The blinding flash faded, leaving behind a battlefield bathed in an eerie blue glow. The pulsating sphere lay forgotten on the dusty floor, its source of blinding light spent. But the effects lingered.

The Scrappers, once a coordinated swarm, were in disarray. Some lay inert, their metallic bodies sparking and sputtering uselessly. Others, seemingly unaffected, thrashed with a renewed frenzy, their attacks erratic and unpredictable.

Mark and Elara, however, experienced something different. A tingling sensation snaked through their limbs, their senses sharpening to an unnatural degree. The whirring of the scavengers' gear sounded deafeningly loud, and Elara could almost taste the metallic tang of fear in the air. Mark, with a flick of his wrist, deflected a stray Scrapper claw with an ease that surprised him.

But amongst the confusion, a single figure stood out. Sigma, his face contorted in pain, clutched his head, his eyes squeezed shut. He swayed on his feet, seemingly overwhelmed by the unknown energy.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Mark barked orders. "Elara, focus fire on the berserk Scrappers! Brick, clear the eastern flank! Sigma…" he trailed off, concern gnawing at him. Sigma remained unresponsive, his body wracked with silent tremors.

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Purple, ever opportunistic, seized the moment. "Scavengers!" she yelled, her voice cutting through the din. "Secure that sphere! It's salvage of the highest order!"

Her scavengers, a motley crew of survivalists and opportunists, reacted with alacrity. One, a wiry man with a cybernetic arm, darted towards the pulsating sphere.

But before he could reach it, Sigma lurched forward. His eyes, once brown and steady, now glowed with an eerie green light. His voice, when he spoke, had a chilling resonance that sent shivers down Mark's spine.

"That," Sigma rasped, his voice laced with an unfamiliar authority, "belongs to me."

The scavenger froze, caught between greed and an inexplicable fear. The combined team watched, a sense of foreboding settling over them. Sigma extended a trembling hand towards the sphere, a cryptic smile playing on his lips. As he grasped it, the sphere pulsed once more, bathing him in that same eerie green light.

The chapter ended not with a bang, but with an unsettling whisper, a whisper that spoke of secrets revealed, of powers awakened, and of a future shrouded in uncertainty.