Marcus didn't stop until he had cleared the entire skull of brain matter, not wanting to risk the serpent regenerating.
However, that was something he didn't have to worry about too much as even if the brain had healed, there would be no consciousness to inhabit it.
By the time Marcus finally finished, he was completely drained of energy.
He looked around the bloodstained cavity he now inhabited, a tired, but satisfied grin dancing on his lips.
Marcus had finished the job, and now the remnants of his energy were slowly fading off as embers. He gathered what little strength he had and lept out of the serpent's empty skull.
Marcus soared in the air with little control, as though he had the strength to launch himself into the air he didn't have enough to land.
Marcus crashed into a pile of debris with a hard impact, sending chunks of concrete and smoke flying. Marcus groaned in pain as he settled into his bed of concrete.
With heavy and ragged breath, Marcus squinted his eyes as he looked around what used to be New York, but was not little more than a crater.
Dilapidated buildings filled his vision as the light of day shined above him. "Heh…. I guess you got your wish Kael.." Marcus joked as he laid his head back.
"The concrete jungle is gone, even if it is just for a moment…." He said with a soft chuckle.
Marcus' vision began fading to black as his breathing slowed.
The exhaustion he felt now coming in full force as his adrenaline faded away. Marcus didn't resist, instead, he closed his eyes and embraced the sleep.
— — —
Meanwhile, in an observation camp stationed on the roof of a skyscraper. Dr. Fletcher, along with a few others breathe sighs of relief.
"Anomaly down, I can confirm anomaly is down!" A comms operator informed everyone in the immediate vicinity and back at headquarters.
"Message confirm, the anomaly is defeated?" A voice called out from the opposite side of their comms.
"Affirmative, requesting permission for phase two, over."
"Permission granted, you have authority to use class 3 erasure bombs, clean that anomaly's corpse from the face of the planet."
"Will do command." The operator paused for a moment before turning to look back at Dr. Fletcher. "Should I send teams to retrieve that officer and rig the corpse?"
Dr. Fletcher nodded. "Yes, just remember to be thorough, we can't afford the public to find out an earthquake wasn't the cause of this disaster."
"Yes ma'am." The operator said with a salute.
"Teams Alpha through gamma, you are clear for phase 2…." The operator began relaying orders while Dr. Fletcher turned her attention to Luna.
"What do you think?" She asked curiously.
Luna frowned, her small features scrunching up before she sighed. "Marcus is going to hate me." She replied. "I wish you had at least explained myself to him."
Dr. Fletcher sighed. "Marcus will get over this incident soon enough. For now, we have work to do."
— — —
"…this just in, what started as a gas leak has now elevated into an earthquake that rocked Brooklyn this morning. Luckily there was no one in the area to witness the event, but sources say that if it wasn't for the gas leak evacuation, the death count could have been in the thousands…"
Marcus groggily woke up to the sight of harsh lights beaming down upon him, and the sounds of medical machines beeping away.
Marcus groaned as he raised a hand to his face. Massaging his temples, he quietly began murmuring to himself.
"Another hospital room…. I can't remember if this is the third or fourth time."
Marcus tried to remember what got him here, replaying his memories up until the point he watched Jael die.
After that, It was just a blur of vague memories.
Marcus sighed as sat up, looking up towards the television.
"…and though the damage is extensive, the governor has expressed that he will pour more resources into both rebuilding Brooklyn and continuing the modernization effort….."
"Guess I won," Marcus said to himself as he dropped his hands into his lap. "Don't know how, or why, but I guess it doesn't matter."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Mr. Fletcher, your wife and daughter are here to see you." A woman said from the other side.
"What wife?" Marcus muttered to himself. "Wait,.,. Did you say, Mr. Fletcher?"
"Yes sir."
Marcus sighed, "Come In." He replied.
The door slowly opened, revealing a nurse along with Dr. Fletcher and Luna, who wore simple clothing.
"Hello my love, is everything alright?" Dr. Fletcher asked, approaching Marcus with Luna in hand.
Marcus narrowed his eyes at Dr. Fletcher but remained silent.
"There's a small console on your armrest if you need anything, Mr. Fletcher." The nurse said with a quick nod, before turning to leave the room, closing the door behind herself.
Once she left, the room fell into a tense silence, with Marcus staring down both Dr. Fletcher and Luna.
Dr. Fletcher made her way toward the chair beside Marcus' hospital bed.
Sitting down, she placed Luna in her lap and wrapped her arms around Luna's waist.
Marcus continued to stare them both down, a boiling anger simmering just beneath the surface.
Dr. Fletcher looked back to Marcus with a soft smile dancing on her lips, while Luna kept her gaze on the floor.
"Is there something you wish to say, my love?" Dr. Fletcher asked, her voice was full of care, but all Marcus heard was mockery.
"Is there something I wish to say?" Marcus asked sarcastically, "Yeah, how about we start with you fucking abandoning me and Kael!" Marcus shouted. "He's dead because of you!"
"Me?" Dr. Fletcher asked in surprise, "How so?"
"How?!?! Are you asking me how?!?!?" Marcus shouted, slamming his fist on the armrest. "How about we start with the fact that our only backup was rank-four officers?!?! Or maybe we should start with how you took Luna from me, or even better when you left me there to fight that damn thing!"
"I only used what resources were available to me. I couldn't spare more officers, and as for Kael his death is unfortunate and a major blow to our operations. Though I find it hard to believe Kael's death is my fault." Dr. Fletcher then looked down at Luna, running a hand through her silver hair. "As for Luna, I doubt she could have been much help, as eighty percent of her power, is within you."
"Tch, that remaining 20 could have been the difference between Kael living or not," Marcus replied.
"You sound incredibly selfish and ignorant my love, do you believe Luna could have been the difference between you helping Kael before he died?" Dr. Fletcher asked.
"Hrk." Marcus opened his mouth to respond, but there was only silence. It was his fault that Kael had died, he was so petrified that his body had frozen in place.
Kael was left to fight that anomaly on his own, all because Marcus had been too afraid to act.
Marcus was a coward.
"I hate you," Marcus replied, his voice slightly trembling. "I despise you with every fiber of my being."
Dr. Fletcher tilted her head curiously. "Why is that?"
Marcus tightened his fist as he fought to stave off his tears. "Because…. It's your fault I'm like this." He answered. "Yours and Luna's, if it wasn't for you two, I could have just been a normal officer, or better yet, maybe I wouldn't have even been in the godless organization."
"But you've done so well Marcus." Dr. Fletcher replied. "And in such little time, you truly are fascinating, do you know that?"
Marcus closed his eyes. "I don't want you to praise or suck up to me. I want nothing to do with this anymore, I want to go home."
"That's not possible, you should know that by now."
"I don't care, I want to see my family, my actual family."
Dr. Fletcher sighed as her expression softened. "You can't, and even if you could Marcus, they wouldn't recognize you." She explained. "Not only are you a different person physically, but, to them… you're dead." She replied with a hesitant sigh.
Marcus' eyes snapped open as turned to face Dr. Fletcher, his eyes narrowing. "What the hell are you talking about?" Marcus asked, his tone turning unnaturally serious and cold.
Dr. Fletcher flinched at the sudden change within Marcus. "I mean, you're dead Marcus, in the eyes of the world the man known as Marcus Fall died in a plane crash on his way back to America from England."
Marcus took several seconds to process what he had just heard. The room fell into another tense silence, with only the TV offering background noise.
"Dead?" Marcus asked, his tone holding no emotion. "I'm… dead."
"Yes." Dr. Fletcher replied. "After passing your first exam, there was no going back." She further explained. "You are now organization property, any ties to family, school, or other ties, would only detract from your mission."
"It's better this way, for you and them." She added, leaning forward to touch his arm.
Marcus took a deep breath as he slowly raised a hand to his arm, he moved Dr. Fletcher's hand as he began turning the Television to its maximum volume.
"Marcus?" Dr. Fletcher asked.
Marcus ignored her, instead he looked around the room for any cameras. Fortunately, there weren't any as he wasn't in extensive care.
Marcus slowly rose from his bed and approached the room door. Locking it as he closed the small curtain for the window.
He then turned his attention towards the large window and the back wall and closed those curtains as well.
Marcus then approached Dr. Fletcher with a hollow gaze. "Put Luna down," Marcus said coldly.
Dr. Fletcher obliged, placing her down on the floor slowly. Luna looked up to Marcus with a terrified gaze. "M-Marcus?" She stammered, "What are you going to–"
Marcus silently pointed towards the far left corner.
Luna looked over towards the corner and then back to Marcus. "Marcus please do–"
"Now," Marcus replied.
Luna looked back at Dr. Fletcher, who had a calm and unreadable expression.
Luna then looked back to Marcus, who wore an unusually cold expression. "Marcus ple–"
"The same way you quietly walked off from me when I needed you, is the same thing I need you to do now."
"Marcus I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." Luna cried as she ran to hug Marcus, tightly wrapped her small arms around his waist.
"I didn't want to leave you, I wanted to stay with you, I promise I wanted to stay!" She cried, her voice full of desperation as silver tears began streaking down her cheeks. "I won't leave you again, no matter what happens, I'll never listen to her again Marcus, so please, please don't do this."
Marcus felt his anger boiling, flashes of Kael's charred corpse appeared in his mind.
Lieutenant Lance's dead body lay strewn about the ground with a hole in his chest.
And now his family believed him dead because the organization claimed it necessary. Just the thought of his mother weeping at his death made tears roll down his cheeks.
Dr. Fletcher and this organization took so much from him, yet it kept asking for more, more, more!
Well if they wanted more, then they were going to get it, more death, destruction, and chaos.
Marcus looked down at Luna with a frustrated frown. He quickly reached down a palm and grabbed her shoulder. "Move," Marcus said emotionlessly as he ripped Luna from his body.
Luna was sent crashing into the floor, her small body smacking it with a thud.
It pained Marcus to hurt her, but right now he couldn't focus on that, as the real threat was only a few feet from him.
Dr. Fletcher watched Marcus approach her silently, her calm demeanor unwavering. It was clear she knew what was coming.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now," Marcus said as he began charging his right fist with ether.