Chapter 15: Berserker
192 2 5
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

When Carter woke up in the morning, he found himself surrounded by his friends. They were all staring at him as if they were observing an interesting lab experiment. He felt it was very strange, so he asked them why they were staring at him. “What are you guys looking at? Do I have something on me?” Joe looked at everyone else before asking Carter “How are you here Carter? Because I remember that the person sleeping here was Roman. So, how did you get here?”

Upon listening to Joe’s question, Carter came to a realization. When he asked everyone why they were staring at him, he realized that he was speaking with his regular voice and not that of Dr. Roman. When he looked at his hands and felt his fair and face, it was not that of Dr. Roman’s but they were of himself instead. He wanted to panic but at the same time, he felt relief. His identity had been exposed. He did not need to keep up the charade any longer. Looking at how everyone was staring at him, he knew he needed to give them an explanation. However, he did not understand how he could have undone the imprint. He thought inside his head "Guess I can't control it in my sleep."

Seeing as how the jig was up, he explained himself to everyone present. He told them the entire story. He started his explanation with the Crisis event and how the entire multiverse was wiped out by an anti-matter wave. All the way up to recent events. Carter looked around and he knew the information he just told them was a bit too much to swallow. Everyone was speechless. "Hey, I felt the same way when I found out." He also told them about the will of Alaya, how he was given his superpowers and especially the fact that each and every member of the Servants of Alaya was actually just a single person. "Yup, all the guys you met before." Cisco was especially flabbergasted, and Carter answered with what he knew. "You mean, Archer?" "Me" "Ruler and Rider?" "Me" "What about Assassin?" "Also me." 

Cisco, Barry, Stein, and Wells asked him how his powers worked, but he could not give them a proper explanation as he himself did not fully understand the power he was given. He told them that so far, he had imprinted, Assassin, Rider, Caster, Archer, Ruler, and Lancer. He was only able to choose one hero from the Throne of Heroes to imprint for each class. He explained how heroes of each era were enshrined on the Throne of Heroes.

“Eddie, remember when you asked me whether or not you should call him Assassin or Li Shuwen?” Eddie simply nodded to Carter’s question. Cisco told Carter that he had found information on Li Shuwen on the internet. He said he believed Carter to be a copycat, but from the explanation that Carter gave, Cisco no knew that his reasoning was way off point. "Carter you weren't copying Li Shuwen were you?, You actually became Li Shuwen himself."

Partway during Carter’s explanation, Eddie, and Joe were called away because a meta-human was rampaging downtown. Ralph and Firestorm went with them to stop the threat as quickly as possible so that they could return as fast as possible to spend Christmas with their friends and to continue listening to Carter’s story.

When Eddie, Joe, Ralph, Ronnie, and Stein, arrived at the scene of the rampage. What greeted them was pure destruction. All the stores, cars, and buildings in the area were either damaged or destroyed. Joe states, "The entire place is totaled. Who or what could've done this?" They looked around the area before hearing a lound roar and finding the culprit behind the devastation. The reported culprit was assumed to be a meta-human, with a large figure standing almost two-stories tall, with ashen grey skin and carrying around a large axe.

When they found the monster, it was continuing its rampage. Eddie kept running around the hulking figure and attack him, but no matter how many times he attacked, I did not seem to have any effect on him. Firestorm provided Eddie with air support. As Eddie was continuously running around hitting the monster of a man, Firestorm was unleashing a barrage of fireballs. Seeing as how their attacks were not working, Ralph stretched himself around what could be described as an oversized powerful meta-human berserk.

"I'll wrap things up here. Then we can go back, and listen to what Carter has to say." Just as Ralph was about to wrap himself on the berserker, it pulled away and grabbed him. He was pulled and stretched a bit more before he was thrown against a wall. Despite the combined efforts of the three heroes, they are unable to stop the meta-human berserker. As they were fighting the meta-human berserker, a news reporter was reporting the entire situation to the entire city and warning citizens to stay away from downtown Central City lest they be caught in the monster’s rampage.

Carter was continuing his explanation to Caitlin, Cisco, and Wells when Iris received a call from her boss to turn on the TV. She turned on the TV and it was showing a live news bulletin. "We now bring you live to downtown Central City, where a raging meta-human is destroying everything in his path. Authorities are urging citizens to stay home and stay away from downtown as the large meta-human is rampaging in the area." The camera then panned to the field reporter then to the fight between the heroes and the monster meta-human. The reporter told everyone that the monster of a meta-human had already defeated Elongated Man and swatted Firestorm through the side of a building. Their conditions are unknown. The Flash is the only hero still standing against the monster.

The news report caught everyone’s attention, Carter in particular. When he saw the news, he knew what or rather who the monster meta-human was. The moment the camera showed the image of The Flash fighting the monster, Carter could not help but exclaim “Berserker”. When the rest heard him, they asked if he knew who or what that thing was, all Carter could do was nod. "I gotta go", he then told them that he had to leave or else Eddie, Ralph, and Firestorm’s lives could be in danger. Caitlin told Carter that she needed to tag along, "Carter take me with you. I may not be able to fight that thing like you or Eddie, but at least I can provide some first aid for Ronnie and Ralph." Carter nods to Caitlin's request and took her with him.

Carter imprinted Rider and summoned the chariot.  "Hurry up Caitlin. You got everything you need?" When Caitlin came to the chariot, she brought along a first aid kit with her to treat Ralph and Ronnie. Carter pulled the reins and the chariot started moving. He held onto Caitlin’s waist as they traveled downtown. When they reached the area, Carter dropped Caitlin off beside Ralph before he made his way towards the location of the battle.

The moment he arrived, Carter drops Caitlin off at a safe distance from Berserker near Ronnie and Ralph, then Carter approaches the monster of a servant. The monster turned around to face him. In a low voice, it said “servant”. When it said this, Eddie stopped attacking and moved away from it, even with his speed, he was unable to dodge the monster’s attacks. Despite its huge figure, it was incredibly agile. When Eddie pulled back his attacks, he ran and stood beside Carter, ready to engage the enemy once again. "Come on, let's take this guy down. You kicked my butt last time, hopefully, you can do the same to this guy." Carter shook his head and told him that Caitlin is currently treating Ralph, "You should get patched up and help Caitling with Ralph and Ronnie. I'll can take this guy by myself. You're not ready to face a servant in a real battle. You'll just get in my way. And I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Eddie wanted to refute Carter’s words but found the man glaring at him. Eddie could not help but reluctantly agree before moving away. He then shouted “If you need help, I’ll be here to provide support.

As soon as Eddie moved away far enough Carter began his introduction with the monster. “I Achilles, a hero of the Trojan War, servant of the Rider class, challenge you.” The monster then starter roaring to the skies. “Will you accept the battle, Servant of the Berserker class, the great hero of myth, the one who conquered the twelve labors, Heracles!?”

5