(Riz’s Perspective)

  Finn, Tito, Fei, and I walk together to the garage to see a very elaborate vehicle in front of them. The Jeepney looks rusty and rundown, but at the same time, there are plenty of intricate decorations all over its chassis. Maria is of a classical style and shape that can trace its legacies close to the first generation of Jeepneys. We are talking about the days when after World War 2 many army jeeps were repurposed and modified by the Filipino people to fit passengers for transport. So many of them looked more like a mish-mash of vehicles put together than something official from the ground up, but that was the charm. Unfortunately, the modernization program of 2017 made new Jeepneys look like goddamn minibus than actual Jeepneys.

  There are a myriad of different colors swirling around the vehicle in the form of many designs, like waves. A white hood, pale green doors, gray paneling, and some other parts are black and even a red part or two. Tito never found the time to repaint it. Too busy building another addition. The hood of the Jeepney has 4 statuettes of horses on it. Even the wheels have designs in the form of strange spirals focusing on the axles.

  “Shite...You have...-an interesting sense of taste, Ricar.” Finn says with a bemused expression.

  “Hey, it works well enough. Plus, the utility on Maria has unlimited potential.”

  Fei asks, “Care to explain?”

  “She can drive on water. Has an expansive storage container that is bigger on the inside than the outside. And she is more armed than a typical tank.”

  Fei looks impressed. “Woah....you really went all out with her. And that’s why your “baptized tires” are called such? Because they drive on water?”

  “They also repair themselves in three days.”

  Fei ponders for a moment. “Hmm...do such items work for non-Christians?”

  “It’s not about being Christian. Blessed items of any kind are based on the principle not necessarily on the will of a higher power, though such powers set the knowledge of these blessings in place as a matter of convenience for their followers, but divine miracles and blessings function as ritualized links to call upon the natural laws of the universe to reassert itself when certain types of magic circumvents----you know what? How about I give you a book later on that subject?”

  “Uh...thanks?” Tito has that effect on everyone, so I’m not surprised Fei would be clueless to his babbling.

  “I answer my ringing phone. One of the tikbalang scouts is calling me. “Maaga pa ng ilang oras ang Parade. Kailangan nating magsimula. (Parade's a few hours early. We need to get started.)”

  “Na? (Already?)”

  The scout replies with urgency, “Naglilipat ang mga aswang. Nasa lupa ang seguridad at nasa bubong kami. Wala nang paghihintay, ngayon na ang oras. (Aswang are on the move. Security's on the ground and we're on the roofs. No more waiting, the time is now.)”

  “Nakuha ito (Got it.)” I hang up, all of them are looking at me. I probably don’t look very happy right now. “Guys, we gotta move. The organizers are starting the parade early because of weather conditions. Security is forming on the ground while the tikbalang are guarding the rooftops. Our allies say the aswang are already moving to their positions. Tito, stay with Reyna while Fei, Finn, and I head out now.”

  “As long as you know how to drive Maria. If you wreck her, you pay for the insurance.”

  I roll my eyes, “We can talk about this later.”

  Everyone other than Ricar goes to Maria. I start the engine which roars loudly. Fei and I could see the variety of buttons, levers, and switches on the dashboard.

  She remarks, “That’s...a lot of stuff here.”

  I grasp a Rosary hanging on the mirror and pause for a moment. Tikbalang may not care for any gods, but we will need some kinda blessing in case things go sideways. “Tito doesn’t know when he’s overdoing it. As the humans say, he lets his inner nerd get the better of him. Let’s go.”

  Finn points behind him. “I’ll be in the back.”

  Maria starts to move and drives off from the garage into the road beyond.

  —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  (Ate Dalisay’s Perspective.)

  Music blares from the speakers all over the city. The streets of Cebu are filled with its denizens. Many of them are marching with floats already on the move. The banners on the rafters are waving wildly by the wind. Many dancers in their traditional dresses are dancing with some holding replicas of Santo Nino. More crowds of people start clustering together on the sidewalk.

  Some of these floats remind me of things that I don’t need to think about, however much it attempts to pull on my numbed heart.“I was never a good dancer, but it was something I had a passive interest in. Seems it’s another one of those ambitions that will never come to pass.

  These humans seem to enjoy parading and dancing around for their petty conquests in history. Such a vain species that I have no need to keep my ties with.

  All these festivities of laughter, cheering, and fun. Yet, it’ll all end in a sudden explosion. It’s all just a means to an end.

  On the rooftops, squads of aswang and undead are planting our special bombs, powered by a special chemical substance that we stole from Pinnacle. It’s supposed to be capable of leveling a whole city and turning the humans of the whole island to the same thralls, Herodotus commanded. We will need to be quick because I am sure someone would have caught wind of this operation.

  Suddenly, a group of tikbalang ports next to them, and they attack them silently with spears, bows, and small modern arms equipped with silencers. My aswang and the undead attempt to counterattack with their weapons or their very claws but too many of them are taken by surprise.

  More of my troops find themselves ambushed by these horse people. The humans below seem ignorant to the battles that are happening beyond their sight.”

  I fly into the top of the tallest building in Cebu and set myself in a secure position. I set my sniper rifle up and go prone aiming at any targets below with my scope. I see one of the tikbalang is about to strike one of my brethren. As he raises his arms, ready to strike, I put a two-inch hole into him. I probably destroyed his lung. He’ll bleed out if he didn't die of shock by now. The rest of his squad take cover, leaving the fool to his fate. I send a message to my men through a communicator. “Got your back. Keep yourselves out in the open. They know I can shoot them from afar.”

  One of my underlings replies from the communicator, “Salamaat, Ate.”

  Always satisfying catching them unawares.

  —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  (Riz’s Perspective)

  The jeepney goes deeper into the city while trying to navigate to places where there’s no traffic or roadblocks. We look around to see if anything odd is happening around.

  Fei is fiddling with something in her fingertips.

  I ask, “What have you got there?”

  Fei takes a quick glance at me, “An USB drive. The very same drive that began this mission.”

  Finn leans in, “Yes, Yaz and I talked earlier about it being useful to disable the bombs. Some knowledge has to be there if there are full schematics inside.

  I look back at Finn, “How so?”

  Finn rubs his chin in thought, “She noticed there was a section that was locked by a code that she wasn’t able to crack yet. But she noticed it was based on a cipher the aswang crime bosses use to communicate with each other. It’s odd. Why have such sensitive information locked in something the aswang can easily gain access to?”

  Fei puts the drive in her sweatpants. She zips up the pockets to keep it secure. “We will find it soon enough. Maybe I can find a bomb and disarm it based on the information this drive has. Then, I can relay to the rest of the tribe.”

  I answered my phone again. “Avoid the tower, we lost five already.”

  “Dammit.” I hung up. I activate the screen on the Jeepney dashboard to see a GPS activate about where we are going into the city. “Fuck, we have a sniper. Some of our guys are being picked off one by one.”

  Fei asks, “Do they know where the sniper is?”

  “Considering all the places they are shot at, there is probably one place where the sniper could be located. The tallest building in the city—,” The Jeepney’s Siri starts dinging, “--and NO, Siri, I am not talking to you."

  Finn adds to the conversation. “Great, we might have to split up to make sure we can cover the teams fighting the aswang as well as disable the bombs.”

  “Did your bitchy friend say anything special about these bombs,” I ask.

  “Aye...they are bioweapons that release special spores. Turns people into undead. Considering that the mastermind is a necromancer…”

  Fei finishes his sentence, “He would have an army of thousands.”

  “If not more. All the more reason we have to take him down. We have to find him as soon as possible.” I take another turn on the street.

  Fei’s face brightens up with an idea. “I could fight the sniper. But from here, it will be a long stretch to reach there. I can probably traverse through any electrical equipment to the inside of the building quickly but I don’t know if it will be fast enough to get to the top from the inside, not to mention they could know I am present the moment I enter a room.”

  Finn nibbles on his thumb for a moment. “Fei, give me your phone.”

  Fei hands Finn her phone, “You and your thumb. Always planning something together.”

  Finn checks the phone, “Riz, some string?”

  I point to my side, “In the compartment.”

  Finn opens the dashboard and takes a roll of string and wraps it around the phone to his spear making sure it’s firmly in place. “Riz, call your backup. I am going to throw this spear in the direction of that building.”

  Finn points in the direction of where the building is located. “Can you tell them to take this spear and throw it as far as they can into the side of that building? We might have to chain out our throws depending on distance.”

  I make a call on the phone. “We have a plan to take down the sniper.”

  The tikbalang in battle nods to me from the top of the building, as we are driving by. He switches calls to inform the others about the plan as he uses his hooved foot to step on a zombie’s face.

  Finn gets on top of the roof of the Jeepney and aims his spear at the building. He throws it as far as he possibly can.

  One of the tikbalang ports close to where the spear is, grabs it, and throws it further at the building before porting out. More tikbalang seeing the spear close to them do the same as well...until—-it lands on the side of the building near where the sniper is. I hope that it stays there.

  Finn gets his phone out as Fei stares at it. ‘If the plan works, then I guess it’s time for me to travel through our phones…”

  I glance at the rearview mirror/I turn my head in confusion. “You are going to do what?

  Fei tries to assure me, “Trust us. I have done this before, just not with such a small screen.”

  Riz raises a point, “Wait, what if the sniper has a phone? Maybe you can go through it instead and take the sniper by surprise?”

  Fei thinks for a moment, “A good strategy. But again, I haven’t done this before. For all I know, I could be mangled coming out and there won’t be much I can do when they try to kill me.”

  Finn gives her a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, lass, just stick to the plan. Good luck, don’t do anything too reckless. Think with your head.”

  She nods, “I’ll try not to screw up.”

  “More like DO NOT screw up.” I say this as I make a sharp turn to a different street.

  Fei looks deep at Finn’s phone and then touches the screen. Her body starts contorting, it’s like her head is getting sucked into the screen of the phone, like a rat squeezing through a tiny hole. The rest of her body follows, like squishing a bag of jelly into a box. At least, that’s the closest I can describe this… bizarre sight. It isn’t long before she’s entered completely into the phone.

  I simply say, “That’s really weird.”

  “She is used to it. Makes me wonder what it is like traversing through a phone.”

  “Yeah, now that I think of it...wait why is this street so empty?” We realize we entered a street with no one in it save a group of kneeling cyber undead and a strange monster sitting cross-legged in the middle of the road. His eyes open and his gaze turns to the Jeepney.

  “Oh shite...he’s really ugly, isn’t he?”

  I take a closer look at the beast. He definitely looks like one of the bosses I saw through the fly drone. “I assume that’s the leader?”

  The headless monster stands up along with his minions. He wraps his black, fleshy fingers around the stalk of the eye on top of whatever ‘neck’ he has. He snatches it upwards with a loud squish.

  “I’m really glad I didn’t eat earlier…” My stomach churns. Almost makes me want to go back to the Tikbalang tradition of being vegetarian again… Almost.

  The stalk of this eye thing is like a straight branch. It’s about as long as his torso and thicker than his massive fingers as he finally pulls it all the way out of himself.

  “That’s… not an eye…”

  Finn shakes his head. “For what you need to know, that’s what he uses to raise these undead… A necromantic staff.”

  Herodotus raises his staff and a green energy forms at the end. He fires it straight up and I follow it with my eyes. As the energy disappears into the air, the sky around the area warps and twists. It’s like we’re in a bubble, separated from the rest of the city.

  “This sob must have been anticipating us. Fei should not take too long to traverse. She’s not the type to faff about. I’ll recall my spear soon.”

  “Just make sure this fight doesn’t spill outside this street. It’ll turn into a bloodbath quickly.”

  Finn shakes his head. “It won’t. The spell he’s using takes us to an alternate reality cut from the real world. Maybe he wants to be thorough with us and make sure that we won’t get aid.”

  “So you have seen this spell before."

  Finn nods, “Yeah, from a different foe.”

  He must be Herodotus. He stares down the Jeepney and then calls his minions. “You like that I meet you in an empty street? As much as I would like collateral damage to happen among the civilian population, I’d rather not be interrupted as I have my fun.

  We stare back, not showing fear. Necromancers are cowards, no matter who they are.

  He roars, “MY CHILDREN! Feast.”

  The undead howl and charge at the vehicle. I counter the charge by flooring the pedal in an attempt to ram at Herodotus running over many undead. Herodotus manages to jump over the Jeepney on its roof denting it with his landing. Finn climbs on the roof and engages the monster.

  I take a quick glance at Herodotus as he opens his mouth wide and green fire starts igniting from his throat and then breathes it out in a fiery blast. Finn dodges it in time by sidestepping to the right side while holding on the window of the Jeepney’s side. Finn swipes his staff to keep the zombies from getting close. Hearing the fire, I hit the brake pedal disrupting Herodotus’ channeling.

  The zombies swarm the vehicle at me. I am quick to transform and port out. I attack the zombies with my batons. I smash one zombie on the head crushing it to paste, and I follow up with another swipe knocking another zombie. Then, I unleash a flurry of strikes on a charging zombie breaking most of its bones. Finn climbs back on the roof while kicking Herodotus’ left shoulder causing him to stumble and drop his staff.

  Herodotus regains his stance, an infernal grin spreading across his twisted features as green flames surge around his fists and feet, casting eerie shadows across the battlefield. With a guttural roar, he charges toward Finn, launching into a blazing side kick aimed squarely at Finn’s chest. Finn narrowly ducks beneath the fiery strike, feeling the heat scorch the air mere inches above his head.

  Without missing a beat, Herodotus spins swiftly into an elbow strike, the flames licking hungrily through the air. Finn pivots sharply, raising his forearm just in time to deflect the attack away from his torso. Sparks scatter on contact, and Finn grunts from the searing pain radiating through his arm.

  Herodotus presses the advantage, unleashing a relentless salvo of punches wreathed in emerald flame, each strike crackling with malevolent energy. Finn attempts to block the storm of fiery blows, but each defensive maneuver chars the sleeves of his coat, the fabric smoking and sizzling from the intense heat. Realizing his garment is now a hindrance, Finn swiftly slips out of his coat, letting it fall away as flames consume it mid-air.

  Free of restriction, Finn immediately counters with his own precise offensive. He sidesteps a sweeping kick from Herodotus, pivoting elegantly to deliver a sharp roundhouse kick directly into the creature’s ribs. Herodotus staggers slightly, snarling in pain and fury. Seizing this opportunity, Finn follows up with a flurry of strikes—a rapid series of jabs to Herodotus’s jaw followed by a powerful cross punch that forces the beast to stumble backward.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Meanwhile, across the chaotic battleground, I’m locked in desperate combat against the horde of undead. They surge toward me relentlessly, attacking in savage waves. I weave through their grasping claws and snapping jaws, narrowly avoiding deadly lasers that cut through the air around me. Despite my agility, several claws rake across my skin, leaving painful slashes and bloodied marks. Teeth snap at me from all sides, and although I twist away deftly, one particularly aggressive zombie sinks its fangs briefly into my forearm.

  Gritting my teeth against the pain, I gather my resolve. Adrenaline surging, I shift into a more aggressive stance, my eyes narrowing with fierce determination. With a battle cry, I leap forward, striking rapidly and decisively. My fists crash through brittle jaws, and swift kicks shatter decaying limbs, momentarily thinning the crowd.

  Using my unique ability, I begin to teleport rapidly across the battlefield, appearing and disappearing amidst bursts of energy. Each port lands me strategically behind or above clusters of zombies, allowing me to dispatch multiple targets efficiently. I whirl into spins, deliver sweeping kicks, and thrust sharp elbows into undead skulls, each motion a fluid dance of violence. My breathing grows ragged, but my pace never falters, relentless in my pursuit to overcome the overwhelming mob. I take one zombie and port myself and the undead out into the air. We fall but I port out just as we land, while the zombie gets splattered by the landing.

  I port to Finn trying to strike at Herodotus with my batons. The maneater reaches for his staff and blocks the attack. The maneater swings his staff into my batons, redirecting me towards the side and almost falling off. As I turn, a flash of green where the monster was. I then hear a zombie screeching loudly. I spot it as it bulges and trembles, then exploding into metal and gore. In its place is Herodotus once more as the mouth on his stomach opens wide and snatches another nearby zombie with his teeth and swallows him whole. He can teleport too?

  I notice Finn’s burnt bruises.

  He says, “Yeah, fighting him like this isn’t going to work.”

  “Do you have any great suggestions? Now’s the time.”

  “Give Fei more time, and then I’ll get my spear so I can engage him more easily.”

  Herodotus breathes out more green fire to the sky while the horde of undead charge at us.

  I remark, “Yeah, This is going to fucking suck.”

  —--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  (Fei's Perspective)

  Flying infinitely into the abyssal static, this is always my experience every time I enter this realm. The chaos of image and sound of the black and white void can make it very disorienting to navigate. I can see different channels and shows in floating screens as well as lost souls swimming in the nether unable to leave the realm. I look around finding my way out. In the midst of the white noise, I could see my phone screen from a certain distance. I fly towards my destination until I reach my portal out of the static sea.

  I come out of the screen in a warped and contorted way, as I notice a disembodied pair of legs jumping on the spear, trying to dislodge it. I’d have more time to be confused if I didn’t feel my ectoplasm rising in my chest. I vomit on the legs, causing it to stagger and fall until it manages to grasp a flagpole jutting out of the building.

  I see that my phone is busted from my entrance but I can worry about that later. Too much is at stake. I continue to climb up the building.

  I look down and I see the legs manage to find its footing. A grappling hook shoots out from the side of its hip and wraps around one of my legs.

  I grunt as I try to hold on to the ledge, while the legs try to pull me down.

  The legs’ knees open and fire lasers at me. I’m already getting sick of cyborgs. One of the beams narrowly misses my left arm. I swing my body to the side so the other laser misses my calf.

  Then, I see the sniper aiming at me point blank. No time to think. I have my right arm shove against the wall. The bullet flies right under me, slicing the cable that was dragging me down. My left hand keeps a hold of the wall as I watch the legs lose its balance from the severed line. It falls several stories, crashing to the ground. With it severed, her lower half goes off-balance and falls down from the building crashing to the ground.

  The sniper yells out, “Shit.”

  As she reels back in pain, I kick the rifle from her hands then go into a stance ready to fight the sniper. Then, I realize this must be the aswang crime boss that Riz mentioned before, Ate Dalisay. She is the same sniper from the warehouse. I can tell from her voice. Her body is completely bisected but she looks like she is hovering above the ground probably from some enchantment. Riz did mention to me back in his uncle’s place that she was one of the more dangerous aswang. Recovering, Dalisay uses her wings to stand up in a way that makes her look very tall, as a way to intimidate me. Her claws elongate like knives.

  “You! From the warehouse. You should have just minded your own business.” Dalisay attempts to slash me multiple times, but it’s evident she’s used to only long-range as I easily duck and sidestep out of the way.

  “It’s hard to ignore someone trying to blow up a city to make zombies.” I narrowly avoided an arcing swipe from her.

  “Not my plan. That ugly bastard.”

  “Even so, you know the entire country would take notice and try to hunt you and your kind down if you pull this off.”

  She scoffs, “I won’t have to worry. But you should worry about yourself.” She tries to charge me with an arcing swipe but I somersault underneath and I try to stab her with my knives. Dalisay deflects them with her left claw, and tries to jab me with her right one. I duck her strike and kick her back to maintain distance.

  “Is it worth it though? To let thousands if not millions die? To make the aswang known and vilified further?”

  “You do not understand us.” The flurries from Dalisay continue as I try to appeal to whatever conscience she may have, if she has one. I hope she has one.

  “I know the government and those aware of your kind want you all dead. In fact, I am an exile as my homeland considers me unnatural. We are both unwanted by our homes.”

  Dalisay stops for a moment.

  I continue, “If what you are doing is an act of revenge against humanity, I...can understand that. I tried to commit revenge on all those that wronged me in life. But....it isn't worth it.”

  “For you, sure. So why are you trying to stop me?”

  “Because...why prove these people right about us? That we are monsters?”

  Dalisay retorts back, “We are monsters. We exist to make them live in fear. To make them know their place in a hostile world.”

  She draws her claws with a shriek of metal on bone, the tips gleaming wickedly under the flickering lights. I duck instinctively, feeling the air whip over my head as her swipe tears into the concrete wall behind me. The sound is a harsh, grating screech — like knives dragged across stone — and deep, jagged gashes carve through the surface, spraying dust and pebbles into the air.

  Before I can fully recover my footing, Dalisay pivots, slashing in a wide arc meant to catch me on the rebound. I throw myself into a roll along the grimy floor, the second swipe missing by inches. Her claws rake the wall again, this time even deeper, chunks of masonry exploding outward from the force.

  Sparks flare from exposed pipes she hits during her rampage, and the narrow corridor feels like it’s closing in — nowhere safe to stand still. Dalisay snarls low in her throat, her movements predatory and erratic, her body coiling like a spring ready to snap again.

  I rise to a crouch, trying to read her breathing, the twitch of her shoulders, the subtle shifts in her weight. My heart hammers against my ribs. She lunges forward with a feral speed, and I barely sidestep, feeling the gust of her passing swipe brush against my jacket.

  For a split second, we lock eyes — mine burning with focus, hers alight with pure, ravenous instinct — before Dalisay barrels forward again, claws swinging wildly in a barrage that forces me to keep moving or be ripped apart.

  Every move is reactive now. Dodge. Pivot. Slip past the deadly arcs. I stay low, knowing one mistimed breath would mean those claws would find my flesh instead of the wall.

  I yelled back. “I may have never wanted to be what I am now, but who says we have to live for that? That is not who I am."

  “I know it is what I am and if you remain in my way, I’ll shred you like the rest.” Dalisay pounces and slams me to the ground. “No more debate. I don’t know why you thought talking to me would work.”

  I struggle from her grip. “So you are doing this for revenge, for yourself or someone important to you?”

  Dalisay pauses for a moment. She stares at me, but it’s as if she's not looking at me, like there’s a faint sadness in her eyes as she seems to contemplate. I can feel her silence and I think I understand her thoughts.

  “Would they want you to do all of this?”

  She lashes back. “Don’t presume.”

  “I am not. That is why I am asking you.”

  She looks to her side, as if pondering. The battle of anger and sorrow is visible on her face.

  “I am not even asking you to change your ways. Just know this whole plan is not worth it to everyone involved.”

  She narrows her eyes. “You know if I decide to listen to you, it is not going to change what is happening in the eyes of the authorities. Or my people. It won’t make sense to turn back now.”

  “I know that Herodotus’ bombs are Pinnacle technology and so are his thralls’ implants.”

  “That much is obvious.” She still holds me down, but if I can get through to her....I just need to get through to what’s left of her morals. There’s got to be something left inside her, I can feel it.

  “And I can prove that to you. Manifest 64 has the term Legazpi M-1565 in its schematics.”

  “Hmm...you think I don’t know that? I had a feeling about it. The tech is something I am not proud of using.”

  I take out the USB drive from my pocket. “I have the manifest from the warehouse.”

  Ate Dalisay raises a brow in surprise. “Hmph...what do you expect me to do with that drive?”

  “I am giving it to you. Please, we couldn’t access the full information from the drive. I think you can access it. It has a cipher from your people.”

  I hand over the drive, which only adds to her expression of confusion. She lets go of me, floating back to look at the drive. “What are—”

  “Please....just take a look at it.” I'm taking a big risk. If it goes south, it's gonna be Brazil again if not far worse. However, though it seems silly to most, I still have a gut feeling about things, and maybe...a little bit of faith in people. And if that makes me a fool....well....even a foolish old man can move mountains.

  Dalisay raises a brow and plugs the drive on an extension of her communicator. She enters the code without issue. The screen gives a bunch of data that she scrolls down. She gives an expression showing shock.

  “What have you discovered?”

  “I am...such an idiot. I helped him. If those bombs detonate—”

  She gives me the communicator and I read on the screen. The data reveals the bombs would not only turn humans into undead. The effect of the spores will kill all other life on the island of Cebu, including aswang.

  “So I guess, now you have a reason.”

  “The Luzon gangs betrayed me. There’s much they have to answer for. The data was right under my nose in the very warehouse I secured. Is this why the Kuyas said there wasn’t anything worthwhile in the manifest other than what I already know?”

  “So you’ll help me?”

  “I wonder why the drive had an aswang cipher. It’s Pinnacle property, like someone on the inside wanted me to know.”

  I take a risk and walk over to Dalisay and lower her claws. “We can worry about it later. Let’s make sure Herodotus doesn’t get his way. You have the power to turn the tide and make things right.”

  “Like calling for peace? Not possible.”

  “I doubt we can heal the rift between the aswang and Cebu but we can at least stop things from escalating further.”

  Ate Dalisay sighs. She beckons me to grab onto her. She spreads her wings. Am I flying on her back?

  “Hang on. We can reach Herodotus. We need to take him down to disorient the undead.”

  “Let’s go then.”

  Dalisay flies with soaring speed to the direction where Herodotus is knowing where he is positioned.

  As the fight between different squads ensues, the aswang lieutenant and I fly overhead while she barks orders on her communicator. I could see an immediate effect as some aswang paused from the fighting hearing new orders. Some are confused but ultimately retreat from their opponents. The tikbalang are taken aback by the retreat but nonetheless take the opportunity to destroy the undead and extract the bombs from all over the city.

  We see the sky distort around an area of the city. As we closely enter, Dalisay stops.

  “I know this spell. Herodotus traps his victims before he claims them by cutting off the area to a different level of reality.”

  “How do we get in?”

  “You don’t.”

  I pause and think for a moment. “Can you turn on your communicator?”

  Dalisay pauses in confusion, but she decides to follow my request. She turns on her device and I enter it disappearing back into the Static.

  —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Riz's Perspective

  Finn and I fight off the undead while we take cover behind the Jeepney from the fire breath attacks of the maneater. Herodotus’s left hand starts to tremble as it shrinks into his arm, becoming hollow. “What is he-...?”

  “Take cover, horse boy!” A green glow shines from the hole. I port behind Maria just in time as we hear something like a shotgun go off, but louder. I peek over the Jeepney to see a small crater with chunks of flesh burning with green flame and fragments of bone piercing into the concrete. Since he just saved my life, I will try not to put poison in his coffee later for calling me ‘horse boy’.

  Finn looks at me, “How tough is this jeepney?”

  “Tough enough to survive most anti-vehicle munitions.”

  “How did your uncle---?”

  “Don’t ask. Gives me a headache.”

  “Hopefully, Fei has reached her point by now.”

  Finn calls upon his spear which ports back to his hand.

  He chucks it through the Jeepney’s windows, straight into the arm cannon. The green glows bright as his arm expands before exploding. The monster howls in pain and fury as chunks of… whatever he’s made of, fly everywhere, burning with more of those green flames.

  The beast roars as he slams his staff on the ground creating a green shockwave. His army is shoved backwards by the force. I can’t believe the idiot took out his own as bodies are tossed everywhere. Finn’s spear phases back into his hand as he raises it, then he slashes downwards, cutting through the energy. The wave continues on, slamming into Maria and launching her over me. I had to port to the inner side of the wave to not get hit. I watch as Tito’s baby flips over and over in the air until landing back on its wheels. It’d be hard to heft her back upright if she didn’t.

  Finn doesn’t lose his stride as he charges Herodotus, the spear and staff collide against each other as they struggle for dominance. I start to run towards them, but the pile of corpses between us seem to still have some fight left in them as they all slowly arise.

  “Enough of this. Sorry Tito, but we’re not going to bring Maria back as pristine as you want me to.” I port inside the Jeepney, in the driver’s seat and stare at the buttons. “If… only I knew which of these… Tito, why didn’t you label any of these?! Tanga! (Idiot!)” I have little choice other than to press them one at a time and hope I hit the right one. He cared so much about detail, yet didn’t think about if someone else would use it.

  I press the first button and a hatch on the roof appears, it looks like a tranquilizer is inside? Useless. I press the second one, the hatch with the tranquilizer closes back up and a flamethrower fires out the front of the Jeepney. I guess that’s useful, but not right now. I can see these freaks have finally gotten to their feet and are going towards the Jeepney. Enough guessing. I slide my hand across all the buttons, one of them has to be it.

  I hear a bunch of different mechanisms going off, but one of them is the screen on the dashboard showing a view of the outside, towards the horde. A small panel pops out from behind the steering wheel. Some kind of thing I can grip my fingers around and my thumb goes on top, laying on top of a button. I press the button and I can hear a rain of gunfire go off from above and around me. Whatever zombie the screen was aiming at is now a paste of blood. I pull on the grip and it moves the aim and I mow down all the zombies in sight. I think I understand Tito’s love for this thing… a little bit.

  As I narrow the numbers of his minions, I see Finn putting more power into his slashes and stabs. Herodotus is blocking more than attacking, stuck on the defensive as he’s forced to take some steps backwards.

  The beast yells, “YOU. PERISH. NOW. HIBERNIAN!”

  “I am not the one losing the fight.”

  Herodotus raises his staff and attempts to crush Finn, but he deflects the slam with an upwards swing. While the creature staggers, Finn pulls back and jabs his spear into his side. About time we did something to this beast. He pulls the spear out of the wound and the monster’s dull green blood spills onto the street.

  About time we did something to this beast. Finn looks down and jumps back. I see that the spilt blood is starting to burn into the ground, leaving a line of small craters in the pavement.

  All the zombies are gone, this is my chance. As the maneater roars, I aim the Jeepney’s guns at his torso’s face. I press the button and Maria fills this thing full of lead or whatever Tito put in these guns. The acidic blood spurts from all his wounds, though all it does is seem to make him angry. A flash of green and he’s gone again.

  “Saan siya pumunta? (Where did he go?)” I search around, spotting the upper half of a zombie starting to shriek and convulse, expanding in the same way as last time. “I missed one…?!””

  Herodotus channels all the corpses nearby, activating their implants causing them to detonate. The bodies disintegrate, but a torrent of green energy motes starts getting absorbed by him. This energy seems to make him slowly grow in size. He was already big before, but now… he’s getting as large as a house. Lines like thick veins pulse out of his every limb, sharp fragments of bone protrude out of the outer sides of his body, and his eyes have a faint green glow. His ‘skin’, if you want to call it that, seems less sludge-like and more… solid. Like the faint glisten of his outside has disappeared, replaced with a lighting akin to a metal sheen.

  Finn hurls his spear at the monster. It bounces off of him. Finn is caught by surprise as he gains his spear back.

  “Am I losing this fight now?”

  “Finn? Any more ideas?”

  “Kinda tough to think in the heat of the moment.”

  As Herodotus advances, I try to fire the Jeepney’s weapons at the monster but they bounce off of him as well.

  Finn slowly backs up as Herodotus prepares for a fiery attack from his maw.

  “I feast in glory,” he arrogantly declares.

  Suddenly, I see the TV screen on at a nearby electronics store explode as Fei bursts out to stand with us ready for battle. “Took you long enough.”

  “How are you both fairing,” she asked with a smirk.

  Finn replies, “Not great.”

  The maneater shoots green flames yet again. Finn slams his spear to make a light shield as I roll up the windows of the Jeepney as it gets blasted with fire. I guess Maria’s pretty reliable after all… It starts getting hot. Really hot. This is the quickest I’ve ever changed my mind. I port out of the vehicle, sweating from almost being cooked alive. Fei phases through the flames and rushes to Herodotus. That’s some guts right there.

  The Maneater attempts to slam Fei with his burning fists. As his arms swing towards the ground, she slips between his arms, sliding underneath the monster. When she pulls her arm out, she has some kind of bleeding sac. I couldn’t tell what it was until… it started beating… Is that his heart? Goddamn. The maneater coughs acidic blood, as he stumbles. His left arm shrinks into his torso, just to sprout out of his back and grab her legs. He lifts her up with ease, like a doll, tossing her outwards. He throws her at a car, which she phases through but ends up becoming corporeal and smashes back into the electronics store.

  “Fuck, didn’t she rip out his heart? Does he have more?” I thought to myself.

  The maneater seems to be trying to catch his breath, before his eyes flick to me. If he thinks I’m going to be taken down easily, I’ll prove him wrong. He purses his lips and his cheeks puff out as he rushes towards me. I don’t think about it too much. I port behind him as he spews his acidic blood where I was standing. Suddenly, I teleport to his side, but he was already in the middle of swinging his staff and I’m too slow to dodge. I can’t believe I let that happen. The staff hits the back of my legs, making me fall backwards. I almost see stars. I landed right on that gash on my back. Why does it have to hurt so much…

  The maneater lifts his leg, probably to crush me, but Finn throws his spear, letting it bounce off his back.

  “Come on, beastie! I’ve had worse things come out of a cotton gin!”

  I have no clue what that means, but at least the monster’s turning around to pay attention to him now. Come on. Get up. Stop laying on the ground and fight. I push myself up, noticing movement at the electronics store. I see Fei walking out with her torn hoodie holding a plasma screen TV monitor. Even with that thing in her hands, she’s running… well, more like limping, towards us. Is her foot broken? The maneater spits acid at Finn, to which he sidesteps each of the attempts, careful not to step on any of the blood. He tries to spit once more, but nothing comes out. Herodotus bares his teeth, then opens his mouth, the fire building his throat, glaring at Finn.

  Fei rushes by Finn, phasing through the breath of fire Herodotus spews, and jumping into his maw, surrounding herself in the unnatural flames inside of his mouth. Is she trying to get herself killed?! Though on fire herself, Fei touches the screen of the TV to activate what seems to be a portal. The beast tries to close his jaws on Fei with some of the teeth cutting into her body. She contorts into the TV.

  Herodotus goes wide-eyed when he contorts as the TV inside his jaws causes him to be sucked into it. He and Fei disappear entirely with only a wrecked TV screen falling to the ground.

  I could only say, “Holy Shit.”

  Finn yells, “Fei!”

  We ran to the wrecked TV. I notice the sky warping back to normal.

  Finn frantically tries to turn on the TV but to no avail. I sigh and put my hand on his shoulder.

  “Sorry about Fei,” I said.

  We both remain silent until my phone starts ringing.

  I answered my phone. “Can I call you back, I am in the middle of…”

  The phone explodes as Fei in a mangled and wounded state reappears from the phone landing on me. She then throws up. Happy to see her back but does she have to do that? “Eugh.”

  Finn goes to hug Fei in her messed up state. “Reckless again, Lass…”

  Fei shrugs while she slowly tries to re-adjust herself. “Sorry, but it worked didn’t it?”

  “Better start saving up, Lass. You owe me a new phone.” Finn chuckles as he lifts up her body.

  “Yeah, I know… I owe myself a new one too.” Fei gives a wry smile.

  I ask, “Where’s Herodotus?”

  Finn starts snapping Fei’s mangled body back together to make it easier to heal. These guys are weird even for me. But I am glad they were around.

  Fei responds, “Hopefully, gone for good in the Static.”

  Finn quirks a brow, “Didn’t expect you to go through bringing someone into your realm.”

  “Herodotus was dangerous. I don’t think we could easily defeat him other than vanquishing him to some place where he can’t endanger lives here.

  “I am not sure how I can write this in the report. Not to mention how you got here.”

  Fei replies, “Finn, No need to know right now. Let’s just take it easy for now.”

  He asks, “What about the bombs?”

  A fellow member of the tikbalang tribe ports before us, catching us all by surprise.

  “The bombs are disarmed and the aswang are retreating.”

  I raise a brow and look at Fei. “I suppose you had something to do with the aswang retreating?”

  “Riz, can we just rest for the moment? Besides, your cousin is waiting for you right?”

  “Shit, yeah.” I look at the tikbalang. “Tell others that I will join them after I take care of a few things.”

  The tikbalang nods and ports out.

  “If you are able, you deserve to at least observe the parade,” I tell my new friends.

  Finn and Fei look at each other and then nod to me. I have to admit, I don’t think I could have won this fight without them. Not that I would admit it openly. Don’t want them thinking I’d be some hapless native being dependent on foreign agents. Maybe it’s all a fluke. There were many of those undead and the beast had its tricks. Odds would have been difficult regardless.

  I can see Fei look up above. I look at her direction towards the rooftops to also find that the-...a severed lower half of a body joins the upper half of...a manananggal? I could see her vaguely nodding with approval before disappearing on the rooftops.