The Game Cafe in Marvel and DC

45 – Decisions

"God damn it! This is your fault, you crazy clown!" Hawkeye cursed at Harley Quinn as a pack of three Velociraptors chased from behind, quickly gaining on them.

The two were wearing clothes fashioned from plant fiber and cloth, clearly not designed for much comfort and more for the limited protection they could provide to the harsh environment.

While Hawkeye had a bow in his hand and a makeshift quiver on his back, Harley had a primitive spear in her right hand and a massive wooden club in her other hand.

"It's not my fault! I didn't expect these large chicken bastards to smell the meat!" Harley retorted.

"We're on a death island filled with fucking dinosaurs! It shouldn't have needed to be said! Cooking meat in the middle of a beach on a campfire with downwind blowing into the forest was a recipe for disaster!" Hawkeye retorted, angry and annoyed.

While the two argued, wasting their energy, the raptors easily caught up to them, their bipedal legs far faster than the two humans, and just as one of them was about to pounce onto the fleeing form of Harley, she suddenly turned around and thrust the sharp end of the spear deep into the throat of the pouncing raptor, covering her spear and face in viscous blood.

Cursing about the mission he had been assigned, Hawkeye turned around and notched an arrow, quickly releasing it once he aimed at one of the raptors not far behind, hitting it in the shoulder.

Cursing again about how inaccurate the bow was, he tossed it aside, "Here!" Harley shouted, letting go of the spear for a moment to toss him the club she had, which he effortlessly caught and smashed directly into the face of the raptor he shot that did not stop advancing.

While those two beat and stabbed to death the last raptor of the small pack, far down the beach towards the swamp, a trio of men, specifically, the trio of men that followed Volkov, could be seen running from all sorts of critters.

Flying ants the size of a fist, snakes as long as a car and more than large enough to eat two grown men whole, crocodiles that could easily crush and destroy cars, and unfortunately for them, they were about to meet one of the worst inhabitants to deal with that called the swamp home.

The Kaprosuchus.

Lunging from out of the swamp like a speeding bullet, the Kapro opened its maw wide and, before two of the men's eyes, watched as it snatched their friend and flew past and ahead of them.

Before they could react, a Titanoboa lunged from the tall grass nearby, sinking its dagger-like venomous fangs deep into one of the remaining two men.

Seeing two of his friends die and no way out, the remaining man changed direction and started dashing east, trying to get around the Boa and Kapro that would easily slay him, only for...a giant frog to come leaping out from the long grass where it accidentally fell on the last man, knocking him unconscious. Unluckily for the man, he was then consumed by a small group of giant ants.

Across the Island, other Players were having just as difficult starts as they explored the Island and faced the many dangers that lurked where the eye couldn't see.

Meanwhile, Black Widow, Kyle, Volkov, Mr. Freeze, and several other new players were fighting for survival in the underwater city of Rapture.

After having a near-death encounter with a splicer, Dr. Victor Fries, now armed with a wrench, had to bash his way past one of the many mad inhabitants that called Rapture home; he climbed upstairs and soon found himself standing before a plasmids machine, passing by various posters.

'Pick your plasmid and evolve!'

The strange machine with two little sister statues posing at its side, he grabbed a bottle, which read 'Electro Bolt,' and had a syringe attached to the container.

Feeling a strange compulsion, he grabbed the syringe, extracted all of the red fluid, and, with a deep breath, roughly impaled his wrist, feeling no control over his body as it manually pressed down on the syringe, pumping all of the fluid into his bloodstream.

Suddenly, his hand began to convulse as his veins glowed a bright blue.

He felt himself panic as he felt energy course through his body along with an agonizing burn, and before his eyes, electricity seemed to jump between his hands and up his body.

Still having no control over his body, he watched in horror as his body walked backward, closer and closer to the railing.

Then Atlas hastily spoke over the radio on his hip, "Steady now! Your genetic code is being rewritten- just hold, and everything will be fine!"

That's when his hands grabbed the railings; electricity seemed to dance across the metal from his touch, and with wide eyes, he watched as his body, without his control, leaped over the edge, sending him plummeting down to the floor.

With a 'thunk,' he lost consciousness.

None of the others experienced their first Plasmid injection any better, as the control stick was taken from them during the cutscene. While some had an interest in what Plasmids could do and what they are, none had more interest than Victor himself, as Plasmids and whatever research came about from them could very well be the answer he was looking for.

With a haze, his eyes groggily opened for a few moments as he heard voices speak above him.

"This little fish looks like he just had his cherry POPPED... I wonder if he's still got some Adam on him?"

Getting a look over the two above him, he recognized them to be just like the crazy person that attacked him only minutes ago, their bodies and clothes covered in blood and grime, wearing a strange rabbit mask that covered the top half of their faces. In their hands were bloodied bent pipes.

Just as Victor was about to worry about what they would do to him, a strange noise echoed across the room, and the two crazy...splicers, Atlas called them, seemed to get scared.

"You hear that?! Let's bug!" The other Splicer whispered to his friend, looking out into the distance in fear.

"WEAK! You're a weak chopper!" The Splicer that originally spoke chastised his partner, pointing his bloodied pipe at him. 

"This little fish ain't worth toeing with no Big Daddy!" The second splicer retorted.

"Yellow! Always have been!" The first splicer shouted at the second splicer before bending down over Victor, "You'll be no better off with the metal daddy, little fish. See you floating in the briney," The Splicer laughed with sadistic glee.

His vision adding again, he opened his eyes not long after, feeling the ground shake and a menacing growl from out of his vision.

Walking slowly from out the corner of his eye was a...deformed giant wearing a scuba suit of some kind with a drill for an arm, with the other hand clenched as if ready to punch something.

Then, to Victor's bafflement, a...child came from behind him. The child, shoeless, wore a tattered dress with a menacing and large syringe in hand, then she bent over, her face revealing to be ashy pale, with sickening yellow eyes that had no pupils.

"Look, Mr. Bubbles. It's an angel! I can see the light coming from his belly...wait a minute, he's still breathing," She pouted before looking back to the giant, "It's alright, I know he'll be an angel soon," The girl smiled at Victor as if knowing something he did not.

Then the child walked away, the metal giant, no. The Big Daddy following behind her, ready to protect her.

His vision adding once again, Victor awoke with a start, finding himself lying on the ground and feeling groggy.

He felt...strange, and with a raise of his hand, he watched fascination as electricity began to spark from his entire hand, emitting it in electricity.

Clenching his hand, the electricity dissipated, and with a deep breath, he climbed from the ground.

He needed to know. What exactly are Plasmids? How did they function? How were they created? What else could they do?

With a goal in mind, nothing in Rapture would stop a Husband from finding a way, even one filled with such little hope in finding a way to save his wife.