_ _ _Beta 3rd Pov_ _ _
Beta had felt much since her birth, and unlike Alpha who cared for the more complex things, Beta herself much preferred to indulge in simpler pleasures-like the exhilaration and thrill of a good hunt. Why worry about things that didn't matter after all? Why focus on such complicated feelings when it's easy to just let go and focus on killing? That's what she had thought anyway, at least until there was a shift in the air, in her mind.
This... this boiling feeling that scorched her senses... this rage... it drove her to the brink of madness. Beta had never felt anger before; she felt annoyance, frustration, and so on, but never anger, never something this overwhelmingly suffocating before. Not until now, that is.
Her claws had been tearing through soft flesh when it had happened, the sound of ripping muscle mixed with the agonizing screams of her prey were rather pleasant sounds to hear as she tore out their spine. These strange two‑legged things were different from the ones she was used to; however, they gave a good challenge nonetheless. They didn't panic like the others when she closed the distance; instead they charged her with crazed ferocity.
She especially liked the ones that fought not with metal or bullets but with fire, lightning, and ice. They were fun to play with. In fact, if they had been faster they probably would have been able to hurt or even kill her potentially, but their reactions were too slow, movements too sluggish. A few of them did end up getting lucky in the end however, their attacks grazing her, slightly wounding her form, but that was all they managed before she closed the distance and tore them apart.
And then there were the bigger ones, massive things that could rip her weaker sisters in half with their bare hands or blow them apart with brutal long range weaponry. Fighting them filled her body with adrenaline; she loved the feeling of dismantling them piece by piece, slicing them open until they fell to the ground lifeless and she could claim her prize. Of course, the trophy that she would inevitably end up tearing out from their rubbery and metallic shell was rather deformed and twisted, but that was of little consequence.
The hunt, however, was interrupted when IT happened, when her mother's distress and panic flared through her mind. Beta's awareness was initially flooded with confusion, her instincts screaming, yet she couldn't quite understand what was going on. She could feel through the connection that nothing was attacking her mother physically; there were no major threats around her.
And then it came. Information flowed into her mind, granting her understanding. While she couldn't fully grasp the complexity of the message, that didn't matter to her in the slightest. Beta didn't care about the nuance behind it all; all she cared about was the alarming news the sudden knowledge had conveyed.
She knew now, she knew exactly what was happening, and it made her acidic blood boil like liquid iron. Someone was trying to control their queen, to dominate the matriarch's mind, to bend her mother's will to their own. It was then that Beta felt it: an overwhelming, red‑hot rage.
The response was violent and absolute. Beta turned, tearing apart everything that stood in her way, and she wasn't alone. All of her kin that were close by moved with her; there were no more subtleties to their movements, no more desire to capture new hosts. There was only hatred and the urge to kill.
Gamma jumped from a building close to her, landing on one of the twisted, two‑legged things and crushing it instantly. She then quickly joined the writhing tide that swarmed forward without pause. Beta lost track of her sister in the crowd, but that didn't matter right now; all that mattered was reaching their mother.
And when they eventually saw her confused and thrashing form, their fury grew tenfold. It got even worse when they saw them, the one that was responsible for this offence. If Alpha had been here she probably would have noticed the look of surprise and pain on the two‑legged thing's face, the way it clutched its head as blood poured from its eyes and nose. But Beta? She didn't notice, and even if she did, she wouldn't have cared, after all there was only one thing on her mind at that moment...
_ _ _Carmen Pov_ _ _
(Bloody hell...) I hissed, shaking my head, my senses numb and somewhat blurry.
Fortunately the green haze that had filled my mind was fading, but my discomfort still remained. (I guess it's only right that someone tries to mess with my head considering how many times I have done it to other people.)
I should have been more cautious. Just because the Hypnotize plasmid is hard to get a hold of doesn't mean I wouldn't encounter it. In fact, it was one of the most dangerous of all the plasmids, if not the most dangerous in my opinion. Honestly, I felt kind of stupid for not considering that someone with it might appear at some point.
(Still though, the chance of me running into one like this can't be a coincidence, right?) I mused internally as I came to a possible conclusion: either this really was just a chance encounter or... (If I had to guess, that was probably one of Lamb's schemes. She's using most of the splicers as cannon fodder to act as a distraction while those with the Hypnotize plasmid sneak around to try and capture important individuals and specimens.)
(At least my Empress's Redemption gift triggered, if I didn't have that ability I'd probably be screwed right about now.)
That was true. I had felt the gift activate automatically and immediately take effect the moment the plasmids began to take over. I don't know exactly what it did, but it seemed to have attacked the offending party's mind, something that probably wasn't a pleasant experience, to say the least.
"I should warn the others; they don't have any protection like I do," I muttered to myself. "Well, I don't actually know if the hive mind can override such things... something to test later I guess."
However, before I could actually do that, I noticed something. (What the hell?)
"Well, you've been busy, huh..." I hummed, looking down at Beta and Gamma.
They were covered head to toe in blood... like, a lot of blood. In fact, they had intestines and chunks of flesh stuck to them as well. And they weren't the only ones present; dozens upon dozens of xenomorphs surrounded the area while more patrolled further out, massacreing anything that got too close.
For a second I just stared at them before my attention shifted to where the individual who had used the Hypnotize plasmid had once been. They were still there, part of them anyway. Actually, there were parts of them over there, a bit over there as well... and over there... and... hummm. So yeah, to put it simply, they had been completely dismantled and shredded apart, pieces of their body now scattered around in a rather horrific and gruesome scene.
(They... They really ripped that guy apart...) I thought, honestly a little taken aback.
"T‑thank you, I appreciate the assistance," I muttered, looking down at them, although they didn't really respond to my words, which was to be expected.
Coughing awkwardly, I turned my attention away. "I guess I should start heading back then."
"And on my way, I should send out a warning before someone ends up getting brainwashed," I muttered, only to pause when I realized something. "Wait a second, Lamb... she obviously doesn't know about the hive mind... if she did then she wouldn't..."
(Huh... that... that actually gives me an idea.)