CHAPTER 77: ROAD TO PERDITION, PART 1

"These stand for me
Name your god and bleed the freak
I'd like to see
How you all would bleed for me..."

-"Bleed the Freak" by Alice in Chains

DECEMBER 31ST

As the morning sun scorches the cursed Earth known as Hellwood on its last day of the year, its prisoners stand tall for the longest day of their lives in this place. Standing tall and walking taller, the denizens of Hellwood all march their feet to start a new day in a new way; all walking hand-in-hand to take their city back in their own hands.

The city was once a melting pot, and it was broken and shattered with its many ingredients scattered and separated, but all the pieces have come back together once again. Deprived of their humanity, they once remained apart from themselves as the Europeans, the Middle Easterns, the Hispanics, the Asians, and the Africans; each clinging to small differences of race and ideology, but they have now risen above it all to join together with one reality that they all share and realize:

This city is their home, they are here to stay, and they will take it back for themselves.

There was one man who sought to help them realize this fact once again, but he had before found no avail. Remembering a time when this land was once known as Hillwood, a city of peace and prosperity, he sought to see that dream realized once again, and end the pain of the prisoners of Hellwood, but was severely misguided on that journey.

In a world that was broken and no longer believed in symbols, he attempted to be one for all, believing that this would give them a desire to return to civilization. He has tried to remain to his principles and never take any lives, but lives were lost on both the enemy side and his own.

Dealing with his own issues in between the troubles of his quest, he has lost nearly everything that he holds dear in his life; his friends, his family, his future, and almost the one he loves. Stripped of everything in his life piece by piece, his being has been reduced to the bone, leaving nothing left behind but his core.

Angered and lost within finding that core once again, his apparent loss of self has made him resort to violence and rage to force his way back to normalcy, but his attempts had borne no real fruit. However, it is that same return to his core that has refined him and made him more fit for the task at hand; the wheat separated from the chaff.

Now, he stands with the people of Hellwood, rising above alongside them to the ultimate challenge against the Freak. Unlike before, he is leading them on the fight not as a symbol, an idea, nor even a man behind a mask, but instead one that stands and shows his face to his opposition and stands as a man.

This man is not the Green Eye.

This man is Arnold Shortman.

[Soundtrack Cue: Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists]

Leading the charge down the streets of Hellwood, to his sides are the last people left in his struggle against the fight against the Freak, but still ones he can call allies:

Helga Pataki, his soulmate for better or worse...

Gerald Johanssen, his best friend since his youth...

Rhonda Lloyd, once a confused living dead woman but now focused and whole again...

Buckley Lloyd, a man who has gone off the deep end and come back again...

and Lars Rodriguez, a strategic ally whose capability outweighs his past crimes.

As usual, Lars kept up his streak of wearing offensive t-shirts, this time selecting the closest one he had to keeping with a theme of strength and courage. His selection was a military camouflage shirt with text on the front that read: 'MY GIRLFRIEND'S HUSBAND FIGHTS FOR YOUR FREEDOM'.

Behind them are the entire populace of Hellwood not aligned with the Freak already, once regular people of Hillwood before the Fall, but brought apart by poverty and death. Standing together, they no longer stay separate in their goals of survival and struggles to live, but instead they put their lives in one another's hand, going by the example set by Arnold Shortman.

Armed with their fists, and in some of those fists lie other improvised weapons like pipes, chains, wrenches, baseball bats, and other such repurposed tools, they are ready to fight. Whatever they arm themselves with is immaterial to the battle itself, but the intent to fight and retake their city is all that matters on this day.

Marching through snow and mush, the snow still continuing to fall on them, the people of Hellwood are not concerned or affected by the cold weather, for they all have something that keeps them warmer than any weather could affect them: The rage for battle raging in their hearts, ready to take on any fight.

Coming opposite down the snowy road, that fight comes their way. Led on by the sole source of evil that has brought pure insanity and devastation to Hellwood, the Freak marches on with his followers, leading them on to face against the Green Eye and all who still stand with him.

As he approaches the oncoming march of the people of Hillwood, he is surprised not only to see the vast amount of people that have joined with his enemy, but also the fact that the Green Eye has chosen to shed his identity to face him, as have the rest of the Hillwood Heroes.

Nonetheless, he is not deterred from the different approach to battle, but instead he welcomes the change with indifference. His only concern is nothing to do with how the goal comes of defeating Arnold Shortman, only that it does come as has been preordained from his talks with Clockwork.

With eyes met, the leaders of both armies continue marching towards one another, focused only on one another as they focus on the battle each will bring to one another. Arnold stares down his enemy with a look of focused discontent, where the Freak looks on his own with a smile of eagerness for chaos.

Whatever the mindset of the fighters in this prepared battle, the mood of the battlefield is certain and clear: The two sides are in complete opposition to one another, each a polarization of one another, and there can be no agreement or treaty between the two sides or coexistence of the two sides.

There can be only one.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Meeting in the middle of the road, both sides find their starting positions in the fight, waiting and ready for the fight to begin. Holding their weapons tight and high, they watch the closest enemy in their sight, selecting their target as soon as they receive their one moment to strike.

Fuel and kindles are set; all that is needed is ignition.

Arnold and the Freak, leaders of both of their respective groups, stepped forward from their armies, but were not followed by their followers. Instead, both sides watched as their generals stepped to one another, confronting to work out what personal grievances exist before they battle.

"Hey Arnold. Quite a party we've set up, huh? Your people and my people all together like this, this is guaranteed to be a fun time." The Freak said.

"Curly." Arnold said.

Arnold spoke out his enemy's name with an authoritative clarity, putting the Freak's jokes to a stop and bringing a scowl to his face.

"That's not my name." The Freak said.

"It's over. It ends today. Everything you've done, everything you've created, every life you've taken." Arnold said.

"I never kept count."

"I did."

"Aw, and I love you for it. Tell me. Which one hurt the most? Eugene? Sheena? Stinky? Nadine? Harold? Sid? Or dear old Mommy and Daddy?"

Angered at the mention of all those close to him lost, Arnold clenched his fist tight, intending to send it straight to the Freak.

But not before answering the question posed to him.

"Yours." Arnold answered.

Watching the leader of one side be decked back by a single punch, both sides instantly saw the spark that they were waiting for, seeing the first blood drawn on the battlefield. Seeing the first sparks fly to the fuel, embers soon brewed in the kindling, soon erupting into fire.

Charging towards one another, the two armies clashed.

[Soundtrack Cue: Black Sabbath - The Mob Rules ("Heavy Metal" Soundtrack Version)]

Rushing towards one another, the two armies collided with one another; a full month of tension and anxiety being let out and released in one large ejaculation of rage and violence. Neither side showed any signs of mercy or relenting to one another, instead giving all there was to give, for anything less would not suffice in this battle for the soul of Hilwood itself.

Each citizen of Hillwood gave their all against the enemy, and every follower of the Freak gave unleashed their rage upon their adversaries. Flesh and bone collided with metal, wood, glass, and fellow flesh and bone all alike; all manners of weapons and combinations hitting each other to find the explosion of violence come to its eventual end and solution.

No participant in this war had slacked away in the fight, as everyone was waiting well for this battle and would not waste a moment in their final battle. Just as the lowest and most ordinary citizen had given their all in the fight, all the Hillwood Heroes gave all their hearts into the fight to achieve their victory.

Lars was a surprise welcome to the battle, and showed far more capability than most would have expected from him. Bashing his way through enemy after enemy, battling through many like a human battering ram, he downed numerous enemies without remorse or pause, proving to be a powerful asset in the fight. Having a robotic arm that can down a man in one punch was a large help on this front.

Rhonda was a welcome return to the fold, and her own fighting skills proved to have only improved with the recent acquisition of the powers of a Spirit Master. Speed and agility have not left her, although her own bloodlust and drive to kill were long gone, sparing whoever she had beaten down any form of death.

Buckley's case was much of the same; putting away his own lethal tendencies to battle against the followers of the Freak with a degree of mercy that spared their lives. Knowing the responsibility that the Freak had on the city, he feels the temptation to resort back to killing again, but his own responsibility in the affair forces him to draw back his attacks.

Gerald's semi-retirement from the Hillwood Heroes and superherodom had done nothing to slow down his skill or tenacity, nor proficiency with his Sonic Fork. Having the weapon most suited to crowd control, many befell the might of his powerful but non-lethal weapon; all being knocked back without any chance of coming close to landing a punch or hit into him.

Helga had waited almost a year for the time when she would be able to fight alongside her soulmate as a Hillwood Hero, and on this day she had finally found her reward for her patience. Acting before as a rogue agent on his side, she now found herself just as she had always hoped for: Following the one she loved alongside him to whatever future may hold for him.

Arnold, full of the most spirit for battle compared to his comrades, showed the most ferocity in the battle than anyone else combined. Utilizing his newly-constructed staff, he bashed his way through enemy after enemy, knocking them aside faster than any of his teammates could manage on their own.

Knocking and slashing away enemy after enemy with his staff, Arnold soon found himself coming into closer environments with his enemies, calling for the need of a weapon more fit for close quarters. Taking the ends of his staff and turning them, he detached them both from the center piece, converting the weapon to its three-section staff form.

Taking one piece of the staff in each hand, letting the middle piece hang loose, he moved on to his next targets. Blocking strikes of baseball bats, crowbars, knives, and other enemy weapons, he retaliated with the same tool blocking their strikes hitting them back in their faces; hard wood colliding with skin and bone to down the enemies standing in his way.

Soon becoming surrounded by enemies, he swung his staff along the ground, sweeping away at the feet of the foes before him and giving himself a chance to escape. Leaping over the downed enemies, he moved on to the next ones standing in his way, coming to find more waiting for him with weapons in hand.

Still making use of his three-section staff, he threw it over his shoulder, subsequently throwing it towards the first enemy in his sight, bludgeoning him over the head. Spinning in place, he threw the weapon towards the face of an adjacent enemy, downing him next in his attack.

Completing his spin to face forward again, he threw the staff towards the ground, bashing another enemy in the head. Moving to grab the staff by its center, he continued spinning around while moving forward, using the loose ends of the staff to helicopter into whatever enemy stood in his way.

Throwing his staff towards one enemy in his way, he caught said enemy by the neck, dragging him towards him to land a kick to his chest. Kicking away the enemy, he sent him flying into his comrades standing behind him, collapsing and downing several enemies more.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

As many enemies as he had been defeating, however, there only laid one specific enemy that took precedent in the mind of Arnold Shortman: The Freak. Having battled against many of his followers thus far, there still laid the task of defeating the head of the army that was leading on the battle.

Once separated from his target in the fog of war, Arnold soon found himself pitted against the Freak once again at last; standing alone against the war as if in wait for him. Wishing to resort to a more personal battle against his enemy, Arnold sheathed his staff into its holster, folding it and placing it inside.

"Are you finally ready to do what you're supposed to do?" The Freak asked.

"I'm ready to beat you." Arnold said.

"I know you are. I've been told what happens. That why, even when you eventually kill me... I'm still the one who beats you."

Clenching their fists, each opponent stared one another down with an intensity matched only by the strength of hate they had for each other. One had stood for all that was all that was wrong and evil, with no intention or reason to stop, and the other was made to put a stop to him. One had stood for the best of humanity had to offer and bring his fellow humans to betterment, and the other sought to corrupt that.

There is nothing left for the two now but to end one another.

Running towards each other, the opponents ignored all else in the world save for the other one of them, knowing nothing could possibly be more important than defeating the enemy. Eyes locked on one another, they mustered all strength in themselves for the fight; their spirits raging on to win and achieve victory for their values at last.

Meeting face-to-face, the two wasted no time to fight, each throwing punches towards one another. Dodging the swing of his fist, Arnold threw his own towards the Freak, only to have it blocked and met with a chop to his neck. Swinging out of the way of the incoming chop, Arnold followed by throwing a kick to the Freak's face, landing a hit to his nose.

Throwing his own kick to Arnold's legs, the Freak's attack missed, resulting in Arnold meeting it with another kick. Holding his arms to his face, the Freak blocked his kick, throwing a backfist towards Arnold's face in retaliation. Taking the strike to his face, Arnold followed by throwing another fist to the Freak, quickly finding his punch blocked, and making him follow by throwing his free hand in a punch.

Landing a strike to the Freak's face, Arnold was matched with a roundhouse kick aimed to his face, causing him to duck downwards and throw a punch to the Freak's groin. Holding his fists and arms up, the Freak drove them down to Arnold's head, bashing him with his shoulders.

Moving with the punch, Arnold threw his leg back towards the Freak, kicking him in the face in a strong show of flexibility. Standing back up where the Freak stumbled back, Arnold continued to throw more punches to the Freak, leading the two to come into a stalemate once again of punches and blocks thrown from one another.

Unrelenting towards one another in their battle, they continued on trying to get the better of one another, throwing punches and kicks towards one another at speeds most humans would struggle to achieve with ease and no apparent signs of fatigue. Nonetheless, while the stalemate proved to show no effect on the bodies of the opponents, their minds began to grow restless with no end to this battle.

Soon, a sign of change to that stagnation came with both sides throwing punches to each other, each aiming for the other's face. Each punch landed with the intended target, leaving both stricken in the face from one another's punch, sending them both stumbling back.

Finally finding some manner of break to the fight, neither Arnold nor the Freak bothered to take advantage of it, instead choosing to resume right back to the battle. Running back towards one another, they continued to the same process of fighting one another as before.

Throwing a kick to Arnold's face, the Freak had his foot blocked away with a block, with his leg subsequently coming trapped inside Arnold's grip. Keeping a hold on the Freak, Arnold began punching him in the face, utilizing his new advantage of having him in his hold.

Bringing his crossed arms over his face, the Freak blocked the next punch, grabbing the oncoming fist to grab hold of his opponent. With Arnold having a hold on his leg and gaining a hold on Arnold's fist, the Freak used his free leg to kick him in the face, spinning back in the air and landing back on the ground.

Sending another punch towards Arnold, the Freak's hit was dodged once again, met instead with an elbow to his face, knocking him back to catch his balance. Arnold, taking advantage of his enemy's brief pause, prepared a double-punch to throw to the Freak's chest.

Coming to his senses quick enough to catch the oncoming punches, the Freak moved his arms out to the side, moving Arnold's fists with them. Bringing the two closer together, the Freak began headbutting Arnold against his own head, leading Arnold to attempt the same attack back at him.

Not finding any release in this mutual hold, the Freak bit down on Arnold's shoulder, attempting to make him release his grip on his hands. The act did make Arnold release him, but not as the Freak intended. Grabbing the Freak by the head, he began bashing it into his knee, persistently beating him in the face without any signs of stopping until he had won.

Bringing his arms to his face, the Freak blocked the next strike of Arnold's knee, subsequently raising an elbow and driving it down against the next strike of the knee. Taking a painful blow to his knee, made all the worse by colliding with the hit, Arnold ended his beating, allowing the Freak to push him off and gain his footing against him once again.

Moving back against one another, the two once again became caught in a deadlock of blows and punches, blocks and dodges, with no signs of besting one another. Fully and wholly representing the two sides of a dichotomy, there was no chance that either would beat one another here, damned to only keep continuing to keep fighting without end.

But that belief was once again brought to an end with another mutual punch towards one another, each landing a hit into the other's face. This time, however, the punches they delivered to one another carried so much weight and power that the two were not simply knocked back by each other's hits by simply a few feet, but nearly across the entire battlefield itself.

The two landed on their backs; Arnold falling on top of Lars, and the Freak landing on a group of his own followers. Stumbling back to their feet, the two stared each other down once again, both seeming to plan out their next moves in their head rather than make any rash decisions.

Lars, innocently caught in the crossfire, chose to voice his own complaints.

"Ow! Watch where you're falling, asshole!" Lars shouted.

Deciding to take the fight elsewhere, the Freak no longer fought Arnold on the ground, but opted to change the battleground for the two altogether. Kneeling down to the ground, the Freak shot back up in the air, beginning to fly away from the battlefield and leave the war behind entirely.

"He's getting away!" Arnold shouted.

Stepping back up to do his part in the battle, Lars changed his arm to its hookshot form, aiming it at the Freak.

"Hey Arnold. I got you covered." Lars said.

Firing the hookshot at the Freak, the projectile landed itself in the foot of its target, piercing through flesh and muscle to embed itself into the foot. The shot caused immense pain for the Freak, but he did not seek to remove the hook from his foot. Instead, he began flying even faster, snagging the line taut.

No time to spare to catch up to his target, Arnold grabbed onto Lars, quickly being snatched up into the air while caught on a line to the Freak.

Just barely noticing the two get snagged away, Helga looked up to see Arnold and Lars along the flightpath of the Freak, being sent off far from her sight. Regarding the safety of Arnold above all else, she disregarded all else on the battlefield, instead opting to pursue directly after them.

Though Helga had little idea of where she would be led to, the tagalongs of Arnold and Lars had less idea of where the two would be sent. Having no choice but to hold on to their newly found position of being stuck at the mercy of the Freak and where he would lead them.

Finding an abandoned building somewhere by the edge of the city, the Freak found his place for his unintended passengers. Grabbing the hook in his foot, he painstakingly ripped it out, holding the line in his hand as he made his approach to the building.

Bringing himself to a stop, he released his grip on the line, leaving Arnold and Lars stuck with the momentum of heading straight for a window. Crashing through the window, the two tumbled onto the floor, eventually coming to a stop when their tumbling stopped in the center of the room.

Slowly rising to their feet, the two tried to recuperate from their fall, only to find their troubles just beginning. The floor they were standing on began to creak and moan, showing that the floor they were standing on was no longer fit for usage as a stable floor to stand on.

As a result, the floor collapsed out from under them, breaking out a larger piece of the whole and sending it crashing further down the building, crashing through level by level. Unable to escape, the two could do nothing but hold onto their unstable flooring, crashing to the eventual end of the fall when they had hit the base floor of the building, back to ground level once again.

Panting over the intense fall that both had taken, the two had taken their time to catch their breath once again, exhausted from the excruciating descent.

"Lars... are you alright?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah, I'm just fine, you fucking idiot. It's not like I just fell down a whole damn building." Lars complained.

Coming back to their feet once again, the two groaned as they let out stretches and adjusted themselves from the fall, preparing for the next challenge that would come their way. Where they were expecting a challenge to come their way in the form of the Freak, they instead found something else altogether come their way.

Hearing a whistle in the air, Lars immediately recognized the sound as a rocket, seeing it come their way.

"LOOK OUT!" Lars shouted.

Jumping towards Arnold, Lars tackled him off the platform, putting him out of the way of the rocket, sparing both himself and his teammate from its explosive blast. Turning to see where the rocket-propelled grenade had originated from, the two found the mysterious rocketeer standing before them.

The man who provided their next threat was a man who bore a strong resemblance to Lars, save for a lighter shade of skin, a piece of plastic covering exposed muscles and tissue and single eyeball where a face should be, and a robotic leg in place of a robotic arm that had a missile protruding from its bent knee.

Believing the man to be previously dead, Lars looked on him with an expression of both shock, disbelief, and annoyance.

"Hey, bro! Remember me?" Larsen asked.

"Aw, shit. Not him again." Lars said.

"Who is this guy?" Arnold asked.

"It's my evil twin."

"Your evil twin?"

"Yeah. Listen, this is between me and him, you gotta get out of here and stop the Freak."

"But how are you-"

"Trust me, I got this guy. Now go!"

Choosing to take on his enemy alone, Lars urged Arnold to carry on his mission, staying behind to handle the new threat on their hands. Though not comfortable with leaving a teammate behind, Arnold still complied with the order, knowing that his own task of stopping the Freak took greater precedent.

Left alone with his doppelganger, Lars stood back up and approached Larsen, preparing himself by changing his arm to its machine-gun form.

Initially ready to battle Lars right away, Larsen's attention was taken away from fighting just slowly enough to take a glimpse over what used to be his own face. The face that was once smooth and relatively normal considering his ugly appearance was now made even worse with a series of Frankenstein-esque patches and sewing jobs, giving Lars' current face a horrible and terrifying look.

Disgusted and shocked at the current state of his former face, Larsen's speech immediately focused on its apparent decay.

"What the fuck?! What the fuck did you do to my face, asshole?!" Larsen asked.

"It rotted halfway on the trip back to Ecuador. I also went to a different doctor to get it patched on, he's the guy who hooked me up with my 'Schlong of the South'. The dick works more than well, but his face-fixing skills needed work. Nothing a paper bag can't fix. Besides, didn't I kill you already?" Lars asked.

"Nope. Are you that easy to kill?"

"Nope. You still upset that I took your face?"

"Fuck, yeah, I am. You gonna actually fight me instead of talk me to death?"

Cocking back the chamber on his machine-gun arm, Lars prepared himself to answer that question physically as well as verbally.

"Fuck, yeah, I am." Lars said.

[Soundtrack Cue: Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra]

Aiming his machine-gun arm towards Larsen, Lars immediately had it knocked out of the way from an eyebrow kick of Larsen's robotic leg, subsequently aiming itself towards him in its own machine-gun form. Opening fire on Lars, Larsen unleashed his first attack on his enemy, beginning with a barrage of lead flying his way.

Holding his arm up to the oncoming bullets, Lars began blocking them away with its metal build, knocking the bullets away like a miniature shield. His luck once again proved to be on his side; a task as impossible as deflecting bullets with nothing but his arm proved to be an effective defense, giving him time to utilize his own answer to the attack.

Changing his arm to its chainsaw form, he charged back at Larsen and slashed away at his robotic arm, hoping to cut away any important components to allow him to fire on him. Making a slash towards a barrel and feeding mechanism, Larsen's machine-gun leg no longer held its function, leaving him needing to resort to other weapons in his arsenal.

Unfortunately for Lars, his doppelganger also held many of the same weapons he held in his own arm, as was the case with his flamethrower. Unleashing a blast of flame towards Lars, Larsen sent him running back from the fire, seeking out cover from the new attack.

Retreating back from the oncoming firestorm, he ran towards a piece of cover found in a slab of concrete, giving him time to think of a plan of counterattack. Changing his arm to its grenade-launcher form, he found the next tool to use, gambling to see it used against his foe.

No longer utilizing the flamethrower in his bent knee, Larsen changed his leg to its missile-launcher form, loading up another missile to fire. Lars, jumping out of his cover, aimed his arm towards Larsen, preparing to meet the missile with one of his own grenades.

Both enemies fired off their shots, sending both projectiles flying towards one another to an imminent collision. The two explosives met with one another in air, leading both their payloads to detonate to a large blast, leaving both running to duck away from its massive explosion.

Evading the blast, both parties soon realized that neither would get their victory by guns or bombs or any projectile based weapons, but instead going for a more personal touch in their fight. Lars, stepping out from his cover, changed his arm to its chainsaw form, leading his opponent to draw his own melee weapon to match it.

Reaching to his leg, Larsen showed that his leg had no chainsaw equivalent of its own, but instead sheathed a small machete in the side of it. Pulling out the large blade, he gave it a few tricky spins in the air, showcasing that he was more than proficient with the weapon.

Revving up his chainsaw and running towards Larsen, Lars moved to meet it with his own weapon, throwing a slash of his chainsaw towards his opponent. Just as displayed with his tricks, his expertise extended to physical combat as well, blocking away at Lars' chainsaw slashes.

More proven to the point was a cut made across his chest, causing Lars to bleed out of it. The wound was not a serious one, making him only lightly lose blood, but the lost blood was making its way onto his shirt, giving him a personal loss to take to heart in his battle against Larsen.

"That was the last of my shirts. You monster!" Lars said.

Showing more tenacity in his strikes, Lars continued out his attacks angrily and with greater energy, more than even Larsen was expecting out of his opponent. Barely able to keep up with his intense strikes and berserk attacks, his defense proved to be insufficient as one slash came his way, making a nick into his skin.

Like Lars' wound, Larsen's wound had no real danger to his life surround it, but it proved that the two would be stuck in a vicious fight that neither would soon give up.

"Damn. You like it rough, don't you?" Larsen asked.

"You know me best. It ain't over 'til one of us finishes." Lars said.

"Agreed."

[Soundtack Cue End]

As the final war for Hellwood rages on, the rest of the country is left apart from the battle, unknowing and unaware of the fight that takes place to put an end to the chaos at last. If any had a chance to see the war take place, even had a chance to participate, they would know that all the Freak's influence was coming to an end at last.

But not only is the rest of the country unaware of this, there are measures being taken to put an end to the problem in a permanent manner. Approving a nuclear airstrike to be made on Lang Island, President Milius Arcudi has sought to provide a final solution to the Hellwood question.

In order to make his intentions made clear to the American people, an emergency telecast is made to the nation, addressing the issue of Hellwood and making his justification for the airstrike. All across the country, people stay glues to their TVs and smartphones, listening carefully at what their president had to say.

"My fellow Americans. These last 2 months have been the longest and darkest not only of my time in office, or even in my life, but of the entire history of the nation. We have been brought to our knees by an absolute madman with seemingly unlimited power at his fingertips, abandoning his very human nature for chaos and anarchy. He has brought that chaos to one of our nation's greatest cities: Hillwood." President Arcudi said.

The nation seemed to lean in and listen more carefully, waiting intently as if they were expecting an answer they were waiting an eternity to hear.

"In the name of security and safety, I, along with my colleagues in both Congress and the House of Representatives, passed legislation that would separate the city from the rest of the nation entirely, in hopes that the threat would be isolated and kept away from American citizens. Giving one piece of flesh to save the rest of the body. I was under the false pretense that this was the best solution to the threat of the Freak, in hopes that the rest of the nation would not be under his threat, but I was proven wrong by that following his threat to the rest of the country. That is what has led me to our next course of action." President Arcudi said.

The president's words made the nation all listen in more intensely; all curious to where the speech was leading and what would be done regarding Hillwood.

"Is there a way to measure the value of human life? To choose 1 million lives over 300 million? The idea is as crude as the reality, as provided to us by the Freak. He has lived as a sick and twisted man, seeking out destruction and terror all in his own name, and he does it for no other reason than his own selfish amusement. We once stood in both awe and terror as the world was introduced to the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and now we stand in awe and terror of its successor: The superman. We have always wondered what sort of new power would come in the world, what could possibly bring about a new world order, and we have found that answer. It is in our responsibility to act now as a nation of power, lest we will no longer have that power with this man, therefore leaving us without a nation." President Arcudi said.

The speech's turn to a morbid topic began to leave a concerned impression upon the people watching, leaving uncertainty over where he would lead.

"That's why it pains me to have to announce one of the most painful decisions in my career as president. I have ordered a full nuclear strike on Hillwood to eliminate the threat of the Freak. It brings me no pleasure to say or do this, but it is the only way we can be sure as a nation that we will not be under threat by this monster." President Arcudi said.

The announcement brought the entire nation up in arms in an instant. Not one soul throughout the country took this news in stride, immediately taking to the streets to express their discontent through rioting. Such a sudden outburst of chaos led local and federal law enforcement going ballistic at the riots, with even many among them agreeing with the rioters they were meant to be stopping, leading to the rage carrying on.

All the rage in the world could do no good, however, as the end result of the president's announcement was being sent underway. Bomber jets began to take off from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, all loaded for bear with nuclear missiles powerful enough to level the entire city of Hillwood twice over.

Taking off to the sky, they began flying out on their mission, with pilots carrying out the task set before them begrudgingly, wishing they had any orders but this one.

"I only hope that, in time, you will all understand my reasoning and come to forgive me. I can only hope that history will look back and understand this as absolutely necessary, and that the people of Hillwood will not have died in vain. And I can only hope that god will forgive me. God bless you, and god bless America." President Arcudi said.