KappeZ: I updated! Is anyone else amazed? Sorry for the huge delay. I had put this story aside to work on a more vital project. My friends and I are starting a manga, and I'm doing the story. I started playing Disgaea again recently, thus my rekindled inspiration. I'll keep on writing this fic, though it's kinda backseat right now.
Prinny: Just get on with the story, dood!
KappeZ: Okay, okay, geez...
A dark wind howled across the rocky landscape. The netherworld sky had darkened, leading the four figures below to the assumption it was night time here. They took a moment to take in their new scenery after emerging from the rip in space behind them. Dead trees and stone formations littered the uneven land. Tall, jagged mountain ranges could be seen black against the starry night sky. The largest figure, a suit of living armor spoke: "So, this is the place?" His voice broke over the sound of the wind like a rumble of deep thunder.
A lean but muscular female demon clad in black crushed a dead branch beneath her heel. "I thought it would be more impressive than this. Where are all the powerful warriors, Lord Taron?" she growled.
"Patience, Seshira," spoke a figure wearing armor the colour of dried blood. His spikey white hair blew wildly in the wind. He glared at the landscape with his cold, narrow eyes, taking in the sight of a world he had lived in once before. It was both nostalgic and repulsing to finally be back in this netherworld.
"What's our next move?" spoke the last figure, a demon with jet black hair and a studded leather vest. He glanced idly at the large black rip in space behind them, which was slowly starting to shrink.
There was a pause as the demon called Taron continued to glare off to the distance. Then, he turned to his three vassals. "The time has come. We will make our way to the Overlord's Castle. There I will extract my revenge."
Laharl and Xavia had ascended to the next part of the cavern. It was a lot more open on this floor. Stone stairways continued upwards in various directions, giving the cavern a strange mazey look. More crystals hung on cielings and pillars, casting their dim light upon the various platforms. There were several boilers strewn throughout the cavern with pipes leading to the ceiling. Stalagmites continued to jut out in odd places.
"This place just keeps getting wierder," Laharl noted. "What's up with all the boilers?" Before an explanation could materialise, they heard loud gunshots and several roars and shrieks on a platform above. Xavia and Laharl dashed up the steps to see the commotion firsthand.
Jeryk the scout, Etna's vassal, was fighting off two berserk golems and a spectre wearing a red wide-brimmed witch's hat. With clenched teeth, Jeryk fired the last of his clip of bullets into one of the golems, who took it all in like a giant marshmallow being stuffed with chocolate chips. The other golem sent its fist into the spot where the scout had been standing seconds before. The spectre seemed to be in charge, and was screeching out orders while charging a spell in its hands. Jeryk was about to reload, when a skeletal soldier lunged at him with a sword brandished. A ball of hellfire rushed out of nowhere and collided with the skeleton. Bones flew in every direction, and the sword it had been holding narrowly missed Jeryk's head as he ducked in time to aviod the boney shrapnel. When he looked back up he saw, to a degree of relief, Overlord Laharl and Xavia the swordmaster enter the fray.
"Oi, what took ya so long?" he shouted over the sound of a nearby explosion while he reloaded his gun, the custom made 'Tiamat mk2'.
"Just be glad we decided to salvage your butt!" Laharl shouted back while deflecting the spectre's spell of giant icicles. Xavia executed a lightning-fast Blade Rush which severed the other golem horizontally in two. It began to search for its lower half as the rest of the enemy demons made a hasty retreat. Laharl pinned the defeated spectre to a rocky wall with one hand, and held a Blazing Knuckle inches from its hooded face with the other. "Alright, speak up if you know what's good for you. Where are we?"
"Th-the cellar," was all the spectre said, in his high ethereal voice.
"The cellar of what?" Laharl demanded, holding his burning fist a little closer to the ghostly foe.
"Th-the palace!" he quickly replied.
"So, we are in the Overlord's Castle. Where are the rest of my vassals?"
"Your vassals?" The spectre peered up at the demon child before him.
Laharl was getting impatient. "Yes, you idiot, my vassals! I am Overlord Laharl! And if you don't answer my questions, we'll have the pleasure of finding out what barbequed ghost tastes like!"
"I-I don't know! You were all teleported to different parts of the dungeons!" The spectre attempted to squirm away from the burning fist, but Laharl grasped his cloak tighter by the neck.
"And how do we get out of here?"
"Up the stairs..."
Laharl glanced briefly at the many winding stone staircases that lead upward. "Well, duh! Which stairs?"
The spectre seized the opportunity. He motioned to point at the correct staircase, then a blinding flash of light issued from his gloved hand. "Arrgh!" Laharl instinctively let go of the spectre to cover his dazzled eyes, but before he could correct his mistake, it was too late. The spectre had vanished. "Rrrgh! Where did he go?" Laharl glanced in every direction, but only staircases and boilers were to be seen.
"He kinda went ethereal and faded into the wall." Jeryk, who had the keenest eyes, had seen his escape while squinting through the bright light. "Ghosts are slippery that way, eh?"
"What shall we do about this one?" Xavia pointed her sword at the upper half of the severed golem, who had been trying to crawl away when nobody was looking. He proved much more willing to point them in the right direction, and soon the three were hurrying up the staircase leading to the upper level, leaving the golem to be joyously reunited with his lower half.
"Hey, wait...Are golems supposed to be cut in two?" Laharl questioned, never really having learned golem anatomy.
"Beats me," Jeryk shrugged. "The demons in this netherworld do seem a bit different though, ya think?"
"I agree. This place is as alien to us as we are to it," said Xavia.
"Seems pretty similar to me-" Laharl's mouth hung open in mid speech as he beheld the large room they had climbed to. Wild flowers and plants were growing from all corners of the uneven floor, which was nothing more than dirt. The room was oval shaped, about the size of a hockey rink. From the ceiling, shafts of light were pouring in, indicating they were not far from the surface. Othar than that, it looked just like a dungeon with gray brick walls. The flowers were a wide veriety of shapes and colours. Some of the larger ones were bigger than Laharl. "What the? It looks like someone opened up Flonne's head in here!" The description would have been accurate, except that some of the plants in the underbrush were rather thorny and vicious-looking. The young overlord picked up a faint noise from a bundle of flowery vines on the ground nearby. They trembled slightly. "Oh great, let me guess…" They each drew their weapons, prepared for the whole room to suddely attack them, when a figure in dark ninja garb emerged from the tangled greenery and collapsed face-first into the soil. There were scratches all over his bandaged arms and legs, but he looked the worst for wear when he lifted his head to reveal red puffy eyes.
"L-Lord Laharl..." Ricon gasped, pulling himself up to a stand. He coughed and hacked as he made his way toward his young master.
"Ricon? What happened to you?" Laharl looked puzzled at the state of one of his strongest vassals, subdued by plants, then remembered. "Oh, right, allergies."
"I must apologise," the allergy-stricken shinobi lowered his head, "I was unable to detect the trap. It was a well-hidden portal in the floor, activated by some unknown magic." He ended his sentence with another coughing fit.
"Well, it's too late to care now. Let's hurry up and find the others," Laharl said hastily, turning back to the staircase that continued upward. What they didn't see, was some of the underbrush give a faint lurch, and a kunai impaled on the largest, thorniest plant that was limp and defeated.
Ricon and the others followed, also noting their overlord seemed rather hasty for a demon who claimed to feel compassion for no one. Etna, Flonne, and Nikka were still unaccounted for, and who knows how big this castle was? The portal in the floor had not only seperated them, but had strategically placed them all in dangerous places. Who knows what kind of peril the others were facing right now?...
"Kyaaaah! No! Not that!" Flonne's high pitched scream echoed across the hall adorned with stone pillars and lava pits. Herself and Nikka were tied securely to one of the pillars, and were surrounded by a troupe of skeleton soldiers. The leader of the troupe, a manticore wearing an intimidating black leather mask, held up a long feather while his soldiers removed their footwear.
"Nooooo, my shoes! Those were really expensive!" Nikka squirmed and kicked, giving the skeletons a difficult time in the process.
"P-please! Have mercy!" pleaded Flonne, who was exceptionally weak to tickle-torture.
"Let's get started, shall we?" The masked manticore held the feather dangerously close to her toes.
"Noooooo! Help!" Flonne squealed, hoping somehow Laharl or any of the vassals would appear and rescue them.
"Talk! Who's your leader? What are the invasion plans?" barked the manticore.
"I told you, we're not invaders!" the fallen angel pleaded desperately. The manticore commenced tickling, and Flonne burst out in frantic laughter, tears streaming down her face.
"I'll get you for this, you big meanie!" Nikka continued writhing in her bonds, teeth clenched in stubborn but futile defiance.
"Lets see you try, mage girl." The manticore cackled. "Too bad you're tied up and can't use spells. It's your turn now. Talk!" He held the feather under Nikka's feet next.
"As if!" the mage promptly stuck out her tongue at their captors, only to get a tickling of a lifetime. "Kyaaahahahaaa!" Nikka shrieked, causing some of the skeleton soldiers to instinctively cover the sockets of their non-existant ears.
"You'd better start talking now," the manticore barked. "Or should we move up to the next level?" With an evil grin, he pulled out a longer, finer, somehow more intimidating feather.
"Eeek!" Flonne squirmed in horror. "I swear we're not invaders! Please let us go!"
After another round of tickles yielded no information, the manticore decided to up the ante. "So, you're still gonna be difficult? Well, I guess it's time for round three." He stuck the feather in a basin of fire, causing it to ignite. He pulled out the flaming feather with a sadistic smile. "How about this? It tickles and burns at the same time! Gwaahahahahaa!"
"No...way..." Flonne looked like she was ready to faint, while Nikka just gazed at the flaming feather with awestruck horror.
"Feel like talking now? Gwahaha-" the manticore's sadistic laughter was cut off by the force of someone landing on his head. The flaming feather drifted to the ground and extinguished. Standing on the faceplanted torturer was a familiar red-haired, black clad demoness, spear drawn.
"Hey guys! You seemed to be in a bit of a bind, so I thought I'd drop in."
"Etna!" Flonne squeaked with delight.
"Mistress!" Nikka squealed happily.
"Yeah, I know, too many bad puns."
"Mrrgh!" the manticore lurched, forcing Etna to jump off his head. He stood abruptly, leaving behind an interesting shape in the stone floor. Bits of gravel clung to his black leather mask, his eyes furious. "Who did that?" he bellowed, glancing around wildly.
"Over here, Kinky Man," Etna taunted from behind him.
The masked manticore whirled around and took a blind, furious swipe at Etna, but the demoness was no longer there. She had vaulted with a handstand over his head, and landed near the pillar where the fallen angel and her vassal were tied. With a downward swipe of Longinus, she freed them from their bonds. "Oh, thank you Etna!" Flonne instantly ran up and gave their red-haired savior a bear hug, with Nikka following suit.
"G-guys! Cut it out! That's embarassing, geez..." Etna tried to pry herself free from the overdose of gratitude.
The manticore gazed livid at the trio, then equally livid at his idle troops, who simply stood and gazed cluelessly at the scene. "What are you boneheads doing? Get them!" his roar shook the halls.
The skeleton soldiers abruptly snapped to life, drawing their weapons and charging at them. Etna, Flonne, and Nikka quickly found themselves in a tight situation. Etna swung her spear, knocking away the closest boney warrior. Flonne held out her arms to cast a shield spell to block a flank attack. The light of the spell quavered wildly from their blows. "Th-this would be a lot easier if I had my staff."
"Same here." Nikka roasted some skeletons who tried to go for an opening in the spell. They were getting too close for comfort, and her spells could not travel as far without her staff's amplification.
Etna spun around, taking two more skeletons out in the process. "You're stuff's over there," she pointed to the far end of the hall where two huge suits of armor stood on either side of an unceremonious pile of Flonne and Nikka's belongings. Sure enough, their staves lay on top of the stack of travel bags, purses, and footwear. One staff was angelic and silver, the other with black bat wings. "I'll distract them, you two go for it," Etna twirled her spear, causing a hurricane to form and blow back a large number of skeletons.
Nikka and Flonne ran for it, bare feet patting the warm stone floor, heated from their proximity to the lava pools on either side. They made it halfway there when some soldiers emerged to intercept them. "Outta the way, smelletons!" Nikka shouted, blasting them away with a powerful star spell. Flonne contributed with a round of holy arrows, fired from her fingertips. Their combined spells were enough to knock them away like Jenga blocks. "That's for getting your grubby hands all over my shoes!" Nikka stuck her tongue out at the piles of bones as they ran by.
"How do you know those were the ones who took our shoes?" Flonne asked.
"I dunno, they all look the same to me!" confessed the mage.
The duo managed to reach their belongings without further incident. Nikka instantly grabbed her expensive, shiny red shoes and inspected them for damage. "Oh, nooo! They're all smuged," she whined, cradling them like infants.
"It's okay," Flonne reassured her, while donning her long white boots. "I have some great shoepolish from Celestia back at the castle."
"Helloooo? You guys mind giving me a little help here?" Etna shouted back indignantly, while fending off the army of skeleton warriors.
"Oh, right! Coming Etna!" Flonne picked up her silver staff and was about to run back to help.
"Eeeek! Look out!" Nikka shrieked. Flonne turned back just in time to see one of the giant suits of armor draw it's huge sword. She quickly darted out of the way as the blade slammed into the ground. She turned back in time to see the other suit of armor take a swing at Nikka. Flonne raised her staff and cast a huge gust of wind that blew it back. It was times like these the fallen angel was glad she had learned some elemental spells during her stay in the netherworld. Nikka grabbed her staff and ran behind Flonne, looking horrified. "S-scary!"
"It's okay, I think we can take 'em." Flonne reassured the mage, gripping her staff firmly. The suit of armor that had been hit with the wind spell got up. It was completely unscathed. "Or...maybe not?" Both suits of armor advanced on them, one with it's giant sword, the other with a huge menacing axe. Angel and mage both glanced at each other in a moment of mutual thought; 'RUN!'
Just as the duo turned to flee, the giant sword crashed to the floor in front of them, and the other suit of armor closed in on them. Flonne and Nikka huddled together in terror beneath it's menacing shadow. Maybe I should've stayed behind after all... Flonne grimly thought.
"N-nooo...I'm too cute to die!" Nikka cried. They braced for the final, merciless blow...
The wall behind the suits of armor exploded, sending huge chunks of stone debris into them, knocking them away. A loud and familiar laugh reverberated throughout the hall: "Haaaaahahahahahaaa!"
The dust blew aside to reveal a certain spikey-haired young overlord standing in a huge hole in the wall that he created. Arms crossed, he surveyed his destructive handiwork with satisfaction, until...
"Laharl!" Flonne leapt up and tackled him into a vice-like hug.
"F-Flonne? What're you...Get off! You're ruining my cool and fiendish entrance!" Laharl wriggled free of the angel's grip.
"I'm so glad you're here! I thought we were goners."
"Who else is here?" Laharl inquired, as Xavia, Ricon, and Jeryk leapt up on the wall to join them.
"Etna's fighting over there," Flonne pointed urgently across the hall where a mass of skeleton soldiers were clustered, "and Nikka...Oh my!" Flonne caught sight of the mage lying unmoving on the ground, surrounded by debris, and leapt down to see if she was alright. Laharl and co. followed. "Oh, good, looks like she just fainted." Flonne breathed a sigh of relief after examining the unconscious mage.
"You and Ricon stay here and look after her," Laharl commanded, "The rest of us will go see if Etna's still alive..."
"This totally sucks..." Lyle the thief moaned, wiping grime off the tiles of the bathroom floor. He was still carrying out his sentence of cleaning the abandoned wing of the castle, and had been at it for over three days now. Fortunately, he managed to 'enlist' the help of some prinnies.
"Cheer up, dood. At least you're not us," one prinny was wiping the bowl of a toilet sparkly clean. "There's no way we'd get away with stealing the King's throne. We'd be deep-fried into prinny-bits for sure, dood."
"Yeah, well I'm too awesome, so there's no way anything like that would happen to me," Lyle boasted.
"Whatever you say, dood. Just remember our bonus pay."
"Yeah, yeah."
Lyle and the prinnies continued to toil away, completely unaware that just outside the castle, four shadowy figures plotted their takeover...
Part 7 -Fin
