I will return

89

I felt how the Daemon Ritus, attached to my chest, began to vibrate with a power that was impossible to contain. Suddenly, it opened, and a powerful light erupted from it, illuminating the entire place with blinding intensity. The soul well reacted immediately; All those trapped souls began to rise in an uncontrollable torrent, heading directly towards me, towards the center of my chest.

I closed my eyes for a second, savoring the sensation. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of souls, entering at once, flooding me in a wave that ran through me to the last corner. Unlike the other times when the Daemon Ritus was already charged or absorbed only a few souls, this was different... it was a shock of energy and power that almost took my breath away. I felt as if the world itself was entering me, twisting, merging with me.

I opened my eyes and saw my Uncle Scooby, his face reflecting pure terror and shock. He looked at me blankly, unable to even assimilate what he was seeing.

"Wait, Uncle Scooby..." I said with a sadistic smile, "did you really think I would forget about you?"

With every ounce of strength I could muster, even as the energy of the souls shook me inside, I snapped my fingers. The power resonated in the air, like an echo that made the very space around us vibrate. Instantly, my uncle's essence was torn from his body, and his soul floated, wavering and fragile.

—No...no, Scrappy! Aid! Scooby shouted, his voice a desperate wail.

His soul was sucked along with the others, getting lost in the mass that invaded me without mercy. Every second that passed, I felt how his presence was diluted in me, how his essence, his memories, his fears, merged with the power that he now possessed. Finally, I felt his last plea, the last spark of his being asking me not to do it, like a weak note at the end of a melody.And then, with chilling calm, I opened my eyes, filled with an energy that surpassed any imaginable limit.

—Now I'm the new... and improved... *Scrappy*.