The sun shone and filled the room with its glorious light. Nathan welcomed the warmth as he rose from his slumber. With one swift movement, he launched himself off his bed and ran over to a large basket by the nightstand.

It was where Gluttony slept, more importantly, where Nathan kept his clean clothes. Nathan shook the basket and awoke his partner, the puppet growled, displeased by the abrupt end of her sleep. But instead of complaining, Gluttony went after Nathan's bed to continue her rest. Nathan sighed, he wanted to make a joke about how much of a sloth she was but opted to prepare for the day as there is much work to be done.

After cleaning up, and a fresh set of clothes with his signature jacket, Nathan entered the main room of his apartment. Well, his and the others.

The three friends all shared a one-bedroom apartment. Ivory doesn't sleep, she simply meditates by the door, while Jonah had chosen to sleep on the couch. His reason is simply that he lost the only bedroom to Nathan through a game of checkers.

So in the end, Nathan would count himself lucky. Jonah doesn't complain, he owned the couch now and would always demand a tax for sitting on it.

That is why Ivory preferred to stand while Nathan simply humors him.

Speaking of Jonah, it would appear that he was nowhere to be seen. Nathan could only guess that Jonah had gone to the shooting range as it was Saturday, the marksman always went down to the range every weekend morning. So that meant it was just Ivory and Nathan today, Gluttony as well.

"Morning," Ivory greeted Nathan as he entered the kitchen area where a bowl of cereal was waiting along with an empty one. Nathan presumed it was Jonah's. "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Oh, the same thing I always do on weekends," Nathan answered. He took a seat, a wide smile appeared on his face as he took notice of the cereal box on the table. "Justice Crunch, my favorite!"

"Well, I saw that in the store yesterday and knew you'd actually love it." Ivory started to clean up the kitchen while Nathan enjoyed his breakfast cereal.

"Heck yeah, Justice Crunch is the breakfast choice of heroes! And best of all, their profits go straight to orphans all across the universe!"

Ivory felt a little bit of doubt but she simply focused on her task.

"Man, what I'd do to meet Justice himself."

"Don't you have a signed trading card from him?"

Nathan sighed as he pulled out the item in question. "Yeah, but I don't remember it."

One of the few things Nathan had on him when he woke up without memories was a signed card of Justice. "To my loyal fan Nate" A small message that told him everything he needed to know about his hero. And Nathan even had watched all five hundred sixty-two seasons of "Justice and the Peacekeepers". A children's show for some, but all episodes were based on Justice's true adventures as the Sun God.

Yes, you heard it. Justice was the deity of the sun. A fiery head, skin that looked like a dormant volcano, and an awesome tattered coat with faux fur around the neck. A cool vest that gave him a fancy look. And boy, Justice wielded the most awesome sword known to all, the Halo. A weapon forged by the same God that created the Gluttonous Maw.

"Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you go into detail about Justice's history?"

"Oh, did I?" He laughed. "Think I was just caught in the moment. Oh, right! Any news on the new neighbor?"

"You're the only one in this building that cares about that, but Miss Mabel said that they'd be here tomorrow. Why are you so excited for someone who could be a creep?"

A smirk greeted Ivory as she faced Nathan. "There is a chance they'd be some gross alien, but there is also a chance that they would be a cool gross alien!"

"Mortals and their enthusiasm." She chuckled at her friend.

"Well, I'm done, I'll be going now."

Ivory picked up his empty bowl and waved him goodbye. "Alright, see you at Cain's!"

"I'll be there! Gluttony, we need to go!"

Ivory heard a thud coming from Nathan's room, then the door flew open with Gluttony as she rushed out. She held a giant wooden box big enough for her to be carried in. Ivory knew the purpose of the box, simply to keep Gluttony away from curious eyes while Nathan walked around the city. It did not matter much to Ivory honestly, Gluttony was not her responsibility.

Nathan and Jonah are.

******

"Oh dear, it appears that I misplaced my puppet!"

Nathan said aloud as he stood by a large fountain. Currently in the local park where plenty of people of different origins were out and about. The majority of these people were humans, plenty of other species, there were even some Sentinels. A few of these people had focused on Nathan as he stood there with a sorrowful look.

"My, I've been such a klutz lately! I would lose my head if it wasn't attached to me!"

His little act caught more attention, which was what he desired as of now.

Nathan turned towards an elderly woman who sat comfortably on a bench. "Excuse me madam, but have you seen my friend?"

"Oh, poor thing! No sadly, but may I ask what they are like?"

Nathan cupped his hand on his chin. "Well, my friend is a little empty-headed."

"I am not!"

All heard the voice of a woman coming from below the bench. The old lady reached down and discovered a large box. She would then hand it over to Nathan with a befuddled look.

"Gilda, my friend! What were you doing down there?"

To everyone's surprise, and horror, Nathan opened the box to reveal a nightmarish puppet. Though her clothes were adorable, the skin-ripping teeth terrified some. Especially with how the puppet smiled in a way.

Nathan then took a seat next to the old lady so the crowd that gathered could see Gluttony in a better light.

"What was I doing? You're the idiot who left me there!"

That was when they realized that it was a ventriloquist that had graced them with his presence. "Aw, don't be like that, I've simply forgotten!"

Some were amazed by how talented Nathan was, but the truth is only known to himself and Gluttony. And it would seem the two were taking advantage of that little secret of theirs.

"Well, either way, we have work to do, Gilda."

"Work? I have no time for work, I have a show to catch."

Nathan sighed. "This is the show, you and I are here to perform for these wonderful people."

"Way to tell everyone how poor you are," Gluttony chuckled. "We're sitting here with you making voices in the name of entertainment for others. Talk about mentally unhealthy."

This earned the two a small laugh from the crowd. Some more had gathered out of curiosity. Many of them were curious as to how Nathan was able to speak with his lips shut tightly. If one was observant enough, one would notice the fact that Nathan was simply breathing, and nothing more. Gluttony continued to fool their audience, she even mechanically moved her limbs just to be more convincing.

She had plenty of practice when it came to pretending to be an inanimate object. More jokes were said as the two went on at each other. Their audience laughed with every word that escaped the two. The idea of a very scary puppet no longer bothered them. Instead, they grew to love Gluttony and found her the funniest among the duo.

Nathan had even done the famous drinking water while the puppet spoke, well Gluttony was simply singing as Nathan drank from a bottle. But some doubted him, he was too perfect, lips barely moved throughout the show.

This of course was noted by a small group of people who eyed Nathan carefully, but their focus was more on the money he was receiving from the crowd.

******

"Wow, that was a nice show!"

Nathan closed the box where he kept Gluttony as well as the money he earned today. He made sure the box was locked before he turned around.

"Thanks, though I still need to work on my material, honestly."

Nathan took note of the group in front of him. Five teenagers, one was a girl. He didn't like the way they looked, and they reeked of trouble. Yet Nathan kept his neutral expression.

"From what I saw earlier, you sir, got what it takes to be the best."

Nathan chuckled. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, if you'd like, we can give you some second opinions to help you out." The boy did the talking, and Nathan assumed that he was the leader of this group.

"Sure, I'm a bit busy right now though. This noon?"

"Is that right?"

Nathan grumbled softly. He noticed the others slowly take their position. Two were by his right, while one was on his left, the girl stayed where she was.

"You are really robbing me in broad daylight?"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The leader gasped. "What gave you that idea?"

"Listen, this is a bad idea for you guys, walk away."

They only laughed at his threat, Nathan scoffed in return. He only wanted a peaceful day, but here they were, about to cause trouble.

"I got it!"

Nathan's eyes bulged out of their sockets as he discovered a sixth member of the group. What was worse was that they had his box and were already on the run. One tried to blindside him, but Nathan saw the attack a mile away and simply ducked. He would've fought back, but he was far more focused on the one who stole Gluttony.

The five teens could not stop Nathan as he jumped over the bench and ran after the thief.

He had worked all night to prepare the jokes, and he would never allow anyone to ruin his day. The thief looked over their shoulder just to see Nathan right on their tail and was closing the distance fast. No matter how hard the teen tried to lose Nathan, he still pursued with a speed that they cannot match. In the end, Nathan followed the thief into an alley and a dead end.

With no escape, the teen pulled out his pocket knife, but that proved useless as Nathan knocked the teen out with one single blow to the face. The box flew out of the teen's hand as Nathan did so, but he caught it with ease in the air.

"Right, now to deal with the rest of you." He said as he faced the mouth of the alley where the rest of the bothersome kids had just arrived.

They came to discover the state of their friend, out cold and out of the game. "Why you, you're gonna pay for that!" The leader claimed.

It was pointless to say such things to Nathan, he was ready to defend what was his no matter the cause. And it would seem that these teens had their minds set on fighting him. So left without a choice, Nathan opened the box in his hand and reached into it.

The teens that gathered widened their eyes as Nathan pulled out the Gluttonous Maw. With both hands full, Nathan charged forward, his blade carving the wall to his right. The group scattered as they realized that they were outmatched, but the leader was struck with fear and froze.

The reckless teen watched as Nathan covered the gap between them with blinding speed.

Their eyes closed shut as Nathan was upon them, then they waited. Nothing happened, they did not feel anything, not even the cold embrace of death. Their eyes cracked open, and there they saw the blade in their chest and Nathan in front of them.

"Next time, you won't get off easy." Nathan pulled the blade and instead used his box on the teen. One quick strike knocked them out before they could question anything. "Ugh, I wish I didn't have to do that."

"If you had just thrown me at him instead of summoning the giant sickle, I could've given him a beating he will never forget!" Gluttony said. "I can't hurt humans in this form."

"We don't want to hurt them that badly," Nathan argued as he summoned Gluttony's puppet form. "They were just being dumb."

She scoffed at him. "You forgive people too easily."

"And you lack compassion." He shot back.

"Well, this is interesting…"

The two tensed up as they realized that they were not alone. There, loomed over the unconscious leader of the group, was the girl from before. Nathan had thought that she left along with the others.

"So the Gluttonous Maw can take a different form?"

She was a red-headed girl, with a pixie cut hairstyle. She wore a varsity jacket like him but instead was red and white. Most likely the colors of her school's sports team. Her eyes were a shade of amber, and it was something Nathan took notice of first before the others. Despite having the appearance of a normal teenage girl, Nathan smelled the stench of blood on her, as well as regrets.

Then something about her started an alarm in the back of his mind. He had no clue honestly as to why.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" She giggled softly. "Pun intended, Hound."

Nathan was upon her as soon as she uttered the name, the puppet had transformed back into the giant sickle in a single flash. The girl stood still with a grin, unfazed by the fact that a blade had gone through her. And much to Nathan's surprise, she was unharmed. Though he was quite unsure as to why he had even attacked. It was as if it was his natural response, the strangest part was the scribbles above her head.

What really caught him off guard was the fact that she was human.

"Wow, we haven't seen each other in years, and this is how you greet me?" She clicked her tongue disappointedly. "Here I thought we were friends."

Nathan lowered his weapon, but he did not drop his guard. The scribbles above her head started to grow clearer as the seconds passed.

"Siren?" He muttered aloud.

She smirked. She mistook the confusion in his voice for something else. "So you do remember me. I am Bella Smith, also known as the Siren of the Bloody Tyrant. Here to bring you in, Hound."

He gasped upon discovering an important detail concerning her. The Bloody Tyrant. Known across the universe for their brutal methods and the monstrous crimes they committed in Eden. This is why the Bloody Tyrant held enough bounty on their head to buy a planet. That isn't even an exaggeration. Going against them is literally high risk and high reward.

"I'm not going anywhere, especially with someone who works for a criminal!"

"You don't have a choice."

The two stood in silence as if Siren expected something to happen. Nathan's eyes darted around for whatever scheme she had planned for him.

"W-well? Come on then, the boss will want to see you." There was a stutter, and Nathan realized that something was amiss.

"As I said; I ain't going with you."

Siren growled audibly. "Why isn't it working?" She muttered to herself.

The handle of Nathan's weapon nearly blindsided her, the weapon sailed over Siren's head as she ducked down. She gave him a quick flash of her smirk. Nathan failed to step back in time as she wrapped her hand around his face.

"A direct exposure will definitely solve this."

A blast of thick smoke erupted from her palm, and Nathan found himself blinded as he struggled to escape her grip. She was deceptively strong for her size. Without a doubt about it, this girl was no ordinary human.

Soon enough, she released him once she was satisfied with her work. "There, that should do it." She said as she dusted her palms.

Only to have her world flipped over.

"What the heck was that!?" He exclaimed between coughs. "It got in my mouth!"

Siren couldn't believe it for sure. As she lay on the pavement with a bewildered look, a single thought ran through her mind…

"How?"

Nathan looked over at her, equally confused.

"How are you not under my control?" She finally asked as she rose to her feet. "Those spores were supposed to take control of your brain function, it should have made you into my slave!"

"Well, maybe I'm just too strong for your weird mind power!" He claimed.

"Tsk. No matter, I'll bring you in no matter what." She grinned.

The two teens suddenly snapped back to life. It finally dawned on Nathan as he realized the situation. These two weren't in their right mind and were under the influence of the Siren. So this was the grand scheme of it all. Just so she could corner Nathan in an alley.

No matter, he still had the advantage.

Unlike the two thralls, Nathan clearly had more skill than them. Though he's just unsure how the two teens would even fight.

One leaped towards him, the other simply dashed. Nathan ducked under the first and caught the next teen with the soles of his shoes and flung the poor kid at Siren. She dodged in time, but couldn't escape Nathan's grasp. His hand caught her by the collar of her jacket and was thrown off her feet. Where Nathan then brought down the handle of his weapon upon her exposed neck and pinned the girl down.

"Call them off or else!"

Siren frowned, she weighed her options. There was no way for her to tell if he was bluffing or not. So left with no other option, the Siren conceded. Her thralls collapsed with smoke coming out of their mouths.

"There, you happy?" She hissed out.

A prideful grin appeared on his face as he stared at her intently. "Very…"

She thought he'd set her free, but the moment when he pulled his weapon away, a hand caught Siren by the throat.

"I'll be needing some answers, and you better behave." A hollow threat, but this was a chance for Nathan to discover more about his past.

Sadly it just wasn't meant to be.

Something heavy slammed into his abdomen and the ground left his feet. He recovered in the air just as he was about to crash.

A gasp escaped him as his eyes laid upon the culprit, the Midnight Witch, Beatrix. He knew that elk skull all too well.

"Surprised to see me, Hound?" The head detached from the rest, it hovered menacingly in the air.

Honestly, Nathan was surprised to discover the neat trick. Yet that wasn't the end of it as the skulls that were purposed as her neck started to follow the example of the first. Rather than allow her to finish, Nathan opted to strike before any damage could be done. But his mistake, unlike their first encounter, is that he was alone this time.

He was smashed against the wall as the heads slammed into him. He broke free in time as Beatrix spat out scorching flames that would've melted his skin.

As he landed back on his feet, Nathan took a swing at the heads and managed to land a deadly blow. That was another mistake as the head simply exploded as Gluttony cut it in twain.

"Beatrix! This is my mission, what the heck are you doing here!?" Bella had recovered from her defeat and was angered by the intervention of Beatrix.

The elk skull swiveled its gaze toward her. "The master had decided to simply allow Hound to walk free, but we are to test his limits and knowledge. They are not pleased with your failure."

Bella shrunk beneath the witch's glare.

Nathan struggled to stand, that blast had him dazed and confused. He could barely feel the concrete beneath his hand, the rough texture was strangely smooth to him. Suddenly, colorful scribbles appeared on the ground. He believed for a moment that the blast rocked his brain in his skull. But remembered that moment when he first met Bella Smith.

"Dash forward." The scribbled instructed him.

Without question, Nathan White dashed forward. A pillar of flames erupted from where he once was.

As the shock left him, Nathan fixed his gaze on Beatrix, and his grip on the Gluttonous Maw tightened. He knew whatever this strange anomaly was, it gave Nathan an advantage.

As he realized the truth, somehow the scribbles became clearer. They even adapted to use simple lines as if they wanted to guide Nathan. It was a plan, drawn in real-time. He analyzed the route given to him. Though it was the first time it ever happened to Nathan, he felt as if he could trust this anomaly.

"We gotta run, Nate! She's too much!" Gluttony suggested.

"We've just started, G, she caught us by surprise." He reasoned. It was true, he was blindsided by the witch, and he did not expect the heads to explode like that.

Though his partner had doubts now that they faced a worthy foe, Nathan was brave enough to follow through with this plan that was laid out for him.

Beatrix commanded the heads to attack. The plan predicted this simple action, so Nathan dodged effortlessly. This surprised his opponent. Even more so when he started to make his way over to the main skull. She tried to fend Nathan off, but he avoided all attacks as if he was meant to.

This was not good.

Especially now that he was upon her, his blade raised to the sky. A shadow loomed over Nathan as he was about to go for the kill.

Yet his eyes did not deceive, he was confident even now. "Pitiful." The words read just above the elk skull.

Nathan reached out to the antlers and used Beatrix's head as a weapon. He slammed her against the thing that casts the shadow, which turned out to be her own body that moved to protect herself. Yet everything went down just as planned.

Bella watched as her superior was vanquished so easily. She would've thought that Beatrix had Nathan in a corner, yet he proved them wrong as he somehow won within a short minute. Though he was simply Nathan White, Bella Smith saw the image of Hound instead as he stood over Beatrix triumphantly. With that in mind, she ran. One would accuse her as a coward, but no one can blame her. She came in unprepared and suffered for it.

Nathan would've finished Beatrix off, but something compelled him not to. "Do not kill her, or else they will attack."

Nathan stared at the words quizzically, yet he did as he was told. It saved him from being burned, so it was best to follow its judgment.

Unbeknownst to him, there was another soul present. High above all, on top of the roof. There stood the Bloody Tyrant, perplexed with a great amount of interest. She watched as Nathan ran off to safety. Her razor teeth revealed themselves as she smiled widely. The result of today was certainly something to write about.

******

Nathan pushed through the doors, Scratch greeted him as he made his way over to his friends. Tired after a stressful encounter. And a chance that slipped away.

With no one else in the diner, it was easy to find his friends, and he found both of them in a state the same as him. Jonah looked ragged and had bandages all over. He looked like he got back from a one-sided beatdown. Ivory on the other hand looked worse. What was once a clean white face, is now covered in ash and soot. There were even traces of blood. Most of all, her clothes were damaged and torn in many sides, so much that she was almost indecent. If she was bothered, Ivory hid her embarrassment well.

Well, that didn't matter much to a Sentinel.

"What happened to you guys?" Nathan asked as he and Gluttony took their seats.

Jonah slumped into his seat which earned him a scolding from Ivory. "Some guy in a Halloween costume showed up at the shooting range and caused trouble. Said something about a test and left me a broken mess."

Ivory took the opportunity to explain herself. "A Thyvxen barged into the cooking class and nearly destroyed the place. Ran off before I could kill her."

As they told Nathan what had transpired during the morning, the scribbles returned. Faded but readable. Above Jonah, the word "Watcher" was written. As for Ivory, it was "Scorch" above her.

This thing was still with him, even if it was weaker than before.

Well, either way, this entity knew who the two attackers were. Which only solidified a small suspicion within Nathan.

"I think… I think I worked for the Bloody Tyrant." He whispered the idea to his friends so that only they would learn about it.

But this didn't go unnoticed by the Apex, the plates shattered upon the floor just a few feet away from them. Her superior sense of hearing allowed Scratch to hear Nathan. Quickly, she rushed towards the entrance and flipped the sign at the front, and closed her diner. Then she marched over to Nathan.

The three saw the fear in her eyes as she stood before them. They could tell that Scratch struggled to form any words. Finally, her voice was heard.

"Nathan, you can't- you can't just say such things!" Her hands clamped down on his shoulders and Nathan was pulled closer to her. "Do you have any idea what would happen if someone hears about this? Redeemers will be at your throat, or worse, they drag you into Tartarus for questioning. Tell me that you're just joking, please."

He shook his head. "The Siren of Bloody Tyrant wanted to capture me and I would've learned more until the Midnight Witch showed up."

All gasped upon learning that Beatrix returned.

"I would've lost until something helped me." Nathan stared at his hand for a moment. "Words started to show up out of nowhere, even now I can see it. I just don't know how it works. But it helped me beat Beatrix so easily."

"That's good I guess?" Jonah commented. "But, how did it happen?"

"No clue," Was his simple answer. "If I want to find out about my past I need to know who else worked under the Tyrant. Scratch, can you bring me some names?"

"Nathan, what you ask is easy to get. My issue is that you're gonna get yourself in trouble if you go down this road. It's best to give up now."

Jonah slammed his fist against the table and silenced everyone in the room. "Now hold on a second, we spent far too long helping Nate just to stop now! And whoever attacked me needs to be taught a lesson!"

Ivory hummed in agreement. "As much as I want to avoid conflict, I doubt this is the end. They'll come back, but this time we shall be ready."

Gluttony laughed proudly as she stood on the seat. "Yeah, they had the drop on us last time, but they better look out! Because I'm itching for a real fight!"

Nathan smiled at his friends. They all had decided that this threat will not be ignored. They struck first, and the next encounter shall surely be to their advantage. Especially now that they are aware of the Tyrant's presence.

"Scratch, we want these guys to know that they made a mistake attacking us. Can you please give us a hand?"

She was conflicted, that much was clear. Nathan knew not the reason. Only believed that the reputation of the Bloody Tyrant was too much for Scratch. Still, he was willing to fight even if it was against a powerful foe.

She sighed once she finally made her decision. "Alright, fine, I'll get you some names. But just promise me you guys won't do anything until we know you can handle it. I don't want to be worried every day."

Gluttony puffed out her chest. "You don't have to! With Nathan's trick, Jonah's skills, Ivory's strength, and my power; ain't nothing will bring us down!"

Jonah cheered while Ivory simply grunted.

As for Nathan, he pulled Gluttony off the seat and placed her on his shoulders. "Yeah, we'll teach them not to mess with us!"

Scratch watched as the group rallied for the future. All eager to pay the Tyrant back for the aggression. They were ready for another round and would show no mercy next time. And this also meant that Nathan was closer to the truth of his past.

Despite his injuries, Jonah was just as confident as the rest. Even Gluttony felt her metaphorical blood boil with excitement. Ivory just wanted to protect her friends as the Sentinel of the group.

As for Penny "Scratch" Cain, she was reluctant to follow through with Nathan's request. But knew that she must as she is his friend. If anything, she owed him more than he does to her.

And if Nathan was attentive, he would've noticed a final message before it disappeared completely.

"She's watching"

***