Arcane Anew

//ChemBaron Zarkon PoV//

"AAAA!"

Zarkon threw a grunt across the factory floor toward the entrance as armed thugs rushed toward the stairs.

Sounds of gunfire and screams echoed, followed by soft explosions from grenades and Chemflashes. Zarkon snarled as his mind raced. He had no idea who or how the Enforcers were tipped off.

Did Clan Ferros find out we've been manufacturing Syntaxi Crystals? Zarkon thought, frustrated.

Clan Ferros had approached them, asking them to make a weaker, less potent form of Hextech crystals. They provided the materials, and the Poingdestre family would produce it.

Sometime into the process, though, they figured they could create a stronger version that could rival topside. They wouldn't have to fear the 'Gray Lady' nor bend the knee any longer while raking in riches.

That was the plan.

Another explosion rocked the base of the building, accompanied by a series of violent screams.

His cybernetic legs stabilized against the floor as everyone else stumbled and struggled to find their footing.

"Take Drake and Vale to the emergency exit," Zarkon barked at a skinny, scientist-looking man, sweat dripping from his forehead.

The scientist's lower face was covered in a gray cloth, and his right eye was white from scarring. Nodding apathetically, he walked off as if there was no hurry.

The Poingdestre family couldn't end here. He wouldn't let it, and he knew his younger twins would find vengeance in his stead.

He took one of the early versions of the Syntaxi gems and inserted it into his suit. Zarkon's cybernetic suit was already outfitted to take on the new power, but he had been holding off due to the known volatility and instability of the gem.

Zarkon's chemtech green flashed before the fluid and tubes turned light orange. Steam ejected violently, and a wave of energy, like a tidal wave, rippled out and flattened the nearby machinery like pancakes. Someone briefly screamed, but it was quickly silenced.

While he couldn't see it, the veins running up his neck started to bulge and shine—similar to Shimmer—shades of distorted orange.

CRASH

Zarkon raised his metallic arm, shielding his head from the cascade of glass shards. The largest window, overlooking a smog-obstructed cityscape, shattered inward violently.

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//Orion's PoV//

With his weight balanced between two pipes, Orion waited patiently as the chaos erupted below.

Caitlyn and Greyson still hadn't entered the building. Every time he glanced down, they remained stationed outside, monitoring the scene with a team of enforcers keeping a vigilant watch.

Orion's breath hitched when he peered through the shattered window. What he had assumed was a four-floor factory was actually one massive space. At the heart of the room hung a colossal, pulsating orb, its surface riddled with glowing orange veins that shimmered with a volatile glow. Tubes and wires connected the orb to the ceiling, and occasionally, jets of orange energy hissed and shot through the pipes.

Three levels of metallic walkways crisscrossed the walls, connecting various rooms and machinery in a complex network of industrial chaos.

But his focus narrowed on one figure: Zarkon. The Chembaron stood near the base, fiddling with his cybernetic arm, grim as the fighting approached from below.

Suddenly, a violent pulse of energy exploded from him, rippling through the room and flattening heavy machinery like crushed tin cans. Orion tensed. There was no magic radiating from Zarkon, but the power emanating off him was unmistakable, like a bomb waiting to detonate.

'Those Enforcers will be killed, just like the Shimmer-enhanced warriors did in Arcane,' Orion thought grimly, his gaze lowering toward the street where Caitlyn and Greyson remained.

The sound of crunching metal and violent pops reverberated through the factory, and as Orion glanced downward again, he saw Caitlyn peering through the scope of her rifle—directly at him.

'Fuck.' His pulse quickened as he cursed inwardly. She had spotted his silhouette against the dim light.

Without wasting another second, Orion channeled energy, shattering the window with a sharp crack. He arced inside, swinging through with one arm as glass rained down with him.

-----------------

"That man from the streets- he just vaulted in!" Caitlyn exclaimed, her voice raised with alarm. Greyson immediately raised her weapon, her eyes narrowing as she spotted the shadow slipping inside through the shattered window.

"Let's go, Caitlyn," Greyson ordered, her crackling voice cutting through the noise as she slid rounds into the chamber of her rifle. "It's early, but you will experience your first combat operation."

Caitlyn's gaze flicked to Greyson's gun as she loaded it, an unsettling feeling rising within her.

When Caitlyn reported the masked man's warning about Syntax being manufactured in the Undercity, Greyson's reaction wasn't what she expected.

"This is something we'll have to investigate," Greyson said with a weary sigh, waving off the urgency Caitlyn felt. "And this came from a random man off the street?"

"No..." Caitlyn had answered slowly, recalling the masked man's words. "He claimed to be an old friend of Orion. He knew about the corruption- and even accused topside of funding this."

Greyson had gone rigid, her posture tightening as Caitlyn's words sank in. Shock flickered briefly across her face before hardening into grim realization. Her expression darkened, and without offering an explanation, she'd approved the raid.

'She seems less concerned about Syntaxi and more about...' Caitlyn's thoughts drifted off into unpleasant possibilities, her mind becoming clouded.

With a final breath, Caitlyn loaded her own bullets and followed Greyson into the heart of the chaos.