Three giant tentacles broke through the surface of the water and rushed to the ship.
Hoodie spread out his arms once again and clasped his palms.
Space around the ship faltered, shifting slightly but ultimately returning to normal.
Hoodie fell to his knees, coughing up blood, and his consciousness visibly fading.
Kyle abandoned the steering wheel, running to Hoodie.
He grabbed the latter's shoulders and slapped him briskly across the cheek.
Hoodie winced, clearly more reactive than before, "Thanks, kid." He pushed himself to his feet.
The thousands of squids in the air suddenly fell undisturbed.
Spreading out his arms again, Hoodie visibly grimaced and waved his hand.
The air shifted, blurring their surroundings.
Kyle ignored the irritation in his stomach, already used to the short teleport.
When the ship came into focus, they had already moved more than halfway through the storm.
A smile spread on Kyle's face, "Yes! We just need one more te-" He turned to Hoodie and his breath ceased.
Hoodie was on his knees and his eyes were visibly distant.
"Shit!" He shook Hoodie and slapped him yet there was no response or reaction.
The light in Hoodie's eyes slowly faded, his eyelids dropping until they fell shut.
Kyle's eyes widened and he pressed his ear against Hoodie's chest.
His heartbeat was slow and few in between but at least he was alive.
'What do I do?' Kyle's mind raced a mile a minute yet it did nothing to provide reassurance of any kind.
He had no powers to use, no Kingdom or family to look for him if he went missing.
"What was the use of coming here?!" He screamed his question to the sky and a flash of lightning met him as a reply.
Kyle stood to his feet, wincing as the bruises throbbed and minor cuts bled.
A dry chuckle left him as he stared at the veil of clouds obstructing the sky.
Raindrops stung his eyes yet he didn't blink or cover them.
"I left that Kingdom to avoid death… yet it met me on my way to safety." His eyes turned cold and distant.
Faint orange dots appeared against the black backdrop. The squids were resuming their assault.
Despite having only a few minutes at most, Kyle didn't break from his contemplation.
"I tried to live my truth and I almost died. I tried to escape my home and I'm about to die again." The distant look in his eyes was slowly consumed by a hunger for vengeance.
Rain pelted against his skin, washing it and cleaning his body of sweat.
"How could I have been so foolish to think that I could have a peaceful life?" His question echoed against the wind.
The squids were only a few seconds away from landing. Kyle was unmoving.
"Your descendants tried and failed so you sent your creation." He ground his teeth and clenched his fists.
Kyle's eyes burned with rage as he glared up at the very world around him.
The howling wind slowed down to a mere whisper and the rain slowed in its descent.
Even the squids seemed to have almost frozen in the air yet Kyle failed to notice any of these.
"You won't leave me be, you'll NEVER LEAVE ME BE!!! AS LONG AS YOU STILL DRAW BREATH. ISN'T THAT SO?!!" He screamed and stamped his foot onto the floor.
A sharp jolt of pain ran through him yet Kyle was unyielding.
He raised his foot again and slammed it into the floor.
"I will not sit back and take it anymore!!!" Fragmented memories of his mom flashed through his head before vanishing.
He saw himself being impaled by the executioner and left for dead.
"I will kill you all," Kyle whispered and a wild purple light ignited beneath his right eye.
From the base of his scalp, his blond hair slowly turned black.
He raised a hand to the sky and multiple grey, translucent beings became visible to his eyes.
Memories of all the times he had seen them came rushing back but he shrugged them off.
Some of the beings were human, others were beastial and some were just… different.
Kyle took a step forward, "This world is utterly disgusting. Its creators and inhabitants wield the same perversion and seek no repentance."
Some of the spectral beings stopped their mindless floating and turned to him, surprised that a living being could gaze into the veil of reality beyond human comprehension.
Others floated still, uncaring for the strange anomaly. He wasn't the first and they doubted he'd be the last.
"You have persisted in destruction, constantly fighting against the very twisted will of the gods' cowardice."
Kyle took another step forward, "I promise that I will slay them on our behalf but I need your power. I need you, we need each other to slay them."
The spectres stayed still for a moment that seemed to drag on for an eternity.
They stared at the being before them with a low curiosity. Their existence once bleak seemed to be re-ignited with the passion that radiated off him.
Hundreds of spectres rushed forward. Their incorporeal and ethereal bodies became the opposite when close to Kyle.
He stabbed his hand into them and they burst into a grey mass of energy that his body readily absorbed.
Waves of energy rushed through Kyle and his bruises healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His left arm shifted, popping back into place and healing in less than a second.
More energy flowed into him and a vigor unlike any before pulsed through him.
Yet with the power came the rage.
Kyle's eyes burned with an anger beyond anything he had ever felt before. It was each memory of his had been tainted… multiplying his disdain for the gods exponentially.
The winds picked up speed and the rain resumed its fall yet none of it was of any bother to Kyle.
A low chuckle left his lips before he burst into a mad cackle, "Let the hunt begin."