The 28th floor is silent, survivors huddling close together as they watch Henrick's and Alex's group sit down around a table. Nobody makes the first move, still feeling awkward about what happened not too long ago. Dominic snorts softly and says nothing, but it was loud enough for Henrick to notice.
"You got something to say?" Henrick asks sharply, his fists clenched in frustration. "Yeah I do, why are we putting up with this guy, Alex?" Dominic asks, throwing his hands up into the air in annoyance, the bruise on his throat deepening and throbbing in pain.
Jen places a hand on Dominic's shoulder, a flash of irritation in her eyes as she squeezes firmly. Dominic scoffs and crosses his arms, remaining silent as Alex gives him a glare too. Jacob wraps his arm around the earth manipulator and pulls him back from the discussion.
Alex gives Henrick an apologetic look as he shifts in his seat, unsure of what to say to the electric powerhouse. "Ok, so you clearly have a problem with Eric. I can get behind that." He leans back and crosses his arms, a frown gradually forming on his face. "What I can't get behind is rushing into danger."
The words settle and Henrick scowls at the mention of the child killer. "Alright, I get it. Which floor is he on, and how do we get close?" Alex grins and turns to Jen, clearly waiting for her to explain.
"It's like this, he's on-" BOOM! An explosion shakes the Empire State Building, interrupting Jen and throwing the weaker survivors onto the floor. Everyone panics and scrambled to their office spaces, shoving others aside as they desperately find cover.
"HELP!!"
"OH GOD, WE'RE GONNA DIE!"
"I have to wake up from this nightmare. Please!!"
Screams bombard Henrick's senses as much as the explosion did, the sounds blurring together at the soldier's inexperience with sensory overload. Alex slams a fist on the table as he stands up, fire surrounding his body as he glares hatefully up at the ceiling.
"Damn it, he's doing it again!!" Alex spits out, clenching his jaw so hard that you can hear his teeth grinding. Father David turns to Alex with a confused look, wondering what he's talking about. "Who's he? Eric?" the priest asks, taking a guess based on their earlier conversation.
Jen shakes her head, zipping by while helping people and sporadically speaking. "It's...not...Eric...not...stupid." her words come delayed as she picks people up from the floor, but her message is clear.
"Eric is a monster, but he wants to survive. No, this is Walter that's doing this-" BOOOOM!! An explosion even more intense than before rattles the windows as dust is shaken loose. Henrick frowns and looks outside, grimacing at the number of mutated things out there.
Alex curses under his breath and turns to the normal survivors. "Everyone get back to your spots. The Corrupted are coming!!" Selene raises a brow at the name, but simply files it away for reference, understanding that this isn't the right time to question anything.
Henrick loosens up his muscles and gets prepared to slaughter, when Jen comes up next to him, a look of finality on her face. "I have a request. Walter is a psychopath and loves to see things explode, letting him live will mean hundreds of survivors might lose their lives."
Her frown deepens as she summarises. "Kill him. Then this won't happen again." The soldier stares into her eyes, his voice firm and deep, commanding her attention. "You're asking me to kill a human." It isn't a question, just a statement of fact.
Jen nods as she clenches her muscles in frustration, her brown eyes reflecting a haunted look. "I know, but we can't keep fighting forever, and that is what's been happening ever since Walter took control of the 86th floor" she says, steeling her resolve and staring straight into Henrick's electric blue eyes.
"He needs to go." she finishes, no hesitation in her tone. Henrick nods, heading to the elevator with purposeful strides. "Good. Make sure none of those, Corrupted, make it inside." he says, electricity building just beneath his skin as he presses the 86th floor.
"Isn't he the strongest one though?"
"I saw his electricity from up here when they fought the Goliath."
"He should stay here or help down there."
Soft murmurs of agreement mix with whispers of disagreement as the survivors are clearly divided on the matter. Alex steps forward and gives the survivors an easy smile. "Calm down everyone. After today, Walter won't be bothering us anymore."
The fire user says more, but the elevator doors have already closed, and the sounds become muffled as he rapidly ascends. Tremors shake the building, but the foundation is solid, and so there isn't an immediate concern.
A few minutes pass and the soldier stands eerily still, fists clenching and unclenching being the only movement. "Alright let's see who this Walter is." he whispers to himself, his heart racing at the thought of a fight.
Down below, Father David steps out of the entrance as Dominic lowers the earth barrier, eyes gleaming with determination. Selene follows along with Leo, conjuring a spear while Leo's fur stands on end as he watches the approaching corrupted.
Jen wields her twin knives, Alex prepares two fireballs, and Dominic engulfs himself with stones like a suit of armour. Kevin, however, hangs back with his entire body trembling. David sees this and kneels next to the little boy, a calm smile on his face.
"You can sit this one out, we all understand." the priest says, gently leading Kevin towards the entrance. Ruffling the boys head, David smiles and turns back to the horde. "Alright, let's buy Henrick some time."
With a roar, Father David thrusts both palms forward. A massive concussive wave slams into the first wave and utterly liquifies the monsters. A Goliath in the back charges through the blast, slowing down only momentarily as it powers through. "Damn, Henrick better be back soon!!" says Jacob, as he supports the group with air torrents.
Henrick finally reaches the 86th floor. As soon as the doors open, however, he ducks and rolls forward as an acid projectile shoots past him and onto the elevator wall. Pushing off the floor, Henrick flips to the side when a wiry and athletic man cuts down at the spot he was in, with hands that transformed into blades.
With an electric enhanced kick, Henrick tears the bladed man's jaw clean off. Stumbling back as he starts choking on his own blood, the wiry man is unable to resist as Henrick grabs him by the throat.
The soldier lifts him off the ground and rushes towards a woman with acid dripping from her fingers, using her companion as a shield. "Holy shit!" she screams, acid shooting out from her hands.
The bladed man's corpses steadily melts, muscles and bones gradually disintegrating at a steady pace. Henrick snarls and tosses the carcass onto the acid woman, immediately shooting out a bolt of electricity that pierces the corpse and drills through her skull.
Then there is silence as the acid user staggers back, eyes wide in disbelief. She reaches out a hand as if to plead for mercy, but the soldier ignores her and walks out to the observation deck. Brain matter and skull fragments litter the hallway behind him, the woman's head exploding in a visceral shower.
Henrick step out to the observation deck, noting the corpses that looked like a bomb went off inside them. He sees a man using the telescope that's looking towards the Brooklyn bridge, and stops three arm lengths away.
"Sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting visitors." says a short balding man with a jagged scar across his face. His eyes glow with wicked intent, and his lips are upturned into a sneer.
Henrick stares impassively and channels electricity into his body, poised for combat and any sudden movements. "Walter, I presume?" he says, slowly circling the balding man like a predator who sees his prey.
Walter bows, revealing scars that run over the top and along the back of his head. "You presume much, but I am. Have you come to watch my show?" Henrick frowns and stops his circling, attention now drawn to what Walter is holding.
"Oh this? They're just bones from our friends on the floor here. Makes for some handy explosives. They were so kind, they didn't even scream when I took it out, of course they were dead when I did it. HAHAHAHA."
Henrick says nothing as he leaps to the side, an explosion erupting a second later as Walter throws the bone pieces to where he was at. The soldier lunges forward and lands a brutal elbow that fractures something in the balding man's skull, a smile forming on his face at the crunch of bone.
His smile drops quickly, however, when Walter presses a larger bone fragment on his chest. BOOM!! A portion of the viewing platform starts collapsing as Henrick is blasted backwards towards the elevators. "GAAAH!" he screams out in pain as he tumbles down the stairs and onto his back.
Dust swirls in the air as Walter shakes his head clean of the dizziness from the elbow. "I like you!! I can't wait to kill you and watch you explode!!"
More bone fragments are pulled out of his pockets as he cackles in glee, explosions blasting out as he throws them into the dust filled surroundings with reckless abandon. Walter stops as he searches his pockets for more bones, finding none.
Suddenly, his knee is kicked in from the side with a satisfying CRUNCH. Walter tries to scream out but gets kneed on the face, sending him flying towards the fence.
Henrick grimaces in pain as he watches Walter try to get up from the ground. "Let me just say, you're a disgrace to bald people." A vein pops out on Walter's forehead, his eyes going bloodshot as he places both palms on the floor, making it glow an ominous red.
"I'M NOT BALD!!!"
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END