Dr. Creepen's Dungeon - S4 Ep187: Episode 187: Genetic Laboratory Monster Horror

Episode Date: October 4, 2024

If you want to take ownership of your health, try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 Free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase. Go to www.drinkAG1.com/creepen Tonight’s terrifying tale of horror is all eight episodes of the epic ‘I’m a Monster Series’, an original collection by Mr. Mills 45, kindly shared with me for the express purpose of having me narrate it here for you all.  https://www.reddit.com/user/mrmills45/

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where we can manipulate life itself. On the other hand, it embodies our deepest anxieties about losing control over what we create, as the line between nature and artificiality blurs. These monsters represent the consequences of overreaching ambition, the unpredictability of tampering with life's building blocks, and the fear of unleashing something powerful, dangerous and beyond our understanding, as we shall see in tonight's epic feature-length story. How is ever before we begin, a word of caution?

Tonight's tale may contain strong language as well as descriptions of violence and horrific imagery. That sounds like your kind of thing, then let's begin. I'm a monster created by the government to hunt other monsters. I'm a monstrosity. The kind of horrendous figure children fear seeing in their closets and under their beds are nights. People tell stories about creatures like me around the campfire, all sorts of myths and legends about snatching up unsuspecting victims and consuming the souls of the innocent. I'll tell you now that couldn't be further from the truth.

I am accrypted, yes, but instead of being the thing that stalks you on the sidewalk at night when you're out walking alone, I'm the force that protects you. Keeps you safe and makes sure threats from the darker parts of the universe don't leak into this fragile planet. But of course I'm not successful every time. Plain your things slip through the cracks. Seen as how you humans all seem to share your tales of encounters with things that don't follow the natural law. But I can assure you it would be far worse if I wasn't around. I wasn't born human, in fact I really didn't have much of a birth to begin with.

I only remember floating around in a tank of some sort. for a small period of time before being deployed out on the field my first time. When there's a threat, the police, FBI, or even military can't understand or take care of by using conventional means, that's where I come in. I deal with the things your species cannot. That's my purpose, my drive, and what I was created to do. Over the decades, I've been sent to either kill or capture everything from sinister spirits to elongated humanoids. whether they reside in the national forests or in the local neighbourhoods of their unfortunate victims.

I take it that you're all curious as to my appearance, my abilities and what it is that I use to sustain myself. Things along those lines, well, my height caps out at eight feet tall. My skin is a midnight blue with a slight shine at the edges of my joints. As far as my eyes go, there's simply a pair of yellow, glowing light bulb-shaped dots, which aid me in seeing in the dark. I possess claws about four inches long, razor sharp and strong enough to slice through most metal. They have a blue colour similar to that of my skin

to help me blend in with an array of environments better. Around July of 2011, I was deployed out into the White Mountain National Forest. There have been reports of some creature snatching up campers and hikers in the night. There were twelve victims of the supposed crypted, only one had survived. He told his story to the police. They'd taken his information down and then had secretly passed it on to us. When they brought him into chat,

a couple of agents had the man described the cryptid in question, after which they executed the man, not wanting him to get his story out there and add to the panic already been ensued by all the sightings of otherworldly beings. The thing is, the guy had known too much. He'd gotten multiple good looks at the thing before he escaped. You should have seen the look on the director of operations face,

while the guy described the thing in near perfect detail. But his terror caused him to stutter and lose track of his thoughts multiple times over. They'd gotten all the information out of him that they could. I was going to be honest, his treatment by the agents was pretty humane and decent, seemingly, by their standards anyway, all the way up to blowing these brains out. Still a much more merciful death compared to what I'd seen in the past. It wasn't long after that I and a team of agents had been deployed to go take the thing down now that we knew where it was hiding and hunting, as well as what it looked like.

I had no view of the scenery on the way there. I was transported inside a sealed-up reinforced truck. It was more or less meant to hide my appearance from the public rather than to keep me contained. Well, I'm fed and taken care of well, and I see no reason to betray the agency, despite what you may think. They dropped me off at the edge of the forest. The place had been closed off in order to keep anyone from witnessing

what was about to go down. Several men geared up with night vision goggles, fully loaded assault rifles and covered head to toe in body armor. They all walked along the trail deeper into the forest, marching carefully in a military formation as they looked around. I crawled up a tree on all fours

and moved from above, jumping from branch to branch to see I could spot anything from the vantage point. I hissed and sniffed the air, trying to detect the creature's scent to know of a veil. Usually this method always worked, but this cryptid knew how to mask is sent well. It was one of the more intelligent beings I've encountered over the decades. The agents below were getting tense during the hike. They could sense something wrong.

I could hear the intensity of their breathing being in to increase, even underneath their masks. "'Where there is this damn thing at?' one complained. "'We've been out here for an hour now.' I ignored him and led the way, crawling down from the trees above and back onto the ground. I stood up in a bipedal fashion, letting myself tower over the agents as they looked up at me. "'Well, what about you, freak?'

The one closest to the front spoke up. "'You sense anything?' I brushed his comment off. I was more than used to always getting ridiculed for my appearance. It was nothing new. I considered it worth it when they fed me so well. I got down on all fours and crawled around through some of the shrubbery off the park, doing everything in my power to use stealth and swiftness while being careful about my surroundings.

It was only when I'd gotten a couple hundred feet away from the rest of the squad, I picked up the smell of blood, a lot of it. I win slightly from how hard the scent had hit me. especially with how powerful my noses at picking that stuff up. I turned and dashed back over to the squad and informed them that I'd picked up a scent, to which they became uneasy, their discomfort only becoming stronger. What is it? one asked. Blood, I replied Simplen, my voice echoing off the trees surrounding us.

The squad followed behind me as I led them in the direction of the smell, keeping their guns trained on the area around them with every step they took. A few of them even complained about the smell, once they were in range to detect it. "'Jesus, that's pungent!' one cries. There was a dreadful silence that accompanied our march, no rustling of trees, no dislodgement of rocks, and even no wind. When things were this quiet, it usually meant something was nearby, something not human nor animal.

I kept to look out through the tree line. My vision was excellent in the night-time, which made it all the more unsubilant. settling when I couldn't spot anything. But that same stench continued to flood my nostrils. Keep your heads up, men, said one of the squad members.

Things could get ugly fast. And then, I felt it. Something was moving below. I could feel its vibrations bouncing off the bottom of my feet. The creature was underground, and it was pressing forward in a slithering-like motion.

It felt like there were multiple of them, not just one. I turned around to signal the squad something was coming, but before they could comprehend what I was attempting to tell them, a pair of long, yellow-colored tentacles burst up from the soil, grabbing two of the agents and wrapping around them. Fire up! A few squad members shouted simultaneously, attempting to bring the thing down. The forest was now filled with the sounds of gunfire and agonizing screams of terror.

The men in the clutches of the tentacles kicked and fought for their lives. but it was useless. I lunged at the pair of tentacles and slashed at them with my claws, trying to cut them off in order to save the man that had been crowned. A yellow pus spilled out from the disgusting limb each time I swiped at it,

causing the creatures to screech inhumanely. Once I'd taken out the first tentacle, the agent who'd been grabbed was dropped to the ground in a lifeless fashion. He died from suffocation, his eyes bulging out of his skull while his mouth was ajar from his house of pain.

Those of us who remained turned our attention to the second tentacle. At this time the creature had changed up its strategy, using the squad member in its grasp as a human battering ram to swat away the other agents, hitting them away like it was nothing more than a game of baseball. They were all not in their backs, sent into trees and thrashed around. All of them lying on the ground coughing and choking as they groan from the bruises. I attacked the tentacles as well. best I could, avoiding two swings and being mere inches away from getting clobbered by a third.

I slashed at the bottom of the limb, and the pus leaked out into the soil and seaped underground. The agent in this tentacles' grasp had fared even worse than the first. Not only had he been brutally asphyxiated, but his neck was horribly disfigured and broken from all the blows he'd been used to carry out. The other squad members attempted to get to their feet and raised their guns, and several more tentacles had crashed upwards through the ground and grabbed them. This creature was far from done with us. A couple of the agents fired their guns in an unhinged and desperate manner as a futile effort to escape with cryptids grasp. When I attempted to get down on all force and crawl towards the men to help, I too was grabbed by both my legs,

being pulled back before also having my arms restricted. I couldn't move or do anything, I tried to retract my claws to slice up the tentacles holding me back, but it was no use. I was completely restrained. A deep, booming voice then invaded its way into my eardrums. It sounded like it was coming from all directions at once, as if it were above ground instead of below. You shall watch, it demanded, making its bone-chilling intentions clear. All the agents who'd been grabbed were not just simply having their airflow restricted this, they were being torn apart.

Their screams, oh God, their screams, it was unlike anything I'd ever heard before, even from other strange creatures. Right in front of my eyes, they were pulled apart like cotton candy, and blood stained the trees of dirt and bushes. The smell of copper was overwhelming me as they were dismembered,

only adding to what had been done there before. Bones cracked, joints snapped, multiple screams were suddenly cut short as they died, once again leaving us in the eerie silence of the forest. When the deeply unsettling display of the creature's power and relentlessness had ended, it tightened its grip around me, making sure to keep me in place as I looked at the sight of all the deceased agents. Not a single one had survived.

It was just me. I was all alone now with this beast. These humans. That same commanding voice from early assent. They are nothing, a mere inconvenience to you and I. They will throw you out, treat you like you are of no value, and yet you help them like a fool. Why is that?

You have all this power, knowledge of the things they do not. You could slit their throats and snap their bones in an instant. But you allow them to all you around as if you're their puppet, when really they should be used. yours let me go I replied slowly I beg of you to join me why do you think I didn't kill you I want you to see that you do not belong to them being like you was meant to roam free to be feared I want them to bow to us for them to give up their freedom as a desperate attempt to keep us from slaughtering them and everyone they hold dear.

I protect them. I serve them. They feed me. I growled. Trying to sound confident in my response. What? Scraps? That sustenance is only there to keep you from getting a taste of their flesh so you don't turn on them.

They'll never truly care about you. You are the material of a king but continue to play the role of a pawn. You stand in a room surrounded by them, being docile for their sake instead of tearing the skin off their bones and demonstrating you or the superior being. I jerked around and shook as much as I could to escape the creature's grasp before an idea popped into my head. I was out of options and in a really bad spot. Fighting right now would only end in my death and the death of many others. I needed to approach this with caution and intelligence. But I will join you. I've grown tired of being their pet. I want to be far more. I announced in the most sincere tone I could muster.

The cryptid went silent, attempting to contemplate my statement and decide if I was telling the truth. Why the sudden change of heart? It asked suspiciously. Oh, I've looked back on my existence. I've seen what they truly want. want from me now and I rethink everything they've said and done to me. I'm nothing but an experiment to them. A means to carry out the things those carrots can't hope to.

The creature began to laugh, clearly amused by my passionate lie. I couldn't tell whether he was buying it or not. I could feel myself tensing with every passing second. He began to speak again, this time much less forcefully. We belong out here,

not in those prisons. No matter how much they may pass it off as sanctuary, they're nothing but torture chambers to keep us and our true power locked up. They know what we can do. Why do you think those in power try to hide our existence from the rest? They fear the damage we can cause, not only to their frail skeletons, but to their minds. They want to keep us reserved to their nightmares, their dark tales and their fantasies in order to feel safe, to have a sense of control. a level of control they will never have in their short mortal lives. Then, between the sets of tentacles, a large bulge began to form in the dirt. He was now coming out of the ground.

The soil, stones and bushes have been forced out of their spots by the huge mass, digging its way up to the surface. Once the massive figure had emerged from below and all the dirt had fallen off it, it revealed its hideous and demonic appearance. He made even the most horrendous of entities seem beautiful by comparison. It was the body of the creature, I could make out the shape of its remaining tentacles that were connected to the sides of its torso,

if that's what you could even call it anyway. His bizarre-looking head was the shape of a cylinder. His body itself only stood about eight feet tall, while his tentacles seemed to reach a freakishly long 20 feet in front of him. The being possessed no sort of eyes, well not ones I could distinguish or see. but his mouth was a rectangular shape, very thin but filled to the brim with a dull, square-shaped teeth, most of which were chipped and damaged.

His legs were laughably small compared to the rest of him, especially his other limbs. His body was a similarly urine-like colour, like his tentacles. The ones he'd used to restrain me soon loosened their grip and freed me. We both stood our ground apart from each other for a moment, waiting for the other to make any sudden movement. waiting for the other to make any sudden movement or try anything funny. This is your chance. He began another monologue. Go be free, feast on whatever it is you desire.

You're no longer under their command, nor do you have to bend to their will. Now you can make them bend to yours. Their abilities is nothing in comparison to ours. They invent technology and weapons to assist them, but it's no use. everything they create will always be useless in their battle against us. I stood up on two legs, glaring at the creature. Do you even have a name? He asked, to which I gave no response and slowly walked over to him,

little by little, keeping my true intentions hidden. He chuckled, not moving or standing back in the slightest. He displayed no signs of fear from me. Don't you want to be what you truly are, to explore what makes you better than them. You have to show them that you are a force to be reckoned with, not some glorified attack dog. He continued.

I edged myself closer, giving him a convincing grin to emote his proposals, doing everything I could to make it seem like I was picking up what he was putting down. Just when I was close enough to attack, he returned my smile with an even more sinister smirk of his own, allowing all of his broken and disfigure, good teeth to show themselves. Well, disgusting is a gross understatement for his appearance.

I lunched forward and wrapped myself around his head, sinking my claws and teeth into his scaly, rubbery skin. That same runny yellow pusse oozed out from his wounds as I clawed and bit him. His screams were powerful enough to shake the foundation of a skyscraper. He thrashed his body and used his tentacles to grab me in a final desperate attempt at survival as his life force drained itself from him. The tentacle wrapped around my torso and I was thrown hard enough to go smashing right through the trunk of an oak tree, doing multiple somersaults backwards as I tumbled along the

ground. I got oak quickly back on all falls, ready and myself for an attack that never came. The cryptid screams were now beginning to fade. He dropped to his knees as his tentacles continued to throw themselves widely around the area, nearly clipping me in the process. I latched on to one of the trees and ran up to the top, watching his dramatic death come to an end. Even though he had no eyes, he spent his last few seconds of life glaring at me with a damning expression, telling me that I would soon meet him in hell and pay for what I'd done. His final few moments were weak, insignificant and inconsequential.

The trees around me shook as he fell back and took his seemingly final breath. I gave myself a few moments to decide if it was safe, then cautiously crawled my way back down to the ground, listening for any signs of his breathing or being alive. I poked at one of his connected tentacles. There was no movement or any sort of reaction, so that I made my way over to his body mass to inspect it. Only when I saw it again did it occur to me how much damage I had actually done. The pierced wounds from my claws and teeth had torn away most of the flesh from the top of his head. Some of the tissue near his mouth had been peeled off, as well as his alien-looking brain being exposed at the top of his head. I was now out here stranded alone, with no sort of backup.

All the agents were dead, and communication systems were destroyed. I didn't know how to get back to the basin as I'd been prevented from glimpsing my surroundings during the trip. A feeling of hunger began to overcome me. It had been quite a while since I'd been last fed. I saw no other choice and came to the conclusion. of what needed to be done. I knelt down and began to feed on the corpse of the monster, making quick work of his skin and picking off everything I could from his bones.

In the middle of feasting I figured I should speed up. I didn't want anyone who would have potentially been in the forest to come check out all the commotion and see me. Despite the fact we, the agency, had ordered the government to close the place up prior to this disaster of omission. I finished up my meal and stood on two legs, looking around for any signs of life, anyone or anything that could have been watching me. I'd figured the agency would come and send more men once they realised we hadn't returned on the scheduled time,

but in the back of my mind, I didn't want that to be the case. The things the entity had said were hard to get out of my thoughts. I looked out into the forest, seeing all sorts of wildlife and, most importantly, freedom, something I'd never experienced before. If that thing had been right about something, it was that I should embrace what I am. I still didn't hate humanity, but rather I wanted to be able to make more of my own choices and decisions, to eat whatever I wanted, to roam wherever I please, not having to carry the burden of working for someone else. I contemplated for not sure how long.

I knew they would come looking for me when they found out, that much was obvious. so if I was going to get out of here, I needed to do it now and be quick about it. I could never come back. They more than likely kill me if I did, or tried to anyway. I turned around, giving one last glance to all the death and destruction behind me before getting down on all fours and running off into the forest. I know what I truly am. I am a creature of the night, the thing your children fear to see under their beds,

the monstrosity you feel watching. you from behind you as you walk alone at late hours of the night. Heed this warning. Do not come looking for me. Do not try to capture, kill or disturb me. I promise it will not end well for you. Leave me, P. I am what I am.

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I'm a monster protecting humanity. and things are getting dangerous for me. All my life I'd been a puppet without realizing it, spending every waking second taking orders from others without my input ever being considered. But now I understand why you humans praise freedom so much. It's exhilarating, cathartic, and an experience unlike any other.

Being able to make my own choices and create my own destiny is one I thought I'd never have until now. ever since I ran off from the agency and left it all behind I've been roaming the forest for a few days now feasting on such things as squirrels, rabbits, deer even a black bear at one point and of course other cryptids now a few days back I was reminded by an enemy

that I do not have a name I hadn't been thinking about it at the time it was never really something that was on my mind often the agency had never bothered to give me one not an official one anyway so I took the initiative to give myself one going through many that didn't suit or fit

me when it took a lot of trial and error before I finally settled on Braun not that I really have anyone around to ever use it you see I'm alone out here I have to be the government

the agency they're looking for me I'm their multi-million dollar killing machine and I ran away there's no way in how they would just let that slide I need to keep moving bringing others with me would only slow me down and probably get them killed as well I preferred to move around and migrate at night

that way I had less of a chance of running into humans it was more for my safety than theirs I am accrupted after all if one gets a good look at me they could report me to the agency once they come back out here to begin their search I wasn't going to take that chance, so I did everything in my power to avoid them at all costs. I kept myself low, crawling around all fours to say hidden behind bushes and in the shadows.

This whole thing would be much easier if humans were the only thing I needed to avoid. But no, I also had to deal with the other cryptids, most of whom did not take kindly to my presence in their territory. In the span of only about half a week, I'd already encountered giant arachnid, and insights, shadowy spirits with red eyes who seem to love the dark for whatever reason, as well as the more common wendigows and skinwalkings. This forest had it all. If you're looking to die a horrible death by cryptid, this was definitely the place to do it. One night I was moving through the vegetation as usual, trying to find some living sustenance that wasn't hikers

or campus. God, there were so many. I had to change directions multiple times when some of them had decided to step off the trail, nearly causing me to be spotted and given away. The forest was just right, but it didn't feel like how it did on most nights. No eerie silence, but it wasn't too loud either. The sounds of humans talking amongst themselves around their campfires was oddly peaceful to me. However, when I come across one particular campsite of what appeared to be adolescence, all laughing and conversing, I noticed something off in the distance, watching. them from behind a tree.

Something tall but thin, far too big to be another human. It was stalking them, sizing them up like any other predator would do with their prey. I got down on all falls and scaled my way up the closest tree next to me, seeing if I could get a better look at the creature by using a vantage point. My vision allowed me to see well in the dark, so that wasn't the problem. It was the way the creature's body was angled. something was off about him even by a cryptid standards I edged myself forward on one of the branches in the tree waiting for the being to make any sudden movements digging my claws into the bark

for extra grip the humans hadn't noticed the creature's presence yet yet they still sat there mindlessly consuming their strange-looking beverages well the last thing i wanted to do was get noticed by these people, but they were in danger, and I wanted to help. I don't know why the urge was so strong, I just felt like I was obligated to. Oh, I've got to take a whiz. I'll be back in a set. One of them announced to the rest. He got up off his log and turned around to walk into the trees. The cryptid began to slowly move from his spot as he stalked the boy, keeping himself quiet so as not to snap any twigs or make a sound. I made my way down the tree and circled over behind the creature, hoping to catch him off guard without being noticed.

Now that I'd gotten a closer look at what he truly was, even I was taken aback by its appearance. The creature was only around a foot shorter than me, standing about seven feet high. He possessed a multitude of legs, and by that I mean an ungodly amount, giving most centipedes a run for their money. above all those pairs of legs and a thin body no more than just a couple of inches in width its torso chest and abdomen were all the same thickness this creature practically had the build of a leaf rig on top of that thin body rested its head a long

also thin rectangle that was just as far off to its sides as its legs the cryptid also had a set of three green triangular-shaped eyes on each end of its rectangular heads, as if it was some sort of hammerhead shark gone wrong. The boy had just made it up to a tree and stopped, presumably about to begin urinating. While the entity crept up from behind and I sped up my little crawl towards it, wanting to get to it before it was able to grab a hold of the unsuspecting victim. Once the creature was in range to snatch up its prey, one of its supposed legs extended outward from below and stretched itself towards the boy. less than a foot from wrapping itself around his skinny neck without him having a single clue. I quickly got on my hind legs and lunged between them,

reaching out with one of my arms and slashing the limb right off, causing the cryptic to wail and stumble backward in surprise as he cried out in pain. The boy turned to see both of us. He was frightened beyond comprehension and completely paralysed, having no idea what to do next. I didn't blame him. Oh, I barked. Now, you'll die if you stay here.

Him hearing me speak had snapped him out of his tramps. He screamed for his peers and ran back into the clearing where their campsite had been set up. What the hell is that? One of the females said before letting out a blood curdling screech. We got to go. Get to the truck now. another chimed in just as frightened as the rest. They quickly began to run off and retreat,

now leaving me alone with this other cryptid. How dare you step foot in my territory and allow my prey to escape? It snarled at me in a loud, hissing fashion, still clutching the limb I'd sliced off with my claws. I bared my teeth, preparing myself for the inevitable battle. The humans had to be left alone. Leave them be. I growled.

Their flesh is far too delicate and delectable to be left alone. They taste magnificent, and you will die for what you have done. The entity reached out again with another one of those hairy, deformed legs, this time much faster and more aggressive than it had done with the boy. The leg had moved swifter than what I'd originally predicted. I attempted to slash it off like a done with the other, but missed, causing the leg to pierce me just below my left shoulder. How old as I felt it sink into my skin?

Blood just as blue as my complexion leaked out from the wound as I wrapped one hand around the leg and tried to pull it out with my flesh. Only for the creature to force it in deeper as he boasted. Oh, such a weak one, aren't you? I expected much more. You are just as frail as the two-legged ones. It must be crushing to know your passionate efforts

to protect them as so hopelessly futile, you'll die like any mortal man. I felt rage begin to boil within me. I tilted my head up at the thing, glaring deeply into his soul to let him know I wouldn't be put down this easily.

Even though it was painful, I shifted my body around the leg that had been currently impaling me and latched my jaws on it, biting down hard and not letting go. The entity screamed, once again, extending out more of its legs to attack me. I swatted them away with my claws as I thrashed and snapped my jaws repeatedly on the one in my mouth,

repeatedly biting over and over until I'd finally dismembered him. Once it had been disconnected, I grabbed what was still left of the first one in my shoulder and pulled it out while forcefully gritting my teeth and growling at the ground below me. It stung like crazy, but I didn't have time to moan about it. In a bipedal stance, I took a couple of steps back. The cryptid and I both now being wounded meant that we were going to do anything we could to kill the other one and walk out of this alone. Perhaps you're stronger than what I previously predicted. He laughed, taunting me.

I quickly latched onto one of the trees next to me, only crawling halfway up before leaping to the next one, repeating the process over and over until I got closer to him. Well, he tried and failed multiple times to grab me as I was moving from tree to tree, going far too quick for his legs to reach me. I could hear him snarling under his breath, cursing himself for not being held to stop my repetitive jumping and leaping. Once I had gotten onto the tree closest to him, the cryptid backed up, clearly understanding my intentions.

He reached out with one of those legs one last time, to which I countered last second by snapping a little. large branch of the tree and holding it in front of me, deflecting his limb. I then threw the branch at the body of the creature, hitting him directly in the middle of his body and causing him to fall backward. I seized the opportunity by jumping from the tree and pouncing on him, quickly holding him down while I swipe my claws at his throat for the final and very much fatal attacks. His screams were a hissing gurgle, despite the fact he didn't even seem to have any sort

of blood or liquid that would indicate signs of a wound. but I could tell these were his last few breaths. Why? He pleaded. The arrogance he displayed earlier, now slowly fading from his demeanour. In only a matter of minutes, his confidence had completely disappeared,

now being replaced with pessimistic acceptance. You try to take their lives, and so I took yours, I snapped. They did nothing to earn your wrath, What even are you? He gasped in his last few seconds of life. My name is brawn. I felt his body go limp in the grip of my claws, signaling he'd drawn his last breath and his heart had stopped.

If he even had one. The truth was I didn't care because I was hungry, hungry to feed once again. I needed to eat. This was a blessing in disguise. I glanced behind and to the sides of them, making sure no humans or other cryptids were around to witness my feast. I tore into the creature greedily. I hadn't eaten anything since the previous day, and let me tell you, my appetite was not easily satisfied. I devoured most of his legs and took a decent chunk of his head.

That was the thickest part of him after all. The texture of his flesh was unlike anything else. I'd felt before. You didn't even taste all that great, but I kept at it nonetheless. Luckily, his lack of blood would leave less evidence for the agency to find if they scattered out this particular area. That was the main thing I cared about. But to my deeply frustrating surprise, I heard the sudden sound of a twig snap in the distance behind me. It wasn't very far, and I got angry with myself for not dragging the beast somewhere more secluded before I started feasting. Whatever had made that sound was close, definitely close enough to see what was going on.

I stopped consuming my meal and dropped what remained of the creature's body, trying to look around for the source of the noise. Well, at first I was confused, my vision had been designed to be highly effective in the dark, and I would have seen whatever was around me without much trouble, unless it was an entity that possessed the ability to cloak itself. I'd run into a few of those back when I was still with the agency. I decided to look slightly lower. Looking straight ahead from my height, it slightly limit

my line of sight. It only took me a few moments to spot a bipedal silhouette crouching down behind a line of thick bushes. It didn't appear very large, height or widthwise. I cautiously lowered myself onto all fours, and walked off to the left to circle around

the figure and give myself the advantage. After breaking part, the line of bushes and onto the other side, I was able to get a better picture of the creature who'd been watching me. It was only a human, a male at that, holding a small rectangular shape metal object in one of his hands, pointing it directly at me. A cell phone, I thought. I used to hear the soldiers at the agency talk about and used them all the time, but had never actually seen one close up or in person. It looked mostly like what I expected, but the closest thing to it I'd ever come in contact with was the cameras the agency used to keep a watch

on the premises of our building. The man froze, who was clearly terrified at seeing me, even more than the boy from earlier. Not that I could help it, but I wanted to use that to my advantage. I had a plan in mind. I withdrew my claws, allowing them to gleam in the moonlight, which only frightened him further, causing him to involuntarily raise his arms to shield himself. What are you? His voice trembled. He backed up slowly, being hasty yet careful with his movements. Leave now, I growled, bearing my teeth. I reached out and pointed one of my lengthy fingernails at his cell phone. And drop it, I demand it. Please, don't eat me. I mean, no harm, I swear, please. He pleaded as he let his cell phone hit the ground. He pleaded as he let his cell phone

hit the ground. I'll tear your flesh from your bones if you don't go. Now, I said, retracting my claws to enhance the bluff. Lou finally turned tail and ran. I was pretty sure I could even hear him tearing up as he dashed through the trees, clearly deeply disturbed about our encounter. I crawled over to the cell phone. It was still seemingly turned on.

The screen displayed a video, which was something else. was previously familiar with, but no expert by any means. Like I said, I'd seen some of the guards at the facility operate them, but I'd never done it myself. The video depicted me and the other creature I'd killed in order to protect the campers and feed myself. It had recorded everything up until I'd run up on all force and stood in front of the man. He was videotaping the whole thing, even as we fought each other to the death. I knew what had to be done. I let the cell phone rest in the centre of my parl for just a few seconds, right before clamping down and crushing it with brute strength. I open my hand back up to find it cracked and broken into several pieces.

The last thing I needed was the agency getting hold of that. It was evidence, and it may seem extreme when I say it, but they would surely be able to track down my location if they were to find it. Well, they've been careful now to show me the full extent of the... their technological power. I didn't want to risk finding out. They already knew I was in this forest. That video would have been the final nail in the coffin if they saw it. I'd planned to get out of here by the end of the night. It wouldn't be long before they'd pay off the government officials to close this place down so they could set up teams to watch the exits and entrances. That is if they hadn't already. At which point I'd be completely trapped. The only way to get out

would be to fight and I would for sure have to kill and I didn't want to shed too much blood when I didn't have to. I'd look a hole in the ground using my hands just deep enough to bury the remains of the crushed self-up, this time being extra careful to make sure no one or nothing was watching me, after which I got up and started my journey to get out of him. It took me a few hours to make it to the south end of the forests. The terrain had varied a lot during the journey but the main issue was just making sure I didn't cross paths there was any more campers or hikers. I could see past the tree line and out onto the highway.

The mostly empty highway at that. All I needed to do was be patient and cross at the right time. Every second turned into a minute as I approached it, getting closer little by little. Now, shouted a forceful voice from behind one of the trees. I quickly stood up on two. legs trying to gauge who'd said that phrase, only to be met with the sounds of multiple guns cocking and being loaded in all directions of me. In all my life I'd never been shot before.

I wasn't sure if bullets were something that could harm me. But I didn't go down the foolish route and take the risk. I simply stood still and got down in a surrendering stance. Men from the agency were stood, completely surrounding me, all geared up with night vision goggles and gas masks, completely armed to the teeth for a fight. They weren't playing around. Gas him! Dr. West wants him alive! One of the squad members proceeded to throw a small canister in front of me. It exploded and released a powerful yellow vapor that swiftly spread itself in the air and see it into my orifices, causing me to slowly become weaker and lose my strength as the gas filled my lungs. I felt dizzy.

around me was spinning, and collapsed onto my back, unable to fight the gas and stay conscious. The sounds of footsteps are men all shouting a victorious chart were the last things I heard before blacking out, that in the smell of all their distinct sense. When I had awoken a bright, almost blinding light pierced my eyes, I wince back from the dramatic shift as I tried to adjust myself accordingly. I was in an all-white room, surrounded by four, thick, thick, glass walls. I assumed they'd been heavily reinforced. But that didn't matter because when I attempted to move forward to make contact with the glass,

I found that I'd been restrained by specially made chains wrapped around my arms, only just about preventing me from touching the glass of the containment area. Subject 16, hey, it's good to see you once again, said a calm female voice, far more welcoming than anything I'd ever heard before. I tilted my head downward. On the other side of the glass in front of me stood a middle-aged-looking woman, blonde hair, brown eyes, dressed in a lab coat.

The hair pulled back in an elegant pony tape. My name is brawl. I snapped at her, making no attempt to move or adjust myself with the chains restraining me. Is that what you call yourself now? She replied, I lay out of forced chuckle.

I guess that is shorter, so why not? I'm Dr. West, but you may as well call me mother. Let me go, I snarled, bearing my teeth and ignoring her foolish request. Well, we just got you back. Can't do that just now, can we? I spend millions creating you. I designed you, made you the ultimate cryptic killing machine. He gave you feud, shelter, and a place to stay in exchange your

services and obedience, but yet you betray us. Why is that, Braun? She polished a sentence off trying to hold off a laugh, clearly amused at the attempts to individualize myself. I want to be free. I like it out there. I shot back, now looking at the floor. Ah, but you see, it's not that simple, Braun.

As I said, I created you. Years of research and dedication was put into making your existence a reality. You work for us. You are part of us. Mother's orders. Dr. West punctuated by letting a manic grin creep up onto her face. This is a prison. I don't want to be here anymore. I have no real mother nor father. I'm your experiment. You are not my mother. You never will be. I'd rather die than ever let that be the case. West stood back when I finished my tirade, seemingly genuinely shot by my revelation. I'm a puppet to you.

Nothing but you're a tag dog. Now, let me go. I continue. Dr. West slowly inched closer towards the glass, nearly having her face pressed against it as she kept her arms placed behind her back. You know what you are, she erupted. You're a freak,

the subject of every horrendous tale ever told. You're nothing but the fuel of nightmares and the cause of worldwide terror. No one out there will ever accept you. but we do. Those people don't care about you. When I designed you, I did it with the purpose of trading the looks for intelligence. But apparently I failed at that too.

Not only are you hideous, but you're a fool. Something in me snapped. I clenched my claws and felt my blood boil. Before I even registered what I was doing, I charged at the glass. The chains held me back from it by only less than a foot. She jumped back in surprise as I lifted it. a fingernail and pointed it at her face. When I get out of here, I hissed, showing as many teeth as possible from a dramatic effect,

you will be the first. Wes simply smirked once she regained herself, lifted her left hand from her back to reveal a small, grey-coloured rectangular device with two red buttons on the front, along with an antenna sticking out of the top. We maintained eye contact as she slowly guided her thumb towards the button on the top. "'H was that a threat?' she asked rhetorically. "'When she pressed the button, a massive electric shock exploded through my body, "'causing me to roar and screech within the chamber.

"'They echoed loudly off the walls as I thrashed around, "'internally begging for the pain to stop. "'I'd felt torment before, but nothing like this, not even close. "'We built you to be resistant to a lot, "'but we needed to give you some sort of a kill, his heel, you know for contingency purposes. There was no emotion left in her voice as she spoke. Her friendly attitude she'd feigned earlier completely disappeared.

Now all I could see was a look of malice and hatred. She truly looked like she was barely containing her unhinged madness. My limbs were twitching after the excruciating shock had concluded. Smoke rose from the surface of my skin as I laid there defenseless. The chains now feeling even tight. or around my wrists. It's sad to see such a waste of man hours and resources. She leaned down behind the glass condescendingly.

I tried to tell you. I tried to convince you what it is you have here, but seeing as your stubborn will have to open up that head of yours and make a few adjustments, maybe I'll even leave you awake during that procedure to teach you a lesson. Dr. West, what are you doing? said a more masculine voice. accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps.

I stung like crazy, but I turned my head to see whoever had stormed in, being grateful that they'd distracted West long enough for my healing abilities to kick in and help me recover. When I healed much slower than normal, West was right. The electricity was my weakness. The male human wore a lab coat, seemingly a doctor as well. He raced over to West and attempted to grab the device from her. He's turned, John. He's going to places he shouldn't be going and abandoned a mission site.

She shouted, holding out an arm for John to keep his distance. That doesn't mean you shock him, you morrow. We need him strong, able to fight. This is only going to make things worse. But he needs to be punished, Wes snap back. He needs to learn he belongs to us, and he needs to obey. You know what would happen once he begins to think he's the one in charge. John took a deep breath.

I'm not going to ask again, Doctor. Give me the remote now. West once again refused, attempting to run away but being grabbed by John as he tried to snag the remote away from her. No, stop, Dr. West pleaded. He's too dangerous. Give me the damn remote, West. John yelled as his thumb slipped onto the bottom button in all the chaos of their struggle. Suddenly, the chains wrapped around my arm. arms unlocked and disconnected themselves, the reinforced glass walls of the room lowered down

into the floor. I was now free to move around. As fast as possible I threw the chains off and stood up, still feeling slightly weak from my intense electric shock, but retaining enough strength to fight should I have to resort to doing so. West and John both stopped and dropped the remote inattentively, both turning their heads to look up at me as I towered over them. I could even see John's leg shaking as he sized me up. I could quite literally smell the fear coming off of them. Run! West shouted, turning around and sprinting for the door that led into a brightly lit hallway,

clearly having no remorse for leaving John behind with me. Once John's adrenaline kicked in, he too started to run, but not before I quickly dashed and leaped across the floor, grabbing him by the shoulder and lifting him up to eye level. He was terrified, shaking, kicking and screaming, begging for me to let him go. I could tell he was surely close to urinating. I'm sorry, I really am. I cut him off, lowering him back down to the floor before saying,

You may go, but West is my, I told him, giving him a look that told him my statement was non-negotiable. Well, he seemed more than fine with that proper. proposal, he quickly nodded and ran out of the room, both horrified and grateful that I'd chosen to spare his life. The alarm system in the building began to ring. A female voice came over the intercom, endlessly repeating the phrase, security breach level five, all possible agents engage. Heavy footsteps began to ring out through the hall next to the chamber room I was in. There was a multitude of agents coming my way, all more than likely armed with that same gas,

they'd used to subdue me earlier. I didn't want to risk fighting them and getting caught once again. God knows what Dr. West would do to me the second time round. And it all would be just to prove a point. Not a damn thing to do with science. I looked all around the room for any sign of escape, desperate to get out of this nightmare of a room. I was greatly relieved when I looked directly above me

and spotted a large air duck cover. I was very tall, but skinny enough to fit through it. width-wise. I didn't have any other options. It was either this or suffer endless torture at the hands of West. The footsteps were getting closer. I could hear the voices of the agents as they ran down in formation towards the room. I had to act quickly. I got on all fours and latched myself onto the nearest wall and crawled up onto the ceiling from there. I scurried across and stopped at the duct, reaching over with one hand to grab and tear off the cover, making sure to bring it with me, not wanting the agents to see it, at least not at first. It would hopefully

buy me a few more minutes before they'd realised where I'd gone. I quickly crawled up inside the vent, hearing the agents enter the room and curse violently as they tried to spot me to no avail. I scurried deeper into the tight tunnels, making sure not to scrape my claws against the metal or make any sounds that could be heard over the alarms. I'd remember the layout of the building from all the previous years I'd spent there. The chamber room was new to me, though. I'd never been in there before. Up until now, I was obedient and followed their orders,

but I was sure as hell done doing that. I crawled over towards the security room. I'd remembered seeing agents always going in there before he went off to go hunt down a cryptid. I picked up Dr. Wes scent coming from it. Looking through the duck cover from an aerial view, I spotted her sitting in a chair with a glass of water in her, hand while two guards stood in front of the door to the room, keeping their assault rifles trained on it.

Don't worry, Doc. If he comes in here, we'll blow him away. I sniffed around a little bit more, seeing if I could pick up the sense of anyone else in the room just in case. But all I'd gotten was west in the two guards. I prepared myself to attack. I needed to be fast and take the guards out before they could alert any others to my position. Using stealth and precision, I slowly reach my claws outwards and lot them around the air-duck cover, gripping it firmly before ever so slowly pulling it off and up into the vent tunnels. You two idiots better make sure he doesn't get through that door, because if he does, I'll run while he tears your organs out.

Dr. West shouted angrily at the two guards. I didn't seem to respond as I moved out of the vent and began to cautiously creep along the ceiling in their direction, keeping my movement slow and deliberate. So far they, and West, hadn't taken notice of my presence. I made it above the guards and quickly dropped down, swelling the first guard away with a casual backhand. He was sent flying across the room,

slamming into a table and getting knocked unconscious. Stacks of papers scattered as he and the table tip backward onto the floor. The other guard quickly reached for his radio and tried to call for backup. I cut him off by grabbing him and slamming him. him headfirst into the wall. He too was now out cold. After they both been taken care of, I turned my attention to Dr. West. She'd already backed up to the far side of the room. The existential fear was palpable in her expression. Stand down now, she commanded desperately. That's an order, 16A.

I stood up bipedily, raising my claws and showing my teeth as I walked toward her. say it again. My name is brawn. I growled. Get away from me now, she cried. I ignored her demand, still keeping my purposefully sluggish pace as I closed in on her, wanting her to feel small, insignificant and weak. I should have killed you. I should have let you starve and waste away. Clearly I've shown you far too much mercy. No, I stopped her. It is I who has shown too much mercy. Kill me, then, you freak. She began to laugh maniacally.

Do it. That's what I designed you to do, to kill. So why aren't you doing it? You spared John the guards. You can't even complete the simple tasks you were created to do. The looming threat of her potential death had sent her into a senile state. She was no longer able to mask her deep-rooted insanity. You designed me to kill monsters.

corrected her, right before drawing my claws back and slashing her throats. She clutched her neck as blood spewed out from her fatal wounds. Sounds of gurgling and choking filled the room as she fell to her knees, going wide-eyed in her last, agonizing seconds of life. I didn't get time to gloat over her corpse, though. More security personnel were already outside the door. Dr. Worst, is everything okay in there? came voices from the other side of the door, followed by forceful banging. Dr. West, please let us know you're okay. We'll have to force the door open. I knew I didn't have much time. I grabbed West's corpse before scaling the wall and crawling back up into the vent.

Back inside the air ducts, I devoured what was left of the sinister doctor. My creator, my sick, twisted, evil creator, who threatened me with torture and death for simply wanted. more than the totalitarian restrictions I was given here. And they called me the monster. I ate quickly. I made sure to pick her bones clean, leaving nothing but her skeleton and hair. This duck would be her final resting place. It's exactly what she deserved.

I navigated through the rest of the ducks until I reached the south end of the building. The alert was still going on. Agents were still scrambling and looking for me, as well as Dr. West now. They wouldn't stop. They wouldn't ever give up. I just knew that they wouldn't, especially once they'd figured out that I'd kill West. The duct I was in eventually ended and opened up to a decently sized room with all sorts of pipes and boilers. I was in the walls of the building. They were dark, slightly damp, filled to the brim of unkept spider webs and insect nests. It would be too obvious to leave, at least for now, especially going and hiding out

and white mountain forest again, or any forest in the area for that matter. I knew what I was going to do, for now. I'd stay living within the walls of the facility right under their noses, sneaking around the ducks and feasting on whatever vermin's and small creatures I could get my claws on. It was perfect. While they'd be out scrambling to look for me, I'd be here, hiding in plain sight, just until I could come up with something better. I needed to wait for it all to die down.

By this point, I know they'll never accept me, love me or care for me. I've accepted that. Should have done a long time ago. But, I promise you one thing. I'll make it out of here someday soon. I'll be out back in the world, helping your species battle the dark forces of the universe. Call me a monster all you like, but monsters come in all forms. I am only one example.

Men, women and children can all be monster. We all have the capability to be cruel, merciless and evil. Monsters don't just appear in dark legends and myths. They could be sitting right next you, living in your home or worse, living in your soul, residing in the very heart and spirit you used to tell yourself that you are benevolent. Think about your health for a second. Are your eyes the first thing that come to mind? Probably not, but our eyes go through a lot, from squinting at screens to driving at night.

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If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connix Ontario at 1866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Part 3. I'm a monster who used to hunt other monsters for the government. Through the walls I crawled, my claws quietly clicking against the pipes and cement as all the vermin scattered in my presence. After I put an end to Dr. West, the agency had been riled up, looking all over the entire state for me, their prized killing machine. All in all, that's what I was to them, a means to an end and attack dog.

Anything they offered me was only to keep me in the dark, to prevent me from turning on them. It was nothing but false compassion. Once I got in a taste for freedom, I knew what had to happen. I knew I couldn't allow myself to keep being their puppets. So I left, got captured, and then broke out and killed the woman who created me, a woman who was much closer in personality to a witch rather than a scientist. What I perceived as about a month, I've been living in the walls of this facility, feeding off whatever rodents and small animals I could get my claws.

on. Everything from possums to spiders to rats. You see, this way I can live right under their noses. Sure, it's cramp and whatnot, but it's a sacrifice that's well worth it. I could tell that the search teams they were sending out were getting exhausted. It's becoming a waste of resources going out there to try and find me. The higher-ups probably knew it, whoever they were, not that it was truly a concern of mine. So one night I decided I was going to leave. I was done being cooped up in the walls of this building. I figured I'd given the situation in enough time for the agency to slow down on their efforts, at least for now. I had a plan and an ally, someone on the inside who could help me.

Dr. John, he owed me for sparing his life previously, so I figured asking for a favor like this shouldn't be an issue. I got down on all thoughts and crept my way into the air ducts. The air ducts I was now all too familiar with, seeing as how I'd been using them to eavesdrop on all the personnel in the building. That's how I found out things were getting less tense. I crawled my way over to the Science Wing, near the area where I was created, being careful to keep my claws from scratching any of the material and giving away my location by making too much noise. Oh, John, this all started because you're an incompetent fool. 16A is gone because you just couldn't listen to West and now not only is she probably six feet under

but that monstrosity she created is out there I and us next. The voice bellowed out from below. I trailed further up the duct and peered down through one of the cupboards, picking up the familiar scent of Dr. John. The room below was pristine, sterilized whites, like pretty much all the labs in this building. Dr. John and his apparent rival stood less than two feet. apart. The other scientists shouted at him with a fury I'd never seen before. What was I supposed to do? came John's rebuttal. West is a damn psychopath. Hell, most of you are in here.

I don't even know why I took this job in the first place. The other scientist recoiled, taking a step back and adjusting his lamp coat. John, he stepped closer. We both know full well while you took this job. You want to study the things that aren't of this, earth, the things that go bump in the night, right? Because it was one of those things that took your daughter, wasn't it? Immediately John cocked his fist and threw a vicious blow at the man, following up his punch with an angry tirade. I swear to God, you don't ever use my daughter like that again, do you hear me? Keep her name out of your mouth before I shove a bottle of acid in it. The scientist, who had taken the hit, swung back, connecting a punch with John's left cheek. They quickly broke down

into a full-on fight, a windmill of punches and grappling to get the upper hand on one another. It seemed appropriate at this point to intervene. I slipped my claws through the slits in the cover of the air duct, applied some force, and tore it off. By the time they both realized I was on the ceiling above them, I'd already dropped down. What the! exclaimed the unnamed scientist, as I pounced on him and cut his speech short. I quickly lifted him up by the neck and slung his body across the room as if he were a stuffed animal, causing him to slam violently into the wall and be knocked unconscious.

Subject 16A, I am, thank you. Where did you come from? Dr. John inquired. Braun, I stated bluntly, my name is Braun. Right, sorry, Braun it is. Once again, thanks for that. I didn't get the chance to thank you for sparing me a while back when you escaped, but I didn't see you share the same mercy for Dr. West,

and I honestly don't blame you. John tilted his head up as I towered over him, fixating on my light bulb-shaped eyes in the contrast of my blue skin to the polished white marble of the room. I spared your life, Doctor, I said, now I need you to perform a similar courtesy for me. And that is, John raised an eyebrow

Help me escape unseen Get out of this wretched place I've been here long enough Feeding off the creatures that lurk in the walls It's time for me to go back out where I belong To freedom John paused for a moment Thinking critically about what I just said

Yeah I think I can do that After the higher-ups decided Dr West was more than likely dead They bumped me up to head of the science division That choice was done more out of necessity than qualification, but they needed someone in charge as fast as possible. Security keeps an eye on everything that goes in and out of this building, so that'll be a bit of a challenge. I'll worry about the physical threats, I replied, spreading my fingers and allowing my claws to be put on full display. There's also one more thing, John added. I want to come with you.

I have a feeling the higher-ups aren't too happy with me being at fault for letting you out of California. captivity in the first place. Things are starting to get strange around here. People aren't telling me stuff they should be. Something tells me I won't be in this position for very long. I simply nodded my head in agreement, fully empathizing with John's decision. Although we had different reasons for our long-awaited departure from the agency, it was clear we both understood full well that they aren't what they pretend to be. After a bit more discussion, John and I got to work on how to get ourselves out of here. I, of course, was mainly reduced to sneaking around and doing reconnaissance while John played the system from the inside,

manipulating the guards and using his title to gain access to whatever we may have needed. John caught over one of the commanding guards with the special keycard we needed to access the weapons room. In case things went wrong, I needed John to be able to defend himself, so I told him to stock up with whatever he was capable of concealing underneath his lab coat. It wasn't just the human security personnel we had to worry about, but other cryptids that had been captured and contained in the building. At first the plan was to sneak past and avoid absolutely everyone and everything, but then the idea of using one or two of the cryptids as a distraction came to mind, seeing as the first option was highly unlikely to be successful. Later that night,

when the sun was beginning to set and the activity in the facility had died down, I went back up into the vents to look around and make sure the coast was clear on my way to the cryptid containment cells. Soon enough, the shifts would rotate. and the night guards would emerge. I set my sights on one of the Wendigo cages. The reason being that, one, the guards had the firepower to subdue a Wendigo without too much blood being shed, and two, because Wendigues are fast, agile and quick. They're deceitful and manipulate the voices of the victim's loved ones.

I'd know, seeing as I've had to take down a few myself. Once I arrived at the cryptic containment cells, I looked up and down the hall, making sure sure no guards were currently posted. I didn't have much time before they would switch shift, so I had to move fast. I tightly gripped the key card Dr. John had given me, intending to use it on the cage. I crept across the ceiling on all fours,

scaled my way down the wall, and stood up in a bipedal fashion, staring at the Wendigo of choice through the glass of his cell, which had been specially soundproofed in order to prevent him from successfully using his voice-mimicking ability. He glared at me angrily through the glass

With those sunken eyes in that dear skull Clearly still bitter That I was the main entity Who had been the reason he was here in the first place I swipe the key card to his cell A quiet beat went off And the glass wall began to lower itself into the floor Allowing the Wendigo to freely move forward

Well immediately he attacked me by lunging I grabbed him by the rotting flesh of his body and gripped my other hand around the mouth of his dear skull, keeping his jaws restrained with my strength. You will obey me or I'll kill you. Is that understood? I snarled, bearing my teeth to intimidate the opposing creature and established dominance.

The Wendigo Still tried to wiggle free and fight the hold I had to put him in, but I only tightened my grip and kept him in place as he fought to escape my grasp. In order to intimidate him further, I spread my fingers with my three hands, and allowed my claws to be seen by him just inches away from his eyes. It was clear he knew that my threat was serious. He quickly gave up fighting when he realised my physical power was too great for him to combat.

As I held him in place, the Wendigo then began to mimic the voice of Dr. John in order to speak to me. You are unlike the others. You are strong, very strong, he complimented, his jaw not moving as he spoke. Thank you. Now, what I need you to do is distract the humans, the ones in black. Do not kill them or cause serious harm to them. They will surely eliminate you if you do so. And believe me when I say that they have the means to put an end to your existence. The Wendigo stood silent for a moment, contemplating my statement as he laid against the wall still pinned down by my hold. I watched like Ed in return for my efforts. He asked. His voice almost echoing within my head. I'll come back for you. I'll help you get to freedom, so long as you make me one promise that you'll be faithful to.

And that is? The cryptid scowled, his mouth still emotionless. You'll never kill and seek out another human again. You shall only feast on what nature provides. Unless a human has initiated conflict and desires to cause you great harm, you'll leave them be. I know what you are, how you became this monstrosity. but if you're able to fight your lust, your thirst for their flesh and bone,

I'll see to it that you're free once again, if you assist me. I've never seen a more shocked expression on any entity before, human, animal or cryptids. The Wendigar was genuinely dumbfounded to be shown such understanding and compassion. A low of my guard, taking my claw off of his jaw, and allowed him to straighten his posture. What are you? he asked, still continuing to mimic the voice of John.

I am not them, not these ones. Humans are worth saving, but these ones are corrupted far beyond repair. I know you were one of them some time ago, and there's still that spirit of empathy dwelling deep inside you, even if your bloodlust tells you otherwise. I could tell he was highly conflicted. He silently went back and forth in his mind, trying to grasp the gravity of what I was proposing.

I encouraged him to hurry up and come to a decision. We wouldn't have much longer before the night shift guard started making their rounds. I shall do it, he finally announced to me, tilting the nose of his dear skull upwards and focusing those lifeless eyes towards the end of the hallway. I'll return for you, you have my word, I said, latching onto the wall next to me as I began to crawl back up into the air-dark entrance. We gave each other one last glance of recognition, before going our separate ways.

I did truly intend to come back for him, sooner than one might think. I'd spent so much time serving humanity I'd never tried to connect with the other cryptids, not like this. In all fairness, most creatures usually didn't care for my sympathy. When he was different, there was a spark in him, lasting remnants of his humanity.

I just needed to keep doing everything I could to bring it to the surface. Security breach Level 5. All possible agents engaged, came the sound of the female voice over the speaker. It was apparent that they'd realised the Wendigo was out of containment. Time was running out. I'd sped up and scurried along the duct, following Dr. John Sent all the way to the north end of the building where he was waiting from.

I'd released the Wendigo on the south end. I could hear the footsteps of all the soldiers progressing down the opposite direction I was heading in, most of them cursing and swearing about having to respond to the security alert at such a late hour. I made it to where I needed to be, climbed out of the ducts and dropped down into the transportation garage, the place where shipments of supplies were sent in and out from the facility. John was waiting for me in one of the transport trucks, the engine running and back doors to the storage crate open. I jumped in the back of the truck, closing the doors behind me and heading closer to the cab where John was driving. A job well done, Doctor.

I complimented as he pulled out and headed for the exit of the building perimeter. Normally the place was looked over by guards in the towers and windows, but since they were all busy with the Wendigo, that wasn't much of an issue. Even the security cameras weren't able to detect anything out of the ordinary. The windows on the truck were heavily tinted, obscuring the figure of Dr. John, buying us enough time to disappear. So far, everything had gone the way it should have. we'd made it out seemingly undetected.

The plan had truly gone perfectly. I spoke with the Wendigo. We have to go back for him sometime soon, I told John, to which he snapped his head back in response, taking his eyes off the road momentarily. What? He practically sparse. I made a promise to him that we'd return and retrieve him

to release him into freedom. You want to let a Wendigo roam free? Yeah, because that's just what the world needs, isn't it? Look, you fail to understand him the way I do. He's not like the others. I think I can get him to overcome his bloodlust, to not feed on your species. He's a damn windigo, Braun. You're really just going to trust what he says because you struck up a deal with him?

Just keep driving, Doctor. I said, sternly, we've gone about 12 miles out. By this point, they'd more than lightly subdued and put the Wendigo back into containment. and we're going to soon realize Dr. John's absence from the building. We're past the point of no return. John announced, I can't ever go back, not without being shot anyway. We'll devise a plan, doctor.

That I can guarantee you, but I will go back for him, whether you join me or not. John went silent for a moment as he took a turn, clearly wanting this disagreement to cease. We have to hurry up, leave this truck behind. He said, ignoring my statement. There's a good chance they could have a tracker on it. Well, her question as to why they didn't put one on me, I added.

When Dr. West was in the process of designing you, she never thought that would be necessary. She thought you'd be grateful for what the agency was giving you as far as shelter and food was concerned. For a woman who was so scientifically gifted and smart, she was quite the fool. Trust me when I say you made the right choice when you chewed her up. The world's much better off without her. I presume she showed you very little kindness as well, I responded. Definitely, always belittling me every chance she got. No matter what I did, she was always the better scientist, even took credit for some of my work here and there.

Once a few hours had passed, we'd traveled nearly a hundred miles. John pulled the truck into an abandoned parking lot for an old law firm building, making this portion of our trip come to a non-eventful end. From here, we'll head over to the nearby forest to weird it out a bit. John pronounced as he retrieved a handgun from his pocket. I also brought a grenade, if you're wondering. Brilliant idea, Doctor, but you remember what must happen when things calmed out, I told him. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He waved me off in a light-hearted fashion. We both exited the vehicle through our separate ways and began to journey over to the woods. and it was only minutes after when I stopped us when an idea hit me. Shall I destroy the truck? I proposed, giving John a subtle glance. No, that'll attract way too much attention and come off as suspicious. For now, just let them find it. They'll be busy with that piece of evidence and less focused on us.

We continued our trek into the untamed landscape. I'll be truthful when I say it felt quite irritating having to move so slowly in comparison to what I was used to, in order to keep pace with job. The trees were much more dense and plentiful in this particular forest, more than in any other I'd seen before. Vegetation was all around us, growing with seemingly no intention of slowing down. We were only about a mile deep into the terrain, and I intended to go at least ten times up before we stopped for the day.

Suddenly, I picked up a scent, a strong, intoxicating smell of something from above. I wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it was coming closer by the second. I could tell it was moving fast, right in our vicinity. Prepare yourself. I can smell something coming, I said, to which John gripped his handgun. I glanced up into the sky, trying to spot whatever was approaching us. Do you know what it is? John asked, a nervous expression creeping its way onto his face. No, but you need to get up. Before I could finish my sentence, I was quickly hit with a powerful blow hard enough to send me soaring through the air and slamming into a nearby tree.

The hit had dazed me, but only slightly. I was able to quickly get up and recover, standing up and finally getting a good look at my attacker. In front of me was a giant avian creature of some sort. It was massive, even taller than me as it stood on the ground. its wingspan had to be more than twenty feet, speaking of which its wings were a dark purple colour as most of its body was. The head of the creature was shaped like that of a rectangle. It didn't have much of a neck, but towards its lower half it possessed huge, razor-sharp talons

that could more than lightly hold an entire car in them. Its anatomy was as terrifying as it was strange. Not to mention its lengthy black beak with multiple rows of jagged teeth. some of which had flesh still stuck between them from previous meals and victims, but also coated the edges of its beak. John immediately began to fire his handgun at the cryptid, hitting it with several shots in the wings. Although it seemed to only anger the entity,

despite the fact the bullets penetrated the tissue. It spread its wings further and led out an ear-shattering screech in John's direction. I quickly approached the cryptid to begin my attack. He turned his head to me, preparing for our fight. I pounced up from the ground and onto the creature's body, raising my claws to slash at its head before it suddenly jolted itself upwards into the air, causing me to fall off and back onto the ground.

John had tried to run, but the creature was far too swift for him, swooping down and grabbing his tender figure in those massive talons. Help! Braun! Please help! He screamed as the cryptic began to lift him into the air, looking at John hungrily as he eagerly waited to feast on his organs. The creature then began to fly in the opposite direction, going deeper into the forest. I quickly got down on all fours and began to chase after it, putting every ounce of effort possible into keeping up with this entity.

They leapt over rocks, latched onto trees and jumped from one trunk to another. This creature was fast, but I was gaining ground and closing the gap. The only problem was that I'd have to wait until he landed. to follow up with an attack, and by that point John could either be dead or severely injured. Let me go, he shouted before trying to kick his way out of the creature's talents, even attempting to shoot him once again, but the garna clicked when he pulled the trigger, confirming the magazine was empty. I noticed that as the chase went on, the trees in the forest seemed to mysteriously become bigger, more girthy and even taller in heights. The trunks were

becoming large enough to house a family of entities inside. This forest was a cryptid hot spot. It broke all sorts of biological and natural laws, a perfect place for some curious humans to wander into and find themselves being stought by whatever lurks within these trees. When the avian creature had started to slow down with John Still in his grasp, I picked up the scent of several more beings that smelled just like him. I turned my attention upwards, high up in what was by

far the biggest tree we'd passed so far, in which sat a gigantic nest, filled with several smaller versions of the avian creature that had snatched John up, and it was a female after all. Offspring, I thought, this thing was going to feed John alive to its offspring. Despite being much smaller than their mother and lacking any sort of teeth, they were still sizable enough to easily rip John apart, as if he were nothing more than a worm with limbs. and without any ammo left in his weapon to defend himself, that would soon become his agonizing reality. I latched onto the trunk of the tree and hurried north as fast as I could, the offspring of the creature pointing their beaks and squawking excitedly at the sight of their mother approaching with a fresh meal.

The hunger was palpable in their eyes. I was halfway up the tree when the mother let out another ground-rumbling screech in my direction, putting the sound the babies had produced to complete shame. The hideous mother had dropped John into the nest now, and the offspring immediately converged on him as I was only feet away. "'Hey, stay back. Get the hell away from me,' he demanded, desperately trying to swat them off and delays impending doom. One lunged its beak in John's direction, to which John responded by throwing a punch and

clocking him at the tip. Even though it did practically nothing to stop the young creature, his courage was admirable. His seconds were dwindling. He didn't have much time left. One of the offspring had grabbed him by the arm when I finally made it up into the nest and jammed my claws into the underside of his beak, causing it to release a shrill, so unpleasant

my very body vibrated from the force. You've got to remember my hearing is far better than humans, so while John had complained, my ear canals were brutally stinging from the sound waves bursting through them. The mother was extremely distraught with what I had. done to her child, and in retaliation she attempted to swoop down and ram me with her beak, but had missed, and instead had impacted John, who fell out of the nest and tumbled down to a lower

branch on the tree, hanging on for dear life as I tried to make quick work of the satanic birds. Two of the offspring had simultaneously grabbed my arms. I could feel the slimy saliva-coated flesh of their throats as my hands sank deeper into their esophagus. I counted their efforts by flipping my hands, palms up while still inside them, and then straight my fingers to extend my claws outwards. This caused them to pierce through the back of their necks, which I then followed up by dragging my arms vertically towards the sky until I'd reach their brains, instantly killing them.

They dropped to the floor of the nest as dark purple blood oozed out from their now punctured skulls, soaking the nest beneath us. Oh, the mother was now furious, angrier than ever before. It was obvious she wanted to tear me to shreds and make me suffer of what I'd done. She flew and did a U-turn in mid-air, circling back and flying towards me as fast as possible while performing another one of her deafening shrills. She proceeded to pull her wings in closer toward her body, increasing her speed as she barreled towards me.

I drew my claws out, preparing for the inevitable collision. when she hit me I was sent fly out of the nest and slamming into the top of another tree but with the speed and force I collided with I fell down nearly the entire length of the tree snapping and cracking a multitude of branches on my way as I descended when my fall had come to a halt

I was preparing to jump and crawl back to the top to continue the fight just before John's voice taught me Ron take this he shouted from below I turned my attention and lowered my eyes to John, who stood at the bottom of the tree with boots on the ground. I concluded he must have climbed down the branches while I was going to work on the aerial cryptic. In his hand he held a grenade, which I am quite familiar with. I'd seen men use them all the time back at the agency during our expeditions. Wait, doctor, don't pull the pin just yet, I commanded, holding out a hand toward his direction to motion him to cease his movements.

I was going to use it when she snatched me up, but I couldn't get a chance to reach into my lab coat, he continued. When she flies down here, shove this down her beak and kill that flying son of a gun. I wiggled two of my fingernails in an over here motion. John tossed the grenade to me. I caught it and grasped it firmly in my hand as I tilted my head up to the sky. The giant bird was making another circular lap, coming back for a third blow, wanting to time it just right avoid a disaster, I made sure to wait for the perfect opportunity, concentrating on how far she was closing the distance, deciding from there. I pulled the pin when she was around

50 feet away, the intent, hunger for revenge and malice in her beady eyes was unlike anything I had witnessed before. She truly wanted to make sure I suffered at her hands. Once she got in range, I jumped up, wrapping myself around her feathery body and digging my claws into her back, making sure to drag them up and slice her flesh for some extra damage. She howled, trying to wiggle mid-flight and shake me off. But it was futile. I reached into her beak during her screams of agony and shoved the grenade down her throat as quickly as possible,

making sure to avoid those serrated teeth. I then retracted my claws from her back and let go, falling off and sliding across the ground while kicking up dirt from the leftover momentum of our struggle. I quickly recovered, getting up and turning around to witness what was about to come. She was soaring through the air, presumably to make another circle to hit me. But as she began to turn, a small but sudden boom erupted from the depths of her beak, echoing off the surrounding trees.

Nearly half of her head had been taken off and destroyed by the explosion, exposing her weirdly shaped skull and coating the vegetation nearby in her now signature dark. purple blood. Oh my God, John exclaimed from behind me. That was just... I don't even know how to describe it. We did it. I helped kill a freaking cryptid.

For the first time in nearly my entire life, I smiled, amused by John's enthusiasm, proud of our teamwork. I scurried over back to him. He held out his hand in the air for some strange reason as I approached. Why are you doing that, Doctor? I inquired. It's a high-five. You never done one before? No, but I'd be willing to try.

I reached out my right hand and slapped my palm against his, to which he immediately snarled in pain as he grasped his wrists. Oh, forgot about the strength. I'll be fine. He whined, vigorously shaking his hand. We should quiet down, doctor, I told him. before something else uses us. Yet right, he followed up. Well, I guess you could say I'm the brains and you're the brawn.

I turned and simply looked at him with a blank expression. He seemed to become slightly skittish, blushing mildly as he rubbed the hand I'd slap with mine. Right, let's get moving. I'm a monster on the run from my past. It's catching up. Dr John and I had come across an abandoned cabin 10 miles deep into the forest. It was evident to both of us that we'd be staying there for the time being.

It was also more than likely that us killing the avian creature had attracted the attention of other cryptids, and they would soon be here to clean up what was land. Dusk was approaching. The shadows of the trees were growing longer. We needed to be efficient. I've said in the past that I wasn't keen on the idea of bringing others with me, but John was intelligent and much more of an assorting. set than a liability. I slowly approached the steps on the front deck to the cabin, crawling across

the ground on all fours. Dr. John was close behind, putting in an effort to be as quiet as possible. The cabin itself was in decent but not pristine shape. There was rotting spots in the wood, the steps to the deck were dented, the front left window had a crack running out the middle, and vegetation was beginning to grow its way up the sides of the foundation. I sniffed the air, seeing if I could pick up the scent of any sort of entity within the structure, but I was relieved when I came up with nothing. It seemed safe, for the moment. I smell nothing, doctor. It should be safe, but still be cautious of your surroundings.

John nodded, clearly on board with my assessment. Well, you're the expert. He huffed slightly before, following my lead up to the deck. I sliced the remaining integrity off the lock with my claws and pushed the door open. opening, letting us both inside. I stood up in bipedal fashion once in the foyer, the ceiling being about nine feet high, only giving me a foot of headroom. In case there was anything inside that was making it scent,

John and I still did a sweep of the interior, wanting to be thorough about whether or not we were alone. We found nothing but spider webs and dust, along with an assortment of old silverware in the kitchen, confirming we were the only beings in the cabin, Pretty soon we're going to have to think about food, John announced, bringing in a stack of kindling for the old cracked and worn down stone fireplace in the foyer. Indeed, I replied. In fact, I can journey out now and see if I can kill something and bring it back while you build the fire, distribution of labour. John looked up as he began to arrange and stack the kindling into the fireplace, seemingly pleased by my proposal. Well, hurry up. It's nearly dark.

Not that I'm too worried about you, I just... He trailed off. What is it, doctor? I inquired, shifting my gaze towards him. I just don't want to be alone when it gets dark, even if we're inside. I don't want to sound like I'm a coward. I just... Well, I raised a fingernail into the air, cutting off his sentence.

I understand. You don't have to explain yourself, Doctor. I'll attempt to be back as soon as possible. Stay quiet and keep low and you don't want to draw the attention of whatever might be lurking in those trees. And with that I opened the door, got back down on all fours and crawled out into the forest. My night vision started to kick in as it got darker. I went west of the cabin, continuously sniffing the air to see if I could pick up any foreign

sense, mainly of something like a deer. Well, I knew that John and I wouldn't be able to stay here for long. One, because the agency would come for us, and it wouldn't be too long before they found us. Two, the other cryptids would realize our presence in attempt to kill or take John, since he's a human. Three, Guzai made a promise to a Wendigo back at the facility that I would return within a reasonable time period to come free him, provided he holds up his end of the agreement and only feeds on animals and other monsters and not human flesh. I wasn't familiar with this forest, so navigating, keeping to the agreement. track of where I was going proved to be difficult. I made sure to make a mental note of where

the cabin was, in the event I needed to return quickly. As I pushed through bushes and maneuvered through the trees, I quickly began to pick up on a scent, a strong, horrendously powerful but familiar scent. Blood. I followed the smell, only becoming more potent the closer I got to the source. It was fresh, and I'm sure I wouldn't be the only thing. I was the only thing. I was making my way towards it. There was a large clearing in the trees up ahead. I could make out a bulky figure standing or kneeling over something else, presumably it's kill.

I latched onto one of the trees on the edge of the clearing and climbed upwards to get a better view, as well as keeping the element of surprise. A glance toward the ground and a new centre combined itself with the blood. It was charred flesh, as if multiple layers of skin had been burnt to a crisp. I recoiled, seeing as how suddenly and simultaneously explosively it emerged into my nostrils. On the ground I was met with the sight of what looked to be a bipedal creature knelt down over a pack of five dead wolves.

All of them torn to shreds, either missing a head, half their body, a leg or ears, two of which suffered losing all fall. The creature wasn't very tall, maybe five and a half feet at most, but it was extremely muscular, dark blue veins running along its arms. Its skin was patchy, some of it being burnt to a crispy black, while others were a more elegant light brow. It possessed short patches of dark green hair on the areas where it lacked burns. On the top of its head sat not two, but three curved horns, white like bones and sharp the tip like blades.

The creature noticed my presence, turning around as it led out a deep snarl. His face consisted of a triangular-shaped mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth but blood-stained, above which were a row of five blue-glowing eyes, all fixated on me as I stayed perched up in the tree. In its left hand it clutched the severed head of one of the walls, blood still oozing its way out below the snout. This entity didn't appear to have any claws or fingernails, just six long, meaty and horrifically charred fingers on each hand. Mine, mine, mine, it repeated in a raspy voice with an echo so powerful it could be heard for potentially miles on end. It dropped the wolfhead and bared its teeth at me, performing its idea of challenging

me to combat. Even though I hadn't come out here searching for a battle, it had already seen me. I didn't know the full extent of its senses and abilities, but I couldn't risk it following me back to the cabin where John was vulnerable. So I did the only thing that seemed logical at the time. I scurried down from the tree and stood as tall as possible, opening my hands and letting my claws be put on full display as I'd done many times before. The crypt had immediately charged,

not wasting any time speaking or continuing its attempts to intimidate me. I was prepared. I started out by sidestepping the creature as he began to frantically swing his fists while on his rampage in my direction, the punch of his connected with the trunk of the tree, tree just behind me, hollowing out a large portion of the wood and sending splinters flying through the air as a result of the heavy impact. I wrapped a hand around one of the creature's horns and proceeded to lift him and swing his body in a circle for a brief second before slamming him

into the already damaged truck. His mass colliding with the tree caused it to fall over and hit the ground, creating an obnoxiously loud boom throughout the entire forest. The entity had caught me off guard with a swing from its right fist after recovering from the days of the attack, launching me back nearly a dozen feet towards a clearing, right into the decimated wolf corpses. The force of the blow was unlike any I'd ever received before, but it was going to take much more than that to make me yield. I got up as the creature charged yet again, raising both its fists and preparing to slam them down on my torso.

When it was within range, I simply leap forward this time, my slim figure at least. allowing me to pass through the gap of its two forearms as they were in the air and land behind it. I wasted no time by following it up with a counterattack. I lunged towards its back and sank my claws as deep as I could into its flesh, causing it to squeal and shriek as an almost rainbow-patterned stream of blood leaked out onto my arms. Its screams of pain were in shocking contrast to that of its growls and snarls of aggression and malice. In retaliation, the creature delivered a swift but explosive elbow to my arm. chest, sending me onto the ground and sliding across the dirt.

My hideous opponent was beyond furious, but also desperate. Blood was seeping from the wounds I'd inflicted on his back. I lifted myself off the ground and pounced on the weeping creature, extending out an arm near his face and dragging my claws across his eyes, completely blinding him. He thrashed around violently as he reached over in order to grab me. I kept manoeuvring and moving around to keep myself. out of his grasp as his hounds of pain continued to flood my ears. I kept myself latched onto the creature's back as I continued to slash and tear at his tissue.

He was able to throw me off his back, but not before I grabbed one of the horns on top of his head and tore it out of its spot. Well, the screams from before were nothing in comparison to what he bellowed after that. I gripped the horn in my right hand, lunged at him one last time and came down on him, letting out a snarl of my own as I jammed the horn. into the top of his skull and dug it in deep enough to hit his brain. The entity's movement ceased. It let out a lengthy but faint breath as its last few seconds of life faded away,

soon collapsing onto the ground and its body going limp. He was dead now, that much was apparent. Since I was hungry, I decided to indulge myself on his corpse, ripping and tearing as much meat off his bones as I could until I was satisfied. Loads of his oddly colored blood had dripped down on my chin and onto my chest. I worked it away after finishing my feast and stood up. Soon animals and other cryptids would converge on the site of our chaotic and brutal showdown, presumably to clean up what was left over.

I noticed a bit of my own dark blue-colored blood dripping on the ground from a small puncture wound on my waist. My chest also ached from the first hit I'd taken from the creature towards the start of the fight, but I knew it would heal soon enough and I'd be fine. I left the clearing after looking around for a bit, killed a simple squirrel on the way back to the cabin for John to eat. I didn't have time to look for anything bigger or more filling, not with John still at the cabin by himself, with no weapons left for self-defense.

What took you so long? He exclaimed as I let myself in, being careful not to stand up too fast and hit my head on the ceiling. I was unfortunate enough. to encounter a cryptid, I replied. I couldn't risk it following me back here and discovering you. John's expression of annoyance quickly shifted into one of gratitude, but also pride. He seemed quite impressed what I considered a casual announcement. Oh, well, thank you. That was probably the right call. I mean, after all, you're the boogeyman's

boogeyman. Without responding verbally, I held out the corpse of the squirrel I'd snatched up on the way back. John looked at it blankly, unimpressed by what was in front of him. That's my dinner, I'm guessing, he asked, already aware of the answer. Precisely, I responded, raising my opposite hand and pointing a finger toward the fireplace, which was now lit,

the smell of smoke lingering in the fire as the flames danced around the wood. Well, I found some knives in the kitchen after I finished up making the fire. I'll get one and gut this poor guy, John announced, holding up the deceased squirrel above his head. John went on and did as he proposed, skinning and gutting the dead creature, although he didn't appear to be very skilled at it.

Well, there wasn't enough time for him to perfect his craft, as we had to keep moving in the morning. I sat with John by the fire as he allowed his meal to cook, an experience I had never had previously, and it was soothing. The only time I had to ever relax was in my containment cell back at the facility. I was put in there between operations or missions. Granted, they allowed me to roam around inside, but there wasn't much to entertain or stimulate me. I accepted it back then, saw it as a positive, and didn't question the nature of why I was in there.

But now I know, the more I reflect, the more I realize how cruel they truly were to me, despite them spending decades manipulating me into thinking the contrary. But instead of focusing on my own suffering, I turned my attention to John. who stared uneventfully into the fire as his meat was being cooked. Doctor, before we'd escaped, when I intervened in your fight with the other scientist, he mentioned your daughter had been taken by a cryptid. I stated, is that true? John's eyes widened, taken aback about what I'd just brought up.

But he kept his composure, even though I could see a look of despair emerging onto his face. kind of despair only a grieving father could hold. Yes, he replied softly. It's why I joined the agency to study and learn more about the supernatural. The things that were here before us and will be here after. I thought that maybe if I learned enough, then I could find her, maybe save her, but it's pretty stupid to think she's still alive. But don't feel bad, it's just reality.

Us, I quizzed, confused. by his wording. Yes, us, he repeated. Listen, Bron, I don't consider you a monster,

not at all. I'm truly sorry for what the agency did to you for so long. All that lies and deceit. I should earn something sooner. It was just being a damn coward. I immediately put a hand on John's back,

being careful not to pierce his skin with my clothes. You're a no coward doctor. You defended and stood your ground for me even when it wasn't your place to do so. You've assisted me in conquering a threat that was far beyond your understanding and range of knowledge, even when you could have died.

The only coward I have ever met is Dr. West. A smirk crept up on John's face, drastically changing the energy of his mood. He kept turning the meat over and the fire as he replied. Yeah, but thanks to you, she's six feet under. He huffed as his eyes stayed. stared forward. John retracted the meat from the flames, with it now fully cooked, he brought it towards the centre of the floor we sat on, placing it on an old cloth he'd presumably discovered

while looking around the cabin. Of all the people I've met, you're the most human out of all of them. John vocalized, taking a glance up towards my eyes. I'm grateful for your kindness, doctor, but this world, your species will never accept me, no matter how much I may try to prove otherwise I'll always be a monster in their eyes, and nothing more. But that won't stop me from projecting your kind. That's extremely noble of you, Braun, protecting a group that doesn't deserve it.

I know we're definitely not saints, but I guess we are salvageable, he said with a hint of sarcasm near the end. The rest of the night went as expected. John and I discussed our views on the world and the predicament we're currently in. He even taught me certain social customs and things humans do that I didn't know of,

like fist-bumping, which was odd, seeing as he'd just informed me of the gesture of high-fiving not long ago. John finished his dinner, and we soon drifted off to sleep, although he ended up sleeping far longer than I did. I only needed a couple of hours at most due to the way I was designed. John awoke as the sun had finished rising, birds were outside chirping away as the morning light shone through the windows. He didn't waste any time.

time. He and I exited the cabin and began journeying deeper into the forest. John bringing along the knife he'd used to prepare his meal the previous night as a last resort weapon. You know, when my daughter was taken, I realized I'd never get her back. I considered ending it all. Just a few too many pills and the pain would all be over. I thought there was no point to living if I didn't have her around. John announced it with an almost apathetic tone, as if he'd just informed me that he'd stepped on a twig. But the pain, in his eyes was vivid, I could tell he was masking what he truly felt.

I was sure he was used to it due to his line of work, always concealing his grief for the sake of the mission and in the name of progress. I stopped us both, looking down at John as he tried to avoid eye contact. I'm truly sorry. If I were there to savor, I would have done it

in a heartbeat. I stated. I know nothing about such experience, but I can guarantee you were a great. great father. We approached close to the clearing where I'd fought and killed the strange entity last night. All the leftover biomass and body parts were gone. Well, it was easy to assume wildlife and other cryptids had come to clean up overnight, only leaving patches of blood spread out across the grass. Jeez, you weren't kidding when you said you messed him up

pretty good, John stated, pointing at the sight of the aftermath. Well, he seemed quite upset that I Interim. Before I could finish my sentence, a repetitive washing and whipping caused me to turn my head toward the sky. John was slightly confused at first, wondering what it was I was reacting to, but in several seconds it came within his range of hearing. Oh shit, helicopter! he exclaimed in a forceful whisper. Get low, now, I shot back. John and I were both lowered ourselves to the ground as fast as possible, crawling behind some bushels. in an attempt to keep ourselves more effectively hidden. They know we're in this forest.

We've got to get out of here soon. Before they cut off all our exits, John went on. Damn, I told you it would have been wise to destroy the truck. They surely tracked it here. It was foolish to let it be. Now we're in jeopardy. The helicopter hovered over the clearing for several seconds before descending. Eight soldiers with gear I'd recognized emerged from the vehicle, four from each side.

They curiously circled the clearing after exiting, investigating and looking over the blood as John and I watched from behind the bushes and trees. The helicopter itself was mounted with what looked to be machine guns and small-capacity missile launches of its own, clearly doubling as a transport and compact vehicle. They were soldiers from the agency, speaking of which, one grabbed his radio pushing down the button and speaking into it as he looked over the area. Come in command This is Agent Ben reporting in with Team X1 We're at the site right now With evidence of some sort of feeding of frenzy that took place

There are currently no concrete signs of subject 16A or Dr Jonathan R. Dilliard But we'll keep looking Actually One of the other agents called out You might want to take a look at this He punctuated by pointing towards the ground When I'd realize what he was talking about

I could physically feel the blood stop itself mid-flow in my veins. The soldier was pointing at a particular patch of blood, my blood, the blood of mine that had seeped out from my minuscule wound after the confrontation with the cryptid, but it was enough to be seen. Oh, it might be his,

the agent followed up, kneeling down to get a better look. Let's get a sample and get it back to the lab. We'll get the geeks to run their tests and do their thing. The other replied. John crawled over closer to me, looking into my eyes with grand intentions. It appeared by just his facial expression alone that he'd hatched a plan. Hey, use your class to tear some of my lab coats, he asked, yanking at the fabric.

His idea had quickly clicked in my mind. I did as requested and quietly ripped some of the material off his coat with two of my fingernails. John scratched his own cheeks and forehead hard enough to just about dripped. and then scraped his hands against the ground, rubbing mud on his clothes and skin to make it appear as if he just escaped an attack. Climb up on one of those trees and get the vantage points. I'm going to bluff long enough to get them all in close enough where you can take them out without any disaster. He informed me. Be careful, doctor. I nodded to him, following his request and using stealth and precision to scale the closest tree to me. John sighed, clearly nervous about

what he was going to do. He raised himself up and began to march toward the clearing, making sure to walk with a limp for a more convincing effect. The soldiers quickly turned their attention and pointed their assault rifles at John. Come in command. Come in command. Dr. Jonathan Ardilliard has just been spotted, requesting orders, the biggest of the bunch said after fidgeting with his radio. John held his hands in the air. I could only see the back of him for now, but I could smell the fear coming off of him. He was terrified, yet still doing what needed to be done. Don't shoot, John pleaded. Don't you understand? Subject 16A. He forced me. He said he'd kill me just like he did West, if I didn't help him escape. He made me drive him up and dump him out here.

I only just barely got away. It was unclear whether or not the man had bought his story, so they still kept their rifles trained on him, not letting their guard down. We have orders to kill 16A once we find him. One of the agents in the back shouted. Where was he last at before you got a wet? There's a cabin about a half mile from this clearing. I can take you to it, but we've got to be careful. 16A isn't the only thing in these woods.

He punctuated by pointing at all the blood on the ground. The agents all turned and looked at each other, debating whether or not it was a smart move to follow John. I was thoroughly impressed with his ability to keep calm in the face of such overwhelming odds. We'll go with you, doctor, said the agent in the front. But you've got to stay in our side. Do you try to cut and run, or pull a fast one?

I'll personally make sure you end up with Swiss cheese. Or better yet, I might even let Sixteen A have his way with you before we get to take him out too. The man then turned and nod his head to the pilot in the helicopter, signaling for him to stay behind. John motioned at the group and began to lead them out at the clearing towards the cabin. I stayed behind and didn't immediately follow. I wanted to wait for a bit.

The agents knew I often liked to move from tree to tree, so if I were too close and they decided to look up, it would surely mean the death of John and potentially me as well. That's a shame what happened to West, said the leading soldier. Really? I kind of thought she was a knock case. replied one of the agents towards the rear of the line. All the others seemed to agree with the latter, a few of them even nodding their heads to further the point.

I maintain my silent movements as I follow the men off up in the trees, sizing them all up as we approach closer to the cabin. It's the place, Doc, one of the agents inquired, pointing the barrel of his rifle toward the cabin. Yeah, but please be careful. He might still be inside, John said feigning concern. The agents all raised their weapons and slowly surrounded the perimeter of the cabin. Two went right up to the front door, presumably to breach it.

They looked at each other for a few moments before one clutched his rifle, leaned back and kicked the door down, despite the fact that I'd already sliced the lock off. The pair entered inside to search the interior, while the other six kept themselves posted around the perimeter, keeping them in close enough range to take them out but also not get overwhelmed. I started with the back of the cabin, swiftly but quietly jumping down from the tree and right behind the guards. Before they could react, I quickly grabbed them each by the skull and slam their heads together,

using just enough force to knock them both unconscious for the time being. And just to be on the safe side, I also grabbed and squeezed their radio devices, crushing them in my hands and cutting off their communications. I was also careful enough to not leave them sprawled out too close to the windows where they could be seen, not wanting the agents inside to sound the alarm if they caught a glimpse of their unconscious comrades. And I moved fast, scaling my way up the back wall of the cabin and onto the roof. Hey, do you hear something? One of the guards posted on the right side asked.

Nick, you try to relax. You always get paranoid when we're doing operations, replied the one next to him. While on the roof, I shifted over towards the right side of the structure, silently leaning over and peering down at the agents as they watched the tree line. I repeated the same set of actions I'd done with the first pair, then crawled back up to the roof, maneuvered to the left side and did it once again, only leaving the pair that was searching the inside of the cabin still left. Still moving around the roof on all fours,

I made my way over to the front and signaled to John to lure out the two remaining agents. Hey, quick, get out here, now, he shouted. There's something coming. The two agents rushed outside, pointing their rifles all around in a frantic attempt to find out what it was that John was talking about. What is it, Doc? exclaimed the leader towards John. I dropped down and pounced on the two guards, summing one against the wood and letting him slump to the floor on the deck. The other one was able to fire a shot before I grabbed him, and the bullet struck me in the waist and a small bullet struck me in the waist and a small puddle of my blood splashed onto the dusty wood finish below us. Instead of immediately knocking

him out, I went for his gun first, yanking it from his grasp and slamming it hard enough on the railing of the deck to snap it in half. He attempted to hit the button on his radio and alert command what was happening, but I was quicker and used my claws to slash off his index finger and thumb before they could make contact. He fell to his knees, clutching the stumps as blood pulled around his hand. I grabbed his neck and began wrapping my fingers around his throat and lifting him into the air as I stood up bipedling. Let me go, you ugly son of a bitch, he squirmed, making futile efforts to escape my hold. I bared my teeth, the stinging from the gunshot wound had begun to bother me, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and it would heal soon enough.

The agents utilised armour-piercing rounds on missions, which is what I assume had hit me. At least I now had the answer to whether or not I was bulletproof. Dr. John marched over with a smug look on his face as I held the still struggling agent. I'd just like to go on the record and say that I came up with this plan, but I couldn't have done it without my buddy Braun here, he taunted. You're both a couple of worthless traitors. The agent shot back. Nothing but two cowards who can't face their responsibility.

Don't even know why we're wasting resources. trying to get you back or kill you. But when it does happen, I'll be more than happy to watch both of you executed, you freaks. That word came up again. Freak. God, I hated it. I used to play it off and ignore the instances where someone called me that word, but I was done tolerating it. All those years I'd let it slide, but no more. I turned and slung the agent hard enough to send him crashing through one of the front windows and colliding with the fireplace in the fire. When he impacted with the stone, dust dispersed itself vertically and horizontally from behind his back before he fell face-first onto the floor. The spot where he impacted had left a dent,

a dent that was dripping with an uneven coating of blood. Even John was shocked. He stepped past all the broken glass from the window and slowly approached the agent's body, rolling up his sleeve and checking for a pulse. He's dead, John confirmed. "'Gee's brawn, you threw him hard enough to kill him. "'Well, now that I blame you. "'To be completely truthful, I hadn't meant to actually kill the man. "'The combination of the irritation from the gunshot wound "'and his continuous arrogance had flared up my rage,

"'causing me to use more force than I'd originally intended. "'He even covered in body armour and gear, "'he still couldn't handle the force of the impact. "'On the second human being I'd ever killed. "'But unlike Dr. Dr. to West. This death didn't feel satisfying or cathartic. Rather, it caused me to feel quite guilty,

even despite the anger I'd felt towards him. Don't feel bad, Bron. He was far from a good man, John said, almost sensing the change in my demeanour. It's not like you just slaughtered the whole squad like some bloodthirsty monster. I knew we didn't have time for me to stand there and reflect on what had taken place.

I ordered John to grab one of the uncountry soldiers' rifles, along with the two radios I hadn't yet destroyed and follow me back to the helicopter. The pilot was still sitting inside the cockpit. The look on his face was one of complete and utter terror as he spotted John and I emerging from the trees and into the clearing. Well, he attempted to try and radio command for help, but with my speed and disregarding my wound, I ran across the clearing on all fours and leapt into the helicopter,

grabbing the pilot's arm and stopping him. You will not say a word, them. But if they so choose to contact you, you'll inform them that everything's going according to plan. Otherwise, I'll put an end to you and pick your bones clean. I growled, bearing my teeth just inches from the pilot's face, and took my threat seriously, and that itself was a massive understatement, considering I picked up the scent of urine, suddenly coming from his crotch at it. John boarded the helicopter asked to finishing his dash across the clearing, panting heavily as he clutch the rifle he picked up.

Take us back to Site 12. If you try anything funny, I'll paint the windows with your brain matter. John ordered the pilots, keeping the rifle aimed at his head. The pilot, sweating and slightly shaking in horror, maneuvered the helicopter out of the clearing and ascended the three of us into the sky. The helicopter radio crackled to life soon afterwards. This is command. Please confirm mission status.

I repeat, this is command. please confer on mission status. The pilot's eyes frantically darted around. John pressed the barrel harder against his temple. I drew my claws, waving them slightly near the pilot in order to intimidate him. This is Chopper Y-32. Mission was a failure.

Dr. Jonathan R. Dilliot and subject 16A have yet to be discovered or eliminated, heading back to base. Although it wasn't what we told him to say, it still worked in our favor, none the last. less. The ride itself wasn't very long due to the method of transportation. It went by far faster than when we'd traveled here in the truck. John kept his rifle up against the pilot's head the entire time. I was uncomfortable during most of the ride due to having to lean over whilst inside

the cockpit because of my height. Are you guys going to kill me? The pilot asked, making sure his radio was muted. Not if you do what we ask, John replied. What do you guys even want? Money? Guns? We want salvation for both man are encrypted, like snarled, and for the agency to pay for its crimes. Once the facility came into view, John and I ordered the pilot to fly to the south end of the building, but still kept us hovering well above the ground. I couldn't simply go inside and free the Wendigo, not how I did it last time. We'd got lucky and John was able to walk his way through security and get the cameras disabled while I convinced the Wendigo of our plan. Not to mention it was now daytime which meant more guards roaming the halls.

We needed a distraction and I knew just what it would be. A missile from the helicopter right at the north end of the building where the weapons vault was located. Not only would it be detrimental to their ability to defend themselves, but it would draw them away from the Wendigo cages. long enough for me to free the one I've made the deal with. We see you within range to land, Chopper Y-32. Just wanted to confirm your coordinates. Here my female voice from the radio. The interior security cameras wouldn't come into play this time around.

Not only would they be unlikely to be monitored in real time during all the commotion, but there's a good chance the explosion would corrupt and destroy their ability to function properly. Fire a rocket, John demanded the pilot. northeastern corner. What? The pilot shrieked. Are you insane? Now, I growled, reinforcing John's command.

Sweat dripped itself down the pilot's forehead as he reached a shaky finger over to the launch button on the con-pit control panel. I could feel the vibrations of the helicopters as the rocket tore through the air and hit its designated targets. The explosion was deafening, sending massive shockwaves through the air,

as flames engulfed the surrounding area before quickly dissipating. I told the pilot to hover the helicopter over the roof of the building. The sounds of rapid footsteps, yelling and voices filled my ears. The alarms weren't going off, confirming the explosion had damaged the system. Once I retrieve the wind ago, I'll return to you, doctor. Now, get out of here, fly deep into the forest and wait for our arrival. I said in a rush tone. John tightened his grip on the rifle, hesitant to do as I'd proposed.

But what about you? I should go, I shouted, before they shoot this helicopter down. I jumped out of the side and onto the roof. John stared at the pilot as he quickly turned the helicopter around and began fly into the forest behind the building, doing it just in time before they were shot down. The cryptic containment cells were on the south end of the building. The complete opposite side of the wall.

where we caused all the commotion. Agents were flooding outside with what little amount of weapons they had left, trying to find any other threats in the area. My gunshot wound had nearly healed completely so it didn't give me much trouble as I crawled along the roof to the south end of the facility. I found an exterior air duct vent.

I quickly wrapped my claws around the cover and tore it off before crawling inside. While scurrying around, I made a trip to the boiler room I'd encountered while hiding in the walls earlier on. I grabbed the most girthy and solid steel beam I could find and took it with me. After which, I journeyed over to the cryptic containment cells,

specifically the Wendigo cages. I dropped down from the ceiling after exiting the air duct, and there he was, standing docile behind the strong glass, just staring off into space, although he perked up when he saw me. For once I saw some spark of life in those sunken, dear skull eyes. I wasted no time. I began to hit the reinforced glass as hard as I could with the beam,

swing after swing, impact after impact, and it finally cracked. It actually worked. I pulled the beam back and with all my might swung one last time, finally breaking the glass. The Wendigo was joyful as he slowly stepped out into freedom. Not that it was easy to tell from looks alone. You were honest.

He said in what I assumed to be his default voice without mimicking anyone or anything. It was a low yet not extremely bassy tone, resembling the loud whisper of an average man. Oh me, I advised. Be prepared, we may have to fight, but you must remember our bargain, no killing the humans unless absolutely necessary. Saying it almost made me feel hypocritical, considering earlier events. I led the Wendigo down the hall, and we both got down and did our best to move quickly towards one of the side exits on the facility.

I was quite a bit faster, but slowed down enough for us to be within a reasonable distance of each other. You kept your word, he told me as we dashed down the hole. As I said I would, I replied, while keeping my eyes laid upon the sight in front of us. I picked up the centre of a guard around the corner. We'd surely have to take him out before moving on. As to why he hadn't joined his comrades at the explosion. sight was questionable.

When we rounded the corner, the guard was paralyzed in pure terror as he got a look at the Wendigo and me. I pounced across the floor and grabbed him before he could react, slamming his head against the wall on the right and letting him fall unconscious. I laid eyes on one of the doors with emergency exit, labeled above it. I didn't stop running and neither did the Wendigo as he trailed close behind. I threw my weight at the door, causing it to be yanked right off. off its hinges and slam onto the ground.

Right, into the forest, I announced, beginning to dash into the tree line as the Wendigo followed. I could only hope this would be the last time I'd ever have to set foot inside that cursed building. After I'd picked up John Sent, it wasn't long before we were reunited. He was still taken aback by the sight of another entity with me. He'd originally disagree with my plan to free the creature. a motion for the Wendigo to follow me into the helicopter with John and the pilot. Speaking of which, the pilot seemed to be even more horrified at the prospect of a Wendigo being added to the roster of passengers.

Um, it's nice to meet you. John scratched his head, looking up at the deer skull, still hesitant at the presence. The Wendigo gave no response, instead simply keeping quiet as he sat in the back of the helicopter next to me. John had told us he had a location in mind of where to go, although he refused to give out the specific details for whatever reason. But even though this wasn't the last of the agency, they had taken quite a hit at their ability to function. For now we'd be free of their wrath and tyrannical ways.

I turned my attention to the Wendigo. He sat idly looking out the window at everything as we pass by below, seemingly entranced by his freedom, similar to how I felt. "'They have a track around this helicopter,' John exclaimed. "'So this time I'll take your advice, Bron, "'and we'll trash this thing as soon as we get out to the spot.' I simply nodded in response, "'not taking my eyes off my new ally.

"'He seemed to a sense I was looking. "'He turned, causing his atlas to slightly scrape the ceiling above him. "'I then asked the creature one simple question. "'Would you like a name?' Episode 5. I'm a monster seeking peace. I'm not sure I'll find it. Several months have passed since John and I had dealt significant damage to the agency, and because of that very fact, life has become far less eventful. Well, I use that term loosely. I still hunt and kill other cryptids, mainly for food or to protect innocence, those who pose a threat to humanity and the well-being of societies. And they are

John and I have a new ally. The Wendigo, I'd freed as part of a deal and promise I made. Her name is now Aria. She turned out to actually be female. From the small traces of memories she still held from her days of being human, that's what she'd told me. I tried to find out more, but she wasn't able to recall anything more of importance. I taught her the ways of using resistance,

and when certain amounts of force were necessary at certain times. and she'd gotten the hang of it quite well. As for John, he'd become more comfortable being around, Ardia. Although at first he was opposed to me freeing her, he soon learned there were more benefits than satbacks to doing so. She was a positive asset to have around, also adding a missing dynamic to our friendship. For those of you who may wonder what happened to the helicopter pilot

when we let him go, making sure to drop him off far away from the location we were currently using as a home. therefore he couldn't go telling the agency where we were located. We haven't seen the agency since the last time we were at Site 12. The helicopter we flew there did possess a tracker, so I picked it up, carried it and threw it into the sizable river after we let the pilot go. It sank to the bottom immediately,

although the strong current did begin to pull it apart into smaller chunks, effectively destroying any chance of it being tracked. And this indefinitely brought us the ability, to have a more permanent place to stay at. A location John had taken us to was an abandoned spa towards the more undeveloped side of the city. We sat surrounded by forests and fields, cloaking us from most nearby public roads

and transportation routes. John had known about the place since he was a child. He recounted tales of how his mother used to drag him here whenever she made appointments, that is, before they shut down. John even took his daughter here a few times before the tragedy of what happened to her. He said, unlike with his mother,

he actually enjoyed coming here with her and seeing the look of joy spread across her face. But now that most of the surrounding area had been overtaken by nature over the span of nearly a decade, nobody gave the structure a second glance, although I'm sure the sight of either me or Aria would be enough to send the average man running.

One day in particular, I'd taken Aria out with me to go hunting for a new supply of food, mainly for John, who only had about four meals worth of sustenance left. He stayed behind in the spa in order to work on reinforcing any weak points that were left over, this time far more confident being alone due to him having an assault rifle he'd picked up off of an agent. I'd knocked out a while back during a confrontation at a cabin. John had also finally gotten rid of his lab coat,

switching it for an old, black, long-sleeved sweater and a pair of jeans he discovered while scouting around inside the spa. since both Aria and I were around John hasn't had to fire his rifle up to this point meaning that there were still plenty of bullets left for him to use The particular forest area around the spa Had a much less flat terrain than the previous few I'd been to During these past several months Some hills were steep

So much so that bringing a human along Wouldn't do much good anyway Aria looked at me as we both scanned through the tree line Looking for any potential prey items It was a subtle bonding experience for the two of us. The human, she stated, shifting away around a boulder. Why does he not fear you? I smiled, allowing my teeth to be shown as I crawled forward.

He did at first. I always do. Dr. John is a good man, a friend to both of us. I promise you you can trust him. I assured her. After all, he's shown he's an... ally so far, has he not? She tilted her deer skull to the left, seemingly trying to look away. I've killed so many of them, came her loud whisper, so many humans. Do you think the rest could ever exist with you and I without conflict? I stopped for a second, my claws sinking slightly into

the dirt beneath us as I contemplated my response. No, I said bluntly. You almost likely never be peace between cryptid and man. Not completely. But neither is completely wrong or right in their assumption of the other. I've seen benevolence and evil in both. Arias stood, seemingly saddened but satisfied with my answer. I could tell she felt the same thing deep down, but there wasn't much that could be done about it.

How did you know you hate them? She inquired, now looking me directly in the eyes. The humans. I don't hate them, but some are corrupted, I replied. Back before I found my path away from the agency, a cryptid who might be sent to destroy, murder the men who were my comrades at the time as I was forced to watch. After which he told me that I needed to discover who I truly am, what I can do.

Why the humans in power tried to hide our existence from the rest? He was correct with most of his assessments. The only true reason I ended him was because he was slaughtering innocence. Aria seemed stunned by my monologue, keeping her sunken eyes trained forward as we both took in the landscape around us. Then why did you... why did you rescue me? she asked. I took a couple of steps closer, letting the slight breeze in the forest pass between us. It was a good question that much was true. Because now I see the truth.

Monsters are made on the inside, not out. You overcame your bloodlust, despite your instincts, and what humanity claims you are you have shown that you can't be different. That you have the will to overcome what you're supposed to be, and instead, as you desire to be. Just as I overcame what the agency had created me to be, a ruthless killing machine. You have to overcome what humanity has painted you to be,

a bloodthirsty monstrosity. Ari is slightly backed up, not knowing how to respond. I stepped forward and let a claw rest on her shoulder, which she seemed to be reassured by, looking over my shoulder in what almost appeared to be shame. I still have very much to learn, Braun. She announced softly, shooting a glance toward the ground. Ah, we all do, I replied, both man and cryptid alike. It was when I looked past Aria, and I caught a glimpse of something strange near one of the trees behind her,

something that looked as if it definitely didn't belong, not out here. What is it wrong? She asked me curiously, sniffing the air as I pointed towards the sights. I did the same, now up the scent of what was rotting and decayed flesh. Be on your guard, I told Aria, we may not be alone. on all fours i crawled across the terrain and followed the smell as well as the sight aria stayed close behind keeping a watch behind us in the event of a sneak attack from someone or something even though i already had an idea to the answer as i got closer to the source of the

smell it became obvious what was creating the aroma a body that of a dead human woman she'd been there for what looked to be a couple of days due to the way her flesh was deteriorated I moved to the side so Aria could see the body as well. Neither of us being disgusted, but rather intrigued. This could mean a potential cryptid was out here with us. Aria was already one step ahead about keeping her wits about her. The corpse was laid up against a tree, strands of her hair still falling from her rotting scalp. Her clothes were torn and ripped, along with multiple remnants of what looked to be pierces and gash wounds in her arm.

arms and chest. Her eyes had been completely separated from her sockets, leaving nothing but too empty and fleshy holes. There's competition in these woods. Arias snarled, getting into a more combative stance. No, I told her, this is more likely a human or something even more intelligent. What makes you so sure, Braun? She said, turning her dears skull to glance at me. I've encountered many beings throughout the years, most of which consume their kills just like us. Well, there have been exceptions, but this seems like pure malice. Nothing more than a warning or a trophy designed to strike fear into the hearts of those who come across it.

We should find whatever has done this and put a stop to it, she snarled, before it attacks us first. Precisely, I responded. Perhaps we stumbled upon unwelcome territory, something that's sorrowing. us at home and no longer wants us here. Aria and I continued to search the forest, going up and down hills, running past ponds and through lines of bushes, and for a while it seemed as if nothing was there.

Whatever had done that, the unfortunate lady was now long gone. We were about to give up until we heard a scream, a truly deafening shriek of pure terror and desperation, one that couldn't be faked or famed. came from someone in trouble, someone who was in dire need of help. Both of us stopped. I was the first to stand and quickly pinpoint the source of the wailing. This way, a motion for Aria to follow me east.

Soon enough more voices could be heard, mumbling on and on about something, something clearly important. If it were two humans out here instead of Aria and I, then this mysterious screaming one would more than likely not have gotten any help. her screams wouldn't have been picked up by the ears of just a man. Ariet and I came upon a makeshift campsite only about 12 metres in front of us, a circle of tents all set up neatly with a blazing fire in the middle, the flames being well over five feet high. Around the fire stood 12 humans, a mixture of both male and female individuals,

all dressed in similarly black robes. Above the flames were what appeared to be a metallic, slab, big enough to lay multiple humans down on. From all the charred skin and tissue left over on its surface, it was apparent what the horrific purpose of it was. Immediately, Arias stepped back, holding her claws up in front of her face as she tried to look elsewhere. Fire.

It was the fire that bothered her. Fire is one of the main weaknesses of Wendigo has, most of which fear it deeply, especially when it's in a high volume like this. I myself didn't have much to worry about. I was extremely resistant to high and low temperatures, and fires never truly bothered me, even when the flames have come into contact with my skin. No, Aria hissed.

No fire, please, no fire. I turned around seeing the discomfort in her expression. I know what fire does to you, but you have to overcome your fear. We need to find out what they're up to, I said quietly, doing my best. to calm her down. More screams interrupted us, and I turned back to the campsites. Two of the black-robed people were dragging a young woman toward the fire. She seemed to have only just about hit her adult

ears. They stopped dragging her just feet from the blaze, one of the bigger black-robed people stepping out from the circle and into the middle, raising his hands in the air as the woman begged for mercy. Please, I'll get out of here and never come back. I promise, Mr. I ain't going to tell nobody what I saw. She pleaded, looking up at the man, his tears formed in her eyes. Speaking of the man, his eyes were a colour of blue similar to that of my skin, a dark midnight blue, and his brown hair was long enough to reach his waist. A thick, unkempt and curly beard had formed around his face,

obscuring his cheeks, chin, and most of his neck. He looked down toward the young woman, anger seething in his eyes. Even through the material of his robe, I could tell he possessed quite a lot of muscle mass. His shoulders were broad, his legs were girthy, and his facial structure appeared quite chiseled underneath that poorly groomed beard. The young woman herself possessed short black hair, only reaching to about her shoulders. Her attire consisted of ripped-up jeans, a red and white square patterned shirt, and black leather boots that were covered in dirt and mud. "'This woman here has seen us, knows of us, what it is we look and sound like. "'To all of you, my brothers and sisters, let her be yet another example of what happens

"'when outsiders come lurking where they do not belong,' said the ungroomed leader. "'The long-haired man waved a finger at the two black-robed people who dragged the young woman. "'They tightened their grip and began to drag her once more, "'prearing to throw her onto the metallic slab above the flames. Without thinking, I dropped all fours and charged into the small crowd, now revealing myself and giving away the element of surprise. To my shock, none of the black robe people scattered or ran. They simply fell to their knees, holding their hands together as they tried not to look me directly in the eye. All except for one, the long-haired man.

You will leave the woman be, I growled, bearing my teeth and waving my claws around. The black-robed people all stood back up and slightly separated, creating an opening in the circle. The long-haired man took a few steps back, seemingly not afraid of me, but also not foolish enough to physically challenge me, which would be suicide. Take the girl, get her out of hearing back to the chapel. I'll keep the self-righteous freak distracted. I grabbed the bearded man by the shoulder and lifted him up to eye-level. He kicked and resisted, but refused to plea or beg. The last man who ordered that insult to me perished.

And for what you've done to that dead woman or about to do to that living one, it seems you'll meet the same fate, I snarled, the glow of my eyes reflecting in his. Oh, please, you won't have time to kill me when you'll be far too busy with Helena. He cackled, just before proceeding to whistle loudly in a specific, pattern. A pattern meant to get the attention of someone or something. The Black Road people all grabbed the woman and lifted her up. She violently kicked and screamed as they restrained her, begging to be let go as she thrashed around in desperation. I could hear the sounds of rapid snapping and wood crunching coming from my rights. But it wasn't just twigs or branches.

No, entire trees were being ripped apart by the mass coming, not to mention it. scent. It was horrendous, a combination of spoiled meat and black smoke. Still keeping the man held tightly in the air, I turned my head back to Aria, who was still cowering from the fire. I knew she wanted to help, but her fear had seemingly gotten the best of her, but I had a plan in mind. Go after them and retrieve the woman, I shouted, I'll deal with this. Ariya responded by leaping across the ground and into the trees, following the black-robed people as they attempted to run away with the still screaming victim. They would not have the slightest chance of outrunning her,

so I was confident it wouldn't take long. She was much more comfortable performing the task that didn't involve being near the fire. I then tossed the long-haired man to the side. He simply continued laughing as he slammed into one of the trees not far in front of us and fell onto the ground. Dirt finding its way into his beard and hair as he groaned from the pain of the impact. You are scum, I remarked to him, killing innocence all while you preach of being great. You are no man who deserves the privilege of life.

The long-haired man wiped some blood from his chin as he smiled, looking over to the entity that was on its way to me. And neither do you, monster, he shot back. I only see one master here. I barked. Looking to my right, I spotted what could only be described as what appeared to be a mutated wolf-like cryptid, charging full speed at me.

His fur was a light yellow colour, contrasting with a mostly green and brown palette of the forest. It's not two, but three eyes leaked out of void-like darkness of some sort, as if there were black holes within the creature's head. Its long, pointed ears stood tall and perked up on the back of its head, giving the impression it was ready for a fight. The most noticeable feature of all was just its sheer size. On all fours, the back of the canine reached up to just below my neck,

meaning that its quadrupedal height was nearly eight feet high, a truly massive creature. The monstrous canine, who I now knew was the Helena entity the long-haired man had talked about. It stopped only about ten feet away from me. She exhaled, bearing her jagged and deformed teeth at me as I watched air escape from her nostril. She then shifted her gaze and pointed her snout at the long-haired man, as if waiting for orders on what to do. No different than the position I found myself in not long ago.

The man stood and groaned, his back still heavily aching from the force I'd thrown him with. Now that his protection was here, he seemed much more content in his taunting expressions towards me. "'Kill the blue one,' he commanded, pointing one of his scarred fingers at me. "'We can't let him destroy what we are trying to recreate.' The long-haired man then turned and dashed off into the forest, but not in the direction of the other black-robed people, no, he went in the opposite direction, more than likely because he wanted to avoid the wrath of Ardia,

which I found odd considering his content at being thrown around like a toy. or he was more than likely returning to the chapel he'd spoken of beforehand. Look at his screams of terror and more than lightly pain in the direction the black-robed people had run off to with the kidnapped woman, signaling that Aria had caught up with them in mere seconds and was already getting to work, taking them down and rescuing their victim. I turn my attention back to Helena, attempting to try the less violent approach at first to calm the tension,

something I'd rarely ever done with cryptids in the past. This is not a battle you want to seek. You can be more than what he tells you that you are. You must believe me. I said, keeping my guard up as I spoke, not wanting to be attacked while not expecting it. Alina only continued to maliciously snarl at me, clearly not invested or interested in what it was I had to say.

I still figured getting to her psychologically was worth a try, all things considered, but I still needed to defend myself as well as eat. I quickly realized that attempting to talk her down would only be a waste of my energy, so I had to do what I was more familiar with. I went on the offensive, reaching over and tearing the thickest branch I could spot on the tree near to me, following it up by lunging at Helena. Well, Helena opened her jaws wide as I came within range and leaped forward at me with a lunge of her own. I swung the branch vertically in an upper cut-like motion,

colliding my arbitrary weapon with her neck area. The force of the impact caused her to be thrown onto her back, and I seized the opportunity and pounced onto her stomach. As I was wrestling and keeping the huge canine restrains, I heard Aria call out to me. Braun, I've got the woman. I'm coming to assist you, she bellowed, confirming that she made quick work of the black-robed people,

although it was unclear at the moment whether or not she killed them. No, get her back home, I shouted back, not even turning around to see her. Helena continued to howl and bark, attempting to shake me off of her. I slashed off one of her front legs with my claws, causing her to writhe in pain as a green, almost mucus-coloured blood burst its way out through the stump. At one point Helena had turned over to the side and onto her belly in an attempt. to crush me with her weight. Little did she know it was a pointless strategy,

one that would only make matters worse for her. I lifted her up and tossed her behind me, and Helena was sent crashing through multiple trees and sliding across the dirt on the ground, finally stopping when she impacted with a boulder sticking out of the ground, causing chunks of rock to fly in nearly every direction. I dropped down onto all fours and charged at her as she was recovering, leaping onto her with enough fault.

to send us both crashing through the remaining mass of the boulder. We tumbled down a hill behind the huge rock together, Helena still barking and snarling at an obnoxious volume during our chaotic descent. Grass, plants, and bushes were all trampled in our path. We both attempted to dig our way into the dirt for traction as we continued our fall, but we were going at a speed too great to completely latch ourselves on. We eventually hit the bottom. A shallow stream of water splashed beneath us after our initial impact.

Alina was the first to recover from the whole ordeal. She charged, slightly limping due to missing her leg, and proceeded to headbut me as soon as I was on my feet, then quickly following it up by biting me in my right leg and viciously throwing me to her left. I roared from the sensation of her monstrous and deformed teeth sinking into my flesh as I collided with a hill of dirt. She charged once again,

and I reacted quickly and wrapped my claws around her snout when she was really in range, preventing her opening her mouth to bite me again. After which I vertically maneuvered my arm while I still kept her snout firmly grasped, forcing her to have to look up. Once she did, I seized the opportunity and slash my claws in a horizontal fashion across her throat. Blood exploded from her wounds. Her once powerful and dominant howl was now reduced to nothing but a gurgling whimper, as she fell to the ground in a defeated manner.

Alina laid there on the dirt breathing heavily as she looked up at me, clearly in far too much agony to get back up and continue the fight. She went on to whimper and gurgle as her green blood leaked itself out from the gashes on her throat. I reached a claw over towards the back of her head, applied some force,

and tore it completely off in order to speed up her death. Not wanting her to have to suffer any longer. Her movement seized, blood poured out from below her snout, and her cries of pain had come to an end. I threw Helena's severed head behind me, not wanting to look into those black holes of eyes any longer, after which I sniffed the air for the scent of the black robe people. All I could pick up was the potent scent of iron. Now that the battle was over, it was clear to me what the source of that iron was, and it wasn't the blood of Helena.

These people had already proven themselves to be much worse than even most personnel in the agency, especially the long-haired man, torturing and killing a woman for more than likely some petty religious reasoning. Well, even coming close to doing it again, who knows how many previous victims they'd had. I had no issue if Aria ended up killing them, considering the heinous deeds they were up to when we'd stumbled upon them. I should have put an end to the long-haired man when I had the chance. I had hesitated far too long and it cost me.

But I was grateful we'd saved a life today. Although it was unfortunate we couldn't save the dead woman we discovered. Nonetheless, Ari and I were successful with keeping that woman from one of the worst fates known to humanity. Not that I could have the experience myself, but I've seen humans being burnt alive before, mainly men back at the agency when they were out on a mission and it encountered a cryptid with fire-related abilities. Their wretched and relentless screaming as their skin blisters and charles, they're kicking and writhing as their bones boil underneath their flesh

as being slowly cooked. It's a sight only something truly evil could receive joy from, and I for sure did not. I did try one last time to detect the scent of the long-head man to no avail, He'd gotten too far out of range. For a man who seemed so content at the prospect of his own demise, it was also a colossal coward at the same time. I figured I should get back to the spa with John Aria and the woman.

There was no use staying out here and attracting the attention of whatever called this particular area of the forest home, especially when I had a fresh body sitting at my feet. Although maybe this forest wasn't as populated with cryptids as I was imagining, considering it seemed like nothing had come to devour the remains of the woman Ariya and I had discovered. All the commotion and chaos had made me forget that I was hungry, so I picked up the headless corpse of Helena and brought it with me, carrying her lifeless body over my left shoulder, and ignoring the stinging sensation in my leg left over from the bite

I'd received during our battle. John would have to eat whatever was left over and share it with the woman, as not only was Helena's corpse mainly for Aria and I to feast upon, but it was highly unlikely John or the woman would be appetised by it anyway. Once I'd arrived back at the spa, John had let me in. A fire was going toward the middle of the mostly vacant floor. The woman we'd saved sat next to it, an old ragged blanket wrapped around her as she stared at the flames. Aria was back towards the far corner of the building, not wanting to be near the fire. The woman instinctively leaned back when she saw me enter, still slightly frightened at my presence. "'You save me,' she said with a whimper, darting her eyes between Ari and I.

"'But why? Don't things like you eat, folks?' "'Only the ones that are jerks,' John joked, attempting to lighten the mood. I kept my distance from her while John heated her up some of his foods, not wanting to scare her any further she was already extremely shaken from whatever those people had done to her the important thing was she was still alive and here to tell her tale it's okay they won't hurt you they're good i promise see the blue guy over there john asked rhetorically punctuating by pointing to me he saved my ass on multiple occasions his name's brawn we go back a decent bit He's really down to earth for a cryptid that can lift a dang helicopter over his head.

The woman raised a shaky hand into the air, keeping her gaze focused on the corpse of Helena I had hanging over my shoulder. Hey there, Bron, I'm Jenny. She greeted me weekly. Hello, I said bluntly, before motioning over to Aria. This is Aria, I followed up. She's a... Wendigo?

Jenny finished. Yeah, my pops used to tell me stories about Wendigos. Always kept my butt up in bed with nightmares. But you only seem vicious when you need to be. Can't believe you save me from those evil folks. John adjusted the blanket on the woman. They're both some powerful creatures, John announced. I've seen it firsthand.

But if you'll leave them be, you have nothing to fear. They only want to protect you, I promise. Ariya seemed even more pleased by what John had said than I did, considering it took him more time to trust and warm up to her. I signalled over to Aria to follow me outside, my plan being for the two of us to feast out there while the woman calmed down and sat with John. I laid the corpse down on the overgrown lawn in the front, all sorts of weeds and plants sprouting up from what used to be a parking lot. Aria and I began to tear into our meal, even at one point getting in a petty tug of war over the deceased creature's small intestine. I wasn't long before we'd reduced to lean her down to a stack of blood-covered bones. Only the tiniest strings of flesh and tendons remained on her body.

I stared off into the forest, the sun now starting to descend as evening approached. Aria turned to look at me, splatters of green blood covered the snout of her dear scorned. skull. Do you think we can trust her, bro? she asked, still finishing off the last bit of meat from a bone she held in her claws. I'm not sure, but I'm certain we can trust her far more than those depraved humans who were going to be roasting her alive. Ariah dropped the bone, turning and looking away as she did some. I'm sorry I didn't assist you at first, but the fire, the fire just, Arria said, sounding defa. defeated. Ah, you did well, I said, turning my head to look at her. You saved Jenny. That was a great

help in itself. If you can overcome your strongest bloodlust, you can overcome your greatest fear. I paused then, using my right claw to scrape out a piece of flesh stuck between my teeth. Did you kill the ones in black? I inquired. Some, Aria responded. Does it anger you, Braun? I remember what you said, the promise I was made to keep. No, I replied immediately. They are corrupted, even beyond the agency.

They are far more monster than man. I told you that killing those who incite conflict with you, or innocents, or exceptions. I was close to killing the leader myself. They are merciless, cruel, and nothing sure of evil. Arya pointed a fingernail towards my injured leg, which had already begun to heal. The pain was still there, however, and I did my best to put it off and focus on the discussion at hand. You're bleeding, Braun, she announced. It'll heal soon enough, but I thank you for your concern.

Aria looked forward as if to contemplate and think of what she was going to say next. There was a silence between the two of us, neither of us having much to say or talk about. It wasn't like my time with John. The two of us always usually had something on our minds that we wanted to speak about. But this was much different. Even outside I could hear the mumbles of John and Jenny inside, but purposely ignored it. However, it appears that whatever it was they talked about was important, as John had stepped outside to get Arria and I's attention.

Braun, Aria, he called to both of us. We've got to talk. The two of us swiftly followed John inside. He seemed to have a bit of haste in his step, clearly wanting to inform Aria and I of whatever it was as quickly as possible. Since he'd finished cooking for both him and Jenny, we put the fire out for the sake of Aria,

wanting to have her full attention on the conversation and not concentrating on avoiding the flames. Jenny, John said, inching his body close to hers. Can I tell them what you said to me? Jenny perked up and nodded, seemingly in a much better mental state than earlier. She looked around the circle at the three of us, becoming more comfortable in our presence little by little, mainly warming up to specifically me as I am the one she spent the least amount of time with at this point. I live on a farm, not far from here, she began.

It was given to me after my papa had died. He was killed by something, something that was no man, well, far from it. "'Did it look like me?' "'Aria interjected. "'Nah, I would have known if it was a Wendigo. "'This thing, the thing that killed my pops. "'It was one ugly son of a gun, "'but that's not what I'm here to tell y'all.'

"'I'm sorry,' John added. "'My daughter was taken from me. "'I know how it feels to lose someone.' "'Gennie looked to John. "'I did a smile emerge from her face. "'I bet you. she was a wonderful little ball of sunshine. She told him, causing John

to mimic her smile as if it were contagious. The black robe people, I said. Tell us about them. And now a threat to all of us and we need to learn more. Jenny locked her hands together, letting out a heavy exhale before she spun.

Well, going to town often, you know. Get in supplies and such. A few days ago I hauled myself over to the library. Just thought it'd be dandy to have a good book around when I was finished with the farm work. Anyway, I saw this older girl towards the bank. She looked real shaky and nervous, even frightened if I'm really pushing it. I tried to ask her what there was a matter, but she said it would only make things worse if she blabbed.

Blabbed about what? John asked, desperate for an answer. Something about these folks in the black robes. I don't know what they did at the time to scare her so bad. I offered to get the cops involved or find her some help. She begged for me not to do it. Said it would only stir the pop more and make her predicament worse. Told me she saw something she wasn't supposed to. They were coming for her.

Those folks in the ropes. Did you try helping her regardless of her and not desiring it? I questioned. Very much did. But they came for her not too long after that. I tried to stop them while they carried her poor butt out the back doors of the building and took me too, well, after I jumped in the mix. Blindfolded and gagged the both of us.

Said that if we told us all, they'd get our folks too. Make them watch us die before they did the same to them. They dried us out of there and killed the other girl. They were waiting a few days to cook me while I was still kicking and could feel it. The day came and they were going to do it. Well, that's when you're too strange but helpful friends came to my rescue. The four of us all shared glum. dancing our eyes around the room just before John raised the question we were all pondering about.

So, they're a cult. Do you know what it is they worship or want? He quizzed. Jenny shook her head vigorously, indicating what John said was far from crept. Nah, there's something more evil than that, more complicated. Their goals are bigger than just some demon worship or ritual. I reckon that. I reckon that. I'll be back faster than you can say the world cult, and in bigger numbers. I don't know much, but I heard a lot of voices while I was blindfolded. They definitely got more than just 13. The one with a long hair, I began. Do you know his name?

I heard a few of those weirdos say something like, Oobel, but I can't be too sure. Never really been too sharp with my memory ever since I got kicked by a cow when I was a little girl. Hmm. Ubeau The name kept repeating itself in my head I hadn't even known of his existence for more than several hours Yet his name still provoked a deep rage within me

The same feeling of rage Only one other name had ever been able to bring to the surface The four of us continued to converse throughout that evening Eventually night time came and John and Jenny went to sleep I was unable to fall asleep And get the couple of hours I usually desired and so I went outside, crawled up a nearby tree and simply looked out over the surrounding area. Maria came with me, she sat at the bottom, we exchanged a few looks as we both sifted through our own thoughts.

I thought about a lot, contemplated the events of my life over the last several months, wondered about where I would be if I'd altered certain decisions. I did not regret most of my choices, especially leaving behind my former life as what I'm amounted to being a crypted mercenary. But one thing is for sure, I know that there would eventually come a day where I'm not able to keep myself hidden from the world anymore. And on that same day, everything I know would be in jeopardy.

I thought back when this all started, the day I encountered the yellow tentacle monster. Through all his monologuing and rambling, there was one sentence that stuck with me the most. You are the material of a king, but continue to do you. play the role of a paw. I shifted my thinking over to Well, pondering as to where it is he could potentially be or what he was doing. I knew that first encounter would not be the last. He would

come back, the hatred in his eyes, the way he told Helena to kill me without hesitation, as if I were nothing more than a nuisance. I didn't fear him, no. I could tear his head from his neck without so much as grunting. Rather, I feared... what it is he might do to John or even Jenny in order to get to me. And not to mention Helena, yes, she was a bloodthirsty canine cryptid, but was in the same position I once was. That's why I attempted to speak to her at first, to inform her that things did not have to stay that way. She didn't have to be Ubel's killing machine, as I was the agencies. But in this world, not everyone can be saved. I wondered how many other humans or cryptids were

out there, being used as nothing more than simple assassins, lied to and manipulated by those who held power over them. Well, as I've said before, both man and cryptid can be monsters, and I hunt monsters. I'm a monster destroying evil. Something wants to stop me. Site 12, September 22nd, in 1989. Name, said the interviewer, his face steady, wanting to make sure every single detail he was about to put on record was correct. Dr. Athena L. West, head of the science division and current overseer of Project Emulate, I replied, adjusting my glasses.

Please explain the purpose of your experiment and project. He came back. Creating an intelligent artificial being with capabilities far beyond that of a human exoskelet, in order to be weaponized against unlikely creatures and entities. The interviewer looks up, seemingly confused and simultaneously apathetic at my explanation. Ms. West? Dr. West, I corrected, keeping my face firm as re-locked eyes. Dr. West, you have a name for this being you intend to create.

Subject 16A, I said quietly, tapping my shoe against the pristine white floor of the room. The sound echoing against the tile below. How far along are you in this project of yours, Doctor? Research and planning is complete. Soon we'll begin the manufacturing stage, as well as implementing a fail-saint. That is? The interviewer inquires,

licking his lips to punctuate. I stopped, adjusting my chair and shifting my posture. It's actually two. One is highly classified, and I will not allow it to be put on this record. I pronounced sternly, my tone making my intentions clear. Well, doctor, he began slowly, not even bothering to ask about the available failsafe as he let out a slow exhale. You have until the end of October to begin and finish the manufacturing stage.

Otherwise funding will be cut and the assets of your project will be seized. I stood up from my chest, slamming my hands down on the table in a furious eruption. That's absurd, I shouted. Do you have any idea how long that'll actually take? It's impossible, you numbsco. The interviewer slums back in his chair, seemingly unimpressed by my outburst of rain. I do not make the rule, he began, just before being swiftly cut off by yours truly. No, we need until at least the beginning of December to finish manufacturing.

This will all be worth it, I promise you. The interviewer adjusts a wrinkle in his suit, avoiding eye contact with me, as he's surfs through his mind for a reply. I'm not in control of the financing back in your project, Doctor. I'm only telling you what I've been told by my superiors. You can speak with the director of operations, as well as Mr. Jones, to figure out solutions. The deadline is the deadline, and that's that. With that, the man picked up his briefcase and quietly made his exit from the room,

leaving me behind in the silence of the sterilized expanse. I clenched my fists, my blood boiling as I gritted my teeth. I leaned over in my chair, aggressively unzipping my bag and pulling out a large sheet of paper, neatly rolled up within it. I set the scroll down, unrolled it, and smiled as I laid eyes upon its contents. A blueprint. A blueprint for Subject 16A. It was beautiful, truly magnificent.

I didn't care what the financial offices said. Soon this will become a reality. I'd prove those who doubted me wrong. I was sure of it, in the present day. Hey, I'm back, everyone. Came John's voice from below. I looked down from the tree from which I was perched. John and Jenny had both arrived back at the spa from going into town.

John had discreetly bought an old pickup truck off a farmer not too far from our location, out of sheer necessity, as well as a pump shotgun for Jenny. This way he didn't have to go through the actual process of buying, one from a store, which is an experience he'd made a miserable time recalling for the purpose of explaining it to me. John also explained venturing to an ATM to empty out a chunk of funds from his bank account, getting as much physical cash as possible, so there was a much smaller chance of his spending being traced. He went on about having to convince the farmer of letting him use the truck while he went to go get the cash to buy it. Ariah and I still venture out into the forest to hunt for food. Just as

night I killed a deer, one that possessed quite the muscular figure, all with powerful looking antlers. By appearance alone, I concluded he was an alpha male. Despite his best efforts, I decapitated him with one swift swipe of my claws, lilling his remains fall into my arms before I proceeded to carry him on my shoulders back to the spa. Ari and I ended up sharing the meat from the deer. Me and her had become much closer over the past week, especially since our encounter with Ubel and the black robe people. Jenny had become much more acquainted with the three of us as well, particularly John, she seems most comfortable around. That didn't mean she hadn't taken a liking to me and Arya as well. My popp's used to always take me down to the range, she said, gripping the shotgun

John had gotten her. Just never thought I'd be able to own one myself. John smiled, looking intently at Jenny as she posed with her new firearm. Well, after everything that went down last week, everyone here needs to be able to defend themselves until everything calms down. It's all about surviving for the time being. John turned over to Ari and me, darting his eyes both up and down the tree. Arias sat at the bottom, staring off into the distance and the forest ahead. I hear you. Pretty tough yourself, Doc, Jenny smiled. Being a scientist, don't make you no weakling.

John's face lit up at the compliment. He turned to look at it. at me, his expression becoming more neutral as if to signal it was time to get to work on something. Both John and Jenny went inside the spa. I crawled down from the top of the tree and gave Aria a glance, attempting to get her attention. Would you like to go inside? I inquired. Aria turned, her snout nearly making contact with my chest. I'd rather stay out here, she replied softly.

I like it outside better. I slightly lowered myself, letting my claws roll. dressed against the dirt on the ground. You did not break your promise if that's what you're pondering, I announced, causing Aria to snap her deer skull around in surprise. Do you think the black robes will come back? She asked with a tone that hinted she already knew the answer. Yeah, that's why we must be prepared. You, me, Dr. John and Jenny.

We'll have to fight sooner than we may anticipate, I replied. We should search for the chapel, Braun. the chapel Ubel Spokor. I stopped, staring off in the direction to the forest in front of us. A suggestion was plausible. Back with the agency, John and I were always on the defensive. Perhaps if we attack first,

we could put an end to this conflict before it escalated further. Maybe we should. But not without planning and preparation, I told her. First, we'll need to scout for the chapel. All of us should go, Arria added.

Then no one is for, vulnerable. Also, another intelligent point, one which I acknowledged. You're very smart, Arya, I said. To which she seemed pleased by, I could make out the muscles in her jaws shifting, like she was attempting to smile. Ariet and I went inside to inform John and Jenny of our idea. John had seemed to approve with a slight bit of hesitation. Jenny, however, objected heavily. That's a dummy's move, she exclaimed. By no means should we go sticking our noses right where they set up sharp. I know you're scared, John began.

After everything you went through with them, you'll have every right to be. But this might be the key to making sure we get them off our backs before they get the jump on us. Jenny's expression immediately became sour, as if John had asked her to antagonize a group of bear cubs with the mother nearby. I don't think you're getting it, she began. We've got to let them come to us. Then that would mean they have time to prepare. They interjected.

You can trust my judgment here, I assure you. The room fell silent. The four of us all contemplating our thoughts and ideas, figuring out what to say next. Listen, Jenny, John said, breaking the silence. We have guns for each of us, not to mention we have Braun and Aria on our side. If we play our cards right, it should be nearly impossible for us to lose, even if they do have more people. Well, from what Braun said, they don't sound like they have some huge arsenal.

They seem to fear and respect us, and with the exception of Ubo, I stated. We can take advantage of that and use it to our benefits. Jenny once again darted her eyes away from the rest of us, shaking her head from side to side as she considered the outcome of whatever it was she might say. Fine. But you must get going at night. She finally agreed. John nodded his head, happy that she was now on board.

"'Bron,' he called over to me. "'I want you to lead us. "'You got the most experience here out of anyone with this sort of thing.' "'I'll be up in the trees,' I replied. "'Ary will be watching our rear, preventing anything from sneaking up on us. "'John and Jenny shall be in the middle.' "'Aria shifted her stance, indicating she desired to add something to the discussion. "'If we encounter those things...

She paused. One's like me. Do not waste your supply. She nodded over at John and Jenny, referring to their bullets. She's right, I chimed in. Aria and I will deal with any cryptids, so long as they're not in a large gathering. We're not built to see well in the dark like you two, came John.

Maybe I can head back into town and get Jenny and I a couple of flashlights. We'll get some duct tape and attach them to our guns. That's not super ideal, but it'll have to do for now. Yeah, wise idea, doctor, I responded. I'll be honest when I say I could empathize with Jenny's hesitance. The black-robed people were still a new threat, one we knew quite little about. No opponent should ever be underestimated. But unlike with the agency, they weren't nearly as heavily equipped as far as weaponry guns.

Oh, we were still unsure of their numbers. But it was a risk that would be worth it in the end. My main source of second thoughts came from Uber. I could still remember those eyes of his, the eyes that were just as blue as my skin. First time I'd encountered Ubel. I hesitated for wait too long to kill him. But this time, I was going to make sure it didn't play out the same way. I refused to make the same foolish mistake twice.

I stated previously I was okay with Aria killing the Black Rove people due to their extremely depraved and petty nature. Now, seen as in the agreement of our promise, I'd said that, if killing a human and or a group of humans protected innocence, then it was justified. And ill awe if said humans were more monster than men. It had already proven themselves to be a great threat to innocent people, as well as making slaves out of cryptids, fate far worse than death. In my experience, that qualified them as corrupted beings, and therefore I wouldn't protest their deaths. I myself, however, didn't plan to kill most of them, just Ubel, the others I would simply incapacitate,

or knock unconscious, unless the situation had deemed it necessary for me to do otherwise. Tonight blood was likely going to be shed, but I knew that if it was in the name of saving more lives, then it was what needed to be done. Harriet and I had made a quick journey out into the forest that evening, killing a few smaller animals and feasting on them to make sure our hunger was in check. We didn't want the urge popping up again in the middle of tonight's dangerous journey. John and Jenny both had arrived back after a couple of hours of being in town. Getting their flashlights as well as small packages of food and other edible sustenance

to keep their strength high throughout the night. The four of us huddled around one of the tables inside the spa. All right, so I think what we'll do is take the truck along one of those dirt rows as far as we can into the forest, John announced. I'm not sure how deep it actually goes, but at least we won't have to be on foot the entire time. Ron, Aria, you two are both more than fast enough to keep up with the speed we'll be going at. It's mainly for Jenny and I's sake. That way, we also don't slow you guys down. I can assist with showing the way, Aria added in.

That's true. She'd seen how far they'd made it when they were retreating to the chapel with Jenny. I validated. I was too occupied with Helena to do so. John Smirk proudly, pointing at Aria. Okay, then I guess Ari will be given us directions We're on, I still want you up in front

In the trees, keeping an eye out for Anything that might be blocking our path or watching us Ariah can be by the driver's side door Stigling me where to go And Jenny? John said, turning his head You'll quite literally be riding shotgun He smiled Jenny chuckled as she held the barrel

Of her shotgun in front of her Still working on duct taping the flashlight to her The next hour, mainly Ariya and I waited for John and Jenny to be fully geared up. They brought back memories of being at the agency, waiting for all the personnel to get ready for a mission. I'd push those thoughts away. They finished after several more minutes of fiddling with the duct tape,

John with his assault rifle and Ariah with a pump shotgun. Flashlights equipped and dressed in dark clothing. Listen, I'm going to be serious with you all for a second. John announced as we all surrounded the pickup truck. This is dangerous. I won't lie when I say I'm having some second thoughts, but in the event we don't make it out of this with our blood pumping. I just want to say it's been an extreme pleasure to know the three of you, even if it's only been for a little while. I know, I know. Sounds corny, but I mean it. John then turned his gaze to me, taking a few steps closer in my direction as we locked eyes.

Ron, this all started with you. You helped me see the truth of my old job, my old life. You're far from normal or I. average, you've been more of a friend to me than any person ever has. We haven't known each other for long, but we've been through more together in the past nine months than most people have in a lifetime. I swear on my life that one day humanity will learn to accept you. I'll make sure they do. I'd lay down my life for you, Broncos, I know you'd do the same for me. My teeth gleamed in the moonlight as I smiled, my eyes pierced through the shadows. My night a vision kicking in as the darkness became more opulent. Well, you're an admirable land, John. I began.

You've helped me learn the ways of your species and what it means to be more than just a mercenary. The first human to show me true, unconditional kindness. And for that, I thank you. Jenny smiled, while Aria stared at us blankly. She comprehended the situation, but it had always been difficult to determine her emotional state from just visuals alone. Well, aren't she just both two peas and apart? She added in the last second. John's eyes darted back and forth as he got into the driver's side of the truck.

She only followed suit in the passenger seat. Arria and I rode in the back of the truck until we got to the dirt road we were planning to use in order to enter the forest. Going in the direction of where the chapel was supposedly located. We're getting close to the entrance. Get ready to hop out, guys. John announced, waving his hand out. the window to me and Arya. The rocks and soil crunched underneath the wheels of the truck.

I picked up the smell of blood and rotting flesh, only to find out it was a dead raccoon that had been laying on the road about 100 metres in front of us. Soon enough, we arrived at the forest entrance. Ariya and I leapt out from the back of the vehicle as it made contact with the beginning of the dirt park. As planned, Arias shifted herself over to the driver's side, running next to the truck as it trudged down the path. I dove over onto the nearest tree on the side of the road,

immediately scaling to the top and beginning to jump my way across each tree. Kept an eye out, making sure there was no one or nothing blocking the path. I also luckily didn't pick up any sense of cryptids or humans. Although a potent smell of pine made its way into my nostrils, despite the fact this forest lacked pine trees. I kept myself well ahead of the truck, which was only going at about 20 miles an hour, which is a speed I can more than quadruple when running on all fours.

Jenny kept her eye out the passenger window, keeping her shotgun held steady as she scanned the treeline. My night vision had fully kicked in now, so I was able to see a plentiful distance ahead of us. It shouldn't have been much longer before we reached the supposed chapel. Didn't do much talking or speaking back and forth. The truck itself was already making enough noise on the dirt. It would have been foolish to add to it.

Ariya kept pace with John and Jenny, pointing her snout in the direction she wanted us all to go. With only moments passing by, the same smell of pine from earlier started to intensify. The pure potency of it was ridiculously overwhelming. I could tell it was also bothering Ariya, the way she shook her head and she kept running, made it clear. Jeez, what's all that about? You don't see a lick of pine in these woods and smells like a dang retail store during Christmas. Jenny complained, attempting to keep her voice down. It was a steep incline not too far ahead.

I jumped down from the current tree I was in and sprinted across the ground instead. My claws giving me traction in the dirt as I dashed along the terrain. However, at the end of the incline, was a makeshift roadblock, an assortment of two fallen trees, torn up bushes, and a multitude of sticks and branches.

It was obvious this was meant to keep out any vehicles from entering this particular area. Ah, shit, John cursed as the truck slowed to a stop, just feet before the other. artificial obstacle. Ron, man giving us a hand. I stopped as well, rotating over to the road and shifting my way toward the driver's side of the truck, shooting Aria a glance. The both of us manoeuvred over to the blockage.

I began pushing one of the fallen trees out of the way and off the path, heaving it off of the road and letting it slowly make contact with the ground away from the path. Aria grabbed and tossed a bunch of the bushes and smaller items. When she got to the second fallen tree, however, she struggled to lift it off to the side, especially due to the fact it was considerably larger than the one I'd hoisted up on my own. I finished what I was doing and immediately came to her aid, moving towards the middle of the trunk and placing my claws underneath and beginning to lift with her. The weight of the tree was no match for our combined physical strength.

We both synchronized and carried the tree several feet from the path, turning it horizontally as we set it down, making sure to do so quietly and with calculated movements. Ariya turned, those sunken eyes looking directly into mine once again. Thank you, Braun, she said softly. You're welcome, we're a team, I responded, holding out my right hand in the air and spreading my fingers. Ari stood there, slightly confused, wondering what it was I was trying to convey with the movement. It's a high-five.

Dr. John showed me, I told her. Aria tilted her snout, raising her claw in the air and pressing it against mine, and proceeding to hold still. The area around us fell silent for a few moments, neither of us saying anything to each other. Just as I was about to inform her that a high-five was more of a quick slapping motion, John's voice broke through the trees in a loud whisper. Braun, Arria, he called out.

Come on, we've got to keep moving. he called out in a rushed sounding tone. Both of us quickly turned and headed back over to the truck as John and Jenny drove forward yet again. Instead of going back up into the trees, I kept myself on the ground, still running on all fours next to the passenger side of the truck, the site in which Jenny was seated.

She gave off the expression of being amused and entertained by watching me dash along the ground. Strong and fast, ain't you? she chuckled. Quite the athletes. We only drove for a few more minutes before the structure I had assumed to be the chapel came into view just up ahead. The building itself wasn't impressive

nor did it stand out much but it seemed like that was the entire purpose of its rather lacklusty exterior design. During some previous missions at the agency I've been sent after beings that resided in religious buildings or places of worship so I was familiar with the general idea and look of the chapel.

This one was made from mainly a simple stone brick, does spread all over its surface. A triangular-shaped roof crafted from will look to be polished oak wood, along with a small, white-coloured clock tower up sitting atop the roof. The lawn, just ten feet in front, consisted of a mostly deceased garden, nothing but small ferns and the leftover mass of dead plants as its contents. The trees closest to the actual building possessed no leaves as if winter had just passed, they were in the process of growing back.

Sniffed out for anything. Nothing new apart from the pine smell was picked up, which I was starting to become suspicious of, thinking it may be the presence of a cryptid nearby, even though I hadn't seen one visually. I signal for John and Jenny to stop the truck about 40 metres away from the chapel. So far there were no signs of the black robe people,

which confused all four of us, considering they were supposed to be here in high numbers. I did consider the possible. possibility of them hiding, or perhaps they'd fled after their encounter with Aria and I. I took another look at Jenny, this time being one of suspicion. Aria had brought up the idea she may potentially be untrustworthy, but then again the circumstances of her stumbling upon her made that seem highly unlikely. So for now I didn't second guess her intentions. Where are they? Aria asked Jenny, standing up tall as she scanned the area.

Jenny exited the truck, keeping her shotgun held tight as a confused look emerged onto her face, clearly off-put by the current conditions of the situation. Not a dang clue. Maybe they knew we were coming. Probably hauled their butts to wherever else they set shop up at. Well, they may have left some forensic evidence behind, John added. It's still worth checking out. Might even find out what their grand plan is.

The four of us began to march towards the same. structure, John inspecting his rifle and making sure it was ready to be used. Gonna be honest when I say I've shot lower caliber stuff before, nothing this high grade. So hopefully I can learn quickly if we get into trouble. We could always switch if you want to, Jenny replied mischievously, a tone of light sarcasm hidden beneath the request. Then, I heard it. Strange sound coming from below us in every direction. It was forceful.

could feel the vibrations of it at the bottom of my feet. I immediately began to think back to the yellow tentacle creature in the ground, making me act quickly to make sure my three friends didn't meet the same fate as the agents did at the time. Move, now, I commanded the group. But instead of tentacles bursting up from the earth, there was multiple entities all spread out around the general vicinity of the chapel, a humanoid in shape. That's where the similarities ended.

They possessed two arms and two legs Their skin was made up from distorted tree bark and grass Along with stiff pine needles running along the length of their exoskeleton Acting as a sort of defense mechanism They were completely covered head to toe by them All standing at around height of six feet Their faces were featureless Other than their movements and disturbing the ground

They themselves made no noise or sound at all No hair anywhere either on their head or body body, despite the pine needles sticking out from their skin, mimicking the appearance of it. They crawled and dug their way out of the soil from all around us. Had to be well over nine dozen of them emerging from the dirt. I'd consider the possibility that they were something the black-robed people had created or used to guard the chapel, and our presence in the area was what had awoken them. Get back to back, John demanded.

No, I protested, as the creatures rose from. further and further from the soil. Aria and I will lap around the area, drawing some of them away while you two use your firearms in order to eliminate as many as possible. As I'd finished my speaking, one of the entities had finished his ascent from below and sprinted at Jenny mercilessly, attempting to pounce on her. But she reacted quickly and fired her shotgun in retaliation,

blasting the head and torso of the creature, also causing thick, dark green blood to explode everywhere as a result. The creature made no cries or wails as it ran towards Jenny, or even up to the point it was obliterated by a shotgun. None of them made any verbal noises, in fact, indicating they were more unlikely incapable of feeling pain, or were just unable to express it. Okay, you two go now, John erupted, raising his rifle and beginning to fire into a small crowd of the creatures. It was taken aback by the recoil, but did his best to keep his feet planted firmly while operating the weapon. luckily they weren't very durable nor did they appear intelligent they more or less seemed to be a part of a hive mind they were still fast though aggressive and ruthless and not to be underestimated especially when in plentiful groups like this both john and jenny stood back to back as they fired their weapons the sound of bullets and slugs tearing through the creatures they ran towards the both of them the numbers only seemed to multiply as time went on and soon there be too many for just those

to handle, even with their fire-owls. Ariette and Ice printed off in opposite directions, bringing about 30 of these entities each with us. Although they were no match for our speed, they didn't give up and mercilessly pursued us nonetheless. I made a circle around the area, keeping them in a sort of train-like formation as they grouped up closer and closer together. I read it myself as it came time to start eliminating as many of them as I could in order to thin their numbers. I picked up two of them, one in each group, and I picked up two of them, one in each claw and slammed them together so hard that their heads had been obliterated by the force. The others viciously jumped into my mass and attempted to dogpile me, to which I reacted

by throwing off as many as I could. One in particular had wrapped himself around my left shoulder. I quickly pulled him off, threw him to the ground and stomped his head with my right foot, the dark green blood coating my toes and heel as a result. After that I dropped down and ran forward a little more, just enough to give myself a window to kill a few more of them. I still hear the sounds of both John and Jenny's weapons being fired, signaling they were still busy with the ones converging on them. However, I hatched an idea while surrounded by some of the nearby trees. I turned back to the creatures. They continue to stumble and trip as they ran towards me, which is exactly what I wanted. Stood right by the largest tree near me and simply waited,

making sure to time it just right. The creatures, now only about 50 feet away, seemingly sped up in their attempt to get back after me. I turned and began to slash my claws through the trunk of the tree. Multiple times I went back and forth with both my left and right. The tree now slowly began to tip, only a few seconds sooner and it would have fallen on its own. Rotating my head back one last time,

and the monsters which I dubbed the pine runners, were now just about in range, right where I needed them to be. Grouping closer together as well, not in single file, but still enough for my plan to work. I dashed my way around the tree, the opposite side of where the creatures were coming from. Place both hands on the trunk, heaving it forward and pushing, the weight at the top, propelling the momentum of the rest of the trunk below,

was if swiftly descended towards the ground. The pine runners didn't even look up or notice the tree as it fell down, and violently crushed the majority of them, evidently too focused on their objective to care or notice. There were still four of my particular group of pine runners left, the ones who'd gotten lucky enough to have not been flattened by the tree. I leapt onto the fallen tree trunk and sprinted across it as I focused on one of the creatures to my right.

I leapt off and quickly grabbed him, following it up by throwing him to my right. He collided with a sizable branch on the collapsed tree, being impelled right through the centre of his torso, along with smaller branches piercing his arms and legs as well. The other three lunged their way onto me, one of them latching himself onto my back, to which I countered by reaching over and burying my claws through the bag of his head,

causing him to go limp and slump up. The remaining pair jumped onto my chest and torso area, and I reacted without hesitation and grabbed one by the leg, slinging him through the air and slamming him hard enough onto the ground to destroy his head and upper chest. The final pine runner violently kicked and thrashed as it tried to stay clenched around me. I pulled him off, holding him by each arm with one of my own, then proceeded to tear off his right arm.

He seemed completely unbothered by this and continued his attack. I took the now separated limb and swung it downward in a throwing-like motion, bashing him at the top of his head and causing the limb to sink past what looked to be his chin and into the base of his neck. to the ground motionless, that same moss-coloured blood seeping its way into the dirt below. There's too many! I heard John desperately shout from where he and Jenny were, though still defending themselves. Without hesitation, I immediately dropped down and sprinted across the area.

John and Jenny were now attempting to fight the creatures in melee form, confirming they'd run out of ammo. I also didn't spot the flashlights on their guns anymore, meaning they'd taken them off in order to convert them into more useful blunt weapons. Jenny ferociously slammed the butt of her firearm into one of the creature's heads, causing some of its blood to explode on her face. Take that, you wakkin rosebush, she taunted, trying to keep her hopes high. John performed a similar move, reaching forward and jamming the barrel of his rifle into the creature's forehead as he groaned. "'Get the hell away from me!' he snarled unforgivingly. The remaining 40 or so creatures began to surround John and Jenny, and without their guns, they wouldn't stand a chance. against such a high number of them.

I ran forward. Aria was coming as well, establishing that she'd finished dealing with her batch of pine rummers as well. Two of the beings leapt onto John, causing him to stumble and fall backward. He punched and kicked to fight them off as they began to overwhelm him. Jenny hit one of them in the back of their head with her shotgun, but was immediately taken to the ground by a few more of the creatures,

beginning to scream and kick as they tightened their grip around her. No, no, no! She bellowed, terrified and desperate to get out of her lethal predicament. Ariet and I quickly got to work, grabbing and throwing the entities off both John and Jenny. Ariet even tossed one up in the air and proceeded to slice him, clean in half with her claws. This time I was the one that demanded that all four of us huddled in a circle as the remaining pine runners lunged and sped toward us. He began to work as one, John and Jenny bashing the creatures with their weapons, and Ariet and I slashing and slicing them to pieces with our claws,

and ripping them apart with strength. At one point I even witnessed this aria bite the head off of one unfortunate pine runner and spit the remains of it out. One of the creatures in particular jumped up around my chest. I grabbed him by both the leg and opposite shoulder, applying force and tearing him completely in half. Jenny swung her shotgun upwards and nearly not one of the creature's heads clean off. John tackled one to the ground, getting on top of him

and driving the barrel of his rifle into the creature's head yet again. Ariya tossed an additional pine run into the air and slashed him clean up the middle, along with tearing the heads off of another two of them. Soon, their numbers began to dwindle. We were winning. It wouldn't be long before we'd put an end to the small army. With less than a dozen left, I continued to slice and tear my way through the creatures. Ariah did as well.

John and Jenny huffed and groaned as they began to grow fatigued, exerting themselves to their breaking points in order to stay alive and in the fight. I bowed into the small group that remained, slashing and throwing the creatures to the side, as well as picking them up and bashing them into each other as makeshift melee weapons, finishing off the remaining pine runners. The four of us took a moment of silence as we looked around, making sure we'd done away with every last one of our attackers. Ah, piece of cake, John quipped,

right before coughing up a small patch of blood onto the grass. on one of the corpses below. My lord, are you all right? Jenny kneeled down, her shirt torn as a few strips of her blood stained the material. I marched over to John, holding out a claw and nodding for him to grab it. Hey, thanks, Braun, he said gratefully.

Never thought I'd get to kick some ass with you like that. We were successful together, I replied. All of us. Jenny smiled as I helped John to his feet. Aria used a claw to wipe some of the remaining blood from the pine runners off of her snouts. I was honestly pretty terrified for a second there. John followed up. I genuinely thought Jenny and I were gone us once they started dog pines.

Try to get to the truck and maybe run some of them over, but they just wouldn't let up. Well, if one of us perishes, then we all do, I counted. I still don't think we got the right idea being out here, but might as well click our heels and keep moving. Went through all that trouble now. John responded to her proposal with an agreeing chuckle, attempting to break the tension. Oh yeah, just a little trouble.

No different than forgetting something at the grocery store. Ari and I simply stared while Jenny laughed. John seemingly pleased with that outcome. And we should enter the chapel now, I said, motioning for the other three to follow. Ariah moved in front and stood next to my side. The two of us leading the others once again as we marched forward. You fight well, I complimented her.

So far you've kept your promise. And honestly say, I've grown to admire you very much. Arya stumbled in her step for a second as if she'd intended for me to stop as well, but kept going once she saw I wasn't going to. Oh, you really fight great too. I saw you with that tree, very smart, she complimented in return. Once we'd all made it to the front door of the chapel, We realised that all the chaos of everything that went down had distracted us from the fact that the main handles of the door were wrapped in chains.

I turned, bringing my claws out and slicing the chains with one quick motion, to which Aria assisted by pulling them off the door. Before we actually opened the door, however, told the other three to stand back, in the event the black robe people were either waiting to ambush us, or they had other mindless cryptids inside being used as a guard. bearing both sides of the door, pull back and tore it right off its hinges, tossing it over John and Jenny's heads.

I readied myself for an attack immediately, drawing my claws and shifting my posture. Nothing came. Instead, the chapel was mostly vacant, nothing but seats and torn apart books that were spread out amongst the interior. It didn't seem like a place anyone had been in recently, which begged the question of whether or not the black-rope people were lying.

We're safe to enter, I told everyone, being the first one to step inside as the group followed. All sorts of spider webs and dust had found their home inside, speaking of which one spider in particular was around the size of my hand, seemingly accrupted in itself. A black, hairy and unsettling eight-legged beast. He scurred out the door, causing Jenny to frantically scream as it brushed past her foot. Come on now. you can't all tell me something that big is just normal, she complained. After everything that just went down, it's honestly welcome at this point, John counted. We continued deeper into the chapel towards the altar, on top of which sat an open book.

This one much more intact than the others and looking to be well over a thousand pages in length. As I've said previously, in the past I've been sent to deal with sinister cryptids relating to religious origins, possessions of people such as churchgoers, priests, nuns and reverence. While I was far from knowledgeable on the details of it, I was at least somewhat familiar with the basic ideas and structure. This chapel, however, didn't appear Christian in any way. There wasn't a single cross to be found. Instead, there were sculptures lining the walls

of what looked to be a horrifically designed girl with monstrous features. They weren't well crafted, but the concept they attempted to convey was clear. She had the general body of a young human girl, but on the spots of her build where they should have possessed some hands and feet, were the heads of what looked to be other women, some older and some younger. In total, she had possessed five heads. Only one had their eyes open, the one atop her neck, which was also the most normal head of the five.

Although I used that term in the context of what's normal for humans. The other foreheads at the ends of her legs and arms were heavily burned and charred as if they'd been freshly retracted from a fire, which immediately raised concern from me, considering the circumstances which we'd found Jenny in. None of us were able to get any words out for the time being. We all simply stood there, staring down the main statue as it almost stared back at us. An idea clicked in my head as I remembered what Gubel said to the other black-rope people as Aria and I had come to rescue Jenny. We can't let him destroy what we're trying to create.

Eventually, Jenny had broken the unforgiving silence. I could sense that she was in discomfort. It wasn't physical, not in the slightest. Never read a thing about this in the Bible, she said, intrigued yet repulsed by the sculpture. Is that what they worship? John chimed in. They all gazed at me, nothing but morbid curiosity

and sheer intrigue in their expressions. I darted my eyes over to the open book on the lector. All sorts of strange word combinations and numberings covered the two visible pages. No, I said, responding to John's inquiry. No, it's what they're trying to create. Bard 7. I'm a monster far from home. I must fight to return.

Site 12. February 7, 2002. Good morning, you're Dr. West, correct? set the man behind me, his hair done flat with a gel. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am. I'm assuming you're my new colleague, I replied, rubbing my eyes as I let a yawn escape my mouth, exhausted from the previous night's work. Well, I wasn't hired to mop floors, he joked.

His chuckled fading as he saw I was unamused by his attempt at humor, along with the grip on his suitcase tightening. Well, I know you already went over this with the director of operations, but please tell me your full name and then hand me proof of your credentials and schooling. Just want to be thorough, I followed up. The man frantically reached inside his suitcase, pulling out a slightly crumpled stack of papers, as well as multiple college degree certificates. The name's Dr. Jonathan R. Dilliard.

He nodded with a smile. I scanned his papers and identification, finding myself to be slightly impressed. when I saw he detained four PhDs, only one less than I had. But I was still confident my intellect was superior. Well, it seems like you got your life together, I proclaimed. You are aware that this job will require you to spend extended periods of time away from your home and relatives. Immediately Jonathan's face sunk as if I'd just informed him that I was going to drop a brick on his foot. Sudden sorrow was obvious, not that he made any attempt.

to conceal it. Um, that's actually kind of why I'm here, he responded, scratching his head awkwardly. My ex-wife doesn't really want a thing to do with me, and I lost my daughter recently. Just thought that maybe being productive could help give me a distraction. I really needed it at the moment. The room fell silent between the two of us, Jonathan seemingly trying to hold back his tears in his eyes.

I didn't feel like having him get said tears all over the sterilized. its floor and so I attempted to intervene, stopping him from letting the waterworks out in the lab. Sorry to hear that, I replied quickly. I can show you to your station over here, Jonathan. He smiles, his mood seemingly lifted as he held out a hand for me to shake. My distraction worked for the time being. You can just call me, John. Makes more sense and it's quicker. What are we working on today, doctor? The present day. Aria John, Jenny and I all exited the chapel. The four of us confused and shocked by what we'd seen.

John had brought the thick book that was resting on the lectern with him, wanting to use it and study it as evidence. We should get back to the spar, he announces. See if we can make more sense of what's in here. I'm starting to wonder if we're getting played, Jenny adds. Her implication clear. Well, if it's true, we need to find and stop them before they finish their creation. This five-headed witch could have unparalleled power.

Even too much for me and Aria to fight, I chimed in. Where did they go? Ariya inquires, shifting her gaze to the three of us. Not a clue, Jonathan responds as we approach the truck. All I know is that it doesn't feel right that they would have left this book behind. Wouldn't that mean they've already finished what they were doing? What if this five-headed witch already exists? Ah, we must deal with it when necessary. necessary, I said, climbing back up into the back of the truck.

But now we must prepare for the coming conflicts. Jenny, you want to drive? John asks, shifting over to the passenger side door. Sure, don't see why not, she smiles, flashing John an excited grin. With Aria and I in the back and Johnny and Jenny in the front, we begin the short journey back to the spa. John reading the book as we go along, striving to learn as much as he could. Hey, I found some pages with actual coherent writing. Turns and sticks his head out the window toward Arya and me. Well, it's not completely perfect by any means,

but by that and the combination of the illustrations. It appears that this five-headed witch is made from a deceased girl's corpse, and then four of the heads of grown women are added on. The heads added cannot be related to the main head by blood. Ooh, sounding pretty freaking weird. I'd heard about nothing like that before. No tales in the Bible or anything I've read. Jenny furthers.

John then turned and spread the ends of the book wide, attempting to show off its contents to both Aria and I. He was right, and the illustration on the current page depicted a drawing of two different women being burnt alive on metallic slabs over a fire, confirming that Jenny was supposed to become a victim when we stumbled upon her and the Black Rove people. Although, particularly,

that Aria and I had suspicions about Jenny's integrity, It's now clear to both me and her that she truly was close to ending up as nothing more than a pawn of the black-robed people's evil scheme. Why create a witch? Aria asks, also attempting to get a good look at the book. Still not completely understanding its contents. I'm not sure, John responds.

I just know it's not going to be good. Maybe it's to get a leg up on the government or something. Surely they're not the only ones who know about what they're doing. Well, they got quite a reputation for using the things that go bump in the night as their slaves. You think they might want to do that with her when she's brought to life? Jenny proposed. Even she seemed disturbed by the words that left her mouth. More than likely, after Helena and the Pine Runners, they'll use and manipulate any creature they can find. We need to stop them as soon as possible, I answer.

Whoa, the pine runners. Even those things through the chapel? I like that name. Why need you tell me soon, abroad? John asks as a smile emerges, reaching out of the window in order to give me a fist bump, which I had now become more accustomed to. We were occupied, I responded slowly.

Both of us separating our knuckles. John retracts his torso back inside the truck. Aria and I simply exchanged looks as the vehicle bumps and thrashes along the rough path. Braun, she says, her snout still possessing remnants of green mossy blood from the encounter with the pine runners. Yes, I reply,

my claws resting against the outside of the truck. Do you think that one day, we'll find a place to live forever? No more running or fighting, only when we need to eat. I'm not certain, I begin. We have issues that need to be dealt with, and until they are, they'll follow us no matter how far we run or journey.

Only when we finish dealing with these problems can we truly live without having to constantly be on guard. It's a frustrating revelation, yes, but it'll be one day worth all of this bloodshed. Aria then raises her right claw in the air, signaling for me to do the same. I lift my right arm, spreading my fingers, and place my claw against hers. The both of us don't utter a single word for a length of several seconds. We simply stare, not moving a muscle or an inch, sitting there as if we were nothing more than trees. Hey, you two want to hop out and stretch your legs, go ahead, we're almost there.

John's voice slices through the silence, causing both of us to snap to attention. Turn my head to the right, and immediately something feels off. The spas coming into view as we approach it And from the outside it seems just as how we'd left it But I begin to pick up a multitude of foreign sense Sense that were not previously present near this area Not long after I get wind of it Arria notices it as well

Her posture shifting into a more combative stance It was easy to conclude that she was becoming defensive Wait, I tell her quietly before leaning over towards the cab of the pickup Let me go in first, I say as Jenny finishes parking the vehicle. Something is wrong. We are not alone. What? John inquires with a potent desire for an answer.

Just wait out here, all of you, I command quietly, slowly inching my way out of the back of the truck on all fours. I then begin to crawl my way up the front steps to the spa entrance, keeping as quiet as possible, not even letting my claws click as I move. The sense become much more potent as I approach closer to the main door. I can hear breathing. The breathing of multiple entities. One of them in particular is heavier than the rest.

I still don't stand once. I'm just inches from the door. No. Instead, I continue to crawl, placing a fingernail on the tip of the doorknob. Three, two, one. Immediately I grabbed the door and tore it off with light. speed, dashing inside and being met with the sight I dreaded the most. The sight that I knew was only going to end in friction. There stood the black-robed people, all in a line formation

staring at the door. Standing in the middle of them was Ubel, holding a torch. He seemed quite pleased, like a malevolent cryptid who just caught a prey item. I wasted no time and began to lunge at them, only to be blasted backwards by some strange, unseen force, and then. and slamming into the wall next to the main door. Rocks and marble breaking apart from my impact. Then something completely unexpected took place. The material from the wall began to move, almost like chains, wrapping themselves around my arms

and keeping me restrained and unable to carry out my vicious attempt. My thought and roared as I attempted to struggle free, but something was increasing the strength of the material, preventing even me from breaking free of its holes. It wasn't simple marble or brick, not anymore. There was some sort of matter manipulation going on, but I was unaware of what was doing it. Jenny, Aria, and John all darted inside.

Aria lunged at Ubel, but was quickly stopped when Ubel waved the torch in her face, causing her to stumble back due to her fear of fire, meet the same fate as me. The floor rose up and wrapped around her limbs. She fought, struggled, and howed, same as me, but it was just as futile, now also being prohibited from moving. I must say, all quite the formidable bunch, Lubel began, a sickening laugh accompanying

his sentence. My spies have told me you defeated all of our guards at the chapel. Very impressive. But you're all still a bunch of pretentious fools, thinking you can defeat us so easily. You all know nothing. John looked over at me, his face boiling red with rage. The vessels in his forehead threatened to burst with every exhale that escaped his nostrils. This him, he asked, his voice restrained to keep what was left of his composure intact. I nodded my head to answer as the makeshift chains tighten themselves even harder, pressing itself harshly against my tissue and bones.

I believe we are yet to meet. I'm Ubel, he taunts, shifting his attention toward John. It's a pleasure. I'll kill you all. Aria erupts, still attempting to fight to get free. A struggle proving no more effective than mine. Oh, believe me, I don't doubt that, Ubel responds, considering what you did to some of my brothers and sisters when we attempted to take the girl. He punctuates, pointing at Jenny to clarify. Leave us well alone. We didn't do nothing to you. You all are nothing but a group of wusses, she countered.

Then, as if on cue, about a square metre of the ceiling above crashes downwards, creating a dusty hole. Through it came another entity, one that was unlike any I'd seen before. Slowly levitated downward, demonstrating it had the ability to fly. Everyone's eyes widened at the sight in front of us, especially John, who proceeded to fall to his knees out of sheer emotional agony. It was the five-headed witch. There in the flesh. The black-robed people were successful.

They'd finished their horrific creation. We were too late to stop them. Nalina, what have they done to you? John cried out, reaching his hands outward as he tried to get back to his feet, tears beginning to burrow into his sweater. I soon made the connection. The main head at the top, the one controlling the others of the five-headed witch

was John's previously thought to be deceased daughter, Nelida. Her hair was much more torn and loose than what I assumed it was when she was still human. Her flesh appeared to have grown reptilian-like scales. Her teeth had barely remained intact as I spotted far too much of her gums. While the eyes on her head had glowed a light, lime green color, the others did not.

In fact, none of the other heads seemed. have been functioning at all, which begged the question of why they were there to begin with. Even through all these monstrous changes, John was still able to recognize her. Ubel slowly marched toward John as he sobbed there on the floor, remaining confident in his every step, handing the torch off to another Black Road member as he bent down to speak to this distraught man. Seems you to have been reunited. Don't be careful of the wish, though, she.

He's quite radioactive, he proclaims with a cackle. Not a single ounce of remorse or empathy in his tone. Without warning, John lunges upward and punches Ubel in the chin, then attempting to follow it up by choking him only for Ubel to viciously knee John in the stomach and send him back onto the ground. Ubel was a much bigger man than John, his blows more powerful, yet his movements were all so quicker, much more calculated and coordinated. John vomited a bit onto the floor as a result of the blow, right near Ubel's foot.

I'm going to fucking kill you, he declares relentlessly, despite his circumstances, proceeding to use his sleeve to wipe some of the leftover vomit away. You will leave him be, I shout, or I will devour you in front of your men while you're still alive. I punctuate this by motioning. my gaze towards Ubel. Jenny attempts to join in and help, only to be slammed against the ceiling by the five-headed witch's telekinetic abilities and knocked unconscious. Pick up the sound of something snapping inside her as she collides back with the floor.

Ubel wipes the blood from his mouth as he turns to walk away. John attempts to get up and lunge at him once more, but is quickly met with Ubel's elbow to the face, cartilage in his nose twisting as the impact takes place. place. Whel then turns and grabs John by his shirt collar, raising him up into the air as he spits to the side. You are so lucky I can't kill you, he snarls. I can't understand how you is stupid enough to believe me when I said we'd never met before. Well, not personally anyway. But I know you remember that night, John, that night when she was taken. That was me, it was us. I'd send Helena to do the job.

Of course she was only a puppy in comparison to what she was before your hideous blue friend over there murdered her. Slightly different fur color and everything. Ubel rambled on. John cut Ubel's sentence short as he proceeded to spit a collection of blood in his face. Ubel recoiled, pulling his fist back and delivering another blow. This time out of genuine rage rather than self-defense. John's completely day.

head, slowly leaning from side to side on his neck as he tries to maintain consciousness. But through all his abuse and being beaten, he does not bow or yield once. Mubel drops down John onto the floor, causing him to groan as his back makes contact. Blood still poured from his nose and mouth as his left eye began to swell up. His fingers twitching as if he wants to grab onto something. With John in his nearly unconscious state, Ubel turns his attention. over to me. Walking in front of where I was restrained with a smug smile spread across his face, straining his neck to look up at me, meet my eyes with his. I can't even begin to tell you how

truly worthless you are. I will avenge Helena and make sure you die the most horrific death possible. I will... He suddenly pauses an expression of sinister mischief emerging. Something in Ubel seemed to snap, some sort of revelation. or corrupt plan. His silence to withhold the information was maddening. But I know he only wanted me to grow more angry, to prove his point that I was nothing more than a merciless killer that acted only on instinct and instinct alone.

Actually, he says much more quietly. I have a much better idea. He turns around, putting his arms behind his back once again. He marches over to the five-headed witch, who is still levitating slightly in the air in front of, the other black robes. Ubel signals and the two lock eyes. She gives off a slight bow of submission,

conveying that Ubel was truly the one in charge. Do what she pleased with Miss Jenny, but we need John alive. He's your lifeline and anchor, but banish the blue one in the Wendigo to the annihilation realm. They are two savage monsters after all, and it's where they belong. But, master, the witch replies, her voice echoing off the walls of the spars, the words leave her lips.

This will awaken me. It requires an extensive amount of power. Are you sure you want to do this? Mubel immediately scrunches his features, indicating he's displeased with her response. I know that. Now, do it, he commands. They are nothing but three. and should be dealt with as such.

Don't be such a whiny coward. No, do not listen to him. I begin to erupt now. He's a liar, deceiver, and is using you. I know the experience all too well. Once you have no use to him, he'll throw you out. Cast you aside. You're nothing to him.

You must believe me. Five-headed witch simply ignores me, as most lions would ignore insects. She raises her arms into the air The heads on the ends of each Beginning to open their mouths A sort of purple energy beam spills out One beam going to me and the other to Aria

Quickly engulfing us like flames around a burning tree Goodbye Fawn was it Ubel asks sarcastically Waving his right hand from side to side As he keeps that same arrogant smirk Plastered across his face Every ounce of me wanted to dare

his head right from his shoulders, making him experience the pain he'd cause so many others, so many innocents, both man and crypted alike. The purple beam soon surrounds my vision, in fact. It stimulates all my senses. I can hear screams, battle cries, shrieks of terror, and existential dread. The wails of those who have fallen victim to fatal wounds, be it from torture or battle. I see all across space and time now. Time lines of not just earth. Earth, but other planets, civilizations and societies. Wars, epic conflicts and conquests. Diverse leaders marching and commanding their armies. A slaughter of millions. Billions, even

trillions, all at once. Smell the scent of alien creatures, blood, the smoke of fires. Fires started by large-scale destruction and mayhem. Chaos spreading its way across the cosmos like a plague, tearing through worlds and planets in its wake. Soon enough, it all does come to a slow, fading end. I find myself looking at what appears to be some sort of sandstone floor. My arms and legs still unable to be moved. I tilt my head up in front of me. I see a wall made from the same material with a multitude of weapons hanging from it.

Swords, shields, all kinds of alien-shaped blades and instruments of war, some of which contain dry blood on them, due to the diversity of the country. colors seemed to be from more than one entity. On the wall where I was, there was a small lineup of alien creatures chained up against it, including me, some sort of blight blue energy field surrounding the chains, conveying the idea that breaking out of them wasn't a matter of simple strength, and a few of them wrapped around both my arms and legs, giving me the answer as to why I wasn't able to mobilize. Three creatures with me consisted of first a large brute of some sort. He was even taller than me, significantly taller,

reaching around nine feet. His arms alone were the size of a fit human mouse thighs. His skin was a dark green rock texture, some parts of it glowing a lighter green through the cracks. He possessed no hair anywhere. His fingers were long, far out of proportion with his hands, but they weren't claws exactly. They looked much too dull. Not had it seemed necessary for him to have them. his most noticeable feature was the fact he had four mouths, two where his cheeks should have been, and one in the front and back of his head, the mouth in the front sitting below a strange display

of one single yellow glowing eye. The entity's second furthest down, right next to the four-mouth brute, was what appeared to be a snake at first. His skin being a similar pattern to that of a boa constrictor from Earth, and he was seemingly no different other than its enormous size. However, I noticed on the end of his tail set a trident formation of biological blades made from his own exoskeleton. On his sides closer to his head, he had two almost human hands jetting out. They were almost the correct shape but were in the colors of his skin. His mouth was covered by a strange-looking device, preventing him from opening it or speaking. Finally, there was the being who sat next to me.

She was humanoid, actually looking somewhat like a younger version of Dr. West. although much taller, probably approaching seven feet, only a few inches off from Aria's height. But the more supernatural aspects of her came into view quickly. She transformed her left arm into a blade made completely from blue fire. When I say blue fire, I truly mean the entire flame itself was a slightly dark, deep ocean-colored blue. She sliced and swung her arm at the energy chains, keeping her restrained. Her power seemed to have no effect on them whatsoever. They were clearly made to withstand attacks from an army of creatures.

If you've truly improved these restraints' integrity, she complains. It was not like this last time. Arya, I called through the chambers. Are you, are you all right? The blue-flamed woman looked over at me curiously, tilting her head as if to examine my figure, completely intrigued by my presence. And who might you be?

Where are you from? She asks, putting her flames away and transforming her arms back into what they were previously. Braun, I told her, haste present in my tone. My name is Braun. I need to get back to Earth. I need to help my friends. I cannot stay here. The blue-flamed woman raises an eyebrow, looking at me up and down as she bites her lip.

You are better looking than the rest. Is this Aria your lover? And what is this earth you speak of? She continues to probe, sending me a never-ending barrage of question after question. Earth is my home, I reply. I need to depart from here. Would you know how to escape? Only the orchestrator decides if anyone leaves this place.

You must fight for what you want here in the annihilation realm, Braun. I've been the last remaining champion more than once, and I don't intend to be defeated now. Just as I was about to question her, on who this mysterious orchestrator is, two more entities filed into the room. Both the same height around seven and a half feet tall, bulky and well-built. I assume them to be guards of some sort. They both possessed a red, marble-textured skin with no eyes anywhere to be seen.

They wore slick silver armour and carried large spears, electricity flowing at the very top of each. You could smell what seems to resemble smoke coming from their bodies, like they just escaped a raging fire. The next match will begin shortly. You four will be up. Please give us your contender names, the guard on the left requests. The four-mouth brute immediately roars,

wanting to be the first to answer. His base nearly shaking the structure itself. Janjin. The snake beast says nothing, his mouth still covered with the device, so the guards simply assign him a name instead. You will be known as constrictor, they say simultaneously. So it was intelligent to assume it had been his first name.

The blue-flamed woman jumps eagerly, rattling her restraints in her fit of joy. The guards don't reciprocate, of course. She is alone in her mental prosperity. This doesn't bother her one bit. I am Thor. She vocalizes rather loudly. You two should be aware of this by now. Then the guards finally turned their attention to me.

Despite lacking discernible eyes, it was clear they could see me. They were pointing their heads exactly in my direction. It seems their vision was functioning supernaturally. But this wasn't something I hadn't seen before. And you, the one on the right demands. Be quick about it. The current match is almost over. The orchestrator wants you all to be in on time for the event.

Let me go now. I need to return to earth, I snarl, wrestling with the restraints. The guards don't react to my outburst, merely standing there like statues as I attempt to lunge forward at them. Fine, beast, the left one begins. We shall give you a name. You will be... Thor interrupts the guard, cutting him off swiftly before his sentence could be completed. His title is brawn.

Respect it. she commanded the both of them. The guard to the right walks down to Genjin, holding out his electrical spear and placing it against the energy chains restraining him. After a couple of seconds, the chains deactivated, and Genjin stepped away from the wall. Walking over to the weapons wall and beginning to equip armor, as well as a curved sword, you could determine a lot about it being by how they chose their weaponry. Guards repeated the process with both constrictor and Thor, following Genjin, lead to go over to the weapons wall and gear up.

The guards get to me, placing their spears against my chains and letting the current flow. It bursts and crackles for a few seconds before the chains were loose and I was free. Foolish move on their end. That's what I thought at the time anyway. Immediately, I attacked the guard to the left, slashing through his chest plate piece with one of my claws before following it up by grabbing him and lifting him high into the air at a rapid speed. causing his head to go straight through the ceiling of the room,

then crash back down, rubble from the impact rolling around on the floor beneath us. Where is Aria? The Wendigo. I start to order. Lack of patience ever so abundantly clear as I went on. My tirade is cut short by the unbearable sensation of thousands of volts of electricity entering my veins. I roar and shout in agony as I am electrocuted, bearing my teeth as I attempt to grip the nearest object with my claws, only for there to be nothing to grab onto. In a temporarily weakened state, the other guard bends over and lifts me up off the floor,

putting me every shoulder as the other creature's watch, shaking their heads in disapproval at what I'd done. Save your strength for the annihilation arena, Blue Man. Genjin booms proudly as he puts the chess plate of his armor on. Usually I wouldn't have been able to shake off the wound by now and get back to the fight, but the agency had specifically designed me to be vulnerable to electricity as a contingency. So therefore my healing process took a little bit longer when it came to this method of being wounded. His name is brawn, thought erupts at Genjin, transforming both her arms into her signature blue fire rods, shooting him a threatening look after doing so.

But I figured that Genjin, was right. Fighting the guards would only create unnecessary chaos. The one I needed to find was the orchestrator. He seems to be the one in power from the words of the others, and also the one that could help me get back to Earth, back to where I so desperately needed to be. Not to mention, they probably have enough forces to overwhelm me if I tried. All of this was rather crass, but if it was what I needed to do in order to save my friends, it had to be done by any means. necessary. I demanded that the guard carrying me dropped me, to which he obliged, seemingly doing it according to the protocol rather than his own personal concern for me, not that I expected it to exist.

Through what resembled a long hallway, the guards let Genjin, Thor, constricted an eye forward, a massive burst of light beaming between the walls as we marched. No armor or weapons for you, Braun? Thorn questioned curiously, skipping forward in all, order to keep pace with me. No, it'll only slow my efforts, I respond, keeping my eyes locked on what was ahead. Thor smiled, rapidly blinking her eyes in my direction. Wow, such a warrior, comes her slow reply. A smile still present all the way through.

I didn't pick up any strange sense, not ones that were already there. What I did hear was the immensely loud sound of excited cheers and cries, voice is coming from thousands upon thousands of different entities. There was a lot to adapt to at first, but my ears would soon adjust. Eventually, the hallway ended and the guard stopped, one standing on each side holding their spears, trying their best to look menacing. As I marched past, the one on the left grabbed me by my arm. It was also the one I'd attacked when I first freed myself from my restraints.

Your arrogance will get you killed. I, for one, can't wait to watch. Watch, he growls, still bitter from earlier events, the malice in his delivery, less than subtle. You are nothing more than cannon fodder. Watch your tongue, I snarled back, looking him directly in his eyeless face. The guard on the right then proceeded to remove the mask, constraining constrictor's mouth as I yank my arm away. Do not touch me again. Your spear will not save you, I warned, raising my claws to strengthen the threat.

The four of us exited through the hallway into a massive-sized circular arena. All sorts of different species sat in the stands above. Thousands of entities all chanting and roaring for the action to begin. Participating the inevitable showdown. Towards the south end of the spectator seats sat a reptilian-like creature. His face and body resembled that of a Komodo dragon. Scales ran all along his grey skin as he stared down at me. His tail moving back and forth in unfilion.

jotted excitement. It's difficult to determine his height due to the fact he was seated, but I guessed him to be around seven and a half feet. Tugar stood firmly on either side of his chair, which was significantly bigger than the rest, allowing him a more grandiose aspect to his presence. That's him, Thor says, leaning over to me, pointing to the large lizard, the orchestrator. Welcome, contenders. He announces proudly through a device that resembled a microphone. I'd like to welcome back our returning champion, Thor. So far undefeated.

But this day's event is special. It appears we have a new warrior in the crowd and going bare as well. Ah, what a brave soul. Could you tell us your name, Blue One? He asks, excluding the others to focus on me specifically. Most of the stadium quieted after he requested. of it. The majority of the creatures leaning forward in their seats, waiting so desperately for my name to be announced. My name is Braun. I can't stay here. I need to get back to Earth. My friends

will die if I do not. Do not have time for pointless battles. The orchestrator stares blankly for a second, gathering his thoughts. Well, first off, I'd like to say I love your name. Braun, it just has the perfect flow to its utterance, power, strength. Oh, I'm rambling. He trails off. Well, Braun, I will inform you that I am a fair ruler here in the annihilation realm. I'm already pleased with your courage and conviction. Should you survive this trial and come out as the last one alive,

I will grant you not only access back to your homeworld, but more power than you could ever hope for. The citizens here have been waiting quite some time, for this match to begin, some of whom would like to see Thor dethroned. Although he didn't seem trustworthy, not in the slightest, it was currently my only option. I did consider attempting to scale the walls to break out, only to see that they were also aligned with some sort of thin, red energy field.

I had no idea how fatal it truly was, but it was clear that it would cause intense pain at the least, acting as a deterrent to keep contenders from escaping. The crowd began to chant my name as the orchestrator riled them up. Beings and oddities from all different parts of existence rising in order to contribute to the quickly rising volume. This must have been part of what I saw and sensed in the purple energy while I was being transported here. The citizens here always appreciate new faces, the orchestrator adds, bring out the other line-up. Through what was an identical hallway on the opposite side of the area,

emerged what I assumed were more candidates for the fight. One was what looked to be a three-headed tiger of some sort, except the pigmentation of the creature was a darker blue, similar to mine. On each head above his noses, he possessed a horn like that of a rhinoceros. At the far left was a small human-looking girl. A black hair was done in a ponytail, seemed to be wearing a white dress. The young girl possessed three eyes instead of two that rested above her nose, all of which were a void-like black,

even darker than her hair. Her hands hung up by her sides, a black sludge substance coating her fingers. The second to last was what could only be described as a larger version of one of the pine runners that John, Jenny Ariah and I had fought while looking for the black robe people, the creatures outside guarding the chapel. He was much, and I mean, much bigger than his earth relatives, only just an inch or two shorter than Genjin.

Then there was a final opponent, the one I'd focus my attention on the most. It was Aria. Like me, she'd chosen to equip no armor or weapons, simply intending to use her raw strength and power in the coming conflict. As well as a three-eyed little girl with the black sludge on her hands, she kept an oddly optimistic smile plastered on her face as she sized the rest of us up. The orchestrator said I could leave if I was the last one standing, meaning this would be far more complicated than what I'd originally assumed was going to take more than a simple battle to get out of here.

While I was appreciative of his courtesy, I was angry that most of the cryptids and creatures in this arena did not want to be here, and he was using them as nothing more than his personal entertainment. There are no rules or regulations on how any of you find creatures choose to use your abilities. Alliances and betrayals are welcomed. But as most of you know, only one may be left standing, said the orchestrator. The other six stared each other down, but Aria and I shared a glance of mutual understanding, knowing we were both concocting a similar plan to get out of this predicament.

Nor did we intend on harming each other, no matter what it came down to. Three, the orchestrator boomed, beginning to count down. Everyone simultaneously readied themselves, getting into a heightened battle stance. I'd already narrowed down which opponent I'd be going for first. The giant pine runner. I was most familiar with his power levels and abilities, and seen the full extent of the others. Be most efficient to take out the weakest of the opponents first, then dealing with the more complex and powerful adversaries once they were done with.

Not to mention focusing on one opponent who would allow time to pass for the others to go after each other, weakening or killing them and making it easier for Aria and I to finish this battle faster. Do! I was a pause. The orchestrator holds up one of his scaly hands, clenching his webbed fingers into a fist. The audience had roared and shouted, eagerly looking down at all of us. begging for the event to start. One.

All eight of us charged each other, the battle beginning with no one slowing down or standing back. Truth be told, I was out of my element. I didn't have the trees or structures to climb, which was always been a combat strategy I'd used to my advantage. But here that was not an option. I would still do everything in my power to come out on top despite this setback. Arya had truly unleashed her inner wendigo during the fight,

lunging at Genjin first, the biggest and arguably the most powerful of all of us, at least at first glance. I admired her bravery, her spirit, all this time of teaching her when violence was necessary, it paid off. She was no less of a terrifying tighten of strength and speed than when I'd met her. Genjin used his sword to wave Arya back,

taking a few swings and attempting to deterred. her. But Arya simply outmaneuvered the giant before pouncing onto his chest and going for a bite near his neck area. Genjin quickly dropped his sword and placed his hands at both the bottom and top of Arias' jaw, doing everything he could in order to stop her from clamping down and subsequently ending his life. I was caught off guard by the supersized pine runner. The texture of his needles pressed against my skin as he grabbed me from behind, picking me up over his head and slamming me to the ground with a malicious fury. The pine runner then tried to follow up this attack by joining his two fists together,

bringing them down, except I used my reflexes to my advantage and moved out the other way. He still hit the material of the ground, cracking it, and temporarily trapping the lower half of his arms underneath two split chunks of the floor. I dived forward at him, grabbing him by the neck and yanking him in the direction behind me, freeing him from his temporary predicament. He slid what should have been face first along the floor beneath us, about 15 feet. When I came over to follow up on my attack, he flipped over onto his back with surprising speed, holding his arms out. A blow of his nearly hitting me in the chest before I swiftly evaded it.

I slashed twice in response, cutting off the pine-runner's left arm and causing that well-known mossy green blood to ooze from the stump. This did not deter him from continuing to fight, however. He reacted by lifting himself up and shoulder-bashing me mercilessly before I could continue my barrage of cutting him up. Luckily, I didn't slam into the energy barrier, but what occurred instead wasn't much better. Due to the fourth with which I was hit, my body was sent soaring across the arena

in the direction of where most of the fighting was going on, Aria still bravely taking on Geng Jin and seemingly winning. Thor was in a scuffle with the Blue Tiger, the body of the creature had leapt forward at her, causing the middle head to bite her in the leg and thrash her around. She screamed in pure agony, blood falling from the source of her wound. But she didn't go down easily. She fought back by transforming her right arm into the blue flame

and decapitating the head that had her locked in its jaws. Furthermore, when I'd finally finished flying through the air and landed roughly on the arena floor, I was suddenly stopped from moving after getting to my feet by, what felt like some sort of thick, liquid-like substance locking my arms together, making it difficult to move properly. I turned to my right, laying my eyes upon the black sludge girl. She stared me down with nothing but pure and utter excitement, as if I were her favourite meal sat right in front of her for the taking. I groaned and growled as I pulled and forced my arms against the black sludge

wrapped around them, stronger than any substance I'd yet come across. I could feel every tendon burning as I forced my way through. I was able to break through after a considerable struggle, quickly moving out of the ways. The girl drew her arms in front of her and attempted to blast me with more of the sludge. I got down on all fours, zigzagging, jumping, and ducking underneath each blast, as if they were slower versions of bullets, which they almost seemed to be.

You're supposed to play with me, she screams frustratedly, black-coloured tears beginning to form in her eyes. I made it close enough to grab her, lifting her up by the back of her dress to eye level, using my other claw to restrain both her arms to prevent her from using her abilities any further. I know she wasn't actually human. It was clear as day that she only wanted to hurt and kill me. I couldn't help but hesitate, feeling unable to inflict any serious harm on the humanoid child. Please keep yourself at bay and I will not harm you, I promise, I say slowly,

to which she responds by simply spitting in my face, making me pay dearly for my lack of action. You're so very stupid, she teases as the black sludge wraps itself around my eyes, reach my claws towards my face in order to rip it off, only to crash face first into the ground by a heavy blow to my back. Tree friend, tree friend, the girl cheers, alluding to the giant pine run of being the culprit. But it was obvious before that,

considering I could still smell it. He was far from finished with me. With his remaining arm, he continued to punch me in the back of the head and deliver blow after blow. I sink further and further into the arena floor as the sludge keeps itself wrapped around my eyes, but luckily all my other senses were still usable.

No, leave me alone, meany fire lady. I hear the black sludge girl shout. There's a struggle above, but being repeatedly punched and hit further into the floor, makes it difficult for me to pinpoint the details. All I know is that Thor had come to assist me. She was clearly winning against the black sludge girl. Soon she screams violently, a scream of pain coupled with unbridled terror.

It's clear that whatever had transpired was not in her favour. Using just my sense of smell and hearing, I turned myself onto my back, still being pummeled by the massive pine-runner and slightly dazed from all the punishment I'd taken up to this point. grab one of the broken up chunks of the ground, particularly sizable one, using my hearing to pinpoint where the danger was. The smell of pine is strong coming from directly above. I throw the chunk of material in front of me, and it seems to connect. Due to the fact I heard multiple hasty and powerful steps vibrate through the arena floor,

while I knew I'd bought myself enough time to get to my feet, still blinded by the sludge as I dive forward, latching myself onto the pine runner. I could feel the needles from his skin sticking out against me, but not penetrating my tissue. Force at which I had impacted him generated enough momentum for the bohemia to fall onto his back, with me still on his torso. As soon as he impacts, I slash and swipe my claws around the area of his head, which seems to work out well, due to the fact I felt his body began to go limp as a result. Here, I'm here, Braun.

I hear the voice of Thor say below me. She presumably transforms her arm into the blue flame, burning the black sludge right off of my face and allowing me to regain my vision and see everything else unfold around me. You are a true warrior. I thank you for helping me, I tell her, grateful for her intervention.

I can't help but slow my speech as I lay my eyes upon the aftermath. Behind Thor I see the decapitated body of the girl. and neck slightly charred due to being exposed to such high temperatures and pick up the scent of burnt flesh as well coming from the corpse. It was truly one of the first times I'd stopped in the heat of battle to think about what had transpired. Part of me felt anger replacing my gratitude for Thor's assistance, seeing the headless corpse of what resembled a young human girl had unsettled me,

one of the few things that did over the past few decades. I've seen men die back at the agency all the time. All sorts of cryptids and malevolent beings sprawed out after being torn to shreds. This was different. However, I know there wasn't an extended period of time to think about it. Aria John and Jenny all needed my help, especially the latter to. Braun, Thor shouted. We need to return to eliminate the others.

There's no time. So far the pine runner, black sludge girl and tiger being, had all been eliminated from the brawl. It's just Aria, Thor, constrictor, Genghin and I left, which meant I had to shake off the dizziness I felt and keep going. Couldn't afford to rest, not even for a second. I saw Aria still in an intense grapple with Genghin. But it appeared the tables had turned,

and it was Geng Jin who had been getting the upper hand, throwing a fury of explosive punches at Aria, shaking the ground beneath us with each impact. Constrictor was beginning to sliver over to join what had been going on between the two, his wide-shaped tongue emerging from between his razor-sharp fangs. It was fierce in his demeanour, wanting all of us to know he was highly dangerous and not to be taken lightly. I dropped down and began sprinting across the arena in order to help, Aria. I joined some muscles still ached from what I'd endured, but it wasn't enough to stop me.

It wouldn't be long before it passed. Once glaring the distance, I pounced onto Geng Jin. He let out a surprise roar, disappointed I'd attacked him in the name of helping Aria. We traded heavy blows, a slash back and forth at his armour with my claws, and dive between his legs, quickly turning around and jumping onto his back and ripping off the last remaining pieces of his chestplate. Instrictor had made it over, began to fight with Aria, attempting to lunge and bite her with his fangs, only for Aria to grab and throw him to the side.

side, following it up by leaping onto him and wrestling with his human-shaped hands. No, no, get off of me, Blue Man, Genjin continued to bellow, trying to shake me off his back, only to scream as I sank both my claws near his shoulder blades. Once I determined my claws were deep enough, I pulled. It began to fall and tumble to the ground on his back. I then rapidly retracted my claws and climbed up past his shoulders, onto his tall. and finally jumped off before he could make contact with the ground. Once Thor arrived, she assisted me without hesitation,

turning both her arms into the blue flames and dismembering both of Genjin's legs. He howled out the most horrendous scream of pain I'd ever heard before being decapitated. The smell of burning flesh now as strong as ever. Aria was still holding her own against constrictor. He turned and went in for a tailwhip, only for Aria to grab said tail and then sink her teeth into it, causing constrict her to rive and thrash around in response to the obvious agony. Aria, Aria!

The crowd chanted from the stands. With a match now dwindling in length, Thor began to suddenly turn on me, going for a blow at my head, but I counterattack by leaning backward and going for a quick slash at her throat in order to behead her and give her the quickest, most painless death possible, only for her to deflect it with one of her blue flame arms. The fire itself did not burn my skin. As stated previously, fire does not bother me.

It seems she also possessed great physical strength and durability, making us both snarl as we pushed each other for the upper hand. Ah, brawn, she chuckles. Sorry that I have to do this. You're a worthy opponent, but I will be the true champion. You will not be the end of my legacy. As she said it, any sense of her previous affection for me quickly faded as we engaged each other. I don't respond.

Instead, I take the opportunity to reach down and grab her by the feet, turning and slinging her as hard as I can. She sent well over a hundred feet towards one of the energy walls, seemingly to her doom, but luckily stopping herself by jamming her blue flame arms into the ground. She slid violently for several feet before stopping just in. inches from the energy wall, determined to come back for revenge. When she glanced back up, I was already making my way toward her, wasting no time as I charged on all thoughts.

She jumped in the air, performing a front flip as she sent herself over my body mass, landing elegantly behind me with a sinister smile on her face. Even behind me I still detected her scent, so I knew exactly where she was. Thora attempted to strike me in the waist area, only for me to quickly turn around and deflect her blow, going in for an uppercut-like slice with my left claw. She was quicker, tilting herself to the side just in time. She saw a sarsaulted backwards as I tried to grab her, my fingernails mere inches from her flesh as she did so. Your experience, it shows. That is still won't be enough to kill me, she taunts, crossing her arms into an extra.

shape in front of her chest. Instead of going directly forward, I altered my strategy, opting to confuse her with my intention of attack. I dropped to all fours once again, charging forward for most of the gap until I veered to the right at the very last second, reaching out my left claw and impaling her through the chest as I walked by. Stopping once I knew that she was too weak to continue the battle, her armor wasn't enough to protect her.

With her now sinking herself further and further into my claws, blood began to bubble its way up into her mouth, resulting in Thor choking and gasping for relief as her life slowly slipped away. I'm sorry, I told her into her dying eyes. It was between you and my friends. I always choose those who have been loyal and honest to me. The orchestrator will be given justice.

I then reached over and impaled her through the head with my opposite claw, killing her instantly in order to end her suffering. Sounds of her choking and gagging, ceasing as I feel myself make contact with the texture of her brain. I let her body fall from my claws afterward. Her figure lifeless as it hits the floor. I can't help but feel some amount of guilt. If circumstances were different, I would surely have spared her, as long as she'd showed me the same mercy, of course. But now only three remains.

me, Aria, and Constrictor. Constrictor had now shown why his mouth had been previously covered, because when Aria was too efficient at deflecting his more generic melee attacks, he resorted to spitting some of the yellow-coloured vomit-textured acid at her. The first three attempts were unsuccessful, as Aria had moved out of the way and evaded them nearly perfectly. But Constrictor had lunged forward and spit a fourth time, catching Aria off guard some of the...

acid landed on her shoulder. Arria howled, lifting a claw to hold her injured body parts, giving constrictor the opportunity to follow up with an uninterrupted attack. Seeing Ary in such pain, seeing her scream and moan so violently, while it truly set off my rage unlike anything else. I would feel every ounce of my being urging me to tear constrictor's throat out and devour it as he watched. I went on all fours and ran. faster than I'd ever run before, nothing but violent intentions swirling around inside me. Just before Constrictor could clamp his jaws down on Arias snout,

I barreled through the both of them, grabbing Constrictor and holding him away. He slithered and fought as well as he could, even attempting tail-wipping me to no avail. But even in my more weakened state, my strength was far too overwhelming for him, especially when coupled with my heightened anger. You won't pay for that.

I bared my teeth, sinking my claws into constrictor's skin and dragging them along his abdomen. His mouth opens as he screeches, getting ready to hurl more acid at Aria and me. Throw him onto his back, his human hands attempting to reach and grab whatever they could as I mounted his belly. I animalistically begin to bite and tear,

pulling away at his flesh and organs as I sank my teeth and claws into his tissue. and Strictor's screams only lasted for mere seconds, before death gripped hold of him. His writhing and desperate efforts of slithering away ceased as the creatures in the seats above began to chant my name. "'Bron! "'Braw!' they went on, the intensity of their volume only increasing as I finished my gruesome and spine-chilling execution of Constrictor. We stopped.

Pausing for a moment, I looked down at what I'd done, reducing. a once fierce and cunning killer into nothing but a mess of gore and disembowed organs. Blood stained itself on my claws and teeth. I stood back up bipedally, turning to face Aria. For nearly any creature, it would be hard to understand her expressions, but after spending so much time around her, I'd been able to pick up on what she was attempting to display. It was shock. Not greatly, and she is a Wendigo after all. I'd never displayed such unfiltered brutality in front of her before. I truly had let my more monstrous urges take hold in the moment.

Thank you, Bron, she says, inching closer, a stench of intestines and blood flooding my nostrils. Not just constrictors, but all the other beings in the arena who died in combat as well. Aria's stare of gratitude is intense, more than ever before. A sunken eyes almost burrowing into mine as you both stand speechless. Well, it appears there's more to these two champions than we all know, the orchestrator announced, focusing his gaze down at me as he gripped the arms of his chair with his webbed fingers.

But there can be only one champion, he continues, so the inevitable must take place. Both of you cannot be victors simultaneously. I walked closer toward the energy wall, still making sure to keep my distance. Looking the orchestrator directly in his reptilian eyes as I pointed one of my blood-covered fingernails forward. I will not kill Aria. I will subdue every guard, defeat every creature and destroy every being you command before I strike her even once. She is my friend, I proclaimed. No ounce of hesitance in my voice, only confidence. The spectators all began to fall silent, the tension rising in the arena as they all waited for what was to come next.

I will not hurt brawn. I'll never heard brawn. He saved me. Arias stops, being interrupted by the orchestrator waving a webbed hand as he responded to our convictions. I see. Well, I must say you too surely are impressive, truly relentless with us. hearts of gold. You are warriors of passion, and for that I commend you. But I promised all those who reside here are new champion, so I will propose an alternative. I myself will come down into

the arena. I will not acquire any weapon or shield just like you to, and I will battle one of you. Should I win, you will both have to stay here in the annihilation realm and continue to be my contenders. However, should I be defeated, I will have the utmost proficient sorcerer in your abilities far beyond what they are now, and you will be returned to your home world in order to deal with your conflict. This battle will not be to the depth, but whoever forces their opponent to yield first will be declared the victor. As much sense as this made, I didn't have any time to wait any longer to get back to earth and help John and Jenny. We needed to return as soon as possible, and so instead I hatched an idea. I will accept your proposal to battle you, I declared,

stepping closer into the orchestrator's direction. But you must do something for me. And what would that be? The orchestrator leans in my direction, anticipation leaking from his eyes, being extremely pleased by the revelation. First you'll bring this saucer of yours out here. Prove his existence, and if he is capable,

then you'll command him to send Aria home, back to Earth, about to where she can help my friends while we braw. Should you keep your word, I will fight you. Spectators all cheer, one in particular, who seemed to be a human octopus hybrid, swinging his tentacles frantically all around. His excitement is made quite clear.

The rest were just as enthusiastic, all celebrating in their own unique mannerisms. Very well, the orchestrator posits dramatically. He orders two of the hulking red-skin guards to enter one of the largest-sized tunnels, to which they obey without question. This will be purely between you and I, Braun, says the orchestrator, a weaponless battle to make the other surrender.

As you said, I remind him, not caring that he seems irritated, I corrected his statement in front of the entire arena. Both of the guards return from the tunnel. Accompanying them is a short, stubby-legged fish-like creature, his skin as yellow as urine and his eyes as white as snow. could even spot gills on the lower side of his neck. First he demonstrates his ability on one of the guards, causing him to be teleported out of the arena and going elsewhere,

and then suddenly reappearing and seemingly unharmed. The sorcerer marches toward Aria, reaching out a hand as if to touch her. She gets defensive at first, raising her claws as if about to strike. But I step in, giving her a glance that tells her it's nothing to be fearful about. The sorceress scaly fingers make contact with Aria's left arm, although she's still quite hesitant. Make sure to stand close enough to comfort her, but not enough to interfere with the magic taking place. The sorcerer recited a spell in a language even I didn't recognize, despite being able to understand a multitude of them due to the way I was designed.

A light red aura began to surround Aria, circling in the motion of a tornado as it moved. She stood mostly still, with the exception of turning her skull towards me, a stare more passionate than any time previously. Help John and Jenny as best you can. They need it. I promise I'll join you soon. I'll come home and we'll defeat Ubel, all of us together. You're my friend and always will be.

I can feel Arias sorrow as she begins to disappear and return back to Earth. I top my head toward the floor. of the arena, my fist loosening as I let my claw spread open. In a few more moments of the colourful whirlpool-like event, aria is finally gone, dissipated like smoke from a fire. I say nothing, a crowd of spectators mimicking my lack of dialogue. When the sorcerer looks unimpressed, turning to exit the arena as the orchestrator stepped down onto the floor only several feet away,

not sharing my current dejection. The crowd begins to excite themselves once again, cheering for our fight to begin. Simply turn around and stare the orchestrator down, my blood boiling. There was a chance I could perhaps lose, and that would be the likely demise of the beings I hold dear. I knew that, which gave me all the more drive to make sure I came out victorious. Fight, fight, fight, they all shouted, not picking a clear side as to who they were really, rooting for well then bro the orchestrator begins let us all see how battle tested you truly are part eight earth august 14th 2001 thanks for the nuggets daddy nalida jumped with glee reaching into the

mcdonald's bag to retrieve her food apply a kiss on her forehead smiling as she ravages her way through the small feast of course princess how did school go today I quiz as she's midway through a French fry. Miss Smith says I'm the best drawer. I made a drawing of you, Daddy. Nelita then turns to stand on the seat and reaches into the back seat of the car to retrieve her backpack, unzipping the largest part and pulling out a colourful sketch.

It depicts me in the basement while working on an experiment. My lab coat and goggles on as I look over a collection of different chemicals and mixtures. I carefully grab the sketch from her and get my son. herself a closer look. This is great. You really capture my image. I inform her lightly, rubbing her head back and forth vigorously to mess her hair up. I wrote your name too, Daddy, look.

She guides her index finger over the top right corner of the paper. My name being drawn in bold blue letters. Jonathan, spelled exactly correct. Well, this is definitely going up on the fridge, I cheer, giving the leader a light pat on the back. as she goes back to her meal. Mama says my drawings take up too much space, so she doesn't put them on the fridge. She announces, with a hint of sorrow,

her eyes lowering to the bottom of her car seat. My white smile shifts to a moderate frown as I glance out the windshield of the car. Well, what does she do with them at her house? I ask, fearing the admittedly inevitable answer. I don't know, but whenever I give her a drawing, I don't see them again. She shrugs, a grim expression now matching mine.

Both of us don't say anything for several seconds. I could feel my blood boiling as I'd tighten my grip on the steering room, knowing what my ex-wife had been doing. It clicked perfectly in my head, and I hated that it did. Well, I'm supposed to take you to Mom's house today. But before we go, I'll add a McFlurry for dessert, I propose, to which Nolida excitedly thrashes in her seat. Yes, please.

Can I get ario topping daddy? Of course, Princess, I reply. My smile now returning. Of course you can. The annihilation realm, present day. The orchestrator and I stand as still as ice as we both stare each other down. I can see his tail moving excitedly behind his figure, telling me this fight was nothing more than simple entertainment to him.

But to me, I'm in the fate of my friends. I go on the offensive and take the first strike. Leaping over to the orchestrator and taking a slash at his chest with my right claw. He blocks this, making a fist with his webbed hand and quickly throwing an uppercut. I go off my feet and spend several moments in the air before falling back down. His attacks are surely powerful, stronger than most opponents I'd faced over the decades. But I wouldn't yield. He'd have to kill me for that to happen.

He dashes over for a follow-up, throwing himself. I quickly move to the right and get back up to my feet, grabbing him by his tail and swinging him over my head. He glides hard against the arena floor, provoking a gasp from all the creatures in the stands. I lift him up to slam him again, but his tail extends and wraps itself around my arm. The orchestrator takes this opportunity to fling me forward, chasing after me as I saw through the air toward the energy wall. I shift my weight, reaching out and digging my chest. I'm reaching out and digging my claws into the floor, stopping herself just inches from the wall. A hair from what might have been a guaranteed loss of mine.

You are a worthy warrior, Braun, he says, his slimy tongue appearing from between his jaws. But I have never been defeated. You stand in the way of me saving my friends. I don't care how many battles you've conquered. This will be your first defeat. I snar back, burying my teeth and showcasing my claws. I charge him, dashing over to the side and utilising a similar strategy I'd performed on Thor. He predicts this, holding out an arm in order to clothesline me.

But I avoid it, going underneath and then swiping at one of his scaled legs. He cries out. He's now known thick yellow-grey blood dripping from the wound. But I don't give him time to recover. I go in for another attack again, grabbing and lifting him over my head. before proceeding to smash his body into the floor below. It cracks and buckles from the force of the impact, kicking up dust and rock as a result.

The terrible scent of his breath finds its way to my nose as I lean down, stomping my foot onto his chest and then slashing him across the face, giving him a line of cuts that will surely scar him for plenty of time to come. Oh, he bellows, angry at what I'd just done. Sticks his claw into my leg and proceeds to climb me like him, a makeshift tree. We stumble and I howl as he slides his claws in a vertical motion of my leg, making me retaliate by prying him off and throwing him well over 20 feet away. My dark blue blood flows its way down my leg. The wound would heal soon enough, but the pain

was still ever so potent, stinging all the way up the length of my cut-up limb. The orchestrator immediately gets up and returns to my position. We roar like feral beasts as the both of us tray blows and slashes, cutting each other's bodies up with a multitude of gashes and lacerations. I make a fist and hit him several times in the chest before gliding the side of my body with the front of his. He falls straight down with a loud thud, but his tail gets a grip on my lower leg, causing me to lose my balance and fall forward onto him. As I do, he turns his glory into a fist and throws a powerful right hook at the side of my face, and then another before lunging upwards and using the momentum to pin me onto my back. A slash at both of his arms.

He howls before burying a claw into my chest inches above my heart, following it up by delivering several earth-shattering blows to my face, punching me further and further into the floor of the arena. I seize a chunk of rock from the floor and smash it against his head. The orchestrator is dazed, allowing me to headbutton knock him several feet into the air. As gravity kicks in and he falls, I jump up and with one quick but precise swing of my claws cut the end of his tail clean on. The pain clearly slows him down, and with me still bleeding mainly around my torso and leg, it stings and hinders my ability to move nearly as efficient,

but I still force myself to keep going, to keep pressing on and to keep fighting. I go in for a blow, but the orchestrator blocks it, returning with multiple of his own. only one of them successfully hitting me in the chin. I keep my position but still can't help but snar from the sharp, painful sensation of it. Our blood mixes together as we continue to claw and gorge each other. I nearly disembowl the orchestrator after taking a swing at his abdomen, but he moves out of the way just in time. I then reach my left arm out as if to go for his leg,

but he maneuvers to counter it, forcing me to utilize my right claw to grip him by the throat, my leg still shaking from the cuts as I lift him above eye level, glaring at him furiously. Yield now, I barked, applying more pressure to his throat, threatening to crush it right then and there. The orchestrator chokes and squirms as I deprive him of his oxygen. The crowd of entities in the stands is now completely quiet, the obvious tension higher than ever before. The orchestrator refuses to admit defeat, though, so I strengthen the. force of my squeeze, making his writhing for air increase even further as he swats and attempts

to hit out of me in desperation. But it's futile on his end. I don't want to kill you, but if I must and I will, I say, bringing him closer and biting him in the shoulder, tearing away a sizable amount of flesh, to which he responds by only thrashing around more. Just before I witness him about to black out, I let go, letting him drop to my feet as he in hails obnoxiously, reaching at the air above as if to physically grab some oxygen. Do you yield, I probe, slamming my foot onto his chest and bearing my teeth yet again. My friends are closer to a grave fate every second you hold me here in this dreaded place. They will not die because of your trivial entertainment-based demands.

The orchestrator then suddenly buries both of his claws into my ankle, causing me to erupt with a devastating howl of agony and physically stumble. My foot no longer on his chest as I fumble around to the side, only barely catching myself from falling over. He rises in attacks just as I regain balance, throwing several blows to both my chest and face before I fall, some of my blood coating his snout as he snarls near my face. Once I'm on my back, he continues wailing and slashing,

then wrapping his reptilian hands around my face. my throat and beginning to squeeze, restricting my breathing, just as I'd done to him only moments ago. My body falling weaker from all the damage I'd taken. I put a stop to this, mustering the strength to reach over and grabbing around the sides. I throw him upwards off of me, propelling his body about ten feet or so above mine. This opens up an opportunity. I steady myself, embedding my claws within the ground as gravity pulls him right back down to me. At the time it just rose, right, throwing my face forward and viciously headbutting the airborne reptile, much harder than the first time. He's thrown to the left side, sliding along the floor of the area while laid flat on

his abdomen, dust and rock residue dispersing as we cause more and more destruction. The both of us struggle to get to our feet, dozens of cuts and gashes all across our bodies. Neither of us can help but growl and complain. I take a look at the floor, seeing the small piece of the orchestrator's tail I'd sliced off mixed with a pool of my blood. Perhaps I overestimated you. You'll be just another in a long line of fools who've tried to face me and lost gravely. I will mount your head in the weapons room, brawn, he taunts, seemingly going back on his previous statement of this not being a fight to the death. I don't waste time responding to his obvious provocation.

I instead use every last bit of energy and strength I have left and dash over to Ghanain's corpse. Grab the sword he tried to use against Aria, and then lunge. The sword pierces through the orchestrator's right leg as he lets out a scream like never before. I release my grip on the blade, letting it stay in place as he writhes and howls. This, of course, only making the metal burrow deeper into his flesh the more he moves. I then rise to stand up straight, watching him as he squirms with the sword still implanted in his legs. Do you yield? I ask once again, my tone far more impatient than the first time.

If you kill me, you can rule. I didn't tell you ever... He begins. I reach down and grab him yet again, raising him up until his eyes are level with mine. I will not kill you if you yield. I mutter. No room for debate left in the way I ordered him. He stays quiet, not wanting to respond and admit defeat. Instead, I reach down with my free claw and drive the sword deeper, making him shriek even louder than previously. I have one last chance to yield. If your next words are not you

admitting defeat, I will drive the sword through your heart. My seconds are precious and you are wasting them. As a silence, not only between the orchestrator and I, but the crowd in the spectator stands as well. Given the arena a temporary eeriness as he's deciding what his answer will be. I can sense it. His great hesitance in uttering what has to be said next, every fibre in his being holding back the words. We could have dealt with it another way I would have. He stutters still in distress from his injuries, but he wasn't alone. I could feel every nerve of mine as if we were up in flames. Immediately the arena is bombarded with all sorts of cries and cheers, most of them being the chanting of my name, even more intensely than ever before. I had won, but not without suffering

plenty of abrasions myself. He'd put up a truly devastating brawl. There were many points where I was sure he might have defeated me. Truth be told, I was feeling weak. but I knew it was worth it. I was desperate to make it back to earth. I needed to do everything in my power to speed that up. The fight would have gone on far too long without me picking up Genghin's sword, more than likely to the death. I would not yield and doom my friends as long as I could draw breath.

I then grab the sword and pull it from the orchestrator's leg as two of the sorcerers entered the arena, tossing it over to the side uneventfully. He of course screams once again, more of his blood spilling at our feet. The sorcerers began to approach the two of us, knowing what now had to happen. But I hold out a claw, signaling for them to stop for just a moment.

I take a long glance over the arena, circling the circumference with just my eyes alone, looking at all the life forms as they look back at me. Right, from now on, only those who choose to fight willingly in the annihilation realm we put into this arena. you will no longer enslave any being for your own entertainment. Man, crypted or otherwise, I command, raising the volume of my voice as loud as I possibly can,

desperate for every single creature to hear me clearly. Everyone stands to attention, listening to me as I speak. Some even unnecessarily bowing in submission, making the mistake of thinking I was their new ruler. So far I'd seem to have gotten their attention with my world. words. This leader of yours is not the fair ruler he pretends to be, but I will spare his life as mercy. I don't have time to stay and fight. I was never meant to be here to begin with, but if I catch word of the current ways being reinstated, I'll find a way to come back. I'll make sure those responsible are dealt with. I then motion for both of the sorcerers to

step forward and finish their short march over to the both of us. I then demand them to first heal the orchestrator's wounds, keeping my eyes locked on his as they do so. It was this that he seemed grateful for. You're coming with me, back to earth, I demand of him, to which he attempts to protest, but I inform the lizard that this is my terms for sparing his life. Once he's repaired and back to his full strength, the sorcerers then shift their attention over to me, and naturally tell the orchestrator to stay close, not wanting him to run or try and escape at the last second.

Both of the sorcerers then begin to recite whatever spells in their alien language. A green aura surrounds me, coming from seemingly nowhere as it engulfs my body. I'm lifted just a few inches off the ground, allowing me to slightly levitate as the aura circles me. It isn't long before all my cuts and lacerations were healed. Slowly closing up as I watch, this had to be the most powerful form of magic, I come across in over a decade, healing me faster than my natural ability to do so. I get a rush, a surge that flows through all my veins, unlike anything I'd ever felt before. Not only was I heal back to my prime state, but I was enhanced far beyond that,

feeling more powerful than ever before. My appearance seemingly stays the same. However, there's one cosmetic shift. My skin, it had turned red, leaving behind my previous midnight blue for a scarlet shade. My joints still shone at the edges, and everything else remained faithful to my structure before, but I was now red. The spell ends and the green aura fades, dropping me back down to my feet. I can't help but take multiple glances of intrigued curiosity of my now scarlet-colored skin, mesmerized by such an inessential transformation.

The orchestrator then slowly progress is glist. closer, looking me over as if he'd seen this thousands of times before, unimpressed by the magic of the sorcerers. You may as well now call yourself superior, brawn, he tells me, still a small hint of bitterness in his voice. It's still just brawn, I shoot back. It always will be, no matter my power. And then turn my head over to the sorcerers once more, being slightly caught off guard by just

how fast I move now. I do gain some control of my pivoting speed, although it was difficult to adjust to at first. Send me home and the orchestra-auretor with me. I tell the both of them, to which they nod their heads. I grab the orchestrator by the arm and keep him near me as the sorcerer begins the same process he'd done with Ari. This time a red aura, similar in colour to my new pigmentation, well as its way around the orchestrator and I. This time I hear the screams of my friends, John, Jenny and even Aria, as they're torn to pieces. I see the pine runners, the ones on the earth surrounding us.

Hundreds upon hundreds of them, while Ubel and the five-headed witch stand behind the horde like leaders of an army. I'm able to fight it this time around, ignoring all the negative stimuli during the travel process. It's not particularly long before I open my eyes and find myself surrounded by it. trees, bushes and rocks. The specific pattern of them I in fact recognized. It was a forest right across from the spa. I could hear gunfire, screams of existential dread and terror, triumph and battle cries, all sorts of chaos unfolding. The smell of pine more than palpable, its potency higher than it had ever been previously. Do I truly have to stay here? The orchestrator asks, walking up next to me as I

pressed forward, getting a look at his new surroundings. Yes, I don't truly care if you join in the fight with us, but that world is better off without you. You took creatures from all over the universe and forced them to battle to the death. But now that's no longer the case. Those who fight there will do so by choice from now on. I'm aware some of them wanted to duel, like Thor, but many of them also did not. I will not tolerate it.

Those beings are not just for your entertainment. The orchestrator then looks at the ground, his slimy tongue sliding along the outside of his jaw as he contemplates his response. But what is my purpose now? Without the annihilation realm, what do I even do with my existence? I was a leader there. They all worshipped me. Saw me as a god. I turned to face him directly before replying.

Both of our eyes meeting as the moonlight gleams down from the canopy trees overhead. If you promise to never enslave another cryptid again, I'll see to it that you have a place on my friends and I once we stop this madness. And none of us are gods. We are creatures who kill, eat, survive, and hunt. Commanding other beings to follow your will does not make you better than them. The orchestrator then looks out past the tree line, his webbed hands loosening. He sighs, accepting the idea that both of us were creatures who came from two entirely different scenarios.

Thank you for your mercy, Braun. I shouldn't have delayed you from returning home to those you hold dear. And if what you say is true, how do I help? Earn my place among your people. Maybe you're right. Maybe they are better off without me. You have honour. You're not fully corrupted. There is far worse on this world and every world. I should thank you for making a deal with me and allowing Aria to leave, as well as this new power. But I'll show you the conflict. Now we have to hurry, I say, dropping down, quadrupedal,

and sprinting through the forest. I nearly crashed multiple times as I charge forward, having to get used to my newfound speeds. I'm much more swift than before I at least triple the amount. Even then I felt like I had plenty left to spare. Just a bit, I hear the orchestrated call from far behind, which coincidentally allows me to get an idea of how much better my hearing is now. It's only seconds before I break through the tree line and see the spa,

or at least what was left of it. No, it was just barely standing up compared to how it was before Aria and I had left. Before me was a siege, an all-out war between multiple parties. One side of the spar completely collapsed onto the ground as an explosion had just taken place, smoke still coming off all the materials. There were hundreds, maybe even over a thousand of the pine runners all running around, jumping and animalistically throwing their limbs in an unpredictable direction. Above them was the five-headed witch, her eyes still as green as acid in a van.

She was currently in a calamitous battle with Ari, using her telekinesis to throw. a collection of rubble in her direction as Aria moved to evade us. But what caught my attention the most was the fact I saw men in black, fully geared with body armor and night vision goggles on me, unloading every bullet they possibly could from their assault rifles, mowing down the pine runners as they kept coming non-stop. But their rapid movements made it more difficult to hit proper kill shots. The agency.

They had found us. Most of the agents were standing toward the direction of the spa. Two of them perched on collapsed rubble as they fired their rifles at the pine runners sprinting toward them. Sir, we need reinforce and more ammo. There's too many of them. One shouts desperately into his radio. It seems as if, for the time being, they were actually assisting us. I wasn't optimistic that this alliance would last long.

Still, despite my previous conflict with them, we could surely use their help for now. I sniffed the air, discovering both John and Jenny's scent, when I wasn't able to pick up Ubalt, indicating he had more than lightly fled the area for the time being, or was doing something to mask it. I dived into the massive crowd of pine runners, tearing through dozens of them,

they jumped and pounced onto me. Ripping three in half, decapitating six with only one swipe on my claws, which had now grown even sharper than before. This had made me sure that not even a titanium could stand up to them now. One of the pine runners in particular had latched himself onto my chest. I retaliated by effortlessly grabbing and throwing him off, sending him nearly half a mile away into the forest.

Holy hell! I hear one of the agents on the spar, I will say, as he lays eyes on me. That's a freaking 16A. What happened to his skin? A few of their stray bullets hit me. in the waste area through the crowd of the pine runners. I, of course, looked down, expecting to see myself bleeding profusely as a result. But no, I don't.

Instead, I lay eyes upon the intended bullets that had failed to pierce my skin, proven to me that I was now seemingly bulletproof, even from the armor-piercing rounds. I continue slashing and ravaging my way through the pine-runners after comprehending the revelation, the moss-green of their blood getting, all over me as I ripped them to shreds. No, no, no, no, no, I hear the agents by the rebel scream.

A few dozen of the pine runners break off from the main army and swarm them as their rifles click. No ammo left. One attempts to grab a grenade launcher, but has his arm brutally broken by a pine runner, awkwardly falling onto it as they converged. I leapt over as many of them as I could, throwing them in the air, the left to the right,

anywhere to get them out of the way. And it proves tedious, I know what I had to do. Surprisingly enough, the orchestrator jumps in, letting out a battle cry of his own as he takes on his share of the Bynrunners, slicing them up gruesomely, tearing them clean in half, and even impaling them on his scaly arms. While we now differed in our power levels, I secretly considered him like combative equal when it came to skill. die you hideous tree beasts he vocalized quite sternly while going on his own miniature rampage through the hoard but i see aria losing miserably to the five-headed witch prompting me to command the orchestra to

go help aria now i shout through all the chaos i make it to the agents as they're on their backs the pine runners punching slapping and scratching away at them they would have been long dead had it not been for their body on armor and gear. One of the pine runners attacks. I grab him and lift him up before swiftly decapitating the creature, using his leftover body mass to swat the others away and fling them far from the agents and I. Oh God, the agent to the left exclaims, 16A? Is that really you? I don't respond as I continue to bash and pommel the other pine runners with their deceased relative. Most of them either being instantly crushed or flung dozens of feet away, some even landing into the main horde in the middle of the road. Once enough of them have been worn off, I grabbed the two agents and leapt on top of what was left of the spa building, setting them down on the cracked

surface of the roof. You'll refer to me as brawn, or I will help you no further, I announce, to which both of them nod their heads. How did you find us? At first, the man on the right stutters, still holding his broken arm and gritting his teeth. A girl with all their heads. Geeks at Site 12 tractor here using a radiation detector. She gives off a lot of it. We got here and were sworn by all these dang tree people. They've already nearly killed our entire team thanks to her, but I think they'll be sending back up soon. She's all-powerful. We need to work together to stop her, I say, sharing a look between the both of them. But wait, the other agent speaks up.

Our orders to kill you, Dr. John and the Wendigo still stand. You will help me save the others, I growl. Should John or Aria become to harm because of you, I'll see to it that you meet the same fate as Dr. West. I then leap off the top of the roof and follow the center of John and Jenny as more of the agency's reinforcements show up. Hearing multiple vehicles down the road and a helicopter overhead making their way to the battlefield, arriving much sooner than I'd anticipated beforehand.

There must have been a facility nearby that I was unaware of. Get down on all fours and crawl along the ground. John and Jenny's sense seems to be coming from underneath the spar inside the basement. But I had to hurry. The remaining parts of the structure wouldn't hold much longer. Describe my way around another wall that had been blown open and head inside. Seeing the remains of the interior slowly beginning to crumble and collapse in on itself. I moved down the stairs, inching my way across the ceiling, picking out the

scent of some of the black robe people. I can hear their breathing as well, and it's slow for the time being. We need to get them out of here. This place won't hold much longer, one of them announces, allowing me to hear him through the door. Both of them. We would only say we need John alive. We can just kill the girl and be done with it. The door at the bottom of the stairs is made of solid oak, reinforced by having a metal bolted lock in the front. The bolt lock hadn't been there before, so I assumed it was something that he'd added later on after holding up here. I tear the bolt off and knock the door down in two swift motions, falls revealing the rather large basement. The walls and floor are a dull grey, looking cracked and just as unstable

as the rest of the building above. Nothing on the supply tables or shelves. There's ten members of the black robe people, all holding jagged and rusty blades, more than likely carrying a multitude of diseases on them. Part of me had even pondered if that was on purpose. They turn, looking at me incomplete and utter shock, and, as expected, Hubel is not there. John and Jenny are, in the far left corner, both tied up and restrained with gags in their mouths as well. John is badly bruised with his eyes swollen from the fight with Ubel before Aria and I were banished at the annihilation room. Kill him, commands one of the black robes,

as the nine others charged their way over to me with their knives raised. I immediately get to work. The first man does a straightforward dive, attempting to plunge his knife into my thigh. I grab him, throwing him up into the ceiling and cracking it. He falls to the floor immediately afterwards, holding his side as he whimpers. And then grab two more, slamming their heads together, and then scaling the wall after they fall to the floor unconscious. Once on the ceiling, another black robe jumps and swings his blade. I counter by swiping my claw at him in response, severing his right hand.

He screams, holding the now red stump and doing everything in his power to stop the bleeding, as I snatch up another, bringing him up to eye level, and then, sinking my teeth into the side of his arm, tearing off a sizable strip of his flesh. After letting him go, I dash across the ceiling and drop down, finishing off the last few by uneventfully throwing them into the walls and causing them to black out, one in particular crashing right through some dry wall after I slung him with my left. I get to both John and Jenny, first being extremely careful to remove their gags without cutting their faces with my claws.

Thank you so much. Boy, am I glad to see. Jenny celebrates as I cut their restraints. But what, uh, what happened to your color? Ah, it's good to see you again, big guy, John Atts. Ubel, ran into the forest once the agency showed up. I don't know when you turn red like, well, I like the new look. He nods trying to add some comedic relief to a tense situation, just as he always did. It was only recently that I began to possess a firmer grasp of this concept

As expected of such a coward like him He'll pay for what he's done to you John What he's done to all of us I both get to their feet then Dusting off their clothes and checking themselves for any wounds Now we must go Aria and the orchestrator can't hold off the witch by themselves for long I informed them urgently

Turning to lead the two of them out when I feel John's hand graze my arm. I stop, nearly causing him to fall over before turning around to make eye contact. Ron, he says, his veins bulging. I can sense his rage, his undying passion of relentless anger, a relentless anger that was more than justified. Let me kill him.

I want Ubel, full near leader. I pause for a moment, wondering whether or not I thought of it, as an intelligent idea. But, after everything he'd been through, this was truly more of his fight than mine. I will, and remember, John, you're my greatest friend, who always will be, I reply, trying to look elsewhere. The brain and the braw, he smiles.

Then hold up my claw, spreading my fingers apart. Careful to make sure he'll only make contact with the blunt spots. John high-fires my claw, causing Jenny to smirk it and comment on our interaction. Two peas in a part, she acknowledges softly. Suddenly the supports of the basement begin to snap. Chunks of the ceiling dislodge and fall to the floor, crashing all around us and dispersing dust throughout the expanse. Without further questioning, I grabbed both John and Jenny

and run bang up the stairs and into the main area of the spa. The structure only failing and coming apart even more by the second. I myself was hit multiple times in the head with debris. Get to the very edge and toss John and Jenny out what used to be the front door before the remainder of the roof collapses in on me, temporarily burying me underneath multiple tons of concrete marble and rebar. With only a little bit of a strain, I used mostly my back to hoist all the rubble up and off me,

roaring triumphantly as I bust my way through and land between John and Jenny after lunging forward. Jesus, what are you been juicing up on? John recoils. Good you got it, though. We're going to need it. I look ahead, seeing that well over a dozen agents had arrived and been deployed, firing into the massive horde of Pine Runners. Their green blood sprays and spreads all around as the bullets tear through them. Of course, some are still able to swarm and overrun a few agents, but not enough. to make much difference.

Give a seizure gun now, John shouts towards one of the agents, referring to him and Jenny. The agent surprisingly obliges, throwing both John and Jenny's submachine firearms from his weapon belt. Here an abrupt cry of agony, turning my head to see the orchestrator barreling out from some of the pine runners while holding his left arm. A moderate sum of blood on his claws.

I would advise you to implement. prove your aim, he grimaced, looking at John. And who might you be? Jenny Grills, bashing one of the pine runners over the head with her gun before continuing to spray into the halls. New guy, huh? John asks rhetorically. Oh, sorry about that, by the way, just not in the best headspace. It's quite all right, the orchestrator replies, without answering the questions, I shall continue the slaughter of these wretched creatures. I told you to help Aria, I said, with a rather short-fused tone. Oh, believe me, I was, but the flying woman did not appreciate my efforts.

She threw me back into the belly of these beasts with her cursed mind powers. In the distance, I see one of the agents inside a metallic suit of some sort, fitted to her body. She points her right arm forward at the five-headed witch, a cannon of some sort emerging. A missile then shoots out, catching the witch off guard, while she has her attention, focus. focused on Arya. It explodes, sending her flying back while still hovering in the air. Although she survives the blast, turning and looking at the agent as she blasts off the ground with rocket-powered boots from the ground and flies toward her. The five-headed witch smiles then utilizes her telekinesis to crush the woman inside of her own suit. She just barely has time

to scream before dying from the rapidly increasing pressure. All of her bones snapping and splitting as her limbs are broken. I can hear it, everything from her femur to a skull being crunched like four leaves. A bash and tear my way through the horde, laying my eyes on Aria, who attempts to lunge at the witch before the grass from the ground suddenly extends upwards and wraps itself around her arms, pulling her back down. You survive the annihilation realm, you horrid, filthy and mindless creature. The witch insults while staring down at her.

but you will not survive me. I grab one of the empty transport trucks, I throw it with all of my might at the five-headed witch. My claws leaving deep scratches on the reinforced metals, as the truck is propelled through the air, away from me and in her direction. With a focus elsewhere, it connects, the front of the cab smashing right into her body mass, and gravity pulling both the truck and her right to the ground.

They collide into the beaten-up road, asphalt and cracked pavement being sent in every direction possible. Two of the agents approached me, one of them finishing up slaughtering a few pine runners that were right behind him. I knew that wouldn't hold the witch for long, but he was enough to free Aria from her magic for the time being, which was my main objective of the action. He's got her pin down. Someone blow the truck!

The one to the left shouts. The attack helicopter then fires a rocket from above, the truck of course explodes in a fiery burst of smoke and debris. The blast itself causing me to cover my ears due to the agony of the sound waves pounding away at my skull. You know, I'm going to be honest, 16e. I don't know why the director wants us to kill you so much. You're not so bad, came the agent who gave the order to blow up the truck. Aria then approaches, walking up next to the agent opposite to the one who spoke.

He shifts his stance and recoils, caught by horrific surprise. due to the sudden presence of a wendigo standing right next to him. Geez, he practically screeches. Watch where you're going, ugly. I grab him by the collar, raising him up in order for his eyes to meet mine. His comrade doesn't seem phased, more or less knowing the man had brought it on himself. You will watch how you speak to her. This alliance ends now, I grumble, bringing his face closer to mine.

I'm sorry Just put me down He begs To which I simply drop him in retaliation Making him grunt as he lands on the ground below Nearly falling over before regaining his balance at the last second The four of us turn As the remaining rubble of the truck is catapulted into the sky

Even past the clouds and into orbit at first glance revealing the sizeable crater below That had been left behind from the explosion The five-headed witch reveals herself to still be alive, floating up above the rest of us and still maintaining that same sinister grin on her main head, wanting to taunt us about how futile our efforts truly were. I was created to command all of you. Soon you inferior beings will serve Ubel just as I have. You will find true purpose in bowing to him. She announces before a tree on the side of the road

is ripped right from its roots, now levitating right next to the witch. blindly serving others is never true purpose. You are a pawn and you don't even know it. I fire back, stepping forward in front of Aria and the agent. Silence, you horrid beast. She howls at me before telekinetically throwing the tree at the others and me. The agents open fire on her. I swing my claws upwards and slice the trunk clean in half.

However, one of the larger-sized branches ends up impaling the agent on the right through his chest. he of course chokes and coughs as blood flows down the branch and drips onto the ground below. Had it been one of the ones wearing the metallic suits, he surely would have survived. At the sheer speed the branch had travelled at made the more generic body armour irrelevant. Not to mention I was sure the witch had some influence behind it. The other had survived, still pouting the witch with bullet after bullets. I ran toward her on all fours and leapt into the air, to which she countered by slamming me into the ground right in front of her, as if I were nothing more than a mere insect.

She then levitates the two halves of the trunk I'd sliced in half and piles them on top of me whilst she deals with the others. This doesn't deter me. I hoist each half of the trunk off of me without much resistance, jumping upwards and catching the witch by surprise due to grabbing her by the left bottom head, or what should have been her left foot. Repeatedly sling and bash her into the ground, first in front of me, then to the left, then the right, each time applying more force and causing her to sink further into the earth. But my efforts aren't enough. After I slammed her for about the eighth time, she was able to regain her focus and use her powers to hurl me into the forest, far away from her. I crash and battered through the trunks of

multiple trees, most of which had fallen and tumbled over onto the ground after I'd smash through them. A few were large enough to make the ground itself vibrate. I roll over on my side for several feet before piercing my claws into the dirt. They cut through grass, rock and tree roots. After I end up getting back to my feet and looking around, I noticed something rather odd. I discovered the surroundings to be somewhat unfamiliar. I had never been in this part of the forest before, making me wonder just how far the witch had thrown me. Not far in front of me is a small pond. Although it wasn't that fact alone that caught my attention. No, I spotted ripples in the water, could hear something beneath the surface,

something that was trying to hide, perhaps even mask its scent. Ripples appeared as if something had seemingly broken the surface just seconds ago, entering the water extremely recently, recently enough to be noticed. I creep my way along the ground toward the edge of the pond, looking beneath the waves and spotting who or what had been trying to cloak its presence. I slowly inch forward inside the water, filling all sorts of weeds and aquatic plants brush past my flesh as I tread in the direction of what I just laid my eyes upon.

I get to the exact spot from which the ripples had originated, reaching a claw down and grabbing the source from beneath the surface, a splash accompanying the movement as I raise it above the surface. Ubel He struggles and attempts to kick and fight his way out of my hold after I lift him from the water, tempted to squeeze while my claws are around his throat. Only the littlest bit of force, I choked the life out of him, or pierce his jugular. Either way, it was more than he deserved.

Well, you got me, he cackles. Fucking freak. John told me how much you hate that word. I know why you do. Perfectly describes what you are, a tall, skin. I cut him off, reaching down and stabbing one of my fingernails into his right kneecap, making him thrash under my grip even more so than before as blood flows its way down his chin. Maybe I should burn the Wendigo too. Have you watch and listen to her scream.

Don't know why you care for that sack of rotting meat so much. She's a monster. As I've said, I only see one monster here. I then sling Ubel to the side. He travels for nearly 40 feet before his back slams into the trunk of a girthy oak tree, causing him to have on what I gather is a significant injury to his back. He coughs up at moderate pool of blood to the side while he slums downward, and able to get to his feet without experience in great agony. Nonetheless, he still mentally pushes past it in order to taunt me and provoke my rage.

I thought you would have been dead long by now. He pauses, coughing. once more. But it appears you haven't kept your promise. What happened to no hesitation? I lunge over and grab him, picking him up and slinging him over my shoulder. But he doesn't fight as I'd expected. You are scum. Never have I come across an entity filled with more evil and hatred than you. I won't be the one to carry out your death. No, I'll leave that to Dr. John. You stole his child, burnt her alive. and turned her into the monstrosity that has now taken dozens of lives.

Inslave in cryptos like they're your pets. Cutting your throat would be far too merciful of a fate for you. With Ubel on my shoulder, I head back towards the battle. So far it had seemed as if we were coming out on top. The Pine Runner's numbers had decreased significantly. Now, although the orchestrator and Aria had kept the five-headed witch distracted for the time being, she continued to display that she was far too powerful for them to fight alone. They weren't successful at healing much damage to the witch herself,

mainly getting toyed with and tossed around by her. We needed to figure out a solution soon. We were all in grave danger. John and Jenny are still borrowing ammo from the agents as they continue to shoot and kill the remaining hundred or so of the pine runners, thinning them out to a pathetic number in comparison to before. But the witch, well, She's something different entirely.

She continues to tear down the agency's helicopters from the sky, smash and crush their trucks and thrust them into the air, and quite literally ripped some of the agents themselves apart, either in half or something even more grotesque. I'd noticed how she subtly commands most of the pine runners to stay away from John, as I remember Ubel's words, ones he said to John after brutally beating him in a bare-fisted battle. You're lucky I can't kill you.

The remaining agents continue to focus a lot on their fire on the five-head witch now, seeing as the pine runners' numbers had dissipated so significantly. A group of them attempt to leap onto me while I'm carrying Ubel, but I use my claws to make quick work of them as soon as their feet leave the ground, their mossy green blood blending in with some of the grass below, before it flows away into the old road. I get close enough to John that his face immediately goes sour at the sight of Ubel. He grips his weapon, gritting his teeth and his veins nearly bursting right through his skin.

To say anger was palpable within him was an understatement. You! John snarles as I drop Ubel onto the ground. To which Ubel seems unbothered, accepting his incoming dude. Not even trying to run or fight, but sure part of that was due to me manhandling him. earlier on. You'll all lose. None of you will ever find peace. Freedom or catharsis, even in my death, I'll rip this world from you. Hilliston, Redwood, Wolf Lake. We're everywhere. Ubel laughs apathetically, still complaining from the pain in his back. My death means none. John then opens fire on Ubel, unloading dozens and dozens of bullets into the broken man.

His beard and hair being drenched in his own blood while John yells triumphantly. That's for Nalida. He barked before spitting on his now deceased body, kicking it as well for good measure. A barrel back into the last of the Pine Runners and assist Aria and the orchestrator with the witch, the latter of whom leaps up and lands a kick, to which she responds by lifting a massive slab of earth out of the ground and burying him in it after collapsing the sides together with her powers. I pick up and throw a few corpses of the pine runners at her as a distraction

before reaching up and grabbing her by the leg. She deflects by flying further upwards and then telekinetically smashing a collection of charred rubble into me from below. Aria runs up from behind and strikes, landing a good swipe on the witch's right thigh. But the wound heals instantly and Aria is hurled to the left and into one of the destroyed transport trucks. This situation was quickly becoming dark,

Two more of the agents in the metallic suits attempted to step up. One got two swings in before being crushed inside his own suit, and then used as a human battering ram against his comrade. The final helicopter fires its machine-gun turrets at the witch. She wields her powers to bend them back and cause them to fire at the pilot, instantly tearing him apart and having the helicopter crash by extension. You killed my master. She violently bellows.

You will... I'll suffer. Once again, I noticed she's still ignoring John, only further proving that she truly did need him alive and well. We all grapple and use our best efforts against the witch for several more minutes, throwing debris, lacerating her with claws, pouting her with bullets and missiles. But she either counters or shrugs it all off.

Even with my newfound power, we're all seemingly hopeless against her. She flies over to me in particular at full speech. I grab her and shove her into the ground, making her body indent the dirt as she slides along. She's unbothered by this, throwing me off and making me somersault backwards several times before I crash into the collapsed ruins of the spa. John comes over to aid as he sees that I'm heavily dazed. My head tilting from side to side as I forced a recovery, needing to get back to the battle as soon as possible.

Ron, he runs over. You good? I hoist myself up, attempting to shake off all the punishment I had received. I can still fight. I feel like I have plenty of it left in me. But I can't help but wonder if this was a battle that I'd win, no matter how hard I fought. I have to keep trying. I cannot let her emerge victorious.

I respond before beginning to walk back over to the chaos unfolding not far from him and I. I don't think you can beat her. I don't want you to kill yourself trying. John, please. I have no other options. She'll tear through everything in existence, I say, after turning to make eye contact. John pauses, sighing before a frown plastered itself on his face. His breathing heavy from all the exertion as he grips his side, a mini-school cut on his hand. You've saved me countless times. You convinced me to get out of that hell that was working for the agency.

Now let me save you for once. You remember what Ubel said, right? He needs me alive. I'm the witch's lifeline and anchor. Without me, she can't exist. Plus, I read it in that book too. As John finishes speaking, the witch pulls one of the transport trucks forward and crushes an agent underneath it,

giving him no time to scream or display any signs of terror. But I quickly realize what he's implying. First, being unable to speak in response to what it was he was hinting at. I soon found the words, words that I thought I'd never have to say. Not to him. No, John, I'll not let you die. We can defeat her.

We just have to try harder. John takes a few steps back, slowly shaking his head. Not like we usually do. I've served my purpose, Braun. You my best friend always will be. I can never repay you for all that you've done for me. I know that Nalida is gone. That thing isn't her and never will be.

But at least she didn't have to grow up in. this ruthless world. John, I snarl, stepping closer as he quickly raises his gun to his chest and pulls the trigger before I can snatch it from his grasp. No, I cry out, loud enough to catch the attention of nearly everyone in the area. Most of them turning their heads to see what had taken place. John then falls to the ground, blood leaking past the material of his sweater. Some of it bubbles its way up to his mouth, dripping past his bottom lip to his chin.

I grabbed the gun, carelessly snapping it in half, before sliding my claws underneath John's body and lifting him to hold in my arms, careful not to cut his back. John, you fool, he will not perish like this, I yelled obnoxiously. Why would you do that? John slowly adjusts his head and looks at me, on the verge of taking his final few breaths, before putting a hand on my shoulder and smiling through the pain. He seemed bodily at peace with his death so close, so certain, from his blood staining my arms as I held him against me, feeling his heartbeat slow itself little by little,

the brain and the brawn. He coughs weakly before I feel his muscles go limp. He no longer moves, his chest no longer goes up and down for him to breathe as his eyes close, sealing his fate. I don't make any noise. I just continue to stare at his corpse as Jenny runs over, speechless once she lays upon the shocking sight. A gun dropping as well as her mouth. She, like me, is unable to say anything for the time being.

The witch lets out an ear-piercing shriek from behind, causing everyone to turn their heads. Everyone except me. It goes on for several seconds, changing in pitch and volume multiple times. Nothing but pure, unfiltered agony. as she dies. Once her screams do stop, however, there's a loud, distorted sounding explosion. I still don't look. I just keep my own moving gaze focused on the body of my best friend. Jenny approaches closer, standing right next to me, as I feel her hair touched my waist. I can hear her heartbeat slowing, her breath's growing more concentrated.

I'm so sorry, she pronounces weakly, turning to look up at me as the words leave her lips. I don't respond, I just continue to stare into John's eyes. The eyes of the first human who ever showed me true kindness, compassion or empathy, the body of a man who displayed great strength in both his intellect and his courage. I hear the orchestrator approach as well, groaning from his supposed injuries due to fighting the witch. He doesn't say anything, just simply points his snout toward the ground, more than likely feeling as if it's not his place to comment, but I would have welcomed it, so long as it was positive. Finally, Aria arrives to join the rest of us, appearing more concerned for me than everyone

else if she maintained her gaze on my eyes while I keep mine on John. Then I hear a voice from behind, a voice I hadn't heard in over a year now, a voice that was a symbol of everything I'd once left behind, a voice that I now hated almost as much as Ubel's. Ted Bowser, the director of operations. The threat's being exterminated. High-five yourselves.

Get a beer, pat yourself on the back, or whatever the hell you idiots do to celebrate. I don't much care. Guess we'll just leave the bodies for the crows. I slowly place John's body onto the ground and then turn and sprint toward the collection of black armored SUVs

right for the director of operations. It doesn't even get a chance to speak further before I reach inside the SUV and pull him right out, shattering the window with my claw as I grab him by the shoulder. You did nothing, I exclaim. Not a single thing. You don't protect or care for this world. You never have and you never will.

I shout, more furious than ever before. Because of your horrendous methods and ideals, John is dead. He stopped the witch. All you do is give others orders. The agents gave their lives and defeated the Pine Runners while you safely sat far away watching them all die gruesome deaths, as you always have. Because I threatened their symbol of authority, other agents raised their weapons at me. But I don't care, not even a little bit. 16-8, Ted whimpers from my squeezing of his shoulder.

Didn't think I'd ever see you again. Where'd you get the new look? He says uneventfully, which only boils my blood even more. You treated him terribly. You're the reason he left the safety of the facility and entered his unforgiving world. By ground. Another tirade emerging. All of this started with you and Dr. West.

You care for no one, nothing at all. Only the mission. No matter how many lives you sacrifice or innocence that have to die. A lot of your agents have committed plenty of horrid acts on their own, but at least they tried to help. At least they weren't mindless cowards like you. You were supposed to be ours. He whines. You were never meant to be on your own.

You're our creation. You belong to us. You'll always be an artificial freak. Your friends will die all around you because of your hilarious stupidity. Humanity will never care for you. And I'll laugh as they light their torches and sharpen their pitchforks once they all know of your existence. I am not your pawn. I snarl before gripping my claw on his teeth.

chin and proceeding to tear his head right off his neck. One of the agents lowers his gun as the other's gasp, just barely holding in vomit. A dropped Ted's head, rolls along the ground, staining the grass and stone with crimson blood. The agents cautiously stepped back, frightened by the gruesome execution of the director, not that it was unexpected. I will not harm any of you. This endless war between us can now end. They say to them. On one condition. The agent furthest to the right lowers his weapon,

his hand shaking while gripping it. What? He questions, attempting to hide his haste. But I can still see his finger shaking just in front of the trigger. You will leave Aria and I.B. Forever. You will never hunt us again. You will give up your mission to kill or capture either of us.

When you find a new director, you'll tell him this. If you don't, I will come back, and you'll all suffer for your injustices. What you've done here is more than honorable. It does not excuse your killing of innocent witnesses and disposing of those you deem as unfit. Don't think I haven't forgotten about the people you've slaughtered many times in the name of maintaining secrecy. Since when do you give the odd as you freak? An agent on the left speaks up. Everything in me tells me to slash his throat and be done with it.

To tear him limb from limb or smash his head. head into the ground. But I don't. I just turn and stare at him while bearing my teeth, keeping my rage at bay despite what my instincts urged me to do. Dude, he literally just made a peace deal with us. You seriously trying to antagonize him? Another grills. You're damn right I am. I don't care how much of a piece of shit the director was. He just straight up murdered him in front of us, or because he's mad that he can't be on his own. You really think I'm going to take orders from this thing, this freak of nature that Dr. West cooked up, but I'd rather... The agent suddenly has his rant cut short by Aria coming up from behind and hitting him hard in the back of the head.

He falls straight down and hits his chin on his assault rifle. Leave Bron alone, she commands after the brutal strike, where I will feast on all of you alive. Be forgotten what I am. I spread my fingers and let my claws glit. in the moonlight, backing up Aria's threat as I look at the other agents. They all stand down, and the others agree. I step away, giving them the mercy, I'd promise. I go back over and grab John's body, looking to Jenny as he begins to stiffen in my arms, rigour mortis now setting in.

We can bury him at my farm, she suggests. I ain't been there since before they took me. I got plenty of room for him, and even carve a stone for him, if you like. A look between both Aria and Jenny. Aria is slowly nodding in approval at the idea, while the orchestrator darts his eyes between the three of us. I've only known you for a short while, Braun. You are a worthy warrior.

I apologize for what I said back at the realm. As for your loss, I did not have a bond with this, John, but I'm sure he was a fine man. A week goes by. We did end up burying John after travelling to Jenny's farm. much more peaceful out there, much more open and welcoming than all the time I'd spend in forests and strange sterilized buildings. John's grave was built towards the house.

I'd seen cemeteries many times. I'd been deployed to kill plenty of cryptids residing in them during my time at the agency, so I had a basic understanding of the significance before this. I walk up, looking at the stone, up and down. My claws loose. I breathe slowly as the wind picks up. up speed. Jonathan Har Dillard, father and scientist. I hear Arya approaching from behind, subsequently making me shift my stance to look at her. He helped free me from them, she says,

her snout pointed low. I remember him too, Braun. We all will, I reply softly. He deserved none of this, but he died, a courageous hero, sacrificed his life so that we may live. Arias steps even closer, holding up her claw, which I hold up mine as well, putting it against hers. She looks as if she wants to say something, something extremely important, but instead replaces it with a more trivial sentence. I, um, eh, should we hunt for something to eat? she proposes. I pause for a moment, turning to look at John's grave once more, and then back at her. Time itself seeming to slow down. But she was right.

I'd grown hungry and everything that had happened in the last two weeks was exhausting to us all. Do you mind if I, join the both of you? I hear the orchestrator call out. It's been a decent while since my last feast. Hopefully the food here on earth is just as flavoursome. I'm coming too, plus ain't enough cows to slaughter at the moment. Few of them starved while I was gone, Jenny proclaims, bringing along what appeared to be a lot.

hunting rifle that had been left behind when she was taken by the black-robed people. I know that John wouldn't want me to constantly dwell on his death and prevent myself from continuing to survive. But I knew that nothing was ever going to be the same without him. We did end up going on that hunt and getting a respectable collection of food to eat. I caught a male deer, beginning to devour it as soon as it was on the ground, decapitating the creature to prevent any suffering. Arya came up next to me, and together we feasted in the area of the trees.

watching as the evening sun approached in the distance. But John came right back on my mind, making it more difficult for me to eat in peace. So I got up, and just as I was about to drop down on all fours and crawl along the trees, felt Ari's arms wrap around me from behind. Thank you, Braun, for everything. But I don't fight it.

I simply stand there as I let her tighten her grip around my chest, staring off into the tree line. They'll never hurt us again, I declare. Never again. And so once again, we reach the end of tonight's podcast. My thanks as always to the authors of those wonderful stories and to you for taking the time to listen. Now, I'd ask one small favor of you.

Wherever you get your podcast wrong, please write a few nice words and leave a five-star review as it really helps the podcast. That's it for this week, but I'll be back again, Same time, same place, and I do so hope you'll join me once more. Until next time, sweet dreams and bye-bye.