Lihua Vuhong, Henry Olin, Sonya Mayfield, Mark Emerson, & The Agents of NEST vs. The Changeling Unit.
Written in Collaboration with @Mr Allen J, & @DeadBeatWalking
"Da-da-da DA DA DAAAAAAA!" Henry just about shouted, swinging the lead pipe he had picked up like a baseball bat at Ironsides as he flew towards him.
The metal pipe reverberated in his skull more painfully than the actual hit itself was. Ironsides flew backwards, and was well acquainted with the ground once again. Ironsides stumbled back onto his feet, words sliding out of his mouth as if his tongue were swollen.
"That hurt." He mumbled, holding his face in a stunned stupor.
Henry didn't really waste any time though. The bottoms of his feet were covered. And so, since he had SOME protection, Henry did one of the things he did best.
The spartan kick.
Ironsides was knocked onto his back as if he had ran into a clothesline, though it did little to pacify him. He was certainly stunned, and it felt as if he had been hammered in the chest by a blacksmith's hammer
Henry kept moving forward though. Ironside's skin was still probably very hot, but it wasn't red anymore. Which would help. He dropped the pipe as he turned, using his huge and powerfully muscled tail to lift the metal man off of the ground by the ankle. Around him was rubble, some from the now destroyed building, some from this part of town just being itself. But exposed broken concrete had metal rod framing. Henry slammed Ironsides down onto the ground next to a particularly large hunk of concrete, and pinned the metal man down with his foot. With his immense strength, he used one of the metal rods as a leash and bent it around the man's neck- keeping him right where he was.
Ironsides snarled, and would have bitten Henry were it not for the fact that the metal rod was holding his jaw shut. Still, his body convulsed in wild thrashing kicks and punches, trying desperately to hit at anything. Though his anger was chaotic and misguided, Wild Fang's was not.
He used the chaos of the scene to snatch up a NEST agent, and dove into the burning building by the time Henry had incapacitated Ironsides. Most of the agents assumed it was a suicide attempt, and made no effort to crawl into the blaze through the now-broken window.
Henry turned around to face Wild Fang, who was gone.
"FUCK." Henry just about roared, genuinely pissed off that the one fuck he was here for had moved away. Henry looked down at Ironsides. "You see what you did? God damnit man!"
Then, a new threat came to their attention. A rumbling in the distance. It was feint, as if they were on a very large boat that had been scraped, and a vibration rang out in the ears and feet of the NEST agents, as if the earth was shifting.
A figure rose in the distance. There was a hill about thirty feet high rising out of the center of the street, slowly crushing the concrete sidewalks and frames of houses as it rose. At the top, there was the upper half of a man.
His face was oddly calm, devoid of any emotion, as if he were only the upper half of a mannequin, and his skin was the same shade of brown as upturned soil.
"His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone." He spoke in a booming voice.
The Colossus ran up, and threw a punch so strong at Max that had the strength to break the man in one blow.
Max just stood there, no Echo in sight. Once the Colossus was right where he wanted him, he quickly floated off to the side. The armored fist flew right by Max, and Echo shot out of his body, and delivered a series of punches that moved faster than the eye could comprehend at the Colossus. Quickly moving up it's body, each blow sounded like a shot from a machine gun. One last upper-cut was delivered to the Colossus's face, which sent the giant stumbling backwards. Blood started dripping from it's face as it realized that it's armor was cracked.
It turned it's body around, and grabbed an abandoned car and tried to swing it at Echo, but it was quick enough to immediately zip upwards, and deliver one powerful kick, followed by a series of lightning fast blows. The Colossus stumbled backwards, and tried to punch, but Echo flew at him at high speeds, and delivered a punch across it's cheek, and sent the brute flying backwards and it flew through a wall.
Echo faded away. Max put one hand in the pocket and started walking back over to the Colossus. The rumbling in the distance immediately made Max turn around. He saw the dirt move almost as if it was a living limb, and immediately thought of Gravedigger. Well, at least Mark's information was correct. The man out of dirt was engaging Agent Vuhong, and Agent Page.
Looks like Agent Cornell will have to lend a hand. He started flying towards Gravedigger, and immediately deployed Echo.
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Gravedigger said again in his booming voice. He raised one arm, and the pile of dirt he seemed to be sprouting from began spinning, with small tentacles of compressed soil lashing out at the NEST agents like biting snakes.
Lihua was floating in the air - making sure not to go above the houses (Out of fear that she would make herself an easy target for Heartbreaker). The shield of concrete could deflect so much. They weren't really going to stop a 50. cal. She was looking down, searching for a taget, as every Agent was engaging a member of the Changeling Unit... and then the rumbling and shaking, followed by the dirt, gave her a good indication of an opponent. Gravedigger. He certainly lives up to his name. He can control dirt on a massive scale. He's practically dragging an island around with him. Who knows what he could do if he decides to destroy Verthaven.
Fortunately, Lihua's going to stop him before he could even start. By putting a concrete lance through his skull.
She quickly raised her hand up into the air and tore a chunk of concrete out of the ground, and crafted a wall in between Grave Digger's attack, and the NEST Agents. The dirt merely collided with the concrete, and otherwise did no damage. She thrust her palm outwards, and sent the wall flying right at Grave Digger.
Gravedigger created a massive hand of dirt, and caught the blocks. Wrapping them in soil, before throwing them right back at Lihua in explosions of dirt. Lihua merely raised her hand into the air, and the blocks of broken concrete froze in the air.
The dirt, on the other hand, was still flying towards her, compacting itself in midair into a small boulder.
Lihua quickly shifted out of the way.
Gravedigger sank into his still-growing hill before he could see whether or not his attack missed. The spinning stopped, and the exterior dirt stopped growing, and began to press together, squeezing out water and changing in texture to hard clay.
What is he up to? Lihua thought to herself. She was patiently floating above the ground for him to come out. Last thing she wanted to do was rush in headfirst, and end up getting killed.
The long silence ended. Gravedigger exploded from the top of the hill, no longer in his bare, vulnerable form, but through a gigantic soil avatar. He had been recreated perfectly, as if the tremendous statue was really him. He roared in anger, swinging both hands to clap Lihua into a fine paste.
Of course they always transform. Lihua rolled her eyes. It's always the standard evil villain tactic. They shift into a "stronger" form, without considering the weaknesses. The very second the giant tried to crush her, Lihua immediately reacted (Waiting for such a moment, in fact). She quickly began her descent, and the street opened up, a large hole formed in it. Lihua fell into the hole, and it closed up behind her. She quickly burrowed through the concrete, only the sounds of cracking (and dust rustling above) giving away her position.
Another hole opened behind Gravedigger, and she emerged, quickly rising up into the air. She raised both hands into the air. She pulled concrete lances from the walls around her, and they all floated towards her. She swung both hands out, and they all started flying at Gravedigger spinning.
Sonya and Leon got into position on opposite roofs. They immediately took aim, and began tearing away at Gravedigger. Sonya's 50. cal put holes clean through it. While Leon's shots were doing damages.
All while Agent Supersonic was flying towards Lihua. Wielding her machine gun, she opened fire.
The soil titan was torn to shreds from the concrete spikes and bullets alike. It collapsed, leaving a massive pile of dirt in the middle of the street, piling up to the roofs of buildings it hadn't already destroyed. The NEST agents on the ground closest were buried in an instant, though most began to run from the near-mudslide. Giant hands of dirt erupted out of the ground, and started flying at Helena and Lihua.
Max arrived just in time, and flew in between the two. He dove right at the hands, flattening his body like a torpedo. Echo flew right into the dirt hands, and delievered a barrage that reduced the hands to clouds of dirt, falling carelessly onto the ground. There wasn't anything left of the hand, and Max pushed through. He quickly flew up to Gravedigger's head, and Echo performed a roundhouse kick that knocked a great deal of dirt off Gravedigger's face. It exposed it's aberration pilot, and Max sent Echo in, but Gravedigger deployed a series of tentacles, and grabbed onto Max.
"Uh!? What the hell?!" Max said, as he started getting pulled into Gravedigger as the giant remade his form. Lihua and Helena pushed in, while Leon and Sonya stopped firing.
Picking up speed, Lihua tore a chunk of concrete from the nearby wall, and sent it flying at Gravedigger's face, spinning fast as she could make it. It took the upper half of Gravedigger's head off. While Echo started bashing Max out of the dirt with a storm of kicks that hit like a drill. Helena grabbed onto Max, and pulled him out. As Gravedigger reached at them. Lihua pulled the wall from Gravedigger's head, and threw it at the palm of his hand, and broke it before it could interrupt their exit.
The trio went back into the skies, and started watching from a distance. Lihua pulled from rocks of concrete from the area around her.
Good thing that Maxie showed Sonya exactly where the bastard was hiding. Sonya lined up the shot through the scope, and pulled the trigger. She immediately felt the violent recoil of the rifle. The bullet flew right through the giant, putting a hole through it... and it kept moving just like nothing happened. "Damn it... Shit." Sonya said to herself. She can't keep wasting shots like this. "Bastard moved. Find him, and I can take him out." Sonya said into the comms. "... Just don't get grabbed again, okay?"
"Got it." Max said into the comms. He had an idea where Grave Digger was. But, they'll need to apply some explosive pressure. Max reached onto this belt, and pulled out some hand grenades. "Cover me!" Max shouted as he dove at Gravedigger like a torpedo.
A series of tentacles came out of Gravedigger's body, and started flying at Max. Lihua retracted her concrete lances, and sent them at the tentacles, and destroyed them. Helena was shooting at the ones that were getting close, it wasn't effective, but it gave Echo some breathing room. From Max's front, Echo was furiously punching the tentacles. Every time a tentacle got close, it was immediately destroyed in a single punch by Max.
Gravedigger stopped the tentacle storm, and swiped out at Max with his hand. Max triped his speed, while Echo immediately got in front of him, punching wildly (Even twice as fast as before). Max pulled out his grenades, and pulled the pin. Echo punched a hole right on through Gravedigger, and Max let go of the grenades while inside Gravedigger. Both ended up on the other side of Gravedigger.
Gravedigger tried turning around, but the grenades went off, and massive bubbles of dirt formed inside him, and one final blast caused the dirt form to crumble into a pile of dirt. The arms Gravedigger had formed fell. Max had hoped that he killed the Changeling. Yet, the skeletal form of Gravedigger stood up outside the pile. Wiping the dirt off his figure.
Sonya immediately lined up a shot - but Gravedigger quickly created a dome of dirt. "Damn it!" Sonya said. He probably moved, and Sonya doesn't want to waste anymore shots.
"Oh no you don't!" Max said as he witnessed what Gravedigger was trying to do. Max quickly retracted Echo, and flew into Gravedigger's dorm fast as possible. He made it inside right before he could finish.
Inside the dome, Gravedigger tried to reinforce it as much as possible. After he felt it was sufficient, he immediately knelt over, and started panting.
"... Hey." Max said with his arms crossed, as the golden light of Echo appeared behind him. Gravedigger slowly turned around, eyes wide. "This is going to sting a little, okay?"
That's when Max utterly pummeled Gravedigger. A nonstop barrage of punches that hit every part of Gravedigger's body. On impact, his skeleton was shattered, and he knew that Gravedigger would be dead in one solid blow to the head. But he found this so cathartic. One upper cut to Gravedigger's gut thrust him into the air, and Echo punched Echo with a series of quick jabs to the gut. It sounded like an explosion when Echo launched one last right hook, and sent Gravedigger flying out the dome like a skipping rock.
Gravedigger's corpse landed on the street, and Max floated over to him (While Agent Vuhong and Page landed around Gravedigger). Max stood over his kill, he nodded at Agent them.
Echo raised his fist into the air, and drove it into Gravedigger's skull. Shattering what was left of it.
Henry was angry. He was looking forward to this. The damn dog had left. But, the dog still smelt like a dog. And dog smelt very different than smoke or fire. It led him into the building, strangely. Specifically, to the upper levels of the building. The elevator had been trashed, so Henry was left with one option- the stairs. But the smell was growing stronger and Wild Fangs seemed right at his fingertips. So he followed.
Henry bolted up the stairs after Wild Fang, who's laughter still echoed in the smoke-filled corridor. [i]Haw, haw, hawww[i]. Wild Fang crashed through a door, and made his way onto the roof. Henry arrived shortly, in time to see Wild Fang crush the neck of the NEST agent he had brought along.
"Always works to bring out the heroes. Ha-haw."
Henry cracked his neck and popped his knuckles in response. Not really caring if Wild Fang was speaking to him or the now very much deceased NEST agent.
Wild Fang dropped to all fours, and charged towards Henry with surprising speed for his size. His teeth were bared, and he barked in excitement and blood lust.
Henry's response was just as feral, but in a different way. Unlike Wild Fang, who simply lunged, Henry roared and beat his chest- very much accepting the pounce, but kicking his legs out as he fell on his back to launch Wild Fang off of him.
Wild Fang spun forward, sliding along the peeling roof with his claws. He paused for a moment, and then stood up, hunched forward rather than on his hands and feet like a dog.
"I'm going to eat you. Break your legs so you can't run and eat you." He began to make his way towards Henry with his hands open and ready to scratch or grab. "Eat you."
Henry tapped the floor with his sickle claw as an intimidation tactic.
"Tic... Toc... Tic... Toc." was Henry's response. Nothing hyper aggressive. But he was aiming for unnerving. He was hoping to put Wild Fang more on edge. If he could do that then Wild Fang might make a mistake. Or make... more mistakes.
Henry, his jaws wide and claws bared, very much intent on latching onto Wild Fang's neck if he could. Wild Fang leaped on to Henry, scratching his shoulders and trying to bite at his face, though Henry succeeded in taking the fight to the ground once more.
The two clawed, punched, and bit each other in a flurry that lasted only a few seconds before Henry was thrown off of Wild Fang.
Henry saw something in the far-off sky. For a brief moment, he thought it was a bird. But it was too high in the air to be a bird, and approaching far too quickly.
Henry landed a powerful punch into Wild Fang's gut, very much lifting the Changeling off the ground with the amount of force behind it and no doubt causing internal damage. But at the same time, breaking some of the bones in his hand. When Wild Fang landed, the adrenaline flowing through the mutt caused it to react on pure instinct, and Wild Fang swung his clawed hand at Henry's face, catching him across the cheek and eye. Henry, now partially blinded, stumbled back holding the wounded side of his face. He was still standing, but in pain.
Wild Fang circled him, charging at the half-blind NEST agent from behind. He caught him from behind, knocking him onto his back and grabbing one of Henry's legs. He bit into the agent's knee, roaring with energy.
"Break your leg and eat you." He shouted over Henry's roars, his voice muffled by the mouthful of flesh he was sinking his teeth into.
Mark's feet connected with Wild Fang's back as if Mark had been fired from a very large bullet. There was an alarming crack, and Mark took a tumble across the roof as Wild Fang collapsed momentarily, trying to collect the air Mark's kick had knocked out of him. He took a knee as Henry approached him, stumbling initially from the leg wound but overall able to gain his balance. Wild Fang paid no attention, still trying to inhale.
"Your bite is weak." Henry snarled.
Raising one arm high above his head, Henry drove his elbow down into Wild Fang's back, right between his shoulder blades. Putting Wild Fang onto the ground. He planted one foot on Wild Fang's torso and drove his large sickle claw into his spine.
Wild Fang took one breathless gasp, clawing at Mark desperately, who lay motionless thirty feet away.
He could muster very little air to speak, but managed a few spittle-laced last words as he clawed aimlessly at the traitor. "I'll kill you in hell if I have to, Birdman."
Henry leaned down and spoke.
"Just remember, C4 smells like tar."
Henry planted his jaws firmly around Wild Fang's neck and bit down with all the force he could muster- the large crocodilian teeth and jaw strength giving him all the necessary power to lift Wild Fang's front up by his neck while still pinning his body to the floor with his foot and claw. With a swift turn of his head, Henry broke Wild Fang's neck.
Henry turned his head to his friend and dare he say savior. One of his hands came up to cover the injured side of his face and he pulled his claw from Wild Fang's corpse. He took a few tentative steps over to Mark, being careful to not put too much weight on his wounded leg, and picked Mark up on one of his massive arms.
"Your feet are fucked, man." Henry said, not entirely aware of whether or not Mark was conscious. He tore the mask off of Mark with his claws, cringing for a moment at the compressed air hissing through the torn gaps. The stairs would be a bitch. But when Henry escaped the building the pain in his leg was worth it- mainly because suffocating to death from smoke inhalation wasn't on his to do list.
Henry set Mark down against some rubble as best he could and put his massive and somewhat bloodied hand on his shoulder.
"I owe you a drink, Mark." Henry said, sitting on the ground himself. He stared at Mark's unconcious form for a moment before he continued speaking- just because he could.
"But, ya know, I'm just gonnasp... take a day. To sleep in, have breakfast, you get the idea. I've been meaning to go to iHOP recently..."
Mark would have thanked him if he were conscious, though he stopped drooling on Henry's shoulder, which Henry took as a sign of gratitude.
"Agents, report." Maximilian spoke through the comms. It seemed that all the fighting has died down. "Have all members of the Changeling Unit been terminated, or detained?" He asked.
"Appears so. Lemme take a look..." Leon said, before his eyes started shining. He quickly observed the area. Many members of the Changeling Unit were dead, defeated in combat by NEST. The Colossus was being soaked in containment form, as Agents placed him onto a truck with a forklift. "Looks like we got them all... but I don't think we have Heartbreaker, or the Mannequin anywhere." He noted, before he shrugged.
"Dragonfly coming in. Took on Wild Fang and won. But I'm a bit injured. Mark also came around, broke his ankles. Requesting a med-evac for the bird."
"Affirmative. Medics are on the way." Maximilian said.
"Remaining Agents: group up outside the casino." Maximilian said, as he ran back over to the casino entrance with Helena and Lihua behind him. All the NEST Agents were there before long, and Max crossed his arms. "I think while we were occupied by the rest of them, the leaders escaped." Max hung his head with his eyes closed.
"Damn it." Lihua hissed. "Without them, we can't take down Bloodsucker. They'll just regain their numbers!"
"True." Sonya said, cheekily. She put her hands on her hips. "... And I really wanted to take a jab at this Heartbreaker fellow. Sniper battles are real hard to come by in this line of business."
"Maximilian!" A Random NEST Agent said into the comms. "We have visual on Heartbreaker, the Mannequin, Witchmother, and Fig." He said. "They're hauling ass, but we're in hot pursuit. We could use you over here. They're north of your position!"
"Hehe.... Looks like we got our big break." Sonya said, grinning.
"We need Heartbreaker and the Mannequin alive." Lihua said, nodding her head. "We can use them to get at the rest of them."
"Alright, you heard him, let's roll out." Maximilian said, taking to the skies, followed by Helena. Lihua stomped on the ground, and tore a large piece of the street off, and let Leon hop on. Before they started floating. Sonya hopped onto the rooftops in a single leap, and started hopping from roof to roof.
They intended on finishing this fight with the utter defeat of the Changeling Unit.
"What's going on?" The woman, in the very mid of her forties, with neatly slicked back hair, and various scars on her face. She wore a long labcoat, with a suit underneath it. She stepped into a room, which had serveral monitiors. Each of them were viewing different parts of the city. She stood in there with her hands behind her back.
"Dr. Cross, it's the Changelings... NEST has found them, and they've been... eliminated." The woman, wearing the red and black armor of REAPER, said. "Heartbreaker and Mannequin have escaped, but they're in hot pursuit."
"... Damn it Natalie..." Dr. Cross said to herself, hand on her chin. Looks like the Changelings were the first to feel the brunt of the NEST counterattack. Only problem was that the Changeling Unit were valued partners of the Hands of Science. They were useful when the HoS needed a disposable psychopath, or someone kidnapped. Dr. Cross refused to let them fall like this.
"Where is Ignatus?" Dr. Cross asked.
"He's out on another operation on the Fire Shores." The REAPER said. "And I doubt he'd want to show himself to NEST this early."
"Hmmmm...." Dr. Cross thought on it for a moment. "I have another idea... Let's call this a little test run for our project?"
"Do you really want to throw that guy at NEST...? He's still a valuable prototype." The REAPER asked.
"We have no choice. Natalie and the Mannequin need to get out of this alive." Dr. Cross shrugged. She turned around and nodded her head. "Send in PR-1." Before she stepped out of the room.
Off in an isolated room, completely shrouded in darkness with no light to illuminate it, sounds of clicking metal and mixing vials of various esoteric liquids and substances together made disturbances in the silence. A crack in the door let in the faintest sliver of light leaking through, and the sounds had suddenly stopped. It cast a silhouette over the figure in the room, and all that was clear was that they were donned in white lab coat. A small light and beep came from a pager on the far side of a table. The blue dot is reflecting off the stranger's hand. The shadow gently placed the vial in his hand onto its rack and grabbed the pager, and pressed the button.
"Hello, PR-1. There will be no more trials from now on. It is time you are sent on your first mission. Please come to the departure dock as soon as possible."
The figure set the pager back on the table and remained silent for a couple seconds longer.
"...I'm being summoned." He finally said. His voice was warbled and inhuman, as though it were implanted in a speaker inside of him. "It appears that my patrons finally have a use for me."