Unknown Location
2007

Creticus was in his room, kneeling down beneath his bed. A thin shaft of sunlight poured through the window, catching against a spiderweb beneath the bed. Creticus reached in, his fingers grasping a spider. He pulled himself out, the spider writhing in his hand. He stared at it's suffering. Then, he made it suffer more. One by one, he individually tore off each of it's legs, torturing it until it died.
In another room, the Superior watched him with triumph in his eyes, and pride in his soul. One of the guards were nearby, watching and waiting. "Sir?"
The Superior continued watching. "He's making progress, even without my help. I think he's ready. Have the prisoner ready for us."
The guard saluted. "Yessir." And he was out the door.
The Superior emerged from the monitoring room, making his way to Creticus's room. The Superior expertly picked through the many locks that Creticus installed into his door. When he swung it open, Creticus leaped from the floor, grabbed the Superior by his suit, and flung him against the wall. He held him in place, but there was panic in his eyes. The Superior could almost read his mind. "You were watching me." Creticus growled. "I'm not stupid. I can see your security cameras. I've been in the monitoring rooms."
The Superior bowed his head and chuckled. "I'm proud of you."
Creticus froze, but immediately threw his mental walls back up, his eyes darkening. "You're trying to let my guard down."
"No. You're exactly the kind of soldier I've always been looking for. The one I want to train. I'm proud you're allowing the darkness to manifest inside you. But your hunger is not being sated."
Creticus watched him carefully.
The Superior smiled, slowly lowering Creticus's defense. "Come. Let me show you something that'll satisfy you even further."
The Superior swiftly emerged from the room. After a few moment frozen in place, Creticus followed him.
The Superior brought Creticus to the lowest floor underground. Creticus had never been here. He led him to a cell the most heavily guarded, with a man chained inside. When he saw the Superior approaching, he stood up and tried to back away, but the chains held him down. A guard opened the door for them. "This is one of my... closest allies. He betrayed me. Tried to sell us out." The Superior explained, gesturing to the prisoner.
The prisoner looked him in the eyes, filled with pain and begging for forgiveness. "Sionis, you don't have to do this!"
That set the Superior off somehow. He slammed the bottom of his boot against his face. "Don't call me that, traitor. You knew what we did here was illegal. You knew what we were getting into. You tries exposing us. So the government would know."
Creticus was confused. "Aren't we going to become part of the government eventually? Why would he do this?"
The Superior sighed and shook his head. "I'm going to buy the government eventually. I've foreseen a major catastrophe in the future. World governments will become desperate. I have the only solution. They'll fall at my feet like dogs. We'll not only own the United States. We'll rule the world."
The Superior gestured to a table with multiple weapons laid out. He looked at Creticus, then left the room, leaving him alone with the prisoner. Creticus looked at the weapons, then at the man lying helpless. He looked up at the boy. "Please... If he hasn't corrupted you..."
Creticus picked up a dagger, closing the distance between them. "He's already corrupted me." Creticus whispered, deadpan.
The prisoner looked up at him. "Then you know this is wrong!"
The General smirked. "That's why I'm doing it."

The General's eyes opened, but his vision was still dark and blurred, with colorful figures moving across his line of vision. His ears picked up voices, but they sounded distant, like a fading frequency. When the disorientation vanished and the room took shape, his heart pound against his rib cage. He knew exactly where he was. And he needed to get out.
The Superior stepped in front of him with a smile tipping up the edges of his mouth. But he said nothing. His mere presence was intimidating enough. A bullet to the head would've been less intimate.
The General realized he was seated in a chair in an interrogation room. But he wasn't wearing any restraints. On the opposite side of the glass, he could see faint details of guards keeping watch. He could snap the Superior's neck right now. But he didn't want to. Not with the history behind the two of them.
Refusing to show weakness, The General stood up to his full height and crossed his arms, even though his head was pounding and his bones set alight with pain.
Seeing the lengths Creticus was willing to go to show he was stronger, The Superior turned away, picking up a nearby bottle of whiskey next to a recording camera and mic. He filled up two glasses.
Creticus raised a brow. "There's only two of us."
"Exactly." The Superior offered him a full glass with a smile.
Creticus frowned. "I know it's drugged."
The Superior stared at him for a moment before he chuckled, a spine-chilling sound. "I don't need you to tell me the truth about anything. I already know it. You betrayed us all, and sided with those rebels. Why?"
Creticus tried to keep his expression neutral. He didn't want to give away any signs of lies. Keeping the truth hidden was a talent of his. "I was only trying to get information from them."
The Superior snorted, shaking his head. Creticus ground his teeth. Nothing had changed about this man. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that? Twenty years of spying? I've known you for years, son. I can spot a lie."
"Don't call me that."
The Superior suddenly seemed twice as tall as he was. Whether it was his imagination, or something else, he didn't know. "Element Evil?"
"No, but close. You're team isn't the only ones with copies of the Wise One's books. I may no longer have Element Evil, but the incantations in the book made me more than human. How to manipulate the brain. Taking away the memories of that bastard child was easy."
The General's eyes widened as he remembered Angel. What he did to her. His eyes darkened, and he couldn't hold back anymore. Pulling his elbow back, he launched his fist into the Superior's face. The man stumbled back, holding onto the steel table for balance. The guards situated outside looked shock at the sudden act. They watched the Superior intently, as if expecting him to rip The General apart. But he didn't. He rose to his feet and chuckled, his black eye quickly healing. "You spent a lifetime harvesting that darkness within you. Using it to rise to power."
With a newfound speed, The General pinned him against the wall, quickly running through multiple possibilities in his mind. How to get rid of the Superior. But this time, he couldn't bring himself to.
The Superior gave another triumphant smile. "You can't get rid of your darkness that easily, son."
"I SAID DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!" HE prepared himself for another punch, but the Superior seized his wrists, nearly breaking them. He viced his throat with his fingers, raising him until his feet left the floor, and he dangled. Creticus gasped for breath, clawing at the Superior's hand, his eyes rolling up. Once the Superior decided he had enough, he let him drop to the floor. "I will awaken it again."
The General remained down until the Superior left. He forced himself to his feet and tried to make it to the door in time before it locked.
He heard the click of the lock before he slammed his shoulder against it, in a futile attempt to get it open. He hurled his fists against the door in defeat. He had to find Angel, and get her back to Romanov somehow. He could fix that the Superior had broken. And if he couldn't, then the Author could.
But there was something inside his chest. Swirling and popping, and it was as addicting as he remembered it. Like listening to a good song on repeat.
He shut his eyes. It was the darkness.
The Superior had awakened it.