Chapter 10: 10 - A Gun Isn't Just For Shooting
Once, there existed a sprawling empire that dominated an entire corner of the cosmos.
This empire called themselves the Reach.
The Reach Empire was glorious for a time, their individuals weren't strong or all that special, but by using a special branch of technology that granted them awesome power, they were able to conquer worlds upon worlds and assimilate it into their expanding domain.
This technology was what they called the Scarabs.
It was a kind of cybernetic parasite that could latch onto the bodies of lesser races and use it as robotic puppets.
First, the individual wouldn't even realize it was being controlled, as the Scarab would masquerade as a kind of symbiote, giving them a mechanical armour of great power in exchange for seemingly nothing.
These parasitized individuals would then start to become local heroes amongst their people, saving lives and all that jazz, but in reality, they were subconciously preparing their planet for assimilation.
Overtime, the minds of these parasitized individuals would start to merge with the AI of Scarab itself, until they became irreversibly one, completely subservient to the Reach Empire.
When there was enough of these subservient Scarabs on the planet, the Reach Empire would descend upon it and 'assimilate' the planet, turning all of the citizens into mind-controlled slaves in the name of their Empire.
They would then take some of those subservient Scarabs and use it for other purposes. Mainly, as glorified military weapons to raze their enemies asunder.
Due to this technology, the Reach managed to conquer dozens of Sectors—they were loud and proud for thousands of years.
Loud and proud until they met Conquest of the Viltrum Empire.
It only took 2 days for the entire Reach Empire to reach the brink of extinction.
Brink.
They weren't completely wiped out, Viltrum had some uses for slaves of their calibre.
During that time period, the Empire's supply lines had been stretched to their very limit. With the population having been severely depleted by the Scourge Virus, the World Conquering Committee could no longer just wantonly deploy a Viltrumite squadron for every planet they wanted to invade.
Other strategies were quickly formed.
For a time, the Empire enlisted the help of both slave soldiers and mercenaries armed with special power armours—but they proved to be far less efficient than true Viltrumites, much less the usual squadron.
Then the Vanguard Force was established.
Special agents known as Vanguards, those Viltrumites who harbored a higher than average tolerance for lesser races, were deployed to new habitable worlds to prepare the planet for seamless assimiliation into the Empire.
In a way, that's kind of what I was doing right now—though I was certainly no Vanguard.
The Vanguards were sent off to faraway planets on their own, sometimes in pairs. Their sole mission was to gather as much information on the natives as possible and weaken the planet's military might, so that that when the time comes, it would be relatively easier to conquer.
Using the Reach's Scarab technology as inspiration, as well the Klyntar Symbiotes as the base, Viltrum cooked up an experimental 'Scarab' of their own.
Then we had the idea of combining it with Magic, courtesy of my mother, and so, the usage of Monster Cells became prevalent in the Vanguard Force.
Monster Cells, when implanted into a living creature large enough to contain it, will start to induce rapid mutation and evolution into that creature's body, effectively turning it into a unique existence known as a Monster.
Such mutative bioweapons were extremely common in the Universe, but what made Viltrum's Monster Cells special, was that it could feed off of the vessel's darkest desires and transform it into real physical features, greatly ampliying the combative abilities at the cost of not being able to grow stonger any further.
Essentially, it sacrificed every bit of potential for an immediate surge of great strength.
The stronger the vessel's dark desires and or obsession, the stronger that surge would be. However, as mentioned above, even the greediest of Monsters wouldn't be able to grow stronger from their initial state.
It was for this reason that the Monster Cells were designed to self-destruct if they encountered any trace of Viltrumite DNA, since someone who couldn't grow any stronger was actually the weakest kind of individual in Viltrum's eyes.
Of course, even if one had an overwhelming amount of the corresponding dark desire or obsession, there was still a 75% chance of just spontaneously experiencing total organ failure instead of turning into a Monster, in that case, a body that was already strong beforehand significantly reduces the chances of death.
Monster Cells were also genetically and magically coded to implant an undying loyalty to Viltrum—and as the current highest authority in the Empire, there was no chance of such weapons turning against me.
Though, I wasn't currently excercising any genetic authourity. The Monster needs to be aware that I was who I was for it to work, and the Scion was just some 'hero' to them, not a Viltrumite.
The Monster in question does not even need to know what a Viltrumite actually is, but the moment that I reveal myself to be one, it will become a puppet to my command.
Monsters were usually utilized as disposable shock troops more than anything else, but I have definitely found a new function for these weapons.
Obviously, gaining the trust of the Terran race wouldn't be as easy as simply proclaiming oneself as a hero—"actions spoke louder than words," a common saying on this planet that I fully agree with.
So what action spoke louder of heroism than saving them from literal Monsters?
"...Shoot them." I said as I glanced to the mutated thugs. Each of them weren't "true' Monsters that had successfully accommodated a Monster Cell, just extensions of one. That was also the case for the dead Rhino here...
There was a moment of pregnant silence that seem to stretch on due to the shock and hesitation, but after a second, the police quickly regained their bearings and directed their firearms to the mutated criminals.
The Monster extensions cried in agony as some of them were shot, but they quickly rebounded in a zombie wave style as they rushed toward the police, with only two of the weaker ones falling down from the barrage of bullets.
"Spiderman." I addressed the still-shocked Peter Parker as I glanced at his slightly torn costume. "Curl up into a ball for maximum efficiency, don't try to hold back your strength like you usually do."
"What—" I promptly grabbed him by the back of his costume, lifted him up above me with both hands. "Wait!" And threw the young Cape to the air.
"Canonball!" Add cheered in my ear as Spiderman screamed through the air, his red and blue form eventually crashing into one of the mutated thugs with a loud splat as the thug's entire upper body erupted into an explosion of gore.
"Tougher than he lets on." I muttered to myself as I saw the completely fine Spiderman coming to his senses amidst the howls and growls of the inhuman thugs, looking down at the leftovers of the former human he had crashed into with panic and disgust.
Holding an opened hand upwards, I swung it sideways like a blade with speeds incomprehensible to the naked human eye, producing a slash of wind that that shot forward, severing a good half a dozen of the mutated thugs into two seperate portions.
The severed flesh seem to writhe and mutate even further for a brief period of time before they eventually succumbed to demise.
The remaining mutated thugs, while no longer human, actually still had the same level of intelligence as before (just deranged now) and they naturally knew that any chance of victory was already thrown out of the window—they were very much cooked.
So instead of trying anymore bullshit, they all collectively looked at eachother before bolting in different directions, some even mutating fleshy wings out of their backs in hopes of achieving flight, or at least being able to glide.
"Hey, give me your weapon." I said as I placed a hand on a policeman's shoulder. "You're clearly not achieving much with it."
The policeman, an African-American NYPD officer, shuddered as he glanced at me. He was about to say something, but chose not to after a second look. Wordlessly, he politely gave me his gun to me.
"You know how to use it, right?" Officer Davis asked with some concern laced in his tone. His name tag was clearly seen, so I naturally knew who he was.
"Don't worry about it." I said with a vaguely reassuring tone.
Yeah, he didn't seem all that reassured for some odd reason. Don't know why...
I flew forward and targetted a warped human with black feathers and gleaming talons all over.
My hand pierced deep into the wretched flesh, the warped meat of the bird-man wrapping around my fingers as I punctured the soft organs.
With a swift motion, my hand erupted out and firmly held the bird-man's floppy intestines. It then let out a shrill scream of agony like a dying hawk before collapsing onto the floor in a heap of bubbling blood.
Even as I had unraveled its insides, I could still hear the distinct sound of its ragged breathing as the bird-man's flesh attempted to bind together once more.
After a swift stomp of my right foot, the bird-man's skull utterly shattered, its brains staining my boot.
"Regeneration in a such a weakling? That's quite rare." It was something that all medial to somewhat strong Monsters typically possessed to some extent.
But for a sub-Monster created from another Monster like the bird-man to have it probably meant that it would be quite powerful if given an actual Monster Cell.
Too bad its nothing more than mush now.
Another sub-Monster, a malformed Terran female with the muscled arms of a gorilla as well as the eyes and fangs of shark leapt at me, rage in its eyes.
Curiously foolish decision, probably because of a certain bond with the now crushed bird-man.
Despite becoming deranged versions of their past selves, Monsters still actually do feel emotions.
Otherwise, most of them wouldn't be fleeing in fear right now.
I slapped it on the side of the head with the head of my gun just enough to not instantly break apart the entire skull, but with enough kinetic force to bounce its brain from one side to the next continously.
An extreme concussion followed as the malformed female lost control of its entire body and became a writhing vegetable on the ground.
Using the bird-man's bloodly intestines, I whipped her torso.
The force was strong enough to completely sever the entire upper part of her skeletal structure as he guts flew out and rained on the pavement.
Sadly, the intestines also became mush.
No matter, I had a gun. Pointing it to the nearest sub-Monster to the currently 'saving-a-police-officer' Spiderman, I pulled the trigger.
It didn't shoot for some reason.
Ah, that's right. It was kind of broken from my grip alone—I should train my dexterity and control more.
Well, good thing for me, a gun isn't just for shooting.
....Still had some uses for the bullets inside though.
Bringing the gun to my lips, I bit it apart and retrieved the lead bullets inside with my tongue.
Gargling it inside of my mouth, I brought the gun down and faced a nearby sub-Monster.
Then I spat.
As it turns out, a Viltrumite's capability to spit produced significantly more force than what a simple Terran pistol could ever achieve.
The bullet pierced through the air at a speed that broke the sound barrier, barelling into a sub-Monster's direction.
The result? A resounding splat as the sub-Monster exploded from the inside out like a crimson balloon of shattered bone and rended flesh.
With the remaining bullets in my mouth, I did the same time to half a dozen more of those malformed Terrans.
"Spiderman." I calmly addressed he punched a sub-Monstet off of him with great force.
"Ha..." He exhaled tiredly, then the young Cape looked at me. "You...the, uh...you were with Superman, right?"
"Indeed, I am Scion." I figured he would have memorized the name, but I guess it's understandable considering how confusing the situation was right now.
After all, the closest thing to a Monster that Terra has ever seen aside from Mutants were that green fish thing and the other irradiated green bulky creature—the Hulk or something along those lines.
"Don't hold back, kill them all." My words piecred through him. "They are no longer human, no longer able to return to what they once were."
From my research, I knew that these types of heroic 'Capes' really did not like to kill for some reason.
I don't understand why one would ever spare a criminal, but since my goal is to go undercover, I'll act within their boundaries for the relatively less problematic rodents.
But those who are no longer human shouldn't cause too much drama if I killed them, right? Most races only held 'sympathy' for their own, the native of this planet don't seem all that much different in that aspect.
To reiterate my point, I used the gun as a knife—which would normally be impossible, but as I swung it with incredible speed, it managed to slice the sub-Monster that Spidey had knocked over into two, and then four.
With speed, anything thin enough can cut anything into anything thin enough to cut...stay with me now.
Please, I'm new to humour.
"If it makes it any better, know that they have much more intense pain receptors than you." That means you won't be the one suffering, so stop hesitating!
Spiderman consider my words for a second, and quickly took a few deep breaths. "Right." He nodded.
I vanished in a blur to grab a sub-Monster, then promptly threw it to Spiderman's feet.
It took a brief moment of consideration from him, but with another deep breath, he punched straight for the neck.
Completely severed!
Spiderman reared back as a cacophany of emotions overwhelmed his youthful face, the teenage cape reeling to the side as he let out a puke.
"Great." I commended before turning back to face the rest of the sub-Monsters.
There were only 4 left.
I was about to take action when I started to hear something unusual.
A...train?
No, it wasn't exactly a train. I have heard a real train from a distance before, this...this was something else.
Then, two of the four sub-Monsters were suddenly inside of eachother.
One had a horned head and was plunged deeply into the torso of the other.
"What..." I muttered to myself before glancing at the remaining two.
One tripped and fell, and the other was thrown on top of it.
And then both of them were spontaneously set on fire.
Their screams and wails were hellish as one instantly melted away, but the other managed to stumble away from the pain, running in my direction in confused agony.
It was a blue-skinned mole rat, the closest thing I could describe the sub-Monster as.
Again, the sound of a train.
And...
—BOOM!
Blood rained in all direction as a yellow-red blur seemed to crash right through the blue mole rat, splattering the gore to the floor.
I saw him only for the slightest of moments.
A male figure clad in a red costume with swirling yellow lightning patterns. I could barely even make out his visage.
He seemed to be grinning from ear to ear, although that might actually just be a normal smile that got visually distorted from the speed.
And then he vanished completely from my sight, something that I thought would be impossible for any weakling from this planet.
"That was..." I muttered gravely.
A genuine Speedster.
One of the great dangers of the Universe that Father warned me about...
A true Speedster is akin to a God of Speed, untouchable and unstoppable...
I've heard of some Terran Mutants with speed-related powers—that one just now should be...the Flash? Yeah, the Flash.
To think that the Flash was a real Speedster, I would have imagined him to be some human bitten by a fast radioactive ferret or something...but no, with that kind of speed, he must truly be connected to that mythical Force.
The Speed Force...the Time Stream, the Motion Dimension.
Without saying anything, the Flash had completely dissappeared from the scene without a single trace, leaving many onlookers confused as to what had just happened.
On the bright side, all of the sub-Monsters were dead...
"God..." I heard Spiderman mutter as he stumbled out, glancing at the desecrated sub-Monsters.
"I knew these people..." He muttered, his eyes snapping from each corpse to the next. "Rhino's crew were just mobsters, how did they..."
"They are Monsters...from up there." I answered for him as I pointed at the sky. "They have infected your kind, this is why I have come." That was my fabricated backstory.
It would be extremely suspicious if the Monsters had appeared during the same time period as me, the alien from outer space.
But with this narrative, it was actually me who followed after them, thus explaining my sudden appearence coinciding with the arrival of Monsters as well as my knowledge about them without implicating myself.
There was the issue of my deceit being revealed by another alien, but I'll figure it out later.
I mean, what are the chances of an alien invasion happening every weekend? In the case of an actual invasion though, it would be easier since the Terrans would probably believe me more.
Spiderman looked at me warily, before nodding. "Yeah...I heard you were an alien." That's all he could say.
Huh, he doesn't seem to be in the mood for talking at the moment.
I glanced at the mutilated sub-Monster, then at the few dead police officers, then at the remaining survivours.
I clicked my tongue. "Well, I'll let you handle the rest, my friend." I said in a neutral tone before escaping any consequences of my actions via flight.
I had a Speedster to chase.
===A/N
Guys, I mean this Monday, lmao.
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