Chapter Text
“What do you mean they failed their mission?!”
Subspace shouted through the transceiver the moment he received Hyperlaser’s report. “The Biografts were all annihilated, Subspace. All their bodies were torn apart — wires dangling out of their shell,” Hyperlaser stated.
“I dispatched 100 Biografts there, how come all of them were wiped out?!” Subspace slammed his fist on his desk.
“That Playgroundian hound was just too strong, I presume. I just arrived here and saw all the massacred robots. He really is violent, similar to a rabid dog. Plus, he must have called for help — he’s friends with a prominent gang leader in the Playgrounds from what I heard,” replied Hyperlaser.
“These useless clankers!” Subspace slammed the receiver down and leaned back on his chair. He let out a loud, audible sigh as these robots were beginning to degrade in quality. It has been a long time since they had a software update — perhaps he should do it like he kept on saying to himself months ago… but he couldn’t shift his focus on that no matter how hard he tried.
For years, he had been busy tracking down his nemesis after their confrontation several years ago. The pulsating scars that doctor inflicted still etched on his body even though a wide span of time had already passed. To think that he once called him his ‘friend’... he realized how naïve he was back then. He should have never trusted him in the first place.
Subspace glanced at the crystals on his desk. Ever since they got hold of them, things took a turn for their lives. They were not the same as they used to be. Every time the two of them encounter each other, trouble always arises. Not once did the two of them have a peaceful moment whenever they met. When his nemesis deliberately ruined his project over the crystal dispute, that was his final straw — a violent confrontation occurred, which led him to the state he was currently in.
He picked up the crystal and took a closer inspection of it. The swirling vortex inside the crystal gave him the solace he wanted. It was the only way he could remove his mind from what was going on in the Inpherno. Just a glimpse of it, he felt revitalized, fueling his desires for power.
*BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ*
The transceiver was buzzing again. Subspace picked it up and answered it. “What is it again, Hyperlaser?! Don’t you know I’m busy?!”
“My salary, Subspace. I need my salary.” Hyperlaser uttered.
“Salary?!” Subspace chuckled. “You must kill that thief first before you ask for your salary!!” he shouted through the transceiver before he hung it up. Hyperlaser is getting on his nerves now — Subspace’s head began to throb from anger. “These incompetent fools!”
He grabbed the crystal once more to soothe down his nerves, but the opposite happened. His head began to hurt more than usual when he placed the crystal near him. It seems that he had overdosed on those crystals — today was really a rough day.
“These crystals are making my head hurt…”
Subspace grabbed his thick white coat and left his laboratory. He wanted to take a breather — walk around the city — despite the intense frigid temperature outside. Maybe this would calm his boiling blood down.
Snow was dropping heavily from the sky as Subspace stepped out of the facility. The woods that surrounded him gave an eerie aura, but he had already gotten used to this. A few steps from the forest and he arrived at the bustling roads of the city. Cars packed the highway as the rush hour began. Subspace walked by the sidewalk until he reached the center of the city, where high-rise buildings towered everything.
Subspace roamed around the city aimlessly, with no goal in sight. All the shops and restaurants are busy today — Subspace glanced at his watch and saw that it was already 7 PM. He passed by a restaurant and took a look inside through the window — a lot of delicious gourmet foods were served on the tables. Subspace’s stomach began to grumble, but he knew he could never eat those due to the everlasting injuries that traitor had given to him. Every time he swallowed, a sharp pain radiated from his throat. He decided to move on with his stroll, not wanting to reminisce about the past.
The moment he walked past the entrance of the restaurant, a civilian bumped into him. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to—!”
“Watch where you’re going, you dimwit!” Subspace yelled at the civilian who bore no ill will to him. “Don’t you know I’m Blackrock’s Great Scientist?!”
“Jeez, calm down. I just accidentally bumped you—”
Subspace scoffed at them and left the scene abruptly. “Ugh, these mindless Inphernals…” He came to the city to calm himself down, but the opposite was happening to him. “...Relax, Subspace. You’re here to cool down,” he told himself.
He continued along the sidewalk as he tried to ignore what had happened. He passed by an alleyway and noticed something strange within the unknown. He could see a familiar silhouette hidden behind the shadows — he swore he had seen them before. He entered the alleyway and took a closer look.
“—! A Biograft…?”
Subspace was surprised to see a dismantled Biograft hidden in the middle of the city. “Who could have done this…?” he asked himself. He looked around but saw not a soul around. He lowered his body and inspected the Biograft — its body was riddled with bullet holes. It wasn’t the traitor’s pistol — the bullets were too big to make those small holes. Based on the bullet holes, he hypothesized that a rifle must have been used to take down this Biograft.
“—!”
As soon as he stood up, a bag suddenly wrapped around his head. He tried to remove the garbage bag, but he was slowly getting suffocated by his own breath. He tried to grab the perpetrator's arms — he felt a lot of stitches, but their strength was immense, like a golem was trying to kidnap him. Just before he tried to grab the crystals on his containers, he had gone unconscious.
…
“...We’re screwed, ya hear! Why did ya bring HIM out of all the people you’ll recruit!”
“But Boss! Don’t you see? If we get him to our side, the Church will be powerful!”
“And what if he didn’t want to convert to our religion? He’s not like ‘Kit, ya know! He might leak our hideout to the whole Blackrock government!”
Subspace’s consciousness began to revive after a certain amount of time. He could hear some faint voices around him — a man and a woman, he presumed. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. The garbage bag was still wrapped inside his head. He tried to speak, but his mouth was taped shut. He attempted to move his arms, but they were tied to the back of the chair. Out of desperation, he began to struggle from his seat.
“—! He’s finally awake!”
Subspace then heard some footsteps — they were coming closer to him. Before long, the bag on his head was removed, and he was blinded by the incandescent light bulb hanging from above. In front of him was the man and woman, who he heard talking earlier. The woman had a tall stature and a strong build — a strange eyepiece covered half of her face. Her left eye was pearly white — it wasn’t artificial though, like it was natural, which was strange to him. The man beside him was smaller than her — at a glance he looked fragile considering the amount of stitches he had all over his body. No doubt he was as strong as the woman — he was the one who dragged him here after all. Just like her, he also had that white eye.
“Mmmf!” Subspace tried to speak with them, but his voice got muffled by the tape on his mouth. The woman then removed the tape on his mouth, wanting to hear what he was trying to say. “Where am I?! Why did you kidnap me?! What do you want from me?! Don’t you know who I am?! You’ll pay for this!!” He snarled at the two strange Inphernals.
“Look, he’s already aggressive, alright! Since yer the one who brought ‘im here, you should be the one to convince ‘him!” The woman pushed the man forward, forcing him to persuade the agitated scientist.
“Alright, alright, boss! I’ll try to convince this fella…” The man prepared himself before he approached the scientist.
“—!” Their eyes locked on each other. The man’s eyes were as close as it could get with him, which made Subspace surprised. He felt something sharp poking at his neck — he couldn’t see it but he felt like it was a pocket knife.
“Hey, hey! We know who you are, alright? No doubt you’re the Great Scientist of Blackrock…” he chuckled as he placed a little more force on the knife. Blood began to drip down from his neck. “You know, you’ve been a trouble for the Church for quite a while now. Maybe now’s the time to change that huh? Why not switch to our side — convert your religion to ours! After all, we are superior!”
“Pfft!” Subspace laughed at him. “You want me to ‘convert to your religion’? Your religion’s a sham for all I know! You two must be from the Church of the True Eye, huh? You’re all just a bunch of cowards who wanted protection from your ‘deity’ who doesn’t even EXIST.”
“What did ya just say to us, you little prick?!” The woman, irritated by his words, summoned her scythe-rifle gear and pointed it at the scientist. “Don’t call our religion a sham! Father Overseer possesses immense power that every Inphernals on the Inpherno wanted! He was blessed by our deity so don’t frickin’ badmouth him!”
“Oh please, that power doesn’t even exist. It’s scientifically proven to be impossible! It’s just a scam to trick your puny minds!!” Subspace provoked the woman further, which made her extremely furious. She swung the scythe as far as she could before she tried to decapitate the scientist’s head.
“̵H̸o̷l̶d̴ ̸i̴t̶ ̷r̵i̷g̵h̵t̸ ̷t̶h̴e̵r̷e̷,̴ ̶S̵c̷y̸t̷h̴e̵.̴”̶
The moment she heard that voice, her movements went to a complete stop. The blade of the scythe almost sliced Subspace's tender neck off. “Father—!”
The stitched man and the wrathful woman knelt down to him the instant he stepped inside the room. Her hot, boiling blood immediately cooled off — she unsummoned the gear she was holding. “Father, what business do you have with us?”
Subspace tried to see who was at the door, but the darkness covered his whole body up. He couldn’t discern his appearance no matter how hard he tried. Based on the tone of his voice and the way the two suddenly acted, this must be ‘Father Overseer’, the clergyman of the church who they say ‘possesses greater power’.
“̷Y̶o̴u̵ ̸m̷u̴s̴t̷ ̶b̵e̷ ̶t̶h̶e̵ ̶g̸r̴e̴a̶t̵ ̶s̸c̵i̴e̷n̵t̸i̵s̷t̶ ̵e̵v̷e̴r̵y̸o̷n̸e̴ ̵w̷a̵s̶ ̶t̴a̶l̶k̷i̶n̷g̴ ̵a̵b̷o̷u̷t̸.̷”̴ Father Overseer approached the tied-up scientist. Every time he steps, a loud click from his shoe echoed throughout the room. The light from the light bulb finally illuminated him, which revealed his figure — a dark, mysterious man. He couldn’t even tell how old he was. 30’s, 40’s, 50’s — he couldn’t come up with an estimation.
“Well you must be that bogus priest everyone was talking about. I heard that you can bend spoons with that ‘gift’ from your ‘god’.” Subspace mocked the clergyman.
“̵I̷t̵ ̴s̶e̷e̵m̵s̵ ̷t̷h̷a̶t̶ ̵w̵e̷ ̵h̵a̶v̷e̴ ̷a̸ ̴t̵r̴u̶c̶u̸l̷e̴n̷t̸ ̴i̵n̸d̵i̴v̷i̴d̸u̶a̷l̵ ̴h̵e̷r̸e̶.̶ ̸Y̶o̶u̴r̸ ̸w̶o̴r̵d̷s̴ ̵b̷e̵a̶r̴ ̶s̸u̸c̷h̴ ̶m̸a̴l̴i̸c̴e̸ ̸y̴e̷t̴ ̷n̵o̸n̸e̶ ̷c̸o̷u̶l̴d̵ ̷h̷a̵r̸m̵ ̸a̸ ̵f̷l̶y̷ ̶—̷ ̸a̴l̸l̸ ̵b̴a̷r̵k̷ ̵y̴e̴t̶ ̴n̸o̴ ̵b̶i̸t̴e̷.̶”̴ Father Overseer dismissed all his criticism. Befitting a leader, he wasn’t affected by his words.
“Let me out of here, you poser!” Subspace struggled once more but alas, he was not able to free himself. He glanced at the priest with fierce eyes, with murderous intent.
“̶F̸e̶r̵o̸c̷i̷o̶u̴s̷ ̴a̴n̷d̷ ̶v̴i̶c̷i̴o̷u̵s̴.̴ ̵Y̷o̵u̵ ̴m̶a̴k̵e̴ ̷a̵ ̵g̷r̶e̶a̸t̷ ̶a̵d̴d̸i̴t̵i̵o̸n̵ ̴t̶o̴ ̵o̷u̴r̷ ̴c̸u̶l̷t̴,̴”̸ Father Overseer leaned closer to him. “̷Y̸o̸u̴ ̷j̵u̶s̶t̸ ̵n̸e̴e̷d̷e̶d̷ ̵s̴o̷m̷e̵ ̸t̷a̴m̸i̵n̴g̶.̵”̵
“Hah, there’s no way in Inpherno that I would join the cult! I don’t want to be a loser like you all — seeking guidance to someone who doesn’t exist!!” Subspace stated.
“You little—!” Scythe was once agitated by his words, wanting to end his life full of suffering. Father Overseer lifted his hand up and ordered her to stop
“̴N̸o̴w̸,̵ ̶n̴o̵w̵,̸ ̸S̸c̶y̷t̸h̸e̷.̴ ̶D̶o̵n̷’̴t̴ ̶b̷e̷ ̶t̸o̶o̴ ̴h̵a̶s̵t̴y̴,̸”̸ Father Overseer soothed her nerves. “̸W̶e̵ ̶d̴o̴ ̷n̷o̸t̶ ̷w̵a̵n̵t̵ ̸t̷o̸ ̴l̷o̵s̶e̸ ̶a̴n̸ ̸i̵m̵p̸o̵r̴t̶a̵n̷t̴ ̶a̵s̷s̵e̷t̵.̸ ̷H̷e̸ ̷c̴o̴u̴l̸d̷ ̵b̸r̸i̵n̷g̵ ̴c̸h̶a̷n̸g̷e̸ ̵t̴o̵ ̷o̵u̶r̵ ̴c̴h̷u̶r̸c̶h̶.̷”̷ ̶
“B-But Father! That guy’s been badmouthing our religion! He deserves to be executed right now—!” Scythe summoned her gear.
“Scythe. Leave the room this instant. Wait for me in the basement.”
“—!” Scythe halted all her movements once more. Her eyes constricted — Sweat began to pool on her head. She unsummoned her gear and tossed away her murderous intent. “...Yes Father,” she said as she walked out of the room.
“̵A̴p̷o̷l̶o̷g̸i̸e̶s̷ ̵f̷o̵r̷ ̵m̵y̴ ̷s̸u̶b̷o̸r̵d̷i̷n̸a̸t̷e̵’̵s̶ ̶b̶e̸h̵a̸v̸i̸o̷r̵,̷”̴ said Father Overseer as he shifted his focus back to Subspace. He gently grabbed his chin and looked him into his eye. “̴N̷o̴w̶ ̴t̸h̶e̵n̴,̷ ̵p̷e̸r̸h̶a̸p̸s̵ ̴w̴e̸ ̵m̶u̴s̶t̶ ̶d̴o̷ ̵s̶o̷m̵e̸t̷h̸i̸n̴g̶ ̸a̸b̴o̸u̴t̸ ̸t̵h̷a̶t̸ ̷a̸g̸g̷r̵e̶s̵s̶i̵v̶e̶ ̸b̷e̷h̸a̴v̶i̸o̶r̸ ̶o̶f̶ ̵y̸o̷u̸r̸s̴…̸”̸
“H-Hey! What are you doing to me—!” Subspace squirmed as he tried to get out of his seat. His eyes began to swirl around and spin the moment their eyes locked onto each other. He slowly began to be light-headed, unable to keep his consciousness together. His movements began to halt as that intoxicating green aura started to suffocate him.
“I don’t… feel s̵o̴ ǵ̵͚̭o̷̹̔ͅo̷̺̽̅̊͋d̸̟͖̽…”
…
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
Subspace gasped for air the instant he heard the sound of his deafening alarm. His heart began to pound heavily — cold sweat covered his body. Pain began radiating all over his body as the salty sweat droplets irritated his rotting parts. He turned off the alarm clock.
“Uuuuugh…”
His head was throbbing a lot lately — he couldn’t recall what had happened. As he took some breaths, trying to replenish the wasted oxygen inside his body, the gears on his mind began to turn properly. He remembered what had happened before he passed out. “Those cultists—! How dare they make fun of me!” He slammed his fist down on his bed out of rage against them. “I’ll have their heads chopped off publicly for doing this to Blackrock’s Great Scientist!”
He hurriedly stood up from his bed — his eyes began to see colors and static. The low iron levels on his body made him lightheaded and dizzy, which made him fall back to his own bed. He crawled towards the nightstand, grabbed his phone, and called Blackrock’s Investigative Department. “...Answer, you lazy ass detectives…!” Subspace was getting impatient as the detectives took a little longer to respond to the call.
*CLICK*
“Blackrock Bureau of Investigation, how may I help you?”
“Why did you all take too long to respond?!” Subspace shouted through his phone.
“Apologies, Dr. T. Mine. We were in the middle of an investigation.” The detective responded.
“All that investigation and you still haven’t found any clues pointing to that traitor!!”
“We really apologize, but there really are no leads that could determine Medkit’s location. Why did you call us, Dr. T. Mine?”
“Well—! Do you know the existence of ‘The Church of the True Eye?”
“We have heard of it…”
“I want you all to infiltrate their hideout and arrest their leader — Father Overseer, was it? He and his subordinates kidnapped me in a Blackrockian alleyway! They tied me up and tried to kill me!!” Subspace ordered the detectives.
“What’s their location, if we may ask?”
“It’s… in… the…” Subspace was drawing blanks. “Damn it, where is it again?”
“Dr. T. Mine…?” The detectives called — Subspace snapped out of it.
“Just find their hideout, okay?!” Subspace ended the call immediately.
“Those incompetent, lazy detectives — all those work yet they still haven’t gotten any leads.”
Subspace stood up from his bed once more and stretched his body. He scratched his back before coming out of his room — skipping breakfast and showering. As he stepped inside his laboratory, his phone began to ring — his boss was calling — the one he hated the most. “Ugh, not him again. What does he want this time?”
He wanted to hang up on him, but he couldn’t do that since he is his boss. Without a choice, he answered the call.
“Trick Mine! Get your ass to my office as soon as possible. Don’t be late or I’ll cut your salary!”
Immediately, his boss ended the call. “That geezer — couldn’t even get my name right. It’s TRIP Mine, not ‘Trick’ Mine. I have been here for so many years yet he still calls me that.” He scoffed as he forcefully dragged himself to the meeting room.
“I hope that old geezer d̴̟̈i̶̜̻͊ȇ̵̦s̴̱̬̔ s̶̰͇̩̅̒ő̷̳o̸̜̯̗͙͎̿̐̏͘̚͝n̴̡̛͉͎̜̞̰̞͔̓̃̚͝͠…”