He had been always a curious character and went as far as infinity to seek the ancient weapon of times, the double sphere. With the help of the evil magic he absorbed from the void, he created life cells, which he named villain coins which he used to summon villains.
Zedric was the enemy of General Dafour Maltimore. The Maltimores were the chosen bloodline of Villain Hunters. It was believed that every 50 years, a new pack of villains merged into the multiverse to distort the peace.
Zedric being the Lord of Villains was defeated in the second war of the Multiverse and locked into the void of illusions, a pocket dimension by the first villain hunter who earned himself a title, Lord Hunter.
The Void Of Illusions was a mysterious pocket dimension where one got lost in illusions. It was a void created as a form of punishment for all the criminals in the Multiverse and most of the illusions were created based on one's past life. Only the determined ones could survive the void.
Peace was eventually restored after his defeat. Having stayed in the void for years, he finally broke free. His reign of evil was soon coming and with the double sphere in his hands, he created an enchanted script of characters as he saw a proposal advert on the Maltimore company billboard.
The enchanted script of characters would be activated once the characters were created as described in his script, they'd all come to life.
Prime comics' has great artists who indeed never disappoint. Zedric was only interested in the characters drawn according to his script. From then on he created life cells for the characters which he'd use to summon them.
However, the only hindrance was that he couldn't break the barrier between the Multiverse and the real world so he could only create virtual characters to use them. In the past few years, he'd tried to do the same but it was all in vain, thanks to the Villain hunters who disrupted his plans.
Now that he'd returned to the real world, his origin, he had succeeded in making his villains. Secondly, he'd succeeded in opening new planes in Mobodoon.
According to the comic Villains' Era, their main city of residence was Mobodoon. Sadly enough, the comic hadn't yet received a story and ended with a short synopsis of its characters.
Gazing at his double sphere, it had cracked, making it faulty. To restore it, he needed the time crystal. A powerful crystal which hadn't been seen for centuries but was believed to exist. If he'd get the crystal, he'd be able to link Mobodoon with the multiverse, the place he wanted to rule.
A sudden vibration which seemed to be coming from the hourglass interrupted his thoughts. An eccentric hazy mist clouded the lower part of the sphere and as it gradually faded, he saw the outline of a man.
He managed to recognise him for he had a scar on one side of his face just like him. Though his image was slightly blurry, he managed to notice him.
"Finally, you reached out to me. I believe you have some news, don't you?" Implored Zedric.
The scarred-faced figure of Exodus nodded, "Yes, indeed m'lord. There is cloudy smoke on the north side of Mobodoon. The double sphere identifies its origin."
"Hmm, that's strange but never mind. Have you found what I asked you? Any signs of a Maltimore in Mobodoon?" He lazily asked.
"Uh..not yet master. I haven't seen any Maltimores," responded the blurry image of Exodus.
Zedric found it quite strange that no Maltimore had made an appearance in Mobodoon. It seemed like he hadn't crafted enough of a surprise to attract Maltimores.
Gazing at the figure in the hourglass Zedric warned," Don't let your guard down. These Maltimore creatures are very clever. Why don't you make some chaos, hmm? You have a crew use it to find me the time crystal."
"Yes, Master, I'll take my leave," concluded Exodus and then vanished.
In the end, the two villainous creatures ended their conversation. Zedric looked at his weapon and hummed in thought. Raising his hand, he pointed at the cracked hourglass and chanted a few words.
In the next few seconds, he saw the tall building of Prime comics. It looked haunted as there were no people around or inside it.
He smiled eerily watching the tall building empty.
"Very well, Maltimore. It seems my plans partly worked but it is far from finished. Things are just getting started," he chuckled with excitement.
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Meanwhile, Ares as the filial great-grandson never seized going to the hospital to see his only relative and guardian. Entering the huge vicinity of the hospital, he marched towards the corridor of elevators.
Suddenly, a shadow of a mysterious man walked past him at a supersonic speed. However, in the next few minutes, Ares found himself alone in the corridor. It was as if he had been imagining things.
A nagging feeling of being watched crept into his heart.
'I'm I being watched?' he thought.
Before he could take a step he felt something beneath his foot. When he looked down, he saw a folded piece of paper. 'This wasn't there, was it?' he thought.
Picking up the paper, he placed it in his pocket and made his way to the VIP ward of General Dafour. As usual, he was welcomed by the still figure laying on the bed with a beeping ECG machine connected to his body.
~Clink!~
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something shattering to pieces. The sound seemed to be coming from the VIP ward next door. Curiously, Ares left the window of General Dafour's ward advancing towards the direction of the sound.
Peeping through the window, Ares came face to face with a strange dark silhouette with smoke flaring on it. What's with the dark smoke? he thought.
Just as he had turned his back to leave, he felt himself being pulled backwards. The events occurred so quickly that he couldn't react. Not until the door was slammed hard did he regain his grasp on reality.
Inside the dark room, Ares failed to analyse his surroundings but fear crept into his heart. 'Is it going to be like one of those horror movies I saw last night?'
His wild thoughts were interrupted by a whisper, "Ares Maltimore, you have to save us. You...must...save..us..!"
The whisper echoed throughout the entire room making Ares shiver. Ares felt the despair, fear and helplessness in the whisper. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but wonder.
Who was the person calling him? How did he know him? Why did the voice feel familiar?!