'Soon.'

Trident could think of nothing else but that one word. Soon.

Soon, the timeline will repeat. The Nightmares will be nonexistent, peace will reign throughout the Dreamworld....

And the Hell Hybrids will finally be normal.

'Soon. But first, to take care of the trash.'

Trident looked out at the mountainous piles of rotting corpses and skeletal remains. Bloodstained structures carved out of stone sat all around the floating platform with a throne right in its center. The throne of Nabonidus, current ruler of the Nightmare hordes. 

Standing behind Trident, in fact, was the limbless devil himself.

"I am certain that you are aware of why I called you here, Trident," Nabonidus hissed.

"Of course," Trident replied plainly.

"Your son has been causing much trouble as he slays your henchmen, one of which who was but mere inches from removing those pests from Anduruna. Which is why, I believe it is time to bring my little orchard tree called my 'idea' to begin bearing fruit."

"If you insist," Trident said. "What did you have in mind after all this time, my Lord?"

The shadowy Hybrid looked up at the towering demon, who stared down at him with menacing eyes.

But, his mind chuckled with amazement.

"Before we get to that, I must ask, what is your secret? Through history, not even the darkest of Dark Dreamkeepers have stood before me or Void without a hint of terror written on their faces. To stand before me with not a single trace of fear, but rather respect more than anything, should be recorded in a well known history book. I am most impressed, Trident."

Trident smiled in his mask. "Nabonidus, we are more alike than you truly think. Being the ruler of our proud race, you're like a father to me. Or a brother. How can I NOT respect you?"

Nabonidus cackled. "Come, Trident! Let me show you what I have in store for your son! I see a dark, prosperous future for us both after this is over."

A stream of dark energy poured out of Nabobidus's form as it molded into an arm. The arm swirled in a circle in front of the Dark Lord and Trident. A circle of blackness formed before the evil beings as it began to project an image.

As the image formed, Trident thought, 'Thanks to the Halo, I already know how all of this is going to happen and what I intend to do. Strange that I can't see events that will occur after I am done here. Maybe, this is a good sign. Yes, it HAS to be! No way I can fail after so long! No way at all! Yes, no way! No way....'

The two monsters looked on as the image finished forming.

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

The image within the swirling circle showed Jerome, vengeful son of Trident.

The Hybrid fox was running towards Nabonidus. The Dark Lord simply raised a formless hand and waved it in the classical gesture of a hand-to-hand combat challenge.

Jerome skidded to a halt and looked at Nabonidus in confusion. Suddenly, the Hybrid cringed and cradled his stomach as he began flailing his upper body in pain. 

Releasing his stomach, Jerome bent backwards and screamed into the sky. A stream of orange light flowed out of his screaming mouth as it flowed towards Nabonidus's outstretched arm.

The energy mashed into his arm and began coursing through his body as he absorbed it. 

A triumphant Nabonidus grinned at a now helpless Jerome, whose body could only be seen through a blood red mist that had formed around him.

With a thrust, Nabonidus shot his arm out as it sailed at Jerome. The fox screamed again just as the arm reached him.

Then, the image went completely black.

The circle dissipated along with the blacked out image. Nabonidus smiled as he turned to Trident.

"What I plan to do is remove your son's Nightmare blood. I have the power to commit such an act on my own brethren. Not only will he be reduced to a mere Dreamkeeper, he will lose all of his Nightmare abilities. After that is done, he will become the perfect prey for any Nightmare that wants to get its claws on him. After that, you and your daughter won't have to worry about him or the young nuisances any longer!"

Trident looked at Nabonidus, then turned and walked a short distance away slowly. 

Then, he leaned back and began laughing hard through his mask.

Nabonidus continued to smile. "I'm so glad you find this amusing, Trident. But, let's stay on topic, shall we? Do you wish to dispose of your son yourself or would you prefer his death in a more interesting manner?"

Trident turned his head quickly to look at Nabonidus.

"Charades really are humorous. I can't wait to do more. But, I'm afraid we're running a little short on time."

Nabonidus's smile faded. "What do you mean?"

Trident pointed a finger at the overlord. "You think I can't cure my people of this cursed gene cross? You think YOU'RE the all-powerful ruler of the world? You are NOTHING! You're an insect! An insect waiting to be stomped under my foot because he doesn't know better than to skitter away and admit that he is the inferior one. Soon, you will know how Scuttler felt when standing under your shadow of doom. Soon, you will know just what I am capable of!"

Nabonidus gaped at this display of incompetence, then glared. Gliding across the platform, he approached Trident while at the same time becoming taller and more menacing.

"Your fearlessness is admirable. But, it seems it has made you forgotten who I am."

"Oh, I know what you are, Nabonidus."

Trident held out a palm. In a blue flash, the First Halo appeared.

Trident felt it.

The very soul of Nabonidus sunk in horror.

"What... is...?"

"You are... an INSECT!"

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

Nightmares of all hideous and horrific appearances gathered amongst the rotting slag to witness a strange happening.

They sensed Nabonidus's anger moments ago. Then, they sensed his fear. An emotion that has never been felt from Nabonidus ever in history.

"What is going on up there?" a Nightmare asked, barely making out the scene on the platform.

Within moments, all the Nightmares were aware of what they saw. Trident stood before Nabonidus, with the Hell Hybrid holding out a ring that floated in his open palm.

The monsters knew this ring all too well. Now, it was their turn to show fear.

* * * * *

Seconds after Trident's remark, Nabonidus began to shrink. The Nightmare overlord looked around wildly as he could see himself getting shorter.

"What - what's happening?"

He was now level with Trident's face as the Dark Lord could feel his body transforming.

His body became more plump as his face grew outward with diamond-like eyes and antennae's.

He was now level with Trident's feet as he had taken on the form of a simple fly, now growing legs and wings. As the metamorphosis was complete, he continued to shrink.

Finally, Trident looked down to see a little fly stumbling about in front of him. The fly then took flight (to which Trident was impressed) and began hovering in Trident's face.

In a high pitched voice, Nabonidus squeaked, "What is this?! How did this happen? What have you done to-?"

*SLAP*

The Hybrid slapped his hands together, smashing the fly. Trident heard a satisfying crunch the moment his hands connected. He looked at his left hand at the flattened form of Nabonidus. 

Suddenly, the insect Nightmare turned into dust and drifted away by a breeze of poisonous wind.

'Goodbye, Nabonidus. Enjoy the rest of eternity in the realm of nonexistence.'

Trident turned to the assembled Nightmares on the surface, all of whom had surrounded the platform. Trident raised his arms and the First Halo floated into the blood red sky.

* * * * *

The Nightmares looked on in horror as Nabonidus had slowly vanished from their sight. Now, they watched the Hell Hybrid raise his arms to the beautiful bloody sky as the great halo ascended.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light blue all around, forcing the majority of the Nightmares to shield themselves from the glare.

Those who didn't shield from the glare were the first to witness it.

Faster than that could be comprehended, Bralgu had vanished. The blood red sky was replaced by bright blue skies with blinding white clouds and a gleaming yellow sun.

The fields and mountains of corpses and stone had been replaced by fields of fresh cut grass, patches of flowers, and small hills caressed by gentle winds.

The only unsightly feature that marked this scene were the Nightmares.

All of which were screaming and shrieking, convulsing on the ground and clutching at their skulls.

"NOOOOO!!! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!!!!"

"MY EYES!!!!!!"

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!! I CAN'T SEE! I CAN'T BREEEEEEATHE!!!!!!"

Trident stood on a giant yellow balloon, once the platform that held Nabonidus's throne. Like a trampoline, he jumped off the balloon and solidly landed in the grass.

Like a man taking a stroll through the streets, Trident walked along the flowers, past the crazed, mortally wounded Nightmares.

"Hahahahaha... Hahahahahah! HahahahahHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!!!! AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!"

Even as he vanished into thin air with the First Halo, his laughs echoed through the beautiful world of Bralgu as the Nightmares could do nothing but scream in agony at the loss of their home.

'This is only the tip of the iceberg,' Trident thought as he reappeared in his Dune Sea hideout.

Waiting for his children to reunite.

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