*Present Day in Hyde’s laboratory beneath his Big Bear Property*

Jessica was still in deep shock to all that she had heard. She could barely breathe , she could feel herself burning up and not just internally. She was angry, devastated, disappointed and a million other emotions all together. She could have sworn the room was transitioning to a blazing orange shade the further her emotions grew, but just before they could peak, Hyde approached her and raised his hands above her. The table she lay on became ice cold and her body flinched in the sudden change. “Sorry, can’t let you do that just yet. “ He winked. “As I was saying, we had recovered Lieutenant Yudrious from the lake and we now had major pieces for our experiment. With her DNA we had Novian and Cryogen DNA at the ready. We discovered that the mutation within those who had swum in the irradiated lake water needed time to incubate within the host. The longer we left the subjects’ incubate the mutation within their genome, the stronger their chances at survival were.” Hyde continued to explain his long winded story.

“All those people… the ones you kidnapped years later…” Jessica stuttered.

“Yes, we had not idea when the perfect time to test them were, well Dr. Kim had no idea and we couldn’t possibly keep them here forever so we let them continue on with their lives until we desired to test it. Everything was going according to plan until… you came along.” He huffed.
“Me?” Jessica questioned slowly.

“No, not you, the one who stands idly behind the door way. The one who’s been listening to this entire monologue.” He smiled. “You can come out of hiding Stephanie, there’s no need to be a stranger. After all, we did formally meet at Jessica’s fashion show.” He laughed. Stephanie slowly walked into the room and her eyes were fixed directly at Hyde’s smiling mug. Her eyes flared red with rage, the man before her had done horrific things yet he still smiled like a normal person. The man who stood before her truly had no heart, all that was left was metal cogs and a burning core. But even before his robotic body, he had always been a heartless man. “Right on time. Want to sit?” he questioned.

“Where the hell is Soo!!? And the Lieutenant? Where are you keeping them? Tell me before I smash your head right off of your diamond plated body.” She threatened.

“You could try, but you and I both know you wouldn’t be able to do that. My body is too strong for you to destroy and I made sure of that. You see, the moment you broke through the atmosphere I could sense a change in my predictions, a fluctuation in the destined path because another outlier had arrived to foil my plans. Lieutenant Yudrious was the first outlier I had encountered and because of her success in disrupting my plan to win the war I had ensured that you would not interrupt my plan to create the ultimate warrior.” He stated passionately. “Many things I had predicted previously had changed, but that meant nothing. I still had time to reroute my victory, to pave the correct path so that you wouldn’t be strong enough to stop me. If you had started your superhero career earlier… let’s say three years ago…” He smiled. “Then you may have found a way to be victorious, which is why I sent my men to kidnap Taeya that faithful day. I knew if you had blood on your hands, it would change you, throw doubt in your ability to look after your loved ones.”

“You sent those men after her knowing I would kill one? You’re insane.” Stephanie scoffed.

“A worthy sacrifice for a much larger plan. It made you believe you were a monster and delayed you long enough to guarantee my victory.” Stephanie couldn’t take it anymore, this man truly was a monster, a demon, whatever lurked in the deepest darkest parts of the ethereal realm is what Hyde was. Stephanie had sworn to punish monsters like him, to expel the demons who believed they could use fear to control whatever they pleased. She jumped from her position and lunged towards Hyde, it seemed that she had jumped too high and missed him, but she was intentionally aiming for Jessica’s table. She was going to destroy Hyde, but she couldn’t let Jessica get caught in the cross fire of their fight. Keeping her safe was the main priority. However, Hyde had seen it coming, just as he saw everything coming, so he clapped his hands and a protective dome encased Jessica. Stephanie landed a direct hit on the dome cracking it, but the impact wasn’t hard enough to penetrate through. “Impressive, your strength is truly extraordinary, but you’ll need a lot more than sheer strength to beat me. You see this entire room is under my command, all I need to do is wave my hand and you will lose instantly.” He taunted.

“We’ll see about that, . Putting Jessica in that dome was probably the worst thing you could have done.” Stephanie smirked. “I needed to make sure she was safe, now that she is, I’m going to destroy you.” Stephanie dashed towards him as quick as a cheetah, she prepared a punch but in the last second, she opened her palm and landed a direct hit on Hyde. He was sent flying towards the other side of the lab and left a deep dent into the white steel walls. He laughed as he arose from the dent and brushed off his suit. “That was smart to spread the impact of the punch like that.” He laughed. “If you had punched me straight on, every bone in your arm would have shattered.” He stated.

“I’m not stupid enough to punch something I can’t break.” She scoffed.

“Well, this whole fight is going to be pointless then. Your strength is your greatest weapon, your ability to bend light is merely a party trick. You can’t win this battle the way you are.” Hyde stated.

“Tell me where Soo is, I may not be able to destroy you, but I can destroy everything you have here. All your work, your files…”

“Are all replicated and have been transferred to another location thanks to the Darknet Fairy.” He laughed.

“Hyori…” Stephanie sighed.

“Yes, she’s been working for me the minute you sold her your ship. She’s quite easy to control because of her lack of morals.” He stated.

“She may have done a few jobs for your money, but she’s not a monster like you.” Stephanie argued.

“Incase you hadn’t noticed Stephanie, Hyori, Dr. Kim and all the Blazers are human. I pay them, yes, but do I force them to do any of my deeds, no. They do what they believe in, Dr. Kim chose to experiment on those people, she chose to let them die to further her research. Hyori agreed to lead you, she agreed that she would infiltrate your group and keep an eye on you and the Blazers truly will do anything to see a paycheck. I may be a monster Stephanie, but the humans you seem to value so much aren’t any better than me.” He smiled.

“No, humans make mistakes and even terrible choices, but you don’t. You see everything before it happens, you manipulate people into doing your dirty deeds. Everyone you have in your organization is lead by your lies. Your powers could be used to guide people onto the right path in fact, to live without failure, to avoid mistakes, but how we use our gifts defines whether we’re monsters or not. You had the power to end the war, you could have used your foresight to bring the people of Nova and Cryoga together and escape the star’s explosion as a united nation, but instead you used it to sway a war. You could use your powers to break down the evil corporations of this world, but you became just another power-hungry business man. You chose to be a monster instead of be