Desperation can make a sane man do insane things.
'I regret this life I chose simply out of desperation.'
"This is Strike Team Titan calling HQ! Hercules has led us into an ambush! Requesting immediate evac!"
'So many lives I destroyed, so many families I torn apart. And for what? For this? This mockery of living?'
"Watch the rooftops! Those things are jumping from ARGG!"
'But I can't turn back now. Not when Alex is hanging a blade over my head, ready to drop the moment I decide to go against him.'
"Stay in formation or we're dead! Oh shit- JUGGERNAUT INCOMING!"
High above the slaughter of Strike Team Titan sat a lone figure on a ledge, watching it all with a gaze of pity and remorse. The figure was a 13 year old boy with messy black hair and deep brown eyes. Pale and skinny looking, he wore a simple black jacket with a white inside shirt and jeans. To Blackwatch, he was Hercules and one of the most powerful Evolved that Alex Mercer had under him. To the Evolved, he was Adam, Prince of Monsters and master of the Hive Mind. Second only to Alex Mercer himself.
Jumping from the ledge and shattering the concrete upon landing, Adam heard a cough and turned to see a Blackwatch soldier on the ground, legs bent at a horrible painful angle. The soldier glared at him with anger and disgust before lifting a pistol.
"Die abomination!" He fired several shots, each one finding their mark but completely ineffective while, with a mental order, a Brawler came closer to them. The boy stared at the soldier before softly saying.
"I'll make this quick." One mental order and the Brawler crushed the man's head, making his death painless. Adam made his way to what was a formation and went about in completing his objective.
"I heard that Blackwatch has some kind of new device that is about to be tested on the field. I want you to find it and bring it to me."
"How am I suppose to find it Sir?"
"You'll be acting as bait since Blackwatch apparently gotten information that the infamous Hercules was seen around the outskirts of the Red Zone. They won't be sending normal grunts so be prepared with your best."
Shaking his head to clear the memory, Adam went through the bodies of Blackwatch soldier's as well the husks of vehicles. A shame really, they sent several Thermobaric tanks, D-Code soldiers, attack helicopters and several APCs filled with battle hardened soldiers only for them to fall into a death trap. Even if the device was worthless, Blackwatch would be seriously weakened from this failed plan. Ripping off the door of an APC and finding nothing once more, Adam sighed in annoyance.
'It appears that this mission is a bust. Too bad, lives wasted for nothing once more.' He was about to jump away when he heard someone whispering from underneath the wreckage of a tank.
"Major John Shade calling Red Crown, Operation Gaia has failed. I repeat, this operation has failed." He told a Juggernaut to bring the soldier to him and a moment later, there was a blond hair and blue eyes soldier on the ground before him with what appeared to be a futuristic RPG on his back with glowing blue lines across it's length. It also seemed to lack any form of ammo but perhaps it didn't need it? John looked at him, fear clear as day in his eyes, and Adam wasn't surprised by that at all.
First of all, this soldier looked like he belonged to the U.S. military as opposed to the near fearless Blackwatch and second was that he was surrounded by six Brawlers to prevent escape. Not to mention the two Juggernauts near Adam along with a dozen Flyers landing nearby.
'Probably sent by Alex to make sure I won't let this man go,' Adam thought bitterly. 'Too bad for you Major John, I truly regret doing this.'
The major was fumbling with the RPG as Adam lifted his hand, forming his fingers in the shape of a gun. Once John gotten the RPG ready, he fired a single digit of harden biomass at his head, piercing flesh and bone with arrogant ease. Unfortunately the last action John's brain sent was to fire the device which his body still did, even with the death of his brain.
Adam had expected for the device to be some type of new explosive weapon or perhaps some kind of energy weapon. However when a blue light shot out and impacted the ground near him, quickly expanding in size, the young Evolved realized that it was something else completely.
Unfortunately he realized this a second too late as the light engulfed him and his group of Infected. When Blackwatch came by the sight later, they would find only the destroyed remains of their vehicles and all of the bodies missing.
The young Evolved sat on the ground, going over the knowledge that the consumed soldiers had given him. Apparently the RPG was a form of energy converter with it's main function to convert organic matter into pure energy, serving as a capture device. However there was a major flaw in it's design as if the beam of energy impacted anything inorganic, it's energy would expand, engulf everything in several feet, and transport everything organic somewhere else.
Somewhere else was apparently a forest in the middle of nowhere... at night despite Adam being pretty sure it was daytime.
The Evolved closed his eyes, using his Hive-Mind to see what Infected came with him. It appeared that group consisted of two Juggernauts, six Brawlers, and the dozen Flyers that Alex had sent to watch him. He told the Brawlers and the Juggernauts to look for a cave to serve as a temporary Lair while the Flyers were sent to find out where exactly he was, acting as mental cameras. As his Infected did all this, Adam attempted to get into contact with Alex via Hive Mind, failing each time.
'I have to be careful for a while. If the military of whatever country I got transported to catches wind of me, they might come down in full force.' A mental alarm told Adam that a Brawler had found a cave not too far from here and was in battle with the owner, most likely a bear or something. He made his way to it, thoughts going through his head. 'This group might be consider a small army but it's still small nonetheless so I have to remain out of sight. And why can't I make contact with Alex? The Hive Mind should have allowed me to do so by no-'
Adam's thoughts just came to a screeching halt when he made it to the cave or more accurately, what he saw the Brawler was eating. It was big with a lion's body and mane but it had wings on it's back and a scorpion's tail instead of a normal one.
"A manticore," He recalled, getting the knowledge from a teacher that he consumed once. "An honest to god manticore." Okay he had just discovered, and indirectly killed, what was supposed to be a mythical animal from Greek legends. An alarm from a Flyer caught his attention and this time, he dove into the Hive Mind in order to see what the Flyer saw.
"Well that was a great night with our friends, don't you think Lyra?" Bonbon asked her marefriend as they walked back home.
Lyra grumbled, an annoyed frown on her face. "I still wish you hadn't shoved that salad into my mouth. I nearly choked on it!"
"You were just about to bring up your human talk again so I did what I had to do." Bonbon replied, waving off her marefriend's anger with practiced ease. It wasn't the first time she had to stop Lyra from going all out on her human theory again.
"But I'm telling you that its all true!" The unicorn shouted, eyes looking around with a paranoid gaze. "Humans are watching our every move and our lives are nothing more than entertainment for them! How else do you explain that all the crazy stuff only started once Twilight came to Ponyville."
Bonbon sighed, already feeling a headache coming on. "Oh geez I don't know. Maybe its all coincidence or something?"
"You'll see Bonbon. One day, I'm going to prove that humans are watching us and I'm going to rub it all over your, and everypony that doubted me, face."
Not to far away, a Flyer watched them as everything they said went back to it's leader.
Adam stood stock still, mouth wide open as his eyes stared blankly into the distance. The rest of the Brawlers and Juggernauts had caught up with him, all of them standing around him. Finally he found the ability to speak, voice filled with disbelief and worry.
"Okay I'm either somewhere in the world that is more isolated than North Korea or I'm in another world entirely," The young Evolved closed his eyes and began to talk to himself. "Stay calm and don't panic. I can still find a way out of this and besides, its not like this world has dragons."
Another alarm and this time, a Flyer sent him images of what appeared to a large group of dragons, sleeping around hordes of gemstones.
"...Forget it. Panic time."
A roar echoed across Everfree and beyond, leaving countless to wonder what kind of creature could produce a roar of such volume.
Author's Note
Many thanks goes to trondason for his help with this story, both providing ideas and editing as well as Legionary for writing the amazing story that spawn this. Any questions, leave them in a comment and I'll answer them to the best of my abilities.
I hope you all enjoyed it and I'll see you all next time.
Pros and cons are two sides of the same coin. When one is present, expect the other to be waiting on the other side.
Adam sat the mouth of the cave, thoughts going a thousands mile per minute. Behind him, the Brawlers and Juggernauts worked on expanding the cave to fit his needs while the dozen Flyers were still out, gathering information on this world.
'Okay the device somehow transported me into a whole another world with intelligent ponies that speak English... I'm pretty sure that should be impossible,' Adam rubbed his forehead, already feeling a headache forming. 'Lets look at the pros and cons in this situation. Cons are that I'm in a whole another world, surrounded by unknown factors with only a small army to back me up. The pros are that no one in this world knows about me, its filled with new genetic material, Alex Mercer can no longer threaten me, the Brawlers and Juggernauts should be more than enough for anything besides those dragons...Wait a minute Alex Mercer can no longer threaten me.'
A grin appeared on Adam's face as he repeated the thought. 'Alex Mercer can no longer threaten me.
The grin quickly turned into a smile. "Alex Mercer can no longer threaten me!"
The smile gave way to insane laughter as Adam jumped to his feet, yelling at the night sky. "Do you hear me Mercer! You can't threaten me now because I'm free! I'm finally free! HAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed for a full minute, the forest silent as the Evolved's laughter echoed throughout the night before it finally stopped.
Adam sat back on the ground, a grin still present on his face. 'That felt...good, really good. Maybe this world won't be so bad after all.' A yelp followed by roars told him that his Infected had tunneled into something and the Evolved dove into the Hive Mind to see what it was.
"Told you bad idea to take night shift Brian!" A rottweiler Diamond Dog yelled, running from a...thing that was quickly catching up.
His partner, a white pitbull, snarled at him, followed by a yelp when it threw a chuck of rock at them and missed by a few inches. "Shut up Stewie and keep running! Thing's claws and teeth doesn't look just for show!"
The two were working on expanding their pack's tunnel system when something dug it's way into the tunnel. Suddenly they found themselves on the run from this thing who attacked them for no reason. The sole reason they were still ahead was because of the thing's size which made it difficult for it to run in the cramped tunnel.
The snarls, growls, and bites at their behinds made it's intentions clear and the two canines put more effort into running, already feeling it's breath on their-
*CHOMP!*
"OUCH!" Brian yelled as he stumbled but managed to keep running. "MY TAIL! IT ATE MY TAIL!"
"Better tail than legs! Keep running before it takes another bite!" The duo kept running, a trail of blood following Brain who moaned about losing his beautiful tail. However they never noticed the thing chasing them losing interest as it retreated back down the tunnel, returning to it's master.
"Interesting," Adam said to himself as he observed the new material the severed tail gave him. "Aside from a few unknown genes, those bipedal dogs' DNA is virtually identical to regular canines back home. What could have possibly forced them to adopt a bipedal nature?" The whole intelligent dogs thing quickly wore off thanks to those talking ponies earlier. This whole world could very well be populated by intelligent animals for all he knew.
The unknown genes were also an interesting thing to study since they didn't seem to do anything. After integrating them into himself, he tried various ways to see what they could do but to no avail.
Adam clicked his tongue several times, a habit of his whenever he has to think about something outside the box. "Alright unknown genes plus bipedal intelligent canines so think Adam. Work with you know and and assume the likely solution," Those dogs didn't seem to have tools yet they clearly stated that they had to work a night shift. Considering that the tunnel they were walking down led to a deadend, Adam was sure that they were going to expand it. But why weren't they carrying any tools?
'Unless...' He stared at the stone wall of the cave for a second before walking to it. Then he dug his hands into the stone and felt something within him spark as his hands closed around the stone like it was dirt. Grinning in success, he kept digging until a hole about the size of a melon was made.
"So these unknown genes allow those dogs to manipulate their environment to make certain task easier. That would explain the lack of tools like pickaxes. Still I have no idea how these genes work.," Adam dismissed it the thought, storing it mentally for a later date before calling over his infected.
Adam pierced his fingers into their bodies and shared the new genes with them before putting them back to work. 'That should make the completion of the HQ come along faster and I should block off that tunnel. I don't wait more of those dogs coming my way.' He returned his attention to his Flyers and went over the information they sent back to him.
'This world seems to be rather primitive compared to back home and much more colorful as well. Hmm aside from that town, I'm not seeing any other sign of civilizat- Is that a city made of freaking clouds!'
He took control of the Flyer to get a closer look and marvelled at what should be impossible in every scientific way. 'A-amazing! How is this even possible!' Adam landed on a 'street' and fell through it for his troubles. He flew back up, looking at each house with an analyzing gaze'Something feels...different about these clouds and how do the inhabitants live here if they just fall through?'
His answer came in the form of another pony walking out of a house but with wings at his sides that stretched out as he yawned. Defying all known logic, he was walking on the clouds like it was perfectly normal.
"Alright time to get to the factory to make some weather!... I've got to stop talking to myself," He shook his head and took off, unaware of a tailer behind him.
'A factory that makes weather? This should be very interesting.'
'Okay this just doesn't defy all logic,' Adam thought as he observed the pegasi. This is dragging logic into a dark alley, punching it in the stomach and stealing it's wallet...then kicking it for good measure.'
In the past hour, he witness the ponies make rainbows, craft snowflakes, and used machines that made clouds.
'How is all this even possible!? What is allowing these ponies to not just control but create nature itself?' The Evolved flew over to a rainbow pool and hovered over it, dipping a claw in to get a sample. 'Is it something they have to be taught how to do or is it genetic? If its the latter, I have to get a sample from one of these pegasi somehow.'
"Hey! Get away from there!" Adam turned and saw a blue stallion flying his way only to freeze in midair when he realized the rather frightening appearance of the Flyer.
'Thats convenient but I don't want to draw too much attention to my Infected,' Adam thought, going over his choices. 'Well its just one pony and I doubt anyone would believe him when the Flyer disappears.' With that in mind, Adam lunged at the pony who attempted to dodge him. However he solely underestimated the speed of a Flyer and slashed, drawing just the right amount of blood to gain a sample of but also left a mark that would heal without scars.
The pony yelped in pain as Adam made a quick escape by flying into the floor, passing through the clouds before he gave control back to the Flyer with orders to return back to him.
'It seems that more of these unknown genes is present within that pony, more so than those dogs,' Adam thought, analyzing the new DNA he had within him. 'Those dogs gave me a puddle of new genes, this pegasi gave me a whole pool to experiment with. Unfortunately, aside from very few genes, they have no similarities I can work with so I can't use the dog's genes as a basis to make my theories on.'
The Evolved clicked his tongue and leaned against the wall of the cave, the Blacklight virus spreaded out from him and into the cave. Its only been a few hours but, thanks to the new genes he gave them, his Infected had already blocked off all ways into his cave and made an impressive network of underground tunnels for the HQ. It would take a while before it was fully finished but he estimated for it to take little more than a few hours at best.
'It'll be a long time before I figure out how to use these genes properly if I use the trial and error process. I need to speed things up but how?' He thought about it for a second before an alarm from a Flyer caught his attention. Adam tapped into the Hive Mind and grinned at what he saw.
A library that doubled as a tree house.
'That could work. It could have the information I need and the town might hold a large variety of genes I can use. However...' He frowned as one little bit of information made itself known to him. 'I would have to go into town myself to get all that which means I'm going to have to make a disguise.'
Adam shivered in disgust at the thought. He HATED using his disguise ability as it made him tap into that person's memories to pull it off, not to mention that he tend to miss the little details of the disguise like sweating or eating for example. The idea of wearing another person's skin like a costume was something he just couldn't get used to. Ironically enough Mercer shared his thoughts on the disguise ability while the other Evolved actually enjoyed it.
'At least I'm going to be making myself a body as opposed to killing someone for there's. I'll need more samples of ponies for it though,' The Evolved closed his eyes, taking control of the Flyers all at once. Something like this required his touch to avoid any fatal mistakes and luckily it seems that some ponies were early risers. 'Let the gene hunt begin.'
Author's Note
Sorry for the wait everyone but I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments.
