Part 1

It was noontime in Anduruna and the Margate district was a lot busier than usual. Customers to the cheap stores were catching the last minute sales from yesterday's Harvest Festival. This made the job for a certain someone rather frustrating.

'They could be anywhere in this damn crowd,' Jerome thought, irritated. 'If I don't get a better view of this street, I may not be able to see them if they're here.'

With a smooth sidestep, Jerome slid into an alley next to the street. With a mighty leap, Jerome jumped up and landed on the roof of the building to the right of the alley.

He looked out to the sea and could make out what look like a cluster of tents and wooden structures sitting on a large dock. The orphanage.

'Okay, so, no sign of them on this street and according to the locals, they're always seen in this area,' Jerome concluded, scanning the crowded path below. 'Guess I'll go ahead and check the orphanage. I still don't understand why none of the orphans ever tried to run away from that dump. I've heard the rumors and I can tell from here that that place is a fucking wreck. I don't blame them for killing one of their own. I'd probably go crazy, too, if I were living there all my life. No doubt, shock troopers have the place cordoned off, waiting for those punks to come back for their stuff. If I'm lucky, they haven't already been arrested.'

Jerome leaped across the rooftops from his perch, approaching the orphanage.

* * * * *

Slowly, Jerome crawled up the sand dunes, the orphanage just on the other side. He peaked over the dune and observed the scene.

Not a single shock trooper was in site. In fact, Jerome watched the orphanage carefully and didn't see any activity. The orphanage was abandoned.

'Well, this is a rather odd move for the law force. They've evacuated the place, but didn't keep any lookouts around to watch for the boys. Hmph, perfect. The place is all mine to explore."

Stealthily, Jerome proceeded across the dock path to the orphanage.

* * * * *

The orphanage was a complete hellhole. The orphans all slept in a large tent, while the caretaker, Grunn, sleeps in the safety of his office. Jerome searched through the tent, first. He spots the killer's bunks and searches them down. Their belongings were still here. Neither they nor Security has even touched anything in the whole tent.

'Something's not right here,' Jerome suspected, considering his family's suspicions. 'Anduruna Security isn't acting normal. This place, which was a murder scene days ago, should still be swarming with officers and investigators. Yet, the place is dead silent and it doesn't look like anything has changed. Except, for the washroom, where the murder was committed. There's definitely something going on. I can feel it!'

At that moment, Jerome's sensitive hearing kicked in. He could hear what sounded like a scuffle; On Grunn's ancient sailing boat to the left of the dock.

"Bingo!" Jerome shouted, flashing out of the tent.

* * * * *

"Would you just back off already, Bast?"

Mace and Whip, the two orphans accused of murder, had their hands full with a recent new rival.

"I'm going to ask you one more time," Bast growled. "Where is Lilith?"

"I was actually going to ask the same thing."

The three boys turned to see a dark figure standing on the other side of the boat from them. He stepped forward and raised his head.

"You two," he said, pointing at Mace and Whip. "Are wanted for murder. And, you also have very nice prices on your heads."

Jerome pulled out his six-shooter and aimed it at Mace.

"So, what's it going to be? Dead or alive?"

~~~~~~~~~~

Jerome leveled his gun at Mace's head, but kept his eyes on the tall one to the right. Apparently, this "Bast" character is after Mace and Whip, as well. But, he doesn't look like a bounty hunter and Jerome certainly hasn't seen him before.

"All right, what's it going to be?" Jerome prodded, getting back on subject.

"NEH FWEH VUKAH!" Whip snarled, flying in front of Mace's face.

"No, Whip! Get out of the way!" Mace shouted, pushing Whip aside.

Jerome smirked. "Nice language your friend has there. Too bad you two won't be around long enough to teach me. You've got ten seconds to make up your minds about your lives."

"Listen, buddy, we didn't kill Paige," Mace confided. "A Nightmare did it!"

"HA! HA! Who are you trying to fool?" Jerome laughed. "Regardless, five seconds left."

"I swear, I am NOT lying to you, really!"

"Three..."

"No, wait!"

"Two..."

"STOP!"

"SWEH!"

"One."

*Click*

Jerome's eyes widened. The gun didn't fire.

He looked over at Mace, who threw his arms up, bracing for the shot. He opened one eye and lowered his arms. "Huh?"

Jerome pulled the trigger twice.

*Click* *Click*

Jerome pushed the release lever and the revolver split in half. He looked into the chambers.

The gun was unloaded.

"UNLOADED?!" he screamed in disbelief. "WHAT THE FUCK?! HOW THE FUCK DID I - OOF!!"

Bast tackled Jerome in the side from the right. Jerome dropped his gun instantly.

Mace raced for the gun while Whip flew towards Jerome.

Bast was on top of Jerome, smashing his fists into Jerome's face until he grabbed Bast by the right fist, then grabbed his neck, and simply pushed him off. Just as Jerome stood straight up, Whip flew for his target.

"AUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!" 

Whip bit down on Jerome's tail, refusing to let go.

"MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE, LET GO OF MEEEEE!"

Jerome brought his tail to his front and grabbed Whip by the neck. Whip shrieked, letting go, as Jerome used the Spock treatment. He then grabbed the little creature's neck with both hands and proceeded to strangle him. "I'M GONNA SQUEEZE YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!"

"Let him go!" 

Mace whacked Jerome in the head with the empty gun, forcing him to release Whip.

Remaining on his knees, Jerome reached up to his bleeding head. In his daze, Mace ran forward and grabbed a bullet from Jerome's ammo belt. The Hybrid looked up at Mace, eyes shrunk in anger. 

While strangling Whip, Jerome's Power began to build as he was hurting the creature. Jerome's boots were white along with the bottom half of his pants' legs. 

Jerome lifted his left arm. In a orange flash, a katana appeared in his grasp.

"Whoa!" Mace yelped as Jerome slashed backwards, cutting Mace's coat. 

Mace stumbled to the floor of the boat as Jerome raised his sword to bring it down. 

Before he could bring it down, Bast delivered a kick to Jerome's ribs. Jerome gasped as the air left his chest from the blow. 

"Mace! Load the gun and fire! Now!" Bast ordered.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Mace replied. He shoved the round into the chamber aligning the barrel and closed the gun. But, the only problem is, he's never used a gun before, and he's never seen a gun like this in his life. He aimed at Jerome's head and pressed the trigger, but it wouldn't budge. The gun was locked.

"Damn it, fire! Where's the safety on this thing?!"

He then saw the hammer at the top of the grip. Instinctively, he pulled it down with his thumb and heard a satisfying *click*. Believing this was the safety, Mace aimed once more at Jerome, who had Bast pinned to the floor by his neck.

The Hybrid reached up to his left shoulder and pushed his trenchcoat back to reveal a knife. He pulled the knife from its sheath in a flash and held it up above Bast. "Die."

Suddenly, he froze and looked at Mace. The boy aimed at his head.

"No, you!" Mace countered.

But, just before he fired, Mace saw Jerome do something that only a fearless person would do in the face of death.

He smiled.

Then, the shot came.

The bullet went straight into Jerome's forehead. The Hybrids body jerked back and fell next to Bast. He jumped up and stared at the bounty hunter. He was dead.

Bast looked to Mace and saw him writhing on the floor in pain. 

"Shit! My wrists! The gun snapped back and almost broke them!"

Bast walked over and grabbed the weapon. "This is one deadly springer. Looks like something from Norvondire. Definitely haven't seen anything like this in Anduruna before."

Mace twisted his wrists, confirming they were painfully sore, but not broken. Then, he looked over at Whip, who was still gagging from being strangled.

"Whip!" Mace shouted, running to him and scooping him up. "You okay?"

"Weh," Whip coughed, nodding.

Mace looked back at Jerome, blood pooling around his head. "Right. Let's go find the girls."

Mace glared at Bast. "Despite almost getting killed, I don't think you're gonna back off, right?" 

Bast smiled and followed them down the ramp to the dock, dropping the gun next to Jerome's corpse along the way. "Right. You AND Lilith have some explaining to do."

"Yeah, well, we've got to explain to them why me and Whip have been gone so long. I'm pretty sure Lilith will be happy to here you slammed Whip's head into the floor of the boat, tried to beat the crap out of us, then almost got us killed by some crazy bounty hunter! You're welcome for saving your life, by the way!"

Bast balled his fist at Mace's remark about Lilith, then sighed at the last comment. "Uh, right. Thanks for... the save back there....

Mace frowned at him, then smiled. "No problem."

"Weh," Whip agreed, flying out of Mace's arms.

The boys were just walking onto the dock path to the beach when Bast asked, "By the way, how is Lilith do - ?"

"And, where do you three think you're going?"

The boys stopped dead in their tracks. They looked back behind them at the voice.

Jerome stood, grinning from ear to ear. The blood on his face retreated into the gunshot wound as it began to seal itself. The wound vanished and Jerome moved his jaws around violently. He spat something out onto the dock path.

The bullet from his head.

"Try that again, you prick," he grumbled, pulling his gun out once more. 

This time, fully-loaded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has always been known that Nightmares are immortal. It was once believed that the same held true for the Hell Hybrids. That wasn't the case, though, as proven with the deaths of the Hybrids over the past hundred years.

However, it was revealed through Jerome that Hybrids are capable of immortality based on their Nightmare genes. Jerome's Nightmare genes are dominant while his normal Dreamkeeper genes were recessive. As a result, he has more Nightmare characteristics than any of his family. His demonic Power is believed to be one such feature of his Nightmare DNA. 

As for the rest of his family, their genes were equally balanced. Manny can laugh at having his arm chopped off, but he is not immortal. It is because of his Power that he is almost completely pain-resistant. With Manny ruled out as an immortal along with everyone else, it was discovered that Jerome was the immortal one after being shot multiple times through the chest several years ago during a bounty hunt. While his family left him behind to resume the hunt, Jerome reawakened, his wounds slowly healing as he tried to get his bearings on the situation.

Skeptics of Anduruna who have somehow learned of this have always asked the question if an immortal is dead or alive inside after dying for the first time, then coming back to life. As far as asking Jerome himself is concerned, no one knows.

Mace, Whip, and Bast looked on in utter disbelief at Jerome. The Hybrid pulled back the gun's hammer and prepared to aim. 

"H-How?" Mace stuttered.

"Half-Nightmare, buddy," Jerome replied, still grinning. "My Nightmare blood is dominant, so I've inherited immortality."

"So, that's it," Bast said. "You're a Hell Hybrid, aren't you?"

"About damn time someone figured it out! Yes. I'm the only one of my kind, that I'm aware of anyway, that is fully immune to death! You're not going to put me down and keep me down. I'm going to keep on coming until you're dead, as you're about to learn."

Jerome aimed once more, this time pointing at Whip. "I'll kill you, first. No one messes with my tail and gets away with it."

Suddenly, he spotted something around Whip's mouth. A glowing, blue light around his lips. Jerome didn't notice it until now.

'What?' he thought to himself.

At that moment, Whip bared his teeth and Jerome saw it. The little creature's teeth were covered in the glowing blue substance.

"It can't be!" Jerome gasped.

Mace and Bast raised an eyebrow, then looked at Whip. The creature looked at them and shrugged.

"You... you said a Nightmare killed the orphan?" Jerome asked uneasily.

"Yeah, that's what I said!" Mace said in annoyance. "Paige was our friend! We would NEVER had done that to her! It was actually after me, but it went after Paige when I got away."

Jerome looked away, feeling queasy. The Nightmares had returned?

He turned his back to them and pulled out a comm-scroll. "Father, this is Jerome. Hello?"

"Go ahead, son," Trident replied from the other end. "Do you have the orphans?"

"I have them at gunpoint, but I just learned something from them that's going to change our plans. They claim that a Nightmare was the one that murdered their friend. I'm positively sure they're telling the truth. There's blood residual on the small orphan's mouth and teeth. It's Nightmare blood. My vision confirmed it."

There was a brief silence before Trident said, "Capture them and bring them to us. We need to talk."

"Affirmative. Jerome out."

He turned around to face the orphans and the stranger, only to find they ran away.

Jerome simply smiled. "I love it when they do this."

* * * * *

Mace, Whip, and Bast stopped running after five minutes. They made sure to keep to the alleys and backstreets as to not draw attention. 

"Okay, I'm officially freaked out, now," Mace said, gasping. "First off, mind telling me what a 'Hell Hybrid' is?"

"Mreh kufeh shu!" Whip said, possibly demanding for answers as well. 

Bast stood up, recovering from the long run. "They're cross-breeded Dreamkeepers, hence their name 'Hybrid.' They appeared roughly a hundred years ago and were hunted to near extinction. Now, there's a mere handful of them living throughout the Dreamworld, a small group of them living here in Anduruna, in the Towers."

"You mean to tell me they're more freaks like him living in the TOWERS?! Have the people there lost their heads?"

"You don't even know the half of it," Bast replied.

"But, soon, you will."

The three boys spun around to see Jerome jump down from a rooftop. "Sorry, gentlemen, but I can't let you go. My father wants to see you. We need to discuss what you can remember about your encounter with this Nightmare. Apparently, they are returning."

"We already know that! We've been over this with Lilith and Namah's uncle, Igrath! We also had a run-in with some tongue monster and a psychopathic girl on Mount Starfall."

Jerome held up his hand. "Then, you'll go over it again with my family. But, before that, I've got some questions. Is this tough guy with you as a friend and where are the Viscount's daughters?"

Mace looked up at Bast, who glared at him. Mace sighed and said, "Yes, he's with us. Even though he tried to clobber us about half an hour ago. As for Lilith and Namah, we've set up a plan where they went and surrendered themselves to Security forces and were taken to the Towers. Namah claims she'll get herself and Lilith free by using her Power to overtake the guards. They simply want to grab a few clothes and supplies before we leave the city. If we have to, that is."

Jerome stared at Mace for a brief second. "When exactly did this happen?"

"Uh, early this morning, around 8:00?" Mace answered, confused.

Jerome looked on in concern. It was all starting to make sense now. Mace and Whip being framed of murder, the Calah sisters being attacked by Tinsel and framed of destroying government property, the appearance of Nightmares and Dark Dreamkeepers.

And now this, a bounty hunt that was halfway void. Trident would never accept a bounty hunt if the targets were already dead or apprehended. How did he not know that the Viscount's daughters were already arrested hours before the job was assigned? He always keeps himself updated with information as to not go on useless bounty hunts and waste time. How did he not know?

Suddenly, he realized one thing: Trident is never wrong. He is an extraordinary psychokinesist, a brilliant politician, and an intelligent person. There is no way he could not have known about this.

Jerome started walking, passing by the boys. "Follow me," he said. "We're going to get some answers."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerome, Mace, Whip, and Bast all got past security without a problem due to Jerome being the son of Trident. They were now on the floor of Jerome's family suite.

As Jerome led the boys towards the suite, Jerome hissed, "Just stay calm and keep your mouth's shut."

They nodded just as Jerome grabbed the suite doors. He pushed them open and they entered.

The front room was bare and empty, as if no one has ever moved into it for years. Jerome looked around wildly and raced for the living room. Empty, as well. He ran to every single room throughout the home while the three visitors remained at the door.

Finally, Jerome walked back to them and pulled out his comm-scroll. "Father, where are you? What's going on? Father, are you there? Father!"

He looked at his comm-scroll and Trident's comm-scroll was not answering.

"Damn it!" Jerome cursed, shoving his comm-scroll into his pocket. "Follow me, guys! We're taking this problem to the Viscount!"

"Whoa, wait just a minute!" Mace shouted. "You may have gotten us past security down stairs, but I seriously doubt the Viscount will be happy to see us, even with you with us. Not to mention we're also being blamed for what happened in the antechamber, which is right outside his own office."

"Yeh bugeh kudah shriekmafo froda!" Whip shouted.

"Oh, shit! You're right! The girls are probably waiting for us in the Kojiki district right now! We're supposed to meet up with them so we can find Igrath and his pals."

They looked back at Jerome, who was looking out the doors into the hallway. "Go. I'm going to go see the Viscount. You guys need to get out of here. I've got the feeling that the odds are almost against us. You need to go. Now!"

Mace, Whip, and Bast slowly inched around Jerome, then bolted out of the abandoned suite. Jerome simply stood there, realizing that the Nightmares were indeed returning.

And, his family was somehow involved with them.

Determined to learn the truth, Jerome marched out of the empty suite, heading for the upper levels.

* * * * *

Jerome stormed into the antechamber, this time it was full of diplomats and nobleman from across the city. The chamber went silent when the doors flew open.

The chandelier from the ceiling was still on the floor, but most of the debris was gone. Apparently, the events of the antechamber attack have not deterred the politicians from continuing their business here.

With his most serious face, Jerome marched along the red carpet through the immense chamber. The dignitaries whispered amongst one another about Jerome's presence.

"What is the Hybrid leader's son doing here?" one asked.

"I am not sure, but if he wishes to speak with the Viscount, he will have to be patient like the rest of us," another answered.

'As if,' Jerome replied in his thoughts. 

As the Viscounts office doors came into view, an armed shock trooper stood on each side. 

'Seriously?' Jerome thought.

"Good afternoon, sir!" one trooper greeted. "If you wish to speak with the Viscount, you're going to have to wait. "He's in an important meeting with your father, Trident."

"Please, don't even try that crap with me," Jerome replied, reaching out for the door.

Instantly, the troopers raised their rifles. "I said you have to wait, sir."

A split second later, their rifles split in half in their grasp. Jerome was kneeling, both katana's in hand. The troopers backed up as Jerome stood up and his blades vanished. 

"Stay away from me," Jerome growled evilly.

Now in an angry mood, Jerome lifted his leg and kicked the doors open.

Not a second afterwards, he found himself flying through the air from a powerful blast of energy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerome landed back first to the floor. He gasped, having the wind knocked out of him. 

Within seconds, the diplomats fled the antechambers, fearing this was another attack. The two troopers at the office doors ran out as well.

Jerome recovered his breathing and jumped to his feet. Standing in the doorway of the Viscount's office was Trident, his dim blue halo visible, and the rest of the Hybrid family.

"Father! What the hell is this?! What's happening?"

"I'm sorry, son," Trident said in a saddened tone. "But, it is apparent that you are not one of us anymore. The Nightmare hordes are calling."

"What?" Jerome gasped. "I... I don't believe it. You're joining the Nightmares? All of you?! Are you all insane?! The Nightmares will kill you in your sleep! They don't have a single shred of mercy for anyone, not even Hybrids!"

"I beg to differ," Trident replied. "You see, we Hybrids are very special. It is because of our half-Nightmare blood that the Nightmares have accepted us. Nabonidus himself welcomes us."

"Nabonidus? The new overlord of the Nightmares?" Jerome confirmed. "What is going on here? What happened to Void?"

"Nabonidus has already dealt with him," Trident replied. "As for you, we're here to take care of you."

Jerome looked past Trident and the others to see Azrael, leaning against the Viscount's desk. He was shaking his head. Jerome wasn't sure if he was shaking his head because Jerome would never join the Nightmares with his family or that Tridents claim to kill Jerome was a mere joke, since Jerome is immortal.

Regardless, the family charged except for Azrael. Jerome realized that his family was no longer out to find more of their people. They have fully accepted the ambitions of the Nightmares and have joined the ultimate path towards evil. 

Jerome's katanas appeared in his hands as he steeled himself for the assault. Trident thrusted his hand forward, sending out a clear psychic blast. Jerome crossed his swords and the energy blast smashed into them. With a holler, Jerome uncrossed the blades and sent the blast back at Trident. The warrior lifted his leg backwards, then threw it forwards. His leg smacked into the blast and sent it sailing towards the ceiling. The blast connected and exploded, sending tons of elegantly carved stone tumbling to the floor.

Kali weaved through the raining debris, closing in on Jerome. Her dim yellow halo visible, her ring claws suddenly grew energy beams on them as she formed her Power on them. Energy claws out, she howled and leapt for Jerome.

He lifted a single sword and deflected both her clawed hands. "Kali! You - ! How can you be on their side? Don't you know what the Nightmares have been trying to do all these years?"

"We and the Nightmares are related!" Kali replied. "The Nightmares are our relatives! The Nightmares are our family! You don't kill your own family!"

They unlocked blades and Kali leapt away. Jerome spun around to block Manny's battle knife. "Manny! You're my best friend! Why are YOU doing this?"

"Because Nabonidus told me to!" Manny answered, jumping away. "Those who refuse or disobey him suffer a fate even worse than death! We can't just walk away from him now! He has us all by the balls! There's no turning back for us!"

Jerome sensed something above him and blocked a blade-like staff. Meth slowly materialized from his invisibility. "Meth! You have to be the smartest guy I've ever known, next to Father and Azrael! Why did you join the Nightmares? Why didn't you turn your back on them when you had the chance?"

"There's no point in fighting the Nightmares, Jerry," Meth replied. "The Nightmares are immortal, just like you. Even if we somehow managed to stop them now, they will simply return in another thousand years and start all over again. It's an endless cycle that is bound to be broken eventually. Someday, the people will not be ready, and when that day comes, the Nightmares will truly be victorious."

Meth flipped forward and flipped consecutively away from Jerome.

Jerome looked around. The whole family had him surrounded. Suddenly, he gasped and reached for his neck. His neck was being squeezed. Trident walked forward, his right arm outstretched towards Jerome. The young bounty hunter started floating off the floor as he desperately gasped for air. 

"We all have our reasons for siding with them, Jerome," Trident concluded. "Even I have my own personal reasons. But, now is not the time to share them with you. Now,... it's time for you to rest."

With a single finger motion, Jerome's neck snapped. Trident lowered his arm and Jerome's lifeless form crumbled to the floor.

"It's time to go, everyone," Trident ordered. The others nodded and Azrael joined them. He looked down at Jerome. 

"You do realize, Trident, that Jerome will never stop until he has brought us to justice. This battle just now was nothing but a waste of time. In fact, we're risking our lives right now the longer we stand here in front of him. He will reawaken, eventually."

"Ah, chill out, old man," Manny dismissed. "If we had the choice, we could just stand here for the rest of eternity and keep killing him every time he wakes up. The moment he opens his eyes, we stab him in the heart. The next time, we blow his brains out. Though, I wonder what would happen if we blow his body to pieces. What would he do, then?"

"Enough!" Trident demanded. "We must go now! Nabonidus is waiting for us. We'd better not keep him waiting."

The Hybrids each nodded and they proceeded to the antechamber entrance. Not a single one of them looked back at Jerome.

* * * * *

"So, do we really have a choice in this?" Mace asked.

"I'm afraid not, Mace," Igrath Winters, Lilith and Namah's uncle, replied. "You kids have to leave the city if you hope to stay out of harms way. The whole city is looking for you five. You need to head for Norvondire. Though, it's the closest nation to ours, I'm sure the news of your framed criminal acts have not yet reached them. Me, Grunn, Scinter, and the Indigo twins will stay here and gather any more information."

Igrath Winters and his friends, Scinter, Grunn, Indi, and Digo all sat across from the orphans, the Viscount's daughters, and Bast.

"Can't you come with us?" Lilith Calah pleaded. "I mean, we barely know how to use our Powers and we have no combat experience. Are you sure we'll be alright?"

"If they won't go with you, I will."

Scinter and Grunn, sitting around Igrath, grabbed their guns and aimed at the voice. 

Jerome appeared through the opening in Igrath's underground safehouse. Mace and Whip were relieved to see him while Bast simply frowned. Though, something was strange about him.

Jerome's head hung limply from his shoulders. "Oh, sorry," he said.

He grabbed his head with both hands and proceeded to turn his head in sudden motions, producing snaps and pops as he pushed his neck back into place.

After a minute of turning and bobbing his head, he looked at the group. Suddenly, Lilith raced forward and hugged him. "Jerry! Where have you been? It's been so long since we've seen you!"

Jerome blushed slightly as he reluctantly returned the hug. "Uh, yeah, uh, nice to see you, too, Liltih."

Namah Calah smiled her usual evil smile. "So, Mr. Freak Show himself finally decides to pay us a visit. Still breathing, huh?"

"Yeah, but there's a certain group of people that I've known all of my life that won't be breathing for long!" Jerome snarled. 

"What do you mean?" Lilith asked, slightly frightened by the accusation.

"My own family has betrayed us! The Hell Hybrids have joined the Nightmares! From this moment on, I'm not stopping until I've hunted down each and every one of them and make them pay for even thinking about siding with those demons!"

"So, you're suspicions were right on the money," Bast added. "Though, I don't understand why you didn't see these actions before you tried to kill us."

"He tried to kill you?" Scinter asked, who had not holstered his dual pistols just yet. 

"Huuh, a bounteh huntuh, huh?" Grunn asked, just making a wild guess. "Well, if yuh ask me, yuh shoulda tried harduh. Them snots over there have been a pain in my ass fer too long."

"That's enough, Grunn," Igrath ordered. "We're trying to protect these children, remember? Now, then, Jerome, I suppose I should give my own reunion hello as well."

Jerome grinned and shook the former Captain's hand. "Been a long time, Captain Winters. Haven't seen you since you went into hiding years ago."

"Okay, before we go any further!" Mace yelled. "How do you guys know each other? You two never told me or Whip you knew this freak before now."

"He's not a freak, Mace," Lilith protested. "He's an old friend of mine and Namah's. We met back in our late childhood's. Back then, I was depressed with trying to fit in at the Academy and Namah was doing everything in her power to escape her room. Though, we admit, he was a freakish monster to us, too, at first. But, eventually, he became a close friend and helped us get over our troubles."

"I really hate it when you sugar coat the truth," Namah said bitterly. "All he did was just visit me in my room and watched scroll movies with me and helped me with my escape plans. All of which failed, of course. If he really wanted to help me, he could've, at the very least, cut out the iron bars blocking my room's air vent."

"I would never have heard the end of it from my father if he found out I helped you escape," Jerome replied with a smile. "I'm lucky enough he never found out that I helped you with your so-called 'escape plans.'"

"Alright, I believe that's enough talk for now," Igrath said. He motioned at Scinter and the goggle-wearing snake holstered his weapons. Grunn snorted and simply threw his gun aside. "We can talk more about old times over breakfast tomorrow. After that, you all will have to leave the city. Even in this safehouse, it's too dangerous to be here. I'll write out a map for you all to follow to the nearest town in Norvondire..."

After several minutes, everyone was sleeping soundly. Except for Jerome. 

He understands that they must've already had some horrifying experiences of their own before now. But, they probably don't understand what it's like to have everyone you ever loved, especially your own family, stab you in the back for an evil cause. The Hybrid family never pursued evil and they never supported the Nightmares. Because they have turned their backs on this tradition, Jerome now vows to find each and every one of them and demand to know why they chose the Nightmares over the Dreamkeepers.

Jerome looked over at Mace, who had a scowl on his slumbering face. Jerome noticed that same scowl when Lilith grabbed onto him in a hug. Apparently, Mace has a crush on the Viscount's well-known daughter and seeing her greet a 'freak' like Jerome in that manner has most likely hindered the progress of any possible friendship with the orphan. For the time being, at least.

Jerome now wonders if these guys and girls will be distracting in his quest to find his family. What if they get killed? Where are they going, anyway? What do they plan to do in the Dreamworld away from home? Are they planning to wage a five-on-who-knows-how-many war with the Nightmares? Or will they amass an army of supporters and fighters to join them? What do they intend to do?

And, better yet, will their journey be of any significance to Jerome's search of his family?

Jerome realized that he won't find out anything if he doesn't catch any sleep.

And so, Jerome the Hell Hybrid falls asleep. 

A journey of epic proportions is waiting for the heroes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~