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Chapter Text

Dark Universe

Princess of Egypt

    Deep in the Sahara Desert during the Ancient days of Egypt, a bright full moon shined upon a hidden immaculate temple, where a woman’s screams echoed out. Amunet, princess of Egypt, bound within a sarcophagus, was mummified alive by treacherous priests, while the Vizier Imhotep clutched the Scroll of Thoth (a powerful god-made relic that could resurrect the dead). The priests removed four vital organs from Amunet (each holding a fragment of her soul; her Sheut/ Shadow, Ba/ Soul, Ib/ Heart, and Ren/ Secret Name) and placed them inside canopic jars (which glowed with blue magical light). Before they could remove her Ka/ Spirit (and thus her last soul fragment), Amunet’s eyes flashed with golden energy, the temple shook like an earthquake, and the ceiling began to collapse with chunks of falling rubble, killing the traitors. During the chaos, the Scroll magically flew out of Imhotep’s hands and into the sarcophagus as the lid fell and sealed it, trapping Amunet. Only four priests managed to escape the collapsing temple, each carrying one of the four canopic jars (their glow dimmed as they got further from the temple). As they fled and the temple was buried under the desert sands, Amunet’s screams roared out into the night.

    In 1937, a team of Egyptologists, including linguist Dr. Henry Carter, cartographer Helena Atiz, ex-British soldier Nico Conahan, and Helena’s goddaughter and apprentice Gracie Rashida, searched for the hidden temple. Even though the team had one of the canopic jars from the prologue and a map created by Helena’s father, they’d been unable to find the entrance to the temple, and time was running out for their excavation. Unfortunately, Preston B. Carnarvon, the excavation’s sole financier from Zaleska Indus., arrived ahead of schedule and informed the explorers that he was ending his funding for their excavation. Though Carter and Helena urged him to give them more time, Preston informed them that they were to shut down the excavation and return to Cairo in the morning.

    That night, as the others reluctantly prepared to leave, Gracie (not wanting to be separated from the others and return to her strict all-girls academy in London, England) stole the map and canopic jar when no one was looking and searched the excavation site on her own. After some time of finding nothing, Gracie threw away the map and jar, deeming them useless. However, in the light of the crescent moon, the jar began glowing towards the outskirts of the dig site. Curious, Gracie picked it up, followed, and dug where it shined at its brightest; unfortunately, after Gracie dug a few feet deep, the jar began to magically shake on its own and the sand shifted, forming a large hole that she fell into. The sound of the collapsing hole alerted the other explorers, who rushed to see what’d happened. After Gracie recovered, she saw that the hole had opened a tunnel leading to the temple entrance. As the other explorers arrived, Gracie excitedly told them she’d found the entrance.

    Seeing the door was sealed, Nico brought out a bag of dynamite; however, Carter told him it’d be too dangerous and could collapse the entrance. Instead, he ordered the workers to unblock the entrance, with Nico setting aside the dynamite. Once the entrance was cleared, Carter led the other explorers and several workers into the temple while everyone else, including Preston, stayed outside to handle the artifacts they’d bring out. As they explored the temple, led by the magical glow of the canopic jar, they saw several ancient corpses littering every room they passed. Reaching the main antechamber, they found the room filled with priceless ancient artifacts and a dozen corpses crushed under ceiling rubble, all centered around one large sarcophagus. As the workers removed the rubble, Carter and Helena led the cataloging and extraction of the artifacts out of the temple. Gracie, being given little to do, grabbed a torch to explore more of the temple on her own. Though Nico stopped her and warned her not to leave the group as per Carter’s instructions, he let her go after she convinced him that she wouldn’t venture far.

    As Gracie went on her own, Carter (who set down the canopic jar), Helena, and a few workers opened the sarcophagus. Inside they saw the shriveled and mummified body of Amunet with the Scroll on her chest (an Ankh had been burned onto her chest by the Scroll, and she had no shadow). Carter took the Scroll and read it aloud as he and Helena walked away from the sarcophagus, thinking it might’ve been a log record and might give them a clue as to what had happened. No one noticed as Amunet crawled out, took the canopic jar, slipped into the shadows out of sight of the explorers, and headed towards the hallway Gracie took.

    Meanwhile, as she was drawing hieroglyphics and wall paintings into her notebook, Gracie reached a dead end. Turning around to return to the others, she saw down the hall Amunet illuminated by the torchlight. The mummy was hunched over, breaking the canopic jar, swallowing the organs inside, and regaining her Sheut/ Shadow, which restored her partially to life and reformed her shadow. Gracie, terrified, dropped her torch, which alerted Amunet. As Amunet approached her, slowly and cautiously, Gracie fainted and fell to the ground before Amunet could reach her.

    In the main antechamber, Carter, confused, finished reading the Scroll and told Helena that it wasn’t a log record but a spell scroll. Suddenly, everyone stopped as they heard the dead bodies moan and move. Outside, the crescent moon turned into a full blood moon, and dark storm clouds surged with blood-red lightning. Over the horizon, a massive swarm of undead locusts spilled out over the dunes heading for the campsite and temple, where they started attacking everyone outside, who fled into the temple. Back inside, the previously dead bodies began to rise and attack the explorers and workers. As several workers were killed, Carter and Helena managed to escape while Nico shot his way through the undead; however, Carter and Helena were separated from Nico and took different tunnels. Meanwhile, several undead rushed at Amunet, who killed them while protecting Gracie. Hearing more undead approaching, Amunet grabbed Gracie and covered her in her mummy wrappings on her back before crawling along the walls and ceiling towards the exit.

    As Nico and several workers fled the undead, many were picked off one by one. As he ran, Nico ran into Preston, who demanded to know what was going on before a hand shot out of the darkness and grabbed him. Nico tried to save Preston, but Preston’s terrified face triggered Nico’s WWI PTSD, and Preston was dragged away, screaming into the darkness. Just as Nico was about to be killed by more undead, Carter and Helena arrived and saved their friend. As Carter, Helena, and Nico ran, Helena asked Nico where Gracie was. When Nico told her that he’d let Gracie go off exploring on her own, Helena angrily yelled at Nico, asking him how he could just let Gracie wander off like that. Carter pulled her off him, telling her that arguing wouldn’t save Gracie or help them escape.

    Reaching another large chamber, the explorers stopped as Amunet suddenly dropped from the ceiling in front of them. Startled, Carter and Nico shot at Amunet, who attacked back. However, Helena ran between them to stop the fight and pointed out that Amunet had Gracie wrapped up on her back. Before the explorers could make sense of what was going on, more undead poured in from the halls. As Amunet and the explorers fought against the undead swarms, the Scroll was knocked away from Carter. Seeing the Scroll, Amunet pushed her way through the undead, grabbed it, and ran off down a hallway. Helena chased after Amunet for Gracie, but as more undead poured in and separated the princess from them, Carter grabbed Helena’s hand and led her and Nico down another hallway toward the temple exit.

    Along the way, the explorers found Preston, wounded and unconscious, lying on the ground and Nico lifted him onto his back. When they reached the entrance, Carter saw Nico’s bag of dynamite and lit it, exploding the chasing undead and sealing the temple entrance behind them. Elsewhere, Amunet ran down a corridor as several undead chased her and Gracie, coming to a dead end. Seeing light shine through a crack in the wall, Amunet drilled into the hole with her wrappings to open it up before pushing Gracie through and crawling after. Just as Amunet exited the hole, the dynamite’s explosive shockwave caused the hole to collapse behind her.

    Safe outside, Carter and Nico took a breather before they heard shouting. The two turned back to the hole that led to the temple and saw Helena as she called out for Gracie and looked for a way back inside. Quickly Carter rushed to stop her and sadly told her that Gracie was trapped inside and probably dead. Helena screamed out in desperation before turning to Carter and attacking him, saying it was his fault for reading the Scroll. After getting her anger out, Helena calmed down and fell into Carter’s arms, tired, exhausted, and in mourning for her goddaughter. After she was done, Helena, Carter, and Nico (with Preston on his back) returned to the campsite, grabbed whatever supplies they could find, and drove away headed back to Cairo.

    Elsewhere, Gracie woke to find Amunet hunched over her. Gracie screamed at her and ran away from Amunet, who scurried away and hid behind a boulder. Gracie stopped and watched Amunet for a moment before she cautiously approached her, holding out her hand to show she meant no harm. After Amunet accepted her hand, Gracie asked her who she was. As Amunet struggled to remember, her eyes glowed with golden energy. Amunet screamed, grabbed the sides of her head, and fell over in pain as the memories returned to her. One was of herself, younger, and her father as they looked out over Ancient Egypt as he told her that it’d be her responsibility to protect her home and people when she became queen. Then she saw her father on the throne being attended to by the priests as he looked ill. Another memory flashed with Amunet crying over her father’s deathbed. Lastly, Imhotep entered her chambers telling her it was time for her coronation as queen, with Amunet holding back tears.

    As the pain from the memories faded, Amunet slumped against the boulder. Gracie rushed to her side, asking if she was alright and what had happened. Amunet pointed to herself and struggled in ancient Egyptian to say her name. Gracie (being fluent in ancient Egyptian from her lessons with Carter) understood Amunet and introduced herself. Amunet (her words becoming clearer as she spoke) asked how long she’d been gone. When Gracie told her she’d been gone for centuries, Amunet, shocked and devastated, fell to her knees, screaming in despair as sand violently swirled around her. Once Amunet calmed down, Gracie approached and asked who she was. Amunet started to say that she was the Queen of Egypt, stopped herself, and then instead said that she was the Princess of Egypt. Amunet then asked if her kingdom still stood, to which Gracie told her yes and that she was from Egypt herself. Amunet asked Gracie to help her return home and, after returning to the campsite and seeing that the others had left for Cairo, Gracie agreed.

    As Amunet and Gracie traveled across the desert headed for Cairo, they passed the Great Pyramids, where Amunet mentioned she’d seen their construction via magic. Amunet explained to Gracie that in ancient times those of the Pharaoh’s bloodline could harness powers from the gods and use magic. When Gracie explained that magic was lost to time, Amunet became saddened as she too was something forgotten by time. To cheer Amunet up, Gracie listed all the wonders she’d see when they reached Giza, such as cars and electricity. As they left the pyramids, a camel rider passed them, saw Amunet’s dead appearance, and rode off in fear, leaving one of his camels behind which Amunet and Gracie rode the rest of the way to Giza.

    Reaching Giza, Amunet and Gracie left the camel behind at a water trough and stole clothes from a nearby house to disguise Amunet and avoid scaring off others by her undead appearance; though, Gracie did leave behind some money. After Amunet finished changing, Gracie blushed when she saw how human-looking and beautiful Amunet was in her disguise, before stammering that they should move on.

    Though Amunet was initially astounded by the modern world as they walked through Giza, her heart sank as she saw what’d changed. Ancient landmarks she’d visited just days before were gone or in ruin, the people she’d grown up with were replaced by strangers, and British Soldiers patrolled everywhere in place of her loyal guards. Amunet had a panic attack with all this change, her magic acting out randomly; pots and windows exploded, winds rushed from out of nowhere, and dogs and cats barked and hissed. Gracie calmed Amunet down with a song (that Gracie’s mother used to sing to her) and took her to a baklava vendor. The sweet treat from her childhood reminded Amunet of home and was the best thing she’d eaten in centuries. As Amunet ate the treat, Gracie explained that though most things from her time were gone, not everything was. With Amunet cheered up, they headed off to cross the Nile to reach Cairo.

    Meanwhile, Carter, Helena, and Nico returned to their manor in Cairo, setting up a still-unconscious Preston in a spare room. As they unpacked, Helena saw photos from another dig: one was of herself, Carter, Nico, and Gracie’s parents, and the other was of Gracie’s parents and a baby Gracie. Seeing the photos caused her to tear up and apologize for not keeping Gracie safe. Carter searched in his room through piles of research papers and books, trying to find out what had happened in the temple. As Carter threw his research about in anger, Helena entered and comforted him, telling him it wasn’t his fault for what’d happened. As the two talked, Nico unpacked and saw all the medals he’d won during his military career and a photo of his platoon, before having a quick flashback of the night he accidentally got his men killed.

    Later Carter and Helena were summoned to meet with the Board Members of the Exploration Community at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. As they left, no one saw Preston leave the manor. Arriving at the museum, they met up with Mr. Balderston, the museum curator, who gave his condolences for Gracie’s death. During the meeting, the Board reprimanded Carter and Helena, as they’d warned them that searching for the temple would ruin their careers as it’d done to Helena’s father, who’d died in the desert searching for it. Helena aggressively defended her father as he was correct in his research of the temple and that they’d found it but was held back by Carter. However, even with Mr. Balderston vouching for them, the Board saw that the number of men killed, and the damage and loss of expensive equipment was too much. The Board stripped Carter and Helena of their titles as Egyptologists and banned them from the Exploration Community.

    Meanwhile, as Amunet and Gracie made their way through Giza, they spotted British Soldiers harassing Egyptian civilians. Furious, Amunet stepped in front of the soldiers and demanded they leave; however, as Amunet could only speak and understand ancient Egyptian, the soldiers couldn’t understand her and ordered her to stand down, or they’d arrest her. Gracie rushed between them and tried to tell the officers that they’d leave but was pushed aside. Seeing Gracie pushed, Amunet, enraged, clenched her fists and golden sand-like energy swirled around the soldiers, whose weapons flew out of their hands before they sank calf-deep into the ground. Sgt. Lyle, the lead soldier, blew into his whistle, calling for reinforcements. Gracie grabbed Amunet’s hand, and the two fled as more soldiers chased after them.

    Amunet and Gracie ran down an alleyway, losing the pursuing soldiers. Amunet, furious, questioned how despicable men like those could run her kingdom and planned to drive all the British out of her home once she reclaimed her throne. However, Gracie pointed out that she was herself British-Egyptian and that not all British were evil, and if Amunet forced Egypt to return to its ancient ways, she’d be no more than a dictator to her own people. Before Amunet could apologize to Gracie for her outburst, her eyes glowed, and she sensed one of her canopic jars nearby. Quickly she left in search of it, leaving Gracie, confused, to follow.

    The two arrived at a construction site where the entrance to an ancient ruin resided. Though a construction worker told them to leave, Amunet used her magic to hypnotize him (causing his eyes to cloud over) to leave them alone to search through the ruins. When Gracie asked what was going on, Amunet explained that whoever betrayed her had cut out four of her five souls and placed them into canopic jars that’d been scattered across Egypt. For centuries she’d only been kept alive by one of her souls, her Ka (source of magic and life-force), and had been in agonizing pain with the others torn from her. When she was reunited with the soul inside the jar the explorers had – her Sheut (shadow and memories) – that pain had subsided a bit as she was partially restored to life. To fully alleviate her pain and return to being human, Amunet would need to reclaim her Ba (the core of the five souls), Ib (her heart and mind), and Ren (secret name and control over oneself).

    Reaching the entrance, Amunet apologized to Gracie for what she’d said earlier about all British being evil. She appreciated all that Gracie had done for her and told her that she wouldn’t judge her if she wanted to leave. With a sigh, Gracie told Amunet that they wouldn’t find her souls by just standing around and that she couldn’t leave Amunet as she promised to help her return home. Amunet chuckled, and the two entered the ruin, lit by Amunet conjuring four torch-sized glowing orbs of light that hovered in the air around them.

    After exploring the ruin, which caused Amunet distress (being trapped in the sarcophagus for centuries had made Amunet afraid of being in the dark and tight spaces), they eventually found the canopic jar which contained her Ba (the core of the five souls) resting in the hands of a dead priest by an eldritch altar to an unknown god. Before Amunet could grab the jar, she and Gracie heard guns being cocked behind them and turned to see that the soldiers from earlier had followed and were aiming at them. Amunet held out a hand to protect Gracie, who pleaded with the soldiers to leave. However, they saw that all the soldiers’ eyes were clouded over (as if they’d been hypnotized). The soldiers spoke in unison in ancient Egyptian, ordering Amunet to give them the Scroll or they’d kill her and Gracie. Not willing to give whoever was controlling these men the Scroll, Amunet whispered for Gracie to hide before her eyes glowed with golden energy, and she lunged at the soldiers who opened fire.

    As Amunet fought the soldiers (making sure to only render them unconscious and not kill them), she became overpowered as bullets riddled her body. Before the soldiers could kill her, Gracie rushed for the jar and tossed it to Amunet, who broke it and absorbed her organ/ Ba. As the soldiers opened fire on Amunet, sand sealed up her wounds, her body became livelier, and her eyes opened glowing with red energy. The shadows around the soldiers came to life and attacked them, throwing them about like ragdolls or dragging them screaming into the darkness. Rising to her feet, Amunet’s wrappings circled around the closest soldiers’ necks and started to choke them. However, Gracie screamed and begged Amunet to return to her senses and not kill them.

    Hearing Gracie, Amunet snapped back to her senses and loosened her hold on the soldiers. As she touched the soldiers’ foreheads with her wrappings to dispel the hypnotic hold over them, she saw a glimpse of the past; Preston had met with the soldiers while they were searching for Amunet and Gracie and hypnotized them to kill Amunet and bring him the Scroll. As the vision ended, Amunet saw that Preston was actually an illusion being cast by the Vizier. Coming out of her trance, Amunet released the soldiers, who fled at the sight of Amunet. Seeing Amunet’s hands shaking in fear before she fell to her knees exhausted, Gracie helped her up and out of the ruin, taking her to a hotel by the Nile.

    Hours later, as Gracie slept sprawled out on the hotel room’s single bed, Amunet looked out at Cairo on the other side of the Nile, smiling fondly as she looked out on her kingdom. Suddenly another flashback/memory hit her, this time of her on the throne passing judgment over a prisoner’s execution. Though she tried to object, the Vizier urged her to follow tradition, or she’d show weakness. After the prisoner’s execution, Amunet cried at the feet of her father’s statue, wishing he were there to give her guidance. As the flashback/memory faded, Amunet pulled out the Scroll, wondering what it was and why the Vizier (a dear friend and advisor to her) was sending men to kill her for it. Seeing Gracie having a nightmare, Amunet put the Scroll away and climbed up next to her to calm her down.

    Meanwhile, in Cairo, Preston/ the Vizier returned to the explorers’ manor with Sgt. Lyle and told them that he’d seen Amunet attacking soldiers in Giza. Preston/ the Vizier urged the explorers to help the soldiers hunt Amunet down and destroy her before she could kill anyone else. The explorers agreed, wanting to avenge Gracie’s death. They planned to take down Amunet with elephant-grade tranquilizers before they’d restrain her inside a large steel crate.

    The next day as Amunet and Gracie tried to cross the Nile into Cairo, they saw a checkpoint on the bridge with wanted posters of Amunet. Unable to cross the bridge and with more soldiers searching citizens the way they’d come, Amunet led Gracie towards the Nile shore out of sight of the soldiers. There she cast a spell and formed an air tunnel for them to travel under the Nile. As they walked, Amunet told Gracie how she and her father would do this all the time to get away from their duties and watch the sunset under the Nile. Exiting the Nile, they made their way to the explorers’ manor but found it empty. Thinking the only other place the other explorers would be at was the museum, Gracie and Amunet quickly headed there. When they arrived, a soldier saw them enter the museum and radioed the explorers and soldiers, informing them of where Amunet was.

    At the museum, Gracie met Mr. Balderston, who told her that Carter and Helena had visited the day before. With relief that she now knew her friends were alive and okay, Gracie went to use the phone to call them to pick her up, leaving Amunet to look at the Egyptian exhibits. Unfortunately, as Amunet walked through the exhibits, she saw all the travesties her kingdom had committed or had been done to it (slavery, war, etc.) and how various countries had conquered Egypt throughout the centuries. Amunet’s shock and anger caused her powers to flare out, breaking various exhibits, as she ran off in search of Gracie.

    After Gracie left her message, she saw Amunet running to her, panicking and angry, and told her everything she’d found out. Though Gracie tried to calm her down, Amunet (with fists clenched, her shadow growing larger, and the lights in the room flickering) swore that she’d reclaim her throne and return Egypt to its former glory, no matter who stood in her way. Gracie, in shock, begged her to reconsider and not become the monster she saw in the ruins or that everyone saw her as, slamming down one of the wanted posters. Amunet told her that if she was going to stand in her way, then she should just leave. As Gracie, in tears, stormed out of the room, Amunet stared down at the wanted poster, depicting her as an evil monster. Cursing in ancient Egyptian, Amunet went after Gracie to apologize but stopped when she sensed one of her canopic jars nearby.

    When Amunet found the canopic jar, which contained her Ib (her heart and mind), she broke the exhibit containing it and absorbed her organ/ Ib. Amunet doubled over in pain as another flashback/ memory hit her, this time of her wishing she could see her father again before the Vizier entered and told her of the Scroll of Thoth. After reaching the temple, Amunet found the Scroll but was betrayed by the Vizier, who ordered several Egyptian guards and priests to restrain Amunet and mummify her alive.

    While Amunet was in her flashback/ memory trance, a few museum guards tried to help as she was in pain; however, her magic lashed out against them, throwing them away and causing a massive blackout. The explorers and soldiers arrived outside and pushed through the screaming civilians who fled the museum. As Helena and Preston/ the Vizier stayed outside, Mr. Balderston ran into Helena and told her that Gracie was alive and inside, causing her to search through the crowd for Gracie. Once Amunet’s flashback/ memory trance ended, she saw the destruction she’d caused and heard the approaching explorers and soldiers. Filled with anger, Amunet’s eyes glowed with dark red energy as she slipped into the shadows.

    As the explorers and soldiers searched for Amunet, she stayed in the shadows on the ceiling, stalking them and taking them out one by one with her wrappings until Carter spotted her. The explorers and soldiers opened fire on Amunet, who battled her way through them, becoming more undead and monstrous as she fought. When Carter attacked her, she grabbed him by the throat and roared at him before a grenade blast knocked them both out the window and onto the street below. Hearing the explosion, Gracie, who’d been down the street, rushed back to the museum.

    Outside, the soldiers opened fire on Amunet, even though stray shots injured a few civilians. Amunet rushed to her feet and formed a protective shield with her wrappings to protect the civilians. Telling the civilians to run, Amunet saw that they weren’t afraid of the soldiers but were instead terrified of her. It was then that Amunet saw her monstrous reflection in one of the damaged cars. As Amunet was distracted, a tranquilizer hit her, causing her to pass out. As the soldiers sealed Amunet inside the steel crate and dragged her back inside the museum, Preston/ the Vizier found the Scroll, which had been dropped during the grenade explosion.

    As the soldiers dragged Amunet inside the museum to deal with her, a few were posted outside to prevent anyone from entering, forcing Gracie to sneak past them to enter the museum to save Amunet. Inside, the Vizier dropped his illusionary disguise and hypnotized the explorers and soldiers into serving him. Unfurling the Scroll, the Vizier read it aloud which restored his life force and youth. As the hypnotized explorers and soldiers restrained Amunet, the Vizier explained that he would use the power of the Scroll and the pyramids to resurrect an undead army to take over Egypt, returning it to its warlike ways before Amunet’s father had brought peace to the land. He’d needed Amunet to find the Scroll as it was only obtainable by those of the Pharoah’s Bloodline, then he would’ve killed her as he’d done with her father.

    As he had all he needed, the Vizier prepared to kill Amunet; however, Gracie caused an explosion, breaking the hypnotic hold over the explorers who released Amunet. The Vizier fled with the hypnotized soldiers and headed for the pyramids, using magic to bring down the museum on top of Amunet and the explorers. Before the crumbling museum killed them, Amunet used her magic to hold the falling debris at bay. However, the combination of her exhaustion from the previous fight and the tranquilizers, her claustrophobia, and her feeling like she’d failed her father and was nothing more than a monster made it difficult for her.

    As Carter, Helena, and Nico tried to keep the rubble from crushing them, Gracie rushed to Amunet. She let Amunet know that even though she felt like a monster who’d failed her father and people, she still believed in her. To Gracie, Amunet had never stopped being Egypt’s protector, and if she gave up on everyone she swore to defend, the Vizier would bring death and destruction upon them. Gracie’s conviction in Amunet gave her the last bit of confidence she needed to blast away all the museum rubble. As Amunet healed by absorbing the sandy debris, Gracie officially introduced her to the other explorers, and the heroes raced off to catch up to the Vizier and stop him before he could unleash an army of the dead.

    Amunet and the explorers raced off in a car after the Vizier, as he and the hypnotized soldiers sped off in another car for the pyramids. Seeing that they’d survived and were gaining on him, the Vizier cast the Scroll’s spell, causing the full moon to turn blood red and dark storm clouds to fill the sky. As the heroes chased after the Vizier, bolts of blood-red lightning struck throughout the city, resurrecting countless undead that attacked civilians and chased after the heroes. Amunet tried to get closer to the Vizier’s vehicle to grab the Scroll, but the undead knocked her out of the car. As the explorers sped off, Amunet told them to meet her at the Nile before using her wrappings to swing from building to building to keep up with them. As she did, she saved civilians in danger from the undead and used her magic and wrappings to kill any undead on her way.

    As the explorers headed for the bridge, they fought off waves of undead that piled onto the car. After the Vizier crossed the Nile bridge, he destroyed it with magic. As the explorers slowed down as the bridge was destroyed, Amunet told them to keep going, and Gracie slammed her foot onto Nico’s on the gas. Just as they reached the bridge, the other explorers freaked out as they were about to crash, but Amunet landed on the car and used her magic to split the Nile, allowing them safe passage across. Though slowed down, they made it across and eventually out of Giza, driving through the desert after the Vizier. Unfortunately, a bolt of lightning hit their car, causing Amunet and the explorers to bail before it exploded. The heroes hurried for the pyramids as the swarm of undead rushed behind them.

    Atop Khafre (the middle pyramid), the Vizier fired a bolt of magic to destroy the tip, creating a flat area and an altar from the rubble. The Vizier placed the Scroll on the altar, and the three pyramids glowed with strange green eldritch runes. The moon appeared as if it were an eclipse, and more bolts of lightning rained down around Amunet and the explorers as they ran for the pyramid, with the undead swarm increasing in number and gaining on them. When they finally reached the base of the pyramid, they quickly ducked for cover as the hypnotized soldiers opened fire on them. Carter managed to talk them out of shooting long enough for Amunet to dispel their hypnosis. Though there was some tension between the soldiers and Amunet, they agreed to help when they saw the approaching undead swarm.

    As the soldiers and explorers fought off the undead horde, Amunet climbed the pyramid to face the Vizier, while Helena had Gracie hide for her own safety. Though the hail of gunfire killed many undead, some made it through and killed several soldiers. When Amunet reached the top, the Vizier told her she was too late and that only by destroying the Scroll could his spell be stopped, to which Amunet accepted, and the two fought. The swarm became too much below, and the explorers and soldiers climbed the pyramid for higher ground. To give them time, Nico set off explosives to take out as many undead as he could, though he died in the process. As they fled, Helena tried to have Gracie follow her to safety but found that she was gone. As Amunet and the Vizier traded magical blows, Gracie snuck her way to the Scroll.

    The Vizier defeated Amunet, but before he could kill her, the explorers and soldiers arrived and shot at him. As the Vizier was distracted fighting them, Gracie grabbed the Scroll and tried to throw it to Amunet. However, the Vizier caught the Scroll and summoned a blade from the pyramid rubble to stab Gracie with. As Amunet cried out in anguish, the Vizier sent a magical bolt hurling at her that blasted her off the pyramid.

    Just before she fell into the climbing swarm of undead, Amunet’s eyes opened, glowing with furious golden energy. Using her wrappings to stop her descent, Amunet swung/ climbed back to the top of the pyramid blasting away any of the undead that was getting too close to the top. As the Vizier readied to kill the explorers, Amunet swung over the side of the pyramid and speared into the Vizier, knocking the Scroll out of his hands which Amunet quickly snatched with her wrappings. Though the Vizier warned her against destroying it as it’d mean she never see her father again or save her human companion, Amunet turned to Gracie who gave her a solemn nod. As much as it pained her to do so, Amunet ignited magical flames in her hands and incinerated the Scroll.

    With the Scroll destroyed, Amunet and the Vizier were launched back as a green eldritch light erupted from where the Scroll had been destroyed. This light bathed into the Vizier who screamed in horror, beginning with his fingers a coursing into him like an electric current. Like a beacon in the night atop the pyramid, the lightning-like eldritch energy shot up into the night sky and latched onto the Vizier and all the undead brought back by the Scroll’s magic. The energy enveloped them, causing their skin to glow before melting off them, leaving nothing but rattling, screaming skeletons. Amunet watched as the Vizier’s skeleton cracked and unhinged; his skull kept screaming. The bones then fell apart and crumbled to dust as the eldritch energy faded away, and the dust was blown away in the wind.

    With the threat defeated, Amunet rushed to Gracie’s side as Helena cradled her lifeless body in her arms. As Amunet cried for her friend’s death, the Ankh on her chest glowed, and glowing hieroglyphics traveled across her arms to Gracie. The residual magic from the Scroll inside Amunet healed Gracie’s wound in blinding light and brought her back to life. As she awoke, Gracie told Helena and Carter that her parents said, “Hi.”

    With the world saved, Amunet, the explorers, and the surviving soldiers celebrated at a bar, where Carter confessed his love to Helena, and Amunet saw a vision of her father. The two had a tearful goodbye, and the Pharoah said he was proud of her. As Amunet left the bar, she stopped when she heard Gracie’s voice. When Gracie asked what she would do now, Amunet told her that she didn’t know. She still needed to find her last canopic jar/ soul, but she’d be there if her people ever needed her. As Amunet began to walk away, Gracie grabbed her wrist and spun Amunet into her arms to kiss her. As the two parted, Gracie made Amunet promise that the two of them would one day meet again. Gracie watched as Amunet walked off into the sunrise, having finally found her place in the world as Egypt’s new guardian.

    Post Credits Scene – Months later, on a dark cloudy night on the outskirts of Cairo, Amunet sat in a bar eating some baklava before she quickly pulled her hood up as two British soldiers passed her by. From the radio, Amunet heard news of WWII approaching. As she prepared to leave, the bartender told her to be careful as it looked like a storm was coming. Thanking him, Amunet took her baklava and left. Unknown to her though, a girl (16-18) dressed in black Victorian gothic clothes watched Amunet from the other side of the bar. As Amunet left, the mysterious girl followed with a cruel grin on her face, revealing sharp fangs. With anticipation for what she planned for Amunet in the future, the girl said, “Let the games begin.”

Chapter Text

Dark Universe

Written by Andrew Downs and Thomas Lapeyrouse III

    Deep in the haunting forests of Blackmoor, England in 1928, the first autumn full moon shined on a hunter, bloodied, and wounded, as he ran from a monstrous creature. Finally breaking out of the thick forest, the hunter fled inside an ancestral mausoleum in the town’s graveyard and barricaded the door. As he struggled to reload his rifle with his bleeding arm behind the mausoleum’s casket, he heard the growl of the monster as it stalked the mausoleum. Then suddenly the growling stopped. After a minute of listening to the sound becoming quieter and quieter, the hunter breathed in a sigh of relief as all was silent – as silent as the grave. But then, he heard the growling return; this time though, it wasn’t on the other side of the thick marbled walls of the mausoleum. The hunter turned to see a massive paw landing on the casket. Slowly, the beast raised itself over and loomed over the hunter, snarling and licking its razor-sharp blood-coated teeth. Shouting in fear, the hunter aimed his gun to kill the monster as it lunged at him in a blur of motion. As the hunter’s horrified screams faded, a monstrous howl roared out into the night.

    One month later in Iping, Sussex, England, a man named Lipow entered the village inn looking for a room for himself, his wife, and four kids. As he entered, he saw the inn had been damaged recently, with several beams broken and a hole in the far wall. Lipow made his way to the bar where the innkeeper Herbert Hall and asked for a room for the night for himself and his family. Mr. Hall paused preparing the tonic for his wife, Jenny, to fetch a room key, asking what Lipow was doing in the dead of a stormy night like this moving his entire family and all his possessions across the country. Lipow explained that for the past few months, there had been a series of deaths in Blackmoor (10 miles away), the town they were leaving from and that these attacks were assumed to have been caused by a wild animal and each grimmer than the last.

    As they talked, not but a few feet from Lipow sat a man indulging in ale and half-listening to the conversation. But when Lipow mentioned that the victims were always found after a night with a full moon, the mysterious man cursed under his breath. After Lipow rushed outside to gather his family, the man, having drank more than he should, asked Mr. Hall for one last tankard of ale before taking his leave; fumbling through his clothes for some coins to pay his tab - not seeming to have any luck. Mr. Hall declined the coin, telling the man that it was on the house for what he’d done. Grateful, the man reminded Mr. Hall to give his wife two of the tonics per day during meals and that her symptoms would be gone within a month. Taking the tankard, the man made his leave, passing Lipow and his family on his way to his room for the night; he couldn’t help himself but see the scarred looks on the kid’s faces as they passed by.

    Several hours later, his tankard long since empty, the man slept with a compact mirror compass sat on the nightstand, a portrait inside of his wife, Sara facing him. After falling asleep, the man had a terrible nightmare memory of the day his wife died. Waking up in a cold sweat, the man sat up and started tearing up once again, still mourning her loss. Looking over at his gun belts, the man pulled out one of his revolvers (Remington 1858 New Army) and looked it over, checking if it was jammed and loaded. After a moment of staring at his gun in both hands, he maneuvered it towards himself for a moment, ready to end his suffering and join his wife. However, the frightened words from Lipow about the murders in Blackmoor and the terrified faces of the kids snapped him out. Looking up, the man saw his reflection in the mirror and shot his reflection’s forehead, shattering his reflection into fragmented sections. Before Mr. Hall could enter the room to check on what was the matter, the man had already collected his things and left into the night, heading for Blackmoor.

    The next day, the man arrived in Blackmoor, walking past other families that were leaving like Lipow’s and down empty streets and passing houses with barred doors that quickly closed their windows or had mothers ushering their children inside. Some homes he’d passed, those that’d belonged to families that’d fled or were deceased victims of the attacks, had been stripped down to the supports, their timber being used to craft fortifications and barricades for the town. At the Butcher’s shop in the town’s market square, the man traded his dagger for a thin strip of goat jerky. The butcher explained that was all he had, as the majority of the town’s meat had been used in traps to lure the beast, went missing in the middle of the night, or had been stolen by rioters. Munching his meager breakfast, the man walked about and talked with several of the town’s residents. Several of them mentioned a local legend of a condemned mine and a witch in the woods, but the residents were divided as to the cause of Blackmoor’s current troubles – many blamed the small caravan of Romani on the outskirts of town and were confident that, once they were purged, as the Pastor had ordered, the murders would stop. But another warned the man darkly, “The murders come at only at the end of the month... but the Pastor’s men come during the rest of it.”

    In the town center, the man saw a mass of townsfolk, shouting for the mayor to do something about the killings. The mayor announced that he’d hired several hunters to find the beast responsible for the killings and to put an end to it (paying them with the leftover possessions of the deceased victims). Though this calmed down some, many blamed the Romani for the attacks, saying that they had brought evil to their town so that they could take it for themselves once the townsfolk were gone and that the killings wouldn’t end until they were driven out or killed. As the man watched the crowd shout in agreement against the Romani, a hooded young girl with a pet goat at her side bumped him as she tried to walk away from the mass. As the girl vanished, Gwen Conliffe, daughter of a former mayor and a benevolent aristocratic benefactor to the town, stood in defense of the Romani, stating that they had done nothing but try to help since arriving. Though a few were against her statement, including a man in clergy attire, many more were swayed by her words and calmed down.

    As the meeting adjourned, the man followed Gwen back to her family antique shop. As he looked around the shop, the man saw Gwen talking with the hooded girl from the town center, giving her some bread without charge. As the hooded girl was leaving, the man caught a glimpse under her hood and saw that she was Romani. Once she left, he commented on how nice it was for Gwen to do that for her; Gwen responded by saying that her father had raised her to help everyone, especially those in need, which the man agreed was a noble thing to do. To break the awkwardness between them, Gwen introduced herself, and the man in turn told her his name was Warren Tralbain. As Gwen showed him around her shop, the two struck up a friendly conversation, with Warren curiously asking what the meeting in the town center was about.

    Gwen told him that a few months ago, on a full moon night, one of the local farmers found several of his livestock butchered. The attack looked as if it had been done by a wild animal, like a wolf or bear. No one thought anything of it at the time, but the next night a couple of kids that had stayed out too long were found the next day killed in the same manner. Every night of the full moon that followed saw more townsfolk either disappearing without a trace or being found soon after in the same mauled state. Then, last month a man saying he was from Scotland Yard arrived and was investigating the attacks. He’d partnered up with one of the Romani, the husband of a fortune teller and the father of the hooded girl. On the night of the full moon, the two of them had gone out armed to hunt down whatever was causing the killings – the next day the graveyard’s caretaker found the hunter torn to pieces inside a mausoleum with the Roma missing.

    As Warren left Gwen’s shop, he saw that the sun would soon be setting. Taking out his flask, Warren said a prayer (light briefly flashed from inside the flask) and took a sip, briefly wincing in pain as it wet down. After the pain subsided, Warren lit a cigarette and made his way avoiding the crowds. down a back alley. As he walked, Warren saw a dove perched on the corner of a building before it flew off down an alleyway. Warren walked past it for a moment, before stopping and heading down the alleyway. Losing sight of the dove, Warren came upon a clergyman attacking the hooded girl, her pet goat defending her before being kicked away by the man. Warren intervened, getting into a fight with the man and breaking his arm. After the clergyman left, swearing that Warren would have hell to pay for intervening with “God’s work,” Warren asked the girl if she was okay and helped her up. Thanking him for his help, the girl introduced herself as Esméralda and her pet goat was Djali, who Warren scratched behind the ear. She explained that she’d been searching the town for clues to her missing father, but the rising tension in the townsfolk and the thug-like clergymen made that difficult. As she made her way to leave, Warren suggested he’d walk her to her caravan to make sure she wouldn’t be attacked anymore.

    Arriving at the Romani camp, Esméralda brought Warren to her family’s wagon, which had hanging above the door ‘Madame Malerva, Fortune Teller Extraordinaire’. Seeing the Hunter’s Moon rising into the night sky, Warren took another sip from his flask, wincing in pain again before entering. Inside he saw Malerva finishing dinner and talking with Esméralda before she introduced him to her mother. Malerva thanked him for helping her daughter and wished to repay him for his kindness. Though Warren kindly refused, Malerva insisted and told him to sit and have dinner with them, after which she’d read his fortune. After dinner, Esméralda went outside to wait till the fortune was told, Warren sat at Malerva’s fortune teller table. Bringing out her tarot cards, Malrva had Warren pull out one card as she pulled out three others to reveal his past, present, and future; the Emperor Upright (he was once a warrior, a protector of the innocent from the terrors of the night), the Hermit Reversed (he’d recently lost his way due to tragedy), and the Tower Upright (soon he will face a great disaster). Malerva asked him to lay the extra card, revealing it to be the Moon (which briefly turned blood red before returning to normal). Malerva, fear in her eyes, asked Warren who he was and why he came to Blackmoor. He responded, “I’m just a passing stranger who’s here to help.”

    Before Malerva could respond, she looked curiously at Warren’s right hand, as the silver coin on the back of his glove turned from showing a face to a pentagram. Suddenly, Warren dove to protect Malerva as something large crashed into the wagon, knocking it on its side. After helping free Malerva from the overthrown consents of the wagon, the two made their way out to see that the camp was under attack, as the Romani were running and screaming as a monstrous blur slaughtered many of them and destroyed wagons, searching for something. Malerva then winced in pain and Warren turned to see that in the wagon’s toppling a large chunk of wood had pierced her stomach. Helping her to sit down, Warren pulled out a med kit from his belt. Before he could help her though, Malerva stopped him and begged for him to find and save her daughter, as she was the last thing she had in this world. After the life faded from Malerva’s eyes, Warren promised he would keep her daughter safe and shut her eyes, saying a silent prayer for her.

    Cursing, Warren looked up to see in the moonlight the beast charging into the forest. Doubling over in pain, Warren downed the rest of his flask, excruciating pain coursing through his veins as his skin turned gray and eyes flashed golden briefly before returning to normal. Once his pain subsided, Warren pulled out one of his revolvers and chased after the beast. Warren charged through the forest as a thick fog mysteriously appeared that obscured his sight. Unable to see but 10 feet in front of him, Warren sniffed the air, catching the beast’s scent and following it to a clearing where the fog thinned out. In the clearing, there was an abandoned shack off the edge and a ring of large stones in its center. As Warren approached the stones, keeping a careful eye for the beast, he found Esméralda hiding behind one, crouched down in fear with Djali by her side. Startling her as he came close, Warren told her he was there to help her. Esméralda asked where her mother was and Warren’s silence brought tears to her eyes. Hearing the beast’s howl close by, Warren ordered Esméralda to hide in the shack as he drew it out and away from her.

    As Esméralda and Djali ran to hide in the shack, Warren fired off a shot to get the beast’s attention. Calmly and professionally, Warren waited for the beast to make itself known, hunting the beast within the foggy stone circle; as if this was nothing new to him. As he listened for the sound of the beast, Warren noticed a female figure standing near the edge of the forest; she had deathly pale gray skin, oily black lips, and eyes that shined from beneath her hood like burning coals. Before Warren could do anything, he heard the beast and turned to see nothing; turning back, he saw the figure had disappeared. Suddenly, the beast lunged out from behind one of the stones and tackled Warren. Though he got off a shot at its shoulder, the beast was too quick and knocked his guns out of his hands before throwing him against one of the large stones, dislocating his arm. Staggering to his feet, Warren was pinned against the stone by the beast as it prepared to eat him. What the beast failed to realize, however, was that Warren’s injuries unnaturally quickly healed themselves, with his arm relocating itself and his cuts vanished. As the beast brought its fangs down on Warren, he grabbed its jaws and halted its attack. As Warren held the beast at bay, his fingernails and canine teeth were forcefully pushed out as razor-sharp claws and teeth took their place, fur began growing from his face and arms, and he opened his eyes to reveal they’d turned yellow with a slight glow. As the beast was startled, Warren muttered, “Yeah.” In one swift motion, Warren dislocated the beast’s jaw with his healed arm and kicked it back several feet, causing a small indention in its chest and breaking a few ribs.

    As the beast shoved its jaw back in place and the small indention in its chest fixed itself, Warren prepared to fight, getting into a fighting stance with his claws out. However, the beast sniffed the air and turned to see Esméralda peeking out the cracked open doorway. Ignoring Warren, it charged after Esmeralda, causing Warren to curse as he chased after it. Seeing the beast coming after her, Esméralda quickly closed the door and hid, hearing the beast and Warren growling, slashing, and fighting like wild animals. The wall near her suddenly burst as Warren was thrown through by the beast. Esméralda screamed as the beast lunged inside at her, only getting within inches of her as Warren tackled it to the side and into another wall. Seeing the shack begin to crumple, Esméralda and Djali ran out of it, all while Warren and the beast fought against each other – slashing each other with claws, throwing each other into objects, and Warren used items around the shack to attack the beast. Esméralda ran to the stone circle but tripped, her foot falling into a small hole. As Djali pulled on her sleeve with his mouth to try and help her, Esméralda turned to see Warren thrown out of the shack and the beast turning towards her. Warren shouted for her to run but her foot was still trapped. The beast charged at her but was tackled by Warren. As the two tussled on the ground, Esméralda freed her foot and saw one of Warren’s pistols. The beast threw Warren to the ground and delivered several slashes at him, gravely injuring him which he struggled to heal from. As the beast readiedtoa deliver the killing blow (something that Warren was strangely at peace with as he closed his eyes and readied for the end), a shot rang out and a burst of blood and flesh erupted from the beast’s shoulder.

    Esméralda held Warren’s gun, smoke coming off its barrel, and fired again, hitting the beast in the throat, causing it to thrash about as it choked to death from the silver bullet. With the beast seemingly dead, Esméralda approached with Djali by her side, the revolver still trained on it in case it moved. When she got within five feet of it, its fur began to slough off, revealing to her horror a man she’d been searching weeks for after he’d gone missing: Bela Heron, her father. Hearing Warren’s haggard breathing, Esméralda quickly turned the gun onto him, demanding that he tell her who/what he was and what was going on. However, with his wounds struggling to heal and the battle having taken its toll on him, Warren passed out. As he slipped from consciousness, he heard Esméralda’s voice telling him to hold on as she got help, which slowly changed to Sara’s voice, telling him to hold on as it was not yet his time.

    The next afternoon, Warren woke in a sweated panic from another nightmare. Looking around he saw that he was in the guest room above Gwen’s shop and had been bandaged up. After calming down from the dream, Warren noticed Esméralda standing in the doorway with Djali by her side, watching him. Warren tried to tell her good morning and ask if she was unharmed from last night, but Esméralda left without a word. Soon after Gwen entered, she handed over his gun belt and gave him a new pair of clothes since the ones he wore when Esméralda brought him to her had been torn to shreds. Before she left, she told him that lunch was ready downstairs when he was ready.

    After lunch, Warren (who wolfed down his meal, before stopping at seeing the women stare at him and apologizing) helped wash the dishes for Gwen, as she went back to running her shop. As he did, Esméralda approached and demanded Warren tell her what’d happened the night before. He instead told her to forget what she’d seen, bury her parents (who were lying in the other guest room), go back to her caravan, and leave Blackmoor before nightfall and another attack happened. Esméralda told him that she couldn’t bury her parents until she’d avenged them, and if he wasn’t going to give her any answers then she’d find them on her own, storming out of the shop with Djali following after (giving Warren an angry bleat). After the door slammed on her way out, Gwen explained to Wareen that Esméralda couldn’t go back to her caravan; everyone in it had either been killed or had fled without a trace. With nowhere else to go, Gwen planned to make some arrangements so Esméralda could stay with her for the time being.

    Gwen then suddenly began coughing profusely and asked Warren to hand her the medicine on the counter next to him. After taking it and her coughing subsided, she thanked him and explained she’d been feeling sick lately, probably due to the old drafty shop. When Warren asked why she lived there if she was a wealthy benefactor to the town, Gwen told him that the shop had been in her family since her grandfather built it. As a child, she lived in a manor a few miles from the town but would always come to visit her grandfather’s shop while her father was busy with duty as the mayor. However, after her parents’ deaths when she was a child, she couldn’t live there anymore and went back to the shop, and no one had been in her family’s manor for nearly over a decade.

    Warren thanked Gwen for patching him up before heading out, needing to return to the Romani caravan remains to look for clues. As Warren walked the streets and saw evidence that the beast had also attacked the town, he noticed that the Pastor’s men were telling many people news, that the beast had been slain and was revealed to have been one of the Romani. This spurred many people to believe that it was the Romani who’d been attacking the town, wanting it for themselves and fleeing in the middle of the night when their dark magic turned on them. Walking away from the growing mob, Warren caught a scent and groaned, smelling that Esméralda and Djali were following suit, hidden from the angry townsfolk by her hood.

    Outside of the town, Warren told Esméralda over his shoulder that he knew she’d been following him since he left the shop, and if she wanted answers, she’d better follow him, which spurred her pace to walk beside him. Arriving at the remains of the Romani caravan, Esméralda and Warren searched through the rubble, with her collecting her family items and him answering her questions. After asking and making certain that her father had never acted strangely during a full moon in her life, he told her that after her father went missing that night the hunter was killed, he’d been most likely abducted by another of the same beasts (known as a Werewolf), which infected him with the same curse via a bite mark. Warren didn’t know exactly for what purpose, but he suspected the original Werewolf had held Bela prisoner over the month he’d been missing. Last night, Bela somehow managed to get free and tried to make his way home; however, when the full moon rose, he was transformed and instead of trying to get back to his family he was trying to slaughter them. Seeing as this was bringing tears to her eyes, Warren told her that what she’d done saved her father, as he was freed from his curse and now was with her mother in heaven.

    Esméralda then asked what Warren was, inching her fingers to her father’s gun (which she’d found in the rubble) in case he was another Werewolf. Warren explained that he was born a Shifter; a clan of people from the ancient city of Lycanon, Greece that were blessed by the Elder Goddess Luperca with the Gift of the Hunt to safeguard humanity from the monsters, demons, and all other nightmarish evils lurking in the dark. he also told her that the bullets in her father’s gun wouldn’t save her, and showed her the silver-coated bullets in his guns; only silver or magic could kill a Werewolf - anything else and they’d regenerate as if never injured. Esméralda mentioned she’d seen him drink from his flask, thinking it was some sort of magical potion that turned him into his Shifted Form; Warren undid the lid and showed her it was just purified holy water, a tool he used when dealing with demons and possessions, and it just tasted bad to him.

    Putting the lid back on, Warren explained that whoever cursed her father was still out there, and he intended to kill it and that she should go back to Gwen’s shop where it was safe. Just as Esméralda started to demand that he let her join him so she could avenge her parents, Warren sniffed the air and immediately ordered Esméralda to hide. Confused but obeying his warning in case they were about to be attacked, from their hiding spot amongst the caravan remains Esméralda and Djali saw Warren become surrounded by the Pastor’s priests, including the two Warren fought and wounded when he and Esméralda first met. The lead priest said the Pastor requested Warren’s attendance at the church. Though Warren initially refused, he relented (wanting to see the Pastor for himself) and stealthily motioned for Esméralda to not interfere and stay hidden.

    As he was escorted, Warren saw a truck (Mercedes-Benz LG3000) parked near the church, the logo of Zaleska Shipping Indus. on the side and two large wooden crates inside. Entering the church, with a few of the clergymen not following once he entered the church’s sacred ground, Warren saw the Pastor talking with a scared mother and child (her husband was killed that night by the Werewolf, and she didn’t know how she’d provide for herself and her child), telling them to wait for him while he talked with Warren. The Pastor, Claude D’Arque, revealed he knew Warren was a Shifter, as he’d once worked at the Vatican as a Cardinal before his views on the church and its policies differed from the Pope’s, and he was restationed. He thanked Warren for killing the Werewolf and saving the town but warned him not to interfere with what needed to be done – namely, finding and killing any remaining Romani to keep Blackmoor safe from any further attacks. Warren shot back that the Werewolf wasn’t the Romani’s doing, as evidenced by their caravan being wiped out. D’Arque denied this, claiming that they died by meddling in powers beyond their comprehension and that so long as one of them remained, the town would be in jeopardy; he intended for any Romani remaining to be captured and brought to him to face God’s wrath. He gave Warren an ultimatum: help him and deliver Esméralda to him or leave town by sundown – if he refused either option, D’Arque would have him killed. Before leaving, Warren warned D’Arque that with another full moon coming that night, he should be wary of Warren if he knew what he was.

    After Warren walked away from the church, he caught the scent of Esméralda following behind, careful to stay out of sight. Leading her down an alleyway, he told her what’d happened in the church and that she wasn’t safe in Blackmoor anymore – so she had till sundown to help him find the other Werewolf and kill it before he helped her escape. Grateful that he’d let her help avenge her parents, Esméralda asked where they should start looking. Warren (handing her one of his revolvers to protect herself) explained that since her caravan was in too much disarray, they’d needed to go to the other last known Werewolf attack; the mausoleum. And since he didn’t know where the specific mausoleum was, Warren had Esméralda lead the way (as she’d been there looking for her father).

    The duo arrived at the mausoleum, only to find it locked and sealed off by chains; though, with one swift kick, Warren knocked the doors open and ripped the chains as if they were paper machetes. When the doors were opened, Esméralda felt sick, saying that she could feel the pain and death inside. Entering and surveying the scene for a bit, Warren took a sip from his flask and grabbed a handful of cemetery dirt from one of his belt pouches, muttered a holy chant into the dirt before tossing the handful into the mausoleum. The dirt settled and outlined ghostly images of the night the hunter was killed by the Werewolf, showing the last moments of his death. Twisting his hands through the dirt fog, Warren manipulated the psychometric replay scene (fast forwarding, rewinding, slowing down, etc.) as he replayed the events, discovering that the hunter was another Shifter by the medallion around his neck, another Werewolf (Bela) had appeared inside the manualism while the one that’d chased the hunter was bared off from the door and that the stone coffin in the center of the room was currently not in the same position it was in the psychometric scene. Walking around the stone coffin, Warren pushed it aside to reveal a set of stairs leading down beneath the mausoleum. Looking over the stairs that led down into a dark pit, Esméralda asked Warren where he thought they went. Handing her his lighter to light the way, he jokingly replied, “They go down.” As Warren, Esméralda, and Djali descended the staircase, they were unaware they were being watched.

    The staircase eventually led to a tunnel that stretched for nearly an hour. Finally, Warren and Esméralda reached the end which opened up into a large ancient catacomb. As they explored, Warren keeping a careful eye out for Esméralda, they found a broken wall that led to the abandoned mines Warren had heard from the townsfolk. They then heard Djali bleating at something from across the room. With Esméralda shining the lighter, the two saw that directly opposite the mine entrance was a broken sealing vessel inscribed with warding sigils in Enochian inscriptions (the language of angels). Reading them, a chill went down Warren’s spine: this was the prison of Countess Erichtho – the 6,000-year-old Hag Mother (the oldest hag and progenitor of all other hags), dark high priestess of the Great Old One Hekate, and the creator of the Werewolf curse (having captured a dozen Shifters and performed eldritch and infernal hexes, curses, and spells on them – turning their gift from God into a curse from hell). He’d read during his youth in training that she’d been captured and killed sometime before 1083 AD, but it seemed instead she’d only been imprisoned here beneath Blackmoor. Sniffing the seal, Warren deduced that sometime within the last two decades her seal had been broken and she’d been set free. Remembering the strange figure he saw near the forest during his fight with Bela, Warren began to think that Erichtho was behind whatever was going on in Blackmoor.

    As the duo left the mausoleum near sundown, they were stopped by ten clergymen. The leader told Warren his time was up and he had to either hand over Esméralda or face the consequences of his actions, revealing a gun at his hip. As Warren declined their request, shielding Esméralda behind him with an arm, he noticed the leader was wearing the other Shifter’s medallion necklace and had the scent of the other Werewolf from the mausoleum that’d kidnapped Bella (the Silver Roman Denarius on Warren’s right glove also changed from showing a face to a pentagram). Whispering for Esméralda to run, Warren pulled out his revolver and opened fire on the men. As Esméralda and Djali ran for cover throughout the cemetery, Warren took out the clergymen with lethal efficiency; every shot they managed to land on Warren quickly healed as if they’d never hit him, and every one of Warren’s shots and attacks were instantly lethal (essentially, very John Wick). During this fight, one of the men managed to tear a piece of Warren’s shirt near his collarbone, before being shot in the chest and head. One knocked Esméralda’s gun out of her hand and tried to grab her, only to end up with his head caved in by Warren with the grave keeper’s shovel.

    After the man was killed Warren asked Esméralda if she was unharmed; lowering his guard like this, however, let the last man hold the gun Esméralda dropped behind Warren’s head. Esméralda tried to grab the gun of the man with his skull caved in but the one holding Warren at gunpoint ordered her to stop. The clergyman ordered Warren to his knees before he shot him, only for Warren, filled with rage and his body turning into his Shifted Form, to challenge the man to shoot him. Startled, the clergyman ordered Warren to shut up, escalating into an argument between the two. This broke the man’s concentration, letting Warren take the gun from the man’s hand and grab his collar, holding the gun up to him. As Warren held the gun to the man, seething with rage, his skin turning gray and eyes flashing golden and looking like a wolf’s, he heard Esméralda begging for him to stop. Warren turned to her and growled, the look of a wild animal in his eyes. However, seeing how scared she was, Warren regained his composure and calmed down a bit, headbutted the man and rendering him unconscious, before taking a large drink from his flask with shaking hands. After the drink, Warren felt excruciating pain throughout his body as he returned to normal.

    Apologizing for his outburst, Warren took the Shifter medallion from the man, sheathed his guns, and went to check if Esméralda was injured. As he did, Esméralda caught a glimpse of a bite mark near the torn part of Warren’s shirt. After asking what it was and Warren brushing it off, Esméralda pulled his shirt back to reveal a massive wolf-like bite mark on his collarbone; the same type of bite that her father bore. Putting the pieces together (that he drank holy water during a full moon, he regenerated from virtually any injury he sustained but knew he’d be killed by a silver-coated bullet, and the curse of the Werewolf was transmitted via bites), Esméralda pulled out one of his guns and pointed it at him, demanding he tell her the truth of what he was. Warren (holding his hands out to show he posed no danger) clarified that he didn’t lie about being born a Shifter, he just left out also being a Werewolf, but he had it under control thanks to his flask (the holy water acted like corrosive acid, burning his insides which his curse focused its attention on to heal and preventing his transformation). The two got into a heated argument, escalating to Esméralda demanding to know why Warren was baiting the man to shoot him and if he truly wanted to die. Warren shouted back that he did sometimes think about killing himself for the sins of his past and the potential innocents he could kill, and that every single day he woke up and had to think of a reason not to do it. But the same reason kept coming back to haunt him: doing the job. Doing what his dying wife asked and protecting innocent people like Esméralda from things like Erichtho, from things like the Werewolf at his feet,and  from things like himself.

    After his rant, the two of them calmed down and Warren told her that if she still wanted to help him stop Erichtho and avenge her parents, then they’d have to learn to trust each other; after that, they’d go their separate ways. To make her more comfortable with his condition, Warren let Esméralda keep the gun - just in case. Sheathing the gun away, Esméralda asked how he planned on finding Erichtho. Guessing that the Werewolf clergyman was in league with Erichtho and needing to know where she was located, Warren pulled out a rusted coffin nail from a pouch on his belt and hid it inside the unconscious man’s clothes. Later, when the man woke up and left the cemetery, Esméralda asked how they were supposed to follow him if he was out of sight. Warren pulled out his compact mirror compass and showed her the similar-looking rusted nail that replaced the compass needle; instead of pointing north, the nail was pointing toward the fleeing man.

    As the duo followed the compass nail and tracked the Clergyman Werewolf through the Blackmoor forest, Esméralda asked who the woman in the compass’ portrait was. Warren told her that she was his wife, Sara. When she asked where she was now, it took him a moment before he said she was where Esméralda’s parents now were. Before she could ask what’d happened to her, Warren shushed her, cursed under his breath, and knelt to pick up the discarded rusted nail he’d hidden in the man’s coat. With their lead gone, Warren tried sniffing the air to get the man’s scent, but to no avail. As Warren took a moment to figure out what their next move should be, Esméralda spotted a white dove in the tree branches. As she remarked how beautiful it was, Warren saw the bird as it flew off and said, “Yeah, she thought so too. They were her favorites.” Warren then followed where the bird had flown, saying he’d picked up on the man’s scent.

    Finally, having walked far off the outskirts of Blackmoor, Warren and Esméralda arrived at where the man’s scent stopped; the dilapidated Conliffe Manor, dark clouds covering the night sky above and blocking the Hunter Moon’s light. Outside, they saw a few armed men patrolling the grounds and several parked vehicles (including a few motorbikes). In the front, they saw Claude D’Arque walking with the woman and child he’d been talking to at the church, ushering them inside the manor and past the two armed men at the front door, who locked it behind them. Needing to get inside without being seen, Warren heard tapping and spotted the dove near a window on the third floor. Telling Esméralda to hold on to Djali, Warren waited for the patrolling guards to make an opening before grabbing her and, in one powerful leap, jumped to the third-floor window and held onto the side of the manor with a clawed hand. After Esméralda managed to open the window, the three of them entered Gwen’s childhood bedroom, covered in a thin layer of dust. Hearing a gunshot and the screaming of a child, the three stealthily made their way to the second-story banister, where they watched a horrifying scene unfold.

    D’Arque had just callously shot the mother in the back of the head. As her daughter screamed, he ordered his men to drag the girl inside and another to throw the woman’s corpse into the pile behind the manor, where they’d deposed all the other townsfolk that’d gone missing. Following via holes in the second-story floor, Warren and Esméralda followed the men as the girl was dragged to a room further into the manor. As they approached, Esméralda was wracked by a powerful migraine as she could feel the evil radiating from inside. Towards the left of the room the girl was dragged into was the Clergyman Werewolf leading men in preparing military-grade weaponry, while to the right were stacked locked cages containing malformed wolf-like aberrations. And in the center, standing in a nest of bones, miscellaneous animal remains, rotting children’s clothes, and clumps of mangy fur was Erichtho: a gnarled, ghostly-pale, middle-aged crone with long, stringy white hair that flowed and rippled in the air, oily black lips that opened to reveal blood stained yellow teeth, yellow eyes that shined like burning coals, red ram’s horns that curled back from her forehead, long arms with two elbows each and elongated clawed fingers, and wearing a lavender gown with a red pendant around her neck.

    As the girl, kicking and screaming, was brought before Erichtho, the Hag Mother stopped her spell weaving as her attention was brought to the child. Erichtho drew blood from her hand with her right index fingernail and drew an infernal pentagram on the girl’s forehead. Tapping it in the center once, Erichtho watched with waited anticipation as the girl’s body began to molt: her skin peeling off to be replaced by mangy fur and her appearance to become more wolf-like. Frustrated by another failed attempt at creating a true Werewolf, Erichtho ordered the men to lock what was once a girl up in a cage with the other wolf aberrations. Doubled over in pain and cursing her weakening body, Erichtho roared at D’Arque as he entered, demanding to know what was taking him so long to deliver the Romani girl (Esméralda) to her and for his shipment to arrive. While Warren and Esméralda wondered why Erichtho was after her, D’Arque assured her that their plans would soon come to fruition.

    Just then, they heard a horn blaring as the Zaleska Shipping Indus. truck arrived. Moments later, D’Arque’s men brought in two wooden crates: one was from Vatican City, Rome, while the other didn’t have an origin of address. Curious about why there’d been two boxes delivered when he’d only requested one, D’Arque ignored the mysterious box and ordered his men to open the box from Rome. Inside was a chest locked in several chains with ancient and faded Enochian sigils. As the chest was brought out, Esméralda’s migraine worsened as she could feel the evil radiating from it. D’Arque’s men tried to cut the chains from the box, but the Enochian sigils seared their hands in radiant light. As his men cried out in pain, Erichtho glided towards the chest which levitated to her. Weaving her hands through the air and casting an infernal spell, the weakened Enochian sigils were burned away by black inky magic. With the chest’s protection gone, Erichtho opened the chest and pulled out with malicious glee a devilish tome.

    Warren instantly recognized the book as Erichtho’s Grimoire, the same one she’d used to create the Werewolf curse. Warren realized that if she could only create malformed wolf aberrants with her own power, then with her Grimoire she’d be able to create true Werewolves. The number of attacks in the town wouldn’t just skyrocket, Erichtho could unleash her pack on every town and city in England in less than two weeks. Taking a large swallow from his holy water flask, Warren drew his guns and ordered Esméralda to wait for him out of sight until he got back as he went after the Grimoire. Moments later, as Esméralda watched the Hag Mother flip through the pages of her dark tome as if it were a toy she’d long been separated from, the electrical lights of the manor suddenly were cut off, plunging the manor into darkness.

    Guards in the foyer heard gunshots from outside the manor as one of them turned on a torchlight. When an ominous screeching came from the end of the hall towards the back of the manor, they all spun toward the sound, panicked. The door at the end of the hall opened eerily into a pitch-dark room. Exchanging spooked looks, the men drew their guns and nodded to the guard with the torchlight to check it out. Reluctantly, he moved to the doors, the others watching as he entered. Scouring with the glow of his light, the guard saw nothing... until he heard breathing and growling, and looked up at Warren, braced unnaturally against the ceiling in his Shifted Form – the light from below distorting his features (an image from children’s nightmares). Warren dropped the guard who shrieked in agony – his torchlight smashing, and the hall thrust again into darkness. Warren’s path through the hall at the guards was marked only by the staccato muzzle flashes as the men opened fire on the Shifter; his body quickly healing from their shots as Warren pummeled guard after guard, weapons firing involuntarily as their bodies were thrown about.

    Hearing the screams of his men, D’Arque demanded to know what was going on when two bloodied bodies burst through the door, followed soon by Warren throwing two grenades inside before ducking for cover. One landed near Erichtho and knocked the Grimoire from her hands, while the other landed in the middle of the men and scattered several of them about in the blast. After the explosions, D’Arque ordered his men to open fire and Erichtho magically unlocked the cages containing the wolf aberants. Warren drew his guns and returned fire as he made his way to the Grimoire, using the charm on his left glove to brand the wolf aberrants before killing them (this brand ensured the souls of the children inside the wolf aberrants would be sent to heaven). One of the men tried throwing a grenade at Warren, only for him to shoot the man just as he pulled the pin; unfortunately, the grenade fell into the weapon’s cache, causing a large explosion that created a blazing fire. As the manor was set ablaze and the explosion rocketed its foundations, Warren made his way through the men towards the Grimoire.

    Unfortunately, he was stopped when Erichtho caught him in a telekinetic hold and held him before her. As she began squeezing Warren to death they heard the floor above them begin to give way. Esméralda held onto Djali and screamed as the floor she was on fell, landing on Erichtho, Warren, and several of the men. Luckily Esméralda managed to ride the fall and wasn’t injured. Staggering to her feet, Esméralda panicked as a man pointed his gun at her only for Warren to burst through the rubble and lunge into him, knocking the man back before delivering several clawed swipes. As D’Arque’s forces regained their footing and prepared their weapons, Warren roared for Esméralda to grab the book before leaping to attack them. Esméralda saw the Grimoire and as she tried to grab it, a clawed hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. Erichtho tried pulling herself from the rubble and held tightly onto Esme, who screamed in fear of the Hag Mother. Djali, seeing his owner in danger, bit the Hag’s hand and caused her to release her grip. The Grimoire in hand and seeing the building quickly burning down around her, Esméralda ran out with Djali right on her heels – Erichtho screaming for her to return the Grimoire.

    As the burning manor collapsed and Esméralda called out for Warren, she saw the darkening clouds part as the red moonlight shone through and heard the howls of the men as they transformed underneath the rubble. Not wanting to stick around, Esméralda ran to the Zaleska Shipping Indus. truck, threw the Grimoire inside to the passenger seat, and climbed in with Djali before speeding off (thankful for the driving lessons from her father). In the side mirror, Esméralda saw Erichtho and several Werewolves burst out of the rubble, with the Hag Mother commanding her pack to bring Esméralda and her Grimoire back. As the pack gave chase, Warren pulled himself out of the rubble, relocating his shoulder, elbow, and jaw and pulling a chunk of wood out of his gut. Seeing the red moonlight, Warren hurriedly pulled out his holy water flask as his skin began turning red with steam coming off, and his eyes were becoming like a wolf’s. As Warren seethed in pain as the holy water halted his transformation, he saw the pack chasing after Esméralda. Getting to his feet, Warren picked up his revolvers, grabbed one of the motorbikes (1924 Brough Superior SS100), and chased after them. As he sped off to save Esméralda, no one saw the box of unknown origins open and a delicate pale hand, adorned with an ornate bat-symbol ring, climb out.

    As Esméralda fled in the truck, she swerved to avoid attacks from the Werewolves and knocked them into obstacles. Warren managed to find a shortcut to catch up, shooting the Werewolves with his revolvers as he caught up to Esméralda. Spotting a bridged river up ahead, Warren pulled up to the side of the truck and told Esméralda to head for the bridge as he had a plan to stop the Werewolves from following. Speeding past, Warren crossed the bridge and circled back towards the truck. As he crossed the bridge again, he threw a vial of liquid (a mixture of alchemist’s fire and holy oil) from his belt on the bridge, which shattered and spilled over the wooden bridge. Seeing one of the Werewolves was gaining on Esméralda’s driver’s side, Warren sped towards it as fast as the bike could go before leaping from it onto the top of the truck’s tarp, launching the bike at the Werewolf and knocking it back from the impact. As the truck passed over the bridge, Warren lit a cigarette with his lighter and dropped it, igniting the liquid from the vial which erupted in holy fire that incinerated a handful of Werewolves that tried passing through it. The Werewolves halted their advance by the holy flames, some trying to go around the bridge and through the river; however, the bridge collapsed, igniting the river in the holy flames for miles. With the Werewolves unable to follow, Warren took a sip from his flask, climbed to the driver-side door, and told Esméralda to move over as he took the wheel.

    Needing to find a place to hide and rest for the night, Warren sniffed the air and caught the scent of an old abandoned hunter’s cabin. Setting the car to drive off on its own, Warren grabbed ahold of Esméralda and Djali before leaping out of the truck and landing a few yards away from the road (to help cover their tracks). Once inside, Warren and Esméralda locked all the doors and barred all the windows, after which he began creating warding barriers to protect them from detection (forming salt circles - especially around the Grimoire -, writing Enochian warding sigils with chalk, and hanging arbitus and wolfsbane near all the entrances - the wolfsbane irritating his sense of smell). After the protective measures were taken, Warren finally let out a sigh and calmed his nerves. Finding a hunter’s rife in a gun cabinet, Warren went to work on coating its ammunition in silver shavings, telling Esméralda that Blackmoor was far too dangerous for her to stay. In the morning he’d help her to get as far away as possible before he fought the Werewolves and Erichtho on his own. Esméralda demanded to let him help, telling him he didn’t need to do this on his own. Warren angrily told her this job was his duty, curse, and penance. She stopped him and told him that what’d happened to him, what’d happened to his wife, wasn’t his fault. The fact he struggled with his affliction and still tried to protect others meant he wasn’t a monster like the ones from the manor. She was also sure that with how much he’d loved Sara, that her spirit wouldn’t want to see him throw away his life for her. Warren took a moment for Esme’s words to sink in before asking her if she knew how to shoot a rifle, as he’d need both his guns for the fight they were gonna face the next night.

    The next day, as Warren and Esméralda made their way back to Blackmoor, she asked if they could also save Gwen, as she’d be in danger when night fell as well. Warren agreed and the two split up, promising to meet back up soon, with Esméralda and Djali going to gather her and her parents’ belongings, while Warren went to Gwen’s shop to find her. When Gwen opened her door she was startled by Warren as he told her she needed to pack her belongings and leave town immediately. Unfortunately, as Warren came in and tried to help her pack, he didn’t notice Gwen’s hand raising at him against her will, and a sickly green magical energy was launched at the back of his head. Falling over and slipping into unconsciousness, the last thing Warren saw was Gwen’s shadow taking on the appearance of an ancient Hag.

    Several hours later, Warren awoke in the town’s jail, bound in a straitjacket, chained to the wall of a cell, and muzzled. As he struggled against his bindings, he heard Gwen’s voice, telling him she was sorry for what she’d done. Gwen ordered the guard to open the cell and leave as she talked with Warren. After undoing his muzzle, Warren demanded to know why she attacked and locked him up. Gwen told him of how as a child she’d loved exploring the town, and when the mine was opened she couldn’t resist. But she’d gotten turned around and lost. Scared and alone, she heard a voice and followed it, finding an opening in the mines that led to the ancient catacombs. As Gwen told Warren how she followed the voice and found a sealing vessel, he saw her shadow begin to move and rise from the floor - becoming the shadowy form of Erichtho. The shadowy Erichtho finished Gwen’s story, telling Warren how the binding ritual had destroyed her body, but her spirit lived on. When her sweet, innocent Gwen broke the seal Erichtho found a new host body to possess. She’d been Gwen’s closest friend ever since, keeping her safe from anyone that would come between them: friends, family, even her parents (Eritcho murdered them in their sleep).

    Warren asked how D’Arque and his men fit into all this. Erichtho explained that when he came to exorcise the witch from Gwen, she’d seen how corruptible he was and made him a deal: help deliver her Grimoire to her from the Vatican libraries (which he still had access to), and she’d use her magic to create a Werewolf pack that would aid him in not only regaining his former position in the Vatican but to take over as the Pope himself. However, she had no intention of doing so, as with her Grimoire soon to be safely back in her possession Erichtho would kill him and harness the Blood Moon’s power to cast a spell that would cause all of Blackmoor to be turned into her new permanently transformed army of Werewolves. All she needed now was Esméralda.

    When Warren demanded to know why she was so hell-bent on getting Esméralda, Erichtho ordered Gwen to show him the dark veins spreading across her body (stopping at just where her dress’s collar hid her neck); Gwen’s body was starting to deteriorate due to not being an adequate host for Erichtho’s spirit. Esméralda, however, being someone with untapped magical potential, would make an ideal host. Warren swore that she’d never get her hands on Esméralda, only for Erichtho to laugh: whether he dared to defy her or not made little difference, for when the full moon rose, he’d be nothing but more than a savage, mindless beast serving at her feet. As Erichtho puppeteered Gwen to leave the cell, Warren (struggling against his bindings with renewed vigor) called out to Gwen, swearing to God that he’d save her and get that evil hag out of her before sending it straight to hell.

    Meanwhile, as Esméralda waited for Warren to show up she was caught by the lead clergyman (who was wearing Warren’s gun belt) who held a knife to her throat. As one of the two other men grabbed the Grimoire out of her hands and Esméralda was being carried off, Djali rammed into the leader’s knee and helped Esméralda escape; sadly though, as Esméralda ran she heard the sound of the clergyman stabbing Djali with his knife. The lead clergyman, clutching the Grimoire in his hand and holding a wounded knee, ordered his men to find Esméralda and bring her to the church before sundown. Though they chased after her, Esméralda managed to hide and escape them. Once the coast was clear, Esméralda fell to her knees and wept over the loss of her best friend and the last family she had. As she sat there she saw the light of the sun going down and got up, knowing she needed to find Warren before the last full moon rose.

    As the Blood Moon rose into the night sky, Warren screamed from within the jail cell, begging anyone who could hear him to run and flee the town with as many people as they could: his warnings fell on deaf ears. However, to Warren’s astonishment, Esméralda managed to sneak inside and steal the cell keys. As she tried to unlock the door, Warren stopped her and told her she needed to run away as fast as possible, explaining why Erichtho was after her and how Gwen was being possessed. Abruptly, Warren stopped, as searing pain erupted throughout his body. Just before the curse could take hold, Warren profusely smelled Esméralda and explained that hopefully, he would remember her scent in his Werewolf form but acknowledged this method had only worked once before.

    Being forcefully moved against his will, Warren shouted at Esméralda as he threw himself to the wall and stared up through the barred window at the Blood Moon. As Esméralda backed away and watched in horror, Warren’s pain intensified as his veins and skin burned unbearably. Frantically struggling against his bindings with new, wild fervor, Warren tore through his straight jacket and broke his chains. With his hands free, Warren clawed at his skin, shedding it to reveal black fur underneath. As Esméralda ran out of the jail with Warren’s shouts turning into roars, his bones realigned into a more lupine skeleton as his muscles bulged and spasmed. Warren screamed and howled in pain, struggling to remain awake and fight to remain in control, but once the transformation was finished, the man was gone: all that remained was a beast, the Wolf Man.

    Standing in front of the antique shop, Gwen (holding the Grimoire and being forced to stand there against her will) and D’Arque watched as their forces that were stationed throughout Blackmoor began to transform. As Esméralda ran from the jail, she stopped and hid when she saw the Clergyman Werewolf, who transformed into a Werewolf much larger than the rest. As the Clergyman Werewolf lunged and mauled a poor civilian, Esméralda saw that the man had dropped or ripped away his clothing and items he was carrying, including her hunter’s rifle and Warren’s gun belt. Needing to get away from the carnage, Esméralda grabbed the rifle and slung Warren’s belt over her shoulder as she made her way to someplace safe and high up: the church’s bell tower.

    As the Werewolf pack attacked the town, Gwen’s shadow peeled itself from the ground and coated Gwen, transforming into Erichtho. Invigorated by the bloodshed (while from deep inside Gwen wept), Erichtho handed the Grimoire to D’Arque as she walked through the wanton carnage, petting one of the Werewolves that was eating the remains of a small child. Suddenly, a Werewolf was thrown from an alleyway out into the middle of the street, its stomach torn open and guts pouring out. The Werewolves stopped their rampage as they, Erichtho, and D’Arque turned toward the injured Werewolf. Emerging from the alleyway, the Wolf Man ripped off the remains of his shirt, made his way to the injured Werewolf, and stomped on the back of its neck (instantly killing it). As the Wolf Man killed one of them, the Werewolf pack (perched atop rooftops, inside buildings, or on the street hunched over dead bodies) awaited Erichtho’s command. The Hag held out her hand and ordered Warren to kneel before her, thinking he was a mindless beast under her control. However, the Wolf Man merely snarled (as if giving a slight chuckle) and roared in defiance down the street at the Hag Mother. Astounded and infuriated, Erichtho ordered her pack to kill him. The Werewolves howled and began to run towards the Wolf Man, who did the same.

    Finally reaching the top of the bell tower, Esméralda spotted the Wolf Man and figured he was Warren – as, what other Werewolf would be tearing through its own kind in brutal savagery: ripping off heads, pulling out spines, biting off throats, etc. However, as the Wolf Man was killing off any Werewolf that came at him, the Clergyman Werewolf charged at him and speared the Wolf Man off his feet. Before the Wolf Man could get up, the Clergyman Werewolf punched him repeatedly into the pavement so hard it created a crater. As the other Werewolves moved to swarm the Wolf Man, Esméralda cocked her rifle and aimed, putting a bullet through a Werewolf that was bearing down to bite the Wolf Man’s head off. Esméralda managed to get off a few more shots to save the Wolf Man before Erichtho spotted her and ordered her Werewolves to bring the girl to her. As the Werewolves charged toward the building, the Wolf Man leaped at the Clergyman Werewolf and started slashing at him, but the Clergyman Werewolf kicked him through a wall into a nearby building.

    The Werewolves climbed the church (which was now deconsecrated due to D’Arque’s evil actions; now not turning the Werewolves into ash upon stepping on the hallowed grounds) to reach Esméralda, who shot off a few before the bell tower began to fall over from the Werewolves’ weight. Riding it down, Esméralda leaped to another rooftop just as a Werewolf swiped at her (being knocked away by the bell); though she lost Warren’s gun belt which fell somewhere in the fall. As the Wolf Man pulled himself from the wall, he saw Esméralda above him fleeing as she was chased across the rooftops. Quickly climbing after, the Wolf Man followed pursuit, taking out Werewolves on his way to Esméralda (whether to save her or kill her himself unknown). As Esméralda jumped to the roof of the town’s bar, a Werewolf landed in front of her, roaring and knocking her off her feet. Before it could attack her though, the Wolf Man lunged into it, grabbed its upper and lower jaws, and ripped it in half. When two more of the last three Werewolves arrived, the Wolf Man used one of the torn-in-half Werewolf’s arms to spear one of them through the chest and used its legs as a club to smash in the head of another. As the Wolf Man turned on Esméralda, the last Werewolf – the Clergyman – arrived and attacked the Wolf Man, slamming its fists into him repeatedly and causing the roof to collapse.

    Managing to survive falling inside, Esméralda pulled herself from the rubble and found her rifle was damaged. Looking up, she saw the Wolf Man and the Clergyman Werewolf stand up and roar at each other before charging, looking like small tsunamis crashing against each other with astounding power and damage. It soon looked as if the Wolf Man, having fought through nearly a dozen Werewolves already and received massive injuries, was spent, as all he managed to do was slash at the Clergyman while the Werewolf scored multiple wounds. However, merely feigning his injuries, the Wolf Man lured the Clergyman into a false sense of victory and then struck the moment the Werewolf let its guard down – with one powerful swipe of his claw, the Wolf Man ripped off the Clergyman’s jaw mid-battle cry, sending it flying across the room to land by Esméralda’s feet. He then wasted no time, easily killing the shocked Werewolf by crushing its skull with a powerful bit.

    With all the Werewolves killed, the Wolf Man turned to Esméralda, snarling. Esméralda cautiously approached Warren, hoping that he would recognize her. Warren pounced on top of Esméralda and roared at her, but did in fact recognize her, calming down and backing off her. They then heard Erichtho scream in despair as her pack was slaughtered. Vehemently enraged by the shifter destroying her pack, Erichtho demanded D’Arque to hand over her Grimoire, only to find he’d disappeared during the fight. Further enraged and deciding she’d hunt him down later, Erichtho wove her hands through the air and cast a spell that summoned clouds to block out the moonlight, forcing Warren to return to his human form and stripping him of his Werewolf might.

    With Warren back to his senses, he told Esméralda to run as Erichtho charged at them. Without his gun belt and supplies, all Warren could do was turn into his shifted form and try to swipe at her with his claws; only for the Hag to catch him in her telekinetic hold just as he got within arm’s reach of her, and throw him across the town through several buildings, with him landing near the fallen church bell tower. With Warren gone, Esméralda ran as Erichtho chased after her, but soon found herself cornered by the Hag. Shaking off the pain, Warren pulled out a chunk of wood that’d impaled him and saw he’d landed near his gun belt. Muttering his astonishment at his luck, Warren grabbed his belt and put it on, pulling out his exorcism medallion, before quickly navigating (parkouring) through the decimated town.

    Just as Erichtho prepared to transfer her possession and made Esméralda her new host, Warren jumped in between them (tossing out something from his gun belt behind Erichtho) and brandished the medallion at Erichtho, chanting the exorcism prayer. As Erichtho tried to get away, Warren dropped his lighter, igniting a line of oil that traveled to where he’d thrown a ring of arbitus, creating a ghostly cage to trap her in. Unable to escape, Erichtho tried to claw at Warren only for him to avoid her attack and punch her with a lucky iron horseshoe (like a brass knuckle); the iron burned her face and pushed her back into the arbitus smoke which burned her as well. As Warren continued the exorcism and the arbitus smoke burned Erichtho, her form began to liquefy and Warren could see Gwen trapped inside, to which Esméralda ran to try and pull her free. After a few pulls and more verses, they finally managed to pull Gwen out of the Hag.

    After they checked to see if Gwen was alright (which she was; slightly groggy but otherwise unharmed), they turned back to see the arbitus had been spent and Erichtho took on her full ghastly form of shadows and smoke. Warren told Esméralda to take Gwen and run, but before he could pull out his gun to shoot, Erichtho telekinetically grabbed him and threw him against the wall, causing him to drop both his gun and medallion. Recovering, Warren dodged a chunk of debris that Erichtho telekinetically threw at him. Warren pulled out his other gun and tried to make his way back, firing shots that Erichtho blocked with more debris. When he was out of bullets, Warren tried lunging at her to claw at her, but Erichtho telekinetically caught him. As Erichtho began squeezing him to death, Esméralda grabbed the exorcism medallion and with Gwen’s help used it against Erichtho.

    As they chanted, Erichtho turned her attention to them, telekinetically threw the medallion out of their grasp, and caught Esméralda in her grasp, dropping Warren (near his other gun) and dragging the girl screaming towards her. As Gwen tried to pull Esméralda away from Erichtho (a deadly game of tug of war), Warren shouted at the Hag and, as she turned around, shot her in the gut. As Esméralda and Gwen fell back from Erichtho losing her hold, they watched as the ghostly Hag reeled back from the shot, and ethereal/ghostly flameseruptedt from her wound. Wasting no time, Warren fired off three more shots that impacted Erichtho in a reverse sign of the crossed pattern: right shoulder, left shoulder, and chest. As the ghostly flames began to spread across her spectral form, Warren said “Ardeant in Ignibus Inferni.” (trans: burned in the fires of hell) before firing his last round into her forehead to complete the reverse cross. The three of them watched the silently screaming Hag ghost as the ethereal flames enveloped her body, which rapidly aged into dust that fell and was consumed by the ground (dragging her remains to hell).

    With the Hag finally vanquished, Gwen and Esméralda held on to each other and let the relief wash over them. However, with Erichtho killed her cloud spell began to fade and the clouds began to part. Knowing that staying would only put Gwen and Esméralda in more danger, Warren ran as fast as he could into the forest before fully transforming again. As Warren disappeared into the forest, Gwen and Esméralda heard the Wolf Man howl into the night.

    As the sun rose on the next day, Warren found himself resting against a tree near a foggy lake deep in the forest. He tried to get up but pain shot throughout his entire body. Looking down, he saw that the wounds he’d received from the battle the previous night still weren’t gone - if he didn’t get help soon, he would die. Resigning to his fate, Warren slumped back against the tree, ready to pay for his sins. As he prepared to close his eyes though he heard the flapping of wings and looked up to see the dove that’d been following him around circling overhead before flying into the growing fog. Breathless, Warren watched as out of the fog came a woman, with long flowing raven hair and wearing a beautiful white gown, walking across the lake toward him: Sara.

    Warren tried to get up to run towards her but fell near the lake’s edge. He then felt a pleasant warmth as Sara knelt and touched his cheek. Guilt-ridden, apologized for being unable to save her and blamed himself for killing her. Sara reassured him that there was nothing to apologize for and that it wasn’t his fault, that they were happy and still loved him. When Warren asked what she meant by “we” he saw at the edges of the fog a young child: the one he and Sara were waiting for before she died. Tears in his eyes, Warren asked if he could join them, to which Sara told him he could, but that his time had not yet come; that he still had a purpose, and that despite what the curse had made him into, it was what he ultimately did with the gifts bestowed upon him that mattered. As the two shared a long overdue kiss, Warren was blinded by an intense light and heard Sara tell him it was time to wake up. Suddenly, Warren awoke back at the foot of the tree, the lake fogless. As Warren wondered if he’d dreamt it all, he saw that his wounds were completely healed and a single white dove feather sat on his lap.

    Hours later Warren returned to Blackmoor, seeing many of the survivors rebuilding their town now that the evil that’d plagued it was finally vanquished. Helping with the rebuilding was Gwen and Esméralda, who stopped when they saw Warren and ran over to meet him. Gwen was beyond grateful for Warren’s help in ridding her of Erichtho, finally freed from the Hag’s possession and unable to hear her voice in her head. As Gwen began to reel from a powerful migraine, Warren pulled out a bag of herbs and medicine from his gun belt. Handing it to her, along with a list of its contents and the best places to get replacement when her supplies ran out, Warren told Gwen to use them to make tonics to alleviate the lingering effects of the possession and that taking two per day during meals would cause her symptoms to be gone within a year and a half (the same thing he’d told Mr. Hall in Iping to do for his wife; i.e., when we first met Warren, he’d just finished exorcising a ghost from Mrs. Hall).

    As one of the townsfolk called for Gwen to help with making plans for the rebuilding, Esméralda asked if Warren was okay and saw the new white dove feather attached to his belt. Warren said he was and asked if she was ready; an hour later they’d finished burying Esméralda’s parents and Djali (having carried them via horseback). Having finally avenged them, Esméralda let the weight she’d been holding off her shoulders. She then asked where Warren planned on going next, to which he said that he’d heard rumors of a phantasmal haunting in a Parisian opera house. Warren began to say that since she was still a magical conduit that other monsters would be looking to use for their nefarious means, and he’d sworn to her mother he’d protect her; before Esméralda interrupted and said that she’d keep him out of trouble and not get himself killed… as much as she could. The two mounted their horses and rode off.

    Post Credits Scene - As the Wolf Man fought the Hag Mother, no one saw D’Arque flee Blackmoor with the Grimoire in hand. Running through the forest, D’Arque was suddenly caught and suspended in the air by what appeared to be a massive spider’s web made from blood (which gave off a faint red glow). As he called for help and struggled against the bindings, having dropped the Grimoire, he heard footsteps crunching on the fallen autumn leaves. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw coming out of the forest’s shadows a young girl (14-16). She had pale skin, softly glowing red eyes, and slightly pointed ears, and was dressed in black Victorian gothic clothes, with an ornate bat-symbol ring adorning her hand. Perched on her shoulder was a vampire bat with fur as black as night, and to her side (walking a foot behind her) was a massive white wolf, its ears more bat-like than a wolf’s.

    “My, what a mess.” The girl said, petting the wolf. “I’d never have expected such events to unfold when I’d coaxed Mr. Conliffe to open that mine all those years ago. Fortunately, my ploy to coerce that family to go to Iping and... persuade the shifter to visit Blackmoor paid off. For now,” The white wolf picked up the Grimoire in its teeth and brought it to the girl, who opened it to a page detailing the origin, powers, and last known location of the Scroll of Thoth. “All the chaos and deaths you’d helped cause shall not be in vain.”

    “In the name of God,” D’Arque shouted, struggling in the bindings. “I demand you to release-” The girl held up a finger to silence him, as a coil of the blood webbing wrapped around his mouth.

    “Shhh, your God isn’t listening. For why should he? You’ve failed in your duties as the head of his house and brought shame to his name. It is, after all, the job of the shepherd to watch over their flock. To provide aid in their times of need. To shelter them when they’re homeless. To give them water when they’re thirsty...”

    From all around, D’Arque began to hear more footsteps approaching... accompanied by groaning. To his horror, out of the shadows of the forest shuffled over a dozen of the men and women that he’d condemned to death (including the woman he’d shot in the back of the head), reanimated as ghoulish zombies. The same red glow from the girl’s eyes decorated their decaying skin in infernal runes. “And to feed them when they’re hungry.” In a flash, the zombie horde rushed at D’Arque and began tearing him apart and devouring him. As his screams echoed into the night, the girl merely continued to pet her wolf, watching the nightmarish carnage with a sinister fanged smile.

Chapter Text

Dark Universe

Written by Andrew Downs and Thomas Lapeyrouse III

    Deep in the Bavarian Alps of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1861, a violent thunderstorm raged above an abandoned castle. Despite most of the castle having fallen into ruins, a flickering glow of electrical lights could be seen emanating from the donjon – a tower that had managed to withstand the test of time. During the peak of the storm, a table was raised to the roof of the donjon using an intricate system of pulleys. On the table, there was a colossal figure covered in bandages, which obscured it from view. Intricate electrical cords snaked across its body and converged at bolts on either side of its neck. As the table reached its peak, bolts of lightning were attracted to the figure, and strange green eldritch light emanated from within the donjon. The lightning grew more intense and changed color to match the eldritch light, creating a bewitching spectacle. Suddenly, all became quiet – as silent as the grave; until a booming explosion of lightning shot down like a beacon in the night towards the table, bathing the colossal figure in eldritch electrical energy. As fast as the beam arrived, it vanished, and all was silent again. The stormed clouds dissipated, and the figure was slowly lowered back inside the donjon. After a long silent pause, a voice echoed through the night: “It’s Alive!”

    Earlier that day, as a carriage rattled down the winding roads towards Geneva, Justine Moritz, the sole passenger, gazed out of the window with a mix of anticipation and nostalgia. The journey back to her childhood home was a bittersweet one, and as she looked out at the stunning landscape, memories of her past came flooding back to her. As the carriage approached the quaint village, Justine couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease as she pulled out from her shoulder bag the letter that had summoned her there. It was an invitation to attend the wedding of her childhood friends, Victor Frankenstein, the son of the village’s esteemed baron, and Elizabeth Lavena. Despite having read the letter countless times, Justine’s nerves were still on edge as she prepared for the wedding festivities. As she caught a glimpse of the village’s crescent-shaped Lac Léman, she couldn’t help but recall the memory of her failing to save the young ward from drowning in the lake. Turning away from the lake in fear, Justine took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves before facing what she dreaded awaited her upon arrival.

    As the carriage came to a halt in the village, Justine was greeted by the bustling energy of the locals who were busy preparing for the joyous wedding that was scheduled to take place within the week. The people of Geneva were abuzz with excitement, each playing their respective roles in the preparations for the grand wedding. From the florists arranging beautiful bouquets to the craftsmen creating intricate decorations, and the chefs putting together culinary delights that would tantalize the taste buds of the guests, the village was a hive of activity. However, as Justine stepped out of the carriage, she noticed how they became apprehensive towards her. She could sense their animosity towards her, which was understandable, given the circumstances that led to her verbal banishment from the village more than a decade ago. As she made her way towards her destination, she also overheard some hushed conversations among the villagers about recent grave robberies and the mysterious disappearance of hanged criminals.

    As Justine arrived at the grand estate of the Frankenstein family, she stumbled upon a town meeting before its gates. At the meeting, she saw the imposing figure of Chief Inspector Krogh, a man with a mechanical right arm, addressing the townsfolk about the ongoing grave robberies that were plaguing the village. Baron Alphonse Frankenstein was also present, speaking to the crowd about the preparations for his son’s wedding. The Inspector assured the townsfolk that he and his men would find the culprit responsible for the stolen bodies, but Justine couldn’t help but feel that something was amiss. Despite the reassurances, the Baron seemed more interested in the wedding preparations than the grave robberies. Justine couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more to this mystery than met the eye. As the crowd dissipated, Justine accidentally bumped into a mysterious drifter. The man dropped his journal, and Justine picked it up, trying to return it to him. However, the man had already left to catch up with Inspector Krogh to interview him.

    Before she could call out to the man to return his journal to him, Baron Alphonse Frankenstein noticed her and called out to her. Despite their previous harsh encounter, the Baron welcomed her back warmly and led her inside the estate. Inside, the other staff members received her with open arms, including Emily, the young daughter of one of them. Justine felt relieved and thought that all her worries were for nothing. However, unbeknownst to Justine, the Baron’s kind smile turned into a scowl when he left to check the cuisine and wine. Later, Justine approached by the one person she’d dreaded the most; was Baroness Caroline Frankenstein. As the staff members dispersed, not wanting to face the Baroness’s wrath, Caroline accosted Justine, still blaming her after all these years for the death of her youngest son and prepared to throw Justine out of the estate.

    However, just as things were about to take a turn for the worse, Elizabeth, the bride-to-be, descended the stairway to intervene. She revealed that she personally invited Justine to be her Maid of Honor. Caroline was taken aback and demanded to know why she wasn’t informed of this decision earlier. Elizabeth confessed that she knew Caroline and the Baron would disapprove and therefore kept it a secret. Caroline felt powerless as most of the wedding planning decisions had been made without Elizabeth’s input. She reluctantly allowed Justine to stay but made it clear that she was not welcome beyond the wedding day. As Caroline left to go scold one of the decorators, Elizabeth apologized to Justine for the Baroness’ behavior and explained that she’d never recovered from her son’s death. Most nights, Caroline could still be found in William’s untouched room, as if she could feel his presence.

    Suddenly though, a wave of sickness hit Elizabeth, causing her muscles to becmoe enflamed. The staff rushed to help her, escorting her back to her room and urged her to rest in bed. However, Elizabeth insisted on sitting outside on the balcony with Justine; a cherished spot from their childhood that held a special place in her heart. From there, she could admire the picturesque village and the breathtaking Alps, which never failed to calm her mind. After the staff left Justine and Elizabeth, Elizabeth confided in her friend that she had been experiencing a bout of sickness lately - problems with coordination, lack of concentration, muscle pains, etc. However, Victor had been monitoring her symptoms and reassured her that she would soon recover. Though, as her illness progressed Elizabeth had also been experiencing terrible nightmares lately. These nightmares were so vivid that they often woke her up in a chilled sweat, and she dreamed of something terrible coming and death looming over her beloved Victor. That was partially the reason why she had invited Justine to stay with her, wanting a close friend by her side as her wedding day approached to help her through these visions.

    Putting aside such dour talk though, Elizabeth peppered Justine with question, interested in learning about Justine’s life outside of Geneva. They hadn’t communicated for years before the invitation, so Elizabeth was eager to catch up. However, she couldn’t help but notice the falsehoods in her friend’s story. With her empathetic nature, Elizabeth gently probed and discovered the difficulties that had befallen Justine. Justine was also still struggling with the lies that people believed about William, and the Baroness hadn’t stopped spreading rumors about her. Elizabeth explained that it was hard for people to change their views on an issue when they had already set their minds. Even when unshakable proof of the contrary was presented, some would still cling to their beliefs.

    To help her friend, Elizabeth extended a warm invitation for Justine to come live with her and Victor after their wedding. She even offered to have Justine resume her position as the head of their estate staff. Justine was deeply touched by this kind gesture but couldn’t help but wonder about Victor’s whereabouts. Elizabeth revealed that Victor had secluded himself in his office at the village’s medical college or the family’s ancestral abandoned castle, refusing to see anyone. This raised concerns in Elizabeth’s mind about Victor’s commitment to the wedding. To ease Elizabeth’s worries, Justine reassured her that the Victor she knew loved Elizabeth with all his heart and was committed to spending the rest of his life with her. With that, Justine decided to take matters into her own hands and find Victor and bring him back to join in the pre-wedding celebrations.

    Justine arrived at the medical college and was surprised to see the mysterious man she had encountered earlier. He was in deep conversation with Dr. Waldman, the professor of anatomy, trying to gather information about the recent grave robberies. The man was specifically interested in knowing if any of the cadavers from anatomy classes had gone missing. Dr. Waldman assured him that none of the bodies used in his classes were stolen, and he’d not heard any rumors or reports of bodies from other professors being stolen. However, he did mention that his colleague and apprentice, Victor Frankenstein, had been acting strangely for the last few months. Although Dr. Waldman believed Victor didn’t have much information on the thefts, he believed Victor’s scientific and psychological expertise could be valuable to the man’s investigation. Justine, who had overheard their conversation, offered to help and told the two men that she was headed to Victor’s office to talk with him. With the man agreeing to join her as they were headed in the same direction, Dr. Waldman gave them directions to Victor’s office. As they walked, Justine returned the man’s notebook to him, which he gratefully accepted and introduced himself as Adam Karloff.

    When the two arrived, they were greeted by Victor’s hunchback assistant, Ygor. He informed them that Victor was currently working in his laboratory and had given him strict instructions to not allow anyone to disturb him. Despite Justine’s insistence that they were sent by Elizabeth herself to speak with her fiancé, Ygor refused to relent - until Adam paid him a hefty sum. Convinced to make an exception to his master’s orders, Ygor escorted them to Victor’s on-campus laboratory. As they walked, Justine couldn’t shake the feeling of unease around him. She had known Ygor only briefly before being banished, as Ygor had been hired just a month prior. However, she had always sensed a darkness within him that made her uncomfortable and sent shivers down her spine. Despite her reservations, she and Adam followed Ygor to Victor’s laboratory.

    As they stepped into Victor’s college lab, they were greeted with an overwhelming sight. Victor was hunched over a desk stacked with a plethora of papers, sketches, and textbooks on an extensive range of subjects – advanced mechanics, electronics, chemistry, medical science, and surgery, to name a few. A brain in a jar sat on one corner of the desk while several vials and beakers containing unknown fluids sat on the other. A Vitruvian man hung on the wall behind him, covered with dozens of notes and sketches. Additionally, a skeleton with peculiar mechanical gadgets was affixed to the wall. Victor was engrossed in a journal, scribbling notes and reviewing his work. The dark circles under his eyes were a testament to his tireless work and determination. As Victor sensed their presence, he quickly stashed the journal in a secret compartment in his desk, attempting to hide his fatigue and intense focus.

    Victor reprimanded Ygor for allowing his research to be disturbed, especially by a stranger and the murderer of his younger brother. Seeing Justine become visibly withdrawn at his harsh words, Adam spoke up to defend Justine. He explained that she was simply there on Elizabeth’s behalf to question Victor’s absence from the wedding preparations. However, Victor seemed unperturbed. He attributed his absence to pre-marital jitters and explained that he was working tirelessly to find a cure for Elizabeth’s terminal illness - Huntington’s chorea. Justine was shocked as this contrasted with what Elizabeth had told her.

    Victor then guaranteed his presence at the estate the following day for the wedding preparations before asking them to leave. However, when Adam refused to leave and asked to speak with Victor about the grave robberies that had been happening in the area, Victor became even more angered. He dismissed their concerns, saying he had no interest in criminal activities, and demanded they leave immediately by Ygor’s escort.

    After Ygor escorted them out, in fact pushing them out the building’s door, Adam was furious and disappointed with the behavior of Ygor and Victor after the altercation. However, he quickly noticed that the whole incident had left Justine feeling hurt and upset. Feeling pity for her, Adam offered to escort her back to town to ensure that she felt safe. As Adam and Justine were walking back to town, they saw storm clouds gathering on the horizon.

    Later, deep in the Bavarian Alps, the storm had began to pour and rage above the abandoned ruins of Castle Frankenstein. Inside the crumbling and decaying castle’s still intact donjon was a labyrinthine laboratory dimly lit by candles and filled with a strange collection of arcane electrical devices of unknown purpose. Wires snaked across the room, connecting to humming generators that produced an otherworldly symphony. The shelves that lined the walls were crowded with glass containers and beakers, each holding bubbling concoctions or mysterious substances that defied explanation. In the center of the laboratory, Victor and Ygor were hard at work preparing to carry out their groundbreaking experiment.

    On a large operating table, Victor prepared to finish the final stages of assembling the hulking being that laid before them. Victor stitched together parts from the various corpses that they’d stolen (each of which was stored in containers filled with alchemical preservation fluids), connected electrical cords that ran through the body, and sealed the engine-like rib cage (which contained two sets of lungs and a mechanical heart-like device that accompanied its organic counterpart). As Victor was nearly complete, he suddenly realized with a sinking feeling that he’d forgotten a crucial component – the brain, which he’d left back at the college. Without it, their creation would be incomplete, and all their hard work would been for naught. Frustrated and impatient, Victor ordered Ygor to quickly retrieve the missing component before the storm died out.

    As Ygor hurried to the small college, Adam and Justine, who’d been caught in the pouring rain, took shelter from the storm in the shack he was staying in on the outskirts of town. With their clothes completely soaked, Adam decided to start a fire in the small fireplace to dry them. As they waited for their clothes to dry, Justine began asking Adam questions about his life. Adam shared that he had been traveling from country to country, never staying in one place for long, but always helping those he visited. Upon hearing this, Justine couldn’t help but feel drawn to Adam’s selfless nature. However, when Adam asked why almost everyone in the town seemed to hate her, Justine revealed the tragic secret: she was responsible for William Frankenstein’s death ten years ago. As Justine was overwhelmed by the feelings of failure she had pushed back for years, Adam tried to comfort her and told her that it wasn’t her fault. But Justine couldn’t let go of her guilt.

    Sometime later, as Justine rested on the chair she had dozed off in, Adam went back over his notes. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Victor knew something about the recent grave robberies in the town. It just didn’t seem plausible that someone like him would claim to not be interested in such a case. Believing that Victor had probably left for the night, Adam decided to pay a visit to his campus laboratory to see what he could find, if anything. Just before he left, he wrote a note for Justine, letting her know where he was and that he believed her to be innocent.

    As the storm began to increase in intensity, Adam snuck into Victor’s office, seeking to uncover Victor’s secrets. As he looked around, he opened the secret desk compartment and took out Victor’s journal. Reading through it, Adam discovered pages Victors experiments, called Project LAZARUS, which were filled with esoteric knowledge and arcane secrets. As Adam read on, he discovered that Victor’s research was far more sinister than he had ever imagined. The pages were filled with descriptions of gruesome experiments, grotesque mechanical and electrical blueprints, strange alchemical and chemical formulas, and references to forbidden occult rituals, lore, and practices. It soon became clear to Adam that Victor was not only the grave robber plaguing Geneva, but also a mad scientist obsessed with reanimating lifeless corpses and creating new forms of life.

    But little did Adam know that he was not alone in the room. As he turned to leave and report Victor’s evil intentions to Inspector Krogh, he was suddenly attacked by a shadowy figure. In a desperate struggle for survival, Adam’s assailant began to strangle Adam with a rope, having no intention of letting him leave alive. As the conflict escalated, the brain jar was knocked off the desk and shattered into a million pieces, rendering the brain useless for Victor’s experiment. Despite Adam’s best efforts to fight off the hunchback assailant, his life was ultimately extinguished. As he lay there, gasping for breath, he saw a tall, slender woman that hadn’t been in the room before approaching him. She had flowing black hair and pale, porcelain skin, wore a long, black dress that flowed behind her as she walked, and had a blank, porcelain mask that concealed her face. As she reached her slender hand out to Adam, unnoticed by his killer, Adam’s body finally became lifeless.

    After Adam’s death, his killer, Ygor, began to panic as the brain he’d been sent to fetch was now rendered useless. Desperate to salvage the situation, Ygor made a shocking decision: he would use Adam’s brain instead. Drawing on the knowledge of surgical procedures he’d gained from aiding in Victor’s work, Ygor crudely removed Adam’s brain and stored it in a container filled with alchemical preservation fluids. After discreetly disposing of the body, Ygor made his way back to Castle Frankenstein and presented Victor with Adam’s brain. Ignorant of Ygor’s murder, Victor proceeded with his experiment, transplanting the final components into the flesh golem. Finally, his creation was fully assembled.

    As the storm began to rage, Victor, filled with a sense of both anticipation and trepidation, ordered his hunchbacked assistant to lift the body high into the room, towards an opening in the laboratory ceiling. As the table ascended via pulleys, Victor manipulated the levers and dials of his machines, harnessing the power of the storm to breathe life into his creation. As the lightning was drawn forth from the skies like moths to a flame, the laboratory was illuminated with an eerie green light as the alchemical symbols and eldritch runes Victor had carved or painted himself glowed on the floors and walls – like spell circles from Victor’s occultic grimoires. When the table reached its zenith, the lightning intensified, sounding like the sky itself being torn apart, and even changed color to match the green eldritch light. The room became a symphony of humming generators, crackling electricity, and the sound of thunder echoing through the stone walls.

    Despite the storm’s incredible power coursing through his creation, Victor knew that it wasn’t enough. He urged Ygor to provide more power, pushing the machinery to its limits. Though reluctant, Ygor obeyed and activated a series of levers, causing sparks to fly and the machinery to glow red-hot. The bolts in the walls emitted smoke as the power surged through the wires, but it still wasn’t enough. Fueled by his unquenchable desire to see his creation come alive, Victor demanded even more power, heedless of the impending danger. Ignoring Ygor’s warning of potential destruction, Victor pushed the final lever, intensifying the electrical charge coursing through the machinery to its maximum capacity.

    At that moment, the laboratory fell into an eerie silence, as if holding its breath. Then, with a deafening explosion, a beam of lightning shot down from the heavens like a beacon in the night, striking the table and enveloping the lifeless body in a torrent of eldritch electrical energy. The body, once lifeless, began to tremble as the energy coursed through its veins. The laboratory erupted into a spectacle of red-hot wires, glowing bolts, and crackling energy. As they shielded their eyes, Victor and Ygor were unaware that the surge of power had unleashed more than they had bargained for. Ghastly specters, resembling phantoms freed from their shackles, shot out from the eldritch beam and disappeared into the night.

    The deafening explosion reverberated throughout Geneva, rousing Justine from her slumber. She rushed to the window and gasped, as most of the villagers of Geneva did as well, at the sight of the green beam of light. Her heart pounding with fear, Justine then saw the note Adam had left and immediately became worried that he was somehow involved. Quickly donning her dried jacket and the hiking boots he had left behind, Justine set off towards the strange phenomenon, hoping to find Adam unharmed.

    Then, as fast as the beam arrived, it vanished, and the sky returned to its normal state. As the table was lowered back, Victor approached it with a mixture of awe and trepidation. To his astonishment, he saw the hand of his creation begin to move. The Creature’s eyes then shot open, meeting the gaze of its creator. Víctor’s triumphant cry echoed through the laboratory, “It’s Alive!”

    The overwhelming surge of power, however, proved to have been too much for the fragile machinery. Sparks flew, causing the light bulbs to explode and showering the room with glass fragments. In the chaos, Ygor’s warning echoed as fire engulfed the room, consuming the bolts and machinery. Víctor and Ygor were thrown back by the blast and were rendered unconscious. The Creature broke the chains that held it down and groaned as it stood up from the table. Now free from its restraints, it stood tall, casting a shadow over the room. As the storm outside continued to rage, Victor regained consciousness and witnessed the awe-inspiring sight of the colossal creation they had brought into existence in the light of growing flames. Compelled by a mixture of fear and curiosity, Victor approached his creation. The Creature turned towards its creator, its steps causing the ground to tremble.

    As the Creature approached, the bandages covering its body caught fire, causing it to scream and roar in agony – a primal sound that echoed through the castle and into the night. As the Creature flailed about in agony, Victor, quick to act, pulled a lever that released a chain net with heavy stone weights attached to its edges. The net fell on top of the Creature, hoping to keep it restrained. Ygor rushed to grab a cattle prod-like device to subdue the Creature. But the tasing only made things worse. The Creature became even more energized and enraged, easily tossing Ygor aside and breaking free from the chains that held it down. Seeing his creation getting out of control, Victor pulled out a pistol from a hidden compartment and fired a series of shots in an attempt to bring it down.

    To his terrifying shock, the bullets only barely pierced the Creature’s skin. Overwhelmed by dread, Victor realized the magnitude of what he had unleashed; questioning if instead of recreate life, he’d created the world’s deadliest monster. The flames started spreading rapidly, licking at the walls and machinery, threatening to engulf the entire laboratory. Victor shook Ygor awake and urged him to run for their lives. The two men stumbled towards the laboratory door, their hearts pounding with fear. With a final glance back at the Creature, now trapped by the flames, Victor closed and bolted the door shut behind them, sealing their creation’s fate. The Creature, cut off from the door by the flames, tried to bat them away. Just as Victor and Ygor escaped the castle, the generators exploded, and the laboratory was consumed by a blaze of destruction. The force of the explosion propelled the Creature out into the dark forest, where it landed in a shallow river, injured and disoriented.

    Having lost her way without the beam to guide her, Justine heard the explosion and saw something on fire being launched across the sky into the forest near her. She quickly rushed to investigate the fiery crash scene. But when she arrived, she was frozen in fear by what she saw. Emerging from the water was a tall undead Creature, illuminated by the fiery laboratory wreckage. Its gray-green skin, stitched together with scars and scorched burned marks, stretched tightly over bulging muscles that rippled with raw power. Steam billowed from small exhaust vents in its shoulders as its mechanical heart flared up, visible through the glass dome on its chest. With each heavy breath the Creature took, the mechanical heart illuminated its rib cage from beneath its skin with green, eldritch energy. Under its wild and unruly black hair, resembling a wild mane, the Creature’s eyes fixed on Justine – eyes that had piercing amber sclera and burning red irises. As it reached out for her and approached, its heavy footsteps caused the ground to tremble, Justine screamed in terror and fled. The Creature, alone and consumed by pain, collapsed to the ground, its immense form trembling with each labored breath.

    Victor and Ygor kept running from the castle until they collapsed from exhaustion. Turning back, Victor, haunted by the consequences of his actions, watched as the rain washed away the remnants of the distant laboratory fire. It was as if nature itself was trying to cleanse the world of his unholy creation. The weight of guilt settled upon his shoulders as he wondered if he’d created a monster that was now unleashed upon the world.

    As Justine ran through the forest, she could still hear the Creature’s heavy breathing and booming footsteps. She eventually ran into Inspector Krogh and his team of officers, who were in the area to investigate the mysterious beamed of light that had been reported. Trembling with fear, she told them about the crash site she had just fled. Krogh ordered two of his men to escort her back to the village, while he and the rest of his team continued their investigation. Justine warned the men to be cautious of the Monster she had encountered. However, most of the men brushed off her story of a monster lurking in the forest as simply her fears playing tricks on her. They thought she must have instead just seen something like a bear near the crash site.

    Meanwhile, at the Frankenstein estate, Victor struggled to make his way back home, carrying the burden of his creation on his shoulders. His once bright and lively eyes had now become sunken and lifeless. With exhaustion, his hands trembled as he tried to unlock the front door with his keys. However, before he could enter, his strength gave out, and he collapsed at the threshold. The young maid, Emily, who was working inside the estate, heard the noise and immediately rushed outside, her heart racing with concern. Upon seeing Victor lying unconscious, she quickly ran back inside to inform the other members of the estate staff and Victor’s parents. Within moments, they all came running to Victor’s aid.

    As they brought him inside to tend to his wounds and help him recover from his ordeal, Elizabeth was dealing with her own turmoil. She tossed and turned in her sleep, experiencing a terrifying dream that shook her to the core. In her dream, she found herself within a strange realm of swirling mists of green light where she witnessed a horrifying sight. In this otherworldly realm, she saw a man’s soul (Adam) who was bound and enveloped by chains of eldritch lightning. These chains pulled him through the sky towards a massive, gaping portal. As the man struggled against his binding, horrifying shadowy demons passed him on their way through the portal, including one that Elizabeth found particularly terrifying as it momentarily resembled William.

    As the man’s soul neared the portal, he and Elizabeth saw that on the other side was a grotesque, golem-like creature made of rotten flesh and machinery. When the man’s soul passed through the barrier, there was a sudden, blinding flash of light that caused an explosion which echoed through the realm, as if the very fabric of the universe was crying out in pain. Amidst the chaos, Elizabeth saw that the man’s soul was bound to the golem, which then began to stumble through a shallow river, struggling to comprehend what he had become. The Monster began to tear and paw at his own undead flesh, and Elizabeth found herself unconsciously mimicking his movements with her actual sleeping body. However, just as she felt completely consumed by the horror of it all, the connection broke, and she woke up in a state of terror, drenched in sweat, and trembling with fear from the vivid and haunting dream.

    The next morning, the Creature was jolted awake by the intense glare of the sun. His eyes, which had been lifeless and unseeing until the previous night, struggled to adjust to the sudden light. Memories of his past were hazy, with only flickers of light, suffocation, and burning flames appearing in his mind. Feeling a gnawing hunger in his stomach, the Creature wandered through the dense forest, hoping to find something to eat. As he ambled along, he noticed a farmhouse situated on the outskirts of the woods. The humble abode stood in a vast, open field, surrounded by golden hay and scattered farming tools. Curious, the Creature approached the farmhouse. Inside, a father sat with his children, urging them to finish their meal quickly so that they could start their day’s work.

    The sound of booming footsteps and heavy, labored breathing echoed through the house, causing the family to panic and cower together. Suddenly, a deep grunting noise reverberated through the room, and the family turned to see a monstrous figure looming from the window behind them. Desperate to show that he meant no harm, the Creature gently tapped on the window. However, his mere touch caused the glass to shatter effortlessly. As he entered the dining room, the Creature raised his massive hands, trying to convey that he posed no threat. Unfortunately, the gesture only served to terrify the family further. The father, with fear gripping his heart, ordered his family to run for their lives. As the family fled from the house, the Creature’s snatching up the bread, apple, and cheese wheel from the abandoned table, but left the rest of their meal – feeling sorry for intruding.

    Meanwhile at the Frankenstein estate, everyone was bustling with activity. The staff was working tirelessly to ensure that every detail was perfect and that the guests would have an unforgettable experience. From the finishing touches on the decorations to the meticulous inspection of the sumptuous food, everything had to be just right. The attendees, too, were busy with their last-minute preparations, rehearsing their speeches and making sure their attire was impeccable. However, amidst all the excitement and joyous smiles, there was one person who seemed to be in a different state of mind. Victor, who had recovered from his illness, had been up early, long before anyone else was awake. He had retired to his study and had requested to be left alone until it was time for the wedding. In his mind, he couldn’t stop thinking about the monster he had created and the catastrophic consequences that could have occurred if his laboratory hadn’t destroyed itself along with the creature. Victor found it strange that, after years of obsessing over his creation, he was now relieved that it was destroyed.

    As Victor sat lost in thought, his mind wandered back to the last conversation he’d had with Dr. Walder a year ago, who had tried to dissuade him from his research. Victor had passionately defended his work, saying that his research wasn’t just to conquer death but to save Elizabeth’s life. Her condition had been deteriorating, and every time he found a cure, her illness developed new means to fight the treatment. Victor had realized that the only way to beat her fatal disorder was to conquer the threat that sought to take her away from him itself: death. However, while Dr. Walder was concerned for Elizabeth’s well-being and pitied Victor as just a man trying to save the woman he loved, he cautioned Victor that such advancements in science must be met by morality of whether it was right for the rest of the world. Victor disagreed, saying that morality was irrelevant in science, but Dr. Walder had insisted that it was a greater concern to them than anyone. He believed that morality held civilization together and needed to be guarded by those who could abuse it. Feeling distraught and furious that the man he had looked up to objected to his research, Victor had stormed off, determined to continue with his experiments regardless of the consequences. Now, however, Victor understood his mentor’s warnings.

    His quiet contemplation, however, was broken by the sound of his office door creaking open. Irritated, he turned to reprimand the servant for disturbing him, only to find that it was instead Ygor who stood before him. As Victor settled back into his chair, he asked why Ygor was bothering him before the wedding. Ygor wasted no time in asking when they could begin preparations for the next experiment. Victor hesitated before responding, telling Ygor that he had no interest in continuing with his experiments and that he wanted to move on with his life, spending the time he had left with Elizabeth before her illness took her. But Ygor was not willing to accept this news and became angry, accusing Victor of being a coward. The two men engaged in an intense argument, their voices rising in anger and frustration. In the end, Victor reminded Ygor of his true place in life, as a lowlife thug who had fled from the authorities in Ingolstadt, Germany. Victor had only helped Ygor avoid capture because he needed someone to assist him with his experiments, someone who was not weighed down by morals. If Ygor ever questioned Victor again, he would not hesitate to report him to Krogh and have him arrested. As Ygor stormed out of the room in a fit of rage, Victor watched him go, feeling a mix of regret and relief wash over him.

    Realizing what he’d said to Ygor about how he wanted to spend the time he had left with Elizabeth before she was gone from him forever, Victor realized how much of a fool he’d been and headed off to find Elizabeth. When he found her, he saw that she was getting dressed in a beautiful bride’s gown, with the help of Justine, Caroline, and the maids. However, Victor noticed that Elizabeth seemed distant and preoccupied, which concerned him. Caroline, who saw Victor, immediately ordered Justine to escort him out, citing that it was not customary for the groom to see the bride before the wedding. However, it became apparent that it was just an excuse to get rid of Justine as well.

    As they walked, Victor asked what the matter with Elizabeth was and why she looked so distant. Justine revealed that Elizabeth had told her about a bad dream she’d had the previous night but hadn’t given any details of what it’d been about. Seeing how worried for Elizabeth Justine was herself, Victor apologized for his previous behavior towards her, expressing shame for speaking to her that way. He asked for forgiveness, and Justine, being understanding, forgave him, knowing that he was still dealing with the loss of his brother. Victor then informed her that he had talked with Elizabeth and that he would be delighted for her to return as the head of the estate. When Justine told him that she doubted Caroline would agree to that, he told Justine that he did not care about his mother’s opinion. He knew that having Justine around made Elizabeth happier than she had been in years, and that was all that mattered to him. Before Victor went off to speak with his father, he complimented Justine on how well she looked in her maid of honor dress.

    Elsewhere, Ygor, still fuming with rage over Victor’s refusal to continue their experiments, entered a secret chamber within Castle Frankenstein. Inside was a hidden lab of his own, complied together from equipment Victor had either thrown out or Ygor had secretly stolen. His creations based on Victor’s research included a tesla gun that could fire electricity and a steampunk exo-suit. The suit in particular would not only repair his back but also give him the strength of ten men; allowing him to deal out his vengeance against all who'd wronged him, including Victor. However, all of his inventions required the eldritch electrical energy that they had harnessed to bring their flesh golem to life. With Victor refusing to continue the experiments, the energy would be lost to Ygor. Therefore, Ygor decided that if Victor wouldn’t help him with another attempt at the experiment, he was determined to do it himself, regardless of the cost. His first step was to obtain more dead bodies for his twisted experiment.

    Hours later, the moment everyone had been eagerly anticipating had finally arrived. Victor and Elizabeth exchanged their vows and were united in marriage. As Justine stood by as the Maid of Honor, she was thrilled for her friend, but Caroline reminded her that with the wedding now over, she would do everything in her power to force Justine to leave again. Justine argued that both Victor and Elizabeth wanted her to stay, but Caroline pointed out that Victor only wanted her around because she made Elizabeth happy. With the wedding over and the newlyweds happily married, Caroline questioned how much they would really need Justine. As Victor led Elizabeth down the aisle, excitement and joy filled the air while Justine was filled with doubt and unease by Caroline’s words.

    Meanwhile in the forest, Frankenstein’s Monster roamed aimlessly, lost in his thoughts of identity and trying to remember who he was. Suddenly, he heard a faint cry for help. Following the sound, he stumbled upon a young shepherdess struggling to keep herself to keep her head above the water in a nearby river. Without any hesitation, the Monster dove in to save her. As he swam towards her, he noticed a tall, enigmatic figure on the other side of the water body, stepping out of the forest with blinding white light peering from behind. The figure was a woman, dressed in a long black gown, and she wore a white porcelain mask that concealed her face. Seeing her sparked something within the Monster’s brain – he remembered her. Despite her eerie appearance, she beckoned the Monster and the shepherdess to swim towards her.

    When the Monster and the girl reached the other side of the water, he asked if she was okay. After coughing up some water, she replied that she was cold but otherwise alright. She explained that she had seen a boy in the river who had invited her to join him. However, when she got close to him, the boy’s smile turned cruel and ghastly, and he pulled her in. As she was carried away by the river, she looked around for the boy, but he had vanished.

    The woman in black knelt with comforting hand out to the girl as she removed her porcelain mask, revealing her stunning face with milky white skin and blood-red irises. She beckoned the girl, who she called Maria, taking her hand and telling her that it was time for her to return home. As the lady in black led the young shepherdess into the light shining in the forest, the Monster quickly asked the woman who she was. However, suddenly, two hunters appeared out of nowhere and shot the Monster. The Monster, wounded by the hunters’ bullets, fled the scene, glancing back only to see the lifeless body of the young shepherdess lying where he had brought her ashore; the bright light and lady in black having disappeared, as if they’d never been there to begin with.

    Confused, wounded, and terrified, the Monster fled from the hunter’s relentless pursuit. Once the Monster had escaped the hunters, it stumbled upon the soft, calming notes of a violin playing “Ave Maria.” Drawn to the music, the Monster discovered an old, run-down cabin where an old blind hermit named O.P. de Lancey resided. The hermit, living a solitary life, welcomed the Monster with open arms, unaware of its monstrous appearance. The blind man helped stitch up the Creature’s wounds and even offered him some of his late son’s clothes to replace the burned wrappings. The Creature and de Lancey soon became friends, as the old man taught the Monster words like “friend” and “good” and the joys of music, cigars, bread, and wine. As the Monster slept, de Lancey thanked God for sending him a friend.

    Later back in Geneva, Elizabeth retired to her bed early due to her illness. As Justine and the maids helped Elizabeth get settled in for the night, Elizabeth was apprehensive about falling asleep and having another nightmare like the one she had the night before. When Justine asked how bad her dream was, Elizabeth confided in her about the terrifying dream. In her dream she’d sensed that someone was scared and lost in the forests, frightened because he didn’t understand what was happening to his body. However, who she saw wasn’t human, but rather a hulking, undead creature. To Elizabeth’s surprise, Justine recognized the creature from Elizabeth’s description, saying she had seen it the previous night as well. Before Justine left Elizabeth to sleep for the night, Elizabeth then revealed a final bit of information that shook Justine to her core: the creature’s name was Adam.

    As Justine left the estate and headed for Adam’s shack, Caroline spoke with the head servants and instructed them not to let her enter the estate under any circumstances, despite their objections. As they left, Caroline heard faint laughter coming from upstairs, in William’s room. She entered the room and was flooded with memories of her youngest son’s death. As she turned to leave, she saw a figure standing in the bedroom’s mirror that wasn’t there before - the drenched form of William. Turning to where the mirror showed him to be in the room, Caroline saw no one else was there. Turning back to the mirror, she saw William still there, smiling at his mother.

    Meanwhile, Justine returned to Adam’s shack but saw no trace of his return. She began to worry for her friend, thinking that perhaps he’d also gone off in search of that green light and was caught by that monster. Fearing it may have harmed him – or worse, Elizabeth’s dreams were correct and somehow the monster was Adam. Justine went to the police station to tell Krogh about Adam’s disappearance. When she arrived, however, the station was abuzz with rage and anger as the hunters had returned, one of them being Maria’s father, carrying his drowned daughter’s body. They shared their encounter with Inspector Krogh and how Maria was murdered by some Monster. As several of the villagers formed a lynch mob to search the country and capture the Monster, Justine as determined to find the creature first. If it really was Adam, then she had to find him before the mob did.

    As she made her way through the woods and entered the cemetery, Justine stumbled upon Ygor who, to her horror, was digging up a grave. Quickly hiding to avoid being seen by the hunchback, Justine heard a police officer arriving. Though the police officer had just been trying to find the Monster the hunters had talked about, when he saw Ygor digging up bodies, he pulled out his gun to arrest Ygor, only for the hunchback quickly turned violent and killed the officer. Ygor then heard Justine running away as he was disposing of the police officer’s body and chased after her to stop her from telling anyone.

    Back at the cabin, Frankenstein’s Monster woke up to find his dear friend de Lancey lying on the bed, barely breathing. The Monster was devastated as he realized that his dear friend was on the brink of death due to old age. Despite his best efforts, the Monster was powerless to save him. As he sat there by de Lancey’s bedside, helpless and unsure of what to do next, the cabin door opened. Turning to the opening door, the Monster saw stepping out from the blinding white light again was the woman in black. Remembering what’d happened to the girl, the Monster immediately shielded de Lancey from the woman. He roared at her, ordering her to leave, but her expression remained unmoved. Suddenly, a hand touched the Monster’s shoulder, and he turned to see de Lancey standing and looking at him with a peaceful look. De Lancey told the Monster that it was okay and that it was his time to go. Though hesitant, the Monster let de Lancey’s spirit approach the lady in black, ready to leave this world and go home. As she escorted him into the light, the lady in black turned back to the Monster and told him that she would answer his questions when he entered her domain.

    Before Frankenstein’s Monster could ask what she meant, de Lancey and the lady in black were enveloped by the blinding light and disappeared. In their place entered a group of hunters who’d been a part of the mob and got lost, stumbling upon the cottage and seeking directions. However, when they saw the Creature and the dead body of de Lancey, they mistakenly thought the Creature murdered the hermit and attacked him without hesitation.

    As the Creature dashed through the dense and ominous woods, the hunters pursuing him relentlessly, he spotted Justine frantically running towards an old windmill, with Ygor hot on her heels. Desperate and cornered, Justine cried out for help. Her cries were answered as Frankenstein’s Monster burst into the windmill, knocking Ygor away from Justine. Even though the Creature was protecting her, Justine remained frozen in place, her eyes wide with terror. Ygor quickly regained his footing and, with a snarl, grabbed a broken piece of timber, hurling it at the Monster with all his might. However, it was no match for the Creature’s incredible strength, as he easily caught the timber with one hand and crushed it into splinters. As Ygor stepped back in fear, the hunters chasing the Monster entered the windmill and started shooting at him again. As the chaos ensued with the Creature defended himself and the hunters shooting at him, Ygor sneaked out of the windmill, only to see the mob arriving.

    The mob set the windmill ablaze, and the Monster and Justine found themselves trapped inside with nowhere to escape. Justine was knocked over by falling debris, rendering her unconscious. The situation was getting out of hand, and the fires were spreading rapidly. However, the Monster remained undeterred as he lifted Justine in his arms and carried her to the top of the windmill to get away from the flames. As the windmill burned down, the Monster blocked the falling debris, shielding Justine from harm. Once the windmill had burned down entirely, the Monster emerged from the rubble and fled into the forest with an unconscious Justine in tow, just as Krogh arrived on the scene.

    Frankenstein’s Monster carried the unconscious Justine deep into the forest, where he carefully laid her inside a secluded cave. When she eventually woke up, Justine screamed in surprise when she saw the monstrous figure looming over her. Her sudden scream caused the Creature to flinch and hit his head, and then roar in response to the thunder and lightning of an approaching storm. In his confusion, he even attempted to attack the sky by hurling a boulder high into the air. However, as Justine watched in awe, she realized that the Monster was trying to shield her from the thunder. She approached him slowly and calmly called him Adam, hoping against hope that her theories were false. Upon hearing his name, the Monster turned to look at her intently. After a moment, a memory hit him and he responded in broken English, “Ju…s…tine?” As Justine theories were confirmed, she lead the Monster back inside the cave and sat beside him. As she took his hand, she asked the Monster what’d happened to him. The Creature had a hard time remembering, only recalling a fire, blinding green light, a faceless doctor, the lady in black, and the feeling of being unable to breathe. Then he asked her, “What... am... I?” Justine told him that she didn’t know but they would search for answers together.

    Back at the Frankenstein Estate, Victor and the Baron had a conversation while walking, with the Baron congratulating Victor on his marriage. While walking, they noticed that William’s door was open and Caroline was sleeping in his bed. The Baron closed the door and expressed his hope that the wedding would bring his family back from their hardships. However, they were unaware that that as Caroline rested on William’s bed, her son’s ghost was floating beside her. After the Baron left, Victor went to his study for late-night reading. When he entered the room, however, he found Ygor sitting in a guest chair, coughing and soaked from the rain. When Victor demanded to know why Ygor was there, the hunchback revealed news that shook him to his core: their creation had survived the laboratory's explosion and was wandering in the forests.

    Hours before dawn, Victor, having decided it was time to confront his creation once and for all, prepared to venture to the castle laboratory, where he’d told Ygor to meet him at. Before departing, he quietly entered Elizabeth’s room, where she lay asleep looking like an angel Victor didn’t deserve. Gently kissing her forehead, he whispered his promise to return soon. As he left the room, he instructed a servant not to disturb Elizabeth until his return. Unbeknownst to Victor, Elizabeth was experiencing a tormenting nightmare, tossing and turning as a haunting vision unfolded before her. In her dream, she witnessed Victor and a monstrous figure locked in a fierce battle amidst the crumbling ruins of a castle. Above them, the sky ripped apart, unleashing a horde of malevolent spirits. The vision culminated with a terrifying entity, composed of writhing tentacles, gazing back at her through a colossal yellow eye as it began to emerge from the otherworldly tear. Startled awake, Elizabeth bolted up her in her bed drenched in sweat, trembling with fear.

    Meanwhile, Justine and Adam sat in the cave amidst the still raging storm, mulling over their next course of action. It was only a matter of time before the villagers discovered that Adam had survived the burning windmill and resumed their hunt for him. They needed a safe place to hide him until they could come up with a better solution. Justine suggested that the best place to hide him would be back at the Frankenstein Estate, as it’d be the last place the villagers would look for him. She believed that Elizabeth would recognize Adam’s humanity and offer him sanctuary, while Victor could investigate what had happened to him and if there was any way to reverse it. Deciding that tome was of the essence, Justine told Adam to wait for her in the cave while she went back into town to try and convince her friends.

    As Justine made her way back, at the castle ruins Victor and Ygor were hard at work repairing their laboratory to working order. On their way there, Ygor had recounted what happened at the windmill, describing how gunshots and fire failed to kill the Monster. As such, the two men devised a means to kill the Monster once and for all: they would recreate the experiment that brought the Monster to life and harness the lightning to overload the Monster, which could kill it. To do so, they would need to cause the machines to go beyond the limits they were pushed to when they brought the Monster to life. Little did Victor know, however, that Ygor , still harboring a deep-seated hatred towards him from their previous conversation, planned to use the harnessed lightning to power his experimental steampunk weaponry to exact revenge on all those who have wronged him, including Victor himself.

    Sometime later, as the Monster ventured out in search of water, he unexpectedly encountered a black bear. To his surprise, he noticed that the bear’s eyes were clouded over with a milky white hue, devoid of pupils, and emitted an otherworldly, ethereal glow. As the Monster attempted to retreat, the bear charged at him, sparking a fierce battle. As the two adversaries battled in the turning river, they tumbled off the waterfall. After a moment’s silence, the Monster burst from the water and swam to shore. As he recovered, the Monster searched for the bear but could find no trace – as if it’d vanished. Clutching his injuries, the Monster sought refuge in the forest, searching for somewhere to hide from any hunters in the area.

    As he walked the forest began to become heavily obscured by mists. Lost in the haze, the Monster found himself in a mist-shrouded cemetery which seemed to be shielded from the rain. As he entered, the Monster spotted several spectral figures flitting about. As he wondered what was going on, the Monster heard a voice and turned to find it was the lady in black. Perched upon a gravestone and her porcelain mask in hand, the woman told him that it was finally time for her to tell him what was going on.

    The Monster followed the enigmatic Lady in Black as they walked by the gravestones; with her seemingly gliding over the thick mists covering the ground. Curious and bewildered, the Monster asked who she was and why she’d led him to the cemetery. She cryptically described herself as a guide for lost souls, offering her friendship in the final moments of the innocent and her judgment for the wicked. But for pleasantry’s sake, she introduced herself as Muerte. Pausing beside a weathered gravestone, Muerte recounted how she’d met the person buried beneath it over a century ago. She spoke of witnessing so much in her time, from happy reunions to sad departures, and to moments of heart-wrenching agony as she watched so many throw away their most precious gift; but she’d seen nothing quite like the events of the previous night - at least not at the hands of mortals.

    Turning to the Monster, Muerte explained that the machines that reanimated him had used a forbidden combination of science and dark magic; magic that’d prevented her from stopping it and concealed the ones responsible from her sight. She revealed that the energy used to reanimate him was siphoned from the Ethereal Realm, a.k.a. the Afterlife, creating a tear between the realms of the living and the dead. Though she’d managed to close this breach before it could become permanent, it’d allowed malevolent spirits to traverse into the world of the living, posing a threat to humanity. Muerte explained that she’d gathered the harmless specters, who’d merely been caught up in the chaos, in this cemetery so she could return them to the Ethereal Realm. The more sinister entities, however, driven by anger and malice (such as the bear and the ghost that lured the girl the Monster saved from drowning), used the breach to wreak havoc upon the living. If left unchecked, they would cause wonton chaos and harm to the Mortal Realm. And that was where the Monster came in.

    Though at first, she’d sought to destroy the Monster for being an unholy abomination that desecrated her existence, she’d seen the Monster be selfless and heroic when he saved that girl and befriended the old hermit (she also assured him that the girl he’d saved was safe and had been reunited with her mother in Elysium). As she was forbidden by ancient law from interfering with lives of mortals until it was their time (be it old age, sickness, etc.), Muerte beseeched the Monster to aid her. She needed him not only to help stop the malevolent spirits but to stop whoever was behind the tears before they created a permanent portal; allowing not only countless specters to pass through, but also things native to the Ethereal Realm beyond mortal comprehension.

    Meanwhile, back at the Frankenstein Estate, Emily had gotten up to get a glass of water in preparation for the mounring service when she heard a noise from upstairs. With her glass of water in hand, she cautiously ascended the creaking staircase following the sound, her heart pounding in her chest. As Emily reached the top of the stairs, the sound led her to William’s room. She hesitated for a moment, having been told never to enter it, before mustering the courage to enter. Inside, she found the Baroness, tossing and turning in the grips of a feverish nightmare. Concerned for her well-being, Emily approached the bed, ready to wake Caroline from her nightmare. But as Emily reached out to touch Caroline’s shoulder, a sudden chill filled the room. The air grew heavy with malevolence as darkness consumed the room. As Emily tried to wake the Baroness, a bolt of lightning cracked outside and William’s ghostly figure materialized from the shadows, causing Emily to scream in fear. Before she could react, the door slammed shut, sealing her inside the room. Panic surged through her veins as she desperately tried to open the door.

    As Emily kept banging on the door and screaming for help, Coraline awoke from her nightmare, disoriented and confused. She went to stand beside William’s ghost and told Emily that everything was ok, and it’d all be over soon. She then bent down to kiss William on the forehead, telling him to hurry before anyone showed up. William’s ghost then lunged at Emily and phased inside. In a bone-chilling scene, Emily’s screams were caught in her throat, her body being lifted into the air and contorting and bending unnaturally as William successfully took possession of her body. Emily, now under the control of William’s spirit, turned to Caroline, her once-innocent eyes now milky white, devoid of any trace of humanity. Caroline, however, saw none of this; in her mind, she saw her beloved son, just as he had been before his untimely demise. Tears streamed down her face as she went to embrace him, longing for the comfort of his presence, not seeing the devilish smile curled upon the possessed Emily’s lips or Emily’s spirit banging on the other side of the bedroom mirror, begging to be freed.

    Moments later, Justine finally reached the Frankenstein Estate. However, she was forced to stand in front the main doorway as the rain continued to poor down by a servant who, reluctantly, informed her that she wasn’t allowed to enter, as Baroness Caroline had explicitly forbidden it. However, to both of their surprise, Caroline herself descended the grand staircase and overruled the servant, granting Justine entry. She invited Justine to join her in the kitchen for a private conversation, dismissing the servant from their presence. Seated at the kitchen table, Justine mustered the courage to ask Caroline to speak with Elizabeth and/or Victor, as she had an urgent matter to discuss with them. However, Caroline revealed that Victor had left with his hunchback assistant some hours ago and that he’d ordered Elizabeth to remain confined to her room; with Caroline claiming that Justine’s presence had worsened her daughter-in-law’s illness. Justine, knowing that was a lie, confronted Caroline, expressing her disbelief and demanding to see Elizabeth.

    However, the blood in Justine’s veins froze when she heard a familiar voice – one she’d not heard in over a decade. Rounding the corner, Emily, now possessed by the spirit of William, entered the room. Justine’s heart skipped a beat as Emily, in William’s voice uttered secrets that she knew only William would know, sending a shiver down her spine. As Justine questioned what was going on she caught in the corner of her eyes something horrifying – in the kitchen mirror Justine saw the ghostly visage of William himself standing where Emily stood in the room, staring back at her. Confusion and fear gripped Justine as she asked what was going on. Emily, or rather William, explained that it was Victor’s experiments in delving into the forbidden realm of creating life from death that’d allowed his spirit to return, now using Emily’s body as his mortal vessel. As Justine’s mind reeled with the revelation that Victor was responsible for Adam’s death and transformation into the flesh golem, Caroline, now consumed by her reunion with her youngest son, declared that she wouldn’t allow Justine to take William away from her again. The depths of her desperation and madness became apparent as she resorted to violence; with a swift blow, Caroline struck Justine, rendering her unconscious.

    Back in the cemetery, Muerte revealed to the Monster that, as a being existing between the realms of the living and the dead, he could tap into the energies of the Ethereal Realm, enabling him to sense and confront malevolent spirits. Intrigued by this revelation, the Monster decided to put his newfound ability to the test. In an instant, the Monster’s senses were heightened, and he witnessed Emily, possessed by William’s vengeful spirit, luring Caroline as the Baroness dragged an unconscious Justine towards Lac Léman. William led Caroline to the lake, enticing her with the false promise of a reunion with her beloved son beneath the lake’s surface if she sacrificed Justine. Unbeknownst to Caroline, this was a trap set by William’s vengeful spirit, seeking retribution for his tragic death as he would claim both of their souls.

    As the Monster raced off to stop the specter and rescue Justine (not noticing Muerte vanish and the rain pouring into the cemetery), Caroline and Emily/ William reached the water’s edge. As Caroline dragged Justine into the lake, William’s ghost released Emily from the possession, with the young girl falling unconscious by the shore. Before Caroline could drown Justine, Justine regained consciousness and managed to escape Caroline’s grasp. As the two struggled in the water, Justine pleaded with Caroline to let William go, apologizing once again for his tragic death. Caroline, however, consumed by the rage and grief still in her heart after all these years for her son’s death, lunged at Justine, intent on drowning her. Before Justine was killed, the Monster burst forth from the depths of the lake, separating Caroline and Justine.

    As the Monster pushed Caroline back and helped Justine swim away, he spotted Muerte, now wearing her porcelain mask and in a more haunting form three times larger, looming over Caroline as William’s ghost took his revenge by drowning Caroline. Moments later, Caroline’s ghost emerged from the lake’s surface, confronted by the sight of her lifeless body. As the Monster ushered Justine to the shore where a now conscious Emily rushed to help them, Muerte’s voice echoed through the lake, her words carrying a weight that seemed to transcend the physical realm. Caroline’s soul had been weighed and measured, and found filled with darkness. With Muerte’s final verdict delivered, a group of howling, shadowy specters emerged from the depths of the lake, swarming around Caroline and pulling William’s spirit out of the lake. Muerte opened her raven feathered cloak as the specters dragged Caroline and William’s screaming spirits within, all of them vanishing as Muerte closed her cloak before disapeering in thick mist.

    Returning to the estate, Justine and Emily led the Monster inside and through the winding corridors to Elizabeth’s room. Despite now knowing that Victor was the one responsible for what’d happened to Adam, Justine still hoped Elizabeth could help her in finding somewhere to hide him and keep him safe while she came up with a solution. To their dismay, Elizabeth was nowhere to be found. Deciding that it’d be as good a place as any to hide out in for the moment, Justine tasked Emily to ask the waking staff if any of them had seen where Elizabeth or Victor had gone and shut the door behind her. After taking a breather to relax their anxious nerves, Justine noticed how disheveled and grim Adam looked, covered in soot and grime, and decided to clean him up for when he was introduced to Elizabeth and Victor. With steady hands, she took out a pair of scissors from Elizabeth’s dresser and meticulously trimmed Adam’s wild mane of hair, transforming it into a neat crew cut. As she worked, Adam inquired about William.

    Justine, her hands trembling as painful recollections resurfaced, recounted that William was Victor’s beloved younger brother and the darling of the Frankenstein family. Despite what they’d seen at the lake, in life he had been a delightful young boy whom Justine, serving as his personal maid, had been overjoyed to serve. Tragically, a decade ago during a harsh winter that covered Lac Léman in ice, William wanted to go out and ice skate; the previous year the family visited Ingolstadt, Germany, for Victor’s college prospects, and William had an enjoyable ice-skating experience there and wanted to relive them. Despite his parents’ warnings, Justine, unable to refuse his request, accompanied him. The ice, however, was not as solid as it appeared. Shortly after he started skating William fell through, and despite Justine’s desperate attempts to save him, she was too late. Shortly thereafter, having been blamed as the one responsible for William’s death Justine had been exiled.

    As tears cascaded down Justine’s face, Adam reached out to grasp her hand, preventing her from cutting her hair. He stood and enveloped her in a comforting embrace, assuring her that what’d happened to William, and now Caroline, was not her fault and that she couldn’t have known what would’ve happened. Gently wiping away her tears, Justine expressed her gratitude and set the scissors aside, determined to search for Elizabeth elsewhere in the estate. As she departed, Adam’s gaze fell upon a photograph of Elizabeth and Victor. At the sight of Victor, Adam was overwhelmed by a flood of memories, unveiling the unsettling truth behind his own creation. The man in the photo, Victor, was the same man he’d encountered in the laboratory. He was the one who killed him and repurposed his body to construct the flesh golem he was now trapped inside. As the memories of how he’d been killed in the college, his dissection and reconstruction in the donjon lab, and Victor’s attempt to end his existence in the fiery chaos of the lab reemerged in Adam’s mind, a smoldering rage began burning within him.

    Elsewhere, as Chief Inspector Krogh followed reports of sightings of the Monster, he and his team discovered in the cemetery the body of the officer Ygor had killed. Finding the Monster’s footprints near the scene of the crime, Krogh believed it was the Monster’s doing. Following the trail they reached the lake where they stumbled upon Caroline’s lifeless body floating in the lake and sounded the alarm. The news quickly spread, reaching Baron Frankenstein, who hurried to the scene. Overcome with grief and anger, he declared that his wife had been murdered, igniting the fury of the villagers. One of them spotted the Monster’s footprints heading towards the estate, and the Baron, believing it was now after his son and daughter-in-law, rallied the mob, leading them to the estate determined to find and kill the Monster.

    As Justine talked with the servant she’d encountered at the front door and was told that no one knew where Elizabeth or Victor had gone, she saw the angry mob approaching and warned the servant to have the estate evacuated. As she rushed back to Elisabeth’s room to warn Adam, she found him with his fist clenched looking at Victor’s photo. With his back turned to her, Adam asked if she knew Victor was the one responsible for what he now was. After a brief pause, Justine revealed Caroline and William had told her the truth just before they knocked her unconscious. The Monster, consumed by his desire for vengeance, declared his intent to find Victor and end his reign of terror, once and for all. Then they saw lights appearing in the mountains, as Victor and Ygor were preparing their machines. Justine, desperate to prevent further bloodshed and from Adam killing her childhood friend, pleaded with him to reconsider; imploring him to seek answers instead of revenge, reminding him that killing Victor would only perpetuate the cycle of darkness. But the Monster, driven by his pain and anger, ignored Justine’s pleas. With the sound of the angry mob gathering outside, the Monster made his way to the balcony doors, which overlooked the other side of the estate. As he opened the doors, ready to embark on his quest for vengeance, Justine, realizing the gravity of the situation, reached out and grabbed his arm in a bid to stop him.

    “Listen to me. Adam,” she pleaded, her voice filled with desperation. “Please don’t do this! You do this, and you are the monster that they say you are. Do you hear me? You do this, and I am done. That’s it. You’re dead to me. Do you hear me?”

    The Monster turned to face Justine; his eyes filled with torment. “I’m… already… dead,” he whispered, his voice heavy with rage and sorrow.

    Outside, the angry mob closed in on the estate, their torches illuminating the darkness. The Baron’s voice echoed through the night, urging the villagers to search every room to find the Monster. Adam, torn between his desire for revenge and his love for Justine, made a fateful decision. He effortlessly broke out of Justine’s grasp and leaped from the balcony. The mob spotted him, and with the Baron reaching Elizabeth’s room only to find her missing, they believed he had just attacked and kidnapped Elizabeth. Despite Justine’s pleas that Adam wasn’t a danger, the Baron thought she was being hysterical and locked her in Elizabeth’s room for her own protection. As Justine banged on the door to be let out so she could save her friends, the mob gave chase to the Monster, their shouts and jeers filling the air and drowning out her pleas.

    As the Monster approached the town on his way to the mountains to find the castle and Victor, gun shots rang out as bullets missed or hit him. As the villagers began chasing after the Monster through the open streets, the winding alleyways, and even across rooftops, the Monster only defended himself; using his strength to knock away his pursuers or throw projectiles like carts and crates at them to halt their pursuit. During this chaos Krogh ordered the townsfolk to go back inside as it was too dangerous but his words were drowned out.

    As the Monster finally reached the edge of the forest, he found himself surrounded by his pursuers who rained down gun shots, pitchforks, and flaming torches at him. Filled with rage, the Monster had had enough and fought back; with each blow, he sent members of the mob flying back or obliterated their weapons. As the fires from the torches started to cause the trees to catch fire, the Baron lunged at the Monster with a pitchfork – determined to exact revenge for his wife. Piercing the Monster’s side, he roared in pain and grabbed the Baron’s arm, lifting him in the air with it and crushing it. As the Baron screamed in pain the Monster tossed him aside. Suddenly, a burning tree landed in between the Monster and the mob, causing the Monster to flee into the forest and the mob to be unable to pursue until the storm’s rain died down the flames.

    Back at the estate, Justine tried breaking it with a chair, but it only broke apart upon impact. Slumped against the door, Justine felt powerless to stop the chaos, until the door unlocked. As the door opened Justine was astounded to see Emily had unlocked the door, telling her she wanted Justine to help save the ‘green man’ who’d saved her from the ghost. After Justine thanked her with a hug, she rushed out of the estate, hoping she wasn’t too late.

    Meanwhile at the castle ruins, Victor and Ygor were putting the final touches to restoring their laboratory. Suddenly, they heard heavy pounding on the door. Victor ordered Ygor to see who it was, pulling out a pistol just in case it was the Monster. Instead, as Ygor opened the door, they found their visitor was Elizabeth, drenched from the rain. Victor rushed to his wife, putting the gun down and draping his lab coat over her to shield her from the cold of the rain. Victor asked what she was doing there and why she wasn’t back at home, as being out like this would only escalate her illness. Elizabeth, her voice weak from illness and intermingled with fits of coughing, pleaded with Victor to abandon his dangerous experiments. She told him of the visions she’d had and knew what he’d done, and what would happen if he tried them again. Despite all he’d sacrificed and accomplished in his effort to save her, Victor saw the truth in Elizabeth’s eyes. He reluctantly agreed, realizing that her love and presence were all he truly needed, even if for a short while.

    As they prepared to leave, however, they heard the cocking of a gun from behind them and Ygor telling them that they were going nowhere. As Victor turned around, shielding Elizabeth, he demanded for Ygor to put the gun away, only for the hunchback to fire a warning shot. Ygor aimed the gun back at them and told them he’d come too far in his plans for revenge against the world to just throw it away for a woman’s pleas. While Victor may have created his machines to serve as a means to save lives, Ygor saw their true potential: the source of power for a new generation of weaponry. With this power in his hands, he’d sell a fortune of lightning-based vehicles and weaponry and armies of unkillable behemoth soldiers, enough to create a new dynasty for himself with slaves whom he’d condition to use the machines to bring himself back to life in better, stronger bodies. He’d become an unkillable god among men.

    Pointing the gun back at them, he demanded Victor to continue to go through with the experiment. When Victor refused, saying that shooting him wouldn’t get him anywhere, Ygor agreed – instead shooting Elizabeth. As Elizabeth lay dying, Victor, holding her hand tightly and desperately trying to stop the bleeding, promised to save her, begging her not to leave him. She held his face in her other hand and told him she’d always be with him, and she loved him. Her final breath left her and her hand slumped from his grasp, Victor was left with a profound sense of loss and fury. When he turned back to attack Ygor, the hunchback stopped him at gunpoint, telling him that now the only way for him to bring Elizabeth back was to finish the machines. With no other option, Victor’s mind teetered on the edge of madness as he prepared to use his creations for one final, desperate act.

    As the storm raged, Justine spotted the lightning being attracted to one spot and followed, believing it must be where Victor had set up his laboratory and where she’d find him and Adam. As she ran as fast as her feet could take her, Justine’s mind raced with the events that had led up to this moment and what she would do when she got there. Did she have the strength to stop Adam before he truly became a monster, and did she have the heart to end him if he did? Meanwhile, in the castle laboratory, Victor strapped his dearly departed and beloved wife to the operating table before activating a pulley wench that raised it to the sky roof. As it rose, Ygor, having strapped on his steampunk exo-suit, jumped on to ride it to the roof. He warned Victor that if he interfered with the machines, he would shoot him.

    As Victor worked the machines, pushing them to their limits to bring Elizabeth back from death’s embrace, the Monster snuck inside. With a flash of lightning, Victor saw the Monster’s shadow illuminating the wall before him. Grabbing a tool, Victor spun around to defend himself, but the Monster effortlessly caught his hand and forced him to drop the tool. Tossing Victor aside like a rag doll, the Monster roared at him, demanding to know why he was killed and turned into such a hideous monster. Victor, having absolutely no idea that Adam had even died let alone been used in the creation of the flesh golem, was at a loss of words for what his creation claimed he’d done. Victor shouted back that he’d created his experiments to save his wife and give others a chance at avoiding death, and he would not let one failed attempt stop him.

    Victor tried fighting off the Monster, throwing chairs, boxes, and chemical bottles at him, even using the cattle prod-like device to subdue his creation. However, nothing stopped the Monster’s assault: he’d been turned into an abomination, and he wanted revenge. As fast as lighting the Monster swiftly grabbed Victor by the neck and lifted him. As Victor’s feet dangled in the air and he gasped for air, the Monster readied to snap his neck with but a quick twist of his wrist. However, he saw the fear in Victor’s eyes and his own reflection in the shine of one of the machines. He realized what Justine had said was true – that his need for revenge was turning him into everything that people feared him to be: a monster. Reluctantly, the Monster let Victor go, sparing his life.

    As Victor gasped for air, the Monster’s attention was drawn to a sudden sound, and turned to face it, only to find it was Justine who’d just rushed into the lab. Seeing the Monster having spared Victor’s life and hearing him say, “You...were... right,” Justine let out a sigh of relief before hurrying to Victor’s side. While Justine checked on Victor and asked if he was alright, the Monster looked at the machines surging with electrical energy. His eyes then lifted to the sight of another tear between the realms forming high in the sky.

    Returning his attention to Victor, the Monster extended a hand, with Victor, after receiving assurance from Justine that the Monster, or Adam, meant no further harm, tentatively accepted and was pulled to his feet. Drawing close to Victor’s face, the Monster angrily yet calmly told him to “Stop… the… machine.” Victor explained that he couldn’t do so, as Elizabeth was still on the table, and shutting down the machines would alert his unhinged former assistant, who’d attack them before they could shut it down. Nodding in understanding, the Monster devised a plan: they would divide their efforts, with the Monster scaling the cables and scaffolding to reach Elizabeth and stop Ygor, while Victor and Justine would deactivate the machine.

    After the Monster climbed to the top of the donjon, he saw through the sky roof hole Ygor cackling with glee as the machines began harnessing the eldritch lightning, channeling the energy through cables down to storage canisters on the lab floor that he intended to sell to warmongers. As the deranged hunchback revealed his supposed victory, the Monster made his way to Elizabeth without Ygor seeing him. As he hid on the other side of the table, ready to take out the hunchback, the Monster noticed something astonishing: Elizabeth was still alive! The gunshot hadn’t been fatal after all, and she’d just passed out due to her illness. As the Monster worked to free her, Elizabeth awoke and upon seeing the Monster screened in fear. This alerted Ygor, who’d just flipped a switch on a panel on the donjon’s roof (he’d made sure he’d had access to the power in case Victor double-crossed him), intensifying the electrical charge coursing through the machinery to its maximum capacity. Seeing the Monster trying to free Elizabeth, Ygor pulled out a machete and moved to attack him.

    However, there was a sudden eerie silence, and just as the Monster managed to free Elizabeth and got her off the table while Ygor moved to stab him, all three of them were knocked back by a deafening explosion as a beam of lightning shot down from the heavens, striking the table and enveloping the top of the donjon in a torrent of eldritch electrical energy. As the laboratory erupted into a spectacle of red-hot wires, glowing bolts, and crackling energy, Justine and Victor ducked for cover from the massive surge of electrical energy. As the Monster shielded Elizabeth from this energy wave, it not only miraculously healed her wounds, but Ygor’s steampunk exo-suit began siphoning the eldritch electrical energy, fixing the hump on his back and making him as strong as an Olympic athlete.

    As the intense light died down, the Monster and Elizabeth saw above them the sky ripping apart, unleashing a horde of malevolent spirits. Spotting a figure of raven’s feathers rushing by, the Monster caught a glimpse of Muerte as she grew in size and grabbed the sides of the tear, trying to pull it back together and stop any specters from escaping. However, several escaped with some trying to attack Elizabeth only to be swatted away by the Monster. With the number of specters increasing and the danger becoming worse, the Monster told Elizabeth to climb down to where Victor and Justine would help her. Seeing as the Monster had done nothing but protect her so far, Elizabeth nodded and did as he instructed.

    As Elizabeth began to descend the donjon, Ygor shook off his daze and noticed the machines harnessing the lightning were beginning to power down. Looking down at the lab, Ygor was astounded to see Victor and Justine working to stop the machines. As he prepared to go after them, he noticed Elizabeth; but before he could attack her, the Monster came up from behind him and punched him, sending him staggering back. With the hunchback knocked back, the Monster urged Elizabeth to climb down the donjon while he held Ygor off. Seeing Ygor’s face as he stumbled back from the blow, the Monster’s memories returned fully: he now knew it was Ygor who’d killed him, and a new wave of rage overcame him. After recovering from the surprise attack, Ygor attached his machete to a cord connected to his exo-suit and ignited it with electrical energy before swinging it at the Monster. As the two fought, Elizabeth tried to descend the donjon cables to Victor and Justine, who’d climbed up to reach her. However, just as the three friends were reunited, Ygor managed to trip the Monster with a cable, causing him to fall through the sky roof with Ygor leaping down after him.

    The Monster fell on the scaffolding, causing it to violently shake and Justine to fall. Seeing her falling, the Monster quickly threw a cable for her to grab onto. However, once Justine was safe, Ygor landed and shot at the Monster with his Tesla gun, but the electrical energy only badly grazed his arm. Before Ygor could take another shot, Victor charged at Ygor to protect the Monster and was fatally shot in the chest. As the electrical energy that pierced through Victor hit a nearby machine and caused it to explode, Justine lost her hold of the cable and began to fall again.

    The Monster dived to catch her landing on the other side of the donjon. Just as they were safe, the Monster pushed Justine aside as Ygor lunged at him, stabbing him with his manchette and delivering a powerful blast of electricity that dazed the Monster. As Justine and Elizabeth tried to descend to where Victor lay bleeding, the two monsters engaged in a brutal exchange of blows; the Monster delivered powerful punches and hurled rubble and machinery at Ygor, while Ygor slashed at the Monster with his electrical machete and fired shots of lightning with his Tesla gun. His stray shots damaged the machines, destroyed sections of the scaffolding, and blasted holes into the walls.

    In the end, the Monster managed to swiftly disarm Ygor and held him at gunpoint. In a moment of perverse taunting, Ygor dared the Monster to shoot him and embrace his monstrous nature; however, the Monster realized that doing it would only make him no better than Ygor. In retaliation, the Monster retorted he was not – and would never be – a monster like him and angrily crushed the gun in hand before delivering a powerful kick that launched Ygor off the scaffolding and into his energy canisters, destroying them and electrocuting Ygor.

    As Elizabeth and Justine rushed to Victor’s side, Elizabeth let out a horrific scream as the vision she’d just had a nightmare of played out before her: emerging from the otherworldly tore into the Ethereal Realm was a terrifying entity, composed of writhing tentacles, gazing back through a colossal yellow-eyed onto the mortal realm. Muerte tried fighting back the Lovecraftian beast, but she couldn’t stop it without letting the tear widen. Hearing Elizabeth’s screams, the Monster began climbing the machines and scaffolding, determined to reach them.

    The Monster knelt beside his creator, who lay dying from his wounds, and listened to his final words. Victor apologized for his actions and instructed them to overload the lab’s machines, to generate a shockwave strong enough to reverse the tear in the sky. Elizabeth, whose wounds were reappearing after the eldritch energy’s effects wore off, told the Monster and Justine to hurry and stop the machine while she remained with Victor. As the Monster and Justine hurried to the control panels, however, Ygor, consumed by a barbaric rage, broke free from the canisters and pursued the Monster with his machete in hand. As Ygor reached them, the Monster told Justine to get to the control panel without him while he lured Ygor away. As Justine hurried back down, the Monster led Ygor on a treacherous chase, only for them to fall into a tangled mess of electric cords and pulley ropes. Seizing the opportunity, the Monster used the cords and ropes to ensnare Ygor, preventing him from inflicting any further harm. Blinded by his rage, Ygor mindlessly slashed at the cords and ropes, attempting to free himself and kill the Monster. Unbeknownst to him, one cord slipped and coiled around his neck like a noose.

    Justine reached the control panel but stopped, waiting for Adam to escape and reach her. But with him being entangled in the cables himself, Ygor getting closer to killing him, and more specters escaping the tear, the Monster begged Justine to blow up the machines. Justine hesitated, believing that Adam would also be killed, but reluctantly pushed the master button. As Justine ran out of the donjon the machines began sparking and surging, spewing out electrical energy. The machines released a powerful blast of electricity that rocketed up the donjon, shocking Ygor and the Monster as it traveled up and eventually collided with the beam, closing the tear between the realms. After a moment of silence, the donjon began falling apart: walls crumbling, scaffolding falling, machines exploding. Victor and Elizabeth shared one final moment before the flames of an explosion engulfed them and they were carried away by Muerte.

    As the donjon began to collapse, Ygor regained consciousness and unwittingly hacked at the final rope holding him and a chunk of wall aloft. The donjon, along with the Monster and Ygor, plummeted to the ground. As he descended, Ygor finally noticed the vine-like cord around his neck, realizing the impending doom that awaited him. Screaming in terror, Ygor futilely struggled to disentangle himself, but it was too late. With a sickening snap, the cord broke his neck, ending his life. After falling and being pinned down by rubble landing on him, the Monster saw the ghost of Ygor rise from the shadows, confused upon seeing his dangling body. From the shadows themselves stepped in Muerte, who appeared far more menacing than before. With venom and fury in her voice, Muerte gave her final verdict of Ygor’s dark soul, and from every shadowy corner, the howling, shadowy specters emerged to drag Ygor’s screaming ghost away into the depths of Hell. Amidst the chaos, the Monster found himself enveloped by the looming destruction as the donjon’s machines erupted in a massive explosion. In his final moments, he heard the desperate cries of Justine urging him to escape, just before being engulfed by the embrace of two large, ominous raven wings.

    As dawn finally broke, Inspector Krogh and the police arrived at the scene, finding Justine and ushering her to safety while the rest searched the rubble of the castle. They searched for hours until the fires from the lab had died down, but though they found the bodies of Victor, Elizabeth, and Ygor, they could not find any trace of the Monster. Hearing this Justine smiled knowingly, aware that the Monster had managed to escape the clutches of death once again.

    The following day, Justine found herself overcome with sorrow as she packed her belongings to depart. Baron Frankenstein, grieving the loss of his wife, oldest son, and daughter-in-law, couldn’t bear to have Justine stay, knowing how much his late wife despised her. However, as a token of their friendship, the baron gave Justine Elizabeth’s diary before she left. He wanted her to have her friend’s final words. As she finished packing, she couldn’t help but weep at the thought of what’d happened just within the last few days. How Victor had been consumed with his research to the point of causing his own death. How Adam was still out there and now considered a wanted murderer. And Elizabeth, her closest friend, who just wanted Justine to be brought back into their lives, now gone not even a day after her wedding day.

    Hours later, as Justine traveled in a carriage to leave Geneva, she opened Elizabeth’s diary and started reading her entries. As she read through her friend’s words she was reminded of so many happy memories the two of them shared together. However, as she reached the end, she came across Elizabeth’s recounts of her chilling nightmares: Victor’s research being exploited by others for creating flesh golem armies, and more Ethereal Realm portals being opened by an army with a Lovecraftian dragon on their flag.

    Weeks later, the Monster assisted the crew of the merchant ship Demeter, which was bound for Greenland. The crew was short-staffed, and the ship’s captain Robert Walton saw the Monster’s help as invaluable. As the ship sailed off, the Monster was working on the sails when he heard a familiar voice from the crow’s nest. Looking up, he saw Muerte, who expressed her gratitude for his help in stopping Victor and Ygor. Before departing (guiding the soul of the deceased lookout in the crow’s nest), she assured the Monster that she would call upon him again in the future. As she vanished in a brilliant white light, the Monster gazed out at the vast expanse of the surrounding sea, contemplating the choices that had led him to this point. Whatever lay ahead for the Monster was uncertain, but one thing was clear – his story was far from over.

    Post Credits Scene – Faint but ominous footsteps break the still silence. A door leading into Castle Frankenstein opens as a woman clad in black Victorian gothic attire enters, leaving behind the desolate landscape of war-torn Europe during World War I.

    Within the dusty and ash-coated remnants of Victor Frankenstein’s work, the woman discovered hidden in a desk compartment the treasure she sought – Frankenstein’s journal of Project LAZARUS. While the scientific approaches to creating Flesh Golems detailed within the journal may have intrigued others, the woman’s aspirations went far beyond mere scientific achievements – turning her attention instead to Frankenstein’s notes on the occult. The pages of the journal revealed references to renowned occultists such as Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus. As she delved deeper into Frankenstein’s research, she found what she’d sought: offhanded comments regarding the legendary Scroll of Thoth. Though the mad scientist was unaware of the Scroll’s exact location, his research pointed to the last being who may have known of its whereabouts – the enigmatic Hag Mother Erictho.

    Finally finding some course to her path, the woman opened her locket, holding a cherished portrait of herself and her parents, Dracula and Lisa Tepes. The image captured the last time she was with them both, a bittersweet memory that fueled her determination. With tears in her eyes, Marya Dracul made a solemn vow to her beloved parents, “Soon. No matter how long it takes, or what I must do, or who stands in my way, I swear this: I will bring you both back.”