Hao Xuan saw the grandmaster raise the hammer into the air at a snail's pace. Time suddenly slowed down to a crawl for him and it was at this moment that he finally notice a figure standing behind him.
Bewildered, he spun around but upon seeing the familiar face, he once again was shocked.
"Hyde?!"
The same Mr. Hyde that had locked himself away in Hao Xuan's mind palace was now standing right behind him, staring at the same scene as he was. He looked exactly the same as before with his top hat, walking stick, and monocle.
"How are yo-" Hao Xuan asked but didn't get to finish his sentence.
Mr. Hyde who was usually completely emotionless at least in front of Hao Xuan seemed quite dreary at this moment. His gaze was fixated on the grandmaster.
"What a sad existence he led. Spent his entire life serving another, someone that he will never meet in this life or the next. So much blood spilled, so many souls lost, for what?"
By the end his voice was so low that it almost sounded like he was talking to himself, or maybe he was. Hao Xuan ignored his rambling and asked his own questions.
"Hyde! What's happening? What is this place? Am I dead?"
Mr. Hyde shook his head weakly.
"Not dead, but not alive either. It's not your time yet so don't worry. As for this place," he let out a deep sigh, looking around at the surroundings, "It's an echo."
"An echo? Of What? What are yo-" suffice to say Hao Xuan was still in the dark and quite confused. But Mr. Hyde's mood instantly turned sour upon hearing him continuing to talk.
"When people die, they leave behind an imprint that can be 'felt' and sometimes even seen through the veil. It is an echo of their last moments, a testimonial of the lives they once lived. The worse their deaths were, or the more regrets they had, the stronger this echo becomes," he explained in as simple words as he could.
"So... it's already in the past?" Hao Xuan asked dejectedly. When he first came here it didn't feel like something that had already happened.
Mr. Hyde shook his head once, "The echos exist on the other side of the veil, constantly playing on repeat. And on the other side, time does not flow in a straight line. These events could of course have happened a long time, or they might happen a long time from now in the distant future. They could even be happening as we speak, there is simply no way to tell."
But then he paused, peering downwards to meet Hao Xuan's uncertain gaze.
'The only thing that is certain is that an echo can only be seen by someone that has a strong connection with it,' he said inwardly, choosing not to let Hao Xuan know.
Unknowingly, his gaze became cold. His pupils became vertical, serpentine in nature. His hands that normally looked like they belonged to a delicate young master that had never done any manual labor in his life were replaced by something else entirely.
They had black leathery skin and four long and twisted digits that curved into razor-sharp nails at the end. He bent down, brushing three of the digits against Hao Xuan's cheek.
"Did you meet 'him' at some point? Or are you one of his spawn? No...maybe not. But he always did have an eye for strays," Mr. Hyde mumbled in a daze, talking to himself.
It felt like someone was piercing Hao Xuan's eyes with needles when he looked at him, and the part of him that his hand touched started to rot from inside out.
Alarm bells started going off inside Hao Xuan's mind and he quickly jerked back.
"Wh-What's wrong with you?!"
His sudden movement woke Mr. Hyde from his trance and he instantly returned to his previous image of a British gentleman from the 1800s.
He forced a smile, "My apologies. I seem to have gotten a tad carried away," pulling back his hand Mr. Hyde turned around, "But the echo confirms my suspicion. It seems we need to have a talk. Come to me when you have time."
Mr. Hyde tapped the ground with his walking stick and the time returned to normal.
"Wait!" Hao Xuan shouted.
Suddenly remembering where he was, Hao Xuan turned around and saw the grandmaster's silver hammer connecting with the ground. A flash of light ignited, so bright that Hao Xuan completely lost all senses.
He closed his eyes by instinct and when he opened them again, he was back in his body.
"What?!" he looked around and saw the ground getting bigger by the second.
Baracus's automated messages came into his ears.
"Cardioversion successful."
"Heartbeat detected. Soul signature detected."
"Expiration Event Length: 7 seconds."
"Welcome back."
"Expiration event?! Was I dead?!" Hao Xuan repeated, astounded.
"Affirmative," Baracus confirmed before giving another warning, "Please brace for impact."
"Huh? Oh fu-"
*BOOOOM*