BOOM!
As the battle descended further into chaos, a blazing object plummeted from the heavens, slamming into the heart of the crater that had been formed earlier. A wave of searing heat rippled across the battlefield, brushing past Battle Beast, whose face lit up with eager anticipation as he sensed the arrival of a formidable opponent.
In the now-expanded crater at the center of the GDA HQ parking lot stood a figure clad in a dark green super suit, intricately laced with dull bronze circuits. Behind a translucent visor, his fiery orange eyes locked onto Battle Beast's with an intensity that electrified the air, the two combatants bracing for an inevitable clash.
Nearby, Conor stepped out from a shadow near William and quipped, "Took you long enough!" With a flourish, he raised his hands, summoning Shadow Flaxan soldiers from the darkness. These reinforcements began aiding Kate against the overwhelming onslaught of Paul's clones, giving her the edge she desperately needed against her brother's superior physicality.
Meanwhile, across the battlefield, Santana and Rex unleashed devastation on the Order's forces. Explosives and surprise speed blitzes rendered the ordinary goons helpless, while even their superpowered allies struggled merely to defend themselves. Observing this humiliating defeat from the Order HQ in Chicago, Machine Head erupted in fury, his systems glitching with rage, before finally issuing a command for immediate retreat.
Hearing their bosses' warbling and distorted voices, the Order thugs began to retreat towards their Helicopters as they attempted to defend themselves from the onslaught coming from the other side.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
By the time the helicopters took off, only the superpowered thugs and a few of the powerless ones had managed to escape, and the rest were either unconscious or dead.
Suddenly, though, an eruption of force swept out from the crater as William and Battle Beast charged towards the other warrior.
Battle Beast swiped his clawed hand at William, who suddenly changed direction to both avoid the claws and to perform a spinning kick to Battle Beast's neck.
"Interesting!"
Battle Beast cracked his neck and turned to look at William, who had already begun performing another series of attacks, but before he could react, shadows lashed upwards from beneath him and wrapped around his arms.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
POW!
William punched Battle Beast in his abdomen before delivering a solid uppercut to his chin, knocking his head skyward, only to see Immortal flying downward with his leg extended for an axe kick.
BANG!
Battle Beast was smashed into the ground into the ever-deepening crater, but even in this state, the wicked smile never left his face.
Glory came shooting out from the edge of the crater with her blade prepared to decapitate the alien, but in a show of purely inhuman agility and reflexes, Battle Beast stood on all fours and extended his claws fully before catching both of the blades with them.
CLANG!
Glory's angry expression morphs into pain when a fist appears in front of her face.
BOOM!
The punch was so powerful that not only did she drop the blades, but she spun in place a few times before she fell to the ground completely unconscious.
SMASH!
Glory's body crashed against the side of a destroyed GDA transport truck, the metal buckling under the impact. Sparks showered the concrete as her unconscious form slid to a stop.
"GLORY!" Immortal shouted, voice cracked with fury.
Before he could reach her, Battle Beast erupted from the crater in a blur, more beast than man, blood streaming from his mouth, fangs bared in sadistic joy. He met Immortal mid-flight, both fists colliding in a thunderclap that split the air.
BOOOOM!
The shockwave shattered nearby GDA windows and sent bystanders flying like leaves in a hurricane.
Their arms locked in a grapple midair. Muscles bulged. Eyes flared.
"You never learn," Battle Beast snarled, headbutting Immortal with a sickening crunch that sent a spray of blood arcing through the sky.
Shadow arrows and javelins shot toward Battle Beast, causing him to drop the bloodied Immortal, and he attempted to defend himself from the strange projectiles, but before he could cross his arms, William suddenly appeared behind him and began struggling to hold back the monstrous strength.
William pressed his knee and foot against Battle Beast's back for leverage, and with his veins threatening to burst from strain, he prevented Battle Beast from defending himself, and both of them were suddenly enveloped in a tide of shadowy projectiles.
WHOOOOSH!
Both fighters were swept in the tide of shadowy projectiles, sending them crashing to the ground as they were forced to accept the attack.
A gust of wind blew away the dust that the attack had formed around them and revealed Battle Beast holding William by the back of his neck directly in front of him.
Dozens of shadow projectiles were sticking out of his body and even his head.
Conor's eyes became pinholes as he saw the damage he had done, but he knew deep down that William would be fine in the end. After all, he had fought him in the training room, and he had been decapitated and dismembered more than a few times.
As if to punctuate his thoughts, William's body began moving again as the shadow projectiles dispersed.
"Hmph, another one who heals, huh!"
Battle Beast lifted William into the air by his neck and grabbed his shins with his other arm.
Sensing danger, Conor summoned a pair of pistols from the surrounding shadows and unleashed a relentless barrage of bullets at Battle Beast.
BANG!
BANG!
The shots struck Battle Beast squarely in the chest, leaving dark scorch marks on the alien's fur but failing to inflict significant damage.
CRUNCH!
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
William's bloodcurdling scream echoed as the sickening sound of his spine being torn apart filled the air.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Now firing without holding back whatsoever, Conor began to move close, and two silhouettes moved past him on either side.
Immortal and War Woman, who were bloodied, bruised, and tired, both rushed into the fray as Atom Eve created pink armor around their bodies from the air.
A streak of lightning was encircling the battlefield and taking care of any stray Order thugs when she heard the screams and began running up from behind Battle Beast, her body constantly vibrating as she infused the lightning into her very body.
However, they had only managed to get so far before it happened.
Time seemed to freeze for a heartbeat as William's bloodcurdling scream was cut off in a brutal instant.
With monstrous speed, Battle Beast's claws slashed through the air, digging deep into William's torso. The sickening sound of flesh and bone tearing echoed across the battlefield.
William's upper body lurched backward, blood pouring like a crimson river as he was ripped in two.
Conor's pistols slipped from his fingers, his eyes wide in shock.
Immortal and War Woman skidded to a stop, horror and fury twisting their faces.
Glory's anguished scream tore through the air as she lunged forward, but Battle Beast was already turning, claws stained red, a savage grin stretching his beastlike face.
"You're too late," he growled, voice thick with primal rage. "He's mine."
Atom Eve's pink constructs shimmered fiercely as she summoned a massive blade, ready to strike, but the weight of losing William only fueled the fury burning in their hearts.
Santana's lightning crackled in tandem, illuminating the battlefield in flashes of blue-white, as the fight escalated into a desperate battle for vengeance.
Before the shock could fully take hold of the battlefield, Battle Beast let loose a snarl, a deep, primal growl that sent shivers down every spine.
With unrelenting ferocity, he lunged forward, sinking his massive, razor-sharp teeth into William's exposed shoulder, tearing away a gruesome chunk of flesh and muscle. Blood erupted in a crimson arc, splattering the fractured concrete below.
William's mangled body hung limp for a fleeting moment, barely held together by the tattered remnants of his form.
With a thunderous roar, Battle Beast gripped the shattered remains of William's torso and hurled them with devastating force at the advancing Immortal and War Woman.
The two warriors had barely a moment to react, Immortal raised his armored forearms, absorbing the brunt of the impact, while War Woman twisted sharply, narrowly evading the flying mass but taking a heavy blow that sent her sprawling across the debris-laden ground.
Battle Beast wasted no time in savoring the destruction. Instead, he crouched low, muscles coiled like a predator ready to pounce.
Without warning, Battle Beast lunged forward with a guttural roar, closing the distance between him and Immortal in a blink. Before the old warrior could react, Battle Beast's clawed hand thrust forward with monstrous precision— SHLUKK! His claws punched clean through Immortal's chest. A gasp escaped Immortal's lips, his eyes wide with sudden shock as the alien warlord's hand tore through bone and muscle, fingers closing around the still-beating heart inside his ribcage. With a savage yank, Battle Beast ripped it free. Blood sprayed in arcs across the ruined battlefield as the heart pulsed once… twice… in his palm. Around them, time seemed to slow. The horror in War Woman's scream. The sickened stutter in Conor's breathing. The sharp intake from Atom Eve as her construct blade trembled in the air. Battle Beast raised the heart above his head for all to see— "This," he growled, voice thick with loathing and triumph, "is the strength you brought against me?" And then— CRUNCH! With jaws like steel traps, Battle Beast bit down. The heart exploded between his fangs in a wet burst, arterial spray drenching his fur in red as he snarled in primal ecstasy. Immortal collapsed in a heap, body twitching, lifeless eyes fixed on the smoky sky. "NO!" War Woman charged, her war cry ripping from her throat, her hammer held high as pink armor gleamed brighter with Eve's reinforcement. Battle Beast was already moving, spinning on his heel and intercepting her charge with a backhand so powerful it cratered the air. KRAKOOM! War Woman's body was launched backward like a missile, smashing through two flipped GDA transports and tumbling across the ground in a spray of sparks and blood.
Conor, pale and trembling with rage, raised his shadow pistols once more, but his eyes weren't just on Battle Beast now.
They were on what remained of William.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
A harsh, hissing sound pierced the air like a red-hot brand searing flesh. Thin tendrils of steam began rising from the mangled halves of William's body.
At first, it was subtle. Just a faint mist curling from the severed edges of his torso.
Then—
FSSSSHHHHHHHH!
A violent burst of heat exploded outward from the two halves, kicking up dust and forcing nearby debris to roll away. The blood pooled beneath him began to bubble, not like boiling water, but like something alive, angry, and unwilling to die.
"What… the hell?" Conor muttered, shadow pistols faltering in his grip.
Glory, still half-conscious, blinked toward the light.
Even Battle Beast paused mid-snarl, nostrils flaring as he turned to witness the impossible.
The blood, thick, shimmering with a strange iridescent glow, began stretching and spooling from the two separate halves like sinewy threads of liquid steel. Steam roared off the surface as the blood formed tight cords, reaching, binding, pulling.
SNAP!
A grotesque, jerking motion yanked the upper half of William's body toward the lower.
Veins realigned. Organs twisted back into place. Bone ground against bone with sickening cracks. Flesh knitted. Nerves reconnected with violent sparks of energy.
His eyes, dim just moments ago, blazed open, glowing like twin suns ignited in a corpse.
"NO," Battle Beast growled, voice low and filled with disbelief. "No… you should be dead."
William's body floated for a moment, suspended by the unnatural forces converging within him. The steam billowed harder, cloaking him in a fog of pain and power. His skin pulsed with glowing cracks as if lava ran just beneath the surface.
Then—
THOOM!
William's body erupted into brilliant orange flames that held a deep red hue throughout.
He stared at his armored hand, which surprisingly managed not to be destroyed by the transformation, when he remembered that the main material was his flesh and blood.
WHOOSH!
William extended his arm to the side, summoning his Phantom Blade: Morgana into his grasp, already enveloped in fiery flames.
Battle Beast, not to be outdone, drew his massive mace from his waist, and the two locked eyes, their killing intent filling the air like a suffocating aura.
BOOM!
The ground shattered beneath them as both warriors launched themselves forward with explosive force. Battle Beast swung his mace upward in a brutal arc, while William brought his flaming sword crashing down with unrelenting power.