My great thanks to HighFlyingWings, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
10th October, 2008.
South of Manhattan.
"Keep firing!"
Sergeant Ryan of the US Marines snarled as he did as he had ordered, firing his lasgun as fast as he could into the waves of incoming monsters.
Of course, the damn things weren't so easily killed, even by lasguns, so it took far too many shots that he was comfortable with killing the Leader Hunter charging straight at him.
Still, sheer volumes of firepower did what single shots could not, and so he kept firing into the damn thing's head until only a puddle of steaming gore was left.
He spit on its corpse and then immediately picked another target-
"AAAAAAaaagh-" *Squelch.*
Ryan barely flinched as one of his team's soldiers died under the claws of a Hunter who got the drop on the poor bastard. It wasn't the first that happened today, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
"Watch your surroundings! Don't get too focused!" he screamed, even if he knew it was pointless.
The battlefield was utter chaos, and every street corner was taken with huge casualties.
Both that of his soldiers and the enemies.
Oh, how I wish I was in the North! He thought, not for the first time lately, even as he kept firing in the direction of a group of Walkers.
But no, we've all got to deal with these fucking maniacs instead!
He didn't spare a glance, or a glare really, towards the nearest black-clad trooper. He didn't have the time, he needed to keep firing, or he'd die in seconds.
The fact remained, though, that Ryan knew the differences between the battlefield up north and here in the south.
In the North, Marines still died, but it was relatively rare. The advantage of having ISIS as back-up, all Marines were used as support troops rather than true front-liners.
Oh certainly, it burned at their pride… At least until everyone learned how much of a fucking hellhole Manhattan was turning out to be.
Then, well, you learned real fucking quick to take any and all help offered with a fucking smile on your face.
Those who didn't for any reason… Well, most of those dumb motherfuckers died quickly.
The battlefields of Manhattan held no mercy for anyone, but especially not arrogant little shits who think they're hot shit.
More often than not, the only thing hot about them is the steaming puddle of gore they leave behind at their death.
Still, in the North, the Marines had ISIS.
So most of them learned, survived, and kept living another day.
In the south-
*CRAAAAAAAAAAAASSSHHHHH!*
"Fuck! We've lost Jack!"
Ryan grimaced.
-in the south, there was only death.
Most of them were painful and horrific.
Ryan glanced at the growing puddle of blood under the thrown car that landed straight on top of yet another Marine.
Some were "merely" horrific.
Lucky bastard died quickly, he thought, before continuing to fire, this time towards a Hunter getting too close for comfort.
Needless to say, not all were lucky enough to die crushed to death. Those lucky bastards at least died quickly.
If I see another soldier trying to put his guts back in his belly, I'm gonna scream. He thought darkly.
Of course, that required that hypothetical soldier to still have arms.
Which, needless to say, was not a guaranteed fact. Far from it.
Ryan gunned down another Hunter, teeth barred in an enraged snarl of hatred and defiance.
If it was just the enemies that were a problem, it still would be horrific, but at least they could deal with it. But no, they had to deal with their own fucking excuse for "allies!"
And I use that term lightly! He mentally growled, killing another Hunter a second before it could hit Corporal Tusk.
No, these "Blackwatch" motherfuckers were regularly sending the Marines into what were nothing short of suicide missions, just so that Blackwatch's leadership could determine how stiff the resistance of a given area of operation would be.
That way, they could preserve the oh-so-precious lives of their own troops instead!
Now, to be fair, those Blackwatch soldiers were pretty damn good when they actually took the field. So Ryan couldn't argue that yeah, they did deserve to be called a special army group.
But what he could complain about was on how evil these bastards were!
Ryan had been appalled the first time he saw a squad of them fire into fleeing civilians to kill the infected lifeforms behind, and he had almost given the order to his team to execute the bastards right back for it, but oh, it wasn't just a random squad that was like this, they all were!
ALL of them!
The only reason he still knew how many times this happened was because he began taking fucking notes about it!
And Colonel Taggart was less than useless, the man outright threatened anyone saying anything of being "disappeared!"
It almost resulted in a few captains shooting the colonel over it!
And that was BEFORE the Colonel declared that anyone trying anything would be considered traitors in times of war and summarily executed for it, by Blackwatch soldiers if needed!
Ryan was not blind to the fact a number of those captains got "unfortunately" killed in action later on… by stray shots.
Stray shots coming from Blackwatch weapons.
Nor, indeed, that a number of Blackwatch soldiers died the same way from Marine weaponry… and that Colonel Taggart now had a squad of Blackwatch soldiers as his personal guard at all times.
Oh, and the request to the Colonel that Marines be allowed to switch from fighting between the South and North of Manhattan every few days was firmly shut down.
Supposedly, it would only cause unacceptable complications of logistics and more.
Which was all well and good… if it wasn't for the fact that everyone knew the real reason that it had been denied was that Blackwatch didn't want Marines babbling about things that Blackwatch High Command didn't want spread around ISIS' ears.
Or, for that matter, to that journalist that followed an ISIS squad into battle.
So all in all, the Southern Marines not only had to deal with the waves after waves of monsters, the fact that not a single civilian was allowed to evacuate the island if they just so happened to be in the territory that Blackwatch had claimed as its own, leading to horrific losses amongst the civilian population, more infected, and a crisis of food, water, and more, but they also had to deal with Blackwatch squads executing civilians just because they could!
Hell, the only time that Ryan heard someone from Blackwatch complain was about the fact the grenade a soldier wasted on a group of innocent people was that it was one less grenade to use later on against a Goliath or something!
They were more worried about logistics and killing a random monster than people's lives!
It was enraging, but there was little that Ryan or his team could do. There had been one team that decided to try and warn the rest of the country and, well…
Colonel Taggart recorded their execution for "motivational purposes."
And after that, Blackwatch soldiers began to all but breath down every Marine's neck, to the point it ended in shoot-out several times.
The one and only reason that every Marine down in the South had yet to collectively rebel was that it would mean that everybody would die. Blackwatch, Marines, civilians, everybody.
With the hordes of monsters continually pushing them back, they had no choice, it was either band together against a greater evil or die on their own.
So, with grim determination, every Marine decided to put duty above all and fight the good fight, even if that meant putting up with Blackwatch for now.
There was simply too much at stake, here in this war, and they simply couldn't afford to try anything, not if that meant letting the entire southern front open for Greene's hordes to ravage without opposition.
Oh, but the rage and hatred was very much there. It simply simmered, waiting for the right moment to be unleashed.
And hopefully, today would bring that blessed moment of karma one giant leap closer.
Those glorious bastards in the north managed to trick everyone into thinking they were being pushed back hard, when in reality it was all a trap.
One that Greene bought hook, line, and sinker.
And now, here everybody was, counter-attacking with all the fury everyone could muster after more than a week of hell.
They might not be able to deal with Blackwatch yet, but they sure as hell could take some revenge on the hordes of monsters at the origin of this entire mess.
Of course, that left the problem that it was easier said than done. Even with Greene sending the majority of her hordes up north in a desperate, and as far as he knew, futile effort to stop ISIS, there were still thousands of monsters left in the south.
And they were charging at them all with the fury of cornered rats seeing their doom closing around them.
A fact that would be infinitely more satisfying if they weren't so good at making them all bleed and die for every inch of ground gained.
The sudden influx of monstrosities coming from underground didn't help, either.
*KA-BOOM!*
Ryan winced slightly as a nearby tank blew up a giant spider the size of a truck, before pausing when he saw a bunch of new Blackwatch troops rush towards the battlefront.
His eyes narrowed towards them. Supposedly, these were the super-soldiers of Blackwatch. Oh, they had a fancy name or some shit, but really that's what they were.
And to be fair, they really were worth the name. Over a hundred soldiers each capable of going toe-to-toe with a Leader Hunter was really fucking impressive, after all.
Or, they would be, if they weren't with "Team Evil" as one of his squadmates put it.
At least before a Goliath got to the poor kid.
Needless to say, the poor kid's family was going to bury an empty coffin, because there really wasn't enough left of him to put in anything else but a teapot.
Anyway, the point was, Blackwatch's High Command had apparently been keeping these guys in reserve for an important moment, and potentially cleansing most of Manhattan in one all-out offensive was considered a good enough reason to bring them out.
Or at least, that was the official reason he got. No fucking clue if there was some other reasons they decided to bring these guys out to play.
Sergeant Ryan was moderately grateful, since at least they really could pull their weight. They were advancing towards Chelsea thanks mostly to these guys doing the heavy lifting, and while some of them died along the way, the losses in super-soldiers weren't too bad as far as he could see.
Of course, the grunts like him, well that was another story, but with most of Greene's forces busy dealing with ISIS, well it could be much worse.
After the last week he had, Ryan was not going to complain about things being merely "hard" rather than "pure suicide."
Ryan killed another group of Walkers, and noticed a group of Blackwatch super soldiers slaughtering their way in the center of the street.
We might actually be able to pull it off, he thought, relief heavy in his heart.
Might as well do my part then. We can worry about Blackwatch after these monsters are dead.
Heh. If things continued to go so well, he might actually have over half his squad still alive by day's end.
That would be pretty damn good, compared to the last few days…
===
Alex Mercer hit the ground, eyes narrowed.
He was in the Core Hive now, and the area he was in was surprisingly dark… and Redlight-free.
He turned as he heard footsteps, seeing Elizabeth Greene slowly circle around him.
He took her in for a moment. This was their first time meeting, and hopefully the last.
She looked… Well, just like in the pictures. Still human-looking, though Alex knew that meant nothing.
Their eyes met, and Alex clenched his fists, rage bubbling as the memories of her Hunters attacking Dana's home resurfaced.
"Why did you attack Dana?" he growled.
"To draw you out." she whispered, her voice echoing oddly.
"Well, here I am. And I'll make you pay for attacking my sister." he snarled.
"Why not join me? You and your sister? We could create a better world, together." she proposed.
Alex' eyes widened, before he sneered.
"You think I'm going to join you? Are you mad?!" he exclaimed.
"Your sister will die long before you." she whispered, and Alex stiffened. "She is still human. So weak, so fragile. So very weak to time and enemies alike. Humanity will come after you, as they came for me. And they will use her against you. You cannot protect her all the time. One day, your enemies will get lucky, and she will die. All they need is one shot. And even if they fail, you are immune to time. She is not. One day, she will die, while you will remain young and strong… and alone."
"There are ways for humans to live longer. My sister is already going to live for centuries thanks to Insight Corp. And they plan to improve on things even further." he argued back. He had tried not to think too much of what the differences in species between him and Dana meant, but he was no fool.
She was right, Dana was at far greater risk of dying than himself. Diseases, accidents, enemy action, or simple time… All things from which he was immune or strong enough to protect himself from.
Not so his sister.
"She will not be immortal, not like you or me. And what about Blackwatch? They will never stop pursuing you… and thus, her. She will always be in danger because of you."
"Then I'll destroy them utterly." he swore.
"You, and what army?" she questioned.
"ISIS will help. They want them gone as much as I do. And there are others. I've done my research, Blackwatch has few friends. And their actions in this war are not making things better. They will fall, mark my words."
"And you trust them, ISIS? The humans? They will fear you. They always will. Humanity fears what is different. Blackwatch might fall, but about the next organization? Or government? Do you truly think you will ever be accepted, and not feared and hunted?"
"And what is your proposal? Becoming part of your Hive Mind, my sister and I?" he sneered at her. "Fucking pass. I'm not fighting Blackwatch just to let you shackle me. And like hell I'm letting my sister become a monster like us because of "what if." If ISIS turns against me, I'll fight them as I'm fighting Blackwatch. But it'll be on my terms!"
He lunged forward, Greene meeting him halfway, and Alex grunted as they viciously grappled each other.
She was strong and agile, and he could tell that he was slightly less powerful than her, even now.
But that was alright. There was a reason he went for a grapple rather than any of his other tactics and strategies for fighting her.
Alex grunted as Greene slammed him into the ground, coming down just above him-
*Squelch.*
-before he grinned coldly, while Greene's eyes went wide, blood falling from her lips.
He pressed the syringe to her neck harder, the parasite within going inside of her and wrecking her body inside out quickly and viciously.
"You hurt me." she whispered, disbelief in her voice.
Oh, I'm going to do much worse than-
"AAAAAArrrrrggggghhhh!"
His thoughts came to a screeching halt as Greene violently lurched backward, blood spewing from her mouth as her body viciously shuddered in agony as the parasite went to work.
She stumbled backward before falling to her knees, spewing more blood, Alex getting to his feet with a cold smirk. It's much more satisfying when I'm not on the receiving end of this tactic, he couldn't help but think.
Then he froze, as something grew from the blood she was spewing, growing taller and larger until it stood head and shoulders above Alex.
What the fuck is that?! It looks like some kind of Super-Hunter… He thought warily, Greene taking advantage of his shock to get away, running on all fours like an animal.
*RRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!*
"I don't know what you are, but I'm going to kill you!" Alex snarled, furious that Greene got away while that thing was standing in his way.
The Super-Hunter roared again, and then charged at him.
Alex charged right back, this time more than eager to do this brutally and painfully against this thing.
Their fists met, a shockwave spreading from the point of contact, but neither side so much as blinked as more and more punches were unleashed.
Both Alex and the Super-Hunter began running all over the room they were in, and Alex began to use more esoteric skills than just punching the monster since it didn't appear to work well.
His arms turned into deadly whips that cut through the air with terrifying speed, but the Super-Hunter was fast enough to barely avoid his strikes.
Alex growled and recreated his right hand and slammed it into the ground, a forest of sharp Blacklight spikes coming out of the ground around the Hunter, who jumped upwards to avoid his attack.
The Hunter hit the ceiling and jumped off from it, straight at Alex, who turned his right hand into an armored fist and punched straight at the Hunter's face when it got into range.
The Hunter once again tried to punch him back, but this time Alex's mutated fist proved stronger and the Hunter stumbled back with a roar of pain as Alex's fist shattered many of the bones in the monster's right arm.
Alex didn't waste time, turning his arms into whips and slashing through the air, the Hunter barely managing to bring his other arm in the way to protect his torso before Alex's arm-whips hit, cutting deeply into flesh and bones.
Alex smiled viciously, seeing his opponent's arms badly wounded and he immediately charged towards the monster, only for it to slide under his lunge and run away from Alex towards the far end of the room.
Alex scowled and ran after it, until suddenly the Hunter turned back and lunged straight at him.
Alex blinked at the sudden move, only for his eyes to go wide when he saw the Hunter's arms already mostly healed.
"Hmmph!"
Alex grunted in pain when the newly healed Hunter punched him, his body flying back, though Alex easily hit the ground and rolled to get back on his feet nearly instantly.
Which was good, as the monster was already lunging for him again, forcing Alex to dodge and send his right arm-whip into the monster's side, drawing a bloody line into it that made it roar in pain but sadly not much more.
The Hunter charged at him, and Alex decided to try and bleed the monster for a time before fighting him head-on again.
He jumped, running and jumping over every wall and the floor and ceiling in order to dodge the Hunter's bloodthirsty form, his arm-whips cutting through the air and earning him deep, bloody cut after cut.
But it was not enough, the cuts quickly healing, so Alex decided to change tactics again.
He rushed towards the Hunter, fists meeting fists, shockwaves echoing across the Core Hive, a number of other Redlight infected lifeforms charging at Alex and serving only as food for him to consume in order to heal the injuries the Super-Hunter managed to give him throughout their fight.
Walkers, Hunters, Leader Hunters, Juggernauts, Goliaths and even a few Hydras all appeared, and all of them died as nothing but collateral between a fight of titans.
The walls of the Core Hive trembled, and Alex's eyes widened before narrowing as Blackwatch troops and tanks entered the wide-open area he and the Super-Hunter were in, including what Alex recognized as D-Class Super Soldiers from ISIS' files.
The entire room turned into a bloody, vicious free for all, as Blackwatch soldiers fought him and the infected Lifeforms, who did the same right back.
And Alex, of course, was always happy to kill more Blackwatch soldiers.
Lasers, missiles, and monsters alike flew through the air, the sounds of monsters and men alike screaming, killing and dying echoing in the air, but Alex never forgot his primary objective of killing whatever that evolved Hunter was.
A missile hitting it in the back gave him the opening he needed, and Alex lunged for it while it stubbled, getting on its back, turning his arms into blades and plunging them into the Hunter's back.
It roared in pain, but Alex merely smiled in triumph as he cut, and cut, and cut, more and more until-
*THUMP*
The monster collapsed.
Alex smiled widely, his unnatural pale blue eyes gleaming at the thought of hopefully consuming this creature-
And then his instincts flared up, and he jumped away a second before a super-heavy tank of Blackwatch fired right where he and the body of the Super-Hunter was.
Alex growled in frustration as the monster was turned into puddles of gore scattered everywhere, and he wasted no time turning against everything else in the room.
Ordinary soldiers, super soldiers, tanks, mutated lifeforms, everything died screaming as he tore them apart with fury at being denied not one, but two kills in one day.
Only once the Core Hive was turned into a completely empty slaughterhouse filled with the broken remains of men, tanks, and monsters alike did he finally calm down, taking a few deep breaths before grunting in annoyance.
Greene was gone, to where he had no idea, but he was going to find out.
Glancing around, he felt satisfaction well up in him. He may not have killed Greene, but her Core Hive was a burnt-out wreck, countless monsters lied dead, and the same for many of Blackwatch's soldiers, Super Soldiers included.
He strongly doubted that he had killed every Blackwatch Super soldier, but each one dead was a massive loss of resources for Blackwatch, so all things considered he was pretty happy with the results of the day, overall.
Even better, Blackwatch did not send a single team of Marines against him, no doubt firmly intending to keep his existence a secret, which meant he didn't have to worry about potentially killing innocent men and women who were way out of their depth.
All in all, it was far from a perfect result, but it'll do.
Alex turned and ran away, deciding he needed to get back at Dana and the others to figure out a new plan.
Unnoticed by him, the puddles of gore belonging to the Super-Hunter began to twitch unnaturally…
===
I killed yet another Goliath, glancing around at the remaining B.O.W's in the area.
From what I could get from my True Self, things went basically like in the original timeline, with Greene escaping and Alex failing to properly kill the newly-born Supreme Hunter.
Which explained why the hordes of monsters had suddenly begun to thin out unnaturally a while ago, as Greene, knowing that she had lost this battle, had retreated underground while also trying to save as much of her remaining hordes as she could for the hope of going for a round two.
The result was that the resistance that all of ISIS and allied Marines had to face against suddenly dropped sharply, if not to the level that no fighting was happening.
Either way, everyone could tell: the battle for the day was won, now all that was left was the clean up.
And speaking of which…
I turned around a street corner and paused, staring at Summer Rose, the Huntress, heaving for breath while quite literally standing on top of a rather impressive hill of monster corpses.
Her armor was painted red with blood, a few bits of gore hanging around her shoulders, and her weapon was drenched red as well, at least until a little spell I taught all of my Hunters flashed over Iron Thorn and left the weapon looking pristine once more.
After all, when you are expected to fight and kill for hours, being able to clean your weapon at will was a vital skill for survival.
There was a high risk the blade would become dull otherwise.
I stepped closer, Summer turned around, weapon raised… Before freezing, her wide, trembling silver eyes staring at me as if she was having difficulty remembering that yes, other human beings existed.
I calmly walked up to her and gently lowered her weapon, letting Summer stare at me for a few seconds before she sighed deeply, slumped, and then stabbed Iron Thorn in a corpse at our feet for her to lean tiredly against.
"We won?" she whispered, her voice carrying the sheer exhaustion that fighting for hours alone would cause.
I nodded, taking note of how low her Aura was.
I put a hand on her right shoulder, my right eye glowing for a second as she inhaled sharply as I boosted her Aura reserves to the max in an instant.
I leaned back, a smile on my lips.
"The plan was a smashing success on our part, we got all our old territory back and a bit more as well. Even down south, they managed to get their old territories back, if with great cost of life. The only black mark is that Greene survived meeting with Mercer, so we'll have to track her down first before we can properly end this outbreak."
Summer sighed. "So, we're back to square one?"
I shook my head. "Greene lost every single one of her Hive up top, including her Core Hive. She still has some territory above ground, but all of it is burnt out wreckage. Moreover, she lost all the biomass she had accumulated up here, and her bringing out her underground forces for the assault up top only to lose the battle means she's weaker than she's been since basically day one of this mess. And this time, trying to get more biomass is going to be damn hard with most civilians in Manhattan out of her grasp. In short? She's got the underground parts of Manhattan as her own, and even then not all of it by far, with only a fraction of a proper army to defend it with, and little biomass to help her remaining underground hives keep creating more B.O.W's. She's running out of places to hide, resources to create more monsters, and in general… She's running out of time. She's a cornered rat, but one with few tricks left."
Summer considered that, her eyes staring at all the corpses in the street we were in.
"So, we won?"
"We almost won. I suspect that Greene will have a few surprises left for us, but she'll be scraping the bottom of the barrel to ready them against us. And we'll hardly be sitting on our ass waiting for her to make the first move. If she survives more than three, four more days at the most, I'd be very surprised."
Summer sighed deeply. "Good." she whispered, a storm of emotions in her voice.
I looked at all the corpses in the street with her.
"You should be proud. Could you have achieved this before coming to Earth?"
"No." she replied immediately. "The armor, the force field to supplement my Aura, the Old Blood in my veins, training with you… all that and more made this possible."
I considered her words for a moment.
"But you're still having difficulty feeling proud right now, don't you?"
Summer sighed deeply.
"I wanted to be a Huntress because I wanted to help save people." she whispered. "But look at this. Each and every corpse around us was once a man, a woman… a child. I did not save anyone, these people are still dead, their souls have long moved on. And yes, I know, it's comforting to know that their souls are long gone in the afterlife, but… every corpse before us is one life lost. Should I truly feel pride, when I stand here as executioner, rather than savior?"
It was my turn to sigh. I understood where she came from, I truly did, but I came from Yharnam.
Our monsters were always people.
In more ways than one.
Summer came from a world where to be a Hunter was to be a hero, and the monsters they fought were pure evil.
There were some very clearly determined Good vs Evil boundaries on Remnant.
Here, though? Every monster was once a victim, and thus every dead monster was one dead innocent.
To kill a thousand Grimm is to save a thousand lives.
To kill a thousand B.O.W's is to acknowledge our failure to save a thousand lives.
I put a hand on her right shoulder, and squeezed sympathetically, though with the armor in the way, it was more about doing the gesture itself than any physical comfort.
"Better a thousand dead B.O.W's than a thousand alive B.O.W's free to kill more, Summer." I said gently. "We can't save everyone. Trying to is a quick path to madness. As humans, we can only ever try to save as many as we can. We are not perfect, Summer. No one is. But it is never wrong to try and help make the world a better place. And there are many ways to do that. Sometimes, it means creating medicine that can save lives. And sometimes-"
I waved at the corpses before us.
"-It means killing the monsters that seek only to make the world a worse place to live in. Both ways help the world, Summer. It just so happens that both of us are masters of the second way, rather than the first."
Summer chuckled.
"Say the man who helped create a company that created many medicines that saved countless lives, and will save countless more."
I smiled.
"I dare to see the world as it could be, rather than as what it is. I also know that, as I said, there are more than one way to help people. Punching evil in the face is satisfying, but it does not truly help the common man live better. At most, it helps him live without fear. A worthy goal in its own right, but to me, that is not enough. I am a greedy man, you see. I accept nothing less than the best. I don't want to keep the world stuck as it is. I want it to be better."
I once again waved at the sight before us.
"We all have our part to play in that Dream, Summer. Do not feel guilty for yours. Be proud that you can help. Be proud that you can, in your own way, help change the world for the better. So what if it involves staining yourself in blood? Look around you, and you'll see all the proof you could ever need to see how important you are to the world. To all worlds. The Omniverse could always use more heroes, Summer, because evil always finds a way to return, but good must always find a way to triumph."
I look her straight in the eyes.
"And you, Summer Rose, will help me ensure that good will always triumph."
She looked away, but I grinned, because I could feel the way she was blushing brightly at my last words.
"Then, in that case…"
She turned to look at me, determination shining brightly in her silver eyes.
"I will gladly do my part to make those words remain true for as long I live, Aeon."
I smiled brightly at her. "And I am forever glad to have someone like you by my side while we work to make that eternal dream of prosperity a reality, Summer."
There was a comfortable silence after that, before I turned away and Summer followed me, as we both made our way back to the nearest ISIS base.
As we walked down the hill of corpses, the sun setting down in the sky, an observer would see us both hold our heads high, even as blood dripped from our armor.
And behind Summer, the white cape that she had refused to remove, even after accepting to wear armor, was drenched in blood, the beautiful silver rose in the middle of the cloak covered in the red lifeblood of hundreds, if not thousands.
A stained rose… Once pure, now stained in the cost of victory over evil.
In the end, this was no fairy tale. There was no perfect victory, no perfect savior.
There were only humans, and the monsters they must kill to live free of fear.
This, too, was a World of Bloody Evolution.
And a simple soul would not bring victory.
Only strength, of will, convictions, and of arms.
Success, as ever, was determined from the ability to rise just one more time.
So who better to teach such things than he who died and lived again, and again, in the name of victory?
===
Sergeant Major Avery Johnson of the US Marine contingent of the Campaign for the North of Manhattan stared at the black-clad soldiers at the opposite side of the street, all of them looking like they were one moment away from starting a shoot-out with every ISIS soldier at his side.
Ironically, said ISIS soldiers were trying very hard to completely ignore their presence, seemingly far more interested in making sure not even a damn infected fly would pass them by.
Not that it would be hard to see them, considering the size infected flies grew up to.
He took a puff of his cigar, looking thoughtfully at this tense Mexican stand-off.
He was pretty grateful to ISIS, the glorious bastards somehow managed to ensure he would have a steady supply of cigars.
Apparently, he was a good enough soldier that ISIS Command decided that they wanted him at his best, and making sure he had his beloved cigars with him at all times was part of that.
Well, Jonhson was sure as hell not complaining, that was for sure. Especially when they made sure to supply him with the good shit.
"That brings back memories."
Johnson glanced to the side, at one of his opposite from ISIS currently staring at the Black-clad soldiers.
"Yeah, I heard you ISIS guys and those black-clad motherfuckers had history together. Considering the way they twitched just at the sight of you guys, I can't imagine it's a good one."
"Officially, we've been allied in the past. Unofficially, that involved the same situation you see here. With both of us staring down the other, ready for lasers to start flying at a moment's notice."
Johnson took another puff of his cigar.
"I heard some shit. Raccoon City?"
"Yup."
Johnson stayed silent for a moment.
"There are rumors they execute civilians in cold blood for the slightest of reasons."
The ISIS soldier's armor creaked as his fists clenched tightly.
"Considering what Command briefed us about these guys, I really doubt it's just rumors."
"That bad?"
"Officially, we don't know the full truth of what the hell caused the outbreak. Unofficially? Gentek is a puppet of Blackwatch."
Johnson considered that for a second.
"The same Gentek whose HQ that Arch-Bitch Greene came out of?"
"Correct."
"I see."
Johnson took a long drag of his cigar.
He exhaled.
"I swore an oath to the people of this country."
"ISIS swore an oath to the company… and humanity as a whole."
"No shit?"
"Nope."
Johnson stared at the Blackwatch goons.
"Well then. Your Boss has a plan?"
"I'm not briefed on anything, but that doesn't mean there isn't."
Johnson considered the fact that the leader of ISIS was the glorious motherfucker who played Greene like a fool and retook most of Manhattan in a day.
He nodded.
"Tell your Boss that the Marines would be more than glad to help in dealing with the people at the origins of the outbreak."
Johnson took a puff of his cigar.
"Does the government know?"
"You think I know?"
"You ISIS types obviously know a lot more about all this shit than I do, so maybe."
"Officially, the US government has no idea that Blackwatch is a thing. The official story for those in the know is that General Randall is the man in charge of dealing with the outbreak, with Colonel Taggart as the public face of the operation."
Johnson exhaled.
"And the unofficial, classified story?"
"They lied to the President, he's aware of it, and he's not too pleased. Not too pleased at all."
Johnson smiled coldly.
"No, I wouldn't be either."
Johnson thought deeply for a few seconds, the ISIS soldier waiting patiently for him to speak up again.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about an infected individual on our side, by any chance?"
The ISIS's soldier helmet tilted towards him.
"Any reason why?"
"Stories are spreading of a guy capable of transforming himself and jumping across buildings fighting against the hordes of those fucking monsters and those bastards from Blackwatch. And yet, that guy never attacked anyone from the north."
The ISIS officer stayed silent for a long moment.
"Officially, we don't know anything about that."
Johnson smiled.
"And unofficially?"
"When a group fucks you up and turns you into a monster, you tend to carry a grudge. The group then going after the guy's sister didn't help."
Johnson's smile turned cold.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. I'll tell my boys to look the other way. There ain't no monster running around, just a friend with a grudge."
"Thanks."
"Anytime."
They stared at the Blackwatch soldiers in silence.
"What are the latest bets on how long we'll need to kill Greene?"
"Most place it at around a week at most. Some say tomorrow, some the day after, etc."
Johnson hummed in thought.
"That friend of ours, he's gunning for her too?"
"Tried today, actually."
Johnson blinked, before he grinned widely.
"The entire counter-attack was a giant distraction… Motherfucker, your Boss is one scary ass SOB, and I'm fucking glad he's on our side."
Johnson could almost feel the ISIS soldier smirking.
"Our entire group is the best in the world for a reason."
"I can see that."
Johnson took a deep puff of his cigar, then nodded.
"My bet is two days."
"The 12th?"
"Yup. One day to recover from the assault and give time to track her down, another to put the turbo-bitch down for good."
"Gotcha."
A comfortable silence settled upon them once more.
"And put me in at one to two week before Blackwatch is dealt with."
There was a small hum of surprise from the ISIS soldier.
"Confident, aren't we?"
"After the strategic masterstroke your Boss pulled off?" Johnson smirked. "I like those odds."
"Pleasure doing business with you."
Johnson laughed.
"Oh trust me, the pleasure and profit will be all mine!"
===
I looked around the room, filled with the various leaders of ISIS, the Hunters, and of course Alex Mercer.
With the night falling, we were all focusing on regrouping and fortifying on new positions, even Greene.
Still, there was more work to be done. Greene was still alive, after all, and there were still many B.O.W's to deal with, and Blackwatch to keep an eye on, and…
Well. The reward for good work was more work, as the saying went.
"So. First, congratulations are in order, most of the plans for today went more or less perfectly. Great work, everyone."
There were smiles and cheerful conversations around the room at my words, with the only one scowling being Mercer.
I let everyone bask in their feeling of victory, before clearing my throat, ending all noises in the room.
I nodded.
"Secondly, this is far from over. Alex tried but was not able to kill Greene as planned because of unforeseen consequences, but that just means we can do so now. She's hiding and licking her wounds, our job now is to press the advantage and keep up the momentum of victory we've got. As such, we'll have to focus on dealing with clearing out the undergrounds of Manhattan from now on."
There were some grim looks at my words. Fighting underground against B.O.W's was always messy.
"We'll talk about who is assigned to what areas later. First."
I looked at Mercer.
"Here."
I threw him a syringe, and he caught it, looking at it curiously before looking up at me.
"What is it?"
"A cure against Bloodtox, the poison that Blackwatch is going to try and deploy against both Greene and you. Inject the content into yourself, and you'll be immune to it."
Mercer hummed.
"I read up on your files about Blackwatch… and on that Bloodtox stuff."
He stabbed himself in the arm with the syringe, shuddering slightly before taking a few deep breaths.
"Right. That's one weakness in less to worry about."
He looked at me. "Anything else?"
"Yup. Blackwatch is going to try and inject Bloodtox all over the place. Find where and destroy their equipment."
"But I'm immune now." he replied, confused.
"But Blackwatch won't know that. As long as they don't, they'll be betting on the wrong silver bullet to use against you, and that's a good thing. Besides, it'll take a day or two to track down Greene, you can afford to wreck Blackwatch's shit while you have to wait to try your chance at killing her again."
He grunted, not looking pleased, but understanding.
"Wouldn't using that Bloodtox thing let us find Greene more easily, by making her come to us?"
"Don't worry, we've got a plan for her. We can afford to wreck Blackwatch as well along the way."
"Fine."
I nodded at him, then glanced at the others.
"Make no mistake, the next few days are not going to be easy. We're fighting a cornered animal, Greene will be desperate in fighting us off. But we need to kill her, and quickly, so we will all have to buckle up and endure."
"What about what comes after killing Greene?" wondered Summer, the Major.
I pursed my lips, but answered.
"Blackwatch. That's going to be our next true target. But we won't fight directly. The Marines down south are ready to revolt. All we need is to kill Greene and get the B.O.W. numbers under control, and they'll start it. Once that happens, General Randall will have a great many problems."
I looked at Mercer. "Problems you'll help make as bad as they could get."
He smiled coldly. "Count me in."
"Good."
I fiddled with a holographic map, then waved at it.
"What you're seeing is the official map of the undergrounds of Manhattan."
I pressed a few buttons.
There were a few sharp intake of breaths.
I nodded at everyone.
"What you are seeing right now is what they actually look like, right now, as best as we can tell with all our equipment."
"That's a lot of tunnels… and big holes." muttered Rebecca, and there were grim looks of agreements around the room as everyone took in the same sights.
"Correct. Greene was busy setting up a lot of tunnels and nests down there. And now, our job is to cleanse it all. We won't be able to do that in one day. Too much unknown territory, too many risks if we try to go too fast. But, the good news is that the situation above ground is essentially under control and we thus can afford to send you Hunters down there in numbers. On the one hand, no armored or air support. On the other hand, we can send you with ISIS backup and even some Marine support to really encircle them and attack from a number of directions. And with her foolishly sending her reserves out in force today and losing the majority of it all, she won't have the numbers to easily push us out. So..."
I pointed to the big black holes in the maps marking the suspected positions of the nests and Hives.
"Your job is to get there, cleanse them all and then keep going until it's all gone. The job of the ISIS soldiers and Marines is to provide support and cleanse the tunnels between each nest. I'll be blunt, I refuse to believe that Greene doesn't have a few remaining cards left to play to try and win this war. So don't get cocky, because the worst thing you can all do right now is think that victory is certain. There is no greater moment of weakness than when you are certain of your victory. That's how I fooled Greene, don't fall into the same trap as her. Be cautious, be paranoid, and be on your guard at all times. Understood?"
There was a round of agreement echoing across the room.
"Good. In that case, here's how we're going to divide the different sectors, and-"
===
11th, October 2008.
"Ready for this?"
Lois glanced at Sergeant Brad, before looking back at the entrance into the underground areas of Manhattan.
"It's just us all going straight into the belly of Greene's network of hives. What could go wrong?" she sarcastically replied, before sighing.
"Sorry. I guess my nerves are getting the better of me."
He nodded. "Fair enough. Honestly, I'd be more concerned if you weren't shaking in your boots. Fighting above ground is one thing, underground though? That's a very different kind of war."
"I am aware. But I also swore I'd record your struggles for the sake of the world, and I'm not going to sit back when you're walking into hell."
Also, the data your Boss gave me is ready to be revealed to the world, so at this point even if I die, I made sure that humanity will learn who caused all of this, she thought but did not say.
"That's a brave thing you're doing. Some might say foolish, but brave."
Her lips quirked up. "Seeking the truth is rarely without danger. It does not make it any less worthy of pursuing."
Brad hummed. "You'd get along with our Boss, saying stuff like that."
She smirked. Considering they had met…
But if he wanted to keep things secret, well, she'd agree to it… for now.
At least until the truth about Blackwatch was out, but she agreed that it could wait until after Greene was dead.
"I'm not the only one brave, anyway. You're all going in there too, after all."
He shrugged. "All part of the job."
She snorted.
"Most people would have second thoughts about their job in these circumstances." she pointed out.
"Yeah, well everyone at ISIS knows what we are signing for. And considering yesterday, it's hardly like we aren't proving our worth."
She nodded. That was fair.
"I'm still trying to believe what I saw your Boss did yesterday, to be honest. Though the same is true for the rest of the world, to be fair."
Brad laughed. "Yeah, no surprises there. But then again, that is the Boss we're talking about."
Lois hummed in agreement, then glanced to the side.
Towards one Summer Rose, Major of ISIS.
And one of the "Huntress" of the group, too.
"Still… Actual super soldiers now… The world truly is changing, though only time will tell if it's for the better." she mused.
Brad glanced at what she was looking at, before shrugging.
"That's the world for you, it constantly changes. You can either drag your heels or embrace that fact. We in ISIS work hard to ensure it changes for the better."
"So far, it seems that you're succeeding." she honestly replied.
"Thank you." said Brad, sounding pleased.
Then he paused, tilting his head, before turning grimly focused.
"We've got the go-ahead, the operation is a go."
Every ISIS soldier and Marines made one last check of their weapons, then went down the entrance leading underground with grim looks of focus.
Lois let out a breath.
"Alright then." She glanced at her cameraman, seeing the mix of apprehension and determination on his face, before looking back at the entrance.
"Let's do this."
===
"Keep firing! Don't let them get close!"
"Throw grenades into the holes! On the double!"
"Those with Heavy weapons! Focus on the Heavies amongst the enemy!"
"Damn it Jenkins! You're supposed to avoid the acid shots, not run face first into them!"
"Yes Ma'am! Sorry Ma'am!"
"Raaaaaaaaaagh!"
"Fuck you too, you monstrous spider bastard!"
Lois flinched at the cacophony of noise around her, eyes bouncing around the wide-open area they were in.
They had successfully fought their way to one of the Hives, and now the entire area was one massive battlefield.
Lois had barely managed to hold her breakfast in when she had first seen the half-decomposed corpses strewn across the place, some of the dead no older than young children, all of them having their bodies' flesh slowly repurposed into creating more monsters.
If not outright bloated with eggs that released horrific swarms of monstrous creatures when damaged.
Several ISIS soldiers with flamethrowers were grimly working on cleansing the entire cave of all the horrors, but there were… many, many corpses.
"Definitely going to get censored for adults only." she muttered, thinking of the final footage for all of this and trying to find some humor in all of this madness and knowing she failed spectacularly.
And then the entire cavern trembled.
Lois froze, and every soldier tensed, even as they kept firing at the never-ending swarms of monsters.
"What was that?!" she exclaimed.
*CRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!*
"SSSSSSSSSSKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Everybody stared in frozen shock at the absolutely massive spider who just crashed through the ceiling, and the dozen, swiftly becoming hundreds of smaller, but still giant spiders following behind her.
"Leave the big one to me!" shouted Major Rose, who promptly charged at the gigantic monster.
"Covering fire!" screamed Sergeant Brad. "Cover her and stay out of their way!"
"Where the fuck did this thing come from?!"
"Doesn't matter! Just keep firing!"
"I thought we could see things that big on the scanners!"
"Well obviously Greene found a way to share the Hydra's stealth with that thing!"
"Fuck!"
"Less cursing, more firing!"
Lois grimaced, trying to make herself as small a target as possible while she tightly clenched the plasma pistol she was given for self-defense, just in case.
Not that it'll save me from these things, she thought very dryly as she stared at the chaotic battlefield where hundreds of giant spiders kept pouring out of the giant hole above to try and charge at the lines of soldiers firing like crazy.
Considering how thick the incoming waves of monsters were, it was hardly like they needed to worry about accurate shots…
Lois caught movement, and stared wide-eyed as Major Rose ran around the absolutely humongous spider, jumping from limb to limb with ease and firing with her gun/sword at the same time, elemental explosions hitting the head of the spider over and over again… and honestly doing very little.
"SSSSSSSSSSKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Not that the spider seemed to care about that, since it seemed almost offended by the human woman running over its body and was trying its hardest to squash her like… well, a bug.
Or eat her whole, Lois couldn't help but think with a shudder as she saw the spider's massive maw filled with acidic drool snap close a hairbreadth away from the jumping Huntress, who took the time to leave a deep, bloody gash on the creature's head… Though considering how massive the damned thing was, it only seemed like a mere papercut at best.
She glanced away, trying not to think too much about the horrific modern day David vs. Goliath fight going on, and instead focused on the fight against the swarms of giant spiders.
The air in the cave was almost red from the sheer number of laser and plasma shots illuminating the place, but considering the hundreds, most likely thousands of charging monsters, all it did was barely manage to stop the tide cold in place.
Have you ever imagined what hundreds of giant spiders charging at you while you're confined in a cave look like? Well Lois needed to imagine no more, because now she knew exactly what it looked like.
It was bloody fucking terrifying, that was for sure.
I'll never get a single night of sleep after this, she thought in numb horror, while the heavily armed soldiers of ISIS kept firing their more deadly weapons.
Lois stared as fucking black holes opened in the middle of the charging hordes of monsters, sucking dozens of horrors within, never to be seen again, before those black holes violently exploded and caused literal explosion of green-ish blood across the cave from the sudden pressure crushing many more spider bodies around them.
Other weapons released electric blasts cooking dozens more spiders instantly, or created ice blocks freezing dozens within, or even seemed to rapidly age the spiders into turning to dust in seconds.
It was pure, absolute madness, and yet it was happening right in front of her.
And still, more and more monsters kept coming.
Just how many of the damn things did Greene keep in reserve?! She thought in shock, before an incredibly loud screech of agony filled the cave, and she glanced to the side to see the humongous spider stagger, having a good chunk of its body on fire, several of its eyes popped and missing a leg, while another was barely still attached.
The hell happened there?! she thought in shock, though it was nothing compared to when Major Rose jumped high in the air… and then slammed into the top of the spider's head, cutting into and then through its body, the giant spider freezing as the human woman disappeared within its brain, before shuddering violently a second later when she jumped out… and fired inside the hole.
A massive explosion of elements followed, ice, fire, electricity and more coming from the hole in the spider's head, before the explosion finally settled down after several very loud seconds, leaving the giant spider to slump down on the ground, dead, smoke coming out of its head.
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"
A cheer went up across the soldiers' lines, and the Huntress visibly took several deep breaths before turning around, staring at the still charging horde of monsters, at which point she tightened her hold on her weapon and rushed forward, crashing into the charging horde and letting blood and limbs fly around her as she cut her way through more and more spiders.
"This is insane." she heard her cameraman mutter, and Lois agreed.
But then again, that seemed to be the norm in Manhattan these days.
===
"I! Hate! Worms!"
Rebecca followed her scream with vicious and brutal hits of her axe into the body of a giant worm which had bursted out of the ground and ate her whole, only to find her a far deadlier prey than expected.
"Die!"
She finally bursted out of its body, the creature violently thrashing in agony as she cut in open from the inside, on top of all the poisons she released inside its body, currently melting it from the inside out.
With a growl she jumped on top of its body, using her axe to stay on top despite the monster's trashing, and she slowly but surely made its way to its head.
Lesson number one in dealing with giant monsters: aim for the head, the limbs too if need be to get to the head.
Well, in this case this giant bastard had no limb, so she was free to take Aeon's suggestion and go straight at its head.
When she got there, she snarled and slammed her axe deep within its body, before releasing a truly vicious acidic poison into its brain, the giant worm trashing even more before, eventually, dying for good.
She removed her axe with a satisfied grunt, and then tried to find where the hell the damn thing took her.
All she saw was dirt, dirt and charging monsters behind her as far as her eyes could see in the depths of… wherever she was right now.
She grunted. "Separating me from my forces? Smart. But not smart enough."
She raised her axe, green eyes shining with cruel anticipation.
"I'm not trapped here with you, you're trapped here with me!"
And then she charged.
===
I glanced at each of the advancing dots on the holographic map, noting their progress and giving orders when required.
"That's another part of the Upper East Side collapsing into a sinkhole." I noted.
Colonel Geary grunted. "Consequences of killing giant subterranean monsters. When they thrash around, everything above pays the price."
"I'm aware. We've got protocols in place for these scenarios."
I glanced at some of the reports.
"They're getting smarter. They are trying to separate the Hunters from the rest of our forces. Textbook divide and conquer."
Geary scowled.
"That's the problem with smart enemies, they learn."
"Quite. Still, we're making progress."
"Even with-"
The sounds of distant explosions reached our ears.
"-that?"
I shrugged.
"Even so, yes."
More explosions echoed.
"Greene really is throwing everything and the kitchen sink at our heads."
I hummed in agreement. "If she had bottles of beer to throw at our heads, I dare say she'd be throwing those as well!" I joked.
There was another tremor in the ground.
I blinked.
Mmmmh… That one seemed far, where-
"Boss! The Blackwatch HQ blew up!"
I blinked.
Blinked again.
"Really?"
"Well-"
I paused.
Looked down at the ground.
"Oh, fuck you too, bitch, I can out bullshit your bullshit!"
I hit the ground with my right foot.
The growing tremors in the ground grew… then stilled completely.
I nodded, then opened communications to all units above ground.
"To all units, this is Command! Ready yourself for a Code Brown, Alpha One!"
Colonel Geary grimaced.
"Ah, shit. Figures."
A second later, the ground violently shook when a dozen truly enormous worms burst out of the ground across the entire island of Manhattan.
Said worms immediately began spewing hordes of B.O.W's all over the place.
I grunted. "Close Greene, but no cigar. I wasn't going to let you bring those outside of Manhattan… or right in the middle of my damn HQ, for that matter!"
I glanced at the man who informed me about the Blackwatch HQ blowing up.
"Let me guess, one of those things burst out of the ground straight in the middle of their HQ?"
"Yes, sir."
"Yeah, I thought so. She tried to do the same with us."
I smirked. "She failed."
I then looked up, towards the South.
Mercer was-
Ah. Right in the Blackwatch base when the damn thing showed up.
Well that poor worm was dead, it just didn't know it yet.
Good riddance.
As for General Randall…
Nope, still alive. Same with Colonel Taggart.
Oh well. We'll get them eventually.
"Right then! We've got a dozen truly enormous worms to kill, hordes of B.O.W's to put down, and-"
The sounds of plasma shots and explosions echoed close by.
Well, about damn time, I was starting to wonder if all the defenses we put out around the HQ were going to be wasted!
"-we have to defend our own HQ from attack! Let's get to work, everyone!"
Honestly, this was giving me some strong Raccoon City flashbacks. Why were there always giant worms in city outbreaks anyways?
There was a massive flash of red light.
Followed by an earthquake hard enough that I was the only one not stumbling around.
"Well, it seems that the massive plasma cannon we hid within the central building of the HQ for anti-titan purposes was needed after all! Look at it, blowing up the head of a giant worm already! Who said that superweapons were useless?"
I sniffled proudly.
"Lucy is going to be so proud of her pet project."
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Prototype.
No PHO-like stuff this time, but there were other things I wanted to focus on.
I could have explored Operation: Revolving Door more, but I ultimately chose to not spend too much time on what was essentially a one-sided victory, and focus more on when things once again are more of a true battle.
So instead, you see more about the Marines and their issues with Blackwatch, about Summer Rose being brought step after step closer to a true Huntress of the Dream rather than a Huntress of Remnant, and of course the setup of the grand finale against Greene.
One thing I don't think we see in canon, is Greene actually trying to come up with a plan to go beyond Manhattan, if conventional, street to street warfare isn't enough. The Hydras were thus a lesser version of her true plan, involving the creation of humongous worms capable of burrowing underground in order to get to the rest of New York.
Her latest plan, as such, was to unleash two of those worms on both Blackwatch and ISIS HQ, while the rest would hit New York.
Unfortunately for her, Aeon out bullshit her bullshit, and used his powers to both prevent her from hitting his HQ, and from sending the worms into New York.
Of course, that still means that Greene's entire secret army and her Titans "units" are now going all out across Manhattan, so… Yeah! Final Battle against Greene, here we go!
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 rages in full…