Crimson Orbs are small spheres filled with a highly-volatile liquid that provides light.
History[]
The One Impossible Labyrinth[]
Though unconfirmed, the crimson orbs were likely made by the Super-Ancient Beings long ago during an unknown point in Earth's history. Despite their unstable and easily breakable nature, they were placed along several points in the Supreme Labyrinth to act as a source of light within the underground portions of the ancient maze.
During Imhotep's pilgrimage to the Labyrinth, he noted the crimson orbs and learned of their destructive capabilities if they were broken, and in his subsequent notes he warned of the danger of the "liquid fire".
During the Order of the Omega's traversing of the Endless Tunnel, they were attacked by a pair of bronze guardians, with the confrontation ending once a crimson orb on the ceiling was struck, causing an explosion that destroyed and melted most of the automatons' bodies, and severely melted one of the monks, who was abandoned by comrades as he suffered from the liquid fire's effects.
When Jack West Jr came across the scene, he soon deduced that the source of the blast had been the crimson orb missing from the ceiling, and realised the danger that the Labyrinth's sources of light posed. A short while later, he extracted an orb from the ceiling and examined it, realising just how easy it would be to break one and recalled how Imhotep had mentioned the need to beware the liquid fire in his tattooed clues.
After General Rastor captured one the Vandals attacking his team, he had the little man handcuffed and tethered to a nearby obelisk, and tapped a crimson orb tapped to their back, telling the Vandal to get as close to Jack as possible when he arrived, intending to have one of his men destroy the orb and kill Jack in the blast.
Once Jack's team arrived at the entranceway to the City-Maze, the Vandal did as Rastor had ordered taunted Jack as he approached. As Jack realised what the Vandal was saying, Rastor's sniper hit the crimson orb on the Vandal's back, causing it to detonate and kill the final Vandal instantly, though it failed to catch Jack's team in the blast as Smiley stepped in to block the liquid fire, with the paleman's back becoming badly melted by the liquid as a result.
While traversing the Four-Sided Maze, a pair of Rastor's men who had gotten lost attempted to look up over the trenches to get their bearings, but doing so triggered a mechanism that dropped a pair of crimson orbs on the Serbians, which burst and killed them.
Later, Rastor's remaining two men attempted to try the same ambush, with one of them tapping a dozen crimson orbs to their body and then charging at Jack kamikaze-style. Once he drew close enough, the Serbian commando took his knife and started stabbing at the orbs on his body, setting off three immediately and causing a chain-reaction that set off the remaining orbs. The ensuing blast of all 12 orbs completely destroyed the cupola, though Jack was able to survive by sealing himself in greystone.
During the final climb up the pinnacle to the Throne of Death, as he was confronted by Rastor once again, Jack took the crimson orb he'd acquired earlier and jammed it into the General's mouth before launching an uppercut that caused Rastor to reflexively clamp his teeth and puncture the orb. As Jack ducked away, the blast from the orb instantly vaporised Rastor's head, instantly killing him.
Attributes[]
The small, golfball-sized crimson orbs are made out of a semi-organic material that acts as a membrane to contain a luminescent liquid. This light given off by this liquid is red in colour, and within the membrane of the orb it has a throbbing effect. It is for this reason that they are primarily used as a source of light in the tunnels and caverns of the Supreme Labyrinth.
However, the crimson orbs have a second, more devastating function. The liquid within the orbs is extremely volatile, being referred to as liquid fire due to their extreme flammability and searing heat when released. As the membrane forming the orb is very thin, it does not take much damage to break them and release the liquid fire, which upon exposure will detonate with devastating effect. The damage from the initial blast, while terrifying enough, is worsened by the dispersed liquid, as anything it lands on will be rapidly seared and melted. Regardless of whether it is bare skin, bone, or metal (including the sturdy material the bronze guardians are made from, but not the metal of a goldman), the liquid will quickly melt the material to the point where different material will merge together.
Trivia[]
.