Deep within the bowels of her private laboratory, Dr. Xenon paced like a caged animal. The room was a chaotic graveyard of flickering holographic monitors and half-finished blueprints that promised only destruction. Her face was a mask of pure, unadulterated fury—until the shadows in the corner of the room began to bleed together.
The darkness swirled into a thick, suffocating smoke. Before Xenon could even gasp, a hand made of solidified shadow lunged out of the gloom. Tenebris Marcam slammed her against a metal console with bone-crushing force, his fingers tightening like a vice around her neck.
Dr. Xenon let out a choked yelp, her eyes bulging as she clawed at the shadow-flesh.
Tenebris Marcam's voice was a low, vibrating growl that seemed to come from the floorboards itself. "I'll spare you, if you stop attacking the GDA!?"
Despite the crushing hand at her throat, Dr. Xenon managed a look of pure, venomous spite. She glanced around at the machines she had spent a lifetime building. "They took everything that I made in history. You are taking their side?" She tilted her head, a dangerous, jagged smirk playing on her lips. "What more potential will the GDA have—"
"IT'S NOT ABOUT THE GDA, IT'S ABOUT THE OTHER FACTION!?" Tenebris bellows, the sheer volume of his voice shattering glass vials on the nearby shelves.
Dr. Xenon blinked, her smirk faltering for the first time. "Other? Faction?"
"Yes! Other fucking faction! Can't you see me all wounded up?" Tenebris gestured to his own form, which was scarred and battered as if he had crawled through a meat grinder. "Because of the Awakened Army! They have no side, including you..." He jabbed a dark finger toward her chest.
Dr. Xenon looked up at him, her gaze sharpening with cold realization. "I acquired the real calamity."
Tenebris's eyes flared with a blinding rage. "So you've been using the calamity crystal to empower your machines!? To destroy the GDA! What more power would you seek? There's nothing! We're gonna die because of your selfish act!"
Xenon looked away, her expression shifting from fear to a bored, clinical detachment. "Hm, not my first time getting called out. But I'm sorry, I'm not into talking."
"If you're not gonna stop advancing your fucking shitty project, then I have a way to silence you and is by fucking killing you!" Tenebris's grip tightened until the heavy metal of the console behind her began to groan and buckle. "But Plague Doctor would be disappointed at me for my act!"
Dr. Xenon gave a hard, painful gulp, the reality of her mortality finally setting in as the metal pinched her spine. "Tell me about the Awakened Army and whom leading it."
Tenebris Marcam gritted his teeth, his breath coming in hot, angry huffs. "They're the sub faction of the calamity. They were enraged by all of the faction! Because they think humanity is using their calamity energy by their own needs. They're taking action because they're pissed off." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a terrifying, hollow whisper. "And I've been holding my power for decades because the Plague Doctor told me. He said I'm more powerful than him, but I'm his peasant! I'm more loyal than humanity itself! The Vile Wretched will kill you, the GDA, including the universe..."
Dr. Xenon went silent, placing a finger to her chin as she calculated her odds like a chess player staring at a losing board. After a moment, she spoke with the cold, rhythmic tone of a business negotiator.
"Fine, but with two conditions... First, when the Awakened Army has reached the Earth, you give me information. Two condition... When the Awakened Army is defeated, I will continue fighting the GDA for my sweet revenge."
Tenebris Marcam stared at her for a long, heavy beat, his eyes glowing with hatred for the bargain he was forced to strike. Finally, he let out a low, defeated sigh that tasted of ash.
"Deal."