The Tale of Three
Chapter 46
Plan 1: Attack. Plan 2: Run.
"What? What do you mean Drosid's army is here?!" Mariposa asked, before rushing over to the window. Due to the spikes surrounding it, Jenkins had to step aside to let her see, but once she did her eyes grew as big as dinner plates.
Because Jenkins certainly wasn't lying.
There was a small army of maybe about thirty demons marching through the streets of Earthni, looking under abandoned cars, searching ruins, basically checking every place a person could possibly hide. At the front of the army was not Drosid himself, thankfully, but rather another demon. He was extremely tall, and unlike his underlings, did not have a width of several feet. In fact, he looked thinner than most humans. But he did tower above the rest. Whoever this was, they had to be a dozen feet tall, at the least. They carried a giant broadsword that looked like it could cut a building in half with a single swing, and neither Jenkins nor Mariposa were eager to find out.
"...Shit." Mariposa cursed. "Well, the good news is, Drosid isn't here. Bad news is, I'm sure that's one of his generals, and he's twice as tall as both of us. With a sword that I wouldn't be able to lift an inch off the ground."
"Yeah. I know. I already saw it." Jenkins said. "But if they're truly looking for us, I wonder why Drosid himself isn't here. It's definitely his army, the armor is all the same, but he practically swore revenge on Meteora for blowing up his tank. You'd think he would want to come up and kill her himself."
"Maybe he doesn't want to fight her up here," Mariposa said. "I'm guessing he just sent these guys to try and capture Meteora or whatever, and then bring her down to the Underworld so he can execute her."
"If that's the case, then he must have a lot of trust in whoever that is," Jenkins said, leaning over to the window and pointing at the tall demon. "He saw what Meteora can do. If he thinks this person is strong enough to take her down…"
"Then we don't stand a chance," Mariposa said.
"We don't stand a chance anyway," Jenkins said. "Let's see. I count about thirty, including the tall bastard...yeah. Impossible. I don't know how we can beat them. Not unless...unless…" His gaze suddenly drifted to the right, and a smile spread across his face.
"Why are you grinning for?" Mariposa asked.
"Oh, nothing," Jenkins said, stepping away from the window again. "Just...maybe you should come and take another look."
"Fine," Mariposa said, peering out into the landscape and following Jenkins's gaze, looking in the same direction he had been. But there wasn't much to see at first. Just more ruined buildings, which includes the Butterfly cast-
"..."
"..."
"...No. No way." Mariposa gasped.
"What did I say? All the way back then?" Jenkins asked, smiling like the village idiot. "That castle will come in handy. We can push the one giant tower over on top of that whole army and crush them all in one move."
"You know how I feel about that plan!" Mariposa shouted. "When you explained it to me, I thought it was the stupidest thing ever! And I still do! Even if we manage to topple it without Meteora, we'll never get clear in time!"
"Yes, we will," Jenkins said. "You told me the story of how you escaped from that dungeon. You said you made a hole in the ceiling of the courtyard. So I suggest we topple the castle, and as it's leaning over to crush all those demons, we jump into the hole, and go as deep into the dungeon as we can before it comes crashing down."
"...NO!" Mariposa yelled, after giving him a "are you crazy" look. "If we do that, we'll just be crushed by the ceiling falling on top of us!"
"Not if we go deep enough. If we go underground and run in the direction of the castle, we may be able to avoid the biggest portion crashing down." Jenkins explained. "The other parts of it won't be enough to smash the ceiling in. Meanwhile, all the demons outside will be dead, buried under a giant castle. And then we'll just crawl out and keep going about our business, but not before making sure that they're all definitely dead, of course."
"Oh my god…" Mariposa gasped. "Okay. A few things here. First off, you're acting like that ceiling is made of three-foot thick stone. It's not. It's actually very thin. How do you think I managed to break through it in the first place? That thing might be able to handle the demons standing on top of it, but that's it. Anything else, it'll crumble to pieces. And another thing, even if we do outrun the tower and escape, and if the ceiling doesn't miraculously crush us, we'll still be trapped down there. The hole will be sealed by the castle, and the way I got down there might be destroyed as well. Not to mention the fact that it will be pitch black, and we'll spend the whole time running into things and each other!"
"...I know," Jenkins said. "I know. I get it. I considered all those things when I was thinking of this plan. I know just how dangerous and stupid it is."
"Then why are we still doing it?" Mariposa asked.
"Because there's really nothing else to do besides flee," Jenkins said. "Mariposa, can you think of any other way we can take these guys down? Our knives won't work against them. We won't be able to get close or high enough to take them down. Even if we manage to wound one, the others will rip us to shreds. We're outnumbered, outgunned, out...everything, basically! Any sort of plan besides mine would be suicide. Meteora isn't here to take them out, we have no weapons that will hurt them, and eventually, they're going to find the Avarius's, hidden in the forest. And then they'll kill them all, no doubt. I...I will not let them happen. They're innocent here. Which means that this plan...we have to put it into action now."
"..."
"..."
"UGHHHHHHH...fine!" Mariposa yelled. "Fine fine fine fine fine!" But if we die...oh forget it, that's an empty threat anyway."
"I was about to say…" Jenkins mumbled. "Okay. We need to come up with a plan. All those bastards are incredibly fast, despite their size. If we just catch all their attention and run to the castle, we won't make it five feet. Not to mention the giant, who could probably walk and still be faster than us."
"Which means…?"
"Which means we need to get them to gather underneath the castle without them suspecting anything," Jenkins replied. "Or at least without them suspecting too much. They can know we're here...they just can't know where we are exactly before it's too late."
"Got it," Mariposa said. "And how do you propose we knock over that entire castle?"
"Easy," Jenkins said. "The last time I exited that place, I noticed something. It may look like it's being held up by that giant wall, and while it technically is, there's some spot that's more load-bearing than anything else. The left of it. I noticed this because it was slightly sagging into the ground more than the stones. I think if we can knock out that portion, then the whole thing should cause a chain reaction that will cause it to topple over."
"And if that doesn't work?" Mariposa asked.
"...Then we just keep knocking out stones until it starts crumbling, upon which we run for the hole in the ground."
"..."
"..."
"We're gonna die, aren't we?"
"Probably," Jenkins said, nodding his head. "But hopefully, we can take out at least one of the bastards before we do."
"Great." Mariposa sighed. "Then let's get to it."
After that, the two of them then walked away from the window. Jenkins had an expression of confidence, while Mariposa had one of mostly indifference. But neither of them could hide the fact that they were still nervous. Thirty demons, all heavily armored and literally armed to the teeth. This could be it. Even if they manage to somehow fend off this attack, it wouldn't be long before Drosid noticed that his army hadn't returned, and once he found out what happened, he'd come to the surface and take care of the problem himself.
And that they couldn't defeat without Meteora. There was just no way. So yes, they were nervous. And worst of all, they were using their trump card here. Without Meteora and her magic, the castle was really the best way they could beat any of the demons. And worst of all, there was no guarantee it would kill them either. The first demon Drosid had sent, they tried to kill by dropping that store on them. It didn't work in the slightest and only managed to severely piss the creature off. It could be the exact same thing here. While the castle was tons heavier than a simple store like that, there was no guarantee the outcome wouldn't be the same. Especially for the tall one. Jenkins already had a bad feeling about him, for obvious reasons...but there was still something about them that he couldn't quite place his finger on. Was it the fact that they were so skinny they looked like they wouldn't even be able to lift a school desk? Or was it their armor, which for some reason looked much thinner than everyone else's?
He didn't know. But regardless, they were going to be trouble. A demon soldier like that could only be one of two things. An assassin, with thinner armor for increased mobility, or a general, much more powerful than they looked. Jenkins actually began wondering if he and Mariposa should try to take them out first before dropping the castle on the rest, to make sure that they didn't get hit in the face with a nasty surprise.
But that was an impossibility. They had been surrounded by five demon soldiers, which likely confirmed his latter theory. That they were of very high rank.
"Why couldn't they have been an assassin…" He mumbled, confusing Mariposa. But after that, he shook his head and returned to the task at hand. There were more important things to focus on at the moment. After about ten minutes of careful jogging through the Jaggy castle, they made it back to the front entrance, with the only way leading down still behind the thin and treacherous path of spikes. At that moment, they then both looked back towards the demon, and immediately the same thought entered their minds. A way to possibly make this easier for them.
"Hey…" Mariposa said. "What if we lead a few of them up here so they slip and get impaled?" She asked. "Those spikes are made of solid rocks. And those demons are way too big to make it up here without falling. Why don't we lead them up here and just wait until one of them falls over, causing a domino effect that will knock the rest over, so then they'll all tumble off the mountain and die? Then after that, we can lead the remaining ones to the Butterfly castle?"
"So there'll be less of them to crush? Hmm...I like your thinking…" Jenkins said, clearly contemplating this. "But we won't get many that way. The tall one will still be able to make it through easily, and something tells me they're the most dangerous of the bunch."
"Then we lead her inside and make some traps or whatever," Mariposa said. "Can't believe I didn't think of this before. I mean, seriously. The whole castle is a death trap. We don't even need to directly attack them. Maybe we can just...push them over and let them get spiked."
"That would be a direct attack." Jenkins pointed out.
"But you get what I mean, right?" Mariposa asked. "It won't be as dangerous, and even if we don't get all of them, we could still get a decent amount. Which will certainly help later on if we're still going with your plan."
"Hmm...I'm not so sure." Jenkins said. "I do like this idea, and I was thinking the exact same thing. But these spikes...even if they are super sharp...I'm not sure they're tougher than that armor. They could just break through it instead of being impaled. Which would obviously end badly for us."
"Of course," Mariposa said. "But you know...it's no more dangerous than your idea."
"...Yeah, that's fair," Jenkins said. "Okay. We'll try it out. The first thing we gotta do is lead them up here without being caught. And I think I know how." He then grinned. "They don't know that Meteora has vanished. We can use that to our full advantage. They will, of course, be after us, but she's the one they really want. I think that maybe...we can manage to get only a few of them to follow us."
"And how's that?" Mariposa asked.
"Think about it like this," Jenkins said. "Look at the size of this small army. They know how deadly Meteora is. They're taking no chances. So they're going to want everyone attacking her together. Which means they won't like splitting up. However...they were gathered in separate groups when we were observing them. I propose we get just one of those groups to follow us up here. The rest will stay done there and now care, assuming that the four or five demons met after us is enough to handle the problem. Meanwhile, the rest will stay in a group and not go chasing. Only those four or five, which we will lead up here so they can then get impaled."
"...Right," Mariposa said, trying to make sense of what he just said. "But how will that make a difference? Those four or five demons will still be way faster than us. Even if there's less of them, they'll catch up to us pretty fast."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Jenkins said. "Honestly, when it comes to flat-out speed, the one I'm really worried about is that tall bastard. Everyone else? Not so much. We managed to mostly outrun a demon when it attacked us, remember? These guys are no different. We just have to make some quick turns, make sure to move as randomly as possible, all the way until we make it up to the castle."
"But what if they make a plan and try to cut us off or something?"
"They won't. I'm sure they're too dumb to make a plan like that. If the tall one was with them, maybe. But if they're by themselves...not so much." Jenkins replied.
"But what if they do?"
"...Then we die," Jenkins said casually. "We both know the risk we're taking here. Odds are, neither of us are making it out of this alive. But crappy on the spot plans are what we have, so we'll just have to make the most of them."
"Make the most of them…" Mariposa mumbled. "That's the most any of us can do nowadays, isn't it?"
"Pretty much." Jenkins agreed. "Now come on. Let's go get ourselves killed. And if the plan somehow succeeds, we'll do the castle one and get ourselves killed again.
And with that, they walked the rest of the way in silence until they made it to the entrance of the castle, upon which they started scaling down the deadly slope that led to the ground. It again took much longer than they would have preferred, but they definitely had a better time than they did coming up. Once they got to the bottom, however, the nervous feeling in their stomachs increased, because they both knew that this was it. They were either going to take those demons out or die trying, and the latter option was the most likely no matter what way you looked at it. But again, their terrible plans were all they had, so the pair walked on into the town, sneaking between buildings and looking for the closest group of demons.
"So how are we going to do this?" Mariposa whispered. "Just yell out and get them to start chasing us back to the Jaggy Castle?"
"Pretty much," Jenkins said. "That or we could throw a rock at them if you want. Just for fun."
"I'd rather not piss them off first," Mariposa said.
"Trust me, if we go with the option of yelling, then what I'm going to say will piss them off far more than simply throwing a rock," Jenkins said, smirking.
"Oh. Fantastic." Mariposa said sarcastically. "Whatever. Let's just do this, then."
From then on they continued, until they heard stomping sounds nearby and moved towards them. Just before turning a corner, Jenkins stopped and held Mariposa back, and together the two peeked around the wall to see what their first targets were going to be. A group of about five demons, peering into the remains of buildings and lifting piles of rubble, futilely searching for them. Jenkins frowned and shifted in place, before cracking his knuckles.
"Okay. Run back to the Jaggy Castle." He instructed.
"Excuse...what?" Mariposa said.
"Go back to Jaggy Castle. Get a head start." Jenkins repeated. "I'm going to yell at them, and then run for the hills. You should be ahead of me when that happens, because you're slower when it comes to just flat-out running. And while I'm going to catch up to you eventually and would never abandon you...I'm sure you wouldn't want me to carry you for any longer than I have to."
"You're going to carry me?" Mariposa said in disbelief. "What am I, five years old again?"
"It's either that, or we lose speed and almost certainly die," Jenkins said. "I wouldn't be doing it if our lives didn't literally depend on it."
"Won't you lose speed from doing that?"
"Pft. Are you kidding?" Jenkins chuckled. "I could carry three of you at the same time and still run fast enough to break a world record."
"That's totally an exaggeration."
"True," Jenkins admitted. "But no. You won't slow me down. At least not to the point where they'll catch me. I'll throw just you over my shoulder or something. Now run, and don't look back, and if I don't show up...don't come back for me."
"What do I do if that happens?" Mariposa asked nervously.
Jenkins hesitated for a split second before responding, biting his lower lip. "Sneak past them and go to the Underworld portal. From there, make your way to Dave's castle. If anyone is there, go in and just...do what they tell you, I guess. If no one is there, find a way in anyway. There should be food supplies. Even if everyone was evacuated, they couldn't have taken everything with them. So hold up there, go to the library, and learn about the Underworld. The various Kingdoms, locations, etc, etc. And especially find out who Dave's allies are, and go to their castles to get help."
"Sounds like you have it all planned out." Mariposa quipped.
"Planned that our ever since the first demon attack up here," Jenkins said. "Didn't want to take any chances in case I died."
"And what about Meteora?" Mariposa asked. "She's still missing. If I go to the Underworld...I may never find her."
"I...I don't know what to say about that." Jenkins said. "But no matter what, please don't do something that will certainly get you killed. If they get me, do not try to fight them, understand?"
"..."
"Understand?"
"Yeah, yeah," Mariposa said. "I understand."
"Good," Jenkins said, before standing up fully and sighing. "Now run."
Without saying another word in response, Mariposa turned and ran as fast as she could, heading back towards the direction of the Jaggy Castle. The path that would lead them up to it was a good mile away, so she made sure not to run at full speed. Not to mention all the climbing they would have to do later, which would only tire them further. But she didn't think about any of that. She only concentrated on what was in front of her and ran.
"Alright…" Jenkins said, as Mariposa ran out of view. "Time to go do something really stupid."
He then stepped out of his hiding place and into the street, where he saw the demons only a few dozen feet away, none of them turned towards him. He cleared his throat, but none of them responded. With a hearty sigh, he picked up a rock and then chucked it at one of them as hard as he could. A moment later, it shattered into pebbles upon impact with the demon's helmet, and slowly they, and every other demon turned around to face Jenkins, who now had a gigantic, "I didn't do anything wrong" smile on his face.
"Hello, boys!" He said. "I know I'm not the one you're looking for, but I'm sure that even so, we can have a nice little-"
"Our leader wishes to speak with you." One of them interjected, in perfect English with a voice that didn't sound like it was at all obscured by a giant helmet. Jenkins paused mid-syllable at this, heavily taken aback by what he was sure would be death threats, not the most polite thing he had ever heard come out of a demon's mouth. This pause continued before he cleared his throat, hoping that he wasn't falling into a trap.
"...And who is your leader, exactly?" He asked. "Drosid?"
"Correct." The demon said. "He merely wishes to speak with you at this time, nothing else. If you come with us to the Underworld, then he can deliver this message, you will return to the surface, and there will be no problems."
"Yeah...I don't think so." Jenkins said, slowly shaking his head. "Drosid wants nothing more than to kill us. Don't try to convince me that this going to the Underworld thing isn't a trap. The second we step through that portal he'll stab us in the face or something. I don't believe you for a second."
"We thought you would say that, and that is why we have secondary options." The demon said. "Drosid said that if they do not willingly come to the Underworld due to suspicion, we are to deliver the message right here to you, right now. No harm done."
"...What?" Jenkins said. "Okay, something is definitely wrong here. This is not like Drosid. This isn't like demons. If you planned to just give us the message if we refused to go with you, then why didn't you plan to just tell us from the beginning? Why are...you know what, I don't care. Because this whole thing reeks of bullshit. The way you're speaking to me...you're making it sound like Drosid wants peace. That he doesn't want to fight and is simply content with leaving us alone. And I know that would never happen in a million years, because he hates one of us with a burning passion. And I know from experience that when demons get angry at someone, forget trying to get on their good side again...because you just don't forgive."
"Well, then that is an unfortunate stereotype." The demon scoffed. "But I have something else to say. I am not aware of the contents of the message. The only person who does is the general who was sent along with us."
"The tall bastard?"
"...Yes. Her." The demon said, making Jenkins arch an eyebrow. "She is the only one knowledgeable of the contents of the message. Everyone else is ignorant. Now, we have two options here. One, you can run away and I can chase you down, before dragging you to her so she can deliver the message. That is option one. Option two is that you come along with us quietly, with no trouble, and no bloodshed. Everything will be fine."
"...Yeah, I think I'm going to go with option three. Neither of those." Jenkins said. "How about this. Why don't you go grab your leader, bring her back here, and then we can talk. But I'm sure as hell not going anywhere with you. And I think you'll find...that chasing me down and dragging me over is not as easy as you would expect."
"..."
"So what's it gonna be?" Jenkins asked. "Are you going to take my suggestion, or are you going to die stupid?"
"...You will listen to our general if we bring her here?" The demon asked.
"Sure, why not.' Jenkins said."Should be interesting."
"And you will not attempt to flee?"
"Only if you attack me first."
"Very well then." The demon said. "Then stay here. I shall go and find our general. And if you suddenly decide to run, then she will track you down, and I can promise you that she is not as forgiving and willing to make peace as we are."
"Great," Jenkins said. "Well. Run along then. I'll be waiting."
"Understood." The demon said, and with that it stomped away, leaving Jenkins with its four compatriots. They all watched in unison until he disappeared out of view, upon which they turned back to Jenkins, who was grinning at them again.
"Well. Look at this." He said."So, I want you guys to answer as honestly as possible here. How much of this is bullshit? Does Drosid really want to make peace? Because I'm guessing he doesn't. And you know what else I'm guessing? That the second that demon gets back with your general, she'll kill me on sight. Am I correct?"
The demons all glanced at each other before one of them shook his head and chuckled. "You are afraid." He stated. "It is understandable. Facing down giant monsters covered in armor. Wielding weapons as tall as you, able to cover five steps in the amount of time it takes you to cover one. It is natural to be scared."
"I'm not scared," Jenkins said. "In the past, I was never afraid of you lot. You were nothing more than obstacles. You bled and died like everything else, and that was good enough for me. Scared? Really? No. I run away from you because I know that if you catch me, I'll die, which is something that I would like to prevent. But not once have I run away out of fear. I've traveled across the entire multiverse and have seen things that would make you run away screaming. But to me...you're not scary. You're just a bunch of brutes in armor. And that is something you can find in every dimension."
"You mock us?" One of the demons spat, throwing his weapon, a gigantic mace, over his shoulder. "We are the shock troops of lord Drosid. We have been trained since birth to fight. And what are you? Nothing but a simple human with-"
"And here we go with the racism." Jenkins sighed. "You know, I know why Drosid is doing all this crap. He doesn't think that people from the surface deserve to go to the Underworld. That only demons may inhabit those lands. Well, I think if he got off his ass and took one look at this hellscape…" He spread his arms at the surrounding ruins. "I think he might reconsider."
"You think that him seeing what has become of your world will change his mind?" The demon asked. "He's already seen it. He went through the portal to inspect the damage himself, to figure out why all these non-demons were suddenly showing up. He did not care in the slightest. If anything, it only motivated him more to wipe you all out. And while he has changed his goal...to simply throwing you back into this world than killing you all...his mind will never change. And neither will ours."
"Terrific. Trained from birth, you say? More like brainwashed from birth." Jenkins scoffed. "Let me guess. When you were young, and part of Drosid's kingdom or whatever, you were taught that all non-demons were inferior, and that demons were the superior species no matter what."
All the demons slowly glanced at one another, and that was all the evidence Jenkins needed to pronounce his assumption as true.
"Yeah. Thought so." He said. "You know, you didn't have to be born like that. It's such a shame. You may have been told otherwise, but if you hadn't been taught that shit when you were younger, you wouldn't believe in any of it either. You wouldn't "instinctively" feel that non-demons are inferior. You wouldn't think that at all. The only reason you believe that...is because you were brainwashed. Not because of species or genetics or some stupid crap like that."
"But is it not true?" One of the demons asked. "Look at you. It would take twenty of you to match up to even one of us. How could you possibly disagree with the fact that you are inferior?"
"I would agree that I am inferior in some aspects, but not all," Jenkins said. "There's more to stats than simple physical strength, you know."
"Not in the Underworld."
"Maybe so," Jenkins said. "But it matters little. In the end, if you keep going like this, there won't be an Underworld to rule. That little civil war of yours will tear the entire sub-dimension apart."
"It hasn't so far." One of the demons said. "There have been a few battles, but the terrain has hardly changed. Tear apart the entire dimension? Ludicrous. By the end, the only thing that will remain is an Underworld free of filthy traitors and non-demons. We will rule forever, part of the most powerful army there is."
"The most powerful army there-yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that." Jenkins said. "If you knew half of the armies that the E.D.F. has quarreled with in other dimensions...you know nothing. You know less than nothing. Like the things I've seen across the multiverse, those armies would make you run away just from the mere sight of them. You call yourself demons? No...those creatures were proper demons, regardless of name choice. Things that came from the deepest depths of hell, and brought a little bit of it with them."
"Fascinating." The demon said. "But I guess we don't have to worry about them, do we? Considering that besides the portal in the forest...magic isn't really around anymore."
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," Jenkins said. "Magic is very much still around. Just...a little harder to find. And the person in my group that had magic is the real reason you came here, isn't she?"
"That's correct!" A sudden voice said, and everyone turned to see the demon from earlier, followed by the "tall bastard", as Jenkins called her. She was noticeably slowing her steps in order to prevent herself from overtaking her underling, and Jenkins actually felt a pang of fear, regretting not turning and running when he should have. "You are, Jenkins, very much correct."
"Well, look at this. It's the head honcho. At least of this little group." Jenkins said, slowly inching his way towards the alleyway. "You know, I've never seen or heard of you before, and I didn't spot you during the battle at Lucitor Castle, either. So you mind telling me who you are before we get to business?"
"If that is what you prefer. My name is Ateb." Ateb said. "Odd name, yes, but it has been passed through my family for generations now. I am the head general of Drosid's army, as well as his second-in-command. And before you ask why I was not at the battle, Drosid left me behind to guard his fortress, in case someone tried to attack."
"Smart..." Jenkins said. "Ateb, huh? Well, you don't have to beat yourself up over that name. I've heard way weirder names than that. But...you did say you are here for Meteora, are you not?"
"In a manner of speaking," Ateb said. "Our lord Drosid does not wish to make war with your magic girl, the one who so devastated his army. He sees it as a wiser move to simply leave you alone, and focus on the Underworld. Which is why we have come here, as I'm sure you already know. Here is the deal. Here is the message. All hostilities between you and the Underworld are to cease immediately. In exchange, you do not go down there to assist Dave and his allies, and we do not come up here any longer to kill you. And our Lord has sent messengers before, yes, but their messages are irrelevant now. This...is your new offer."
"...Oh. I get it," Jenkins said, with a sly smile. "So what you're saying is...Drosid is scared of us."
"What?! No! No, he is not scared. Our great lord is scared of nothing!" Ateb shouted, before closing herself. "Drosid is not scared of you. He simply believes that entering into a conflict with the magic girl-"
"Meteora."
"...That entering into a conflict with Meteora is undesired." Ateb corrected. "She is nothing but a nuisance to him, and he had no time to deal with such things. If Meteora does not fight, then that is all the better for him."
"No, he's totally scared," Jenkins said, who was now more than halfway to the alley. "He sees her as nothing more than a nuisance? Give me a break. She blew up that giant tank of his and most of his entire army. If she's a nuisance, then what would an actual threat be? Because she can easily take you and his army down. Heck, those six demons you sent a while back? Yeah, Meteora killed them all in under a minute. A minute." He sighed and shook his head. "Face it. He may have tricked you into thinking otherwise, but Drosid doesn't want to fight her because he's afraid that she will win. And I must say...she would."
"...Is that so?" Ateb asked, before an ugly grin spread across her face beneath her helmet. "Then tell me, Jenkins, where is Meteora right now? Where is your ultimate weapon? I've only seen you. Where are the others?"
"They're hiding. Both of them." Jenkins lied. "Waiting for the right moment to strike in case you try anything stupid. So...please don't. Because it will not go well for you."
"I see," Ateb said. "But based on your earlier comments, I assume this means that you reject our peace?"
"Damn right I do," Jenkins said. "You think that after everything you've done, we're just going to accept your little peace treaty? No. You still plan to kill Dave and everyone else down there. And we are not letting that happen. So why don't you go back to your master and tell him that, before I have Meteora blast your head off?"
"No...I think we shall not." Ateb said. "You see, Drosid ordered us to kill you if you refused, and if we come back without completing that order, he'll kill us anyway. Probably by torturing us to death."
"Is that so…" Jenkins said, starting to get nervous. "Well, I think that just shows bad leadership. Killing your own troops for not completing an order when you're already in short supply of them. Seems kinda stupid, no?"
"Possibly," Ateb said. "But orders are orders, Jenkins, and we have to follow them. And before you start threatening us with Meteora again, we should let you know...we know your secret."
"Secret?"
"Yes," Ateb said. "We may have been given a bit of information that Meteora Butterfly had mysteriously disappeared. Isn't that right?"
'Oh, crap.' Jenkins thought, now inching slightly faster towards the alleyway, which was no more than a few feet away at this point. "Uh, I don't know where you got that information, but the person who told you is wrong," Jenkins said. "If you have been spying on us, then yes, Meteora hasn't been seen in a while, but that's only because we knew you assholes would show up eventually, and we've been hiding her from you. To strike at the exact right moment that you think you're safe."
"I see," Ateb said, almost in a whisper. "Then what were you searching for earlier? Food? Water? Or your precious missing daughter?"
"..."
"And I suppose all those times you two called out her name was just supposed to be fake as well?"
"..."
"..."
"Fuck it," Jenkins said, before turning tail and dashing into the alleyway. Ateb was clearly surprised by this action, but only for a moment, as she groaned and pointed an arm half the length of a telephone pole at where he just was, and then all the demons roared and ran after him, their footsteps cracking the pavement and making it sound like there was. A stampede of elephants coming down the street.
And the chase was on…
And without saying another word, Mariposa ran. She sprinted down the alleyway before going down to a decent jogging pace, recalling how Jenkins had just told her to conserve her energy. But still, she lost sight of him and the alleyway in no time as she exited into another street and began making her way towards the Jaggy castle, never looking back.
Well, almost never. Because after a minute into her run, Mariposa looked over her shoulder to make sure that Jenkins was following her. Surely, by now, he had provoked the demons and was running away at full speed, and would almost certainly appear at any moment."
But he didn't. However, Meteora didn't stop, knowing full well that entirely possible Jenkins had decided to taunt the demons with a short conversation before running. After years of living with him, she knew how parts of his brain worked. And something like that would not be out of character.
So she didn't stop. She only kept her eyes on the rapidly approaching mountains in the distance, growing bigger and bigger as she ran after them. Once she crossed a telephone pole that was broken in half, she knew she only had half a mile to go. She looked over her shoulder again, fully expecting to spot Jenkins…
But again, she saw nothing. And this time, she actually slowed her pace, weariness beginning to build up inside her. It shouldn't be taking him this long...should it? He was a much faster runner than her. Half a mile was nothing. He should have caught up by now, and those demons should have-
The next thought that enraged her mind made her stop in her tracks and gasp, as she realized that there was something else about this scene that was missing.
There were no footsteps. She didn't hear any footsteps. Those demons were giant, weighing thousands of pounds, and she knew just how much noise it made when they did something as simple as walking around. And yet, she heard none of it. Which meant that those demons weren't following her. Which meant that Jenkins wasn't following her. Which meant-
Mariposa suddenly stopped in place, feeling an urge to lie down and throw up. She turned fully around and looked back at the way she came, fully expecting Jenkins to turn the corner so she could start running again. Alas, he didn't, and she was left alone. Her heart began beating out of her chest as her anxiety spiked to newfound extreme levels, all the while her fingers tapped nervously against the sides of her legs.
'Okay. This is okay.' She thought. 'He's just probably taking his time. Maybe talking to them for whatever reason. Besides, if they had actually killed him, I would have heard it! Those weapons striking the ground would probably create a small shockwave! I would have heard it. He's fine. He's fine.'
But Mariposa wasn't sure if this was the truth or just a lie she was telling herself.
'Come on. Move.' She said. 'He told you to keep running no matter what. If he's dead, then you have to move even more now. Those demons will know we're close to them, and they will find you and you will die! Now love your damn legs and run!'
Despite what her mind was telling her, however, Mariposa couldn't find the willpower to start sprinting again. Instead, she backed away until she hit a building, and she slowly started sliding down it, her breathing now becoming close to hyperventilation.
'No. Nononono!' She thought. 'No! He's fine! You did lose him. Meteora is fine as well. She'll turn up again. You're not alone! The two people you care about most in this world aren't gone! They're just...they're just…'
Mariposa's fists clenched up after this, and she felt that she was a second away from sobbing. 'Show up...show up…' She begged. 'Just show up already! I know you're not dead! Those demons are nothing! You've faced way bigger things than that! You can...can…'
And then it hit her. No, he couldn't. Jenkins was one of the strongest people Mariposa knew, but she also knew he had his limits. Those Black priests. The demons at the castle. Even a few scavengers they had come across in the wasteland, like that monster from a while back whose truck they accidentally blew up. And those demons she saw...he couldn't even hope to face them, no matter how strong her childhood devilish is of him as an all-powerful protector was, a delusion that she realized still stuck with her to this day.
And just before she started full-on crying as she came to terms with what had to have happened, she heard it. The stomping. The demons were coming this way, right for her.
'Oh.' She thought. 'Is this...is this it then? I can't even feel my legs...it's like they're refusing to move. Why? Why can't I move? What's wrong with me?'
The footsteps got closer, and Mariposa braced herself for what was sure to be a quick death, but still an agonizing one, in its own way. Everyone she knew gone...and everyone-
But it was not to be. Jenkins rounded the content at the last second, running faster than Mariposa had ever seen him run. She jumped up in surprise, wondering if this was really happening or just a hallucination, before he was right on top of her, grabbed her, and threw her over his shoulders like a bag full of groceries. The demons rounded the same corner only a moment later, weapons held high over their heads. Mariposa wasn't even sure how to react at first, the shock of Jenkins still being alive not yet done hitting her, before he opened her mouth and snapped her back to reality.
"What were you doing?!" He screeched, as Mariposa quickly repositioned her legs so that she was now sitting on top of his shoulders instead of just being slung over them. Jenkins grabbed her legs to help her keep her balance before continuing, and Mariposa honestly wasn't sure how she was going to answer this one. "I told you not to stop! Why were you just sitting there doing nothing? If I had died then you have been a sitting duck!"
"I…" Mariposa started. "I didn't follow your advice, okay? I kinda ran at full speed to start, thinking I could make it all the way to the castle like that...but I couldn't. I sorta forgot that it's been several hours since I last had any water, so my body took exception to me attempting to run a mile at full sprint. I just...had to rest because it felt like my heart was about to explode."
"...Well, next time, just try and walk, or lean against a wall if you really have to instead of sitting down," Jenkins recommended. "I understand if you're tired, but staying alive is always more important."
"Right, right…" Mariposa said, still reeling from the revelation that her foster father was not dead as she had assumed. She wasn't sure why she had lied about that. What was she worried would happen? That he wouldn't believe her? No, he would. That'd he chastise her for getting so worked up about death, despite all the natural lessons they had that presumably had made them immune to it?
No, not that either. Truth be told, she wasn't sure. Maybe the getting tired explanation was just easier and quicker than the other one. But, that didn't matter right now. They were still in the middle of a chase. Mariposa glanced behind them and saw that the demons were beginning to catch up, as they were now twice as close to Jenkins as they had been when he first appeared.
"Uh, they're starting to catch up to us!" She yelled.
"I know that!" Jenkins shouted back. "But the mountain shouldn't be much farther. Just have to...improvise!" As he said this, he suddenly took a sharp right and ducked into a nearby alley, making Mariposa shrieked and almost making her fall off in response. "Sorry. But you know we have to-"
"No, no, I get it," Mariposa said. "Do you have any weapons with you?"
"Only a knife. Why?" Jenkins asked.
"Just wondering…" Mariposa asked, as the demons stopped short behind them and started struggling to make it down the right alleyway. "I think that if we're careful, we might be able to-"
"FOOLS!" A voice from above them roared, and they both reflexively looked up to see Ateb standing above them, her legs placed between the two buildings on either side of them. "DO YOU THINK YOU COULD GET AWAY SO EASILY?"
"Oh shit, I almost forgot about her." Jenkins groaned.
"That thing is a her?!"
Before either of them could say anything else, however, Ateb dropped down and landed right in front of them, no more than a few feet away. Jenkins stopped short and started backing away slowly, before realizing that the horde of regular-sized demons was still behind him. He turned back to Ateb, who was smiling at him again, satisfaction evident across her entire face.
"Run, run, run." She mocked. "I admit it's been a while since I've taken part in a good chase. Most enemies underestimate me due to my gender and skinniness.
Think that I can be defeated if they get just one good hit in. And while I'm glad that you didn't seem to suffer from those biases, it still disappoints me that you weren't able to get away faster. It's been so long since I've had a proper challenge…"
"That's just fascinating," Jenkins said. "You know, if you want, maybe you can stay here on Earth. Any future civilizations won't discriminate on gender after all this, and if they do, then I'll turn them into ones that don't. So...how about it? You won't have to suffer any more of that bias."
"An interesting offer. And certainly appealing." Ateb said. "But no. Even if there is truth in that statement, I'm doing that myself in the Underworld. No one underestimates me anymore. I never speak before a fight anymore. I simply swoop in, and annihilate them."
"Uhhh…" Mariposa said. "I think the fact that you don't speak is what got rid of the underestimation. Before Jenkins corrected me, I completely thought you were a dude. The armor covers up literally everything."
Ateb looked confused for a moment, before turning her attention to the soldiers behind them. "Is...is that true?"
"Ummm…" One of them said, clearly afraid to offend their superior. "I mean, maybe? I'm not really an expert on this sort of stuff, I wouldn't know, and…"
"And what?" Ateb spat.
"Errr…"
While this whole exchange was taking place above them, Jenkins tilted his head and whispered to Mariposa, which honestly wasn't necessary considering that it was already a miracle that Ateb could hear them from down here.
"Duck your head. I'm going to run between her legs and get us the hell out of here."
"What?"
"Just duck your head," Jenkins repeated, and Mariposa pauses before doing just that, slouching her body over. Jenkins nodded before suddenly bolting, running right between Ateb's legs and heading for the end of the alleyway. She didn't even notice at first, still too preoccupied with chewing out her subordinates.
"When we get back to the Underworld, I am going to clap you in irons and-"
"Uh, sir." One of the demons said, the only one who had noticed that Mariposa and Jenkins were now long gone.
"Not done yet! And did you just call me sir?" Ateb spat. "I specifically requested that you call me ma'am before this mission began. How dare you refuse to follow my orders! First, you insult me, then you insult me again! I wonder what-"
"Ma'am, they're gone."
"Who's gone?"
"The two humans." The demon replied, and Ateb paused for a moment, as if remembering that Jenkins and Mariposa still existed, before glancing downwards and seeing that they had indeed vanished. She then looked back up at the soldier who had told her as such, and gaped at them with what could only be described as pure contempt on her face.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" She shrieked.
"I was afraid that if I interrupted you twice, you would kill me." The demon said sheepishly.
"Hm. That does sound like me…" Ateb pondered, before shaking her head. "Wait! What am I doing! We have to go now! You lot follow me this instant! And kill them when you catch them! No more talk!" She faced forward again and pulled out her gigantic sword, handling it with zero difficulty. "We're not giving them a chance to get away again."
"Are they following us yet?"
"I'm not sure!" Jenkins replied, now only a quarter-mile from the start of the path up the mountain. "They may still be arguing. I've heard that demons can do it for days at a time, as long as the thing they're disagreeing over is important enough."
"Do you think we constitute as important?"
"Definitely not. We're just a problem that Drosid needs eliminated. Two random humans he wants dead. That's all Ateb sees us as." Jenkins explained. "And I'm sure the rest of those demons feel the exact same way. The only reason she didn't kill us earlier is that she wanted to toy with us first. And I'm sure if they catch us now...they won't hesitate to kill us immediately."
"Who the heck is this Ateb?" Mariposa asked, only absorbing one thing from that explanation. "The tall demon who we thought was a guy at first?"
"Yeah. Drosid's second in command and top general." Jenkins replied. "Little surprised that with a position. like that, we didn't see her at the battle of Lucitor castle, but I only assume he left her behind to guard the fortress from any other intruders."
"Or Meteora killed the previous second in command at that battle. And probably third and fourth and fifth command." Mariposa suggested.
"Fair enough," Jenkins said, and they remained silent the rest of the way there, until the entrance to the path that led up Jaggy Mountain was right in front of them. But Jenkins didn't stop for a second, running right through it as he began the uphill ascent, one that began to get more and more dangerous the higher he got.
"Uh, you can put me down now!" Mariposa said. "Once we get high enough, we won't be able to change our speed even if we wanted to!"
"Can't!" Jenkins said. "You'd still be behind me, and it's still too much of a risk."
"It's a bigger risk to do this!" Mariposa said. "Your arms are holding my legs in place, but you're going to need those once we get higher! Don't tell me you think you can scale this thing using your legs alone. The fact that we managed to make it up even once is a miracle in itself."
"...Fine." Jenkins relented, knowing full well that she was right. He lifted Mariposa off his shoulders and placing her in front of him. "But you're going in front, so if they catch up, you can still get away while they're busy killing me."
"Right, right…" Mariposa said, getting a rather vivid flashback of five minutes ago. "Speaking of which, where are they? Have they started coming up the mountain yet?"
"Umm…" Jenkins said, quickly glancing behind him. And yes, they were following him. With Ateb at the front, simply leaping over the various spikes in the past like they were nothing more than pebbles in her way. The other demons were clearly having trouble catching up, but they didn't matter at this point. If Ateb reached them it was all over. "Yes. Yes, they are."
"Thought as much…" Mariposa scowled, before attempting to pick up the pace. The head start they got on Ateb was substantial, but would fail them in the end, as with every step she closed the distance a little bit more. Jenkins estimated that it would be roughly two minutes before she got to them at her current pace, and he had no idea what to do when that happened. He briefly looked over the side of the mountain, wondering if they could somehow slide down. But that was impossible. It was so steep that their "slide" would be more like a "fall", and if they could make it, Ateb could make it as well. They weren't even at the section that Jenkins had planned for the demons to fall and die at, which pretty much confirmed that they were out of options.
Except for one.
"Okay, Mariposa, I may have made a bit of a mistake…" He started.
"Yeah, I know," Mariposa interjected. "She's coming up behind us too fast. I'd say...one minute. There's no way in hell we're going to even get to the section where we planned they would all fall at, much less the top."
"Yeah…" Jenkins said. "Okay. I think we both know what needs to happen. You go ahead of me and hide in the castle until they all go away. Even that place is dangerous for Ateb. I'll stay behind and stall her as long as I can. Maybe by some miracle, I can push her off the mountain with myself. After that, you go along with what I told you to do if I died. Go to the Underworld, find Dave or his allies, all that. Got it?"
"..."
"..."
"Screw that," Mariposa said, who was not about to stay behind after what happened earlier. "What are you trying to do, you idiot? Go out in some blaze of glory sacrificing yourself for me? Yeah, no. I'm staying here and we're going to do our best to take her out together, whether you like it or not."
Jenkins shook his head. "Mariposa, that's not-"
"It's too late. Don't try and change my mind. I've already decided." Mariposa said. "You can't knock me out or try to throw me up the mountain either, because then I'll be dead anyway. I'm staying here, and if that means dying, then I'm fine with it! I'm not leaving you behind."
Jenkins almost growled after this. "Mariposa, I am ordering you to-"
"What did I say? It's too late. She's already here." Mariposa interjected, and Jenkins turned around to see what she was correct. Ateb was now right behind them. Maybe only a few seconds away from catching up. Jenkins turned around fully and prepared to shield Mariposa as best he could, even though he knew that an effort like that was pointless at this point.
"Run. Run…" He whispered, begged almost. "Don't make everything I've done for you all for naught."
Mariposa's expression switched to one of hesitation, but before she could open her mouth to say something else, Ateb launched herself off the ground and landed only a few feet away from them, her shadow now towering over the pair.
"Caught you." She said, before raising her sword high. "No more talk. No more distractions. No. More. You."
She prepared to swing the blade downwards, and Jenkins grabbed Mariposa's arm and got ready to jump off the cliff with her; maybe by some miracle they would survive; but before he could the ground suddenly lurched, like the tectonic plate that held Earthni together had just split in half. Ateb paused just before her sword hit her targets, and she looked around frantically for the source of the quake, while Jenkins leaned as far back as he could against the mountain wall, desperately trying to prevent Mariposa and himself from falling off.
"What the hell?!" Ateb exclaimed, clearly pissed at being robbed once again of the opportunity to kill her targets. Everyone looked towards what seemed to be the source of the rumbling, the forest, which was still shaking like a giant was pounding their fists on the ground. Mariposa almost thought she could see the ground moving up and down like a wave. For a second, nobody moved, all of them waiting to see what was going to happen next.
And then another quake struck, this one much more powerful than the previous one. Jenkins and am AirPods just managed to prevent themselves from falling off by grabbing onto a nearby spike, while Ateb slammed her sword into the side of the mountain to stop herself from sliding down the edge of it. The same could not be said for some of her subordinates, however, and the three of them watched several of the demons that were coming up from behind them stumbled from losing their balance and falling off the mountain, where they landed below in great clouds of dust. Ateb did nothing but scowl at this, whole Jenkins and Mariposa were still too weary to be happy about it, more focused on trying not to fall to their deaths.
"You two had something to do with this." She accused. "I know you did! What is this? Did you plant bombs beforehand?
"No…" Jenkins said. "We had nothing to do with this. Although it did come from the forest, which could mean…"
"Which could mean?!"
"...I think I should just let this next part speak for itself, whatever it is," Jenkins said, and Ateb growled again before looking back at the charred trees, which now had a cloud of dust rising from them as well. She squinted her eyes as she thought she could see a shape moving inside it...which grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until finally burst out of the cloud and revealed itself.
"Oh my god…" Someone said, probably all of them.
"Huh." Mariposa then said. "I guess we finally found her…"
End chapter 46
A/N: So, this was an entirely Jenkins and Mariposa situated chapter, one that I was on the fence if I should make it or not, but I'm glad I did. And my god, that cliffhanger. Kinda spoilers what's going to happen in the end, although how that happens is certainly something exciting. As I'm sure you predicted, we'll be going back to Meteora next chapter, which will finally start off the end of this arc, which had gone on for much longer than it should have.
But thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.
