Dream Of Eternity By SlaneeshSaysHi Chapter 60: Prototype: The Outbreak of Manhattan, P4, a Bloodborne + X-overs Crossover fanfic

My great thanks to HighFlyingWings, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!

Welcome to the SpaceBattling Online Message Boards
You are currently logged in as, Strange_Eons (Veteran Member) (Confirmed Cosmic God) (Confirmed Prankster God) (The Guy In The Know) (Confirmed Lovecraftian Abomination) (Confirmed Master Chef)
You are viewing:

Threads you have replied to

AND Threads that have new replies

OR private message conversations with new replies

Thread OP is displayed

Twenty posts per page

Last ten messages in private message history

Threads and private messages are ordered by user custom preference.

Topic: Monsters exist! Manhattan at war!
In: Boards ► News ► Recent

Strange_Eons (Veteran Member) (Confirmed Cosmic God) (Confirmed Prankster God) (The Guy In The Know) (Confirmed Lovecraftian Abomination) (Confirmed Master Chef)
Posted on 5th October, 2008:

So huh, you guys know about all those urban legends about flesh-hungry monsters? Turns out, they are very much real…

[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]

You can double check everything, but already the medias are going fucking crazy on this, so…

Yeah.

Good news though! It's pretty obvious that the Powers That Be of Humanity already knew, because I don't think It's a coincidence that ISIS has deployed in force in Manhattan, and thousands of U.S. Marines alongside them.

[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]

Our would-be saviors, ladies and gentlemen! Ones already present during whatever the fuck went down in Raccoon City ten years ago (because fuck the official announcement on it, nobody is dumb enough to believe that drivel), interestingly enough…

(Showing Page 1 of 666)

Ectoseka
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Nani the Fuck?!

House (Verified Building)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
I support the above post.

Nani the fuck?!

Did I fall asleep and wake up in the twilight zone?!

The Fourth Monado (Veteran Member)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Shit, are you fucking serious OP? You've got to be joking, right?

EDIT: Oh God Almighty, he's not joking, what the hell…

Bees
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Right. Well, I think the obvious answer to this is clear.
FUCK THE PLANET, EMBRACE GOING INTO SPACE!

SillyTeen
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
It's got to be a prank, there's no way this is real…

EDIT: OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT-

BrickFrog
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Hm, guys? It's actually on the news, it's real, God have mercy this is real…

SpinningBoy (Occult enthusiast)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Excuse me, I need to go get me some holy water and a shotgun real quick…

LiveLong
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
God, have you seen those things?! One of them was holding a fucking truck with one hand for God's sake, a GODDAMN TRUCK!

Lostgamer64 (Weapon Enthusiast)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
SpinningBoy I think you're going to need more than a shotgun, you're going to need the same kind of guns ISIS has access to, if not better, because if you look closely, some of those bastards have plasma wounds on them.

Which means that they can actually survive being shot by plasma.

Just… FUUUUUCK!

Melodious (Occult enthusiast)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
There isn't enough holy water in the world to deal with this shit… Or alcohol, for that matter.

Un0
Replied on February 28, 2011:
Right, I think it's time to go to my local church, kneel, and get to praying really, really hard.

Because apparently, someone decided that the goddamn apocalypse was going to start in Manhattan.

If you would all excuse me…

Strange_Eons (Veteran Member) (Confirmed Cosmic God) (Confirmed Prankster God) (The Guy In The Know) (Confirmed Lovecraftian Abomination) (Confirmed Master Chef)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Well, the governments of the planet are officially starting to get their shit together, and that includes the White House from the good old US of A.

So, here's the link with the official response from the White House:

[Link]

To summarize, it's a lot of "The situation is under control, no need to panic", followed by "We are investigating the potential sources of all this, we shall share our discoveries as soon as possible", and of course "No, as far as we know God Almighty didn't decide to start Judgment Day."

Considering the lack of demons or angels so far, the last one is most likely true, so… Good news, the world is most likely NOT ending!

_
Cheesecake
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Yeah, at this point, I'm not sure if the lack of angels is a good thing or not, when monsters are on the Earth…

MegaMild
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Yeah, people are buying guns like never before. It's bad enough that many shops are running out of stock already…

Not that I don't get the feeling. Thankfully, I own a proper lasgun, so I'm good!

Cheesecake -Gotta admit, Manhattan does look like it could use a sudden influx of angels right about now...

BlueHelix (Raccoon City Survivor)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Ah shit, here we go again…

Well, at least ISIS is handling it, so that's good news. Really, REALLY good news. Now excuse me everyone, I'm gonna hug my collection of guns carefully bought over the last decade for this…

Salute to ISIS, crazy bastards going straight into the jaws of hell for us all once more. I still owe one of your team for saving my ass back in '98…

Acairta
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
That's got to be a joke, right? I just… There gotta be some kind of mistake, monsters don't fucking exist, that's just not possible! Right?!.

Magic Arrow (Verified Zombie Movie Enjoyer)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
Holy shit, actual zombies?!

*Clear throat*

MY TIME HAS COME!

NameAndANumber
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
BlueHelix Dude, what? Are you saying that happened before? I mean, we all heard some rumors of crazy shit going down in Raccoon City, but they were just that, rumors!

Lostgamer64 (Verified Occult Enthusiast)
Replied on 5th October, 2008:
BlueHelix - I knew that Raccoon City got overrun by zombies! I fucking knew it! They call me crazy, but I WAS RIGHT!.

A batshit insane(ly brave) reporter named Lois Carol has apparently petitioned ISIS for the right to film their struggles during this mess.

You know, the same ISIS that keeps its secrets so closely to its chest that we don't even know anything except that obviously, they HAVE to have secrets? Yeah, those guys.

And they agreed.

Yes, you heard right. They AGREED.

So here it is, the full footage of the battle of Manhattan so far, straight from the frontlines.

Fair warning, it's gruesome and bloody, and somewhat terrifying.

[Link]
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 664, 665, 666

(Showing Page 2 of 666)

Unseen Depths (Tinfoil Hat)
Replied on 6th October, 2008:
Don't you see all the governments are (Redacted) suppressing any thread that doesn't meet their (Redacted) standards immediately! By chance I saw a thread by St. George on how Governments were messing around with Biological weaponry. I was going to comment on the post but by the time I typed my response, It said the user that posted it didn't exist! I'm telling you the mods are in on this! I mean we already know they are stone cold (Redacted) it totally fits!

This user received an infraction (Excessive profanity used with malicious intent is not permitted, keep it civil) ~Tin Mother

Lurker9001
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
aaaand there goes Unseen Depths...

I think he spends more time banned than everyone else on the forum combined sometimes...

►buryitnow
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
So I clicked on the link.

The warning was right.

Fuck but this is insane. Monsters exist, which is insane, and those ISIS guys are fucking insane too, and-

Everything is fucking insane!

I mean, God, the sheer amount of corpses on the streets…

►UnGone (Unverified Cowboy)
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
Right. Well if some fucking zombies or some shit come in my property, they can damn well get a laser bolt between the eyes, I say…

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (Police Officer)
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
What the hell...

I just… The world's gone crazy, I tell you...

But I'm so very glad that me and the others in the force have lasguns these days, because if these things can survive plasma, they'd laugh at bullets…

►disgae96
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
I am the only one who is curious about the fact that apparently these ISIS guys have coloured crystals allowing them to unleash the elements on those… things in Manhattan? Just me?

►SchoolhouseRock
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
disgae96 It's not just you, trust me on this. But honestly, it's kind of pale compared to, you know, the hordes of LITERAL MONSTERS.

I just… I'm sorry, I'm still staring at all of this in shock, and I can't be the only one.

Just… Just what else is out there?

What else exists, if monsters do?

► Melodious (Occult Enthusiast)
Replied on 6th October, 2008:
SchoolhouseRock That's a really good question.

Hey, OP, you wouldn't happen to know, would you? I mean, considering the titles you've got…

Though I'm not sure why the last one is a thing. I mean, good for you, but it is rather different from the others…

► Strange_Eons (Veteran Member) (Confirmed Cosmic God) (Confirmed Prankster God) (The Guy In The Know) (Confirmed Lovecraftian Abomination) (Confirmed Master Chef)
Replied on 6th October, 2008:
Melodious To answer your second question, well, hobbies exist for a reason. Especially one allowing you to eat the best food… And my loved ones certainly aren't complaining!

As for the first, well so far I think we all have enough to worry about with monsters and zombies, let's leave the potential existential crisis for another day, shall we?

►disgae96
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
Strange_Eons Well, as long as the eldritch abomination in our midst doesn't consider humans to be on the menu…

And now, I'm concerned. Are you actually an eldritch abomination? Because huh, I rather like the Earth not being eaten, I kinda live there you see…

►Lurker9001
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
disgae96 Pfft, come on, there's no way he's an actual eldritch abomination, monsters don't…

… exist…

…

Ah, shit. Please don't eat me!

End of Page. 200, 201, 202 ... 664, 665, 666

(Showing Page 201 of 666)

►bunglejungle
Replied On 8th October, 2008:
Oh god, why are there tentacles in Manhattan now? Why?!

[Link]

►disgae96
Replied On 6th October, 2008:
bunglejungle Oh no, no no no…

Why, world, why?!

► House (Verified Building)
Replied On 8th October, 2008:
Every day we stray further away from God…

I just didn't expect it to literally fuck us in the ass with giant tentacles!

This user received an infraction (We really don't need that kind of image, people are dying out there) ~Tin Mother

► Melodious (Occult enthusiast)
Replied on 8th October, 2008:
Hey, OP, you're an eldritch being, right? Can you do something about those tentacles? Pretty please?

I'll sacrifice my next chocolate cake to you, just please, make those things disappear!

►Scarlet69
Replied on 8th October, 2008:

[REDACTED]

This user received an infraction (You know why, just… just don't.) ~Tin Mother

►ManOfGod57
Replied on 8th October, 2008:

[REDACTED]

This user received an infraction (We're not in the Dark Ages, we don't do that kind of thing nowadays!) ~Tin Mother

►ManOfScience63
Replied on 8th October, 2008:

[REDACTED]

This user received an infraction (God, what is wrong with you?!) ~Tin Mother

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (Police Officer)
Replied On 8th October, 2008:
*Look above*

Welp. People gotta be people, I guess…

Though the latter two are just… The first was bad, but the latter two make me wonder if someone like me will get involved in your lives sooner than later…

Anyway, other grim news, things are not going well in Manhattan. Casualties are increasing, and just as bad, the forces of Humanity are getting pushed back.

Here's the links to some maps of the situation, from the beginning to today:

[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]

As you can all see, things aren't exactly looking great.

So far, the worst of it is in the south, because ISIS is focused on the North. I'm still not sure why they aren't going down in the south, but I'm hearing something about issues of politics and people in charge of the army refusing ISIS' help, and letting their soldiers and civilians die. If that is true, and I'm really hoping it's not, then things aren't going to get better down there anytime soon. And sadly it most likely is true, because those among you carefully watching might have noticed that no one actually is fleeing the island from the south, only from the north, and all who do are protected by ISIS troops.

That might imply the general in charge of the south is stubbornly refusing to both work with ISIS and let people in his zone of influence flee the area, which is… fucking horrifying, not gonna lie.

So yeah. Things are going to hell over there, with the only good news being this bit of info (yes, there is good news):

One, no ISIS soldiers have died yet. Shocking, I know, but while there are injuries, more or less severe, no death has been announced yet. It might be a cover-up, but me and others have carefully looked at all the squads, troop formations, etc. in Manhattan, and shockingly, it appears to be the truth: all soldiers are accounted for, all materiel as well, if once again in various states of "physically fine."

Here are the links on the matter:

[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]

The second bit of good news is that ISIS has recently announced just how many people they've managed to evacuate from Manhattan, and through some fucking miracle, the numbers are really fucking high.

I don't know who the hell is in charge of the evacuation, but if I ever get the chance of meeting them, I'll gladly shake their hand and then beg them to explain how they pulled that off, because this has to be the most amazing example of logistical wizardry I've ever heard of in recent years.

So yeah. Things are bad, but ISIS continues to pull off fucking miracles out of their ass anyway, and God damn but I'm happy they exist, because otherwise, this mess would be so much worse right now.

► BlueHelix (Raccoon City Survivor)
Replied on 8th October, 2008:
Bagrat Well, it's ISIS we're talking about, trust me these guys are fucking madlads.

Though the fact that they are being pushed back like this is worrying, it's not as bad as it seems.

Mostly because I noticed something.

The Hero of Main Street, Aeon Muradasilova, the leader of ISIS, has yet to take the field.

For those of you who aren't Raccoon City survivors, that name will simply make you think he's the leader of ISIS.

For those who are…

Well. I saw his stand on Main Street. I saw him hold, basically alone, against countless zombies, and not even break a fucking sweat.

ISIS are badasses, but as someone who actually watched their leader take to the field, I can assure you: ISIS has yet to properly fight this battle if he's holding back.

I'm not too sure why he would hold back, mind you, but the guy is the leader of the deadliest private army in the world… Perhaps the most elite army in the world, bar none.

You don't get to become that, and stay that, without the skills to back it up.

So yeah. ISIS has a plan, I'll fucking bet my life savings on it, and it's going to be as spectacular as it's going to be pure genius when it goes off in these monsters' faces.

► Melodious (Occult Enthusiast)
Replied on 8th October, 2008:
Well, that's all both concerning and fascinating… Though once again, what the fuck happened in Raccoon City?!

Though I'm a bit doubtful one guy can be that much of a game changer. Like yeah, elite soldiers exist, we're seeing them every time we watch that reporter's recordings of her time with ISIS, but there are limits to what any one guy can do, you know?

►Lurker9001
Replied On 8th October, 2008:
I've got to agree with that. Like yeah, we all saw those ISIS soldiers at work, and they are fucking amazing. Seriously, I've got some friends fascinated by military stuff, and they're either drooling over their gear or fanboying over how fucking insane these guys are in battle.

But they are still humans, right? They're amazing, the best of the best, but they can't kill ten monsters with one shot or casually punch one of those Goliaths into a fine red mist.

So really, no matter how good the guy is, he can't turn the tide on his own.

That being said, I don't disagree that ISIS might have a plan in mind. As mentioned, they are elite soldiers, and their leadership is apparently good enough that even Bagrat is fanboying over them.

I just don't think we're going to see one dude take to the field and win everything back in, like, a day. What's the point of even having an army, then?

► BlueHelix (Raccoon City Survivor)
Replied on 8th October, 2008:
Lurker9001 The point is that one guy can't be everywhere, no matter how good he is, so he needs an army to get shit done, too.

But when that army isn't enough to get the job done? Then you bring in the one guy right where he can be the most effective, and let him do his thing.

But honestly, I don't have to convince you guys. Sooner or later, you'll see what I saw, and you'll understand, when it'll be caught on camera for the whole world to see.

► Greentide (Verified Ork)
Replied on 8th October, 2008:
So, I managed to get a guy who is friends with a soldier who got deployed in Manhattan, and naturally, we talked.

That soldier is apparently deployed in the north, so he got to work with ISIS since pretty much day one, and there's a lot the guy said about them.

The first is that, as mentioned, ISIS soldiers are fucking insane. Not only in gear, skills, but mentality.

ISIS soldiers don't talk much on how they are trained to outsiders, but they do admit to a few things, and it still makes your regular US Marines fucking blanch in terror at the idea of going through what these guys do regularly.

They really are fucking insane even on the battlefield. They run around like they won't ever get killed, mostly because apparently they are trained to not feel fear at the thought of dying, no matter how gruesomely, until they can go into even the most suicidal of battlefield scenarios and fight without even a hint of anxiety. In other words, it makes them pretty insane at risk-taking…

But here's the thing: they are trained so hard that they can actually survive that kind of tactic.

That soldier said he watched lone soldiers run towards hordes of monsters for the sake of saving even one civilian life, and not only do they save that life, they fucking kill so many of that horde that it wasn't even worthy to call it an horde by the end of it.

Then those ISIS soldiers walked back, bloody and exhausted, before taking a three-minute break, and then standing up and walking the whole thing off without a care in the world.

And when questioned about how they could have died, they laughed and said there weren't enough enemies to kill them.

Sometimes, those hordes numbered in the hundreds.

So yeah. Those guys are fucking insane, they just so happen to be insanely good enough to survive their insanity.

And they aren't just saving civilians. That US soldier got his whole team saved at the last second several times by now, by ISIS soldiers running around and casually slaughtering anything standing in their way, saving everybody's lives by doing so, and then they just kept going to the next hotspot in need of reinforcements with barely any time to take a break in-between.

But that brings me to my next point: the south of Manhattan.

As mentioned above, it apparently is under the control of a special army group. Don't know much more than that, very hush hush, but apparently that army group is really, really not well-liked.

At all.

Rumors of casual executions of civilians or suspected infected military personnel without any double checking for confirmation, an apparently well-earned reputation for sending US Marines as disposable scouts to test enemy positions before sending in their own troops, and much more.

And their leader really, really doesn't get along with those of ISIS.

I know, shocking.

Point is, the general in charge of the US Marines at Manhattan is apparently a pawn of that secret army group, which makes things tense over there between the different forces of humanity. Especially when the rank and file of the Marines are seeing how different things are between the south and the north, between black-armored stone cold killers, and ISIS soldiers rushing to people's help without any hesitation nor care for their own lives like Big Damned Heroes.

So it's a fucking powderkeg, and sooner or later it might just explode in everybody's faces.

Last thing I'll talk about is the leader of ISIS. Now, that soldier obviously didn't get any details, but he has functioning ears.

Those ISIS soldiers? Those madlads, elite heroes rushing into no man's land? Yeah, they fucking laugh themselves silly at the idea of any of them being in any way, shape or form close to their leader's level of badass.

To hear them talk about it, their leader regularly gets them in one vs all kind of exercises, where the goal if you're the unlucky bastard being alone is to not get found, and take out as many enemy soldiers as possible for bonus points.

It's ridiculously unfair, biased against the sole bastard, and generally it ends sooner rather than later.

And then there is their leader.

Who won each and every one of those exercises.

Yes, you're reading this right. The fucking insane madlad won those exercise, by himself, while often deliberately handicapping himself to give his troops "a sporting chance".

They still never won once, in all of the years ISIS has existed.

And even more interesting… That legend among legends? Yeah, he took apprentices.

None of whom have been seen fighting in Manhattan yet.

So I'm going to leave you guys with one question for you all to think over.

What are all these people waiting for, before they take to the field?

Because somehow, I get the feeling that, as BlueHelix said, we're going to find out, sooner or later…

… In other news, the Pope has once again called for calm around the world, and for prayers to be given for the sake of the people still remaining in the island of Manhattan, both the civilians yet to be evacuated and the soldiers bravely fighting against the hordes of bloodthirsty monsters threatening New York. He assures to all that there is no need to fear for the souls of the dead, for God will not let them suffer, and-

… The stock prices for Insight Corporation continue to go higher and higher, as the people of the world see the forces of ISIS grimly try to hold the line, and have more success in it than anyone had expected considering the sheer horrifying strength of their enemies. Furthermore, the same is true of all weapons companies, as Humanity now fears the start of a war unlike anything ever seen in human history, a war for the very survival of the human race…

… Numerous protests continue to go on across the world as people demand answers to the revelations that Manhattan is besieged by monsters straight out of Mankind's worst nightmares, while the governments for the moment remain either silent or offer only calls for calm while they launch their investigations. Furthermore, a special meeting in the UN has been called in order to decide how the various leaders of humanity should react to the unprecedented crisis now threatening the stability of the world, and perhaps, even human civilization itself…

… Questions continue to abound about the by now infamous name of Elizabeth Greene, the woman declared to be the one who caused the outbreak currently ravaging Manhattan. Who is she? What is her past, her motivations? Little besides her name is known, except for a single photo taken while she was apparently fleeing the headquarters of Gentek Corporation. What was she doing there? Was she kept there as a prisoner? A test subject? Did she actually break in to steal something? The questions remain for now unanswered, as Gentek representatives categorically refused to answer any questions, which only threw more concerns about what exactly is going on with Elizabeth Greene…

… It's the end of the World! We have sinned, and God is punishing us! Don't listen to that liar in the Vatican, we all see the signs, the end is near! Repent, before it's too late! Repent! Before we are all damned…

… Lucy Miller of Insight Corp. has declared that her corporation shall help pay for and work hard to ensure the rebuilding of Manhattan once the crisis is over, in order to allow the people living there to hopefully return to some semblance of calm after all of this. When questioned at how likely the crisis is to be contained, considering the news that the forces of ISIS are being pushed back, she repeated her absolute trust in the capability of the soldiers of both ISIS and the American Forces fighting for Manhattan, and assured all that she was confident that the matter will be resolved sooner than predictions might indicate, though she refused to elaborate on the source of her beliefs beyond repeating her trust in the soldiers fighting in Manhattan…

… In an understandable twist of fate considering recent events, interest in space colonization has never been higher, and many people questioned declared that recent events have made them see space colonization as a potential alternative to consider if matters on Earth continue to worsen. The hope of those people is that the troubles of Earth would not reach the stars, and with the fighting within Manhattan raging on without an end in sight, it is not hard to understand where these people's beliefs come from…

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (Police Officer)
Replied On 9th October, 2008:
Right, so I have news from Manhattan, but they aren't good news.

Apparently, the damn tentacle monsters can serve as troop transports, and several hours ago, a number of them went behind ISIS and American lines and unleashed their troops in what were supposed to be safe zones.

Now, the good news is that ISIS continue to show that they are fucking badasses, because their leadership apparently took one look at those tentacle monsters the first time they appeared and collectively went "Yeah, battle lines mean jack and shit to those guys."

So they planned accordingly, including warning the US Marines, and thus when a whole horde of monsters appeared behind the lines from beneath the ground, said lines immediately got the order to retreat while ISIS deployed teams specifically held back until now to hold those hordes busy while everybody retreated.

Again, through a shit loads of luck, skills from both the soldiers on the ground and the leadership back at HQ, and quite a few insane stunts of courage which somehow didn't end in tragedy, the whole of ISIS and the vast majority of the US Marines assigned to the North was able to retreat in good order.

ISIS took more wounds that day than since the start of the outbreak, but no deaths yet, and while they lost some equipment, honestly they managed to turn what should have been a killing blow into a crazy dangerous but successful retreat to further defensive lines.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: The leader that Greentide waxed poetics about? Yeah, he fucking earned his reputation, and so did the rest of ISIS.

Especially since as it turns out, again, ISIS's leadership foresaw things possibly going to hell, so they made sure to evacuate civilians as far away from the frontlines as possible. In other words? Not a single civilian died today, despite the amount of ground lost in a matter of hours.

Now, that's where the good news ends. Here's the bad news.

First, most of Manhattan is now lost. Before things were alright in the north, but yeah, that's no longer the case. Which means more buildings for those monsters to turn into nests.

Worst of all, the south got hit as well. Not as bad, this was an obviously carefully planned attack on ISIS by Greene, but they still got hit. And they weren't as ready for this, though no one can't argue that they fought like hell anyway.

Point is, they've lost ground as well, and they are having their back closer to the wall… Or rather, nearer to the waters. The defenses around Holland Tunnel and Williamsburg Bridge are almost about to be attacked, and most likely they might blow up both ways out of the island entirely sooner or later.

From there, the territory held in the south of the island grows thinner, which means both that the defenders will be more concentrated… and the same is true for the attackers.

And of course, the death toll down south is bad. Real bad. The forces there are not quite outright mauled, but the troops down there fought like cornered rats and it showed. Those black-armored soldiers were definitely seen out in force, and to their credit, they fought hard and were a cut above the regular US Marine in skill as well, but they aren't ISIS, and while they fought well… They died well, too.

And with no evacuations of civilians allowed in the south, that meant a number of them died during the fighting. The refugee situation down south has to be a nightmare, but no one is allowed to film anything over there, so all we really know of things are long-range cameras, drones, and the like, since they managed to cut off all non-authorized communications in the south of the island.

And yes, that's shady as fuck when compared to ISIS having an actual reporter allowed with them, but that's a concern for another thread.

What matters here is that despite some truly awe-inspiring skills from ISIS, they have lost a lot of ground, and by all indications, Greene is going to use her pet monsters to finish pushing humanity out of Manhattan tomorrow, the day after at most.

So yeah.

Shit's fucked, and the entire world is currently biting its nails at what the next few days will bring.

Because if we completely lose Manhattan… I don't know what will happen next, but it won't be anything good.

►SchoolhouseRock
Replied On 9th October, 2008:
Ah, shit. You think those tentacle monsters things can go underwater? Because if they can get to New York, we're all fucked…

► House (Verified Building)
Replied On 9th October, 2008:
SchoolhouseRock Thanks for that, I didn't need sleep anyway…

► Melodious (Occult enthusiast)
Replied on 9th October, 2008:
Yeah, I'm gonna pray real hard to every god I know the names of tonight, even the giant flying spaghetti monster, because at this point I'm really hoping for a miracle…

► Magic Arrow (Verified Former Zombie Movie Enjoyer)
Replied on 9th October, 2008:
I'm never going to be able to look at zombie movies the same after this…

► The Fourth Monado (Veteran Member)
Replied on 9th October, 2008:
Or horror movies in general. They'll all become fucking documentaries, at this rate…

►Lurker9001
Replied On 9th October, 2008:
Right, so… Insight Corp.'s goals to establish colonies in space sounds really enticing right about now. Any ideas if there already are any places open? Because I'm growing more and more interested by the day…

► Bees
Replied on 9th October, 2008:
I told you all the answer was space! I TOLD YOU ALL!

End of Page. 549, 550, 551 ... 664, 665, 666

(Showing Page 550 of 666)

Strange_Eons (Veteran Member) (Confirmed Cosmic God) (Confirmed Prankster God) (The Guy In The Know) (Confirmed Lovecraftian Abomination) (Confirmed Master Chef)
Posted on 10th October, 2008:
Hey, you guys wanted a miracle, right?

How about this?

[Link]

Don't say I never listen to you mortals!

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (Police Officer)
Replied On 10th October, 2008:
*Click the link*

… What.

►SchoolhouseRock
Replied On 10th October, 2008:
What.

► House (Verified Building)
Replied On 10th October, 2008:
What.

► Melodious (Occult enthusiast)
Replied on 10th October, 2008:
What.

► Magic Arrow (Verified Former Zombie Movie Enjoyer)
Replied on 10th October, 2008:
What.

► The Fourth Monado (Veteran Member)
Replied on 10th October, 2008:
What.

►Lurker9001
Replied On 10th October, 2008:
What.

► Bees
Replied on 10th October, 2008:
What.

► BlueHelix (Raccoon City Survivor)
Replied on 10th October, 2008:
Called it!

10th October, 2008.

"Get down!"

*KA-BOOM!*

Lois Carol flinched as she felt the heat of the explosion, before daring to peek out of cover to take a look at the street, and grimacing at the sight awaiting her.

The day before had been bad, involving a whole lot of cursing, running, and screaming in no small amount of terror as everybody ran like hell while trying to not get overwhelmed by the waves of monsters, but through some miracle, neither she, her cameraman, nor any of the ISIS soldiers she was with had died.

Lois had stopped counting the number of times the ISIS soldiers had saved her life by now, it kinda seemed meaningless to count after the 20th time, but God knows that it probably came uncomfortably close to the hundreds by now.

And now, here they were, desperately trying to hold the line against what was nothing short of a full-scale assault on the lines of the forces of humanity in the north, though Lois had heard the same was going on in the south as well.

Their enemy was going all out today, and it showed. The sheer number of monsters was horrifying, and of course…

There were the new additions to the monsters' ranks.

Bigger flyers filled the skies, but even that was nothing compared to what came out of the ground.

Turns out, the infection spread to the underground of Manhattan. This was known, but the implications hadn't hit Lois until she first saw what suddenly came charging at them today.

Giant mutated spiders, and ants, and… things which left her staring in horror at the monstrous abominations against nature which came out by the thousands out of the ground and then charged at them all with drool falling from their massive maws.

Lois took one look at the corpse of a spider-like thing the size of a goddamn truck and shuddered in horrified disgust at the sight.

Then she kept glancing around, seeing dozens of ISIS and US soldiers around the buildings continuing to pour as much fire as they could into the charging horde, which hadn't even blinked or hesitated to keep charging even after Sergeant Brad activated the lines of explosives ISIS had put across the street.

"They're still coming!" screamed BSAA agent Parker, which she had gotten to speak with a bit… before the full-scale attack happened.

Then there had been no more time for conversations.

"I noticed!" screamed Sergeant Brad back, voice grim.

"I'm not sure how long we can still hold on!" shouted Parker's partner, a woman named Jessica.

"We'll hold, even if I have to hold this fucking street by myself with my bare fucking fists!" yelled Sergeant Brad back, who nonetheless kept firing his plasma rifle with deadly accuracy.

"Can't we just retreat?! We literally cannot hold forever!" screamed Jessica in reply, the woman having an almost crazed look on her face ever since a Flyer almost took her head off, a bandage across her entire left cheek showing how close it was.

"Not one step back, the Boss said!" yelled Corporal Winter, the normally composed woman snarling as she killed monster after monster. "So we won't take one fucking step back!"

"This is madness!"

"Welcome to ISIS!"

Jessica let out a sound like that of an enraged lioness, but still kept on firing.

"What are we all waiting for, then?! There's got to be a reason that we're holding the line like this!" asked Parker.

"We're waiting for-"

Sergeant Brad fell silent.

And then Lois eyed him carefully, because he started laughing.

"Alright everyone! We've done it, the Boss is coming!"

"Finally!" shouted Corporal Winter, the sheer vicious glee in her voice unmistakable.

"So what does that mean?!" Lois screamed.

"That!" replied Brad, pointing towards the roof of a nearby building.

Lois and her cameraman, who was still trying to film everything, looked up, and Lois blinked when she saw the tall form of the leader of ISIS looking at the city beyond with…

A flower in hand?

What?

I looked at the city beyond me, letting the sounds of war, of blood, death, and bestial madness, wash over me like old friends.

Countless beasts charging the streets, the roars of hunger and rage, the scent of blood, oh, but it truly was very familiar…

The Hunt never changes, I mused, only those participating in it.

Certainly, the beasts were different, same with the Hunters and the tools of the Hunt, but the Hunt itself…

Well. I was still here, still fighting against bloodthirsty beasts made from innocent people, with me standing as one of the few true bulwarks against the horrors which easily could end mankind if given half a chance.

History loves to repeat itself, apparently, I thought.

With a nostalgic look on my face, I draw out a white flower from my Inventory, the Lunar Tear shining as brightly as ever despite all the time that has passed since I received it.

I held it up to the sky, though this time it was not a night sky facing me, the scent of blood and moonlight hitting my nose along with the flower's fragrance, and I smiled, a familiar warmth surrounding me like the embrace of an old lover.

Which, really, was exactly what was going on.

I closed my eyes and put my nose in the flower, inhaling deeply, and for a second I was no longer within a blood-soaked battlefield, but in a field of flowers, a dream of peace and serenity, a lovely voice singing gently to me in words far beyond any mortal language…

I put the flower back inside my Inventory, the sounds and scent of war, of the Hunt, returning once more.

"Today, beasts, the Good Hunter joins the Hunt once more. Fight or flee… You shall die all the same."

I looked down at the street below, took out my sword and plasma gun in my right and left hand respectively… and stepped off the ledge.

The Goliath below never even had a chance to see his death coming.

The rest of the Hivemind, however, definitely felt it when I used its mind as a link to Greene and did the equivalent of slapping her in the face, spitting in her eyes, and then dared her to come get me…

"What."

Lois stared, her cameraman stared, the BSAA agents stared, the only ones not staring at the sight before them were the ISIS soldiers, who simply kept on firing and killing with glee clear in their laughter.

The leader of ISIS had just… stepped off the ledge of the building, crushed a Goliath's head and used the body as a way to ride his way fully down the ground before then running towards his next target , gun firing and sword slashing before Lois could even blink.

And now, less than two minutes later, the previously brutal assault on their position simply… wasn't.

Wasn't there at all.

Wasn't living at all.

There was nothing living left in most of the street, and the only reason it wasn't the full street was that more and more monsters came charging their way.

And more and more monsters died seconds later.

The leader of ISIS was a dark blur, an unstoppable force of death that could not be fought, could not be survived, could only be submitted to.

Over a hundred monsters had died in less than two minutes, and more of them kept falling, an actual hill of corpses rapidly growing around the man, the help offered by the soldiers of ISIS positively insignificant despite their incredible skill in comparison to the sheer, brutal slaughter going on before their eyes.

It wasn't even a battle, it was a one-sided slaughter.

"What the fuck." she repeated, her mind struggling to adjust to seeing someone deal with the monsters she had seen the horrifying power of for several days nearly non-stop like he was busy swatting a swarm of mosquitos.

"Yeah, that's the normal reaction to seeing the Boss in action for the first time."

She turned, her wide blue eyes staring at Sergeant Brad who was now standing at her side, smirking in amusement without a care in the world.

"That's… He… What the fuck?!"

Brad laughed, patting her right shoulder.

"We told you the Boss was a god of death when he steps on a battlefield. It's your lot's fault for not believing us. Either way, take a few minutes to enjoy the show, because now that the plan is launched, things are going to get crazy for the next few hours."

"The plan? What plan?" Lois asked, her mind trying to focus on something… something more sane than the absolute absurdity still going on further up the street.

"Yeah, the Boss always has a plan, we told you that. Well it's finally being launched. The Hunter division of ISIS has taken to the field, which means we essentially cut off their lines of reinforcement, for the most part. Right now, we're just waiting for the Boss to be done killing enough of those mutant freaks to clear the way, and then the entirety of ISIS has received the same order."

"What order?"

Brad chuckled darkly.

"Charge, and don't stop charging until we've reached our original frontline."

She stared at him, then turned her head, seeing that the hill of corpses the leader of ISIS was creating around him had grown even bigger.

"They are all rushing at him, you know?"

She blinked and glanced at Brad.

He pointed at the monsters.

"The mutated monsters. Across the entire north, the vast majority of them are changing directions and going straight here. At him."

Lois worked her jaw.

"You mean-"

"Yup. At least thousands of monsters are rushing straight here. Greene knows that he's our Boss, and he did something which apparently really pissed her off. Combined that with the show you're seeing right now, I dare say she decided to throw absolutely everything she could afford to send at him."

The sounds of thousands of monstrous throats roaring at once suddenly echoed across the city.

"Oh yeah, those poor dumb bastards really want his head. I look forward to seeing how high the ensuing pile of corpses will be, I just made bets on it with the rest of the team you see."

Lois stared.

The worst part was, the pile really was growing fast enough for the growth in height to be visible with the naked eye…

Just how quickly is he killing them all?! She thought incredulously, her gaze following the path of a decapitated Goliath's head-

Which crushed a number of Walkers when it finished falling.

Somehow, Lois felt she should have known that even the decapitated heads of his enemies were weapons in their own right…

And while all of this was going on, the cameraman dutifully recorded everything….

Jill ducked behind the swing of a Goliath, before smashing the ground with her right foot, a storm of stone spikes coming out of the ground and impaling dozens of B.O.W's.

She tilted her head, letting the sword in her right hand cut the Flyer who had tried to bite her head off in two, before turning, impaling a lunging Leader Hunter through the skull before discarding the corpse, her swords cutting through the air and decapitating a nearby Walker.

She pointed her left hand to the side, a stream of flames burning to death a dozen infected, before rolling out of the way of a jumping giant spider, and then jumping on one massive leg to get on top of its body, the spider thrashing around to try and get her off, but succeeding only at crushing a number of nearby infected instead.

Her eyes narrowed, and she switched plans, stabbing her swords deep in its body for leverage but otherwise content to smile coldly as the spider rampaged in pain, killing a number of other monsters, before she finally stabbed her swords in its brain and killed it.

She jumped off, rolling and calmly decapitating another nearby Walker as she got on her feet, before pausing when a Hydra bursted out of the ground and hissed at her.

She sneered at the tentacle monster, taking a plasma grenade out and throwing it at its open maw when it lunged forward, while she Quickened out of the way.

A few seconds later, the head of the Hydra bursted into gore, and its corpse crashed on the ground, to join the growing number of them all around her, but of course there were more coming so she wiped the blood off her blades and charged once more towards-

-the newest horde of monsters charging at him, Chris cutting through B.O.W. after B.O.W. with his two-handed sword, Ludwig's holy blade easily cutting through the flesh of these monsters with ease, as can be seen by the trail of broken corpses he was leaving behind him.

A goliath roared in challenge, Chris sneering at it and charging the monster, before it replied by trying to punch him into a bloody paste.

Except that the monster's eyes were left wide in shock when Chris calmly blocked the punch with the flat of his blade, the man not even flinching in pain as he took the blow of the monster and shrugged it off, before pushing back, the Goliath actually forced to take a step back before the inhuman strength of Chris who took the wide-open chest in front of him as the invitation to strike that it was, his left fist slamming into the monster's gut and causing it to explode backward into gore spreading all over the street, making Chris smirk, shake his left hand once to give it time to heal and then putting it back on his sword to keep cutting and slashing his way through the horde of B.O.W's that-

-refused to stop coming, but that was their mistake as her axe split the skull of another Hunter, which by its death revealed itself far less worthy of its title than herself, Rebecca couldn't help but think with a note of amusement, while around her dozens of monsters fell down their knees as the incredibly deadly and acidic poison she had flooded the street with easily melted through their flesh and inner organs in less than a minute, leaving only puddles of gore on the street.

She shook off the gore of her axe, her shotgun firing once to blow off the head of another lunging Hunter, whose speed allowed them to get to her in the center of her cloud of poison.

Not that the poison was visible with the naked eye of course, but its effects most certainly were as yet more B.O.W's continued to try and kill her only to fail miserably as their bodies gave out before they could even reach her.

It truly was too bad for them that she was positioned at an important spot leading deeper north, one that forced anything trying to go beyond to deal with the poison she was constantly creating and covering this city block with.

With a cold smirk, she took in the next horde of B.O.W's, calmly waiting for them to come to their death as they once again tried to get to her and kill one of the people stopping them from going deeper North-

-Which was just as planned, Summer mused, her Iron Thorn cutting through the air, monsters' limbs and necks with ease, opening a path for her to go through as she kept killing more of the horde rushing towards her, which just seemingly just refused to end.

It was a pity her twin was not here to help, but she was still a Major before being a Huntress, and that meant that she was needed to lead her troops in the offensive planned by ISIS. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing she wasn't here, as Aeon had wanted to have someone on the level of a Hunter besides himself up North during the offensive, just in case anything unexpected happen.

Not that she expected things to go badly, considering that Aeon was taking to the field, and she knew perfectly well how powerful the man was.

She casually sliced a Goliath from waist to neck, the guts and internal organs falling on the ground in a mass of gore that made her very glad she was wearing ISIS armor right about now, before backing away from his falling corpse and cutting through half a dozen Walkers at the waist.

Taking a fire Dust Crystal, she activated it and threw it, watching it burn several dozens of monsters from how tightly packed the street was with the damn things.

Honestly, they were so utterly obsessed with killing her that it reminded her of a horde of Grimm…

Well. Too bad for them, she had been one of the best Huntress of Remnant… and that before meeting Aeon.

Now… Well.

Her silver eyes narrowed in concentration.

She had been so impressed with his skills with his sword that she had asked for any lessons he could offer a halberd wielder.

Which is, naturally, when she learned that Aeon had mastered every weapon possible, a fact he then went on to prove by sparing with every Hunter of the Dream while switching weapons each time he did.

Needless to say, Summer had been both awed and incredibly impressed by just how hard Aeon had trained himself to perfection, or as close to it as one could get, and it had lit a fire in her that had made her even more sure of her decision to ask for more extra lessons.

And now…

She inhaled.

Then she swung her Iron Thorn through the air.

She exhaled.

Two monsters died, their heads falling off their necks, while a third fell to the ground, struggling for life a few seconds more, then died as half his throat no longer existed.

She grunted.

I'm far from mastering that Multistrike Skill of his, she mentally grumbled to herself, before perking up.

Still, two perfect strikes and a half-way decent third for every swing of my halberd is not bad. I'll just have to keep practicing.

Determination renewed, she returned to the endless work of cutting and killing and occasionally shooting more monsters.

Certainly, the swarm of monsters was far from done, and she needed to keep holding them all here-

-for as long as she could, Claire thought with determined cold blue eyes, sword in one hand and grenade launcher (magically modified to never run out of rounds!) in another.

She buried her sword into the brain of a leaping Leader Hunter, before cutting a limb from a regular hunter and shooting yet another Dust-enhanced grenade into the never-ending swarm of freakish abominations against nature trying to take a bite out of her.

So this was what Aeon had to deal with in Raccoon City… What a fucking mess, she thought with a scowl, cutting three Walkers in half with a swing of her sword.

"Dammit, do they ever end?" she muttered incredulously, seeing more hordes of monsters coming her way.

And now with giant spiders. Fucking great, she thought with a grimace.

"Come on you freaks, go and burn." she growled, summoning a storm of fire that burned through the incoming hordes.

It didn't kill all however, the most deadly of those damn B.O.W's being tough enough to survive being covered in fire.

Claire grunted and charged onwards, sword flashing and grenade launcher hard at work firing its deadly payload on the biggest targets around.

And she certainly wasn't lacking in acceptable targets, as yet more inhuman howls in the distance announced yet again more reinforcements.

"This is getting ridiculous." she grumbled, cutting a Juggernaut in two.

But there was, ultimately, no choice. Aeon's plan required her and the others to hold the line, though he reassured them that as long as no other humans were around they could let loose and unleash their full powers while holding their positions.

There were no recording devices where they were fighting, so they had express authorization, even encouragement, to go all out and just focus on killing as many B.O.W's as possible.

It certainly made things easier, but it still left Claire having to deal with hundreds, more likely thousands by now of all kinds of mutated creatures, all of whom wanted to feast on her flesh.

She slammed her sword through the skull of another Hunter jumping at her, a fierce glare on her face as she stared with murder in her eyes at the still growing number of monsters charging at her.

"Well come on then! Come get me if you dare, you ugly bastards! Let's see how you like the taste of steel!"

And she brought her sword down on another Leader Hunter-

-which promptly exploded into gore.

"Yeah! Take that, you fucking abominations!"

Billy Coen smirked at Carlos' loud exclamations of glee, the man almost gleeful at being on the offensive after several days of either having to hold the line or retreat back.

"Get your head in the game, Carlos! We're not yet done!" he shouted at his friend.

"Bah! Look at how we're butchering these freaks! We're going to be at Midtown East in no time at this rate!" came the cheerful reply from the man eagerly shooting his plasma rifle into the dying mass of B.O.W's, other ISIS soldiers and even Marines doing the same around them as they slowly but surely pushed south towards their first target of the day: Retaking Midtown East.

"Don't let your head get too big, it won't fit your helmet if you keep going like this!" teased Billy, shooting at a number of Flyers who sought they could come down from the sky to get at their lines of soldiers.

Needless to say, they thought wrong.

"You let me worry about my head, mi amigo, just keep killing these bastards and we'll have Manhattan cleaned out by the end of the week!" laughed Carlos.

Billy let out a small sigh, but smiled nonetheless as they reached W. 72th street.

"Come on everyone! Keep pushing forward, we'll get to Lincoln Center by the end of the hour at this rate!" he cheerfully declared through the comms.

"VICTORY!" came the loud war cry from every soldier Carlos was connected to, and the sheer determination in their voices made him smile widely.

"Victory!" he shouted with them, and they kept moving, kept killing, while in the distance, a Goliath and its surroundings disappearing under the heat of a blast from the tank at their back, the plasma cannon of the armored vehicle reaping a bloody toll on the heavy, slow-moving giant monsters trying to stop their advance, and in the end victory seemed-

-utterly inevitable, Major Rose thought with a cold smirk, blue eyes scanning the street in front of her while she led her troops deeper down south, having reached E. 72th Street and now moving towards E. 59th Street.

She glanced up to see an attack helicopter blast a group of Flyers with missiles, before returning to striking at the biggest enemy targets facing them, and to be fair, there were many of those making their way towards her and her troops.

The distraction caused by Aeon certainly worked, and kept working, but that didn't mean their enemy was without troops to throw at the rest of them. Far from it.

But that was alright, she decided, giving the order to a squad to focus on a number of Flyers coming from the Central Park Zoo.

The enemy numbers were huge, but nothing that couldn't, and wouldn't, be overcome sooner rather than later. For now, all that she had to worry about was keeping the push going, as Command wanted at least to retake their old positions by the day's end.

At the speed they were going, that was a possibility, though quite a bit was owed to the fact that the B.O.W's were still unnaturally rushing towards, and focusing on trying to kill Aeon at all costs, not that they had made any progress on that front so far, considering the literal river of corpses the man had left behind him across most of Central Park.

The clean-up operation for that was going to be something to behold, though thankfully that wouldn't be her problem… Hopefully.

No, for now, her problem simply amounted to keep moving forward, and lead her troops to do so as well.

So Major Summer Rose kept shouting orders while putting her newfound skills as a Huntress to use, carving a bloody path through the heaviest opposition standing between her troops and the end goals of the day, broken corpses after broken corpses-

-left in my wake as I pressed onwards, Thousands of Walkers, around a thousand Hunters, a few hundred Leader Hunters, Goliaths, Juggernauts and more roaring, fighting, and dying as I never stopped moving and killing, carving a bloody path through the hordes arrayed against me.

It truly was so kind of Greene to keep throwing her troops by the thousands my way, it made things much easier than if I had to track them all down. Instead, they came, roaring in bloodlust and hatred and each and every one of the bestial monsters tried, and failed miserably, at tearing me apart.

It was almost a pity that, compared to my other Hunters, I could not go all out since Lois was still recording everything, but that was alright. It made for good training, to have to deal with so many foes without using my magic or more esoteric skills, just my martial skills and nothing else.

I literally couldn't have my skills atrophy with time, but that did not mean it wasn't wise to make sure my basic fighting skills were kept sharp and strong and that I did not start relying on my more esoteric skills in battles too much.

So I did as my younger self did when he started his journey: I cut, stabbed, fired my gun, and in general acted like a superhuman soldier, but not a supernatural one.

And to be fair, it was working well enough so far, if the thousands of corpses behind me were any indication of my success.

I cut a Goliath in half, blew up the head of a Leader Hunter with my gun, decapitated six Walkers with another swing of my sword, caught a regular Hunter mid-lunged and made him crash through a group of Walkers…

Ah, the simplicity of the Hunt. No moral decisions to worry about, no complex plot to concern myself over.

Just me, my skills, and weapons, and a few thousand horrors threatening all of mankind with death or worse.

How nostalgic.

I cut a Juggernaut in half, idly wondering how Alex Mercer was doing on his mission of tracking down and eliminating Greene.

Well, hopefully he was doing alright, though I wasn't too concerned. Greene was many things, but she was more of a commander than a true warrior.

Too bad for her, that was exactly what was headed her way…

Alex Mercer smiled with grim satisfaction as he drove the Thermobaric Tank he… borrowed from Blackwatch in order to pierce straight through the defenses of the Main Hive.

Adjusting the main cannon's aim, he carefully lined his shot…

And fired.

A moment later, his smile turned feral when the walls of the hive crumbled, leaving a big hole for him to easily go through.

I'm coming, Elizabeth Greene. You made this personal by going after Dana, and now, you'll get to live just long enough to learn which of us is the greatest monster…

His body shifted unnaturally in response to his anticipation.

He had the power of Blacklight and he had the parasite borne from the data that Ragland got from the one Blackwatch out on him.

Greene had no idea what kind of enemy she made when she went after his sister.

But oh, how he was going to enjoy making the depths of her mistake deadly clear to her…

And after that? Well.

Blackwatch would be taught the exact same lesson… And it would be just as fatal to learn it.

A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Prototype.
I hope you all enjoyed the PHO-like first part of the chapter, and yes I referenced SpaceBattles because… Well I wanted an IRL reference, and it was that or SV, and the one with "battles" in the name sounded more appropriate for this.
Beyond that, not a lot to say. Just a whole lot of fighting, Hunters and ISIS and yes, even regular U.S forces being badasses. All the weaker soldiers already died, so… Yeah.
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, we continue to move onwards with things, as the battle for the fate of Manhattan continues in earnest…