Imposter System

Alexis quickly pulled out a large gun and began blasting the creatures. Her precision and accuracy were top class and the creatures started exploding one by one. There wasn't much Matt could do except throw out a mind blast occasionally. However, these things seemed to be resistant to mental attacks. It was likely due to their nature or lack of consciousness. They were creatures that simply acted on instinct.

Many of the fallen foes continued approaching and had to be shot multiple times. The weapon Alexis was using was similar to the PL81 in that it used electromagnetic technology, however, the sheer size of the weapon was five times as large. The large caliber ensured that the target would be obliterated. Unfortunately, due to the living metal composition of their bodies, it only fragmented or disabled them shortly.

"There's too many of them, I won't be able to protect you once they surround us. I'll make a path for you to go after Willard."

Alexis put away the gun and grabbed for another weapon hidden in the back compartment. The weapon extended and revealed a large power hammer. The boosters in the suit initiated and she charged forward with high velocity. After slamming three creatures in a single swing, they flew to the edge of the room and seemed to be unable to move. Matt quickly followed behind Alexis as she mowed down the enemies, sending them flying.

Normally, this level of acrobatics and exertion would quickly tire out the person operating the suit, but due to her innate abilities and passive strengthening from her parasite, Alexis was able to execute all of it with ease. However, since she was doing her best not to move too aggressively and protect herself from even the slightest injury, she was at a disadvantage with Matt around. Once they reached the end of the room, there was yet another door.

The door was very complex and had an intricate locking mechanism. It was more durable than a safe door. In fact, the wall adjacent to the door was likely weaker than the door itself. The panel on the door required three-step verification with two biometric locks and one password lock. However, when Matt reached the door, the screen of the lock was black with green lines of code scrolling rapidly. This was due to the direct breach from the universal drive Matt used earlier.

Matt pulled the metal handle down and the sound of the locks disengaging was heard. The door creaked open on its own, giving him room to slip through before closing it again behind him. He had faith in Alexis's ability to take down the living metal creatures. The room he entered looked to be some sort of loft. It had very nice furnishings with sofa, table, and monitor in the main space.

It did not take Matt long to notice the door with a biohazard symbol on it. It had thick leaded glass, so Matt could only make out that the room inside was very brightly lit and white. He opened the door with ease since it wasn't locked, and entered what looked to be a decontamination room. Streams of air shot out at him to kill bacteria and slough off any particulates. There were a set of scrubs folded on a rack next to him but he ignored them.

With his Detect Life on, he was able to sense the swarm being taken out a few at a time. Their life force was very tenacious. Ahead of him in the next room, he could sense two distinct life forces that he recognized. One was Martha's and the other was Alexandria's. Originally her life force had the telltale signs of infection, but after Matt manipulated the living metal, it instead multiplied her vigor by several folds. Compared to Alexis, she was slightly better in that department.

Once the decontamination finished, he moved right into the next room. The last life force was certainly Willard's. However, something was strange about it. It seemed that he artificially increased his health. This was most likely due to some sort of drug, as there were many auxiliary items in the game. Beyond the stim pack, there were drugs that increased your strength, agility, and even intelligence.

Inside the room, there was a large glass chamber that held Martha. There was some sort of vapor inside the chamber and Martha was asleep. She was emitting a lot of energy, so Matt deduced that the vapor was similar to the mixture he created. Whatever Willard was doing required a large amount of energy and he seemed to have figured out a way to tap into Martha's power source. Meanwhile, on a medical table strapped down with metal braces lied Alexandria.

She had various implements around her that didn't seem to be attached to her yet. This included the very familiar headpiece that contained various inputs. Willard sat on a chair between the two with a transparent liquid slowly infusing into his arm. He was not surprised to see Matt, and stared at him with a knowing expression. His mind was so absolutely twisted, it seemed as if he was greeting a friend he hadn't seen in a long time.

"You are here. I knew you are the only person that could understand me. Our game has to end here though. Activate the third sequence." Willard said excitedly. He truly considered Matt to be a friend. However, due to the way he grew up, his idea of friendship was completely warped. As his voice sounded out, various machinery came out of the ceiling, walls, and floor. It began to play a very specific frequency. Willard had already put on a set of headphones as this noise pierced Matt's head.

His mental energy became turbulent. In Willard's eyes, this was checkmate. However, he underestimated how much Matt had grown. His mental resistance and all of his abilities made his mental capacity much larger. He ran forward toward Willard and their eyes locked. Their relationship began with a simple hypnosis, and it would end in one as well. Matt didn't think he could command anything complex against Willard in his current state, so he fell back on one of the scenarios he expected.

[Hypnosis Activated]

{Sleep!} Matt directly transmitted into Willard's mind. He even activated his Phantom Voices to repeat the sleep command over and over and decrease his resistance to hypnosis. Willard tried to resist, but the compelling force was too powerful. His eyes drooped and his head tilted downward. Matt's ears began bleeding, so he immediately left his body and entered the dark world. Without delay, he invaded Willard's dream and began to seize control.

Inside the empty space, Matt applied the mental energy that he was able to salvage into shaping a dream. A scene straight out of a video game appeared. Matt stood in a vast open plain with a dark cloudy sky. It had just rained, so there were small puddles of water everywhere. Soon, his mental energy began to drag Willard's consciousness into the dream. When it arrived, he looked around confused for a moment, before seemingly coming to a conclusion.

"You've improved. However, bringing your consciousness into mine was a big mistake. This isn't my first dream battle." Willard said in a very cocky voice while covering his face with his hand. Soon the ground began to rumble and hundreds of metal containers fell out of the sky. They landed on the open plain and transformed into giant mechs. Matt narrowed his eyes and seemed to recognize these mechs were from an animated show in his last life.

"So that's where your behavior comes from. I'm surprised you didn't change your appearance to black with tall collars and a helmet to cover your whole head. However, if you think that is enough to beat me, then you're mistaken."

The only important factor in the dream world was mental strength. Anything created through your imagination required a level of strength, and the higher the magnitude the more resilient it became. Unknown to Willard, Matt didn't need to win in this confrontation. His real goal to get close to Willard. The limitations on Sundering Strike were touch range. However, he had long discovered that his powers worked in a dream as if it were reality.

Matt began to create an appropriate enemy to distract Willard. Flaming balls of fire fell from the sky, lighting up the dreary atmosphere. Willard sent some of his Mechs to intercept the meteors, but vastly underestimated their origin. Some were blasted apart by the advanced technology on the mechs, while other mechs were unable to stop the descent. However, whatever happened to the meteors, the result was the same.

Greenish flames burned continuously on the scattered stones as they slowly approached each other. The sticky flames connected to another rock or boulder and began to from a golem which was significantly taller than the mechs. Although they were slow and received a barrage from the cannons, missiles, and energy attacks, they were extremely tenacious and would occasionally catch one, crushing it.

Matt used the remainder of his mental energy to give himself super speed. As he accelerated near instantaneously, the world around him froze in time. He arrived in front of Willard as if teleporting, and grabbed his face. As his speed returned to normal, and the world began to start again, Willard's eyes widened. Matt canceled all of his dream manipulation, returning the unused mental energy to him.

"It's already over."

Sundering Strike!