[center]Chapter 10: Where Nightmares Live[/center][/b]

The creature walked down the hall in silence, ignoring the many splatters of blood behind him. The red of the human meat-things on the walls and floor. The green-tinted white of the Yamne'e, the "Drones" staining the ceiling. The reddish pink of the Huragok "Engineers" near that of the Yamne'e. Even some of the bright orange of the massive Mgalekgolo "Hunters" on the floors, more scattered due to their resilience. And the more viscous consistencies, the purplish red of the Jiralhanae, the purple of the Kig-Yar "Jackals" and teal of the Unggoy "Grunts."

This was of no consequence to him. They had died, whether by him or by the soldiers he controlled. Evolutionary processes at work, truly.

An alarm sounded in his vicinity. A call from one of the officers, sounding like that Chambers shadow-person. [i]"All units, disable the Chimera immediately, whether by death or incapacitation. Bring in the Seraphim alive."[/i] That was what they called him now. The Seraphim, one of the "burning ones." A high ranking Angel. Like he was anything like those earlier forms aside from the most basic of similarities. No, he had far more in common with their generals.

He did not swear. Actual speech took work and practice, even telepathically. There was no need for such crude communication measures among his brethren.

As he walked, he came across a group of three said compatriots. The "Hybrids" were humanoid in nature, with pale, greenish skin like his own. The top half of their heads were covered by a visor helmet used for scouting, hiding their bald heads and six yellow eyes in an upward arc on the face. The mouth was still visible, with its rows of carnivorous teeth. Four cylindrical cooling towers were visible, the gray mechanical protrusions and yellow lights emerging from either side of their spines. There was very little armor on them otherwise, but they held the Chimeran Bullseye rifles, the Mark II variant.

This would be enough, it would seem. Just a small force to begin, but anything could be a boon. All it would take was a show of force to make sure they would follow.

And so it happened. Seven of the black-clothed soldiers came toward them, both male and female. They didn't last long at all.

With a single psychic pulse, two men were sent flying, breaking their necks upon contact with walls. Another man and a woman made to open fire with their insignificant weapons, but the bullets stopped in midair, falling to the ground. A bullet and a tranquilizer dart, to be exact. One seemed to be out to kill him, the other to capture him. Both were summarily impaled upon tentacles, lifted several inches into the air as another two lashed out at a fifth Omega soldier, wrapping around his legs and abdomen as he screamed, his arms pinned to his sides and unable to defend himself. With a sharp yank and a sickening crack, he was torn in two at the waist, blood and guts spilling out on the ground as the remaining soldiers looked on in horror.

The next two tried to run. They really did attempt to escape, and with good reason. However, it was not possible to leave this fight alive. The woman of the pair spontaneously exploded, gore splattering all over the walls, ceiling, and floor in her immediate vicinity. Upon this occurrence, the last man sprinted even faster, screaming as he fired his gun blindly behind him, completely missing both the leader and his non-psychic followers. A blue light hit him as he turned a corner, seemingly out of range of their guns.

Or so he would have thought. The Bullseye tag worked as planned, a stream of blue blasts actually turning with him, each seeking out the blinking blue target. Within seconds, there was a thud, and he screamed and ran no more. It seemed these Hybrids would be loyal after all, loyal and reliable for at least a short time.

He either wanted to kill one or two of the meddlers, or perhaps more of the meat-things, the shadow-people. Whatever it would take to allow his brethren to roam free for all time, to break the back of this empire with his obvious superior might. The other Chimera would fall into line quickly, with a few to follow him directly once more.

And so, the one became four.

=====

[i]Two months after the fall of the [/i]Archangel
[i]Chimeran Conversion Center, Valhalla[/i]

Unlike the old fish quarries that had been the make of the European conversion centers, this one was far more advanced. The tubes that transported Chimeran cocoons from one stage to the next were bulletproof, as well as heavily shielded against plasma weaponry. The walls of the center were a slick metal, the power source from many backup sources, from green petrusite to blue element zero to purple plasma to polychromatic magitechnology to orange imulsion. All of the technology had various sources of power, was faster and sleeker than the usual types, with many backup parts easily attached in case of destruction of malfunction.

Chairman Ronald Rivers was in a good mood as he read over the holographic file provided to him by his mercenary network. That latest personal assignment had gone very well. Most of these attacks did. The heroes had only limited, dwindling resources, while Omega had almost limitless allies, gaining more with every conquered world or alliance.

As he walked, he was found and followed by a black, robotic arachnid of some sort, two feet in diameter on its body with eight legs to allow it to walk. This robot scurried along the ground, a strange blue light at its front to serve as an "eye" as a red holographic projector was visible on its back, facing up It came around to his left side, following for several seconds in silence. During this time, neither made any overt acknowledgement of the other's existence.

A red light came from the "eyeball," projecting a hologram of Ronald Cain "Phantom" Rivers, the chairman's future "time twin" and the chief executive officer of the "Phantom Corporation" that was rising to power alongside Omega, stood still, the custom made spider droid walking for him to keep up with the working younger version. "I assume the capture was successful, then. The Chicxulub crater has been cleared of witnesses? And the Sentinel Echo Team?"

A nod in response, along with a barely suppressed chuckle. "I will be sending the information on the conversion process immediately through this file." The young man, the younger of the two demons who were speaking, typed into the touch screen. "You should be getting the results within a few minutes. Doctor Malikov's inhibitors have not been taken in quite some time. His grief allowed him to transform remarkably fast, interestingly enough. It seems to have become a complete incorporation of the virus. I listed the attributes of the viral strain in the file. This form is actually sentient. Unusual, yes. But not unbelievable, given others."

The younger Rivers gave a sadistic grin as he continued. "The capture of his [i]sister[/i] was enough of a motivator to cooperate. She seems to be reacting well to Haven, though she took some minor breaking in." A look from Phantom made him rephrase. "Eden, not what you know. I know that I have to behave. Still need to do some more research on how to work that out. In any case, he is able to communicate mentally now, finally relearned human speech after a few days. But that does not actually mean that he is telepathic. I would put him on level with Daedalus and perhaps a slight one with an Angel. He can influence some of the Sentinels, but none of the others, can't search memories, but rather just communicate."

"Those last two were disposed of quickly." They both knew exactly what they meant. The capture had been...an interesting state of affairs. Several had to be killed in order to capture the youngest, grief-stricken Sentinel. "Malikov's vaccination data and that on the Cloven and Pure Chimera were taken into our care, to our scientists. We will need that research if we run into...issues with this virus." There was a pause, and he spoke again. "He has been set loose on the multiverse in order to cause some chaos, to disable more of the resistance to our rule. I believe that effort has been mostly successful. In specific, I have kept him to the world on which he was created. Best not to cause too much damage, and to disable any ability to destroy the Chimeran virus outside of our research."

Cain frowned at that acknowledgement. "I hear your efforts killed my Mary. Uchi, that is. I had hoped that you would have kept her alive."

The younger Rivers brushed off the accusation, as rightful as it was. "I use my power as I will, kill who I will. However, I do regret that death. I know you wished to deal with her on your own once she was no longer a threat." He went right back into the report as if nothing had happened, most likely not caring very much at all. Though he respected his fellow leaders, Ronald did not let it get in the way of his use of his power unless necessary.

"I will find that last member of Project Abraham. I believe the field test is over, and we should place him back into closer study." Some silence, then he continued. "General Carter Barkley and Lieutenant General Kyle Chambers will be able to provide enough soldiers along with themselves. They need to have more difficult field practice."

A nod of approval, the frown fading. "On one condition. Do not allow our higher officers to die. They seem to be worth their pay grade."

"Don't worry." The chairman turned off the file after sending it over. He heard a caw nearby. Something coming his way from behind him, as he held out his left arm. The large raven seemed to be composed of shadows, perching itself on his arm as it looked around through a golden mask upon its face. He looked to it, speaking. "Another round of scouting could be good. See if you can find more of those Haven subjects."

The raven cawed again, flying off once more as he lowered the arm.

"Do not worry. I have more self control than that. I will not let them die unless necessary to facilitate Delgado's capture. And about Haven," he looked to the hologram. "It will work. See to it that Eden has the right role as well."

And so they walked, the future success already known to be an inevitability with their strong power bases and combat prowess.

=====

Not sparing a word, the Seraphim continued to walk, his Hybrids killing the soldiers of various species with ease using their guns, though one of their number had fallen. He was under no illusions that this would be easy, however. Though he was not being damaged, such an event could take place in an instant if he was caught off guard. Good thing he had control of all of the Chimera for the time being.

Two human soldiers ran off, screaming, from the carnage. They had to get away had to survive and warn others of the strength of their opponents. They didn't get ten meters.

Four elongated claws impaled each of them through the chest and out the back, the users fizzling into sight. Chameleon Chimera, not very strong, but excellent stealth soldiers. These were bipedal like most types, and reptilian, their clawed hands their only weapons. These had two beady yellow eyes, their mouths open to show the elongated fangs. They were rather hunchbacked, their camouflage units grafted into their bodies along with their cooling ones, and connected to the gunmetal blue helmets they wore.

Yanking their claws out of their targets, the two promptly disappears once more to make more sneak attacks.

Several more allies also arrived. Three Advanced Hybrids, wearing more armor over their comparatively heavyset build, were better trained in the use of their Bullseye Mk II weapons. One of the quadrupedal variants, the canine Howler with its four eyes, reptilian spines along its back, and its skin as bald as the other types. The call of this dog-thing could easily chill the bones of any soldier, due to their familiarity with its brutally visceral combat.

He could feel those near him, feel the connection to them all. He knew the ambushing scouts known as the Slipskulls were running along, through vents and the like, ready to attack on a moment's notice from any angle. It appeared that two were following him, one making himself known by peering around a corner. He was humanoid and approximately five feet tall, his fangs far smaller than the others. Those two yellow eyes were perfectly circular in the sockets, his two cooling units on his bare back the only real accessory aside from his black pants and the attachment zone for the units on his chest, to which four black wires connected that went over and under his arms. The tiniest red dot moved across the hall as he scanned with his Reaper carbine, one of two of the identical gray, Chimeran submachine guns that he held, capable of firing accurately at two separate targets simultaneously. The other was hooked around his other arm, not in use at the moment. Seeing the coast clear, he jumped off of the wall he had attached himself to, on to another one and climbing into the nearest vent to join his partner.

With that, the four became nine.

=====

[i]Tsunami Sewers[/i]

The rumbling was noticeable both within the trenches and in the small enclosures for hiding poor above. The Flood could sense a problem, something horribly, horribly wrong in their ranks. Those small pods were broken in some places in the sewers.

Suspicious, for the hive mind known as Gravemind itself as well as the rest. It was not present on that world, but it was still knowledgeable of what was going on from its hiding place, far away.

Without a word, many of its kind were sent out to investigate. The creatures of greenish yellow flesh were in two distinct forms in this case. The Stalker Pure Form, a large, crustacean-esque one in the shape of an arachnid, seeming to have been formed of re-casted bones of the deceased. The Infection Form, a balloon-like creature similar to a mushroom, scurrying along on its small tentacles.

There was an ear-splitting scream, a screech that could chill a human's bones. This was not of the Flood by any extent of the imagination.

The force came in a wave of flesh, a flood of its own. No real semblance of order, just a mass of flesh, a sea of yellow eyes. The larval Creeper insectile forms of the Chimera, a counterpart to the Infection Forms. Arachnid Leapers, the next stage in a Creeper's evolution, with four legs, four yellow eyes, and a barbed tail. Though smaller than Stalkers, they were still much larger than the average spider, their eight sharp teeth showing them to be a major threat. Rollers, though similar to the Leapers, were somewhat more advanced, their spiked carapace providing a good surface for their eponymous mode of locomotion, faster than their Leaper brethren.

It seemed that these forms wanted to take down this encampment of the Flood, to take away the Gravemind's hold here. Not that it would do much in the long run if they were even successful, which would never be allowed in any case.

[b]"Come,"[/b] the hive mind boomed through its offspring. [b]"we owe them a casket."[/b]

And so it began.

=====

Several more of his force had died. All of the normal Hybrids, the Howler, and one of his Chameleons. All gone, his allies that much weaker for it. Still, his rebellion had begun as planned, enough of a distraction.

Absently, he thought of the force in the sewers. That in the sky would not be able to have much of an impact, but hopefully enough, at least for the time being. Together, they could give some more time, time for him to board and commandeer a shuttle nearby in order to escape.

Many more forms had joined his ranks. Twenty more humanoid figures, with only two yellow eyes, emaciated bodies, and metal contraptions upon their chests, abdomens, and shoulder blades, their hands either blazing from heat or blue from an icy cold. These "Houdini Menials," as they were so called, were capable of using Plasmids after work from the Phantom Corporation. Best to use their own against them.

Tall and muscular, a Steelhead had arrived, wearing its torso and leg armor along with its four-eyed goggles attached to its small helmet/cap of metal. It held the gray Auger rifle in its hands, its transient radiation ammunition capable of tearing through physical cover with ease, and even gaining strength from passing through said cover.

The two Hardfangs were more heavily armored Hybrids, essentially. They had only two white cooling towers from their backs as opposed to the Hybrids' four, and wore a black bodysuit along with a black mask covering the top of their faces. Still, the massive mouth of fangs was clearly visible beneath the black metal, even sticking out over the edge of the orifice as they held the electric "Arc Charger" weapons in their hands.

The females of the group were rather new developments. The two Boilers had a rather human appearance, with the exception of an extremely overgrown head. They also seemed to have had their hands and feet mutated to resemble tentacles, and thick, leathery skin. These were psychics, and capable of psionic blasts as well as survival in warmer weather, which translated to rather limited heat resistance.

The last two towered over the rest. The Ravager seemed to be a massive, extremely muscular Hybrid variant, only armored on the legs with two cooling towers on the back. This one had only two eyes, like the Boilers, and was absolutely enormous at about nine feet tall. In its arms, it carried a minigun of sorts. The Titan dwarfed even the Ravager, standing at seventeen feet tall. It wore absolutely no armor whatsoever, but this figurative Goliath was a brute to deal with, carrying a flamethrower in its hands that it could easily use as a club if the situation warranted it. It was time to leave.

Nine had become thirty-two.

=====

[i]Rooftops[/i]

The roofs were more busy than usual. The randomly dispersed snipers, who had been dispatched at the start of the commotion as protection, were composed of many different species of both genders, from human men and women to Kig-Yar Jackals and their Skirmisher evolutionary relatives to the occasional HYPNOS mech or Husk Scion.

The latter were very humanoid, though blue, blue circuitry lines running along their torsos and blue lights in their eyes. They leaned to their right sides, heads resting on their shoulders. An enormous blue sack on their backs and left shoulders was filled with redundant organs and sources of "eezo,"element zero, which was used to power the powerful cannon that made up their left arms. Those redundant organs were from two people per sack, bunched into these mindless snipers horrifically. These cyborgs were of Reaper origin from the depths of dark space, made from the fusing of Husks that had been converted from organics by slowly replacing their internal organs, skin, and water content with cybernetic materials while impaled on spike devices known as "dragon's teeth", taking away their free will and essentially turning them to cybernetic undead. At least they were not the Praetorian tanks, made from thirty of said Husks.

All of these snipers were shooting at multiple targets, synthetic and organic both, though they were difficult to pin down on their origin or nature. Some hopped from one rooftop to the other, firing from the sky. Others floated, shooting psychic blasts, bullets, or elemental powers ranging from electricity to fire to liquid nitrogen exuding.

Their own weapons ranged from the Scion cannons to Chimeran Dead Eye rifles with their powerful shots to Maquis Fareye L23s with their neural enhancement slow-motion vision capabilities. They even had the Covenant weapons, such as the "Particle Beam Rifle," "Focus Rifle," and "Needler Rifle," the Type-50 Sniper Rifle System, Type-52 Special Applications Rifle, and Type-31 Rifle respectively.

The synthetics were dealt with quickly, and with them the floating shooters of non-psionic blasts. They were relatively small, gray drones of some sort with small cannons slung underneath. The lights were gone from them, their shells destroyed to make it difficult to tell the origins. Where were they from? They could not be certain of the origins of the others, coming closer...until they saw the yellowed eyes by the time a large number had died on both sides, falling off of roofs or just dropping dead for various reasons.

Chimera. The damned Chimera were attacking. Weren't they on the same side?

The floating ones were very similar to the Boilers, albeit with much larger heads with pinkish orbs on the sides, longer arms, and more feminine faces. These Hags were much tougher than their grounded versions, and so would require a shot to the head in order to defeat. Not exactly a hard proposition, given the size, but they were formidable foes nonetheless due to their psychic abilities.

Long Legs were yet another variation on the Hybrids, the most recent of them with much larger cooling units on their backs, thick and yellow, visually similar to a type of jet pack. Their eponymous legs had been genetically and perhaps mechanically enhanced, allowing them to hop from one building to the next very easily, almost seeming to fly through the air as they fired down.

Finally, one of the men got a good idea, grabbing for a green, airtight canister on his waist. He pulled a pin and threw it as hard as he could at one of the Long Legs, taking aim with his Fareye. Aim down the sights...activate the slow motion...and fire.

The bullet tore through the canister of Chimeran Marauder necrotoxin, causing the entire Spider Grenade to explode in a sudden fireball. Several Hags died with the Long Legs as it fell, finely crisped.

A Jackal was surrounded by Long Legs and one Hag, all ready to open fire. It was done for...but pulled out a cylindrical object with a tab of some sort on the side. Ripping it out, he threw it straight down, crouching. A forcefield erupted outward in all directions, protecting him and sending the Chimera off of the roof he stood on, shocked enough to fall to their deaths before the shield of the ironically human-built Backlash Grenade ran out of time.

Now, a human woman was under attack, a Hag having approached her. She was thrown back by a psychic shot, landing beside a deceased man, but landed on her back, taking a silver sphere out of a pack on her waist. It had an orange line around it in a circle around its circumference, as well as several orange triangles of markings around it. Squeezing the Plasma Grenade from an origin of a Chimera-human hybrid known as the Cloven, she chucked it at the monster, hitting it straight on the sizable forehead. It glowed for a few seconds, orange...and the head exploded, gore spilling on her as the Chimera continued to stand, dead woman no longer walking.

The woman rolled aside from the corpse as it fell to its knees and pitched forward, and stood again. the forces were somewhat evenly matched for the time being, but their reinforcements would easily turn the tide in only a few minutes, ending this airborne rebellion.

The air was occupied for the moment. Mission going as planned.

=====

[i]Hangar bay[/i]

The Seraphim walked with his escort, approaching the door to the hangar as a large, bluish-purple carrier, a Covenant Type-52 Troop Carrier better known as a "Phantom," flew out, behind it, escaping. One of his Boilers, the Steelhead, and thirteen of his enhanced Houdinis had died in the assault to come here, sacrifices for the whole.

The Chimeran leader waved a hand on front of the blue hologram, watching as it twisted, turned green, and vanished, the door opening and sliding into the walls along a horizontal seam down the middle. As he entered, he could see the escapees through a fine mist of green. None of his concern, as the escort surrounded him, ready to hold off incoming reinforcements from all sides.

The remaining seventeen guards came in with him at last, ready to fight whoever remained inside.

Wait a second...

Green. Green [i]mist[/i].

At the last possible second, the Seraphim send out a psychic pulse outward in a wave, shoving the green gas away from him, though failing to protect his brethren. The gas, coming from thermobaric weaponry, suddenly ignited, bathing his guard in a circle of flame, the leader at the eye of the storm. In the end, only the Ravager and Titan were strong enough to survive such a surprise assault.

Due to cooling unit malfunctions caused by the intense heat, those Chimera who were deceased were immolated, those who were not exploding into piles of blood, limbs, and entrails or unidentifiable gory chunks.

The two gargantuan Chimera that remained aside from the leader roared in both rage and pain, the Ravager firing its Brute minigun wildly as the Titan's flamthrower tried to burn the probable opposing force to death.

Both of the attacks were stopped at the same time. As the flames were fired, another stream stopped them after several meters, continuing until they stopped and forcing its way forward, causing some more damage to the Titan. The minigun rounds were stopped by two waves of red energy, slices that moved along the ground, negating the incoming fire. The source was a red-lashed whip with a silver handle, serrated along its length. Its job done, the thing re-formed into its default form, that of a longsword with a red, hooked blade and pink spikes along one side of said blade, a multitude of pink flower symbols on the handle.

A sound of the blade being sheathed could be heard, several nonautomatic, electrified handgun rounds hitting the Brute minigun and temporarily disabling it.

Those two were here, as was visible when the flames and shock were no longer an issue. Phantom Rivers and Elena Mireu. The latter was in her normal attire, but the former had on his combat uniform as he lowered his dragon arm, red flames snaking their way out of the partially-opened mouth.

This armor was based upon research done for a certain "SPARTAN-III" project for the United Nations Space Command. Just like the Conversion center, the custom armor used a combination of all technologies obtained by Omega: element zero, imulsion, multiple magitechnologies, petrusite, plasma, Plasmids, and more through many reinforced tubes within to keep all of his shielding and power running at top quality.
Red sensors were holographically presented before his eyes, and a helmet covered the top of his head, only the space from below his nose to his chin visible.
 The outer design was a nearly form-fitted silver bodysuit. At his right hip, he held a brown-and-gray Covenant gun with many pink needles sticking out of the top, a
Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher, a.k.a. the "Needler." At the same hip, the inactive hilt of his "Chaos Phantom" Energy Sword was also kept, a scoped [i]Perfect Dark[/i] tranquilizer at the other hip. On his back, he wore a Reaper-built combat harness, with two guns on it, seemingly completely different. One on the top was a long gray tube, a Lancer Big Daddy's Ion Laser modified for human use as a continuous fire laser. Below it was a darker gun, smaller, with two blade-like edges at the front. This was called the "torque bow," and could fire an explosive bolt once wound up that could stick into enemies or surfaces, either causing death or forcing them into cover. Over the entirety was a long nodachi, horizontal across his back and kept from blocking either gun.

Elena was holding up a white-and-black handgun, "M5" written in blue and black along its right side. A small, dark blue hologram reached out from the side, a little panel with an electrical shock insignia. Heavy Disruptor Ammo, meant to disable weapons or destroy synthetic enemies. Allowing a crimson holographic surface of her omnitool to appear on her left hand, she threw a
very powerful blast of superheated, red plasma a the Titan, the Heavy Incinerate tech power igniting it. With a roach, the beast threw its head back, just before exploding like its brethren. Luckily, this dealt no damage to the Ravager, who turned in her direction...as she disappeared, flickering out of sight in a sheen of light.

Enraged, the Ravager threw his disabled minigun at Phantom with all of his strength as he stood still, hoping to cause a massive amount of damage with the force the collision would surely cause. However, the Chimera had not been told of the phantasm, a skill that allowed Cain to simply let it phase through him completely with no harm due to his stationary nature. Only when it had completely passed through did he retaliate.

A red ball manifested itself in his left hand, one that seemed organic. Quickly, the man squeezed it, the color changing to white and finally green before he threw it at the large Chimera, his aim dead on.

As the green ball splash on its face, the Goliath seemed surprised, shaking its head to regain focus as it began to turn on its own leader, ready to attack him. Halfway, telepathic pulses from the tentacled Chimera stopped it, trying to overcome the effects of the Hypnotize 3 Plasmid and beginning to succeed.

Suddenly, the female commander fizzed back into view at the Ravager's side. She then shouted. "Sword Rain: Beta!" With that, she let loose a quick succession of blurred stabs at the side, causing blood to flow, before jumping up with an uppercut slash and finishing with a downward one along a similar angle. As the last guard began to fall, she quickly backflipped, bending backward to inhuman degrees as she kept going, flip over flip to land beside the leader of the Phantom Corporation. Quickly, she sheathed her sword once more, drawing her handgun and switching the setting. The dark blue electric shock hologram on the side was gone, to be replaced by a lighter blue snowflake. Improved Cryo Ammo, an attempt to freeze him solid and take him in alive or shatter him, killing him. That wasn't going to happen. Neither would.

The Seraphim watched her, and sent out another pulse of energy, sending her flying backward with a cry of pain before skidding along the ground to a stop on her back. He was ready to attack, wanted to detonate her body and kill her, even if she had enhancements. A victory for him, for his kind. But then came the pain.

He looked to his hip, seeing a needle of some sort sticking out. With a psychic pulse, it was fired back out, but whatever was in it began to tire him, make him drowsy and blur his vision.

Another needle hit. A moment of clarity as consciousness faded, though speech became impossible. He wasn't just a Chimera...he was an Interference...

A brother. [i]Mary... I....[/i]

A soldier. [i]Capelli... Hale...[/i]

A friend. [i]Guys.... I.... I'm so sorry... for everything...[/i]

A third hit. Finally, the sedatives became too much. His vision, fading, went black as he fell to his knees, and he was almost out as his face hit the flood, the tentacles falling to his sides, wings spread awkwardly.

Last words could be heard at the edge of consciousness. Phantom, his re-captor, probably lowering his tranquilizer gun or keeping one trained on him. Elena was no slouch either, and was probably aiming right at his head with her own sedative injector.

[size=1]"Antipsychic electrodes. If anyone speaks of this incident to Reaper, I will have your head and powers."[/size]

And he thought no more.

With the re-capture of Louis Delgado, the rebellion quickly collapsed, confusion running rampant. Rooftop snipers took down the flying variants, whether through tranquilization or lethal rounds. One had become zero once more.

And yet, this brief insurrection was enough. Though the former Sentinel did not know it, the Chimera had allowed for other opposing elements to temporarily roam free.