On a floor overlooking the city from the windows of her office, Monica Ferrous fumed at the sight of the shields, the ones she spent months sabotaging, come to life to stop her energy cannon from obliterating the last refuge of humanity.
“How!? Just… HOW?!”
It would have taken several crews of mechanics, scientists and an absolute surplus of equipment to even fix half of the towers.
But to completely repair all five and divert the power back into the shields?
Monica felt her rage spill over as she picked up her desk and tossed it out of the window, causing the glass to shatter and spill out into the open air.
The rush of air didn’t bother her at all, the cool air allowing her to think as she tried to think.
“Father’s down in the laboratory’s, and there’s always hiding out in space until the heat dies down… I could walk away from this.”
The very thought enraged her, but she needed to be realistic right now.
“Chimera’s already killed most of the heroes below, so resistance would be minimal… but if it ever comes back to me, I can always blame it on my alter-ego, Zlo. I even left his fingerprints on the towers, so he would be the one to take the fall. Fools, blaming it on someone who doesn’t exist.”
Feeling her sense of confidence return, Monica grabbed a hold of her mother’s tube and began to make her way back to the teleporter.
She was inches away from the button when a small drone floated up to the switch.
Monica, despite herself, stared at the rather simple but ingenious tool as it took a moment to stare at her with its small green lens.
It raised one of its tiny claw hands, hovering over the button that she was about to press.
“No!”
And smashed through it, causing both it and the now destroyed button to fizzle out.
"Damn you!"
She tossed the robot out and tried to press the button, finding that it no longer functioned.
“Son of a bitch!”
Unable to calm herself down, Monica sent out a pulse of psionic energy, ripping the already trashed room apart.
“AHHHHHHH!”
With another pulse, she smashed through the floor, dropping herself down floor by floor as she made her way back to the secret laboratory below.
…
Many things happened in the span of one minute.
As Monica was making her way down to the laboratory below, a hand on the tube of her mother.
Gideon was assembling an army of robots and weapons platforms, already making his way towards the brawl that was taking place inside.
The Heroes, some in the thrall of Monica’s mind manipulation and most freed from it, were fighting off against each other.
All the while Chimera and Sarah were battling each other as Sarah was trying to explain what they needed to help Chimera to Aden, Ms. Magicka, Aura and Crysa.
Just as Chimera relayed her message to her friends, Gideon arrived with his robots as another firefight ensued.
Laser blasts, missiles and cannon fire fought against super strength and powers as the Heroes now found themselves sandwiched between two forces.
Chimera was being pulled towards the now recognized Gideon as the group braced themselves in the warzone that was taking place in the spacious laboratory floor.
Aden, Hector and Mimicera made their way towards the inner laboratory as the others protected the two blobs who were both fighting each other and making their way towards Gideon.
Meanwhile,
…
Tiberius watched the entire show with a bit of wonder, mixed with an even better feeling.
Humor.
The incredulity of a swarm of Heroes fighting each other, coupled with Aden’s mechanical monstrosities and the experiment actually obeying Monica of all things.
He couldn’t help but laugh at it.
In the inner sanctum that he built for himself, he held out a hand as a vial of blood dispensed into his DNA accumulator, ready to insert the new, or rather, old sample into his body.
It was a shame, but after his brother’s death, it would be a waste for that power to not fall in his hands.
"Keep it in the Family, was it, brother?"
He chuckled to himself as one of his drones popped in, carrying a red beaker filled with viscous liquid.
Next to it was another vial being prepared with that experiment that got away, the last piece of his puzzle.
“Aden, was it? Monica’s is also being prepared, and once that is set, I’ll have all I need.”
The bonus would be if he could get the experiment’s DNA, the potential hidden within would elevate him further than he ever dared.
But with its flaw of being subservient to his daughter, it would be better to absorb Monica’s DNA first, if only to not be turned into a puppet.
A flick of his wrist, and the magical organ within him lifted the tubes to the Accumulator, pressing in and beginning their start up process.
“I suppose I’ll just enjoy the show until then. I think… Yes, two minutes would be enough time.”
…
Back to the present.
Chimera was launching herself at Sarah, all the while Aura and Crysa were blocking hits and attacks from both robots and Heroes in a slow crawl towards a werewolf.
A werewolf with a mech suit that looked like it was straight out of a military complex.
Gideon rode a platform with twin rotary cannons on the sides, a missile rack that held twelve pointed rockets, riding on two legs that bent backwards to stabilize him. The silver plated weapon platform, made with the shape of a wolf on its chest piece, sweeped the lab with fire and explosive death.
Needless to say, the group kept low as they could whenever he started up the guns.
“DIE! GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER!”
Gideon’s barrage smashed into the earth as Sarah made a makeshift barrier with the earth below, buying them some time as she continued to grapple with Chimera.
Aura blasted water from one of the pipes into the group of robots as Crysa launched a few of the broken pipes as makeshift missiles, spearing the drones as they came over the barricade.
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Had he taken a moment to look, Gideon might have realized he was fighting Crysa, but the idea that she was already eaten by Chimera made the battle even more intense.
The barricade pushed ahead slowly, the bodies of destroyed robots, both from the group and Gideon’s friendly fire, building up around the laboratory like a trench of hardware, and finally the two fighting blobs, seemed to stun the Heroes as the last of them broke free from the tentative control of Monica.
“What?”
“Hey, why am I on fire?!”
“This isnt the gym…”
The now freed Heroes began to find their own cover as the robots fired indiscriminately at the earthen barricade, and everywhere around it.
The Superheroine Ms. Magica launched a salvo of lightning and ice to freeze the robots in place while Crysa, with her new abilities courtesy of Chimera’s transformation, grew the wall to enclose the robots behind it, trapping them inside but also protecting the nearby heroes.
Needless to say, this pissed Gideon off further.
“YOU GO TO HELL!”
“GIDEON!”
With the group now close enough for the teenage supervillain to hear, even over the firefight, Crysa shouted to the top of her new lungs, causing the technopath to pause for a moment.
“What… that can’t be her… has to be the insanity talking.”
With the mech fifteen feet from the barricade, Crysa jumped into the air to land in front of Gideon, her blob form shifting to a human while she landed.
“You idiot! Why the hell are you shooting me?!”
Stunned, Gideon stared at his sister for a good ten seconds before he jumped out of the mech suit to tackle her, wolf form in full display.
“Crysa! You’re alive!”
As the siblings were making up…
One of the robots fired at Crysa’s leg, causing Crysa to flinch from the laser blast.
“Who fired that?!”
The robot came forward, “It was me sir! Did I do good?”
“Everyone, blast him!”
“So… not good?”
The volley of laser and gunfire was the only thing that could be heard for a moment, followed by the sound of sizzling circuits.
“Really got to work on their intelligence.”
“Well, you need a second opinion then, idiot.”
“Come on! I thought you were eaten by a monster girl!”
Crysa smiled back at him as the rest of the group moved towards the two, the still battling Chimera and Sarah rough-housing behind them.
“Okay, so… give me the details, because I know there’s no reason you would be working with Ms. Magica unless you had to.”
The group nodded to each other as Crysa explained the circumstances, beginning from their father causing all of the issues with Crysa, all the way to his plan to eat their siblings to become perfect.
As Crysa was finishing up the last bit of detail, Chimera, with Sarah, pounced onto the unknowing werewolf.
“GIVE IT TO ME!”
“AHH, Get it off!”
“Chimera!”
Sarah was knocked off as Chimera sunk into Gideon’s flesh, the wolf boy screaming as the blob descended.
For a moment, the wolf boy was screaming, tugging at his skin and even scrapping at his flesh.
Until he stopped.
He stood up, his face blank as a blob gurgled out of his mouth.
The red pink mass landed on the ground, and after a few moment of time, started to grow into the shape of a person.
…
Key Gene Sequence obtained. MonMalware purged, restarting.
Chimera took a massive gulp of air as she reformed into herself, her mind restarting with the images of what she had done.
Still, the backup of what she needed in Gideon brought her mind back into itself, purging the she-devils who looked like her from the deep flesh of her mind palace.
All that was left now was the horrid images that transpired in the short fifteen minutes she was taken over.
Images of murder, monstrous and terrible.
And the horrible things she had done to the Heroes around her.
Later, I… can deal with this later.
Chimera turned to the group as Sarah stared at her, a look of worry and fear on the surface of her face.
Her emotions were a tangled thing as well, and through their link, Chimera felt the worry that she might have to kill Chimera if what happened before happens again.
Chimera sighed, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have time to talk about what happened. She’s coming.”
Clonemera nodded as she rushed back inside Chimera’s body.
“If that bitch tries to go through your thoughts again, I’ll be ready to stop her.”
Chimera smiled at that.
Sarah shook her head, “she’s right, I can feel… something approaching from above.
Crysa grabbed her brother’s stunned form, “I’m getting him out of here. No offense to you, and I am grateful, but I’m not fighting my sister.”
Ms. Magica turned towards the Heroes as she spoke to them through the link that she now shared with Chimera and the others.
“The Heroes need to regroup after what has happened… and despite what I know of you all, I will leave this to you. Take care of Monica, and stop Pox. Do that, and I can arrange something for Chimera and the rest of you.”
Chimera snorted at that.
“You’re already one of us, this is as much for you as it is me and the others.”
Ms. Magica twitched as she tried to continue walking, her jerking movements causing Sarah and Chimera to snicker.
Crysa left next along with Aura who followed behind them, despite the look of worry on her face as she looked back at Chimera.
Chimera nodded to her, letting her know it was okay.
“...Good luck!”
She shouted back to them, as Chimera and Sarah stared at each other.
“Aden went after the liquid nitrogen, you sure you don’t want to go help him with that?”
Sarah stared back at Chimera, “I know what you’re trying to do Chimera, and I’m not leaving.”
Chimera felt her tongue click as she shook her head, “I… did awful things Sara-,”
“-Shut it. It wasn’t your fault and you know it. Mind control is a bitch, but you should know at least that much, that you weren’t the ones eating them. Not on purpose.”
Chimera clenched her hand around her arm, “It… felt,”
She shook herself, “it felt good, Sarah. All those powers, all that DNA. I wanted to do it.”
Chimera turned around, “that’s what it felt like.”
Sarah raised a fist and bonked Chimera on the head, enhancing the strength to the point that when Chimera reverted back to a blob, a moment before she did, the ground cracked below her.
Once the reverberating strike ended, Chimera popped back up into her human disguise form, a face filled with incredulous rage plastered over her features as she raised her voice.
“What the fucking hell, Sarah?!”
“You were being stupid, figured I would knock some sense into you.”
“I could have died!”
Sarah smiled, “but you didn’t.”
Chimera fumed for a bit as she stared at the clone she was based on, and started to giggle as Sarah smirked back.
Both of them laughed for a bit, the tension that Chimera was feeling fading bit by bit as Sarah patted her head.
“Chimera, you’re a good person despite a lot of things. I know that you didn’t get that from me, so let me say this to you.”
She knelt in front of Chimera, her eyes level with the blob girl.
“You’re a Hero, Chimera. Don’t lose yourself in guilt and hate, because that’s not going to help right now. Instead, focus on what you can do, and what you need to do.”
Chimera looked over at the Heroes that were speaking to Ms. Magica, watching as they picked up their wounded and dead. She could see the heroine healing them with her power, the power she gave to her.
Chimera turned to stare at the death children, the villains that were once blood hungry sadists, now clutching to each other as they tried to heal their own wounds, both physical and the non-physical.
A family.
Chimera thought of a strange girl named Lark that she happened to find, a person she felt closer with then anyone.
Despite the fact it was only for a little while, but assimilation like that tended to skip a lot of the romance.
Still, she felt her heart lighten at the thought that she was waiting with Meghan’s Dad.
Meghan.
Chimera smiled wider.
Meghan, her first friend, the one who took a chance with her before she even realized she was Chimera.
Who helped with her plans, fought by her side and grew to show her a new path.
All these random things, all the stuff she did, the people she met, and the lives she touched.
This was what she was, she was these things.
Yeah, she was Chimera.
And she had a villain to stop.