//------------------------------//
// New Marais: Tying Up Loose Ends 
// Story: InFamous: The Unusual Conduits 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Getting through Gas Works was easy, as all the Militia that had been in the area had been taken care of either by the four of them or by the Vermaak 88 soldiers that were trying to recover some Blast Cores, so they could be made whole or something to that effect. Since there weren't that many enemies around the area Cole and the Dazzlings decided to improve their chances of drawing Bertrand out by making the area around the helipad that he was going to walk out onto all that much safer, to give him the illusion that nothing was wrong until he walked out and realized that the helicopter wasn't going to arrive. As such that meant that they had to spend a few minutes beating up the local Vermaak 88 soldiers, who were taking a beating since they had wiped out a good chuck of their forces so far and a fair number of them had been sunk when Adagio sunk Bertrand's ships, making it impossible for their enemies to increase in numbers at this point. Their enemies, on the other hand, tried their hardest to overcome the four of them, but due to the sheer power that the Dazzlings possessed, and that was backed up by Cole's own power, they were unable to actually do anything and fell before their assault.

As the same time that gave them a few moments to consider what they had learned about the Beast, as three of them were still shocked that Sonata had called it out and said that there was the very real possibility that John White was actually the Beast, since he had been destroyed by the Ray Sphere and the moment the Beast arrived in Empire City did look like a more powerful Ray Sphere explosion. Adagio and Aria weren't used to the feeling that their sister was right about something that they had encountered, maybe because they had a habit of ignoring her since most of her suggestions sounded dumb or ridiculous in the first place, but this was going to show them that maybe they should pay more attention to her and whatever she was trying to tell them. Cole, however, was still surprised that John, the man that wanted to defeat Kessler and destroy the Ray Sphere, had become the Beast and that his plan involved killing millions of people that were infected by the plague that was born from Ray Field Energy, which would only activate more potential Conduits and give rise to an empowered humanity. When he thought about that a little more, as the Dazzlings finished off the last batch of enemies, he realized that such a future was never going to be possible, as there were good Conduits and there were bad Conduits, like Kuo and Niz respectively, meaning that this path would almost certainly kill everyone on the planet and leave next to no one behind.

It was in that moment that he decided that John needed to be stopped, that the Beast needed to be destroyed before he could fulfill the terrifying future that Kessler had shown him and the girls before his death, and he was sure that the Dazzlings felt the same way that he did at the moment.

"The area around the helipad is secure." Aria commented, the flames around her fists dying down as she reined in her power, as she had to fight a few Titans that wanted to crush her and even had a 'beam struggle', as Zeke would have called the event, with one of them, before she burned it and reduced it to a normal size once more, while at the same time her sisters joined her around Cole, "So, I guess we might as well see if Bertrand will come out of hiding."

"It's about time that we dealt with him," Adagio said, as she was growing tired of Bertrand running and trying to hide from who he was and what he had become, though it wasn't his fault that the activation of his Conduit gene had given him the power to make the Corrupted and become the Behemoth, "Hopefully Kuo and nix will come around and help us take him out, if he transforms into his monster form, just so we can be sure that he's dealt with and that we're not wasting our time on something that isn't him."

"I guess we should count ourselves lucky that he doesn't have the power to make others take on his true form, to use as decoys against us," Sonata added, knowing that such a power would have been at the height of Bertrand's potential, if he had bothered to power himself up like they were helping Cole do, before she glanced at the building that they would be ambushing him on and sighed, "Hey Cole, should we get the show on the road and take him out?"

"Yeah... let's get moving." Cole said, finally snapping himself out of his thoughts, as he had been focusing on the Beast for too long, before he ran over to the electric pole that was nearby and propelled himself into the air, causing the three of them to take to the skies and follow him towards the helipad.

When the four of them reached the area that Bertrand would be walking out onto, to get on the helicopter that Zeke had taken out with his sabotage and likely blocked the rest of the Militia from sending him calls so they could launch their ambush, they immediately moved out of sight of the door that their target would come through and waited... though not a minute or two later they heard the sound of the door opening and Bertrand, looking eager to leave, walked out of the building, only to stop when he realized that the helicopter wasn't there.

"Your chopper's going to be a little late." Cole spoke up, though as he and the Dazzlings walked out of where they were hiding Bertrand turned to face them, with a look of anger in his eyes, but they were expecting that, since they had gone out of their way to mess with him and all of his businesses that he had throughout New Marais.

"It took you, and your childish friends, a while to find me, boy." Bertrand replied, but as he focused on the group that was standing between him and the door he walked through he found that Cole was carrying his unusual weapon in his hands and the three girls were at the ready with their elements, a power that still confused him since Kessler said that he hadn't seen Conduits like this during his tests.

"Childish, are we?" Adagio said, to which she raised an eyebrow for a moment, as it had been some time since she and her sisters had been labeled in such a way, though she guessed that Bertrand might think that if he believed that he was the oldest person in the area at the moment, "Please, compared to the three of us, as in my sisters and I, you're the child."

"We also found out that you're selling Forced Conduits." Cole commented, deciding to draw attention away from what Adagio had said, as Bertrand didn't need to know about the world that the Dazzlings had come from, while at the same time focusing his attention on the man in front of them, "Don't you have enough money already?"

"The world needs to experience first hand the evil of our kind." Bertrand stated, finally admitting that he was a Conduit, even though he went out of his way to make it seem like he was an ordinary person with no powers, and that had worked until the four of them came along, "Conduits must be purged from the world, and making the people scared of them will do just that."

"We were right... you're trying to start a genocide." Aria said, as she remembered the conversation they had when they found Bertrand's briefcase, as they had all thought that he might be out to kill everyone of his kind, even if that meant that no one was around to face the Beast.

"Conduits are an abomination!" Bertrand snapped, glaring at all of them for a moment, knowing that he'd never be able to convince the Demon and the Sirens of Empire City to join him in his crusade, before they all terminated themselves in the man of those that remained to pick up the pieces.

"Do you really think that we're the 'Demon and the Sirens of Empire City'?" Cole asked, to which he waved his hands in a manner that was identical to how Bertrand talked to the people of New Marais, sort of mocking him while at the same time trying to tell him that he shouldn't believe what he heard on the news, "Let me tell you something, Bertrand, we were the Guardians of Empire City, so named by the very people that we swore to protect, until the Beast came and decimated the entire city with a single blast."

"Cole MacGrath, you shortsighted fool, we're all demons!" Bertrand said, though at the same time he stepped back so that he was near the edge of the building, as he had a feeling that he knew what they were trying to do to him, and yet he had to be ready for what happened next, "Our pride has turned all of us into monsters."

"You know, I finally understand why you're so upset at Conduits." Sonata spoke up, as she had been quiet the entire time they had been talking, because there was something about Bertrand's hatred towards Conduits that she couldn't quite place, but now, however, she understood the reasoning at long last, "You thought that the Ray Sphere that you activated was going to turn you into some sort of shining superhuman, one that would save the world from the Beast, but instead it turned you into a monster that stands at the same height as the Beast."

"Don't you dare press me," Bertrand stated, though the look on his face told them that he was drawing ever closer to breaking, that the monstrous side of him was trying to break free, before he glanced at the area around him, "If I change into that... thing... again, well, there will be blood on all our hands."

"Oh Bertrand, if only you knew the truth." Adagio said, recalling all the years she and her sisters spent using their powers to get what they wanted, food or entertainment, and the number of times that it resulted in those around them actually reaching the point where blood was drawn, which helped them tone down their powers so they never reached that point again, "Just transform into your true form and let's be done with this. And please, don't talk about how Conduits aren't part of the 'divine plan' or that they're the 'unholy product of science, greed, and the Devil whispering in our ears'... I've heard enough about that, from your earlier gatherings, to know that you're just trying to buy time for something to happen and distract us so you can run away again."

"And part of what you would have told us is wrong, Bertrand." Cole added, to which he held his Amp with both of his hands and some of his electricity danced around the head of the weapon, all while he focused on the person that was in front of them, "Not all Conduits are monsters. The Dazzlings and I use our powers for the benefit of the world, while the Beast, for example, uses his powers to kill people and destroy entire cities with a single blast... what I'm saying is that it's the person behind the powers that you need to hold accountable, not the powers that they command."

"You're right..." Bertrand said, though that was followed by him throwing himself off the edge of the building that they were on and initiating the transformation into his monstrous form, to which the Behemoth formed before their eyes and roared with all of his might, which was exactly what they were planning on.

The four of them moved immediately, as it appeared that Zeke had a truck waiting nearby for them to use so they could lure the Behemoth into an ambush point that Laroche and his Rebels had set up ahead of time, and it didn't take them long to reach their destination. As Cole climbed onto the back of the truck, and the Dazzlings flew in the air above him while keeping their eyes on their enemy, Zeke gunned the engine and took off, causing the Behemoth to chase after the vehicle like a dumb monster as he tore his way through whatever was in front of him. Laroche seemed pretty happy about the situation, as they would be able to lead their enemy right into the ambush without him even catching on to what was happening at the moment, giving them the opportunity to deal with the Behemoth in their own way. While all of this happened the Behemoth opened his mouth from time to time and fired the seeking spit-like missiles at them, causing either Cole or one of the Dazzlings to use their Shockwave style attack to knock the green colored spit out of the air and let them crash to the ground, all while forcing the Behemoth to follow them as they remained in his sights. When the Behemoth started to charge at the vehicle, however, the four of them opened fire and their combined attacks went right into his open mouth, where one of his weaknesses was located, and the explosion forced him to slow down as he continued to follow after them.

Of course Laroche was happy to see the Behemoth smash up Gas Works as they lead him on a merry chase, revealing that all his money was tied up here in one form or another, but at the same time Cole and the Dazzlings honestly didn't care that much, as they were keeping their enemy zeroed in on their location and making sure that the truck wasn't hit by anything in the process.

After a couple minutes of weaving through Gas Works, destroying a number of vehicles and pieces of the buildings along the way while also blocking the spit-like missiles as they flew towards them, Zeke finally stopped in an area where the Rebels had set up his special spotlights, while also revealing that Kuo and Nix, despite hating each other, were standing nearby as they waited to unleash hell upon the Behemoth. When the spotlights turned on, and the Behemoth was stopped, the group dealt with the Corrupted that came out to assist their master, no doubt because their enemy called them in at some point, before the Behemoth revealed one of his weaknesses to them, a foolish move on his part since all of them were waiting for that to happen. It was a slow process, as they had to wait for their enemy to attempt to damage them with his attacks, and that meant going through a few of the abilities that they already knew about, before he revealed the weaknesses in his arms, the ones in his chest, or even the mouth one, as it had recovered while he was attacking them. Of course that only lasted so long, as the moment the second weakness was taken out the Behemoth roared and forced Cole to back off, as he grabbed onto the landing gear of a helicopter they were using for their operation and flew to a safe distance that would entice the Behemoth to continue chasing them, while at the same time the Dazzlings flew near him as both Kuo and Nix helped the Rebels move out for the next ambush area.

As they flew through the air, and kept the Behemoth from doing any damage to the helicopter, Laroche informed them that Zeke had been working on some anti-Bertrand missiles, all made by his hand, that they were planning on using against their foe, and the only problem was that the Rebels apparently couldn't aim a missile at all. The plan was simple, the four of them would keep the Behemoth focused on them and protect the helicopter, while at the same time the pilot would get them into position for the missiles to be fired and then they would let them go the moment their target was in the designated area. It wasn't long before they reached the area that the first missile was located in, though when the Rebels fired it, however, it pierced part of the Behemoth's body, between the softer skin and the harder shell, and became stuck without exploding, only for Zeke to reveal that he knew what happened and would fix it for the other missiles before they needed to be fired, which also prompted the four of them to blow up the missile and cause the Behemoth to stagger for a moment as it roared in pain. They didn't travel that far away from where the first missile was fired and soon came to another stop as the second missile was fired, another dud like the first one, and the group sighed as they blew that one up as well, causing the Behemoth to roar in pain once more as it zeroed in on where the four of them were located, indicating that he was going to chase them until they were dead.

When they finally drew the Behemoth to the final ambush, based on what Laroche said, Cole dropped down to the ground and joined both Kuo and Nix in dealing with the new batch of Corrupted that came at them, while at the same time the Dazzlings fired at the weaknesses that had been exposed, dealing even further damage to their enemy... however it wasn't long before the others joined them and they rained pure destruction on the Behemoth, who eventually roared in pain as the last of his weaknesses broke and collapsed on the ground in front of them. A few moments passed before anyone did anything, just to be sure that the Behemoth was actually dead and not faking, but once it was determined that the creature was dead the Rebels celebrated, Kuo smiled and nodded her head, Cole and the Dazzlings looked pleased with themselves, and Nix, still hating Bertrand for what he did to her family, spat on the Behemoth's corpse a few times before leaving the area.





After defeating Bertrand, and leaving his monstrous corpse behind, Cole and the Dazzlings went off and rested on one of the roofs nearby, watching as the Rebels spent seven hours painstakingly cutting up the massive body and hauling the parts away, no doubt to be burned in a celebration or something like that. None of them really said much after their victory, as there was no real reason for them to be happy over Bertrand's death, other than the fact that he could no longer make or sell his Forced Conduits, so they simply sat there, had something to eat to calm their nerves, and waited for the day to be over so they could rest and then focus on the Beast when morning came. Kuo remained near the Rebels, helping them sever the Behemoth's corpse into pieces and get them onto the trucks that they were using, though she seemed happy that the people of New Marais were accepting Conduits now, especially since they seemed to think that Bertrand was actually a swamp monster that could take a human form and was trying to trick them. Since none of them wanted to tell them the truth, as that would put the fear of Conduits back in them, the group simply let the people believe what they wanted to and left it at that, but the fact that they were treated like heroes once more was good news for Adagio and her sisters, as it made them all happy.

Nix, on the other hand, went off to join the domesticated swamp monsters that she had freed while they were getting incriminating evidence on what Bertrand was doing in the train yard, but they all knew that she would be back soon enough, since she wanted a piece of the Beast before the four of them brought him down, with whatever plan Zeke and Kuo were thinking of at the moment.

"Well, it took thirty men, seven chainsaws, and seven pickups, but we finally got that monster's corpse off the street," Laroche spoke up, causing the group to look at their phones for a moment, while at the same time noticed that Kuo was headed off to either meet Zeke or get some rest for tomorrow, since they would be planning what to do once all of them were back at a hundred percent, "MacGrath, Dazzlings, thanks for all you're help. You four have been quite the inspiration for both me and my men."

"We're just glad that he's off the streets as well." Cole said, knowing that the Rebels would likely see them as allies for the rest of their days, and that was a good thing since they knew that the Beast was their ultimate opponent and would be making his move soon, now that Bertrand was dead.

"Now that Bertrand's gone, the Militia is starting to fall apart." Zeke added, though as he entered the conversation, and had a few coughs added to his words, Laroche broke his connection, as he and his men intended to celebrate their victory, not that the group was planning on stopping them, "Sure, there are still a few of them that are gung-ho, but I don't think that I'll be picking up anymore information after today."

"Wait, does this mean that you found something else that we might be interested in?" Adagio asked, as that was the only reason that Zeke might still be tied to the Militia, to see if they had any additional Blast Cores that they could use to power Cole up for the final battle with the Beast.

"Oh yeah, I've found out where another Blast Core is located." Zeke replied, to which the four of them glanced at each other, because they had figured that they had gotten their hands on all the Blast Cores that Wolfe and Bertrand had been gathering, but it seemed that there was one more left for them to grab, "Meet me near the dock on 3rd Street."

Cole and the Dazzlings moved out immediately, as they weren't too far from where the dock in question was located, though at the same time they all noticed that there was a storm starting to gather over the city, something that Cole could use if he really needed to. Not a few moments later they found Zeke, who was using a pair of binoculars at the moment, spying on the dock area in question, where they immediately noticed a good number of Vermaak 88 soldiers walking around the area, though since they hadn't been noticed they stepped up behind Zeke so they could get the information that they needed for their next mission.

"The one that's walking around at the moment is their leader, and he's got the Blast Core." Zeke stated, to which the four of them looked at the soldier in question, knowing that he was bound to run the moment they came at him, but at the same time that might be beneficial to them, as it would allow them to take out the rest of their enemies if he took them to his base of operations, the ice tower they had flown by earlier, "He's got them all preparing for something."

"Alright then. With that Blast Core in hand we might be able to power up the RFI and take on the Beast." Cole said, as it was great to be near the end of the line, because this was what Kessler had been preparing him for since the moment the Blast happened in Empire City, before noticing that Zeke was leaning against some pipes and was coughing, "Hey man, are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine..." Zeke replied, waving his hands as if he didn't want Cole to waste time on him for a moment, but at the same time Cole glanced at the Dazzlings, as they were all concerned for their friend's health since those that had the plague eventually died in some manner.

"No, no you're not. Just let me have a look." Cole stated, though at the same time he held a firm glare as he looked at Zeke, who eventually stood straight and let him do what he was thinking of doing, activating his empowered vision that John had given him, before he took a step back for a moment, confirming what they were thinking, "Jesus, Zeke... why didn't you tell me that you had the plague?"

"For the same reason that Trish refused to tell you that she's got it as well; you and the Dazzlings have too much on your plates to be worried about us." Zeke answered, though at the same time Cole's eyes widened in shock, while all three of the sisters did the same thing, as all three of them were hoping that the coughs they had heard in Trish's presence were just the signs of a common cold, not the plague that was killing people, before Zeke focused on the task at hand, "Besides, Kuo said that the RFI was designed to combat the plague, as well as take on the Beast and subtract his abilities, meaning that there's a chance that we could be cured when you activate it."

"Then we haven't got much time," Adagio said, because based on Cole's face she realized that if Zeke was this far along with the plague, as he had to be near his expiration time if she could believe the expression Cole was wearing, that meant that Trish was in the same boat as he was, which was why a look of determination appeared on Cole's face as he realized that his girlfriend was in danger again, "Let's go get that Blast Core, absorb it's power, and then end this before the Beast decides to blow up New Marais as well."

Cole, now angry at the fact that both his best friend and his girlfriend were going to die if he didn't get the final Blast Core from the Vermaak 88 General, walked towards the dock and drew in the power of the storm that had decided to open above their heads as they were talking, which he turned on his enemies as he devastated them all on his own. Sure, his power was the combination of his and Kuo's as he froze enemies where they were standing and wasted no time in dealing with them, but it was still an amazing sight to behold as he tore through the defenses as he sought out the General that was holding the Blast Core. The Dazzlings, however, noticed that the General was escaping and immediately chased after him, finding that he was incredibly fast and was making his way through Gas Works, but at the same time Cole followed after them once Zeke told him what was going on, even though they ran right to the base of the ice tower, where the rest of the Vermaak 88 soldiers were waiting for them. At the same time, however, the General moved towards the top of the tower and planted the Blast Core at the peak of the icy part of it, intending to use the tower was a lightning rod to cook the Blast Core, like Cole did in the past, but, at the same time, this was useless for them since their forces weren't immune to Aria's power.

The immediate area around Aria heated up as she started channeling her power over the primal element of fire, where their enemies found that her aura alone could reduce their ice based attacks to nothing and those that were encased in ice found their armor melting before their eyes. Of course that was only the beginning of the end for the Vermaak 88 soldiers, as Adagio could use the melted water to form new ice attacks, ones that weren't affected by her sister unless she wanted them to, and used them to pin several of the soldiers down. Sonata even added to that by calling upon the wind and forming a twister that ran over the flames, turning it into a Firestorm that was directed at a number of enemies that were trying to come around the corner and attack them, only to find that their attacks were useless and that their armor, if they had any, was gone by the time they realized what was going on. Cole, however, was forced to stand there for a few seconds as John contacted him mentally and tried to convince him that both he and the Dazzlings should join forces with him to save what was left of humanity, while at the same time not sounding all that sorry that he had attacked them when he was 'reborn' as the Beast and tore Empire City apart.

While all of this went on, however, they got more news that the Beast hit the swamp near Flood Town, killing everyone in that area, meaning that Nix likely lost the swamp monsters that she had domesticated and gave her all the more reason to want the Beast dead, which only motivated them to pick up the pace. In response to what they had discovered Aria gathered her fire together and formed what appeared to be a flaming lance, where Adagio, Sonata, and Cole each poured a little of their own power into it before she pulled her arm back and sent it flying through the air between them and the area that the Blast Core was resting in. A few moments later the weapon struck her target and the peak of the ice tower, to the horror of the Vermaak 88 soldiers, shattered into a thousand pieces, while at the same time the Blast Core hit the floor above them and the Dazzlings pulled Cole up there, ignoring the enemies as they retreated before the display of power that they had shown them. It didn't take long for Cole to claim the Blast Core and get out of there as Sonata carried him away from the tower, where they headed to an area that was near Zeke's latest hideout and waited out the rest of the storm, as there was no reason for Cole to activate the final Blast Core while the storm was going on.

It took hours for the storm to tide over and dissipate, to which Cole and the Dazzlings returned to where Zeke was waiting for them, drinking yet another beer, before Cole pulled out the Blast Core and moved off to another part of the roof before activating the last power he'd be getting before the final battle with the Beast... which resulted in him falling to the ground like normal, while the Dazzlings moved into the building so they could rest up for what they knew was going to be one of the most intense battles of their entire lives.