"Yowch!"

Hyde held his finger in pain as drops of blood fell on the kitchen table. He was just trying to cut carrots when he accidentally cut himself.

'Ugh, gonna feel that for a while...'

Now that he is on his own, the boy was learning how to cook meals on his own. He thought beef stew should be doable so he tried to make it, leading to his current predicament.

"Well, live and learn I guess"

After putting a bandaid on his finger, he continued cutting the carrots and then-

*SHANK*

Current Area: Crimson Lot

Hyde's thoughts were dashed right away as he dodged a blood colored spike coming his direction

"The Hell?!"

Amidst the barren parking lot covered in a red aura of EXS came a guy a little older than Hyde. He had long red hair with both eyes being blood red. His black jacket only went above his waist as he wore baggy blood red pants. The traits that stood out the most were his arms being the same bloody red and the twisted grin on his face basically telling the swordsman he wants to fight.

"Hey, you there! Yeah you, punk-ass clownfish! Let me guess, another reckless idiot just walking around the Hollow Night?" The red haired guy asked.

'Sheesh, talk about loud' Hyde frowned.

"Hm? What the hell are you supposed to be then? A crayfish or something? You think all that red's supposed to be intimidating? Or are you compensating for something" Hyde shot back.

That struck a nerve on the crayfish. His smirk turned to an annoyed glare.

"Wha? You son of a bitch. You really know how to piss someone off… You just had to insult the one thing I'm proud of… my blood spike. I'm REALLY sick of you now, punk! Imma kick your ass!" He roared.

As Hyde got a good look at him, he didn't seem to be in any affiliation. Linne told him that the Licht Kreis were all women and he'd doubt Amnesia would hire anyone this deranged. So his only guess would be…

"You're just picking fights for the hell of it aren't ya?" Hyde gave a disgusted look.

"Hell yeah! Be it those floozies from the Licht Kreis or that bitch Paradox, I'll kick the shit out of any of them!" The man gave a maniac smile. "Any power-wielding punk who gets in my way will be begging for mercy when I'm done with em." He let out a crazy laughter just to prove his point.

'Great, another psycho. And I thought dealing with that spider guy was enough'

"Everything about this Night is way too complicated and filled with drama to deal with. Anyway, I have places to be. If you intend to fight…" Hyde summoned Insulator and pointed his blade at him. "Then come at me Asshole!"

"HAHAHA! Right on! In honor of your gracious behavior, I'll make your death a quick one!"

No more words needed to be said. Both fighters were about to start.

IMMORTALIZE

Hyde versus Carmine

"Orbiter!"

Hyde immediately began the fight by firing his projectile. It was met with a blood spike coming from the crayfish's hand, canceling each other out.

"You coward! Show me what you got!" Carmine rushed in at the swordsman, each strike releasing a streak of spiky blood his way.

Hyde blocked and dodged each hit and countered the best he could. There was no time to be merciful, this crazy was out for blood. After finding an opening from a block, Hyde slashed across the arm.

The crayfish growled in pain before letting out a cackle.

"Good. Good! This is what I like!"

'Was he… enjoying this? I should add masochist to the list' Hyde sighed.

The swordsman began to rush in causing the two to clash again. Both fighters began taking hits. Spikes of blood began to graze Hyde as Carmine began to get more and more cuts. Hyde let out a heavy slash which made his opponent roll out of the way. Carmine retaliates with a slash of spiked blood causing him to jump back, leading to another clash to occur.

"This has been fun, but I think I need a recharge," Carmine smirked.

Before Hyde could act, Carmine grabbed his face. With one squeeze, blood splattered everywhere. He then flung Hyde towards a nearby car. The force of that throw left a big dent on the vehicle as his back felt the full impact. The swordsman reeled in pain as he clutched his face, only to realize it was still intact. Before he could realize what was going on, he began to feel wobbly as he got up.

"What… What did you do?" Hyde asked, trying to keep his balance.

"Thanks for the blood, it has been graciously accepted"

Hyde noticed that some of the cuts around Carmine's body began to heal. From that squeeze, the crayfish was able to steal some of Hyde's blood to heal himself!

"Now Come on!" Carmine yelled as he began to throw blood around him.

Some of the blood turned to spikes being thrown at Hyde while others splattered on the ground. The swordsman rushed in, avoiding and slashing through the opposing spikes.

"Come on Clownfish! Let me hear you squeal!" Carmine sneered.

"Clownfish do not squeal dumbass!" was the swordsman's rebuttal. "Orbiter!"

The projectile was once again countered with a blood spike.

"Is this really the best you got?" the blood user began to look smug, goading Hyde to come at him.

Hyde in turn, kept his mind focused as he stared down his opponent. He was concentrating on his EXS, trying to figure out what to do next when all of a sudden…

*SLASH*

A saw blade made of blood slashed him across the back, causing blood to splatter. Hyde began to hear a ringing sound in his head as the pain was too much to bear and let out a massive scream. As if it was music to his ears, Carmine began to laugh maniacally at his opponent's suffering. Despite that, Hyde stood strong, refusing to let this monster have his way.

"What's wrong Clownfish? On your last legs?" Carmine sneered.

"Not… By a longshot!" He responded with venom.

"Then show me you shit!" Carmine threw more blood puddles on the ground.

'No time like the present. Let's see what this thing Vatista said can do.'

With his mind focused, Hyde said the following phrase. "Veil off…"

The swordsman began to emit a red aura as his eyes became focused. This piqued the crayfish's interest as he smiled at the opposition.

"Oh yeah! Now we're talking!" Carmine threw a blood spike at the blonde.

Hyde in response rushed in to face the spike head on. From where he was running, the blood spike was in front of him while blood puddles were on his sides. Carmine smirked as he began to plan on how to finish his prey.

'If that clownfish dodges the spike, I can trap him in a blood crystal. Or I can use the saw blade to remove him limb from limb. Show me what you'll do clownfish!' Carmine smiled in anticipation.

What Carmine did not expect was what Hyde ended up doing.

Hyde put his left hand on the spike, and took the hit head on. That brief moment of surprise from his foe, that brief moment of pause was all Hyde needed to counterattack. Despite his hand oozing with blood, Hyde held Insulator with both hands. With a fierce roar, a stomp on the ground strong enough to crack it, and with all his might, Hyde launched a heavy slash on Carmine. The slash caused the crayfish to be flung across a nearby post, bouncing off it as a result.

But Hyde wasn't done yet.

Insulator was glowing a bright red as Hyde's right hand pulsed in temptation.

'You're ready for this too aren't ya? Let's go Insulator!' Hyde raised his blade up.

"Gyre Vortex!"

Hyde slammed his sword on the ground, creating a massive vortex of red energy all over Carmine. The vortex landed multiple deadly hits with the swordsman being in 'Veil Off'. The only thing Hyde could hear was the bloodcurdling scream of his opponent as the attack died out.

The result of that exchange was Carmine plummeting down, body twitching. He was alive, but definitely down for the count.

With the fight over, all the adrenaline Hyde had from his last attack went away as the aura from Veil Off vanished. With heavy breathing, he was clutching his bloody hand and wincing from his back from not only the saw blade, but the hit from the car as well. He quickly treated and bandaged his hand and did his best to treat his back.

"My back…" With one stretch, he could hear it crack back in place. "My back!"

'Now I'm REALLY glad EXS has a healing factor…'

He could already feel the healing little by little from his other wounds. Normally he would check if his opponent was okay, but considering said opponent tried to kill him in cold blood, he was not going to risk that.

"I saw him twitch so he'll be fine… probably."

Deciding to just let his EXS heal his wounds, Hyde continued on. Here's hoping he doesn't run into another crazy In-Birth like the crayfish or the spider guy.

"God, they just keep coming. Can't I have at least a minute of rest?" he said to himself as he walked on.