"PR-1's down!" Quentin was among the first to notice, judging by his barking over the comms, gunfire erupting over his voice. The shells on his pouch were well-spent by now and with few shells left, he'd resorted to grabbing an AR from an incapacitated agent's body and opening fire in short bursts.
"Well there goes our even playing field!" Sonya said in comms, looking down the scopes of her high powered rifle, a monster was quickly running up on Quentin, and with a little bit of focus and concentration, she managed to take it out. "Got your back Mr. Taylor!" Sonya loudly shouted into the comms.
Which got the attention of several beasts as they were climbing their way onto the roof.
"Oh, gotta jet." Sonya said to herself as she put her rifle behind her on a strap, then hopped high up into the air onto the next building, leaving behind a grenade for the nasties behind her. There was an explosion and some of the slime got in her hair!
Now she knows how those pornstars feel.
Lihua was quickly approaching the RAVEN stand. Beasts were clawing up towards her, but she managed to avoid them. "Agent Concrete Dragon approaching fast," She was quick to announce her arrival. She raised her hands up into the air and yanked concrete spikes out of the ground. She made them float in front of her until she formed a "drill." In which she willed to spin as she lowered. She literally drilled herself a path through the endless onslaught of beasts.
Echo shot out two quick shots to a beast's chest, finishing it off with a kick to the head that knocked it off. When Lihua approached, he turned his head towards her, and raised an eyebrow at the apparent lack of hostages. "Agent Vuhong, where are the hostages?"
"Yooooooo," Meifeng was quick to say. "Where's Jen?" She said, completely uncaring about Shizuka or his twin.
"It's unfortunate, but the Changelings have set Ms. Caspin up with a BCB." Lihua bluntly stated. "I can't afford to have that risk anywhere near us. The twins left with her - and I wasn't in the mood to argue with them."
"So you just left them?!" Meifeng said, utterly in disbelief because of her mother's callousness.
"I had no choice." Lihua hissed back at her. "Bringing her anywhere near us would have put more people at risk."
"Sorry, daling," Sonya chimed in on the comms. "But I gotta agree with the older lass here - hate the see the whole lot of ya' blown to itty bitty bits and pieces."
Meifeng couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were so willing to forsake her best friends.
"They're dead weight at this point anyway - we need to focus on what's important." Lihua flagged it off, turning her head to face Maximilian. "The hostages are "clear" as they're going to get - there's nothing in the way of setting the bombs off now." Lihua stood, proud and ready.
Maximilian sighed. Looks like things were more out of their hands than he thought. Which is why he's going to do all in his power to bring the Changelings down once and for all after this. He reached into his utility belt. "Agent Vuhong, Ms. Keagan, Ms. Vuho... younger Vuhong, and Agent Savannah - create some shields. Everyone else, brace for an explosion." He said.
Quickly, the four went into action. Lihua slammed her foot onto the ground - raising her hands up into the air at the same time - flipping the ground upwards to act as a shield. Cindy had already produced some glass shields - it was just a matter of laying them down to cover the openings in Lihua's stone. Meifeng and Savannah teamed up to create a giant ice dome above them by having Meifeng gather the water around her into a shape - then Savannah freezing it. Others soon pulled back to a safe distance to find suitable cover; Quentin, Cass and Reed chiefly among them.
"We're ready." Lihua said.
Taking in a deep sigh, Maximilian pondered the weight of his actions. This could be the very end of this disaster. He stared at the red detonator for a few moments, warned them, "Alright, grab onto something, because it's going off in three, two, one..." Before he pressed the button.
A second barely passed before every bomb that they had planted exploded. Sending an absolutely colossal shock through the area that went to the furthest parts of Verthaven. RAVEN and the Changeling Unit got the worst of it - which was why Maximilian had them erect shields in the first place, and told them to brace themselves. All that happened to them was that they stumbled a little bit.
"Wooo!" Cindy said as she nearly fell over, she quickly caught her balance.
Lihua was floating on a rock, so it didn't matter - she was safe from most of the blast.
Sonya was in mid-air - and thankfully dodged the blast. She threw a thumbs up to Maximilian as she hit the ground.
Meifeng tripped - but was fortunately caught by Trevor and Scarlet.
"Gotcha darlin'," Trevor coolly said.
"Too old for this..." Cass rasped below bated breath, having almost lost his footing. Reed had offered the old man a hand to steady him, whilst Quentin had no trouble staying on his two feet.
As everyone was regaining their balance, Sonya was the first to investigate! She stared down the sights of this glorious rifle of hers! Throughout the battle, the slimies were starting to vibrate erratically, they all started to stumble over and do weird stuff! Best of all, the storm began to thin a little. Sonya continued scanning towards where they set the bombs over the Devil...
"Huh?" Sonya said to herself. There was no bloody hole in the ground! Not even a small one! It was like they didn't even place a bomb in the first place! "Maxi! We gotta problem!"
"Oh for crying out loud..." Maximilian groaned. "What is it now?"
"Not all the bombs went off! The ones over the Devil are gone!" Sonya said. "...Which means she's still alive!"
"What the hell!?" Maximilian clenched his fist so tight it felt like it was going to explode.
"...In case you are wondering!" Luis loudly said through his megaphone. "During the whole "hostage situation" - which was really just me stalling you poor, poor, fools for long as possible - my Changelings were disabling the bombs!" Luis started loudly laughing into the megaphone.
"...Mayfield, shut him up." Maximilian said, annoyed as all hell.
Sonya tingled with delight at the prospect of shutting Luis and his ugly mug up. Since there was even less wind resistance right now, it'd be easier to land a shot in on the bastard. She started aiming the rifle, until the scope was centered dead on his chest. Sonya looked around to see where the wind was blowing - to the left - and adjusted her rifle's aim over to the right. Holding her breath, she steadied her aim, before pulling the trigger.
A several inch long 50. cal round made a giant hole in Luis' chest, sending him stumbling backwards as blood sprayed everywhere. He survived, and promptly began to regenerate.
"I'd ask you to shoot his megaphone," Lihua said, rolling her eyes. "But we have bigger problems..." Lihua trailed off. "They couldn't have disabled all the bombs, or else there wouldn't have been an explosion."
"And it looks like the few bombs that did go off did somethin' to the Devil," Sonya chimed in. "Just take a looksie at her monstas! Maybe the sheer impact wounded 'er - or maybe she got hit with a rock."
"We'll need another plan..." Maximilian said.
Shizuka had pinned the other two to the alley wall when the explosion went off. They continued to stay there even after hearing Luis' amplified laughter.
"Jesus, this is crazier than any Hollywood bull," Shizuka said as he finally peered around the corner. He raised his eyebrows at the elemental-fusion shield the RAVENs had erected around themselves. Now felt like the right time to do what they - or rather, he - had planned to do. He pressed the comm in his ear, crudely imitating the Changeling leader's speech style. "Yo RAVENs...surprise, surprise. Well, good news actually! We're still alive - and we're coming back to you." Earning a facepalm from the older twin.
Hand in hand, the white-haired teen pulled Haruka and Jennifer out into the open and headed straight for the shield.
They survived? Lihua thought to herself - honestly expecting the three to have been brutally massacred by the monsters. But that wasn't the problem... They were essentially delivering a bomb to RAVEN.
Right when they didn't have enough problems.
"Boy, do not come anywhere near here with Jennifer," Lihua hissed into the comms. Honestly, she was going to start shooting.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Maximilian started off. "What is the status on Jennifer? Did you disable the BCB?"
Shizuka laughed; he was enjoying Lihua's panic over the comm. He glanced upwards - to where the Changelings were - before he replied, "...You'll see."
"No," Lihua sternly said. "Answer his question, or we're going to have a problem."
"Shizuka, do not bring Jennifer over here until you answer my question." Maximilian said, backing Lihua up.
"Guys," Meifeng chimed into the comms. She wanted to see Jennifer in one piece above all else. She didn't want to leave Jennifer behind so easily. Not when they had so many memories together. "We can't leave Jen out there like..." Before she realized that it's just Shizuka being Shizuka (an ass). "...While I think Shizuka is a jackass, do you honestly think he's dumb enough to bring Jen with the bomb still on?"
"Yes," Lihua quickly answered. "I do."
Shizuka had heard all of that, which made him roll his eyes. He knew they were being cautious, but that Vuhong woman's vanity was truly on a whole new level. "I'm so sorry, Jen," said to Jennifer. "Your friends - especially those agents - all think you're a problem and they want me to ditch you. So what should we do?"
"I..." Jennifer wrapped her arms around her chest - after releasing Shizuka. This didn't seem right. Her friends would never be so callous as to leave her to the dogs... It sounded like he was being an ass above all else. "I...don't know... Just go on without me."
"Shi-zu-ka." Haruka raised a fist, ready to punch his stupid twin, but dropped it when he saw the look on his brother's face. "...Seriously?" He could never keep up with Shizuka's unpredictability.
Without wasting another moment, Shizuka pulled the two teens closer to him and squeezed their arms. "Here's the cue - now!" And he began to sprint towards the shield, with Haruka and Jennifer in tow.
Haruka held his breath - and he could feel Shizuka's power coursing through him, the wind and rain rushing through his body. He felt himself going lighter and they were picking up speed, before they finally went straight through the shield. Stopping short in front of the RAVENs, breathless and aching.
"Of course the bomb's been disabled the moment we fell through your stone saucer, woman," Shizuka spat at Lihua once he caught his breath. "Even more so after passing through this fucking multi-layered shield. As long as I'm around the bomb is practically an useless lump of junk. You people sure talk big back at the meetings, but you're damn quick to save your own asses and leave her to her sorry fate when the real shit hits your faces. Then having the two of us die along with her just because we're never part of your little clique and so we're conveniently expendable sacrifices."
"Child," Lihua said, having it to here with this boy. "You say so much, but understand so little." Lihua was the first to say this, getting closer to Shizuka. "I am sorry about what I did - but our hands were tied, we're surrounded by our worst enemies. You honestly think it would have been smart to try and drag her along when we have so little options to deal with it?" Lihua was about to lay it into him - but Maximilian stopped her when he put his hand out.
Maximilian sighed. "This is an apology to Jennifer, Haruka, and Shizuka, on behalf of all of RAVEN." He said to the boy. "The situation should have been handled better - I know you went out of your way to help her, and we all appreciate it."
Shizuka was well aware that the RAVENs didn't think highly about his ability since he didn't have any flashy moves like the most of them, but they had totally underestimated him - they knew nothing about what he's truly capable of. Arrogant morons. He was right not to have too much faith in them, especially that Vuhong woman.
While they were arguing, Meifeng ignored all that stupid bullshit and ran past them towards Jen. She gave her friend a tight hug. "Thank God you're okay," Meifeng said. "I thought I lost you..."
Jennifer was still feeling guilty that she caused all of this. Even these arguments were starting to wear thin on her. "Stop... stop..." She weakly said, but no one heard her. The sudden hug by Meifeng caught her off guard, but really helped to reassure her.
Haruka had forced the head of his furious twin down into a half-bow before the situation got out of hand (he was quite surprised that his normally selfish brother spoke out for Jennifer, though). The last thing they needed was a fight to break out internally, which would give the Changelings the opportunity to take them all down and everything would be over. "Knock it off - it is also your own fault for not trying to be nice to them in the first place. But yeah, thank you for risking your life to save us, idiot brother." He sighed. "The most important thing now is...that at least everyone here is still all right."
"Not really," Shizuka spoke to the ground. "The bomb might've been disabled and the Changelings can no longer set it off with their remote, but better get it out of her and dispose it quick." He glanced at Jennifer from the corner of his eye, and pointed to her stomach. Haruka then released his grip on him once he was sure his twin had cooled his head off.
Shizuka, for once, had a point. Even if the bomb's disabled, it's still a liability - and Lihua doesn't like liabilities. She lost the will to argue with this stupid boy - long as he stays out of her way, then everything's going to be dandy - replacing her irritation towards him with the cold cunning, experienced, woman that got the job done. "Only problem is that Headquarters is halfway across town - so we have to cross that off as an option..." Lihua briefly mused.
"Right...so she's gonna be under my care until we can get back to the HQ." Shizuka had enough. He already did more than enough for someone completely unrelated to him, and he never expected anyone here to be grateful for all the crap he had gone through. He was even stuck in the bad guy role to Lihua's savior when it should be the other way round.
"So what the hell do you suggest we do?" Meifeng asked.
"...We're going to have to do this the hard way." Lihua was quick to answer her daughter.
Jennifer was silent.
"Jennifer's regenerative factor renders it difficult for injuries to do anything but slow her down..." Lihua put her hand on her chin as she thought about it. "...Which means we can possibly safely remove the explosive if we're quick."
"With what?" Meifeng had to ask again.
Lihua reached into her armor, and pulled out a combat knife - serrated where it counts. "We have a moment's rest, it's best we take it now before our enemies move again." Lihua turned towards Jennifer. "Ms. Caspin, lift up your shirt and lie down."
"Giggity." Trevor added.
"Okay..." Jennifer said with wide doe eyes, she knelt down, sat on her behind, and laid down, she flopped her shirt up, leaving the bottom half of her bra partly exposed. Haruka couldn't help reddening at the sight, while his twin didn't make any reaction other than watching them with a bored look.
Lihua knelt down at the side of Jennifer, staring at where the bomb had been implanted (totally ignoring how suggestive this was). "I suggest that everyone..." She said, before Haruka said something that immediately caught her attention.
"There's also one other thing," Haruka said. "The Changeling Leader wanted the Devil... In order to perform some sort of experiment or ritual, and obtain a power that is 'above all Metahumans'. To create a 'perfect world'."
"Experiment?" Quentin's teeth clenched hard at that. He knew fully well just what kind of 'experiments' the likes of Luis and his people would involve themselves in. He'd been a part of it, albeit unwillingly, but it still made his blood boil at the notion of them continuing where the others had left off. "Fuck that. I know what these assholes are capable of."
"What?" Lihua said, raising an eyebrow as she stared the boy down. "What did he tell you?" There was something about Luis that made Lihua think he was after something greater than kidnapping children. How else would he have recruited such a powerful cult of Metahumans, and have such unreal levels of cohesion?
"Well..." Haruka took steps back at Lihua's fierce look (and Shizuka put a protective arm before him, eying the knife in her hand). "He said something about waiting for two centuries, for someone like the Devil to show up." He frowned, trying to pull out more of the Leader's speech from his mind. "And...whatever he secret knows about Metahumans would greatly increase global suicide rate. I don't quite understand."
"...Yeah, that's right." Jennifer confirmed.
Lihua rubbed her chin. "...Two centuries?" She parroted. There's a lot more to this man than they thought. "We have to stop him from getting to the Devil."
"I don't know what he's after, or what he knows," Maximilian said as he walked up, "but, whatever it is, it can't be good for everyone else."
"You want him put down, sure - but we've already seen what happens when someone tries to put a bullet in this asshole." Quentin recognised, at least, that Luis was a whole other challenge to tackle.
"Everyone has a weakness...." Lihua said. "We'll just have to think outside the box to eliminate him."
"One thing at a time," Meifeng said. "We have to get that thing outta Jen before something happens."
"She's not wrong." Cass said in agreement with her.
"Oh, yeah," Lihua looked back down at the plighted teenage girl. "Right." Lihua took in a deep breath, she's going have to be very careful here. "Meifeng, Mr. Obott, Ms. Keagan, Haruka, Shizuka, Mr. Taylo...Cass, hold her down."
Each of them got into position. Trevor holding down one arm, Cindy holding down the other - and Meifeng taking position on the girl's head whilst Cass and the twins planted their weight against her legs to stop her from kicking whatsoever.
"...Just another thing before you play amateur surgeon," Sonya chimed in through the comms. "Luis and his band of weirdos are on the move - a few of 'em are still out there, waitin' - Heartbreaker's somewhere, too." Sonya informed them as she looked through the scopes of her rifle. She remembered that Luis, Mannequin, Contessa, and the Berserker went into a portal - everyone else was outside. "If I were ta' take a guess, they want to tip ya'll off."
"Thanks, Mayfield." Maximilian said. That means the Changeling Unit is one step ahead of them - especially with a teleporter on their side. "Eliminate any Changelings in the area."
"Heh, on it." Sonya said in her usual tone - but her actions and facial expression would betray it. If what she was hearing was correct, that bastard Luis was up to something big and she couldn't let whatever insane goal that madman was after reach fruition. She was going against orders here, but she'll let Max chew her out later...
...Or on the other side.
Sonya turned invisible and crawled onto the side of the building she was once on. She pressed her earpiece, and switched to a private comms line than the other RAVENs. One specifically for Dana, "Dana, I need you do me a favor, and keep quiet about it, okay?"
"Merryday, what are you doing?" Dana was quick to ask, confused. "You need to take out the Changelings."
"By the time they're done fooling around with that bomb, the Changelings would have added a world endin' power to their ranks...." Sonya trailed off. "I can't have that... so I'm going have to ask you to guide me to the main chamber so I can end this - once and for all."
"Mayfield..." Dana trailed off. She sighed. "I'll help you... this is dangerous."
"I know, I know..." Sonya said. "But I'd honestly rather die killing the Devil, than live to see the Changelings win."
"Alright..." Dana understood. "There's a manhole directly below you."
Sonya hopped down to the ground floor - there were a few monsters, but they didn't pay her any mind. She pulled out a crowbar and flipped over the manhole over, then crawled inside.
With that interruption out of the way, Lihua had to focus. She took in a deep inhale through her nose, before she exhaled. "I suggest anyone with a weak stomach looks away," Lihua calmly stated. Before she raised her knife into the air, giving Jennifer some time to wince, then jammed it deep into Jennifer's torso - the blade only stopping once it hit the explosive (which made Lihua pee herself a little in fear).
Jennifer loudly gasped, and she felt the pain and cold of the blade - a tad amount of the blood sprayed. Everyone else winced, too.
"Jesus-" Reed almost stepped forward on pure instinct, before he felt Quentin' firm hand grasp him by the shoulder and stop him in his tracks. Both curled their mouths in disgust, Reed moreso than Quentin. The girl's agonized sounds had managed to invoke his equally horrific memories of what the Hands of Science once did, but he knew it was for her own good. Cass, on the other hand, just clenched his teeth and reluctantly fought against Jen's writhing.
Lihua took in a moment to sigh, she could see Jennifer's body regenerating around the blade. Which means she'll have to be quick. With the blade inside, Lihua sliced the flesh with the blade by quickly bringing the blade in and out until she had created a flap of flesh. Jennifer was squirming a bit, left and right. Which made the process harder. "Hold her down, the slightest misstep would make this much harder."
Meifeng nodded, and held Jen's head down. "It's okay, Jen...." Meifeng tried to reassure her. But Jennifer was gritting her teeth due to the pain. This was so painful.
Lihua continued as she lifted up the flap of flesh. If she was correct, it has been implanted deep within her. Through all these organs. Which means that she'll have to try a little harder. Her gaze moved upwards towards the pained Caspin. She'll have to deal with this pain. The alternative is worse. Lihua was in full view of the Caspin child's intestines. Lihua reached in without fear or disgust, pushing the organs aside. Going off where the blade went, it would have to be somewhere in here.
Right now, Jennifer was thrashing around harder than before. Trevor had put all of his weight on Jennifer's arm to hold her down. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay." This most likely wouldn't work, but he reached over to Jennifer's face, and secreted his drug into her eyes. Even with Jen's regenerative factor, there's no way in hell that she'd be able to resist that powerful of a drug, that close to her brain. That did wonders for calming Jen down.... but also increased her regeneration.
"Obott..." Lihua moaned.
"What? I'm trying to make it easier on 'er." Trevor said.
"You just made it harder." Lihua hissed. "Do something like that again, and I'll knock you outside the head." Lihua hissed, which was enough to keep Trevor quiet, and focused on holding Jen down.
"She's right." Cass reluctantly affirmed her.
Cindy found it hard to protest because this was easily the nastiest thing she has ever seen in her entire life. She cupped her mouth - finding it hard to avoid gagging. Haruka felt the same way - even when he wasn't hemophobic.
While Lihua was digging into Jennifer, she finally hit the bomb. She felt it's cold metal wrapped up in plastic. She dug her hands around a little bit more as she reached around the girl's flesh, trying to grab onto the bomb. She couldn't quite get a grip on it. Lihua sighed. This means Jennifer will have to suffer a little bit more. Lihua reached for the knife that was laying besides Jennifer - wiping it off on Jen's shirt - before she started cutting through intestines and organs.
Jennifer tried to let out a cry of pain - but the sedation drug was making that hard. In fact, she was seeing colors. It reduced the pain enough so it wasn't as agonizing.
She was cutting up until Lihua had loosened up the explosive. She put the knife back down besides Jennifer, and reached in again. God... this was not something she'd brag about when she gets out of here. It's a great thing that this pales in comparison to some of the shit she's seen. It's for the good of Caspin, after all. Lihua grabbed onto the bomb, and started pulling, feeling a lot more leeway now. She kept pulling as she felt the bonds of her flesh tear... Oh, that must be agonizing for the girl.
By this point, the drug had been cycled through her system and she could feel every bit of the bomb being ripped out of her body. She started loudly screaming at the top of her lungs. Everyone put more weight down on her body to hold her down, but there was only so much they could do. She was thrashing harder than ever before.
"Keep her steady!" Cass told them, aware that if this went south they'd all go up with the bomb.
Unable to hold back his feeling of horror at what Jennifer was going through, Haruka finally turned to his twin - but before he could open his mouth, Shizuka simply shook his head.
At this point, Lihua managed to pull enough of the bomb out that it could be seen, barely out of her body. Lihua ignored her screams as she continued to pull. She felt that it was still attached to some flesh. Again, Lihua reached for her knife and wiped it off before she jammed it into the flesh that bonded it to Caspin's body. She began cutting it until there was little holding the bomb in place. Letting out one last sigh, Lihua put the knife down and reached in. Making one final pull to remove the bomb.
That was when Jennifer was thrashing around hard as she could. It was involuntary, but this was the worst thing to ever happen to her. She accidentally bit her tongue off, her mouth was being filled with her blood - but that barely distracted her from the hell she was going through.
Then it was pulled out of her body. A black cube that was covered in Jen's blood and body mass. Lihua was holding it with both hands, and finally let out a sigh as it was all over. She calmly held the bomb out for Maximilian to grab.
"... Get this thing the hell away from us!" Lihua shouted, her calm efficiency was replaced with panic.
Maximilian nodded his head. Echo quickly flew over and grabbed the bomb - flying outside after punching a hole through the various NEST barriers, and throwing the bomb into the horizon. Never to be heard from again.
After that's been settled, Lihua flipped the flap of flesh back, and looked at Caspin. "It's done." She sternly said.
Jennifer was glad that it was all over. The wounds that Lihua inflicted on her were quickly regenerating. The damage was extensive - not as bad as some of the stuff she's endured in the past. It'd be a little bit before Jennifer is back on her feet.
"Thank God..." Meifeng sighed in relief. Her best friend was going to be okay. She was looking Jennifer in the eye. She gave her friend a playful peck on the forehead. "... I said I'd do anything for you."
Jennifer could barely say anything right now. She was too exhausted and pained from everything that happened. She was only panting heavily, her head was spinning, and she had no idea what was going on.
Lihua wiped her knife off on Jennifer's shirt again, sliding it back into her holster. "Now that that's been with..." Lihua calmly said, completely unfazed by what happened. "... We have to handle Luis and his Changelings."
Maximilian took Lihua's side. "With the Devil's army stunned, we can possibly slip a few people out of here, and back to Headquarters..." He looked back at Jen. "... You all know who should leave - Maria!"
"Yes, sir!" Maria saluted.
"Escort Jennifer and the others back to Headquarters," Maximilian said.
Maria nodded her head. She quickly knelt down and grabbed Jennifer, holding her up under her elbow. Meifeng took the other end. "Come on kids, you're with me." She said as she walked the group over to an APC.
Though, the only person who was hesitant about leaving was Cindy. She was easily one of the most useful members of the group (and honestly the strongest out of her peers), she could really be of use here. Especially since everything is going horribly wrong. She was the least "heroic" out of her friends, but she knew what needed to be done.
"...I'm staying." Cindy said. "I'm going to help bring an end to this."
"Okay, Ms. Keagan. Looks like you're going to see this one through to the end," Lihua said, giving Cindy a pleased look.
Maria helped Jennifer up into the back of an APC - where she was lying down so her regeneration could do it's work - before everyone else got in behind her. The door closed and the APC sped off past the horde of weakening monsters (many were straight up plowed through).
Maximilian crossed his arms.
"Time to finish this, once and for all," Maximilian said. "Today is the day RAVEN brings an end to this - the Changelings, the Devil, all of it."
The Changeling Unit.
"Well, that was easy." Luis said as he watched Jennifer get thrown into the shield. This was going to be great. Luis can't wait to kill all those idiots in one sitting! He waited a moment or two, before he pulled the trigger and waited for that glorious explosion.
But nothing happened!
Luis pulled the trigger again, and when that didn't work, he pulled it again, and again, and again... Before he crushed the trigger in rage. Those NEST bastards probably figured out there was a bomb! Luis stared at their defensive position, and there's no way he's going to see what they were up to. Possibly removing the bomb. Ugh! Luis thought to himself. He'll have to handle Jennifer later. For now, he was done wasting time standing on top of this building.
"Flashang! Portal! Sewers! Now!" Luis said as he turned backwards towards his blue skinned portal creator. She created a portal straight into the sewers as Luis walked back to get his meat cleaver and slung it over his shoulder. He'll need a very special team for this. "Contessa, Berserker, Flashbang, Mannequin, with me." Luis said as he walked up to the portal. "Everyone else, just stall them - I'll be right back."
Luis hopped into the portal followed by the four Changelings he chose to bring along - before the portal closed behind him.
Heartbreaker reached behind her and grabbed her sniper rifle, aiming for their defensive line. Without the Berserker, going near that would be an idiotic risk. Especially since they're stronger than they look. "Alright, boys, get into position!" Heartbreaker loudly said. "We're going to wait for them to make the first move."
Luis and his Changelings appeared in the dark of the sewers. They were greeted with the angry and confused growls and grunts of the beasts. The Berserker could see perfectly in the sewers, she merely let out of a massive roar as she plowed through the beasts (Putting her hands out to bitch slap the ones that she missed). While Luis ran up behind her, and slashed anything that got in his way with his meat cleaver.
Whatever hit the Berserker did nothing to her except damage itself. Which carved a clear path through the singular undestroyed tunnel... though, there was immense damage done to the stability of the tunnels.
Perhaps this wasn't as clever as Luis thought.
The maniac was going to make the most of it, as they made it to the light at the end of the tunnel. Literally speaking. The Berserker came to a skidding stop as she took in deep whiffs of air... it was hard to smell with all these beasts and sewage. However, she stood tall as Luis stepped around her, and threw his meat cleaver over his shoulder. He observed the nest of evil before him. Pools of grey sludge, constructs made out of the same material, and a large dome made out of the same material in the center of the room... that was damaged by the explosions. So was the rest of this place. There were broken pieces of stone all over the place. Which implies the Devil was injured.
The first thing the Contessa did was disable the Devil's world ending power.
A devilish grin etched it's way across Luis lips. "Come out, Devil, we have lots to discuss." He stared at the dome, but nothing happened. "Well... my friend here the Berserker can pull you out of that there shield like it's nothing - so you might as well step out and make it easy." Luis snapped his fingers, just in case.
"... You've come down here to talk?" A hoarse voice erupted from the dome as it unfurled, and a woman... horribly mutated with her entire body seemingly made of the same things as her army of monsters - save for the right half of her face, and the head of dirty brown hair. Coming out of her back were several tentacles, and her right hand was a claw.
She was the Devil of Verthaven - a monster meant to haunt this city.
She stumbled, it being apparent that several of her rips were broken, and so was her leg. As she faced Luis, her lips curved upwards into a smile. "I expected everyone to make a game out of killing me by now...."
"Oh, no!" Luis flagged it off. "I see potential! In you being alive that is!"
The Devil growled. "Well, to hell with you... you people are nothing but sadistic monsters that oppress people who are weaker than you just because. You're apart of the problem here."
Luis threw his head back laughing uncontrollably. He threw his thumb over his shoulder, pointing back towards the exit. "... What the hell are you on about?" He asked, in between giggles. "You're calling us monsters when you massacred a few thousand people in the span of an hour? That tops even my record!" Luis pointed his meat cleaver at her. "I've seen some nasty pieces of work, and it takes someone truly devoid of a compass to massacre women and children indiscriminately."
"To hell with you." The Devil spat out the words. "This world took something from me... something I'll never get back! And it's all the Hands fault for making me like this in the first place!" The Devil thrashed around, clenching her hands very tightly. A rage flowed through her like no other.
"Aaaaah... let me guess; your family died, and that's your reason for causing this crisis?" Luis asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or..."
"Jason..." The Devil whispered underneath her breath. "Jason... I lost the person that I loved with all my heart... to some freakish bitch that tried to pull one over on us and killed him." The Devil let out a screech of anger
Luis tilted his head, looking down on her. The Devil here fits all the criteria for a good Changeling. A hatred and lust for revenge... however, he just needs to give her that nudge. "How about you talk about it... start from the top." Luis said, in the most sympathetic tone he could feign... which was all but perfect.
"It all started when I was a kid... everyone expected me to be the brightest star. Their "prodigy." And whenever I didn't live to those expectations... I was punished. It all came to a head when I was sent to some "prestigious" college here in Verthaven..." The Devil took in several deep breaths, before she continued. "I was threatened by my parents to succeed - where I honestly couldn't - or they'd throw me on the streets. The stress... the stress made me go to bad places, bad people. That's where I met Jason."
Luis listened intently. Long as the Changelings were holding off RAVEN - which they should be - then they have all the time in the world. "Continue, who was Jason?" Luis asked. All he had to be was the listening ear, and then she'd fall right into his hands.
"He was just some shithead that slung weed..." The Devil said, not in a tone of irritation, but sounding like she thought very fondly of him. "...But we both were shitheads. We both fell in love, and he showed me happiness I never felt in years... which is why I abandoned that stupid ass college, told my parents to fuck off, then joined the Fiends with Jason."
"We were just low level druggies under Big Dong... the man was a maniac, but the sex was so great, and so was the drugs. The two of us were hooked, and it sounded like it'd never end..." The Devil trailed off. "...But the two of us always wanted to do something a lil' more, y'know? We wanted to get out of the Fiend business before we got busted or killed by another gang..."
"...That's when I managed to steal one of those power givin' serums from Big Dong while he was... doing his thing. We didn't know what the hell we were even going to do with it - the two of us were too scared to even take it, nor were we stupid enough to try an' fence it with Big Dong and the other Fiends cornering the market on "superpowers for sale"...."
"So we kept it." The Devil said, taking in a sigh. "That's when Khan and her stupid ass Fiends decided to listen to those Hands of fucks and attack the Fair... even when we were strung out on meth, we knew that was a recipe for disaster... but everyone else wanted to get a superpower..." She groaned. "...Then that's when everything fell apart, and the Fiends were torn apart by NEST and the VPD..."
"I have a feeling where this is going, yes?" Luis said, raising a finger up into the air. "Since there wasn't anyone to hunt you down like a dog, you decided to sell the serum, correct?"
"Yes..." The Devil said. "But the deal went wrong... the broad we thought was going to buy decided to steal it - and killed Jason... when I came back and saw him dead, I lost it. I took the serum and became this... butchered that bitch in the process, and decided that it was time to ruin this world, just as it ruined my life.... starting with Verthaven."
Luis listened to the very end... he didn't particularly feel any sympathy for the woman - to him, she was nothing but a crybaby that couldn't get over the death of her boyfriend. She was still in the perfect position to become a Changeling, and help him craft the world he was destined to see. Luis raised his meat cleaver in the air, and slammed it into the ground, embedding it into the concrete. He took several steps towards the Devil.
"I can understand your pain, your sadness, your rage," Luis said as he approached the Devil. "I can say that I, too, felt a need to burn all to ash."
The Devil looked up at him.
"But, I learned of a greater goal, yes," Luis started off, hands behind his back as he paced towards her. "Why burn all to ash when you can just fix it?"
"Hmph... how can you fix something so broken? All the corruption... greed... and the inability to give a damn about everything else..." The Devil trailed off.
"What if I told you that there was a level above even Metahumans?" Luis asked.
The Devil was silent.
"And what if you asked "what is this power"? And I'd tell you that it's Godhood, plain and simple, and Metahumans are merely the first step to ascending to that throne." Luis continued. "A power that makes you unequaled - as you have the power to bend this world to your will, do whatever you please. You will be a God, after all."
Luis winked at the Devil. "And if you're wondering how, it's simple, the Keys to Godhood and the Forbidden Knowledge." Luis said. "The Keys to Godhood are simple; it's a specific set of instructions - a ritual, as you'd say - that allows you to reach this power. The Forbidden Knowledge on the other hand is merely the knowledge of what happened that caused Metahumans to come to be... and some events that happened during the time in which Metahumans were but a secret."
The Devil grinned. "...And how the hell do you know all this?"
"Hahahaha... simple." Luis said, putting his hand on his chest. "I'm centuries old. One of the first Metahumans to come to be when they first arose..." Luis trailed off. "...And how do I know all of this? Well, let me share a bit of the forbidden knowledge with you - and by that extent, my fellow Changelings!"
Luis started crackling like a fool. "...Because someone ascended into Godhood before using the Keys to Godhood, in fact."
This earned him looks from everyone present.
"Even more shocking," Luis started laughing, "I helped kill him! The bastard was stupid enough to find his one weakness, and exploit it - even after becoming a God the bastard still held emotional ties to his wife and children... removing that, and he let himself get killed." Luis shrugged. "The only true way for an immortal to die is by choice." Luis said.
Luis started loudly laughing. "That's when I realized that someone else could reach that level of power if they follow the same steps he took... but that's for another time."
"...And what the hell does any of this have to do with me?" The Devil asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Luis said. "One of the Keys to Godhood is simply a Metahuman who can end the world - which you clearly possess, yes? I know the world has been hard on you, and the Hands of Science are responsible for your.... condition - but join the Changeling Unit, and I promise you that you'll have a spot in the perfect world I'll create!" Luis raised his hands up into the air, and started laughing madly. "Everything you lost will be returned to you - and more!"
"...So you basically just want to use me so you'd get power?" The Devil grimaced. "I should have expected as much from a bastard like you, you don't care - you just want to exploit me to make yourself stronger... so take your Forbidden Knowledge and drag it to hell with you and your monsters..." She hissed at Luis, taking steps away from him.
But Luis quickly closed the distance with lightning speeds, and grabbed the Devil by the neck, raising her up into the air. Staring her right into the eye. "Oh? You haven't realized it yet, haven't you?" Luis asked as he tightened his grip. "You're a one-of-a-kind type of person who will most likely never appear for millennium! You think I kidnapped babies and sold them to the highest bidders for fun? Shits n' giggles? No. I was searching for the one that'd help me reach that level I crave. Selling the rest to those worthless pieces of trash when I had no use for them."
Luis took a few steps forward. "You don't have a choice in the matter now. Only difference now is that I kill you after I'm done."
"... Boss!" The Contessa warned them of the intruder far too late - they were quickly met with bullets, and a grenade rolled up on them.
Luis threw the Devil with all his strength - but she could barely get that far before the grenade went off and propelled them away from each other.
Following Dana's instructors, Sonya managed to dodge the monsters and arrive in the main chamber.
Just like she thought, the Changelings had beat RAVEN here. Fortunately, so did Sonya. The frog woman crawled along the ceiling, and once she made it into the room, she crawled along the walls until she was a suitable distance away from them. She was in the perfect position to snipe the Devil... but it's going to be a pain in the ass to snipe the Devil from the wall - if not impossible. So, she quickly checked her equipment - a few clips for her glock, a couple high explosive grenades, a knife, and some Meta-suppressant gas.
Which was enough to kill even Luis if she manages to catch the bugger off guard - but she had to come at this the right way. The creed of the sniper is: always pick your moment. Rushing a shot would only get her exposed and killed. There were only a handful of Changelings - and according to intel, they brought the big, meaty, invulnerable one. Who would present one helluva challenge if Sonya fools around. Fortunately, the other ones would be easy to take out (Save for Luis) if she managed to get the drop on them - or if it came down to a direct fight.
Waiting like a stone, Sonya had no choice but to assess the situation. Due to her superior senses, she was able to see this place clearly, and hear everything. She heard the Devil's past... and felt a tad shitty because it's indirectly NEST's fault that the poor girl got into this in the first place. What? With NEST helping the Fiends and the Hands.
However, dark suspicions were proven correct as Luis unveiled his grand plan for Godhood. Which meant it was no good for NEST or anyone! He spoke of so much... apparently someone became a God before? Who knew (Well, other than Luis). Which means that it comes down to this moment. It's up to Sonya to stop Luis here and now, before his dark ambition ends everything....
Even if it means the end of her life.
When the Devil refused, and Luis held her over his head, Sonya just knew they'd take her. Even if they know where their hideout is, Sonya's not taking any chances. She quickly pulled one of her frag grenades off her belt, pulled the pin, then tossed it hard as she could. It ended up between Luis and the Devil. Luis tried to get her out of the way - but the damn thing exploded and she was caught in the blast. The explosion rendered her hearing useless - all she could hear was ringing. But what Sonya's eyes told her was that the Changelings were onto her. The Berserker turned to her, and roared, and the others were drawing their weapons.
Sonya quickly grabbed her pistol and detached herself from the wall, letting out a flurry of shots at the Changelings.
... Oddly enough, one of them pierced the Berserker right in the thigh. Bringing the brute down to her knees. Sonya was told that she was invincible! Maybe it's something she has to activate?
When Sonya hit the ground, she could see the Mannequin leaping over her head with that nasty blade of his retracted. Sonya rolled out the way, and the weird doll thing had dug it's blade into the ground. She managed to get to her knee and let off a few shots at the Mannequin. The first shot pierced it's stomach area, and left a nasty hole in it. Though, it didn't even seem to phase the guy! What is he?
The Mannequin let out a wide slash that Sonya was able to dodge by falling on her back. The Mannequin was right above her - and she put both her feet to the freak's body and used those powerful legs of hers to kick him into the air. She would have shot him in the head - but she has more important matters to attend to! She flipped back over on all fours, then hopped away like a frog. Hopping again and again.
She needed to finish the Devil off. Sonya pulled another grenade out of her belt, then threw it over to where the Devil was lying down - only for it to get deflected by a kick from the newly regenerated Luis.
"Not so fast!" Luis said - before he realized that it didn't make it that far away before exploding again. The blast blew him away.
Shit, she's out of grenades. God damn it! She'll have to do this the hard way.
The Berserker, still injured, grabbed a giant chunk of stone that had fallen, grabbed it, then threw it across the room at Sonya.
Fortunately, it wasn't subtle as she thought - Sonya caught notice of it, jumped in the air, landing on the stone, then hopped again. She scanned the area for the Devil...
...Oh no.
The explosion had brought the Devil to the brink of death, she was propelled through the room, and landed on her back. An unimaginable amount of damage had been caused by the grenade, which left plenty of her organs exposed, and she was bleeding uncontrollably.
"I-It..." The Devil tried to groan. "...It... it can't end like this...." The Devil said. "N-Not by t-their ha... hands... not by the p-peo... t-things I tried so hard to destroy..." She groaned. The Devil took in a deep breath of air... before letting out a scream so loud that it could be heard from above ground.
That's when another unimaginable power had been unlocked simply by the Devil being close to dead.
Her body started generating massive amounts of the sludge - which shaped itself into a giant tower. Beasts from all over the city started converging on this one point. Suddenly regaining their intelligence as their leader weep. They didn't do anything as they ran towards this new beast - they didn't react to the people they were trying so desperately to kill earlier. Once they arrived, they jumped into the larger mass and were absorbed into it. The ground started shaking due to this event.
"Contessa!" Luis screamed at the top of his lungs. "Nullify her power-"
Before he could finish, a tendril came out of the form and whipped through the air at high speeds. No one could react in time to stop it from impaling the Contessa through the skull. Raising her up into the air, before retracting back into the larger form.
Luis grit his teeth. "Flashbang, we're pulling out!" Luis said as he twisted his body around, and walked into a portal that just opened up. The Berserker quickly limped into the portal along with Flashbang.
"Sonya!" Dana loudly said into the comms. "What did you do?!"
Sonya was watching in awe, attached to the side of the chamber. "I killed 'er! That's what I did!" Sonya loudly answered.
"I don't know what's going on, Mayfield," Maximilian said. "But get. Out. Of. There. Now!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Sonya loudly said before she crawled back into the tunnels that she came out of.
The stone above the new beast started breaking as there was no more room to accommodate for it's new form. The ground continued to shake as it was pushed to it's limits and broke. Revealing the new form for the Devil of Verthaven. A gigantic, tower-like beast that had the appearance similar to someone wearing a cloak. A thin, fleshy, grey beast with no limbs or features... only a giant purple eye that stood at the very top.
"... Ho-lee shit." Leon said as he looked at it. "Uh... is it too late to beg for mercy?"
"Oh my God..." Cindy said as she cupped her mouth, taking steps back.
Quentin had no words for what he saw. Just... awe, quickly replaced by a terrifying uncertainty.
And Cass had never seen anything like it either. Nothing, in all his years. And now she, it, whatever - was even more powerful than whatever had existed before.
Reed was frozen on the spot, unmoving save for the trembling of his hands. He felt a pain roaring up along where that thing had bit him and winced as if it was happening all over again.
Sonya hopped over to the RAVENs, landing on her feet. "Oh bloody hell!" Sonya said. "How are we gonna beat that!?" She asked. "Uh... sorry about going behind your back, Maxi..."
The glorious leader of RAVEN just stood there like a statue.
"... Maxi?" Sonya asked... legitimately concerned for her friend.
"I..." Lihua herself had no words. She just stood there as Maximilian did. No matter what we do... it's always rendered moot... This woman is a demon meant to eternally haunt us.
The Devil, in her new, far more powerful form, turned towards RAVEN - twisting its body. It's eye started glowing twice as brightly as the rain started getting even more intense.
"... RAVEN!" Dana screamed into the comms. "I don't know what that thing is, but you have to get out of there!" Dana said. "There's a giant tidal wave heading towards you right now! It's destroying everything! You'll all die!"
"... You heard her." Maximilian calmly said... which was surprising since everyone else was freaking out. "All Agents, retreat to the APCs."
They didn't even waste a second in getting into the APCs, Retreating fast as they could.
Meifeng, Trevor, Shizuka, Haruka, Jennifer, & Task Force RAVEN.
The ride back to Headquarters was long and bumpy.
The APC was going fast as it could through the streets - going the exact same way it came this way. They were blissfully unaware that the situation with the Devil just went from eight to twenty. Very few of them were paying attention to the comms, and were more than content with letting the adults handle the Changeling Unit.
In the middle of a pain like no other, Jennifer was laying down, with her head on Meifeng's lap - who was lightly running her hand through the blonde's hair. Jennifer could barely stay conscious at this rate - it was only due to a side ability that kept her from going into shock and passing out from the pain. Her flesh and bodily organs were putting themselves back together. It was certainly better than having the bomb inside of her...but Jennifer felt like she was cheating. This power... it allowed her to cheat death more times than she can count. She was honestly entertaining the idea that she was destined to die.
"'Ey," Trevor said to Meifeng in his thick Texan accent. "She okay?"
Meifeng looked down at Jennifer - and the two exchanged looks.
"...Mostly." Jennifer groaned out the words, her enunciation far better than before.
Meanwhile, Haruka had turned on his twin. "Why didn't you use your power to get that bomb out? Even if she is able to heal from that---" He made a grunt of disgust recalling the bloody scene from before. "We wouldn't have to go that far with your intangibility."
"As I've said before - and you've seen it for yourself - it's stuck too deep inside her. It had pretty much become a part of her body, with how her regeneration kept closing up on the bomb." Shizuka sighed. "So when I expand my power to her it'll include the bomb too. Otherwise that nasty cube would've already been expelled out of her when we phased through that woman's flying saucer and then the ground below."
"But...you could have stopped Meifeng's mother from wretching the bomb out of her just now." Haruka was not willing to let the matter rest, not yet. "By then you would have seen where exactly the bomb---"
"The hell I'm gonna interrupt that woman in the middle of that," Shizuka snapped back. "If I did it won't save the blonde but make the matter worse, on top of what Trevor had done. It's damn obvious that we'll never acknowledge each other." He turned away from everyone and looked out of the window. "She is a decent agent, but as the Chinese saying goes: one mountain cannot abide two tigers," he finished the last line in Mandarin.
Haruka was quiet for a moment, still frowning at the younger counterpart. Then he spoke again, "I also wondered how you knew what kind of bomb was inside her."
"That," Shizuka drawled. "Is all thanks to the Giant Blob we fought when we're trying to get away from the 'safezone'." Seeing Haruka's confused look, he continued, "Well, after overusing my power and almost ashing myself, seems like my ability evolved - just a bit, though. Like when I share my power with others, I'm able to feel every fiber, every atom of the person in direct contact with me."
Haruka merely stared at him with wide eyes.
"I haven't mastered it yet - it's all new to me." Shizuka shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm more confident with lifeless objects since that's all I used to practice with; breathing, living things are harder, more complicated. I'm not a doc - I could only make a crude inference and the rest was a gamble."
"Gamble?" Haruka couldn't believe his ears.
Shizuka closed his eyes. "When that Vuhong woman sent Jen out of the meeting room to see a doctor, that almost ruined my 'plan'. I had no choice but got you to intercept before NEST found out anything and complicated things - you saw how Vuhong had freaked out when Jen told her about the bomb inside her - but I wasn't prepared for those fucking Changelings to suddenly kidnap you along with the blonde." In fact, he totally lost it when he heard that Haruka had fallen into those psycho terrorists' clutches. Luckily the cop had stopped him before he rushed to his own death.
"Um, about that..." Haruka began. "The agent caught Jennifer talking to someone on the phone and was going to escort her to the medical wing. The Changelings probably heard what the agent said over the call."
"Tch, shouldn't have dropped my guard on the Changelings." And almost get my own brother killed because of my mistake. Shizuka crossed his arms before him. "Anyway, I give credit to that woman's swollen ego for helping me to pull off the surprise rescue plan."
"Stop trying to make your dumb impulses sound cool," Haruka commented drily, but gave his brother a light punch in the arm...when his twin suddenly straightened up with a dark look on his face, the comm in his ear buzzing.
"Maria," Dana loudly spoke into the comms - which everyone with a comm-piece heard. "There's no time to explain, I've rerouted your GPS route - you need to get to higher ground at once."
"Whoa, what's goin' on now?" Trevor asked, raising an eyebrow. He was exhausted as everyone else.
What would require them to get to higher ground? Meifeng peeked out the window, and she couldn't believe her eyes. "...Oh shit!" Meifeng loudly shouted out of shock.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Trevor was just as surprised as Meifeng. He ran over to the side of the APC and saw the same thing.
Going towards the Iron District was a giant tidal wave - it consumed all in water and destroyed everything in it's way. While it was going away from them, the issue arose because the streets of Union Point Hills were being flooded. Moreso than before.
"...Yup." Trevor was so sick of this shit at this point. "That's a baaaad bad thing."
"Damn right," Shizuka groaned, agreeing with Trevor. "Honestly, this isn't gonna end until we're all dead." His twin could only gape, speechless at the disaster.
Maria quickly turned towards the APC driver. "You heard Grue, step on it!" Maria shouted at the APC driver as he quickly made a right turn, and went up a hill.
Fortunately, Union Point Hills was true to it's name. There were plenty of hills and high ground.
The APC made it to the very top of the hill, and stopped - the rushing water made it dangerous to go down. They could just see the water filling up the streets. Fortunately, ahead of them was still more ground to drive on... but Maria had other ideas.
"Okay, we're staying put," Maria said as she got out of the seat. "It's too dangerous to head out there right now... give Dana some time to come up with something... maybe we can regroup with RAVEN."
"What just sit 'ere like ducks?" Trevor raised an eyebrow. "Nah, got a problem with that."
"There's no monsters currently roaming the streets... and the Changeling Unit should be far away from here." Maria simply shrugged. "So, we should be safe... maybe you can step out of the APC for a second and get some fresh air?" She suggested.
Trevor shrugged. "Might as well. If any of ya' wanna keep me company, then it's my pleasure." He mosey'd on over to the back of the APC and kicked the door open. He grabbed his rifle which was attached to his back, and held it in both hands as he walked towards the edge of the hill like a soldier. He knelt down... and noticed that the water was pretty high. Though, them tidal waves don't come out of nowhere. Especially since the situation was going to shit.
Maybe it was just the storm.
Shizuka got up and was about to follow suit when his twin grabbed onto his arm. "It's better if we stay put in here..."
"Hate to say it, but gotta agree with that pervert this time," Shizuka said, shrugging him off. Besides, he did need a break from the consecutive madness. He then turned his attention to Maria. "Do you have binoculars? Or anything that can see far enough?"
For a split second, Maria thought about it, before she reached onto her combat vest and handed it to him. "I do...but don't break these, they're not a toy."
"Of course," Shizuka said as he received the binoculars. He turned it over in his hands with an awed look. "Whatever's happened is far worse than any game, yeah." He then poked his head out of the APC door, and brought the binoculars to his eyes.
Almost all the areas near the coast were flooded with seawater: wreckages that were less dense floated around, while those that couldn't were lost beneath the murky waters. He scanned the scene quickly, and to his left his sight fell onto something that still stood tall in the waterlogged city. He scrolled the knob to refocus.
"Oh. My. God," he breathed into his comm, still staring at the hideous thing through the binoculars. "The Devil has evolved... She's now towering over the Iron District. We're so doomed."
"Yo, what the hell are you on about?" Meifeng said from the APC as she lifted Jen's head up, giving her an assuring, "I'll be right back." Before she started walking her way out the APC and started walking towards Shizuka. She looked up...and could see the giant purple light shining in the distance, showing what little flesh the limited light would even allow.
Not even wasting time by asking for it, Meifeng quickly snatched the binoculars out of Shizuka's hands, then got an even better look at the Devil's new form. She didn't know what the hell it was - it could be just as Shizuka said, or it could be a new monster altogether... Though, with these tidal waves, it's hard to even reject the notion that the Devil had gotten even stronger (if so, they're fucked).
"Holy fuck..." Meifeng trailed off as she looked up at it (lowering the binoculars). What the hell happened? Is everyone still okay? Well, she still had this uncomfortable earpiece on. She quickly pressed the button, then asked, "Dana, Grue - whoever you are - is everyone okay? Lihua? Quentin? Cindy? They're still in one piece?"
"Yes, they're quickly getting out of there." Dana quickly answered. "But we have another problem... you may have noticed it by now. You need to get back to Headquarters fast as possible, you're not out of the woods yet."
"Understood." Meifeng answered. Before she let out a long sigh. This just keep getting better and better.
"Well," Trevor injected with a mere shrug. "I dunno what's even going on at this point, but I do know that it's bad news." Trevor explained. "So, let's get a move on, shall we?"
"...Hello children!" A very familiar voice shouted from the top of one of the buildings. Trevor turned his head, and mouthed the words,
"No..." Trevor saw Luis and Heartbreaker standing on the edge of the building. He reached into his holster and trained his revolver on them.
Shizuka immediately retreated back into the APC the moment he heard that voice, cursing inwardly. This fucking bloodsucker is everywhere - especially with a goddamn teleporter in their ranks. He put his arms around the shaking Haruka protectively.
"Sorry, but I'm not here to kill anyone!" Luis shouted, and earned a look from Heartbreaker. "...Well, unless you really want to be killed, that is. Then be my guest!"
Meifeng slammed her foot on the ground, pointing at Luis. "To hell with you!" She said. "You've been hounding us for far too damn long!"
"I just want to have a word with your friend, Jennifer..." Luis pulled out one of his knives, and started walking alongside the rooftop. "About a few matters, such as the matter of her holding up the other end of my bargain..." He shrugged.
Maria shifted into her human form and stepped outside the APC - with her assault rifle trained on Heartbreaker (who was the real threat here).
"So, let me cut you all a deal." Luis snapped his fingers, and Flashbang opened up a portal near them. He reached in, and pulled out a canister full of the same purple gas he deployed. He held it with both hands. "Hand over Jennifer...and I won't slaughter the whole lot of you. Sounds reasonable, yeah?"
Meifeng clenched her fists tightly. This bastard just wouldn't give up. "...Forget it!"
On the other hand... Trevor had a different idea. He leaned into Meifeng, and whispered, "Hey, that's that acid gas stuff he used in Headquarters..." Trevor trailed off, but he kept his gun trained on Luis. "...We're gonna have a problem if he throws that at us..."
"What do you suggest then?" Meifeng asked. "We just abandon Jen?"
"No," Trevor answered. "But, imma' shoot that thing outta' his hands. Just need to wait for the right moment." He grinned.
Luis merely scoffed. He pointed at the Devil's gigantic new form. "In case you haven't realized it yet," Luis said. "You got bigger fish to fry...and, tell me, what tactical advantage does a worthless regenerator have for you? In fact, I'm doing you a favor. She's just something that'll hold the rest of you back." Luis grinned. "When she falls, she'll definitely drag the rest of you down with her... I've seen this before, trust me."
Jennifer heard everything from the inside of the APC. She merely peeked out and saw Luis and Heartbreaker. Her heart started racing... but she knew there was no way out of this. She might as well give Luis what he wants before someone else gets hurt. She was still regenerating, but she can walk now. Jennifer willed herself to her feet, before she started climbing her way out of the APC. She managed to crawl her way out of the APC. Though, she was still limping her way out of the vehicle. She stood straight up.
"No---" Haruka stretched out a hand to stop her, but his twin quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and forced him down onto the APC floor. He began to struggle against Shizuka's strong arm lock.
"There she is!" Luis loudly said, pointing at Jennifer. Putting the canister down. "You should have fulfilled your end of the bargin, Jennifer..." He shrugged.
And a short silence followed.
Jennifer looked up at him, awkwardly shifting left and right.
"...Or they would still be alive." Luis quickly added as he put on a devilish grin.
Immediately, Jennifer's heart sank. "Wha- wait, what are you talking about? Did you..."
"Yes...yes..." Luis said, clapping. "How about you see for yourself...?"
Luis snapped his fingers...
A portal opened up above them, and three bodies came flying down. The others were slow to recognize it...but it was all too familar to Jennifer.
She immediately screamed as she dropped down to her knees. She crawled over to them, and started weeping uncontrollably. She loudly screamed as she violently shook the bodies, begging for a response. "Cody... Kaitlyn... Justin! Why....why... why would you do this?!" She sobbed.
The bodies were Jennifer's siblings. Each with their throats slashed out by Luis.
"Holy shit!" Meifeng shouted as she took a step back in shock. She looked back up at Luis. "...You bastards!"
Luis didn't even flinch. He merely shrugged as he pointed at Meifeng.
"This is what happens when you cross the Changeling Unit, child," Luis sternly said. He turned back to Jennifer. "I saw so much potential in you...only for it all to be wasted." He shrugged again. "I would have held up my end of the deal, if you held up yours, Jennifer. It's all your fault."
Jennifer looked up at Luis, and screamed, "I hate you, Luis! I hate you so damn much!"
"...Then you're going to hate me even more for this one. Flashbang," Luis signaled for Flashbang to open up a portal, and out came the only person for Luis to (temporarily) spare from the Caspin family massacre. Annabelle Caspin. She landed in front of Luis, and the man put a knife to her throat. "Annabelle Caspin... lawyer." Luis said. "Fought for children's rights, and helped charity. What a model human being."
"Please! No!" Jennifer begged. "I'll do anything!"
Meifeng was done standing by. To hell with Luis and all off the Changeling Unit. It's time for her to do what's right. She gathered the water around herself, and put it out in front of her - creating a shield of ice. She broke off some chunks of it, forming diamond shaped (but razor sharp) pieces of ice. Meifeng quickly sent it out towards Luis' face.
Luis merely grinned. He held Annabelle with one hand, and the knife he was holding traveled faster than the eye can comprehend as it sliced and diced the ice chunks away. Shattering them to pieces. Luis laughed.
"Damn it!" Meifeng hissed from behind cover. She was about to hop out again - but Heartbreaker fired a shot at the edge of the shield that essentially blocked her.
Trevor was done standing by, too. Well, least I'll die a hero. Trevor thought to himself as he recklessly took aim at Luis - but the gun was blown in half by Heartbreaker in half a heartbeat. It hurt the hell out of Trevor's hand, and the pieces of metal sliced his hand up. He grit his teeth as he clenched his hand - the pain immediately bringing him to his knees.
"Jenny..." Annabelle Caspin said as tears started running down her eyes. "I want you to know... I love you with all my heart...please sweetie, promise me something! One thing!" She screamed as she reached the utter zenith of her sorrow. "Promise me that you'll live on! Move on without us, I know you can do it!"
"M-Mom..." Jennifer moaned.
"Excellent last words. Now that you two are done parting words..." Luis said, before he simply sliced the Caspin Matriarch's throat. Spraying her blood all over the street below them. She gasped and gagged - because the blade cut super deep. Before she died. Luis merely shrugged, then pushed her off the roof, and her lifeless body hit the ground with a splat.
"Well," Luis said. "That's all I wanted you to see, Jennifer."
"Wanna kill the bitch?" Heartbreaker said with a grin. "Wipe out the rest of them?"
"No, no, no..." Luis shook his head. "Let her suffer." Luis cruelly said.
A portal opened up off to the side.
"Looks like we're done here - have a nice life!"
Luis said as he leaped into the portal, followed by Heartbreaker.
That was when Jennifer just screamed at the top of her lungs out of sheer anguish. The people she knew all her life...were dead. Just like that. Killed by those monsters and they didn't even have a second thought about it. She just collapsed on the ground, and started sobbing. There was a pain in her like no other. She suffered, just like Luis said she would. Everything was her fault...if only she did things differently, they could still be alive. There was a hatred inside of her like no other.
Nobody knew what to do. They just stared at her. In shock as what just happened.
Meanwhile back inside the APC, Shizuka finally let go of his brother, panting heavily. He had to resort to use a judo lock to pin Haruka down when they heard the parting words of Jennifer's mother. Haruka went limp as Jennifer screamed, and tears were streaking down from the corner of his eyes.
"Why...did you...stop me..." Haruka choked out the words, his voice trembling.
"There's nothing we can do against them!" Shizuka shouted at his twin. "Look, if you truly want to get back at those bastards, then you need to live on. You can't take them down if you burst out at them blindly and die first!" Taking in a deep breath, he spoke again, his tone now less harsh, "Go to Jen. She needs you now that she's lost her family."
Haruka sat up, and gave his twin an odd look, his eyes red from crying.
Shizuka shrugged. "I'm not trying to crack a joke here - and I really mean it. You seem like the only person who might be able to understand her pain more than the rest of us here."
"But..." Haruka lowered his head. "I don't think she would accept my help. We aren't really friends."
"Whatever. Just go," Shizuka said as he dragged his brother out of the vehicle. "Besides, we need to get them back inside the APC."
"Jen..." Meifeng trailed off... her own rage towards the Changeling Unit was quickly replaced with sorrow. She just stood there, watching. She couldn't erupt into tears...but she had known Jen's family for as long as she knew Jen. Then...they were all wiped out by the Changeling Unit for no damn reason. That was unforgivable. Meifeng walked over to Jennifer, and knelt down with her. Placing a hand on her shoulder - Jen didn't even react to it.
Giving his twin a push on the back to get him to move to Jennifer, Shizuka called out to the rest, "Pull yourselves together. We have to get out of here. Now." He narrowed his eyes at the Devil far ahead - he had a bad feeling about it.
Trevor thought that Shizuka was being a tad callous right now...but he was right. As bad as this tragedy was, it wouldn't do no one any good if they die. Trevor merely sighed, mouthing the words, "I'm...sorry this happened." And he still felt like shit - because he knew his words would do nothing. He merely got on the APC with the others.
Meifeng looked over to Jen, "I know this is hard...but we really gotta go... I don't want to lose you on top of them." Meifeng said, but Jen didn't even listen. Which forced the taller girl to sigh.
"Jennifer," Haruka began when he reached the blonde. "Um, my brother...and your mother are right. We have to live on first, then we can think of a way to bring the Changelings to justice." He stretched out a hand. "Can you stand up on your own?"
Jennifer didn't even reply, she just kept sobbing.
"She's in shock..." Meifeng noted. "Looks like we're going have to do this the hard way." Meifeng nodded her head, before she merely grabbed Jennifer by the arm, and yanked her away from her siblings. Which hurt Jen's heart like no other. This is the last time she'll ever see them.
Though, by the time they had almost made it over to the APC, water began getting suctioned from all around them - getting moved towards another point. Even the flooded streets were starting to disappear. Meifeng raised an eyebrow as she saw this. "The fuck?" She asked.
"You need to get out of there at once!" Dana shouted into their comms. "The Devil is moving to your position!"
"Oh shit!" Meifeng said, as she looked over towards the murder tower that was heading right towards them...and saw that it was getting closer. What's worse is that the water was going towards her. "Time to double time it!" Meifeng said as she shoved Jennifer into the APC, and hopped in herself. It wasn't long until it was kicked into motion again.
The Devil was gathering water from all over Union Point Hills, and forming it into a giant pillar of water that was taller than she was. The pillar started spinning at high speeds - almost looking like a tornado of water - before she sent the pillar throughout Union Point Hills. Causing an untold amount of destruction as buildings were utterly crushed by the pillar, and lives were lost.
It went in a straight line towards the edge of the isle.
"Step on it!" Lihua hissed as she looked back... The situation didn't look good. "...And Mayfield, shut up! You're not helping."
A flood of rushing water was heading up right behind them. It was some distance away, but closing in fast. The APC carrying the RAVENs were going fast as it could go.
"Okay, let me just activate the nitrous," Leon sarcastically said, being the driver of the vehicle (the last one got murdered).
"Oh really?" Lihua sarcastically said.
"Focus on getting us up high!" Cass' recollection of the Iron District and all its routes was almost photogenic under normal circumstances, yet outrunning a tidal wave had made it seem to him as much a maze as it was to everyone else.
"A hill!" Sonya shouted as she pointed down another street.
Leon quickly turned the APC right - swinging so hard that the other RAVENs were nearly thrown out their chairs - as he started speeding down the street. The river of pain was right behind them as they started going up the hill fast as they prayed that they could outrun the water.
"Shiiiiiit!" Leon said as he glanced behind him.
"Come on, gun it!" Quentin held on tight and had to grasp Reed by the shoulder when the younger of the two brothers almost lurched forward and knocked his head on the APC's interior.
"I hope you lads can swim!" Sonya said.
"Screw this!" Maximilian said, he quickly summoned Echo outside the APC, and used his glowing copy to push the vehicle up the hill faster.
All while Lihua was using her ability to move debris.
Which was enough to get the APC to the top of the hill. They evaded a watery fate by reaching the tallest hill they could. Echo disappeared, and everyone let out a sigh of relief, as they decided to collect themselves.
However, Sonya knew there wasn't time to catch their breath when she has information on Luis' insane scheme! "Guys, there isn't time to explain! Luis is a madman!"
"Tell us something new, Mayfield." Quentin snorted half-heartedly at that one.
"...And now who's preaching to the choir?" Lihua said, with her arms crossed.
"But, it's worst than that! I was in that chamber with him when he was chattin' up the Devil," Sonya quickly said, frantic. "His big grand scheme isn't to be the world's biggest wanker! He's after Godhood!"
"Mayfield," Lihua sternly said. "What are you talking about?"
"Sonya, slow down," Maximilian said. "Start from the top."
"I just explained," Sonya just said. "Luis told the Devil - before I made my grand entrance, of course - that he needs her to obtain Godhood. Then he started rantin' about this tomfoolery called the Keys to Godhood, and the Forbidden Knowledge - stuff that can help him become a God. I don't remember it too well...but I had to stop him."
Leon shrugged, "So, did you stop him?"
"Well..." Sonya trailed off, her head tilting towards the Devil's towering form. She shrugged. "That's subjective."
"So what you're saying is that Luis knows how to become a God?" Helena asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's implying it's even possible," Lihua was quick to respond. "Luis is derranged... He could simply be deluded, and believing his own lies..." She trailed off.
"I wouldn't be so quick to say that, Vuhong." Maximilian said, raising a finger up into the air. "Luis has shown himself to be quite intelligent..." He trailed off, rubbing his chin. "...The point is, whether or not it's possible, that we stop Luis at all costs."
"We're better off without that asshole and his people on our tail." Quentin remarked, picturing the man being repeatedly shot to bloody pieces with buckshot.
"We'll need to get ourselves out of this problem, first." Lihua was quick to note.
"...Now, going about that," Leon started off. "If I were to assess this situation... The Devil has gone super saiyan, our options for escape are limited...and we're totally boned if the Devil decides to start moving. So, that's gonna be a challenge."
"First we need to regroup with the other team... Dana tells me that they're doing fine," Maximilian started off. "Then we'll head back to Headquarters, then come up with a plan to eliminate the Devil." He explained. "If there's no Devil, then Luis can't bring his plan to fruition."
"...Or he'll just go into hiding and wait for the next one." Lihua was quick to say.
"We'll deal with that when we get to it."
"Look, whatever happens, it's clear to me that she's the one we want to remove from the equation first," Cass opined, running a weathered palm along his wearied face. "Quent, you said you can...what, pick up and remove powers, right?"
"I agree." Lihua said, raising a finger up into the air.
Quentin confirmed his query with a reluctant nod, "Something like that. It's not as simple as shopping at a candy store, y'know."
"Isn't it possible you could pull the powers off both of these people?"
"Like I said, it's not that simple." Explaining it to his Uncle would've been a little awkward, though he at least relished the idea - of at least getting his hands on Luis, or Heartbreaker.
"...It would require that he touches her first," Lihua was quick to note. "...And I don't think you want to be anywhere near that." She snorted.
"Maybe if we shoot him out a cannon..." Leon jokingly trailed off... before he drifted off and used his power to observe the area around him. Specifically the Devil. He was the first line of defense in case she attacked. And by "first line of defense" he means he's the signal to warn them to get the fuck out before she kills their asses.
...And it wasn't long before he had to kick it into motion.
"Oh shit!" Leon loudly shouted as he slammed his foot on the gas, and suddenly jerked the APC forward. Everyone let out various sounds of surprise.
Clutching onto one of the overhead bars to steady himself, Quentin glanced over his shoulder.
There was a gigantic bang not too far away from them as the building that was to their left was hit with something. Sounds of roaring quickly erupted from the crash.
"...I think she wants to kill us now."
The Devil launched an enormous glob of sludge (the size of buildings) at the RAVENs. If it wasn't for Leon's quick reflexes, it would have crushed them. However, the orb had erupted into a swarm of beasts.
What's worse is that the Devil went on the move again. Slinking towards the RAVENs.
"RAVENS!" Dana spoke into the comms. "...And friends."
"Dana, please tell me some good news," Leon said, moaning in protest. "I am so tired of hearing all this bad news." He said. Since the bullshit just keeps piling up today.
"I've arranged a point where the two groups can meet up... you two aren't that far away from each other." Dana noted. "Then you can get to Headquarters."
"Hey, what's the point of meeting up? They can get back to headquarters on their own, right?" Leon asked.
"Right now..." Maximilian started off, looking over his shoulder at the Devil's ascended form. "It'll be better if we go as one group. Besides, the other group only has one RAVEN, and the Changeling Unit is still out there. Just in case, we're better off as one unit."
"Ah, yeah," Leon shrugged. "Suppose that makes sense." Leon turned the APC, and started driving towards their little meeting.
"On it, my group is converging on the convergence point now." Maria spoke into comms.
Both APCs carrying valiant heroes began driving towards a singular goal on the way to the Headquarters. It was a few minute drive - that was rather tense due to the tsunami tearing apart the city - but the two groups arrived on the very borders of Chinatown and Union Point Hills. The first APC (carrying the bulk of RAVEN) came to a skidding stop, swerving off to the side somewhat. The other APC came to a simple stop.
"Great to see some friendly faces!" Cindy said over the comms.
"You, too," Meifeng replied.
"Alright, Dana, we're here, now what?" Maximilian spoke into the comms.
"Okay... This might sound a little...unorthodox...but, you're going through the Rosalina Isle," Dana said, obviously a little less than confident about her idea. "We're not sure what the Devil's doing...so leading her straight to the camp full of refuges - especially in the wake of the Changeling attack - is not the best idea."
"Then where the hell are we supposed to go?" Cindy asked Dana. "In case you haven't realized it yet, we're in a dome," she hissed. The last thing she wanted to do was drive out and get herself killed.
"Our hands are tied at the moment," Dana said.
"We haven't heard that one before..." Cindy moaned.
"Wait!" Dana said into the comms, there were a few button presses. "Her water spout is on the move - it's heading right towards you."
"Okay, we can handle that," Leon said as he tightly put his hands on the wheel. "We just gotta go the other direction..."
Leon used his observation powers to see a path away from the watery death that's heading their way...only to realize that the Devil is flooding the streets of Chiatown ahead of them, and it's coming straight for them.
The highspeed torrent of water also stopped spinning, before reverting into a wave that started flooding the streets behind the RAVENS, too. All while the Devil was quickly closing the distance between herself, and them. She created monsters off her demonic frame, before .
Quickly, Leon started unbuckling his belt. "Okay, guys, don't panic, but she's floodin' the streets, and we ain't got anywhere to go but up."
"You better know how to climb," Cass grumbled, getting ready to make an exit.
"What?!" Lihua said, she quickly scrambled to get the seatbelt off until she was free. "She's trying to force us above ground."
"Everyone!" Maximilian shouted into the comms. "Get above ground! Help anyone else get above ground as well! Move!" He shouted as he immediately deployed Echo, who quickly opened the door and allowed the RAVENS to quickly get out of the vehicle.
Sonya was the first to hop out of the APC, and she used her frog legs to hop onto the side of a duplex. Before she climbed herself to the roof. She gave her group the thumbs up, as her heightened vision picked up the monsters heading towards them by hopping roof to roof.
"We got incoming!" Sonya shouted as she got on her knee, reloaded her rifle, aimed down her rifle sights, and started taking fire on the monsters. Due to the power of her sniper, she was taking out even the biggest ones in one shot! The bullet even went through a few. Though, she'd have to leave the little ones to RAVEN.
Lihua ran to the center of the street. "Everyone, gather around!" She raised her hands up into the air, palms flat down. She shouted, which was hard to hear over the sounds of the river heading straight for them. Leon, Nikki, Trevor, and Quentin got around her, and Lihua slammed her hands downwards and broke a chunk out of the street off with them on it. It landed on the rooftop, and the others got off.
Meifeng stepped outside the APC with Jen in arms - it looks like everyone else is managing with what they had. Meifeng here could easily get up... but she also has to make sure that Jennifer gets out of here alive. The girl was still so broken by the death of her family that she couldn't even move. Meifeng got under Jennifer, and hoisted her up with all of her strength. The heroic teen started summoning her water under her, which started hoisting them upwards with a spinning pillar. As they rose upwards, Meifeng looked at Jen, but focused on keeping her alive. The pillar quickly flung them up onto the roof, and Meifeng gracefully landed with Jen in arms. Letting out a sigh.
"Oh shit!" Cindy shouted as she raised her hands up into the air and the glass from the surrounding area exploded towards her. She reformed a solid pane of glass above her, that she lowered, then hopped on. She tried to split it into multiple layers, but she was too busy thinking about how she was going to get her ass out of here... maybe she can get someone else' ass out of the fire. She turned towards the twins.
"C'mon!" She shouted towards them... While her opinion of Shizuka was souring by the second, she didn't feel like he needed to die here. "We don't got much time!"
Ignoring the look on Cindy's face, Shizuka took up her reluctant offer and pulled Haruka onto the glass disk. "Thanks," was all he said, then he looked around at the surrounding. Well, the building they were going to take refuge on didn't seem too difficult to do something else he had in mind, but now's not the time - not with his brother in tow, and not in front of so many eyes.
"Don't move or we're all dead," she ordered. The glass pane started floating upwards fast as Cindy could will it. Her nerves were the only thing slowing her down. The glass pane was shaking a tad. Though, she managed to land on the roof with the others, and stepped off it. Only to break the glass into pieces and make it float into the air. There were monsters coming for them, and she needed to be ready.
Helena flashstepped over to Savannah and grabbed onto her. The two shared affirming nods before they flashstepped above the street, and floated on top of one of the buildings.
Maximilian stood straight up in the rain, then summoned Echo behind him. He looked around and saw that Scarlet didn't have a way up... neither did Reed or Cass. "Private Obott, Cass, Reed, come here." The redhead nodded as she walked over to Maximilian, who held her up with his arm. Echo was poised to hold the two Taylors. "Goddammit, come on!" Cass pulled his youngest nephew towards Echo's grip. The group started flying upwards, and landed on the building.
Adam had deployed his own Echo, who grabbed Maria, and whoever was left, then started going towards the buildings with the others.
The painful flood came through right after they were all above ground, washing away their APCs, and utterly destroying the buildings. Fortunately, the buildings were high enough to save them from the flooded streets. They were on, at least, three story tall buildings.
...And they didn't get much of a break.
The Devil's towering form loomed over the group. That glowing purple eye shined brightly as tentacles of all sizes came from the base of her new form.
And everyone knew they were collectively fucked.
"Both of you, move!" Quentin gestured to Cass and Reed, making a break for it. Cass lagged behind, his age showing, though Reed wasn't too far ahead and kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure the old man was still safe.
"...Oh boy," Leon said as he started running his ass off.
"Dana!" Maximilian shouted into the comms. "I am authorizing use of the Intercity Missile System!"
"We're going to need some time!" Dana replied. "Just hold out a few minutes."
"...Shouldn't we have used that - like, you know - twenty minutes ago!?" Cindy shouted over the comms.
"Didn't want to use them now!" Maximilian shouted as Echo punched a tentacle away so hard that it nearly flew back into the Devil. Before he quickly turned around and started running the opposite direction. "Just run!"
The Devil didn't really give chase as RAVEN hopped from rooftop to rooftop. Lihua was kind enough to create stone bridges for them to run on. Which made the process of fleeing a lot easier, particularly for Cass. Lihua stopped, pivoted, and tore a chunk of concrete out the ground that was the size of her torso, and threw it right into the Devil's eye. The towering monster swiped it away with a tentacle and it exploded into a cloud of dust (and failure).
That's when the Devil made use of her powers. She gathered water from the flooded streets, then froze them into giant ice spikes. She quickly launched the spikes at them. Raining death at them.
"Watch out!" Meifeng shouted as she whipped around and turned an ice spire into harmless water that she utilize to deflect a few more spikes that were heading towards them. Lihua slammed her fist on the ground, drew some stone that took the form of a stone wall. The ice left some hefty cracks on the stone, but provided them with cover.
"We can't do this forever!" Lihua shouted.
Echo was punching through the ice like it was nothing. Raining harmless chunks on the rooftops below him. "Dana, what's the progress?" Maximilian asked, obviously getting tired from all the punching, and all the fighting.
"Just a few more minutes, we're getting them prepped fast as we can!"
Cindy created a glass shield above her - without time to really prep it - and the ice broke right through it. She screamed as she tried to dive off to the side, the glass and ice beginning to rain down on her...
"Hold your breath!" Shizuka ordered and grabbed her arm, expanding his intangibility to her. The broken glass and ice shards fell harmlessly through their incorporeal form, shattering further into million pieces when they hit the ground beneath them.
"Thanks..." Cindy said. Damn, she'll never get used to Shizuka's power, but it saved her life. That glass would have killed her otherwise. "We gotta keep moving, though!" She said.
There must be a reason why she isn't going all out... Lihua thought to herself. It seems like the Devil is not using all of her "world ending" strength. Or hasn't been using it to all it's effect. Either she was toying with them...or there was something else they haven't realized just yet. Who knows, maybe, despite this gigantic power boost, she was almost killed. Maybe she hasn't fully recovered yet.
These were all theories, of course. All Lihua wanted to do was hope the missile barrage would be enough to kill the bitch once and for all. But like Dana said, they have to stall, and stall, and stall. She was starting to wonder if there was even a way to kill this bitch and get out of here in one piece.
Lihua couldn't abandon hope just yet. The group were running up on a hotel...which was several stories high, and only a jump away. Lihua couldn't see around the building, which meant they have no choice but to go through it...or do a fruitless final stand while they wait for the missiles. Lihua raised her hands up into the air, and flipped some concrete which landed on a balcony.
Giving them a nice way into the hotel.
"Move!" Lihua shouted as she ran inside, along with the others into the hotel.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Vuhong." Leon said, as he kept running. "...But, there ain't nothing on the other side but water." He was looking ahead.
"...So looks like we're going have to hold her off." Lihua said, quickly adjusting her plan.
"You heard her," Maximilian shouted. "Everyone get to the roof!"
Opposed to running, Maximilian and the other fliers took another route. They merely flew to the very top of the building, and waited for the others to show up. Lihua and the others ran through the building at high speeds. Once they hit the stairs, they kept running and running, and running. Until she reached the rooftop and the others formed a line.
"Okay, everyone, get ready!" Maximilian loudly shouted as Echo stood behind him. "Be ready for anything!"
RAVEN got ready in their own ways. Adam had summoned strong winds around him - he could possibly deflect anything the Devil could throw at them. Savannah had froze water from the flooded streets below her and quickly levitated it up to float around her. Nikki couldn't access her insects... most of the poor things had been killed in the flood. Fortunately she was able to get a few out of the hotel under them.
Lihua had gathered chunks of stone which floated around her in a motionless dome. Cindy had gathered glass from the windows below to float around herself as well.
Meifeng had walked Jen over towards one of the air conditioning units and leaned her up against it. Jen was catatonic... it was so sad seeing her in this state, but the loss of her family had ruined the girl. Meifeng was going to make sure that Jennifer gets out of this. Even if it's the last thing she does. She turned around, and summoned water out of her hands which formed a puddle around herself. While everyone else was fighting the monsters, Meifeng was going to watch Jennifer's back.
Sonya knelt down on the edge of the building and loaded up her sniper rifle. She looked down the sights, and saw the drops of the grey sludge... and the horde of monsters that were swimming up towards them. "Oh..." Sonya said, trailing off. "That's not good - Everyone watch out! We got the nasties swimmin' right towards us!"
The rest of the RAVENS that didn't have powers like the others suited up. The best they could do was shoot. Scarlet walked over to her younger brother and handed him her shotgun. Looks like she was using fists for this one.
Looking up at the Devil's monstrous form from a distance, as she stood immobile. A horde of monsters dropped down from her body like droplets of grey sludge that fell downwards into the sea she had created. On the way, they had turned into beasts of various sizes that swam towards the Hotel at high speeds. Swimming until they started climbing up the sides, and climbing up the stairs and even making entrances during their desperate assault into the hotel. They were quickly reaching the roof, and began their murderous rush towards the RAVENs.
"Alright everyone, it's showtime!" Meifeng shouted - a monster had run up on her and Jen and she had dodged a downwards swipe by stepping forward. She used her momentum to throw a wide arced kick that was followed by a powerful burst of water.
The rooftop erupted in gunfire as everyone fired all their weapons at the horde of approaching monsters. Managing to cut them down.
Cass and Reed put down as much fire as they could whilst Quentin kept the pressure on the bastards with his AR. Of the three, Quentin recognized they were fighting a losing battle whilst any optimism held by the other two began to fade, yet the Taylors were determined to hit as hard as they got.
What is she up to? Lihua thought to herself in the middle of the battle for their lives. She threw a punch forward, shooting a stone that launched one of her beasts off the roof - knocking down a few more in the process. She has the power to kill all of us... yet she insists on... Oh my God. Lihua quickly realized what the Devil was doing as she was watching them.
She was toying with them.
Taking some cruel sadistic joy on par with Luis, the Devil wanted to watch them squirm. Possibly before taking the whole lot of them out in one fell swoop. She can simply just knock over the building with a giant tidal wave now.
Lihua threw her hand around in a wide arc and deployed a shield which took the brunt of a bulky beast's attack. She threw a punch towards the shield, and caused it to explode outwards in a deadly attack that sliced up many beasts.
They needed to do everything they could to stay alive.
Cindy was forced backwards, as a beast was pounding on her pane of glass. Each blow was causing dust and several cracks to form within the shield. She came up with an idea - then quickly dove to the side and shattered the shield. Making the beast throw itself off balance. She raised her hands - and the glass - up into the air, and rained emerald colored glass on it. It dissolved into sludge.
However, she wasn't perfectly safe. A puma-shaped monster with a scorpion like tail came from behind her. It violently shot it's tail out at her, and stabbed her in the back. She let out a scream as she fell to the ground. On all fours. "Back off!" Cass shifted his aim towards the creature's mass and fired off a spread of buckshot.
"Cindy!" Meifeng shouted as she caught Cindy falling. She dropped everything she was doing and ran over towards Cindy.
The beast was forced back by the blast, holes were made in it's flesh... but it wasn't done. It raised it's tail up into the air and brought it down towards Cass.
The old man didn't even have time to dive; yet at the last second he felt the weight of another thrown against him, pushing him out of its range. Favour returned, Reed wasted no time in yanking his uncle to his feet whilst at the same time, Quentin slipped another mag into his AR and focussed a burst of fire towards the stinger.
The monster's stinger was blown clean off, reduced to sludge.
Meifeng slid over to Cindy, and helped her onto her back, "Oh shit, Cindy - are you?!"
Cindy was weak... she was bleeding profusely. Rain was mixing with the blood. There was a hole in her back that ruined a lot of blood veins.
"Shit, lemme lend a hand!" Trevor immediately slid over to Cindy, dropping his shotgun as he ran. He quickly dispensed his drug in a clear liquid form, and grabbed onto Cindy. Quickly the injured girl was tranquilized... far less panicked. The pain had disappeared as the wound began closing itself shut.
All while the Devil decided to have a little bit more fun with the group. She created a net of tentacles that traveled through the cover of water to quickly get over to the hotel. They quickly raised themselves high up into the air - utterly surrounding the building. One swiped towards the group - and was merely stopped by a swift blow from Maximilian and his Echo.
"Damn it!" Maximilian grit his teeth. "It can't end like this!" He shouted upwards in rage.
However, the tentacles started moving towards Jennifer Caspin... who was utterly defenseless since Meifeng was busy helping Cindy. One tentacle had wrapped itself around Jennifer's leg, and that was enough to wake the girl up out of her shock. She let out a loud scream as she grabbed onto the side of the AC unit as the tentacle started pulling her hard. She barely had the strength to hold on.
"Jen!" Meifeng quickly screamed as.she dropped Cindy and started running over towards Jennifer. Right when Jen's fingers slipped off, Meifeng latched onto Jen's wrists, and started a tug of war between herself and the Devil. Meifeng was using all her strength. Through sheer desperation, she managed to summon water out of her pocket dimension with her mind alone, and started whipping the tentacle
In response the Devil attached more to Jen's feet.
The Taylors were pinned down by more creatures, unable to do anything except cover them.
"I'm not letting you go, Jen!" Meifeng shouted. She looked her dead in the eyes... and Jen returned the looks.
Though... while she was hanging on for her life, Jennifer stared Meifeng right in the eye. Who was doing all in her power to hold onto her... Save her from this watery fate. So was everyone, really. What a great friend. She thought to herself. Even after I betrayed her... betrayed everyone... they still goes out of their way to save me like they owe me something.
I don't deserve her. Jennifer thought to herself, as she scanned the horizons. I don't deserve anyone. I only deserve to die.
There were so many emotions running through Jen's head... the death of her family, the guilt from betraying her friends, and the weight of almost dying so many fucking times really made her start thinking. Asking questions. Specifically about her future, and her friends. The question arose in her mind, the kind of questions that she needed to answer here and now;
After all that's happened; can she honestly move on from that? Can she honestly fight along Meifeng and the others and escape?
Should she?
"... I'm so sorry." Jennifer said, very somberly. Staring up at Meifeng. Tears started running down her eyes. "... But I can't go on. Not like this. I'll...."
There was utter confusion in Meifeng. She was using every ounce of her strength to hold Jennifer as the tendril was pulling her into the deep. Her feet were literally skidding. She summoned water out her pocket dimension, and froze it to hold her still. "Jen," Meifeng started off, "What are you talking about? Yes you can."
"No I can't." Jennifer quickly answered. "After everything I caused... everything everyone did to help me... There just isn't any place for me!"
"Jen!" Meifeng screamed at her, trying to yank her back. "Stop thinking like that - I know they're dead, but you gotta live. For them."
"I... just can't picture myself fighting alongside you and the others.... I'll just be holding everyone else back..." Jennifer said. "And I've caused everyone enough problems, as is... they all probably hate me for betraying them!"
Meifeng only tightened her grip around Jennifer's hands. "I'm not letting you go. Jen, come on, we can get through this! Together. Like we always have!"
This was the point where Jen was sobbing harder than ever before. Before she stopped.
She's finally given up the ghost.
"... Just go on without me, I'm just not needed." Jennifer said with surprising calmness, and tranquility. "I know you can do it, Meifeng. You can get out of here safely... so can everyone else. You're strong... stronger than I am. Stronger than I'll ever be. I know you can beat the Devil... Luis... everyone else who gets in your way."
"Jen-" Meifeng tried to pull her back - but her arms were getting weak.
"I'm sorry for this - but, if I ever get a chance, I promise, Meifeng... I'll make you happy next time!"
That's when Jennifer finally let go - Meifeng desperately tried to grab onto her again, but no avail - the tendril dragged her off into the flooded streets, and in the blink of an eye, Jennifer had vanished into the depths.
Tears were running down Meifeng's eyes as she desperately tried to grab onto Jen once more. "Jen!" Meifeng screamed at the very top of her lungs. She was about to hop in after her when she felt a strong pair of arms restraining her from behind. "Mei, stop!" Quentin's voice was as thunderous as ever in the storm.
"No!" Meifeng struggled. "I can... I can still help her! Just let me try!" She screamed.
"It's too late!" Quentin held on with all the might he had, gunfire raging behind them as Cass and Reed were pushed back by more creatures and were almost completely dry on ammunition. Meifeng had once saved all their lives at one point and he sure as hell wasn't going to repay that debt by letting her go.
"Meifeng!" Lihua's thunderous voice yelled over the rain as she stormed over. "There's nothing you can do! You did everything you could!" She shouted to Meifeng, and grabbed onto her arm. Nodding to Quentin as a silent "thank you," stopping her from doing something stupid.
"Daaaaaamn it!" Maximilian seethed as he watched Jennifer's death. He lost someone under his watch - even if she wasn't a RAVEN - and that's the greatest mark of shame a commanding officer can have. Especially if it's a civilian. The whole situation was going to hell. They were running out of ammo, and the monsters just won't. "Hold together-"
"The System has been activated! The missiles are en-route!" Dana shouted into the comms, alerting Maximilian and the others.
In front of NEST Headquarters, a trap door opened, and a gigantic missile array had sprouted out of the ground. The missile launcher looked like a Rolling Airframe Missile launcher - just painted black with the NEST logo written on the side. The missile launcher turned, and started firing a barrage of missiles in the Devil's direction that had homed in on her.
They traveled through the skies at high speeds - and only a few could spot the light from the exhaust. They quickly approached the titanic monster, and the first one hit her and caused a massive explosion that sent sludge flying all over the place. The Devil let out an alien roar as the next missile hit her, then the rest had followed suit. The missiles had done an insane amount of damage to her body.
Leaving a gaping hole in the right side of her body. The Devil's monsters had stopped, violently shaking as they started to explode. The Devil leaned backwards until the very top of her body was touching the ground.
"It's working!" Maximilian noted as the horde of monsters finally stopped. He had hoped that it killed her once and for all....
However, the Devil wasn't dead just yet. She had pulled the water out of the streets and sucked it in towards her. She carefully crafted a thick dome of pure ice around herself that would be difficult to penetrate. Now that she was safe, she began the regeneration process and started to repair her towering grey body.
While the Devil wasn't dead, the flooded streets were now all but gone.
"That's our cue! Let's get out of here while we still have time!" Maximilian said as he grabbed the nearest two people (and had Echo grab two of the people closest to him) then jumped off the building. Using his ability of flight to soften the landing. He let go of them and pointed forward. He looked back to the building, and wondered if anyone else needed help getting down.
Lihua had grabbed Meifeng by the arm, yanking her up to her feet and she ran over to the edge of the building. "Come on!" Lihua signaled the others to gather around her as she tore a chunk of the roof off and lowered them all to the ground.
The rest of the group made it to street level, and ran like hell back to Headquarters, Cass carrying Cindy in his arms.
The Devil had dropped her ice-shield after she fully regenerated... but she's, so far, done nothing but lie stationary. Her terrible shadow caused an aura of fear and paranoia.
As no one knew when she was going to finally end them.
Meifeng Vuhong, & Lihua Vuhong.
All the good times... everything Meifeng has done to keep her alive.
Only to lose her.
For good this time.
It was hard to even give a shit anymore. The second Meifeng was brought back to Headquarters, she immediately went into hiding. She needed somewhere she can be alone. Somewhere she can be herself. Meifeng dragged her feet as she walked outside the Headquarters. She walked the wet streets of the safezone... as people were in fear of the Devil. Meifeng was aching because someone she loved like a sister is dead.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
She thought about all the things she could have done to help her... how she could have saved her. But it all came down to Meifeng being a shitty friend for not paying attention to all the signs (That were right in front of her) that something was wrong with Jen, and she could have saved her. They were tracking Heartbreaker... maybe they could have done something to save her family. They could have raided the place and killed the whole lot of the Changelings. Come back out with Cody, Kate, and the others... but there wasn't anything anyone could do. Because by the time they realized what had happened, it was over.
More tears had run down Meifeng's eyes as she walked by through the gates of the NEST Headquarters. Before she walked up to the tall building, she looked off to the side. There was a hill not too far away. Meifeng walked up that hill, grabbing two sticks that were thick enough for her purpose.
Meifeng had jammed one stick into the ground, and pulled out her knife. She used her blade to cut a piece of her shirt off - enough to use as a wrap. She grabbed the other stick, kneeling down as she carved, "JENNIFER" into the wood. She used the cloth she cut from her shirt to bind the two pieces of wood together, and gathered rocks around it.
In a few minutes, Meifeng had created the tribute to a fallen friend.
Not even caring anymore, Meifeng merely knelt down in front of it. Sitting there for what had to be hours. She didn't care if the Devil came by and killed them all. Not anymore.
"Meifeng..." The very stern and sorrowful voice of her mother spoke from behind her. Meifeng didn't even move or react. Lihua on the other stepped to the side of Meifeng, and sat down on her knees. All prim and proper. She sat there alongside Meifeng.
"...It hurts." Meifeng said, breaking the silence induced by rainfall. "It hurts so much."
"Ms. Caspin... she'll be missed. Not by you and your friends, but by me as well." Lihua meant what she said. She couldn't help but feel remorse for what happened to Jen. It must be killing Meifeng inside. She can't ever find someone to replace Jennifer. "...Nothing I say will make it better - but it's okay to be sad. It's okay to be longing for her. You have the right to grieve for your friend, and you can take as long as you need."
Lihua turned her head towards Meifeng. "I'll be right here." She answered.
"...I want to stop them." Meifeng simply said, with a growing anger in her voice. "I want to stop the Changeling Unit... I want to stop them from ever hurting anyone ever again..." She answered.
Lihua sighed. "We'll bring them to justice."
"No... you don't understand," Meifeng quickly answered. She sighed herself, as she prepared herself to explain the Changeling's biggest atrocity. "...They killed her family. Justin, Cody, Kate... all of them. All because she wouldn't pay ball in whatever insane scheme they were up to." Tears started welling down Meifeng's eyes as she clenched her fists very tightly. "...How can someone be so fucking cruel?!"
"Power corrupts." Lihua answered, trying to find the best way to phrase this without making the grieving Meifeng worse. "Some people - for whatever reason - delude themselves, and let their moral compass go astray. Which leads to spiral more and more out of control until they are nothing more than sadistic animals - who use silly "ends" to justify their actions. The Changelings... there's just no reasoning with them."
"...I'm done losing people," Meifeng said, with a growing determination. "Not to them, not to the Devil, not to anybody... today is the day I get stronger." Meifeng clenched her pants.
Lihua smiled... it felt like years since she's legitimately done so. "Now that's my Meifeng..." She said. "But, there's something I need to talk to you about... given how dire things are, I figure that now's the best time to tell you."
Meifeng nodded her head.
"But, let's gather materials so we can make graves for the rest of the Caspins, first." Lihua said as she stood straight up. "We'll discuss it after we're done." The Vuhong Matriach began scouring the area looking for materials.
Meifeng pushed herself to her feet and followed after her. After they were done, they were able to craft identical memoria for the rest of the Caspins.
"Agent Vuhong," Maximilian's voice spoke into the comms. "We need you on the roof."
Lihua sighed. She hated separating from her daughter now of all times, but duty calls. They won't be able to get out of here if they laze about.
"I have to go... how about you go find your friends? They probably want to talk to you."
Meifeng nodded her head as the two girls stood straight up.
Then they went their separate ways for the time being.
Trevor Obott, Cindy Keagan, & Meifeng Vuhong.
"Ugh...argh... what the fuck?" Cindy muttered as she came back to consciousness. She didn't know where the hell she was. All she knew was that she was on a bed of some sort - given the soft, fluffy, surface she pushed herself off of. She opened her eyes, reflexively closing them when she realized that the lights were painfully bright. She put her hand up in the way of the lights, and groaned as she adjusted to the different light levels.
It wasn't long before she could see everything just fine. The first thing she did was check her back - and it was perfectly healed. She didn't feel a thing. Thanks to Trevor, she presumed. Jesus Christ... she doesn't remember a thing of what happened. All she remembers is that something got her, then she passed out. Missing everything that lead up to finding herself here... where ever that was.
Okay, now Cindy had to figure out where the hell she ended up. Maybe a NEST hospital. Going off the white tiled floor and ceiling... and rather comfy looking funiture, wallpaper, and etc. She looked around, and saw Trevor in the room. Sitting in a chair with his hands neatly folded. He looked like he was moping, he didn't have that cheery white-boy look on his face. He looked... sad. Scarlet was across the room from him - leaning up against the wall with a foot pressed up against it - with the same look.
"Yo..." Cindy said to catch their attention. "What happened...? I zoned out for a bit there."
Both of the Obotts were silent for a moment. Which made Cindy even more confused.
"...Jen's dead, that's what happened." Trevor said, there was a great anger in his voice that even Cindy could feel. It was a power in his voice that Cindy never knew he was capable of. "She got yanked right off - Mei tried to save her... but..." Tears started running down Trevor's face. "She didn't want to be saved, and just let that thing drag her into the streets!"
Trevor planted his face in his hands as he started crying. Scarlet walked across the room and put her hand on Trevor's shoulder, whispering some reassurance to him.
"Yo - whoa, what..." Cindy was confused. Jen can't be dead. She's stronger than that. "Trevor... I... what the hell happened, why...?" Cindy was confused, she couldn't mouth out random words as she came to terms. She didn't know Jen all that much personally, but the news was enough to hit the teen hard.
"...It was those damn Changelings." Trevor sobbed. "They... they pushed 'er over the edge."
Cindy knew of when they forced Jen to... spy on the group. Cindy would never use the word betray - since it was never Jen's choice. They made her do it under threats... Oh no. Cindy quickly said. "What happened to Jen's-"
"Dead." Trevor bluntly responded. "The Changelings killed 'em... then had the nerve to mock Jen by showin' 'er the bodies... I can't believe this." Trevor said.
Even from over here, Cindy could feel Trevor's loss. "That's so fucked up..." She trailed off looking off to the side as she finally got off from the cot. "I'll be here for you if you need me... but I think we should go find Meifeng..." She scratched the side of her neck. "I bet she's just breaking up inside."
"Yeah..." Cindy trailed off. She looked out the window, and got a good view of the Devil's towering new form and her heart stopped. "Whoa, she's not doing anything?"
"No." Scarlet chimed in. "She hasn't done anything since she finished healing... The head RAVENs are coming up with a plan to take her out now." She looked off to the side. "But it's only a matter of time...." She shook her head.
It was an ugly truth everyone had to deal with, yeah.
Cindy knew that more than anyone. For now...
The door opened up, and all eyes fell on Meifeng as she stepped inside.
"Oh, hey..." Cindy said. "How you holdin' up?" She asked. "Know everything's been hard..."
"Yeah..." Meifeng agreed. "I just feel terrible that I let it happen... I just feel like there was more I could have done..." She leaned up against the wall, then put a hand to her other arm.
"Look, we all feel that way." Trevor was quick to say. "I just feel like I missed the chance to really get to know 'er." He shrugged.
"She didn't deserve any of that, that's for sure." Cindy said. She felt a growing hatred for the Changeling Unit herself. She looked out the window. "I just hope we can take out that thing... she the only thing keeping us in here."
"I know we can do it." Meifeng said. "...I never fought something like that before... but there has to be something we can do."
"Hey, maybe we can blow it up again?" Trevor suggested. "Those missiles tore it up. What if we shoot more of that at it?"
"I don't think it'll fall for that one again." Cindy said... trailing off and letting the words hang in the air. She realized something, "But, let's not worry about her right now... How about we all head outside and get some fresh air?"
"Anything's better than sitting around in 'ere mopin'." Trevor shrugged as he agreed with her.
Haruka & Shizuka Takashiro.
"Jennifer!"
Haruka's eyes opened with a start. He was vaguely aware that he was lying down on a bed; it didn't take him long to realize he was back in the temporary room assigned to the twins in the NEST Headquarters.
"Seriously?" Shizuka's mocking voice loomed closer to the older counterpart before his head appeared before him. "Is that all you've been thinking about even when you're napping?"
That made Haruka sat upright, almost giving his white-haired twin a headbump. "Nap, you say? You knocked me out cold! Why did you do that?" He rolled off the bed, walked over to Shizuka and grabbed him by the collar. "What happened to Jennifer?"
Shizuka looked straight into his twin's eyes. "...She's dead."
Those words hit Haruka with a surge of anger; he tightened his grip around his brother's neck and forced him down onto the ground. "What do you mean by 'she's dead'? It's not possible! Why?" He finally let go of Shizuka. "Why..."
The younger twin coughed and pushed himself off the floor. "It's unfortunate. Yeah."
"Right... Unfortunate." The logical side in Haruka told him that his brother wasn't to be blamed, but the emotional side felt the same way as the other Verthaven teens and RAVENs - that Shizuka was truly an insufferable jerkass.
Before he could stop himself, he threw out the hardest punch he could muster into his twin's face. "I hate you! Always trying to act cool and tough, but you are just a heartless, sadistic bastard! I bet you are laughing inside while watching the rest of us drowning in the hell of despair! You are no different from those psychopathic Changelings!" As he shouted at his brother, he was completely oblivious to a strange wind current that was picking up speed in the room.
Shizuka merely kept quiet and continued to stare at his furious twin, his bruised face impassive.
"Jennifer wouldn't have died if it wasn't for you! You kept stopping me and let her walked to her death! You killed her!" By then, a tornado had already formed in the room, sweeping up everything around the boys into the vortex and spinning around them. "If only I had my own superpower, I would be able to take care of myself, and even save her! I wouldn't need to rely on an asshole like you!" As the last word left Haruka's lips, the whirlwind burst outwards, blasting the furniture out of the room - even blowing the door off its hinges and the windows out of their frames.
Sounds of running footsteps approached the room; only two NEST agents came to the scene. "Hey, are you kids alright? What's going on here?" One of them asked, raising her eyebrows at the ruined state.
"Nothing," Shizuka was the first to react. He walked up to the agents, pushing them away. "Just a family squabble that got a little out of hand." Glancing at Haruka (who seemed to be in shock), he said more firmly, "It's fine now. Just leave us alone, please."
Once the agents were gone, Haruka spoke again - his tone was more or less back to normal, though a little hoarse from all the yelling just now, "How ironic...that I am granted a power only at this moment..."
Shizuka sighed. "Reality is ironic; nothing dandy like those retarded superhero comics." He combed a hand through his hair. "You can hate me all you want, but I've never once regretted the choice I made - to save you instead of that blond girl. In fact, we're both doing the exact same thing: all for the sake of our own family. Threatened or not, she did sell us out to the Changelings so as to keep her family alive.
"It's impossible to save everyone - saving one life means giving up on another."
Haruka let out a sarcastic snort. "It is really unnerving to hear you spitting out such deep philosophy." He put his arms around himself. "...She was the first person I thought I could be friends with in Verthaven."
This was one of the few rare occasions Shizuka dropped the brutal bluntness (the real him wasn't as rude as he usually appeared to be). Instead of joking about his twin's possible crush on the dead girl, he simply said, "I dunno much about her compared to you - we barely talked to each other at all - but if we had met under better circumstances, Jennifer seemed like a decent person."
Haruka nodded. "Yeah, if it wasn't for the Devil..." He then looked down at his palm, and slowly closed it into a fist. "I have enough of all this - running around blindly, playing hide-and-seek with that monster; I have enough of being a weak and useless person, a dead weight to you and everyone else. Now that I have a power, I want to fight back." He thrust out a hand and concentrated...
Only to send his younger twin flying out of the room.
Thanks to Shizuka's quick reflexes from all the sports he had played in his life, he was able to quickly turn into ghost mode and pass through the wall unscathed, landing on his two feet at the corridor outside. "Hey, watch it," he said irritably as he walked back to Haruka. "Before you get too excited about the awakening of your oh-so-awesome air manipulation, you better do some spartan training to improve your shitty control first." He gripped onto the elder twin's shoulders. "Until then, do not tell anyone about this - I'll also keep your ability a secret from the others. You must promise me this."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It's not about trust," Shizuka explained, seeing the disappointed look on his brother's face. "This is to protect you - the last thing you'd want to happen is the power to backfire on you when you need it most.
"Which comes to my second advice: control that power, and don't let it control you." With that, Shizuka released his twin. "I'll help you train, but not today - let's go out and get some fresh air first. We all need a good break." He couldn't help rolling his eyes as he recalled the series of events that had happened so far. "If this Devil madness becomes an epic movie, we'd definitely win an Oscar for the 'Worst Motion Picture of the Century' category."
Sonya Mayfield, Quentin Taylor, Lihua Vuhong, Task Force RAVEN, and...
"...Alright, I'm here." Lihua said as she walked up the stairs to the NEST headquarter rooftops. She opened the door, and got a good view of Maximilian, Sonya, Leon, and Dana staring down in the direction of the Devil. From up here, they were able to see the Devil in her truest, towering form. Lihua walked up to the side of these RAVENs, and crossed her arms.
"How has the situation been?" Lihua asked.
"Gettin' shittier by the second. Ha." Leon said as he crossed his arms. "She's probably comin' up with a way to fuck everyone over."
Sonya herself was about to answer Lihua's question - but that dastardly Leon beat her to it. She went back to looking at the Devil through her binoculars.
Lihua shook her head at Leon's comments. "So, do we have a plan?" Lihua asked.
"Well," Dana shrugged. "It's going to be really hard for us to combat a Metahuman of that level of strength. She's beyond anything NEST has ever battled before." Dana stated. "Worst of all, after all the events, we are incredibly undermanned - with reinforcements looking impossible. I don't think any of our secret weapons would do much against her - and the missile array won't do anything long as she's on guard."
"So basically we have no chances of defeating her." Lihua said as she raised a hand to her chin. Thinking intensely. "We're all waiting for her to wipe us out..."
"There must be something we can do, a weakness we can exploit." Maximilian said.
"We just can't risk it until we have something solid, Maximilian." Lihua replied to him.
"Damn it..." He groaned.
"Might be something." Quentin mused, before he shifted his gaze towards Mayfield.
Sonya was scanning the Devil... and at the corner of her eyes, she saw a bright red light that looked an awful lot like a flare. She quickly turned her eyes towards it.
"What is it, Mayfield?" Maximilian asked.
Right when Sonya saw it, it looked like a giant flare... and she immediately looked down and saw the most curious sight on the planet.
Standing on top of the building were the three members of the Hands that were the biggest pain in the ass. Ignatius, Revenant, and Dr. Cross. Revenant was holding the flare gun... while Dr. Cross was waving a white flag.
"Uhhh..." Sonya raised an eyebrow as she looked between the RAVENS.
"Come on, Mayfield, out with it." Lihua said as she leaned in, trying to get a good look, but it was impossible at this distance. "Just who is down there."
She wasn't sure if it was real, or she's actually just high off Trevor's drug. "It's the Hands... Dr. Cross is there and everything, and she's wavin' that White flag."
"White flag..." Quentin's face flared with disgust the moment he heard the word 'Hands'. Those experiments would never fade from memory.
Lihua crossed her arms even tighter. "Either they're giving up, or they want to talk." She turned towards Mayfield.
"Yeah," Quentin firmly pumped the action of his 870, "They'll talk. Doesn't mean we should listen. You know what they've done, Vuhong - what they did to your daughter and Jen - and what they'll do again if we let them."
"You're right." Lihua said. "Mayfield, take the shot and put one through Dr. Cross' eyes." She ordered.
"Wait," Maximilian said as he put his hand out in front of Lihua. Earning the scathing glare he earned from her. "I know they are... our sworn enemies... but I'm suggesting that we at least hear them out."
"They're monsters." Lihua hissed through her teeth. "They threw PR-1 and the Changeling Unit at us - we're past the point of listening."
"Then I'm going," Maximilian said, shooting a sharp glare at Lihua that nearly matched hers. "You said it yourself, we're pushed up against the wall. As it stands - we have no chance at beating the Devil." Maximilian said.
"Maximilian," Lihua sternly said. "You're making a mistake."
"Fuck... you're not going near those fuckers alone," Quentin seethed, clearly objected to the idea. "But regardless of what you say, one wrong move and I'll finish the job you started." A chance to hit back at those bastards had been his motivation for joining NEST. That, and the alternative had potentially been jailtime. A lot had changed since then, he'd changed, but he still wanted to see them all put down.
"Sonya should be able to cover us." Maximilian pressed his earpiece. "Alright, RAVEN assemble, we're going to investigate something..."
Lihua shook her head. She might as well go along with them to make sure they at least last five more minutes than they normally would.
RAVEN had fully assembled, and quickly went out towards Dr. Cross.
Sonya took position on a rooftop in perfect view of the Hands of Science. Her sights were put right on Revenant. If they take her out, and the primary pain in the ass would be gone. They can easily mob Ignatius. By her side was Maria, who was scanning the horizon for any other REAPERS. However, if the REAPERS are using this as a desperate attempt to take out NEST, then they aren't as smart as they present themselves. Sonya knew that Leon was also taking position in another part of the area.
Nikki was also in position out of sight - using her swarm of insects to scan for the threats that Sonya couldn't have seen. Fortunately, she couldn't detect anyone. They were alone at last.
They gave Maximilian and the others the thumbs up.
Upon hearing that it was safe. Maximilian floated to the top of the building the respective leaders of the Hands and REAPERS decided to meet them on top of. With Adam and Helena by his side. Lihua also floated on top of the building on a concrete block. She stood on the corner of the building... right on the edge. Waiting to see what these bastards want. Quentin had gone up with her on the same block, shotgun held close with eight slugs loaded in.
"Good, you're here." Dr. Cross said as she walked up to them. "I was afraid that you wouldn't come."
Maximilian crossed his arms and deployed his Echo. The shining golden copy floated behind her with a similiar pose. Which made Ignatius drop into a stance - only to be stopped by Dr. Cross (Who couldn't see Echo, but she knew what he was capable of).
"What are you after, Cross?" Maximilian asked.
"The situation is... dire." Dr. Cross said. "The Devil of Verthaven is a threat to every man, woman, and child in this city. There's no way anyone can beat her alone... which is why I'm proposing an... alliance."
"Hmph." Lihua knew this was coming... but she also knows that the Hands were after something. They always are.
"Alliance?" Maximilian asked, as he rubbed his hand on his chin. "Between NEST and the Hands of Science?"
"Not just them..." Dr. Cross said.
Lihua really hoped that Dr. Cross wouldn't mention the Changelings. Quentin shared her sentiment just the same.
"... But every person in this city who wants to survive." Dr. Cross said. "I've been rallying every organization in the city for this one goal." Dr. Cross adjusted her stance. "I have been successful, thus far. But I wanted to save you for last."
"For last? That so you can try and finish the job if we refuse? What happens after we're done with the Devil?" Quentin was skeptical of their intentions at best. At worst... part of him felt an urge to put a slug in Cross' skull here and now. It was hard to trust the same people responsible for what he'd seen.
Dr. Cross (and the rest of RAVEN for that matter) turned to Quentin. Her facial expression was unchanging. "...If NEST refuses... then very well. We'll respect your decision." Dr. Cross answered. "But I know it is in your best interest to eliminate the Devil of Verthaven."
To address the other question, Dr. Cross simply stated, "If you accept our terms, there will be a one-week cease-fire between all factions... we have no interest in continuing this conflict. Only leaving Verthaven."
Maximilian was skeptical as Quentin was - but he knew that NEST was undermanned, and an alliance would be just the thing they needed to take out the Devil. But, he was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. He knew that it'd be hard to trust the Hands, and the gangs. On the other hand, they were pushed up against the wall. He hung his head, and tightened his arms around his chest.
"...Very well, we accept the terms of the alliance." Maximilian answered.
"Very good." Dr. Cross said. "That's not all, however."
Everyone perked up.
"We have a grand meeting between all the leaders of their respective factions in a neutral-" Dr. Cross made sure to empathize that. "-zone. I'll give you the location, send your representatives and we'll all come up with a plan how to eliminate the Devil once and for all."
"Very well," Maximilian said, looking in between his RAVENS. "...We'll be there."
Dr. Cross took a few steps back, holding her hand out. Revenant handed her a card, before Dr. Cross took steps towards Maximilian and held it out for him. He sent Echo ahead, who grabbed the card, then handed it back to his master - who stared at the card.
"I'll see you there." Dr. Cross said as Revenant grabbed onto her - and Ignatius. The three disappeared in a flash of light as they returned to whatever base they had left.
"...Do you think this is the best idea, Maximilian?" Lihua asked, raising an eyebrow at the turn of events. "The only "factions" I can think of that'll be able to fight are the gangs, the Pure, the Changelings, and so on. We'll basically be surrounded by our enemies."
"It'll be an opportunity to take us out," Quentin pointed out, having firsthand experience of how some of these people thought. "And after what those bastards did to Jen's family, to Vuhong's kid, what makes you think they'll play ball?"
"Even if we work with them, we're going to need insurance to make sure they don't betray us..." Lihua said.
"Like a slug to the skull." Quentin made his thoughts on the matter very clear.
"...We have no choice." Maximilian said. "We've expended all our options."
"I see that you're hell bent on this foolish alliance. Very well..." Lihua snarled at him. She didn't like this idea, but Max had a point. Both sides have a point. Quentin and Lihua believes it's stupid to trust them. Maximilian knows they're low on Agents. If they're going to work with them... maybe they need to come up with a plan that puts them on top at the end.
"...If you want my honest opinion, then once the Devil is dead, we quickly take out as many major members of the Hands and the Changelings as possible... focusing on their damn teleporters so we removed their mobility."
"Luis is the head of that snake." Quentin added, "If I could get close whilst someone keeps that fucker pinned down, maybe I could pull away whatever lets him heal so fast. I'd like to see him survive a slug to the face after that."
"We should target the Changelings above all else," Lihua noted... since, due to how prone to violence they are, the Changelings are the biggest threats to Verthaven. "... And if you're going this meeting," Lihua said to Maximilian. "I'm going as well. It'd be foolish to go without me, after all."
"And I'll recognize a few faces there, no doubt." Quentin offered. "Knowing who we're dealing with will help."
"I want a few RAVENS there... everyone else should be on standby just in case they try to pull something." Maximilian noted.
"I'll just wait outside with a sniper!" Sonya loudly shouted into the comms. "You, know, the usual."
"Vuhong, there's one other thing..."
"Yes?" Lihua asked.
"This goes for everyone as well, but.. I wanted to ask if I could store your abilities. I'll understand if you're not comfortable with it, but..."
"Yes." Lihua just simply answered. "If it'll help us get out of here - I don't care."
"Alright. Pass me your hand," Quentin slipped off one of his gloves.
Letting out a sigh, Lihua put her hand out for Quentin to grab. Here goes nothing... She said to herself.
Quentin reached out and grasped his hand in hers. Concentrating, he focused on drawing out a sliver of Lihua's ability until he opened his eyes to find his hand briefly taking on a concrete appearance. Drawing it back, the stony hand reverted to its original form and Quentin slipped the glove back on over it.
Lihua raised her eyebrow at Quentin's hand taking a stone-like appearance for a moment. So this is what Quentin's ability looks like. And she's placed so much faith in him, at least he hasn't disappointed her.
"That's done with." He said, closing his palm into a fist. Whatever the case, it'd take some time to figure this one out - but he'd at least try. "Anyone else, the same goes for you - but I'll understand if you're not comfortable with it."
"My Echo could be of use." Maximilian said as he stepped up.
"Eh, maybe my All-Seeing Eye can help." Leon said over the comms. "But, I'll have to come down."
"You too?" Quentin shifted his gaze towards Max, ready to slip off the gloves when it occurred to him where they were.
"Mr. Taylor," Lihua interrupted him, putting her hand up. "Perhaps we should save this for when we get back to Headquarters?"
"Good point," Quentin shifted his gaze back towards the edge of the rooftop.
They all nodded, before they flew off the roof (Lihua using the same block of stone as before to fly down).
Quentin Taylor,Sonya Mayfield, Lihua Vuhong, Task Force RAVEN, The Hands of Science, REAPER, The Changeling Unit, and the Gangs of Verthaven.
A black NEST Hummer with the logo on the side rolled up to the building the Hands of Science had re-purposed into the "neutral zone" for their meeting. It was a building that Lihua was familiar with; a big convention hall in the downtown district that she dropped Meifeng off to a few times with her friends. It was a large building, with a glass entrance with high windows. Built on a stone frame. The front doors were guarded by some REAPERS, who threw some disgusted glances in the direction of the newly arriving NEST Agents. Lihua swore that she saw them press their earpieces and mutter something. And scattered around the area were various gang members... Lihua could recognize them by their colors.
The first to step out of the hummer was Maximilian. Who sneered at the REAPERS... he couldn't adjust to "working" with them. Even in desperate times like this. He closed the door behind him.
"Don't worry, Maxi!" Sonya cheerfully said into the comms. "Me and the others are in position!" She flopped her tongue out of her mouth and it rolled down and touched the carpet of the apartment she, Maria, Adam, and Nikki were occupying. She winced as she sucked it back up into her mouth.
They looked at her all funny.
"...That was not a good idea." Sonya muttered to herself, cringing. The rest of the RAVENS shook their heads. After that awkward moment, Sonya just knelt down, and focused on the building through the scope of her sniper. She nodded towards Maria for a moment. They had the perfect vantage point - a full view of the convention center through the windows! A sniper's wet dream! "...Anywho! I gotta clear view of everything goin' on in there - looks like Ms. Cross wasn't lying. We got some big names in there! Red Crowns, Pure, what's left of the Fiends... including our buddy Ignatius! You better be careful in there..."
"Understood, Mayfield." Maximilian said as he pressed his earpiece. He had to speak under his breath because he didn't want the Hands to know he was watching this.
"But, if anything goes wrong, you know I'll start shooting!"
"I'll also have to add that your personal bullshit detector is, too, in position." Leon said with a chuckle as he pressed his earpiece as he stood on top on the building with Helena on his side. The perfect position to see into the minds of everyone. Just in case Maximilian sensed bullshit.
"Good, good." Maximilian said. He took in a deep breath and faced the building.
Lihua was the next to get out the vehicle, and stepped to Maximilian's side, and took in a deep sigh. "...Let's get this over with." She said to the group. It felt like they were walking into the mouth of evil... but with the rest of RAVEN on standby, they had little to worry about. Daphne and two masked NEST Agents followed.
The chloropath had closed her eyes briefly, tuning herself with the floras inside the center. She had cut off from her network completely due to the ongoing Devil rampage (and also the Changelings' surprise assaults on the Headquarters) - if she didn't, the pain and hatred all her green friends felt from the destruction would be sent back to her, frying her brain from the agonizing feedback.
Quentin disembarked last, keeping his shotgun close to hand. Of them all, he liked it the least and knew full well what kind of lion's den they were about to walk into. It comforted him a little to know he'd a few extra tricks up his sleeve. It was a curiosity to know just who he'd find here.
The group walked up to the entrance, and "greeted" the REAPERS.
"You can go in," The big bulky male REAPER said, as he threw a thumb over his shoulder.
Not even saying a word, the group walked in, lead by Maximilian. They walked down the hall of the convention center, feeling just like they were about to fight. Hopefully, everyone else will play nice. After a short walk down the hallway, they made it into the grand hall, and were met with a rather nice room... well, it was destroyed somewhat by the rain (Which was rotting the ceiling), and the monsters (Claw marks, and smashed walls, were also present throughout the building). But, otherwise, it looked like there was a convention going on before the Devil launched her attack. There were stands, and chairs, and signs everywhere.
Though, taking position at these stands were various gang members that NEST would otherwise consider their enemy. There were Pure, Iron Cross, Red Crowns, Fiends, and more... or, what was left of those organizations. They all took a look at NEST when they walked in, and threw various dirty looks at them.
However, the Changeling Unit was no where to be seen.
Lihua walked up, all proud, then put her hands on her hips.
Quentin recognized one of the people standing in for the Red Crowns; a lanky Hispanic in his late-thirties, wearing a jacket over a wifebeater. Once, Quentin had worked the security detail on the guy's nightclub. After all these years, he found it unsurprising that a manipulative bastard like Bermuda had managed to claw their way to the top.
"Oh," Dr. Cross said, with a glass of red wine in hand that made it look like she was at a party. "You're here?" She said as she took a sip of her red wine. "Shall we begin?"
Lihua crossed her arms. "Let's." She answered.
Dr. Cross nodded her head as she started walking. "Gather around everyone, I'm only going to say this once." She said, as Stephanie took her side, rolling up alongside her as they met in the center of the convention room. All the chairs were placed to form a circle around a scifi-like projector.
Everyone gathered around in the chairs and whatnot.
"...Oh, sorry, we were late!" A blue portal suddenly opened, and Luis walked out with his hands folded behind his back. Heartbreaker walked alongside him twirling a revolver, before sliding it into her holster. The Mannequin walked in on all fours like a beast. "We had some loose ends to close, so to speak." Luis said as he clapped his hands after the portal closed.
Lihua couldn't help but grimace when they walked on by. However, she contained her negative emotions by merely sighing, before adapting her usual demeanor. Soon enough, they'll be right where they belong.
It took all of Quentin's willpower to avoid training his sights on any of them, knowing what they'd done - what they would do again if they got a chance.
What didn't help was the fact that they specifically walked right past them. Heartbreaker threw Quentin a rather cocky grin that screams, "try and stop me."
The Changeling Unit found themselves a spot not too far away from NEST. Luis sat down on the chair, politely folding his hands and resting them on his lap - as Heartbreaker and the Mannequin stood on each side of Luis.
"Alright," Dr. Cross shook her head. now that everyone is here. The lights in the room began to dim, then a holographic projection of the street. "As you all are aware, we are all pushed to the point of utter desperation by the Devil of Verthaven. She wants nothing more than the death of all of us. Which is why I've assembled you all here. The worst of enemies have aligned with each other for this common goal; defeating the Devil once and for all."
Lihua merely uncrossed her arms, and finger quoted, "Yes, this Alliance you've assembled." She wondered what stake the Changeling Unit had in this... They were definitely up to something.
"We seek to devise a way to kill the Devil from this meeting. We have some methods... but we'll have to share information, and discuss who's going to be placed where." Dr. Cross started off... Lihua could sense a bit in awkwardness in her voice.
"Now, allow me to address the elephant in the room - Stephanie." Dr. Cross stepped aside, and her wheelchair bound assistant pressed a few buttons on her laptop. Then the projection changed.
It changed to a large, scifi-styled, cannon with a large barrel, and had several wires going throughout it. It was attached to several large canisters that Lihua could only assume was full of Metahuman energy. It was mounted on the back of a flatbed truck.
"...This is Project Scythe. A secret weapon we've been developing for use against NEST...." Dr. Cross explained, and looked at NEST - who gave her less than impressed looks. "... Which we'll be using when we battle the Devil."
Lihua tilted her head, twisting her head in one direction somewhat. "And what does it do?"
Against NEST. Quentin's skepticism remained unmoved.
"It fires a blast of weaponized Metahuman energy which we created by studying Metahumans with such abilities." Dr. Cross first explained. "This blast creates a massive explosion of the energy that'll wipe out everything alive. We believe that it'll eliminate the Devil in one blast."
"Created by vivisecting them, you mean." Quentin spat under his breath, contemptuously.
"... You are aware you basically created a weapon of mass destruction in your little labs?" Lihua was quick to note, almost snarling.
Dr. Cross ignored that statement and kept talking. "However, there are a few problems..."
Maximilian crossed his arms, sharing the same disgust as the rest of the RAVENS. "...Which are?"
Dr. Cross raised one finger. "First, we need to prepare it... on the field. It's range is impressive, but we'll have to make sure that the Devil stays within range until it's ready."
She raised another finger. "The Devil is attracted to Metahuman energy - we've discovered... which means there's a high chance she'll head towards it the moment we activate it. Which can prove disastrous if she breaks it."
"...Also we haven't field tested it." Ignatius chimed in with a foolish smile on his face. "Which means it might not work at all." He started laughing.
"...We tested it enough." Dr. Cross said.
Lihua crossed her arms. "So, from what I'm gleaning from this," Lihua raised a finger up into the air. "You want us to defend your superweapon that might not even work in the first place? Or, better yet, misfire and kill all the wrong people?"
"We've tested it, and we've eliminated that possibility." Dr. Cross answered. "It will work."
"Or so you say," Lihua replied. "All I ask is that you're right there, in the perfect place to be caught in the blast." She seethed.
"How about ya'll shut up already?" Heartbreaker chimed in. "I don't trust this stupid ass weapon as much as the next guy - which is why I suggest we make a fucking plan that doesn't revolve around this dipshit strategy Cross is setting up - to fail." Heartbreaker rolled her eyes.
Which earned a seething look from Dr. Cross.
"Like... if it's gonna draw her somewhere, why don't we just lure her right into our hands?" Heartbreaker added, condescending as always. "Because going to her is a brilliant battle plan on par with invading Soviet Russia in the winter." She crossed her arms and rolled her arms.
"If we have enough firepower on our side, we can knock the bitch over no matter how strong she is. No stupid-ass SCYTHES or any other stupid contraption required." Heartbreaker shrugged. "Because, believe me, I'm done relying on the Hands to get things done." She stuck her tongue out at Dr. Cross.
"Enough, Heartbreaker." Luis said. "We don't want to alienate our fine employer."
"Fuck her." Heartbreaker said, rude as ever. "She's the whole reason why this shitshow happened in the first place." She noted - trying to get the group to gang up on Dr. Cross. Holding a resentment towards the Hand of Science for getting her arrested by NEST in the first place.
"Natalie..." Dr. Cross said, before stopping herself when she remembered just who she was dealing with.
"Now... allow me to get down to business." Luis said with a smug grin on his face. "If the Devil is attracted by the device, then, by all means, use that to our advantage." He explained. "I suggest deploying it in the Downtown district - as there's plenty of tall building there to take position in. If we can get her down the street, we can rain fire on her from both sides while you prepare your weapon."
Heartbreaker put her hands on her hips.
"...We have to use every tool in our disposal, after all." Luis noted as he raised a finger up into the air. "Nonetheless, the Changeling Unit will be contributing to any and all plans." Luis put his hand on his chest. "... We do, from the bottom of our hearts, want to see everyone get out of this alive." He started laughing.
"The Iron Cross are gonna be in this fight." The Iron Cross representative said.
"So will the Pure." The Pure Representative said.
Lihua didn't buy any of this crap. The Hands, and the Changelings, were up to something, and NEST couldn't trust them. They needed some insurance. She leaned in towards Maximilian, and whispered a few things into his ear. He nodded, before whispering a few things back.
At the end of their exchange, Lihua stepped up, and raised a finger up into the air. "Excuse everyone, I have a few terms for NEST's involvement."
Everyone looked at Lihua - and the woman didn't even flinch. She folded her hands behind her back, and began, "Though, this address is directed more towards our lovely Hands of Science, and Changeling friends."
Ignatius scoffed. Merely rolling his eyes. He wasn't going to say anything - it was best that he lets the genius do the talking.
"And what could that be?"
Almost mocking Dr. Cross, Lihua raised one finger in the air, "First, as assurance you won't betray NEST, or anyone else - we want one Hands Chairmen within custody. So, in case any of you try anything, we have a major member of your organization."
"...Oh boy." Ignatius said to himself as he rolled his eyes.
She raised the second finger up into the air. "Two, for your project to fall under NEST hands during the battle... I'm sure you can loan a few scientists to help operate it."
This was a test to see if they were really dedicated to saving the city, and weren't simply just trying to betray NEST.
Lihua stared Dr. Cross down... and the woman was silent. As she was contemplating something.
"...Very well, we accept your terms."
Dr. Cross said, surprising everyone here. "We'll give you custody of both project SCYTHE, and a Chairmen."
Even then, Lihua could sense that there was something wrong here. She'd play along for now (There was no reason to raise a fuss over a suspicion). "Now, we'd like to know just who will be coming back to headquarters with us in cuffs?"
"Eliza." Dr. Cross almost immediately volunteered her rival within the organization.
"Hey, wait-" Eliza tried to object, before Ignatius grabbed her by the arm, and pushed her forward towards the Hands.
"You heard the lady!" Ignatius said with a cocky grin on his face. "Don't you want this alliance to go through? It's this, or put that power of yours to good use."
Choosing to avoid fighting to her death, Eliza merely nodded, and walked over to the NEST Agents. Put her hands behind her back, then turned around. It was Maximilian who put cuffs on her.
Lihua crossed her arms. "Now, we need a solid plan of attack."
"As Luis and Heartbreaker suggested..." Dr. Cross said as she leaned over to Stephanie, and started typing on the laptop for a few moments. The projection changed to a Downtown street with several story tall buildings, tall as the Devil herself. "... We'll take position in these buildings. Once the Devil is in range, we'll begin to barrage her with everything we have."
"We're going to need all hands on deck for this one... even if you aren't a soldier, or a Metahuman - we'll need people to handle the monsters the Devil creates." Stephanie said.
"Eh, give the boys a few minutes." Heartbreaker confidently said as she twirled her revolver around at high speeds. "We'll have that bitch dead long before you need a weapon."
"NEST will also be contributing." Maximilian said as he walked up, with his arms crossed.
One by one, the gang leaders also said that they're putting their support into the plan.
"That's it, then. We have ourselves an alliance." Dr. Cross said. "Everyone prepare, we're going to launch our plan a few hours. We'll need everyone at their finest if we're going to win this."
"...That's it for your closing speech?" Luis said, bored. "Then again, when you're sitting in the seat of the Evil Madman - or Mad woman - it's really hard to come up with the grandiose heroic speech full of courage and resolve!" Luis flagged off Dr. Cross as he stood up. He tapped his earpiece and signaled for Flashbang, before a portal opened up.
Ominously looking over his shoulder, Luis said, "...The Changelings will be there, and we'll be bringing all sorts of trinkets!" He said.
"In short; lots of fuckin' bombs." Heartbreaker said. "Luis was going to wire the city to explode! So we got enough to kill the bitch."
"Oh, that justification leaves me so reassured." Lihua rolled her eyes.
"You bet your ass it does." Heartbreaker answered. Before she stepped into the portal.
"Hugs and kisses!" Luis said as he jumped into the portal.
After the RAVENs returned from the pleasant meeting they had, they hauled Eliza into a cell, before assembling all the RAVENs together for a meeting. They had all taken seats on the round table, and were all facing their glorious leader.
Once again, it fell on Maximilian to explain what happened at the meeting. He took in a deep sigh, "...I know times have been rough, especially concerning the death of one of your friends... and what I'm going to announce is going to be met with... mixed opinions."
Lihua merely turned her head. It was Maximilian from here on in - she did all the talking at the meeting.
"But, desperate times call for desperate measures..." Maximilian stood straight up, putting his hands on the table - certainly catching the attention of everyone now. "...At the meeting we've discussed the terms of an alliance to take down the Devil. We agreed to those terms - which is why we came back with a prisoner - and came up with a plan to go about our mission..."
"...Yes." Maximilian bluntly injected. "This alliance includes the Gangs of Verthaven, the Pure..." He sighed. "...And the Hands of Science and the Changeling Unit."
"No, no, no..." Meifeng slammed her fist on the table, her voice booming with anger. "Fuck that. After what they did to Jen... what they did to her family... they can all find the hottest part of hell and burn in it!" She clenched her fists tightly. Meifeng considered the Changeling Unit responsible for what happened to Jen. They did push Jen over the edge, after all.
"Sorry, gotta agree with 'er." Trevor said, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Ain't gonna happen, either." Cindy conceded with the rest of them.
There was nothing that Quentin wanted more than to throw in his support alongside the kids, yet he knew division in NEST's ranks would do more harm than good right now. Instead, he kept his silence and folded his arms.
Reed, on the other hand...
"You're working with them? Want us to work with them? Cass, this goes against every-" Cass planted a hand on his shoulder to cut him off. "None of us like it. Me, the least - but I know a pit when we're stuck in one. If we could, I'd have all of those bastards put in a cell or body bags and we still can, but not till this is done with first."
"We've got no other choice," Maximilian tried to plead with them. To him, the three were an essential part of the group - who had bright futures in NEST. "As is, if we go at the Devil alone, we'll only get more people killed."
"I don't like the alliance either - and if it was up to me, I'd love to see the whole lot of them slaughtered..." Lihua injected, intending to support Maximilian's point. Before she shrugged, and said, "But, we just don't have the manpower... besides, they'll make a great meatshield." She politely folded her hands on the table.
Shizuka sighed. He could see where the two sides were coming from, but if this went on the meeting's going nowhere. "I'm with NEST on this," he finally spoke from the corner. "I do feel sorry about whatever's happened to Jennifer, but even if you guys want revenge, how can you do that if you all die first?"
None of them could argue against the points.
"We'll bring them to justice at some point..." Lihua noted. "...But, I suggest, that the moment the Devil is down, we take out Heartbreaker and Flashbang - the latter would deprive them of teleportation, which would remove their one main edge against us..." Lihua trailed off. "...And Heartbreaker because I specifically don't like her."
"That bitch is Luis' right hand. We kill her, we take off one of his hands - at least for a time." Quentin made no argument here.
Lihua and Quentin's comments made Shizuka raised his eyebrows at them. "Personal grudges aside, it's true that the Changelings seem like the most dangerous out of all the allied super villain teams. However, it's best if we focus on getting rid of the Devil first, and not rushing to nail the Changelings down until we're sure the Devil is dead as she should be."
He raised a hand to his chin...but went a bit higher to the corner of his mouth, rubbing the bruise that Haruka gave him moments ago. "Haven't you guys all forgotten what my bro' said about the leader wanting to use the Devil to obtain some sort of god-like power? He's probably using us to weaken the Devil enough for him to initiate that experiment or ritual...or whatever the hell it is."
"Yes..." Sonya noted from the ceiling yet again. "And because of my expert reconnaissance allowed me to glean a lot more than what your brother was told..."
Maximilian and Lihua threw Sonya some looks that weren't really friendly.
Just their way of saying "shut up."
"...But, that's all I'll say on the matter." Sonya said.
"Regardless, it's clear he just wants to weaken her. If we're quick enough, we can just kill her before his teleporter gets to work... which is why I continue to suggest that we kill her soon as possible." Lihua agreed. It would just be stupid to assume that Luis wants to kill the Devil all the sudden. "But, I suggest we keep Luis, Mannequin, and Heartbreaker in our sights at all times. They're the heads of this snake, after all... the rest are just expendable muscle."
Cindy could only sigh and share her irritation with the others. That was a point they couldn't argue against, but that doesn't she likes it. She knew that she was just a volunteer, so she didn't have too much ground to stand on in terms of decisions.
"So, what's the plan then, chief?" Cindy said to Maximilian with a hint of venom that almost caused a fight if the chief RAVEN didn't drop it.
Maximilian sighed. He knew they wouldn't like this - but that's the price they have to pay. "...We're going to attempt to lure the Devil across to the Downtown district, where we, and everyone else, will be waiting, then we'll hit her with everything we've got."
Raising a finger, Lihua had to note. "...Don't forget about the Hand's superweapon." She had to note, rolling her eyes.
"Whoa, what?" Cindy noted again.
"Apparently they've been working on a weapon to use against us... only to be re-purposed to battle the Devil, naturally." Lihua groaned in irritation. "It's apparently a cannon that'll fire an explosive blast of Metahuman energy. Which should kill the Devil... according to them."
"...And you're sure we can trust them?" Meifeng asked.
"Well," Lihua leaned back and crossed her arms. "We have two Chairmen in custody, and we have given their ultimate weapon... we don't really need to trust them." She leaned in and neatly folded her hands on the table, and shrugged, calmly saying, "We already have everything we need to keep them in line - short of a gun to their head, of course."
"...Fine." Meifeng finally conceded with a defeated sigh. They had points she couldn't argue against, so why try, honestly? However, she stood up, and placed her hands on the table. "...But, if you think I'll let them get off with what they did to Jen, then all of ya'll can kiss the yellowest part of my ass." She hissed as she turned around. Walking out of the room in anger.
"Meifeng-" Lihua called out to her, putting her hand out.
"...Her ass gets even more yellow?" Cindy asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow. Shizuka was equally amused, but he made no comment.
"Hey, who knew?" Trevor coolly said as he put his hands behind his head.
"...She a little firecracker, ain't she?" Leon noted, crossing his arms.
Sighing, Lihua said, "She's a bit rough around the edges...." And that came from the bottom of Lihua's heart. "Either way, I don't see much more to go over... other than gather everyone who is capable of putting up a fight. Metahuman, soldier, whoever, we need them if we're going to have a hope of winning this."
"And be ready." Maximilian said. "It doesn't matter who we bring if no one is ready. We've got a few hours to prepare...." He looked in between his RAVENs, "... I suggest each and every one of you use that time well. We're giving you access to everything you might need."
Maximilian stood straight up. "Meeting adjourned." He said, and the RAVENs stepped out of the room.
Meifeng Vuhong, & Lihua Vuhong.
Lihua had stepped out of the meeting room, specifically looking for Meifeng. Her eyes were scanning the hallways as everyone else was walking away. She took a few more steps forward, before she looked down the first hallway, and spotted Meifeng leaned up against the wall with one hand pressed up against it.
"...Meifeng?" Lihua asked as she took steps forward. "Are you okay?"
"...It's nothing." Meifeng's voice betrayed that response as she was obviously sobbing. "I... just... need a moment."
"What is it?" Lihua asked, taking steps forward, and putting a hand on Meifeng's shoulder.
"I... just can't let those people get away with what they did to Jen." Meifeng continued to sob as tears began to run down her cheeks. "...I just can't!"
"And we won't." Lihua said. "No matter what it takes, we'll bring them to justice."
"You keep saying that..." Meifeng trailed off.
"The Changelings hurt all of us..." Lihua said. "They've crossed the line into irredeemable, they're nothing but animals... they have to stopped at all costs - deal or not." Lihua sighed. "...But, for now, we're going to need their firepower. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Okay..." Meifeng trailed off.
"And..." Lihua thought about it as she took Meifeng by the wrist. "I think it's time to finally tell you, come with me."
Lihua dragged Meifeng off.
After they were done, the two women went to Lihua's office.
Lihua was the first to step through the doors, and she walked around to the desk and sat down. "Lock the door." It wasn't like she particularly cared if anyone found out about this bit of knowledge... but she doesn't want to be interrupted once she starts. Meifeng turned back around and locked the door.
"Good, have a seat." Lihua commanded - and Meifeng did just as ordered. Lihua still had a hot cup of green tea on the desk (She asked Mika to make her some). She grabbed onto it, and started stirring it around. Before she began, she sighed, closing her eyes. "...I was hoping to save this until you're much older... but given how the situation has deteriorated, I feel like either of us can die at any given moment."
It was dark, and not the best thing to say to a grieving teenager, but it was true as it got. "So, there's a high chance that I won't make it out of this battle, I know that." Lihua trailed off, she knew it was best not to mention the possibility of Meifeng dying. Which was never going to happen long as she drew breath. "...If I die, I want you to hold my deepest and darkest secrets above all else, and judge them." Lihua continued.
"...But my question is; are you ready?"
Meifeng stood up a little bit, and nodded her head.
"I will tell you the past I dared not speak for years. Paranoid that it'll chase me to the grave... The past that molded me into the woman I am today." Lihua trailed off, somewhat depressed. "What exactly happened in China, why we had to leave there and never come back, why I was never there for you... who your father is."
"Okay, I'm ready... lay it on me." Meifeng said in a somber tone. These were the questions that she so desperately wanted answered that she had began to resent Lihua.
"It all started when I was younger... your age in fact. My power had long developed, and I had learned how to use it enough so that I wouldn't destroy anything..." Lihua left the sentence in the air, before thinking to herself; So much power in the hands of someone who just finished puberty... it should be a testament of my skill that I learned how to use such an ability. She shook her head, and continued. "Men came for me... men from the government. They had found out about my ability, and placed me on such a high pedestal... An elite military unit comprised of Metahumans gathered from all over China, and given military training."
Lihua shrugged. "Hei Long Bu Dui, or alternatively, the Black Dragon Unit. This unit was to be China's ultimate Black Ops group. Responsible for the kind of things that'd cause wars if it got out. I, in fact, was the one who'd eventually become the leader of the Hei Long. Through ruthless determination, and skill. I earned myself favor within China's leadership, and was appointed the head of this organization... the success rate went up by thousands." Lihua boasted.
"But... it wasn't the "honorable" work you expect from NEST. We did all sorts of nasty things... war crimes, murder, assassination... espionage. Along with hunting down Metahumans that were a threat to China, and killing them. I'm not proud of any of it." Lihua somberly said. "The things I've done were irredeemable. I've ended hundreds of lives, and nearly died more times than I could count... but it was in the name of China, and I was proud of where I landed - even if I had no choice in the matter."
"Some time into my... tenure, I got into a romantic relationship with a man who served under me. It was a secret love." Lihua said, rather fondly. "Zhou Bohai... The man who would eventually become your father."
"That's..." Meifeng was unsure of what to say. She had no idea of who this man was.
"...You are the one who inherited his ability."
"What?"
"You have his exact ability. He could control water and ice in the same way you could... a splitting image of him." Lihua said. "He was a strong... proud man... that wanted things to be different. He was an excellent soldier - but all he wanted was you, and me... living a peaceful life somewhere as a family..." Lihua looked off to the side, almost like she regretted. "...I could honestly never see myself living that kind of life. Because, back then-" Even now "-I believed there was no place for me other than the battlefield."
Lihua took a long sip of her tea.
"...That's where I lived, that's where I'll die." She said as she put the tea cup back down. "So, I left you with my father while I continued my work... as dark as it sounded, I would have been more than content if I had never met you..."
That line made Meifeng very uncomfortable. She started looking off to the side.
"...And that was because I was such a morally reprehensible human being that no child should ever be near me." Lihua answered. "It would just be irresponsible." She shrugged as she took another sip of her tea.
It was calming in the face of such dire odds.
"Of course, you must have figured out by now that things had changed for me to be here..." Lihua trailed off as she leaned back in her chair, and held her cup of tea tightly in her hand. "One day, it was the same as usual... but it turns out that the Hei Long were working with an American organization... Who I now believe were the Hands of Science now that I'm fully aware of their modus operandi."
"They had a deal of some sort... a deal I couldn't allow..." Lihua trailed off - a silent fury had welled up in her voice as she put the cup down. She closed her eyes, and exhaled. "...They wanted to infuse children with an experimental serum that would grant them superpowers... if successful, that is. Apparently, this version of the serum only has a chance of working on young people... otherwise, it'd leave them hideously deformed, or dead." She let the sentence hang up in the air again.
"...You were one of the volunteers." Lihua dropped the bomb.
"Wait, me?" Meifeng put her hand on her chest. "They wanted to infuse me with that shit?"
"Since you were the daughter of two Black Dragons... they thought it was permission enough to do the procedure on you." Lihua said, and sighed. "Even though I had never met you... you were never that far away from my thoughts. Even on the slimmest chance you'd get abilities... I couldn't risk losing you."
"So me and Bohai turned against them... I killed a great deal of their officials in one attack, while Bohai handled the rest... But this had created a problem for both of us." Lihua trailed off, and wondered how she was going to explain this. "An entire country was going to be after us... we had no choice but to leave. Bohai said that he would lead them away if I get out of here with you... Thanks to him, and Jiao-Long, we escaped China and arrived in America with you."
The cup of tea was pressed down on the table.
"Jiao-Long was able to use his wealth and influence to get us everything we needed... a change of name... an identity..." She empathized on this particular statement as she looked Meifeng down. "The rest you should know."
Meifeng was just sitting there... astonished at what she had just heard. All of this had been heavy. Her best friend died... and it turns out that her mother was a super spy. But, there were no more questions. Everything she wanted to know was answered, she felt great knowing that an innate doubt for all of her life was finally fulfilled.
...There was still one more thing she had to ask.
"So, wait, if you're this big super spy that "changed her identity"... Lihua's not your real name, right?" Meifeng had asked.
"Qiaolian Baozai." Lihua finally answered. "My true name is Qiaolian. Skillful, and clever... I changed my name to Lihua because it was always a name I was fond of, really."
"I... I wasn't aware of any of that." Meifeng answered as she slumped forward in her chair. "I had no idea... for most of my life, that you were ashamed of me or something. That you didn't care enough to tell me what I wanted..." She scratched the side of her head.
"I never ashamed of you." Lihua answered. "It was me I was ashamed of... all the thing I've done. I felt like no one should inherit my sins. I only withheld this from you because I was waiting until you were old enough... when you were ready." Lihua explained. "And here you are, ready as you'll ever be."
Meifeng took in a deep sigh.
"Thank you." Meifeng answered. "That clears things up."
"Now... if I were to fall, then it's up to you to pass this knowledge to Lijuan." Lihua said. "She... possibly ever need to know about my secret past. Other than the cutesy little name I gave her, she'll probably be one-hundred percent America..."
"I promise we'll get out of this." Meifeng said. "All of us."
Lihua smiled. Despite the death of her best friend, Meifeng remains optimistic as always.
Trevor Obott, Cindy Keagan, & Shizuka Takashiro.
Since Maximilian said to get ready, Trevor and Cindy decided to get ready in their own ways.
By paying respects to Jennifer, of course.
The two walked up to Jennifer's "grave"... the grave for the entire Caspin family. It was a shame how they couldn't recover the bodies. They were probably all rotting by now... what a shame. It was all just one big tragedy.
Trevor would say the true tragedy was when Jennifer let go. Damn girl didn't even get a chance. Trevor's sexual attraction for the girl had pretty much vanished, replaced by sorrow for her. He never even got the chance to get to know her. He had legitimate attraction for her... only for it to go to waste. Maybe he should just let it go.
Cindy, on the other hand, only known her as Meifeng's friend. The blonde nerd girl. Cindy stood there with her hands in her pockets, as she paid silent tribute Jen's grave. She was no hero, but she wanted to bring an end to the Changeling Unit for this. They just killed her entire family like it was nothing... looks like they just wiped out an entire bloodline. She wondered just who would cry out for them. Because... this was one big disaster. The world should be feeling sympathy for Verthaven as a whole - yet, they'll never know about the individual tragedies that went down in this city.
They'll never know the people Cindy knew.
They just stood there, in the rain. Wordlessly looking down at the sticks and stones that were a tribute to a fallen friend.
Shizuka had been following the two of them quietly (which wasn't hard - after all, stealth was his specialty). He could make a good guess where they were going - he thought of bringing Haruka over also - but there was one other thing he wanted to get it out of the way before the big event.
He watched Cindy and Trevor mourning before the makeshift memorial from behind them. To him, the blonde was just a stranger, a passer-by in his life - someone he didn't feel much connections with compared to everyone else - but he did feel some regret for what the Changelings did to her family (it was brutal), and also her death. He finally walked up next to them and put his palms together, raising them to eye-level. "I am sorry about Jennifer... That I couldn't save her the second time." He bent forward, giving a full bow at the 'grave', before he straightened up and stared at the grey sky, his hands disappeared into his jeans pockets.
"It's..." Cindy trailed off... and for once, she wasn't disgusted by Shizuka's presence. Either she bought his apology, or she was just past the point of giving a shit. "...Not your fault - I mean, no need to really apologize." Cindy quickly corrected herself as she shifted her weight aside.
"It won't change the fact that I chose my brother's life over your friend's," Shizuka murmured, turning his head slowly to Cindy, staring straight into her eyes. "If all of this hadn't happened and we just met each other on a normal, boring day...we might've become actual friends. Well, at least for Haru, yeah." He then shrugged awkwardly and looked away. "Not just her - none of all those innocent lives would have...died."
Cindy shifted her weight to one side of her body and looked at Shizuka. He seemed like he was genuinely remorseful of what he did. She couldn't hate him for his decision to choose his own brother over Jennifer... that just wouldn't be fair for the logical and reasonable Cindy Keagan. "Yeah... you probably would have liked her..." Cindy scratched her other arm. "But, I honestly wished that each of us could have gotten to know her. It just feels like a missed opportunity." She shrugged.
"It's a missed opportunity to know anyone that died 'ere." Trevor said, remorseful.
"Yeah, that, too." Cindy noted. Honestly, she couldn't bring herself to dislike either of the boys right now. Jen's death made Cindy realize that there were more important things than her silly and petty grudges.
"Then we better take this opportunity to know those who are still alive - and fighting," Shizuka turned back to the two teens and said, his voice firm. "I know that you guys all hate my guts as much as I don't trust any of you, but I think it's time we cross over that personal barrier and work together, if we don't want to end up like Jen...and her sacrifice to become a waste."
Shizuka's phrasing when speaking of Jen came off as a tad... insensitive, but Cindy honestly didn't care. Whatever goes on in that boy's head is a mystery - it's best not to even get mad anymore. She sighed.
"...You're right." Cindy said, letting out a sigh of admission. "I've been startin' shit with you, to be honest. And, at this point, I don't think any of it matters anymore." Cindy sighed. "...I just think it's best that we don't bring our little drama into that fight."
Trevor agreed with both of them, but he had something on his mind. How Shizuka didn't trust them, when they did everything to earn his trust and more. It was bullshit, that's what it was. Trevor might be being petty... but like he was the pinnacle of maturity.
"Before we start apologizin' and stuff," Trevor said as he crossed his arms, and looked at Shizuka. "I just got somethin' I wanna take my chest, Shizu... but what the hell have we done that made you distrust us so much...?" He raised an eyebrow.
"To protect Haru," Shizuka replied curtly. "Haru is too nice to everyone and anyone - he trusts people too readily, only see the good in people, never want to suspect the bad. They'd take his kindness for guaranteed, see him as a weak, easy target, a convenient sacrifice... Then they use him for their own selfish gain - betraying him, hurting him...breaking him inside out." He clenched his fists as he recalled the various bully incidents back in their childhood days; those memories pained him, especially how their own mother simply shunned them aside, depriving them the emotional support a family should have.
Cindy intently listened with her hands in her pockets. It looked like they had it a little rough in the social department. So did Cindy - but that was due to her own childishness in the first place. She's no therapist, but this seemed like a deep-rooted problem. She had something to say - but looked like Shizuka wasn't done talking.
He let out a sarcastic laugh. "You think that I want to be like this: a jerkass to you and everyone else? After seeing how people tossed my poor brother's goodwill aside and almost destroying him with their vile deeds, can I still lie to his face not to lose faith in this despicable world, effectively pushing him over the edge into dark despair? That would make me worse than those bastards - because he is my own brother. I can't stand seeing people having their ways with him... He's all that I have, and I cannot afford to lose him."
His usual hard demeanor was breaking down; he buried his face into his palms. "I'd sworn to myself that I would become strong enough to be his shield; no matter what people would think of me, as long as Haru's safe, I don't care.
"But... I feel like I'm losing my own self, I've forgotten how to feel for others... I've closed my heart for so long that I can no longer trust anyone else, only Haru and myself. It's frightening to be alone, yet I'm afraid to let people in...afraid that they'll harm us, kill us." He paused and raised his head, putting his arms around himself, slowly regaining his composure. "Haru always says that I have to be nice to others first, then people are more willing to accept us... I know he's right, but it's easier said than done."
He turned his attention to the crudely-made memorial for Jennifer and her family. "I don't expect any forgiveness for what I've said to you all, and whatever I've done I only wanted to protect Haru, my own family..."
This was an insight into Shizuka that neither Cindy nor Trevor ever thought they'd get out of him. There was something definitely wrong with the two of them - but that didn't warrant outright hatred. That didn't excuse everything Shizuka had said and done, however. Both of them knew that much.
Trevor gave no reply at all.
But, there was a few things that Cindy had to say. She took a few steps forward towards him, and stared at him from behind her glasses. "Look, I understand where you're coming from - you want to protect your brother," Cindy started off, looking at Shizuka closely. "But you gotta understand that not everyone's like that. Yeah, I know there's some coldblooded people out there..."
Both she and Trevor exchanged glances.
"...I used to be one of them." Cindy sighed in remorse, hanging her head. "But, all you're really doing is pushing away the people who really want to be friends with the two of ya'll. You can't assume that everyone is out to get the two of ya'. Especially since all we did was trying to be your friend the whole time."
She shrugged. Shizuka frowned at her; he opened his mouth to say something, but closed it immediately when Cindy continued on.
"And maybe you'll be right. I was wrong about people in the past - but that's just life." Cindy shrugged. "There's good people, there's bad people, yeah. I ain't dumb enough to say that's something that'll ever change." She said, scoffing. "But, you just gotta live and learn. Learn just who's your friend, and who isn't." She explained.
"But, you're just hurting yourself and others by closing yourself off like this." Cindy agreed. "The two of you don't have to stand alone, you don't have to live like this. We want to help you, too, ya' know?"
Cindy shrugged. "And maybe you need to stop being so protective of him... and let him learn how to handle himself. Let him learn, experience things for himself." This might be a little hard for Shizuka to swallow, he might even outright reject the idea. "You won't be there for him... no matter what you say, you'll have to let him handle things himself."
"I know you might not like some of the things I'm suggesting..." Cindy looked off to the side. "But.. I've been around for a while. Seen a lot of different people - you, Trevor, Lihua... and a lot of others. You can say that I know about people, and how things go."
Shizuka went quiet as he considered Cindy's words, studying the two teens closely. After a long silence, he simply shrugged and said, "But it's time we set our petty differences aside. Vuhong warned us not to let the Changelings out of our sight; at the same time we can't give them any openings to strike us from behind, either." He narrowed his eyes at the grave. "I don't know much about those meta-terrorists compared to you two, but I can tell they're good at inducing psychological traumas into people, incapacitating them and turning the situation to their advantage." It worked on Jennifer, and wiped out her entire family just like that.
"...We don't know that much either, to tell ya the truth. They're crazy, and enemies of ours." Cindy said, looking around. "But they're the most fucked up group of people I ever came across..." She sighed as she turned towards the makeshift graves Meifeng had set up for the Caspins. "...What happened to them is proof."
"That bastard Luis..." Trevor scratched the back of his neck as he looked around. "He tried to kill me before all of this happened... Thank God there was a gun-toting maniac running 'round that day that just so happened to be friendly." Trevor said.
"Oh shit, really?" Cindy asked.
"Yeah." Trevor said. "I knew he was a psycho... but it takes something else to kill a family like this." He said, also looking off to Jennifer's grave. "I wonder what Henry's spin on it would be... wonder where that scaly bastard ran off to." He wondered out loud... realizing he was going off track a little bit, then corrected himself.
"Hope he wasn't another casualty." Cindy added, shrugging.
"Anyway, back at the meeting I sided with the agents' plan, but I do mean what I've said: if we truly want to avenge Jennifer's death and take out the Changelings, we cannot die first. I'll lend you guys a hand... Uh, only if you're willing to accept my help." Shizuka finished awkwardly, sticking out a hand at Cindy and Trevor.
"Well... like our good friend Cindy said, let bygones be bygones." Trevor said as he extended his hand, putting it on top of Shizuka's hand, with his fingers outstretched. "But, let's forget about this gay handshake nonsense and make ourselves a good ol' hand stack." Trevor chuckled, as he invited Cindy on it.
"Yeah." Cindy said as she stepped up. "Like I said, this passive-aggressive bullshit isn't something we want to bring into this fight." She put her hand on top of Trevor's "friend hand stack" and nearly snickered as she looked between her friends.
"If only we had Mei and the others, and we could show 'em the power of friendship!" Trevor said, his accent was getting incredibly thick. "But, seriously, don't die."
A small, genuine smile appeared on Shizuka's face. "Ain't that what I've been saying the whole time?"
"Yeah." Trevor said. "I was just agreein' with ya' when I say that dying is bad."
"I got your backs - and I won't let you two die," Shizuka said, his tone grim. "Not on my watch."
Lihua Vuhong, Meifeng Vuhong, & Mika Baozai
It wasn't long before Mika had joined the Vuhongs within Lihua's office. Standing in the middle of the room, holding the infant Lijuan in arms. She took a few steps forward, and then nodded.
Meifeng merely pushed herself aside in Lihua's chair, just so her mother can get a clear view of Mika. Lihua sighed, before neatly folding her hands on the table.
"Mika, it's great you're here." Lihua said, noting that Mika had basically become Lijuan's caregiver while they were out fighting the Hands of Science (Since Cindy was unreliable, and joining them in their missions). "Times are tough, yes." Lihua said, remorsefully. She adjusted her glasses, before saying, "Me and Meifeng are going into battle against the Devil..."
Meifeng crossed her arms as she faced Mika.
"...I can understand if you don't want to fight." Lihua said.
"I don't see there being a place for me in that battlefield." Mika said, shrugging. "I'm sorry."
"That's good in fact." Lihua said. "I'm... not even going to sugarcoat this; there's a high chance that neither of us will survive that fight." She hated those words so much that she forced her eyes shut and sighed.
"Which is why I'm asking you to be the person who gets Lijuan out of here in case we fall..." Lihua trailed off. "You may be the only person who can..."
She let out a sigh.
Mika looked down at the infant.
"But what if the Devil-"
"No, none of that." Lihua answered. She closed her eyes briefly for a moment. "...Just do whatever it takes to stay alive. Promise me that."
Mikia nodded her head.
"...I understand, auntie."
"Now..." Lihua said as she got up from the chair. "We're going to get ready, you stay here and... stay safe."
The two got up from their respective chairs and started walking.
The Hands of Science.
"...Are you sure we should let them have Eliza like that?" Nathaniel said, with his hands on top of the table. They were all within the Hands of Science's lab - their personal meeting room.
"It doesn't matter." Dr. Cross said, the confidence in her voice showed that she wasn't worried in the slightest. "They're too concerned with the Devil to worry about her until after she's dead - once she's out of the picture, then we can just have Revenant or the Changeling Unit bust her out of prison, then we lost literally nothing."
"I wouldn't count on that." Suan-Ni injected from behind his mask. "Anything could happen in this fight... how can we be so sure the Changelings, or Revenant will come out alive?" He noted, he sounded quite condescending. "We'll lose one of our major members on a bet."
Dr. Cross sighed. "If it's what it takes." She said. "We're as desperate as NEST is at the moment..." She sighed, shrugging with her eyes half-open. "We'll cut our loses afterwards."
Dr. Cross' wheelchair bound assistant, Stephanie Hayvok, rolled on into the room. "NEST has project SCYTHE within their possession... along with a few scientists to operate it."
"Good," Dr. Cross said. "Once this is over, I expect you to detonate it so NEST can't get their hands on it... we can always create another one."
Stephanie nodded her head and turned around, rolling off. "I'm going to get everything ready..."
There wasn't much more to discuss at the meeting... Until Suan-Ni raised his hand in the air saying, "Revenant," He caught the teleporter's attention when he said this. He reached into his suit, then pulled out a photo. "While the battle is raging on, I want you to sneak into NEST headquarters and recover this girl, and this child."
Suan-Ni slid the photo across the table, and Revenant grabbed it, nodding her head.
"...I'll do it boss."
Dr. Cross' phone rang, before she pulled it out, looking at the caller ID... It's them. Dr. Cross realized that this is something that she best takes out of the room. "One moment," She raised a finger as she turned and walked out.
Stepping into the hallway, she pressed the phone against her ear and scoffed, "Oh, you picked now of all times to contact us?" Dr. Cross asked. "After years of ignoring us, the Founding Family decides to rear their head?"
The person on the other end said a few words.
"...You want... that?" Dr. Cross asked, finding it hard to believe. "That's going to be a challenge, but what do I get out of it?"
The person said a few more things.
She narrowed her eyes as she thought about it. Was it worth the risk? But the reward was too good to pass up."Hm... okay, then." Dr. Cross said. "...I'll get it for you."
The person on the other end said a few more things, before hanging up.
"...This is stupid." Dr. Cross said as she shook her head. She turned around and stepped back into the meeting room.
"Hello my fellow men and women of science..." She trailed off. Each and every member of the Hands of Science gave her a perticular look. She merely keep that cold demeanor up the whole time.
Lihua grabbed a Mossberg 500 tactical off the gun rack, and quickly checked if it was loaded.
She shook her head as she quickly took a step towards the ammo box and loaded the deadly firearm with thick rounds. For that matter, she grabbed a whole box, before placing a few rounds in her utility belt. While she was going to mostly use her power for this fight, - the shotgun was only going to piss the Devil off at this point - she was going to need something to weed out all the smaller ones. She grabbed the strap, then slung it over her shoulder and started walking with upright posture.
She gazed before her fellow "RAVEN."
Everyone was in the armory, getting suited up for the mission. Hopes weren't exactly high for this operation... many of them knew that there was no way that everyone would make it out against a threat that powerful. It was just that lingering doubt that made everyone wonder just who would make it out. Who would be the person they never see again. And they were hoping it was no one they were close to.
Loudly clearing his throat, Maximilian caught everyone's attention as he crossed his arms. "I know this goes without saying," Maximilian said as he sighed, hanging his head. "...But, I can't guarantee that everyone will get out of this confrontation alive." He regretfully said. "However... it was an honor serving with you - RAVENs, and non-RAVENs alike."
Maximilian took a step forward, taking confident steps as he flipped his palms upwards into the air. "I mean... I never thought I'd get a team with such exemplary people. And I am glad to have met you."
"Aw shucks." Trevor said with a cool smile on his face.
"Don't worry, Maxi!" Sonya said, before she cheerfully smiled - forcing herself to do so - and threw up double peace signs. "I promise that I'll make sure that nobody dies here... but, y'know, I'd love to start talking to the wifey about having kids once we get out of here."
Maria, from across the room, playfully giggled like a schoolgirl.
"What? We gotta continue that Mayfield name." Sonya said. "...And don't ask questions as to how."
At that, Cass shifted his gaze towards Mayfield and shook his head with a faint smile. "You want kids now, but try having a couple then balancing them with work. Trust me, I know from exper-" and at that moment he shut up as both of his nephews shot him a look, Reed seemingly more offended than Quentin - who seemed more amused than anything as he planted slugs into a number of pouches along his gear.
"I feel honored." Lihua said as she leaned up against the locker. She didn't smile, or do anything of the sorts. Though, she couldn't stop herself from smirking just a little bit. "We're Task Force RAVEN."
"Task Force RAVEN." Maximilian cooly said.
"You know, I still need to find that scaly bastard Henry." Trevor raised his hand up into the air. "He still owes me some favors... gonna hunt him down later." He was tense as everyone else... but he was trying to lighten the mood a bit here. "Hey, speaking of which, how about we all go out to Applebees after this? My treat."
Only problem was that Trevor had no money.
"No, it'll be on me." Maximilian said with a confident smile. He looked at the time, and nodded his head. "I hope everyone's ready - we're heading out now."
He said as he started walking out the door, everyone else finished what they were doing and followed after him.
They ended up in the garage which had APCs prepped for them. The various NEST Agents got inside the APCs, and it wasn't long until they drove off with a small convoy that carried any weapons that the NEST Agents could use.
Heading towards zero.
3:00 Pm, An hour later.
The groups had arrived in the buildings they were supposed to fight the Devil on. It was a long street that were lined with rows and rows and rows of office buildings. They were several stories, and each building were lined with cubicles, offices, and whatnot - destroyed during the storms. Now they were the bunkers for the various gangs and organizations of Verthaven. Not just the organizations, NEST had gathered whoever was willing to fight in this battle. Metahuman or not. They lined up by the windows. If the plan went successfully, then they would be able to hit the Devil from both sides.
The gentle rain poured down... which would get much more intense much shortly.
Maximilian clenched his fists as he stood in the rain. Helena, armed with a M24 grenade launcher, and Adam, unarmed - but had full access to an arsenal of firearms - stood at each of his sides. He stood on the roof of the building, with explosives strapped onto his body. Ready to be tossed at the Devil by Echo. The rest of RAVEN was spread out throughout the rooftops, ready for this last stand.
Lihua stood on the center of the roof, with concrete lances behind her - that got suspiciously thicker towards the center - embedded into the ground. Because these concrete constructs were armed with explosives. A quick way to deal some damage to the Devil. Meifeng was at her side.
The two women exchanged glances before they look forward.
Quentin had chosen to place himself not too far from them; using his newly-gained ability to crudely pull up a few concrete barrier as cover. Unlike the refined nature of Lihua's constructs, this was clearly the work of a rookie - someone who hadn't had much experience with this ability beyond basic motions. For now, it would suffice - Quentin had other talents that would come in handy soon.
Cindy had created some glass panes that floated around herself. They had been reinforced, and were flat enough to outright deflect a vast majority of attacks directed at her. Trevor and Scarlet stood at her side. Trevor had switched to a bow and arrow, despite the rifle hanging off his back. He was going to save that puppy for later. Scarlet was using a heavy revolver that she picked up out of the NEST armory. When using her super strength, it should eliminate the recoil.
Shizuka was right behind the three, his sharp eyes scanning around, pausing longer when his sight fell on the Changelings. The agents wanted Heartbreaker to be taken down first, but to him, Flashbang was his (personal) top priority - without the teleporter, the Changelings would lose their annoying edge and convenient escape route, which in turn would make taking them down a tad easier...maybe.
For weapons, he had opted for blades instead of firearms - as much as he loved guns, he had never handled them before, and he couldn't risk his inexperience in the middle of a decisive battle. The pair of survival knives were safely kept in their respective sheaths at each side of his thighs - hopefully he wouldn't have to use them at all, that Cindy's glass would be enough for offense while he'd concentrate on covering their backs.
Sonya was, of course, out of the way of the real battle. Armed with a gigantic Barrett 50. cal. The usual for these impossible odds situations. She aimed down the sights as a test... aiming for the Changeling Unit who were standing on the roof across from NEST. Well, the Vuhong matriarch did say to keep an eye on them.
Cass and Reed stood apart from the others, with a few of VPD's surviving SWAT members stood not too far from him. Whilst they weren't planning on sitting this one out, someone had to hang back to deal with any stragglers and watch RAVEN's flank.
"Alright, SCYTHE is in position," Dr. Cross spoke into everyone's collective comms - for this operation, Dr. Cross and NEST armed everyone with comm pieces, and gave them a frequency to tap into for information and feedback... or if someone is breaking the little truce they have here.
"...Is everyone ready?" Dr. Cross asked. "I will not activate it unless I know everyone is ready." She shifted her weight aside. "So, are you?"
Maximilian looked among his group, before letting out a sigh, and hesitantly going. "...NEST is ready."
When the roll call came down to the Changelings, Heartbreaker had to answer it because Luis was too busy playing mock-golf with his giant meat cleaver. "Yeah, let's settle this bitch." Heartbreaker said, irritated. The Berserker pounded her chest as she awaited the coming bloodbath, she was holding onto a massive chain with a wrecking ball covered in jagged looking spikes.
"The Pure are ready!" The Pure leader said.
Ignatius was standing on the roof with his hands folded behind his back, Revenant on his left, and Snowblind on his right. Behind them was a squad of REAPERS in a box formation. Interestingly enough, the Changeling Primitive Light was standing in front of them.
"The REAPERs are ready for action." Ignatius said.
...And so on.
Once every gang was fully announced, Dr. Cross turned back around, and looked at the cannon they called Project SCYTHE for so long. It wasn't that different from the hologram she displayed at the meeting. SCYTHE was mounted in a down-town park on a hill. The Devil would have to get through a large group of people to get to this point. Hopefully they can hold her off until they manage to get the weapon prepped.
It was guarded by some NEST Agents, as Stephanie was adjusting some devices - nodes and wires and whatnot - on the cannon. The second she saw Dr. Cross, she gave her mentor a look implying that she was searching for her guidance. Once Dr. Cross gave her the thumbs up, Stephanie rolled over to the main computer panel and started typing some instructions in.
With one affirmative hit of the enter key, the containers attached to SCYTHE started glowing brightly with a red metahuman energy. The weapon was charging, so they still had time.
Now, they had to wait and see whether or not it'd work.
"...It's just as Dr. Cross predicted." Dana said, very nervously into the comms.
The group could see the Purple light in the distance shining brightly as it began moving towards them.
The monstrous frame of the Devil came into sight. Slithering over towards the resistance unaware of them (or ignoring them).
Following the Devil was a storm. The rain and wind intensified, and it masked the Devil in a thick mist as she moved forward. She barely even bothered them as she moved forward - almost like she was merely a pedestrian strolling through the city. A sign of deadly arrogance, or ignorance.
However, the resistance weren't taking her lightly. They immediately launched their all out offensive against her.
"Now!" Maximilian shouted through the comms.
Lihua immediately launched her barrage of concrete launchers, spinning at high speed that cut through the air. Impaling the giant. That's when she pulled out a detonator and pushed the button. A massive explosion rocked the Devil's body as a ripple was sent through her flesh. Sending bits and pieces of her all over the place.
Savannah fired a barrage of long ice spears at the Devil, that spun similarly until they had impaled her. From there, she made them explode into sharp tiny pieces that ripped the wound up.
Quentin unslung an M320 and fired off a grenade at the hulking mass, ducking back behind his concrete barrier as it exploded against the organic matter so he could quickly pop another inside.
Heartbreaker grinned like a fool as she was handed an RPG. She got down on her knee and aimed it right for the Devil's big stupid head, and started laughing like a psychopath as she pulled the trigger and fired a rocket that hit the Devil right in her face.
The Berserker let out a horrible roar as she started spinning the wrecking ball over her head, and used the momentum to hit the Devil right in the center of mass. Creating a giant ripple. She pulled back the wrecking ball and swung it again, and smashed into her. The Berserker finally raised the wrecking ball overhead and brought it down with enough force to crush buildings.
Count Vicious started launching similar metal lances that were attached to chains (that were in turn attached to the building they were on). The launches embedded themselves inside the giant, and held her in place. They started digging in deeper and deeper as he willed them inside.
The Butcher opened his mouth and fired out a massive white hot stream of fire that hit the chain and started super-heating it. The chain got so hot that water evaporated on contact. The Butcher kept firing its raging flames.
Ignatius stepped aside and raised his hand up into the air. "REAPERs, arm!" He loudly shouted as Primitive Light raised both hands up into the air. The REAPERs started pulling out the glowing syringes with the Metahuman energy, and injected themselves in the wrist with it. Their hands were surrounded with an electrical aura as they pointed at Primitive Light. They started shooting streams of electricity at her, charging her up with massive amounts of energy.
Up until she was fully charged and the electricity danced across her skin. She grinned as she threw both hands forward, and fired a massive bolt of lightning that instantaneously hit the Devil in the body. Causing the electricity to shock her, and leave a massive burn and nothing but missing flesh.
All in all, these assaults were nothing but mere irritations for the Devil.
Tentacles came from the base of her body - ranging in size from small to absolutely massive. They first wrapped around the chains that were binding her, and pulled on them until she yanked the chunk of the roof off. She pulled the lances out of her body - and swung it around like a chain, and tore through a great deal of the resistance before letting go.
A massive barrage of tentacles flew out towards the Butcher and wrapped him in a net that he was unable to move out of. No matter how much fire he shot, it did nothing to stop the Devil from raising him high up into the air, and slamming him down on the rooftops so hard that he was crushed when he was driven through multiple buildings. Killed instantly.
A giant tentacle was raised up into the air, before slamming down on a rooftop and absolutely crushing the building. The screams of those who stood on it didn't last one.
"Damn it!" Lihua said as one group were flecked aside like they were mere insects. "Can we even scratch her?"
She asked - before a storm of tentacles started flying towards her at high speed. She was quick enough to react and throw up a shield around herself and Meifeng.
The younger hotblooded teen gathered water which followed her hands. She quickly jumped out from behind the cover and started wildly slashing at them. The water whipped fast enough to launch away the tentacles, along with a spread of buckshot from Quentin. However, one thick tentacle was flying right at Lihua.
"Agent Vuhong, I got you!" Maximilian shouted as Echo got in the way and grabbed the tentacle. The appendage squirmed and moved, but Echo flew through the air at high speed and drove the tentacles back into the Devil - before launching a barrage of high speed punches. Disappearing shortly after.
Maximilian landed right next to them. He looked up at the Devil, and quickly pressed his comm-piece.
"Get ready!" Maximilian shouted in the comms. "She's making monsters!"
The Devil was creating monsters of various sizes and they began hopping off her body, onto the rooftops and buildings where people were taking position. This is where the battle truly began, as everyone was keeping the monsters off the heavy hitters and doing their best. However, they couldn't last long as the wave of monsters were overwhelming them.
"Cornell, watch your flank!" Cass' voice hailed over the comms as the last bastion of VPD's finest opened fire.
Cindy had to take a few steps back. Course she had to deploy her army of monsters. She gathered her glass around herself, breaking it into large, sharp, shards of glass that turned into a storm of glass that shredded them to bits. Next to her was the boom of Trevor's revolver as he put an end to one of the beasts. Scarlet merely grabbed a large one, and over-the-shoulder tossed it over the edge of the building - which knocked down a great number of them.
Shizuka let out an irritated tch and pulled out the survival knives. He went for the monsters which were trying to sneak up from behind them; after numerous encounters with these slimes he was more or less certain where their weak spot was. His intangible frame passed through the muck as if they were merely air, but the still-solid blades slashed through what little brain they had with precise one-hit kills, quickly turning them back to a pool of sludge on the ground.
"Got it!" Maximilian shouted as he rose up into the air, Echo floating behind them. The only thing that could really put a dent in the Devil right now was a powerful attack - which, fortunately, they had in the form of the missile array that tore the Devil apart earlier. "Grue! Is the missile array prepped yet?"
"We're still working on it," Dana said. "We just need ten or so more minutes..."
"Girl, does it look like we have ten minutes?" Cindy chimed in.
A beast had lunged at Cindy - only to quickly meet its end by Sonya Mayfield's rifle.
"Just keep doing you, darlings!" Sonya shouted over the comms. "I got your backs!"
That reassured Cindy somewhat as she forged her solid panes of glass again, which shielded Trevor, Scarlet and Shizuka. They needed to hit her with something. This was madness, the Devil was too powerful. Though, Cindy just felt like she was just toying with them. Not using all of her strength to destroy them in one blow. It was that deadly arrogance that made Cindy doubt if they could even do anything to her.
The Devil remained stationary as everyone attacked - she stopped producing her army of monsters.
"Get that thing working as soon as you can!" Cass barked once more over the comms as his SWAT colleagues shredded a few of the stragglers with concentrated gunfire, aware that they wouldn't hold out for long if the Devil wore them down.
Mighty bolts of lightning were called down from the sky at random places in the battle. Striking anyone who was unfortunate with deadly amounts of electricity.
"Everyone! Find cover!" Maximilian shouted as he put Echo above himself to absorb any electricity attacks directed at him.
"Vuhong!" Quentin shouted as he spotted a glow forming overhead. Without thinking, he pulled up a crudely formed slab of concrete and managed to throw up a shield between Lihua and her daughter seconds before an arc of white light struck close to their position. Lihua used her own ability to help strengthen the shield.
The lightning didn't hit them, but Lihua was going to stay on the defensive. "Thank you, Taylor," she said. "Meifeng, stay behind cover - you know that you're drawn to electricity."
Another bolt struck one of the VPD's SWAT officers, forcing Cass to draw his colleagues back whilst Reed dragged the burned body to a safer spot in a vain attempt to resuscitate his dead colleague.
Helena was firing her grenade launcher in midair at the droves of the monsters, and splattered them with every blast. However, she was barely prepared when a tentacle grabbed onto her ankle and yanked her. She let out a shriek as she was yanked through the air towards the ground.
"Helena!" Maximilian stopped what he was doing and flew towards her - with Echo behind him.
But it was too late; the tentacle whipped Helena through the air, and slammed her into a window. There was a disgusting sound of bones being crushed as she was barely still alive. She saw Maximilian floating towards her fast as he could, and she put a hand out.
"...Maximilian," Helena weakly said, as all she felt was pain.
The pain didn't last long as the Devil channeled electricity through the tentacle, and it was forced into her system. She began violently shaking as the electricity ravaged her.
"Helena!" Maximilian ordered Echo to punch clean through the tentacle, and she dropped to the ground.
Maximilian flew down, and caught Helena... but it was too late. She was dead, the electricity had been the one thing that put her out of her misery. Maximilian let out a tear as he held his dead comrade.
"Supersonic down..." Maximilian sobbed into the comms.
Frustrated at their own loss, the VPD unit under Cass' orders made another push forwards, keeping the creatures at bay with gunfire and explosives in an effort to gusrd RAVEN's flank.
Ignatius was slashing his way through the horde of monsters - with every swing of his blade, a group were sliced into pieces. He looked back and his REAPERs were holding off the horde of monsters with electrical, and other pseudo-Metahuman attacks. He turned over his shoulder.
"Charge her again!" Ignatius snarled at them as he kept slashing.
Primitive Light raised both hands up into the air, and was charged with as much electricity the REAPERs could. Before she shot both hands out again, and fired a mighty bolt of lightning at the Devil again. Tearing off even more of her flesh.
Luis had put his hand on his chin... This whole battle, he's been deducing where the Devil's weak points were - so they could aim around them, of course. He swung his meat cleaver and cut clean through another of the monsters. Before he started laughing.
"Flashbang, get Mannequin's special concoction! Two of them!" Luis ordered, and the teleporter jumped right on through a portal. Luis started swinging his blade around.
Heartbreaker was focusing on the big ones - shooting them down with both of her revolvers. She turned her head and saw the Mannequin moving like a blur. He dodged whatever they threw at him gracefully - and launched deadly attacks right at their vital points.
A moment later, and Flashbang was back with two large canisters - with the purple gas.
Grinning, Luis stepped up and grabbed both of them. "Berserker, come here!" He called.
The brute was swinging the wrecking ball around, and smashing the Devil hard as she could with the attacks (taking out whatever else was in the way). When called by Luis, she did one last mighty swing, before turning around and running towards Luis with the chain in hand.
When the Berserker came to a skidding in front of Luis, the Changeling leader presented both explosives to her. "Alright, Berserker, grab these, run into the center-" Luis put emphasis on this as he pointed to the center of the giant, "-of the Devil, then break them open."
Gently grabbing the canisters, the Berserker muttered some incomprehensible growling, before turning around and running through the rooftops, and jumping high up into the air. Tentacles tried to hit her, but they were broken on contact with her supernaturally unstoppable frame. The brute went through the Devil's flesh like it was nothing - and she kept moving until she found an appropriate spot, and crushed the canisters and released the gas inside of the Devil.
The gas quickly dissolved her flesh - the Berserker came out through the other end of the Devil's body and went through a few buildings like it was nothing - and there was a inhuman scream coming from the Devil as her horde of monsters started getting weaker. They were shaking - which made it easy to take them out.
The acid could be seen escaping the Devil - creating holes that burned through her flesh.
Which gave the resistance the perfect window they needed to bring her down.
"God-damn!" Reed gasped as another one of his colleagues was hit the ground under the claws of one of the beasts as it rabidly flailed against the VPD team. In retaliation, he emptied half a magazine into the weakened creature before it could finish the job. "Pull him back, I'll cover you!" he barked as one of the others dragged the wounded man to safety.
"How long till that weapon's ready?!" Cass' straining voice boomed over the comms as his nephew led the push forwards, cutting through the waning beasts that remained.
At the same time, an idea sprang to Quentin's mind as he realized a potential weakness. "All-Seer, can you find her real body in that thing?!" Hearing Cass' distressed voice only hardened his resolve.
"Yeah, tryna find it!" Leon said into the comms. "It's just a tad hard when ya' got all these monsters gunnin' for you." He shrugged. Though, now that the monsters were weakened, Leon had all the time in the world.
"We'll cover you!" Cass grunted back, leading the VPD team in RAVEN's defense.
"Alright!" Leon shouted as he started peering into the Devil's giant form. He started at the top... but all he saw was a sea of grey. However, he got an idea from the first time they ran into this bitch. He used his power to view the beasts, which directed him to the Devil's true form at the base of the tower.
"She's at the bottom!" Leon shouted. "Direct all your attack there!"
"Vuhong," Quentin hoarsely called to Lihua as he loaded another slug into his shotgun, "Can you give me some cover? I need to get close to her!"
"Yes, Quentin." Lihua gathered as much stone as she could lift. She took a step forward and stepped on some rocks in other to get the ability to fly.
"RAVEN, do you read?" Quentin asked as he pulled one of his concrete wedges from the ground to create a basic platform. "I can end this, I just need to get to her body! Just get ready to cut me a path, how long have we got till the weapon's up?!"
Maximilian nodded his head, he still had Helena's dead body in his arms. "I can get you some cover - but hurry up," he said.
"The missiles will be ready in one minute," Dana said over the comms. "Now that we know where to direct them..."
"Once they hit, I'll push forward. Praetorian, do I have your go?!" Quentin was ready to make his descent atop the concrete wedge.
Maximilian was unsure of whether or not he should risk Quentin like this. Especially with one RAVEN dead already. He let out a sigh. "You have my permission... but be careful."
Nodding, Quentin descended atop the platform he'd pulled, which quickly touched down with a thud, pilot intact, if a little roughed up.
"Alright, the missile array is a good, point me a target!" Dana shouted, and Maximilian pulled a military grade laser pointer from his utility belt. He aimed it at the Devil's base, then pressed the button. A red laser came out that eventually turned green.
"Missiles are enroute!" Dana loudly shouted as the missile launcher began firing a barrage of twelve missiles that cut through the air at high speed. They quickly traveled to the battlefield, and hit the Devil right where Maximilian designated. Each missile caused a huge explosion that did massive damage.
The Devil's body started vibrating violently and she let out several enormous roars.
Her body twisted and examined the battlefield.
"This is Counterpoint, I'm ready!" Here goes nothing, Quentin thought, not realising just how much his hands trembled.
"Everyone!" Maximilian said. "Cover Quentin - cut a hole for him!"
Go. Quentin sprang from behind cover, shotgun at the ready, making a beeline for the base of the Devil's form.
Everyone pulled their powers together, and started hitting a hole inside the Devil.
However, the Devil let out a hellish yell that was so loud that everyone had to cover their ears or risk damage. After the Devil stopped screaming, she started moving. Slithering away from the fight. Not fast as she did before due to the damage she had recieved.
The pitch staggered Quentin, who would've hit the ground had he not steadied himself against an abandoned car.
"Damn it!" Maximilian loudly shouted as he pressed his ear piece. "After her! Don't let her get away to recuperate!"
"Maximilian..." Dana trailed off. "She's not retreating... She's heading towards NEST Headquarters..."
"No... you fucking don't..." Quentin growled as he staggered to his feet, still disoriented from the pitched scream.
"We have to stop her!" Maximilian shouted into the comms.
"I am the last person who should be questioning your heroics..." Luis said as he hopped over to their rooftops. "But, do you really want to get in between that?" He asked, not the slightest amount of sarcasm in his voice. It sounded totally legitimate. "The people in your little refuge have no tactical advantage... just let the Devil have her fun, and come up with a plan of attack from there."
"To hell with you." Maximilian shouted as he made a desperate call. "Dana, get everyone out of there!"
Further behind their lines, Reed had already jumped into one of the VPD trucks and had floored it towards HQ, determined to outrun the Devil.
"We have to get back there!" Lihua said, frantically. "Lijuan's there! So is Mika!"
"And my family too!" Shizuka added indignantly.
"Everyone get inside your vehicles, and let's go!" Maximilian loudly shouted.
Flashbang merely opened a portal for the Changelings, and they hopped inside.
The Devil was going on a beeline through Verthaven - merely smashing aside anything that got in her way. She was done playing around. She started gathering her element... water. NEST headquarters was directly on a beach. She pulled water out from the ocean, and quickly created a giant tidal wave that hit Headquarters... fortunately, the building was reinforced against Metahuman attacks. However, the safezone was quickly getting wiped out. People let out screams as they were washed away into the ocean.
The Devil kept pacing towards the headquarters... this building... it was a symbol of fools.
On her tail was a lone VPD truck, weaving in and out of abandoned traffic in a frantic effort to reach HQ before she did. Over the radio came a single voice, distorted by the storm's intensity.
"NEST HQ --- is Detective Ta--lor - you need --- to safety! Th --- thing's headed your wa---"
The raging tidal wave was nothing compared to the Devil approaching NEST headquarters, and retracting tentacles from her body. These tentacles were as thick as buses, and they slammed on the ground and knocked over buildings as the Devil beelined for the NEST Headquarters.
"God dammit!" Reed spat, swerving at the last minute to avoid slamming into an overturned cruiser. Just ahead, he could make out the tip of the concrete wall surrounding the safezone - along with the surging ocean spray smashing against it.
Again, he tried the comms, "NEST HQ, get -- safety! --- Devil is abou-- hit you!" yet in this raging storm it was hard to make anything out, save for her growing form. "Cass, Quentin, Cornell - she's gaining!"
The RAVENs were right behind them. Speeding after the Devil fast as they could.
Quentin practically straddled the gunner compartment of Max's APC, hanging on for dear life with one arm wedged in a handhold whilst in the other he frantically fiddled with his M320 grenade launcher.
"Praetorian, get me closer!" Quentin hoarsely rasped as he felt the rain hammering against his face like stones.
"Alright!" Maximilian shouted as he hopped off the APC - choosing to fly instead. Echo appeared behind him, and flew over to Quentin and grabbed him with both arms. Quickly flying Quentin closer to the Devil.
"God damn!" Lihua shouted. "We need something! We have to stop her!"
"Grah-" Flight didn't exactly come naturally to Quentin Taylor, yet this was now or never. Rasping, he pulled out a canister containing a potent anti-metahuman agent and quickly popped it into the launcher's tube, snapping it back down.
"Closer!" he barked again, aware that this might be the one and only shot before she destroyed everything.
Echo, on command, picked up speed, getting Quentin closer. Maximilian pressed his earpiece, "This is as far as I can get you!"
Without hesitating, Quentin shakily squeezed back on the trigger and fired off the canister into the Devil's hulking mass.
Against odds, the canister hit her in the body, before it exploded. Releasing the gas into her body. There were tiny holes within her body to allow her to breath through her skin like a salamander. The gas leaked into her body, and began hitting her where it counts - her actual body. She came to a stop, and began using her wind abilities to get the gas out.
This was it.
"Everyone!" Dana loudly shouted into the speakers of the safezone and headquarters... what was left of it. "You need to clear the area at once! This is not a drill!"
There was panicked screaming as everyone vacated fast as they could. Running away in all directions.
It wasn't long before the Devil got over the effects of the meta suppressing chemical. She was surrounded with a thick aura of electricity. It danced around her skin like it was nothing. She turned around, facing her persuers. She let out a roar as the electricity funneled in front of her into a giant orb of electricity that grew larger and larger until it was her size. The earth started shaking, and she was wrapped in a blinding brightness.
"Hm," Leon said as he looked at the orb from a distance. "That definitely is not good."
"Oh Jesus Christ!" Meifeng shouted in shock. "I think she wants us to fuck off!"
"Agents!" Maximilian shouted as the APC came to a skidding stop. "Scatter!"
The APCs and vehicles quickly went in different directions - swerving far apart as possible so they weren't in the way of the ultimate lightning attack. They dipped behind as much cover as possible.
Because they'd need it.
The Devil fired a bolt of lightning so powerful that it encompassed the city in a white light. The ground shook, and all that was heard was a powerful thunder that shook the ground. The bolt of lightning was impossibly powerful - and destroyed all that was in its path. Leaving behind nothing but a burning scorch in the ground. Buildings were destroyed, people were vaporized. There was nothing left by the destruction.
The APC containing the RAVENs were fortunate enough to be shielded from the blinding light... long as they kept their eyes closed.
"Keep your eyes closed!" Lihua shouted as she threw her hands above head, and flipped a stone slab over to provide them much more cover.
"Jesus!" Cindy shouted. "How are we supposed to kill this bitch?!" She followed that up with another scream. She could have squatted them away right off the bat - just as she suspected.
Shizuka, who was right beside her, had to cover his ears on top of keeping his eyes shut. "Well, screaming your head off ain't gonna kill her, obviously!"
The Changelings... sans Luis, had temporarily retreated back to their headquarters. Which was out of the path of destruction. Luis was standing on top of the roof, with his meat cleaver in hand.
"Hahahahaha!" Luis laughed like a madman. "This is it! This is the power that will propel me into Godhood! I can feel it!"
He was encompassed by the light, and vanished within it.
The bolt of lightning wiped out whoever was left behind on the previous battlefield. The bolt of lightning went right through them like it was nothing... and burned all to ash. The electricity kept moving past the trail of destruction until it had hit the shield.
It hit the shield with such a powerful blast of electricity, that the shield turned red and began to fluctuate. Dipping in and out.
The light from the blast of electricity faded, and everyone could see what was going on with the shield.
"Yooooo..." Cindy said as she looked up at the shield.
"Is it gon' break?" Trevor asked. "We can get out of here!"
"Or High Command will just cut their loses and drop a nuke on us." Lihua rolled her eyes up into her head. "Before that shield goes down, we should make sure she's dead."
"We had her on the ropes, right?" Meifeng asked. "That's why she's running."
"But she's still powerful enough to do that." Lihua said as she pointed skyward.
Taking advantage of her distraction; the Devil finally approached NEST headquarters, and giant tentacles came out of her body. They smashed the concrete barriers of the headquarters like it was nothing, and what followed was a flood that washed away what was left of the base - and whoever was unfortunate enough to stay behind. Their screams were ignored as the Devil approached NEST headquarters. Once the Devil got closer and closer to the building. They started wrapping around the building with her enormous tentacles. Glass was shattered as they tightly wrapped around the building.
"Maxi - Maximilian!" Dana loudly called from NEST headquarters. "She's tearing headquarters apart!"
"Grue! Get out of there!" Maximilian shouted without a second thought.
"On it!" Dana shouted, before she finally put her headset down... she quickly looked around. She was going to miss this place (she never thought she'd get to serve in headquarters), but she had to get out of here. Everyone else was evacuating the building, so should she. She was about to roll herself out of here, but Daphne got behind her. She nodded at her fellow I&I companion, before she was pushed away.
The building was crumpled and crushed as the Devil's grip was tightened on it. The Devil drove tentacles through the windows, and started tearing apart the building from the inside. Alarms ranged as the Devil utterly destroyed the former beacon of NEST. The building crumpled as it was utterly torn to pieces.
Explosions boomed as The Devil's grip on the tower got even tighter. The building was ultimately crushed like a soda can as a large chunk of the building fell off. Burning as it hit the flooded streets of Verthaven. The rest of the tower was knocked over like it was a sandcastle. Nothing left of it but an exploded wreck.
"Project SCYTHE is in position!" Dr. Cross said. "Permission to fire?"
Maximilian fell to his knees as he saw his precious NEST headquarters falling to pieces. He couldn't help but feel pain for the immeasurable amount of deaths that went down.
"...Do it."
Carted a flatbed, the Hands of Science's pride and joy began rolling up until they came into clear view of the Devil's towering form. The cannon took aim, and Dr. Cross and Stephanie tapped away at the buttons. The cannon started powering up, and started glowing a bright red color as it began powering up. A red orb formed at the barrel of the cannon, and a bright red light encompassed the area. Before Dr. Cross dramatically pressed one last button, and fired a red beam of pure energy at the Devil that traveled at high speeds.
The beam hit the Devil in the back, and the creature let out a scream that could be heard from beyond Verthaven. The beam burned a hole into her back - before the energy buildup caused her form to fall apart. She let out some more cries as she slithered over towards the RAVENs in one last desperate attempt to kill them, but she raised one tentacle and she fell apart.
She hit the ground with a thud that cracked the earth, and continue dissolving into a sludge. The rain slowed down a bit.
"...Praise Jesus." Cindy said as she dropped to her knees with a smile on her face. She almost cried tears of joy here. "We can finally get out of here."
"I wouldn't be so quick to say that." Maximilian said as he placed Quentin down, and landed on his feet. "Remember, confirm before we celebrate."
"Always confirm the kill, after all." Lihua said as she turned towards the group.
"Praet.. Max, do I have your approval to finish this?" Quentin glanced towards the de facto leader of NEST, disgust washing over his face as he bore witness to the Devil's dissolving form.
"You do... in fact..." Maximilian looked among his group. "We're all going to finish this."
Nodding, Quentin tugged his Remington 870 from its sling and drew back on the pump-action.
Lihua took in a deep breath as she also pulled her mossberg from it's sling, and nodded her head. "Let's put an end to this bitch."
Meifeng gathered the rain from around herself, and created a spinning pillar of water in front of herself. "Legs are getting a little tired - gonna have to use this for a bit." She answered. "For Jennifer," she fondly said.
"For Reed," Quentin echoed, recalling how one of this.. thing's creations had almost killed his brother.
"For Helena," Maximilian said as he remembered he left her body back there.
"Let's also not forget the others - countless innocent lives - lost throughout this whole city," Shizuka added solemnly, bowing his head a little.
"Don't worry, lads." Sonya said as she leaned up against the APC, she started loading up her sniper rifle with massive rounds. This was going to be the thing that puts an end to that bitch, once and for all, after all. (Hey that rhymes!) "I'm going to take position ahead of you all, and confirm. Recon's my middle name!"
After saying that, Sonya hopped up onto the side of a building, climbing up to the top like it was nothing. She started hopping from roof to roof, as she moved towards the Devil.
The rest of the group followed behind her.
Few had managed to escape the safe zone; fewer had managed to outrun the tidal wave. Yet, for what little it was worth, a small group had escaped the Devil's wrath.
Foot jammed against the accelerator, Reed could only watch helplessly as he bore witness to NEST HQ's destruction in the truck's mirrors. Yet he found some relief on knowing that the Devil was out for the count and that he'd managed to save some. He could only hope that Quentin and Cass were unharmed.
Sonya moved fast, and far ahead of the group. Hopping like a ninja as she went from roof to roof. This was her job as a scout, after all. Charge into the nearest vantage point, with stealth involved, and make sure the coast is clear for the rest of the lads! She was anxious to put an end to this. She was so sick of violence, so sick of blood, that all she wanted to do was retire to a pond for the next five decades.
With the wifey of course - Oh! And maybe some kids!
She came up on the final ledge, it was dark, but she had the perfect view of the Devil's smoldering corpse! She got down on her knee, and got her sniper rifle in position. She looked down the scope, and observed the area. She was ready to take the shot the moment she saw the Devil alive. If the Devil is dead, then they're going to have one hell of a party. On her! But, nothing is ever simple in this city - just as Lihua said.
The rest of the Devil was falling to itty bitty bits, and then disappearing into thin air. There won't be anything left of her soon. Which means that she's going to get her answer soon.
"Hey, wait a minute..." Sonya quickly said as she focused her scope on a particular target. It looked like...
"She's alive-"
Sonya felt a cold revolver press against the back of her head, and she was immediately cut off by the surprise.
"...Sorry bitch," Heartbreaker said with a grin on her lips. "But, you should'a kept those eyes of yours open..."
"...What-"
Heartbreaker pulled the trigger, and the bullet immediately exploded out of the gun at high speeds, and blew Sonya's skull apart. Her body fell off the rooftop with grace, as what was left of her brain fell and hit the ground.
Immediately, Maria let out a scream as her wife was killed right before her eyes. She fell down and started crying.
Everyone quickly turned their weapons on Heartbreaker's position.
"Sonya!" Maximilian shouted as quickly deployed Echo and sent him flying towards Heartbreaker to get vengeance against her.
Heartbreaker did nothing but laugh as she flipped backwards - a portal opened and she went inside, before it closed.
"No!" Quentin boomed, turning his sights towards Heartbreaker's position - yet she'd already gone.
Running over to Sonya's corpse, and held her in her hands. She started crying tears of black ink as her body started reverting back into it's ink form. She started to partially dissolve in the water that was puddling underneath her. She was too immersed in grief to notice.
"Maria!" Maximilian said. Echo quickly retracted, and grabbed Maria and held her above the water.
"Mayfield..." Lihua said, somberly. She... couldn't feel a thing. She clenched her fists in anger. Lihua should be outraged right now, but all she could feel as nothing.
Cindy quickly covered her mouth at the gory sight, and nearly let out a screech. Shizuka squeezed her shoulder to steady her. He never had a chance to chat with the lady-frog sniper, but he did like her bubbly personality; he was going to miss her chirpy voice over the comms.
"Oh shit! Frog woman!" Trevor said as tears started rolling down his eyes. He only really known her for a few weeks - and now she's dead. Jesus Christ. He dropped his gun. "God damn it!" He cried out in anger, as his drug infused tears started leaking down his face. "They keep- they keep... they keep fuckin' us over like this."
"...She stopped me from killing her," Quentin realised with horror, recalling when he'd broken her fingers instead of putting a slug in the bitch's skull, "Sonya convinced me to take her alive. God... I could've stopped this."
"She..." Maximilian trailed off as he focused on holding off the hysteric Maria. "...Was the best of us... She was honestly my best friend..." Maximilian clenched his fist.
Behind them, an engine could be heard grumbling as it drew closer to them. The other VPD truck, containing Cass and his surviving colleagues, soon came to a halt. Disembarking, shock soon washed across the old man's face as he bore witness to the ruins of NEST's HQ and the Devil's dissolving remains. "Jesus, what happened?!"
"...She destroyed everything." Lihua somberly answered. She quickly looked around. She raised her foot up into the air, and quickly slammed it down that hit with an impact that betrayed her strength. She pulled stone blocks out of the ground that floated around herself. "The Changelings have turned on us, as expected - we can mourn later!"
In the distance, Cass could see Maria mourning over a corpse... Mayfield's corpse. "...Bastards." Then, something else occurred to him. "Quent... where's your brother?"
"...I thought he was with you?"
"No, he took off in one of the trucks."
"We gotta take out the Devil." Meifeng said as she turned towards the Devil's corpse... "...No." She mouthed out the words as she desperately tried to throw cover up. Lihua quickly turned over her shoulder and tried to move the shield as well.
What Meifeng had saw was a portal opening right in their blind spot, and Heartbreaker was spinning her revolvers with a grin on her face.
Everyone took notice, and tried to react. Shizuka instinctively grabbed for the arms of Cindy and Trevor, who were the nearest to him - to keep his word with them: not to let the both of them die.
But few could match Heartbreaker's speed. It took one second to find a target... The mantra went through her head as she scanned the group for the best target. It takes another second to line up a shot. She quickly whipped her revolver in the direction of her target.
...And one second to fire.
Heartbreaker took the shot right for Cass - aiming for his face so he wouldn't look pretty in those funerals.
At the same time, the old man squeezed back on his trigger - and in his final moments managed to graze Heartbreaker's shoulder before her bullet tore through his eye socket.
Heartbreaker let out a hiss of pain as she fell backwards, and the portal closed - but, she had the last laugh.
"Alright!" Lihua knew what had to be done. She used all the stone she could to create a dome of concrete around herself and the others. With the Changelings picking them off one by one, this is the only thing in the way.
"Oh shit!" Meifeng said as she dove for the old man. "Cass!" She barely knew him - but he... helped Jen back there, and she was so sick of all this death.
"...Cass?" Quentin slumped towards the old man's lifeless corpse, face awash with horrified shock. Pulling off his gloves, he tried with all the might he had to give him his powers, to be able to regenerate, even PR-1's power, yet it was too late. Cradling his uncle's body, he remained silent - tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Aw shit!" Trevor said, "Maybe... maybe... maybe I can help 'im!" Trevor said. "Maybe there's still time!" He tried to infuse him with as much of his drug as he could... but nothing. It wasn't doing anything to him. Trevor tried giving him some more, but it didn't do anything.
"Oh no..." Trevor said as tears began to roll down his cheeks. "He's gone..."
Two consecutive deaths, even if they were mere strangers, definitely made an impact on the usually hard-headed Shizuka. He was beginning to see why the Vuhong woman and Quentin had such a deep personal hatred towards Heartbreaker...
It was a miracle that Haruka was still alive after falling into the hands of the Changelings previously, but there's no guarantee that his brother would get lucky again the next time...
He clenched his fists; part of him wanted to give those fuckers a taste of their own medicine, for laying their filthy hands on Haru...but the bigger picture was to get rid of them for good, to stop these tragedies from repeating themselves.
Quentin wanted to believe it. Wanted to believe that something could be done. But this world was never that kind. It never had been. And she... that bitch was still out there, free to murder others. And then...
Then, an entirely different look washed across his face as something else hit his thoughts. "...That fucker..." Quentin hoarsely rasped, setting Cass' lifeless body down before standing up. Without another word, he stormed off, shotgun in hand, before any of the others could a damned thing.
"We got another problem..." Leon said... sobbing as he suppressed the tears over the death of Sonya. "We gotta..."
"...Hello friends!" Luis's voice boomed through their barrier as he stepped through the portal, twirling a knife around with both hands. "Sorry, I can't play right now - but my friends are going to be the ones who keep you company. Okay?"
A portal opened behind him, and each member of the Changeling Unit stepped out.
The Berserker hopped out, pounding her chest. A newly healed Heartbreaker also stepped out, twirling her revolvers. Count Vicious stepped out, and massaged his hook hand - before he was encased in metal. The Skin Walker stretched his way through the portal. The Mannequin appeared to have fell from the sky. Rising up like someone was pulling the stringers.
The Changeling Unit was before RAVEN.
"Well, have fun!" Luis said as he ran off.
She gritted her teeth. She summoned stone to float around herself. "He's buying time," Lihua said. "We have to kill the Devil..."
Being overcome with rage over the death of her friend, Meifeng's sheer hatred for Luis made the water around her to swing around at high speed. Once she calmed down, Meifeng dropped into stance. Hissing, "I've been itching to get back at you fucks for what you did to Jen." She cracked her neck.
Cindy did the same, and coolly created a large glass pane in front of herself. "You maniacs are definitely someone that needs to be stopped." She never thought she'd run into super villains like this.
"Agreed," Maximilian said, as Echo appeared behind him. "I hope everyone is ready for this, because this is the big one."
He took in a sigh as everyone stood at his side.
"The battle that will decide who lives, and who dies."
Luis was running through the wet streets with the meat cleaver over his shoulder. All he needed to do was grab her and he'll be one step closer to his dream. Luis saw the Devil in clear sight, lying right on the ground.
Right at the wrong moment, that bitch Revenant from the Reapers appeared and looked around. By now, the Devil had completely dissolved and all that was left was the Devil's naked body sprawled out on the ground. Just as Dr. Cross predicted. Revenant quickly teleported over to her in the midst of the death, grabbed her... then teleported back into the Hands' home base.
"No!" Luis shouted as he stretched his hand out from the opposite street. The Hands have her now. "Damn it!" They'd have to get the Devil out of their hands later. However, this was very irritatin-
At that moment, the leader of the Changelings was hit straight in the mid-section by a slug, then another, then another - until Quentin had expended the entire magazine tube of his Remington 870. The others were nowhere to be seen - he'd gone it alone after, for lack of better words, guessing that the Spaniard would be here.
Instead of going out in plain sight like Quentin, Shizuka stayed hidden around the corner close enough to hear them. He had helped the agent to get out of the concrete dome with his intangibility - which was a much quieter alternative than trying to punch their way out and alerting the rest of RAVENs.
Luis was caught off guard, every shot pushed him back another step... and he merely looked down as the slugs were pushed out of his body.
"...Haven't we been over this before?" Luis said as he slung his meat cleaver over his shoulder. "Nothing can kill me, I am invincible!" he announced with an evil grin.
"Fuck you." Quentin seethed, a cold fury in his heart as he started loading more slugs into the magazine tube.
Luis merely rolled his eyes as he took the opportunity to rush Quentin with astonishing speed and hit him in the gut with a sharp kick.
Winding him, the blow knocked Quentin off his feet with a surprising level of speed, pushing the shotgun a few feet away.
Luis walked up. "Ah... I know you are quite angry about what my cohort has done..." he said casually. "However, I admire your strength, confronting me alone like this... perhaps there's a place for you in my perfect world..." he trailed off.
That only gave Quentin the motivation to push on, disgusted at the notion of earning the Changeling leader's 'approval'. Closing his eyes, he focused with all the willpower he had - and pulled up a shard of concrete from the ground beneath Luis' feet.
It impaled the glorious leader of the Changeling Unit, and he could only laugh at the injuries that'd leave anyone else screaming in horror. He firmly dropped his weight down, and raised his foot up into the air off the spike. There was a mess of blood spraying that quickly came to a close.
"Come on..." Luis moaned. "Why resist it so badly? I know what you did to Heartbreaker..." He pointed his meat cleaver at Quentin. "...So I know you have it in you! That innate cruelty!"
Quentin refused to dignify the Spaniard with an answer, whole body trembling half with fear, half with rage.
"So..." Luis raised an eyebrow. "...Will you join the man that will soon become a God!?" he asked. "It's not too late for you, Quentin... we can give you back everything you lost if you help me fulfill my dreams of a perfect world..." Luis offered his hand.
Remaining silent, Quentin looked towards the ground, then back to Luis. Hesitating for a moment, he eventually reached for the Changeling's hand to pull himself to grasp, pulling himself to his feet with his own, ungloved hand...
Before he put all of his concentration into drawing out the Spaniard's abilities with one hand, the other wildly grasping for his throat. It was a suicidal attack, but Quentin had been numbed any sense of self-preservation the moment the old man had died.
Luis dropped his meat cleaver, and growled in anger as he used his free hand to savagely punch Quentin in the face.
Bloody and bruised, Quentin held on as tight as he could, fingers tightening around the bastard's throat. If he couldn't kill him, then he'd at least level the playing field.
"Come on now!" Luis shouted with a sadistic grin on his face as he cocked his fist back and threw another punch. "You're just being silly!"
Quentin spat a few bloodied teeth out at the Spaniard, yet the vice-like grip persisted as his hands took on a crimson hue.
"Fine then!" Luis shouted, his free hand went to his comm-piece. "Flashbang, send Fig through!"
A portal opened right behind Quentin and Fig stepped right out with a grin. She aimed a hand forward, and shot a blast of her green gaseous energy at Quentin's back - which quickly ate through his armor, down to the skin. Cursing in agony, it broke his concentration and he lost his footing, writhing on the ground.
Shizuka gritted his teeth, using every ounce of his willpower to hold himself back from jumping out too early. He gripped onto the knife on his left - whatever he was planning to do would require him to get the timing right, and he only had one shot at it.
Luis stepped over to Quentin, with a grin on his face. "Nice work, Fig," he said, as he stepped over to his meat cleaver and grabbed it. "Now... it's a shame you decided not to join..." he said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "You would have made a fine Changeling - but, you chose the wrong side... so..." He raised the meat cleaver over his head.
"...You can join your friends in hell!"
Now! Shizuka pulled out the blade and turned on his power, sneaking up behind Luis quickly and silently. He drove the ghostly knife straight through the Changeling leader's skull - all the way into his brain - and released it. Before anyone could react, he dived at Quentin, landing right on top of the man, and the two disappeared into the ground below.
The knife appearing in his brain made Luis drop down to his knees. He was still alive, and he was pissed he kept getting interrupted like this. He couldn't move.
"Flashbang!" Fig said. "Get Luis to Witch Mother!"
A portal opened behind them, and Fig threw him backwards into it.
Shizuka dragged the injured agent underground before resurfacing - onto an alleyway away from the sight and earshot of the Changelings. "Je-sus," he breathed out in between pants. "That...was too close." He leaned against the wall, and put his arms around himself to stop his shaking frame. Killing those monsters was one thing, but trying to do the same to a human - even if it's someone who deserved it - was definitely no joke.
While he didn't think a stunt like that would be enough to kill the almost-immortal leader instantly, it should buy them some time - he highly doubted that bloodsucker could ever completely heal from the knife stuck in the head, deeply wedged into his brain cells atom by atom.
Bloody, bruised and burnt, Quentin shuddered as he felt his caustic burns exposed to the cool, damp air - spitting out another glob of bloody saliva on the ground beneath him. Luis had done a number on him, leaving his face coated in blotches of red, black and blue whilst he could barely open his left eye. A few teeth had been knocked out, too.
Quentin hissed for a few minutes, then slowly pushed himself to his feet, steadying himself by leaning side wards against the wall as his senses started coming back to him. He'd... left the others behind, for what? To let that bastard knock him down, kill him if it wasn't for the kid. Luis' words were still embedded in his mind, echoing alongside Heartbreaker's... You would have made a fine Changeling. He spat another glob of blood, disgusted at the thought. And then something else cane to mind, as he realized in horror...
"Reed," he rasped.
Shizuka sighed. "Dude, you're in no state to go after anyone now," he said firmly. "I owed your brother for stopping me from jumping to my death previously, and now I'm paying that back by stopping you from doing something equally stupid." He pulled off his own comm-piece and held it out for Quentin - his power probably short-circuited the injured man's technology, but Shizuka made sure he kept his switched off whenever he was using his ability. "The storm's gone, so you should try contacting his radio to check instead."
"Alright." Quentin nodded, gesturing for the kid to pass him the radio.
“We don't know anything yet, Daniel. We're just doing what we can.”
“But what if something happens? Maybe--”
“Your father is right, Danny. Truth is we can't be for sure. But we've sacrificed too much at this point to not try.”
“But what if something happens to you? It's your blood, what if she, it... whatever, what if they--”
“Oh, just listen for once! My stupid, stupid son. My stupid, stupid, loving, selfless... amazing son. We'll get through this... we always have.”
“Well, here it goes. The beginning of an amazing tale – or something. I've written medical journals before. Biographies. Textbooks. Medical documents, obituaries, I've forged letters (perhaps an admission of guilt, but the fact I'm writing this feels like a coming-to-God moment), lessons, so on and so forth. But a personal journal, for all of my taste in vintage culture, is something I've rarely considered. I guess I should start by introducing myself. I wouldn't know to whom, if any other than to just myself. It's a personal journal after all. Daniel insists on calling it a diary.
I am Baron Moreau. Pardon my French, but I'm in shit way over my head (that isn't French). Or as they say it in actual French, je suis en chemin de la merde sur ma tête (actual French). At least, as close together as the two languages come to one another. I digress. In reference to my situation – I want you, myself, whomever, to understand my full meaning. Perhaps my life or career shall forever come to an end if this gets into the hands of another, but I suppose if that time should I come, I would submit willingly.
I don't flatter myself by stating I am a genius. As a scientist, and doctor, I state so with every objective intention and perspective in my bones. I began my path early in high school, and had the highes GPA in my grade. I earned by doctorates in clinical psychology in five years through hard work, intuition, and passion. Alongside the path of my education in clinical psychology, I achieved other, minor degrees in relating fields. An Associates in neuroscience. A Masters in psychiatry. I received additional training in the specialized, experimental field of neuropsychology, studying psychology and that links and patterns and connections it has with the physiology of our brains. Additionally, I've led careers in criminal psychology and even detective work. I've become a leading force in the psychological field. I've taken a job with a private military company called the Dreadnaughts. They've conjured a custom position for me to fill as a Chief Psychology Officer (CPO), or was otherwise known as a Chief Internal Communications Officers, but didn't quite ring as well. During my time, I've even played a spook, gathering private intelligence with efficiency. I've withstood torture that'd drive many men to insanity.
Yet, despite all of what's been described, this literal hell on earth has gotten my bearings off tilt. Seen things once thought of as fantasy or horror. Unnatural powers, unnatural monsters, men who've become monsters, and men who've been turned into weapons.
Yet, despite all of what's been described, the delusioned who still remain here insist on calling this place what it's not. Not hell, but a desolate city called Verthaven. I do not know where they've mustered the false hope they're clinging to as though it's some small sliver of light that remains; clinging to the belief that this place can actually return to becoming a haven.'"
“So what's the plan?”
“Warmed up to it, have you?”
“No, I haven't. But you guys were right that we don't have a choice. We can't really go back to the way things used to be.”
“No, we really can't. And you've a noble heart, so I suspect you wouldn't even if we could.”
“Heh... the plan?”
“We take the special bullet and pierce that bitch's head.”
“That's it?”
“That's it.”
“We don't have the CheyTac anymore, we don't have the long range we used to. How are we supposed to do that?”
“You're right, we don't have the same range we used to have. But we still have range. Even your old skeet shootin' gun could do it. Listen, you're an amazing shot.. You can shoot further away with a .22 than most of the 'Naughts could probably do with a .50 cal. I don't know if you're gifted, some lucky idiot, or one o' God's own angels of death. Fact is, you can do it. Don't undermine yourself.”
“Right... so this bullet. It's gonna kill something that can't die as far as we can see?”
“She's a meta, and this thing is special. It can do a lot more than the power-suppression bullshit NEST has got. It's in his blood. She won't know what hit her.”
“Because she'll be dead?”
“Because she'll be dead.”
“I guess we're bleeding hearts. We did the unimaginable after leaving Verthaven as per our given orders. We were so close to dismantling the vital organs of the Hands of Science – how foolish were we to think they were the greatest threat – but we received word from Belroth himself. That 'the terms of our contract has deviated to unprecedented extremes.' The argument was that events which later unfolded was not within the arrangement and placed his agents in unexpected danger. It wasn't a matter that was supposed to concern us any longer and was outside of our control. We were forced to fall back to our base without word of warning. They must have been wondering where we were when everything had gone to hell. I know I couldn't justify myself. I've been thinking of what I would say over and over – I'm a wordsmith, but all I could think of bringing myself to say is that we all have our orders. Some matters are out of our hands.
This isn't the case any longer. The unimaginable was the end of our careers. The three of us were unable to detach ourselves from the mission. We regularly monitored the situation despite orders otherwise. We requested honorable discharge, but given transportation to fulfill the job ourselves. He obliged, but told us to proceed without his blessing. Belroth probably expected such from me. My colleagues in the Dreadnaughts have always suspected my motives were ulterior. I was hiding something. Maybe I was in it for myself. Or my allegiance was never to the Dreadnaughts. It truly broke my hearts all those years to hear them think those things of me, after all I've done for them. For the sweat I've poured over their well being. I never showed it, though. I don't think he expected it of Isaiah. I don't actually know why Isaiah chose to turn down his position. I don't think he's as cold and hardened as he wants the rest of us to believe. I've long suspected that. But the man has always had an honorable work ethic. Maybe he just doesn't want to leave a job unfinished, and would strip himself of all resources if that was the only way to get it done. When I asked himself, he just said 'because there's a cataclysmic shitstorm coming our way and I'm the angel chosen by God to give them a proper ass kicking.' The man is crude, but he warms my heart.
We expected Daniel to follow least of all. He was so proud to be celebrated as an official Dreadnaught on his first day, and my heart aches for him. I'm not sure if he's just trying to follow Isaiah and make him proud – that was one of his core motivations – or if that truly noble core of his is what led him here. I think he's still struggling to figure out why he made that decision, himself. He's still coming to terms that he just decided his fate. I expected Isaiah to come down hard on him, but it wasn't so. He was steaming at first, I never seen the man as rage-filled as he was then, and I've seen him at his worst. But he simmered down, and I think their relationship is improving. I think he's beginning to realize what kind of young man Daniel is developing into, and I don't think he could be prouder. I hope Daniel knows that.
We've come back to settle a score. To finish what we started, and with less cards in our hand than before. I... personally, have come to settle other scores in addition. I have loose ends I hope to cut off. If that means helping others along the way, well... I guess that'd just be a token to remember in my last moments.”
“Baron. Hey, Baron!”
“What is it?”
“You're a doctor of sorts, I think you can appreciate this.”
“What exactly am I looking at?”
“You're smart. You tell me what you think.”
“This is a medical research journal covering cell regeneration and stem cell surgery. Not my field though.”
“I don't care, keep reading it.”
“This... this is quite something. Half of this I can't grasp, but it's experimental and... who wrote this? Dr. Brooke? Dr. Peter Brooke?”
“Do you see the code yet?”
“Yeah, I think it is. I can acknowledge that his work here is something that can revolutionize the field and--”
“Whatever, Baron. I think it's great he can save a lot of babies, but my main concern is the code he left in it.”
“They're plans.”
“Almost like battle plans, right? This is clever shit, it took me a while to crack it. But it follows a particular pattern that a lot of people wouldn't be able to follow unless you're a seasoned tactician.”
“Dr. Peter Brooke had one deployment and almost no time on the ground, though.”
“But he's smart, we've established that. He planned out the attack on NEST, reviving, and then causing major structural and internal damage to NEST HQ and NEST systems. The one flaw in his plan was depending on humanity's... well, humanity. I think he was a huge believer of the humanity in everybody, or some crazy hippy shit like that.”
“Curious, given his actions, but he was forced.”
“Forced indeed. As the coded plans pan out, he never intended to deliver the Hands the ex-Director. He wanted to use her as a bargaining chip.”
“He killed her... so that only happened to prevent them from going in and tying a loose end once he was captured. If he's captured, but fulfilled orders, he's still believed to be on their side.”
“His plans include much more. A bargaining chip, right? Take his stuff and identity back, and they can have the director back, do what they will with her. Along with one of their superweapon serum ingredients. Some odd trace amount of some regenerative metahuman essence or whatever the shit.”
“Meta-human energy as part of his medicine?”
“He theorized that, small enough, it can bolster the stem cell recovery process, boost production, and would dissipate by the time whatever limb has recovered. Like a strong-ass energy drink, so the body won't be exhausted and undergo trauma by spending so much energy into an extensive recovery.”
“If I'm reading this right, that's not just it.”
“I'm sorry?”
“I think you missed something. Here it says about something in the basement.”
“Let me see that, point to it!”
“Here, right here.”
“Oh... Oh my God...”
“What does the rest say?”
“...the bastard was going to destroy the Hands.”
“Taking everything so far into consideration has given me recurring bad dreams, restless evenings, and night terrors. A curious phenomenon, this one. People think of psychologists as initiates to the discipline of self-mastery. I was once under this impression, too, many years ago. Maybe to some extent I still am. Despite no longer believing in my own self-mastery, I clung desperately to this idea. I thought if I could acknowledge the logic of my situation, the inconsistencies in my own thoughts, that I could control the situation around me and thereby control my feelings. It is a moot effort, I've known this all along. Feelings are caused by chemical balances in the brain. Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins – cortisol. A particular elevation in the latter-most mentioned chemical. It's against my training and education to prescribe myself, or even diagnose myself properly, as I am too prone to bias or influence. The others are not qualified. We do not have funding for another doctor, but I believe I wouldn't have it anyway. I am very proud of my work and my career. I am confident in my own value. This chance that I would be influenced by bias may interfere with a colleague's diagnosis. I suppose one could say I am conceited. I am not so proud that I think I wouldn't concede to that point.
The others have suggested I write my own personal diary. They are convinced by the idea that writing my feelings down on paper may help to ~express~ myself. Perhaps on a few occasions I have suggested this to patients, but they were in a significantly different situation with a different diagnosis. Often used to help manage confusion, sense of feeling lost, chaotic feelings, and such that would disorient a patient's emotional or mental direction. My chaos is of a different sort. My chaos is of fear and uncertainty. Any measure of suggestion, proposal, idea, may only mislead and lead to greater chaos and confusion. But most importantly, writing and documentation of feelings such as mine brings greater harm by granting them validity. Much like the phrase, “I won't even dignify it/that/they/them with a response”, I dared not to pave conceptual concrete for a tainted image of my health. I didn't want what may have been mere ideas and fears to be supplanted by a manifestation of lasting terrors.
How the mighty have fallen!
I suppose I had no other place to turn to. Such as what's been written previously, I suppose this may be nothing more than an admission to myself. To put to rest what was or what may have been, my sins, and my virtues. I might have acted to be above the rest to others, before. That I may be a higher power, or that I may be the very devil, or the gray chaotic uncertainty – a walking mystery. I want to be rid of all of that. I am a man. I've never been anything more, and if I've ever convinced myself otherwise, I was deluded. Now I simply want nothing more than a simple life.
I can't say for certain if I believe I deserve even that.”
“The situation has never been more complex. It's convoluted in ways we hadn't ever thought on the day we came to the fucking city. We never expected unkillable super-villains. We never expected the anti-Christ. Not only did we get both, we also got mad scientists as a grand ol' fucking turd cherry on the top of this mud pie of camel shit. But we also can't complain, because in history, we'll be the idiots that came back. I can work magic, but we don't have the equipment, or our darling Maria watching our asses. What I can assess is that the Devil has reached pinnacle mass in my very own Rapture-meter, the Changelings are totally unveiled and wreaking what havoc they want in Verthaven – what they could want with ruins, I don't know. Personally, I'd get tired of scraping monster-brand mystery sludge off my boots whenever I grind their stupid faces into the asphalt. No trace of the Hands remain, but we can't rule them out yet. A man turned into a weapon, who was capable of saving thousands of lives, was left for dead and subsequently killed when presented with his only chance of redemption. The only apparently solution to this storm is to glass the whole damn place, and finally, I am slowly losing my faith in the good Lord – forgive me, but given the circumstances, I'm sure daddy-o wouldn't blame me.”
“And what we're going to do about it?”
“I haven't arranged anything, it's too risky. But Baron will make a surprise rendezvous with the NEST crew. They're gonna be pissed with us, so we're putting our best smooth talker up to the task of diplomatic relations with apocalyptic survivors we could have helped earlier – God help him. They'll work out their strategies. I'm spotting Grit while he tries to make his shot in knocking down a demonic skyscraper with little .308 sized rounds. They're capsuled. Re-purposed incendiary bullets carrying Baron's blood. None of us are meta-scientists, but we're hoping that since Baron is immune to meta-energy, that something carrying or imbued his essence can stop whatever bastard with super-powers from coming back to life or whatever. Grit, you've come into contact with one of these people yourself.”
“That's right. Probably a dozen rounds, and he ate 'em up.”
“If the bullets had something that negated powers, he would've stayed dead.”
“God damn it.”
“But there's no guaranteeing it'll work. To minimize risk, we'll be taking blood samples from Baron before we head out to make the freshest possible ammunition. If we succeed, everyone will see the Devil tower fall for miles. Then we clean house. The biggest threat is the regenerative fucker, and then the one that can transport them. Take them out first, and then there's no way they can recover.”
“If we don't topple the tower?”
“I'm gonna take a guess and assume it's like the tower of Sauron, and also assume that the tower of Sauron can shoot beams out of its eye, or raise monsters from dirt. We make a run for it and wait for government official to turn the whole place to slag. Baron, if you hear it get pissed and it isn't falling down, wrap up whatever you're doing and leave pronto.”
“Assuming Lihua isn't--”
“On a first name basis now? Did you call her while we were gone?”
“...Assuming Lihua isn't keeping me preoccupied with a long lecture. Asian mothers. You know how the stereotype goes.”
“I'm asked if I have regrets. I say no. I'm a spook. Nobody comes into my life. There's no room for love or commitment – not to another. No room for selfish choices. This selfless devotion doesn't even come as admirable as service to country. A sort of nationalism I haven't felt in decades. It's fed straight to a PMC. I will be honest and say that the PMC is like family, and I will continue to think of them in such a way, but in the broader scheme, we're scraping the bottom of the barrel for respect. This respect is derived from our aptitude, but not us. Nobody hears “mercenaries” and thinks “honor”. If we were to dissolve, the civilized world would hear that and think nothing of it. No room for honorless, greedy, and heartless scum bags. I would get angry, but not show it, because they don't know all the amazing men and women that has done countless, great things for the world in the darkness. The hell they've been spared. We, and I especially, bear the darkness on our shoulders. Doing the things we don't want to do, but know what must be done, to ensure a lasting peace.
I have my regrets. I am proud of my service. I also regret it. I suspect if I had to choose again, and picked not to, I would also regret not taking the opportunity, even if I had known everything I had to do and suffer and give up. I'm a man. I'm indecisive like the rest. The only difference is that I pretend to understand it better than most, but the funny thing about psychology is that it's a science. It's logical and factual. Humans are not so. Learning neuropsychology was more logical to me, since brain patterns can better predict this chaos – but sometimes I wonder if it's really possible to *measure* chaos. That sounds like an oxymoron to me.
I mentioned loose ends once before. I just think it's time to get everything off of my chest. If the first actions in the last segment of my final job should set the pace for how the future goes, it should be something that can benefit the future. I want to look through whatever rubble remains and procure the remaining research papers of the late Dr. Peter Brooke. He was an individual even I wouldn't be able to help. He was in the center of the chaotic throes of life, and he took it on. Whatever monstrous acts he committed with one hand and benevolence he performed with the other... well, metaphorically speaking – his first acts of the last segment of his final hours set the standard of what kind of person he really was. When push came to shove, he put humanity first before himself. That shines all the light on him that I need.
The middling is selfish. I don't think I've the right to be, but so many years have left me apathetic to whatever conclusion that may arise to answer, I think it's time I made a decision to be selfish. I'll probably ask Lihua on another date. You know, in the middle of the apocalypse. Except after the apocalypse. Post-apocalypse dinner or breakfast or something. The first wasn't genuine at all. I was feeding on the information she provided. I want to say she deserves better, but again, selfishness. Besides, the point of this is to turn over a new leaf. Maybe I'll be a college professor.
The last is the dirty deeds. The last few terrible things I'll commit as the old Dr. Moreau, before the renewal, and assuming I survive. The Changelings. I know I can talk my way in there. Might be the hardest job yet, but even my hardest job so far has only left me feeling a little moist in the pits. I'm good at this. The one with the alias of Bloodsucker is the worst. Word is he can't die. I know that doesn't matter to me. Nobody can get close to him, nobody but me. I know secrets he doesn't. I could literally topple nine different governments, black mail dozens of others. I'm limitlessly beneficial. Nobody should have to risk themselves dealing with this trash. I don't use this term lightly. I believe most people are capable of redemption.
Most.
This is just another assassination. This is within my reach. What comes after is unsure to me. Disheartening. I've always had a good measure of foresight.
Remain vigilant until then. Wait for me.”
. . .
The back of the van was a somber sight. No noise, no talking, just men taking what they could in. Uncharacteristically, Baron's depiction was quite unlike the ordinary. His hair was usually styled and his face was clean-shaven. It was clear now that his black hair may have been aided by coloring, as silver strands were showing, and without the gel, his hair was soft and dry, and he had bangs hanging over his forehead. Black stubble layered over the bottom half of his face. Across from him was Danny Grit, perhaps the faintest afterimage of a smile on his face, as though thinking back on the good old days as he meticulously polishes his gun. His disposition now more matured than before, and thin sideburns has grown down to his upper jowls. His hair, usually put up in a small ponytail, slightly more grown out – and in a rare occasion, let down. So rare, that curls and waves in his hair were apparent down the middle of his locks and the head was naturally slicked backward. Washe was driving the van – he seemed to be the one taking this in stride the most. He has even gave himself a clean shave, removing the legendary beard piece. In place of his Dreadnaught-brand beret was a proper cowboy hat made of leather, whistling show-tunes to the sight of smoke on the horizon.
“You're awfully eager for hell.” Grit piped up.
“The devil promised to keep my throne warm for me.” Washe responded.
Baron paused before making a half-hearted interjection. “I could do an impromptu psychoanalysis , if you'd like.”
“Nah, nah, I've had enough of that for one life time.”
“Do it doc, do it!” Grit goaded.
“When the patient exhibits personality traits relating to an increase in endorphin--”
“Nah, nah, nah--”
“--during a time of crisis or significant danger, this is often in relation to--”
“Nah, nah, nah, nah!”
“--is often in relation to the state of shock or--”
“Nah, nah!”
“--or desperation, and the patient clings to denial or enters a depressive and nihilistic state.”
“But doc,” Grit interrupted, “the ol' man doesn't look to be in shock to me.”
“You're right.” Baron agreed. “He's gone mad, there's no hope left for him.”
“Truly got your work cut out for you!” Washe chimed from the front.
“Tsk, tsk.” Grit continued. “Then what do we pay 'im for?”
“Nothing, we're all unemployed.” Baron declared. “Throw me on the slab, I'm done for.”
“You been chain-smoking like a mother fucker lately,” Washe said with an inordinate amount of concern in his voice, “don't even think the birds would eat ya.”
“What can I say?” Baron said, sounding almost exhausted. “End of the world. No more consequences.”
“Just keep your head in the game.” Washe insisted. “We might have to use your tongue at some point, when we do, we're gonna need it cancer-free.”
“Nah, I don't think so. You're a real charmer yourself, you know that? Got yourself a kid to prove it.”
“Y'know what? Yeah, you're right.” Washe announced. “Maybe I'll go up to that Jap bitch and steal that putang right from under ya.”
“Chinese.” Baron corrected, ignoring the rest of his comments.
“See? Yeah, Chinese. It's good to have a wing-man.”
Baron looked at Grit silently cleaning his gun, and thought to say a few words to perhaps brighten his spirits, or get him to join in a little more. “I'm surprised a fine young man like you doesn't haven't gotten himself a lady yet.”
Grit looked up, giving a shy smile as a hint of blush brushed his cheeks. “Oh, naw. I mean, I guess yeah, but you know... being a Dreadnaught didn't leave much room or time for that sort of thing.”
The van fell quiet all of a sudden. Baron felt a twinge in his heart. Washe felt a little guilty. Being a bought-for soldier had the magic of robbing a young man of his youth.
“But I'm not one no more.” Grit quickly said. “As soon as we wrap this up, it's all smooth sailing from here. Just... gotta figure out what to do. Something that... doesn't involve shooting people.”
“Getting off on the exit.” Washe said.
“Factory work is honest work.” Baron suggested. “It pays good, too. Good benefits.”
“I reckon it would, yeah. I'll look into it.”
It was a couple of more silent minutes, listening to the wind whip and holler outside the van windows, watching countryside fields lined by gray skylines pass by as the city limits came closer. Baron felt prepared for the worst. He could say he accepted whatever fate lied in wait for him, but if he had to choose, a normal life might suit his wishes more. As old as he was now, mid-late thirties, he was wondering if he could adapt again. Grit had it worse. He knew normal life better, but he has a vastly changed outlook on life now that he's served. Baron's outlook has been maintained over a course of many years.
“What the hell...” Washe murmured.
“What? What happened?” Baron said as he hurried to lean over and look over Washe's shoulder. Grit also stood up and braced his footing to see what was happening through the windshield. All of a sudden a bright flash of red light blinded them, and Washe made the van skid to a near stop to prevent him from swerving out of control. As swiftly as it came, the light had vanished. Their eyes were still recovering from the sudden flash.
“What in God's name...” Baron muttered as he rubbed his eyes.
“Don't tell me that was a fucking weapon or something! Was it Hands?” Washe roared.
“Christ...” Grit murmured.
“We need to get there ASAP.” Baron stated. “Floor it, we need to find out what happened.”
“There's been a major change in plans!” Washe roared. He didn't wait for Baron. The wheels of the van smoked for a second before the whole vehicle bolted down the highway.
They were cutting their way through the forest now. Every one of them had their hearts jumping up into their throats. Grit broke from his panic trance and dropped to the floor of the back, pulling out all the footlockers and equipping himself with what he could carry. Grenades, pistols, rifles and all the sort. Radio headsets. Baron watched them. He was grateful he aligned himself with some Texas and Alabama folks – they sure liked their guns. What they had with them was what they owned. Nothing from the Dreadnaughts remained except for some few tokens. They started to break through the other end of the forest. They whizzed past a sign, “Welcome to Verthaven (Isabella Isle)”.
“The Devil!” Washe exclaimed. “She's gone! Where the hell could she have gone?!”
“I don't know,” Baron said, “go towards where all that smoke is, maybe we can find her there.”
“Guys...” Grit said gently as he raised himself to his knees. Something didn't feel right. “Where's the NEST tower?”
Baron and Washe looked at each other. The Devil. NEST tower. Lots of smoke. The answer was becoming clearer. Their van entered the city, ignoring all the rules of the road – nobody lived here anymore. It didn't matter. Tight turns faster than they should, no police to chase them. Smoke was getting thicker, and they could see it billowing over the tall buildings from a city block away. It towered over them. Washe made a few quick maneuvers to get around what damage and debris blocked their way, and made a few quick turns onto NEST's street. There was the sound of gunfire nearby. Grit began tying his hair up into a bun.
They all looked out the windshield, seeing what little bits that remained of the Devil's tentacles and mass dissolve into the air. The faint image of a group came through all the smoke and dust. Civilians? NEST? Whoever it was, they'd only see a black van with tinted windshields. Washe hit the brakes and set it to park. Grit bolted out the back, kicking the back doors open and jumped down. He raised an automatic rifle and was taking hurried steps forward, poised to defend himself against any straggling monsters, Hands, or... God forbid, the Changelings. Strapped to his back was an old-fashioned sniper rifle, an M40. One pistol was holstered on either side of his hip – a sawed off on his lower back like a fanny pack, and an assortment of gear on his belt. A Kevlar vest was layered over his long-sleeve green shirt. On the inside, Washe squinted through the fog. The people were mourning. One lick of fresh air came through with some wind, and he immediately identified a couple of NEST agents.
“We're too late.” Baron said with a disheartened sigh.
Washe abruptly opened his own door, grabbing his own weapons, but not as heavily armed as Grit was. Who knew how many knives that boy hid on his body? He had his own shotgun on his back, and a pair of .45 colt revolvers. We won the West with 'im, might see if history repeats itself this time. He roared after Grit as he marched through the streets.
“Stand down, Daniel! They're friendlies!”
He paused, and began waving his way through the fog, but still on the defensive. Familiar faces began coming through – but they weren't happy. The were wracked with grief. “I'll be damned...”
It was a couple moments longer until the final door opened, slower than the others. Baron slowly let himself out. He wasn't his usual dapper self, looking a touch more worse for wear. A gray undershirt, two of three top buttons done. Tucked into waist-high black trousers, held up by suspenders. They were tucked into boots. Underneath, untidy protrusions on one of his legs shown. They made metallic rattling. He unpocketed a half-empty pack of cigarettes, but fumbled at the last second, and they fell out into a dirty puddle on the side of the road. Baron couldn't believe he half contemplated trying to save them. He sighed, gave up on the smokes, and limped forward with no particular enthusiasm.
The once-been Dreadnaughts, in all their glory. Not far off from NEST, in having seen better days.
The lead up to this explosive finale was quite tense. RAVEN and friends were getting ready, while the Changelings were gradually getting closer and closer. Heartbreaker let out a murderous grin, and licked the barrel of her gun as she looked at the RAVENs.
Each group on a different side of a destroyed street. Heartbreaker was whispering some plans to the other Changelings, which gave RAVEN some time to do the same.
"...You got a plan, Maximilian?" Lihua asked under her breath. "I suggest we take Heartbreaker out fast as possible... an open fight like this could spell the death of us... especially with her."
She drew attention to the Berserker, who was pounding her fists.
"I'll put pressure on Heartbreaker... everyone else draws the attention of the others and tries to ween them down." Maximilian whispered to the group. "If we start to get overwhelmed, then just use the gas to push them back. And don't use them early. Only when we absolu-"
"...Oh shit she's coming for us!" Cindy shouted, signalling the others to get the hell out of the way.
The Berserker started charging right for the NEST numbers. Everyone dodged in their own ways - which was the moment a portal opened behind Heartbreaker, and stepped through, and ended up on the rooftop.
Lihua shot a pillar of concrete out of the ground, and used that to take flight. However, Primitive Light lunged right for her at high speeds like a rocket, cocking her fist back. Her only response was to jump off the pillar and use it as a shield. In which Primitive Light punched clean through using kinetic impact. Lihua grabbed the stone, but Primitive Light exploded outwards, and sent Lihua flying backwards into a side street.
Which she ran down, and lunged at her, and her hands were glowing brightly with kinetic energy.
Maximilian looked down the side street, but was interrupted when a blast of green energy came flying towards him. The Changeling Unit were rushing towards them, using Count Vicious' ability to create cover.
The Berserker came to a stop behind RAVEN, which created quite a problem since the Berserker could flank them. However, Maximilian saw the portal open on the roof, and he knew where Heartbreaker was.
"...Let's finish this!" Maximilian shouted as Echo took position in front of him. Both the Changelings and NEST went into combat with each other. Bullets, superpowers, and more, went flying.
However, Leon split off from the group for a moment.
Lihua threw a concrete barrier up in front of herself, and braced herself for the upcoming attack from Primitive Light. She propelled herself through the air, and punched the wall so hard that it shattered into chunks. Lihua could only will them to stop before they hit her as she threw her hands up into an X formation. Once the dust settled, she came face to face with the Changeling. Standing on what's left of the barrier.
"...Come and get me, whore," Lihua spat out the words.
Letting out a shriek, Primitive Light cocked her fist back, and lunged at the matriarch. Lihua pulled the stone underneath her feet from under her, and flipped backwards - throwing up a cloud of dust rocks, blinding her. Primitive Light let out a screech of pain as stone dust went up into her eyes.
Lihua grinned as she raised both hands up into the air, pulled two stones the size of her head out of the ground, and shot both hands forward. The rocks flew through the air, and hit her in the chest. However, her ability to absorb kinetic energy negated the potential damage.
Then it was Primitive Light who was the one that was grinning. She pushed both hands out, and fired a shockwave of pure kinetic energy that sent Lihua flying. The matriarch rolled, and flipped some stone upwards to stop her. She quickly came to a skidding stop on her knee as she hissed at Primitive Light.
The Changeling switched to electricity, and arced electricity in between her hands. Reacting in advance, Lihua ducked down and threw her arm up, and threw some stone up into the way. The electricity struck the barrier, and Lihua hissed as she just felt the electricity hitting near her. She peeked out for a moment, and swiped her hand across and pulled the street that Primitive Light was standing on from under her.
Lihua tried to bury her underneath the stone - but she merely exploded outwards with as much kinetic energy as possible. Which made Lihua grit her teeth in irritation.
Hope was fading... but Lihua was going to die before she let the Changelings leave this city before Meifeng or Lijuan did.
Just as Count Vicious was creating metal barriers for the Changelings, Cindy was doing the same. She took cover behind a wall, peeking out for a moment as she cupped her hand as if she was holding water. A glowing orb of green glass formed in her hand, that was somewhat fluid like a liquid. She threw it around the corner, and when it hit the ground, it was a straight pane of glass, before it "expanded" outwards like a fan. Providing instant cover for Trevor who took position behind it to save himself from one of Fig's blasts.
"Ah, shit!" Trevor shouted, as he pressed his back up against the glass. They needed to take out that bitch who was shooting all this hot stuff at them. Trevor thought about taking a pot shot out at her, but with Heartbreaker still doing her thing, that would be stupid.
Fig was standing on the other end of the block with both hands outstretched, and firing a barrage of the energy. Everything they hit were left with a burning scorch mark. More than that, it was enough to keep the RAVENs quite surpressed.
Meifeng was more worried about the God damn Berserker. She gathered water around herself to create an orb, and froze some of the water within the orb, and shot them at the Berserker. The brute just swiped her hand across and shattered them like it was nothing as she was going towards Meifeng in a slow charge - she slammed her hand downwards in an attempt to crush Meifeng, but all she did was use her water abilities to propel her through the air. She was wondering just what would stop the Berserker.
However, Heartbreaker called the giant up into the roof, and she started going after Maximilian. Meifeng just wished that she could have helped him, but her fight was here, with her friends. She was going to make sure that nobody else dies. She ran back to the front lines.
Nikki had gathered a swarm of insects, before she blanketed the area with them. Using them as a means of long ranged detection. She wanted to keep track of all the Changelings... which was why she specifically tagged each and every one of them with an insect. She kept behind cover.
For good reason, because Count Vicious created spikes of metal out the ground, raised them up into the air, and sent them flying at RAVEN. They were fortunate enough to get some forewarning before the barrage of metal came flying at them. However, Adam stood in the center of the barrage, and deployed his own version of Echo. The metal spikes were punched so hard they were sent flying in another direction.
And once the large of the metal barrage came, his Echo caught both of the spikes, and he threw them at Count Vicious at high speed.
The ferrokinetic caught them, but Adam had switched to his wind powers, and summoned a wind so powerful that it slipped the metal spike out of his grip and would have killed him if it wasn't for the fact that he covered himself in metal. Which caught him off guard.
They needed a quick way to turn this fight around. Cindy thought it was a tad rash, but she created another one of her glowing glass seeds, and popped out from behind cover to throw it. The glass seed traveled far, but...
Fig raised both her hands up into the air, and produced her gaseous green energy - which took a solid shape until it was almost like a pane of glass. It took solid properties, and acted as a shield. The glass seed bounced right off it, and exploded harmlessly some distance away.
"Well, damn it." Cindy wondered if they could use the gas now. They needed a plan, because shooting stuff at each other wasn't going to cut it.
Maximilian was keeping the pressure on Heartbreaker. His rage over the deaths of Sonya, Cass, and everyone else who was killed by the Changelings empowered him. He flew upwards, and used Echo as a shield as he went straight for Heartbreaker's new position on the roof. She fired off a few shots at him, but the shots did nothing but ricochet off Echo.
Flipping backwards, Heartbreaker barely managed to dodge Echo punching the buildingside she was standing on. Echo was quick in grabbing a chunk of stone out of midair, before he threw it at Heartbreaker at high speeds. She quickly moved out of the way, and fired off a pop shot at Echo - which did nothing but collide with his frame. Echo flew towards her at high speed, and she tried to dodge - but Echo punched the rooftop and made her fall over.
Putting her superior reflexes to good use, she braced herself for the fall, and hit the ground with both hands to disperse the impact. Heartbreaker held her guns tightly, but one slid out of her hands, and Maximilian made good use of that when he commanded Echo to kick the gun so far away that it disappeared into the distance.
Heartbreaker hissed... she realized that up close and personal fighting was not her forte.... Which is why she's getting someone who specialized in these up close and personal brawls.
She quickly shoved two of her fingers into her mouth and loudly whistled, "...Oh Berserker!" She said like an innocent schoolgirl.
Letting out a hellish roar, the Berserker hopped up far into the air as Heartbreaker jumped off, gracefully landing and hitting the ground.
Maximilian grunted in anger as he flew backwards to avoid the Berserker crushing him. She hit the roof... but didn't fall through it like Maximilian once thought. She just landed on the roof, and faced him. Echo flew forward and tried to deliver a punch to her, and the Berserker just caught it. She threw Echo aside as she began to run straight for Maximilian.
With an unstoppable beast on him, Maximilian choose to fly straight upwards - the Berserker hopped right up after him. And literally didn't show any signs of stopping no matter how high he went. Which gave Maximilian an idea. He reached up to his belt, and grabbed a canister of meta-suppressant gas.
When the Berserker got close, Echo appeared, and Maximilian quickly handed his golden clone the can. Before Echo jammed a hole in the can with his fingers, and shoved it in the Berserker's jaw.
"Eat that!" Maximilian shouted as the Berserker was engulfed in the gas.
She felt back down to earth like lightning, and Maximilian figured he should try to finish her off - but he's a big target for Heartbreaker up here.
The Berserker stumbled out of the gas cloud, waving her hands around to get the gas out of her face.
On the other hand... Leon stepped back over to Sonya's corpse. He crossed his heart... damn, he was going to miss the frog-gal, but this was a sign. A sign that they had to do everything in their power to bring an end to the Changeling Unit. Because them... they're monsters. Leon always thought that Luis was a madman - and this Godhood nonsense just proved it. But just who else were they going to hurt in pursuit of this "Godhood."
Lots and lots of people.
Which was why Leon was going to make sure that they never get out of here. That Verthaven became their grave - but, they didn't deserve to rot alongside all the innocent people they killed here. Leon looked at Sonya's choice of weapon... which fell when she did, but was otherwise undamaged. He wanted to use her sniper gun... in her memory. He could just picture the little frog smiling from heaven as the Changelings were wiped clean off this earth.
No matter what the Changelings had, Leon could see everything. It was that way from the beginning and he was a little boy. Just realizing that he could use his power for more than just perving on women. He learned that he could see things that nobody else should be able to... which was what gave him a wisdom, an insight, like no other. What had drawn him to NEST was the need to make sure that some of the shit he'd seen didn't tear apart this fragile piece he got comfortable with.
Leon knelt down and grabbed Sonya's rifle. Their only shot at the Changeling Unit is taking Flashbang and the Berserker out of the equation. The Changelings had a horde of maniacs, NEST had good souls out there to stop them. Leon was possibly the only person who could find their weaknesses, and exploit them.
Throughout all the fooling around, getting drunk and high, and driving Maximilian up the wall, Leon knew that this was coming.
He could see things through the camera's eye of the world.
The past.
The future.
And there wasn't any place for him in the latter. He's going to turn this fight around in NEST's favor while he had the chance. He slung the sniper rifle over his shoulder and started running for an alleyway. He quickly climbed up the ladder of the tallest building (that was still standing, of course), and made it to the rooftop. He knelt down, and used his observational powers to find Heartbreaker... She was the one calling the shots. He'd love to kill her, but if he took Flashbang out the picture, he could remove their mobility, and helped even the playing field a lot more.
He peeked into her mind, and saw her battle plans. Flashbang was out of the way of the fight... on standby inside a ruined apartment just in case she'd need to open portals for them. However, she wasn't that far away from the rest of them - he was in the direct line of sight of Heartbreaker. Which was why he's not going to get spotted... Until Flashbang's dead.
Leon got off the rooftop, and slid down the iron ladder, and started running while the battle was going on. He had two options on going about this: sneaking up on her, or catching her off guard.
Both would end the same way.
"Reed... are you there?" A familiar voice rasped through his comm-piece.
"Quent?" He'd stopped once he'd been certain they weren't going to get caught up in the tidal wave. Since then, Reed hadn't heard a word from any of the others up until now. "I'm here with a couple survivors. What happened at HQ, is she dead? Is everyone alright?"
It took a little while before he got an answer that felt like a weight dropping in his stomach, "Cass is... they... those fuckers turned on us and killed him."
Reed had no answer for his brother, feeling his stomach churn over. No, he thought. "No, Quent... you're not... no... no, no!" Reed's fists smashed against the dash in his denial until they were raw, tears welling in his eyes.
And his brother could hear it all. "They killed Mayfield too..." Quentin continued, "Just before she killed Cass - that bitch shot her in the back of the skull before she had a chance." An unrestrained fury lay dormant in his tone. "Heartbreaker killed them."
Meanwhile, Shizuka left the Taylors to catch up with each other; he tried not to listen in (recalling those bad news made his stomach churn) and chose to focus on keeping a lookout. There were loud noises - shouts and explosions - not too far away from their current location. "Sorry to cut your conversations short, but it sounds like the RAVENs are fighting... Probably with the other Changelings," he said grimly, turning to face Quentin. "...Looks like you're much better now - I guess we're even, then."
He gestured from the comm-piece to the agent, telling him to have it. "I'm gonna rejoin the other agents and help them." (Well, he still had a 'promise' to keep.) Then he raised his voice, "To the cop over the comm: I'm handing your brother to you, so it's your turn to watch over him - and stop him from doing stupid things like that suicide attempt just now. I won't be around to save his ass the second time, yeah?"
With that, he gave Quentin a lazy wave and disappeared through the wall.
"Get 'em..." Quentin mumbled, before setting off to rejoin the others. "Reed.. if you're still there, I'm going back for the others. Not about to let them face these assholes without me, especially not her."
"...Ugh!" Luis exclaimed as he stepped through the portal, followed by Witch Mother, in a position far away from the fight. He was clenching his head, feeling a sharp pain inside his skull. This was strange since he shouldn't be feeling anything. This new pain only angered him. "...What did that brat do to me?" He hissed as he grasped his head in pain.
"Boss..." Witch Mother somberly said. "I did the best I could... but he damaged your brain in a way I'm not familar with."
"Damn it..." Luis hissed as he clutched his skull tightly.
This was when the Mannequin crawled down from the side of the wall, and landed at Luis' feet. He was bowing before his master. "What happened?" The monotone whisper would send chills down anyone else' spine, but it did little to affect Luis.
"I don't kno... that doesn't matter," Luis barked. "Mannequin, what is going on in the battle against NEST?"
The Mannequin looked up at Luis, his fleshy eye twitched.
"It is a stale mate," Mannequin said. "However, Heartbreaker is devising a plan to turn it around in our favor."
"Good," Luis said, clenching his head. "Let's kill these bastards already and then go after the Hands." He hissed, letting out sighs of pain.
Using the still-standing buildings and walls as cover, Shizuka had been slipping through them, moving towards the source of explosions so as to regroup with RAVEN as quickly as he could. He nearly head-butted into Cindy when he popped out of the wall facing the glass girl. He quickly pushed his palms against the wall behind Cindy to put a distance between himself and her.
"Hey!" Cindy hissed, almost scared out of her mind that she would be coming face to face with an actual Changeling. Only to see this loony boy almost running into her.
"Sorry...didn't know you're here," he panted, completely oblivious to how he had almost gave her a (painful) kiss if he didn't stop himself fast enough. "Anyway, I've got some news - good and bad at the same time," he began with a rush as he stepped backwards and straightened up.
"The bad: that goddamn bloodsucking leader is sure tough as fuck - he refused to drop dead even after I stuck a freakin' knife all the way into his brain...to save that power-imprinting agent from a suicide attempt."
"Damn it..." Cindy hissed... no one knew where this crazy ass boy ran off to, but he and Quentin were planning this suicide attack on Luis? Damn, Cindy didn't know to commend him on his balls, or call him stupid - in either case, they got another hit in on that bastard Luis. "We'll... have to try something else. I don't know - have Lihua bury him under a mountain or something - anything." She was getting desperate here.
That made Shizuka raised an eyebrow at her, amused at her suggestion.
Actually, where was Luis at.
While Cindy was talking, Trevor was still taking cover from the barrage from Cindy's glass shield. He turned his head to see a newcomer, and nearly drew the revolver at his waist - when he realized it was his boy Shizuka! It was great to see a friendly face-
Another blast of Fig's energy caused the fan-shield to explode, and cut Trevor's face.
And oh boy, that wasn't pretty. He felt the full brunt of the pain. He wiped the blood away, as he turned towards Cindy's little alleyway, and ran inside of it.
"But the good is: his regeneration won't be able to properly heal that knife wound since I merged the blade with his brain cells...on an atomic level." He permitted himself a small smirk. "It should affect him enough that he's no longer able to use his powers at their fullest potential, giving us a chance to finish him for good."
He rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging awkwardly. "Well, I've returned what they did to Jen's gut back into his head... You can say that's what gave me this crazy idea. And found a potential weakness to his near-immortality."
"Maybe..." Cindy thought about it for a moment. God damn, Luis is an immortal in every sense of the word. Instead of focusing on killing him, maybe they could disable him - or kill the other Changelings. "You did a good thing.... all we have to do is find him, and finish this."
She didn't know the full extent of Luis' abilities, or what his crew was capable of, but she was wondering if he would have retreated by now. The Hands had the Metahuman he's so desperately after.
Trevor was wiping some of the blood off his cheeks, he hissed in pain as he grazed his wounds the wrong way. He then panted - he kinda wished that drug of his worked on himself now. It just inconveniently didn't affect him. Trevor was, for the most part, just keeping watch. In case one of the Changelings showed up out of nowhere.
The fog sure was mighty thick around here - he didn't know if it was the clouds of debris from NEST HQ falling, or whatever the hell the Devil did, but it was a double edged sword.
It makes them hard to see as the enemy.
However, Trevor's sharp eyes noticed a silhouette slinking around. It was fortunate Trevor was able to spot him - he didn't know if it was a Changeling or not. They were totally exposed out here, and Trevor quickly drew his revolver. He took a step back, and tapped Cindy on the shoulder.
"Okay, I don't know what the hell the two of ya' are talking about," Trevor intruded, pointing ahead. "But we got company."
"Christ, we don't ever get a break, do we?" Cindy asked. Ugh. They don't have time for this, she quickly gathered the broken and discarded glass off the ground, and broke them up into sharp, triangle-shaped, pieces. If she threw this at the unprepared, they're in for a bad time. She aimed it towards the target.
Shizuka pulled out the knife on his right - the only one he was left with - and twirled it in his hand, before he crouched forward and made a stance.
Trevor himself took a few steps out of the alleyway, and aimed his revolver at the silhouette, and pulled the trigger halfway...
"Stand down, Daniel! They're friendlies!" A voice rang from behind the silhouette. A wind was picking up, blowing away some of the mist and debris that remained, allowing a clear image of the person approaching. It was a familiar face, and he his gun dropped down to a relaxed position.
"I'll be damned..." Grit murmured aloud. He looked at Trevor and the sight of the kid rang a bell in him, back during the last time they were town. Back when he wrangled with the ringleader of the Changelings. Washe was able to be seen from a distance behind Grit, making a power walk towards them. The faintest appearance of another further behind, Baron.
"Hey, wait, you're..." Trevor immediately recognized the dude that stopped Luis from killing him before all of this went down. He immediately turned towards Cindy, and put his hand on her shoulder, ordering her, "Cindy, drop the glass! They're on our side."
"Wait, you know them?" Cindy asked... even though that was painfully obvious. She ignored the redundancy of her statement, and lowered the glass as ordered. She was taking a chance here... Trevor might have matured a bit, but that doesn't mean he stopped being an idiot.
"Danny. You're Trevor, right?" Grit said, trying his best to perk up with a smile on his face, despite the solemn conundrum they found themselves in.
"Y-yeah." Trevor hesitantly answered, as he was trying to remember what his name was. Because, boy, he's been through so much shit that the time Grit saved him almost feels like years ago. "Grit, right? Didn't expect to see ya' here - of all places. Heh." Trevor couldn't help but grin a little.
"I'm sorry we had to leave when things started gettin' rough," Grit apologized, "but we're back and got no one holdin' us down no more. We ain't leavin' this time."
"Hehe... Thanks." Trevor quickly looked around. "We gonna' need all the help we can get since..." He looked over towards the ruins of NEST headquarters. "...You know." He shrugged.
Shizuka watched the exchanges between Trevor and the three newcomers with narrowed eyes; after a moment, he finally slid the knife back into its sheath, staying a little behind the teens, hiding in their shadows and keeping himself out of everyone's way.
"Hey, wait, do you all want to talk to Maximilian?" Cindy asked - since she recalled seeing the big guy on the news. Something about mercenaries? Cindy didn't have the slightest clue (or care) at this point.
"That'd be just dandy." Washe said bluntly, not breaking his stride as he passed Grit and Trevor and towards the main group. "Could someone kindly let us in on these fine developments?"
"Okay, um... how the hell do I work this again...?" Cindy said under her breath as she pressed her earpiece. She heard a buzzing, and she hoped that means they can hear her. "Maxi- Praetorian? Can you come over here? There's some people who want to help." Cindy said.
At the moment, Maximilian was focusing on the Berserker. She was stumbling out of the cloud of red gas, and was trying to fan it away. It definitely had to have been affecting her. Which was when Max sent Echo out with his fist cocked back. The Berserker managed to parry the blow, and threw Echo away. Even with the gas doing it's work, it still wasn't enough to stop her.
She grumbled some words, before a portal opened up in front of herself. Maximilian let out a groan of irritation as she escaped, but it was what happened.
He heard his comms come alive for a moment, and heard Cindy mention that there were some people coming to help. He narrowed his eyes. Just who would be helping now in their hour of desperation? He was the leader of this group, so he figured that he'd go to meet them.
But,
His fingers went over to his earpiece, and he spoke, "Agent Taylor, would you accompany me to Cindy's location?"
He nodded his head, and started flying straight for her.
It took a while for him to rejoin the group, but when he did, Quentin found Max first - the caustic burns already starting to heal while the adrenaline kept him from noticing or even caring about the pain anymore. "I went after him," he announced his return, cryptically adding, "Got what I came for."
Finally finding Cindy's position, Maximilian descended from the buildingline, and caught a full view of the "people" Cindy spoke of. These weren't just nobodies - if Maximilian was correct, they were the Dreadnaughts that were hired before he was stationed in Verthaven. He wondered just why they're back here of all times, but now was not the time to ask those questions.
Maximilian landed off to the side and walked up. "Hello, I don't think we've been acquainted." He said. "I am Maximilian Cornell... the leader of what's left of NEST."
"And I'm part of what's left," Quentin added, paying no mind to the bare patch of exposed skin along his back.
Washe gave Quentin a brusque nod, but focused his attention primarily on Maximilian - he figured that he would be the strategic genius that led the reduction of NEST's tower to a flattened development of an apocalypse theme park or something. "Sir, Isaiah Washe. Used to be Dreadnaughts, but we came back to finish the job at the cost of our careers, so forgive me if I seem a little short."
Short indeed, he introduced himself as quick and snappy as ever. Baron came riding up the tail end finally with hands on his hips. Not as built as the other two, and his signature dapperness now not existing, his purpose here seemed a touch more foggy. Washe continued, "what's the situation?"
"We're going up against the full brunt of the Changeling Unit. The Changelings are keeping their distance, but putting pressure on us by using their abilities to keep us within cover." Maximilian started off. "They also split Agent Vuhong off from us in order to stop us from using her abilities to turn the battle around in our favor."
"Where are the locations of current engagements?" Washe pried further.
"Agent Vuhong's engagement is just south of us," Maximilian noted first. "As for where our Agents are pinned... it's to the west of our position."
"We really need to take out that girl throwing that burning stuff at us." Cindy noted. "We can't make any progress against them until she stops... I can maybe make a shield."
"You fuckers and your fancy ass powers..." Washe silently muttered to himself. He took a gander around their barricades to check out what was holding them up - seeing naught but a small child, a girl, smiling wickedly and beckoning him forth with her finger. Washe withdrew his head.
"It's Stephen King's wet dream down here." Baron commented. Washe scratched his chin for a moment and then pointed at Maximilian. "I take it she can do whatever she wants with the burning stuff? Walls and the like?"
"That's what she has displayed thus far." Maximilian said. "We are unaware of her exact capabilities, we tried to prod her, but she wouldn't respond."
"She has no other means of protection?" Washe said, head forward, eyes wide open, looking as though he thought the NEST agent was stupid or incapable.
Maximilian narrowed his eyes. "Other than the other Changelings, no." Maximilian answered.
Washe simply rolled his eyes and shakes his head in disbelief, unholstering one of his revolvers and pushing it into Baron's hands. "Be a dear, would ya?" He asked as he started marching south. "Gonna see if I can save yer girlfriend."
Baron raised an eyebrow and looked at the .45 Colt he's been handed, and called out to Washe. "You know I have my own, right? The Caracal?"
"I'd rest better knowing you just blew the creepy kid's head off." He called back.
"Ah... fair enough." Baron submitted. He looked at Maximillian and shrugged. "If you could take her attention, it'd give me a little more time to keep up."
Both Maximilian and Cindy raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, what-" Cindy said, before Maximilian put his hand up in front of her to silence her.
With all due respect, Maximilian gave Baron one look, and wondered just what he'd be able to accomplish with a bad leg, and just a pistol. Far as Maximilian could tell, he was just an unpowered mercenary. However.... Maximilian peered over at Washe. The other Dreadnaught was clearly cooking up a plan of some sort. He didn't know what, but if he was willing to put trust in Baron, then Maximilian was going to at least give him a chance.
"Very well, I can draw her attention." Maximilian said.
"Oh, and Daniel!" Washe called out from even further away. "Find a nice little post or something, I don't know. Ask that Max fellow where a good spot is!"
"Righteo, daddy-o." Grit mused quietly. "I wanna see this first, though."
Baron made a soft laugh to himself in reaction to the exchange between his colleagues. He turned back to the NEST director and bowed his head in respect. "Much obliged, Max. You don't worry about me, just watch your back."
Maximilian nodded his head. He wasn't sure if he wanted to raise objections, but, he should just go along with it (even though he didn't want to see this man get splattered by the Changelings). Echo appeared behind him - who would be invisible to the Dreadnaughts because only a Metahuman can see Echo - and Maximilian pulled out his Beretta m9a1 from his belt. He crouched down, and started walking to the edge of cover.
"Oh, and another thing, Ms. Keagan." Maximilian suddenly said.
"Yeah?" Cindy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Give me cover. Your glass abilities should block most of what they can throw at us." Maximilian stated.
Cindy nodded, as she gathered the glass around herself, and created two multilayered panes of glass for Maximilian. They both flanked him, and the larger agent stepped out from behind cover, and sent Echo flying forward right for Fig.
The Changeling focused her fire on Echo, and fired a barrage of her green orbs at him, while Baron casually turned to walk around the barricade that was set up, and started making a steady pace towards Fig while she was distracted by Max's flashy display. Echo approached Fig and pulled his fist back - but Fig put both hands forward and created a solid shield in front of herself.
Which took a solid blow from Echo, and began to crack on impact. Fig (and the shield) was forced back a few steps. Echo began punching the shield so fast that it was nothing but a blur.
'Oh, that's quite impressive.' Baron thought as he continued his steps toward the anti-Christ child. 'I'd probably flinch.'
The barrage was followed by a wide-arced kick that broke through the burning barrier. Shattering it like glass, and making Fig pace backwards lest he wanted to take the full force blow of Maximilian's Echo. Echo flew forward - before a wall of metal erected itself out of thin air between Fig and Echo. The handiwork of Count Vicious coming to Fig's aid.
Another Changeling, Skin Walker, stretched his way over to the fight. He couldn't compete with Echo, but he can at least distract him.
Count Vicious suddenly created a pillar out of the ground that sent Echo flying upwards, and Skin Walker stretched his arm to grab Echo by the leg, and managed to slam him into the ground.
"Oh dang, not good, not good..." Grit began muttering to himself as more Changelings appeared. Alright, back at base, they had trivia cards and the like. Metal guy. He's gonna need stopping power for that dude. AP rounds were expensive, and he doubted they'd work on him. Shotgun rounds. Same went for the freakshow guy. He let go of his automatic, letting it hang around his shoulder by the sling, and procured the shotgun from his back. He was prepared to give Baron support when he had a good shot. Vicious put up a wall, but he wasn't in sight. Grabbing the skinny dude's attention was a recipe for trouble though.
Baron started breathing a little heavier now. Great. This kid was able to overwhelm the blockade, why start sending her reinforcements now? 'Focus.' As long as they sent unnarmed metas, he should be in the clear. He glanced at Echo as he walked past, and the creature that pursued him, then took a good look at the metal wall "blocking" his way. Fig was on the other side. Well, it was now or never...
With his other hand, he touched the wall and watched with wonder as the bonds holding it together disappeared, a hole nigh instantly crumbled away, forming an opening large enough for him to step through. On the other side was the young Changeling. Baron's face grew cold and grim, hardened by years and years of the same sort of task. It pained him to acknowledge that this wasn't the first time a child had to die. He said nothing, only trudging forward through the hole with his other palm forward to grab her around her forehead and to leave her powerless and at his mercy.
On instinct, Fig stretched both hands forward, and fired a giant stream of her burning hot energy at Baron. Enough to engulf him. But the plasma left his clothes unsinged, skin unburned - as his hand reached through the plasma, it left a trail of absence, until his head gripped around the young girl's forehead, and all of the plasma began to cease. Baron was untouched, and the ground around them was steaming with heat. Under normal circumstances, he'd leave a last word with the children that had to go. Such as, "I'm sorry". Not this one. This one knew exactly why they had to die. He raised the Colt to the space between Fig's eyes and pulled the trigger.
Fig was too caught off guard by Baron surviving to properly react. Could she have dodged? Could she have done better? She was wondering what lead to this one event - starting off as a terrorist, then switching to another. Only to further Luis' goals of becoming a God this time. All of that didn't matter now - because she'd only go down as another of humanity's greatest monsters.
Once the trigger was pulled, Fig went falling backwards as her brains were blown all over the pavement. Spiraling down until she hit the ground. What was left of her head was quickly emptying her supply of blood, and created a puddle of blood at her corpse.
"The hell?!" Count Vicious said as he turned towards Baron, and saw a deceased Fig at his feet.
"Go!" Maximilian shouted in the comms. "Push up!"
Baron looked at Count Vicious curiously, recognizing him from the cram sessions back at base. He then looked back to the wall he had made to protect Fig, and the hole Baron made in it. "Oh, I'm sorry." Baron said sounding truly genuine, looking at the wall, pointing at it with the gun in his hand. "Was this supposed to stop me? I hadn't read the manual."
"To hell with you!" Count Vicious crafted a spear out of thin air, and sent it flying at Baron at high speed.
To his dismay, the spear had evaporated into nothingness as it came within inches of Baron's person. Baron smiled.
"I hadn't read that manual either. I'm a poor student."
Grit was getting anxious. He was poised around the corner of the barricade with his shotgun, but now Vicious was in a position he didn't feel comfortable shooting in. Grit was a good shot, but he can't control shotgun spray. He quickly turned around to Cindy, "Hey! Get him some cover!"
"On it!" Cindy said, and shards of glass flew forward and flanked Baron on each side - taking a V shape as they blocked him from further attack from Count Vicious and the Skin Walker.
Heartbreaker viewed this all from her hidden perch in a window. He clenched her fist tightly, and wondered just who the fuck is this guy. He sure as hell ain't NEST, and he sure as hell isn't some random fucking civilian.
Worst of all, they didn't know what he was capable of.
Where Luis would blindly charge in and slaughter everyone... Heartbreaker would pull back and make them fight on her terms.
Quietly, Heartbreaker pressed her earpiece, and said, "Changelings, pull back before they pull some more weird shit." She ordered. "Flashbang, would you do the honors?"
On cue, a portal opened in the heart of the Changeling group. They all quickly retreated inside, and the portal closed. Another portal opened up further away from the group. Heartbreaker thought about taking a few pot shots, but she had another idea in mind.
"Another time, fellows." Baron said in a bid farewell. Well, wasn't that just a stressful situation? A shame that he couldn't deal with the biggest annoyances just yet... as he recalled, there were three. Bloodsucker, the ring leader that Grit had gotten in an altercation with. Flashbang, the teleporter, and their gunslinger. Heartbreaker. That was one that he had to look out for especially. His power didn't protect him from bullets. He looked back at the group and nodded to them. The kill was secured.
"Has the Berserker gotten over that shit yet?" Heartbreaker spoke into the comms. "Witch Mother, I thought you said you can clear that up just like that...." She groaned in irritation.
"For now, we're regrouping with Luis."
Lihua's skirmish with Primitive Light continued, and the Changeling rushed her, and Lihua dropped to her knees, and slammed her hands into the ground. Several stone pillars came flying out the ground at high speeds and hit Primitve Light right in the gut. Sending her flying backwards into a wall (which actually broke on impact).
It did nothing to Primitive Light as she just absorbed the force of the blast.
Which made Lihua's previous plan of "overload her with so much energy that the bitch explode" seem so much more unlikely. Primitive Light got up off the wreckage - but she recieved word that they were going to retreat.
A portal opened up just for her, and Primitive Light stepped inside - Though Lihua launched a rock inside, hoping to hit someone other than Primitive Light.
With her opponent retreating, Lihua let out a sigh.
"Well, that's a fuckin' shame, innit?" A voice yelled.
Immediately, Lihua raised an eyebrow and turned around - somewhat shocked that she was hearing his voice of all people (that, or she finally snapped).
"I had a nice lil' present I was hoping to give to that one in particular!" Washe complained as he marched toward the scene. He was tapping a grenade that was on his belt. "Looks well and good like your typical fireworks, she would'a loved that. Except it's actually pressurized SO2."
Lihua was still in utter disbelief that she was seeing Washe again, of all people, coming to her aid. There were some chatter about people coming to help in the comms, but Lihua was too focused on the fight.
"So you returned..." Lihua muttered underneath her breath with a faint grin etching across her lips. She wanted to ask if Baron was around.
"Oh, you can always give her your gift later - I doubt we've seen the last of her." Lihua said, out loud this time, in a more playful tone that was almost inappropriate for this scene. "So, I take it that everyone managed to force the Changelings to retreat while I was busy?"
"Seems they did, killin' the kid." Washe mused. "You didn't hear that lovely little bang? That's the sound'a one o' my guns, ain't it somethin'? I s'pose doc got the stones to go through with it."
"Heh," Lihua laughed a little. She looked around, and realized they were sitting ducks out here. It would be very unfortunate if Primitive Light came back with reinforcements. "Now, I suggest we regroup with the others, and devise a plan to pursue the Changelings."
"Yeah." Washe agreed. "A plan. Except us normal people fight normal wars, without magic. If you don't know where their PoC is, pursuin' them is gonna be a touch harder."
Washe gave an exaggerated shrug, turned around and began walking. "But what do I know? Let's just blow this pop stand."
Lihua responded with a brief nod of her head and began walking back to the group.
The group gathered itself together - with Leon finally rejoining the group.
"Agent Vahan," Maximilian asked, irritated. "Where have you been?"
"Oh just..." Leon looked off to the side, realizing his mission didn't go as planned. "...Scouting." He put his hand up. "Don't worry, I know exactly where they are."
"Where?"
"One or two clicks to the north." Leon pointed forward. Before he shrugged. "At least that's where Heartbreaker told em' to gather."
"Well that was fuckin' easier than I expected..." Washe mumbled.
Lihua walked up the side gracefully, before crossing her arms, with one hand on her jaw. "Okay, we'll only have a few minutes before they pull any plans they might be cooking up - so we have to be quick." Lihua looked around. "...And we have to take into account their portal creator - at the moment, she gives them mobility that puts them shoulders above us."
"As it happens, their extractor is just a pack rat." Baron inserted. "They heed their team's whims. They serve, totally, for the team itself. The extractor is only useful. We can take advantage of that since now we know where they are - thanks to Leon. If we can force them to use that power so often, by exhausting them or finding out a limit to those portals, the extractor is ultimately expendable."
There was a hidden meaning to Baron's words that Lihua picked up on. She simply nodded her head - as others would come to the... obvious conclusion.
"So the goal, as I'm hearing it, is to not give 'em a moment of rest." Washe replied, picking up on the psychologist's analysis.
"Then, we should get to work then?" Maximilian rhetorically asked as he tried to piece a plan together in his head. He thought hard about it, rubbing his chin. "Leon, what can you tell us about their position? Any hazards?"
"Hmmm..." Leon said as his superhuman gaze went forward and gave him a bird's eye view of the Changeling's position, and he gave it a good hard look. "They took position in an apartment... or what's left of one. Not super big, like four floors."
"Lihua," Baron said softly, "you control concrete and the like, yes?"
"That is correct." Lihua answered.
"Great!" Washe interrupted. "Knock the whole fuckin' thing down. Crumble the foundation, or is that too big a job?"
Baron could only bring himself to sigh at the man's deliberate antagonization. Truly, it was his way of trying to challenge his recruits and soliders, encourage them to push harder. But this wasn't the marines, or even the Dreadnaughts anymore. It added unnecessary stress.
"... Unfortunately, I can't knock a whole building over with flick of my wrist." Lihua sighed. "... But," She raised a finger in the air. "If I can get under the building, I can destabilize it enough... but I'm definitely going to need some cover for that one."
Baron furrowed his brows. "There must be a better method other than putting you underneath all the debris."
"He's right, you know." Maximilian chimed in. "And if we don't take out Flashbang, it's not going to matter what we knock over."
Grit's eyes was going back and forth between all the strategists and commandos and psychologists and the like - this sort of thing was beyond him, but he couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was a super obvious detail that was evading everyone. He looked for a moment to intrude and raised his finger. "Uh... it's kind of a busted up building though, right? It's probably not hard to knock it over anyway. And if we put two snipers up around the building..."
Everyone looked at Grit.
"Oh fucking hell..." Washe muttered. "This is the day I slash my wrists..."
"Oh." Lihua shrugged, forgetting that simple fact. Ah, must be force of habit now. "But, it'll still be a feat, and I'll still need to be somewhat close."
"We have that kind of support in abundance." Baron assured, gesturing toward Maximillian.
"Leon," Maximilian turned towards his fellow sniper. "You can take position on the rooftop."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Leon trailed off. "But, I get the feeling they're up to something..." Leon thought about it for a moment.
"Of course they're up to something." Washe interjected.
"I'm a swell shot." Grit offered. "I can join him."
"Alright, everyone else will be engaging the Unit." Maximilian said, nodding his head. "Let's move out."
"Actually..." Baron began. There was still some unfinished business he wanted to attend to before they went head first into the bloodshed. "I'm sorry to do this now, but as a doctor, I was meaning to look for something. A particularly important collection of notes..."
Lihua shifted her weight off to the side, and crossed her arms. "If there was anything important here..." Lihua looked around. "...It's long gone." She answered.
"That'd be... bad." Baron sighed in concern. "Because I was referring to the research notes of the late Dr. Brooke."
Lihua immediately raised an eyebrow. What does Baron know about that bastard? Though, Lihua couldn't quite call him a bastard anymore since they got him to change sides. Which brought into question just why he didn't just take his research and leave everyone to their business. Why he didn't just turn on them again. These were questions that were never going to be answered.
"They were, last time I checked," Lihua started. "In the R&R section of NEST headquarters.... we gave him his own private room to continue his work and everything."
Baron nodded, and combed his fingered through his messed up hair. "Well... I suppose I could degrade myself further by rummaging through trash. I don't think all of you could find much use for me in a firefight... in fact, I'd probably be more useful leaving them to wonder where I am."
Lihua sighed, "...Very well." A fake sigh. She just felt it that Baron was planning something.
She's learned to expect as much from him.
"I would love to help you dig through the rubbage... but maybe after we get out of this?" Lihua said. "It'd make for an... interesting date, I'd have to say."
"Yooooo-" Meifeng tried to chime in, before...
"That was the second thing I--"
"Oh for the love of God!" Washe groaned. "Enough already! Baron, do your thing, but the man said move out, let's move out."
"...That escalated faster than I thought," Shizuka commented, amused at the man's short temper.
"Well," Lihua shrugged... unsure of how to respond to Washe's outburst. "Alright, then. Let's go..."
The group started moving, ready to finish this fight once and for all.
The group moved into position, using Leon's idea of the place's layout to their advantage.
The group hugged the walls as the apartment came into direct line of sight. Lihua knew that, at this distance, she couldn't bring down the building without killing herself. Which was why she needed to get close. She narrowed her eyes. That bitch Heartbreaker was around here somewhere... She intended to get revenge against her somehow.
Leon and Grit got in position on the ledge of a roof that was in clear sight of the apartment building. He checked Sonya's rifle... it had a few shots left, but Leon brought some these heavy ass rounds. "Alright, imma give the place a look before we go chargin' in..."
Leon quickly projected his vision into the apartment building... and he couldn't find anyone.
Other than...
Heartbreaker was on top of another building not too far away. Cooly spinning her pistol around as she spotted them coming up. "Oh yeah... they fell right for it." Heartbreaker spoke into the comms. "Berserker, give 'em a spook." She said with a grin.
"Oh no..." Leon muttered into the comms. Grit immediately shifted his rifle towards Heartbreaker, his crosshairs steady over her head. "They're pullin' a fast one on-"
That was when the Berserker exploded out of the destroyed apartment buildings. She sent bits and pieces of the building in all directions. However, that wasn't the end of her destruction. She kept running, even picking up speed, as she ran head long towards the group. Grit's attention was immediately taken away at the sound of an explosion coming out of the building, watching a behemoth of a woman begin charging the rest.
"Everyone, focus on staying out of her way!" Lihua loudly shouted into the comms. She noticed that the Berserker was coming straight for her. She put her hands out, and gently raised them up into the air. She pulled some concrete dust from the ground, and threw it up into the air to act as a blanket.
Right then and there, Lihua and the others dove out of the way. The Berserker ran right on past them, before the Berserker charged right on past the group and went through a building like it was nothing. The impact sounded like an explosion going off. The building fell over, but the Berserker didn't stop running. She quickly circled back towards them - running through another building.
A few blocks over, obscured by the buildings, the Changeling Unit appeared out of a portal in the air.
Luis grinned as he unsheathed two knives out of his holsters. "Looks like your little plan worked after all, Heartbreaker..." Luis said with an evil grin on his face. "Let's go, boys. Let's finish this!" He was still injured by that boy's attack, but he'd be over it by the time he tore that child's heart out.
The Berserker had made another run back through the NEST group - appearing through a building. Almost everyone was fortunate enough to get out the way. Almost. When the Berserker made another run through the group, Nikki tried to dodge, but she tripped over a loose rock. She barely had a chance before the Berserker stepped on her torso and crushed her, she let out an agonized scream as she expired.
"Nikki!" Maximilian shouted as he stretched his hand out. Damn it. They had to take the Berserker out.
Washe turned away at the sight of crunching bones and screams. Yeah, this was a war. But this wasn't like the normal ones. This was crazy.
Lihua grunted as she tore a chunk of the street out, and started floating on it. The Berserker was unstoppable... However, Lihua had a theory as to how they could kill her. But, they'd need to give her that reason to stop.
"Agent Vahan, where is Heartbreaker?" Lihua asked.
"She's..." Leon was ducking down next to Grit, because they knew that she was aiming for them. "...On top of a building to your east... please throw a rock at her so she stops shooting at us."
"I have a better idea..." Lihua trailed off. "Shizuka!" She called. "I need you to go east of our position, find Heartbreaker, and pin her down - capture her, anything." Lihua said. "You're the only person who is capable of sneaking up on her."
"Roger that...ma'am," Shizuka drawled in response before turning off his comm - he was way past the point of wasting his time to feel irritated at how the Vuhong woman had spat out his name. Ducking into the shadows in between whatever's left of the buildings around the area to hide his tracks (especially from the watchful eyes of the Changelings on the rooftops), he ghosted through the walls, heading in the direction that Vuhong had pointed out.
He quickly reached the ground floor of the building Heartbreaker was on. He looked up at the ceiling, exhaling slowly. Well, here goes nothing.
Taking in a deep breath, he let his meta-power coursing through his whole body, expanding to every fiber of his being; every atom of himself felt the air molecules around him, and he began to feel a sense of weightlessness, as if gravity had lost its hold on him... He raised a foot into the air before placing it down cautiously.
His foot stopped in mid-air - he could vaguely feel an invisible ledge just beneath his sole. However, he didn't have much time to be smug about this little trick (which he had finally mastered while helping to train Haruka) - he quickly ran upwards and appeared onto the floor above. Luckily the building was only as tall as the four-story apartment the Changelings had used as their hideout; he repeated the same process and quickly reached the level just below the roof, surprisingly just a little breathless (all these retarded fights and shits had given him more than enough stamina training for a lifetime).
He switched on his comm-piece. "Leon - Vahan - or anyone else who can see Heartbreaker," he whispered into the device. "I'm now on the level below the gun-bitch, but I need someone to point me her exact position."
"On the center edge toward the street." Grit muttered into his comm, slowly trying to peak his head around. He quickly ducked back under cover, and puff of dust exploded in the concrete right where his head used to be. Damn, this lady gave him a run for his money.
"Right," was Shizuka's only reply as he moved closer to the spot where Grit had instructed, before he turned off the device again; he broke into a sprint and leaped into the air.
His hands popped above the roof, and his fingers in a vice-like grip around Heartbreaker's ankles. He yanked her down as hard as he could before she could react; he had made sure to expand his power only to Heartbreaker herself, expelling the revolvers out of her hands and leaving them on the roof.
"What the fuck?!" Heartbreaker loudly screamed as she began her sudden descent. She had no idea what was going on - but that hand of hers couldn't travel to her earpiece fast enough to get out a cry for help.
The two free-fell down the building floors; in no time Shizuka had her stuck halfway into the concrete (maybe a little more than the halfway mark) - shoulder down embedded into the ground, only leaving her head and neck above the stone floor.
She had no god damn idea what just happened, but she was pissed. She started struggling, loudly crying, "Luis! Get your stupid ass over here and get me out of this mess!" Heartbreaker loudly screamed - but the cry didn't reach anyone.
He later resurfaced outside the building wall and smirked - let this fucker savor the well-deserved agony of having concrete merged deep into her lungs, her heart...all her vital organs save for her brain. A painful payback in tribute to all those who had died under her guns. He turned on the comm again and spoke into it coolly, "I got her nicely immobilized in Vuhong's element. Weaponless and screaming like a lil' girl for added bonus."
That was enough to break Quentin's long period of radio silence. "Good," he sharply acknowledged, "Now let's finish it."
"Alright," Lihua started off. She had a plan cooking up in that head of hers... She knew that this boy wouldn't go along with her plan. If it wasn't him, then she'll have someone else do it.
Shizuka looked around to check his surrounding quickly before he said, "I'm bailing out now before any of the other Changelings can catch on me. Late---"
"Wait, Shizuka," Lihua started off, before sighing. "You're going have to trust me on this one... but I need you to draw the Berserker's attention over to Heartbreaker..." Lihua calmly stated. "I have a plan - more of an idea - but it's the best shot we have to kill that bitch. Otherwise, she'll tear us to bits and pieces."
Shizuka thought for a moment - trust issue aside, he knew that Vuhong woman was right. Out of all of them he had a slightly better chance of outrunning Berserker. "Fine. I'll do it," he sighed into the comm. "Anything else I need to take note of?"
"Throw an object at her, or make yourself a big target - anything - and get her to run in a direct course with Heartbreaker." Lihua started off. "...And don't die."
"Of course." Shizuka grinned. "Because I still need you to owe me this one time," he joked - keeping his usual sarcasm out of his tone.
Lihua sighed. "...I guess so." She said in the same way. "Tell me when you are ready."
Shizuka had been picking up a few bricks around him while listening to the agent (throwing his only weapon left at that brute was obviously a dumb idea). "I am - and I won't be able to use the comm once I get her attention. So...where's that monster now?"
The Berserker erupted from another building which collapsed behind her. She came in full sight of the group. Maximilian had no choice but to try to bait her in some attempt to redirect her charge away from the group. Echo appeared behind him so that the shining copy appears to be a bigger target. Echo punched the ground, and picked up a rock - chucking it in the Berserker's course so it'd hit her in the head, and, just as planned, she changed course towards him.
"...She's... around." Lihua said, looking over her shoulder at the explosion of debris.
Shizuka rolled his eyes when he heard the explosion - which was closer to his current position than expected. He set off towards the source; it just happened to be only a few blocks away.
Talk about unnecessary luck.
Seeing Maximilian's huge, shining clone gave him a better idea than Lihua's suicide plan. "Oi!" he called the de facto NEST leader, waving at him to get his attention. "Use your Echo to keep her occupied, and follow my lead!"
"Alright!" Maximilian responded. Echo flew forward, and the Berserker swiped her hand at him mid-charge. In which Echo disappeared, and dodged the Berserker.
"You're not alone!" Quentin's voice crackled over the comms once again as he popped one of the last few grenades into his M320. "If you need support, shout me - I'll do what I can to bring her into that bitch!"
"This way!" Shizuka gestured and ran down the street - retracing the shortest route to the building where he had Heartbreaker imprisoned inside the concrete on the ground floor - while dodging any flying debris the Berserker was spewing up as she charged after Maximilian's Echo, whose mere presence had the brute on an attention leash behind the boy. He finally reached the said building. This was it.
He turned and ran into the building, stopping short before Heartbreaker, who was still trapped in the concrete ground. He sneered at her; then he hopped over her head and continued running, before he popped out of the wall on the other side of the building.
The Berserker kept following after Shizuka - when he ran in, the Berserker ran through it. She kept running after Shizuka, with the only thing on her mind being trampling him. She started smelling (and hearing) a very familar person.
"Berserker, god damn it, stop!" Heartbreaker shouted, trying to get the brute to go around her, so she doesn't get crushed.
In a desperate attempt to avoid killing one of the leaders, the Berserker came to a skidding stop by jamming her hand into the ground, and turning off her unstoppable momentum. She tore the ground apart with her hand, and the Heartbreaker turned her head aside in hopes that she doesn't get hit in the face.
Fortunately, for Heartbreaker, the Berserker came to a stop right before her. She let out a sigh of pure relief, and barked, "Get me the hell out of here! They're gonna' pull-"
The moment the Berserker went in, Lihua followed. Floating inside on two pieces of stone as fast as she could. Hoping that the Berserker's senses weren't that good. The Berserker's destructive rush didn't do anything but give her a window of opportunity. She was in clear view of the brute, and no one noticed her.
I only have one shot at this.
Narrowing her eyes, Lihua balled her fists, and pulled it back. She focused on the ground that the Berserker was standing on, and time seemed to slow down as she went into a level of concentration that was seemingly unheard of. Until she came around, of course. She had one more moment before she was detected.
Channeling as much of her ability as possible, Lihua let out a silent cry as she thrusted her fist forward with all of her strength. She channeled her ability into this one desperate attack. A volley of stone spikes came out of the ground, jagged and brutal, and, just as her theory predicted, impaled the Berserker in the legs.
The brute let out a cry as the concrete spires were retracted, leaving nothing but holes in her legs. She almost fell forward on Heartbreaker if she didn't brace her hands in time.
A smile formed on Lihua's lips. "Haha!" She laughed. "You're an unstoppable beast, yes? But, what happens when you don't get a chance to even move?" She asked, rhetorically.
The Berserker slammed a fist into the ground, and cracked the floor.
"Aw fuck." Heartbreaker groaned. They found her weakness. "How the fuck did you know?"
Lihua shrugged. "...I guessed."
The Berserker, in a fit of rage, started crawling over to Lihua. In one desperate attempt to make sure that she goes down, too. However, Lihua had enough of the Berserker and these Changelings. She hopped off her stones, and slammed her foot onto the ground. Creating a massive impact as a stone spike came out of the ground, and impaled the Berserker in the gut (all the way through). The beast let out one final death cry, as her alternate form began falling apart - burning away into ash.
Lihua calmly stepped over with her hands behind her back, and made the spike detach from the base, and spin through the Berserker's gut. Until it went through to the other side, and stopped, allowing Lihua to grab it. By this point, the Berserker was reduced back to her human form. Lihua raised the spike high up into the air, and brought it down on the Berserker's head. Crushing it like a fruit.
Afterwards, she dropped the spike, and pressed her earpiece, "Berserker neutralized."
"...Well, congratu-fuckin'-lations." Heartbreaker seethed from her stone prison. "Your stupid ass gambit actually worked. You killed the Berserker. Good job. It won't matter, because we're going to kill you either way. And after I'm done, I'm going to find that baby of yours, and boil her alive. Take her out before she dies, have the Witch Mother fix her up, and do it again, and again, and again..."
Lihua didn't even react. She couldn't feel the slightest bit of anger - honestly, all she could feel was pity. Pity that, at some point, this woman was a kind little girl... well, Lihua still viewed her as a child. All the Changelings were just children that thought having powers gave them free reign. But it ends tonight.
"...Quentin," Lihua pressed her earpiece. "Would you mind coming in here? There's something I want you to see."
"Oh, no, no, no, no," Heartbreaker started turning her head left and right. "Don't hand me over to that-"
Lihua cut Heartbreaker off with a sharp kick square to her face. She could feel Heartbreaker's teeth break on her toes. Heartbreaker let out a cry of pain as her mouth got really bloody. She spat out a tooth.
"...Motherfucker." Heartbreaker seethed.
A thin smile formed across Quentin's lips when he saw her bound in place by concrete. No escape now, you fucking bitch. How many had she killed, hurt or maimed? "You could've walked away," he growled, "You and the others..."
A hand shot out for her exposed throat, raw fingers clasping around it and tightening. "You didn't. You hurt people I cared about. Killed people I care about. So you know what?"
"Heeeey...." Heartbreaker said, her tone took a sharp change. "I'm sorry about that, friend!" She tried to plead. "We can talk this out - just let me out, I'll drop my guns, give you all my money, and you'll never hear from me again."
A thumb hovered over Heartbreaker's right eye."You were right, I'd have made a good Changeling. A better one than you." he growled, before pushing it inside her eye socket and holding on as tight as possible, using his other hand to draw out those reflexes that made her the gunslinging murderer that she was.
Heartbreaker let out a hoarse cry as this bastard jammed his thumb square into her eye. "Fffffffffffffuck you!" She hissed in anger.
"This is for Cass...." he muttered, then drove his thumb even deeper into the socket, "And this is for Sonya."
When her voice finally cut out, he let go of her throat and took a step back.
"Alrighty, Leon!" Grit chirped as he turned around and set his rifle up on the ledge. "We can finally put ourselves to work!"
He began scanning the battlefield, where only Heartbreaker and the Berserker were in their line of sight. This was a little concerning. Where are the other Changelings? Surely they don't think these two alone can handle all of them. Heartbreaker was preoccupied, and Lihua had a plan to take care of the Berserker - Grit and Leon don't want that one's attention.
"Let's keep an eye out for any more o' them doggies." Grit said to his new partner, keeping his eye peeled in and out of his scope.
Leon was a master at this spotting stuff. Especially when he had the power to see everything. Now that Heartbreaker was out of the picture, they had to find out where the others are. If Leon were to take a guess... they sent in the big one to use as a distraction while they slip through the cracks and catch them off guard.
Projecting his supernatural vision above them, Leon gave himself a bird's eye view of the area.
A portal opened up on the rooftops with full view of the carnage on the ground level, and Primitive Light stepped out with both hands arcing with electricity.
Leon, of course, was the first to pick up on this.
"Guys, watch out!" Leon warned in the comms.
The electrical aura around Primitive Light's hands got thicker, until she pointed one hand forward and fired a mighty bolt of electricity that filled the area with a white light.
The flash was blinding, causing Washe who was behind the line for the purpose of providing supportive fire, shielded his eyes with his arm after the effect already took place. "Ugh!" Washe pressed his comm with his other hand. "Damn it, Leon! Yell for flashbangs!"
"That was no flashbang." Leon answered. "That was lightnin'!"
Grit also felt the effects, even from a distance, but it was less severe. He felt like he was going to be seeing spots for a couple minutes after that one, and was pressing his eyes with his fingers. That thing was like looking at an arc welder!
This was merely cover for Luis and the rest of the Changeling Unit's approached from the rooftops. Despite his injuries, he still had enough strength in him to finish this, once and for all. The lightning strike sent by Primitive Light missed, but it allowed Luis to pull his plan.
"Count Vicious," Luis said, snapping his fingers. "Show them the iron rain." He started laughing.
Count Vicious nodded his head and raised his hand up into the air. On cue, a bed of small metal spikes started coming out of the ground, and flew upwards, before flying towards NEST in a truly terrifying sight. An utter barrage of blades rained down upon the group.
Adam was using his wind-based abilities to deflect the metall spikes. Raging winds managed to bounce the attacks off from the group. Though, all he did was make himself a target. Primitive Light directed her hands at Adam - and fired a bolt of electricity at him (Not as powerful as her bolt). Adam loudly yelled as the electricity raged through his system - before he was impaled through the skull with a metal spike. He dropped dead.
"Adam!" Maximilian shouted, he sent Echo forward, who caught Adam before he fell dead. He flew over to his fallen mentor, and couldn't help but shed a tear for him.
"Oh shit!" Cindy said, she quickly threw her shields of glass above herself to take the force of the blows. Some of the spikes impaled the glass.
"Leon!" Grit said, trying to blink away the dots and the shadows framing his vision. "I'm outta commission right now, bud. You got yourself that .50 cal, right? Got AP rounds? See if together might be enough to down that metal slicker!"
"Yeah...." Leon first used his ability to spy on Count Vicious. They were on the roof, and Count Vicious was in clear view. Leon had the perfect chance to take the bastard out. With Heartbreaker disabled, he could probably take the shot. He set the rifle up on the ledge of the building, and aimed it at Count Vicious. That metal fucker was tough as nails, but as Sonya would have proved, nothing that a little bullet couldn't handle.
The metal shards made shallow cuts over Washe's arms and neck, but nothing that would put him out of commission. He quickly hurried over to Cindy's side - though unable to see clearly, he had awareness of his ally's location. It was fortune that it turned out she was the one able to conjure glass. He heard the tapping of the metal against the glass as he went under its cover. A small drop of blood started streaming into his eye.
"Damn it..." He grumbled. He heard a crack. What the hell? "In God's name, can't you make it thicker? Freedom Tower uses window panes just twenty to twenty five millimeters thick, and even that's enough to stop bullets from shootin' through."
"Sorry!" Cindy shouted as she tried to will the glass to piece back together - but with every hit, it was getting weaker and weaker. "But I didn't have enough time to make that tough glass."
On the other front, Meifeng was taking a more direct route. She slammed both hands onto the ground, and she managed to gather as much water as possible, and splashed it upwards in a curve. She immediately willed it frozen - and Trevor immediately run up behind it.
"Thanks!" Trevor said. "'Fraid one of those spikes would hit me in the ass."
Unlike Cindy's glass, the ice was capable of taking several hits of the iron rain.
While everyone was trying to withstand the barrage of metal.
The others were in trouble; Reed knew it for a fact and he wanted to join them, to help put those bastards down for what they'd done to the only real parental figure he'd ever known... yet with the people in the back of the truck, he knew he had responsibilities. Cass would've said it, of all people.
Battling his own grief, he glanced over his shoulder to check on those he'd saved from NEST's HQ before it was destroyed. Adults, parents with kids, an elderly or two and a few teens - one was Mika, holding who he could only assume was Meifeng's baby sister in her arms. He'd told none of them about any of it, not even her.
"Mika, can you watch these people?" he finally broke the silence.
"Me?" Mika asked, somewhat confused by the request. She was holding Lijuan the whole time, and didn't know what to really do. She had telepathy and telekinetic abilities... but she was far from a fighter. Not like her cousin and aunt. "I'll..." Mika trailed off. "Do my best." She nodded her head. She switched to her telepathic abilities, and started scanning the area.
"Alright, Reed nodded as he unloaded the truck and ushered the group to safety inside a building. "Hold on," he told Mika, "Take this."
For good measure, he handed her his sidearm, then turned to get back into the truck when he heard Mika again.
"Thank you, by the way."
Holding his breath, Leon took aim at Count Vicious' center of mass. He aimed a little bit off to the side - the opposite direction the wind was going - to compensate for the wind throwing the round off a bit. He cleared his mind.... before pulling the trigger, and the mighty bullet came flying out of the barrel of Sonya's former weapon. The bullet hit Count Vicious at super sonic speeds - and just as Leon predicted, the bullet pierced him. Count Vicious began coughing blood, before he dropped dead.
"Got 'im!" Grit chimed. "Let's find us another one."
Luis hissed as another of his Changelings went down.
"That's it!" Luis shouted. "I've had enough of these bastard RAVENs!" He growled.
"Luis..." The Mannequin spoke into the comms as he came across what was left of the Berserker, and Heartbreaker. He regretted that their deaths went unnoticed. "...Heartbreaker and the Berserker are dead." He whispered.
"What?!" Luis loudly shouted into the comms, practically shaking with rage. Now, he's mad. They killed the one woman worthy of sharing the perfect world with him. "I'm tired of these stupid plans... time to kill them plain and simple."
"Luis," The Mannequin said. "I suggest we retreat... they're thinning our numbers - and without the Berserker, we lost a major advantage." He let the words hang in the air. "[i]This is no fight we can win.[/i["
"Forget that..." Luis hissed into the comms, grabbing his earpiece, and speaking into it, "We're going to get revenge for Heartbreaker here and now - I'm done playing games with NEST."
"Luis, have you gone insane?" The Mannequin asked, but got no response.
He crushed the earpiece, and pulled both knives out of the holsters. He walked over to Count Vicious' corpse, and jammed his fingers into him. He sucked the blood clean out of him until he was nothing but a withered husk. He had recieved a power boost. "Whoever wishes to fight and die for a perfect world, join me! We'll bathe in their blood!" Luis shouted as he leaped down from the rooftop he was standing on into an alleyway.
Primitve Light also hopped down behind him.
However, the Mannequin had no interest in Luis' insane plan. He was being blinded by rage... and there were... alternatives to Luis. The Mannequin dropped down to all fours and crawled his way out of the building. Using the stealth of the night, he started to crawl away. He crawled through the wet streets, heading towards where Flashbang and the Witch Mother were hiding. An apartment far out of the way of the conflict. The Mannequin crawled through the window, and both women looked at him.
He stared at them with his fleshy human eyeball. "I suggest we retreat while we still have time," The Mannequin started off. "This is no fight we can win."
"What about Luis-" The Witch Mother asked.
"He has gone insane... and he is no longer useful." The Mannequin said. "... There is another."
Flashbang opened a portal, and the trio stepped inside.
Meanwhile, Grit's sight was rapidly improving, and was able to once again look at the battlefield undettered. Two of the hotshots jumped down from one of the buildings to engage the remaining RAVENs and Washe - fortunately, the old man hadn't drawn too much attention to himself, so Grit doubted he was in danger. But two of them he recognized. One was Bloodsucker. The guy Grit tangled with before. He had an idea of how to deal with him, that being to delay him as long as possible. The other was someone that Grit was told to never - ever, under any circumstances - to engage. Kinetic energy or whatever the heck. Bullets would fuel her. Which is why Washe hatched a plan of his own.
"Hey," Grit whispered to Leon while still looking down his scope, "let's keep Bloodbug preoccupied. My old man can take care of the other."
"Alrighty, sounds like a plan." Leon said with a wink.
If nothing else, he hoped that the bullet impact the both of them were packing were enough to slow Bloodsucker down and divide the two of them.
The Skin Walker had been skulking at their flank, waiting for an opportunity to ambush someone, anyone, when Trevor had come into view. Unaware of their presence, that made the old man's wrinkled face form into a perverse smile.
Luis could have his way and make an end to this - all he wanted out of it was the kill. The feel of their skin intertwining with his own, becoming part of him - and watching the panicked look on their face as they then realised they were trapped - both were what made this worth it.
Hungry, the Skin Walker stepped forward, ready to pounce when the sound of an engine distracted him...
The truck slammed into the elderly serial killer's flexible mass, then the wall behind it - bricks and mortar crashing against its reinforced frame. And the Skin Walker was still alive... writhing in silent agony, his skin flexed out around the smoking hood of the truck, blood seeping through.
Staggering from the driver's seat, Reed finished the job with a bullet to the head.
Primitive Light, of course, was acting as a distraction. She ran headlong close to the group as possible, before she slammed her fist into the ground. She released as much kinetic and electric energy as possible to creative a massive explosion that rocked the ground around her. Anyone who was unprepared was in for a surprise.
"Shit!" Meifeng shouted as she moved her ice barrier off to the side - but that was barely enough to block it. The shield crumbled, and both Meifeng and Trevor were sent spiraling backwards until they stopped when they hit a wall. Injured, but still perfectly alive.
Maximilian threw his Echo up in the way, whom blocked most of the explosion. He threw his arms up to block himself from any stray debris.
Lihua was the one who was taking the barrier duty. She flipped a large chunk of the street upwards to act as a barrier, and willed it to hold together. Several of the RAVENs took position behind it. When Meifeng and Trevor were hit by the explosion, Lihua exclaimed, "Meifeng!" She said, before focusing back on Primitive Light. Far as she could tell, this bitch was as immune to their powers as the Berserker. Only difference was that Lihua didn't have the slightest clue as to how to kill her.
Instead of rejoining the rest of RAVENs with Maximilian and Lihua, Shizuka chose to stay behind, hidden in the shadows. His power wouldn't protect him from getting fried by lightning - he couldn't pass through electrical currents, unfortunately.
Maybe he should go back inside the building; even though the sight of Berserker's and Heartbreaker's dead bodies disgusted him... Well, as the saying goes: the most dangerous place is also the safest place.
Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to rush headfirst into the building - he had to check and be sure it's really safe. He poked a head cautiously through the wall...
And he immediately pulled back, cursing silently. God damn it - not the fucking bloodsucker again.
Luis was going over to Heartbreaker and the Berserker's bodies. He let out a somber sigh as he knelt down and jammed his fingers into Heartbreaker. Absorbing the blood out of her body, until she was a dry black husk. He then moved over the Berserker, and did the same. He felt the power charging him with as much strength as possible.
But he needed more.
He managed to go over to the battlefield, and saw the bodies of the dead RAVENs. He stepped over to Nikki's body, and knelt down. He drained the blood out of her, and felt another rush of power. At this point, his skin started taking a red hue. There was more blood to be drained.
However, the shockwave of Primitive Light's attack wore off, and everyone began to regain their bearings. In which case, Luis ducked back behind cover. He decided to slink into the shadows and .
"Everyone! Rush her!" Lihua ordered. "She can't take on all of us!"
Primitive Light had electricity arcing between her hands - and she pointed both hands out and shot a bolt of lightning at Lihua's shield. Forcing her back behind cover. She could have threw the wall at her, but she recalled that Washe had a plan of some sort.
"Washe," Lihua stated. "Do you need any assistance?"
"Yeah." Washe confirmed sarcastically as he unclipped what looked to be a grenade from his belt harness. "Need y'alls help to get the fuck out of my way."
Lihua rolled her eyes.
He threw his arm back to wind up his throw, seeking to throw it directly at Primitive Light - with any luck, the dunce would catch it and attempt to absorb all the energy coming out of the anticipated explosion. The gambit was to hope this idiot believed they didn't know anything about her. With a hefty toss of the bomb over the barricade, Washe bellowed at the top of his lungs for all his allies to hear and take cover: "Grenade! Outta the way!"
Primitive Light grinned. Almost like they thought a grenade would work after everything else failed. She put her arms up in a blocking formation, and prepared to absorb all the energy out of it. The grenade hit the ground and rolled to her feet - a planet's weight of suspense weighing down on everyone...
There was no explosion. Just a faint smell of sulfur. A pin abruptly popped out of the faux grenade, and a pressurized stream of white gas suddenly shot out into Primitive Light's face. The effects were instantaneous - dizziness and nausea, an inability to breathe, and eye irritation all at once, overwhelming to the senses. Washe smiled as his gambit finally payed off. Sulfur's power was the driving inspiration for this little device of his making. A shit ton of sulfur dioxide packed into a tiny contained, and a touch of ammonia that made the gas visible. With this concentration, she'll be blind and suffering from lung collapse before long... then death. The SO2 grenade doing its work.
There was nothing that Primitive Light's ability could do against such an attack. She started loudly choking for air as she desperately tried to get herself out of there. She fell down on all fours, and kept choking.
"Man, haven't I been waiting to do that!" Washed said proudly as he crossed his arms. Though, honestly, part of him wondered if he would be convicted of war crimes - but given the circumstances, he was pretty sure that officials could overlook a chemical weapon or two.
Since Primitive Light was disabled, Lihua wondered if her abilities to absorb energy would still work. She raised her foot up into the air, and slammed it down - just as a test, she summoned a spike that impaled Primitive Light through the chest. She started gasping for air some more before finally dying.
"Oh," Lihua shrugged. "That was easy."
"Yeah. Right. SO2 is safe at two parts per million, so it's best we keep clear of this area for now." Washe informed. "It also bonds to moisture and the like, so treat the body as contaminated."
"Okay, there was at least ten Changelings." Lihua noted as she started counting with one hand. "We killed Heartbreaker, Vicious, Primitive Light, Fig... Berserker.... which means there's only four of them left."
"Leon." Maximilian spoke into the comms. "Do you have any idea where they are?"
Leon used his ability to quickly run through the area. No sight of any of them. "Nope... they mighta used Light as their chance to run off."
"Damn it..." Lihua seethed. If Luis gets away, he'll just rebuild the Changeling Unit from the ashes.
"Awwww, ouch." Trevor groaned as he got up, and started walking towards Lihua, with Meifeng at his side. He was in pain. A lot of it. Due to that stupid power of his. "That hurt like a bitch. I think that relocated my balls into my stomach."
Meifeng stepped over to Lihua alongside Trevor. She started stretching her arm. "Ew." Meifeng nonchalantly responded.
"Rebuilding the Changelings, eh?" Grit mused. "They got a hiring form? We could use that to... to..."
Grit stopped.
He quickly put his hand to his comm piece in a panic. "Washe? Washe!"
"What is it, kid?" Washe asked in an annoyed tone.
"Where's doc? Why isn't Baron back yet?"
"Y'know," Trevor said, taking in a deep breath. "Even though I didn't do much... it feels great to finally be rid of those bastards. Like, those guys give me nightmares - great knowing they're six feet under. Y'hear?" Trevor started talking, he shook his head. "But...."
"I wouldn't get comfortab-"
It happened so fast, that Lihua barely had a chance to react. All she saw was a moving blur, and someone scream.
What they hadn't realized yet was that Luis was still there. He was hiding behind a dumpster. He clenched his fist. The Changeling Unit he worked so hard to build was coming to a crumbling wreck. He calmed himself. Nonetheless, he would just build another. Because as long as there is people out there who want to watch the world burn - there will be a Changeling Unit. However... Luis unsheathed a throwing knife from his coat. One of the few he had left.
He was going to take this time to take out one more of them. Just out of spite.
With his enhanced abilities, he should be able to throw a knife from meters away and it'll still be a devestating attack. He grinned. Luis, taking advantage of every ounce of his speed, quickly dove out from behind the dumpster into clear view of the RAVENs. He was so quick they barely had time to react to him throwing a blade through the air like a blur...
He had one target in mind.
He could have taken out anyone.
But he had a long grudge to settle.
The blade flew through the air. RAVEN didn't know who it'd hit, until it was too late.
However, the blade was meant for one person, and one person alone.
The sickening crunch of his skull as the knife embedded itself inside announced the death of Trevor. The knife hit him right between the eyes and almost went in to the hilt. His eyes were twitching as he fell to his knees.
"Trevor!" Meifeng screamed as she ran over to him, putting her hands on his shoulder. 'Trevor, what... are...." Tears started running down her eyes as Trevor finally fell to the ground onto his side.
"Holy shit - Trevor!" Cindy shouted as her hands covered her mouth, and tears started running down her eyes as she dropped to her knees to. "No..."
Grit's years as a sniper forced his mind back into action and reflexively swung around and immediately set his crosshairs on Bloodsucker's head. He fired off one shot - two shots - repeatedly firing off as many shots he could in rapid succession, in a way that sniper rifles were never meant to be used - but the cold calculation of the moment fueled by the want for revenge of Trevor's death kept him steady.
Luis was laughing madly as the bullets hit him. One hit him clean in the chest, putting a hole in it, and the other grazed his head - blowing a chunk of itoff. The other shots missed.
But he kept laughing. No amount of prodigal skill or luck could force a bullet to kill something that couldn't die.
"I told you that this was set in stone!" Luis shouted. "Flashbang!" Luis reached for his earpiece to call for his teleporter... only to realize that he had broke it. Though... where are the others?
"They're dead," A voice snarled as one of the last two Taylors in Verthaven emerged from the smoke, hands red and raw from where he'd killed that bitch.
Luis looked around and realized that his fellow Changelings have finally abandoned him. He stopped laughing out of sheer surprise. Right now, he was facing a group of Metahumans who would gleefully tear him to pieces. He was back to square zero. No Changelings... just him and his dream against the world. He had two choices:
Fight them and die gloriously, or run.
Luis cracked his neck and unsheathed his knives. "...Die gloriously it is." He said to himself with a grin as he began charging RAVEN head-on. Laughing as he accepted that, after two centuries, his brutal legend is coming to an end.
Regardless of what happened, he would die as humanity's greatest monster.
Meifeng was still sobbing over Trevor's body as she heard Luis running up to them. She was immediately overcome with pure rage. Water began floating around her.
Another shot fired from Grit's rifle, aimed at Luis' knees. The young man was at his prime, in no other moment was he more quiet, more focused. In a calm, steady tone, he spoke to Leon with a peculiar softness. "Leon. You n' I can't kill him from up on here. Let's do what we can to slow 'im down."
The bullet hit Luis right in the knee, and he fell forward. In which Meifeng took advantage of, running towards Luis and throwing a devestating punch that was enhanced by a powerful splurt of water. It launched him across the street, and he hit the wall with a thud. He still had his knives in hand.
"...Come on." Luis said. "Is that the best you got?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Agent Vuhong," Maximilian said as Echo appeared behind him. "Give me a spear, anything."
"On it." Lihua broke a concrete spear out of the ground, and handed it over to Maximilian's Echo. Whom flew across the field at high speeds, and impaled Luis right through the jaw with the stone weapon. His face visibly deformed as he was run through. That was enough to stop him from laughing.
"Everyone, pin him down!" Lihua said.
Before everyone else did anything, Leon aimed his 50. cal at Luis' chest, and fired. Putting a giant hole through his chest that went through him and the wall behind him. It wasn't going to kill him, but as Grit said, just slow him down.
"Vuhong?" Washe asked right after firing a long two-barrel shotgun toward the pinned Luis. He cocked the gun "Correct me if I'm mistaken - I'm not good at this meta stuff yet. But if he overuses his power... that will lead to the ashing phenomenon, right?"
Another shot went off. He cracked open the chamber and reloaded.
"Yes." Lihua said. "Everyone unload everything you've got on him!"
Lihua, Maximilian, and Savannah brandished their pistols, and aimed it right at Luis. They unloaded every shot they had, while Echo pulled a stop sign out the ground and threw it at him.
Meifeng in a fit of anger, created small, pencil-sized blades of ice out of the rain. Every icicle impaled Luis. Cindy had broken her glass into pieces, and willed it to wildly whirl around Luis.
Quentin pulled up shards of concrete at the Spaniard's feet and twisted them around as they shot up through them, trapping him in place. Then Reed was beside him; emptying bullet after bullet into the Spaniard's central mass.
Everyone unloaded everything they had on Luis. Until their guns had clicked, and they had pushed themselves to exhaustion.
Luis' laughter began once again the moment onslaught came to a halt.
The dust settled, and...
"... My perfect world." Luis somberly said. The moment the dust settled, it was revealed that Luis had begun the ashing process. Flicks of black ash started to float off of him, and he stopped regenerating. He was already in the process of quickly regenerating all the damage done to him - but the mixture of his power boost and the sheer ferocity of their attacks had pushed him over the edge. "It was so close... it would have been great." He mused.
Meifeng shot Luis one more time with a thick needle - it went right through his eyeball, and he could barely react.
"Now you must know how it feels to be one the loosing side." Meifeng crossed her arms.
"Oh.... well... I haven't lost here." Luis warped the sides of his mouth upwards to form a grin. "Even with my death, there are others who share my dream of a perfect world... and they will continue where I left off."
"... And we'll stop them." Meifeng said.
"Ain't no such thing as a perfect world." Washe spat, throwing his emptied guns down.
"Hmph," Luis spat out the sound. "Besides that... there is a new era rapidly approaching... You think anything that happened here in Verthaven will bode well with... anyone?" He asked. "The Devil didn't just destroy the city... she shattered the existing status quo... whether or not it's good, well... I can't really tell.... But, regardless, each and every one of you have earned the right to press on and see where your roads take you."
Grit looked at Leon beside him. "So, this whole ashing process..." He began. "How long is it supposed to take?"
"Who knows." Leon said. "He could die any second now.."
"Are you done, Luis?" Lihua asked, annoyed.
"I guess so." Luis said.
"Good, then I'm going to put you down like the animal yo-"
"No." Meifeng interrupted. "Let me do it."
Lihua had no objections... if it would satisfy Meifeng's need for revenge, then so be it. She reached to her hip, and handed Meifeng her gun - holding on to it for a moment as she looked her daughter in the eye. "... You remember how to use this, right?"
Meifeng nodded her head, before Lihua let go of it.
"Wait--" Grit interrupted over the comms. From way up there, there wasn't much he could do to actually prevent anything. He just felt that... being the next closest person to her age, and being an actual killer, his insight might be worth something. "...you know if you do this, there's no turning back from it. You could always hand the gun to one of the older folk. What's one more sin to us anyway?"
Meifeng sighed as she considered Grit's words carefully. She didn't know him in the slightest... but he had a point. This is going to be the turning point in her life. But, she had such a hatred for Luis for what he did to Jen... what he did to her family... that she could look by that. She looked at Lihua for a moment.
"Regardless of what you do," Lihua started off. "I support your decision to the very end, and I will be behind you all the way...."
Hearing these words, Meifeng came to a decision. She pressed her earpiece, "... I know... but just let me do this." She sighed.
Now came the moment of truth. She walked over to Luis, and pressed the gun against his head, pulling the trigger halfway.
"This is for Jen, her family, Trevor, and whoever else you killed." Meifeng hissed out the words to him. "I hope you rot in hell, you monster."
Luis could only chuckle before Meifeng finally pulled the trigger and put a bullet through his head. His regeneration couldn't save him, and blood splattered the wall. This only quickened the ashing process and soon enough...
... There was nothing.
"Oh my God...." Meifeng said as she took a few steps back, her eyes were welling up with tears as she put hands on the sides of her head. "I can't believe I did that...." She walked back over to Lihua, who embraced her with a hug. It was so easy to put the bullet in his head, but now... now she's not sure if she should have just passed the gun to someone else.
"Shit, I was afraid of that." Grit muttered. He slowly stood up and collected his gear before riding the scaffolding down to the ground floor. Washe only stood back and watched somberly.
"Hey, what about the rest of them?" Cindy asked. "Weren't there more?"
"If I were to take a guess..." Lihua thought about it for a moment. "They most likely abandoned him.... which is why he so recklessly charged at us. He had nothing left to lose."
"And what about them?" Cindy asked.
"... I don't know." Lihua said. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
"We'll finish them off like we did here." Quentin interjected, spitting at the ground beneath what little proof remained that Luis had ever been here.
"... The Changeling Unit has been neutralized." Maximilian spoke into the comms.
Meifeng let go of Lihua, and sighed. "What now?"
"We're getting out of here." Lihua answered. She turned over to Washe, and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, I was curious... but how did you get back in with the shield up?" She asked him.
"Shield?" Washe asked, not understanding what she meant.
"Wait...." Lihua wondered for a moment. ".... The blue dome over Verthaven? Those bastards at high command put it up when they left us for dead. We would have left by now if it wasn't up."
"Wait, speakin' of that shield...." Cindy said, before she pointed upwards. "Look."
Everyone looked up.
Just as Cindy noted, the shield started glowing red and flucuated. Dipping in and out, the shield was damaged after the Devil's all out attack. It did all it could to remain up, but the damage was too extensive.
The shield began to fade away... Seemingly disappearing into red sparkles. After the shield of light had disappeared, it revealed clear sunny skies that everyone had forgotten about. With the Devil's power disabled, the Changeling Unit finally dead, and the shield gone, it seemed like everyone's problems had vanished.
"Oh shit...." Cindy said, as a childlike smile formed on her face. "It's... it's finally over." She said, smiling.
"It.. it is." Reed ran a palm across his brow, wiping away dirt and debris whilst Quentin looked on with a certain longing.
"I thought I'd never see sunlight ever again....." Lihua trailed off.
"Well I'll be..." Leon said as he tipped his sunglasses.
A tear ran down Meifeng's cheek. "Jen, Trevor..." She said to herself. "... I wished you both could have been here to see this."
On the roof of one of the still-standing buildings in the aftermath of the Devil Apocalypse, Shizuka looked down at the mixture of joy and grief from the surviving members, motionless save for the wind sweeping back his silver hair.
He was too late about Trevor - he could only stare at his lifeless body, stunned at his unexpected death. He couldn't even move, only watch the group fed Luis with everything they got and pushed the former Changeling leader beyond his limit.
Even when Meifeng pulled the trigger and ended the bloodsucker with her own hands.
He couldn't feel a thing - no joy at the energy shield overhead that had flickered out and disappeared, no anguish for the unfortunate who had fallen or lost, no anger for the betraying villains who had fled and gone into hiding...
There was only a strange tranquility; just emptiness.
This is the true nature of a war - where blood is spilled over the battlefield, where only death awaits for the many...where it becomes an eternal nightmare for the survived.
Just then, his comm-piece suddenly buzzed: "Shi--- can yo--- me? Wha --- pened?" Then the static noise died down, and the slow voice of Holly came out louder from the device, "---Ah, that's much better now. Shizuka, are you all right?"
"...Yeah." A deadpan reply.
"I have Dana, Ms. Shinoda and your twin brother with me," she began. "We are all fine, although it was quite a feat trying to outrun the tidal wave in a banged-up APC."
This was when Shizuka finally showed any sign of emotion - he let out a deep sigh of relief knowing that his family was safe. "Thank God...and thank you."
Daphne chuckled; then her tone became serious, "What happened to the Devil? How about the Hands? And the Changeling Unit?"
Shizuka told her everything - that the Devil was in the Hands' custody, that the Changelings had turned on them and more lives were lost...and Luis' last moment before he ashed.
A long silence followed after his monotone recount. "...Ah, I see," Daphne finally spoke. "I guess you may not like to hear what I'm going to tell you, but please listen to what I have to say: don't blame yourself - there was nothing you could do to save Mr. Obott. The whole situation was not something you could control to begin with, and you are a victim of all this as much as everyone else in this city."
Shizuka didn't respond; he just kept quiet.
The chloropathic agent continued, "Even if we, the Metahumans, are blessed with superpowers, that doesn't equate our existence to that of a God - we are ultimately still no different from a human being, just a little more special. Of course, there are a few extremists out there who did try to reach Godhood...people like Luis."
Godhood. Luis' sick dream had turned this city, the countless innocent lives who lived here, into a massive graveyard... A living hell that would soon send a terrifying ripple across the world.
"I know," Shizuka sighed heavily. "I know this better than anyone - that it's impossible to save every single person in this world." He clenched his fists. "In order to save one life, another must be sacrificed to fill in the dead role."
"Then I don't need to go on further," Daphne said, her tone softened. "As long as you keep that in mind, I'm sure you will be alright."
"This isn't the end yet." Shizuka's quiet voice was enough to send chills down the agent's spine. "This is only just the beginning."
The whistle of the wind did little to mask the sounds of distant gunfire and explosions. Baron scratched the back of his head as he kicked another brick out of his way. His skin, sweaty, the dirt caked onto him like make-up. He was surprised if he was gonna find anything. NEST records were valuable on their own, of course, but he didn't know the layout of the base. If he knew where Peter Brooke's quarters were, it'd narrow down his search. Already he had gone over so much wreckage, but still no sign of the medical research. There was one section left to look, but if there was no sign even then, he may as well give up and accept that they were destroyed.
He hobbled over more piles of debris, being careful not to trip over anything. He grabbed a piece of metal that was used to keep the concrete together and shoved it underneath a particularly large boulder. God, he had been putting off this area since he got here. Using all the leverage he could to get it to budge. Sweat was dripping off the sides of his head. Nothing. He moved around the other side of the boulder to see if he can loosen up some of the smaller rocks that was keeping it wedged. Once more.
He shoved the rod back under the boulder and heaved. It moved a bit, and then the whole boulder shifted, causing it to fall deeper into the hole he had just made on its other side. Baron groaned in frustration, sitting down on a piece of debris and throwing th rod to the side.
'Ding!'
Baron looked over to see what he hit. As far as he could see, it just landed on a pile of dust, but... it landed in the little space the boulder used to be. He forced himself back up and sifted through the dust, feeling a metallic surface underneath it. He dug his fingers through the debris, pulling out stones and the like to uncover what he might have come across this time. It was yet another filing cabinant. Oh joy. But just in case, he didn't want to leave something unsearch. He pulled out a drawer. Empty.
Huh.
He tried to pull out another, but it was so damage, the rail broke off and he took the whole drawer with him. It was light. Also empty.
He didn't think NEST was the type that'd have the luxury of having empty filing spaces. Bureaucracy was their shtick. The last one. He pulled on it, but it wouldn't budge. Only rattle. This one was locked. Baron thought to himself curiously and procured his old Apache from his pocket, undoing the thin blade, and started fiddling with the lock. It might mess up the tip. Might not even open the lock, for all he knew. This wasn't designed for lockpicking.
But luck was on his side. The tumblers were likely damaged in the building's collapse, and it allowed him to crack open the drawer. It slid right open and inside was just a singer binder, stuffed with folders. All labeled meticulously.
"Don't tell me..." Baron muttered. Had he finally found it? Against all odds? He swiftly grabbed it and started looking through the papers that were arranged in it.
This...
"This is nonsense!" Baron said out loud. Sure, these were medical notes, but it looks as though someone disorganized and scribbled at the last minute, linking together various, unrelated, and meaningless phrases. Did this even have a name to it? Who wrote this jargon? All it said in reference to an author was "Polly", and it was suck in a phrase like: "Please put Polly past the pressure." Which was a meaningless alliteration on its own! It wasn't cohesive at all.
God.
Please put Polly past the pressure.
A five p alliteration.
Baron paused. That has to be a coincidence. Baron looked at the notes again. If this was the work he was looking for... Dr. Brooke wrote in code before.
There were four e's in the phrase.
Three t's in the phrase. Baron felt like he was beginning to connect the dots now.
But then... wait, no. The last word has two e's.
One letter r in the phrase.
P-P-P-P-P-E-E-E-E-T-T-T-E-E-R.
Peter was a five letter name.
"Dr. Brooke, you pain in the ass." Baron muttered. "Even after you're dead."
On the bright side, now he knew this was what he was looking for. No wonder it took so many years to collect this data. He was looking for ways to hide all of it. But there was still no doubt in Baron's mind there was a ton of information to be gleaned from here. But right now, it wasn't just his notes Baron was looking for. Brooke didn't keep secret from NEST that he had no love for the Hands. Baron was looking for clues. He turned to the very end of the binder. On the down side, it would take a while.
Take a while it did.
It was quite some time after the dome had dissipated when Baron closed the binder and scratched his head. It made mention of the Hands. It also made mention of the Changelings, but Peter only knew them as the Hands' associates at the time. Ignorant is not the same as dim. The man had a habit of picking up on things quickly, likely as a result of his procssing power. Bloodsucker, which they now knew as Luis, was the glamorized leader of the Changelings. Dr. Peter Brooke, at the time when he wrote his code, suspected that "a man so outrageous and haphazardly, so ultimately irresponsible, that no one of the sort could hope to lead any level of successful organization. A mind behind the scenes must set the tracks for where they might lead. A mind superficially like mine."
Which, in the end, was another riddle. He didn't want to let on that he might knew the truth should he be right in his suspicions. Nobody might know, but Baron could read people quite well, and had enough intel to connect a couple more dots. First, Baron had to hand it to Peter: the man knew how to read people like Baron could. Anyways, the late doctor made no secret of his disgust for his given form. He was made into a weapon. For all intents and purposes, he was a killing machine. That was what others would see him as, too. Anybody who read this would have their minds changed. They wouldn't look at both sides.
Someone who, on the surface, would look like the same type of person as Peter leading the Changelings.
Baron's eyes widened. He knew who his last target had to be. He stood up, and tucked what he had under his arm. First place to look... well, familiar grounds most likely. It was time to pay the old ghost town a visit.
It was only a matter of time until high command reacted to Verthaven.
However, for the Vuhong women, there wasn't a care in the world. The worst week of their lives had finally come to an end. While everyone else was celebrating, Lihua dragged her feet away from the group, and found herself a park. A nice park - well, not barring all the destroyed playground equipment, the water, or... it didn't matter at this point.
This hell was coming to a close - whether or not High Command just decided to drop a nuke on the city, or come to their rescue.
Well, someone had to have been fighting to get this shield down.
Still didn't matter. Lihua merely found the nicest patch of wet grass, and lied down on her back. Staring at the clear blue skies like she's been locked in a prison for years.
It wasn't long until Meifeng had found her. Without saying a word, Meifeng lied down on her back on the grass with her. Not a word came out her mouth.
Just staring into the sun.
"... You know, it's been so long since I've... lied down in the grass, and stared into the sky...." Lihua mused.
"Yeah... it felt like we've been in here for years now." Meifeng answered.
"I... there's something I have to tell you." Lihua started off.
"Something else?" Meifeng said in an almost playful tone. "I thought you already poured your heart out with your dark and tragic past?"
"More than that...." Lihua let out a sigh. "Ever since you entered my life, I wanted you to have the best out of life... to have a better childhood than I had. And to accomplish that, I thought the best way was to climb my way to the top."
She looked over to Meifeng for a moment.
".... At any cost." Lihua said. "All my life, I've been stepping on other people to climb that ladder - at times ruining the lives of other people - without a care for whoever I piss off. Because... I always thought of myself as above everyone else. I put myself on a pedestal of arrogance. No matter what they did, they were always insigificant to me. Their petty little conflicts were all irrelevant, and I didn't join NEST to save the world or anything silly like that - all I wanted was a paycheck...."
Lihua continued, "I did it all for you and Lijuan. I always thought that if the two of you were happy, it didn't matter. It didn't matter that I became a bitter, bitter woman. That was too proud to care about other people. I was just so disconnected from the people around me that it didn't matter."
".... And look where it got me." Lihua groaned in anger.
"I was the most hated woman in NEST, but they always tolerated me because I was so good," Lihua sighed. "But everything that happened... fighting the Fiends, charging headfirst into the Hands base, meeting Maximilian and the transfers, facing off against the Changeling Unit and eventually Peter... all of it has expanded my worldview a little bit, it taught me that some people just needed to be fought."
"I realized how deluded, and blinded by my own hubris I was... Instead of being the person I always viewed myself as, I was nothing but an arrogant bitch." Lihua almost sobbed. "I know how out of touch I was with my own humanity... I used to think that I could justify going to absurd... inhuman lengths was okay long as I said it was "necessary"..."
"I... always thought of myself as a bad person - I was never someone like Sonya, Maximilian... or even you. I was just the lonely woman that had long past redemption that only had her own children to stop her from going mad...." Lihua started to cry a bit. For the first time in what felt like years.
"... You're not irredeemable." Meifeng said, trying to reassure her mother. "I know you've done some stuff. I know you're not perfect - hell, no one is - but... I'm certain that you can move past it all if... if you're willing to just stop doing all this nasty shit to people."
"... I don't want to be this kind of person anymore, Meifeng. I... want to change." More tears started streaming down Lihua's face. "For you, and Lijuan... I want to be a better person..."
Meifeng scooched over to Lihua a little bit. Holding onto her hand.
"I know you can." Meifeng said, with a smile on her face. "It's not going to be easy, but anyone can change if they give it a shot...." She looked at Lihua.
Molly Schuler, standing in front of a camera crew, wearing a dirty and tattered suit as she prepared for her last news report.
"Hello, this is Reporter Molly Schuler, giving her last news report. It's been a few days since the worst Metahuman disaster recorded in history. It's been three painful days of being trapped in with the Devil of Verthaven - a Metahuman wielding catastrophic power - and the damage and loss of life is incredible. It was only due to the bravery of NEST's finest, and their volunteers, that the Devil has been killed, and NEST's secret Shield of Light has been deactivated. Government aid has come in, and the survivors are being tended to in a special disaster relief center set up over the course of the night."
"However, NEST, and the governor of California, are collectively facing the biggest PR disaster the organization has ever faced. As millions are showing outrage because NEST have left the people of Verthaven to die. Even other nations are coming in to criticize NEST for their decision to active the Shield of Light rather than taking further steps to eliminate the Devil. As it stands... public opinion of NEST is at an all-time low."
"Furthermore, upon hearing of what happened with the Devil, and the Changeling Unit, Metahuman hysteria has reached an all time high. With riots running wild in Black Fall, and hate crimes against Metahumans are rising at an alarming rate."
"Back to Verthaven, the Government has a major announcement."
Molly Schuler shifted her weight, and took in a deep breath as she prepared for this.
"Verthaven has officially been condemned."
"That's right. Volunteers are coming through the wreckages looking for any other survivors. Whom will be tended to - before the doors of Verthaven will be closed for good. It has been decided the damage and loss of life was too extensive to consider rebuilding the city. The city's former inhabitants will be relocated to neighboring cities."
"And finally, it has been announced that a graveyard will be created outside of Verthaven to commemorate this tragedy. Every person who has fallen will get a grave... regardless of whether or not they can be identified."
"That is Molly Schuler with the last news report to ever come out of Verthaven."[/i]
[Hr]
"...Yeah, that's him." Quentin stiffly nodded as his uncle's face looked back at him, lifelessly. The paramedic quickly filled in the tag around the old man's toe and zipped up the body bag, before moving onto the next. There were rows of them, some tagged - but more were unidentified for one reason or another. He couldn't fathom how many there were, nor did he think it mattered any more... just that this was over.
"Miss you, old man." Quentin wiped away a tear with his palm, before turning back towards the park. At least the old man could have a peaceful retirement, he mused.
If reports were true, this city was going to be condemned. That surprised him a little - if only for the fact that rehoming the thousands that called this place home could be as costly as repairing the damage, but then at least the government could sweep this whole mess under the rug. Their mess. That's what Cass would've said.
It didn't bother him so much. He'd never spent much time in that condo, he was usually out most of the time. His car was a twisted wreck sitting under a pile of rubble, but again he could replace that. The things that mattered to him... he had them, or would soon enough. He could leave Verthaven and he'd have been content.
But first, there was something else he needed to do...
Quentin, & Reed Taylor
Just another loose end to tie up.
Quentin wasn't one to shy away from facing it. He'd been involved in a dirty business and had something to show for it, something which he had no intention of wasting. Not after all the shit they'd been through.
He fumbled through one of his pockets, where he'd stuck his keys. There they are.
It felt strange, in all honesty. The stairwell leading upwards was the same as before, save for the uncollected garbage bag left outside and when he reached the door, twisting the key was the same as it was.
On habit, Quentin kept a tight grip on his 92FS as he stepped inside his condo. First thing, he peeked inside to see if anyone - or anything - had found their way in.
Everything was as he left it, things turned out. On the kitchen table were a few empty bottles from the night before they'd headed out on that op against REAPER, he'd left and meant to clear things up later but hadn't.
Heading further inside, he found the main room unmolested and intact, save for a crack along one of the windows where something had slammed against it hard. Probably one of those things, he'd mused, though a part of him expected to find Heartbreaker stood behind him, cackling like that bitch had all those months ago. Quentin turned around, pistol in hand.
Nobody else was here, it seemed. Watching for ghosts.
Were it not for the fact that the power was at straining point citywide, he'd have probably switched something on by now. Though even if that wasn't the case, a light in the darkness outside probably would've drawn unwanted attention, so instead he drew out a torch and shone it across the room.
A photo resting on the mantle quickly caught his eye as it reflected off the light. Mom. It was one of the only decent photos of her that he had, from before she'd had him and Reed. She looked happier and healthy here. All the others, you could see where the booze and the meds had taken their toll. Picking it up, he set the photo on the kitchen table and made a mental note to pick it up on the way out.
First things first, he headed to his room and took a knee beside the bed, reaching under to pull out an empty dufflebag. Then, he turned back and headed downstairs to the garage with a few of the filing cabinets pushed up against the wall with his bike resting against one - and quickly pulled aside one of the filing cabinets to reveal a vent cover. Digging inside his pocket, Quentin withdrew a screwdriver and set to work on taking off the cover and, once he was done, stuck an arm deep inside and felt around. The faint rustle of plastic helped him find what he'd been looking for. Tugging, he eventually withdrew an opaque bag with a blocky form. Unfastening it, Quentin peeked inside it make sure it was all there.
Dollar bills. A lot of them. Valued in the sextuple digits, to be exact. All of it from that dirty business of his, what'd led to all this. It had to count for something.
Tightening the plastic bag up, he dropped inside the dufflebag and zipped it up, before slinging it on over his shoulder. Shifting back towards the steps, he was about to make his ascent when he heard a voice. "Quent?" Reed echoed it once more as he stepped inside his brother's condo, hand resting on his holstered pistol.
"Here," Quentin answered as he stepped back through the door, "You followed me?"
"Wanted to make sure you were good."
"Had something I needed to do." Quentin answered morosely, "I'm sorry about what happened to Jen," he glanced towards his younger brother. "You knew her too, right?"
"Yeah." Reed had almost lost an arm trying to protect her from one of those monsters. Their uncle had pulled her out of a smoldering wreck and carried her to safety. On a few occasions the Taylors had covered her escape, or her friends. If that didn't count for knowing her, even by a small margin, nothing would.
Both had also found out what had happened to her family, too. Quentin in particular had nearly exploded in rage at hearing how they'd dumped the bodies of her family right in front of her, Heartbreaker's own threats against his family echoing clearly in his mind. He was glad he'd finished that bitch off. For Jen, Cass and Sonya.
At that moment, Reed's gaze shifted towards the dufflebag slung over his brother's shoulder. Brow arched, he asked, "What's in the bag?"
He was met with a reluctant silence.
"You don't trust me? Fine-"
"You wanted to know what I did?" Quentin cut him off, setting the dufflebag on the floor and unzipping it to reveal contents. "This, all this is what I've got to show for it."
Reed's eyes widened at the sight of the dollar bills, before his lip curled with disdain at just how his brother had come across that amount of cash. "But I thought you weren't a hustle-"
"No, never. You know me, I'd never do that."
"Then.. what?"
"Used to work security for a few types. The usual idiots, working the details on their clubs and bars, businesses - you get the picture. Eventually, however, I had ambitions of my own. Wanted more out of life, not sitting in some projects anesthetizing myself on booze and meds like Mom did. I thought, I dunno, maybe I could do something for myself. And you, I wanted to leave you and Cass with something one day..."
"Remember how Cass pulled me away from those punks down at Eagle Rock Row? Long time ago, back when it was just me helping to pay for our bills whilst Mom drank herself to death. One day, I was passing a package to some meta' gangbanger. My hand touched his and then... the package went up in flames, my fingertips were glowing. That's how I figured out I could take powers."
"But what you didn't know was that I could also give them away. Gangbangers wanted to use me for that, saw me as easy money - until Cass put a gun to one asshole's head about a week after Mom died and told him that if he saw any of them near me, he'd forget he wore a badge."
"That was Cass," Reed thinly smiled, "Like I've always said, he looked out for us more than Mom ever did."
"...Yeah. I know." Quentin nodded, sullenly. "But, anyways... years later, I decided I wanted control over things. Like I said. Spent my time working security in clubs, bars, businesses - all that as an opportunity to make contact with other people with powers. Then, I sold them."
"Jesus, Quent.."
"Yeah, I know. Like I said, I've changed a lot since then - I was selfish. Even more selfish was what I did right before I wound up with NEST."
"You mean when you disappeared?"
"That bitch, Heartbreaker - she and a few other heavies caught me and knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I was in some kind of lab. The same kind run by the Hands, those assholes. And they wanted me for what I could do, taking powers and giving them away. You get the picture yet? Used me for their experiments. Those fuckers, they.. I told them to go fuck themselves and they said they'd bring you and Cass into it, run their tests on you."
Quentin looked his brother in ths eye as he continued. "I couldn't do that, didn't want to... so I co-operated with those bastards. It wasn't just anyone they brought in, kids - barely older than Mei or Jen or the same age. I watched as those fuckers cut them apart and tested their shit on them and didn't do anything about it but go along with it, and for that I know I've got a lot of atoning to do.
"If I'd known... I'm sorry, Quent." Reed's initial apprehension was replaced with sympathy for what his brother had been through.
"Anyway," Quentin broke the long pause that followed, "You still think this is worth throwing away?"
She hadn't changed her clothes since that shitstorm. Well, it wasn't like she could get some clothes from anywhere. She reached onto a table and grabbed another bottle of water and turned away. Meifeng sighed as she stepped through the crowds of people in the relief center. She needed to get back really quickly.
She stepped inside the special NEST tent, where Cindy, Lihua (With Lijuan in her arms), and Mika were sitting, along with Washe and Grit, discussing matters with Lihua about where everything would go from here.
Daphne and Haruka followed in behind her, chatting animatedly about having the agent to move in with them to a new place together, with a brooding Shizuka bringing up the rear, his hands in his pockets. They took a seat on the other side of the tent.
Lihua and the two girls turned their heads back over to Meifeng.
"Yo..." Meifeng trailed off as she walked over to Cindy. She presented the bottle to her friend. "I got it for you, just as I said."
"Oh, thanks..." Cindy trailed off, and opened the top and drank from the bottle - before she stopped. She couldn't really get that damn white boy out of her mind. She put the bottle down, and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Meifeng asked.
"Just..." Cindy trailed off. "I can't believe all of this happened... Trevor, Jen... and a lot of others... I just can't get over the fact I'll never see them again."
At that moment, Quentin stepped inside, hauling a large black dufflebag over his shoulder. His gaze passed over all of them for a moment, before finally he spoke up, "I need to speak with you kids for a minute."
Setting the bag on a table in the center of the tent, he tugged on the zip and unfastened it, revealing its contents to them:
Dollar bills, valued in the hundreds of thousands. Over a million in cash.
"Take what you need. I know they're condemning this place and after all this shit, I know it might help you find another place when all this shit is done... so just take it."
This is what Cass would've wanted, he decided.
"Oh shit." Cindy said out of sheer surprise. She looked at the money, and almost crawled over to it. "We can just have all this money?" It felt like she was in one of those reality shows.
Meifeng was about to hop over there and take the money, but she stopped and looked at Lihua. Who merely shrugged.
"Go ahead." Lihua said. "It's about time I start letting you make your own decisions...." Her lips upwards into a grin. "You're a grown woman now - all of this proves it."
Meifeng and Cindy nodded at each other and quickly reached inside, and each took a hand full. They formed a large pile, and split it down the middle.
"I have no need for this money." Lihua answered. "I have... some savings of my own throughout the years. And a wealthy brother."
"Speaking of which, where is my father?" Mika asked.
"I don't know - but he should be around here somewhere...." Lihua crossed her legs. "If he doesn't show up soon, I'm going to track his overpaid ass down and shove my foot up it."
Washe turned his head at the sound of the duffelbag's impact, watching as Quentin unzipped the bag, and then his eyes almost seemed to bulge out of his head. Seeing Washe's reaction, Grit turned around to see and gave the same sort of reaction. Except Grit was actually left speechless by all the money in one bag.
"Where'd you get that sort o' cash, son?" Washe pried suspiciously.
Haruka and Daphne stopped talking, distracted by the commotion in the center of the tent. Shizuka stood up so as to see better, his curiosity got the better of him.
"Savings. Never trusted banks." Quentin shot him down, paying no mind to how bullshit it sounded.
Washe just stood there gobsmacked. Savings? Savings?! No fucking way. This kid had to have gone and loot some of places around here. Where did he even find the time to... no. You know what? Not his problem anymore. Washe shook his head and buried his face into his hands.
"Ugh..." He bemoaned. "That's it. I'm retiring. I've finally had enough of this. I'm gonna kick it back, nice and cozy in my little chair in Texas, and spray girl scouts with a big ol' waterin' hose if they even think of walking on my property to sell me their damn snacks."
"Does it matter anymore?" Quentin asked him, brow arched.
"You lost my meanin', kid." Washe replied. "This is nothin' to do with you, this is a decision I've been making for five years. I'm getting too old for all this war and terrorism n' bullshit."
Grit looked at the man somewhat surprised. Washe has been in the military scene right out of school, then worked with the Dreadnaughts. He knew that, eventually, pops would retire. But it felt surreal to see him finally say goodbye to it all.
"On that, we can agree on." Lihua said to Washe. She was beginning to have similar sentiments. Just a fatigue with it all.
"Thank you for your generosity, but we do not need the money," Haruka declined politely. "After all, our parents---"
"Shut up, Haru," Shizuka cut his brother off. "It's your own business if you don't want any, but I'm gonna need some." He stepped forward and grabbed an arm-full. He went back and slammed them down beside his shocked twin (earning an amused look from Daphne); then he broke off a wad from the topmost bundle and walked over to Cindy. "Can't remember how much left I'm still owing you for your scooter, but this should be enough to fully settle the debt."
"Boy," Cindy said, giving him a look. "Do you think I give a shit about that stupid debt anymore? Keep your money."
"Well...I don't like to owe people anything. To be in people's debt." He shrugged awkwardly.
"It's cool, it's cool." Cindy replied. "There should be enough money here to buy me the best scooter."
"Speakin' of which," Meifeng chimed in, turning her head over to Shizuka and Haruka. "What will happen to you and your brother?"
"Actually," Lihua chimed in as well. "You can ask everyone that at this point..."
All of it made Quentin smile. These kids, Cass would have been happy to see them alive and safe. And, judging by what they'd taken from the bag, they'd be well-off. There was still a sum left though - but he had plans for that.
Someone else stepped into tent, and earned the looks of everyone.
"Hello, hello, everyone..." The man that Lihua, Mika, and Meifeng recognized as Jiao-Long Baozai entered the tent. He was a very tall Chinese man, wearing a black suit with a lab coat - his wife, Chunhua, stood at his side. "Am I in the right tent?" He asked with a smile.
"Father..." Mika said with a smile as she ran over to him, and gave him a hug. Tears began to run down her eyes.
Lihua stood straight up, and walked over to her brother with Lijuan in her arms. "Brother," She said to him.
"Lihua... It is great to see that you made it out with my nieces." Jiao-Long cordially said with a smile. "And you held up your promise, too." He patted Mika on the head.
"Yes..." Lihua said.
"I am very ashamed that I had to leave... I wish I could have done more to help." Jiao-Long shook his head in shame. "But, all I could really do was advocate for NEST to drop the shield to let everyone free."
Lihua sighed. "You did the best you could, brother." It was funny, a few days ago she had called Jiao-Long the king of the fools. Now she can't muster the energy to really hate him anymore.
"However," Jiao-Long said, raising a finger up into the air. "That isn't to say that I can't help with the aftermath." He loudly cleared his throat to catch the attention of everyone. "I, Jiao-Long Baozai, will be assisting in the funding the relocation of Verthaven's refugees."
He shook his head.
"It just feels like my responsibility after everything that happened here."
"How noble of you." Lihua said, without a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Noblesse oblige isn't dead after all."
Jiao-Long nodded his head. "It was great to see you, sister... but I think it's time that I get Mika out of here."
"Wait-" Lihua said. It pained her a little bit to say this, but she looked down at Lijuan.
"... Can you take Lijuan with you?" She asked him. "Me and Meifeng still have business in Verthaven, and it's best that she stays with you for now."
"Oh?" Jiao-Long said. "I'll gladly take." He took the infant into his arms, and nodded his head. "I'll be off then. See you later, sister." He stepped out of the tent, and Mika, and Chunhua, followed after him.
"You know..." Meifeng said to Lihua as she stood at her side. "... A few days ago, you looked like you were ready to bite that head of his off just for suggesting that me and Lijuan goes back to Black Fall with him."
Lihua sighed.
"... I realized I should have accepted that offer while I had the chance." She mused. "Could have saved the two of you from witnessing this neverending maelstrom of death and destruction."
Meifeng shrugged. "But it is what it is."
"Either way, I think it's time that I get to work." Lihua said. "This is my last day, after all...."
"Oh?" Meifeng said, honestly surprised to hear the words as she picked up on what Lihua meant.
Lihua sighed as she stepped out of the tent.
Meifeng nodded as she simply just sat back down on her chair, and wondered where she was going to go next. Well. She took a look around the room. At least she's with friends. Long as she has them, then everything's going to be alright.
Just when everyone thought that people were done coming into their little tent, Dana Alcott rolled her way into the tent.
"Cindy," Dana called out to her.
Cindy's heart started racing as she jumped up to her feet and ran over to Dana - leaving her share of Quentin's money behind. "Please, tell me you found him." She had requested that Dana goes out to find Jackson, her father. Praying to whatever God would listen that he was alive.
"Well...." Dana awkwardly looked off to the side as she played with her fingers. "... It's best that you just come with me to see."
That didn't paint a good image in Cindy's mind. She only nodded her head as she followed Dana out of the tent.
"Say, what's your plan?" Quentin shot Meifeng the question with an arched brow.
"Well..." Meifeng curled her legs up to her body, and shrugged. "... Just follow my mom where ever she goes. I don't know at this point...." She looked off to the side.
"Join NEST?" Quentin suggested.
"NEST no longer has a future." Washe interjected. "Not after this. They will likely be disbanded and be replaced by another organisation."
"Then whatever organisation crops up. There's a market out there for people like us."
"I don't know.... I wanted to join them for so long, but, after all of this... I'm not sure." Meifeng said.
"The fatal flaw was that NEST was designed to be a specialized combative branch of government, when it should have been a socialized program." Washe insisted. "Regulating people according to genetics is a shadow of the Nazi party. If NEST was there to instead provide care and education to folks like the Changelings when they were still bitties..."
"Probably right there," Quentin shrugged. "I don't doubt there'll be a major reshuffle of things. Mr. Cornell is probably going to be our new Director, or head of whatever they throw up in NEST's place."
Meifeng didn't have a damn clue about the NEST politics.
Shizuka tried not to listen to the ongoing debate about NEST's future - what was there to hear about anyway? It's the same ol' politics shit like any other organizations, any other government in the world... But he couldn't, because he had to entertain Haruka's questions.
"Well... Agent Vuhong's relative - that Chinese man just now - said he had offered to relocate all of us... I don't know why, but it still feels surreal. Like the future is filled with so much uncertainties..."
"Jiao-Long," Meifeng added. "He's my uncle... Mika's father. A really nice guy - but my mom fights with him like cats and dogs."
"Um, yeah, sorry." Haruka raised an eyebrow at Meifeng's sudden intrusion - he knew nothing about her family to make any response back to her. "Anyway, as I was saying: I feel scared, I am paranoid of whatever that might happen to us, to everyone - to the whole world - from hereon."
Shizuka was also staring at Meifeng; he was more amused at the part about the Vuhong woman's relationship with her brother. It felt like a deja vu of his own relationship with his twin.
Washe looked around with his hands on his hips. "Well, with that out of the way... we're gonna see what's keeping Baron. There's still a couple of them left out there, so keep your ears peeled."
Grit nodded in agreement. With that, Washe also walked out of the tent. Grit began trailing closely behind, but paused for a moment to turn around and look at Meifeng. "My old man," he said with a grin, nudging toward Washe, "quite the character inn'he?"
"Pretty loud, too." Meifeng said with a grin.
"He's alright once ya get to know 'im." Grit assured after a short laugh. "Gotta weird way of showin' his affection." Grit paused a moment, realizing they never formally introduced. "My name's Daniel, G.W.. W stands for Washe. I go by Danny or Grit. "
"Meifeng Vuhong." Meifeng answered with her own name. "It was great to meet you." She somberly said, realizing she'll probably never see this man again.
"Take care." He finally said to her, leaving behind a brief wink before leaving with all the stuff he brought on his back to catch up with his father.
He sighed. "As I've said, this is only just the beginning. The Devil incident is merely a terribad prologue to something far bigger, far worse than we can ever imagine."
"What do you mean?"
"That bloodsucker won't be the last and only one who will try that Godhood bullshit." He narrowed his eyes when he recalled Luis' final moment. "And you bet there will be another monster more devastating than the Devil out there...somewhere."
"'Even with my death, there are others who share my dream of a perfect world... and they will continue where I left off.'" Meifeng parroted each disturbing word that Luis said - as Luis' name was burned into the back of her skull.
She raised a finger up into the air as she looked at the twins.
"That implies there's more like him." Meifeng said. "I don't know if someone can become a God, but we gotta stop them either way."
She sighed.
"Not to mention the Mannequin and the rest of those bastards are still out there," Meifeng started off, somberly. "And who knows whether or not they're the type that'd want revenge."
"If they do, they'll definitely come after me first." Shizuka shook his head. "I hit a big score on the top two Changelings with some surprise stunts - no one is going to take my lil' ghostly tricks with much grace on top of all the pain and humiliation, yeah."
"... Or they'll come after me for being the one who put the bullet in Luis' head." Meifeng added. "God damn it... it feels like this bullshit will never come to an end. First lose Jen, then I lose Trevor... and it shows no sign of ever stopping." Tears started rolling down Meifeng's cheeks.
Shizuka froze when Meifeng started crying in front of him. Jeez, he had no idea how to handle wailing girls without making it worse. While he looked away and rubbed the back of his neck in attempt to hide his awkwardness, Haruka placed a gentle hand on her arm. "I feel saddened about what happened to them too... They had to leave before I could get to know them better, before we could actually become friends... Why them? Why did everything have to happen like this?"
"The good die young... while tyrants like Luis get free reign to do whatever they please just because they feel like they have the power to." Meifeng somberly muttered. "I just wish... I just wish I'd get the ability to make a difference. To make them stop..."
"Doesn't matter what powers we can get," Shizuka said. "If you can't control that power and let it controls you, there's a high chance you might end up like the Devil - drowned in that uncontrollable power and dragging all of us down with her."
He quoted Daphne's words: "'Even if we, the Metahumans, are blessed with superpowers, that doesn't equate our existence to that of a God - we are ultimately still no different from a human being, just a little more special.'
"No matter what powers we have, or how powerful these powers make us, we're still homo sapiens. And we all come with a brain, Meta or not. So instead of relying on raw power, why not use our head to take advantage of what we already have?"
Meifeng realized that Shizuka was right. Despite what she thought of him previously, he had some wisdom to him. Power can't solve everything - and in the end, regardless of what abilities you have, everyone's a human being. Maybe. She never wanted to lose another person ever again.
"You're right...." Meifeng somberly agreed. "I don't ever want to lose anyone ever again... but what's it worth if I lose myself in the process?"
"We all feel the same way as you do." Shizuka placed a hand on her shoulder (which felt a bit weird since she's taller than him). "No one wants to see the most important people leaving their side without a proper goodbye, or to see their loved one being turned into a monster. All we can do is to support each other continuously, and work together to prevent such tragedies from repeating again."
Seeing the look on Haruka's face made the younger twin go, "What?"
"Well... It's going to take me some time to get used to this side of you." In which Haruka earned a glower from his brother.
"I came to a decision," Meifeng said as she stood straight up. "I don't know, or care if NEST is going to keep going on, or if it'll fall apart and gets replaced - I'm joining it."
The twins exchanged looks. "That's a good idea - you will be able to reach out and help more people if you join such security-related organizations," Haruka said, a small smile on his face. This girl might seem rough on the outside, but had such strong sense of justice.
Shizuka, however, wasn't as idealistic as the two. "Your sense of righteousness is truly admirable - at a level I can never reach - but this world isn't as kind as you'd think. One day...we'll reach the point where the line between justice and self-preservation is so blurred than it's hard to tell what's right from wrong, and vice versa."
"I am aware..." Meifeng trailed off. "I was given this speech by Lihua a thousand times over."
"Like you'd know, kid." Quentin spoke up once again, sarcasm lacing his tone. "Whatever. You did good earlier, putting a blade in that Spanish fucker's skull like that. If that isn't righteous, I don't know what is."
Shizuka said nothing and merely shrugged in response. Haruka punched his twin's shoulder. "You should be more honest with yourself, dumb brother."
"Regardless," Meifeng said. "Whatever the hell the future holds, I'm going to be apart of it. As my own woman....'"
She nodded her head. Meifeng finally realized that Lihua was starting to acknowledge her as an adult.
"Now, I'm going to get a breath of fresh air...." Meifeng stepped out of the tent, and was hit with the fresh summer breeze.
Whoever I wanted to be, I already am.
Lihua Vuhong, & Task Force RAVEN
.
"Have all the explosive devices been disabled?" Lihua asked.
"We're working on it, ma'am."
"There ain't no hostiles in there, so hey, we got ourselves all the time in the world." Leon chimed.
"Agent Vahan...." Lihua hissed.
"The last bomb's been disabled." The NEST Bomb disposal Agent said.
"Alright, all Agents, push in." Maximilian answered. "Secure the building!"
From both sides of the warehouse, NEST Agents kicked down the doors, and started charging in, guns drawn. Their flashlights shined a light on the hellish building that was used as a hideout for the Changeling Unit. Thanks to the chips they had implanted within Heartbreaker, they managed to find this place a lot sooner than expected. Despite the Changelings being dead, they were prepared for everything. Since the Changelings were the most unpredictable of their enemies, they couldn't take any chances.
The first sight they were met with were pools of dried blood. They scanned the area, before they caught sights of a little girl tied to a table by ropes. She was the one that the Changelings tortured for their trials.
"Secure her and get her out of here!" Maximilian pointed and the Agents went into action, and dragged her out of the hellhouse that was the Changeling Unit's hideaway.
It wasn't long until NEST Agents were already all over the building... and they recovered the rotting body of Alice Shepard, and many others.
Lihua stepped through the doors of the building, hips swaying, and her hand close to her gun. It was time for her to investigate this hellhole. She stepped through what had to be the Changeling's armory. Jesus... they had enough firepower here to start a small war. They must have been stockpiling, buying weapons from other nations. She walked up to an assault rifle, and examined it. It looked old, worn.... it definitely seen some action somewhere.
She put the gun back, and continued combing through the Changeling arsenal. She was hoping to find something to connect the Changelings to some sort of supplier, or anything that'd give her leads to their contacts. They needed to be wiped out regardless... It became apparent that the Changelings were good at defending their contacts. Other than the Hands, that is.
Lihua scrolled into another room, one with a bed. She looked around, and saw bloodied knives hung up on the wall. Luis. She thought to herself. This was that maniac's room especially. He had brought his collection with him... looks like the entire Changeling Unit was ready to clean house in Verthaven.
Every little thing they owned were going in a NEST storage.
However, Lihua wanted to search for more. She first went over to Luis' bed, putting her hands on his bed. Feeling around for something. There wasn't anything in the pillows or bed sheets... She pressed down a little bit more and felt something inside the bed itself.
Producing a knife, Lihua gently cut the bed open. She stuck her hands inside, digging for the object, and it was revealed that it was a book. A dirty. Tattered. Book. Ugh. Filthy thing looks centuries old. Which would make sense given how old Luis is.
Curiosity got the better of Lihua as she opened the book and gave it a look. The words were still perfectly capable of being read.
It was... a diary of some sort. Luis' diary. It had everything he knew.
This was interesting, as it'd give Lihua an insight on the centuries Metahuman were nothing but a myth. Ambiguity.
Ashe was reading it, her jaw dropped.
This can not get out into the public.
Lihua slid the book into her armor. Hiding it close to her as she stepped out of the building.
This is something she's going to keep to herself...
Cindy Gabrielle Keagan
Dana lead Cindy into the medical tents, specifically leading her to a tent that'd become special to her.
Pulling aside the curtain, Cindy stepped inside, and immediately gasped, cupping her mouth with both hands. Dana rolled out of the room. She had work to do, and it was better if Cindy does this on her own.
"Daddy!" Cindy shouted.
There Jackson Keagan was. Lying down on a hospital bed. Covered in all sorts of bloodied bandages implying that he had been attacked. The machine attached to him didn't exactly bode well for him either. There was an oxygen mask over his face. Cindy knew that he looked like shit - and it hurts so much.
Jackson turned his head to Cindy, and smiled.
"Ba... baby girl," Jackson started off, he sounded very weak. "You made it... I thought I'd lie here dying without ever knowin' that my baby girl made it out of this alive." He laughed for a moment.
"Daddy... wha... what happened to you?!" Cindy said, as she ran over to him, and put her hands on his chest.
"You see, I wa... I was with some of my old Red Crown friends when that big thing rolled up downtown. It sent some of it's monsters at us, and we tried to get away... but...." Jackson started coughing. "... A group of 'em tore us up. They mobbed me, and I honestly thought I was gonna die then and there...."
Tears started welling up in Cindy's eyes.
"But, I was saved in the nick of time by some girl... Metahuman, yeah...." Jackson hoarsely said. "... Didn't quite catch her name, but she looked a little familiar. Yeah, she dragged me off, and got me some medical attention... then the shield came down, and here we are. I'm looking at my baby girl again...." "What... Daddy...." Cindy said, confused. "... What are we going to do?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about - and I know it's gonna be hard, but look at me, Baby Girl." Jackson said. "My spine's been broken from the neck down, - I can't even move my arms - my organs are all damaged, and... it's going to cost a fortune just to keep me alive."
He stared Cindy dead in the eye.
"Without your mother, you're going have to jump through hoops just to pay for it... And That ain't fair to you." Jackson shook his head. "Not one bit. Look, baby-girl, you're strong. You survived all of this, you fought those monsters... you don't need me anymore."
He simply said.
"And more importantly, you sure as hell don't need me holding you back." Jackson said with a smile on his face as a faint tear rolled down his cheek. "You're no longer a baby-girl, you're a big girl; and you've made me and your mother proud."
"Daddy...." Cindy trailed off as tears started rolling down her eyes.
"Go on... pull the cord on these machines hooked up to me." Jackson said. "I can't live like this, and you shouldn't have to worry about keeping me alive..."
"Daddy..." Cindy repeated herself as she started crying harder than before.
"No, no, no, baby girl, don't cry." Jackson reassured her. "I know this is hard... but I want you to know, that I love you with all my heart. Go on, be your own woman. Every cent I have left, it's goin' to you."
This was the hardest decision of her life. Does Cindy just live with her father's condition and hold herself back just like he said she would? Or does she let go of the only family she has left? She didn't know the answer to her question, but it was so hard seeing Jackson like this. Her father, a proud man who had a love for music, and only wanted the best for Cindy, reduced to a useless vegetable on a bed.
Is she cruel enough to confine him to this fate?
No. She wasn't going to be selfish. Jackson's willing to give his life so Cindy can move on unhindered.
Every step Cindy took towards that ICU machine, guilt, grief, and other emotions were overcoming her. She put her hand on the plug, and her hand was practically shaking. Maybe I can turn back... Yeah, I can get a nice job somewhere and support him... I can do it. I'll get married, show him his grandkids....
"... You're doing the right thing, baby-girl." Jackson said, as he silently made peace with himself.
At that point, tears had started to soak Cindy's shirt. She can do this. She can't delude herself anymore with pretty thoughts. This was the real world.
Cindy pulled the plug, and all of Jackson's machinery turned off. She figured that she would go over to Jackson so he'd have a chance to see her one last time....
"You did good..." Jackson said as his life slowly faded. "Don't worry... your mother and I are going to be looking down on you from Heaven...."
Jackson died.
Cindy loudly sobbed into his lifeless body for what felt like hours.
The Mannequin thought he was the one who'd be the perfect puppet... but in the end, he died due to his own delusions. Nonetheless, the Mannequin had his backup plans. Which he was going to implore while he had the chance.
A portal opened up within an abandoned building within the Ghost Town, and the trio stepped through it. It was a dusty, water damaged, building that was just about to fall over. The Mannequin knew that heading back to the Changeling hideout was a bad idea, it most likely would have been crawling with NEST agents by now. However, long as he was alive, he could get in contact with the backup plan.
Flashbang dropped to her knees, and Mannequin looked over his shoulder to see that she was ashing. Flicks of a black ash came off her and she screeched in pain.
If the Mannequin was capable of it, he'd be rolling his eyes. Looks like they pushed Flashbang to her limits. That just makes things more irritating. However, Mannequin was willing to put Flashbang out of her misery.
The inhuman machine crawled over to Flashbang, and grabbed her by her jaw, and cocked his other hand. He flexed his fingers as he retracted a blade out of his palm. Flashbang was practically falling apart - which made it easy to use his mechanical strength to stab her through the skull.
At that point, Flashbang faded away into ash.
The Mannequin turned to Witch Mother. "...This complicates things." He said. "I was hoping that Flashbang can take us to our contact... but it's becoming apparent that I'll have to go alone."
The Witch Mother stood there, and was hoping that the Mannequin is going to say what she think he is.
"Luis is dead. Heartbreaker is dead. As it stands, the Changeling Unit is no more." Mannequin's robotic voice was monotone. "Where I'm going to go... it's best that I go alone. It'll be easier for me to slip through the cracks of everyone who pursues me."
"So, I can leave?" Witch Mother asked.
"Your bounds to the Changeling Unit are... no more..." The Mannequin said. "However, you should take the chance to run while you still have time... regardless of what you tell them, they're going to kill you."
"I'll take those chances." The Witch Mother said as she took the opportunity to get the hell out. She ran straight for the door. She was waiting for this moment for years.
The Mannequin didn't do anything - gears in that head of his started to turn as he tried to reach out to the plan B...
Before Witch Mother had the opportunity to leave, the mechanism rattled as it turned in her hand, not of her own doing. There was a stranger on the other side. The hinges creaked and a crack of light shone into the dusty structure.
Baron was surprised to find someone right at the door at he went to enter, but he kept his rigid composure. He stared into the Witch Mother with cold, steely eyes, recognizing her face from the depictions he had studied. He looked over her shoulder to see a machine-like... person, if he could call it that. It was unmistakably the Mannequin. His last quarry. Beside it was nothing but a limb, which was slowly dissolving into a black ash. Looks like they finally exhausted Flashbang's usefulness. Much like Baron predicted they would.
"So..." Baron crowed. "This is all that remains of the... mighty Changelings that had a hand in all this devastation."
The Mannequin immediately dropped to all fours like a predator. Facing Baron.
"It appears you have come here to finish what RAVEN started?" Mannequin spoke... normally he wouldn't speak to his enemies, but the terms have finally changed.
"RAVEN is..." Baron began in hesitation, as though he were looking for the right words. "...a tool. They've nothing more they can give; the win was ultimately a Pyrrhic victory."
The Mannequin narrowed his sole eye.
"So, you've come for your own reasons?" Mannequin asked. "It doesn't matter - the Changelings... are over. I have no intention of finishing what Luis started..."
"That is not true." Baron corrected. "You remain, yes? This... older lady, too? I will admit I am also responsible to your teetering on the brink, but the way I look at it... you should see it as a favor."
Baron stepped around the Witch Mother to take a couple more steps into the building.
"I don't want anything to do with the Changelings." The Witch Mother pleaded, putting her hands up. "I surrender. Do whatever you want with me, arrest me."
Baron sighed and slowly pulled out his Apache, and began gesturing it toward the Witch Mother. "You see what I mean?" Baron insisted. "This is what you get when your ranks consist of old women," he gestured at the Witch Mother, "idiots," Heartbreaker and Luis, "and a little girl." He was of course referring to Fig, whom Baron himself had killed.
"Look at it as a culling to thin out the herd of who didn't belong."
Casually, he raised the Apache and aimed it square at the Witch Mother. He knew she was genuine in her claim. He could tell. But over the years, Baron ran out of sympathy. Mercy got people killed. And regardless of all the good intentions she has now, the countless atrocities had to be payed for. This case wasn't that different from Dr. Brooke's. Baron would even perform the same deed in that case as he is now - but the point was to acknowledge the shades of humanity, and not immediately think of them as monsters.
He fired the shot at the Witch Mother.
The Witch Mother was hit in the gut with the bullet, and fell down onto her behind. She clenched the bullet wound, as she started panting. Blood was pouring out of her wound, she would die without medical treatment.
The Mannequin didn't respond even in the slightest to the Witch Mother's injury. The Witch Mother was useless now. He was merely focusing on Baron. There was a chance that the Mannequin could simply flee out a window, but Baron was fully on guard and...
...very unpredictable.
It'd be a foolish feat on par with Luis to take his chance without having a solid exit.
"Don't give up on the Changeling unit just yet." Baron said smoothly. "You're a scientist, yes? Look at this as an experiment. The first prototype. Now that we know what doesn't work, we can approach this Unit idea with different methods."
"You wish to rebuild the Changeling Unit...?" The Mannequin asked out of sheer disbelief.
"At first I wanted to join." Baron told him. "But I wasn't sure. I wanted to see how much punishment it could take, what your lasting power was. I was discouraged to find out that... the rest didn't have the suitable survival instincts necessary for such an undertaking. But now that I found you, I think we can actually get something done."
"Luis..." The Mannequin trailed off, taking in Baron's words. "Heartbreaker... all of them... they were nothing but pawns. A means to an end..."
He narrowed his eye.
"...That stopped being convenient." The Mannequin said. "Throughout the years... Godhood... A perfect world... it's all nonsense. Some other fool had already implanted that idea in Luis' head... I've just been feeding him that stupidity to get them to do as I please..."
The Mannequin got on two feet again - he was at least ten feet, but he hunched over so he appeared a foot taller than Baron. He stared him right in his green eyes.
"There is something to be gained out of a Metahuman that can burn all to ash..." The Mannequin said. "They're implanted with a form of the Metahuman energy so powerful that it can be harnessed for great things. Essentially giving people powers for temporary periods..."
The Mannequin took a few steps forward towards Baron.
"For example... extreme regeneration, revival of the dead, enhancing people...." The Mannequin said. "And so forth. Such medical accomplishments that would change the very face of the world... I want to work with it."
"I can grant you an immunity of sorts." Baron told him. "Control through brute force gets nothing done, Luis has proven that... now, I have information that can compromise several nations. Control through political and economic means - such as the sort of blackmail I wield - could have allowed the Changeling Unit to remain under government radar, and NEST would have never gotten the authority to pursue and destroy the Changelings... and control is ultimately my ambition. Not quite unlike Luis' Godhood, but... feasible."
Baron drove a hard bargin. He was unsure of who this man was, but he had connections if he was able to return to a forsaken city. However, there was one thing on his mind... "Throughout the years... I've been abandoning everything in pursuit of the ultimate breakthrough..." The Mannequin trailed off. "... My body..." He looked down at his ceramic shell. ".... My family..."
"...And possibly my soul - along with what remains of my "humanity"." The Mannequin blankly said. "All in the pursuit of one thing..."
"If I'm willing to reform the Changelings... starting with you..." The Mannequin took a few steps forward until he was practically inches away from Baron's face.
"Prove your worth..." A hint of anger entered his voice. "...Show me you are willing to help me further my dream."
Baron smiled, and slowly reached into his pocket, before withdrawing a passport booklet. He extended his arm to hand it to the Mannequin. Inside were dozens and dozens of different names and slight alterations to Baron's face, and each of them corresponding to a different country. In every one of them possessed special government-given permissions with the depictions of little icons on the top right-most corner of the IDs.
"Deceit might be my specialty," Baron admitted, "but I would be a foolish cripple to try deceiving you... oh, but... that was not the sort of proof you were looking for? Was it?"
"No." The Mannequin answered. "I want your alleigance." The Mannequin threw the booklet to the ground like it was nothing as he took a step back.
"I see..." Baron mused quietly. Damn. He might have to get a tattoo at some point in the future to cover this up.
"Then how about a little something I won't be able to hide?" Baron suggested. He flipped open the blade on his Apache and stuck his left arm out. He took a deep breath as he dug the tip of the blade on one side of his forearm. He made a moderate cut and curved it around, forming a C. Baron gritted his teeth to hide any weakness from the machine man. He was a P.O.W. He could do this. It would be easier on himself if he kept going. Cursive it is, then.
Slowly, the C merged into an H, and then into an A. Blood began running down his arm. It was a good couple minutes of stinging and wincing, and grunts. He almost felt a bit dizzy trying to keep a strong face as he put himself through this kind of self-torture. But his art piece was eventually finished.
Cut in cursive, on Baron's left forearm, read the word "Changeling".
The Mannequin would have laughed (if he could). "Good..." The Mannequin whispered. "...Very good. You have shown me you are willing to join me. Come now, we have much work to do..." The Mannequin turned away from Baron and began walking towards the door...
Baron began following, feeling the air touch his arm, wracked with pain. At least he earned the Mannequin's trust. Still, there was one last thing he had to finish.
"You know," Baron started, "now that we're colleagues, it would be shameful to hide anything more. As a Changeling... I feel you should know what my power is."
"...Power?" Mannequin looked over his shoulder and whispered at him. The moment Mannequin had done so, all he saw was a blood-soaked blade lunging toward his eye, and Baron thrusted it as far into the Mannequin's head as he could. He didn't want to take chances on this thing having the kind of regeneration Luis did. His blood in the Mannequin's system should keep him from doing that.
The Mannequin started thrashing around with the knife in his eye, as he let out a distorted yell. "...You *zzt* bastard... *zzt* this is *zzt* for the best.... *zzt*" There was blood dripping down from his eye.
This was the apparent end of the Mannequin, and fell forward on the ground, motionless.
Baron was taking deep breathes as he waited to see if he would get up again. but the Mannequin remained still. He let out a final, relieved sigh. As he said before, deceit was his specialty.
He picked up the Apache as it was still stuck in the Mannequin's face. With he it popped out the eye and whatever fleshy bits that stuck to the optic nerve, and carelessly pulled it off and tossed it aside onto the dirty ground and hobbled outside at a slow pace, the metallic brace on his leg clicking as he moved. He suddenly felt the brace budge, and his knee bent. Pulling up his pant leg, he revealed that the black machinery encasing his knee had become unlatched and hung loosely around his leg. In irritation, he kicked the thing off of him and took a moment to stretch his leg out. "Damn, I guess that thing's thrashing knocked something loose... I'll put the damn thing back on before I re-enter city limits. It's nice to be rid of it for a little while."
For one, he felt comfortable as he continued walking casually through the old ghost district of Verthaven, not having to hide anything anymore, and listening for the sounds of trucks and helicopters and the like to guide him back to the rendezvous point. The binder containing Dr. Brooke's research being tucked securely into the back of his pants, and his shirt layered over it.
"So this is finally the end..."
"...Not quite." The Mannequin muttered to himself after Baron had left. A faint electronic laughter had came out of his mouth. He pushed himself up to his feet. All Mannequin could see was static... An unfortunate side effect of getting his optic nerve damaged, but Baron never considered that the Mannequin was clever enough to hide the most important fragment of his old body in his torso.
He'd have to repair this when he gets the chance. For now, he'd have to quickly leave here before Baron comes back. If Mannequin was correct, he would redirect NEST over here. The Mannequin took two steps forward, and put his hand on the Witch Mother's head. Pulling it back a bit.
She's dead.
Didn't matter.
The Witch Mother was dead weight at this point. In Baron's feeble attempt to kill him, all he did was make the Mannequin's job much easier. Without NEST pursuing him, he can go to his alternative at any given moment.
However, Baron had damaged his communications, so he'd have to meet her in person.
Taking his time, the Mannequin climbed over to the shattered window, and crawled out of it. His hands attaching themselves to the side of the wall like an insect. He crawled in between the buildings, and disappeared into the nearest sewer entrance.
Which he used to make his great escape from Verthaven...
There was a literal mountain of paperwork to get through. Maximilian, thankfully, had a private tent.
Dana was the one going out and running errands for him. He was sitting in here on his ass. It was a shame. Everything that happened here in Verthaven sent out echoes that rocked the world. It's more than likely that NEST would be disbanded, and replaced with a substitute.
To that Maximilian said good riddance.
Any organization that lets thousands of people die on a whim deserved to be taken apart. If it was up to Maximilian, he'd have the grand council hanged. Though, dark things were boding up in their future, and he was wondering if they could handle it. Maximilian sighed. He wished that he had his office, but this would have to do.
Someone opened up the tent entrance, and Maximilian raised his head. It was Agent Vuhong, holding a stack of papers underneath her shoulder.
"Lihua, it's great to see you." Maximilian said as he casually leaned back on his chair. "I'm just here... getting all this paperwork done... you can't believe what the government is asking."
"Hello Maximilian," Lihua answered as she walked over to the table (that was a makeshift desk). She placed the stack of papers down, and next to it, she placed her badge, and her gun.
"What's this?" Maximilian asked, pointing his pen at it.
"My resignation." Lihua said, followed by a sigh. "It was great working with NEST, but I've decided to change careers." She said.
"I..." Maximilian said. "Am sorry to see you go."
"I'm sorry as well," Lihua somberly replied. "But there is no future for NEST - not anything I can be apart of. Instead of waiting for the reshuffling of the organization, I decided to go ahead and leave now."
She nodded her head.
"I need to reassess my life as well." Lihua added.
"Very well, Agent Vuhong, it was a pleasure working with you." Maximilian stood up and shook Lihua's hand.
"Maybe some day, our paths will cross again..." Lihua said as she stepped out of the room, and went on to go find Meifeng.
The Hands of Science.
"Okay, we've gathered the sample." Dr. Cross said, as she held the canister containing The Devil's arm in both hands.
Behind her was the Devil of Verthaven... a mass murdering monster... strapped to a table with a power suppressant collar wrapped around her neck. A mighty demon, reduced to nothing but a sedated mess. She was at the mercy of Dr. Cross.
Ignatius stood at her side. "Maybe we should take another sample just in case." He said with a grin. "I feel like we hould do so, just in case."
"You just want to cut another arm off." Dr. Cross said, rolling her eyes up into her head.
"Naturally," Ignatius said. "She is just another monster."
Nathaniel stepped into the room with Suan-Ni and Eliza at his side.
"I can't put into words how thankful I am, Dr. Cross." Eliza said as she walked in. "Revenant saved my ass from that wacko building."
"You're welcome." Dr. Cross answered. "I'm not one to leave another behind."
"But it was your wacko plan that got me into the situation in the first place," Eliza whined as she narrowed her eyes.
"But, it was my "wacko plan" that got NEST to work with us so I can get the sample." Dr. Cross pointed at the unconscious Devil.
"Good, you got what you need?" Nathaniel asked. "Kill her and dump her on NEST's doorstep before they catch their bearings." He said. "They're going to coming after us at full force - No, it's not even going to be NEST. It's going to be the world."
Dr. Cross put her hand up to gesture for Nathaniel to calm down.
"Don't worry... I'm waiting for my contact to call me."
"Why the hell should we be bending forward for this "founding family" anyhow?" Eliza asked, skeptical. "They haven't done shit for us-"
"On the contrary..." A monitor suddenly activated, and revealed a shadowy figure being broadcasted from a distant location. Her body shape and voice gave away that she was undeniably female, wearing what had to be a suit. However, she looked like a shadow in the screen. She leaned back in her chair, and put her fingertips together. "... The founding family has done plenty for you."
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. "And just who are you?"
"Your employer... And I'm about to change the terms of your... Contract, shall we say." The mysterious woman said cooly. "But, I have to congratulate Cross for getting the sample for me."
"Great, just another wacko." Eliza said to herself as she rolled her eyes.
The mysterious woman made Dr. Cross nod her head. "Glad I could be of assistance."
"... You have a bright future in the founding family." The woman said with a smile. "Now, I'm giving you the location of the pick up.... But from here on in, you'll have to follow my instructions exactly."
Everyone listened.
"First, send your most useless courier to deliver the sample. Then kill the Devil and leave her body for NEST to find."
"... If I may do the honors." Ignatius immediately said, he created a large energy blade, and swung it towards the Devil's head. The blade faded as the top half of the Devil's head slid off. Ignatius laughed.
"Good." The woman said. "Now, this come off as presumptuous, but times are changing.... And once they realize that you had a hand in the creation of the Devil, they'll no longer tolerate this mad scientist game you've been playing."
She leaned back in her chair.
"Which is why I'm suggesting that you take everything of value out of the Hands, and torch the rest." The Founding woman said.
"Are you mad?" Nathaniel said. "Years... years of hard work building the Hands up will be gone! And you think we'll willingly abandon such a resource?"
"Would you rather that resource gets destroyed? Lost forever?" The woman asked, skeptically prodding into Nathaniel's foolishness, shrugging. "Because that's what's going to happen. Wouldn't you rather put those resources into an organization greater than the Hands? An organization that managed to maintain the anonymity that the Hands couldn't hold?"
Nathaniel clenched his fists as he came up with a response.
"What are you going to say? Your security force can defend your assets? Well, NEST has already proven that they can trump them with a little clever thought." The Woman playfully said to Nathaniel like an insect. "Think of this as... a culling. Removing the useless college age mad scientists with their useless research that served only to hold the Hands down."
"To be frank, I think it's time that we just jump ship." Eliza said.
"The Hands were simply a test and it had positive results. There were just a few... kinks. Kinks that almost ruined the organization." The Woman continued. "Each and every person here is a brilliant mind, that has much to contribute, so let me cut you a deal..."
She leaned in closer to the screen with a lustful smile on her face.
"... Come over to the Founding Family with your finest, and we can make great things happen."
Each major member of the Hands stared up at her in awe.
"... You have my full support." Dr. Cross was the first to say as she stepped forward.
"... I will give you my finest." Nathaniel said.
"... There ain't no future in the Hands, so might as well." Eliza said.
"Where ever Dr. Cross goes, I follow." Ignatius added, he threw a thumb over his shoulder at Snowblind and Revenant. "And my REAPERs will be glad to join you."
"I'm Dr. Cross' assistant." Stephanie said. "That won't change any time soon."
"I refuse." Suan-Ni said. "I'm done with the Hands of Science... and whoever found them." He spat out the words.
"Very well." The Woman said. "You're free to go... you don't know enough to truly bother us, so I suggest you go off the radar."
"... Sorry Ignatius," Revenant said. "But I'm joining Suan-Ni...." She said as she walked out, following Suan-Ni.
"Anyone else?" The Woman asked, shrugging and putting her hands out.
Everyone shook her head
"Good..." The woman started laughing. "... Go along now, get moving people! Gather all your good research, staff, and soldiers!" She loudly said.
With Cindy planting her behind down on the chair, Maximilian had everyone he needed.
"Good, you're here." Maximilian said, as he folded his hands on the table. "We have much to discuss."
Meifeng raised an eyebrow as she looked at Maximilian.
Lihua merely stood by the door with her arms crossed behind. Maximilian hadn't put her official resignation in the systems yet, so she's still with NEST. She wanted to be here to watch this.
"Are you aware of the current state of affairs with NEST?" Maximilian asked them all.
"Nope." Cindy said.
"... Somewhat." Meifeng answered.
Shizuka gave the two girls a look, pausing longer at Meifeng. Then he nodded his head and then shrugged.
"I've received word that NEST is..." He sighed as he hung his head, sinking his face into his hands. "...Unfortunately being disbanded."
"Oh, really?" Meifeng said, she sounded surprised up until she remembered Washe's words. "...Can't say I'm surprised to be honest." Meifeng answered.
"But, this isn't the end," Maximilian said. "A new organization is going to replace NEST... in fact, two organizations. Think of it as a rebranding, a new organization to succeed where NEST failed."
"Huh?" Cindy asked.
Raising one finger, "DOVE; a new branch of the government that focuses on the social side of Metahumans. Relations, psychology, and making sure that an organization like the Changeling Unit never rises again. They're going to focus on the social services side."
"So, will there still be those stupid ass checkups?" Cindy asked.
Maximilian shrugged, "I cannot confirm or deny that."
"...Damn it." Cindy said under her breath.
"The other organization is RAVEN... you all are familiar with the name. RAVEN will be like NEST was, an emergency Metahuman response team that will respond to threats and eliminate them."
He raised a finger up into the air.
"...Only difference is that the idea of a grand council and high command is being scrapped in favor of a sole person leading both organizations." Maximilian started. "...And I have been voted to be the Chairman of the newly formed RAVEN."
"Ooooooooh." Meifeng said. "Nice job."
"But, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you three about." Maximilian said. "This new RAVEN is going to need a fresh line of recruits... and while NEST assets are being funneled into both organizations."
"What I'm saying is that I'd like to recruit each of you into RAVEN." Maximilian just addressed the elephant in the room. "I know many of you have lost your homes in the condemnation of Verthaven... if you join RAVEN, you'll gain a solid job that'll allow each of you to start well off."
"I..." Cindy thought about it. She used to hate NEST, but ever since she fought alongside them, she changed that sentiment. She couldn't muster the energy to hate NEST anymore, not with Jackson dead. "...Could I become a pilot? Like pilot training?"
"Hm, there's plenty of helicopters." Maximilian said. "You can become a helicopter pilot."
Surviving this disaster will allow Cindy to reach her dreams. She smiled like she was a child again. "I'm in." Cindy said.
"...I said I'd join whatever group pops up." Meifeng said, nodding her head. "So, here I am."
"That's good... because your mother spoke very kindly of you when she made a recommendation." Maximilian said.
"Ooooh, really?" Meifeng turned her head back towards Lihua.
Lihua nodded her head.
"Now I'm definitely in." Meifeng said.
Shizuka stared at the two girls. Joining RAVEN might allow him to gain access to some of their resources and use them to protect his twin (call him paranoid, but kidnapping Haru to threaten his family was very likely to happen after what he had done to bring down the Changelings). His sight then fell onto Holly, who gave him a mysterious smile.
"...Oh well. I guess I'm in also." He shrugged. "Besides, I've always wanted to shoot some guns. Maybe even become a sniper."
"Good." Maximilian said. "I'll get the forms ready for all of you... you're going to need a parent or guardian's signature before you get to that part, Shizuka."
"My aunt can do that," Shizuka said, glancing at Akemi beside him. "She is my legal guardian." He didn't like the thought of going to his parents - especially the woman he had to call 'mother'.
"Can you sign this, ma'am?" Maximilian said as he slid a paper and a pen over to her. Akemi nodded and pulled them towards herself; she skimmed through the terms quickly and signed it, before passing the paper and pen back to the new Chairman of RAVEN.
"Thank you." Maximilian said. "Now that that's been settled..."
Echo appeared from behind Maximilian... reaching under the desk to pull out three hefty stacks of paper, placing them on the table in front of the trio.
Shizuka widened his eyes, looking from the stack of papers to Maximilian in mock horror. You got to be kidding me. Even worse when his aunt squeezed his shoulder...with a look of amusement.
"...These are your forms." Maximilian said with a cocky smile on his face. He flicked three pens over to them. "You have a lot to sign... so I suggest you get started now."
At that moment, Quentin stepped inside, his gaze shifting to the new Chairman. "Max, I could use a word when you're not busy."
"Sure, Agent Taylor." Maximilian said.
Folding his arms, Quentin took a step towards the corner and leaned back against the wall as he addressed the man "My brother's going to be out of a job soon, but I think he's got a place with us in the future. Look, you saw how he handled himself, how he made it through and fought with us - if that isn't a qualifying factor for being a part of this new thing, then I don't know what is."
"Of course," Maximilian said. "I'll be glad to have your brother working under me."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Quentin reached out to shake the new Chairman's hand. Now, just need to pitch the offer to the man himself.
Meanwhile, Shizuka was flicking through the papers with growing irritation. "Jesus, how many more death certs do I have to sign for myself?"
Quentin, & Reed Taylor
It turned out that Cass' place was mostly intact - along with all the old man's stupid film memorabilia. As it was, not even a city-ending catastrophe as this place had seen had been capable of destroying the old man's precious crap. Both of them had to laugh at that.
"So, I guess that means you're out of a job now." Quentin took a swig from the flask as he glanced towards Reed, who sat on the front porch with him.
"Yeah, I guess.." Reed snatched the flask off his brother and took a swig of his own. "Can't be a VPD without Verthaven. Shit... guess I could get a transfer to LAPD or something. Technically, I never got past the probationary stage, so I'd probably have to start from the bottom up again."
"Nah, you can do better than that.. Besides, I think you've got a different line of work ahead of you. Similar to being a cop, but different." It didn't take a genius to see what Quentin inferred.
"Really?" Reed seemed a little surprised at the notion. "I'm not even one of you-.. y'know, a metahuman."
"So fucking what?" Quentin shrugged. "You're more qualified than I ever was. Cass would've said it, if he was here right now. And, well... I can fix the other problem."
Reed's eyes widened when he realized what his brother had meant. "Quent, you know that's-... I thought you were last that. And I'm not putting you at risk for my sake-"
"One last exception." Quentin outstretched his palm for Reed to grasp. "Come on, what can they do to us? We fought the fucking Devil whilst those assholes in power hid behind that shield. This is a freebie you've earned."
"I.." Reed hesitated for a moment. Would Cass have wanted this? No, he couldn't decide that way. It was on him.
After a moment he came to a decision.
...
"Come on sister," A woman said within the private section of a club.
Vibrating the whole building was the bass of techno being blasted throughout the speakers. Behind the door was droves of people dancing in the expensive club they had found themselves in. There were two women sitting at a table. Obscured by the shadows and bright lights of the club, they had drinks all to themselves. One woman was small, petite, and was downright dwarfed by the larger woman who sat across from her. There was a distinct feature about this woman.
The smaller woman leaned in to her and swished her alcohol around. "Just because you lost something doesn't mean you can't go out and have fun. Come with the dance floor..." She took a sip of her drink. "... Maybe we'll get a cute guy to come back to the condo with us. It's not like you're ugly or anything."
The other larger woman didn't say anything.
"Ugh..." The woman groaned as she put her face into her hand. "We got money, power... and much more of those two on the way... and most importantly, we have time. So why waste it sulking?"
"Wait." The other woman said, sharply turning her head.
"... Finally, you start talki-"
A sinister looking black smoke came out of the large woman's shoulders, and pooled on the ground. From there, a clawed hand made out of the black smoke grabbed someone and pinned them against the wall in a loud thud.
"W-what the hell?" She jumped out the chair and faced her sister. "What the hell is wrong with you!? We're gonna get kicked out... wait..." The woman took a close look at the person her sister pinned.
It was no person.
But a machine.
"... Mannequin." The woman said. "Why have you come here unannounced?"
The other woman deactivated her power, and the Mannequin fell down to the ground. He rose up like a puppet on strings. He crawled to the women's feet, and then he bowed to them.
"Luis has fallen." The Mannequin said. "Which means you'll be taking his place sooner than... anticipated...."
The two women grinned.
"Come now..." The Mannequin stood straight up. "... There's one more person we need."
"... Then we can get started."
Lihua Vuhong,Meifeng Vuhong, & Baron Moreau
"...Don't push yourself." Lihua pleaded. "You can take-"
"No, I got this." Meifeng confidently said.
They had found themselves back at the Vuhong family household. The household was still standing, but it had been horribly damaged by water. Worst of all, the basement was fully flooded. Which is why they were standing outside by a window. Meifeng was dropped into a stance, legs two shoulder widths apart, and she was spinning her hands around in a circle as if she was holding an orb. She was pulling the water out of the basement, and sending it out into the yard (at this point, everything was so washed away that it didn't matter).
With one inhale, Meifeng went into overdrive, and she forced the rest of the water out of the hole.
After that feat, she knelt forward. Panting.
"Wooooooooo!" Meifeng said. "That was an exercise..."
"I told you not to push yourself." Lihua said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, yeah..." Meifeng hopped up to her feet. "Are we going to get what we need to out of here?"
"Yes," Lihua knelt down and picked up the big dufflebag, and started walking into the house. "Follow me."
Leading Meifeng into the house, Lihua realized that the house wasn't looted as expected. Hm. Most likely people were too terrified of the roaming hordes of monsters to actually steal and kill. Though... with this bloodstain on the front door. Someone tried. She just hoped they didn't take anything important. Lihua took a few more steps inside, around Meifeng, then turned around and nodded to her.
"Alright," Lihua said. "Go through the house and get whatever you want to take with us."
Meifeng nodded her head as she quickly went through the house. There was something that Lihua needed out of the basement. She casually scrolled over to the basement, and walked down the rusted steps... thank god this house was built made out of something sturdy. Lihua turned her head over to the corner, and laid her eyes upon a massive metal safe that was tall as she was, and just as wide. A sturdy construction in which Lihua trusted to keep all of her most prized possessions safe. She walked up to it. Typing in a code...
"...GOD DAMN IT THE PS4 IS BUSTED!" Meifeng loudly shouted from above her, and it threw Lihua off as she thought something was legitimately wrong. "...Son of a bitch!"
Lihua rolled her eyes as she simply continued typing. She pressed one last button, and the door to the safe had opened. Just as expected, the contents were safe from water damage. It was good, too, since there were thousands of dollars in bills. A gift from Jiao-Long, of course. She kept plenty of money in here just in case something goes horribly wrong, and she needs it. Well, she sure as hell needs it now. Lihua nodded her head and began stuffing as much of the money as possible into the dufflebag.
There was one more thing. There was a family photo that she kept close to herself. A picture of herself, Jiao-Long, her mother, and her father, when they were younger. One of the last photos they took together as a family.
The photo went into the bag, before Lihua zipped it up.
Upstairs, Meifeng was going through the house. Honestly, there wasn't anything she couldn't replace - a force of habit because she never really put attachment on clothes, or material possessions. Though, there was one thing that she had her eyes on. A karate trophy that she had earned a few years back... which was behind a photo. A very special photo. It was a photo of Meifeng holding the trophy high, with Trevor throwing up two peace signs with a wide smile on his face. Cindy, on Meifeng's other side, smiling as she had a hand on Meifeng's shoulder, the other hand was being used to throw a peace sign. Jen tried to show excitement for Meifeng's win, she was just standing there awkwardly with a proud smile on her face.
Yeah, she remembered that. It was the day when Meifeng won the trophy and all her friends came to watch. Lihua took the photo and everything.
God, weren't those the days?
Meifeng forgot to bring a bag, she merely grabbed onto the trophy with one hand, and the photo with the other, and began to leisurely skip her way out of the room.
The two women met at the entrance of their household.
"Did you get everything you wanted?" Lihua asked.
"Phew," Meifeng said, looking at the dufflebag which was stuffed. "Is what I think is in that bag?"
"... Yes." Lihua answered. "A large sum of money I received from Jiao-Long as a gift."
"You know..." Meifeng put her hands on her hips. "Plenty of your clothes and jewelry are still in good shape."
"Oh?" Lihua said. "I'll have to go through some of it... Do me a favor." She put the bag out for Meifeng to grab. "Put this in the back of the car."
"Aren't you afraid I'll pocket this?" Meifeng asked.
"Don't be silly..." Lihua said. "You've got more than enough money from Mr. Taylor."
As the pair were working together to gather their remaining possessions, a rhythmic knocking resonated from the open door in the front of the house.
"Hm?" Meifeng raised an eyebrow. "Who the hell is showing up now of all times?" She said to herself.
Lihua crossed her arms. This is a rather odd occurrence. It might require some precautions - just in case it might be a looter, or any foolish member of the Hands that thinks they can get the drop on her. Lihua reached behind herself and pulled out her glock.
"...Come in." Lihua said, pushing Meifeng into another room as she approached the door.
Her answer was a familiar laugh.
"You know," they said, "maybe if you were to put your gun away - I know you aren't a woman to let a stranger into your home."
Lihua rolled her eyes up into her head as she slid the gun back into her pocket. She knew exactly who it was - she stepped over to the door and it opened, revealing Baron. The man that she got oh so familiar with over the month. He was dingy and dirty, hair undone, stubble-ridden, smeared with dust, sweat, and had bandages over his left forearm.
"... Hey," Meifeng said, poking her head into the room. "You're that creepy dude that came to help us."
"Creepy?" Baron frowned.
Lihua pushed Meifeng back into the other room with her hand as she faced Baron. "Bar- Jean, it's a pleasure to see you."
Baron's frown turned around, and smiled sweetly at Lihua. "As it is mine! I heard from Isaiah that he wasn't the only one who's retiring... and that a special someone got a promotion."
Lihua looked at Baron for a moment. Her mouth opened slightly as if she was going to say something, but stopped herself.
"... Things change, Jean." Lihua said. "I figured it was time I do the same."
She sighed.
Baron gave a hearty laugh at the sound of the callsign he apparently gave to her a while back, perhaps at an inappropriate time. "Pardon me," he said smiling, "that wasn't funny, we'll need to have a talk later. I'm very sorry to hear that... oh, and before I forget..."
He dragged out the thick binder of folders that was tucked in the back of his pants and presented it to her. "Guess what I found?"
"Oh?" Lihua knew exactly what Baron had recovered. She was a tad curious to see what's on it - but, before she didn't want to risk eliciting Peter's wrath - and was going to ask... before she realized that she most likely wouldn't understand a damn thing.
She was a soldier, not a scientist.
"Dr. Brooke has grown a bit of notoriety, in my mind, for his fondness of codes. He knew more than he let on..." He began, then he began to give her a sly smile. "But since you are no longer NEST, that information is classified."
Lihua laughed a bit. "Oh, keep it. I'd rather not paint another target on my back." She playfully said.
"If you would though," Baron requested, "allow me a moment with Meifeng? I hear she's being inducted into RAVEN soon. If she's anything like her mother, she'll advance quickly. She'll want to know this."
Now what could Baron want with Meifeng...? Lihua thought to herself as she considered Baron's words.
"... You may." The words casually left her lips. "Meifeng! Would you kindly come here?"
There was a loud zipping sound. "... I didn't touch it!" She shouted back.
"Just come here." Lihua rolled her eyes.
Baron was holding back laughter.
Meifeng quickly skipped her way into the room, holding the dufflebag in hand. She looked between her mother, and her friend. "Yeah? What is it?" She asked.
"Follow me for a moment." Baron said, pacing his way to table in what was left of the dining room. His brace was back on, and was limping over.
Lihua and Meifeng casually followed after him. Meifeng in particular was curious as to what this creepy dude wanted to do with her. Though, if Lihua trusts him, what's the worst that can go wrong?
Baron set the thick, heavy binder onto the table, then turned to face Meifeng, greeting her with a friendly smile. "Anyways, my name is Baron - I'm a doctor. It's good to finally meet you."
"Yeah, great to meet you, too, Doc." Meifeng nodded her head. "What kind of doc are you anyway?" She asked, legitimately curious.
"Oh, some number." Baron said vaguely. "But my specialization is in neuropsychology."
"Neuropsych-what?" Meifeng said, legitimately confused now. "Uh, know what? Nevermind. What do you want to talk about?"
Baron opened the exit end of the binder to the final few pages in the last folder. Carefully taking them out, he set them on the table in front of Meifeng. He began by saying, "If you remember a man named Peter Brooke, he was a doctor of pharmacology and medical engineering. He made medicine. He specialized in regenerative research. This entire binder is full of carefully code-guarded notes."
Lihua quickly scanned the notes. Since she was... curious, of course. She wondered why Baron is showing this to Meifeng - but the man has shown her that he works in unexpected ways.
He spread the sheets of paper apart so that they were easily distinguishable.
"The last couple of pages... are unrelated. You see, although made a tool of the Hands of Science, he was no friend of theirs. He had information on them and also on the Changelings. I had time to decode that information on separate sheets. Here..."
Baron pointed at the inane gibberish scribed on the original notes written by Dr. Brooke, and then to the writing Baron wrote, the deciphered version. In it included the bit of information regarding Luis and Changeling leadership, in addition to various incriminating intel on the Hands and their safe houses.
"Luis and Heartbreaker were only pawns." Baron said, echoing the Mannequin's words.
"Whooooa...." Meifeng looked at all this information. This man was a genius! Or at least, much smarter than her. She looked at it - that metal man knew everything. "This is amazing... wait," She immediately realized what Baron was doing. She pointed a finger at herself. "You want me to use all this to help take down the Hands?"
"You're going to be RAVEN, aren't you?" Baron questioned. "You don't have to do it immediately or all on your own. I just imagine that the organization you'll be leading in no time would appreciate this."
Meifeng smiled. "... Thank you." She legitimately said. It was clear that since Lihua nor Baron could do it, it was up to Meifeng. "I'm going to put this to good use."
But, all this help she's getting from everyone... it feels great. It feels like she's finally reaching the point that she's always wanted to reach - and everyone's just giving her the encouragement she needs.
"Now, next order of business..." Baron started. He looked back to Lihua. "This has been a crazy ride. I could go back to the Dreadnaughts if I wanted to, or finally start a normal life and work as a college professor... but before I consider the latter, I need to make a change. From this point forward, I need to be totally honest."
This really made Lihua curious. "Yes?" She asked.
"First, let's start with this blasted thing." Baron grumbled. He lifted up his pant leg, revealing the uncomfortable metal brace around his knee. He held onto a certain latch his both hands, and slammed the heel of his boot against the floor. The brace fell and hit the floor with an alarming thud. He sighed with relief as he sat down in the chair at the table.
"Wait, you... what..." Lihua pointed at the metal brace, honestly confused. "... God damn it, Baron." She hissed.
"It was necessary," Baron said in defending himself, "I don't know if I need to say it by now, but in the Dreadnaughts, I was a spook. An intelligence agent. Theoretically speaking, I have.... seven nations under my thumb. Well, Belroth's thumb. I know more though - I didn't tell what he didn't need to know."
"Hmph." Lihua said. Baron's making himself out to be quite powerful. "So you use the brace to make yourself appear unassuming?" She asked, picking up on it quickly.
"Well, you know..." Baron said quietly with a shrug. "...Changelings and all."
"Clever, clever, clever..." Lihua answered. "May we continue?" She politely said.
"Speaking of..." Baron's tone turned somber. "Meifeng. Concentrate your focus on the Hands. The... The Changelings are no longer an issue."
"I take you took care of that loose end?" Lihua asked with a smile.
"Heh..." Meifeng said with a smile. "Once I'm done, they won't be an issue either."
"Well..." Baron hesitated in saying. "It wasn't easy. Once I tracked the ones that remained down... Flashbang had already ashed, and the Witch Mother didn't have any fight left in her."
"It goes without saying what happened to the Mannequin?" Lihua asked. "To be honest with you... I would have been more than content with letting those monsters tear themselves apart - but they truthfully forced our hand...."
Baron sighed. He hesitated for a moment, but then reached his hand over reluctantly to begin undoing the bandages. "Like I said, it wasn't easy..." He said between each time he unraveled the cloth. "I might've been the only one able to persuade the Mannequin enough to get close to it. The real truth is, if someone like the Mannequin had someone like me around, the Changelings would have been a... very different threat. In the end, I had to make sacrifices."
As Baron unwound the bandages, caked in dried blood, he let them fall over his lap. On his arm read the awful name of Verthaven's sworn enemy carved into his skin.
Lihua was taken aback. While Meifeng gasped, covering her mouth.
"I'll need to know where I can find a good tattoo artist, for starters."
"You did all that just to kill him?" Meifeng said. That was truly a mark of shame. "I would have just shot him."
"Spooks do what spooks do." Baron said with a shrug. He turned over his other arm to show Meifeng a tattoo on his bicep written in Arabic. "...We make sacrifices; and the Mannequin was clad in thick ceramic, I got a close look. He also has faster reflexes than I do."
"...You did what you had to." Lihua said. "The Mannequin was a tough target - not as durable as Luis... but I felt like he had an unseen cunning...."
"Maybe I can get Scarlet to-"
"It won't work." Lihua said. "... Baron has a little condition that stops powers from working on him."
Baron looked at Meifeng from the corner of his eyes with a playful, yet challenging smirk. "Wanna give it a try?"
"Wait, you mean like shoot you with something?" Meifeng asked. "Um, I can control water - that'll hurt like a bitch."
Lihua rolled her eyes and facepalmed. She couldn't believe he was doing this... but he seems to know just how to get people on his side.
"It's alright if you can't do it." Baron said teasingly.
"Pfft," Meifeng said as she cracked her knuckles. "Well, since you totally said to do it... I warned you." And there was a little trick that Meifeng wanted to try.
She pointed her hand out, and summoned water out of her pocket dimension - immediately freezing it into a ball. She held the ball in her hands for a moment as she focused. She channeled that aquatic pocket dimension again as she fired a high pressure blast of water out of it that propelled the ball of ice forward like a baseball thrown by a pro. Despite her efforts, however, it only sublimated into steam instantly the moment it got within an inch of Baron.
"Huuuuh?" Meifeng asked, confused. "Okay... that's... new?" She said, honestly amazed that happened. "So wait, do powers not work on you or something?" She quickly gathered from what Lihua and Baron said.
"I'm immune." Baron confirmed as he started rewrapping the bandages around his arm.
"... Immune to superpowers?" Meifeng parroted the words. "Okay, that's bullshit."
She put her fists up.
"... Are you immune to these hands?!"
Lihua had to laugh at that one.
Baron's eyes widened and he leaned back. "Uh, no - no, not at all. While we're being honest, and pardon my Washe, I felt like I would shit myself if Heartbreaker caught wind of me!"
He threw his hands out and exclaimed, "Bullets!"
Meifeng laughed as she shoulder bumped Lihua, turning to her.
"Hey, just like you said," She started off. "Everyone has a weakness."
"Conventionality being mine." Baron smiled as he stood back up. He kicked the brace with the leg long suspected to be his bad one and watched it skip over the floor with delight. He turned back to the binder, and closed it up, leaving the relevant information with Meifeng. "Anyways, dear, keep that information safe. The rest of Dr. Brooke's research will remain with me until I can find someone qualified and benevolant enough to pick up what he left behind."
"Our lips are sealed." Meifeng said with a smile.
"Remember," he said, "you can always reach out to your mother for advice. She knows the scene well, and she would help you with anything."
The two women exchanged looks. With Meifeng looking up to Lihua with a smile on her face.
"... I'll keep that in mind." Meifeng said.
"Now scram, I've only one chance left to serenade Lihua and I think I'm losing her."
".... Yeeeeeeeah," Meifeng awkwardly said as she realized their real relationship. She pointed fingers at Baron as she took steps out of the room.
Though, the moment they thought she was gone, she poked her head back in.
"... And here I was thinking all the water damage would ruin the mood."
She disappeared outside, likely to put the dufflebag in the car.
"... Amazing." Lihua said, almost sarcastically. "Here I was thinking that she'd drive you up the wall - but it was I who was getting driven up the wall. By two people at once." She playfully said with a smile.
"Oh, she'll have to try harder than that." Baron teased. "She has stiff competition."
"I have to say you most definitely have a way with words." Lihua complimented him.
"Oh, you have no idea." Baron purred as he leaned forward. "Even the Mannequin thought so. I think he might've even been falling for me."
Lihua laughed a little at that.
"So," Baron continued, "I'll help you gather what you have left, you show me a good tattoo parlor outside of town? Or is that Meifeng's area of expertise?"
"I'm oh so out of touch that I couldn't help you if I tried." Lihua playfully said. "Maybe a plastic surgeon? You could get skin from your ass swapped with that scar."
"Ugh..." Baron groaned with a shiver. "No thanks. I think Meifeng and I might get one together. You know, good old fashion family bonding. Maybe I'll look a bit younger and cooler to her."
"Hehe..." Lihua laughed... she didn't know what was so different with her. Before she was the stern and serious matriarch... now... she feels brand new.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Baron asked. "Let's get to work."
"Sure, sure, sure..." Lihua said. "Let's be quick because I have to get Meifeng... unfortunately... ready for a funeral."
She turned around and started walking, before she abruptly stopped.
"Also," Lihua said to him. "Qiaolian... You're not the only one with a secret identity."
"Q... Qiaolian." Baron said. He smiled. "Qiaolian... you can't play a player."
"Just don't say it too loud." Lihua said. "I did imply there was already a target on my back." She was still playful as she was throughout the whole interaction.
"Come now," Lihua said. "Let's get to packing. You did say you were going to help?"
Afterwards, they parted ways.
Lihua Vuhong, Meifeng Vuhong, Cindy Keagan, Quentin, & Reed Taylor, the Takashiro Twins, & Task Force RAVEN.
The grand cemetery outside of Verthaven was created.
Rows and rows of gravestones lined up the location. Some marked, most were unmarked. People have long given up on trying to indentify everyone, and merely give them a final resting place outside of Verthaven.
There was a private funeral being held for those brave people who died fighting the Devil of Verthaven, and the Changeling Unit. The RAVENs, and citizens that lent their abilities to help.
There were seven graves above ground, ready to be lowered. Everyone was grouped around them. The group was much larger than expected, as the families of the fallen had arrived in Verthaven to mourn their lost loved ones.
I never expected I'd ever show at the funeral of my best friends.... Meifeng thought to herself as she held her head down, staring at the empty casket that belonged to Jen. She couldn't help but shed a tear for Jennifer... and her entire family. She was the only person who could speak the best of them.
Looking off to the side, Meifeng could see Scarlet crying uncontrollably with the rest of the Obotts... A tall man who had to be Trevor's father, and two siblings that were at least the same age as Meifeng herself. They were all well-dressed. It was honestly sad. Trevor said that his father didn't want anything to do with him and Scarlet - and were perfectly fine with leaving Trevor and Scarlet to rot. It says a lot about papa Obott.
His mother was still missing.
Which made it all the more sadder.
Meifeng sighed as she looked at her other direction. She first got a full glance at Lihua, who was standing tall and proud. She looked somber. She was here to support Meifeng, no matter what. But, contrary to belief, she was also here for the fallen RAVENs. She was done treating them as if they were beneath her. People like Maximilian showed her there were more to them than hired guns.
Beyond Lihua was Cindy, who was well dressed. She also had a funeral to attend for Jackson... where she'll only be around friends. She wanted to be here for Trevor, and Jen's funerals, of course. She was still beating herself up inside for Trevor's death. She feels like she could have done more to save him.
Could have.
But didn't.
And the Taylors were stood at the far side of the procession, Reed dressed in his best whilst Quentin looked prepared for a long journey, judging by his choice of clothing.
Standing far behind everyone else, the Takashiro twins and Daphne watched the funeral from the shadows quietly. The chloropath agent was in a simple black business suit, but the boys didn't have any clothes suitable for the ocassion, and could only manage casual wear in the darkest colors they could find.
Haruka clasped his hands together into a silent prayer, while Daphne had a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. Shizuka had the survival knife he took from NEST armory for the last stand in his right hand, staring at the progression with a hard glint in his eyes.
It was time for Meifeng to say kind words about Jennifer. She stepped out in front of Jennifer's grave, and sighed. "I'd... like to say a few words about Jennifer Caspin, my best friend" Meifeng started off. "I've known her ever since I've moved to Verthaven... we met in our basketball team, and I've tried to be there for Jen whenever she needed me... and I'll miss her. I really will."
"She was one of the nicest, responsible, and most soft-spoken people I ever knew. All she wanted to do was live by her own terms, and I respected that." Meifeng nodded her head as a faint smile formed on her lips. "She was... honestly like a little sister to me. I just wanted to see her by my side forever. She taught me a lot... she showed me that life wasn't as lonely as I thought it'd be - and for that... I wanted to protect her above all else."
Meifeng loudly sighed.
" I can't put into words how I wish she could still be here - how her family could still be here." Meifeng sighed again, she was fighting back tears. "She faced a tragedy that no human being should have to go through, she chose to give up rather than press on through it... she'll never be far from my thoughts."
Lihua and Cindy began clapping.
"That was good, Meifeng," Maximilian said, clapping as he took the same spot as Meifeng. "I have many to say about the fallen... not just the RAVENs, but every man woman and child that fought in the name of escaping this tragedy."
"The RAVENs weren't agents - or even soldiers - to me, they were friends. They all had dreams and aspirations... and only wanted to save everyone. Which is why they gave their lives fighting against the threats of Verthaven. Sonya Mayfield was the kindest agent I've ever seen. Helena had a bright future within NEST... Adam was a mentor to me and several others - which is why I intend on continuing his work as the new chairmen of NEST."
"And while I did not personally know Trevor Obott, Cassius Taylor, or Jennifer Caspin, I know that they were great people for their contributions." Maximilian turned towards Trevor's casket. "...And, I heard that the young man Trevor wanted to join NEST. He would have made a great agent would he have gotten the opportunity."
He nodded his head.
"Which is why I'm posthumously awarding him the title of NEST officer."
This earned him the claps from the Obott, Vuhong, Blackmore, and Taylor families.
Maximilian stepped down, as many other people stepped up to give speeches for the fallen.
After all was said and done, the graves were lowered into the ground, and everyone said their final goodbyes, and went their separate ways.
Lihua and Meifeng were walking away from the funeral.
"So, now what?" Meifeng asked after she sighed. "We got no home... and nothing to our name than... the clothes on our back."
Lihua took a moment before she answered, "There's nothing left for us here in Verthaven... We're heading to Baybridge."
"Baybridge?" Meifeng asked. "Ain't that place up in Washington - I honestly want to get far away from here as possible. Even further."
"It's the best place for us." Lihua answered. "And besides, you're going to be shipped off the very moment this new organization rises... so why does it matter?"
"It's just that..." Meifeng shook her head. "...Nevermind."
The three made it to the car, and Lihua got inside. She turned the engine on, and Meifeng walked over to the passenger side.
"Meifeng!" Cindy said as she ran up to the car. She paused for a moment as she knelt forward, and panted. "...I just wanted to say goodbye before we, uh, parted ways."
"What are you talking about?" Meifeng said, raising an eyebrow. "You're coming with us."
"Get in the car, Ms. Keagan." Lihua sternly said. "Like hell you're going to be a street rat - it's the best I can do for Jackson."
Cindy smiled.
"...Yeah, let me get my things."
"Come on, let's go!" Meifeng shouted. "Baybridge is waiting for us!"
After a few minutes, Cindy jumped into the car, and Lihua sped off. Meifeng stared out the window as she watched the signs go by.
As her final words to this city, Meifeng somberly said,
"... So long, Verthaven."
"Agent Taylor. Yeah, suits you better than me." Quentin folded his arms as Reed gave him a bemused look.
"I guess it does, Agent Taylor." Reed chuckled, before tilting his head upwards. "So, I guess I'll see you in Baybridge?"
"Yeah. All the arrangements have been made, I've got a place waiting for me up there. Hear it's a little cosier than the last, but size was never a big deal for me. Everything I need's loaded up." Quentin thumbed to the NEST pickup parked outside the site. A loan, courtesy of Max, since his old car was a wreck and the bike no good for the journey. "Things all good for you, everything taken care of?"
"Yeah, don't worry - I've got an apartment waiting for me too, plus whatever training they want to throw at me at this new setup of theirs." Reed nodded. "Thanks, by the way. Seriously, Quent, you've done-"
"Stop." Quentin cut him off. "You're family... and it's where you belong." And like that, he pulled his younger brother into a firm, brotherly embrace.
"You sure you don't want to tag along straight with me?" Reed asked him, once they'd finished.
"Nah, I could use some time on the road. Stretch my legs a little. Besides, you've got all of Cass' movie junk to keep you company. I'm sure Mr. Schwarzenegger's statuette will make great conversation." Quentin added with a sarcastic chuckle.
Reed chuckled back at that. "Alright, well, you know me. You've got my number, I've got yours - anything happens on the way, you give me a buzz."
"Don't worry," Quentin said, before making one last promise in a faux-Austrian accent. "I'll be back." And with that, he waved his brother off and headed back towards the pickup.
"Hasta la vista, baby." Reed answered back, with a smile.
Maximilian remained in the graveyard after everyone else had left. It felt like a failure as their commanding officer to let these people die like this. He clenched his fists tightly. Damn those Changelings. Damn High Command. Damn the Hands. These were all good people that died here.
"Maxi!" Leon shouted as he waved his hand through the air and walked up with Savannah and Maria. "Glad I caught ya'!" He said.
"Leon?" Maximilian said.
"Know things been hectic with NEST disbandin' and all...."
"Yeah..." Maximilian groaned.
"Well, lemme' just address the elephant in the room, then," Leon said with a wry grin on his face. "I think it's time to call this NEST business quits," Leon said. "I know... you're gonna miss having my ass around to annoy you, but I think I've had enough of almost dying and all the supervillains, y'know?"
"I... understand." Maximilian nodded his head.
"Sorry, I know, I know, I was here from the start - but it's honestly comin' to a close. I feel like my talents would be better spent elsewhere... like them Academies. I bet those little kiddies would love me!" Leon shrugged with that smile on his face. "... That's all I wanted to say."
He began walking away, he stopped them looked over his shoulder. "But, you keep doin' you, Maxi. I'll keep in touch." He said, waving at Maximilian. "I hope you don't mind that I'm takin' Maria and Savannah with me, too."
"Wait, what?" Maximilian said. "She's under a deal. She can't just turn her back on it!"
"... A deal with a dead organization!" Leon said as he started running.
"Damn it..." Maximilian realized that the mighty Task Force RAVEN was going their separate ways.
"... You know, Maximilian," Dana said as she rolled up next to him. "I'm still here, with NEST... well, whatever it is." She shrugged. "But, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
"... You said you'd take me out to drinks." Dana said with a smile.
Maximilian returned the smile as he got behind Dana, he playfully said, "Oh, I thought you said you don't drink." He began pushing her wheelchair.
"Yeah, but I'll enjoy the company..." She said with a smile as they walked into the sunset.
No one ever returned to Verthaven.
The whole of Chinatown was in shambles; even though the buildings here were nothing like those houses made out of cheap cement and wood blocks back in the 60s, they weren't like those expensive sturdy condos in Knightdale, either.
Daphne offered to drive them to Akemi's red-brick shophouse - which was a relief, because the boys didn't want to deal with their aunt's reckless driving. It was miraculously still standing (albeit the shop area on the ground floor was beyond recognition and filled with junks swept in by the tidal waves), while the arcade center next to it was reduced to a pile of mere rubble.
The twins and their aunt got out of the car. "I'll wait for all of you here," Daphne rolled down the window and called out to them. "Just take your time to get whatever you need."
The trio walked into the shophouse; they kicked through the litters and debris to reach the spiral staircase, ascending the slippery steps cautiously to the living quarters above.
They didn't take long. For the twins, they didn't have much personal possessions to begin with (though Haruka was miffed about his dead handheld consoles and damaged SD cards, losing all his precious game data); Shizuka emptied his duffel bag and walked over to Akemi, who was turning the knobs of her slightly dented safe. "You can use my bag. We don't have anything much worth taking with us, anyway." Well, they were here in Verthaven for only a month before they were thrown straight into this shitstorm.
"Thanks," Akemi said, taking the bag from him with her free hand; at that moment the lock clicked, and the safe door opened. She shielded the inside from Shizuka's curious eyes with her wide frame, sweeping everything into the bag and zipped it up with a flourish. Then she straightened up and pulled the strap over her shoulder. "I think that's all. I'm going to miss this house, but we can't keep Holly waiting for us. Let's go."
"I am going to miss it too," Haruka agreed with her as they descended the stairs. "This place had made me feel...cosy."
"We can always buy a new house no matter how many times it gets destroyed," Shizuka said. "But family is irreplaceable. As long as you two are safe and sound, that's all that mattered to me."
"Make that three," Akemi chuckled when they reached the car. She dumped her bag and Haruka's into the trunk on top of a securely locked suitcase, which contained the stash of money Shizuka took from Quentin. "I've accepted Holly as a goddaughter, and she'll be living together with us in Baybridge."
"Really?" The twins asked when they got back into the car.
Daphne turned around and beamed at them. "Yes - I'll be your older 'sister' from now on. I can't remember how to say that in Japanese..." she trailed off with a frown.
"Yoroshiku - 'please take care of me' - is what you want to say, right?" Akemi supplied.
"Ah, yes."
The boys couldn't believe their ears. Now they finally would have a place they could call home, and people they could call family.
Leaving whatever remained of Chinatown - of Verthaven - further and further behind their back as they moved forward...moving towards a new future.
This isn't the end yet.
This is only just the beginning.
...
The flooded streets of Verthaven weren't kind.
In fact, they were littered with bodies that fell during the Verthaven disaster. Were. People were fishing them out of the streets that were converted into rivers. NEST Agents, and volunteers. Afterwards they did everything they could to identify them. If they couldn't... they were just put into unmarked graves, and they moved onto the next person.
However, one person who was floating through the street was not a body, but a survivor. It was a girl who was lazily floating through the rivers as if she was a stick. The "waves" eventually caused her to float up onto a street, where she was caught on the barrier. She seemed groggy from all the water, but she was still alive. She was fortunate enough to be floating face up.
"...Aw, damn." Someone said as they walked over to the girl. "It's another body, c'mon, let's drag her up and throw her in the truck."
The volunteers pulled the girl up onto dry land, and quickly examined her.
"Hey wait a minute..." He said. He pressed onto her wrist, and felt a pulse. A perfect pulse in fact. She started choking out water.
"She's alive! Get her to EMTs!"
The Hands of Science.
However, while everyone was leaving Verthaven, a very suspect incident occured...]
Right outside the ruins of Verthaven, there were two Hands couriers wearing regular street clothes. A man and a woman, they were leaned up against a van with the man smoking a cigarette.
"Know where this fucker we're supposed to meet is?" The man said.
"I don't know, he said he'd be here soon." The woman answered.
The man saw someone approaching in the distance. He couldn't see that well. He squinted a little.
"Is that-"
He caught a better view of the man, but that was the last thing he ever saw. The man pulled out an oversized revolver and turns the courier's head into a cloud of mush. The woman screamed as she scrambled for cover, reaching for her gun. She peeked over cover, but the man was faster (and quieter) than he looks. He pressed the gun to the size of her head, and she froze.
"W-what?! Who are you?!" The woman asked with the gun pressed against her head. She couldn't get a good view of the stranger, but he was a black spot in the corners of her eye.
The stranger was silent for a few moments, she could hear him breathing... which sounded oddly electronic
"... The sample." The man said, his voice was deep, and electronically distorted as if he was speaking through an old radio. "I want the sample. Give it to me."
"Okay, okay, let me get it!" The woman ran off and ran over to the van, and opened the back doors. With the gun trained on her the whole time, she pulled out the large canister containing the Devil's arm. She looked at him... he was odd. Very strange. He wore a black leather outfit, a pronounced leather longcoat, and had this helmet over his head that made his eyes glow bright red. He looked like she was facing the god damn grim reaper. She swore she saw a logo on his chest that looked like a fearsome looking black dog. But she didn't notice. All she did was push it into his chest. "Here, take it!"
The stranger grabbed it, and then examined it. "... Yes, that's right." He said.
He pointed the gun right at the woman's head.
"Wait, no-"
She hopelessly screamed as the stranger pulled the trigger and blew the courier's head right off. She was long dead before she even hit the floor.
The man holstered his gun. Before he pressed a button on the side of his helmet.
"... I recovered the sample."
A voice spoke into the man's comms.
"Good, good..."
She was the same woman who contacted the Hands of Science earlier.
"I've taken it you've culled the couriers as well?" She asked.
"Yes," The man said. "We can't afford to let anyone see me, not this early..."
"I'd rather that you deliver the sample to me rather than Dr. Cross." The woman said. "Since we are going to fool her into thinking that the sample has been lost by her incompetent employees."
"And the purpose of this ruse, is?" The man asked.
The woman laughed.
"Dr. Cross will have a high position in our organization, she deserves as much," The woman started off, coolly speaking. "And she's bright enough to piece things together... and I would rather not have her piece together everything."
She laughed again.
"... And we are going to do great things with this."
