[ ProtoGhoul ]

Prolouge

Clashing sounds of steel echoed throughout the vicinity. Fires raging, Blackwatch helicopters hovering, hundreds of infected flyers squawking and circling them.

It is the final and bloody battle between two powerful walking viruses.

And Mercer's getting desperate.

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Alex dashed towards Heller's position to strike him with his Hammer Fist, but Heller was quick enough to dodge and took his chance to strike Mercer completely off-guard from behind using his Whip Fist. "Happy landing!" Heller said as he threw Mercer onto a pile of debris with a loud crash.

Alex glared at him angrily as he slowly stood up to his feet. "I've done everything in my power to create this world as a better place for the next generation of superorganisms to thrive, and you ruined it!" He morphed his right arm into a Blade.

"I had enough of you talking about your twisted utopia, Mercer! I'll hunt and kill every single one you motherfuckers in this fucking Hell you created!" Heller retorted.

Enraged by this, Alex dashed towards Heller- his Blade is ready to slice the big guy in two.

Alex was blocked again by Heller's Shield, and this time the ex-marine proceeded to sever the right arm, which made Mercer grunt in pain. A Whip Fist was morphed from the gaping hole as Alex thoughtlessly lashed it on Heller. With another successful dodge- Heller caught it, then pulled Mercer towards himself and severed his arm a second time.

"I'm not going to let you win you, shithead." Alex growled underneath his breath as he turned to face Heller. He used his Hammer Fist and jumped high above Heller. Upon landing, Heller blocked it once more and tightened his grip on both of Mercer's arms. He pulled and pulled repeatedly.

Until-

SQUELCH!!

Alex fell to his knees with a pained grunt. His body slowly turned back to its original state, except that both of his arms were severed. He can't regenerate since there is nothing he can consume. Heller dangerously walked up to a now pathetic arm-less man who started all of this. His maker.

"Mercer..." Heller growled his name. He tightly held Mercer's head once he morphed into his Claws.

Mercer gave a small chuckle and spoke his last words, "Huh. Welcome to the top of the food chain."

SLASH!!

"For Father Guerra..."

SLASH!!

"For Maya..."

SLASH!!

"For Chloe..."

Blinded by anger, Heller repeatedly slices Mercer's body, piece-by-piece, until he finally consumes him.

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(Mercer's memories...)

"This is no one's fault but your own... you do understand that."

"I understand that I had a brother once, a boy named Alex. A boy who used to play games with me skated with me and watched scary movies with me. I understand that Alex is dead now."

"I am no longer bound by "life" or "death", Dana. I've moved beyond that. Heller has as well. He doesn't realize it yet."

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(The vault...!)

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After revealing the location where Dana and his daughter are being, held Heller began to tremble from a rapid mix of pain and pressure rising within him. From heavy breathing with few grunts.

Heller loses it.

"AaaaaAAAARRRRRGH!!!"

Glowing, bright-red tendrils made out of steel-thick biomass exploded from all around him. They continued to flood the heavily infected streets and zones- consuming every single walker and mutated creatures. Following the aftershock, the tendrils withdrew back to where they came.

Finally, Manhattan fell into complete but peaceful silence. The virus disappeared without a trace.

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Heller arrived where Mercer sealed Maya and Dana in a vault. Heller ripped the door off its hinges with brute strength and threw it away.

He slowly and cautiously walks inside.

From the darkness of the vault, Dana, who held Maya in a protective embrace, called out to him. "James! Thank God!" she sighed with relief.

Heller carefully stretched his clawed hand out to his daughter, "Maya," his voice wavered.

The little girl cautiously reached out to touch the claw but flinched when a transformation occurred right before her eyes.

Heller continued, but this time his tone was soft. "Maya, are you alright?" He saw the little girl's terrified expression when she immediately hid behind Dana. It made the man's heartache. Maya is scared of him. Afraid of what he'd become.

Like them.

Like Mercer.

Heller doesn't know how to explain this fucked up shit anymore.

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Dawn arrives, and the three are overlooking New York on the rooftop. Dana and Maya held each other close.

Heller sadly began backing away from them. It would be best to leave them behind for their safety.

After all, he's a goddamned walking virus.

"Daddy!"

Maya's voice snaps him out of his thoughts. Heller froze when a tiny hand grabbed his. He turned his head to look at her face to face.

Even though the events shook her, she could only mutter,

"Please don't leave me again."

Heller fell to his knees and embraced her. "I won't Maya. I promise that no one will ever take you away from me again," he said with a sad smile.

Due to both not seeing each other for a long time, the reunion between father and daughter was a heart-melting scene.

Dana smiled at the two but quickly dropped it when she recalled a memory she tried to forget.

"Dana?"

Dana realized that she was staring dead into space and quickly shook her head to snap herself from it.

"You okay? Somethin' wrong?" Heller asks with a bit of concern.

"Uh, no. Nothing. It's just." Dana looked down and turned her back towards him. The warm, pleasant rays of dawn washed over them.

"I forgot what I'm about to say."

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Deep within Heller's body, a hostile DNA resurfaced from the man's biomass.

It also has its own consciousness.

"Dana. What are you hiding from me?"