Dreams and Answers

It's been a while. I apologize for that. I haven't been much in the mood for writing. Plus, I've been rather busy building my new Extractor. As tragic as what happened with Tyler was, and how hard it's been to cope with, I suppose the destruction of the old model was a blessing in disguise. It's given me the chance to start from scratch, and better implement some newer ideas I've had. My work on it is almost complete. I have to do a test run at some point, which will likely require another sample, which will likely involve another mission from the SMSC, but that can wait. I'll also need to design a new Vambrace, and possibly a new Enhancer. I haven't decided on that one yet. After what happened, it might be too risky to have something like that lying around...

In other news, I've had a few more of those dreams. Like the last couple. I haven't spoken about them yet because, as I managed, I haven't really been in the mood, but they've answered a few questions for me.

The first dream starting in that dark room again, with that little girl, Emily, sitting nearby, coloring another picture.

"I don't understand why you keep hanging around me," I said.

"You seem nice," Emily said.

"Based on what?" I asked.

She shrugged.

"You lack any form of logic," I informed her.

"How did you get hurt?" the girl asked me, nodding at my wounded leg.

"I told you," I said. "I'm a monster. And some humans... like to hunt monsters."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. That silence was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door up above being forced open, and several gunshots going off. Emily almost cried out in panic, but I rushed toward her, putting pressure on my wounded leg, and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Shit!" I muttered. "Just had to speak of the devil, didn't I?"

I could barely make out a commanding voice from above us.

"Kieda's here somewhere!" A man barked. "Don't leave any survivors! He could be with any one of these bastards!"

"I fucking new it!" I muttered, turning to Emily. "Go hide in the corner over there, and stay out of sight. This is serious!"

I didn't understand why I was doing this. I just... had a strong urge to keep her unharmed. She nodded, clearly terrified, and went to go hide. I stood up, fighting against the pain in my leg, and turned to face the only entrance to the room. I ignited a small flame in the palm of my hand.

"Come get me, you assholes!" I growled, as the door started to creak open.


That's where that dream ended. The next dream occurred several days later.

I was lying on the floor of that laundry room. I was in excruciating pain. I had suffered several bullet wounds. The wounds themselves were non-fatal, but they were absolutely debilitating, and I would surely bleed out soon enough.  I could see the dead and charred bodies of two Timberwolves nearby.

Emily emerged from hiding and ran up to check on me.

"Are you okay!?" she asked, clearly panicking.

"I told you to stay hidden!" I hissed. "And keep your voice down! There's more of these assholes nearby."

My mind was racing, trying to make a good decision. Timberwolves had barged into this building with the sole intent to find me and kill me. at that meant killing everyone there. I was wounded, could barely move, and there was no way of knowing when more Timberwolves would come to investigate this room. And even if Emily went back into hiding, I had no idea how thoroughly they planned to search for survivors.

This girl was doomed.

Unless...

A thought hit me, and the more I considered it, the more I knew it was the only option to get her out of there alive. I raised the only hand I could seem to move, and placed it on her forehead. I ended up getting a bit of blood on her face in the process, but that was the least of my worries.

"Before I make this ump, I need you to know something," I told her. "This body isn't me. Once I do this, I'll be a part of you, and we'll leave this body behind."

"What do you-"

Before she could finish her question, I made the ump.

I was no longer in my previous body. I was seeing through her eyes, looking down my previous body, which looked nothing like I do in real life. It was a badly wounded man, with short blonde hair and blue eyes.

We need to go now, I spoke into the back of her mind.

"What?" she gasped. "Who-"

It's me, I said. We need to get moving. Like I said; we leave that body behind.

"I don't understand," she said, trembling.

Remember our pinky promise? I asked. You promised to keep quiet about me. I refused at first, but I did the pinky thing anyway.

I took control of one of her arms and reached into the coat pocket of my previous body. She struggled against me. I got annoyed. People with strong light were always tough for me to control. Why do so few of us share that flaw? In the end, I managed to pull out the crappy looking dinosaur picture and held it in front of her eyes.

You drew this for me, right? I said. You even signed it. You said you like the big letters.

She relaxed a little bit, but was still shaken by everything hat was going on.

"Is... is it really you?" she asked.

You don't like when I fucking swear, I said.

"Hey!" she snapped.

Mommy says it's not nice, right? I said. And you don't like when your dad drinks.

"It's... but... how are you...?"

Don't question it, I said. Just get up and move, and don't struggle too much if I need to take control. I'm going to get you out of here alive. I promise.

She raised one of her hands, extending  pinky.

"Pinky promise?" she asked.

I sighed internally, before taking control of her other hand, and locking pinkies.

Pinky promise, I told her.


That dream ended as well, but it served to confirm all of my suspicions, concerning these dreams. But before I get to that, there was ne last dream to discuss. And it's a little... dark...


I was there, guiding Emily as best as I could, and trying to stay out of sight. There was a Timberwolf guarding the front door. I could have taken him down easily, but drawing attention would be a bad idea, so I stayed out of his sight instead. I looked through Emily's memories to find an alternate route out of the building. There was a fire escape a short distance away, and after sneaking a glance at it, I realized it was unwatched.

We crept over to it and snuck out. We were now in a dark alleyway. I looked out into the street, and was met with a horrible realization. This apartment building wasn't the only place in danger. several Timberwolves were patrolling the streets, and other nearby buildings were being assaulted or burned.

They were prepared to destroy this whole neighborhood if it meant I'd go down with it.

I crept back into the alleyway, trying to think of a plan. Some way out of this mess. I good use my full power, but getting in a fight would be too risky. I needed to flee. Stay out of sight, and get this girl to safety.

I failed.

While I stood there hesitating, a Timberwolf stepped out of the same fire escape I had left through, and spotted us. He raised his gun, and Emily, being in full control with me distracted, raised up her hands and begged him for mercy.

He ignored her.

I took control and tried to dodge his shots, but he just kept firing at us until one of his shots tore through her throat.

We collapsed.

She started fading. I tried to save her. I tried to cling to her life, and heal her wound, but nothing I did was enough. Her pulse came to a stop, and her body went limp.

She was dead.

And I was trapped there in her body.

Another Timberwolf arrived to join the other, and gasped in alarm.

"What did you do!?" the newcomer demanded. "She's just a kid!"

The newcomer rushed up to check if she was really dead. I could still see through her eyes, and noticed he was carrying a shotgun.

"The boss said no survivors," the other Timberwolf said, coming a bit closer. "Kieda could be possessing anyone here. Our mission is to destroy him, no matter what."

I pulled forth what little strength I could. Manipulating a dead body is no easy feat but I at least got one of her arms working, and I managed to grab onto the newcomers ankle. Before either of them could react, I had jumped to the newcomer, and taking control of his arms, I aimed the shotgun in the other pricks face and pulled the trigger. A moment later, I had full control of this new body.

I gazed down at Emily's body. I felt terrible. I'd failed. I promised to save her. I'd broken that promise.

My shame was quickly overcome by rage. My goal to get to safety was replaced by a desire for revenge.

That first body I had was wounded and weak. The girls body was weak and vulnerable. But this new body. A body that new battle. A body that had trained its muscles. A body that was armed. This was a body I could work with.

But it needed something. Something... monstrous. I remembered my conversation with Emily about what a monster should look like. That the eyes... the eyes are the scariest part. So I changed my eyes again. Making them look as wrong nd intimidating as I could. After doing so, I got to work.

I don't know how much time was spent on my rampage. All I know is that every Timberwolf I came across met a painful end. And any time I found myself near death, I was able to jump to another Timberwolf and continue my fiery path of revenge.

Eventually, the entire street was up in flame, and only one enemy stood before me. But he seemed different from all the Timberwolves I had carved my way through. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I could tell he was more of a threat. He was also completely calm, despite witnessing all the damage I had done.

"You've made quite a scene," the man said.

"Are you the man in charge?" I asked.

"I am," the man said. "My name is-"

I interrupted him by hurling a ball of fire at him. It hit him full force, but as it did, an inky blackness coated his skin. Some of his clothes got burnt, but his body seemed completely unharmed. He seemed to slouch for a moment, before regaining his composure.

"-Jared Krane," he finished.

I hit him with another fireball. It had about the same results, but I noticed he slouched just  little bit more that time.

"What are you?" I demanded.

"I am an Apostle," he said. "The Angel's Flesh."

Flesh, huh? That put a thought into my head.

"You realize that invincibility you've got won't stop me from trying to kill you, right?" I asked.

"So you've gone from cowering in fear to slaughtering all in your path," Jared said. "Quite a sudden and drastic shift, isn't it Kieda."

I scowled at him, and ignited one of my hands.

"Kieda died with that little girl!" I hissed at him. "You can call me..."

I swung my hand in front of me, using the flames to carve a large word into the ground between us. Jared raised an eyebrow as he looked down on my new title.

"HELLFIRE?" he asked.

"I like the big letters," I said. "They have a bit more... impact."

Jared chuckled.

"I see," he said. "Either way, what you call yourself doesn't really matter. You can't possess me. I'll warn of that right now. Furthermore, you can even harm me."

"Wrong," I said.

I may have been bluffing a little bit, but I had a plan. I forced my new body through the God's Way, teleporting right up to him, and grabbing him by the throat, igniting my hand as I did. He reacted by activating that inky blackness that seemed to make him invincible. My body was in quite a bit of pain from that brief trip through the God's Way, but I ignored it for the time being.

"Let me go!" Jared demanded angrily.

"I don't think so," I said, igniting my free hand.

"Let me go, you fucking asshole!" he shouted.

I grimaced at his language.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" I asked.

I proceeded to force my hand over his open mouth and started pumping fire down his throat. You see, when he mentioned tht he was the Angel's "Flesh", I had deduced that his invincibility was likely limited to his... well... flesh.

And even if it wasn't, inhaling flames runs the risk of igniting the oxygen in your lungs, so either way, this was bound to hurt him pretty fucking badly.

And I guessed right. Not only were his insides completely vulnerable to my flames, but the fact that he had made his skin invulnerable meant that all that heat was trapped inside of him, causing him to burn alive from the inside.

It wasn't long before his body collapsed in a lifeless heap. I collapsed as well, weakened from the God's Way.

The dream ended, and I found myself back in my subconscious laboratory, accompanied the the shard.

"You weren't supposed to see any of that," the shard informed me.

"And yet I saw it anyway," I said. "You just couldn't help bleeding those memories out, could you, HELLFIRE?"

"Can't always help it," he replied. "Especially with you. The subconscious of a Devil Killer can have... interesting effects on those inhabiting them."

"So," I said. "Are you... sure you don't wanna talk about any of that?"

"Not any time soon," he sighed. "Just... wake up already..."


And that's where that conversation ended.



So yeah. I've learned quite a bit more about our little shard friend. I'll update you all as this progresses.

Back to work

Hey. Kallaway here. Sorry for breaking the trend of Daniel and I taking turns writing, but he's been... in a bit of a slump ever since what happened with Tyler. When he came to after Tyler made his escape, he just sat up against the wall for a while, looking miserable. He wouldn't say a word to any of us. At least not until Raoul got up as well and approached him.

"You were a fool to trust such a broken man," Raoul informed him.

Daniel looked up at Raoul for a second, before lowering his gaze again and responded.

No," he said. "I was a fool for breaking him."

Raoul turned and left after that. I went and sat down next to Daniel.

"Hey man," I said. "Do you wanna talk?"

"No," Daniel said.

He remained seated for a while, blankly staring at the crushed remains of his machines.  Jane eventually came up to try and talk to him, but he calmly told her that he wanted to be left alone. She hesitantly went back to talk to the others. Ren and Elie soon came up to address me.

"We're gonna head back to the University now," Elie said. "You guy's coming with?"

Daniel silently shook his head.

"I'm staying," I said.

"Okay," Elie said. "We'll be in touch."

"We'll keep an eye out for Tyler," Ren assured me. "If anything comes up... anything at all... we'll let you know."

"Thank you," I said. "And if you run into him at any point... please don't hurt him."

Ren sighed, resting a hand on his sheathed blade as he did.

"I can't promise you anything," he said. "But I'll try not to."

I turned to Elie.

"Tell my cousin what happened here," I said. "Ask if he can... um... keep an eye on destiny. Let us know if he catches a glimpse of Tyler."

"Professor Malkator isn't the easiest man to talk to," Elie said. "But if it's a message from you, I'm sure he'll listen."

"Thanks," I said.

"We'll se you later," Elie said. "Stay safe."

"You too," I said.

"Goodbye," Ren said.

They returned to where Kimiko and Jane were waiting, and they got ready to set out. Kimiko turned to me and waved.

"Sorejiya mata!" she said.

"I have no idea what that means," I said.

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed.

"It means 'see you later'," he said, before opening his eyes and looking up at Kimiko. "Jiyaane."

"Oh, right," Elie said. "We eft my car at the Black Garden."

"We're a couple cities away right now," Daniel said. "You'll need to catch a bus or something."

"I'll call up Paris," I said. "I'm sure he'll be willing to give you guys a lift."

I called him up, and he arrived shortly after. Everyone said one last goodbye, before departing. I went back to check and Daniel, who was still sitting in the same spot.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Of course not," he replied. "Would you mind giving me some space? I just... need to think."

"Sure," I said. "I'll check up on you later, okay?"

"Whatever," he said.

"I'm gonna go see if I can get a hotel room," I said. "See you later."

Daniel sighed, and on my way out, he call after me.

"There's a futon in the next room," he said. "You're welcome to use it."

I turned back to him.

"You sure?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Thank you," I said.

I spent the next couple days checking up on him, only to find him in the same state of apathy. At least he was feeding himself. Kind of... he seemed to be subsisting mostly on ramen cups and cheap beer. Paris had returned as well. He had been caught up on what had happened, and told me he'd handle checking up on Daniel for a while.

I left after that, making a trip to the office of Tony Helioson. By this point, Tony had read my last post, so he was fully aware of what had happened. He assured me that he was currently investigating what had happened to Tyler. Apparently, there had been a handful of sightings of a man with a treelike right arm. He's going to keep looking into it, and update me if he learned anything else.

I just got back to Daniel's base the other day, to see that he had seemingly gotten over his apathy. His office was now filled with whiteboards covered in mathematical equations and scientific formulas and a bunch of other stuff my head couldn't process.  On his desk was the skeleton of what appeared to be a new Extractor that he was constructing. He was standing before one of the whiteboards when I came in, jotting some stuff down next to what looked like a blueprint.

"Is he okay?" I asked Paris.

"He's in a zone right now," Paris said. "I wouldn't bug him right now if I were you."

"Yeah, well, you're not me," I said.

Paris just shrugged as I went and approached Daniel.

"How you holding up?" I asked.

"Just fine," he said, as he wrote out an equation I couldn't make heads or tails of.

I took a deep breathe before continuing.

"What happened with Tyler wasn't your fault," I told him.

This comment was met with a snapping sound. It took me a moment to realize it had come from the marker in Daniel's hand, which was now bent at an obtuse angle.

"Didn't I?" he asked coldly.

"Of course not!" I said. "Dawson was there, egging him on. Getting under his skin and encouraging him to take that step."

"I'm the reason he was craving power in the first place," he said. "I'm always searching for ways to increase my power, to grow even stronger than before, but I've never consider how strong of a shadow I was casting. How weak I was making people like him feel."

He spread his arms, gesturing to all of his whiteboards.

"And look at me!" he said. "I still can't stop! I'm still seeking power, after everything that happened!"

He lowered his arms and fell silent. I noticed a few seconds later that he was visibly trembling, and tears were forming in his eyes.

"This is my fault," he said. "I created that monster."

I placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder, and turned him to face me.

Then I slapped him.

"Pull yourself together!" I snapped.

Daniel was stunned by what I had just done, and Paris seemed worried and confused.

"You didn't create Tyler any more that Raoul created me!" I said.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"I didn't realize this until recently, but Raoul was there," I said. "The night I killed my father. And the night I killed that orphanage owner. He was there. I saw the world shift into photo negative, just like it did when he used his powers in that court room. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and a voice encouraging me to attack. To seek revenge. Revenge for my mother. Revenge for all the kids that lady mistreated. But I didn't realize it was him back then. It wasn't until I saw him using his powers upfront that those memories came back."

I took a deep breathe, pulling myself together. I realized I was on the verge of tears as well.

"Raoul was trying to make a monster out of me," I said. "He encouraged me to commit those murders, and even earned me an innocent verdict when I was brought to trial over it. And he would have continued driving me down that dark path if I hadn't have made that choice."

"What choice?" Daniel asked.

"I chose not to go any further down that path," I said. "I didn't wanna kill anyone else. I wanted to become a better person. I heard that voice a few more times, trying to drive me toward violence, but I chose not to. I chose to be better. I made a choice. Just like Tyler did."

I let that sink in for a few seconds.

"Tyler chose to claim that power," I said. "That's not your fault. You tried to talk him out off it. But he ignored you. He ignored both of us. There's no point in blaming ourselves for that."

"Than what should we do?" Daniel asked.

"Whatever we can," I said. "There has to be some way to save him."

"And what if there isn't?" Daniel said.

I remained silent for a while.

"I don't know," I eventually said. "I just hope it doesn't come to that."

We both remained silent for a while. Daniel's cell phone went off after a while, but he just sent it to voicemail.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Agent Touchshriek," he replied.

"Are you ghosting the SMSC," I asked.

"Whatever missions they have more me can wait," he said, sighing. "So can all of this."

He gestured back to his equations.

"I need a break from things," he continued. "I'm gonna go nap."

He left the room after that. At least he's recovered a little bit from his slump, but I don't think he's stopped blaming himself for all of this.


Before I sign off, I just have a couple things to say concerning Tyler. First of all, if any of you reading this see him, Please let us know where and when. The giant wooden arm should be a giveaway.

And, more importantly, if you see him, be careful! I have no idea ho far gone he is. All that eldritch power could have gotten to his head, and after that first display of his strength, it's safe to assume that he's at a very high level of dangerous. Stay safe...