The Apex Predator stood as a silent monument of steel until the Vile Engineer dared to cross the threshold. In that moment, the creature's single neon-red eye fixed upon the intruder with a gaze of pure, murderous intent. Without a word of warning, a searing ribbon of crimson light erupted from the Predator's eye. It was a line of absolute heat that tore through the Engineer's chest, vaporizing his core in one clinical, devastating strike.
The Engineer collapsed, his frame hitting the stone floor with a heavy, metallic thud. Yet, death found no purchase. Before the dust could even settle, his Void Core detached, hovering in the air like a trapped star. It shuddered with a violent, rhythmic vibration before a muffled boom echoed through the chamber. Like a needle stitching a wound, the core dove back into the shattered chest, knitting metal and veiny flesh back together until the villain stood once more.
The Vile Engineer rose, his mechanical joints popping like dry timber. "I have two lives remaining," he rasped. He leaned forward to speak, but the Predator had no soul for dialogue.
Another flash of light—blinding and sudden—sheared through the Engineer's head. Again, he fell; again, the Void Core pulsed with dark energy, forcing the corpse back to its feet. This time, the Engineer did not wait for the light to find him. With a snarl, he thrust his arm forward, unleashing a wave of telekinetic force that hurled the Apex Predator across the room, slamming it deep into the reinforced walls.
Tearing itself free from the debris, the machine's vocal processors redlined, letting out a distorted, mechanical bellow: "APEX—APEX PREDDDAAATTORRR!!!"
As the machine clenched its claws into a fist, the shadows of the laboratory began to breathe. Dozens of Predators and Hunters emerged from the darkness, answering the alpha's call. The Vile Engineer's optic eye widened, and a thick, suffocating purple aura began to bleed from his core. A massive shockwave rippled outward; the sheer pressure of the Void energy was so great that the first wave of approaching machines simply disintegrated into scrap metal.
The Apex Predator countered with a roar, leveling its arm-embedded flamethrower. A jet of superheated fire engulfed the Engineer, but the villain stood his ground behind a shimmering shield of Protocol Energy. With a grunt of effort, the Engineer slammed his hand into the floor. The ground shattered as purple lightning snaked across the laboratory, frying the remaining hunters in a web of crackling electricity.
A concentrated ball of laser energy soared from the Predator's arm, but the Engineer caught the light mid-air with the power of his mind, deflecting it harmlessly into the ceiling. He charged—a blur of maroon and metal—plowing through the mechanical reinforcements until he was chest-to-chest with the beast. The Engineer plunged his hand deep into the Predator's chest, his fingers clawing for the Calamity Core as a dark, oily corruption began to bleed into the machine's wiring.
In agony, the Apex Predator's systems glitched and screamed. It swung the sickle-end of its rocket launcher, the jagged blade catching the Engineer and hurling him across the hangar.
The Engineer landed in a low crouch, his eyes never leaving his prey. "...Apex Predator... it fascinates me," he whispered.
Sensing the black rot spreading through its circuits, the Predator did the unthinkable: it turned its fist upon itself, punching its own chest. The impact triggered a massive discharge of Calamity energy, a cleansing shockwave that purged the corruption in a burst of light. It stood tall once more, its neon-red eye burning with a new, terrifying fury.
"APEX PREDATOR!!!"
The Vile Engineer let out a dark, mechanical grin. From the tank upon his back, a massive cloud of black mist began to pour, drowning the room in the shadow of the Void.
As the battle raged in the darkness of the lab, the world beyond began to succumb to a different fate. If one were to look upon a map of the Great Globe, they would see a sickly shade of purple beginning to swallow the continent of Asia—the spreading stain of total corruption. Across the seas in Europe, the land was dotted with the frantic, orange sparks of explosions. Suddenly, the entire map vanished beneath a silent, blinding flash of atomic white.
Far above the smoke and the fire, the view shifted to the silent, frozen reaches of outer space. There, drifting through the cold void, a massive, jagged asteroid streaked toward the Earth. It trailed a tail of dark, glittering energy, a harbinger of the final end.
RAZE THE VOID