"How does it feel to be awakened and eat for the first time, Mr. Alex?"
Lucius looked at Alex, who was sitting on the floor.
He looked incredulously at his hands, and at the ground where there was no longer any sign of a human presence. His own clothes, which were also made up of a large number of dark red tentacles from earlier, were still the same black hooded jacket.
"What…what the hell is going on?!"
Luckily for Alex, he recognized the existence of himself, the human named Alex Mercer, and not the humans he just consumed. But the large number of tangled memories in his mind that were not his own still haunted Alex.
"Ask yourself if you want to know what's going on." Lucius pointed to his own brain, "It exists, right? Your memories from before you fell into darkness, of the human named Alex Mercer?"
Alex furrowed his brow tightly, closing his eyes to ponder everything in his confused brain.
Lucius wanted to understand one thing now: whether this guy in front of him was a human or a monster.
"Dana… "Alex opened his own eyes abruptly and spoke the name of someone, his own sister, "Dana…."
He stood up as if he was going to run somewhere, but he didn't know where to go.
"That's your sister's name." Lucius looked at Alex, "I remember you seemed to cherish your sister, didn't you? When you were in the middle of a city infected by the virus, you wanted to protect your sister despite the danger to yourself… so what's the situation now?"
"Dana…she's alive now." Alex cupped his forehead. The dullness was a little too much for him to bear.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Lucius waited for Alex's response.
"Go back to your sister and continue to protect her? But your name is wanted throughout the New Federation of China."
Lucius was expecting something inside him, and even Lucius himself didn't understand why he was expecting it so much. The being in front of him could no longer be called a human or a guy named Alex.
Then…the first thing to do now would be to get his sister, Dana, back. I guess.
"I…"
Alex suddenly froze. An image appeared in his brain, filled with blood…
A strange impulse suddenly erupted within himself as his own sister was held at gunpoint by the New Federation soldiers…and when reason returned again, there was nothing around but blood.
Through his own sister's horrified eyes as she looked at him, Alex realized that he had just killed those New Federation soldiers…and eaten them…and the fear of those soldiers was imprinted into Alex's soul!
"I can't get any closer to Dana…" Alex's hands were on the wall. All sorts of negative emotions from before his human self died constantly surrounded his mind.
"!"
Arthas' cat ears suddenly stood straight up at this moment. She quietly took a step backward as she sensed something terrifying creeping in… from the person standing next to her.
Lucius…
Lucius never got angry…at least, he never showed an angry expression. Even when he was killing people, he still wore an incomprehensible smile on his face.
But now…
Lucius's scarlet eyes changed to vertical pupils just like those of a beast, and Lucius's expression grew darker.
"Why?"
Lucius's tone was flat.
"Because…" Alex fell to his knees, tormented by the amount of negativity in his brain and the resentment of his human self before he died. He covered his forehead, "I…turned into a monster and will hurt Dana."
"That's all?" Lucius looked up at Alex, who had fallen to his knees again and slowly making his way over to him.
"What else can I do?" Alex screamed at Lucius. "Kill them? I didn't just kill those humans! I ate them! You know what? Their desperate emotions before they died, their memories! It's all inside my head! Can this…still be called human?"
"Heh…"
Lucius stood over Alex's body, and after giving him a smirk…
"So what?"
Lucius kicked Alex in the chest, sending his body flying heavily and hitting the back wall. Alex fell to the ground, covering his chest.
"I was wrong about you!"
Lucius stepped in front of Alex and once again stomped on Alex's chest, the tremendous force caused Alex's back to hit the wall again, causing a huge dent on the iron wall.
"You're just a human, after all! Not just a human! No, you're not even human!"
With his scarlet eyes radiating danger, Lucius stared intently at Alex, increasing his power!
"So what if I turn into a monster? So what if I kill someone? I know the Alex Mercer is capable of fighting to the death to protect his sister, even if he has no power whatsoever! Now what? What is this thing in front of me… you're nothing more than an existence that doesn't even have a soul! Yeah, maybe you've turned into a monster! But you're not even human now!"
Lucius hated weakness, very…very much!
He even hated his once weak self for not having the power to save his sister before being burned in the stake. He could only hide in a dark corner and cried as he saw her sister's body burned to ashes bit by bit. Even he couldn't collect her sister's remains that were blown by the wind.
But this guy in front of him… He possessed power, the power that was much stronger than humans, possibly even stronger than himself. He possessed power! But what did he do after such power? Give up?
"As a human, Alex Mercer holds a gun and stands in front of her sister to protect her. But now? You don't even have the courage to see her!"
A gun appeared in Lucius's hand. He pointed its muzzle at Alex's forehead.
"Maybe! You killed someone. You did kill someone! But think about what they would have done to your sister if you hadn't killed those guys? She would be killed, right? I know what the New Federation of China's army was made of. They have no mercy for civilians! I feel bad for Dana, really!"
"The brother I once knew was no longer exists. He died, reborn as a monster in the guise of Alex Mercer." The muzzle of Lucius's gun was pressed against Alex's brow, "His sister might be alone in this cold, harsh world, with nothing to rely on. Maybe she was already eaten by the zombies… all because the person who was supposed to protect her no longer exists!"
"I… "Alex locked eyes with Lucius's scarlet eyes.
Dana…
Is dead now?
How can I just die here!
"I am what I am!"
He suddenly grabbed Lucius's foot on his chest, not much weaker than Lucius's, and punched Lucius in the face the moment he pulled his body down to the ground.
"Haa…ha…ha…" Alex gasped as he stood up and looked at Lucius in front of him "I'm not nobody…my name is Alex Mercer, not nobody! I'm not!!!"
"You guys… get out of my head." Alex shattered the negative emotions within his head that didn't belong to him bit by bit and got them out…
"Get out!!!" He punched hard on the ground, and the steel dent and crumbled with a heavy metal sound.
"That's it…" Lucius wiped the blood spilling from the corner of his mouth and threw down his pistol, "Even if you turned into a monster, so what? It's better than those guys who wear human clothing but are like monsters inside. Don't you think so, Alex?! Let me see your power!"
Lucius' figure appeared in front of Alex, and Alex raised his fist. Then the sound of steel destruction was heard throughout the factory…
Arthas was covering her eyes with her hands, trying to look but not daring to look. The scene was pretty violent anyway…
....................................
"Ah…damn…" Lucius sighed as he sat helplessly in one corner of the factory with a lollipop in his mouth.
"Right…" Alex sighed as he sat next to Lucius, looking at the factory's lights and sighing as well.
"Why did you hit me so hard? You broke three of my ribs. Looks like my spine is broken as well, and my hands and feet are completely twisted off. This power is only possessed by monsters, right?" Lucius's whole body was now aching.
"You…even when your ribs are broken, your spine is broken, and your hands and feet are all twisted off, you can still eat candy here in a leisurely manner. I begin to think you're the real monster here. But I think it's more appropriate to smoke in this kind of situation. You don't smoke?" Alex put on his hood back, looking very frustrated.
"Smoking? My sister hates the smell of cigarettes, so do I. So…I'm not interested in smoking." Lucius chewed on the lollipop on his mouth and tossed the stick aside.
"Your sister?"
"Yeah… She was very cute, much cuter than your Dana."
"....."
Alex didn't respond. He didn't feel like he should have asked something like, 'so, where is she now?'
"What are you going to do from now on?" Lucius looked at Alex on his side, "Back to your sister and reintegrate into human life? The New Federation, however, will not give up on you."
"I… "Alex looked at his hands, and then at the factory, ruined by the fight between Lucius and himself.
"I don't know… Right now, I just want to find Dana."
"Yeah?" For some reason, Lucius suddenly said, "I can't kill you, Virus Prototype…"
"I can't kill you either, vampire," Alex replied.
"Heh, well, let's leave it at that. Hopefully, when we meet again, you won't be on any side of the humans."
Lucius stood up, patted the dust off his body, and squeezed his neck.
"I would much rather not be on your side." Alex likewise stood up and locked eyes with Lucius.
"You will be soon enough." Lucius headed off in the exit direction, where Arthas was waiting. He waved at Alex and disappeared down the hallway around the corner.