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codenamehazard · 22 days ago

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.:Eyes Open:.

[TRIGGER WARNING FOR BLOOD, GORE, BODY HORROR, ARACHOPHOBIA, CREEPY CRAWLIES, THING-LEVEL HORRORS, MENTIONS OF SQUIDGY BITS, GROSS SOUNDS AND VISUALS, MENTIONS OF GUNFIRE]

Chapter 37: Eyes Open

Hey guys! Long time no speak!

I can't believe that the end of the year is upon us once again and it went by in a hurry. I'd like to thank you all of sticking with me through the year, your support means more to me than you will ever know.

We continue on with @one-n-only-cedar's own Ezra Sims dealing with Cole's hot headed attitude and showing him just what he's talking about. Check out InFAMOUS: Equilibrium and tell Cedar Xeno sent you!

Without further ado, let's jump in!

“Here, take a seat.”

The doctor offers as we step into his office, Erza gesturing to one of the two chairs sitting in front of his desk, I let out an annoyed huff. “I’m fine standing, thanks.” I hiss out as Ezra sighs and walks around and sits at his desk. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut. I can see Ezra shuffling some papers around like he’s about to give some damn lecture. Time to cut that off at the pass.

“Okay Funshine bear, before you go yapping on about whatever the fuck. Tell me, why the hell did you pull me aside to tell me something that I already know and not the results of my damn test?” I snarl out as I put my palms on the desk and glare, sparks popping off. Erza sighs while pinching the bridge of his nose before looking at me with that disappointing dad look.

“I can see you’re not one for beating around the bush.” Ezra mutters as he taps the papers and folders on the desk. “First, let me clarify that I didn’t pull you aside to tell you that you’re dangerous. Anyone who isn’t completely off the grid knows that you’re dangerous, even before you became the Beast.” He takes another breath before continuing. “I called you in here to tell you just how dangerous your powers truly are.”

I can’t help but to scoff and roll my eyes. “Right, and what makes this “how” bullshit more important than the results of my damn test?!” I snap. “All I came here for was a physical and a test, that’s it. Not some fucking lecture from a goodie-goodie two-shoes.”

I can see the muscles in the doctor’s jaw tighten as he lets out a breath through his nose, normally I’d get a bit of joy out of getting under somebody’s skin but right now, I just want my damn results so I can uphold my end of the bargain. Without another word, he pulls out three pictures from one of the folders and places two of them on the table.

First one was labeled with my last and first name; looked like some sort of spectrometer result with some very impressive spiking. The second one was labeled “LaVoie, Thomas”, must be Pangolin’s. Ezra set them next to each other and I grimace a bit, a small pit forming in my stomach. Not a match. Damn. Oh well, I got my answer. I could leave right now, but my curiosity got the better of me. “Aight, I’m not a match… So what’s the third picture about?”

Erza, without saying a word, puts down the third picture. I look it over, it’s a perfect match to mine, but the labeling on it has me narrowing my eyes. “Control.” I mutter out. Ezra puts my results and the control results over each-other to drive the point home how much of a match it was. Point for point. “The control signature was taken from the purified Blast Cores we use for the scanners.” Ezra points out in a stern tone. “MacGrath, you don’t just control RFE, you are RFE.”

I can feel the fire in my chest sputter a bit as I stare, gobsmacked at what I am seeing. I’ve always had a feeling that there was something more to those Beast powers than meets the eye, probably even more than John even knew. With just how seamless the transfer happened and how John died after he shirked his powers onto me. The possibility of that very statement being true always lingered in the back of my head, but seeing it in black and white like that? It hits harder than a pissed off bull. I pull up one of the chairs that was originally offered to me and sit down as I even attempt to process yet another information bomb.

As I sit down, the doctor pulls up a small laptop and places it on the desk before turning it so that the screen faces the both of us. With a couple of clicks, a video begins to play. It looked like the battle of Droptown all over again, throngs of Runners and Shamblers running in a mad frenzy as Conduits fight back to defend the border- Oh god, there are MORE of those tumor gorillas?! I recognized their misshapen forms, as they plow through some of the barricades.

They all shared something in common, they were absolutely feral, more so than expected. I look at Ezra, ready to ask for an explanation, but the doctor spoke before I could.

“This was what was going on while you were rampaging around recklessly with your Beast Powers, trying to catch the Jackalope.” Ezra grunts. I just continue to watch as the madness continues to unfold on screen.

“Do you get it now, Cole?” Ezra states, his voice firm and low. “Your Beast powers draw these bastards like moths to a flame.” I can hear him talking, but I wasn’t paying attention as I can’t tear my eyes from the screen as I watch the video turn to look at a couple of Shambler corpses.

The thin skin on their backs, it starts to… Writhe. Memories of me and my cousin stumbling upon a rotting raccoon body flicker in my mind, remembering how the skin and fur moved and bulged as the maggots underneath fed on the decaying flesh, but this was different. It’s not just wriggling around, it’s bulging and distending. Like something was trying to get out.

There is no sound, but I didn’t need it as I watch the skin of the zombies split and…

Jesus Christ in a handbasket… What are those… THINGS?!

I don’t even… Words can’t truly do justice to describe what the hell I’m seeing. It’s like something from “The Thing.” The viscera seemed to be coming to life, nerves and blood vessels reaching out and even tearing bone off the bodies to give it a scaffolding. The mess of body bits slowly pulls themselves out and reveals what all of that is attached to. Some sort of sack or gland or something. At first these…I don’t think I can even call these things creatures… Are slow and sluggish. I can practically hear the squelches and other sloppy sounds in my head.

As soon these afronts to anatomy were able to lift their saggy gland bodies off the gr- GOD!! They move like those fucking house centipedes but floppier and they are fast!!

I can’t help but to feel nauseous and from the looks of it, the doc ain’t looking too hot either as the video shows those abominations sloppy scuttle towards the Conduits and lunge at them. The other Conduits panic and start shooting at the things before Erza turns the video off.

We both sit in nauseated silence to allow the both of us to recover from the things that I know for damn sure will haunt my nightmares. A merciful respite before the doctor can speak again.

“And that… All of that, how your Beast powers brought those things in droves. That’s not the part that scares me the most, Cole.” The doctor utters, a heaviness giving his words a weight that’s crushing. “The thing that scares me the most? The reason why I pulled you in here…” He pauses to let those words linger before speaking again. “That test? The results not only told me the nature of those powers, but the fact that you haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of them.”

I put my hands onto my head and my elbows on the desk as I just sit there, my head reeling from the nuclear information bomb that was just dropped into my lap and promptly exploded in my face. I know that I’ve been told about the RFE thing by Kestrel and confirmed by Mako and the others, but to see it right in front of me. Proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. Everything now makes perfect sense. Why the Warped when apeshit trying to get to me when I used my Beast-Powers, how the Summoner healed after being blasted with a juice up Hellfire rocket, even the Sparrow-bitch’s radiation hamster-ball makes sense!

For the first time in a long ass time, I feel like I’m starting to get a small inkling of understanding.

As my mind works to sort through this information, I can feel a hissing in my mind. A hunger start to make itself known. Ezra said that what I have on offer is just the tip of the iceberg. That I wasn’t at my peak, I could get stronger. My mind can’t help but to indulge my dark imagination. “Doc says that I haven’t hit my limit yet. My full potential. What the hell is that gonna look like…

…And how do I get there?”

#infamous #infamous 2 #cole macgrath #demon of empire city #infamous: no man's land #xeno writes #ezra sims #the warped #tw: blood #tw: body horror #tw: arachnophobia #tw: creepy crawlies #tw: Thing-level horrors #tw: Mention of squidgy bits #tw: gross sounds and visuals #tw: mentions of gunfire #Now you get to see why Erza is so worked up... And a little glimpse at how the Warped spread

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codenamehazard · 1 year ago

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.:The Boogieman Cometh:.

Chapter 14: The Boogieman Cometh

Hey guys! Holy hell this took me a lot of time and rereading and blasting music to get this to look right. I hope it looks for you guys too!

I hope you guys are ready to see what the hell those sirens are wailing on about! Here's chapter 14!

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The sirens wail and holler as we make it to the outskirts of Droptown, where I see Mako, Pangolin and Dove opening up the HEMTT, revealing that it is basically a moving forward operating base. With a plant filled triage in one trailer and a supply depot in another, all ready to go should the need arise.

Holy shit. No wonder they're nomadic, they have everything they need right there.

Pangolin slowly starts to gather the others. I turn to look towards the horizon to see what exactly we’re facing, looks like a supersized throng of those Warped I faced in the mines. A lot of them are those starving “Shamblers” I remember clearly, but some of them look… Healthy… Well, healthy for a zombie, I guess.

The thing that truly caught my eye was this… Creature, looks to be about the size of a semi-truck yet it moves faster than should be possible for a beast that size. I squint my eyes to see if I can make out any more details, but the bastard’s too far away to see more.

I spot Kestrel out of the corner of my eyes, drawing my attention from… Whatever the fuck that thing is running around with the horde. I turn to look at her and see she’s walking up to Pangolin with the missile launcher in hand. She tries to put on a confident front, but I can see in her eyes there was a certain level of nervousness to it.

“Here she is.” Kestrel states with a smile. I can see Pangolin's expression turn to relief as he takes the gun, but he seems to pick up on her hesitation.

“You sure it’s ready?” He asks as he looks at the Gunsmith, her expression looking less sure at the prompting. The exchange of words echoing in my head from a time long since past. I can’t help but to quietly mouth the words that came out of Kestrel’s mouth next.

“Uhh… I sure hope so…” She hands the gun over to Pangolin, but in my head two different people stood in their places. Zeke and myself when he gave me the Amp for the first time. That memory stung my heart like a cold knife. Of all the ways that exchange could have happened, why like that?

I touch my eyes and I feel a dampness before I shake my head with a sneer. Come on Cole! Get it together! There’s a whole swarm of things rushing towards you and the others; bound and determined to make you their breakfast. This isn’t the time, nor the place to feel sorry for yourself and bitch about your lot in life.

You made your choice, you live it… Not like anyone would give a shit anyways.

With the exchange complete and Pangolin checking how the gun handles, Kestrel dashes over to one of the trailers and starts getting into the boxes… Hm, must be their armory. The bird pulls out some new toys and…

Okay, those are some really kickass weapons.

For Mako, a rapier and twin pistols were given. For Dove, an SMG and a hatchet. For Pangolin, he was given something that looked like the bastard child of a buzz-saw and an ax. For the bird herself, she equips two six-shooters to her hips and a bigass hammer on her back. I make a mental note to ask about some of those later.

I look back at my Amp and sigh. It really needs some serious work if it’s going to last any longer, but put a pin in the thought. Not the time to worry now.

While everyone is getting ready, I look over to see what else is going on. I see other groups of Conduits rushing out with weapons of their own to take on some of the faster straggler groups. That’s good, shows that this town don’t give up without a fight. My eyes are quickly drawn back to the biggest horde as I spot them making the beeline for the Misfits and I, the creature leading the charge and…

Oh dear god, what the hell is that thing?!

That monstrosity… Words fail to truly capture how hideous the fucker was. It looks like some skinned gorilla-raccoon thing with a giant mouth, clawed hands and… Hooves?? God, it was like a fucked up teratoma was turned inside out and given the ability to move and eat, damn near genetic nonsense. The thing most repulsive about this monster? Where the second set of arms are on the thing’s back… I think I could see what remains of a person. Their screaming expression merging with their ribcage to make a second mouth and that those extra arms were once their arms.

I can feel my stomach curdle, it makes Bertrand's giant cockroach form look adorable.

“Alright, jackasses! Gather ‘round” I hear Pangolin bark out, prompting the others to gather around, I hang back some. He’s rallying up his team, I have no part of it. The Brick Spartan looks over at me and beckons me over. “You too, MacGrath. You’re gonna wanna hear this.” I roll my eyes in annoyance, but I walk over. Looking on the bright side, it’s refreshing to not be the one giving orders.

“Everyone, that bastard monster and its posse are coming, we need a plan to get that thing to open wide for the most explosive jawbreaker known to man, any ideas?” Pangolin’s voice booms over the team.

“First things first, we have to get those Shamblers and Runners thinned out.” Mako points out. “It doesn’t matter what we do to that thing, it’s not gonna stick if the bastard eats the little minions and that’s not including how much of a nuisance they would be if they ganged up on us or got in the way.” Sharp as always, Mako is.

“So from I understand, thin out the herd and then focus on ugly?” Dove pipes up, first time I heard him speak in a long time. Mako and Pangolin nod. ”Sounds like a plan.” Kestrel nod in agreement and I give a grunt.

“Let’s kick ass!” Kestrel shouts before everyone nods and gets into position, looks like I’m getting roped into this too.

Not that I mind, a good chance to get some payback on these shambling fucks.

With the swarm fast approaching, Pangolin and Mako armor up and the rest ready up before the Spartan gives the signal in the form of charging forward and turning himself into a human boulder. The spiked plating crushing and spearing the weaklings. Dove sets up what I can only amount to a launchpad under the brick-ball to send him flying into the air so he can play the role of a meteorite and crash down into another group. With Pango flying high, Dove flits about on air-bursts while letting the SMG rip through the crowd.

Kestrel darts around in the horde like the flighty bird she is, popping slag-bursts before firing off her six shooters into the heads of the Shamblers, turning their brains into a red and purple mist. Mako set plenty of shark-traps to immobilize and joined in with Kestrel in the gunslinging fun with her pistols. Slag-shards and bone-shards flying and spearing zombies left, right and center before switching to the melees when they got too close. Kes smacking them around like the biggest game of watch-a-mole while Mako channels her inner Zorro and makes mincemeat of the zombies, her shark skin rendering the bites and scratches useless.

Me? Well, I sure as hell ain’t gonna miss out on the fun. Black and crimson Skull bolts fly from my hands as I start to “run and gun” so to speak. When those sparks nailed a Warped in the head, I’m rewarded with a lightshow as the fuckers explode with a shower of sparks that took out their little friends. Tossed in a few Cluster ‘nades to keep things popping. Hell, I even found little ways I could help the others. Blasting airbornes with shockwaves and popping bastards when they try to sneak up on the others.

They weren’t making it easy, that’s for damn sure. They were relentless and were giving everyone problems and they were taking hits. They were especially persistent in trying to maul me to death. These things must have it out for me because they keep coming after me. Even that big-ass ugly son of a bitch keeps lunging at me! With the crowds constantly trying to box me in, I couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted. Those healthier looking bastards even get a few good hits on me, leaving nasty gashes on my body. Thank god my Beast powers up my healing or I would have to be hightailing it to the HEMTT to charge back up!

The beast keeps lunging and I have to keep dodging while using blasts to give myself some breathing room. It was maddening! I wanted to blast this thing to kingdom-come but with all the little things swarming around like flies to shit, I couldn’t just stand still. Especially with how grab and bite happy they were.

With the ugly skinned gorilla-tumor focused on me, Kestrel spots an opening to take. With an air-boost from Dove, I can see her go flying skywards, Hammer raised high before dropping hard onto the head. I brace myself as the shockwave pushes me back. I could hear the hammer impact the head with a sickening crack. The bastard roars in pain from the head-trama and I quickly get out of the way knowing what’s about to happen next.

When the team hears the roar, Mako and Dove focus on getting the zombies away from Pangolin as he takes aim straight for the monster’s roaring maw. Kestrel dashes away seconds before the Spartan pulls the trigger.

The mother of all bricks whistles out of the barrel and flies straight to the thing’s screaming mouth, hitting it right in the uvula! The sound of the impact makes me hold my own throat in pain at the thought… Then the brick explodes. Masonry shrapnel rips the beast’s jaw apart. I thought for sure that would take it out, as did everyone else.

But it didn’t.

The thing gurgles with a shredded throat as it looks dead at Pangolin, he goes to fire off another shot when the weapon overloads and explodes in his hand. I look at him in utter shock before looking at Kestrel, as did everyone else.

“Kestrel, what the fuck?!” Pangolin bellows in fear and anger. “I thought you said it was ready!!” He looks like he’s about to blow a gasket as the bird is trying to avoid being hit.

“”Hoped so!”” Kestrel shouts back. “I said “hoped so!!”” Pangolin looks as if he’s about to rip into her when the teratoma-thing does that for him. With a mighty swipe to the girl, it sends Kestrel flying with the mother of all bitch-slaps. Thinking on his feet, Dove darts off and up to catch her in mid-air before she goes off too far.

The gorilla roars and more of those zombies show up to join the party, causing the fighting to begin anew. Pangolin pulls out his buzz-axe and starts hacking into bodies as the Shamblers break teeth on the brick armor, but the beast charges and backhands the Spartan in rage, breaking pieces of the armor off and sending him sliding off. Mako fires off round after round of bone-bullets to keep the creatures at bay as she goes to help Pangolin up.

Dove and Kestrel glide into the fray and dive down together to create a fire-filled shockwave before dashing back to the others. I pull out the Gigawatt blades and start tearing into those who get too close, but that seems to piss the gorilla off more as he calls for reinforcements again. It’s clear that somebody needs to find a way to shut that thing up so it stops calling its friends if we’re gonna get another opening.

Thankfully it seems like Pango’s on the ball. With all of us keeping the horde preoccupied, the Brickhouse uses his powers to create a thick brick wall above the creature’s head and when it goes to roar again, Pango drops the wall on top of the thing. Silencing it and stunning it.

Now it’s my turn to break some teeth.

My eyes glow red and black veins begin to appear on my skin as I charge up an Alpha Rocket with raw Beast power to triple its power and damage. A favorite tactic of mine for getting rid of the straggling Ice-Titans and Devourers before I left New Marias, made short work of those fucks. Should do the same for this bastard. With the charge done, I turn the Rocket loose, straight for the head. A blinding flash and cacophony of crashing thunder and electricity disorients everyone as the Super-Rocket crashes into the tumor’s face.

When the smoke clears and our senses return, we all look to see what should be the smoldering corpse of that thing…

Only to see it was not only still standing… It is… Healing!!

All the work everyone did, The bricks, both wall and missile, Kes’ hammer crash… All of it damn near undone. The Misfits stare to pure dismay and horror as they watch the jaw heal. Kestrel turns to look at me as my face drains of color.

“What did you do?!?” I could barely hear the Gunsmith utter in disbelief as the monster approaches me, a long and disgusting looking tongue licking its chomps as I back away. How? How?! How did that heal the bastard?!? Nothing like this has happened before!!!

Fear grips my heart and seems to freeze me in place as I’m racking my brain, trying to figure out what did what when I see the monster raise its massive, clawed hand, readying to swipe at my head.

Oh Shit…

[To Be Continued…]

#infamous #infamous 2 #cole macgrath #demon of empire city #infamous: no man's land #xeno writes #caper #blast shard caper #Mako #Pangolin #Dove #the warped #Zombies #Y'all have no idea how much time this took #Some much time and typing #Also #sorry for being a dick with the cliff-hanger!#conduit ocs

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