Macbeth, a town which actually resembles the culture and architecture of the Andurunan district, Norvondire. What Jerome has always wondered is if the district got its name from the country or if it's the other way around. 

Regardless, Jerome was not here to discover that. Jerome was here for answers and to see if those adventurers managed to get here safely. 

In fact, he had been in Macbeth for half of a day and he had already covered three-quarters of the town. It would appear they had gone beyond Macbeth or never even made it here.

From a high rooftop, Jerome sneered. He didn't have time for this. Regardless if Igrath wanted him to watch the others or not, Jerome was not going to let them hinder his search of his family. Jerome planned to collect the bounty on Igrath and Scinter, anyway.

After one more hour of searching the remaining portion of the town, Jerome gave up. Though, he generally cared for the Viscount's daughters, they weren't really that important to him to try and hunt them down. The three guys were DEFINITELY not on his list of friends. If anything, they were still acquaintances.

Of course, they may have arrived in Macbeth and decided to move on without Jerome. Perhaps, they decided that he was going to hinder them in their own quest.

Jerome didn't doubt it. Who would want to travel with a half-blooded Nightmare that could turn traitor on them if he were to be converted? 

With a sigh, Jerome jumped from the rooftops to ground level and proceeded into the crowded streets. It's turning into night now, so the streets were bustling with nighttime partygoers. Jerome kept to the shadows of the streets, only being lighted by the lights of the bars and evening stores.

* * * * *

As Jerome walked along the streets, pondering on where he should begin his search, he approached a deli stand several feet ahead. The butcher was just collecting the last of his freshly-cut products and knife cutleries when Jerome drew near.

"Excuse me," the butcher called to the Hybrid. "Are you Jerome?"

Jerome stopped dead and looked straight at the butcher. "Yeah?"

The butcher looked around cautiously. Then, he wiggled his fingers at Jerome, signaling him to come over. Jerome looked around as well and walked up to the stand.

The butcher leaned forward and whispered, "My name is Jaddel. I'm a friend of Igrath Winters, one of the key members of the Troika in Anduruna. He sent me an info-scroll message to look out for a group of young Andurunans who he suspected would come here. I met them and the Viscount's daughter, Lilith Calah, left me a note for you."

The butcher slipped a note across the cutting table to Jerome. He grabbed it in a flash and read it.

'Jerry, if you're reading this, then you made it. We were thinking about going on without you, but I felt terrible about it. I convinced the others that we should stay to wait for you. Look for us in an abandoned warehouse in the northwest part of the town. If you get this note three days after we left Akbarel, then we're probably gone. Please, don't make us leave without you. We're going to need all the help we can get. Hurry! - Lilith'

Jerome slipped the note in his pocket and looked at the butcher. He smiled and said, "Better get going! You've got a big adventure ahead of you!"

Jerome smiled as well. "Thanks. Goodbye."

Jerome turned away and walked northwest. His senses were on full alert. He detected no sign of lies or danger from the butcher or the note, but nevertheless, Jerome was taking no chances. Slowly going into a jog, Jerome drifted into a pitch black alley across from the deli stand.

* * * * *

Jaddel, the butcher, watched Jerome go. As soon as he was out of sight, Jaddel pulled out a comm-scroll, putting it to his right ear, and spoke.

"He's on his way, my friend."

"Excellent," replied a low, dull voice. "Once he gets to his location, his 'friends' will be waiting for him. Or rather, just an old friend."

"Is this wise?" Jaddel asked worriedly. "Your son is immortal, right? What good will sending your people do? You're sending them out on suicide missions! And, what exactly do you plan to do out of all this? You can't possibly think that you can-!"

"Are you doubting my power, Jaddel?" Trident rasped. 

The butcher's eyes went wide. He grabbed a nearby knife, turned his back to the street, and put the knife to his throat. All while keeping the comm-scroll to his head.

"What I currently have in my possession will change the face of reality forever!" Trident roared through his mask into his comm-scroll. "Nothing will ever be the same! The Dreamkeepers, the Nightmares, the Dreamworld, Bralgu! ALL of it will be new, because I will control it all! I will control EVERYTHING! The reasons for this will be clear soon enough!"

Jaddel's insides shuddered, because his limbs and outer flesh were stone solid. "Trident! What you're saying is crazy talk!"

Trdent chuckled. "Oh, Jaddel! You really don't understand? Well, it seems no amount of explanation or mind control will be able to enlighten you otherwise. If you wish to resist the truth and motives behind my purpose, then so be it."

Slowly, Jaddel fell to the ground in the shadows of his deli stand, a pool of blood forming at his neck.

* * * * *

Using his best hunting skills, Jerome approached the presumed warehouse from the shadows. The entire area was deserted.

'I don't like this,' Jerome thought, then noticed the rundown exterior of the neighboring buildings. 'Lilith never mentioned this entire block being abandoned.'

Jerome noticed a stack of rotting crates next to the warehouse. The crates were tall enough to reach a window, which was right below the eve of the roof.

Jerome jumped up the crates with supernatural ease and peered through the window. A fire was burning in the middle of the warehouse with a giant hole that used to be the center of the roof. Five individuals, four large and one small, sat around the fire. 

Jerome jumped down from the top crate and made his way to the wooden doors. He quietly opened one door and slipped in unnoticed. He ducked behind a nearby crate and observed the group.

All of them were sitting at the fire eating canned goods. They were passing around food and utensils to each other every so often. Jerome noticed something odd.

They all had blank faces with lifeless stares in their eyes. Jerome noticed something even more disturbing. He listened in carefully. 

They weren't breathing. Not a sound came from any of them.

Jerome leapt over the crate and sprinted towards the group. Revolver in his left hand, Jerome grabbed the person that looked like Lilith.

"Lilith?!" Jerome yelled.

He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back to see her face. Dried blood ran down her chest from her neck.

"FUCK!" Jerome screamed, releasing her. "NO!"

He looked at the others. That's when he really got disturbed.

In his haste, he never even noticed the face of the girl he had grabbed. She wasn't Lilith. 

The same was true for Mace and Bast. They were completely different people, though, somehow, they were wearing the same clothes and were the same species and fur color. These were complete strangers who were recently murdered.

As for Namah and Whip, they weren't even real. The Namah double was just a dummy and the Whip double was an expertly made sock puppet.

Jerome glanced around, narrowing his gaze. A chilling wind blew through the warehouse.

Suddenly, a nerve-racking chuckle that was barely audible echoed in the warehouse.

An all-too-familiar chuckle.

"Well, look who it is," a scratchy voice called out. "I was wondering when you were going to arrive, old buddy."

The gust of wind blew the fire out. The full moon was out, its light shining brightly through the crumbling roof.

Jerome said nothing, standing out in the open in the moonlight. His eyes darted at the shadows, but the Hell Hybrids have learned to use the shadows so well, not even their own kind could see each other in the darkness.

"I'll have you know if I had a choice in all of this, I would NOT have followed the boss! I'd rather die or live in isolation somewhere than be a part of the Nightmares! But, there's also a part of me that says that Mr. T's mission is absolutely necessary. The world needs a change! The Nightmares have to be crushed!"

"What you're saying is making no sense, Manny!" Jerome said loudly. "And, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're not even acting on your own right now!"

"HA! You actually think your pops is THAT cruel of a man?" Manny asked. "I'm fully in control of myself! I want to get away from all this, but I also want to help the boss! He's not controlling me, but I can't seem to fight the urge to help him!"

Jerome sneered. "If I were you, I'd start fighting harder. Don't make me go through this, Manny. I don't want to do this."

Jerome summoned his right-hand katana. 

"Oh, come on, Jerry! We're buddies! We can talk this over, can we?"

Jerome looked down with a sad look. "Sorry, Manny. Something tells me Father has you hooked. And, you're so hooked, everything you're saying right is just going out the other end of my head. Now, show yourself so 'we can talk this over.'

There was a chilling silence, then Jerome saw him.

Manny leapt out from the shadows, landing in a kneeling position on one knee. His face was towards the ground.

"Alright, Jerry," Manny said, raising his head. "We started out as friends... now, it's all gonna end... as enemies!"

The evil Hybrid pulled out his flowood axe. "Let's do this, punk!"

Jerome took up a fighting stance.

This friendship was officially over.

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

Manny took the first attack. Swinging the axe back and bringing it down, he attempts to slice Jerome down the middle. The fox saw the move coming seconds ago and sidestepped out of the way. The axe clanged loudly on the concrete floor. 

Just as the axe made contact with the floor, Manny threw it up at a diagonal angle towards Jerome. The Hybrid bent his body sideways, allowing the axe blade to glide past him. While in this awkward position, Jerome swung his katana at Manny's right arm. Not the smartest move, due to Manny's strange Power, but at least he'd have one less limb to work with. Manny instantly saw the blade and released his weapon. He pulled his arm back just as the katana grazed his fingertips. The flowood axe soared away and embedded itself into a crate.

The two Hybrids now faced one another, Manny only armed with a single knife. Manny, in fact, gracefully grabbed the knife from its sheath, which was on his right shoulder. Without a moment's hesitation, he ran the knife straight through his right hand. Jerome showed no emotion to this, since Manny does this very often in battle.

Manny forcefully pulled the blade out, trembling with an open-mouthed grin on his face. Manny threw his arm back and lunged it forward at Jerome. A stream of solid blood shot forth from Manny's wound. Jerome jumped to the side as the blood raced past him to latch onto the axe from across the warehouse. Manny tugged and dislodged the axe from the crate, sending it back to him. Like a tentacle, the blood stream slithered into his hand as the axe found itself back into the grasp of its beholder. 

Jerome observed, to no surprise, to see Manny's blood red halo, at its full intensity, above his head. The Hybrid bat grinned with squinted eyes. 

Jerome smirked. 'What have you got in mind, you sick bastard?'

Suddenly, Jerome's ear twitched. Something was heading his way from behind. Jerome spun around to deflect a rusty vegetable can with his katana. He looked to see who had thrown the projectile.

Dreamkeepers awkwardly moved towards Jerome. As they entered the moonlight from the collapsed roof, Jerome recognized them as the corpses and dummies from the campfire.

'I see now,' Jerome thought. 'Manny must've smeared his blood on each body in order to control their actions. That's how they were moving despite being lifeless.'

Upon entering the moonlight, Jerome noticed the decoys were floating off the floor. Another trait of Manny's Power.

Suddenly, the Bast Decoy jerked a foot into the air. Jerome readied himself.

The corpse flew at him like a tossed ragdoll. Jerome jumped straight up, dodging the Bast Decoy, only to be tackled by the Mace Decoy. 

Jerome skidded across the floor and stopped ten feet away from the impact. He opened his eyes to see Decoy Namah standing behind him. It held up a pistol aimed straight at his head.

He rolled sideways just as it fired the weapon. Springing off the floor in a midair sideways spin, he landed on his feet and drew his revolver.

"I don't think so," Jerome said flatly, spinning towards Manny with his gun preaimed. 

Just as he had Manny in his sights, a light blue-colored rope with a bushel of feathers on its end wrapped around Jerome's neck.

Decoy Whip coiled its tail around Jerome, forming a noose around his neck. The doll soared over Jerome and the Hybrid felt his feet leave the floor.

'Damn it! I'm getting lynched by a fucking sock puppet!'

Jerome prepared to summon a katana to mince the puppet, but suddenly felt himself spinning. The doll spun him faster with each second. Jerome tried to will his katana to his hand, but his limbs couldn't fight the force of the spin. Now, he was going at such a velocity, he was completely helpless. 

'Any second now and my neck's gonna snap. Any second now...'

Unexpectedly, the rope tail released him and he crashed back first through a stack of crates.

Remarkably, it wasn't enough to kill Jerome as he forced himself to breathe. 'Shit, I survived that?! Guess I'm a lot tougher than I thought.'

The Hybrid found himself in a small space between a wall and the toppled crates. He looked through a hole in the crates to see the Decoys moving in, with Manny in the middle. Jerome, kneeling on one knee, swiped his fist through the air. 

'I can't just dice those fakes. Their limbs will just float in the air and Manny'll use 'em like clubs. I won't be able to get a clear shot at Manny with them acting as shields and distractions. I really don't see-'

Just then, Jerome noticed a set of reslium tanks just two feet from him. He couldn't believe it. 

'What the hell are these doing in an abandoned warehouse? Looks like someone wasn't doing their job when the owner had the majority of the place cleaned out. Guess I just found my solution!'

On the other side of the crates, Manny grinned. Axe in hand, he thought, 'That must've done it! Might as well get this over with.'

Gripping his weapon, he approached the crates, mutilation in mind.

That's when a long cylindrical object flew from behind the crates towards Decoy Lilith and Whip. Jerome jumped out, revolver already aimed, and fired. 

The reslium tank detonated between the Decoys, blinding blue flames spouting around the blast area. The Lilith and Whip Decoy's spasmed and contorted as they jerked about on the floor. After several seconds, Manny lost control of both Decoys, his blood burnt away from the reslium.

"Damn it all!" Manny shouted, throwing his right arm forward. By command, Decoy Mace and Bast flew at Jerome. Already heading their way was another reslium tank, angled horizontally. Jerome was already holding the long canister as he jumped from his cover behind the crates. The tank smashed into the Decoys and Jerome fired again.

The tank blasted the bodies to bits. The limbs covered with Manny's blood twitched uncontrollably, then came to a rest.

Decoy Namah was left. It aimed its pistol at Jerome, but the Hybrid was running back for the crates. The Decoy fired its weapon once, aiming for Jerome's right leg as he jumped. The ball went right under his foot. 

"Not this time!" Manny shouted, running for the crates. But, another tank shot through the bottom of the toppled crates, going between Manny's legs. 

The bat looked back to see the tank stop right under Decoy Namah. He looked to the crates to see Jerome standing right at the top of the rubble. He fired once more.

The last Decoy was obliterated in the brilliant explosion.

Beautiful reslium fuel burned throughout the warehouse. 

Jerome jumped to the floor and holstered his revolver. Then, he unclipped his holster belt and dropped his gun.

Manny looked on as his former best friend took up a boxing pose. The Hybrid bat cackled and took up his own stance. 

Jerome knew he wouldn't be able to beat Manny if he severed him too much. And, this was just like old times.

The Hybrids approached one another as they reared their arms back.

This was going to be settled traditionally.

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

Their fists connected with a bone-jarring impact. They separated and unleashed a steady line of kicks and punches, all of which they countered. 

Jerome realized that, when it came down to hand-to-hand combat, he and Manny were evenly matched. They'd just keep swinging and kicking at one another until the end of time. 

Then, Jerome came up with an idea that he felt he would be embarrassed about later on.

Manny attempted a headache punch, but Jerome grabbed both arms and kicked the bat in the midsection. The bat cringed and bent over, clutching at his stomach. Despite being painless, Jerome knew which buttons to push to make Manny pause.

The Hybrid fox jogged ten feet backwards away from Manny, then went into a full sprint straight at his enemy.

By the time Manny stood up straight, it was too late. Jerome tackled Manny, forcing him into the solid floor with a bang. Jerome returned to his feet instantly while Manny sat up on one elbow, coughing up blood. He wobbled back to his feet and faced Jerome, blood running through his teeth.

"Heh,... the Spear, huh?" Manny said with a chuckle. "Never imagined you'd go there."

"What can I say?" Jerome said humorously. "You're leaving me with no choice."

During Jerome's earlier years while knowing Manny, they had enjoyed watching the staged, scripted sport Anduruna Wrestling Entertainment. They had actually practiced several of the techniques used by the wrestlers to see if they were compatible in real life combat. As far as fighting each other was concerned, the moves were possible.

Believing Manny was in a weakened state, he charged for another Spear. As he reached Manny, the Hybrid ducked down and grabbed Jerome by the waist. He lifted Jerome off his feet and he knew what was coming next.

Manny slammed his former friend back first onto the concrete floor, signifying the Spine Buster. 

Jerome screamed through clenched teeth as he felt his spine buckle and his head split open. Manny fell to a knee, holding his midsection as he could feel the internal bleeding from Jerome's Spear. 

Jerome slowly fought to reach his feet, trying to catch his breath as blood began running down his head. Manny stayed on his knee as he looked up at Jerome. 

The fox's blood rushed back into the wound on his head as he stretched his back. After a single minute, Jerome looked on in perfect health. 

"Sorry, buddy, but this fight was over a long time ago."

*COUGH COUGH* "Damn... you."

Manny pulled out his axe with his left hand, still clutching at his chest with the right hand.

Jerome resumed a fighting stance as Manny raced forward. He swiped at Jerome, who jumped over him to get behind. Jerome grabbed Manny's shoulders and they both went falling backwards. Jerome curled his legs as Manny fell on top of Jerome's knees. The Backstabber.

Unbeknownst to Manny during all of this, Jerome's Power has been building. The Spear from earlier was enough to turn Jerome's boots and half his legs white. The Backstabber now turned his body up to his waist completely white. 

Manny made to his feet and gripped his back, feeling it was out of place in several spots. But, this didn't stop the attacks that came afterwards. 

The buildup of his Power was now affecting the stability of his mind. Manny was now weakened to the point where he couldn't fight back. Jerome began unloading punches as his face contorted into a sadistic smile. With each punch, his body changed color. A minute goes by and Manny notices through the relentless onslaught that Jerome's Power indication had reached his shoulders. At this point, Jerome's dim orange halo was fairly visible.

'Well, I tried.'

Jerome looked up to see a forgotten chain dangling from the roof. Jumping up, he grabbed it and tugged at it. The chain broke free as it brought down a part of the roof as well.

Manny looked up to see the falling debris and weakly leapt out of the way. The rubble crashed to the floor, kicking up dust. Manny picked himself up, stumbling about as he fought the will to pass out. 

Even now, he felt no pain, but his internal organs were severely damaged. He looked through the dust cloud and could see Jerome in the light of the still-burning reslium fuel. He spun one end of the chain around in his left hand. Then, he dropped the other end and pulled the chain tight. 

With the chain stretched out, Jerome ran at Manny. 

The Hybrid bat merely glanced as Jerome jumped over Manny's head while at the same time catching his neck with the chain. He gagged as Jerome landed, then he jumped back in the opposite direction. As he made his way back to Manny's front, he spun around above Manny's head, twisting the chain to secure it. Jerome landed again and jumped on Manny.

The warrior could do nothing but fall to the floor under Jerome's weight. His vision slowly began to blur as Jerome began headbutting him. After only two headbutts, Jerome screamed as he delivered a third headbutt. The entire floor cratered from the blow, shaking the warehouse as it threatened to collapse. 

For what seemed like an eternity, the old friends' heads stayed connected. Finally, Jerome released the chain and rose to his feet. 

Miraculously, Manny opened his eyes, a bent smile on his intact head.

"Well, huh, I... guess you really... outdid yourself here."

Manny, his consciousness fading, could tell Jerome was now under the influence of his Power. He said nothing as the black-and-blue eyes of the demonic Hybrid stared down at Manny.

"You... might as well... finish it. If... you can kill me... then you can kill... the others. You'll... understand everything... when the time is right."

Through the darkness of his mind, Jerome smiled. He bent down and pulled Manny to his feet. Jerome held Manny to his shoulder as the fox summoned a katana in his free hand.

Without hesitation, he forced the sword straight through Manny's body. With Manny's whole form resting on the blade, Jerome released him as he summoned his other katana. He stabbed the weapon through Manny as well, crossing the blades.

Manny's eyes went wide as he felt the strangest sensation run throughout his entire body.

Pain.

Manny smiled at his best friend. "See ya..., Jerry...."

Grinning, Jerome's entire body glowed brightly as he tensed himself. With a hellish roar, he uncrossed the blades.

Manny's body from his waist to his skull was ripped in half, his blood and organs spilling out from the separation. The decimated corpse crumbled to the floor as drops of blood rain down from the mutilation.

Jerome observed the corpse, then snorted like a beast. He roughly grabbed the body and tossed it into an inferno of reslium fuel. Jerome began aimlessly slashing at the air, trying to burn off his Power. After a few moments, his body reverted back to normal. 

He shook his head as he looked at the burning remains of his best friend. Without looking back, Jerome turned and proceeded out of the warehouse.

Behind him, the unstable structure collapsed, marking the resting place of Manticore.

Jerome looked forward, more determined than ever, and started running for the next town.

One down, four to go.

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