As Raltz walked into the room confidently, his men behind him were immediately cut off when the door quickly shut and the lights were killed. Their screams could barely be heard through the door as they were attacked, shots from weapons firing into darkness and finding nothing but walls to strike at. Before they had any hope of regrouping they were cut into ribbons by the phantoms in the dark, their blood and gore now decorating the hall space. The comm officer drew his firearm, but it crumbled in on itself and he was forced to discard before it took his fingers with him. 

‘Tch. Ah, ah, ah. A bit too late for that,’ the right hand said, his voice completely changing as he revealed his truer self, shocking Raltz and his comm officer.

‘And here I was expecting this would be at least some sort of a challenge. Alas, I always give the chattel too much credit. I suppose it is the curse of the heart to become attached to your prey.’ The xeno exclaimed, speaking as if contemplating the results of some random experiment. As if it hadn’t just had a group of men slaughtered in cold blood.

‘Wha, what? What the hell is going on here!? Where is the right hand?.. Where the fuck is Aku!?’ Raltz erupted, his fear becoming anger in self defense and denial.

The xeno turned to his new captives asking,

‘Oh yes, I almost forgot’ before tilting his head slightly at an angle. He blinked with the sound of a snap and instantly the room changed. 

Raltz couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He had seen disturbing images before and heard of maddening crimes, but this… This was beyond his comprehension. Blood covered the floors and walls, but not just in splatters. It had been used to paint strange symbols and write alien words that churned and changed into faces of fear and obscenity. Aku’s real right hand was cut into pieces and hung across the back wall, his other hand and his feet severed from his body and used at the epicenters of some of the symbols. 

The comm officer slowly reached for his concealed weapon, doing his best to stay calm as he drew it with haste. ‘Make a run for it sir, I’ll sl-

The man’s chest caved in mid sentence, his body crumbling into a fleshy pulp in midair before sloshing onto the floor in a ball of mutilated flesh. The xeno stood there and straightened his stance, ‘Allow me to reintroduce myself governor, or how about just Raltz? I think we’re on that level now, don’t you?’ The xeno said, his voice sinister and mocking in tone. 

‘How do you know who I am? What do you want? What the fuck is this place!? Just let me out and I’ll give you whatever you want.’ The governor said, his fear causing him to panic. 

‘Woah now, easy. Every note sung to the ears of those who listen is a song in and of itself. Now firstly I’ll say how generous of you governor…’ the xeno responded, the confused look on the Raltz’s face prompting him to go further, 

‘As phenomenal of an offer as that is, it’s unfortunate I’m in no position to bargain for you see I am not the conductor of this orchestra, I am simply an instrumentalist. In more selfish terms you can understand, though of course I’ll indeed be taking whatever I want, I’m afraid that alone will not be enough to reap what’s been sown and that the toll I've been sent to collect will not be complete without other obligations being met.’ 

Raltz began to urinate on himself, but as he looked down it was blood and as he began losing control of his rational and sense of reality he wiped his eyes and his tears were blood. He tried to dry his hands but they were sweating blood. He hadn’t remembered being cut. What was happening to him? The confusion prompted the xeno thing to shake its head as it took the chance to elaborate, shuttering as it sulked in the emotions of the moment. 

‘Part of me pities you. Here you are, or rather were, the planetary governor after all. A man of strength and leadership. Your name is known to more than those you deceive, swindle and bully for power. Have some dignity my friend. Don’t worry though I am not here to judge your sins nor your weakness, they are yours to keep… Yet, there is something I am here for that only you can give me.’ The xenos single large eye began to glow a sickly green as he stared into Raltz’s very soul with his intrusive glare. 

The governor looked on, speechless and trembling from fright as he dropped to his knees with his face nodding in compliance. The xeno walked up to the gov with a slow menacing pace. He almost seemed like a shadow, his face was part light and part darkness.

‘You asked me “what is this place?”. Rather than say anymore I will show you and in return I will take your sight. Only then will you know what WE seek..’, he placed his hand gently on the governor's head before his fingers dug into his scalp like razors, the gov beginning to cry in agony, his arms limp to his sides as psy fire engulfed him. ‘And then you will know no more…’

As Aku arrived at the destination, presuming to make the meeting, he saw governor Ralt’z hovercraft was out front. It had seemed everything was going smoothly and soon he would be one step closer to becoming the richest man in the sector. As his small convoy approached and parked, one of his men noticed there were no guards at the car or at the door. Something strange was going on, but the code to arrive at the meeting was encrypted and was only to be sent once his right hand had finished setting up the meeting. That being once gov Raltz was faded and loosened up, Jaku would arrive and close the deal with him, not before making some last second “fees and services” additions to the price.

‘Let’s go inside. Stryk head in and check it out, we’ll be behind you. Keep your weapons at the ready.’ Aku and his men walked up to the door, the area inside still being cleared by the others when one shouted back, ‘Boss! Yooo! Boss! Come check this out!’

Aku and his men ran into the building to see what the commotion was and discovered the govs guards massacred. There was gore and limbs.. Even heads on the ground. The cuts were surgically clean and from what they could tell there was no trace of who did it.

‘Who or what could’ve done this?’, Aku said observing the bodies as his men opened the door to the next room. He looked up to see them frozen and entered from behind them, pushing his guards from his path as he did so. Surprisingly the weapon was still there, seemingly untouched and the room itself was devoid of all signs of battle or disturbance. Except…

‘All praise to the Gassalu and Gassila’ one guard said as he moved his hand across his body in some sort of religious significance. A commotion began as confusion spread throughout the room. Aku himself couldn’t imagine what had happened. Was this true madness? A compressed ball of flesh sat center inside a splatter of blood, but around it more blood created a gear like shape which almost seemed to turn when you stared at it. But what was worse whatever had happened to Raltz. Aku looked further to see the governor, his malformed and charred body was headless. His brains blast melted onto the floor and wall behind his corpse. 

‘Alright everyone enough. I don’t know what the hell happened here, but we’re going to pack the weapon up and leave. Let’s go, double time!’

Aku yelled and his guards snapped into action. Just when they began to move a couple of large explosions were heard coming from outside. Aku ran outside to find both his and the gov vehicle had exploded and sirens were sounding as planetary police headed towards the scene. ‘We fell right into it’ He thought puzzled as he turned to see a ghostly figure standing in the fire, a single eye glowing through the flames. He squinted and yelled, slowly walking forward with his firearm drawn about to pull the trigger when a blinding light flashed caused him to cover his eyes. 

When he recovered the ghost was gone and his men had come to aid after hearing him yell. 

‘Just what in the actual fuck is going on here?’ Aku heard one of his men say to himself as he told his men to drop their weapons and surrender, the first of the police vehicles arriving in an aggressive manner. From a nearby cliff side, the ghost took one last look at the scene before he disappeared into the night.

Inside the Doothais within the sacred holding chamber where the formless black thing was kept. For a moment between moments, it writhed.