Boss
Disclaimer: Black Lagoon and its characters © Rei Hiroe
The grand cathedral stretched on for miles. It was a testament of glory built long ago by a King inspired by endless dreams and countless revelations of otherworldly creatures coming to him in the night. It was a spectacular building adorned with gold, marble and precious gemstones, stained glass windows that gave off a vibrant glow of color, even in the darkest of hours. Outstanding images of saints and angels overlooked the vast domain, as though to tell all who entered its doors and beheld the building's magnificent glory that the eyes of Paradise were always upon them. It was regarded as a beautiful, holy sanctuary.
A deformed creature bared its teeth and roared as it leaped through the air. Its head burst like a melon with a bang and the body dropped to the floor.
"Repulsive demons, reside in netherworld with the rest of your brethren!"
More grotesque creatures jumped towards the man, all of them suffering the fate of their fallen brother as several more gunshots rang in the air. When the echoes faded, the silver haired man lowered his dual pistols and coolly allowed his eyes to wander along the scenery. The long, black trenchcoat decorated with an obscene yet somehow fashionable amount of straps and buckles waved fluidly as a cold wind blew through the massive cathedral. Countless corpses were strewn about. Golden statues were colored crimson. White marble aisles were flooded with blood and all of the stained glass windows were shattered from the fight. He adjusted his sunglasses and tipped his hat. What a pity.
A shrill wail came in from behind him. He turned around and saw a gray, malnourished harpy with a gaping hole in its chest, mouth agape and talons outstretched, eager to tear into his flesh. Damn, it was still alive! He thought he finished it off ages ago.
He moved to lift and take aim with the gun, but the monster had closed the distance so swiftly that it would tear off his head before he had a chance to pull the trigger. The harpy swooped in and its talons were inches away from his face. That was as far as it got.
A roar drowned out the harpy's shriek and speckles of blood peppered the man's face as a feminine figure passed through a wall and jumped on the harpy's back, pinning it to the floor and digging spinning metallic teeth into the monster's skull.
"Your guns are so unreliable," she teased. The silver haired man ignored the critique on his choice of weaponry and sighed in relief.
"Chainsaws are much better. It's a one hit kill." The deadly femme lifted the weapon attached to her right arm and grinned. Her porcelain white flesh was stained with blood from previous ventures, a bright red splatter across her cheek.
"So long as we aren't battling hydras," he countered. "I see you're finished with the West Wing." He looked his companion up and down. The purple and black Victorian-esque dress she wore was soaked with blood. He always wondered how the woman managed to fight in such attire.
With a wry smile and a nod, she shifted her position and seemed to glide across the floor, checking the bodies to make sure there were no survivors. Her companion cautiously placed his weapons in their holsters and followed her example. They traveled so far and fought so hard to get to this point, and they were not going to die at the hands of cannon fodder, or any other beast for that matter.
"Gunshot wounds, all of them. You didn't use magic in this situation? What kind of wizard are you?" It was a facetious question, but the Wizard took it seriously.
"Against these atrocities? Energy has higher value than ammunition. You know we can only use our abilities sparingly in this wretched place. I'm surprised you're not showing any signs of fatigue after passing through all these objects."
"You're not very good at detecting sarcasm, are you?" Looking around the bloodied cathedral as she nudged a butchered goat head of a what could have been from a chimera with the tip of her chainsaw, she clicked her tongue.
"They're all dead," the woman confirmed.
"Do you think there aren't any others?" he asked suspiciously. She understood his tone.
"I don't like this silence. Something is wrong."
"The two of us have endured more these past months than most have their entire lives on this hellish journey," he stated warily, looking over his shoulder. "We've battled rogues and malevolent djinn in the desert. We've clipped the wings of harpies and sirens in the air and sea. We've faced corrupt deities and wicked spirits at every turn. We've destroyed temples and guardians and revealed what they have spent an eternity to keep hidden. We've slain hordes of undead atrocities in unimaginable realms. We've been battered and broken along the way, but always emerged victorious despite the severity of our injuries. While this final stretch has not been a leisurely encounter, we still defeated these demons. Yet I cannot accept that this is the end of our quest. This is too..."
"Easy," she completed.
"Nothing has ever been easy for us. Why now? I am certain this is battleground of our final confrontation, but any one of the creatures in this plethora of demons," he gestured to the endless piles of bodies in the cathedral, "Could not be the entity we have searched so arduously for." They hung their heads down, clearly vexed.
The Ghost Woman half-heartedly looked at a puddle of blood in the distance, and she blinked. It was slowly getting smaller. She tugged at the thick leather that covered her partner's shoulder and pointed with the chainsaw. The Wizard looked over.
"The blood..."
"It's disappearing?" As the puddle shrunk, they took notice that it was also happening to the larger crimson pools. They both had an epiphany.
"How many people died trying to build this cathedral again?"
"If the legends are true? Twenty thousand."
"And the king?"
"Went insane. Killed his family and committed suicide after it was completed."
They had expressions of self-loathing at their realization. They accidentally made an offering. How could that have been so blind? Every single opponent they killed in the cathedral served to be a sacrifice. The vengeful spirits were drinking all of the blood.
Blood seeped into the floors, the walls, the statues, everything it touched. The bodies decomposed into dust and the ground shook violently. The cathedral began to crumble around them and a giant crack appeared beneath the alter.
The Wizard grabbed the Ghost Woman and shielded both him and herself underneath his large trenchcoat from the falling debris.
The crack grew to a gargantuan size. Fire, brimstone, and smoke flew out in every direction and surrounded the area in the form of a massive tornado, embers and disembodied spirits swirling. There emerged a beast cloaked in shadows, three heads thrashing, rows of razor sharp teeth coated with blood, leathery wings beating the air, its body covered with tendrils winding like serpents. With every breath, it released a cloud of what could only be described as poisonous gas. It swiped at the duo. They jumped and rolled away, barely avoiding its claws.
"Things are never easy for us," mused the Ghost Woman. Still facing the monster, she looked at her partner through the corner of her eye. "Is this a satisfying ending now?"
"No, not yet," he said calmly. The Wizard drew his weapons. Following suit, the Ghost Woman started her chainsaw. Despite their situation, they both smiled.
As if to initiate their battle, the creature threw its heads back and roared. The duo charged.
It was at that moment that the entire land went pitch black.
- 0 - 0 - 0 -
Leaning against the wall and flipping the light switch on, a disgruntled Shenhua held a plug between her fingers.
"It three o'clock in the morning and you two still awake playing games! What wrong with you?"
Sawyer and Rotton were full of shock and grievance. They had been playing the game since early morning of the previous day. The rings under Sawyer's eyes were darker than usual and the bright red veins threatened to touch the dark blue of her irises. As always, Rotton's eyes were obscured by his sunglasses, but it was likely they were in the same condition. The controllers to the game console were gripped tightly in their hands.
"Shenhua, we have been playing this game for hours," Rotton said, almost whispering.
"We were... on the... last boss fight..." For one rare moment, the pauses in Sawyer's speech were due to her own will rather than the delay of her ultravoice.
"We didn't save before the final battle."
"We have to go... through the cathedral... all over again..."
"I don't care," Shenhua said. She had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, and as she stated, she didn't care. "I not appreciate you keeping my TV on so long. You think electricity bill pay itself?"
Sawyer and Rotton finally managed to rip their eyes away from the screen and look at Shenhua.
"But... the game..." Sawyer pointed to the console. Rotton nodded numbly in agreement. The Taiwanese woman placed her hands on her hips.
"There be other days you can play game. Not good to spend all day and night in front of TV. It not healthy and it rot your brain. Plus, you both break deal! You tell me you stop playing twenty minute after I go to sleep earlier and here I see you still playing!"
"Shenhua, it was the last fight. We were going to be done soon," Rotton protested.
"You could have... given us... ten more minutes..." Sawyer crossed her arms across her chest and pouted, sinking into the couch. Shenhua stood her ground and crossed her own arms authoritatively.
"In past when I give you more time, you both turn ten minutes into one hour. No more. You stop now and get some rest. Clean up and come to bed." At that command, Sawyer and Rotton glanced at each other, then back at Shenhua.
"... Do we... have to?"
There was an unnatural chill in the air as Shenhua's eyes narrowed to dangerous extremes.
Not wanting to test her patience, the Cleaner and the Wizard did as they were told. They tiredly and solemnly went about cleaning up their gaming area, the both of them mourning the loss of their final battle.
At seeing this, Shenhua shook her head and rolled her eyes.
Children, she was looking after two overgrown children.
THE END
A/N: This story was inspired by a quote Hiroe made in the Black Lagoon Swim Suit Issue. "I wonder why she's living with them. Maybe she likes to be their daycare mother or something."
If that's the case, she must have her hands full looking after Sawyer and Rotton.
I left out the ellipses in VG-Sawyer's speech on purpose. The character is written as a ghost type of lady in the game as opposed to a human with a missing larynx, so I decided that a mechanical pause wasn't necessary.
Cheers.