Jason, shirtless and wearing Zach's XXL shorts, along with Alice both walked out of the apartment building with opposite looks to their faces. Jason had a joyful and satisfied expression, while Alice's was full of annoyance and unhappiness.
"Ow. Did you really have to hit me so hard?"
Alice whinced and asked while rubbing the black fist-like bruise on her face. There were countless other similar injuries all over her body from her neck, from when he put her into a choke hold, all the way down to her legs.
Jason shrugged his shoulders, a hint of rare remorse from him.
"Best way to learn is to get hit. And I'm not gonna go easy on you, or else you'll get used to that. Think your enemies will hold back?" Their 'battle' was more like a one-sided massacre.
Although he made sure to control his strength, he did still strike her with enough force to turn a regular human's organs into mush. It did pain him a little to hurt her so bad, but she needed to learn to take a harsh beating.
The two had trained for about two hours before leaving. Jason learned she didn't have great talent when it came to fighting, so he figured she would need many such lessons in the future.
However, Jason's problem was comparing Alice to himself. The reality was she actually had pretty decent talent, though it was still a few tiers below his own so he saw it as not too great.
"Hmph. Domestic abuse more like." Alice pouted and looked away from him. He chuckled and bumped into her with his shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get me back plenty later tonight huh?" She turned her head back towards him and blushed a little. Her eyes wandered over his perfect muscles and scars, all the way down to the slight bulge in his shorts as she bit her lips. Already, she was wishing the day away.
Currently, the two of them were on their way to The Docks to meet up with the others. As for Killgore? She had plenty of meat still left from the bear, so she was good to go. The only problem, was the loneliness.
The giant infected hound stood by the lobby doors and watched her meatbag leave once more with his mate. A sad whimper unconsciously came from her as her ears drooped down.
'I want to go too.' Although Jason had explained why she couldn't come, it still hurt. It almost felt like he didn't want her around.
She walked around in circles a few times before laying down, her head resting on top of her paws. Suddenly, she didn't feel very hungry anymore.
After an hour of walking, the duo finally met their first special infected. Thankfully, Alice's injuries had healed on their own by this point. However, her regeneration abilities seemed to be lacking a little in comparison to Jason.
"That's a big ass rat." Jason said, slightly stunned at the five foot rat standing upright.
"I know right? But... why is it looking at us like that?" In his beady little eyes, the two of them could see him staring at them with a contemplative look. It made the rat look intelligent.
Suddenly, as if he made up his mind, his mouth opened and out came a loud screech that echoed throughout the street.
A few seconds later, hundreds of infected rats, both big and small, began pouring out of every crevice and building. The largest must have been the size of a dog, while the smallest was a regular sized rat.
Before the duo could get over their shock, the manhole behind the five foot rat exploded open.
What crawled out were these muscular seven foot tall steroid rats. There must of have been close to a dozen of them. They encircled the five foot rat like protective bodyguards. Almost as if he was the King Rat.
Within just a minute, the two lovers were surrounded by over a thousand frothing at the mouth flesh eating rats. The only thing keeping them at bay was the King Rat's orders.
"I think I got a good one for this guy! The Plague Commander! Hm? Not bad right? Ooh! Or maybe... King Rat!" Jason looked at Alice with an expectant gaze, like a child waiting to be praised.
"Really not the best time. Don't you think?" Alice sighed and reprimanded him. Though, there was a smile on her face when doing so. She loved his enthusiasm.
"Hm. You might be right. Anyway!" Jason slapped her on the back, making her stagger two steps foward.
"Go get em tiger! Tigress?" Alice looked back at him like he was a moron.
"You really want me to fight all these things alone?!" There was some hope he would say 'Just kidding!' and laugh it off. Unfortunately, Jason flashed her a handsome and mischievous grin.
"Yup! Best way to get stronger is through fighting! Have fun and don't worry! I won't let you die!" With that, he turned towards a building and jumped twenty feet into the air.
The Plague Commander watched him soar through the air warily. Jason was the one he was truly worried about. His instincts screamed at him that this creature was death itself. But, if he ate him...
Landing on the roof of a two story building, Jason waved his hand at Alice with a smile and gave her a thumbs up.
"Good luck sweetheart! I believe in you!" Alice looked at him slackjawed.
"What the fuck. Are you kidding me? Ugh." Her claws and teeth came to full length as her armor appeared on her body.
"Asshole." Although she was upset with him, she knew he was doing this for her own good. Only through battles like this could she actually improve.
'I can't just rely on Jason the entire time for everything. If I want to stand by his side, I have to grow stronger.'
Seeing the monster not participating, the Plague Commander felt relief wash over him. Looking towards the smaller and weaker one, his face morphed into a cruel grin as he used one finger to twirl his whisker evilly.
First he would kill this one, then fight the thing up on the roof. Although he was scared of him, the Plague Commander knew he needed to take a risk in order to grow.
His mouth opened and what came out was another screech, even louder then before. The surrounding rats followed his orders to the letter, rushing foward like a tidal wave of death and pestilence.
Wanting to end this early, Alice immediately sprinted forward to the Plague Commander. She knew he was the one controlling these filthy rodents and reckoned killing him would make them scatter.
But after taking a few steps, multiple objects started pelting her armor. Even though it did little damage, it still slowed her down. Looking over at the culprits, she saw two hundred rats with slingshots throwing rocks and other small items at her.
Because she was slowed down, the melee rats came into range and immediately started jumping on her. Most of their attacks were blocked, with their teeth being chipped off due to her armor. But a few were able to get into the gaps and make her grit her teeth in pain.
Waving her claws around her body, their frail bodies were sliced into pieces without resistance. But no matter how many she killed, more and more replaced them like a never-ending horde.
Then, she felt a searing pain in her stomach as a loud gunshot rung out. The armor protecting that region cracked.
In the midst of all the slingshot rats, one of them was carrying a pistol. When he fired at Alice, he was thrown onto his back from the recoil. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only gun user in the pack.
When Jason saw this, his eyes burned in rage and he took a step foward. But then, he stopped himself. Although he wanted nothing more than to help her, it would have the adverse effect. She needed to get through this alone. He can't always be by her side.
'It will be better this way.'
Jason already planned for the two of them to split up when they got to The Docks. He figured if they always stayed together, they wouldn't be able to reach their full potential and will instead slow one another down.
Another shot rang out, but missed it's target by a hair. Knowing she couldn't sit here and wait for a bullet to get through the gap in her armor, Alice jumped as high as she could in the air. Many rats were taken along for the ride as they continued to nibble on her flesh.
Aiming right for the grinning Plague Commander, she spit out a glob of acid the size of a human head while in mid-air.
As she landed on the rat infested ground, she followed the green acid with her vision as her claws kept killing the rodents around her.
Despite seeing the unknown liquid coming right for him, the Plague Commander was eerily calm. Without him doing a thing, one of his seven foot bodyguards stepped in front of him and crossed his arms together. Once the acid hit the bodyguard's forearms, a sizzling sound could be heard as the flesh started corroding away.
Soon, the acid finished melting and the damage could be seen. A layer of skin and muscle was gone and the bodyguard's forearms were heavily damaged. He stepped back and allowed another to take his place in front of the Plague Commander.
"Come on! Seriously?!" Alice was frustrated and decided to just wing it. She whinced as another bout of pain came from her leg. Luckily, the bullet was blocked by her armor. But it cracked once more just like her stomach.
Running straight through the horde of rats, she mowed them down using her claws and approached the wall of muscle protecting the Plague Commander. Seeing her coming, the bodyguards all got into a fighting stance and waited for her.
Coming before the first one, she nimbly dodged a sloppy haymaker and used her claws to slice open the guard's chest. With a look of pain, he took a few steps back and held his bleeding chest with both hands. A few other guards lunged for her, throwing wild punches or trying to tackle her to the ground.
'They're so slow and so predictable. Not like Jason at all.' Although she wasn't some master of fighting now, the Night Hunter had given her enough mobility and heightened reflexes to dodge their amateurish attacks.
Within just a minute, she had cut down three bodyguards. Seeing the danger, the Plague Commander lost his smile and gained a somewhat fearful look. While backing away, he screeched once more.
Instantly, every rat's eyes turned red and they immediately lunged for Alice with no concern for their own safety. At the same time, the Plague Commander used this opportunity to retreat.
"Dammit!" A bodyguard landed a meaty punch on her jaw, making her slightly dizzy. She sliced off his hand with a quick swipe and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back into another guard.
Not willing to let the Plague Commander get away, she picked up a bodyguard that was missing an arm and on the cusp of death. She threw him at the Plague Commander with all her power and returned to defending herself against the horde. It was a comical sight seeing such a small woman lifting a seven foot rat over her head.
The Plague Commander was hit by the steroid induced rat and was stuck underneath him. Although he was the leader and could control all these rats, his physical strength was actually quite low.
It was something that vexed him greatly. For no matter how much he consumed, he never got any stronger. The only exception was his controlling ability. But lately, even that was showing signs of being limited.
Seeing him pinned and unable to move at the moment, Alice used her incredible speed to weave through all the rats and reach his side. The Plague Commander put a hand up, but it did nothing to stop the black claws from piercing his skull. The light in his eyes faded as he made one last final sad squeek.
With his death, the frenzied rats lost their morale and broke away. Whether it be the gun wielding rats, or the bodyguards, they all ran to different directions. Soon, it was only Alice, the Commander, and the dead bodyguard on top of him.
Jason jumped down from the roof he was on and walked up to her. He clapped his hands and had a proud smile on his face.
"Good work Alice! Not bad! Not bad at all!" Alice looked at him blankly, no emotion on her face or in her eyes. She snorted and kicked the bodyguard's body roughly, making him fly a few meters away.
"Hm. You seem upset."
"You think Sherlock? I understand why you did it Jason, but you could have given be some warning beforehand." She crossed her arms together and glared at him from the corner of her eye.
Knowing he might have made a mistake, he came closer and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He rocked her side to side and placed his chin on top of her head.
"I'm sorry Alice. I just..." Hearing the sincerity in his voice, her anger cooled significantly. Truthfully, she wasn't even that upset. She just wanted an apology is all.
"I forgive you. But this bastard is mine and mine alone." Jason smiled and released her while shaking his head.
"Go ahead, he's all yours." Alice squatted down next to the Plague Commander and began feasting on his corpse.
"How does it taste?" She stopped for a few moments and chewed slowly.
"Kinda like chicken? And some other weird meat I can't put my finger on. Doesn't taste good I'll tell you that much." A few minutes later, she finished eating the Plague Commander and stood up.
This time was different than before, as the black veins only showed up around her skull instead of her whole body. After some time, Alice opened her eyes and looked around the area.
"So? How do you feel?" Jason asked, curious as to what she had gained.
"I don't feel any stronger or faster. My thoughts do move a little quicker though. The main thing is, I can sense a whole lot of... energies? Wavelengths? I feel as though I can grab onto them and control them."
Alice could see within her vision hundreds of green, yellow, and red colors. If she wanted to, she could switch this newfound sight off so it wouldn't affect her in battle.
Taking hold of one of the green ones, she easily slipped past it's pitiful defenses and dominated it. Then, she made it come closer.
Soon, the duo could see a small rat exit an alleyway and stop just before Alice. The two of them looked at each other and could see the shock in one another's eyes.
"You can control rats now? How many can you control at once? Do you have a limit?" Jason was excited as he found this type of power very interesting.
'How cool would that be? Sitting on a throne and sending wave after wave of minions at the enemy. When the heroes finally triumph and reach the end goal, would they be fearful to learn my soldiers are just mere cannon fodder in comparison to me?' Unfortunately, Alice broke him out of his daydreaming.
"Hold your horses. Let me check." Closing her eyes, she reached out to all the wavelengths in the area and forced them to come in front of her. Within just a few seconds, two hundred infected rats of all shapes and sizes were lined up in ten rows.
"Okay. First thing, there is definitely a limit." She massaged her temples and sighed with a hint of exhaustion. The yellow ones were harder then the greens. She could feel a resistance fighting against her that wore down her mind.
As for the red ones, they were currently outside of her reach. She tried once and suffered a backlash from the target, making her gain a headache for her troubles. However, there were only a little over half a dozen of them.
'Those must be the bodyguard rats.'
"The more I control at once, the more strain it puts on my brain. The second thing is the larger and more powerful rats take up more... slots so to speak. They put more strain on me then the weaker and smaller ones. Other then that, I can pretty much tell them to do anything and they'll do it. Watch."
Alice willed it, and the rats followed their Mistress's command. Suddenly, all the rats jumped onto their back legs and stood upright like a human. Then, they began dancing and snapping their... fingers. Some even grabbed a partner and romantically danced together. A few stepped in front of the pack and began singing with an awful squeek. Clearly, they needed more practice.
"Pfft! Hahaha!" Jason couldn't help but burst out laughing, who was soon joined by Alice.
"Here! Look look!" Alice giggled and made some of the rats start kissing each other. Their laughter increased as the orders became more and more... odd.
It was ten minutes later when Alice dismissed the hundred rats. They weren't free of her control, but simply sat in the shadows and awaited their time to shine.
As for the other half? They had been killed off when she ordered them to fight one another gladiator style.
"That was fun. Alright, let's get moving and find you some common infected." Jason said, which earned a questioning look from Alice.
"What? Why?"
"To heal you of course." There were multiple wounds on her body that had yet to heal.
But when they did find some unfortunate soul to be eaten alive, Jason was shocked.
"Why is it so different?" After eating the poor man, Alice's wounds didn't close at all.
When being asked, Jason explained to her how he was able to heal his injuries by consuming the common infected. Especially the Night Hunter from last night that was able to keep him alive.
"Hm. Who knows? Maybe it's something only you have." Alice shrugged and came up with a simple explanation. But Jason smiled brightly and held his head up high as they continued on their journey.
"So what you're saying is, I'm special?" His smug face made Alice want to punch him. It was just so irritating to her. Unfortunately, she knew what that outcome would bring.
"Yeah... real special alright." Jason didn't catch the mocking tone in her voice and felt as though he was flying through the clouds.
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Meanwhile, in a cave outside of Washington D.C., Hiroshi walked slowly through the dark and wet roughly carved out tunnel. It was as if something had forcibly enlarged the cave.
Behind him, two familiar beefy infected carried a large glass container that held a purple gas. The two infected had blue and white cybernetic enhancements all over their bodies, which increased their strength and speed dramatically.
Hiroshi was proud whenever he gazed upon them. After weeks of testing and failed experiments, he finally was able to create his newly named Cyborg Infected. Although they were still a little shy from being as strong as a special infected, they could be mass produced on a large scale and were able to gain a great amount of intelligence.
Finally, after a few minutes of silent walking, Hiroshi entered a giant dome shaped chamber. In the middle was a decent sized lake that took up a portion of the room and up on the ceiling was a hole that allowed sunlight to pour through, landing on the surface of the water. It was a magical scene straight out of a fairy tale.
However if one was to look inside the lake, deep under the surface, they would find massive piles of bones from all manners of creatures.
But the most noticeable feature of this room, were the three hundred Juggernauts going about their day.
Besides them, there were a variety of other special infected. There was even a Breeder in the corner of the room currently in the midst of impregnating captured humans, surrounded by both common infected guards and Ripper Babies. Though by far, the most numerous were the Juggernauts.
The majority of them were fighting amongst one another, trying to prove their superiority or were simply bored. However, when Hiroshi entered they all stopped what they were doing and angrily stared at him.
Unfazed from the glares of the large bulls, he confidently walked towards the throne made out of stone that sat atop a rock. The sunlight was at the foot of the throne and didn't allow one to see the 'person' sitting on it.
Hiroshi stopped just before the rock and peered upward. With his poor night vision, he was barely able to see the mountain of muscle sitting lazily on his throne with one fist resting on his chin. A powerful Alpha Juggernaut at twenty meters tall.
"What?" His booming voice echoed throughout the cave, making Hiroshi's eardrums sting. Ignoring the pain, he took a deep breath before answering.
"Forgive me for arriving uninvited, but I have come to you with an offer." Watching an eyebrow go up, Hiroshi continued.
"A collaboration between the both of us to attack and kill the Alpha Behemoth making his way to Washington. Upon his death-" He was suddenly interrupted by the Alpha sitting on the throne.
"Do you take me for a fool, little thing? Although I hate to say it, that titan bastard is a little stronger than myself. I am not suicidal." Saying that, he became very gloomy and even a little upset.
"Yes, but what if we attack him when he is preoccupied by the humans and their new weapon?" At his words, the Alpha glanced at the purple gas swirling inside the container.
Occasionally, it would rush towards the two infected holding the container. After failing, it became docile before trying once more.
"Is that it?" He had heard of this weapon. It was what allowed the humans to kill two Alphas and several thousand special infected. The death toll for the common ones were immense, coming in at over a hundred thousand.
The reason why he had moved out of the city was because he had thought something like this might happen. Unlike others, he never underestimated the humans and their means.
That was also the case for his army. Since despite having such a large amount of soldiers, he stayed low-profile and kept adding more and more to his ranks before his assault on the capital.
Hiroshi backed up and tapped on the glass lightly with his finger. It rushed for him immediately, but faced a setback and crashed fruitlessly into the wall of it's cage.
"Indeed it is. Somehow, the humans were able to develop this gas that weakens us considerably. I do have a litte theory about who they learned it from though." He paused slightly before continuing.
"Anyway, I raided a compound that was creating and storing the gas. At the cost of many of my underlings lives, I was able to steal the vast majority of it. With enough exposure, we will easily evolve to become resistant to it." A sigh came from him when remembering the siege.
The humans had fought tooth and nail to protect the facility. For every inch of ground he gained, they made sure he payed for it deeply in blood and death. Deep within, Hiroshi was actually a little impressed at how fierce they were. Still, they fell just like the rest. Just like they all will.
"How do you know that?"
"I tested it on a couple different common and special infected. They all reacted the same. A feeling of extreme weakness but after a few hours, they became immune to it." The Alpha took his sight off the gas and peered at the frail looking Hiroshi with slight contempt.
"I remember you saying 'we'? Tell me, what can a weak thing like you even do? Can I not just kill you now and take the gas for myself?" The surrounding Juggernauts and other infected laughed loudly. But Hiroshi's expression remained unchanged, as if their mocking didn't effect him.
"While it is true my physical capabilities are lacking, I make up for it by being gifted in the mental department. With my brains and your brawn, he will stand no chance against us." The Alpha looked behind him at the two enhanced Cyborg Infected.
'They should be just normal common infected, but...'
"Prove it. Use those two to defeat one of my Juggernauts." Anticipating this, Hiroshi smiled and accepted his challenge.
"Gladly." Without needing orders, the Cyborgs gently lowered the container to the ground and walked to a wide open space. Around the area, there were tall rocks that acted as walls. This space was used as an arena by the Juggernauts and other infected.
While the Cyborgs waited there patiently, the Alpha chose a regular nine foot Juggernaut to fight for him. The chosen one roared triumphantly and jumped into the arena, the ground cracking upon his descent. Standing upright, he grinned savagely at his two opponents.
"Begin!" The Alpha gave the order, and the Juggernaut was the first to move.
He barreled towards the Cyborgs like an angry bull. Seeing him coming, the duo split up as they took out their weapons.
One of them was a melee focused combatant while the other was ranged. The melee Cyborg's hand and half of his forearm transformed into a blue sword with a while line down the middle. The same thing happened on his other arm.
As for the ranged Cyborg, both his hands disappeared and were replaced with a dark circular hole.
After the Juggernaut saw them split up he decided to bum rush the one on the right, who happened to be the ranged Cyborg. However, taking just two steps, a loud gunshot erupted and echoed throughout the whole cave. Searing pain came from multiple parts on his body, but luckily did minimal damage due to the distance between the two.
What the Cyborg had done, was fire a spread of bullets out of each arm as if he had two shotguns.
With his arms covering his head, the Juggernaut closed the gap between him and the pest who shot him. Not far behind, the melee Cyborg was trying his best to catch up. Unfortunately, he was slower than his opponent.
The Juggernaut smashed his fists down upon the ranged Cyborg, but missed as he had rolled out of the way. On one knee the Cyborg shot him again in his ribs. The Juggernaut's teeth gritted in rage and pain as he swept his fist towards the Cyborg once more.
This time, he wasn't able to fully dodge out of the way and took a big hit. He flew away as one of his arms broke off and landed heavily on the ground a few meters away. Blood flowed out of the expressionless Cyborg's orifices as a screen appeared in his vision. There, he could see the damage done.
His full body was shown. The left arm was missing and multiple parts of his body were colored red. In the corner, a bold 'Danger. Blood levels decreasing. Organs failing: Stomach, Heart, Left Eye...' could be seen. With a grunt, he tried getting to his feet.
The Juggernaut had no time to worry about the cockroach he struck as the melee Cyborg jumped up and lodged both blades into his chest. With a roar of pain, the Juggernaut grabbed him with one hand and ripped him off. He tried crushing him with all his strength and watched with joy as he coughed up blood.
But despite him dying the Cyborg managed to slice the arm holding him a few times, cutting so deep even the bones were showing. The Juggernaut had a face full of rage as he slammed him onto the ground, producing a loud boom as dust rose up and blinded his vision.
He waved his hands with an irritated expression in an effort to dispel the dust. But then, another loud shot and a bout of pain made him look slightly to the left. There, he could see a flash of light as he put his arms up to protect himself from yet another attack.
Using all his limited brainpower, he picked up the dead melee Cyborg and threw his body with all his might towards the direction of the flash. At the same time, he ran out of the dust and managed to see the ranged bastard on the ground trying to push his brother off his body.
The ranged Cyborg could hear the thundering steps approaching him and could see the angry bloody face of the Juggernaut. Knowing he was about to die, he raised his remaining arm and waited.
As he saw death approaching in the form of a fist, the Cyborg fired directly at the Juggernaut's head. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to see the damage as he was smashed into paste.
After killing the second Cyborg, the Juggernaut collapsed onto one knee while holding his head. His breathing was heavy as blood flowed between his fingers and onto the ground.
Due to that last shot, he lost an eye and some of his head was missing as well. However, he would be able to survive from this.
The surrounding spectators roared in excitement as their fellow comrade won. They weren't upset that he took so much damage. The only thing that irked them was that they weren't able to fight.
Hiroshi had a bad look on his face watching them die. Although they performed well, it was much lower than he was expecting. It seemed like he overestimated them.
'I should have battle tested them more! You fool!' He berated himself inside his own mind, cursing his shortsightedness.
There was also some slight emotional connection to those two since they had been with him since the beginning. That, and they were his first Cyborgs.
However, the battle did inspire some great ideas about how to massively improve upon his previous designs. So it wasn't all bad.
'That is... if I don't die here.' Hiroshi could feel cold sweat drip down his spine as the Alpha cast his gaze upon him. He wondered if his home-made bomb sitting in his coat pocket was strong enough to wound the Alpha.
Hearing the commotion, his soldiers waiting outside would rush in and buy him enough time to run away. After all, he could always find more infected to control.
"Hm. Not bad." Hiroshi looked at him confused. He saw the Alpha lean forward, letting the light hit his armored face. On the top of his head were two curved horns, making him look similar to a Minotaur.
"What, exactly, did you have in mind?"