Chapter 3: The Bite

  Miguel pushes Aurora away, a mere split second after the touch of each other’s lips.

  Myrmex just stared at Miguel as if her soul had left her body.

  Miguel stands up. “Fuck you guys. I’m going home.”

  He grabs Myrmex’s hand. “C’mon…”

  Myrmex doesn’t respond.

  Myrmex pulls her hand away, grabs their baby and cat, and closes her eyes. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

  The entire room fell silent, and the Aswang King just smiled, while Sitan looked a bit concerned.

  Miguel and Myrmex silently returned home.

  The Reaper sighs, watching while invisible, seeing that the two lovers are absolutely silent.

  Miguel and Myrmex just silently looked forward while the spaceship flew them through the stars.

  “‘Stars are beautiful tonight,' smiled Miguel.

  Myrmex nods.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t talk to me.”

  “You cheated on me first.”

  Myrmex’s eyes widened, turning to Miguel, as tears ran down her cheeks. “So, that’s why you did it?”

  “No… That came out wrong.”

  “Then how the fucking shit was it supposed to come out?”

  “No. I didn’t mean to say that. Myrmex, it was an accident. I’m sorry. Don’t tell me not to talk to you.”

  “I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW!!!”

  “WHY!?!? COMMUNICATION FIXES THINGS!!”

  “I DON’T KNOW!!! I JUST DON’T WANNA TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW!!!”

  “Okay.”

  The pair silently just… watched the stars…

  The next day…

  Miguel sighs, now that the crisis has been averted. The pair just stare at the television alone, while the other Honorables whisper to each other.

  “What the fuck do we do!?” asked Slime Tutorial.

  “I think we try poking ‘em with a stick.. Or… somethin’...?” asked Lord Marvel.

  “You guys are fuckin’ idiots…” sighed Askal.

  “Oh, please. Herc and I always cheat on each other like this and we manage fine!” smiled Dark.

  “Yeah!” smiled Hercules.

  “You guys are open. THIS IS DIFFERENT!!!” Askal facepalmed.

  “I’ll talk to them,” said Beatle. “Hey, guys!” smiled Beatle.

  “Leave,” said Myrmex, slowly turning to Beatle, the literal Messiah and Saint King. “NOW.”

  Beatle nods and walks away. “Welp. I tried. Imma hide in my room… I mean… go to my… whatever.”

  Miguel and Myrmex watched silently.

  “Groceries,” said Myrmex.

  “Okay,” said Miguel.

  In the convenience store, Miguel just went around shopping for some Ramen, milk, and liver steak. He grabs one with a discount, puts back the liver steak within the appropriate fridge shelf, and gets another liver steak.

  “Fucking freak,” said the woman, pulling her child away while looking at Miguel. “Stay away from the recently-outted freak…”

  A person can be seen taking a video of Miguel, and Miguel just turns to him.

  “Do you mind?” asked Miguel.

  “What?” smiled the guy. “Just taking a photo of that live steak, dude.”

  Miguel approaches him, and the guy backs away.

  “Chill. Just chill, alright?” He shakes his head and walks away all cool-like.

  Miguel sighs and places it back on the shelf. “C’mon… liver… I really want some liver… and Gabby’s teething.”

  Outside the glass, there can be seen a dark blue suit-wearing vigilante charging from a distance, creating a frost needle in his hand.

  Miguel mumbles to himself as the glass breaks and Undying begins killing people around Miguel, only for Miguel to growl and punch him to the ground. Miguel smells that there are spices in his icicles.

  Miguel blocks the next icicle from an old lady, but another icicle strikes her face, killing her in an instant. He cradles the poor old lady and shuts her eyes, while Undying just kept walking around and killing bystanders who attempted to run away. Miguel roars and knocks Undying into the walls. Miguel beats Undying over and over. “WHY!?!?” he boomed. “WHY!?!? AAAAAH!!!”

  Undying stabs him in the shoulder, stands up with a jump, and crashes him through the aisles.

  Undying sees yet another child behind a counter and strikes him again.

  The child from earlier is also shot in the face.

  Miguel roars, trying to blast flames at Undying, who just creates a frost shield, and he just strolls around and stabs each of the hiding civilians in the store.

  “WHAT THE FUCK!?!?” roared Miguel, as he blocked and teleported the others to safety.

  He lands next to the kid and heals him with his blood, regenerating the few survivors as well.

  Miguel, bloody all over, limps back.

  The woman grabs his wrist. “Don’t… Don’t do this. We’re sorry. Just let the cops handle this. You’ll die… Mister Aswang.”

  Miguel pulls away and teleports back inside as he manages to dropkick Undying, but Undying just grabs him and beats him, tossing icicles all over his face, even freezing his face and hammering him into the glass of the fridge. The lights flickered, as Undying stomped away and kept killing a few more people.

  Miguel crashes outside the store, next to the crowd. Undying roars and begins stabbing Miguel over and over.

  “Lemme do this one job, man,” said Undying, as he takes out another icicle.

  Undying prepares to strike the child, but Miguel roars and bites into his neck.

  “NOOO!!!” roared Miguel, kicking him away as Undying regenerates instantly.

  Undying sees the blood from his neck. “You shouldn’t have done that-...”

  Suddenly, a small can is thrown at Undying.

  Undying slowly turns to the child he stabbed earlier, now healed.

  “Stay away from Mister Aswang,“ said the boy, with a defiant smile.

  Undying tosses another icicle as Miguel tackles the boy and is stabbed in the shoulder, falling limp.

  The crowd began to yell at Undying, grabbing grocery items such as cans and bottles, shattering them, and beating Undying, as Undying backed away and began to run, only for the crowd to beat him to the ground.

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  Meanwhile, the others and the kids pull Miguel away, who is limp, but as they pull out the icicles in his body, he begins breathing again, but his regeneration is slow.

  “Are you okay, Mister Aswang?” asked the boy.

  “He’ll kill them,” said Miguel, as the other adults are brutally shot down by Undying’s icicles.

  Miguel turns to the liver. He gives money to the store owner, who was among those helping him, and eats the liver, regenerating instantly.

  Miguel, now in his Aswang form, pounces at Undying and begins mauling him, biting into his neck and continuing to maul him, tearing his face off as Undying screams in horror.

  Miguel turns back to the crowd, who back away, hesitant, but they applaud their hero, as Miguel, now in his Aswang state, ticks his wings and begins eating Undying, which horrifies the crowd.

  “Someone should call the Saint King,” said one woman.

  “Alright.” Beatle hangs up the phone. Beatle sighs, steepling his fingers like a tent. “Miguel? Are you okay?”

  Miguel bounces his leg. “I’m fine.”

  “You’ve been dieting with more and more liver,” said Beatle. “And balut.”

  Miguel bounces his leg with a familiar rhythm.

  “Miguel…”

  “I’M FINE, BEATLE!!!” he boomed. “Just a bit stressed is all.‘

  “You know what happens to Aswangs that are overly stressed and nihilistic? Studies show they become more primal and violent. They become more akin to their wild sides. Do you need to talk to me about what happened on Aswang World?”

  “NO!!!” he roared.

  “Reaps said-...”

  “DAD DOESN’T KNOW SHIT!!!”

  “He knows way more than you give him credit for.”

  “I’M FINE!!!” he growled.

  Chapter 4: The Dummy

  Miguel roars, masterfully spinning around and knocking down dummies with controlled strikes, before falling to his knees, panting.

  Happy leans on the wall. “Undying’s alive. He regened in the hospital.”

  “Uh-huh…” said Miguel.

  “Talked to Anna recently?”

  “No,” growled Miguel.

  “Your kid?”

  “I talk to my kid. Yes. She’s my baby.”

  “Antlion?”

  “Yep. Kitty Cat.”

  “But not Anna.”

  “We just… stay in a room and sit there,” said Miguel, panting with muscles twitching after spinning and kicking down the last dummy, tearing it to pieces. Miguel growls, confidently.

  “Miguel… You’re going to eat yourself up and turn yourself into a monster. You’re… dissociating.”

  “Lisren, Step-on-a-bee-boy,” growled Miguel. “I am an Aswang. MY HERITAGE is an Aswang. I read that I was the most dangerous race in the Multiverse once. So, I suggest YOU BACK. THE FUCK. OFF!!!” he growled.

  Happy just stares at him. “I can articulate that you are… slipping. I suggest you try therapy. Or talk to Anna.”

  Miguel growls.

  Meanwhile, Anna is just there, still tending to their daughter. “Hi! Hey! Hello…! Daddy loves me, I know. I know. It wasn’t his fault,” she said as her daughter cooed. “I’m scared of hurting him… when I say something bad. Or vice versa. I wish we won’t take turns in taking care of you, and do it as co-parents… not… whatever this is. I… I just wanted to say that I feel like I am making things worse by not speaking with him. People say, ‘Why are you doing it?’ Because I can’t say anything… Because I cheated… he’s right… And I always think I don’t deserve him…” Myrmex begins crying, thinking about how he and Aurora are kissing. She cradles her baby and just cries softly.

  Myrmex smiles, cradling her while the cat brushes her legs.

  Myrmex sighs and coos, walking away. Myrmex passes by Miguel, who ignores her and takes the shift to watch the kids.

  Myrmex sighs, eating some fries only to see Aurora outside.

  She puts on her mask and hops out of the mansion. “What the fuck are you doing out here, huh bitch!?”

  Aurora sighs before slowly shifting into someone else…

  Myrmex holds her fists up. “You wanna fuckin’ go? Wait-...”

  Eradicator appears before her.

  Myrmex’s eyes widen. She hops up and dropkicks Eradicator, who uses some sort of pheromone to change his appearance.

  He transforms into her father. “You fucking… failure… You’re not my daughter…”

  Myrmex stumbles down and kicks it away.

  Myrmex roars, beating Eradicator down, strangling him with her thighs, and beating him over and over.

  “Erararararadidididicate…” he hummed and whirred. He grabs Myrmex and slams him to the ground.

  Eradicator grabs Myrmex and slams her to the ground.

  Eradicator keeps forcing the illusion on her face as Myrmex sobs, struggling to break free. “Cry. Burn. Fester. Break. Crumble… That is what you are… You are nothing but a damaged little creature who begs to leave the lion’s den.”

  “Stop…” said Myrmex, tearing up. “Please… STOP!!!”

  Myrmex grabs Eradicator by the head and snaps his neck, but he slowly turns back to her.

  Myrmex strikes him over and over, but she is pushed into a tree.

  “Myrmex?” asked Askal.

  “Why not fucking help me!?” Myrmex turns back and sees that she isn’t fighting anyone.

  Askal sighs, crossing her arms.

  Askal serves some Ceylon tea to Myrmex. Myrmex takes a sip from the teacup served to her just above the tiny platito, making a pretty steam from its hot water.

  Myrmex facepalms.

  “Ready to open up yet?” asked Askal.

  “No,” Myrmex shook her head.

  “Hm…” Askal’s eyes looked up and lay upon her saddened face. She memorized every twitch of her muscle. She blows a sigh from her nose. “Being a parent isn’t easy. But I’m just as worried for your child as I am for you. You know how I killed my Dad, right?”

  “Yeah,” said Myrmex, eyes getting concerned.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to freak you out,“ said Askal, as the pair laughed. “You ready to talk?”

  Myrmex shakes her head.

  Askal sighs.

  “I cheated on him back then.”

  “Why?” Askal got intrigued, eyes squinting and ears raising.

  “Insecurity. I thought I didn’t deserve him.”

  “You still think that way?”

  “No. Not until recently.“

  “What happened? Reaps said something happened, but he won’t tell us. It isn’t his to share-...”

  “He kissed a Morningstar variant,” said Myrmex. “His parents made me feel… like I’m unwanted.”

  “Stress is dangerous. You were just fighting nobody in the rain outside-...”

  “It felt real.”

  “Just talk to him, dude,” sighed Askal.

  “I’ll… try,” said Myrmex.

  Miguel manages to shatter another training dummy by spinning and kicking the wooden device’s pieces away. Miguel tiresomely panted.

  Miguel hears the baby cry and immediately teleports into the room, only to see the Aswang King inside the room with his cooing child.

  Miguel angrily transforms into an Aswang and ticks the joints in his wings, staring at the King.

  The King brushes his finger over her face as Miguel growls angrily. “So. How’s the stress, boy?”

  “The fuck are you talking about?”

  “Huh… Seems that it didn’t fully work yet. I’ll fix that. Getting impatient after all.” The Aswang King takes out a knife and cuts the baby’s face.

  Angrily, Miguel roars and punches the Aswang King, crashing him into the walls.

  The Aswang King sneers, bouncing his foot as he shrieks and charges toward Miguel.

  Miguel throws a punch into the Aswang King’s face, creating powerful shockwaves with each strike.

  He beats the King over and over. “DON’T. TOUCH. MY. BABY!!!”

  Miguel grabs the King by the neck, who grabs his wrist and sumo slams him into the concrete ground.

  “You’re getting stronger,” said the Aswang King.

  “You’re getting stupid. You think you can touch my fami-?” Miguel is then hammered. The King grabs his face and scrapes his face into the ground, but Miguel’s denser skin just shrugs it off. He spins and throws a hook that shatters the King’s teeth. He regenerates and growls at him, booming a shockwave from his throat as he beats the Aswang King over and over. He blasts flames into his face, then vomits a glowing beam of acid into the King’s face, causing him to growl and slam him again.

  The Aswang King sighs. “I GET IT-!!!”

  Miguel grabs his face, teleports, and slams him into a giant pine tree. He skewers him, pushing him down, as the pine tree’s leaves all get shorn away. Miguel roars and beats him over and over, ticking his wings as the Aswang King struggles to break free from the pine tree skewering his entire torso. Th King shivers in pain, and Miguel just kept on hammering his skull over and over, causing his head to bounce up and down upon each strike.

  He grabs the back of his head and continues beating, as the Aswang King cuts his body in half and goes Manananggal mode, with tentacles from each stub as he crawls on the ground and mauls Miguel down.

  He punches back, creating shockwaves all over Miguel, shattering his bones as the Aswang King recombines and shatters Miguel’s skull. “Lemme tell ya something, kid. What I can do… is incomprehensible to that little head of yours.”

  “You hurt my daughter,” growled Miguel. “I’ll never let you-...”

  The Aswang King grabs him by the throat and flies into Everest. He drops Miguel right there, splashes spices all over him, and Miguel begins to freeze over, wheezing. “Our empire is crumbling, boy. There are only so few of us left. Only around a few hundred thousand on our planet.”

  “Why?” Miguel shivered.

  “There was a Multiversal attack by a council known as the Morningstar Council. Collected my people from my planet a few years back.”

  “‘Council?‘” asked Miguel, shivering.

  “Yes. But now they’ve been replaced by yet another regime. Happy Hornet’s Food Enterprise. Some fuckin’ franchised fast food restaurant from your world. In reality, it prays to a Pantheon known as Praed Shivus. My people… need you…”

  “What for?”

  “Your genes. I’ll give you a harem. Women from every corner of the Multiverse. Impregnate all of them, why don’t you?”

  “I never wanted that.”

  “Heh…”

  “I love… Myrmex.”

  “HAHAHAHAHA!!! Don’t worry. She’ll be satisfied. Maybe I’ll make her one of my slaves’ mates. Just not yours. You, after all, are the stronger genome. She’s weak, just as the lower castes,” he smirked, with Miguel frowning with disgust. “HAHAHAHA!!! I’m joking! Aswangs are above her species. And your daughter? We’ll put the varmint down.”

  Miguel throws a punch but falls to the ground.

  The Aswang King kicks him over and over. “Thirst. Freeze. Look at you, fallen in love with your domesticated boar.”

  “Shut up… Don’t CALL HER THAT!!!”

  “Shhhh… I’ll give her an honorable death. Feast on her flesh with my brethren. She’s a fine breed.”

  Miguel throws another punch, only to be kicked down.

  The Aswang King leans before Miguel. “You still believe that morality is a constant on every planet. We were bred this way.”

  Miguel bleeds on the ground.

  “My wife disagrees with my methods, but, I told her this is the harsh truth… Come, my boy. Be the Aswang Prince.”

  Miguel’s eyes quivered in horror.