Chapter 94: The Beast Itself: Part 1

It was quite peaceful at the moment, considering the circumstances. Although the tunnel was narrow they had just enough personal space to go around. The cold didn't help at all but what could you do about it? Wii Fit shivered as she rubbed her shoulders to obtain warmth.

"You know, I wished I brought a jacket. The air is so chilling."

"Yeah, shame all the clothes back there were bloody and torn. I'm really starting to despise this damn cave. How much longer do we have till we reach the spot?" Asked Brawler.

"The map doesn't have any measurements for this section but it looks like it's mostly a straight path with curves in between." Rosalina petted her star as she read. "Assuming if there are no obstacles."

"Eh there probably is. We have extreme luck on both sides of the aisle." Commented Little Mac. "I think this whole fate thing is starting to become more and more of a reality."

"Yeah, like a fairy tale." Piped up Villager.

"More like story written by schizo who is high, drunk and stupid at the same time." Brawler quipped.

"That's… well I don't want to say you are wrong, but. Yeah, this is one mess of an adventure." Gunner said.

"Yeah..." Sword turned to the ninja frog. He wasn't paying any mind to the conversation; the book was more worthy to invest in apparently. "Hey Greninja, catch anything new?" Heads turned into his direction, still he didn't dare take his eyes off the page.

"Here, they're talking about delivering further into the cave." He answered. "It's not pretty."

"That's what we figured. What does it say exactly though?"

"It begins where they find the Horns, listen." Greninja turned the pages backwards and read aloud their contents. A distant sad look was plastered on his face when he began.

"March 25th. Our investor called, I'll keep it brief but he hasn't happy with how were are doing this excavation. The prick even claim we were taking up our sweet time enjoying stuffing our faces than working. I like to see him try to get down here and handle the damn pickaxe. Taking out time my ass, I bet he doesn't even know how large Old Cave is. Unwanted distractions aside, he threatened to "get someone else to do the job" if we don't find any results soon. Now I have to work extra hard. Great."

March 30th. As a wise man once said, Eureka. Thomas found a sealed passageway further up in the caverns. It looks to be artificially made; the wall seems to be constructed from concrete. If this is where a hidden treasure is going I have a feeling it's going to be behind that wall. We already started to crack at it but the material appears to be a bit stronger than our pickaxes to handle. I gave Thomas the jackhammer to speed up progress. I already let our investor know of the good news. Hopefully that will shut him up for a while.

April 1st. Nothing much of an update but we've gotten further into the tunnel. There was more concrete than anticipated, but we're still pushing through so it's no big issue. My men have been complaining that it is too cold down there, even more than what they are used to. I don't know what's causing it but I just told them to wear scarves and thicker clothes until I could find a permanent solution,

What bothered me was that I could have sworn I heard something down there. It was too muffled though but it reminded me of… yelling? It's probably echoing or something. This section of the cave hasn't been used for a long time, it'll be a cold day in hell before we find anyone down here. Thomas told me we are almost through, I can wait till this is over.

[This page appears to be stained with blood in the bottom corner of the page.]

We're going to die down here. We're going to die down here.

We opened that damn entrance, I looked away for a second before I heard the screams. HOW CAN A DEER BE THAT LARGE!? OH GOD IT'S COMING NEAR [The writing is so poorly scribbled it can't be eligible]

April 16th (I think). I found some of the other guys, Thomas is alive I know that for sure. I don't know what happened to the rest of us when we split. That thing… It has antlers but it's sure as hell no deer. I can't believe I'm actually writing. I can't believe this is happening. There are definitely more of those things running around, they were wearing scraps of our gear. What are these monsters?

We're safe for now. We hidden ourselves away from sight but I can still hear the snarling. It never goes away. These monsters are pure gluttons, they think nothing else but food. Yet they never go after our food, they are only interested in anything that so much as moves!

Thomas told me that he saw Calvin getting torn up by those things before gobbling them up. Monsters. Absolute demons. What the hell did we uncover?

April 18th. Our rations are still stable. We lost Thomas, I don't know where he went. My crew has been getting sicker but none of them are running a fever, in fact it seems like their temperature is dropping. I gave them the extra blankets to help them but they said they were more hungry than anything else.

What is going on here?

Date: ? They turned! I woke to find most of my crew slaughtered. Consumed by… my men! They were not themselves. They had more hair, bulges on their heads and their eyes… god their eyes. There was nothing in there. THERE WAS NOTHING IN THERE!

Luckily I managed to meet up with Thomas again. Unfortunately one of his crew claimed that upon using the terminal, they got dead air. I fear the worst. We managed to kill one of those things on the way up so it's good to know that they're not invincible. We're going to make a run to the surface. I don't want to go up, but the lack of rations leaves us no choice. I fear what's going to do us in, my hunger, or theirs.

[The next page is stained with blood, making the majority of the writing illegible.]

-ound us with, how the hell- We have plenty of men but they just keep com- If anyone read this, please remember us. God-

[The rest of the writing is illegible.]

The frog silently closed the book and made eye contact with his compatriots. This level of violence and desperation was not shocking anymore, now it just became commonplace in what could loosely be described as their life. But the suffering of the inhabitants of this world will never be forgotten. They have to remember, for their sake, 'cause no one else will.

"That explains the carnage that happened back there. Such a shame they had to go down like that." Robin said.

"At least they had a last stand." Lucina said as she walked by the tactician's side. "If only those men haven't turned into those monsters, now they have been resigned to a fate worse than death."

"But what about what the foreman said?" Spoke Brawler. "A large deer in the cave? The story about the Horns? Urban legend my ass, that creature has to be responsible for this. There's no other culprit."

"Yeah, it's all starting to align." Agreed Gunner. "But if this deer is the original deer, as in the first… do you think it will be… of a stronger breed?"

"Stronger breed?" Questioned Mega Man.

"If this deer was the cause of all of this, especially turning other people to deermen I would think it would be very powerful to do so, right? I doubt it'll fall just as easy like the rest of them."

"Which is why we'll give it all we got. We just need to come up with a good strategy on the fly, which is a skill I'm quite proficient in actually." Answered Shulk.

"So a tactician as well?" Robin pried.

"No, just have good intuition when it comes to strategy." Shulk beamed, until he remembered the tram. "Well… most of the time."

"Well, whatever the case may be, we handle it. I rather take on one than a million-" Sword remarked. He abruptly stopped and perked his head up; breath remaining shallow as dread crept up on him. Everyone was concerned now; Gunner tapped him on the shoulder.

"Uh… Sword? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Is it me or can anyone else hear that?" As if one cue the sound became louder, its echo amplified by the enclosed space they're in. They didn't even need the flashlight to see pairs of frantic eyes glowing in the darkness thanks to the ambulant light. The moment they heard snarling was the moment they knew death was drawing near,

"RUN!" Rosalina shouted. In almost perfect synchronization the legs of every Smasher came pounding up and down the rock. Rosalina guided them all to the path forward with her glowing wand. Mega Man and Villager were shooting balls and planting trees respectively to slow down the horde respectively. Everyone was focused on keeping their distance.

Sadly the Miis were the ones lagging behind, they weren't close enough to be in the grasp of death but they were far from safe. "How the hell did they get here! We blocked the cave!"

"They must have gotten rid of the rocks! I forget how persistent they are!" Sword shouted, his heart was thumping harder as the deermen gotten closer. Gunner wisely aimed her own cannon and delivered some needed plasma blast for some hungry mouths.

Gunner gritted through her teeth, despite her best efforts they still refused to back down. "It's not working! Anyone got any other ideas?"

"We keep running, of course! Do not stop firing you hear!" Sword mentally cursed, their friends seemingly vanished up ahead. "And what happened to the rest of us?!"

Suddenly an arm wrapped around his shoulder. Sword instinctively turned around, blade in hand when a distinct blondie stopped him.

"Quick! Get in!" The Hom ordered, and without question, they obeyed. When all three Miis enter, Shulk slammed the door. Little Mac pushed over a cabinet against the frame while Robin inserted a wrench between the handles. To top it off, Shulk sliced at the nearby wall above and made it rain rocks above. The door wasn't even visible through all the rubble.

The Miis breathed much harder than they wanted to; the realization of yet how they narrowly escaped death was only becoming more frustrating as it was horrifying. It was always a mixed bag when fighting these monsters, they feared what the population around here had to deal with.

"You know… that's not gonna hold them right." Brawler said between breaths. "If this keeps up they're gonna corner us."

"I agree, I'm starting to get sick of deer. Maybe there is something that can help us? Maybe one mechanical wagon we drove around?" Asked Lucina.

"You mean a car?" Replied Little Mac.

"Yeah, those things."

"We're out of luck." Greninja shined his light through the small room. "Only cabinets and some tools. Though we don't necessarily need that."

"Even with our abilities I don't like the idea of fighting here. It's too small." Gunner explained. "Is there an exit we can take?"

"Found one." Villager pointed to a dark and narrow passageway on the opposite end of the door. Surprisingly, the tunnel had a off-white coloration compared to the rest of the minerals of the cave. What's even more shocking, was the dried stains of blood that coated the floor.

"Is that… what I think it is?" Wii Fit remarked. She knelt down and picked up a small chunk, the texture was recognizable. "This… this is concrete. Is this…"

"The passageway they mentioned in the journal. It has to be; we never saw so much a grain of concrete till now. Get your weapons ready and keep your lights steady." Warned the frog.

"You think the entity is in there?" Rosalina extended her wand into the passageway. "It's decently far."

"I don't know, but we have no other option than pushing forward." Greninja glanced at the rubble, the snarl still audible from the other side.

"We shouldn't all go at once, especially with those things on our tail. Why don't we split up?" Suggested Wii Fit.

"You think splitting up in place as dark as this is a good idea. What about strength in numbers?" Argued Gunner.

"Only temporary." Clarified Wii Fit. "I'm saying half of us should stay here and watch the entrance if those deermen do manage to push through"

"I think the word you're looking for dear is, 'when'."" Brawler said.

She ignored the comment "-While the other half just checks the other side. If anything happens we can go over there and deal with the problem. Besides, the last thing we want is a mad hungry demon horde to blindside us when we're down."

"I suppose that's all we can do at the moment." Sword admitted. "I'm going, who else wants to come?"

Robin raised up a hand. "It's only fair that I support my weight in the group. I'll go."

Lucina walked next to the tactician. "I'll go too, I can provide needed support." Robin rolled his eyes as Lucina chuckled to himself, obviously an inside joke that went over the heads of everyone involved.

"Since you people have your own lights, I'll enter the tunnel first. My light may have better uses down there than here." Rosalina said.

"I'll assist you in that princess. My sunlight can do wonders." Wii Fit replied.

Sword heard the footsteps behind him, he turned to see Gunner and Brawler standing before him. "You're coming too?"

"We're friends! There's no way I'm gonna let ya do this alone." Gunner smiled.

"And I don't want to be here when those freaks pack this room like sardines. So yeah." Brawler said.

"That's all? In that case, let's start while we're young. If you need our assistance no not be afraid to holler." Reminded the space princess.

"Same as you, good luck." Shulk waved the group goodbye as they were swallowed by the darkness, their light getting farther and dimmer until it was nothing more of a speck of white. The sounds of their shallow breathing was the only thing conflicting with the madness occurring out the door.

Wii Fit shivered even more as they went further into the crevice. As they traveled, the air appeared to get colder with each single step; the breaths now visible in front of their eyes. Wii Fit was getting the worst of it, she couldn't stop shivering. Now she was regretting coming along. "D-Does it say how l-long the tunnel is?" She croaked.

Luma held the map to Rosalina's eyes, she was also beginning to feel the effects of the fridge temperature but it went ignored upon seeing the diagrams. "It says that it's just up ahead, after that there's nothing; it's all blank."

"Of course there's nothing. I doubt they would have the energy to care as they were being attacked." Sword sighed, getting sick of the endless violence and death. But he knew complaining won't solve anything. Hopefully whatever they're going to do will solve it, or at least remedy it. "Does everyone have their moves charged?"

"I charged my sun but it's not doing anything against the cold." Said Wii Fit.

"Plasma cannon is at the ready." Piped Gunner.

"My tome is fully ready, Surely this would be effective against the beast."

"Great. Be on your toes. I highly doubt this monster is gonna die if we ask it politely." Said Brawler.

"There's the entrance." Rosalina pointed using her wand. The 'entrance' was even smaller than the one at the beginning at the tunnel. It was roughly circular in nature around the size of an attic door or a manhole cover. Multiple skeletons laid around the hole, clothes ripped to shreds and all flesh cleaned from their bones. If there was any doubt that this was ground zero it was gone by now.

Lucina inspected the skeletons, then the hole mournfully "How can something so small release such a ferocious evil?"

"Dedication, ambition, stubbornness." Robin answered. "We encountered many of those types back home, the only difference is that they still had half a mind."

"Are we… seriously going through that hole? Can we even fit through?"

Rosalina observed the hole then looked back at each of their small little group, clearly observing their body shape. "I might have a difficult time getting through but it's wide enough for us to pass."

"You think the… lead deerman is still in there?" Asked Gunner.

"Well considering how big those things already are and how enormous the diary said that particular deerman was… yes, I would say yes." Said Brawler. "So who's going first?"

It didn't take that long to slide through that opening, it was just as the princess said. The room was pitch black; not even Rosalina's wand brought up much light. Lucina and Gunner pulled out the flashlights and turned them on. They were officially at a dead end, the room was similar in shape to a cylinder, stalagmites and stalagmites littered the area making it hard to view the scenery. What didn't help their sense of security was the pile of bones resting near the opening. These bones were more damaged than any of that they've seen previously; most were cracked or had large bite marks that scarred their surfaces. It was the aftermath of a flesh banquet.

"God, how many people died in this room alone? I can't tell." Lucina took her flashlight from the pile and scanned the room with light. Still no sign of that beast."

"Yeah it's quite… quite." Sword acknowledge. They didn't know it, but they had inadvertently awakened something dastardly in the room, their presence here was enough, but the smell of their uncertainty and fear was the motivator. A silent snarl was heard but they were more entranced by the other skeleton; this one was unique compared to the other. For one, it was still intact, and two it looked very old. It's clothes were harder to identify but the shiny badge on its breast was all the info they needed.

"The sheriff." Gunner said. "He's holding something."

Brawler knelt down and pulled away the bony fingers. He took the red object from his palm. "Dynamite." He also noticed the red square detonator besides the body. Wires lead from it to above the entrance they came from; black faded scorch marks were high on the wall and largely rested on the floor. "Look at that… you think he tried to cause a cave-in himself."

"Yes, I'd bet on it. Hey I think I see more in that pouch on him. I say we use that-" A bright cyan light behind them disrupted them from curiosity. The luminescence of the light subsided, their attacker now in the dark limelight.

It looked similar to a deerman but larger than anything they'd met before. Its height was that off half the room making it to be the size of a monster truck. The muscles were too large it looked like it could rip the skin. The fur coat was covered in erratic patterns of thick curve scars and bite marks. The most notable feature was its horns and eyes, which glowed a true cyan that illuminated the entire cave. Gunner was affixed in awe as it stepped back into the wall, nearly tripping on a skull in the process.

"T-T-That's… O-Oh My."

"The lord freak." Brawler finished the sentence for her. "The horns of deliverance."

Wii Fit didn't hesitate to generate her solar sphere, the problem was that the deer was quicker. With a sprint consisting of five steps and winding punch to the gut she became embedded up in the wall above the entrance. Rocks from above rained down on the floor of the hole. If they wanted to back out now, first they had to dig.

The princess and her star were next on the hit list. Luma spewed star bits at its chest, its efforts were rewarded with a fierce stomp. It cried and exploded into sparkles and stars under its feet. Rosalina was mortified that her precious baby was taken down before her eyes. Even though she knew that Luma will always reappear seconds after its death, it wasn't any less grim.

She extended her wand, mother bear instincts about to be unleashed. The massive galaxy being born in front of its face appeared to annoy it rather than hurt. The towering beast reached and grasped the princess's midriff in one fell swoop. She struggled but could not break its grim.

The smell of warm living flesh was enticing to the creature, having not had a morsel for so long. He opened his jaws, brought the damsel closer… and only tasted iron. A metal ball launched in its jaws, the shear force and weight should have dislocated his teeth but instead he spit it out and growled to the offending source.

Brawler, Gunner and Lucina were at the approach, their choice of weapon being unveiled in the monster's cold light. It scoffed and threw Rosalina at them, hitting and sidelining Gunner and Brawler to the sidelines. Lucina grimaced as she heard the impact, but she's not looking back. To your back to a predator, even an esoteric one, was a fatal mistake.

The female warrior dove the tip of the blade right to the heart. If the creature was fazed it didn't show. "What?" Lucina muttered. It was the kingpin of the deermen so it was expected that it would be significantly stronger, but how can anyone survive a jab to the heart?! Can they even kill this thing?

It's front lip stretched in a way that could only be described as smug. It reared up its arm up high preparing to strike when a certain tactician sprang into action.

"Arcfire!" He chanted - the ball of pure flame bursting from his fingers, making contact with its head. It howled, frantically pulling itself away from Lucina's blade desperately trying to put out the fire scorching its neck. Robin helped her get to her feet as he fired another arcfire bolt; direct hit on its back.

"It hates fire!" Robin shouted, attempting to fire another projectile but felt the magic in his book already faded. "I'm out of arcfire."

"Just wait for a little bit!" Sword shouted.

"We don't have a little bit! Watch it, it's coming now!"

Wii Fit watched the entire scene unfold from the makeshift perch high in the sky. Her vision was fuzzy, the darkness didn't help either. "Auggh..." She groaned, unfortunately gravity had other plans for her. The fitness instructor could do little as her body was peeled from the wall and slammed into the floor, nearly missing the stalagmite pointed to her head.

'God, how can a single punch do that? I can feel the percentage, it's so much.' Wii Fit couldn't help but focus her attention back at the hole; the light from the stag made it easier to see, but she almost wished she hadn't.

In the tunnel was the rest of their crew running away from a flood of deermen.

I realized half way through that working on two fanfictions at the same time is probably not ideal but I somehow made it work. I decided to cut in half because I just noticed how long this fight was gonna be. But that's that. If you have any questions regarding this story be free to message me. Till next time.