[SIMILAR] part 14

Sometime long ago, before all this Virus crap had started and changed everything, I had…. Alex Mercer had a girlfriend named Karen Parker. They had been romantically involved with each other a while, I'm not sure how long exactly, but one day, don't know why, but they broke up. However, even after they went their separate ways, they had maintained some feelings for one another. But that history did not stop Karen from betraying me, the carbon copy of Mercer. The feeling of betrayal was immense when she sold me out to Blackwatch, to Cross. Apart from my finding out the truth, I had searched for her. Eventually, I had managed to track her down to a building in East Harlem, and getting a disguise, tricked her to her doom, the defining moment being the elevator, the look on her face was that of defeat when I had revealed myself. I will never forget what came after.

And now once again, here I was at the elevator of crossed fates. Only this time, the person I saw inside it took me a bit by surprise.

Standing in the middle of the small dimly lit metal box, not having moved a muscle since the doors had opened to reveal her statues form, was a young girl. To give a brief description, she was in what I could only guess was her mid teen years. She had an average build for someone of her 'age', though I could detect an underlying strength to her. There was no threading nature that was visually seen in how she stood, calm, hands behind her elegantly, unafraid of future events to come, something that I was highly finding unusual and most defiantly uncomfortable. She was dressed in a short-sleeved striped shirt that followed the pattern of light grey then dark grey continuously. This article went over a long shirt of a grayish-tan color. To complete her wares, she had a pair of grey yoga pants, but no shoes oddly. Most striking about her appearance was her hair. She had this purple hair, about the same shade as the spray paint used on the door of the elevator and various other locations of interest. If it couldn't get any stranger, it didn't seem to look dyed that way, there was no hidden other color. From what I could tell, it grew straight from the roots in that pigment. How this was even a remotely possible hair color, I didn't know. Two thick strands of a slightly darker shade of purple hair resided on either side of her face, a face that bore a friendly but smug smile, which seemed to illustrate a generally unconcerned and confident individual.

We stared at each other for quite some time. It would seem that neither of us was daring enough to make the first move apparently. After a course of a few minutes, I watched as the smile on the girl's face faded slowly, giving her no expression to read by. She began to tilt her head to the side, and for some reason, I followed this act of curiosity, mimicking her movement. It was like being caught in a cobra's hypnotic gaze. The silence was ear shattering, and might have lasted till the end of days, had the stranger not spoken a second time.

"So are you just going to stand there, staring at me awkwardly, or are you going to respond back with a decent hello?"

The shear bluntness of the statement threw me off guard. No one had spoken that way to me in a long time. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think anyone had spoken that way to me without me being in disguise, or with at least a hint of fear in his or her eyes, which this person was severely lacking. Upon reflecting on her question, it was only proper that I respond momentarily, but what should I possibly say? There were hundreds upon thousands of different comment combinations that could have been uttered in the next few seconds, but only one in a trillion managed to escape my breath in a timely fashion.

"Who are you?" I asked, speaking my doubts. The reason I said this was mainly because I wasn't entirely sure that this individual, this teen girl standing before me was actually ERIS, the powerful and elusive creature that I had long been searching for. She didn't fit how I had pictured ERIS to be. The eyes were my main concern. ERIS had since graced her darkened presence by catching my gaze with her yellow animalistic eyes, like that of predatory beast. They were unlike anything I have ever seen. This girl had not the eyes of the mysterious creature, but rather, soft dark brown ones. However, what I saw in the dark depths of the pupil's pools was familiar, as if I were looking at a different version of the same soul.

I could detect a slight level of annoyance as the girl raised an eyebrow, "Why, I'm ERIS of course," she said with a cogent attitude, "Who do you think I am?"

I was still skeptical. It would take more then that, a few mere words, to convince me otherwise, "How can I be sure you're ERIS? This might be a trick, a trap," I asked, in an almost unbelieving tone, displaying a flurry of agitated tendrils up and down my arms, "For instance, your eyes don't-"

She interrupted me, "My eyes?" confusion covered her face for a moment, and then she smiled with understanding, laughing slightly, "Oh… you mean…" In a dramatic way, her eyes closed for a few moments, and when she opened them again, "These eyes?" she asked, her hands up on either side to demonstrate a big reveal. No longer were they the brown bashful eyes of an innocent child, but the cold and calculating yellow eyes of a demon, of ERIS. I stared into them a bit, taking reality in as I would a breath of fresh air. So, this was her, ERIS, the all mighty and powerful beast that rivaled me in strength and could destroy things just by shouting or something of that manner. Personally, I didn't see it. Could just have been me, though. I can't say I was completely taken back by her appearance, I was just expecting someone… more then this, I suppose. The image I had brewing in my mind didn't compare to this frail and pale looking being.

Perhaps she had the unknown ability to read thoughts, or just simply my expression, for soon her pleasant smile had faded yet again, and she looked away for a moment, as if I had hurt her feelings in some way shape or form. When she looked back at me, her eyes were now just mild human versions of the original brown. "I'm not really what you were expecting, huh?" What could I do, but nod in response, to which the smile returned, "Well, in retrospect, I though I was going to be more at your eye level, but you're actually taller then I expected." My gaze turned to a slight critic squint, as I wasn't sure to take that as an insult or a compliment.

My untrusting thoughts soon turned their attention to the way she had her hands held behind her back, like she was concealing some hidden weapon. I grew suspicious of this, and when she took a step foreword, I formed my Blade and pointed it straight at her heart, making it perfectly clear that I wasn't even remotely close to trusting her. My attempt to say 'Stay Back' was followed, her foot retracting from the path it had taken, but it seemed to ultimately amuse her. Not a flicker of fear crossed ERIS' Cheshire face; she didn't even give a glance at the weapon now glinting in the red emergency light of the elevator. If anything, her grin widened. "Relax," she said, slowly revealing both her hands, one of which held a spray-paint can, "I'm not going to double cross you." Her tone was calm, careful not to be upsetting, but it also was jokey, as if mocking how I was acting. She then gingerly tossed me the implement of back alley street art underhanded style, to which I caught with a reformed right hand. I looked at it for a brief second; making sure it wasn't a grenade in disguise, before moving my concentrating vision back to this odd character.

"I hope you liked my artistic work that lead you here," she said, trying to look enthusiastic, though her blinking from time to time seemed to indicate that she was worried of criticism. I held up the can she had tossed me, "So it was you who left all those messages?" I asked, even though I knew the answer had to be yes, but who knows, perhaps there were two of them in the charades and setting up of the dominos. ERIS didn't answer at first, but gave me a look, like I had asked a really dumb question. "Every one of them, by my hand," she made a small bow, not breaking eye contact, "The wall in the alley, the map, and the big happy, all mine. I also had done some carvings here and there if you really needed help to find my clues. Hope you saw them, I worked really hard to carved those, and it would be shameful if you haven't caught them." She looked up at me with big hopeful eyes, "Did you happen to see them?" I nodded, and her smile became happy and prideful instead of smug. I kept my amusement down to maintain a blank-slate face throughout this interrogation, who was interrogating whom was anyone's guess at this point.

I felt that I was not contributing enough input in this stimulating conversation, so in light of that, I decided it was time for me to start asking the questions. "Why did you contact me?" I asked, being sure to keep a generally sincere tone, "What are you exactly?" Having been the one with most of my past exposed, I felt entitled to the information I so requested for. And being on a very tight schedule, which could have a deadline closer then I intentionally wished, I just wanted to get this over with and save Dana from becoming another Elizabeth Greene, and then when all is said and done, then I would deal with this girl. Perhaps I thought that because the tension was getting to me.

ERIS held up her hand in a silencing gesture, the first sign of authority I did not appreciate, "I think proper introductions are in order first. Being the one of more mystery here, I'll go first," she clears her throat, "You know mw as ERIS, obviously, that demeaning and inhuman title that Blackwatch gave me. I would prefer, if you don't mind my asking, if you could call me by my actual name. So, please, call me FET."

I blinked at her, "Fet?" that was such an odd name, especially for a girl. I'd never heard any such title and neither had anyone else.

"That's right," she said rather cheerfully, "Capital F, capital E, capital T, FET."

I looked at her quizzically, "I'm guessing those are initials for something?"

She nodded, "Yes, it's short for my full name, which is kinda a mouthful to say." Upon giving her an inquiring look, she shook her head, "Oh, you don't need to know my full name just yet, be patient. Just call me FET for now… actually, would prefer if you always called me that. I'd be extremely grateful if you did."

A pause gave me time to reflect and accept her strange name choice, "Ok then, FET, seeing as you know so much about me I don't think I'll need to introduce myself."

"Indeed," she nodded, walking toward me slowly, causing the tension level in the air to rise a good few degrees, "You are Alexander J Mercer, don't know what the J stands for. You are codenamed: ZEUS by Blackwatch, a really cool codename in my opinion, although, since you hate them, I think Alex or Mercer would suite you respectively. Which do you prefer I call you by?" she started to walk to my left side, not moving any closer. I only followed her with my gaze, "Mercer would be fine," I said.

She stopped in her journey's steps a moment and nodded, "…. So Alex…" I tensed both when she clearly showed her guts by going against my request, and when she continued to walk out of my vision, which the side of my hood obscured. I could have turned my head to follow her, but I remained still, not wanting to show any more hostility. A lot of bad things could surely happen if I did. All I did now was listen to what this 'FET' had to say. I needed to know the truth.

She continued on through my thoughts, "… you are probably wondering why I've chosen to contact you, and brought you here of all places. You most defiantly know the where, but you lack understanding of the why," I could hear her pace slow, as if she wanted to drag out this confrontation for as long as possible. My eyes remained on the elevator, which I was mostly not guessing but knowing that that is what she was referring to. "That I am," I said without the slightest emotion in my voice. She stopped her movement somewhere behind me about five feet away. I could almost feel her stare searing into the back of my jacket. She was looking most defiantly at the exotic insignia that was there, a red viral design against leather black that seemed to give my the wings of a dark forgotten angel. The hair-raising feeling of being stared at ceased as I heard her bare feet fall continue it's circling orbit around me.

"I know that you have other obligations to attend to," She said, a slight self-loathing in her voice, as if she actually detested herself for wasting my time, "So I'll make my explanation as short as I can, for you." I could hear the smile lacing her tone, "A long time ago, longer then you'd expect, I was altered at my will and became the product of a viral experiment," my listening skills perked up a bit. Was she talking about Hope? I, of course, was wrong, "Not Blacklight, mind you, no. No, you see, this type of virus was more… how you say… inorganic. Not surprised if you haven't gotten wind of this project, it was a non-American corporation that engineered it, and Blackwatch doesn't dabble in foreign affairs, at least not to my vast knowledge." The prickling feeling of her gaze returned to the back of my head. She probably sensed my overall curiosity and questions on whatever it was she was talking about, to which a chuckle responded. "I'll provide full disclosure of details later, let's just stick to a summary of crucial points please… Where was I?..." another pause, "Ah, yes, the experiment. So after my 'recreation', I left my duties as a test subject, and bean to travel. I doubt few have ever witnessed such sights as I, both the good and bad ones…" she seemed to trail off a bit here, possibly reflecting on her memories of the past, "Eventually," she continued, "I came here to America, attempting to seek some peace in the land of the free and the home of the brave," she scoffed, "Yeah right, I didn't find no such peace here. Instead I come across more secrets and cover-ups, more corruption from an unstable and divided government, more tests on innocent people. Then I learned about Hope, Idaho… no doubt you know what that was like. That incident traced back to Blackwatch and Gentek, whom I should happen to learn were the ones quarantining the Manhattan Island. I was extremely curious, so I stole away in the dark and came here via the water. I thought that in quarantine, they'd not stop things from coming in, just going out. I was right, thankfully, and some sneaking around their base later, I had learned a lot about this virus called Blacklight. And then, who should I hear about," she re-entered my vision, "But of another monster that everyone is so afraid of."

The grin on her face was still apparent, one that had turned slightly malicious and a bit, if not all, sadistic. The feeling of anger, that had been dormant for a good fifteen minutes, was suddenly starting to stir like lava bellow the crust of a volcano. This was not shown publically though, as I kept my vacant expression. "Me?" I asked, to which she nodded in response and began to walk back into the elevator, all while still looking at me with an air of curiosity. The door to the compartment had remained open this whole time, probably due to some hotwiring or jamming she might have done. "Once I learned of your existence, I knew I just had to meet you in person, to know I was not alone. I created that disturbance in that one part of the city to lure you in. Worked like a charm too," she turned full circle then, studying the box, before turning her smile back to me again. That mocking smile, how it boiled the biomass in my head. ERIS, FET, it didn't matter the name, she was hitting a nerve, my patience ticking away and tightening like a guitar string, not on the verge of breaking, "Once I saw you had decided to investigate, I showed you my abilities, knowing as soon as you saw the extent of my strengths and powers that you wouldn't be able to resist trying to find my hiding spot.  I also showed you what could be done to those I consider my enemies." She turned away, "I scream and they die." Again the cord was tightened. Thoughts from earlier began to resurface. Knowing of what she could do, I had seen no other choice but to kill her, to destroy and consume her. Did those morals still highly stand, even now? It was looking quite possible. Looking at her, now standing in the elevator, with her back turned and her defenses lowered, all it would take was one small movement, and she would be gone for good. She would feel nothing, I would make it quick and painless, almost humane.

"Once you had begun searching," FET rambled on, "I knew it was just a matter of laying down the trail of bread crumbs for you to follow. I chose this place especially, cause I wanted to show you how good I was at figuring things out. It had to be someplace you held dear and dreadful," she chuckled. I began to lose it then. How dare she! How dare she threaten me with her power and knowledge, trying to make herself bigger then me, how dare she violate the sanctity of my past and Dana's apartment, and HOW DARE SHE bring me back here, HERE! Of all places of my bloodstained past she could have chosen, why this lowly place where two things had died, Karen, and a little bit of my humanity? At that moment, the Hive Mind must have sensed my building rage, and found a loophole in my mental defenses.

He have It cornered, Monster-beast trapped! Easy kill, easy kill! He must kill it! Now now now now now now now! Strike, render, mutilate! Kill now! It! Must! DIE!

SHUT UP! I thought, trying to focus on what was going on. FET hadn't moved yet. Before me, this being of dangerous and rivaling strength, and possibly mental capacity, even with all she told me, was still an eluding mystery. I could just take her memories to know what made her tick, but was that really the right way to go? Would I regret it later? "You know," she oppressively continued, obviously not sensing the impending danger. Man she never seemed to stop talking, " You are the first person I've had an official and decent conversation with since the incident of my metamorphosis of a non-humanoid." I stared at the back of her purple haired head, as if it where possible to see the wheels turning within. "Why?" I inquired, "Why me above all others?" Her head turned slightly from left to right, looking at the wall of the elevator, then in a profile way as to glance back at me, "Because, we are so alike, you and I. Your origins, your abilities, not to mention your fashion sense, all drew my interest." Her one eyed glare left mine, "I've also found your demeanor quite… intriguing…. Oh, and I absolutely admire your handiwork when it comes to revenge." She ran her hand over a bloodstained indent in the metal wall.

It was that small inclination and movement that broke the camel's back. The Hive Mind was right, this creature, comfortable with the brutal acts of murder, no matter how innocent she seemed, was a danger to everyone, even me. A demon in sheep's woolen coat, the way she acted, talked, even the smallest of details told me of the devilish monster that was merely a body's length away. But my instant decision to kill her was not aided by the Hive Mind's pleas and screams, it was by what she said was right, how similar we were. I knew, deep down, I was a monster; I've admitted it on multiple occasions, and knew that the world would be better off without me, but I could not die while I still had a purpose to fulfill. Her though… she had no purpose being here.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, my right hand becoming infused into a MuscleMass fist, crushing the spray paint can I still had held, empty. In a lightning quick motion, stepped forward and aimed a punch at the back of her neck, for an instant kill.

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