They were cowering, the doctor monster was holding her sister to his chest and he seemed slightly dazed and confused as he watched her. Theta raised a flame wreathed hand casually; this was going to be fun!
Before she could begin, much to her shock, her sister blocked her way. Amanda was glaring at her defiantly, her yellow eyes narrowed in anger. "Don't hurt my friends!" Theta stood for a second, shocked into inaction. Amanda was ordering her around? She was the older sibling! Amanda had to listen to her! Before Theta could take action against her uppity sibling one of the other monsters intervened. A larger then average monster stood before her wielding some strange weapon she had never seen before. She was in no mood for this monster's silliness; with a flick of her wrist she shoved the monster onto its back.
Seconds later Theta's harvester plunged towards the large monster's head. To her surprise the monster reacted with shocking speed and rolled out of the way. Her rage spiked to a new level as her harvester hit the ground at an awkward angle and snapped. Releasing a savage shriek she kicked it in the ribs. The beast rolled several feet before coming to a stop. Once again showcasing its surprising speed it leapt to its feet, raising its unfamiliar gun it fired.
The monster's gun despite being far larger then any other fast firing gun she'd seen fired incredibly fast. Agony ripped through her as the bullets effortlessly pierced her armor and bit into her flesh. With a pop Theta disappeared and reappeared behind the dangerous monster. She swept her leg underneath its taking it off its feet. Before she could finish the beast more bullets dug into her back.
Loosing a frustrated scream Theta disappeared, she reappeared inside a vacated Splicer's hut. She hid for a moment taking stock of her injuries. Her body was riddled with bullets; while they weren't fatal they would slow her down. Much to her frustration she couldn't seem to catch her breath, one of the rounds must have pierced her lung. Theta sighed internally, that would take all day to heal!
She made a mental note to be careful of that monster's gun, it was particularly deadly. She took a moment to collect herself before she located the nearest monster. She appeared behind it with a cruel smile and tapped it on the shoulder. The monster, a small pitiful looking male, spun around with a yelp. He brought his arrowthrower to bear. Theta disarmed the whimpering beast with a flick of her wrist.
Before she could kill it something most unpleasant happened. Her head was suddenly encased in a block of ice. She couldn't help but scoff as she wreathed herself in flame. Her mocking laugh was cut short when she realized the ice wasn't going anywhere. Whatever was attempting to stop her was quite powerful.
She was unable to suppress her tears as she did what was needed. She released a concentrated burst of telekinetic power. Her helmet and the ice encasing it exploded outwards with the force of a grenade. She was sorry, Daddy would understand.
The monster that stood before her was confident; it didn't bat an eye as she bared her teeth and screamed at it. The only reaction she saw was a slight look of sympathy from the stupid beast. "I'm sorry I didn't save you." Theta snarled at the infuriating monster. She did not need its sympathy! "I wish I could have saved all of you."
With a scream Theta dove at the monster. It sidestepped and sent a concentrated beam of fire into her back. Theta spun around and dove at it again; she received a punishing blow to the temple with the damn thing's wrench. Theta narrowed her eyes; that hurt!
If it was going to use plasmids against her she could return the favor. Theta smiled to herself as she casually sent a pillar of flame towards the idiotic monster. The monster fled for cover barely keeping ahead of the flames. Theta shot another pillar of flame in front of the monster, cutting off its flight for cover. She was fair though, she dispersed the other one so it could still have a fighting chance.
The monster doubled back sprinting for cover once again. Theta cut it off from cover again with a smirk. It was such a good little rat in her maze. Theta heard the bang a second before agony tore through her. A single round from the large monster's big gun punched into her cheek. The bullet, as it slammed into her teeth, flattened increasing the damage it did as it exited her mouth. The entire left side of Theta's face exploded outwards as the flattened bullet and shards of teeth tore through her flesh.
The large monster hefted its evil weapon onto its shoulder and laughed derisively. It was obviously under the misinterpretation that that shot was going to kill her. She hurled it through the air effortlessly as she loosed a gurgling scream of rage. As the beast hurtled through the air Theta snatched its weapon and sent it flying to the other side of the room.
While humans would be quite distraught to have their faces mangled horribly, Theta wasn't particularly concerned. She would heal after all it would just take time. She took one step towards the large monster before, with a feeble battle cry, the pitiful little arrowthrower wielding monster leapt onto her shoulders.
If she wasn't so frustrated she'd have found it amusing. Pain dug into her neck as the monster stabbed her in the neck. Where the hell did it get a knife! Loosing a frustrated shriek she tore it off of her back and hurled it away from her. She was loosing her patience!
A bolt of lightening stunned her briefly before an irritatingly familiar wrench hit her square in the eye. That was enough! Theta was going to skin all of them alive!
()
Harper groaned in pain as he assessed his situation. That thing had one hell of an arm! He had been hurled clean from the room. He must have rolled several feet down the hallway before coming to a stop. He glanced around briefly hoping to locate a weapon of some kind, he was disappointed. Gunfire from the other room reminded him of his friends' dire situation.
He moved to stand slowly and painfully. Surprisingly being thrown across a room by some sort of demon possessed banshee thing was quite painful. Booming footsteps announced the arrival of something new.
Trying to quell his growing sense of dread, Harper looked over his shoulder. He stopped moving with a yelp as a mammoth foot impacted the ground beside his head. Two serrated talons extended slightly from the warped piece of flesh with a wet shlick before flexing in place. Harper was unable to suppress a terrified whimper as another foot planted itself on the other side of his head.
A horrid gurgle escaped the beast standing above him. A stream of blood and chunks of meat oozed from its mouth before landing on the back of his head with a wet plop. The abomination shifted slightly head raised to the nonexistent sky. As quickly as he dared Harper crawled away from the thing, if he could just find his friends. He was unable to resist screaming as the beast's freakishly elongated fingers wrapped clear around his chest and it lifted him off the ground.
Suddenly Harper found himself looking into the beast's blank yellow eyes. The creature inhaled deeply bringing him closer to its twisted face. Was it smelling him? Without warning its lips pulled back in a snarl revealing jagged blood encrusted teeth. Harper was barely able to control his stomach as the beast's feted breath washed over him. He shivered in terror; he could clearly see bits of meat and cloth stuck between its teeth. It wasn't just an insane giant mutated monster; it was a cannibalistic insane giant mutated monster.
The beast opened its mouth revealing a long wart ridden tongue. There was an audible pop and the abomination's mouth opened even further. While Harper had never really thought much about how he would die, being eaten by a cannibalistic monster was not the way he had thought he would go. Unable to face his imminent death Harper closed his eyes in fear.
For several seconds Harper didn't move. Needless to say he was quite shocked when the monster tossed him aside carelessly and stalked towards the ongoing battle. Harper was baffled…did that thing just let him go?
()
Theta's smile was mangled to say the least; her face having been horrendously damaged from the earlier shot could do little more then twitch. A constant stream of blood and saliva streamed down her front as her mangled mouth and cheeks could do nothing to stop it. The monsters that she had beaten probably couldn't even tell she was smiling. She could though, and that was enough for her. The largest of the three was pinned to a wall struggling to breath, his signature weapon pinned by an invisible force against his throat. The irritating female one was surrounded by metal on all sides unable to escape. Theta had a fire surrounding the irritants prison, already the metal was heating and it was screaming for help. The most formidable of the monsters was hovering in the air before her, his hands desperately grasping at the invisible hands choking the life from him.
The beast's arm turned black and twisted as wasps began to flow from it. Within seconds they were upon Theta, all it took was a quick burst of flames to exterminate the pathetic attack. Theta laughed, though it sounded more like a gurgle. The monster responded with a burst of telekinesis aimed for her face. While the attack knocked her head back and tore more of her cheek off it did nothing more then amuse her. Was this really the best these monsters had? While she would admit they had done more then most, it really was a futile effort.
Theta casually pulled a hand back; she'd never dissected a monster this powerful before. She couldn't help wondering what new surprises its body held for her! Unfortunately she wouldn't be able to have her fun while it was alive; she did need to kill him after all. Even now she could see pity in the infuriating monster's eyes. She did not need its pity! Raising her mutilated face to the sky, Protector M2 Theta loosed a victorious scream.
Her scream was answered by an earsplitting roar that seemed to shake the room.
Slowly Theta turned her head to face the source of the noise. Upon locating the newest arrival she raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to do. It appeared her mysterious sibling had found her after all. Without warning or provocation it charged at her arms extended.
Theta was barely able to dive out of the way of her enraged sibling. Despite the situation she felt slight amusement as her brother backhanded the wrench wielding monster out of its way. Skidding to a stop her brother spun around and charged her once again. It moved with shocking speed and was upon her within a second.
Roaring with mindless rage it swung its clawed hands towards her head. Theta was able to dodge its first swing but was too slow to fully avoid the second. Again agony tore through her, this time as her beastly brother's claws raked across her face. The claws shredded the left side of her face and punctured her eye.
With a pop Theta teleported to the other side of the room, desperate to gain a reprieve from the vicious assault. She felt frustrated tears pouring from her still working tear duct. It hurt, god it hurt! What had she done to deserve this? A scream tore from her lips as her deranged sibling obliterated her hiding spot and dove at her.
Why was it only attacking her? Others had been closer to it she'd been sure of it. It was like it was only aware of her or simply didn't care about the others. Roaring insanely it swung at her again and again, despite her incredible reflexes she was barely keeping ahead of the monster.
This had to end now! Theta coated her arm in ice creating a mammoth spear. Despite her instincts telling her to run she leapt towards the beast. Ducking under its swing she rammed her makeshift spear into its chin. Her improvised weapon cut its mandible down the middle before exploding out the top if its head.
Relief brought her to her knees as the monster collapsed to the ground unmoving and dead. Stifling a terrified sob, she slowly stood to her feet. She had realized who it was; she had realized what it was. The little boy, the one that had bit her when she was being taken from her prison, his horribly disfigured body was laying on the ground next to her.
If she had never been released would their places have been reversed? Would she be the mindless starving monster savaging people at random? The monster you could become was the most terrifying kind.
Shakily she stood and glanced around. The monsters were all incapacitated, while her plasmids had been disrupted the two males had passed out from lack of oxygen and the female was still trapped in her metal prison.
Theta slowly advanced on her ex-allies they were both crouched behind cover. The doctor monster had Amanda clasped to his chest and was glaring at her. Theta bashed his head against the wall knocking him into unconsciousness.
David sat before her; he seemed confused looking past her into the distance. He barely reacted when she grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall. His dazed eyes found her remaining one and a flicker of concern flashed through them. "S-sam?" Theta's undamaged eye narrowed in hate. "W-what happened to you?" Theta ground her teeth together in rage, and put more pressure on his neck.
A few tears flowed down David's cheeks as he looked at her in confusion. "I wanted to take you with me…show you the surface. What happened Sam?" Theta felt her heart clench inside her chest. What? He was going to take her with him? He was going to take her from Rapture? Gratitude welled in her chest. Would he take her back? Her hand tightened around David's throat fully cutting off his flow of oxygen.
Why was she hurting him? She was happy. Her hand clenched tighter. No, no! She needed to stop! Pain tore through her head. Whimpering Theta's free hand grabbed her head even as she tightened her grip on David's throat. David's panicked gaze moved from her face to her hand, his gaze silently begging her to stop. She was trying! His eyes flicked over her shoulder and grew more confused.
With a roar her monstrous sibling backhanded her across the head. Releasing David with a whimper Theta fell to the ground. She was barely able to teleport away before her demonic sibling attacked.
Rolling to her feet Theta loosed an exhausted whimper. She was so tired, she hurt so much. The beast spun around roaring and Theta's eyes widened in shock. Its jaw, which she had cut clean down the middle, had not yet healed. The monsters jaw was writhing, jagged teeth bursting forth from its flesh. Within seconds the mutation stopped and the monster's bottom jaw had transformed into two fully functioning semi-opposable mandibles.
The beast swung its clawed hands at her in a frenzy. Theta was barely able to stay ahead of its prodigious speed. Seeing a blow she would not be able to avoid Theta vanished. She materialized immediately behind the beast, using all of the plasmids at her disposal. Blow after blow rained down on the monster. It flailed around, attempting to end her life. Theta no longer bothered dodging she just teleported around the beast doing as much damage as she could.
The monster seemed unfazed by her attacks despite the damage she was doing to it. Unfortunately the beast seemed to be getting faster, or she was getting slower. Theta teleported around it once again but the beast seemed to anticipate her move. When Theta reappeared agonizing pain tore through her entire body. Slowly she forced her beaten and broken body to look down. Her brother's arm was inside her chest up to the wrist. She had rematerialized where its arm had been and now they were locked together.
Theta coughed and a large amount of blood surged forth. Slowly her pain filled yellow eyes moved up to meet her brother's blank ones. If she didn't know better she'd have said her brother was smiling at her. Slowly the beast's mandibles spread revealing rows of jagged murderous teeth. It grasped her shoulder with one hand before with a sickening crack it tore the other free.
()
Tony stared in stunned shock as that monster killed the child steeling bitch. The fist that had been inside the freak's chest was nothing more then a twisted bleeding lump of flesh. For some reason it had been solely focused on her, it had even left Harper alone.
Next to him Harper shook his head. "Th-that thing just let me go. Why?" As the monster crouched over its enemy's corpse, disfigured jaws opening, Tony had an idea. Slowly he made his way over to Jack.
"Give me some Adam." Jack just raised an eyebrow. "I want to see something, now give me some Adam." After a moments hesitation Jack reached into his pocket and handed Tony a small vial filled with a blood like substance. Before Jack could inquire about Tony's plan he popped the cork off the vial.
The thing froze immediately its head snapping up and its freakish gaze immediately falling on Tony. "Oh shit…" It was possible he hadn't thought through this plan.
"Tony…run!" As the beast screamed in rage and lunged to its feet Tony sprinted as fast as he could in the opposite direction. He didn't really need to be told to run, it was kind of a given.
()
Protector M2 Alpha watched the lure bob idly in the shallows. Its three pronged hooks vaguely reminding her of a monster's improvised weapon. She smiled behind her helmet as she wrapped the line around her arm. Bracing herself against a rocky outcropping Alpha heaved with all her might. Much to her disappointment only the rod flew into the water, the fisherman remained on the dock.
She drifted closer to the dock, her sharp gaze watching the elderly fisherman as he cursed at the sea that had claimed his fishing rod. The man paused, his brow furrowing as he stared at the strange red light in the water. Alpha smiled as the crotchety man stared directly at her in confusion. From her spot in the shallows and the moonless night the man was only able to see the light of her visor.
He would most likely just chalk the strange light up to his drinking or forget it the following day. However Alpha was bored…and she was in the mood to have fun. The elderly man screamed in fear as he was pulled through the air by and invisible force. He entered the water with a huge splash. The terrified man thrashed desperately as Alpha grasped him by the throat.
Alpha's harvester dug into the man's stomach. The near narcotic rush she felt as the man's blood entered her system intravenously was less potent then when a she feasted on a Rapture native. She knew that rationally she should feel nothing from the man's blood and it was most likely a conditioned response. That was what Mother had told her at least. To be honest she didn't really care, it felt good and that was the whole point.
The water was tinted red by the time the man was sufficiently drained. Carelessly letting his body float past her, Alpha surfaced slowly her gaze fixed on the house by the shore. Her heavy metal boots left a clear trail in the sand leading from the surf to the house's backdoor.
A wave of telekinetic force blew the door off its hinges with a thunderous explosion. Before Alpha stood a woman, her terrified gaze staring uncomprehendingly at the unwelcome entity entering her house. With a snarl a large animal with thick golden fur and a fairly pointed snout dove at her, Alpha hurled it twenty feet into the stone wall of the house with a flick of her wrist. It impacted with a crunch before falling to the ground unmoving.
The woman's shrill scream physically hurt Alpha's ears. She was upon the irritating woman in a flash. Forming an inch long ice blade on the tip of her pointer finger Alpha casually slit the woman's throat. She collapsed to the ground with a gurgle. A man appeared at the bottom of the stairs, he was wielding a metal bat. Before he could do more then stare in horror at his dying loved one there was the deafening sound of thunder as she began to electrocute the man. Channeling the lighting into his writhing body as his screams rose in volume she refused to let up. Within a minute the man's scream died in his throat as his life slipped away.
With a calmness of a hunter who knew its prey had nowhere to hide, she stalked up the stairs. An adolescent female was rooted in place in the middle of the upstairs hallway. Her terrified green eyes the size of dinner plates as she looked at the monster that had killed her parents. With a dismissive flick of her wrist Alpha sent a horde of hornets at the young girl with specific orders, to keep her alive as long as possible. The young girl's screams were music to her ears.
Her next stop was a horribly pink room. Judging from the sound of terrified whimpering, her target was hiding under her bed. Alpha snorted with contempt, what a pathetic waist of skin. Without warning the child's bed was hurled through the window and into the lawn. The little girl screamed in terror. Alpha's nose wrinkled in disgust, she appeared to have wet herself.
Alpha lunged at her target and before the child could react her Alpha's hand had encircled her neck. The little girl's neck felt so exceedingly fragile in her hand, all it would take would be a little twist and the irritating child would be no more. Alpha wanted to snap the child like a twig, she wanted to so badly. She had her orders though and this one was to be taken alive. After a minute of struggling the child went limp, passing out from oxygen deprivation.
Alpha turned to leave; she had done what she had gone there for. An unexpected sound halted her in her tracks. Crying sounded from a room down the hall, the helpless crying of an infant. Slowly a joyful smile spread across Alpha's face. She'd never done an infant before! This could be fun!
The child's room was blue and filled with idiotic toys and insultingly simplistic books. The infant itself lay in a crib, he writhed unhappily his small lungs wailing with all their might. Alpha looked down at the helpless being with disgust. It was weak, so so weak. It was unable to take care of itself. As she got a good look at its mouth she barely suppressed a laugh, the pitiful thing didn't even have teeth!
Giddy with a twisted glee, Protector M2 Alpha raised her hand and wreathed it in flame.
()
It appeared that after being treated like Samantha's punching bags the initially hostile group were considerably less inclined for violence. Still somewhat nervous about getting shot, David tentatively headed towards his fallen…friend? He wasn't really sure what Samantha was to him anymore.
She lay unmoving in a pool of blood. Her face was shredded down to the bone, blood flowing steadily from her mutilated mouth. The trail of three claws was clearly visible on the left side of her face. One of the claw marks had punctured her right eye and another had partially severed her nose. There was a mammoth hole in her chest where the monster's hand had been wrenched free.
Despite himself David felt a surge of sadness wash over him at the sight of his fallen friend. "Oh Sam…"
I've been looking forward to this chapter for a long time. Hope you all enjoyed it.