Volume 33 - Cycle of Hatred

== Chapter 385 - War Rages On ==
A boy with dark brown hair opened his yellowish brown eyes, to the sound of his television's channel changing on its own, from the game he had been playing all night to a news report showing blurry images of a warzone, covered in the corpses of soldiers and dragons, in the ruins of once was a great city on Gliese 408 IIc, or at least, that was what the news reporter said.
He wasn't fully paying attention, as he just tried to change the channel, but it wouldn't change. He groans and sets the controller down, before getting out of bed, thinking a bit more about what this war seemed to be.
As he walked through the halls, he saw his mother, a woman with reddish brown hair and the same yellowish brown eyes as the boy, cooking breakfast while listening to the news report as well.
"Hey, Mom." The boy says.
"Yes, dear?" His mom asks.
"Are you getting this news, too?" He asks in response.
"Yeah...it's really disheartening." His mom replies solemnly. "Me and your father were born into this war, and you were too. I'm hoping so badly that your children won't be."
"If I have children." The boy retorts in a somewhat half-joking manner.
"Don't be silly, of course you will!" His mom responds.
"I'm...just really worried, is all." The boy says nervously.
"You won't be drafted for a while, if ever." A male voice responds, as they turn to see a man with black hair and the same yellowish brown eyes as both of them sitting on a chair, reading a local newspaper.
"Ah, Weepmire. I grew up there." The man, the boy's father, remarks. "I remember a time before the weather went out of control, it was nice back then. I'm still sad we had to move, to leave so many friends behind."
He sighs, and closes the newspaper.
"What's for breakfast, Honey?" He then asks.
"Bacon and eggs." The boy's mother answers.
"Good, I always love that meal." The boy's father responds. "You always make the best meals around here, Sofia, better than all these damn restaurants and fast food places."
"Thank you very much, Toby." Sofia replies with a small giggle.
They all sit down to eat, and of course the meal was delicious. Near the end, the boy was asked a question.
"What do you wanna be when you grow up, Harry?" Sofia asks.
"Uh, I dunno." Harry answers. "Maybe an explorer? I like the idea of traveling the galaxy, meeting a bunch of aliens."
"The galaxy's full of dangers, Harry." Toby replies. "If you want to be an explorer, be careful out there."
"I will, Dad. I promise." Harry says.
== Chapter 386 - Bad News Continues ==
"Warning! All civilians in this area are to proceed with extreme caution, as the terrorist organization known as 'Darkstar' is believed to operate here." The news person said, Harry groaning and just turning the television off.
"Why is everything just downer news all the time?!" He demands, setting the remote down again and sighing.
Whatever, he could just go off and do other activities that interested him, like skateboarding and fencing. He liked those.
So he decided to put on his gear, grab his skateboard and plastic Rapier, and walk out of the house, but not before telling his parents.
Sofia had grown up to a dentist and a filmmaker, so she had some experience in both fields, and couldn't choose which she preferred, and so she often just did whatever part time job she felt like for the day. But ultimately nothing made her happier than spending time with her family.
She was always interested to hear stories of Weepmire before the weather machine broke, and she was always happy to see her son grow and improve day by day.
She always thought Toby was perfect to her, kind, protective, agreeable, yet filled with integrity and courage. She always thought he had everyone's best interests at heart, especially hers and Harry's. And she loved him even more for that.
Toby sat on the porch, looking out at the city. It was, of course, beautiful, but what caught his eyes were the serene waters.
There wasn't much to make of it, except that they seemed so still, undisturbed, by Darkstar or by Sciarhiel. He wondered how the Earth must have looked before humans were around, and he wondered what other worlds' oceans were like, especially after sentient life arose on them as well.
He sighs, and stands up, it would be time to see what may or may not have come in the mail today, given he entered some competition to hopefully win a free ticket to a fair for his family.
== Chapter 387 - Casino ==
"I remember this place well." Sofia remarks, looking on at the casino they were walking to. "It's where we first met."
"Guess I was lucky to check this place out in my hopelessness." Toby remarks, chuckling a bit, as they walk inside.
It was just as he remembered, crowded with both visitors and employees, the music having not changed a bit, and most likely, the games stayed the same as well. Which meant he knew exactly what scams to avoid.
Still, he didn't really have any interest in playing any games here, he didn't care much for the rewards, no matter what was offered, especially not right now.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Newman." One of the workers at the Casino, a thin man with short, tidy hair and a small, thin mustache, wearing on his clothes a tag that said his name was 'Arjun', said. "What can we do for you, today?"
"Not scam us." Toby replies flatly, Arjun chuckling.
"You know us all too well, Toby." He responds. "Come, have a drink."
As he says that, he beckons them to follow him into a room deeper into the building. They sat at an old billiard table, as Arjun set a wine glass down for each of them, and sat at the same table. So far this certainly brought back some memories, though not this dark.
"You know, I have a confession to make." Arjun remarks, before looking at them. "I've...always been jealous of you, Toby."
"You? Jealous of me?" Toby asks.
"Yep." Arjun answers. "Your wife was the best worker here, it was already a shame she only did it part time."
"That's what having a family will do." Sofia responds.
"Yeah, I get that. It's why I can't really be all that mad." Arjun says. "And I can see you're both suspicious of me, since neither of you drank a single drop."
"Of course we are." Toby replies. "This is a casino."
"Oh, I wish you could just unwind and enjoy yourself for once." Arjun remarks.
They bid their farewells, and left the casino. It was certainly an interesting experience to return to such a place, but it was clear as ever that it was not a good place to be.
"I only really went to that place for the money. I knew I could do my job well." Sofia remarks.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't become like them." Toby replies, as they continued to walk away.
When they returned home, they saw that, in the mail, was a letter. Toby opens it, and found himself holding three tickets to the Peace Festival this year!
"Well...I think we have a much better party to go to, anyways." Toby says, Sofia looking on with a smile.
== Chapter 388 - Peace Festival ==
Oh how much like a carnival this place was. All the classic rides were here, all the various booths for funnel cakes and cotton candy and hot dogs. It was certainly a beautiful experience already.
"I can't believe you did this for us!" Harry shouts. "Thank you so much!"
"You're very welcome, Harry." Toby replies, hugging his wife and son.
This was exactly what he wanted out of this trip, a time for them all to bond, to for a moment forget all the horrors happening beyond their world, to just be happy and have a good time. That was all he wanted, just for his family to feel...safe from the dangers out there.
As Harry went to try out some of the games and rides, Toby and Sofia walked into the line for the Ferris Wheel. This would be a once in a lifetime view, and they wouldn't miss it for the world.
The line got shorter, and shorter, and shorter, until finally it was their turn, and they walked into one of the cabins.
After that, the wheel started to turn, taking them up as it did so, showing them a full view of both the carnival and the city.
It was beautiful tonight, the white lights of the city contrasting well with the yellow lights of the carnival. This view was exactly what they wanted, and expected.
"This is perfect." Sofia remarks, leaning on Toby's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. "I could stay up here forever with you."
"Yeah...it's a wonderful view, and a wonderful night." Toby replies with a smile.
"I'm so glad I get to spend it with my family." Sofia says. "With you."
And at that, she kissed him, wrapping her arms around him. Toby kissed back soon after, doing the same.
When the Ferris Wheel turned again to lower their cabin to the bottom, they stopped, but would always remember that moment. That was exactly what they had hoped for going into this.
And now, to find Harry.
Harry had just finished shooting down the last zombie in an arcade game, and was eating a plate of funnel cake and a hot dog, as he looked around for more games to play and rides to ride. This place was amazing, and he could stay here all night if it was allowed!
As he finished his meal, he threw the trash away and walked around. He and his parents had agreed to meet up at the Merry-Go-Round, and so that was where they were headed, following the maps they had.
Harry continued to walk, looking down at the map, as he then bumped into someone.
"Ugh!" The voice, female, grunted.
"Oof!" Harry exclaims, falling the same as the other. "I'm sorr--"
But he stopped mid-sentence, for what he saw took his breath away.
== Chapter 389 - Beauty ==
It was a girl with blue skin and darker blue hair, as well as yellow eyes and a grey, pointed horn on either side of her head. She was the most voluptuous person he had ever seen, and she seemed to wear nothing but bandages, devices and cuffs that looked as though they connected to IV tubes and chains.
He could feel his face becoming hotter as the girl stood up, and began to walk away.
"Hey!" Harry shouts. "What?" The girl demands.
"Could...we go out on a--" Harry starts.
But before he could even finish that sentence, everything went black, and all sounds ceased.
== Chapter 390 - Rain ==
His eyes opened up weakly, as he awoke to the sound of thunder crashing, and heard people panicking. Everything was blurry, everything hurt. Oh God it hurt. What happened? What happened...? What happ...
It was hard to concentrate, to even stay awake. He thought he felt blood flowing freely from wounds, but that could be just the rain. But the pain was real. The searing, agonizing pain.
Then, he blinked, and saw a man standing over him, a man with silver hair, magenta eyes, and a thin, pale face, wearing a black and gold raincoat and holding a black umbrella in one hand and a briefcase in the other.
"Who..." He began to ask, but trailed off, as even speaking was agonizing.
"That's not important." The man replies. "What is important right now is that a Socqreath attacked this place. Your family...didn't make it."
When he heard that, his pupils dilated, and he screamed in both agony and anguish, but felt a pinch in his neck, from a syringe.
"All this will do is knock you out so I can work on you. Do not resist if you want to live." The man says flatly, as the world began to fade to black.
No...he didn't want to live...not without his family...but he would continue to live...until he had ensured...that humanity was safe.
That his family...was avenged.
== Chapter 391 - Abandoned and Decrepit ==
Phantom walked through an old shipyard, one that had been long left to decay and fall apart, as he lamented not being able to kill Andromeda then. She had to pay for what she did to his family, all Xenos had to pay for what they put humanity through.
There shouldn't be a Galactic Council, there shouldn't be Socqreath in the Human Star Realm, it should remain exactly that...human. People should be able to sleep at night, safe and happy, knowing nothing from beyond will threaten them.
He would make that a reality, no matter what.
And then...then...he would no longer be needed in this world at all.
Then, he heard a clatter, and whirled around, unsheathing his dagger. He heard labored breathing, labored wheezing, and saw something moving in the shadows towards him.
"All Xenos must per--" Phantom started, but the one who walked out of the shadows was a human, or at least seemed to be.
His veins were pronounced, and a glossy black with glowing purple specks in them. His eyes were the same black, with purple irises, and he was wearing his old lab clothing, a white lab coat with red sleeves.
"H-help...me..." Arthur grant wheezed, walking closer towards Phantom, who took a step back, glaring at him.
"You died..." Phantom growls. "How are you here?!"
"I...unlocked...the secret..." Arthur replies, teetering a bit as he shambled even closer towards Phantom. "I...achieved...immortality..."
"You're a zombie..." Phantom remarks, narrowing his eyes. "...I will end this plague before it even starts."
And at that, he throws his dagger into Arthur's arm, meaning to pin it, but a glossy black liquid with glowing purple specks in it began to erupt from the arm, his blood?
It didn't matter, Phantom wouldn't be able to recall the dagger now, not without risking infection. And so he just continued to back away from Arthur.
"I...can make everyone...immortal..." Arthur continued to wheeze.
"...This is wrong..." Phantom growls. "You've become just like the filthy Xenos!"
He tears a metal rod out of the ground and swings it at Arthur's head, gouging out his eye, though it merely started to regenerate, oozing the same black and purple liquid.
"Accept...my cure!" Arthur shrieks, as Phantom continues to back away. He needed to end this without being infected, and that might mean...he might have to resort to that...he hoped he--
His thoughts were cut off early, as Arthur lunges at him, roaring in agony as he did so!
== Chapter 392 - Patient Zero ==
Phantom was quick to leap back and sideways, grabbing a chain over a bucket of molten metal to swing to the other side of the factory, Arthur roaring and leaping after him in pursuit.
Phantom quickly tears a fence out of its post to throw at Arthur, who runs through it without issue and throws a punch at the Socqreath Killer, who leaps back to dodge it and kicks a crate at his zombified opponent.
Arthur is hit, and sent into the wall, but he is quick to recover, and lunges again at Phantom, who leaps to the side to avoid it, now standing on a wall. Arthur lunges again, but Phantom leaps off, flipping as he lands on the ceiling and tears a fan out of it to throw.
Arthur is hit by the fan, and roars in agony, but lets it fall into the molten metal below before running after Phantom, who runs up the ceiling and onto the floor above to dodge. Arthur grabs onto the railing of that fence, Phantom quickly running to another part of the floor and picking up a submachine gun to fire at the zombie.
Arthur, however, simply took all the shots, and rushed at Arthur, who throws the gun at Arthur's face and leaps to grab onto the chain, keeping himself stable on it by also placing a foot on one of the links. Arthur soon turns towards him and leaps at him, but Phantom dodges.
Arthur ends up landing on a different part of the floor, and turns around to glare at Phantom, who glares back before leaping back, preforming a backflip, and grabbing onto the railing of the floor above, preforming yet another backflip to land on said floor.
Arthur goes to rush at Phantom, who uses a saw to cut through that part of the floor and make it fall when Arthur lands on it, leaping back so as to not be caught with him.
However, though Arthur was crushed by the floors, he merely bursts out of them and rushes at Phantom again, his arm turning into tendrils to grab onto the floor and pull him up.
"ACCEPT MY POWER!" Arthur shrieks, bull-rushing at Phantom, who leaps to the side to dodge it and throws a rod into Arthur's lung, causing him to wheeze even more.
But Arthur just pulls it out and throws it at Phantom, who continues to dodge, but was soon realizing that this, by itself, wasn't going to work.
Whatever, no one was going to find out anyway. This place was abandoned and Arthur will be dead.
And so, he held out his hand towards Arthur, lifting his arm up and making a clawing pose with said hand, as when Arthur leaped at him...he just froze in place, mid-air, unable to move!
== Chapter 393 - Telekinesis ==
"WH-WHAT IS THIS?!" Arthur screams.
"This is your doom, you filthy non-human!" Phantom roars, as he tosses Arthur over the edge and throws him into the molten metal pit below.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Arthur screams, clawing at Phantom with his normal arm. as steam rose from his body and he began to sink.
"I am killing you for good, this time." Phantom says coldly, as he started to twist and bend everything in the room to throw down at Arthur, further burying him in metal, which started to melt as well.
Then, Phantom leaped out of the building entirely, seeing the oil tank he passed on the way here, and throws it at the bucket, causing it to explode and topple the entire building, making it collapse on top of Arthur.
"...Xeno eliminated." Phantom remarks, as he turns around to walk out of the area, passing Karim as he did so.
He debated with himself whether to attack, but ultimately decided against it. He wasn't too afraid he'd lose, he just didn't want to kill a fellow human.
And so, he just continued to walk away, letting Karim explore the area at his own leisure. Surely the Human Star Realm would capture him anyway. Now that they had essentially nothing else to worry about for a while.
Regardless, at least that infection was destroyed. Nothing could survive what Phantom had just done, nothing...
== Chapter 394 - Changes Continue ==
"Wonder what that was all about..." Karim remarks, not even turning to see Phantom leave. The commotion must have been interesting for this to happen to a building, and he was interested in finding out what exactly had happened here.
And so he walked towards the collapsed, burning building, smelling an odd smell that seemed completely new to him. Now he was even more intrigued, and so he started tossing debris aside to dig through, looking for Phantom's opponent, or whatever remained of them. He knew Phantom wasn't exactly the merciful type to come across if you were the wrong species.
And then, he saw it, a pool of molten metal, with some sort of burning corpse inside it. The corpse wore a labcoat, and seemed to have a similar complexion to Karim himself, though lighter, and with more brown hair.
But what intrigued Karim the most about the man was that half of his body was covered in, or made of, a glossy black substance with glowing purple specks inside of it.
"Hmm, what exactly were you supposed to be?" Karim asks, knowing he wouldn't get an answer.
Then, he takes out a small surgical knife, intent on taking some of that biomatter with him. It could make for a good bioweapon, depending on what it is.
However, as he walked over to take the sample, the corpse began twitching.
"Hmm? You still alive down there?" He asks mockingly, as he crouches down to cut off a bit of the biomatter, but his arm was grabbed by the corpse's, as it raises its head up to glare and snarl at him, before tossing him through the debris, and onto the ground outside the building!
Karim gets up and starts dusting himself off, as he turns to see the monstrosity shambling out of the ruins, parts of its skeletal structure exposed on the pitch black side of its body as that substance clung to its bones like a fungus.
"A-AAAAAAGH!!!!! Rrrrrrrrgh..." The creature growls, as it shambles closer to Karim, who smiles at it.
"Well, well...maybe you could be the challenge I've been looking for." Karim remarks, putting the surgical knife away and unholstering his M1911, before he points it at the creature's mutated face, half-human, half-...whatever that was.
It seemed to have no reaction to the gun, and instead continued to shamble towards Karim, beginning to pick up speed, roaring loudly.
"Winner takes all." Karim remarks, eyeing the figure closely, as, right as it gets close enough, he pulls the trigger.
== Chapter 395 - The Dead Walk Again ==
The beast seemed to simply ignore the bullet, and the five subsequent ones fired by Karim, as it grabs his arm again and slams him to the ground repeatedly before throwing him into a crate.
"Well...you're certainly proving yourself." Karim remarks, wiping blood from his mouth and smiling, not noticing that his blood seemed to be changing colors.
The monster rushes towards him, as he grabs the claw-like hand with both of his, and flings the creature through the crate and into a stack of them, causing them to fall on top of it. Then, the monster bursts out of the crates, shrieking.
"How about that." Karim remarks, as the zombie leaps at him.
He swings a kick at its stomach to send it back, but it seemed relatively unaffected, as it slams him to the ground again, slashing him across the stomach multiple times as it bites him in the shoulder.
Karim is quick to drive a knife into the monster's neck, causing it to scream again and throw him into a crate.
"Well...if only that was painful." Karim remarked, as his shoulder began to rapidly regenerate. "Eh?" He noticed that all his wounds were healing, and that his blood was now the same color as the creature's. "...Well, well..." He says.
"...You...accepted it..." The creature remarks.
"Oh, you can talk?" Karim asks.
"You're...not changing?" The creature demands in response.
"I can subjugate any disease that enters my body." Karim answers. "Now...who are you, and how did ya get here?"
"...My name is Arthur Grant." The creature answers. "I had made a scientific breakthrough in terms of biology, finding an ancient virus that once existed in all living things. I combined it with some other viruses to see if I could make something that would make me...immortal. And, well...it seems to have worked wonders, even if I'm still getting used to the side-effects."
"Well, ain't all of that interesting." Karim says. "So I'm guessing you're gonna try and start a zombie apocalypse or something?"
"Phantom has showed me...that I must make everyone...equal." Arthur replies.
"Well...I want in." Karim explains. "I can't let you surpass me in the wanted posters, now can I?"
Arthur chuckles a bit.
"I'm sure you would know a thing or two about equality, considering when you were born." He says.
"Mental link, huh?" Karim asks. "Interesting...this is gonna take some research to make useful. But I can say that right now you're doin' it wrong. Let a real bioterrorist teach ya how."
== Chapter 396 - Allied by Prejudice ==
Phantom had just killed a Socqreath who was working as a lifeguard, which was more difficult without his dagger. Of course, he did save anyone in need at the time during that exchange, so long as they were human.
He was now on the hunt for more of them, there surely couldn't be that many left in the Human Star Realm, Copernicus' faction was the largest collection of Socqreath here, and had most of them on top of that.
Still, it was good to be cautious, and to always assume the worst. And that was more true than ever when he turned a corner and had highly advanced rifles pointed at his head from all directions.
"Hello, Phantom." A man wearing a white and gold coat over a Sciarhiel military uniform said, a man with paper-white skin, jet black hair, and bright blue eyes. "My name is Richard Robinson, and you are currently in the company of my Anti-Socqreath Task Force."
"...So you also hunt Socqreath." Phantom replies.
"Yes, we do." Richard says. "I want Andromeda dead as much as you do, and I believe our skills combined could take her and her friends down."
"...I only want her and Copernicus' daughter dead. The others may live." Phantom corrects.
"Then we can help you...separate them." Richard replies with a dark smile.
"Permanently."