Son of a God 2: Hybrid Theory

by shadowlugia249

An Anthro Lugia TF. A Russian immigrant gets a job at a biogenetics lab and stubles across a terrible secret. Now HE'S the test subject, but things start getting weird when a strange creature is brought in...

Son of a God 2: Hybrid Theory

By shadowlugia249

Author's Note: Despite the name, this story is not meant to conflict with the "Hybrid Theory" stories or the first "Son of a God" story. Enjoy!

I came to America for several reasons. One being that I've always wanted to be a scientist. Another is that I'm finally old enough to leave home and earn my Green Card. Finally, I've heard rumors of a secret cloning project in the nation's capital involving super-enhanced animals. Since I was a little boy, I have always been interested in hybrids. Do they really exist or is it all a hoax brought up by the Americans?

I don't think I've introduced myself. My name is Johiko Darck. I am a Russian immigrant who currently resides in the great city of Washington D.C. I am living my dream of being a scientist in the United States Bio-Genetics Lab. Strange coincidence, eh? That's what most people tell me. They say that the odds of a Russian working at the Bio-Genetics Lab at the age of 20 with only two years of American college were slim to none.

It's a funny story how I got here in the first place. I had been turned down from all of my previous interviews because I just did not have the experience. However, when I came home one day in early June, 2005, I found a large silver envelope lying among my mail. It had no address or return address on it except for the words "Johiko Darck" on it.

When I picked up the envelope, I immediately dropped it in shock. The material of the envelope was not like any paper I had ever felt. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was made of liquid skin! The feeling of the envelope was somehow water-like and shined brightly in the sunlight. However, it left my fingers completely dry and the material was completely free of fingerprints.

When I had gotten the sense to open the envelope, I all but fainted. Inside it were official forms for my dream job of being a Genetics Scientist complete with a résumé that I did not write, a map to the building where I was to work and even sponsorship papers signed by one "Altair Silverhawke". I had never heard of such a person, but according to the papers, he was a great Genetics Specialist that had had the highest honors presented to him. I couldn't even remember all of the titles that were listed on the paper!

When I rifled through the papers, I noticed that a piece of silver paper had fallen out of the packet and slid on the floor. Picking it up, I noticed that it had the same feel as the material that made up the envelope. It was written in a loose, spidery handwriting that I did not recognize.

Dear Mr. Darck,

My name is Altair Silverhawke and I represent a higher authority that will not be mentioned in this message.

It has come to my attention that a series of unusual and predetermined events have brought your name to my superior's ear. To explain, my superior has selected you to become his protégé in the United States Bio-Genetics Laboratory. To commend your efforts, my superior has assigned you a position in the top-secret Experimental Hybrid Wing at the previously-mentioned laboratory. Simply present these forms to your employer at 7:07 sharp on the afternoon of July 7th and he will understand and assign you the job.

My superior has been watching you for some time, Mr. Darck, and he believes that despite your young age, your potential to become his protégé will be greatly understood.

I cannot explain everything now, but there are events that have been set in motion that will ultimately decide your future in this world. Just remember: everything that happens between now and then will happen for a reason, so do not be alarmed when unexpected things happen in the near future.

On behalf of my superior, I would like to congratulate you at the honor you have been given and hope that we will meet before too long. Until then, I bid you a good day.

Sincerely,

Altair Silverhawke

Vice President of Divine Peace Corps.

I reread this letter multiple times before I had it memorized. According to this, Mr. Silverhawke's "superior" has been keeping an eye on me and has offered me a position in my dream job. This reeked of conspiracy and premeditation. But I soon realized that this was all planned out in advance, so I was determined to keep fate in motion.

I looked over the letter again and saw that the insignia of the "Divine Peace Corps." was marked with a star with its points broken off. Something about that mark seemed to ring a bell in my brain, but I couldn't place a name to the feeling, so I ignored it. I had just been given a great opportunity to get the job of my dreams and I was determined not to pass it up.

So here I am today with my dream job, awaiting word from Mr. Silverhawke's superior. I have been working with animal DNA to create new breeds of animals to repopulate the world. So far, we've only been working with foxes, dogs, cats and other animals that have already heavily populated the planet so that we did not threaten their population.

However, none of our subjects have survived after being introduced with animal DNA... or so I've been told. I never get to see the actual "test subjects" – I just work with the chemicals.

But all that changed one day when I followed one of my partners into the test area to run an errand. I was to help deliver a new batch of highly-potent vials of animal DNA to the test area when I had to stop and go to the bathroom.

When I got out, I had lost my partner and ended up wandering through a door marked: "Danger! Biohazard Area!" I had grown too used to these doors to take them to heart anymore. Besides, I already had my sterile suit and lab coat on, so I wasn't at any real risk.

When I entered the door, I noticed a strange noise that I had never noticed before – inhuman sounds that sounded like they were in pain. The moans of anguish were certainly distinguishable now mixed with various sounds of animals. Wanting to get a better look, I looked through the window of a locked door marked: "Test Subject 210419 – Red Fox".

"Oh... my... God..." What I saw in that room left me emotionally scarred for life.

I was looking at a naked male human lying on a steel bed. However, parts and patches of his body appeared to be covered in what looked like F.U.R.!!! Real red fox fur covered about 60 of his body with patches of pale human skin in-between them. What's more, his face had slightly bulged out like he had half-heartedly grown a muzzle and a long bushy tail was growing out of his backside!

The half-human looked as if he was in considerable pain when he rolled his head to one side. Judging from the expression on his face – or what was left of it – he looked as if he was begging for mercy. To add to the memory, a deep, half-human voice cried out to me that I could barely hear through the glass.

"Please... make it stop... I can't take it anymore!"

I couldn't believe my eyes! They were experimenting on humans! I could hardly believe that I had been duped all this time. To test my theory, I ran to the next window and looked inside. A woman was in there this time and she was turning into a white-tiger hybrid! I could see the black stripes and the white patches of fur on her. However, I didn't get a response from this person and she didn't appear to be breathing.

This was obscene! Not only were they experimenting on humans, but they were leaving them to die in these pathetic excuses for cells!

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Darck?"

I whipped around to see my partner, Skyle Kelvin, looking at me with a disappointed look on his face and two tough bodyguards at his side.. He had caught me red-handed.

I should have played dumb, but the inhumanity of it all was getting the better of me. "How on earth can you do this to people?! There's a ban on human test subjects in the government and you know it! How can we test highly-unstable chemicals on people and expect to get away with it?!"

I had expected Skyle to offer me some kind of explanation, but he simply said, "You were our most promising scientist, Johiko. But then you had to discover our secret. Now I'm afraid that we have no choice but to find you a different job.

I couldn't believe my ears. "A different job?! Screw that! I quit!"

Skyle shook his head. "You misunderstand me. It wasn't a choice."

He snapped his fingers and the two bodyguards fired stun guns directly at my chest. Within a split-second, I was out like a light.

I was dreaming. I was high atop the St. Louis Arch at night when most of the people had gone home. As I looked off in the direction of the coast, I stood there, waiting... always waiting for something to happen. Something significant was about to happen, but I just had to wait for it to occur.

I don't know how long I stood there before I saw the sky light up with blue light. This wasn't any normal blue light – it was bright enough for the whole country to light up as bright as daylight for a split second. It soon dimmed and it was nighttime again.

That had to be what I was waiting for because I leapt off the St. Louis Arch and flew off for the source of the flash. I did not question how I could fly – in dreams, anything could happen – I merely flew as fast as I could as far as I could to come to his aid. He was in trouble and I needed to help him before something bad happened.

Just then, the dream shifted and my vision was suddenly filled with flashing lights and loud voices. I had just done the unthinkable by completely trashing the National Archives. I didn't want to do it, but it was the only way.

As I stood on top of the Washington Monument, I held my arms high above me so as to appear intimidating. Despite the hovering helicopters and the loaded guns pointed at me from the surface, I was not afraid. In fact, this was all going according to plan.

"Unidentified creature!" called the people from the helicopter. "You are completely surrounded! Surrender yourself or we will open fire!"

But I did not take their threats seriously. Even at their worst, they could not kill me. I was above these sorry mortals and nothing they could do would ever stop me. But despite the risk of being shot at, I called out to the military, I have one and only one request. I ask that you take me to the United States Bio-Genetics Lab.

My conscious mind should have been outraged at my words, but my subconscious mind seemed to know what it was doing. Regardless, I spread my wings and leaped from the top of the monument. The spotlight followed me and the people on the ground opened fire. I was hit with enough tranquilizers to knock out a bull elephant. Before I could pull out of the dive, I crash-landed – or rather splash-landed – in the pool at the base of the monument. My vision was fading fast, but before I passed out, I called out in a private message, Altair... it is done... I'm in.

I woke up to the sound of voices.

"...our greatest specimen ever! I've never seen anything like this creature before!"

"Shouldn't we tell the president or call Area 51?" said a second voice.

"No! They'll just put it on show like some kind of circus. The media would have a field day! No, until we can successfully create a hybrid from it, this creature doesn't get to see the light of day." The first voice paused. "Speaking of which, how is it doing?"

The second voice sounded like he was ruffling through some papers before speaking. "It's currently asleep in our special specimen container. It's really weird. Even though they shot enough tranquilizers at it to knock out a whale, it's completely healthy and seems to have recovered in record time. However, we can't get it to wake up and it's barely breathing. But other than that, it's at 100 health and it's unlike any creature I had ever seen before."

The first voice, which I now recognized as my ex-partner, Skyle Kelvin, dismissed the second person and pounded on my door.

For the first time, I realized where I was. I was in a rather large white cell somewhere in the Specimen Lab. I soon realized the "job" Skyle had "given" me. I was now a specimen and I would soon meet the same fate as the fox man and the tiger lady.

But something about this cell was a little unusual. It was ten-foot-by-twelve-by-fifteen and even had a toilet, a sink and blankets on the bed. Weird. If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn that I was being prepped for something special. An itch on my leg brought me back to reality and I got up to go look out the window in my door.

"Whoa..." I said in awe.

I was in a private cell on the parameter of a circular laboratory somewhere in the heart of the complex. People in lab coats were walking around to various computers surrounding a large glass capsule in the center of the room. Inside it was the source of all the commotion.

I had never seen such a bizarre creature in all the years that I've worked here. If I was to call it by any currently existing creature, I guess I would call it a "bird", but something told me that it was something much more than that. Instead of feathers, it had what appeared to be silvery-white skin that looked smoother than any marine mammal I have ever worked with. It had a massive round belly marked with a navy-blue mark across most of it. Its "wings" looked like a cross between human hands and flippers with four flat "fingers" on each of them with a "thumb" underneath. Its feet were dog-like and appeared digitigrade. At the end of a long, thick tail was a pair of navy-blue spikes. The creature's head was at the end of a long, slightly-serpentine neck and had a curved beak with two visible fangs on its top jaw. Its eyes were currently closed, but I could see two pointed flashes around where its eyes were, almost like a mask. I couldn't see its back because it was almost facing me and it was currently curled up in a ball with wires and pads attached to various points of its body in the clear liquid. I didn't know why they weren't giving it any air, but then I realized that the special liquid that they used in those tubes were already oxygenated so that it wouldn't drown.

From what I could see, the god-like creature was currently asleep in the cylinder, and judging from the constant heart rate on the computers nearby, it was alive, but it must have been in a state of hibernation because the computers weren't registering much. I sighed as I looked at the creature's details. He seemed to radiate all the traits of leadership, hope, fate and light all in one shot. Just the sight of the creature made me momentarily forget about my own fate to become a hybrid. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that I hoped I would be the test subject for this creature. I wanted to become this creature's hybrid.

But then reality kicked back in and I realized the gravity of the situation. I had never seen this creature before and that made becoming its hybrid even more dangerous. No one knew anything about it and they were already testing on it. I sighed and went to go sit back down on my bed. I had a bad feeling that I was going to be picked as the test subject for this creature. Why else would they give me this special room right next to the room where they were experimenting on it? I lied down and tried not to think about it. I was going to die as the result of a botched experiment and nothing was going to change that.

As I slept, I felt a strange feeling flowing through me. It felt as if my veins had become liquid ice and I couldn't stop shivering. But then I felt a sharp pain in my neck, but I couldn't wake up for some reason. The icy feeling slowly became bearable and I felt a great calm surrounding me.

Meanwhile, I was visited in my dreams by a great presence. I felt weak, vulnerable and cold as a strange white mist surrounded my naked body. My subconscious somehow knew that the creature's DNA was now flowing through my veins, but the white mist surrounding me was keeping me from panicking.

"Who... who's there?" I called out through the mist, trying to stay warm. "Please help me. I feel... alone."

The mist that had surrounded me drifted in front of me and began swirling into a concentrated form that I did not recognize right away. As it did, I could hear a strange voice calling out to me.

Johiko...

"Who's there?!" I called again. "Who are you?!"

Johiko... my son...

I was confused. The voice didn't sound like my parents, but I felt a strange bonding feeling coming from it.

"Who are you?" I said again. "Where am I?"

The figure started to solidify and I was soon able to make out a pair of glowing blue eyes.

You are in the Dream World, Johiko. I am protecting you from the pain that your conversion will inevitably do to you.

"Conversion? What are you talking about?"

The figure reached forward with a misty wing and caressed my cheek ever so gently. I felt a sense of pleasure and calm wash over me and I knew that I could trust this figure.

"What's going to happen to me?"

The figure wrapped its misty wing around me and pulled me close to it. As I was pressed against its chest, I could hear a deep, slow heartbeat echoing around me.

Can you hear it, Johiko? My heart, which I now share with my brother, will now beat in your chest as you are reborn in this world. You are becoming my flesh and blood. I am proud that you are here for me.

"I wish I could say the same for you," I said uncertainly. "I don't even know what you look like, but I feel like I've seen you before."

You have and you will again. In a few moments, you will awaken and your conversion will begin. But I will shield you from the inevitable pain so that your sanity will remain. However... he said sadly. I cannot prevent your memories from being wiped. But I will do my best to restore them when I awaken. Do not worry, Johiko; I am here for you.

I reached up with a hand to touch the misty figure's chest, but against all odds, my hand passed straight through it, leaving an empty feeling in its wake.

"Why can't I touch you?"

The figure sighed and shook its head. I am sorry, but you and I are currently separated physically. I am talking to you mentally and I will use my powers to keep you from feeling pain during your conversion. Now... He stroked my face again, giving me a sense of security. Awake. I will be watching over you from here.

I felt my dream slipping. "Wait! I don't want you to go! I'm scared and I'm alone! Please don't go!"

But the figure had released me and was drifting away from me. He had a few last words of encouragement before he left, though.

Do not lose faith, Johiko. I am watching you...

I awoke inside a strange room. All around me, I felt weightless and wet. There were cords and wires attached all over my body and my face and I felt a strange icy feeling flowing through my veins.

It was then that I realized where I was. I was inside a liquid-filled capsule next to the creature I had seen from my cell door. A sharp pain hit me in the neck and I knew that I had been recently injected with this creature's DNA. It was only a matter of time before I became a hybrid. I could see people walking around the room outside the chamber, but they appeared slightly warped from the combination of the clear liquid and the glass.

I took deep breaths through the mask over my nose and mouth and tried not to think about what was going to happen to me. I was in for a hell of an experience when that serum hit my brain and I tried to brace myself for it. I also tried to think about my life over the past few years. I was more than likely to have my human memories erased when I became a hybrid and I wanted them to count.

Just then, I heard a strange yet familiar voice in my head and started to panic.

Relax, Johiko. I am here for you. I keep the promises I make.

"Who are you?!" I shouted through the oxygen mask, but all that came out were a series of bubbles.

My name is not important at the moment. I do not have time to explain. I must get you ready for your conversion.

"Huh?"

Just relax, Johiko. It will all be over in a few minutes.

I was about to press him further when I felt my body go rigid and freeze up. This was it! The transformation was beginning! I started to hyperventilate, but the presence in my mind calmed me down almost immediately.

Stay with me, Johiko. I am here for you.

I did my best to hold onto this voice as I felt my skin start to bubble and boil. Outside the tank, people were running around excitedly as they began to witness my transformation.

"It's happening at last!"

"We can't lose this one! This is the most pure sample yet!"

"Somebody get Mr. Kelvin down here, pronto! He's gonna want to see this!"

"Come on, pull though! Show us what immortal DNA can do!"

My skin was bubbling, but it felt like I was immersed in liquid nitrogen. I felt an extreme cold flowing through me, but for some reason, it didn't hurt as much as it should. For the first time, I acknowledged the fact that the presence was here.

My skin seemed to gain elasticity and stretch and flex out taut like rubber. I also seemed to be feeling a little numb as a thin layer of blubber grew underneath my bouncy new flesh. Also, my skin started to change color from fleshy-pink to silver-white except for a large patch on my abdomen. That area turned a light sky-blue color and seemed to take on a V-shape both at the top and the bottom of the mark.

My fingers seemed to fatten out and then slim again as I felt something – most likely my fingernails – crack and fall to pieces. The area underneath them seemed to fill out so that I had five slim, slender fingers minus the nails. Also, the bones in my arms seemed to become weaker for a second and then redouble in strength as strong, lean muscles filled my arms.

Also, my slightly-flabby body (yes, I admit that I was not in the best shape!) seemed to be sucked into itself before it stiffened and became lean and ripped, leaving a strong six-pack right below my new sky-blue torso. And then with a liquid-like motion, I felt my manhood become swallowed by my strange new flesh. Now you couldn't even tell what gender I was because my pecs had disappeared as well. This was a disturbing sight to see for both the people outside and an uncomfortable feeling for me as my internal organs seemed to squelch and shift around inside me. If I were paying attention, I would have realized that I now had a body that most men would spend countless hours in a gym trying to achieve what I had acquired in just a few seconds.

But that was not the last thing that happened to my torso. I felt several pin prick-like sensations poke me in the back as several round growths began poking out of each side of my spine. The skin growths soon pushed out and thinned out into ten flat, rectangular "plates" on both sides of my spine. If I could see them now, I would have noticed that I could flex them and/or fold them into my back seamlessly and that they were navy-blue in color.

"This is unbelievable!" Skyle Kelvin had arrived. "He's taking on its complete persona! But..." He noticed something missing. "What happened to his arms? I thought that they would look like the creature's wings?"

"Mr. Kelvin, the transformation is only 30 complete. You'll just have to wait for the results."

Skyle let out a huff as he watched my transformation continue.

Next to change were my legs. The bones and muscles inside them seemed to stretch out and become much leaner, but that's not the worst of it. The bones in my feet didn't break, but they didn't stay there, either. I felt the bones in my feet practically vanish from their places as the skin leftover went to work. Like my hands, the nails on each of my toes cracked and fell to pieces, leaving my toes completely bare. I also felt a melting sensation as my second-and-third and ring-and-pinkie toes seemed to melt with each other, creating three new toes with my large one. Also, my toes seemed to warp slightly and become three matching dog-like digits with a slight pad underneath my feet. To top it all off, I felt my feet rearrange themselves so that if I was standing, I would have been supported on my toes, changing me from plantigrade to digitigrade. The bones in my feet then seemed to reappear like magic, completely changed and compatible with my new feet.

"How is that even possible?" said Skyle, rubbing his chin and looking my mutant form up and down. "His bones seemed to change magically."

"We're not quite sure, sir," said a female attendant, looking up at me with pity. "Strange things happen when hybrids are transforming. I should know..."

"Yes, yes, Maria," said Skyle, interrupting her. "We all know how you turned out." Maria blushed and went back to watching me.

The next thing in my transformation was one that always produced different results: the tail. To start my tail, my spine started making a grinding noise and began pushing out from my backside. More and more bones began appearing as a large, pointed growth continued growing from behind me (no pun intended) and curl around the chamber. The thin growth then started to fill out as flesh, muscle and blood began to thicken my new tail. Soon, it was long, slender and prehensile, but it wasn't quite finished. Two small, navy-blue lumps of skin began to form near the tip of my new appendage before they grew out and solidified into two rock-solid, razor-sharp spikes. This was noted by Maria as she took notes on the progress in my transformation.

"We'll have to watch out for those," she said under her breath, frantically scribbling her pen on a blank spot, as it had gone dry.

Skyle, however, was looking at the equipment monitoring my nervous system in confusion.

"Something's missing... I haven't seen his pain receptors flicker as much as they should be. Terran!" He addressed a scientist monitoring the creature that was doing this to me. "Didn't all the other hybrids end up screaming from the pain?"

Terran looked confused as he walked over to check the monitor Skyle was looking at. From the look on his face, things weren't adding up.

"You're right. None of his pain receptors have gone off in the slightest. It's as if something's keeping him from feeling nothing more than a bunch of pressure points."

"What does that mean?"

Terran shrugged. "I'm not sure, but his vitals are certainly doing better since he's not feeling any pain from this."

Skyle was suspicious from this, but ignored it. As long as the subject – me – was alive and well, he didn't have a problem with it.

The last thing to change, as far as I knew, was my head. I felt my neck stretch out slightly and become slightly serpentine, followed by the bones in my skull being reduced to a fine powder, keeping my brain and eyes intact. My nose started to wiggle before the cartilage inside of it gave out a snap, followed by the leftover skin pushing forward with my upper jaw and reforming into a strong, curved beak. All but two of my upper and lower incisors receded into my gums. those teeth grew out slightly and became razor-sharp fangs. The muscles and bones of my jaw returned and pushed out to make my maw look more beak-like. I also felt my scalp grow out backwards and form a sharp point at the back of my new skull. The bony powder in my head then melted together and solidified so that my skull now resembled that of the creature next to me. To top it all off, my round, brown irises became long, narrow and navy-blue, followed by the bones around them to grow out into the navy-blue, mask-like flashes that also belonged to my donor. And for reasons unknown, my burnt-brown hair remained on my head with the point on my skull sticking out of the back of it.

When this was all finished, it looked as if my transformation was complete. Skyle looked both relieved that I had lived through it and disappointed because something was missing.

"Is that it?" he said unsurely. "His wings don't look like much." He turned to Maria. "What's his status?"

Maria looked perplexed as she tried to figure out the readings on the monitors. "It looks like his body is stabilizing, but the readings say that the transformation is only at 85.

While Skyle tried to make heads or tails of it, I addressed the presence in my mind. "What happened? I feel normal, but I still can't move."

The presence seemed to have expected this. I needed a break from protecting your mind. Your conversion is not yet complete, but don't worry. I must recover for a minute.

For the next 60 seconds, there was confusion outside the tank and anticipation inside it. The scientists were trying to figure out why my transformation had stalled while I was waiting patiently for the presence to recover.

Finally... That should do. Hold on, Johiko; I am ready to resume.

As he said this, I felt something heavy fall onto my shoulder blades. The bones around them seemed to snap as two fleshy growths appeared on my shoulders. After a few seconds, they started to grow out and new bones filled the frame. Within another minute, I had acquired a pair of magnificent flipper-like wings just like the creature next to me, except that mine felt more like wings instead of arms. those were already there. In the end, I looked more like a bipedal dragon than anything else.

But the presence had one more surprise in store for me.

"Mr. Kelvin, look! His energy levels are climbing at an amazing rate! Holy God! They're way off the charts! It's simply amazing!"

The equipment monitoring my life force and energy levels were going haywire as a great power and an infinite wisdom filled my being. I began to understand things that had never made much sense to me before. All of the world's questions and mysteries were answered and became common knowledge to me. This wisdom would have even rivaled God in scale and volume. Not only that, but I felt unnatural strength filling my body and mind. Infinite power now belonged to me that could have manipulated time, space and reality. I felt that I had the power to destroy the world, but knew that such an ability must be guarded with extreme caution.

The force of my power was so great that the machinery hooked up to me started to malfunction. The power began to surge and fluctuate violently as untold power ripped coursed through the building. And then with a massive surge, a blast of psychic energy flew from my body, shattering the tube around me and causing the power to finally shut off.

My limp body fell to the bottom of the tank, snapping the wires that had been attached to me, but I was completely unaware that any of this was happening. I did, however, feel a tingling sensation flood through my body as my mind recalibrated itself to work with my new form.

"What the (explicit) was that?!" yelled Skyle, groping around in the dark after being blown off his feet by the wave. "Somebody get these lights back on! Maria! Make sure that the subjects are still alive! We can't have them dying on us! Not when we're so close! I need a status check pronto!"

Amid the mass chaos and confusion, my mind was still being linked to the mysterious presence. Wow... I said, using my mind to speak instead of my mouth. What a feeling! Are you okay?

I will be fine. The presence sounded okay but winded. But I have expended my energy, and I must rest. I am sorry to say that by the time you recover, you will remember none of this.

Say what?

When the power returns, Skyle will see to it that your memories of this event and your entire previous life are deleted.

But... that's not fair! I survived this! Isn't that good enough?!

I am sorry, Johiko, but I must leave you now. I will contact you again when I have recovered. Good-bye.

I felt the presence start to leave me, but I wanted one more question answered before it did.

Can you at least tell me your name? I want to thank you when I see you next.

I felt a sense of drained satisfaction coming from the presence as it contemplated its response. Finally... I think you deserve to know. My name is Lugia. I am God Reincarnated.

Those last few words echoed all around my mind for the next few days while I was asleep. When I thought about those words, I was filled with a feeling of happiness and a strange bonding sensation coming from the figure known as Lugia. I knew that even though he couldn't speak to me, Lugia was watching over me spiritually. That knowledge would never be able to be deleted.

I wish I could say that about my other memories, though. When I finally woke up inside a strange cell, I tried to remember what I had been doing this whole time... but I couldn't. I couldn't remember who I was or where I was. I couldn't remember my own name or what Lugia looked like. It was as if I had been reincarnated without any knowledge about my previous life.

I laid there under the blankets for some time before I sat up and looked at myself. I looked pretty good for someone who did not know who they were. I had a long, sleek form with a kind of skin that bounces back at you when you push on it. It was silver-white, which I found quite spectacular in the light that radiated off of it. On my chest, though, was a large sky-blue mark with a V-shaped mark on the top and the bottom. I ran my fingers over my stomach area and felt a powerful six-pack rolling underneath them. I also examined my arms and hands and saw that they were unblemished by scars, moles or marks, including my fingertips, which were round and nail-free – something I knew was not very common with regular beings. Looking down at my feet, I saw that I was supporting myself on my three-toed pads. Standing up for a minute, I found that I could balance myself on my toes digitigrade-like.

Sitting back down, I felt something that belonged to me push against the wall. Turning my head, I saw that I had a long, thick, flexible tail. I found that I could move it by adjusting my tailbone slightly. Near the tip of it were two navy-blue spikes that did not pierce my finger, but I figured they could do some hefty damage if I wanted to use my tail as a weapon.

While I was examining my tail, I spotted ten long navy-blue plates lining my spine and I found that I could fold these into my back seamlessly and then unfold them again. Neat!

I caught my jaw on something as I turned my head back and I reached up with my hands to feel two large, flipper-like wings growing out of my shoulders. They looked like massive hands with four "fingers" along the edge and a fifth "thumb" at the point where my wings unfolded. There wasn't enough room in this room to open them fully, so I took in the pleasure of them by touching them with my hands. They were strong and durable, which would serve me well if I ever got the chance to try them out.

That left just one part of my body to examine: my head. Immediately, I felt something unnatural on my head. A thick crop of untidy burnt-brown hair drooping over my eye mask, which I now noticed for the first time. The stiff, bony, navy-blue flashes surrounded my eyes and poked up through my hair in-between a third point, which I realized was my skull. Running a hand over my face, I felt a curved beak with two pointed fangs on my upper and lower jaw. Testing my jaw experimentally, I felt strong muscles working in it and I felt like I could bite through anything.

Now that I had taken the amazement of my strange new form, I now turned my attention to finding out where I was. But before I could do that, I heard a metallic clank from the door at the end of the white room. Someone had opened a window to check on me before shutting it again, unlocking the door and entering the room.

This person was not your normal person. Some unknown sense deep inside me told me that this was a hybrid that had survived some grueling experiment. And judging from the white lab coat she wore, she obviously worked here.

She had a coat of strange, bright-yellow fur that was visible on her legs, arms and head. At the top of her head were two pointed ears that stuck up in front of a pair of headphones that were playing rock music to the sides of her head. It struck me as odd how she could hear music through headphones when her ears were on top of her head. However, I was able to see that her "hair" was actually a collection of yellow "quills" that grew from the back of her head and came down to her shoulders but did not touch them as they were about six inches from her body.

If I had to give this "hybrid" a name, I supposed I could call her a "hedgehog", although I did not know where I had gotten that name. Nevertheless, the "hedgehog" closed the door behind her and walked forward to look at me, constantly taking notes on a clipboard she carried with her.

I watched the female hedgehog with interest. She sat down next to me and took out a reflex hammer. After tapping my knees to make sure my reflexes worked, she took my wrist in her gloved hands and took my pulse. I said nothing this whole time. I was curious to see another creature examining me.

The hedgehog took one of my wings and held it out to its fullest, applying pressure at various points to make sure nothing was broken. When she let it go, however, I flexed the same wing and wrapped it around her shoulder, pulling her close.

The hedgehog gasped at my sudden advancement and looked my in the eyes. I smiled and stroked her quills with my hand.

"You have very pretty eyes." I said in a firm yet confident voice that sounded familiar somehow. "They say that you are a very nice person."

The hedgehog was taken aback at my advancement and blushed heavily as she let me stroke her quills. "Th... thank you. No one's ever told me that before." She had a sweet, slightly musical voice that echoed all around my mind.

She let me caress her for a while before she realized what she was doing and wriggled out of my grasp. However, I did not object to this and smiled innocently at her.

"You are a very nice person, Maria. I wish I knew who I was, because there's something about you and me that I cannot identify."

Maria looked shocked and held her clipboard to her chest. "How did you know my name?" she said breathlessly.

I held out my hand to show her I meant her no harm. "Your mind is speaking to me. I can hear your thoughts about me... and I think they're sweet."

Maria quickly took a note on her clipboard before asking me the obvious. "You can hear my thoughts?"

I nodded and stood up. "I can. Is that a good thing?"

Maria did not object as she allowed a much bigger creature to embrace her in a hug and run its hand down he back. "No... it's just... different..."

I caressed her fur with amazement at how soft she felt. Maria also seemed to be enjoying it. I could feel a sense of pleasure and happiness radiating from her mind as I continued the massage.

Just then, she realized what she was doing and separated from me, looking uncertain. I looked at her innocently.

"I'm sorry, but I could lose my job if they find out about this. I have to go,"

"Wait!" I said, holding out a hand to stop her. She stood still and watched me in amazement.

I cupped my hands over each other and focused my powers into creating matter. My eyes lit up a bright blue as my energy went into forming her a present. A few seconds passed and soon, a miracle of nature appeared. A large, transparent, blue rose materialized in-between my cupped palms and solidified in a flash of blue light. The flower was unlike any other mortal flora. It had a glassy, transparent stem with pointed thorns, and the petals were smooth and clear with a bright, blue color. I then motioned with my hands and the rose floated over to her.

Maria took the rose in shock. She was supposed to be examining a hybrid, but she had never thought that she would be treated so nicely by the one she had been told to inspect, much less receive a memento from said hybrid.

"I... I..."

I shook my head. "Just take it. Promise me you'll come back?"

Maria swallowed and pocketed the rose. "We'll see. Thanks."

I smiled and sat back down on my bed as she undid the latch on the door and slipped out.

As I sat on the bed, I could hear numerous voices flying around my head. They sounded like people's thoughts from outside my room. Some of them were loud and obnoxious while some of them were quiet and secluded. Maria's was one of the latter.

I thought about Maria for a moment and my actions towards her. I supposed that I might have scared her a little my coming onto her like that, but something about her told me that she really needed the attention. She was one of the few hybrids that had survived her initial experiments, which made her an outcast like me. Listening to the voices fluttering around outside, I could tell that the scientists thought of Maria as a freak and an outsider. I frowned when these thoughts entered my head. They were experimenting on hybrids, but they were still accosting their own results.

I lied down on my bed and pulled the blankets over me, staring up at the white ceiling deep in thought. I still did not know who I was, but I made a silent promise to confront life as it came to me. Soon, I let out a wide yawn and closed my eyes to take a small nap.

I must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing I knew, the door had swung open again and a man in a well-toned black suit and tie appeared flanked by two rough-looking security guards. I yawned again and sat up to look at the man.

"Hello," I said innocently.

The man did not acknowledge my greetings. Instead, he looked me up and down with a curious eye while his two bouncers looked on. I did not object as he walked up close to me and looked me in the eyes before silently walking back to his bouncers and nodding to them. I tilted my head curiously and watched the man turn around and confront me directly.

"You're perfect. It only took one try and we've already created the most flawless hybrid of them all! You are going to lead us to a golden age of prosperity with our new army of super-hybrids."

I blinked, unsure whether that was what I really wanted to do. "Now, why would I do that?"

The man grinned and crossed his arms. "Because you are our property now and you will do what we say... or else."

He snapped his fingers and before I knew what was happening, I was being pinned against the wall by the two bouncers and something cold and metal closed around my neck. I instantly felt my psychic powers become locked and unable to use them. The guards released me and let me slump to the ground.

I whimpered slightly as I toyed with the collar around my neck. "What did you do that for? I didn't do anything to deserve that."

The man stepped forward and backhanded me across the face, sending me reeling. "You belong to us now, Hybrid. And the first rule of being a hybrid is showing your superiors some respect."

I glared at him and tried focusing my powers to retaliate, but for some reason, I couldn't think straight. My head was spinning and my powers fizzled out.

The man chuckled as he watched my futile efforts. "That's our special mind-scrambling collar. We made it especially for you. You will not use your powers unless we tell you to, got it?"

I could not understand why they were doing this to me. I had done nothing to aggravate this man, and yet he was treating me like garbage. I began to long for Maria, who had made me feel welcome when I had awakened. I hoped she was not in on this.

The man stepped forward and seized my wing and twisted it at an odd angle, causing me to yelp in pain. "Get this through your head now, Hybrid, and this will be that much more bearable. You were created by human to obey humans. Period."

"Yes, sir." My eyes were tearing from the pain he was inflicting on me.

"Say it! I want you to know it!"

I gulped as he continued the pressure on my wingbone. "I was created by humans to obey humans."

The man smiled and released my wing. I recoiled back onto my bed and curled up, sobbing. The man then motioned to his two flunkies and the three of them left the room, sealing it shut behind them.

What was that all about? Why were they treating me like trash? I felt I could do amazing things, but they were controlling me like a puppet. I could feel my body starting to heal itself, but the emotional scars would always be there. I curled up on the bed and slowly fell asleep.

The next morning, I was awakened by the touch of a gloved hand on my shoulder. I whimpered and opened my eyes. But my heart seemed to soften slightly when I saw Maria the Hedgehog looking back at me.

"Hey, Johiko. It's time for your breakfast."

Something about the name "Johiko" seemed to spark a thought deep inside my mind. It sounded familiar somehow, but I couldn't remember why. The only thing that I could remember was that my new name was Johiko.

I uncurled my head and looked at Maria innocently. "You're not going to hurt me like those big brutes did, are you?"

Maria stroked my neck, causing me to chirp with pleasure. "No. I'm not like them. I managed to get myself assigned to taking care of you while you're here. Don't worry; as long as you're with me, no one will hurt you."

I smiled and uncurled the rest of my body in a stretch. "Thanks, Maria. You're a true friend."

Maria sighed and helped my get up. She then led me over to the door and allowed me to leave for the first time.

I was led through a large room lined with monitors and computers surrounding a large circular tank with a large creature in it. I looked at the tank as we walked by and my eyes went wide.

The creature inside the tank looked just like me! The only differences were that I had hair on my head and arms while this creature was hairless and had two massive flipper-like wings in a different location than mine. It was currently curled up in the tank and appeared asleep.

"Who is that?" I asked, pointing at the tank as Maria led me through a door to the cafeteria. "Why does he look like me?"

Maria took one last glance at the creature and then closed the door. "That's your "father" in technical terms."

"My... father? I don't understand."

Maria was unsure on how to explain it. "We took DNA from him and gave it to you a few days ago. He's the reason you became a hybrid." She quickly looked around and then whispered to me, "But don't tell anyone. I'm not supposed to tell you that."

I nodded and held a wing over my mouth. "I promise."

Maria went over to a refrigerator and pulled out a large metal bowl of wet food marked: "Hybrid 249". She set it down in front of me and got out a set of silverware. She then peeled the cover off the bowl and pushed the bowl in front of me. I sat down on a chair and looked at the gray pieces of food soaking in water with interest.

"What's this?"

"It's herring. This is what they picked out for you to eat. After studying your father, we've found that fish is the best thing for you to eat."

I leaned over the bowl of herring and sniffed it eagerly. It had a pale, damp smell to it that I found rather enticing. I then addressed the silverware in front of me and did my best to dig in the bowl to eat it. However, my sleek fingers kept causing the fork and spoon to slip out of them.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Maria put her hand in front of me and giggled. "You don't have to be so polite. You must be hungry."

I looked at her with anticipation before dropping the silverware and diving in like a hungry dog. The herring tasted delicious and the fishy water ran down the back of my throat, quenching my thirst. Within a few minutes, I had devoured the entire bowl and my stomach was full. I then sighed and sat back in my chair, patting my belly with satisfaction, which hadn't lost its ripped form at all.

"Full?" Maria said sweetly.

I nodded.

She smiled and took the bowl to put in a sink. After that, she led me back through the chamber with my "father" and into a sterile examination room.

"Maria?" I asked once I sat down on a metal bed. "Why is my father asleep in that tank? Isn't it a little cramped in there?"

Maria looked curiously out the door again before turning back to me. "You know, that's something we haven't figured out yet. When they brought him in, he was all curled up and in a kind of state of suspended animation. He hasn't moved or woken up since. Mind you, he didn't look to good when they brought him in."

I wasn't sure what to make of this, but I put it to the back of my mind. When he woke up, we would go from there.

While I was inside the examination room, a few scientist came in to check my vital signs and see if I was healthy enough to consider using in their experiments. But like most little kids, I soon grew bored and started fidgeting. I would start batting at the nurses with my tail or trying to cut them off with my wings to get a reaction out of them.

I was doing a pretty good job, because one of them finally got fed up and shouted, "That's it! I'm going to Mr. Kelvin on this!" I stuck out my tongue at the nurse and started looking around the room for something to mess with.

But before long, Maria came back into the room in a panic and closed the door quickly behind her.

"Is something wrong, Maria?"

Maria looked excited as she spoke to me, but not in the good way.

"Johiko, Skyle Kelvin's on his way! The nurse told him that you were messing around and got fed up with you."

"So?"

"Johiko, don't you get it? Skyle is the one who put that collar on you! If you don't shape up, he's going to be furious! Here..." She climbed up on the table and pressed a few buttons on my collar. "I've got something for you to do. Just be careful."

As she entered a code on the collar, I felt the haze in my mind lift slightly so that my psychic powers were able to function again. It wasn't much, but Maria obviously had something planned for me. She quickly picked up a pen and held it in front of me.

"See this pen? Try and use your powers to make it float a little."

I was up for a challenge. This would be a simple exercise to test my powers for the first time. I reached out with my mind and what little powers had been unlocked and tried to make the pen fly around. The pen was surrounded by a thin blue aura and it began fluttering around with my glowing eyes following it. I made it fly around in circles, squares and triangles before the door opened again and a man walked in.

Instantly, I lost my focus on the pen and hissed at him. This was the same man that had assaulted me in my room and slapped this infernal collar on me! Maria immediately saw that I was agitated and grabbed my hand in hers.

Skyle Kelvin looked me up and down again and addressed Maria. "Is this hybrid causing any problems?"

Maria thought as hard as she could so that I would be the only one she was referring to.

Please, please, please don't do anything that will get you in trouble! Skyle is a very dangerous man and he could destroy you without your powers. I'm begging you; please try and do what he says or we could both end up in a lot of trouble.

I shook my head, but that was from the volume she was thinking at me and my mind was echoing with her words. I did my best to tell her that I would try by curling my tail around her leg behind the table so that Skyle wouldn't see it. Maria then addressed Skyle as I returned my attention back to making the pen float around.

"He hasn't been causing any problems with me, Mr. Kelvin. In fact, I gave him something to do so that he wouldn't irritate the others."

"I can see that," said Skyle uncertainly. I could tell that he was slightly annoyed that Maria had used the collar without telling him first. "Just make sure he doesn't cause any problems with the other scientists. I'm very busy with our other subject."

That meant he was busy with my father. Judging by the slight excitement that was echoing around his mind, Father's brain waves had suddenly started acting up. It seemed that he was starting to wake up.

This made me a little excited myself. I wanted to talk to him as soon as I could, but I was always locked in my room whenever there was no one there. So against my better judgment, I started to devise a plan that would allow me to communicate with my father when everyone was gone.

Skyle looked at my collar to make sure everything was still working and then said, "Make sure he's kept in his room tonight. I have special plans for him in the morning."

I frowned as he left the room and stuck out my tongue, receiving a shoulder in the side from Maria.

"You need to be careful around him, Johiko. He is a very dangerous man that can choose to scrap your project with just one word. You'd be in a lot of trouble, then."

I sighed. "I don't like him for who he is, and I don't like him for what he has planned for my father."

Maria shook her yellow quills and frowned. "Just be careful. I was considered lucky when I survived my transformation and they gave me a job here. You should, too. Come on; let's get you back to your room for now."

But all this confinement was starting to make my wings ache. I hadn't gotten a chance to stretch them out since I became a hybrid and I wasn't sure if I could handle being locked up for all this time. Nevertheless, I went back to my room and waited patiently...

...or at least that's what I wanted Maria and the others to think. As I lied on my bed the rest of the day, I had immersed myself in deep meditation. I began tuning into the minds of the people walking around and formulating my plan to get the chance to speak to my father.

First off, I began searching for the code to opening my cell door. There were only a select number of people who were allowed to know the code and it was constantly being changed every time I left my room. Eventually, I locked onto a particular person who had every code flying around his mind for the next few days. Storing the codes away in my memory bank, I started looking for a way to work this foul contraption on my neck. The only way to get the collar off was with a key that Skyle carried with him at all times, but the code to lock and unlock various levels of my powers was easy to find. Maria had been given the Level 1 code while Skyle had the Level 4 code. Since my plan did not require all of my powers, I settled for the Level 2 code. That particular code belonged to someone who worked for the Divine Peace Corps that only visited the lab once a week or so. So you could imagine my luck when he arrived that evening to check on the status of my father. In fact, it was almost too easy, because he seemed to be reciting the code in his head the whole time he was there at a volume that would have been hard for me to miss.

Part Two of my plan involved the security cameras stationed around the lab that would record everything from every possible angle. Since they were electronic, I could not bypass these, but I soon found a way to disable them long enough for me to sneak out and talk to my father. With the Level 2 Code on my collar, I would be able to summon a bubble of psychic energy that would render me invisible to the cameras. Also, the defensive powers that I would unlock would allow me to retreat back to my room if I was caught.

The final part of my plan involved finding a way to get my father out of that containment chamber. Since I was still unfamiliar with the controls of his containment chamber, I would have to deal with this on the go.

At exactly 10:00 that night, the final scientist locked up the lab for the night and went home. I then put my plan into action. I reached up on the collar around my neck and inputted the code exactly the Divine Peace Corps guy had recited over and over in his head. I felt confident that they wouldn't know it was me because my fingertips did not contain fingerprints. I never had any to begin with. Joy. Once I had inputted the code, I felt another section of my mind come into focus and I could use that knowledge to power my psychic shield. In fact, I now had the ability to use my powers defensively, but I still couldn't attack directly and I wasn't anywhere close to using them to manipulate reality.

Once this was taken care of, I sidled over to the door and leaned against it. I then recited the code to the door in my mind and channeled it from my palm through the steel and into the keypad. Each one of the buttons were pressed in succession and I smiled as I heard the door unlock.

But before I pushed it open, I focused my powers into causing the cameras in the room to malfunction while I opened the door. As soon as I was out the door, I closed it and summoned a bubble of clear psychic energy that would be seen on camera as a regular scene. I was able to bend the light around me so that the cameras passed straight through me to whatever was on the other side of me. Now feeling like the infamous Sly Cooper, I walked silently through the room, using my pads as an airy cushion to avoid setting off the audio detectors that I knew were in effect at this time of night.

Once I had reached the cell where Father was being held, I let out a silent curse. The outside of his tank was covered by a steel shutter. Now I had to find a way to open that while still keeping my volume to a minimum. It took a while, but I managed to find a console with the shutter controls on it. The shutter slid open with a hiss and I was able to see my father suspended in the middle of the clear liquid from the lights at the base.

According to the monitors, he was still alive, but I wasn't so sure. His body was a little paler than the last time I had seen him and his navy-blue areas were slightly lighter than usual. I walked up to the tank and gently tapped on the glass and whispered to him.

"Hey... are you awake? Can you hear me?"

But he apparently couldn't. The glass was either too thick or he was in such a deep sleep that he could barely think.

But I had another idea. Placing my hand on the glass, I reached out with my mind to speak with him.

Father... can you hear me?

I immediately got a reaction out of this. For the first time since he had come in, he opened his eyes and uncurled his head in his cramped space to look at me.

Johiko...? Is it really you? He had a firm, mature yet oddly calm psychic voice.

Father! I said, still keeping my words in a psychic manner. You're awake!

So it seems. He fidgeted a little and managed to stand up in his tank with his wings at his side and his tail in a curl at the bottom. I was wondering what had happened to you. When I didn't hear back from you, I began to get worried.

I blinked I had completely forgotten about the dream in which Lugia had told me his name. I had promised to check back on him as soon as I could, but so much had happened over the past few days that I must have forgotten about it.

Don't look so worried, he said, sending a wave of reassurance through my mind. I never gave up hope on you.

I'm glad.

The two of us told each other what had been happening since we had come to this place. Lugia, it seems, had been planning this whole charade from the beginning. It turns out that it was his twin brother, Altair, that had sent me the papers necessary to get me inside here. He had also gotten himself caught on purpose so that he could get his DNA inside of me to turn me into an anthro Lugia.

I found this rather alarming since Lugia had made the decision to terminate my former life for him, but when I told him this, Lugia merely shook his head and said, It has been forever written by Fate that you would join me, Johiko. Think about it: your former life means nothing to the life that I have given you. I merely gave you a life that is so much more meaningful than your drab, human one.

He had a point. The memories he had restored to my mind were rather dull and meaningless. It made so much more sense to be the son of a god than the son of a mortal. I told him this and he agreed with me 100.

When I asked Lugia how I could help him break out of this lab, he didn't seem to be in any rush.

Altair is setting up the circumstances that will ensure our escape. It will be ready in a day or two. Until then, we must act like nothing has happened between us or else the scientists will get suspicious.

But I'm tired of living like this, I argued. I haven't gotten a chance to stretch my wings yet and this collar is really bothering me.

Lugia sighed. I cannot help you with your wings, but I can do something about that collar. Hold still.

Lugia's eyes started to glow and became bright blue as I felt the collar around my neck being adjusted. He must have inputted the Level 4 Code or fried the circuits inside it because I immediately felt my mind unlock to its full potential. Unlimited power was now at my disposal and I felt that I had the knowledge and strength to break out of here.

Lugia must have sensed my intentions because he spoke in a serious tone. I may have unlocked your mind, but the humans will get suspicious if you rush yourself. Wait until I give you the signal before you attempt to break out. It will work in your favor if you just wait a while.

I nodded and agreed. Yes, sir.

Just then, I heard a third psychic voice enter our conversation from out of nowhere. Lugia, it's all set. I can get you out of there whenever you're ready.

At first, I thought we had been overheard, but Lugia looked in the direction of the voice and grinned. Right on schedule, Altair. Just give me a moment. He then turned to me and addressed me very seriously. I must leave now, Johiko. Do not worry; I have not forgotten you and I promise that I will return for you.

I started to protest at being left behind, but Lugia shut me up with a look. This plan must go completely unhindered. I give you my word as Guardian that I will come back for you. Until then, you must stay here. Do you understand? I frowned at the injustice but agreed to the plan and left it at that.

Lugia nodded and then looked up at the ceiling. Okay, Altair. Take me away. Johiko... He turned to me for one final instruction. Close the shutter. I do not want the humans to see me disappear on camera.

I nodded and went back to the controls for the shutter. As the metal slid shut over the tank, I could see a faint white light shining from in-between the cracks and I knew that Lugia had left the building. I sighed and went back to my room as he had said, pausing to fry the cameras before I entered the code on the keypad and opened the door. I had strict instructions from Lugia to stay where I was, but that didn't stop me from thinking about the outside world. I felt both honored that I had been chosen by Lugia to become his son, but I also felt suspicious about the circumstances leading up to my transformation. Did Lugia really mean what he had said that all of this was planned? I found it hard to believe, but I knew that every word Lugia spoke was the truth, whether I believed it or not. I tried not to think about it as I lied on my bed and slowly fell asleep for the night. I was tired from using my powers to get to Lugia and I deserved the rest. Besides, it would be one hectic day tomorrow when they found out that Lugia had escaped.

But before that, I visited the Dream World one more time. However, this dream was unlike any dream I had ever had before this. I could feel my body as if it was actually my own. And to add to the amazement, I found myself on top of a massive snowy mountain with beautiful white clouds spreading as far as I could see. I could feel the wind on my face and the cold touch of snowflakes falling against my bare form. If I were still human, I wouldn't have survived in nothing but my skin, but as a god, this weather had nothing on me. Besides, most people would die to see the sights I was seeing at the moment. There were mountains far below me and I could have sworn that I saw the snow dancing in patterns before my very eyes.

Beautiful, isn't it? said a familiar voice.

I looked to one side and I saw none other than Lugia sitting on a snow mound with his legs crossed and looking off in the distance. I also noticed for the first time that he had taken an anthro form similar to mine except that I had hair on my head and he didn't.

"Father...?" I said at a complete loss for words. Is this... Heaven? Am I... dead?"

Lugia did not look at me but instead smiled and closed his eyes. Shaking his head, he said, No. This is Mount Everest. Altair and I like to come here when we like to feel on top of the world.

"Literally," I said, making a wise crack.

For the first time, I heard Lugia laugh mentally. The emotion that I felt through our mind link could barely be described in words. I could say, though, that I felt a great ecstasy radiating all around me as I started laughing, too.

"How is this possible?" I said, walking over to sit next to him. "I thought I was still inside that lab."

Lugia looked at me for the first time and I felt a sense of security radiating from behind his mask. Technically, you are, but I "borrowed" your spirit for tonight so that you could give your wings a good stretch. I realize that you must be extremely sore from being locked in that small room all the time.

"No kidding. But if I'm still connected to my body, won't my wings move with it?"

Lugia shook his head. Altair has generously given up his body for the night so that you may feel this beautiful sensation for a while.

For the first time, I looked at myself and saw that I was not in the form that belonged to me. I had no hair this time and wherever I was navy-blue, Altair was ruby-red. Also, his torso mark was a pale red – almost pink!

Smiling, I added, "When I leave, give my thanks to Altair."

Lugia nodded and said, I will do that. He then looked off in the distance and held his hand out as if to take something. Why don't you take this opportunity to stretch your wings? After all, you have to go back to the lab in a couple of hours.

I couldn't think of anything better to do, so for the first time, I spread my flipper-like wings and flapped them a few times, gaining altitude and soon I was airborne.

What a feeling! Even though I was borrowing Altair's body, I had never felt such a powerful and pleasurable sensation! I barely had to flap my wings to stay airborne and the feeling of the wind against my albino skin felt like I had truly come home. It wasn't cold at all but was slightly cool and refreshing instead. I felt the snowflakes touching my skin and melting, giving me a wet feeling that reminded me of swimming in the ocean. And that sun! The rays of sunlight that hit me from above the clouds seemed to warm my body up to the point that I felt as if I was receiving a warm massage. The feeling was not unlike taking a bath in pure warmth.

I soared high over the Himalayas and leaned to the left to turn and roll over on my back. I kept my hands on my chest and floated upside-down with the sunlight hitting me on the torso. It made my heart dance to feel the warm feeling for the first time despite this body not being mine. Also, my wings, which had been folded indoors all this time, felt rejuvenated from the cool wind and the warm sun massaging my aching muscles. It was truly an experience like no other.

On a whim, I decided to see how fast my reflexes were in the air. I rolled forward so that I was facing the ground and folded my wings and back plates against my body, dropping me into a steep nosedive. As I fell through the air, I waited until the right moment to pull out of it. The wind was screaming past my skin, but still I waited. The ground was coming up fast, but I waited for my chance.

And just when it looked like I would become a Lugian Pancake, I suddenly went into a spin high above a frozen lake and was surrounded my chilly water. Just inches before I hit the surface of the ice, I seemed to vanish into the water when the Whirlpool dissolved. But in reality, I was diving through the water and was using my arms and legs to paddle with my wings acting as a speed booster.

Once I had reached the bottom of the lake, I pulled out of my dive so that I was "hovering" just above the bed of the lake. I then started swimming back towards the surface and soon started spinning again. I found that I could move faster through the water by using my Whirlpool move and soon, I was spiraling high over the Himalayas. With one more elegant spin, I spread my wings and arms wide and let out a soft, musical cry of pure joy. My heart softened at the soothing melody I was emitting and Lugia smiled from high on Everest's peak.

Once I had had enough, I flew back to the peak and landed next to my father. Lugia clapped gently and got to his feet.

How do you feel, son?

I sighed and held my head high to feel the wind blowing past me. "That was unlike any feeling I had ever experienced. I can't wait until I can do this for real!"

Lugia smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. You won't have to wait long. When the morning breaks in the lab, you will be that much closer to true freedom. I hope I can see you face-to-face and touch you for real when that happens.

I nodded and held a hand over my heart. "I look forward to seeing you again. I swear that I will not disappoint you."

Good. Now you must take the first step towards your freedom. You must wake up.

This time, I did not object when I felt my mind being separated from Altair's body. Soon, I was just a spirit traveling through a black space before I reentered my body deep inside the Hybrid Lab. That had been a truly remarkable experience and I was determined to do it again.

When I woke up that morning, I felt a great satisfaction flowing through me. My wings were no longer sore and my mind was completely unlocked, despite the collar still being around my neck. I thought about my experience in the Dream World for a moment, which I noticed for the first time had actually happened.

But then reality came back to me. I realized where I was and I sat up in my bed. A strange noise was echoing in my head and I realized that they must have found out that Lugia had escaped. However, I noticed that none of them were bothering to check on me. If that was the case, I assumed that my plan had gone off without a hitch. But being the nosy hybrid that I was, I sat down on my bed and went into a meditation-like state to listen to what was going on out there.

It was hard to hear what was going on because of the alarm that was blaring out there, but I heard two scientists talking about Lugia's escape.

"There's nothing on the monitors about what happened and there's no indication that anyone broke in! The tank controls are untouched except for the shutter switches."

"But that doesn't make any sense. There's no way that they could have gotten it out without opening the tank! And according to the its brain-wave monitors, it seemed to recognize someone or something before it disappeared. I just don't get it!"

I smiled as I adjusted my focus to a couple of scientists who were arguing about some kind of chemical.

"How on earth did this happen?! All of the creature's DNA samples got tainted all at once!"

"What?! But didn't we nurture those with expert care?!"

"I thought we did, too, but all of the vials suddenly turned black and the DNA strands became tainted. They're completely useless now, and if we don't find that creature, we can't get another sample!"

"What about that hybrid that we injected it into in the first place?"

"It won't work. It has to be a pure sample, otherwise it would end up like all our other failed experiments."

I smiled as these two continued arguing. Lugia must have done something to the DNA samples that had been extracted from him to create me, causing them to become tainted and useless. It struck me as odd how he could have done this after he had Teleported out of here, but the powers of God Reincarnated cannot always be explained.

Shifting my attention again, I locked onto Skyle Kelvin and Maria the Hedgehog arguing about me and Lugia.

"Isn't it odd that you were the last one to be with that hybrid before all this happened, Maria? He might have had something to do with that creature's disappearance."

"How dare you! He's been in his room the entire night! I checked the lock on his door this morning and no one else had accessed it since yesterday afternoon! Anyway, his powers should have been locked up by that awful collar you put on him. The only way that he could have used it is if he could read minds!"

I held my breath when she said this. In her anger, Maria might have just let slip one of my abilities to her boss. However, I heard Skyle scoff and accost her.

"If he could read minds, it would have been in the initial report. He may be psychic, but no one can read minds – not even him! No, someone else had something to do with this! I'm going to find out who it is!"

I let out a sigh. Maria must have left out the part about me being able to read minds on purpose when she first met me. I silently thanked her for that and listened further.

"If you're so smart, find out who broke into my lab and stole that creature! I don't care what you have to do, just find it!"

I heard Skyle storm off and Maria sigh. "Sometimes I don't understand him. I can't believe he treats me like this when I try so hard to make him happy. Well, I suppose I'd better check on Johiko. The Divine Peace Corps Manager is going to be furious when he finds out about this."

I heard Maria coming towards my room and I broke my concentration. Soon after, I heard the alarm shut off and Maria inputted the code to my room and entered.

"Johiko? Are you awake?"

I uncurled my legs and sat on the edge of my bed, making it look like nothing had happened. "I'm up. What's all the commotion? I'm nearly going deaf from the volume of those people's minds."

Maria closed the door and walked over to me, unsure about what to say. I noticed for the first time that she had the glassy-blue rose that I had given her in her quills.

"Johiko... I'm not sure how to tell you this, but you can probably read my mind anyway."

I put a wing around her shoulder in an embrace and said point-blank, "I know that Lugia escaped. I was there when he did."

Maria looked at me with those watery-blue eyes in shock. "You did break out. I knew that someone had broken into the lab, but I never thought you'd be responsible."

I ran my fingers through her quills and explained what had happened since I had talked with Lugia last night. I explained that it was a second Lugia named Altair that had Teleported him out of here. I also told her about my "dream" following the break-out. All the while, she pain careful attention to my story.

When I was done, she sat speechless at my side as I slowly stroked her fur.

"I never knew that Lugia was capable of all this."

"You'd be surprised what he could do. This is just a hint of his true power."

Just then, someone pounded on the door to my room and called inside. "Maria! Get out here! You-Know-Who is here!"

Maria got up and walked nervously to the door, leaving me sitting on my bed. Turning back to me, she spoke in an uncertain tone of voice.

"I have no idea how this is going to turn out. We could all lose our jobs over this. Just stay here and don't move." But then she projected her thoughts to me so that I would be the only one to hear her.

I'll leave the window open so you can watch from in here. Just be careful.

She left my room and locked the door. But true to her word, she left the window open slightly so that I could watch what was going on from in here.

I walked over to the door and looked out the crack in the window. Two official-looking men I had never seen before were standing outside Lugia's tank and were inspecting it closely. They looked practically like twins except that one of them was wearing a red tie while the other one was wearing a blue one.

The man in the red tie turned to face Skyle in a pitiful way.

"I'm greatly disappointed in your security skills, Mr. Kelvin. According to your security cameras, the creature disappeared overnight."

Skyle tried not to look worried. "I can't understand it, either, Mr. Silverhawke. Not only that, but all of our records and samples of the creature have ended up missing or tainted. And according to our security cameras, there was absolutely no one in the lab last night."

The man in the blue tie looked around the room and spotted my cell. Without saying a word, he pointed in my direction and shook his head. Red Tie seemed to understand him and addressed Skyle again.

"My superior tells me that we have yet to see the hybrid created by your research of the creature. Can you explain why that is?"

Skyle appeared to have been caught off-guard. He knew for a fact that he had never showed his boss the results of the hybrid experiment and had been caught red-handed. Despite that, he did his best to cover up his actions.

"I'm sorry, but the last time you visited, we weren't quite sure if the hybrid was stable. We were still running tests to make sure it would survive."

But this lie didn't seem to fly with Red Tie's superior. He shook his head and made a slashing motion around his neck.

"It appears that my superior doesn't believe that for a minute. He wishes to see the hybrid right away, and there are no excuses this time."

Skyle knew he was out of reasons to hide me this time, so he reluctantly agreed to let me out. Motioning to Maria, he pointed towards my cell and said, "Go get him."

I quickly moved back to my bed and waited patiently for Maria to open the door. When she did, she seemed extremely tense.

"Come on, Johiko. You're being wanted." She then thought in her mind, Please don't embarrass any of us.

I obediently followed her out into the main lab. The two men examined me with interest. Something in their eyes seemed to spark something in my memory; I just couldn't remember what.

Blue Tie looked at his partner and nodded his head and made a swishing motion with his arm. Red Tie seemed to understand this and turned to address me directly.

"Hello, there," he said politely. "Can you tell me your name?"

Skyle was on edge as I told him in a normal tone, "Johiko Darck, sir."

Blue Tie put his hand under his chin and tapped the side of his head with one finger. Red Tie nodded and talked to me in a casual tone. "And how do you like it here, Mr. Darck?"

I could hear Skyle's mind shouting, Don't tell him! Please don't tell him!

I gave a small smiled that Skyle did not see and answered Red Tie. "It's not very homey in here."

Red Tie seemed to know what I was going to say, but said simply, "Tell me about that."

I flicked my tail once and spilled my guts to him. "They keep me locked in my room for hours on end, they've only fed me once since I became a Hybrid three days ago, they treat me like some kind of wild animal and they put this blasted collar around my neck so I can't use the psychic powers that they gave me."

Skyle looked both furious and scared at the same time as he watched Blue Tie take some notes on a clipboard. His test subject had just told his boss everything that had happened to me since I became a Hybrid. Now grinning inside, I decided to tell them one more thing.

"On a positive note, one of the scientists has been really nice to me since I woke up."

Red Tie smiled and asked, "And who is that? Can you point them out?"

I did so by pointing my wing at Maria without looking at her. "Her, sir. Her name is Maria and she's a Hybrid just like me."

Blue Tie shook his head and took another note. Red Tie's thoughts echoed in my head. "Thank you, Johiko. I will handle it from here." His voice sounded somewhat familiar this way. I couldn't put a name on it, but I know I had heard it before.

Red Tie then looked at Skyle with a severely disappointed look on his face. "If I remember correctly, Mr. Kelvin, I asked that you inform me of any successful hybrid experiments within 24 hours of the test conclusions. Yet I only remember getting one report about Mr. Darck here and no others. Is there a reason that you have withheld this young hybrid's file from me?"

I could see sweat dripping down Skyle's forehead and I could sense that his mind and heart were racing a mile a minute. He had obviously neglected to inform his superior of Maria's successful transformation and it was coming back to haunt him. The look on his face was all the more priceless when I saw that the entire lab was in on this conversation. He was getting branded in front of all of his workers and I couldn't be happier.

"We... uh... weren't sure that Miss Maria's body would be stable enough to... um... inform you at the time."

A lame excuse, and Blue and Red Ties didn't buy it for an instant.

"That's quite enough out of you, Mr. Kelvin," said Red Tie, walking over to Maria. "Because of your inability to inform me of Miss Hedgehog's test results, I am afraid that I must remove her from this facility. She will be taken to a different lab where she will be treated with care and compassion."

Maria looked uncertain as Red Tie escorted her away from Skyle. She had never known freedom other than in this lab, but she felt that Red and Blue Ties' offer was worth its weight in gold.

Blue Tie stowed his clipboard away and walked over to me, looking me up and down with interest. All the while, even though he was a mute, I could hear his thoughts as though he were speaking directly to me.

You've really turned out quite spectacularly, Johiko. I always knew that this experience would satisfy Fate. I finally have a son to carry out my legacy and he couldn't look more marvelous.

Almost immediately, I knew who this was! This was my father, Lugia, in disguise! I couldn't believe all that he had done to help me become a Hybrid and join him as his son. And if this was Lugia... then Red Tie had to be...

Yes... It's Altair, said Lugia, reading my own mind. But don't say anything or you'll blow our cover.

I nodded as Lugia walked back to Altair and Maria and pointed to his clipboard and then to me before shrugging and shaking his head. After clapping a hand to his forehead, he held his hands up in the air before pointing to Skyle (who flinched) and pretending to stomp on his shoe.

Altair seemed to get the point, although I had a sneaking suspicion that they were communicating telepathically and that the charades deal was just a cover-up.

Altair led Maria over to Lugia, who traded his clipboard for her. He then flipped through the pages before stopping on a document that I recognized as being made from the same material as my original résumé.

"Mr. Kelvin, my superior informs me that one of your employees, a Mr. Johiko Darck, had recently gone missing just a few days before you sent me this report about Mr. Darck over here." He paused to enjoy the shock on Mr. Kelvin's face. "Isn't it entirely coincidental that the "anonymous volunteer" for this experiment has the same background and status as Mr. Darck? And if that's the case, then isn't this Johiko Darck the same one as the employee that had gone missing?" Skyle was close to a nervous breakdown as Altair came in for the kill. "And didn't I warn you about using your own employees as guinea pigs for this project?"

Skyle did not answer, and Altair didn't need him to. He didn't need to be psychic to tell that Skyle had hit a dead-end. When Skyle refused to answer, Altair and Lugia shook their heads and Altair said simply.

"I warned you what would happen if I found out you were using your own employees for this test, Mr. Kelvin. I will commence the closure and discontinuation of this lab, effective immediately. Mr. Darck, will you please follow me?"

I couldn't believe what had just happened! Altair and Lugia had just defeated Skyle at his own dirty game and they were breaking me and Maria out of here! The look on Skyle's face was priceless as Altair and Lugia made to leave with me and Maria behind him.

It was at that moment that Skyle Kelvin, being the lowlife that he was, ran over to a secret compartment under one of the consoles, kicked it open and pulled out a very real-looking AK-47 automatic machine gun.

"I've come too far to just hand the greatest scientific advancement in history to you pencil-pushers! I don't care what you say; you're not taking my one shot at immortality away from me!"

All of the scientists in the room started running as Skyle opened fire on Lugia and Altair, who dove for cover behind a computer console, dragging Maria and I along with them.

Skyle started shooting at the console in an attempt to flush the four of us out, screaming, "He's mine! I created him! I own him! You won't take him away from me!"

Lugia and Altair looked at each other and then to Maria. "Maria," said Lugia for the first time. "Your father is out of control. We've got to find a way to shut him down before either of you get hurt."

Oh... my... God... Skyle was Maria's father?!?! How could that be?! And if that was true, how could he have experimented on his own daughter and then treat her like filth all this time?

Lugia looked at me, having read my thoughts. "Now is not the time to worry about that, Johiko. I trust you to get Maria to safety while we deal with Skyle."

I nodded and then choked as Altair grabbed the metal collar around my neck and broke it off with one quick pull backwards with inhuman strength.

I choked and gasped for breath as I confronted Altair. "What was that for?!"

Altair held up the broken collar and smiled. "I thought you'd wanted to be rid of this for good."

I sighed as I massaged the skin that the collar had covered. I could now breathe a little easier and my mind had been unlocked to its infinite potential.

Just then, a hail of bullets hit the spot where my hand had been just a second before. Skyle was closing in on us and he still had plenty of ammo.

"Move, son!" said Lugia, pushing me and Maria away from Skyle's line of sight and the two of them jumped out the other side.

I had expected Skyle to start shooting at us, but I was caught off-guard when he fired at Lugia and Altair, just missing them. I covered Maria with my wing and conjured up a Barrier of clear light before running to the door. Skyle was too busy firing at Lugia and Altair to notice us.

"Wait, Johiko," said Maria, pausing in our flight. She quickly ran out from under my cover and to a desk lined with test tubes and syringes.

"What are you doing?!" I said, running after her. However, before I could catch her, she had grabbed a syringe filled with an unknown blue liquid and ran in the direction of her berserk father.

"Evening the odds," was all she said.

Skyle was to busy with Lugia and Altair to notice his daughter running up behind him until it was too late. She raised the syringe above her, dove at him and plunged the needle into his leg. Skyle screamed and his knees buckled as he fell to the ground. I watched in horror as the blue liquid inside the syringe was pushed into Skyle's system. The shock of the attack combined with the burning feeling of the liquid in his system was enough to stun him.

Maria flipped him over with one of her boots and stared he father in the face. She took relish in the fact that his face was that of pure terror. She stared at him with an expressionless face as Skyle said only one word:

"Why?"

Maria sneered at him and said the unthinkable. "You took my life from me, Dad. I'm just returning the favor. Now you'll know what it's like to be called "freak"."

I could not believe the venom in her voice as I walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. I had never known this sweet, innocent hedgehog hybrid to have that much hate for her father. I did know, however, that she wanted to watch his transformation unblinkingly.

To prevent this, Lugia and Altair made their way back to us and led us away from Skyle's fallen body.

"Come, you two," said Lugia timidly. "We're leaving here and never coming back. Altair... take them to safety."

Altair was speechless, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from doing his job. He walked to the two of us and started glowing a bright red color, engulfing his entire body. When it dimmed, I saw the same anthro Lugia figure that I had borrowed last night during my flight with Lugia. He was bigger than me and he was ruby-red where I was navy-blue and he didn't have any hair where I did.

He put a wing around mine and Maria's shoulders and surrounded us with his clear-red barrier. I began to feel weightless and my mind went blank as we Teleported out of the lab.

What went on between Lugia and Skyle was so disturbing that I cannot repeat the experience, even when Maria and I were told about it down the road.

When I opened my eyes next, I found myself somewhere on the outskirts of Washington D.C. lying next on the ground with Lugia and Altair standing over me in their true forms. Maria had already awakened and was sitting on a nearby rock, waiting patiently.

"Father...? Altair...? What happened?"

Lugia helped me get to my feet by lending me his wing for support. It is done. You are free.

Those six words told me everything I needed to know about where I was or what was going on. For the first time since before becoming a hybrid, I was able to take my first real breaths of fresh air. But there was still one question that I wanted answered.

"What's going to happen to Maria, Father?"

Lugia looked over at her, who I noticed had been outfitted with a new attire. She now wore a silky silver-and-blue coat and shirt with a wide cape-like edge below her waist. She also had a pair of large, bulky, white-and-blue boots with black tips on her feet instead of her business shoes. She looked rather cute in the whole attire, including the headphones/headband that I had first seen her with.

Since she is the only one of her species, I thought she'd like to stay with you until she gets back on her feet.

"Oh... but... where am I going to stay?" I asked the obvious question.

Lugia looked at Altair and put a wing over his shoulder. Altair has a rather nice hideout in the Caribbean that you can stay until you can take care of yourself. He then looked at me and answered the next question in my mind. As Guardians, Altair and I are very busy at the moment, so we will be traveling the world, trying to patch up what the humans have done to it. I think you two are old enough to handle yourselves without our assistance, correct?

He had a point. I was certainly at the point in my life that I could take care of myself. After all, I had left my original family with the intent to live an independent life in the first place. I figured that I could handle it.

"Yes, sir."

Then all is as it should be. Don't worry about it, he said, invading my mind once again. I can still spend time with you on a regular basis. After all, we are immortals –- we have all the time in the world.

"Yeah... but..." I turned to look at Maria. "She's not."

Lugia put a feather under my chin and looked me square in the eyes. Maria's life span has been drastically reduced by her transformation. I am sure that you will help her live out her changed life to the fullest before she dies. I believe in you.

I sighed and looked away. Ever since she had visited me in my room back at the lab, I had been forever in love with Maria. But it still pained me to know that I will live on when her time has come to an end. Nevertheless, I was determined to help her lead a normal life for as long as the two of us were together.

I turned to look at Lugia again, a look of determination in my eyes. "Good-bye, Father... Altair... May your wings never fail."

Lugia and Altair both held their wings high above their heads and let out a pair of musical cries before they turned and took off together, bound for wherever they were needed. I watched them disappear into the horizon before I went over to Maria and sat down on the rock next to her and wrapped a wing around her.

"So, what do they have in store for us, Johiko?" Maria said softly. "What does Fate have planned for us?"

I looked up at the sunset-laced sky and let out a sigh. "Even I don't know that, Maria. The only thing I can say is that we confront Fate as it comes to us. We may not see the future together, but I can assure you that it has never been brighter."

Maria smiled and leaned against my side. We both enjoyed the feeling we had on each other and hoped to spend as long as we could together.

Maria died at the young age of 68. If her transformation had been treated sooner, she might have lived as long as 100 or more. I was greatly stricken by sorrow when I attended her funeral. By the time she had died, Lugia, Altair, myself and her had finally convinced the world that we could live together in peace.

I buried her on a private island in the Caribbean overlooking the ocean. She had always liked the ocean ever since Lugia took her on a flight through the underwater current that snaked around the planet. about 20 years before her death. In front of her grave, I planted the glass flower that I had given her when we had first met. It always catches the light of the moon whenever it hit the island, acting as a beacon to nearby sailors. She had always worn it wherever she went and it had always caught the rays of both the sun and the moon.

As for myself, after her death, I went into the gambling business. Being psychic, I was always able to accurately predict the outcome of games at casinos and sports games, along with the occasional lottery. I made quite a pretty penny and was soon named the "Richest Person on the Planet". I bought a solid-crystal house and furnishings, but I had always had plenty of money left over. I didn't let it take over my head, though. Money was just something I had that I was always willing to donate or give away.

Over the years, I've kept up my contact with my Father and Altair. They've always been willing to take me out on several of their missions to help bring global peace and I am always eager to help out. But other than that, I am kind of a loner. Even after 1000 years, I've only married three times, and its only with my current wife that I've had any children. I was very proud to father two young True Lugia children named Sol and Luna.

Ever since that day over 1000 years ago, I've always thought about what might have happened if Fate had played out differently and I hadn't gotten involved with the Guardians. But I always come to the conclusion that I wouldn't have traded anything for a change in Fate. I've learned to embrace my immortal life and always treat each day as if it were my last.

My name is Johiko. I am the Son of Lugia... and this is my story.

END

Coming soon from shadowlugia249:

"Flammie and Glory 2: Dreams Come True" – Seryn's story

"Chaos Theory: Legend of the Black Emerald" – ???