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Chapter XVIII

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Chatper XVIII - Crossroads

“Hello everyone.”

Spider Queen, one of the original Gene Stealers, was seated just twenty feet away from him. Caleb instinctively moved to protect those who couldn’t defend themselves - Lillian and Ashton. The rest of his family and those with powers did the same. Only Jacob seemed not on guard. He actually seemed… sad.

“Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my chair?” David snarled.

“She’s Spider Queen,” Mary warned, taking up position right next to Caleb. “They’ve known about your identities for a while now. I was wondering when they’d actually take advantage of that information.”

The doll-like human smiled calmly at them and slowly rose from her seat. “Yes, we haven’t had a reason to take advantage of that delicious piece of information up until now.” She Placed the tip of a long, slim finger under her own chin. “But the situation has changed.”

Caleb’s hackles rose, his tail was on edge and his ears swivelled backwards. Unlike Leon or David, he wasn’t growling. It took all his effort not to growl. Some part of him secretly hoped that maybe Spider Queen was defecting. Maybe the defeat of the Legion of Pain had actually put her at odds with the rest of the Gene Stealers and now she was coming to them for protection.

But that was wishful thinking.

“And what’s changed, exactly?” Ben demanded, his eyes already a fiery red.

The Gene Stealer’s unnerving smile grew broader, the morning rays perfectly highlighting her wrinkle-free pale skin that seemed to seamlessly blend with her pale green, silky flesh. “We’re about enter the endgame and we can’t accord to have anyone interfering with our plans. To that end, we’ve finally decided to neutralise the pests that have been biting at our heels like an ill-breed, poorly trained mutt.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Lars snarled. “We’ve beaten you at every turn! We drove off Gnoll, we defeated Minos, turned Ursa to our side, exposed Trojan and knocked back each and every member of your Legion of Pain!”

Lance huffed. Typical villain tactic. Try to make yourself sound bigger than you are so that it looks like you’ve got all the leverage.”

Spider Queen gave them a pitying look; like the one that a mother would give pup who was trying to act tough and just injured themselves. “Oh. That’s so sweet. You’d think that after all we’ve been together, you’d realise the scope of the Gene Stealers.” She waved a hand dismissively at them. “Those that you named were just the public face of the Gene Stealers. Honestly the bottom of the rung or sacrificial bait when we wanted something out of you. Mostly, they were there to keep you all occupied to mask the rest of our operations.”

Caleb’s heart plummeted as a realisation dawned on him. “Madagascar, the Himalayas, Canada and Antarctica…”

She gave him a bright smile and even clapped her knees like she was beckoning a ‘good boy’ over. “Exactly! You’ve all thought that we were focused on West California Island for some reason but in truth, it was just a small part of our plan. The Gene Stealers that you were exposed to were just a small fraction of our membership. We have so many more that have been active for much longer.”

A sigh escaped her lips as she straighted and ran her fingers through her hair. “But as I said, we’ve reached the endgame and it is time to neutralise you all.” Her chilling smiled fixated on one member of the Hales. “Isn’t that right, Leon?”

Caleb’s eyes widened and he immediately turned towards his eldest brother.

“Leon…?”

“What’s he talking about, son?” David asked.

Leon’s eyes flared out in fury as he glared at his father. “Now I’m you’re son?” He muscled past Caleb and stormed towards Spider Queen.

“No way…” Lance breathed.

Leon stood just a few feet in front of Spider Queen before turning towards them. “Yeah. I’m a Gene Stealer. Codename: Fenrir.”

Caleb’s heart broke at the betrayal. Time seemed to stop and all the memories of fighting beside Leon sped through his mind’s eye like a film reel desperately playing before the fires of treachery burned them all away. Through the sizzling scenes, Martha Connor’s prophecy rang in his mind.

Betrayal.

Heartbreak.

Death.

Leon betrayed him.

Lars broke his heart.

And now… someone was going to die.

“What!?” David snarled, fangs bared and his eyes flashing red.

“Didn’t expect that did you, dad?” Leon spat, arms folded in a very David-like fashion. “You only have yourself to blame. You constantly tried to stifle me. You kept telling me I wasn’t ready. You wouldn’t let me be a hero. So I took matters into my own hands.”

“By becoming a villain!? By joining the Gene Stealers!?”

Mary let out a soft gasp, her hand at her lips. “No…”

Leon glanced at her and gave her a light nod. “Yeah. I got infected. I became an Original. But not to follow their plans.” Spider Queen’s smile wavered slightly as Leon shot her a fierce stare. “I took inspiration from AEGIS and Jake. If the law won’t let me do the right thing, then I’m just going to have to do the right thing myself.”

Spider Queen lifted one arched eyebrow. “And the right thing is to evolve everyone so that we can embrace a new golden age free of racism and division.” She strode past him, sweeping her arms wide. “Think of it. You can change yourself to any species you want. You can morph your shape and body at whim in the most pleasurable way possible. If you want to be lean, muscular or even a little chubby cherub, birth and physical limitations won’t stop you! You can also have whatever superpower you want and everyone will have access to these powers. You won’t have to segregate between those without powers, Outsiders and supers because everyone will be the same!”

Leon scoffed. “You really believe that, don’t you?” He stepped past her, throwing her a searing stare. “Chimera has you wrapped around his little finger that you believe, deep down in your heart, that that is all he wants. You’re just as stupid as I thought.”

That confident smile was gone from her face. “Leon, dear…”

“Enough.” He made a slicing motion through the air and turned towards Caleb, locking gazes with his brother. “I don’t know what Chimera wants but it isn’t the ‘equalisation of everyone’. I kind of thought that he plans to absorb us all or that he wants to use Gen 5s to transfer his consciousness to make a sort of endless immortal set of bodies kind of like what Bren has but now I’m not sure. What I do know is that it all hinges on the Reacher Corporation falling into Vernon Washington’s hands and the General winning the election.”

Spider Queen grasped his shoulder. “Fenrir, don’t fall into the trap of monologuing like every villain does. We don’t need to reveal our plans to them.”

“That’s your plan,” he hissed, knocking her hand away. “Don’t you get it? The only reason I joined the Gene Stealers was to learn what the fuck you guys are planning!”

Caleb’s heart jumped into his throat. Leon was playing the double agent! Because David wouldn’t let him be the super he always was meant to be, he joined the Gene Stealers with the intent to betray them! Even their father looked surprised and at the same time, proud.

Spider Queen, however, didn’t seem too fazed. “So you show your true colours.” She took a step back and gave a helpless shrug. “So is this where you reveal to them our plan? Well, allow me to do that for you.” Looking past Leon, she began. “Our entire plan hinged on Reacher Corporation. That investment firm that we’ve been targeting for years now. We knew Vernon Washington would eventually make it his goal to stop us by creating his Genesians and we knew that by focusing our efforts on one corporation, he’d eventually have to ask the question ‘why are the Gene Stealers so focused on Reacher?’. Congressional investigations would take far too long so his only course of action would be to obtain the mayorship, declare martial law by orchestrating a ‘Gene Stealer attack’ through his Genesians and then seize Reacher for himself and look into it.

“What he doesn’t know is that we already have assets within Reacher. When he absorbs the corporation into his military platform, our agents will infect him and seize the one thing we want from him.” She lifted a finger. “The Genesis Device.”

“The what?” Ben asked.

“It’s the device that Washington has been using to create the Genesians. A mass genetic-mutation device. He has been using it on his own men to build up a large number of Genesians for the purposes of his supposed ‘coup’.”

It was a classic plan right out of the supervillain’s playbook. Play the role of the saviour and create your own ‘disaster’ that would have the masses flocking to you. Power would be handed over unanimously as the ‘heroes’ were proven to be incompetent and weak. Though given recent developments, it was likely that Washington didn’t have the need to unleash his Genesians as the Gene Stealers and Arsenal were constantly at odds with the ramped up attacks from the Legion of Pain.

Spider Queen let out a haughty laugh. “Whether he realises it or not, our own infected agents will be creeping into his inner circle. More and more will be swayed towards our goals either willingly or as Thralls. Eventually, we’ll get the man himself. Then, we’d have the entire island as our testing grounds and the Genesis Device in our grasp!” A manic look crossed her features. “With our modifications and resources, we could mass-produce it and deploy it all over the world, triggering a world-wile evolutionary event that would elevate all earthlings to Generation 5s!”

Her proclamation was met dull, weary stares even from Leon.

“Of all the Gene Stealers I think you’re the only one that believes that bullshit,” Leon mocked, turning away from her. “Shark Tamer has his own agenda and has been making contingency plans. He has no intention of following Chimera’s rule and is probably plotting to take over. Dragon Knight doesn’t believe that bullshit either even though he’s unwaveringly loyal to Chimera. He doesn’t care what the big man has planned. He’ll do anything for him. You can bet Wendigo doesn’t care either. He just wants to eat.” Leon threw Spider Queen a sidelong glance. “Gnoll is happy so long as he and his hubby aren’t caught. Minos wanted you all to crash and burn. Ursa is in a coma and Trojan just worships chaos and manipulating people. You’re seriously the only one that thinks Chimera wants to make everyone a Gen 5.”

“Not even Chimera wants that?” Lance asked.

Leon shook his head, his steely gaze wavering with self-doubt. “I don’t think so. Chimera is a Gen 5. If he wanted to, he could just make his superpower into the ability to make other Gen 5s. I honestly think he wants people to come to him and beg to be turned. But I can’t be sure. These days, he’s spent his time holed up in his Geneheart.” His eyes turned towards his family. “I haven’t seen him in months.”

“Perhaps because our good benefactor suspected your treachery,” Spider Queen chortled. “He has a penchant for precognition, after all. As you said, he can give himself any superpower he wants so the ability to see the future is not outside of his reach.” She purposeful threw a smug smirk at Jacob. “So much so, in fact, that this little rebellion of yours is well within the acceptable parameters.” She threw a dismissive hand over her shoulder. “Informing the ‘heroes’ of our plans won’t stop them. You can’t possibly tell who is infected and who isn’t and with Washington leading in the polls thanks to recent… debacles…” Her cruel smile turned towards David in particular. “… you won’t be able to call an investigation on Reacher without it being called a witch hunt or a distraction. The acquisition of the corporation has already been made public, after all. Or at least it will be in a few minutes.”

Leon closed his eyes and let out one, short, dark laugh. “Yeah. That’s why I’m going to kill them all.”

A chilling air fell upon the entire household.

“Excuse me?” Spider Queen asked, both her eyebrows raised.

The eldest Hale son opened his eyes, turning their fiery gaze straight at Spider Queen. “You’re right. I can’t tell who you’ve infected and who isn’t. But you’ve been so gracious as to ensure that each of the ones you infected is in Reacher today on a weekend to make sure that the contract for Washington is rock solid. Your plan was to get all your people to infect everyone working on that document. More people means more bodies. More bodies means the faster you’ll get to Washington. Too bad that’s exactly what made you vulnerable.”

There was a moment of worry on Spider Queen’s features but it was fleeting. With a roll of her eyes and gently drummed her fingers against her cheek mockingly. “And how exactly do you seek to undermine our plans, dearest Fenrir? You are but one wolf. Even with all your abilities and the help of your friends and family, you won’t be able to make to Reacher in time before someone like Dragon Knight pulls them all out.” She wiggled her fingers at him as if beckoning goodbye. “He has the power to open portals anywhere, after all.”

Leon’s cocky smirk didn’t fade. “You think I’m in this alone?” He flicked an ear towards Caleb. “Hey Caleb. How many squads were captured when each member of the Legion of Pain fell?”

Tilting his head slightly, Caleb said, “Three. Three squads were captured for each member and I guess with the Traumatiser recent capture that bring us a total of… eighteen?”

Spider Queen’s features fell. “Three? But each member had four…” Her eyes boggled. “You!”

Leon’s smile began broader. “Yeah. I hid the last team from you. From everyone. Used my powers to hide them. I thought along the same lines as Jake. These were normal people. They had their reasons for joining you and they could be reasoned with. I’ve been keeping them undercover. Getting them in position all over the Island just for this day.” He unfolded his arms., placing his paws on his hips. “You thought you were going to catch me off guard by pulling this shit on me exactly when Abby’s wedding was over? Well think again.”

He lifted a finger at her. “My teams have already deployed anti-super fields to counter Dragon Knight’s abilities all over the Reacher building. You’re not getting there that quickly and you’ll still have to beat me.”

She shook her head at him. “And what’s your endgame here, Leon? You honestly plan on killing everyone in that building?”

“Yes,” came the chilling response. “Yes I do. You value people’s bodies and continued existence. It’s somehow part of Chimera’s plan. The way I see it, killing everyone in there will not only stop Washington’s takeover but also deprive you on a valuable resource. It’s win-win for me.”

Lance strode forward. “Leon! You can’t be serious!”

“I am serious!” barked his twin brother. “We’ve done nothing but counter the Gene Stealers at every turn and the time I’ve spent with them told me that everything we’ve done thus far has just been part of their plans! Fuck! Open your eyes! Everyone that’s been infected with a second strain is now a candidate for a Gen 5! Even if we end Wendigo, each and every one of you can be the Gen 5 that they’ve been looking for!” He pointed at each member of Arsenal that had been infected. “The failure of the tournament may have put them on the world stage but nothing more than any other supervillain. World governments are going to send ‘aid’ but they’re not going to do anything drastic until there’s a monumental loss of life.”

It dawned on Caleb exactly what Leon meant. “That’s because only a handful of people have died… You’re going to turn this into a global tragedy. You don’t just plan to kill a couple of people… It’ll be in the hundreds! Maybe even thousands!”

Leon growled, his paws shaking. “Exactly. It won’t just be the people in Reacher that’ll be affected. That building is going to go up in smoke.” He locked gazes with a horrified Spider Queen. “That’s a 100-floor building. When it comes down, glass, concrete, metal and whatever else is in there is going to go spraying out in all directions. It’s in the middle of the city as well. You can bet others are going to die.”

“That’s insane, Leon!” Lillian cried. “How could you do this!?”

Leon didn’t look his mother in the eye but did raise a single finger. “Because they can’t deny it.”

Another revelation and one that sent Caleb’s jaw dropping.

“The Gene Stealers don’t have a media platform…” whispered Mary. “You’re going to pin the blame on them and you’ll be using the rogue henchmen of the Legion of Pain to pin the blame on them. When the building goes down, everyone is going to blame the Gene Stealers and even if they try to deny it, no one is going to believe them. They’ll be the most hated group in the entire world. There’ll be a global effort to hunt them down.”

Slowly, Leon lowered his paw. “Yeah…”

“There has to be a better way!” Lars cried.

“Maybe. But we’re out of time.”

“No we’re not,” David growled, storming forward towards his son, hackles raised. “I’m going to stop you!”

Leon shot David a fierce stare. “No. You’re not.” He turned firmly towards his father. “I can’t let any of you stop me.”

Lillian pressed a paw against her chest, her eyes pleading. “Don’t fight. Please…”

“I’m not going to,” came the cold answer. “But you’re going to let me go.”

“Why would I do that?” David snarled. “Why would I let a supervillain go?”

A sardonic smile touched Leon’s lips. “You know. I’ve spent so long wanted to be a super, for you to acknowledge me as one. Took me until now for you to recognise me as a super_villain_. Well, good thing I studied all the books and know all the moves, eh dad?” He lifted his chin, staring defiantly at his father. “I’ve come up with a way to neutralise each and every one of you.”

Caleb’s heart froze.

Leon hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “Right about now, Abby and Arthur are on their way to the Portal Port. I’ve got Scalpel’s former henchmen hiding amongst the crowd ready to unleash hell. Would really suck if they got turned into crocodiles, huh? Though it’d fit on their trip to Australia. They have them down there, don’t they?”

Lillian was tearing up. “Leon! Your own sister!?”

“It has to be done,” came the cold reply. His eyes never left David’s gaze. “Scalpel’s men throw metal around. I think you’d be the best person to stop any unnecessary damage, eh dad?”

Then Leon peered past his stunned and horrified father towards Mary. “Migraine’s men are positioned in Sunrise Stadium. You’re the only one with psychic powers. You can imagine the hell they’ll unleash if unchecked.”

His eyes turned towards Ben. “The Elemental Alliance may have the Traumatiser but what they don’t know is that each member of the Legion of Pain was infected with a secondary strain; mine. Right about now, his fourth squad is heading towards your family home. I’d hate to think what’d happen to ten ancient werewolves when all their past traumas and horrors come racing back to haunt them.”

Ben raised a fist at him. “The Alpha Pack is stronger than that!”

“Really? You willing to bet on that?”

Just the look on Ben’s features spoke of the werewolf’s doubt.

“Speaking of the Traumatiser,” Leon turned towards Lance and Corey. “Supervillains aren’t the only ones with baggage. The Alliance is in for a nasty surprise when the Traumatiser starts turning the Tower into the world’s deadliest haunted house. Imagine all those supers, both professional and in training, being thrown into their wost nightmares; using their powers in a desperate attempt to spare themselves from the horror and pain of their past. Your friend Bosch is still there, isn’t he?”

Cory and Lance exchanged glances and were about to bolt out the door but stopped at the last moment, staring at Leon as he clearly wasn’t finished.

“Bren,” continued Leon ominously. “AEGIS moved all his clones onto the Cornucopia when we we all teamed up with them and you got cut off from the government. Jake has been moving AEGIS off the ship but it takes a long while to move all the equipment and his clones while keeping Pins and Needles in check. As I recall, there was an issue where if his clones get infected, they run wild.

“You’re going to use Pins and Needles to infect Bren’s clones and send unleash them on AEGIS Central.” Jacob concluded. “AEGIS has moved there not to mention the fact that there are at hundreds of former henchmen there willing to their new home.”

“That’s why the most sadistic of the elite troops are being sent there to keep them occupied. The guys that have the capacity to restrain them all. The Gimp’s men.”

Just the image of tight, black, leather strips coming out of the ground and restraining Felix and Trent made a bit in Caleb’s stomach. Though they were outnumbered, the Gimp’s men would have the advantage of having two strains instead of one. If their powers stacked and grew exponentially just like Arsenals’, maybe the three hundred or so former henchmen wouldn’t be enough to stop them. They certainly wouldn’t be there to stop Pins and Needles from fusing with thousands of Bren’s clones and unleashing hell…

“Then I’ll just have to freeze them all with Mugen Kosetsu,” Jacob countered. “Though you would’ve planned for that, I assume.”

“Right,” replied Leon, his features still and unmoving. “Someone with powers that can affect a large number of people, throw people into a safety bubble and maintain a battlefield presence would have to take care of them. You could go there and use your eyes but you’ll be busy with something else. I was honestly thinking about Rhiannon. My men are sure to unleash a lot of destruction and I’m sure she’d be interested.”

“And me?”

“You’ve evacuated most everyone off the Cornucopia but that only means that it was easier to get it into position. I’ve set the ship to self-destruct right between West California Island and the mainland.”

Jacob’s brow furrowed. “The Cornucopia has a very powerful reactor. If it goes off, it’ll wipe out most of the island and likely irradiate the rest!”

“Exactly why you’re going to have to be the one stop it.”

One of Jacob’s gold-blonde eyebrows rose. “That’s actually clever. You’re exploiting my sense of responsibility. AEGIS and the Cornucopia are my ship and I’ll take it hard if people died because of it.” Reaper grinned and gave Leon a mocking salute” “Good job.”

“Don’t praise him!” David barked. “He’s risking my daughter, his own sister, for his insane plan of murdering a shit-tonne of people because he can’t be bothered putting them through due process!”

“You wanna know what I think about ‘due process’?” barked Leon. “We managed to accomplish more as Assault by going around the law than the Alliance ever did! Fuck! We saved Shockstorm and Siren and they went through the ‘right channels’!” He calmed somewhat but with his fangs still bared and his muzzle wrinkled into a snarl. “Here’s how it’s going to go down. I’m going to tell each of you where my troops are deployed. You’re going to stop them because you don’t have a choice. That’ll leave me to do what I need to do. Stay away from Reacher and none of you will get hurt.”

Spider Queen stepped forward, grasping Leon’s shoulder. “If you think I’m going to just sit here and let this happen…”

There was a sudden flash of blue and Spider Queen doubled over, grasping her stomach. There was no blood but when she pulled her fingers apart, there was a small globe of blue wrapped around her abdomen. She gagged, grimacing in agony as the stasis field froze several of her organs leaving the rest to back up with blood and other bodily fluids. The orb vanished a few seconds later but those few seconds were enough to send her to her knees.

No one even noticed the stasis pistol that Leon was holding in his paw, currently angled behind him and pressed against his side. That was the danger of his powers. Everyone was so focused on what he had to say that no one noticed when he drew the pistol and was now armed. That warned of all the other hidden tricks and traps that he may hidden away.

“Where was I?” Leon cocked the gun over his shoulder. “That’s right. Lars is incapacitated so I don’t have to worry about him.” His eyes fell on Ben. “Samson is currently on his way back from some business trip on the mainland. I’ve got the Gimp waiting for him. I’m sure he’d be more than interested to subdue the guy that forced him to lift his tail to my dad.” Before David could counter, Leon continued. “That brings me to Madman. Tibia’s troops are hitting up West California High right about now. I’m sure he’d want to get in on the action.”

“Why?” Lars demanded. “Madman doesn’t have anything to do with our school.”

“Oh yes he does. After all, Gnoll is there.”

A lightning bolt struck Caleb. “W - What?”

“Gnoll is a student in the school. I’m sure Madman would be interested to know who he is.”

Caleb’s jaw dropped open in shock. It sort of fit. Gnoll had struck their high school last year though he had just assumed it was the Gene Stealers trying to sow some chaos like they always did. He never thought that it was because the Gene Stealer was actually part of the student body!

“That brings me to you, Caleb,” Leon said coldly. “Tibia is once again waiting at the Callista Heights Mall. Where this all started.” His burly older brother waved a paw in a broad gesture. “He’s itching for a rematch and a hero like you would do anything to keep him from hurting innocent bystanders. You better be quick though. You know how impatient he can be.”

Spider Queen seemed to have recovered but only after retching up a mix of blood and bile onto the carpet. She wiped her scowling lips with the back of her hand and slowly rose to her feet. “So you’ve effectively neutralised everyone here except me. How exactly do you plan to do that, pup?”

Leon snorted derisively at her. Strange wisps of smoke or mist began emanating from him, swirling around his feet and paws, spreading rapidly from him across the lounge room. Caleb took a step back as his vision of his brother was quickly obscured.

“Honestly, I want you to come after me, Spider Queen. I’m just itching to kill you myself. Your body in the wreckage of the Reacher building would only prove to the world the Gene Stealer’s involvement.” The mist became so thick that Caleb could only see a thick, murky white with Leon’s voice emanating from it. “You want to know how I’ll neutralise you? Simple. By giving you a choice. Either come after me and die or sit here and watch your plans crumble. Your choice.”

All too late Caleb realised the purpose of the mist.

“He’s gone!” he cried, swiping at the smokescreen. “How’d he generate this stuff anyway!?”

Spider Queen coughed as the mist began dissipating. She was by the window and had opened it, letting the mist out. “When we made him an Original, we gave him the infection vector based on smell. Initially, all he could do was leave people with an addictive smell that’d transform them but he’s never used it because of his role! He must have evolved it over time to generate this mist! Damnit!”

The Gene Stealer gripped the windowsill, her manicured nails crushing the wooden frame. “As cliche as it may sound, I think we need to team up if we are to have any chance of averting a -”

A deafening roar suddenly shook the entire house. For Caleb, who stood right next to the source - David - he staggered back, plugging his ears to keep himself from going deaf. With eyes burning red, David Hale vaulted right out of the open window. Spider Queen leapt aside, crashing against the floor while David shattered the window frame and shot off into the night. If Spider Queen had been a second later with her reaction, she would’ve been a bloody smear on the pavement.

“David!” Lillian cried.

“We’ve got to go,” Lance announced, grabbing Corey’s paw. “Bosch is at the Tower and so are our friends!”

“Wait!” Lars exclaimed, wheeling himself around. “Take me with you! My parents are there!”

The two supers-in-training exchanged glances before glancing at Caleb. With a nod, the young Outsider gave them his blessing and Lance wheeled Lars out to the family van. They were zooming off a moment later.

“We’ll take my car,” Mary announced, running for the door. “I’ll get Bren on the phone!”

Ben tore off his tie and was already shifting into his werewolf form, his muscles bulging against his tuxedo. He tossed aside his glasses with his other hand. “I’m faster without the car. I’ll call my dad.”

“I’ll get a hold of Rhiannon,” Jacob announced, taking out the key around his neck. “Caleb, tell Madman what Leon has planned.”

Caleb wondered if this was one of those scenarios where should convince everyone to switch targets and muddle Leon’s plans. But he had little time to think and he was fairly sure Leon would have planned for that contingency. No matter how he looked at it, Leon had specifically geared every encounter for them. Not in a way where they would have difficulty against the foes but specifically so that they would be the only ones to stop the ensuing chaos.

He had no choice.

Before he could make his confirmation known, Jacob was departing through the door summoned by his key, Mary was already speeding away in her car and Ben unleashed a howl in his werewolf form, leaping off to save his family.

That left him with Spider Queen, his mother and Ashton.

He turned towards the original Gene Stealer who regarded him with a coy smile.

“Oh I do wonder how that pup will react if I were to infect his dear mother and turn her into a Thrall,” she said, smacking her lips.

“You’d be stupid to,” Caleb answered with a snarl. “Like he said, you’re the only one that believes in Chimera’s bullshit. You wouldn’t dare let him get away with his plan. Dragon Knight can’t teleport you to Reacher and every second you waste here is another second Leon gets closer to Reacher and fulfilling his plan.”

“And are you going to stop me, pup?” she asked coyly. “I could always take all three of you hostage and use you as leverage.”

“You can bet I’d fight you. That’d take precious minutes away from your travel time. You also know Tibia. He’s an idiot and he can wait. Leon? He’s not waiting.”

There was a momentary twitch in Spider Queen’s left eye. Then her cocky smile returned and she placed a hand against her hip. “Perhaps we were wrong to underestimate you, Caleb Hale. We always saw you as the typical teenaged superhero-wannabe, trying to ‘do the right thing’ out of some moral obligation because you have superpowers but never seeing the bigger picture and understanding that the world is infinitely grey. Seems to be you’ve grown into your own.”

“I’ve been getting that a lot recently,” Caleb rumbled. “So what’s it going to be?”

Spider Queen took a painful minute to muse, catching the edge of her lip on a long, pointed, emerald green nail. “My proposal for an alliance still stands.”

“Only way that’d work is if you help me with Tibia but I don’t think you’re willing to waste a second.”

She let out a bright, musical laugh. “True enough.” She strode towards him, making him tense. There was no attack. She simple moved towards the door. “May we meet again under more favourable circumstances, Caleb. I would enjoy infecting you.” She waved her fingers absently through the air. “I think your name should be… Hellhound… yes. That has a nice ring to it.”

“Keep dreaming,” he snarled.

With a laugh, she slipped out the open door and shut it behind her.

Caleb didn’t move for another minute before he finally let out the breath he was holding. “Mom, Ashton… Call the exterminators. Fumigate this place.”

******

Samson Connors was naturally in a limousine on his way back from the Californian Mainland. There were already rumours of Ben’s defection from the Alpha Pack and naturally, other subservient packs were starting to ask questions. Even worse were the talk of him having bowed down to someone else. Thankfully, in his centuries of life he had learned how to deal with such rumours. It wasn’t to deny them. No. It was to spread conflicting rumours.

People were asking if Ben was still loyal to the Alpha Pack after the debacle at the Tournament? Spread the rumour that it wasn’t Ben that was splitting off but Samson himself who was clearly seen in Reaper’s company. Samson had offered his tail to Feral Steel of all people? Whisper into the rumour mill that it was Reaper that he was bowing to instead. The rumours would fight one another, casting doubt into the doubt and eventually, they would come to the conclusion that the idea was absurd and fall back in line.

That didn’t resolve the issue about either werewolf but he had to take partial blame for that one. David Hale had become a sort of personal project for him and he had a vested interest in making sure the superhero became a good werewolf. On a more primal level, it had been a while since he’d taken a cock up the ass and he forgot how good it felt. Something about Primal Steel triggered this urge within him to fight and wrestle that big feral werewolf to the ground, shove his cock into the wolf’s mouth before sitting on that huge cock and making David cum himself into a coma.

These fantasies were interrupted, however, as he was crossing the Sunrise Bridge, one of the bridges connecting West California Island to the Mainland and consequently similarly named after the stadium that David’s disastrous tournament had been held. He was surprised to find that the other person on the end of his phone was Ben.

There was no mincing words and no false familial softness behind his words. Ben wanted to secede from the Alpha Pack, he had to be treated as an equal not as some child to be coddled. Only then could he be brought back in line.

“Ben,” he said calmly. “To what do I owe this honour?”

“Dad, you’ve got to watch out! The Gimp is after you!”

The fear and urgency in his son’s voice struck him as odd. “What? Slow down, Ben. What are you talking about?”

“It’s Leon! He’s been working behind all of our backs even the Gene Stealers! He’s Fenrir!”

“Who? Who is Fenrir?”

“He’s a Gene Stealer, dad! He’s like a… a… double agent or maybe a triple! He became a Gene Stealer to learn what they were doing but he didn’t defect back to our side! He’s purposefully re-infected the missing squads from each of the Legion of Pain and even those members of the Legion that escaped and unleashed them on the town! I’m going after the Traumatiser’s men that are going to hit our home!”

Samson’s eyes widened and he let out a low growl. “What? That pup dares to attack our fortress!?”

“It gets worse! The Gimp is coming after you! Leon said something about intercepting you as you’re crossing the bridge and that you’d be shallow enough to actually stay and fight because he’s the guy that forced you to let yourself get fucked by David!”

There was some truth in those words. Leon had definitely been there when he had fervently denied what had happened within the Gimp’s fortress and likely latched onto it. The more he thought about it, the more he realised just how much Leon had learned about them. It had never occurred to him that David’s eldest would turn out to be a traitor. Then again, Leon had hit it so well with his open hostility against David.

With a press of a button, he rolled down the window and poked his head out, trying to peer down into the bright blue bridge.

“Dad? You’re not seriously thinking about fighting the Gimp are you?”

Samson frowned. “No… That’s not it, Ben.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re hurt by the insult? That you’re emasculated?” There was a mocking edge to Ben’s words.

“Of course not. But…” He spent another minute waiting as they crossed the halfway mark of the bridge. A quick bark at his driver and the limo pulled up into the emergency lane. The morning’s sun was warm. They were still outside of the Island’s weather control rings so he felt the full brunt of the sunny warmth that was California. Coupled with the salty breeze from the ocean, it was quite refreshing.

All in all, a calm morning.

“… How long ago did this betrayal occur?” he asked.

“What? Maybe five… ten minutes ago? Why?”

He glanced down the length of the bridge in both ways. “Because I’m about halfway down Sunrise Bridge and there’s no signs of disturbance on either side. The Gimp isn’t here.”

There was a pause on Ben’s side. “What…?”

“If I were a villain, and I am, I’d have attacked right here and now. Maximum amount of damage and countless lives at risk. Less chance of escape as well.” He glanced upwards, wondering if the Gimp was hiding up in the towers of the bridge. Another minute passed and yet another minute without any sort of conflict. “Ben, are you sure Leon didn’t lie to you?”

“Motherfucker!” Ben bellowed. “Fine. You coming to the house?”

Samson smiled to himself. Maybe he didn’t need to reel Ben back after all. Seemed the pup was doing it himself. “Of course. But before that, tell me exactly what’s going on...”

******

It was rare that Bren had ever found himself running an operation solo or even fighting by himself. Even all his super-spy training had taught him to work with other people like a handler or other spies. Solo agents got themselves killed and compromised the mission. It was thus with some degree of relief that he came riding up to AEGIS Central in his black van with Rhiannon in the passenger seat.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it,” hissed the snow-white wolf, jumping out of the van even before Bren had put it into park. “Maybe that was part of his plan. He had me transformed, basically made me invisible to the gods and thus an untrusted asset and I became distracted on my new powers.”

He set the van into park and pulled the keys from the ignition. “I think you’re giving him too much credit.” The tiger slipped out of the van and shut the door. There was already smoke and fire emerging from the various buildings in the suburb appropriated by AEGIS. The sounds of fighting could be heard. No gunfire but certainly some crashing and cries of exertion. “Something tells me that Leon may have ad all this worked out for a while but he had to put it all into action quickly because something triggered him.”

“You think he was planning to throw it on us later?”

Bren drew on all his knowledge of psychology and historic events. “I do. Tactically speaking, it would have been wiser to unleash all this closer to the mayoral election. His mother just suffered an enormous blow to voter confidence and Washington is spewing all this rhetoric that is increasing his lead in the polls. Even the recent capture of the Traumatiser did nothing to save his mother’s campaign. When the dust settles, all he’s really doing is preventing Reacher from falling into Washington’s hands. He’s proving the General right, putting the Gene Stealers on the world stage but not really doing anything to hinder their plans.”

Rhiannon let out a thoughtful sounds as she ran her paws over the hood of the van. “You’re right. He’s basically handing West California Island to Vernon Washington. If what he said is true, the General has this ‘Genesis Device’ that he might as well use on every super and Outsider that gets drafted into the military. It’s awfully shortsighted of him given that he’s gone to great lengths to trap us.”

She glanced over to the tiger. “You respect him for it, don’t you?”

Bren offered a soft smile. “Honestly? Yes. I’ve been constructed with the memories and experiences of all the world’s greatest spies and he managed to pull the wool over my eyes.”

“To be fair, you’ve been distracted.”

“And that could’ve been part of his plan as well.”

Rhiannon shrugged. “True.” There was loud bang some distance away and she flicked her ears in the direction of the noise. “I’ll get the unarmed and unready into my pocket dimension. I’ll gather the former henchmen and organise a defence against Leon’s goons.”

“Be careful,” warned Bren. “You may have the advantage in numbers but this is a huge space. If you go out hunting for them, they’re going to just run circles around you and pick you off one at a time.”

“Suggestions?”

“Gather everyone in one place and fortify yourself. Their goal is to distract you and AEGIS so that Pins and Needles have a clear shot to my clones. Don’t let them wear you down and make them come to you.”

Rhiannon threw him a concerned look. “You’ll be okay? You are against two Gene Stealers, after all.”

Bren gave her a wry smile, adjusting his ever-present dark sunglasses. “I was assigned to deal with the Gene Stealer threat from the very beginning. If I don’t know how to handle them, I’m not worth the pseudo-immortality offered by my clones.”

Her red eyes sparkled with respect. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

The two parted ways, Rhiannon racing off to the north where she sensed the most destruction and Bren charging towards the east towards the building right to his left. Since the acquisition of the entire suburb, AEGIS had been moving all his clones towards a secret facility buried deep beneath the apartment complex. It had taken a few months to cut into the floating slats that kept West California High afloat but eventually they had managed. The problem was finding and moving all the clones without people getting suspicious. The FBI maintained the clones out of respect for him in their facilities but there was already pressure from the administration to shut it down and start fresh with a different agent since he was technically no longer loyal to the agency.

By the end of the year, without AEGIS’s help, he would have been cut-off and mortal.

Now, the same source of immortality was under threat by possibly the worst people to be thrown against him; Pins and Needles.

As a callback to the old days when the Armoury was positioned in the FBI building, the entrance to his cloning facility was hidden behind an nondescript janitorial closet. Normally, he’d have to swipe an access pass to get through the door but that was not needed. The door itself had been torn open. Though they may have been comparatively small, Pins and Needles were still supers. If Leon had infected them with his strain, their powers would have grown exponentially as well.

Beyond the broken door was a long tunnel that would have been filled with countless security measures used to keep intruders at bay; again reminiscent of the Armoury. All the automated turrets and traps were ripped out of the walls or broken. In all the chaos above ground, no one would have been able to come running.

Leon had planned this very well.

Bren mildly wondered if Leon would one day be willing to join the Outcasts that Ben was organising if the pup could be redeemed.

Fishing out a stasis handgun, he charged down the hallway; noting with some mild interest that some of the metal and tiles looked like they had been melted or twisted as if they were liquid. He emerged into the cloning facility a moment later, standing on a gangway high above hundred upon hundreds of light-green vats lined up in rows like a supermarket only it wasn’t tomato puree in the cans but clones of him. There was a console right in front of him and after a few quick taps, he noticed that the number of clones was still the same as when he checked this morning.

Pins and Needles had yet to awaken his clones.

“Where are you…?” he whispered.

Almost immediately, he spun around, lifting his gun as the twin otters began emerging from the very steel walls behind him, their furry faces melting off the grey metal and reforming. Their features seemed to twist the metal out, leaving vein-like growths in the wall as they extracted their naked bodies from the planes.

“What the…?”

“We’re glad you came, Bren,” giggled one of the twins.

“We were worried you wouldn’t,” continued the other. “We were really tempted to just go ahead and start merging with your clones but…”

“… then we wouldn’t get to see your face as we took away your lives one…”

“… by one…”

Bren shook his head, lifting his gun towards the two. “I fucking hate it when twins do that sort of shit.” He pulled the trigger, a sizzling bolt of blue energy shooting towards one of the twins.

Both otters suddenly shrank back into the metal, faster than they emerged. The stasis bolt struck the steel, fizzling out as it only affected organic matter. In that split second, Bren realised that the twins’ powers had evolved to the point where they weren’t just capable of merging themselves with other people but inorganic matter as well!

That made things difficult but not impossible.

Sensing their intent, Bren immediately vaulted off the gangway, falling a whole thirty feet down to the ground. Just in time as Pins and Needles were emerging from the steel beneath him, paws outstretched to grasp and merge with him. The two otters both stared in shock as the tiger plummeted to his death and…

CRRACK!

Landed with enough impact to break both his legs. Bren howled in agony but managed to keep a grip on his gun.

“That wasn’t exactly the smartest of moves,” giggled Pins.

“Yeah. It’s not so bad to be one with us, you know,” continued Needles.

Through the tears and pain, Bren just grinned and lifted the stasis gun towards the two. “Jokes on you. You still missed me.”

Pins snickered. “That thing may be a gun…”

“…but we can still dodge it.”

“Who says I’m aiming at you?”

Bren suddenly turned the gun towards his own chin and -

Zzzap!

The jump of his consciousness from one body to the next was nearly instantaneous. So much so that the moment he pulled the trigger, Bren woke in the body of one of his clones a second later. Over the years and over the many times he had died, he had gotten used to the sensation of regaining consciousness in a near-naked body suspended in sticky, green-white fluids. The tank drained a second later and ye hanked the nodes and mask away from his muzzle. The glass tube hissed and slid down into the ground, allowing him to step out. A glance to his right and he noticed that he was on the same row as where his former body had ‘died’, it’s brain caught in a stasis field while the rest of his body died from lack of connection to the brain. Pins and Needles were both in shock.. Until they saw him.

“Now what was the purpose of that?” Needles laughed.

“You broke your own legs then killed yourself. Now what?”

Bren grinned as he tapped the console right beside him, the console that had been monitoring his health. “You know, after all the years that I’ve died and come back, I’ve gotten used to the resurrection process. I’ve even come up with neat ways to optimise the whole routine.” As he spoke, a compartment opened beside the console, revealing another stasis handgun. “I’ve worked with different people to make sure that I come back almost the same second I died and recently, AEGIS even gave me a device that would instantly teleport my body back to the site of a certain marker.” He waved the gun slightly in the air. “Armed, even. But above all else, I remembered the one thing that makes me special which, incidentally, is also the one thing that you guys are after.”

The two otters’ eyes widened as Bren lifted the gun against his own temple again.

“My clones are the reason you’re here and those stasis fields last a good long while. You’re not willing to merge with them and while they’re there, my bodies would regenerate and go wild. So the question is…”

Zzzzap!

Bren died again.

And in that same second, perhaps milliseconds apart, he emerged from another vat, retrieved another stasis gun. This time, he fired it straight at Pins and Needles. They had to be at least a hundred yards away and yet, the scintillating bolt of blue energy still managed to get very close to one of the twins. The Otters dove in opposite directions. They poked their head up from over the guard railings a moment later and by then, Bren had already angled the gun against his chin.

“… Can you get to my clones before I kill them all or catch you in a stasis field?”

******

Leon had expected him to be a selfish, raging animal and for a good while there, David had been. Thankfully, he had come to his senses and was now charging towards the Portal Port where Abby and Arthur were due to leave for their honeymoon. His suit was torn in places and his expensive dress shoes had been shredded several miles back. With a growl, he tore at the sleeves of his tuxedo, leaving his bare, muscled arms exposed as he leapt from building to building on all fours. Both the primal werewolf and the concerned father were working in unison.

Their little girl was in danger.

They had to save her.

The morning rush to the Portal Port was well under way. With the world becoming significantly smaller ever since the invention of Portal Technology, it wasn’t so impossible to make the morning commute from home and be on the other side of the country before nine in the morning. Sometimes, people would even make the trip to other countries though they’d have to make several stops along the way much like how planes used to work.

Needless to say, the Portal Port was incredibly crowded. Nothing a concerned father and half-transformed werewolf couldn’t navigate through.

“Out of my way!” he bellowed, pushing and shoving through the crowd. “Abby! Abby! Where are you, princess!?”

From the corner of his eye, he could make out men and women in the blue of security starting to make their way towards him. He had maybe two or three minutes before they started flashing their tasers. A few volts wouldn’t stop a worried father and werewolf but he still had his secret identity to think about. Making such a scene probably disrupted Leon’s goons but it would also drive them to desperation. Either they would wait until he was detained or attack soon.

He had to find Abigail.

A quick look at the massive boards hanging over security gates, Abby’s Portal wasn’t due to open for another thirty minutes. If his judgement of time was correct, it took him about an hour to get here on foot. Not bad considering his _i_home was on the other side of the Island. Abby and Arthur would have had plenty of time to get dressed and get ready for their honeymoon. They would be through security now and probably waiting to depart. The portal itself would open fifteen minutes before departure. Anyone from the other side of the portal would come through and then they’d let Abby’s group through, offering fifteen minutes before they’d close it for the next group.

“Gate E8,” he breathed. He shoved past the people ahead of him, holding back his strength so as not to throw them against the walls. “Let me through. Please let me through!”

He got a lot of protests and angry looks for his antics but the big wolf in the torn tuxedo that might as well have been a black and white vest charged towards the security gates with only one goal in mind. The TSA agents moved in to intercept him, holding up their hands and paws while reaching for their tasers.

“Sir! Stand back!” shouted a female cheetah. “Do not make me use force!”

He was quickly surrounded with any civilians giving him a wide berth. Fiercely growling, David was weighing his options. It would be easy enough to bend the metal in all those tasers to made them inoperable. Then again, a simultaneous malfunction of all those weapons could pin him as a super and the TSA would no doubt have started activating their anti-super fields right about now. If he had to face off against twenty double-infected goons, he’d be at a serious disadvantage, werewolf or no.

Then again, if he started yelling that they were all in danger and started bending the metal around them he could pin that on Scalpel’s men. Leon did mention that they used metal. Part of him was actually impressed. His son had given him an out and though he was loathed to take it, he saw no other choice…

Until Abigail emerged from the other side of the security gates.

“Dad?”

His features softened upon seeing Arthur alongside her… though they quickly hardened again when he noticed the third person with them carrying a metal suitcase.

“Samson,” he growled.

The trio were escorted by some senior members of the TSA and those very same members quickly began whispering into the ears of the agents keeping David at bay. There were a few terse exchanges before tasers were holstered. The TSA men and women moved towards the civilians, quickly spinning some lie that there was a terrorist threat and that David was some sort of battered secret agent come to rescue them.

David charged through the security gate, the alarms blaring at him. He swept Abigail up in his arms, holding her tightly.

“Oh my baby girl,” he gasped. “You’re alright.”

“We’re all alright, Mr. Hale,” Arthur said, the confusion clear on his features. “Mr. Connors pulled us from the gate saying something was going on.”

Samson grasped David’s shoulder tightly and then gestured that they head off away from the crowd. The werewolf king led them to one of those private lounges that had been cleared out just for their use. Abby, now in civilian clothing, sat down worriedly while David did the same though he was panting and heaving, heart racing.

“Dad,” Abby pleaded. “What happened?”

David took a second to recompose himself and try not to go into a blind rage over Leon’s betrayal. He recounted everything that Leon had said, all the threats he had made. Scalpel’s men coming after Abby was saved for last.

“I rushed over here as soon as I could,” David finished. “I was afraid I’d be too late since it took me so long to get here…” He locked gazes with Samson. “How’d you beat me here? Didn’t the Gimp give you any trouble.”

Samson’s features were dark and still. “That’s the troubling part. The Gimp never attacked me.”

He took a second to process those words. “What?”

“I waited a whole five minutes in the middle of Sunrise Bridge but the Gimp never came. By the time I arrived on the Island, there was still nothing. It occurred to me that either Leon’s words were a deception or…”

“He never had control of his troops,” concluded David. “The Gimp may have gone for bigger prey… Like the one guy that humiliated him, broke him and who he’s been fixated on this entire time.”

“Reaper,” the concluded at the same time. The moment of synchronisation brought a faint smile on David’s lips, one matched by Samson, but it quickly faded.

“So what about Scalpel’s troops here?” he asked.

Abby grasped his paws tightly. “Dad. I don’t think Leon would ever have willingly put my life at risk. He knows you. Either you went after him or you came to save me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you came, but I think he was betting you’d come here and waste time. He never sent his men here.”

David slapped his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. “Goddamnit… How could I have been so stupid!?”

“Prioritising your family isn’t stupid, David,” Samson said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“What about you? Hasn’t the Traumatiser’s men gone after your family?”

“I think Leon’s just wanted to occupy the Alpha Pack. He didn’t have any real goal apart from that. I’m sure Ben can handle it but I would be remiss if I didn’t follow suit.” He patted David’s shoulder on more time before handing him the suitcase he was carrying. “I’m going to go help my family. I got a suit ready for you in here. Good luck.”

David popped open the case and his eyebrows rose at the sight of the supposed ‘suit’.

“Fuck you, Samson.”

******

When Luis ‘Madman’ Sanchez woke up this morning he did not expect that he would be offered the one man that had haunted him throughout his entire career; Gnoll. Gnoll… the Gene Stealer who had first transformed him from the fat, overworked factory supervisor to one of the most popular members of Arsenal and one sexy hyena through what the media touted as one of the most classic redemption arcs in recent history. However, as had recently been brought to his attention, he had his own powers and he had gotten to where he was now through his own choices and strength.

He owed Gnoll nothing.

Still, when he approached the gates of West California High School he hesitated.

“Nervous?”

Gwen the No One of Life stepped out of the truck beside him. The AEGIS troops quickly drove off, returning to their besieged suburb to lend a hand to their comrades who were still fighting against Leon’s men. Madman had enough time to gear up and shoulder his massive stasis chaingun before he insisted that they take him to Gnoll. The No One had appeared and decided to accompany him for reasons only she knew.

“A little,” he confessed through a low growl. “Honestly not sure if I should be thanking the bastard or punching his nose in.” He let out a short, derisive laugh. “You wanna know how he turned me the first time?”

“Honestly, no. I have a feeling you’ll tell me anyway.”

“He gave me a blow job. Came to me while I was taking a smoke break outside the factory, teased me with that fucking muzzle of his, left me with blue balls and then snuck in to my office a while later. Bastard. Part of me wants to shove my dick down his throat and watch him choke on it.”

“And the other part?”

There was a loud crash somewhere in the high school. It was a good thing it was a Saturday and football season was over as no one was in the halls at the moment. They both turned, knowing full well that Gnoll was likely engaged with Leon’s men.

“I don’t know,” Madman admitted. “But we better get moving before I don’t get a chance to do anything at all!”

Pulling his chaingun from over his shoulder, Madman charged through the gates of the high school towards the sounds of battle. There was some degree of poetic justice that Gnoll was fighting Leon’s men in the football field exactly where Gnoll had transformed most of West California High’s football team and Caleb himself. It was the start of Caleb’s role as the antithesis to the Gene Stealers as shortly after that, they discovered that Caleb’s blood could be the cure against the Gene Stealer infection. There was also some degree of irony that Tibia’s men were the ones bombarding Gnoll with a barrage of bones.

The hyena was positioned at the centre of the football field alongside three of his goons. Madman vaguely remembered seeing two of them during Minos’ attack. One had the ability to control electricity and the other could manipulate the earth. The third, dressed in a tattered police uniform, he couldn’t correctly identify. All four of them were pinned down, a rough earthen barrier wrapped around them while sharp, steel-like bones were being flung at them from all directions. The barrier only came up as roughly curved pillars like someone was reaching up from the ground to enclose them. Any time the hyenas tried to shore up the defences, a barrage of bones would shatter it immediately. Their attackers weren’t actively trying to shatter the barrier either; they were just keeping the hyenas pinned down.

“Who are they?” he asked, hidden from view amongst the bleachers.

“The one who could manipulate the earth is Brodie Mancini,” Gwen responded calmly. “He was one of the first to be infected by Gnoll and escaped Bal-Mordain. The one that can hurl electricity is his son, Eric Mancini. The third is Michael Swayne. A police officer and Gnoll’s lover.”

“Swayne…” Madman hummed softly. That name sounded familiar. It took him a second to recall where he had heard that name before. “Wait… That Swayne? As in…?”

“Yes. The very same man who is dating one of Caleb’s high school friends. Which means…”

“Gnoll is…” His eyes fell on the smallest hyena of them all, a red-head whose features were twisted into a grimace. “Alex Connery. That gymnast friend of Caleb’s who is always hanging around them and who was supposedly held captive all the way back at the end of the Gnoll outbreak…” His eyes widened. “Gnoll supposedly committed suicide at the end of the outbreak while holding Alex captive. That means that he faked his own death…!”

“He used a Thrall to do his bidding,” Gwen responded. “By holding himself captive and then committing ‘suicide’ he threw all suspicion off himself being Gnoll. It’s clever.”

“Fuck. And he’s been hanging around Caleb all this time! He’s been spying on them!”

“You’re missing one other factor,” said the No One, lifting a finger. “Swayne is a member of the police force. So was Trojan.”

Trojan. The equine bastard who had sapped Madman of his strength, all his muscle and mass and thrown his world into doubt. Both these men were amongst the police and had likely worked together to subvert the police’s efforts to protect the general population from the Gene Stealers and further Trojan’s plans. Leon was right. The Gene Stealers were far more influential than they had first appeared. This was not some small-scale supervillain team playing pranks or trying to claw their way into the big leagues. This was a global organisation with ties everywhere.

“What do you want to do?” Gwen asked.

Madman sighed, lowering his chaingun slightly. “I want to sit here and watch as that bastard and his cronies gets skewered by bones. But that isn’t the right thing to do.” He hefted his weapon once more. “Come on, let’s save his ass.” The towering hyena took a step forward… but then hesitated. Glancing towards Gwen he asked, “I am doing the right thing, right?”

“No. You are doing the heroic thing.”

That made him smile and he quickly turned that smile into a thunderous roar. The barrels of his chaingun whirled to life, showering the battlefield with a rain of scintillating blue energies that immediately froze anything it struck in an orb of stasis energy. The barrage of bones immediately ended. No doubt Leon had warned his men that Madman would be coming so they immediately began moving to accommodate for the towering hyena that came charging down the football field towards Gene Stealers. Madman dove behind one of Brodie Mancini’s earthen towers, hosting his chaingun and letting it cool for the moment.

“Ah,” laughed Gnoll softly. The hyena’s fur was matted with blood. His torn and tattered clothing was ripped not only from his transformation but also his injuries. Even though he was a super, grave injuries like the one he was trying to keep hidden against his right leg would still take time to heal. “The Prodigal Son returns.”

“Shut the fuck up, Alex,” he growled. The storm of bones resumed but this time, they were not in some discernible pattern. Leon’s men were on the move. Likely to counter Madman’s stasis weapon. “How a slimey fuck like you get caught in this trap anyway?”

“Watch it, pup,” snarled Swayne. He wasn’t sure what the hyena’s powers were but it was clear that he deeply cared for Gnoll. Brodie and Eric were the only ones holding up the defences but Swayne was caring for the injured Gnoll. “We received a call from Fenrir. He told us that someone had figured out Alex’s identity and was going to reveal it to Weapons Master. That they were working late at a ‘special scoop’ in the school paper.”

Gnoll sucked in air through clenched fangs. Madman’s heart stopped for a second when he realised that whatever had hit him, had nicked an artery. While his injuries would heal, that was a lot of blood lost.

“We tried…” Gnoll wheezed. “We thought we were being clever. Split up our forces, attacked the school from different sides with the aim to corner the guy. Turns out, we were being cornered. The elephants attacked us, pinned us inside the halls and before we knew it, we were being corralled out here.” He offered Madman a weak grin. “I’m guessing that’s for your benefit?”

“Leon wanted me distracted,” grunted the hyena hero. “Knew that saving your ass would be too fucking tempting to pass up. He was right.”

“Well what’s the plan now, ‘hero’?” Swayne grunted. “You’re trapped in here with us.”

There, Madman grinned.

WHAM!

One of the barriers shuddered and the assault of bones stopped. Madman and Swayne peeked around the corner of the thick, rock wall…

… to fine one of the elephants staring back up at them, unconscious, his entire body limp and bruises starting to appear all over his body.

“Naw dude,” Madman said with the first real laugh he ever had in a while. “They’re trapped here with a fucking No One with an invisible weapon.”

******

By the time Lance had arrived at the Elemental Tower, all hell had broken loose. Never before had the edifice been so close to its name. Various elemental energies were flying from its windows, doors and holes in its walls. A tremendous storm was swirling above their heads. Huge, fiery meteorites came smashing through the dark clouds, crashing into the grounds and setting foliage on fire. Magical energies were swirling off in every direction and there was even gunfire crackling off, their flashes visible through the windows.

“Oh hell,” Corey mumbled in his cute Australian accent. “How are we gonna make it through that?”

Lance wasn’t sure himself. From what he remembered, the Traumatiser had the power to make anyone relive their greatest nightmares and mental traumas. Given how it was very likely that every person in the Elemental Tower had some form of trauma that would’ve pushed them into becoming a superhero, that was like setting off a powder keg of violent emotions. Just seeing the Tower now engulfed in a myriad of energies, this was abundantly clear.

“If I were the Traumatiser,” growled Lars, pulling his wheelchair out of the back of the van. “I’d be sitting at the very top of the tower. It’s the hardest to get to and gives him a clear vantage point of everything around him.”

“That’s fifty fucking storeys high, mate! How are we gonna make it through all that with a whole mess of bonkers supers and supers-in-training flinging their powers every which way!?”

Lance glanced off to the side. Police officers and news outlets were gathering well outside the radius of the chaos.

“There’s a limit,” he breathed. “We’re safe outside a certain limit!” He turned towards Corey. “Babe, you need to create a sandstorm big enough to lift us over the storm! Land us directly at the top of the Tower so we can smash the Traumatiser!”

Corey grimaced. “Hon, that’d take millions o’ tonnes o’ sand! Ah’m nevah gonna be able ta keep up with that much sand an’ control it all!”

“But what if it wasn’t sand?” Lars grunted, wheeling himself over. “What if it was glass?” The two lovers gave the Doberman a curious look. “You make the sand and I’ll use my fire to quickly turn it into glass. Keep generating the sand and I’ll just burn it into glass. That way you won’t have to keep track of as much.”

The kangaroo shrugged. “Ah mean… It might work… Never tried ta be ‘onest…”

“It’s our best shot,” Lance said fiercely. “We have to end this before anyone gets really seriously hurt!” In his costume, he stepped up towards the Tower, flexing all four of his arms and bracing himself. “Come on, guys! Let’s do it!”

Corey swung his paws through the air, thrusting them towards Lance. Reddish-yellow sand came shooting out from behind him. It curled around Lance’s feed, forming a sort of cushioned platform which the four-armed wolf’s feet sank into up to the heel. Because of his immense weight, it took a lot of sand before he was finally lifted off the ground. He glanced downward and tried not to get too shaken by the fact that he was already rising up five storeys into the air. Lars, having changed into his own super costume on the ride there, flung his paws at the column of sand swirling in front of him. Searing hot, blue flames curled around the sand, melting it into a glowing, red hot column of molten glass. It only took a few moments of the chill West California Island air before the glass began to cool and solidify. That freed up some sand for Corey to funnel upwards into to the sky.

“It’s working!” Lance exclaimed, beaming brightly as he reached well past ten storeys. “Holy shit! It’s working!”

But there was one thing they didn’t count on. All that weight was not good for the glass’ structural integrity. The moment he heard the ominous crack of the glass tower starting to give, his heart plummeted. He wasn’t even halfway up the Tower yet!

“Fuck!” he growled. Maybe he could jump it. No. That wouldn’t work. The sand wrapped around his ankles would absorb much of his jumping power. Even then, that was still another forty or thirty storeys he’d have to clear. All his strength would never let him make that jump!

The platform beneath him shuddered. Corey was desperately trying to apply more sand to the base to secure it but that left him less sand to keep Lance aloft. Lars was trying to fill the cracks being made. With little time for the molten glass to melt, he was making little impact.

“Fuck,” Lance repeated, looking up at the Tower. “How the hell are we gonna get up there?”

Suddenly, the shaking on the platform stopped. He glanced down at the glass monolith and was surprised to see black ribbons of leather streaking out of the ground, binding the cracked tower together. Metal bands erupted from the earth, curling delicately around the pillar to provide further structural stability. Corey and Lars were lifted into the air by platforms made out of bones, depositing them both next to Lance. A soft, purple aura surrounded them all just as their eyes settled on the four figures that were emerging from the crowd.

Felix the Elephant, Travis the Rhinoceros, Matthias AKA Migraine and Doctor Wesley Cutter AKA the Scalpel. All four of them had their hands and lifted towards the trio.

“What the…?” began Corey.

“We’re here to help!” cried Felix. “Rhia sent us! She’s got everything covered back at home!”

“We’ll send you up there!” announced Travis. “Just hang on!”

“My shield will protect you from the Traumatiser’s mental attacks,” Migraine added.

The Scalpel gave a nod of his crocodilian head. “End him before he brings more pain upon the Tower and the Island!”

Lars grinned broadly as the combined powers of all four former-villains sent them soaring well above the ground and towards the top of the Elemental Tower. “Jake was right. If you give people a chance, they’ll do the right thing.”

The wind soared past them and with it, Lance’s heart sailed. “Fuck yeah!”

Fifty storeys above the ground, they leapt off the impromptu tower, landing on what had once been the helipad of the Elemental Tower. Naturally, the Traumatiser stood at the centre of the big ‘H’, arms spread wide and head tilted back. The goat had his back turned towards the party but by the way his ears twitched, he clearly noticed them.

“So here comes the heroes that would seek to save this wretched institution.” The Gene Stealer lowered his hoofed hands but didn’t open his eyes. Instead, he flared his nostrils, breathing in the chaotic air. “Do you smell that?” He lifted a finger, waggling it in the air. “That is the smell of hypocrisy.”

“What are ya talkin’ ‘bout, ya wanker!?” Corey yelled. “If ya think yer some ‘great revolutionary’ or sumthin’, yer jus’ a distraction from Leon ta keep us busy!”

The Traumatiser laughed, his voice deep and resounding like the thunder that was booming all around them. “How pleasantly naive. Tell me, do you know the story of Fenrir? Not the Gene Stealer but the Norse legend?”

Lance did. Mythology was one of his favourite topics and since this super-infused of theirs often drew upon mythology, his fascination actually led him to have good grades in the Tower. “Yeah. He’s meant to be the son of Loki.”

“Correct!” The Traumatiser pointed at him even with his eye still firmly shut. “Fenrir was born to the Trickster God and just because of some prophecy the supreme god Odin had, he along with his siblings were cast down. His brother, Jormungandr, was thrown into the sea, to sink or swim. His sister, Hel, was thrown into the land of the dead. Fenrir himself was chained up over and over again until he was tricked by the gods and he bit off one of their hands. He grew stronger and stronger as time passed and he was predicted to kill Odin himself at the end of times, at Ragnarok. Does that story sound familiar?”

It did.

“Leon,” he growled.

“Indeed!” laughed the Traumatiser. “Leon, Fenrir of the Gene Stealers, has a twin brother and a sister. His twin was granted great power and cast into the world of superheroes to sink or swim. His sister, without powers of her own, was left behind and often brushed aside, dead to the world of supers. He, himself, was constantly chained and restrained by the patriarch of your family, your Odin. Eventually, he broke free by ‘biting the hand that fed him’, the Gene Stealers, and now he will kill the man who kept him oppressed for so long!”

Lars snorted, brilliant blue flames appearing in his paws even as he was bound to his wheelchair. “Sounds like you’re just finding connections where there are none.”

“Perhaps but you cannot deny that there is some poetic romanticism in the name and the events that have unfolded!” The Traumatiser threw his head back and let out an almost manic cackle. “This is not about some great ‘revolution’. There is no deeper meaning to my actions. I know my role in this great epic but it does not mean I don’t savour the opportunity!” Once again, he spread his arms wide, gazing up into the blackened sky with an insane grin. “All my life, I have been told that I bring nothing but bad memories and terrible thoughts. I am the curse that all mortals must endure; memory. Long ago, I decided that I would not just remind people of how much their past trauma hurt. I would also cause that past trauma!” He lifted his hands into the air, curling his fingers to form claws. “And there is no greater trauma than the hypocrisy that seethes beneath the surface of this very Tower!”

“He’s monologuing,” Lance whispered softly. “Guys. Spread out. We’ll hit him from three sides.”

With the roar of the storm around them, Corey and Lars quietly split up from Lance in either direction hoping to surround the Traumatiser.

“Here, so-called ‘heroes’ try to train and portray themselves as the epitome of society. Just, honourable, shining symbols of hope and courage. But in reality, they are just scared children who cannot outrun their own mistakes and instead hope to use their powers to muscle their way into the future! They hope that by saving others that their good deeds will outweigh their sins of the past! But no so! Because I will remind these hypocrites who believe themselves to be perfect that they are far from it!”

A dark, black mist began rising up from around the Traumatiser, causing both Lars and Corey to stop their advance.

Only then did the goat open his eyes, lowering his arms and staring viciously at Lance.

“On this day,” he growled, that mist thickening around him, “all these heroes will fall.”

A loud sound like a thick stew bubbling mixed with bones snapping rose even above the howls of the storm. Lance’s jaw dropped as the already transformed Traumatiser twitched and spasmed. The black hoof-like tips of his fingers elongated into sharp, pointed claws. Thick, purple veins crawled up forearms while that black smoke continued to seethe out of him like he was so hot that he was burning away his other form. His forearms bulged while his thick, woolly fur straightened and became more silky, more like a wolf’s. The grey fur all over his body quickly followed suit, hugging his powerful figure and helping to outline his lean physique. Those veins crawled all over his arms like vines wrapped around a tree trunk. They constantly pulsed and undulated, pumping blood and the Fenrir Strain towards his back and head. His traps, already big and bulky, swelled upwards to swallow his neck, giving him a distinct brutish hunch. Those very same veins crawled up neck, creeping towards his features. The sound of crackling bones and shifting organs followed while the Traumatiser’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. The features of a goat were pushed outward, a longer, squarer muzzle taking shape while his ears were pulled back to become more triangular. Strangely, the horns on his head remained giving him an almost demonic lupine features.

With the sudden emphasis on his upper body, the Traumatiser lurched forward, landing heavily on his clawed hands. His spine elongated with a series of loud snaps. His bare, footed feet twisted and lengthened, his heel pulling upwards away from the front of his feet as claws replaced his hooves. The tail that had sat small and short above his rear flared out into a true lupine’s tail behind him.

Panting and with a sinister grin on his features, the Traumatiser rose once more to his feet. His unique stance brought to mind classic werewolves; a creature that could easily switch from bipedal to quadrupedal stance with easy. His feet were in a digitigrade stance and he possessed a strong back that sloped into a hunch over his horned, lupine head. There was a constant aura of menace around him and it wasn’t just from the haze of black smoke that he constantly exuded.

“Now then,” rumbled the Traumatiser, he voice so much deeper than before. “Let us see if you can stand up to your own worst nightmares.”

******

Caleb couldn’t believe his eyes. He took a terrified step back as the half-wolf, half-elephant creature took a menacing step towards him.

“Well?” boomed Tibia, spreading his paws wide. “What do you think of my new form?”

Before, Salazar Shin had been a mildly annoying D-level villain. Then he had evolved into Tibia and had become so powerful that he had captured most of Arsenal and nearly broken Caleb. It was only through the help of Assault that Caleb managed to find the courage and strength to storm Tibia’s fortress and defeat him. But now, the gargantuan elephant had been infused with Leon’s Fenrir Strain. While he mostly appeared like an enormous, bipedal wolf, this wolf was fourteen feet tall. Each stop from his digitagrade feet caused a visible dent in the tiles of the outdoor courtyard in Callista Heights Mall. His ivory-white fur barely contained the rippling muscles beneath. Any clothes he may have worn were long discarded allowing his elephantine cock to dangle between his legs - curiously not in a sheath. Instead of tusks, Tibia’s two lower canines stretched out from his lower jaw. Another pair of long lower jaws stretched out slightly behind those tusks, smaller than the first and heralding back to his four-tusked pachyderm form.

“The last time we met,” rumbled the hybrid, “I won by throwing an ultimatum your way.”

“You won!?” Caleb exclaimed, now dressed in his Weapons Master uniform and brandishing Branding Iron. “Bullshit! I wiped the floor with you and you had to resort to your ultimatum because you knew you were going to lose.”

Tibia snorted, a smoke emerging from his nostrils. “Take it how you will. I will fight you and I will win this time. No tricks. No one else to intervene. Just you and me.” As he said this, two huge spears of bone - each one at least ten feet long and at least as thick as Caleb’s arm - materialised in a swirl of white powder around each of his hands. “Ready yourself!”

Those bone spears came hurtling towards Caleb and the young wolf immediately leapt aside, racing towards Tibia. His football training came in handy as he zigzagged past both projectiles and -

… suddenly found himself face-to-fist with Tibia.

WHAM!

Stars flashed before his eyes and his feet left the ground. Then the pain came. It was like someone had hit his muzzle with a brick! The iron taste of blood touched his tongue. His back slammed against the ground, forcing him to gasp and spit up that blood a second later.

“Fuck…” he sneered. “He’s fast.”

“If there’s anything you should have learned from our previous encounter, Weapons Master,” bellowed the white-furred wolf. “It’s to subvert expectations! I may be big but I am fast! I have the power of two strains behind me! Ever since I was tempered by both Wendigo and Fenrir, I am twice as powerful as your average super and I was already a super to begin with!”

Caleb wiped the blood off his chin with his forearm. Tibia was right. He couldn’t just fight conventionally. There was no telling how Leon’s strain had empowered Tibia. Caution was the best option here. Embedding his crystal blade into the ground and using his shield to prop himself up, Caleb summoned two crystal minotaurs beside him; each one big enough to match Tibia in size.

“Come now,” Tibia sighed, shaking his head in a disappointed manner. “What did I just say?”

The minotaur on his right charged forward, lifting the mighty crystal axe towards Tibia. The elephant rolled his eyes and summed a similarly-sized bone axe but only held it in one hand. The two weapons clashed with the minotaur clearly straining. Tibia allowed the spectacle to ride for a few seconds before he grabbed the minotaur by his face and easily crushed the glass sculpture in one hand. The white wolf sighed in disappointment and had a whole speech ready to deride Weapons Master… only for him to see the dancing, blue-white feathers erupting from just before the crumbling crystal statue.

“Clever boy,” he laughed softly.

Caleb’s paw was firmly pressed against the minotaur’s flank, his powers shooting through its structure. Like before, he could see the entire network of weapons that were available to him and he settled on one: a spear. The entire glass golem shrank down into a long, crystal spear which he immediately hefted over his shoulder and flung at Tibia. The villain, his senses and reaction times enhanced by his multiple strains, merely swatted it aside. The moment his paw touched the crystal shaft, it shattered into a dozen sharp pieces. Even with all his reaction speed, he couldn’t pull up his defences quick enough to stop those shards embedding themselves into his arm, drawing blood.

“That’s it!” Caleb bellowed.

On some silent command, dozens of glass minotaurs came springing out from the ground all around him. He rushed towards the closest one, once again summoning another spear and hurled it immediately towards Tibia. The ivory-furred wolf snarled back at him and immediately conjured a shield of bones springing from his left arm. He blocked the spear only for the spear to once more shatter and move around his shield to embed the glass shards into his arm. With a howl of fury, the villain charged. Several of the glass golems moved to intercept and he managed to shatter three of them before another four managed to slow him down.

Caleb was already on the move. He grabbed the arm of another minotaur, immediately transforming it into an throwing axe. He flung it at Tibia, the axe itself letting out a myriad of colours as the sun reflected off its faceted surface. Tibia was momentarily blinded by the light and the pain that axe brought as it sliced across his back. The next second, Caleb was turning another minotaur into a large, clear ball with molten glass seething inside. He hurled the the ball overhead where it collided with Tibia’s left leg. The glass shattered and the bright red glass wrapped around his limb, burning the flesh and fur only to solidify a moment later. Tibia barely had enough time to push the minotaurs away before Caleb was converting another of his golems into a large, crystal rifle. As the sun’s rays struck the weapon, its composition collected all the light within its frame before -

Whoosh!

Unleashing a scintillating beam of searing light that shattered the cannon but at the same time struck Tibia straight on the chest, burning flesh and fur while also sending the mutant wolf crashing into the nearby wall.

“Yes!” Caleb exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. But he wasn’t going to celebrate quite yet. This battle was far from over. Right before his eyes, Tibia’s wounds were closing up like he was watching a time lapse of natural healing. With double the infection, there was double the natural regeneration. He had to keep up the pressure both mentally and psychologically.

“You’re outmatched, Shin!” he shouted. More minotaurs were springing up from the ground around him, quickly surrounding Tibia. As he said this, he seized one of the minotaurs hands and quickly converted into another spear, hoisting it over his shoulder.

Tibia’s dark chuckle didn’t fill him with a lot of confidence.

“Your parlour tricks, while impressive, are little more than that.” The big, white wolf extracted himself from the crater in the wall. “A meagre annoyance.” He straightened, rolling his shoulders dramatically. “While I admit that your tactics caught me off-guard, I estimated that your abilities would do little more than cause my some discomfort. And I was right. Even with all your abilities, all your skills, this is the best you can come up with and you’re already winded!”

Caleb tried to keep himself from panting too hard but using his powers and running around was exhausting. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep fighting like this.

“Allow me to demonstrate my own evolved powers,” Tibia said ominously. He thrust one paw forward and a spear made of bone immediately erupted from his palm. Caleb barely had enough time to duck before the spear sailed over head. That same spear got about five feet past him before it immediately dissolved into a flurry of white dust. It coalesced directly above him into a sword made of bone, angled straight down at his head. There was just one fraction for Caleb to roll to his right before that blade came crashing down into the tiles beside him. It missed, again, but the white blade once again dissipated into smoke, before solidifying into a fist and -

WHAM!

Slamming right into Caleb’s cheek.

Tibia laughed cockily as he hurled more and more spears in his direction. Caleb scrambled to his feet, ducking behind his minotaurs. One of the spears shot right through his glass bodyguard only to immediately dissolve and reconfigure a few feet away as another spear.

“Something I realised about your golems!” exclaimed Tibia. “They need you to tell them what to do! If you’re occupied trying to defend yourself, they will stand completely still!”

He was right. As Caleb ducked and weaved between his minotaurs, he couldn’t spend precious brain power commanding his golems to attack the Gene Stealer while he was desperately avoiding an increasing number of bones. Each one that missed him only dissolved a second later to come back and strike at him with more being hurled by Tibia. He couldn’t grasp them either and turn them against their master as they would just transform into that white dust. Every time he dodged, he was sacrificing one of his minotaurs and pretty soon, he would be out of places to hide.

Summoning more of the minotaurs would be interrupted by Tibia shattering the emerging minotaur before it could even fully materialise. The second infection must have increased the villain’s mental abilities because he was peppering Caleb with bones with one paw while the other was systematically shattering the remaining golems.

There had to be a way out of this!

Leon wouldn’t have sent him to die… would he?

Maybe he could escape and regroup? Surely some of the others had finished their fights by now?

Caleb grit his fangs together as he ducked behind one of the many pillars supporting the second floor of the mall. He looked around, searching for something he could use. The problem was that he was spoiled for choice and it would still take a few precious seconds before he could concretely decide on the form a weapon would take; seconds that would see him impaled by Tibia’s persistent bones.

He immediately ducked and dove straight through the glass of a nearby store. No less than a dozen bladed bone weapons crashed together where he had just been, just barely grazing his tail. Caleb rolled onto the floor of the store, shaking his already wounded muzzle and causing him to wince. A sound like sand being blown in the wind warned him Tibia was already regrouping for another attack.

“Maybe if he doesn’t see me…” he rumbled and dashed behind a couple of tables, keeping low to hide himself from Tibia’s line of sight.

“Oh now don’t tell me you’re trying to hide from me?” laughed the white-furred wolf. “I’ll just have to use the same tactics that you used on me during our fateful battle.” Caleb dared to peek past the tables. His ears folded back in fear, tail sinking between his legs. A thick, white cloud was emerging from Tibia’s fur, bone weapons materialising deep within each of them.

“Keep attacking,” growled the hybrid.

He couldn’t hide.

He had to run.

Caleb immediately broke cover, using his skills as a wide receiver to bolt out of the store as a barrage of thousands of bone weapons bombarded the mall. Stone, concrete and bricks all shattered against the withering assault. Caleb kept his shield up and his head down as glass, wood and shrapnel showered him from all directions. All sound was drowned out by the roar of those bone weapons singing through the air like thousands of whistles screaming towards him.

He burst out of the store -

Smack!

“Aaaaargh!”

Pain erupted from his left calf and he collapsed to his knees. He barely had enough time to bring up his shield, desperately conjuring a minotaur in front of him to block as many projectiles as he could. The minotaur barely got halfway out of the ground before it was completely shattered. He was already summoning another to replace the other but it was a futile effort. Tibia was advancing, slowly, confidently and with each step, the barrage was intensifying. Caleb glanced towards his leg. One of the bone blades was sticking out of his calf. It was a mostly shallow wound but it severely hampered his mobility.

There was no way he could escape now.

“Think!” he told himself with a growl. “There has to be a way out of this! Think, Halestorm! Think!”

Another minotaur shattered, its glass pieces scattering over his hoisted shield and onto the ground in front of him. In one of its reflections… he caught sight of Ballistic.

A crazy thought crossed his mind and for a second, fear gripped his heart once more. Desperation pushed aside that fear and he focused entirely on the gold and black bike. A crystal minotaur quickly formed beside the vehicle, well outside of Tibia’s line of sight. There was no way the minotaur could get in the vehicle and navigate it to him but he could certainly press one of the buttons on the side dashboard of the motorcycle and summon a weapon.

With a roar, Caleb powered through the pain, grabbed the bone spear and yanked it immediately out of his leg. He pushed himself to his feet and charged towards Ballistic, shield raised. There was a moment of mild amusement from Tibia as he pivoted to send his barrage towards the fleeing wolf… only for that amusement to fall into a look of surprise. The minotaur beside Ballistic threw a whip and hat into the air.

Caleb used his one good leg to leap into the air, reaching for the whip. The very same minotaur that had hurled the weapon at him charged head first towards Tibia, horns angled to gore. The white wolf had a choice; either skewer Weapons Master now or act in self-preservation. He acted out of self preservation and hurled dozens of bone spears right at the charging golem.

That gave Caleb to snatch the whip right out of the air and unfurl it. The Stetson-style hat landed firmly on his head. With a crack of the whip and while still in midair, bolts of golden lightning erupted from the ground beneath him. Wild, black wires burst from the ground, coalescing into the shape of a big, black, feral horse with every muscle fibre made of a crackling black wire. He landed securely on its back and though his leg still hurt, he now had mobility again.

Tibia let out a bellowing laugh.

“So you finally overcame your fear of wielding Live Wire. Are you absolutely sure Trojan isn’t waiting somewhere in the wings to control you once more?”

Caleb bared his fangs at the wolf and he threw the blade of Branding Iron onto the ground. “I’m not scared of Trojan anymore. But you should be scared of me.”

The huge, white wolf surrounded by a thick cloud shook his head. “And why would that be?”

He cracked the whip in his paw. The crackling edge snapped up the pommel of Branding Iron’s blade and with a deft flick, he flung the whip - blade included - through the air in a wide circle. Tibia’s eyes widened as a furious storm of electricity and glass crackled through the air. Thousands of black electrical wires came shooting out of the air, reforming themselves into not only big, black feral horses but also minotaur riders. Sharp blades of glass erupted past the tightly-wound wires, forming sharp spikes and even weapons for the minotaurs. It didn’t take a genius to realise that these creatures would be far more difficult to beat down than just ordinary glass golems.

“Because,” Caleb shouted, rearing his horse back and cracking the bladed whip one more time. “Dual-wield, bitch!”

******

Somehow, Jacob was not at all surprised that Leon’s plans for the Cornucopia had been foiled. What he was surprised at, however, was the fact that it hadn’t been foiled by some rough and tumble agents of AEGIS but rather by the Gimp. He stood on the starship’s bridge, looking up from the base floor up at the command platform where the now-lupine Gimp stood. Much like his form as a rhinoceros, the Gimp was all-black fur but had opted to contrast the dark fur with white, leather straps. Curiously, there were no horns jutting out of his muzzle much like a rhino’s. He was many times bigger now than he had been previously, possible fifteen to sixteen feet tall. The halls of the Cornucopia hadn’t stood a chance against his sheer bulk.

… neither had the men Leon had sent to attack the Cornucopia either.

All around the bridge, the twenty men of Pins and Needles’ henchmen were cocooned in thick, black leather coffins. Occasionally, they would struggle but even with their enhanced abilities, they could not break out of their confines.

“All this,” Reaper said, gesturing around himself, “just so you can have a rematch with me?”

The lupine Gimp leaned forward, his massive paws bending the railings separating the command platform from the rest of the bridge. “This is more than a rematch, Reaper. This is my magnum opus!” The sadistic Gene Stealer spread out his arms, letting out a maddened laugh. “Your ship, your enormous carrier-class starship is now hurtling towards West California Island!”

True to his words, alarms were blaring all over the bridge. The entire ship was bathed in the red of warning lights. An automated voice was warning them of an immanent collision.

“I’ve rigged the reactor to self-destruct,” continued the Gimp. “The explosion alone will wipe out half of the island and the nuclear fallout will leave the entire island and likely most of California itself irradiated!” He pointed a clawed finger at Jacob. “Now comes the one choice that will decide whether your ideals will stand against mine!”

“Really now?” Jacob asked, arms folded calmly.

“Yes! There are perhaps a hundred of your men still here! Soldiers who willingly allied themselves with you but are not infected by the Gene Stealers. If and when they die, they will not fall into your divine grasp!” The Gimp gestured at the henchmen he had cocooned. “Conversely, these men are those who had first sought to follow Fenrir’s plans and while infected, will be saved by you in the afterlife. Then there is the Cornucopia itself! Your magical key will only allow you to open a door from the outside into this ship. It will not let you create a portal elsewhere! So here is the question I’m going to pose for you…”

The Gimp leaned further forward, his grin almost splitting from one lupine ear to the other. “Will you save those who were loyal to you but whom will be punished for their insolence in the afterlife or will you save those Gene Stealers like me who sinned in this life but whom you are so determined to save in the hereafter? Above all that, can you save them all before the ship comes crashing down on the Island, killing everyone!?”

Jacob lifted one eyebrow calmly.

“Huh… I’ve got to admit. That’s a pretty good one. Posit an existential question while enforcing a time limit. Good job. I assume you’re going to fight me to make it all the more difficult?”

“No,” the Gimp laughed. “I want to watch you suffer. I want to see you break down! I want to see you anguish over the decision! I want to see your pain!”

“Warning!” cried the mechanical voice. “Impact in ten minutes. Axillary thrusters disabled. Engines disabled. Reactor critical. Abandon ship.”

“Hear that?” mocked the Gene Stealer. “You have ten minutes to decide the fates of your men and those you claim to save.”

Jacob closed his eyes and lifted a finger and wagged it. “Actually, that’s not true. See, what you forget is that even if I were to make my decision now, trying to undo the damage you’ve done would take several minutes at most. Maybe about six or seven. For the sake of the argument, let’s say I only have three minutes left. On top of that, even if I were to get the Cornucopia’s engines back online, the amount of thrust needed to bring the ship back to a stable altitude and bearing compared to the current velocity would take maybe two, two and a half-minutes to fully prevent a crash. So let’s say I’d really only have thirty seconds to make that decision.”

“So?” the Gimp growled. “Thirty seconds is even less time but it is more than enough for me to savour your indecision!”

“Maybe,” he said calmly, shrugging and turning his back towards the Gimp. “Of course, I’m sure you totally plan to intervene the moment I make the decision anyway. Probably aiming to show me the futility of the entire exercise by jumping in at the last possible moment as we stop the exploding reactor, enjoying as the ‘hope leaves my eyes’ and the ‘shock turns into terror’.” He glanced over his shoulder at the Gene Stealer. “Am I right?”

The Gimp growled, fangs bared. “So what? It doesn’t stop the fact that you have no choice in the matter! You are going to die! They are all going to die!”

The men in the cocoons seemed to hear this and fought even harder to escape.

“I suppose,” Jacob sighed. “Though they’re not going to die today.”

“And what makes you so sure?”

He smiled. His chain wings unfurled from beneath his long, blue coat. “Because I am going to save them all.”

Before the Gimp could even utter ‘what’, Jacob flung both his paws out on either side of him.

“Sturmspalter!” he cried. Crackling golden lightning erupted from his right paw, forming the huge golden sword with a dragon motif.

“Mugen Kosetsu!” Chilling ice gathered in his left paw, materialising the long, icy katana longside it’s scabbard. His chain wings grabbed both weapons, lifting them into the air.

“Luna Crepacuore!” Silvery light streamed out of his now empty paw, forming the elegant curve of his shimmering scythe.

“Sol Dualis!” Contrary to the gentle light of the moon, the fiery blaze of the sun burst out of his other paw and formed the longbow that had seen action recently.

Like the other two weapons, two ‘fingers’ of his chain wings plucked the weapons from his paws. This allowed him to hold both his paws towards himself and he uttered one last word.

“Realmbreaker.”

The Gimp barely got a foot towards him before blazing light erupted from all the weapons and between his paws. Sturmsplater’s crackling lighting erupted outward in the shape of two, massive dragon wings. A golden dragon dressed in knightly armour dropped down onto the Cornucopia’s bridge, clutching his huge claymore. On the opposite wing, icy winds burst out and a statuesque leonine samurai drew Mugen Kosetsu from its scabbard. An elegant lupine ninja swing Luna Crepacuore through the air, resting it easily against her back, her features hidden by a face mask with a brilliant, silver scarf fluttering behind her. The same blazing angel that had seen action during the Tournament sprung up from Sol Dualis, spreading her wings boldly beside him.

And in Jacob’s paws was a brilliant, crystal sword shimmering constantly with a myriad of colours.

Then they all moved.

Jacob spun, launching himself straight at the Gimp. The Gene Stealer had no time to react as Reaper collided with him and sent them both crashing back into the bowels of the Cornucipia. A surreal scene unfolded all around them. The four Advocates burst off into different directions. Luna danced around the bridge, slashing at the cocooned henchmen and immediately freeing them. The stunned and panicked otters had no time to even take in their surroundings before they were abruptly swept up in the big, brawny arms of Sturmsplalter and shot out of the bridge’s glass windshield. They crashed hard into the nearby beach of West California Island were countless bystanders were staring up at the starship hurtling towards them. The gaping citizenry could watch, confused and stunned as bolts of golden lightning arced from the starship, depositing a Gene Stealer into the sand with each trip.

Sol Dualis charged through the bowels of the Cornucopia, her flaming wings burning through the hardened steel like a laser. She cut right through walls, doors and even some of the leather barriers that the Gimp had erected with frightening ease. She paved the way for Sutrmspalter to arc past her towards each of the imprisoned AEGIS members, rescuing them and depositing them on the beach. All through it, Jacob carried the Gimp through the ship, shooting the entire length of the starship while Mugen Kosetsu darted around them, blade singing through the air and cleaving anything in their way.

The two charged right past the reactor room and shot out of the rear of the ship, meeting the fresh air. Jacob held the Gimp up by his throat with one paw, holding Realmbreaker in the other. The Gimp could only stare in utter shock and surprise as the four Advocates raced all over the crashing Cornucopia. The massive carrier-class starship, a kilometre-long warship, was cleaved into six separate pieces within the span of a few seconds, their edges sizzling red thanks to Sol Dualis. The arching, precise blade of Luna Crepacuore sliced away the pieces of the reactor, leaving the glowing orb of light hovering in midair. Mugen Kosetsu swung his blade at the unstable reactor, a swirling blizzard quickly engulfing the reactor, encasing it in an enormous block of ice that was clearly visible even though it was high into the sky. The heat from the chambers tried to melt away the ice but the blizzard continued to keep it well and truly frozen. Within moments, all its energy was expended and with nothing else to feed it, the inert ball of metal plummeted to the earth.

As a finale, the Gimp was suddenly engulfed in crackling bolts of golden energy. The Gene Stealer screamed both in agony and defeat as he was hurled straight down towards the beach where he collided with the sand, Reaper firmly placed atop of him with a paw still on his neck. The last thing he saw before he passed out into unconsciousness was the Writer of Reality straightening, his four Advocates hovering behind him and a few last words.

“That’s why they call me Legion.”

There was no time to celebrate, however.

As the Gimp mercifully passed into unconsciousness and the AEGIS troops moved to restrain Leon’s henchmen, Jacob closed his eyes.

“This is it.”

He immediately pressed his paws against his temples, shutting his eyes and bracing himself.

Before the media could race up to interview him, it hit.

A powerful, psychic scream. Even with all his experience, there was nothing that could prepare him from the horrible, painful sensation of that scream that rippled all throughout West California Island. It hit the bystanders the most. They cried out in agony, falling to their knees and adding their own pained cries to the excruciating psionic blast. Some mercifully slipped into unconsciousness while others had to endure a pain that was akin to thousands of rusty nails trying to dig their way out from inside their brains!

Jacob squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his fangs together. He could feel blood seeping out from his ears and even leaking out from his tear ducts. The sand cushioned his knees but it could do nothing to ease the agony. Darkness clawed at the edges of his consciousness but he held on. He had to hold on.

“Please…” he begged.

Then, mercifully… the pain ended.

Gasping, he pulled his eyes open, vision momentarily blurred by the blood. He looked up at the sunrise and whispered a single name.

“Mary…”