arms. "Good thinking buddy! I didn't think she'd get crushed, but it's better safe then sorry! Now give me the brat! We can split the Adam fifty-fifty, the others don't need to know!"

Another scream escaped the small child, as she cluched David desperatly. "No! It's a monster! I don't want to go with her!" Holding the girl close, David steeled himself for the decision that would most likely lead to his death.

Eyes hardening into a glare as he stared at Veronica, David gave his response. "No."

()

Protector M2-Theta found herself lost briefly as she stared at the ocean. It really was beautiful. The one view that hadn't changed as she had aged and her indoctrination had broken, Rapture's "skyline" was breathtaking. She felt herself begin to loosen, her body disappearing, as she returned to the ocean's cold embrace.

A scream broke her brief peaceful trance and halted her disappearing act. "Mr. Bubbles! Nooooo!" Head whipping in the direction of the noise she felt her body tense like a bowstring, readying herself for combat. She had already failed one Sister today, she would not fail another!

()

"No."

Veronica paused head tilting slightly, sick smile still in place, obviously not expecting that anwer. Her eyes went from friendly and congradulatory to cold and flinty in a heartbeat. "What did you just say?"

Putting the child down gently behind himself, where she promptly latched onto his leg, David kept his eyes locked on Veronica's. "I'm not giving you the girl. You aren't killing another little girl infront of me!"

Sick smile spreading even more Veronica answered. "It's not a kid, it's a monster! It's in pain! Can't you tell? We need to kill it!"

"I am not letting you kill her!"

Flames bursting into life along her arms Veronica stepped forward. "Are you sure kid? This is your last chance. You can either give her to me, or I can take her!"

Knowing that this wasn't going to end well, David acted first. Fist shooting out he punched Veronica square in her nose, which shattered upon impact. Turning, David picked the child up from the ground, and sprinted in the other direction, as, with a cry of rage, Veronica took chase.

Pulling his radio out, David contacted the others. "Dennis can you hear me? Veronica has gone completely insane! The crazy bitch is trying to kill me! Help would be greatly appreciated right now!"

Flying around a corner, as several fireballs impacted behind him, David waited impatiently for a response. After several seconds of tense running, his radio crackled to life and spat out Dennis' response. "Sorry about this pretty boy, but we're not leavin the vault for anything. You'd best get somewhere safe. You're not alone out there." Great, that meant that Veronica wasn't the only thing trying to murder him.

Before he could get through the door that led out of the warehouse, pain lanced through David's side, as something very, very hot hit him. Stumbling, he fell to the ground with a cry of pain.

Stepping onto David's new burn, Veronica crouched over him. "I feel like I should kill you right now, you little shit! But…" Grabbing David's chin she forced his head up so he could see the Little Sister cowering in fear. "I think I'll kill your little friend first, and let you watch!"

Sauntering towards the terrified little girl, Veronica gave David a mocking wink, before crouching down in front of the child. "Don't worry sweetie, I'll make sure this hurts a lot!"

Hand wreathed in fire, Veronica raised her fist, before with a surprised yelp she was sent flying through the air as she was hit by some kind of invisible force. Only to be caught by the throat by something standing at the end of the hallway. Holding the struggling Veronica by the throat, the creature studied her with something akin to detached curiosity through its blood red porthole.

Suddenly throwing its head back, the creature loosed a horrible shriek, one that physically hurt David's ears. And he had thought that the child's screams were piercing. Lurching to his feet, David began stumbling towards the still cowering child. The wet sound of something piercing flesh met his ears. Glancing over his shoulder, David saw the creature sinking some kind of spear, or maybe even a mammoth needle, into Veronica's stomach angled upwards to avoid the ribcage.

Grabbing the little girl off of the ground, David began running as the creature dropped Veronica's drained corpse to the ground. Just before he had cleared the doorway, it slammed shut, trapping him in the hallway with the creature. It advanced slowly, almost casually towards him, blood dripping from its needle. Head cocking to the side, it looked at him briefly before reaching out towards him.

With a scream, a familiar human missile slammed into the monster's back. "You will not hurt it!"

An irritated growl past the creature's lips as it began attempting to dislodge the madman perched screaming and slashing from its back.

Picking the little girl back up, he turned towards the fighting monsters. "Reggie! What the hell are you doing?"

Grunting with effort, Reggie cast an irritated glance towards David. "It really should run while it can! I will not be able to kill this monster, only delay it!"

"Why are you doing this?"

"That really doesn't matter now David! Run you idiot!"

Deciding not to question Reggie's motives, at least for now, David darted past the fighting creatures and ran out of the warehouse heading straight towards the vault.

()

With another shriek, Theta slammed the monster on her back into the wall causing it to yelp in pain. Stepping away from the wall and turning back to the partially crushed monster she looked curiously at it. Monsters run and hide; they don't help each other. Why had it helped the monster who had taken her Sister?

Loosing a gurgling laugh, the monster's glassy bloodshot eye met her porthole. "It didn't deserve to die…" A chocking cough, "It has a chance to run now! It has a chance to get away from monsters like you!" Eye glazing over, the monster looked into space, smiling softly. "I'll see you soon love, I'll see you soon."

Rage flooded her veins, tinting her vision red. The monster had tricked her! Loosing a final shriek, Theta raised an armored boot. Theta smiled in satisfaction behind her helmet, as she ended its pointless, pathetic existence with a wet crunch.