Chapter Text
“Generations before me had to fight to the death for the throne, and so did I. But I will put a stop to it, there will be no more fighting for who gets the throne next, because there will be no next. Do you understand?”
“Yes, your excellency!” Dark Kingdom servants replied before bowing and quickly leaving the throne room to return to the laboratory.
There, they report to a figure in an electric wheelchair. “How did he take it?” the figure asks.
“Not very well Mr. Phantom, he insists we keep at it until we succeed.”
The figure sighs and turns around in his wheelchair. He has a skinny figure, pale skin, purple eyes like Marcus’, and wavy white hair on top of a thin and long face. He’s young and in his early 20s. “Only my father can talk to that man.” Speaking of the devil, Marcus walks into the lab, clearly stressed out. “Welcome home father! You seem to be bothered!”
Marcus smiles at his son. “Hello Phantom, how’s Project Xi?”
“Aside from creating elite soldiers from the most annoying rebels, I’m afraid Scar’s original objective for Project Xi seems unattainable. The natural law is that we need to give something in order to attain something.”
“Hmmm…” his father hums. “There’s nothing natural about demonic power Phantom.”
“But their very nature is transactional father, you know there’s no free lunches with them.”
“Then our best bet is to find out a way to trick them into giving us a free lunch.”
Phantom thinks in silence for a moment before Marcus puts his hand on his son’s head. “You’re a smart boy, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. I have to talk to Uncle Scar about something a little more serious.” He says before making his way to the throne room.
“Hey! Mr. Marcus, how are you doing?” Scar greets from the throne.
“Not very good your excellency, I’m afraid I bring bad news.”
“Aww, you don’t have to be so formal with me, spill it.” His tone turned stern despite his words remaining upbeat.
“IJD remains elusive.” Marcus says. “They came into my district and left just as easily as they entered.”
“Didn’t I give you those silly Xi dolls to deal with them?”
“They weren’t as effective as we expected, either that or we’re underestimating them.”
Scar sighs and leans forward. “Come here Marcus.” He gestures with his finger. Marcus nervously approaches his elder cousin. “100% of rebellions in the history of the Dark Kingdom have failed, and only 1% have come close to doing any real damage. Do you know how did that 1% come close my dear Marcus?” he asks in a whisper.
Marcus didn’t answer.
“They struck when the old king was dying and a new one had yet to rise up, and once a king has risen, they stood no chances.” Scar answers his own question. “If there was ever a weak link in the Dark Kingdom is when our brethren fight amongst themselves for the throne, the tradition ensures only the strong will rise and there will be no weak link, but do you know how will there truly be no weak link, Marcus?”
Marcus remains silent.
“Is if there aren’t links at all! I don’t care what it takes, I don’t care about the IJD, if I never grow old or die, they will never find an opening no matter how strong they are. Now get Project Xi back on track and then we can run after those silly kids. Understand?” His tone was calm and collected, but behind that veil was impatience. Marcus exited the throne room in haste.
…
*Clink clank clink*
A shadow warden knocks against the cell bars. “Good evening, Ian.” He grins. From within the cell, a rugged looking young man with long messy maroon hair covering his face awakes. His eyes were bright yellow, and they subtly reflected the little light that shines into his cell. Although light reflected off his eyes, there was no light in them. He sighs, he knows what the warden wants. He looks down to see the warden offering a pen and paper through the cell bars, and he reluctantly takes them. Ian begins to put the pen to paper, he looks up at the shadow warden with lifeless eyes for a moment before the warden begins to describe something.
“Today, I feel like corrupting something innocent. Give me a girl in a nun outfit with huge tit*, innie nipples that get really erect when she’s horny. Virgin, obviously. Give her blonde hair like one of those light benders, and bright yellow eyes to really sell that light bender look. Also, make her resist me at first but too sensitive to put up any real fight.”
Ian draws what the warden described to him, he used to cringe in disgust when they first found out about his abilities and made him draw things for them, but after a couple of years, he’s gotten used to it. After he was done, a light shined from the surface of the paper and the warden’s sexual fantasy materialized just outside the prison cell.
The light bender nun that he requested blushes erotically at the warden who grabs her hands aggressively. “Aaah! What are you doing!?” The nun screams. The warden smirks and nods at Ian before taking the nun to his quarters to have some fun. What Ian never told them though is that his drawings don’t have sentience or personalities of their own, he semi-consciously controls them like extensions of himself, and after they’re done, he remembers what they do to them. Disgusted but used to it, he sighs and lies back down on his mattress. The only good thing that comes from this though is that he is treated a little better than the other prisoners. He’s given his own private cell, he’s given better food, and some of his minor requests like this comfortable mattress are answered.
“Hey, how’re you doing?” He hears a different voice from outside his cell. He turns over to see a thin but pale tall man with styled wavy hair. His hair is black but has dark blue highlights in the light matching the blue in his eyes. This wasn’t a warden, dressed in a stylish white coat, it’s one of the nobles.
“One just came over and ordered a service a minute ago.” Ian answers.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” The figure says. “You know that the wardens and I try our best to keep you from the Project Xi experiments.” Ian nods, the wardens do it for a different reason though. “But I’m afraid that Scar may be getting more desperate, and the scientists might be too in response, especially with IJDs recent activities. If anything happens, I’ll try to get you out of here, but be ready, always.”
“Thanks CC.” Ian says. “But what I don’t understand is, you’re not a degenerate like the wardens, so what’s your incentive to help me?”
“People don’t always need incentives to do the right thing Ian, many of us shadow people don’t agree with the ways of Scar, but we don’t have nearly as much power, so we try to make do with what power we have as nobles.” CC then quickly withdraws from the cell before he could get caught talking to prisoners. Even though it wasn’t forbidden, it’s looked down upon by other nobles or royals to be associated with peasants, that’s what wardens are for. And he didn’t want to arouse any suspicions. However, soon after exiting the hallway for the cells, he crossed paths with yet another tall pale man.
His medium length straight hair swayed in the in the slight disturbance of the air as they passed each other by. Instead of blue, this man’s hair had red highlights, and instead of a slender figure, this man’s body was toned, showing signs of frequent and intense exercise. Avoiding eye contact, CC continues to walk away from the man after passing him by. But then, he hears him call “CC”. He stops in his tracks and replies. “Ender”.
The two of them stood a few meters apart, facing away from each other in the hallway. “Where have you been CC?”
“You already know the answer.”
“You know you might get in trouble one day.”
“I don’t care, who am I to answer to? My parents are gone.”
“My uncle doesn’t care who you are CC, if he suspects anything, you’re as good as dead.”
“Scar never comes down here.”
“He has eyes everywhere.”
“The wardens don’t care.”
“It’s not the wardens I’m worried about.”
“Phantom is our friend.”
“Phantom is his Marcus’ son first, Scar’s pet second, and our friend third.”
CC doesn’t know what to say next. He then hears the shuffling of Enders’ feet as he turns around. CC turns around as well, and their eyes met. Ender’s red eyes seem to glow in the dim light of the hallway, while his face displays no emotions, his eyes were filled with them. But what emotions, CC couldn’t tell, it could be anger, it could be pity, he could never read Ender.
“I know what you’re up to. Why do you care so much?” he asks. “Save 1 puppy, 99 dogs die in the streets.”
“But to that 1 puppy, I made a world of difference.” CC answers. “You see it too, don’t you? You have a puppy you want to save as well.”
Ender doesn’t answer. Instead, he just stares at CC with a straight face before turning around and continuing on his way.
…
“Your excellency, number 33 has shown incredible potential during training.”
“So, I’ve heard…” Scar replies, looking down at his own children sparring with each other. He scoffs at them, he was never one to care about kids. One day all laughter of joy from them will turn into cries of anguish as they go after each other’s throats for his throne, and he’ll gladly watch the strongest of his seed rise to take the throne. Or will he?
He looks at his reflection in the window overseeing the Dark Kingdom. He’s an ambitious one. For years the Dark Kingdom has been trapped on this land mass. Any attempts by any previous kings to expand overseas to other parts of the world had resulted in failure. Beyond the oceans, there are more lands, more resources, more people, people who escaped thousands of years ago during the first rise of the Shadow Purists. They’ve seemed to have gone on to create their own kingdoms and alliances, doing anything they can to keep the Shadow Kingdom here.
The thought angers him. This world was supposed to be theirs, and the incompetence of his ancestors, allowing these low lifes to escape and build strongholds elsewhere has resulted in this prison. A prison, no matter how large and comfortable, is still a prison, and he’ll be the one to get them out of it. All he needs though, is time.
“Bring me Marcus.” He says to his assistant, before looking down at his children, 6 of them, each of them have received the best training from the Dark Kingdoms greatest warriors. Each of them from a different mother, and each of them yet to be named, they have only gone by numbers 1 to 6. “And put these children in the pit, I want them all to face 33 with the intent to kill.”
5-year-old number 33 comes home from training, having spent the day training with his peers, he looks forward to playing with one of the few loved ones he has. “Mommy! I was able to hit 50 targets in 30 seconds today!” he proudly proclaims.
His mom smiles at him. “Good job! That’s my boy!” She hugs him and kisses his forehead. They started to play a simple game of snakes and ladders, it’s a brainless game that 33 likes to play after training because he gets to switch his brain off and relax. But deep inside, his mother fears for him.
33 is the son of Scar’s younger brother, who was his greatest rival from the throne, so there’s no way Scar would let his brothers’ seed compete against his own. A knock on the door, and she answers. “The academy requests number 33 to return for further assessment.”
“But he has fulfilled his hours for today.” She protests.
“Scar’s orders, I will not ask again.”
Reluctantly, she calls for 33 to follow the agent back to the academy. Looking up at her with his ruby eyes, he’s unhappy but understands that it’s better for everyone if he just complied.
As Scar ordered, he was thrown into the battle arena with 6 other children. Each named number 1 to 6 accordingly, these are Scar’s children, all of them slightly older than him, aged 7 to 10. A voice over the loudspeaker came on. “Kill number 33.”
33 glanced at the dark-skinned man with long braided hair behind the microphone before looking at the 6 kids in front of him, launching themselves towards him with devilish grins. 33 stares at them with his ruby eyes unmoving, not because of fear, but because there was no need to move just yet. The kids ahead of him are talented benders, they are Scar’s children after all, but they haven’t learnt how to specialize their darkness yet, something that comes oddly naturally for him.
The first bolt of shadow projectile was fired, but inaccurately. He dodges it by tilting his head to the left before stepping back a couple of steps. From the ground, number 3 bursts out attempting to uppercut him.
Seeing his arm in front, 33 simply grabs it and 3 starts to scream in pain as a dull purple colour starts to spread on his skin.
5 Then shoves 3 out of the way to punch 33 straight in the face. But 33 calmly steps to the right before also grabbing 5’s arm, causing him to clutch his in pain as well. He then jumps, avoiding the projectiles from 4 and 6 either side of him before shooting his own projectile, only his was directed towards the ground, turning a radius of the concrete floor under him into an inky black colour. 4 and 6 suddenly find themselves stuck, unable to lift their legs, and slowly sinking into the ground.
2 then creates a series of platforms from his energy, allowing 1 to jump on them and launch himself into the air, blasting a shadow beam towards 33, who just extends his hand towards him, absorbing the beam effortlessly into a ball. 1 then lands on another platform created by 2, before taking out a pair of blades and launching himself directly towards 33, who remains still up until 1 was right in front of him.
33 then throws that ball that absorbed his own beam at him, and with a red flash, 1 explodes into chunks of blood and flesh. 2 looked at the brutality he just witnessed and screamed before turning around to run. But his legs seem to be grabbed by something, he looks down in horror as he sees his sibling, number 6, his skin now stained by the ink that he was dragged under by 33, his eyes now glowing red. 2 looks at 33, who looks blankly back at him with the same glowing red eyes.
4 then emerged from the inky puddles, his skin also stained black, and his eyes also that of 33’s. 2 then screamed again as 4 begins to bite into him, tearing him apart chunk by chunk. From the spectators, Scar watches behind a dark glass as he sees the last of his sons eaten alive by a zombie of 33’s making.
“They’re right, he does seem to show great potential, it’s a shame he’s not my son.” He says. “But it doesn’t matter, after Project Xi is a success, I don’t need an heir.” He turns around.
“What are you going to do with the child?” Marcus asks.
“We’ll turn him into the ultimate weapon, his name shall be Ender, for he’ll end all resistance against us.”
…
33’s mother answers the knocking of the door to see her son running inside. “Oh, thank goodness you’re safe!” He heads straight to the coffee table to continue their game of snakes and ladders. She turns around to close the door when *Ahem* she sees Lewis at the door, he tilts his head to follow him. She then looks back at 33 with concerned eyes, and he looks back at her with understanding in his, before getting up to go to his room.
Her scarlet hair swayed in the evening wind as they walked towards a black Rolls Royce Cullinan. She’s only 21 years old, and she had 33 when she was just 16, exploited by a prince that she unfortunately had caught the eyes of. In front of her son, she puts on a brave face, but inside, she’s still a scared child, more scared than he is.
“Don’t worry.” Lewis says as he leads her into the luxurious SUV. “Your son will not be harmed. He even has the honor of receiving a name from the king.” She doesn’t respond, she doesn’t know why she’s being summoned to the castle, but there’s not a single good reason she could think of. “He has been named Ender. From today onwards, you shall refer to him as Ender and only Ender, no longer number 33.”
“What do you want from us?” she asks. Away from her son, she has no more reason to hide her fear.
“His excellency has requested your presence, as I said, have no fear for Ender as he is regarded as a great asset by the king.” Lewis replies as he drives towards the castle.
She was escorted into the throne room upon arrival. “M33 has arrived your highness.” One of the guards reports before gesturing the greenlight for her to enter. M33 is the name given to her as the mother of number 33, now Ender. She used to have her own name, but she couldn’t remember what it was. The door closes behind, darkness fills the throne room and surrounds her save for a corner of the room lit by the fireplace. In front of the flame was a coffee table with 2 chairs. “Ah M33, pleasure to see you again.” Scar stood up from one of the chairs to greet her with a disingenuous smile.
M33 just bows, but out of fear and protocol, not respect.
“I see that you know your manners.” He smirks as he makes his way to her, reaching out his hand to lift her up. She looks up at him with glossy eyes, her trembling hands take his as she slowly gets up. Scar then gestures for her to take a seat. The coffee table was decorated with prepared drinks. Illuminated by the fireplace with a large bookshelf as the backdrop.
“Your son, Ender. He’s a very talented boy.” He says as she sits across from him. He then gestures for her to drink the tea, a cup already poured and served in front of her. She dared not defy him, with trembling hands, she reaches for the teacup and nervously sips. Careful not to drink too little to offend him, and careful not to finish it in one go.
“You make a great mother. It’s a shame that... “he” got to you first.” Scar then says. M33’s eyes peer from behind the teacup. She knows who he’s referring to. It was her late lover. Although he forced himself onto her, he treated her and Ender well before his attempts at the throne got him killed.
“But that’s not important, he’s not here anymore… what’s important though, is what made Ender so… talented.” He says, before looking at her. M33 doesn’t know what he wants from her. She doesn’t know what made Ender so strong. She nervously sips the rest of the tea, trying to avert Scar’s eyes. But eventually, she runs out of tea. Scar patiently waits for her to put the empty teacup down. M33 looks up at him to see his devilish, yet inquisitive smile on his face. “Do you have any idea M33?”
She shakes her head, “I don’t.”
He then pulls out a phone from his pocket and dials a number. On the other side of the call, a young man’s voice answers. “You called me your majesty?”
“Yes, hello Marcus, have your team found anything?” he asks.
“Negative sir, she has been feeding him everything we have been feeding your kids, following the schedule we provided, and the house environment is standard.” Marcus answers.
M33 could hear everything as Scar had put the phone on loudspeaker. She feels relieved because she hasn’t done anything against him, but also worried simply because his grin towards her has only grown since the call went through.
“Thank you very much Marcus, dismissed.” He hangs up the phone before leaning closer to her. “Hmmm… it seems you’re just a very good mother after all.”
“Anything that your majesty requests, I-… M33 will do her best.”
“Your genes.”
“What?” she gasps.
“It definitely wasn’t my stupid brother’s genes, I defeated him easily, but it might be yours.” Scar clarifies.
M33 trembles in fear, she now understands why she had been summoned. “Your highness, with all due respect, may I request the uhh… option not to do that…?” she pleads. She feels her heart thumping, her body begins trembling more violently, and she begins to sweat profusely. Since being summoned, she has felt crippling anxiety and a sense of dread, but now it has turned into full blown fear.
Scar doesn’t answer. But instead, he continues to stare at her. His eyes burn through her soul, like a laser. Something’s wrong, her head starts to feel foggy, her breathes quicken, and her body begins to feel weak and hot. This isn’t just fear. A warm sensation appears in her lower abdomen, spreading downwards from her womb towards her genitals.
“You feel it, don’t you?” Scar asks with a devilish grin before sipping a mouthful of tea. “It doesn’t affect men, but it’s a great fertility enhancer for women, with a side effect of making them feel particularly… frisky.”
He then stands up to tower above her. She wanted to run, but she felt so weak. Besides, this is the king, running will only delay the inevitable and do more harm. “Oh, by the way, as for your enquiry earlier, request denied…”
Her eyes widened as he touched her thighs, her pants corroding away under his palm, exposing her skin to the cool air of the throne room. “Hhh-…hhah!” she involuntarily lets her voice out feeling his hand against her skin. The drug in the tea was turning her body against her. In a few seconds, there were no more traces of the bottom that she was wearing. Her thighs completely exposed for him to see with only her panties between him and her nether region. “No, please!” she pleads, weakly pushing his hands away.
Scar backs off before smiling at her. “Very well, you may leave.” She looks up at him in surprise, there has to be a catch. “If you can make it out that door, you’re free to leave.” He says, pointing at the door of the throne room.
M33 pushes herself out of the chair before hastily but clumsily making her way towards the door, but only after a step, she realizes the problem. “Hhhh…!” She sighs heavily before clutching her abdomen, it feels hot and tingly, like a million ants are crawling around inside her womb, making their way out of her cervix, and crawling down her vagin*l walls.
Her legs fail, and she falls forwards onto the carpeted floor, her hands dart between her legs, clutching her nether region. The tingling has spread all over her lower body, concentrating itself in her inner walls and her womb, accompanied by an overwhelming primal instinct to reproduce. She shakes her head, this is exactly what he wants, this is exactly how he wants to see her.
She takes a few deep breaths before looking up at the door, a dozen meters in front of her. She forces herself up with one hand remaining between her legs to take another couple of steps before she feels his hand slap against her butt. “Noooo…!” She yelps before falling again, his touch against her feels like fire being shot straight up her spine. Her cl*tor*s and nipples now tingle as they grow erect. Her body recognizing the touch of a man and begging desperately for more against her will.
“What’s the matter? I’m just helping you along!” he muses before giving her butt another slap.
“Nyaaahh!” she moans as her hips instinctively buck against his hand. Droplets turn into dripping and dripping turns into a constant stream of juice flowing from her desperate puss*. She starts to lose her mind to the fog of arousal. M33 starts panting as her hand between her legs starts to rub against her soaked panties, applying pressure against her throbbing entrance.
“Oooohhh noo!” she moans as her fingers find her twitching cl*t, begging to be free from the confines of the fabric. She almost forgot that she’s being watched by the King of Darkness. The sudden realization made her eyes dart towards his direction. She sees Scar standing behind her, towering over her with his trousers already removed, and his erect member in full view. He gives her butt another slap as she moans once again, her hindquarters bucking towards his direction, granting him full access as her panties corrode away beneath his palm. She shakes her head in disapproval as the last bit of sanity within her continues to fight fruitlessly against the wave of overwhelming desire clouding her judgment.
But with her panties now gone, her unrestricted finger dives into her own needy puss*. “Aaaahh! Oh my god!” she moans, giving into the pleasure. She knows she’s lost, her body wants it too badly, she wants it, even though she doesn’t want to admit it, she does so by spreading herself open for him to enter.
Scar positions his shaft against her throbbing entrance, and M33 braces for it, but he doesn’t thrust. She shuts her eyes in anticipation before they dart open again to look back at him. “I’m no monster M33.” He grabs her hand, preventing her fingers from pleasuring herself. “I can take no for an answer.
Her final drop of dignity dissolves in a sea of lust, and she pushes her hips against him. “AAAAAAAHHHHHH” the hallway leading to the throne room was filled with her scream of pleasure as that singular thrust was enough to send her into a drug induced org*sm. Scar began his own thrusts, increasing his rhythm with no regard for her as the drugs will ensure endless pleasure and climaxes for her anyway.
…
22-year-old Ender stood in the middle of a room, surrounded by targets and kunai launchers aiming towards him. 12 from all sides, another 12 aiming towards him diagonally, and one on top aiming straight down at him. “Whenever.” He calmly tells his assistant. After waiting a few seconds, his assistant flips the switch, and 25 projectiles shoot towards Ender at breakneck speeds.
2 black rings suddenly appeared around him as he did a front flip. The 24 kunais merely inches away from him morph into black shards of energy as they pass through those rings. Their angles adjusted slightly before continuing their trajectory, missing Ender narrowly. Meanwhile, as he was mid front flip and upside down, the kunai from above shoots between his neck and shoulder, whisking pass his hair as he grabs it, morphing it into a shard of darkness in a blink of an eye before reversing its direction and launching it upwards.
The 12 projectiles shot from all sides were deflected to shoot the 12 diagonal targets, while the diagonal projectiles were deflected to shoot the 12 targets surrounding him, with the final projectile returned to sender simultaneously. The whole thing was over in less than a second before Ender completes his front flip and lands on his feet. Not a single drop of sweat or sign of effort appeared on his face.
The targets and launchers begin to corrode and fall apart as black smoke emanates from them. “With all due respect sir, you don’t need to destroy the equipment every time you train.” The assistant says.
Ender looks at him calmly. “It’s important that I know I can channel energy properly in high pressure situations.”
“You were barely under any pressure!”
“True.” He then acknowledges before walking out of the room like nothing interesting happened.
Ender made his way back to his front door, ready to open them with his keys when he heard moaning from within. His hand pauses before knocking on the door instead. The moaning suddenly stopped, a pause before sounds of shuffling took over. “Coming!” his mother shouted before opening the door for him. “Forgot your keys again?” she asks smiling. Ender merely nodded before hugging his mom briefly, noting that she was sweaty. “Are you hungry?” she asks, heading into the kitchen. Ender shakes his head at her before walking over to the couch to see it stained wet.
…
“Mom why is your belly so big?” 5-year-old Ender asks.
“Oh… uhm, mommy is going to have another baby, you will be an older brother soon.” She smiles at him.
Ender stares at her blankly. “Where do babies come from?”
“Well, when a mommy and-…” M33 pauses for a moment. Her own moans from that night with Scar playing at the back of her mind haunt her. “God… God was so happy how you turned out, that he decided to bless mommy with another child.”
…
Ender makes his way upstairs towards his room.
…
6-year-old Ender carries his baby brother down the stairs after hearing his mother call for them for lunch. “Seat your brother down on the highchair for me please dear?”
“Okay maa!” he says. He puts his brother on a chair before climbing onto it himself and carries his brother into the highchair just as his mother brings the food into the dining hall. He then notices that her belly has a bump in it again, just like before his brother was born. “Mom did God bless you with another baby?”
M33 looks down at him embarrassed before looking down at her belly pretending to be surprised. “Oh my! I guess he did!”
…
At the top of the stairs, Ender glances at the handrail at the side of the overhang.
…
7-Year-Old Ender was awakened by a slam on the door followed by his mother’s voice accompanied by some stranger’s voices. He sneaks out of his room before peaking his head from behind the handrail.
“Please! No more! My body is weird even without it now, I’ll comply!” His mother seems to be pleading.
“The drug is not to make you compliant, it’s to make your body susceptible to fertilization and the selection of good genes.”
“But there are side effects!”
“His majesty doesn’t care about the side effects, if you do not comply, we will be forced to administer it through injection.”
…
On the way to his room, he passes by a door to the guest bedroom. But it wasn’t always a guest bedroom.
…
“Mom, where’s 40?” 8-year-old Ender asks his mother.
Washing the dishes, M33 pauses for a moment. “Number 40 has gone to special training, like you when you were his age. He might not be back for a while.”
Ender doesn’t answer, he sees yet another bump on his mother’s belly, looking at it for a moment before turning around.
…
Opposite his room is his mother’s bedroom.
…
Hearing his youngest brother crying, 9-year-old Ender goes to his mother’s room to look for her. As he opens the door, he sees his mother on her bed, moaning erotically, inserting a long, purple, rubbery object in between her legs, pumping it in and out. Between his brothers crying and her own moans, she didn’t notice her eldest son watching her from the door.
“Ah! I can’t stop! It won’t stop! The itching won’t stop!” she cries to herself as she attempts to calm her body down to no avail. With his brother’s crying coming back into focus, Ender turns back in an attempt to do whatever he can to calm him down himself.
…
He opens the door to his bedroom, accidentally letting the door hit the cabinet behind it. A dark blue model of a Ferrari 458 rolls off the cabinet and falls onto the floor. The paint of the toy is chipped and the wheels squeak as they roll. Ender bends over to pick it up.
…
10-year-old Ender looks out the window as he watches his younger brother kicking and screaming. Men from the castle has come to take him away as well. He never saw number 40, and now he won’t be seeing number 41 ever again. After watching the big black cars drive away with his brother, he makes his way downstairs to see his mother crying by herself on the dining table.
Looking at the front door wide open, he goes to close it before noticing something on the walkway. A dark blue model of a Ferrari 458 with its paint chipped. It was his toy car, but he gave it to his little brother who seemed to like it a lot. Too bad he didn’t get to take it with him.
…
As he was looking at the toy Ferrari. He hears his mother’s moaning from the room next door. With a deep sigh, he puts the Ferrari back onto the cabinet. On it’s left, a colourful rubber ball in a box, on it’s right, a rubber ducky, and to the right of the rubber ducky, a drawing of a boat with 5 stickmen on it labeled “Mom, Ender, 40, 41, 42 and 43 (me)”.
Ender then heads into the shower to prepare for bed.
…
14-year-old Ender lay awake on his bed, pretending to sleep. It will be a big day tomorrow because he will officially be announced as a captain and will be assigned his very own special operations squad under his command. The youngest to ever do so. His mother had just come into his room to take the laundry basket. She then sees her son, her first and only son that’s still with her, sleeping on the bed with his back facing her. She puts down the laundry basket and smiles, making her way to the side of his bed. She kneels down and begins to whisper:
“Ender my boy, you’re all grown up now, and mommy is so proud of you. I just wish that I could have been there to see it properly. I’m so sorry Ender, I’m sorry for being a bad mother, sorry for giving you so many brothers to steal my attention, sorry that you had to help mommy take care of them, sorry none of them could stay with us...”
She begins to cry.
“I’m so sorry Ender, I’m so sorry for being a bad mommy. I hope one day, you’ll grow up to be a happy man, find a lucky woman that you’ll love, have children and be able to watch them grow. Having you is the best joy I can ever feel Ender. Mommy loves you so much, I’m sorry Ender, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
He was still wide awake, but remained still, pretending to sleep. Time goes by, and he hears the occasional sniffle behind him.
“I’m so sorry.”
She whispers a final time before getting up, taking the laundry basket, and leaving his room.
…
Ender lays on the very same bed, in the very same position as 8 years ago. He couldn’t say that his mother was never the same. He couldn’t say that he never saw her the same way. There was no turning point, there was no clear marker on when things changed, it was just a consistent deterioration. If he had to pick a turning point though, it would have to be when he was named: Ender.
…
“Ender, there you are!” Marcus greets with a smile.
“Something must be serious for you to have called me.”
Marcus nods. “Yes, well you and I are both aware of your 100% success rate.” He says before pulling out a file and slapping it onto the table. The label on the file cover only had 3 letters: “IJD”.
Ender’s eyes lazily look at Marcus. “You couldn’t handle these kids with the Xi things?”
“We could try again, or we could just not take chances and let you take care of them, it should be a piece of cake to you.”
Ender opens the file and flips through the pages. There were pictures of Isaac. He is the youngest of the bunch and looks relatively small. He has black hair and wears a cat mask. The files note that he barely exhibited great strength but possesses blinding speed curtesy of his lightning element. He mostly attacks with his katana, but charged with electricity, the electron lined blade makes it the sharpest weapon. Compared to the other 2, he’s been seen less on the field, but their strategies seem to originate from him.
Jian is the eldest and is only 2 years younger than Ender, he’s much taller and his body more toned, he has brown hair and wears a wolf mask. The files note that despite his size and stature, he exhibits great agility, flexibility, and control over his earth bending. His rocks have mostly been made of granite, which rates 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. He has also been seen wielding a hammer, although not as a weapon, but a bending tool. Jian has been noted to display a greater level of battle experience compared to the other 2.
Dymo is the largest of the bunch, his muscular definition, weight, and height all exceed Jian. Despite this, he’s deceptively agile, and is noted to have a “blink” ability that allows him to launch himself very quickly in a straight line over a significant distance and in any direction.
As a fire bender, his attacks are less accurate but longer in range and tend to cover a large area at once, because of him, attempting to capture IJD by outnumbering them has been unsuccessful. His cover image shows a large man wearing a monkey mask, boldly flipping off the camera.
Ender continues to flip through their files, he has been dispatched to take down entire rebel bases, seize weapon caches, assassinate assassins, and even caught suicide bombers in the kingdom. But all IJD have done is retrieve intel, disrupt supply chains, steal a few things here and there, and rescue some district dwellers. They’ve never even come anywhere near the kingdom. “Sending me is a little overkill, don’t you think?”
“I think, that’s exactly what they want you to think.” Marcus answers.
Flipping to the last page, he reads that their most recent offense was intercepting Marcus’ abduction of teenage girls. Ender smirks, man’s salty he got co*ck blocked by some white knights.
“They’re no weaker than your previous take downs, only smarter in that they don’t dare come anywhere near here.”
The ground rumbled, and the alarms started to sound before one of the guards burst into the room. “Officer, captain. Terrorists!”
“How? No one has ever gotten anywhere near the castle let alone inside it.” Marcus asks in surprise. Ender too was surprised, security around the capital district is so tight, any attempts to get in has always been caught, and he would swiftly be dispatched to take care of it. He quickly darts out of the room and heads towards the direction of the rumbling.
At the lab, scientists lay limp on the floor, equipment and furniture scattered in a mess with rubble from broken walls and ceiling littered over them. A fog of dust limits visibility, only allowing rays of cold florescent light to shine through. Ender enters the room, and his eyes start to glow red. With unnaturally perfect vision, he spots his friend Phantom on the floor.
Phantom coughs as he struggles to open his eyes, upon inspection, he doesn’t seem to be injured, but stunned, his purple eyes seem to have a layer of yellow sheen over them that glows faintly. “E-Ender…?”
“What happened, and where did they go?” Ender asks.
“Phantom! My son!” Marcus shouts, running into the lab.
Phantom points Ender towards a hole in the wall, who glances over his shoulder to inspect it, it looks like it was melted rather than blasted through. Leaving his friend to his father, he quickly inspects one of the scientists lying on the floor. He turns him over, causing him to groan in response. Ender opens his eyelids, before the scientist shuts them tightly again, letting out of yelp of pain. He too has a yellow sheen over his eyes.
Ender quickly darts after the perpetrators, noting what he had just seen in the eyes of his friend and the scientist. “A light bender, we thought they’re extinct.”
…
Half an hour ago…
Ian awakes to the clinking of his cell bars again, he groans as he wakes, turning over in his bed to face the horny warden that has come to use his service. But oddly, the warden standing in front of him doesn’t have their usual devilish grin. Rather, he looks quite nervous.
“Just uhh… a simple naked… young girl with a nice figure.” He stutters embarrassingly. Ian raises one of his eyebrows, why are these degenerates suddenly shy in front of him? After all the degenerate trash they had him draw, he knows all their deepest darkest fetishes. Not wanting any trouble, he doesn’t question anything and begins drawing. Minutes later, a light then shone from the finished drawing, and a swirl of energy flows out of the cell.
A naked, blonde woman with the typical hourglass figure stood next to the warden, looking up at him with longing eyes. But the warden didn’t seem excited. “Interesting, take him to the lab.” He hears an unknown voice.
The cell door then opens, and another warden walks in, accompanying the first to escort Ian to the lab. “Wh-, what’s going on?” he asks.
“Sorry dude.” The warden that requested the drawing apologizes.
As he exits the cell, he sees a pale young man, about his age, sat on an electric wheelchair. “Don’t worry friend, if this test is successful, you won’t die, quite the opposite in fact.” He smiles. He was the source of that commanding voice, he had white hair and purple eyes, and was dressed in a white lab coat with a few badges on them, implying his status further if his tone haven’t already.
After they exited the corridor towards the lab, CC then seemed to materialize out of thin air in that very hallway, followed by a young man on his right. The man has striking spikey dark green hair with bright acid green tips and bright green eyes to match. He smiles excitedly at CC. “Wow, they really couldn’t see us!”
“Of course not.” CC replies in an annoyed tone, but he couldn’t help but feel complimented.
Then, on his left, a young blonde woman also seemed to materialize. “Don’t underestimate CC’s illusion abilities, he may not know how to fight, but he’ll never have to.”
The young woman had long, wavy, golden blonde hair. Her eyes were bright yellow and seemed to glow in the dim light of the hallway. “Was that your friend?” she asks CC, who promptly nods. “Alright, so here’s what we’re gonna do…”
…
“For the entire history of the Dark Kingdom, each generation of princes fought their brethren for the throne. Every king raising their seed to be the best, and it was up to the strongest one to prove it and take the throne. All who opposed the strongest one would die, and all that conceded the throne was rewarded with noble status, but never allowed to contend for the throne again. This was to ensure that there would never be a weak link.
But one day, Scar oversaw his seed sparring with each other, and decided on a whim to kill them all. Do you know why he did that my friend?” Phantom asks Ian.
Ian shakes his head.
“What’s your name friend?” he asks.
“Ian…”
“Ah! Of course! Ian! Do you know why I’m telling you this Ian?”
He shakes his head again.
Phantom smiles at him. “Not to worry Ian, as I said we don’t plan on killing you, rather the opposite.” He flips a switch, turning on the lights at the center of the large lab to reveal a series of clear dome shaped chambers. Within the domes, there were ominous looking pentagrams that can be seen on the floor of the chambers.
“This, my friend, is Project Xi.” Phantom says proudly. “Started by my father Marcus under Scar’s orders after he found out that… after offering the souls of rebels to demons, the resultant corrupted individuals are not only stronger in every aspect, but their bodies also seem to stop aging.”
While Phantom was explaining, Ian’s attention was bought to a rather chubby looking individual. He was handcuffed and brought into one of the chambers. The chamber closed and some shadow benders began to chant unintelligible phrases. Then, the pentagram on the floor begins to glow ominously, a black smoke starts to emanate from it and circles around the unfortunate individual for a few minutes before rushing into his mouth. The individual screams in pain, his screams slowly turning into a gurgle as if fluid is building in his throat. Ian could only watch in horror as everyone else around him remained indifferent.
“This gave Scar a brilliant idea, if he could make himself immortal, not only there will be no weak link, because there will be no link. But key figures in the kingdom will also rule alongside him for eternity, as well as… other benefits…” Phantom sighs as he looks down at his crippled legs.
“Unfortunately, demons are selfish, and no demon would ever give without taking, making a body immortal without taking its soul is pointless charity to them. But we’re about to prove to them that we can be even more selfish…” he smiles at Ian before the warden starts to push him towards the chambers.
Ian’s eyes widen in fear, but he knows he couldn’t rebel. “Ian my friend, your ability to create bodies from your energy is astounding. If a demon would inhabit one of your artificial bodies instead, not only they won’t take your soul, but you can channel their energy into you, and make yourself immortal!”
Ian scoffs in his heart, this man doesn’t understand anything, he’s just making wild guesses. “Wait, how do you know what’s going to happen?” he asks in panic.
Phantom smiles. “I don’t, that’s why you’re in a lab, and that’s what experiments are for!” he says. The chamber slams shut.
Ian pounds against the glass in panic. “This is a bad idea, wouldn’t the demon be angry if it finds out you’re trying to trick it?”
“The glass has luminite powder mixed into it, demons won’t be able to escape, and we can then take our sweet time to banish it.” A scientist proudly says from the side before pulling out a tome. He then begins to chant and the pentagram under Ian starts to glow.
With the blood-curdling scream from the other man filling the room, Ian knows that it would also be him in a few moments. He then spots a pencil and a piece of paper on the floor underneath him. Without a second thought, he picks it up and begins to frantically draw. Behind him though, a red smoke rises from the pentagram.
Meanwhile, a scientist towards the back of the room starts sniffing. “Do you guys smell something odd?”
Another scientist turns around to look at him to notice that the wall behind them looks like it’s melting. “Hey, what the-?” he shouts before a green haired young man and a blonde girl burst through the wall.
Everyone in the room turned to look at the source of the explosion. The green haired guy covered his eyes before a bright flash from the girl stunned everyone in the room except for the unfortunate victims in the chambers.
Meanwhile, the red smoke continues to circle around Ian before darting towards him. Just in that moment, the paper in Ian’s hand glowed and a swirl of energy shot from it and into the smoke. A bright flash of light appeared briefly, and the chamber was shattered from the outside.
Ian felt his hand being grabbed before being pulled out of the chamber. “let’s get you out of here buddy.” He hears his friend CC’s voice. Not being able to see anything, he allows himself to be led by his friend out of the lab.
“I got the other guy!” a female voice shouts from the direction of the other chamber. “Luke, grab the girl!”
Making their way out of the dust and rubble, Ian can now clearly see his friend CC pulling him along. “Oh my god, you saved me.” He says in gratitude.
CC looks back at him and smiles. “Okay guys, stay close, the closer we stay together, the less energy my illusion needs, after we go through that door ahead, no one makes a sound.”
Ian nods and looks behind him, following behind the blonde girl was the large chubby man he saw enter the other chamber, he can see that he has tanned skin and brown hair, but the tips of his hair and his eyes are now an unnatural purple colour. He seems to be running with a daze, following the lead of the girl. Behind them was a spikey, green haired man carrying an unconscious girl on his back.
Going through the doorway, CC stopped running and begins to speedwalk instead, he gestures everyone to remain quiet. Unfortunately, a couple of guards suddenly ran into them from around a corner. CC swerves to the side and puts his back against the wall to get out of the guards’ way. The others imitated him, and the guards just ran past them like they weren’t there.
“Relax, they can’t see us.” He says with a smirk.
“But I can.” They hear a voice speak from behind them. They all turn around to see a tall, pale man with black hair and glowing red eyes.
“Ender…”
He looks at CC, his face expressionless, his body unmoving. He looks at the girl with the blonde hair and yellow eyes, she seems to be readying herself to fight him. He points at her and asks. “You there, are you a light bender?”
The girl doesn’t answer but looks at CC instead. “Yeah, the last one.” He answers.
“Hey!” She reprimands him for revealing that, but CC just raises his hands at her. “Ender is a good guy.”
“A good guy? He has killed tens of thousands! What makes you think he’s a good guy?”
“Because we’re not dead yet.” CC answers.
Her eyes widen before turning back to look at Ender as she realizes the gravity of being in Ender’s presence.
Ender continues to stare at her before looking back at CC. The two friends look at each other for a brief eternity before Ender abruptly turns around. “f*ck off, and don’t come back.”
He could hear some sighs of relief behind him. “Thank you, Ender.” He hears CC say before the group left him behind his back. Ender remained, standing alone in the corridor for another brief eternity.
…
M33 lays on her bed bottomless. Her bed sheets stained with her bodily fluids as she wallows in her inability to control herself. She then hears the front door open and close with a slam. “Maa!?” her son Ender calls out for her. She quickly washes her hands and puts on a pair of pants before emerging from her room. “I’m upstairs dear.”
Ender quickly makes his way upstairs before taking her hand. “Maa, we’re going on a long holiday.”
…
History was made on that day. It was the first time ever in the history of the Dark Kingdom that the castle was infiltrated. To add insult to injury, the perpetrators successfully escaped. The kingdom went into lockdown, everyone within it was not allowed to leave their zones, and a thorough sweep was done by the police force in every household and building. Every alley and road were patrolled, even the sewers weren’t safe.
Outside of the city, every disposable military unit was deployed. Helicopters equipped with floodlights swarmed the skies, while soldiers, both on foot and in vehicles swarmed the land. The mountainous areas outside the city never saw the dark of night for a week, and no cave, nooks, or crannies weren’t turned inside out, for Scar was greatly offended. Not only by the disrespect, but also because he had potentially lost a lead to eternity.
“Where’s Ender?” Scar’s voice was stern, but he kept his volume low. He doesn’t need to raise his voice, it carried great power no matter how he spoke.
“Ender had left the Kingdom the very day of the incident your majesty, he took his entire team with him.” Lewis answers.
Scar stares at Lewis for a few moments before turning his head away. He breathes a deep sigh after hearing that answer. It should be a matter of time before the terrorists are caught, no one has ever managed to escape Ender.
…
“And you were aware of this?” The blonde-haired girl asks CC.
CC nods. “The 50-50 chance that I mentioned earlier was entirely down to Ender letting us go. Outside the 100% certainty that Ender was gonna catch us, there was basically 0% chance of us getting caught by someone else. That’s how confident I am in my powers, but also how frighteningly competent Ender is.”
“So basically, we could have died?” The green haired man asks, and CC nods.
“Why didn’t you tell us this?” The blonde girl scolds.
“Let’s be real, even if I did, you’re too stubborn to listen.” CC points out before looking at Ian who’s listening to the entire conversation without saying a word. “And to be fair, I’m stubborn as well.”
Blonde girl and green hair don’t protest, CC’s right, they would have wanted to proceed anyway. Besides, the mission was a success, there’s no reason to get worked up now.
“Anyways!” Green hair claps his hand together before standing up. “Let’s do a little introduction shall we? I think these beautiful people that we’ve helped deserves to know who their saviors are!”
“My name is Luke Rocketsky! (Pronounced ski, not sky) I can melt basically anything with my acid except for your heart, my acid doesn’t do that, but my charms will!” He winks. “But calm your tit* ladies, because I’m a taken man!” he adds before sitting back down.
The blonde girl rolls her eyes at the melodramatic performance. “Just so nobody here gets the wrong idea, I’m not his girlfriend, okay? I’ll consider turning myself in to Scar before I consider dating him.”
Luke just shrugs at her statement. “Hey, feelings mutual. Don’t act like you’re the one who turned me down.”
“Since you’re talking, why don’t you introduce yourself next?” CC gestures at the blonde girl.
The girl rolls her eyes again before letting out a humorous sigh. “Okay! My name’s Rachel, Rachel Young. And if you guys heard what CC said back in the castle, that wasn’t a lie, I am indeed the last light bender… That we know of. I hope we’re wrong.” She says before sitting back down.
“And Banjo Jojo is my name,
Selling things is my game!
I play my banjo every hour,
Pocket dimensions is my power.
Feel free my friends, stay here, and hide,
Until the baddies go away outside!~”
Banjo Jojo sings before he disappears as suddenly as he appeared. Everyone then just gives a round of applause before Luke turns to CC “How did you find that guy?”
“He’s actually one of the most notorious smugglers amongst the rebels, he comes in and out of the Dark Kingdom all the time, some of the high-profile nobles know about him, even Ender. Not Scar though, he’ll never allow it.” CC explains with a smile.
He then proceeds to stand up next. His tall and slender figure contrasted himself from the other two. “Hello, my name is CC, and I am a shadow bender that specializes in illusions. I do not agree with Scar, despite growing up a noble, and I guess this is my life now.”
“Does CC stand for anything?” Luke asks.
CC nods.
“Are you gonna tell us?”
CC shakes his head before quickly turning to Ian and gestures for him to stand up. “If you’re comfortable.”
While his 3 rescuers look well groomed, Ian was shaggy and messy, as prisoners are. Despite him being slightly chubby, his chiseled arms and legs reflect his efforts to stay in shape in his cell. He shrugs and stands up. “Hi, first of all thanks for saving me. My name is Ian Aswad, and I draw…”
“Wait, where did you get that knight helmet?” Luke interrupts, pointing to the red feathered knight helmet that Ian is wearing, concealing his entire face and head.
“On the way out, there was those knight armor display things…”
“And you just stole one?” Rachel asks with a somewhat judgmental tone. But it didn’t faze Ian one bit.
“Yes.”
His introduction was further interrupted by a rather erotic sounding moan capturing everyone’s attention. They turn to look at the odd-looking woman laying behind him as she begins to wake. Her skin was unnaturally red, and she had long, curly, voluminous crimson hair. The colour matches that of Ian’s. Like Rachel, she too has an hourglass figure, only hers seems unnaturally flawless, her body doesn’t seem built, but drawn, with some odd proportions. The weirdest part though, was that she’s completely naked.
“Hey, I was meaning to ask Ian, your sister looks kinda weird.” Luke points out.
“She’s not my sister. I don’t know who that is, I thought she was with you.”
The odd-looking girl slowly wakes from her slumber, lazily sitting up while rubbing her eyes. “Oooohh…what happened?” she asks with a high-pitched voice that sounds like that of a child. She removes her hands to reveal a pair of glowing pink eyes.
“It just gets weirder and weirder.” Luke remarks.
Rachel scoffs at Luke before approaching the odd purple skinned girl. “Hey, what’s your name?”
The girl stares blankly at Rachel for a moment before standing up and smirking proudly with her hands on her hips. “I am Jessica! Daughter of Lilith. Succubus from the underworld, I prey on horny men and absorb their life force-… hey why do I sound like this? And why am I not able to-…” she pauses before taking a look at herself. “Wh-… what is this?”
“So, you’re a succubus?” Rachel says before raising a glowing fist at her.
Jessica jumps back in surprise. “A light bender? You did this to me!?” she angrily scoffs.
“No, but you’re gonna hate what I’m gonna do to you next!” Rachel says before throwing a punch at her. Helpless in this form, Jessica just flies backwards after getting hit. But so does Ian.
“Huuurrrk!” he exclaims in pain as he too feels the force of the punch, alarming CC and Luke.
“Rachel, wait!” Luke shouts.
“I think I know where she came from.” Ian coughs as he slowly gets up.
Luke and CC restrain Jessica while Rachel examines her. In this form, she seems powerless, no different from any other human that doesn’t know how to bend. Luke takes her right hand and forces it towards Rachel, whose palm is glowing a divine yellow colour. She then wraps her palm around Jessica’s wrist, causing her to feel like red hot metal cuffs are wrapping around them. “Arrrgghh!” the succubus winces in pain.
“Eeerrgghh!” Ian groans as he clutches his right wrist in pain as well. Rachel quickly removes her hand and they both breathe a sigh of relief.
“I see.” she says under her breath. “I think I understand what’s going on here.”
“I don’t.” Luke says before quickly punching Jessie in the face, knocking her onto the floor.
“Ack!” she exclaims in pain.
Rachel and CC throw their hands up. “What was that for?” Rachel scolds him.
“Same thing as you, experimentation.” he replies. “Also look, no reaction from him.” He adds, pointing to Ian who wasn’t affected by the punch.
Rachel and CC turn to see that Luke was right. “So, physical damage doesn’t transfer, but light does?”
Luke shrugs. “I guess, so if we wanna kill her, we can’t use light powers.”
Rachel facepalms. “You can’t kill a demon with physical damage stupid.”
CC waves his hand at Rachel. “Give him a break, he’s not shadow nor light, he couldn’t possibly know how demons work.” He says before turning to Luke and Ian. “Basically, only very strong light benders can kill demons. Most, like Rachel, can only banish them to hell at best.”
“I see.” Luke says, posing in an inquisitive posture. “So, what happens if I melt that body with acid?”
“It’ll set her spirit free, we don’t wanna do that.” Rachel answers sternly.
Jessica’s face lights up. “All I need to do is commit physical suicide, and I’m free?” she asks, before beginning to punch herself. “Ow! Ow! Ow!”. Luke and CC rush to stop her, but her arms stop on their own, as if being restrained by an invisible force. “What the!?” she exclaims, confused.
Ian then stands up. “I drew that body, so I can control it.” He reveals, before turning to Rachel. “I can make sure she doesn’t escape that body, but does this mean…?”
“It means until we find a way to banish her without dooming you to hell also, you’re stuck with her.” Rachel confirms.
“f*ck!” Ian groans.
Jessie then glares angrily at Ian. A brief memory of diving for his body in that chamber replaying in her mind when a bright flash of light being the last thing she remembers before waking up. “You! So, if I kill you…!” she says as she tries to run towards Ian, but her body remains stuck in place. Ian glares at her with intense eyes, and suddenly, Jessica understands the situation she’s in. “Okay okay! I get it, please let me move!” she pleads.
Ian looks around the room to see Luke and CC shrugging, but Rachel shakes her head. “Punish her a little longer.”
Ian nods and shrugs at Jessie with a smirk. “Come on!” the succubus begs, but her pleas for mercy were ignored.
“Okay, so I understand that now.” Luke says pointing to Jessie. “But how about that guy?” he says, pointing to the large man that he would only describe as fat sitting alone by himself. His eyes open, he was watching the entire thing, but he hadn’t done or said anything. “Yeah, that’s pretty f*ckin freaky.”
“Hey don’t be rude!” Rachel reprimands him before the 4 of them walk towards the large man. Leaving the talking succubus statue alone. Ian could remember when he saw this man for the first time, being forced into the other chamber behind Phantom as he was explaining Project Xi to him.
The man had brown skin and short dark brown hair, although the tips of his hair were coloured a very unnatural purple. His eyes also had this unnatural purple in them, but what’s more unsettling is that his eyes don’t seem to have pupils, just a solid purple colour. His skin had cracks in them as if he was made of clay, and a purple glow emanated from these cracks.
“He’s quite clearly far into the corruption process.” CC remarks apologetically.
“I managed to cast out the demon that was possessing him, but I don’t know how much of his soul did it take.” Rachel adds.
The others approach the man solemnly, but Luke just walks up to him and snaps his fingers in front of his face. “Hey, anyone home?”
“Luke!” Rachel scolds, pulling him back.
“Yes.” The man answers.
Surprised by his first word, the others all turn to look at him in unison. “Sir, are you okay?” Rachel asks.
“Yes.” He answers again.
“Can you say anything other than yes?” Luke asks.
“Yes.”
Luke then laughs before dodging a slap from Rachel that he clearly saw coming. “Do you remember anything?” Rachel asks, her attention returning to the rescue victim.
“No.”
“Not even your name?” Luke asks.
“No.”
“Dang.” Luke exclaims.
“Interesting, it seems that some of his soul remained.” CC remarks.
“Can he like, move?” Ian asks.
“Sir, can you stand up and walk?” Rachel asks.
With the same blank expression remaining unchanged, the large man, previously as still as a statue, stands up and walks until they told him to stop. “Well, duh, of course he can move, the guy ran here with us.” Luke points out.
“Oh yeah.” Rachel facepalms, disappointed in herself. “Sir, what was your thought process when I grabbed your hand, and you followed us if I may ask?”
“None.”
“Wow, he’s like a puppet.” Luke says amusingly. “Hey, puppet dude, can you still use your powers?”
“Yes.”
“Well, um…do something then?”
The man then lifts his right arm and points it towards Luke before a stone gauntlet formed around his fists. The stone was black and had cracks in them like the one on his skin, they too glow an ominous purple colour.
“Woah what is up with his eaAAauugh!!” Luke exclaims as he dodges the stone fist that was suddenly shot towards him.
“I’m starting to regret this rescue mission, cuz all we’ve came away with is your friend who’s now spiritually tied to a succubus, and a soulless fat robot.” Rachel sighs.
CC stares at her, he knows she doesn’t mean it, it’s her frustration speaking.
“Are you kidding me? This is some cool ass sh*t, Ian has a demon girlfriend, and we get a puppet man that can shoot rocks. These are exciting times for the Wolfgang!” Luke shouts
“Please don’t call that thing my girlfriend.” Ian says.
“Hey, we never agreed to that name!” Rachel protests.
“Among all the things he said, ‘Wolf Gang’ was what bothered you the most?” CC asks.
