With his victory fully assured, Samuel gave another loud roar before he flew down to the ground next to the burning corpse of the black viper.
With all its skin almost burnt off leaving a skeleton, Samuel shot a breath of ice, putting out the flames to prevent further collateral damage and encasing the corpse in an ice shell.
With that done, he turned and sprayed an icy mist all over the battle field to quench any flames that were still festering. He then turned and walked towards the crowd of police and military personnel in the distance; his giant wings tucked together nicely on his giant back.
Each step Samuel took towards them caused the ground beneath them to tremble; causing them to be very nervous and fear-struck. They were of course justified as a giant creature that dwarfed the huge black serpent approached them.
They were in awe of his majestic form; resigning themselves to their fates as they knew they could do nothing if this creature sought to kill them.
When Samuel was almost right on top of them, he spotted Dr. Michelson in the crowd, standing next to the sergeant and an unknown man.
When he reached them, he lowered his head to gaze at the police and military standing in his way causing them to back up in fear. He then stood upright as his body glowed and he returned to his Prime Emergence form.
A path was opened up in the crowd as he walked up to the doctor and the Sergeant. "Good work out there", Emmanuel commended. "Thanks…although it was really challenging for me", Samuel replied.
"How so?" Emmanuel asked perplexed. "I never knew how difficult it would be to fight while trying to keep from destroying the entire city. It took a lot to keep the snake contained to minimize the area affected by combat", Samuel answered then turned to the Sergeant.
"Please have your men and the first responders explore the area within and surrounding the battle field. I tried to sense for any stragglers to keep them from being collateral but I can't be a hundred percent sure. The flames are out so they can freely traverse the terrain", he requested.
The stunned sergeant could only nod and walk away to convey his instructions.
"Sam…this here is Dr. Felix Ferguson. He is an old colleague from my time in university. The last I heard of him…his helicopter had been caught up in a storm and brought down. It seems he was marooned on a remote island and spent years living amongst the natives of there.
"Hello there", Samuel greeted as he held out a clawed hand to shake Felix's hand. Stunned out of his mind for being in the presence of such a creature, Felix could not react to the greeting. He recovered a few seconds later and hurriedly took Samuel's hand to respond to the greeting.
"I'm guessing you being here at the same time as that snake is not a coincidence", Samuel pointed out. "You are right…it's not a coincidence. It's a long story if you are willing to listen", Felix answered.
"Of course…I'll really like to here about its origin", Samuel said as he turned to gaze at the frozen corpse of the snake in the distance.
"I think we need to relocate. Let's meet back at the Institute. I believe there is a place to keep the corpse on ice for further study. I've already called for transport", Emmanuel said.
"Why don't I transport it?" Samuel asked. "I want to keep the connection between us as minimal as possible", Emmanuel replied and Samuel nodded in understanding.
Several rescue choppers quickly arrived at the scene and flew over the scarred terrain with their floodlights brightly shining; aiding the ground officers in their search for any survivors. A few were found in different points of the battle field; having differing levels of injury.
Many were already dead when their bodies were located and transported. It was a sad day indeed.
As the rescue operation continued, multiple military transport helicopters arrived and hovered above the frozen corpse of the snake. Multiple special Opps rappelled down from all the choppers, bringing down several strong looking chains.
They quickly attached and secured the chains around the frozen corpse. After this was done, the choppers slowly lifted off the ground. The weight of the cargo shocked them as they expected it to weigh several thousand tons.
Due to the nature of Samuel's ice breath, it was different from regular ice that was just frozen water. because of this, the ice around the snake barely weighed anything.
The crowd below marveled at the creature as it was transported over the city towards the institute for containment.
Samuel flew into the sky behind them as Emmanuel joined Felix in his chopper to follow as well.
...…...
The Sienna Institute for Genetic Research and Analysis was on the highest-level security alert, as the corpse of the black viper was brought in.
Samuel and the two doctors were ushered in and led into a private conference room. Waiting for them was a few high ranked staff of the institute who were in Emmanuel's immediate circle of friends.
When they saw Samuel, they trembled in excitement, remembering the secret experiment they participated in close to two decades ago.
They all took their seats around the conference table and the discussion soon commenced. Felix gave a brief background of his life before explaining his research involving the black viper.
The scientists were in awe with his technological genius, listening intensely as he explained the results of his research.
He ended his explanation by describing the accident that resulted in the black viper's mutation and absurd growth.
"Was its acidic venom as a result of its mutation or was it always capable of that?" Samuel asked, allowing the others to be curious as well.
"From the little I got before its mutation; its venom already had a high level of acidity. It appears that, it was also enhanced as well; capable of melting people or things down in an instant", Felix answered.
"Although I neutralized it quickly, it was still capable of causing damage in my body. Had I not had the ability to regenerate, it could have left permanent injuries in me", Samuel explained.
"We need to conduct further research on it here. Dr. Ferguson…you are welcome to join our team here if it would not burden you", Dr. Michelson invited and the latter agreed.
The meeting went on for a few more hours before everyone dispersed a few minutes after midnight.
Samuel returned to the bank to retrieve his car before he returned home.