The Third

**The Third** is one of three living dark matter constructs created by the Dark Lord to serve as its generals, along with The First and The Second. The Third inherited what little goodness existed within the Dark Lord, however, eventually resulting in its betrayal of its creator in order to help end the Invasion of Falador. When the Dark Lord was killed, cutting its creations off from their power source, The Third was forced to merge with the corpse of the demon Agrith-Naar in order to surivive, earning itself the title "The Dark Demon".

## Biography

### **Creation and Betrayal**

When the Dark Lord arrived on Gielinor it was on a mission to draw out any gods that might be hiding on Gielinor for Bandos, but in order to do that it had to create a huge threat level event. It was unable to do this on its own, or even with the mindless creatures it could summon in bulk to act as an army. Out of necessity it sacrificed pieces of itself to create three lesser beings which could serve as its intelligent servants. The Third was, shockingly, The Third of these beings to be created.

While the Dark Lord knew that it was itself a fragment of Seren, it did not know that it had retained some of Seren's purity and moral conviction. These elements were passed along to The Third, where they were able to manifest in its personality like they never could in the Dark Lords. Still, The Third was immediately loyal to its creator, and helped take Falador in a single strategic attack.

As early as the next day the entire continent was in a panic, there eyes turned to Falador in fear of what these mysterious invaders would do next. At this point The Third was still fully loyal to the Dark Lord, but this quickly began to change when four heroes (Glowie, Grumble, Alaria, and Tym) attempted to retake the city on their own, ultimately resulting in the capture of all but Grumble.

What caused it to turn at this point is unclear, but not long after the heroes were captured The Third effectively developed its conscious, and betrayed the Dark Lord by setting the heroes free. This betrayal did not go unrecognized for long, and The Third was quickly overpowered by its fellow creations. Leaving Falador in the hands of its "children", the Dark Lord took The Third to the wilderness, where it threw The Third into a pit of lava, beleiving it to be a fitting execution.

### **Becoming the Dark Demon**

As The Third slowly died in its tomb of lava a spectator took pity on it, and decided to intervene. The portal mage Craznia, who had previously been presumed dead, pulled The Third into the Abyss with her to save it from death, having witnessed its heroics while she silenty watched the events of Gielinor unfold.

The Third did not regain consciousness until after the Dark Lord had been killed, and in its panic to find an organic form to merge with it lunged at the first suitable target: the rotting corpse of Agrith-Naar. After the process was completed The Third was confronted by Craznia, who feared Agrith-Naar might now be influencing it, but she was quickly proved wrong. The Third spent the next several hours recovering and speaking with Craznia, establish its first true bond with another being. After attempting to inspire her confidence she sent him back to Gielinor.

Immediately after arriving in Gielinor, The Third returned to Falador to investigate the results of the Invasion of Falador. It discovered what had happened, and learned that both The Dark Lord and The Second's bodies had been recovered and taken to a secure research facility in Kandarin. The First's fate, however, remained a mystery, so The Third tracked down its creators corpse expecting The First to do the same. Unfortunately its presence was discovered as it attempted to reach the Dark Lord, and the guards proceeded to attack. The Third managed to retreat, but was accidentally discovered by The Captain soon after.

In the midst of their standoff, which The Third tries to use to prove its innocence, the facility is suddenly attacked by The First. The Third breaks away and confronts The First within the facility, but loses the ensuing fight. Fortunately for The Third the facilities reinforcements, including The Captain, arrived and forced The First into retreat, but not before it made off with the Dark Lords corpse. The First also uses its abilities to destabilize the building, causing it to collapse in on itself. The Third rescues The Captain and the remaining guards, and takes off to hunt down the First.

### **Hunting The First**

The Third hunted for The First for the next month, coming up with few leads. Still, it was able to follow the very scarce clues and faint trail of familiar energy let off by its creator. Following these leads, it eventually found itself within the laboratory of The Inventor, though it looked as if it had been hastily gutted and abandoned. Almost as soon as The Third had arrived it found itself being attacked by the AI, which had been keeping an eye on its own creator. After a standoff the two came to realize that they were not necessarily enemies, and began to exchange information. The AI revealed that The Inventor had begun working with a mysterious new ally, who The Third was able to identify as The First.

In an effort to prevent a potential catastrophe the two formed an alliance, though they still found themselves unable to cooperate or agree on a singular plan. As they continue to bicker they are attacked by The First, who attempts to take The Third to use its energy as a sacrifice to revive their deceased "father". Both creations are easily overpowered by The First, until they manage to work together and strategically force The First into retreat. In its haste, though, The First failed to cover its tracks, and The Third and The AI were able to follow it straight back to the Inventor's secondary laboratory, where they again faced off against The First.

Before the fight can reach its climax The Inventor finishes its work, utilizing an improper source of mystic energy to revive the Dark Lord. While it is successful in reviving it, it also causes it to mutate and deteriorate, becoming more of a mindless beast than the ruthless leader it once had been. In it's instinctual rage the abomination destroys the lab and injures The First, who immediately retreats. Rather than chase after it the two heroes instead choose to stop the abomination from reaching the nearby city. They manage to stop it by combining their strengths, and manage to officially put the Dark Lord down for good, giving The Third some much needed closure.

### **The World Guardians**

Despite their differences, The Third continued to travel with the AI, both looking to stop The First. They did not initially react when Tuska invaded, as they did not understand the extent of the threat she posed, but The Third became aware of the situation shortly after Bandos' arrival. Knowing what Bandos was capable of, and knowing that he was the reason the Dark Lord did what it did, The Third set off to join the fight with the AI close behind. In a stroke of luck, they found the other heroes, including Spiffy, Glowie, Tym, Alaria, and Sendra, and managed to save them from Bandosian forces. Unfortunately Spiffy was captured soon thereafter, driving the group into disarray.

The Third, much like the AI, received very little trust from members of the team, particularly Alaria and Glowie. He was allowed to remain with them, mostly due to the fact that it had saved them during the Invasion of Falador. After consistent bickering among the group they managed to decide on a plan to rescue Spiffy. The Third joined Glowie on a stealth mission into Bandos' headquarters, but their cover was blown almost immediately due to showboating from other members of the team meant to serve as lookouts. The Third fought off the responding guards to give Glowie a window to get inside.

After fighting off a wave of guards The Third encounters The First, which has returned to service under Bandos. The two fight one on one, but ultimately The First retains the advantage it's held in the past. As the battle reaches its climax Glowie intervenes, having already saved Spiffy. After learning that The Third was locked in combat he doubled back to help, demonstrating an appreciation for its help, and a willingness to cooperate with The Third as a team. They escaped, but were forced to leave The First behind.

The seven heroes, The Seer, and the Captain regrouped following Spiffy's prison break, and at this point Spiffy revealed his plan to steal and use Tuska's elder weapon, the Claws of Tuska, to open a breach to another realm that the gods could then be forced through, preventing them from ever returning. Zamorak would be on the other side to ensure to deal with them once they arrived. Spiffy also revealed that he had "overheard" plans for Bandos to take Keldagrim within the next day; the last major city not under his control, and a sanctuary for refugees fleeing from Tuska and Bandos' wrath.

The plan was to intercept Bandos and Tuska outside Keldagrim's entrance, get the Claws, and do away with both gods before they could be overwhelmed. The plan was desperate, and at this point The Third offered its own contribution, revealed Craznia's survival to the rest of the team. Knowing she was watching over him, he pleaded for her help in assisting with the fight against Tuska. Craznia responded, revealing herself to the team, but was far too uncertain with her powers to intervene directly. Instead, the plan was formulated that Sendra would return to Darkmeyer and gather support from her "allies" there, who Craznia could then transport to the front.

The Third accompanied Sendra to Darkmeyer, acting as a liason between them and Craznia. Sendra struggled to rally their support at first, but The Third was able to rally Vampyre support by revealing its demonic, therefore Zamorakian, ties. In the name of Zamorak, and in the name of defeating Bandos, the Vampyres, and consequentially the Myreque, agreed to help. By this point the Battle of Keldagrim had already begun, but Craznia's portals allowed The Third, Sendra, and their new allies to immediately join te fight.

The Third dropped into the battle in dramatic fashion, and immediately turned its attention to The First. While the rest of the team, and a redeemed Grumble, focused on the gods, The Third was busy fighting The First yet again. The Third was still outmatched by The First, but in the chaos of the battle it managed to do far better than it ever had before. After nearly being defeated, The Third unleashed its demonic side on The First, finally giving it the edge it needed to defeat and kill The First, leaving Derponet free from its control, but unconscious. Following this victory it rejoined the fight against the Gods, but by this point Bandos had been killed.

Without Bandos to lead or control them, his and Tuskas forces entered a full blown frenzy, even beginning to fight one another. Tuska, no longer swayed by the threat of Bandos, returned to her primal warpath, intending to destroy the realm as a whole. Together with the other seven heroes The Third fought Tuska back, and only together were they able to defeat her once and for all. Tuska's death crippled Airut morale, and they largely surrendered.

When the battle finally settled and the hostile forces had dispersed or been captured, the heroes, including "The Dark Demon", as The Third was now being called, were celebrated as heroes around the world, even despite past reputation. Having gained the trust of everyone on the team, The Third remained in contact with them, willingly serving as someone who could help fight off additional threats should they ever arise. It also did its best to remain in contact with Craznia, who he continued to see as the closest friend a creature like itself could have.

## Personality

Despite being a creation of the evil Dark Lord, and merging with the evil Agrith-Naar, The Third has somehow managed to hold on to its own idea of morality, making it a firm ally of many of Gielinor's heroes. Despite turning to the side of good, The Third is often irritable or immoral in its approach, likely due to its constant inner conflict with its instincts.

Because it is an inorganic creation, The Third often struggles with social interaction, even moreso than the AI, making it seem clumsy, anti-social, and awkward. Though these facts tend not to bother it, as it has little interest in any true relationships.

## Abilities

* **Strength**: The Third is physically far stronger than most humans, though a human in peak physical condition could present a challenge.
* **Rapid Healing**: As a mystic construct/demon hybrid, The Third is capable of healing fairly rapidly. It can sustain and recover from injuries within a single battle, making it difficult to defeat.
* **Limited Shapeshifting**: With great focus and effort The Third can change its appearance to be more demonic or humanoid.
* **Demon Form**: The Third can take on more of its demonic characteristics, and use abilities unique to this form.
	+ **Demon Senses**: While in its Demon form The Third has heightened senses.
	+ **Flight**: Using its demonic wings and lighter frame, The Third is capable of unrestricted flight.
* **Dark Form**: The Third can take on its dark matter characteristics and access abilities unique to this form.
	+ **Dark Magic**: The Third is capable of accessing its mystic powers given to it by the Dark Lord, and can channel this energy into various different forms of dark magic.
	+ **Camoflauge**: When in dark areas, or at night, The Third is able to blend in with the environment, allowing it to move without detection.

## Appearances

* Siege
* The Dark Demon
* Creations
* The World Guardians