So, what is this exactly? Something borrowed and something new? Yes!

So while writing the original Black Bayou, I kind of wrote myself into a corner and kind of left it alone. Then a couple of years ago, I came up with this idea for a story where a catastrophic hurricane happens that turns the people who stayed behind into monsters, but they're nice monsters who don't want to scare anybody and just want to go about their business

And then I borrowed the name of the lead of the original Black Bayou and it kind of cemented it, to me at least, that this could be something better

Chapter 3: Colonial Discharge
(With apologies to A Split Second)

It was quiet in the boarding house where Tilly lived, but that's how she wanted it. After all, she had a ritual to perform. With a stick of chalk, she drew a circle of brute arcane force that would beckon a creature of otherworldly origin into her being. She would hallucinate much like her tribal ancestors did when they needed guidance. But her ways, in these modern times, were very different. Shamans/Mambos were incredibly common in New Orleans, why you could almost trip over one in any direction on your way to a coffee shop. Still and calm, she mouthed a chant repeatedly, thinking of wild horses roaming the untamed plains of the old west and a torrent of ocean waves crashing over her like the flood that changed them all.

She opened her eyes and she was in a void of black light falling helplessly down a shaft of intense air. She saw images of her people slaughtered, indoctrinating the children into their ways so that they could become who they were meant to, their wild cries as people proud and free, unaware of their bleak future. The future was not kind of the chosen people of the earth.

Faster and faster downwards she fell, still propelled by that same intense force of air until she landed at the bottom, in some sort of bog rife with creatures both old and strange to propagate it. She had come, willingly or otherwise, to the fabric of reality that permeates the brainspace with wondrous and beautiful thoughts (and sometimes the inverse) called The Dream Web.

Where it came from no one was certain, but it was surmised that it had always been there driving people in the subtlest of ways towards their dreams, their innermost passions. In the bog, amongst the trees and ruins of palaces and ships, she saw her lover. She ran to him and embraced him, covering herself in his muck of algae and roots. His being poured into hers.

In another life, his name was Clive Manis, a popular writer of horror. One day, in the dead of night, while penning another terrifying piece of poignant prose, his inner demons (not just the ones on the page) took hold of him and turned him into one of them. His body died, but his soul and mind were transported to the Dream Web and woven anew by the mysterious Cult of the Shroud who worshiped dreams and forged new ones daily. "It as good as always to see you Summer's Willow," spake one of the cult. He lifted his hood and showed an aged Roman face that seemed to be chiseled out of marble," I see that you have already said your 'hellos' to Mr. Manis or what remains of him." Tilly squeezed Clive's muck infested fingers a little tighter, "It's good to see you too Apollo." "What brings you before us this eve?"

Tilly described her vision to Apollo that she had had a few nights ago that had haunted her sleepless nights and waking hours. It was of her, James, and Harris helplessly watching a gigantic and sinister creature wreck havoc on the Bayou and cause another flood.

Apollo pondered the dream, his feet damp from the bog water, "This creature, does it have a name?" Tilly nodded and mouthed the words,"Boaz Of Nautilus". Apollo's normally still face was suddenly awash with a fervent fear. With a loud stomp of his staff into the swamp, Apollo created a portal to the true domain of the Shroud where the Dream Web lay in earnest, a paradise not unlike that of heaven itself. Clive and Tilly followed closely behind, still hand in hand, Clive's thoughts seeping into her own as he could no longer speak since his rebirth.

Moving through the lush grass, Apollo sat down on a large rock and beckoned the two to join him. "There are tales of a special blade that was sunk into the earth's crust after a great and terrible war among the stars. Where it is, no one knows and lesser men have sacrificed their lives in vain in order to find it. It is called the Hellsbane. It is a dangerous weapon, and will render it's owner's very soul unto the blackest pits of the netherworld. If your dream is true as you say Summer's Willow, then we are in mortal peril. For that means that it's true suitor had finally rejoined the living. You worry for another flood? Think of it three or even four times over. Absolute chaos not seen since the days of Pompeii, I know, I was there..."

"Is there anything we can do to stop it Apollo?" Apollo nodded, clutching his staff," Yes, our savior comes not from the northern star, but will have a branding of the cosmos on his or her wrist. He or she has the power to wield the Stargale, a powerful blade of absolute purity and light. Find them and your world may yet be saved Summer's Willow. I must go now, to tend to my flock of would be dreamers. But I leave you knowing that you have great potential to nurture this planet and save us."

"Then we need to find them. Shouldn't be that hard to do right? Tune into some great shifting of the cosmos or something?" Tilly said, Clive's thoughts pouring into her mind like a cold pitcher of water. "I think I can try if you want,"Clive said,"somebody that pure should be easy to track, I wouldn't be surprised if our enemies were doing that already." Tilly, tired from worry, laid her head on Clive's soggy shoulder, and closed her eyes. Slowly, she felt herself being pulled back into our reality but with Clive joining her. With a loud gasp, she was back but she felt different. With every breath she took, a large stream of gas emerged. Was she full of dreams or was she chaos incarnate?

She looked down and saw that most of her body had been wrapped in some sort of moss, alluding to the fact that Clive was a part of her as a Loa, a shadow spirit. Her first job was to create some kind of tuning fork that would be able to track and find this supposed chosen one. She thought about making one for the wielder of the Hellsbane too, so that she could end their life as quickly as it started. But then she thought, that wouldn't solve anything and they would just reincarnate yet again, maybe 10 or 20 years down the road and the whole mess would just reiterate upon itself.

She took a mound of clay and shaped it into a ball, chiseled some glyphs into it and then she let it harden in the oven. After it baked, it lacked any significant kind of potency, so she breathed the strange gas that lurked inside her onto it. It turned a soft white color and started to glow. She got dressed proper and left the boarding house. It was now night time, approximately 9:30 to be exact. Since letting Clive inside her, Tilly had become drastically more aware of, well, everything. It was strange but also incredibly elating. She could feel the air swirling around her, her body acting as kind of a nexus point for the elements. She felt like they were guiding her, protecting her. Not that she already didn't feel safe enough with Clive as her Loa. She took the clay orb out of her jacket pocket, which still felt warm, and let it guide her.

She walked through the calm streets with light traffic and few passersby. Most of them were headed down town to frolic in the clubs and curio shops, so Tilly wasn't worried so much about her aura. She traveled further down towards the pier and it was pointing in the direction James' houseboat,"Great," Tilly muttered," as if he needed more of an ego boost." She trudged down the dock and boarded, lightly tapping on the door. "It's open," James called out and he was very much surprised to see Tilly, "Well hi lady, what do I owe the pleasure." "You got time for a long ass story?" She replied, James nodded. She then proceeded to relay the events of the previous few hours. James never questioned, just listened. "What, so you think I'm the wielder of this cosmic sword that'll vanquish evil?" "More or less, Apollo told me that the wielder should have the branding of the cosmos or so approximation there of on their wrist." James shook his head, "it ain't me Tilly." "Well the orb I forged pointed here, so it has to be you. Didn't you say that you had a weird rash on your hand as a kid?" "Well," he coughed,"I'm not the only one in here.." "Who else is...?" Before she could finish her sentence, Johnny Wuu emerged from the toilet,"Damn James, you got any air freshener? Really blew up your toilet man, sorry," Johnny noticed Tilly,"Oh, hello. James, who's the skirt?" James facepalmed, "Tilly St. Claire meet Johnny Wuu, henceforth destroyer of toilets and savior of the universe..."

Chapter 5- Can't Happen Here
(With apologies to Stabbing Westward)

The days seemed to pass effortlessly to the people that encompassed the Black Bayou. Almost as soon as they had left Mass, it was time for it again. James, Tilly, and Harris joined each other much the same way as they always had. At Garrison's, they finally decided to talk about the things that had been going on and how the powers behind them seemed to be working together behind it almost in like they were in a deadly alliance with one another. Johnny had joined them for breakfast since they were all seemingly apart of this.

"So, what do we do?," Johnny said, snacking on bits of bacon, "I think I'm the biggest one that's startled by all this. I mean the other day I was a comfortably retired action star. Then all this Combine stuff hits on top of all the interdimensional 'sword of truth' malarkey." Harris nodded, "I know, I'm not sure what to make of it either. I'm getting the feeling that Combine paraphernalia might be what's causing people to turn into the weremonsters. I don't see how it could be an isolated incident."

Johnny warmed his hands with the mug of coffee," And if that Boaz of Nautilus character really is behind all of this, I'm kind of afraid. I've heard whispers of him in the past when I tangled with the Combine when I was in special ops, but not the whole story." Suddenly, a portal opened and out stepped Apollo, "I believe, Mr. Riedmeyer, that I might be able to offer a fresh perspective on the topic if you would be so kind as to follow me." "Sure why not? I've always depended on the kindness of strangers." "Don't mind Johnny Apollo," Tilly said, woofing down a patty melt and fries,"while he's very enlightened, he doesn't quite understand the Dream Web. Not yet anyway."

Apollo nodded," Mr. Riedmeyer, I assure you that you have nothing to fear from me or what I represent. I seek only to prepare you for what is to come." Apollo motioned to Tilly and the three of them followed closely in toe. Apollo tapped the tiled floor of Garrison's and another portal appeared, he motioned for Johnny to step through and with nothing to lose, he did. He, along with James, Tilly, and Harris, soon were in the paradise that was the Dream Web with fields of grass that seemed to stretch forever and pink, purple, and blue skies. It was peaceful and serene and took Johnny completely by surprise. "Is... is this heaven?" Apollo laughed watching Tilly, James, and Harris romp around like carefree children,"No Mr. Riedmeyer, though some have called it that. As I understand it, we are somewhere in the very recesses in the shared consciousness of the human mind where thoughts, ideas, and dreams themselves are born and sometimes nightmares, though those are incredibly rare. We call this, much like Summer's Willow told you, the Dream Web."

"Well, whatever it is, it's beautiful. Peaceful even." "The mind often hungers for comfort from the modern world mr. Riedmeyer," Apollo said," and here in the DreamWeb, we try our hardest to give it to them. To train the willing and able to ward off the bad inclinations of terrors beyond human comprehension, that is the goal of The Cult Of Shroud and their personal warriors, the Centurion Nouveau. But for the moment, let's discuss your role in all of this. While I'm not entirely sure what Summer's Willow has told you, I'm sure that you wouldn't mind if I began at the beginning." With a flick of his wrist, Apollo created a small viewing orb in the palm of his hand. "It all started well before the dawn of mankind in galaxies yet undiscovered by your people. It began with a sentient, symbiotic organism called Visceri. It played amongst itself in the darkness. However, a part of it was not so easily contented. It called itself Boaz. Eventually, it tried to poison the hivemind with it's own toxic ideologies. And in doing so, it was cast out. Freed, Boaz set about entertaining it's own interests. It created the heavens and the stars as well as the people that inhabited them. All seemed peaceful, but Boaz being of a chaotic nature, he set into motion the destruction of the many galaxies. He caused war, famine, and death. He would do this, extinguish everything, then start again; searching in vain for some sort of x-factor to keep himself interested. Eventually, the Visceri caught wind of what Boaz was up to and thankfully put a stop to it. It was in awe of what Boaz accomplished; a living, breathing universe. An outcast no longer, Boaz was welcomed back into the hivemind. But Boaz was still as cunning and cruel as ever. He infected himself with a plague that he himself had become immune to, but the other Visceri had not. In it's brief minglings with what I'm sure the Visceri would consider lesser beings, they learned that Boaz had created a world that was scientifically advanced, but also horribly backwards in ideologies. Boaz had created a sword infected with the same virus that could cause the entire universe to cease. That was Boaz's X-Factor. So the Visceri, what remained of it anyway, visited the planet in earnest. It stayed the war of two ruling families and blessed one with a small branding of the cosmos on the wrist of the wife that would be passed down from mother to child for generations to come. And that was the last of what I was told in my time amongst ancient cults in Macedonia."
Johnny pondered a moment, the branding on his wrist throbbing, "So, where does this leave me Apollo?"
"Sadly, for some reason Mr. Riedmeyer, you have been both blessed and cursed to lead your home into a new era of prosperity or suffer the fate of what became of the Visceri and the people that they tried in vain to shield from absolute evil. Because nothing, save you, can stop the onslaught of the most terrible evil in all the known galaxies. I would like you to stay here to train with someone who knows the power of the power of the Stargale better than even I do," a large, imposing, muck-encrusted shadow loomed over them both, "I believe you're familiar with the works of a Mr. Clive Manis?" Like being doused in a bucket of cold water , Johnny could feel another consciousness intermingling with his own "Hello Mr. Wuu," Clive said, extending a mossy hand to Johnny,"let me just say that I'm a very big fan of yours." "Pleasure's mine Clive, Cellars Of Blood kept me up for weeks." The world around them seemed to fade to black. Slowly, methodically, Clive was pulling Johnny into his own dreamspace that vaguely resembled the swamp where both he and Tily had consecrated their love for one another on numerous occasions. The swamp water, up to Johnny's ankles, was about the consistently of a warm, muddy slurry. But Johnny was well traveled and had been in the unforgiving climate of Vietnam and this was no different.

Johnny could feel his wrist throbbing, the branding was calling to him. He touched it and suddenly a wave of intense energy sprouted from within his arm and created something resembling a Kendo stick. "Interesting," Clive murmured, "I guess the Stargale really is different for everybody." Johnny played with it, it was almost like a living organism, an extension of himself. "So, Clive, what do you know about the Stargale?" Another burst of light boomed and Clive was also armed with a weapon,"About as much as Apollo told you. My history with it is, well, rather grim. I was up late one night working on a story when I felt, well, I guess you could call it a prodding to start writing something else. For 36 hours, in a mental state beyond my own, I wrote a tapestry of the cosmos. It was sort of like a code book I think to tap into the power of the Stargale and make it my own. I almost had it, with every key stroke, the branding became clearer on my wrist. But then, something happened, all of the sudden this intense wall of blackness enveloped me and, well, I died and woke up here. From what Apollo surmised, I'm guessing I was deemed 'unworthy' by the greater cosmic forces. I trained with the Centurion Nouveau for a bit and that's how I was able to summon this energy sword and create my own personal space in the Dreamweb. Trust me, the mental energy you need to achieve both is humbling. So," Clive said, chopping down a thick wall of vines on a nearby tree, "shall we get started?"

Meanwhile, back in the Dreamweb, Tily, James, and Haris laid in the grass as a cool spring breeze passed by, pondering what to do next. James saw the Centurion Nouveau practicing in the distance and was curious as to how such feats could be achieved. "They're very welcoming you know," Tily said, trying to cover a large belch,"I'm sure they'd see no reason for you not to join them." "Are their powers limited to the Dreamweb?" "That I can't answer for sure. I think so?" Apollo appeared beside them, which startled James,"Dream power is the strongest ability in the universe. Stronger than your vampirism, young James, stronger than your years of training with Mr. Riedmeyer. If you wish to aid Mr. Riedmeyer in the coming days, I would implore you to intermingle with the Centurion Nouveau. What they can do is beyond mere description. It done with a beauty rivaling that of the martial arts." Apollo didn't need to say anything more, James' curiosity was in full bloom. James approached cautiously, as the Nouveau were seated, meditating around a large yellow pulsating crystal. The tiny gems on their foreheads also gleaming, feeding the large crystal with their own energies. One, a woman, could sense James and turned to look at James. She was a very beautiful, roughly about James' age. She offered him a seat beside her. They meditated together, and slowly James' could feel his consciousness dissipating from his body, crossing the multitude of dimensions of the mindspace of the Dreamweb. The woman, who called herself Kalia, greeted him as a mother would a child. Personally, James felt sick from the present sense weightlessness and was trying hard not to vomit. Kalia laughed,"Don't worry, you're not the first to experience that and I'm sure you won't be the last." "Where are we exactly?" "The crossroads of the mindspace were everything intersects with one another. Worlds upon worlds. Here we can go anywhere. But I'm curious though, why did you want to join us?" James tried to steady himself before he responded. He could feel something pulsating in his head, he was sure it was Kalia reading his mind. "You've experience a great deal of pain James," she said, helping him learn to hover in the mindspace,"especially at such a young age. I couldn't imagine it." James nodded, unsure of the true intention of her sympathies. Almost instantly, they had jumped into James' mind. And James was face to face with himself on that day, the day the hurricane came and blotted out his whole life like a painter correcting a mistake. James was alone in the blackness of his room, listening to horrible sounds coming from outside. He couldn't sleep. His father had reassured him, his mother, and his little sister earlier that it wouldn't be anything worth worrying about. That the people on the news and the officials were just making a lot of fuss over nothing. With a thundercrack, the huge oak tree outside slammed into the house, killing his mother, father, and sister instantly. James was, even now, unsure how he survived. Maybe it was fate? Who really knew. But other people were displaced as well, and they descended on the local church through rivers of toxic, polluted water for safety. The preacher and deacon, both Irish immigrants, had never seen anything like it. If there was a God that day, he turned a blind eye to the suffering that had occurred and no man or woman of faith could change that opinion. Tears, endless and strong, streamed down James' face. He had relived this moment hundreds of times, almost to the point of numbness, but seeing it play out in front of him just opened up something very raw within him. "Can," James said meekly,"can we stop this please?" Kalia agreed and they exited the mindspace of the Dreamweb. James was immediately thrown back into his own body and threw up a strange, cascading rainbow substance. "Interesting," Kalia said, helping James up from the deep meditation, "I've never seen a non-Nouveau throw up dreamstuff before. Usually it only happens when our ethereal bodies die or become injured." James said nothing, he was still unsteady and unsure.

In the nearby field, Harris and Tilly were playing a game of catch with the white clay orb that Tilly had manifested earlier. "You still think about him," Harris asked causally," don't you?" "Who?" "You know who" "What? James? Maybe when we were younger I guess," Tilly replied pensively," I think when you're as young and close as we were, love kind of confusingly manifests itself. James is still too much of an overgrown child. Not that we're much better." Harris pitched the orb back to Tilly "True" "And well, me and Clive are sort of an item. Who'd have thought I'd trade in a relationship with mortal men for a dead swamp monster who haunts people's dreams?" "Stranger things have happened. I mean, look at us. Twisted creations of god and man, pollution and surging water." "And what's weirder is that I've been getting all these strange food cravings lately. Like I'm..." Harris finished the sentence "Pregnant?"
"Oh god, you think so? But how though?" "Simple, didn't you say that you had physically bonded for a little bit when you took Clive on as your Loa?" "But..." Harris nodded and Tilly looked down and saw her once slim physique blooming into womanhood, confused to what a muck monster and creature of the night could possibly sire.

Back in Clive's dreamspace, Johnny and Clive were pushing the Stargale and the Nouveau approximation to it's absolute limits. The two swords crackled with intense energy, both their wielders panting. They had been going for three hours straight, a sense of urgency and personal liberation in their strikes. With one deliberate, precise maneuver Johnny swung the Stargale with such force that a loud thunderclap that split Clive's reality wide open. "Well," Johnny said, the blackness fading backwards into the perpetual purple sunset of the Dreamweb,"didn't expect that to happen." Johnny helped up Clive out of the mucky water that somehow remained and noticed that Clive couldn't stop laughing "We did it Johnny, we did it!" "And what did we do exactly?" "We conquered the very fabric of reality. We unlocked the true potential of the Stargale." And then, Johnny started laughing too, and he had no idea why. The two of them dancing around like happy idiots. It Apollo approached the two of them with a wide smile,"Mr. Riedmeyer, Mr. Manis, I congratulate the two of you for your work today. You have conquered the fabric of the mind and the body with your dedication. But be warned, with this power comes a cautious responsibility to one's own self. The Black Lotus have made themselves a very dangerous enemy this day, more so than in the past. I wish you well on your journey Mr. Riedmeyer." And with that, Johnny, James, Tilly, and Harris were back in Garrison's like nothing had happened "Sir!," a waitress shouted,"Sir!" "Yes?!," Johnny piped up,"Can't you see thay we're having a meeting here?" "A meeting of what? All I see is a bunch of lifeless corpses. I was just asking you folks if you wanted some more coffee. Hopefully it'll get whatever drugs you kids have been on out of your system. Bunch of absolute space cases I tell yah." The waitress walked off and all of them started laughing hysterically, though none knew why.

Chapter 6: Lullaby
(with apologies to The Cure)

Killian Bradford had been dreaming again. Pensive, black dreams of hellfire and damnation, great and terrible wars and the creatures in them with unhonorable intentions . These were the kind of dreams not fit for his ilk, a being of pure demonspawn. They filled him with the kind of existential dread only a terrified child could know. And when he saught solace in his parents, he received less than what he felt like he needed. His mother coddled him like a helpless baby shushing away his worries, his father distant, yet scholarly, thinking in abstractions rather than pure reason. Both complete opposites of a whole. Being well over six thousand years old, at least as a demon, it was infuriating to be talked down to like this. His father's friends, his kinsmen, we were far more open to his plight. "Aye remember when I first met yer mother lad," Kilroy said, puffing away on a hooka," yer father had been telepathically enraptured by her charms, if you even wanna call them that, and walked over a hundred miles like a man possessed in the pouring rain to meet her. I'm not sure if it was really love outta something like that Cher movie Moonstruck, but they seemed well suited to each other. Anyway, where was I going with this?...Ah! Yer mom was as pagan as they came and had visions often. It's probably best if you locked yourself away fer a spell, light sum candles and go into a deep trance." Killian heeded Kilroy's advice. Within the hour, Killian was alone with a tall glass of Big Shot Root Beer, flickering candles and a beautiful serene silence. The machinations of his mind churned, images flashing by like still frame photographs thrown into a paper shredder. Whatever force had him was slowly sucking him into this vile pit of darkness and despair. Here long steel chains enraptured a body of pure illuminated blackness. The creature's skin looked rough and jagged like that of an alligator's, even though the form resembled something somewhat human. Still able to feel his corporal body, Killian took a long sip of the skunky smelling soft drink, still keeping his third eye on the creature. With all the innocence of a rabid dog, Killian asked the creature a question,"Who are you? Are you the one that's been polluting my mind with these visions?" The creature, though in eternal pain and anguish, laughed,"So, I have finally found someone who can free me from these infernal chains that bind me. Do you realize how long I've been trapped in this place? Since long before you were a whisper amongst the stars themselves boy." "Who are you?," Killian asked further. "That's a question in of itself itsn't it boy?,"the creature replied,"I am the star dog, the bane of a thousand worlds, killer of galaxies, and devourer of lost sheep. I have no true name pronounceable to human tongue, but I am often spoken of as Boaz of Nautilus. What are you called boy? So that I might know the name of my savior." Killian took another sip,"I am Killian Bradford, sired in the hills of the west andes by a mother who fornicated with the same vampire that took her life. Before I took human guise, I was a lowly demon that was not worth mentioning. What makes me think I'll free you Boaz Of Nautilus?" Boaz cackled with his bruised lips and with impossibly sharp teeth, he cut into the silence that permeated his world,"Because boy, we are inexplicably linked like twins in the womb. You are the one chosen to free me from this hellscape. You have doubts about yourself and the world you inhabit. I can aide you in the respect. I have watched your galaxy since it's inception when my hand forced the demise of the old one. I am by no means a scholar, merely a thief of information. The things I could tell you boy would split your very mind in two."

Knowing that Boaz would only torment his mind further, Killian gave in,"What do I need to do?" Boaz smiled a deep smile laced with devious intent,"There is a sword deep in the bowels of the House Of Usher. Bring it to me." "But what do you need with a sword?" "GET IT!!!" Boaz snarled, the trance was broken, and Killian gasped loudly, awake to this new reality. There was a knock on the door and in stepped his adoptive, earth emissary mother, Patricia,"Killian sweetheart, is everything alright? I spoke with Morgan and he said you might be in here." "Mom, is there a sword somewhere in the house?" "Sword?," Patricia replied, startled by his question,"You'll have to be more specific darling, the ones you and your father duel with?" "No," Killian said, shaking his head,"another one. It's a two pronged sword with a black hilt about this big." Killian motioned with his hands to about two feet in in length. Patricia sighed deeply,"Killian, you're asking a very dangerous question that I don't think you want the answer to. That sword, the one that, god bless him, engulfed your father in flames, is like a terrible curse. I don't want that burden on you. I'm sure your father told you about it, right?" Killian shook his head and Patricia sat down beside him. She went into the long and storied history of the universe from what little of it she knew and could comprehend. Killian sat there listening thoughtfully. He didn't feel like himself since he spoke with the creature called Boaz, his third eye pulsating and throbbing violently. Something dark awoke within Killian and he lunged at his adoptive mother,"Silly cow, how little you truly know. A disciple of Gaia?! Don't make me laugh. The earth has been without a voice for eons. What you probably heard was me shouting for my freedom." Killian left the room and went down the hall and knocked on the door of Doctor Jonathan Valquish, his father. A hand of forged steel clasped the door as gently as it could, and opened it."Killian," Valquish asked,"is everything alright?" Killian ignored him and barged right in, digging through everything to find the sword,"Valquish where is the sword? The one you brazenly took from me in defiance of our pact?" Valquish's eyes lowered, he knew who masquerading as Killian was now," You old fool, there was no pact. What could I possibly owe a demon? One who could kill me with but a thought?" "You fiend! You agreed to free me in exchange for the answers to eternal life! And then you stole my sword, my life's work. And I here I believed the English were people of honor. But no more! With this child of demons in my control, I will be invincible!" "Leave Killian out of this you fowl abomination!" Valquish took a vile of whatever he was currently brewing and threw it on Killian. It was Holy Water laced with Silver. Within seconds Killian, or what was left of him, was writhing on the floor. His skin burned off completely and what was left was the smell of burning, rotting flesh. Killian's skin was now a solid, illuminated black, razor sharp and jagged. The darling child of Moritem and Valquish was no more, only Boaz Of Nautilus remained. This new being only smiled wickedly. From what remained of Killian's third eye, the creature called Boaz Of Nautilus, through much pain and suffering, pulled out the sword of destruction, The Helsbane. Boaz swung at Valquish, shattering priceless antiquities. The steel chassis of Valquish's body, though indeed strong, was not invulnerable. With a slash, the Helsbane cut through the forged metal suit like a knife through butter. Valquish screamed in agony as the eternal fires that encompassed him spewed forth, completely setting the room ablaze. Patricia, armed with Kilroy and Hutch, entered just as Valquish was slashed in half.

In another room, Boaz called to his servant. Having been maimed by a snarling black creature previously, Mr. Tyler was susceptible to Boaz's whims, "Sebastian Tyler. Awake and aid your master." Like a man possessed, Sebastian Tyler did as he was told and came running on all fours like a beat in the night. As he was rushing past though, his gait caught the attention of an eldritch being in a small mason jar who was also attuned to his master's voice, Kazhar Thumak. "Sebastian Tyler!" Tyler didn't hear him and kept on galloping along,"Tyler, you fool! Take me with you! Surely I can aid the master more than you!" But his Master's voice was within him, and Sebastian Tyler balked at such an alliance, "Kazhar Thumak, you dunce. There was a reason I cast you off into the limbo of the Dreamspace. A creature who possesses houses? Whatever was I thinking? No, you got what you deserved and you should be grateful that you got as far as you did with the Nightbeings." Sebastian Tyler then picked up the jar and flung it into the primordial fire that was Johnathan Valquish. A wailing scream that could pierce the very night's air came from the little creature as he writhed and cooked before shriveling up like a dead crustacean. Then came the endgame, Boaz Of Nautilus lept from Killian Bradford's body and into that of Sebastian Tyler's. But, try as he might, the Helsbane did not travel with him. The sword had it's wielder in Killian and did not seek another master. The boy was still susceptible to Boaz's influences thankfully. Within seconds, Hutch's ethereal flute summoned the spirits of the House Of Usher, shadows that clung to the walls and protected it from exactly the type of people that Boaz Of Nautilus represented. The howling of a hundred trillion wild animals came from their gaping maws as they lunged at Boaz under the guise of Sebastian Tyler. Boaz smiled a deep, sinister grin and with a whisper, he turned Killian against them with the might of the Helsbane. The more the shadows persisted, the more Killian slashed. All the while Johnathan Valquish still burned on. Patricia Mortiem had a decision to make, extinguish her beloved and let her precious boy leave or try and save them both and let the House Of Usher burn.

Patricia, with tears in her eyes, motioned for Hutch to cease blowing on the ethereal flute. Boaz grinned and leapt through a nearby stained glass window with Killian closely in toe. From within his jacket, Hutch pulled out the the only thing that would stop Valquish's eternal flame, a bucket of special soot and ash. Hutch threw it on Valquish and instantly the flames stopped. What was left of the enterally smoldering man was not much worth looking at. Very raw, very rough skin, hairless and covered in blisters.

When he finally awoke, Johnathan gasped loudly. "Killian!," he asked, coughing from the soot and ash,"Where's Killian?!" Patricia, still a mess, did not answer. "I regret to inform you Doctor Valquish," Hutch piped up,"that young master Killian is no longer amongest us." "The bastard took him Johnathan!,"Patricia screamed,"The bastard possessed our baby boy and then ran away with him like a theif in the night! And I just sat there and watched him do it! There was nothing I could do!" She collasped into Johnathan's arms, broken hearted at her choice. The look of raw, heated anger on Valquish's face was palpable. He thrust open the cellar door and entered his arms room, filled to the brim with all the weaponry and armor that could ever hope to sustain him. "Kilroy!," he shouted, fastening his belt,"you're with me!" "Alright mate," Kilroy said, rubbing his hands together,"suits me fine." "Johnathan, where or Earth are you going?" "To find the boy, Patricia. It's my fault he got into this mess and it's only fair that I get him back." "But Johnathan, you're still weak. I won't have you trapezing the whole damn world looking for our child when you're too damn stubborn to notice that you haven't got the strength in you." This was all too true, with his flame extinguished, Johnathan Valquish was useless. It would take time to rekindle and it was time he didn't have. He slumped down in a nearby chair and silently pondered his next move. "Kilroy," he murmured,"I want you and Hutch to scout the Bayou as much as you can. I doubt that fiend could have gotten far. And none of your regular roguish tricks, I don't want to read about you dangling some poor soul over a pier for information, understood?" Kilroy nodded and patted Hutch's jacket with the back of his hand and the two were off. Patricia crawled into Johnathan's lap,"Oh Johnathan, what are we going to do?" "I'm just as worried as you are Patricia, but we have to bide our time with the boys and hope that Killian isn't too far gone." "Too far gone?! Did you see the look in his eyes?! I didn't see anything like our Killian, just something dead and broken." "I know darling, I know. But we have to have hope..." And the two sat there embracing one another as a calm cool breeze came rolling in through the stained glass wind caressing them with the promise of a new season

Chapter 7: No Sign Of Yesterday
(with apologies to Men At Work)

Night time was settling in at the Wuu Don Yong studio. As the outside lights flickered on down Little Chiba, the last of the students for the day said their goodbyes or followed each other to the nearby Mr. Ripple for an extensive chat and or hot butterscotch sundae. It was a sign of comfort to see so much youthful exuberance for Johnny Wuu. He locked the door behind them and turned off the lights. Johnny trudged upstairs to his loft and sat down at his desk which was filled with endless paperwork that made him regret opening up a dojo in the first place. From his mini-fridge beside him, he opened up a bottled lager and poured it in a frosty pint glass. That outing in the Dreamweb, as intense as it was, had stayed with him. He wasn't sure how he felt about being a messiah. He certainly wasn't about to let anyone else know. He remembered how it all began. He was still far into his youth when his father, a boat builder by trade, was raided by pirates and killed along with his mother. Having no family left, Johnny was adopted by his father's best friend, Wu Sung Kim. Wu Sung treated Johnny like his own from day one, even before the deadly accident, and his son, Bai, was as closer to him than any brother could hope to be. It was different with Wu Sung's daughter, Kuai, who Johnny mostly just thought of as "some girl". Oh, how that opinion would change as they got older. Going to the Star festival that year was, for Johnny, very much the experience. Every year, Little Chiba had a ceremony honoring a monk who achieved total perfection by mastering all known styles of martial arts. The memory of such a hero, who's name had since been forgotten by the sands of time, was an inspiration to everyone of Little Chiba and those who visited. But the Star Festival was not just a celebration of a lone monk, but life itself. The games and rides that the carnival brought were a relief to young Johnny's mind that had been muddied by the passing of his family. The star tattoo on his wrist, painted in glow in the dark paint by a chatty older woman, shone brightly as he played with few worries. Winter turned to Spring, and now Johnny and his adoptive siblings were of age to be trained by Wu Sung's dojo, Howling Fist. By the dawning of the sun on the sea, Johnny, Bai, and Kuai were taken to a secluded island off the coast of the Bayou. Each of them would stay on different parts of the island to be trained in different styles from one another. Bai would be trained with his father (for who else should teach his only son than his father?), Johnny would be taught by Wu Sung's right hand dojo master, Clark Holler (a vicious brute of a man with no tender side within him), and Kuai would be taught by Helana Komori (a dojo master who's style mirrored the swift beauty of the wind).



For four rough and grueling years they trained, having little outside contact with one another. They slept only four hours a day and the rest was used for training and exercises. How any of them survived was anyone's guess. When the three turned 18, they were brought before one another and all of them were left aghast of the people they had become. Bai and Johnny embraced like the brothers that they were with tears in their eyes. Kuai, ever the cold flower, merely nodded. "Now that the three of you are together once again," Wu Sung said," I feel honored as father to see what the years of training has created. Now, sit before me my children and let me have a look at you." From within his bag, Wu Sung pulled out three masks, "Some time ago, when I was still a young man, my father trained me as I have you and on the last day when the sweat from my brow stained my eyes and lips, he gave me a mask to honor the warrior that I had become. Today, I share that tradition with you. Bai, you are ever the trickster, always luring your opponents in with the intent of deception. For that I give you the mask of the scorpion. Johnny, for what you have endured and having risen above it beyond even my wildest dreams, I give you the mask of the Phoenix. And lastly, my only daughter, Kuai, I see in you a caged leopard ready to strike that no man can hope to tame, and so I give you the mask of the Tigress." They all looked at their masks with reverence and wore them proudly. "But, my children, that is not all. Now, if you hope to leave the island this day, you must prove you have learned your lessons well. You must fight each other." A look of concern and bewilderment adorned their faces. "But father," Bai said," surely the intense heat and time on the island has clouded your judgment. We couldn't find it within us to fight each other. We are as the gods are to the storm clouds, inseparable." "Wu Sung nodded,"And what say the other two of the Kim family?" "Bai is like a brother to me, I have no fire in my heart to wound him or Kuai." Kuai was surprisingly silent. She mulled over the possibility of sibling violence and came to a sound conclusion, "Four years, for four years we have trained and fought every instinct in our bellies to leave. I will not have my lessons be in vain. I will fight!"

With an unknown sense of strength, Kuai lifted up both Johnny and Bai by their shirts and threw them to the small fighting area in the center of the island, "Now brothers," she shouted, leaping like a feral cat,"let's see what you have learned!" Kuai fought like a wounded animal, viciously attacking Johnny and Bai who both did little more than block her attacks, which only made her more angry. Kuai was out to prove something, that much was true. Kuai went to the nearby weapons rack and plucked out a two pronged staff, she motioned for Johnny and Bai to choose something as well. Bai went for the Sai daggers and Johnny went for the old standby, the nunchaku. They fought relentlessly for another two hours in the intense heat of the summer sun. Eventually something had to give. And it did, Bai collapsed and Johnny caught him before his head cracked on the marbled area. "Is this what you want Kuai?!," Johnny shouted,"Your brother bruised and beaten just because of your own inadequacies?! Dammit girl, we're a family! We're supposed to look out for one another!!" Even through the mask, Johnny could see that Kuai was bearing her teeth. There was something sinister in her that needed to be let out and it wouldn't stop with just Bai or Johnny. Kuai lunged at Johnny and Bai, but before she struck with her staff, Wu Sung intervened. The staff slapped loudly against Wu Sung's wrist. Kuai stopped, realizing what she had done and fell to the ground. "Father," Kuai murmured, "I need help. It's always this intense anger within me that never seems to cool off." Wu Sung hugged his daughter, "You should have told me sweet girl, I have no anger towards you. You fought valiantly against your brothers and they did the same with you. Children, it is time, let us go home"



The air inside the Kim household had a different flavor upon the four's return. Much like the Bayou itself, not much had changed. The bunkbed that Johnny and Bai shared for so many years felt small and uncomfortable. Both were tired from the long years of training, "I'll find somewhere to sleep," Johnny jokingly reassured a worn out Bai," Whether it be on the floor or outside." Stumbling around, he unintentionally went into Kuai's room and passed out, remembering little. When he woke up the next morning, he felt almost hung over. Imagine his surprise when he saw Kuai beside him. "You snore a lot," she joked, "you know that Riedmeyer?" Kuai had been receiving therapy and medical treatment and had evened out to something more manageable. She was still gruff and tomboyish, but also ever so slightly more gentle.



Eventually Wu Sung held a meeting to discuss what his children wanted to do with themselves upon their return and to his surprise, they all wanted to pitch in and help out his brother's restaurant, Guy Pan. The work, much like their time on the island, was long and grueling but no less rewarding personally. Kuai served as an apprentice chef in the back while the boys bussed tables. A lot of big names came into Guy Pan while working on movies or just passing through, leaving many of the staff star struck. There was one particular fixture there, a one Kaid Soom "The Pig" Chung, a local mafia capo. His favorite was red curried chicken with a side of spring rolls and a pint of Fosters. He was dubbed "The Pig" because of his ravenous appetites towards everything in life, especially food and women (he often entered with at least two or three call girls draped on his arm). He was not however a classless fool and was well spoken and generous. He looked after Little Chiba with a philanthropist's eye and was well respected because of it, regardless of his mafia status. Kaid quickly took a shine to Bai and regularly offered him a seat beside him and a free meal. "How's work?," Kaid asked, digging into his third helping of curry. "Pretty steady," Bai replied, mouth full of pork buns,"Uncle Don is telling me that they might have a waiter position opening up soon. But..." "But what?" "Well, Johnny's more of a people person than I am, I think he might be better cut out for it." Kaid dipped his spring roll in the kimchee,"Word of advice young Bai, you never get anywhere in life putting others before yourself. If I did that, do you think I would have gotten where I am today? I'm not saying you shouldn't be the kind, thoughtful individual that you already are, but try and look out for yourself sometimes because nobody else can do that for you." With that Kaid wiped his chin and paid his tab. Curious though, there were no women today, none the past couple of days. When asked earlier by the hostess, Don Lee Kim's daughter, Rei about it, Kaid jokingly replied, "I'm going on a diet." Rei also noted, as Kaid walked out, something sparkling on his left ear lobe, it looked like a Black Lotus.



"Johnny?," "Yeah bro?" "I think," Bai sheepishly mused,"I think I'd like to apply for that waiter job..."



The next day, Don took both Johnny and Bai into his office. "I saw that both of you applied for the waiter position and given how well the both of you have done, I don't see why I can't just have the both of you work it. Congrats!" With the new prestige of a new position came better pay. Things were looking up, even Kuai made it up a few notches up to sous chef, which led her to taking up the cooking at home, much to the delight of the men who ate like absolute pigs. "You know Bai," Johnny belched," this is the life. Steady work, wonderful cooking, what more could guys like us ask for?" "True, Kuai really has come into her own. Still though..." "What?" "Well, you know Kaid's been a bit of a bug in my ear about things. He invited me to a meeting of this club that he became a member of, they call it the Combine." "Hell man, go for it! Make some connections."



The next night after work let out, Kaid was waiting outside for Bai. "About time!," Kaid said laughing patting Bai on the back,"Meeting starts in about ten minutes. Hopefully with my new ride we should make it with five minutes to spare. Maybe we can do a little meet and greet with some of the boys." "Any girls there?" "Sadly no, bit of a fraternity mindset there. Not unlike many private clubs." The car ride there was quiet with only Kaid's stereo drowning out the silence. They arrived shortly at the docks near the edge of the Bayou. "Stick your hand out the window and signal them with an open palm fist, that's our symbol." Bai did as he was told and the two men who bulged with excess muscle nodded and parted the doors. Kaid's car pulled leisurely into the cargo bay where he was waited on like a man of god and Bai too was shown the same kind of reverence. His door was opened and he was led like prince into the main room where a man in a hood stood ominously over a podium. Upon surveying, Bai noticed that the room was filled with various high-dollar thugs belonging to numerous different factions around the Bayou. From a purely ethical standpoint it seemed like a bad idea for all of them to be culminating in one spot. Bai had a good reason to be worried. "Who's the man up front?" "Oh, him?," Kaid took a puff of some non-descript substance that was freely being passed around by the boys",that's the big boss, Harry Gee Lun." Kaid offered some of the toke to Bai, who politely refused "Never heard of him." "Not surprising, he's been out of the game about ten-fifteen years. Been hold up in the slammer penning his manifesto, The Black Lotus. It's been passed around in various underground circles and came my way a couple of weeks ago. Haven't been able to put it down. The guy's an artist with words in ways that I can't possibly describe. I just wanted you to get a feel for the atmosphere here and if you like it, I'll give you a copy." Lun raised an open palmed fist and the room fell silent. One by one everyone did the same gesture out of respect. "Gentlemen," Lun said in thin, raspy voice,"thank you all for joining me once again in unison. It brings me joy to see so many like minds here breathing the same breaths, thinking the same thoughts. If only those outside our circle could know our joy, our struggle. We are largely perceived as a gang of directionless thugs, but we can do more and be more. That's why we are united! That's why we are combine!" A sea of raised, open palmed fists emerged, pledging themselves to Lun's cause. Lun's eyes followed the fists down to Bai, coughing from the smoke "I understand tonight that we have a visitor amongst us. Come forward sir, if you consider yourself brave enough!" The men started laughing. Kaid gently nudged Bai, "It's okay, Harry ain't gonna do anything too weird, he just wants to take a look at you."



Bai meekly stepped forward. "It's not often that we have wayward traveler in our midst sir," Lun said slyly," but when we do, we are very careful. Not everyone can share our mission. But looking at you Bai Sung Kim, I see nothing worth fearing. I see everything Kaid told me, a man on the cusp of realizing his full potential. Someone who is ready to explode, an able-bodied individual who can be a tool for a greater good. Do you believe this?" "I suppose.." Lun shook his head, "It is not enough to suppose Bai Sung Kim. We are approaching the dawning of a new era and we must be at the ready. We cannot afford to employ people within our brotherhood who is less than the sum of the whole." "I understand Mr. Lun, I," Bai nervously rubbed his arm, "I suppose I can try." Lun put his hand on Bai's shoulder, "Good man. As of today, you are a trainee. Under Kaid's stewardship, you will blossom into a weapon of intense promise. Now Bai, I want you to look into my eyes." Lun pulled back his hood and what emerged was a face not whithered by age, but decay. His eyes were solid blue and seemed to radiate energy. With all the smoke and Lun's eyes, Bai didn't feel good and he collapsed. He woke up hours later in cold sweat his bed wondering if it was all some strange, intense nightmare. He still didn't feel well and made a mad dash to the toilet where he promptly threw up. Looking down, something seemed off. In the toilet bowl were swarms of dead insects. His head began to throb before he had time to fully process what was going on. "You are now one of us Bai Sung Kim!," Lun's voice echoed in his head," We now require a sacrifice, a female sacrifice. We want your sister." Hands against the sides of his head, Bai tried desperately to squeeze the thoughts out. "Bring us your sister Bai, it's a simple request, you don't even have to be present when we offer her up to our God. Just bring us your sister Bai, and all of these psychic messages will go away." Bai gritted his teeth. He found a pair of scissors on the counter and thought about ending it. But before he could do that, some force other than himself stopped him. "Oh foolish boy, we can't let you out of your contract that easily," Lun's psychic voice whispered,"Take a pill, take twelve, take a million, you will never die until your debt is paid and you will never escape us! Now, bring us your sister..."



Meanwhile, in the living room, Johnny and Kuai were putting finishing touches on a project; a tattoo. An old family friend Nate was a budding amateur tattoo artist at his father's studio and was more than happy to obliged. Ever since that night years ago, Johnny desperately wanted a more permanent version of that glow-in-the-dark star festival tattoo. It was bittersweet to see it fully realized on his wrist, let alone with the added flair of glow-in-the-dark "Thanks dude," Johnny said, giving Nate a hug,"it looks perfect." "Sure man, anytime." Kuai was all smiles,"I think I'm gonna gift one for Bai on his birthday and get one on mine." "Nice family bonding moment for sure," Nate chuckled, packing up his equipment, "say, how is Bai anyway? He just kind of stumbled on in and went to bed. You think he drank too much?" "Well, see," Kuai replied,"That's the thing, he doesn't drink. Like, at all." From behind them they could hear heavy panting in the hallway. Johnny looked in the darkness and saw glittering fangs and glowing red eyes. Johnny prided himself of being the epitome of stoic, but whatever spawned from the hallway was something that he wanted absolutely no part of. It ran head-on towards the trio and Johnny executed a perfect belly-to-belly suplex, throwing the beast onto the dining room table, breaking it. Kuai gasped, it was Bai, writhing around on the concrete flooring. "Jesus," Nate exclaimed,"what the hell was that?" "Black magic," Wu Sung stepped put of the hallway and poured himself a cup of coffee, "magic so old and ancient that it doesn't have a name. It's the kind that I thought I'd never see again as long as I lived." "So what you're saying," Johnny replied, catching his breath," is that we have a reason to be worried?" Nobody laughed. "I've got an old contact at the special ops division of the Police, name's Fang Sing Leng. He kind of dabbles in the occult in his spare time. I'll phone him and let him know that you and Bai are coming." The four of them put every kind of possible strap on Bai and tossed him into the back seat of the family sedan while Johnny drove. Somewhere along the fifteen minute mark, Bai woke up "Uggh," Bai exclaimed, "what happened? Feel like I got hit by a Mac truck." "Well, there's a reason for that" Johnny explained what happened to a mostly silent Bai,"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?" "Honestly I couldn't even tell you what I had for breakfast." "That bad huh?" "Johnny, I'm scared..." "I am too buddy, but don't worry, we're gonna get you some help."



Soon the two of them arrived at the police station. Johnny leading Bai along on a leash while he was strapped in a straight-jacket inciting many a curious stare from passersby, none more so than the man at the front desk. "Hi, I'm Johnathan Riedmeyer, this is my brother Bai Sung Kim," Johnny said, trying to tell himself that this wasn't weird, "we're here to see Inspector Leng?" The man nodded and pushed a button on the desk, parting the adjacent doorway, "Take a right down the hall, first door on the left." The flat white hallway was adorned bad lighting, adding to the anxiety that Bai felt. Room 113 was soon found and opened by Johnny. Inside was nothing particularly unusual, just an average looking man going through paperwork and sipping hours old coffee. "Hi Inspector, I think you're expecting us?"



Over the next hour, Johnny divulged what he knew and what he thought he knew about the events that had transpired that evening to an attentive Inspector Ling, who merely listened and nodded. "Do you have any idea who could have possibly done this," the Inspector asked," or what they hope to accomplish?" "Can't say, though you can try and ask Bai.." "Bai, what do you know about this?" Bai tried to answer, but some powerful force of magic from Lun made it impossible "I--I can't say. Whatever possessed me earlier and turned me into a monster is doing this to me as well. I'm sorry." "Johnny, you said Kaid took Bai somewhere earlier tonight. Had he been acting different?" "Yeah, I'd say so." "I've been keeping tabs on him for years. Typical mafia goon, but hasn't been doing anything warranting too much attention. I want to try something and I hope you'll humor me." "Sure, go ahead." Leng, unhooked the leash and undid the straightjacket and freed Bai, who merely looked confused. "But, I'm a danger to everyone Inspector, why would you do this?" "Because Bai, you're about to give me a lead on a case that I've been trying to unravel for a very long time. Kaid Soom Chung took you somewhere tonight and then you turned into some kind of abomination brought on by black magic and nearly endangered your family. I'm willing to bet that there's a voice in your head that won't go away, am I right?" Bai nodded meekly. "What's it telling you?" Bai was careful about what he said, as not to force his lips to tighten, "That I need to bring a woman somewhere for a ritual." "Alright, I want you boys to go to the morgue and take one of the Jane Does with you. That should give us enough time get a team together. Bai, I know you can't tell me where Kaid took you, but I have reason to believe that's he's been frequenting one of the many spots on the pier. I want you to go there alone with the body. Let Johnny park somewhere out of the line of sight. I'm also going to hook you with a special wire that should be able to bypass any static from black magic and record what's going on." They did as they were told and were on their way, Johnny wondering how he was going to explain the smell of dead body to Wu Sung and Kuai. Once out of the car, Bai carried the body as best he could, as it was literal dead weight. He walked around for what seemed like hours, trying to remember where the Black Lotus Combine had gathered. Towards the far edge of the pier where a black junk boat was harbored stood a big ramshackle shed coated in matte black paint, a text book definition of a hideout for a shadow organization of criminals that couldn't have been anymore clearer. Once he got close, it was like a vice was lifted from his mind, Bai recalled everything.

Bai signaled the men with an open palm fist and the two muscular men did like wise. The doors parted, and once again, he smelled the smoke that made him sick. Listening to the master talk, Kaid was the first to notice Bai carrying the body. "Son," Kaid said, patting a nervous Bai on the back," you don't know how good it is to see you. We thought you got lost along the way." Kaid lifted up the sheet and inspected the body, "This her? Your sister?" Bai nodded nervously. Kaid licked his lips, "Come on boys! The eating's good!" The mob of criminals descended on the body like a pool of sharks and tore her limb from limb, devouring intestines, organs, and other appendages. Bai watched in revulsion as Kaid stabbed the body with a knife and sucked on her eyeball like a cherry. The only morsel that was left was the woman's left foot, which Kaid brought before Lun as an offering. "You've done well Bai Sung Kim, very well. How did you manage to kill your sister? You never struck me as the 'killing' type." "I slipped something in her drink, a poison I think?" Lun eyeballed the foot before placing it on the altar,"Very clever. I assume you did that to that fool of an adoptive brother of yours and your father?" "I just put sleeping pills in theirs," Bai muttered, trying to shoo away the smoke," they'll be none the wiser when they wake. I'll just tell them that somebody broke in and killed her, I tried to save her, but it was to late." "Adequate solution Bai, clever even. You do us proud! I'm sure you're wondering what the smoke is?" Bai nodded, Lun lifted back his hood and pulled a piece of dead skin off his face and rolled it into a joint, passing it to Kaid. Bai nearly puked. "It's strange that my body has been attaining new properties since my ascension, but that's to be expected." Bai was about to ask Lun what he meant, but Lun seemingly answered that question for him, "It was during one of my darkest hours in my imprisonment where I was by chance offered a very special book from the library custodian that he himself had also read. Much like what I wrote in the Black Lotus, it changed me both physically and mentally in ways that you cannot possibly fathom. These dark texts opened a portal in my mind where the seed of a demonic force was planted and flourished in time overtaking me. It calls itself 'Varadious', a god of prophecy and divine revelation. The things it has divulged to me Bai Sung Kim would shake you. But that is for another time perhaps, a ripple in the water of a coming tide." That was all Bai needed to hear. Within seconds, Inspector Leng and his men barged in, armed to the teeth. "Hands up Lun!, the Inspector shouted, pointing a gun filled with special ammo at Lun,"It's over!" The men of the Combine laughed, as did Lun.

The smoke from Lun's skin joint filling the air "Maybe for you dear Inspector, but my evening is just beginning..." With thin, reedy fingers, Lun began tugging at his skin until came off completely, showing his true form; a monsterous boa constrictor. The other men of the Combine did likewise, turning into various wretched creatures. They attacked the Inspector's men and left no trace of them. They tried attacking the Inspector personally, but he had jerry-rigged an aura-shield. All he did was fire round after round of magic infused bullets that tore into the Combine like a sickle through wheat. Lun, however, was resistant. Bai watched in horror as the gun wounds repaired themselves almost instantly. Lun, with no mouth to talk in his current guise, projected himself psychically into the minds of Bai and the Inspector. "Fools! The both of you! As one who is ascended, the dark master himself will soon forge the Combine into a greater force of evil and deception. Dismantle one cog and another appears! The Combine is victorious and forever growing!" Lun lept through a hole in the wall that one of the Inspector's bullets had created and slithered away into the pitch black waters of the Bayou. "Inspector, what did Lun mean by that?" "You got time for a really, really long story Bai?" At a nearby Waffle House, the Inspector, Bai, and Johnny got an early breakfast. "Where to start? First, I'm not who you think I am. Inspector Leng is just a cover I've been using, got it from some old Kung Fu picture that I saw. In reality, I'm on the higher end of the psychological food chain. Found a body in the morgue and transplanted my consciousness into it, not unlike what happened to Lun. I'm sort of a transdimensional cop, I've been keeping tabs on Lun and the rest of the Combine since it's inception, but it goes back further. About every 500 years or so the Combine seems to sprout back up under different names and the sow seeds of violence and hatred wherever they go. Every time it ends the same, I hit the fail safe and a huge tide of water hits, flooding everything. Few survive, I was hoping that maybe, just maybe something would change," the Inspector took a large sip of his coffee and sighed, "but it doesn't look like that's the case." "Is there anything we can do?," Johnny asked meekly," maybe get the word out? Let people know?" The Inspector shook his head,"Who's gonna believe a cock-and-bull story like that? Maybe a couple of hundred nut jobs at best..." The Inspector eyed Johnny's tattoo, still shrink-wrapped in plastic. "What's that on your wrist?" "Oh, that?," Johnny laughed,"family heirloom, just got it tonight." The Inspector pondered a moment, digging into his hashbrowns, "Johnny," the Inspector said between bites," I'm going to give you something and I can't tell you what it is. Maybe someday you'll learn the truth about it before it's too late. I just have this feeling that you might be able to save this planet." With a flick of his wrist, the Inspector sent a large charged bolt of lightning into the tattoo, causing Johnny's wrist to spasm. "Give it a minute and it'll be fine," the Inspector murmured, peering around to make sure nobody noticed," I'll tell you something that I'll miss about this place, the food." "So what about us?," Bai asked," I mean the Combine knows who we are, where we live." The Inspector nodded, "I've got a government contact that should be able to help you, known him since the war. Goes by 'Mad Dog' Harris."

Within the hour, men arrived at Wu Sung's house and gathered what they could, with Johnny, Bai, and the Inspector not too far behind. They rode for what seemed like days, only stopping for brief periods of sleep and food, but even that was a luxary. They arrived a week later at an inconspicuous safe house in the Valley. Tall hedges, manicured lawns, white picket fences; a fetishistic love letter to 50's red scare era Americanna. They were given new clothes, new jobs, new identities, none of which they particularly liked or enjoyed. But that wasn't the point, they were reminded, it was to keep them safe. Every time they went somewhere, they were followed in close proximity by a custodian of the law. After three months, Wu Sung had had enough, "All this running around, cloak and dagger bullshit, it's not what I need right now." "But dad," Kuai said, "what else can we do? The Combine is everywhere, you know what the Inspector said. Just one footstep out of sync and they'll notice somethings off." There was a light tapping on the back door and in walked Colonel Jameson Harris in a thick cloud of cigar smoke. "We clear in here soldier?," Harris asked "Yes sir, men posted are taking a breather and are about to be relieved." "Good, good. Was in the area and thought I'd come to see how you folks were doing. Enjoying yourselves I hope?" "Harris, you can take your money and your clothes and shove it up your..," Wu Sung barked.

Suddenly, crashing through the windows, burst a team of ninjas. They were the Combine's elite honor guard, a deadly swat team of pure stealth; they were dubbed "Cold Shadow". Out of their ranks stepped a vicious brute that was all too familiar, Kaid Chung. His skin was aged and gross smelling, much like Lun's had been before him. Harris was fuming mad, and lifted the 250 pound infantryman by his shirt collar like he was nothing,"I thought you said the perimeter was well guarded?!" "You thought wrong war dog," Kaid snarled. He signaled one of the men and with all the precision of a razor blade, he cleanly slashed the infantryman's body open, blood shooting out like a water spicket. "We've been following you closely. That man I just had killed? A spy for the Combine. Yes, though master Lun has fully ascended past needing a corporal form, I have taken him into my being. I have grown stronger and more formidable. The Combine have fully seized the Bayou since you left and we're slowly assimilating the Valley. We've come with a warning," Kaid took the katana from his disciple and pointed it square at Bai,"We're willing to forgive your trespasses against us Bai. The seizing of our compound, feeding us tainted meat," Kaid looked over at Kuai,"these were personal trails that we needed to undergo to fully comprehend our future endeavors. We've forgiven you as you're still a full member of the Combine. Do not test us further." In a cloud a smoke, Cold Shadow vanished into the night. Harris took at seat at the dinner table, "Well that whole thing took ten years off my life. Sargent?" A nearby man stood at attention,"I want you to do recon for the next 72 hours, see how much of the Combine plants we missed. They could be anywhere. I also need to get on the phone with Washington and see how deep the Combine have planted themselves in the Bayou, god I hope he's lying." One of Harris' men passed him a secure cellphone and he began dialing. Just a soon as that happened, there was another tap at the door; it was the Inspector with a very grim look on his face. "Jameson," he murmured, placing a calm hand on Harris' shoulder,"it's over." "The hell do you mean it's over?! And don't give me that psychobabel bullshit Leng, this is a full on gang war we're dealing with." "I know, that's why I ended it." Harris looked at the Inspector for a full on minute, trying to fully comprehend what he said. But eventually he put two and two together and ended the phone call. "You purged them," Jameson asked,"is that what you're saying?" The Inspector nodded calmly,"I didn't want to, but it was necessary. Most of the Bayou was evacuated before it happened, Category 5 Hurricane. Kaid and Cold Shadow might be poking around somewhere, but the main base of operations for the Combine is totalled. It'll take them years to recover." Jameson was all smiles and patted the Inspector on the back, crisis averted. Within the hour, Jameson had a dozen bottles of champagne and a small cake delivered, celebrations were in order. Things were looking up again.

The next morning, the Inspector showed up again,"Johnny, I have a gift for you. How'd you like to be a celebrity liaison for the government?" Johnny was taken to sound stage in the middle of an abandoned studio, not entirely sure what he was doing there. There was a young man, the director, wiping his nose of cocaine. Johnny could smell the booze coming off of him a mile away. "Okay," he said, flipping through notes, "Johnathan Riedmeyer is it?" Johnny nodded. "Not much a name honey. If this goes well, we need something dynamic, something in your face." From out of his pocket, Johnny took out a pair of Raybans he'd bought the day before, and relaxed. "How about Johnny Wuu?" And that was that. Through anti-Combine propaganda films, Johnny's star rose dramatically and he was an immediate celebrity. Never forgetting where he came from. He looked out for his adoptive family, who chose to remain in the Valley after he hit it big, choosing the quiet life with the exception of when Johnny came back to town. Kuai, through a monetary donation from Johnny, set up a Guy Pan's in the Valley. Bai and Wu Sung began working together to establish another dojo of Howling Fist. And Johnny, when he was in town, much to the delight of no one, would wait and bus tables at Guy Pan's. Then one day, Johnny's world changed when he went back and saw fully the damage that the Inspector had caused with his flood. It was horrific and tugged at his heart in the worst way. He set up a sister dojo to Howling Fist there, The Wuu Dong Yong Dojo. Business was slow, regardless of the positive press, and not many people showed. Then, from his loft office, Johnny could hear the sound of wet sneakers. It was a young boy, no more than ten or eleven, with a weird tinge of color on his skin that almost looked green in the sunlight. Johnny asked him his name,"James, Mr. Wuu, sir. James Francis Cuthford.”

Chapter 8: Sunrise
(with apologies to New Order)

It was a rainy and overcast day in the Bayou. James was lounging in his houseboat with a guest, Kalia Dubose, the girl he'd met in the Dreamweb. He was watching tv on the couch while she was draped ever so slightly in the hammock, a can of Everglade Rage loosely nestled between her slender fingers. James had wanted more training (and perhaps something more) with his soulblade and sought out Kalia. It took many visits to the Dreamweb convince her as she was self conscious about meeting people in real life outside of the Dreamweb. There was a genuine honey-like warmth to her voice that charmed him deeply. There was an half-empty can of Everglade Rage on the table beside him and he closed his eyes. With every ounce of his being, he urged it closer towards him. The can launched itself like a rocket, propelled by his intense dream energy, and slammed itself directly into his forehead. Kalia laughed hysterically, almost falling out of the hammock. “Wow, I'm sorry, didn't mean to laugh so hard,” Kalia said, getting up,”don't worry, dreampower is kind of hard to get a grasp on when you're first starting out. The fact that you were able to do anything outside of the Dreamweb, let alone manipulate a can of soda, is an accomplishment James.” James rubbed his forehead, massaging the spot the can hit. Just then, a commercial came on, blaring loud techno, “Come one come all and have a ball at the Blackout! The newest, hippest club in the state! Come for the live music every Saturday and suck down our half priced drinks after ten!” James looked at Kalia, she had a devilish grin on her face. He knew how he was going to spend the rest of the evening.


While not exactly dressed to the nines, James tried to dress rather respectable, as he always did when he went clubbing. Deep purple dress shirt, black satin pants, and snake skin loafers. He also brought along a good luck charm, one of a trio of rings he, Tily, and Harris all found in a box of cereal. Obviously the ring had degraded over time and he found somebody locally who was willing to cast it in pure metal to make it look a little bit more classy.Kalia was no slouch either, a red knee length red sequin dress that really showed off her legs. James smiled when he saw her and offered her his arm as they walked down to the Blackout Club. They passed through the city like wide eyed children. Even as life long residents, there was just something special about the city coming alive at night.

James of course lapped up the positive vibes like a kid with a sweet tooth. Kalia just laughed as she could see first hand the huge trail of emotions being sucked into James' open maw like slop into a pig's mouth. "Just don't get any funny ideas about doing that to me okay?" She joked, lightly punching him on the shoulder. "Wouldn't dream of it, it's a victimless crime after all. Though I can see how people would think that it's a bit of a buzz kill now that I think about it." Kalia thought a moment and asked James something that was on her mind, "James, when did you first become aware that you could do this kind of thing to people?" They walked further in to the city before James properly answered her, "Can't really say. When the flood hit, I was in the church with hundreds of others that had also been affected. Some having similar traits to my own, some radically different. And when you're around that many people with powers like I have, I guess they kind of cancel each other out? Not really sure. I think it might have been when I first apprenticed myself at the Wuu Don Yong school. Johnny took me as kind of a challenge, I was his first real pupil. We both mutually learned through trial and error. I manifested the soulsword long before learning of my vampirism. It was actually against another student believe it or not. I was easily picked on as a kid. Kind of wimpy, kind of shy and kept to myself, even before my parents died. I'd rather run behind my mom before trying to defend myself. A kid pushed me up against a padded wall and was about to beat the absolute shit out of me before I wiped that sadistic smile off his face. At that point, the soulsword wasn't very big, maybe about the size of a butter knife? Anyway, I cut his face and drained any emotion he had. I felt horrible afterwards, not because I regretted what I did but because raw anger and hate taste kind of awful. Like out of date creamed corn. Anyway, lost interest in doing that pretty quickly. What about you? How'd you turn into a Nouveau?"

"When I was younger, I remember having dreams every so often about this big cream colored door. I'd spend hours there trying to turn the handle, thinking of keys that could possibly open it. Nothing worked, so I just sat there until I woke up. It really was kind of irritating having a problem in front of you that you couldn't solve. Then I kept having dreams, just regular ones, of someone following me. Turns out it was this alien monster named Thraxas who was took obscene joy in hunting down weak dreamers like me. He belonged to Void, this coven of nightmare creatures hell-bent on making people suffer while they slept. Luckily this guy named Dale Porter, think his Centurion name was Wind-Spur? And yes, before you ask, we all have Centurion names. Mine's Sky Dancer." James tried not to laugh, Kalia punched him on the shoulder again,"Yes, after the toy and the cartoon show." "Not as dumb as you think actually. I actually liked the boy version, Dragon Flyz quite a bit. They don't make cartoons for impressionable children like that anymore." "God James are we that old that we start saying 'not like what I grew up with'?" "Maybe so." James took flask our of his back pocket, drank some and passed it to Kaila who started laughing. "What is this?" "Everglade Rage, never leave home without it." Kaila took a good long chug, let out a small belch and passed it back. "You know you just drank what I had left right?" "Yep! So who's playing tonight at the Blackout? Did you see?" "Oh! One of my favorites, Nitzer Ebb." As soon as they had the doors opened up for them by the bouncer, the opening chords of "Come Alive" started playing. Kaila took James by the hand and led him to bar. Within seconds she passed a drink to James who drank it without a thought and almost retched. "What the hell was that?" "Vodka and Everglade Rage" His mood changed significantly and he had another. Slightly drunk and buzzed off their gourds, they made their way to an open booth and sat down. Kaila then decided to tell James the rest of her story, "Anyway, so when Dale rescued me, he gave me something. Had kind of a weird feeling in my hands, like silly putty mixed with gak. Well I sat there and meticulously shaped it into a pretty nice looking key. I used that key to open the door and it finally worked. I saw the Dreamweb for the first time and never wanted to leave." James nodded, agreeing," much like you James, I trained for a very long time with Dale to get a grasp of the powers that came with being a 'beautiful dreamer' as the Cult Of The Shroud called them. And the Shroud fed off of our communal dream energy in a weird symbiotic relationship. Eventually I got bored of reality and kind of slipped in and out of the Dreamweb. Lost so many personal relationships and got bad grades because of it. Everybody just thought I had narcolepsy. It was just a comfort from the harshness that was my personal life. Basic story, drunk dad left when I was young and my mom had to raise three kids on no sleep from working her ass off to provide for us. She saw so much potential in me and was angry that I was wasting it in 'dreamland'." Kaila took a long sip of her drink and just kind of sat there for a moment, blankly staring off into space, tears starting to form. She was just as broken as James was.

Collecting herself, Kaila took another swig of her drink and grabbed James' hand, rushing him onto the dance floor just as "Never Known" began to play. After the song had finished, they returned to their seats only to see it occupied by someone else. A man of about their age with platinum blonde hair and tanned skin, he lit a cigarette, playing with colors that projected themselves across the nightclub. After playing with a shared hallucination only truly seen by those who had the very fabric of dreams woven into their being, his attention was drawn to James and Kaila. "Well," he said in a gruff limey accent, "what a pleasant surprise! Kaila Dubose, what do I owe the pleasure?" James looked over at Kaila and saw something in her that he never wanted to see again, full-blown rage. With her dream power, she tugged the lit cigarette from the ashtray and pushed it deep into the man's hand. Surprisingly, he didn't shriek in pain and seemed to enjoy it. "James Cuthford," Kaila said, impossibly angry, "meet my bastard ex-boyfriend, Russell Sirus Tyler alias Kaleidoscope." Russell raised his pint glass in gratitude and slurped it down, "Cheers lad, could smell your Nightcritter ass from across the room, even with all that bloody cologne you had on. Stuff could sear the fur off a pigmy." Kaila sat down across from Russel, still hot tempered and they began bickering in a very strange language that James wasn't quite sure if it from any continent on Earth. It sounded kind of like pixie talk from Peter Pan. "And if I ever see you again," Kaila growled, "so help me god I'll end your sorry ass!" With her dream powers, Kaila made Russel's beer glass grow to impossible proportions and when it finally reached the ceiling, she tilted it towards him, spilling an entire five kegs worth of beer on him; dousing his snide personality in enough liquor to kill him.

Nobody saw this of course except James, who was laughing and loudly applauding, drawing glances from the drunken or soon to be drunk patrons. "You feel any better?" "A little," Kaila sighed, "hard to actually believe that I liked that bastard at one point." "What happened?" "Well, tying back into my story; once I hit 18, I was officially made a member of the Centurion Nouveau and given a little chunk of figment on my dream body that would enhance my powers. Russel did too, we kind of grew up together in the Dreamweb even though we couldn't have been further apart geographically. He was how he was when you met him, brash, self-assured, and kind of dashing. You know how it is when you first fall in love, it just feels like the most special thing in the world. Like it's made just for you and you treasure it and you try and make it work. I did that with Russel, through every bit of his temper tantrums and some of my own. I finally realized what a piece of shit he was when he tried to get me excommunicated from the Nouveau for something I didn't even do." Kaila walked over to the bar and ordered a Jack and Coke and chugged it down, ordering another in mere moments, "Russel had created a nightmare for somebody he didn't like, a pretty bad one at that. Left the person in a coma for a good long while. And because we had broken up for the 8th or 10th time, he was vindictive as shit. If Dale hadn't stood up for me, I don't know what would have happened to me. To have your whole life taken away from you like that so suddenly..." Kaila tried to get up, but was too drunk to do so and stumbled around James thankfully caught her before she fell. "I think I'd like to go home now," Kaila muttered. "Drive" began playing as they exited past various raving bodies coated in sweat and cheap perfume.

Later that night, James and Kaila fell asleep in each other's arms, both too tired to change out of their clothes. They awoke almost instantly in the Dreamweb. They fell down the long shaft of darkness, propelled by an intense current of air, flung through one of Apollo's portals, and were soon calmly nestled in the purple grasses of the Dreamhub. James helped Kaila up, who, despite being in the Dream world she so hopelessly loved, was still incredibly drunk. She stumbled over to a rock and puked up at least a liter of dreamstuff, breathing a sigh of relief. "Whew, that's much better." Ever since Johnny used the Stargale to tear a hole in the fabric of the Dreamweb, things were beginning to work a little bit differently here, but life went on as usual. The once carefree, cooling existence of perpetual sunset turned to the searing glare of mid-day heat. Kaila wrapped her arm around James and they wondered over to the large figment crystal and sat down, feeding it with their dream energies as it hovered over the small hill. The dreamers had been working hard since the rift occurred, but no solution was found. As troubling as it sounded, dreams were beginning to materialize themselves into reality. "There was an article I read," one of the Nouveau named Effer spoke as they all joined together in mind, "a man was drinking coffee and he began to see a woman singing to him, almost like a siren from old folk tales." "What happened?," Kaila asked. Effer merely shrugged, "He fell in and was never seen again." "You sure it wasn't weekly world news, friend?" James said with a worried laugh. Behind them, the greek scholar Apollo appeared, "As trifle as it may seem, it is still, nevertheless concerning. Great powers are at work now children, ones beyond out control or comprehension. The Void may yet win. For those of you too young to remember them, the Void was a splinter group of ours, forged in the ideals haunting the waking hours of mankind and severing the will to live. Sinister, sadistic, the Void has no comparison to such words. They are evil as evil can hope to be. Sky Dancer once knew of Thraxas, one of their elite honor guard. A terrible creature that was once forged here as a child's nightmare and grew consciousness as well as a deep lust for dream power that nothing else can satiate. Tonight children, we will visit him." Apollo closed his eyes and in the shimmering mist of mind's eye, he forged a door.

"Sky Dancer," Apollo said, pointing to the key hole, "I believe this requires the key Wind-Spur gave you?" Kaila nodded and her key materialized in the palm of her hand. She put it into the keyhole and it widened continuously until it was large enough for Apollo and all of the Nouveau to step through. Once inside, it was an impossibly black void that no light could pierce. But as ever, Apollo defied it. Tapping his staff, a large orb of blue light emanated and they followed him. The Nouveau trudged down a winding stairwell for what seemed like hours. Some wondered if they'd ever reach the bottom. A bit longer and they did, but it wasn't what it seemed. Apollo put out his hand and stopped one of the Nouveau named Magi. The stairs had crumbled away and what was left seemed to be a fifty foot drop to the bottom. Tapping his staff again, Apollo created a portal that led them instantly to the end of their journey and face to face with the creature known as Thraxas. From the glow of the ball of light at the end of Apollo's staff, they could see him. Resembling something akin to a hammer head shark mixed with an orca whale, Thraxas large pointed teeth were on full display through the tiny door hole. The door was lined with a special material called dream stuff that could only built upon further, never destroyed. "So," Thraxas snarled,"the dreamers have finally come to seek an audience with the brute." Apollo was very stoic in his reply, "It appears so." "If you free me, I will give you all the answers you could ever hope and more." Kaila was not amused, "Thraxas, do you really think we're so stupid as to free the shark who lives off of dream energy?" "I knew I smelled something familiar. Hello dream pup, how are you? It's been too long since I've tasted your dream flesh. From what I recall it was quite exquisite." Kaila used her dream power and snapped the bars around Thraxas' nostrils. Thraxas howled loudly, he was bleeding "Delightful pup, I've never known my own blood like this. What do you seek man of dreams? I was enjoying the darkness that surrounds it. It feeds me." "Strange things are happening in the physical world Thraxas, things that cannot be explained. There have been sightings of dreams and nightmares materializing in the real world." "Interesting, but I fail to see how it concerns me. I doubt that it is the fault of the Void, we've been disbanded since you threw me in here cycles ago." "Could it be someone else then?" Kaila asked. Thraxas nodded, laughing, "Perhaps so pup. Perhaps it's someone you know, someone close to you. But, regrettably, I can say no more." From behind him, a loud explosion erupted, colorful light piercing through. Out of the hole stepped someone familiar, it was Russel. Within seconds, Thraxas leapt into the light of the passageway. "He won't get far," Kaila murmured,"Nightmares can't get far in bright light. They crave darkness. Kind of a symbiotic thing." "But so we know where that passageway leads?" James asked. "My dreamspace," Kaila replied, phasing through the door" We locked Thraxas in here for safe keeping. Don't know how Russel freed him. When he was excommunicated, we put a dampener on his dream powers to where he couldn't fully access the Dreamweb." Once outside, they saw Thraxas and he was burning in the glare of the sunlight like the vampire he was. Luckily Russel was beside him, feeding him enough of what remained of his dream energy to sustain him.

"Step away from Thraxas, Russel" Kaila said, arming herself with a gleaming pointed bow staff. Russel just laughed, "That's cute love, real cute. You and the dream police are gonna take down? Get real. I've been working on getting that dampener off. Feeding my dreams with the help of dark scripture and raw determination. I'm ascending to a higher plane of consciousness now. One that puts me at least three steps above you and your Nightcritter boy toy. You can't even hope to touch me." Kaila swung the bowstaff left and right as it crackled with raw energy, but Russel seemed to swiftly avoid her at every turn. Thraxas, still nursing his flesh wounds, got up and began drooling. "Yes, the Dream energy, raw and pure. I must have it. I MUST FEED!!!" What happened next was too fast to call by anyone. Thraxas darted around like a fish in water and began devouring each and every one of the Nouveau present, crippling them to the point of dream death. Apollo wasn't safe either. "Ah yes, man of dreams. The oldest of the Shroud's leaders. Your flesh will be the most tender." His lips coated in the green bile of dream blood and pure drool, Thraxas lifted up Apollo by neck of his toga and bit his head clean off. Bone and marrow clinging to his incisors as he chomped heartily. "NOOOOOOOOOooooo!!!" Kaila howled, dashing over to Thraxas as fast as she could. But much like Russel, every thrash of her flailing staff was futile. James summoned his Soulsword and pierced Thraxas straight in the Sternum. Thraxas sunk down to his knees and collapsed only to be revived moments later. Kaila made chains of the strongest dream stuff and tied the beast up to a tree. After a moment of confusion, James looked at Russel who had a sick, smug grin on his face. "Wouldn't you know it love, I'm the one who created Thraxas and this whole mess that became the Void." "How?," Kaila begged,"Why?" "Why is any one of us this way? We are who we are. I didn't set put to be the bad guy, the villain in your life story. I was just having fun creating things with my new found paint brush. I just thought a hybrid pairing of a shark and a killer whale would be cool. But then, somehow, being around my dream energy, it got a consciousness, a will of it's own. Soon I found more like me, dreamers old and young and we formed our own little club hoping to breathe some life into this dull world. You can be cute and think that life's just a bouquet of roses waiting to be picked Kaila, but it isn't. It's dark and soul crushing and the sooner you realize that, the better. Hey, Thraxas, feeding time!" Thraxas lept at James and Kaila and they woke up in a cold sweat. James ran to the bathroom and puked up dream stuff.