“I thought about what you said, Mr. Wolf, and you may be right," Scarlet confessed. “I was the bioengineer for the Hatchling, and I watched as each specimen died in agony. The final product is suffering just as much, and Mother doesn't seem to care. She says as long as she keeps him content, there won't be any trouble."

“How does she keep him content?" Webs asked.

“I don't know entirely," she admitted. “It was a skunk named Atlas who helped her with that, and he disappeared before he could explain it to me. All I know is he designed a device out of some extra-terrestrial energy."

“Well, we'll figure it out," Wolf admitted. “Do you at least know where those voices on the speakers are coming from?"

“The Muse chamber," Scarlet answered. “It's right above Mother's sleeping chamber. You have to go through the air ducts to access it."

“Okay, Piranha," Wolf said. “That's your cue."

“On it," Piranha replied as Shark helped him up to a duct and he ripped the cover off before climbing inside. “Let's clip this bird's wings!"

“Okay," Webs said, climbing inside a pipe. “I'll go inside Minerva's headquarters, hack into the system, and shut everything down. Scarlet, take this earpiece in case I need you. The rest of you, try to open everyone's eyes and ears. But don't draw attention to yourselves."

“But everyone will know our IDs," Snake pointed out. In response, Shark looked down at Janus, who was still unconscious, and smirked.

“I have an idea."

After abducting, tying up, and stealing the clothes of two other Flock members, a cobra and a jackal, Wolf and Snake prepared their disguises. As well as Shark, who was in Janus's robe and wore a fake set of horns.

“You sure this'll work?" Scarlet asked nervously, slipping her robe back on.

“If anyone can pull these sorts of things off, it's us," Snake replied, now wearing a fake cobra hood and a shirt that said OH-263. “Especially Shark."

“How's my broody face look?" Shark asked, giving them a fake scowl.

“Perfect," Wolf replied, now wearing an eye patch and a shirt that read CA-540. “Alright, guys. Let's uh... Let's spread some dissention."

🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶

Unaware of Ismene's betrayal and Janus's disappearance, Minerva stared at her Flock gathering in the plaza with pride. All of her years of hard work were finally paying off. From a meek owlet marked as a monster by the Oppressors, to a fully fledged leader and hero to the animal kingdom.

⏪⏪⏪⏪⏪⏪

Five-year-old Mi-Na Huu was, yet again, having lunch by herself on the school playground. Before she could bite into her peanut butter sandwich, however, a mouse-shaped cat toy landed on top of it.

“Thought you'd like some extra meat in your sandwich," a human girl said, snickering at her with two other girls.

“I can't eat polyester," Mi-Na muttered, tossing it aside.

“You know, Miss Meyers almost considered letting you watch the class bunny this weekend," another girl revealed. “Luckily for the bunny, I was able to talk her out of it. Wanna know how?"

Mi-Na didn't respond.

“I told her it'd be considered animal endangerment to leave a cute, fluffy, defenseless creature in the clutches of a monster who would more than likely eat it alive."

“I am not a monster..." Mi-Na said angrily.

“Well," the girl said, “then you wouldn't mind if we did this!"

At that moment, all three girls began throwing their food at the young owl. One of them was a spicy taco, with some of the sauce landing in her big, red eyes. Letting her animal instincts take over, Mi-Na flew at the lead girl, landed on her face, and scratched her with her claws. Her friends backed away in terror, and once Mi-Na looked up, she noticed every child in the playground staring at her fearfully.

As if being an orphan wasn't bad enough.

⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩

“Attention, my beloved Flock! The eclipse has started! Soon, the moon will be as red as blood, and the Hatchling will rise and liberate us all! Praise the Hatchling!"

Webs snuck her way through the pipes as Minerva made her announcement. Once she found headquarters, she crawled to the computer and got to work. The first thing she noticed was that there was a 1,000 square foot net field that blocked all data signals coming from the outside world.

“Well, that might explain Shark hasn't gotten any calls yet," she said to herself, and immediately got to work.

“Praise the Hatchling, for he will open our wings," the crowd of animals chanted. “Praise the Mother, for she will light the path. Praise the Flock, for we shall fight the Oppressors together."

The first animal Wolf approached was Libya, now wearing the same robe as any other fully fledged Flock member.

“Praise the Hatchling, for he will open our wings," she chanted, her voice empty.

“You think you want this, but you don't," he whispered in her giant, leaf-shaped ear. “Not like this."

“What are you talking about?" she asked, but Wolf had already snuck off. He did, however, manage to notice her voice sounding a little less zombie-like.

“Praise the Mother, for she will light the path," a swan chanted lifelessly. Snake quickly recognized him from Webs's computer.

“This isn't the way, Lindsey," he whispered, and slithered away quietly. Lindsey turned his head and his eyes lit up.

“Praise the Flock, for we shall fight the Oppressors together," Zyon chanted as Shark picked them up.

“You know the truth, little lizard," he said, and put them back down. Zyon's suddenly felt their head get a little lighter.

Piranha, meanwhile, snuck through the ducts and followed the voices, all while humming Ricky Martin. He, then, noticed a vent up ahead, where the voices sounded louder than before. Piranha cracked his knuckles, but just before he could break in...

“Praise the Hatchling, for he will open our wings," a familiar voice said in a much sadder tone than everyone else. “Praise the Mother, for she will light the path. Praise the Flock, for we shall fight the Oppressors together."

Piranha looked down through the vent below to find Minerva's sleeping chambers, and sitting on the bed with her giant pink head facing down was...

“Gabi!" he exclaimed. Without hesitation, he slammed his fists against the vent, jumped down, and landed right in front of her. “Gabi, are you alright?!"

Gabi briefly looked up at her husband, then back down and continued chanting despondently. Piranha couldn't tell if she was brainwashed or if she was just ignoring him. So, he did the only thing he could do.

You keep telling me it's alright

Tell me you're alright

Playing this game for so long

You keep acting like it's all fine

But I know it ain't right...

As he sang, Gabi looked up at him and slowly stopped chanting.

“Hermosa, tell me what's wrong," Piranha pleaded softly.

Taking a deep breath, Gabi finally admitted, “I've been off my meds for ten days."

At that moment, Piranha understood Gabi's strange behavior. She was going through withdrawal. “Why?"

“I don't know," she muttered. “It's just... I'm scared of being happy. I'm too used to nothing but badness. Losing my parents, thinking Mi-Na was my friend, Marmalade tormenting me... And now, this... What if I'm just meant to suffer?"

“Oh, Gabi..." Piranha sighed, pulling her in for a comforting embrace. “I knew what I was getting into when I married you. I knew it wouldn't be easy helping you fight this, but I also knew it'd be worth it if it meant keeping that light in your eyes alive. It's the first thing I saw when I met you. That warm, beautiful light that made me feel like everything was right in the world, even when it wasn't. All I want now is to keep it alive. To keep you alive."

“I'm sorry..." Gabi sobbed in his arms. “I'm so sorry..."

“Aura!" Minerva shouted from the other room.

“Hide!" Gabi whispered. Piranha quickly crawled under the bed right before Minerva stepped inside.

“It's almost time," she reminded her. “As my soulmate, you're going to be the one to lead the Hymn of Promise."

“Of course, my dear Minerva," Gabi replied, feigning sadness.

“Oh, smile," Minerva said. “You and I are going to rule the world together. The Oppressors will not stand in our way now."

“No, they won't," Gabi mumbled. Minerva quickly pecked her on the lips and escorted her out of the room.

“Hymn of Promise, huh?" Piranha said to himself, his brain hatching an idea. “Ho-ho, I'll give her something to sing to."

To anyone reading this...
you are not alone.