The Twisted Metal Fate

Robert and Jordan are riding on a speedboat with their destination being the area known as SCP-6217. Robert is steering the boat, while Jordan is sitting quietly at the front. They've been given assault rifles to protect themselves.

"Hey. You've been awfully quiet. I thought you would bombard me with questions by now." Robert says.

Jordan keeps his gaze at the horizon. "I've just been thinking. I don't know if I can trust anyone anymore." 

"Is it because we keep secrets?" Jordan doesn't reply. "You're an honest man in a world full of deception. That's a very admirable trait. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." 

After that, they stay silent until they reach the shores. The once clear water is now a black sludge. They are careful not to step on it and reach the sands. The birds are perched on the trees and buildings, observing their movements. 

"All right. Let's go check out the factories first." Robert says. They head over to one of the abandoned buildings. Robert stands next to the door. He kicks it down and scans the area. "Clear." They both head inside. 

They turn on their flashlights. The interior has rusty machinery, clearly not operational for a long time. The walls have graffiti of the Church of the Broken God with an X. It looks fresh. There's a platform in the middle with what seems to be an endoskeleton missing its torso and head.

"What the hell is this?" Jordan asks while examining it.

"Seems they were rebuilding their god. This place was a hideout for the traitors." Robert explains. He kicks it down. The endoskeleton crashes on the ground, the impact echoing throughout the empty space.

Suddenly, a person sneaks behind Robert and tries to choke him. He tries to pry free, but the person has a surprising grip. Jordan rushes to his aid and bashes the assailant's head multiple times with the end of his rifle. The person lets him go and Jordan points the gun at him. He should shoot, but he's frozen in place. The assailant takes advantage of his hesitation and rushes towards him, before getting shot on the head by Robert.

"Oof. Crazy son of a bitch." He comments casually and goes up to Jordan to pay his shoulder. "Leave the cleansing to me." He assures him. Jordan takes shaky deep breaths, before they check the body.

It's a blonde man with the same graffiti symbol carved on his cheeks. His blood is black as tar. Robert checks the body's left arm and it's mechanical. "No wonder the fucker was strong." He whistles.

"...How are you comfortable with this? Was your nervousness from when we first met an act too?" Jordan is unnerved by his nonchalant attitude.

He sighs. "There's a difference between handling humans and monsters. Trust me. I'll shit myself if we find something non-human. Let's hope that we don't come across one." He scans the area. "Shit. I was hoping there would be more so I could question them. Let's check the drawers." Robert starts searching. Jordan opens one of them to find a bloody note.

The…reckoning…bout to…meet me at the lak…

"Hey." Jordan hands him the note. 

Robert reads it. "The lake, huh? Guess we know where to go now." He pockets it. 

They hear something hit against a window. Turning their attention to the source, multiple birds are flying against the glass. It cracks as more keep crashing. They finally break through and a flock heads towards them. The men run towards the exit, while shooting at it. They make it outside and hold the door. They can hear the birds slamming without any survival instinct. Another flock is seen in the distance.

"Come on!" Robert shouts. They sprint towards a small house. To their relief, the front door is open and they quickly block every possible opening with furniture. The birds try to break through, but they hold the fort down. After some time, the assault stops. They stay in place to make sure the coast is clear. "I think we're good."

An old lady leaves the room adjacent to them. Out of panic, they point their guns at her. "O-Oh. Visitors. Let me brew some coffee." She weakly heads to the kitchen. 

"Wait. La-" Robert holds him back.

"She's infected." He points out the shiny metallic spike coming out her spine. "Whatever the hell the ex members were trying to do, it seems they succeeded. Now everyone is reaping their consequences." He grinds his teeth in frustration.

The lady looks at them. "O-Oh. You're Alexander and Maria's sons." They both are in shock hearing their respective parent's names.

"My father was here!?" Jordan rushes towards here.

"Y-Yes. How time flies." She has a hard time standing. Jordan and Robert help her sit down on the dinner table. "Thank you, boys."

"Oye loca, why was my mom and his pop here with you?" Robert asks.

She thinks for a moment. "I-It was a long time ago."

Some decades ago

The wife was cleaning the dishes. There was a knock on the door and she answered. There were two people waiting on the other side. 

One was a handsome man with long black hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a black Nirvana shirt with baggy jeans and Jordans shoes. He had a folder with documents inside.

The other was a beautiful Latina woman with blonde curly hair and brown eyes. She was wearing Gap branded clothing. Pink polo shirt, well fit Levi's jeans and black converse shoes. 

"Good morning! Mrs…" the man goes through the folder. "Fitzgerald! My name is Alexander Lopez. And this is my partner, Maria Lisboa." Maria gave a peace sign. "We're here to ask some questions to Mr. Fitzgerald. Is he home?"

"No sir. He's currently fishing with his friends at the lake."

Maria and Alex looked at each other worryingly. "I see. Do you mind if we ask you instead?"

The wife smiled. "Of course. Come inside." They both headed inside and sat at the dinner table. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Yes! With cream and sugar, please." Alex said.

"Just give it to me black." Maria said.

The wife served them their desired drinks. Alex opened the file. "Would you mind telling us everything you know about the factory?" He pointed at the building across the street.

"Nothing much. They opened recently as a car manufacturer and my husband took the job as he's a mechanic." The wife answered.

Alex wrote the notes down. "And these friends your husband hangs around with. What do they do?"

"Well…They mostly go to the lake to fish. And while he's a busy bee, he always has time for them. He even cut our dates short whenever they arrived." She over shared. Alex kept writing everything down. "Are you both married? You both look great together."

Maria scoffed. "He wishes. I date men, not women." She referenced how feminine Alex looked. He feigned being harmed by clutching his chest. "Anyways, does this look familiar to you?" She pulled out a picture of the Church of the Broken God symbol. 

The wife's eyes widened. "Yes. My husband has that tattooed on his chest. Although, it has an X over it." 

Alex and Maria stood up. "That's everything we need. Thank you for your time." Maria whispered something in his ear. "...Do you mind making a request for us?" They both pulled out a picture of their kids. "If you ever see these people in the future, let them know to not go near the lake, okay?" 

"Might as well tell them to go diving." Maria shook her head. "If you see this pendejo, tell him to finish the job. Or else his ass will be put up on the wall." Alex had to hold his laughter from the wife's reaction. 

Present Day

"Talk about living in the smallest world in the universe." Robert sighs.

"If he was here, that means he knew about the cult and was trying to help with your mom." Jordan says.

"Makes sense. He was part of the Foundation and my mom was never the religious type. She never agreed with my father's side of the family. It's a miracle I even exist!" 

"You both grew up t-to be good men. Now that I fulfilled the request, could I ask a favor?" The old lady looks straight at them. "Would you release me from this physical world? I've kept my husband waiting long enough."

Jordan recoils in surprise. "You want us to kill you!? I'm sure there's a cure for this!"

Robert pats his shoulder. "There's no cure. This lady has been suffering this long for us. Keeping her alive would be the cruelest fate we could do. Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Jordan grits his teeth. He goes to the corner of the room. Robert points the gun at her head. "Just an FYI, we won't be able to give you a proper burial."

The old lady smiles. "It's okay. My soul will carry on to heaven." There's a moment of silence. Then the house echoes with the sound of a gunshot. Jordan jumps from it and starts crying. Robert gives him time to calm down. "...We have to keep moving." Robert removes the furniture. Jordan turns to look at the body hanging back on the chair, with black blood dripping from her head. She still has a smile. 

"We have to stop whatever the hell is causing this." Jordan encourages himself. Out of respect, he goes to the bedroom and grabs the blanket to cover the lady. 

They go outside. The sky is clear. For now. "If I remember correctly, the lake should be down this way." Robert says. They walk cautiously. Keeping their senses peeled for any sounds or movements. "Say. What's up with Stand? We've been in trouble for a hot minute and she hasn't appeared to defend us."

"I don't know. It's not like I control her or anything. Maybe she's sleeping." Jordan unconsciously touches his chest. 

"Well she better start waking up. Cause we're going to need all the help we can get." 

Upon arriving at the lakeside, they find a hooded figure standing near the blackened waters. "Hm? Not quite the guests I was expecting, but a pleasant one, nonetheless." He says in a menacing deep voice while smirking.

"Sorry man. Your guy won't be coming. And there will be no one to meet you." Robert points the gun at him.

"You're going against your grandfather's goals of bringing a new age of humanity? He would be severely disappointed."

"Like I care what he thinks. I'm the new leader now. And my job is to stop you fuckers from playing with something beyond our comprehension!" 

The man chuckles. "Our one and true leader is our god, Mekhane. They have given me a purpose, something my fleshy life lacked." He removes his hoodie, revealing his completely mechanical body. The only thing organic is dark brown eyes and heart that's beating rhythmically between his metal pecks. "I rejected my life as Alexander Chugaev and have ascended to become something greater. I am now Optimus.  You both will make great sacrifices for the god!"

Cold-blooded - Yakuza Like A Dragon

The Rejected Scientist: Optimus 

Jordan and Robert shoot the hell out of Optimus, but the bullets are bouncing off him. 

"It is futile. My body is invincible!" His left arm transforms into a blade and jumps towards Robert. He slashes Robert's left arm, expecting to slice through, but it stops at the bone. "What!?" Robert plunges his fingers in Optimus's eyes. They both push each other away. "Uuirg!!" He covers his face, giving time for his eyes to regenerate. 

"Ack! Mierda!" Robert rips his sleeve to bandage the wound. "Now's your chance!"

Jordan rushes towards Optimus and tries to fire at his heart. Optimus recovers and punches Jordan's face, sending him flying near the water. 

Black muddy tentacles with metallic plates emerge from the lake and dart towards Jordan. Newi comes out of his and slices them in half. A loud gurgle of pain escapes from the water. She lets out a loud shrill to let her presence known. More tentacles come out to attack. Newi flies away above Optimus. He is so shocked at the unseen force that he fails to notice Jordan getting dragged along. He purposely crashes at the metallic man and empties the clip on his exposed heart.  Optimus falls on the ground, as the tentacles wrap around his body. Robert quickly pulls out a bomb and attaches it to the body, before getting pulled to the lake. 

"Do me a favor, God. Stay broken." He clicks on the detonator, causing an explosion in the water. There's silence. Then an unholy scream pierces through the atmosphere. The tentacles seizures as the viscous black mud drips from them and the metal parts detach. The water slowly becomes clearer, cured from the corruption. 

Sensing no danger, Newi yawns and goes back inside Jordan. He walks to Robert and sits next to him. "You know I have many questions, right?"

"Pfft. I don't doubt it." He makes sure to bandage his arm tightly. "My bones are made from the same material as that fucker. See, I suffer from brittle bone disease. So my parents tried to find a way to cure it. My mom went all over the world to find the best doctors to find a solution. She eventually found it by injecting those same chemicals to harden my bones to metal."

"Huh. So when your leg was broken, was that an act?" Jordan asks while smirking.

"I wish. It got bent, but it still hurt like a motherfucker. It's why I could walk in a day." They look at the now clear sky. Birds start falling dead. "I guess that's why she was working with your dad. Though it's some crazy shit. I guess we were destined to meet." 

Jordan gets up. "I may not be the religious type, but you might be right on this one." He helps Robert stand. 

"It's official. We're soul brothers!" They both laugh as they make their way back to the boat.