Water splashed in violent waves as Arc and the others sprinted through the tunnel—shattered machinery groaning behind them, metal pipes rattling as the Revenants poured through.
Titanborn shoved aside rusted debris, clearing a path with brute force.
Mindwright calculated turns and angles while running, breath shallow.
Blinkstep kept looking over his shoulder like something was inches from biting him.
Arc held the puppet to his chest, its wooden grin glistening in the dim blue light.
Behind them:
Screeches.
Claws raking metal.
Bones cracking as corrupted bodies squeezed through pipes never meant to hold them.
Nature hadn't made these creatures.
Bad Art had.
Blinkstep gasped, "WHY—are there—SO MANY—?!"
Mindwright snapped, "Because Stage-2 corruption spreads like a disease! Once one Revenant nests—"
A massive screech cut him off.
Something big moved behind the pack.
Titanborn slowed slightly.
"…Oh, hell."
Arc didn't need to look back.
He could feel it.
Something larger.
Something older.
Something the others were afraid of.
His puppet whispered:
"Revenant Alpha."
Blinkstep screamed, "ALPHA?! WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!"
Titanborn yelled, "It means we DIE if it catches us!"
Mindwright looked at Arc.
"Arc—use Act Two!"
Arc shook his head. "I'm not ready."
The puppet whispered:
"Yes you are."
Arc fought the urge to listen.
Dead End
Titanborn rounded a corner—
and stopped.
A collapsed section of the tunnel blocked the path.
Blinkstep slammed into his back.
Mindwright tripped and caught himself on a pipe.
Arc walked up beside them.
Titanborn pounded the stone.
"It's too thick—I can't break this fast enough!"
Blinkstep screamed, "WE'RE GONNA GET MAULED!"
Mindwright pressed his back to the wall, voice trembling.
"We need another path! We need—"
A deep growl rumbled through the tunnel.
The Revenant pack turned the corner behind them.
Eyes glowing faintly.
Spines twisted.
Teeth clicking.
Blinkstep whispered, "Oh gods oh gods—"
The Alpha stepped out behind them.
Eight feet tall.
Jaws cracked sideways.
A ribcage split open like a blooming flower of bone.
Titanborn froze in raw horror.
Mindwright whispered:
"This is a Stage-3 failure."
Blinkstep whimpered, "We're dead. We're dead, we're actually—"
Arc stepped forward.
Puppet raised.
Strings humming.
Titanborn grabbed his shoulder.
"ARC. NO."
Arc's face was blank.
Calm.
Empty of fear.
"I have to," he whispered.
Mindwright shook violently.
"You'll die!"
Arc didn't answer.
Because the Alpha lunged—
jaw unhinged—
arms bent backward ready to pierce—
And Arc finally snapped the strings.
Act Two: Marionette Guillotine
The world stilled.
Every Revenant froze mid-lunge.
Even Titanborn couldn't breathe.
Arc's fingers danced.
Strings surged outward in a violent arc—
invisible, slicing through the air like blades forged from intent.
The Alpha twisted, shrieking—
but its limbs locked as if an unseen puppeteer seized control of its bones.
Blinkstep covered his ears.
Mindwright stared in shock.
"His control output… just doubled…"
Arc whispered:
"Fall."
The puppet's head tilted.
The strings snapped downward.
A sound like wet fabric tearing filled the tunnel—
THRRRRRRRRIP—
The Alpha's head hit the ground.
Its body remained standing for one horrible second—
then collapsed.
The pack screeched, bodies trembling violently.
Arc snapped the strings sideways.
One by one, in rapid jerking motions—
the Revenants' limbs twisted back
spines contorted
necks snapped
until the entire tunnel went silent aside from dripping blood.
Titanborn stared.
Blinkstep's jaw trembled.
Mindwright whispered:
"…That wasn't control.
That was execution."
Arc lowered his hand slowly.
The puppet giggled.
"Act Two is hungry."
Arc didn't respond.
He felt numb.
His heart hammered.
His breathing shook.
The blood smell choked him.
He had never killed like that before.
Titanborn swallowed.
"Arc… you okay?"
Arc didn't answer.
Because deeper in the tunnel—
past the corpses he had just created—
He saw movement.
A silhouette.
Quiet.
Still.
Watching.
Elias.
Blinkstep's teeth chattered.
"H-He's here… AGAIN?!"
Mindwright backed up.
"No… No—this is something else. He was WAITING to see if Arc used Act Two."
Titanborn clenched his fists.
Arc stared at the silhouette.
Elias stepped forward.
Slow.
Careful.
He crouched beside the fallen Alpha, examined the cut, then looked at Arc.
Those eyes weren't mocking.
Weren't impressed.
Weren't cruel.
They were calculating.
Comparing Arc's growth to something in his mind.
Elias spoke quietly.
"Better."
Arc exhaled shakily.
Titanborn whispered to Mindwright, "He… he's judging him."
Elias continued:
"You're learning."
Blinkstep whispered, "DUDE THIS IS NOT A TEACHER."
Elias lifted one of the Revenants' severed limbs, studied the bone density, then dropped it.
He spoke again—
this time with a harsh honesty that cut the tunnel in half:
"But hesitation almost got you killed."
Arc's heart dropped.
Because Elias looked at him the same way one looks at a tool that isn't sharp enough yet.
Elias rose and turned to leave.
Titanborn shouted, "HEY! ANSWER ME SOMETHING!"
Elias stopped.
Titanborn's voice cracked.
"WHY ARC?! Why him?! Why are you doing this?!"
Elias didn't turn around.
But his answer was quiet…
and terrifying:
"Because he's the only one worth it."
Then he walked into the darkness and vanished.
Arc stood alone in the center of the bodies he had created.
His puppet whispered:
"He chose you."
Arc's breath hitched.
He wasn't sure if that was a blessing—
—or a death sentence.