By the time they reached the third underground floor of the metro subway station, the pickup truck's headlights barely cut through the darkness. Gabe, harnessed to the front, dragged the vehicle forward with steady wingbeats, his talons clamped tight as the wheels screeched over cracked subway tiles.
They passed through rusted turnstiles and broken card-swipe bars. What had once been the final checkpoint before the train platforms was now a ruined gateway into silence.
Bob moved ahead, clearing the path when needed. Fallen beams, shattered barricades, and scattered debris broke under his fists.
The rest of the crew followed in Glint form, quiet and alert.
They moved past the last stretch of broken tile, where the platform ended.
They had reached the tunnel.
Just ahead, the train tunnel began. Steel rails ran through gravel and concrete, stretching into the dark.
At first, there was only silence.
Then… the whispers began.
"...Turn back…back…."
"...Not supposed to be here… here…"
"...I can see you… you…"
Sly stopped mid-step. "Alright. I vote we leave."
"Same," Gabe muttered, already checking his wings despite the low ceilings. "We could just— I don't know, walk back up and pretend we never saw this?"
Bob frowned. "Nah."
"Bob, this is a horror movie," Sly whispered, eyes darting to the darkness beyond their flashlights. "We're the idiots who walked into the haunted house."
Iris sighed. "It's just echoes. Don't let it get to you."
"Then why does it sound like the echoes know my name?" Gabe hissed.
"...Gaaabbbeeeee..."
Gabe yelped.
"Okay, that one wasn't me," Sly admitted.
Bob, despite himself, shuddered. "I swear I'm not scared, but if something jumps at me—"
The pickup truck's headlights turned left.
Something stirred in the shadows.
Dozens of hollow, glinting eyes caught the light.
Bob screamed, "Waaahhh!"
Gabe screamed louder, "WAAAHHH!
Iris, in the middle of them, had enough. "Get a hold of yourselves!"
The headlights swung again, casting sharp beams across the tunnel.
In every direction, eyes glinted in the dark.
They were surrounded.
The pickup truck's headlights lit up the far side of the platform.
A tall, twisted figure stood motionless, its shape shifting beneath stretched, pale skin. Its face was filled with empty, unblinking eye sockets. A boss-level fade.
Dozens of smaller Fades clung to the tunnel walls around it, twitching and watching.
The figure slowly raised both arms, like it was welcoming them.
"I am what they call the Hollow Requiem," it said in a low, echoing voice.
There was a long pause. Everything was still.
Then suddenly…
"WAAAHHH!" the Hollow Requiem roared, like a monster scaring its prey.
Bob and Gabe screamed, "Waaahhh!"
They looked at each other…
Then screamed again "WAAAHHH!".
Bob shouted at Gabe, "Get that thing on the tracks!"
Gabe didn't need to be told twice. Panicking, he yanked the truck forward, wings flapping erratically as he struggled to position it onto the rails. The headlights swung wildly, casting chaotic beams of light that only made the situation worse.
Bob shouted again, his voice cracking slightly, "Everyone ride in! Now!"
"Wait—" Harlan, one of the Traveling Medics stammered. "If we get in the truck, we'll revert to human form! We won't be able to fight!"
"We're not fighting!" Bob yelled, scrambling into the driver's seat. "We're driving!"
The pickup roared to life, tires screeching as Bob slammed it into gear with a bit too much force, nearly jolting the truck sideways.
Iris quickly climbed into the passenger seat, her expression somewhere between alarm and exhaustion.
Gabe, still trembling from the shock of seeing the Hollow Requiem, hastily unhooked himself and practically dove into the seat beside Iris.
Sly barely secured himself in the back with the Medics, muttering, "I swear, I never should've agreed to this trip."
Bob hit the gas and the Hollow Spawn, small twisted minions of the Hollow Requiem, rushed toward them.
Their thin, deformed bodies leapt onto the truck, screeching as they clawed at the doors and windows.
They weren't strong, but there were too many. They clung to the vehicle like a swarm, piling on fast.
Even without using Glint, Bob's crew was stronger now.
They shoved the creatures off, punching and kicking them away.
Some bounced off the sides and hit the ground hard, getting crushed under the tires.
The Hollow Requiem stood still.
It didn't move. Not yet.
It was toying with them.
Bob floored the gas. The truck shot forward, bouncing over rusted rails.
For a moment, everything was quiet.
Then, without warning, the Hollow Requiem appeared right in front of them.
Bob flinched and slammed his foot harder on the pedal.
Gabe let out a high-pitched 'Waaahhh!'
Bob shouted right after, 'Waaahhh!' purely from being startled.
Unfortunately for Iris, she was stuck between them, eyes twitching.
"WILL YOU TWO STOP SCREAMING?!" she barked, gripping the dashboard as Bob swerved wildly.
"I CAN'T HELP IT!" Gabe shrieked. "IT'S FLOATING! IT HAS TOO MANY EYES!"
"I HATE JUMPSCARES!" Bob bellowed. "NOT GHOSTS! JUST JUMPSCARES!"
"THEN DRIVE FASTER!" Iris snapped.
Bob jerked the wheel hard to the right, swerving onto a parallel track. The Hollow's attack was slow, but its presence was suffocating. Even dodging it felt like barely escaping death.
Just as they steadied, the Hollow Requiem appeared in front of them again.
Bob and Gabe screamed.
"Waaahhh!"
"WAAAHHH!"
"OH COME ON!" Iris roared. "PULL YOURSELVES TOGETHER!"
The truck barreled through the darkness, smashing through debris, metal beams, and anything in its way. The Fades kept attacking, clawing at the windows and slamming into the doors. Grotesque faces pressed against the glass.
Then, the Hollow Requiem attacked.
Sly, perched in the truck bed with the Medics, saw it first. The boss-level Fade raised a clawed, tattered limb. Its movements were slow, painfully slow, but deliberate. The attack was so sluggish it was almost laughable.
Sly tracked it easily and adjusted his stance to avoid it. "Oh, come on, is that all—"
One of the Hollow Spawn lunged at him from the side.
Sly twisted and shoved it away. Its bony limbs flailed as it was thrown off the truck. But in that moment, Sly's balance shifted.
The slow attack was still coming.
He barely pulled back in time, but the Requiem's claws scraped across his arm, cutting deep.
Sly gritted his teeth, expecting a normal wound.
Then the pain hit.
His body convulsed as a sick, burning sensation spread through his arm. It wasn't a regular injury. It felt worse, like the wound refused to close.
"Hey! You, hold still!" Lynn shouted from the back, already moving to help.
Sly gasped, gripping his arm. "T-that wasn't normal."
Iris turned sharply from the front seat. "What happened?"
Sly's breathing was uneven. "That thing... its attacks... it hurts so much."
Dr. Cal, crouched in the back of the truck with the other medics, grabbed Sly's arm and pulled him closer under the dim interior light. "Let me see."
Sly winced as the doctor examined the wound. The slash wasn't deep, but the edges were blackened and pulsing faintly, like the damage had spread beneath the skin. Dr. Cal's expression darkened.
"This isn't normal. The wound isn't closing. It's like it's rejecting healing."
He glanced at the other medics, who exchanged tense looks.
"Reminds me of Veyron," Lynn muttered.
Dr. Cal nodded. "Yeah. Same residual energy effect. We saw this on the Little Finger boss. His body wouldn't heal after the encounter. This is the same thing."
Sly exhaled, shaking his head. "Great. I get scratched by the same boss your last patient needed surgery for. Fantastic."
Dr. Cal didn't look up. He kept working on the wound. "Be grateful it wasn't worse. You'll live."
Sly groaned. "Yeah, yeah. Tell that to the burning scratch tearing through my arm."
Bob just kept driving, ignoring the chaos around him. His knuckles turned white against the steering wheel, his focus locked ahead. The tunnel twisted and stretched into endless darkness, and then…
An opening.
A break in the tunnel.
An intersection.
One of the tracks led to a faint, glowing barrier in the distance. A safe zone.
Iris leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "Is that—? Are we seeing things, or is that actually a safe zone?"
Bob barely nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. "Looks real to me."
Gabe, still gripping the dashboard like his life depended on it, finally peeked through one eye. "What are the chances we find another safe zone?!"
"I don't know!" Bob shouted. "You're the group lookout, remember? Aren't you supposed to spot this stuff?!"
"I HAVE THEM CLOSED!"
Then, suddenly…
The Hollow Requiem appeared ahead of them again.
Bob swerved toward it instantly.
"OF COURSE IT DID!" Gabe wailed.
Bob gritted his teeth. "We're going through."
The Hollow Requiem stood further away this time, its form towering in the distance. But the attack had already begun.
The Hollow Requiem raised an arm, initializing a slow but devastating attack. The kind of attack that couldn't be healed.
It wasn't a jumpscare anymore. It was calculated.
Bob's grip tightened on the wheel as he realized the slow attack was perfectly aimed at the driver's seat. If he hit the brakes now, they'd be swarmed by the Hollow Spawn chasing from behind. If he swerved, he'd lose control and crash into the tunnel walls.
He had nowhere else to go.
The Hollow Requiem was forcing him to take the hit.
Bob clenched the wheel. "Brace."
The Hollow's hand came down with a sickening crunch. It struck Bob directly, tearing through his side.
SPLAT! Blood sprayed across the dashboard, but he kept driving.
The pain was unreal. In human form, the damage hit harder. His body couldn't absorb it like it could in his Goliath form.
"Bob!" Iris reached for him.
"I got it," Bob mumbled, barely conscious. His vision blurred.
The truck hit full speed, crashing up the old metro stairway that led to the surface. Concrete steps shattered under the tires as the pickup roared upward.
At the top, the truck launched into the air from sheer speed and weight.
A moment later, they burst through the safe zone barrier.
The truck slammed onto pavement. They were outside. No longer underground.
They had made it.
But Bob wasn't moving.