Belphegor Polypus's Story

7:30 am

Amur

The first thing she heard was, well nothing actually. But if she focused hard enough she could just barely make out the sounds of people talking amongst themselves. Soon she wished she didn’t as it seemed their voices went in her direction with may have sounded like curiosity, but that could have just been the 5 inch glass screwing with her hearing.

One golden eye opened just enough to look around at her surroundings and get her bearings. However the scientist noticed this and scurried over to her like some children at a party when the big entertainment came. great just great what the hell are they gonna do with me now? a low growl escaped her throat. When three of the labcoats got close enough she lashed out at the glass that separated the two from each other. Amur’s sharp claws barely made a scratch on its surface but it sure as hell scared the lab coats.

Unfortunately Amur’s triumph was short-lived when an electric shock went through her body. She let out a yowl of surprise as she was used to this level of pain. The lab coats laughed at her, one pointed his pen at her and nodded at the other two before he began to write down some stuff. This enraged Amur, with ears pulled back she got close to the glass and snarled at them. “Oi what they hell is he writing there? Dammit answer me you pieces of trash!” this only earned another electric shock; it hurt more than the last.

The lad coats laughed at her and went on their merry way to the next capsule. That’s when it hit her, Amur for the first time since waking took note of her surroundings. She was inside a capsule with white steely walls and a glass front. There were small barely noticeable openings in the corners of her capsule, a speaker system or is that for when they get tired of me and want to take the easy way out. looking past her capsule Amur noticed she was part of a metal corridor capsules lined the walls. And within each one held a hybrid; most she recognized some she didn’t. “What the hell! They’ve never put so many hybrids in one room before . . . unless they plan to have us enter a death match or is this where they will finally be disposing of us?” Amur growled and leaned back in her capsule, closing her eyes for a moment until something happened.

Donovan groaned and rolled onto his side. His wings ached because he had been laying on them. Not on purpose of course, but the idiot scientists had put him like that. He opened his onyx eyes and sat up. Slowly stretching his wings out as much as he could in the small space. He examined his surroundings to see that he was in some sort of capsule. Look past the capsule he could see more of them, each one had another mutant in it.

Some scientists came up to him, the look in their eyes made Donovan nervous. His raptor vision allowed him to see every little detail on them, he could literally see every pore on their faces. After a moment he turned away, ignoring them. He flapped his wings a few times to make sure they weren't stiff from being stuck in an awkward position for so long. Then he began preening them, checking the feathers carefully to see if any were broken. "So, can I ask where I am or will that earn me some pain?" He turned his attention back to the scientists. "You can ask, but I won't tell you." One of the scientists replied.

Donovan plucked a broken feather out of his right wing and twirled it in his fingers. "Fair enough." The scientists wrote something down on a clipboard and walked away. As they left Donovan caught a glance at what they had written. Subject #463 is responding well to the change in enviroment. His behavior pattern is normal. A positive sign that shows he can adapt quickly.

He folded his wings against his back and move close to the wall. He knocked on it in a certain pattern that he and some other mutants came up with. Like a code or something. He hoped that the person next to him recognized it and responded, atleast he would know if they were safe or not.

7:34

Belphegor woke up without much visible changes. His eyes were hidden under his bangs and most of his body was hidden under thick tentacles. His tentacles didn't move, seeing as they hadn't been given a command. He opened his eyes and was met with a black mass of tentacles in front of him,

He, when he was made unconscious at the facility, hadn't been able to direct some of the blood from his tentacles to his body, effectively letting his tentacles be at full capacity while he was transported to the capsule. He moved his tentacles out of his way and noticed the glass and what was through it.

He was confused for a second, but he quickly analyzed his surroundings and the situation. He had been made unconscious, taken to what appeared to be a capsule, and put into a room with other mutants in it. He was luckily still wearing the same clothes he had on during the 'incident' in his facility room. This was good, seeing as he had 'borrowed' money stitched onto his clothes.

The scientists noticed his lucidity, and walked over to his capsule. "Great," He said this while smiling the same smile had most of the time. He waved lazily at them, pretending to be groggy. He wasn't going to do anything rash, and risk getting hurt. From the sick smile on their faces, he presumed that they were most likely going to terminate him or send him on a mission requiring multiple mutants. "What sort of mission will this be?" He wasn't asking this for an answer, he was asking this so he could study the faces on the scientists. Even if he did get an answer, he most likely wouldn't have heard it.

They were trained against questions like this, and he guessed this when their faces didn't change. He looked around at the other capsules and noticed a familiar faces. He hoped whatever was happening wouldn't be too straining.

7:35

Small brown eyes fluttered open, and quickly squeezed back shut due to the brightness that they were not prepared for. Slowly, the eyes reopened, now curious about what was going on. Evie's ears perked up as she sat up, coming face to face with glass. She was in some sort of cage- a capsule maybe. Fear was her first reaction. What had she done to displease whoever had placed her in this strange place? But, Evie knew the answer. Although she was innocent, she was not daft. They put her in this place because she was different.

Evie soon realized she was fogging up the glass so she drew a smiley face in the condensation before wiping it away and peering out. To her surprise she saw tons of other capsules filled with all sorts of other hybrids, some in a deep sleep and others looking terrified and confused. Her eyes wondered, peering at every one of them that she could view. Suddenly, she could smell a human approaching and she scooted back as far as she could in the cramped space. A man, scientist she presumed from the lab coat he was wearing, walked towards her and kneeled down to appeal to her sitting position.

"What are you planning to do to us?" she asked, curiosity evident in every word. The scientist smiled and just scribbled down words on a clipboard holding some pieces of paper that were not stacked neatly at all. "Hello?" she said, her voice sounding much meeker, but not a tad less curious. She soon began to get frustrated and stood up and took a step toward the glass. Her lips folded back just a tad revealing her long fangs as she mustered up the most menacing hiss she could possibly let out. The scientist laughed! Evie was appalled.

Then, the scientist just walked away, leaving Evie alone. That is when she began to become afraid. They were going to kill her, and every other hybrid in the room. She knew it. So, she sat down and curled her tail around her body, sliding to the back of the room until she hit the wall sending a big "Thump!" echoing through her capsule. She turned herself around, facing the back now, and tried to peer out, but couldn't see any other hybrid. She expected herself to cry, because even at her age she was scared and felt small in all of this. But, to her surprise, tears didn't come. So, she just sat, curled up in her tail, waiting.

"Ah, push it - push it good. Ah, push it - p-push it real good. Hey! Ow! Push it good!"

Cadence's eyes fluttered beneath her closed eyelids as she fumbled for her alarm. Ever since her trainers left their human music unattended, she'd been rather obsessed with them. Salt 'n' Peppa were her current favourites. She slapped her palm down to decapitate her clock but instead hit air. The momentum of her swing threw her over the metal slab of a bed she'd been on and onto the floor.

"Ow!" she yelped when her body slammed into the floor. Her gold and ruby eyes jerked wide at the impact, her pupils narrowing into points at the sudden flood of light.

"Sub... 95...egained consciousness," said a muffled, monotonous voice from the other side of the glass. Cadence swung into a sitting position, her eyes whizzing wildly around. Where the hell was she? Had she failed the mission? Had she been captured by the enemy? "It ap... displ...igns of anxiety...confusion."

"Way to state the obvious, radish man," she said, eyeing the ugly ivory lab coat. The man showed no sign of having heard her, save a slight twitching of his left eyebrow.

"It displays...lack...f respect for superiori..." he continued to say as he scribbled in his little notebook. "It is...arcastic...pr...entious...outspoke...mis....ed intel...gence."

"Nice to meet you too." Cadence rolled her eyes.

"It....acquainted with human etiquette."

"You, on the other hand..." the lioness grumbled.

Mr. Radish Lab coat lifted his gaze for the first time then, the first sure sign of acknowledgement but just as quickly as he flicked his gaze towards her, he dropped them back down to scribble a single word silently into his book.

"What's your name?" Cadence asked to be met with silence. "C'mon, what can I do? You're on the other side of the glass which, you know, is like 5 inches thick - a bit of an overkill, don't you think? - and I'm here." She gestured around the room to emphasise her being trapped and showed her palms, followed by a dazzling flash of her blindingly white teeth in a heart-warming smile. "If you want my cooperation, we should start with polite introductions."

"Hilshire." he said abruptly, lifting his spectacles with his middle finger - a subtle insult?

"First name?" Cadence asked.

"Unnece...ary," came the cold reply.

"Okay, Unnecessary Hilshire," she chirped, her grin widening. How stupid were they, not chaining her to the metal slab. She inched closer to the glass, slowly, but even that resulted in a glare from Unnecessary Hilshire. She caught a glimpse of his notebook.

"Subject #95 bears no physical resemblance to her feline mutation, indicating it might be a failed experiment and previous documentation was inaccurate. It does, however, have unusual, incandescent and luminescent gold irises that are larger than an ordinary human's, an indicator superior night vision. It has remarkable hearing, not dissimilar from the..." Move your hand, she thought furiously, trying to get a better look. She couldn't see the words between that and, "...captured it."

But huh, she snorted. They didn't think she was an animal? She'd set that myth to rest.

"...eyes...bears resemblance...Evere..." she glimpsed on the page.

EVERETT?!?!?

Her jaw dropped. Did they just say she looked like Everett? The dog? Hohoho, no they didn't. She was going to-

Thump. Thump.

Her eyes widened briefly from surprise before she quickly set her face back to its previous cocky grin. She felt her heart flutter in her chest, hope blossoming in her stomach like melted chocolate with steak. Was it him? Was it her Donovan? They'd come up with the hybrid code along with the others all those years ago but she knew Donovan's knock. His beautiful, beautiful knock. Was she hearing things?

"Don't mind me," she told Unnecessary Hilshire before pulling her arm back. "I'm just testing the glass. Do not be alarmed," she said, lowering her voice in a mocking imitation of lab coat man's. She pounded her fist into the glass, to which Hilshire didn't even flinch. He must've had a world of self-control, was stupid or held a lot of faith for a piece of glass.

Th-thump. Thump. Thump. T-th-th-thump? Thum-thump? Thump. Thump thump. Thump. Thumthumthumthum THUMP.

Finally, she stopped banging on the glass, held her hands in front of her and smiled demurely. Surely they would still remember how to read a hybrid knocking sentence, right? Right? Of course. She told them they'd need it one day. They'd better. She'd hit the code for "Sup, guise. How are you? Pretty good? Yeah, me too. Does anybody have any food? Golden trio! Btdubs, Donovan, I <3 u, baby."

"You may address me as 'your grace,' 'my lady' or 'dearest Queen,'" Cadence said with a bright smile.

Hilshire narrowed his eyes at his notebook before mumbling and scribbling, "...narcissist."

7:38

Inside one of the capsules in the laboratory lye Minka, her mind stability was tranquil and serene. Slowly opening her warm colored eyes as if she had just woken up from hibernation, still drowsy from the dart that had shot her earlier Minka had no clue what was going on. The blurry sight couldn't help her put the puzzle pieces together, placing her hands over her eyes waiting for a couple of moments to stabilize her mind, she slowly detached her fingers apart and peaked through with one of her eyes.

She was locked up into a capsule, Minka was on the urge to start a panic attack. Her eyes moved from left to right trying to find a way to escape, she was once again held in captivity but in a smaller environment. Minka started to bang the walls of the capsule on both sides with each hand, causing one of the scientists to rush down and check up on her. "I see that the Vulpini has awaken." said the scientist who came to inspect the subject. Minka's pupils widened into the size of black holes. She was terrified at this point, it was both a stranger and a human who happened to be a scientist. The Vulpini's natural extincts pushed in and caused Minka to turn around and hide her face, being terrified and shy around humans and those who she was unfamiliar with.

The scientist rolled his eyes and laid out a sigh, Minka could barely hear the man's frustration with her strong senses through the sound proof walls.The scientist began to write, whilst Minka was was still in hiding. He wrote down on his sheet "Subject #9881 's animal instincts are showing, fox personality are expressed. Still need to add on more information." Minka had no desire to turn around until the scientist left, after a while the man walked away, Minka slowly turned around and peaked her head through the glass window.

One of her scruffy ears raised up as the other one dropped down, the situation was pretty sketch in Minka's perspective. Shockingly there were hybrids just like her in the room, never during her existence has she seen so many hybrids in one place . Concerned about others and herselft, Minka started to ponder so many questions in her mind. "Why am I here?", "Will I die?", "Am I going to be hurt?", "Who is everyone?", "Why are we here?" .... At this point Minka was very puzzled with this siting. Suddenly the fox decided to look better through the glass, she noticed that some of these hybrids were familiar from her past..But she decided to not try and communicate with them thinking she would get in trouble.

Crozu
"So my world is confined to this." Crozu says trying to take in his surrounding with echolocation. With a sigh, Crozu reaches up and grabs the bandages covering his eyes. With one sharp tug Crozu tears the bandages away from his eyes to reveal a pane of glass, and beyond that the colours mix together to form a indistinguishable mess. "Great I got a coffin with a view" Crozu mutters sarcastically. Then Crozu realize he can't hear anything, it is just him all alone in a blurry coffin an starts mumbling to himself "it will be ok sound will come it will."

A quiet thumping noise starts echoing in Crozu's ear slowly getting louder, well my hearts had it Crozu thinks to himself. Suddenly a a revelation comes to him.... that's not my heart. "Seems to be coming from multiple areas around him either they are trying to drive me insane, or there are other hybrids trying to communicate." Crozu mutters to himself thinking the quiet was messing with him more then the noise. Slowly he relax's to the rhythmic thumping, and drifts off to sleep.

7:45 AM - Kantses' Capsule

Consciousness, like a slap to the face, woke him with a start. He bolted upright into a sitting position as his surroundings came into focus, a small circular room, slightly longer than him in diameter and clear from floor to ceiling on one side. There was a small grille in the roof above him, too small for his fingers but large enough to recycle the air or fill the room with gas. He wants to claw at that tiny hole in the roof, wants to tear it open and slither out into the lab he can see beyond the glass of his cell. But he doesn't. He just sits there, propped up on his arms, watching a room full of dead men in white coats scurry about with notepads and clipboards and all other manner of inane laboratory equipment.

One of them, seeing him sitting up, grabs a nearby clipboard and walks over to stand in front of his window. Kantse tilts his head to the side ever so slightly, belying the fact that his entire body is screaming at him to get out. The man obviously took this as his cue to start writing, documenting his observations and speculations and, apparently, reciting them as well.

"Subject is conscious and appears lucid, maintaining a remarkable state of calm considering the subjects' previously demonstrated dislike for small spaces." His voice was muted but clear, allowing Kantse to understand him through a combination of his superior hearing and lip-reading.

"Subject also appears to be unconcerned with his current situation, or is so confident he can escape at any time that he is content to wait, for now. This may be because of some as yet unknown ability he has, or perhaps just another case of his grasp exceeding his reach."

Kantse narrowed his eyes at this, fixing the image of the man in his mind so that he would remember to make him eat his words later. The man seemed not to notice his piercing stare though and simply walked off to do some other obscure task elsewhere. Seeing that no one was paying him any mind Kantse lazily rose to his feet, like a marionette to a skilled puppeteer, and stood barely away from the glass, peering out and around the room. He saw that it was filled with cells similar to his and that they each contained a single occupant, most of whom were from his past, Hybrids that he trained and grew up with.

"Well now" he said "I'm sure you're wondering why you're all gathered here today..."

Amur

She snorted at Bleu’s attempted at breaking free which ended in knock-out gas. you idiot and to think I’m related to you by feline DNA. But it was worth it I guess huh Bleu, at least now I know not to attempt a jailbreak. Everett like her was furious with how the scientists were treating her and was glad she wasn’t the only one even if she shared the feeling with a dog.

Then the dumbest thing happened involving her other relative via DNA, the self-proclaimed leader of the hybrids. great just great another idiot that I’m related too the girl then began to struggle for breathe, eyes rolling to the back of her head. Even to Amur it was pretty convincing but not really smart girl but let’s see how far it’ll get her. A smile crept on her lips revealing large canines that could rip out a man’s throat if she tried. The medics came rushing in trying to figure out what was going on with one of their prized hybrids, one of them went to check her pulse and that’s when Cadence broke the bluff.

Soon enough a fight ensued Cadence was obviously getting the upper hand when she grabbed one of the labcoats. The guards came rushing in and Amur assumed Cadence had said a warning for her hostage. However things took a turn of events when something rather peculiar came about in the form of a small, frail boy, one she did not recognize. The look on Cadence’s face was all Amur needed to know about the situation “ well there goes any chance of getting out here and all thanks to my relatives fear of whatever DNA that boy holds, just great.” Once the labcoats locked the two together; Cadence was already having a breakdown while the boy looked to be getting scared as well.

With a shake of her head and the rolling of gold eyes Amur looked away from the shaming scene. The young woman leaned back into her capsule and decided to take a small nap at which didn’t last very long.

8:30
Suddenly sirens were blaring while red lights flashed in sync of the noise. Amur jumped awake at the sudden sound covering her ears, her eyes darting back and forth watching the labcoats scurry about in a mad frenzy. Her eyes caught movement and that’s when she saw it, a silhouette of a man she presumed pulling down a lever of some sort. Looking closer she realized there were words above the lever that read Capsule Release Amur pressed herself against the glass wall and began to slam her fists against it. However the scene changed from flashing red to pale blue and streaking white clouds. well would you look at that the sky which means lovely old land is going to greet me in just a few Amur didn’t have much time to think and so she prepared herself for the inevitable crash landings by ramming herself against one side of her capsule. The earth rushed to meet her and everything went black.

Amur woke up to a searing pain at the back of her head, reaching back cautiously Amur felt around her head but pulled back soon after the pain sharpened to the point she saw colors. “great jus great” her eyes widened a bit at the sight of blood dripping down her arm, “even better”a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Soon the sounds of the outside world reached her ears and she began to move about trying to sit back up. Amur took it slow to avoid any further dizziness but she met some difficulty in getting herself out due to her arm. After a few more attempts Amur finally managed to get out of her capsule and was astounded by the amount of damage the capsule had made in its wake. Looking about Amur saw that she wasn’t the only one who crash landed and woken up. A few other hybrids have left their capsules that were either somewhat intact or in little more than pieces.

Kuma Snow

"Are you sure we are safe" one of the scientist asked David. "It’s perfectly safe so don’t worry, you could be screaming in her ear and she wouldn’t wake up" he said confidently. "Well you’re not the one in the same room as her officer David" the scientist snapped at him. "Well that much is true but it wouldn’t really matter she could easily break through the two-way mirror, so in the end I’m in just about the same amount of danger as you ". Calmly David entered the room and screamed in Kuma’s ear just to prove his point. "See nothing" chuckling a bit David left the room. And it was true Kuma was still asleep but it was reaching the time that she will wake up. Suddenly red lights began flashing and along came the sirens blaring.
The already nervous scientist began to panic and quickly left the room "What’s going on? Why are the alarms going off?” Kuma opened her eyes just enough to see what was going on. She was in a white room with a scientist, who was panicking. strange why is he panicking? Is it me that he's scared of, no otherwise he wouldn’t be in the same room as me . She closed her eyes again and reopened them noticing the flashing red lights and the muffled sirens. She was relieved when the scientist left and tried to move but she still couldn’t. She was drowsy when her eyes caught movement behind what she assumed was a two-way mirror. A strange figure stood watching her when suddenly the very same scientist pulled a lever opening up the floor beneath her.

Dropping her into a tube like structure much too small for her large frame and then she was shot out into the air going up for a bit until gravity decided to enter the equation. Kuma marveled at the clear blue sky and she became aware that she would soon hit the earth. But there wasn’t much she could do she has yet to fully awaken therefore her body was limp for the time being until she woke up.[i]oh well its safer that my body is limp rather than being tense I won’t get hurt much this way.
The capsule finally hit the ground cracking the glass window but otherwise still in one piece. Kuma’s head snapped back hitting something hard and she lay there her breath shallow. She wasn’t sure which took her first, her need to sleep or her conscious drifting away caused by the pain she felt at the back of her head. It didn’t matter as long as she didn’t have to feel the pain and soon she was asleep as the darkness had taken her.

Belphegor couldn't particularly pay attention to the scene that had unfolded before him, seeing as Octopuses tended to be lazy. It was a trait he inherited from the animal half of his DNA. Then again, it was probably just his own laziness. But who would know?

He had fell asleep before a particular Hybrid had started her plan to escape, and he had woken up at approximately 8:32.

His head was hurting due to the unnecessarily loud noises coming from somewhere above him. He lazily opened his eyes and saw the scurrying of labcoats, or scientists to be precise. He found it quite pitiful and quite honestly unprofessional. Seriously, how could a scientist expect to do anything when they panic at the slightest of noises?

If only he had known the full context of what was happening at the very moment. Then again, it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

His eyes focused as he looked through the glass and he managed to see the words 'Capsule Release' . He had instinctively crouched down, then began changing the texture and color of his skin. It was a way to escape from predators, or things that he was unsure of. He managed to catch a glimpse of the sillhouette who pulled the lever, and in turn allowed him escape.

Belphegor went through the situation with a practiced apathy. He couldn't allow himself to be panicked at a time like this. He braced himself for the inevitable impact after seeing the blue of the sky. He'd save admiring the sky for when he was safely on the ground or in the water, preferably the water.

Crash!! He was braced, but that wasn't enough. He felt the impact through his bones, and it wasn't very pleasant. He tried pushing himself up but found that his capsule had landed on its side and that his hands were injured. He sent commands to his tentacles and found that they were in working condition. His quick change in the capsule had saved him the trouble of regrowing them.

He however, couldn't repair his hands with the same amount of efficiency. He promptly noticed the water entering his capsule and almost panicked, forgetting the fact that he could breathe underwater for a mere second. He calmed his nerves after letting himself and his capsule sink to the bottom of the capsule.

Belphegor's hands were mostly unneeded, but it still hurt a lot. His facial expression didn't change regardless of what had happened. It seemed as if he had never fell near what appeared to be some water, and almost broken his hands. He pushed the top of his capsule off using four of his tentacles and propped himself out of it using the rest.

His clothes were slightly wet, but the money he had stitched into them wasn't wet. That was a relief. He could probably disguise himself later and buy some commodities, not that he actually had the proper social skills to do so or anything.

He fell on his face for a second, then decided to let his tentacles do the moving for him. His legs were controlled by his nervous system, while his tentacles had their own. He commanded them to, 'take me to the nearest capsule'. His tentacles of course, decided to take him back to his capsule. He gritted his teeth and instead told his tentacles to, 'take me to a hybrid's capsule that isn't mine'. He needed to get his commands to be more precise...

He ended up near Kuma Snow's capsule, not that he remembered exactly who she was. Although he ended up face-down on the ground. His tentacles might have been able to move freely, but his body still swayed around from the slight dizziness he had. And then there was the prospect of his bleeding hands. He before bothering with the obviously more important (possibly) unconscious hybrid in the capsule, ripped off the sleeves of his shirt and wrapped them around his hands as makeshift bandages.

Belphegor then turned his attention to the capsule, and approached it while being carried up by his tentacles. He went ahead and ordered them to, 'rip a hole in the glass'. They did just that after a bit of effort, and a few scratches. Purple blood was now beginning to stain the makeshift bandages after using too much effort and forcing his circulation to hurry.

"Wake up," He said this with a slightly tired and cheery voice accompanied by a smile. He wasn't going to frown, nope, not even if he was shot on the spot. He really wanted to sleep, but he couldn't risk it with what just happened. He wasn't an idiot, he figured that SAPH was going to sent hunters for him sooner or later. He might as well cause as much trouble as he could, and helping others escape seemed to be the easiest way to cause trouble.

"Name's Belphegor Polypus, but you can call me Belph." He said this without even checking if the girl had woken up, seeing as he had to use his 'catchphrase' whenever he had the chance to. It may have seemed childish in the current situation, but it was necessary in his eyes, as was having a steady supply of candy. Candy was always important.

Kuma

A small brown nose twitching at the odd smell of blood that came with the sound of breaking glass, some of which fell lightly onto Kuma’s body. Those sensations were soon accompanied by the voice of fellow trying to wake her, something Kuma disliked very much, he sounded tired but obviously going for cheerful and it annoyed the young woman to no end that such a person would purposely wake her up from her sleep.

And so began Kumas and her way of greeting those who would dare wake up a sleeping bear. Tensing of the muscles was all Belphegor would have as an indication of what was to happen next. And before he could move out the way or to even comprehend what he had done, Kuma was already on his case about it. With a loud roar Kuma got up and slashed at the poor fellow with all her might thankfully he got out of reach just in time. Instead of her claws ripping through soft flesh and hard bone, they screeched against the metal walls that reverberated throughout the capsule and left holes in the metal.

Such a sound hurt the ears of those closest to Kuma but it was better than leaving a blooding mess on the ground. Kuma gritted her teeth and let huff; standing upright she began to break the rest of the glass and pulled herself out. She jumped down from the top of her capsule towering over Belphegor. She reached down and grabbed him by the throat bringing him close to her. “Try that again and next time I won’t miss tearing out your throat” her eyes flashed menacingly as proof she was not joking.

Kuma then threw him aside when a wave of nausea passed through her. “urgh, damn capsule” baring her teeth Kuma knew she probably had a concussion but there was little she could do about it other than to take things slow, something she was good at being one of the more lazier hybrids SAPH had on hand. After the nausea passed Kuma looked around counting 13 other capsules and one of them was bound to be her sisters knowing her, SAPH would have most definitely wanted her dead. Something of a smile came about but it hurt just to do so and Kuma realized why. Before they had placed her in that room the retrieval team had beaten her until they were satisfied so most of her body was bruised thankfully her face wasn’t too badly hurt or it would have been ugly.

Growling at what they did Kuma decided it was high time to figure out who was here but she wasn’t about to go and look inside capsules but she did take account of those who had left them themselves. 7 hybrids were already up and about but the youngest of them all hadn’t moved from where he had been placed. what’s a child doing here unless he’s some kind of monstrous beast then SAPH had no reason to end his life so early. frowning Kuma noticed her sister sitting by her capsule and nodded in her way before she began her brief walk towards the kid.

Kuma passed by a girl about her own age who seemed to be struggling to get up. Stopping short of her goal, Kuma grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her up with ease almost like a rag doll. “You’re not a very smart cat are you? You realize you’ll only hurt yourself more by trying to stand up with that ankle of yours.” Kuma’s words were blunt and held truth to it however Cadence wouldn’t be feeling pain at the moment considering she was being held a few inches off the ground. Realizing she still held onto the girls arm Kuma pretty much dropped her but made sure the girl had enough time to focus on one foot.

The remains of black tipped tail caught her eye but Kuma didn’t bother turning around to acknowledge her sister. “Amur keep your tail to yourself it always gives you away. Oh and do be a dear and don’t even think about bothering the lion girl, there’s no satisfaction in taking down a wounded opponent.” “What! I can’t help it dammit! It’s not my fault my tail is slower than the rest of my body. Besides had I yanked out of view you would have noticed it anyway. And I won’t be a dear because I wasn’t going to bother the dumbass anyway.”

Kuma looked over her shoulder at her sister blue eyes locked in a fight for dominance with glowing gold ones. Of course Amur was the first to look away, not even she would bother getting on her sisters bad side so quick after she had woken up. Frowning Amur walked away but glared at Cadence even if the lioness didn’t remember her Amur sure as hell did and the same went for Kuma. Both had reason to dislike Cadence but those reasons were what set them apart. Amur simply because she wouldn’t remember her name and Kuma because the girl was nothing more than an annoyance that often ended with her getting her ass handed to her.

Shaking her head Kuma finally reached her goal, this goal was of course Meir. Being of a motherly nature at time Kuma was always concerned for the little ones and even now she still was. Crouching down besides the boy Kuma smiled kindly and offered the cute hybrid a hand. “Now do tell me little one, what’s one such as yourself doing with little miss sourpuss over there? She didn’t hurt you did she if so I wouldn’t mind tearing her to pieces if it made you feel any better.” The smile she had and the words she used sent chills down Amur’s spine, knowing her sister she would undoubtedly tear Cadence to pieces if the kid asked for it. But then again everyone has changed drastically so Kuma might actually have a fight on her hands for once. Amur sighed and watched the other hybrids wake up, she was in no mood to interact with the others or to even bother seeing how that one guy Kuma had dealt with earlier was doing.

“Hold on a second sweetheart." Sweetheart? Who was he calling sweetheart? A vein might've burst in her head due to her immeasurable stress levels. Did the little punk want to die? She was going to take his handsome, muscular body along with his overgrown head and put him in a bun. His only purpose in life was to entertain her and feed the masses as a gigantic hotdog, what was he- "I need to grab some stuff first.”

Whips and chains was what he was going to get. He might even have a fetish for hard boiled eggs rolling across wooden floors, who knew.

“We’re going to need to make you a splint. I can’t just set the bone and leave it like... this.” Cadence drew a sharp, ragged breath. Splint? Wasn't that what they did when they stuck metal into your bones? He wanted to do that now?

"It's fine I don't need any of that really really really Rudolph it's fine the way it is-" she gushed in one breath.

“I think this stuff should suffice,” Everett muttered to her.

"Hey, you guys okay? Can I do anything to help?”

That voice!

"DONOVAN!!!" she screamed, reaching desperately for her flying hybrid. She would've leapt at him and tackled him with all the love she had but her ankle had numbed all the way to her thigh and she couldn't feel, much less move it. "Donovan, Everett's trying to kill me-"

“I think we’re fine here. But I presume Cadence will want you to stay. I don’t really care which she chooses.”

Donovan and Everett were complete opposites. Where Everett was annoying, Donovan was soothing. Where Everett was a savage dog, Donovan was a beautiful raven. Everett was sarcastic and cruel, Donovan was kind and genuine. Everett made her want to put a bullet in her head or his, Donovan made her want to wear and apron and cook a mayonnaise waffle. Donovan was everything a man should be, a prince, Everett was more of a creepy hermit living near a banana tree with a coconut helmet on his head.

"Donovan, baby, hold my hand." Cadence's eyes widened as tears prickled the edges of her eyes, she gingerly held up a delicate hand for Donovan to take. Her lower lip trembled as she looked at Donovan. You think I'm cute as all hell, don't you? she thought, batting her long and thick eyelashes.

“Here. You might want to bite down on this.”

Cadence's vulnerable expression transformed into a cold glare as she whipped her head around to look at Everett, the Disruptor of her Reverie. He held out a piece of metal for her. She brought her arms up in a sitting battle stance. Was he going to hit her with it?

“I’m not going to baby you, telling you it will only hurt for a second. But this is going to feel like Satan himself is trying to set your ankle… That’s probably what your actually thinking right now…”

She snatched the metal from his hands and burned holes through his gold eyes. The scientists thought their eyes looked alike? Please, hers made flowers wilt and grown men weep. What did his do? Make cherry blossoms flutter over his pristine skin and puppies and girls - could the guy even tell the difference between the two? - leap through fields of daisies? He was wrong about what she was thinking. She didn't think Satan was trying to set her ankle, that would be giving him way too much credit. He was more like... A reversed mermaid. She wasn't sure what he was but looking at him creeped her out and she wasn't quite sure his weird head could actually see what he was doing.

His hands were warm and gentle as they caressed her ankle. She narrowed her eyes at him. Why was he being so kind. "I could say a lot of things about what happened that day, Cadence.” His hands snaked up to grasp her calf. Against her will, a soft shriek escaped her lips. She could see him, his eyes shadowed as his blinding white teeth cackled with his evil laugh. She clamped her own teeth over the metal piece. “I guess this is kind of late, but-“ Her vision became an explosion of red and darkness as she felt the metal shatter with the force of her bite. When her vision cleared, she saw Everett. “I apologize for my inexcusable actions.”

She stared at him, her thoughts strangely fuzzy and... Why was Everett's background white? Was he glowing? Where did the cherry blossoms drifting over him and the soft breeze blowing his chestnut hair come from? Her four canines pulled back, replaced by slightly sharp teeth that looked more Vampiric than lion.

“And I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me for what I did…”

She leaned forward, closer, closer, to the warm, invitingly burning gold orbs. Was this what dying felt like? Was this the light at the end of the tunnel? She inched closer until their faces were an inch apart.

"Must. Mate. Immediately."

Silken brown hair grazed a strong jaw, soft lips beckoned her forward... Was he an Angel? He must've been... She leaned in closer and her lips touched the tip of Everett's nose in a gentle kiss.

Everett...?

"EVERETT?!?!" she screamed, throwing herself back and into Donovan. She clutched Donovan's waist and wailed. "Donovan, the dog's sexually harassing me!"

She glared at Everett, still clutching Donovan. "What the hell was that, you perverted dog?! Stop looking at me with your stupid puppy eyes! I'm not one of your fangirls. Jesus. You're always prancing around with your stupid six pack and that stupid smirk on your stupid sculpted face? What is wrong with you? You can't just say things like that and touch me like that. You can make someone else's lady parts tingle. I don't need you, I have Donovan," she huffed.

Hopping up on one foot and using Donovan to keep her stead, she stood and-

"Donovan, are you hurt?" she gasped, her large eyes widening further. She drew her hand back and stared in shock at the blood that stained her fingertips. "Donovan! Why didn't you say something? Sit down." She handled him gently, walking around him to look at his wings. "Oh my god, Donovan," she said softly, wanting to cry at the damage to his obsidian wings. "We need medical supplies- We should clean them..." she mumbled to herself, hopping about in search of a first aid kit but finding none. "Ugh, why don't they have..." she trailed, rummaging around for a first aid kit.

She glared at Everett. "This is all your fault!" she barked.

Abruptly, she dropped onto all fours, glaring at a spot in the distance. Her gold eyes sparked for a moment, looking utterly inhuman. "They're coming," she said with a lisp due to her quickly lengthening canines. "We need everyone to gather." Cadence didn't want anyone to be alone and vulnerable when they were attacked. She glared harder, as if that would help her see clearer. "We need to go. Now." Throwing her weight back and into the air, she leapt up and across so she landed on a pile of debris. Hopefully this would make it easier for the hybrids to see her. If the pounding of their footsteps were anything to go by, they knew exactly where their capsules had landed so it wouldn't make a difference if they saw or heard her and they would most certainly hear her.

Cadence roared.

The sound traveled for miles. For those nearby, it would be deafening and for those in the distance, it would be loud. She only hoped that the hybrids still remembered the sound of her warning roar and that they would be able to follow it so they were all together. They couldn't afford to fight the enemy alone when they were injured, and Donovan wasn't about to fly any time soon.

Free falling is not a natural state for a human or a fish, or indeed a hybrid of those two species. Despite this, Kantse did not allow his panic to petrify him. Quickly observing the rapidly approaching Earth beneath him, he saw that the group of capsules would land near some sort of shoreline, estimated how long he had until impact, then prepared himself for the most stressful contortion he had ever tried. His plan, formed in all of 10 seconds, was to lock the tendons over his joints and then relax all of his muscles so that when he hit the ground, his body would fold in on itself and absorb the force, then spring back into its natural state.

His capsule hit the ground and his body folded, just as he expected. What he hadn't expected was the force of impact to accelerate the spring-back on his joints, causing his legs to straighten almost instantly beneath him and propel him into the ceiling. He lay sprawled out on the floor of his capsule, which was partially buried in the ground, dazed and dizzy after bouncing from floor to roof to floor again. After a few moments of spinning walls and dancing spots, he managed to force himself upright and peer out through the unburied portion of the glass. He could see other Hybrids moving around outside, meaning at least some had survived the crash. He gave the glass a few solid knocks, spreading the spiderweb of cracks through it, until a large section shattered and loose dirt poured into his pristine capsule.

"Well, that was surprisingly easy." he muttered as he pulled himself out into the world, standing and stretching his aching body when he was finally clear.

Scanning the area he could see that nearly all of the others were out of their capsules and had sustained various injuries in the crash, he wasn't too worried though, since Hybrids were tougher than regular humans. Not that he could be much help anyway, unless someone needed their heart restarted he was about as much help as a blind-deaf surgeon. Speaking of deaf, the lion girl chose that moment to do a reasonable impression of a jet engine that had just obliterated the sound barrier. Apparently all that noise was supposed to mean something, so he decided to wander over and find out what the hell she wanted.

He hoped the ringing would stop soon.