-1All was silent in the Black Comet, like the tomb it was… or was it? For in the darkness one thought dead still lived. "I see now," Black Doom said. "I wasted my time on Shadow when all along I should have just manipulated that gullible child. All I had to do was fake being near death and she became a perfect little puppet." The invasion had failed, but that was only a minor setback. After all, there was always the next cycle, and he already had plans in place for then. The foolish child had taken the bait, the newly hatched Black Volt that had been purposely hidden for her to find. The next time the comet came near the planet, that Black Volt, by then fully mature, would once again gather the Chaos Crystals for him and his plan would begin anew. In the meantime, he had to remake his army from scratch. He had a full fifty Earth years ahead of him, but he wasted no time nonetheless. Sure he was injured, but fifty years would be plenty of time to recover and so he would be back to full power long before it was time to return to that planet to invade once again.
Halfway to the cloning vats, which Shadow had missed entirely, he found himself having to lean against the wall and rest a bit. "I'll make Shadow pay twice over for this indignity," he growled, once again clutching at the wound in his chest. He'd managed to fake massive blood loss, but now the violet flow refused to stop. It was slow, but it was steady. …It was probably nothing. He was the ultimate power in the universe. Even Shadow couldn't destroy him. Surely this couldn't kill him. Brushing this new complication off, he continued on his way. Soon he was there, in the vast, dark chamber where the latest additions to his army lay awaiting the call to action. "The Black Arms will rise again," he resolved. Inputting a code with practiced ease, he released the latest batch. The fluids drained from the vats and the freshly released creatures swiftly gathered round him. "I am Black Doom," he thundered. "I am your master. Follow me and we will… eh?" His words were cut short when he noticed that they were squeaking amongst themselves and behaving as if they were in the presence of an enemy. "What is this?" The squeaks became growls. "Wait, what are you doing?" Wicked dark blades were snatched up and other weapons drawn. "Stop this at once! I command you!" Something had gone terribly wrong… "I am your master! How dare you turn against me!" They had encircled him and he found himself backing toward a wall. "You can't do this! I created you! I…ARRGH!" He had no idea which one of them did it, but one of them thrust a sword forward, impaling him through the chest with such power that the blade's tip passed clean through him and into the wall behind him, pinning him there. All three red-orange eyes were wide as he stared down at the sword stuck in his chest, disbelieving. Then, moving slowly, he looked up at his creations, now his killers. "…Y…you…" Dying or not, his mind was clear, so he recalled the lie he had told that naive child and realized that he had unknowingly told the truth. "…Sh… Sha…dow…" He had been right, curse it all. It was supposed to be a lie but he had been right. He no longer led the Black Arms. That had passed to Shadow. The Black Arms would indeed return, but he would not be there to see it, for this was… the end…
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And indeed it is, for now. I may return to this someday, but don't count on it.