It was a week later while Maggie was flying reconnaissance that she spotted the odd shape in the water below. It was for the moment inert; bobbing along on the waves, looking like it was trailing a skirt of seaweed. She almost didn't recognize it for what it was and made the mistake of swooping down to get a closer look. She hovered just over the surface of the sea, her wings stirring up the water.

                It was Hyde. He looked even more hideous now than previously. His face was bloated and his skin looked deathly white. But his arm reaching up to grab at her proved he was still very much alive.

                “Come back little birdie! I'll pluck your wings from you, and then your legs and your arms. Where's your friend? Dead?"

                She hovered a good twenty feet in the air. “Fuck you, you sorry piece of shit. He's still alive, no thanks to you."

                “He is? What a pity. I guess I might as well quit relaxing here and finish the job I started."

                She flew higher, looked for anything she could use to drown him. But he had managed to float for days, healing his wounds, and while he looked terrible, she had every reason to think that he was close to full power. Soaking in sea water wasn't great for your complexion, and it had made his even more disgusting, but it likely did little to dampen his nastiness or his brute strength. It even looked like he was trailing tentacles from his sides, though that might have been a trick of the light. This man had no end of horrifying aspects.

                She longed for a boulder or something heavy, but even as she wished for it she knew it would do no good. It would take something much larger to take him down. Then she remembered the ship. There was plenty on board that might do the trick. The question was; could she fly and carry something heavy enough to do the job?

                The answer was no. Not for the distance between him and the ship. She needed to take a dangerous tack and lure him closer. There was a chance they were going meet as it was, so doing so on her terms and not his seemed a small price to pay.

                She flew higher, turning on the air currents and making a beeline for the floating hulk that had become their temporary home. A look back proved her supposition to be true. He had rolled in the water and was churning up froth in his attempt to keep up with her.

                With grim satisfaction she dove forward and pumped her wings for all she was worth. She would make it back in plenty of time to warn Edward, whose only real recourse was going to be to hide.

                From Hyde.

                She should have known he was going to be unreasonable.

                “Look Mags, this guy is hell on two legs. If there is anything out there in the world worse than him, I'm sure we would already know about it. So if he gets below deck, you'll be at a disadvantage."

                “You couldn't beat him with two good arms, and now you only have one. How is that going to work?"

                “Brains over brawn. We'll have to think our way out of this."

                “I think that we might be screwed then. Once he gets on board, he'll find you. And while I can leave, I sure as hell am not going anywhere you can't go."

                “I know you won't. We'll leave together."

                “How? Are you planning on sprouting wings too? I'd settle for you growing your arm back. I miss having a nice hug whenever I feel like I need one."

                He smiled. “One thing at a time. Hyde will be here soon enough. I say we find something to tie him to and go from there. We also need some way of disabling him."

                “You're not asking for much are you?"

                He tapped the vial on her chest. “So we use whatever we have to throw at him. Robert thought that this stuff might finish the job. I for one am willing to try it out. I mean, what do we have to lose?"

                “Our lives? And who is to say that this stuff won't make him worse!"

                “Yes it could, but I'm willing to try anything. Out here in the middle of nowhere is the best place to attempt it, don't you think?"

                “I just want to kill him and get it over with."

                “It seems as though it will come down to that, but don't get drawn into that trap. Even in the darkest of times we cannot let go of those things that makes us who we are. Just because he is filled with hate doesn't mean we should let it get to us. I refuse to lower myself to his level."

                She signed."You're a good man Edward Peterson."

                “Am I? I wonder sometimes."

                “I guess you'll have to take my word on it."

                “I trust your judgment, but I still wonder. Is it better to be born good or to work at overcoming your own evil?"

                “I guess the proof is in the pudding. It depends on what your final form is, don't you think?"

                “You may be right Mags, but I hate to confront hate with hate."

                “Your concern and compassion didn't do you much good before, now did it?"

                “But it did. I still have my soul. I didn't succumb to being nothing more than a mindless beast. Having gone that route once before, I don't fancy doing it again."

                She sighed. “Then you had better come up with something good, otherwise we're going to be trashed."

                “Maybe what we need to do is to give him just what he wants."

                “And what exactly is that? I don't like thinking about dying just yet."

                He fingered the vial. “Robert wants to die. If he's still inside there, maybe we can appeal to his desire to be rid of his life."

                “But the stuff won't work correctly without a ring."

                “So, sacrifices will have to be made. We each have one. I don't need mine anymore."

                “The hell you don't. You barely survived his attack!"

                “But the point is, I did survive. I might not a second time around."

                She was about to further the argument but resisted the urge. His plan was logical, but Hyde was anything but logical. He was a rampaging beast, possessed of the power to level a building and a mind filled with hate. But he had been in this form for a long time, and holding it had to be exhausting, even with something as fueled by anger as he was. If they could trigger him into letting go, then maybe they had a chance.

                “So how do we manage this?"

                “I'm working on that. I didn't say it was going to be easy."

                She sat and pondered for a moment. “Why didn't you see this outcome happening?"

                He pulled her in and kissed her. “Because there are essentially an infinite number of permutations of the future that can happen at any given time. And while that number is actually rather small, it becomes dependant on the conditions surrounding the situation as it unfolds. Our stopover in London wasn't expected, and so who was I to foresee any of this?"

                “But you never looked into the future once we met up with him?"

                “I did a little, but what I saw was only disturbing, not prophetic. I certainly would never have seen this coming."

                “I think you were better off spouting gibberish when we were in Russia. You made more sense back then."

                “I could do the same thing now. But hints and snatches of details will do us no good at the moment. Sometimes you have to believe in yourself and make do with what you have at hand."

                “If you say so. I have a bad feeling about this."

                “As well you should. Hyde is a major threat to our safety, and that of the world. I think the only way to destroy him is through Robert. In his human form he is weak. But we can't attack him directly, even if he asks us to, for the beast will return to protect him. We need to get him alone, and them give him what he needs."

                “Do you think this vial of stuff will really finish the conversion?"

                “I doubt it."

                “Then why bother?"

                “You'll see."

                She gave him one of those looks, which said she knew he had a plan and he wasn't letting on to what it was. She hoped he had a good reason for it.

                “I wish you'd tell me what you're thinking. I hate to think that I'd have to drag it out of you." She set her hand on his arm.

                He smiled. Well, what do you think?

                I think you're crazy! Sure it'll work, but it'll take us with him!

                He leaned in and kissed her. “No, I don't think so. I hate to do it to Robert, but I think he'll understand."

                “That is, if you can reach the part of that thing that's Robert. That's if he's still in there. There's no guarantee that your time and planning will not be wasted."

                “The worst outcome will be that we die with him. But I have no intention of letting him loose. I find it in my heart that if I hadn't met him and taken an interest in him, this would never have happened."

                “Hey! I found him first. If anyone is to blame it's…"

                “Robert. He should never have messed with what he was. I don't blame anyone at this point. The fault and where it lies will not fix this. Action will."

                “True. I wish we had had more time to get to know him."

                “I'm with you there."

                At that moment that was a clang against the side of the ship.

                “Looks like the time has arrived. Let's go out and meet him, shall we?"

                “Ugh!"

                They climbed up on the deck of the dilapidated wreck and searched the immediate environs. The sound was repeated from the port bow, and the two hurried over and looked down the side. There, slowly working his way up the side was Hyde. He looked every bit the part of some grotesque sea monster rising from the depths, for as Maggie had seen before his skin seemed to have grown a thick coat of tentacles, which even now were writhing and convulsing.

                Edward grimaced. “Lampreys. Bloodsucking lampreys."

                Hyde heard him and looked up.

                “So it's you! Do you like my pets? What they take from me I consume and reinvigorate by eating they squirming bodies."

                “Yes, it's me. I see that you didn't drown. A person could always hope for the best."

                “Hope?!" he bellowed. “Hope is for the poor, the wretched, and those about to die!"

                “Then I offer you hope my friend, because of the three of us, only one of us will not be leaving this ship alive."

                Hyde continued to haul himself up, obviously tired despite his loud bravado.

                “I need no hope. What use do I have for such an emotion? It is mere butterfly wings or rose petals. I am the thorn and bird that catches the insect. I shall strip you of your flesh and smash your bones. I will stomp you into nothingness!"

                Maggie dangled the vial over the side. “See this? Isn't this hope to you?"

                Hyde stopped and stared. “That damned liquid. Robert never knew if it would make us or break us."

                “Meaning what?"

                For once Hyde wasn't obstinate or vulgar.

                “He tried to rid himself of me, or something like me. I never knew for certain what I was before I became me. He wanted to be rid of me, and I want to be rid of him. That liquid can do the job."

                “Well I have it, and you're not going to get it unless you behave. I can fly so you know you'll never have a chance again."

                His spunk returned. “But your little friend has a missing arm. I think that I can tear him apart in a few seconds. Then what?"

                “Then I'll have no reason to ever return to this ship. I'll leave it and you to float about forever until it sinks below the waves."

                “Hah! That is no threat. I can float like I did before. I will eat fish until something tastier comes along!"So saying, he reached down and ripped a lamprey from his side. The scar seemed to heal over instantly. He shoved it into his maw with the delicacy of a ravenous lion. Blood; his blood, shot out the sides of his mouth as he ripped it to shreds.

                Maggie said in an aside to Edward, “God he's disgusting!"

                “He is. He's the opposite of everything that Robert was. There is no refinement, no class, no charm and no limits to what he will do. He has little in the way of morals and if given the chance, I think he would do the most nefarious deeds."

                The voice coming up the side roared with laughter. “Nefarious? I do as I please and I call it fun. When I get to the top, you had better run little man. And you too birdie-girl. I'll do worse than rip your wings off!"

                Hyde heard them leave the deck and roared again. “Run little imps! Run you little cowards! This floating tub is no safe haven for you. Sooner or later I will find you. And when I do…"

                He let the idea trail off.