It took Gurk less than a minute to clear out the blockage to allow the rest of the team to head up towards the second floor. Enidri greeted them by holding the door open and using her Ion Blade as an impromptu flashlight. Once everyone had made their way to second story, Enidri began to lead them through the confines of abandoned area.

"Are they..." Brielle said with a tremble in her voice. She looked ahead but it was too dark to make out anything concrete.

"I think so," Enidri replied. The layout of second floor mimicked that of the one below; countless rows of conveyor belts and furnaces made up the length of the corridor. Making sure to avoid the hole in the middle of the floor, Enidri lead the team in between a pair of conveyors and towards the narrow section of wall in between them.

From a distance, it looked as if some of the Essencima gunk had been splattered against the metal wall. But as Enidri's Ion Blade got closer, the orange glow of the weapon showed that there was a contour buried underneath. Once close enough, the shape of a person was apparent, pinned against the wall and trapped inside the black gunk. Looking up, only the victim's face was visible; a man had his eyes closed as if he were asleep. Running throughout the gunk were long purple veins that pulsated like arteries as it traveled from the individual along a long series of organic-looking tubes that ran towards the floor and ceiling.

"Looks like he's breathing. But barely," Enidri said, disgust present in her voice. The others looked at the scene in silence, horrified. "In between each set of furnaces is another person," she continued.

"Ven!" Brielle said in exasperation. "Have you seen him?"

"The kid? No, not yet. But he might be here. I didn't get chance to check every section, but there's plenty more of them up here."

Gurk made his way to the pinned captive. He reached forward and began to dig one of his claws into the sludge so he could wedge a finger between the man's leg and the wall to try and pry him out. Enidri put her hand on Gurk's back, putting a halt to his plan.

"Pulling him straight out might not be a good idea," Enidri said. "We don't know if those veins are keeping him alive."

Gurk turned around and took a step back, removing his hand from the wall altogether. Ringa pulled up her screen with her Implant and began to make a call to the Labrisson Justice Department.

"Come on, come on! Pick up!" she said. There was a static sound as her Implant attempted to connect to the Network. "I'm having a hard time getting a signal in here," she said once she saw that the call wasn't getting through.

"That must be why we haven't been able to track them. Something odd must be going on with this building," Brielle said as she tried to call the LJD herself and received the same issues as her partner. "One of us will have to go outside and contact them."

Ringa pulled out her pistol. "I still have a few shots left in here. I'll go out and make the call to see if we can get a Rescue Crew down here."

"We'll stay here and make sure no Essencima spawn and harm any of the victims," Enidri replied.

The detective nodded and made a dash for the door. She kept her weapon low as she headed for the stairs. But right before coming to the exit, a large splattering of sludge began to bubble above the doorway. Ringa came to a stop as it cascaded over the path to the staircase, solidifying before her eyes. A long tendril formed from it and began swaying like it had a mind of its own.

The detective fired a few of her remaining shots into the seemingly sentient mass, only managing to make it twitch from the blasts. Unfazed the weapon, it stretched out with tremendous force, hitting the detective in the chest like a cannon shot. Ringa went soaring backwards, her weapon flying out of her hand she was sent on her back to the ground.

"Ringa!" Brielle shouted as she ran to her fallen and motionless partner. Everyone else focused on the doorway. Standing underneath the from was the silhouette of a slim man. It appeared as if he had one hand stretched out. The figure pulled its arm back and the sludge that was on top of the doorframe receded as well. He stepped forward, making some of his features barely visible as he closed in on the light made by Enidri's weapon.

"This location..." the silhouette said with a gruff voice. There was a faint reverb in his words as he spoke. "Is sacred."

The man stepped further into the floor, allowing the dim lighting to show off some of his features. His hair was long and black, ending just past his shoulders. His eyes were narrow and dark, as if he were exhausted. His body was tall and slim yet lean, wearing only an open dark red vest on his upper body. His pants were a brighter shade of red, showing some wear on the belt and knees. However, from the faint glow cast by Enidri’s Ion Blade, the man’s arms were stood out the most. Contrasting with his pearly skin, the limbs were a dark black from the shoulder down, almost identical to the color of Essencima.

"Donva?" Enidri said quietly. She squinted her eye and stepped closer.

The man proceeded to the rest of the group, paying no mind to Brielle who had her weapon drawn and was pointing it directly at him.

"Stop!" she shouted. "Under the code established by the City of Labrisson I am authorized to—" The man didn't turn his attention to the officer. With a wave of his hand and a clench of his fist, another smaller tendril emerged from a nearby puddle of sludge and struck Brielle in the hand, sending her gun soaring down into the hole that led into the first floor. The man marched forward without looking at Brielle who held onto where she had been struck. Instead, he stared down the other four with his tired eyes.

"You've come to ruin... the sanctuary I've established?" Even though his voice was low and quiet, everyone heard what he said clearly. Stepping past a furious Itzel, Enidri confronted the man, but making sure there was still a fair amount of distance between her and her half-brother.

"Donva," she said. "Is this your doing?" Enidri looked towards the captive stuck to the wall.

"These Exterminators have brought this upon themselves," the man replied. He stepped in front of the worried Enidri. Their eyes met, Donva looked down at her with a long and blank stare. "They profit off slaying this planet's creatures. The very beings that are created to defend this world."

"What are you saying?" Enidri barked. She put her sword in a defensive angle. "You've always been obsessed with Essencima, but I didn't think you go so far as to actually… collude with them like this!"

"You are the most egregious offender of all," Donva said as his face filled with contempt. "You take pride in how many Essencima you have cut down. I've been trying to capture you for so long... Sending out countless Essencima, only for you to slay them without a second thought. But now you've come into my grasp." He then looked at Itzel and Gurk who were also in a defensive pose, pointing at them with his dark and veiny hand. "And you've brought along three more murderers with you."

He stepped backwards, summoning a set of tendrils from the various blobs that were scattered across the floor and made them swing around inches away from the Exterminators. "Now I can enact the final step of vindication..." Donva cracked a sinister smile as more pools of gunk formed around the floor. Everyone looked on in horror as more tendrils spawned from them. They all began to back away, but Enidri made sure to stay in front with her weapon drawn and held in both of her hands.

"You've lost it Donva!" Enidri shouted as she gritted her teeth. "It's one thing to not want to hurt Essencima... but this..." she said as retreated while looking at the plastered captives. She slashed at one of the tendrils, only to watch it grow back in a matter of seconds after being cut in half.

"This is where it begins..." Donva replied. As he raised both of his hands, the puddles of sludge grew in size, so large that they all managed to converge together into one massive pool. Massive bubbles formed within it, emitting a dark steam as they popped. A large mass rose from the liquid, dripping as the shape of the creature soon became apparent. There was another deafening and familiar roar as an Ogre emerged from the sludge. Its round and yellow eyes looked forward, locking onto Enidri.

FGCCheckmate

Check out Donva's art in the Reference Page here!