ETERNAL TOWER - 38TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 7:05 PM
A loud, screeching noise rings throughout the Eternal Drive experimentation facility, waking Nick Altair up. He looks over with his remaining eye to the front door, where he finds a smiling Trent wearing earmuffs. Trent pulls out a remote and presses a button, stopping the grueling noise.
As a result of being chained for a whole week, Nick’s blood flows far slower than before, with Trent’s daily beatings being the only time he gets to move. With barely any energy, Nick refuses to speak with the monster in front of him.
“Good evening, cyclops!” Trent mocks Nick. Nick returns no response.
“Tonight marks the end of your first week of captivity! You should be a bit livelier!”
“…”
Trent approaches Nick, grabbing the latter’s face. His remaining eye looks as if it was devoid of light. Remembering Damon’s words, Trent panics and slaps Nick, hoping he would regain his humanity.
“Hey, brat!” Trent calls out as he continues to slap Nick, the latter’s face beginning to turn red from the repeated hits. Nick still returns no response, emotional or physical.
“Shit…” exclaims Trent as he notices Nick’s wrists sporting a purple color. He frees him from the chains as Nick’s body flops to the floor.
“Fuck… this isn’t good…” Trent says to himself as he quickly exits the room, locking the door. Nick stares at the wall, seemingly dead before a static shock runs through his body and the light returns to his eye once more.
ETERNAL TOWER - 50TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 7:17 PM
“I told you to go easy on him!” Damon yells at Trent in his office.
“I have! Compared to the subjects of the demediom project, the brat has gone through absolutely nothing!” Trent defends his sadism as Damon sighs.
“...Bring in Elena. I can’t waste any more time with such a fragile hostage,” says Damon as Trent nods before leaving the office.
ETERNAL TOWER - 50TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 7:37 PM
Elena enters Damon’s office yet again, frantic due to Nick’s absence. Before the door even gets the chance to close, Elena immediately brings up her worries.
“Where’s Nick?” she asks as Damon sighs. He props up the jar containing Nick’s eyeball onto the table as Elena steps back, appalled at the object. In complete disbelief, Elena chooses to deny that it was indeed Nick’s eye.
“You… can’t be serious,” she says as Damon turns on his monitor. It reveals Nick, laying on the ground in a pool of blood. Though both of his eyes are closed, the left one in particular swells like a balloon. Elena’s jaw drops at the sight as she takes a step back.
“What kind of monster are you?!” Elena insults Damon.
“The Esperian kind. Same as you,” Damon nonchalantly replies as he places the jar back inside his desk.
“Do you really expect me to join forces with you after that?”
“After what? Removing his eye? As I recall, he did the same with my bodyguard. To add to that, he murdered hundreds of my men. People with families to feed, now starving because of your antics. I’d say removing his eye was at the very least, an act of mercy,” Damon spins back as Elena frustratedly glares at him.
“Your idea of mercy is as twisted as your mind," Elena retorts.
“Please, I’m the one being rational here. I am giving you a chance to save this nation you so dearly care about, yet you refuse every single time.”
“We both know that joining forces only serves to benefit you. What do I have to gain from going against Esper?!” yells Elena. Damon mouths something inaudible, to which Elena’s eyes widen at the prospect.
“D- do you really mean that?”
“I’ll keep my word on my honor as a prince,” Damon replies as he walks towards Elena.
“Now tell me, will joining forces be beneficial to only me?” Damon follows up as Elena pauses before replying.
“But…” Elena mutters as she turns her head to Damon.
“You have no honor,” Elena declares as Damon furiously glares back at her.
“You’re a bastard boy so starved for attention that you would terrorize an entire country for decades just to send a message to your oh-so-cruel father,” she continues as Damon clenches his fist in anger.
“You…”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, both of our fathers are monsters. But at least mine wanted me,” Elena concludes before Damon smacks her across the face. Elena takes the hit, standing perfectly still as Damon breathes heavily, furious at Elena's antagonization.
“I am a prince! You are just a spoiled little child who had everything handed to her on a silver platter while I had to work my ass off to try and live up to expectations! I might be a bastard, but I am a pure-blooded Esperian through-and-through! You decided to run off to be with these lowly Lavians! You don’t deserve to be called Esperian! You don’t deserve to be Adiran’s child! You deserve to rot in the deepest depths of hell, with the rest of these lowlifes!” Damon snaps as a wave of light pushes him back, sending him flying through his office window. To avoid plummeting to the ground, Damon manifests two huge wings on his back, similar to Elena’s, though sporting black feathers instead of white. Damon opens his coat, pulling out a saber with an ouroboros for a handle.
As he charges his blade, now glowing a bright red hue, a bullet grazes him on his shin from below. He looks down to find total mayhem as a horde of armed Lavian citizens engage thousands of soldiers, drones and mechs in battle throughout the city. Rainbow-colored lasers can be seen flashing wildly through the streets while large, spectral chains rain from above.
Distracted by the chaos, Damon is caught off-guard when Elena rushes towards him with her own blade. Damon parries the attack at the last second before slashing back. Elena blocks Damon’s attack as well, as the two Esperians engage in mid-air battle atop the Eternal Tower.
OUTSIDE THE ETERNAL TOWER
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 8:10 PM
Due to Zack and Jason’s initial breach of the tower, Damon had a security measure installed wherein all entrances of the tower would be closed off by technologically amplified steel, the same material he used to build the tarantula mechs. As Luke and Celeste approach the main entrance, they witness the steel starting to come down. Celeste uses all her might to try and keep the steel in place, as Luke quickly removes a bracelet from her arm and tosses it towards the steel. With the ring stuck to the top of the entrance, the steel is held in place as Luke, Celeste and the rest of the Lavians storm the tower’s first floor.
ETERNAL TOWER - 1ST FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 8:10 PM
Dozens of drones and mechs appear from every direction as they desperately try to defend the Eternal Tower from the attacking rebels. Celeste makes quick work of them however, ripping apart their metal bodies from a distance as Luke and the other rebels protect her from the bullets being fired. Another wave of robots follows suit, as Celeste repeats the process. This goes on for a decent amount of time before Luke decides to speak up.
“They just keep on coming!” Luke exclaims as he swings his bar around, batting drones away.
“Go on without us! We’ll be held up here forever if we keep trying to stand our ground!” replies Kate.
“But-”
“Trust us! We’ve got it from here!” Michelle cuts Celeste off, giving her a slight smile before continuing to open fire on the drones. Luke and Celeste follow her order, and begin to ascend the tower as they make their way to the second floor through the stairs.
On the second floor, the two demedioms fight their way through a hallway with seemingly never-ending robots rushing in their direction. Growing increasingly frustrated, Luke devises a quick solution by taking a minute to energize his bar while Celeste keeps opposing projectiles in place.
With his bar fully charged, Luke signals Celeste to step aside as he points it forward and releases a massive horizontal explosion that incinerates the entire opposite end of the hallway. With their path cleared, the two continue making their way up as they arrive at an elevator. As the elevator opens, however, the two find it unusable as it is filled to the brim with the corpses of dozens of scientists.
ETERNAL TOWER - 38TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 8:10 PM
A loud alarm sounds throughout the facility containing Nick, akin to the one fifteen years ago from Zack and Jason’s breakout. Footsteps frantically run through the facility, with the head scientist Trent deciding to descend the tower to deal with the intruders. As his powerless colleagues are left to panic, one decides to unlock and enter Nick’s holding cell. The scientist tries lifting Nick up, resting Nick’s arm on his shoulder. In a state of daze and confusion, Nick finds the scientist escorting him out of the facility. The scientist notices Nick returning to consciousness, and tries to open a deal with Nick.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Hey, demediom! I freed you, so you better help me get out of this alive!” the scientist blurts out as Nick glares at the scientist, refusing to say a word. As they make their way through the facility, several other scientists stare at them in disbelief and shock.
“Richard! What’s the meaning of this?!”
“Fuck you, man! Have you seen how many people are outside?! We’re done for! I’m getting myself out of this sinking ship!” the scientist holding Nick replies. His colleague decides to follow suit, assuming safety in Nick’s hands. Eventually, the remaining scientists all follow Richard and Nick, fearing for their lives.
Upon arriving at the elevator, Richard briefly sets Nick down as he unlocks it with his face ID. The elevator opens with the scientists all frantically rushing to enter as Richard drags Nick inside. Before Richard can choose a floor, Nick quickly presses the button indicating the 50th floor, to which the scientists are left bewildered.
“Did you really think… that I’d help you…” Nick mutters as the scientists’ bewilderment turns into fear as electricity starts to engulf Nick and the entire elevator along with him.
“...after you all just watched me suffer?”
ETERNAL TOWER - 50TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 8:36 PM
The elevator stops on the floor containing Damon’s office to which Nick steps out. Inside, the bodies of the scientists can be seen, all of their brains fried from Nick’s output of electricity. The elevator soon descends as Nick sprints through the floor with the goal of questioning Damon of Elena’s whereabouts, but comes to find Damon’s office empty. As he investigates the room, the massive doors behind him suddenly shut as an unknown entity makes its way inside.
Nick manifests his daggers, prepared to fight as a pair of tendrils grab him and launch him outside a window. Nick quickly dashes back inside as he sees his attacker, Jason Diaz, confidently awaiting him. Nick rushes Jason, but the two suddenly vanish right as he makes contact.
OUTSIDE THE ETERNAL TOWER
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 8:43 PM
Damon and Elena continue their battle as they each send blasts of light and fire flying through the air, decimating the buildings and skyscrapers around them. The breakout from fifteen years ago was already chaotic enough as Eternal Drive struggled to take control of the loose demedioms; tonight, however, was total anarchy. Nazendel was put in a state of chaos from an organized rebellion even worse than when several, crazed experiments were set free.
As their stalemate continues, Elena witnesses a humungous chain attaching itself to the base of the tower. Several individuals walk across the chain, two of which include the very catalysts for tonight’s rebellion: Zack Evergreen and Entro Gruff.
ETERNAL TOWER - 4TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 8:47 PM
While the two remnants of Rage lead a horde of frenzied Lavians into the building through Entro’s chain, Damon’s entourage begins to make their move. A thin, horizontal gust of wind blows past the fourth floor, catching several rebels off-guard and slicing them into two. Zack looks up at the direction the wind came from, staring down Trent Omega on the fifth floor balcony.
“This is your chance, Evergreen. He took away nine years of your life,” Entro says, offering Trent to Zack.
“He took away Lily. I’d gladly sacrifice nine years of my life again if it meant bringing her back,” replies Zack, clenching his fist as Trent gives a devious smile. Zack looks over to his side, catching sight of an empty bench. Two figures suddenly manifest onto the bench, a young Zack refusing to share his lunch with Lily.
“Lily… this revolution started with you…” Zack mutters to himself as he finishes reminiscing.
“...and I vow that tonight, it ends with me,” Zack concludes as he fires a barrage of lasers towards Trent. Trent dodges the lasers and leaps over the balcony, landing onto the fourth floor where Entro and Zack await.
“I leave him to you,” says Entro as Zack nods. Entro continues his way upwards as the two scientists meet head-to-head.
“It’s quite sad, isn’t it?” Trent asks as Zack raises his eyebrow.
“Your obsession with overthrowing Eternal Drive.”
“My obsession?”
“Any other man in your position, if they were to be taken captive for nine years and manage to bail out, I reckon they’d live out the rest of their pathetic lives in peace. Yet here you are, bringing the failures of Lavia into our doorstep,” Trent antagonizes an unaffected Zack.
“You should be blaming yourself, then, for not being able to put me down.”
“Indeed. I’d like to think of myself as the perfect specimen; however, as long as you still live and breathe, then I will always have an imperfection running around causing destruction wherever he goes,” says Trent, moving his robotic fingers around.
“Damn right you’re perfect. A perfect, Grade-A asshole.” Zack retorts, pointing his finger at Trent. An unamused Trent sighs at Zack’s crude humor.
“As much as it pains me to admit it, you are my biggest failure. I’ll do myself a service and put you to rest,” Trent replies as Zack fires a dozen lasers towards his direction. Trent extends his metallic arm, which emits a purple forcefield akin to Brian’s that blocks Zack’s attack. Zack is taken aback by Trent’s new device, but continues his onslaught. His lasers prove to be ineffective as Trent’s barrier successfully absorbs every hit with ease. Zack tries to charge his fingers to create another onslaught, but is forced to dodge and run around the floor as Trent’s arm unleashes a wave of flames that burn everything in its path.
Zack runs across the walls which Trent continues to scorch, the smell of ash and smoke engulfing the room as wires and devices explode. Trent’s blast of fire briefly stops as he aims his arm upward, preparing for a huge blast that would certainly collapse the ceiling onto both of them.
“Do you understand now, Evergreen?! This is what separates you from me! This is what separates greatness from PERFECTION!” Trent yells out, referring to the modifications he made to the prosthetic arm Damon provided him. With nowhere to run, Zack hopes for the best and creates a glass dome around him, even though it would most likely get melted. Trent fires the humongous blast, burning holes all the way to the 16th Floor.
ETERNAL TOWER - 4TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:08 PM
As the smoke clears, a furious Trent looks towards the center of the room, with Zack coming out of the smoke unscathed. Another voice coughing heavily can be heard as Luke and Celeste walk out, with Celeste holding a huge piece of the ceiling in the air.
“You’ve got it all wrong, Omega. What separates you from me…” says Zack as Celeste tosses the debris toward Trent, which he blocks with a barrier. Luke quickly rushes to his side, still coughing while grasping his steel bar.
“...is that you’re a delusional freak who will never grasp the concept of love or family,” Zack continues as Luke swings his energized bar upward. Trent tries to manifest another barrier, but Celeste holds his arm in place, unable to output energy. Luke’s swing shatters Trent’s mechanical arm, who is left with no room to act as Zack lunges at him with a fist coated in glass, punching him with the might of a twenty-year grudge that shatters Trent’s jaw.
Trent falls backward, caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of Zack’s foster children. Luke tries to take another swing, this time towards Trent himself, but fails as he is blown away by a gust of wind that Trent generates with his left hand. Celeste catches Luke before he collides with the wall as Trent continues to pace backwards, his jaw hanging from Zack’s punch.
ETERNAL TOWER - 9TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:01 PM
Entro continues battling his way up, slaughtering countless soldiers in his path. Upon ascending the escalator en route to the 10th floor, a flurry of purple orbs fly towards him from above that he manages to intercept with his scythe. Awaiting him was Brian Mathers, whose right eye was still patched up.
Entro fires a chain towards Brian, who immediately blocks it with a barrier. Brian proceeds to fire a blast of energy that scalps the entire escalator Entro was situated on; had he not jumped upwards onto the 10th floor, he would have been turned to ash.
Landing behind Brian, Entro sends several slashes with his scythe that Brian successfully blocks with miniature barriers to conserve energy. Entro rushes Brian, dragging his scythe upwards before bringing it down in a crescent motion, creating a huge arc-shaped hole in the walls before them. Brian ducks, managing to dodge the attack before sending his own as he generates three orbs that Entro once again intercepts.
Entro was fully aware of Brian’s technique thanks to Zack’s intel. Brian, however, was not so fortunate. He was unaware of the extent of Entro’s technique. As far as he knew, Entro Gruff could summon spectral chains that had the power to immobilize and a huge scythe that cuts everything in its path.
Brian’s lack of knowledge would prove to be a massive setback as Entro unveils yet another trick in his book: a spectral grave. Brian creates a barrier around him, prepared to defend against whatever attack Entro would pull out.
Entro picks up a broken piece of glass from the windows shattered by his earlier slash, cutting his left palm with the shard. Blood drips onto the grave as Entro reaches out with his right hand. A few seconds pass, with a perplexed Brian beginning to doubt that an attack was coming. In just a moment, however, the chaotic sounds of glass shattering and concrete breaking can be heard as a gigantic, spectral beluga emerges from below and devours Brian.
ETERNAL TOWER - 4TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:16 PM
The massive specter catches Trent, Luke and Celeste by surprise as a slight smile curls on Zack’s face. That smile would soon fade, however, as a bright, purple beam shoots through the spectral beluga’s stomach. A wet and sticky Brian surfaces as the spectral image dissipates. He looks over to Trent, who is clutching his severed arm in fear and anger.
“Where the fuck have you been?!” an enraged Trent snaps at Brian.
“Busy coordinating orders with the mechs. Do you seem to not recall that only the four of us have the authority to do so, and it just so happens that the three of you were occupied?” Brian explains as he blocks lasers fired by Zack with a barrier.
“Don’t you fucking patronize me,” growls Trent.
“You should be glad I saved your ass. You look like you’re in a real mess over here,” replies Brian as he looks over to the three demedioms, fairly unscathed compared to Trent’s pitiful state.
“Where’s Diaz?! I must get to the sixteenth floor now!” demands Trent.
“On the top floor, backing Damon up. If it’s a trip to the sixteenth floor you want, I can get you that,” says Brian, as Zack’s relentless, ineffective onslaught continues. Celeste makes Brian levitate, throwing him against the wall, but Brian cushions himself with a well-placed barrier.
“Quickly! I need the world to witness my perfection in all its glory!” Trent yells from across the room as Luke rushes him once more. He sends gusts of wind that cut Luke up, but Luke successfully swings his unenergized bar, smacking Trent in his midsection and breaking his ribs. Trent yells out in agony as Brian picks himself back up. He envelopes Trent in a barrier, and sends an orb towards it. The orb collides with the barrier, sending it crashing upwards. It passes through several floors, including the 13th floor where Entro continues making his way up, before stopping on the 16th floor, perfectly aligning with Trent’s request.
“Luke! Celeste!” Zack calls out to which the two turn their heads towards him.
“I’ll leave this lapdog to you! I’m gonna catch up with that son of a bitch Omega!” Zack continues.
“No sweat! This guy’s got nothin’ on us!” Luke confidently replies.
“Be careful, okay?” Celeste meekly replies. The three exchange a final look of pride, worry and gratefulness before Zack manifests a huge glass pillar below his feet that takes him upwards.
ETERNAL TOWER - 16TH FLOOR
EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:25 PM
An injured Trent stumbles upon a facility on the 16th floor containing various colored vials similar to the discontinued demediom serums. Trent picks up a grey-colored vial with the label THE PERFECT DEMEDIOM, opening the lid. He raises it in the air, prepared to drink the contents before a laser shoots the vial, breaking the glass and spilling the contents all over Trent’s body. Trent screams in pain, each successive yell sounding more monstrous than the former. His left arm melts and turns into flesh tendrils, his face morphs into that of a demonic creature. The man once known as Trent Omega had now mutated into an abomination, the complete opposite of the perfection he strived to achieve.
The abomination slowly creeps towards a nervous Zack, its continuous screams being heard all throughout the Eternal Tower. Whether those screams were of pain, agony, joy or wrath, the beta product of the perfect demediom project had only one goal in mind: kill.
To Be Continued…
