Sol began to move to the edge of the room, yelling and shouting to attract the Bloody Maris. Two of the Maris began to move in his direction. The other two though, Alex shot one of them and started to move in the other direction, already charging a second shot.
"That's right, this way!" Sol shouted again.
Internally however, "
Okay… okay, now or never Air Hike…"
As one the Bloody Maris' lunged forward, Sol jumped, and jumped again, overtaking the first Bloody Mari and landing on the other. Forcing his full weight on the demon, Sol began to hack away at it until its head was destroyed. Looking back, he barely dodged the next attack, the blade making a small cut just above his brow.
Scrambling back, Sol tried to wipe the blood from eye before repeating the same trick. This time landing behind and taking the demon by the knees before finishing it off.
In the meantime, on the other side of the room, Alex was fighting in a more precise manner. Not because he was one of those calculator types that could read forward in a fight by three steps or more, it was simply because he had literally zero idea on how to fight, beyond half remembered martial arts lessons that he had taken years ago.
And, in opposition to what had happened during the room brawl before, the room where the four Bloody Mari had appeared was significantly smaller. So, he was blasting one with a charged magical bullet, then shot as fast as he could the other, charge another shot and repeat.
The monsters were made of wood, after all, and, even with the fact that they were ignoring the law of physics to a certain extent, wood was still light enough that a good enough blast or several smaller bolts were enough to push them back. So, he was basically juggling them while on the ground.
When Sol turned towards him, the first one had just exploded, while three more bolts had slammed in the second one, completely splintering the torso and sending it flying in all directions.
Alex, in the meantime, was panting heavily, white as a sheet with fear, and with a glint of determination in his eyes.
"You good man?" Sol asked, while trying to stem the bleeding with a ragged piece of Bloody Mari clothing.
"No. I just realized that we are horribly unprepared and that we need to get better fast if we want to have a chance to survive." Alex spit out, his hands firmly on the staff to keep himself up.
Without any words or noise, a mass of red orbs began to fall to the ground, as well as two more orbs. One was a pale white orb, smaller than the rest but no less bright while the other was… a fragment.
It was a quarter of a blue orb, sitting there innocently, waiting for someone to pick it up.
"Okay," Sol began, "So, I figure you should get the white orb, because you'll need it a helluva more than me. You want the blue orb fragment too?"
Alex gave Sol what could be considered a 'Are you stupid?' look.
"No, you get it. And all the others until you reach four fragments. You are the one that is melee all the time, not me. I really want you to survive, you know? For both emotional, altruistic and pragmatic reasons." After he was done with his tirade, he went and took the white orb, while the sea of Red Orbs split in two and sank into him.
"1.250 Red Orbs. I want some more to get the Physical Bonus, but, knowing myself, I will spend them in the Purple Orbs, Blue Orbs or something else. Doesn't matter right now."
The room around them melted away, like an orange being peeled, before they were back in the dead end of the hallway, with the mangled corpse. Alex blinked at it, before giving it a light tap with his staff.
The body exploded in Red Orbs.
"Right, corpses do that here. I didn't forget, but I kinda wanted to see if it worked even with the one that no one had… harvested." Then, he lapsed into silence, looking into the distance without saying anything else. "And isn't it telling that human corpses always disappear, while demon corpses sometimes remain?"
"Well, we'll…" Sol paused before continuing, "We'll try to see if we can't at least, I don't know, honor the memory of that person. Doesn't feel right just to let their remains be currency." Sol finished as he tossed the blue orb fragment between his hands before it faded into him. "Alright then, back to the main room?"
"Yeah. Wait." Alex took a single step before stopping. "Usually, didn't demons appear after finding a secret treasure or completing a bonus room?"
"Aw shit." Sol grumbled, "Let's see what we have to deal with."
The answer was… nothing. The antechamber was empty save for the signs of prior battle. With the only way forward being readily seen, Sol took a breath and stepped into the archway. Several moments later he came quickly looking at Alex with a nervous and fearful look.
"This door is to a staircase leading down." He said slowly before looking back at the entrance and muttering something just barely audible in the room.
"Down, down to hell and say that I sent you there..." Sol said shakily."
Alex… didn't exactly
ignore what Sol was saying, but he was
aggressively NOT thinking about it. Instead, he looked at Sol, at the way down and then back where they came from.
"One last stop at the Divinity Statue and then what is pretty obviously the boss?" He asked, hoping to color his tone.
"I mean, we have some more to spend, and it's always a good thing to be prepared, no?"
Yes, it was a stalling tactic. Yes, both he and Sol knew it. But that wasn't the right question. No, the right question was: would it work?
The path back was empty, and every so often Sol would begin to look up at the ceiling.
"We're heading down, this thing wants us to go further and further down. You think the others caught on to that?" He asked quietly.
Alex didn't stop until he was back in the main room. Only then, after checking thoroughly that it was empty of others, turned and looked at Sol.
"Short answer? No." He started walking towards the entrance to the starting room, where the Statue was. "Long answers: I'm pretty sure that anyone that is going to notice, is not going to say anything. If, and, or when they say anything, they won't be listened to, and if they are listened to, a crisis will make them forget it."
He finished with a shrug of his shoulder, before stopping in front of the statue. "At least, if we were in a story. I don't know if it's going to work or not, so… We'll see, I guess. After you." And he bowed theatrically, taking a step back.
"Are you sure? Well alright then." Sol said before touching the statue.
Looking upon the statue in the void, Sol began to think. He had 1,400 to spar, 100 shy of another blue orb… fuck it he needed something else to go with than failing at the throwing knife.
"Okay, weapons list please." He said simply before the window appeared.
He scrolled through quietly before stopping on an option.
"A little on the nose but what the hell, right?" He thought aloud before clicking on the option Basic Enchanted Handgun 1,000 Red Orbs. It materialized out of the air, a simple semi-automatic handgun with a holster.
"Okay, cool but we're not done yet. Miscellaneous please."
The window closed and reopened, revealing a small list of four items. Looking at his red orb count Sol grimaced slightly. "Only 400 left, I'd have liked to buy more but might as well get what's needed," before taking the Care Package C Option for the medical kit.
"Alright, I guess that'll be all for now." Sol said before reality snapped back into view.
"Okay, I've got a gun which I'll check in a bit, but more importantly, a med kit. I almost bought a vitality star, but figured that could be saved for more dangerous situations."
Alex blinked, before looking at his clothes. "You… didn't take armor?"
There was a moment of absolute silence before Sol dropped his new acquired items, clutched his heads and began to curse at himself. "I'm a certifiable fucking idiot… I'm going to say that I'll buy it next, but watch! I'll spring for a blue orb or, or a vitality star… Ahhh!!! Just, just spend well man. I need a moment."
Hesitantly, Alex patted Sol on his shoulders, before touching the statue.
Yes, the same default page appeared in front of him. Again.
Closing his eyes and praying for patience to the Watcher of Time, he moved away from the windows and went straight to Miscellaneous. He needed something.
"I have a bit more than 1.600 Red Orbs. But I need better clothes. So, Sturdy Clothes for me. then we move back towards the knowledge section and I'm gonna get the Basic Magic Knowledge, so those are 500 more gone. On the other hand, magic, so it's worth it."
He then stopped for a moment, before looking straight at spells. With 950 Red Orbs remaining, he couldn't take a lot, but there was something he could do.
"The upgrades to Bullet are… Ah, here we go. 500 for two bullets at once, 500 for faster fire rate, 600 for faster charging rate, 10.000 for Elemental effects… I didn't expect anything else, really. Also, all the upgrades are clearly the first stage, except the elemental one, so… Let's go with a faster firing rate." After purchasing the option, he was left with too little to do anything else. So, he bowed to the statue and returned back.
Before that, however, he was shown an image of him in his current clothes and then an image in him with his new clothes. Like a paper doll.
Choosing the new clothes instantly, he returned into the room with a pair of black boots that reached his knees, black jeans tucked into the boots to avoid flapping cloth, an elastic belt, a black undershirt and a purple shirt. Over it, a leather duster in black, with gold and purple embroidery.
"How do I look?" He smirked at Sol, deciding to not mention the furious headache that was plaguing him right now, with the knowledge on the basics of magic pushed in his head. They did help in making his spells a little bit stronger, but it was still painful.
Sol was wrapping his forehead in a bandage, before briefly glancing at Alex. "A lot better than me, that's for damn sure. Boots are a good touch too, great for keeping your ankles stable. Ow, dammit." He hissed as he finished the bandage. "That'll probably scar," he said before getting up.
"Well, from what I saw in it…" Alex started speaking, while testing the boots. They were perfectly tailored and didn't need to be broken in. Really magical. "There are two options for armor: these clothes, which are considered Sturdy Clothes. I have no idea how much resistance they will give to blades or similar, but I doubt they are going to do a lot beyond delaying something. Which is good enough for me, I mean. And true armor, I still have no idea what it means. Currently, my mental image is something like the Order of the Sword from DMC 4."
After that, he stopped in front of Sol, a pensive expression on his face. "Where do you think my previous clothes went?
"Well, when I upgraded the axe, the marionette blade went into it, so maybe it was less of you wearing new clothes and more, your old clothes were remade and enhanced to look like that? Who honestly knows, but hey silver lining, new wardrobe and like you said, you'll never need to break it in."
He breathed deeply before continuing "Are you ready to see what lies beneath?"
"Nope!" Alex answered, cheerfully, before turning and starting to walk towards the probable Boss Room. "But the world has never moved as I commanded, so let's go and try to survive. Possibly without the other seeing us. The less times we meet them, the less risk we are in."
His staff swished through the air in lazy arcs, energy sparking over the surface. Still, it was clear that it wasn't a proper demonic weapon. It was just an enchanted one, if the way the sparks came out of random places were any hint of it.
Still better than nothing, but less than the new gun that Sol had gained.
"Speaking of Bosses, how are you going to reload your gun?"
"It said Enchanted, so I'm guessing, more like hoping, it's like Lady's or Dante's pair. Just keep pulling the trigger. If anything it'll be a good way of drawing aggro while you blast whatever we see next into oblivion." Sol stated as they eventually made their way into the branching room.
Sol continued, "Alrighty then, you think this place has nine floors, like in the Comedy. Would this be the first floor and we just keep heading down and down until it just becomes one big ice rink?"
"I really hope not. That being said, I never read the Comedy, so I don't know." Alex muttered, looking around to see if any demon was going to appear in the darkened hallways. For now, the coast was clear. For now.
Still, their steps echoed in the silent air, while the smell of blood and dust was stronger than ever.
The whole thing came soon to an end when they found the stairway down. It was in the same place as before, but it was rather short and brought them to what looked like a balcony made of stone, with what once were comfortable cushioned chairs and an elegantly sculpted balustrade.
Now, it was half destroyed and covered in dust. As well as strange, fleshy looking branches and veins, slightly sticky to the touch and uncomfortable warm. Even then, it was not what was important right now.
No, what was important was that, under them, on what looked like a stage, there were the other people fighting against a big monster made of wood that was also on fire. All three groups.
The University Crew was hanging mostly back, looking like they had the bigger amount of ranged attackers, along with a few defenders that stood in front, along with their Leader.
The Businessman's group were an even mix that kept moving coldly and calculating, their boss shouting orders and calling shots in a very specific way.
Finally, the Businesswoman's crew were going all in with the offense, their leader wielding a giant club like it was nothing.
The two of them didn't say anything or even move, just watched what was happening. Until Alex broke the silence.
"I'm going to guess that we have either missed a Divinity Statue, our way was shorter or they doubled back to gain more power. None of these options are a good thing for us. This said, they are dealing with the Boss, so. Small mercies."
"Maybe, but where'd she get the club? I mean I figured she'd be going all out with her fists but… shit, is that a Fetish down there? Those were the really souped up marionette demons if I remember correctly."
"I honestly don't know, but that's… I wonder what it's called…"
The creature looked like a fetish, if a fetish had a blue overalls and a dual wielded very big flaming blades, along with cackling and shooting balls of fire every now and then.
Boiler Poppet: The Infernal Janitor
Both of them blinked their eyes.
"Did I imagine the… the superimposition of that, like, a photoshoot?" Alex rubbed at his eyes, his voice still low enough that there was no possibility for anyone to hear him.
"Nope, I just saw that too. Boiler Poppet… I'd have named it something else, I don't know, like Infernus: Demonic Purifier… I'm grasping at straws here but, well at least we'll know what we're fighting." Sol said, forcing humor into his voice.
Alex pointed down, towards the stage. "Well, we're not going to fight it."
Sol turned right in time to see the female leader slam her club down on the head of the Boss Monster, completely destroying it. She landed on the stage - which was, against any kind of sense, still perfectly intact, even if it was covered with shards of wood - while the remains of the monsters fell around her, vanishing on the way down, surrounding her with glimmers of red, before a ridiculous amount of Red Orbs exploded from behind her and zipped around the place, each person gaining a different amount.
"They have managed to kill a boss. That's… terrifying." Alex blinked, before gulping and taking a quiet step back. Better not be seen.
Sol did likewise before stating quietly, "Businessman and Sports Max, may be able to keep their groupies together, but this… Karen? If anyone here terrifies me, it's her."
*******************
Cassandra Stevens, or Andi as she was known to her friends, roared in triumph as the Boiler Poppet fell. With a majority of those orbs going to her, she could practically taste the power on offer.
In a very deliberate fashion, she began to turn on her heel, lifting the obscenely large stone club she pilfered from a statue earlier as a show of dominance. Her peons cheered for her, as they should have. The idiot kids were too, but not with any real heart to it.
Fine, she thought. They'd either die or fall in line. It didn't really matter in the long run. Then her eyes caught those of her 'rival.' Joseph Terence Goode or Terry as she knew him. He was as deceitful as a snake and while his little clique was glaring at her, he nodded ever so slightly. She thumbed her nose in response, a well made show of insult done up on the spot.
'They' were going to win this little horror show and if anyone said otherwise, well she'd simply introduce them to her new friend. Briefly, however, her eyes caught movement in an upper level of the chamber, two figures specifically. At first she thought they were more demons, but she recognized one of them. It was the man with the glasses and the other one… What was his name again? It didn't matter. It was a dog eat dog world here and only the strongest pack would survive.
************************
Joseph caught Andi's line of sight and saw the last glimpses of the two figures departing.
"
So they're still alive… fine. Unless they're lucky, they'll never match up to us." He thought to himself.
He had to admit, Andi's plan was on the money. It was easy enough to get people to follow if your voice was loud enough. He just wished, and he knew Andi did too, that they had gotten the others before the resident football, soccer, or whatever sports star opened his dumb mouth. But there was no use crying over lost opportunities. It may actually benefit them in the long run.
"Mr. Goode, she…" One his people began to say before he cut them off.
"Killed that demon before we could, and what should that tell you?" He asked sharply.
"That… that…uh"
"That we lost a valuable opportunity, and next time we speed it the fuck up. Now come on, lick your wounds and do whatever you do best, those orbs won't form themselves."
*************************
Karl was not having a good day but he was trying. After seeing that business woman lift that club with such ease, he knew damn well that Steve would have been grinding his teeth in envy, if he was still alive that is.
For a moment his eyes moved to charred remains of what had once been his most trusted second on the team. He clenched his reflexively, enough where his nails began to draw blood. He never noticed the two onlookers, instead gathering his group into a huddle to discuss what they'd do next.
**************************
As Sol and Alex back tracked, they noticed that a new path had opened. What was once a solid wall, had partially collapsed to reveal a series of stately hotel rooms leading further into the structure.
"I guess her strike must have caused more damage than we realized." Sol said with a shrug, while Alex peered inside.
"I'm just hoping that it won't bring us in contact with them. I'm pretty sure that neither of us would be able to defeat them right now."
Alex then started walking forward, only peering in some rooms cursorily. A glance here and there, until he stopped around the middle of the hallway.
"Jackpot!" His smile could have cut his face in two, so wide it was. And with good reasons.
In the room on his left there was what looked like a big bush, but without leaves or fruits. No, it had red, bulbous growth on it, intersped with thin black branches with thorns. It sprouted straight from the concrete floor, without rhyme or reason.
"We got a Red Orb deposit. You take it, I'm gonna explore some more, see if there's anything interesting around here. I'll stay in shouting distance, don't worry." Alex reassured Sol, before leaving the room.
He started to move down the hallway, carefully and without moving too far away. During his walk, he discovered something… strange.
Each room had a bed, a closet, a desk, an attached bathroom and nothing else. It almost felt like a single room for a dormitory. With a theater stage attached to the same building.
Well, they were in Hell. Logic wasn't really something that held any kind of power over here. But that wasn't the important discovery that he had made. No, the most important thing was another one.
"The water works! And it's warm!" Alex's voice came from one room, only two doors down from where he had left Sol.
As Sol began to smash the red orb deposit with greater speed and ferocity, more and more red orbs began to pour out from the formation. Eventually, the deposit shattered, shards of red scattering to the floor.
As the shards lost their luster Sol began to think to himself, "
The axe must have bit through a weak enough point."
It was then when he heard Alex's voice talking about water. Something hopeful bloomed in his chest and Sol quickly grabbed the med kit and went into one of the rooms. Finding the bathroom, he quickly turned the faucet on, feeling cool water run across his hands. He drank greedily, savoring the cooling water and realizing how much he needed it.
The mirror caught his attention, or more importantly, the blood soaked bandage reflected in it. With a grimace, Sol searched around, and grabbed a towel before placing it opposite the medical kit. Turning the hot water on, Sol slowly unwrapped the bandage, wincing ever so slightly at the act. Looking at the cut, he thought it wasn't as bad looking as it could have been, but he still had to clean it out properly.
"Ah!" Sol exclaimed as the hot water burned at the cut. With greater ease he wiped the blood from his brow, and when dry enough, he redressed it. The mirror however wasn't done with him yet. He noticed something else in the reflection. There was a window overlooking a… city?
"That can't be right." Sol said as he approached the window. Looking out he spied a large city that looked like it fought and lost a fight against a natural disaster. His hands found the latch and in an unconscious attempt, he tried to open the window. It wouldn't budge, and as Sol was seriously considering breaking it open, a large dark shape scuttled in front of it.
Sol backpedaled immediately and had to remind himself that despite the city scape in the window, he and Alex were still in hell.
"Everything's ok?" Alex asked, coming inside from the door, eyes alert. "I heard you yelp. Also, how's the wound?"
"Wound's okay… still hurts… but uh, Spider demon thing, scuttled down the window." Sol said between breaths. "Also tried to get the window open but the latch wouldn't open. You?"
"Found the shower. And the linen closet. Also, here, catch." And he threw a bottle of something at him. It was plastic, dusty and still sealed. It was shampoo.
"I also have body wash, loofah, hair conditioner, towels, and other assorted toiletries. All of them are for girls, but they are closed and - I checked - normal. This place kinda reminds me of a college dorm or something like that. Anyway, You take a shower, I'll stand guard. Then we switch."
Alex's expression turned into a grimace when he touched his hair. "I really need one. Also, food. As soon as possible."
"Nah man, I'm good. That spider thing…" Sol shudders, "I… I don't do spiders and I'd rather just be gone than stay here any longer than we need to."
"I hate bugs, so I understand perfectly." Alex assured Sol, before pointing at the bathroom. "However, we don't know when we are going to get another chance like this, we are sweaty, tired, dirty and we stink. The bathroom's window is too small for a demon to enter easily and, for the weaker ones, breaking the wall is gonna take enough time to let you prepare. Keep your weapon handy, but take a shower. Take the chance to recover for a moment. Trust me, it's gonna be necessary." His eyes were downcast. "Any moment we can get for ourselves is gonna be vital for our mental well being."
"I'm just going to wash my face again, and then find bottles, or other containers instead. Water is more important now, anyway." Sol states before looking for any container he could use.
Occasionally he could be heard muttering the phrase "Fill up the bathtubs with the stoppers down for more water collection, don't leave the water on unless you want to end up like the wet bandits…"
"If you insist. I'm going to take a shower, though. I feel disgusting." Alex twisted his nose, before moving towards the door of the bathroom. "Wash your face, then call me. I'll see if there are any containers around."
"Yeah, will do." Sol said as he began to search the rooms.
"
No way in hell I'm taking a shower in a hotel room with giant spiders. That's some eight legged freaks horror right there. I remember what nearly happened to Johanssen in that movie." He shudders from the mental image and begins to turn over various rooms. In each room, Sol stopped every bathtub he could find and turned the water on. While waiting for the water to fill, he looked around, finding several empty flower vases. Washing them out with hot water, he began to fill them as much as he could. Looking at the containers, Sol took a headcount.
"That's five large vases and two smaller vases. That's not great but not bad either… and if we can still get to this area then that means additional water re-supply." He spied the window and carefully looked through it. Seeing nothing, he tried the latch again. Nothing, no matter how much he tried to move the latches, the window refused to open.
"Looks like we have to find the front door." Sol finished before bringing the water vases into the hallway.
"Uh, quick question…" Alex's head popped from a room, his hair already wet. "How are we going to bring the water with us?"
Without waiting for an answer, he returned into the room. Now, people could say that he was being incredibly stupid in taking a shower without anyone checking on him. And they would be right.
But he wasn't completely stupid: he had pushed a small dresser in front of the bathroom door, had checked every corner and, only then, had started the shower. Warm water cascaded on him and he started his routine.
Shampoo, wash away. Conditioner. Body wash. Wash away everything, then dry. Sadly, there wasn't a hair dryer anyway, so he just tied his hair in a bun after toweling them extensively, and walked out.
All in all, fifteen minutes.
During those fifteen minutes, Sol was lightly bouncing his head off the hallway wall.
"That. Was. A. Stupid. Waste. Of. Time." He stopped before stepping back.
"How the hell does Dante and Co. do all these crazy ass adventures and not take care of basic food and hydration requirements?" He asked himself.
"Maybe it's that demon blood? No, no Lady is fully human so… Maybe blue orbs and physical enhancement reduce physical needs while keeping the body optimized? If we get out of this, I'm going to try to have a good long conversation with Nico and ask how any of this works. Pay for the information in… in demon limbs or something."
He looked back at the jugs, "They're ceramic or porcelain vases, which means they're ultimately fragile, which in turns means that it's damn near impossible for us to take them with us for any long period of time… maybe the food package item at the shop has something? Watch it'll be an infinite canteen or just a canteen that can be refilled whenever some suitable source of water is found. Ah… who knows."
Finally, Alex rejoined him, still a little damp, but clean. Which was the important part.
"You are going to burn out. Try to not pull a Vergil on me, please. This said, the offer to shower is still open." He grinned at him to show that he wasn't really serious, before looking at the vases.
"Again, how are we going to bring them with us? They don't really have a stopper and we don't have a way to safely transport them."
"You're right…" Sol said before pausing. He was silent for a moment before he continued. "Funnily enough though, I'm not really feeling tired… In any other situation, I'd just have liked to pass out and hope this was all some sort of bad dream. But I'm not feeling the need to." Sol stressed. He became quiet for a few moments before continuing.
"I'm not going to pull a Vergil, you don't have to worry about that. But the others… they already are if that little display was any indication. Those business people, they have that damn mindset…" He rubbed his face before clearly trying to change subjects.
"Maybe we could carry one or two of the jugs and leave before entrances. Like guideposts. That way if we find a statue we can at least get some water before pushing forward."
Alex looked at him, before looking at the jugs. They were previous flower vases, so they were big enough, without handles and without a way to comfortably carry them.
"I have a sudden premonition that they will shatter with the first demon attack we met, but sure. It works." He then shrugged and put his staff on his back, using the belt to keep it there. Then, he grabbed one, before turning towards his companion. "Now, which way? I've seen a stairway at the other end of the hallway. One goes down and one goes up."
He turned again, towards the window. "Judging by what it can be seen, we are somewhere around the… second, third floor. So, it's either the roof or the ground floor."
"I'd say ground floor, if only because I still couldn't get those windows open and the idea seems to be we're heading further down this, I almost want to call it a hellish dreamscape." Sol says while grabbing a jug.
"Considering we are in Hell…" Alex let his words trail out, before starting to walk towards the stairs.
"You know another thing I noticed? When the demons appear… The barriers don't."
"Yeah, you're right. Usually we'd have seen that wall of faces and…" Sol paused before a suspicion filled look flashed across his face.
"Except the only place we ever saw a barrier was at the antechamber with the four entrances. If those entrances did and would lead to Boiler Poppet, then that means they're like big boss fight warning signs."
As Sol began to make his way down the stairs he spoke again. "Whoever is doing this is banking on the others not knowing and not asking about those barriers, I can almost guarantee it."
Mid step, he stumbles before continuing "If we're in the Qliphoth, why are we seeing cityscapes, and more importantly why are we heading up it? We're being played, we are being played."
"The Qliphoth doesn't answer the rules of space and time, remember? It grew from Hell into the World of Humans, which is usually impossible." Even as he was saying this, Alex frowned and looked down the stairs. Empty.
No monsters.
"You know what our problem is? We don't know how much of the game was in there for the sake of the… Well, gameplay and game mechanics. And how much is because it happens when things are real."
After saying this, he stopped at the first floor and looked out of the window in front of the stairs. The place looked more and more like a school plus dormitory. "We don't have enough information to make an accurate deduction, we can only infer information from what little we have. And, as everyone can tell you, trying to solve a problem with only half the information is an excellent way to make a mistake."
"So then don't solve it and walk past everything? Wait no, that's what the others are doing. Ha… be kinda interesting if that voice from the beginning spoke again, like a saccharine pep talk or something. Guess we have to solve it to survive." Sol responded before opening a large set of doors.
Beyond them, was what looked like a large hotel lobby, brightly lit, well furnished, and generally opulent. Sol looked back at Alex.
"These places aren't supposed to be together. It's like they're blending almost. Maybe… are these places memories?"
"How could we find out?" Alex pointed out, reasonably, before putting down the vase on the outside of the hall. "Also, I never said that we should just go on and not care about what is happening. I'm saying that we don't have enough information,
at the moment, to try and hazard a guess about what's happening."
He only peered inside the hall without entering.
"However, this place looks a lot like a boss fight in waiting. Put down the vase and enter carefully?" He asked, grabbing the staff from his back and pointing at the large room.
"Yeah." Sol responded before putting the vase down and readying his weapons. The axe in his right hand, gun in his left.
He began to walk down one of the staircase paths leading from the door. Nothing so far, but he did spot at least three doors. One on either side of the lobby and a much larger door leading to the entrance. He tried the door he was closest too, locked.
"Seems like to me that maybe going forward is the way to go?" Sol asked with a shrug. Alex nodded, before looking at the other door. It was slightly ajar.
"I spy, with my little eye, something different. Do you think it's a secret thing or is it the boss room?" The left door that Sol had tried was closed. The main door was also closed, but the right door looked slightly opened.
"Seems too easy. Almost like it's a trap?"
*Groan…*
There was a groaning noise from, like metal having too much weight on it. Looking up, the two saw nothing. A voice began to emanate from that location and the name super imposed itself in their eyes.
"What is this? Two little humans wandering where they should not be, and stealing? Such activities deserve punishment." It spoke, voice creaking like old wood.
From an obscured spot by the front entrance a bizarre caricature of a woman dressed in a dark grey and black high collared dress with a doll motif. It regarded the two briefly before continuing forward.
"Oh fuck." Sol breathed out, face steadily taking on a paler shade.
"Oh fuck." Alex nodded, even if it wasn't a question. He had gone a few shades too pale, too.
She looked proper and prim, dressed like a Victorian matron, all straight laced with a grey shirt tucked into a long black skirt going down to the floor. She was also made of wood - or, at least, had skin that looked like wood - and an expression that could curdle milk just by being near it.
"Entering without invitation, wandering around the girls dorm rooms, stealing supplies that do not belong to you, dirtying the floors… I would go on, but I want to hear what you have to say for yourselves, naughty boys that you are."
Sol briefly shot Alex a look. The kinda look that says 'I'm about to do something REALLY stupid, so get ready.'
Sol cleared his throat, "Well, uh, before we go any further, I'd think it best to introduce a third party by the name of BERETTA!" Sol finished with a shout before firing indiscriminately in Madam Aranea's general direction.
"Get into a better position!" Sol shouted at Alex as he kept firing.
"Wastrel! Prepare to pay with your life!" The demon responded.
Alex didn't answer, between legging it on the other side of the room, a shining sphere already charging on top of his staff, leaving Sol to tank the close combat. It was a division of roles that had worked well for them before.
Before.
"Where do you think you are going?" Her voice grated at his ears, before a ball of webbing exploded in front of him.
"Fuck fuck fuck…." Almost by instinct, he released the charged shot towards the webbing, blowing it up to smithereens and avoiding being entangled. Right after that, he pivoted on his foot, staff already extended, and shot a series of bullets at the demon, all of them impacting better than the bullets that Sol had tried to extend. Mostly because magic projectiles were easier to aim.
Sol came up from behind and tried to hook what he thought was a leg by cutting through the dress's skirt. The axe cut through the cloth, hitting nothing, but hooking around something. Any of the other walking demons that the two had fought previously would have been tripped by this maneuver. However, Madam Aranea merely pitched forward, before that something flared out, striking Sol in the midsection and sending him tumbling back.
"Look what you have done to my skirt." Hissed the demon. "Death may be too good for…" She was cut off by a hail of bullets, striking with a better degree of accuracy.
"Don't really care, you evil clone of Mary Poppins." Sol spoke as he began to get up.
"Don't insult Mary Poppins. She doesn't hold a candle to her." Alex muttered, another charged bullet ready to be shot.
Before he could, however, Madam Aranea turned far faster than what her starched skirt should have allowed her and gestured towards Sol. A series of threads, the glinting that the lights of the hall revealed the only hint at their presence, following her hands. And cutting into the stone around her.
It was a fluke, really, that the charged bullet exploded against her back before she could cut Sol into itty bitty pieces.
Sol moved out the way "Were those webs!? Aw, fuck!" He shouted as closed the distance, aiming this time at her waist, instead of her legs. The axe bit in, and while not as deeply as it had on the rank and file, enough where the demoness let out a painful roar before grabbing Sol by the scruff of his neck and throwing him across the room.
"Gahh!" Sol gasped out as he hit the wall, but still managed to stagger to his feet. Dazed he began to move behind some form of cover.
In the meantime, Alex was doing his very best to get killed. It looked a lot like trying to shoot as many bullets as he could shoot at the demon in front of him, his staff moving in a spiraling motion that never seemed to end.
The bullets hit, for the most part, but the damage was really minimal against the demon. Madam Aranea started advancing towards him, her demeanor stately and clearly unconcerned about the bullets.
"Cease your foolish attempt to stop me from killing you. Show at least a fraction of the dignity that one of my girls would have."
Alex stopped. Looked up at her, and then smirked.
"Ok!" And he shot a single bullet upwards. The chain that held the chandelier aloft snapped and the construction of glass and metal fell down. Right on the demon. Right after that, he threw himself to the side, scrabbling for cover behind the first thing he could find.
Sol looked at the broken remains of the chandelier before calling out to Alex "Sorry for the lack of help, don't really know if this could be considered destruction of private or public property."
Sol's attempt at a laugh was short lived, as the bulk that was Madam Aranea began to shift and move under the broken chandelier. As she stood up, shards of metal and glass jutting out of her at odd angles, the veneer of proper society was absent, only a sneer remained. It was one that belied greater depths of anger. She attempted to move, to remove herself from the pile, but the chandelier must have caught and trapped her skirt, because as she did so, it tore away.
Sol realized why his first strike hooked around something instead of biting into it. Four doll-like legs, similar to a spider, maneuvered themselves out from under the torn skirt.
"The web attacks, the spider demon I saw earlier… oh fuck me running."
She looked down and then back up at the two. "Impertinent humans, die!" And she jumped.
Now, all that goes up - as long as it's still trapped in Earth's gravity - must come down. This is true for humans.
For demons, not so much. As Madam Aranea reached the ceiling and stood there almost as if she was standing on a normal floor, her four sharp legs, reminiscent of spider ones, supported her without a problem.
"Any ideas?" Alex asked Sol, charging another bullet on the top of his staff, ready to… try and do something. He wasn't even sure.
"Break… shoot at her leg joints! Demons might be bullshit but I doubt they can maintain a strong grip on walls without at least three points of contact." Sol said before he took and fired at one of Madam Aranea's front legs. He hadn't been counting rounds before but he figured he didn't have to and kept pulling the trigger.
Some of the bullets struck true, others missed and hit the wall behind it. However, only a few kept hitting. As soon as four or five bullets had managed to hit her legs, she jumped away from her position, a blur of movement so fast that neither of them could keep track of her.
Until she landed, in front of Alex. Again, it was a stroke of luck that saved him, as the charged bullet he was keeping got released and exploded right in front of him. And on her.
This time, the blow pushed her away from him, black scorch marks on her body showing where she had been hit.
"I'm getting tired of this!" Aranea shouted before the sound of bullets pinging off wood and metal sounded again. Sol had resumed firing, aiming at the spot he had been targeting. Several more rounds hit before she jumped back and moved across the wall.
Without stopping, she started rapidly spewing webs and white, silk-thin metallic-looking strands of web started to cover the place at around chest height.
"Come here!" Alex managed to shout at Sol, before a thread shot directly at him. Without thought put into it, he interposed the staff between him and the attack.
The top of the staff got cut off without resistance.
"Fuck me." Alex groaned, before dropping on the ground and rolling away from another volley of threads. The weapon was still usable… for the next five minutes. After that, it would either explode or just die down.
Sol wanted to reach Alex while laying as much fire on Madam Aranea as he could but that web blast killed that plan. He looked at the gun in his hand for a moment and tossed it over, shouting "Alex! Take it!"
Sol drew his knife in his off hand and prepared to charge the demon.
"No, don't…!" Alex dropped the staff and grabbed the gun somewhat awkwardly, before pointing the shooting end towards the demon.
"I'm no good with a gun, why did you even…. Argh!" Energy started to collect in front of the muzzle, before it shot forward, the charged bullet working with the weapon.
The charged shot struck the demon in one of her legs, blasting it apart. She pitched forward, howling in pain as her center of gravity was gone. Sol was running, and brought his axe down on the leg he'd been firing at. Swinging several times, the axe cut through the appendage before he had to run as she prepared another web blast.
He just barely dodged it, and the blast sheared through the stone wall behind him.
"You horrible children! I will make stew with your meat, bread with your bones, and pickle your eyes!" The shrill voice of the demon grated on their ears, before she started trying to move once more, her legs managing to keep her vaguely upright. Vaguely.
She was swaying like a drunk, before she shot her hands upwards. Threads latched onto the ceiling and raised her in the air, before her legs started to… move.
One shot forward, extending like a spear, towards Sol. The other, towards Alex.
Alex raised his hand, suddenly remembering something, and a translucent barrier appeared in front of him, the spear hitting it and shattering it, but not killing the guy. Which was the important part, really.
Sol on the other hand, jumped and then initiated Air Hike, dodging the spear and rolling as he hit the ground. As he came up, he threw his knife as hard as he could at the demoness. The knife struck the demoness' head pommel side, causing her to agonizingly twist herself to face his direction.
"Yep, I think I'll be sticking with guns from here on out," Sol said before dodging another spear.
"Good idea!" Alex charged another shot, although this one went wide as the demon swayed on the threads holding her aloft, before throwing the gun towards Sol. "Here, take it back!"
Right after that, he had to raise another barrier to stop the leg from impaling him from side to side.
Sol grabbed the handgun, raised it, and fired. Madam Aranea attempted to dodge, only being able to shift her head, but it wasn't fast enough. Several of the bullets struck one of her eyes, disorientating her. Flailing, the demoness began to throw blasts of web wildly, forcing Sol to retreat.
"Finish her!" Sol shouted.
"Oh, damn you, you stupid demon." Alex muttered, the recovered staff in his hands starting to smoke and spark. Energy flowed from his hands and body into the wood, the symbols on the side lighting up and shedding purple light on his hands.
Then, after a few moments, he changed position, grabbing the remains of the staff like a spear, the start of a bullet appearing at the tip.
"Eat this." And he threw the staff.
Maybe it was the magic that he had poured into it, maybe it was luck, maybe it was because, in her violent thrashing, Madam Aranea moved. It didn't matter, in the end, as the broken staff hit the center mass of the demon.
Then, it exploded.
And the demon with it.
The light and sound from the explosion were deafening, however the effect soon. Where the demon once stood, lay a pile of broken limbs, melted stone, the burning remains of cloth and wood, and an absolute mass of red orbs.
"The only good spider is an obliterated spider," Sol said, grinning before breathing, hissing, and clutching his side. "I think she bruised a rib or two… god I hope it's just bruising." He finished, before the front doors opened on their own.
"That uh… that wasn't me." He continued, shakily.
Behind them there was a short hallway. At the end, a Divinity Statue, and only that.
"Oh, look, a Divinity Statue. Maybe we should use it. I mean we got…" Alex started saying, before stopping and looking like he had just been slapped with a fish. Eyes wide and unseeing, mouth hanging open, body slack, air going out of his mouth, but with no sound.
"Ten… Ten thousand Red Orbs."
"Each!?" Sol responded before checking. "Holy Shit, yeah!" He shouted, before continuing, "Well no time like the present am I right?"
"Definitely. Physical Upgrade, here I come!" Alex shouted, getting up and power walking - as he was a bit sore from being thrown backward from the attack before - towards the Divinity Statue.
However, when he reached it, he stopped cold for the second time in two minutes.
"Hey, maybe I'm… I don't know, concussed or hallucinating or trapped into a coma dream, but… Isn't that a glowing red circle on the ground that is emitting red mist and also having the name 'Gate of Hell' on the edge? Granted, the last thing is in Enochian, so you probably can't read it, but…" He stopped, clearly not computing, before turning towards Sol with a lost expression.
"Are we… Is this a crossover? Are we in Bayonetta? What is happening?"
"Man, I don't know, but if this is and that is the portal to what you say it is, then that probably means yes… Wasn't it implied that Eva was an Umbran? I mean look, if it is, then that may mean better weapons. My axe wasn't doing all that good against the spider back there and you need a replacement staff so… Why not?" Sol responded.
"You are absolutely right." Alex nodded, before running back and grabbing as much of the demon's corpse as he could.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I meant to post this yesterday evening, but co-worker wanted to hand out last night and I didn't get back in until almost 11-12, and I was touch too tired to do final proofreading. On the upside, doing it now allowed me to catch some tense issues with some of Sol's dialogue. So, that's always a plus. Next chapter is going to be released either on this coming Tuesday or Wednesday.
