Not long into her journey, she'd stumble across Leon, picking himself up off the ground.
Up until a few moments ago, he had been trapped in his own body. His arms and legs moved of their own accord, taking the skills he learned and putting them to malevolent use.
He could hear them, Saddler, Salazar, the hundreds of other plagas. They were a constant chorus in his skull, laughing as they manipulated his movements, turning him into nothing but a puppet on a string. He had been screaming inside his own head, but couldn't break through the noise.
He could only watch helplessly as the violence unfolded in front of him, but it was the targets that he was sent after that made the experience more unnerving. They were senators, congressmen, and other politicians. People he was sworn to protect, but that he, frankly, hated. And because of that, there was some perverse part of him that was enjoying this show. There was something about watching these assholes get what was coming to them that just satisfying.
This was just the warm up act, though. Leon needed to be primed. Somewhere in his mind, under the chorus of plaga, there was a whisper. Don't you wish that was Nathan Petrelli you were stabbing? What has that useless motherfucker done anyway? I bet you wish that was Brainiac 5 you were choking to death. You know that arrogant snot is so caught up in proving how superior he is to to everyone that he's going to fuck up and create something that'll kill everyone.
The were a whole crew full of people that Leon regarded as a bunch of loud, reckless assholes. Part of him really wanted to punch several of them in the mouth then boot them out an airlock. And had the Nightmare King simply sent Leon to do that from the get go, Leon might have let it happen. He might not have resisted as much as he was.
Airlocking Batman was a really tempting thought.
But the Nightmare King got greedy. He wanted to break the fight in Leon, to own him completely. He figured the best way to break his spirit was to break his heart.
Without really noticing the change in scenery, Leon found himself holding Claire. But not in the caring, gentle, loving way that he normally would. No, he was holding her of the ground as he throttled her neck.
He tried to stop, once he became aware of what he was doing. He could feel her struggling, he could feel her screams and cries die in her throat under his grip. He could see the fear in her eyes. And finally, he could her the sickening snap of her neck as he broke it in his hands.
Claire died in his arms. But his will to fight didn't die with her.
If anything, it made Leon realize that was just a dream. Because there was no way in hell Claire would go out like that.
The two of them had an agreement. One that was never spoken of, but was understood between them. If one of them got infected, and was past the point of no return, the other would finish them, no matter what.
Claire wouldn't allow some parasite masquerading as him to hurt anyone. She'd fight it tooth and nail, and he'd be rooting for her to do so. And most importantly, she would kick him in the stones and then in the chin if he ever tried to choke her like that.
Realizing his folly, the Nightmare King tried to replace Claire's corpse with Jean Grey's but by then, the spell had already been broken.
He could hear the whispers over the chorus of noise in his head, and he met it head on.
Yes, he thought the bulk of his bosses on Capitol Hill were worthless wastes of flesh. Yes, he hated some of the things he's had to do in the line of duty. Yes, he wanted to toss several crew members into a star and watch them burn.
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Up until a few moments ago, he had been trapped in his own body. His arms and legs moved of their own accord, taking the skills he learned and putting them to malevolent use.
He could hear them, Saddler, Salazar, the hundreds of other plagas. They were a constant chorus in his skull, laughing as they manipulated his movements, turning him into nothing but a puppet on a string. He had been screaming inside his own head, but couldn't break through the noise.
He could only watch helplessly as the violence unfolded in front of him, but it was the targets that he was sent after that made the experience more unnerving. They were senators, congressmen, and other politicians. People he was sworn to protect, but that he, frankly, hated. And because of that, there was some perverse part of him that was enjoying this show. There was something about watching these assholes get what was coming to them that just satisfying.
This was just the warm up act, though. Leon needed to be primed. Somewhere in his mind, under the chorus of plaga, there was a whisper. Don't you wish that was Nathan Petrelli you were stabbing? What has that useless motherfucker done anyway? I bet you wish that was Brainiac 5 you were choking to death. You know that arrogant snot is so caught up in proving how superior he is to to everyone that he's going to fuck up and create something that'll kill everyone.
The were a whole crew full of people that Leon regarded as a bunch of loud, reckless assholes. Part of him really wanted to punch several of them in the mouth then boot them out an airlock. And had the Nightmare King simply sent Leon to do that from the get go, Leon might have let it happen. He might not have resisted as much as he was.
Airlocking Batman was a really tempting thought.
But the Nightmare King got greedy. He wanted to break the fight in Leon, to own him completely. He figured the best way to break his spirit was to break his heart.
Without really noticing the change in scenery, Leon found himself holding Claire. But not in the caring, gentle, loving way that he normally would. No, he was holding her of the ground as he throttled her neck.
He tried to stop, once he became aware of what he was doing. He could feel her struggling, he could feel her screams and cries die in her throat under his grip. He could see the fear in her eyes. And finally, he could her the sickening snap of her neck as he broke it in his hands.
Claire died in his arms. But his will to fight didn't die with her.
If anything, it made Leon realize that was just a dream. Because there was no way in hell Claire would go out like that.
The two of them had an agreement. One that was never spoken of, but was understood between them. If one of them got infected, and was past the point of no return, the other would finish them, no matter what.
Claire wouldn't allow some parasite masquerading as him to hurt anyone. She'd fight it tooth and nail, and he'd be rooting for her to do so. And most importantly, she would kick him in the stones and then in the chin if he ever tried to choke her like that.
Realizing his folly, the Nightmare King tried to replace Claire's corpse with Jean Grey's but by then, the spell had already been broken.
He could hear the whispers over the chorus of noise in his head, and he met it head on.
Yes, he thought the bulk of his bosses on Capitol Hill were worthless wastes of flesh. Yes, he hated some of the things he's had to do in the line of duty. Yes, he wanted to toss several crew members into a star and watch them burn.
But...