[PROTOTYPE] {Second E}

by AcidGreenBlob

Chapter One: Escape!

[PROTOTYPE] {Second E} EDIT: Now with 20% more ponies AND spacing!

Disclaimer:
This is a non-profit, fan made piece of fiction. The PROTOTYPE franchise belongs to Radical Entertainment and Activision. My little pony: Friendship is magic is owned by Hasbro studios and I claim no ownership over either of these two series.

GENERAL WARNING
Swears and gore ahoy!

SPOILER WARNING:
Please DO NOT read if you plan on getting [PROTOTYPE2] and care about the ending.

Air buffeted his jacket, causing it to flap about wildly in his descent. The building below grew nearer and nearer in his vision. Then, at the last possible moment, the figure extended his arms into two leathery wings. He twirled about and landed feet first onto the rooftop, the force of the impact crushing the concrete beneath him like it was merely dirt. Stepping casually out of the crater, the figure morphed his arms back to normal and swiped the dust and bits of debris from his jacket. The building he landed on bordered Times Square and, as Sargent James Heller gazed down into the chaos, he lamented on the further decline of the city. In the two weeks that had passed since the defeat of Alex Mercer, the city had begun to slowly fall apart. The vast biomass tendrils that once linked the buildings together were beginning to retreat, causing skyscrapers that were held in place by the tendrils alone, to come crashing down. Even the numbers of infected had decreased. However, if there was one constant in the madness of New York Zero, it was the military’s efforts to quell the infection. Fresh tanks and helicopters roamed the streets and alleyways and more armed troops patrolled the areas closest to the Green and Yellow zones. Although the absence of Blackwatch troops among the ranks of the military was something that troubled Heller deeply.

“Usual Blackwatch shit, spooky fucks.” he said, rising from his perch.

He was about to leap to an adjacent building when the sound of helicopter rotors stopped him. A few moments passed before the helicopter blazed past overhead, followed closely by three infected flyers. He was about to pass it off as a momentary distraction before the helicopter spun around and he got a clear look at the cockpit. Dana was waving frantically from the co-pilots seat and Duster had a face of pure concentration. His bushy eyebrows were furrowed and his tongue was clearly visible against the mass of grey beard as he focused solely on out running or out flying the infected. Soon the helicopter thundered overhead once again and Heller’s fingers warbled and elongated, suddenly appearing shiny under the afternoon light. He launched himself at the flyer as his hands completed their transformation into savage claws. Letting loose an instinctual roar, he sliced through the infected flyer, separating its wings from the body. The thing screeched as gravity took hold and it plummeted to the ground far below. The other flyers, alerted by their allies cry, circled about and dived at the Heller. They realised their error when Heller spun around to face them, his hands no longer claws but a multi-segmented blade. Heller swiped at the flyers, catching them by surprise as the whip fist closed the gap and cleaved them into four gory pieces. Landing with the same grace as before, Heller scanned the skies for the helicopter just as his phone rang.

“Yeah?”

“Ha HA! Got ya’ some moves there, eh Jimmy!” Dusters thick Texan accent boomed out of the small speakers as the helicopter rounded corner of a nearby building.

Heller smirked as the helicopter levelled itself and opened its cargo door; hanging up the call, he leapt which carried him through the air and into the helicopters passenger area. The metal groaned and the helicopter dipped slightly from the sudden gain in weight before ascending away. Heller peeked into the cockpit and found Duster with his eyes scrunched up jostling back and forth. At first glance, it was hard to tell if he was laughing or crying as Dusters wiry grey beard covered half of his wrinkled face. Tapping his arm to draw attention, Dana passed Heller a headset. Heller sat down in the passenger area and fitted the headset over his heat. As he did Dusters voice echoed through the archaic apparatus,

“Thanks for the assist there, we was out lookin’ for ya when them infected bastards jumped us!” Duster’s eyes scrunched up as he began laughing again but stopped immediately when Dana began speaking.

“James, what happened to your phone? We couldn’t call you from the safe house.”

“It’s working just fine, got a call from Duster didn’t I?” Heller replied, inspecting his phone for damages.

“Yes, but only when we were practically right next to you” Dana retorted, “Anyway there are more pressing matters to worry about than malfunctioning phones.”

Heller looked out of the passenger window; the setting sun painted the structures of New York Zero a sickening shade of orange. Each window, glowing from the sunlight, gave the illusion that the city was still alive and well.

“Yeah, like what” said Heller dryly as he gazed out of the window.

“Like getting us all out of NYZ alive?” Dana said. At this, Heller snapped his head to attention and peered into the cockpit.

“How,” he asked, facing Dana directly. She shook her head and gestured to a building that was only just coming into view.

“First we need to pick up a certain someone, then I’ll tell you both on the way”

“On the way to where?!” Heller said, with a hint of anger in his voice.

Dana smiled and dismissed the subject with a polite “You’ll see” causing Heller to huff impatiently before sitting back down.

Shortly after, the helicopter landed on the roof a two story building. The sound of which caused a door to open opposite the helipad and a small figure, clutching a flashlight in one hand and a backpack in the other, jogged over to where the helicopter had set down. James Heller opened the cargo doors allowing Amaya to climb into the helicopter. Dana passed a headset to her and motioned for her to take a seat as James closed the door. Amaya fitted the headset and smiled cheerily at her father before looking back to Dana.

“Now that we are all here I can finally say what’s what.” Duster began, “’bout twelve hours ago I got a call from an old buddy of mine who found a way to bypass the military quarantine. The missile ships out in the bay have SAM’s that would shoot down any exiting, or entering, airborne vehicles. However, he hypothe… , hyperthosis..”

“Hypothesised?” offered Dana.

“That’s the one!” Duster piped, “He hypothesised that there must be some kinda override frequency or special type of FoF tag that prevents them from firin’ atcha. Seeing as if they were shootin’ down ALL aircraft, how could them Blackwatch birds get to and fro?”

“That’s where this comes in,” Finished Dana, holding up a small black cube.

She passed it back to James and he took a closer look at it. The sides were each about 15 centimetres long and I had a control panel on one of the upper surfaces. The outside was made of what appeared to be metal that had been sprayed black.

“We found this in one of the helicopters that crashed just outside the safe house a while back. I wasn’t sure whether to keep it or throw it away. Lucky I kept it, huh?”

“Damn right gal,” Duster chuckled, “that right there is our ticket out of here. It sends a short range burst transmission upon entering the SAM’s operational range, quite literally sayin’ ‘don’t shoot me!”

James turned the box over a few times before handing it back to Dana.

“You sure it’s gunna work?” questioned James, all the while keeping an eye on the now darkened horizon.

“Well, lets jus say that if it ain’t workin’, I got a call of a spectre this morning” duster replied seriously.

The headsets were quiet for a few seconds before Duster quipped,

“Well, if that’s all done and dusted, let’s get the hell outta here.” The helicopter ascended off into the moonless night sky and turned towards the west before tilting forwards. Dana plugged the cube into the dashboard of the helicopter and set it down in between the pilot and co-pilots seat.

It wasn’t long before the radio cackled into life and broadcasted the RESTRICTED AIRSPACE warning. Duster paid it no heed and gunned the helicopter further into the night. Suddenly, the cube started to beep violently causing everyone to look at it in panic. As quickly as it started however, the cube silenced itself and the form of a battleship appeared in the waters below the helicopter. No missiles were launched at the fleeing helicopter however and the ship soon disappeared back into the night. Duster laughed hysterically before proclaiming that he knew it would work all along, Dana let out a long sigh of relief and Amaya laughed at Dusters statement. Although they had made it past the quarantine, James Heller still felt uneasy. Call it gut instinct but something felt off about this escape attempt. He was about to voice his concern when the helicopter was pitched violently to one side. Fire was visible from the left side engine before Duster shouted,

“We’re hit! Oh, SH…..”

His curse was cut off as a loud boom resonated throughout the helicopters interior. Following the noise, a ghastly turquoise light began to pulse from the cube, bathing the interior in its eerie glow. James reached for the cube but was stopped by an unseen force just inches before his hands touched the cubes surface. A shockwave blasted him away from the cube and into the helicopters door, wrenching it free from the chassis. Amaya screamed as her father was catapulted out into the night. In a heartbeat, James morphed his hand into a whip and lassoed himself to the helicopters skis. James fought against the air itself as he struggled to get back into the falling helicopters hold. With one final grunt of effort, he heaved his body back into the hold, morphing his hand back to normal as he did so. Looking towards the cockpit, the cube had stopped glowing but the control panel was flashing extremely fast. Duster was frantically flipping switches and turning dials, making every effort to keep them airborne. James clawed his way around the helicopter to where Amaya was fastened in; her face was one of panic as a blinding flash of light burst forth from the cube. James, blinded by the flash, shielded Amaya’s eyes from the flare, but it was some time before it dissipated.

“Hold on now!” Dusters voice cackled across the headset, “Looks like land down there, so imma goin’ to try to set ‘er down. This might get a bit rough!”

The helicopter began to spin slowly as it descended. Still blinded from the flash, James opened his eyes briefly and looked out from the helicopters broken window. The world was spinning by so quickly that even the appearance of the moon was distorted, with one half of it covered in dark splotches. James thought the shape looked unusual before realization hit him.

“Dana!" He shouted , "was the moon out before!?”

Her reply came just as the helicopter ploughed into the ground,

CRASH!

James Heller awoke to the crackling of fire; he sat up and looked around. It was still night, based on what he could see; Duster and Amaya were sitting near a small fire pit. The immediate area was surrounded by what appeared to be very old trees, their buttresses thicker than some of the other trees entirety. James got to his feet and began to walk around the perimeter of the camp, attracting the attention of Duster

“Finally up and about then eh?” he said, “Bout time too, we’s was just about to move out.”

“Where are we,” James replied, raising his attention to the height of the canopy. Duster just shrugged and James grunted “figured as much,” before then realising that something was, again, amiss.

“Where’s Dana?”

“She went t’ get more firewood, although she has been gone a long time now. Maybe you should go n’ look for ‘er” Duster suggested.

“No need,” said James, mater-of-factly.

Thinking of who he wanted to find, James sent out a pulse of sonar which echoed through the forest before returning roughly half a minute later. Gotcha, he thought to himself. Turning towards Duster and Amaya he ordered them not to leave the camp until he returned. Orienting himself to the return point he took off at speed through the forest, lithely dodging the giant trees before leaping high into the air and gliding for a while before crashing through the canopy once more. He sent out another pulse to check he was on track which confirmed that he was, indeed, getting closer. Smiling to himself he increased his pace, sending birds flapping away in panic and leaving miniature craters with every footfall.

Fluttershy noticed that when the birds from the forest came to visit her, they were more exhausted than usual.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed when one literally collapsed into a nest on the roof of her cottage. “Are you ok little friend?” she asked, with deep concern apparent in her voice.

The Jay nodded and gestured with his wing to the Everfree forest, making slow swiping motions as he did so.

“Is it that way?” she gestured with her own wing and again, the Jay nodded. “Ok,” she said smiling, “I’ll go and see what’s wrong, and you rest here for as long as you need.”

Fluttershy took off, traveling swiftly over the Everfree. To this day she remained fearful of the forest, but understood that even some of the more scary animals need help too. Fluttershy glided on the thermals above the place in the forest where the jay had indicated, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The forest was quiet, the trees were still and leaves were being flung into the air as normal. Wait….what?!

James swore as the creature clawed at him, forcing him to give ground. He had found Dana high up in a tree being stalked by some kind of new infected. It had what appeared to be the body of a lion, a scorpion's tail, and a pair of thin, red wings. Heller launched into a flying kick directed at the beast, but stopped himself when the scorpion tail whipped out at him. Bringing up his spiked shields, the tail impaled itself upon the impenetrable spiked shell. The creature howled with pain and swatted at Heller with one of its paws, but missed as he leapt onto its back and began pounding away with his hammerfists. The beast had never known such pain! It roared and shook its body violently, trying to dislodge the annoying insect that plagued it. One more mighty smash with the hammerfist knocked the breath out of the creature; another sent a crack reverberating around the assembly of trees,

and another

and another!

He kept pounding until all that was left of the creature was a pile of gore. Heller stood there as the creature was consumed into by his biomass, during which he was gripped by intense pain. His hammerfists dissolved back into black and red putty, slowly reforming his arms. After the beast had been consumed Heller shouted as his arms morphed into some form he had not yet seen. They were matte black as opposed to the usual gloss his attack powers had. His fourth and fifth digit had fused to form one massive digit, leaving each hand with only three fingers and a thumb each.
Leaving closer examination for later, he called up into the canopy for Dana. An audible cry for help was heard by his advanced hearing, and with a small hop, he alighted on the thickest of the branches. Dana was unfazed by his sudden entrance but that quickly wore off when Heller suddenly picked her up and jumped down from the tree.

Fluttershy was debating whether going to check on the disturbance of the leaves when they stopped rustling. She let out a sigh of relief and turned to head for home when….

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

She spun on a dime and dashed into the canopy at a speed that would have shamed even Rainbow Dash herself. Levelling out, she assessed the clearing below her. What looked like two ponies, were lying out on an unusually red patch of grass. Fluttershy hovered closer before realising that the figures were not ponies but, but…. She could not make out what they were. One had a set of two large arms that ended in digits that reminded her of the monkeys further into the forest. The other resembled them even more but they both wore clothes, and had much less hair! Fluttershy descended cautiously until she was within about two meters of the strange creatures. Suddenly one leapt to attention facing away from her and shouted,

“Never. Do That. AGAIN!”

The other dusted itself off with its oversized limbs and huffed in response. They hadn’t noticed the Pegasus silently hovering nearby, a fact that Fluttershy was grateful for. Slowly she turned and tried to fly away quietly but drew the attention of the larger one.

“Flyer!” he bellowed, pushing the smaller one back.

Fluttershy panicked and bolted up and out of the clearing, flying as fast as she could for Twilights Library….

Hello, and welcome to my first attempt at creative literature! Hopefully it was mildly entertaining however I’m not exactly the most proficient writer, so constructive criticism is very helpful to me!
I have had the idea about writing this after I finished Prototype 2. It was the most fun I have had on a video game in a long while. The end is quite open as one character remarks, “Well, What’s next?” So I started writing this the very next day! I enjoy the character of James Heller more so than Alex Mercer because, unlike mercer, he seems more likely to help people which is why I chose him as the star of this piece!

Anyway, rant over. Hopefully I’ll have the second chapter done quicker!