"Hey, Dad..." said Prometheus, sitting in front of his father while typing into his computer.
"Hello, son. What are you writing over there?"
"A new law for Maharlica-152. 'Bout Tariffs."
Joseph smiles sitting in front of him. "Told you you'd be a better lawyer than I'd be."
"I don't wanna be a lawyer."
"Yet you're writing a law right now for the Multiverse..."
Prometheus stops. "Holy shit..."
"Yep..."
Prometheus sighs. "Guess all that political science training got real handy...
Hey... I'm sorry for... being rude to you all the time back then."
"I'm... sorry for having a hard time accepting your choices... I'm... proud of you, kid..."
"Thanks, Dad..."
"Hey... I wanna uh... Teach you somethin'..."
Prometheus opens a portal to outside and sees a bike. He begins chuckling. "This is so FUCKIN' stupid!" he laughed.
"HEY!!! I THOUGHT REALLY HARD ABOUT THIS, MAN!!! C'MON!!!" roared Joseph, with a mountain bike in his hand.
Prometheus smiles and hugs his Dad.
"I thought that... maybe... to make up for all the crap I gave ya..."
"Thanks, Dad..." chuckled Prometheus.
Prometheus sits on the bike and nearly falls over, but Joseph catches the bike. "Thanks, Dad!" he chuckled like an old man.
"Alright. Now... cycle it, kid!"
Prometheus begins cycling and begins riding the bike with the aid of his father.
"Alright... Great job, kid!" smiled Joseph, with Prometheus now doing it on his own.
"HOHOHOLY SHIT!!!" laughed Prometheus. "I'M DOIN' IT!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" he chuckled.
The entire group smiled while watching Prometheus hang out with his Dad.
"Hey," said Kariel. "Sorry about yesterday."
"I apologize as well," said the Reaper. "Nice to see Grandpa have fun with Dad for once, though."
"Yeah. Haha..." smiled Kariel.
The next day...
Prometheus, the Reaper, and Miguel limped out of the bus and walked toward back to their home.
"They look like waddling penguins," said Jedan, as Anna kicks him in the leg.
Athena brings their bags back to home, carrying them on their pack bugs.
"Alright, kid..." said Prometheus. "Let's get us home... Perhaps there will be peace for us within the four walls of our humble cottage."
"Shut up," sighed the Reaper.
The eyes of Prometheus' goggles suddenly widen. "SHIT!!!" Prometheus punches a portal into extradimensional space and hops into the dining room. "GOD-!!!"
The Aswang King is there sipping a rather tiny cup of Earl Grey. The stench of snickering laughter and boney ticks could be heard echoing from each of the four corners of the house. Blue glowing pupils peer from the outside and stare back at Prometheus. His family followed after.
Miguel jumps out of astonishment and fear. "OH SH-!!!"
Prometheus grabs his mouth. "What the hell do you want?"
"Pardon the intrusion... I simply didn't think fools like you would live in such a pleasant home."
"Uh-huh... And I didn't think an alpha of an entire race of savages broke into other creature's territories."
"Aren't you supposed to ask permission first!?" asked Miguel.
"Why? I'm no Vampire," said the Aswang King.
"Wait, we aren't!?" asked Miguel.
"No. You're closer to a demon than a Vamp," said Prometheus.
"And this is why you should be paying attention in Paranormal Bio class," sighed Anna.
The Aswang King pours another warm cup of tea.
"Well?" asked Prometheus.
The Aswang King somehow absorbs the tea into his fingers. "Well, well... Funny. You seem to think that you have power over me simply because I'm in your home. Didn't you steal this very home?"
"So?"
"What I'm saying is that you should... reflect... on your own flaws and failures... I truly am sorry for the intrusion. Tell me. What's the difference between temptations, trial, and tribulation? Which one is worse?"
"A temptation is the opportunity to sin. A trial is a question in faith. A tribulation... is something so terrible... so painful... simply because you believe in Jesus, God, others, or even yourself. It is punishment for having faith and optimism. A punishment for believing in something and/or someone."
"And you believe that you did nothing wrong."
"What do you mean?"
The Aswang King sighs. "Ang angk brakki aked. Kroshang pakpak lang sirra."
"What!?" growled Miguel.
"You don't even know your own language. Such a shame. 'A life is a mountain. They simply have no wings.'" The Aswang King sighs. "It's a saying representing Aswang Superiority."
"What makes YOU guys superior, anyway?" scoffed Jedan.
"Though, that may offend me, I AGREE!!! EQUALITY AND B-B-BIBINGKA, BITCH!!!" roared Miguel.
"'Tribulation,' they say... But what if such faith drives one to killing themselves? Before... 500 years ago, Aswangs lived peacefully as the rulers of the Multiversal Philippines in secret... Acting as protectors to the Filipino people, or before, known as the Aswangi. We were just one people. Though, one day, the Spaniards came to our land and told lies about our people, showing off their faith as if it is the only right. Told the Humans on the island that we were demons to be feared and hated. Your people began hunting us for sport. Eventually decimating a massive portion of my people. Eventually, there were only 36 of us left in the world. So, we began mating and raping female Humans."
"How about all that stuff where you guys ate Human fetuses? What? Were those all lies told by the Spanish?" asked Lord.
"What? Oh, no! We definitely began eating Filipino Human babies to replace them with Aswangs. Didn't work, actually. The acid in our saliva really helped, though."
"YOU GUYS ARE MONSTERS!!!" roared Miguel.
"YOUR FAMILY'S RACE WERE THE GENOCIDAL MANIACS, HERE!!!" roared the Aswang King. "Simply disgusting. Eventually, the pure-breds went extinct. I am a Hybrid and my percentage of Aswang blood if 12.5%, which is relatively high for a Hybrid. Besides, no matter how small of a fraction your Aswang blood is, descendants of Aswangs will always become more potent as the years go on, eventually leading to a hundred percent at the ripe old age of a 21. Each year, you become 4.76% closer to becoming a true Aswang. Lest, of course, you're part Pantheon... Whose blood is just as potent as Aswang blood. You'd be a hybrid forever... And a dangerous one at that..."
"What do you want?" asked the Reaper, clenching his fists.
"I want the boy," said the Aswang King.
"For my BLOOD!?!?" asked Miguel.
"I don't care about that. Not anymore. Already sold a portion of it from your jaw I tore off from your face that you had since grown back. NO!!! I want to train you... Make you get stronger..."
"Why?" asked Miguel.
"Yeah..." said the Reaper, growling. "This kid's MY student."
"That kid had been training to use his Usog. Now, he must train as an Aswang," smiled the Aswang King. "He had already nearly mastered the ability to wield the Usog. The ways of the Aswang, however... Questionable form for a Tiktik."
"A what?" asked Miguel.
"Okay, RACIST...!!!" roared Prometheus. "But we know you wanna kill us, RIGHT!?!? Boy, am I ready for you, Lord of DARKNESS!!!"
"Believe me. I just want to teach him."
"FOR EVIL PURPOSES!!!"
"Not at all," smiled the King.
"It's because I'm a hybrid and it'll help your race somehow?" asked Miguel.
"Yes. That one," smiled the King.
"Miguel, don't listen to him," said Happy. "He eats babies. People who eat babies should NEVER be trusted. No offense, Athena."
"Technically, I'm a hive mind, so I'm just eating myself," smiled Athena.
"You eat your own maggots!?" asked Gerard.
"Yeah. When my clones are too weak, I eat them," said Athena. "I'm an ant for a reason, y'know..."
"I'm not letting you get trained by this... THIS... Evil... MANIAC guy!" roared Prometheus. "I can't think of any word to mock this guy." He snaps his fingers. "Athena."
"A poopy face."
"POOPY FACE!!! You! POOPY FACE!!!" roared Prometheus. "An evil... BABY-EATING... POOPY FACE!!!"
"Psh..." said the Aswang King. "You really aren't interested?" he asked, smiling.
"Of course, not!" yelled Miguel. "I may be a hybrid, but NO DEAL, dude!"
"You sure?"
"You're a Kulam User!"
"Yes. Which is more useful for Aswangs!"
"Wait, really?"
"Miguel..." said Prometheus.
"Aswangs are known to act according to ego and self-gratification. Aswangs are selfish and self-centered. They are obsessive with gaining more power... We are a warrior race, Ibarra. Remember that... One that lives for another battle... One that yearns for a bleeding lip and broken jaw after every fight. We yearn for that feeling... That gratifying feeling of a challenge... because it's fun... addictive... You get that, right? That feeling of winning the fight? Of being on top for once?"
Miguel's eyes sparkle.
"Check this out..." sneered the Aswang King. He holds up his fist as four claws pop out from above his knuckles. "These are sharp nails growing at the top of our hands. Nice, huh? Like that one X-Man." The Aswang King tosses the cup in the air and moves so quickly that, after he catches it, he pulls the cup apart, revealing it's been cut in half.
"You're paying for that, asshole," said Prometheus.
"Well?" smiled the Aswang King.
Miguel smirks.
Prometheus pulls him away from the King and levels with him, grabbing his shoulders.
"You really think this is a good idea?" asked Prometheus.
Miguel sighs. "I won't learn Kulam. I'll just learn some Aswang techniques. Minus all the gross genocidal war crimes stuff. Just to learn to be a better fighter."
Prometheus sighs. "Alright... You may become a better warrior... But I have to be there, okay?"
"I'm not going..," the Reaper walks away, angrily.
"Mad that I killed your parents?" smiled the King.
The Reaper closes his eyes and clenches his fists harder.
"It's alright, Reaper... No hard feelings, right? They were... a danger to my people..."
The Reaper doesn't respond and walks away.
"Yeah... This is a bad idea..." said Prometheus.
"But I'm doing it anyway..." smiled Miguel.
"Why!?" asked Anna.
"Because if Aurora were to come back, I have to get stronger and better..." said Miguel.
"You sure you aren't... obsessed...?" asked Anna.
"I'm good... Trust me, dude," smiled Miguel. "Trust me! (And if he tries anything, we'lll-...)" Miguel punches his palm and grabs his fist.
The group nods to each other.