Chapter 36: The Portal of Hell!
As Spawn and Reika continued their way through the fortress, they both noticed that there was a drastic change in the environment around them. "Hey, Raizo? Is it me, or is there something wrong with this place? There's something different, but I can't quite put my finger on it." Reika announced as she observed the strange change in scenery. Spawn growled softly as he observed his surroundings. "We're getting closer to the Hell Portal; I can feel it! There's a strong demonic presence here, so watch your back!" Spawn warned as he drew out his Agony Axe. "Ok, got it! Hey, do you think the others will be ok?" Reika replied as she drew out a bound sword. "Let's just focus on our own wellbeing, Kitami!" Spawn snapped. "Ok, sorry for asking!" Reika snapped back.
Spawn sighed impatiently as he turned to face her. "Look, I know that you care for those humans. But we need to stay focused on our mission. If we can, we can try to save them before we destroy the Hell Portal. Will that make you feel any better?" Spawn said after a moment of thought. Reika smiled as he said that. "Yeah, actually. It does!" Reika said with a nod. "Ok, let's get moving. And watch out; I have a feeling we're not alone!" Spawn warned.
But just as they left the room, they were unaware of a large unseen figure following them from the shadows. As they continued to wander through the dark halls of the fortress, Reika kept wondering about Spawn's past. "Hey, Raizo? Do you have a second? I need to talk to you about something." Reika finally asked as they stopped. "What is it?" Spawn demanded. "Do you really like being alone all the time? I mean, how can you stand living like that? I've lived my entire life alone and it's made me completely miserable. How can you stand being so alone?" Reika wondered. "Why do you even care, Kitami? Why bring this up now?" Spawn growled.
Reika sighed impatiently due to Spawn's attitude. "Because I don't like being alone, Raizo! If there's one thing that scares me more than anything in this world, it's being alone! When I'm alone, no matter how hard I try to think of any good memories, all I can remember are the bad things that happened in my life. All I can ever remember are the evil things that I've done! But when I'm with you, I feel different. I feel happy! Don't you feel the same way?" Reika explained trying her best not to lose control of her emotions.
Spawn sighed heavily as she said that. "I wish I could say the same, Kitami. But I can't!" Spawn replied. This hurt Reika greatly as he said that. "What?! Why not?" Reika exclaimed. "Grr...just forget it, all right?! That's not important to me right now!" Spawn snapped. Reika grew frustrated. "Well, do you at least have an good memories that help you cope with your loneliness? There must be something that reminds you of your humanity! Any friends, family, or past lovers? What about your parents?" Reika pressed on.
Spawn turned to face her, alerting Reika. At first, she thought that he would yell at her. But the answer he gave her was much more shocking. "I have absolutely no memory of my mother or father. I never knew them; I grew up alone." he said grimly. Reika gasped as he said that. "Oh my God! You poor thing...I'm so sorry; it's no wonder you're so miserable all the time." Reika said sadly. "It doesn't bother me. There's no point of me getting angry over it, so why do you care?" Spawn snapped. "Raizo, I was just trying to help you! Why won't you let me?!" Reika exclaimed. "ENOUGH! We have no time for this shit, so just shut up and do as I say!" Spawn roared as he lost patience.
Reika glared at him as she sighed in defeat. "You know something, Raizo? I used to feel the exact same way as you do...and look at how well things ended up for me! All I want is to move on from my dark past...why can't you do the same?" Reika said gravely after a moment of silence. "Because it's just the way it has to be! Whether I like it or not!" Spawn replied. "No! It doesn't have to be like this!" Reika objected. Spawn just stared at her, further angering the witch. "Argh! You know what?! Forget it! Just forget that I even said anything! Let's just keep going!" Reika shouted as she finally lost her patience. But as they moved on, Spawn couldn't help but think about the last thing she said.
Eventually, Spawn and Reika made their way towards the temple. It was a lot larger and more intimidating up front. The gigantic pentagram painted on the ground was glowing ominously red, emitting a strange hissing noise. But that wasn't the worst of it. "That pentagram seems to be made of blood, Raizo. How many people do you think were murdered to make this thing?" Reika wondered. Spawn didn't answer her at first, due to the fact he kept hearing something. "Uh, are you all right? What's wrong?" Reika asked. "I hear something...get ready!" Spawn warned.
Spawn and Reika turned around to prepare themselves for combat as they heard footsteps. "They're coming!" Reika cried. "Stand your grand, woman! We can take them!" Spawn encouraged. But as the footsteps grew louder, Reika realized that there were multiple assailants heading their way. "Shit! It sounds like there's a small group heading our way!" Reika announced.
But when the figures stepped out of the darkness, Spawn and Reika were surprised to find Sonya, Jax, Morikawa, and Ichinose were approaching them. "Guys! Look, it's Reika and her friend! They're still alive!" Morikawa cried. Spawn cursed in frustration as he lowered his weapons. "Damn it, fools! What the hell do you think you're doing here?!" Spawn growled. "What's it look like? We're gonna destroy this portal with explosives!" Jax retorted. "What? I don't think that's a good idea, hon! It's already engraved into the ground by black magic; I don't think it can be destroyed!" Reika warned. "Well, how else do you propose to get rid of this portal?" Sonya questioned. "You don't get it, do you? There is no way to destroy this place; it's being shielded by powerful black magic. You could drop a nuke on this temple and it wouldn't so much as leave a scratch. The only way we could possibly disable this portal is if we find that book; the Bible Black!" Reika explained.
Sonya and Jax looked quite upset as she said that. "Damn it! This is a waste of my time!" Jax cursed as he pounded the ground. "Whoa, easy there soldier! All's not lost. Maybe if Reika and her friend could help us find this book, then maybe we might still have a chance to shut this place down!" Sonya suggested. "Look, whatever it is you're thinking, just forget it! Darrel must have already taken that damn book with him. For all I know, he might have used this damn portal to escape!" Spawn growled. "Damn it, stop it with the doom and gloom, Raizo! We'll find a way!" Reika shouted as she lost patience. "Well, what the hell did you have in mind woman?! We're stuck here!" Spawn roared. "I have an idea! Maybe we could somehow activate this portal?" Morikawa suggested.
Everyone looked at her as she said that. "Well, it's not like we have a lot of options left!" Morikawa exclaimed. "It's a suicide mission!" Ichinose cried. "Unless you have any better ideas, I think this may be our only chance!" Morikawa argued. "All right, enough! (sighs) Look, Morikawa is right. This might be the only way that we can put an end to all this. Jax? I want you to set those explosives around this area as a barricade." Sonya instructed. "You got it, Sonya!" Jax replied with a salute. "Ichinose? You and Morikawa are with me; we'll provide cover for Kitami and Spawn while they try to operate this portal!" Sonya explained. "I really don't know how to feel about this!" Ichinose complained. "Stop complaining! We'll be fine; besides, there hasn't been a peep from anyone or anything for awhile!" Morikawa snapped. "Don't be too cocky, kid. They might be preparing for an attack on us when we least expect it, so don't let your guard down!" Spawn warned.
As Jax placed the explosives around the portal, he couldn't help but get the feeling that he was being watched. "Something ain't right here! It's far too quiet; that's never a good thing!" Jax mumbled as he placed the explosives on the ground. Reika Kitami didn't seem to have much luck either as she kept trying out different spells and incantations to try and activate the portal. "Damn it! Nothing is working here! Maybe I need to try a different dialect or a completely different language?" Reika cursed. "Hey, wait a minute! Maybe there's a switch that we need to activate. It worked before, didn't it?" Ichinose suggested. "Good idea! Let's see if there's a hidden switch around here somewhere!" Reika replied.
As they women looked around for a switch or button, Spawn felt his Necroplasm senses alert him of nearby danger. "Shit! Something's coming...and it's getting close!" Spawn growled as he reached for his assault rifle. "See anything useful?" Sonya called out as she looked around some rocks. "No, nothing but dirt and rocks!" Morikawa replied. "Hey, I think I found something over here. It looks like a button of some sort!" Ichinose cried out as she saw a bright orange light in a dark corner. Spawn suddenly grew very alert as his Necroplasm senses alerted him of nearby danger. "NO! Get away from there you fool!" Spawn shouted as he rushed towards her direction. "Wait, Raizo! What's wrong?" Reika exclaimed.
Suddenly, a loud snarling noise was heard before the sounds of screams filled the air. Ichinose had unwittingly run into a large, nasty looking demon that had been hiding in the darkness this whole time. "AAIIIEEE! What the hell is that thing? Somebody help me!" Ichinose shrieked in horror as she ran away. The demon came lumbering out of the darkness, snarling and growling with primitive fury. It stood over 20 feet tall, was disgustingly obese, and a massive set of jaws with razor sharp teeth. But perhaps the strangest thing of all was that this monster had some kind of device attached to its back, as well as some strange looking metal armor attached to it's arms, legs, and chest.
The hideous beast roared with quivering fury, causing the place to shake. "My God! What the hell is that thing, Raizo?" Reika exclaimed. "Fuck! It's a Mancubus! It was waiting for us here this whole time; we were led into a trap!" Spawn shouted. As he said that, the portal began to glow ominously bright red. "The portal! It's opening...but how?!" Sonya exclaimed. "I think Raizo is right...something is coming from the other side!" Reika cried out. "Oh, God!" Sonya gasped.
To their horror, a small army of smaller but equally vicious demons appeared from the portal. These demons were man sized monsters called imps. They had tough leathery brownish orange skin, bright yellow eyes, nasty claws and teeth that could shred a man to pieces in seconds, and moved extremely fast. The Mancubus roared at the imps, as if commanding them to attack. "Get ready; it's about to get bloody here!" Spawn shouted as he loaded up his assault rifle.
*Chimaira: Resurrection plays!*
Spawn fired his assault rifle at a group of imps, blowing their heads clean off. But as he killed them, more appeared by teleporting behind him. They snarled viciously as they clawed at Spawn, but the enraged phantom was able to force them away by kicking them.
As Spawn struggled against the horde of imps, Jax and the others struggled to fight against the Mancubus. Jax pounded furiously against the morbid beast, but it's blubbery fat protected him from his attacks. The Mancubus growled as he swatted his massive arm at Jax, sending him flying away. Sonya attempted to attack the beast from the side, but that didn't go over well either.
The Mancubus snarled as punched Sonya away, roaring as he shook its head in fury. "Damn it! Our tactics aren't working! We need to try a different approach!" Sonya cried as she was helped back up by Jax. "I have an idea! Let's try attacking it from the back!" Reika said as she quickly darted behind the beast.
Reika fired a bolt of lightning at the Mancubus, making it cry out as it was struck. But even that didn't seem to be enough to slow it down. The Mancubus twirled around and attempted to ram over her, but the witch was able to teleport away before she retaliated with a fireball. "Come on, you piece of shit! Is that all you've got?!" Reika shouted as she kept throwing fireballs.
The Mancubus roared angrily as it held both arms in front of him. "Wait, what's he doing?" Morikawa wondered. Suddenly, the Mancubus fired a large stream of flames from its hands. "Shit! That thing's got flamethrowers?!" Jax exclaimed as he rolled away to avoid getting burnt. "Fuck! Now what?!" Sonya cried as she hid behind a rock.
Back with Spawn, he ran out of ammo and resorted to using his Agony Axe to hack and slash the never-ending horde of imps. But the longer he kept fighting, the more he realized that there would be no end to this battle. As he decapitated another imp, he looked over at the others struggling against the Mancubus. They weren't doing so well on their part, due to the Mancubus continuously spreading flames everywhere.
Suddenly, a high pitched shriek filled the air and caught everyone's attention. "What the hell was that?" Jax cried. "Look! It's another demon; up there!" Reika pointed out. She was right; a ghastly looking creature was seen hovering above the temple pillars with it's arms spread out wide.
The creature had grey skin, a strangely hammer shaped head, a large pair of wings on its back, and long slender arms and legs. Spawn looked up at the demon and made a shocking realization; this demon somehow had control over the others that they were fighting. And as long as it still lived, more demons would keep coming.
Spawn kicked an imp against the wall and curb stomped it before rushing towards Kitami. "Reika! We need to kill that demon up there, otherwise those damn imps will keep coming!" Spawn cried. "Ok, but what about lard ass over there?" Reika pointed out. "Damn it! Ok, I'll handle the Mancubus...you take care of that Summoner!" Spawn said before he charged towards the Mancubus. "Wait! Damn it...ok, fine. You go that way, I'll go this way!" Reika muttered before she looked up at the hovering Summoner demon.
As Reika teleported up towards the Summoner, the evil demon appeared to cackle as it pointed towards her. It seemed to challenge Reika. "This one is a lot smarter than those other demons. Well if it wants a fight, I'll give it a fight it won't soon forget!" Reika said out loud as she drew out a bound sword.
Back with Spawn, he brawled viciously against the Mancubus. "Hold still, you fat bastard!" Spawn snarled as he kept throwing balls of Necroplasm at the beast. The Mancubus snarled viciously as he fired a huge streak of flames at Spawn, but the experienced phantom used his Necro-Teleport attack to dodge the flames before kicking the beast from behind.
Spawn climbed up on the Mancubus' back and grabbed hold of its head before he began pummeling the beast with his Necro-Punches. Though the attacks hurt the monster, it still wasn't enough to slow him down. The goliath grabbed Spawn from his neck and began to smash him around like a rag doll. "Hey! Over here, tubby!" Jax cried as he fired a submachinegun at the beast.
The Mancubus roared as he threw Spawn at Jax. But despite the brutality Spawn endured, he refused to back down. "GRR! That fat piece of shit is really starting to piss me off!" Spawn growled. "Well, then let's do something about it instead of complaining!" Jax sneered as he pumped his fists together.
Jax charged towards the Mancubus and rammed his fist into the beast's eye, making it scream out in pain as it reeled back. Jax grunted in satisfaction as he pumped his fists again, ready to finish off his foe. As the enraged Mancubus charged towards Jax, Jax moved aside at the last second before he rammed his fist into the beast's side, tearing out some of it's internal organs.
The Mancubus groaned in pain as it finally slowed down, giving both Spawn and Jax the chance to finish it off. "Now's our chance! Help me finish it off!" Jax cried. "I thought you'd never ask!" Spawn smirked. Spawn grabbed the Mancubus with his chains, choking him with a tight grip. As Spawn surged Necroplasm into the beast, it screamed in howling agony as its body began to burn. "That's right, fool! Feel the burn!" Spawn growled.
Jax finally finished off the Mancubus by grabbing a grenade and forcing it down the monster's throat. "Eat that, motherfucker!" Jax sneered. The Mancubus made terrible choking noises before it finally exploded into a nasty bloody mess, its guts flying everywhere. "UGH! What a nasty smell; what the hell you been eating?" Jax groaned as an awful smell filled the air.
Spawn approached Jax, getting the soldier suspicious. "Hey! I need to tell you something." Spawn growled. "Yeah, what is it?" Jax replied cautiously. Spawn suddenly held out his arm, as if to shake his hand. "I won't forget what you did for me back there. Thank you!" Spawn said more calmly. Jax looked at him in confusion, but he nonetheless shook his hand. "Yeah, sure...don't mention it. But you do owe me!" Jax said half-jokingly.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. "What the hell is that? An earthquake?!" Jax cried. "No...it's something else! It must be-" Spawn began. "The portal! There's some kind of energy emitting from it; that's what caused the explosives to go off!" Sonya pointed out.
She was right; the large pentagram on the ground began to glow ominously red and the energy glowing from it caused the explosives placed around it to go off. "Hey, where's Kitami? Is she all right?!" Morikawa exclaimed she kicked an imp away. Suddenly, a loud shriek was heard.
Everyone looked up to see that Kitami had finally defeated the Summoner. Kitami has stabbed her bound sword into its chest before she grabbed it by the head and snapped its neck. "HA! Finally got you, you son of a bitch!" Reika yelled triumphantly as kicked the dead demon off the edge of the temple roof.
As soon as the Summoner was killed, Spawn and the others took the initiative to finish off the last of the demons. "Crawl back to Hell, you little fledgelings!" Spawn roared as he cut several imps down with his Agony Axe. "It's game over for you!" Morikawa bravely cried out as she punched an imp. Finally, after killing off the last imp, the heroes stood tall and proud as they had won the battle.
*Song ends!*
As Kitami teleported back with the others, she smiled at them. "Well...that takes care of that!" she panted. "It's not over yet, Reika. In fact; that was nothing compared to what lays ahead!" Spawn warned. "Wait...you mean-" Reika began. Spawn nodded his head grimly. "I see! Well, I guess this is it then." Reika said. "Wait, wait, wait! You're not seriously thinking about going in there, are you?" Ichinose panicked as she finally popped out of her hiding place. "There you are! Where the hell have you been this whole time!?" Morikawa cried angrily. "You should have been fighting alongside with us!" Sonya added with anger in her voice.
Ichinose blushed as she said that. "I know...I...I panicked, ok? I didn't want to die!" Ichinose admitted with tears in her eyes. "It's all right Sonya. You can't expect every civilian to fight. But maybe there is another way you can help us!" Jax said as he approached her. "Ok, what do you want me to do?" Ichinose replied nervously. "You can help us find a way out of this damn place and help us contact HQ!" Jax said as he handed her the radio. "Wait, what about Reika and...uh, her friend?" Morikawa wondered.
Reika sighed as she touched her shoulder. "Don't worry about us, sweetie. We'll be all right. Chances are, we'll probably find a way to teleport ourselves back to Earth. You just focus on staying alive and making it back with the others, ok?" Reika said kindly. Morikawa nodded her head in silence before she embraced the witch. "You be careful, ok? I want you to come back safe and sound...and I know the others do too; especially Erica!" Morikawa whispered.
Reika smiled as she fought back some tears. "You finished? We need to get moving before the portal closes!" Spawn growled. Reika then followed Spawn towards the portal, but not before looking back at the others and bidding them farewell. "Be careful you guys!" Reika called out. "You too, Kitami. See you soon!" Sonya called back.
As Spawn and Reika finally approached the portal, they both stopped for a brief moment as they looked at each other. "Reika...there's something I need to tell you." Spawn said seriously. "What is it?" Reika wondered. "If I don't make it back, I want you to know that I...I, uh..." Spawn began. "What?" Reika urged. Spawn sighed as he shook his head. "I just wanted to say...thank you. For, uh...staying with me. I'm glad that you're by my side!" Spawn said. Reika smiled warmly as he said that. "I'm glad you're with me too, Raizo." Reika said with a smile.
And with that said, they both stepped onto the portal and vanished into the unknown.