Chapter 51

The Nature of Evil

Her breath was stuck in her throat as she stared at Holden, and he looked surprised as Kassidy in their position. They quickly pulled their lips away from each other, and when they did, their cheeks turned red as ripe tomatoes. The female Silverwing felt very awkward at that moment, and with the purple Silverwing on top of her, she could feel the heat coming off him and his abs sticking to her blue abdomen. Quickly she slid out from under him and stood up, and as she did, Holden got up and started to rub his neck slowly. Their cheeks continued to burn red, and Kassidy began to curse in her head.

"Uh… sorry," Holden tried to word out.

"No, no," Kassidy reassuringly said as she held her hands out. "It's fine… I know you didn't mean to." But even as the red-haired Silverwing thought of it, she couldn't help but touch her lips.

"You guys alright?!" Kassidy heard Marina call out and quietly sighed, relieved when their friend's voice came in at a good time. The gothic Silverwing looked up to see the blonde Brightwing, Orestes, and Throbb, looking down at everyone from a large hole in the ceiling that once bore a pipe, and so many questions started to take place in her head.

"Yeah, we're fine!" Shade answered.

"For now, at least!" Helen yelled out as she cupped her beak with one of her spotted wings.

"Goth!" Throbb said, getting his brother-in-law's attention. "Thank Zotz! You're alright!"

Goth tightened his lips, annoyed as he stared up at the tubby Vampyrum. "Whatever, Throbb! Where's Dianna?!"

Throbb rubbed his head a little uneasy. "Yeah… about that…"

Before Throbb could continue, a fist clashed against Kassidy's face, and she cried out in pain as she found herself sliding to the ground and heard her friends gasp. The female Silverwing groaned as she rubbed the area where it started to feel tender, and when she looked up, her blue eyes widened when she saw Martin. Shadows cast on him, almost giving him a dramatic entrance, and his mismatched eyes never once left the gothic Silverwing's. Blood stained the side of his head, and somehow he seemed to still function as an ordinary living being. Holden tried to tackle the red-winged Vampyrum, but Martin grabbed hold of his neck and lobbed him at Shade, and the boys collided, sending them tumbling to the ground. They groaned, but as they did, Kassidy snarled as she got up and continued to face her half-Uncle.

"And so our little game continues," Martin spitefully said as he tilted his head from one side to the other to crack his neck. "One way or another, Orphan, it'll end with you and your friends losing that game."

"You think of this as a game?" Kassidy hatefully asked. "You're sick. Do you know that? You've brought nothing but cruelty to my friends and me, and to think you were my half-Uncle the whole time… So why are you doing this?! Why did you kill my parents and kidnap the rest of my family?!" The female Silverwing felt the inside of her body burn with fury, and fire was on the verge of coming to life as her hands clenched into balled fists. "Answer me!"

Silence struck the air, and no one said anything for at least a minute until Martin casually started to speak with his arms crossed. "Convince me why I should, and you have one minute. Fail, and I'll be beheading one of your friends."

Kassidy's friends gasped, but the gothic Silverwing immediately started to list why Martin should answer like she was on the debate team. "You said you wouldn't tell me where you have my family, but you never said you wouldn't tell me why you took them, you went through all this trouble just to try and capture my friends and me, but we managed to trick you a few times, you're my half-uncle, and I have the right to know, and what stays in the dark always comes to light. Fact 1: You lied about helping us. Fact 2: You've been wrecking the animal kingdom without anyone finding out about you. Fact 3: You've been using me as a scapegoat to the birds and beasts. Fact 4: You've been hiding from me that we're related, and Fact 5: You've been lying about your identity as a giant bat. You're human." Goth and Throbb's eyes bulged at the mention of the red-winged bat's true identity, and as they were, the witch-turned bat didn't even need to look at them as she spoke to them. "And yes, you two, Martin and Dianna, are humans."

"Kass and I are, too," Holden admitted.

Martin seemed pissed that Kassidy and Holden blew his cover, and Goth and Throbb were left speechless. However, the red-winged Vampyrum hummed in thought, and as he did, the gothic Silverwing's friends held their breaths, not knowing what to expect. Either way, nothing good was coming of this.

After some time of thinking, Martin then shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough, I guess. Allow me to shed some light on the subject. I suppose it all began when I was around your age…"

Around the age of 17, a young-looking Martin was in a classroom, and he was reading a classic book while his classmates goofed around or simply chatted amongst themselves. He was wearing casual clothes and a pair of black spectacles, making him look like a nerd. Unfortunately, a lot underestimated him, though as he seemed pretty skinny, in reality, he was a vigorous teenager.

"I was in my senior year back from summer vacation, and I would never forget that day. First period, AP English Literature. On that day was the day I first met Dianna."

The door opened to AP English Literature, and Martin glanced at it. He was about to look back to the page he left off on, but the teen stopped himself when he had a better look at who came in. It was a female student who was wearing black spectacles like Martin. However, she was also wearing a plain purple shirt, a white skirt over her knees, and brown flats, and she had raven black hair in a messy high ponytail. The female student pretty much looked like a nerd. Martin had never seen her around before, but he assumed she was new, and in a twisted way, he thought she looked cute.

The female student looked nervous as she held a couple of books against her chest, but she tried to find a seat, and as she was, a few of the students started to snicker and talk about how weird she looked. Martin shook his head; they were giving her the same treatment he usually got. He usually got made fun of not just because of how nerdy he looked but also because of his eyes, and the title he got from his classmates was freak. As he watched the new student trying to find a seat, one of the students extended his foot out in the aisle, she was in and ended up tripping on it. She screamed and fell to the ground, and the classroom burst into laughter when she did. The female student got up, looking embarrassed as her eyes cast downwards. She quickly went to find an open seat, which wasn't long until she found one.

Her seat was directly next to Martin's.

Martin glared at the class, still laughing, but he looked back at the female student and tapped her shoulder. "Hey, if it'll make you feel better, you don't have to worry about me picking on you." The embarrassed student looked at him shyly, but as she did, she seemed curious about his eyes. The male-looking nerd extended his hand out. "Martin."

The shy student didn't say anything at first, but her lips slowly formed into a weak smile. Finally, she took Martin's hand and shook it. "Dianna."

"We were both outcasts at the time, but that brought us together."

Time went by with the two being very close friends as they got to know each other more, like Martin revealing he was a wizard to Dianna. They stuck close together like a ribbon tied around them, and they went to the same university with Martin majoring in economics to become a criminal justice lawyer and Dianna majoring in chemistry to become a chemist. They successfully graduated from university, and over time they managed to get the jobs they wanted to be in, started to fall in love, and even got married.

"Everything in our lives was going perfectly with the jobs we wanted; me being a criminal justice lawyer and her a chemist. Our marriage was going very steadily, and topping it off, Dianna found out one day that she was pregnant."

Martin was pacing in front of their bathroom door, waiting for Dianna to come out. It had been around ten minutes, and she hadn't come out. He thought of going to check on her, however, the door finally opened, and he looked at her, holding his breath. His wife nodded without a word, and they hugged each other when she did.

"However, nothing would've prepared us for what came next. My boss was hosting a New Year's Eve party at his place, and on that day, he was going to announce who made partner with him."

Martin and a three-week pregnant Dianna were sitting at a table, eagerly awaiting, like many others, to see who made partner. The criminal justice lawyer worked very hard to try and get it, and with his latest results as far as his clients went, he felt like he had this in the bag. His boss Larry started to announce who made his partner, but when he called out who it was, Martin and Dianna's eyes widened when he called out someone else: Drew Jenkins. Drew got out of his seat and walked over to Larry, and the two shook hands as everyone clapped.

Martin and Dianna didn't clap, though. Instead, the criminal justice lawyer was shocked that Drew made partner… How? He goofed around a lot, but yet he made partner with Larry? Martin felt like a vacuum sucked all the air out of him as Dianna rested her hand on his shoulder.

"All that hard work put into my job, and yet it seemed to have gone to waste when my boss announced that another attorney made partner with him."

Martin was sitting at his dining room table, all miserable with his hair messed up, his suit untidy, and his eyes very red from lack of sleep. His glasses were off as his hands were covering his face, and only a single candle was lit on the table, dimming the room a little, and it felt like the shadows were watching him and taunting him.

"Well, apparently karma can come back at you like a bitch because a few days later, when I didn't make partner Dianna had a miscarriage."

The little flame on the candle vanished, leaving Martin in the darkness.

"Days turned into weeks, and our luck didn't get any better."

Martin was walking out of his office exhausted, carrying a briefcase, and with all his work done, he was making his way to his vehicle so he could go home. As he was walking, so much anger was building up inside him, and it almost looked like he'd erupt like a volcano at any moment. Nothing seemed to be looking up to him with everything that had happened so far.

"I lost my job and license to it after I punched the attorney that made partner with my boss when he tried to converse with me, and I was arrested and had to spend the night in jail. Months later, Dianna was fired from her job when she accidentally created something dangerous with the chemicals she was using. We hit rock bottom, and we had to get new jobs, but with our situation, we were constantly arguing. Weeks eventually turned into months and years, and I watched as everything crumbled before me. Whenever Dianna and I did get a new job, we would usually get fired within months. What mainly was tearing us apart was Dianna could not conceive."

Martin came home around 8:00 pm and opened the door to a messy house, almost as if a war had happened. He had a long shift at work, and his anger had built up more than ever. It was almost as if the teeniest thing would set him off at any moment.

"Dianna?" He called out, exhausted.

He didn't hear his wife answer, but that's when he found a note on the dining room table piled with unpaid bills. Martin picked it up and saw that it was Dianna's handwriting. She would be home late, and she wouldn't be home in time to cook, and he'd have to find another way to eat dinner. The worn-out man sighed as he crumbled up the note and tossed it over his shoulder. He wasn't hungry anyway.

Martin strode to his phone answering machine, played the unheard voicemails, and then went to the fridge and pulled out a beer. He popped open the cap and took a long swig of his drink. The more the frustrated man listened to the voicemails, his breathing filled slowly with rage. Then, finally, his hand started forming a fist, and all the anger he was feeling started to take control of him, and he could feel fire trying to reach the surface of his body.

"And then, I finally snapped."

Martin yelled angrily, throwing his bottle at the wall, making it shatter as fire began to sprout on his body. Then, he let out all his anger on everything in the house; throwing objects, flipping over tables, destroying anything with his magic, etc. Martin was like a phoenix with the bright orange and yellow flames enveloping him, and nothing could stop him at that moment. His life got screwed over thanks to everyone that did him wrong, and he wanted to make them pay.

"Dianna and I lived through havoc, we worked hard for what we wanted, and pathetically we even prayed that we'd get what we'd want. Only for it all to be taken away by not only misfortune but also by the people who screwed us over."

All the anger that Kassidy felt was flushed away by utter shock. So this was what happened in Martin and Dianna's lives? But the way her half-Uncle spoke about it he remained calm as a cucumber. It was like he had grown on it and gotten used to it the older he got.

"Oh, my god," Kassidy said, almost in a whisper. She could almost feel everyone's reactions, and it was like she hacked into their brains so she could feel them from a distance without even looking at them. She slowly began to speak once more though, having a feeling what the next chapter of his story was about, remembering the stacks of photos she and her friends found at the hut. "And after that final breaking point… you and Dianna came together and decided to kill the people who wronged you."

Martin cocked his eyebrow as a devilish smirk appeared. "You catch on quickly, Orphan."

Martin was talking to Dianna in their room, telling her that certain people were the cause of everything falling apart and that the only way they could finally live in peace was by killing them. He was sick and tired of living in so many people's shadows, and it was time to end it. Whether his wife would agree to do it or not, he couldn't continue his life like this. To his content, Dianna decided to do it.

"We made our vows, darling," his wife softly said. "As long as we're married, I'll stay true to you." She then got on her tippy toes and whispered into Martin's ear. "Til death do us part."

"We planned our murder streak, and with my magic, it gave us the advantage we needed. Our first person to kill was my first ex-boss, and I remember how I enjoyed the feeling of ending his life."

They watched as Larry headed over to his Lexus silver car around nighttime. His back turned to them, and so they made their move. Martin and Dianna were invisible so that no one would spot them. Not even the hidden cameras would. But, before their target could even get in his car, the invisible man wrapped his arm around Larry's neck, covered his mouth, and dragged him into an alleyway. The criminal justice lawyer was trying to free himself, but his invisible captor held a firm grip on him, and with no one witnessing his situation, it was clear he was doomed.

Martin and Dianna pulled out their invisible kitchen knives-their hands covered with gloves-and started to stab the criminal justice lawyer with his mouth still covered. Larry muffled in pain, but after twenty-four stabs, the older man was lying still, never breathing or moving again. Finally, he was dead as a doornail.

All the stress, anger, and depression felt started to melt away and replaced with something he never thought imaginable. Martin felt so… alive after what he did. He felt no remorse as he looked down at Larry's corpse, and a twisted smile started to take over his face. Even though it was the beginning of their killing streak, the wizard was satisfied his ex-boss was deceased.

"And then we killed Dianna's first ex-boss, and so on."

Martin and Dianna killed their targets by either stabbing them, slitting their throats open, strangling them, using poison, magic, etc.

"Eventually, we managed to accomplish that, but we wanted more in the thrill of killing. So, of course, after we killed the ones on our list, we stole some valuable items from them and started to get rich, filthy rich, I should say. The killing continued, mostly for the ones with magic, and each time we killed magic users, I harvested their magic so I could become stronger."

They killed an older woman, and after they did, Martin knelt next to her, hovered his hand over her opened mouth, and concentrated on removing her magic without a bead of sweat forming. Before long, a bright white light started to slither out of the deceased witch's throat, and as it did, the wizard guided it to an open, empty chemistry bottle. It flowed gracefully into it like a river until there was no more magic to suck out of the deceased woman.

"We became the most wanted, but we always managed to get away in the snap of my fingers. From that day forward, we changed into different people; people that many would fear and wish they'd never mess with."

Martin and Dianna walked out of the shadows as brand new people and no longer had glasses. They were almost like celebrities, with the wizard looking extraordinarily handsome and his wife looking extremely beautiful-thanks to the use of magic. No more would they suffer. No more would they be looked down upon… and no longer would they be weak. Instead, they were now compelling people, making big plans for the future.

Hearing Martin speak brought back something her Mom once told her, 'Some people are not born monsters. What happened to them at some point in their lives makes them into what they are.' Kassidy's half Uncle and his wife were the perfect examples of that. But, even though that was, it was no excuse for them to murder her parents, kidnap her family, and make other peoples' lives a living Hell. Of course, everyone except Kassidy and Holden was confused by the word usage Martin used, but none dared to ask what any of them meant.

"You… and Dianna did all that for revenge?" Shade asked, almost quaking.

"Does that surprise you, runt?" Martin snidely said, making the blonde Silverwing narrow his eyes a little at him.

"There is something I don't understand, though," Kassidy chimed in. "How does our family come to play in your story?"

"Your family." The red-winged Vampyrum corrected her. "The family name is nothing more to me than an acrid aftertaste." The female Silverwing's brow furrowed as Martin continued. "I found out I was adopted when I looked through my adopted parents' attic. Hidden in a box were the adoption papers and my birth certificate. Such a shame, they raised me well, but their sweet lies were enough for me to hate them more than ever."

"By Nocturna's grace," Marina shakily said. "You killed them after you found out the truth?"

"Before." He then casually looked up at the shocked Brightwing. "They found out what Dianna and I were doing, and they would've reported us if I hadn't killed them with my magic. My wife's sisters and her deadbeat father had to go too, and we killed them too."

"I'm almost afraid to ask how many people you've killed over the years, man," Holden spoke up."

"Trust me," Martin then wickedly smiled at the purple Silverwing. "You don't wanna know." He then looked back at Kassidy. "Dianna and I then looked up my birth parents and did so much research. My birth father was in the army. He fought in a war but died during it when I wasn't in the world yet. As for your grandmother, why should I bother talking about her? You already know what she's like and how she died, anyway."

Kassidy and her grandmother were close, and she never once thought to question her past. But now that she knew that Martin was her half-Uncle, it begged the question of why her grandmother gave him up for adoption. Why did she never tell the family about Martin? If they had found out about him sooner, they probably would've taken him into the family, but it probably wouldn't have changed anything. Kassidy's grandmother died from heart disease and kept that secret of hers to her grave.

"My wife and I eventually found out that my biological mother had two sons with another man: Michael and Mathew. So we looked into them more, and when we discovered that they were living a nice life, with good-paying jobs and a happy family, we were beyond furious. If we couldn't have that life, why should you and the rest of your family? So, as you can imagine, we planned to locate you all so we could kill you, and it didn't take us long until we managed to locate you and your parents in Ohio."

"If you wanted to kill me along with my parents, why didn't you when you had the chance?" Kassidy pointed out.

"It was supposed to go so smoothly, and when you three weren't looking, we cut the break to your car so it would look like something went wrong. A car crash happens, and you all die in the hospital. Nice and easy." Martin's face then darkened. "But somehow, you managed to survive, and we had to make changes to our plan as far as killing the rest of your family went. With us being the most wanted by certain people, it would've been difficult for us to sneak in to kill you. For the rest, well, you pretty much know the rest of it." The red-winged Vampyrum's face was less darkened. "So, there you have it, Orphan."

It was so much to take in that Kassidy had to take a moment to think about it. She remembered waking up in the hospital with a couple of broken ribs, a fractured wrist, and some bad-looking incisions from the glass of the car windows… and the moment the doctor dropped the bomb on her about her parents. Ever since that day, it changed her a lot, and thanks to Martin and Dianna, the red-haired Silverwing would never see them again.

"And was it all worth it?" Kassidy angrily asked. "Was turning into a cold-blooded murderer worth it?"

Slowly, Martin grinned, and his snake-like teeth never looked more predatory. "Honestly, yes. Needs, wants, and desires aren't grown on trees, and many people can stand in the way of what we're aiming for, especially when blood and sweat have been put into so much hard work. They say that money can't buy happiness, but whoever said that was completely wrong."

"Well, here's my question," Shade chipped in. "Were you and Dianna planning to get to my colony and eat them?"

"Eating the colony was what Goth and Throbb wanted. We just wanted your witch friend."

"This whole time…" Goth angrily stated, "you and Dianna lied about almost everything! Throbb and I had to put up with you and your wife for Zotz knows how long, and this is all now starting to come together! I can't believe I ever thought Zotz would send a fake like you to us! You humans disgust me!"

Martin started to tutter as he shook his head. "Well, then you shouldn't have agreed to the deal. You're about as pathetic as your brother-in-law. So clueless, so hopeless, so idiotic. Better yet, you should've stayed cooped up in that fake jungle, or how we humans call it-" The human turned giant bat then gave Goth a taunting smirk, "-a glass framed enclosure."

"Burn in Zotz's most excruciating fire! After what you put Throbb and me through and disguised as the best specimens of bats, our deity would never forgive you! You dishonor him! The deal's off!"

The red-winged Vampyrum simply shrugged his shoulders. "Fine by me. When we got to the colony, we were going to kill you two anyway."

The purple-winged Vampyrum snarled at his new foe, and as he did, Throbb spoke up. "Glad you made that call, Goth! I knocked out his wife anyway!" Martin gave the tubby bat a dark expression after what he said.

"Your wife kind of had that coming, man," Holden stated. "Who's to say you won't have something coming your way too?"

"Y-Yeah," Shade agreed as the red-winged Vampyryum looked at the two male Silverwings standing beside Kassidy. "Maybe not something, but someone who's more powerful than you, like Zotz." From the way Shade spoke, it was hinted to the rest of the other friends to play along with it, and the female Silverwing picked up on it. She could see that he had a plan forming in his green eyes.

"Is that supposed to petrify me?" Marin said, unimpressed.

"You know, my friends make a point," Kassidy chimed in. "As much as your life at one point had misery, and anyone would feel sorry for you, that doesn't mean you had any right to bring violence onto anyone. Zotz would rip you a new one after all you've done."

"Ha!" Martin crossed his arms. "Well, this 'Zotz' isn't here now, is he?" The human turned Vampyrum, then looked at a pissed-off Goth. "I'm afraid that he doesn't even exist. Worshiping anyone is for the weak; it brings out nothing. And your god is nothing special."

"You know," Shade solemnly said, "you might want to be careful with what you say. Even if Zotz were here right now." He then looked up at Marina and Orestes with a hint in his eyes that he could use some help from them.

Kassidy saw that Marina caught onto the blonde Silverwing's look, but Orestes didn't seem to as he looked perplexed. Throbb, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice Shade's face. "Yeah, yeah!" Marina said, distracting Martin. "That's right, Martin!"

"Psst," the female Silverwing looked to the smaller male Silverwing to see he was getting her and Holden's attention. He started to whisper to them when he got their attention while the Brightwing and even the great horned owl were distracting the red-winged Vampyrum. "Guys, I'm going to need your help with my plan so we can get out of here."

"No need to tell us twice," Kassidy quietly replied, having a good feeling of what their friend had in mind. "Echo projecting?"

"Echo projecting." Shade then looked at Holden. "Holden, can you make it look foggy in here?"

Holden mischievously smirked. "I can work with that."

The blonde Silverwing then looked at Kassidy. "Kass, how about fire?"

"That'll be easy," the red-haired Silverwing replied in her whisper. "That won't be an issue."

"Then let's get this show going," the purple Silverwing said as he stretched his fingers out and cracked them. "One foggy area coming up."

Holden closed his brown eyes, placed his claws on his temples, and started to hum as Martin suddenly shouted at Marina and Orestes. "Shut up! One more out of you two, and I will…"

The red-winged bat trailed off when he saw how foggy it was getting, and everyone else saw it, too-except for the two owls. It was getting hard to see with the wall of fog moving in, but it gave an eerie feel with its haunting whispers. Holden went from a flickering echo projection of a leaf to this fantastic masterpiece.

"It's unbelievable," Marina said, acting astonished.

"Yeah… it's amazing," Orestes hesitantly said, trying to get in on the act, and the Brightwing quietly gasped at his horrible bluffing. "It's… beautiful." Marina frowned and elbowed him. The great horned owl immediately tried to hide the puzzlement in his voice, and with Throbb nearby, he thankfully paid no heed to the two. "In a very… ugly way."

With the first part in motion, Kassidy didn't hesitate to get on with the second part as her eyes were closed, her claws pinned to her temples, and she started to hum. So fire scorched her mind that she had no problem seeing it behind her eyelids, smelling the smoke, tasting the air of charred remnants, and feeling the fierce heat. Fire just seemed to rule over the witch's other powers, like she was born in it. If she could've, she might've bathed in it too.

Bright yellow and orange flames began to grow in a gigantic circle that barricaded Martin. The red-winged Vampyrum looked around him so confused, and as he did, Marina spoke again, acting more surprised. "Can it be?"

Orestes and Helen could see the fire Kassidy fabricated in her echo projecting skill, and they looked amazed. "My stars," Helen said, acting shocked.

Goth and Throbb didn't say a word as their eyes widened. The purple Vampyrum slowly stepped back while Martin was in the circle of blazes. There was only one more part, and Shade was ready to carry it on and strike fear into that snakelike bat as he echo projected the image he formed in his head.

Martin was unaware that something was behind him, unlike anything in the world. Two bright yellow orbs materialized, and growling echoed in the cave. A little of the red-winged Vampyrum's steel gray fur stood on end, and he slowly turned around. When he saw the objects that looked like two suns, his brow knitted together in confusion, but that's when they started to gravitate towards the ceiling. The glowing balls were eyes as a large shape of a body emerged from the fog, and as it did, Martin looked stunned by what he was seeing. What he saw was an enormous creature that looked like a bat, but it was very monstrous-looking with its rough-looking fleshed-out skin, slightly rotted, shaggy ebony black mane, sharp teeth-that were sharper than the human turned Vampyrum's-and see through membrane wings. Bones protruded from its body as if someone stuck them in there, and the beast looked more corpse-like than anything.

The monster suddenly roared like an earthquake, and fire awakened from slumber inside its mouth. Lazily, it then looked down at the snake-like bat, frozen in fear with muscles tensed. The red-winged Vampyrum's mismatched eyes looked like they wanted to pop out of their sockets as the creature trapped him inside his wings, and it was like he was in a dome. Martin was practically a mouse compared to the terrifying-looking animal.

"W-What is this?!" Martin asked, which sounded like a quiver.

"Greetings, Martin," the bat creature chillingly said that was in control of Shade.

The red-winged Vampyrum took a quiet trembling breath before speaking. "You know of me?"

"Yes, and I know you know who I am." The echo projected monster then looked at Martin at eye level. "Say my name." The Vampyrum wizard didn't utter a word as all he could do was stare at the monster's glowing eyes. "SAY IT!"

The red-winged Vampyryum fell on his rear end from the booming voice, but he steadily said the name out loud as he stood up at a slow pace. "Cama Zotz…"

"Yes…" The echo projection said in a hiss. "I've heard quite a lot of what you did and what you had to say about me, and I'm not very pleased. How dare you insult me?"

Martin silently swallowed but tried to explain himself. "F-Forgive me, O' great darkness of the underworld. I was merely doing what I always do: taunting. If I would've known you existed, I wouldn't have made you upset. I… I didn't believe in you."

The echo projection of Zotz lifted his mighty wings as he continued to stare at the timid human-turned Vampyrum, and as he did, Kassidy loved how Shade was making his echo projection. Her half-uncle seemed to have bought the act, and the blonde Silverwing was nailing it. Their other friends seemed to have been enjoying it, too, as Goth and Throbb were merely speechless by what they saw. The gothic Silverwing had never seen Martin this frightened before, and Shade concealed his voice very well. It was the cherry on top of the milkshake.

"And do you now?!" The echo projected Zotz challenged.

"Truly…" As the wings surrounded him once more, Martin carefully said, "the tales and songs… fall utterly short of your enormity… O' Cama Zotz the stupendous."

"Do you think flattery will keep you alive?"

The red-winged Vampyrum immediately shook his head. "No, no."

"No, indeed. Never have I known someone so… disrespectful. So shameful… so deceitful… so…"

"Naughty?" Holden pitched in with a playful smile.

Shade smirked and even looked like he was trying to hide some laughter. "Yes… naughty."

Martin nervously smiled. "...You are mistaken… O' Cama Zotz the greatest of calamities."

"You have nice manners…" Shade made his marionette say thoughtfully. "for a fake… and… a liar!" The red-winged Vampyrum flinched, and his breath started to get shaky. "Get on your arms and knees!" Martin was hesitant, but he obliged. "Now… say 'I am a naughty living being.'" The echo projection's eyes had glassed with so much threat. "Say it!"

Once more, the snake-like bat was hesitant, and with the situation he was in, there was no way he could pull himself out of it. He may be a powerful wizard, but he was nothing compared to what this deity was. "I-I… am a naughty living being." He silently said.

"LOUDER! AGAIN AND AGAIN! BUT WITH MORE FEELING! NOW! AND DON'T STOP UNTIL I SAY SO!"

Martin was shaking more than ever now, and he looked like a terrified child as he shriveled his face into his arms with his hands webbed onto the ground. "I-I am a naughty living being!" He cried out and stuttered. "Such a naughty, naughty living being! So naughty! My naughtiness must be punished!"

Kassidy, Holden, and Shade did all they could to box up their laughter, and with Martin now distracted, it was their chance to get away from him. The gothic Silverwing indicated to Helen to come on, and she didn't need to be told twice as she followed them to the opening of the ceiling and together with Marina and Orestes, they made their escape, leaving a shocked and also puzzled Goth and Throbb behind. They didn't even notice them leaving.

Zotz came out of nowhere and taught Martin a lesson, but the next thing Goth knew, his master suddenly vanished from his eyes. He couldn't believe what he saw… and it took everything within him not to yell in fear at some points. However, it was strange that his God would leave just like that without giving that snake the torture he deserved. The Prince was sure he would've done something like that… But that was when he thought of something.

He remembered a while ago the illusions he saw of himself, Martin, and Dianna… Did that strange magic happen again? Goth was sure now that Kassidy had something to do with that, and he had to admit that he was impressed. It was persuasive, and it especially tricked the human turned Vampyrum to the point that he was now trembling with horror and repeating that he was a 'naughty living being.'

The purple-winged Vampyrum smirked at Martin, and seeing him this scared made his day much better. He could watch it all day, but he knew that wizard would figure out sooner or later that it wasn't real. Goth could kill him while he had the chance, but seeing him the way he was was much better to witness. If he and Throbb stayed here, that disgusting human would likely have their heads.

Before Goth took off, he looked back at Martin with that same smirk on his face. "Adios, naughty living being," he happily whispered, and he then lifted himself off the ground and made his way out of the stuffy cave.

Throbb was right behind him as they left that abomination of a place behind, and the purple-winged Vampyrum hoped that Martin would rot in there with terror building up in his heart. "Good riddance," the tubby bat said. He then looked at Goth. "What do we do now?"

The two then started to hear a pile of laughter, and he could see the witch along with her friends in the sky. He didn't respond to the tubby bat, but all his mind could tell him was, Follow them.

Dianna was going to kill them once she found them. Her head was pounding like a frying pan hit her, and her body felt bruised from the stones pelted. The female Vampyrum wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but she swore she would rip out their guts and have them beg for mercy.

As she searched for anyone in sight, her ears tilted when she started to hear a voice-a familiar one. Wasting no time, Dianna veered towards it to find herself outside the mines, but she was getting warmer. The female Vampyrum felt like a metal detector as she flew down a tunnel, and she thought she'd find one of the annoying bats or owls cowering from something… that was far from it.

Dianna was startled when she saw Martin on his arms and knees shaking as he repeatedly said he was a Naughty living being. She touched land, and her husband didn't notice her presence. She didn't know what to say. Her mouth opened a few times, but it then closed. The female Vampyrum had never seen him act this way, and she wondered what happened. No one was even in the cave.

One thing was for sure, though; they would not be speaking about this to anyone.

Kassidy's eardrums drowned in the others' waves of laughter as they continued to fly. Shade's plan worked, and Martin fell for it. She had to admit it was pretty funny and had a small smile of amusement, but no laughs barged out of her mouth. As much as the female Silverwing wanted to laugh with her friends, a part of her nagged at her that there was no time for that… not when her family was still in the hands of Martin and Dianna.

"And did you get a load of that face?" Marina enthusiastically asked as they all came to rest on tree branches. "Oh, those teeth! So cool!"

Shade laughed. "Zotz! The demon bat at the center of the Earth?" He made a dramatic, scary face, making Marina and Holden laugh more.

"Smalls, that was awesome!" Holden commented as he flicked away the tears of laughter. "Who'd a thought that Martin would've fallen for another one of our echo projections?" He then cupped his mouth with both his hands and shouted out. "Dingbat!"

The two male Silverwings and Brightwing laughed again, with Orestes and Helen chuckling to the side, while Kassidy still had her small smile of amusement stitched on her face. "Yeah, well, you'd better hope you'd never run into the real Zotz," Marina teasingly said.

"Or the Underworld for the matter," the female Silverwing casually pointed out, with the slight smile loosened.

"Uh, guys?" Came Orestes's uneasy voice, making everyone draw their attention to him. "I think we should be more concerned with the- umm…" He trailed off with a nervous laugh.

Everyone looked to where the great horned owl was directing his attention, and what they saw made them gasp. High over the treetops was a squadron of owls in army formation, and Kassidy recognized one of the owl's to be General Brutus, Orestes's Father. She hadn't seen him since the incident at the clock tower, and even when that was, he still ticked her off. The owls didn't seem to notice them, but the group tried to blend in with the environment just in case. Brutus was, of course, in the front of the squadron. However, another owl was upfront with him, and it was an owl the red-haired Silverwing had never met before. He was a snowy owl with blueish blackish hair, a long beard of the same color, a black mane mixed with a gold color, yellow eyes, and a dark gray beak. His build and features made him almost look like a viking.

"There's our Fathers gathering the troops," Helen spoke, disappointed as the squadron passed by them and disappeared from view. The Princess sighed heavily with winter's breath squirming out of her beak. "This war is very wrong…"

Orestes nodded sadly in agreement. "I'm sorry you had to be dragged into this mess, Helen… Maybe it would've been better that you-"

"Orestes, I don't regret coming with you." The snowy owl's voice turned into a firm one. "I may be a Princess, but that does not make me frail or afraid."

The great horned owl turned his head to his snowy friend. "You almost got hurt back there, though… I feel like it's my fault-"

"It's not." Helen placed her wing on Orestes's back. "Listen, I said I would come with you, and I still tend to. I told you: I'm not letting you do this alone. I'd rather face the consequences than be blind to the truth. Whatever happens, just know that I'm sticking by you and them." She used her head to indicate to the four bats. "Okay?"

"Huh, I never thought I'd hear something like that come out of her," Shade whispered to Kassidy, Holden, and Marina, and as soon as he did, the Brightwing pinched him on the arm, annoyed. "Ow!"

The gothic Silverwing shook her head at the blonde Silverwing but looked back at the owl duo. She had to admit that Helen was pretty sweet to Orestes, and it was evident that the Princess meant what she was saying. Orestes has such a good friend, the female Silverwing thought to herself.

After a minute of silence, the great horned owl sighed and nodded at the snowy owl. "Okay…"

Helen smiled weakly at Orestes and then hugged him, taking the other owl by surprise. Nonetheless, though, he wrapped his wings around her and smiled weakly. It was too soon to tell, but Kassidy felt they'd be more than friends soon enough.

"What now?" Marina asked, almost in a whisper.

Kassidy looked to the sky to ensure there were no more owls nearby, but as she did, she noticed that the sky was slowly turning into a yellowish-pink color, which could only mean one thing… "I say we find a roost, and then we'll continue to Hibernaculum…" She trailed off when she started to think about her family, and the fact that she couldn't get Martin to tell her where they were was killing her inside. The female Silverwing wished she had asked Shade to have his echo projection ask that question.

"Kass, we'll find them," Shade positively said as he smiled weakly. "To the ends of the Earth if we have to."

Holden and Marina nodded in agreement. "Martin can't possibly hide them forever," the purple Silverwing chimed in.

All Kassidy could do was slowly nod. She appreciated that they wanted to help her, but she couldn't endanger their lives anymore. Martin was too dangerous; if anything, he probably figured out by now that he was tricked once more and was now fuming wildly with anger. The red-haired Silverwing felt like she caused enough trouble for them, and if they got killed, she'd blame herself more. All her thoughts remained carved in her mind, never once heard by the group.

They finally reached the high mountains, and everyone was exhausted from lack of food and sleep. A couple of beasts even died because of that, but most of the beasts continued to follow Ursa. Quacey continued to follow her too, and he never once thought of crawling back to his cousin and begging him to take him back into the pack like a pathetic moron. Finally, all the beasts settled into a cave and occupied spots. While the cave shielded them from the bitter cold, everyone talked amongst themselves while trying to stay warm… all except Quacey and Ursa.

The white Kermode bear had been carrying the black dog, who was no longer unconscious, but she was weak and dazed even as that was. The dog slept most of the time due to weakness and daze, and she seemed mostly in her head. Sometimes she tried to speak, but none of it was said clearly and was just a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Quacey couldn't understand what was wrong with her, but even when they all could've left her out in the wilderness to die, it was agreed upon that they would help her. Dogs were considered dangerous animals to the beasts, but this one seemed very harmless.

The black dog was sound asleep, and Quacey was the first to break the silence. "Do you think she'll be alright?"

"I can't say for certain," the white Kermode bear responded. "She looks like she went through something terrible, though. I never thought I would say this about a dog, but I feel awful for her."

The one-eared wolf nodded in agreement. "You think we should wake her?"

Ursa shook her head. "I say we let her rest. I don't want to make her condition worse. Once she wakes up, we can try talking to her again, and hopefully, she'll speak more clearly." Artaois joined the two and made quiet noises. He sniffed the black dog, but the white Kermode bear gently spoke to him before he could even touch her. "No, no, Artaois. Let's not do that."

Suddenly, Quacey felt his stomach painfully grumble, and he winced. It had been hard not to eat meat in his diet for a while; his ribcages were showing, and he felt very lightheaded. He felt scrawny, and with them now in the high mountains, he wasn't sure how he'd be able to survive with the lack of food he had in his belly. Each time the wolf looked at any of the beasts, his chops urged him to break one of their necks so he wouldn't starve, but he restrained himself from that.

The one-eared wolf started to panic, feeling like he was going to kill someone, and he decided to get out of the cave before going crazy. "I'm going to get some air…"

Quacey was about to leave, but Ursa stopped him. "Quacey, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just… I just need some air, is all."

Without another word, Quacey quickly left as far as he could from the cave, and when he did, he sat outside in the crunchy snow and streams of snowflakes. He breathed in the cold air and released it to relax his mind. When wolves didn't eat meat as much as they could, they could turn barbaric and attack whatever was nearby just to chow down on some flesh. The one-eared wolf could feel himself slowly losing his mind as his pupils dilated. Of course, it was natural for a wolf to have some meat, but when it came to being loyal to beasts who now trusted him, that was a different story.

Quacey sighed in a shiver. He felt like staying outside just so he wouldn't hurt anyone, and maybe death would solve his problem. But what difference would that even make? He dropped his head low as his ears flattened against his head. Again, the wolf felt utterly lost in what to do.

Quacey heard someone come up next to him, and he didn't even need to look to see who it was. "When was the last time you had meat?" Ursa asked. The wolf didn't answer, and when he didn't, the Kermode bear spoke again. "You haven't had any since we were banished, have you?"

The wolf was silent for a few seconds, but he finally spoke in a tired voice. "No…" he admitted.

An awkward silence lingered between the two, and Quacey contemplated whether he should speak again or not. Hunger kept banging inside his stomach, and he felt himself silently growl. The one-eared wolf felt like a newborn pup that barely got to suckle warm milk from his mother and was slowly dying of hunger. Even when he sucked in freezing air, it didn't do much to calm his stressful starvation.

"I'll be right back," Ursa spoke, and she started to walk away.

Quacey looked at her, confused. "Where are you going?"

The white Kermode bear stopped and looked over her shoulder at Quacey. "It's not far from here. I'll be back soon, and while I'm away, I hope you'll be inside the cave and not freezing your fur off out here."

Before the one-eared wolf could even say anything, Ursa walked away and disappeared from view. Quacey thought of trying to find her, but he knew she could handle herself, and the last thing he needed was to get lost out in the middle of nowhere. Even though he wanted to stay outside, he decided to try and take his chances inside the warm and toasty cave without trying to hurt anyone.

He closed his blue-gray eyes for a few seconds, but as the wolf opened them, he found himself staring at a waxing crescent. For as long as Quacey could remember, the moon had always comforted him, almost as if it was telling him everything would be okay. Moonlight slanted towards him, almost as if it was granting him a blessing, and his steel blue fur covered in specks of snow shimmered from the warm glow. The one-eared wolf lifted his head back in a full-throated howl, making his prayers to his goddess for the night that he'd have the strength he'd need for the rest of the days ahead of him.

With his prayers made for the night, Quacey strode back into the cave, and as he did, a familiar raccoon and creme-colored rabbit approached him. "Where did Ursa go?" the rabbit asked.

"She's not far from here," the wolf answered truthfully. "She said she'll be back soon."

"You know, I never thought I'd see this day coming," the raccoon chipped in.

Quacey tilted his head curiously at the raccoon. "What do you mean by that?"

"A wolf going against his pack. I've always despised wolves for breaking many laws, but you've never broken one." He then smiled with respect at the wolf. "I think you're the first wolf I've grown to like, and if you ever have a pack of your own, I'll bet you'll make a difference to the wolves."

What the raccoon said made Quacey press his lips together uncertainly. It made him remember Kassidy and the other three bats telling him he'd make a significant alpha, but the truth was he didn't think he had what it took to be one. Being alpha was every wolf's dream, and the one-eared wolf doubted that was his destiny. He didn't even know his fate, and who would accept someone like him as an alpha?

He was just a lone wolf with one ear.

"Thank you," Quacey replied, "but I don't think that'll ever happen." He looked towards the ground in thought. "Perhaps it's just me overthinking things on an empty stomach, but I just can't see myself as an alpha."

"What do you see yourself as?" the creme-colored rabbit asked.

The wolf could only shrug his shoulders. "I'm honestly not sure. Maybe being a lone wolf has always been the path I'm destined to take."

"I doubt that," the raccoon said. "If you can help Ursa lead the beasts to safety, then I think you'd do great things as a leader." He swung his fist with enthusiasm.

The raccoon made a point: Quacey was able to help Ursa guide the beasts to safety, and that's what many great leaders could do. He didn't feel like talking about it anymore, though. All this leadership talk was slowly giving him a headache, and he decided to shift his focus to something else. Something that wouldn't involve the topic the raccoon brought up.

"I'm going to check on Artaois," the wolf said, and he walked away from the two small animals to where the cub was. The cub was playing with a stone, very bored, but when he saw Quacey his eyes lit up with glee as he made a little noise. "Hey, little guy." Quacey ruffled the fur on top of Artaois's head, making the cub laugh.

It was hard to believe that Artaois liked him like a father figure. Quacey didn't mind, though; he thought the cub was cute. It was sad that the little guy lost his mother and the wolf knew that pain all too well. He lost his mother from drowning in an icy river, and it was after she saved him from falling through the ice. Quacey was glad that Ursa adopted the cub and was now caring for him as any loving mother would.

A few minutes later, the white Kermode bear came striding through the cave, and in her jaw, she had a large-looking bass. Quacey was surprised when she dropped it near him. "This should do the trick. Hopefully, it'll be enough protein in your diet." She sat on her rump as she continued to talk. "Once you finish eating, I could use your help gathering some food for everyone. What do you say?"

The one-eared wolf couldn't believe she did this for him, and he started to feel bad she went through all that trouble just to get that bass for him. However, he was very grateful for what she did for him, and of course, he had to help her once he ate. After all, it was the least he could do for Ursa and even the other beasts who had accepted him as an ally and friend. "I think I can live with that."

A/N- Annnnnd, another long chapter! Okay, so I had this idea in mind for a long time that while Martin was talking about his past it was shown in a way like mystery movies would do, and I hope the read was understandable. While I can't say that naughty living being was as funny as naughty bat from the show, I hope there was still some enjoyment to that scene. It's been such a long time since I wrote Quacey, Ursa, and the other beasts in my other chapters, and damn I certainly can't believe it's been that long. Also, I usually don't do easter eggs often in my fanfics, but see if you've spot the easter egg ;)

Well, without anything else to say I hope you all have a lovely day, more chapters will be coming soon, and I can't believe the story will be finished soon after I post a few more chapters XD