Chapter 26: Welcome to the Dark Side

Alden's stomach lurched as he fell, his arms flailing wildly as darkness swallowed him whole. A familiar sensation, one that he was beginning to genuinely hate. At this point, he decided, falling through collapsing floors was becoming far too routine.

"Can't one thing stay intact for five minutes around here?" he yelled, his voice swallowed up by the rushing air and chaotic rumble of collapsing debris.

Felix shouted back over the chaos, sounding unusually cheerful given the circumstances. "Hey, it's not my fault this place has structural integrity issues!"

Iris's voice cut sharply through the falling darkness. "Felix, maybe stop being so enthusiastic about falling to our deaths!"

The three friends hit something solid and unforgiving, tumbling across hard concrete flooring. Alden rolled to a painful halt, coughing violently as dust filled his lungs. He sat up slowly, coughing and blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit chamber.

He groaned, brushing dust from his hair. "Can we please, just once, use stairs like normal people?"

Felix laughed somewhere in the rubble behind him. "Stairs are for people who don't punch through ceilings."

"Which," Iris added sharply, dusting off her sleeves, "should technically be everyone."

Alden finally managed to stand, his bones aching. The fall hadn't done them any favors, but he could feel Overclock still humming quietly beneath his skin, calmer now but still distinctly unstable. His powers were no longer fighting him—at least, not violently—but the strange sensation of a foreign force inside him lingered.

The chamber around them was different than any he had seen before in the facility. The walls here were old, cracked, and scarred by age and neglect. Rusted pipes ran along the ceiling, dripping dark fluids onto the dirty, uneven floor. Flickering emergency lights barely illuminated rows of ancient containment pods lining the room. Many of them were cracked open, their glass surfaces cloudy and stained with unknown substances.

Iris appeared silently beside Alden, eyes scanning the room carefully. "Where are we?"

Alden shook his head. "No idea. But whatever it is, it looks like it hasn't been used in decades."

Felix joined them, brushing concrete dust from his shoulders with exaggerated casualness. "So, you're saying we've reached the creepy basement of the creepy basement?"

Alden snorted softly. "Something like that."

He stepped forward carefully, his footsteps echoing off the walls. The air here felt thicker, heavier—like the facility itself had forgotten this level existed. Yet something else was in the air too, a faint, unsettling hum vibrating softly beneath his feet.

"I've got a bad feeling," Iris murmured, her eyes flicking cautiously around the chamber.

"Just now?" Felix teased, flashing a grin. "I've had a bad feeling since we woke up today."

"Glad you're consistent," Alden muttered, trying to suppress the unease bubbling in his chest.

As they moved deeper into the chamber, Alden couldn't shake the nagging sensation that something was watching them. His Overclock tingled beneath his skin, alert but unusually silent, as if even it was wary of disturbing whatever lay hidden here. The chamber widened, revealing even larger tanks lining the walls, each filled with a viscous, cloudy fluid, illuminated by dim, sickly-green lights.

Iris drew a breath sharply. "What in the world were they keeping down here?"

Felix peered into one of the tanks, then recoiled immediately. "I vote we don't find out. Seriously. Let's just leave. Now."

Alden's curiosity got the better of him, though, and he moved to Felix's side, eyes widening as he stared into the tank. Within it was a figure—a distorted, skeletal creature, suspended in murky liquid, cables and wires protruding grotesquely from its emaciated form. It wasn't human, nor was it fully machine. It was something else entirely.

"Okay," Alden breathed, stepping back slowly. "Felix is right. We should leave. Immediately."

But as they turned, a loud mechanical whir echoed from deep within the chamber. The lights flickered, and a low, resonant hum pulsed through the air, causing their bodies to vibrate. Alden's heart sank.

A voice, distorted by static, crackled through the chamber's ancient speaker system. It was slow, mechanical, and distinctly unfriendly.

"Unauthorized…access… detected."

Felix rolled his eyes. "Of course. Creepy basement security."

The tanks around them began to glow brighter, the greenish light intensifying until it illuminated the entire chamber. Each tank hissed open, releasing clouds of vapor that rolled over the floor like living fog. Alden stepped back defensively, his Overclock buzzing instinctively in response to the rising threat.

Shapes emerged from the mist. Broken, barely human figures moved forward with stiff, jerky motions—half-human experiments, their features twisted and warped by years of failed attempts at merging humanity with technology.

Iris's blades were already drawn, shadows swirling protectively around her. Felix cracked his knuckles, positioning himself in front of Alden defensively. "Okay, officially the worst basement ever."

The failed experiments staggered forward, eyes empty yet hungry, hands reaching out blindly. They moved as if controlled by something unseen, puppets bound by invisible strings.

Alden took a steadying breath, his heart racing. "If Specter thinks this is funny, I'm officially uninviting them from my birthday party."

Iris snorted despite herself. "You were going to invite them?"

"Just trying to lighten the mood," Alden muttered, forcing his nerves to steady. "It's a coping thing, okay?"

The creatures lunged at once. Felix threw himself forward, his Titan's Might flaring brilliantly as he crashed into the first wave. Iris teleported rapidly, cutting down opponents faster than they could react.

Alden hesitated only briefly, Overclock pulsing strongly as he dodged a flailing attack. It wasn't just his power anymore; it was deeper, instinctual. It was something he didn't yet fully understand but knew he needed desperately.

Alden moved effortlessly, instinct and power aligning seamlessly, allowing him to dodge blows and counterattacks with terrifying ease. But something inside him still felt off—his mind flickering, fragments of himself threatening to unravel.

Mid-fight, Felix shouted with a dramatic flourish. "If we survive this, Alden, you owe me like fifty pizzas!"

Alden laughed despite the chaos. "Fine, but no pineapple!"

Felix dodged an attack, looking scandalized. "Who puts pineapple on pizza?! You monster!"

Iris flashed between opponents, amused despite her exhaustion. "Can you two argue food choices later? We're literally fighting for our lives here!"

But the laughter faded quickly as a larger figure stepped from the shadows at the end of the chamber, standing tall and utterly unaffected by the ongoing battle.

Null had returned.

Their eyes locked immediately, and Alden felt his blood freeze. Null's expression was unreadable, but the power radiating off them was unmistakable. They were fully synchronized, perfected, controlled—the opposite of Alden's current chaos.

"You again?" Alden muttered, forcing false bravado. "Don't you get tired of dramatically appearing at the worst possible moment?"

Null ignored the comment, stepping forward purposefully. "This ends here, Alden Cross."

Alden's breath caught. "Funny. That's exactly what I was about to say."

Null vanished in an instant, appearing inches away. Their fist swung with lethal precision, aiming straight for Alden's heart.

In a split second, Alden's world slowed. His Overclock surged desperately, fighting his internal chaos. As the punch closed in, Alden saw every detail clearly—Null's eyes devoid of hesitation, Felix frozen mid-stride, Iris teleporting frantically to reach him.

He had nowhere to run.

No escape.

No control.

Alden took a final breath, bracing himself for impact, knowing one thing clearly: he might not survive this time.