A low hum filled the air—mechanical, dreadful—like the final breath of a dying beast.
The light within the central lab shimmered sickly green, dancing off metal consoles and fractured glass. Tubes hissed. Alarms blinked faintly red.
And inside the pod, Soren writhed.
His body jerked violently. The fluid within bubbled and turned crimson. His muscles convulsed. Bones pushed against flesh unnaturally. His scream was muffled by the casing—but when the pod split open with a snap-hiss, the scream became a roar.
A deep, inhuman sound that rattled the floor beneath their feet and sent flocks of hidden vermin skittering through the cracks in the facility walls.
From the shattered chamber, Soren stepped forward—his form twice the size it had been. Skin torn and stretched. Flesh glowing in patches of pulsating red. His face, once familiar, was now twisted, jaw unhinged slightly, eyes glowing a flickering violet-white. His armor was fused into his flesh like metal melted into a wound.
Cassius stood stunned, the others barely behind him.
Cassius (softly, stunned):
"Soren…?"
His lips trembled. He took a step forward.
Elric (firm, drawing sword):
"Cassius, stay back!"
Varcen (coldly assessing):
"That's not Soren anymore..."
Soren's gaze swept over them, hazy, uncertain—until his head snapped toward Cassius.
Soren (distorted, broken voice):
"...C-Cass… make… it stop…"
"…hurts… inside… can't—can't think…"
He suddenly lunged, claws outstretched, swiping across the corridor.
Cassius was thrown back against a console, groaning. Sparks flew as his body collided with metal.
Ronan (terrified, stumbling back):
"What in the gods' names—what is that thing?!"
Cassius (desperate):
"It's Soren! It's him!"
Varcen (blocking another swing):
"Not anymore!"
Cassius pushed himself up, blood at the corner of his lip. Soren stood breathing heavily—heavy, as if fighting himself.
His fists trembled. His spine twisted slightly with every breath.
Cassius (stepping forward, voice cracking):
"You're still in there, I know it… You're stronger than this, Soren. Don't let them win."
He took another step.
Soren roared again—this time in pain.
Cassius's heart pounded.
Memories flashed—Soren laughing at the firepit, shielding him during the First Engine battle, swearing they'd protect each other.
And now?
Cassius's knees buckled, and he sank slightly, staring into Soren's unrecognizable face.
Cassius(to himself):
"Why…?Why you…?"
The relic on his arm, still in its shockwave glove form, pulsed once. As if responding to his heart.
He clutched it, staring at the faint glow under his skin.
Cassius (internal monologue):
"Is this what you want from me? To fight those I love? To become something that outlives all emotion…?"
"No. No, I won't. Not yet."
Elric (yelling, deflecting):
"He's getting worse, Cassius! Either we stop him—or he'll kill us all!"
Soren slammed his fist into the wall beside him, letting out another bone-chilling howl.
Dust fell from the ceiling. Pipes groaned. The lab itself seemed to quake under the weight of Soren's agony.
Cassius took one last step forward.
Cassius (hoarsely):
"I swear to you, Soren... I'm going to end this pain. One way or another."
Soren's fists glowing, cracking with raw mutation energy—and the light of Cassius's relic beginning to shine once again.
---
The lab groaned like a dying creature—glass shattering, alarms screeching, vents spewing steam into the blood-hazed air.
Soren's roar echoed again, this time sharper, more agonized. The floor cracked under his feet as he charged, his grotesque frame blurring in motion.
Cassius (leaping sideways):
"Soren—no! Please!"
But the monster wasn't listening. It couldn't. It was all pain. All fury.
Elric ducked behind a collapsing console, blade drawn, eyes fierce.
Elric (to himself):
"I'll strike at his limbs… not the heart."
He dashed forward—steel slicing air—and slashed at Soren's shoulder. Sparks flew where the blade met hardened, mutated flesh. Soren reeled, momentarily stunned.
But then he turned on Elric, eyes burning.
Soren (distorted snarl):
"…don't…touch… me!"
His arm whipped around—Elric flew across the lab, crashing into a cabinet of vials that exploded into color and smoke.
Cassius (rushing forward):
"Elric!"
Cassius swung his gauntleted fist into Soren's side. The shockwave pulsed, sending debris scattering and forcing Soren back several steps.
The walls cracked. The floor dented.
Cassius (panting):
"I don't want to fight you!"
Soren growled, gripping his head—clawing at himself—as if something inside tore at his mind.
Soren (hoarse, broken):
"…make it stop… get… out… of me…"
Flash—
The training yard, sunlight flickering on Soren's grin.
Cassius blocking a playful punch.
Laughter echoing across empty stone halls.
Flash—
The memory blinked away, replaced by the hulking shadow in front of him.
Behind them, the side corridors burst open—guards pouring in, rifles and electric staffs drawn. But they didn't expect what was waiting.
Varcen spun around, sword flashing, but before he could strike, a massive shape slammed into him—another mutated prisoner, not as large as Soren, but equally deformed.
Varcen (grunting):
"There's more of them?!"
He was tossed like a ragdoll, crashing into a wall with a sickening thud.
Ronan (shouting, running to him):
"Varcen!"
Ronan skidded across the slick floor, grabbing Varcen's arm, dragging him just out of the mutated being's strike zone.
Ronan (desperate):
"Don't die on me, dammit—don't die!"
From the far end, guards raised rifles.
Guard Captain:
"Neutralize all subjects. Use lethal rounds!"
Cassius (eyes blazing):
"NO!"
The relic pulsed—a shockwave blasted from his gloves. It arced through the air like rolling thunder, slamming into the guards. They were thrown back, limbs twisted, gear clattering across the floor.
Elric (coughing, getting up):
"You've gotten stronger…"
Cassius (gritting teeth):
"Because I had to."
Soren screamed again—his body spasming, eyes flickering from rage to terror and back. He stumbled.
Cassius stepped forward slowly.
Cassius (softly, to himself):
"He's still fighting it…"
Then he turned, shouting:
Cassius (furious):
"We're not killing him!"
Elric (tense):
"He's going to kill us, Cassius! I don't want to hurt him—but this thing is a weapon!"
Another mutated prisoner tore through the lab's rear—Ronan ducked under its grasp, slicing its hamstring with a fallen blade. The creature screeched and collapsed.
The lab was now a warzone. Steam. Blood. Crying. Shattered lights. Warning sirens howling into the void.
Cassius ducked under a punch from Soren—barely grazing his head—then rolled forward, placing a hand on Soren's chest.
Cassius (desperate):
"Fight it! Don't let them have you!"
Soren froze—his eyes briefly meeting Cassius's. The flicker of recognition. The flicker of pain.
Soren (shaking, weak):
"…brother…?"
And then he roared again.
Cassius knocked back, bleeding but still standing, as the room grows dim.
Soren stands breathing heavily—mind flickering, control slipping—and the ground begins to shake again…
---
The mutated Soren snarled—spite and blood dripping from fangs that weren't there before.
Around him, the lab trembled, metal panels hanging loose from the ceiling, sparks flying in fits. Dozens of shattered canisters hissed with vapor.
Cassius (tears brimming, breath shallow):
"Soren…?"
There was no response—just a fractured roar. Then—
Boom.
Soren charged, leaving a trail of crushed tiles in his wake.
Cassius ducked. The clawed swipe missed his head by inches, slicing through a steel pipe behind him. Elric rolled forward and slashed at Soren's thigh with his sword, the blade skidding uselessly off armored skin.
Elric (gritting teeth):
"Too thick—he's beyond anything I've seen…"
Soren grabbed Elric by the collar, flung him through a shattered glass tank. Elric crashed into a wall and slumped.
Cassius screamed.
His relic gloves glowed—sun-hot—and he launched forward, fists cracking the ground under his boots.
He punched Soren in the ribs—shockwave explosion.
Soren stumbled sideways, roaring. His hand smashed into a console, ripping through wires. Lights flickered.
Ronan (to Varcen):
"We've got to help—he can't do this alone!"
Varcen (wincing):
"You distract the guards—I'll back Cassius."
From the upper corridor, three guards rushed in, rifles aimed. Ronan grabbed a dropped pistol and fired wildly.
Bang—Bang—Click.
A guard fell. Another took cover. Varcen speared one into a tank, glass shattering into a rain of deadly shards.
Cassius turned, mid-dodge, as Soren's clawed arm slammed down beside him—crushing part of the floor.
Cassius (pleading):
"Soren, fight it! I know you're still in there!"
Soren (guttural, shaking):
"…Kill… me…"
Cassius hesitated.
Soren took the moment to bash his forearm into Cassius's side, launching him across the lab into a wall. The relic armor absorbed the blow—but the wind left his lungs.
From the corner, more mutated test subjects emerged from a broken containment door—staggering, blind, groaning.
Elric (getting up, spitting blood):
"We've got company!"
Varcen and Ronan pivoted, clashing with the malformed beings. One grabbed Ronan—its mouth unhinged.
Ronan (shouting):
"Get it off!"
Varcen drove his blade into its spine. The creature shrieked and crumpled.
Cassius crawled toward Soren, still down on one knee. Smoke curled from the relics—they were glowing hotter now, like they were burning something within.
Cassius (voice breaking):
"You're more than what they made you…"
"You're my brother, Soren."
Soren paused.
Just for a second.
His monstrous breathing slowed.
Cassius (placing hand to his chest):
"…Please come back."
Soren's eyes flickered. That murky red turned—briefly—into human brown.
Soren (barely audible):
"…It hurts…so much…"
But the moment passed. He twitched violently, growling like a cornered animal. Claws raised.
Soren (barely human):
"End it… please…"
---
Flash
They were young then.
The courtyard behind Ashenhold's barracks. Blades clashed in the golden light of late afternoon. A teenage Cassius stumbled back, laughing breathlessly.
Soren : "You'll never beat me if you keep watching your feet."
Soren grinned, tapping Cassius's forehead with the flat of his blade.
Cassius : "I was... just checking the ground for balance!"
Soren :"Sure you were, future King."
Their swords met again. Sparks flew.
Soren had said once, dropping his weapon after a long match.
Soren : "If I ever lose myself…remind me who I am."
——
The memory shattered.
The warmth of that memory vanished, drowned by the cold reality before him.
What stood now wasn't just a friend lost—it was a promise breaking, a future stolen.
Cassius's chest tightened. His voice trembled, but the fire in him refused to die.
Cassius (desperate):
"No! I'm not giving up on you—"
Suddenly, Elric appeared beside them, dagger in hand—its blade humming with a pale, sleep-inducing glow.
Elric (calm, firm):
"This won't kill him. But it'll stop this."
Cassius (angry):
"No! He's still there—I just saw him!"
Varcen (limping over):
"Cassius—if we wait any longer, there'll be nothing left of him to save."
Ronan (bloody, breathing hard):
"This isn't mercy anymore. This is madness."
Soren roared again—this time louder, chest pulsing, blood dripping from his eyes.
Soren (voice fractured):
"Don't… make me… hurt you…"
Cassius stood—fist clenched.
The relic flared again, glowing so brightly it washed the lab in a divine heat.
Cassius (tears falling, softly):
"…Forgive me."
BOOM.
Cassius drove his fist into Soren's chest—right over the heart. The gloves didn't explode.
They absorbed.
All the relic's glow poured into Soren, flooding him.
Soren screamed—not in rage this time—but in release.
The light faded.
He collapsed into Cassius's arms—still. Silent.
Dead.
Cassius knelt on the cold, cracked floor.
Soren's mutated body lay limp in his arms—half-human, half-thing—his eyes frozen in that last flicker of peace.
The lab buzzed with the low hum of dying machinery. The flickering ceiling lights gave the entire room a nauseating, dim pulse.
Cassius (barely above a whisper):
"…I wasn't supposed to let this happen."
His hands trembled, still glowing faintly. Bits of scorched flesh clung to the relic-wrought gloves.
Cassius:
"We were just kids… you had dreams, you laughed, you—"
"…how did it come to this?"
No one answered. The silence pressed down like a tomb.
Varcen stood still, jaw clenched, head bowed. Elric sheathed his dagger, his expression unreadable—but his knuckles white from the grip.
Ronan leaned against a wall, bloodied, wide-eyed. He didn't speak. He couldn't.
A sudden tremor ran through Cassius's arms. His grief boiled, reshaping into something sharp, corrosive.
Cassius (snarling):
"Who did this?"
He laid Soren's body gently on the floor, then slammed his fist into the ground. Cracks spiderwebbed under the blow. A small console sparked violently nearby.
Cassius:
"Who turns people into monsters and walks away like it's nothing!?"
Cassius (shouting to no one):
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"
His voice echoed through the lab. No answer came.
Cassius (choking):
"Is this the relic's gift? To watch everything fall apart?!"
He looked down at his hands. The glow was gone now—replaced by soot, blood, and ruin.
The relic didn't speak.
It never did.
Elric (softly):
"…He died as himself. Because of you."
Varcen:
"We honor that by moving forward."
Cassius didn't respond.
Ronan (quiet, almost scared):
"…What if we're next?"
No one answered that either.
Cassius stood slowly, wiping his face with a trembling hand. His eyes were swollen, but something else flickered in them now—a different fire.
Not just grief.
Resolve.
Cassius (low, grim):
"This won't be the last blood they answer for."
He looked at the others, then toward the cracked lab doors ahead.
Beyond them, somewhere in this underground hell—the answers waited.
And Cassius wasn't leaving without them.
**************************************