The Dark Union

Chapter 1: A Meeting in Shadows

The city's underbelly was thick with tension. In an abandoned cathedral, its once magnificent stained glass shattered and its altars desecrated, five figures converged under a moonless sky. The air was thick, the shadows seemed alive, and the meeting began.

Bloodbath, a hulking figure clad in his blood-red armor, was the first to speak. Crimson energy dripped from his hands, pooling at his feet. "We've all tasted defeat at the hands of heroes too many times. But together—" His skull-like mask grinned menacingly. "We can drown this city in its own blood."

Beside him, Chapters stood still, his coat of torn pages fluttering in the breeze, though there was no wind. His face was hidden behind a constantly shifting mask of ink and words. His voice was like an echo from a forgotten library. "The story of this city is dull, predictable. We shall rewrite it... into a tale of chaos and despair."

Diaglious, the sleek alien-like entity, barely visible as light twisted around his glass-like form, hovered in the shadows. His body refracted the dim light, casting eerie shapes around the room. "Let them try to fight us. I'll bend the light and leave them blind to their own demise," he whispered, his voice a sharp crack in the silence.

Above them, floating in mid-air, was Suspended. He moved without effort, a ghostly figure with glowing symbols beneath his translucent skin. "Gravity is irrelevant to us," he said in a distant, hollow voice. "I'll twist it to our will, leave them helpless, trapped in the air... or crushed beneath their own weight."

The final figure, Friendship, stood out, but not in a comforting way. He wore brightly colored clothing, his constant grin more unsettling than any monster. His eyes gleamed with malice as he surveyed the group. "I don't need to destroy their bodies," he murmured softly, his tone light but dangerous. "I will break their hearts and minds. They will betray each other before our work even begins."