Noir smiled when he woke up, immediately slipping into a role that became more and more of him, consuming him as he coped with the immediate problem he saw before himself.

"They actually broke out, those damned unibuns will spread like crazy, I specifically made them even better at reproducing than their ancestors... I guess I should have listened to some warnings we had in the ethics courses."

He commented, taking the few still inside his laboratory and putting them back in their cage, a slime bubbling happily on a way too small plate.

"I am not entirely sure how that cocktail became you, but you make a great Famine, I just hope you understand that I can't let you out unless we find some way for you not to destroy our home."

The jelly simply rested atop its post, devouring anything that dared to touch it, with some bones still being corroded inside.

"Now, with you and the unibuns proving successful, I think it is time for us to create some real monstrosities, something we can use when those holier than thou freaks come and fight us."

He heard the clattering of a skeleton in the next room over, and the reverberating bark of the hellhound, indicating their master's awakening, his assumption proven correct as Noir opens the door and looks outside, his students already preparing breakfast for themselves, looking restless.

"That was the worst night of my life."

Marc said, rubbing his eyes in hopes of properly waking up.

"True, I saw screaming people the whole time, the smell of sulfur too real for a dream."

Mia agreed, shaking her head as she made herself a coffee.

"I simply saw this room the entire time, something calling on my senses the entire time. Do you think it has something to do with our direct control over our minions? Oh, good morning sir, have you too slept as awfully as we have?"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He asked as his teacher entered the kitchen, said men simply chuckling dryly.

"I don't directly control what I create, simply giving them verbal commands and somewhat modifying their nature, everything else is up to the individual creature, I can't even bind them to obey my command, unless I manage to touch them. They simply act nice around me, so long as I am nice to them. Unless you find ways to do the same, you will probably have to get used to it."

Noir said, smiling gently as he went into his laboratory again. He needed to create something truly devilish, a being so dark it would terrify even those who had thought they could oppose him.

He thought of Games and books he liked, mutants and mushrooms, before he stumbled upon his worst idea yet.

A large, bulky humanoid creature, a brain he worked o with many others, perfectly suited for a Stone Age intellect.

He gathered a plate as he went to the door, setting Famine outside as his familiars came to follow him.

Today, his journey would take him to the zoo, and nothing would stop him.

"Stay safe, and protect our base, I will get what is needed for a better future."

He said, already focussing on his next creation. He needed apes and snakes to merge, The project one too large to complete without it being a chimera, and something he was quite afraid of creating.

Most of the first day was climbing over rubble and simply jogging through the asphalt desert, with only a rare fight breaking out in between.

The twelfth day ended quickly, but as Noir searched for a place to rest that night, he stumbled upon resistance.

"Another one of those damned travelers!" he heard to his right, a large guy with a club left the ruin, a group of people behind him searching for weapons to surround him with.

"Merely a lone crusader searching for the darkness in this rotten world." He said, taking a deep breath as his gaze flicked between them. They wanted blood, he felt it. The tensing muscles, flicking eyes and twitching red at the edge of his vision.

"Just die already, weirdo!"

Someone screamed, followed by a machete coming down on him, which he swiftly dodged, utilizing the moment to grab the man's hand and simply make it swell.

"Do not oppose me, else you become a gibbering mass of meat, got it?"

He asked, already knowing the answer as he burst a cyst he had fostered with great care, the puss exploding everywhere, functioning as a sticky form of highly infectious pocket sand, giving him a great opportunity to grab the bosses' throat, simply severing the nerve connection between his brain and body, leaving the guy to keel over dead.

"My name is Pestilence, though you can call me 'my lord' and those who submit shall ascend to new, greater forms under my divine guidance. If you come with me, you may join us in our effort to survive these dark times. Otherwise, step back and join your leader in death."