My great thanks to HighFlyingWings, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
12th October, 2008.
Time Square, Manhattan.
"Fucking hell…"
Lois had no idea who said those words, but they were rather appropriate.
Parts of Times Square were being wrecked utterly, even more than the rest, by what was without a doubt the most important battle of this war.
Alex Mercer and the leader of ISIS were currently locked in an all-out battle for supremacy against Elizabeth Greene, and it was a testament to the sheer viciousness of that fight that, despite everything else going on across the entirety of the area, the sounds of that battle still echoed louder than anything else to her ears.
Acid missiles filled the air, red-black shockwaves of destructive energies ravaged the area around Greene, a number of regular monsters were trying their best to support their mistress, and a number of Hydras and outright giant tentacles had surrounded Elizabeth Greene and were acting as both shield and sword against the warriors of humanity.
Despite all of that, neither Alex Mercer nor the leader of ISIS seemed the least concerned about the opposition trying its best to kill them.
Mercer jumped, ran, glided, and more, a constantly moving black blur of motions and deadly intent, his body shifting and changing to best deal with any and all obstacles standing in his goal of killing Greene.
His arms turned into whips, cutting through the air to slash into pieces each and every monster trying to get close to him, or outright creating long, vicious cuts across the giant monster that Greene had turned herself into… or simply fused with, it was hard to say.
Or the arms turned into hammers, each blow creating shockwaves so powerful that she had seen one blow outright explode a Goliath into red mist.
She had even seen him stomp on the ground, only for a forest of red-black spikes to come out of the ground and impale dozens of monsters instantly.
The man turned monster was cutting a bloody, gore-filled path towards Greene, and nothing nor no one seemed able to do much more than slow him down.
Not that he was alone. The leader of ISIS behind him was no less of a force of nature, grav-gun shooting over and over again and killing swaths of defending monsters.
Great explosions of green energy mixed with the gruesome sights of monsters either being crushed into bloody paste or being sent flying with their innards turned to mush, while the man casually ran, jumped, or outright walked seemingly without a care in the world in between monsters, acid missiles, explosions and more.
It was awe-inspiring proof of sheer battlefield awareness on both men's parts, as neither let a single enemy touch them, not a single attack so much as graze them. Every movement was carefully considered, every action flowing into another to the point it looked less like a battle and more like a dance of death and destruction.
There was no hesitation, no doubt, both men simply kept on fighting, on moving, without ever seemingly having to think about their next move.
Both men covered each other, grav-gun shooting at anything with the slightest hope of coming close to Mercer, and great whips of mutated flesh hitting anything coming close to the leader of ISIS, though a pattern was quickly noticeable, as the leader of ISIS tended to focus more on defending the both of them, with Mercer focusing more on striking back against Greene.
And it was certainly working. Against one of them, Greene could have held out for a while.
Against both working in perfect unison? It was all that she and her horde could do to survive each passing minute, while more and more broken, monstrous corpses were left discarded across Times Square.
Lois Carol could see it. Maybe it was her time with ISIS, maybe it was her survival instincts honed to a razor's edge by this damned war, but Greene's forces were dying quickly, while the monstrous woman herself was suffering more and more wounds across her giant form.
That did not mean she wasn't putting up a terrifying fight. Massive tentacles crashed on the ground or threw deadly objects at the pair, trying to kill them with sheer weight.
The number of acidic missiles has, if anything, gone up, and each one exploded with the force of a small bomb, shockwaves of acid spreading from the points of explosions and burning through anything standing several feet around the point of contact.
The air itself became distorted by all the acid being thrown around, turning it foul, though more and more monsters charged in anyway, uncaring of their own death if it meant helping Greene survive this fight.
Anyone else would have been torn to shreds, or melted by acid, or any number of gruesome fates as Greene tried her best to defend herself from the approaching doom coming her way.
But not these two. Against all odds, they kept moving forward, kept surviving all that was sent and thrown their way.
Death was coming for Elizabeth Greene, and no amount of giant monsters, no hordes of horrors, no deadly abilities would save her from her fate.
And in the meantime… The other soldiers of humanity held the line.
No matter the cost, they held the line, so that victory, true victory, could at last be claimed.
===
Across the world, people anxiously watched the continuation of the most important battle in the Age, a battle for the fate of the world itself.
Before the eyes of countless, soldiers fought, killed and died in the name of survival: theirs, and that of their entire species.
Countless watched in awe the carnage unleashed by the Hunters of ISIS standing as storms of Death against all that is monstrous in nature. They watched with wide eyes as soldiers held the line, even as horrors straight from their worst nightmares charged at said lines in their thousands. They watched with bated breath as explosions created deadly shockwaves amidst seemingly never-ending hordes as mortars, tanks, helicopters and more unleashed all of their fury upon an enemy devoid of mercy.
And they watched as two sole men stood against the full might of Elizabeth Greene, every explosion of acid, every near miss from deadly tentacles, every monster jumping at them making them tremble in fear that, this time, the miracle of victory would end, and only crushing defeat and death would await.
And yet, to the stunned, disbelieving joy and relief of all, that moment refused to come.
Over and over again, death came close to the heroes of the day. Again and again, it failed to find either in its grasp.
And so, before the eyes of Mankind, two men stood before destruction incarnate… and found her power left wanting.
But slowly, ever so slowly, the same could not be said of the opposite, as a growing number of wounds spread across the monstrous body of the mastermind behind the hordes of infected…
===
"She's weakening!"
Lois grinned, relief fighting with joy as she saw the same as what Sergeant Brads shouted.
Despite the incredible odds against them, both warriors were slowly but surely winning the fight.
Rivers of blood now fell from Greene's monstrous body, and hundreds of corpses could be seen surrounding the inhuman woman, standing as evidence of every monster who had tried to come in the help of their mistress, and died at the hands of either the leader of ISIS's grav-gun or the deadly whips and fists of Alex Mercer.
The ground was littered with craters, whether from shockwaves of regular explosions or from acid missiles that hit the ground and detonated, the acid strong enough to eat straight through the ground and create steaming puddles of acid and dissolving matter.
And yet, still, despite all the gore, the acid, the explosions and more, the two men kept on fighting with hardly any issue.
If anything, they began using the environment to their advantage, kicking or throwing monsters into some of the steaming puddles of acid to kill them or wound them greatly, Aeon sometimes using his plasma guns to shoot at the acid missiles in order to make them explode right above a number of charging monsters, who were left screaming in agony as the acid fell on top of them and began eating through their flesh and bones with disturbing ease.
More and more Hydras came out of the ground, trying to protect their mistress, only to take green balls of energy shot from the grav-gun to their faces, creating spectacular explosions of gore as tentacles were turned to mush from the sudden gravitational force.
The battlefield began to be littered with the corpses of the dead, but Mercer eagerly consumed as much biomass as he required from them to grow stronger, unleashing horrifically powerful attacks capable of killing dozens of monsters in an instant, while adding more and more gaping wounds on Greene's body, all of them oozing blood before they began healing at a speed great enough to be easily visible with the naked eye.
But that healing was slowing down. Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of continuous damage she was taking, Greene's body could not withstand that kind of punishment forever.
Lois was sure that she could see a certain amount of desperation now in all of Greene's moves.
The duo of the leader of ISIS and Alex Mercer was simply too much, and it showed. Blood enough to fill several human beings easily had already been shed from her, yet neither side refused to break quite yet.
"Look!"
Lois turned her head, and glanced around at the other parts of the battlefield.
It took her a minute to see what Brads had seen, but it was obvious in insight.
The hordes of monsters were growing desperate. It could now be seen in their movements, as all of them were now desperately trying to break through to where the fight deciding the battle and war as a whole was taking place.
No longer was there a perfect fighting force trying to break through their lines to kill them all, no instead it looked as if every monster had been given the exact same order: to come support Greene, no matter the cost.
And that was backfiring hard, as while some soldiers were still dying, the sudden lack of cohesion turned what had once been a perfectly coordinated army into a rabble of monsters without cohesion of any kind.
What had before been a vicious battle was quickly turning into an execution field as the monsters no longer pressed strategically against the defenders, seeking weak points and driving those open wide, but instead the monsters were now rushing forward, heedless of their losses, towards the fighting going on between Greene and her two would-be killers.
It was foolish, it was desperate, it was a clear sign that Greene was losing her fight and was getting close to dying and was now trying to get the two men continuously wounding her more to back off from her to give her time to heal, or even flee.
Unfortunately for her, that was the worst thing she could have done.
Because now, the defenders could focus on recuperating and counter-attacking.
Weak points in the lines were filled. Guns and more rearmed now that the pressure had eased. Soldiers could finally take a moment to breathe, calming their nerves and strengthening their resolve.
All could feel it. The change in the air. The knowledge that the end was in sight.
That victory was close at hand.
All was needed now… was one last push.
And the soldiers of mankind were not found wanting.
===
"Onwards, soldiers! To victory! PUSH!"
"TO VICTORY!"
Sergeant Major Avery Johnson smiled around his cigar. The boys had spirit! That was half the battle won!
Though it was more than that by now. Those glorious bastards fighting Greene had obviously pushed her to foolishness, as every monster desperately tried to reach their mistress without any thought on their minds but getting there as fast as possible without caring about the details.
But the devil was in the details, and while a number of monsters did reach their mistress, they were far fewer than those dying trying to do so. And those who succeeded were easily dealt with by either Mercer or ISIS's leader.
It was almost shocking the way those damn monsters had gone from deadly horrors to mindless beasts good only for target practice. Not to say that they couldn't be dangerous, but their single-minded obsession with reaching Greene, no matter the cost, was now proving the double-edged sword of a hive-mind.
All of the monsters were now desperately trying to reach their mistress, without any real plan or strategy in mind to do so.
Maybe it was because of her panic. Maybe it was because of the damage done to her body, somehow.
Either way, Avery grinned in triumph as he watched the previous inhuman cohesion of the enemy forces disintegrate into mad scrambling for their mistress, instead.
"Don't let them escape!" he screamed, while shooting his gun non-stop. "Don't let a single one of these murderous bastards escape! I want all of these sons of bitches dead long before they reach the Arch-Bitch herself, you hear me, Marines?! The leader of ISIS and Alex Mercer are on the verge of winning us this damned war! If one of you numbskulls cause them to fail to kill her today, I promise you that'll be stuck on shit-patrol for the rest of your life!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Then keep charging, Marines! OOOORAAAAH!"
"OOOOOORAAAAAAAH!"
===
I fired my Grav-gun again, blowing up another Hydra.
I could feel it, the way that Greene's forces were running out of numbers. She was throwing everything she could at me and Mercer… and it was not enough.
The only thing she was doing was throwing more into the meat-grinder.
Numbers alone meant nothing to either Mercer or me. We both were too strong for that, and Mercer could use those B.O.W's to heal himself anyway.
The end result was that all she was doing was gaining her time… Except it was worthless.
There was no escape. No great strategy to win against us, no last-minute miracle.
The only thing the time she was gaining was doing was giving her more understanding of how screwed she was.
All of her powers, all of her beasts, all of everything she had at her disposal did not matter.
Not against me.
Not against Mercer.
And certainly not against us both.
With my (Empathy), I could feel her panic. The desperate struggle for survival, the hopeless fight she was putting on to live just a little longer.
But it was already too late. It always had, really.
The moment that Operation Revolving Door proved a success, her life had been on a timer.
And that timer was now increasingly close to hitting zero.
Still, she struggled. Still, she fought like a cornered beast.
More acid missiles. More disposable monsters. More tentacles.
More everything, for the hope of lasting just one more second, that a miracle might save her.
There was none. There never could be.
Not when I stood against her.
Her death came from a thousand cuts.
More and more chunks of her body were cut and blasted, consumed by Mercer.
More and more her healing weakened, incapable of dealing with the catastrophic damage we were inflicting upon her.
The number of monsters coming to her help turned into a trickle, and then nothing as the armies of Humanity counter-attacked.
And still, we cut. And still, we blasted her body into pieces.
The end, when it came, was almost anti-climactic.
Greene could not keep going. Her own reserve of biomass was drying up. Her strength, turning to nothing. Her power, proven worthless.
In the end, all it took was one last cut from Mercer's arm-whips.
One last wound upon her broken body.
One last blow to an already dying foe.
Mercer jumped high before the tall form of Titan-Greene… and then cut right through most of her weakened, bloodied body in one last vicious swing of his right arm.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
She screamed, in the end. As her actual body disconnected from her battle-form, as her titanic body fell to the ground cut in two while her human one rolled away from it, she screamed, her voice full of rage and frustration and, above all, terror.
Death was coming for her. She had ran. Struggled. Fought.
It was not enough.
Mercer didn't waste time. Didn't hesitate for a second.
We were the same, after all. Natural Hunters. We Hunted. We fought.
We killed.
I held back whatever remnants of her hordes made it to our position. Desperate beasts, seeking to save their mistress at any cost- and made weak and easy to kill as a result.
Mercer, meanwhile, charged at her. His face twisted in a fierce, vicious grin, his pale blue eyes shining with triumph, he reached out and finally, finally took Elizabeth Greene by the throat.
"Greene." he hissed darkly, fierce satisfaction in his voice as he finally got his hands on the woman who had given all of us so much trouble.
Her weakened human body was in no way, shape or form capable of fighting him off. He slammed her on the ground, his fingers turning into vicious claws-
And then he tore her apart. Blood and gore exploded out of her as he sadistically broke her body and consumed her, eager to finally slay the mastermind behind so much death and destruction, who had deliberately targeted his own sister on top of everything else.
She screamed at first, agony-filled shrieks echoing in the air before they turned to bloody gurgles, who quickly fell silent in turn, leaving only the sounds of Mercer tearing her apart to better consume her.
And so, he did. Her body was broken down and consumed, taken wholly by he who had proven himself the greater predator between both of them.
I carefully watched over Mercer as his body shuddered violently, his head tilted back showing violently twitching eyes as he witnessed all of her memories, and gained the secrets that Elizabeth Greene possessed over her long life.
And then finally, it was done. Mercer fell back on the ground, his body still twitching unnaturally for a few seconds before settling down. Panting hard, he stared ahead blankly for a minute or two… Before he took a shuddering breath and got back on his feet.
"It's done, then." I declared.
Mercer turned to look at me, and nodded. "It is. Elizabeth Greene is no more. But it's not over yet. If we want to properly finish all of this… We need to get to General Randall. He's going to be a threat until he's dealt with."
"I'm aware." I said with a grim smile.
I turned on my radio.
"To all units: Elizabeth Greene is confirmed K.I.A. I repeat, Elizabeth Greene is K.I.A."
We both turned, looking out towards the rest of the battlefield.
With Elizabeth Greene dead, the B.O.W's had a moment where they simply froze, seemingly uncertain of what to do now that the controlling intelligence behind them all was dead.
And then utter chaos ensued, as the B.O.W's all decided on different things. Some charged at the lines of soldiers, some tried to run for their lives, some began eagerly eating right then and there on all the corpses surrounding them.
On the opposite side of things, the forces of humanity were still very much united. As such, they easily slaughtered all of the B.O.W's still charging their lines, and then pushed outwards, beginning to hunt down the other B.O.W's.
The Battle of Times Square… was won.
Not without cost, that much was clear, but with Greene dead…
Well. Normally, victory was inevitable.
If we were fighting only infected, that would have been true. Without an easy way to add to their numbers through consuming civilians, the surviving B.O.W's, especially without any kind of singular intelligence uniting them, would have been easy picking.
Naturally… Things could not be so easy.
The war against the infected was mostly over.
The war against those responsible for this mess, on the other hand?
It had only begun.
===
Captain John Black let out a deep breath, his body somehow simultaneously tensing up in anticipation and relaxing in relief.
"So it's done, then? She's dead? It's confirmed?"
"Yes, sir. It was caught on camera and everything. Alex Mercer consumed her completely. Nothing is left of her body."
"Finally." he whispered, satisfaction coursing through him at the news, and by the look on the radio operator he was no different.
"Victory, at last." he muttered. True, this war had not truly lasted very long… But considering how horrifying it had been and the sheer numbers of dead, well no one could argue that it felt like it lasted much longer than it really had to all of them.
"Sir!"
Captain Black blinked, then looked to the side, where a soldier was saluting him while holding a… USB of some kind?
"Soldier?" he asked, confused.
"We found this in your office, sir… Along with a sheet of paper giving congratulations from one Sherry Muradasilova."
"Sherry-"
He paused.
"Isn't that…"
The soldier nodded. "Yes sir, that's the daughter of the man leading ISIS."
Captain Black looked at the USB.
"You've checked it?"
"Yes sir, it contains a lot of additional information about Blackwatch, their allies, and resources than what we already got from Lois Carol."
He smiled. "I see. Well then, I guess that tells us everything we need to know."
He turned towards the radio operator. "Soldier? Send the message to Captain Anderson. I'm giving us-" he glanced at his watch. "4 hours, 5 at most to ensure that Times Square is appropriately secured under human control."
"Copy that, sir. On it."
"So, we're finally going after the bastards behind all of this." muttered the soldier with the USB drive, a fierce look of anticipation on his face.
"Correct, soldier. About time, if you ask me. They've been getting away with their crimes for too long." Captain Black's face darkened with anger. "No longer."
The soldier nodded. "Whatever comes next… It was an honor to serve with you, sir." the man declared, before giving him a respectful salute.
"The honor was mine, Marine." the Captain replied, saluting back. "Now go, and deliver that flash drive back to the people in charge of revealing the truth: they'll need it."
"Sir, yes sir."
===
"I have to admit, I'm not sure that I'll ever get used to such sights."
I glanced towards Summer Rose, the Huntress, who was staring at the sheer number of corpses surrounding all of Times Square.
There were… a lot of them, to put it mildly.
Still, thankfully the number of human corpses currently gathered at the center of Times Square was nowhere near the same amount… Though that didn't mean that there weren't a lot of casualties. Both wounded and dead made for quite the gathering, sadly.
The soldiers around Times Square were still cheerful enough, Greene being dead did lift the spirits of everybody and it showed, but it could do little to blunt the consequences of the cost of victory.
It was hard to remain cheerful when you had to keep gathering half-melted body parts all over the place, after all…
Even if everybody here was by now grimly used to it.
"I suppose that, when you're used to monster corpses disappearing, seeing sights like this would be pretty disturbing." I mused.
"That is an understatement if I ever heard one." she muttered.
I nodded.
"You'll have to get used to it, though. Maybe such sights won't happen again in this world now that Greene is dead, but as you know, there are other worlds out there, each with their own threats and monsters. Many have things far worse than even this." I pointed out, waving my right hand towards the countless monstrous corpses blocking out the paths out of Times Square.
"I find that hard to believe… But I know better than to doubt you on this, unfortunately." she replied, face grim.
I put a hand on her shoulder, smiling slightly. "Cheer up, Summer. Mankind won a great victory this day. There will always be evil to fight against, but do not let the horrors we fight against make you forget that the world holds beauty as well. There is more to existence than just evil, you know. And as for evil, well. If anything, this-" I waved at the monstrous corpses. "-should show you that evil will not triumph as long as good people stand up against it. Even in your world, despite all the powers and immortality of Salem, mankind still grows stronger and prosper, does it not? Not as much as it could, maybe, but life finds a way. Always."
She sighed, though I could feel her relax slightly.
"I know. Trust me, I won't forget it." She perked up. "So, Greene is dead! That means we'll finally start to finish this damn war! The clean-up is going to be long and hard, but victory is finally ours!"
I patted her shoulder. "Go take a break and rest, Summer. You've earned it. I've got some things to check on. The burdens of leadership, you understand."
She smiled at me. "Don't forget to rest, yourself! Just because you're you doesn't mean you shouldn't take a break as well! Especially when you helped kill Greene! This victory is yours too, you know!"
I smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, the rewards for good work is more work. But!" I raised a hand to silence the rising protest I could feel coming. "I will take a break as soon as I can. Fair?"
She scowled at me, before poking me in the chest with a finger. "Fine, but I'll hold you to that, Aeon! Overworking yourself is not wise, even if your limits are far greater than most!"
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" I replied with amusement.
She huffed, but nodded at me with a smile and left to get some rest, food and water as well no doubt.
Once she was out of hearing, I muttered to myself.
"Sadly, I won't be able to take that break anytime soon."
I checked the hour, and pursed my lips.
"Soon."
===
"Well, that brings back memories."
"That it does, Jill. Thankfully, history repeated itself well enough that this battle ended in victory as well."
Jill and Chris stared at the streets leading out of Times Square, and the countless corpses of B.O.W's everywhere in them.
It did remind them of Raccoon City, except somehow so much worse, considering how much more powerful the monsters were and how much larger this city was.
Still, they too were much more powerful nowadays, powerful enough to still be the protectors humanity needed rather than mere survivors scrambling to survive against the potential apocalypse.
"If you told my younger self that this was the future, he'd have laughed at your face." muttered Chris.
Jill snorted. "I know what you mean. Monsters, gods, immortal Hunters… I'd call it madness if I hadn't lived through it all."
"And yet, here we are."
"And yet, here we are." agreed Jill, somewhat solemnly.
Ten years after Raccoon City, and once again a city was turned into a battlefield between B.O.W's and humans.
By itself, that thought should be a depressing sign that all of their hard work was not enough. That all of their victories meant nothing.
And yet… Ironically, Jill didn't feel despair, but hope at the sight before her.
Because the facts were that the world was much safer now than ten years ago. So many threats removed, so many monsters and madmen killed…
This was one last remnant of a darker age lashing out and being put down for it. The death of Elizabeth Greene signaled that yet again, mankind rose against those seeking to destroy it. That despite everything, the world would continue to prosper, that humanity would continue to thrive.
Jill, as a Hunter of the Dream, knew exactly the names and number of all the threats across the world capable of dooming humanity.
And their numbers were so much smaller than a decade ago. They still weren't all dead, not quite, but so many of them were now gone…
Jill Valentine had dedicated her life, her very soul in the name of protecting the world from monsters, humans and not, seeking to destroy it.
And now, at long last, after 10 years of conflict, she was seeing the rewards. A world so very, very close to being safe at last…
She looked away, towards where she could see two men talking to each other, both men inhuman in nature, and yet both of them having proven themselves as some of the greatest protectors of humanity.
It was strange, to know that ironically, humanity had gained its salvation from those fundamentally inhuman in nature.
An eldritch god hiding as a human, a sentient virus taking the form of a man… and both of them were now working together to save humanity.
And what of herself? Her fellow Hunters?
Jill wasn't sure they could be considered fully humans themselves.
Empowered by Eldritch Blood, standing beyond the grasp of Death, immune to the ravages of time, trained by literal Eldritch Divinities…
Somehow, she was surprisingly fine with all of that. She knew from the start what she was giving up when she accepted Aeon's offer. She had no regrets. She got the power to save those that needed to be saved, the allies she needed to save as many innocents as she could, the training to become even greater than the monsters threatening everything she loved…
She had found a home, a purpose, friends, and even love out of that single decision. What were there to regret? A peaceful life had never been her goal.
No, despite everything, Jill Valentine was satisfied. Happy, even.
Whatever challenges awaited in the future… She could face them without fear.
And a glance towards Chris made her think she wasn't the only one. They had all changed, grown, became something more… But in the end, they were happy.
Of course, they'll all be happier once the last threat to this world dies. But all things in due time.
For now, securing Manhattan was first. Then… then the rest of the world would follow.
===
"Captain Black? The download is complete, sir."
"So it begins. Soldier, send the orders. We've won one war. Time to win the second."
"Yes, sir. Blackwatch is in for one hell of a surprise."
"I certainly hope so."
Captain Black looked at the squad of grim-faced Marines behind him. "Are you ready for this, soldiers?"
"We've been eager for this for a while now, Captain." darkly replied the Sergeant leading the squad.
Captain Black nodded.
"Then let's do this."
He moved, the squad following behind him as they made their way towards the office of Colonel Taggart.
Around the US military base, a number of Marines began to track down and kill Blackwatch soldiers as silently as possible, most of them trying to sneak up on any Blackwatch soldiers they could find to slit their throats, while Captain Black led his men to the colonel's office. The Marines knew that the Blackwatch soldiers expected the Marines to try something eventually, but none of them had obviously expected this kind of all-out, widespread "rebellion" against them, and especially so soon after Greene's death.
Finally, they arrived, Captain Black sneering slightly at the sight of the Blackwatch soldiers guarding the entrance.
Of course it was Blackwatch soldiers guarding the door, regular Marines couldn't be trusted, after all!
They might just put a laser bolt in Taggart's brain, and wouldn't that just be a shame?
Well, too bad for you, Blackwatch lapdog, because here we are anyway, the captain thought with dark satisfaction.
The two Blackwatch soldiers tensed at the sight of them all coming their way looking grimly determined.
One of them raised a hand to signal them to stop.
"Halt-"
*PZZZZZT! PZZZZT!*
Captain Black didn't even glance at the now two dead guards, and instead took out his gun and kicked the door into the colonel, soon to be former Colonel's, office.
"Taggart! Surrender or-"
*PZZZZZT! PZZZZZT!*
Captain Black cursed as he threw himself to the side, two laser bolts barely missing him.
"I knew you bastards would try something!" Came the crazed voice of the Colonel through the door. "I knew this moment would come! Fuck you! You won't get me! You can all die along with this damned city!"
"Taggart, you son of a-"
*CRRRRAAASSSSHHHH!*
"-the Hell?!"
"Sir!" came a soldier's voice through the radio. "Taggart jumped out of the window and is running for the nearest APC with his Blackwatch guards!"
"Shit! So that's why his office is on the ground floor!" Cursed Captain Black. "Shoot him, soldiers! Give the order to kill that bastard at all cost!" he screamed to both his men and through the radio while rushing into the room and taking position at the now broken window along with his men.
He and his soldiers fired at the retreating Colonel and his bodyguards, while all around them the base began to explode into violence as all the Blackwatch soldiers here were to "help garrison the base" or whatever lies Taggart choose to use to help explain why he was flooding the place with as many "loyal" soldiers as he could get away with began to fight back now that it was clear that Blackwatch was being targeted by Marines.
Captain Black and his men managed to kill a few bodyguards, but Taggart got into the APC safely and rushed out of the base at full speed.
"Shit! Get the word out!" Black ordered through the radio. "Taggart is making a run for it! DO NOT let him escape the city!"
"We'll spread the word! That bastard won't get away from his crimes!"
Captain Black growled in agreement, before looking at his squad.
"C'mon, men! Let's secure this base first, then we can focus on taking this war to the rest of Blackwatch! OORAH!"
"OORAH!"
===
"Sir! The Marines are making their move!"
I nodded at Colonel Geary.
"I'm aware, Colonel. They aren't exactly discreet anymore." I dryly pointed out, looking thoughtfully at a map of Manhattan while we stood in the privacy of ISIS' HQ.
The Colonel nodded. "Aye, sir. Fighting has broken out all over the southern parts of Manhattan. It's a real mess out there. And we've received word that Colonel Taggart is currently on the run. For now, I ordered the troops to not take a side and focus on culling the remaining B.O.W's, but the chaos out there will make that rather difficult. And it's not like Blackwatch might not try and take a few pot shots at us if their soldiers think they can get away with it."
I hummed. "Aye, I'm aware. And there's the matter of all the data about Blackwatch that has been dumped all over the internet, and given to major news media, and… Well, Manhattan isn't the only place up in arms right now, just the only one where there is actual fighting."
I smirked. "I'm hearing that Washington is currently in chaos. Learning that the virus and Greene were deliberately created by a branch of the US Military is not good PR to say the least. The public is furious, the politicians are scrambling, and it's all a mess. The fact that the Marines here at Manhattan went full rebellion against Blackwatch is only making things worse. Pro-Blackwatch assets are trying to protect the group, but it's just adding oil into the fire."
"So what is the President going to do?" wondered the colonel.
I snorted. "What do you think? Sooner rather than later, he'll publically throw Blackwatch to the wolves. That was always his plan, he'll just get to do things more quickly than anticipated. Still, it'll take a few days to properly react to everything. The wheels of administration and democracy take their time, you understand."
"And in the meantime?"
"In the meantime, focus on wiping out the remaining B.O.W's… For now. Our old friend Mercer has his own mission, we'll leave him to it."
"We're waiting for something, aren't we?" mused the Colonel, looking thoughtfully at me.
I grinned. "We are waiting for our enemies to get desperate. For now, making sure that Manhattan is secure is good. It'll show the world that at least someone here is focusing on making sure the outbreak doesn't go out of control. But even better, it'll cause people to start asking why we aren't siding with the Marines. At which point, well we can honestly say that would be attacking the US Armed Forces… But if they weren't recognized by the government anymore, and instead officially declared as traitors or terrorists or whatever, well… That would change things, wouldn't it?"
The colonel smiled grimly. "If they are actually considered a rogue army, that'll certainly make them desperate."
"Very much so, Colonel. And I want them desperate. I want them to be foolish and desperate. And I can assure you, Colonel… They will become very foolish indeed by the time everything is done and over with."
===
"Rodriguez! Kill that damn sniper!"
"On it sir!"
"And someone get that grenadier blown up already! We can't move as long as he lives!"
"Yes sir!"
"Double time, people! Command wants this outpost dealt with soon!"
Sergeant Major Avery Johnson grinned coldly as he killed yet another of those damn Blackwatch S.O.B's. It felt damned satisfying to fight some human enemies who didn't require half a dozen shots to kill and who were so evil they might as well be goddamn Nazis.
The entire south of Manhattan was currently burning in the fires of war, but Goddamn it, at least this time the foe on the other side was human.
Well, human enough, he thought while putting several headshots into yet another Blackwatch super soldier rushing his position.
The super soldier stumbled and fell to his knees, most of his face charred black, but a quick plasma grenade later from one of his boys and the bastard was turned into so much ashes.
Officially, ISIS couldn't help them in this specific battle, since Blackwatch was part of the Armed Forces, if a Black-Ops one.
Unofficially, every trooper from the North got a pat on the back and a cheerful "Go get them!" from them while being told that they'd deal with any remaining monsters on their own for the time being.
Add onto that that some ISIS equipment "somehow" got into Marines' hands, and the same for valuable data and intel on Blackwatch forces and positions, and the message was clear: ISIS was more than happy to see Blackwatch get taken down a peg or five.
And with the former Blackwatch HQ having been blown up by Giant Worm, well, let's just say that things really weren't going well for Blackwatch in general lately.
To say nothing of the fact that a lot of very sensitive data got plastered all over the internet from Blackwatch and Gentek, and that the media were going crazy over them, and yeah, Blackwatch was in trouble both in Manhattan and everywhere else.
Not that Avery cared too much about the last part. What mattered to him right now was killing those Blackwatch S.O.B.s, the politicians back at Washington could lose their minds all they wanted as long as they didn't make it his and his people's problem.
Of course, in this case, the politicians losing their minds might actually be a good thing for him and his boys and girls, mostly because they were fighting a branch of the US Military.
So hopefully they wouldn't be considered traitors for this… But frankly, at this point everyone agreed that Blackwatch really needed to go.
No matter the cost.
*KA-BOOM!*
Avery peeked out of cover and smiled.
"Finally! That damn Grenade launcher guy is dead! Rodriguez! Make my day and tell me the sniper is dead!"
"He is, sir!" came the fiercely satisfied voice of his soldier.
"Perfect! Well then Marines, you know the drill! Onwards! This outpost shall be ours by the end of the hour, you hear me?!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Then charge!"
Avery jumped out of cover and ran towards a broken down car further down the street, firing all the while, while laser and plasma bolts flew all around him.
Now this is a proper battlefield! He thought cheerfully while sliding towards the car, before throwing a grenade over it and listening to the following screams of the dying when it went off.
===
Sergeant Ryan grinned coldly as he blew up the head of yet another Blackwatch goon.
Finally, finally they were fighting back against these civilian-murdering scumbags!
And Greene was dead! Today was a fucking great day, and nobody could convince him otherwise!
"Onwards, men! For revenge! For Justice! For Freedom! For AMERICA!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, thoroughly uncaring of how utterly cheesy that battle cry was.
He was killing Blackwatch goons, Greene was dead, and nothing could get to him today!
Explosions filled the street he was fighting in, red and blue bolts of plasma and lasers filled the air, rumbles and fires were everywhere, the street was littered with craters, and everything was utter chaos, but fuck it!
Fuck everything!
Those God-damned monsters were being butchered to the last by ISIS, Greene was freaking dead, and the Marines were finally free to take the fight to those motherfuckers from Blackwatch who saw to the deaths of countless good soldiers and US citizens!
"Sergeant! Incoming Heli support from Blackwatch!" screamed one of his men.
"Stand your ground, soldiers! The Blackwatch position ahead of us will fall, even if I have to kill every last one of those modern-day Nazis myself with my fucking teeth tearing their throats apart!"
He hit his radio with a growl.
"Command, this is Sergeant Ryan at Centre Street near China Town! We've got incoming Blackwatch Helis! Requesting Air Support!"
"Copy that Sergeant, sit tight, we've got an asset nearby that'll take care of them."
"It damn well better get there fast or that asset of yours will find only corpses left to save! Sergeant Ryan out."
He growled as he ducked, a laser shot nearly hitting him and blowing part of the nearby wall instead, some rubble hitting his helmet.
Going out of cover occasionally, he took potshots at the Blackwatch soldiers on the other side, at least until the distinctive sound of incoming helicopters began to fill the air.
"Damn! They're here. Find cover soldiers, this is going to be rough!" he shouted.
"I don't think there's cover good enough to survive a few helis shooting at us, sergeant!" shouted one of his soldiers.
"Then you better pray you're wrong because-"
Ryan fell silent when one, then two, then three Apaches clearly belonging to Blackwatch appeared, ready to blow them all up.
"Ah, shit-"
*KA-BOOM! KA-KA-BOOOOM!*
"-The Fuck?!"
Sergeant Ryan blinked rapidly when the helicopters suddenly exploded, their burning wrecks crashing harmlessly on the ground.
"Who-"
His eyes fell on a tall figure, an unnaturally long black-red coloured arm showing clearly that the person in question was infected. The arm had a few spots wrapped in flames, a result of the explosion of the helicopters, but otherwise showed no signs of damage. One part of the arm was shaped like a long, curved sword, one obviously sharp and strong enough to cut through the helicopters' steel with ease.
"Alex Mercer." he muttered, before he felt the man's gaze settle on him.
Sergeant Ryan grunted, then gave him a quick, thankful salute.
The man-turned-virus nodded, then jumped towards the outpost Ryan and his men were attacking.
Ryan grinned coldly, squeezing his gun tightly.
"Onwards, men! Our back up is here, so let's not prove ourselves dead weight! Oorah!"
"Oorah!"
===
14th October, 2008.
"Status report, Colonel." I declared, looking over the map of Manhattan.
Around us, the ISIS HQ continued to be a hive of activity, soldiers running around to get work done, collect data, or give orders to field teams hunting down B.O.W. remnants.
Colonel Geary glanced at the map, seeing all the red spots down south marked for Blackwatch outposts and the like, quite a few grayed out after being cleared by the efforts of the Marines over the last two days.
"Sir, the Marines and Blackwatch are bloodying themselves out there something fierce. The Marines are winning, but it's a bloody victory so far. Between the surviving Super soldiers and all the equipment that Blackwatch still has, they're very much giving a bloody nose to the Marines. Still, it's not all bad. The Marines are dying, but Blackwatch is dying even more. The initial surprise attack of the Marines didn't work everywhere, but it did work well enough to cost Blackwatch greatly. At this point, if something drastic doesn't happen, Blackwatch will get kicked out of Manhattan in the next few days, whether they like it or not."
I hummed, thinking deeply over Colonel's Geary's words.
"And what of our own efforts in dealing with the remaining B.O.W's?"
"Proceeding with no delay so far, sir. It's going to be long, careful work, but not even the chaos in the South is enough to stop our work. Especially with both the Marines and Blackwatch having decided to just give us full control over the subterranean part of the island."
"And things in the north are quiet, since there were no Blackwatch forces up there in the first place."
"Yes, sir."
I fell silent, considering things, before glancing towards a nearby screen, showing off the news networks of the country still losing their minds over the recent revelations about Blackwatch.
"-cent investigations confirmed that the outbreak of Manhattan do appear to be partially as a result of Alex Mercer being shot at Penn Station by Blackwatch soldiers trying to keep the existence of Blacklight and Redlight secret, the soldiers shooting the scientist when the man tried to get out of the island to find a way to reveal the horrifying truth of Gentek and Blackwatch's secrets actions to the world. The sample of Blacklight the man carried with him as evidence for his words was thus broken as a result, and the released virus killed everyone at Penn Station except for him, who was infected and changed into the man he became today instead. Thousands of innocent people thus died in moments as a consequence of Blackwatch's desire to hide the truth-"
"-city of Hope, Idaho. All of the people within died as a result of the horrific experiments they were unknowingly a part of, those surviving only being mutated by the virus while Elizabeth Greene became the center of the growing Hive-mind. Needless to say, the soldiers under the command of General Randall were left facing a vicious outbreak as a consequence of their own folly, an outbreak that was viciously fought against in total secret from the rest of the world until the time that Elizabeth Greene herself was located and secured, taken as a living test subject for decades of experiments while the rest of the city was purged in fire. Eventually, she was moved to the HQ of Gentek, here at Manhattan, where she would remain until that fateful day where she would manage to escape to seek revenge -"
"-protests continue to rage across the country as a result of the horrifying truth behind the outbreak of Manhattan, as the knowledge that the countless victims are due to the actions of the US Government and a Black-Ops team of the US Military set a fire of horror and anger in the people of the United States of America not seen since the days of the Great Reveal ten years ago, where the complete truth of how corrupt the government of the past truly was revealed to the entire world. Government officials beg for calm from the people until such a time as all of the recent revelations are fully reviewed by governmental agents, but so far, those calls for calm are ignored by most as the people of the USA remember all too well the corruption of the past and do not wish to show any tolerance for yet more evidence of the government's crimes-"
"Things are proceeding well so far." I mused.
Colonel Geary looked at the news network currently showing some rather spectacular protests happening within Washington and across several other major cities of the country.
"Certainly looks like it. Now if only the damn politicians could get their asses moving already. Blackwatch is losing on every front and they know it. I can't imagine they're going to take this lying down, though, and that's what worries me." grumbled the colonel, a grim look on his face.
I opened my mouth to reply, but paused and smiled slightly instead.
"Colonel, could you get Mercer's gift for me? I do believe he is here."
He nodded. "Right on it, sir."
Not long after, the doors to the room opened to reveal the man-shaped virus in all of his tall, brooding glory.
"Mercer." I nodded respectfully at him. "How's the good Director of Gentek?"
"Dead." he said bluntly. "Laser to the head. Bastard killed himself in order to avoid me consuming him."
"You showed yourself to him and gloated rather than go straight for the kill, didn't you?" I replied with amusement.
Mercer grunted unhappily, scowling at me.
I snorted. Grumpy cat indeed.
One that really should have known better than to play with his food.
"Next time, might I suggest not wasting time gloating? Less risk of your enemy spitting you somehow." I said with dry amusement.
His scowled deepened. "Yeah, yeah. Lesson learnt. Still, I can still get what I want. I just need to get to Randall instead."
I nodded in agreement to his words, but pursed my lips.
"Won't be easy. The man's gotten increasingly paranoid. He's holed up on the Reagan, and he sure as hell won't leave it for anything. You want to get to him? You'll have to get to that aircraft carrier."
"You've got a plan?" he questioned, posture turning more inquisitive.
At that moment, the doors opened to reveal Colonel Geary coming with a few men and a fish tank.
A fish tank with an electric eel inside of it.
"Maybe. But first, I have a gift for you." I waved at the tank. "Blacklight doesn't like water. If you're going to be fighting at sea, you better take some precaution… And that means consuming stuff that'll let you stay underwater without issue. As for why an electric eel? Well, I do suggest going fishing a bit, but if I'm going to help you, I might as well bring the good stuff, and I'm curious to see what Blacklight can do when presented with an animal capable of using electricity…"
Alex blinked, then looked at the fish tank with interest. "An electric eel? Hmm… Interesting. But you're right, removing my weakness to water would be wise… And an electric eel is certainly an interesting target for consumption…"
The look on his face made it clear that the scientist part of him was at full work right now, though he still came closer to the tank, studying its content for a while…
And then with lightning speed he snatched and began consuming the eel.
His jaw clenched when electricity hit his hand, but in a few seconds the eel was gone.
Clenching and unclenching his hand, there were a few seconds of silence…
*CRACKLE.*
And then his entire body began to crackle with electricity.
Quite a bit, too, by the feel of it.
Alex looked at himself with utter fascination, while around the room more than one ISIS soldier shifted slightly in uneasiness at the sight of his new power.
I merely grinned.
"Enjoying the power-up, Mercer?"
He grinned back, pale blue eyes almost literally sparkling with power.
"Immensely." he growled with satisfaction.
"Good. I'll look into any way to get you to the Reagan. In the meantime, I'd recommend helping out the Marines against Blackwatch, they could use your help. I'd suggest keeping your new powers under wrap for now, though. We don't want Blackwatch's General knowing about it before you can make it a shocking show of it, right?" I said with a smirk.
Alex snorted at my choices of words, but nodded.
"Keep me updated the moment you've got something. Randall is the last one we need to kill to finish all of this. I'm looking forward to ending this once and for all."
I sighed. "So am I, Mercer. So am I."
Now, I just need a certain monster masquerading as one of Randall's soldiers to get you on Taggart's tracks, and for Randall to feel desperate enough to go with Plan: Firebreak, and we'll be good to go for the grand finale…
===
"Sir."
"Captain Cross, report." General Randall declared, both he and the Captain standing in the office he had requisitioned aboard the Reagan.
"The situation in Manhattan is only becoming worse, sir. Blackwatch forces are being killed. If things keep going as they are, we'll lose control of the entire island."
General Randall scowled at the news, but nodded. It was what he expected to hear, unfortunately. "And the infection? What is its status post-Greene?"
Cross grimaced slightly. "Unknown, sir. We don't have anyone we can spare to look into it. At this point, ISIS is the one handling the matter completely."
"Fucking corporate bastards. I knew I should have gone after them years ago." Randall snarled, before calming down. Now wasn't the time to get emotional, now was the time to make a decision on how to salvage this mess.
General Randall thought long and hard about the situation, Captain Cross waiting patiently, but in the end, there was only one path forward left.
He already had to fend off the consequences of the spectacular intelligence leak resulting in the entire world learning the truth about Redlight, Blacklight, Hope, and Manhattan, and even then he knew it was only delaying the inevitable.
The damn sheep of this country had reacted predictably to learning about everything. The short-sighted fools were all up in arms about it, incapable of seeing the bigger picture.
At this rate, something drastic needed to be done to secure his country's future, and the destruction of its enemies.
Thankfully… He had just the plan in mind for it. Hell, it'll even remove any remnants of the infection too, so it was perfect.
One bomb, countless enemies dead. It was almost beautiful in its simplicity.
He looked back at Captain Cross, his expression turning determined.
"Dismissed, soldier. I have some calls to make. For now, keep an eye on Manhattan. Inform me of any changes in the situation, understood?"
"Yes, sir." Captain Cross saluted, then left.
Good man, that Cross. He'll go far in time. Willing and able to get the job done without fuss.
This damn country needed more men like him.
General Randall went back to his desk, and called on a certain someone that Blackwatch had long since created a… working relationship with.
Time to strengthen that partnership in these dark times.
"Simmons. It's Randall." he said to the only other man who apparently had the understanding and willingness of doing what had to be done for the future of this country. "The situation here in Manhattan is not getting any better. I'm giving to go with Plan Firebreak."
"You understand that the President will not approve of this, General." calmly replied Simmons.
"I'm aware. The fucking traitor sucking Insight Corps' dick would never go against his corporate masters." he said with disgust. Then he smiled. "But I trust that will not be a problem, if your plan is still available?"
"It is. I have no more love for Insight Corp.'s puppet than you do, General." Simmons reassured him, satisfaction easily noticeable on the man's voice. "Our enemies believe that they have won. We shall show them differently. I trust I will have your support in the chaos to come? This is going to get messy after all, but we'll both profit from a… closer partnership. This country has needs of men like us taking control, now more than ever."
"Get your job done, I'll do mine, and if everything goes as planned you'll have my full support." he promised.
"Good." The Head of the Family almost purred the word with glee. "For too long has Insight Corp. and their dogs ISIS been allowed to roam free. But like all mad dogs, it's inevitably time to put them down. And we've got the perfect opportunity to do so. There will be sacrifices, but it is what must happen to achieve victory. We shall build a new world, General. One where the USA will rule over the world unchallenged by all. As it should be."
"Looking forward to it." Randall growled with eager anticipation.
"So do I, old friend. So do I."
===
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Prototype.
First, Mercer x Aeon team up FTW! Poor Greene was never the greatest at actual fighting, so even one of them could have beaten her. Together? Yeah, she was always doomed.
After that, a bit of casual talk and introspection, but sadly for everybody, the war isn't quite over and done with. One enemy is down, but the other is still strong, and needs to die too if true victory is to be achieved.
So we see the result: Marines fighting Blackwatch, while ISIS is doing cleaning duty in the background to deal with any remaining infected.
Someone needs to do the job after all, and everybody else is… a bit distracted at the moment.
Also, the leader of Gentek died like in canon by suicide before he got consumed by Mercer. Aeon didn't particularly care how the man died, so he was satisfied with letting events play out. Aside from that, he did give Mercer a boost to better survive water… And give Mercer electric abilities too, because why not? It'll be an additional edge against a certain final Boss who survived their last encounter…
And yes, the entire world now knows about Blackwatch, Gentek, Redlight/Blacklight, everything. Needless to say, that's causing some serious chaos across the country right now. I did change one thing compared to canon, where Human!Mercer got shot, which broke the vial of Blacklight, rather than him deliberately breaking it as a spitefull "Fuck you!" to Blackwatch. Consider it True!Aeon's way of helping Mercer be the hero, rather than the monster. It also helps make Blackwatch the monster of the story even better.
And yes, General Randall knows Simmons, the Head of the Family, and both have worked together for many decades now. It makes sense: they are both zealous patriots with the same views on B.O.W's, B.O.W. research, and more. An alliance was inevitable. Too bad for them that Aeon anticipated what their plan is…
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, expect to see some more characters getting involved, as things will go beyond Manhattan and into the halls of power of the USA…