Amelia played with a tiny red crystal. She let it slip over her fingers, her red eyes fascinated by it.
The crystal slipped away from her grasp, entering her mouth.
Amelia closed her eyes as she enjoyed the wonderful taste that the crystal created.
'I ate 463 crystals alone in this morning and there still no improvement. Did I reach the limit?'
She was pondering over it when knocking sounds called her back from her thoughts.
"Come in." Spoke Amelia.
A soldier with red eyes entered her office, saluting.
"Professor Volari, we retrieved the recordings from our missing squad in Shanghai." Reported the Soldier.
Amelia giggled at the Soldier. It wasn't because he said anything funny but because he was saluting and speaking to the wall on the left.
His strange actions weren't because he was messing with her or because he was blind.
Amelia herself was the cause for his strange actions. It was the power she gained after consuming her first 100 red crystals.
She only needed visual contact to pull people into the illusions she wanted them to see.
The Soldier didn't see a wall, what he saw was Amelia sitting behind her desk.
Amelia noticed how power-drunk she had become over the years and she enjoyed it.
'The world will head into the direction I have dreamed about, I only need to take control over Substance 001 and its unpredictable mutations!'
She let the soldier guide her towards the Network Department. The other high ranking members of the Volari Company were already waiting there.
Amelia saw their grave expressions as she greeted them.
Another soldier nodded and a worker went on to show them the recordings on a huge screen.
"We lost contact to Team Fenrir two days ago. They were operating in Shanghai, scouting and eliminating newly established forces by empowered humans. Their progression went smoothly until they encountered something...." Spoke the soldier.
Everyone looked at the screen.
They observed how Team Fenrir moved towards the central part of Shanghai that seemed devoid of life.
It was then they everyone gasped in shock by what came into view...
Animals, a lot of animals. Most were dogs and cats.
Team Fenrir faced them and it quickly became a fierce fight in which most of Team Fenrir perished.
Their escape route was cut off and they had no other choice but to push forward.
The last scene before the camera was cut off was something incredible.
A gigantic horde of dogs and cats, flooding towards them...
The soldier ordered the worker on the computer to rewind and enlarge the picture.
Amelia's eyes widened.
In the back, behind the horde of animals could a huge red crystal be seen. It was floating in the air as it radiated red lights.
Everyone inside the room stared at the frozen image.
"We need to get that crystal at any cost!" Said Amelia, her eyes flashing with greed.
The others turned their heads towards her.
Amelia ignored them, "Tell Team Odin, Team Zeus, and Team Red Slayer to move out immediately."
The soldier became flustered but still saluted and went on to do as ordered.
"Amelia are you out of your mind? We don't know what that thing is?" Said the old Professor.
She dismissed his comment, "Its a larger concentration of Substance 001, its able to turn animals into mindless monsters...We need that to figure things out, our research stagnated the last days."
"But..."
She didn't give the old Professor time to refute, "I know what your concerns are Carl but we need to be decisive in this regard if we want to reach our goals. Someone else might take it if we don't. Does someone else in this room disagree?"
Her red eyes became sharp, wandering over the faces of the other high ranking members.
No one said anything, some even averted their eyes from her.
Amelia turned around, leaving them behind.
'I want it! I want to consume it! How strong will I get if I take it?' Her red eyes lit up with greed.
One day later in Dortmund, Germany...
Benji walked carefully through the sewers.
[Benji move faster! The other five mutated zombies escaped, entering the sewers too. I have the elite puppets tailing them. They are aiming for you.] Spoke Adam.
'I will, I noticed the suppression getting stronger here. It should be nearby!' Answered Benji as he began to dash through the tunnels.
Adam was facing the 3 colossal zombies on the surface.
Their bodies were impaled on the ground by dozens of spears, swords, and axes.
Adam was sweating a lot, he sensed that Cain's body was about to reach its limit.
He created three large halberds and controlled them a last time.
The three halberds shot across the air towards the three motionless zombies that were struggling to break free.
It was too late, their severed heads flew up into the air.
Adam fell on the ground totally exhausted.
[I did my part here Benji, the rest is up to you...]
'Leave it to me!'
The suppression was growing stronger and stronger around him.
Benji saw a blinding red light in the distance, he smiled evilly, dashing forwards.
He was expecting a human or a mutated zombie, maybe even an alien but...
"What the?"
A huge red crystals was silently floating in the middle of a chamber.
It was by far the biggest crystal he had seen so far, it had almost the same size as himself.
The crystal didn't stay idle, it seemed like it was triggered by Benji's presence.
The suppression around him became tyrannical. Breathing became harder and he felt his very thoughts become sluggish...
"You want to suppress me?!" Cursed Benji in anger.
The gravity inside the chamber changed, everything became heavy.
"Let me show you what real suppression looks like!"
The whole chamber began to crumble under the gravitational pressure Benji unleashed.
It became stronger with every step Benji took.
The crystal began to struggle to stay in the air.
It crashed into the destroyed floor when Benji stepped right in front of it, it trembled violently, creating a shrieking sound that send chills through Benji's body.
"Shut up!" Shouted Benji as he punched the huge red crystal on the ground.
"What..." Benji's vision turned pitch black when his fist came into contact with the crystal.
Benji looked around in the darkness in confusion.
'What the hell is happening?' Thought Benji.
[It's suppressing us, let me show you what it is doing right now...] Spoke Adam.
'Adam! Good that you are here!' Exclaimed Benji in delight.
[No time for emotions now! We are f*cked up!] Cursed Adam as he shared his vision with Benji.
Benji's eyes widened to the extreme, an image of the chamber appeared in his left eye.
The huge red crystal had turned into a liquid that was slowly expanding all over his body.
'Is...it trying to absorb us?'
[That's how it looks like.]
'...'
[We need to go all out, together...]
'Together?'
[Do we have another choice?]
'No...will it be okay?'
[I don't know.]
'Why are we struggling? Didn't we decide that life isn't important?'
[We did, but that was before all of this happened. Do you want to give up power?]
'No!'
[Me neither! I want more!]
'Our greed for more power...Adam...'
[I know...]
'I want it too you know.'
[I know...]
'I want more of this, life is so exciting now!'
[Then let's go and get it!]
'I won't let some random crystal eat me! I will eat it!'
[Together!]
'Together!'
The liquid had already engulfed Benji's body up to his neck, only his head wasn't engulfed.
His eyes looked empty, void of any color, they were completely black.
The red liquid made its way up when it suddenly froze.
A pair of menacing red eyes were staring down on it.
The left eye was shining bright in the darkness while the right eye lacked any luster, it was like an abyss of endless red-darkness.
["You Are Mine!"]
"You Are Mine!"
Both of them spoke as one...