Animator vs Animation: The Dark Web

Chapter 16: The Mind

    The Hunters continued to chase them, but they started to slow down, losing their breath. Valhalla looked back at them, and with one final turn, he pulled The Second Coming into a narrow cave-their hiding place. They pressed themselves against the cold stone wall, breathing quietly as the Hunters rushed past.

    The Hunters paused, taking a breath, before the scarlet Hunter pointed in a different direction. Then, the two Hunters went their separate ways.

    When the footsteps faded, there was nothing but silence. Valhalla and The Second Coming glanced at each other, their breath caught before-stifling a chuckle. They had lost them-and those Hunters wouldn't be finding them anytime soon.

    The two crawled out of the cave, staying low as their gazes darted across the dark halls. Even when the Hunters disappeared, that didn't mean they were safe. Valhalla got up to his feet, waving his hand to The Second Coming to follow.

    As they hurried deeper into the halls, Valhalla nodded his head sharply at him; split up and cover more ground. Before The Second Coming could respond, Valhalla turned around and-

    Crashed into something, or someone.

    Valhalla stumbled back, barely catching himself against the stone ground. The Second Coming was already at his side, pulling him up with one firm tug. Valhalla groaned silently, his gaze trailing to who or what he crashed into before-his breath hitched.

    A figure loomed before him, her form completely dulled to a lifeless grey, as her body cut in red glitches. The dim light of red strings tugged on her arms and around her neck; strings, once invisible, were now in sight. The figure glanced over her shoulder, her gaze locking onto The Second Coming and Valhalla. Immediately, Valhalla knew who it was.

    Turquoise.

    "Look who we have here," Turquoise said. Her head tilted unnaturally, limbs unsteady, as if she were a marionette in loose strings. "If it isn't the one and only traitorous Hunter, blessing us with his presence alongside his little friends."

    The Second Coming shielded Valhalla with his arm, prepared to fight. But then, something in the shadows shifted. From the darkness, four more figures emerged, just as lifeless as Turquoise.

    It was the rest of the Officials. They were dulled, hollowed of their will-they were nothing more than puppets of the Queen.

    Valhalla's breath hitched, his gaze darting from one Official to another. He clenched his fists at his sides, his tension caught between instinct to defend himself, and reason in an attempt to deal with the Officials. But just from their hollowed stares, the Officials no longer showed any sign of their original selves. No hesitation. No mercy.

    The Officials were no longer to be reasoned with, from Queen of Hearts' elites, to killing machines. With the Queen as their puppeteer, they had a new purpose-they were here to end them.

    Turquoise laughed as she took a step forward, leaning towards them, "Glad you can join us to our performance! Our show of sharing the Dark Web's power to the outside world will start soon..."

    Valhalla clenched his fists, prepared to attack alongside The Second Coming. Even if they were tremendously outnumbered, they're not going to surrender.

    Sparks of green flickered to life around The Second Coming, but he tended not to notice. His gaze bore on Turquoise, prepared to strike.

Suddenly, Turquoise lunged forward. But The Second Coming acted faster.

In a swift motion, The Second Coming blocked her, his open palm pushing against her forehead. But the moment they made contact, an explosion of green binary particles erupted in the space between them.