The thing lurched, back and forth. Added to the chaos were gunfire and booms of explosions, the heavy backstage to an intense performance.

The inside was a deadly place. Sharp teeth lined the interior, grazing my skin with every move, stabbing me through with each jerk. Acid was the water here, burning away touch, burning away senses, burning away sanity.

I could feel myself being sucked back, and fought furiously against the tide, as the acid washed over me, as the teeth dragged me along. Behind somewhere was a vortex. It was hungry. I felt my foot touch something, hard, like bone, jagged, like knives. I screamed as an entire leg was ripped open. The stomach was near.

In desperation, I stabbed down into the churning mill with a blade, then gritted my teeth as it was more or less shredded. The pain was unbearable. Still the current carried me.

The entire creature shook and I was jarred from my position to be farther digested. Like stepped on hot spikes. I curled into a ball and shielded myself with a layer of shield.

The teeth hit the shield. I let it rip into it, and was forced to endure the pain as it dragged me through a grinder. However, I did not let it go, but held its position. It was a test of strength, me against whatever monster this was. It choked, then lurched again, as though to throw me out. I refused, hanging onto the teeth like a life line. The gears stopped turning, the teeth stopped cutting, the current stopped flowing.

With a yell, I began to pull on the spikes. The creature roared as a strip of it was ripped from its insides. It thrashed, making the environment inside extremely unstable. I dug two swords to its insides to keep steady, which only caused it more pain. From my back came the third appendage, in the form of a drill. It made a ear-splitting sound as the drill made its way through the walls of the stomach.

The creature's skin was at least two feet thick. While it twisted and turned about, I slashed a sword through the hole made by the drill. There was light outside, just behind another curtain of flesh. I stabbed it through, earning the cool feeling of fresh air, and another scream of the beast. I felt myself being thrown back as the creature reared, high into the air. Shouts rang through the air, helicopter motors, tank engines. I cut a hole in the beast like paper.

From its side I burst out, narrowly avoiding its tumbling body. The gigantic worm buckled as a rocket exploded on its underside, a ring of large teeth rotating and clicking. It fixed its tiny eyes on me. I snarled back. It dove forward, I leaped up.

The creature moved at the speed of a subway train, carving out a trench path in the ground by its passage, missing me. I landed on its back with body swords down, sticking firmly to its body. It roared and flipped over a tank.

I stuck a biobomb under its skin and leaped away before those nasty teeth could turn around and bite me. The creature did not react to the explosive in its body, only getting angrier and angrier the more I dodged its crushing blows. But when the bomb did explode, its ripped through the worm's body, severing it in half. Harsh tendrils shot through the air to smash apart anything in their way.

The monster still struggled, attempting to dive back into the ground. But I flew forward, both blades out. The momentum of my crash sent the worm into the ground at a wrong angle, making it hit and slide against the ground instead. Its teeth slashed open my thigh as I did so.

It screamed again, so loud that soldiers flinched. Barbs grew on its skin, scratching at anything within reach, throwing up rocks and dirt, chewing through everything that came near its mouth in its frenzy.

I backed off, repulsed. How could such a thing even exist? Its functions consist as far as to devour and to smash, and had no other organs other than a stomach to digest everything that had been eaten. The creature was revolting, and I planned to end it.

With a yell that caught the attention of everyone within vicinity, I leaped at the worm, which still thrashed, trying to dig its way back underground. Oh I was not going to let it go so easily, not after it ate me and I clawed my way from its stomach. The blade slammed down on its teeth, shattering many, dicing the mouth. It tried to shake away the pain, but I spun and cut a large slice through its body, followed by impaling its jaw and slamming it into the ground. It did not get up after that, only attempting to crawl its way forward slowly. It managed to inch as far as three feet before the military opened fire, spraying it with bloodtox and explosion. Within a second it was nothing but a burnt and decaying lump of flesh.

I straightened from where I landed, a bit farther away, dusting away the slime and the flesh. Calmly I watched the worm for any signs of life.

A bullet darted into one side of my cheek and blasted out the other, whipping my head around. I tasted the bloodtox. Immediately I turned back, hissing. More guns raised in fear than professionally. The sniper whose gun was still smoking twitched.

I took a step. More guns raised. Oh I was angry. Mad that someone dared to fire upon me, even madder at the coward of a man who couldn't get a shot off in the fight earlier.

If someone had dropped a pin at this point, the tension would probably explode and earn me a collection of bullet holes and everyone else a sword in their head.

"Enough!"

Here came Vinson, with his maniacal sword and his anti-tank pistol. Like toys the soldiers stood straight and saluted, though the strain of their muscles visible, the veins on their jaws budging. I only crossed my arms and stood back onto my heels. He accepted my defeat.

"You," he gestured wildly, to the soldiers in front of him, "heard there was another attack on FDR Drive. Go take care of that. And report to command base when you're done."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

I watched them go, so loyal, so eager, so naïve. Then there was quiet. Quiet I enjoyed.

"Care to explain?" He was staring at the dead beast.

I shrugged. "Mother is here."

He was confused. "Mother? You have a mother? I didn't realize you have–"

"No, doofus. Mother is just the title we give to the creator of all these," I waved erratically to the corpse. "And… Well… To be honest, she's kind of … an adopted mother. Her real name is Dana Mercer," I babbled.

Vinson stilled. I could tell I said something he didn't want to hear. There was sudden realization in his eyes, then resolve.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something is wrong. We had Dana Mercer secure and locked in a containment prison in Houston while battling Alex Mercer on the west coast. After she escaped, all sorts of strange infected we have never seen before," gesturing to the dead worm, "started popping up. I guess you could say we were getting our asses handed back to us."

"I see," I concluded, not bothering to mention witnessing the rise of the last titan.

"See what?" Sergeant Gunners strode at us, his rifle stinging over his shoulder. He snapped a quick but casual salute to Vinson, who glared back.

"Where are you men?" he demanded.

Gunners shrugged. "I sent them up with Bravo company. Thought I'd grab some quality time with my buddy and…" he looked me up and down. I glared at him and his mischievous smile, "and your lady here."

"Right…" Again, there was something about him… I scrutinized, non too-discreetly. He looked like he wanted to point it out to me, but was interrupted when the ground under us shook.

Something large landed a bare twenty yards away, screeching at us from a mouth of sharp teeth. I had one moment to recognize the build of a pterodactyl before it lunged, knocking Vinson aside and latching onto me with sharp claws. Gunners reacted the quickest, unloading a full clip of his rifle into the creature's face. It screeched again and backed away, bleeding bloodtox from its injuries.

Vinson rolled to his feet and shot it with a cannonball, which caused it to lurch to the side. I didn't even bother to draw weapons. Running up, I gave it a bear tackle, wrenching it to the ground. It bit at me, but I snapped its jaw shut with a punch, then snapped its neck. The creature still struggled, biting and clawing. Vinson put another few rounds into it head, finally stilling it.

I quickly separated myself from the disgusting corpse, which twitched every now and then.

"So what–?"

"Look!"

I was not even annoyed at Gunners for interrupting me, because in the sky was a behemoth as large as a battleship. The sheer size of it was difficult to comprehend, as it loomed over the city like an angel of death. It, like its ground-bound counterpart before, was swarmed in a thick layer of mist, until I realized the mist was not mist, but flocks and flocks of aerial creatures.

My jaw dropped.

"Is that… is that a hot air balloon?" Vinson asked stupidly. I didn't respond, still staring.

Gunners was already half way to a parked tank, yelling into his radio. "Get the air force launched! Quickly! What? No! You see that big, fat balloon over the Empire State Building? Yeah, kill it!"

There was no time to lose. By now everyone must have seen the creature of the infected. Everyone was on a tight schedule. Everyone wanted to kill everything quickly, so that they could go kill something else. The second titan had eclipsed the sun, drowning the city in its own shadow. Gas sacs stuck out at random places, covered in layers and layers of slime and veins. A maw hung on the bottom in its vortex of teeth and tentacles. Slowly, the creature began to inhale. Cars, trees, rocks, people. They flew like as though on a leash, flailing and tumbling, into the monster.

"I guess I'll take care of it," I whispered, my voice small in the presence of the giant. My step towards it was hesitant.

But before I could take off, a hand was on my shoulder. Vinson shook his head. "No. The air force will keep it distracted. You need to find the Mercers and take care of things here on the ground. If you can stop them, then this things will be a piece of cake."

I nearly despaired at his words. "I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't?" he demanded.

"I just can't! They're too powerful!" I cried back.

He looked at me sternly. "You can take on every single evolved in this city, but can't kill the two of them? You can punch your way through a solid yard of bullet-proof glass, but can't manage a pair of destructive children? Where is your spirit?!"

"You don't understand! Last time I faced them, I was almost shredded and eaten! And that was one at a time. Who knows what they can do together?"

"Then stop fighting your goddam battles alone," said a voice, to the side. I looked to see Carson striding towards us, consuming an unfortunate evolved as he came. Dark slashes lined his face. A ghost haunted his eyes. "Don't play hard, play smart. You have allies."

"But you can't face against them with me."

He brushed aside the comment. "No, I cannot. But listen to what I have to say: Alex Mercer said they are only here for the Order. If we can kill the Order, and its leader, then he will leave this world alone."

"You can talk to Alex Mercer?" Vinson questioned, suspicion visible in his eyes.

"Yes." That was all Carson said, not backing down.

I sighed. "What did I say about playing nice?" I held up a finger to shush whatever Vinson was about to say next. "If that truly is him, then he will keep his word. For all he is, Alex Mercer is no liar. He has no reason to."

"Then what are we waiting for."

The pyramid still stood, tall and gleaming as ever. Even the infected kept their distance from it. The snakes of metal that intertwined between the glass looked down ominously, guardians of the secrets within.

As I walked forward, the streets were deadly quiet. Behind every corner was a beast holding its breath, claws extended, teeth gleaming. Too many things hid in the rubbles, gone when I looked, back when I turned. They were curious. They wanted meat.

I stood in front of the pyramid, like I had what seemed like a long time ago. But now there wasn't just one protector, one ally. I had behind me dozens more Loyalists, no weaker than the man before. They would survive. They would kill. They could, and would, destroy them, the murderers, the monsters.

A big man stepped from within the fortress, followed by many, like flies buzzing about, ready to feast. The man gave me a sneer, though I didn't miss his worried glance at the army behind me. He was nervous, anxious that their stronghold, their last line of defense, was under attack. Oh, how I smelled the queen ant inside, jumping at every shadow, twitching at every movement.

"There's no other way," I shouted, across the street, voice echoing in the hollowness and stillness of the city. "Today is the day of judgment, that shapes the future of mankind in its outcome. There shall be glory in victory, death in defeat. Raise your arms and fight!"

The Loyalists yelled, like thunder. The order threw up their hands too, like the beast within the earth.

I couldn't tell who moved first, but suddenly both sides leaped into the air and stormed at each other, like titanic waves deep in the sea. The prototype rushed at me, mouthful of sharp teeth and arms like heavy clubs. Perhaps he thought I wouldn't put up much fight.

I simply sidestepped, causing him to miss his initial charge. When he turned, he found an enormous blade spinning at him. The impact sliced heavily through his chest and sent him flying backwards. He crumbled into a wall, which collapsed and fell on him. I didn't chase, instead climb a building adjacent, up and up until I was several hundred feet in the air, looking down at the battle.

From my insides I withdrew a small, plastic pistol. Aiming it into the air, I let off two shots. Like fireworks they sailed into the sky, illuminating the dark place under the shadow of the titan.

The prototype was coming back, scaling the building with his claws. I aimed the flare gun down and shot into his face, blinding him. While he was rubbing away the light, I gave him a good kick. He didn't dislodge from his place on the wall, but the chunk of wall itself fell.

Without waiting for him to rock bottom, I jumped, even higher into the air, then fell. The force of my impact knocked a ring of evolved away, friendly or not. A second prototype roared a challenge at me. His whip pierced my chest then dragged me off my feet. Then Carson was there, whacking the prototype away.

A single missile flew through the air, leaving a trail of dark smoke. Heads looked up to see its passing, and its crash through the beautiful glass walls. It exploded, in a miniature sun that temporarily illuminated the dark place. Then the explosion was gone, leaving behind a circle of molten glass, and a hole in the ground. Dark winds seemed to be blowing from its depth.

This I had not expected. I assumed the Order put everything close to ground level for an easy escape. But from the darkness that was at the bottom, I realized the glass pyramid was nothing but for show. Hitting it with a thermobarbic missile was simply a waste. A hand grasped the edge of the hole and pulled itself out. More evolved were here.

On the other hand, the military was also here. A barrage of missiles bombed back the ones still on their way to climb out. They fell back into the darkness. Marines poured out from tanks, guns ablaze. Vinson was here, dueling an evolved with his sword. I watched as he blasted the overconfident man's head open in a shot of his pistol, then decapitated him from a swipe of his blade. He didn't get up. Gunners was not far behind, coming from the other direction with his own legion of tanks, blowing his way through a collapsed building. His cannons turned the battlefield into a slaughter field. And of course, Gallegos was not one to miss this opportunity. But instead of risking her high, royal life, she was in a helicopter, directing its next bombardment.

"Don't let them near the base!" someone shouted, though muffled in the chaos.

In the sky was a storm of fire. Great waves of flyers met against the bullet barrage of the planes. Ground artillery bombed the beast with rains of shells. The titan was coming, slowly heading this way despite the damage it was taking. A thermobarbic missile blew off a tentacle, which fell to the ground and crushed an entire street. Clouds of bloodtox, sprayed by bombers, surrounded it, melting it down as it came. Still it did not slow.

"Isn't this world beautiful?" said a voice behind me. I swung back, catching the speaker at chest height. But instead of being even hurt, it only laughed. "You will have to try harder than that."

Alex Mercer brushed aside the blade as though paper, his chest closing in a mass of writhing flesh. He did not seem to mind my hostility, or the battle around. An evolved, foolish in his own might, attacked us. He came as close as ten feet before Mercer's enormous arm grabbed him by the throat and squeezed. What remained of him was absorbed into Mercer.

"Pests," he spat, "They are not grateful for the power I granted them, but wish to dominate the human race in their own plan." He swung his arm, which became more slender, sharper, thinner. The blade that grew out scratched the ground as its full arc, and the back of it extended past his elbow so that the entire thing was as tall as him. He stared at it for a second, as though he couldn't believe himself. "There is no place as tempting as the old battlefields of New York, or the smell of blood and the sight of gore in the birthplace of Blacklight."

I was so intent on Mercer I didn't notice the party he brought with him. The infected creatures, deformed monsters that had no traces of what they had been originally, rampaged through the people. There were shouts of surprise, then the sound of flesh tearing and hitting.

"Anna!" someone yelled, from the middle of the battle. I looked up, surprised, while Mercer was jerked out of his thoughts with narrowed eyes. The man who shouted had an arm reached out to me. His thin, gray beard was stained with red. His wrinkled face was desperate. For a second, I didn't recognize him.

"Tom?"

He didn't reply. Because he couldn't. A jagged blade stuck out from under his chin, its zigzag edge sawing through his neck, spraying blood like a fountain. In so long I noticed how wide his eyes were, just seconds away from death, as the blade twisted. I watched in horror as it retracted, leaving him to fall onto his knees. Then a boot planted itself on his back, and roughly shoved him into the dirt.

Above was the grinning face of Steve Gunners.

"What?"

Gunners' smile widened when he saw me. But while I stood, in shock, he leaped over a charging evolved and slammed his saw blade hard into the man's back, opening another fissure of blood.

"No!"

I ran forward, forgetting the world around me. I didn't notice the giant cleaver chopping down in my path, nor the maniac who held it. But someone did. A whipfist pierced my back and tugged me flying back. The blade dug into the dirt.

Alex Mercer was standing in front of me while I lay in the ground, his whip still in my back. Before him was Mother, in her insane laugh and wild hair. He shook his head. When she took a step forward, he did not back off, rooting his feet to the ground. Her face twisted into a snarl. But before she could do anything, a hail of bullets rammed into her side. She darted away, again leaving behind that curious trail of orange.

"I still have uses for you," was all Mercer said, before he unlatched his whip and ran off, too.