Here's the next update! If it's been a while since the last update, that's because I've been writing ahead of time. The next few chapters will have been written, or at least planned out in detail by the time this goes live. I learned my lesson from trying to write another story and hitting a wall because of rushed chapters. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I still own nothing, Starcraft II is owned by Activision Blizzard, and Worm by Wildbow. Thanks to Reddit for info on some stuff.

The One Who Collects: Arrival 1.4

Taylor was silently laying in bed, observing through Dehaka's eyes. The tunnel he dug came out into the large sewer pipe and aqueduct system under Brockton. From there then had access to most major areas, including the Docks, near Arcadia, and the outlet pipe by the Boat Graveyard. He moved smoothly out, the small bits of rubble hitting the floor nearby. His advanced senses easily located nearby creatures in a radius, allowing them both to get a basic idea of their surroundings. Some small rodents swarmed nearby, a nest of some kind. Birds roosted in an abandoned ship, taking over the pilot's seat with their nest. Of course, Dehaka could hear all of this, but Taylor wasn't getting the full experience. There was a degree of separation when she looked through his senses, like being described a scene in vivid detail rather than actually feeling it.

'Can I... take control?' Taylor asked.

'Do as you wish.' he said.

She reached forward with her thoughts, excitedly taking control as her mind seemed to overlap his. With a jolt, Dehaka felt his arm move without his conscious thought, and his tail smacked into something by itself. He instinctively reared back, snarling at the unknown sensation. Taylor stopped in worry. 'So sorry! I'll go slower!'

He felt her mind slip towards his once more, and seemed to overlap in an indescribable manner. Suddenly They were completely aware of new sensations, like salt in the air and the sound of small feet moving a good distance away. A breeze blew, startling them slightly as it hit their... tail?

They gasped in excitement as They turned in a circle, trying to catch their own tail. She seemed to be completely sharing the body together, both agreeing on what to do before They did it, like a computer.

Dehaka's worries and instincts felt natural to Taylor's mind, like she had been following them for ages. The need to mark a territory, to protect their pack, was almost overwhelming. These new emotions somehow didn't conflict with her other morals and ideas, despite him being a murder-demon and her being a semi-normal human girl. They took a few stumbling steps forward, Dehaka automatically guiding her movement with his mind. After a few minutes they were moving at an easy gait, no longer tripping over anything. The enhanced senses Dehaka had were available to them, but some things were still unable to be used, like some weird ultraviolet sight and a sense they couldn't explain in human words.

"Woah..." they said, startled by their own voice. Using their vocal cords was rather strange. They spoke in a rather light tone compared to the Primal's usual gruff, rasping voice. There was some kind of echo to their voice, like slightly delayed audio. "This is so cool! Is this what you feel all the time?" they said, tail swishing in excitement.

'Of course. Shall we continue, my Queen?' he said. 'There is much to try, very little time to do so.'

They nodded, their head smiling with glee, revealing a rather large row of canines as her mandibles extended. "Let's go!" they announced, moving off in a direction.

Sharing a body was unsettling, the mind that used to be Dehaka thought It was completely unlike anything he had seen before in his long life. He was aware of mounds of information he would have once found useless, detailing 'social interactions', and countless other things. He knew how to fight, survive, collect. That was all he knew. Now he was dealing with someone else with no combat experience whatsoever having control over his form. The connection was like a rope, each one of them pulling on it to control more of the body. For now he was letting his Queen run rampant, testing what she would do with his abilities. When it came to combat, he would pull most of the control and hunt. He hoped there would be no negative effects upon his capabilities once she finished.

A sound interrupted them. Ah, it seemed there was someone nearby. Finally.

"Help me!" a shout sounded out from nearby, the sound echoing in their ears. It had been a good hour or two since they had seen someone nearby, but it had just been a late night worker returning home. This was the longest they had ever seen Brockton without crime nearby. Relief and anticipation flooded their mind when it was heard. They perked up, probably looking ridiculous as they stumbled over to the location. Dehaka seemed to roll his eyes, giving her the knowledge of how to move silently in his body. She began moving more smoothly, not realizing the transition had already happened. Turning a corner, she took in the situation. Seven or so ABB thugs had cornered three woman in an alleyway. They had an assortment of weapons. A few handguns, one was brandishing a knife while another had a broken beer bottle.

She silently moved behind them, preparing to strike. The woman they were cornering whimpered when she lay her eyes upon Dehaka's form. "What's the matter bitch? Are we that scary?" a man with particularly long hair said with a smirk.

They chuckled, startling the men. They whirled around, and froze in fear at the sight of the Primal. "Terrans." They said, taking a step forward. "Back away, or you will regret it. This is my territory now."

"What the hell are you?" One man said in fear. They let out a barking laugh, like that sound the velociraptors made in Jurassic Park. Taylor had always enjoyed that movie.

"I am the One Who Collects. I am Dehaka." With that They slammed one of the men into the ground, feeling a rib or two crack. It was not a fatal wound. Taylor made sure of that.

The others had mixed reactions. Two of them began running, one tripping as they fled. One passed out at the sight of Them, terrified at the form of the Primal Zerg. The remaining four pulled out weapons. Ironically, one of the men who stayed was the one with the broken beer bottle, while the man who had tripped was the one who seemed to be the most prepared for combat with a large handgun in his back pocket.

"Filthy Terrans." They growled. He charged down the alley, three Terrans now aiming their firearms. "Die Kaiju!" One man shouted in anger. Loud sounds burst from the weapons, and Dehaka turned slightly to block the impact. The Terrans' weapons hurt, but he would heal. Their essence would heal the damage-

They froze briefly as the bullets hit them. The pieces of high velocity metal stopped in their tracks as they made contact with their body, flattening instantly. They picked up the gun from the fallen Terran in a claw, crushing it easily. He realized the importance in this situation.

These Terrans had no advanced tech. No Goliaths. No Thors. No Yamato Cannons. No Tactical Nukes. Not even a simple C-14 Impaler gauss rifle that a Marine would be equipped with. Those weapons were strong enough to puncture a little bit of his hide, but could not kill him. Here, on this uneducated, primitive version of Korhal, the Terrans could not even scratch him. The only thing to harm him so far was his Queen's patriarch, and that was because of a particularly well placed blow on his head spine, a weaker section of his skull. He had healed in a millisecond.

Now when these Terrans, this trash, shot Them with their weapons, they realized They were quite literally invincible against anything these Terrans could use. Parahumans would be able to, and maybe The-One-Who-Burns could challenge him head to head, but anything short of a sniper rifle or a plasma weapon would not work.

They cackled as they charged gleefully, an unearthly barking sound that pierced their ears.

They charged forwarded gleefully, pushing the men around with their charge and trampling one who got in their way. Dehaka's knowledge from decades of combat allowed them to use some of his abilities quite easily.

With a strange motion in their throat, They used their tongue to grab the fleeing man and pull him back towards her. The long appendage was glowing green, with a grasping claw at the end of it. It grabbed the man with ease, dragging him backwards by an arm. He struggled, but they ignored him disgusted with his taste. They knocked him out with a firm blow once he was within range. 'I need a better was to restrain criminals. Maybe if we bought some zip ties...' Taylor's mind thought, setting aside a mental note to buy some.

The men behind them lay on the floor, unconscious. They did a victory cheer, humming a little tune. One man, who was still conscious but unable to move, paled even further at the sound. Their voice wasn't that bad, right?

With a final light smack to his forehead, the Terran fell silent. She let out a victory roar, the sound echoing off of the fallen boats and scaring off a few small birds.

They eyed the Terran they had just hit. He was bleeding slightly, the red showing on his arm. It smelled like copper, with the essence flowing within. Delicious. They licked their lips and-

"E-excuse me?" a soft voice said from next to them. They turned to see one of the women they saved stepping forward, the other two looking terrified from behind them. "Thank you for helping us. Your name was 'The haka', right?" she stumbled through their name.

"I am De-ha-ka." they enunciated. It would be best to use Dehaka as their name, as Taylor would not always be in a place to easily take control. "It was nothing." It really was nothing. Those Terrans were less than worthless. The woman thanked them again profusely, offering them money. After a moment of deliberation They accepted the small pouch of cash with small smile, not sure how to react. They held it tightly in his smaller grasping limb, keeping the money safe from damages until they could get it back to Taylor.

With a nod, they lumbered away from the women, making their way back into the Boat Graveyard, leaving the warehouse district. A glance at the moon showed they still had time, only an hour or two had passed, and it was now nearing midnight. She leaned around a corner, looking towards the sound, and suddenly she was assaulted with pain in her head.

Taylor pulled back with a gasp, clenching her forehead in pain as a headache pulsed behind her eye. With a blink of surprise, she found herself back in her normal body, which had fallen back onto her bed once she was controlling Dehaka. Why was she back here? She had just knocked out the last thug... and now she couldn't remember what happened next.

"What the hell?" she gasped, shaking slightly. 'Dehaka? Are you alright? I forgot what just happened. I got a headache all of a sudden, and I couldn't focus.'

Dehaka shook himself, readjusting to his own body. 'I do not know. You may have pushed yourself too far, as your fragile mind is not yet ready to control something as powerful as I.' He went through the memory of their union. They had nearly taken a bit of essence and then left, but the Terran females had interrupted. He remembered the satisfaction they had felt when the women thanked them, and he shivered. The emotion was strange. He did not like it very much, but his Queen seemed ecstatic.

Taylor rubbed her chin in thought. 'If I learned anything in the dump they call Winslow, then I suppose it must be something with how my brain has to give you commands. You have more than four limbs, and multiple senses I can't understand. That can't be healthy over an extended period of time. I shouldn't do that again, to be safe.' She hesitated. 'That was really fun though. Is fighting always like that?'

'They were weaklings.' Dehaka scoffed. 'They could not harm us, despite it being your first time. Such simple conditions make conflict enjoyable, if lacking.' He turned his head, staring back at the unconscious victims.

'I mean, you are practically a tank. I doubt most things we Terrans have are able to harm you. Maybe Tinker stuff and military gear, but these certainly aren't near that level.' she replied, stretching slightly. 'You can have control back now, I don't really trust myself to not mess up and hurt someone too much. Although it was really fun.'

He chuffed in mild amusement, scanning the area again. He shook his head and turned back to the large ship he was examining. While he traveled, Taylor sat up at home in her normal body and began writing an anonymous email to the BBPD. It was better than a phone call, because she had no cell phone, and if movies told her anything, they could trace the call. At least with this method, it wasn't legal for them to backtrack the burner email she made.

To Whom it may concern,

I am a new Independent cape, recently having got powers. I am reporting that there are 8 subdued ABB members on the border of the Boat Graveyard. I took them out after seeing them harassing and about to assault three women. It was near Dock Street and Arch Avenue, if I recall correctly. There are only minor injuries, and I tried to make sure they were all okay before I left. I didn't have any way to tie them up, but they shouldn't be moving for a while. I'd appreciate it if you could pick them up.

She sent the email with a click. Hopefully it would be good enough for them. There was no need to leave her name at the end, at least not until she had one planned along with a costume. This really highlighted the usefulness of having Dehaka out in the city while she could be at home. Imagine having some other power, and having to plan for months before going out. It must be so boring for normal capes before they debut.

Dehaka closed his eyes, focusing. He could feel multiple distinct sources of essence in the surrounding area. One from the large bubble in the bay, where the Terran heroes resided, another towards the rest of the city, too many over too wide of an area to feel with precision, and finally a few particularly close cluster a few blocks away.

'What are you doing?' Taylor asked curiously. She could tell he was getting information somehow, but it was like looking at an optical illusion, but with your nose.

'I am sensing essence. I watch the flow, find the pools. Then I drain them dry. You say the gangs have capes. Capes have essence. Therefore I am looking for essence to keep track of threats.' he explained.

Taylor perked up. 'Can I learn to see essence?' she asked, interest piqued.

'That is not-' Dehaka paused. What was to say she could not experience same things he did? It would not be hard for him to accomplish, not as much as making a strain of Zerg like Abathur, or a psionic ability like the Infestors, but within his limits.

Now that he thought about it, if Abathur were here he would have been modifying His Queen within hours of meeting her. It was inexcusable that she had no method of self defense. Perhaps a Primal Hydralisk to follow her around? A personal Roach underground? An interesting idea, but one that could be easily prevented by an opponent who was aware. Dehaka himself was not that skilled in genetic manipulation, but what he had in mind wouldn't take too much effort. 'I have a better proposal. I can change your form. I am skilled enough. Your body is malleable, unspecialized. Simple changes will be required. Night vision, better movement, and heightened senses. Perhaps defenses against mind manipulation and pheromone usage.' he explained.

Taylor sat in thought for a moment. 'But I can also see essence?' she asked hopefully.

Dehaka sighed. 'Yes. You can also sense essence. It will take a moment. No one will notice.'

Taylor mused over a bit more. 'It sounds intriguing, but I should probably get my Dad's approval after thinking it over a bit more. Give me a bit. I also want to make sure there aren't side effects, since the action of controlling you gives me a headache.' She yawned heavily, wincing as her head pulsed again. 'I think I'll call it a night. Make sure to stay in the sewers for now and get used to the area. Tomorrow we can go out again, and I'll try to determine the limit of my controlling power.'

Dehaka nodded. 'If it is as you wish, I will wait.'

She smiled. 'Thanks for understanding. You did really well tonight. I'll try to find a solution to feeding you tomorrow. There must be someone who you can collect from that there wouldn't be an issue for. My head hurts too much to think right now.'

He preened under the praise, and lumbered back towards to storm drain opening.

END CHAPTER

I want the reader's opinions about how the story should go, so I have a few questions for you:

1. Earth Bet has many, many different creatures that don't exist in the Koprulu Sector. Everything from bears to crocodiles to eagles. I want to know if you think Dehaka should prioritize going after animals on Earth to gain new traits by breaking into a zoo or going after Blasto, and if so, which animals he should go after. (within reason, naturally. Don't just say something he cannot reasonably get ahold of in a few days time)

2. A follow up question. If he were to make a pack of Primal Zerg, what animals from Earth should he mix into the Zerg? Like if he were to make a unit specialized in assassination, what animal aspect combo would you want?

To clarify for those who played both Starcraft and Heroes of the Storm, this is the Dehaka from Starcraft II but with a year or two more of evolution upon his lifespan. He still has the orbs along his body, and three of his limbs, but has six eyes now. His back spikes are actually solid and sharp, and can be used as attack and defense if needed. Some powers from Heroes of the Storm like the Dark Swarm and the healing via essence are added as well. Since this takes place ages after the campaigns, he is more powerful. Along with this comes more evolutionary traits he had gained, such as breathing underwater, night vision, and resistances to elemental damages like heat and cold. He can also use up stored essence for the rapid adaptation to a threat, quickly improving one of his existing traits rather than gaining a new one, similar to Crawler in some aspects. He has also learned the basics about strain manipulation from Abathur so he can introduce new DNA into his pack if needed.

Let me know of any interesting DNA that you think Dehaka should go after!

Also: FUUUUUUSIOOOOON!