chapter 4 - Reality check

*Austin*

My head hurts, again.

I wake up to dimly lit room and for some strange reason I'm lying on the floor with my head cushioned on something soft. First a knight statue chases me around campus and now library hating scientist with fire or light or whatever his balls are made of tries to kill me. The way he slammed my head into the pavement like that makes me feel like he accomplished the job though. Fortunately, this pillow I'm lying on now makes me think otherwise. Why is this happening to me? All I wanted was a fucking degree.

" Austin get the hell up." I hear in Jayda's voice. I then realize that the pillow I was lying on is the one Andrew dreams of. I immediately remove my head from Jayda's butt and stand to my feet.

"We thought of moving him but we didn't know how." Daniel mocks. For some reason people who beaten to death are now trapped in a room with nothing but a light bulb, cement and a huge metal door. With my claustrophobia this has to be the best day ever. The room is the size of your average basement also no windows, the door doesn't even have a handle, no cameras watching us, no nothing. I argue this is worse than prison.

"Aren't you supposed to cosplaying a ghost rider character?" I ask.

"Aren't you supposed to be cosplaying the headless horseman character?" He replies.

" Fair point." I admit.

"Uuum, am I the only one here that doesn't get half the references you guys bring up?" Jayda asks

" Honestly, judging by most of your reactions I'd say you hardly ever understand what we talk about." Andrew says. That was a very risky sentence.

" The hell? How much do you have to look at someone in the face to figure something like that out." Jayda says squeezing her face in confusion.

" Yoh Andrew there's a hole at the back of your hoodie" Daniel shouts out of no where. One day Andrew will be in an awkward position not even you can save him from, Daniel. Till then I hold my laughs in a jar.

" Yeah so?" He says.

" Meaning Mr. void clare-"

" Flare." I correct him.

" Whatever his name is, punched right through your chest." All our eyes widen in shock. Now that I think of it, he slammed my face right into the ground. I felt the pain move in a wave from my face to the end of my skull. I practically felt my life being taken away from me in that moment and for some reason I'm still standing here. Talk about plot armour.

" Yeah and Jayda Before I passed out I saw him brake your neck." Andrew says in a very desperate tone. Just saying, one day your gonna get caught being a creep and I'll be in the background laughing.

" Maybe he helped stretch it." She says. I mentally slap my forehead.

" Besides, he literally set Daniel on fire."

" Yeah did you here what he said before he did it? 'Delayed flames' or something like that." Andrew says." And the way he said it was weird too, like it reverberated in my head."

" Yeah like he spoke directly to my brain." Daniel follows up.

" Something similar happened to me last night,-"

"Similar?" Daniel and Andrew Interrupts.

" Yeah uuum, this might sound dumb, weird and probably very out of this world crazy, but last night I was taking a walk and I might have witnessed a fight between a vampire and a werewolf and the vampire said something was it 'grace of the knife'? or something like that. Well basically, he did the same echoing voice thing same echoing voice thing ." The fuck?

" Emo people casually see an undead bloodsucker and a were-beast battling it out, while taking stroll." Andrew did not just do that. " I'm sorry I just couldn't hold."

" Something similar to that happened to me yesterday." Andrew and Daniel look in my direction and gasp. These boys. " After we left the clinic yesterday I saw this statue of a knight."

" What? do we even have something like that on campus?" Jayda asks.

"Well basically the statue came alive and chased me around the campus till 12 am." I finish the story.

"And no one saw you?" Asked Andrew.

" I don't know, was too busy running for my life."

" Wait It chased you till 12 am?" Daniel asks.

" Well technically there was this purple fog that engulfed everywhere and prevented me from seeing for like a minute. The moment I couldn't see where I was going I accepted my fate. Then the fog clears and sir Dwayne Johnson is nowhere to be seen."

" Oh okay that's nice." First time I've heard her say something sarcastic. " What about you two?"

"Mortal Kombat all night." Andrew answers.

" Watching anime." Daniel says. I passed by his room yesterday and I don't think the beat I heard was an anime beat. they were drums the 18+ kind.

"By the way who won the fight between the werewolf and vampire." Andrew did you really have to engage her in a very unnecessary question to raise your exp in talking to her. No matter what you do you'll remain at level 1. You subscribed for the premium friend zone package boy.

"It was kinda a draw but the wolf was more on the winning side." She actually answered that seriously.

"Did you guys notice in the Library no one noticed us stomping through the place". Daniel says and points at Andrew's shoe. Them feet huge though. " I don't know what the fuck going on in life and reality in general right now but, I have a feeling we aren't just in this room to test out Hitler's newest bunker."

[Indeed specimen #02, You were brought here to complete the task of aid

ing in my experiments on soul hybridization.] I hear voice in my head, again. Isn't that a good sign. This one isn't like the one that Dr. void used as some sort of magic spell, it's more profound and invasive like it's forcefully piercing through my mind.

" Holy shit." Andrew says and starts to look upward in various directions searching for the source of the voice.

Suddenly the door starts to make a loud screeching machine sound. After a few seconds of noise pollution the iron doors slides into the wall, revealing the features of a feminine figure. She walks a few feet into the room and I'm able to see her better. It's a middle aged woman, most likely Chinese and a very tall one at that. Till you look closer and find out that her skin is so pale she looks white, not the race, but the color itself. The portion of her eyes that are meant to be white are filled with multicolored ring around a black beady pupil. She has an old scar around her left cheek and two dots symmetrically placed on above her eyes like they were produced naturally. She taps her fingers on a decorative walking cane, giving off the same creepy feeling I get from Void. Well this can't be good.

[ Beautiful creations. Look at you almost making a full recovery from a near death, after barely a few minute of restoration . Fascinating specimens. I can't wait to begin analysis on your make up. you have no idea how long I've awaited this moment. To finally have my hands on hybrid soul arcane users, -] The rest of whatever she was trying to tell us was complete and utter bullshit so I just stopped paying attention. It always the Asian looking ones. I mean Asian can be assholes but can't we just have a Swedish or maybe even a Canadian villain it's always the Asians, Europeans or Americans. Can't an African just get up and make a nuclear bomb in order to threaten a government.

[ Such frail minds] She says looking at me and smiling, then to Andrew and Daniel [ What similar thought processes] She says. Then to Jayda [ You seem to be still in shock. There is no need. This will all become natural to you after a few over night experiments. I just can wait to begin.] Suddenly, I hear sounds of crackling fire and explosions mixed with screams from outside. Oh no, not him again. The sounds continue to get louder and louder [ Dr. Void what is the meaning of this nonsense]

"Haha" we hear chuckles in the distance then a moment later, the devil's reincarnate appears before us.

" I always hated your slow way of doing things around here and you've known this was my plan since day one. I mean, you fucking use psychic magic." He says smiling his head off. Now that I have a good look at him, he looks very Russian. his hair is black, hasn't been combed in years and scattered with ashes. His teeth have a slight yellow tinge to them. The lab coat is surprisingly very clean with no burn marks. Tall but not as tall as the Asian lady here. I'd say 6 3'. His eyes are covered by black goggles. white latex gloves and a dark shoes of which brand I can't tell. The embodiment of all my fears for the past 20 mins.

[ Doctor do you know the consequences of going against the spade hand. That master of yours could never stand up to us. I had hopes you'd realize your plan was practically suicide, but it appears your a lot dumber than you look. ]

" Oh don't worry about me, I've made preparations for what might ensue in the possible future. For now I'll be taking these poor children with me. I'd like to avoid any confrontation between us cause your attacks are a hassle to deal with." dozens of his yellow balls of light form behind him.

[ It appears you do not fully comprehend the situation your in ] She stretches her right arm and it becomes a hard black psythe like blade forms from her arm. Of course she's a human prey mantis.

! scorching wears! His shoes and gloves become the same yellow color as his light ball. The light balls behind him begin to take the form of different tools you would find in a laboratory. Test tubes and beakers are all I can Identify. I never liked chemistry.

He dashes forward at a blinding speed, closing the gap between them and landing a solid punch on her cheek. He's insane. For some reason, the laboratory tool lights follow him around. The prey mantis woman tried to counter with a slash he dodges easily. Using his dodge to reposition himself diagonally to miss mantis. He throws another punch into the armpit of her regular arm. The moment his fist makes contact with it, a black like fluid spews out. She screams in agony. Miss mantis converts her other arm into a psythe. Void wasting no time, grabs both of her arms.

" What a shame." He says with a wicked grin across his face and 2 test tubs in the air around him dart towards her face. They explode on impact. smaller than the his usual explosions but it's still strong enough to blow her face off, revealing a stomach turning insect face. Yep no more dinner for me. With his strength, this wouldn't have been a fair fight even if he didn't make explosives before the exchange. The lab tools begin to bombard the Insect woman in sets of 2 two's.

Void digs his fingers into her limbs and pulls off both her arms. Yep not a fair fight at all. Where are the mental attacks he was afraid. Oh they are mental so I can't see them. I smile and look at my shirt. The explosives still showering their victim, he grabs her head and rips it off her body, which is now mostly a messy pile of strange organs

" What a waste of my time" He says and walks towards us. The projectiles vanish and his arms stop glowing. "Now,...., you guys are coming with me. Any objections?" We all shake are heads repeatedly "That's what I thought."

" Didn't you learn after all the time you've spent in this unit, never to underestimate me. You even let you guard down." The mutant insect human gets up with a body 3 times bigger than her previous one. Didn't he decapitate this thing.

! Delayed flames! The moment he says it a yellow fire with an orange hue engulfs the monster.

" How?" she says slowly dying from the intense heat. I can already see her becoming ash.

" I attached the spell source to you yesterday. The moment you received news that I was able to locate the hybrids you got too excited. An unfortunate habit of yours. !extinguish!" The flames around her totally vanishes and she immediately falls and becomes ashes.

The next moment he starts screaming in agony.

[ Well unfortunately I attached that to you the very moment we met.] She laughs in the background of our heads. The laughter dies down but the screams don't.

" Master,...." He shouts. A few seconds later shadows begin to surround the void. [Till we meet again Hybrids]. The void disappears into thin air. Everywhere becomes completely silent.

" What a bitch" Daniel says and shaking his head.

*Jayda*

I'm tired of saying What the fuck. Honestly my brain has passed it's bullshit bundle.

" Well that happened." Andrew says.

" Who won though?" Daniel asks. Now that I think about it, it's kinda a draw. I guess.

" But why was she so confident she could take him on in a 1v1 like that?" Austin asks.

" Probably that mental suicide bomb she did at the end." I reply.

We stand there in silence staring at the pile of evil insect-woman ashes for a good 20 minutes.

" He probably killed everyone outside before coming in, didn't he?" Andrew says.

"Yep"

" Most definitely."

"Any of you got a phone?" I ask.

" Left mine in the library." Says Andrew

" Same." Daniel adds.

Austin pulls out his phone from and throws it to me. I catch it. Which is weird cause my reflexes suck. Anyways, there's no service. The network bars are blank. He didn't even unlock the phone too. What an ass?

" The hell, do you use Verizon?" I ask. I throw the phone back to him. "Thanks anyways."

Out of annoyance, I stomp out of the room. I'm introduced to a prison like hallway with walls similar to the ones I just came from and a door leading to a stairwell.

" You boys coming?" I ask

" Nah, we good here." Daniel says. I Immediately shoot a face that makes him start walking towards the entrance. The rest follow.

The hallway has five other similar iron doors. 3 on the left and 3 on the right. We emerged from the last door on the left. pills of ashes litter the floor.

" Damn, he did all of this." Daniel says"He's pretty bad ass, if you ask me."

"Come to think of it she did say he was working with someone outside of this organization or cult or whatever this thing is." Andrew points out while we climb the stairs.

We get introduced to a room computer monitor and other electronic devices. The place is littered with card board boxes and ash piles.

" Is it just me or does it looked like they just moved in?" Daniel asks. He picks up a box and reads what's on it. "lighthouse shipping industries, New York. What?"

" This one says Massachusetts" Austin says after picking a box and reading it too.

" Well at least we know they're well travelled villains." Really Andrew. I stare at him in disappointment.

Austin opens the box."No way." He pulls out weird looking plastic and metallic object. A graphic card.

" A graphics card?" Andrew says.

" Not just any graphics card. It's a GeForce Rtx 30 series."

" okay." Andrew says in a mild soprano voice. That's a meme.

I look around the room and find another opening to another hallway. We continue our journey towards the hallway in search of an exit. Austin stays behind for a while, going through the dead people stuff. The hallway takes us to a huge room with hundreds of book shelves.

"We're back in the library?" I ask out loud.

Andrew walks to the nearest shelves and checks out one of the books. "Nope, the stamp on the books say property lighthouse shipping. That's not ominous in the slightest. " Analysing the book closely. "Effects magnetic flux on electrical projectiles. That's an oddly specific title.". He then opens to a page

in the middle." It even has a drawing of a Raiden shooting a lightening bolt." He says smiling.

We all crowd around the book Andrew is holding. It illustrates a painted picture of someone in the middle of a punch with a strange streaky emerging from his fist.

"Hah, he even got Raiden's straw hat." Daniel says in excitement.

The picture begins to move all of a sudden, doing flips and other impressive tricks. He then finished his performance with a dramatically slow punch. Instead of a the initial streaky projectile we saw in the book this one forms a Chinese dragon that moves from him to the end of the page. The dragon doesn't stop there though, it then emerges from the book still in a black ink form and disappears after flying a few meters away. We all wow in amazement.

" That was fucking cool." Andrew says. The picture martial artist within the book bows at us and returns to his original pose. Andrew closes the book and places it back. " What a polite art ninja." He says smiling.

We continue our journey to find an exist until we meet a stair case leading to a door with an old glasses design. Now that I think of it, this place looks like an antique store owner designed it. Card board boxes litter the place with only one ash pile close to the door. At the bottom of the stair case is an a huge 5 foot looking vase.

"Yeah that's totally normal to have." I point out.

" Is it just me or do I get the strong feeling that the case wants us to open it." Andrew says. I then immediately start to feel the same thing. Thanks a lot Andrew.

It feel like the vase is calling me. The word master appears across my mind. "Yeah I'm not touching that thing." I boldly profess

Austin and I stare at Daniel and Andrew the curious duo.

" Bro I get Jayda pointing fingers at me, but when did you become my opp?" Daniel asks Austin feeling betrayed.

" Sorry bro, that's what we gotta do to survive in these streets." He says raising both is hands half way in a surrendering pose.

" So who does have to be?" Andrew asks tensing his face.

"There's only one way to settle this. A chuck Norris battle." Daniel replies with even more tense face.

" You couldn't have said it any better." Andrew says and tenses his face even more. What is going on here.

" You go first." Daniel says and tenses his face even more.

"OK then. Death once had a near Chuck Norris experience."Andrew says. What?

" Chuck Norris once throw a bomb and kill 10 people it exploded and killed 5 more."

" Chuck Norris 9 bullets at 10 people but 11 people died."

" Chuck Norris' email is gmail@ChuckNorris.com."

" Chuck Norris once built the hospital he was born in."

"Chuck Norris starred in star wars as the force."

"Chuck Norris doesn't call the wrong number, you pick the wrong phone."

"Chuck Norris ate nails for breakfast with no milk. It was his cheat day."

"Chuck Norris won a four connect game in 3 moves."

"Chuck Norris can speak Braille. "

"Chuck Norris sneezed once, now dinosaurs don't exist."

"Chuck Norris defeated a brick wall in a game of tennis."

"When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he doesn't push himself up he pushed the earth down."

" The only time chuck Norris was wrong was when he thought he made a mistake."

" Chuck Norris can strangle someone with a wireless phone."

" The Boogeyman checks the closet for chuck Norris."

" Since Chuck Norris birth in 1914, Round house kick related deaths have increased by 3,000 percent."

"..., I go nothing." Daniel loses the battle. I think.

" Now do what needs to be done." Andrew replies in the deepest voice possible.

" Fine." He says and forcefully opens the vase. Nothing happens" See that wasn't so ba-" All of a sudden a huge masculine looking ghost like being emerges from the vase.

" Let all my enemy tremble at the name of the great Muh-dan-grue Ludwig."

Aaaaaaaaaaah.