"You sure about this?" Shepard asked, staring at the gray wall. Thane nodded confidently.

"I saw him pass through here," Thane said. Shepard put his ear against the wall but couldn't hear anything through it.

"You didn't see where Slade pushed?" Shepard asked.

"As I said, Shepard," Thane replied with his hands folded behind his back. "He walked up to the wall, pressed in three locations, the top, the left, then the right, and the wall opened up. There did not appear to be any particular markings where he pushed"

Shepard tapped three places on the wall, the top, the left side, then the right…nothing happened. He stared at the wall, trying to find a place that looked like a button to push.

"We came as soon as we heard," Tali said as she rounded the corner with Mordin, Samara, Grunt, Garrus, Kasumi, Jacob, and Miranda. More footsteps and Legion, Zaeed, and Jack followed.

"Where's the collector?" Shepard asked. Tali looked down the hall where she came, but there was no one else.

"He was right behind me," Tali said in disbelief.

"Not anymore," a voice hissed. Garrus yelled in surprise when he realized Pariah had been standing directly behind him the entire time, breathing in his ear.

"What are you doing?" Miranda asked as Shepard continued to search the wall.

"Thane followed Slade to his wall," Shepard explained. "I think there's a hidden room behind it."

"Hidden room?" Garrus repeated. "Why would there be a hidden room in the Citadel?"

"The same reason there's a master control for it," Shepard said as he brushed his finger over what felt like a crack in the wall. It was a hair-line crack, barely visible, but it was there. He quickly felt over the left side and found a similar crack in the wall.

"You believe the hidden chamber was built by the reapers?" Samara asked.

"Or worse," Jacob said, thinking about the wraith they fought and nearly lost to.

Shepard confidently reached up and stroked the crack above him, then stroked the crack to the left of him, finally stroking the crack to the right of him. Then, it happened.

It sounded like a slab of stone was being pushed across cement. The floor shook as the wall began to slide up into the ceiling, revealing a long corridor completely plunged in darkness. Staring into the darkness…it felt like he was staring through the gateway to a world of nightmares, nightmares that would make a person afraid to fall asleep, nightmares that would make a person terrified of the dark. It felt like there was something in there, a reason to be afraid of the dark.

"Alright, people," Shepard said, turning back around, shrugging off the feelings. "This is Pariah." Pariah gave a small bow.

"He's the new member of our team," Shepard continued.

"What?" Grunt snorted.

"Shepard, you can't be serious!" Tali protested.

"He's a collector!" Miranda added.

"He's also a member of our team," Shepard said. He remembered how he had to defend Legion when the geth first arrived. He had to defend Tali against uncooperative admirals. He had to defend Jacob and Miranda for working with Cerberus. He had to defend himself from the council. Now, he was going to defend Pariah.

Shepard knew the sane person wouldn't believe Pariah. But, there was a small nagging feeling inside him. It once told him that the reapers were real. It told him Legion was not an enemy. Now, it was telling him to trust Pariah.

"There is something out there far more dangerous than the reapers," Shepard announced. "He calls himself The Dark One. He used to be a reaper, but he was banished and imprisoned by them. He's now gathering his forces to overthrow the reapers and wipe out all life in the galaxy once and for all. I don't know how he's communicating with his forces, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that we stop him."

"You sure about this, Shepard?" Kasumi asked. To her it all sounded crazy.

"I need you guys to trust me on this," Shepard said. Tali was looking at Shepard in admiration. It was this courage and confidence that she has always liked. What they were going to do sounded crazy, but so did attacking the collector base. She had no doubt they would succeed all the same. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when she noticed something behind Shepard. She turned on her omni-tool and shined a light on the black shape.

"Shepard?" Tali said uneasily when she saw what it was. Shepard could tell there was no fear in her voice but she seemed disturbed. He turned around and took a step back in surprise. Behind Shepard was an obelisk with a metal disk at the top. Judging from the blue hue and the crimson red light that leaked out of the cracks in the obelisk, it was definitely of reaper design. But it was not that which caught the team's attention.

At the tip of the spire, carved in the metal disk, was a face. Its eyes were wide with nerve-racking fear, its face twisted and stretched, its mouth open as if it was screaming in eternal agony.

"What is that?" Samara gasped.

Legion took a step forwards in interest.

"Object is of the old machines' design," he beeped, examining the object. "The obelisk serves as a warning. Only those who are enslaved to the old machines may enter. We deem an appropriate proverb is: he is goes in will not come out."

"You've seen something like that before?" Shepard asked.

"Yes."

"He's not the only one," Pariah said, folding his arms on his chest. "One of those was placed at the entrance to the collector base."

"But we didn't exactly see anything like that," Zaeed grumbled.

"You didn't exactly take the front door," Pariah replied hoarsely, remembering what he read on how the Shepard attacked the collector base. "It was placed there in case any ship made it past the defenses. Only indoctrinated slaves are allowed to pass. I don't think we should go in there."

"We seriously listening to the prawn?" Jack scoffed. One moment she had been slaughtering them. The next moment, she was working beside one.

Shepard ignored her comment.

"We're going in," he said. "I know this isn't what any of you signed up for, and I don't know what we're going to find in there but I can almost guarantee it won't be pretty. I know we've been through a lot together and we've had our share of things to come, but, from here on out, nothing will be as it seems. I wish I could tell what we're facing, but I can't. Seeing you all in action, I can say with certainty: you're the galaxy's best and brightest. In light of what we have been through, you're also the bravest. I offer you one last chance to turn back. So, if there's anyone who doesn't want to do this, say so now, for once we start, there's no turning back."

Shepard scanned his crew. They were all silent, awaiting orders. Shepard gave a firm nod.

"Legion, take Jack, Mordin, and Zaeed back to the ship," he ordered. "I want you two to guard it. Make sure no one gets on. Legion, I want you to start repairing the Normandy. Mordin, I want you in your lab. We're going to be sending data to you as we get it."

"Acknowledged," Legion beeped.

"Grunt, Tali, Samara, Pariah, you guys come with me. We're going to see what's in here."

Grunt chuckled eagerly.

"Garrus, form a defensive perimeter around this door. If something weird comes out…use your imagination."

"What are we going to consider 'weird', Shepard?" Garrus asked. They've seen zombified husks, galaxy destroying reapers, giant collector bugs, indoctrination, rachni… To Garrus, that was as weird as things could get.

"Use your imagination," Shepard answered quickly before yelling, "MOVE OUT!" Shepard, Grunt, Samara, Tali, and Pariah charged into the darkness, letting themselves be swallowed up by the void.

Elsewhere on the Citadel, Slade quickly made his way through dimly lit halls. He has always been his master's finest servant. After what has just happened, he practically feared for his life. Slade wordlessly entered a room. Eerie blue light seemed to leak from the corners as Slade knelt before a black mass at the center of the room. The mass was a looming shadow, the embodiment of darkness. It was as if the darkness in the room had come to life.

"My lord," Slade said hesitantly as he knelt before his master. Every time he looked into the darkness, it felt like he was staring into a portal to a world of nightmares.

"Speak," a hollow demonic voice said, coming from the black mass. It was a voice devoid of emotion, devoid of compassion, humanity, and remorse. It was a voice that would chill a person to their soul.

"I have successfully retrieved the body but there is bad news," Slade said, preparing himself to face whatever punishment is given. "The one named Shepard has discovered the entrance to the factory on the Citadel." Slade felt his master's will. It felt like an icy cold hand, a dead hand, stroking the back of his mind.

"I suggest we evacuate the factory before our research is discovered," Slade said, trying to sound like he was trying to fix his mistake.

"No," was the answer that came from the void.

"But, my lord," Slade protested in confusion. "Our operations are about to be discovered."

"Do not question my judgment," the voice in the darkness hissed venomously. "Not after your failure and betrayal."

"My betrayal?" Slade repeated. As Slade stared into the darkness, it felt like it was staring back at him.

"Did you think I would not know?" the voice asked menacingly. "How can you still doubt my powers?"

Slade froze. His master knew it was he who sent the wraith to kill the Council. He didn't how his master found out, but that didn't matter now.

"We do not know for certain if the one named Shepard can defeat the reapers," Slade explained calmly. "If the Council is removed then he will one less obstacle in his way. I will attempt to correct my error." Slade felt the hand at the back of his mind seize his brain, telling him to be quiet.

"Do not concern yourself," the thing in the abyss snarled. "I will deal with this nuisance myself."

"I don't understand," Slade said. He had hoped to redeem himself by fixing his mistake. But, his master had other plans.

"When the time is right," the voice from the darkness said. "I assure you, all will be made clear." Slade looked at the void in surprise.

"Trust in me," came the final reply of the abyss

Slade felt the hand in his mind loosen. He looked up at the embodiment of his master.

"As always, my lord," Slade said.

Shepard has been in the belly of the beast before. He's been inside reaper ships before. He's been inside the collector ship before. He knows what evil feels like. What Shepard was feeling right now… Every step the squad took made them feel like they were taking a step closer to hell. The hallways were barely lit by a dim blue light that cast ominous shadows that loomed over them. Shepard remembered how Garrus felt someone was watching them on the derelict reaper. It didn't just feel like someone was watching them. It felt like someone was behind them, breathing down their back. They dreaded looking behind them. They dreaded looking around the corner. They kept expecting something, some freakish thing from their nightmares, to jump out of the shadows at them.

"I don't like it here," Tali whimpered, her gun aimed at one of the shadows. She almost expected the shadows themselves to come alive and grab her.

"I don't get scared," Grunt snorted stubbornly, his claymore shotgun in hand. But, even as the words left his mouth, his hands were trembling.

"Do you feel that?" Pariah asked, scanning the halls.

"We are being watched," Samara said, knowing what Pariah was feeling. Shepard had that feeling too. He had also felt before when he was on the derelict reaper.

"You think there's still something down here?" Tali asked nervously, imagining the horrors that lurked in the darkness.

As if to answer Tali's question, a single disturbing inhuman moan echoed down the hall. Shepard turned to face his squad to make sure nothing was behind them. The thought of the moan was creeping Shepard out. He scanned the hall behind his squad. There was nothing there…but he could not help but feel there was something there waiting to jump out at them. Shepard gave a satisfied nod but then jumped forward in surprise, whipping around with his gun raised.

"What is it?" Tali asked. Shepard's arms were stiff with fear, refusing to lower the gun.

"I just felt something brush past me," he said. The team raised the guns and stared down the black hallway, looking for whatever it was, expecting it to jump out at any moment.

"There's nothing there," Grunt said impatiently, lowering his shotgun. Shepard didn't say anything. He knew what he felt.

"Come on," Shepard finally said, trying to shrug off the memory of what happened. His entire body was rigid with fear. He felt like running. It took every nerve in his body to fight his urge to run. He wasn't the only one who felt this.

All her years as a justicar, she never felt anything like this. She felt like she was trapped in a room, huddled in a corner in a desperate attempt to hide from…whatever was coming down the hall. She could actually hear the footsteps of whatever thing was coming for her. Then she realized… she could actually hear footsteps. Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall, like an executioner coming to claim his prey. No one else seemed to notice it, like it didn't exist. She tried to ignore it too as continued to follow Shepard.

Pariah quickly followed the group, not wanting to be left behind. He almost regretted keeping quiet. Shepard was not imagining anything when he said he felt something brush past him. Pariah saw a black figure brush past Shepard.

The door to the next roomed opened and the team cautiously entered, their guns steadied. It was brighter than the halls, but the ghostly blue light now cast eerie shadows against the walls. The room was filled with equipment. The walls of the room were lined with giant specimen tanks, each with freakish monster in it. Shepard looked at one of the creature inside with disgust. It looked like a husk but it was hideously deformed. Its gray flesh was dried and decayed, its face shriveled up. From its eye sockets were wires, dangling like tendrils. Another set of arms were growing from its shoulders, scythe-like blades growing from the second pair's hands. The creature in the tank beside it was just as deformed, its hands replaced with animal claws. Its jaw dangled open, a mass of tendrils and wires hanging from it.

Every creature in the tanks was horribly deformed but each one was unique in its own disturbing way.

"What are these things?" Shepard spat. Tali wordlessly went up to the computer consol at the side of the room and activated her omni-tool. She tried to keep her eyes of the tanks, trying to focus on her work. The things disturbed her, like some nightmare or fear she had ever since childhood.

It didn't take her long to hack into the computer.

"According to this, those things are called scavengers," she said darkly. She pulled up another file and gasped. It was a list, a list of names.

"I recognize these names," she said. "They are the names of people who have disappeared over the past twenty years." A chill went down Tali's spine as the thought lingered in her mind. Harbinger's downfall was that he completely harvested entire colonies. Entire colonies going missing would catch someone attention. But, kidnapping people from all across the galaxy, no one would suspect anything.

"They've been taken here and experimented on," Pariah said, filling in the blanks. Shepard looked back at the scavenger in the tank. He knew this process too well. He knew his ancestors, the Protheans, were experimented on before they became the collectors. It was hard to imagine that this thing was once a person.

"The scavengers must be the result of the ones that failed," Tali concluded.

"What about this?" Grunt barked. The krogan was staring into a smaller specimen tank, one that held something completely new. Inside was a grey spider-like robot, its four finger-like legs dangling below it. It didn't look like a husk at all. In fact, when Shepard first saw it, he thought about the human-reaper.

"They're called crawlers," Tali explained as she scrolled through the files of data. "They've been designed to multiply, consuming everything to create more of themselves."

"Looks like a reaper," Grunt commented as he observed its design.

"Hold on a sec," Tali said. "I'll try and find out what it is." She continued scanning through the files, trying to find the answer.

Samara stood by the door they came in through. She could still hear it…footsteps. When she first heard it, it had stopped after a while. Now, she could hear it again. Someone was coming down the hall. She raised her gun, ready to greet whoever or whatever it is. The footsteps were growing louder. Whatever it was, it was approaching the corner. Once this thing rounds the corner, she will be able to see what it was.

"Samara?"

Samara gasped in surprise when she realized Shepard had called her name.

"Are you all right?" he asked, noticing how disturbed she was. Samara looked down the hall. The footsteps had stopped and there was nothing there.

"I'm fine," she said, using her decades of experience to keep her voice sounding calm. She could not help but feel that if Shepard had not called her out she would have gotten the chance to see what was making those footsteps. But, she also felt that whatever was making the footsteps was something from a nightmare.

"I found it," Tali said, typing into her omni-tool. "The crawlers are based on reaper technology but, according to this, they're not reapers." Shepard gave a sigh of relief. It made sense. There's nothing in this galaxy that could create something that looked like the crawler. "According to this, they will consume all resources in the environment and use them to multiply. They can grow into an unstoppable swarm if an early infestation isn't stopped."

"It's a bug," Grunt said flatly, not impressed.

"Send the data to Mordin," Shepard said. "We gotta move on." Everyone nodded in agreement. None of them wanted to stay there. The team all turned and left through a different door on the other side of the room, none of them turning back…none of them lingering behind. But, if someone did linger behind, they would've heard it…footsteps. Whatever was making the footsteps had finally reached the room.

"You hear that?" Shepard asked. The team paused and listened. They could hear it. Rhythmic marching was echoing down the hall. They knew it wasn't a good sign but it was the friendliest thing they've experienced since entering this place.

The team lowered their guns as they reached a balcony. They cautiously approached the edge of the balcony. They could hear the heavy marching coming from below, like an army amassing for an invasion. As they looked over the massive chamber that the balcony hung over, they realized that was exactly what was happening. Hundreds of wraiths escorted by thousands of indoctrinated slaves were marching into the chamber with thousands more pouring in: an endless army. The indoctrinated slaves wore black hooded robes, like priests of some satanic cult. At the front of the chamber was the black hologram of a reaper, just like the hologram of Sovereign, just like the hologram of Harbinger. The reaper's blood red eyes gazed upon his army.

"Rise my children. Know that I am the Dark One, your eternal master, the architect of things to come. Know that you are the tools of my conquest, that you exist to serve me."

The reaper's voice echoed across the room like it was the incantation to some satanic ritual, his message burned into Shepard's mind.

"Hail the Dark One!" the soldiers chanted, bowing before their master. "Hail the Dark One!"

The team looked into the chamber with dread, staring upon a massive army.

"This is worse than I thought," Pariah said. He always knew the Dark One was gathering his forces. Hearing about it was one thing, but seeing it…gazing upon the endless waves of soldiers…it was something completely different. "You understand now? You see why the reapers must not be destroyed? There is no hope for the galaxy. The lesser of the two must be chosen and the reapers are the ones that will let life be reborn into the galaxy."

"You're wrong," Shepard said, refusing to just let everything die, regardless of whether it was to the reapers or the Dark One. "There's always hope, as long as there's someone willing to stand up and fight them."

"There must be thousands of them," Tali breathed as she watched the army bow before the reaper.

The silence was pierced, ripped apart, by a thunderous bang.

"Samara!" Shepard yelled when he saw the asari gasp in pain before falling to the ground. Slade had emerged from the shadows, his hand cannon drawn.

Grunt roared furiously, firing his shotgun. Slade stumbled backwards as the shotgun blast hit his shield like a missile. Grunt took a step forward, eager to fight. But Slade was not the one he was going to be fighting. The room filled with chittering as dozens of crawlers emerged from the corners of the room. Black masses of bugs poured out, crawling over each other, eager to rip their prey apart. The crawlers were crawling across the floor, the walls, the ceiling, they were everywhere.

"Let 'em have it!" Shepard yelled. The room was flooded with the sound of gunfire. It felt like the room was going to rattle apart. Crawlers exploded, their pieces raining to the floor. No matter how many they killed, more kept pouring in…and endless horde.

"BEHIND US!" Tali yelled as she whipped around, blasting apart the crawlers crawling over the side of the balcony. The doors opened and scavengers came charging in, roaring like crazed demons. They were the zombies the husks were. They were hellishly mutated monsters, creatures from a person's darkest nightmares. Hideously deformed demons poured into the room. Slade didn't even need to do anything. They were surrounded, trapped by a horde of nightmarish monsters.

"Fall back!" Shepard ordered over the deafening gunfire. "Tali, get Samara out of here!"

"But!" Tali protested, not wanting to leave Shepard behind to these things.

"JUST DO IT!"

Tali stared at Shepard, still refusing to leave him. Finally, without a word, she slung Samara over her shoulder.

"Grunt, clear a path for us!" Shepard yelled. Grunt chuckled wickedly. He was most happy to oblige.

"I AM KROGAN!" he roared, charging forwards. Grunt plowed through the scavengers, crushing any crawlers under his feet, clearing a way to the door. The team didn't hesitate. They ran for the door. The monsters closed in like walls from both sides. Every second they took was a second the monsters used to converge on them.

"Let's move," Shepard said as his team ran through the door. He was just about to follow when he saw the door begin to close. If that door shut he would be trapped in with the monsters. He could already imagine it: his back pressed against the wall as the jibbering beasts came in and ripped him apart, limb from limb, flesh from bone. Worse, he might even become one of them, an abominable mutation of the reapers.

Shepard yelled as he jumped through the door at the last moment, felling both sides of it slide against his stomach and shoulders. He turned around, expecting the door to close right in front of the demons, but it didn't. The crawlers had jumped through the door, holding it open.

Pariah saw what was happening and fired his particle beam. The beam of energy melted through the crawlers holding the door open. More crawlers quickly filled the space but they were blasted away too. Finally, the door closed, sealing the nightmare behind it.

"Thanks," Shepard said as Pariah helped him to his feet. As soon as he said that, they heard gun fire coming from down the hall. Crawlers and scavengers had already emerged down the hall, charging at Grunt and Tali.

"The ceiling!" Pariah shouted. The crawlers fell from the ceiling, crawling down from webs like giant spiders. Grunt and Tali both fled to Shepard and Pariah, chased by a mass of hellish beasts. Backs together, they fall fired in every direction as the creatures poured through every entrance.

"Come on!" Shepard yelled. There was still one door the monsters didn't come in through. It was the way out. They slowly made their way for the door as more and more nightmares closed in on them.

Shepard mowed down another scavenger, riddling it with bullets. He turned to shoot another one, but was stunned when he saw one standing right in front of him. It was a turian with its eyes and lips sewn together but its chest and stomach cut open. The creature opened its stomach and chest, revealing rows of massive teeth. Shepard aimed and fired, blasting the creature with bullets. He turned to shoot more when he felt something on his shoulder. He turned and saw that a crawler had managed to drop right onto him.

Shepard yelled in shock and slapped the crawler off of him. He turned back to fight but that moment of distraction had let a scavenger grab him from behind. Shepard elbowed the scavenger off but more kept coming.

"Shepard!" Tali yelled. Shepard turned around and saw scavengers tearing through the walls. They poured in, cutting Shepard off from the rest of his squad. He was trapped.

"GO!"Shepard yelled desperately. He knew it right then. He knew it as clearly as he did when he floated off into space as he watched the SR1 Normandy be destroyed. He was going to die.

Shepard yelled furiously as he rained bullets in every direction. The scavengers poured onto him. Shepard shook them off, shooting each one in the face. Then he realized that the crawlers were beginning to climb onto him. He shot them off but that gave the scavengers the time they needed to grab Shepard. The commander grabbed his pistol, firing his rifle in one hand and his sidearm in the other. He crushed the crawlers under his heel but more crawled onto him. Shepard could feel them chewing through his armor, crawling all over his body. The scavengers grabbed him, digging their fangs and claws into his flesh. He yelled angrily as he desperately began to punch the creatures around him, trying everything he could to delay his inevitable death. No matter which way he turned, he saw more demonic faces closing in on him. Everything became a blur as he killed creature after creature but more kept coming. Shepard was thrown to the ground as the creatures piled onto him. He was buried under a mound of demonic creatures, their bodies blocking out the light, plunging him into darkness. The world began to fade as the monsters piled onto him. Even as everything faded into black, he could swear he felt someone watching the entire thing happen. Just as the world melted away, he swore he heard something, a voice whispering in his ear…someone breathing down his neck.

"Feel the cold embrace of death."

Now we get to see more of the Dark One. The Dark One's forces went through a lot of remaking. Originally they were just monsters but I felt that the Dark One must have forces like the reapers. Seeing from the ME3 previews that the reaper forces were made of husks I decided to make the Dark One's forces like husks. The scavengers are just supposed to be mutations of husks. If the husks were like the standard infected from L4D, then the scavengers would be like the necromorphs from Dead Space. I also had a little trouble creating the Dark One. I wanted to make the Dark One someone who doesn't need that 'we will kill you' rant the other reapers have. I also notice that original reapers that other fanfic writiers make tend to sound like Harbinger. I wanted to move away from that (not sure if I succeeded though). In fact, to be honest, I said this guy's name was taken away from him and he was renamed 'The Dark One' because I couldn't think of a cool reaper name that didn't sound cheesy. So, what do you guys think so far? Please tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome. You'll be seeing more of the Dark One later.