KappeZ: By the flames, I'm still working on this thing? Looks like it.
Prinny: It only takes you what...a year to update?
KappeZ: Gimme a break. I've been busy, okay?
Prinny: *glances at copy of Disgaea 4* Uhh, sure, dood.
KappeZ: Anyway, in all seriousness, the comic I've been working on with my fellow geeks now has a website! (Please see my profile for the url. The editor is being a giant jerkbag, and not letting me post it here. ^_^") Please take a look and let me know what you think!
Prinny: Less talky, more story, dood!
KappeZ: Yeah, yeah...
Etna led Xavia, Jeryk, Zaeon, and Lyle down the hall. Suits of armour, weapons on racks, and torches lined the stone walls. Though they had to find and destroy the 'No Entry' geo symbol to reach the upper floors, Etna was in no hurry. She kept the pace casual, though held sharp eyes, ready to spot potential traps. The lack of traps so far was a little...unsettling. I'm sure the Prince has stumbled headlong into some traps of his own right now. Serves him right for being such a brat.
"I forgot how long this hall was," Zaeon said conversationally, desiring to break the silent tension. "I haven't been down here in decades."
"Yeah," agreed Jeryk. "The only ones who probably have are Lyle and Xavia."
Lyle scratched his head. "I just come here to swipe stuff. N-!" he caught a look from Xavia. "N-not that I would take anything important, y'know, just..." The thief's voice died with a meek, high-pitched chuckle.
Xavia said nothing. She drew her sword.
"Iieeeeee!" Lyle shrieked, hiding behind a suit of spikey armour.
But Xavia's blade was not directed at the thief. She stared at the hallway before them, awaiting the dark presence she had sensed to show itself.
"Looks like we have company," said Etna, sensing it too. She drew out Longinus. Jeryk was right behind her, his custom gun, Tiamat mk. 2, held steady. Zaeon was further back, bowstring drawn. Lyle simply poked his head out from behind the armour to witness the tall, caped figure emerge from down the hall to greet them.
"Why hello, my dear Etna. Welcome back." The figure grinned, revealing sharp, pointed canines.
"You..." Etna stared at the vampire before her.
"I hope you have noticed a few changes," Maderas held up his hands in a grand gesture. "Not only has there been a change in leadership, but a change in power. My power is greater than ever before!"
"Oh, is that all?" Etna scoffed. "For a second there, I thought it was something significant."
Maderas look stung, but only for a second. His angular face turned calm, and he gave her a cool gaze. "And what is significant to you, Etna? Is there anything...personal that you may have left unguarded during your absence?"
He's bluffing, thought Etna, yet her mind strayed to a secret room in the castle that contained a rather personal book. No one knows about that room except for me. There's no way he knows about that. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied calmly.
"Personal...?" Lyle pondered. "Like bras, or panties, or-" He was cut off by the force of a demonic fireball to the forehead cast by his mistress.
"Hmmhmm," Maderas chuckled, licking his lips. "I'm sure you know what I mean."
"Okay, you're starting to creep me out," Etna held Longinus towards the devious vampire. "What the hell did you steal from me this time?"
"You were quite careless to leave something so tempting in an accessible place," Maderas scorned. "After all, you're not the only one in this castle with a sweet tooth..."
"No...way..." Etna gazed at the vampire, her crimson eyes burning with lethal intent. "You didn't..."
"Revenge, and quadruple chocolate mousse cake, are both dishes best served cold, after all." Maderas let out a malicious laugh.
"You BASTARD!" Etna lunged straight at Maderas.
The vampire was ready. He unleashed a Chaos Fire from his outstretched hands. Etna parted one of the balls of fire with Longinus, too enraged to notice it was a much stronger spell than before. Etna was upon Maderas, ready to stab, but the vampire disappeared in a dark whirl.
"Behind ya, Mistress!" called Jeryk, who fired a shot at their newly-reformed foe. The bullet only made it halfway before bouncing off an invisible force. "What the...?" More of Jeryk's shots were deflected before they could reach their target, as was a round of arrows from Zaeon, and the blade of Xavia's sword.
"Mwahahaha!" cackled the vampire. "You fell right into my trap!"
Xavia saw a yellow glow below her. "Geo panels...?"
"When did those get there?" Jeryk automatically scanned the room for a geo symbol, but saw only a single line of panels that crossed their path.
"I saw 'em change," Lyle piped up. "We couldn't see these panels before, 'cause they were blue like the floor. One of Maderas' fireballs hit a geo symbol hidden behind a suit of armour, and sha-zam!, it changed the tiles yellow."
"The same colour as the panels at the stairway," observed Zaeon. "That means they are most likely linked to the same 'No Entry' geo symbol."
"Now we're stuck here, with only Mistress Etna on the other side." Jeryk whistled, impressed. "Not a bad setup..."
"This is no time to be impressed," snapped Xavia, who gave the barrier a futile slash with her sword. "Now we cannot fight."
"Works for me!" Etna was furiously attacking Maderas, just barely unable to land a hit. She leapt up to deliver an Impaler which the vampire avoided just in time. "I need to teach him a lesson, personally!"
"Mwa ha ha..." Maderas cackled, "It is I who will teach you a lesson, foolish girl!" With a whirl of darkness, he transformed into a swarm of black bats that flew straight at the demoness.
With a spin of Longinus, Etna dispersed the bat swarm. "Ha! Is that all you've got?"
"Mistress! Below ya!" shouted Jeryk from the other side of the geo barrier.
"Wha-?" Etna felt slimey hands grab her ankles. Below her were the faces and arms of zombies that had popped out from beneath the floor. "Ugh! Get off me!" She tried to tug her feet away, but their combined grasp held her in place.
"HAHAHA! Prepare to die!" Maderas gathered his cloak around him with dark energy crackling, as he prepared to unleash his strongest attack.
"Mistress!" Lyle cried from behind his suit of armour.
The party behind the geo barrier was blinded by the Chaos Plasma that engulfed the hall beyond. When the dark energy had cleared, there was nothing that remained where Etna had stood but a blackened pile of zombie arms.
"No way..." Jeryk gazed with disbelief.
"Miss Etna..." Zaeon murmured.
"MWAHAHAHAAA!" Maderas bellowed in triumph. "You never should have double-crossed me, Etna. I have waited so long for my- Ugh!" The vampire stumbled back from the force of the pink beam that had hit him from above. "What...?" He looked up to behold a certain demoness hanging from a brass candle bar attached to the wall. Three zombie arms still clung to her ankles, parted from the bodies they had been attached to.
"You were saying?" Etna leered down at her foe.
"Damn you..." Maderas snarled, clutching the wound on his shoulder. How is it that she is still stronger than me? I must retreat for now...
Etna swung forward, somersaulting off the brass bar. Drawing Longinus, she dived at the vampire, who disappeared in another dark whirl. When Maderas did not re-appear right away, Etna began pacing the hallway with a searching gaze. "Come on out, you slinkbag! It looks like I still need to teach you what happens when you mess with the strong and sexy Etna!"
A tremor from beyond a bend in the hall caught her attention, and she ran to investigate. Rounding the corner, she found Maderas, frozen in his tracks before Xavia the swordmaster, who held her blade to his throat.
"Where do you think you're going?" the swordmaster asked darkly. "...And do not think of teleporting. I can read your aura flow. My next attack will hold lethal intent."
Maderas gritted his teeth. He was cornered.
"Xavia! How did you get here? Weren't you on the other side of the geo barrier?" Etna said, prying the remaining zombie hands from her ankles with the end of her spear.
"I created a detour," said the samurai, who cocked her head towards the large gash in the floor behind her. "When I saw the zombies emerge from below, I remembered that there was a floor directly below this one. Being short of time, I cut through the floor, and made my way underneath the geo barrier to this side. I hope Lord Laharl will forgive me for the damage."
"Oh, he won't mind," Etna waved off. "More importantly, what should we do with my little cake thief?" Malice gleamed in her eyes as she stared at the trembling vampire.
"Oh, great and beautiful mistress Etna," Maderas cooed, sweat running down his temple. "I was merely playing a game...Yes! I was simply testing your strength for what lies ahead."
Etna's eyes narrowed. "...And what might that be, hmm?"
"The four invaders await you in the throne room, and they are no ordinary foes. They each have the power of a demon lord, and their leader...dare I say it, is as strong as an Overlord! I had to make sure you were prepared to face them."
Etna cocked her head with a faint smile. "So, do I pass?"
"Oh, yes, with flying colours! They will be no match for your beauty and power!" Maderas grovelled.
"These four, what are their abilities?" Xavia cut in, her serrated sword still held steady to the vampire's neck.
"I-I cannot be certain," he replied. "One was a large living suit of armour and sword. Another was a fierce-looking female martial artist. There was also a male warrior with an axe. Their leader wore dark red armour, and had both a great axe, and a serrated sword..." Maderas eyed the blade by his throat. "A sword not unlike yours, my dear."
Xavia's eyes widened. Impossible! There is only one other sword like this, but that one...
A bitter cocktail of sadness and anger coursed through her. "You lie!"
Maderas gulped at Xavia's trembling blade. "F-forgive me! There is also the old witch that they freed from prison! It was her magic that increased my power! That is all of them, I swear!"
"An old witch from prison...?" Etna echoed.
"Her name is Debevra," Maderas explained. "She was imprisoned many centuries ago, when Krichevskoy was Overlord. She attempted to put a spell on him, but failed, and was locked away in the lowest dungeons. Her magic is nothing to take lightly, though. If anything, it has increased with her age."
"She must be the one who was spying on us with those creepy eyes." Etna scanned the ceiling for Evil Eyes as she said this.
"Heya gals!" came a voice from the hole in the floor. Jeryk climbed up, followed by Lyle and Zaeon. "I see ya caught our good buddy Maderas here."
"Nice hole you got here, Xavia!" Lyle spoke without thinking. Suddenly realising what he had just said, he began stammering madly. "Eh, Ah! N-no! Um, I-mean, in-the-floor! Yeah, th-floor!"
Xavia just gave him a confused look.
You should not have taken your eyes from me, thought Maderas with a smirk. But as soon as he tried to teleport, the back end of a spear connected with his skull, and he lost consciousness.
"Well, we don't need him anymore, do we?" Etna sang, standing over the limp form of Maderas lying face-down on the floor. "And I don't have time to torture him right now, so..." She then turned to the hallway ahead of them, and shouted: "Hey, prinnies!"
There was no response. Etna's fist curled up. "I know you're hiding back there! Get your PEG-LEGGED, BLUE BUTTS OVER HERE!"
A squad of prinnies promptly emerged from an intersection down the hall, and trotted up to their mistress. "You called, dood?"
"Were they hiding there this whole time?" Zaeon wondered.
Jeryk chuckled. "Probably didn't want ta get caught up in the action...or be used in a Prinny Raid."
"Aren't prinny butts actually white?" Lyle pointed out, but everyone ignored him.
Etna pointed to the unconscious vampire at her feet. "Take this cake-stealing clown to the dungeons, and make sure you tie him up nice and tight, and use aura-suppressing chains, got it?"
"Got it, dood!" The prinny squad saluted, relieved to have received a relatively danger-free task.
"...And of course, you know what I'll do to you if he somehow escapes...right?" Etna gave her subordinates a dark grin.
"W-w-we'll do our very best, dood!" The prinnies hurriedly hoisted Maderas, and began hastily moving down the hall, and out of sight down a right-hand passage.
"Well, now that that little distraction is out of the way, let's hurry up and kick out those damn invaders so I can take a bath. Those stupid zombies got some of their stink on me." Etna huffed, moving onward with Jeryk, Lyle, and Zaeon in tow.
Please don't mention baths right now, thought Zaeon miserably, keeping a good two feet of distance from the others.
Xavia trailed behind the party, uncertain thoughts filling her mind. Another sword like mine? It can't be...Who could possibly be using that sword?... She shook her head, ebony ponytail swaying. No. I must stay focused. We must reclaim Lord Laharl's castle. I mustn't dwell on the past.
The sword master marched ahead with the others. No one noticed the eye gazing at them, hidden in the darkness of the empty helm of a suit of armour...
"The vampire has fallen, too." Debevra reported, opening her right eye. "It seems Krichevskoy's son keeps strong company. Keeheehee..."
"Can I beat them up now, Lord Taron?" demanded Seshira, the female brawler, who was leaning against a broken pillar she had earlier smashed out of boredom.
"I'm also getting impatient," added Bathiel, the male warrior, who had jet black hair and a studded leather vest. He was sitting by the destroyed Overlord's throne, polishing his axe, which reflected his faint scowl.
"I await your command, My Lord," boomed Galhaad, the living suit of dark armour, who held his blade vertical in salute.
Taron surveyed his three vassals with crossed arms. "Yes. It is about time we stamped out the last traces of Krichevskoy's influence. Starting..." Taron eyed the three figures of Goleck, Dratti, and Manty, who were bound with chains and gagged, lying in a corner. "...With his son."
Dratti and Manty made muffled growls, and glared at their captor, unable to move while bound in the power-suppressing chains. Goleck feigned sleep, waiting for some possible opportunity of escape, but could find nothing under the constant presence of their powerful foes.
"Go forth. Kill them all." Taron's flat words echoed across the Overlord's chamber like a deep, ominous bell toll.
To be continued...