"This is the place?" The Alpha vampire asked as he and Chrysalis, disguised as a human in form. Before them sat a house, unkept and rather dirty, and covered in police tape.
“Yep, this is the place where…it all started and ended.” Chrysalid answered.
"No idea on what happened though." Alpha said as he entered, his claws slicing the thin plastic with no resistance. "From the outside, it looks like some gang attacked him, or some crime of passion. But the damage here is too broad for humans to do, and no human could have survived impact that splinter and break frames of oak." He said, tracing a finger along some of the blood on the walls, and tasting it.
“And let’s not even forget the insane amount of magic in this area.” Chrysalis said, seeing scorch marks that no normal flames would have created. “I’ve honestly never felt this kind of power before…but what about the blood?”
"It tastes human… too human. Hmm." Alpha said with a hum. "Rather pure. Haven't tasted blood like that in thousands of years… interesting."
“That sounds strange.” Chrysalis frowned. “There hasn’t been a pure blooded human in a very long time.” The changeling frowned, moving around the room and checking more of the damage caused.
"Not since Adam, Eve, Cain, Able and Seth. Once they started breeding Humans changed and evolved so much, despite the looks they are nothing like the base framework they came from, and yet… this blood tests of that base framework. As if the man murdered here was made by God himself."
“Well God must have made him a powerful mage, cause these are some pretty deep burns.” Chrysalis stated, looking at all the magical fighting, trying to see or sense anything that could give them a bit more context on the battle.
"Hmmm." Alpha said, feeling the burns along the walls. "This wasn't made by magic, this was made by Divine Grace."
“That’s impossible.” She shook her head. “Divine Grace can only be used by Angel’s can’t they? If this was an Original Human, they couldn’t have used magic like this right?”
"Well, yes and no. You see, angels and demons are quite alike, they must possess a host to walk the earth. And while they possess the body, the host doesn't age or decay, and lethal injuries won't kill the host unlike with demons. So long as the body is strong enough, an angel can effectively host a human indefinitely."
“And then they found the dead body.” Chrysalis pointed out.
"Yes, but if I were to guess, something stronger came along and killed this… divine creature." Alpha said, taking in a deep breath. "Strange though, no trace of the killer. No odor, no magic, nothing."
“Yeah…” She nodded. “That’s the strangest thing…it should be impossible, even for me.”
"Hmm. Let's go check on the body, shall we?" Alpha said, his question more a command than curiosity.
He left, Chrysalis looking around for a time before her eyes fell upon something. A small collection of books, their titles reading as Supernatural.
“That’s…strange…” Chrysalis muttered, magicing over the small collection of books and pocketing them into her bag as she grabbed the first volume and opened it up to the first chapter, just to see what this was about.
The morgue was empty as expected for late in the Night. The Vampire Alpha and Chrysalis pulled out the body of the dead man from the house. His body covered in bruises and clearly broken bones and split skin. "How violent." Alpha commented.
“Could be worse.” Chrysalis shrugged.
"Purely and truly beaten to death. How fascinating. No claw or teeth marks, no marks from blades or… bullets. He was killed in a very personal way."
“And a very…carefully trained way…” She added. “Cause if you look at all these injuries…even some well trained demon’s would have a hard time making these kinds of precise injuries without breaking something else.”
"Strong enough to break them easily, and extended the death as long as possible. Makes me wonder what kind of creature this one pissed off."
“And what could stop a being with Divine Grace from either regenerating, or being unharmed if it was an Angel?” Chrysalis added carefully, trying to sense if this being was magical in any way, as there would still be traces of magic in the person that haven’t left and been absorbed back into Nature.
Alpha took his claw, a slice of the body and tasted the blood. Dead Mans blood was rather poisonous to Vampires, but he was the Alpha, a little wouldn't harm him, and the sample from the house did nothing. He tasted the blood. "Impossible…" Alpha said, taking another taste of the dead man's blood. "It's… fresh."
“Impossible, he’s been dead for two days." Chrysalis argued.
"And yet, his blood remains fresh as if his heart were still beating." Alpha stated, opening the eyes of the body, seeing them fogged and clouded. The eyes of the dead. "Just what were you, my mystery man? And what killed you?"
“Hold on…if his blood is still fresh…” Chrysalis muttered, putting her hands on the being’s body. “Maybe I can at least tell what this being’s magic is, if it hasn’t left him unlike his blood…”
Chrysalis let her unique power flow, drawing in the beings energy. She learned from a young age she can devour the magic, and even souls, of more than just humans. She tasted… divinity. Something rich and powerful, old and potent. Even dead these small fragments of this dead man's Divine Energy filled her in a way she hasn't felt since… The Accident.
And there was still so much left inside, she barely absorbed a percentage.
“Im…Impossible…” Chrysalis muttered, shaking in both horror at what could have caused the death of such a being, and bliss at all the energy she was absorbing. “No…that’s factually impossible, even the Angel’s didn’t know where he was…”
Alpha looked over the corpse, pulling up the file associated with them. "His name was Chuck Shurley. Age 37. Hmm… somehow I doubt that. I will take this corpse back to the good doctor for an evaluation, meanwhile you head to Russia, and investigate that Prison. Rumor among the demons is that a new breed of rather hostile monsters made quite a mess of the place."
Chrysalis had to literally force herself away from the body, feeling such divine energy coursing through her, even barely absorbing a percent her body felt better than ever before. “Al-alright…but you, or the doctor will not like what you’ll figure out…”
"I will be the judge of that dear daughter."
The harsh cold of Russia wasn't an issue for Chrysalis. For some reason she easily, passively adapted to any area's weather, no matter how extreme. The prison was ripe with guards, all easily put to sleep with magic. The carnage was incredible. Skeletons of guards and prisoners alike incinerated partly into ash, bricks, stone, metal all melted and warped by fire, and deep gashed from claws decorated the walls, floors and tore apart the heavy metal doors.
“What in the nine circles of heaven and hell happened here?” Chrysalis frowned.
The further into the prison she went, the sooner she realized it had a wing undergo a mild remodeling. Medical and lab equipment, a surgical table and many gurneys with corpses. Some burned, some not but the ones of interest seemed to have had heart surgery, given they all had open chest cavities. A medical incinerator nearby was giving Chrysalis a concerning idea of what was happening here.
“What complete and utter nonsense were these assholes doing here?” She muttered. “And what did they piss off in the process?”
As Chrysalis looked around, she found one rather official looking person, suitcase in hands still that was put to sleep by her magic. She pulled the suitcase out of his unconscious hands and opened it. Inside was a single hard drive.
“This is either the security footage or this is something involving whatever the hell they’re doing here…” Chrysalis muttered. “Either or will help me figure this out…”
Chrysalis packed the hard drive away, looking around some before finding another suitcase nearby. Opening this one, inside seemed to be some strange stones with odd markings, a boot knife, and a single long, demonic looking bone claw.
“Alright, there’s some major fuckery going on here and I don’t like it…”
Taking the last of her finds, Chrysalis was about to teleport herself away, when suddenly there was the sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing. Turning, she spotted the source coming from the nearby hallway she entered from. Feasting on a sleeping, now dead soldier was a creature Chrysalis had never seen before. It walked on two hind legs, bent like a dog. It was hairless, two long, too long arms ending in three razor sharp talons that cut into and through the soldiers armor like nothing, lifting limbs piece by piece into it’s sharp, large, jaggad toothed maw. And behind it, were easily six more all feasting the same on the poor humans.
“Sweet lord almighty…” Chrysalis muttered in horror.
Slowly, she backed away, better the unconscious humans than her in their maws. The more she looked, the more details she could make out. Their eyes were many, at least five crimson red eyes across the top of the head, two thin slits that must be the nose, and all along the body were smaller spines and horns adorning it’s body like armor. She wasted no more time, and Teleported.
“Hm, perhaps they are one of God’s early beasts?” Alpha asked himself, looking over the dissected corpse of Chuck Shurley, organs removed and bones sawed through. “No signs of decay either, yet dead for two days. Morgue cold storage can never keep a body like this. Despite being in a warm, even hot environment, their flesh does not rot, not even cook. Hm.” He spoke as a lesser vampire nearby wrote down his every word, recording the autopsy.
Chrysalis walked into the autopsy room. “Alpha, we’ve got a massive problem.”
“Chrysalis, look at this.” Alpha said, pulling the Changeling to a table, where a heart sat on the table, pierced with metal probes shocking the organ with electricity to make it beat. The lungs attached to it still as an IV flowed blood into one heart chamber, and out of the other another IV was taking out the blood being pumped. “In that IV, up there, is Dead Man’s Blood. Poisonous to us vampires and yet, when put through this.” He took the IV line on the other end, letting some drip into a small shot glass before putting it back, and drinking it. “It’s as fresh as if it’s from the veins. Heh, I guess in a sense, it is.”
“So while you somehow found an infinite supply of food, I have some bad news from Russia…” Chrysalis said nervously. “Those monsters that were rumored…those things…I’ve never seen or heard of anything like those monsters.”
“They were there? Strange, I had heard they were slaughtered. Or do you mean their corpses?”
“I saw seven of them devouring unconscious humans after I knocked them all out…and that’s not even mentioning all the corpses that had stitched up chests and another having weird magical items.”.”
“Really? Did you bring me anything to examine?”
“I managed to find a hard drive from one of the knocked out business guys.” I said. “As well as a long demon finger bone, and these weird stones with runes I’ve never seen before.”
"May I see the finger bone?" Alpha asked as Chrysalis pulled out the talon. Alpha looked the item over. "Hmm, interesting. It reminds me of the dinosaurs. Fine meat, shame they all went extinct."
“I can imagine.” She nodded. “So what Demon is it?”
"Oh I have no idea." Alpha said, a smirk as he worked his fingers over the bone. He took a sniff of the talon. "Interesting. It doesn't smell demonic." He said, waving a hand over the talon. "There is a faint trace of a demonic energy but it's nothing like I've encountered."
“That’s…very strange.” She said carefully. “And those beasts…those five eyed monsters…”
"Without a sample to dissect I won't be able to identify them, but if they share an origin with the beast this talon comes from then we may have ourselves a whole new Monster species."
“Which is terrifying to say the least.” Chrysalis said honestly. “But what did you find out about our cadaver while I was gone besides his heart?”
"Despite being dead for two days, his body has absolutely no cellular decay. No rot on any level. His body, organically, is Alice, but still, stagnant. The cells, the organs, it's all alive but they don't do anything. It's the equivalent to the whole body on a cellular having a brain death."
“Right…” She said carefully. “And all the Divine magic in said being?”
"Divine Grace, Chrysalis. It's not the same as magic, it's far more potent, and far, far older."
“I know, I absorbed barely a percent of it…” Chrysalis said carefully.
"What's it is, it was, it's clearly something of God's making…" Alpha spoke, looking back over at the corpse. "Chrysalis, was there anything… interesting, in that house of his you noticed?"
“Well, there were these books I found.” She said, pulling out the Supernatural books. “And although it wasn’t really much…I felt this strange aura of dread that not even some of the rarer and stronger monsters can give off.”
"Hmm." Alpha said, taking the book and skimming through it. "The Winchesters? All three of them. Hmm, interesting. There are details here that should not be known. Inner thoughts and monologue. Hmm…" He closed the book. "The pieces are fitting but I don't know…"
“Only a God would be able to create such books, able to see how everything is going to happen and how everyone is reacting to it…” Chrysalis said worriedly.
"Exactly." Alpha said, he and Chrysalis looking over at the corpse on the table. "The question is… is that, him?"
“Out of every being I’ve had the pleasure and displeasure of absorbing in some capacity…” Chrysalis looked at the corpse. “I’ve only ever felt that kind of energy during…The Accident.”
"Well, if this is… The God, who, and what, killed them?"
“And how is existence still going?” Chrysalis added. “Like…I don’t know much about Gods, but I’m pretty sure if you kill the literal creator of existence, then it shouldn’t be here anymore.”
"Unless they were cut off, or a new God takes their place. And, given how much of their… power, still resides within the corpse, they were cut off. And doing that is not possible unless the one who killed them is stronger."
“Which should be impossible cause…well if this is true, we’re literally keeping hold of God’s factual corpse.” Chrysalis frowned. “And literally no one should be stronger than God.”
"Well, a mystery for later. For now, we have quite the resource before us… and I bet I can get even more information out of this shell with the help of some… associates."
“And who would know anything about this?” Chrysalis inquired.
"Let me worry about that dear daughter. Just focus on keeping an eye on the Winchesters, especially that Luna. These books should prove to be a valuable asset for you in that regard."
“I will father.” Chrysalis nodded. “Hopefully those three aren’t up to something stupid right now…”
"Please, they're Winchesters. That's asking way too much of them."
“Yeah…” Chrysalis nodded. “I’ll go make sure they didn’t accidentally piss off an entire town or something.”
As Chrysalis left, Alpha went back to the table, using his claws and decapitating the head from the body. He snapped his fingers, another vampire rushing from elsewhere. "See that this head makes it to my friend down in Brazil. Tell her to make it talk." The vampire nodded, taking the head and rushing out.
Chrysalis began making her way towards the Winchesters' last location. A small town where a ghost, of sorts, was drowning residents, now all the dead residents, ghost included, were alive somehow, and hadn’t aged a day it seems.
“What in the world is going on here?” Chrysalis muttered. “I don’t remember solving a ghost problem brings back half a town’s worth of people…”
Examining the people, they all appeared to be normal. No magic, no ill effects or unwanted side effects.The boy though, the ‘ghost’ was a different story. His soul was affected, attached to it was some odd magic. Nothing like the Witch or monster magics, it was… calming, peaceful and… innocent, as if a child's innocence was forged into a form of magic.
“Innocence forged Magic? That’s a first…and possibly extremely potent if used correctly…” She muttered to herself.
Still, just to be safe, she absorbed it from the child. Better than risking him learning how to use it. After that she went back home. A private residence of her own. She had them everywhere, and with plenty of guards and spells to keep it secure. With a sigh, she went over everything, wondering just what was going on in the world.
“Monster’s we’ve never heard of, a ghost child with Innocence forged Magic, an entire town being revived…and the possibility of God being dead yet reality is still turing?” Chrysalis muttered. “What in the absolute shit is going on?”
She sighed, picking up a ps2 controller and turning on the console. She needed to relax to process and think about all this information.
After several hours of playing, Chrysalis went to grab a snack. She learned to bottle the… energies, she could absorb to save for later. As she walked into the kitchen, grabbing a jar of seemingly green slime, she spotted an unusual sight. A business card.
“Great…now I must be going crazy…” She muttered, walking over and picking up the business card.
Reading it confused her, as all it said was to tap. Shrugging, she placed it on the table and taped it. To her shock, it unfolded into a form of flip phone, then started ringing.
“Okay what the fuck…” She muttered, picking up the phone and answering it. “Hello?”
”Hello there little bug.” The voice on the other end was feminin, and sounded as if primordial evil itself spoke. ”I see you’ve been investigating my work. Quite nosey, aren’t you?”
“When evidence suggests you killed literal God, I’d say a lot of people would take notice.” Chrysalis replied simply, hating every second she heard this being’s voice and wishing she could just drop it and run.
”I guess, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl has gotta do. You got to investigate, and I got to kill or recruit a few gods.”
“That’s…fair…” Chrysalis answered. “So I’m pretty sure you know who I am…but who are you?”
”The ones who know me call me Pain. What I am is irrelevant but what I do is not. You see, I’m part of a group that… creates entertainment, for ourselves and for our associates. Your world is already rather chaotic and bloody, so of course I chose it as my… personal project.”
“Were you the one that created those…monster’s back in Russia?” The changeling inquired.
”In a sense. Some were created, some evolved naturally. But I did bring them all here and they won’t be the last.”
“So…you're here to kill us all?” Chrysalis asked.
”Well, that’s up to you. See, I’m a Survival of the Fittest type gal. I bring forth monsters, demons, beings of incredible power and destruction and set them loose, the strongest fight them off and if they win, then they win their world, or universe, back from the brink of destruction. If not, well then add that tally mark to my wins.”
“Right…” Chrysalis frowned. “Is there any rules I should know about before we continue this…’entertainment’ you’re creating?”
”Just put on a good show and my fellow… associates, will reward you. I’ll be in touch Chrysalis.”
The phone hung up, and then turned back into a business card.
“What did I just get myself into…” Chrysalis sighed out, looking at the business card, then the jar of energy. “...I’m gonna need the special jar…”
She went back to the fridge, pulling out a larger jar. She also learned she could mix and cook it into various drinks and foods, this jar was her open fermented Whiskey blend. She didn’t even bother taking a cup, she didn’t plan on leaving a drop behind.
Several days and a monster-worthy hangover, Chrysalis was investigating another lead on the new monsters. A Werewolf pack found their den infested with an unknown beast. It seemed to be a snake, but it’s touch and scales burned as if it was silver to the werewolves.
“Alright…so why in the goddamn is there going to be a fucking Silver Elemental here?”
“We don’t know, it just appeared here.” The werewolf in question asked. “It’s why we called. We figured this would fall into that… agreement, you had us enter.”
“I’m here to help you in your dire need, as the agreement stated.” Chrysalis nodded.
“Well, we’re paying you for it.” The werewolf stated.
Chrysalis entered the den, an old warehouse in the outskirts of a small city. Chrysalis remembered when they joined her Alliance. Monsters for as long as they can remember, were all descended from the same Alpha’s created by a being known to them as Eve, their mother. Yet they all rarely got along, even when all the Alpha’s did. It was pointless. So, a few centuries back, Chrysalis, backed by the Alpha’s of the monsters all created the Codependency Alliance. If humans could learn to co-exist, even if strained, so could monsters.
It was simple, many monsters all had things they needed to survive. Vampires need blood, Werewolves need hearts, Changelings need adults to feast on, and Shapeshifters need human mates to breed new shapeshifters.
Vampires drain the blood from hunts, Werewolves get the hearts, Shapeshifters get to take the place of the victim, getting to the mate of them to breed, and if the mate in question already has children, then that’s where the Changeling comes into play. In return, packs, nests, dens and the like could all call on one another when they needed, if a hunter found them or they were attacked. Every monster contributed something.
She heard the hiss, a metallic sound as she spotted it. It was a snake, smaller than she expected but metallic in shape, and shimmering like pure silver.
“Hello?” She asked the snake, wondering if it was just a random ass snake that was practically made entirely of silver.
It hisses, slithering off quickly.
“Right…wild animal it is…” She muttered as she went after the damned thing.
Thankfully, despite its appearance, it acted like a normal snake, and was easy to capture into a sack. Once it was caged Chrysalis looked the thing over. It’s entire body, even eyes, mouth, fangs, all silver. A sample confirmed this, it’s venom, a form of organic, liquid silver that actually seemed especially lethal towards werewolves. Is it a form of predator to them? Given what this Pain told her… that was a possibility.
“Jeez…a creature specifically made to kill a specific creature? That’s…not good in the slightest…”
“I see another anomaly has shown itself?” Alpha asked as he walked into Chrysalis’s lab, a rather large suitcase at his side.
“Yes, a common snake made from pure silver.” Chrysalis said. “From it’s scales, to it’s skin, even blood and venom, are all organic liquid silver.”
"Fascinating." Alpha said as he looked the snake over. "This could prove quite useful, very useful indeed."
“I also learned who’s is bringing these monsters into this world…and who openly admitted to killing God himself.” Chrysalis stated.
Alpha looked over at Chrysalis, curious and in disbelief. "So, he is… was God after all. Well, maybe he can tell us himself who and what his killer really is." Alpha said, taking his suitcase and placing it on the table. Opening it, Chrysalis viewed the head of God, runes and markings tattooed into their skin. Alpha waved his hand over it, and the head gasped with life, despite having no lungs.
"How, where… oh Fuck!" God said as he looked at the two. "How, wait… I know she killed me… I'm…."
"An Echo, the imprint of God's personality, memories and such left stamped on that brain in there given the ability to regain control. Easy for my friend to rig up a spell too since your body doesn't rot." Alpha replied with a grin.
"Well, shit…"
“So…are you God?” Chrysalis asked carefully.
"Yes and no, and please, call me Chuck." God, Chuck, insisted. "As Alpha Vamp there stated, I'm the imprint of God's personality and memories left behind on the brain. Given the body, I, they, eh. I made can't rot and is based on the original blueprint of humans, they're as fresh as if I was alive. But, in a general sense, yes but not anymore."
"Do you know who and what killed you?" Alpha asked.
"Yes. Her name is Pain, and she is one of the All Makers."
“All Makers?” Chrysalis inquired.
"To be blunt, mortals pray to Gods, well, Gods pray to them." Chuck said, earning a surprise from the two. "They are, well, comparing me to them is like comparing a single celled organism to, well, me. They create voids of space, Universes, multiverse, multiverse of multiverse and of course, we Gods. Pain isn't the one that made me or… my sister, but she is one of the ones I've always been terrified of."
“And…I know exactly that feeling.” Chrysalis said. “Just…hearing her voice…” The changeling shuddered in fear.
"Can she be beaten? Killed?" Alpha asked.
Chuck laughed. "Beaten, sure. She enjoys a good fight and can even make it fair, for you, but killed… nothing can kill them. Not even another All Maker, they are truly and fully immortal. I just hope that the others can give their usual aid. If Pain is turning my universe into her next pet project, the others can't be too far behind."
“And what are these others?” Chrysalis asked worriedly.
"Pain is only one of the All Makers I was told to worry about, but she's one of four that are the ones who turn while dimensions into essentially gigantic entertainment for themselves and the others. There's Genie, a form of Wish Granter, at least that's his shtick. Then there's Demon, name kinda says it all, makes deals and such, then there's Voodoo, he's a bit more of a wildcard. Literally, he loves games and if challenged will set the terms based on what you want from him. There are others, so many others but those four are the main ones every God knows."
“Right…” Chrysalis said carefully. “At least there’s…at least some help coming here…maybe.”
"Kinda. The way this usually works is that Genie and Demon choose a 'Hero' and a 'Villain' and help them gain power in some way while Voodoo and Pain play their roles. Voodoo with his gambets, and Pain by supplying the world with her monsters. Unfortunately since Pain is the leading force here, then she is also playing the role of 'Villain' here. Meaning Demon will, well, probably pick his own 'hero' of sorts while Genie picks his 'hero' and Voodoo does his usual thing."
"You make it sound like a Play to them." Alpha commented.
"To them, it kinda is."
“I mean…when your immortal beings that literal Gods worship…yeah I’d see them doing that because they’re bored.”
"They don't do it because they're bored. I don't know the real reason, but I do know that the people who… win, their games get something beyond anything I could create."
“Damn.” Chrysalis said in surprise.
"I see." Alpha said, his hand waving over Chuck's head and the head closed its eyes, seemingly dead again. "It looks like the near future is going to get very interesting."
“And extremely dangerous if random animals could become the antithesis of what they hunt…” Chrysalis said carefully.
"But it will provide a grand opportunity for us indeed." Alpha said as he closed his suitcase up. "The Codependency Alliance has always been the stepping stones for something far, far grander, and these… All Makers, can pave the way for the dream you've been aspiring to for years Chrysalis."
Chrysalis blinked. It was a gamble, and so many lives, monster and human alike… but it could work. A Kingdom of Monsters.
“You…really think it can work?” Chrysalis asked.
"In times of anarchy, we Monsters have emerged from the shadows to partake in the carnage to live and feast in the daylight. With the chaos these All Makers, this Pain, will cause… all of Monster Kind will have no need to hide in the shadows, under the cover of night. While the humans and the hunters battle the beasts that will be shortly swarming the planet, we can easily rise up, clear out their towns and their cities and finally begin to live, freely."
“And that would be great…if the human’s don’t outpace us in their war.” Chrysalis. “Remember, Pain literally threw a snake made of living silver at the werewolves, what do you think she’s going to do for the Vampire's? Or the other monsters of the world?” She pointed out, cause while her heart soared with the idea her father was coming up with, the fact that she literally had to help the Werewolves against a simple wild animal made specifically to be immune to them was rather disconcerting for her.
"True, but like the humans, we too can learn to counter and protect from these effects. I've already discovered a means to convert dead man's blood into drinkable blood," Alpha started, placing a hand on the snake cage, earning a hiss from the metal animal. "And like Humans, we can make Anti-Venom, medicine and maybe even cures for all that ails us. If humans can do it, we can do it better."
“True…” She nodded, still a tad unsure due to a lot of unknowns.
"Remember Chrysalis, as I've always told you. Study and observe the unknown variables, and make the chaos it creates work for you."
"I know father." Chrysalis nodded.
"Remember, every time the humans have caused chaos amongst themselves, it has been a boon for us. The Plagues of Egypt, the Fall of Rome, the world wars. Each time provided a perfect opportunity for us to thrive, even if a little. This will be no different. Regardless of the source of the chaos." Alpha said, taking one last glance at the snake. "Send that to my lab, I'll see if they can fabricate an Anti-Venom from it."
"Yes father." She nodded, gently taking the snake. "Let's just hope this doesn't get out of control before we can see how it'll play out."
"If it does, well, I've prepared for bad outcomes before. We will come out of this better, stronger. We always do."