The Malice Cycle is the cycle that occurs when a Malice Puddle possesses a host.
This stage is the one that most Malice Puddles go through for their entire lives, even when it finds large prey. Most of the time, the prey caught is immediately dissolved into more malice, which may lead to the Malice Puddle reproducing. However, on a rare occasion, it may not dissolve its prey, entering the first stage of the Malice Cycle as a result.
The initial stage begins when a Malice Puddle renders the prey hostage, as it takes over the nervous system of its prey. This phase has little intelligence, as the Malice Puddle is getting used to its new body. In this stage, the host feels anguish and insanity because the Malice Puddle affects the REM stage of sleep, which hosts are quickly trapped in at this phase. In addition, the Malice Puddle does not give its host rest and will continue to attack despite being restless. There is a 50% chance that the host will suffer an appearance mutation that will revert when the Malice Puddle is expunged. The host acts quite aggressively during this stage and will accelerate using the malice it acquired from its victims. This phase lasts for about a day to as long as several years.
A photo of an infected individual of the Malice Cycle's first stage can be found here:
The second stage begins when the infected host finds an isolated place to rest, in which malice will make it stick to the wall. This period lasts for about three days. During this time, malice will spread over the wall — which includes four to six protruding flat malice tentacles — that the host is pinned on and its host will grow black wings on its back. The possessed host will also be unable to attack as it begins to heal. Any wounds sustained by the host will be filled in by malice. The REM sleep will be unaffected for this period of time. For these reasons, this period is also colloquially called the first metamorphosis period. After this three-day period is over, the malice that is pinning the host to the wall wil slowly become softer and eventually break. This leads to quite a rude awakening for the host. Shortly after this, the remaining malice on the wall will dissolve, leave corrosion marks, and eventually unite with the host. The host, after this stage, acts largely the same as from Phase 1, but now with flight as an added bonus to gather victims from the sky, making it more dangerous than Phase 1. This stage lasts for as short as a month to as long as a few years or even decades.
An image of an infected individual of the Malice Cycle's second stage (during first metamorphosis) can be found here:
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Stage 3 is extremely rare to even find in the world due to the difficulty of a having a Malice Puddle sustain itself for long periods of time. In order to progress to Stage 3, the possessed host must acquire 200 kg. (440 lbs.) and sustain it over a month's time. The difficulty comes in when the Malice Puddle tries to defend its host by using the malice it gained from its previous victims. Regardless, by this stage, a small hill of malice will form and surround its host, only giving it room to breathe. From here, a second metamorphosis period will begin. However, this metamorphosis period lasts for about a week instead of a few days, and it is much more dangerous to be around, because the Malice Hill will move and trap anyone, effectively converting them into more malice. If the 50% appearance mutation did not occur in Stage 1, it will certainly happen by now. After this week-period of metamorphosis, the host will come flying out, with much larger wings this time, and the Malice Hill will evaporate into a toxic gas surrounding the host. It gains a new attack, where it summons absorbed entities made of Malice to target threats. Most commonly, they are creatures of the same species as the host.
It is also important to note that this stage will be the last stage to return to complete normalcy for the host. Small quantities of water, such as from water guns, will no longer be effective, and will instead be converted into more toxic gas. The Malice Puddle will also become slightly smarter and will not fall for small pranks targeted at it. In order to defeat the Malice Puddle and stop the Malice Cycle from progressing any further, a prank that is not of audible suspicion into a chamber that will be flooded with water. It will dissolve the Malice into toxic gas, but the toxic gases will dissipate within a minute. However, this process takes two minutes to complete to get the Malice out of the deeper parts of the host's body.
Currently, no image can be found for this phase.
Stage 4 is the stage where total recovery is lost, because by now, the Malice will be lodged into the host's vital organs. To reach this stage, the host must travel a long distance from the location that they were initially infected. At this point, the toxic gas swarms the host, blocking attempts of attack. This phase lasts for a few months.
There is no image for Stage 4.
Stage 5 is the final stage of the Malice Cycle, and this one results in the true demise of the host. At this point, the cloud of toxic gas is so thick that neither host nor onlooker can see what lies beyond. Due to the thickness of the cloud, the host usually ends up suffocating and eventually falling unconscious. When they regain consciousness, they will be paralyzed from the neck down, thanks to the puppeteering of the Malice Puddle. The host will also be able to control itself again, almost as if it were a final "hurrah!" for the host. Slowly, the malice will get thicker and thicker in the lungs, blocking cellular respiration, leading to cell death, and eventually the death of the host as a whole. After this, the host will dissolve into more Malice Puddles and the cycle continues. The amount of Malice Puddles born from the death of the host is unknown. This phase lasts for one day.
An image cannot be found for Stage 5.