Authors note:
The end is fast approaching!
Chapter XLVI: The Core of All Evil
An immense heat washed over him, it was almost unbearable to stand. He appeared in a strange vast open chasm, but it was spherical in shape. It made his head spin trying to comprehend it. He was on a strange black platform, it stretching outwards in a pointed shape towards the centre. He was facing a black stone wall, there were plenty of twisted metal frames embedded in this wall, plenty of portals lead here. The adjacent wall as well as the supports underneath the platform preserved the integrity of the infrastructure of the core room. It looked like there was no physical entrance, the only way to get here was by teleportation.
As he saw the portal vanish in front of him, thanking that he no longer had to travel through one. The man turned around to find the source of the sweltering heat and blinding light that consumed the room. Well looks like we're diving straight in the deep end...
Hell's core...there it was...
Beautiful yet terrifying... it was as if he was at the core of a planet. The sphere he was in was immense, the core being in the centre of this sphere, six beams of light were channeling Hell Energy out of the core and beyond, escaping our of sight, piercing through Hell's surface. The centre of the core was the brightest thing he had ever seen, the light burning his retina whenever he looked at it for too long, like a star. But he fell victim to its beauty...because he did look at it for too long...he began to see scenes that...he thought he recognised...
Figures dancing chaotically around a fire...they were drunk and merry.
. . .
Lovers in a tender embrace...sleeping in on the dwindling remnants of a crisp morning...it looked like summer...the light was filling the room with a red glow.
. . .
The taking of life.
. . .
The scene of a restaurant...everyone was looking at the smartly dressed couple.
. . .
A cool night and an even colder sea...dark water, the waves, the gentle warmth the swimmers shared when they came together.
. . . . . .
It was a room full of...machines? There were flashing lights, loud automated jingles and rhythmic beeping, sounded like someone was playing a hundred video games at once, was that the sound of...laughing?
. . . . . . . . . . .
He saw a marina, the boats that were docked were gently swaying to and fro...there was seafood on a platter.
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Several red bar tools were next to a counter, there was a woman behind it, speaking, handing over two giant glasses on a tray, the sun was shining in from the sea.
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Two figures were sat on a...car? They were both looking out across the beach, one had their head leaned on the other's shoulder...there was seabirds cawing in the distance.
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A big open room...someone was shouting, someone was coughing loudly, there were two people sat on elevated seats in front, a crowd of people was off to the right.
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A ceremony of some sort...the was alot of smartly dressed...students? What were they standing on?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
There was two people, both of them wrapped in a giant...blanket? They had both been shivering, both been soaking wet.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A castle, made of some otherworldly material, a tour was currently underway...they had a busy schedule.
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Someone was bathing three figures...water was flying everywhere
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Two people were talking with one another, both of them had been through a long journey... they were both incredibly tired...but now they were home.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The...bringer...of...death.
"Stop looking"...
The...taking. . .of. . . life. . .
A rooftop conversation...a fist to the face...a million deaths at the hand of a friend...the blood...was it his? Hours of lust...the dream of pregnancy...abuse of memories...game night...the end of a family...oil fields...Hell Knights...the abyss...the chaos...the nightmares...the need to protect...the need to fight...the police...a diner...the loneliness...death...exercising...meatloaf...the Halloween party...the alcohol...the nightmares, the fucking nightmares...the end of the world...dreams of a sharply dressed demon girl harem...the-
"The bringer of death"...
"The taking of life"...
"And everything inbetween"...
"S̸̝͔̬̝͗̽T̸̫͇͓̂̐O̶̺̬͖̪͋P̷͇͎̽̾ ̸̯̈́͋L̴̉͋̕ͅO̴̪̱̩̿̈́Ŏ̶̠̹̠̭̉͘̕K̵͎̫̻͙̐́̔̏I̶͍̻̖̓̔̅̓ͅN̷̤̖̒͗ͅG̷̦͋̒́.̴̤̻̏̓̅.̴͔͚͈̋̄͌.̵̧̭̝̔"
AHH! he mentally punched himself, falling to the floor in pain. A million thoughts, thoughts associated with these thoughts, every intricate detail had flooded his mind all at once...he couldn't cope...He was experiencing a sharp migraine as if a spike had just shot through his brain, he was paralysed, the only thing he could do was grab his head and suffer. He winced immensely, trying his best suppress the electrifying agony, it was as if someone had just hooked up his brain to the national grid. That would be better than this...
Whilst he was on his back, a voice he did not recognise spoke to him again, he could hear it more clearly, yet it was but a whisper on the wind..."Wake...up...push...forward".
But before he could he even acknowledge this voice, the pain had thankfully ceased. Oh sweet merciful god...The man regained control of his body, he rolled over onto his front and rested a brief moment. He realised that he had been involuntarily holding his breath. The mortal man took a few gasps of air, eventually pushed himself upwards, coming to kneel and then standing finally. He had already forgotten about the voice, the second wind it had provided...
In truth he had been staring directly at the source of the core...a human's mind was unable to comprehend what the core was, the brain was trying to process what the eyes were seeing. Therefore it would become defunct while trying to learn its appearance. He was lucky he hadn't died there on the spot...The Helltaker didn't dare look directly at the orange mass in the centre a second time, his eyes finally found what he had been looking for...there were three figures floating at the end of this platform of blackened stone, another one was laying face down. As he squinted he could see the that the demon lying on the floor had darker coloured skin, was most likely Judgement, the rest all had paler complexions, probably the other three crazies.
He swallowed nervously, gulping down his worries with the last ounce of confidence he could conjure. He began walking towards them using his arm to shield himself from the light, it hurt to have his eyes open for too long, even the room itself was stupidly bright, the light bouncing around it, unable to escape.
Looks like this was it...
"Finally...Welcome...Helltaker" the deep, dark and murky voice sounded, no longer speaking telepathically, it instead booming aloud for all to hear. He did not answer, only quickening his pace. "We have been waiting for...so long..." He had to stall her, long enough for the rest to arrive, he knew they would eventually. They would know what to do...he just had to stall.
"Come now...bow before your Queen", maybe he could talk her out of this? Maybe he- a simple, average human with no talents or special abilities could save the day...no superpowers needed. He wished he had his sunglasses on...he'd give anything to stop the blinding light burning his eyes, maybe even they wouldn't stop its effect. He wanted his mask...so he wouldn't be betrayed by his emotions.
"BEELZEBUB!" he called, now approaching the four figures, the identity of the four being revealed. "STOP THIS AT ONCE!". Beelzebub was indeed there, she was the middle figure floating away from the platform, arms in front of her, outstretched, palms facing forward, black energy was flowing from her entire body towards Hell's core. Quite close to her, an unconscious Zdrada was thankfully unharmed, levitating nearby, encased in a black bubble, arms tied behind her back. "Thank god" he muttered, breathing a sigh of relief. Her long white fringe was covering almost the entirety of her face as she was looking down, head drooping forward, he couldn't tell whether she was injured or not.
To her left, Lucifer was also rendered unconscious, encased in another shroud of darkness. However the devil was far worse for wear; cuts and bruises all along her body and face, the CEO's suit was ripped in various places, one of her white horns had been completely shattered. Signs of a struggle. He couldn't tell, but it looked like her hand had been severed at the wrist. Fuck...
The High Prosecutor lay badly hurt nearer to him, she was face down and unresponsive, her gauntlets and armored leggings were shattered to pieces, metal strewn across the end of the platform, blood was splattered all over the black surface. Evidence of a prior conflict was all around him...how did he stand a chance? "What have you done B?!" he again shouted, the demon still not facing him, her attention directed to the core.
"Me? I have ensured that they simply cannot interfere" she replied plainly, as if nothing was wrong.
"This is madness, they are your family!" he continued his approach, the Helltaker deciding to check on Judgement first as she was nearest and seemingly the most injured, visibly anyway.
"I have ensured our work can continue, that our domination of the realm will become a reality!" her voice excited and eager, like the true megalomaniac she was.
"Our?!" he shouted angrily. "I want nothing to do with this!". He knelt down and gently rolled Judgement onto her back, the bloodied grey face of the prosecutor was not a pleasant sight. All along her face she had cuts and claw marks, gouges and bruises. Her left ear had been sliced in half, the grey flesh hanging by a thread. The strangest part about this injured prosecutor was that her eyes were wide open, as if she was paralysed, unable to move. Her entire body was tensed, rigid as if her very flesh had turned to stone.
Parts of her outfit were also torn, the black jacket was shredded, the red arm band was in three pieces a little away from her body, a part of her black leggings was completely gone around her right thigh, a large cut had severed the material, barely preserving her dignity. Looks like she might have had a little one on one with Beelzebub...
"Hey J, can you hear me? he smiled, hoping she'd spring alive and start kicking Beelzebub's ass. No reply. "Judgement?" he felt for a pulse, searching for a while before finding a very faint heartbeat.
"But don't you understand, I did this all for you! For us! We will rule Hell, Heaven and everything inbetween!" the power hungry demon laughed, the power she would soon possess, incomprehensible, unimaginable.
"You're insane!" he spat, the human moving his ear to Judgement's lips, checking to see if she was breathing. A very raspy hoarse breath met his ears, she sounded badly wounded, possibly internal bleeding? Punctured lungs? He looked down and did notice a shallow wound a bit further under her left breast, it looked like it had healed rapidly but it could have been much deeper.
He rested Judgement's head gently onto the stone, her beautiful long hair had been torn to shreds, parts of it shorter than the others, chunks of it were missing. He guessed that the prosecutor must of had one last stand-off with Beelzebub and her servants before the Mistress of the Flies disabled her completely. Anger was now burning within him, the man turning it into a fuel source. "I'm putting a stop to this...NOW!" he roared, the man left Judgement where she was, he was useless to her now. Standing up, he was thinking what his next move should be, if he sprinted towards Beelzebub, got a running start, he could jump up to her and possibl-.
"I'm afraid, I can't allow that..." Beelzebub sounded almost sad.
"Well I'm sorry to upset you, but I'm gonna hav- GAAH!" the Helltaker was flung backwards, the human flying slightly above the floor, unable to touch it. He flew in an upright position all the way back to where he had entered, struggling as he went, unable to land. It was a good five hundred or so yards back, the power propelling him had eventually released the human and he fell with a loud thud onto his back, rolling several times. When he stopped moving, he lifted his face off of the stone, teeth gritted, then pushed his body up to kneel, standing as soon as his head stopped spinning.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to be patient dear, I'm almost done" still Beelzebub refused to turn and face him, her back turned.
"FACE ME YOU COWARD!" he screamed, desperate to draw her attention away, desperate to stall whatever she was doing. He wasn't doing a very good job, she could read his thoughts afterall, she knew his every move, anticipated them. How could he beat such a foe?
"Judgement? Dear, do make yourself look more presentable, more lively. We have a guest after all, please could you keep him entertained until I've made myself look...well, not like this! " Beelzebub joked, a deep, more male cackle coming afterwards...Strange.
He ran, making his way back towards the edge of the platform, but Judgement amazingly was standing, waiting for him, a minute ago she looked near death, immobile, now she looked as right as rain. "Judgement!" he called, jogging over to her, the two meeting towards the end of the platform, a large smile on the human's face. "Thank god, we've gotta help them, Beel is doing something to the cor-" he received a frighteningly painful, bare knuckle punch straight to the chest. The attack made him slide backwards twenty inches or so, he maintained his balance, leaning forward slightly, digging his feet in and grinding to a halt.
He held the area where her fist had landed, the punch knocking most of the wind out of him. "Guh!" he inhaled sharply, trying to restore the lost oxygen. "What the hell was that for?!" he shouted, the human almost bent over in agony, feeling like he needed to kneel as light-headedness consumed him. Judgement had yet to raise her head up to look at him, her white ruined hair was no longer supported by the black hair-clip, it covered her eyes and he was only now realising this. The silence was terrifying. A black inky substance began slowly running down her cheeks, dripping onto her breasts and flowing slowly down her wounded body.
She raised herself upwards, levitating just like she had done when they first did battle, the giant white holographic circle filled with symbols and glyphs appeared in the air, her silhouette in the centre. The High Prosecutor's arms were outstretched, claws forged anew. "Judgement...not you too" he said in despair, looking up, he couldn't fight her...he wouldn't...
"JUDGEMENT IS NO MORE!" that deep, dark, wet and murky voice roared at him, it was as if anyone under Beelzebub's spell would speak exactly like that, there was only a slight trace of Judgement's normal voice left. This deeper, more possessed voice spoke in time with Judgement's normal, softer voice, speaking as one. The prosecutor flung her arms backwards, fresh gauntlets were summoned and manifested on her hands. The metal leggings she wore were reforged, pieces and shards of metal flying up from the surrounding platform to come together on her legs from the thigh down.
Judgement had become 'corrupted', she was a puppet dancing on the end of strings at her master's mercy, her fighting spirit had been broken, her will shattered, she was broken. The prosecutor had landed gracefully and was now marching towards the human. Was their anything left of the Judgement he knew?
"Hey, easy now Judgement. It's me!" he begged, preparing himself to dodge the first attack, slowly walking backwards. "Your avatar of pain". Judgement's head twitched slightly at that remark, he could now see those previously white eyes had become dark holes of nothingness, the infinite black liquid seeping out of them. "Hang on wait a minute!" he jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding her first swing at him.
"STOP MOVING!" she commanded, closing the gap between them.
"Judgement she is in your head, you've got to fight -it!" he was almost cut short, the man ducking as she tried to kick him, aiming for his head, the Helltaker forgetting how flexible she was. She could balance on one leg and put the other vertical, above her head..."You have to break free from he-" he had to block for this attack, bringing up both his arms to guard, the prosecutor releasing a flurry of jabs.
"SHUT UP INVADER, YOU WILL BE PURGED FROM OUR REALM!" it was almost as if Judgement herself was speaking then.
"I'm not an invader, Judgement it's me! Don't you recognise me?!" he pleaded, still holding up his guard...barely. The human did not expect a swift kick in the testicles, slightly relieved as his forearms were about to break. The lightning fast pain shot through him, the man collapsing to the floor. "J-Judgemen-t would never stoop...that low-w", he gasped in a higher pitched voice than usual. Why did they always target his genitals...in both ways.
"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ME! YOU NEVER KNEW ME!" the prosecutor rambled, giving him a swift punch to the side of the head as he was kneeling, the man was sent falling backwards, turning mid-fall onto his front. His head was spinning again, his ears ringing, the taste of blood on his lips again, a warm liquid running down the side of his forehead.
"Ahh, so you are there J" he winced as spoke, spitting blood onto the ground. He tried pushing himself up, trying to stand but the grey demon was already on his back.
"I HATE BEING CALLED THAT, I HATE WHEN YOU CALL ME THAT!" she screamed, manifesting a white chain and wrapping the scolding metal around his throat, strangling him with it.
"J- ACK- J P-PL-LE-ASE" he got out between gasps of air, the metal searing his flesh, apply immense pressure to his windpipe and vocal cords.
"STOP. CALLING. ME. THAT!" she shouted in his ear, now bludgeoning his head against the stone repeatedly while also wrenching his head back, like she was trying to tame a wild animal. As the pain began to build, his vision beginning to swim, he was amazed that she hadn't embedded her claws into him yet, hadn't targeted his vital organs...she was holding back.
"I. HATE. YOU. I. HATE. YOU. I. HATE. YOU." she spoke in rhythm with everytime she hit his head against the floor, but the fact she wasn't getting an answer out of him only infuriated her more. "WHAT'S THE MATTER? TOO MUCH OF A COWARD TO SPEAK UP?!" she yelled. The High Prosecutor now rolled the human onto his back, the man looked terrible, blood coated his entire face, the source; a huge gash on his forehead from earlier. His throat was burned quite badly after the strangling, the damage more internal than external.
"J-ju-dgemen-" his voice was terribly hoarse, the strangulation had severely damaged his voicebox, it sounded like he had a terrible sore-throat, his voice was unrecognisable now. The Helltaker was barely able to say one word without it hurting too much.
"ADMIT IT, YOU HATED ME THE MOST. YOU NEVER LIKED ME! YOU HATED ME!" the demon screamed at him, the black liquid dripping off of her cheeks like tears, the liquid falling in small droplets from her face onto his, mixing with the red blood.
"N-nev-er" he gasped, struggling to breathe with the weight of the prosecutor straddling him and his own blood starting to make him choke.
"YOU NEVER LOVED ME!" Judgement held her right hand up, the gleam of her metal gauntlet reflecting the bright light of the core's radiance.
"L-l-li-ar" he chocked past the tears and blood, he was beginning to see stars and beyond them the darkness was fast approaching.
"Don't. Call. Me. A. L-liar" she hissed, quieter than her normal booming voice, but again her head twitched, something was happening in that head of her's.
"Y-you d-on't h-hav-e a hee-art. You aren't...the r-real- y-yo-u wil-ll n-nev-er b-be lik-k-ke th-e rea-l-l J-judg-ement..." he used up the last of his energy, the last of his oxygen, the last of his willpower...he was done.
At that remark, Judgement's fury exploded, "LET'S SEE IF YOU HAVE A HEART!". She went for the killing blow, her gauntlet moved down amazingly quick to the left side of his chest, aiming to pierce flesh and break bone.
Not...like this...Not like...
"ARGGHHH!", but it was not him who was screaming, he saw a blur of red, black and white dive over the top of him, looking down at his chest he saw that Judgement had only dug as deep as finger nails would allow. The Prosecutor was gone, the weight of her had disappeared. When he looked across the platform past his feet, he saw what had happened, he saw that first of many deadly battles was about to commence, a dual of the some of the most powerful women in Hell.
"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF HIM" Justice roared, both of them were on the floor, a little distance away from one another, a safe distance from the Helltaker. They were both like Lionesses, alpha predators fighting over a meal. It was to be battle of equal power, neither prosecutor backing down from this fight.
"THE BLIND OLD BITCH RETURNS" Judgement sneered, taunting her opponent. The two now rose from their crouched positions, both of them walking in a circle, both of them tracing the other's movements.
"JUDGEMENT WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" Justice screamed, the prosecutor slowly turning her gloves into deadly weapons, willing them into the spiked red metal version, the same version she had used during their battle with the corrupted Hell Knights. Judgement eyed her gloves, clenching the metal claws of her own gauntlets.
"ENDING THIS", she now stood, poised to charge.
"SHE'S GOT INTO YOUR HEAD...WE TRAINED FOR THIS REMEMBER?! YOU'VE GOT TO FIGHT BACK" Justice didn't want to hurt her best friend. She would defend herself and her family to the last, no matter the cost...Judgement included.
"ENOUGH TALK..." Judgement began running towards her new foe.
"Maybe I can beat some sense into you then!" Justice grinned, she too also charging, sprinting to clash with the corrupted Judgement. As the two opponents sprinted at one another, Hell's core erupted in a fiery display of light, a flash of orange timed with the first hit; Justice catching Judgement's metal fist in her own hand. He watched as the two warriors began dancing around one another, flourishing movements practiced off by heart, the evenly matched demons knowing the other's every move, counters, ripostes, ducking and diving, rolling and back-stepping. Movement that had been perfected over centuries, the two had been practicing together since...well since forever.
The only advantage Judgement had over her friend was sight, they both had the same levels of agility, flexibility, they could both incapacitate their foe with one blow, they were both light on the feet, they were always going to be equals. "Taker, what the hell did she do to you?!" he turned his head and looked up, seeing Pandemonica kneeling next to him, Malina, Azazel and Modeus shortly followed.
"Z-z-zdra-da-" his voice was terrible, barely audible, as if he had smoked a thousand cigarettes a day for his entire life. The family followed where he was pointing, seeing Zdrada suspended in mid-air near Beelzebub, the darkness she was embraced in was still keeping her trapped there.
"ZDRADA!" Malina shouted, running past the Helltaker, the younger sister reaching a full sprint
"Malina wait!" Azazel called, the angel following her friend, desperate to keep up.
"Girls no!" Pandemonica yelled, watching as the two stormed towards the prosecutor's battle. As they approached Justice and Judgement, Beelzebub's booming voice spoke again.
"We cannot tolerate any disruptions, High Prosecutor", Beel's voice in the High Prosecutor mind actually distracted the grey demon. Judgement while processing this message was unable to react fast enough as Justice's fist made contact with her face, the right cheek to be specific, knocking her down. Onto her ass. The Corrupted High Prosecutor watched as the younger demon and angel ran past, traveling inbetween the two prosecutors, Justice smiling at them as they went by. A furious Judgement was on her feet in an instant, moving to pursue the two running, but she had temporarily forgotten about her rival, she had a false start.
"Where do you think your going?!" Justice laughed, grabbing Judgement by her tail, yanking her backwards towards her. However, the grey demon had expected this, slamming the back of her fist into Justice's head as she was pulled backwards, knocking the Awesome Demon down onto her back.
"COME BACK HERE" Judgement screamed, turning and continuing her sprint after Azazel and Malina. Her feet thundered along the stone, the metal clanging against the rock. She was after Azazel first...
"M-monica, Mode-eus...help...them" he struggled to speak, his hoarse voice hurting with every word, again he pointed down the platform
"What about you?!" Modeus squeaked, her concern for him was through the roof, both demons confused where their priorities lie.
"I-I'm...I'm just going to lay here..." he gasped. "I'll...I..I'll be...f-fine..my voice huu-r-rtsss", the Helltaker rasped, resting his head on the cold stone, the man falling finally into unconscious. Modeus now knelt down next to him, moving his head to rest of her lap instead of the stone for, his comfort.
"Monica, wha-what do we do? Do we help them or do we help-" Modeus's red eyes were darting back and forth between the Helltaker, Pandemonica, the two prosecutors and Malina, followed by Azazel.
"I don't- I don't know...we could try-" Pandemonica was desperately look for an answer too, but another problem was about to add itself to their list. A loud but brief vibrating came first and then flashes of orange light followed, originating from where they had entered; the wall of black metal frames that portals would manifest within.
"Modeus! There!" she pointed, the black corner of the platform was becoming full of life as multiple portals began opening, "There is more of them...coming from the portals!". Modeus looked over to where they had entered and sure enough, an army of Doppels and Gargoyles had begun flooding in from six different portals.
"Looks like they had more Inferno Crystals than we thought" Pandemonica spoke solemnly adjusting her glasses, it was now dawning on her what she and Modeus had to do. They were trapped...they were the last line of defence...
"I thought Justice disabled all of them when we went through our one!" Modeus replied, remembering how the former prosecutor had placed dampeners on all of the portal frames if they were to be used.
"I thought so too, but looks like they are coming from all over the place", Pandemonica noticed a few of the minions were arriving dead, the dampeners obviously were working, but this was a pitiful amount compared to the army arriving. The professional bone breaker was done panicking, she was ready to fight...till the last breath...
"What do we do?!" Modeus had not caught on, wondering why Pandemonica was slowly walking away. "Monica?!" she squeaked, thinking she was being abandoned.
"We can't help them, we can't help him...the best we can do is buy them time..." the Tired Demon turned to look over her shoulder as she spoke. "Come Modeus...".
"But-" the Lustful Demon protested, her eyes darting rapidly at everything that was happening. This was too much!
"We must Modeus, they will soon be upon us...we need to keep them- we need to keep HIM safe!" Pandemonica urged, gesturing quickly at the incapacitated Helltaker.
"I don't know if we can..." the Lustful Demon began to stand, but before she did, the demon rested the unconscious Helltaker's head gently onto the floor again. "I'll be back for you..I promise" she whispered close to his ear, she reached down and planted a kiss on his forehead.
"We must try" Pandemonica was already on the move, Modeus took one last look at the Helltaker and battle of the prosecutors nearer the edge of the platform.
"I'll do it for you, I'll be brave just like you are" she whispered to nobody before running after Pandemonica. "Would you like a weapon?" Modeus asked as soon as she had caught up, manifesting her own sledgehammer again. The two demons were walking side by side, facing the incoming onslaught head on.
"Not yet dear, when my hands start to hurt I'll take you up on that offer...are you ready?" the other demon asked, cracking her knuckles in preparation, making sure they were ready for breaking bone.
"Ready as I'll ever be..." Modeus twirled her sledgehammer once, using the weight to spin it in a full circle, readjusting to the weapons heft again. The horde of servants now approached...
"Then lets have some fun" Pandemonica took off running, Modeus followed at a slower but still quickened pace, sledgehammer at the ready. Despite the older demon being unarmed, her lightning fast reflexes and agility meant that she was snapping necks and breaking arms in such quick succession that none of the minions could keep up.
Those that weren't fast enough to keep up with Pandemonica were at the mercy to a hammer coming into contact with their skulls...
"JUDGEMENT" Justice shouted as she got to her feet after being knocked down, teleporting forward, appearing behind the grey prosecutor, grabbing her by the tail again, ripping her backwards once more. It was well timed, Judgement had been in arms reach of Azazel.
"STOP BEING A PAIN IN MY ASS ALL MY LIFE!" Judgement tried to swing with the back of her right hand again, Justice ducking this time and rolling to the side, sweeping her legs with her own. "GAH!" the prosecutor yelled, receiving another laugh off of the Awesome Demon as she fell onto her back.
"You have really let yourself go since you got corrupted, the real Judgement would have killed me by now!" Justice taunted. Her opponent remained silent for the moment, but her fury was now about to be released...the grey demon moving faster than Justice could respond. Judgement threw herself upwards, her feet catching her, allowing the woman to stand instantly. The prosecutor then charged, tackling the other demon to the ground.
Judgement pinned Justice with her powerful legs and thighs, giving the blind demon no wiggle room, the High Prosecutor released a volley of attacks aimed at Justice's face, rapid left and right punches, one after the other in quick succession. At first Justice blocked, holding up her hands , so that Justice was hitting metal, trying her best to outlast this, but even now the metal around her hands began falling apart.
The Blind Demon wouldn't withstand the power behind these attacks for long. "SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUUT UPPP!" each punch being thrown in time with what she was saying, the demon spitting everywhere, the rapid animal now finally released from it's cage.
"Judgement, stop!" Justice commanded, realising she was now trapped... struggling to gain any leverage. Judgement had her pinned from the waist down, soon she would break through her guard. She knew that eventually the metal would disintegrate, she would have to switch to holding up her forearms instead soon. Even then, metal would begin to shatter bone, in the end she would slowly drop her defenses. The Blind Demon couldn't withstand the power behind these attacks for long.
Justice glanced behind her friend and saw the two younger members of the family had reached the end of the platform safely, hopefully they would end this...
"BEELZEBUB!" Malina shouted, her entire body erupting into a magnificent orange light as she spoke, her true power being released. Unbeknowing to Malina, the fire slightly burned Azazel when it was ignited. The angel was stood at her left side, the angel jumping away in fear, blowing out a smoking part of burnt white uniform on her right forearm, she was too close. "Malina, since when coul-" but she didn't get to finish.
"Ah, Daughter...you took your time?".
"D-daughter?!" Malina was confused, this sentence had shattered her determination and anger, temporarily extinguishing the fire that was engulfing her, it was now simply a smoldering fire, small flames dotted around her body, the true power diminishing slightly.
"You truly think that this back stabbing, self-centered demon 'Queen' was capable of orchestrating such a beautiful...such a delicious plot to rule Hell and everything else?!".
"Fuck sake, when are you going to STAY DEAD!" she shouted at the end of her sentence.
"Oh, you have your mother's temper".
"SHUT IT!" she yelled, "We banished you, me and Zdrada...and we can do it again-" she began.
"That won't be the case this time my dear. You should thank-" Beelzebub finally turned to face the platform, turning her back on Hell's core. Finally the mastermind had revealed himself, Mantus, Father of the Abyss, the puppet master, more powerful then ever. Mantus had completely changed Beelzebub's appearance, even though he was possessing her form, she looked quite different indeed. Her fly blazer had turned a shade of black that did not reflect light, the material seemingly absorbing any light reflecting in this extremely bright space. However, the blazer itself was in tatters, ripped at the ends, the inner lining of a fly's wings were in scraps, hanging off of her. All of the white fly decorations that had once dotted her outfit had all disappeared, her red gloves had gone, Beelzebub's sliced, damaged hands, her right one missing three fingers.
Beelzebub's crimson jeans and boots had also all turned black, poisoned by his corruption, however, the former angel scientist had not just changed her fashion sense. Her entire face had been changed; the eyes of the demon were pitch black, holes of emptiness. From her eyes, black veins were stretching along her eyelids and at the top of her cheeks. The suspect black liquid was again dripping from her eyes and mouth, the evil smile on her face was otherworldly. She looked like the Cheshire cat, that giant inky grin was unnatural, with the surrounding skin having lost all it's colour, grey flesh devoid of life.
Malina noticed that the black liquid dripped from her eyes, mouth, and severed fingers, as if it had replaced all her bodily fluids. Azazel felt quite little during this confrontation, looking back and forth between all of the drama: the prosecutor's battle, Pandemonica and Modeus briefly tending to the Helltaker before running to fight the Doppels and Gargoyles, Beelzebub and Malina's stand off, Lucifer and Zdrada imprisoned. What could she do?!
"Me!" Beelzebub's voice was returned to normal for just for that word.
"Thank this...deceiving, traitorous 'Queen of the Abyss' for my new found powers...and now...I have the final piece of my plan right in the palm of my hand" he gestured to Malina. "I see you have brought me a dessert too" he smirked at the angel.
"No...just stop! This whole domination fantasy you have planned out...it's over" Malina reignited the power within, orange light dancing over her skin.
"I'm afraid it's too late my dear", Beelzebub brought her hands forward gesturing like she was beckoning them, Azazel and Malina were now lifted upwards, the two struggling with all their might to resist. "Even your new found powers are not enough, do you remember that dream? I have learnt since then" the demon's grin somehow grew even wider.
So it wasn't just in her head! Malina's mind exploded, she knew that it had felt too real to have been just a dream. He must have exploited her, discovered that she had obtained these powers somehow, somehow he knew.
"What the hell?!" Malina exploded with rage, her power being gradually extinguished, it was but a dying fire now, encased in this black sphere.
"Malina I can't move- my- GAARRGH-" the angel started screaming, she too trapped in a abyssal prison, golden energy now being drawn out from her chest.
"Three angel souls AND the devil's? You're too kind Malina" he cackled, Beelzebub's lips moving with the laughter.
"Azazel!" Malina struggled to move, slowly bashing her fist against the dark casing, the two were now moving upwards and towards Beelzebub, moving them next to Zdrada who was still unconscious.
"I'm going to make you watch as you lose all those you love, all those you hold dear...one by one...starting with the angel" Mantus in the Great Fly's form now clenched her right fist tighter, the angel's soul was being ripped out of her.
"NO! NOOOOOO!" Malina exploded, a blinding light to rival the brightness of Hell's core radiated in all directions, shattering both her's and Azazel's dark prison. "NOT THIS TIME!". Malina's demonic appearance had now disappeared, she was but a floating orange humanoid figure, engulfed in an eternal orange fire. Azazel landed on her front and rolled onto her back in agony, staring up at the ceiling. She lay there gasping rapidly, her soul slowly returning back to her body, she felt like her heart was going to explode, the angel unfortunately passing out as a result.
"Oh Malina, think of the power we will wield together once I have your soul!" Mantus almost sounded excited.
"NEVER" she roared, flying straight towards Beelzebub, the two flying demons battle was about to commence.
"Then I'll have to teach you how to behave!" Beelzebub exploded with dark abyssal energy, the Father feeding off of the abyss's touch.
The two clashed together in a beautiful display of orange, black and gold.
J-Judgement-" Justice had switched to using her forearms now, holding her guard up, the gloves having broken into pieces, the material had completely fallen apart. She was losing...Her bones were beginning to shatter, Justice daren't try and catch her fists now, she would risk breaking her hands and being unable to defend herself. The blind demon knew if she let down her guard she would become vulnerable...but what could she do?
"I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU-" Judgement continued to attack furiously, infact picking up the pace and hitting harder, faster, less and less remorse with each hit.
"Judgement please I know you're still in-" Judgement's right arm failed, her Radius bone had been finally shattered under the constant abuse from the metal gauntlets.
"I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU!" Judgement decimated the next arm in two more hits, Justice was now completely exposed to any attack now, she struggled to hold her limp arms up as a defence, but they were failing her. It seemed that the High Prosecutor now hesitated...a fist was primed, being held to the side of her head, one claw grasping the Awesome Demon's collar. Hesitation...something a prosecutor should never do, hesitation, just as Justice had lost the ability to defend herself. "I'VE ALWAYS HATED YOU" the grey demon screamed again.
"You don't mean that...its just the crazy talking J" Justice was panting slightly, not as much as Judgement but she was still exhausted. Despite her condition, Justice smiled, her arms were a bloodied mess, they were numb yet they felt as if a fire was raging inside them. The limp appendages were barely being held up to her chest.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Judgement began her attack anew, the fists making contact with the Awesome Demon's face.
"Jud-" but Justice was being bludgeoned to death, metal was again meeting bone and blood had began pooling in the inside of her skull...it was a gruesome sight...however...it had awoken something inside of Judgement. After around six hard punches, one of her metal fists refused to obey...then the other one...The corrupted Judgement looked at her trembling fists, she was losing the battle with herself... as if someone was trying to retake control...
She collapsed to the floor next to her badly injured friend, writhing and gagging, seizuring almost. "N-NO-O...NO I D-O-ON'T WANT TO GO...I DON'T WA-NT..." she was stuttering with her words, her metal gauntlets were covering her face, the sharp claws dangerously close to her eyes, the metal digging into her skin slightly. "I DON'T WANT T-T-TO B-BE WEAK!" she screamed, the darkness slowly being forced out.
"I don-don't- want...I don't want to- to be me...", a dark essence escaped from Justice's body, the evil force escaping back towards the fight between Mantus and Malina, as soon as Judgement had regained consciousness she took a huge intake of air as if she had been trapped underwater.
"GAH! Fuck me!" she panted desperately, struggling for breath. Judgement had been aware of what her corrupted self had been doing as she instantly scrambled over to her injured friend. "JUSTICE! FUCK!" she yelled in despair, grabbing the former prosecutor by the shoulders and lifting her upwards to get a better look at the injuries she had inflicted, Judgement rested Justice's upper body on her lap, almost cradling her friend. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry...you know I didn't mean it...none of it!" Judgement speaking as if that would make everything better.
Justice was barely conscious, demons had a more resilient skeleton structure than a human, increased bone density, but it didn't mean they were invincible, Justice did not respond, staring off into space. One of her eyeballs was dislodged, her nose was a bruised, broken mess, her front teeth had been shattered, there was black demon blood pouring off of and caking her once delicate skin.
The Helltaker's glasses lay broken on the floor, Justice's bloodied left hand had a loose grip on them. The lenses were smashed to pieces, the frame was amazingly still in one piece but had been crushed under the power of metal, bent out of shape entirely. The left arm of the frame was in between Justice's index finger and her middle one, she was barely holding on to it, refusing to let go.
"Hey come on...get up...you gotta save the day" Judgement, the High Prosecutor, the demon who spent countless years conditioning herself, learning not to feel pain, not to feel loss...cried. Tears were streaming from her eyes, the bright white iris now fully returned to their rightful owner. "Like you always do..." Judgement sniffled, weeping silently, cradling her best friend's body, putting her forehead against the Awesome Demon's. "Please...Please-" she begged, "-d-d-don't...d-don't leave me...".
An explosion of power erupted behind where her and Justice were sat, the grey demon turned to see the black and orange figures flying around each other, attacking with reckless abandon, they had already destroyed part of the platform. Judgement also turned to see the unconscious Helltaker lying on his back...alone, beyond that Modeus and Pandemonica were struggling, the pair unable to keep all of the servants back, some escaping and heading towards the two prosecutors now.
Pandemonica had resulted to using Modeus's two daggers, the weapons was splattering black demon blood all over her, but she was showing signs of failing...the demon was allowing one too many claws to make contact with her. Modeus looked exhausted and unbalanced, she had been spinning rapidly, dancing with the sledgehammer to hit enemies in all directions, but this was not an effective long-term defence. They would soon be upon them...and they didn't show signs of stopping...Judgement didn't know if she had the strength to continue...when her corrupted self had departed, Judgement felt entirely drained. She had to fight...she had to-
"W-w-we" a voice rasped. Judgement turned back down to look at the Awesome Demon. Despite everything she was still kicking...
"Wha-what?" Judgement wasn't properly listening, not concentrating, not knowing what Justice was referring to.
"W-we s-save the d-day. Me-e-" she lifted her limp, broken arm up and her bloodied index finger poked Justice in the collar. "Aa-and yo-u".
"How? How can we beat this? How can we beat him and his minions? We are outnumbered...", Judgement wiped the tears off of her face with the back of her wrist.
"D-do you- GAH!" she screamed weakly, spitting blood and bits of tooth out of her mouth to the side, straining immensely. "How-w do I look-k?" Justice trying her best to smile, her voice was shaky, breaking apart. "Hurts lik-e hell" the blind demon trying to speak without her mouth hurting too much.
"What were you about to say?" Judgement trying not to deviate from what their plan was here.
"D-do you trus-t me?" Justice's breath was getting shallower, she was losing the will to live.
"Always...with my life" Judgement again looked at the approaching stragglers.
"Goo-d, then let's- Ah! FUCK! Let's do- this!".
"Wake up...".
That voice again.
"Wake up.. .Ȅ̶̛̖̼̩̻̙̳͔͓͈͇̈́͊̋.̸̗͇̳̰̹̣͕͎̬̹͋̀̏͝;̵̨̧̡͖̭̲̖̞̱͖̐͂̓́̂'̷͔̩̫̥͍̰̥̭͉̪̞́͂̆̀̏̓͆̽͜͝=̷̥̩͔̬͙͑̔̈́̋̑̓̄̅̃̐̎͝v̸̧͉̟͓̈́`̴̧̞͖̭͂̓́̃͠*̵̨̛͉͉̭͇̋͆̐͑̌͌̔̚ă̴̺\̸̬̥͉͓̲̥͓̮̣̰̩̫̈́̇͒̎̃́͂̃,̸̡͚̦͙͈̀̀\̴̡̞̻̼͇̘̻̲̠̘̮͎̊̂̔̌̀͐͋̓̽͋͌͘͝#̷̢̨̲̳̫̲̼̹̺̗̗̮̈́̑̈̅̔̐́͊̈́̇ņ̸̧̛̲͚̺̜͈̙̖̖̀̀̏̈̆̋̀̐̍͘͝"
Who was speaking?
"Wake up sleepy...".
"I don't want to" he replied, embracing the golden warmth. "You're cold".
Someone was calling his name...where was he?
"Wake up Taker then" it giggled, maintaining the gentle tone and soft touch, there was a cold but alluring hand brushing against his cheek, stroking his skin and hair. "I always thought you had such a silly nickname".
. . . .
"Wake up...if you would".
It was an addicting, yet soothing voice...
"Why?" he asked.
"For that is your curse".
"Why?".
"Because they need you...open your eyes".
"No".
"Open your eyes".
"No...I want to stay dead this time...I've lived too many lives for one man".
"You cannot rest...for your battle is not over...not yet. I will explain all soon...now...open...your...eyes" the voice echoed, drifting further away.
"I just want to rest..." he pleaded.
"Taker...open...your...eyes...".
"Please...".
"̸̳͌Ơ̸̞P̴͌͜E̶̜͊N̴̯̔ ̸̙͝Ÿ̴̩́O̴̱͑U̶̩̒R̷̜͋ ̶̙̓E̶̟͑Y̶͑͜Ë̴̳́Ṣ̶͊!̷͙̊"̸̦̋.̷̤̄
His eyes opened abruptly, the man coughed aggressively, the blood dripping down the back of his throat was spat out the way it had came.
"TAKER! GET UP!" a unknown voice was speaking to him, it sounded familiar yet wasn't one he knew straight away.
"CAN YOU WALK?" this loud feminine voice made his head hurt. He wrenched himself up, using his arms to force himself to at least kneel, but even that was a struggle.
"Wha-at do you need me to d-do?" his voice was still hoarse, barely audible, but they didn't need to be close to hear it.
"WE ARE KEEPING MANTUS OCCUPIED, YOU'VE GOT TO SEVER HIS CONNECTION BETWEEN HIMSELF, MALINA AND ZDRADA, HE IS BLEEDING THEM DRY. ONCE HE HAS CONSUMED EITHER ONE OF THEM HE WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE!" the powerful voice commanded.
"W-we?" he squinted into the distance and saw the new monumental battle taking place: a giant- no an enormous stone woman was wielding a massive, silver, metal sword in her right hand. In her left hand there was a gigantic white chain whip, the two weapons looked very familiar. However, this wasn't the strangest part, the stone woman had no facial features and she was flying through the air, carried by a pair of colossal red, metal, armored wings.
What he was looking at was the amalgamation of Justice's and Judgement's monster forms. He didn't know they could combine them...another detail Lucifer probably forgot to mention. However, the surprises didn't end there; fighting the two prosecutor's a much larger, more deformed version of The Great Fly was attacking them. Mantus had somehow twisted Beelzebub true form to become...worse. The Great Fly still had four giant wings, but now it had an over abundance of arms, all of them writhing and squirming as one conglomerate, all of them still just as sharp. No longer was Beelzebub's body a shade of crimson, her entire body being a shade of black, the details of the fly being barely visible.
Mantus had also somehow utilised some sort of abyssal magic as he was sending black projectiles to attack the prosecutors, forcing them to perform aerial maneuvers, dodges and spins, their wings being used as an air brake. It truly was a battle of the ages...He watched as the winged titan approached, the wings blowing immense gusts of wind over him and almost pushing him down onto the stone again, the Great Fly was in hot pursuit. The Helltaker followed the winged behemoth and saw them lower their sword. He couldn't see Pandemonica and Modeus, the two demons had been swallowed by the horde.
"W-w-wait you'll h-hit them-m" he tried to shout, but no one heard his pleas. The sword sliced through the hordes of enemies like butter, smashing into the far wall, there was no one left standing. The two prosecutors had just cleared the majority of the small army, only a few stragglers remained crawling along the floor. The impact that both the prosecutor's body and sword on the far wall had caused debris to fall and collapse onto the portal frames, restricting the entrance of anymore minions. Well that was one problem taken care of...However, the debris also crashed down on to where he thought Modeus and Pandemonica had been, if they hadn't of moved they would have most certainly been chopped in half or crushed to death. He assumed the worse...
Justice and Judgement waited for The Great Fly to approach before dodging at the last second and letting Mantus's monster slam into the wall, trying to thrust their sword into him after his impact, but only slightly missing. He noticed a black trail followed the fly, like a plague of abyssal energy following wherever her body went. The prosecutor monster took off again, flying as fast as she could, the red metal wings beating frantically, trying to get some distance between the two. The dazed but ravenous fly was again hot on her heels.
"How do I sever the..." he didn't finish his sentence, instead coughing up blood again, spitting it on the black stone once more.
"YOU NEED TO BREACH THE CONDUIT BETWEEN MALINA AND ZDRADA". He realised why he didn't recognise their voice at first; because it was both the two demons speaking at the same time, their voices overlapping to create one. "THAT CONNECTION NEEDS TO BE BROKEN, WITH THAT GONE HE WON'T HAVE AN ANCHOR IN THIS REALM AND WE CAN BANISH HIM".
The Helltaker looked to the edge of the platform, he saw four bodies all laying next to one another, the two sisters, the devil and the angel. All were unconscious, all were spent. It seemed Malina had shattered Zdrada's and Lucifer's black canopies in her rampage, but even Malina couldn't defeat her father, despite her powers. While he had been passed out, Malina's battle against the Father of the Abyss had been futile, the man secretly draining her power and using it as fuel source, the abyss fed off of anything it could, growing stronger when it came into contact with any physical matter.
"I'll t-try my best" he didn't want to speak anymore, using his voicebox felt like a thousand tiny nails pressing into his throat all at once. The Helltaker forced himself to stand, at first he was kneeling on both knees, he then placed one foot on the floor. Slow and steady he thought.
"PLEASE HURRY, WE WILL TRY TO STALL HIM AS LONG AS WE CAN" the prosecutor's pleaded. He didn't reply, now moving to stand, his legs wobbling, almost buckling. Once more, light-headedness consumed him, but he remained standing. The human began stumbling the hundred or so yards, trying to move his legs as fast as possible, but the utter torment his body had received both now and over the last few weeks refused to allow him anymore speed.
All he had been through...how was he still going...He just wanted to die...to rest forever...
No...Not now.
He continued his slow walk, the Helltaker oblivious to the pressure currently weighing down on him, he of all people would save the day, he joked about it before...but-but the day hadn't been saved yet...it probably wouldn't be...Mantus would just come back again and kill them all...
No...no more room for doubt...It was do or die...
The prosecutors made another pass over him, this time they were successful in accidentally knocking him over with the gusts of wind generated by their wings, The Great Fly narrowly missing him in two as the claws scrapped along the black stone platform with a high pitched shriek as she passed over the top of him. He was losing the battle with himself, the Helltaker was running on fumes, running on determination and pure grit, he was a few metres away now. He tried to stand again but the prosecutor's monster form came crashing down onto the platform a few yards behind him, the Great Fly was ontop of them, clawing at them with all the arms they could summon. He fell onto his stomach, hitting his head again, darkness threatened to consume him.
The monstrous roars exchanged between the two immense deities were deafening, he couldn't even cover his ears, the noises were making his head hurt even more, his ears began ringing for the umpteenth time today. So he did the only thing he could; he crawled, the Helltaker pulled himself forward with what little strength his arms could provide, using the loose rubble nearby as leverage, lifting his body over them, wincing everytime.
He was almost there, he could see the four ahead of him, the orange light of the core reflecting off of his teary eyeballs. The mortal crawled the last few feet and saw what he had to do; between the two sisters there was a black orb, a bottomless black hole that no light escaped from. From the two sisters, golden energy was being drawn out of their chests and disappearing into the hole, he guessed that orb was fueling Mantus's power. As he approached the three, Lucifer was the closest to him and when he was crawling past, he noticed that Lucifer did indeed have her hand severed from the wrist. "Sorry abou-t that Lucy" he whispered, moving past her slowly. "Wanna wake up and help me out?" he asked, half smiling.
No reply.
"Don't worry, I'll do everything...like always" he was getting better at speaking with his raspy voice, forming sentences without it hurting too much. Just before he was out of reach, a hand grabbed his wrist, he stopped moving and rested on his left side, looking over at the owner.
"Y-ou asshole, even now your m-making jokes" Lucifer growled, yet there was a half smile on her face. The devil half-awake, barely conscious.
"Well, despite my best efforts, you all still need saving" he smiled in response.
"What happened to your voice?" she asked, loosening her grip on his wrist.
"What happened to your hand? Let's save the day...before we s-s-start sharing war stories, okay?" he countered her question with one of his own, despite the pain he was still smiling.
"I- yeah, your going to have to pu-" she began but was unable to finish.
"So predictable, yet so easily defeated human" that all too familiar voice sounded. Mantus's true voice was speaking now, no longer using Beelzebub's corrupted voice.
"Oh fuck off you wannabe god and let me win" the Helltaker didn't even need to turn around to know who was stood over him. He always had a feeling it was Mantus, the man realising as soon as that more masculine voice reached his ears.
"I bet you wonder why I ordered those disgusting things to capture you, you were to draw them all here, straight into my trap". The man ignoring the Helltaker's insult.
"Oh shut up with your gloating, they fell for trap...so did I. But that doesn't matter, I'm putting a stop to this, putting a stop to you" he couldn't be bothered to listen to the maniac rambling.
"I cannot let you do this" Mantus stepped over the Helltaker, kicking Lucifer in the ribs, hurting her in order to hurt him, being moved away from her partner. When the Helltaker finally looked up it was indeed Beelzebub standing over him, that creepily wide grin on her face.
"This is over Mantus...we both know your done" the Helltaker stretching out his arm to desperately reach Lucy.
"No, this is just the beginning. Now if you two don't mind, I've got more important tasks on my mind" Mantus stepped past the two of them, heading to the edge of the platform and beginning to levitate upwards, returning to her original position again.
"Oh Beelzebub!" he clicked his fingers, the Great Fly had just finished mauling the two prosecutors, the monster rearing it's ugly head. "Please dispose of him, he has served his purpose".
The Helltaker looked back down the platform, a horrifying sight was approaching, the Great Fly had it's eyes locked onto her prey...him. Somehow Mantus was possessing Beelzebub's demon form as well as controlling her monster one, could you separate the two? It didn't matter anyway...
Those four wings were beating so incredibly fast that all he saw was a blur, he wasn't going to be able to survive this one. "Lucy" he said, pleading for her to be with him in the last moments, if he was revived this would going to be a constant cycle of death, he could not defeat such a gargantuan monster in his current state, he couldn't even stand.
There would be no escape this time.
"Y-yea?" she was laying on her back, the kick having knocked the willpower out of the devil.
"I think I'm ready" he decided to lay on his back too, there was nothing left to be done. He stared up at the reddish rock that painted the roof of the core's room. He began wondering whether he would end up in Heaven or Hell...
After a long pause the devil sighed before speaking again, "Yeah...me too".
"R-really?" the Helltaker asked, his hands resting on his stomach. The Great Fly was only a few yards away now.
He had so many regrets...
Again there was another long pause, the devil took one big swig of air, before raising her hand above her. "Yeah...-j-just not yet". The CEO clicked her fingers once, it seemed that she had one last ace hidden up her sleeve.
A portal, the size of a small building opened, there was the sound of galloping, giant feet approaching the portal. "Second time today" the Helltaker smiled, closing his eyes. The Triple Headed Demon once again came to the rescue, the demonic dog charged through the portal and instantly collided with Beelzebub's monster form, the two violently clashing, the three heads biting, grabbing onto parts of the fly's body and not letting go, ripping chunks out of the beast. In response the tens of arms began slashing into the white fur wildly, both animals roaring at one another.
Cerberus was as large as the width of the platform and the fight was getting precariously close to edge, both monsters could fall to their death at any moment. Beelzebub was pushing Cerberus closer and closer to the edge, claws were wedged in the dog's three mouths to stop her biting any vital areas. However these arms were being chewed off as soon as they entered the jaws.
The wings were beating as fast as she could, using the power of flight as leverage. Despite the Triple Headed Demon digging her claws into the stone, she was sliding ever further off the platform, her claws struggling to gain a grip. Then...at the last moment, a sword impaled The Great Fly through the chest, stopping just before hitting Cerberus. A blood curdling roar was released as the metal made contact with flesh. It retracted almost as soon as it went in and began hacking away at the monster's wings and then its arms. The white chain wrapped itself around the fly's wings, preventing her from taking off, Beelzebub's monster form was unable to escape. Looks like the two demonic titans were winning..
"Fine, you want a monster, I'll give you one" Mantus's voice spoke, it sounded like he was all around them. Again, he clicked his fingers, causing a violent reaction to begin deep within his chosen monster. Even as Justice and Judgement were hacking away at the fly's body, even despite Cerberus chewing and biting as best they could to kill this evil, it would not die. Eight appendages burst out from the bottom of The Great Fly, the monster becoming more spider-like. Her wings were replaced with longer, more thicker, more resistant versions still capable of flight. The immense white chain was snapped as these wings formed.
Four enormous muscular arms emerged from her body, these four being much more powerful than the dozens of smaller ones she had been using. These arms became absolutely useless now, the appendages simply falling off after sometime. Mantus had now made the beast more mobile, allowing her to evade and attack faster than the lumbering demons could, but it didn't stop there. This new abomination if damaged could now regenerate her lost limbs or body matter in a number of seconds, as soon as the prosecutor's sliced off a wing or several arms, they would return almost instantly.
"What in god's name have you created?" the Helltaker gasped, watching as the tide of battle began to change.
"A thing of beauty", the abyssal titan grabbed Cerberus by the neck and threw the demonic hound over towards the end of the platform, the giant crashing against the wall, a loud whimper following. The structural integrity of the platform being put to the test, the human could feel it shaking beneath him, threatening to fall.
The Fly flung herself at the prosecutors and pushed them backwards, thankfully the two prosecutors had manifested a large black and white kite shield, blocking the abomination from reaching them. The two monsters were having a contest of who's wings could generate the most thrust, the obvious loser being the faceless titan, the CEO's champion began being pushed towards the edge.
"HURRY!" the prosecutor's mixed voice screamed at him, they were beginning to lose...again.
He looked over at the devil and noticed she had also passed out, the CEO having spent her last ounce of power manifesting that portal. There was no time left to think...The man crawled as fast as he could, being able to move without too much pain after resting. He was slowly approaching the sisters now, the conduit was almost in arms reach.
Almost...
"Still you persist?" Mantus did not move from where he was levitating. The Helltaker didn't reply, soldiering forward, but Beelzebub's demon form teleported to where the Helltaker was and delivered another kick, straight to the lower abdomen. "You are making my life very difficult", the Father physically spat on the floor next to the Helltaker.
"Good" the man said through gritted teeth. Another kick followed, this time Mantus teleported to the other side of the Helltaker, striking his left side. "So what? Y-you just gonna keep kicking me or is this where you tell me your master plan? Because I really don't want care either way...just kill me" the Helltaker simply just accepted his fate and relaxed, staring directly up at the rocky ceiling.
"I will tell you and you will know how you failed before you die" Mantus in Beelzebub's form placed a foot on the Helltaker's chest and made him wheeze with the increasing pressure. His ribcage becoming crushed. "I am going to take both their souls, those two angelic souls infused with concentrated Hell Energy...mmhmm delicious-" Beelzebub nodding to the two sisters, "The devil's and the angel's are simply an added bonus. I would become more than a god, I would become the most powerful being in existence!" Mantus cackled at this, the idea that unlimited power was just a few minutes way.
"But that was just the start of it", rather than being sarcastic, the Helltaker decided for once to listen, waiting for an opportunity then he would strike. "I would bend Hell's core to my will, the realm would lose it's protection against the abyss's corruption, my powers would only grow!" he again cackled, Beelzebub's lips again following his speech and laughter. "But THIS is just the beginning! The destruction of Hell's core would open the gates of Heaven for me. Those have been locked for far too long, I would devour both Heaven and Hell!".
"Your insane!" the Helltaker spat back.
"You know nothing of insanity, you know nothing of the things I've seen. I've seen angels fall from blinding heights, I've watched as humanity has corrupted itself, I stood by and watched as Jehovah did NOTHING!", the Father was ranting like a maniac.
Jehovah?
"I watched...and I watched until the abyss granted me sight! Making that prison...was a kindness" Beelzebub smiled again, pushing harder on his chest.
"Just get it over with- I'm tired of trying" the Helltaker closed his eyes now.
"You truly don't wish to know? Beelzebub has so many secrets to tell", the Father tried tempting the human.
"No...keep em", the man keeping his eyes closed.
"Oh no! You don't get the easy way out. Not you-" Beelzebub grabbed Lucifer and shook her violently. "-Nor your 'partner' Lucifer! Do you not know about their past? These first two angels to fall from the clouds", the man knowing which buttons to press.
"W-What?", the Helltaker finally opening his tired eyes.
"Oh, did they fail to mention that? Beelzebub practically followed this bitch out of Heaven! For I was there to witness their fall", Beelzebub's form licked her lips.
"How-", the man's mind doing somersaults.
"They didn't tell you about their intimate life? The two Queen's of Hell, love being the glue that kept them together...once that failed...well" that grin again become unnaturally wider. "Well you know the rest...".
"How do you know this?" is the only question he wanted answered.
"Beelzebub's mind is mine...I know all of her deepest, darkest secrets", the daughter's dad confessed.
"Tell me, what's her opinion on you? I bet its not- a pleasant one" the Helltaker was getting better speaking, but his voice was still the same gravely, deep, chain-smoker it had been when Judgement strangled him. To this, Mantus laughed, the man- no he was no man, the thing knowing it had the upper hand.
"You poor foolish human, did you not know? Did you not remember what you had made poor Beelzebub do?", the King of the Abyss using guilt now.
"I didn't make her do anything!" the Helltaker defended himself. "I can't allow that, we need to do the right thing here B. Will you do it for me?" Mantus was somehow speaking in the Helltaker's voice, manipulating Beelzebub's vocal cords to sound exactly like him.
"Remember now? I must thank you 'Helltaker', no one would be so kind as to allow me to keep my soul" the dark voice returned.
"You bastard, you set this all up didn't you! That flip-phone, the courtcase, that fucking seizure Malina had. It all makes sense now!" he roared, hurting his vocal cords, the man wanted to attack but he didn't have the energy for it.
"In truth, yes. I needed to convince her to return my soul, the only way to do that...enter the human she loves. I also needed to test my dear Malina's abilities, to see how resilient she would be to the abyss, whether an Inferno Overload would destroy her...she is so much stronger than her sister".
"You sick bastard".
"The demon was very reluctant in returning to the abyss and handing it over. Oh you should seen her face", Beelzebub let loose a very disgusting moan, enjoying the memory too much, causing the man to feel incredibly uncomfortable. The Helltaker remained silent, looking for an opening. "The courtcase was my shameful attempt at a distraction, I needed Lucifer's and her defender's attention turned away from Hell while I began my invasion".
"Bastard, you fucking bastard...you've been behind all of our misery...haven't you?!" the Helltaker tried moving the foot off of his chest but it was properly planted there.
"Yes...you finally see it! It has been me all along! I hope the nightmares I gave you were well appreciated. Who knew how fun it could be toying with the human mind".
"I'm going to fucking end you".
"Every little insecurity, every single mistake, every single nightmare. It has been me...all along, through you, I was able to keep a watch on them".
"Wait, how?!" he felt like he had betrayed the entire family in that moment.
"Your first trip to the abyss, your meeting with Beelzebub? I've been apart of you ever since then...".
"Your bluffing, I've heard enough!" the Helltaker finally shoved the foot off his chest in one quick movement, the man turning over and crawling away as fast as he could, using the little amount of energy he had regained during this interlude.
"I cannot allow that" Beelzebub clenched her right hand into a fist, the Helltaker being levitated into the air now, the man rotated around to face the foe, he was stood up, his arms held at his side just below his hips, fists balled, body rigid. Both his arms and legs made an upside down V shape. "Lucifer, CEO of Hell", Mantus wrenched the devil's body up, making her watch. "Oh, don't you dare pass out on me!" he slapped her across the face, the Helltaker was helpless, useless to everyone including himself, his vision was going dark.
"F-Fuck y-you" the devil muttered, barely able to keep her eyes open.
"Ah, so you are awake. I want you to watch as you lose everything!" he cackled once again, he did like to laugh. "Starting with him, then with your entire family, then your 'daughters', then the core and then the entire realm!", the madman continued his crazy laughter.
The Helltaker realised something was touching his hand...he closed his eyes again...
"Wake up...".
His hand felt like it was on fire...it was probably nothing...
"Wake up Taker".
"What?" the sensation was spreading across his arm, it felt...incredible, he could feel the strength being restored to his bones.
"You've got to fight it? Remember?" Malina smiled, he looked to his right and saw the younger sister's had reached up from where she was lying, her ignited orange arm was piercing through the dark capsule, her hand touching his little finger. He looked at his right hand and saw it too was engulfed in the orange fire that Malina wielded so easily. Using the last of her energy she had bestowed a small ounce of that power upon him. The Helltaker painfully turned his head back to see if Mantus hadn't noticed, no, he was still taunting the Devil, Lucifer's eyes did not look away from Beelzebub's.
In the distance he watched as the battle between the two titans was about to reach it's climax, the Great Fly had the triple headed Demon trapped, two arms buried deep the dog's fur, Cerberus scratching and biting wildly. At the same time, the giant sword was between her giant maw, the teeth clanging against metal, the weathered prosecutor titan was trying to decapitate the monster, pulling the sword through her mouth. They manifested another large whip and wrapped it around the fly's fat next, pulling her backwards and trying to restrict her head from biting through the sword and biting Cerberus.
But in the process they took one step backwards too far and fell, dragging themselves, The Great Fly and Cerberus off of the side of the platform and into the orange depths below.
Beat...That was it...
He had lost too many already...he wasn't going to lose anymore.
"How does it feel? To lose?! Once I'm done with you, I'm coming for you Jehovah! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!" Mantus continued his maniacal ramblings, oblivious to everything around him.
Who the fuck was Jehovah?
"HOW DOES IT FEEL!?".
"It feels-" Lucifer glanced over at the Helltaker and saw his fiery right arm, she looked at him and nodded. "LIKE THIS!". All at once, the Helltaker stopped levitating and fell to the floor, landing between the two sisters. Lucifer had momentarily stunned Mantus, placing her other hand on his face, channeling apart of herself into him, as if to control him like a thrall. It broke his concentration for just a few seconds to allow the Helltaker out of the abyssal casing.
"YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO ENSLAVE ME?!" he shouted at the devil, the Father looking at where she was staring and realising a second too late...The human had landed on his knees and as soon as he was free he dived, stretching his body at full length. With his right arm he reached as fast as he could, penetrating the darkness, closing his fist around the centre of the blackhole, crushing the conduit...
And it shattered in his hand...
"NOOO!" the Father flew at the Helltaker in a blink of an eye, but it was too late...
Mantus was ripped out of Beelzebub's body, the two separating, Beel's demon form falling limp onto the floor, the woman wasn't conscious at all, she wasn't breathing at all...Mantus's ghostly presence reached out in a desperate last attempt, trying to grab onto the nearest body to inhabit; Zdrada, reaching out for her soul to be specific. His ethereal hand reached inside of her, trying desperately to claw at her guarded angelic soul, to gain a single ounce of power to maintain his form...
However, an orange hand grabbed Mantus by the wrist and pulled him away from Zdrada, trapping him to the floor, the Hell Energy scolding him and causing his form to gradually disappear. The Father looked up in horror as the Helltaker's eyes became a radiant red, the demonic power surging through him.
"Im-pos-sible! N-o...I wi-ll no-t go- b-ac-k th-e-re-! I be-g y-o-u-" the man's voice was a shell of its former self, hardly a whisper. But he would receive no mercy, for there was no one who would give it.
"WE banish you" several voices were channeling through the human, coming out as one. He let go of Mantus's wrist for a moment, only to place his full hand onto the condemned face, his thumb near the nose, the palm and fingers stretched over his left cheek and side of his face, burning away his very being.
"Begone foul creature...find peace in death".