Within the Darkness

Pitch eyed the yearbook, it was of the freshman year he, Kathryn, and Vance shared. Early the next year was when he assaulted James and got himself expelled and transferred to the juvenile correction educational center. Pitch tilted his head back and forth. “It's a yearbook, so what.” Kathryn tapped the book. “It was on the top shelf of a drawer on top of the clothes. Also the spine is deformed indicating he's opened it a lot.”

Kathryn starts flipping through the pages and gets to the one with pictures of various sports teams. She quickly noticed several faces were crossed out. Five in total. One member of each sports team minus the football team. Pitch groaned. “Well that's not good.” Ishwada points to one of the names. “This name was on the I.D of the latest victim.”

Pitch double checked a detail he noticed. “He's taken out one member of a sports team except football if you don't count track as a sport. Not only that but he targeted specifically one person. He tried out for all of these teams but was either rejected or kicked out because he was too aggressive and collected penalties. The people crossed out, his victims, were the ones who got the position he either had or aimed for. So assuming he continues this pattern he'll go after whoever got the position he wanted in football next, then the gym teacher and coach of the sports teams.”

Kathryn looked at the picture of the football team and went pale. “What position did he hold in football? Pitch hesitated to respond. “It's… exactly what you fear unfortunately. His next target is your brother Cuda.” Kathryn closed the book and started running towards the door. “We have to hurry.” Pitch rushed over and put a hand on Kathryn’s shoulder. “Slow down there. I know you are worried but we need to play this smart. If we just rush in to extract your brother from danger we might lose our best chance at bringing down Vance.”

Ishwada pitched in “He's right, our best bet is to stage a stake out and grab the guy as soon as he wakes his move” Katelyn gets frustrated, her hands becoming animated. “Vance isn't even human anymore! How do we fight that!?” Pitch gestured to Ishwada. “We have someone with equipment for dealing with Cryptids and the experience to use it. If we can, we'll take Vance alive for questioning and study. He could be instrumental in discovering the missing pieces in the Cryptid puzzle.”

Kathryn took a few breaths to calm herself. “You're right. I must be calm and keep a level head. It's just… one of the few things on this earth I get real emotional over. Cuda has been there for me my whole life and is the best brother I could ask for. I don't want him getting hurt.” Pitch let go of Kathryn’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we'll stop Vance. Even if I have to kill him myself.” Kathryn knew Pitch wasn't just offering to remove Vance from existence in the traditional way. He was offering to use his true form and risk getting exposed for her sake. “Thanks.” Kathryn managed before they returned the book where they found it the best they could and left the building making sure to lock it back up on the way out.

Vance pulled into his driveway in the early morning as the sun started to rise, having spent the entire night trying to find his target out and about enjoying the nightlife but had no luck. He was fairly confident his target still lived in New Arkham so it was only a matter of time. Vance unlocked his door and stepped into his home, turning on a light as he took off his shoes and entered the building proper. He paused for a moment, something felt off. He quickly checked every room but nothing was out of place.

Vance shrugged it off and did a run with a vacuum before taking a shower and going to lay down in his bed with the yearbook in hand. “Nothing in this world can stop me, all those so-called athletes are nothing but prey animals to me now. I've ascended beyond humanity and am rapidly evolving into the ultimate apex. Soon I'll correct everything wrong with this world and restore the natural order. Survival of the fittest with me at the pinnacle of it all. A savage Spartan world where we toss the physically disfigured and mentally disabled to their deaths.”

Vance got up to put away the yearbook before laying back down and dozing off, dreams of his savage utopia floating though his sick and twisted head. Completely ignorant that anyone has caught on and is hot on his trail looking to put an end to his brutal killing spree.

Pitch paced back and forth in his home in his human form having not needed to sleep. He was anxious, he had not encountered a Cryptid since his transformation and was not sure what to expect from Vance at all. Since he wasn't a registered species and was instead an anomaly, there was no real way of knowing the true extent of his abilities. So Pitch mentally made a short list of things he expected. “(Enhanced strength, stamina, speed, durability. Clawed hands and sharper teeth. Night vision. All things I expect from a predatory Cryptid and all abilities the Wendigo have. Though his body shape has not visibly changed there is a chance he's developed an ability completely separate from the root Cryptid that infested him. I have to be prepared for anything.)”

Ishwada had already placed someone outside Cuda’s home to keep an eye on it just in case, but Pitch knew he had to be ready to move as soon as Vance made his. Pitch wasn't sure why Ishwada allowed him and Kathryn to participate in the investigation and capture of Vance, other than the fact they were familiar with him. This didn't matter though, as there was a determination to stop what this former bully had become.

“Does this make me a vigilante? I mean I have these abilities so I might as well make them useful. It's not something I had intended to do, I've been more worried about finding answers. I can't change what has happened and what I am but I can choose what to do with it. I've already gone out of my way to choose a lesser evil, why not actively do good? Maybe I can convince Ishwada to let me be a consultant on a regular basis so I can get info from Black Eagle without joining it officially and having to take orders. They also might scan me more thoroughly. I can reproduce blood but I don't know if I can trick an X-ray.”

Pitch did his best to pass the time till his shift started and arrived at his job to clock in for the day. It was hard to pretend like everything was normal when all he wanted to do was locate Vance and stop his murder spree. Vance always had a strange way of getting on James' nerves. It was like looking in a dark reflection. Someone with a similar starting point that went in the totally opposite direction. Now that he too was a Cryptid it was almost like looking at what Pitch could have become if he had not cared as much about doing the right thing.

Pitch shook himself from his own thoughts and focused on his job. At the end of the shift while making his way out of the building he met up with Kathryn in the lobby. “Ready to go home? I'll drive you.” Before she could respond Ishwada came rushing in with a large briefcase. “Cuda made a social media post from a bar while celebrating with coworkers. It's likely Vance will recognize the bar and be able to follow him home. It's now or never, let's move.”

Kathryn did a small jump in surprise. “I know I said I wanted to be proactive in protecting my brother but I didn't expect you to bring us with you. Don't you have a squad of trained Black Eagle people who are better suited.” Ishwada put the case down and opened it. “Small unit to be discreet. Two Humvees for a total of ten people including myself and I could use someone that knows this guy and how he thinks on the field with me.”

Ishwada hands Pitch an electric rifle from the case, the same kind the thugs that tried to raid the lab had. “Here, take a Volt Rifle.” He then hands him a side arm made with the same technology. “And a Watt Pistol. I assume you've shot a gun before so it should be fairly intuitive for you.” He then hands a Watt Pistol to Kathryn. “Keep the safety on till you are ready to fire. It has a stun and kill setting so keep an eye on what you have it set to.”

Pitch and Kathryn hop in his jeep and they follow the two armored Humvees as they race to Cuda's home. They get there just in time as a car pulls up that Kathryn says is not her brother's. A man steps out and once there is enough light on him it becomes clear that it's Vance. He stretches his arms out, his face aimed straight at the Humvees. “I thought I would have more time before the worms sent their resistance. It's only natural that someone knows about and handles things like what attacked me. I suppose you've labeled me a monster as well?”

Pitch steps out of his jeep aiming the Volt Rifle right at Vance and slowly moving forward in a stance one would expect from military training. Vance recognizes James’ face. “James Holden? This must be fate. Were you working with these people before my ascension, or did you force your way in as soon as you learned about me?” Pitch keeps a distance with his gun aimed. “I've come to put a stop to your kill streak. I won't stand by as you kill innocents.”

Vance smiled a wicked smile. “Are lambs not innocent when we send them to slaughter? It is the right and the privilege of greater beings to rule over the lesser. As humans are to livestock I have become to humans. My encounter with that monster unlocked my true potential. It's allowed me to achieve my destiny as the apex predator of a savage world.” Pitch doesn't move. “You're delusional. Your dreams of a strength based meritocracy end here Vance. Dead or alive I'm making sure your reign of terror ends here.”

Vance frowns. “I'm disappointed. I was hoping the only person in this world I ever regarded as an equal would side with me but I suppose this is how it always was. My equal yet opposite. My destined rival. Or you should have been. You represent everything wrong with modern society. Using your strength to protect the physically and mentally disabled. Allowing hunchbacks and retards to survive to spread their flawed genetics. But now that I'm something more than human, something greater, you stand no chance against me. With you gone I'll be the undeniable top dog. No one will be able to stop me as I cleanse this world of the lame and retarted masses. Only the strongest have the right to thrive. Everyone else is pretty, lucky to live as slaves and livestock at the whims of someone like me.”

Pitch grumbles “Thanks for the impromptu lesson on the basics of eugenics, Hitler.” Vance takes a step forward and Pitch fires a bolt of lightning at him from the Volt Rifle set to stun. “I don't care about race or gender or even sexual preferences. Just strength.” The attack doesn't even seem to faze Vance. Pitch quickly switches the gun to kill mode and as it's charging up Vance lunges at Pitch only to freeze once he's closer. Vance started to laugh nervously with a wicked smile on his face. “Of course. Of course out of all the maggots in this world you would be the one to ascend like I have. My equal yet opposite. I should have known from the start you were no longer human. But this… this feeling.”

The soldiers exit the Humvees and start taking positions around the two. Vance puts his shaking hands in front himself. “It's like every cell in my body is telling me to run. My fight or flight response is telling me to flee like some prey animal.” Pitch aimed the gun right at Vance’s head “You talk too much.” and pulls the trigger. A small thunder is hard as the high voltage bolt is fired into Vance's face point blank.

Once the smoke cleared Vance glared at Pitch as the burn mark started rapidly healing before his eyes. Vance swings at Pitch with now clawed hands. Pitch managed to move back to take a body shot at Vance which causes him to wince as he is pushed back slightly. “That hurts James, it really does. But all it's doing is pissing me off! Drop the facade already James, show me what you really are!” Pitch took a look at the Volt Rifle that was set to its highest setting. He then gives the gun a hard snack and starts to tinker with it.

Vance decides not to wait to see what his opponent has planned. He takes a stance like a runner about to sprint. There are some snapping sounds as his legs shift to become digitigrade. Vance bares his teeth now more closely resembling a piranha or a shark with a solid row of sharp teeth that definitely weren't there a moment ago. “I'm going to enjoy tarring you limb from limb and eating your corpse.”

Vance gets in close and goes for another swipe when he suddenly hears a high pitched whine. There is a sudden loud bang as the Volt Rifle explodes sending an electric pile that knocks them both back. Ishwada gives the order. “You've got a clear shot, take it. Open fire!” all the Black Eagle soldiers started shooting with their rifles set to kill. Vance scrambled off the ground as he was pelted with enough electricity to kill a man multiple times in rapid succession. He noticed the wounds were taking longer to heal.

Vance rushed the men, making one swipe at the gun and a second at the guts, killing the man in front of his comrades who backed up a bit. Vance then stuffs the now freed intestines into his mouth and started slerping them like thick meaty spaghetti noodles. The men hesitate a bit when Ishwada takes a shot and the rest snap out of it and take steps back as they continue to fire at him. Pitch gets up and shakes himself off but hesitates to act. Kathryn steps out of the Jeep to take pot shots with her Watt Pistol as she joins the soldiers.

Vance is forced to back away a bit before he can make a second attack. “Kathryn Smith? Now isn't that an interesting development.” He rushed in and decapitated a soldier before gulping down the head by unhinging his jaw like a snake. He then bites the neck stub and starts drinking blood from the corpse like some sort of bloody Capri Sun. All while the remaining men continue to fire at the monster almost uselessly. Ishwada moves to the back of the Humvee and opens the back showing some sort of turret that looks like a Gatling gun made with the same electric tech.

Ishwada fires up the gun and starts making rapid fire shots with each one being stronger than a Volt Rifle forcing Vance to dodge and move back. Vance growls. “I'm pissed, so to return the favor I'm going right for the girl. How does that feel James? If you don't show me your true self the cute little Labrador dies by my hands.” Vance starts rushing in at inhuman speed, going at an arc for the back line. However Ishwada overheard Vance so he had the weapon ready and fired several shots into the man sending him backwards.

Vance changes strategy and runs to a stop sign, rips it out of the ground, and tossed it at Ishwada. Pitch runs in and tackles him off before the sign shoots through the turret like a spear. “You should have brought a bigger gun, something like an RPG maybe.” Ishwada gets up and brushes himself off. “I don't get it, we were taxing his healing and it was slowing down but then our attacks seemed less and less effective the more we hit him.” Pitch nodded. “He's actively adapting, changing into a form best suited for the fight at hand. Getting faster, stronger, more durable, and resistant to the specific type of damage you're doing. The longer the fight drags out the more powerful he becomes.”

Ishwada grumbles. “So what do we do?” Pitch sighs. “Fight fire with fire.” Vance charges in once more, aiming for Kathryn. Now even the kill shots from the Volt Rifle barely make Vance flinch. He goes for the attack, claw aimed right at her face when suddenly he is thrown to the floor. Tackled by James. “You wanted to see the real me, to see what I really am? You've fucked around long enough, it's time for you to find out.” Vance gets himself off the ground and dusts himself off. “Finally, a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary.”

Vance charges at Pitch, making several swipes only for Pitch to keep bobbing and weaving like a professional boxer. Vance starts getting clearly frustrated. “With all the talk about fuckin' around and finding out I expected you to at least fight back.” Pitch then takes an opening to unapologetically kick Vance as hard as he can in the balls causing Vance to double over. “That's a dirty trick. I didn't expect you to stop so low.” Pitch doesn't respond verbally and tosses several Volt Rifles and Watt Pistols at Vances feet. All of them flashing.

James seemingly vanishes as the weapons let out high pitch tones and detonate causing the street and house lights to go out in the area. The remaining Black Eagle soldiers turned on tactical flashlights before slowly approaching the now downed Vance with only Watt pistols in hand. Ishwada noticed his rifle was missing as well. “Did anyone else notice when Mister Holden disarmed the squad?” One man shook his head. “No sir.” Then cautiously leaned in to check Vance for a pulse. “It's weak, but he's still alive.”

Pitch walked over, still in his human guide. “I was honestly hoping that would kill him. World's better off without him in it. But I suppose that would be too easy. After all, he's gotta take responsibility for what he's done.” Kathryn walks to her brother’s house. “I'm going to check on Cu, he's probably awake after that. Better have a really good cover story planned.” Ishwada nods. “We've got that covered. In the meantime...” Ishwada glares at Pitch. “You have some explaining to do young man.”

Pitch nods and walks a bit gesturing for Ishwada to follow. He hesitates but does so as the two gain some distance away from the rest of the soldiers. He lets out a sigh. “As you may have been able to guess by my reflexes and performance as well as whatever you may have overheard, I'm not exactly human anymore either. I have no intention of harming the innocent and only want answers as to how and why I've been changed. I've been this way since I went missing. I joined NexGen because I felt drawn to it. I firmly believe it's why this city is such a Cryptid magnet.”

Ishwada rubs his chin and thinks. “Is it because of the high number of Cryptids being held? Also I'd like you to specify what kind of hybrid you've become.” Pitch addresses the question first with his own question. “Is the facility in New Arkham the only NexGen building with Cryptids?” Ishwada responds with a quick “No.” Pitch continues “Are any of the other labs magnets for Cryptids?” Again Ishwada responds “No.” pitch continued “Then it must be something else, something unique to the building in New Arkham.”

Ishwada thinks for a moment. “The generator? I don't see how a generator can produce the signal. Is it because of the unique EMF it gives off? No… the facility would be shielded to prevent that.” Pitch gives him the information he's missing. “It's a Cryptid, this city is powered by a Cryptid. I don't have solid proof-” Ishwada cuts him off “No, it makes sense. It's clearly not nuclear but produces a similar amount of energy. We are a long way from cold fusion otherwise the military would definitely have it already. I've seen for myself that Cryptids defy traditional science.”

Pitch nods. “Then you see why we have to work together? For the good of both our kinds, Cryptid and Human. I understand if you don't trust me but understand I also can't fully trust you. So no, I won't be telling you what kind of hybrid I am. If I did, I'd put myself at risk of death or capture by your men. They'd exploit my weaknesses and treat me the same as any other Cryptids. A resource to profit and benefit from or a weapon. Because, if I wanted you dead you wouldn't be standing here.”

Ishwada lets out a grunt. “Not exactly inspiring trust or confidence by saying shit like that. Fine, we can work together for now. But the moment I feel you're a risk I won't hesitate to bring you down.” Pitch nods. “I wouldn't have it any other way."