Just under a year passed since the previous infection outbreak. As the infected started going underground , James Heller did his best in order to prevent them from flooding New York City again. The place started to recover , with the leftover survivors somehow managing to make the place good for living in again. It was... almost beautiful how fast humanity can recover from such outbreaks.

The longer Heller fought , the more he realized he was becoming weaker despite consuming more and more. He continued on regardless , relying more and more on his armored form to defeat his foes , but he still felt the power difference. Upon entering a sewer system , something he didn't enjoy as much , he found the infection clinging onto the walls. It was almost as if the entire sewer had become an infected hive. Regardless , he ventured deep into it , noticing more and more blood and flesh the further he ventured. He got ambushed by a few hunters. His body reacted to it and gave him claws , even though he didn't want it. Even so , he slashed his way through , painfully , but he still did it.

Further down the way , he found a huge open area that the infection ate away. There were 3 huge heart looking flesh things that pumped biomass away. He destroyed 2 of them , which caused the entire area to be swarmed by lower infected. He cleaved through them , but it wasn't a nice view. His body was regenerating at a much slower pace then usual. He really was becoming weaker now. He destroyed the last heart , and by doing so , awakened a monster. A 4 legged , almost crocodile like beast that had spikes on it's back , dubbed Crockzilla. His body reacted again , this time giving him the whip fist. At first the long range proved useful against it's charges , but it started shooting the spikes out of it's back. 3 spikes penetrated him deep , although easy to remove , the damage wasn't as easy to recover from. He continued on , striking the beast , slowly removing more and more biomass off of it. When it's head was mostly destroyed , he went in and consumed it. Upon doing it , he got a glimpse of something. It was once human , and a human that worked with the ones who brought upon the first infection in Hope Idaho. "This virus isn't as potent as we believed it to be. But with the blood of this woman , we might just be able to... No , something is wrong , there's more then one life signature , could it be that she's bearing a child? Get her to the lab , immediately , before it's too late for all of us.". Heller was confused , he thought he had a clue on how to prevent this further , but it was stopped. Just then , he felt sharp pain out of his back... and a bit too sharp , as it ripped out his spine.

"Top of the food chain. Though still weak after all.". It was him , Alex Mercer. "Although I'd wish to kill you here and now , I've got some big plans to execute. We will meet again , and your resilient DNA won't save you when the time comes.". He jumped into biomass left from the hearts , disappearing into it. Heller was enraged to say the least , the same man who took his daughter nearly a year ago and infected almost everyone on the island was back at it to finish what he started. But Heller had a bigger problem , he was weakened , almost to the same level when he was first infected. Although , being that deep into an infected hive did give him an idea , consume everything he's capable of and get out as strong as possible , then deal with whatever Alex could throw at him. And so he began killing the lower infected , so many of them being consumed each moment. A monster , akin to a Hunter , but with greater claws , dubbed Slasher , fell down in front of him. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me." were the words Heller said before he was knocked away. He started running , picking up anything he could find and throwing it all at the beast , chipping away at the outside shell. He jumped and punched the Slasher right into the exposed back , greatly stunning it. He realized their weakness was their insides , and he spent no more time fucking around and consumed it. He gained the Claws. "Good to have these back. This'll go smoother now.".

He went deeper into the hive , killing everything that stood in his way. He thought about what Alex's plan was , but he still couldn't figure it out. He didn't have a clear view of the information he got when he consumed him less then a year ago , so it was still up in the air. He knew that he had to kill him regardless of the plans. However , he remembered a small problem , Gentek and Blackwatch were still conducting work there , so it was only logical that Alex would try to destroy them as soon as possible. He needed to become stronger , but he knew it wasn't going to be easy. He found another room with even more heart , this time consuming them and gaining some of the strength he had lost. Quite some time passed , and he exited the sewer. NYC was as it was , normal to a greater extent. He climbed up a building , and just as he got to the top , he was shot down by a rocket. "Red Crown , this is Bravo Force 1 , we've got James Heller in Brooklyn of the previously disclosed Red Zone. Immediate backup requested." "Bravo Force 1 , this is Red Crown , reinforcements are currently being sent to your location.".

"Well great." Heller said to himself. He started slashing down the soldiers who fired at him. "Bravo Force 1 , Strike Team A113 has reached your location. We'll handle things from here.". Just as those words were said , long tendrils shot straight through the helicopters of the strike team. Heller realized that there was only one man who could've done that , so he chased in the direction of the tendrils. When he arrived , there was a huge hole from the ground , from which the infected started swarming out of. Brawlers , Slashers , Hydras and Juggernauts were all out in the open , destroying the place. "Shit , he's already begun.". Heller killed a few of the Brawlers and Slashers , but he had a lot of trouble dealing with the rest. Suddenly , something fell from the air , impacting the ground so hard that most of the infected were on the verge of death. Heller took this opportunity and consumed as many of them as he could , gaining the Shield , the Whipfist and the Hammerfists back.

When the dust disappeared , it was visible what Heller was up against , or rather , who. "Almost 3 years of being asleep , and this place is still infested like this. It's almost hard to believe." although a slightly different voice , it was undeniable that it was him. "Mercer!" Heller screamed out before throwing himself with the Hammerfists into him. He dodged it and knocked Heller down to the ground. "You've got a lot of nerve to come fuck this place up even further now." "Not my fault I was released onto the world , and it won't be my fault once I end this living infection once more.". Heller's hands turned to Claws , as he relentlessly started charging and swinging him arms around. "That trick won't save you from me." said Alex before using the ground spike to impale Heller. "And now the fight's over." Alex grabbed Heller and started consuming him. In the moment , he really was doing it , the biomass was slowly dispersing into him.

"Argh!" screamed Alex , as he reached his hands to his head. He was seeing everything that Heller had seen. "All of that happened in the last 3 years? How is that possible , I've been asleep all that time , the nuclear blast sent me deep into the ground where the rubble collapsed onto me." "I'll kill you this time you fucking asshole." "Enough!" Alex hit Heller in the head hard , real hard. "You don't seem to understand the situation. A part of me must've been ripped apart after that nuclear explosion. That part of me is the one you consumed , and the one that left. I don't want another invasion to be indirectly caused by me , so we're gonna have to work together to fix this issue." "You think I'll ever believe you after what you did to me?" "Do you want that other half of me to finish the job or do you want me to do it for him?". Just as he said that , a figure was visible from a distance. "This is... interesting to see. So a part of me was separated on that day after all." "Speak of the Devil." it was Alex... yes , THAT Alex. "What the fuck is going on? If that's Alex , who are you?" "I've just explained it for you , or did you not listen?". Regardless , that Alex flew off into the distance. "Fuck you , I'm chasing him." "He'll get away , but we've got the current advantage if we do something first." "Like Hell I'm gonna let him out there." "Listen , he's raising an army under the city. If he consumed the rest of those infected , he'll be too much for either of us to handle. So will you chase him or help me kill all of those things below?" "Why would you care to help me , so that you could consume me?". Alex got behind him in a quick motion , such that Heller couldn't even notice him , and touched his head. Heller's mind was swarmed with the knowledge that Alex had , showing that he really was willing to end the infection and himself in the process. "You believe me now?" "Fine , but I'll be ready to kill you if needed." "Wouldn't expect anything less from you , Sargent Heller. We need to go to the research facility of Gentek. There I will have the resources needed to weaken the infection. But before that , I'll need the required samples from this hive." "And what do you suppose I do?" "Consume someone who is currently the top of Gentek , act as them for some time and I'll get to you.".

Chapter 1 complete.

So , yeah , there's 2 Alex Mercers here , one from the second game , and one from the first game. At first I wanted to place it as more of Heller centered , but the story just didn't click without the mascot as a protagonist of the story. I had like 3 ideas for how this would turn out , but I'm pretty sure this is as good as it can be.

Regarding the way this story will go , the next chapter will be less of fighting and more of pushing the story forward , and it will be longer then this one. After that , I'll do my best to make it as action packed as I can , this is Prototype , not talk simulator.