Prime woke in the dead of night, drenched in sweat. His chest burned as though fire itself was boiling inside his veins.
"P̴r̷i̸m̷e̵…"
The voice was back.
"L̷e̵t̵ ̸m̷e̷ ̴d̷r̸i̸v̷e̷.̶"
He clutched his head, gritting his teeth. "No… you're not in control."
But the ooze was already seeping from his palms, dripping like tar that shone white under the moonlight. His reflection in the water nearby warped — not his face, but EXE's grinning maw, antlers jutting like crowns of bone.
The others were already on edge. Stream had noticed Prime's silence growing heavier, Omega had seen him stumble mid-battle, and Volcan caught glimpses of strange light burning in his eyes. Tonight, they confronted him.
"Prime," Omega said flatly, blocking his path. "You're hiding something."
"I said it's nothing." His voice cracked — a rare sound from the silent one.
Stream stepped closer, sharp gaze like the tide pulling secrets loose. "You reek of corruption. What did you let inside?"
The air thickened. Prime's fists trembled. Then it happened.
The ooze burst from him like a dam breaking, coating his body, reshaping his stance. EXE's laughter rang out as he wrestled for control.
His body jerked — half Prime, half EXE. One moment his own eyes, the next those soulless circles staring back.
Inside, within the battlefield of his mind, Prime stood in a void. Before him towered EXE, ooze dripping from every limb.
"You think you can cage me?" EXE snarled, forming weapons from his own body. "I am hunger. I am wrath. You will break."
Prime's jaw clenched. He summoned his portal blade, but it flickered in and out. He was weaker here, standing against something that was part of him.
They clashed — EXE's tendrils wrapping around Prime, dragging him down, while Prime fought to pull free, cutting portals through the void itself to stay alive. Every strike rattled his mind, every roar shook his soul.
Outside, his body convulsed — oozing, solidifying, then snapping back. His friends circled him, unsure if they were fighting with him or against him.
"Hold him down!" Omega shouted, firing a spear just to pin the ooze back without killing him. Stream wrapped water chains around his limbs, but EXE snapped them like twine. Volcan dug his arms into the earth, trying to lock him in a prison of stone — only for the ooze to melt straight through.
Inside the void, Prime fell to his knees. The weight was crushing.
"You can't win," EXE whispered, crouching low, his empty eyes inches from Prime's. "So let go. Let me burn this world. Let me END it."
Prime's breath slowed. His vision darkened.
But then—he remembered. Stream's sharp laughter echoing after victory, Omega's stoic silence in the face of pain, Volcan's stubborn resolve, Typhoon's reckless challenges.
"No…" Prime's voice steadied. He rose, standing tall despite the chains of ooze dragging at him. "I fight. For them."
The void split as his portals flared bright — blinding arcs tearing across EXE's form, shattering his grip.
EXE screamed, his body reforming, rage endless. "Y̵o̶u̵ ̸w̴i̶l̶l̸ ̷n̴e̶v̴e̶r̷ ̵b̷e̵ ̴r̷i̶d̶ ̷o̸f̵ ̵m̷e̵.̶"
Prime glared back. "Then I'll chain you."
Outside, his body went still — ooze retracting, antlers fading, eyes returning. He collapsed, unconscious but breathing. The others stood over him, battered and silent.
Exe whispered in prime's head "you're only delaying the calamity that is soon to come"
This was
no ordinary fight. It wasn't over. It had just begun.