"You can't contact them either?" Michael spoke into his radio, a slight frown to his face.
"No boss. Me and Freddy took a risk and got closer to the Docks to get a nice long look for ourselves. But what we saw was batshit insane. Wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself."
"What might that be?" There was a few moments of silence, as if the other person was trying to get their thoughts together.
"When we first arrived, we witnessed tens of thousands of infected running around and capturing healthy, still alive humans. Kind of like what them Breeders do. Even the animals weren't spared. They rounded them up and held them imprisoned within the cargo ship. Leading them seemed to be this massive and strong looking infected. Never seen him before in my life. But boss, do you remember those two ladies? The ones who were close with that big motherfucker Jason?"
"Yes? Why bring them up?"
"Well, they were real close to him. Stuck together closer than goddamn glue. Strange thing was, they looked different than before. Less… human so to say?" The new information made Michael think deeply.
He wasn't completely sure, but he theorized the one leading this horde was Jason, a new and improved version. Though, he didn't understand why he attacked the Docks and were capturing healthy subjects.
"Good work. Stay there for another hour, then make your way back here. Keep me posted on any new development."
"Aye aye boss." Michael put down the radio and leaned back into his chair. Things were getting more and more dangerous within the city. It seemed his plan on escaping needed to be brought up ahead of time.
Suddenly, he jolted slightly when hearing a loud knock on his door. He frowned deeply, no memory of calling anyone and he specifically asked to not be disturbed during this time. In case it was an emergency though, he decided to let them in. Of course, not before grabbing the pistol under his desk and being ready for anything.
"Come in." The door opened and revealed an average looking man. Michael narrowed his eyes, before remembering who he was. Greg, a normal member of the Reapers. No special qualities or talents about him and can easily be replaced.
"What is it?" He leaned back, silently aiming the gun at the newcomer's crotch region beneath his desk. But his outward appearance revealed none of his intentions.
However, an ominous feeling began building within his heart when he saw Greg smile. He came closer and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. The way he acted was as if he owned the place.
"I believe this is our second time meeting is it not?" His casual tone of speech made alarm bells ring inside Michael's head. No member of the gang would dare speak like that to him or act in such a manner.
Then there were the words he said. Second time meeting? Instantly, a name and face appeared within his mind. With a hesitant voice, he made his thoughts known.
"Jason?" Greg appeared a little shock, before clapping his hands.
"Nice work! Gold star for you cupcake!" Suddenly, Michael watched with fascination as his skin started to shift.
The swiftness of the transformation was no longer than a second, soon revealing his inhuman form. Though, Michael could still see the slight resemblance of the man he saw before. His height was still the same, a massive 6ft 8in.
"What can I do for you?" He put the pistol on the table and slid it his way, causing Jason to raise an eyebrow and chuckle in amusement. Michael wasn't an idiot and knew the bullets in his gun would be nothing more than a tickle.
Jason sighed and stretched deeply in the chair, even groaning a bit. He rolled his shoulders and neck, before refocusing on Michael.
"Sorry about that, still got some kinks in the armor so to say. Got my shit kicked in a little while ago by an asshole. But that's not important. Michael, I'm here to offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity."
"Okay. Wha-" Jason put a finger to his own lips and shushed him.
"Nuh uh, shut up. I speak, you listen. Really don't want to be here any longer than I have to. Things to do, people to torture." Suddenly, he made a funny face and scratched his nose.
"No offense." Michael smiled and waved his hand, lying as easily as he breathed.
"None taken. Please, continue." Jason grinned and got up, exploring Michael's office.
"I like you. Smart, cunning, ruthless. Great qualities, all of which I want. So here's my proposition. You come under my command and worship me as your Master. In return, I will make you… like me." Out of nowhere, Jason's entire right arm became a massive black blade. The edge was shining, as if it could cut apart reality itself.
Michael swallowed his saliva, temptation within his heart. Only a moron wouldn't leap at the possibility to become as strong as the infected. He was basically a single step away from becoming a comic book character. However, the conditions were a little steep. Asking him to put down his pride and kneel down before someone else.
"And if I refuse?" Jason smiled and came in front of the desk, placing the tip of the blade against Michael's throat. Even though it barely touched him, it made him bleed. He witnessed his own red blood flow down the surface of the blade.
"I cut your head off and find someone else to take your place." Despite the very real threat of death in front of him, Michael smiled.
"Then I graciously accept, Master." As for his pride? Worthless trash that could be traded for unlimited power. He would happily throw away such nonsense if it could allow him to not only live longer, but pick up cars and buildings as if they weighed nothing.
Jason himself was a little surprised at how quickly Michael surrendered. He took back his blade and scratched his head.
"Well… okay then! If I had to be honest, I was expecting a struggle at the least. A moral dilemma maybe?"
"Is there a point to such a useless endeavor? I see no problem with sacrificing my humanity in order to get ahead in this Game of Life." Jason nodded, but couldn't hide his disappointment.
"Alright then." He suddenly turned around and walked to the door, opening it roughly.
"Listened enough you two?" Michael was stunned to see both Yori and Princess crouched on the ground. The both of them were shocked and almost looked like little kids who got caught stealing a cookie.
"I- uh…" Yori was dumbfounded and tried finding the correct words. But then, Jason kneeled down to their level and grinned.
"Michael, do you like these two?" A little confused, Michael answered his new Master.
"Yes? They are very loyal and are great subordinates."
"I see…" Saying that, both of his hands suddenly shot forwards and wrapped themselves around their throats. The both of their eyes widened as they were lifted up effortlessly.
Yori and Princess tried to fight back, but the hands around their necks were like iron clamps. They tightened every second, depriving them of air and causing their faces to turn blue.
"Master wait!" Michael abruptly stood up, his usual calm gone as he moved around the desk and came behind Jason.
"Give me a good reason why. Just one." He loosened his grip just enough for them to breathe, but kept the pressure on.
Michael used all his brainpower to come up with a reason to keep them alive. However, nothing came to mind. For someone like Jason, having these two alive would serve no purpose and might even be detrimental if they leak his plans. Michael himself didn't know why he wanted them to live so badly. More specifically, why he wanted one of them to live.
"I… don't have one. But I beg you, please spare them. I will make sure they never breath a word of this." To top it off, he also kneeled down as he spoke, his forehead touching the floor.
Jason was a little impressed with how far he was willing to go. Thus, he chose to be a kind and merciful Master. He dropped the both of them to the ground, watching with a small smile as they coughed harshly, grabbing their red throats. The fear in their eyes as they looked at him was intoxicating.
"You two can leave now. Oh, I shouldn't have to stress the consequences of speaking about this, right?" Jason said, caressing the top of their heads as they shivered at his touch.
Both Yori and Princess hurriedly left to get away from this monster. Though, she did send a worried and concerned glance at Michael who was still kneeling on the floor. Jason noticed this and suddenly understood why his new minion tried so hard to keep them alive.
"Thank you for keeping them alive, Master." Michael said, no emotion in his tone. It was as if he cared very little for his humiliating posture. In truth, he was actually a little thankful, which confused him greatly.
"Not a problem. Now-" Jason shut both of the doors as Michael stood up and dusted his clothes off.
"-shall we get down to business?" He moved towards Michael's seat and sat down, kicking his feet up on the desk. The owner of the office didn't bat an eye and simply stood in front of the desk. It was strange to him, since it was always him in the seat and his subordinates in his current position.
"What did you have in mind Master?" Jason didn't answer for a few seconds, playing with the pen he grabbed off the desk.
"Humans are weak, are they not? Trash which must rely on technology to get ahead. How long did it take for them to get to the current Modern Age? Countless years flinging their own shit at one another before finally becoming a bit civilized. Yet, look at us. We took two months to bring them to their knees." Michael didn't understand what he was getting at, but wisely chose to stay quiet. Suddenly, Jason focused on him.
"My goal is to eventually wipe them all out and replace them with my own, superior race. Or maybe just kill them all if I feel like it. If anything, they should be thanking me for doing such a thing."
'Ah, he's insane. Good to know.' This was Michael's thought process as his Master continued.
"Anyway, what I want from you is something very simple. Gather as many survivors as you possibly can. Say that all are welcome and any can join without requirements. After that, I want you to send them to Wolf Nagging Street. Only send your most trusted men, those who won't say a fucking word."
"Once there, I'll have some infected take them off your hands and they'll bring them to me. Also, you won't have to worry about being attacked by Night Hunters or any other infected anymore, I'll take care of it." Michael sighed in relief at his assurance. The Night Hunters were a gigantic pain in his ass. Not only were they extremely hard to take down, their intelligence and cunning were very high.
"Before we get into the gory details of our new partnership, I'm gonna need you for something." Michael raised an eyebrow.
"What would that be?" He saw his Master grin slyly, suddenly feeling a bad premonition. As if he were about to take on a lot of work.
"Turning on the lights." Michael deadpanned, no expression on his face as Jason giggled to himself. Like he told the funniest joke in the world.
'Ah, right. Insane.'
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Almost two hours had passed for Lily after leaving the Docks. So far, she had run into a few special infected and fought some battles. However, none of them were too tough. Not only that, but she had gathered a good number of infected followers thanks to Jason's Domination Aura implanted inside her.
Currently, she was in the middle of the street with two bodies around her, Bone Spikers. Their bodies were damaged beyond repair as their blood painted the road beneath them. They had died directly next to one another, their hands still together to form a tragic scene.
"This would have been touching, if you fuckers hadn't torn my clothes!" Lily was upset as she angrily kicked one of their bodies roughly. Her shirt had been sliced open by a bone spike, showing her developed abs and stomach.
On her stomach and arms were small cuts which bled slowly, healing every passing second. It was more difficult than she thought to fight two opponents at the same time. Not to mention how well they worked together.
"But in the end, I won. So get fucked." With a grin, she was just about to get down and dig in when she heard stomping. Turning around, she saw a massive and beyond ugly Acid Spitter come from around a corner.
However, this one was far different in comparison to others. She was far larger, coming in at a tall and wide 17ft tall. Across her skin were these split open foot long warts which would ooze out yellow acid. Her mouth hung open, as if her jaw was unlocked as acidic saliva poured onto the ground and easily melted the asphalt.
"Aren't you a big and mean looking fucker? Only Jesus could love a face like that." Hearing Lily, the odd Acid Spitter became enraged and roared out.
"All of you stay back and leave it to me." The two hundred infected under her command were about to charge forward when she stopped them. She wanted to fight it alone to grow stronger.
Getting ready for combat, both of Lily's arms transformed into her thin whips. At the same time, her hair automatically became flexible blades. When they waved around, there was an audible noise of the air being cut through. The last thing she did was equip her armor to cover her entire body, minus a few gaps.
Taking the initiative, Lily immediately ran towards the Acid Spitter as fast as she could. Seeing this, the big whale somehow opened her mouth even wider as something moved up her throat. Suddenly, a giant glob of yellow acid was spit out, it's form strangely more solid. Lily didn't care about this and nimbly dodged out of the way with a smile.
"Never hit me like-" Out of nowhere, she was thrown through the air and slammed into a building. She screamed bloody murder as her armor and flesh melted off. Luckily, her resistance for acid prevented her from becoming nothing but bones.
With gritted teeth, she dragged her damaged body out of the wall and back to the street. There, she could see the crater made by the acid bomb. It wasn't difficulty for her to understand what happened. When the yellow acid hit the ground, it exploded and both sent her flying, and splashed acid all over her.
Looking over, Lily saw the Acid Spitter shove her meaty hand into her own mouth. A bad feeling crept up in Lily's heart as she watched the Spitter seemingly grab onto something. Not giving her the chance to do her next attack, the big sister used her right whip and made it wrap around her opponent's leg.
Pulling with all her strength, she caused the Spitter fall onto her back. Rushing forwards, Lily used both whips to keep the Spitter's arm and mouth together. At the same time, once close enough, her flexible hair blades shot towards the head. Just as it was about to reach it, the Spitter suddenly wiggled around violently as it's warts shot out multiple little balls of acid.
Knowing they were going to explode, Lily grit her teeth and bit the bullet. As her hair tore the Spitter's head into pieces, the balls of acid blew up around her. The yellow acid splashed all across her body, causing her an extreme amount of pain.
"AHHH!" Her scream echoed out into the street, her flesh peeling off as her mind became foggy. Even the bones and a couple organs were visible. Lily knew she needed to heal quickly, or she'd die at this rate.
Her whips, which were still wrapped around the Spitter's arm and neck, swiftly changed into black tendrils. Thanks to Jason's teachings, she had gained the ability to consume things the way he did. With barely any thoughts in her brain, she began consuming the Spitter's dead body as fast as possible.
After a few moments, there was a change to her wounds. They started healing visible to the naked eye, the muscle and flesh returning back to their original state. At the same time, this allowed her thoughts to flow smoothly.
"Fucking hell that was close." Lily breathed a sigh of relief as the rest of the Spitter was consumed. A hint of fear was still within her heart as she calmed herself down.
Being so close to death had terrified her. Not because she was afraid to die, but of the realization she would never see Alice or Jason again. That frightened her more than anything else. Luckily, her plan worked out. But she soon shook her head.
"Way too risky. I should have just backed off. Instead I acted like I was invincible. You idiot." Sighing, she knew she had to do better next time and not rely solely on luck to win her battles. Luck doesn't always hold out and would one day kill her.
Feeling a little better, Lily went over to consume the Bone Spikers and at the same time go over what happened. She knew the Acid Spitter was far different than a normal one, but wasn't an Alpha like Athena or Scarface. To her, it almost seemed mutated in a way and had an ability similar to the Bomber she had met before.
Meanwhile, her body had changed a bit. Her height had gone up greatly, becoming a sizable 8ft 2in. Besides gaining an overall increase of strength and speed, she had obtained a new ability. The yellow acid, improved resistance, and Acidic Bomb.
"I love the power, but it was not worth the pain." Lily shivered when remembering her flesh being melted off the bone. It almost drove her insane and even now haunted her. But, she wouldn't let it overtake her mind and instead strive to rise above it.
When she finished consuming the Bone Spikers, she looked down at her naked and muscular body and cursed.
"Oh for fuck sakes! Now I need new clothes!" Her head turned to the infected under her control, yelling at them like a banshee.
"Close your eyes immediately! If even a single one of you fucks peek, I'll rip your eyes out and shove them up your ass!"
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As Lily went off to find more clothes and special infected to fight, Alice was doing something far different. At the moment, she was inside of a new clothing store. This one however featured a ton of emo and goth clothing and accessories. It was called, Hot Killer. Standing outside of the store was a group of over five hundred infected, the majority of them common.
Inside with her was a ten foot Juggernaut, his eyes completely purple and under her command. However, this big lumbering beast was used as nothing more than a basket. Numerous clothes were hanging off his steroid-ish arms. A gloomy look was on his face as he followed after his new Mistress.
When she beat him and took control over his mind, he believed they would do great things and kill many creatures! Taking over the world even! But instead, this was his purpose? To be used as a clothesline and basket?
"Oh, this looks good." Alice, unaware of the depressed Juggernaut, threw another piece of lingerie onto his arm.
The hulking monster looked at the clothes on one arm, and the basket full of makeup and other accessories in the other. The light is his eyes became dull.
'Why am I here? Just to suffer?'