MONSTROUS HYBRID.

1777, APRIL 03rd, SUNDAY 10:17pm.

The Grave brothers scattered as the monster lunged toward them on all three limbs. She slid to a halt and her talons caused sparks on the floor.

"What is she? Was she always a fish hybrid?" Red asked.

"Brother, the siren," Blue said.

"Right — we need to summon the hydra."

The monster turned towards them as Red made a dash towards the wall-mounted switch. Her head swiveled at the motion and the monster blurred — her speed was so staggering that even Red barely managed to block in time.

The impact caused a shockwave that scattered the clouds in a cone-shaped blast. Three crimson lines appeared on Red's flesh. His eyes went wide from the blood trickling down his arm. He had been cut — with his General level augment. Skin that was strong enough to withstand the destruction of the planet had been cut.

Red ducked out of the way as Noche's head chomped where he had been a moment ago. Noxious waves of rotten flesh and dead fish rolled over him. The odor alone almost distracted him, but he managed to dodge the savage barrage of claws and bites.

As the assault went on the monster's spine twisted and swerved faster and faster; growing in power. Despite the distortions of her flesh rage was still clear on her face. Her claws sank into the metal as if it was butter. Red was hard-pressed as this thing managed to keep pace with him.

As the two were locked in combat, Blue tried to get to the siren. However, every time an opening presented itself the monster drew close enough to block his path. Then the monster swung wide and Red took the opening — he slammed his fist into its exposed heart.

The organ exploded in a shower of blood and Noche went still. Red let out a sigh and grinned, but it was quickly wiped from his face as a new heart regrew in the place of the old one. The monster reanimated and lunged forward. Teeth clamped down on Red's shoulder, but he ripped it free.

Blood streamed down the spot where a chunk of flesh was missing. Red glared at the injury and got into a defensive stance. As someone with the augment of a general, he didn't get into many serious fights nowadays. Plus, his main fighting style involved using Create, which was restricted in the Asylum. Against an opponent like this, things were not in his favor.

The monster lunged at him with her maw wide open. He dodge and threw a punch at her chin, snapping her mouth shut and knocking a few teeth loose. However, her injuries healed before his very eyes. A claw swiped at him with such speed he was forced to block; it caused a deep gash on his other arm.

Blow after blow was exchanged. Every wound Red inflicted was healed before his very eyes, while each injury he accumulated was left to fester. Then the monster began to fall apart. Its flesh would tear itself apart before stitching itself back together. As if it was trying to change into another form — grow into something more than what this physical form could contain.

Orange blood splattered all across the floor as Noche's flesh was ripped and repaired. Her movements were so fast and strong that it broke bones which were mended a second later. Flesh was sundered from her body before knitting itself back together.

Her head swayed back and forth like an eel ready to strike. The spines on her vertebrae raised and rattled like they were ready to impale anything nearby. Her webbed talons dug into the ground as she walked on all three of her limbs. She lunged at Red who barely dodged in time.

Without missing a beat she snapped one hundred and eighty degrees back towards him, snapping multiple bones in the process, before lunging again. This time Red was prepared — his shovel cut her in half at the waist.

She split into two chunks that bounced across the ground. As she rolled to a stop large anglerfish antennae sprouted from her wounds and wrapped around each other like twisting wire. In one snapping motion, both body parts were reconnected.

Noche rose to attack but crumpled back to the ground as her body began convulsing. She spasmed on the floor as her body ripped and tore itself apart. Orange blood splattered in all directions like she was a water sprinkler. She bounced up and down as every inch of flesh started to shred itself.

Timmy was warm. He found himself in a bright, foggy, white room. There was a lovely orange sunset just outside the window that caught the mists just right. His vision cleared to his bedroom in the clock tower. Getting to his feet he walked to the door. Its hinges creamed as he walked into the main room.

Before him, the old man sat at a table eating bread. However, it was the second person that caught his eye. It was a woman, she looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't recall from where. She noticed him too and tapped the old man on the shoulder.

He looked up and a gentle smile came over his face. Tears welled in Timmy's eyes before he ran to the old man; they embraced. They stood like that for a long time and it was everything he had ever wished for. For the first time in forever, he was happy.

Timmy's eyes snapped open as the frigid air brushed against his skin. His entire body was coated in a fine sheen of cold sweat. He was back in the asylum. His hand reached up to his sore neck; it was healed.

"Bear buddy!" He exclaimed.

He lunged up and leaned over to inspect his friend. Baxter's torso had pink, hairless flesh over where the wound once was. He was miraculously healed. He crawled on his hands and knees towards his ally and leaned his head against his chest. There was a heartbeat. He sat up as tears began to well in his eyes.

"Well howdy!"

Timmy screamed and fell to his side. He scrambled on the floor for a moment before coming to his feet. A ginger with three robotic arms was standing before him.

"Gee golly gosh, be careful there pal," Shaylin said. "I only just finished healing y'all. This technology is still very experimental I'll have you know."

"Tech — wot? You have healing tech?"

She grinned and all four of her arms moved into a different pose. One scratched her head, two shrugged, and her real arm landed on her hip. Then she raised a finger, and a green firefly flew off Timmy and landed on her finger.

"Something like that. I have nanobots and artificial grim gel. I call them my aloe-microbots," Shaylin said. "They can fly inside your body and deliver a super-healing agent that stimulates hyper cell regrowth. It works even on fatal injuries if delivered fast enough."

Timmy blinked.

"The firefly?"

"Ohh, that's just the mothership! The nanobots are still inside your bloodstream right now," Shaylin giggled. "Delivering happy juice to all your damaged cells."

He paled.

"W-Who are yuh?"

"I'm Shaylin! Shaylin Gears."

Baxter groaned and shifted on the floor.

"Whaaat happened?"

Timmy leapt over to his friend and helped him sit up.

"You... You are one of Noche's commMmpanions. Yes?"

Shaylin gave half a smile as all four hands tilted from side to side.

"Please. Noche is in danger," Baxter said. "The Grave brothers attacked us. I think she followed them. Can you go save her?"

"I'm sorry. Besides the fact I'm afraid of heights, I'm here on a contract with Cross," Shaylin said. "I'm not supposed to put myself in danger."

Baxter tried to sit up but groaned as his body fell back against the wall.

"I'd be careful if I was you. The damage to your internal organs was massive. Not everything is healed yet," she said. "It's gonna take my nano-bots a few minutes of constant grim gel application before you should even move again."

"Baxter... When the Grave brothers... Did what they did, Noche got angry," Timmy said. "She hurt me. I think it was by accident, but if it wasn't for ol Shaylin ere—"

"—I'm not old," she crossed two sets of arms. "I'm young and nubile."

"I'd be dead."

"W-What?"

"She cut me throat Baxter," Timmy gestured to the pinkened flesh. "Granted she looked shocked for a moment. But she still did wot she did."

"Noche is a very angry person," Shaylin frowned. "I feel like there is good in her, but with some of the actions I've seen her taken, it's concerning to say the least."

"That's what scares mMmme," Baxter said. "I amMm afraid of the current road she walks on."

"She's always been a cunt to me. Sorry not sorry," Timmy said. "But she wasn't this hostile when I first met her. Wot happened to make her this way?"

"I don't know. But anger is a defense mechanism. Normally against fear," Shaylin said. "From what I know about Noche. She's afraid to lose, and her fear of failure fuels her anger."

"That mmMmakes sense. For Noche defeat is unfeasible. So when faced with an unbeatable opponent, like the Grave brothers, eventually her fear and anger will grow too intense."

There was a pause where nobody said anything.

"And wot happens when fear and anger become too intense?"

Noche convulsed on the ground as her body tore itself apart. It was as if her biological form could no longer contain her power. She was being ripped to pieces, shredded at the seams. Flesh fell off chunks at a time as she spasmed on the floor. Her claws dug into the metal like it was clay, and her bones snapped with each twitch of the limb.

Her head twisted and snarled as her face fell off like a mask. Her muscles wriggled as if it was a bag full of eels. Her limbs fell off and regrew over and over again. Her body destroyed and repaired itself with astonishing alacrity. As the seconds passed, the orange blood at her feet started to glimmer gold.

Then she screamed – it was a banshee's scream. A wail that chilled the blood of even the Grave brothers. The screams stopped as she started vomiting tar. It leaked out of her mouth, her wounds, and poured onto the ground by the gallon.

A heartbeat later, all the tar ignited into white flames. The ivory fire wrapped around Noche and spun. It rotated with such speed and force that it became the eye of a hurricane. Winds whipped at the sea of clouds surrounding the top of the asylum tower, forcing them to spin like Noche's body was the center of a whirlpool.

It spun so rapidly that the corruption cocoon almost looked like a pale star – or a white orb. It lifted off the ground with Noche still contained inside.

Originating from the asylum, ominous winds blew across the planet. They crept to every part of the globe, causing nature to go still. Insects stopped chirping, birds stopped singing, and dogs stopped barking. There was a second of unnatural silence before every animal ran as far away from the wind as possible.

Those few creatures unfortunate enough to be near the asylum died instantly. Fish rose from the abyss and bobbed on the surface of the ocean with white eyes. They were joined by thousands of their dead brethren. Seagulls fell from the sky with blood leaking from their mouth.

The global temperature dropped and dropped as a supernatural chill coated the world. As if this was a prelude to a spontaneous ice age. Dark clouds gathered across the sky of every country on the planet.

As this happened, a child was walked past a closed Halloween store. The moment the sky darkened the animatronic witch in the window turned on. He jumped out of his skin as the sidewalk was illuminated by the toy's yellow eyes.

"Something wicked this way comes. Something wicked this way comes."

The Halloween prop cackled as the child ran home. Its eyes glitched on and off as it continued its malfunctioning laughter.

All the while the largest hurricane ever recorded gathered above the asylum. It was a swirling mass of storms that occupied about a third of the planet's sky. With its eye centered on the white orb.

Outside the Asylum, Vida fell to her knees and clutched at her chest. She raised her head to the top of the asylum and fell silent. A bead of sweat gathered on her forehead as the smile left her face. She raised a trembling hand and created a small flame in the palm of her hand.

To the Grave brothers the black clouds spinning around them cast shadows everywhere they looked. It was as if devils were dancing all around them; always out of the corner of their eyes. They stood at the center of a pitch-black abyss and the only sight before them was this white orb.

The shockwave knocked them to the floor. The hurricane stopped dead. All the wind, the noise, the twisting shadows vanished. The world had gone still. 

Unnaturally still.

"And wot happens when fear and anger become too intense?"

Shaylin looked Timmy in the eyes, and her expression hardened before she spoke.

"It becomes hate."

The white orb cracked.

It cracked and cracked until the entire thing looked like an egg ready to hatch. Then the white cooled to black. Pieces of the orb fell, not like broken ceramic, but like crow feathers. Then it split in half and fell like fabric.

A cape was the first thing the Grave brothers saw. It was made of crow feathers and looked heavy as drapes. It surrounded ebony plate mail that covered every inch of her body. The shoulders, elbows, and knees had long spikes that ended in fishhooks.

The greaves were the same ones she wore when she fought Dreg and Raven. Every piece of armor was razor sharp and multiple areas ended in a point. The helmet had no eyes, no nose, only teeth. A big grinning maw full of jagged teeth. On her forehead was an anglerfish antenna that glowed bright gold.

This humanoid floated a few inches off the ground and there was an aura of darkness that surrounded her. She was motionless for a few heartbeats as the silence settled into the Grave brothers' bones. Then the black knight raised her head.