Pitch had volunteered for a new set of scans to make sure he wasn't responsible for the new signal drawing in Cryptids. After a few hours of tests and scans no sign that he was the origin point was found. “Well everything's coming up negative. You don't seem to be giving off any sort of signal.” Kathryn announced while looking at the results. Pitch also looked at the results, not understanding most of them. “I don't notice anything different from the last time we did a scan.”

  Kathryn nodded. “There's been no major differences since you came back from the otherside, and even comparing before that the only changes were an increase in stability. Something I think would be almost the opposite sort of development considering Abe produced his when he was continually tormented and kept in a constant state of partial instability. Keeping his particles in an aggravated state as they used him as a power amp.” Pitch nodded. “So I'm definitely not the cause?” Kathryn shook her head. “Not directly, but there could potentially be a correlation considering it didn't start till after you got forcefully shifted to the fear realm and returned.”

  Pitch's eyes widened. “Oh, oh no.” Kathryn looked at Pitch. “What's wrong?” Pitch did a throat clearing sound even though he didn't have to. “I think that Phobos is behind this somehow, drawing monsters to this location in response to me showing up in the fear realm.” Kathryn thought about it for a moment. “That's a plausible scenario.” Pitch gripped the sides of his head. “Cryptids are being drawn here again, putting lives in danger, and it's all my fault.”

  Kathryn put a hand on Pitch's shoulder. “No it's not. Your transmigration was caused by an attack from some renegade Black Scripture members.” Pitch grumbled. “Who came after me, to kill me. If I wasn't here, if I wasn't a monster, none of this would be happening.” Kathryn rubbed the shoulder. “If you weren't here, if you were never changed, Abe would still be in the basement drawing in Cryptids.” Pitch sighed. “So I've at best maintained the status quo.” Kathryn gave Pitch a small kiss on the cheek. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You're trying your best.”

  Pitch didn't return the gesture, still scowling. “Well my best clearly isn't good enough. I mean do you have any idea how many people I've eaten? Even if you consider those people’s deaths as a net positive my soul is still stained in sin. The ends don't justify the means.” Kathryn frowned. “You had limited choices. It was eat on your own terms or risk losing what little mental abilities you had and eating whatever.” Pitch shook his head. “I knew the weakness of Umbrans, even when I first became one. I could have easily rigged up a room to destroy me.”

  Kathryn scowled. “We've talked about this, more than once. You made the best out of a bad situation. Besides, you don't even need to eat people anymore. You can live a normal life.” Pitch sighed. “A normal life, under the shadow of guilt for what I've done.” Kathryn nodded. “Guilt that proves you're still human, in all the ways that matter.” Pitch sighed again, more drawn out this time. “Yeah, you and Jiryu keep telling me that. But I can't help but wonder; what if things went differently that day? What if Abe never found my class?”

  Kathryn chuckled. “I think everyone does that sort of thing from time to time. There's not much point in asking yourself that since there's no way of actually knowing.” Pitch nodded. “Right. So how's Arnold doing?” Kathryn gestured to an empty containment cell. “He was cleared to leave the other day. Went right into applying for Black Eagle. Ishwada will likely take him in. It'll be nice to have another ally.” Kathryn nodded. “Our small team growing would definitely be a good thing.”

  Pitch did a stretch. “Well since we're done scanning me, I'm free the rest of the day unless something comes up. I'm guessing you're going to be stuck here.” Kathryn nodded. “I'm still working on the hybrids. I feel like I'm close to a breakthrough. If I can crack this then maybe I can help Kasa out of that body and into something more human.” Pitch nodded, then physically cringed for a second grabbing his head. Kathryn raided an eye eyebrow. “You okay?” Pitch nodded. “Yeah, I heard some loud ringing for a split second. I think someone blew a dog whistle or something.”

  Kathryn became more curious. “Is the sound still going off?” Pitch shook his head. “No, it was only for a moment. Everything is fine now.” Kathryn tilted her head. “Are you sure? Because Cuda complained about ringing before.” Pitch shrugged. “It passed, so unless it happens again there's not much I can do. I think I'll go home and take my nap. I seem to need it every other week instead of once a month now. Probably has something to do with my body adjusting to not needing to eat people anymore.” Kathryn nodded. “I'll catch up with you later. Oh, and if you could I'd like you to be in the tub when I get home.” She winked.

  Pitch smiled. “Consider it done babe.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I'll see you at home.” He then made his way out of the building. He quickly got in his Jeep and drove home. Once inside he was greeted by Kasa. Petting Kasa in the head he walked through the house. “I'm going to take a nap.” Kasa nuzzled his hand. “In the bed or the tub?” Pitch gestured to the bathroom. “The tub.” Kasa made a growling mewl. “Alright. Can I get some food before you go to take a nap?” Pitch grumbled and made food to hand to Kasa.

  Once that was done, Pitch went to the tub and laid in it before taking his true form and sinking in like a liquid. “It feels nice to relax in my real body.” He commented to himself out loud before slowly dozing off. He found himself dreaming, and in that dream he was in the fear realm. Only something had changed. There was yellow lightning running through the clouds above as thunder rolled. The monsters that roamed freely all seemed nervous and were fucking for cover, finding places to hide.

  Pitch walked around the dark reflection of New Arkham for a while when the clouds parted and a big yellow eye showed up in the sky as if it had opened. It looked directly at Pitch as the roll of thunder seemed to form words. “I. See. You.” The voice boomed in the distance. Pitch's body shot awake as he twitched back into the waking world. His senses scanned the room to find it was still empty. Pitch let out a sigh of relief as he relaxed his body again before trying to return to his slumber.

  Kathryn woke up from her blissful slumber, having slept in the now cushioned tub with her lover in post coital bliss. She shifted her nude body in the slacked mass of Pitch’s body, moving through it like it was a liquid and letting out soft humming moans. She ran her fingertips on her belly around her navel while thinking of the possibility of a potential life growing inside her. She blushed at the thought as she hesitantly got up and started putting clothes on. “I hope I helped with your sleeping issue~”

  Pitch let out a short laugh and hummed. “You definitely helped me melt some of my stress away.” Kathryn giggled. “So I was thinking about our engagement. I'd like to be married before the next election year.” Pitch let out a long hum. “So before twenty twenty eight? That gives me about a year and a half. Well more like a year and a quarter now. Sure. Preferably before it starts getting really cold. August at the latest. How does July twenty fourth sound?” Kathryn thought about it and nodded. “Sounds like a great day to have our anniversary on in the future.”

  Pitch got up and floated above the tub. “I'll put the cushion away and start setting things up then. The sooner I save the date and book a location the better.” Kathryn nodded enthusiastically. “I can't wait to officially be your wife.” Pitch smiled. “And I can't wait to be your husband.” He gently caressed her cheek with a tendril. Kathryn grabbed and gently kissed it. “Too bad we don't have the whole day, I kinda don't want to leave the house. I'd much rather stay in the tub all day with you~” Pitch moved his body to simulate a nod. “We have adult responsibilities. We'll have plenty of time when we take vacation time to have the honeymoon. By the time we leave the hotel, you'll need a wheelchair.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Kathryn giggled and blushed. “I look forward to it.” Pitch shifted his body and formed the mask around it to look human. “We should probably get ready to go. We both have work to do.” Kathryn put on her lab coat and glasses. “Yeah, I know. I'm not going to solve Kasa's problem by staying here all day. What are you doing today?” Pitch groaned. Director Hawkes called some sort of a meeting and all the commanders will be there. Each is allowed to bring two subordinates with them so Jiryu is taking me and Anderson with him.”

  Kathryn groaned. “That sounds dull, boring, and depending on travel might take several days.” Pitch nodded. “And without knowing what the meeting is about I'm going in blind into God knows what.” Kathryn gave Pitch a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck then, I'm off to work.” Both individuals get in their cars and drive to their different destinations. Kathryn to the lab and Pitch to the airport where he, Anderson, and Ishwada all get in the small plane.

  “So, any idea what this meeting is about?” Pitch asked. Ishwada shook his head. “Must be pretty big if Hawkes is calling in everyone. Anything new with you?” Pitch nodded. “Kathryn and I set a date for the wedding. July twenty fourth, twenty twenty seven. We wanted to get it officiated before the next president was announced.” Ishwada hummed. “Do you have a guest list figured out?” Pitch shrugged. “I know you two and Hammer, Kat’s family and maybe some lab techs. I'd let Kasa come if we could pass her off as human or even an ordinary animal.”

  Ishwada chuckled. “Yeah, since not everyone at the wedding will be in the know about Cryptids.” Anderson was looking out the plane window, not really paying attention. Pitch noticed this. “Is everything okay Anderson?” Anderson snapped forward. “Huh? Yeah. Just got a lot on my mind. Also you don't have to be so formal with me, you can just call me Phil. It's short for Philip.” Pitch chuckled. “If you insist.” The rest of the plane ride was silent. Once they reached their destination they were escorted into a large meeting room with fifty two chairs. Ishwada sat at one of them as Pitch and Anderson stood behind him.

  Director Hawkes walked in last and right up to the front of the room where everyone could see him. “First off I'd like to thank everyone for coming on such short notice. There are some serious things I'd like to discuss and figured it would be best to do so in person rather than by Email. First off I've noticed an increase of reported cases in all locations, specifically of the hybrid variety. This is concerning but more so is the fact that despite the reports that the source of a Cryptid magnet being found and dealt with with an initial decline in activity there has been another jump specifically around the city of New Arkham.”

  Pitch shifted around, slightly nervous as Hawkes continued. “I even got a report that suggests a new signal like the one before is behind it, drawing Cryptids to New Arkham just like the old signal. For those who don't know, it was eventually discovered a Nyctophobian Cryptid known as an Umbran was behind the first signal but that ended when the entity behind it died. Long thought to be the last of its kind, we now know there is at least one other specimen. A hybrid that's standing in this very room with us.” Hawkes gestured to Pitch.

  Ishwada slammed the table. “Are you accusing one of my people of something? I'll remind you that the Umbran responsible for the old signal was doing so as a form of distress call. Resulted from it being tortured. Because someone captured a Cryptid I had been personally invested in taking down without logging or reporting it. They then put it into a secret sub-basement of the local NexGen lab and tortured it to generate electricity. All without any paperwork. I was led to believe it was still on the loose when it was captured years before I found out about it.”

  Hawkes gestured calmly. “You may be the area commander but not everything needs to go through you, also what the lab does with the monsters is of no concern of yours “ Ishwada tapped the table hard. “It is when it's the reason I had to do more work than other area commanders. It is when I was after the thing for killing my daughter and had a personal investment.” One of the other commanders shifted in their chair. A female who was in the “Florida “ seat. “Wait, if that guy is an Umbran hybrid… doesn't that mean he eats people?”

  Hawkes nodded. “Yes. I even received a report that when the Umbran in the lab was killed, without proper permissions I might add as it was powering the city, the death row inmates that were being kept to feed it were instead fed to him. Also based on reports he had fed on four hundred and eighty humans before he had somehow convinced Commander Ishwada to continue keeping him under his employ after initially being hired under false pretences. Despite the fact he needs to eat around ninety six people a year.”

  Ishwada grumbled. “Needed, past tense. We found a solution to that. The only reason he ate people was a lack of choice. Starving himself would only lead to his body acting in instinct without his control and eating whomever was closest. He chose to feed on the worst criminals he could find as the lesser of possible evils.” Hawkes slammed his palm on the table. “Criminal or not, the person could be a serial killer or a pedophile. Murder is murder in the eyes of the law and your little monster resource is responsible for at least six hundred confirmed deaths including the deaths of several Black Eagle soldiers.”

  Ishwada gestured calmly. “Pitch was acting in self defense when he killed them. Since they were already dead, not eating them would have been wasteful, especially since he would need to eat anyway. These men go in knowing the risk of death. They, and I, believed he was the monster that killed my daughter because we were not informed that it had already been captured years prior.” Hawkes nodded. “Right. I allowed you to continue keeping that thing under your command because despite the problems it was more useful as an asset. One that can detect and eliminate Cryptids without risking our men.”

  Hawkes paused. “I was even willing to overlook the… requirements of keeping the asset due to its usefulness. However, if like the other Umbran that thing is causing an increase of activity I may have to rethink and resend my offer to keep it. I'll have no other choice but to mark that monster for extermination.” Pitch grumbled. “You know, I'm standing right here. I'd much appreciate it if you didn't talk about me like an object. I'm a thinking, feeling, sentient individual with rights under the non-human citizens protection act.” Hawkes slammed his palm on the table. “You were not given permission to speak, creature!” Pitch looked him dead in the eyes. “I'm listed as an independent civilian consultant and contractor, not an employee. You can not give me orders and I don't need your permission.”

  Hawkes gestured to Pitch. “And there's another problem. Ishwada has no actual control over the thing. It acts according to its own whims. I'd feel a lot more comfortable, especially considering recent developments, if it was on a leash of some sort rather than allowed to roam freely. I don't care if it no longer needs to eat humans. It has and still can do so. It is a dangerous threat to the livelihoods of your men. It's insane to think you haven't had the lab techs find a way to put a collar on that thing in case it decides to turn on you.”

  Ishwada grumbled. “You don't seem to be listening sir. Such measures aren't necessary. Pitch chooses to help hunt and contain Cryptids of his own accord. His human memories and mental facilities are still in place. Hell, despite the fact most of his victims were the literal bottom of the barrel scum of humanity he still regularly has emotional breakdowns of guilt and regret over his actions. Despite his physical form he's still human. One that I would and have trusted with my life. I've even risked my life and career for him. I know he'd do the same. We trust one another. Hell, even a number of my men, including ones that hated the idea at first, have learned to trust him.”

  Hawkes grinned devilishly. “Is that so? Then tell me Former General Jiryu Ishwada, why the other person you brought with you and trust just as much if not more than that monster, has been sending me reports behind your back?” Ishwada looked at Anderson who was looking away from him. Hawkes continued. “How else do you think I got this information since you've started intentionally keeping things from me and not filing full and complete reports. Hiding things from me and all of us about your little monster friend and your activities.”

  Ishwada gritted his teeth. “Anderson?” He spoke in a deep and serious tone. Anderson continued to look away. “At first it was because I didn't fully trust him, but then it was in hopes that my reports could change the minds of others like Director Hawkes.” Ishwada growled. “I specifically requested no reports on the signal till we confirmed a source because I was worried they'd assume it was Pitch. Despite the fact that no scans suggest he is the source. We know what to look for thanks to the first one so I'm fairly confident it's not Pitch.”

  Hawkes crossed his arms. “That doesn't fix the fact you have neglected to give proper reports for some time. Logging a Cryptid hybrid as an unknown type when you knew exactly what that thing was.” Pitch growled. “I swear to God if you continue to talk about me like I'm something that's not even in the room instead of to me like a person-” Hawkes interrupted. “You'll what? Hit me? Kill me and eat me? What exactly do you intend to do?” Pitch glared at Hawkes. “You're trying to piss me off on purpose, to prove a point that I'm unstable and can't be trusted. You're pissing me off, but because I know you're just trying to provoke me it's not going to work.”

  Hawkes shifted back and forth. “No, you're not attacking me because you're just smart enough to know I wouldn't let you in here unless I had a way to kill you if you did attack. Though I could just order you executed, I'll put it to a vote among the commanders.” Pitch tilted his head. “Without some sort of trial? I may not technically be human but I still have rights thanks to the Doppelganger agreement.” Hawkes slammed his fist on the table. “You will stop interrupting me and speak only when spoken to. You have no rights! As far as I'm concerned you're not a citizen!”

  Pitch crossed his arms. “I was born in the states, as a human, I'm allowed to vote, I pay taxes. Also, I'm quite possibly the best chance you have at fighting an incoming threat.” Pitch pulled out a fat file and slid it across the table. “Everything in this folder has been confirmed by other NexGen locations to avoid accusations of bias.”